O que eu mais gosto nesse filme? A mania de fazer listas.

Top five things I miss about Laura:  1 - Sense of humor. Very dry, but it can also be warm and forgiving. And she’s got one of the best all time laughs in the history of all time laughs, she laughs with her entire body.  2-  she’s got character. Or at least she had character before the Ian nightmare. She’s loyal and honest, and she doesn’t even take it out on people when she’s having a bad day. That’s character. 3 – miss her smell, and the way she tastes. It’s a mystery of human chemistry and I don’t understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home. 4 – I really dig how she walks around. It’s like she doesn’t care how she looks or what she projects and it’s not that she doesn’t care it’s just, she’s not affected I guess, and that gives her grace. And 5; she does this thing in bed when she can’t get to sleep, she kinda half moans and then rubs her feet together an equal number of times… it just kills me. Believe me, I mean, I could do a top five things about her that drive me crazy but it’s just your garden variety women you know, schizo stuff and that’s the kind of thing that got me here.

E não é só uma mania. Tem todo o cuidado por trás (The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention.  Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules)  e o indescritível prazer de dividir isso com os amigos:

PS1: Esse post é dedicado aos bons amigos e a todas as listas que a gente já fez em uma mesa de bar.

PS2: Eu gosto mais do Nick Hornby na telona do que nos livros. #prontofalei.

PS3: Nada de citar o slogan de Tostines. Daqui pra frente é Alta Fidelidade: What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music? 
 

PS4: O Jack pode cantar, mas eu ainda sinto vergonha alheia.

PS4: Quem viu o último American Idol pôde acompanhar a ‘performance’ do Jack com a Gladys Knight, Ben Stiller e o #1 (que, como sempre, roubou a cena né?) para promover Trovão Tropical.

In “Tropic Thunder,” a band of movie stars, filming what appears to parody Francis Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” are dropped in the middle of the jungle by their director in attempt to make the actors live out the plot line, thus bringing out their most creative acting. The characters are fictional celebrities within the movie, and they serve as satirical forms of behind the scenes celebrity culture. Chip Sullivan, a DreamWorks spokesman, said the movie was “an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations” (Wynter). Twentieth century celebrity culture dissects how the idea of fame has become an obsession, and how the entity of “celebrity” is a manufactured product. “Tropic Thunder” satirizes the actions of the movie-making industry and its players. Here’s proof in the official trailer:

First, “Tropic Thunder” satirizes fame and celebrity culture, and how they are portrayed within the media. “Tropic Thunder” shows how the publicity industry “focuses attention on the worthy and unworthy alike” (Gamson 2). Tugg Speedman’s (Ben Stiller) career as an actor is on the decline. Throughout the film, there are references to his declining celebrity, and the need for the movie to do well or he may never work again. In a mock interview with Speedman from the movie, Tyra Banks: “You have no real family, you’re on the wrong side of forty, and you’re childless and alone. Someone close to you said ‘one more flop and its over’.” This is an attempt to focus on the unworthy within the public eye.

Second, “Tropic Thunder” satirizes the business of the movie making industry. “Power was in the hands of studios, which were firmly committed to a mass production system. Movie manufacturers adapted the star system to the industry’s needs” (Gamson 5). This is obvious within “Tropic Thunder,” the plot line calls for the kidnapping of Tugg Speedman by drug-traffickers for a one-hundred million dollar ransom, to be paid by his studio. Because his career is on the decline, and because major studios often see their ‘stars’ as commodities, products, or business investments, Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) the head of Speedman’s studio consider’s not paying the ransom and letting Speedman die. Here’s what happens first, followed by the dialogue:

Rick Peck: Now let me get this straight. You want me to let my client of 15 years, one of my best friends, die in the jungle alone, for some money and a G5?

Les Grossman: Yes

Rick Peck: A G5 airplane?

Les Grossman: Yes… and lots of money… playaaaa!

Obviously this is a stretch of what business policies made by major movie production companies may be concerning their clients/products, but it is satirical in that these conglomerates can ‘kill’ the career of any one of their stars at any minute if they believe it is a better decision for their business.

“In the Winter of 1969, an elite force of the US Army was sent on a top secret assignment in Southeast Vietnam. The objective: rescue Sgt. Four Leaf Tayback from a heavily guarded NVA Prison Camp. The mission was considered to be near-suicide. Of the ten men sent, four returned. Of those four, three wrote books about what happened. Of those three, two were published. And of those two, only one got a movie deal. This is the story of the men who attempted to make that movie.” Viewers can see that from the opening line of “Tropic Thunder,” they are in for a sarcastic and satirical representation of the movie-making process.

Gamson, Joshua. “The Assembly Line of Greatness: Celebrity in Twentieth-Century America.” Cultural Studies in Mass Communication 9 (1992), 1-24.

Wynter, Kareen. “Tropic Thunder pushes envelope and then some.” Cnn.com/entertainment.     2008. 2 November, 2009.             <http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/11/tropic.thunder/index.html>

This absolutely blew me away.  If I ever need proof that the last 10 years of Hollywood have been mostly devoid of originality, I no longer have to search any farther.  /Film recently authored a post responding to Wikipedia’s listing of the top 50 highest grossing movies of the past decade.  Of the top 50, only NINE were original titles.  That is, not based on a previous story whether that be a comic book, TV show, play, clothing line, Disney Ride, whatever.  In fact, in the top 20 only one title (#15) emerged without owing allegiance to a previously liscensed property.  That being: Finding Nemo.  It’s absolutely staggering to think that since 1999 eighty percent of the highest grossing films were adaptations of some sort. 

Now, while it is imperitive to keep in mind that this list constitutes highest grossing box offices and not ALL of cinema over the last 10 years, it does still make a very declaritive statement about the state of film as we have come to know it.  The box office numbers drive production and Hollywood’s willingness to greenlight projects.  And if you were a number’s analyst, wouldn’t you lean more heavily towards projects you knew were going to profit for the studio?  With adaptations and revamps becoming a monetary must for studios, it seems fair to assume that we have a long way to go through the storm of upcoming adaptations.  In case you hadn’t heard the apocalypse-inducing news, Hollywood just recently went on a greenlighting frenzy to board game and toy properties, each of which makes the one before it look less and less absurd.  The laundry list goes as such:

_Candyland
_Battleship
_Risk
_Ouija
_Monopoly
_Clue

And those are just the movies about BOARD GAME adaptations. When you take into account the multitude of ALL upcoming adaptations, the figures are staggering. What’s even more interesting is the cast and crew that are attached to these projects. Ridley Scott is directing Monopoly. Etan Cohen (writer of both Idiocracy and Tropic Thunder) is writing Candyland. And when I last checked, Gore Verbinski was attached to Clue! It sounds insane but these big budget, fully backed films are even getting certified production teams. So while the most prudent reaction would be to sit back and give each production its due and allow these upgrades to try to speak for themselves and deliver a compelling revamped storyline to a priceless piece of Americana, I can’t help but worry that this is going to plunge us into a period of unoriginality the likes of which Hollywood has never seen. The question I’m most concerned with is, do we really want our generation of cinema-storians to be remembered as the era of the remake and revamp?

