Mai nou s-a infiintat o bursa in memoria actorului Patrick Swayze pentru echitatie. Se stie faptul ca actorul celebru din Dirty Dancing impartea cu sotia sa Lisa Niemi o pasiune infocata in ceea ce priveste echitatia si ingrijitul cailor.

Bursa va fi acordata in fiecare primavara unui adolescent care se dedica acestei arte.

01 (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
02 Be My Baby – The Ronettes
03 She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze
04 Hungry Eyes – Eric Carmen
05 Stay – Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs
06 Yes – Merry Clayton
07 You Don’t Own Me – The Blow Monkeys
08 Hey Baby – Bruce Channel
09 Overload – Zappacosta
10 Love Is Strange – Mickey And Sylvia
11 Where Are You Tonight – Tom Johnston
12 In The Still Of The Night – The Five Satins

http://hotfile.com/dl/18869676/b9cae9e/Dirty_Dancing.rar.html

Sadly, the dirty dancer is now a ghost for real, but before he left us he made some of cinema’s most iconic films. Would you rather sway with Swayze or make pots with Patrick? This is the first in a new series of battles we are doing for our pals at Metro.co.uk. To read this Swayze battle, click HERE.

Pure. Poetry. It would bring a tear to my eye if the smell of sickening liberal bias wasn’t making me nearly lose my lunch.

(h/t Gateway Pundit)

Yeah, it’s the same Katie who was caught doing some dirty dancing in front of small children. I’m guessing she’s finally realized that her credibility is gone and this is her way of trying to audition for a job at MSNBC as Keith Olbermann’s “intern”.

Remember when Katie Couric made history by becoming the first female news anchor in prime time television? Well, apparently around that same time she attended a party and made history again. Only this time it was infamy, and it’s more of a viral fame than one for the history books.

These photos were recently leaked from a party in 2006.

 KATIE: Rowr! Come to mamita!

KATIE: I’d like to see Brian Williams do this!

KATIE: I could do this allll niiiight loooong.

KATIE: And ‘Dancing With the Stars’ never called me…psssht

Aaand my favorite.

KATIE: Little girl, this move is only for grown ups, but you can watch.

Katie Couric ‘cutting a rug’…made me snicker.

Don’t Hurt Yourself Now!

Posted using ShareThis

Awards, Emmy – The annual awards for excellence in television will be moved from late September, when they are traditionally held, to August in 2010. This is great news — now you can not care about the Emmy Awards almost an entire month earlier than you normally would.

Link: Emmy Awards are Moved up to August (LA Times)

Dancing, Dirty — The TV Guide channel has announced that it will host a special 12-hour Dirty Dancing marathon, which will show the film back to back six times, on Christmas Day. While it seems like a terrible idea in theory, in practicality it will make a wonderful tool for driving unwanted family, friends and neighbors from your home.

Link: Dirty Dancing Marathon — On Christmas? (Dallas News)

Lively, Blake – The Gossip Girl star and upcoming headliner of the film the Many Lives of Pippa Lee, which details a younger woman’s romance with an older man, tells Parade Magazine what it was like lying naked atop 75 year-old veteran actor Alan Arkin. “It really took me back,” Lively allegedly said. “I always loved that old faux-leather beanbag chair my family kept in the basement.”

Link: Blake Lively Talks Lying Naked On Top of Alan Arkin (Huffington Post)

Mayer, John — The guitarist, now promoting a new album, tells the UK’s Guardian that “you can’t make music a famous person — famous people make really bad records.” He then excused himself to twitter witty bon mots nonstop for four and a half hours, conduct interviews for Access Hollywood and Extra, drop in and try out some standup comedy at the Stress Factory in L.A. and date the most famous people he could find.

Link: John Mayer: You Can’t Make Music as a Famous Person (The Guardian)

Reality, Augmented — To coincide with the release of the supposedly revolutionary 3-D James Cameron film Avatar, McDonald’s Coca-Cola and Mattel have teamed for happy meal toys featuring “augmented reality,” which will allow kids to see their toys spring to life visually when held up in front of a webcam. Because that’s a great idea — putting more children in front of webcams. Might want to think this one through.

Link: Avatar Toys With Augmented Reality (Variety)

Street, Sesame — REM, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon and LL Cool J are represented in Rolling Stone’s giant list of the greatest musical performances in Sesame Street history. The list actually is rather impressive, even if it does grievously omit the episodes where Prairie Dawn suffers a wardrobe malfunction, Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off Big Bird and Jim Morrison shows up drunk and exposes himself to Oscar the Grouch.

Link: Sesame Street at 40: The Show’s Classic Music Moments (Rolling Stone)

Sabe aquelas cenas de filme que todo mundo para pra ver? Tipo Matthew Broderick cantando ‘Twist And Shout’ em Curtindo a Vida Adoidado? Pois é, eu sou A pessoa empolgada com essas cenas. Hoje fiquei separando minhas favoritas. Tentei ficar em cinco, mas não deu. Peguei sete.

Algumas dessas nem todo mundo conhece, ou então não liga. A maioria delas minha mãe para pra cantar e dançar junto comigo. Momentos constragedores. A ordem de postagem está de acordo com o que eu fui separando, não tem nenhuma ligação necessária com minha preferência.

1. Curtindo a Vida Adoidado (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) – Twist And Shout

Todo mundo para pra ver essa cena. Todo mundo.

