Last chance to March to Box Office Madness!

You must get your entry in to me by Thursday night 11:59 PM (Pacific) to be eligible. Good luck! Click the banner above for the full rundown of rules and to get your entry form. More details, including the expanded prize pool, coming soon. In the meantime, so you know that I'm no cheater, here's my bracket.

And then...

Ladies of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Kelly LeBrock (2) vs Diane Franklin (7)

Previous results: I called that bloodbath early this morning, as Liz Shue was clobbering P.J. Soles 32-6. Click here to view the updated full bracket.

Kelly LeBrock


Comments: Pay no attention to the moose you see before you, LeBrock was high on just about every guy's list in the mid-80s and even into the early 90s (for shame that her role in Steven Seagal's Hard to Kill doth not count here). Only two 80s movies, but a lot of mileage from them. Fellow Lady of the 80s contender Vanessa Angel picked up where LeBrock's career left off - literally - by playing her character in the TV version of Weird Science. Too bad a matchup between them isn't likely.
80s Highlights: The Woman in Red, Weird Science

Diane Franklin


Breakdown: Be honest - did you know Franklin as anything besides "that French chick" from Better Off Dead? I had no idea she was one of the princesses seen early on in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and I couldn't feel more ashamed not for noticing. The risque pic above is from Amityville II. If you want to know what ever happened to Franklin, check out the entry on her over at The Moviezzz Blog (I'll spotlight these where available; Moviezzz has done an entry on several 80s stars, including quite a few that are included in this tournament).
80s Highlights: Better Off Dead, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Dudes of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Robert Downey, Jr. (3) vs Kurt Russell (6)

Previous results: In a slight blowout, Cary Elwes could never really get any traction on Ice Man himself, losing to Val 17-10. Click here to view the updated full bracket.

Robert Downey, Jr.


80s Highlights: Weird Science, Back to School, Less Than Zero, The Pick-Up Artist, Johnny Be Good

Kurt Russell


80s Highlights: Used Cars, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, Tango & Cash

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Tuesday's Things to Click On (3/30/10)

No snappy intro this week - lots to get to, though. Send your March to Box Office Madness entries and vote on the Ladies/Dudes of the 80s polls. That is all.

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Yes, another in the Sheila Broflovski Memorial "What WHAT WHAT?!? You haven't seen that??" line of movies that it took me forever to watch. Truth is, it was another one of those that I felt like I'd already seen, what with having seen so many clips here and there over the past three decades. Throw that in with the fact that I actually have seen the last 15 minutes intact and I got the jist. Still, I'd been wanting to sit down and watch it from start to finish once and for all and got the opportunity, so I took it...and was neither pleasantly surprised nor disappointed. That's not a bad thing - it was the same reaction I had when I finally watched Jaws some months back (for that, I had a legitimate excuse for avoiding it - the whole fear of sharks thing). Each film simply reaffirmed what I already knew: Steven Spielberg is far and away the best director of the last 35 years, and has an ability (to make an intelligent blockbuster...consistently) like no one else I can think of. It's easy to get caught up in the referential brilliance that is Tarantino or the technical genius of Darren Aronofsky, but no one's been more influential over the course of my life than Spielberg (even if Indy 4 was awful).

Rocket Science - Speaking of influences, it was difficult to watch this and not be constantly thinking "Rushmore Rushmore Rushmore," but it's a kind of nice film in its own right, even if it never gains all that much traction and ends on a kind of "Oh...hmm...ok." note. I was mesmerized by Reece Thompson's terrific, breakout performance, as well as by Anna Kendrick's fluctuating weight, and Vincent Piazza's (he plays the older brother) eerie resemblance to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Speaking of Kendrick, I've not seen any of the Twilight pics, but for those that saw Up In the Air and couldn't stop themselves from saying something like "Wow, so someone from Twilight can act!," I'll instruct you to watch this film, which came out a year before the vampire saga and earned her an Independent Spirit award nom for Supporting Actress.

Two other final thoughts: always nice to see Fargo's own Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), here showing up as a step-father of sorts. Also, for anyone that was ever involved with high school debate - is the point really to be a friggin' speed reader? What was portrayed as being great debating seemed awful to Mrs. Fletch and I.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Nothing new, though like anyone else in the world on Twitter that's over the age of 17, I'm sick to death of the name J_st_n B_eb_r, for whatever that's worth. Thankfully, the only singing I've ever heard him do was his 5-second bit in the updated "We are the World" that ran during the Olympics.

