Ack! I'd only found this one entry last night when I went upstairs to put Zack to bed and inadvertently fell asleep myself! Everybody have at this one for now, I'll beef this up with more material tomorrow.
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Caption Contest Apertif!
Ack! I'd only found this one entry last night when I went upstairs to put Zack to bed and inadvertently fell asleep myself! Everybody have at this one for now, I'll beef this up with more material tomorrow.
jesus&mo: often
have you been told to respect others' religion, or more to the point, shut the fuck up? well, i have, and recently too, although i must say that it's extremely rare... not exactly often. to that, i say, quite simply, no.
so i relish posting the latest jesus&mo.
click over to the source to read
so i relish posting the latest jesus&mo.
click over to the source to read
Best Actor 1973: Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris
Marlon Brando received his seventh Oscar nomination for portraying Paul in Last Tango in Paris.
Last Tango in Paris is about an affair between a young Parisian and an older American who have a liaison with no names, and no conditions, for awhile at least.
Marlon Brando performance in this film certainly has a reputation that proceeds. I have heard from many sources touting this as not only Brando's best performance, but also one of if not the best performance ever. Well I must say that certainly does automatically effect your preconceptions but it should not define your conception of the performance, and it certainly does not define mine.
It is a common criticism of various accolades given to the most of something rather than the actual best, well I think that can actually be allotted to this performance by Marlon Brando, since if there is one thing for sure this is one acting performance. The whole character is constantly doing something that is extremely dramatic psychological, crazy, whatever, this character never seems to stop baring his soul, and is almost the polar opposite of Jack Nicholson's nominated character from this year.
Brando most normal scenes, I think, come early in the film where he shows the greif over his wife's recent suicide. Brando I think is extremely good in this portrayal of greif, becuase he shows clearly that this has deeply wounded Paul that has pained him right into the emotional core, and his this portrayal of greif does a fairly well establish the mental state of his character, and partially explain his course of action in the film.
Paul decides to start a liaison with a Parisian woman Jeanne (Maria Schneider), the relationship does not have much of a pick up scene though, since they really just begin the affair immediately with no strings attached, and not too much of an explanation either. They do, which means it is time for Brando to act, and act a lot, with deep soul searching not stop.
Now although I did see as fairly actory, I still feel he manages in the character of Paul somewhat, not just of Marlon Brando himself. My only real problem was though I think he does indeed portray an original character, I don't think he really completely understands who Paul is suppose to be precisely. Brando supposedly said he did not understand the point of the film, and I did feel some of that come through with his performance, in that I felt he had great scenes, but they did not fit into an amazing whole.
I never truly understood, although I do not think I was really suppose to, why he would react to his greif in this specific and rather odd way. Nor did I understand where this man came from, and why frankly his behavior was as erratic as it was, particularly when he became sadistic. Now part of his character is suppose to be a mystery really, but what I did see I felt was many parts of a character, but still missing something that melded the whole of him as one.
This not to say Brando does not have some exceedingly fascinating scenes, and moments. Whether it is his scene where he talks dirty, his scene where he tells about how he learned to love nature, the butter scene, his crazed antics on the dance floor, his big scene next to his wife's dead body, Brando certainly is interesting to watch, and does make a great amount of interesting moments. But I always felt they were just that interesting, not amazing.
The whole performance for me was most certainly a spectacle to watch, as Brando never stops doing something different in the role, but I must admit I did not feel it turned out to be a perfect performance, and I always far from the greatest performance of all time. In fact I did not even feel it was great, but rather just interesting. It is interesting to view, but not incredible to view, it just always feels as a performance that is less than the sum of its parts.
Marlon Brando performance in this film certainly has a reputation that proceeds. I have heard from many sources touting this as not only Brando's best performance, but also one of if not the best performance ever. Well I must say that certainly does automatically effect your preconceptions but it should not define your conception of the performance, and it certainly does not define mine.
It is a common criticism of various accolades given to the most of something rather than the actual best, well I think that can actually be allotted to this performance by Marlon Brando, since if there is one thing for sure this is one acting performance. The whole character is constantly doing something that is extremely dramatic psychological, crazy, whatever, this character never seems to stop baring his soul, and is almost the polar opposite of Jack Nicholson's nominated character from this year.
Brando most normal scenes, I think, come early in the film where he shows the greif over his wife's recent suicide. Brando I think is extremely good in this portrayal of greif, becuase he shows clearly that this has deeply wounded Paul that has pained him right into the emotional core, and his this portrayal of greif does a fairly well establish the mental state of his character, and partially explain his course of action in the film.
Paul decides to start a liaison with a Parisian woman Jeanne (Maria Schneider), the relationship does not have much of a pick up scene though, since they really just begin the affair immediately with no strings attached, and not too much of an explanation either. They do, which means it is time for Brando to act, and act a lot, with deep soul searching not stop.
Now although I did see as fairly actory, I still feel he manages in the character of Paul somewhat, not just of Marlon Brando himself. My only real problem was though I think he does indeed portray an original character, I don't think he really completely understands who Paul is suppose to be precisely. Brando supposedly said he did not understand the point of the film, and I did feel some of that come through with his performance, in that I felt he had great scenes, but they did not fit into an amazing whole.
I never truly understood, although I do not think I was really suppose to, why he would react to his greif in this specific and rather odd way. Nor did I understand where this man came from, and why frankly his behavior was as erratic as it was, particularly when he became sadistic. Now part of his character is suppose to be a mystery really, but what I did see I felt was many parts of a character, but still missing something that melded the whole of him as one.
This not to say Brando does not have some exceedingly fascinating scenes, and moments. Whether it is his scene where he talks dirty, his scene where he tells about how he learned to love nature, the butter scene, his crazed antics on the dance floor, his big scene next to his wife's dead body, Brando certainly is interesting to watch, and does make a great amount of interesting moments. But I always felt they were just that interesting, not amazing.
The whole performance for me was most certainly a spectacle to watch, as Brando never stops doing something different in the role, but I must admit I did not feel it turned out to be a perfect performance, and I always far from the greatest performance of all time. In fact I did not even feel it was great, but rather just interesting. It is interesting to view, but not incredible to view, it just always feels as a performance that is less than the sum of its parts.
Guillermo Del Toro on New Live-Action "Incredible Hulk" TV Series
From worstpreviews, Back in November, it was revealed that Marvel and ABC are working on a new live-action "Incredible Hulk" TV series, and Guillermo Del Toro is on board to write and direct the pilot episode, in addition to overseeing the look of the character.
Now, in an interview with FEARnet, the helmer gave an update on the series, confirming that everything is moving along nicely. "We turned in the outline to ABC about four weeks ago," he said. "And then we did a rewrite for ABC on the outline, and now we are lining up the pages."
When asked if the Hulk will be different from what we have previously seen. "I think so. Or we wouldn't be trying it," he replied. "Actually, one of the points of this project early on with Marvel was 'We're going to do this thing different and here's how. Are you interested?' And they were."
While most of the details of the series are being kept a secret, it was revealed last year that Bruce Banner will be in his 20's and that the Hulk will be a mix of CGI and practical effects.
William Shatner's "The Captains" Documentary
From worstpreviews, A few days ago, we showed you a photo of William Shatner arm wrestling with Chris Pine (pictured), who both played Captain James T Kirk in "Star Trek."