Amid the furore against Tropic Thunder and the film-within-a-film Simple Jack last year I maintained that “the protesters against Tropic Thunder appear to be either misunderstanding or willfully ignoring the fact that Tropic Thunder is a satire in order to get their point across”.

In Simple Jack, Stiller’s character from Tropic Thunder tries to prove he is a serious actor by playing a disabled character. David Tolleson (executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress) described the portrayal as “shockingly awful”, missing the fact that that was, in fact, the point.

The point of Simple Jack was to lampoon vacuous actors who see playing a character with disability as proving their credentials as an artist.

With that in mind, I draw your attention to this article about Filipino actress Niña Jose. I had never heard of Jose before reading this article, nor do I expect to again.

From the article we learn two key things about Jose:

• “My boobs are real.”

and

• “I just don’t [want] to limit myself to sexy roles. My dream role? I want to play someone who [has] Down’s syndrome. Super challenging.”

I don’t think I need to add anything else at this juncture.

originally published in the middlebury campus

Ben Stiller has always been hit and miss as an actor (hilarious in films like “Dodgeball” but does anyone remember 2003’s “Duplex”? I didn’t think so) and a director (“Reality Bites”? Not so much). So it is with his latest offering, the ninety-two million dollar war comedy “Tropic Thunder,” gut busting hilarious one second turns into infuriating inanity the next.

To call “Tropic Thunder” a spoof wouldn’t really do justice to the film, which revolves around a simple and intriguing “what-if” scenario: what if a group of prima-dona actors making a war film found themselves dropped in the middle of a jungle by a director who has found himself at his wits’ end? What if this jungle was also the home of a heroin cartel that mistakes the actors for real military forces? That’s the set-up. The payoff is watching Stiller (playing a beefed up action star), Jack Black (the comedian and heroin addict), and Robert Downy Jr. (the method actor in black face) try and make it work. The results are hit and miss, although they do hit far more often than not.

The film’s highlights are almost entirely due to the cast member’s whose names aren’t up on the marquee. Nick Nolte is hilarious and looks crazier than ever before as the real life soldier upon whose story the film-within-a-film is based. Steve Coogan is at his deadpan best as the film’s frazzled director, and Judd Apatow regular Jay Baruchel is perfect as a young actor in a cast full of overpaid blowhards. I am reticent to mention one performer because the surprise of seeing the actor is half the fun, but I will say that a very well known star in very good makeup is given the opportunity to go on the best profanity-laced diatribes I’ve seen in a while, and that alone is worth the price of admission.

The real showstopper is Robert Downey Jr., though, who embraces what could have been one of the more offensive roles in recent memory with such infectious energy that it is impossible to not get caught up in the performance and laugh. Downey Jr.’s career has been on an upswing recently with his star remaking roles in last year’s “Zodiac” and one of this summer’s other blockbusters, “Iron Man.” “Tropic Thunder” is one more sign that the once troubled star is back in top form.

But, unfortunately, “Tropic Thunder” is far from the perfect comedy. Jack Black is an enormous comedic talent, but he was given far too little to do. He does get the film’s best line, but his participation in the film was wasted on a character that is whiny and irritatingly unfunny.

The film tries to walk a very fine line between being a comedy and being a war film, with all the explosions and action that entails. The problem is that these integral parts of war films threaten to overtake the comedic aspects of the film. Stiller doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in lampooning war films, so much as making a comedy that incorporates the generic trappings of war films. Its tricky business that doesn’t always work as successfully as one might hope, as the film threatens to overload the senses at times, thus relegating any humor to the background.

Another problem arises when Stiller & Co. attempt to lambaste the Hollywood machine. It is funny, but there is also a smack of disingenuousness about the swipes at Hollywood and the enormous egos that create the fantasies they market to global audiences. “Tropic Thunder” is a big budget feature that had the backing of a large studio; this is a product of the very machine Stiller so wants to critique. I don’t mind him biting the hand that feeds, nor do I see anything particularly hypocritical about it, but occasionally you get the sense that Stiller doesn’t really believe the message he’s selling, and it’s at that point that the message becomes muddied and it stops being funny. To top it off, many of the Hollywood jokes are so topical that they won’t be funny six months from now, and some aren’t even funny now because the zeitgeist has already moved on.

Really, though, those moments are few and far between. Most of “Tropic Thunder” is funny and monstrously entertaining, but my advice would be to catch it quick before the jokes get stale and it stops being a comedy that is part war film and starts being a war film that is funnier than the standard war flick.

This was a pretty damn funny movie. Right from the trailers to the dancing credits. The five actors who are thrown into a real guerilla situation while they think its a movie set is a concept that’s a bit of a stretch, but it works.

Robert Downey Jr steals the show with his white actor who makes himself black, even though most of his lines aren’t the kind that make you laugh right out loud, but they have to sink in a second first. Ben Stiller also plays it good as the naive wanna-be serious action star. Jack black is slightly outshined and isn’t given his due however. Matthew Mckonahy (and i’ve just realized i have NO idea how to spell his name) was really good as the agent, and Cruise gives an unexpected performance, to say the least.

Many war movies are spoofed in this, including Platoon and Saving Private Ryan (two of my favorites) though in the way that you wouldn’t catch unless you’ve seen those movies, much like the classic Simpsons movie spoofing scenes, which I think works best. Anyways, there are lots of laughs here, the cast is a delight to watch, and some pretty good action to boot. Sure some of the jokes fall flat, but not enough that it drags the film down.

8 out of 10.

Trovão Tropical (Tropic Thunder)

Nota: 2 HR´s

País/Ano: EUA, 2008
Duração: 107 min
Gênero: Comédia
Direção: Ben Stiller
Roteiro: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux e Etan Cohen
Elenco: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise,

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Trovão Tropical, me decepcionou.

