Previous results: Halle Berry came back and took down America's Sweetheart of the 90s, beating Julia Roberts 20-17. Now, I present you with the final matchup of the third round - which vixen will advance to the final four? Click here to view the not-quite-updated full bracket.
Denise Richards 90s Highlights:Wild Things, Drop Dead Gorgeous, The World Is Not Enough
Angelina Jolie 90s Highlights:Hackers, Girl, Interrupted, The Bone Collector
Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week: None. Been too busy watching A) Parks and Recreation (and loving it, after a rough first few episodes to start off), and B) movies I've already seen. In the past week or so, I've watched:
* Avatar - Played out the same as the theatrical viewing, generally speaking. Re-hashed story, pancake characters, and offensive stand-ins of the Na'vi (or however it's spelled) for Native Americans. Did that aspect (the indigenous people) have to be sooooo blatant?
Still, it's a marvel to look at, has some solid action, and I can't help but love Stephen Lang in it, since he's the only character with any character in the damn movie. Everyone else is so bland.
* Terminator: Salvation - Also felt the same about this one. I was one of the eight people that liked this when it came out, and that held true. I still have to kind of marvel at Sam Worthington in this one; I don't know if it's good direction or just an interestingly-written character, but he really was the standout of the film and, if you'd only seen this performance from him, you'd think he was destined for bigger and better things. I guess the jury is still somewhat out on that front, but Avatar and Clash certainly didn't help. Solid action and a good, logical progression of the story benefit this greatly. And, of course, having Michael Ironside in your movie never hurts, either.
* Dead Poets Society - Watching this will take you back to a time...not necessarily 1988, but a time in which we all believed that Robin Williams was destined for a great career as a dramatic and comedic actor (see Aiden's recent poll/comments for more on this). Well, his batting average would probably be pretty good for baseball, but not so much for movies. Still, this one is a classic, not only for his performance and the tear-jerker ending, but for the chance to see Bob Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, and That 70s Show's Red before they were famous(er).
(Random note: One thing I couldn't help but notice that bugged me this time was the snow. Of course, like many flicks, it's fake, which in and of itself is annoying, but there are several goofs in which it is snowing in one angle and gone from the next. When it's bouncing back and forth between the two, it's a bit annoying, especially coming from a "prestige" Hollywood film like this. Boo, Peter Weir.)
* Hot Tub Time Machine - Oooh boy, did this go down a few shades. Has it been only a year since this came out? Look, I'm gonna be a sucker for any flick with a Billy Zabka cameo (shame on you if you don't know who he is) and constant references to the 80s, but this thing is pretty shoddy and worse, not all that funny. It just feels half thought-out - undercooked and lazy writing and filmmaking, with enough bright spots to carry you from start to finish. Though I did catch a "You owe me two dollars!" line that I didn't get the first time around. That was nice.
* Three Men and a Baby - AKA the top grossing film of 1987. If you haven't seen this in a while, go back and watch it and then marvel at that fact. Sure, it's got its charms - chief among them Tom Selleck, one of the best simultaneous man's man and ladies' man there ever was - but yeah, this is really not a very good movie. Makes Crocodile Dundee look great in comparison (note: I actually really think Crocis pretty great, despite its high level of datedness). I understand that they looked at the titular situation and thought "Uh, we kinda need something else here...this thing isn't gonna be 45 minutes long at this point!," but the drug angle was a fairly misguided one. Of course, the most stunning thing about Three Men was, is, and will always be the apartment/penthouse that these guys lived in. Sure, they were doing pretty well financially (one an architect, one an apparently syndicated cartoonist, and one a struggling/semi-successful TV actor), but this is still New York we're talking about here, where a shoebox currently rents out for probably $2,000. How much did that place cost, or rather, how much would it cost, since it wasn't even a real place to begin with? One reviewer guessed half a million per month, and they wrote that in 1987!
Music I'm currently obsessed with listening to: * Changing the name of this section. I am certainly capable of getting obsessed with an artist, but it surely doesn't happen every week - more like a handful of times a year. Of course, I often have one awful song stuck in my head for several days in a week, but I doubt you want me to share those.
Instead, here's a song that came up on the iPod earlier that was sadly never as popular as I thought it should have been. It's not deep or meaningful, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Note to self: buy an Everclear greatest hits compilation (and get the Foo Fighters one while you're at it); both are bands that I generally like, but not enough to buy any of their studio albums.