It turned out that this is all apart of "The Captains" documentary that Shatner is shooting, which features the actor sitting down with all of "Star Trek's" captains, like Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, Scott Bakula and Pine.
Today, we have a short trailer for the movie that will premiere at Comic-Con next month and will air online at the Epix website (Friday, July 22nd at 8pm EDT). Immediately after the screening, there will be a questions and answers session hosted by Kevin Smith.
our lady of the rings
wired interviews carolyn porco!
click image to source
snip
wired.com: so if you had a lineup of enceladus, titan and europa, which are always brought up as good targets for astrobiology, which would you choose?
porco: oh, enceladus wins hands down. titan has no liquid water on its surface and any liquid water beneath its surface is inaccessible to us, as far as we know. it has hydrocarbon lakes, but we don’t know of any organisms that could live in those, not at the temperatures that we find on titan. any reference to possible life in lakes on the surface of titan is pure speculation.
we do know of subsurface earth ecologies that could thrive in the subsurface environment on enceladus. now that we know there’s salty water there, that shows there’s liquid water in contact with rock. biotic chemistry could occur that we know exists in volcanic environments miles underneath earth’s surface, where liquid water percolates through hot rocks.
as far as europa goes, europa very likely has an ocean under its surface. in that regard, europa and enceladus are on equal par. but on europa, the ocean is at least several kilometers under the surface and the moon is bathed in an intense radiation field. we can’t go there and just drill several kilometers down because the intense radiation field would fry a properly equipped spacecraft in several months.
so while there could indeed be life within the ocean of europa, it is presently inaccessible. the beauty of enceladus is all you have to do is land on the surface, look up and stick your tongue out. it could be snowing microbes at the south pole. we would be foolish not to head back there immediately.
/snip
yes! yes! i'm betting on enceladus!
the entire chat here.
more on carolyn porco and cassini and ciclops
click image to source
snip
wired.com: so if you had a lineup of enceladus, titan and europa, which are always brought up as good targets for astrobiology, which would you choose?
porco: oh, enceladus wins hands down. titan has no liquid water on its surface and any liquid water beneath its surface is inaccessible to us, as far as we know. it has hydrocarbon lakes, but we don’t know of any organisms that could live in those, not at the temperatures that we find on titan. any reference to possible life in lakes on the surface of titan is pure speculation.
we do know of subsurface earth ecologies that could thrive in the subsurface environment on enceladus. now that we know there’s salty water there, that shows there’s liquid water in contact with rock. biotic chemistry could occur that we know exists in volcanic environments miles underneath earth’s surface, where liquid water percolates through hot rocks.
as far as europa goes, europa very likely has an ocean under its surface. in that regard, europa and enceladus are on equal par. but on europa, the ocean is at least several kilometers under the surface and the moon is bathed in an intense radiation field. we can’t go there and just drill several kilometers down because the intense radiation field would fry a properly equipped spacecraft in several months.
so while there could indeed be life within the ocean of europa, it is presently inaccessible. the beauty of enceladus is all you have to do is land on the surface, look up and stick your tongue out. it could be snowing microbes at the south pole. we would be foolish not to head back there immediately.
/snip
yes! yes! i'm betting on enceladus!
the entire chat here.
more on carolyn porco and cassini and ciclops
Best Actor 1973: Al Pacino in Serpico
Al Pacino received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Frank Serpico in Serpico.
Serpico tells the story of Frank Serpico who refused to adhere to police corruption despite it being all around him.
Frank Serpico as a character is one of some repetition that is sure. It is a lot of him coming into a new part of the police in New York City seeing some sort of corruption and responding to it publicly in a low key fashion, although becoming more upset by it in more private settings. In between being upset by corruption he usually gets upset by his current wife, and yells at her, or responds quietly to her.
I don't know Pacino's performance here just never really amazes it me as it does seem to some. In the early scenes Pacino sets up how his character reacts with a quiet passion at first over the corruption he sees, and he keeps reacting in that same way throughout, thrown in with some angry disbelief over the ability of others to actually help him, and his feelings of danger by putting his neck out.
I don't know his whole plight never became as interesting as it seems it should have, because Pacino I feel should have done even more to show how the problems really stacked on Serpico in a better fashion, rather than just that tired face, along with the occasional scene of yelling. It always seemed to be less than Serpico really could have been in this film.
I think the whole incredible honesty of Serpico really needed to be better explored by both the film, and Pacino's performance. Was all what he did because of his nature, or because of of something else, I really felt Pacino really needed to more heavily develop what about Serpico made him want to be so honest, since it was not just to be a descent guy since frankly he does not seem to be always one.
Also another problem I had with his performance was his relationships with his two major wives. I will admit they are not helped by the two rather stilted performances by the actresses playing his wives, but Pacino himself does not create a very interesting relationship either. The relationships in the film feel rather cold, by the lack of energy Pacino puts in them, nor are they made into another type of relationship, like say mutual desperation or something like that, none of the three actors develops the relationship into anything the least bit interesting.
Pacino has yet anther problem I feel and that is Serpico whole odd policeman persona, when he slowly seems to become more and more unlike a cop as the film progresses with his growing beard, and continually more hippie like clothing. Why does Serpico do this other than for cover, and one would think it would be more than just for cover, never is realized, is it because he is really a hippie, or anti establishment or something, I don't know the film, and Pacino just do not develop it well enough.
Although I have been very negative I think up until this point, I do not think this is really a bad performance, but just a lacking one that could have been a lot more. Pacino certainly has good moments throughout, and he is believable as well as technically realistic, I just never felt what he did amounted to any sort of an interesting characterization or performance.
Frank Serpico as a character is one of some repetition that is sure. It is a lot of him coming into a new part of the police in New York City seeing some sort of corruption and responding to it publicly in a low key fashion, although becoming more upset by it in more private settings. In between being upset by corruption he usually gets upset by his current wife, and yells at her, or responds quietly to her.
I don't know Pacino's performance here just never really amazes it me as it does seem to some. In the early scenes Pacino sets up how his character reacts with a quiet passion at first over the corruption he sees, and he keeps reacting in that same way throughout, thrown in with some angry disbelief over the ability of others to actually help him, and his feelings of danger by putting his neck out.
I don't know his whole plight never became as interesting as it seems it should have, because Pacino I feel should have done even more to show how the problems really stacked on Serpico in a better fashion, rather than just that tired face, along with the occasional scene of yelling. It always seemed to be less than Serpico really could have been in this film.
I think the whole incredible honesty of Serpico really needed to be better explored by both the film, and Pacino's performance. Was all what he did because of his nature, or because of of something else, I really felt Pacino really needed to more heavily develop what about Serpico made him want to be so honest, since it was not just to be a descent guy since frankly he does not seem to be always one.
Also another problem I had with his performance was his relationships with his two major wives. I will admit they are not helped by the two rather stilted performances by the actresses playing his wives, but Pacino himself does not create a very interesting relationship either. The relationships in the film feel rather cold, by the lack of energy Pacino puts in them, nor are they made into another type of relationship, like say mutual desperation or something like that, none of the three actors develops the relationship into anything the least bit interesting.
