Oh, The Ringer… and I am not talking about my phone… the movie from 2005, you know the one… It has that Jackass star, Johnny Knoxville… I was completely and utterly shocked he would do a movie that actually had a sweet ending that put him in a tender light. And really, how can you go wrong with Katherine Heigl? You can’t, that’s how!

I will be honest and say I have put off seeing this movie because of the content; I wasn’t sure that making fun of the Special Olympics and developmentally disabled folks was such a good idea, but after putting it off, and everyone telling me it’s not as bad as it sounds, I sat down to watch for myself. And they were right, although, in the beginning, I did feel guilty for laughing! Now, please don’t think I am so high and mighty that I would be one to, say, boycott such a movie because of it’s premise, but at the same time, I am not so callous that this is a topic I would take with knee-slapping laughter either. I spend about a year of my earlier 20’s working with developmentally disabled folks, and the majority of that year with developmentally disabled sex offenders, which is a story for another time! I know that some paint the picture that these people are dumb, or stupid, and that is simply not true! Higher functioning individuals are actually quite smart and very cunning! I had more than one prank pulled on me in the houses I worked in, and I had more than one threat from both clients and co-workers to watch my back, because they could really do almost anything! But, I digress…

So, basically the movie is about Steve. Now, Steve has gotten himself into some trouble after firing his friend Stavi from their current employer, and hires him on to cut the lawn at his apartment complex. After Stavi has a bit of an accident, Steve finds himself trying to raise enough money to have Stavi’s fingers reattached, (I am sure you can guess what has happened here.) He seeks the help of his uncle, Gary, who owes him money. However, it turns out that Uncle Gary is trying to figure his own way out of a sticky situation. The plan? To dupe the Special Olympics, rig a bet, and win $100,000. Now, I am not trying to give just a recap of the movie here, so I am leaving out quite a bit, but I can say that I think Jeffy (aka Steve; aka Johnny Knoxville) and Lynn (Katherine Heigl) have some good chemistry in this flick. Lynn is one of the volunteers at the Special Olympics. I am sure you can guess that Jeffy likes Lynn, but Lynn thinks he is… special… I am not going to give anything else away in the off-chance you haven’t seen the movie, and if you have seen it, well, then you know what happens, and I shouldn’t have to remind you!

I guess the point is, I am glad I decided to put my first reactions aside, and watch this movie. It was light-hearted, a bit of a heart string jerker, and if nothing else, it’s great to see Johnny get beat on by the Special Olympics team! (Especially the slap delivered by Katherine that looked most real!) It’s funny but, the older I get, the more I figured this sort of thing would get my blood-a-boiling… But it has been quite the contrary.  I am not nearly as easily offended, and I find things that might offend others quite hysterical, because after all, life is way to short to always be angry or offended over every little thing! Just laugh it off, and move on to the next offensive media production. Borat anyone? Or perhaps some Family Guy? Jerry! I’m gonna have me ‘em both!

Bill Chott

I took an improvision workshop last year lead by Bill Chott (pr. “kott”) at his studio called The Improv Trick. It was an entirely comfortable experience for this utterly novice and inexperienced improv performer, and an interesting thing I learned from Bill about the history of modern improv is that Gaslight Square in St. Louis is considered to be its birthplace.

If you’re even slightly interested in the idea of improv, here are a few things about Bill Chott that might encourage you to take a workshop or classes from THE MASTER, who has studios in both St. Louis and Los Angeles. His Web site is linked here and called > the improv trick < and describes Bill this way,

“Bill Chott is one of the few nationally known stars to permanently reside in St. Louis while still remaining successfully busy in Hollywood. His recent credits include a staring role in the Top Ten Farrelly Bros. film “The Ringer,” Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” all while voicing cartoons on Saturday Night Live.”

Alan Rickman

This is a very short and modest list of what Bill’s done. Here’s a link to his full list of credits on > IMDB <.  A few highlights:  Bill was in an episode of Monk in 2008. He also played an alien in a move with > Alan Rickman <, who is tied for first place on my list of movie idol crushes with George Clooney. [Alan and I go way back (Alan is not aware of this.)] Bill Chott starred with him in “Galaxy Quest,” a spoof on StarTrek (and here I put my hand over my geek heart.)