Att
Zaboobs

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Brincadeirinha, mas depois do que eu vi a minha idéia era essa. O filme tem tudo pra ser fantástico, elenco, dinheiro, marketing viral, trailers, história…em resumo tudo. E mesmo assim consegue não ser um grande clássico como prometia.

Não vou chegar a dizer que o filme é ruim, porque ele não é. Ele tem seus defeitos mas não é ruim, só que com o material que veio antes do filme e com este elenco vc espera um poquinho mais e acho que eu fui ao cinema esperando demais por este filme, qnd vi me decepcionei.

O filme tem seus momentos e consegue ser engraçado em algumas partes “I´m a lead farmer motherfucker!!!”, “I don´t read the script, the script reads me.”, Tom careca e gordo, Matthew McConaughey como agente, os trailers do começo e mais algumas coisinhas fazem valer a pena.

Mas acho q o filme fica muito forçado as vezes, (o Sr. Black tbm) claro que com o público jovem de hoje em dia é só colocar sangue, explosão e piadas de peido que faz sucesso mas na minha opinião o filme poderia ter sido muito melhor e até ter se tornado um clássico.

Não achei ele ruim, só fiquei decepcionado que com esse nível de elenco e dinheiro certas pessoas não tiveram a competência de fazer um filme nota 10. Hellboy 2 foi mais engraçado, bem mais!!!

Att
Zaboobs

Para todos los fanaticos de Men In Black (hombres de negro), debo informarles que ya Columbia Pictures contrato un guionista para la 3 entrega de la pelicula.

Se trata de Ethan Cohen, el mismo de Tropic Thunder, eso es todo lo que esta seguro hasta ahora.

De seguro se comenzara a firmar a mediados del 2010. Yo solo espero que hagan un mejor trabajo que “Men In Black 2″, porque la verdad eso fue una porqueria. Según la fuente de la noticia aún no estan confirmados ni Will Smith, ni  Tommy Lee Jones, pero todos sabemos que tienen por obligación protagonizar la pelicula.

Hollywood loves a bit of Hollywood.

 Whilst this statement might seem blatantly obvious, it’s hard to fathom just how narcissistic Hollywood is. For years and years, they have fooled audiences into believing that what we are seeing is an “inside look” at their business, when really we’re just getting the glorified, censored version.

 Why am I saying this? Well, mainly because of two recent navel-gazing projects that have come out of Hollywood. The first is the movie Tropic Thunder. Directed (and starring) Ben Stiller, it is surprisingly good (when you take into consideration the rapid downward slope his career has been on). It’s fairly funny in patches, mostly those featuring Robert Downey Jnr.’s Australian playing an African American character- especially hilarious is the following interaction between him and Jay Baruchel:

 Baruchel: Didn’t you read the script?

Downey: I don’t read the script. The script reads me.

Baruchel: What the hell does that even mean?

 Tropic Thunder also features a great deal of action, which easily satisfies the minimum required explosions per blockbuster (also known as the Michael Bay Rule. On the other hand, it is a Ben Stiller movie, which results in a main stream of humour being his impersonation of a disabled farmhand. So as a whole, Tropic Thunder is reasonably entertaining, yet ultimately forgettable.

 But…

 Since it is a movie about making a movie (sort of), Hollywood has ostensibly upgraded the film from “a slightly above average comedy” to “a genius satire on the excesses of show-business”. This inexplicable glorification culminated in Robert Downey’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards; as his character in the film was a perennial Oscar nominee, this provided me with the possibly the most delicious irony I have ever heard. Nevertheless, Tropic Thunder somehow managed to sneak into many a film critic’s top ten of the year.

 Similarly, the television show Entourage deals with the life of a Hollywood star and the eponymous guys who live with and work for him. This program plays up the hedonistic aspect of a Hollywood lifestyle, showcases the dirtier, and often lampoons the nature of celebrity- an intriguing premise, especially to the self-absorbed business it was pitched to. Unfortunately, the show seems to have taken the easy way out, and gone with a Simpsonsesque approach (the actions of characters seem to hardly have any consequences), though sadly it lacks the satirical social commentary of the legendary animation. In addition, the acting is substandard- Jeremy Piven seems to be the only one putting in any effort, and as a result looks like the reincarnation of Marlon Brando (Adrian Grenier would be a stoned Steven Seagal, minus the martial arts skills). Simply put, the show is popcorn television- easy to digest, but unsubstantial and horrible-tasting when burnt. Seriously, is there a worse thing to do to popcorn than burn it? I’d rather eat the uncooked kernels than devour a blackened one.

Both of these endeavours, whilst sometimes glamorising the entertainment industry, often tear into the idiotic nature of showbusiness with aplomb. And though we know egoism runs rampant in Hollywood, wouldn’t the financial backers draw a line somewhere, at the very least to keep up the façade that this industry is a modern day utopia? You’d think so, yet there is a small detail that I haven’t discussed yet: that any publicity is good publicity. And who’s to blame for this? Paris Hilton.

 I’m sure you all know who Paris Hilton is, but do you actually know why this is so? Here’s arguably the top five reasons she is a pop culture identity in Australia:

1. The sex tape that originally catapulted her to fame- One Night in Paris (probably the greatest porn title in history)
2. The Simple Life, which thankfully brought the incredibly talented Nicole Ritchie into the public spotlight
3. Having sex with Mark Philipoussis and resultantly breaking up his relationship with Australia’s darling, Delta Goodrem (who then stole Brian McFadden from his wife, possibly for karmic reasons)
4. A horrible, horrible single- so bad I’ve blocked the title out of my mind, and do not dare look it up on the WikiBible
5. Having sex with Millsy of Australian Idol fame (fame is used in the loosest possible way here)

 So three of the top five reasons involve sex. Possibly due to the desexualisation of sex, she became famous, despite having no discernible talents (fornicating with random guys is not a talent in my opinion. At least, in my sober opinion.) Regardless, the popularity of this vacuous heiress has caused a rethinking in PR worldwide- essentially, Hollywood sees Entourage and Tropic Thunder not as disparaging comments on the state of their industry, but rather as a way of increasing its ubiquity.

 In a way, Paris Hilton is to blame for the world’s problems. Then again, I’m just being melodramatic.

Another week down and another crazy shake-up in the rankings. The Bears and 49ers faced reality checks, and I finally gave the Bengals the ounce of credibility they deserve. Due to midterms, I’m keeping the intro short and sweet this week.