Pacino has yet anther problem I feel and that is Serpico whole odd policeman persona, when he slowly seems to become more and more unlike a cop as the film progresses with his growing beard, and continually more hippie like clothing. Why does Serpico do this other than for cover, and one would think it would be more than just for cover, never is realized, is it because he is really a hippie, or anti establishment or something, I don't know the film, and Pacino just do not develop it well enough.
Although I have been very negative I think up until this point, I do not think this is really a bad performance, but just a lacking one that could have been a lot more. Pacino certainly has good moments throughout, and he is believable as well as technically realistic, I just never felt what he did amounted to any sort of an interesting characterization or performance.
Mark
Wherever you may go in life, leave your mark... not necessarily, this way though.
VIEW THE ACTION HERE
VIEW THE ACTION HERE
Hump Day results
Sorry about the last minute results. I have no excuse. Octopunk gets the win this week with this one-two punch:
Well my stomach feels better but I still have the splitting headache. Whatever, I'm outta here, pukeface!
I’m at a loss for words because it’s just so very, very wrong for so many reasons. In Octo’s twisted brain, Thelma (did you know her name is Thelma?) casually vomits on PJ, mocks him and then abandons him, presumably by himself. It’s all the more appalling when you take PJ’s innocent and helpless expression into consideration.
Equally intriguing (though not nearly as shocking) was Octo's take on The Flintstones.
Panel 1
On the sign: The Comet is Coming
Fred (thinks): Weird. Why is that crazy guy hanging out in a residential neighborhood where few can see him?
Panel 2
Fred (thinks): Well, I can afford to be detachedly amused, as I'm home from work and surely he has no bearing on my situation...
Panel 3
Wilma: Look, Fred! It's me from the future. Apparently everything dies in twenty years and we're the only ones that make it. That's you out front, by the way...
Excellent work Octo!
Well my stomach feels better but I still have the splitting headache. Whatever, I'm outta here, pukeface!
I’m at a loss for words because it’s just so very, very wrong for so many reasons. In Octo’s twisted brain, Thelma (did you know her name is Thelma?) casually vomits on PJ, mocks him and then abandons him, presumably by himself. It’s all the more appalling when you take PJ’s innocent and helpless expression into consideration.
Equally intriguing (though not nearly as shocking) was Octo's take on The Flintstones.
Panel 1
On the sign: The Comet is Coming
Fred (thinks): Weird. Why is that crazy guy hanging out in a residential neighborhood where few can see him?
Panel 2
Fred (thinks): Well, I can afford to be detachedly amused, as I'm home from work and surely he has no bearing on my situation...
Panel 3
Wilma: Look, Fred! It's me from the future. Apparently everything dies in twenty years and we're the only ones that make it. That's you out front, by the way...
Excellent work Octo!
marriage equality in all states
right after the vote in NY, i was motivated to create a little celebration logo -- last night, i went ahead and made one for each state. here's the contact:
click to enlarge
click to enlarge
JPX loves puzzles
My latest obsession is 1970s era television jigsaw puzzles. In particular I’m quite taken with the sci-fi themed puzzles although if a Fonzie puzzle found its way into my bed I wouldn’t kick it out. I’ve made a bunch of puzzles recently and I’ve concluded that I like the 200 piece puzzles the most because they are not challenging at all and I can usually finish one in 30 minutes, which is the approximate length of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode (my other recent obsession). Above is my latest puzzle. I found this at the Brimfield Antique Show (largest flea market in the U.S.) for a sweet $5. The vendor assured me that the puzzle was “complete”, but of course it was missing 1 piece, which makes me mental. I love this puzzle because it’s so confusing; what the hell is going on in this scene? Why is Kirk so upset and why is Spock so nonplussed?
half theist, half atheist
'neurologist vs ramachandran explains the case of split-brain patients with one hemisphere without a belief in a god, and the other with a belief in a god.'
at 2006 beyond belief conference -- the full talk here.
at 2006 beyond belief conference -- the full talk here.
Best Actor 1973: Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail
Jack Nicholson received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Signalman 1st Class Billy L. "Bad Ass" Buddusky in The Last Detail.
The Last Detail tells the story of two naval petty officers Badass, and Mule (Otis Young) who have to transfer a very small time thief Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to the brig, but at the same time they try to provide a little bit of adventure and life experiences for the soon to be imprisoned young man.
Jack Nicholson has a rather interesting role in the film, since although he is the main character he really is not exactly the focus of the film precisely. It instead interestingly focuses on how he reacts to the naive Larry. It is a interesting dynamic, that might seem not seem conducive to developing a fully realized character, by Nicholson does this without fault, and it is fascinating that he does through his role that never really stops to tell specifically about Buddusky.
Nicholson though portrays this role with absolute ease, and charisma, it is another seventies Nicholson performance which really does mean a whole lot. In this decade Nicholson just has something else that no other actor ever hard is going to have. He is this unique presence and technique that is simply unforgettable in his nominated performances of this decade including this performance.
Nicholson develops a rather fascinating character in Buddusky because he is a career naval man, who does most certainly does his job thoroughly, and despite having problems with it he does not obviously hate it, yet still has an air of anti-establishment sentiment at the same time. It is an incredibly interesting mix of a character that Nicholson pulls off without a fault.
Nicholson is great in this part because he portrays it in an especially dead on realistic fashion throughout. Due to this fact, his somewhat reactionary performance is simply amazing at times. I think in particularly strong moments are when it shows how much he really pity and feels for Larry. Two extremely powerful moments of this aspect are probably his reaction to seeing the inside of Larry's home, or when he really contemplates what will happen to Larry.
This performance is not all reactionary though, and since it is a 70's Nicholson performance this of course has some classic Nicholson moments. The best of is of course when he confronts the racist bar tender who won't serve Larry, and right after that scene where he proclaims his badassery. Nicholson just has an amazing visceral energy, that is incomparable, and just incredible to watch. It also always works in these performances though because each scene in these performances although distinctly Nicholson, also always makes them distinctly the character he is playing, because Nicholson most certianly is a complete bad ass as bad ass.
Nicholson performance is just an amazing piece of acting, because I felt I really did meet Bad Ass Budusky in this film, and spent time with him as he did this job, and attempted to teach, or show Larry something. It is a strong piece of work becuase he develops Budusky so smoothly, and never does he ever seem like he is acting, even in his scenes that only Jack Nicholson could possibly do. It amazing to see how Nicholson truly develops a unique characterization and manages to create an outstanding memorable character without ever having a single scene that is obviously written just to develop his character. This is a great achievement by Nicholson that is all there is to it.
Jack Nicholson has a rather interesting role in the film, since although he is the main character he really is not exactly the focus of the film precisely. It instead interestingly focuses on how he reacts to the naive Larry. It is a interesting dynamic, that might seem not seem conducive to developing a fully realized character, by Nicholson does this without fault, and it is fascinating that he does through his role that never really stops to tell specifically about Buddusky.
Nicholson though portrays this role with absolute ease, and charisma, it is another seventies Nicholson performance which really does mean a whole lot. In this decade Nicholson just has something else that no other actor ever hard is going to have. He is this unique presence and technique that is simply unforgettable in his nominated performances of this decade including this performance.
Nicholson develops a rather fascinating character in Buddusky because he is a career naval man, who does most certainly does his job thoroughly, and despite having problems with it he does not obviously hate it, yet still has an air of anti-establishment sentiment at the same time. It is an incredibly interesting mix of a character that Nicholson pulls off without a fault.
