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The Movie Blog
I saw the movie he did with DeNiro. It was okay. Not great. The funny thing I remember about that is all the reviews said DeNiro was a cop. But, he was just a security guard. I don't know why that bothered me so much, but it did. It just seemed like a simple fact that nobody got right. Wow, SD...that movie sounds great. I love the cast. For some reason, it made me think of It's a Mad Mad Mad World (not sure if I had enough "mads" in there...On a side note: my sister and brother loved Mad Libs growing up. Why? Those things were cute for maybe 10 seconds...yet they spent years on car trips asking me to "pick a noun.") Yeah, nothing wrong with liking to Shawns, I s'pose. Robert Morse....(switching back to your most current film)...I loved him in Guide For the Married Man. It seems like he did a lot more Broadway stuff than Hollywood. Unless I just don't know enough of his films.— May 1, 2009 3:23 p.m.
Viva Las Vegas
Some local newscaster. Let's say his name is Marty Levin. Well, he's talking and below his face is says: Mary Levin [email protected] Yeah, those method actors. The best story is Sir Laurence Olivier talking with Dustin Hoffman before the famous torture scene in Marathon Man. Hoffman tells him he went three days without sleeping, so he would look and act right for the part. Sir L says "My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?" Couldn't have said it better myself. All these actors that feel they have to ride along with a cop for two weeks before they make Lethal Weapon 8....it's insane.— May 1, 2009 3:18 p.m.
Australian Rules
Pants, it's a great point! When karaoke first started, it was drunk dudes singing Born to be Wild. But somewhere along the line, it's women that wished they had made it, wanting to impress you with their version of "Crazy".— April 30, 2009 3:21 p.m.
From Preps to Pros
cardig: I had heard that about Bobby Knight. But, he's still a jerk and an idiot. Because, being as crazy as he has been (throwing a chair at a ref, choking students, punching students, showing used toilet paper to students to show how bad they are playing, telling Connie Chung that women should try to "enjoy" being raped...and the list goes on). That, to me, doesn't forgive him all those things because he cares about the students actually going to school. SDaniels...I think it's 75% biology, 25% environment. It's one of the reasons adopted kids do poorly in school (according to statistcs), yet they are being raised in wealthy households, and are exposed to more books and things, then poor kids. Or even their classmates in the same city/town. I'm not sure I get the homosexual question. But, I think there are some people that can get that way because of a childhood incident (molestation, for example). And others are born that way. In regards to people being color blind, I sort of agree with you on that point. But, not the main premise. When I meet a person, nothing in my mind says "Oh...this person is Asian." Or whatever color they are. Yes, with accent, I might do that. Whether it's a southern accent, A chinese accent, or someone talking with an ebonics flair. But once I hear what someone has to say, I judge them based on that. It's human nature to some up what someone is all aobut by looking at them. If you see somone on a street corner, you wonder...is that person homeless? You look and see an army jacket, or you see a sports coat...and that might help make your decision. You see a beard, or a clean shaven person, etc. Nothing wrong with that. It's how the mind operates, and keeps you sometimes out of dangerous situations. I'll never forget being in a bad part of L.A. I told my friend to lock the doors on his SUV (we had approached some African-Americans on a street corner, that looked to me, like trouble). He claimed I was being prejudice and blah blah blah. We're sitting at the light. The window is town. My friend makes eye contact with one of hte guys and says hello. The guy yells back "F***, you mother f*****!" He then rolled up his window.— April 30, 2009 3:20 p.m.
Lots of Copies, Lots of Flavors
Thanks for that. Here's the only problem. We've eaten at that place a few times. The girlfriend likes it. But, I bet they don't use REAL cookie dough, but that stuff that is cookie dough flavored candy...like the balls they sell at the Sweet Shop. Also, I don't care for those handmade ice creams as much. I think Cold Stone is the most overrated place ever.— April 30, 2009 3:10 p.m.
The Movie Blog
John Candy...the problem with his character in Planes, Trains...is, you would have all the sympathy in the world for him, if he wasn't so damn annoying early on. That's often the problem movies have. They rely on our good nature for humanity, to overlook some complete jerk...and because he had some sad things in his life we find out about at the end, we're supposed to forgive boorish behavior from previous. Sorry. In real life, you'd be so done with him.— April 30, 2009 3:08 p.m.
