It starts tomorrow!

Click here for the full lineup. The festivities kick off tomorrow with Mad Hatter's take on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next.

And then...

Stained Glass Cinema Sunday (#107)

BEGINNER
















EXPERT

















Standings:
J.D. - 32
TheGreatWhiteDope - 23.5
Dreamrot (smacdonn) - 7
Nick, Wendymoon - 6
Clive Dangerously, Justin - 5
simoncolumb, Steel11Kane (Kano), BD79 - 4
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Rachel, JLG - 3
TJMAC510 - 2.5
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto - 2
TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19, TheAnswerMVP2001, Anh Khoi Do - 1

Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

And then...

Comment of the Week (8/21 - 8/28)

The winner of the Chong Li Memorial Comment of the Week is...


I was really tempted to make this a group award to the seemingly hundreds of spam comments from our friends in China that squeaked through Blogger's new Comment system, but in the end I just couldn't. (Sidenote: either the system is finally getting better or my lockdown - comment moderation on posts more than 3 days old, word verifcation - has worked. Fear not, potential commenters.) So, the winner is Rachel, with the following post in response to my exorcism query from yesterday's TGITDNMAR:

"...the subject being possessed is always a female.

Of course! We women are weaker, dumber creatures who easily give in to the Devil. There's probably even science to back it up somewhere.

Just look at Eve and how easily the Devil tempted her with an apple. He realized how gullible she was and targeted only ladies after that, knowing if he wanted to bring evil into the world, that was the simplest way to do it.

Or Hollywood is full of sexist pigs."

And then...

Films You Didn't Know You Needed To See

My main man Kai over at The List put out the call for help - every few months, he asks his fellow awesome blogger friends to write about, well, you can see it in the title. Three flicks each, nothing too long, just shine a light on some movies you think more people need to see. I've written about at least two of the three on here before, but it's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely time.

The rest of the choices, including Kai's, can be found here.


Code 46 (2004)
I've been ringing the bell for this one for years, with minimal success. Michael Winterbottom paints one of my favorite pictures of the future here with a minimal budget and a lot of imagination. Tim Robbins stars as a fraud investigator who travels to Shanghai on a case, where he meets and eventually falls in love with Samantha Morton. Only...there's something forbidden about their love. Love or hate the story - and the slow pace of it all, which usually throws people off - it's the tiny glimpes into our multi-culti near-future that turn me on, most notably the mashed-up language that everyone speaks.


Box of Moonlight (1996)
Now that everyone in the world (ok, the movie blogosphere, anyway) knows who Sam Rockwell is, it's high time you all go back and check out one of his underseen past performances. Indie director extraordinaire Tom DiCillo directs Rockwell, as well as other 90s-era indie forces John Turturro, Catherine Keener and Dermot Mulroney in this fun little slice of life about a man (Turturro) who's facing a mid-life crisis. Working on an out-of-town contract job (not unlike Code 46, actually), he collides with The Kid (Rockwell), an off-the-grid hippie of sorts who helps him to discover what's really important in his life. Certainly quirky, but pretty charming, too.


The Nines (2007)
Interested in an out-there Drama Mystery Sci-Fi Fantasy (according to IMDb)? John August, longtime collaborator of Tim Burton and writer of one of my favorites, Go, wrote and directed this head-scratcher of a movie that stars Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy, all playing multiple roles. This film will have you discussing its meaning (and plot) long after you've finished watching.

And then...

TGITDNMAR (8/27/10)

It's that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It's The Day New Movies Are Released.

Please bring on Machete. Even The American, which I really don't have all that much interest in is looking fan-damn-tastic. These two...yeah...

Takers
Awww...look at that - after the running joke that was this, Takers went and got itself a new poster.

I really don't know what else to say about this flick. It looks pretty horrendous, has been delayed who knows how many times, and is a horrible actors' showcase, with not only a pair of musicians starring, but Hayden Christensen and Paul Walker on board as well. All of a sudden, co-star Matt Dillon appears to be quite the thespian.

I just might have to see this eventually. Hopefully, it's enjoyably bad.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 6%

The Last Exorcism
The Exorcist and all of its sequels (I'm assuming). The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Paranormal Activity. The beginning of Constantine. This flick. Now, I'm not an expert on exorcism movies, but I can't help but notice one giant similarity between all of the movies I listed, which are probably amongst the most famous examples: the subject being possessed is always a female.