2. O Poderoso Chefão – Parte III (The Godfather – Part III) – Brucia La Terra

Não é minha música favorita do filme. Prefiro o final, com o intermezzo da Cavalleria Rusticana. Mas é uma música linda, ainda assim.

3. Ruas de Fogo (Streets Of Fire) – Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young

Esta cena contém SPOILERS.

Eu culpo meu pai por ter essa quedinha anos 80. Ele tem vários CDs gravados só com músicas que fizeram sucesso, e eu passei a infância ouvindo. Essa é clássica.

4. Dirty Dancing – Time Of My Life

Outra que todo mundo curte. O vídeo que eu tenho favoritado não pode ser incorporado, e eu fiquei com preguiça de procurar outro, então vou deixar só o link.

5. Chicago – Cell Block Tango

É uma das músicas e coreografias mais bem boladas que eu já vi. O lenço branco para a inocente, o refrão repetido para o assassinato duplo. Muito bom.

6. O Casamento do Meu Melhor Amigo (My Best Friend’s Wedding) – Say a Little Prayer

É a cena favorita da minha mãe, e a gente assiste o filme toda vez que passa só por causa dela.

7. Grease – Summer Nights

Clássico dos clássicos! Outra trilha que eu ouvi a vida inteira.

I’m not sure exactly how many films I’ve seen in my lifetime.

It is probably over a thousand, the list below barely scratches the surface of all the films I’ve seen and it was surprisingly easy to come up with. Rather than systematically list films by era or genre I got my brother’s girlfriend Dawn to call out any films she could think of.

I thought of this idea about five minutes before I began typing and Dawn rattled off films as they came to her while I typed out brief verdicts for each one. I initially intended to create a system for rating but found it too restrictive so I just wrote a brief instinctual verdict for each one.

I have included a link to Rotten Tomatoes and the score of each film, I haven’t seen some of these movies in a very long time…

NOTE: The percentages at the end are not my scores but the percentage of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

1. Men in Black (1997) – meh (91% – seriously?!)
2. Fight Club (1999) – brilliant (80%)
3. Unforgiven (1992) – immense (96%)
4. Shaun of the Dead (2004) – decent (gets worse every time I watch it)
5. Memento (2001) – pretty good (93%)
6. The Departed (2006) – good (92%)
7. Aliens (1986) – the best sequel ever made (100%)
8. Reservoir Dogs (1992) – great characters and dialogue (95%)
9. American Beauty (1999) – uplifting, brilliant (the stupid bag scene apart) (89%)
10. Goodfellas (1990) – excellent (96%)
11. Predator (1987) – one of Arnie’s best (76%)
12. 12 Angry Men (1957) – captivating (100%)
13. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) – meh (78%)
14. Shawshank Redemption (1994) – really, really good (88%)
15. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – better than I expected (90%)
16. Sin City (2005) – flashy trash (78%)
17. Toy Story 2 (1999) – yep, it’s good (100%)
18. Bambi (1942) – I remember it being good (much to the amusement of Dawn and Sean, many gay jokes followed) (89%)
19. Final Destination (2000) -guff (30%)
20. Edward Scissorhands (1990) – pretentious crap (90%)
21. Stranger than Fiction (2006) – Surprisingly good (72%)
22. Shallow Grave (1995) – okay (71%)
23. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1996) – facepalm (49%)
24. Man on Fire (2004) – underwhelming (39%)
25. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – meh (81%)
26. 28 Days Later (2003) – meh (88%)
27. Casino Royale (2006) – surprisingly really good (94%)
28. Psycho (1960) – I was expecting it to be better (98%)
29. The Flintstones (1994) – Jesus wept (18%)
30. Aladdin (1992) – good (92%)
31. Jackass: The Movie (2002) – hard to class as a film really, hit and miss(48%)
32. E.T (1982) – good (98%)
33. Independence Day (1996) – a glorified B movie (61%)
34. Titanic (1997)  – Good (81%)
35. Ring (2002) – fairly decent (71%)
36. Pulp Fiction (1994) – Tarantino’s best film by a long way (97%)
37. Hot Fuzz (2007) – fun (90%)
38. Monty Python: Holy Grail (1975) – classic (94%)
39. Good Will Hunting (1997) – good (97%)
40. Heat (1995) – pretty good, not great (89%)
41. Zodiac (2007) – boring (87%)
42. Little Mermaid (1989) – decent (90%)
43. Ghost (1987) – crap (80%)
44. Dirty Dancing (1987) – utter shit – that women like this film makes me wonder if they actually deserve equal rights (67%)
45. The Terminator (1984) – the best Terminator (100%)
46. Bean (1998) – a test of mental endurance, awful (41%)
47. The Mask (1994) – rubbish (76%)
48. Frailty (2002) – ridiculous (74%)
49. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – shite
50. Donnie Darko (2001) – overrated pish (84%)
51. Apollo 13 (1995)– crap (96%)
52. Deep Impact (1998)– more crap (46%)
53. Volcano (1997) – even more crap (40%)
54. I know what you did last summer (1997)– yet more crap (36%)
55. The Matrix (1999) – first half decent rest shite (86%)
56. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (2002)– boring (96%)
57. Addams Family Values (1994) – some good moments (74%)
58. Nightmare before Christmas (1993) – overrated, largely guff (97%)
59. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) – (see earlier blog) (75%)
60. Three Men and a Baby (1987) – sickening  (78%)
61. Transformers: The Movie (1986) – decent (haven’t seen it in 10 years) (50%)
62. Cruel Intentions (1999) – trash (47%)
63. Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels (1998) – good if a little overrated (71%)
64. Clerks II (2006) – absolutely fucking diabolical (62%, seriously what the fuck?)
65. Baby’s Day Out (1994) – horrific (23%)
66. Home Alone 2 (1992) – decent (17% – that seems harsh!)
67. Liar Liar (1997) – pretty bad (84%)
68. Babe (1995) – Jesus wept (98%)
69. The Simpsons Movie (2007) – unfunny crap from a show that is a pale shadow of what it used to be (90%)
70. Mr Nanny (1993) – a holocaust of a film (7%)
71. The Thing (1980) – really tense, really good (80%)
72. Blair Witch Project (1999) – doing something different doesn’t make it good (85%)
73. Run Lola Run (1999) – see above (92%)
74. The Santa Clause (1994) – crap (Dawn: “What’s the film with Tim Allen dressed as Santa Claus?”) (79%)
75. Silence of the Lambs (1990) – they really should have just stopped at this one, a fine film (96%)
76. Matilda (1996) – another crap Dahl adaptation (89%)
77. A Bridge too Far (1977) – the quintessential war movie (67%)
78. Rocky V (1990) – laughable (21%)
79. The Sting (1973) – really good (91%)
80. The Sword in the Stone (1963) – good (73%)
81. The Witches (1990) – crap (100%, what the fuck?)
82. Starship Troopers (1997) – entertaining trash (60%)
83. Love Actually(2003)  – hated it (63%)
84. White men can’t jump (1992) – I liked it despite itself (78%)
85. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1999)– a pointless sequel (48%)
86. A Bug’s Life (1998) – meh (91%)
87. Hollow man (2000)– hollow is an appropriate adjective (but I like Bacon’s character) (27%)
88. Jaws (1975) – good but overrated (100%)
89. Jerry Maguire (1996)– oh Christ (84%)
90. Dawn of the Dead (1978)– awesome (95%)
91. Drop Dead Fred (1991)– mindless crap (still haunted by my little sister’s repeat viewing of this monstrosity) (9%)
92. Braveheart (1995) – good (it’s a movie, not a history lesson) (76%)
93. Saw II (2005) – crap (35%)
94. Mouse Hunt (1997)– hated it (really wanted the mouse to die) (44%)
95. The Mummy (1999)– didn’t like it (54%)
96. George of the Jungle (1997)– crap (53%)
97. Leon (1994) – ludicrous garbage (74%)
98. Death becomes her (1993)– had its moments (56%)
99. Meet Joe Black (1998) – meh (49%)
100. Dog Soldiers (2002) – entertaining (79%)
101. Cool Hand Luke (1967) – the best film ever (100%)

