It’s nice to see the rest of the country hopping onto the Paul Rudd wagon… I’ve been on board since high school but it seems to have taken the general public a bit longer, even though he’s been making an impact on American Cinema since the mid ‘90s.
Rudd is on the cover of two very prominent magazines this month – the April issue of Vanity Fair (where he stands in a barrel next to his frequent co-stars Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel) and the March 27th issue of Entertainment Weekly. His latest movie, "I Love You, Man" is getting great reviews and Rudd is getting the recognition he deserves.
Although Rudd is mostly known for his comedic roles, he has done some dramatic films, as well as plays. Right after I graduated from college in June of 2006, my sister and I road tripped to New York City to take in some Broadway shows – including the closing night of Three Days of Rain, the Richard Greenburg drama which starred Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd (!). To be perfectly honest, I am not and will never be a Julia Roberts fan – especially after seeing her robotic performance in Rain. Unlike most of the rest of the crowd, I was at the play to see Cooper and Rudd and was blown away by both of their performances.
My sister and I had seen many shows before this one, so we were well aware that it would be possible to get pictures and/or autographs of the actors at the stage door at the close of the play. When the curtain fell, we bolted down the balcony steps and out the lobby entrance and made a beeline toward the stage doors. Because it was the finale of the show, and because Roberts is a huge media/paparazzi draw, 45th Street was filled with hundreds – nay, thousands – of people. Since my sister and I had ticket stubs from that evening’s show, we were squired to a holding area by the stage doors.
After waiting awhile, Roberts came out and began scrawling her autograph on peoples Playbills. Everyone has their arm stretched out in order to get as close to Roberts as possible and after she scribbled her way through the mess of Playbills, she ducked back inside the stage doors. When my sister and I brought our Playbills closer to our persons, we realized Roberts had not signed mine. That was actually film by me – I wasn’t there for her anyway and it just reinforced my stance that I am just not a fan.
Soon Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd came through the stage doors – if you can believe, they are both way more handsome in person than they appear on screen. The two men began signing away, Playbill after Playbill. I was fortunate to get both of their autographs – and I will treasure that Playbill till the end of time. During their signing session, Roberts came outdoors again and went over to the other side of the holding area to sign more autographs. Cooper and Rudd hung over by my side of the holding area, so I decided that I was going to talk to Paul Rudd, since he is my favorite American actor. The day before, I had met my favorite British actor, Ralph Fiennes, so talking to Rudd was going to fulfill this movie-geek’s wildest dreams.
Lots of people were screaming, so I thought for a fraction of a second and decided that if I was to get Rudd’s attention, I couldn’t just scream what every one else was screaming (which was mostly Anchorman quotes or stuff about Friends). I was proud with what I came up with:
"I loved you in The Chateau!"
And just like a scripted movie moment, Paul Rudd (who was facing away from me) turned around and looked right at me. Oh those sparkling blue eyes… but I digress.
He looked me dead in the eye and said in a surprised tone, "You saw that? You and like nine other people."
As my heart melted, I told him that my best friend had recommended it to me and he said, "Tell your best friends I say ‘Thanks’!"
So, in honor of Mr. Rudd and his 2nd place opening at the Box Office last weekend, with a respectable $18 million for "I Love You, Man", here are my thoughts on some of the 22 of his movies I have seen. (With great sadness, I have to admit that I haven’t seen "Role Models" yet… I know it just came out on DVD a couple weeks ago, so in due time I will obtain a copy and watch it over and over again).
Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we?
CLUELESS (1995) – Josh
Even though I thought it was a bit creepy that a guy in his twenties would fall for a high schooler (As if!), I found myself crushing on the character of Josh when I saw this movie back when I was in middle school. In Clueless, Rudd’s Josh is sarcastic, funny, goofy and just a nice guy. He teases Cher, but it’s out of love (awwww). Dug his character and his faux-grungy wardrobe of flannel shirts.
OVERNIGHT DELIVERY (1998) – Wyatt Trips
They show this all the time nowadays on Comedy Central, but I had never heard of it in the late 90s when it came out. Rudd and Reese Witherspoon star in this little road trip movie… pretty cliché and cheesy, but this is the first time we really get the sense of Rudd as a romantic/likable/charmingly goofy leading man (Clueless was a good warm-up, this is more of the real deal). This is not a great movie, but it’s watchable because of the leads and chock full of sarcastic banter, of which I am a huge fan.
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (2001) – Andy
"You taste like a burger, I don’t like you any more."
One of the few movies where Rudd plays a jerk, but it’s to such an extreme that you still find him oddly charming and see why the female camp counselors are attracted to him. His physical comedy skills are really put to use when Andy is told to put his lunch stuff away. He sweeps his plate and utensils off the table, then reluctantly goes around the room and with great unhappiness and laziness, he picks up each item one by one, as if it’s the worst chore anyone every had to do in his entire life.
THE CHATEAU (2001) – Graham Granville
Small movie where Rudd and Romany Malco (his co-star in 40 Year Old Virgin) play brothers who are set to inherit property in France but run into trouble with the housekeeping staff. Quirky and cute – Malco and Rudd are great together.