What's the deal? Can a man/boy not be possessed by an evil spirit? Is this some sort of representation of a male sexual fantasy, and the male-dominant Hollywood doesn't want to see a young man writhing around on a bed a.k.a. the only place where an exorcism can take place?

I don't care much about these flicks either way, but I see an opening in the marketplace. Someone get on it.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 0%

And then...

LAMBcast #36

For the 36th episode of the LAMBcast, we take on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and break it down at least seven different ways. What worked, what didn't, favorite fights, lines, and general gushing from Nick, who has named it his new favorite movie ever...at least until Machete comes out (kidding, Nick). Joining him were Tom, James, and me. That's followed up by the usual Trailer Talk (Black Swan, I'm Still Here) and Last LAMB Standing, but also by the latest segment on the LAMBcast, the LAMB of the Week, which is more or less an audio, non-anonymous version of Brutally Blunt Blog Blustering.

For the inaugural edition, Heather of Movie Mobsters put her site's neck on the line, and we tore it to shreds gave it our best mix of compliments and constructive criticism.
If you'd like your site to be a future LAMB of the Week, hit me up via email and I'll add you to the queue.

If you're interested, you too can be a LAMBcaster - we love new blood! For more information on the LAMBcast, check out the topic at the LAMB Forums. Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too. Either here in the comments section or to blogcabins@yahoo.com or to our Facebook page. Also, we're on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it's a bad one.

Thanks for listening!

And then...

The State of the Cabins (8/25/10)

Things to Click On
* The seven-year long Greatest Comedy Tournament over at Anomalous Material is finally coming to an end. The voting on the two Final Four matchups isn't over yet, but it looks like Airplane! and Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the championship. Stay tuned for the finale, coming soon.

* Film Cynic Steve put up a fun little illustrated movie trivia puzzle. We've each had some issues with some of the artist's choices, but it's still pretty damn cool. Be sure to make your window as big as possible (the image will proportionally expand).

* Fitz of Nevermind Popular Film has a wish list for the third Batman flick. I concur on all points.

* Film Forager Alex's latest Movie Sketch is up - I don't love the film, but I do love this series.

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* The Karate Kid III - I knew this was supposed to be bad, but...I just wasn't prepared for this kind of badness. I loved this movie so much. It's so awful that it makes you long to have been a fly on the wall for the conception of it. The acting from pretty much everyone not named Ralph or Pat is stupendously terrible, the plot unveils new and inventive ways to torture Mr. LaRusso, Macchio, the ending is ridiculous - it's got it all.

Some highlights:

* The millionaire who has nothing better to do with his life than torture a 17-year old and his retired apartment maintenance man mentor, who did nothing more than have the gall to fall ass-backwards into winning a karate tournament one year prior (after having been tormented by several bullies for months, no less).

* Sean Kanan's "performance" as "the Bad Boy of Karate," Mike Barnes. To his credit, he was a full five years younger than the guy he's bullying - he was 23 to Ralph's 28.

* Robin Lively's character/wardrobe - had you just shown me a picture, I would have sworn that she was a bit player on Beverly Hills 90210.

* A bonsai tree store. Seriously. Can't believe those things never took off.

* The trio of bad guys (or at least the two older guys) laughing their demonic, overacting evil guy laugh...seconds after Miyagi had just taken them on three-on-one and kicked their asses. That takes gumption.

Ok, I'll stop. I'm having a really hard time grading this, though, because it's really awful, but so enjoyable. How would one properly rate Roadhouse or Bloodsport?

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "I want you to punch me as hard as you can."
	Reality: "Darn tootin." (in a guilty pleasure kind of way)

LAMBScore:

* Kinky Boots - The movie that finally solves the equation, "What do you get when you combine Tommy Boy with The Birdcage?"

Boots, despite being predictable and formulaic, is an enjoyable British comedy, with an appealing star turn from Welsh actor Joel Edgerton (now in theaters in Animal Kingdom, highly touted by Mr. Tom Clift) and a performance that would have earned Chewitall Edgeonthefloor an Academy Award nomination had the film performed better and/or the Academy didn't automatically discount roles in which men play drag queens anymore. He sings, he dances, he walks around gracefully in stilettos - it's a virtuoso performance. Not-quite-stealing the show but adding to the proceedings is Nick Frost, playing a bit of a dick in one of the rare non-Edgar Wright performances I've seen him in.

