Who run Bartertown?

Mad Max is so freaking awesome.  Thunderdome has some problems with it, but for the most part, this movie is so badass fun. Watching it on Netflix as I type.

Spent 6 hours in all out at the Bears game last night in 17 degree weather.  Holy shit I haven't really been that cold in a long time.  I was bundled up, but that only lasts for so long.  Wow.  I even woke up this morning and still had the chills.  It kinda killed my day today, just felt completely wasted.

It reinforces my question that I've asked for years now.  If you're homeless, why the FUCK do you stay in Chicago or any cold weather climate?  I know the real answer is mental illness, I get that.  But even our ancient ancestors migrated when the colds came in and moved south.  Animals move south for the winter. 

Southwestern USA should be Shangri-La for the homeless, right?  Yet, Chicago has a ton of them.  I don't understand it.  Hopefully I'll never have to understand it, but it just makes no sense.  Not that being homeless in the most prosperous nation on the planet makes sense, but you know what I'm saying here.  This isn't a civics debate.

It's fucking cold in Chicago, if you have to live outside, just go South, it's warmer.

Anywhoo...  Was very happy with our decision to make some Dee-Fence signs for the game.  I'm not a sign guy, they're kinda obnoxious, but taking inspiration from the Adam Corolla Podcast, we fashioned our own Dee-Fence signs.


Dee Snyder

Dee Brown

Sweet Dee

and my personal favorite, Dee Thomas

Something must have been right because the Bears beat a team they should have gotten their ass kicked by.  Great game, really fun time with my good friends.  A night well spent.

MotD: The Basketball Diaries

I'd heard this was such an amazing movie and performance by DiCaprio.  He is very good in this.  The movie itself SCREAMS 1990's low budget.  The seedy drug world he found himself in just feels a bit too sanitized, the sets seem just too much like sets.  It's a true story and a worthwhile one to watch.  The one thing I didn't really understand, or at least get from the movie, was his redemption.  All of a sudden he's clean when he gets out. (Hey, this is a 15 year old movie, spoilers are over.)  I wish we'd have seen more of his spiritual conversion, what made him want to change.  I know he saw his buddy still playing ball at a high level, and maybe that was it.  Dunno.  Good flick though, if you can get past the afterschool special feel of it at times.

So this is Christmas....

Successful Christmas Day.  Nieces were happy with their presents.  Cliche, I know, but they're really growing up so fast.  It seems the older they get, the more their personalities emerge, that's a neat thing to watch.

Ate too much, drank too much, all that comes with Christmas.  Got some great stuff from my family, all good.

Nothing to complain about today!

Well, except the movie I watched in the am....

MotD: Run Simon Run

A 1970 tv movie starring Burt Reynolds as an Indian out for vengeance.  Don't watch this movie. After co-starring in this, Inger Stevens committed suicide.  Not to be crass, but I don't blame her.

'Twas the Night Before Ditka

Southside blogging here.  Night in The Ridge, old school.  I'll rehash a Christmas sonnet I reworked a few years back.  Bears-centric, god we're awful this year.

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house,
The creatures were drinking and Malone was soused.
The Old Style sat in the Fridge with care,
With hopes that Saint Ditka soon would be there.

Malone was all nestled, passed out in his bed,

Visions of Comic Books danced in his head.

Boba Fett in his kerchief, Yoda in his cap,

He'd just settled down for an alcoholic nap.

When out of the pool hall there arose such a clatter,
Malone leapt, ok rolled, from his bed to see what's the matter!
Away to the window, he ripped open the sash,
Unfortunate because he had on no pants.

And what to his nearsighted eyes would appear,
But a Minature Ditka and Eight Tiny BEARS!
With skin so orange and a moustache so quick,
He knew in a moment, it must be St. DIT - ka.

Hungry and lean, his Bears they did shuffle,
And he whistled and shouted and broke up a scuffle,
Now Otis, now Hampton, now Mongo and Willie
On Fencik, on Payton, on Colonel and Suhey

To the line of the goal, to the mark of the down,
Dash away, Blitz away, Sack away all!
And then in a twinkling, Malone heard on the roof,
The slurred speech pattern of Da Coach fleet of foot.