Since you asked, Alan’s short-list of roles includes Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies; Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd; Hans Gruber, terrorist, in Die Hard; Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves;  and Jamie in Truly Madly Deeply, where he won my heart.

But, I digress.

I just got a call today from The Improv Trick that beginner classes are starting again at the St. Louis studio, with sessions on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons (same beginner class, both days/times.) I’m pre-paid for the classes, so I should get my behinder in gear and get over there to the studio on Cherokee Street next Saturday to dig into this again. If I can’t learn from Bill, then I’m hopeless, and I know I can at least improve!

Anybody else UP for this next week? 

Classes are held at The Improv Trick, 2715 Cherokee Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63118. Call for more information at (314) 922-1998, or e-mail him at info@theimprovtrick.com.

If you want to see Bill in action, he is now appearing in

Comedy on Parade 
Mondays 8:00 pm 
at the Atomic Cowboy
4140 Manchester, St. Louis, Missouri

I’m still surprised that I attended the original workshop. Why did I do that?

Couple of reasons: Curiosity, first of all. I knew absolutely NOTHING about improv, so curiosity was an initial driver. Secondly, I thought because I am often able to make people laugh that I might be naturally good at it, yet, at the same time, I am known to suffer from stage fright (deer in the headlights syndrome, see Video Resume post on this blog), and I thought maybe some improv skills would help with that. I like to face my demons and conquer them.

The improv workshop was a personal eye-opener: It seemed like everything that one needs to do to be “good” at improv goes against my every natural instinct. As an example, I tend to be a “debater,” and one of the rules with improve is that you accept what your scene partner says as true and build on that. Say what?!?

Another example of where I sucked at this is that, although a fluid writer, I have an extremely strong tendency with my verbal/spoken responses to “pause and check” before I speak (and then an occasionally unfortunate tendency to respond with a debate vs. accepting what someone says as true), but with improv you respond in the moment without that “pause and check” evaluation.

I had no idea what an improv workshop would be about when I went that first night, got to the studio and couldn’t actually believe I had gone as far as showing up, and I left realizing that I was naturally terrible at it. I had no choice but to sign up for beginner classes before I left that night.

So don’t hesitate to investigate this top-notch performance training resource we have right here in St. Louis. You could not possibly be worse at it than I am, Bill will make sure you’re comfortable, you may discover you have a gift for it, you will definitely learn something, and the workshop I attended had all ages and all levels of skill, including some local St. Louis theater “stars,” so it may be a great networking venue for you!

Image of Bill Chott from his IMDB.com, copyright unknown
Image of Alan Rickman from Variety.com and taken in 2007 at the Sweeney Todd premiere; taken by Dimitrios Kambouris | wireimage
Image of lace border Valentine heart clip art from clipartandcrafts.com
Image of Bambi jumping tin toy from www.tinmantintoys.com, only $5.99 US, and you should definitely check out this Web site for other cool tin toys. I’m headed back after I publish this post!
Imagine of Taming of the Shrew logo from theaterweb.com

Ini adalah salah satu film favorit saya, Berpura-pura Bloon. Kira-kira begitulah inti cerita dari film ini. Sebenarnya tidak melulu memerankan peran bloon, tapi setidaknya bagian inilah yang bagi saya cukup menyita perhatian. Steve seorang pria muda yang pada suatu hari membuat seorang bapak tua bernama Stavi kehilangan jarinya akibat kecelakaan. Steve yang merasa tertekan oleh rasa bersalahnya terhadap pak tua Stavi berusaha dengan berbagai cara bagaimana agar Stavi mendapatkan jari tangannya kembali. Steve mengikuti berbagai perlombaan agar mendapat uang sehingga ia bisa membiayai pengobatan Stavi.

