Archive for May, 2009

As Seen On (a) T.V.

You can almost smell the commercial breaks that are soon to be inserted.

And that thumping sound? Maybe it’s James Cameron turning over in his grave.

O.K., so he’s not dead yet. Perhaps he saw a sneak preview? Who knows?

I’m talking about the latest, and after seeing this, I hope the last of the Terminator Films.

terminatorblack

This is no more than an endless chain of shaking shots framed in close ups for TV, interspersed with epic sized explosions that were strung together by truly stupid dialog (and I’m not even including the attempt at humor in using “Arnoldisms”). I don’t remember a shot that showed the floor, much less below the knees, and it’s very obvious that even the two-shots were done as “chokers” to show off any facial emotions that might get lost if it was done in a full shot.

terminator two shotI guess production saved money by not needing to buy shoes?

And Christian Bale? He must be deep into his post grad studies of the Dr. Jack Shephard role that Matthew Fox perfected on “Lost”. The facial stuff like the pensiveness that Fox (not the network) does on the island is made almost bearable by being limited to (in my case) a 40 inch screen, but it’s just so dead wrong on the big screen. Well, that’s if you can call my local multiplex shoebox a big screen.

matthew fox?Go on, tell me you don’t want to call him “Jack”….

Much like Fox attempted to kill off their “Alien” money making chain by giving the controls to David Fincher, a commercial director, so it seems to have gone with using McG on”Salvation”.

alien3

I don’t recall waiting for any of the Terminator or Alien films to end.

Sadly, I did today!

May 24, 2009 at 1:22 am Leave a comment

Angels + Demons + Opie Oh My!

NOTE, THIS IS A POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING,

THIS DEALS WITH A FILM

THAT’S NOW IN WIDE RELEASE.

L. Ron Howard, Opie-ate of the masses once again proves to be a “keep it in the family guy” again, or at least he’s half way there.

We don’t see all that much of his dad,  Rance

rance howard

At least not for the first 2 acts, and even then, only as back ground cameo.

But it’s in the final act where pops hits his stride, and he even gets to speak and get a few decent (medium) close up shots, although not with Tom Hanks.

But, what’s happened to Ron’s baby bro Clint?

clint howard

Are we to believe that even as the director, Ronnie couldn’t pull strings to work in one of those “nerdy guy that’s watching the computer screen in the background” sort of parts for his brother like we often see him in?

CLINTNIGHTATMUSEUMBANNER

The only other audience alert note for the very well done pic is, this film has the slowest moving bullet ever fired in a film.

Again, not to be a nit-picker, but you could use a sun dial to time the eons it takes for the bullets fired by Tom Hanks to hit a bulletproof glass window.

bulletproofglass

I’ve heard faster ballistic echoes in a ping pong game.

popemobile

This is not the bulletproof glass in question.

May 22, 2009 at 2:41 pm Leave a comment

The Joke Star Trek Missed

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if the producers of the post Star Trek II movies had brought back the character Saavik  and gave her what her physicality screams for, a larger part in the later”Star Trek” movies?  Or, do you even remember her?  She was an early Vulcan charmer that was played way back in the day by a young, hot and thin Kirstie Alley. 

Saavik

A nice set of lobes will only take you so far….

Perhaps she could have been the one to make a suggestion to hide the Enterprise behind the rings of Saturn, to better observe what was happening on Earth.

saturn

With that perfect set up, Spock then could have responded, “Yes, Saturn would indeed be a logical place for us to hide and watch, but then (Ah that Spock, such a great dead pan stand up comic!), wouldn’t it be easier for us to hide the Enterprise behind Uranus?”.

kirstie big but

Gonna Need A Bigger Set Of Ears!

Hide the Enterprise like that VW Van?

Don’t forget to tip your Earth’s axis 23.5 % (or degrees), on your way out.

I’ll be here for Eons, try the veal.

P.S. Hey Veronica, even though it’s probably not on your Jenny Craig diet list, payback happens to be a dish that is best served cold, and with about 15 years gone by since I had to work around you on “Veronica’s Closet”, this is about as cold as it’s going to get.

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N.B., The ownership of any and all photos, opinions, and/ or quotes above (including those of my own) belong to the material’s creator(s). Credit is given when it’s known, but as everyone knows, success usually has a million parents and failure is an orphan.

Feel free to ignore any ads that are shown below this advisory, I don’t get to choose them and even more sadly, I don’t make a penny off any of them, so in the holy name of capitalism I rebuke and don’t endorse or support any of them, unless of course they’re made of funny stuff…..  

P.S., check back for occasional updates and rewrites….