As Malone tripped on his books and twisted around,
In through the door Ditka came with a bound,
He was dressed in his sweater, looking his best,
Sunglasses, Chewing Gum, and BEARS across his chest.

A Shiny Silver ball, he had hung at his side,
Like a wonderful omen, he smiled with pride,
His eyes, they were squinty, his dimples how merry!
His skin was like orange, his nose like a cherry!

His mouth had a cigar, chomping away,
His hair was slicked back, like it was every day.
He had a thick moustache and a bit of a belly,
That shook when he cursed, like a bowl full of Jelly.

Loud and obnoxious, the perfect coach for Da Bears,
Malone laughed when he saw him, in spite of his tears.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to the liquor,
Grabbed some ice, then said with a snicker,

"You laugh at me again, and I'll kick your ass!",
Then took a swig from the Scotch in his glass.

He sprang to his ride, not leaving a present,
Just drank the booze and left a stale cigar scent
Malone heard him exclaim as Da Bears flew out of sight,
"We became a team today, and to all a good night!"

MotD: The People vs. Larry Flynt

I like Woody Harrelson, so I think that went a long way towards me enjoying this.  The story just struck me as a super sugarcoated version of Larry Flynt's life.  He's presented as a saint who's fighting for the freedom of Americans and not just someone who likes money and beaver shots.  Now, that may be the case, I genuinely don't know much about the man, but the movie just smelt of sugar coating.  It's genuinely CRAZY that they never caught the guy that shot him.  That's nuts.  Never knew that.  I do remember Courtney Love getting accolades when this came out for her performance.  Honestly, she was "eh" until her role called for her to be a coked out whore with AIDS.  Then she was most convincing.  Shocker, I know.  Good movie, kept a nice pace with solid performanes.

Wrap it up, I'll take it.

Been Christmas busy lately, good and bad.  Realized that the disruption of my schedule, due to classes ending and holiday *stuff* throws me off.  You get used to a schedule, like everyone who goes in 9-5 can attest to, and it becomes comfortable.  It really takes a specific frame of mind to roll with changes to a daily schedule and continue to be productive and feel accomplished.  Eh, life's a learning process right?

Had the first actual "table read" the other day, which was amazing.  Big thank you to all my friends who were able to participate.  Even had a long distance connection from Mat's place in DC!  Fantastic.  As much as I hope the work was good, more than that my hope was that my friends would feel comfortable enough to critique it intelligently and in a helpful way.  They totally hit it out of the park.  I got great comments from them and I think it was successful simply because they all felt comfortable in critiqueing. 

I thrive on critical assessment of my work.  Whether it's actual office work or creative stuff, I'm a bit of a bad self critic.  Knowing that I can trust someone's opinions of my work is HUGE for me, and so the results were perfect.

The cool thing was a lot of the commentary was things that I had knocking around in my head too.  That tells me I'm onto something and at least can identify some issues on my own.  Of course the next and only SLIGHTLY important part is solving those problems, but identification is the first step.  There were plenty of things that I hadn't seen, which was great, so all of it was rewarding for me. 

Kudos to all my friends who stepped up and sacrificed their Sunday night to help me out.  You all performed fantastically!

Oh, and I haven't abandoned the redesign, at this point, I'm thinking of targeting the new year for that.

And the Bears fucking suck.

MotD:  The Pink Panther & The Pink Panther Returns

I enjoy Peter Sellers, he's marvelously talented, but I'd never sat down to watch any of the Panther movies.  my dad used to watch these a lot and a friend of mine was recently talking them up so I got the itch.  Eh, could have done without the scratch.  I thought I was waching the first two of the movies, but as I was writing this, I realized there were EIGHT Panther movies?  2 or 3 don't even have Sellers, one of them made with him using posthumous footage?  Blake Edwards milked this like a teat, apparently.  Oh, and that 8 doesn't include the two new Steve Martin versions. 

These have their moments, fun characters, witty dialogue and the requisite slapstick.  But overall I wasn't in love with them.  I think I'll watch at least two more of the sequels, just to feel like I got it out of the way, but overall I was nonplussed here.  Nothing makes me want to watch the Martin ones.  NOTHING.