The main thing that a typical dance movie is missing would have to be good acting.  I refuse to believe that there isn’t an amazing dancer out there that can’t also act. 

With the exception of movies like Chicago and Footloose which are also musicals, the strictly dance movies could use some help with their lines.  However here is a list of some of my favorite dance movies.

10. Take the Lead. Good story about using dance to straighten up the trouble students.

9. Stomp the Yard. Once again, dance starts as a fun activity and turns into a way to change the main character’s life after his brother is killed.

8. Step Up. This was interesting the way they incorporated an untrained freestyler with a trained female lead role. Step Up 2 however, had worse acting than You Got Served. Wow.

7. Save the Last Dance. Great and inspiring story, breaks boundaries, and turns a terrible situation into a happy ending using dance.

6.You Got Served. Terrible acting but awesome dance battles.  Worth watching strictly for the dancing.

5. Footloose . Classic. You go Kevin Bacon. Fight for dance! His warehouse dance scene is awesome.

4. Chicago. My personal all time favorite movie, musical, everything. Love the style, the execution and the story line.

3.Center Stage. Great ballet movie. Ballet tends to bore people but with the story line it keeps the viewer intrigued. Very inspiring.

2. Honey. This movie made me want to be a choreographer and touch children’s lives with the power of dance.

1. Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts baby in the corner.  This movie is a classic for obvious reasons. Rest in Peace Patrick Swayze.

NEW news everyone, Dirty Dancing audition tape.
See who did not make the cut; you’ll never guess who!

Superforce Music proudly presents….in his debut premiere – the one, the only – Tony Babollinni!

Tell ya what, today we’re starting the bucket list. Unfortunately I’ll add too much to it, just because I can, and willn’t add nawty things. LOL Well at least not on here.

So let’s give it a go.

The thing to start with is this: I wanna dance with someone on the following two songs. But it’s gotta be done right.

]]> http://nataliathekaraokegodess.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/music-review-animotion/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:57:51 +0000 nataliathekaraokegodess http://nataliathekaraokegodess.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/music-review-animotion/

The Original Animotion

They were a one hittish wonder in the 80s. I say “hittish” because technically they charted twice but its complicated and I’ll get to that in a bit.

The original band is the one that came up with their rather shockingly upfront and risque single “Obession”. It was just so amazing to hear a line like “Who do you want me to be, to make you sleep with me?” For a 9 year old kid. That made no sense. As time went on I figured out what that meant and the video pretty much made it all come together. A song about role playing with someone who is freaggin amazing in bed. So much so you are obsessed with the idea of taking on different characters. Yeah… great premise for an 80’s song.

