Movie Morsels 11 - The Dark Knight

I don't know if I should really categorize this under 'Movie Morsels' but... too late, I guess, because I did. Anyway, Empire (a British film magazine) has just released their July issue all about TDK. Seeing as none of us are going to rush right out and snatch the issue off the stands (most likely because we can't find it) I thought I'd provide the scans of the article. It doesn't tell you anything you don't already know, really, but I'm super excited about TDK and am reading whatever I can get my hands (or eyes) on.

[All images courtesy of christian-bale.org - there are 11 individual images and, as always, you need to click on each one to make it big enough to read.]

Movie Morsels 10 - Burn After Reading

I just did a quick IMDb check and I have seen only 3 Coen Brothers' movies, none of which I particularly cared for. (I'm shallow - Intolerable Cruelty was awful, The Big Lebowski was too out there for me and Raising Arizona... well, I haven't seen it for about 15 years, so that tells you how well I remember that one.) So chances aren't too great that I'll see this one. Still, I was interested in seeing the trailer (I've read a lot about the movie but never quite got what exactly was going on plot-wise... and I still don't, really) - and I like the little dance Brad does @ the 0:32 mark. :o)

Burn After Reading trailer

Movie Morsels 09 - The Hobbit

I guess this news is actually a day old but I just heard about it, so it's news to me! :o) Rumor has it that James McAvoy is the #1 guy in the running to play the titular character in The Hobbit. According to ShowbizSpy.com:

Scottish actor JAMES McAVOY has been tipped to take the lead role in the new movie version of LORD OF THE RINGS prequel THE HOBBIT.

J.R.R. Tolkien's novel is set to be turned into a major blockbuster under the direction of Guillermo del Toro and filming is due to begin in New Zealand later this year (08).

Sir Ian McKellen will reprise his role as Gandalf and McAvoy is rumoured to be the favourite to take the lead role of hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

The character was played by Ian Holm in the previous films of the fantasy franchise, but he is due to be replaced by a high profile star for the new movie.

A source tells British newspaper the Daily Express, "A number of names have been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black, but James (McAvoy) is the one the film's bosses really want.

"They're expected to have talks soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future."

And director del Toro adds, "I can tell you it's down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice, completely magically we all have the same name."

James is a bit wee - he's 5'7" - so I suppose he'd make a good hobbit. Elijah is 5'6" as is Sean Astin (is that the "official" height under which an actor will not stipulate to being or what?) so James would fit right in. Man! Robert totally missed his window of potential Hollywood popularity - he's 5'6", too! (But he actually is.) I very much like James McAvoy so if he really is going to play Bilbo Baggins, I'll be excited. Granted, hobbits are never hot (who is with a Greg Brady perm, really?) but it'll be a more high profile role for James and it's always a bonus for actors you like to actually get work...

(UPDATED) Movie Morsels 06 - Terminator Salvation

Nothing huge to report but, again, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here, people! Apparently, news has just broken that Christian Bale has signed on for not one but three new Terminator 'sequels.' Oh. Joy.

Christian Bale is to play rebel leader John Connor in three sequels to the Terminator franchise, its producers have revealed.

The Welsh-born star, who is soon to be seen in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, has already started shooting the first of those films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

"He's really an actor's actor, so we're very proud," said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon.

Charlie's Angels director McG is directing the new film, which is due to be released on 22 May 2009.

"Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of The Terminator, so we're very lucky," Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.

"But with Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond."

Luckily, said Kubicek's business partner Derek Anderson, "he read the script and he loved it, so he's signed on for all three."

Now, I love me some Christian Bale, as you know, and I will thus be forced to see these stupid new iterations of Terminator but - ugh - do we really need three more?! Seriously? My only hope is that McG isn't directing them all... we all know how beloved the Angels franchise is.

I liked the original Terminator best by far though the second one was also good (I can just barely stand Edward Furlong's high-pitched squealing and whining... whew). I never even saw the third one; yes, I'm sure Nick Stahl was far less annoying than Edward but my brother-in-law (who is a huge Terminator guy - he has the collector's DVD set complete with a Terminator head and whatnot) gave it a "meh" review so I just never got around to checking it out. Damn you and your hotness, Christian!! Now I'm going to have to sit through stupid the stupid lady Terminator and and two hours of Claire Danes. Gah! I can't even imagine what the already thin plot will be stretched to in order to fill three more movies...
- originally posted 05/21/08

UPDATE: Since principal photography on the film started up a few days ago, the plot of Salvation has been released by Warner Bros.:

In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
(from themovingpicture.net)

Today's Random Round-Up

Indiana Jones: An Archaeologist Digs Through the Truth and Lies
(Warning: the final entry sort of gives away the ending, so you may want to skip the last two entries.)

This is an interesting article on the more believable and unbelievable aspects of Dr. Jones as archaeologist. Having taken many an archeology class in college, I must say the profession has never interested me. Ever. And this article isn't making is sound any better!

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Also from Asylum.com - a gallery of unfortunate tattoos. Holy macaroni... some of these are definitely worse than others! Here are the two I found most offensive:

EWWW!!!!! WHO on Earth would get this tattoo?!!! And who would date armpit-crotch-guy?!!! I didn't even like typing the phrase...