Book I'm currently reading:
Still reading "The Year of Living Biblically," a yearlong journal of a secular guy (born Jewish) attempting to live according to the rules of the Bible (all of them, no matter how minute) for 365 days. Still pretty interesting and mildly amusing.

Finally, the Things to Click On:
* Whitney's husband Scott, posted an array of his "type" of ladies. Well, turnabout is fair play, and her choices are what you might call...abnormal.

* The Reel Whore has put out an official Tinsel Alert for an actress that's gone missing. May she return to screens big and small soon. I, for one, miss her smarm and charm.

* It's pretty much done raining in Phoenix for the next 4-6 months (save for perhaps one last hurrah later this week), but in case you're in need of some rainy day pop culture activities, Brian of The Film Cynics has the prescription for your ills.

* Travis hits his 300th post after barely more than six months, and does so by contributing to Andy's Desert Island DVD blog-a-thon (that I'll be a part of as well). I don't know where this kid gets the time or money (he did state that he had a connection at a theater, which helps explain the money side), but I'm impressed (or scared - one of the two). Meta-linkage FTW!

* This is a bit late, but I just want to give a nod to the way Hokahey's thinking. Not content with the results of the Oscars, he's taking matters into his own hands!

And then...

Ladies of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Elisabeth Shue (1) vs P.J. Soles (8)

Previous results: First it was a blowout for Vanity. Then Sheedy made a comeback and looked like the winner. Then it was neck and neck and finally tied before a late Vanity surge gave her the win, 15-12. Click here to view the updated full bracket.

Elisabeth Shue


Breakdown: Like Jennifer Grey, Shue's looks allowed her to play much younger than her age. She was 21 for her breakout as Daniel LaRusso's girlfriend in The Karate Kid, and was 26 when she co-starred as Michael J. Fox's high school girlfriend/future wife in the Back to the Future sequel. Adding to those beloved films are the others listed below that, together, make her an 80s icon.
80s Highlights: The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, Back to the Future, Part II

P.J. Soles


Breakdown: It's hard to say if Soles is known more for her 70s resume (Carrie and Halloween) or the two memorable military comedies she did in the 80s (below). But it's pretty easy to say that she didn't really do much of anything notable after that...
80s Highlights: Pvt. Benjamin, Stripes

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Dudes of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Val Kilmer (2) vs Cary Elwes (7)

Previous results: Jason Patric upset Ted McGinley in a big way, taking the matchup 15-7. Click here to view the updated full bracket.

Val Kilmer


80s Highlights: Top Secret!, Real Genius, Top Gun, Willow

Cary Elwes


80s Highlights: The Princess Bride, Glory

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Ladies of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Vanity (3) vs Ally Sheedy (6)

Previous results: In the battle of the Jennifers, Connelly took down Grey 27-15. Click here to view the updated full bracket.

Vanity


Breakdown: I've never seen a single Vanity film, so I'm plucking this from her IMDb bio:

"Born Denise Katrina Matthews, Vanity is glamorous Canadian ex-model and lead singer of all girl group "Vanity 6" from German and African/American parentage, who specialized in playing sultry female characters often in trouble with the law.

Vanity first appeared on screen in the biographical tale of writer Jack London titled Klondike Fever (1980), before venturing into more gritty territory such as the slasher film Terror Train (1980), the very odd chick flick Tanya's Island (1980), a B-Grade martial arts film entitled The Last Dragon (1985) and the totally weird Never Too Young to Die (1986).

However, for my money, her best two performances were as the naive stripper assisting blackmail victim Roy Scheider in the under rated thriller 52 Pick-Up (1986). and then as a seductive, smart talking, night club singer teaming up with cop Carl Weathers to defeat murderous car tycoon Craig T. Nelson in the violent Action Jackson (1988)."
80s Highlights: Action Jackson, 52 Pick-Up, The Last Dragon

Ally Sheedy


Breakdown: The 80s force is strong with this one, co-starring in a number of hits along the way, from The Breakfast Club (her most famous role) to WarGames to SHort Circuit and St. Elmo's Fire. Never considered a traditional hottie, but certainly appreciated by a certain subsection of the male (and female?) population. Has made a comeback in the form in indie film stardom over the last decade or so.
80s Highlights: The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Short Circuit

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Poll results; new poll

You all are a lot more forgiving of women that make awful movies than men, I suppose. The last poll asked which of the actors with terrible reputations and/or resumes had the best chance to win an acting Oscar first, and the top two vote getters were ladies - Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, apparently Charlie's Angels FTW - and they took 68% of the vote. Somewhat shockingly, the eternally panned Keanu Reeves came in third and led the guys.