Nicholson is great in this part because he portrays it in an especially dead on realistic fashion throughout. Due to this fact, his somewhat reactionary performance is simply amazing at times. I think in particularly strong moments are when it shows how much he really pity and feels for Larry. Two extremely powerful moments of this aspect are probably his reaction to seeing the inside of Larry's home, or when he really contemplates what will happen to Larry.
This performance is not all reactionary though, and since it is a 70's Nicholson performance this of course has some classic Nicholson moments. The best of is of course when he confronts the racist bar tender who won't serve Larry, and right after that scene where he proclaims his badassery. Nicholson just has an amazing visceral energy, that is incomparable, and just incredible to watch. It also always works in these performances though because each scene in these performances although distinctly Nicholson, also always makes them distinctly the character he is playing, because Nicholson most certianly is a complete bad ass as bad ass.
Nicholson performance is just an amazing piece of acting, because I felt I really did meet Bad Ass Budusky in this film, and spent time with him as he did this job, and attempted to teach, or show Larry something. It is a strong piece of work becuase he develops Budusky so smoothly, and never does he ever seem like he is acting, even in his scenes that only Jack Nicholson could possibly do. It amazing to see how Nicholson truly develops a unique characterization and manages to create an outstanding memorable character without ever having a single scene that is obviously written just to develop his character. This is a great achievement by Nicholson that is all there is to it.
Billy the Kid photograph fetches $2.3 million at auction
From cnn, (CNN) -- A 130-year-old photo, billed as the only authenticated picture of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid, sold for $2.3 million at a Denver auction Saturday night.
The Kid reportedly paid 25 cents to have the photo taken in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
The Old West Show & Auction had estimated the tintype -- an early photographic technique that used metal plates -- to bring in between $300,000 and $400,000.
"When the bidding ended, the whole room erupted in clapping and people leapt to their feet," said Melissa McCracken, spokeswoman for the auction. "I've never experienced anything like this before."
The winning bidder was billionaire William Koch who founded Oxbow Carbon, with reported sales of $4 billion annually. Koch comes from a well-known family whose last name has made headlines in the past year for their political involvement.
David Koch is William's twin. David and another brother, Charles, operate Koch Industries and are prominent conservative activists. Koch Industries is a large, privately owned conglomerate with interests ranging from petroleum to plastics to paper.
The Denver auction started with five bidders. Within two minutes, the bids shot up to a million dollars.
"The bidding was absolutely crazy," McCracken said.
The outlaw was born Henry McCarty but was also known as William H. Bonney and Henry Antrim. Popular history has him gunning down 21 men, but many historians say the number was closer to nine. He later died at the hands of another sheriff when he was only 21.
The annual auction is known for its collection of Wild West memorabilia. Last year, it auctioned off the gun collection of Roy Rogers, "the King of the Cowboys" who appeared in more than 100 movies.
Box office report: 'Cars 2' cruises to first place with $68 mil
From ew, Ka-ching! Disney and Pixar’s Cars 2 shook off conservative industry projections and wound up opening to a hearty $68 million, according to studio estimates. While that’s by no means the strongest debut for a Pixar film, Cars 2‘s performance should come as something of a relief to the animation powerhouse since some industry experts were predicting a debut closer to $50 million. Among all 12 Pixar movies, Cars 2‘s opening ranks fifth. When adjusted for ticket-price inflation, it drops down to ninth. The original Cars debuted to $60.1 million in 2006, or about $72 million in today’s dollars.
It’s a bit hard to gauge moviegoers’ response to the $200 million automotive sequel. CinemaScore audiences gave it a strong “A-” grade, which should indicate positive word of mouth. However, Cars 2 dropped 9 percent from Friday to Saturday. Family films usually grow from Friday to Saturday, so this decline is a bit concerning. Part of the problem may have been the G-rated film’s mediocre reviews, which potentially scared off some childless adults. Or Cars 2 was simply front-loaded thanks to families with young boys demanding to see the movie right away. As for Hollywood’s current 3-D funk, Cars 2 didn’t provide any relief. According to Disney, 40 percent of the film’s gross came from 3-D screenings, making Cars 2 the fourth straight major release (after Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Green Lantern) to earn less than half of its opening from 3-D theaters. Hollywood is hoping that next week’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon breaks the trend.
Full box office here
Monty Python Reunites To Raise Graham Chapman From The Dead
from cinemablend, When Graham Chapman died from cancer in 1989, it was thought the dream of a proper Monty Python reunion died with him. Chapman was one of the most pivotal pieces in the Python circus, you probably know him best as King Arthur in Holy Grail. But death is no obstacle to the Pythons, and more than twenty years after Graham’s departure from planet Earth he’s getting the gang back together for a new movie… sort of.
In 1980 Chapman published an autobiography titled A Liar’s Autobiography (Volume VI), detailing his life and his adventures as part of Monty Python’s legendary comedy troupe. As luck would have it, he also recorded an audio book, and now that aged recording of his voice is being spliced together along with newly recorded voices of all the other Pythons in a strange sounding animated movie about his life as an out gay man and closeted alcoholic. Strange is exactly what you’d want, when the Pythons are involved.
So far nearly all the ex-Pythons are part of this. The NY Times says that in addition to the ghost of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones will provide voices. Eric Idle is the only hold out though word is “they’re working on him”, whatever that means.
The movie will be framed by some sort of narrative device in which an animated John Cleese and an animated Graham Chapman go on a bike ride and talk about his life. The other Pythons will step in to play various characters in the story they tell. Michael Palin, for instance, will be Chapman’s father.
Though Gilliam’s doing voice work in the movie, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be involved in any of the actual animation. Gilliam’s original role in the Python troupe was to provide their surreal animation style, but this time it’s being done by thirteen different animation houses each creating brief segments. What’s more it’ll be in some sort of 3D animation style, which means all that awkward, low-tech, and sort of wonderful Python animation you’re used to will probably have no place here. Hey, they’re getting old, they don’t have time for all that stuff.
This doesn’t have a title yet though director Bill Jones seems to be floating Graham Chapman – Dead in 3D out there as a possibility. I think he’d approve. If Eric Idle stops running away long enough to join the cast, this will be a must see for anyone who's ever walked up to a friend and said, “Ni!”
It remains to be seen whether the movie will cover some of Chapman's more controversial views on the wing speed velocity of the unladen swallow and its role in the migration of coconuts:
eclipse over the acropolis
on apod, by elias politis:
image used with permission -- thank you, elias!
these images are included in a corresponding time lapse, acropoclipse:
many thanks to lawrence klaes for the tip.
image used with permission -- thank you, elias!
these images are included in a corresponding time lapse, acropoclipse:
many thanks to lawrence klaes for the tip.
the god of the old testament, defined
ignorant amos' comment on a post on RDFRS... long, but fun:
snip
"the god of the ΟΤ is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
unpleasant un·pleas·ant/ˌənˈplezÉ™nt/ adjective 1. causing discomfort, unhappiness, or revulsion; disagreeable.
2 chronicles 15:13 whosoever would not seek the lord god of israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
/snip
read on and on...
snip
"the god of the ΟΤ is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
unpleasant un·pleas·ant/ˌənˈplezÉ™nt/ adjective 1. causing discomfort, unhappiness, or revulsion; disagreeable.
