Samuel L. Bronkowitz presents:

R.I.P. Hightower

2011-08-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Former NFL player, actor, and all around good guy Bubba Smith was pronounced dead today (and on my birthday of all days!) when authorities were called to his home in Los Angeles. He was at the relatively young age of 66.

As a child of the 80's, I will always know Bubba best for his recurring role as Moses Hightower in the Police Academy movies. I also recall as a kid that my uncle said he had been friends with Bubba long before. I thought it was when they were in high school, but Wikipedia says he was born in Texas and went to school in Michigan, so maybe it was when Bubba played for the Baltimore Colts (my uncle lives just outside of Baltimore)? Anyway, though he had not been in the spotlight for a while now, I will always have good memories of Mr. Smith and he will be missed.

Let us bow our heads, not in silence, but in Bedulah. And say "Yamma yamma yamma yamma YA-mma!"

Stylin in the 80's.

Stay off the drugs, kids.

Sweetchuck's wet dream come true.

Awesome Events: Goonies 25th Anniversary in Astoria!

2010-05-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Goonies fans will unite this summer in Astoria, OR to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film's release. Astoria, for those not indoctrinated into all-things-Goonies, is where the movie is set, much of it was filmed there, and the town might as well be considered the Motherland for Goonies fans worldwide.

The celebration will run from Friday, June 4 - Monday, June 7. Jeff Cohen (Chunk), Corey Feldman (Mouth), and Joey Pants (Francis Fratelli) are schedule to attend, as well as others.Check out the official website for a list of events that span the whole long weekend. It's kind of a bummer that most of the events cost upwards of $20 each, but let's face it, this once-in-a-lifetime event is for hardcore fans only. In addition to "Meet and Greets" with the cast throughout the weekend and the film showing on Friday night, there's also bus tours aroudn Astoria highlighting the filming locations, an 80's Night Out on Saturday, and a Goonies Fan Film Festival.

In the meantime, get your Goon on over at theGoonies.org.

Hey You Guys!!

Awesome Events: Donut Summit 2010

2010-04-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

"On June 13th, donut lovers will get a chance to sample what the donut shops of L.A. have to offer at the 2010 LA Donut Summit," announces LA Weekly blogger Naomi Iwamoto.
Yes, friends, this is exactly what it sounds like: a gathering of donuts and donut aficionadoas from across the Southland. Admission is one dozen donuts from your favorite shop. And then you get to mingle and nosh with other donut fans, trying out the donut fare offered around LA. What's not to like (calories aside)?!

Still not convinced? Does this change anything:

Come on, you've got all summer to burn off those calories!
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/26/47-days-until-the-donut-summit/

Goonies 'R GREAT Enough

2010-03-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Damn straight. . .

"Hey You Guys!"

All you Goonies fans out there, "we have the money to save the Goondocks!"

Well, to buy it, anyway. 2010 has started off as quite a famine for new posts. Sorry. But, I'm proud to say that my first post of 2010 is the about a long-sought after movie score: The Goonies.

Yes, Varese Sarabande has done it again, folks. On the 25th anniversary of this 80's cult classic exec produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Dick Donner, the music label has released a nearly full score for the Goonies. Be warned, though. It is limited to a 5,000 copy run. Once this is sold out, it's gone for good (Ebay and Amazon marketplace aside.)

I wish I had the time to do a full review like I have in the past with Temple of Doom and Gremlins. The Varese website has all the details and a track listing. You can even listen to snippets of a few cues. This long-awaited score will wisk you back to Astoria with the Goonie gang- Mickey, brand, Data, Mouth, Chunk, Andie, Steph, AND Sloth. Not to mention those no-goodnicks, the Fratellis.

Get your truffle shuffle on and pick up your own copy of the Goonies score here!

The Return of Lil Mac!

2009-12-04T08:18:00.001-08:00

I think this commercial promoting the release of Punch-Out for the Wii has been around, but it's totally worth another watch if you've already seen it.

The guy who plays Lil Mac is spot-on, but what I love most if the nonchalant way "Doc Louis" eats that chocolate bar.

BONUS: Enjoy the styling sounds of the Minibosses covering the Punch-Out theme.

Madness and Murder

2009-12-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

My friend and co-worker, Jenny Hilborne just recently got the exciting news that she first novel, a murder mystery called Madness and Murder is getting e-published in 2010.

As an aspiring writer myself, I'm very excited for her and offer her a very BIG congrats! Jenny Hilborne's book will be released in the 3rd Quarter of 2010 by Eschelon Publishing, who discovered her earlier this year at the Southern California Writer's Conference in San Diego. The story follows Inspector Mac Jackson through the city fo San Francisco as he traces a killer. I haven't actually read it yet, but I look forward to checkign it out next year.

Jenny Hilborne's site has a litte more info on the book and the method to her own writing "madness". Check it out: http://www.jfhilborne.com/

OPEN LETTER TO MISSION VIEJO MAYOR FRANK URY

2009-11-11T09:50:00.001-08:00

UPDATE: Response Received From the City
I just received a response from Jerry Hill, Public Services Operations Manager for the City of Mission Viejo. He says:

"We can absolutely help by once again turning off the recycled irrigation on city owned landscapes.
We will begin turning of our systems today and will keep the recycled irrigation water off until Sunday night / Monday morning.
We have been in communications with SMWD and will continue to encourage resolution of the Oso Reservoir anaerobic situation as soon as possible."

Mr. Hill, thank you for helping to ease the suffering from symptoms of this "anaerobic situation". Now, let's keep the pressure on SMWD to get the CAUSE fixed once and for all.

I just sent the letter below via email to Mayor Ury, the City Council, and the Public Works department. Feel free to copy, paste, and send it to them, too.
Mayor Ury - fury@cityofmissionviejo.org
City Council - cityadmin@cityofmissionviejo.org
Public Works - publicworks@cityofmissionviejo.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mayor Ury, et al:

On behalf of your constituents in northern Mission Viejo, I am asking for your help in easing our suffering from the incredibly pungent sulphur smell coming from the Upper Oso Reservoir. I am urging you to take whatever action necessary to recommend suspension of the irrigation again for as long as possible. Although the SMWD and other specialists are working to correct the problem, hundreds of Mission Viejo residents are forced to endure the malodorous side effects because the Reservoir feeds the irrigation lines that water public and median areas in northern Mission Viejo.

After last week's City Council meeting, Mission Viejo agreed to stop irrigation of the public spaces for three days in order to help ease the terrible smell that lingers throughout the northern Mission Viejo neighborhoods and it seemed to make a noticeable difference. Then the irrigation began over the weekend and the foul smell of rotten eggs and feces returned. This stench stays all night, penetrating our homes and in the morning, the smell is still there, just as pungent.

One of the aspects that I and so many of your other constituents love about living in Mission Viejo, one of the safest cities in the United States, is that we can enjoy our neighborhoods and the mild climate we are so fortunate to have here. Families can leave windows and screen doors open in the evenings for fresh breezes and overnight instead of eating up electricity with A/C units running all night. People could enjoy walking and jogging through their neighborhoods in the mornings or the evenings. But with this terrible rotten egg smell not only lingering outside, but suffocating us in our homes, we cannot enjoy any of these cherished aspects of Mission Viejo life.

If you are in doubt about just how acrid this smell is or simply have not had the opportunity to personally experience what whole neighborhoods must suffer through every night and every morning for the past two+ weeks, I strongly encourage you to drive through the Pinecrest area (Marguerite and Santa Margarita Pkwy) between 10pm and 9am. You only need to drive through with your windows down to get a sense for what many neighborhoods full of people are living with inside their own homes because of this issue.

Feel free to also visit my blog post about this issue and read the 160+ comments left by Mission Viejo residents who are dealing with this issue on a daily basis. The blog post URL is http://finkythekid.blogspot.com/2009/10/smell-that-ensnared-mission-viejo.html

Again, I urge you to PLEASE help your fellow Mission Viejo residents by whatever means necessary while SMWD continues to resolve the algae issue. Any further pressure you can apply to SMWD to continue making the resolution of this issue a priority is also greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance.

Best Regards,

Ryan Fink
Concerned Mission Viejo Resident

Stench Rally at Mission Viejo City Hall! (Mission Viejo STILL Stinks!)

2009-11-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION ALL:

There will be a rally at the Mission Viejo City Hall on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12th at 4pm to demonstrate to our elected officials how badly we need their attention and assistance in resolving this issue. Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors! The more people that show up, the more they will understand this isn't just five or six people "complaining" about a pesky smell.

City Hall is located at:
200 Civic Center
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(across from the Library)

While I would really like to be there, my work schedule isn't going to permit me. But I strongly urge EVERYONE reading this to attend, if possible. It obviously doesn't stink down i nthat part of Mission Viejo, so at least take the opportunity to breathe some "fresh air"!

And a big thanks to the Anonymous poster who first proposed this rally. They can ignore emails, but they can't ignore bodies!

Mission Viejo - still smells!

2009-11-04T12:35:00.001-08:00

Well, it still stinks in Mission Viejo and in a 3-5 mile radius around the Upper Oso Reservoir. The City of Mission Viejo says they have stopped the common area sprinklers that are fed from the Reservoir, which seems to have eased a little bit of the Stench, but it's still wafting heavily in the evenings and mornings.

KTLA was out Tuesday night covering the story and stopped by to interview a few locals, including myself:
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=a38197e5-23a8-4982-bab5-67e512d78ec3&src=front

I recognize that action is bein gtaken, but there are still soe questiosn left unanswered. Namely, how can SMWD continue to insist the fumes are "not harmful" to humans when they have not yet publiclly identified what the gas creating the Stench is. They've taken readings and determined - SOMEHOW - that there's no presence of hydrogen sulfide coming from the Reservoir. Funny, b/c there's definitely a strong sulfur component to the Stench.

Seems odd to tell people the gas is "harmless' when you haven't been able to positively identify what the gas is, right?

The Smell That Ensnared MIssion Viejo Continued (PART III)

2009-11-03T09:14:00.001-08:00

UPDATE 2 : City of Mission Viejo posted video of the City Council Meeting last night. Skip to 58:00 into it to bypass the Closed Session. John Schatz, SMWD General Manager speaks shortly after they begin the public comments.
http://missionviejo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=398

UPDATE 1 : There's a new article on the Register website
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/oxygen-water-ferons-2634663-lake-reservoir

---------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, the smell continues in Mission Viejo for yet another day.

Just wanted to post a big "THANK YOU" to everyone here who has helped make their voices heard about the STENCH that continues to haunt our neighborhood.

Not just here, but in places that really count like calling newsrooms, emailing reporters, contacting the SMWD and City of Mission Viejo, etc. It's unfortunate that the Stench still persists, but I feel like there is progress being made now that our voices are being heard.

Just curious, was anyone able to attend the MV City Council meeting last night? Would like to hear from anyone who did.

Although I cannot access the site from work, I do get updates from the City of Mission Viejo site (linked to in my Part II post) and I saw this message from a "caring soul" (I've edited it for content):

"Wow. What a bunch of hysterical SoCal pXXXXs--all of them with their little panties in a knot because a natural process in a lake nearby has resulted in an odor for a couple of days. I really love the woman who plays the "I'M PREGNANT!" card immediately. So? You're pregnant. Biology works again! Ease up, dipXXX, your precious little baby is fine."