Not positive, but I think I was one of the two voters for Jack Black. Call me crazy, but I can see him pulling a Robin Williams in ten years and blowing us away by not being himself, more or less. Or maybe School of Rock has just influenced my thinking too much.

The new poll was born of the two tourneys going on right now. I would assume, like with much of the blogosphere (and the movie blog community especially) that my readership is split somewhere along the lines of 70/30 in favor of the guys. But I just don't know - after all, there are always those silent (read: no comment) readers out there.

And then...

Introducing the Dudes of the 80s Tournament + Round 1: Ted McGinley (3) vs Jason Patric (6)

Well, she called my bluff. Upon seeing the intro post for the already-started Ladies of the 80s Tournament, Mrs. Fletch asked "Where's the chick version?," which really meant "where's the one where we get to vote on guys?" I told her "You conceptualize it, I'll post it."

And she did. She sent me a list of 50+ guys, which she (with my assistance, comfortable as I am with my sexuality) narrowed down to the requisite 32 contestants.

Then came the question of when to post it. I initially thought it best to do it after the Ladies tourney was over, but why alienate one sex for a number of weeks only to subsequently alienate the other, when you can alienate both at the same time? So these puppies will be running simultaneously - with a new poll for each every weekday.

One difference - Mrs. Fletch has declined to write the breakdowns for the contestants, and it's above and beyond my responsibility for this version, so expect just an 80s resume and a pic or two.

Now let's get this started - as I said, matchup #2 of the Ladies version will be coming later today. Oh, and here's the full Dudes' bracket.

Ted McGinley


80s Highlights: Revenge of the Nerds and a load of TV shows

Jason Patric


80s Highlights: The Lost Boys, The Beast of War, Solarbabies

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Stained Glass Cinema Sunday (#85)

As predicted, no takers for last week's Expert-level poster. Will there be any more luck this week?

BEGINNER


















EXPERT




















Standings:
J.D. - 22
Nick - 6
Wendymoon, Clive Dangerously, Dreamrot (smacdonn) - 5
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Rachel, JLG - 3
TheGreatWhiteDope, TJMAC510 - 2.5
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto, BD79, Justin, - 2
Steel11Kane, TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19 - 1

Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

And then...

LAMBcast #16

We take a detour from our normal single topic episode to discuss three tidbits of movie news/controversies, going from the Twilight saga to Tim Burton to Repo Men. On hand was me as host, as well as Nick Jobe, Mike Mendez and Travis McCollum. That's followed up by a couple games of Last LAMB Standing and some Trailer Talk.

As usual, the music, as provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website, is the bomb. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service.

You can find us on iTunes; just go to the Podcasts section and search for "LAMBcast." And hey - while you're on iTunes, who don't you go ahead and either rate the LAMBcast or write a review of it. Better yet, do both! It'll help us get noticed by the overlords at Apple and earn worldwide fame...or something like that.

And then...

LOST - Richard Alpert Episode

Sorry for the late posting this week boys and girls, been a busy week, didn’t get around to watching the episode until today. Also, I of course did not want to step on the Blog Cabins crown jewel, the weekly Survivor running diary. Anyway, as for this week’s Lost episode, I was pleasantly surprised with the ep, and hope this is a movement back to the high quality we’ve seen in seasons past. So here are some notes on the long awaited Richard Alpert episode:

- I think one of the main reasons this episode was so enjoyable was because it was an uninterrupted flashback, usually they reserve these babies for Dez (sigh… Dez), but it was nice to just be able to watch an episode without constant switching to an unrelated story with random retarded cameos and nonsensical plots.