Get used to that seat, JaMarcus. You'll be keeping it warm for a while.

On to the rankings.

32 (32) – Rams:
Poor, poor Steven Jackson. 143 rushing attempts on the season and still no touchdowns. Somebody give this man a hug.

31 (31) – Buccaneers:
Tampa Bay can now say they suck in two countries, which is probably more exciting than watching Josh Johnson try to throw a football.

30 (29) – Browns:
In his five games since taking over for the disgraced Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson has posted QB ratings of 30.9, 68.8, 15.1, 51.0, and 36.4. With a completion percentage of 44. Did Quinn beat up the GM? What does he have to do to get back on the field?

29 (27) – Chiefs:
On the bright side, that was an amazing touchdown catch by Dwayne Bowe. Unfortunately, it was their only one.

28 (25) – Raiders:
Andre Ware, Akili Smith, Ryan Leaf, Rick Mirer, Cade McNown, Jim Drunkenmiller, Todd Marinovich, Joey Harrington, David Carr, JaMarcus Russell. Not a good list to be on.

27 (29) – Titans:
Best PR move of the week goes to Jeff Fischer wearing a Peyton Manning jersey to a charity event: “I just want to feel like a winner.” Classic.

26 (28) – Lions:
Cancel your plans and clear your schedules for this Sunday. You don’t want to pick up the in-laws from the airport anyway. Why? St. Louis comes to town. I can barely wait.

25 (22) – Panthers:
Jake Delhomme’s three interception performance on Sunday actually raised his QB rating for the year. Sad. Hey John Fox, Delhomme sucks, your backups are worse, and you have two of the best running backs in the NFL, don’t you think it’s time to try the wildcat? There couldn’t be a better situation.

24 (26) – Redskins:
“I had to go to the senior center and cancel my bingo calling,” said the 67-year-old Sherm Lewis, who last worked in the NFL with the Detroit Lions during the 2004 season. “And I had to cancel my Meals on Wheels today.” This team is a joke. Need I say more?

23 (23) – Seahawks:
Has there been a team more decimated by injuries in any sports the last two years? Other than the New York Mets this year, I can’t think of any. Brutal. I actually kind of feel bad for them, except for when they play the Niners.

22 (24) – Bills:
Did you know Ryan Fitzpatrick has won his last five starts? Me either. Unfortunately, I don’t think that stat alone is going to make Terrell Owens feel any better. Oh well, T.O. is probably working on his next reality show anyway.

21 (21) – Jaguars:
Jacksonville plays the Titans and Chiefs in the next two weeks, teams with a combined 1-12 record. Can you imagine the Jaguars as a 5-3 team? Even if it happened, it would just be a façade because four of their five wins would be against teams with a combined one win (Rams, Chiefs, Titans twice).

20 (20) – Dolphins:
If you’re going to blow a 24-3 lead at home, it might as well be to the Saints. In fantasy news, is it time to take Ricky Williams seriously as a legitimate starting running back? I think it might be.

19 (11) – Bears:
ESPN seriously can’t find somebody better than Jeffri Chadiha to do their NFL Power Rankings. Here’s his weekly gem: “The Bears are 1-3 on the road this season. That doesn’t bode well for their future.” I appreciate all the hard work and analysis you put into that one, buddy.

18 (10) – 49ers:
You know things are bad in San Francisco when Mike Singletary turns to Alex Smith to be the savior. At least Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree are fun to watch.

17 (19) – Jets:
ESPN’s Michael Clayton: “Mark Sanchez showed great hot-dog security in not fumbling the dog he ate in the second half of the win over the Raiders on Sunday.” Take it down a notch, cowboy, you’re trying too hard.

16 (18) – Texans:
Gun to your head, who has the most passing yards and TDs in the NFL? 99% of people would guess Peyton Manning. And 99% of people would be wrong. The answer? Matt Schaub.

15 (13) – Chargers:
San Diego’s wins are against Oakland, Miami and Kansas City. Their losses are against Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Denver. Just beat one good team and I’ll believe in you, that’s not too much to ask for, right?

14 (17) – Cowboys:
Miles Austin, the undrafted wide received out of Monmouth, is the sole reason the Cowboys have a winning record. He already has almost double the entire yardage from the first three years of his career. Not too shabby.

13 (16) – Cardinals:
Arizona plays Carolina, Chicago, Seattle, St. Louis and Tennessee in the next five weeks. There’s a legitimate chance the Cards could be 9-2 heading into a crucial week 13 matchup against Minnesota.

12 (9) – Falcons:
Hey Matthew Berry, Michael Turner’s looking pretty good, huh? He’s currently ranked 11th behind Ricky Williams, and even Fred Jackson has over 150 more total yards.

11 (14) – Packers:
Green Bay went an entire game without giving up a sack. Definitely good news, but it would be a little more convincing if they weren’t playing the Lions.

10 (12) – Eagles:
Philadelphia actually got outgained by the Redskins. Good thing Andy Reid bought the Costco pack of Butterfingers so he could afford to give one to Antwaan Randle El.

9 (9) – Ravens:
In contrast with recent history, Baltimore has the third highest scoring offense in the AFC and sixth in the NFL, thanks to the emergences of Joe Flacco and Ray Rice. But Denver will provide a huge test this week. A loss would put them at 3-4, with two games still looming against Pittsburgh.

8 (15) – Bengals:
Ok, a 35-point blowout of a playoff-caliber team does a little bit to convince me that Cincinnati is for real.  I still can’t believe Cedric Benson is the NFL’s leading rusher.

7 (6) – Giants:
I’ve been waiting all season to say this: Hey Eli Manning, never go full retard.

6 (7) – Steelers:
That Lamar Woodley fumble recovery was eerily reminiscent to the one a few years ago against the Colts in the playoffs.

5 (5) – Patriots:

I really want to believe the 2007 Patriots are back, but until they do it to a team with a win, I can’t believe it. At Indy in two weeks will be a telling game.
4 (5) – Broncos:
If Denver beats Baltimore this Sunday, you can just go ahead and give him the Coach of the Year Award on the field after the game.

3 (1) – Vikings:
Brett Favre looked a lot more like the Brett Favre of recent memory than the one from the first six games this season. Maybe he forgot he has the best running back in the NFL in his backfield. Speaking of Adrian Peterson, that was one of the best hits I have seen this season.

2 (3) – Colts:
I’m scared that the Colts are going to absolutely destroy my Niners this weekend. Please NFL Gods, have mercy.

