Oftentimes childhood memories will blindside me from nowhere and I’m compelled to blog about them, especially since I wish I hadn’t been such a shit of a child.

Mommy! I need my shitty Pampers changed!

I recall an incident where I was a fucking brat, and old enough to not be throwing temper tantrums. I’m guessing I was 11 or 12 years old. I was at a mall with my mom and brother. For whatever reason, I got an attitude. That was when my mom told me that now we were not going to see Lethal Weapon after the mall. I started bawling and begging and saying I would be good. All this for Lethal Weapon. Wow, I had fucking issues.

Don't make me shoot you, you whiny little bitch!

And how about all those times I refused to eat fish sticks for dinner? Everytime my mom served them to me I whined and cried. And everytime I was sent to my room, where I proceeded to gag and heave, for a whole bottle of tartar sauce never killed the taste for me. Eventually I was let out of my room and there those fucking fish sticks were, still sitting on my plate at the table, waiting to be eaten.

I'd eat fish dicks before fish sticks. Believe me.

I’m sure I threw more tantrums than Satan as a baby. I was a brat, a spoiled fucking brat. Don’t argue with me. If I had a baby picture handy, you’d agree. Cause I’m probably crying in the photo.

Brilliant. Time to talk about our Ten lists once more, so settle in for the long haul and try and keep up. Much discussion ensues as Sam tries to extol the virtues of Ingmar Bergman, praise the magical realism of Billy Liar and attempt to make sense of All About Lily Chou-Chou. John continues the theme, causing slight, though understandable, consternation with his uncensored views on Raging Bull and confessions of multiple tears during Schindler’s List. Tom rounds the night off in business-like fashion with praise for The 400 Blows, controversial dislike for the second half of Stalker and man-crushed love for Le Samourai.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 40.5

Remember to email us, sugarplums!

Pre-Production is when the filmmakers and Producers have been green lit to make a film and are finishing the script, gathering funds, casting and hiring. There is a good chance the film will be made at this point, though until it’s in post-production, there is never any guarantee. And sometimes there’s no guarantee it will be released even when it’s completely finished.

But, on IMDB Pro, here are some of the films listed as in Pre-Production:

Saw 7 - In 3D! (I’m not kidding.)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2

Wanted 2

Lethal Weapon 5

Kung Fu Panda 2

Rambo 5: The Savage Hunt

Scream 4 (Do you see a theme with sequels? There are plenty more coming.)

The Three Stooges - with Benicio Del Toro as Moe and Paul Giamatti as Larry. Sean Penn was originally Larry, but dropped out. I loved the Three Stooges growing up, but I’m shocked at the quality of actors they are getting. This may actually be pretty good.

Total Recall – This is still in the script phase. The original film with Arnold Schwarzenegger is super cool. They better not cast someone like Vin Diesel in the lead role.

Red Sonja - Rose McGowen starts, but her boyfriend Robert Rodriguez is not directing, only producing this film. I’m a Rodriguez fan, but with him not at the helm, I’m uncertain about this film. I’m not a big McGowen fan.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea: Sam Worthington from Terminator is Captain Nemo. There’s potential here.

My Fair Lady - A remake to star Kiera Knightley as Eliza Dolittle. She looks the part (Audrey Hepburn played the part in the original film, though she didn’t sing.) Can Kiera sing? Guess we’ll see. Wonder who will play Professor Higgins? An interesting note: Emma Thompson is writing the screenplay.

Spring Awakening - A very successful new musical. I’m very curious to see who will be cast. The girl from Glee was in the original Broadway production. Maybe she has a shot.

Mary the Mother of Christ - with Al Pacino as Herod. Oh, the jokes, the jokes…

The Warriors – A remake Benny is super excited about. No news on casting yet. Probably will be mostly unknowns.

Hamlet - Another one? This one with Emile Hirsch. The Speed Racer guy? He better have the acting chops for this or it could be a disaster. I am always interested in who will be Ophelia. Kate Winslet rocked it in Kenneth Branagh’s version and the best part of the Mel Gibson one was Helena Bonham Carter’s Ophelia.

Jack and Jill - with Adam Sandler playing both parts. Was Jim Carrey busy?

Excalibur - Bryan Singer is doing this film. Love him. The Usual Suspects is an all time favorite of mine and I love the King Arthur mythology. However, the original Excalibur film is awesome, so I’m not sure what Singer can bring to the story. No casting news yet. I wonder if they will remake Camelot the musical too?

Battlestar Galactica- I’m a huge fan of this series and I’d love to see a film version. Right now Bryan Singer is also slated to direct this, though it looks like it’s a long way from being a done deal.

Warcraft - Directed by Sam Raimi, this could be fun.

Brilliant. Time to talk about our Ten lists once more, so settle in for the long haul and try and keep up. Much discussion ensues as Sam tries to extol the virtues of Ingmar Bergman, praise the magical realism of Billy Liar and attempt to make sense of All About Lily Chou-Chou. John continues the theme, causing slight, though understandable, consternation with his uncensored views on Raging Bull and confessions of multiple tears during Schindler’s List. Tom rounds the night off in business-like fashion with praise for The 400 Blows, controversial dislike for the second half of Stalker and man-crushed love for Le Samourai.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 40.5

Remember to email us, sugarplums!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang es una peli de Shane Black de 2005. No me queda muy claro si es un enlatado de una peli más vieja o si simplemente es la versión de la novela de Brett Halliday, Bodies Are Where You Find Them.