Gee, thanks for the thougtful words from someone who is OBVIOUSLY not affected by this smell. Now, go back to your bridge underpass, troll. If I could access this page on the Mission Viejo City's site, I'd post a response to his dumbass.

The Smell That Ensnared Mission Viejo PART II

2009-11-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

UPDATE #2 : As I posted in the comments in my original
post, there's a Mission Viejo City Council Meeting TONIGHT at 6pm at the civic center (where the Library is). Should we make our presence known? Just a thought...

UPDATE : 6:13pm - Nope, it came back. BARF!!

Halloween has come and gone, but in Saddleback, The Stench still lingers!

Thanks for all the feedback in the previous post below. It's good to know I'm not alone and crazy and that so many other people are making calls and sending emails to the City, SMWD, and news outlets to help spread the word about what is going on. It's amazing that SMWD and Mission Viejo had scant mentions of this stinky phenomenon until days after it had become incredibly noticeable (that's putting it nicely.)

Thanks in no short part to people who've commented here, it looks like there's not at least a litte bit of info on the Web about this, though it seems there's a few different stories out there. One rumor includes a broken sewer pipe causing the algae bloom.

Posts on The Stench of '09:
City of Mission Viejo (leave comments!): http://tinyurl/ykaz739
OC Register:
http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/01/algae-bloom-causes-bad-smell-in-mission-viejo-area/66177/

Keep making those calls and sending emails on Monday.

And, let's be sure to remind any elected officials that Tuesday is election day. I know there aren't any huge races in MV (what about RSM?), but perhaps it'll at least remind them we are people, too. And we vote.

Uh oh, sundown. CLOSE YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS!!

The Smell That Ensnared Mission Viejo

2009-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

UPDATE

November 11, 2009 - It's RALLY TIME, people! See the newest post for details: http://finkythekid.blogspot.com/2009/11/stench-rally-at-mission-viejo-city-hall.html

The Santa Margarita Water District is supposed to have an update this afternoon (10/30) on their progress for correcting the "algael bloom" and how long until we can go outside again without it smelling like a giant rotten egg. Check http://www.smwd.com/ or call them:
949-459-6420 (Business hours)
949-361-6294 (After hours)

Hit the "Samuel L. Bronkowitz" title at the top of this page to take you to the other updates on the main page of this blog.

Mission Viejo, CA stinks. I mean, it reeks to high heaven. There is a sulphurous odor so malignant and intrusive, it has enveloped the neighborhood and penetrated the walls of my house for nearly 48 hours.

My first encounter with the mysterious malodor occured as my wife and I drove home two nights ago. Turning through the intersection at El Toro and Rancho Santa Margarita Pkwy, the air inside our car suddenly became infused with a putrid sulphur smell. Sometimes there seems to be pockets of this nasty smell in various places we drive through and we figured it'd pass. Unfortunately, the smell only intensified the further we drove. Now approaching the intersection of Rancho Santa Margarita and Maguerite Pkwy, the stench was nearly overwhelming.

We pulled into our garage and quickly closed the door, hoping to keep the foul rotten egg smell from invading out house, only to find the inside of the house smelled almost as bad as the neighborhood around us.

"Oh my god," my wife exclaimed, "this smell is TERRIBLE!"

And, indeed it was. Like an invisible Fog of rotting putricity, this sudden, terrible odor had settled upon our neighborhood and invaded our home. I felt bad for our cats who had to be there with it the whole day.

"But, what do I do?" I wondered aloud.

If you want to report a crime, you call the police. A medical emergency or fire? Call 9-1-1. But what do you do when there's an outrageously offensive odor covering at least a square mile of public and private land? I was at a loss. So, I took to the internet.

But I found nothing about it on the mews, the local paper, or an extensve Google search. What could possibly be causing this incredibly bad smell? Settling into bed coughing and trying to ignore the sulphur smell that hung in the room, I figured, maybe there'd be something about it on the news or internet the next morning.

Better yet, maybe it'll blow away in the night.

Nope.

The next morning, it was still bad. When we got home that night, STILL horrible. I took to the internet again, but this time found a new story from several years ago about a "sulphur" smell that cropped up in another part of the County. It said "to report an odor call the Orange County Water & Santitation district." Perfect!

Unfortunately, the OCWSD serves only part of the County- and not the part I live in. But, they were able to direct me to my water provider -Santa Margarita Water District. NOW, we were getting somewhere. I called SMWD and got their after-hours answering service, who was well aware of the problem from the volume of calls they were getting, but had no idea what was causing it either.

The following morning (the third day now!) the sulphur stench still swallowed the neighborhood. So, I called SMWD back and finally - an answer!

An "algae bloom" in the Upper Oso Reservoir (about 1/2 mile north of my house.) Apparently, the oxygen levels were incredibly low, which gave rise to an (anaerobic?) algae, which was now going gangbusters and sending this ridiculously bad smell into neighboring developments.

Sadly, this story has no ending yet in sight. Although SMWD is responsible for maintaining the Reservoir and is actively working on the algae problem. At this time (1pm on 10/30/09) they did not have an estimate for how long it would take for the smell to dissipate permanently. SMWD said that they are doign something to churn the water in the reservoir which will help re-oxygenate it and get rid of the algae, but that was all the specifics they could give me on the "solution." They did advise that the common green areas in that part of Mission Viejo are fed by water from the Reservoir, so that will continue to perpetuate the stench until the water is cleansed.

So, there you have it.

Anybody else out there smelling this horrible, horrible smell?

AIRPLANE! needs a 30th Anniversary re-release in 2010

2009-09-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

Demand it from Paramount, NOW!
Hey folks, what's more fun than a leaflet about famous Jewish Sports Legends?

Airplane!

This film was one of the first comedies I remember seeing when I was a kid. Somehow it got a PG rating when it was released in 1980, which is amazing considering today it'd easily get a PG-13 and maybe even an R given the blatant pair of breasts which appear prominently in the third act.

The comedy team of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker really set the bar high for all future slapstick comedies with Airplane (which came after Kentucky Fried Movie, their hilarious cinematic collection of spoof vignettes). The path they blazed with Airplane set the precedent for Top Secret and the Naked Gun movies, the latter of which met with much more box office success.

I IMPLORE Paramount to give this movie a limited theatrical re-release next year. I guarantee it'll be the best comedy you watch in the theater all year. There are so many funny moments in this film, it's futile to try and make mention of them all here.

If you have somehow never seen this movie or haven't seen it in a while, well, watch the whole damn movie on YouTube now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYYBpntLYp0

Or, just enjoy a few of "Johnny's" funniest moments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YV5h6xzGKo

So take yourself back to a time when tickets "smoked" and you gave your cab driver another 20 minutes, but that's all! And demand it from Paramount next year!

So There!

Plaid Stallions

2009-07-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

As a perfect companion site to Shawn's Branded in the 80's website, anyone who appreciates 70's and early 80's fashion and toys MUST check out Plaid Stallions . The pictures below are just a snippet of the amazing stuff Plaid Stallions has posted from old catalogues.

Turn your little boy into a stud!

This brings back so many preschool memories.

Gaetti!

2009-07-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well, well, looks like there is some interest in Gary Gaetti. Don't give me that "Gary who???" crap. You know who I'm talking about. Enjoy this interview some small Missouri newpaper did with him. It's so rare to ever see anything like this publically, the man could be discussing the intricate workings of a belt buckle and I'd still watch it. And still laugh.

And, is it me, or has his schnozz gotten smaller?

No "pez' between Pez Co. and Burlingame Museum

2009-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

For many years a couple of hardcore pez candy aficionados ("Pezheads" to those in the know) operated and maintained a large collection of pez dispensers and memorabilia in a little store front south of San Francisco in the town of Burlingame. The dedication started and still stands as a labor of Pezhead love. More than a decade ago, I myself was something of a Pezhead and part of the official Pezhead email distribution list. The museum owners we also on this list.

Say what you will about people, most of which were middle age adults, who elect to revolve their waking lives around a candy dispenser, but the one thing all the Pezheads shared was burning passion for their dispensers and trying to obtain as many as they could. And this was a time when "new" dispensers were uncommonly produced by Pez USA (which was an entirely separate company from the Pez Co that was still based in Austria). Before there were 100 different kinds of NASCAR Pez. When Pez purposefully avoided putting "realistic" human heads on dispensers, before there was a really nasty looking Darth Sidious dispenser. Or this ridiculous abomination. And, what kid or collector wouldn't want an exciting Mozart Pez ? I mean, that last one's like right out of an Archie McPhee catalog.

Pez!

The Pezheads behind the Burlingame Pez Museum even made what Guiness recognized as the World's Largest Pez Dispenser. These guys were serious. And in the mid-90's when Pezheads were made contact with Pez USA, the candy maker was always very friendly to its fans. I'm pretty sure they took no objection to the Burglingame Museum, and were even receptively amused by it.

The Giant Pez Dispenser that may get Joan of Arc'ed

But, my how things have changed in the last ten years (coughGreedycough). The Museum is now being sued by the Pez company over licensing infringement issues and even calls for the destruction of the giant pagan Pez god the museum proprietors created ("Thou shalt have no false Pez!")

In an ironic way, the Pezheads may have brought this upon themselves, though it was a long time in the making. Back in the mid-90's, Pezheads all over the world were clamoring for more and more Pez dispensers to be made. Pez production, particularly in North America, had really hit a lull since the 60's and 70's and while there were not too many new dispenser models released each year, it seemed Europe and often Canada would get new dispenser liness that the US was constantly not privy to (i.e. Pink Panthers, Super Mario and gang, Asterix & Obelix, just to name a few.) By the late-90's Pez finally realized they could tap into financial gains from the pent-up domestic pez demand, which started with putting dispenser heads on a variety of stem colors (instead of just one color per head), then introducing florescent colored stems, and then introducing a limited-time premium dispenser, which Pezheads could obtain through mail order. [I actually like the premium promotion because the dispensers were re-molds of classic dispensers like the Psychedelic Eye with Hand or the Bride & Groom.]

Anyway, Pezheads ate this stuff up. After years of it, the Pez company finally realized they had some clout they had long been without. And now you find Pez everywhere, not just in a corner fo a Michael's or CVS. Pezheads fed a monster that got out of control and is now turning on its own fan base. I'm not saying it's right, but I do see the legal merit behind Pez's claim that Burlingame cease from creating "non-licensed" materials. I just think calling for the destruction of the giant Snowman dispenser is a bit ridiculous. I suppose there isn't really anything to gain by Pez co. seizing the giant dispenser - what would they do with it?

I'd think the Burlingame guys would be able to claim it was "fan art" and not something they were trying to "dupe" people into believing was sanctioned by the Pez company. And it's not like they were making multiples and selling them. They made one and kept it in an obscure museum. Quit being so greedy and self-important, Pez Co. You're lucky enough to have had a revival of interest. Count yourself lucky and move-on. By the looks of the Museum, I don't think you're really leaving anything on the table by allowing these dedicated fans and free promoters of your product to continue doing their thing. And, if they are actually making any significant money from unlicensed T-shirts, why don't you just cut a deal with them? Or, make your own to sell to people, if you must cut the Burlingame folks out.