1 (2) – Saints:
The Saints are winning games they never would have won before. And how cool was it to see Reggie Bush make one of his signature plays from his USC heyday by jumping a legitimate five yards for a touchdown?

Shameless plug:  If you made it this far, please share this blog with friends, family, or even people you don’t know or don’t like. Thanks!

• HARLEY PEYTON is set to write JULIET (Universal). Hearing studio can’t officially hire until January. JAMES MANGOLD is producing.
• Studio has offers out to SIGOURNEY WEAVER, JEFFREY WRIGHT, and CHRIS COOPER for roles in CEDAR RAPIDS. This project is set up at Fox Searchlight and was written by PHIL JOHNSTON. ALEXANDER PAYNE is producing. MIGUEL ARTETA is directing.
• RICHARD LINKLATER is off LIARS A-E that is set up at Miramax with Scott Rudin producing. PETE SOLLET is interested in directing.
• Studio is activating the UNTITLED LES GROSSMAN PROJECT (Paramount), an”original story” centered on TOM CRUISES’s character in TROPIC THUNDER. Tom has expressed interest in wanting to reprise the role and they are starting to talk to writers.
• FLORIAN HENCKEL VON DONNERSMARCK and JUAN CARLOS FRESNADILLO have offers to direct ANABASIS (Sony). JIMMY MILLER, JONATHAN & ROBBIE STAMP are producing. ROBERT SCHENKKAN adapted based on Xenophon’s eyewitness account of the expedition of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries who fought under Cyrus.
• J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI is writting SHATTERED UNION  for Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney.
• Mike Newell is in talks to direct remake ARTHUR (Warner Brothers).CHRIS BENDER, LARRY BREZNER, and KEVIN MCCORMICK are attached to produce. PETER BAYNHAM wrote the most recent draft based on the 1981 ARTHUR movie directed by STEVEN GORDON.
• Hearing: REESE WITHERSPOON is making a deal for the remake of THE ORPHANAGE (New Line). Contra is producing and they are looking for a new director. LARRY FESSENDEN was previously attached to direct. He wrote the script with GUILLERMO DEL TORO.
• GAVIN HOOD will direct THE CRUELEST MILES (Walden). MARK JOHNSON is producing.  O’KEEFE & STAPLES wrote the last draft.
• MIKE NEWELL will direct LENINGRAD (Warner Brothers), written by GIUSEPPE TORNATORE. GK Films is producing.
• GARY ROSS will rewrite and direct MATT HELM (Paramount).
• KATHERINE FUGATE will adapt WHAT ALICE FORGOT (Fox 2000).
• KURTZMAN & ORCI will direct THE 28TH AMMENDMENT (Warner Brothers).
• STEVEN KNIGHT is set to write THE THIRD MAN remake for TOBEY MAGUIRE and LEO DICAPRIO.  Canal Plus holds the rights.  It could go to Sony or Warner Brothers.
• MARC WEBB fell off THE SPECTACULAR NOW (Fox Searchlight). 21 Laps is producing. A draft is in and are going to move forward without Marc.

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!

This was one of the worst sports weekends of my life. The Oregon Ducks had the week off, the 49ers were on a bye, the A’s are long gone, and it’s still preseason for the Warriors and the Sharks (wait, we’re two weeks into the NHL regular season already? I had no idea).

Thinks the Chiefs are regretting that Jared Allen trade now? Hell, they probably regretted it the moment they made it.

Without the privilege of watching my beloved Ducks on Saturday, I was forced to watch something only one step below water boarding on the torture scale—Big Ten football. Iowa-Wisconsin, Ohio State-Purdue, Penn State-Minnesota? Gross. And by the way, what’s Michigan doing playing an FCS team in Week Seven?

It was so bad I chose to write my four-page philosophy essay instead. The only reason I retained my sanity through the weekend was the NFL Red Zone channel.

But all will be made up for next weekend, when I travel to Seattle for the first time to support the Ducks in Husky Stadium. Who cares if my seats are in Lake Washington.

On to the rankings.
32 (32) – Rams:

Somebody please tell me why the Red Zone channel kept flashing back to this game during the last few minutes of the Ravens-Vikings game? Really. Did anybody outside of St. Louis or Jacksonville care? Hell, did anybody in St. Louis or Jacksonville care?

31 (30) – Buccaneers:

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they lose to Jake Delhomme’s Carolina Panthers. At home. The only bright spot was Cadillac Williams’ performance, because now my roommate can shut up about him being the reason why his fantasy football team is 1-5.  Your QB is Mark Sanchez! Cadillac isn’t the problem.

30 (25) – Titans:

This team couldn’t find an identity—until this week. They are now officially the best worst team in the AFC. And after witnessing Derek Anderson’s appallingly dreadful performance last week, Kerry Collins had to one-up him. He threw for negative seven yards in 12 attempts. Seriously. How bad can Vince Young be?

29 (27) – Browns:

Just so you get a sense of how truly pathetic Cleveland is, their top performer, according to the Yahoo! Sports box score, was fullback Lawrence Vickers, who had one touch for one yard.

28 (26) – Lions:

Scrappiness can only take you so far when you have almost zero talent. Jim Schwartz is a good coach, but can you really expect them to score even once when their QBs are Dante Culpepper and Mike Stanton and their number one wide out is Dennis Northcutt?

27 (28) – Chiefs:

That’s an odd way to score 14 points. Four field goals and a safety.

26 (24) – Redskins:

Washington has faced a winless team in every single game so far and they are still 2-4. If that doesn’t deserve firing, then I don’t know what does.

25 (31) – Raiders:

This could be the biggest upset in the history of survival football. Servers are still crashing as we speak.

24 (28) – Bills:

You force seven turnovers and still need overtime to score 16 points? Something tells me the Jets lost this game more than Buffalo won it.

23 (19) – Seahawks:

Fourteen total rushing yards. 0-11 on third down. Five sacks allowed. Seventeen minutes of possession. Talk about a bad football team. The bye week couldn’t come at a better time.

22 (23) – Panthers:

Why wouldn’t teams stack nine in the box? Jake Delhomme now has thrown 14 interceptions in his last six games and has a 56.8 QB rating for the season.

21 (22) – Jaguars:

The Jags were 11-16 on third down, outgained the Rams by 230 yards, and had only three penalties for 15 yards, yet still needed overtime to beat the least talented team in the NFL. How does that happen?

20 (17) – Dolphins:

The home team coming off of a bye week theory gets a big test this weekend when the Saints come to town. Not buying it.