La peli es protagonizada por Robert Downey Jr. en una excelente presentación. Esta vez acompañado de la bella Michelle Monaghan en un thriller de corte políciaco cargado de un fino humor y una narrativa bastante divertida. Casi que sería mejor catalogarla como un anti-héroe en una peli de cine negro, donde el protagonista es un ladrón, que se vuelve actor, detective, amante de la protagonista, vengador y antes que todo es el narrador de la peli.

La peli empieza con unos créditos magníficos elaborados por Danny Yount y luego un corte a una escena vintage en los 80’s donde un pequeño mago es saboteado por una niña malcriada quien recibe su merecido del supuesto padre.

De ahí en adelante la narración envuelve a Downey Jr, Monaghan, Val Kilmer, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Angela Lindvall y Shannyn Sossamon en un vértigo de situaciones circunstanciales que desencadenan en un asombroso acto de magia y un final escalofriante para el thriller.

La razón de la excelente narración es la amplia experiencia de Black como escritor de Hollywood que va desde TODAS las versiones de Lethal Weapon (incluída la 5 que está en preproducción), The Long Kiss Goodninght en 1996 con Geena Davies, Craig Bierko, Samuel L. Jackson y Brian Cox, Last Action Hero en 1993 con Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, el finado Anthony Queen e Ian McKellen, y The Last Boy Scout en 1991 con Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans y Halle Berry. No son las pelis más profundas ni más interesantes pero me entretuvieron mucho en la era del colegio.

So, Leute, jetzt mal aufpassen und was lernen. Man hat ja als Blogger irgendwie auch einen Bildungsauftrag. Heute lernen wir mal was Neues: Denn heute ist Weltmännertag, das heißt, wir Mädels müssen voll lieb und nett zu den Jungs sein. Einen Tag kriegen wir das wohl mal hin, oder? Auch wenn es schwer fällt, morgen ist ja wieder alles wie immer. Und wir können uns rächen am Weltfrauentag, der ist irgendwann im März oder so. Keiner weiß, warum es solche Tage gibt, aber es gibt sie nun mal, da müssen wir alle durch.

Also, heute die Hausschuhen zurechtlegen, das Bier aus dem Kühlschrank holen, was schickes anziehen oder worauf eure Männer so stehen, wahlweise auch nackig am Herd stehen und kochen, am besten ein dickes Steak oder auch zwei, ohne Gemüsebeilage natürlich und die Männer mal richtig Männer sein lassen. Und am Ende des Tages gemeinsam einen richtigen “Männerfilm” anschauen – spontan dachte ich an Filme wie “Lethal Weapon” oder  “Stirbt langsam“.  So was muss sein.

Und extra und ganz exklusiv für die Jungs hab ich noch was:

Bild: Seiho

Toll, oder? Nun reicht es aber auch mit verwöhnen. Finde ich.

The Lakers:

Their point guards are these guys: Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. Derek Fisher is 48 years old at this point and though he did hit two clutch shots to drown the Magic in the Finals I think he missed a 108 shots in a row up to that point. He’s kind of like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 4, he’s been too old for this for too fucking long.

Jordan Farmar has a lot of talent, he can shoot it, he’s quick and he’s got hops but he hasn’t shown anything in the playoffs so far in his career. He has the potential to be a legit threat in this league but it’s not going to happen this season.

Then we’re on to Shannon Brown, a guy who earned his stripes in last season’s playoffs. He’s got a lot going for him, athleticism, decent shooting and nice handles but he’s not a guy you’re afraid of. I like him. I like his game as long as he plays within himself. I saw a couple pre-season games and he was shooting an awful lot. I don’t think the Lakers are winning a lot of games when Shannon Brown takes more than 10 shots.

Another note I’d like to make. The Lakers didn’t really beat anybody when they won the title last year. They just made sure they didn’t beat themselves. Now that Ron Artest is in town that might not be the case this year. Seriously, he’s at a level of crazy I haven’t seen in a while. I have no clue what he might do this year. Kill a guy. Win a championship. Buy a motor home. Adopt a kid, seriously, everything’s in play.

The Spurs:

Like the Poltergeist 2 ad campaign said: “they’re back!” The Richard Jefferson trade was so good it makes me want to shave my beard because it makes me look like a young Gregg Popovich. I hate this team. I hate them so much because they don’t make mistakes, ever. They only make good decisions on and off the field. The only good thing about them is that they’re old and they get hurt easily. I think Manu Ginobili last played a painless game when he was 15 and Tim Duncan’s knees might need an engine change after the season, they’ve got a lot of mileage on them. If they stay healthy, they win the league. If Manu, Jefferson, Parker or Duncan get injured they’ll lose to the Lakers.

The little girl is afraid of Gregg Popovich's face.

The Cavaliers:

The Shaq signing doesn’t really make them better, the Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon acquisitions, on the other hand, do. I have a bad feeling about this season for the Cavs. They’ve shoved all of their money to the center of the table and they don’t really have the hand to back it up, or a steady stream of cash to fall back on if they lose. It’s do or die for them this year and the Shaq thing smells of desperation. It was the sort of, “we need to do something right now” trade that never works. Ask Isiah Thomas.