TWO DAYS (2003) – Paul Miller
Not the greatest movie ever made, and it’s super depressing, but Rudd brings it as Paul Miller, an actor who has given up on life and plans on committing suicide in two day’s time. The standout scene is when Rudd’s character goes on a casting call and reads – a very powerful moment that shows you that Rudd is more than just a great comedian, but super talented when it comes to dramatic parts.
ANCHORMAN (2004) – Brian Fantana
Everyone has seen this movie and quotes it a bajillion times, but you know what my favorite part of the movie is? When Ron Burgandy tosses to the first of several segments about the pregnant panda at the zoo and we the audience are treated to seconds of pure comedic bliss – Rudd raises his head, brings the microphone to his mouth as his eyes lock with the camera and he says, completely seriously, "PANDA WATCH!" Makes me laugh every time.
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (2005) – David
Again, another comedy that everyone has seen and quotes all the time, but one of my favorite parts, again, is a little Paul Rudd moment that you probably haven’t noticed. You know the scene where the Smart Tech guys are on break the day after the shellfish girl throws up on Andy? Cal (Seth Rogen) and David (Rudd) are smashing fluorescent light bulbs on the ground – watch Rudd’s face… he smiles like a kid who’s content playing with his favorite toy. Too funny. And then to cap it off, Cal hits a bulb against David’s leg and David has one of my favorite lines in the movie, "New pants, man." Another brilliant Rudd moment is during the finale – right when everyone starts singing "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Age of Aquarius… AQUARIUS!!!!!! Aquarius." For the first time… Rudd jumps into frame, then proceeds to do the choreographed dance moves with the rest of the Smart Tech guys… but as the sequence ends, he flings his arms back, puffs out his chest and prances out of frame… Brilliant.
I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN (2007) – Adam
Underrated Rom-Com from Amy Heckerling, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Rudd as her younger love interest. Rudd does this crazy wonderful dance routine during a club scene… I hadn’t laughed that hard in awhile. This movie is currently in the Dump Bin at your nearest Wal-Mart… it’s worth a watch, if only for the dancing.
I LOVE YOU, MAN (2009) – Peter Klaven
There are too many positive things to write about this movie and Rudd’s performance. This is the first really big studio-driven comedy that Rudd has headlined (I’m going to overlook "Over Her Dead Body" which I haven’t seen yet, but I have DVRed to watch very soon… though I don’t expect much from it) and he nails it on every level. He’s funny, he’s endearing, he’s likeable and most of all, you can relate to him because the plot is realistic and Rudd sells it. You can see how Peter is a girl’s guy – he’s romantic and seems to understand women. He’s not a womanizer – he just needs some male friends. He and Jason Segel make a great on-screen team, playing off each other’s quirks and mannerisms. You want Peter to make friends and you are happy when he is happy – when he’s slapping the bass or just saying "Slappin’ da bass!" you had a smile on your face, admit it.
Paul Rudd is a funny guy. He’s always great doing press on TV – his interviews with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show get funnier each time he’s on. Awkward dancing sometimes erupts – it’s glorious.
If you haven’t gotten hooked on Paul Rudd and his amazingly talented acting skills by now, please go to the nearest bus station, buy a ticket and HOP ON ALREADY!
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, August 11, 2008
All Aboard the Pineapple Express (and other happenings this weekend)
Good day,
Like many other people in my age bracket, I went and saw the latest Judd Apatow production this past weekend - Pineapple Express.
I laughed. A lot. And I'm not even someone who supports pot-smoking (I think it's gross and not a good way to spend your time or money - but that's just my opinion). But, I am a fan of Apatow's films, especially those featuring (and/or written by) the very funny Seth Rogen.
Pineapple Express was not a "good" film in the way that Knocked Up and Superbad were good films. Those films had strong plotlines and characters you could really care about. Pineapple Express was labeled a "weed/action movie", and that's really all it is. It's a weed movie with action sequences (guns, car chases, fight scenes, explosions, etc...). But Pineapple Express doesn't teach you life lessons like Apatow's other films of years past (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Instead, Pineapple Express gives you plenty of material to laugh at without you, the audience, having to strain your brain cells.
Even though it's not a "good" film, Pineapple Express is a fun watch. It was so refreshing to see James Franco in a comedy. To be honest, I find him aesthetically pleasing, so I've seen a bunch of his films over the past few years... and to continue being honest, most of them suck. A lot. (Spider Man 3, Annapolis, etc...) He's been doing the Spider Man movies or dramas for awhile now, it was nice to see him re-embracing comedy. (Remember "Freaks and Geeks" from 2001? You should. And if you don't, then go find it on DVD and watch the whole season and you'll see what I mean. Comedy.)
Franco and Rogen made as great on-screen team - probably b/c their friends off-screen as well. Everything that came out of Franco's mouth was hilarious. So, props to Rogen (and his screenwriting partner, Evan Goldberg) for writing good material and props to Franco for bringing it to life. Loved that Jaws shirt and those striped pajama pants... they went so well with the laid back/stoned off his ass attitude. In a way, I was reminded of The Dude. Good times.