19 (11) – Jets:

Congratulations to Mark Sanchez for becoming the first two-time winner of the weekly Simple Jack Award. Hey Mark, never go full retard.

18 (21) – Texans:

Houston made the Bengals look like, well, the Bengals. Matt Schaub has become a fantasy must-start every week.

17 (18) – Cowboys:

The epitome of mediocrity. 3-0 versus losing teams and 0-2 versus winners. Fantasy note: I am never drafting Roy Williams again.

16 (20) – Cardinals:

What is Arizona going to do when they play a team that takes away the pass? Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower are getting it done less than my food situation at home. I’ve been living off of Power Bars and instant oatmeal packets for two weeks. College.

15 (10) – Bengals:

This is what Jeffri Chadiha had to say about Cincinnati in ESPN’s power rankings this week: “Matt Schaub shredded them in their loss to Houston.” Thanks for all the hard work and insight you put into that one, Jeffri.

14 (16) – Packers:

And if his analysis of the Bengals wasn’t enough, Chadiha had this to say about Green Bay: “They still haven’t found a way to protect QB Aaron Rodgers.” ESPN, you seriously can’t find anyone better than this guy?

13 (15) – Chargers:

I hate fantasy football. Losing by three coming into Monday Night’s game, I owned Eddie Royal and Darren Sproles. Thanks to the amazing score settings in my lone remaining undefeated league, I received a total of 1.40 points from the duo, despite a combined three return touchdowns. Is there any activity more popular than fantasy football that causes so many complaints?

12 (6) – Eagles:

Is there anything more embarrassing for a head coach than losing to JaMarcus Russell? I can’t think of anything.

11 (13) – Bears:

Another gem from Chadiha: “Red zone problems killed them in a loss to Atlanta.” My freakin’ 11-year-old brother could have told me that.

10 (12) – 49ers:

Michael Crabtree is starting!! Michael Crabtree is starting!! Michael Crabtree is starting!! Michael Crabtree is starting!! Michael Crabtree is starting!! Yeah, I’m kinda excited.

9 (9) – Ravens:

Baltimore almost completed the greatest comeback of the season. Too bad almost counts for diddly squat. We almost made the playoffs. I almost won the lottery. They almost successfully completed your kidney transplant. You get the idea. Almost isn’t good.

8 (8) – Falcons:

Atlanta and New Orleans could be the most exciting division race this season. Their Week Eight will tell us a lot.

7 (14) – Steelers:

Big Ben is back, thanks to the re-emergence of one of the toughest football players in the NFL: Hines Ward. Man, does he play football the right way.

6 (4) – Giants:

The Saints stomped Eli Manning and the Giants so badly, that New Orleans even let Mark Brunell onto the field. Yes, that Mark Brunell. The one who hasn’t attempted a pass since 2006, and is making just under $5 million this season. Seriously.

5 (7) – Patriots:

This game looked eerily reminiscent of 2007. Have Tom Brady and the boys finally got their mojo back? We won’t find out until they play Indy in Week Ten, but it will be fun to see how many points they can put up at Tampa Bay on Sunday. Is 60 out of the question?

4 (5) – Broncos:

Josh McDaniels for Coach of the Year. That is all.

3 (3) – Colts:

I don’t have anything new to say because of the bye, so I’ll just repeat what I said last week:

The only thing better than Peyton Manning is this article from CNN. For all guys past puberty, Christmas just came early. This could transform college campuses, save marriages, and possibly bring world peace. Seriously, guys, you want to read this.

2 (2) – Saints:

Drew Brees passed for 369 yards and four touchdowns and I was still outscored by my opponent’s QB. I would be mad if I didn’t have such crazy man-love for Tom Brady.

1 (1) – Vikings:

I think someone brainwashed Brett Favre into thinking it’s 2001. He cannot possibly still be this good. So far, this is statistically the best season of his career. Wow.

French Vogue gets tres ignorant.

 It was recently brought to my attention that there was some controversy over a spread in French Vogue featuring model Lara Stone modeling various outfits in full-on blackface.  While I do not think the images were intended to be directly hurtful, the ignorance and the audacity are what get me.  I understand that race relations in France and Europe as a whole are very different than they are here in America and that blackface has more of a negative connotation here than anywhere else, but as a fashion journalist, this represented poor judgment on the part of their editor.  The spread is tasteful as far as how it was done, but were they so pressed to be shocking and avant garde that they decided to go ahead with the blackface idea despite people’s feelings or was it so difficult to find a Black woman worthy of their prestigious magazine that they had to use a white girl and just blacken her skin (this is sarcasm)?  Did Alek Wek die?  This is a cheap cry for attention because no publicity is bad publicity.  Vogue will gloss over this and move on unscathed.

I don't even know who this is supposed to be but this dude must not live near any Black people. Try this sh*t in South Central LA and see what happens.

I didn’t hear a whole lot of controversy over Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in Tropic Thunder, but I understood thta there was some and people would not be totally off-base to take offense if they had not seen the movie, but I saw it and I thought it was great.  In addition to showing that this was a white actor becoming Black in the movie and actually having a Black character there to point out the ignorance of it all was pure genius.  And Downey’s portrayal of the character was comical, not hurtful.  I couldn’t say I didn’t know people in my own family that acted and talked exactly like him.  He wasn’t painted with charcoal body paint, it was a normal shade of brown and he wasn’t chowing down on chicken and watermelon in every scene. 

Quite simply, if you are going to tread into blackface territory, do tread carefully.  There is a fine line between satirical and offensive and crossing over to the wrong side of that line could very well get you hurt.  Do the research and understand the struggle.  That being said, we as a people cannot jump at every provocation.  We have more important things to worry about.  We’re playing into their hands, giving them just the publicity they clearly so desperately seek.  But first and foremost, people have to be more responsible for what they put out there in the media.  If you’re trying to be offensive, pat yourself on the back, because blackface will usually be that, but don’t feign ignorance when someone calls you out on it.

I wonder what’s sorer right now: Brett Favre’s almost 40-year-old right arm, from throwing all over the Packers defense, or his nuts, from getting sucked on by every commentator in the history of football, especially Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, and Ron Jaworski last night. The love fest was sickening.

The man love for Favre last night was palpable.

From how the Monday Night Football announcers called every single play, it was as if Favre just parted the Red Sea. Actually, to those guys, Moses doesn’t have anything on Brett Favre.