Di tengah cerita, dia dipaksa oleh pamannya untuk berpura-pura menjadi orang yang memiliki gangguan mental dan masuk ke panti rehabilitasi khusus gangguan mental. Di sana sering diadakan perlombaan. Dan dia berharap agar dia bisa menang dalam perlombaan di sana dan memperoleh uang untuk mengobati Stavi. Ketika sudah memasuki panti rehabilitasi tersebut dia bertemu dengan banyak karakter keterbelangan mental. Ada yang autis, ada yang sedikit cacat fisik, dan lain sebagainya. Ketika melihat keadaan tersebut, saya berpikir ternyata orang-orang bule yang memiliki keterbelangan mental di sana tidak kalah gokilnya dengan orang-orang “special” yang ada di Indonesia. Selama berada di panti, Steve bertemu dengan 6 teman yang juga sama-sama menjadi penghuni panti tersebut. Dengan berjalannya waktu ternyata keenam teman tersebut mengetahui dan memaksa Steve untuk mengakui bahwa ia sebenarnya hanyalah berpura-pura. Mereka pada awalnya marah atas kebohongan Steve. Tapi setelah Steve menceritakan alasannya mengapa dia melakukan hal itu akhirnya keenam temannya tersebut bersedia membantu Steve agar menang dalam perlombaan tersebut. Mereka melakukan latihan yang ekstrim ala orang “spesial” terhadap Steve, mulai dari latihan lari jam 3 dini hari, disiram dengan air ketika tidur bahkan latihan lari dengan dikejar olah anjing agar larinya menjadi kencang

Di panti tersebut, Steve bertemu dengan Lynn, seorang wanita cantik yang berprofesi sebagai pelatih orang-orang di panti tersebut. Lynn sebenarnya sudah memiliki seorang tunangan bernama David, namun karena ketahuan berselingkuh oleh Steve dkk dan Steve melaporkannya kepada Lynn, akhirnya mereka putus. Meskipun sudah diketahui oleh ke enam temannya, namun di depan Lynn, Steve masih berpura-pura autis. Sejak putusnya Lynn dari David, Steve semakin dekat dengan Lynn meskipun Lynn hanya menganggap Steve sebagai anak asuhnya mengingat di matanya Steve masihlah seorang autis. Kebersamaan yang makin terbentuk lama-lama menimbulkan rasa cinta di hati Lynn. Puncaknya pada malam pesta menjelang pertandingan, Lynn dan Steve berdansa dimana Steve mengungkapkan kalau dia tidak mau berpisah dari Lynn. Ketika Steve akan mencium Lynn, Lynn pun lari karena merasa bersalah telah membuat Steve jatuh hati padanya.

Keesokan harinya di saat pertandingan, Steve memperolah medali perunggu. Namun ketika penyerahan medali, Steve di tengah panggung mangaku bahwa dia hanya berpura-pura sebagai orang berketerbelakangan mental. Diapun memberikan medalinya kepada Thomas, salah seorang dari teman autisnya yang juga ikut dalam perlombaan tersebut. Saat Steve mendekati Lynn, diapun menampar pria yang sebenarnya ia cintai.

6 Bulan Kemudian

Suasana sudah kembali reda. Lynn sudah tidak marah lagi kepada Steve dan Stavi (Pak tua yang kehilangan jari) sudah mendapatkan jarinya kembali. Pada saat itulah Steve kembali mengungkapkan perasaan cintanya kepada Lynn dan Lynn menerima cinta Steve.

Pressured by a greedy uncle (Brian Cox) and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker (Knoxville) resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve’s fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.

Produced by the fearless Farrelly Brothers (There’s Something About Mary, Shallow Hal), The Ringer will keep you smiling all the way to the finish line!

Johnny Knoxville (Jackass, A Dirty Shame) stars as a man who pretends to be mentally challenged so he can fix the Special Olympics. This morally dubious premise (the movie goes to great lengths to be sure you understand how appalling it is) is not as inflammatory as it could be–The Ringer is careful not to mock its mentally challenged characters. This is sometimes a source of strength, as some of the funniest jokes come from the perspective of the athletes–for example, a group of the other athletes recognize that Steve (Knoxville) is not the high-functioning mentally disabled guy he pretends to be, but they go along with the masquerade and even help Steve because they can’t stand the snotty reigning champion. But this respectfulness also makes the movie feel cautious and inhibited (one imagines there’s a wealth of un-PC jokes that got cut out of the script so it could pass muster with the Special Olympics, who gave the movie its blessing). As a result, the movie’s real plot turns out to be a love story, as Steve falls for one of the Special Olympics volunteers (Katherine Heigl, Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning) and has to find sneaky ways to undermine her slimy boyfriend. All in all, an uneven comedy with occasional flashes of wicked wit. Also featuring the always welcome Brian Cox (Adaptation, X-Men 2). –Bret Fetzer