2 chronicles 15:13 whosoever would not seek the lord god of israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
/snip
read on and on...
Best Actor 1973
Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris
Al Pacino in Serpico
Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger
Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail
Robert Redford in The Sting
Lead Ranking
- 1962
- 1939
- 1964
- 1965
- 1970
- 1974
- 1976
- 1954
- 1982
- 1960
- 1983
- 1967
- 1979
- 1955
- 1972
- 1994
- 1940
- 1950
- 1963
- 1975
- 1952
- 1980
- 1959
- 1987
- 1977
- 1968
- 2006
- 1938
- 1992
- 1961
- 1971
- 1956
- 1951
- 1984
- 1943
- 1958
- 1948
- 1998
- 1944
- 1936
- 1946
- 2007
- 2005
- 1947
- 1993
- 1981
- 1989
- 1995
- 2004
- 1937
- 2009
- 1941
- 1997
- 1931
- 1996
- 1949
- 2003
- 1945
- 1985
- 2001
- 2008
- 1991
- 2000
- F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
- Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954)
- Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
- George C. Scott in Patton (1970)
- Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (1983)
- Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948)
- Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
- Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
- Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
- Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1976)
- Edward Norton in American History X (1998)
- Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter (1968)
- Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
- Peter Finch in Network (1976)
- Laurence Olivier in Sleuth (1972)
- Jack Nicholson in Ironweed (1987)
- Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951)
- Laurence Olivier in The Entertainer (1960)
- Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold (1965)
- James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
- Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker (1965)
- Kirk Douglas in Lust For Life (1956)
- Laurence Olivier in Richard III (1956)
- Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937)
- Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend (1945)
- Clark Gable in Gone With The Wind (1939)
- Stuart Whitman in The Mark (1961)
- Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961)
- Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
- Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955)
- Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940)
- Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
- Clark Gable in It Happened One Night (1934)
- Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)
- Alec Guinness in The Lavender Hill Mob (1952)
- Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Laurence Harvey in Room at the Top (1959)
- Spencer Tracy in A Bad Day At Black (1955)
- Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek (1964)
- Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
- Peter O'Toole in Becket (1964)
- Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974)
- Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
- William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
- Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
- Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
- Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
- Victor McLaglen in The Informer (1935)
- James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes Washington (1939)
- Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
- Rod Steiger in The Heat of the Night (1967)
- Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven (1992)
- Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960)
- James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
- Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights (1939)
- Tom Wilkinson in In The Bedroom (2001)
- Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking (1995)
- Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963)
- Paul Newman in Hud (1963)
- Richard Harris in This Sporting Life (1963)
- Albert Finney in Tom Jones (1963)
- Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style (1962)
- Richard Burton in Becket (1964)
- Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971)
- Robert Donat in The Citadel (1938)
- Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944)
- James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
- Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982)
- Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
- James Mason in A Star is Born (1954)
- Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940)
- Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939)
- Leslie Howard in Pygmalion (1938)
- Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)
- Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
- Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
- Walter Huston The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
- Michael Caine in Sleuth (1972)
- Robert Duvall in The Apostle (1997)
- Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
- Emil Jannings in The Last Command (1928)
- Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (1993)
- Walter Huston in Dodsworth (1936)
- John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
- Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
- Laurence Olivier in Henry V (1946)
- David Niven in Separate Tables (1958)
- Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (2009)
- Kirk Douglas in Champion (1949)
- Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
- Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
- Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (2007)
- Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
- Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator (2004)
- Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
- Ronald Colman in Bulldog Drummond (1930)
- Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
- Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954)
- Dudley Moore in Arthur (1981)
- Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda (2004)
- Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
- Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond (1981)
- Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944)
- Nigel Hawthorne in The Madness of King George (1994)
- John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)
- Tom Courtenay in The Dresser (1983)
- Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools (1965)
- Marcello Mastroianni in A Special Day (1977)
- Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (1967)
- Tom Hulce in Amadeus (1984)
- William Powell in The Thin Man (1934)
- Maximilian Schell in The Man in a Glass Booth (1975)
- Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)
- Alexander Knox in Wilson (1944)
- Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)
- Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000)
- Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1980)
- James Stewart in Harvey (1950)
- Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Jose Ferrer in Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
- William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950)
- Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993)
- Cary Grant in Penny Serenade (1941)
- Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond (2006)
- John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
- Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
- Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold (1997)
- Alan Bates in The Fixer (1968)
- Albert Finney in The Dresser (1983)
- Albert Finney in Under The Volcano (1984)
- Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones (1958)
- Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
- Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields (1984)
- Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (1958)
- Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)
- Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1943)
- Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965)
- Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
- Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)
- Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
- Clark Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (2006)
- Richard Jenkins in The Visitor (2008)
- Ryan O'Neal in Love Story (1970)
- Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby (2004)
- Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin (1992)
- Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul (1931)
- Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
- Jack Lemmon in The China Syndrome (1979)
- Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride (1950)
- Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe (1954)
- Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class (1972)
- Paul Newman in A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
- Roy Scheider in All that Jazz (1979)
- Fredric March in A Star is Born (1937)
- Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)
- Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1931)
- Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory (1951)
- Kirk Douglas in The Bad and The Beautiful (1952)
- Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom (1945)
- Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year (1982)
- Montgomery Clift in The Search (1948)
- Richard Burton in Equus (1977)
- Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy (1943)
- William Holden in Network (1976)
- Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient (1997)
- William Powell in My Man Godfrey (1936)
- Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968)
- Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool (1994)
- Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
- Ronald Colman in Condemned (1930)
- Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man (1980)
- Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)
- Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006)
- Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (1989)
- Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona (1929)
- Dustin Hoffman in Lenny (1974)
- Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
- Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope (1970)
- Marcello Mastroianni in Dark Eyes (1987)
- Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway (1931)
- Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983)
- Al Pacino in ...And Justice for All (1979)
- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (2009)
- Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day (1993)
- James Dean in Giant (1956)
- Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City (1981)
- William Powell in Life With Father (1947)
- Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)
- Maurice Chevalier in The Love Parade (1930)
- Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
- Jude Law in Cold Mountain (2003)
- Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959)
- Rock Hudson in Giant (1956)
- Charles Boyer in Algiers (1938)
- Stephen Rea in The Crying Game (1992)
- Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
- Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
- Jack Lemmon in Missing (1982)
- John Garfield in Body and Soul (1947)
- Ron Moody in Oliver! (1968)
- Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964)
- Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty (1948)
- Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
- Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
- Charles Boyer in Conquest (1937)
- Lew Ayres in Johnny Belinda (1948)
- Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992)
- William Hurt in Broadcast News (1987)
- George C. Scott in The Hospital (1971)
