Taking Dark to an extreme.

Well I just watched "The most anticipated DVD of the decade!!" -or so say the commercials for The Dark Knight...
And while it was really great, I can't say it was my most anticipated dvd...
Whatever.

In any event, this movie was a one-man show. Heath Ledger absolutely STOLE this movie away from every other actor onscreen, even Batman (Christian Bale). And it has nothing to do with the fact that Heath sadly overdosed at the beginning of '08. It has everything to do with an absolutely defining character treatment of the Joker. Disturbing, menacing, brilliant.

Everyone remembers Jack Nicholson as
the funny man-criminal in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman -



- he was hysterical, really made the part his own, right?

Well, much as I liked his rendition, I have to say Ledger's act was truly iconic. He deserves every ounce of recognition and praise he has gotten, including that Golden Globe nomination yesterday, and the Oscar nom I know he will pull down when they are announced next month.


I can't even begin to describe how incredibly DARK the role of the Joker was played this time around. He was just nuts- killing at random, on a whim, and sometimes with a true purpose.
He just reeks evil.

Meanwhile, Batman (Bale) is too busy with his gadgety car, motorcycle (which was really cool, I must add), and his ex-girlfriend to be able to seemingly concentrate on the crimes that are over-running Gotham.

To explain the plot would be a moot point. Isn't it always the same in these comic book flicks? Bad guys are devouring the city with madness and mayhem and the hero uses his super powers (or fantastic gadgets) to bring them down. Same thing here.

I thought this movie was just a tad too long - a few parts could have been cut. But the acting is all top notch. Gary Oldman is really good as Lt. (turning Commissioner) Gordon. Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius are also both terrific. But kudos to Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (a.k.a Two Face) - his portrayal was spot on and I really enjoyed the character.


As per usual, Christian Bale is certainly the best Batman in my book. Definately the 'darkest' knight of all. When he starts talking in that husky voice, you'd really like to pull a Spiderman and just crawl all over him.
Sorry... lost my train of thought.




But really, if you had your pick of superheroes, wouldn't everyone pick Batman? Seriously!
Men want to be him, women just want him.
Back to reality...


All in all, a great, great film - highly recommended and I'm certain it will be on my DVD shelf before too long. But more for Ledger than anything else. His acting is incomparable. You really just have to see it to believe it. Best acting of the year, hands down.




Why So Serious???

Lost traditions...

When my cousin Jackie posted on her blog about her favorite holiday traditions, it got me thinking of mine, and one of my most cherished traditions is one I don't practice anymore.

Anyone who knew my Grandfather Headley (and that's ALOT of people!) knew how wonderful he was. Everyone loved him. He really was just an all-around, genuinely great guy.

While I miss Grandpap year round, I especially think of him this time of year, because he loved Christmas so much.

We had a very close relationship, the two of us. Now, I don't want to upset his other grandchildren, as he loved all of us - but hey, I was the firstborn, and that allowed me some special privileges. After all, I had him the longest. He was my second dad, for all intents and purposes.

For as long as I can remember, he and I would go Christmas shopping together every year- just us. We would go out to eat and then shop, and I'd help him pick out Gram's gifts every year, which included shooing him away from some pretty offensive perfumes and ugly slippers!

Grandpap was always whistling, and when Christmas came, it was a rare occassion if he wasn't whistling a carol or two. The one I remember the most (besides all the religious ones of course) was Silver Bells.

A few years before he died, Grandpap made me a wooden music box - he loved to carve wood - in the shape of a dog. It would go around and around and guess what it played?
Silver Bells of course.

(There is another story about that music box that I should share, but it is more appropriate for Halloween, so take that as you may.)

But my most treasured memory is a quite simple one.

Every year, we would send each other Christmas cards - but not just any card - it had to be a foreign language holiday card. It was always a race to see who sent first. One year a German one, one year Russian - I think one year I even sent him a Hanukkah card! Swahili, Greek, Japanese, Swedish - I think we covered alot of countries in all our years.
It was a silly thing to do and I don't even know how on earth it started (maybe when I started taking Spanish class in junior high - we always joked cause Grandpap did horribly in Spanish when he had to take it in college. I, in contrast, got straight A's for four years of it!) ....

In any event, when I would open that card and see "Joyeux Noel!" on the front, I always smiled.
And he'd always write 'Guess Who' inside in his trademark script.
I miss that, and I miss him.
At least I can hold those memories in my heart.

Feliz Navidad, Grandpap!

Black and Gold all over...

Photo: steelers.com

Congrats to the Steelers who rallied to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys and win their 10th game this year!
One of the TD's was scored by Deshea Townsend off a 25 yard interception.

Pittsburgh has the #1 Defense in the entire NFL, with good reason.