Thy humble Burlingame Pez Museum

Well, I'm sure the Burlingame folks are "pezzed off" over this, but it'll be interesting to see what the result of the suit is.

Read the article here

Photos used here courtesy of the Burlingame Pez Museum website.

The Mysterious Cloning of Ernie Hudson

2009-04-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I saw Ghostbusters in the 80's when I was a kid and I loved it. Sure, I might have been only 8 or 9 when I first saw it and didn't get all the jokes, but I knew it was funny. And the older I got the more the movie grew endeared itself to me as a comedy standard. I knew Ackroyd and Murray from old SNL reruns and other movies. Ramis was new to me, but I dug the nebbish tech-geek he played in the movie. And then there was Winston. The "new guy" who comes in in the second half of the movie willing to believe anything they say, as long as there's a steady paycheck in it. They didn't give Winston much to do, except say a few funny lines and play the "outsider" for a little bit.

All was well and good when a sequel was announced and was released June 1989. We got a new villain in Viggo; Dana Barrett returns; Janoz as the new dweeb gunning for her, a slightly re-vamped version of Slimer (who now seems to have turned traitor on his fellow ghosts), Louis Tulley reprising his role, and all four original ghostbusters....or were they?

I had no problem recognizing all of the other actors reprising their roles, but I didn't even know they had kept the same actor to play Winston in the sequel. You think that sounds silly, in recent years I've encountered other people who also saw GB II as kids and didn't realize it was the same actor. Or, supposed to be.

Take a look at the pictures above and try to tell me that there isn't something fishy going on. GB II was released in 1989, which means it was filmed in 1988. Assuming the original GB was filmed a year before its release in 1984, that makes a five year gap between the two productions. There's no way that the visage of Ernie Hudson changed that much in such a short amount of time. Sure, the actor playing Winston in GB II looks Ernie Hudson from GB I, but anyone can see there are some subtle, but obvious differences.

What am i getting at? A late-April Fool's joke? No. A conspiracy to replace the real Ernie Hudson with a clone at some point in time after GB I? Maybe.

I wish I could find a bigger picture of Mr. Hudson from GB I than the one above, but it's all I got.

I'm not saying this conspiracy is real. I'm just saying that the guy playing Winston in GB is not the same one in GB II. Why? Who would want or need to create this kind of conspiracy? Who knows. But they should know that there's a few of us out there who are on to them. Oh yes, we can tell. And we'll be watching.

Star Wars: REALLY Special Edition

2009-01-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

some say it's even better than those damn prequels:

Rough Seas

2008-11-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is security footage of a dining room of a cruise boat as it hits rough seas. The video starts of a bit slow but by the end the dining room is completely destroyed.

http://www.break.com/index/are-we-having-fun-yet1.html

In a rush? Skip to the highlights:
1:30- 2:15 - it starts in earnest here
5:00 - the real fun begins
5:58 - watch for the guy in the bottom left corner
6:10 - watch him slide back!
6:35 - Watch everyone flee to, well, another part of the ship....?

I'm sure this was terrible for the poor folks on this boat, but it's so insane to watch now, I expected to see a truck load of muppets and herd of cows come flying through there at any minute.

A Van Damme Movie You May ACTUALLY Want to SEE?

2008-11-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

In this world, there seems to be so little left to leave me surprised and amazed. The Georgia Bigfoot was a hoax: no surprises there. Obama won the election: blind and deaf men were telling me this months ago. The stock market had another volatile week: yawn.

And then something happens like Prop 8 PASSING in California (what the hell, California?) Or, Van Damme making a movie that somewhat parodies his life, but actually looks really entertaining.

Check out the US trailer below for "JCVD":

If this pans out half as well as the trailer suggests it might, JC might have found a way to re-invigorate his career.

Best Halloween Costume Ever...for a dog?

2008-10-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not generally someone who thinks it's all cutesy when people dress their twin Yorkies up like Sonny & Cher, or strap a Princess Leia bikini from Return of Jedi on their daschund. But this may be the best animal costume I've ever seen.

Just Because: "Goonies 'R' Good Enough"

2008-09-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

If you grew up in the 80's you're certainly aware of a little film called The Goonies . In general most 80'snicks have a pretty fond nostalgia for the film, myself entirely included. I recognize it's got its problems and at times some of the acting isn't Oscar quality, but since when did either of these things disqualify a film from being enjoyable?

Which brings me to Cyndi Lauper's Goonies theme song, "Goonies 'R' Good Enough", which I present to you via YouTube without further ado:

I had forgotten how silly and fun "professional" wrestling was by the mid-80's. Roddy Piper, Iron Shiek, Ivan Dragoff(?) - these guys are a riot. Why'd wrestling need to go and get all "Undertaker/Goldberg" serious in the 90's?

Goonies takes the daring adventure of a lifetime that every kid (every boy at least) wanted to have, combines it with a mildly retarded strongman with an animatronic ear and sets it all against some fun pop music; Produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Dick "Superman" & "Lethal Weapon" Donner and written by Chris Columbus. It has all the hallmarks of a great 80's film.

This video was apparently shown in two parts on MTV around the time The Goonies was released, but for some reason I just don't remember ever seeing it. The Goonies DVD that came out a few years back has this full-length video on it, as well as some behind the scenes footage.

To be sure, Cyndi's video has a lot more of the "quirkiness" that probably went along more with Ms. Lauper's 1980's image more so than the movie this video was shot for. The pro wrestlers want to open up a sushi bar? (Is this a backlash against 80's yuppie culture?); Cyndi's 'terrified" reactions to pirate skeletons; Andre the Giant showing up out of thin air at the end (why didn't Cyndi just do this at the beginning?) I also love when the video suddenly cuts to Steven Spielberg sounding more lost that he ever has on-camera.

But the real reason to love this is for the song and the nostalgic feelings it so imminently brings back. In fact, I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me want to leave work right now and go hunt for treasure out in the parking lot.

As a fan of 80's comedies, if you've never seen the "Goonies Vacation" fanfilm, click that link and watch it now. It's the best (and only?) mash up of Goonies and Vacation you've ever seen watching two Goonies die hards make a roadtrip pilgrimage from California to the Goonies filming locations in Oregon.

I don't know about you readers or Rowdy Roddy Piper, but Cyndi, Mom & Pop, Dave, Wendy, and Andre the Giant lived happily ever after!

Bigfoot caught?

2008-08-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Can it be true?

UPDATE- Nope.

I doubt it. HIGHLY doubt it. Just because the New York Times runs this story doesn't account for much validity. And the guys in the picture below don't do instill alot of faith in me as to the veracity of their story.

Hit the link for a picture of what's inside that freezer coffin next to those guys. (No, it's not a bunch of beers.)

New Transformer 2 Images?

2008-08-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I was tooling around the Internet today and found these amazing pictures of what could be new vehicles used in Michael P.H. Bay's Transformers sequel (2009).

Is this the "new" Jazz??

Wait untilt he fanboys get a load of the new RODIMUS PRIME!!

Has Bay decided to include Inferno in the sequel?

Could this be a new Decepticon? ?

A new Autobot? (Brawn, perhaps?)

Looks like only time will tell.....

Fried Food Bonanza at the OC Fair

2008-07-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was at the Orange County Fair this past weekend, which is usually an enjoyable experience. If for no other reason, I'm always surprised what new ways peopel have found to "enliven" the deep fried food groups with new "delicacies."

Case in point, the picture below.

A "doughnut chicken sandwich"? Really? You know, the City of Los Angeles just banned fast food restaurants in low-income areas. Does this mean they now have to travel to County fairs just to get their fill of unhealthiness?

At least you get honey AND raspberry sauce for the delectable "sandwich" above. And you can enjoy a "Totally Fried" Pop Tart for dessert!

WATCHMEN:The Trailer is the Beginning is the End

2008-07-28T15:42:00.001-07:00

I wanted to post more of my thoughts about this last week, but was just too busy at the office. You can check it out on the official site, but I also found a slightly better version of the trailer on YT and put it below just for kicks. Watch it again, won't you?

Simply put, the trailer is great. It delivers exactly what I hoped and would have expected to see from Snyder's production. So far just about everything I've seen from this production has captured the look and feel of the source material almost EXACTLY.

Sure, bitch about Ozymandias' costume or less than hunky stature; bitch that the 1985 Comedian isn't pudgy enough; bitch that you already know Snyder's ending will be different than the comic. But there's so much other stuff in the details that IS right, it more than makes up for it.

Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, New York - 1985, the drop of blood on the Smiley Face, Rorschach, Nite Owl's vehicle breaking out of the East River, Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan's crystalline structure rising up on Mars (yes, I know it looks subtley different from the comic, but is it germaine? No.)

I love that the music they selected for the trailer (which works very, very well for this trailer) was part of the soundtrack for Batman & Robin, the fourth and final movie that drove the stake into in the original Batman movie series (thank you WB and Joel Schumacher!) Ironic that they decided on music from one of the most laughable, often considered the most cartoonish and overblown superhero movies in modern cinema (the only Batman movie that didn't even make it's production budget back in gross domestic box office receipts,) in a trailer for a movie that essentially turns the "comic book superhero" notion on its head.

Snyder, you done right so far. Don't let us down.

Friday the 13th Poster

2008-07-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

So, the new teaser poster for the remake showed up at Comic Con this past week. I'm not sure I like te direction it's going. I mean, the hockey mask is still there, but it has jowels.

Read some amusing talkback reactions here on Ain't It Cool.

WATCHMEN: Official Trailer

2008-07-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Things continue to look very promising for Zack Snyder's adaptation of the Watchmen graphic novel. I personally can't wait to see this film next year!

George Carlin - Rest In Peace

2008-06-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

A great comedic mind is no longer with us.

There is no one today that is really a direct successor to George Carlin's brand of humor. Sure, the guy waned a bit in his twilight years, but so do most of the greats. For almost his entire career he was way out in front of the "edge" of popular comedy. His insights and use of language (both "dirty" and not) were incomparable among stand-ups contemporaries. Only in the later 90's did America start seeing increasing numbers of comedians who took their humor to "the edge", making it more "raw" and covering topics or using language that was previously considered "socially extreme". Now everybody does it. But when you go back and watch Carlin's older stuff (I'm most familiar with his 80's stuff and the early 90's gem, Jammin in New York) you see just how far he sails above all of today's comics.

George Carlin, you've given this world a great many laughs, often to tears. And now, we shed a collective tear back to you for all the laughs you gave us.
Rest In Peace, you funny fucker.

Just Because / Music To Live By: Gremlins Movie Score

2008-06-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been back from the honeymoon on Kauai for two weeks now and work has kept me incredibly busy. But during those many busy hours I've found some solace in my YouTube playlists , which help to pass the time (when I'm not continually interrupted with meetings and fires to put out in the office.)

I couldn't really decide whether this fell into the category of a random YouTube link for you guys to enjoy (Just Because), which is what I originally intended this post to be. Or if this is more of a score review (Music To Live By). It turned out to be something of both.