This IS creative, I'll give him that. But still... blech. Poor defenseless bellybutton.

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Here's a trailer for Twisted: A Balloonamentary:

I don't know that I would want to watch an entire documentary about balloon twisters (though I've read that it's pretty entertaining) but I was fascinated by the 2 minute clip. I had no idea balloon twisting was such an underground phenomenon! Wow. Some of the creations are really astonishing.

Movie Morsels 08 - Sex and the City

As much as I liked and watched the series, I'm not sure if I'll see the movie in the theater. It just seems... long. Two hours and 22 minutes of nonstop SATC just seems like 55 minutes too many! Plus, I didn't mind how the series ended and if the movie mucks it up, I'll be bummed. Still, I could not stop myself from searching for spoilers so if you're interested in the big plot points, I have listed them in the comments. (When I find a more complete spoiler I'll post that, too).

My Brain!

Oh, my poor brain is just chockablock FULL of useless information! It both distresses and awes me, I must say. :o) Robert and I watched Rescue Dawn this weekend (pretty okay... not great but interesting, though not at all like I thought it would be) and as I watched, I felt like I recognized one of the extras. I didn't say anything to Robert because I have an awesome streak going - I have only one miss* in all my voiced "Hey! It's That Guy!" moments - and I wasn't confident enough to make it count. (Hey, if I don't actually articulate my thought it doesn't officially count!) I am almost always the one that family and friends turn to when they want to know who someone is or in what else they've seen a certain actor. Even when Robert knows better, he sometimes doubts me - only to wind up bowing down before me as I knew he would!!!

What was I saying? Oh yes - Rescue Dawn extra. One of the dudes playing one of the Laotian prison camp guards totally looked like one of the bad guys from Beyond Borders. "What are the odds?" I thought. "Probably not good" I answered. After all, Borders was shot in Cambodia; how likely was it that one of the (I assumed) local actors would be in a movie shot in Thailand? (Just goes to show that my horrific lack of geographical knowledge sometimes bites me in the butt... I didn't realize the two countries bordered one another. Whoops!) Anyway, in my boredom this afternoon I decided to play my hunch and looked him up. Indeed I was correct: Teerawat 'Ka-Ge' Mulvilai was in both Dawn and Borders. Woohoo!!!! My streak remains intact!!! Who else, I ask, would know Teerawat?! That's what I thought. I. Am. Good.

* Back in 1999, I mistook David Cross for Mark Ruffalo in an episode of Just Shoot Me! I know; it was a huge retarded moment for me. I am ashamed. It is a mistake that comes back to haunt and is always looming over my head when I want to venture a guess as to who someone is. :o( I don't know what I was thinking... but now David Cross is referred to as Fake Mark Ruffalo whenever I see him in anything else.

You Won't Care But...

Michael Ausiello is jumping ship!!

TV Guide has a new frenemy: Michael Ausiello is joining Entertainment Weekly, after eight fantastic years as our resident scooper.

"Michael has been a great reporter and a great friend," says TVGuide.com editor-in-chief Christy Tanner. "We wish him the best, and promise that we won’t miss a beat delivering all the great scoop you’re used to on TVGuide.com."

Holy cow!! Ausiello was one of the best parts of TVGuide.com - his Wednesday Ask Ausiello blurbs were so informative! Of course, I read both sites daily (and subscribe to EW) so it shouldn't really impact me much. That being said, I hope Ausiello gets to continue his Web presence on EW.com and that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle at his new home. I must have my Ausiello scoops and scooplets!

(UPDATED) TV Tidbits 17 - NCIS, The CW

I haven't watched the season finale of NCIS yet but I do know what happens (I knew about 4 minutes past the episode ending on the East Coast, der!) and... well, Robert hasn't seen it yet and doesn't want to know anything about it so my hands are a bit tied here. Let me just say that the cliff-hanger left me at first not too concerned and then gradually, the more I thought about the ramifications, a bit more perturbed. It seems I am not alone in my thought process there and TVGuide.com's Matt Roush has shared his thoughts on a fellow fan's similar question. It made me feel a little bit better but since Matt's not officially "in the know" on this one, I still have to wait and see. (Obviously, if you don't want to be spoiled, a la Robert, you can skip the following text):

Question: After watching the finale of NCIS, I wonder if the writers did not see House this season.While I agree that reassigning an entire team can shake up a show and give it new life if done well, NCIS was not in a place where it needed to be shaken up and House failed to adequately integrate the old and new teams. NCIS is not in a position where integration of the old and new teams is possible. Unless they do an episode in Israel, with the Ronald Reagan offshore and a cybercrime…but how contrived does that sound? At least we still have Gibbs, Ducky, Abby and Palmer. — Veronica N.

Matt Roush: I don't know for sure where NCIS is heading next season, but until I hear otherwise, I'm assuming that the final reveal of a new NCIS team (with many of the current regulars reassigned) is just a temporary twist. Rocky Carroll as the new director is such an obvious bad guy that I can't imagine him sticking around for long — and who would want him to? (Again, just guessing here.) Splitting up the team sounds more like a traditional cliffhanger to me than a long-term rebuilding strategy such as House embarked on. But you're absolutely right. Seeing how badly it played on House, why would an even more mainstream show want to go there?