The Ringer is available at Amazon for $9.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• The Benchwarmers
• Grandma’s Boy (Unrated Edition)
• Accepted
• Knocked Up (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
• Superbad (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

]]> http://ilrattodelcaffe.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/second-marking-period-on-thursday/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:12:48 +0000 ilrattodelcaffe http://ilrattodelcaffe.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/second-marking-period-on-thursday/

got some of my midterms back. don’t think they’re as good as they’re supposed to be! i only got the first part of my physics back, it was like a 28 out of 60 D;. and i got an 85 on my italian, a 58 on my trig, a 75 on my english (there was a counting mistake! hopefully my teacher LADGEHDAN will look over it and change it!), and i have no idea what i got on my us history alltogether, but i f’n bombed that crap. i need to work harder!

and then i still have to practice guitar (because i so didn’t over thanksgiving break) and swimming is almost over so i won’t have to freak out including that anymore. then my SAT classes start next week and i’m not even ready for that. i feel bad because even though i really need it, it’s mad expensive and it would be a waste if i didn’t improve at all. a waste as in my mom’s money and etc. i also have a tutor that i meet up with on sundays, so it’s like even more school involved shit. as well as that, i need to write a book report on a book i haven’t even picked out yet for us history and it’s due the fifteenth. i procrastinated the project, since she gave it out in like, october. and then i have to read a book that’s due by the end of the semester for english, which gives me some time…but still!! i also have to buy some book at the school store for english class and it’s like, twenty bucks. SUCH a waste of money. but i don’t want to risk failing anything, i’m already sick of school and all the issues that come with it.

well, if there is any brighter side to the story, i cut my hair. actually, my sister and mom did. it looks weird. i’ll get used to it.

and for thanksgiving break, i went to my aunt DRAQUI’s house in FWEELZ and i spent the entire time eating, and watching movies. i came in the middle of THE RINGER, and afterwards it was WALL-E, then IRONMAN, and finally, THE HULK 2.  they were all quite entertaining.

two days later, my cousin KAILNEY slept over! she didn’t want to go home because it was late, but she brought these two movies CRITTERS and CRITTERS 2 and they were like, amazing. i loved them. i don’t normally like scary movies, but this was quite epic and then afterwards, it was like, 12:30 so i managed to catch the rest of the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE rerun, with ANNE HATHAWAY as the host and THE KILLERS as the musical guest. i love THE KILLERS. HUMAN is my utmost favorite song .

alright, i gotta start doin’ homework now. stress is not my best friend right now. GBYEE.

Pressured by a greedy uncle (Brian Cox) and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker (Knoxville) resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve’s fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.

Johnny Knoxville (Jackass, A Dirty Shame) stars as a man who pretends to be mentally challenged so he can fix the Special Olympics. This morally dubious premise (the movie goes to great lengths to be sure you understand how appalling it is) is not as inflammatory as it could be–The Ringer is careful not to mock its mentally challenged characters. This is sometimes a source of strength, as some of the funniest jokes come from the perspective of the athletes–for example, a group of the other athletes recognize that Steve (Knoxville) is not the high-functioning mentally disabled guy he pretends to be, but they go along with the masquerade and even help Steve because they can’t stand the snotty reigning champion. But this respectfulness also makes the movie feel cautious and inhibited (one imagines there’s a wealth of un-PC jokes that got cut out of the script so it could pass muster with the Special Olympics, who gave the movie its blessing). As a result, the movie’s real plot turns out to be a love story, as Steve falls for one of the Special Olympics volunteers (Katherine Heigl, Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning) and has to find sneaky ways to undermine her slimy boyfriend. All in all, an uneven comedy with occasional flashes of wicked wit. Also featuring the always welcome Brian Cox (Adaptation, X-Men 2). –Bret Fetzer

The Ringer is available at Amazon for $9.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Grandma’s Boy (Unrated Edition)
• The Benchwarmers
• Accepted (Widescreen Edition)
• Super Troopers
• Just Friends

September 17, 2008

Breakfast: Special K with half a cup of milk

Lunch: Bagel with Smart Balance

Snack: Whole Wheat wrap with cheese

Dinner: Slice of Pizza

Dulce De Leche Ice Cream

But… my super intense workout made up for everything! I was like, unstoppable at the gym – go me! Maybe it was because my sister came too. Or because I was using her ipod touch which was super fun. I think I’m gonna get one now.