Beside Pineapple Express, I watched a LOT of the Olympics. My sister and I have been recording everything on NBC and then going through it (God Bless the DVR... fastforwarding and rewinding television is GLORIOUS). We're big fans of Swimming, Diving and Gymnastics, so that's mostly what we've been paying attention to. We actually went to highschool with one of the men's swimmers. He didn't medal, but he made it to the Finals for the 100m Breaststroke, so that was cool.
The highlight so far has been swimming - last night when the Men's team won the 400m Freestyle Relay... HOLY COW that was INTENSE!
The USA was in 2nd place until literally the last 20 feet of the race, and then the USA guy punched it into overdrive and won by, like 8 hundreths of a second. It was awesome. We were cheering so loud! Luckily we don't have neighbors, or else we'd have woken everyone up with our shouting and hollering for Team USA. Yay America :)
This afternoon, because my sister is at work and I would feel wrong for watching the Olympics w/o her, I decided to check out "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog". For those of you not familiar with this little piece of wonderful, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" is an on-line series of 3 videos created by Joss Whedon (the guy who made Buffy, Angel, Firefly, etc...)
I had heard about Dr. Horrible and read about it in my EW, but had to check it out for myself. And I'm so glad that I did! Dr. Horrible stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillian and Felecia Day and it's a musical about an evil scientist named Dr. Horrible (NPH) who has a crush on a girl from the landromat (Day) who ends up dating his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Fillian). The songs are actually really catchy and the cast is great - Neil Patrick Harris is awesome. I haven't gotten the chance to see him live on Broadway yet, so seeing him in this little on-line video series was awesome. I know people are hoping there will be more installments - I'm hoping right there with them!
I'm a relative newcomer to Joss Whedon's work. The only Buffy anything I've ever seen was the 1992 film (which Whedon wrote, though I wasn't aware of who he was when I saw it... I was in elementary school!). I haven't seen Firefly or Serenity (though I think I'd like them). I recently started watching Angel (I got hooked on David Boreanaz from Bones, so this was the next logical series to watch, I thought... too bad I didn't know any of the Angel backstory from Buffy - whoops!), and I'm almost done with the whole series. So, I'm trying to get on the Whedon bandwagon :)
Well - I must be off. There is a lot of job hunting to do, as well as Olympics to watch.
Have a good one!
Like many other people in my age bracket, I went and saw the latest Judd Apatow production this past weekend - Pineapple Express.
I laughed. A lot. And I'm not even someone who supports pot-smoking (I think it's gross and not a good way to spend your time or money - but that's just my opinion). But, I am a fan of Apatow's films, especially those featuring (and/or written by) the very funny Seth Rogen.
Pineapple Express was not a "good" film in the way that Knocked Up and Superbad were good films. Those films had strong plotlines and characters you could really care about. Pineapple Express was labeled a "weed/action movie", and that's really all it is. It's a weed movie with action sequences (guns, car chases, fight scenes, explosions, etc...). But Pineapple Express doesn't teach you life lessons like Apatow's other films of years past (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Instead, Pineapple Express gives you plenty of material to laugh at without you, the audience, having to strain your brain cells.
Even though it's not a "good" film, Pineapple Express is a fun watch. It was so refreshing to see James Franco in a comedy. To be honest, I find him aesthetically pleasing, so I've seen a bunch of his films over the past few years... and to continue being honest, most of them suck. A lot. (Spider Man 3, Annapolis, etc...) He's been doing the Spider Man movies or dramas for awhile now, it was nice to see him re-embracing comedy. (Remember "Freaks and Geeks" from 2001? You should. And if you don't, then go find it on DVD and watch the whole season and you'll see what I mean. Comedy.)
Franco and Rogen made as great on-screen team - probably b/c their friends off-screen as well. Everything that came out of Franco's mouth was hilarious. So, props to Rogen (and his screenwriting partner, Evan Goldberg) for writing good material and props to Franco for bringing it to life. Loved that Jaws shirt and those striped pajama pants... they went so well with the laid back/stoned off his ass attitude. In a way, I was reminded of The Dude. Good times.
Beside Pineapple Express, I watched a LOT of the Olympics. My sister and I have been recording everything on NBC and then going through it (God Bless the DVR... fastforwarding and rewinding television is GLORIOUS). We're big fans of Swimming, Diving and Gymnastics, so that's mostly what we've been paying attention to. We actually went to highschool with one of the men's swimmers. He didn't medal, but he made it to the Finals for the 100m Breaststroke, so that was cool.
The highlight so far has been swimming - last night when the Men's team won the 400m Freestyle Relay... HOLY COW that was INTENSE!
The USA was in 2nd place until literally the last 20 feet of the race, and then the USA guy punched it into overdrive and won by, like 8 hundreths of a second. It was awesome. We were cheering so loud! Luckily we don't have neighbors, or else we'd have woken everyone up with our shouting and hollering for Team USA. Yay America :)
This afternoon, because my sister is at work and I would feel wrong for watching the Olympics w/o her, I decided to check out "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog". For those of you not familiar with this little piece of wonderful, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" is an on-line series of 3 videos created by Joss Whedon (the guy who made Buffy, Angel, Firefly, etc...)