For those of you who aren’t social media friendly, I highly recommend getting a Twitter account, just so you can follow all of the Favre bashing its millions of users are simultaneously tweeting. Here are some of the best from last night:

“Flag for playing defense against Brett Favre.”

“For his next trick, Brett Favre will cure cancer, heal the sick, and give sight to the blind.”

“If you’re just tuning in—Brett Favre is playing very well for having three middle-aged men sucking him off at once.”

“Judging from the radio, Favre is going to find Boomer Esiason waiting in his hot tub with a bottle of wine after the game”

“BREAKING NEWS: In place of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, there will just be 30 documentaries on how great Brett Favre is.”

“Favre had time to retire and unretire three more times while in the pocket on that play.”

“When anyone but Brett Favre throws a ball eight yards on 3rd-and-13, it’s the worst crime a QB could commit. When Favre does it, it’s genius.”

“Honestly, it’s like Tirico, Gruden, and Jaws are David Letterman and Brett Favre is a ‘Late Show’ intern.”

“Have to turn channel—three-and-a-half hours of Favre worship is all I can handle.”

You get the idea. On to the rankings.

32 (32): Rams

Kyle Boller’s QB ratings by season: 62.4, 70.9, 71.8, 104 (in 55 attempts), 75.2, 63.2. Yeah, he’s the guy that’s gonna turn the franchise around.

31 (28): Raiders

This just in: I think JaMarcus Russell just overthrew another receiver. In other news, Oakland hasn’t scored a touchdown in two weeks.

30 (31): Browns

Hey Rich Gannon, you know overtime is sudden death, right?

29 (29): Buccaneers

Raheem Morris is still young enough to play Madden with his buddies, right? Well, I hope he doesn’t play with his Bucs because he’ll find out that his starting quarterback in real life is rated a 57. Not a good sign.

28 (30): Chiefs

Matt Cassel: Your garbage time all-star of the week! After throwing for 57 yards in the first three quarters, Cassel decided it was time to step up and save his stat line by throwing two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Sadly, he still finished with 127 yards and a completion percentage of 47. Way to earn your paycheck, buddy.

27 (27): Lions

Detroit gave up 48 points despite allowing only 276 yards. That has to be some kind of record. But on the bright side, you just talked Matt Forte fantasy owners down off the ledge. That’s gotta count for something.

26 (26): Panthers

This might be the only time I say this all season: Jake Delhomme didn’t throw an interception this week! Don’t worry though, Jake—you’ll make up for it this week.

25 (22): Bills

Randy McMichael, Greg Camarillo, and even teammates Fred Jackson, Josh Reed, and Derek Schourman all have more catches this year than Terrell Owens. Hey T.O., how are you liking Buffalo?

24 (24): Redskins

I’m not sure which is more embarrassing: needing a second-half comeback to beat the Bucs at home, or the possibility of losing back-to-back games against the winless Panthers and Chiefs.

23 (18): Titans

“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.” Now I finally understand what George Bush was trying to say.

22 (23): Seahawks

Seattle’s O-line is hurting more than Lindsey Lohan when she tries to think.

21 (25): Dolphins

If only they could play the Bills every week. Their next four games are the Jets, Saints, Jets again, and the Patriots. Think they might put some pressure on Chad Henne? Yeah, me too.

20 (20): Cardinals

After having Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Steve Breaston, and Tim Hightower all on one fantasy team last season (yes, I won the league), boy, am I glad I didn’t buy into Arizona this season.

19 (19): Texans

Their defense really isn’t that good, and the Raiders are horrible, but to hold Oakland to six points and 165 yards is pretty good. Even better? Oakland’s top performer, according to the Yahoo! box score, was Darrius Heyward-Bey—with one catch for 18 yards.

18 (21): Jaguars

I played a fantasy team this weekend with David Garrard and Mike Sims-Walker. Thank you, Tennessee, for turning an easy win into my first loss of the season.

17 (15): Cowboys

Their defense made Kyle Orton actually look good. ‘Nuff said.

16 (17): Bengals

If I hear one more time that they’re one play away from being undefeated, I’m going to explode. This team is not that good. Let’s see how they do in Baltimore next week.

15 (10): Packers

Lost in all the man-love for Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers had a fantastic night despite a horrid O-line. I’m pretty sure he knows by now what Jared Allen ate for dinner last night.

14 (8): Chargers

Hey San Diego, it was nice of you to show up in the second half. I didn’t think you were gonna make it.

13 (13): Steelers

Dear Pittsburgh secondary, thank you for allowing Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates to lead the most improbable comeback in fantasy football history. Sincerely, I Love Lamp, 4-0.

12 (14): Bears

Biggest fantasy goat of the week: Chicago wide receivers. They put up 48 points, and not a single player had more than 32 yards.

11 (11): Falcons

Huge test this weekend in San Francisco. This trip to the Bay Area should be a little harder than last year, when they played the Raiders.

10 (9): Eagles

Why sign Michael Vick and deal with all that media backlash if you aren’t even going to use him? They had the perfect opportunity when Donovan McNabb was out. With Donovan returning soon, at least Vick will have more time to devote to his PETA spokesman duties.

9 (16): Broncos

I wanted to see Denver break the top 10 this week before they lose every game until nine. New England, San Diego, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. If they even go 2-2 during that stretch, they’re for real.

8 (12): 49ers

I don’t know if it’s because I like Mike Singletary, I picked up the San Francisco D/ST and Vernon Davis last week, or because I am a Niners fan, but I love this team. I expect at least 10 wins and a playoff win this season. Is that too much to ask?

7 (7): Jets

Hey Mark Sanchez, never go full retard.

6 (1): Ravens

That stop at No. 1 didn’t last very long. That being said, I expect them to bounce back and win that division by at least three games.

5 (4): Giants

Good news, fellow Eli Manning haters. Plantar fasciitis plus cold weather will make for a tough month for the spoiled younger Manning brother.

4 (6): Colts

In other Manning news, Peyton is quietly solidifying himself as the early favorite for MVP.

3 (5): Patriots

Give Tom Brady time in the pocket, and he’ll make you pay. With his receivers getting healthy and chemistry forming on defense, New England will once again be in the mix come January.

2 (3): Saints

Drew Brees, you’re killing me. No touchdowns in two straight games? But what’s bad for my fantasy teams is scarier for the rest of the NFL. The Saints are winning with defense and the running game.