Gremlins: The Score

One of the playlists I listened to several times last week was Jerry Goldsmith's great score for Gremlins, the 1984 movie written by Chris Columbus, directed by Joe Dante, and executive produced by Spielberg. What a team! Special thanks to YouTuber Aldabarran for uploading this hard-to-find and out of print score to the Internet.

What I really like about Goldsmith's score - besides how instantly it brings back the fun of the movie it was written for - is how it captures both the film's lighter and darker tones. Goldsmith uses an interesting synth sound for some parts of the score used when the Gremlins are running amok. A combination of this synth music and some skillful violin work bring uniquely identifiable and eery cues for scenes with the Gremlins. He also does a great job of weaving in some lighter, holiday themed cues with Gizmo's theme throughout as the score threads between its heros and Gremlins.

You may also find it interesting to know that Goldsmith's violin based Gremlins theme didn't actually make its first appearance in the titular movie. Movie score fans will know that Goldsmith scored the Twilight Zone movie from the early 80's, which cmainly onsisted of 4 separate stories. One of those stories was about a man (played by John Lithgow) who sees a monster on the wing of the airplane he is flying on. During this story, the monster is referred to as a "gremlin", one of those little monsters that cause mechanical things to go wrong and break down, but that people never see. If you listen to the track for "Nightmare at 20,000 feet" on the Twilight Zone score, you'll hear a familiar violin theme when the Gremlin appears at about 3:20.

Or, you can hear part of the music in the first minute of this clip, especially from 00:47 - 1:03:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwEclI_ffOA

Come to think of it, this segment of this film a) is really well done, and b) really left an impression on me when I saw it as a kid.

Steven Spielberg directed one of the four stories in the Twilight Zone movie, so it's no coincidence at all that Goldsmith was chosen to score Gremlins when it came along.

Here's some random trivia for you:
- This original TZ episode starred William Shatner. Shatner starred in Star Trek.
- Jerry Goldsmith scored the original Star Trek movie.
- Goldsmith also scored this segment of the Twilight Zone movie that was executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Goldsmith also scored Gremlins, which was also exec produced by Spielberg. Not coincidentally, the Gremlins movie features very similar "gremlin" music for the little green monsters as the little bit of violin music you hear when Lithgow sees the monster on the wing of the plane.
- Spielberg also exec produced The Goonies, which was directed by Dick Donner.
- Dick Donner directed this original TZ episode of Nightmare at 10,000 feet.

Gremlins: The Movie
I watched this movie recently for the first time in a number of years and darn it if it still isn't enjoyable! As a kid I always remembered the movie being funny, but sometimes scary. Watching it again now, I see a much greater dichotomy between the film's comedic moments and the moments that are downright horror-like. One minute Gremlins are popping out at a character for a cheap scare, then their killing an old lady mischeivously, but then you get a whole 60 second scene with nothing but Gremlins hanging out in a bar, dancing to 80's disco wearing a Flashdance outfit, beating each other up with cartoon sound effects in the background, and a Gremlin flasher who exposes, well, nothing underneath his mini, Gremlin-sized trenchcoat.

Some might cite all these things as evidence of just how uneven the film's tone is. However, I think these guys knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted it to be a little scary, a little funny, and a little heartwarming. In fact, I think it's a pretty rare breed of movie that can pull off that kind of combination HALF as successfully as Gremlins does.

Anyway, enjoy listening to Gremlins!

Gizmo, ka-ka!

Sweep the Leg!

2008-05-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this isn't new to some, but I was just recently introduced to the video for "Sweep the Leg", which features the titular song by the group No More Kings. The video spoofs a few 80's pop culture moments, but most notably Karate Kid.

Written and directed by Johnny himself, William Zabka and his Cobra Kai buddies (yes, they reassembled his close gang of Cobra Kais 20 years leater) sit around their trailer watching Karate Kid over and over until Johnny's old mentor comes back and Johnny sets out to right the wrong done to him by Larusso's crane kick many years ago. The guy who played Principal Belding on Saved By The Bell also makes a cameo appearance in the beginning and I'm pretty sure that's Ralph Macchio there at the end.

"Get him a body bag, Johnny! Yeeeaaaaahhh!"

Indy IV Score Samples on Amazon

2008-05-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings Indyfans!

30-second samples of the tracks on the score for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull showed up on Amazon.com recently.
Do Beware of SPOILERS in reading the track titles. I know, I know - if it's on published material, is it really still a "spoiler"? I say "no", but as this is the first Indy movie anyone's had in almost 20 years, some of the fan community on the web has become uptight about this kind of thing.

I like what little I can hear so far. A little of it reminds me of Williams' work on the Star Wars prequel scores, work I personally enjoyed (in some ways more than the movies themselves.)

I really dig that part of "The Map Room" theme from Raiders shows up in the track called "The Spell of the Skull" and "Marion's Theme" also makes an appearance on this CD in the last cue (if not elsewhere that we can't hear yet!)

Indyfans and the Quest for Fortune and Glory

2008-05-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

UPDATE

The Raider.net picked up my article on GoSightSee.com and mentioned it in their Indyfans article on their site today. Too cool!

I went to the "premiere" of Brandon Kleyla's new Indiana Jones fanumentary on April 28 in Newport Beach. Check out my synopsis over at the GoSightSee Travel Blog.

I didn't know it at the time, but apparently the Girls Next Door came to the premiere in Indy fedoras, too.

Just Because: EG Daily

2008-04-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the movie "Better Off Dead". It was my introduction to John Cusack and for years I thought I was the only one who enjoyed watching the movie over and over on my VHS copy taped from HBO. When I got to high school I started realizing other people knew the movie, which is now regularly recognized as not only a great 80's film, but a damn fine Savage Steve Holland comedy (not that he has many others).

In honor of Summer movie season starting this weekend, I give you E.G. Daily's "One Way Love (Better Off Dead)"
(PS- Sorry your Mom blew up, Ricky.)

And Now This Important Announcement

2008-04-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

With the weekend at hand, I thought I'd leave your week with these parting words of wisdom:

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

KOTCS score drops on May 20!

2008-04-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!
The Amazon site now has the CD cover and tracklisting, too. Beware minor spoliers on those tracklistings, though.

The Raider.net posted a blurb that notes the release date of John Williams' forthcoming score for Indy IV. I cannot wait!

Amazon is already taking pre-orders for the new CD.

Brandon Hardesty goes to Hollywood

2008-04-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

I love Brandon Hardesty's re-enactments. I admit it. They're like a guilty pleasure for me. I hope the guy does well in Hollywood, but that we still get to enjoy some of his personal work on the Internet from time to time.

Hey Hollywood, why not remake THIS?

2008-04-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you see something and think, "Damn, that's so incredibly bad. I love it!" Unfortunately, only the first part of that phrase is applicable to many of the films coming from Hollywood these days.

My suggestion to Hollywood? See below, and remember that the low-fi effects are an important component of the film. No CGI, asswipes!

And if you liked that one, try this one on for size:

Just Because: TAKE ON ME

2008-04-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Why? Well, because this video kicked alot of ass in the 80's and it still resonates so many years later, not to mention the fact that it brings back alot of nostalgia.

Of course, if the original is too "80's" for you, perhaps, you'll dig the cover by Reel Big Fish more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO7sTntruzg

WEIRD TRAVELS: LAS VEGAS - Janet Airlines

2008-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Believe what you want about UFOs, aliens, and the conspiracy theories that tie them together in a little spot in the US called AREA 51. But there is irrefutable proof of a "secret" installation of some sort in the Nevada desert, about 100 miles north/northwest of Las Vegas.

There are alot (oh MAN are there alot) of stories about this place, as most people have heard by now. In fact most of us have been hearing about it on and off since the very early 90's when Bob Lazar went to the media about his alleged and contested experiences there.

Enthusiasts, truthseekers, and others just curious have dared to venture through the desert to the place some call "Dreamland" and report encountering many of the same things: conspicuously blunt signage, armed "camo dudes" in Jeeps and sunglasses, "mailboxes" in the middle of nowhere,", and a whole bunch of other oddities.

No doubt, some people dedicate alot of time to watching Area 51.

And then there was me while I was in Las Vegas the other week. I guess I'd list myself under the category of "curious". I pulled up alongside a "private" terminal reported to be the highly secure terminal for the "JANET" aircraft which alleged shuttle people from Las Vegas McCarran Airport to the "Area 51" base at Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Site further north.

A view from just outside the "JANET" terminal.

"JANET" is the supposedly the code name at McCarran for the unmarked aircraft used to shuttle the top secret staff supposedly aboard them. The white and red craft use a terminal building on the far western edge of McCarran Airport, just a block east of Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and the Tropicana Resorts on the Strip.

There's alot more details on JANET here, here, and here.

I can't tell you much more than what I already read on these sites, but I did observe that the arrival and departure times people note still seem fairly accurate. I showed up just after 3pm on a Tuesday (3/4/08) and caught the last few people getting off a "JANET" plane about the same time the one in my picture below taxied down the runway for take-off. As those people hit the parking lot, it was like a sudden rush hour. Those cars started streaming out of the secure lot onto Haven St and turning right onto Four Seasons Drive behind me to head to the Freeway. Likewise, I saw them stream in the next afternoon about 45 minutes before another JANET plane took off.

"Big ol' jet airliner....."

So, what's going on at the JANET terminal? I guess I'd say "business as usual." As for just WHAT that business is - I leave thatup to you to decide.

BEARDS!

2008-03-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Back in February I decided to let my facial fuzz ferment into what some could deem a "beard." For me, it was about as furry as my face has ever gotten and it took me almost two months to get it this way.

Now, I can't even get into the specificities of this blog, because, frankly, I haven't read that much of it since I stumbled onto it just 8 minutes ago, but suffice it to say:

They Champion The Beard

So, go watch this video and be awed at its bearded spectacle.

Wanna see a Peeps Show?!

2008-03-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder just how creative somebody could be with a package of holiday Peeps? Well, you're in luck because the Washington Post just happens to hold an annual contest for that very thing.

Peeps Show II here.

New Tiki in the house!

2008-03-22T01:11:00.000-07:00

Got a new Tiki Mug recently from Catalina Island....
It stands about 9-10 inches tall and sports the Moa on three sides. Righteous!

Bill Peet interview

2008-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry, guys - I had this post form a while back, but never published it...

There's a great (old) interview over at Hogan's Alley with animator and former Disney cartoonisist Bill Peet. It's a great read and the gruff old guy has some intersting insights and oft-unheard stories from his time at Disney.

Where is March going? Spend it at the FUNPLEX!

2008-03-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a work-filled funfest since I got back from travelling to Las Vegas and Phoenix two weeks ago...

Phoenix was uneventful, except for stopping by Trader Vic's in Scottsdale for dinner and a tropical libation. Tried to make a Spring training game in Peoria, but the timing just didn't work before my flight out to Vegas.

While I've been working I've been listening to Aldabarran's YouTube channels alot, as well as the new B-52's song, Funplex. Why isn't this new jam getting more air time?

Marchin' into March

2008-03-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, where do the hours, days, and weeks go?

