In dieser Rubrik wird es, ähnlich wie im letzten Jahr, wieder meine Eindrücke zu den Serien geben, die ich in den letzten rund 12-15 Monaten gesehen habe. Meine Einschätzungen sind subjektiv, aber unumstößlich und können sich auch durchaus mal auf Serienstaffeln beziehen, die schon etwas älter sind. In alphabetischer Reihenfolge wird es hier nach und nach kurze Kommentare zu jeder dieser Serien geben.

Bisher besprochen:

Die “Misfits”
Being Erica
Better Off Ted
The Big Bang Theory
Breaking Bad
Burn Notice
Californication
Chuck
Crusoe
Damages
Dexter
Dollhouse
Drop Dead Diva
Friday Night Lights
Fringe

=========================================

Gary Unmarried

Der drohende Tod der klassischen Multi-Kamera Sitcoms wurde in den vergangenen Jahren ja gerne immer wieder thematisiert, und einige Beispiele sprachen ja durchaus dafür, dass diese altbackene Variante irgendwann mal aus den Sendeplänen der Networks verschwindet. Vor allem natürlich diejenigen Sitcoms an denen Kelsey Grammer mitwirkte, wie “Back to you” im letzten oder “Hank” in diesem Jahr.

Nichtsdestotrotz gab es in den letzten Jahren auch immer wieder positive Beispiele von Sitcoms, die Anklang beim Publikum fanden. Ein Neustart aus dem vergangenen Jahr, dem dies durchaus achtbar gelang, war mit Sicherheit “Gary Unmarried”, eine völlig konventionelle Sitcom über Gary, einen Anstreicher mit zwei pubertierenden Kindern, der sich gerade von seiner Frau Allison geschieden hat. Die Serie thematisiert nun Garys Leben als quasi-alleinerziehender Vater, seiner neugewonnenen Freiheit auf dem “Datingmarkt” und natürlich dem ewigen Kampf gegen seine Ex-Frau.

Wie soeben erwähnt, ist Gary Unmarried durchweg konventionell, aber dennoch in meinen Augen sehr charmant, was zum Einen mit Sicherheit an Jay Mohr liegt. Sein Gary bringt den Balanceakt zwischen väterlichen Pflichten und den oftmals tapsig wirkenden Versuchen des Hörnerabstoßens überaus sympathisch und glaubhaft rüber, da man Mohr sowohl die Vaterfigur als auch den leichtlebigen “Slacker” absolut abnimmt. Zudem bietet die Konstellation der Scheidung die Möglichkeit, dass die gegenseitigen, durchaus bissigen Beleidigungen zwischen Gary und Allison authentischer rüberkommen als das normalerweise bei verheirateten Ehepartnern in vielen Sitcoms der Fall ist, die sich die bissigen Kommentare oftmals ebenso an den Kopf werfen – aber eben verheiratet sind, wodurch es manchmal doch etwas übertrieben erscheint.

Machte das jetzt irgendwie Sinn? Naja, jedenfalls mag ich die Serie wirklich gerne und kann sie als kleinen, unterhaltsamen 22 Minuten-Happen wirklich empfehlen. Keine große Kunst, aber das muss man ja auch von Sitcoms nicht unbedingt erwarten. Neben Mohr sind auch die meisten anderen Rollen, gerade auch die beiden Kinder sehr gut besetzt und Erziehungs- wie Beziehungssituationen bieten ausreichend Spannungsfelder für witzige Geschichtchen.

Meine Wertung: 7 von 10 Gabeln [für Season 1]

Greek

Ich muss an dieser Stelle mal ganz ehrlich sein: Es fällt mir sehr schwer, etwas zur zweiten Staffel von Greek zu schreiben, ohne dass ich jetzt allzu sehr in inhaltliche Beschreibungen der Geschichte abdrifte. Schließlich habe ich die wesentlichen Fakten zum Inhalt von Greek, sowie meine gefühlsmäßige, wie sachliche Einschätzung zur Serie (1. und 2. Staffel unterscheiden sich da kaum, gilt also nach wie vor), schon im letzten Jahr ausführlich genug notiert.
Wer sich an diesen Text nicht mehr erinnern kann und die Serie noch nicht kennt, dem sei ein Klick und ein Blick auf jeden Fall nochmal dringendst ans Herz gelegt. Denn so uninspiriert ich beim Verfassen dieses Textes bin, so extrem viel Spaß macht es doch, diese Serie zu gucken.

Es gibt wohl wenig Serien (vielleicht noch HIMYM und CHUCK), die ich so gerne anschaue und so schnell es geht, in den Player schiebe. Ich fühle mich einfach pudelwohl, wenn ich wieder einmal in die Welt der Cyprus-Rhodes University “abtauchen” kann und mich von den bunten, leichtfüßig inszenierten Geschichten rund um die Studentenverbindungen Kappa Tau, Zeta Beta Zeta und Omega Chi unterhalten lassen kann.