- Broderick Crawford in All the King's Men (1949)
- Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (1960)
- Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz (1964)
- Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
- Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
- Paul Muni in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
- Trevor Howard in Sons and Lovers (1960)
- James Cagney in Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
- David Straithairn in Good Night and Good Luck (2005)
- Harrison Ford in Witness (1985)
- Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003)
- Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
- Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)
- Alan Arkin in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
- Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977)
- Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
- Michael Redgrave in Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
- Nick Nolte in Affliction (1998)
- Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939)
- Charlie Chaplin in The Circus (1928)
- Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys (1975)
- James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
- Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets (1997)
- Paul Muni in The Valiant (1929)
- Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page (1931)
- Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog (1997)
- Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
- Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)
- Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
- Paul Muni in The Last Angry Man (1959)
- Gregory Peck in Twelve O'clock High (1949)
- Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)
- Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
- Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2007)
- Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
- Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie (1943)
- Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade (1996)
- Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland (2004)
- Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
- Spencer Tracy in San Francisco (1936)
- Johnny Depp in The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944)
- Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938)
- Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (2005)
- Paul Winfield in Sounder (1972)
- Jose Ferrer in Moulin Rouge (1952)
- George Arliss in Disraeli (1930)
- Anthony Hopkins in Nixon (1995)
- Wallace Beery in The Champ (1932)
- Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart (1944)
- Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951)
- Morgan Freeman in Invictus (2009)
- Alfred Lunt in The Guardsman (1932)
- Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart (1949)
- Frank Sinatra in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
- Charles Boyer in Fanny (1961)
- Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
- James Whitmore in Give 'Em Hell Harry! (1975)
- George Arliss in The Green Goddess (1930)
- Gregory Peck in The Yearling (1946)
- Robin Williams in The Fisher King (1991)
- Ed Harris in Pollock (2000)
- Gregory Peck in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
- James Garner in Murphy's Romance (1985)
- Maurice Chevalier in The Big Pond (1930)
- Robert Montgomery in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
- Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976)
- George Clooney in Michael Clayton (2007)
- Fredric March in Death of a Salesman (1951)
- Geoffrey Rush in Quills (2000)
- Walter Matthau in Kotch (1971)
- Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)
- Paul Newman in Absence of Malice (1981)
- Frank Morgan in The Affairs of Cellini (1934)
- Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)
- Warren Beatty in Reds (1981)
- Massimo Troisi in The Postman (1995)
- Dan Dailey in When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948)
- Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh (1945)
- Ben Kingsley in The House of Sand and Fog (2003)
- Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)
- Jon Voight in Runaway Train (1985)
- Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides (1991)
- Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
- Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
- Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It (1993)
- Bing Crosby in Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
- Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
- Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and The Sea (1958)
- Chester Morris in Alibi (1929)
- Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
- Frank Langella Frost/Nixon (2008)
- Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor (1985)
- Jack Lemmon in Tribute (1980)
- Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
- Woody Harrelson in The People vs Larry Flynt (1996)
- Larry Parks in The Jolson Story (1946)
- Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991)
- Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow (2005)
- Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
- Robin William in Dead Poet's Society (1989)
- Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
- George Clooney in Up in The Air (2009)
- Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956)
- Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember (1945)
- Jeff Bridges in Star Man (1984)
- Spencer Tracy in Captain Courageous (1937)
- Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941)
- Will Smith in Ali (2001)
- Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998)
- Sean Penn in I Am Sam (2001)
- Jamie Foxx in Ray (2004)
- Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
Hit & Run - 711
Wow, Philadelphians, this does NOT look good! As my friend, Serina and I say, "umm, that's not ok!"
Click the link to see video!
Amplify’d from www.tmz.com
Hit & Run Crash -- WORST PEOPLE EVER
The crash occurred in Philadelphia June 9, outside a 7-11.
If you know where the driver is, call the Yeadon PD. We'll definitely give you a TMZ t-shirt and a mug.
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a15zj6
congratulations, NY
i stayed up to watch the vote in NY last night (it was overnight for me). it was good to watch. congratulations.
©2011 helen sotiriadis
TROLLHUNTER
Last night for FILM FRIDAY we did NOT watch PAUL, but we witnessed the film, Troll Hunter, as demanded by the husband of Jami Murphy aka Robert. This is a special film. BlairBitchProject meets insanity to the power of ridiculurum. A film crew sets out to follow a Troll Hunter and chaos ensues. If it was 40 mins, I would have liked it better. It was entertaining for a bit. More on http://www.trollhunterfilm.com - Next week will be PAUL for those interested. Maybe after that THE APPLE or HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN ;)
TROLLHUNTER: "Shot in a vérité style, THE TROLL HUNTER is the story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy. A thrilling and wildly entertaining film, TROLLHUNTER delivers truly fantastic images of giant trolls wreaking havoc on the countryside, with darkly funny adherence to the original Norwegian folklore."
TROLLHUNTER: "Shot in a vérité style, THE TROLL HUNTER is the story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy. A thrilling and wildly entertaining film, TROLLHUNTER delivers truly fantastic images of giant trolls wreaking havoc on the countryside, with darkly funny adherence to the original Norwegian folklore."
Oubliette ~ Afterparty
One week until this awesome, all night / after hours event! It has been too long since there was something like this :) If you want to get involved, send me a message.
http://on.fb.me/jWj4vt
http://on.fb.me/jWj4vt
Best Actor 2009: Results
Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man
Joseph Gordon Levitt in 500 Days of Summer
Note: I have not seen Moon, The Road or Two Lovers, (I probably should)
Best Actor 2009: Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Jeremy Renner received his first Oscar nomination for portraying SFC William James in The Hurt Locker.
The Hurt Locker tells of a explosives disposal unit during the Iraq War.
Jeremy Renner performance is a different type of performance that seems to be nominated a lot of times these days, I feel, because it is an action based performance in many ways, and he really is not given many scenes where he is suppose to give a big Oscary performance scene. Instead he has to show his character development largely well the film moves forward quite rapidly.
In this respect Renner succeeds quite well. In his early moments we do not stop and see who exactly he is, or where he has come from precisely but Renner manages to indicate what sort of man he is with ease. It is rather fascinating in the way Renner goes about the first bomb disposal, he shows a command most certianly in the situation, suggesting his long history of a bomb disposing.
As well Renner effectively brings the audience in to the disposal incredibly, his performance conveys the risk of the job, and interestingly suggests the joy and kick he gets out of the job. He shows that James loves to do his job, loves to do it well, and does not exactly mind the risk because of a certain need that it provides for him. This whole drive for risk is suggested more than said, but it is abundantly clear due to Renner understated and realistic portrayal of it.
Renner whole performance is effective work because he manages to be a truly compelling lead, in what is in many ways a director's film, in terms of style. He also manages to be a compelling and in his own unique way charismatic. He gives a leading man performance really, in an entirely unorthodox fashion, which works wonders for his characterization.
Renner's few moments that more directly let him expand his character, are terrific scenes for him. One for example is when he shows the rest of his squad his box of thinks that almost killed him. His fascination with death the death causing instruments is almost chilling because Renner portrays James' feelings in an understated fashion.
Also Renner carefully in this same scene tells about his home life with his son, and wife, who he seems to admire in a fashion, but clearly has his deep routed troubles. The best part of Renner's whole portrayal is that he does not tell everything about William James, he instead more realistically, shows only part of a very complicated man.
This a strong performance that knows that just because he does not have constant scenes devoted specifically to character development, that does not mean it can't be a fully developed character anyways. Renner is tremendous from each scene, in his small subtle revelations about his character.
Renner's performance is filled with realistic understated reactions which is why his performance is so effective. Renner always brings out the most out of each scene because of this, particularly in the disturbing bombs that are used with people attached scenes.
He never overplays his performance, trying instead to meld his more off the wall leanings, mixed in with his duties which never seem forced or off the mark. This is perfectly attuned performance which brilliantly makes use of restraint, making his more emotional moments all the more effective.
Jeremy Renner performance is a different type of performance that seems to be nominated a lot of times these days, I feel, because it is an action based performance in many ways, and he really is not given many scenes where he is suppose to give a big Oscary performance scene. Instead he has to show his character development largely well the film moves forward quite rapidly.