Kung Fu Grip Christmas!

Here's some live action recommendations for the comic fans on your Christmas list!

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut

This is the version you want to watch. Not because it's the tightest or "best" version of the controversial movie, but because it's the most like the comic. You've either seen Watchmen or not and if you've seen it, and want to have it, you might as well go all out and get this.  I enjoyed this quite a bit in the theaters, although there were certainly issues with it.  Snyder did as bang up a job as could be expected of the "unfilmable" graphic novel.  But this brings up a point, Watchmen is NOT a Graphic Novel.  Watchmen, as you buy it today, is a Trade Paperback collection of a 12 issue mini series.  It's serialized fiction.  People ashamed to say they read comics call them graphic novels.  This is a 12 issue paced series.  It's not a cohesive story told in long form.  It's 12 chapters of a whole.  I wish people called them comics again... *sigh*

Batman Stuff

I don't need to tell yout that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are must owns.  Just make sure everyone in your life has seen these.

Superman II: The Donner Cut

If you're not familiar with it, Richard Donner was fired during filming of Superman II.  The producers then hired Richard Lester, director of Beatles comedies, to finish the film.  The result was a movie that had two different attitudes.  They finally got around to paying Donner to put together "his" version of what Superman II would have been like.  Some major differences, some scenes in this DVD are actually screen tests and the ending is a repeat of the first movie, which Donner wanted to use here instead.  It's a really cool insight into the decisions behind a project.

A fun sidenote here, in the years prior to this edition being legitimately released, there was a bootleg "International" version that was sold at comic conventions.  This was a fan made edition, trying to emulate what Donner actually did.  I have a copy of that, purchased from Margot Kidder herself!

G.I. Joe: The Complete Series

Two things to recommend here, first is the original and always awesome complete series from the 80's.  This footlocker collection is amazingly comprehensive, they have all the PSA Knowing Half the Battle stuff and a slew of interviews.  If you grew up on this series, as I did, this is the collection to get.  Plus the packaging is tops.

G.I. Joe Resolute

This is a new, update of the 80's concept.  Not a reimagining, ala the subpar movie this summer, but a real spiritual successor.  I watched it online in 12 minute segments and this edition is all of them put together.  I think Warren Ellis had a hand in writing this too.  It's exciting, there are actual deaths and the animation looks smooth.  Highly recommended.

Transformers: The Complete Series

Just like the Joe Footlocker above, this one is comprehensive and cool as shit.  Lots of interviews and extras on these discs.  All the original episodes.  The thing that Transformers did that Joe didn't, was establish a tiny bit of continuity and change as the series progressed.  The last year really dealt with Optimus' death and there was some changes from ep to ep that wasn't widespread back then.  Good stuff.

Notice that I had to avoid the Transformers and G.I. Joe movies.  They're not the worst, but I couldn't in  good concience recommend them to you good people.

A Very Animated Christmas

Long, productive day today!  Knocked off some Christmas shopping, got my car fixed, snuck in some writing work, did a survey downtown and met with The Daily Blank folks for brainstorming.  Throw in a trip to the comic shop and that's a full pull!

Comic based DVD gifts for Christmas!

Batman: The Animated Series

This is the greatest comic book cartoon series ever produced.  I cannot see this being topped.  No hyperbole there, that's how good this series is.  It debuted in prime time, that's how amazing this is.  It only got better as it went on.  This is the complete collection, they're all available individually too, but this is the definition of in for a penny, in for a pound.  Cannot recommend this any higher.  AMAZING.

Superman: The Animated Series

I'm a big fan of this, but it didn't click as well as Batman did.  I recommend it primarily because it's a bargain at this price.  It's very well made, but something was just off.  I loved Dana Delaney as Lois but never warmed up to Tim Daly as Supes/Clark.  Very Kirby-centric, which is cool.  It leads into our next offering, which is...

Justice League: The Complete Series

Great series that got off to a slow start.  It had a lot of the problems Superman had.  Something just didn't feel comfortable about the first season.  Green Lantern wasn't fully realized and they were very formulaic about the adventures.  It actually mirrored the way the early years of the actual JLA comics played out.  Pairing up leaguers to go on individual adventures.  Second season and when it became JL Unlimited were VERY good years.  They got over their fear of dumb viewers and just told fun comic stories.