In Season 2 werden selbstverständlich all die Beziehungsgeschichten aus der ersten Staffel weitergeführt, hinzu wird -auf altbekannt unterhaltsame und witzige Weise- dieses Mal ein klassischer Klischee-Geheimverbund a la Skulls & Bones (oder Steinmetze) eingeführt und die ZBZs geraten in ernsthafte politische Schwierigkeiten, nachdem sich ein Teil des Hauses abspaltet und eine neue Sorority gegründet wird.

All das wird Euch vermutlich nichts sagen, da die Serie nach wie vor ein -meiner Meinung nach völlig ungerechtfertigtes- Schattendasein fristet, aber vertraut einfach meinem Wort: Traut Euch mal an die Serie heran, denn sie füllt, zumindest für mich, thematisch wirklich perfekt ein Loch, da das College-Leben in der momentanen US-Serienwelt quasi gar nicht abgedeckt wird. Die Serie ist teilweise ein bisschen soapig, aber die Charakterzeichnung ist wirklich hervorragend und authentisch, die Musikauswahl ist exzellent und die Inszenierung wunderbar locker, ohne aber die gefühlvollen Momente zu vernachlässigen.

Mal schauen, ob es nach Staffel 3 noch weitergehen wird, da die Quoten zuletzt doch etwas eingebrochen sind und es fraglich ist, ob ABC Family die Serie weiterführen will. Dennoch lohnt es sich, da auch so schon über 60 Episoden zusammengekommen sind (sofern nicht überraschenderweise ein vorzeitiger Abbruch der Serie zustande kommt – aber so mies sind die Quoten dann auch wieder nicht).

Meine Wertung: Starke 8 von 10 Gabeln [für Season 2]

It has been awhile, but here is the latest installment of Sunday Movies.  For this week, I have decided to bundle up videos of some amazing impersonations.  Enjoy!

Aries Spears impersonating LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and Jay-Z in a freestyle rap.

Frank Caliendo doing a number of impressions on David Letterman’s show.

Jay Mohr impersonating Christopher Walken.  Although this one has no video, the impression is still dead on.

500 impressions in 2 minutes…serious talent!

Morning open, Swine Flu cat, Afro Line, Mr. Skin, Jay Mohr, Why do guys cheat?, The Armenian Comedian, TMZ Ambush Video, “Sean Connery” really hates Daniel Craig and Ralph’s Showbiz Beat

Situation comedy writers at CBS’s Gary Unmarried, go for the easy joke with this sure-fire Brag Gag:

Grandmother (Jane Curtin) talking to her Daughter:
You’ve got a real prodigy on your hands, Allison.

Allison (Paula Marshall):
Did I tell you she’s starting Mandarin lessons tomorrow?

Grandmother:
My granddaughter, the concert cellist who speaks Chinese…Oh, I can’t wait to whip that one out when my neighbor brags about her blind daughter who climbed Everest.

Out-bragging the mother of a blind girl. Hilarious every time.

Six Scholarships Went to Deserving Youth and Adults Living in Project Access Communities

Event master of ceremonies Jay Mohr poses with the Project Access 2009 Family of the Year, The Alcantars, and Project Access CEO & President Debra Fine.

Newport Beach, Calif., October 20, 2009 – The Project Access Fourth Annual “Keys to Success” Awards Dinner and silent auction, held on Saturday evening, September 26, at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, netted $165,000 for its various programs benefiting more than 8,500 youth, adults, and seniors living in 33 affordable housing communities throughout California . Nearly 350 people attended the event.

The awards dinner honored community leader The Bascom Group, a private equity firm in Orange County, California, which specializes in value-added multifamily real estate investments.

Project Access awarded six $1,000 scholarships to adults and youth living in those communities. In a surprise announcement, Bascom Group co-founder and Managing Partner David Kim, doubled the scholarship amounts. He spoke on behalf of his two co-founders and managing partners, Derek Chen and Jerome Fink.

The six $1,000 scholarship winners were chosen through their demonstrated determination to continue their education and increase their probability of gaining future self-sufficiency and independence. Winners are Cal State Fullerton psychology major Daniela Recinos; future nurse Abigail Lopez; black-belt, recent high school graduate and volunteer Donghoon Lee; full-time mother and college student Tawni Kirkpatrick; future certified nurse practitioner Mayra Perez; and high school honors student graduate and future pharmacist Agape Awad.

Project Access also honored the Alcantar family as “2009 Family of the Year.” They were recognized for turning their lives around in a meaningful way as a result of taking advantage of the programs and services offered by Project Access. In another surprise, the Bascom Group awarded the family with four months of free rent.

