It is so unfair that while I was at work today, Twitter was all a-buzz with comments about the new Thor trailer which hit the interwebs overnight. Of course, everything cool is blocked at the office. I just got to watch and… Oh. My. God.
Od’s Blood, it looks amazing. Plus, the Destroyer. I mean, really! The Destroyer. Awe. Some.
July 4th, American Independence Day, is a holiday full of tradition. It’s a day to spend with family and friends, eating barbecue, enjoyingthe music of John Philip Sousa, and blowing stuff up. A 20-year tradition at my house is watching the Tony Award winning Sherman Edwards musical, 1776.
The musical, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning Peter Stone book, tells the story of the debate for American independence, the origins of the Declaration of Independence and the wrangling it took to get it signed. 1776 features memorable musical numbers that you’ll hum to yourself for days after watching with performances from actors at the top of their craft.
William Daniels (voice of KITT in Knight Rider) plays the obnoxious and disliked John Adams, a lovesick Thomas Jefferson is portrayed by Ken Howard (TVs White Shadow), and blacklisted stage actor Howard Da Silva steals the show as Benjamin Franklin. My favorite performance, though, is masterfully provided by John Collum (TVs Holling Vincoeur in Northern Exposure). Collum has a commanding, beautiful voice. His song, Molasses to Rum, chills me each time I hear it.
In addition to returning to the film each year, I catch the musical on stage when I can. I hate that I never got to see Brent Spiner (TNG’s Data) as John Adams.
1776 airs today on Turner Classic Movies at 2:30 pm Eastern/1:30 Central. It’s available on Netflix, but sadly does not stream.
At it’s core, 1776 documents a beautiful love that dare not speak its name between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson…
Reposted in the spirit of the holiday – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
What I love most about the Leprechaun films is how unabashed they are about not making sense.
The only thing that can hurt a leprechaun is a four leaf clover! No, it’s wrought iron! No, it’s an amulet that turns him to stone! No, it’s burning his gold!
The leprechaun can’t hurt you if you have his gold on you! Oh wait…he can cut you open if you swallow a piece.
And how the hell does he keep losing coins when he’s so obsessive compulsive about his gold? Dude…stop carrying your pot of gold around uncovered if you don’t want money falling out. At least he wised up in the third one and put it in a safe. Which, might I mention, doesn’t make sense since they used a safe in part two to trap him (wrought iron).
Poor Leprechaun…you thought Jason had it bad? In the first film he melted, got shot, then burned to death. In the second, he gets stabbed with an iron bar in the heart and explodes into little lucky charm bits! I don’t even remember how the hell he died in part 3 and I just finished watching it.
How the hell does this make any kind of sense. These guys seem to have an idea. More after the jump.
Is it just me or are the Olympics missing out on what would have been AMAZING commentary from Canada’s biggest luminaries, Bob and Doug McKenzie? I’d much prefer to get my Olympic minute from these guys rather than Bob Costas and Al Michaels. I mean, those dudes are great, but whatta’ they know about beer and back bacon or how to get a free case of beer by slipping a mouse into the beer bottle?
I should totally be producing these Olympics, eh? I mean, dig this… they could sing their own theme song (with Getty Lee from Rush!). Quality and economy from the McKenzie boys!
Aron returns from his journeys across the snow-ravaged lands of New England to rejoin Paul, Wayne, and Jonathan for another rousing discussion of the week in comics…
And if you haven’t gotten enough of Paul and Jonathan, please be sure to check out this week’s episode of Kicked in the Dicebags (episode released week of 02/21/2010 – NOTE: Extremely explicit content on KITDB).
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That’s right.
I’m in this month’s episode of The Variants in a critically acclaimed turn as Customer #6.
Super. Star.
Like Charisma Carpenter, I now charge for my autograph.
This is an excellent episode. It is easily my favorite thus far of the series (and not just because I’m in it). The hot tub scene is hysterical. I am a bit puzzled that I wasn’t included in this shot, but I’m sure I’m being reserved for some kind of Sharon-Stone-Like-Leg-Crossing action for the season ender.
BTW, I am totally stealing Richard’s customer service training for my next staff meeting.
James Cameron is well known for his visually stunning, epic masterpieces. From Terminator to Titanic, Aliens to the Abyss, he’s consistently created major works of cinema that leave lasting impacts on pop culture. His latest work, Avatar, promises to add to this reputation.
As expected, the effects in this movie are beautiful and seamless. “Awe inspiring” could almost be applied as well, but it is all too easy to forget that the creatures, plants and even scenery on the screen do not really exist and that there is anything worthy of awe. The motions of the animals, the reactions of the plants and even the landscape all seem completely authentic. Even the design of the alien creatures and equipment that the humans use are logical and believable, adding another level of verisimilitude to the film.
The viewer is drawn in almost immediately. One of the first scenes contains what is probably the most realistic portrayal of zero gravity ever put into film. There is a moment of “this is so cool” and then the viewer’s mind simply accepts everything that is going on is real.
Perhaps the greatest triumph for the CGI animators is the eyes of all the living creatures in the movie. Even though the eyes of the alien creatures actually are alien, they still look real. More importantly, they look alive. “The eyes are the windows to the soul” is never proven any more effectively than when an image is given eyes. If the eyes don’t look alive then the creature itself will not look real. Everything else can be completely accurate, but getting the eyes to look alive proves quite elusive and vital. Avatar never encounters this problem and even close ups of the characters look authentic and expressive. Part of this success is no doubt due to the excellent way that the animators manage to bring through the expressions and mannerisms of the actors to their CGI counterparts. Read the rest of this entry »
It amuses me to no end that the Muppets made a Bohemian Rhapsody video. Sure, it’s a bit expected that all references to Mama killing a man and Beelzebub are omitted, but still… it’s a lotta fun.