More below.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "Darn tootin."
	Reality: "Darn tootin." (in a guilty pleasure kind of way)

LAMBScore:

* The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - I was saddened to read after the fact that the events portrayed in the film are not quite as they seem at times, with certain events omitted and such to add to the tension. Nevertheless, it's a compelling doc that gains steam as it goes along, drawing you in and leaving your mouth agape at these GIANT FUCKING DORKS and the way they spend their lives.

What makes matters a bit worse in that regard is that, with most of these guys, I get it. This is all they have. It's what lights their fire, rings their bell, what have you. They've formed a community of GFDs in which one man is king and the rest are slobbering acolytes that bow in his presence and kiss his ring (and indeed, what a fine, fine villain Billy Mitchell makes; real or no, he's one of the all-time great movie characters, almost a real-life version of Rex Kwon Do).

However, Steve Weibe is not one of these guys. Sure, life dealt him a few breaks. He lost his job and was bored at home. But this guy was obviously not one of...those...guys all his life - he's got a relatively attractive wife, a couple kids, a decent home near Seattle. WTF is he doing with his life, aside from playing the "chump," the sad sack that has had some decent skills and talents all his life, but just can't seem to break through (in other words, he's a completely normal guy).

I had trouble feeling too bad for Weibe, and was left mostly wondering some of the questions that didn't get answered. What exactly drove him to Donkey Kong (of all games) and why would he do such a thing to his family? Surely, he spent hours a day playing this thing in place of giving his family attention and/or finding a job. The most poignant lines in the whole film came from his elementary-school aged daughter:

Jillian Wiebe: I never knew that the Guinness World Record Book was so... I never knew it was so important.
Steve Wiebe: I guess a lot of people are... yeah, a lot of people read that book.
Jillian Wiebe: [while directly looking at Steve, her father] Some people sort of ruin their lives to be in there.

Game. Set. Match. Jillian wins.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "You're the best...around!"
	Reality: "Darn tootin." (in a guilty pleasure kind of way)

LAMBScore:

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Mrs. Fletch was watching Kinky Boots the other night while I was asleep. I was having some weird dream, at which point a song began playing in my head. For whatever reason, I woke up. What's playing on the TV? The end credits to Boots, which feature the following song, "In These Shoes?" by one-time Pogues collaborator Kirsty MacColl. I don't know about you, but I think it's terribly cool whenever something that just happened in real life enters the midway point of your dream - yeah, yeah, Inception illustrated this point perfectly with the whole "time lasts longer in a dream" business.

Anyway, it's a very Sex In the City-ish song (and was even used in the show at one point), but it's been in my head a lot ever since. The vocals and lyrics are actually pretty awful, but the overall vibe is a lot of fun.



Book I'm currently reading:
* Battle Royale. Despite being warned by Nick of the difficulty of learning the character's names (no less than 42 Japanese names, all of which appear the same, male or female, to these Western eyes), I was still struck at how difficult it was to get past that at first. Thankfully, one lead character has emerged (I'm about 50 pages in), so that's helping out quite a bit. Great that I was able to get past that, because the set-up is so great, and it's pretty well-written thus far. The students have just had the ball dropped on them, so it's really getting good now. Big book, though, so be prepared to see it here for awhile.

And then...

Some thoughts on: The Switch

* Have no fear - Jennifer Aniston's streak of starring in mildly entertaining "pablum" (to quote Mrs. Fletch) remains intact. The Switch is a high concept romantic comedy that's not entirely funny and not remotely romantic. There's nothing terrible about Aniston here, but the film certainly seems to be at its best when she's not on screen, as scenes between Jason Bateman and fill-in-the-blank (the kid, Jeff Goldblum, or Patrick Wilson) are far more interesting and endearing.

* Poor Goldblum. I'm not positive, but I think his character's name was "Comic Relief." His character was thinner than a strand of hair. He pops in ever 25 minutes for 90 seconds of screen time in which he bags on Bateman and doles out gems such as "Oooohhh...that's...not advisable." Somehow, despite the overwhelming unfunniness of his lines, The Patented Goldblum Delivery seems to make every line reading go over a bit better than it should.

