Disney Trying To Get Wall-E A Best Picture Nod
How awesome is that? Wall-E really was one of my favorite movies of the year and I really would love to see it get the accolades. BUT... that being said, two things really hurt it. 1) Being released so early in the year really hurts movies aiming for award season and 2) That damned Best Animated Feature award. It makes it far too easy to just give a great animated flick that nod and not consider it for anything else. I'd love to see it but I don't see it likely.
Neil Young Cancels Concert Rather Than Cross Picket Line
Uncle Neil canceled his shows at the former Fabulous Forum this week because of an ongoing labor dispute between owners of the venue and a union. It's the same reason Springsteen opted not to play the Forum on his last trip through. Now, I'm all in favor of showing support for labor unions that you think deserve your support but my problem with this is - really? You just found out about that? Obviously, Bruce knew to pick a different venue in advance. It's just shitty for fans to get the hose because somehow Neil and Pegi didn't do their research.
EW Says Terence Howard Screwed Terence Howard
So, the big scoop is that Howard was the highest paid actor on Iron Man.
...
HUH?! That can't be true, can it? Anyways, they go on to say Favreau didn't like his performance and had to cut the hell out of it. Basically, they decided that Howard wasn't worth the money and that Don Cheadle will be. Let's hope they're right.
"The Book Of Eli"
A lot of talk this week about this post-apocalyptic Western in the works starring Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington. The plot is summed up with, "Washington’s lone warrior, Eli, fights to bring society the knowledge that could be the key to its survival and redemption. Surprise — it’s a book. Oldman will play the despot of a small and pathetic town, who’s determined to get ahold of Eli’s book." Sounds like a winner, no?
REALLY Behind The Orange Curtain
Eh. Maybe not ALL hope is lost for Orange County.
2008-11-01
2008-10-31
We Want Serpentor!
It's been a long, long while since I've covered any GI Joe stuff on here. I stumbled upon something tonight that I thought might be worth sharing.
The producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura says, "We are in post-production, and it’s looking really good. It’s going to be really fun, and it’s going to be big.”
Uh huh. The "it's going to be big" concerns me a little as it tends to be code for "We cut out a lot of the story but we make things blow up a lot!"
He continues with, "There is going to be two or three really large sequences in it that are really going to blow people away. But I think that, more than anything, what differentiates it from a lot of these big movies is that there are eight or nine very well-drawn characters.”
Hrm. That's one of those statements that sounds good to the hardcore fan but it's also one of those statements that producers/directors nervous about alienating the hardcore fan know to say.
Of course, there's also the usual chitchat about the Snakes/Storm Shadow relationship playing a key role in the movie. I really hope that's legit cause if it's not, the movie will have to succeed without the geeks [and yes, I include myself in that.]
And the final suckup comment?
“I think the core fan base that read the comic book and watched the animated shows are going to feel like we really honored their experience."
Welp. We'll know in about seven months or so.
2008-10-30
I Really Have Nothing To Say...
...but we watched a several week episode of How I Met Your Mother tonight - the one where Stella tries to get Ted to move to Jersey.
And I just have to say... just when I thought it was impossible for that show to be any cooler... first, they mention Bruce Springsteen.
AND THEN THEY PLAY SPRINGSTEEN!
AND NOT JUST ANY SPRINGSTEEN BUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPRINGSTEEN SONGS! Simple awesome.
And I just have to say... just when I thought it was impossible for that show to be any cooler... first, they mention Bruce Springsteen.
AND THEN THEY PLAY SPRINGSTEEN!
AND NOT JUST ANY SPRINGSTEEN BUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPRINGSTEEN SONGS! Simple awesome.
2008-10-29
2008-10-28
Stop 13
cool cause I can feel the ocean spray.
2008-10-27
Monterey
Went to the Monterey Aquarium today. It was amazing and made us feel
a little guilty about going to a seafood place for dinner.
a little guilty about going to a seafood place for dinner.
Our hotel is on the beach and we can see/hear the ocean from our
room. Very cool.
I'm going to have the Missus put up a few of the photos she took on
her iPhone today in a bit. Stay tuned.
Sent from my iPhone
2008-10-26
Flashback party
Death Cab rocked it as they always do. Surprisingly, the Pumpkins are
next which means there's a stretch of Josh Groban, Norah Jones, and
Jack Johnson before Neil comes back out to close. It also means odds
are high someone will fall asleep before then.
next which means there's a stretch of Josh Groban, Norah Jones, and
Jack Johnson before Neil comes back out to close. It also means odds
are high someone will fall asleep before then.