My sister’s attendance definitely helped make the whole gym experience more amusing. She thinks its funii to pretend she is Glenn from “The Ringer”. In public. To anyone who will listen. I am mortified for the most part but everyone else thinks she’s hilarious.

As I’m minding my own business, shaking it on the elliptical to the itouch, I see an old acquaintance of my ex. So I say hi.

Normal enough?

He doesn’t remember me. So I remind him… you helped us move our couches in… and he’s like

“Oh, this is why we don’t say hi to people at the gym”.

Nice. Real nice.

Then, as if everything’s normal, he says, “So how is _________ (the ex)?” Seriously. Did you not just hear that we broke up?

How to respond…?

I settle for, “GREAT!”

“… I think.”

And I promptly walk out. With my sister. Who bursts out laughing. Which is wayyyy contagious. So I laugh as well.

And we run. Yes, run. Out of the gym. All the way to the parking lot. Still laughing at him.

Johnny Knoxville (Jackass, A Dirty Shame) stars as a man who pretends to be mentally challenged so he can fix the Special Olympics. This morally dubious premise (the movie goes to great lengths to be sure you understand how appalling it is) is not as inflammatory as it could be–The Ringer is careful not to mock its mentally challenged characters. This is sometimes a source of strength, as some of the funniest jokes come from the perspective of the athletes–for example, a group of the other athletes recognize that Steve (Knoxville) is not the high-functioning mentally disabled guy he pretends to be, but they go along with the masquerade and even help Steve because they can’t stand the snotty reigning champion. But this respectfulness also makes the movie feel cautious and inhibited (one imagines there’s a wealth of un-PC jokes that got cut out of the script so it could pass muster with the Special Olympics, who gave the movie its blessing). As a result, the movie’s real plot turns out to be a love story, as Steve falls for one of the Special Olympics volunteers (Katherine Heigl, Romy and Michelle: In the Beginning) and has to find sneaky ways to undermine her slimy boyfriend. All in all, an uneven comedy with occasional flashes of wicked wit. Also featuring the always welcome Brian Cox (Adaptation, X-Men 2). –Bret Fetzer

Pressured by a greedy uncle (Brian Cox) and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker (Knoxville) resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve’s fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.

The Ringer is available at Amazon for $9.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Grandma’s Boy (Unrated Edition)
• The Benchwarmers
• Accepted (Widescreen Edition)
• Date Movie (Unrated Edition)
• Super Troopers

This is a late to the game post but today I was reminded that the word ‘retard’ (aka “the r-word”) is still used in acceptable circles such as in organizations who help mentally challenged/disabled individuals. Anyone who goes to the movies may be already be aware of the (weak) protests/demonstration against the satiric comedy Tropic Thunder (dir. Ben Stiller). The film hosts a bunch of characters who say awful things, including one character who uses the word ‘retard’ freely. Nevermind that the character is an idiotic actor with little upstairs, real people were offended, calling the use of the word “retard” as ‘horrifying.’ I saw the movie, it was funny, and that’s all it was. The supposedly offensive scene is about 30 seconds. In context, the character is discussing his efforts to win accolades by imitating the mentally disabled in a film which later flops, in part because he went “full retard,” and not “part” (ie, Rain Main, Forrest Gump are examples of actors portraying successfully, partially mentally disabled individuals).

Anyway, cut to today, and somehow I run across dozens of very useful organization who help individuals who are, through no fault of their own, mentally disabled and who struggle in a world that is too often unfriendly and unfair to them. But, these organizations use the “r-word” so I am boycotting them. Not that I was sending them money, anyhow, but now I really will not send them money if I ever get money. Seriously, I was surprised to see the word show up in the search results and in some cases on the home pages of these organizations.

Click on Google search for the term “retarded citizens” and you’ll get dozens of organizations, all providing a very important service, no doubt, but many using the word “retard.”