* Then again, Goldblum has a plum role compared to Juliette Lewis' - I'm no fan of her anyway, but her plum role was not only similarly thin (the wacky BFF!) but annoying as hell. Props, however, to whomever decided that it was a good idea to cast both Aniston and Lewis (former exes of Brad Pitt and examples from a post here a couple weeks ago), in a movie about artificial insemination and a woman who can't find a good man, no less.

* Daniel over at Getafilm has a recurring series on his site about things that happen only in the movies, i.e. why does everyone still have an answering machine? Here's another to add to that list:

Early on in The Switch, Bateman and Aniston step outside the party they're attending to have a private chat on a balcony. They're bickering/bantering, and before you know it, unexpectedly, Aniston pulls a cigarette out of her purse and puts it in her mouth. Since the rules of Rom-Com bantering state that this must happen (apparently), Bateman, mid-snark, snatches the cancer stick from her mouth and tosses it off the balcony.

Thankfully, this wasn't the scenario where the one person is quitting and the other grabs the cigarette mid-light, but it's essentially the same. The action is never spoken of - it merely happens, with Aniston merely showing a look of surprise - quickly - before returning to bickering about whatever they were bickering about.

WTF?

This scene bothered me on so many levels. For starters, it's hackneyed. Larger than that, as a smoker, I can tell you that if you did that to me, I'd probably do a lot more than shoot you a mildly dirty look. I'd say something along the lines of "What the f*ck did you do that for?" Keep in mind also that Bateman is playing her BFF of many years - it ain't like he doesn't know she smokes, and it ain't like she's not comfortable enough with him to say something. And those little bastards aren't cheap, especially in New York.

Oh, but wait, there's more.

At no point before or after this moment in the film does another cigarette enter the frame. Why was this supposed character trait (if you can call it that) even introduced? If they wished to intimate that, after having given birth, she chose to quit, be my guest. But it's never acknowledged in the slightest. I'm completely baffled.

* Considering that this was his first feature film and only second credit (after a single episode of Heroes in 2008), a job well done to Thomas Robinson, the cute-as-a-button-kid hired to play the spawn of Bateman and Aniston. Although the character starts out unbelievably Hollywoodized (because a lot of 5-year olds are intimately aware of diseases that less than 1% of adults are), it eventually calms down, and the scenes between he and Bateman are indeed sweet - and I'm told reminiscent of About A Boy.

* I sure hope it was something he brought to the role, because if not, I'm kind of afraid of Patrick Wilson. He had some serious facial tics on display, and I don't think they were intentional. Can't keep his eyes focused, moves his head oddly, just some weird stuff.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
	Reality: "Whatever."

LAMBScore:

And then...

The 30 dAyS oF cRaZy Call for Links

If you've already written a review of any of the films listed below, I would love to include those links at the bottom of that day's featured post (assuming you're not already signed up for said film). Just email me the appropriate links sometime before 9/1 and I will include them when those films are spotlighted.

Any questions, let me know. Here's the full lineup. And, of course, if your name is one of the ones below, do try to get me the HTML for your movie(s) at least one day prior to their scheduled day. Go crazy! The madness starts next Wednesday.

9/1 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Mad Hatter
9/2 - The Fisher King - Olive
9/3 - Full Metal Jacket - Simon
9/4 - Jacob's Ladder - Andreas
9/5 - The Jacket - The Lightning Bug
9/6 - Shock Corridor - Ivan
9/7 - Se7en - Sebastian
9/8 - The Dream Team - Jess (from IIE)
9/9 - Donnie Darko - Simon
9/10 - Solaris (either version) - Fitz
9/11 - Fight Club - Kai
9/12 - 12 Monkeys - Dave
9/13 - Crazy People - Jess (from IIE)
9/14 - American Psycho - Castor
9/15 - Event Horizon - Angie
9/16 - Psycho - DeeDee
9/17 - Misery - Nick
9/18 - Barton Fink - Scott
9/19 - Identity - Rachel
9/20 - Requiem for a Dream - Liam
9/21 - The Talented Mr. Ripley - Alex
9/22 - Apocalypse Now - Fletch
9/23 - Girl, Interrupted - filmgeek
9/24 - Secret Window - Steve Miller, Writer of Stuff
9/25 - Falling Down - The Lightning Bug
9/26 - A Beautiful Mind - Jess (from ANLM)
9/27 - Primal Fear - MovieNut14
9/28 - Taxi Driver - Travis
9/29 - Nurse Betty - Steve Miller, Writer of Stuff
9/30 - The Shining - Jason

And then...