Lebron will have to carry the team again and he just might be able to do it. You see, it’s not just a make or break season for the Cavs, in a sense, it’s also a make or break season for Lebron’s career. If he doesn’t get a championship now and goes to New York or L.A or wherever he goes, it changes the complexion of his career. He won’t be the guy who stuck with his state to the very end. He won’t be the guy who finally brought a championship to Cleveland. He’ll be a great player who might or might not get a couple rings and breaks some more statistical records. It’s a desperation season and I have a bad feeling about it.

The Magic:

Turkoglu wasn’t THAT good. Vince Carter is a better player. Bill Simmons also makes a very good point in his recent NBA preview that this is the first legit contender that Vince has played on. Maybe he steps up.

I’m worried that they’ve turned themselves into a conventional team. Not with the acquisition of Vince Carter but rather with the acquisition of Brandon Bass. He’s too short to be a backup center, he’s too slow and lumbering to be a backup small forward. In short: he’s a conventional power forward. Even though the Magic did, at times, play Gortat and Howard together last season they always had the 6-10 Turkoglu out there creating match-up problems. Brandon Bass does not create match-up problems and neither does Air Canada (or is it Southwest Airlines at this point?) Talent wise they are better though.

The Celtics:

Ahh the Celtics, you bunch of unlikable douche bags. Okay, Ray Allen is likable but that’s about it. They, much like the Spurs, rely on their aging stars’ health. Kevin Garnett’s knee looks fine for now. I’ve seen him in pre-season action and he seems to be moving around pretty well. Ray Allen is always in perfect shape and hasn’t had a serious injury since that ankle thing a couple years ago. Paul Pierce hasn’t missed action for a while now and Brian Scalabrine is still the whitest guy in the league. Okay that last bit had nothing to do with anything. All of the guys I just mentioned are past their prime and they have a lot of mileage on. Since they also have Rasheed Wallace who has similar issues, they’re like a used car dealership-except they’re all quality cars… I think I’ve taken the analogy too far.

I’m just putting this out there but I wouldn’t put money on Kevin Garnett’s knee. I just wouldn’t. I have no reason to believe that it’s not fine. But I have no reason to believe that it’s going to be okay for another 100 game season either. No Garnett, no title and that’s that. Rasheed Wallace is a good guy coming of the bench, he still has something left in the tank and he has some valuable experience but he doesn’t put them over the top. The only thing standing between the Celtics and another title is a slight slip or a misjudged landing from Mr. Garnett and they won’t win another title for a long time.

-Magnus.

Photo PattyHeffley.com

In September, the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was announced.

They were:

• ABBA
• The Chantels
• Jimmy Cliff
• Genesis
• The Hollies
• LL Cool J
• Darlene Love
• Laura Nyro
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Stooges
• Donna Summer
• KISS

Let’s take a closer look at these 12 acts and see which 5 should get the nod.

On first blush there are 5 names that I’m going to remove from the list immediately. 

ABBA – Sorry,  I don’t care how many tickets Mamma Mia has sold, ABBA wasn’t a rock band.  They were a pop band at best and a disco band at worst. 

The Chantels – Jann Wenner has a thing for 60s girl groups.  I had to look the Chantels up.  At this point in the nominating process, that shouldn’t happen.

Laura Nyro – see above.  She’s a songwriter with a string of above average tunes to her name.  Is that really the criteria for the Hall of Fame?  That would be like putting Mariano Duncan in the baseball Hall of Fame.  He was a servicable player on some good teams, but not a Hall of Famer.  She must have slept with Jann Wenner.

Darlene Love – see above.  Another girl grouper.  But this time, mainly as a backup singer.  She was great as Danny Glover’s wife in the Lethal Weapon movies, and she’s a fine singer, but not a Hall of Famer.

Donna Summer – disco is not rock.  Sorry.  Next.

So that leaves us with:

1. Jimmy Cliff
2. Genesis
3. The Hollies
4. LL Cool J
5. Red Hot Chili Peppers
6. The Stooges
7. KISS

With 7 acts left, maybe our next step should pick out the acts that are no-brainers.

KISS – I’ve already made my case for this one as clearly as I possibly can.

The Stooges – Iggy and the boys should have been in a long time ago.  They laid the groundwork for punk, grunge, post-punk, post-grunge and ever other iteration therein.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – the California funk punks were the poster children of grunge revolution of the early 90s.  It took them nearly a decade and the death of founding member Hillel Slovak to find their groove, but once they did, they never slowed down.  They remain a vibrant and forceful band to this day.

Jimmy Cliff - Cliff’s landmark 1972 soundtrack to The Harder They Come brought reggae to the world.  Bob Marley is in the Hall.  He’d never have been there without Cliff.  Case closed.

That leaves us with 3 acts and 1 remaining slot.

The Hollies – Graham Nash got in with Crosby, Still and Nash in 1997.  There is no other reason for this nomination.  Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress and Bus Stop do not a Hall of Fame career make.  They are running out of hippie bands to put in.  I don’t think so.

LL Cool J – I like LL Cool J.  He’s a definining hip hop artist.  However, this is the ROCK and ROLL Hall of Fame.  I had no problem with the induction of Run DMC.  They are the Kings of Rock.  There is none higher.  LL will get another shot down the road, but this isn’t his year.