- This episode didn’t really reveal any great mysteries, we already knew Richard came as a slave on the back rock, Jacob had made him immortal, and that the “Man in Black” couldn’t act, but it was still a good watch

- It was good to see them bring up the Island is hell theory again, with MiB telling Rich that Jake was the devil, the purgatory angle was the theory du’jour for the first few seasons until the producers refuted it, and of course has been introduced on the Island when the original Sawyer said that it “felt a little hot to be heavan”

- The main focus for the final season seems to be the mystery of who is on the right side, as they are deliberately leaving it ambiguous who is good and evil between Jacob and Smoke Monster, and their respective teams. I’m still holding out hope for a battle royal in the conclusion. And if you want my opinion, I’d side with Smokey, Charles Widmore is trying to kill him, and that guy has never been on the right side of anything.

- Those Lost writers sure do love tearful reunions between long suffering separated lovers. Obviously they peaked in “the Constant”, I’ll admit it got a little dusty when I watched that scene, but Richard Alpert’s ghost wife talking to him for the first time in 300 years was pretty good too. I doubt if the Jin/Sun reunion will live up though, they should kill off Sun and have Jin go rogue.

- So Ilyana is supposed to protect the six candidates, did we get a definitive answer on who the 6 are? Jack, Hugo, and one of the Kwons are confirmed. MiB told Sawyer he was one, I think Kate is one? Was Locke a candidate? Otherwise who is the sixth?

- Also old MiB said he would kill whoever replaced Jacob in his quest to get off the Island. Can’t he just go smokey and ice the Oceanic 6, or do the same rules apply to them as Jake, and he has to find a “loophole”?

- I guess it’s a little late in the game to give Alpert another flashback, but I wonder what he’s been up to in his 300 years on the Island, how long did he wander around by himself until the next ship got wrecked and he formed up the Others? And sure he was still in love with his wife, but did he ever get drunk on that Island wine and wake up next to some hot young Other thing (300 years without a woman is a long time)? Did he, Jake, and Mib ever hang out and cruise the Island?

Good ep this week, so until next time… I missed the previews, but I’m guessing next week we’re on the other side of the Island, probably stuck with a Jin episode, if it was up to me, I’d go with Widmore though…

And then...

Ladies of the 80s Tournament - Round 1: Jennifer Connelly (4) vs Jennifer Grey (5)

Let's get this off to a rip-roaring start with a 4 seed/5 seed matchup. Even better, a matchup between two Jennifers. Click here to view the full bracket. Here are the resumes:

Jennifer Connelly

Breakdown: Kind of an odd (creepy) choice for this tournament as she was all of 16 in her breakout performance in Labyrinth, but then again, most readers of this blog weren't legal either in 1986. Also, despite the big name she has now, she really wasn't in much else in the 80s. Her much bigger breakout came in the early 90s with The Hot Spot and Career Opportunities (though they sure seem like 80s flicks, don't they?).
80s Highlights: Labyrinth, Phenomena

Jennifer Grey
























Breakdown: It's funny, I always knew that Alan Ruck was practically a septugenarian when he played Cameron Frye and that Matthew Broderick wasn't far behind, but I never knew until just now that Grey was in the same ballpark as the guys, co-starring as Jeanie Bueller at age 26 in 1986 (which makes her portrayal as "Baby" in the following year's Dirty Dancing even weirder somehow). Famously got a nose job sometime in the 90s that completely destroyed her career, even though it's hard to argue that it didn't make her better looking.
80s Highlights: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dirty Dancing, Red Dawn

poll by twiigs.com

And then...

Introducing...the Ladies of the 80s Tournament

This thing has been percolating for nearly two years now, and ideally - along with the March to Box Office Madness - I would have kicked it off about two weeks ago. But it's happening nonetheless, and it's not a bad time for it. For starters, the NCAA tourney is still in full swing (3rd round games start today!) and if that weren't enough, Hot Tub Time Machine hits theaters tomorrow (lucky me is going to an advance screening tonight), and it ought to further promote the wave of 80s nostalgia going around. Like totally.

Originally stemming from a conversation on a message board (SOTSG.com), the idea (which wasn't originally mine, but I've fleshed out and, well, I have a platform to do this) was to compile a list of 80s-era icons/actresses and pit them against each other to see which lady would come out on top. For nostlagic geeks born of a certain era, this is pure magic.

Not too much explaination is necessary. I've put together a list of 32 contenders, seeded them each 1-8 and built a tournament bracket. Every day (or so), I'll post a new matchup, complete with an in-post poll. Your job is to fawn over the idea and/or the women and then vote on who you think represents Reagen Era hotness the most. If there's one guideline I have, it's this: try to judge the contenders based on their "stats" circa 20-something years ago and not on their currrent, um, stage in life. If that were the case, Kelly LeBrock would be nowhere near this thing.