Green Lantern: First Flight

DC and Marvel have both finally got off their duff and have been producing fantastic direct to DVD movies in the last few years.  Some have been better than others.  On a whole, I've enjoyed DC's more than Marvel's.  I think it's the Bruce Timm influence that most of the DC ones have.  The two best are Green Lantern: First Flight and Justice League: The New Frontier.  GL is a fun, well done succinct origin story of Hal Jordan.  If you read my comic recommendations then you know I love GL.

Justice League: The New Frontier

New Frontier is The Right Stuff mixed with Justice League.  Slick animation design based on Darwyn Cooke's amazing series puts the DC Silver Age firmly entrenched in early cold war 1960's space race.  Green Lantern takes main stage in this one and it's highly recommended.

Marvel Animation

Spider-Man: The 60's Series

This is the one you remember the theme song from.  Poorly drawn animation and simplistic storylines are the staples here.  But still, the charm cannot be denied.  There are a lot of episodes here, and they all feel the same, one after the other.  But I still love it!

The best Marvel TV animation isn't on DVD, and that's the problem.  Their rights are so crazed, I think with the Disney merger some things will get straightened out.  Specifically, the 90's Spider-Man series should have been released years ago.  Also, where the hell is Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends????  How about 1980's Hulk?  Where are the 1960's fumetti ones ripped right from the pages of the comics?  Arg!!!

They did release the 90's FF, which sucked balls.  They've just recently released the 90's X-Men with no fanfare and I was never a huge fan of it anyway, so I can't recommend here.  TV animation has always been Marvel's weak spot and it continues in the DVD market.

Hulk Vs.

The Marvel ones tend to a chunkier animation style.  The best of the Marvel bunch, by far, is the Hulk Vs.  This pits Hulk against Wolverine in one chapter and Thor in the other.  Both are a lot of fun and the animation is slick throughout.  I'm very much looking forward to the World War Hulk upcoming one.

Marvel Animation Six Pack

This is a good bargain for those of you new to all these direct to DVD's.  The quality swings here, but included in this set is...

Dr. Strange - Well done.  I'm not a big Strange fan and I enjoyed this.
Iron Man - Not great.  Done before the film came out and relied too heavily on his Mandarin foe.
Ultimate Avengers 1 & 2 - Ok animation based on a solid book.  The sequel is really Black Panther heavy.
Next Avengers - Did not expect to like this, REALLY enjoyable.  Aimed at a younger set, it has heavier future distopia themes that would appeal to the adult here.
Hulk VS. - See above, best in this set.

The biggest drawback that Marvel would appear to have with the direct to DVD's is the big guns are tied up with other companies.  Spider-Man and X-Men I'm looking at you.  Yes we have Wolverine in the Hulk movie, but it's not a Wolverine movie.  Fantastic Four is also guilty here.  I long for the day when all the rights are back under the Marvel roof.

MotD: Whatever Works

Woody Allen's latest piece has Larry David being Larry David, which is good enough for me.  I love Larry David and while this feels a bit more stilted than I like seeing him on Curb Your Enthusiasm, it's still laughably enjoyable.  Pessimism and a sardonic look at life here, typical Woody Allen.  If you like Larry, you'll get a kick out of this.

Tree up and DC Christmas ideas!

Put the tree up tonight.  Took over 3 hours WITH two people doing it.  HOLY CRAP do I have a lot of ornaments.  I'll try getting some good pics of it, but usually it just looks like a blur of lights and action figures.

Picture Geoffrey The Giraffe shitting out a Christmas tree, that's what my tree is.

Today, I'll get into some DC Comics books for this holiday season!

Absolute Justice

This is the big Alex Ross project.  If you're on the periphery of comics, you've seen his work.  Gorgeous, wonderfully watercolored pieces.  I've never been a huge fan of his storytelling or his original character design, and no that isn't me being a hater.  I just don't dig his original stuff.  His interpretations of the classics however is second to NONE.  Because of that, I've listed some of his other fantastic works that are out there.  Justice is a good book for a continuity free take on the Justice League.  If you loved the Super Friends, then you would eat this book up.  It's the JLA vs. The Legion of Doom.  Awesome stuff.

