Wrybread's Cavalcade of Whimsy

 http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/80733

No surprise there as far as I'm concerned, given the standard summer blockbuster hype combined with the mix of morbidity and sentimentality surrounding Heath Ledger's final performance.  Luckily, I saw the movie Friday night and am pleased to report that the movie more than lives up to its' hype.  Go see it now.  And then consider seeing it again.  I'm usually cynical about posthumous accolades as they tend to come more from pity and/or nostalgia than they do from any genuinely impressive performance, but Ledger was bloody amazing, with an emphasis on the "bloody."  He hammed it up to just the right amount to remain true to the character, while for the most part keeping the character based in a twitchy, nihilistic, frankly scary reality.  An Oscar nomination would not be amiss.  Speaking of scary and realistic, how about that Two-Face?  Thank God someone's done one of my favourite villains ever justice on film and erased all memories of that pathetic Tommy Lee Jones abortion from Batman Forever (Jones should have been great, and he would have been if the script hadn't made the usually tortured character into a two-obsessed Joker Lite). I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the hype around the newer, scarier Joker makeup did a good job of making sure that the much scarier Two-Face makeup didn't get leaked out.  That's Grade-A Nightmare Fuel right there.  

Current Location: wrybread HQ
Current Mood: drained
Current Music: Bedlam Bards-Bear Dance

i_chaos_bringer just bailed on me to go to a sneak preview of Ruins tonight at the Scotiabank/Paramount Theatre. Before going home for some much-needed rest, however, he passed his ticket along to me, so if anyone wants a free pass to see this interesting-looking movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963794/ for info), e-mail me (newton.brendan@gmail.com) ASAP!!! I don't mind going solo to movies and the like-in fact I love it-but it would be cool to have some company, especially given that it's a *free* preview. The price is right!

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: quixotic
Current Music: Hard-Loving Loser-Richard and Mimi Farina

Thanks to usagivindaloo for this one, right up my alley. In hindsight I should perhaps not have split it between movies that everyone on my friends list would know and ones that no one will know.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.

1. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."-Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, guessed by i_chaos_bringer
2. "Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some GRENADES, don't you think?"-Serenity, guessed by i_chaos_bringer
3. "Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them." i_chaos_bringer had the right series but the wrong movie.
4. "Oh! Had enough, eh? Come back and take what's coming to you, you yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!" Monty Python and the Holy Grail, i_chaos_bringer strikes again.
5. "I ain't gonn' be moved on this. Right or wrong, you gonn' mind me. Like Jesus Christ said, "Imma suffa' you. IMMA SUFFA' YOU!" Get yo ass back in my house!"
6. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" Stand By Me, enough already i_chaos_bringer!
7. "I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me. PS: tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feelings, Brooks." The Shawshank Redemption, also i_chaos_bringer
8. "I'll go with you, and I won't whine, and I'll sew your socks, and I'll stitch you when you're wounded, and I'll do anything you ask of me except one thing. I won't watch you die. I'll miss that scene if you don't mind."
9. "We have in effect put all our rotten eggs in one basket. And we intend to watch this basket carefully."
10. "You know, you come from nothing, you're going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing!" Life of Brian, i_chaos_bringer
11. "Not remotely! Because iocaine comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you." The Princess Bride, identified by i_chaos_bringer
12. "That movie has warped my fragile little mind."
13, "I was thinking about death and all. About seeing how you're gonna die. I mean, on one hand, if dying was all you thought about, it could kind of screw you up. But it could kind of help you, couldn't it? Because you'd know that everything else you can survive."
14. "That still only counts as one!"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, guessed by [Bad username: i_chaos_bringer/], who decided to show off and note that the line was spoken to Legolas by "Gimli, son of Gloin." Now, for super-bonus geek points, can you tell me the name of Legolas' father?
15. "We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all."

Man, I have eclectic movie tastes. Just because I like to add to memes I snatch, and because I'm a sadomasochist, I'm throwing in quotes from the five *worst* movies I've ever sat through. Here goes *insane giggles*:

1. "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth." Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, guessed by usagivindaloo, although I try not to think of Attack of the Clones as having *anything* to do with Star Wars. It's just a very bad thing that happened.
2. "Oh my God...she's a boy!!!"
3. "Look at the kids! They just sit around all day watching those ridiculous earth progrems!"
4. "Would you look at Lumpy! He's sure grown, huh? And I think his voice is changing!" (okay, so not a movie per se, but quite possibly the most wretched line spoken in *any* medium of entertainment-especially considering the character who delivers it-and therefore worthy of immortalization)
5. " For you, the day I graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me... it was Tuesday." (actually a good line, but from a horribly bad movie) Street Fighter, also guessed by usagivindaloo. I probably am due to re-watch Street Fighter sometime, it might be fun and Raul Julia's great. It was disappointing to me at the time just because I was also a huge fan of the games and thought it would be more of a movie version of the game instead of a generic action movie with Street Fighter characters thrown in.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: Warren Zevon-The Envoy

http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/59754/[Movies]-No-Plans-For-Simpsons-Movie-Sequel.htm

Hey...they lied to us through Maggie's first words.  I...hate when people do that!  Ah, well.  Truthfully I think they're best holding off on any sequels for a good long while.  Wait until the TV show draws its' last breath, let the whole thing die for a few years...then once the fans start to miss it and get nostalgic, sequel time.  We'll be out in record numbers and character costumes.  Another sequel right away, on the other hand, on top of endless more TV episodes?  Overkill. 