I had heard about Dr. Horrible and read about it in my EW, but had to check it out for myself. And I'm so glad that I did! Dr. Horrible stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillian and Felecia Day and it's a musical about an evil scientist named Dr. Horrible (NPH) who has a crush on a girl from the landromat (Day) who ends up dating his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Fillian). The songs are actually really catchy and the cast is great - Neil Patrick Harris is awesome. I haven't gotten the chance to see him live on Broadway yet, so seeing him in this little on-line video series was awesome. I know people are hoping there will be more installments - I'm hoping right there with them!
I'm a relative newcomer to Joss Whedon's work. The only Buffy anything I've ever seen was the 1992 film (which Whedon wrote, though I wasn't aware of who he was when I saw it... I was in elementary school!). I haven't seen Firefly or Serenity (though I think I'd like them). I recently started watching Angel (I got hooked on David Boreanaz from Bones, so this was the next logical series to watch, I thought... too bad I didn't know any of the Angel backstory from Buffy - whoops!), and I'm almost done with the whole series. So, I'm trying to get on the Whedon bandwagon :)
Well - I must be off. There is a lot of job hunting to do, as well as Olympics to watch.
Have a good one!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Tennis, anyone?
I hope that everyone got a chance to watch the Federer/Nadal match during the Men's Championship at Wimbledon yesterday... it was AMAZING.
I have been watching Wimbledon ever since I can remember... I cheered on Martina, Andre, Stefi, Pete, Venus, Serena and Roger... and I simply cannot get enough of Joe McEnroe's commentary (yep, I even used to watch his talk show... it lasted, what, like a week? But I watched it!).
Instead of packing and cleaning my apartment like a responsible person, I sat in front of the television for the whole of the day, unable to pull myself away from what will go down as probably the greatest Men's Finals EVER. Two rain delays, two tie breaker sets (3 and 4) and then that final set... 6-6, 7-7, then finally 7-9 (Nadal). In all my 24 1/2 years, I have never seen tennis like that.
Though I was rooting for Federer, there is no denying that Nadal brought his A-game to Centre Court. He played well, and was helped by Federer's inability to hit stuff over the net when he was all up in the net's grill. Both men played well. Nadal just came out victorious this time.
After the game ended, I felt jazzed to play tennis or at least watch more tennis. But then it dawned on me... there are really no good tennis movies. There is that ill-fated Paul Bettany/Kirsten Dunst fiasco, "Wimbledon", but that movie sucks. A lot. I saw it when it first came out on video because I like Bettany and tennis, but WOW, that was really bad. I watched it again sometime last year because I had become a huge James McAvoy fan, and he plays Bettany's little brother in the movie... so I suffered through it for my second (and ultimately FINAL) time.
Disney needs to get the ball rolling on a "Based on a true story" tennis film. They've made some great other sports movies (Miracle, Remember the Titans, The Rookie, etc...). Why not tennis?
Maybe I'll just have to write one myself :)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day! - movies that make me think of my dad
Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there!
I called my dad this morning to wish him a good one and at the same time, on the History Channel, they were showing "Tombstone" (1994) - one of the movies I always watch with my dad... I took it as a sign. And an excuse to write a blog this fine afternoon :)
When I lived at home, I watched plenty of movies with my dad... we've seen some good ones, we've seen some bad ones, but the point is, we've seen them together.
Here's just a few movies that automatically make me think of my dad (in no particular order):
- Tombstone - "I have two guns, one for each of ya" "Why Ike, whatever do you mean?" "I'm your Huckleberry" And the lists of quotes goes on and on and on - Val Kilmer did the performance of his career playing Doc Holiday in this film, and the rest of the ensemble isn't too shabby either (Kurt Russell makes for a great Wyatt Earp, flanked by his brothers, played by Bill Paxton and Sam Elliot... good times). I remember first seeing this movie at my dad's parents house and we thought it was a fun movie so we bought it on VHS when we got home from vacation. And then we watched it over and over and over again... and I still love it!
- The Big Lebowski - Somebody gave my dad a copy of the DVD with his name taped over John Goodman's on the front cover - though my dad doesn't look like Goodman, nor does he act as crazy as the character of Walter in the movie. We love this movie because we love The Dude and Walter... that scene where Walter shakes out the coffee can full of Donnie's ashes and the wind blows it all over The Dude... PRICELESS. "The Dude abides." Indeed he does... (also, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as Brandt, makes this face... I believe it's when he's in Lebowski's car... you'll know it when you see it... it's too funny)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - Two words: ABBA turd
- Tremors - While my dad enjoys all of the Tremors movies, I can only tolerate the first (A Tremors movie with out Kevin Bacon is just not worth watching, in my opinion). Even so, the first Tremors movie is awesome. It's so cheesetastic which makes it that much better. Our favorite scene is where Val and Earl are trying to outrun the Graboid ("We can make it! We can make it!") and they leap across that concrete gully and smash into the other side and then the dialogue that follows is great:
Earl: Knocked itself cold.