Seriously I loved this song. I still do! I hate that hardly anyone remembers it! I wanna duet with someone at karaoke with this song. Its such a flirty song to sing. The video I thought was cool back in the day cuz I love costumed and I love people in different characters and the band dressed up, it was fun.

This was really their only huge hit. The bands line up pretty much fizzled out and a NEW line up formed. The lead female singer in the band by 1987 was Cynthia Rhodes. If you are a Dirty Dancing fan, you would know the name. Shes the dancer that was Patrick Swayze’s partner that had the abortion. She is also Richard Marx’s wife. Yeah don’t pretend you dont remember who Richard Marx is. Deny it all you want, deep down you remember.

When Cynthia was in the band there was another top 10 hit though. The song Room to Move came out and it was on the soundtrack of My Stepmother is an Alien so somehow THAT made it radio gold.

After that, the band officially stopped. However recently the original members of the band (sans Cynthia logically) has reformed and played reunion shows.

I hate saying it but I really cant picture the concerts. I mean, what do they play? Obsession…. uhh….yeah what else? I always think about that about One Hit Wonders. I mean most people that would go to those shows go for their hit and if they only had one big one, what else is there to listen to. Maybe Im just being a bitch lol.

I loved the synth pop of the 80s and I loved the New Wave sound. The lead male singer of the band had this debonair and sexy voice and it worked well opposite the girl. (yea yea I dont know their names, so sue me). I will always think this song is kewl!

Video: Well duh, what else am I gonna show you? OF COURSE its gonna be the video for Obsession!

6 days!!!

New Moon Quote-of-the-day: “Here’s to responsibility twice a week, and recklessness every day in between.” –Jake, Chapter 7

If you missed Stephenie Meyer on Oprah today, you can watch it here. On Monday (Nov 16), don’t miss Kristen Stewart on The Tonight Show, Taylor Lautner on The Jay Leno Show and Dakota Fanning on Ellen!

Hollywood believes that the masses prefer familiar plots and characters, so that they can get easy entertainment without putting too much effort into it. This theory does have some sense to it – this is the generation of instant gratification. God forbid we read a book when we can get a quick shot of entertainment in the form of a 30 minute TV show or two-hour movie. This same mindset appears to go into the production of the plethora of remakes and book adaptations that fill the silver screen year-round. One is hard pressed to find a movie today that isn’t a remake, sequel or book adaption – or sometimes a combination of all three – and it can be argued that this methodology has gotten out of control. The number of sequels in certain franchises has reached astronomical levels. Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the fourth and fifth installments of the Spiderman franchise. Saw 6 came out in October, Rambo 5 is in the works for 2011, with the possibility of a Rambo 6 to follow at a later date. DenOfGeek.com also speculates that, following the success of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, there will certainly be a fifth installment in the franchise. A fourth and fifth Shrek film have also been confirmed. Virtually every successful movie produced today is followed by at least one sequel. Even movies that were really intended to be a holiday one-hit-wonder and weren’t created with a sequel in mind, such as the Christmas event film Alvin and the Chipmunks, have fallen prey to Hollywood’s penchant for recycling. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel hits theatres Christmas 2009.

Furthermore, it seems no film is off-limits, no matter how long it has been since the original was released. According to DenOfGeek.com, the 80’s cult classic Heathers has a sequel in the works, though no release date has been set. For series based on books or comic books that have a set number of installments and thus a finite potential for sequels, Hollywood has resorted to making prequels, such as The Hobbit, which precedes the enormously successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, prequel to the successful X-Men franchise.

The decision to adapt The Hobbit for the silver screen points to another trend: Book adaptations have run rampant. According to ChasingTheFrog.com, 30 novels a year are adapted for the big screen. In recent years, the number has far exceeded the average. About.com reports that in 2006, 50 books were made into movies, and in 2007 that number rose to 70. Some of the better-known adaptations include the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and, more recently, the Twilight Saga. These adaptations prove what the movie industry is only just beginning to realize – fantasy novels, an underappreciated genre in written form, make excellent movie fodder. The appeal of book adaptations is understandable – books already have preexisting fan bases that are certain to turn out at theatres to support the movie version of their favorite book. Plus, many action or fantasy novels are geared toward special effects and sequels, which are two key ingredients in the Hollywood formula for success.

However, it is often the case that movie incarnations of popular novels are inferior to the print version, which serves to outrage loyal fans rather than win them over, but incensed fans are not enough to stop the Hollywood’s production machine if they think they can make a buck or two. In what EW.com has dubbed the “Twilight Effect,” a slew of similar book-to-film adaptations are on deck for upcoming years, such as James Patterson’s teen-oriented Maximum Ride series, because the Twilight film, based on author Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novel of the same name, has done for the fantasy genre what Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey did for science fiction. The teen hit also proved to Hollywood what, deep down, they’ve known for years: If a movie can draw in a teenage audience, the demographic with the most free time and disposable income, it’s sure to be a smash hit.

However, Hollywood has recently started to dip into genres and books less appealing to the teenage crowd, as well as less well-suited to franchises, action thrillers, and special effects. The film incarnation of Jodi Picoult’s popular novel My Sister’s Keeper premiered last June. While the film featured a blockbuster cast of Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack, the story of a young girl battling cancer and her sister’s fight for the control of her own body is not typical summer blockbuster fare. Hollywood has even gone so far as to turn a children’s bedtime story book into a film set for released in October: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. This is not the first time this particular book has been adapted for the big screen; another version was released in 1973. Nor is this a record for remakes. Many films have been remade multiple times, most frequently films who have their origin in classic novels. For example, IMDb.com shows that Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte has been adapted as a movie four times, not counting multiple made-for-TV versions, and is set for yet another remake in 2010. The same is true of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, which is set for an eighth remake in 2011.