How did we get to March already? Whatever the cause of this rapidly increasing passage of time, I will be out on business travel almost all of this coming week inspecting properties in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

In lieu of reading any new posts from me, I offer up a fantastic YouTube page by "Aldabarran", a mysterious Brit with impeccable film score taste: Aldabarran's videos

Here you will find 30+ popular film score he has generously uploaded to the Interweb, many of which are hard sought by collectors and score enthusiasts. I've been listening to this guy's selections almost all week and loving all the new playlists I've made for a bunch of them.

Highlights include The Goonies, Temple of Doom, The 'Burbs (the recently released Varese Sarabande version), Big trouble In Little China, Gremlins, The Fog, Ghostbusters (Varese Sarabande version), Alien/Aliens, and all three Back to The Future films.

Go ahead and indulge already!

I'll see you the week of 3/10.

Afro-flakes: the Cereal!

2008-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Now UPDATED with a picture!

Ok, not really, but it appears one company has decided to target African-Americans with their cereal product. If this works, I suppose "Afro Puffs" can't be far behind. Which, I'd actually buy by the crateful if they're any good.

Read more over at The Breakfast Bowl blog.

Five Second Movies

2008-02-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

Seems a number of people have condensed alot of popular movies down to pretty funny "five second" clips (some are longer than 5 seconds.) I suppose this "phenomenon" has been around on YouTube for a while now, but I just discovered them this morning.

Check out the ones below for Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi. If you enjoy these, head over to YouTube to see more. I linked to a few of my favorites at the bottom.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH0Y5_CWgLM

Ghostbusters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8rbqyNYTaU

Back To The Future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-LilDePLhk

Amadeus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iYXi7HmGSE

The Goonies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaWY0-R8ypU

Beetlejuice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxrbqIibqsI

Karate Kid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ4vp4e3MX4

Others you should look for include Three Amigos, The Godfather, Jurassic Park, and Home Alone.

INDIANA JONES TRAILER

2008-02-14T07:55:00.001-08:00

It hit! It Hit!
http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html

Go check it out. It seems to match the descriptions "leaked" a few weeks back on Aint It Cool, but it's still awesome to finalyl get the trailer...even if they do have the "age" jokes we all suspected they would do.

GI Joe movie continues to cast questionably

2008-01-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

This will likely be my first AND last post on this wretched movie...

With the recent rumored casting of Arnold "the Mummy" Vosloo as Zartan and Dennis Quaid as General Hawk, I can say there's now at least two things I think casting has nailed. As a potential third, I'll throw out the no-name guy rumored to be cast as Destro, too. (It's not the Cowardly Lion. That would have brought things UP a notch.)

I'm neutral on Ray "Darth Maul" Park as Snake Eyes as well as the guys who will play Breaker and Heavy Duty. But those last two are gimmes that don't make or break the casting. They could have cast Peter Dinklage as Heavy Duty and it wouldn't have shattered the story of GI Joe (in fact, it would have made not only a great bit of ironic casting for that role, but added some addtional interest on my behalf!)

But the rest of the abominable vomitfest of casting and the fact that the GI Joe mythology has been completely jettisoned to make it a EUROPEAN-based force seems like an overt signal that this production is turning out to be "GI Joe-in-name-only". Channing Tatum is way too young and too much of a "pretty boy" to be Duke (reported here) and Marlon Wayans just shouldn't be here at all. (I saw a clip of Dungeons & Dragons.) At this rate, the film is sounding worse than the name of the new forthcoming Bond flick.

Although I generally like Joseph Gordon-Levitt's work, if Stephen Sommers casts him as a lead villain, I won't be surprised. Hopefully he'll end up as another Joe, but at this point, does it really even matter?

It's No Joke: Heath Ledger is Dead!

2008-01-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

Read it for yourself. He was found dead this afternoon in his New York apartment. Although the source indicates that his death may have been drug related, keep in mind this was less than 3 hours ago, details are still emerging, and likely will continue to come out over the next few days. But the fact that they mention finding "pills" sounds like it could be an accidental overdose.

Tragic news coming less than a week after the death of Brad Renfro. My thoughts and deepest sympathies to Heath's friends and loved ones.

Why So Serious?

2/15/08: I "<3" Indiana Jones!

2008-01-22T09:00:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's official.* We finally get the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 12:01am the day after Valentine's Day. Head over to CHUD for more details and to see the "Valentine" they swiped from somebody on the Amphibatron message boards. I wonder what movie it will show in front of in February? Spiderwick Chronicles?

Also, be sure to check out the new video on the official site for a behind the scenes look at Indy's house.

* Ok, it's still technically rumor as the Official Site has made no mention of it and the only "confirmation" comes from an entertainment tabloid show, but I'm getting my hopes up anyway.

BrandedInThe80s.com

2008-01-11T13:39:00.001-08:00

HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!

If you're as big a fan of the "Me" decade as I am for all its pop culture moments, please stop by BrandedInThe80s.com for a radical trip down memory lane. Shawn has quite a collection of late-70's and 80's memorabilia to share. Just recently he posted this great one with Saturday Morning Cartoon Ads.

"We Got The Jazz!" Looks like Hulk has gas, though.

I have very vivid memories of this one. Funny that Mr. T always ends up next to the Smurfs.

I don't remember this one with "Pryor's Place", but Richard's face looks like he was just subjected to listening to Howie Mandel do "Baby Animal's" voice for an hour straight.

Saturday Supercade kicked ass!

McJeffersons

2007-12-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

What happens when you mash-up a classic TV theme song with a red-haired, hamburger-shillin' clown? Watch:

McDonalds withstanding, I think the first sentence in this post actually makes an intriguing pitch for a new tv show. Better than yet another reality program, no?

Dark Knight trailer

2007-12-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

UPDATE!

See the Dark Knight teaser trailer here in its full glory!

Dark Knight Teaser Posters

2007-12-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

UPDATE!

See the Dark Knight teaser trailer here in its full glory!

What a week for movie posters!
Christmas comes early to those highly anticipating 2008's The Dark Knight. In addition to these three posters, there's a leak of the new trailer on YouTube that is showing in front of I Am Legend. I won't link to it here because they're getting taken down and reappearing constantly. But if you head over there and search "Dark Knight trailer" and sort by "Date Added" you'll get a few. It's grainy bootleg footage from inside a theater, but still fun.

I love that last one.

Tikis!

2007-12-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving, my fiance and I were in Waikiki and found some fantastic tiki mugs. We were unsucessful in finding any during out trip to Kauai last December. However, we discovered that the old campy cocktail tiki-style still pervaded throughout parts of Waikiki (we realized that Kauai is just too rural and laid back to have ever bought into the who Hawaiiana/tiki cukture image portrayed by wayward Americans in the 50's and 60's)

Long story short, we took hom three souvenir cocktail tiki's like the one below (in red, blue, and brown) from Tiki's Bar & Grill and found a host of other awesome ones at the Thor Store. Be sure to check'em out. The prices are pretty reasonable based on what we saw in other places in Waikiki, and most of Thor's selection is superior to others.

KOTCS poster arrives!

2007-12-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Let me tease you here with your first glimpse of the brand new teaser poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Friggin sweet.

Head over here to checkout and download the full version.

New Indy action figure

2007-11-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

There's a link over at The Raider.net with a photo of the new 7-inch Indy action figure being done by Gentle Giant. According to the source, it may only be sold in the Disney theme parks. But it looks great and comes with some cool acessories, including a fertility idol, sword (from ToD) and, what appears to be the Grail Diary.

Music to Live By: Temple of Doom

2007-11-19T16:21:00.000-08:00

As long as we're on the topic of Indiana Jones today, I thought I'd take a minute to impart my thoughts on a recent addition to my CD collection: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

This is an album I've been after for years and when I finally got ahold of one a month ago, I was ecstatic. I was a bit anxious in acquiring this CD; first, because of its typically high price tag ($40+) and secondly because I had read a number of comments from mildly disappointed film score aficionados who felt it didn't adequately live up to John Williams' other Indy scores.

Being a devoted Indy score and film fan, as well as a John Williams appreciative (I don't yet aspire to be a score completionist, but admire those who are), I felt picking this title up for less than $30 was a no-brainer. Even if it found only a luke-warm reception in my heart, I could burn a copy and re-sell it for at least what I paid, if not more. But I haven't even come remotely close to considering that since I listened to it because it's a fun CD.

The CD's 40-minute playing time is the shortest of all the Indy movie scores so far (the 19-track extended Raiders CD is 70-some minutes; Last Crusade with 13 tracks is 58 minutes). And this one feels the shortest. But that's mostly because it moves so quickly. Most of the cues are action pieces, or at least action-oriented.

So, let me give you a blow-by-blow of the tracks:

The disc kicks off with the "Anything Goes" opening sequence from the film and plunges right into the "Fast Streets of Shanghai" which follows it shortly in the film. Some of the tracks that follow are a bit out of chronological order when compared to the film, but it's not terribly disorienting, even for guys like me who like a score to be an orchestral guide through the film's themes and memorable moments.

"Nocturnal Activities" recounts the musical cues during the romantic "stand-off" between Willie and Dr. Jones, culminating in the thugee attack on the good doctor. "Short Round's Theme", which follows, is the cue Temple of Doom aficionados will recognize from the elephant trek to Pankot Palace.

The next cue, "Children in Chains" is the scene where Indy stumbles upon the cadre of chained children digging for Shankara Stones and is summarily captured by Thugees.

Track 6 is "Slalom on Mt. Humol", the name of which describes it pretty well. Why this isn't track #3, I have no idea. (Note: this trek reminds me of the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland because a recognizable portion is used in that ride. In fact, there are a number of cues from the Temple of Doom score used in that ride and finding them throughout listenign to this CD was a treasure of pleasure. I "claim" that term right here and now, by the way.) I love this track because it makes me want to do exactly what is happening in the movie - do a high-speed, perilous sled ride.

The next track, "Temple of Doom" is everybody's favorite thugee chant, which builds to quite a nice "heart-wrenching" crescendo. Be sure to grab a nice chianti when listening to this one.

"Bug Tunnel and Death Trap" ToD fans will recognize from the sequence Willie is called upon to conquer her fears of the dead, the dark, and things that go "crunch" under the feet to save Indy and Shorty from impending impalement. Another one I really like because of the tensions and urgency conveyed throughout this cue.

"Slave Children's Crusade" is the fight cue in the quarry near the end of the movie that leads into famous "The Mine Car Chase". Both of these tracks are fun and are as uptempo as they seem while watching these scenes in the movie. To me these two scenes always seemed the counterparts to the Airplane Fight and Truck Chase sequences in Raiders. Which probably just sets them up unfairly to seem weaker when compared. Those two scenes in Raiders are two of my all-time favorite movie scenes, favorite action scenes, and I'd argue that the Truck Chase is one of the very best action sequences of all-time in all of cinema; one whose score compliments it to a "T".

So, comparing the music cues for these scenes is a bit unfair because they just don't seem as inspired by adventure as the others. However, these tracks are still fun and sound great. The Mine Car Chase is fast-paced, but just doesn't pack the orchestral "wallop" the Truck Chase does. But that's not a criticism of Williams' work as much as it probably is of the filmmaking. Anyone who doesn't mind the music in the actual film is still going to really enjoy all these tracks.