That leaves us with Genesis.  I’m not sure I think they belong in.  Their induction will open the door for all those other crazy English prog rock bands (yes I’m looking at you YES).  Still, they’ve  been responsible for some great music over the years. They launched the careers of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, which I suppose makes them responsible for Groovy Kind of Love, but we won’t hold that against them. 

So, after the smoke and pyro have cleared, my picks for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2010 are:

1. KISS
2. The Stooges
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Jimmy Cliff
5. Genesis

Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know.

There’s a scene in the second of the Lethal Weapon series of films where Murtagh (Danny Glover) and Leo Getz (Joe Pesci) create a fracas in the apartheid era South African consulate in Los Angeles so that Riggs (Mel Gibson) can gain entrance through another door. Joe Pesci asks the South African consular official to talk his friend (Danny Glover) out of  emigrating to the most beautiful country in the world. The official is confused. That is until Murtagh is introduced; at which point the official utters in disbelief “But…but…you’re blek”. Mayhem ensues as Glover’s character starts protesting against apartheid.

I was reminded of this scene this morning upon reading an Observer piece on whether Tony Blair should become the first President of the European Council. There are some good arguments in the article both for and against. (For the record I am for). However, it was the only non-British European quoted in the piece that caught my attention.   Pier Luigi Bersani, an Italian opposition politician, states the following against Tony Blair’s candidature:

“Tony Blair is a personality with a formidable reputation on the European stage who has always enjoyed a very good relationship with Italy. I have always admired him, despite differences over the war in Iraq. However, when it comes to considering him as a candidate for the European presidency, it needs to be underlined that the UK is not in the Schengen Agreement, nor part of the Euro zone and is therefore not central to the process of European integration. Blair is a splendid man but possibly not the right candidate for this job.”

For Bersani at least it would appear that Tony’s actions in the Iraq war, or indeed his stature as an undeniable political heavyweight, matter not a jot. Much as we all might want to debate them. To state the obvious, he’s simply the wrong nationality. It’s a bit like a Danny Glover’s character wanting to emigrate to 1980s South Africa. Until our relationship with Europe is sorted out once and for all, Britain is unlikely to get the top job.

Which leaves us with one question. While Tony is causing all this mayhem, who and where is Riggs?

James

Mos Def and Bruce Willis, what an odd pairing.

Tasked with escorting chatty prosecution witness Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from police custody to a nearby courthouse, aging New York City cop Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) reluctantly gears up for the 16-block trek. But with powerful forces intent on keeping them from reaching their destination, they’ll be lucky to make it there alive.

Bruce Willis like in many of his film’s as of date, has basically played that same hard-nosed cop who turns superhero when things go array. Director Richard Donner has directed all of the Lethal Weapon films and knows how to do these buddy-cop thriller action films, and this shows he hasn’t lost any of his touch.

The storyline to this so called “great concept” that I just stated could have been put together better than it was. I’m not a film writer or director so I don’t know what exactly could have made the storyline better, but I’m just saying that it could have been better. Some scenes did drag on a little bit too long and the film didn’t create too much of a character personality for the two leads to get us to care for them.

The performances from the trio of leads are great. Mos Def is really good in this film and does make this film if his voice doesn’t annoy you enough. He brings a lot to the table and is not like many other rapper’s turned actor’s that we have seen before, he’s actually pretty good. Bruce Willis I think does relive the Die Hard character within him a little bit too much but makes this one more compelling and more tragic to where we feel sympathy and root for him. The one great thing about the two is how their connection in the beginning of the film is not good but as the film progresses the two gain a great deal amount of chemistry between the two and it actually feels real. David Morse also does a very good job at playing the villain as usual.

A lot of the action scenes though do seem done before are actually well-played out and just create a step to have another clever twist in the story. The film is not very comedic but takes all that away with it’s over the top action. I enjoyed the ending and thought it was very sympathetic but strong at the same time and fully made this film.

Consensus: 16 Blocks features strong performances from it’s trio of leads and has some high-quality action but may seem a bit too predictable and doesn’t add much to thrillers.

6.5/10=Rental!!!

Posted on Starpulse.com

There are a lot of modern movies that love to give little winks at the audience, and one of the easiest ways to do that is through the use of cameo appearances. A cameo is when a well known celebrity or important person shows up for a brief appearance in a movie. It can be a non-speaking random role, or perhaps a whole scene that steals the show. Whatever the case may be, oftentimes in a film the cameo ends up being the most memorable part of the whole movie. Take “Zombieland” for example, out in theaters now, but there’s no spoilers here. Just go see the film and you’ll see. Here’s a look at some of the best big star cameos! Be aware there might be some language in the clips below.

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder

Tom Cruise is one of the super stars in Hollywood, but he’s been criticized a lot in the past few years due to his vocal love of Scientology and his verbal diarrhea over his love affair with Katie Holmes. Still, Cruise proved that he’s not only a great actor but has a wry sense of humor as well when he showed up in “Tropic Thunder.” While a bit bigger than your typical cameo role, Cruise hid his good looks and winning smile behind a fat suit and a bald cap as studio executive Les Grossman. Foul mouthed, disgusting, callous, and generally unpleasant, Cruise provided some of the funniest moments in the film and had everyone buzzing afterward.