Poor, smug Tony Romo didn't know what hit him, that arrogant SOB.
Wonder if Jessica was watching. I'm sure Pittsburgh is too freakin' cold for her hefty bosom to be uncovered in, so she probably passed.

The score was 20-13 and the Steelers improve to 10-3 and seem certain to head into the playoff picture at the top of their division.

Yea!

Ho Ho Ho.

I know, I know... I'm unforgivably rude.

Best Holiday Specials

Here's a list of my favorite holiday tv specials.

And no, I'm not talking about "Pokemon's Special Christmas Wish" or any crap like that.
I'm talking about Christmas CLASSICS, most of which you can now buy on DVD and watch any time you want.
Remember how time used to stop when those shows were on?
You waited all year to see Rudolph - and you had one shot. One night.
Heaven forbid you weren't home or your dad wanted to watch a football game. Yikes.
(Kudos to my sports-fanatic dad, who relinquished the tv and never let me miss those shows!)



*Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Hands down my favorite holiday classic, this one holds a very special place in my heart.
When I was a child, my mom used a tape recorder (remember those?) and taped this show for me cause I loved it so much. I then (and my parents will attest to this) played it over and over again in my room, memorizing the lines - I loved it so much.

Another reason it is memorable to me is because my last name used to be Rudolph as a small child, and kids used to make fun of that come Christmastime - So I felt a special kinship with Rudolph, since he was called names too!
(I can still recite the show line for line)
A sequel, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, doesn't suck.



Special shout-out to Sam the Snowman!




*A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Coming in a close second is Charlie Brown. All the Peanuts holiday shows are great, but this one really is in a class by itself.
The little Christmas tree gets me every time (sniff sniff..).
And who dances better than Chuck and his friends?


Rock on!



*How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

It's back to Whoville every year for this annual fest of Karloff narration and roast beast.
"Fah Hoo Forres"!
That poor dog (Max) of the Grinch's had it rough, right? That stupid horn tied on his head.
And the lovably cruel Grinch, hater of all things holiday - until the Whos show him the real meaning of Christmas and he returns their loot... even to little Cindy-Lou-Who.
One of the best songs of the holidays: 'You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch' comes from this tale.



*The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

In this one, Santa decides he needs a holiday (maybe at a weight loss spa, eh?) and tells everyone to buzz off.
The main reason I like this is the Snow Miser and the Heat Miser. Everybody knows those songs and how can you not like them?
And me, with my compassion towards animals, always gets choked up when the sick little reindeer (disguised as a dog... don't ask) gets taken to the pound by the dogcatcher!
I'm a sap, what can I say?



*Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)

While I'm not entirely fond of the red haired Kris Kringle character, I do like it when he finally turns into the Santa we all know and love.
And that freakin' song: 'Put one foot.... in front of.. the other..." - Sticks in my head for days on end. And I could sooo smack the Burgermeister Meisterburger! I'm not crazy about kids either, but it's Christmas, you loser! No toys?!
But I love that wizard character, Winter Warlock... I almost start clapping when he gets his choo-choo!



*Frosty the Snowman (1969)

For all intents and purposes, Frosty is actually pretty silly. I can't say it's my favorite, and I just want to slap that stupid little girl silly for making Frosty melt cause he takes her in the warm greenhouse. Maybe that's what I'm mad about, I don't know. But the whole "Happy Birthday" thing is really dorky. But Frosty is a classic, and I still watch him every year.
The sequels about Frosty finding a wife and/or becoming a Carnival King or whatever... UGH.



*The Snowman (1982)

This is a newer addition to the list. And a much prettier snowman than Frosty, sorry.
It is based on a book by British author Raymond Briggs and was brought to life for the small screen in 1982. A little boy builds a snowman that comes to life. Kind of like Frosty, I guess - but so much classier.
Both the book and the film have no words spoken - the tale is told through pictures.
It is a gorgeous little cartoon, and has the beautifully sung 'Walking in the Air' as it's theme song.
Highly recommended.



*Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

The re-telling of the periennal favorite Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring our favorite little rodent, Mickey.
Donald Duck makes a crusty old Scrooge, who makes life difficult for Bob Cratchit (Mickey of course).. and again learns his lesson about appreciating the holidays and making merry.
'A Christmas Carol' is one of my favorite stories in any capacity, and Mickey's my favorite mouse, so there you go.



*The Little Drummer Boy (1968)

To be fair, I can't remember seeing this special as much as the rest, so to give an honest opinion would be difficult.
But I do remember I loved that little lamb.
Naturally, it tells the same story that the popular song is based on.

So there you have it...
I'm sure I missed a few - but I cannot (and will not) include any more recent specials, as these are the ones from my childhood - back when Dora the Explorer and the Bratz didn't exist (back when the world was almost perfect...)

If you haven't seen any of the above, get your boots and hat on and go get the DVDs - they are on sale everywhere this time of year.
Or better yet, stay in your slippers and order them from Amazon.