The awards dinner was hosted for the second year in a row by actor and comedian Jay Mohr who currently stars in the CBS sitcom “Gary Unmarried.”

The 2009 awards dinner honoree, The Bascom Group, was recognized for its extraordinary community leadership through numerous outreach programs that aid and support residents and local neighborhoods. In addition to creating value-added renovations and improvements that have reached well into the millions of dollars, The Bascom Group has developed community outreach programs that support residents and local neighborhoods, including offering free rent to teachers and police officers in exchange for their on-site services.

One-hundred percent of the proceeds raised by the fundraiser is going toward funding Project Access services, not to operations. For more information about Project Access, contact Debra Fine at (949) 253-6200 ext. 302 or go to http://www.Project-Access.org

About Project Access
Founded in 1999 by Jonathan B. Webb, Project Access is the premier onsite service provider for families living in low income housing. It provides individuals, families and seniors access to onsite health, education and social services so they can lead a better life. Their goal is to keep families employed, children in school and seniors active. Today, Project Access serves more than 8,500 residents in over 33 affordable housing communities in California. Corporate offices are located in Newport Beach, California. For more information, visit http://www.project-access.org.

About the Bascom Group
Founded in 1996 by Derek Chen, Jerome Fink, and David Kim, The Bascom Group is a private equity firm in Orange County, California, specializing in value-added multifamily real estate investments. They invest time in educational outreach programs and donate funds into the community to enhance the lives of residents and those around them. By taking small but valuable steps towards changing one apartment community at a time, their programs have infiltrated and affected schools K-12, local non-profit organizations, and small businesses and community groups.

About Jay Mohr
Jay Mohr is an actor, writer, producer and comedian who has worked as a stand-up, in radio and television, and co-starred in 20 feature films. Mohr currently stars as newly divorced dad Gary Brooks on the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried.

###

I don’t know what made me think of this show, but damn it was a great show for a little while.

A great speech, but this scene always cracks me up -

Link to full episodes

It’s more or less Jay Mohr, but mostly less, in this photo caption Yahoo! TV:

Pulp Fiction was released in 1994 and for several years thereafter, the hugely influential art-house smash spawned several imitators.   Most of these attempts to replicate the heat of Pulp Fiction fell flat.  But, one film that came out five years later was actually well reviewed and deserved the acclaim and small success that it achieved.

97.  Go

The original one-sheet

Go was, of course, Doug Liman’s followup to his hip critical darling Swingers and boy was it good.  Now, I’m not going to say that there is absolutely NO likeness to Pulp Fiction.  I’ll concede to these three similarities:

-It has a nonlinear circular chronology.

-It has a kickass soundtrack (Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” being especially memorable).

-Sarah Polley is kind of like a miniature version of Uma Thurman.

But, it’s not like Tarantino invented interesting story structure, good music, or even Uma Thurma for that matter. The main issue here is the way the story unfolds.  But, just because they use a similar, out of chronological order and overlapping storytelling device, doesn’t mean Go is a plagiarized work.     This type of story telling is also sometimes described as circular narrative and has been around for ages.  Here, an article from Plots Inc. argues that the nonlinear film dates back to D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916).  It’s a good article and well worth checking out if you are into dissecting screenplays:  Plots Inc.

At best, I’d argue that Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction served as a reminder that storytelling doesn’t have to be so straightforward and that tinkering around with the structure can be highly rewarding.

However, unlike many of the films that spun out of Tarantino-appreciation, the comparisons for Go were mostly favorable, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times reviewing: “[Go] is an entertaining, clever black comedy that takes place entirely in Tarantino-land.”

The film has more qualities than just being the best of the Pulp Fiction-a-likes though.  Let’s take a look at the trailer for the film before we discuss anything further:

Looking at this trailer again, I feel it’s not the best advertisement for the film.  Keeping in mind this is ten years old, it still feels like the tone of this trailer is super-dated.  It screams “Crazy stuff is going to happen in this film.  You’re in for a wild wild ride, man!”–which I think is so overdone in modern films.  Every comedy nowadays promises to be a zanier one than the last.  Those promises have been pitched to us soooo many times since 1999 that this trailer now looks almost like a parody of the crime-comedy genre.  But, trust me, the product is worthy.

The cast, entirely perfect for this film, was made up primarily of character actors and young television stars.  No face was too unknown and that shows confidence in the script and direction.  Here’s where the retrospective part of this blog entry kicks in, let’s take a look at the people that helped make this movie so awesome and where they are now.

I'm on telly.

First up, the British actor with perhaps the best name ever:  Desmond Askew.  Brits might recognize this dude from Grange Hill.  He was a regular in that school-set drama before making his Stateside debut.  Since his high profile role in Go, he’s appeared in several American television shows like Roswell, Charmed, and–just to prove that they’re not all properties of WB– Las Vegas.  In film, he’s played the horribly grotesque leader of a mutant clan in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. He still gets work, mostly in television and straight-to-video type films.