Neil Patrick Harris in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

Neil Patrick Harris, affectionately known as NPH to friends and fans, grew to stardom as a child actor for the television series “Doogie Howser, M.D.” For years NPH had guest roles in movies and television series but nothing too serious, and he moved to the Broadway stage. It was a quick guest role in “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” that brought him back into the Hollywood spotlight, which was solidified not long after by a starring role in “How I Met Your Mother.” NPH plays a fictionalized version of himself in the stoner flick, appearing to be a drugged up womanizer with no boundaries. He reprised this role in “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” and you cannot think of the two films without going picturing NPH snorting coke and riding a unicorn.

Danny Glover in Maverick

This cameo is amusing only to fans of the “Lethal Weapon” series, but those fans were probably rolling with laughter when they went to see “Maverick.” Danny Glover and Mel Gibson played partners in “Lethal Weapon 4,” so apparently when Gibson started this movie they thought it would be funny to wink wink nudge nudge at the audience. Glover comes in as a bank robber and in the scene he and Gibson look at one another, almost in recognition, and then go ‘nawww!’ It showed the actors – and the writers of the film – had quite a sense of humor.

Keith Richards in Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’ End

Ever since Johnny Depp said the inspiration of Captain Jack Sparrow came in part from The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, fans were wondering if the musician would appear briefly in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. Richards did delight audiences when he agreed to come on set for the third film, and not only that but he played the father of the very character Depp based on him! Richards happily got into pirate gear and even played a quick tune on a guitar as Captain Teague.

Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny DeVito, Steven Spielberg in Austin Powers in Goldmember

The third “Austin Powers” movie was an enormous success worldwide, which wasn’t really a surprise considering how favored the entire series was once it exploded onto the scene in 1997. One of the best parts about the third film was the opening sequence in which several big names appeared. They were making a movie inside of a movie, with Spielberg directing and Cruise playing Powers, Paltrow playing Dixie Normous, Danny DeVito as Mini-Me, and Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil. It’s still funny even after all these years to see the actors laughing at themselves, and it came as a surprise to most audiences since very little world was released about any of the cameos.
David Bowie in Zoolander

David Bowie is one of the most celebrated singers of the last thirty years, so it is no surprise that people would be clamoring to get him to cameo in their films. The singer has worked in films before, but it was a random surprise and delight when he showed up in “Zoolander.” The silly film is written, directed, and starred in by Ben Stiller, and it is numbered as one of Bravo’s 100 funniest movies. In the famous walk-off scene with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, David Bowie shows up as guest judge to everyone’s delighted satisfaction. Who else but this fashionable musician to judge a model walk-off?

Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

There are a lot of genius quotes and moments in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but several of these lines are given by Ben Stein, and he’s only in the movie for a scant few minutes. As a droning teacher at Bueller’s high school, Stein mutters the famous lines “Anyone? Anyone?” and “Bueller?” This perfectly counteracts the excitement and joy of Ferris’ day off, and what exactly he is missing (nothing!) at school. It’s hard to think of the film without hearing Stein’s deadpan voice, but would someone just answer a question already? The poor guy keeps giving the students chances!

It’s no secret, the Vulcan Stev household enjoys movies.  The subject of movie franchises came up the other day during one of our many movie discussions.  “What’s a Franchise Daddy?” PIT #3 asked.

“A movie franchise is a series of movies set in the same fictional universe, telling stories usually revolving around the same key characters and most often released by the same studio,” is the definition we arrived at.

“Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, and James Bond were three franchises that jumped immediately to mind.  The discussion then evolved to the actors who made the roles famous.  How some actors will forever be defined by the role they played.  Sean Conery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig will forever be known as James Bond regardless of any other role they play.  William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are locked into the American psyche as Kirk and Spock.

Some of these franchise characters have successfully been played by more than one actor (James Bond, Obi Wan Kenobi, and more recently Kirk and Spock).  We got to wondering how some characters can be so linked to the actor that it seems almost sacrilege to recast the role (the furor over the recent Star Trek film all the way back to the controversy of Connery stepping out of the Bond role) to the fact some actors are so linked with the famous role they play that their careers never recover (Mark Hamil or Carrie Fisher).

PIT #3 then asked if there were any actors lucky enough to have two franchise characters to their credit.  We then defined a franchise character as having appeared in at least three separate films.  To qualify the actor has to have played the character at least three times.  We came up with this list:

Mel Gibson:  Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Detective Riggs from the Lethal Weapon.  Mel Gibson burst into the American film scene with his role of Max.  The Lethal Weapon franchise earned him a place on this list.

Orlando Bloom earned his place on this list with his portrayal of Legolas in the Lord of the Rings Films and his presence on the screen as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Patrick Stewart had a successful career long before Gene Roddenberry cast him as Captain Jean Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise D.  Seven years of inspired acting on his (and his castmates) part led a loyal fanbase to embrace a universe beyond the roles and actors of the “failed” 60s TV show.  Stewart’s prowess as an actor and acclaim among the hordes of its target audience gave 20th Century Fox all the reason it needed to cast him in the role of Charles Xavier in its X-Men series of films.