Another look at NCIS, from Alex M.: "I'm curious of your thoughts on NCIS. It's always been one of my favorites, and since its return from the strike-induced hiatus, I feel the tone has been much darker (including Ziva's near-death experience and its haunting of her, Jimmy's near-death experience, and the gloomy season finale). I'm not sure if this is tied to the change in show-runner away from Donald Bellisario, but I just feel that the show has begun to take itself too seriously. The good thing about this show has always been its cast chemistry, quirky subplots and comedic relief. Don't get me started on the possibility of replacing two-thirds of the cast, but I just think the tinkering that's been done has ruined the feel of the show that I used to love."

NCIS isn't one of my regular stops, but I do tune in occasionally — most recently, the way-overlong two-hour finale and the Ziva episode — and my much more casual observation is that any change of tone might be an effect of the strike and the compressed season, which could explain why there weren't as many light capers to vary the mood as the show barreled toward the end of the season with these big, more serious and pivotal episodes. I agree with you about the quirky humor of the character interplay. It is the show's most appealing quality, and if they lose sight of it with this latest shake-up (however long it lasts), that won't be a good thing.

UPDATE: Ausiello has a mini-Q&A with NCIS's exec producer Shane Brennan:

• Are they really writing out McGee, DiNozzo and Ziva à la House, or will they all be back next season?! Patrick

Brennan: No fan of NCIS will be disappointed when the show returns in September. I promise, we're not doing a House! But strap into your seats, it's going to be a heart stopping ride....

• Please, please, please tell me that they’re not really breaking up the team on NCIS! Lu Ann

Brennan: Deep breaths. Everything is going to be fine. This is Gibbs' team, right?

• Will the show be introducing any new team members next season? Chris

Brennan: Yes. And no.

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The CW has finally deigned to grace us with their Sunday night line-up for this fall and neither Aliens in America nor Moonlight are on it. Bunch of crap!!!! I really had my fingers crossed for Raja and friends... Mew.

The Sunday block, launching Sept. 14 at 6:30 pm/ET (versus the traditional 7), still won't resurrect CBS' Moonlight, but instead features:

• In Harm's Way, an unscripted series following people in dangerous or unenviable jobs (avalanche hunters, subway tunnel diggers, Denise Richards' publicist).

• Surviving Suburbia, a comedy based on a long-ago dismissed pilot about a grumpy husband and father.

• Valentine, Inc., a romantic comedy in which the Greek gods Aphrodite and her son Eros run an Earth-bound dating service.

• Easy Money, about a family of loan sharks — including a middle son who's uneasy about their line of work.

Why no Moonlight? Well,

Addressing the decision to pass up the opportunity to pick up the cult hit and its eight million viewers, MRC TV president Keith Samples explains to Variety, "It just didn't seem in the end that it was the right thing to do at this moment in time.

"We're going down a new path here, I'll be the first to admit," Samples adds. "Things will come up on this road we didn't foresee, and we will evolve."

I'm glad they scrapped a critically acclaimed sitcom as well as a show with a huge cult following (i.e. built-in audience) for a rip-off of Dirty Jobs and a "long ago dismissed pilot." Idiots.

Random Post - 10 Reasons to Hate Makeup Artists

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything and more than likely you will skip this post BUT... if you have 10 minutes to kill, you should read this article from Jezebel.com. It gave me a couple (I stress "couple") good chuckles and any article that actually makes me laugh out loud is worth a look-see referral, no? Plus it's 5:15, I have 45 minutes to go and I. Am. Bored.

The article is a bit too long for me to repost the entire thing but, as always, here are some of my favorite bits:

2) Bacteriffic brushes

They make these things that are like mascara wands that you dip, brush onto a model's lashes, and then throw away. Steal them from Sephora if you must.

Once a makeup artist used a single-use brush for my first mascara application of the day, and then, a few hours later, dashed in for a touch-up with her Great Lash Waterproof's own sticky, abused wand. "Oh," she said, noting my horrified visage. "This mascara will just go on over the mascara you're already wearing. So I'm not actually putting it on your eyes."

Until you're the one at risk of pink eye, I reserve the right to give you a don't-piss-on-my-leg look. And to ask you to use my mascara, which I take with me to every job just in case.

3) Pointy pencils

Related to above: Makeup artists who try to use dirty, unsharpened eye and lip pencils, I hate you. And when I ask you, nicely, to please expose some fresh lead before you wave that shit all over my mucous membranes, it would be a relief if you were to resist the urge to pull back aghast, sneer playing about your lips, and furiously carve an eye pencil into a rapier point before raking it all over the inside of my upper and lower lids. Do you want me to cry? Because I will, and then you will have to do it all completely over again, and if that is what you want…well Sartre had a point I guess!