Not related to Tom Cruise...

Alongside Katie Holmes and Melissa McCarthy, Scott Wolf helps to make this film one of the most dimple-tastic ever.  Let’s take a look at what happened after Scott, previously know for playing Bailey on Party of Five did Go. He too has done scads of television include long stints on The Nines and Everwood. Most exciting though, are his upcoming plans…he’s going to be in the new remake of V with one of my favorites from Lost–Elizabeth Mitchell.  I’m up for some of that.  This makes me wonder what Neve Campbell is doing nowadays.  I should IMDB that shit.

actually wanted to play the drug dealer...

That little tidbit on his photo is true.  Jay Mohr actually did want to play the drug dealer role in the film but was finally cast as Scott Wolf’s lover instead.  It was the right choice.  They are cute together and I love his delivery of “It’s a Miata!” in the film.  Yet again, Mohr has found loads of work in television, notably the well reviewed but short-lived Action and as the lead in the recent Gary Unmarried.  He’s also a prolific V.O. artist, lending impressions to Family Guy and other bits of animation.  He’s been a bit of a douche lately, making fun of Michelle Obama’s appearance on some radio programs.  But, whatever…it takes all kinds of funny (or unfunny in this case) to make the world go round and I still think he was pretty good in this flick.

Uma Th--I mean, Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley, has had a very interesting career arc.  She started out as the lead in the TV series that spun out of Anne of Green Gables.  She’s  since aligned herself quite visibly with the left of centre party in Canada, the New Democrats.  She’s also been hugely discriminating about what projects she takes part in, reportedly turning down the lead female role in The Bourne Identity series.  Most recently, she was Oscar nominated for writing the adaptation of Away From Her–it’s based on a short story called “The Bear Came Over The Mountain”.  She also directed the picture which, incidentally,  dealt with the onset of Alzheimer’s.  Very recently, she starred as Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries John Adams and is due to appear alongside Adrien Brody in the sci-fi thriller Splice.

Two men..

...one voicebox

Next up is William Fichtner who played Burke, the undercover police officer in the film.  I think he’s the voice double for Will Arnett from Arrested Development.  Anyway, I’m sure you’ll recognize this guy from his trillions of film and television appearances.  My faves include his roles in Black Hawk Down, Blades of Glory, and his surprise cameo as the bank manager in The Dark Knight. Awesome.

Needs more work please...

Love-able waster Mannie was played byNathan Bexton.  Since Go wrapped, he’s mostly been known for crappy horror films.  This dude needs more work.  He’s responsible for one of my very favorite scenes in the whole picture–the grocery story e-fueled fantasty sequence.  It’s ALMOST my favorite performance in the whole film.  Let’s watch this bit and then get to my number one favorite performance in the pic.

I'm funny on purpose.

Now, my favorite performance in this whole enchilada belongs to Melissa McCarthy (yes, she is the cousin of Jenny).  Though she’s only in it for about 2 minutes, every time I watch it, she makes me laugh.  Unfortunately, I can’t find this scene on-line, but trust me–you’ll know it when you see it.  She opens the door for both Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr in one scene…

Coincidentally, she also had a long stint on The Nines.  Other high profile appearances include work on The Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who?

What a movie.  I don’t think I could ever feel the same way about 2 Days in the Valley.

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Okay, another top 100 list here and this time it’s movies. As usual, this is a list of my favourites which may have some random choices in it but it’s boring having every list out there the same. So without dragging this longer than it needs to, here is the top 100 films below.

WARNED: potential spoilers will appear if you haven’t seen ANY of these films.

100. ZOOLANDER

DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller

STARRING: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Christine Taylor, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller & Jon Voight

FAVE QUOTE: “How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read if they can’t even fit inside the building?” – Derek Zoolander

BEST MOMENT: Two words – gasoline fight!

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is VH1’s three time male model of the year, but when Hansel (Owen Wilson) wins the award instead. Zoolander’s world turns upside down as his male model friends die in a freakish gasoline fight accident, he decides to retire and goes back to live with his father (Jon Voight), whose dissapointed in him & what he has become. Evil fashion guru Mugato (Will Ferrell) hires Zoolander, he thinks his life has turned back round again, that is until he finds out that Mugato has actually brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he needs help from Matilda (Christine Taylor) and his rival Hansel to stop it from happening. The film was released back in 2001 and to be honest, this is a film that Ben Stiller hasn’t better acted in (though there is another film which he directed that is higher on this list). Stiller & Wilson really work well together and Ferrell is really good aswell as the evil fashion guru Mugato. Look out for random guest appearances (David Duchovny, David Bowie & Billy Zane!??). Should check it out and of course at the end, Zoolander does realise that there is more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking.