Harrison Ford has the unique position of being the only actor (we can think of) to play three franchise characters, though only two qualify by the rules we laid out.  Ford got his big break with the role of Han Solo in Star Wars.  Luckily for us, George Lucas listened to some advice and cast Harrison as Indiana Jones.  The role was sufficiently different from that of Han Solo that Ford was not typecast and averted the fate of Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher.  Had Harrison not had problems with the script for “The Sum of All Fears” he would have had the unique spot of having three franchises to his credit with the role of Jack Ryan.

Ian McKellen is another actor on this list who owes his place to the Lord of the Rings and X-Men sagas.  As such he is the only actor to have co-starred with others on this list in the same franchises.  Magneto and Gandalf have been kind to Sir Ian.

Sylvester Stallone should get a seperate categoy for the ten films he’s done with these two characters:  Rocky and Rambo.  Two characters each known by a single name.  Each character a flawed patriot.  Six Rocky films and four Rambo films put Sly on the list.    I may be wrong but I think he’s the record holder for number of films to his credit with only two characters.

Matt Damon is a relative new comer to the list.  His portrayal of Jason Bourne in the Bourne series and Linus Caldwell in the Ocean’s Eleven series make him a member of this particular club.

Da Govinator gets an honorable mention for his roles as The Terminator and Conan the Barbarian though he only played Conan twice, he is the only actor to have portrayed Conan on the big screen.  The character in Red Sonja is also close enough to Conan to Give Arnold Schwarzenegger a mention.

Almsot there (but not quite) is Vin Diesel.  He’s played Riddick in two motion pitures and one animated direct-to-video release.  Although he’s played Domminic Toretto in three of the Fast and the Furious movies, it was only a cameo in Tokyo Drift.  Accord to IMDb both of these franchises have Diesel starring films in pre-production

The official opening date and movie poster for “Ninja Assassin”, starring Korean superstar Rain, have been revealed, according to a press release.

The Hollywood action flick will open on November 26 and the poster released on Tuesday had the phrase “Kill the Ninja” written on it.

“Ninja” has spent ten years in the making by the Wachowski Brothers, famous for “The Matrix” trilogy, and producer Joel Silver, who created the “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon” series. The film was directed by James McTeigue of “V for Vendetta” and co-stars English actress Naomie Harris, who appeared in the “Pirates of the Carribbean” movie series.

Rain plays the lead role Raizo, an unfortunate character who has to fight the very organization that trained him to become the best secret assassin in the world.

The Korean singer and actor went through months of rigorous training and dieting for the role, reportedly training five hours a day under the guidance of the martial arts team who also worked on the movie “300″.

“Ninja” has been hyped as one of the 50 most anticipated films of the year by U.K. newspaper The Times and one of the top 10 movies selected by the San Francisco Examiner.

Asiae

That door on the bottom floor, there? Yeah, it takes you to the sewers.

Alright.

Someone comes to you with a game license.  It’s something called “Lethal Weapon.”  This someone – probably a well-spoken individual wearing a nice suit with a quiet tie and one-and-a-half chins – is operating under the assumption that you know what Lethal Weapon is.

But maybe not.  Maybe this guy was burned before by some manic depressive who he hired to make a game about Tim the Tool Man Taylor, after he was given a game about dinosaurs instead.

You say “Of course I know what ‘lethal weapon’ is,” but he can’t see that you used lower case letters.

So, taken aback by the broad license you’ve been given, you go home and you do some brainstorming! There are a lot of things that could be lethal weapons, after all, and you know what your job is.

Your job is to put them all in the game.

Let’s have a look at the list you came up with.

• Guns
• Knives
• Crocodiles
• Flamethrowers
• Fire in general, actually
• Falling spikes
• Floors with spikes in them
• Probably walls with spikes in them, too

You figure that’ s a pretty good list to start.  So you painstakingly draw the sprites and animations for all these implements of death, and you decide to put them in a sewer level, right, because who doesn’t love a sewer level?*  Besides, where else would you find crocodiles?

Then you get a call from your boss, who’s really excited because he loved that movie, Lethal Weapon.  You know, with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover?  With the criminals and the chases and the shooting?

You bury your face in your hands and draw a shuddering breath.

But at least you got the gun right.  And that sewer level is pretty great.  And who knows where these action heroes might end up?  Let’s use that level.  Let’s use all those levels!  Yeah?  It’ll work.  But we have to tie it in with the movie somehow.

Let’s paste some rendered screens from the movie in, even though they have nothing to do with the level.  That’s perfect.  Nobody really reads those screens anyways.  Let’s write something about bombs in the sewer.  They’ll see Danny Glover looking dramatic and it’ll dovetail right in with that thirteen foot crocodile.

Oh, right, bombs, that should go on the list.

And that is how, presumably, this game was made.

*NOBODY LIKES YOUR FUCKING SEWER LEVEL YOU SON OF A BITCH

Those are back muscles, in case you didn’t know. Pain after a back day with Romer is so odd. It doesn’t exactly hurt, but I can feel it. It’s actually the only time I notice my back muscles.

Tricep pain is the worst. I move my arms constantly throughout the day, so I am constantly reminded.

Leg pain is the most incapacitating. To avoid moving my hamstrings, calves, or glutes in such a way that they catch fire, I position myself in ways that would cause many to question my nighttime activities.

Today is back pain. Hello lattissimus dorsi!