Book I'm currently reading: * Still with the omnibus. It's been a truly fascinating experience: I more or less dread reading it, largely because of my aversion to short stories and the fact that most end ironically and/or full of spite towards the characters, but I can't deny that they're well-written, and I continue to get sucked into nearly all of them. Dahl might not have had the widest array of characters (most are bourgeoisie types, either in London or New York), but his knowledge of various subjects is pretty vast (or at least, appears that way).
Still, I'm looking forward to getting to a novel, and I probably won't get to one for another couple weeks.
* Fitz isn't all that thrilled with the actor chosen to lead the next Bourne flick. I can't say I blame him (even if I'm fine with the pick), though I'm all thumbs up for his choice. (Nevermind Popular Film)
* Some crazy guy named Unicorn came up with a nice twist on his weekly DVD post to celebrate the fact that it was also his 900th post. (A Life in Equinox)
* Vancetastic wants to look away from a certain gothy, fairy taley director...but can't. (The Audient)
Previous results: Leeloo go "bada boom. Big bada boom!" In other words, Uma Thurman destroyed Milla Jovovich - and I gotta say I was at least a little shocked at just how badly - to the tune of 19-5. Big bada boom. Click here to view the updated full bracket.
Julia Roberts 90s Highlights:Pretty Woman, Hook, The Pelican Brief, My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill, Conspiracy Theory
Halle Berry 90s Highlights:The Last Boy Scout, Strictly Business, Boomerang, Executive Decision, Bulworth
Previous results: Alright, now this is gettin' interesting! In a matchup that spent most of its time tied up, America's Girl Next Door, Sandy Bullock, lived up to her number one seeding and edged Salma Hayek, 16-15. Click here to view the updated full bracket. Here are the resumes:
Uma Thurman 90s Highlights:Pulp Fiction, Gattaca, Beautiful Girls, Jennifer Eight, Final Analysis
Milla Jovovich 90s Highlights:Dazed and Confused, The Fifth Element, He Got Game, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
When I finally sat down to watch The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly some months back, Lee Van Cleef had to have been the standout for me. Pure evil, yet with grace. He also just had himself one hell of a unique look. Funny then, that he reminded me of someone then. Thing is, I could never figure out who...until now.
I'm now saying that there should ever be a remake, but if they were to, could they get Stephen Lang to take Van Cleef's place?
Previous results: In an up-and-down battle, Halle Berry eventually sealed the deal, knocking out Batgirl herself, Alicia Silverstone, by the score of 17-13. And thus Round 3 begins today! Just six more matchups, including this one! Note: I don't have access to my spreadsheet right now, so no update to the bracket, but if you want to see it prior to the last matchup, click here.
Sandra Bullock 90s Highlights:Speed, Demolition Man, While You Were Sleeping, A Time to Kill
Salma Hayek 90s Highlights:Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Dogma, Wild Wild West
Standings: J.D. - 47 TheGreatWhiteDope - 35.5 Dreamrot (smacdonn), simoncolumb - 7 Nick, Wendymoon, Steel11Kane (Kano), Stevee Taylor - 6 Clive Dangerously, Justin, JLG, Mad Hatter, Rachel - 5 BD79 - 4 Jason/Daniel, David Bishop, Jason Soto, Andy, TheAnswerMVP2001 - 3 TJMAC510 - 2.5 Evan Derrick, Alex - 2 TonyD, Luke Harrington, Adam Ross, Anders, Dave, Big Mike Mendez, Nic Cage, CaptainRon19, Anh Khoi Do, Tom, Andy the Time Lord - 1
Here are the altered/actual posters from last time:
The ever popular Whatcha Been Watchin' Lately once again spawns for another discussion of a really messed up film...but probably not from the person you're expecting. Is it Nick, Dylan, James or Stevee? Come to think of it, all of the films we discuss are messed up. Also, we talk about a film made before 1970! Yay!
Also on tap:
* LAMB of the Week * Trailer Talk: Casa de mi Padre * Last LAMB Standing
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.
It's that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It's The Day New Movies Are Released.
Water for Elephants Or, Big Fish, minus the Tim Burton touches. I dunno...that's kind of the vibe I get from it.
