nonamedufus

What was with the weather in June? I went fishing in the last week of the month and it must have been one of the coolest last weeks of that month on record. But the weather didn't deter me from reading 6 more books this year and now my total thus far is 40 books. My pace may have slipped as I've been binge-watching a lot of series on "Crave TV" lately. Things like Carnivale, HAPPYish, The Smoke, and The Fear. All quite good. Where were these series the first time around? Recent movies include This Is Where I Leave You, Still Alice, What Maise Knew and The Good Lie. DVDs I have in reserve are the Larry Sanders Show, the updated Prisoner series and Sherlock. So lots to get to, too. Anyway, books...in June. Did a little catching up with Jack Reacher (One Shot) and Dismas Hardy (The Fall). I like these  detective type novels. In fact a third book was also in this vein, an unlikely novel by Stephen King called Finders Keepers, which is a continuation of his re...

I managed to make it to midnight Sunday night without nodding off and caught every boring minute of the Oscars.  I shouldn't say boring because I did find Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin entertaining.  Despite reviews I saw to the contrary, I found them funny with lines like: Martin: "Oh, Look, there's that damn Helen Mirren." Baldwin: "That's Dame Helen Mirren."  But they couldn't save the broadcast.  In the end it was The Hurt Locker that did that, winning six Oscars including best director and picture - a David going up against the Goliath Avatar . I'll confine my criticism of the broadcast to two things.  First, what was up with a dance interpretation of the musical scores?  The dances had nothing to do with movies.  The producers could have given the time from the dance number to the poor guy that got Kanye-d by that woman when he tried to deliver his thank you speech for short documentary.  She was a former producer of the film appare...

"I've still got it" What is it with Hollywood's pre-occupation with sequels? It's not enough to produce one movie? You can't come up with a fresh idea for a new movie? You gotta go back to the well two... three... even four times? ^ In 1981, Harrison Ford starred in a hugely successful movie called Raiders of the Lost Ark . It was so successful George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decided to do a sequel in 1984 and Harrison Ford starred in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom . It was so successful... ...yeah, you got it - H.F. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989. ^ Not content with... a) a trilogy of movies b) a trilogy of mega-profits c) with their last movie having the word "last" in the title, or d) all of the above ^ ...Messrs Ford, Lucas and Spielberg came out with a fourth in the franchise, last year's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull . ^ At 65, Ford was practically using a walker for the latest installment. Now...

Today a look at two very funny movies in the "musical mockumentary" genre - if such a genre exists! This Is Spinal Tap was a 1984 "mockumentary" chronicling the musical adventures of the fictitious heavy metal band Spinal Tap. The movie, co-written and directed by Rob Reiner who also played the part of film maker/director Marti DiBergi a parody of Martin Scorcese, was hilarious. The film starred and was co-written by Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. Here's a hilarious send-up of a heavy metal tune called Big Bottom where, on one level the meaning is very clear and on a more subtle level the "bottom" is underlined by the fact the main band members all play bass guitars, including the bass player who playes a double base! McKean, Guest and Shearer reunited in 2003's A Mighty Wind another mockumentary, this time around about folk music. This film was co-written and directed by Guest and starred many of the actors who had sta...

This is one of Mel Brooks' funniest films. It's full of delightful jokes, puns and double-entendres. But one of the funniest scenes in the film was virtually silent...silent but deadly!

Comedian, movie and television star Dom DeLuise died today. He was 75. He is probably best known for starring in a string of films with buddy Burt Reynolds; together they appeared in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and All Dogs Go to Heaven. Here's a clip of outakes with Dom from Cannonball Run. R.I.P. Dom DeLuise...

Over at Humor Bloggers Dot Com we like to play a little game. The Queen of this game is Quirkyloon . She's forever posting lyrics - often obscure - leaving the rest of us to guess what song they come from. Well, this morning I think I stumped her when I posted: Gliddy glub gloopy Nibby nabby noopy La la la lo lo Sabba sibby sabba Nooby abba nabba Le le lo lo Tooby ooby walla Nooby abba naba Early morning singing song Well one of my colleagues thought I was having a heart attack and someone should call 911. And poor Quirky thought I was sendig her a Zombie lullaby. Both wrong! It's from Good Morning Starshine from the soundtrack of Hair , a peace and love musical that opened off-Broadway in 1967 and made it to film in 1979 with John Savage, Treat Williams and Beverly D'Angelo. So Quirky, darlin', this is for you...

I'm off down south for a little R 'n R for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if I'll be posting or not and if I do it'll only be sporadically. While I'm gone take a stroll through my archives, hit up one or two folks on my blog roll or if you're going into serious humour withdrawal drop by Humor Bloggers Dot Com . Until my return, in the immortal words of Ahnuld Scharzaneggah, "I'll Be Back"

Beware The Ides Of March Ah, yes, the Ides of March or the 15th day of the third month. Yeah, I know it's only March 14th. But it would be too late to beware if I told you tomorrow. The phrase is best known as the fatal warning given Julius Caesar, prior to his assassination. Julius Caesar has heavily influenced our culture and society in ways you may not have known. For example, Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator of the same name, his assassination and its aftermath. It is one of several Roman plays that he wrote, based on true events from Roman history. Caesar seems to have been the originator of the phrase “We have not to fear anything, except fear itself,” spoken to his wife on the eve of his death. FDR nicked the expression for an inauguration speech in the depths of the depression in 1933 when he said “…we have nothing to fear but fear itself…” Julius Caesar is respons...

stumbled

merci This caught my eye because we're currently 2 movies into the Planet of The Apes Box Set at home. You can find more improbable street views here .

Hey, when you think of Groundhog Day, what comes to mind? Bill Murray? Or this little guy? At this time of year you probably think of the little ball of fur. But any other time, I'm sure it's the movie, starring Bill Murray that comes to mind. And that's fine. I'm with you. After all, the damn little rodent is a poseur. Yep, that's right, everybody thinks he knows what he's doing but it turns out he's wrong more than he's right. Here's what the day is all about... But a Canadian study (leave it to those Canucks) conducted over 30 to 40 years showed that for nearly two-thirds of those years the groundhogs' forecasts turned out to be wrong. That's right, either they were contrary to what they should have been, or winter dragged on its normal duration. Groundhogs across the nation had a dismal record of being right about 37% of the time. For shame. No wonder they've been the subject of ridicule. And look at the names they've been give...

Saw this last night. What a superb film and fabulous actor. I can't undertsand the Oscar snub. News Item: Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino”: Oscar roadkill

"My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a dig." Just caught Delirious , which I had not seen before - a great little film from 2006 starring one of my all time favourite character actors, Steve Buscemi . Among Buscemi's previous screen credits are Big Fish, Fargo, Armageddon, and The Big Labowski. If you get a chance, rent this movie.