Val: Cold my ass. It's dead. We killed it. We killed it! (to the carcass) F**K YOU!
But the line we say most often to each other is "They're under the ground!" (twangy accent and all)
- The Sandlot - This is a movie that everyone in the family likes a lot (You're killing me Smalls!), but the scene that most makes me think of my dad is when the kids are at the carnival and they each take a big piece of chewing tobacco and then hop on that tilting ride and then they all get sick and hurl all over themselves and everyone else on that ride. It makes me laugh just thinking about it :)
- Elf - "I'm here, with my dad, and we never met. And he wants me to sing him a song... I was adopted, but you didn't know I was born. But I'm here now. I found you. Daddy! And, guess what? I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!"
- any SNL "Best Of" DVD - I saw the "Best of Mike Myers" is on TV tonight... my mom and dad bought me that VHS for my birthday (or was it Christmas?) many, many years ago. "Well you know my name is Simon... and I like to do drawrings" :) My dad got me hooked on SNL when I was in high school and I have been watching faithfully every week ever since. One of my favorite sketches (that my dad also likes) is when the DeMarco brothers (Kattan and Parnell) are auditioning to be backup dancers for Bon Jovi - and they start air guitaring/air keyboarding... too funny! But one of my dad's favorite sketches ever is, you guessed it, the Cowbell sketch. It's not that funny to me, but when I'm watching it with my dad, it becomes one of the funniest things I've ever seen because I get a kick out of him getting a kick out of Walken. :)
Happy Father's Day, Papa Bear. I love you man :)
I called my dad this morning to wish him a good one and at the same time, on the History Channel, they were showing "Tombstone" (1994) - one of the movies I always watch with my dad... I took it as a sign. And an excuse to write a blog this fine afternoon :)
When I lived at home, I watched plenty of movies with my dad... we've seen some good ones, we've seen some bad ones, but the point is, we've seen them together.
Here's just a few movies that automatically make me think of my dad (in no particular order):
- Tombstone - "I have two guns, one for each of ya" "Why Ike, whatever do you mean?" "I'm your Huckleberry" And the lists of quotes goes on and on and on - Val Kilmer did the performance of his career playing Doc Holiday in this film, and the rest of the ensemble isn't too shabby either (Kurt Russell makes for a great Wyatt Earp, flanked by his brothers, played by Bill Paxton and Sam Elliot... good times). I remember first seeing this movie at my dad's parents house and we thought it was a fun movie so we bought it on VHS when we got home from vacation. And then we watched it over and over and over again... and I still love it!
- The Big Lebowski - Somebody gave my dad a copy of the DVD with his name taped over John Goodman's on the front cover - though my dad doesn't look like Goodman, nor does he act as crazy as the character of Walter in the movie. We love this movie because we love The Dude and Walter... that scene where Walter shakes out the coffee can full of Donnie's ashes and the wind blows it all over The Dude... PRICELESS. "The Dude abides." Indeed he does... (also, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as Brandt, makes this face... I believe it's when he's in Lebowski's car... you'll know it when you see it... it's too funny)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - Two words: ABBA turd
- Tremors - While my dad enjoys all of the Tremors movies, I can only tolerate the first (A Tremors movie with out Kevin Bacon is just not worth watching, in my opinion). Even so, the first Tremors movie is awesome. It's so cheesetastic which makes it that much better. Our favorite scene is where Val and Earl are trying to outrun the Graboid ("We can make it! We can make it!") and they leap across that concrete gully and smash into the other side and then the dialogue that follows is great:
Earl: Knocked itself cold.
Val: Cold my ass. It's dead. We killed it. We killed it! (to the carcass) F**K YOU!
But the line we say most often to each other is "They're under the ground!" (twangy accent and all)
- The Sandlot - This is a movie that everyone in the family likes a lot (You're killing me Smalls!), but the scene that most makes me think of my dad is when the kids are at the carnival and they each take a big piece of chewing tobacco and then hop on that tilting ride and then they all get sick and hurl all over themselves and everyone else on that ride. It makes me laugh just thinking about it :)
- Elf - "I'm here, with my dad, and we never met. And he wants me to sing him a song... I was adopted, but you didn't know I was born. But I'm here now. I found you. Daddy! And, guess what? I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!"
- any SNL "Best Of" DVD - I saw the "Best of Mike Myers" is on TV tonight... my mom and dad bought me that VHS for my birthday (or was it Christmas?) many, many years ago. "Well you know my name is Simon... and I like to do drawrings" :) My dad got me hooked on SNL when I was in high school and I have been watching faithfully every week ever since. One of my favorite sketches (that my dad also likes) is when the DeMarco brothers (Kattan and Parnell) are auditioning to be backup dancers for Bon Jovi - and they start air guitaring/air keyboarding... too funny! But one of my dad's favorite sketches ever is, you guessed it, the Cowbell sketch. It's not that funny to me, but when I'm watching it with my dad, it becomes one of the funniest things I've ever seen because I get a kick out of him getting a kick out of Walken. :)
Happy Father's Day, Papa Bear. I love you man :)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Idol, Indy, SATC...