Films based on classic books are not the only genre in danger of being remade these days. Hollywood has now turned its eye towards cult classic films, such as Footloose, Fame, Dirty Dancing and even The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which all beg the question: Is nothing sacred? One would be hard-pressed to find a film that doesn’t have roots in a novel or previous film, or sometimes both. It was once said that there is nothing new under the sun, and in today’s Hollywood it rings truer than ever. In fact, the only original cinematic attractions in modern Hollywood are the movies full of gross or ridiculous humor, such as You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, and the movies that mock other films, such as the Scary Movie franchise. However, even these movies draw upon the films they parody.

In short, Hollywood today isn’t producing anything that’s going to last. Hollywood’s Golden Age seems to be over – the age of stars like Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn, whose films are still favorites with modern audiences. But this phenomenon isn’t isolated to just the film industry. The modern age also isn’t producing lasting literature comparable to that of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, or revolutionary music like the Beatles, who still have die-hard fans, even though two of the band members are dead. Perhaps Hollywood is not the only problem; perhaps modern audiences are demanding less by repeatedly shelling out 10 bucks to see the same film they’ve seen a hundred times before, packaged under a different title. Nevertheless, Hollywood cannot be completely absolved. Film studios, producers and directors have found a formula that works and don’t want to risk their financial security in these uncertain times by generating radical or revolutionary films that have the potential of shocking or alienating audiences. But it’s been proven a hundred times before – the only way to make progress is to push boundaries and move into new territories that have never been charted before. Audiences will love it or hate it, but hey – at least they tried it.

What do you guys think of the “Twilight Effect”? Is it getting out of hand? I’m really starting to wish they’d leave my favorite series alone! They’re turning all my favorite books into sure-to-be-substandard adaptations. The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld and the A Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray (both of which I highly recommend) are set to be adapted in 2011 and 2010, respectively. How do you guys feel about this recycling-gone-amok?  Discuss in the comments! Plus, don’t forget to follow on Twitter!

6 days!!!

My Never

PS – Click on the image to buy this hott American Library Association poster (that sounds strange, I know lol):

Es cierto, quien escribe no tiene más remedio que confesarlo: uno, que, como en todo lo demás, cuando ama, ama en exceso (lo que vulgarmente se llama “hasta las trancas”), no es en cambio de puertas para fuera un tipo especialmente romántico. Al menos no hasta que se pone (o se ponía) a ello con algo de esfuerzo. Quizá, a lo Bogart (ya quisiera uno ser como Bogart… en eso), tras su espíritu cenizo, su sarcasmo sin descanso y su cinismo abierto las veinticuatro horas, se oculta un sentimental (como le decía Claude Rains en Casablanca). Pero romántico, en términos almibarados, lo que comúnmente conocemos como “moñas”, lo que se dice romántico, uno no es. Así que volvemos a ir contracorriente en esta sección al recoger la apología de la moñez que supone El diario de Noa, azucaradas dos horas de mermelada de grosella dirigidas por Nick Cassavetes (ilustre apellido mancillado en esta ocasión) en 2004 y que para un amplio espectro de público se ha colocado junto a Ghost o Dirty Dancing (puaj, me crujen los dedos al escribir este título) como una de las referencias habituales a la hora de rescatar algún producto digno dentro de ese endemoniado género de pastiches sentimentaloides que ha dado en llamarse “comedia romántica” y que tantos pestiños incluye, entre los cuales, para este enfant terrible de la cosa del cuore, figura ésta en un puesto de honor.

Vaya por delante que se trata de una película no especialmente mal filmada sino que, al contrario, como toda cinta a caballo entre épocas distintas, supone un notable esfuerzo de producción y ambientación, sobre todo a la hora de componer los distintos escenarios que contiene la historia, desde un pueblecito de los años treinta y cuarenta hasta las breves escenas que tienen la guerra como marco, en la que Cassavetes no se mueve mal, consiguiendo una factura visual y técnica sin alardes pero eficaz. El problema, como tantas veces, no es la forma, sino el fondo, empezando por la previsibilidad del guión. Construida como una acumulación de flashbacks o una retrospectiva fragmentada, la película usurpa en buena parte la estética y la atmósfera del cine mal llamado independiente para contarnos una historia a partir del relato que Duke (James Garner), un anciano que vive en una residencia, lee continuamente y siempre que hay ocasión a Allie (Gena Rowlands), otra residente que arrastra acuciantes problemas de memoria. La historia, claro, trata de dos jóvenes que se conocen durante los años treinta y que viven un amor que es la pera: Noah (Ryan Gosling, otro actor de una sola cara) y, atención, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams). Los mocetes se encuentran en un verano en Carolina del Norte y se encandilan a pesar de que son de extracciones sociales muy opuestas, ella de familia bien y él hijo de un peón (Sam Sephard). Y, cómo no, la cosa empieza con azúcar: el chico se queda tan prendado de la chica que, habiendo subido ésta a la noria de una feria con otro mozo, el joven Noah trepa hasta arriba y amenaza con arrojarse desde lo alto si ella no acepta salir con él. La chica lo toma por un lunático pero, en el fondo halagada y empezando a segregar sustancias corporales varias, por supuesto, acepta.