The last cue on the disc is "Finale and End Credits", which picks up in the movie exactly where one would think - the end when Indy and Willie are about to kiss and Short Round annoyingly covers his face and I want to smack him. He just went through a hellish thugee debacle and he can't "bare" to see his surrogate dad/best friend kiss a woman. Come on Speielberg, dammnit.

I've seen people who feel that the Indy scores must be ranked in order of greatness, but I don't think it's a fair assessment for anyone else reading this review to do such a thing. Every individual likes and dislikes certain things about any given object and film scores speak to people in exactly the same ways. So, I'll just tell you what I liked about this CD and what would have improved the experience for me:

Liked:

Completing my trilogy of Indy scores!
Anything Goes, Slalom on Mt. Humol, Nocturnal Activities, Bug Tunnel & Death Trap - these are probably my favorites cues on this one
A John Williams score that reminds me of his other work from this period (Empire/Jedi, ET, Raider/Last Crusade)
Cover art

Coulda been better:

Release this in English! - Because this is only available via Japanese import, I can't read any of the extensive liner notes.
Give us an extended version like the one done for Raiders in 1995. At only 40 minutes, it feels like there's certainly some music missing.

Awesome Art: Crazy 4 Cult

2007-10-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to an art exhibition at the Laguna Beach Art Museum this weekend for the artist Shag. I'm a big fan of his work and am hoping to get to meet him at the opening party Saturday night.

Shag kicks ass!

While clicking down some rabbit holes on Shag's website, I stumbled upon another gallery in Los Angeles that done some pretty fantastic looking exhibitons. In particular: Crazy4Cult. You like movies with a cult following? You like pop art? You need to check this thing out.

How many can you pick out?

Edward Scissorhands, A Christmas Story, Hellraiser, Princess Bride, Freaks- if it has a following, somebody probably did it.

It's not for sale, FRAN-CESS!

BEWARE!

2007-10-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Halloween is coming!

Beware!

BEWAAAAAAAAAARE!!!

Eating in Redding, CA

2007-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

I did a brief site inspection in Redding, CA last Friday. Check out my "dining report" over on the GoSightsee blog for my review of Black Bear Diner - a place I highly recommend you get your grub on. It's some tasty stuff!

INDIANA JONES IV TITLE!!

2007-09-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

It has been announced...and be sure to inhale deeply before you say it aloud.

Not exactly the "Pharaoh's Crown", huh JettL93?

For the non-believers (that have Flash!), check out the announcement on the official site or on Ain't It Cool.

Unlike some of the immediate reaction by raving fanboys/girls, I don't have any real distaste for the title. Fanboys/girls are apt tp have sudden, violent reactions, so nobody should be surprised. Least of all Lucas, who has experienced this phenomenon every two years since 1998.

The title has that pulpy, serial feel to it, which makes it fit in fine with "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Temple of Doom", and "Last Crusade". Personally, I almost wonder if it wouldn't have been appropriate just to call this film "Indiana Jones" and leave it at that. But using my previous arguement, that wouldn't fit in as nicely with the other three, would it?

Will It Blend - iPhone and Glo-sticks

2007-08-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love these things
Watch Tom obliterate an iPhone

Now watch him mutilate some Glo-Sticks

DCA gets a facelift and SUPER Indiana Jones Adventure

2007-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hi kids!
Disney's California Adventure (DCA) is finally going to get its $1.2 BILLION makeover, starting in 2008. Can you imagine, not even ten years old and already getting a facelift? (If you've been there, though, you know it's in dire need.) And before the decade is through, Disneyland's ailing Tomorrowland and several other attractions will also be getting some renovations. The rumor is that in addition to a Star Tours 2.0 (featuring new destinations!), Lucasfilm and Disney are working together on creating a bigger, better Indiana Jones Adventure ride over in Adventureland. By the looks of it, they're trying to recapture the spirit of what the original attraction was intended to be - TWO rides intersecting with each other AND the existing Jungle Cruise.

Read about all the plans on MiceAge.

There's an interesting article from last year detailing what the original plans for the Indy ride were, complete with artwork and site plans showing how the two Indy rides and the Jungle Cruise would have intertwined.

Behold: what Indy might look like at Disneyland one day.

Toothepaste For Dinner - Go read some webcomics!

2007-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Drew's whole month of July is outstandingly hilarious.

I thought I should let you know in case you haven't read it yet.

Ghostbusters score

2007-08-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the 1984 movie Ghostbusters. It was one of the I watched repeatedly on HBO and VHS (pirated from HBO) growing up. And int he spirit of watching it on DVD this weekend, not once, but TWICE, I feel obliged to share with you other Ghostbuster junkies a link to the score. Now, I can't be certain, but I believe these tracks are actually from the 1998 disc, not the newer Varese one. There are 22 tracks here and the Varese one contains 39.

This material was unavailable for many years until Varese Sarabande released the full score as part of their "club" collection (which just means there's a limited run of 3,000 produced). There was a bootleg release in 1998, but they're hard to come by as well. Unfortunately, I've only recently been reaching out to other score junkies on the Internet and didn't know about this release until long after the disc was sold out (which was probably a matter if weeks.) Now if you want the score, it means forking over $50 bucks on ebay.

The first time I listened to these tracks I was sort of underwhelmed, but it really grows on you. So much of Elmer Bernstein's original cues are cut up or altogether replaced in the final cut of the film that the score at times felt like it went with an inferior movie. In a way, it is a portentious reminder what a turkey this film could have turned out to be. That's not a knock at all against Bernstein's score or the material, which was executed impeccably. Tracks like the beginning of #21 will instantly bring to mind exact moments in the movie for any GB junkie.

Go See It - Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix!

2007-08-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

The second in what will be an occassional on-going series of posts about movies that have been released for at least 2 weeks and that I recommend you see...
I'm making this brief because I'm working on something else today.

- Possibly the BEST Potter flick yet.

- These movies aren't meant to be stand-alone anymore; meant to capitalize on Pottermania, which likely just passed its all-time peak in the last week with the release of Deathy Hallows

- Great for those familiar with the book as well as the overarching story of Potter vs. Voldemort

- effects look great, though Grawp still cartoonish- but at least he wasn't annoying

- Imelda Staunton is Psychotic - awesome

-Not enough Snape - never is

- Dumbledore shines, esp when Ministry comes to arrest him and at the Wizard Duel with Voldemort

Cereal - The Staple of Childhood

2007-08-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

I originally intended to make this post all about the way children bond with cereals while growing up, but work has got me plenty busy right now. Instead, I'd like to give a shout to The Breakfast Bowl, a blog all about cereal and the latest happenings in the world of Kellogg's, General Mills, etc.

"Cereal???" you say. Yes, there's all kinds of interesting things going on continuously in the world of everyone's favorite breakfast treat. Did you know that the big cereal makers are shrinking the size of their packaging to reduce costs? Have you seen these new "cereal straws" popping up in your grocery store? Ever tried one? Caffeinated cereal? It could be happening.

Check out the Breakfast Bowl and the other cereal and food releated sites Lloyd links to. I think you'll find it enlightening, and if nothing else amusing.

AND, check this out...

There's an emerging food chain called Cereality. Situated around what seem to be college towns in mid-size markets, this cafe specializes in hot and cold cereals, cereal bars, and smoothies.

Hasbro's Indy IV toys at San Diego Comic Con

2007-08-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry, this post was on-hold for a few days by accident.

Check'em out!

There's a close up of the "mini heroes" 2-packs here, some of which weren't in the Comic Con display. Interestingly, the Marion Ravenwood mini figure isn't in any of these sets.

Another look at the five 3 3/4 inch figures Hasbro will have. I hope they make a melting-face Toht, too!

Monster Squad on DVD

2007-08-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

There's a pretty amusing and informative review of the 2-disc Monster Squad DVD over at CHUD today.

Go ahead, kick Wolfman in the nards one more time!

Indy IV Teaser Poster

2007-07-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

The teaser one-sheet poster for next May's new Indy sequel was spotted at Comic Con this poast weekend. Head over to Slashfilm.com to get a bigger look.

WATCHMEN: The Poster

2007-07-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Another exciting piece of Watchmen news from Comic Con:

Loving the look of this, since it means Snyder still appears to remain committed to staying as true to the comic as possible.

HARRY POTTER AND THE LEAKY PLOT OF THE 7TH BOOK

2007-07-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's true and it's all over the Net. Like trying to contain details on a Star Wars prequel or an Indiana Jones sequel, the secrets of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been pouring out all over the Internet in the last 24 hours.

But before I get to the "leaky" news, I thought it was interesting to note what JK Rowling herself said of the "Deathly" spoiler leaks: "please, ignore the misinformation popping up on the web."

Methinks she's not really saying the plot details are wrong (though, undoubtedly there must be numerous "spoiler" pages out there with made up shit which are there only to capitalize on the recent news), but that she just wants people to disregard it and try to keep themselves "virgin" for Saturday's release. Which is cool with me. I started to peek at them, but turned away before I was bespoiled too much.

Leaky Cauldron also has a bit on Scholastic's press release, which names the dastardly retailer who shipped the books early and wholeheartedly breached their contract with Scholastic.

Now, onto the SPOILERS!

Actually there are no spoilers on my page.

But somebody uploaded what is supposedly all 759 pages of the new book on BitTorrent and PirateBay. Screenshots are/were also available at bayimg.

Or you can check out this mysterious page for an alleged list of all the major SPOILERS. Take it all with a grain of salt if you do read it. It could just be some attention whore pulling your leg. COUGHjettl93COUGH
http://www.zendurl.com/h/hallows/

Or, just enjoy the book like the rest of us and wait to read it on Saturday at 12:01am!

Finky the Kid reminds you to choose wisely! (Hey, I just bring you the news here. It's up to you to decide what to do with it.)

He chose wisely. So can you.

Go See It! - RATATOUILLE

2007-07-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sightseer and I saw this over the weekend and it truly exceeded my expectations. I had doubts and up until the final full trailer really felt Pixar might be falling on their face this summer.

But I was wrong.
In fact, I don't think Ratatouille has gotten enough acclaim in a summer full of overblown action movie sequels. The film was well written/directed/scored. It was Pixar's top quality product, second only to the Toy Story movies and tied (for me) with Incredibles for 2nd place among the best Pixar films.

But oddly enough, I find many people not knowing "what it's about" or "if it's any good". Hopefully the buzz builds in time for its DVD release.

And for what it's worth, Michael Giacchino scored Ratatouille- the same guy as the Incredibles. So if you enjoyed the jazzy throwback sounds of Incredibles...

Taking an Indy Break

2007-07-17T10:20:00.001-07:00

In case you're wondering (and I have to imagine all four poeple who have seen this blog, at least two "accidentally", must be rolling around on your backs kicking and screaming about not having a new Indy IV post here) why I've not put up anything about all the recent Indy IV spoiler mudslinging going on lately, I'm just kind of in "Indy overload". There's more than enough of it out there for anybody who wants to keep up on it, but for the uninitiated, here are some links:

http://tinyurl.com/2orukj

http://tinyurl.com/35a4kg

In the meantime, I've been enjoying one of my favorite YouTube guilty pleasures, DRSMOOV's Transformer parodies. Guaranteed hands down to make any G1 fans laugh.

