Thursday, August 28, 2008
Brad Pitt Films- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
This is the Brad Pitt film that I'm most anxious to see. I think he'll be interesting in this role, and it sort of hits on a lot of the kind of character types where he really does well. It's based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, and although I never really cared for Fitzgerald, I think this story could be very interesting. Besides, Brad Pitt starring and David Fincher directing??? They've done an exceptionally good job on everything else. Why should this be any different?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Brad Pitt Films- An Intro
Yeah, I'm writing about Brad Pitt this week, but I feel dirty about it. lol He's one of those stars that you can't help but feel like a starf*cker if you write about him, but it's kind of weird to just ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist. :)
Brad Pitt has gone through a few different phases. Does anyone remember his box office poison phase?? Meet Joe Black, anyone?? There was the Indie that became mainstream phase. There was the true Indie phase. There was the Brad Pitt as a raving lunatic- my personal favorite. There was the Brad Pitt as blockbuster A-list star.
It's my opinion that he's at his best when he's at his worst. Seven, the character had a lot of stress, and big, ugly things happening to him. With 12 Monkeys, he was literally insane, and completely enjoyable. There was Fight Club, which is one of my favorite films, and he wasn't all-together in that. He also does really well when he is allowed to kind of spin out of control next to a very strong actor.
Brad Pitt has gone through a few different phases. Does anyone remember his box office poison phase?? Meet Joe Black, anyone?? There was the Indie that became mainstream phase. There was the true Indie phase. There was the Brad Pitt as a raving lunatic- my personal favorite. There was the Brad Pitt as blockbuster A-list star.
It's my opinion that he's at his best when he's at his worst. Seven, the character had a lot of stress, and big, ugly things happening to him. With 12 Monkeys, he was literally insane, and completely enjoyable. There was Fight Club, which is one of my favorite films, and he wasn't all-together in that. He also does really well when he is allowed to kind of spin out of control next to a very strong actor.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Choke
Sorry to do a one-off entry here, but I just found out some exciting news. I'm not sure how I missed out on the news for so long, but at least I'm finally finding out about it. Chuck Palahniuk's second book is about to be released- Choke. You may know Palahniuk best as the writer of the book Fight Club.
Sam Rockwell plays the lead character, who cons and seduces women by pretending to choke. If I'm not mistaken, in the book, he used it for all manner of schemes. He'd choke in a restaurant, night after night, and someone would save him. They'd hear his sob story, totally fictional of course, and feel bad for him. By saving his life, they felt responsible for him, and they'd continue to send him money. lol I'm not sure I buy that plot, but it's as enjoyable as Palahniuk always is.
I gotta ask though- Survivor?? Pleeeease?? It was almost, sort-of, kinda, about to happen, and then 9/11 did. And if you've read Survivor, you know why that ended it. I think we're far enough away from it, and with a few rewrites, the plot could still work. But it's by and large my most favorite Palahniuk story. Invisible Monsters and Lullaby tie for second.
Sam Rockwell plays the lead character, who cons and seduces women by pretending to choke. If I'm not mistaken, in the book, he used it for all manner of schemes. He'd choke in a restaurant, night after night, and someone would save him. They'd hear his sob story, totally fictional of course, and feel bad for him. By saving his life, they felt responsible for him, and they'd continue to send him money. lol I'm not sure I buy that plot, but it's as enjoyable as Palahniuk always is.
I gotta ask though- Survivor?? Pleeeease?? It was almost, sort-of, kinda, about to happen, and then 9/11 did. And if you've read Survivor, you know why that ended it. I think we're far enough away from it, and with a few rewrites, the plot could still work. But it's by and large my most favorite Palahniuk story. Invisible Monsters and Lullaby tie for second.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Banzai!!!
There are some days when I can't believe how great it is to be a blogger. A couple of days ago, I got a package in the mail that I wasn't expecting. No, it wasn't from the Unabomber. I opened it up and found a game inside. And not just any game either. It was quite possibly the coolest game ever (a bold statement, I know).
Have you heard of the show Banzai? If not, you're really missing out. My husband and I used to watch this all the time, betting against each other to see who would pick the winner. Well, this game is called Banzai, and its based on the show. The basis of the show is that it's got some silly, insane, kooky challenges. For example, it might be three people having a balancing competition. The viewers choose who will balance the longest, and the person who guesses correctly wins. While you're watching them balance, you get to listen to the hosts come up with some really snarky comments about each of the participants. It's hilarious!
As I said, the game is based on it. First, you each pick a sushi bowl and color. There's a community bowl, and that's how you bet. You have 15 seconds to place as many of the sushi pieces in the bowl as possible, using only chopsticks. At the end of fifteen seconds, the players all have to match the person who put the most sushi in the bowl. You watch a clip on the DVD, which features clips from the show, and each person picks the person they think will win. At the end, the person who guessed correctly wins all the sushi. You keep going like this until one person has all the sushi, and they win. If there are several people who guessed correctly, you split the sushi pieces evenly. But if there is an odd number of pieces, you battle for the sushi with your chopsticks.