Superman and The Legion of Super-Heroes

Geoff Johns is redefining the DC Universe one year at a time.  This was his early days on Superman, which he's now reworking in Superman: Secret Origins.  I love this series.  Primarily because it gave me back all the Legions that we've loved and lost over the years.  But it's also a fun, time spanning, galactically big adventure that doesn't need a whole series of crossovers for you to enjoy.  I'm also including his two bookend pieces to this, it's kinda his Legion Trilogy.  The Lightning Saga is a bit of a prelude to these books and Legion of 3 Worlds is a bigger tie in to the Final Crisis debacle.  Both are good, but just like Empire Strikes Back, S & tLSH is just note perfect and enjoyable for all.

Green Lantern... EVERYTHING GREEN LANTERN!!!!

Again, thanks to Geoff Johns Green Lantern is the viable major league player he always should have been! Starting in Rebirth, Hal Jordan was dusted off and brought back. In the ongoing Green Lantern books, he told seriously fun, solid superhero tales. Which led into the surprisingly strong Sinestro Corps war. Right now, we're in the midst of The Blackest Night, the fourth chapter in Hal's rebirth. Just awesome stuff. Sci-Fi supers with amazing depth of emotion. Read all of these right now!

MotD: Hostage

I forgot this movie even existed.  Rightfully so, it's interesting at times, but real predictable and implausible at most times.  People act crazy when the only reason they do so is because the script needs them to.  Willis is good, but I think he's infinitely watchable.  No need to see this, but if you do on a lazy Sunday afternoon, eh, even then somewhere Shawshank is on, so watch that.

It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid...

Every day I get people asking me, "Malone, my boy/girlfriend loves comics, but I think they're infantile and for idiots.  What should I get him/her for Christmas?"

Typically, my first reaction is "Awesome that you're apparently dating a tranny.  Wouldn't it be easier if they just picked one gender pronoun and went for it?"

Then I follow that with some suggestions based on their tranny partners interests.  So here we go, with some comic referral gifts for the Holiday Season...

Today we'll cover some Marvel Comics

Astonishing X-Men Omnibus

This series was so good.  If you like the X-Men but feel encumbered by the seemingly too complex backstories, this is the collection for you.  Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse and other riffs on the scooby gang dynamic) teamed with John Cassady for a straightforward action epic.  If you're not familiar with Cassady's art, he has a gorgeous, clean line.  His best work was on Planetary, but this stuff is epic and wonderful.  This arc reminds us what the X-Men should be.  Tight knit family, bicker amongst themselves, high stakes adventure and occasional outer space excursions.

Avengers Forever

The complete opposite end of the spectrum is Avengers Forever, by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco.  This book is a deep read loaded with continuity for Avengers fans.  Not deep as in spiritual, deep as in every single panel is packed with some kind of reference to Avengers past.  Kang, Immortus, Space Phantoms all the classics are here.  Avengers from the past, present and future are plucked from their time and thrust into an adventure to save reality.  I always loved this series for it's slavish devotion to continuity.  This one's for the nerds!

Captain America Omnibus

If you're not reading Captain America, then you're a card carrying Commie and you should go back to China.  This book has been a MUST read for the last 5 years, since Ed Brubaker breathed new life into Steve Rogers.... and then killed him.  That they were able to continue the book's momentum, unabated and with even more vigor, while the titular hero was literally dead, is amazing.  This omnibus covers the return of Bucky, one of the saints of Marvel, never to be resurrected for real, but Bru pulls it off wonderfully and now they've got a vital, fan favorite new hero on their hands.  Also, the art here is amazing.  Epting, Perkins, Lark, Weeks and Guice all mesh their styles to one cohesive look for this book that has served it well.  Highest Recommendation here!

MotD: Match Point

Woody Allen channels Hitchcock here.  I enjoyed this movie much more than I ever thought I would.  It's got enough red herring twists in it to keep you guessing and the story moves briskly.  Love, betrayal and what it takes to clean up the mess you've made with your life. 