Below are all of the seeds (click here for the full bracket). Proceed bitching about who made it, who didn't, and/or where those that made it were seeded. The first matchup ought to be up tomorrow.

Oh, and if someone has the time/creativity to make a sweet banner for this, I'd be eternally grateful.

Seed	Movie
1	Jamie Lee Curtis
1	Demi Moore
1	Phoebe Cates
1	Elisabeth Shue
2	Mia Sara
2	Kelly LeBrock
2	Kelly Preston
2	Rae Dawn Chong
3	Donna Dixon
3	Lorie Griffin (Teen Wolf)
3	Cindy Morgan (Caddyshack)
3	Vanity
4	Jennifer Connelly
4	Colleen Camp (Clue)
4	Besty Russell (Private School)
4	Vanessa Angel
5	Jennifer Grey
5	Amanda Peterson
5	Julia Montgomery (Revenge of the Nerds)
5	Tanya Roberts
6	Molly Ringwald
6	Jami Gertz
6	Ally Sheedy
6	Apollonia
7	Jennifer Jason Leigh
7	Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (Fletch)
7	Kerri Green
7	Diane Franklin (Better Off Dead)
8	Kimberly Foster (One Crazy Summer)
8	Joyce Hyser
8	PJ Soles
8	Lea Thompson

And then...

What's in a Name?

I know I'm probably one of only a few people in the world that this bothers, but...

Hey Dreamworks - no one gives a shit that you happen to be the studio that made the latest 3-D animated flick hitting theaters soon. Stop trying to be Disney.

(if you like, fast-forward to :24, :20, and :14, respectively)







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPYbVVgqhj0 (embedding disabled)

Notice a trend here? What other studio - apart from Disney, who has actually been a viable brand name for more than half a century - does this? Are you going to see "MGM's Hot Tub Time Machine" or "Focus Features' Greenberg" this weekend?

No. Stop it, Dreamworks. You're pissing me off with every additional commercial I see.

And then...

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Episode 6 Recap/Live Blog

I'm pretty sure that Kid Vegas knew that Survivor was on tonight rather than its usual Thursday spot and is waiting to post the recap from last night's LOST episode just to that he can steal my thunder and post his TV show recap after mine. Well, that or he's just being a lazy ass. (Or maybe he's just busy. It's all speculation with K.V.)

Anyway, Survivor's back after a two week hiatus (and the live blog's three week hiatus)! Do you remember what happened? I'll attempt to be your guide through yet another episode.

6:58: Wow - 15 left? Seems like there should be fewer.

6:59: "Jeez, Candance - stop being so quiet and invisible. It's damned annoying!" In other words, I don't get the Candace hate; if anything, she's the most boring player out there not named Danielle. What's there to latch on to and dislike?

7:06: Why is James allowed to have a brace? I understand them not wanting to kick him out of the game, and I'm fine with that. Getting medical care is iffy in terms of the sportsmanship and spirit of the game, but I can even get over that. But "3rd-party" medical objects that the players are able to keep beyond the scope of their immediate injury? Seems unfair to the uninjured.

7:07: Jeff is saying a lot about this immunity challenge, but all I'm hearing is "we rigged this challenge to ensure my good buddy Colby's place in the game." Not that I really have a problem with that.

7:10: Well, so much for Colby's escape from being voted off.

7:12: Some creative editing there with the Villains turn at the challenge, as they attempted to make it seem a lot closer than it was. Jeff's play-by-play made it sounds as though Tyson, Coach and/or Russ were right behind Rob, but the video wasn't matching the audio at all. Didn't look even close.

7:15: I saw a post from Jeff/Survivor on Facebook earlier today talking about what an epic Tribal Council(s) this was going to be, and I guess I can see why - it has to be! There's 45 minutes left in the show. I know there'll be scrambling on both sides, but we know Colby is pretty much out (it would take a miracle). I guess there'll be drama on the Villains side, but I guess what I'm saying is...I don't know, I have no point. I just like two challenges per show.

7:18: So, who else has bought their tickets to J-Lo's new movie, The Back-Up Plan? I gotta say, I'm excited!

