The Die Hard franchise of movies overall is great fun and Die Hard recently was voted the best action movie of all time. Even the 3rd movie was good, mostly because it took place in NYC.
To show their love, a music group made a song about these flicks and now I can’t get it out of my head. Watch, enjoy and then you too try to rid yourself of this super poppy rock diddie:
Via Chris
It seems that Indiana Jones and the She-Vixens of Berlin will not be made. Drats.
Via Adrienne
Keith Martin has brilliantly reconsidered the motivation behind everything that goes on in Star Wars, in light of the nonsense that happens in Episodes 1-3. It’s central thesis is built around how at the end of Revenge of the Sith (RotS), C3PO has his memory wiped but R2D2 keeps his intact. I’ve actually had a few bar room debates about this idea but never put my thoughts down on paper or came up with the level of detailed analysis that Mr. Martin has done. His review is completely serious, outrageously nerdy, and really, really well done. Please note that this is for hardcore Star Wars nerds.
Via Chris
I saw “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” last night and urge everyone to see it, that is if you have a great sense of humor and are intelligent enough to understand the heapings of irony and wrongness that you are served. I honestly haven’t laughed that hard at a movie in a really long time. I also just saw that his Kazak web site is back live as well which is interesting considering I thought that the Kazak government had banned it. Lastly, I wonder how Borat will feel about this Jew praising his film. Maybe he’ll throw money at me to try and make me leave…
I heard a few weeks ago that the Iron Man movie (due to debut on 5/2/08) cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Mr. Iron Man himself, and at first I was pissed. “What the hell were they thinking?” ran through my head. After Cable & Batman, Iron Man may very well be my third favorite superhero so I am concerned that the movie will be more “FF” and “DD” than “BB” (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Batman Begins).
Then I learned that Robby wanted the part so badly that he grew a beard and squared it off just like how Tony does in the comics. Then I pondered how a large part of Iron Man’s story centers around how his alcoholism. In the comics, Tony Stark lost control of his company [Stark Enterprises] due to his problem and is very open about it in the Marvel Universe. Like Iron Man, Robby’s had his fair share of problems. Then I read how Director John Favreau, someone I respect, said that he was the perfect choice for the role. So, I’ve gotten over my initial aprehension and am okay with the decision and even a bit excited by it. All in all, Downey is a fantastically talented actor and another bright star, Terrance Brennen (“Crash” and “Hustle & Flow”) has been cast as James Rhodes, aka War Machine, so things are looking up. As Yahoo! Movies wrote, “Here’s hoping this does for Downey what ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ did for Johnny Depp, allowing a tactile, clever actor the chance to reach a massive audience and cement his place as a box office dynamo.” Hear hear!
A good director, a good cast and a good budget all are a part of the equation which is a very good thing. This is the first film that Marvel is financing on its own – in the past their movies like “Spiderman” and “X-Men” have been partnerships with one of major studios – so its a financial gamble that I hope pays off. You never know with these comic movies but as Iron Man is one of my personal favorites, I am praying they do not screw this up.
Although I should have gone to bed over an hour ago, I couldn’t help but stay up and read a ton of news articles and low and behold I found out that not only is Christoper Nolan directing another Batman movie – pretty friggin sweet to know its 100% confirmed – and not only is it being named “The Dark Knight” – an homage to “The Dark Knight Returns” which, “along with Alan Moore’s ‘Watchmen’ and Art Spiegelman’s ‘Maus,’ helped to raise the medium to a more mature level of literature, and it ushered in the popularity of graphic novels as a form of literature that truly differs from “child-oriented comic books” – but that the new Joker character will be played by Heath Ledger. I also learned Bale (Batman) and Nolan are hooking up on a new movie called “The Prestige” which also stars Logan, aka Wolverine, aka Hugh Jackman. Talk about a cool Marvel/DC cross-over…
Okay, I am going to bed now because I’m defintely not going to find out anything better that this bit of news tonight. I might be dreaming of bats…and possibly Jack Nicholson, though I hope not…
(quote courtesey of Wikipedia – who else?)
Akjak used snipits of dialogue uttered by James Earl Jones in a variety of different movies to create a new edit of Star Wars IV: A New Hope. It is absolutely fantastic and its really, really funny. I think it will make a great calling card if one is needed. I know the clip is sort of long but you have to stay with it. I’ve listened to it 3 times now and I keep listening to it and I keep catching different movies. So far, my favorite that I’ve recognized is a “Coming to America” line.
Since most of us, or those that read my site, know SW so well, just pop on your headphones and listen to the audio if you have to work and can’t watch 10 minutes of video right now. My favorite parts are from minute 4 to 4:30 and from minute 7 until the very end – those parts are extremely ridiculous. Watch out for Mr. Long Island too and enjoy!