Desde ese momento, salpicada por continuas vueltas a la residencia en la que la pareja de ancianos comenta la historia, la narración se construye sobre todos los tópicos habidos y por haber sobre lo cursi, tanto en los diálogos como en las situaciones, para mostrarnos el gran amor que viven estos muchachotes: comparten algodón de azúcar, pasean de la mano, contemplan puestas de sol en el campo y, tras haberse mojado con un repentino chaparrón veraniego en mitad del campo se dedican a fornicar, de modo muy romántico, eso sí, en una habitación iluminada con velas de la que el día de mañana ha de ser la casa de sus sueños… Pero claro, los papás de la nena, como el chaval no tiene dónde caerse muerto, lo toman como algo pasajero y no aceptan que, cuando la cosa se pone chunga y la niñata pijotera consentida se empeña en continuar con su novio, su hija se comprometa con semejante mangurrián. Así que, de manera igualmente tópica, la cosa deriva en el drama de un amor imposible por oposición paterna, correo postal inteceptado y Segunda Guerra Mundial incluidos, y en cómo los chicos se separan para reencontrarse años después, cuando él es un tipo de éxito y ella está comprometida con otro (otro tópico), un hijo de papá forrado y de futuro económico asegurado. El drama oscila pues entre ese amor renacido y las comodidades materiales de un matrimonio económicamente próspero entre gente guapa (más tópicos, es la guerra…), y claro, el triunfo del amor es inevitable: no hace falta ser un hacha para que, a través de la coincidencia de nombres mal disimulada averigüemos quién es la pareja de ancianos de la residencia y por qué él le cuenta a ella una vez tras otra la historia.

Además de esta sorpresa que de tan telegrafiada resulta de lo más previsible, es precisamente la tremenda cursilería la que arruina el ingenio que todo esto pudiera tener, sobre todo el juego entre los ancianos desmemoriados y su interés en una historia que presuntamente trata de dos jóvenes desconocidos (y, con perdón, un poco gilipollas). Bien contada pero sin mordiente, sin garra, fuerza ni pasión, la película no deja de ser un drama ajeno en el que el espectador entrará o no según su propio grado de azucaramiento, en el que cuesta encontrar humor, ironía, inteligencia, brillantez en los diálogos u originalidad en las situaciones y en la que sobran clichés y pasteleo. Tanta glucosa se atraganta tanto que uno casi llega a desear que tanto amor se vaya por el sumidero, y el único condimento que podría salvar este monumento al tedio gelatinado, la mala baba, brilla por su ausencia. Será que uno no es un romántico o que la vida no le ha dejado serlo…

Acusados: todos
Atenuantes: la dirección artística
Agravantes: azúcar, mermelada, miel, gelatina, merengue y todos los dulces que el lector sea capaz de imaginar
Sentencia: culpables
Condena: supositorios de sal a tutiplén

I’m not afraid to admit it: I like the movie “Dirty Dancing”.  Always have, since the first time I saw it. Didn’t see it in the theater, but did see it on the old glorious VCR eventually.  In fact, my family bought our copy from Kroger, who must have swindled us: the sound was all muffled, like it was a copy of a copy (can’t you give me a decent copy, For Goodness Sake?)  Now many would claim this to be the ultimate chick flick.  Perhaps they are right.  But that doesn’t nullify all the good points that my world weary, sentimental pre-teen eyes enjoyed. First, it has great music. Yes, I know the soundtrack featured “She’s like the Wind”, but we here at Random Ramblings have a standing rule not to slander songs by recently deceased actors, no matter how mediocre the song may be (Rest in Peace, Bodhi).

Second, it’s set in the past, so it has the whole nostalgia factor.  Third, the central theme is breaking away from authority figures, so there’s the whole independent, coming of age vibe, which was/is right up my alley (I know, you are shocked, hearing that from a professed Wonder Years fan).  And finally, at least ¾’s of the entire world’s population has at some point uttered those famous words: “No one puts Baby in the corner”.  Even if there was no actual baby or corner in the vicinity.

However, for all it’s greatness, there is always once scene that has stuck out like a sore thumb to me.  And after recently watching the end of the movie again, I had to break out of my silence, and voice my concerns to all 3 of you that may read this column.  At the end of the movie, after Johnny has already left, there is the end of the summer recital.  They are singing that dreadful Kellerman’s song with the chorus “Join hands and hearts and voices, voices hearts and hands”.  Baby’s sister is for some inexplicable reason letting anyone other than herself and God hear her atrocious singing voice.  And yes, Baby is in the aforementioned corner.

Now, forget all that comes when Johnny arrives unexpectedly.  Yeah yeah, he gets Baby, and they dance (to a song that came out in the 80’s but somehow is passed off as a 60’s song).  Forget that Baby’s dad seems angry at Johnny, even though he already knows he did not get Penny pregnant.  And forget that the band is somehow shown playing along to the song, even though we already saw Johnny’s friend put on a record (sure, the horns can add on their parts, but the drummer? The guy conducting?). The weirdest moment of the whole movie comes when Max Kellerman is lamenting about the possible end of his resort.  “Trips to Europe, that’s what the kids want…22 countries in 3 days…it just seems like it’s all slipping away”.  To quote Liz Lemon, what the what?  Why would they make him a minor character for the majority of the movie (and one that seems bitter and stubborn when it comes to Swayze’s character) and then show a tender moment from him. Did Max Kellerman play a bigger part in the original script? Was he supposed to get Baby in the end in the first draft? Were there plans for a Max Kellerman spin off that never got past the development stage? Sadly, there have been no answers to all these burning questions.  The thirst for a romantic comedy starring an overweight, bald,  out of business family resort owner yearning for the “good ole days” still remains unquenched.  C’mon, Hollywood.  Help us out.