7:19: A bit of hubris from Rob...I hope it doesn't come back to bite him in the ass.

7:20: So what is Russell's plan, exactly? He has the Hidden Immunity Idol, but is choosing to give it away...for what reason? Color me confused.

7:32: Mrs. Fletch and I had hot dogs (from Costco!) for dinner tonight. Just thought that you'd like to know that we eat like Survivors! I might even have a banana later to feel more James-ish.

7:33: Oh, and I feel like I should tell you that Tyson appeared in a dream of Mrs. Fletch's a few days ago. I'll let her explain it to you sometime.

7:34: Speaking of Tyson, he's one of the few names up for ousting tonight from the Villains tribe, along with Russell and Parvati. You might think that Russ's head is the one that's really on the chopping block, but the man has proven to be too smart for such an early exit, no matter the circumstances. Time to vote...

7:36: Sandra: not a fan of mincing words, apparently.

7:37: A commercial in the middle of Tribal Council? You bastards.

7:42: So Russ gives it up to Parvati. What if she didn't want to play it? Either way, I can't effing believe that he put his neck out on the line when we all know he coulda played it, then just found it again.

7:43: Wow...and that's why I'm not playing and Russell is. What a goddamned genius. An all-time moment in the game's history. Even better yet, I don't like Tyson, so I'm thrilled to see him go. And "he's still pretty awesome," as he'll tell you.

7:44: And, no surprise, Rob does not look pleased. The good news for us is that the Villains have to sit there and seethe and/or gloat amongst themselves in silence while watching the Heroes' council. Good stuff.

7:47: Also no surprise - Amanda looks like she's about to cry again. Though at least she's not to blame this time - the rain is coming down pretty hard on them. But christ, I swear that girl always looks like she just got finished chopping a bunch of onions.

7:49: Colby sounds 100% defeated. Underperforming or not, to just sit there and be called a lazy fat ass (I'm paraphrasing) and not put up a fight at all, either to stay in the game or just protect your pride? Go home, dude.

7:51: I call shenanigans. Aside from the one bit of doubt instilled by J.T. earlier on in the show (and post- the J.T./James race), we were given almost no indication that they would actually follow through with voting off James. Is it just me? I got blindsided there! Colby got blindsided there! Amanda was in tears (okay, that's not shocking at all). J.T. appeared to be in tears. What the hell just happened?

ETA: I can't believe this, but amidst all of the craziness of the two-person-ouster, I neglected to post my Official Question Requests for Travis' interviews with the castoffs and had to be reminded by the man himself. This is what happens when I go three weeks without a Survivor post. Anyway, here they be:

For Tyson: Were you raised in Europe or something? What's with the kissing? Continue being "awesome" at Ponderosa, buddy.

For James: Do your biceps measure larger than your thigh muscles? 'Cause it sure looks that way.

Survivor news at Survivor.com
Survivor homepage at CBS.com
Interviews with the castoffs at The Movie Encyclopedia

And then...

March to Box Office Madness 2010!

It's back!

Due to circumstances beyond my control, there's a limited window of opportinuty to get in on the game - today is March 23 and all entries must be submitted to be no later than midnight, April 2. The good news is that it shouldn't take but a few minutes for you to complete the entire process.

If you're a fan of sports at all, or have ever worked in an office, there's a good to great chance that you're aware of the phenomenon that strikes America this time of year. That's right - it's March Madness, the 64 (er, 65) team college basketball tournament that drains efficiency from thousands of companies as workers kill their time filling out their brackets and subsequently trying to sneak in actually watching the games of the first few rounds of the tournament. It's one big semi-gambling semi-orgy - and everyone semi-loves it.

The idea:
With the NCAA tournament in full force, and with my joint film and sports appreciation, I got the idea to run a box office game the same way that the tournament is run. 32 films, one box office champion, many shining moments.

So, what you'll do is click on the link provided below, download your bracket, fill it by picking the movie for each matchup that you think will have the higher box office total, and send it to me by April 2.

The rules:
1. For each matchup, select which film will have the higher box office. Continue through the bracket until a champion has been crowned.
2. Scoring per round will be 1-2-4-8-12, for a possible total of 76 points (see table in workbook).
3. For the tie-breaker, enter your predicted top 5 films (box office) from the ones listed. One point for will be rewarded for each correct film, and an additional point for proper placement, for a potential 10 points. In the case of a tie, if one person's tie-breaker portion is not filled out, the other will win.
4. Brackets MUST be turned in (sent to blogcabins@yahoo.com) no later than April 2.
5. Box office data will be counted from April 2 - September 20, 2010.
6. One entry per person.