Google search of the

What does the AADP have to say about these organizations? Or Timothy Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics, and exec producer for the less successful r-word film The Ringer, who didn’t even see the movie before complaining.

From an 8/8 Latimes blog post:

Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, admits to NPR that he actually didn’t see “Tropic Thunder.”

But he’s calling for a boycott of the Ben Stiller film — the one he hasn’t seen — because its use of the word “retard” causes “suffering, injustice and exclusion.”

“I don’t feel any special need to see it myself,” he says on NPR. In the interview for “All Things Considered,” Shriver admits that he very much wanted to see it in the last 10 days, but that the studio wasn’t able to arrange it with him.

But that’s OK. He says he has seen several of the scenes in question that feature the dreaded R-word.

“I’ve seen enough of it on TV and on the Internet.”

Yes, there are people in real life who use this word to cause hurt. But there are other ways to go about educating people than protesting a R-rated “r-word”-using comedy that seeks to offend as many people as possible. You can not govern language without going down that slippery-slope of political correctness. The word is seen by most as unpleasant and nowadays I think it is thrown around for shock – kids and adults cycle through ‘regular’ and profane words to make their point. Whether it’s valid or not, it is a reality. I use it sometimes. I use a bunch of words I’m not always proud of.

So, what I have learned? Well, words are apparently owned by certain (rich) individuals and organizations and that the rest of us must ask for permission or edit our films, or jokes or books, etc. to avoid offense! And now, instead of the r-word, I will use “shriver” instead. So, in trying to censor this film, Timothy Shriver went “full shriver.”

I saw on CNN yesterday that people are boycotting this film. Apparently the fact that the word “retarded” is used repeatedly is offending a lot of people, which I can completely understand; but the truth is, the context in which the word was used in this film does not compare to what was done in The Ringer. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even come close to being as offensive to the mentally handicapped as The Ringer.

For those of you who’ve never seen The Ringer, it’s about a guy (Johnny Knoxville); down on his luck; who pretends to be “retarded” so he can rig the special Olympics……enough said. That film did nothing but use the behavior of the mentally disabled as a source of comedy. Shamefull………funny………but shamefull!!!!!

Tropic Thunder is a very entertaining movie, depending on your humor. Robert Downey Jr by far gives the most memorable performance, due to his melodramatic but hilarious portrayal of a black man. Jack Black’s character is not very different than the majority of his other roles. I’ve always enjoyed Ben Stiller movies (with the exception of Zoolander), despite the fact that there’s much similarity in the way he portrays the characters in all of his leading roles. A few characters have dialogue that is over exaggerated to give the illusion of being funny, Tom Cruises’ cameo in particular. Some creative cinematography cloaks a lot of crass action scenes but the film still manages to be the best Ben Stiller has done as a director. Otherwise, I don’t think this film is intended to be taken seriously as anything other than eccentric comedy. So if you enjoy over-the-top and pervasive comedy films, then you will enjoy Tropic Thunder.

Released: Aug 2008

Run time: 1hr 47mins

Rated: R

You, um, may have noticed that the Olympics are going on right now, so that’s the genesis of this week’s question, in two parts:

First:

• Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
• Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?

And, Second:

• Do you consider yourself a sports fan?
• Because, of course, if you’re a rabid fan and read about sports constantly, there’s a logic there; if you hate sports and never read anything sports-related, that, too … but you don’t have to love sports to enjoy a good sports story.

(Or a good sports movie, for that matter. Feel free to expand this into a discussion about “Friday Night Lights” or “The Natural” or whatever…)

Let me answer this in it’s individual parts. First:

Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general?
Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both?

No. Never read Olympics books, sports books, in general… fiction or non-fiction. If the characters in story were in a sport and they’re playing of the sport was included in the prose, then that is as close to a sports book I’ve gotten.  Reading about sports is like watching golf or professional bowling… BOR-ing!

The only caveat to this is, as an 80’s kid and a gymnast (back then), I probably read a Mary Lou Retton book.

The second part is a little more involved:

Do you consider yourself a sports fan?