6) The fake eyelash and you

True story: Once a makeup artist put fake lashes on my left eye upside down. Instead of curling upwards and outwards and bringing out my inner Judy Garland, the lashes turned inwards and attacked my cornea like so many spider legs. In removing the fake lash strip, he was so careless with the solvent that ripped out four of my own. Then he had the toe-curling awfulness to chide me for crying. If you think you're ready for Advanced Makeup Artistry: Falsies, you better know what the f-ck you're doing.

My Tiger Hair

I am a notoriously difficult person to please when it comes to my hair - I had one good haircut in college but other than that, I almost always walk away from a stylist's chair unhappy. My hair is either too short, too long, too poofy, too flat, too flippy or too... something, y'know? It's true. I have, however, been relatively pleased with my hair of late, which is why I haven't drastically altered the cut or anything for a while now. So, yesterday I had a hair appointment and, feeling saucy, decided to go for something a bit different. I was already scheduled for highlights - something I don't normally get because (1) they're expensive and (2) I'm lazy (the appointment is always, like, 2 or 3 hours because I have so much hair) - but because my recital is next weekend, I thought I'd mix it up. My stylist, Michelle, wanted me to go a bit blonder and a bit chunkier ("but not really 'chunky,'" she says) and I told her to go for it. Oh, if only I'd stayed in my boring little rut!! Now my hair is striped and I am not happy.






Robert, trying his best to boost my spirits, says it's "sun-kissed." To which I replied "The sun owes my hair a dinner because it clearly did more than kiss it - the sun had sex all over the right side of my head!" Disaster. The left side (and back) of my hair may be sun-kissed but the right side obviously had a long-standing affair with el Sol. Either that or I fell asleep in a big puddle of peroxide... Disaster! Did I say that yet?

What the heck am I supposed to do with this hair now? I look retarded!! Oy. I'm going to try and part it in a different location and see if that tones the yellow down a bit... keep your fingers crossed.

Wii Fit

Don't get excited - I don't have one. Yet.

Have I actually seen any of the game? No. But no matter! I know I'll like it so I must have it. It can sit next to the AbLounger, JumpSnap and Core Rhythms DVD I (don't) use to (not) lose weight. Plus, I have a $25 gift certificate for Amazon.com - so as soon as they're in stock (and not available for the bargain price of $150 from other sellers), I'm gettin' one.

Luckily, this morning I came across a little video of a couple writers for EW.com workin' the Wii Fit... so if you, like me, have yet to see what it's really all about, you might want to check it out:

Wii Fit? No. You Fat!

This Guy Was Awesome!!

Robert Muraine: this guy was the most entertaining to watch during last night's SYTYCD premiere. Robert and I actually watched his audition twice - it was that good. I have been to 3rd Street many times and have no trouble visualizing this guy as a street performer there. (Robert has fond memories of 3rd Street because that's where he got to realize one of his dreams - he got to touch a monkey when he handed it a quarter. Almost made up for the time that he missed the guy in SeaTac who walked around with a capuchin in a front-facing baby sling... I saw him but was too slow and didn't get a picture. Robert has forever been bummed. Robert's other dream? To ride an elephant. He's jealous of me there, too - I rode one when I was about 5 or so. Monkeys and elephants? I rock!) Anyhoo, here's the video:

Skip to the 1:00 mark if you want to bypass all the intro stuff...

I tried doing the throat thing @ 1:20 - no way. This guy is mind-blowing! I can't believe how flexible he is and how much muscle control he has. It's astounding!! I don't know how or why people learn to do stuff like this but I am so glad they do... this is why I love this show!

Aaah, Fremont.

I am always reluctant to bust out the ol' 'Freakmont' moniker but it may be an apt name for the city that produced this:

Oh. My. God. Someone from Fremont finally makes it on to So You Think You Can Dance and it's this guy?! Bummer. First Michael Magidson and now Rijiy... Fremont is awesome!

[Then again, as Robert (Mr. I-LOVE-Fremont! himself) pointed out, we also produced proud gold medal and mirror ball trophy winner Kristi Yamaguchi. So maybe Fremont isn't so loser-y after all. ;o) ]

(UPDATED) Movie Morsels 07(ish) - Public Enemies

I came across these images yesterday and was itching to post them and then I thought "No. No one else cares about any more Christian Bale." But, after chatting about it last night I thought "Screw it. The people need me to flaunt my hot men obsession!!" :o) So, here are some photos of Christian filming Public Enemies in Wisconsin earlier this month (all images courtesy of christian-bale.org):







The production will be moving to Chicago next. What crap lousy luck!!! First I don't live in Wisconsin and now I don't live in Chicago. What the hell?!?!! The Dark Knight also filmed in Chicago... You know who lives in Chicago? My sister. My sister who doesn't care about stalking hot celebrities!!!!! SUCKS! (Then again, if Michelle was interested in stalking Christian and she got to see him and I didn't, well... I would have to hurt her).

I miss living in L.A.; I got to see people there all the time! David Duchovny filmed an episode of The X-Files right outside my chem lab! I left Robert standing on the street corner with melting ice cream as Nora and I gawked at Joshua Jackson in Westwood! Man, life was good.

Now, I can be subtle - no celebrity is going to fall in love with the woman clinging to their ankles and being dragged down the street - but a movie with both Christian and Johnny Depp?!! I would sleep out on the street to catch a glimpse, people!! Yowza.