My last post was kind of manically written post-Idol Finale, pre-Indy 4 screening late Wednesday evening. Since then, I've had some more time to think about my television and movie watching... and since I'm trying to avoid cleaning my apartment right now, I thought I'd write down some thoughts :)
So, American Idol Season 7 is over - and David Cook won. And some people are saying it was an upset, but others are saying that his victory makes sense. I agree with the latter - especially since I thought Cook deserved to be the Idol winner ever since his audition many, many months ago.
Wednesday's Finale was okay, though I shake my head at the Fox corporation... First off - I am friggin' sick of those stupid "Love Guru" time-ins with the show... stop wasting precious Idol time with ridiculous pre-packaged material of the Davids visiting Guru Pitka. As I watched that hideousness unfold before me, I thought to myself "I wonder how much extra time those boys could have rehearsed if they didn't have to make this clip." And I am SICK of Mike Meyers and his dumb characters. The first Austin Powers movie was okay because it was something kind of new... and then he made 2 dumb sequels. And then the whole Shrek franchise - I am not a fan of those films because they are aimed towards kids, but much of the humor is laced with adult themes. Not family appropriate in the slightest, but they made bajillions of dollars, so I guess that's fine! (blah) And now this whole "Love Guru" thing... I think it's kind of offensive.
The Idol Finale had some pretty good music guest... it was cool Cook got to perform with ZZ Top and Archie sand with One Republic. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves. It was nice to see Seal, Donna Summer and Bryan Adams as well. And George Michael... it seems like he's been on TV more this year than in a long, long time (I'm an Eli Stone fan, and he and his music were pretty much at the core of most of the episodes). And I really enjoyed the George Michael medley and his solo at the end of the show, but if Idol is aiming for an increase viewership in the 18-24 demographic, feature someone we like... like Daughtry or Chris Brown. (Yes, I know Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks were on, but even Jordin's song was aimed more towards the tweens than college age people). If the producers thought the 18-24 year olds would enjoy the Jonas Brothers, than I think they are mistaken. I am 24 years old. I even like High School Musical (yep, go ahead and laugh, I don't care...). But I don't get what is so great about the Jonas Brothers. I spent that 5 minutes of the Idol staring at my TV with my head cocked to the side, much like my dogs when they are confused about something. But whatever.
You know what I did like about the Idol Finale... those Guitar Hero commercials. I didn't see David Cook's until the next day (we got home after the Finale started, so we zipped through a lot of the commercial breaks... thank you, DVR). Little David Archuleta's was kind of weird to watch - it's not everyday you see a very well known 17 year old awkwardly dance around in his boxers to "Old Time Rock and Roll". It actually took me a few seconds into the commercial before I realized it was him. And since I hadn't seen David Cook's commercial, I was wondering why on earth that David Arculeta would get a Guitar Hero commercial... especially since he never even played guitar on Idol.
And then the next morning, I saw the David Cook version - and it made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to choke on my own spit. It was great - he had the song down and was completely channeling Tom Cruise in "Risky Business"... Cook had way better moves than Archie. And he's more believable with a guitar in hand. Even if it is just a Guitar Hero guitar.
Now that Idol is over, I can get back to my usual routine of watching movies (though, you can be sure I'm going to try and make it to an Idol tour show this summer and I'll be keeping my eye open for Cook's album... I can't remember the last time I bought a CD, but I'll drop a Hamilton or two the day his album drops).
My first film post-Idol was, of course, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now, I won't reveal major plot points or anything, because it's still opening weekend and I respect people who don't like to know spoilers before going to the theater, but I will say that I was disappointed. A lot.
I LOVE the first 3 Indiana Jones movies... I remember getting them out from the library a lot when I was younger and they were always fun to watch with the whole family. We still use the phrase "He chose poorly" probably once a month. They are staple films from my childhood and I know them by heart. This Indiana Jones movie does not fit in nicely with those other 3.
I thought Indy 4 opened slow... probably because of the opening credits. I don't remember opening credits from any of the other films. I was also super tired because the film started around 12:15 because of more than a few crappy movie trailers before the film actually started... so, my eyes were ready to shut if something awesome didn't happen. Luckily Indiana Jones showed up and my eyes widened and there was a grin on my face the size of Texas. Oh Harrison Ford, I missed you. (The last Ford movie I saw in theaters was Hollywood Homicide... Yeah, I know.)
And then some more expositiony stuff goes down and my eyes wanted to shut again. But Hello Shia LaBoeuf... my eyes reopen and stay open for the remainder of the film (though not necessarily on the screen the entire time... for those of you who know how poorly I reacted to Spielberg's 1982 opus, I couldn't watch some of Indy 4 for similar reasons).
While there were some cheeky nods to the previous Indy films and some good scenes between Ford and LaBoeuf, there were some major problems for me in the plot and the CGI sequences. I won't go too into detail for you people who have yet to see the film, but let's just put it this way - Why on Earth are there crappy CGI sequences? Speilberg has made films with great CGI parts (i.e. Minority Report - crap movie, but good effects) and George Lucas's Lucasfilm/ILM is pretty much responisble for a majority of the digital effects that have been in films for the last 30 years... so shouldn't the CGI stuff look FLAWLESS?