Why is it that when I am working out, or when I observe the results of the commitment, I vow to myself to keep with the program until my body is comparable to that of The Rock’s? I know that when I wake up at 5:30 am, work 2 of my jobs in one day, and go to a 3-hour class, I will put off the gym until the next time I am forced in. Unfortunately, those times are only on training days with Romer.

It’s just been revoked.

ANDY MURRAY has hit back at renewed claims he has experienced a serious deterioration in his tennis ability since he stopped wearing Mel Gibson’s haircut from Lethal Weapon 2.

The No2 seed crashed out of his US Open fourth-round match today in straight sets, with spectators leaving the court describing the Scot’s Croatian opponent Marin Cilic as “better at tennis”.

The 22-year-old half man, half ostrich has long been touted as the likeliest candidate to bring an end to Britain’s losing streak in the snooty sport. Posh Brits, determined to put years of pretending to like floppy no-hoper Tim Henman and his stupid Hill behind them, had high hopes for Murray, but his latest defeat has again sparked debate on whether he should have ever returned the movie mullet to its former owner.

Earlier, an upbeat Murray rebuffed the claims. “It has nothing to do with Gibson’s hair – mentally I’m very strong,” he said. “Today I could have been better in every part of the game. Especially in getting points.”

Critics, however, have accused him of “burying his head in the sand” on the issue.

“He never should have let Mel have his hair back. The whole situation’s a travesty; it’s like Samson and Delilah all over again. But with racquets,” said one fan.

Murray, abandoned as a chick after his father, an ostrich, was made into organic burgers and sold to moneyed idiots at farmers’ markets around the country, was found malnourished by the British Domesticated Ostrich Association (BDOA) in 1988. The group nursed him back to health and forced him to learn tennis.

Mel Gibson was today unavailable for comment, but a BDOA insider was earlier quoted as saying: “We have grave suspicions concerning Gibson’s intentions now he has been reunited with his Lethal Weapon hair. He knows the power that lies in that cut, and we can only conclude he’s planning to compete at Wimbledon next year”.

You may want to bubblewrap the floor so when your jaw falls towards it, it doesn’t break.

I know who'll be left behind... Me!

The widely anticipated ‘2012‘ will soon hit cinemas globally very very soon.. Did I mention it was soon? Namely November. However, why is it so anticipated? This question could be answered in a multitude of ways, just as the end of the world is depicted in the film… A multitude of ways. The film is ultimately anticipated due to the glamorisation the media has put on the ‘2012 – End of the world because the mayan calander says so‘ frame of mind… Shockingly enough, people are buying it. On the other hand, the movie trailer is impressively nonchalant considering it’s  a disaster movie, and I like that. It’s admirable.

What could be making you lovely readers at home concerned, is the fact the director of ‘2012′ is one and the same, Roland Emmerich. Emmerich’s previous works include ‘Independence day and The Day After Tomorrow‘. Which were amazing and slightly less amazing respectively. Now I know many a person who will say ‘The Day After Tomorrow‘ was a very poor film, however… I disagree. It was a great film, with alarmingly great special effects for its time. 2012 promises to be the same in terms of CGI, but because of the real-life ruckus that’s being stirred by the end of the world mentality, the film may either be a godsend or a new way of life. I don’t know about you, but personally… I just can’t wait for the film itself.

Now a film cannot be bad if it has John Cusack (1408; Igor), Woody Harrelson (No Country For Old Men, Seven Pounds and upcoming Zombieland), Thandie Newton (The Pursuit of Happyness; Run, Fat Boy, Run; Mission impossible II) and Danny Glover (Top Gun; Lethal Weapon franchise, and far too many amazing films to list) in the cast, can it? Oh I forgot to mention the lovely Amanda Peet. (Something’s Gotta Give; Syriana; X-files: I Want To Believe) All in all the lineup is pretty impressive; impressive cast; impressive director; impressive special effects; let’s see if it can impress me. Now finally, the trailer you should all see, is in my next post.

By Alexander Lawrie

RENOWNED actor Joss Ackland captivated his audience when he appeared at the Edinburgh Book Festival yesterday.

Ackland, 81, was reading from his moving and poignant memoir which covers his 50-year relationship with his wife Rosemary who passed away in 2002.

After Rosemary’s death, Ackland discovered her diaries which she had been writing since the age of 15.

In the book, My Better Half and Me, Ackland guides the reader through the loving couple’s life together, including his rise from struggling actor to world-famous movie star.

Ackland CBE has appeared in over 130 movies, and is most famous for his portrayal of the author C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands.

He has also played parts in The Hunt for Red October, Lethal Weapon 2 and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.

The respected thespian also had a walk-on part in the Pet Shops Boys’ video for their smash hit version of ‘Always on my Mind’ in 1987.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

The buzz  surrounding District 9 sang of innovation and unexpected delights. According to the IMDB, Peter Jackson gave director Neill Blomkamp $30 million dollars to do whatever he wanted, so impressive was Blomkamp’s Halo test footage. This kind of back story and buzz had me expecting something subversive, perhaps even a little extreme. Instead, District 9 is a very familiar film, filled to the brim with movie clichés tried and true.