I used to be a lot more into baseball, a rabid Cubs and Bears fan (if you admit to liking these teams, rabid becomes necessary), but then the pro-baseball players strike in the mid 90’s really made me so miffed that I haven’t seen an MLB game since. I’m starting to miss my Cubbies… I don’t guess it’s Mark Grace, Andre Dawson Jody Davis and Greg Maddux anymore … so I’ll probably start watching it again next year. I’ve been sneaking peeks at the stats section in the paper.

Now, football has been more of my speed lately. Like I said, I used to be a Bears fan, and they are still my favorite NFC team, but my favorite football team now is the COLTS * * Picture me… watching the 2007 Superbowl… rooting for both teams, loving both coaches, and Mr. Manning! Last year they fell a little flat, as often happens with year-after teams. I rooted for the Giants and little Manning this year, for two reasons: It was cool to think of both brothers having a Superbowl ring and the second reason is… they were playing the Pats, and the PATS MUST DIE!!!!!!!!!

But, all of this “love of the game” doesn’t translate into a love of READING ABOUT the game. Yeah, no… I like to watch it, love to play it… but reading about it sucks and bores me to tears. I think I have Friday Night Lightssomewhere, either on Mt. TBR or in the rest of my library.

I do, however, love a lot of the sports movies. Maybe it’s a busy-ness thing. In the movies, the sporting events are in real time and I don’t have to work out the X’es and O’s in my brain (I’m not very good with mental spatial stuff, that’s what’s killing me in The Conquest of Gaul) I’ve watched most of the sports-related movies that’s come out in the last few years with the exception, oddly enough, of Friday Night Lights.

My top five sports movie picks:

WE ARE MARSHALL-I cried, I cheered, I pulled for the whole town and the team… I lusted after Matthew McConaughey Seriously, a phenomenally great movie.

GRIDIRON GANG- The Rock is hot, so I’d watch an instructional video on how to clean your toilet bowl if he was my instructor . Besides The Rock (I was surprised by Xzibit’s acting skillz, too), the story is very inspiring. Based on a true story, Sean (Rock’s character) is a former high school and college football star, who finds himself “babysitting” a bunch of gangbanging teens in the state juvie prison. Frustrated with his inability to make any difference in the lives of those in his care, most of whom are either dead or back in prison within a couple years of parole. He manages to dog at the warden until he can get a football program going in hopes that giving the kids a sense of self-esteem based on their own worth instead of gang identity and hoping to improve their chances of a better life.

We Are the Titans-Denzel Washington is an amazing actor, and Hayden Panettiere (Claire the Cheerleader in NBC’S HEROES) is in this. The story’s a good one, too.

Breaking Away- A story of four townie friends who work together as a cycling team to compete against the rich college students in IU’s Little 500. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this movie!

Sunset Park and Coach Carter are both really great basketball movies. In both, the coaches teach their players to believe in themselves and expect better in life instead of the hopelessness they see around them.

Others worth mentioning:

Game Plan is an adorable family movie with a great message, Wildcats with Goldie Hawn is hilarious, Major League is an icon from my youth, and I still say a couple of the lines as part of my everyday speech (up Jobu’s butt is an answer I give the kids when they ask where something is instead of looking for it… like I magically know the location of every item that has ever come through our front door!), Kingpin with Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid is a bit raunchy and adult and funny as hell,  and In a League of Their Own is sweet, funny and “Oops, there goes my bosoms” was the perfect line for Madonna.

I chose not to mention the obvious ones like The Natural and Brian’s Song because I figure everyone knows about them all ready.

The Ringer with Johnny Knoxville (not exactly high brow, but I loved it)

GO FOR GOLD! GO FOR GOLD!!

It’s been a while since there has been a vampire show on TV. Angel was just a continuation of Buffy. Blade was an action show. Moonlight is somewhere in between. It’s gritty and romantic, which isn’t appalling. Unlike Angel and Forever Knight, Mick St-John isn’t that old of a vampire, so the flashbacks all take place in the 1950s to 1970s.

Alex O’Loughlin plays Mick St-John, a vampire private detective. He is a vampire who fully remembers what it meant to be human and longs to be human. Something that his 400 year old pal Josef no longer wants. Still Mick is a tortured soul whose turning was traumatic. He was turned by his wife Coraline during their honeymoon. Sophia Myles stars as Beth Turner, a girl that Mick saved in the past. She was the reason why Mick apparently killed Coraline. Since the beginning of the series, their lives have been intertwined.