3 People That Have Never Been in My Kitchen

Just got back from my first actual audition.  Not entirely frightening, I sucked to high heaven, but it was a fun experience.  I primarily did it to get it out of the way.  There always has to be a first one, so this was it. 

Prior to the audition, I was joking with a friend that it should go well if the role called for a blonde, tall suburban born guy with a deep voice, that's right in my wheelhouse.    So what happens?

The role was a younger version of my father.  No shitting.  The role called for a husband and wife who were out duck hunting.  The husband was focused on the hunting while the wife wanted to talk about their relationship. 

It's like when Cliff Claven went on Jeopardy and all the categories were Beer, Bar Trivia, Celibacy and other shit he was a master of.  Really funny.  Still don't think I did super well with it, but it was a nice piece of serendipity and a sign that doing the audition was the right thing!

MotD: Shrink

Entertaining enough film.  It's structured like Crash or Grand Canyon, where we see how lives intersect, in this case with the titular shrink, played well by Kevin Spacey, is the lynchpin.  Parts of this seemed forced and too underedeveloped.  Particularly, the writer's interactions with both the assistant and the schoolkid.  Spacey is really good in this movie though.  Recommended on his performance alone.

Pwned

Here's a scene I'm handing in for class tonight.  Kinda long, but hopefully entertaining.  Formatting is off and crazy, but cutting and pasting is a bitch.

“Pwned”

Cast
Joe - 15
Matt - 16
Jeff - 15
Chris - 14
(Four boys sit in chairs facing the audience, staring ahead. Headset microphones are on each of them, and their hands are occupied with video game controllers)

MATT

Look out for the Dragon’s Tail!

JOE

Dude, put up the spell!

JEFF

Quit telling me, I know! Chris, summon your demon!

CHRIS

What was that? I can’t hear you!
(Chris bangs on the side of his headphone)

JOE

Aww, crap. I’m dead.
(They all put down their controllers in defeat)

JOE

Guys, this ain’t working. We need a Demonslayer sword.

MATT

No we don’t, we can do it like this.

JOE

No, Matt, without the Demonslayer to pin his tail down, the Dragon just swipes us away.

JEFF

It’s happened everytime we’ve tried this.

MATT

You don’t need it, you can do it like this, I know you can.

JOE

How do you know that?

MATT

I’ve seen it done.

JOE

Where?

MATT

Never mind where, I’ve seen it done is all. Let’s just revive and try another dungeon.

JEFF

Where have you seen it? You Tube? Cause I’ve looked on You Tube and can’t find one without the Demonslayer.

CHRIS

Guys, seriously, should I revive back at the hospital or are you coming back here? Guys?

MATT

I did it last week.

JOE

How? Our Guild stats show none of us completing this quest.

MATT

That’s because I didn’t do it with Matt-poleon The Dwarf. I... used an alternate toon.

JEFF

You have an Alt Toon? WTF?

JOE

Dude, we made a pact when we got this game, all our resources would go towards the benefit of our Guild.

MATT

You know how it is, I was online one night, you guys weren’t around, I just wanted to roll a new character. I met some cool people in the town square, and they kinda...

JOE

Kinda what?

MATT

They kinda invited me to join their Guild. So I did.

JEFF

Double WTF!!

JOE

Dude, you’re in another Guild?

MATT

It’s not a big deal, anytime you guys are online, I always join you.

JOE

If it wasn’t a big deal, why keep it a secret?

MATT

It’s not like that. It’s just when I’m with them I can do other things.

JOE

What other things? What do they give you we can’t?

MATT

Well, they do cross base raids for one thing.

JEFF

You know we can’t do that because Chris can’t support the bandwidth. You know that!

CHRIS

What can’t I do? Seriously guys, you coming back here?

MATT

And my other toon can do things that Matt-poleon can’t.

JOE

Like what?

MATT

Well, she’s a Mage, so she can cast protective spells.

JOE

She! She’s a she?

JEFF

Triple WTF!

JOE

Your other toon’s a girl? Oh my god, I don’t even know you! Who are you?

MATT

I’m the same guy that felled the Castle of Pain last Summer, remember that?
(Joe gets up, throws down his headset and exits the stage)

JEFF

No, Matt-poleon held off the orc hordes. Ms. Matt wasn’t there. What’s her name anyway?