I think what I enjoy the most about "Shockwave's Burden" is the hilariously pathetic side DRSMOOV has shown us of Cybertron's brute-by-the-book "Guardian". It's really plays up some foibles that one might have suspected were always there, but I don't remember ever really seeing in the tv shows. Meanwhile, the dialogue DRSMOOV has given some of the characters just tops off the clever situations he's put the characters in. If you don't laugh at any of Shockwave's "Oh shit. What now?" or "What does this jerk want?" comments, you maybe be even less human than a transforming alien robot.

As for the Rude Awakening of Optimus Prime, besides hearing the iconic Autobot leader say words that would not have been fit for Sunbow, Prime's uber-human reactions to the remaining less-than-favorite Autobots seems to mirror much of my own (and undoubtedly other G1 fans') feelings towards Blur, Wheelie, Bumblebee's makeover, etc. when we first experienced these wonderful changes to the G1 Transformers.

To quote DRSMOOV's Prime: "Of all the Autobots to survive...fuck me." Yes, Prime. We all thought the same thing.

INDY IV - UPDATE!

2007-07-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

IndianaJones.com has just posted new behind the scenes production video.

Check that link to see Harrison Ford moving around in full Indy garb. I'd elaborate, but that's really all it is. And a glance at a couple of soldiers holding him captive.

JETTL93 IS A LIAR

2007-07-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

The title says it all, folks. It was one thing for the guy to lead people on for his own good time (still a shitty thing to do, but it got alot of good conversation going on the movie). But when this fuckstick admits he's full of it and becomes a complete ATTENTION WHORE, well, the welcome mat's worn out, fella.
It's all on this Talkback over at AICN.

So...whatever.

2007-07-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

Rumor is that Billy Crudup has been cast as Dr. Manhattan in the upcoming film. Somewhat less speculative is that big casting announcements will be made at Comic Con this month.

Check out CHUD for more.

Who Watches the WATCHMEN?

2007-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Seems Zach Snyder's crew is getting the viral marketing campaign for next year's Watchmen flick up and going. Perhaps they felt compelled to catch up with the effort Dark Knight started last month? Remember this one?

A little over a week ago, the Rorschach's Journal website came to my attention, by way of Harry Knowles over at AICN.com. Since then, I've been exchanging cryptic e-mails with "Rorschach" himself.

Then last night I got this broadcast message from him:

instructions.need to find mask killer.help spread word.see how. http://rorschachsjournal.com/
.RR.

No, I didn't accidentally forget to leave spaces between the words, either. But, that's Walter Kovacs for you. So, what did he want? Head over there yourself and find out.

Possible Indy IV titles?? And Other Indy Info...

2007-07-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the mysterious "JettL93" has been at it again on the AintItCool.com talkbacks. In the last day or two he/she has divulged:
**HIGHLIGHT TEXT FOR SPOILERS**

Is the final script a rehash of older scripts? "besides a few key action sequences that where lifted (because) they were just to cool to ignore, the script is entirly different from the earlier drafts. and most of the leaked info was false or fan fic, including city of the gods, that title was never in the running, lucas has held onto it for possible use in a videogame."

When can we expect a trailer? (One) teaser in the november before, a trailer in feb or march and a third trailer a month or so before the film is relesed...expect paramount to launch a huge online campaign with the official site (similar to what the dark night did with "i believe in harvet dent too")

What movie will the trailer be attached to? (contains Title SPOILER) "Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf when it hit theatres this november...the teaser will not show a lot but will probabaly run in the range of a 1:45 to 2 mins, and you will see shots of the characters and certain action, the title "indiana jones and the Pharoah's crown" will also be revealed." Lucas has hinted that he would like to do 3 trailers, gradually showing more and more of the plot.

And what about that title? "crown of the pharoh could possibly be the title instead of the pharoh's crown, george also had dynasty of the pharoahs as one of his suggested titles... if its not pharoah's crown, it will be a titlle (sic) that is very similar to it."

What's the plot going to be? "The basic plot outline is (and I’m paraphrasing) the pharaoh’s crown was a crown that contained a large crystal (shaped like a skull) it held the power of the gods. Thousands of years ago a Egyptian tyrant stole the crown and tried to use its power to rule the world, the gods angry at this, unleashed a huge earthquake during which the crystal was separated from the crown and both were thought destroyed. However it turns out the crystal part of the crown was actually found 50 years ago (around 1910) by none other then Abner Ravenwood and has been stored by the Americans in the "raiders warehouse". Of course when the Russians discover the crown part they learn that the American’s have the crystal skull, they attempt to steal it and affix it to the crown to use the power to end the cold war and take over the world. The Americans are aware somebody has discovered the crown, since the crystal has been acting strangely, and causing weird things to be happening over area 51 (which the media has blamed on alien invasions) the American’s wanting the crown’s power to themselves decide to steal the crown from the Russians. However when Abner Ravenwood (john hurt) learns of this he is forced to come out of “hiding” and track down Indy (using shia) and convince him to find both pieces before the Americans and Russians do and destroy them both."

**END SPOILERS**
Now, be sure to take all the above with a high-blood pressure inducing amount of salt. "Jett" seems genuine enough, but I'm just cycnical enough to believe there's always someone out there willing to create an elaborate hoax with a mild-mannered demeanor.

Or, perhaps, this is an intentional "leak" by the Indy IV production to start building positive buzz early. This kind of internet "marketing" and PR has become increasingly popular and has really started to make a blip on the radar with some companies.

"Jett" says "more stuff will start to leak, i just have the advantage of being very close to the producer and able to get my hands on almost any info i want", which makes him/her even more intriguing.

Will we ever know who "Jett" really is?

Is this the boy who's got all the Indy info? (somehow, I doubt it)

Wanna see some photos from Indy IV?

2007-06-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

A flurry of photographic activity has been happening in New Haven, Connecticut this week now that filming for Indy IV has gotten underway there.

Check out any of the below sites for pictures that appear to be Indy piggybacking a ride on the back of Shia" (Abner "Mutt" Ravenwood) motorcycle. Can you tell which are them and which are their stunt doubles?

http://www.dlisted.com/node/11958

http://tinyurl.com/2pdmln

http://tinyurl.com/37s5eh

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18532611&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7576&rfi=6

Nelson laughs at Paris

2007-06-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is sorta yesterday's news, but I thought the image somebody made was still funny...

Indy IV Plot Details?

2007-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

I know I've been sort of on a kick lately with all the Indy IV stuff, but, well, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all-time favorite film. And with Indy's production kicking off late last week, the flurry of news is to be expected.

That said, a mysterious individual with some alleged Indy plot details popped up on Ain'tItCool's latest Indy IV talkback yesterday and today. He has the handle "JettL93" and seemed un-arrogantly confident in "clarifying" some of the rumors flying around the upcoming Indy sequel. I'm not saying this is George Lucas' son, Jett, who was born in 1993, but it's certainly an interesting coincidence.

Stranger things have happened on AICN talkbacks before. Last November Syl Stallone himself visited the site to read reactions to Rocky Balboa news and later participated in numerous Q&A rounds with talkbackers.

And several months ago a talkbacker going by the name "Walter B" outted himself as Bruce Willis on Die Hard 4.0 talkbacks and engaged in Q&A's through the talkback for several days.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

Among "Jett's" Indy IV comments are...

Dinosaurs rumored to be in the film: "there is ... a scene involving a dino dig and indy looking for another artifact when he runs into some baddies, and theres a chase through the dig site...they are not live dinos.."

Stan Winston is creating "creatures" for this film: "Remember indy 4 is going to deal with the supernatural aspects of the 50's, but it won't just be out there, it will use science and history to explian the pasranormal aspetcs (sic) of the film."

Shia is Indy and Marion's son: "Shia is not (Indy's) real kid...he's marian ravenwoods kid, but indy is sort of a father figure to him"

So, is this info legit? Is this just some talkbacker with an unusually inordinate amount of reserved non-know-it-all attitude that wants to look like they know what they're talking about? Who can say. Either way, there's a heck of a lot of fun in all the speculation.

PRODUCTION FOOTAGE! - More Indy IV News

2007-06-26T11:41:00.001-07:00

IndianaJones.com has posted the first of what will surely be many more behind the scene production shorts. This one, from the first day of filming (rumored to be somewhere in New Mexico) seems to confirm a few minor clues we've heard about the "military base in the desert" setting for the opening sequence. As well as what appears to be a car full of teenagers (Indy Jr's "greaser" friends??) racing along the open highway.

Family Guy + Star Wars

2007-06-25T10:43:00.001-07:00

A great Family Guy parody of A New Hope shown at Celebration IV in Los Angeles over Memorial Day weekend.

TINO is upon us. Are you going?

2007-06-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

DAMN YOU , MICHAEL BAY!

Well, Michael's Bay's shit-tastic film adaptation of Transformers (aka TINO - Transformers In Name Only) hits screens next week and I can't say I'm any more excited about it than I was a year ago.

But I have gotten beyond my strong disappointment with the production. First there was the bait and switch My. Bay and Steven Spielberg pulled on the fans by telling them they wanted to ake a very "G1" movie ("G1" references the first few season of the show). Then production art started "leaking out" in the spring of 2006 and very little looked like G1 Transformers.

And most G1 Transformer fans gasped in surprise.

Can you find Megaton's facial features?

Making changes so that a character who originally transformed into a minivan now transforms into a pickup truck- not a big deal. The flames on Optimus Prime? Heinous and crass for the humble Autobot leader. But they were gradually reduced. So much in fact you can barely see them when Opitmus is in robot form. But the incredibly shitty robot designs that make it hard to find their facial features was and still remains in vapidly poor taste. And let's not forget about the leaked script from last February. I read it several times and it stunk just as bad with each read. The story is secondary to the action scenes. And the character development? It's tertiary to the storyline. I could go on and on, but I won't. It's pointless. There was so much potential to make a good movie, not just the typical Michael Bay "explosion-fest"

Show your disgust for Bay with TINO shirt, won't you?

DAMN YOU , MICHAEL BAY!

Indy is back! FOR REAL!!

2007-06-22T14:52:00.001-07:00

Take a peek at who's back in the fedora!

Yes, folks, Indiana Jones IV officially started filming earlier this week and on Thursday June 21, 2007, Mr. Spielberg himself snapped this picture of something that hasn't been seen in over over 18 years.

Although I'm skeptical of a few things associated with this production coughShiaLaBirthcough, seeing Harrison Ford in his famous fedora again has really got me pretty excited. Sure Spielberg is likely just trying to atone for the hand he had in destroying the movie of 80's toy phenomenon Transformers (TINO!) with this Indiana Jones pic, but I have to say right now, it's working.

Check out IndianaJones.com for updates on the production of the yet (unofficially) named Indy sequel (though rumors stemming from Frank Darabont's old draft are that it will be called "Indiana Jones and the City of Gods").

Read more production rumors at The Raider.net

Toothpaste for Dinner

2007-05-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

Drew at Toothpastefordinner.com draws a pretty funny comic most of the time. I recommend you check them out, at least once a week.

He's got 1,700 for you to enjoy. I really like some of the older ones from the archives.

Two other great related sites you need to visit regularly for some random laughs:
MarriedtotheSea.com
NatalieDee.com

Clone me a new Lucasfilm product, please

2007-05-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Clone Wars, one of the two new Star Wars themed television series in developement for 2008, can now be glimpsed via a trailer released on Starwars.com.