Sent from my iPhone
The heat! My god, the heat!
okay. Wilco was pretty cool - made me want to see them in a smaller
venue. Death Cab is up next.
Chinese Food, Bad Service, & Small Town Racism
Tommy's Wok was amazing! I quite honestly think it was the best Chinese food I've ever had in my life. We had the Crab Cheese Puffs for an appetizer. Those are a common appetizer that you see at almost every Chinese food place - even the fast food places like Panda Express - but these were bar none the best I've ever had. We followed that up with the Tommy's Chow Mein and the Sesame Beef. The Chow Mein had chicken, BBQ Pork, and shrimp in it - all of which were amazing. But the crown jewel of the meal was the Sesame Beef. The perfect amount of breading, not overly saucy, and just the right hint of spice - I'm drooling right now thinking about it. Luckily, we had a small box of leftovers for later. So, obviously, I thought the food was awesome. The service was lacking a bit as there was only one server for the whole place. But since the place is on the small side to begin with, I guess can understand why. Super friendly staff though and I highly recommend this place to anyone who happens to be in Carmel.
With plenty of time to go in the UFC show, we crossed the parking lot over to Ody's - a local bar that had a review on Yelp that a] mentioned they show UFC shows and b] likened it to the Regal Beagle - two requirements for an amazing bar. We walked in to find a pretty light crowd and took a side table away from the bar. Again, a very small place not much larger than our living room. It's a far cry from the typical sprawling Orange County bar. I didn't see much that reminded me of the Regal Beagle so I was a little disappointed in that though. We got quick service as we settled in to watch the Clementi/Maynard fight. Some nice slams in that one to get some people in the crowd buzzing.
There was a high level of intoxication in the air as some guy at the bar drunkenly slurred to me about if we were there to see "Anderson Silva against that other guy in the Main Event." I said we were which apparently made me the bar's MMA expert as every once in a while, he'd shout a question in my direction. At the other end of the bar, a group of older former veterans were screaming about Obama being a socialist - a conversation that made us laugh because we had discussed the whole socialism debate at dinner. Oh, and they later started marching in place shouting cadence - a good time had by all.
But my favorite by far was the little old man about ten feet away taking photos with his iPhone. The female bartender shouted at him, asking what he was doing and if he had remembered what she told him. Apparently the week prior, he was "taking photos of her tits and ass" and had been warned that if he did it again, he was going to be kicked out. She actually sent another bartender over at one point to check his phone to see what he was taking photos of. She was quite spunky as she got attitude with several customers throughout the night. One of the benefits of a small town, I guess, is that you know the customers have no other place to go and will always come back so you can do whatever you want. It's like the opposite of an Orange County bar where the bartenders can afford to be rude because they know there's always someone coming to replace you soon enough.
The Koscheck/Alves fight brought some cheers from the crowd for the brutal kicks of Alves. Lots of cheers for Koscheck which made me a little nauseous. I did enjoy a really drunk guy yelling, "He's a soldier! He's a soldier!" when Koscheck didn't crumple like a bitch from the beating he was taking. I was glad to see Alves take the win but the lack of a KO disappointed me.
Oh, and I was still on my first drink even though it was sitting empty on the table. I didn't care that much or I would have just gone to the bar but I did find it kind of odd that the bartender wasn't coming back to see if we wanted anything else. Again, only two servers for the whole place though.
Did I mention they had a Wii hooked up to the TV too? That seemed absolutely brilliant to me. Imagine a bunch of drunk guys playing Wii Sports? Pure comedic gold.
So, the Silva match comes on. The people with the slightest bit of MMA knowledge seemed to be very solidly behind Silva but the others... For a long time, there's been live reports from UFC shows saying that non-white fighters got lower amounts of support than white fighters at the shows. The writers always implied that there was a very clear level of racism present at the shows. I never really saw it because I don't watch many shows with the "unwashed masses" but now that I have, I understand it a little better. There were quite a few comments about "I'm rooting for the white guy!" although they were a little uncomfortable with Cote getting kisses from his corner - not surprising considering all the "Yes On 8" signs I've seen up here.
Anyways... it was a little uncomfortable to hear how angry some of them were at Silva, especially when he started showboating a bit. "Kill that arrogant fucker!" is a comment that comes to mind. I think these guys would've fit in well at a McCain/Palin rally actually.