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: dorky
Current Music: Silence

Another fine meme from the good people at i_chaos_bringer

85%The Movie Quiz

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Bedlam Bards-On the Drift

Annoucement from a couple of weeks ago?:

http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/55447/[Movies]-Thundercats-Headed-To-Big-Screen.htm

Man, the 80s cartoons just keep on coming to theatres. *hopes and prays as always for a Dino-Riders movie* Funny because I was just discussing a prospective Thundercats movie with i_chaos_bringer the other day. Truth be told, I was never a big Thundercats fan; even as a kid I could tell that the quality of animation was fairly low and the characterization was non-existent. And Snarf. I fucking hated Snarf. Bizarre deformed-looking little cat ripoff of Yoda. My dream script for this movie would include the lines "It was a shame about Snarf. Getting run over by the Thunder-Tank like that. He'll be hard to wipe out of those tank treads." I watched it when my family lived in England, but that was because it was the only damned American cartoon they showed, you had to take what you could get. Mumm-raa was pretty cool though, in an obvious ripoff of Skeletor sort of way, I think I have his action figure somewhere.

Ah, well. If they can make a quality movie out of it more power to them, but as I said I was never a big fan.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: Buddy Wassisname and the Other Fellers-Kitty Jones Reel

http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/54920/[Movies]-New-Joel-Silver-He-Man-Movie-Confirmed.htm

With this and Transformers coming out soon, can a live-action GI Joe be far behind?  I wasn't that big a fan of He-Man as a kid (couple of years too late methinks), but considering how many fans I know who still geek out like mad at the mere mention of anything He-Man related (especially Skeletor; sometimes I think this generation will eventually base a religion around good ol' Skeletor.  Skeletor-ism, that'd be sweet), this should be big.  The mention of it being in the style of 300 doesn't hurt.           

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: weird
Current Music: WrestleCrap Radio Podcast-June 1st

Ignore the fact that it's from FOXNews.com (Fox News: We make CNN look unbiased and reliable!) and the excess of celebrity ass-kissing and focus on the Lucas interview:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270874,00.html

Okay, so it sounds like an informal conversation and not a formal announcement, but interesting news about Indiana Jones 4 (here's hoping Spielberg keeps a tight rein on Lucas, especially script-writing-wise), and the future of Star Wars on TV, even though what the reporter calls "movies" sound more like a pair of TV specials. More Clone Wars will definitely be a good thing as that series was a lot of fun, but given Lucas' recent track record-and with the memory of the Star Wars Holiday Special still fresh in my mind-I'm not so sure about more Star Wars TV specials. The fact that Lucas comes across as a babbling megalomaniacal twat in his discussion of Spider-Man 3 doesn't help. I know Spidey 3's gotten mixed reviews thus far, and I haven't actually seen it yet (Imax this weekend!), but...he dismisses someone else's movie as "silly" and lacking in story (Reminds me of this Pot I knew, who was talking to a Kettle...) and then bluntly declares that such criticisms of his own work aren't valid...just 'cause. And he used the word "milieu" for no good reason other than to confirm that yes, he has fully given in to the pretentious side of the Force. Here's hoping someone convinces him not to do everything on these new specials (direct, produce, write the script...especially write the script), since what made the Original Trilogy great was Lucas letting other people (writers, directors, actors) run with his great ideas and fill in the blanks, but considering how much his supposed genius seems to have gone to his head and ego, that seems unlikely.

Current Location: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: Season of the Witch-Richard Thompson

For once some good news about a cancelled TV show comes out of nowhere:  http://www.syfyportal.com/news423577.html

Sweet, hopefully it will have the full cast back.  Now all that has to happen is for X-Files 2 to get off the ground and I'll be set.        

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Monty Python-Bruces Sketch

Yoinked this from i_chaos_bringer since I thought that of the...threes of people who read this thing, some might be interested.

What: Sneak Preview of Frank Miller's 300

Where: The Norm in the S.U.B. at Ubc

When: Wed March 7

Time: Doors open at 6:30 but I suggest that ya show up at 5:45-6 pm



No Passes Needed, First Come, First Served

Looks good, be warned that these free screenings at UBC are a zoo.

Current Location: Vancouver, BC
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Buckets of Rain-Vic Chesnutt Version

From i_chaos_bringer , with additional smartass remarks, Simpsons references and a rant about Ewok movies thrown in by me. 

i_chaos_bringer

Current Location: Vancouver, BC
Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: The Foggy Dew-The Chieftains

Lord knows I try to keep my fanboyishness to a minimum these days, especially in situations (work etc.) where I want to be projecting a mature, adult presence. But the entertainment industry's not making it easy; over the past twenty-four hours or so I've received the following information...