1 (2): Vikings

If I hear about how much fun Brett Favre is having one more time, I’m going to stab somebody with an ice pick. Seriously, we get it. Brett Favre is the best football player in the history of the NFL. Now can ESPN move on to more important things, like the WNBA finals? Wait, those are over already? I had no idea.

Sherlock Holmes! Woo!

You have to admit, I do have nice hair.

The super sleuth, one Sherlock Holmes, a private eye detective created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been represented countless times within the last hundred years in many a film and television production. I would happily say that this were the case in regards to the latest addition to the Holmes family tree. I would that is, if it wasn’t set to be the biggest and best yet, will it possibly become the most famous of them all?

The 2009 remake, starring one of Hollywood’s increasingly popular actors, Robert Downey Jr. (A Scanner Darkly, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder) is set in 1891, where him and his lovable assistant Dr. Watson, played by Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Artificial Intelligence: AI, Alfie) attempt to stop a conspiracy to destroy Britain. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie, whose popular works include that of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla. Other cast include the beautiful Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, The Time Traveler’s Wife), Mark Strong (Syriana, Sunshine, Stardust) and William Hope (Aliens, Triple X, 9/11: The Twin Towers) and with a $80 million budget, it’s bound to be a heck of a film.

You need not worry, not only is the film critically acclaimed to be a huge success over Christmas day (it’s release date… Obviously) and Boxing day, Warner have also already greenlit a sequel. Mr Downey Jr. also seems to have some very nice hair and that is NOT debatable.

Today I’ll be breaking my normal format to provide you with a few tips on how to save money on your vices in this clearly anti-vice economy.

1. Soda: I don’t know about you guys but I love my fucking soda, and I love paying as little as possible for it. Unfortunately Publix brand soda is the cheapest around and it tastes like it. Lucky for you you can get a Double Gulp from 7/11 with any soda you want in it for $1.72, and if you save your cup you can get a refill for $1.06 or take your cup to RaceTrac and refill it with a larger variety of soda for only $0.85. Also a Double Gulp can hold 64oz which is 2oz away from being a full 2 liters.

2. Cigarettes: Now I’m not much of a smoker but I am surrounded by them every day, so I picked up a few tricks on how to save money on them. First off 7/11 and privately owned convince stores have the most expensive cigarette prices, try BP, Hess, Mobil, and Chevron for cheaper prices. Secondly most people don’t not smoke all of their cigarettes, so if you don’t have a brand preference and you want to save money then I suggest sucking up your pride and combing through public ashtrays for unfinished cigarettes, if your germ-a-phobic them cut off the filter. Thirdly I suggest you get and electronic cigarette, I saw them at my local flea market for $30.00, and that included everything you need to last you a few months. You would only have to pay for refills that won’t be effected by new cigarette taxes, and it’s not going to give you cancer.

3. Music: Well aside form illegally downloading it you could buy it from places like the iTunes store for a steep $0.99 per song, or perhaps you’d like something a little more free. Last FM is my personal favorite site for listing to music for free, but there are plenty of others out there like Pandora. Last FM basically records your listing habits, and after it has enough data it builds a station based on your tastes, it also recommends new music to you and shows you people with similar tastes as yours. It’s kind of hard to explain but you should defiantly check it out for yourself.

4. Movies: Well I’m sure you all know about Hulu by now so I’m not even going to cover it. What you may not know about is that your local Library carries DVDs that you can rent for free, Redbox is a cool idea but it’s not free. It differs library to library but normally library cards are free, and you can use then to rent a DVD or VHS for about a week absolutely free unless you are late returning. Most library’s do have poor selections, mostly black and white movies but if your in a bigger city then you can expect a much larger selection. My library for example carries Benjamin Button, and Tropic Thunder. So it’s just the luck of the draw.

Well that’s it for now, I hope I helped you save some money, keep truckin’ ’till the rescission is over.

-D.J. Taylor

They didn’t like me borrowing one of their Silverhawks pictures for my last post, so they changed the picture to the one you see there in the post now. Not really sure why, are they concerned about bandwidth? That doesn’t really make sense, since they’re still using the site’s bandwidth by changing to that picture. Are they being stingy about other sites borrowing pics from their page? If so, they’re silly. It’s just a picture of an action figure. It’s not an amazing piece of Photoshop work or a killer photo that someone took. It’s a picture of an action figure. Lame. But oh well, no harm done.

Here's your sign.

Anyway, Troll’s bachelor party went fine on Saturday night. We were about ten minutes late getting in because the manager at Billy Bob’s that Garrison knows took forever to get to the door and let us in. Then he disappeared on us, so we didn’t know where we could go sit. So we stood at one of the eighteen bars one can find in Billy Bob’s, watching from afar until about halfway through the show, when Garrison was finally able to find the guy so he could take us down to the floor. We got settled in at a respectable distance from the stage, so that was pretty sweet. The only dumb part of the night was when I asked the waitress to get Troll a shot that would knock him on his butt. You know what she brought him? A Vegas Bomb. It smelled like coconut and Froot Loops. Honestly, the only thing in it that got Matt all messed up was the Red Bull. LAME.

Oh, and remind me to use cash there from now on. They put $50 on my check card to start my tab, even though the bill was $20 (dummy put a couple of beers on there that I didn’t order, but Troll’s future brother-in-law gave me the cash for them since he ordered them). And since it was done Saturday night, my bank account still says they took $50 from me instead of $20. Granted, the money will go back in, but I still don’t like that. I only gave the lady two bucks for her tip. All of her cash tips were in the checkbook that held my receipt to sign, so I know that she wasn’t exactly hurtin’ that night.

But, I digress, it was still fun. Between Billy Bob’s and going back to Jacob’s house to hang out and watch Tropic Thunder (never seen it btw, AWESOME), Troll got pretty drunk, which is what he wanted out of his bachelor party. He also hinted heavily a while back to Garrison that he wanted strippers, but Garrison and I were like, “Uh, no.” But anyway, good times. Allen and I had to bail at around 2 AM, just because he rode with me and I had to get some rest for church that morning, otherwise we would have stayed and tried to make more of a party of it for him.

Speaking of church, I played a solo for the offertory yesterday. Felt real good getting to bust out and do some glorifyin’, and playing with Gordon was a blast. Also, we found out at the end of the service that the search committee has found a candidate to be our new music minister. He’s going to be leading the service next Sunday, and based on what Jeff (the head of the committee) and Dr. Skaar said, this guy is apparently one awesome dude. So pray for our church and hope for the best. We definitely need it.

iPSotD (taken Saturday, because I felt like it):

"My life.... my all!"