UPDATE: Uh mah gah... Chris is in Chi-town right this very moment!!! Pew. :o( According to People.com, he was "loading up on toys at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art during a visit with his wife Sibi and his daughter. Bale bought a puzzle, magnetic color cubes and more, before touring the museum with his family. Of special note: the actor – who plays Batman in The Dark Knight – scoped out artist Karen Kilimnik's show, featuring portraits of celebrities." I will be in the city in July, Christian!!! Just... hang out or something for another month and a half. There's lots to do in Chicago - you can think of something to fill your time! *sigh*

(UPDATED) TV Tidbits 16 - Bones, American Idol, SYTYCD, CSI

I don't watch either of these shows but their season finales were apparently gigantenormous so I thought I should provide a few links for those who are interested:

Bones

• TVGuide.com Q&A with Eric Millegan (Zack)
• TVGuide.com Talks Finale "Zack-lash" with Show Creator

Idol

• EW.com Backstage Q&A: David Cook
• EW.com Backstage Q&A: David Archuleta
• EW.com Pre-Finale Q&A with Both Davids
• EW.com 4-Page Finale Recap

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Just as an aside, So You Think You Can Dance starts its new season tonight - yay!!! This is one of my favorite reality shows; I could watch dancing all day, every day. I know, I'm a dork. Still, it floats my boat and that's all that matters. :o)

EW.com Q&A with Nigel Lythgoe

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According to Ausiello, Jorja Fox will be returning to CSI next season - as not as part of a flashback sequence:

Sources confirm that [Fox] has inked a deal to return for the show's ninth-season premiere next fall.

Specifics of her comeback are being kept under lock and key, but my CSI mole assures me that she "won't be appearing in a flashback." The likely scenario has Sara returning to Vegas to shag Grissom mourn ex-colleague Warrick, who was shot (and presumably) killed in last week's finale. I say "presumably" because in the current issue of TV Guide, Mendelsohn says Gary Dourdan will be back in the fall — and "not just in flashbacks."

I've got three words for you: Gut-wrenching death scene.

George Michael on Idol

Dang! I missed George on Idol last night; it's hard to see someone on a show you don't actually watch, you know? Had I known in advance, however, I would have at least TiVo'd it. :o) I actually didn't know he'd performed until I came across it in the Daily Mail - thank goodness the British are so into their own! I was stoked when I heard George was going on tour a while back... until I saw that tickets were about $100 gabillion. Then not so much. So, Robert lucked out and I will not be dragging him to a designer stubble fest, after all. I'll just have to live vicariously through YouTube...

Discovery's "Boom De Ah Dah"

Dang. Entertainment news today? Slow. Sucks. But I know there are four of you out there that check the blog regularly and I feel I need to post something for you guys!! With that in mind, I give you this:

Bear starts @ 1:05 / Captains @ 1:20

There are conflicting reports as to why exactly this event was occurring but most tend to indicate that this was a part of Discovery's upfront presentation. Mike Rowe, of course, hosts Dirty Jobs and narrates Deadliest Catch - he's also a trained opera singer and has sung several times on Jobs. (Discovery got lucky there because it doesn't look like any of the other guys are really relishing their moment behind the mic). The first guy up is, obviously, Man vs. Wild's Bear Grylls (nervous much?); then you have the Catch captains (Sig, Andy, Jonathan, Keith and Phil - Andy and Jonathan captain the same boat... cheaters!); third is Josh Bernstein (someone of whom I had no idea but that Robert apparently hates - I guess he hosted Digging for the Truth on the History channel and will host Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein for Discovery pretty soon); and lastly you see Ben Bailey (who I also didn't know but who hosts Cash Cab).

I really enjoyed the guys I recognized, naturally, though I had the hardest time making out parts of the captains' lyrics. So, in case you're retarded and anal like me and can't rest until you know what they're saying, here are the words:

We love the ocean
We love the pitch and yaw,
We love the big waves,
We love a king crab claw,
We love the whole world,
It's one big rainstorm

Nice. It's good to see that everyone is such a good sport. :o)

Movie Morsels 05 - Indiana Jones

This is indeed a spoiler, though not in the traditional sense. Yes, it gives away major plot points so if you want to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with a clean slate this Thursday, you'll want to skip the link. However, the article doesn't really spell everything out in a super-clear fashion; it's more of a review/recap presented as a conversation between two Defamer writers.