99. A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY

DIRECTOR: John Fortenberry

STARRING: Will Ferrell, Chris Katan, Dan Hedaya, Loni Anderson, Molly Shannon & Chazz Palminteri

FAVE QUOTE: “Steve, don’t hit on the bridesmaid. It’s your wedding.” – Barbara Butabi

BEST MOMENT: The dancefloor scene

 

98. COOL RUNNINGS

DIRECTOR: Jon Turteltaub

STARRING: John Candy, Malik Yoba, Doug E Doug, Leon Robinson, Rawle D Lewis & Raymond J Barry

FAVE QUOTE: “I’m freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!”- Sanka Coffie

BEST MOMENT: Crossing towards the finish line at the end…you’ll get it

  

97. GO

the movie poster DIRECTOR: Doug LimanSTARRING: Katie Holmes, Sarah Polly, Desmond Askew, Nathan Bexton, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, Timothy Olphant, William Fichtner & Taye DiggsFAVE QUOTE: "Wow, I didn't know we'd become such good friends, because if we had, you'd know that I give head before I give favors and I don't even give my best friends head so your chances of getting a favor are pretty fucking slim."- ToddBEST MOMENT: A naked Fichtner creeping out Jay Mohr...priceless 96. BRONSONTom Hardy as Bronson

DIRECTOR: Nicolas Winding Refn

STARRING: Tom Hardy, Matt King & Amanda Burton

FAVE QUOTE: “For most people, prison is a monotonous nightmare. But for me, it was finally a place where I could sharpen my tools, hone my skills.” – Charles Bronson

BEST MOMENT: The scene where he takes the library officer & strips naked and shouts abuse at him whilst waiting for the other guards to arrive.

95. MONSTERS INC

 

Mike & Sulley

DIRECTOR: Pete Docter

STARRING: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn & Jennifer Tilly

FAVE QUOTE: “Oh, you should have seen the look on Waternoose’s face when that wall went up. Woo-hoo! I hope we get a copy of that tape. Hey, you all right? Come on, we did it. We got Boo home. Sure, we put the company in the toilet, and, gee, hundreds of people will be out of work now, not to mention the angry mob that’ll come after us when there’s no more power… but hey, at least we had a few laughs, right?” – Mike

BEST MOMENT: Sulley takes Boo home. I see those tears dammit!

94. SIN CITY

 

Marv's going to war

DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller

STARRING: Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Devon Akoi, Powers Boothe, Rosario Dawson, Beinicio Del Toro, Carla Cugino, Josh Hartnett, Clive Owen, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jaime King, Rutger Hauer, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl & Elijah Wood

FAVE QUOTE: “OSo, you were scared, weren’t you Goldie? Somebody wanted you dead and you knew it. Well, I’m gonna find that son of a bitch that killed you, and I’m gonna give him the hard goodbye. Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find anything.” – Marv

BEST MOMENT: Marv in the electric chair

93. THE CABLE GUY

Steven & Chip

DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller

STARRING: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson & Eric Roberts

FAVE QUOTE: “Come back here, so that I may brain thee!” – Chip Douglas

BEST MOMENT: The entire Medival Times scene, especially Chip Douglas’ Kirk VS Spock Star Trek moment, utter genius!

92. THE MIST

 

Something ain't right outside

DIRECTOR: Frank Darabont

STARRING: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, William Sadler, David Jansen, Toby Jones, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Nathan Gamble & Sam Witwer

FAVE QUOTE: “If you hit me again, if you dare, you’ll be on your knees to me before this is through.” – Mrs Carmody

BEST MOMENT: Almost sounds cliche saying this, but it does have an ending that will stick with you for quite sometime and fair play to Frank for sticking to his guns in doing this.

91. DONNIE DARKO

ever gone into a cinema & see a big rabbit

DIRECTOR: Richard Kelly

STARRING: Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Daviegh Chase, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Patrick Swayze,  Jazzie Mahannah, Jena Malone, Seth Rogen, Kristina Malota, Marina Malota, Drew Barrymore & Noah Wyle

FAVE QUOTE: “Dear Roberta Sparrow, I have reached the end of your book and… there are so many things that I need to ask you. Sometimes I’m afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I’m afraid that you’ll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.” – Donnie Darko

 

BEST MOMENT: The “Mad World” Montage at the end.

Freaky doll

DIRECTOR: James Wan

STARRING: Leigh Wannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Shawnee Smith & Tobin Bell

FAVE QUOTE: “Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore.”- Jigsaw

BEST MOMENT: It looks like they’re going to make it….wait a minute, what the fuck? the body that’s been lying on the floor montionless all this time gets up!!! A Franchise is born.

89. PRIATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski

STARRING: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley, Jack Davenport, Geoffrey Rush & Jonathan Pryce

FAVE QUOTE: “Me? I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly… stupid.” – Jack Sparrow

BEST MOMENT: The introduction of Jack Sparrow & the boat sinking.