This film did feel like other films of the 1950s, but I was looking for more than that. I was looking for the perfect bookend to an already awesome trilogy, but instead, I don't feel like I can watch Indy 4 again. At least not for a really, really long time.
Last summer, I wrote an article about film franchises. It was about the time Live Free or Die Hard came out... I was skeptical about that film, because Die Hard was another trilogy that I grew up on (thanks Dad!). Before Live Free or Die Hard came out, I was worried it was going to tarnish the Die Hard name, but instead it was a welcome addition to the series. Indy 4 had the opposite effect for me... I probably won't even want to own this one and when I speak of Indiana Jones movies in 10 or 20 years from now, I will be sure to exclude Indy 4.
I did this to myself - these high expectations. Last summer I was not looking forward to Indy 4. But then I saw teaser trailers and rewatched Raiders and Last Crusade and got my hopes waaaaaay up. And then Indy 4 happened and I felt let down. So, in order to move on, I have to turn my attention to the movie that has now become my most anticiapted release of May 2008... Sex and the City: The Movie.
I managed to avoid seeing anything Sex and the City related until last March. My sister has all 6 seasons on DVD and she was on her spring break and I took a week off from work and instead of working on a script I had started, I decided to watch SATC and see why everyone was so obsessed with it.
I get it. I really do. This is a great show - it's refreshing to see 4 girlfriends work and play hard in the greatest city in the world. And even though Carrie was the main character, we got to know everyone on that show - these were women who were playing out completely realistic situations (though some of the stories and a lot of the fashion were exaggerated beyond the norm).
It's hard to pick a favorite character out of the 4 women, as they all have assets and flaws that make them loveable and dislikeable at the same time. And then all of the men on the show... there are just so many characters to choose from. I liked Aidan a lot (who didn't?), but my favorite guy was Jack Berger, hands down. I did think the relationship ended poorly (a Post-it? Come on!), but when he and Carrie were in the swing of things, it was magical.
Sex and the City: The Movie opens this coming Friday and I am more than excited to see it. I do not see "chick flicks" a lot, and in fact prefer action/adventure movies with lots of shoot 'em ups, but this is one "chick flick" I wouldn't miss for the world. After watching 6 seasons in about a month's time, I am invested in Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte and I sincerely want to know what they've been up to. Plus, it's going to be interesting to see if Jennifer Hudson can act in a movie where she's not singing most of the time...
Well - it's time to clean the apartment. Or maybe take my portable DVD player out on the balcony and continue to catch up on some SATC Season 6 while I paint my nails :)
Have a lovely day, and I'll cya at the movies!
So, American Idol Season 7 is over - and David Cook won. And some people are saying it was an upset, but others are saying that his victory makes sense. I agree with the latter - especially since I thought Cook deserved to be the Idol winner ever since his audition many, many months ago.
Wednesday's Finale was okay, though I shake my head at the Fox corporation... First off - I am friggin' sick of those stupid "Love Guru" time-ins with the show... stop wasting precious Idol time with ridiculous pre-packaged material of the Davids visiting Guru Pitka. As I watched that hideousness unfold before me, I thought to myself "I wonder how much extra time those boys could have rehearsed if they didn't have to make this clip." And I am SICK of Mike Meyers and his dumb characters. The first Austin Powers movie was okay because it was something kind of new... and then he made 2 dumb sequels. And then the whole Shrek franchise - I am not a fan of those films because they are aimed towards kids, but much of the humor is laced with adult themes. Not family appropriate in the slightest, but they made bajillions of dollars, so I guess that's fine! (blah) And now this whole "Love Guru" thing... I think it's kind of offensive.
The Idol Finale had some pretty good music guest... it was cool Cook got to perform with ZZ Top and Archie sand with One Republic. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves. It was nice to see Seal, Donna Summer and Bryan Adams as well. And George Michael... it seems like he's been on TV more this year than in a long, long time (I'm an Eli Stone fan, and he and his music were pretty much at the core of most of the episodes). And I really enjoyed the George Michael medley and his solo at the end of the show, but if Idol is aiming for an increase viewership in the 18-24 demographic, feature someone we like... like Daughtry or Chris Brown. (Yes, I know Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks were on, but even Jordin's song was aimed more towards the tweens than college age people). If the producers thought the 18-24 year olds would enjoy the Jonas Brothers, than I think they are mistaken. I am 24 years old. I even like High School Musical (yep, go ahead and laugh, I don't care...). But I don't get what is so great about the Jonas Brothers. I spent that 5 minutes of the Idol staring at my TV with my head cocked to the side, much like my dogs when they are confused about something. But whatever.
You know what I did like about the Idol Finale... those Guitar Hero commercials. I didn't see David Cook's until the next day (we got home after the Finale started, so we zipped through a lot of the commercial breaks... thank you, DVR). Little David Archuleta's was kind of weird to watch - it's not everyday you see a very well known 17 year old awkwardly dance around in his boxers to "Old Time Rock and Roll". It actually took me a few seconds into the commercial before I realized it was him. And since I hadn't seen David Cook's commercial, I was wondering why on earth that David Arculeta would get a Guitar Hero commercial... especially since he never even played guitar on Idol.