Defamer Instant Reviews: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I have been slogging through the Indiana movies for the past two weeks and I have to say - I am not really looking forward to Robert dragging me to Indy IV. I have never seen any of the three Indy movies in their entirety thus far and now that I'm being forced to sit through them (I've only made it through the first two - Last Crusade is on the menu this weekend, I believe), I can understand why. They're not horrible... they're just not my kind of movie. I don't find them particularly entertaining or amusing - I'm not a huge fan of the whole campy, serial homage thing they have going. Sorry. Still, I have no choice but to indulge Robert in his wish to see Skull, as he's sat through many a Lauren movie in his time. :o) If only there were some hot men to get me through... (shoot, I'd settle for just one)! *sigh*

UPDATE: Here's a general round-up of early reviews, courtesy of EW.com

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So, here's a totally random postscript to the above post, but it's about movies so it sort of applies...:

Robert and I rented Into the Wild this weekend and - yikes - it was not for us. We didn't hate it, really, but we definitely didn't like it. I don't know if we're 'too shallow' for such an artistic film or what but... man, what a snoozer!! Yeesh. Robert really enjoyed the book but even he found the film to be a bit... strange. Pointless. Slow. Y'know - just blah. I hopped onto IMDb.com and skimmed the message boards and discovered that we are not alone - people either love or hate the movie (and most posters hate it). The thread titles alone cracked me up - "I'm Halfway Through and Boy Am I Bored;" "I Wanted to Kick Him in the Head;" and "Hippies: Alaska Isn't For You!" But this was by far my favorite thread:

I will summarize this movie for you and save you the rental money

by Leonidas808 (Sun May 4 2008 03:51:02)
UPDATED Sun May 4 2008 03:51:24

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Nature 1
Dumbass 0

You can thank me later.

We're Old

I was perusing Dakin and John's blog this weekend and discovered that Friday was the 10-year anniversary of our Senior Ball. Holy crap!!! That is a wee bit depressing. I mean, it's not like I feel like high school was just yesterday or anything like that - certainly not! - but I don't feel old enough to hit the 10-year mark, either. Well... I guess I do but I don't. I dunno. That makes no sense but I'm sure someone out there knows what I mean! :o)

Dakin posted some cute 'then and now' photos on their blog and I thought "Hey! Robert and I should totally do that!" After all, we hit our 10 1/2-year mark this month (dating-wise) and we were pretty cute back in the day.

One good thing about this photo - no podiums by which to measure our shortness in relation to other prom goers! Christina was always quick to point out how much taller she and her date were...

Where's the 'now' photo? Well, Robert and I are not so cute anymore... and there's a lot more of us to love. And we didn't get any taller, so you do the math. Besides, you guys know what we look like now. Let us just revel in our teenage munchkin-ness, shall we?

Oy... Robert and His Projects.

Robert is driving me NUTS. The man just finished up a project he'd been working on for a month or so and has been desperately searching for something new to work on all weekend. I really want to punch him in the nose! Ack.

First of all, Robert never takes any time off. He has over 30 days accrued (because he's never sick and I alway am and so never have any time accrued - ergo, we never take a "vacation") and so decided to take a day on Friday because he'd had a long week, what with his 16-hour day on Tuesday and whatnot. Then he figured, since he's in a use-it-or-lose-it situation, he'd take Monday off, too. And that's great... only Robert isn't a sit-around-the-house kind of guy and inevitably he will touch my stuff and screw up my piling filing system and I will be forced to hurt him. :o) It's true. And he did. But I digress.

Robert has been working on a jewelry box for me for about a month now, as I mentioned. It wouldn't have taken so long except he doesn't have an actual work bench or anything, so he has to work on our BBQ table and old microwave stand. Oh, and the old spa. So, he's sort of limited in what he can do, even though he has all the right tools and everything. I had seen an earring box in a magazine - basically a square wooden frame around some fabric for you to stick your earrings through - and told Robert I would like something like it. He then got all atwitter and set out to make me something for my earrings. I say 'something' because after it took more than, like, two weeks, I said something to him about it and he said he didn't remember seeing the item I'd pointed out in the catalog. He was going off his "own design." Oh goody.

Needless to say, I had some reservations that Robert's design would encompass what I wanted. "But you only wanted a cloth hanger for earrings - how hard can that be?!" you ask. True. But when I said "earrings" Robert heard "jewelry" and, well, wanted to make something a bit more elaborate than I wanted. I already have a jewelry box, as I pointed out to him, and really just wanted a bunch of holes in something from which I could hang my earrings but he assured me he was taking care of it. Okey dokey. Here is his work in progress and final result:

Before the final waxing

Mounted in its new home

So, you know - it looks good. It does a little more than I asked and it's not exactly what I had in mind but it does have lots of holes for my earrings!! And Robert was so cute - he actually organized all my jewelry on it for me so it was ready and waiting for me when I got home from work. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the best of moods coming home from work on Friday and, as such, I don't think I was as enthused as Robert would have liked... whoops. I know - I suck. But I do like it very much and am very impressed at Robert's woodworking abilities. They've really improved from when he made the TV tray that didn't fold in high school... ;o) In all seriousness, it was a very sweet gesture and I am impressed at Robert's creativity and skill - he really is a sweetheart.

And while I'm posting about Robert's woodwork-ery, here are a few photos of his first project: Gigantor.