In this respect Renner succeeds quite well. In his early moments we do not stop and see who exactly he is, or where he has come from precisely but Renner manages to indicate what sort of man he is with ease. It is rather fascinating in the way Renner goes about the first bomb disposal, he shows a command most certianly in the situation, suggesting his long history of a bomb disposing.
As well Renner effectively brings the audience in to the disposal incredibly, his performance conveys the risk of the job, and interestingly suggests the joy and kick he gets out of the job. He shows that James loves to do his job, loves to do it well, and does not exactly mind the risk because of a certain need that it provides for him. This whole drive for risk is suggested more than said, but it is abundantly clear due to Renner understated and realistic portrayal of it.
Renner whole performance is effective work because he manages to be a truly compelling lead, in what is in many ways a director's film, in terms of style. He also manages to be a compelling and in his own unique way charismatic. He gives a leading man performance really, in an entirely unorthodox fashion, which works wonders for his characterization.
Renner's few moments that more directly let him expand his character, are terrific scenes for him. One for example is when he shows the rest of his squad his box of thinks that almost killed him. His fascination with death the death causing instruments is almost chilling because Renner portrays James' feelings in an understated fashion.
Also Renner carefully in this same scene tells about his home life with his son, and wife, who he seems to admire in a fashion, but clearly has his deep routed troubles. The best part of Renner's whole portrayal is that he does not tell everything about William James, he instead more realistically, shows only part of a very complicated man.
This a strong performance that knows that just because he does not have constant scenes devoted specifically to character development, that does not mean it can't be a fully developed character anyways. Renner is tremendous from each scene, in his small subtle revelations about his character.
Renner's performance is filled with realistic understated reactions which is why his performance is so effective. Renner always brings out the most out of each scene because of this, particularly in the disturbing bombs that are used with people attached scenes.
He never overplays his performance, trying instead to meld his more off the wall leanings, mixed in with his duties which never seem forced or off the mark. This is perfectly attuned performance which brilliantly makes use of restraint, making his more emotional moments all the more effective.
dan savage interviews tim minchin
skewer mouth
'when i'm being mean about religion, i'm being mean about where religion goes wrong. i'm not just being mean to people for having faith. i think about this shit a lot. but to bring it back to what you were saying, i do want to be a humanist, and i do want to point out to people that beauty is in the real world and not in the fake one, and how the language of spirituality is empty. i mean, i'm not on a mission. i'm on a mission to just play fun gigs and make people have a fucking riot of a time. but the bigger my audience gets, the more i have to take responsibility for what i'm saying.'
the entire interview here.
'when i'm being mean about religion, i'm being mean about where religion goes wrong. i'm not just being mean to people for having faith. i think about this shit a lot. but to bring it back to what you were saying, i do want to be a humanist, and i do want to point out to people that beauty is in the real world and not in the fake one, and how the language of spirituality is empty. i mean, i'm not on a mission. i'm on a mission to just play fun gigs and make people have a fucking riot of a time. but the bigger my audience gets, the more i have to take responsibility for what i'm saying.'
the entire interview here.
goodbye, columbo
september 16, 1927 – june 23, 2011
no more things.
... well, maybe just one more thing...
from the wall street journal's how peter falk made lt. columbo iconic:
'in every story, falk’s columbo showed us what a grave mistake it was to judge a person by how they dressed, the car they drove, or how much education they had. every time he brought down one of those rich, highly educated, supremely self-confident, outrageously good-looking murderers, he not only chipped away at our ridiculous notions of what makes a hero, he offered us escape in an entirely different way. falk made us believe, through his deceptively simple performance, that we didn’t have to be rich, well-dressed, or have an ivy league education to be the smartest person in the room…nor did we have to be physically perfect, and the consummate tough guy, to be a man.
we just had to be true to ourselves.'
Peter Falk Dies at 83
"Peter Falk, who created one of the all-time great TV detectives on "Columbo" and was twice nominated for an Oscar, has died.
A family spokesperson says Falk, 83, died Thursday night (June 23) at his home in Beverly Hills. He had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease in recent years."
The rest of the story here.
Peter Falk
"If your mind is at work, we're in danger of reproducing another cliche. If we can keep our minds out of it and our thoughts out of it, maybe we'll come up with something original."
- Peter Falk
- Peter Falk
Julia Ormond is Superman's Kryptonian Mother in "Superman" Reboot
From worstpreviews, About a week ago, it was reported that Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) was in talks to play Superman's Kryptonian mother Lara in Zack Snyder's upcoming "Superman" reboot.
Now comes word that Nielsen is out and Julia Ormond (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Che) has been offered the role. If she takes the part, she'll star alongside Russell Crowe, who recently signed on to play Jro-El, the Kryptonian father of Superman (Henry Cavill).
Kevin Costner and Diane Lane will play Clark Kent's Earthbound parents. The film is set to hit theaters in December of 2012.
'Midnight in Paris' is Woody Allen's highest-grossing film in 25 years
From usatoday, Midnight In Paris is moving into another world.
Woody Allen's dreamy look at Paris' artistic past has became his highest domestic grossing film in 25 years, according to a release from the film's distributor on Thursday. The film has grossed $23,330,859 to date, says Sony Pictures Classics.
The unusual art house film, which stars Owen Wilson as a romantic, American TV writer who time travels to meet some of the world's great literary writers and artists, has found a significant general audience since playing at the Cannes Film Festival and its May U.S. theatrical release.
The film also stars Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard and Kathy Bates.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Midnight in Paris passed the $23.2 million mark grossed by Allen's films Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point. Paris' new target will be to beat the $40.1 million earned by Allen's popular Hannah and Her Sisters, which came out in 1986.
Cars 2 apparently stinks
From slashfilm, It’s only fair, I suppose, that if we run articles trumpeting the fact that other Pixar movies have achieved some form of massively positive consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, that when the company finally releases one that falls far short of the same margin, it would be worth noting. So this weekend will stand as a milestone in the history of Pixar, as Cars 2 opens to the first generally negative consensus opinion in the company’s experience.
That isn’t to say that the film will be a flop. Far from it, in fact. It isn’t tracking through the roof, but Cars 2 will perform well enough, even if it doesn’t hit the box-office highs of other Pixar films. This is primarily a critical failure. But while there is that oft-discussed gulf between critical and public opinion, some critical failures do suggest that producers really misjudged what audiences want. Cars characters have moved ten billion bucks worth of merchandise in the past five years, which sure suggests there is an audience for a sequel. I’m eager to see how most audiences respond to the film, then.
I certainly take no joy in noting this, and curiously enough I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else reveling in the general distaste for Cars 2, either. The prevailing opinion seems to be that Pixar had to swing and miss sometime. That they did so with the film that is obviously the studio’s most commercial effort is balanced by the fact that Pixar co-founder and Cars 2 director John Lasseter very evidently approached the film with no cynicism at all. (Or, I’ll say, that I am willing to believe him when he talks about the film, which he does with a great deal of investment and passion.)
Best Actor 2009: Colin Firth in A Single Man
Colin Firth received his first Oscar nomination for portraying George Falconer in A Single Man.
A Single man tells of George a homosexual whose lover Jim (Matthew Goode) has recently died, so he decides to commit suicide.