And then the next morning, I saw the David Cook version - and it made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to choke on my own spit. It was great - he had the song down and was completely channeling Tom Cruise in "Risky Business"... Cook had way better moves than Archie. And he's more believable with a guitar in hand. Even if it is just a Guitar Hero guitar.
Now that Idol is over, I can get back to my usual routine of watching movies (though, you can be sure I'm going to try and make it to an Idol tour show this summer and I'll be keeping my eye open for Cook's album... I can't remember the last time I bought a CD, but I'll drop a Hamilton or two the day his album drops).
My first film post-Idol was, of course, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now, I won't reveal major plot points or anything, because it's still opening weekend and I respect people who don't like to know spoilers before going to the theater, but I will say that I was disappointed. A lot.
I LOVE the first 3 Indiana Jones movies... I remember getting them out from the library a lot when I was younger and they were always fun to watch with the whole family. We still use the phrase "He chose poorly" probably once a month. They are staple films from my childhood and I know them by heart. This Indiana Jones movie does not fit in nicely with those other 3.
I thought Indy 4 opened slow... probably because of the opening credits. I don't remember opening credits from any of the other films. I was also super tired because the film started around 12:15 because of more than a few crappy movie trailers before the film actually started... so, my eyes were ready to shut if something awesome didn't happen. Luckily Indiana Jones showed up and my eyes widened and there was a grin on my face the size of Texas. Oh Harrison Ford, I missed you. (The last Ford movie I saw in theaters was Hollywood Homicide... Yeah, I know.)
And then some more expositiony stuff goes down and my eyes wanted to shut again. But Hello Shia LaBoeuf... my eyes reopen and stay open for the remainder of the film (though not necessarily on the screen the entire time... for those of you who know how poorly I reacted to Spielberg's 1982 opus, I couldn't watch some of Indy 4 for similar reasons).
While there were some cheeky nods to the previous Indy films and some good scenes between Ford and LaBoeuf, there were some major problems for me in the plot and the CGI sequences. I won't go too into detail for you people who have yet to see the film, but let's just put it this way - Why on Earth are there crappy CGI sequences? Speilberg has made films with great CGI parts (i.e. Minority Report - crap movie, but good effects) and George Lucas's Lucasfilm/ILM is pretty much responisble for a majority of the digital effects that have been in films for the last 30 years... so shouldn't the CGI stuff look FLAWLESS?
This film did feel like other films of the 1950s, but I was looking for more than that. I was looking for the perfect bookend to an already awesome trilogy, but instead, I don't feel like I can watch Indy 4 again. At least not for a really, really long time.
Last summer, I wrote an article about film franchises. It was about the time Live Free or Die Hard came out... I was skeptical about that film, because Die Hard was another trilogy that I grew up on (thanks Dad!). Before Live Free or Die Hard came out, I was worried it was going to tarnish the Die Hard name, but instead it was a welcome addition to the series. Indy 4 had the opposite effect for me... I probably won't even want to own this one and when I speak of Indiana Jones movies in 10 or 20 years from now, I will be sure to exclude Indy 4.
I did this to myself - these high expectations. Last summer I was not looking forward to Indy 4. But then I saw teaser trailers and rewatched Raiders and Last Crusade and got my hopes waaaaaay up. And then Indy 4 happened and I felt let down. So, in order to move on, I have to turn my attention to the movie that has now become my most anticiapted release of May 2008... Sex and the City: The Movie.
I managed to avoid seeing anything Sex and the City related until last March. My sister has all 6 seasons on DVD and she was on her spring break and I took a week off from work and instead of working on a script I had started, I decided to watch SATC and see why everyone was so obsessed with it.
I get it. I really do. This is a great show - it's refreshing to see 4 girlfriends work and play hard in the greatest city in the world. And even though Carrie was the main character, we got to know everyone on that show - these were women who were playing out completely realistic situations (though some of the stories and a lot of the fashion were exaggerated beyond the norm).
It's hard to pick a favorite character out of the 4 women, as they all have assets and flaws that make them loveable and dislikeable at the same time. And then all of the men on the show... there are just so many characters to choose from. I liked Aidan a lot (who didn't?), but my favorite guy was Jack Berger, hands down. I did think the relationship ended poorly (a Post-it? Come on!), but when he and Carrie were in the swing of things, it was magical.
Sex and the City: The Movie opens this coming Friday and I am more than excited to see it. I do not see "chick flicks" a lot, and in fact prefer action/adventure movies with lots of shoot 'em ups, but this is one "chick flick" I wouldn't miss for the world. After watching 6 seasons in about a month's time, I am invested in Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte and I sincerely want to know what they've been up to. Plus, it's going to be interesting to see if Jennifer Hudson can act in a movie where she's not singing most of the time...
Well - it's time to clean the apartment. Or maybe take my portable DVD player out on the balcony and continue to catch up on some SATC Season 6 while I paint my nails :)
Have a lovely day, and I'll cya at the movies!
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