According to Musicalverse these are the Top10 Musicals for this week.

• Wicked – Book Tickets
• The Lion King – Book Tickets
• Priscilla Queen Of The Desert – Book Tickets
• Avenue Q – Book Tickets
• Dirty Dancing – Book Tickets
• Sister Act – Book Tickets
• Oliver! – Book Tickets
• Grease – Book Tickets
• Les Miserables – Book Tickets
• Blood Brothers – Book Tickets

See full post here

At a wedding
Keith: Would you like to dance?
Grandma: No thanks. I only dance dirty.

At the same wedding
Keith: Do you want a drink?
Anonymous: I’m not old enough, but I have some weed.

On “Three Cups of Tea” author
Kelli: He’s an amazing person – he’s built, like, 700 schools in Afghanistan and completely changed the face of their country.
Sarah: He’s also really cute.

Meredith: He lands at 6. He’s coming with a friend.
Elise: He’s bringing a FRIEND as his wedding date? …oh, wait. That’s what you’re doing. Never mind.

Jackie: What would I do without me?

“Nothing like a bad ass to make a girl’s heart beat faster.”

The quote above belongs to Gerard Butler. He said it in an interview about dating and he does have a point. This might be the reality for some women, just like there are men who are just drawn to bitchy and manipulative women who break their hearts. The idea that women just love and can’t get enough of bad boys has inspired endless songs, books and scripts. But one group’s reality is another group’s myth. For me, it is a myth. It’s an excuse for men who do not want to understand what a girl really wants or to give themselves an excuse to act like jackasses. Here’s a quote from the hilarious TV show Friends- which I love:

Chandler: You are such a nice guy means I am going to be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you… (season 01,episode 03, part before the opening credits)

Now, most of you probably know that Chandler was not a leather wearing alcoholic and he was a reasonably nice guy but his dating record sucked because he just couldn’t handle it when a girl actually acted normal. He once obsessed over a girl not calling him and waited by the phone for days and when it turned out that she really didn’t get his messages so she came to see him, he labeled her desperate and was turned off. Mind you, this is the same guy who stared at the phone for days!!!

I don’t like bad guys. I love hot men, which is not the same thing. A man isn’t hot because he is bad. Acting like an asshole is a turn-off, at least for me. Take Jon Bon Jovi for an example. I love the fact that he is happily married (and to his high school sweetheart that is) with kids – not because my biological clock is ticking or something (I don’t want kids like ever and I am in no rush to get married) but because it is impressive when a rocker that famous and that gorgeous can be loyal and committed, which makes him seem even more attractive to me. Now, I don’t know if he has cheated. I hope he hasn’t- if he has- it takes some serious hotness points. Sure, I will still think he is gorgeous- but I wouldn’t respect him the same. And if a guy cheats, he deserves some serious ass- kicking and to find himself out the door, hot or not.

Jon Bon Jovi. Now Jon has been married to the same woman since 1989. Hats off.

My point is?

Loyalty= Hot

Bad Ass Behavior such as Cheating = Not!

Maybe we help inspire bad boy myths as well. I mean we watch movies and fall for characters like Patrick Swayze’s Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing.

Patrick Swayze symbolized everything a woman could want in a man. He had been happily married for over 30 years with his wife when he died. He has been with her since he was 19. Now, that's hot.

Johnny does wear leather and boy, does he look good in it. He is handsome and beautiful. He is a dancer so he does have the body to die for. He sleeps around with the women at the holiday resort he is working at. Now, why shouldn’t he? Women want him. But girls do not fall for Johnny because of it. They fall for him because he is a nice guy and he just stops messing around when he starts dating Baby (his love interest in Dirty Dancing). That’s what makes his character so irresistable- the commitment he makes, even though every female wants him. A good face and a body are fine features, but it is the romantic gestures we love. Oh, and how vulnerable he can be despite the muscles is also very adorable,in the sexiest way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OGN-1QhHI This video shows one of the million reasons why women of all generations love Johnny Castle.

The Ugly Truth shows that the truth doesn’t have to be ugly if you can get the person you want and get them by being exactly who you are. The overly confident, sexually experienced and very good-looking character Mike Chadway is all fun and games and teaches Abby  (Katherine Heigl) how to manipulate a guy, talks openly about every dirty thing that crosses a guy’s mind. But when he actually starts to like Abby, his confidence disappears. The scene where he is trying to get the guts to go to her room and tell her how he feels is what makes the character Mike so likeable. Sure, Gerard Butler is always hot – so naturally Mike is a hunk, but it is not until Abby sees what he is like with his nephew, that she starts to like him. In the beginning of the movie, Mike just stops being sexy the minute he starts talking.

Who wants a guy who talks about blow-jobs,wedges and asses for fun and for a living???

Gerard Butler is hot. So is his Mike Chadway in the Ugly Truth. But there are all lovels of hotness. And the cuter Mike acts, the hotter he looks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HxWSEu-pF4 is the link to the dance scene in the Ugly Truth. After this scene, Abby just struggles with her self not to make out with Mike and of course can’t help it in the end. Not because he is a jerk. But he can so dance.