MATT

(Hesitantly)
Queen Mattilda the Beautiful...

JEFF

Awww.... Jesus man, seriously?

CHRIS

Guys?

MATT

You’re blowing this way out of proportion.

JEFF

You know this is why we kicked out Jason. You know that right?

MATT

Yes....

JEFF

We said never again, all of us, you me and Joe all made a pact. We only let Chris in because we needed a 4th. It was us man, the 3 of us. And you go and ruin it.

MATT

It just sorta happened one night, I’m sorry.

JEFF

Joe, what do you think? Joe?
(At that moment, Joe walks back onstage into Matt’s section and punches Matt repeatedly in the shoulder)

JOE

You (punch) Cheating (punch) Asshole (punch) How (punch) Dare (punch) You!(punch) (points finger) The next time this happens, you’re out, do you hear me, you are out!
(Joe exits the stage again)

JEFF

What was that?

MATT

Joe just Tigered me. I can’t play anymore, my arm’s numb.

JEFF

Just... just promise to break up with this other Guild. I don’t want to hear about Queen Mattilda ever again.

MATT

If it’s that important. I’ll tell them it’s over.

JEFF

Thank you. I gotta log off now, my mom’s calling dinner.
(Jeff exits. Matt fiddles with some controls, waits a beat, then appears to go back online)

MATT

Hey guys! Yeah, pssh, no big deal, I told them all about you, they’re totally cool with it. We’ve got an open Guild relationship. Let’s go smash some Orcs!
(Chris is still fiddling with his headset)

CHRIS

Guys, seriously, guys? Are you coming back here or what? Guys?
(Blackout...) 


MotD: Chopper

Eric Bana as a ridiculous true life tall tale in the Australian penal system.  Highly recommended, this movie chronicles the bullshit filled life of "Chopper" Read.  If you Google him, you'll see real life videos of this guy, and then you can marvel at how amazingly Eric Bana portrayed him.  He's truly, genuinely insane.  He seems bipolar or schizo or something.  It's well told and very entertaining.  What I really liked about it was the people around Chopper.  Since this is Australia, land of criminals, a bunch of his criminal acts are just laughed off.  It's a trip!  He shoots people, beats people, etc and cops and jailers kinda shrug it off.  Awesome.

Surfer Down!

Here's a free driving tip to both of my loyal readers out there.  If you're in a parking garage, there's a busy flow of traffice in your one way aisle and you're a complete fucking idiot, don't back up.

Some asshat in a Jeep backed up without looking today and put a nice dent into the Silver Surfer's front quarterpanel.  For once I wasn't quick enough on the horn to alert this otherwise inattentive nimrod of their impending stupidity. 

Crunch.

Her spare tire punched the dent into the car.  What sucks is if the tire wasn't there, it would have just been a scratch on the bumper.  (Or maybe not, because that hit first, if it was bumper on bumper action it may have been worse)  Either way, if not for the tire denting my frame, I was totally just going to take cash and move along.  Now insurance has to get involved and I have to take the car in and all that shit.

I did that once, some kid rear ended my car, we looked and it was only cosmetic.  So I asked how much he had on him, he gave it to me, and we moved along.  I like that, it feels old school.  Piece a guy off for dinging up his ride instead of getting police or insurance involved.  Life was simpler back then.


MotD: Noise

Tim Robbins in a low budget movie about the overwhelming noise pollution in New York.  The description read like a Falling Down kinda movie, where a man takes it in his own hands to clean up the streets.  Unfortunately, it played more like Blankman.  And I'm not kidding about that.  This was VERY much like Blankman.  Not a good start.  There were a lot of big names in this movie, Robbins, William Hurt, Bridget Moynahan.  Billy Baldwin was in it too.  I've a feeling this was a favor movie, where the director or writer was breaking out.  Not an awful attempt, but nothing flashy or memorable in it. 

Blankman.

Omega Cat

Man, I just wrote a multi graph discussion of the Tiger Woods stuff and really just don't want the heat.  I deleted it, primarily because I didn't trust my ability to expound on my thoughts with the proper clarity.  Have you ever had that?  Something in your mind that you know you feel ok about, but as it rolls off your tongue you want to staple your mouth shut and take it all back?  Cause you're sounding like an idiot, but you know, in your head, everything is wonderful.