The finish was deflating for the whole bar - and the bartender made it worse by running around implying that Cote was faking it because he was "being a bitch." Eh... whatever. I would've obviously preferred a finish but we paid our bill and were on our way [oh yeah, they finally brought me a second drink] - sixteen bucks for two Jack and Cokes - YIKES!
Some crazy fog on the way back to the hotel but we made it. We're already running late this morning because the Missus is feeling a little under the weather but we've got to get going soon to make it to the concert by 2 PM. On the way up, we decided we're going to do a joint review of the show when we get home but until then, I'll probably still do a little bit of liveblogging at the concert.
I know you're excited for that!
With plenty of time to go in the UFC show, we crossed the parking lot over to Ody's - a local bar that had a review on Yelp that a] mentioned they show UFC shows and b] likened it to the Regal Beagle - two requirements for an amazing bar. We walked in to find a pretty light crowd and took a side table away from the bar. Again, a very small place not much larger than our living room. It's a far cry from the typical sprawling Orange County bar. I didn't see much that reminded me of the Regal Beagle so I was a little disappointed in that though. We got quick service as we settled in to watch the Clementi/Maynard fight. Some nice slams in that one to get some people in the crowd buzzing.
There was a high level of intoxication in the air as some guy at the bar drunkenly slurred to me about if we were there to see "Anderson Silva against that other guy in the Main Event." I said we were which apparently made me the bar's MMA expert as every once in a while, he'd shout a question in my direction. At the other end of the bar, a group of older former veterans were screaming about Obama being a socialist - a conversation that made us laugh because we had discussed the whole socialism debate at dinner. Oh, and they later started marching in place shouting cadence - a good time had by all.
But my favorite by far was the little old man about ten feet away taking photos with his iPhone. The female bartender shouted at him, asking what he was doing and if he had remembered what she told him. Apparently the week prior, he was "taking photos of her tits and ass" and had been warned that if he did it again, he was going to be kicked out. She actually sent another bartender over at one point to check his phone to see what he was taking photos of. She was quite spunky as she got attitude with several customers throughout the night. One of the benefits of a small town, I guess, is that you know the customers have no other place to go and will always come back so you can do whatever you want. It's like the opposite of an Orange County bar where the bartenders can afford to be rude because they know there's always someone coming to replace you soon enough.
The Koscheck/Alves fight brought some cheers from the crowd for the brutal kicks of Alves. Lots of cheers for Koscheck which made me a little nauseous. I did enjoy a really drunk guy yelling, "He's a soldier! He's a soldier!" when Koscheck didn't crumple like a bitch from the beating he was taking. I was glad to see Alves take the win but the lack of a KO disappointed me.
Oh, and I was still on my first drink even though it was sitting empty on the table. I didn't care that much or I would have just gone to the bar but I did find it kind of odd that the bartender wasn't coming back to see if we wanted anything else. Again, only two servers for the whole place though.
Did I mention they had a Wii hooked up to the TV too? That seemed absolutely brilliant to me. Imagine a bunch of drunk guys playing Wii Sports? Pure comedic gold.
So, the Silva match comes on. The people with the slightest bit of MMA knowledge seemed to be very solidly behind Silva but the others... For a long time, there's been live reports from UFC shows saying that non-white fighters got lower amounts of support than white fighters at the shows. The writers always implied that there was a very clear level of racism present at the shows. I never really saw it because I don't watch many shows with the "unwashed masses" but now that I have, I understand it a little better. There were quite a few comments about "I'm rooting for the white guy!" although they were a little uncomfortable with Cote getting kisses from his corner - not surprising considering all the "Yes On 8" signs I've seen up here.
Anyways... it was a little uncomfortable to hear how angry some of them were at Silva, especially when he started showboating a bit. "Kill that arrogant fucker!" is a comment that comes to mind. I think these guys would've fit in well at a McCain/Palin rally actually.
The finish was deflating for the whole bar - and the bartender made it worse by running around implying that Cote was faking it because he was "being a bitch." Eh... whatever. I would've obviously preferred a finish but we paid our bill and were on our way [oh yeah, they finally brought me a second drink] - sixteen bucks for two Jack and Cokes - YIKES!
Some crazy fog on the way back to the hotel but we made it. We're already running late this morning because the Missus is feeling a little under the weather but we've got to get going soon to make it to the concert by 2 PM. On the way up, we decided we're going to do a joint review of the show when we get home but until then, I'll probably still do a little bit of liveblogging at the concert.
I know you're excited for that!
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