As you can see, Gigantor is a DVD rack. A HUGE DVD rack... hence the name Gigantor. :o) (Yes, I really do call it that at home, too.) It is also Robert's own design and he actually finished the whole thing without a router (he has a fine set of routers now but at the time he was without), so his even and symmetric rounded corners are awesome. You can't really tell in the picture but he also mounted it to the wall in such a way that the mounts are hidden, so it's sort of like a floating... Gigantor. :o)

Anyhoo - back to Robert's projects. So, Robert finished up the jewelry box on Friday and started itching to start something new. I got him to do some cleaning on yesterday to occupy his time, then he dragged me down to Expo to look at blinds. Ugh. It did effectively suck up the rest of the day, though, so I guess it was good. Then first thing this morning, Robert starts harassing me about what things he can start working on. First he tells me he wants to paint our bedroom(!); after I told him he'd have to do the baseboards, too, he went off that idea pretty quickly. Then he wants to paint the crown molding in our spare bedroom or paint the master bathroom... he is driving me bananas!!!!!! I finally got him working on something in the guest bathroom - moving our light fixture so it's more centered over the mirror and the sink. (I'm anal - it's been driving me nuts since we moved in!). He jumped right on it and is working on it as I write:

"Don't you love your industrious man?"

He has to do touch-up painting after he re-attaches the light, so I hope that'll keep him busy for a while. I think he's moving on to adjusting our spare bedroom blinds after the bathroom - apparently, they're mounted outside the window and he wants them mounted inside. Whatever. Just stay away from me, my stuff and my TV and we'll get along fine, McCauley!!! Yeesh. I don't know what else there is to do - he has already done the dishes twice, dusted the fan blades and vacuumed - but if I don't get him out of my hair, he's not going to last the weekend.

Movie Morsels 04 - The Happening

You know I love me a good spoiler, so when I came across this article, I couldn't pass it up. It's an article on M. Night Shyamalan's newest film The Happening - a "paranoid thriller" coming out Friday the 13th (of June). That makes it that much scarier, no?! Anyhoo, a brief synopsis: "Suddenly and for seemingly no reason a neuro-toxin is released in the Northeastern United States that causes people to murder themselves in terrible ways. The effect sweeps through different towns and everyone races to escape, unsure of what's really going on."

I haven't seen a Night movie since The Sixth Sense and, I gotta say, I haven't missed them. My parents really like Unbreakable and Robert's sister is in love with Signs, I think, but I really haven't been tempted to try any Night movies after Sense...and after reading about how horrible Lady in the Water was, I think I'm glad I didn't. Chances are none-to-none that I will ever see The Happening but if you would like to (and you'd like to be surprised) DON'T READ THE ARTICLE!!! Seriously - it divulges the entire plot. My favorite (non-spoilery) bit?

"The Happening" is a terrible, terrible movie. I mean, it's bad on an epic scale. It's so bad that I can't possibly tell you how bad it is without understating the point or making it sound like I'm picking on the film. But let me stress: this is not pent-up Shyamalan aggression or a desire to see him fail. This is bad in a jaw-dropping "they can't really be serious, can they?" kind of way. The closest comparison I can draw is to Neil LaBute's "Wicker Man" and, like that film, the only consolation I can offer potential theater-goers is that you might want to see it just to be in on the ground floor when the film gets its ass handed back to it.

TV Tidbits 15 - Numb3rs, House, CSI

Okey doke, it seems like all the fantabulously new TV info is slowing down a bit so I only have a few bits to share, here and there:

• Diane Farr has a Q&A with TVGuide.com re: her series departure. Excerpt:

TVGuide.com: Why did you decide to leave Numbers? Creative differences? The aforementioned twins?
Farr:It was actually none of the above. I'm not leaving because I'm having babies. I'm leaving because I'm going to do a different job. I think after three years, most actors feel the need to see what else they can use their brain for. Numbers was such a perfect job. It was easy and it was fun and it was good people. I pitched an idea to a boss that I had before. He liked [it], and I decided to go with it.

TVGuide.com: You mean Peter Tolan, from The Job and Rescue Me. So what's the project?
Farr: It's an hour drama. There's no gun, no fire hoses. I want to wear a pretty dress for the next few years! But I've done five series where I'm the only girl, and it works perfectly for me. We'll probably keep that going.

• Ausiello has a scoop on House's potential spin-off character - looks like it'll be a private investigator played by Michael Weston (aka: Olivia's brother on SVU)
  

• Ausiello also has scoop on Jorja Fox's 'replacement' on CSI - Lauren Lee Smith will play Bryce Adams, a "flirtatious, witty and strong-willed non-conformist" that is recruited to join the graveyard shift." Gosh! And right when I quit watching... dang.
  

I. Hate. Summer.

And it's not even really summer yet!!!

I love my condo and all but good grief!! It is an OVEN when the weather is warm. BLEEEEEEECH! It's disgusting. This was the temperature at 7:20 last night inside my beloved shoebox:


It then proceeded to get even warmer as the night wore on! Actually, I think the highest I saw the thermostat read was 83.9, so it's not like it got degrees hotter but still - any increase sucks! It was a cool 81 degrees when I left the house at 8 this morning, so I'm stoked to come home to a crispy cool condo tonight!

I very much wish we had air conditioning... though I guess we're more environmentally friendly sitting in our non-air conditioned house, feeling our brains melt. If only good deeds made you cooler (literally)... ;o)

TV Tidbits 14 - Upfronts Day 4

Fox has released their fall schedule and it looks a little something like this [EW.com]:

• JJ Abrams' Fringe—the only other high-profile drama in development this season besides The CW's 90210—will debut on Tuesdays this fall.
• Fox, which announced today in New York City that it'll kick the new season off on Aug. 25, will air Fringe—a drama about special agents who investigate strange phenomena—behind another season of House on Tuesdays.