 

88. BRICK

Brick

DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson

STARRING: Joesph-Gordon Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Noah Fleiss, Lukas Haas, Noah Segan & Emilie de Ravin

FAVE QUOTE: “Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they’ll say they scraped it from that who scored it from this who bought it off so and after four or five connections the list always ends with the Pin. But I bet you got every rat in town together and said ’show your hands’ if any of them’ve actually seen the Pin, you’d get a crowd of full pockets.” – The Brian

BEST MOMENT: The baseball slide followed by head to post moment….ouch!

 

87. THE GOONIES

The Goonies

DIRECTOR: Richard Donner

STARRING: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Jonathan Ke Quan, John Matuszak, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi & Joe Pantoliano

FAVE QUOTE: “Hey, you guys!” – Sloth

BEST MOMENT: The Truffle Shuffle, everytime or Sloth ripping his shirt to reveal the Superman one.

 

86. THE LOST BOYS

Before the Jack Bauer days

DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher

STARRING: Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Dianne West, Barnard Hughes, Jamison Newlander, Edward Herrmann & Jami Gertz

FAVE QUOTE: “Death by Stereo.”- Sam Emerson

BEST MOMENT: The complete over the top death of the vampire in the garlic filled bath.

 

85. TRADING PLACES

Trading Places

DIRECTOR: John Landis

STARRING: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis & Denholm Elliott

FAVE QUOTE: “Those men wanted to have sex with me.”- Louis Winthorpe III

BEST MOMENT: Louis pretends to be a  rastafarian as Billy Ray pretends to be a Cameroon exchange student in the train scene.

84. SLUMGDOG MILLIONAIRE

Slumdog Millionaire

DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle

STARRING: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Madhur Mittal & Anil Kapoor

FAVE QUOTE: “Maybe It’s Written.”- Jamal

BEST MOMENT: The train montage scene with M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” song and the moment they fall off & roll down the hill & grow older.

83. LETHAL WEAPON

Lethal Weapon

DIRECTOR: Richard Donner

STARRING: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Mitch Ryan, Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Ebonie Smith & Damon Hines

FAVE QUOTE: “Hey, look friend, let’s just cut the shit. Now we both know why I was transferred. Everybody thinks I’m suicidal, in which case, I’m fucked and nobody wants to work with me; or they think I’m faking to draw a psycho pension, in which case, I’m fucked and nobody wants to work with me. Basically, I’m fucked.”- Riggs

BEST MOMENT: The rooftop scene. Do you really wanna jump?

82. JAWS

Jaws

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

STARRING: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary & Murray Hamilton

FAVE QUOTE: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat. ” – Martin Brody

BEST MOMENT: Jaws finally appears on screen.

81. 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN

40 Year Old Virgin - The waxing scene

DIRECTOR: Judd Apatow

STARRING: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Catherine Turner, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco, Kat Dennings, Elizabeth Banks & Jane Lynch

FAVE QUOTE: “You know, I may not have had sex, but I could fuck you up. ” – Andy Stitzer

BEST MOMENT: The entire improvised “You Know How I Know You’re Gay?” scene between Paul Rudd & Seth Rogen.

80. GET SHORTY

Get Shorty

DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfield

STARRING: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Danny De Vito, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, Jon Gries, Dennis Farina & James Gandolfini

FAVE QUOTE: “Rough business, this movie business. I’m gonna have to go back to loan-sharking just to take a rest.” – Chili Palmer

BEST MOMENT: Chili Palmer throwing Bear down the stairs…then the talk afterwards.

79. MYSTIC RIVER

Sean Penn in Mystic River

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

STARRING: Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Emmy Rossum & Marcia Gay Harden

FAVE QUOTE: “Sometimes I think, I think all three of us got in that car….” – Sean Devine

BEST MOMENT: Dave’s rant about vampires to his freaked out wife.

So I’m one of those people who gets really mad when my friends and family don’t watch a TV show I recommend heavily.

I think I have a secret fear that if I don’t zealously spread the word, it’ll get canceled.

I told everyone I knew to watch “Freaks and Geeks,” still the best show about high school ever. Few did. It got canceled after 18 episodes.

I raved about an old Jay Mohr show called “Action,” which was hilarious but criminally unloved. I loved “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which lasted a whole season.

After the pilot, I spread the gospel of “Dirty Sexy Money.” “It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s well acted, and it’s probably way too smart for most of America!” I exclaimed. It too got canceled.

With that track record, friends and family have grown skeptical. But dammit, sometimes I’m right. And from the first episode in 2004, my favorite show on television has been FX’s “Rescue Me.“

If you are not familiar with it, a brief primer: It’s about life in a New York City firehouse post 9/11. The adventures of Ladder 62 make for the most hilarious yet heartbreaking show I’ve ever seen. In one minute, you’ll be busting out laughing at the wildly inappropriate humor. A few minutes later you’ll be devastated by the drama.