The prizes:
Still slightly up in the air, but most likely the same kind of deal as done in year's past (a t-shirt and a DVD of your choosing from Amazon.com valued at up to $19.99). However, this year, I was hoping to get the community involved in the prize-giving (to paraphrase Forrest Gump, I am not...a rich...man), so if there's something you can offer to the prize pool, please let me know. Hopefully, we can get a nice booty going. We had 34 players last year, so just a few items will make it that much more worth it.

The link to your bracket (if having troubles - right click, Save Target As):

http://blogcabins.webs.com/March%20to%20Box%20Office%20Madness2010.xls

* Please enter your picks using the same titles I have entered in the master bracket, even if they aren't technically accurate; slight changes are made for formatting issues, and having the names match makes the scoring go that much quicker. Please don't re-format the file in any way if possible. Enter your names and picks and go! *

The banner:
Finally, what fun would this be if it's just a few people? This game is open to EVERYONE. I want this to be BIG! I've made the banner that you see in the sidebar, and I'd love it if you'd put it on your site as well (if possible). Let's do this right! With any luck, everyone will be doing it next year.










The code:
<a href="http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-to-box-office-madness-2010.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Large Association of Movie Blogs" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/dyjafi/marchboxbanner200.jpg"/></a>

Good luck, and be sure to get me your brackets by April 2! Any questions, comments, suggestions, or prize offerings, email me at blogcabins@yahoo.com.

And then...

Tuesday's Things to Click On (3/23/10)

Believe it or not, movie reviews will appear here again someday, though I've yet to decide if they'll be in the same format or not. I enjoy the discourse of writing and commenting back and forth on them, but something's....missing. To be continued, I suppose. It's certainly not for a lack of other content (I hope you agree with me there). Coming soon - the March 2 Box Office Madness game, and another long-delayed tournament of sorts that I'm anxious to get off the ground.

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
Um...none that come to mind. We sat down to watch A Streetcar Named Desire, but stopped about 45 minutes in and have yet to pick it back up yet (I currently have about 10 movies I need to watch the endings of...). Thought Brando was good (and damned if he didn't look younnnng), but that Vivien Leigh was laughably bad. Then I had the ending inadvertently spoiler for me - no big deal there, though. At least in doing so, it made her performance a few ticks better. Still, the acting style of ye olden days just turns me off faster than you can say "melodramatic." Please recommend old movies that contain what you might call a contemporary acting style...

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Not music - catching up on my podcast listening after a number of days without a commute (my prime podcast listening time).

Book I'm currently reading:
My trip to Washington left me with a lot of reading time, so I finished Chuck Palahniuk's "Snuff." A nice, short read (under 200 pages); not my favorite of his, though. There are very few characters and all of them speak a bit too much like a stereotypical Chuck character. The story is sparse, yet typically interesting/"shocking." If you're a diehard, check it out - it won't take long. Otherwise, don't worry about avoiding.

Having finished that on one plane trip, I was forced to head for the airport bookstore, where there were no copies of "The Girl That Played With Fire" (bummer), which left me perusing the store for something interesting. Came upon A.J. Jacobs "The Year of Living Biblically," a yearlong journal of a secular guy (born Jewish) attempting to live according to the rules of the Bible (all of them, no matter how minute) for 365 days. Jacobs is an editor/writer for Esquire, so I'm probably familiar with his work even if I'm unaware of it. It's not laugh out loud funny, but it's interesting, even if I don't buy some of his scenarios and/or how much commitment he made to the "transformation" (like many followers, he seems to randomly assign importance to certain rules according to the whims of the day).

Finally, the Things to Click On:
* First off, a salute and well wishes to Foolish Blatherings' Branden, who's headed off on a journey that's sure to be interesting (and who knows what else). Best of luck, Branden, and the blogosphere (particularly the movie portion of it) will miss you and await your return.

* I've had The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the mind for some weeks now, but Fandango Groovers is ahead of the game (and not just because he's already seen the Swedish version, hitting U.S. cities any day now), putting out some casting suggestions for the U.S. remake, which is already in the works.