• A block of comedies will air on Wednesdays at 9 behind Bones, including a revamped season of Til Death (co-stars Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster are out) and Do Not Disturb, a new multi-camera comedy about a hip New York hotel starring Jerry O'Connell.
• The latter show replaces the expensive and ratings-starved Back to You, which got the ax earlier this month.

• The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Prison Break will air on Mondays in the fall.

• Thursdays and Fridays will stay packed with reality shows like The Moment of Truth, Kitchen Nightmares, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader and Don't Forget the Lyrics.
  

• Sundays will remain intact with Fox's signature lineup of animated comedies, though the net has two more in the pipeline for midseason including a Family Guy spinoff that focuses on sidekick Cleveland Brown and Sit Down, Shut Up, Mitch Hurwitz's sitcom about a group of unorthodox teachers working in a small town.

• Saturdays also stay the same.

• Joss Whedon's much-anticipated series Dollhouse and another season of 24 will be held back until midseason.
• Beginning in January, Dollhouse will air with 24 on Mondays while Fringe will follow American Idol on Tuesdays.

• House moves to Wednesdays before the Idol results show.

• And on Thursdays, the new unscripted series Secret Millionaire— which will focus on a different millionaire each week who goes undercover to help poor souls—follows Hell's Kitchen.
  

• Finally, Fox will air a two-hour prequel of 24's seventh season on Nov. 23. Shot on location in South Africa, the telepic follows Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) as he begins battling an international crisis while the U.S. prepares to inaugurate a new president back at home.
• According to Ausiello, Robert Carlyle has been cast as Benton, Jack's mentor in Africa.

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Here's a little blurb, courtesy of TVGuide.com re: Warrick's departure on CSI tonight:

Get ready for "the most shocking episode of CSI ever," according to exec producer Carol Mendelsohn. Given that past finales have featured Nick (George Eads) buried alive and a shocking revelation that Grissom (William Petersen) and Sara (Jorja Fox) had been sleeping together, they've got a lot to live up to.

But Mendelsohn promises they'll deliver. "It's a very personal episode," she says. Warrick finds himself in more trouble following past episodes in which he was suspected of murder and suspended while investigating a Vegas mobster. The result is that sides will be drawn, and as TV Guide has reported, Dourdan — who was recently arrested — is leaving CSI.

The question remains how. Mendelsohn says, "No one will ever forget it, and it will change the show forever."

Hello, Ten Years Ago

Robert sent me an article yesterday on Chuck Lorre's vanity cards - something we've read and chatted about for quite some time now. Chuck Lorre is a big guy in Sitcomland, Hollywood; he was a writer on Roseanne, and created Cybil, Grace Under Fire, Dharma & Greg (well, co-created at least), Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. He has well-documented his conetentious relationships with the leading ladies on the first three programs I mentioned - when CBS did their switch-a-roo with the writers of Men and CSI, Chuck Lorre wrote Katey Sagal's (pointedly murdered) CSI character as an amalgam of Roseanne, Cybil and Bret) - and has been tacking personal little essays (where most companies insert their vanity cards) at the end of his shows for years now. I first noticed them on Dharma and Robert and I used to be avid pause-rs of his cards at the end of Men. Anyway, when Robert saw this article in the Wall Street Journal about the cards, he passed it along to me. It's a pretty lengthy article, so I won't repost the entire thing here but here's a little excerpt:

This season, which was interrupted by a months-long writers' strike, more of Mr. Lorre's messages focused on behind-the-scenes negotiations between television's creative and corporate forces. In a recent script for "The Big Bang Theory," Mr. Lorre included a reference to a fictional Catholic priest molesting a boy. CBS insisted the reference be removed, out of concern that it might offend certain viewers. (The line was changed, to refer to a "chaplain.") In a vanity card that he wanted to run at the end of the episode, Mr. Lorre shared the censored reference, explaining how and why he fought to keep it in the script.

After submitting that card to the network, Mr. Lorre says he received a call from Nancy Tellem, president of the CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment group. "What are you thinking?" she said. A spokesman for Ms. Tellem confirms this account.

"You know you're in trouble when someone that high up the ladder bothers to call," says Mr. Lorre.

That card never aired. Instead, he wrote a new one for the show that read: "Just two episodes back from the strike and I've already managed to write a vanity card that is completely unacceptable to the good folks at CBS." He posted the outlawed version on his own Web site.

"We sort of imagine Chuck sitting around saying, 'What can I try to get away with this week?'" says Chris Ender, a CBS spokesman.

Now, I think it's great that someone finally noticed ol' Chuck's episodic blurbs (I actually saw Chuck in the flesh when Robert and I went to a taping of Men - I know, I'm special... and you know me!) but... Hello, ten years ago!! The man's been doing this for ages! Sure, their a bit more snarky and feature more corporate commentary these days but c'mon, people! Old news!! And, not necessarily news Chuck is uber-thrilled about, as this card points out: