Happy Birthday R2-D2!
Kenny Baker, the man in the can, is 70 years old today. 70 years old and they're still making him sit in the little robot while he should be out on the golf course. For those of you who think R2-D2 is Kenny's only claim to fame I direct you to item 4 on his IMDB filmography list.
--Mrs. League
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
This weekend I did what I always do when Jamie leaves. I freaked out, because, kids... The League does not do well when left to his own devices. At least Mel was there to pal around.
All that went sour, though, when Saturday night I took mel for a walk that ended with me getting him to go down a slide at the park near my house.
I also went to Best Buy this weekend, because there are no other video/ CD stores in Chandler for me to support.
On a whim, I picked up the new album by Scissor Sisters, based upon a strong review I read somewhere, and because they were willing to do a disco cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."
It's an odd record, and is better than you think it is upon a first listen. Scissor Sisters seem to have two modes: Elton John and Disco Frenzy. I have no idea if that appeals to you, but I do like a good 3/5ths to 2/3rds of the record, which is a much better average then I have been hitting of late.
I also picked up Freaks, which was even better than I remember it being.
Gooble Gobble
One of us
One of us
The extra features are as fascinating as the actual movie.
For a nice little tune about Circus Folk by my old pals in Maximum Coherence, go here to listen.
Anyhoo, I am very busy with work. I welcome you all to enjoy this picture, and maybe write a story about it.
All that went sour, though, when Saturday night I took mel for a walk that ended with me getting him to go down a slide at the park near my house.
I also went to Best Buy this weekend, because there are no other video/ CD stores in Chandler for me to support.
On a whim, I picked up the new album by Scissor Sisters, based upon a strong review I read somewhere, and because they were willing to do a disco cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."
It's an odd record, and is better than you think it is upon a first listen. Scissor Sisters seem to have two modes: Elton John and Disco Frenzy. I have no idea if that appeals to you, but I do like a good 3/5ths to 2/3rds of the record, which is a much better average then I have been hitting of late.
I also picked up Freaks, which was even better than I remember it being.
Gooble Gobble
One of us
One of us
The extra features are as fascinating as the actual movie.
For a nice little tune about Circus Folk by my old pals in Maximum Coherence, go here to listen.
Anyhoo, I am very busy with work. I welcome you all to enjoy this picture, and maybe write a story about it.
Huh.
Will Tom Welling (of Clark Kent/ Smallville fame) appear in the new Batman movie as Clark Kent?
SuperheroHype! thinks so...
I love the idea of a shared Batman/ Superman universe in the movies, and I'd love to see each franchise knock out two movies and then do a World's Finest movie. Batman and Superman shared a comic entitled "World's Finest" for decades. Ever since, when referring to the pairing of Batman and Superman, real comic geeks refer to it as "World's Finest." Just a little FYI.
If you CAN'T wait for a World's Finest movie, check out this fan film...
Also, a picture in the article features the ninja costumes worn by the bad dudes run by Ra's Al Ghul. Notice the Batman-like protrusions from the fore-arm guards. Pretty cool.
Will Tom Welling (of Clark Kent/ Smallville fame) appear in the new Batman movie as Clark Kent?
SuperheroHype! thinks so...
I love the idea of a shared Batman/ Superman universe in the movies, and I'd love to see each franchise knock out two movies and then do a World's Finest movie. Batman and Superman shared a comic entitled "World's Finest" for decades. Ever since, when referring to the pairing of Batman and Superman, real comic geeks refer to it as "World's Finest." Just a little FYI.
If you CAN'T wait for a World's Finest movie, check out this fan film...
Also, a picture in the article features the ninja costumes worn by the bad dudes run by Ra's Al Ghul. Notice the Batman-like protrusions from the fore-arm guards. Pretty cool.
Monday, August 23, 2004
See, Ryan, we didn't have to get married at Green Pastures.
"Who gives this woman in marriage?" asked Stacey Garza of the Free Will Church.
"Her friends and family at Wal-Mart," Foruria replied.
"Who gives this woman in marriage?" asked Stacey Garza of the Free Will Church.
"Her friends and family at Wal-Mart," Foruria replied.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Saturday, August 21, 2004
The League Witnesses (and comments upon) Aliens vs Predator
Do you know when the last time was you checked your watch during a movie? I do.
It was about forty-five minutes ago when I was wondering how much more of Aliens vs. Predator I was going to have to sit through.
That was a seriously dumb movie.
Of course, I KNEW AvP was going to be dumb, which is why I waited until Jamie was safely out of the state before I went to go see it.
I've seen some seriously stupid movies in the theater. Here is a short list.
American Cyborg: Steel Warrior
Man's Best Friend
Street Fighter (not the Jackie Chan version, the Raul Julia version)
Out for Justice
The Relic
Event Horizon
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie
Deep Blue Sea
Halloween 6
Batman and Robin
Dracula 2000
Godzilla (TWICE!!!)
But even in these movies I never spent the duration of the movie saying to myself, "You know what would have created a more palpable sense of tension..? If X, Y and Z had happened."
I am not that smart. I shouldn't be able to out-screen-write the screenwriters while the film is going on.
Nor should I be able to say, "I'm no archaeologist, but their MO for exploring this site seems a little unorthodox. If even one of these clowns is a scientist, they would have put the kaibosh on this whole operation," or "Why are J, K and L even happening? That directly contradicts what we learned in the first six movies tied to these characters..."
Hey AvP screenwriters: Want to know a good way to build tension in a movie? I'll give you this tip for free... Don't use a huge, glowing, neon arrow to point to your "Ripley" at the beginning of the movie. Don't do it. The magic of movies where people get picked off one by one until only one remains is that you're not supposed to know who's gonna make it... Not so in Aliens vs Predator.
This was one lazy, sloppy movie. It was the kind of movie where you never actually catch anybody's real name, because it doesn't f**kin' matter. And stuff happens not because it's interesting or good, but because the movie has a sort of clumsy, tumbling momentum going, and if they look to the sides or back, the whole thing will just burn up the gears.
AvP was the kind of movie where rich-eccentric scientists bribe struggling scientists to join them, and then make silly, dramatic entrances. It's the sort of flick in which actors translate a roomful of runes in almost pitch black in about 5 minutes (no, seriously... 5 minutes). And actors are forced to spout well-worn cliches like "The enemy of my enemy... Is my friend!", only because the screenwriter and director can't trust their own audience enough to actually do some simple math.
I will say this: The Aliens effects looked okay, and the Predator guys looked pretty neat and had cool toys.
I will also say there's a shot at the end of the flick of some of the Predators in which the movie would have benefited from showing less of the Predators. Sadly, the shot makes it pretty clearly the "Predators" are just some dudes in (enormous) rubber masks.
If the rumor that this version I endured was a studio cut is true, and that the director really had some other footage up his sleeve is also true, I would be game to see the movie again to see the new footage. The League just has a hard time believing AvP was intentional.
It did occur to me we're sort of in the same boat folks were in back in the 1950's. Back then, the Universal monsters were tussling with each other regularly as the new creations filling the screen became progressively... sillier. There hadn't been any good horror franchises to come out in twenty years, so the money guys were green lighting Frankenstein meets Dracula , etc... Actually, I guess they literally did FvD with Van Helsing this year, but you get the idea.
I think we're going through that all over again. Which is good news, because it might mean some new, better movies will be coming along.
Anyway, that was $8.00 and 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Poop.
Do you know when the last time was you checked your watch during a movie? I do.
It was about forty-five minutes ago when I was wondering how much more of Aliens vs. Predator I was going to have to sit through.
That was a seriously dumb movie.
Of course, I KNEW AvP was going to be dumb, which is why I waited until Jamie was safely out of the state before I went to go see it.
I've seen some seriously stupid movies in the theater. Here is a short list.
American Cyborg: Steel Warrior
Man's Best Friend
Street Fighter (not the Jackie Chan version, the Raul Julia version)
Out for Justice
The Relic
Event Horizon
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie
Deep Blue Sea
Halloween 6
Batman and Robin
Dracula 2000
Godzilla (TWICE!!!)
But even in these movies I never spent the duration of the movie saying to myself, "You know what would have created a more palpable sense of tension..? If X, Y and Z had happened."
I am not that smart. I shouldn't be able to out-screen-write the screenwriters while the film is going on.
Nor should I be able to say, "I'm no archaeologist, but their MO for exploring this site seems a little unorthodox. If even one of these clowns is a scientist, they would have put the kaibosh on this whole operation," or "Why are J, K and L even happening? That directly contradicts what we learned in the first six movies tied to these characters..."
Hey AvP screenwriters: Want to know a good way to build tension in a movie? I'll give you this tip for free... Don't use a huge, glowing, neon arrow to point to your "Ripley" at the beginning of the movie. Don't do it. The magic of movies where people get picked off one by one until only one remains is that you're not supposed to know who's gonna make it... Not so in Aliens vs Predator.
This was one lazy, sloppy movie. It was the kind of movie where you never actually catch anybody's real name, because it doesn't f**kin' matter. And stuff happens not because it's interesting or good, but because the movie has a sort of clumsy, tumbling momentum going, and if they look to the sides or back, the whole thing will just burn up the gears.
AvP was the kind of movie where rich-eccentric scientists bribe struggling scientists to join them, and then make silly, dramatic entrances. It's the sort of flick in which actors translate a roomful of runes in almost pitch black in about 5 minutes (no, seriously... 5 minutes). And actors are forced to spout well-worn cliches like "The enemy of my enemy... Is my friend!", only because the screenwriter and director can't trust their own audience enough to actually do some simple math.
I will say this: The Aliens effects looked okay, and the Predator guys looked pretty neat and had cool toys.
I will also say there's a shot at the end of the flick of some of the Predators in which the movie would have benefited from showing less of the Predators. Sadly, the shot makes it pretty clearly the "Predators" are just some dudes in (enormous) rubber masks.
If the rumor that this version I endured was a studio cut is true, and that the director really had some other footage up his sleeve is also true, I would be game to see the movie again to see the new footage. The League just has a hard time believing AvP was intentional.
It did occur to me we're sort of in the same boat folks were in back in the 1950's. Back then, the Universal monsters were tussling with each other regularly as the new creations filling the screen became progressively... sillier. There hadn't been any good horror franchises to come out in twenty years, so the money guys were green lighting Frankenstein meets Dracula , etc... Actually, I guess they literally did FvD with Van Helsing this year, but you get the idea.
I think we're going through that all over again. Which is good news, because it might mean some new, better movies will be coming along.
Anyway, that was $8.00 and 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Poop.
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