So, the first round, I grabbed my chopsticks and started trying to pick them up. I soon realized that if I could just maneuver them to the side and stack them, I could grab about 4 at a time. I got WAY more than my husband. The first DVD clip had men dressed as Freddie Mercury from Queen. They had to hang onto a bar as long as they could. I guessed the correct "Freddie", and got all the sushi from that round. On the second round, I used my "grab multiple pieces" strategy, and when my husband had to match it, he ran out. I knew this was my opportunity to knock him out of the game in only two turns. The second clip had an older gentleman who was hosting a dance for a bunch of old people. But he only plays Radiohead. ROFL! The challenge was to guess whether you could tell what song he was playing based solely on the way the old people were dancing. And again, I guessed correctly and knocked my husband out of the game! I am super winner!!
The thing I love about the game is that it's part skill (sushi in the bowl), part deductive reasoning (the people were dancing too fast for one song), and part luck (one Freddie looked like he could hold on forever, but another looked like he had a lot of upper arm strength). It's truly anybody's game to win. And the fact that it's based on such a cool show makes it that much more fun.
You can buy Banzai from ScreenLife Games , or you can view Tako the Octo's MySpace page.
ScreenLife Games is at it again. They launched a new Banzai game. Check it out:
Have you heard of the show Banzai? If not, you're really missing out. My husband and I used to watch this all the time, betting against each other to see who would pick the winner. Well, this game is called Banzai, and its based on the show. The basis of the show is that it's got some silly, insane, kooky challenges. For example, it might be three people having a balancing competition. The viewers choose who will balance the longest, and the person who guesses correctly wins. While you're watching them balance, you get to listen to the hosts come up with some really snarky comments about each of the participants. It's hilarious!
As I said, the game is based on it. First, you each pick a sushi bowl and color. There's a community bowl, and that's how you bet. You have 15 seconds to place as many of the sushi pieces in the bowl as possible, using only chopsticks. At the end of fifteen seconds, the players all have to match the person who put the most sushi in the bowl. You watch a clip on the DVD, which features clips from the show, and each person picks the person they think will win. At the end, the person who guessed correctly wins all the sushi. You keep going like this until one person has all the sushi, and they win. If there are several people who guessed correctly, you split the sushi pieces evenly. But if there is an odd number of pieces, you battle for the sushi with your chopsticks.
So, the first round, I grabbed my chopsticks and started trying to pick them up. I soon realized that if I could just maneuver them to the side and stack them, I could grab about 4 at a time. I got WAY more than my husband. The first DVD clip had men dressed as Freddie Mercury from Queen. They had to hang onto a bar as long as they could. I guessed the correct "Freddie", and got all the sushi from that round. On the second round, I used my "grab multiple pieces" strategy, and when my husband had to match it, he ran out. I knew this was my opportunity to knock him out of the game in only two turns. The second clip had an older gentleman who was hosting a dance for a bunch of old people. But he only plays Radiohead. ROFL! The challenge was to guess whether you could tell what song he was playing based solely on the way the old people were dancing. And again, I guessed correctly and knocked my husband out of the game! I am super winner!!
The thing I love about the game is that it's part skill (sushi in the bowl), part deductive reasoning (the people were dancing too fast for one song), and part luck (one Freddie looked like he could hold on forever, but another looked like he had a lot of upper arm strength). It's truly anybody's game to win. And the fact that it's based on such a cool show makes it that much more fun.
You can buy Banzai from ScreenLife Games , or you can view Tako the Octo's MySpace page.
ScreenLife Games is at it again. They launched a new Banzai game. Check it out:
Shia LaBeouf- Disturbia
I think the critics nailed it perfectly when they compared this to Rear Window. And even though they said it didn't quite live up to it, man, that's some serious praise nonetheless. Coming up just short of Alfred Hitchcock is still a lot better than most of the stuff out there.
I think the main reason this movie worked is because LaBeouf was completely believable in it. Well, for that plot anyway. Let's say that there is a creepy murderer living next door. Think of all the people in the world that could possibly be the person living next door. Tom Cruise? Nah, he'd get killed within seconds. Vin Diesel? Sorry, guys as hot as Vin don't really live next door to anybody. They just sort of inhabit their own universe. Bruce Willis? Bruce might live next door, but he'd kick the guy's ass right from the start. Nope, you need someone sort of normal, and I think that's one of the best qualities about Shia LaBeouf. He just seems like the kind of guy that would live on a normal street. He's the kind of guy that things happen to, rather than the kind of guy that makes them happen.
I think the main reason this movie worked is because LaBeouf was completely believable in it. Well, for that plot anyway. Let's say that there is a creepy murderer living next door. Think of all the people in the world that could possibly be the person living next door. Tom Cruise? Nah, he'd get killed within seconds. Vin Diesel? Sorry, guys as hot as Vin don't really live next door to anybody. They just sort of inhabit their own universe. Bruce Willis? Bruce might live next door, but he'd kick the guy's ass right from the start. Nope, you need someone sort of normal, and I think that's one of the best qualities about Shia LaBeouf. He just seems like the kind of guy that would live on a normal street. He's the kind of guy that things happen to, rather than the kind of guy that makes them happen.