Via Chris
I saw this scene where Darth Vader has to break the Death Star destruction news to the Emperor the other week on Robot Chicken and found it hilarious. Today, it showed up on Chris’s site. I didn’t realize that there was a clip of it at YouTube but I should have. I swear, You Tube is getting to be almost eBay-esque. The same way that one automatically assumes a product, no matter what kind, is available on eBay (Snoopy Sno-cone maker perchance?), now one should start to assume that a clip of whatever he/she wants will be on You Tube. As for Robot Chicken, that show is seriously going to carry my Sunday nights after the Sopranos bow off because something good on TV has to ease me back into the working week. Enjoy!
Via Chris
An Inconvient Truth opens this coming Friday, 5/26 and I for one cannot wait to see it, even though it may very well be “the most terrifying film you will ever see” as its producers claim. Wired and other media outlets have written alot lately about how Al Gore, freed from politics, is focusing all of his energies on facing the looming environmental disaster the globe is facing (he is the narrator of this documentary). The movie is supposed to be awe-inspiring, damning, scary, eye opening and whole bunch of other adjectives. I have pledged to not only see this movie (the site has a counter which tracks pledges) but to bring 3 others with me. In a sense, environmentalists are treating this the same way that Christians treated “The Passion of the Christ” and I for one think that its a good move as this movie’s message needs to be spread to as many people as possible.
Check out the trailer below and please, for our planet’s sake and for the sake of our children, grand children and all future generations, go and see this film. In 5 years, Kilimanjaro will no longer have an snow and Hemingway’s masterpiece becomes a true anachronism. He might as well called it “Hanging with the Dodo.” Truly Scary shit.
Last November, I flew out to LA for the weekend so that my dog Bingham could play with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law’s dog Jelly. Oh yeah, the human folk wanted to get together too. On Saturday night, Jessie, Amos, Ro and I were joined by Jaime and Michael, great friends of ours from NYC who had oddly enough planned a 7 day Cali vacation that started in LA at the same time we were there. So, before they left that smog filled city of sin to drive up the coast to hilly San Fran, we all went out to eat at Au Bar, a trendy spot off of the Sunset Strip.
Our waiter was named David and seemed like the most likable of fellows. Look how happy he looks below in a pic he took with us:
We all were in high spirits and decided to play a game where we tried to guess his age and where he was from. We were all totally wrong (he was 24 and from Kansas and we thought he was older and from either New Hampshire, Virginia, Michigan or Arizona). We were all right about why he was in Cali though: he was trying to break into the acting biz. He was in a really good mood that night becaues it was actually his last night. He informed us that he had earned a role in “Bobby”, a new movie about the RFK assassination, and was leaving his job as a waiter to concentrate on his part. It was a huge break for him as the movie is being produced and directed by Emilio Estevez and the cast is full of heavyweights: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, Emilio Estevez, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Martin Sheen and Christian Slater to name a few. He seemed to be really excited, kind of humbled and a wee bit nervous about his first foray as an actor.
The following is a transcript of our exchange (transcribed almost verbatim) after he dropped his bit of news on us:
Jeff: What role are you playing?
David: Sirhan Sirhan.
Jeff: Ha ha ha. That’s funny.
David takes orders from the others at the table.
(Jeff to Jessie: I wonder what he is really playing?)
(Jessie to Jeff: He already said.)
(Jeff to Jessie: Are you serious? I thought he was joking…)
Jeff: You are seriously Sirhan Sirhan?
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy?
David: Yes.
Jeff: Really?
David: Yes.
Jeff: Come on. You kill Kennedy?
David: Yes.
Jeff: You seem way too nice…
David: Nope, I do it.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy dressed as a waiter…
David: Yes.
Jeff: …and you are our waiter.
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy in a kitchen…
David: Yes
Jeff: … a the kitchen is right there (me pointing towards the nearby kitchen).
David: Yes.
Jeff: You kill Kennedy in California…
David: Yes.
Jeff: …and we are in California.
David: Yes.
Jeff: Hmmm. Are you good shot?
David: I need to practice for the part.
Jeff: Oh, good. That’s funny. Hey, are you on IMBD?
David: No, not yet. It’s funny that you ask. I check almost constantly but its probably going to be a while, only the big names are listed right now because they were in a Variety article about the movie a little while back.
Jeff: Well, when you get on IMDB, I’m going to post about this evening on my blog, I’ll link to your profile and I’ll send you an email about it. It’ll be your first bit of press.
David: Cool! Thanks!
Jeff: You’re welcome. I’ll also have another vodka tonic.
David: Sounds good.
The rest of the evening went along swimmingly. The food was good, the company was great and we all had a blast hanging out. Now, a little less than 5 months later, it seems that David has finally made it into the Internet Movie Database.
David: I hope this counts as the first article written about your burgeoning acting career. Good luck, I can’t wait to see the movie and if I don’t absolutely love it, please don’t shoot me. I’m sure its someone else’s fault…
Photo courtesy of Jaime and Michael