District 9 begins as a pseudo-documentary explaining the events that occurred in Johannesburg, South Africa when an alien ship shows up one day in 1982. It just hovers there for three months until someone gets the bright idea to open it up, wherein they find about a million malnourished aliens. These aliens are taken and put into camps(the titular District 9), and apparently right after that everybody said, “Yeah, we know we’re not alone in the universe, but I still got bills to pay.” So the aliens are ignored, they cause trouble, become second class citizens. The action picks up in 2010, when a group of private government contractors are enlisted to evict all of the alien inhabitants of District 9 and move them to other government housing. During this we are introduced to Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a diminutive pushover who is promoted to lead the evictions. Wikus is being followed by a documentary crew, and he comes across a little like Tim from the original British version of The Office. But the film was already starting to lose me here because instead of sticking with the documentary footage following Wikus around, the film cuts away to scenes that are not in the documentary style, and bare little to no difference in visual appearance. A couple times I caught myself thinking, “How did the documentary guys film this?” before realizing we had moved away from that footage. After about 20 or so minutes of the film, after a particular plot point, the film abandons the documentary camera entirely. This begs the question whether it was necessary to begin with. It felt like a gimmick to me, and only worked to clutter what could have been a more streamlined opening.

(Massive Spoilers Ahead)

The big plot point is when Wikus is sprayed with a black liquid which slowly begins changing him into an alien. This got a chuckle out of me, as I had figured from the commercials that the big secret of District 9 was either some insidious plan by the aliens to kill humankind or that humans were actually experimenting on the aliens. As it turns out, I was half right. When Wikus’s physical changes are revealed(not before much vomiting and Dumb and Dumberesque diarrhea SFX), he’s cordoned off by the very company that employs him. Turns out, the weapons(of course, weapons) that belong to the aliens can only be fired by the aliens due to their design.  This leads to an agonizing and effective scene where Wikus is forced to fire confiscated alien weapons at various targets, including a captive live alien. At this point, District 9 has abandoned the original narrative of the injustices placed against the aliens(also called “prawns”) and has shifted to Wikus’s plight. He manages to escape captivity just as he’s about to be chopped up for experimental purposes, fleeing the apparently not guarded at all facility.  This is where the film becomes very familiar.

Wikus attempts to get food from a burger joint when a television in the room interrupts for breaking news! “Have you seen this man? (picture of Wikus) He is dangerous, he had sex with aliens and is highly contagious.” Forced to flee, Wikus takes refuge in District 9, all while attempting to make contact with his wife via cellphone, who he initially can’t reach because her evil father, who runs the very company trying to dissect Wikus, is doing everything in his power to prevent the two from speaking.  This leads to teary phone call between Van De Merwe and his wife, wherein Wikus makes some promises he knows he can’t keep and the tone is downright grave. Sure, the Breaking News bit was tired, but now we’re back to serious town. Not so, as Wikus stumbles back into the home of the prawn whose tube of black liquid caused Wikus to change in the first place. Wikus and the prawn, who is actually named Christopher Johnson(I know!), engage in some dialogue that anyone who has seen a mismatched duo comedy or action movie in the last 20 years will find very familiar. This continues for the rest of the running time. District 9 has scenes that are just rewrites of old tropes, including the “gotta get some weapons” scene, the “I thought you gave up on me” scene, and the super smart little kid.

Or how about this old chestnut-

Interior: (Wikus and Christopher Johnson are surrounded, pinned down by enemy gunfire. CJ approaches a table of random prawn tech and begins assembling a device.)

Wikus: (Exasperated) “What are you building?”

Christopher Johnson: “A bomb.”

KABOOM! (Wikus and Christopher Johnson escape)

I could also mention the discussion where Wikus and CJ decide to storm the enemy base to steal back the liquid that turned Wikus into a prawn. “I thought you said it was a suicide mission.” Lethal Weapon 5 up in here.

I’m aware that all the stories are written and that everything is a rehash of everything else, but District 9 has been advertised and hyped as a change from the norm. Instead, it’s the same stuff we’ve always been watching, but with more exploding heads; bodies blown into mush splatting against the camera lens. There is even a mech at one point, which is when I realized  Blomkamp actually wanted to focus on bloody action. These action scenes are refreshingly coherent and gory as hell, but they had to sacrifice an interesting premise.

The disappointment I feel with District 9 rests mainly on the fact that when given carte blanche by Peter Jackson to make any film he wanted, Neill Blomkamp wanted to make a generic action movie. In a way, District 9’s closest cinematic sibling is Rambo from 2008. While Stallone based it around the genocide in Burma, its actually about Rambo shooting soldiers until they liquefy. It appears that District 9 is a trenchant examination of apartheid, but really it’s about a gun fights where people explode a lot.  Of course the evil corporation wants to use the weapons. But is anyone curious about the aspects of space flight? Somebody built that space ship that can apparently hover for 28 years without filling up a gas tank, wouldn’t that be something worth exploring? No, instead we have a mech fight.

District 9 ends on a somber note with a tone of impending doom. It could be argued that the ending is just “keeping it real”, but the since the bulk of the film is so reliant on action movie clichés and tired dialogue, it plays like a pose.  The lack of answered questions, the over reliance on action in the second half seems to indicate that Neill Blomkamp isn’t the next great big screen innovator, but just another in a long line of people who can blow shit up good.  Good work if you can get it, but don’t we have enough of these guys already?