* Castor over at Anomalous Material takes an in-depth look at the recent theatrical market statistics released by the MPAA. Cool stuff.

* Jason finally sees Point Break. Will the B movie king give it his seal of approval or seal his fate in my doghouse?

* Finally...the answers are already in the comments, but The Cooler's 2nd annual Eyes of March post is the kind of movie quiz I can get behind (even if I would have scored pretty poorly overall).

And then...

Pitch the LAMB: Coming-of-Age Movie

I do my best to participate in the LAMB's events (one could argue that I DEFINITELY SHOULD NO MATTER WHAT, but between X and Y and Z and sometimes D, it just ain't possible). Anyway, this one - inspired by Piper's old Plot Farms and revived by CS of Big Thoughts From A Small Mind is a creative one that inspires people to post something on their site, and better yet, there's not a whole lotta rules, so I can be as lazy as I wanna be (with thanks to 2 Live Crew).

Did I do enough linking there? Want more? Don't tempt me...

Anyway, here are the few guidelines this time around:

The Genre: Coming-of-Age

The Examples of the Genre: The Graduate, Zombieland, Almost Famous, The Goonies, Big, Heavenly Creatures, Rushmore, Sixteen Candles, Stand By Me, An Education, Ghost World, To Sir With Love, Y tu mamá también, But I'm A Cheerleader, Dazed and Confused

The 10 words/phrases to get you started:

1. Working
2. He's going to kill you...
3. Loner
4. She does not know I am alive...
5. Hey Frankie...
6. Kissed
7. Do not tell Dad...
8. Virginity
9. You did what?
10. Grounded

The Job: to come up with an idea for a film using some of the words/phrases listed above. Once you have a plot idea, post it on your blog in any fashion you choose (e.g. plot synopsis, excerpt of a script, fictional trailer, fictional film review, movie poster, etc.) and email the link to bigthoughtssmallmind@hotmail.com. Simple as that! The deadline for submissions is Tuesday March 30, 2010.


Got all that? My preference, as it was with the Plot Farms, is for folks to have to use all 10 words/phrases in their story ideas. Like forced creativity mixed with stifled creativity...or something like that. How will different people work the same ideas into different stories - that's what I want to see. Though I'm no rulemaker, I will enforce said fake rule upon myself. Without further ado:

The Title: You Did What?
The Pitch: Mitch Montgomery, 15 and like most boys his age, was always trying to get noticed. Pranks, mischief, tomfoolery - these were not just funny words to him, but a way of life. Naturally, this caused some trouble at home, where he was always begging his older sister Felicia to "not tell Dad" about that mailbox he bashed with a baseball bat or his plan to escape history class with the aid of some homemade laughing gas.

However, the most recent exclamation from Felicia of "He's going to kill you!" had nothing to do with their hard-working electrician father, but instead with Mitch's latest hare-brained scheme. No, this one was intended to get the attention of the 9th grade's most beautiful girl that no one seemed to notice but him, the bespectacled, demure Jordan Parks. "She doesn't even know that I'm alive!" said Mitch, in a futile attempt to explain his predicament, which had him volunteering as an aide to a David Blaine-ish illusionist touring his way around the country, the wildly-annoying-to-anyone-over-16 Franklin Guerrero, fresh from his hit MTV magic/reality show, "Hey Frankie!" Mitch had put himself in a position to get grounded...literally, as Frankie would be burying him alive as a part of a lavish ruse meant to make the world think Mitch was dead, only to save him at the last second.

Will Mitch emerge triumphant and see his virginity kissed goodbye...or be doomed to a dirt nap?

And then...

Stained Glass Cinema Sunday (#84)

I haven't gone back and checked, but I'm pretty sure that TheGreatWhiteDope is the first non-J.D. contender to get an Expert-level poster since I made the beginner/expert disctinctions a couple months ago. Not sure if this says anything more than "J.D. was away from his computer that day" (as if), but it's always nice to see another potential top contender/savant. Good luck to anyone trying to get the Expert one this week...

BEGINNER


















EXPERT




















Standings:
J.D. - 22
Fletch - 14
Nick - 6
Wendymoon, Clive Dangerously, Dreamrot (smacdonn) - 5
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Rachel, JLG - 3
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto, BD79, TJMAC510, Justin, TheGreatWhiteDope - 2
Steel11Kane, TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19 - 1

Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

And then...