1. There's a game for the Nintendo Wii system (Marvel's Ultimate Alliance) in which you can play as a bunch of superheroes with motion-sensitive controls. Said playable characters include Wolverine. This means that if I get my hands on a Wii and that game I'll be able to virtually wield those admantium claws. Like I dreamed about doing as a kid. And as a teenager. And as a young adult. And at work the other day. Good to see that it's available for a Nintendo system since if I do plunk down a load of my hard-earned money on a video game system for the first time in years I don't want to break with tradition; as I was saying to usagivindaloo the other day, I had all of the old Nintendo systems as a kid and used to get into hardcore little kid fights with brats who said Sega was better. I'm tempted to hunt down this one snot I had this long-standing feud with and gloat over the fact that Sonic's on the Wii now.

Me: Ha! Sonic's on the Wii now, bitch! Sega sucks!

Snot: Umm...who the hell are you and why aren't you obeying the restraining order that I slapped you with last month?

ANYways, moving along...

2. http://community.livejournal.com/the_dark_tower_/58927.html

And the rumours continue, but looks that bit more likely that it'll actually happen, with 2010 being mentioned as one possible release date, which will lead to a lot of confusion whenever every other Vancouverite mentions "2010" with reference to the Olympics (be they pro or con) and I launch into a long discussion of who should play Roland. I'm undecided on the topic of who should portray the Gunslinger himself, but I do have some picks for various supporting cast members:

Susannah-as I said in a previous post, I'm going to be unapologetically Browncoatish here and say Gina Torres.

Cort-Ron Perlman

Stephen King-Himself, of course, although it'll rekindle the still-raging debate over whether or not his putting himself in as a character killed the series or not.

Ted Brautigan-Anthony Hopkins was the best thing about the Hearts in Atlantis movie, he should reprise the role.

Father Callahan-Many good choices, James Cromwell who played Callahan in the second 'Salem's Lot mini-series would work.

The Crimson King-If Christopher Lee's still alive and not thoroughly sick of playing fantasy villains, he'd be a perfect candidate to wear the red pajamas and go "EEEEEEEEEE!"

Flagg-Anyone but Jamie Sheridan.

Jack Mort-Doug Hutchinson

Rhea of the Coos-Does Andy Serkis have a sister? If not I always pictured a Maggie Smith-Judi Dench-type of older British actress for some reason.

Mia-Alyson Hannigan

Dandelo-I think George Carlin would work, or any veteran comedian.

Eldred Jonas-I once read a suggestion that Sam Elliott would be perfect, and having just seen his performance in Ghost Rider, it's difficult to argue with that.

Roy Depape-Adam Baldwin

The Tick-Tock Man-I always pictured WWE's Triple H, or maybe that guy who played Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie.

Well that was fun. Sad part is I could spend the next few years doing this and wouldn't care overmuch if the movie actually got made or not.

3. Much more definite than the DT movie is The Mist, based on the novella from Skeleton Crew about bizarre inter-dimensional monsters laying siege to a small-town supermarket. According to www.stephenking.com, it's now filming and being directed by the always-reliable Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. The cast looks great, including King/Darabont mainstay Jeffrey DeMunn, Andre Braugher, and Laurie "Marita Covarrubias" Holden (I love it when my fandoms cross-pollinate). It's a little surprising that it's taken over twenty years from the publication of The Mist to making the movie as it's probably the most perfectly translatable-to-the-screen work of fiction that I've ever read, although perhaps it being such an obvious, hard-to-screw up movie adaptation made filmmakers wary of screwing up such a sure thing. Folks, if it's done right, this will be a really fun popcorn horror movie, somewhere between Snakes on a Plane and Slither to name two recent examples.

Final Thought from the Oscars the other night: Is it just me, or is Martin Scorcese starting to look a bit like Larry King?

Current Location: Vancouver, BC
Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: Lukey-Great Big Sea

Hmm...

http://joblo.com/abrams-on-dark-tower

I'm not a big fan of Abrams' stuff (to those who know me, no prizes for guessing who I'd rather see tackle DT on TV...Shakespeare, of course, but since he's dead we'll have to go with Whedon), but I'm glad that if the long-speculated DT movie does come about, it'll be by someone with TV experience and may even be as a TV series, which I've always thought would be the only real way to do the series justice. A feature movie, created by people with experience in nothing but two-hour features, just wouldn't work, and given the series' length I'm not even convinced that a LOTR-style series of movies would work (the last DT book alone is almost as long as all three LOTR books combined). My only concern for TV would be the special-effects budget-cheap effects often bedevil Stephen King miniseries, and the violence issue; the spaghetti-western-cum-medieval style of violence that's so essential to Roland's character and the series in general would likely not make it onto network TV. Perhaps one of the cable channels like HBO or Showtime would be the place for it. Anyways, I'm sure this will lead to impassioned Internet debates about who should be cast in this thing if it ever gets off the ground. I have no idea who should play Roland unless they have access to a time machine and manage to abduct Clint Eastwood from the set of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but how about Gina Torres as Susannah?

Current Location: A Flooded Basement in East Vancouver
Current Mood: recumbent
Current Music: Talk About Suffering-The Chieftains