If you haven’t seen it, I beg you to give this hilarious clip a try. Or this unbelievably heart-wrenching one.

No show I’ve ever seen does comedy and dark humor better. Denis Leary is the star and is a genius. He plays Tommy Gavin, who has so many terrible qualities but so many great ones. Leary has been on other shows before and I’ve always watched them, because the dude is flat-out funny. When I was 14 I wore out his “No Cure for Cancer” comedy cassette, I played it so much. (The joke about the guy with the voice-box pulling up to the drive-through at McDonald’s still kills me).

Turns out Leary, who is one of the writers, is also a great actor, and the rest of the cast is fantastic, too. There’s Franco, the Puerto Rican tough guy who gets all the ladies and was revealed this season to have some interesting 9/11 theories. There’s Mike the probie, who is just so stupid but so endearingly earnest. There’s Ken (aka Lou), a great foil to Leary’s Tommy, who’s unlucky with women but has a great heart. There’s Sean, a great partner for Mike who has great comic timing and facial expressions.

There are lots more terrific, well-drawn characters, too, including a pair of crazy women Tommy’s constantly ping-ponging between. (For fans of the show, yes, I know that’s an old picture of the cast I’ve got up top, but I’m still mad they killed off Jerry the Chief a few years ago. I loved him.)

I don’t know why the Emmy Awards people keep snubbing this show, but it’s in the middle of Season 6 now and it’s still fantastic.

OK, end of arm-twist. It’s on tonight at 10 on FX, and it’s well worth your time.

**On another note, I was wildly disappointed in Rickey Henderson’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech. Not only was Rickey one of my favorite players growing up (at least when he was a Yankee), but the dude was 100 percent unintentionally funny. He spoke in the third person constantly; one of my favorite Henderson stories was when, disgruntled with the team he was on, he called every GM in baseball and said “This is Rickey, calling on behalf of Rickey, letting you know that Rickey is available in a trade.”

Then there’s the story, which may be apocryphal, when he went up to John Olerud and said he played with a guy in New York who also wore a batting helmet in the field.

“Um, Rickey, that was me,” Olerud allegedly said.

Anyway, Henderson’s speech was anticipated since he was elected in January; what would such a strange dude say on the biggest day of his life?
Sadly for us, it was a straight, emotional, speech. Rickey didn’t even call himself “Rickey” during the 14-minute talk.

I’d say it was a pretty big letdown. Oh well. We still have the great Phil Rizzuto speech from1994 to appreciate.

Who the hell is casting at “The New Adventures Of Old Christine?”

Have not seen such creepy homogeneity since….since….well, some bad science fiction movie.

Jokes about the “Mary Tyler Moore” show?  Who do they think their target audience is?

All the men are bad balding cut-outs – Ostensibly hetero dudes in gay guise.

One scene in a supposed school yard had a dozen women that coulda been computer copies. Hair, costumes, height. What’s going on here?

Oh, and the long-haired slumped shouldered slacker dude brother delivering lines like…well, we’re not sure where he derives from.  But it’s NOT someplace humorous.

How is it that so much potentiality of talent with Julia L-D ends with crap.  What’s with the supposed humor devices such as the bitchy blond women playing some kind of humor-less plot device?  They are supposed to be funny? In what universe?  Oh. The universe of saturated worn-out sit-com writers who have no new ideas.

PS: Jay Mohr DOES NOT BELONG ON TELEVISION.  HIs grotesque gesticulations make us afraid he is about to break out into a home porn flick.  WHO THE HELL OUTSIDE OF THE TWISTED CBS OUTHOUSE THINKS JAY MOHR IS HUMOROUS?

PSS: Well…..CBS still has David Letterman. Give’em credit for that.

It’s official! Grant and Jillian Reynolds are expecting their second baby.

The Good Day LA host, who has been rumored to being expecting, confirmed the big news yesterday by saying.

“You know it’s not even a question anymore, [when] everyone is like, ‘You’re eating Doritos at 7 a.m., drinking 7-up and you’ve got a gut.’ Gee I wonder why? Yes, I’m pregnant. Helllloooo!”

“Jay Mohr said to me, ‘What, you get a boob job?’ and I said ‘Why would I get a boob job, I already have big boobs?’ and he said ‘Umm…,’” Jillian recalled. “And I was driving home and said ‘Oh my God, I have a pregnancy test at home, I’m going to give it a try.’”

“I peed on the stick and went back 10 minutes later and it said ‘Pregnant,’ so I stuffed it in an early Father’s Day card for Grant. Grant and I, our sex life, still goin’ strong!”

CREDIT:WENN.COM

SOURCE

People I find very funny. Because I dearly love to laugh.