Stained Glass Cinema Sunday (#106)

Sorry so late - been away all day.

BEGINNER
















EXPERT

















Standings:
J.D. - 30
TheGreatWhiteDope - 22.5
Dreamrot (smacdonn) - 7
Nick, Wendymoon - 6
Clive Dangerously, Justin - 5
simoncolumb, Steel11Kane (Kano), BD79 - 4
Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Rachel, JLG - 3
TJMAC510 - 2.5
Evan Derrick, Jason Soto - 2
TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19, TheAnswerMVP2001, Anh Khoi Do - 1

Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:

And then...

Just because: ???

If you know what movie this image is from, you have my condolences and are definitely the tops in my book.

And then...

Comment of the Week

The winner of the Chong Li Memorial Comment of the Week is...


I said he was no fun for taking my question too literally, but for the length and accuracy (I'm taking his word for it), Nick gets it for his response to my Burning Question about the Harry Potter series:

"That is addressed in the books, primarily the final three. There are students being constantly pulled out of school for various reasons. Some students weren't going to return in the final book due to the events at the end of Half-Blood Prince, but... well, let's just say they have to.

The biggest answer is, basically, everybody feels their children are ultimately safe because Dumbledore is there. When Dumbeldore starts losing control, starting around Order of the Phoenix when Umbridge shows up and the Ministry starts taking control, the parents did not like having their kids at the school.

By the end of one of the books (I think HBP), I believe over half the population of students had been withdrawn.

In Sorcerer's Stone, the troll wasn't really a big deal, and the Quirrell thing was never a sure bet. It was given up to rumors.

In Chamber of Secrets, they were going to close down the school before Harry and friends saved the day. But they took precautions with curfews and self defense courses before it reached that point.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, they had the Dementors, the guards of the supposedly inescapable Azkaban prison guarding the students. And the Hippogriff wasn't a big deal, since Malfoy taunted him and they decided to put him to death.

In Goblet of Fire, the Quidditch World Cup has nothing to do with Hogwarts. That's its own thing. Barty Crouch Sr.'s death is handled much differently in the book than in the movie... it's a bit more complicated to get into, but let's just say it's better explained in the book. Now, Cedric's death was chalked up to a terrible accident as part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which has been known for deaths in the past (hence the age limit and serious warnings prior to entry). But nobody believed Harry or Dumbledore that Voldemort really killed Cedric...

...which leads into Order of the Phoenix, where the Ministry is sent to keep Hogwarts under a close eye via Delores Umbridge. But as this is a government official, not a school official, it's pretty different. With the government controlling things, the parents really can't complain or do much about it school-wise, especially after Dumbledore is removed as Headmaster. And at the end, it is revealed that Voldemort has, indeed, returned.

And that brings us to Half-Blood Prince, where (as I said) parents actually do start pulling their students out of school, noting the real danger.

Did any of this help answer your question?"

And then...

TGITDNMAR (8/20/10)

It's that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It's The Day New Movies Are Released.

This is why they consider August the dumping grounds.

Piranha 3D
As I mentioned the other day, I've never seen a single Piranha flick, and I've only seen the first Jaws. To be honest, the deep sea (or lake, as it were in this case) freaks me out. You'll never catch me scuba diving - no interest whatsoever. As such, I've mostly avoided movies that take place in the deep sea, or at least have to do with freaky low-level creatures (giant squids? No thanks.). But...I gotta admit, this seems like a fun flick. I'm really not a horror fan, and the thought of seeing 378 ways that people can get torn to pieces by razor-toothed rabid fish doesn't appear to me all that much, but this one sure seems to have the right attitude to it.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 10%

The Switch
Those friggin' Coens. It had happened before, but I swear that before they came along, they weren't hardly any other flicks with two people listed as director, even if it was known behind the scenes (for example, the last movie to win Best Director with two before the Coens was West Side Story). Nowadays, every other movie that comes out has two directors. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing. Just bugs me.