I know I'm supposed to be programmed to hate this, and I can't exactly say that I wouldn't, but grant me this (and yourself, if you're a hater as well at this stage): here we have a brooding, burgeoning star in a period piece about a forbidden love - isn't there at least a decent chance that this could turn into an unintentional comedy good time, a la Legends of the Fall?
Just keep it in mind... Fletch's Under Normal Circumstances Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 28%
Madea's Big Happy Family Here are some things I've said about prior Tyler Perry films in earlier editions of TGITDNMAR:
I Can Do Bad All By Myself One of these days, I'm gonna have to have a Tyler Perry Film Festival, where I endure all of his efforts. That day will be the day that I plan on shooting myself, and I will use the film festival as motivation to complete the task. Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 0%
Meet the Browns That Tyler Perry - such a cad. I don't begrudge the guy his success, but I just have no desire at all to see his movies. Wish I had more to say here, but I just don't. Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 1%
Why Did I Get Married? Consider me shocked that the title of this flick doesn't start out with "Tyler Perry's..." as it seems all of his other films have. Perry is nothing if not a great businessman, but his recent feature in Entertainment Weekly paints him simultaneously as an inspirational Hollywood outsider and as a whining ninny, what with his constant bitching about not being asked to star in roles that might usually go to Denzel. Uh, Tyler - your flicks might have made a ton of money, but I don't think you have a rep as some sort of great actor. Writer, producer? Perhaps - but "starring alongside Adam Sandler in a buddy comedy?" That might not seem like that lofty a position, but just saying you want to do something doesn't mean you deserve to or will do it. On that note, I'd like to be paid handsomely to write reviews and other movie-related content for Premiere or The Akron Times. Oh wait... Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 0%
Hmmm...whatcha think the percentage is gonna be this time around? Fletch's Under Normal Circumstances Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 10%
African Cats Happy Earth Day or something. First, there was Earth in 2007, narrated by James Earl Jones; in 2009, Oceans, narrated by Pierce Brosnan. And now, in 2011, we get African Cats narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.
There's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm not entirely sure what it is. "The lion is the baddest motherf$@%er in all the prairie!!" Fletch's Under Normal Circumstances Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 14%
Previous results: Oh damn...were the Gellarheads not notified of yesterday's vote? That's such a terrible shame - here I wanted her to go all the way to the title! Shucks! Instead, that icky cootie monster Uma Thurman won, 19-5. Click here to view the updated full bracket.
Halle Berry 90s Highlights:The Last Boy Scout, Strictly Business, Boomerang, Executive Decision, Bulworth
Alicia Silverstone 90s Highlights:The Crush, Clueless, Blast From the Past
Previous results: In the largest drubbing since someone hijacked the contest and destroyed our beloved Winona, Sandra Bullock took it to Nicole Kidman, to the tune of 23-8. Ouch. And whaddaya know, look who's doing battle today. :D Click here to view the full bracket. Here are the resumes:
Uma Thurman 90s Highlights:Pulp Fiction, Gattaca, Beautiful Girls, Jennifer Eight, Final Analysis
S@r@h M1che11e Ge11@r 90s Highlights:I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, Scream 2
Feel free to click on the images above to see the beautiful S@r@h...
Previous results: Halle Berry came back and took down America's Sweetheart of the 90s, beating Julia Roberts 20-17. Now, I present you with the final matchup of the third round - which vixen will advance to the final four? Click here to view the not-quite-updated full bracket.
Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* Still with the omnibus. It's been a truly fascinating experience: I more or less dread reading it, largely because of my aversion to short stories and the fact that most end ironically and/or full of spite towards the characters, but I can't deny that they're well-written, and I continue to get sucked into nearly all of them. Dahl might not have had the widest array of characters (most are bourgeoisie types, either in London or New York), but his knowledge of various subjects is pretty vast (or at least, appears that way).
* Jess did a pretty sweet analysis of some of the most well-known romantic comedies, looking for trends and identifiable issues - what are the common themes/plot devices, and what works and - even more - what doesn't. (Insight Into Entertainment)
The ever popular Whatcha Been Watchin' Lately once again spawns for another discussion of a really messed up film...but probably not from the person you're expecting. Is it Nick, Dylan, James or Stevee? Come to think of it, all of the films we discuss are messed up. Also, we talk about a film made before 1970! Yay!
Water for Elephants
Madea's Big Happy Family
African Cats
