mgroves

Posts Tagged ‘entertainment’

I’m a huge fan of Willy Wonka, and especially the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder. No other version could ever hope to top it, at least in my book. That being said, I’m always up to see different interpretations and mediums. I saw a local CAPA production of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka last night with my wife.

My expectations weren’t very high, but they still weren’t met. First, the cast was small. In fact, the guy in the below picture playing Wonka didn’t even appear. It was a 7 member cast playing all the parts using a lot of costume changes and puppets. While the Lion King was able to pull this off, a small cast with a small budget just couldn’t pull it off. While Willy Wonka may not be well-suited to a low budget and small cast, the cast members themselves were certainly not a weakness of the show. They all gave strong, enthusiastic performances and excellent vocals.

Would I see it again? Only if I could pick up some cheaper tickets.

In honor of Newsweek’s stupid list, I’ve compiled two of my own top ten lists:

10 Worst Movies of 2005:

10. Constantine – Basically it was the Matrix crossed with The Devil’s Advocate. Keanu asks a lot of questions and looks confused. Boring.
9. The Pacifier – Vin Diesel gave up xXx for this?
8. The Ring Two – MD’s first rule of movies: any movie with a number after it is probably crap.
7. Elektra – A spinoff of the lamest superhero movie ever made.
6. Red Eye – Wes Craven’s horror formula with no supernatural elements, a weak villian that my Grandma could fight off, and a plot that’s one paragraph long.
5. The Brothers Grimm – Seemed like a good idea at the time
4. The Devil’s Rejects – I’m supposed to identify and empathize with these protagonists, who don’t have a single positive redeeming quality? A movie full of bad guys means I’m apathetic when anything happens to anyone
3. Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo – MD’s first correlary: Any movie that changes one word from the previous movie is probably crap.
2. Monster-in-Law – The only way the cast of this movie would get me to applaud is if they all died in easily preventable car crashes.
1. Flightplan – The most implausable thriller ever, initially posing as a predictable psychological bore turns into a predictable “run and hide” bore. If you need 10 million (or whatever amount) dollars this badly, may I suggest the lottery? It’s much more likely to actually happen.

10 Best Movies of 2005:

10. Robots – I liked it. Quirky and fun, I think Robin Williams brought a lot of his “Genie” character to the movie.
9. Sin City – To be fair to The Devil’s Rejects, this is also a movie full of bad guys. But at least they have one or two positive traits I can latch on to.
8. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – A very faithful adaptation of the radio series/books/every other media ever. The soundtrack was kinda inappropriate, but I’m pining for a sequel.
7. Saw II – Not as genuinely suprising as the first, but still a very very good horror movie that avoids supernatural elements, making it even creepier.
6. Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin – The Untold Story – Should a direct-to-DVD count on this list? Yes. This movie is basically 3 episodes stiched together, but that’s not a weakness. It’s the funny of Family Guy times 3.
5. Jarhead – A wannabe Full Metal Jacket. Not as good, but still very compelling and interesting. Also manages to stay relatively apolitical, which is one of its strengths.
4. Walk the Line – Joaquin Phoenix does an incredible Johnny Cash impression. The movie didn’t present Cash as a very sympathetic guy, but the music alone makes this a movie worth seeing.
3. The Skeleton Key – Supernatural thriller with an ending that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. Very entertaining, even though I can’t stand Kate Hudson. CAROLIIIIINE!!!
2. Waiting – Think of this as Office Space, except in a Applebees/TGIF/Shenanigan’s/Damon’s type of restaurant. Very, very vulgar, but very, very funny.
1. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – What, you expected Brokeback Mountain?

Also, I haven’t yet seen King Kong, Narnia, or Good Night and Good Luck yet. So that is why they (possibly) aren’t included.

Anime is ripe for parody. It’s an easy target, but I’ve only seen a handful of good parodies (in comparison with other genres). Here are some of my favorites:

• Stinkoman in 20XG6: This is a Homestar Runner parody – it’s actually a series of parodies using the same characters. It’s more of a Mega Man parody than a pure anime parody, but it’s still very funny. This link is for the very first Stinkoman cartoon, but there are a handful more on the site.
• Good Guy vs Bad Guy: Based on a cosplay skit, this is a parody that I just found today. Good Guy bears a striking resemblence to your favorite blog writer, but he’s not me.
• Finally, Perfect Hair Forever. This is a bizarre new show on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. It’s partially anime parody, partially William’s Street nonsense. Especially annoying/hilarious is the Action Hot Dog (see video clip below).

What do all of these parodies have in common? Credits. They all mock the non sequitur weirdness that is most anime credits.

I didn’t think it would be, but this Guess-the-Google game is kinda fun. The game will display a grid of images from a Google Image Search (GIS). The goal of the game is to guess which keyword was used in that search. If it sounds too difficult, it’s not. If it sounds too easy, it’s not.

Sometimes I wonder what it’s like on the OTHER side of the conversation (from KillSomeTime.com)

Snoop Dogg is just awful, isn’t he? He invented a form of rap where not even rhyming is necessary. He has ‘sold out’ to just about every company ever. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to make money, but consider:

• AOL
• Chrysler
• T-Mobile
• Girls Gone Wild
• Hot Dogs
• and his extensive filmography

For just about any other celebrity to whore themselves out this much over such a diverse set of products would surely destroy their credibility and potential for future endorsements. Snoop Dogg endorsements and branding, however, do not seem to be losing any steam at all. What gives?

Even though he’s a Mac nut, Bill Amend may be the coolest comic strip artist ever. His homepage is in “NostaligiaVision

I’m picturing a version of this bathroom designed by my favorite stand-up comedian, Li’L Jimmy Norton. Behold, the Urinals of Inadequacy

I’ve always wanted to see giant butter sculptures of Darth Vader and/or Yoda. Now if I only I had two giant baked potatoes…