The Movie Blog
Gran Torino was disappointing. I enjoyed it, somewhat. But...poorly directed film by Eastwood. Dick Shawn. Forget him! Seek out Wallace Shawn, an amazing writer (the "inconceivable" guy in the wonderful Princess Bride) I wanted to see Happiness, but never did. Thanks for the reminder. Todd has some talent, but displays it inconsistantly. Friends and Neighbors is good, but not as good as the debut In the Company of Men. I loved the scene when they discuss the antique watch and it not working. Classic. I only had a thing for Keener in 40 Year Old Virgin (by the way...she was good in Capote, but what a boring film that was). Ovod...Meet Joe Black is cute. But, in the theatre I saw it in, a guy laughed when Brad Pitt was run over by the car. I'll never forget that. He laughed so loud, and for so long. It was odd. And, who doesn't love Back to the Future. The best was that in Pineapple Express, it made Seth Roger want to get Huey Lewis to do the theme song, because of his song in that. The discussion between the two was classic. Casino was highly overrated. I liked it more when it was Goodfellas a few years earlier. I saw a bit of Butterfly Effect on TV the other day. I had never seen it. The parts I saw were pretty interesting, so I might seek that out. War, Inc got horrible ratings. No way in hell I'll touch that movie. Especially when those types of parody...well, I was extremely disappointed in Thank You For Smoking, which had its moments, but wasn't nearly as great as ever critic said.— April 30, 2009 3:07 p.m.
Panic in Detroit...errr, New York
I grew up in Mira Mesa, and we always had to listen to the Blue Angels a few times a year at Miramar. Those dudes are loud!— April 30, 2009 2:57 p.m.
From Preps to Pros
Lall: The Mensa guy wasn't a snob. I can see why you'd think that from the way the story went. He didn't just make some grandiose statement about what qualifies someone, in his mind, as intelligent. I asked him. I was curious as to how he gauges it. From all the research I did on the subject this afternoon, I found lots of liberal ramblings with examples like "What poor family uses phrases like 'straight from the horses mouth'..." But, guess what? My family never used expressions like that. I remember being in 8th grade and reading a book where they said something was an "albatross around their neck." I asked my mom what it meant. And that, right there, is the point. At what stage in your life are you exposed to various phrases and historical things? I've played Trivial Pursuit with people that pronounce "Socrates" as "So-crates"...like a scene from Bill & Ted. Now, you could argue "That person isn't stupid. They just never heard of him." Well...then how do we gauge someones intelligence? Do you let all phrases, people, and historical figures go out the window and just hand them a Rubiks Cube? If someone doesn't know a lot about movies, music and sports...three things I love -- to me it doesn't make them less intelligent. It means they have different interests than I. If I used an expression that someone didn't know, that wouldn't be an indicator, either. But...at some point when these tests are given, if a person just doesn't know any phrases, or any philosophers, or presidents...we have to chalk it up as them not being very bright; because you learn these things in school, from reading, etc. I love telling this story. Cindy Crawford was getting divorced from Richard Gere. She told Letterman how he always thought she was stupid. She explained, "One time we were looking at houses and I was reading the pamphlet. And I said 'This says it's the epitome of country living'" (she pronounced it "e-pit-ohm"). Gere said, "You didn't just pronounce it that way." She said, "Yeah, but I think it means the same thing as epitome." He said "It IS epitome". Now, does that make Crawford "stupid"? She would argue it doesn't. But let's say, for sake of argument, that that's just a word she has never come across. Okay. No problem. But in a split second, I think your mind would say "oh...the word 'epitome' fits here...yet I didn't think it was spelled this way. I'm reading outloud, so I will say it the way it sounds and worry about the spelling later. I remember seeing funky words or names for the first time (mario lemieux comes to mind). And you can easily figure them out on your own. Faux pas comes to mind. If that phrase was used on a test, people could argue "Families in poor neighborhoods probably never use that expression." True. But guess what? My family never used that word. Lots of families probably haven't.— April 29, 2009 12:41 a.m.
Reader writers' favorite drinks and where they drink them
one of my favorite songwriters is Jim Morrison, who obviously drank (among other things). I now realize he would've written more interesting, less cryptic stuff had he been sober.— April 29, 2009 12:20 a.m.