Some guys are so attractive that you think they are probably jerks. The ego issues and all that. What’s really hot  is a guy who is not really bad guys but just is misunderstood. You see, Gerry- we don’t like you because we think you are a bad-ass. We like you because you are funny, you can make fun of yourself and you are nice to people. And it is OK if you are sleeping around, you are single!!!

Anyway, if the whole badass theory was entirely correct, romantic comedies with all the romantic good boys wouldn’t be such a profitable industry. You can look like a bad boy. It is hot. Being one, not so much!

Album “Silence is Wild”

Par Frida Hyvönen – Track #1 “Dirty Dancing”

Live au Théâtre de Marigny, Paris, 27 avril 2009, Festival “Les femmes s’en mêlent”.

Date de sortie: 3 novembre 2008

Label: Secretely canadian / Differ-ant

Stéréotypes: Pop Orchestrale

Liens: site de l’artiste – myspace

“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Primal Rape

This is an unsolicited “music video” I made yesterday for my friends’ band, Primal Rape, based out of Austin, Texas. It’s a pseudo-cover of “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. The idea came out of nowhere, and I pursued it until the end, no questions asked. I’m happy to say that I achieved exactly what I set out to accomplish. How that reflects upon me is an altogether different consideration of happiness. I’ll let you all decide.

You can check out current and future videos of Primal Rape at primalrape.com or on their YouTube Channel.

As usual, it has been forever since I last posted. I have a good excuse. I lost my blog. It’s complicated, and it will make you savvier bloggers laugh at me.

I’m still proofreading for Demand Studios. I enjoy it and hopes it lasts forever.

We went to the mountains a couple of weeks ago, and it was perfect. We went for the fall colors, but we ended up seeing a different color, white. It snowed. In North Carolina. In October. As a cold weather person, I was in heaven. The combination of the snow and leaves was great.

Lots of books and movies news. Vamp time. I’ve read the Twilight Series. I’ve read the Sookie Stackhouse series. Now I’m reading the Laurell Hamilton vampire series. Will the bloodsuckers stop haunting me?

To be read: a new Monk book, Georgia Nicolson book(fabbity fab in her UK speak), Uncle John Bathroom Book I got at a used book sale, and a Kathryn Lilley book where the heroine deals with weight issues.

DVD news. I broke down and got the first season of True Blood on DVD. I don’t usually get TV series on DVD, but I don’t have HBO, and I loved the books. The show is wild in a fun way. I also got Grease 2 in the Walmart bargain bin. Not as good as the original, but it has catchy songs. Let’s bowl, Let’s bowl. Let’s rock n roll.

To cap off my perfect mountain trip, I found Shag the movie. Thanks to Austin Powers, the word shag makes people giggle, but in South Carolina beach music, it means dancing. It came out 20 years ago, and it is about four girls going to Myrtle Beach in 1963. It has great music including  the song Rock and Roll(It Will Stand) by Johnny O’Keefe  I had forgotten about  and was thrilled to rediscover. It was choreographed by Kenny Ortega who choreographed my favorite movie, Dirty Dancing.

Speaking of DD, it was sad when Patrick Swayze died. DD was a big influence in my teen years. An article about a Swayze Memorial in Lake Lure, NC brought back memories of how I, as an awestruck teen, went to the camp in Lake Lure where DD was filmed. I also went to Mountain Lake Resort in Virginia where DD was filmed. Time of My Life is a perfect title for Swayze’s autobiography which is on my library reserve list. RIP Patrick.

Another sad moment over the summer was when Guiding Light ended. It was also a big part of my life. Roger and Holly. Philip and Beth. Jonathan Randall. Soaps get a bad rap, but I have many happy memories of GL.

Now I’m getting ready for the Winter. We have a Xmas trip to Williamsburg, Va, and of course the holidays. Maybe we’ll see snow in Eastern NC, but  at least I’ve seen the fall snow.

Dirty Dancing is without a doubt one of the two or three movies I’ve seen the most in my life. It was my mom’s favorite, and I, in a display of good taste at a young age, quickly adopted it as one of my own. Honestly, I can’t remember exactly what I liked about it the first few dozen times, before every line was etched into my memory, but I’m confident it had something to do with a certain Mr. Patrick Swayze.

In case you’ve forgotten just what made Swayze great, here are a few of his best moments in song. Of course, he’s good in his most famous, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, but these are often overlooked.

Hungry Eyes, from Dirty Dancing

Every good movie montage needs a song that can get your heart pumping. Or is that just Patrick Swayze’s dancing?

She’s Like the Wind, from Dirty Dancing

Incredibly cheesy, yes, but it was the ’80s. What do you want? And I think we can all agree, Patrick Swayze did cheesy well. Very well.

Do You Love Me, from Dirty Dancing

While everyone else is watching (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, I’ll watch this scene that shows Johnny cool and casual, much more in his element. Watch as Patrick Swayze dances in at about 1:47 and steals the scene — and the rest of the movie.

Bonus non-Dirty Dancing song: Unchained Melody, from Ghost

Even today, after seeing it A LOT of times, I end up crying at least once when I watch Ghost. It’s heartbreaking, because this scene convinced us Patrick Swayze’s Sam and Demi Moore’s Molly were so ridiculously in love.

Entertainment Weekly has done an awesome video tribute of its own to Swayze, which includes (mostly non-musical) clips from his movies.