Little-known fact: Mrs. Fletch has a crush on Jason Bateman. Being a lover of AD (and The Hogan Family, of course - ok, not really), I'm a Bateman fan, too, even though even he couldn't save Extract. Long story short: there's a good chance we'll be seeing this, despite Jennifer Aniston's insistence on starring only in terrible movies.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 79%

Lottery Ticket
Considering my only real exposure to him is a few minutes of Like Mike (co-starring The Lipnick!), it's a little bit weird, but I have this feeling that Bow Wow has a decent future as an actor (once he fully ditches his idiotic stage name, that is). He just seems to be an appealing, charismatic kid.

Likewise, though it's got a contrived plot and is apparently victim to all kinds of stereotypes, this appears to be an appealing little movie that ---

OMG...it has both Terry Crews and Keith David in it. This movie just got 500% more interesting. Upon learning this, I had to see what else they had been in together, if anything. The answer: Gamer. Hmmm...
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 31%

Nanny McPhee Returns
Relative quality of the ORIGINAL Nanny notwithstanding (it could be terrific, for all I know, though I assume it's somewhere more along the lines of "pleasant"), the success bar for sequels sure has been lowered quite a bit, hasn't it? The first film earned a paltry $47 million in the U.S. back in 2005 and managed ~$120 million worldwide.

To put this in, say, 1986 terms, the film earned $27 million stateside and $70 million worldwide. Now, several films from 1986 made less domestically yet still had sequels (or were sequels that spawned future sequels), for example, Iron Eagle made just $24 million and Friday the 13th, Part VI made $19 million. So there's a precedent.

My point? I don't know if I have one, but something about the existence of this sequel rubs me the wrong way. It's really pretty illogical and I just did a bunch of research to seem all informed and smart. Did it work?
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 0%

Vampires Suck
Diedrich Bader. Ken Jeong. My condolences. Here's hoping you really, really enjoy the Jet-skis you're able to buy sacrificing your dignity (and career) for this shit.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 0%

And then...

30 dAyS oF cRAzY update

What a great response! Thanks to all of you that have offered to write a piece for the 30 dAyS oF cRAzY blog-a-thon - this is going to be a lot of fun, and a great and diverse group of movies to read about.

If you have volunteered, please write your piece and email the HTML to blogcabins@yahoo.com (preferably in a text file) at least one day prior to your scheduled date below.

Also, if you've already written a review of any of the films listed below, I would love to include those links at the bottom of that day's featured post. Just email me the appropriate links sometime before 9/1 and I will include them when those films are spotlighted.

If you have yet to volunteer, or have and wish to take on another film, there are still two movies left to cover: Pi and Full Metal Jacket. If no one claims them, I'll put up something, but I'd love to get more people involved.

Any questions, let me know. Here's the lineup:

9/1 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Mad Hatter
9/2 - The Fisher King - Olive
9/3 - Full Metal Jacket - Simon
9/4 - Jacob's Ladder - Andreas
9/5 - The Jacket - The Lightning Bug (aka Zachary)
9/6 - Shock Corridor - Ivan
9/7 - Se7en - Sebastian
9/8 - The Dream Team - Jess (from IIE)
9/9 - Donnie Darko - Simon
9/10 - Solaris (either version) - Fitz
9/11 - Fight Club - Kai
9/12 - 12 Monkeys - Dave
9/13 - Crazy People - Jess (from IIE)
9/14 - American Psycho - Castor
9/15 - Event Horizon - Angie
9/16 - Psycho - DeeDee
9/17 - Misery - Nick
9/18 - Barton Fink - Scott
9/19 - Identity - Rachel
9/20 - Requiem for a Dream - Liam
9/21 - The Talented Mr. Ripley - Alex
9/22 - Apocalypse Now - Fletch
9/23 - Girl, Interrupted - filmgeek
9/24 - Secret Window - Steve Miller, Writer of Stuff
9/25 - Falling Down - The Lightning Bug (aka Zachary)
9/26 - A Beautiful Mind - Jess (from ANLM)
9/27 - Primal Fear - MovieNut14
9/28 - Taxi Driver - Travis
9/29 - Nurse Betty - Steve Miller, Writer of Stuff
9/30 - The Shining - Jason

And then...

LAMBcast #35

Warning: This podcast contains explicit language. Or at least a bunch of f-bombs, anyway.

