In movie news:
A film that was shot locally that a few of my friends worked on (and has some names you’ll recognize in the cast) has a trailer up online. Yeah. The title is super lame but better than the original which was “Mountain Time.”
In blog news:
An aspiring writer friend of mine, Kathryn Magendie, has a blog.
Go and check ‘er out.
Ah, tired and irritated and on drugs. Spent the day dealing with getting a new computer set up and removing spyware from another one. Great way to start the party weekend.
I received a script for “The Full Monty” yesterday. I have only gotten to give it a quick look-see but am now wondering just what our little theater group has gotten itself into. I saw the show about almost five years ago and didn’t quite remember just how much … er, semi-nakedness there is in it. Sure, you know there’s the strip routine at the end of the show, but in several other places our plucky heroes get down to wearing almost nothing. Plus, the character of the real stripper runs around in nothing but a thong as well. Yes. This is gonna be one fun ride. Six red lycra thongs with velcro sides, please.
Yup. That’s “Daily Gind” and (alas) not “Bump and Grind.”
A few of us went out last night for Jonesy’s birthday. We had a good (delicious food and drink) and irritating (no seperate checks for 7 people) time at Zambra!. I had the Sweet Potato Soup and Pomegranate Braised Pork Spring Rolls. Mmmm. Franke’s artichoke, poblano and queso dip was tasty as well (thanks for sharing!). Plus, I had a cocktail called the “Buenas Noches” which consisted of vanilla vodka, Frangelico, coffee liquer, a splash of cream and chocolate syrup swirled on the inside of the glass. Mmmm. I gotta figure out how to make one of these for myself. Afterwards, we trooped over to The Bier Garden for some more drinks and conversation. There seemed to an overabundance of cute men at The Bier Garden. Oh, well.
Today I am feeling a cold coming on … puffy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and a slight tickle at the back of my throat. I am hoping that it doesn’t take full hold as New Year’s Eve is very close now. I may have to crawl under the desk in a few and take a quick nap.
And …
For those of you who may be going “that bastard didn’t put ‘Brokeback Mountain’ in his Top Five” … we are still waiting on it’s release here in Backwoods America. Our local art house theater has announced they will start playing the movie on Januray 6th. Whoo!
For lack of anything more exciting on a dreary and rainy day, here’s a listing of my favorites from this past year in movies, dvds, music and books. Kick it!
Top Five in Movies
1. “The Constant Gardener”
2. “Syriana”
3. “Serenity”
4. “Batman Begins”
5. “Haute Tension”
Top Five in DVD
1. “The Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection”
2. “The Fly” 2-Disc Special Edition
3. “The Wizard of Oz” 3-Disc Special Edition
4. “King Kong” 2-Disc Special Edition (1933)
5. “Lost” The Complete First Season
Top Five in Music
1. “The Forgotten Arm” Aimee Mann
2. “Bleed Like Me” Garbage
3. “With Teeth” Nine Inch Nails
4. “The Scream” Siouxise and the Banshees (Reissue)
5. “Plans” Death Cab for Cutie
Top Five in Books
1. “The Complete Peanuts: 1955-1956” by Charles Schultz
2. “The Complete Peanuts: 1957-1958” by Charles Schultz
3. “The Penultimate Peril” Lemony Snicket
4. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling
5. “A Crack in the Edge of the World : America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906” Simon Winchester
The word is now official. Our little theater will be one of the first non-professional groups in the country to present the stage musical version of “The Full Monty.” And we all know what that means! “The Full Monty” is gonna replace “Cabaret” as the October show for this coming year. Actors who were ready-ing their fishnet stockings are now on the hunt for slinky g-strings and gym memberships.
I ain’t gonna say too much about the holiday weekend other than events with family were a wee stressful (but they have to be don’t they?) and events with friends were great.
Preston and I went on a wee hike on Saturday. We encountered a lot more snow on the Parkway than we ever would have suspected. But, it made the hike beautiful and memorable. We walked through a stand of pine trees at one point and the smell of the trees and the snow mixed together. It was intoxicating. Clickity-clickity for some more photos … Continue reading “Post-Post Holiday”
Wishing you all a great Christmas weekend …
Now we start what I have termed “The Weekend of Gluttony.” So far today at work we have had various people bring: donuts, pumpkin pie, tons of chocolate and lots of assorted holiday goodies. And the weekend will be taken up with food-filled events with family and friends. Fun, fun stuff.
Bad News/Good News:
So, the bad news that made me really depressed and put me in a super bad mood earlier in the week is slowly turning into good news. We’ll see how everything shakes out. I think that I am gonna be accused of being a “drama queen” when all is said and done.
“Serenity” Audio Commentary:
Honestly, I still can’t get over how good the Joss Whedon audio commentary for “Serenity” is. It’s everything that a good audio commentary should be … fun and very informative without just retelling the plot of the movie (like so many audio commentaries do).
Christmas:
Presents are all finally bought, wrapped and ready for delivery over the next couple of days.
My Danish Region 2 DVD of Lars Von Trier’s “Manderlay” has finally arrived. So, I am gonna have to make some time over the holiday weekend to see if it lives up to (or at least matches) “Dogville.”
I found this “Rumor Mill” article on davisdvd.com to be quite amusing …
King Kong (2005)
Word has it that director Peter Jackson’s King Kong will be released in April as an elaborate two-disc set. According to DVD producer Michael Pellerin, they’ve saved a lot of behind-the-scenes material for this release that wasn’t included on the recently released Kong Production Diaries. No word yet if Universal and Jackson will also release an “ultimate edition” extended cut a la New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Honestly, how could they release an “ultimate edition extended cut” of “King Kong?”
“Serenity” DVD:
The major coolness is the audio commentary by Joss Whedon. It’s some good, good stuff. The other extras are a little too scrimpy for my taste especially since Universal knows how rabid the fan base for the show/movie is. There are a few featurettes and some deleted scenes. Whoo. [That’s said with sarcasm.] I imagine the reason for the so-so extras goes back to the fact that the movie wasn’t a smash hit in theatrical release.
Spring Street Cafe in Sylva:
Went and had dinner with Michelle and a few folks from the OITM Yahoo Group. Spring Street has good food and it was made even better last night with what went down. My $20 entree apparently had a smaller portion of meat than they normally do, so it was gonna be discounted to $16. Then, one of the ladies with a similar meat dish to mine didn’t like her portion (she said the meat part was just “bad”). I told them mine was just fine ’cause it was, but the waitress came back and said we would both be discounted to $8 for the entree. Yow! My $30 meal (with drinks) ended up being $15. So, there’s some holiday cheer for me.
Christmas Weekend Movies coming from Netflix:
“The Old Dark House” Directed by James Whale (1932)
“White Zombie” Directed by Victor Halperin (1932)
“Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages” Directed by Benjamin Christensen (1922)
Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” on DVD next year:
Yes! The four-hour, epic movie version of “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh will finally see the light of day on dvd next year. The movie features excellent performances from Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie and Kate Winslet (amoung many, many others). The movie also holds a special place in my heart ’cause I got to see it in 70-MM in it’s theatrical run. Spectacular!
“Wolf Creek” in Theaters:
Hmmmmm. Might have to check out “Wolf Creek” as it’s been getting more good reviews than bad. I still find it interesting that a horror movie is being released on Christmas day. I think the last horror offering that got a major Chritsmas release was the super crappy “Dracula 2000.”
So, not only is “Serenity” a really kick-ass space adventure … the men (Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher) are nothing to sneeze at either. Re-watching the movie last night on DVD was a nice distraction from my bad mood.