Colin Firth's is the type of performance that the Oscars do seem to enjoy now more than ever. A problem I most certianly have with film these days is the way so many seem tailored for awards, rather than being films first. But I digress. Well not quite yet because in this film he voice over narrates the fact that he must hide his homosexuality through a facade, where back in 1971 Peter Finch was able to tell us this without having to voice over narrate it in Sunday Bloody Sunday, but I even further digress I must separate this performance from some of the problems I have with modern films.
Colin Firth is an actor who has developed over the last two years a sudden reputation that he is one of the greatest actors, for some reason. I can't quite say I share such enthusiasm about him as an actor, certianly he is not a bad actor I will grant that, but I cannot say he is by nature an amazing one. In fact I would say he falls under the group of actors whose performances can feel just a little bit calculated in nature.
I think that is the case for many of performances, and perhaps here too, but luckily for him it does work in favor of the calculated man George Falconer is suppose to be. George is always suppose to be calculating his approach to each day, creating the George he wants to show to the outside world, and hide the George that is actually on the inside.
Firth is interesting in the way he displays the two George's the one at home, and the one in the outside world. They are not completely different men actually but rather two shades of the same man. On the outside he seems to be rather proper English expatriate, who teaches his college course with a restrained but a strong passion, on the inside he is still an English expatriate but a more relaxed, and in some ways more lively of a fellow.
Both incarnations of George are well handled by Firth although not quite as different as his voice over might want you to believe. The largest part of Firth's performance is George's grief over the death Jim. Unfortunately I never felt in this aspect Firth was as strong as I wanted him to be, he is good in these scenes but there were a few issues I always felt with the performance.
For example when he first hearts about the death Firth slowly shows George's emotional devastation over hearing this. It is well done technically, but still I felt the whole action was a tad calculated on Firth's part, making it seem like a great display of acting, rather a completely genuine human reaction.
Also every one of his flashback scenes with Matthew Goode always left wanting more. They fine enough together. They seem to like each other well enough, and all that, but there seems to be something missing. I just never felt either of the actors, particularly Firth brought about the deeper connection that one would think they should have, since Jim's death is suppose to leave George suicidally depressed.
Also his whole depressing over the death, also always left me wanting a little more, it is fairly well handled by Firth, but I wanted just a little more. For example I wish Firth showed a bit more of struggle to hide his grief well trying to get through the day. I never always sensed the grief was there, yes at some moments but really not enough, since after all it probably should since he is suicidally depressed.
Firth though certainly has some great moments anyways, despite some of my problems with some of his performance. For example his scene where he talks to the little girl next door is a brilliant moment for Firth, contain a certian warmness of his exterior in that scene which reflects quite interestingly off of his grieving interior.
Also Firth's whole scene with Julianne Moore as Charley is terrific. The two actors together create a fascinating relationship together, becuase together they certainly have a love for each other but rather restrained and very specific one. Firth is interesting in that he shows a different side of George in the way he really shows his bitterness about his loss, and how the relationship with her was just who he was.
His final scenes should be stronger than they are, and I think they are indeed weakened by an overacted, and dull performance by Nicholas Hoult as one of George's students. Their scenes do not have as much power as they should, as George finally truly reflects on his life, and on Jim's death. Firth though still manages a powerful moment or two with proper poignancy to the situation, but unfortunately the overall effect of these final moments aren't as good as they could be.
Firth's performance is most certainly an interesting performance that cannot be denied, after all I usually do not write this much about a boring performance. The only problem was I always felt it was parts of a great performance, but never quite simply a great performance. It is never really obviously lacking, but rather I always though he could have done more with the part. This is a good performance, I have to stress that most assuredly, but it is one I never found myself loving as many do.
Colin Firth's is the type of performance that the Oscars do seem to enjoy now more than ever. A problem I most certianly have with film these days is the way so many seem tailored for awards, rather than being films first. But I digress. Well not quite yet because in this film he voice over narrates the fact that he must hide his homosexuality through a facade, where back in 1971 Peter Finch was able to tell us this without having to voice over narrate it in Sunday Bloody Sunday, but I even further digress I must separate this performance from some of the problems I have with modern films.
Colin Firth is an actor who has developed over the last two years a sudden reputation that he is one of the greatest actors, for some reason. I can't quite say I share such enthusiasm about him as an actor, certianly he is not a bad actor I will grant that, but I cannot say he is by nature an amazing one. In fact I would say he falls under the group of actors whose performances can feel just a little bit calculated in nature.
I think that is the case for many of performances, and perhaps here too, but luckily for him it does work in favor of the calculated man George Falconer is suppose to be. George is always suppose to be calculating his approach to each day, creating the George he wants to show to the outside world, and hide the George that is actually on the inside.
Firth is interesting in the way he displays the two George's the one at home, and the one in the outside world. They are not completely different men actually but rather two shades of the same man. On the outside he seems to be rather proper English expatriate, who teaches his college course with a restrained but a strong passion, on the inside he is still an English expatriate but a more relaxed, and in some ways more lively of a fellow.
Both incarnations of George are well handled by Firth although not quite as different as his voice over might want you to believe. The largest part of Firth's performance is George's grief over the death Jim. Unfortunately I never felt in this aspect Firth was as strong as I wanted him to be, he is good in these scenes but there were a few issues I always felt with the performance.
For example when he first hearts about the death Firth slowly shows George's emotional devastation over hearing this. It is well done technically, but still I felt the whole action was a tad calculated on Firth's part, making it seem like a great display of acting, rather a completely genuine human reaction.
Also every one of his flashback scenes with Matthew Goode always left wanting more. They fine enough together. They seem to like each other well enough, and all that, but there seems to be something missing. I just never felt either of the actors, particularly Firth brought about the deeper connection that one would think they should have, since Jim's death is suppose to leave George suicidally depressed.
Also his whole depressing over the death, also always left me wanting a little more, it is fairly well handled by Firth, but I wanted just a little more. For example I wish Firth showed a bit more of struggle to hide his grief well trying to get through the day. I never always sensed the grief was there, yes at some moments but really not enough, since after all it probably should since he is suicidally depressed.
Firth though certainly has some great moments anyways, despite some of my problems with some of his performance. For example his scene where he talks to the little girl next door is a brilliant moment for Firth, contain a certian warmness of his exterior in that scene which reflects quite interestingly off of his grieving interior.
Also Firth's whole scene with Julianne Moore as Charley is terrific. The two actors together create a fascinating relationship together, becuase together they certainly have a love for each other but rather restrained and very specific one. Firth is interesting in that he shows a different side of George in the way he really shows his bitterness about his loss, and how the relationship with her was just who he was.
His final scenes should be stronger than they are, and I think they are indeed weakened by an overacted, and dull performance by Nicholas Hoult as one of George's students. Their scenes do not have as much power as they should, as George finally truly reflects on his life, and on Jim's death. Firth though still manages a powerful moment or two with proper poignancy to the situation, but unfortunately the overall effect of these final moments aren't as good as they could be.
Firth's performance is most certainly an interesting performance that cannot be denied, after all I usually do not write this much about a boring performance. The only problem was I always felt it was parts of a great performance, but never quite simply a great performance. It is never really obviously lacking, but rather I always though he could have done more with the part. This is a good performance, I have to stress that most assuredly, but it is one I never found myself loving as many do.
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