Though, what else could you expect from a podcast where the feature discussion is about the BMF himself, badass Samuel L. Jackson. We shine the spotlight on the man responsible for some of the best moments in pop culture over the past 20 years - frequent collaborator of Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino, occasional Jedi Knight, and of course, the kilt-wearing, cornrow-sporting star of Formula 51.

On the episode joining me this week was Nick, Jason, Andrew and Kai. We finish with Trailer Talk about Barry Munday and Skyline as well as a pair of long-lasting LLS games.

Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service.

The LAMBcast loves feedback, too. Either here in the comments section or to blogcabins@yahoo.com or to our Facebook page.

Also, we're still on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it's a bad one. Thanks for listening!

And then...

Poll results; new poll

Out of the eight films listed in the last poll, which asked which well-received films from thus far in 2010 you predict to receive a Best Picture nomination, there seemed to be three tiers. First, the practical shoo-ins, led by poll winner Inception (86%) and Toy Story 3 (63%). Next, the kinda-sorta-maybes, made up of indie darlings Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right (~30%) - in a year with five nominees, I'd say neither of these make it This year? Who the hell knows? And finally, the not-a-chance-in-hells, none of whom received more than 15% of the votes.

I guess I'll report back to you in six months with the true results of this poll.

New poll is hopping onto the success of The Expendables and forces you to pick your favorite of the 80s/90s top action stars. An easy choice?

And then...

Sorry...

As you might've noticed, I've been getting spam-bombed every night for the past few nights, so I gotta turn Word Verification back on here for a bit. I know it's a pain, but this should only be temporary.

Thanks for understanding.

And then...

The State of the Cabins (8/18/10)

Gonna be a short one this week...

Things to Click On
* Kai and Heather each counted down their Top 5 Movie Props They Wish They Owned, then did a blog simulcast where they each presented the full ten. Kai's and Heather's. (Not much different aside from the comments.)

* On the heels of Andrew's two recent LAMBcast recordings, I checked out the latest episode of An Alan Smithee Podcast, which Andrew of The Stop Button co-hosts with Matt of Cinemachine (great blog name, by the way). This episode (#51) taught me more about Piranha - and its made-for-TV remake - than I ever wanted to know, having never seen a single Piranha flick. Good stuff. Head to either site for show links.

* Props to Jason of Invasion of the B Movies for an incredible idea. Rather than just put up links to his Greatest Hits in celebration of 5 years of his site, he's created a number of VH1ish Storytellers "episodes" in which he recounts a tale of how he came about seeing or writing about the movies in question. Nicely edited, too.

* I just saw Restrepo last night. I knew Daniel of Getafilm had written about it. I haven't even had a chance to read it yet, but I'm linking it anyway, since I know this is a perfect topic for him to write about, and I know it will be awesome and thoughtful and funny.

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* None!!

I've been re-watching a variety of movies, though. Over the last couple weeks, I've been checking out the Karate Kid trilogy (as mentioned yesterday). Once I finish that, number 3 will be an entry here. Also took another ride with The Incredibles (gets better every time; Dash is quickly becoming one of my favorite all-time characters) and am currently partially through both Batman Begins and Moon. Yeah, I finish things...it just takes time sometimes.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* I don't want to say obsessed, but thanks to Karate Kid II, I've had some motherflippin' Peter Cetera in my head for the better part of a week. I not-so-proudly present to you...80s cheese:



Book I'm currently reading:
* Nuttin'. Catching up on some magazine reading/fantasy football (nerd alert!) analysis for a couple weeks. Still planning on hitting up Battle Royale next (don't worry, Nick!).

And then...

MILFcast, Episode 4 (guest podspot)

Though I'm still waiting for a few to come calling, I continued my World Podcasting Tour recently with a turn on the grand old MILFcast, Kai's kickass new podcast where he drinks beer and spouts off about movies he doesn't kinda sorta like, but LOVES. I joined him for beers and discussions of:

* What we’ve been watching
* Some seriously overrated classics
* Some Movie news
* A 2nd super secret discussion
* And we both play THE GAME!!!

Should you ever get the invite from the man to appear on his show, you most definitely better take him up on it. Good times.

You can find MILFcast on podOmatic by clicking here. You can also subscribe or download for free on iTunes. Please drop a comment on the ep here or send me an e-mail to Kai (he really wants one) to kai_parker @yahoo.com

And then...