Movie: Crazy Heart
This is a great film. Jeff Bridges plays a burned out, alcoholic country singer on his last leg. The trailer above is a tiny bit misleading as while the movie does feature a romance it is not exactly as central to the movie as it seems although it is pivotal in Blake’s (Bridges) story.
The movie is based on a book that was originally intended as a story about Merle Haggard but gaining the rights to Haggard’s life story were a bit hard to lock down, it became a more generic story with Blake’s character being more of a collage of Haggard, Kristopherson and Waylon Jennings.
I think the more generic, old-school, has-been country singer made for a better movie (I’ve not read the book).
The point here is, Bridges makes this movie. The story itself is not a new story, not a new perspective and there’s no twist or anything terribly unexpected. The actors here are what make this movie great. Bridges, Gyllenhaal and even Colin Farrell make this film what it is.
Oh, and who knew Bridges and Farrell could sing?
Being Human
So a while back I stumbled across something that sounded interesting. A TV show about a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf living together. Sounds retarded, I know.
The first season is on Netflix.
Of course, this is not an original idea. The show is based off of a show of the same name from England.
At the moment, its a toss-up which is better. The BBC version is also on Netflix so if you’re bored this weekend, maybe give it a look.
The Ceremony is Over
And it was just as bad as I thought it would be. I have part 1 at Sithy, and part 2 will be written tomorrow.
Top Ten Idiocies of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies:
- Voldemort
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- HUGE creepy baby
- Hospital beds
- Clubbing scene
- Dancing nurses
- Tribute to music by decades
- Random carnival goers
- The Queen parachuting in (Ok, that was rather cute, but it would NEVER happen)
And the Number One Idiocy of the Opening Ceremony:
- Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer commenting on the AWESOMENESS of Danny Boyle’s trainspotting slumdogs. Or something.
Anyway, here’s a palate cleanser for y’all:
Hope y’all enjoy your Saturday!! 
Three Movies
30 Minutes or Less is about a slacker pizza delivery guy who gets forced to rob a bank. The reviews of the movie aren’t great and if I paid $10 to see it in a theater I might agree. I didn’t. I Netflixed it. I thought it was decent. Not great and certainly not a movie you’ll remember in 2 years but it was funny and certainly worth the price of a rental.
The Green Lantern is another movie that got less than great reviews. Again, this might not have been worth the price of a theater ticket, but is certainly worth the price of a rental. Bonus: You get to watch Tim Robbins die a horrible death.
This was 102 minutes of my life I really wish I could get back. I didn’t think much of the first one and this is much much worse. Not only do I not recommend seeing this pile of shit, but if someone invites you to watch it, come up with some excuse. Your time would be better spent sitting at home and staring at the walls.
Bonus Hooker:
Movie: Field of Dreams
Aside from being probably one of the great feel-good movies ever made, it also features probably the most supportive wife ever portrayed in a movie.
Its a very rare moment when she shows doubt in her husband.
I’ve heard people say that Doc Graham got fucked. When Ray’s little girl fell and Moonlight Graham had to leave the field to save her. He couldn’t go back. Well, he lived his dream. He wanted to bat against a big league pitcher which he did. He also made statements to suggest that he believed being a doctor was more important than being a ball player.
In addition to everything else, an aging hippie who has come to realize his dad is not the bad guy he thought he was, gets to take it all back and play catch with his dad.
Anyhow, excellent movie in both concept and execution.
We all know Kevin Costner can’t act.
“Is this heaven?” ….. “No. It’s Iowa.”
From Dream to Screen
Just watch:
It stars Joel Murray, younger brother of Bill, and written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. I haven’t seen Kickass yet, but it has the same flavor, just darker and richer. Like a very good cup of coffee.
I just wanna know one thing…
When did Don Draper work at Bain and why didn’t anyone tell me he was running for President?
A Bit of Music
I ran across this in my internet travels:
I certainly understand the intent behind this image. I also agree that Bohemian Rhapsody is a great song. I have to take issue with the comparison of lyrics though.
You want good lyrics in a song?
Here:
And completely different, but always one of my favorites:
Aggie’s Challenge: Ten Things
Aggie posted a challenge over at her other home. A simple challenge; Ten favorites.
Here’s mine:
#1– Favorite candy: Necco Wafers. If you don’t know what these are, you are a bad, bad person. I’ve loved these since I was a little kid.
#2– Favorite movie: Fuck. So many. If I picked one based on the number of times I’ve seen it, it’d probably be a tie between The Long Weekend and Double Indemnity.
#3– Favorite drink: Manhattan. Although I’m generally too lazy for that so bourbon with a bit of soda.
#4– Favorite dessert: I’m hugely boring here. Ice cream. Vanilla or chocolate. Nothing fancy.
#5– Favorite city: I’m not terribly exciting here either. Nacogdoches, Texas. Its a small town but has just about anything you’d need. And with SFA University there, its always stocked with good looking women.
#6– Favorite pasttime: Geekery.
#7– Favorite clothing: Flannel pajama pants and a tshirt.
#8– Favorite animal: Cows. After all, they are my favorite food.
#9– Favorite flower: I got nothing. Even if I had a favorite flower I wouldn’t know what it was called.
#10 Favorite music: This one’s a moving target for me. It depends on my mood. Lately, blues.
So there’s my list. Where’s yours?
You’re In The Picture
Now, I’m sure some of you have heard of You’re In The Picture. It was a failed gameshow hosted by Jackie Gleason.
A four-member celebrity panel would stick their heads into a life-sized illustration of a famous scene or song lyric and then take turns asking yes/no questions to Gleason to try to figure out what scene they were a part of. If they were able to figure out the scene, 100 CARE Packages were donated in their name; if they were stumped, the packages were donated in Gleason’s name. Live music was provided by a Dixieland band (supposedly arranged by Gleason himself) under the direction of Norman Leyden.
It was bad. It was really bad. It was so bad that the night the second episode was supposed to air people saw this instead …
Jackie Gleason : "You're in the Picture" by werquin
I had always heard/read the story of this but I’d never seen it. I thought it might interest some of y’all as well.
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