FAIR USE NOTICE: THIS SITE CONTAINS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL THE USE OF WHICH HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. I AM MAKING SUCH MATERIAL AVAILABLE IN MY EFFORT TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, ECONOMIC, DEMOCRACY, SCIENTIFIC, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, ETC. I BELIEVE THIS CONSTITUTES A ‘FAIR USE’ OF ANY SUCH COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 107 OF THE US COPYRIGHT LAW. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: HTTP://WWW.LAW.CORNELL.EDU/USCODE/17/107.SHTML.  IF YOU WISH TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FROM THIS SITE FOR PURPOSES OF YOUR OWN THAT GO BEYOND ‘FAIR USE’, YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. 

 

May 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm 3 comments

Live Long And Perspire \\//о

spock-hand-gesture1

Not in the PR releases, but we have the chance to watch closely as the young Spock “lays” the groundwork for  the older Spock’s (maybe) future….

“Space Booty Call?”

uhura

Of course, this was a long time before the Older Spock was seen taking part in what appears to be a Vulcan MaleMeld with the perhaps previously straight Sulu.

spock_sulu

After noticing the position of Spock’s hand in the photo, the temptation was eh.. large  to photoshop in (if you get my drift) a Star Fleet sized Sulu-Member, but I chose to take the higher ground (this time).

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N.B., The ownership of any and all photos, opinions, and / or quotes above (including those of my own) belong to the material’s creator(s). Credit is given when it’s known, but as we’ve found, success will have a million parents and failure will be an orphan.
Feel free to ignore any ads that are shown below this advisory, I don’t get to choose them and even more sadly, I don’t make a penny off any of them, so in the holy name of capitalism I rebuke and don’t endorse or support any of them, unless of course they’re made of funny stuff…..
P.S., check back for occasional updates and rewrites….
FAIR USE NOTICE: THIS SITE MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL, THE USE OF WHICH HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. I AM MAKING SUCH MATERIAL AVAILABLE IN MY EFFORT TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, ECONOMIC, DEMOCRACY, SCIENTIFIC, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, ETC. I BELIEVE THIS CONSTITUTES A ‘FAIR USE’ OF ANY SUCH COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 107 OF THE US COPYRIGHT LAW. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES BY ACCESSING MY BLOG. FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: HTTP://WWW.LAW.CORNELL.EDU/USCODE/17/107.SHTML.  IF YOU WISH TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FROM THIS SITE FOR PURPOSES OF YOUR OWN THAT GO BEYOND ‘FAIR USE’, YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.  SO THERE!

May 12, 2009 at 9:18 pm Leave a comment

Prop Guy Sleeping?

I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine

It’s a great piece of film work that’s really easy to enjoy.

Well, other than when I heard a loud crash. That was the sound of my suspension of disbelief hitting the floor.

You see, it was going great until they had a scene with a radio conversation from a downed helicopter to the command center, where the call was received on what to me looked very much like a 1986 vintage $29.95 RadioShack CB Walkie-Talkie.

walkietalkieComplete with a long vhf type antenna with a black plastic connector in it.

They spent so many millions and millions of dollars to make this film, and then they had to have a budgetary short cut hit the screen? I can only imagine that the prop master had taken the day off when the director said “We need to have this person on a walkie talkie” and the assistant props person frantically asked around until someone found a teamster with an old CB radio stuck under the seat of their truck that was “accidently” left over from “Smokey and the Bandit III”.

dicktracy

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N.B., The ownership of any and all photos, opinions, and / or quotes above (including those of my own) belong to the material’s creator(s). Credit is given when it’s known, but as we’ve found, success will have a million parents and failure will be an orphan.
Feel free to ignore any ads that are shown below this advisory, I don’t get to choose them and even more sadly, I don’t make a penny off any of them, so in the holy name of capitalism I rebuke and don’t endorse or support any of them, unless of course they’re made of funny stuff….. 
P.S., check back for occasional updates and rewrites….
FAIR USE NOTICE: THIS SITE CONTAINS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL THE USE OF WHICH HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. I AM MAKING SUCH MATERIAL AVAILABLE IN MY EFFORT TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, ECONOMIC, DEMOCRACY, SCIENTIFIC, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, ETC. I BELIEVE THIS CONSTITUTES A ‘FAIR USE’ OF ANY SUCH COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 107 OF THE US COPYRIGHT LAW. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TITLE 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107, THE MATERIAL ON THIS SITE IS DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PROFIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE EXPRESSED A PRIOR INTEREST IN RECEIVING THE INCLUDED INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO: HTTP://WWW.LAW.CORNELL.EDU/USCODE/17/107.SHTML.  IF YOU WISH TO USE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL FROM THIS SITE FOR PURPOSES OF YOUR OWN THAT GO BEYOND ‘FAIR USE’, YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER. 


May 5, 2009 at 11:07 pm Leave a comment


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