Stella.
Stella usually doesnt make me laugh. I find them funny, but also a little irritating. In the sense that it feels like they’re trying too hard, and it feels like they’re intentionally making comedy for the smug-smart set. Regardless, I always laugh whenever I see this.

The link is HERRRRE

Nick Swardson.
Nick Swardson is one of the funniest people on the planet Earth. I dont even remember what year it was when this comedy special came out. Ever since, he’s been in movies and Reno 911! and over the years he’s only gotten funnier. But this special just makes me fucking bust out in laughter. I heart him.

The link for this one is HEEERRRRRE

Dave Attell.
Dave Attell is amazing. He takes everything from jerking off to going around the United States, and makes it all seem like it is the funniest thing you have ever heard. He’s incredible. Having seen him live at least 5 times, each time I’ve almost pee’d myself just a little. He’s ridiculously talented, and I sincerely miss staying up late on school nights just to watch Insomniac on Comedy Central.

link is OVEEEEEER HERE.

Patton Oswalt.
Funny Mo’fucker.

Jay Mohr doing Christopher Walken? GOLDEN.

Skewed timeline, converging plots.  Sex, drugs, and groceries. Fantastic. 10/10 [Lucy Glib]

Buy it

The video above is comedian Eugene Mirman’s commencement speech for the 2009 Lexington High School graduating class. (buzzfeed)

Awesome Jay Mohr and Tracy Morgan PCP story (video here)

I need to get a cane. (Brad Neely)

A cat who enjoys playing the piano has had a piece of chamber music written for her by acclaimed Lithuanian conductor. (BBC)

Baby white tiger is cute, possibly retarded (videogum)

New type of cloud discovered (article stupidly devoid of pictures here, pictures here)

Slideshow of the Derinkuyu Underground City (MAKE)

Dartanion London demonstrates how to dance to “Wildcat” by Ratatat. (via theduty)

Hat tip to Womanist Musings.

So this woman's a guy? Yeah, the one on the right. That's what Jay Mohr says. Consider the source (Courtesy: Be the Change)

What is this, open season on Michelle Obama? Just WTF has she personally done to these people? Don’t they have anything better to do with themselves? They just run their mouths on Haterade, attacking the woman’s looks and femininity.

I’d like to talk about Kevin Garnett this guy is the Michelle Obama of the Celtics. He doesn’t really do anything but damn he looks good doesn’t he? Michelle Obama that is a big dude. When Barack plays pick up games at the White House, you know he picks Michelle as at least his forward, maybe his (inaudible) depending on who is on campus that day.

That has to be like being married to Elton Brand. She is a big, big dude. I like when she put her arm around the Queen of England and just put her in a headlock and told her I’ve been waiting 200 years just to put my arms around you lady. I love that. I love how she shaved off all her eyebrows and then drew them back way too high into an arch and then straight back down so she always looks super surprised. She kind of, Michelle Obama kind of looks like the count on Sesame Street. That great one ah ah ah, one black president ah, ah, ah. What a year.

No, he ain’t drunk.

Serves me right for laughing at someone I don’t know. Jay Mohr is someone I didn’t know that I sure do know now. Someone who contributes to Opie and Anthony’s shows, and smackdowns on Jim Rome is someone I don’t want to know. They’re infantile slobfests for guys. Have a listen:

Wednesdays, I watch the CBS shows, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried. I think they’re great, because they’re both about fortyish, divorced people with issues–namely about their exes, and how they cope with the kids, schools, and holidays. They can’t get over them, even though they ‘hate’ them.

The last hilarious episode I watched of Gary Unmarried was when Gary and his ex-wife started to have comfortable but wild sex with each other because they couldn’t find any one new. Every time they said they wouldn’t, they did. It’s a fairly popular show, not big, but popular.

I think that’s the last episode I am going to watch of Gary Unmarried, because its star, Jay Mohr, is a @sshat for calling Michelle Obama a man on The Jim Rome Show. He needs his head soaked in a watermelon. I know many actors and comedians are not necessarily their characters, but in this case, the shoe–the ugliest and heaviest pair of Doc Martens I can think of–fits.

I know that I’ll probably wait forever for an apology from the looksist scum about his remarks regarding the First Lady, but as of now, I am not watching the show. I am not buying any more of Iman’s cosmetics either. This is my personal choice, but if you’re just as pissed, I say boycott anybody who ain’t got nothing nice to say about the First Lady. Let them feel the pain. People like Mohr and Iman make it personal because Michelle isn’t particularly f@ckable to halfwits who have a limited experience of women, or who threatens their sense of what is beautiful and what is not, as well as their pocketbooks.

There is a way to make fun of Michelle and of Obama, but the jerks are still too clueless to figure out how. Vaughn Meader couldn’t teach them anything.