So, discretion, valor, and opening your mouth and removing all doubt and all that goes into effect here.

I will be very clear with this thought tho...

Happy Birthday Lyla Jo Hope!!!!

Woo Hoo!  My little niece is 2 years old today!  She's a little sweetheart and we celebrated with her today, loved it. 

MotD: Alpha Dog

Speed Racer and JT in a SoCal drug fueled kidnapping story.  Throw in a little Angel from X-Men and you have a winner.  I'd heard this was good, I wasn't prepared for how good.  It's a small story that spins wildly out of control.   Crazier to think that it's based on a true story.  JT is good, Speed Racer is good.  I love the way the story is told, with the characters introduced along with their witness number for the eventual trial that you're told happens in the beginning of the film.  I was prepared for something of a harsher movie, but it was surprisingly tame, shocking at the right times, but overall a solid thriller that builds. 

Burning Calories...

Getting closer to a relaunch....

MotD: Frailty

I'd heard good things about this movie and I'm about to shock my friends here.  I loved this movie.  This movie stars and is directed by Bill Paxton.  Let me say again, I loved this movie.  This movie stars Bill Paxton.  Let that sink in.

Ok?  Paxton is a crazy single dad who feels he's been visited by God and told to eliminate demons in the world.  He enlists his sons to help what they see as murdering people.  The tale is told in flashback, with Matthew McConaughey as the adult version of one of the boys speaking to an FBI agent.  Real good, real creepy and well told.  Paxton, as usual, has one note and that's all he does all movie, but this is just an engaging work, very entertaining and recommended.

Spinning Hourglass...

Still organizing the reboot of the overall blog.  Movie recommendation for today. 

Enjoy!

MotD: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie For Theaters

Inspired lunacy.  I'm not an afficianado of ATHF, but I am a fan.  I've seen some of the seasons and enjoyed them, even if they were just insane.  That's what you get here.  Just a whack job melange of the ATHF gang, with all the supporting characters, Plutonians, Mooninites etc.  It's hard to recommend this to people who don't know the show at all, because the narrative here deals with their origins.  However, it's REALLY funny at times, if you just go with the flow and forget about the literal premise of a Shake, Meatwad and Fry talking to you, just laugh at their shit.  If you're a fan, you've already seen this I'm sure.  It's worth a laugh.

Rebooting....

In the process of Re-Installing Windows on my desktop and troubleshooting some pesky software, so not very typey for a blog these couple of days.  Will regale you with some filmic thoughts whilst I prepare for the blog reboot and my desktop reboot!

MotD: The Interpreter

I finally found a Nicole Kidman movie I like.  Outside of Dead Calm and BMX Bandits of course.  That's probably exaggerating, but she's always annoyed me a bit, not here though.  She's a UN interpreter who accidentally overhears a plot to kill someone.  Sean Penn is an angsty Secret Service agent assigned to get to the bottom of it.  Both are excellent, but the story kinda lost me in the middle.  I just didn't care all that much about the horrible things going on in Africa, probably because they didn't SHOW it to us.  We just got the same kind of second hand discussion of it that we get, in real life, on the news.  So when everyone got up in arms, I was... meh.  Worth a viewing, but have something at hand if you get disinterested a little bit.

MotD EXTRA: The Road

No, I haven't read the book.  That's what everyone who I've spoken to about this has immediately asked me.  I'll probably read it one day, but I'm backlogged now.  As to the movie, really good, Viggo is his usual awesome self.  The kid was pretty good too.  You know what else was good?  The razor blade that I used to slit my wrists after watching this.  I know it's an apocalypse movie, but holy shit.  Stock up on the antidepressants prior to viewing.  I guess I'm still trying to determine the point of it.  Yes, shit hit the fan, yes humans will find a way to persevere... but not really?  Seriously, not trying to be snarky, what was the point of this?  As an observation of what an Apoc existence would be like, fantastic.  But isn't that what The Discovery Channel is for?  Aren't stories supposed to provide...  something?   It didn't leave me cold, it just left me confused.