Besides the fact that the prequels were overall a bit underwhelming for most fans (and forgetting that thousands of Sci-fi goobers just descended upon LA for Celebration IV this past weekend), I think the fanbase is generally a little jaded with Lucas and his quadrillion dollar space operas right now. On top of that, why is this new series focused on the Clone Wars period? Was that not suffiiently and decently well covered by the Tartokovsky animated series a few years ago? And why does it seem this series will feel like you're watching a video game that you don't actually get to play instead of just watching TV?

And shouldn't you really be cutting your TV time down by an hour, anyway???

At this point, I'm not over-excited for this series and am more interested to see what they come up with for the live-action show, which will cover a "new" time period (between Episodes III and IV) and feature mostly new characters.

So many questions. So long (perhaps not long enough?) to wait for answers...if there are any worthwhile.

Want 15 extra days in your year?

2007-05-29T08:55:00.001-07:00

Sure you do.

My very good friend Sightseer over at A New You Now calculated that if a person watched one less hour of TV everyday for an entire year, they could have 15 days and 20 hours more to do something productive each year.

That's pretty amazing when you think about it. That's essentially 16 days to do whatever you want. Think about that stat everytime you complain about "not having the time" to do something.

If I watched one less hour of TV everyday, I'd be watching approximately -15 minutes on average. Perhaps I should cut the hour from my time at the office instead?

What you could be doing with 15 extra days in your life

By the Power of Joel SIlver!

2007-05-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the rumors about Joel Silver being involved with a new He-Man motion picture have been confirmed. Fashioning it after 300 might be okay, if not potentially alienating to any hardcore nostalgic fans (all 18 of them). But a "kiddie-300" just sounds like a bigger mistarget than branding Arachnophobia as a "thrillomedy".

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32778

It might be better if they based the new movie off this version of He-Man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psTt1aOflps
he's feeling a "little peculiar".

Until He-Man comes out in 2009, or whenever, content yourself with these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kmeOktIwAg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2clqW-Ddpg

New Potter film to premiere in Japan

2007-05-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, ain't that something? Another huge American film will have its debut outside the US.

Yes, it seems that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will have its premiere in Tokyo next month. The film will open in Tokyo on June 29, 2 weeks before it debuts in the US. First Spider-man 3. Now Potter. Interesting trend we have here, friends.

Read more at Mercury News .

Silly rabbit, that ain't a "new" shape of Trix!

2007-05-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

General Mills, do you have Alzheimer's? Or is a member of Pokemon-loving Generation Z running your marketing department? (yes, I realize this change happened in December, but I don't monitor cereal box changes the way I did when I was a kid, so this news is just now getting to me.)

Rabbit is happy to have a new shape

This "new" shape ISN'T new. Trix originally came in this circle-puff shape. When they changed to the "fruit shapes" in 1992, it was kind "fun" for about a week. But their metamorphism into fruit shapes was like when you got a new version of your favorite cartoon as a kid. You could still recognize the basics (here: the colors, though by this point Trix had added a few of those, too.) But something was just a little off. Anyway, it wasn't too long before the novelty wore off and you wanted the "old" circle shape again.

Something I noticed about these "new" Trix: they may be circular, but they're still not the same Trix as before. Originally, they were like a fruit version of uber-kid friendly Kix cereal: mostly hollow in the middle. These little puffballs are now solid in the middle, like a Cheese-puff. No more "miniature bowls of milk" in your bowl of Trix. (was I the only one who used to enjoy "drinking" out of a defect Trix that was only a half-globe in my cereal bowl??)

Old School Trix cereal

By the way, I know this is just a marketing gimmick to reinvigorate likely sagging sales of this staple kid-cereal, but it's just insulting to those of us who have been on this planet for more than 15 years. Calling this a "new shape" would have been like saying the Hulk became a "new' color when he went from being grey to green again. Don't act like people who were loyal users and remember the previous version don't exist. This change will still be "new" to your target audience of kids, but they don't really care whether this is truly new or just new to them. It's a change. They'll doubtless clamor for countless boxes of Trix with "new" shapes from the grocery store shelves just because something is "different" in them (this is called the "Lucky Charms" strategy because everytime they want to sell more cereal, they just add a new marshmellow charm and kids go nuts to chomp a soggy "pot of gold" or "red balloon").

Oh, and General Mills, good job keeping your branding up to date both on and off the Internet.

I guess I've ranted enough on kids' cereals for now.

The Dark Knight strikes...barely

2007-05-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today Warner Bros launched the website for next year's Batman sequel, Dark Knight.

Don't get too excited yet. The whole website is currently just the one page. I've heard of "soft launches", Warner's, but come on. Was this even worth it?

Be sure to check back in a few weeks -maybe more- to see if they've decided to expand the site with a "Site Map" or "About Us" page. Perhaps one day there will even be a trailer. But, why bother when you can get it on YouTube at the same time or before then. (This fan-made trailer will have you reliving some of those old "Schumacher" Batman nightmares faster than Seal can say "kissed on a rose by a grave" or whatever the hell he said.)

Toejam and Earl rock!

2007-05-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

How dearly I used to love playing this game. Now I can enjoy listening to it's fab music while I work. Thank you, YouTube!

Earl and Toejam: aliens from the planet Funkotron

This game was quite a memorable and occassionally addictive experience for the Sega Genesis audience of 1992. I found an interview with one of the designers of the TJ&E games (there have been 3 of them now).

SEGA!

F.U. MICHAEL BAY (TINO!)

2007-05-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well, there's now definitive proof for all how shitty the robot designs for the new Transformers movie are. In fact, Michael Bay himself has put them on his own blog.

Hey, it's MEGATRON! Actually No, it's not. That's Ironhide with the big-ass arm cannons. Way to go, Bay. Look below if you want to see what they did to Megatron (aka MINO: "Megatron In Name Only")

Not Megatron

THIS is Megatron:

Big Metal Mess

If you think that's bad, wait til you see what they did to Frenzy. (You remember him from the comics/cartoon, right?)

It's not that the designs in and of themselves- out of context- are so terribly bad. But looking at these, would anyone recognize it as a "Transformer"? More importnantly, does it seem "exciting" or like alot of other "sleek, metallic" robot designs you've seen in the manga world for the last decade? I mean, if you're doing a Transformers movie and you want to redo the looks of the 'bots, at least give them INSPIRED new looks. I can't even pinpoint Megatron's facial features!

Check out his blog for more crappy designs!

Spider-man 4 plot (only in my mind)

2007-05-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here’s my set-up for the next film: Dr. Curt Connors, who keeps a piece of the symbiote in Spidey 3 for study, will attempt to regrow his lost arm with a reptilian-derived serum. When his self-experiment goes wrong (as they always do in Spider-world), he changes into the Lizard.

While undergoing his transformation, Connors trashes his lab, freeing the piece of the Venom symbiote. The symbiote escapes the lab and finds a new host. As the new host melds with the black symbiote, it leaves behind a puddle of red goo- the Carnage symbiote, which bonds to a psycho criminal named Cletus Cassidy.

Meanwhile, JJ Jameson has hired Kraven the Hunter to come to NYC and hunt down the Lizard, whom the Bugle has branded “the Alligator in the sewer!” Spidey realizes his friend Connors is the Lizard and fights with Kraven to save him. Kraven brushes aside the Bugle’s publicity stunt to hunt a more “ultimate” prize- Spider-man.
After escaping Kraven, Spidey clashes unexpectedly with Venom. Its new host has no animosity towards Spidey, but warns him to stay out of his way. He doesn’t; Venom and Spidey clash.

Meanwhile, Carnage goes on tear across New York. Venom and Carnage clash in an amazing effects battle of the symbiotes! Kraven catches Lizard while Spidey was busy with Venom. He doesn’t kill him b/c Connors’ wife has made it known her husband is the Lizard. Kraven, still thirsting for a kill gets wind of the Venom/Carnage battle and goes to hunt them down.

Meanwhile, Spidey helps Connors return to human form. Connors and Parker develop the soundwave amplifier to defeat the symbiotes. (Connors taking the role originally played by Reed Richards in the comics when Spidey first fought Venom.)

Spidey and Connors realize Venom is fighting against Carnage, but they use the soundwave amplifier against both men to remove the symbiotes from their hosts. Connors and Spidey return to the lab where-

Kraven, having tracked down Spidey. ambushes Spider-man. Connors frees the Venom symbiote and merges with it to help Spidey fight Kraven. Connors has both arms as the Venom symbiote. They beat Kraven. Spidey uses the soundwave amplifier to separate Connors and the symbiote and all is well again. Until…
Parker returns to Aunt May’s and finds HIS PARENTS waiting for him.

Spidey 5: Chameleon and Spider Slayers (No “clones” stuff, because that was a terrible, terrible idea in the comics. His parents are “spider slayers” in disguise. Chameleon has hired the man who built the Spider Slayers in order to expose Spider-man identity and kill him.)

Spider-man 3 sets Box Office records!

2007-05-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man, Spider-man, breaking records like only a spider can!

It shouldn’t really surprise anyone to wake up today and learn that Spider-Man 3 smashed some all-time box office records over the weekend. Largest opening weekend, largest single-day, fastest to $100MM, largest disparity between 1st and 2nd place weekend box office grosses. Read more at Box Office Mojo.

In case you aren't sure, I'm a huge Spider-man fan. Loved reading all three/four titles available when I was growing up (Amazing, Spectacular, Web, and Spider-man). I saw the latest film IMAX style on Friday afternoon and enjoyed it. That’s not to say that fans of the first two films who haven’t yet seen Spidey 3 (why not? Some “fan” you are.) shouldn’t go into the theatre with managed expectations. The story has its slow moments where characters dialogue a little too long and occasionally a little to dramatically (this isn’t a soap opera, Mary Jane!) But when the action gets going, its of equal or better stuff than Raimi has previously given us. If the previous two Spidey films gave audiences some innovative awe-inspiring fight scenes, this new films delivers even grittier action. A portion of which seems spurned by Spidey’s increasingly vengeful black symbiote suit. But even the first fight between Harry (“Goblin Jr.”) and Peter Parker demonstrates how high the stakes are for these two central characters. And in the end, who really cares what Mary Jane is doing. As long as she can stop whining, we don’t care if she’s on Broadway or singing in a jazz club (and since when did singing become her big thing. I thought she was just trying to make it as an actress???)

The effects kick ass. Sandman has some amazing CGI and the moment where Thomas Hayden Church first emerges from a pile of amorphous sand and tries to regain his form as a human is handled with amazing, dare I say “touching” care. He’s a man, or was, trying to come to terms with a radical change. And he can barely hold himself together.

I had my doubts about Venom. I had even more doubts about Topher Grace as Eddie Brock, mainly because I know the Eddie Brock from the original Amazing Spiderman comics and only see Topher Grace as “That 70’s kid”. Grace really pulls a coup here as the slimey photographer who becomes ultimate anti-Spider-man. My only real gripe with Venom is that while we got a few money shots, I left the filming wishing he had more screen time.

So, what does this mean for Pirates 3 in a few weeks? Will it break more records?