I liked this episode. I found that the flashbacks gave the St-John character more grounding. Most of the flashbacks didn’t reveal much information though, they could have easily been cut. It would have been more interesting to discover more things about their vampire relationship. It was interesting to see that Morgan actually is Coraline. She did come back to haunt Mick. Beth is jealous of Mick’s fascination with Morgan, which will culminate in episode 9 of this season.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

* * * * *

There is a fire that draws Mick out of his lair. He lends a helping hand. At the fire, he sees Coraline, his sire. It turns out that it’s a photographer called Morgan.

Mick has a flashback to when he first met Coraline. He was playing music in a band.

He goes to see Josef. He wants to find out more about Morgan. The next day, Morgan is working with Beth on a story. Beth notices an injury on Morgan’s forearm. She says that someone broke into her place and stole her cameras. Morgan mentions that maybe Mick could help out. They go b to see Mick.

In the past, Coraline asks Mick to play a song.

Mick looks spooked. They go to her place to investigate. Mick thinks that the robber was after her photos. She took a bunch of them during the fire. Beth had told them that the fire was caused by arson. They look through the photos and find that Morgan captured a murder. It’s the splitting image of when Mick killed Coraline.

Mick talks to Beth about Morgan. He finds out that she is jealous of Mick’s focus on Morgan. Mick wants to know more about Morgan’s time in Chicago. Mick goes back to the fire to find out it there is a body.

Mick comes to Morgan’s place to dust for prints. She plays his favorite song on her computer. He looks at the pictures again and finds that the deceased woman had a tattoo. It’s the same tattoo that Coraline had on her back.

Mick remembers seeing it on her back the night they first met. The tattoo is a fleur de lys.

Beth confirms that Morgan is who she says she is. Mick goes to talk with Josef again. They process the prints and find that Hank Mottola is the thief. The guy is dead. He died three weeks ago. Mick thinks that he is being played by Coraline. He thinks that Hank is a vampire. He asks for Josef’s help to look through Hank’s place.

At Hank’s place, they find Morgan’s cameras. Josef wants to meet her now. The cameras were stolen by a dead guy.

They confront Morgan about the situation. Josef looks entranced. Josef says that Morgan is a perfect doppelganger for Coraline. Josef says that Morgan isn’t a Coraline. Later Mick thinks that Coraline found a cure for vampirism. Mick is sounding like he is seeing conspiracy theories around him.

Morgan tells Mick that Beth has a thing for him. Morgan says that it’s obvious. They are at the cemetery investigating Hank’s remains. Mick finds his remains missing. Hank attacks him with a crowbar. Mick gets the upper hand and mauls him. Morgan interrupts them. She sees his vampire face and runs off. Mick attacks her and wants to see the tattoo. He finds that she is bleeding and doesn’t have Coraline’s tattoo.

Mick tells Beth about Coraline and Morgan.

While Mick doesn’t know yet, we see that Morgan is actually Coraline. She was hiding her tattoo under some make-up. But how does she appear human to vampires? Has she found Golconda?

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Moonlight S01E01
• Moonlight S01E02
• Moonlight S01E03
• Moonlight S01E04
• Moonlight S01E05
• Moonlight S01E06
• Moonlight S01E07
• Moonlight S01E08
• Moonlight S01E09
• Moonlight S01E10
• Moonlight S01E11

Eccovi qualche immagine tratta dal settimo episodio della prima stagione di Moonlight:

Un hotel nel centro di L.A. viene distrutto dalle fiamme. Mick si reca sul posto e vi trova Beth, ma rimane paralizzato quando tra la folla vede una donna uguale in tutto e per tutta a colei che lo ha resto un vampiro, la sua ex-moglie, Coraline. La donna però afferma di chiamarsi Morgan ed è una fotografa ingaggiata dalla stessa Beth. Mick, nonostante “senta” che Morgan è umana, non riesce a togliersi dalla testa che la donna sia Coraline, in qualche modo sopravvissuta e tornata come umana. Da qui Mick comincia a farsi una serie di domande, su tutte quella che più lo coinvolge emotivamente: un vampiro può tornare ad essere umano?