'Tis the season...

My favorite holiday tv specials? Click here to see if you agree...

Traditions

My Thanksgiving traditions, in pictures:

First....The Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade


circa: 1924, when the big event started...


Here's Mickey now.


It'd be fun to see it once....
Naaahh... too many people!


Then comes the turkey!!
Yay!


Pecan?


Or Pumpkin?


Then a bit of football, of course!
Maybe a nap, too!
Zzzzzzz...

Then some classic Thanksgiving entertainment:


Love this movie: Hysterical!


"Neal, Why are you holding my hand?"
"Where's your other hand?'
"Between two pillows..."
"Those aren't pillows!!!!!!!"



Have a Happy Thanksgiving, no matter what your traditions may be!

Twilight mania

Well ~ I was one of the contributors of the bloody good haul that Twilight produced over it's mega-prosperous opening weekend.
It made over $70 million ($35 million on Friday alone) and the sequel (New Moon) has been green-lighted by Summit Entertainment (yay!)...
Looks like many more Twilight posts in the future.... sorry.

But for those of you who haven't read the books or seen the first movie, again I say: tough.
Get out there and be a part of pop culture.

I've read and heard all kinds of varying reviews on the movie.
My pop culture bible (Entertainment Weekly) gave it a "B" and so I concur.
I won't say it was an "A" - there were some flaws, truth be told.

But I was so enamoured with the books it would have taken something as god-awful as 'Eyes Wide Shut' for me to hate it.

I must say, I liked it quite a bit.
In fact, I'd love to see it again and dissect it a bit further.
But for now -

Here are my thoughts, in a very random order:

*The director (Catherine Hardwicke) did the best she could with the running time of the film.
Even though there were alot of elements from the book I would have liked to see in the movie, it was two hours long already. (Though I could have sat through a longer film)

*Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) looked like Edward Scissorhands throughout the entire film.
Somebody give the boy (undead or not) some Dulcolax.

James, Laurent & Victoria

*The bad vampires totally looked like rock stars - that was cool.
Bummer that we won't see James in New Moon (sorry, spoiler!) - Cam Gigandet is quite a good looking dude, especially without that long blonde hair:

*The scene where Bella joins the Biology class is hysterical (maybe it wasn't supposed to be, but it was)... Edward looks like he's about to spew. His facial expression ("aghast" is all I can describe it as) is just plain funny. He's covering his nose cause he doesn't want to have to smell Bella's scent because it makes him want to devour her... If you hadn't read the book prior, this scene would have been completely confusing to you.

*In the same vein (no pun intended), I think the part from the book where Bella faints at the sight of blood in Biology class (and Edward 'rescues' her and takes her to the nurse) was truly a necessary element that they unwisely left out.
What is more ironic than a girl who can't stand the sight of blood dating a vampire?

*Liked the 'Edward saves Bella from oncoming van' scene. It's where Bella starts thinking 'something isn't quite right here in Forks'.

*Jacob is gonna have to wear lifts for New Moon.

And the boy is only 16 and still looks like a baby.
While he is attractive (more so without the long wig), he isn't exactly casted perfectly - the director should have assumed they would be making New Moon and chosen someone with a bit more weight and height. In New Moon he is (spoiler alert) a tall, hefty werewolf/shape-shifter!

Bella and Charlie greet Billy & Jacob Black

*However, Charlie (Billy Burke) and Billy (Gil Birmingham) were perfectly cast.

*How come Bella and her dad were always eating at the diner?
Didn't she constantly cook for Charlie?

Wasn't that part of her charm?

A rare smile from Bella (Kristen Stewart, with Rob Pattinson)

*Bella didn't smile too much, that's for sure.
In the book she was exceedingly happy most of the time she was with Edward.
In the movie, she looked rather frightened of him in alot of scenes, though she kept insisting she wasn't afraid. Not cohesive.
At least Rob Pattinson was smiling alot more as Edward.
(When he wasn't brooding or lamenting in sorrow at his vampy misfortune, all the while looking like he ate some bad Chinese or something.)
But I still admit he was the best choice for the role. Sure, he can look forboding and creepy, but he is actually a good looking guy.

LOVE the hair.

*We needed a bit more 'Cullen time"

The Cullens:

Emmet, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, Carlisle, Alice and Jasper

I assume we will get more as the films progress... but a bit more development would have been nice - some backstory perhaps? They basically laid it all out in the first book.. to add it in later movies will be awkward.

*The biggest dig I've heard against the film was regarding the special effects, which I agree were sub-par, but I know they had a measly budget this go around.

It will take some doing in the next movie, with shape-shifting werewolves taking center stage.
But with the money it made already, they are well on their way to a bigger budget.

*Loved the scene at the school where Edward says 'I'm going to hell anyway' and puts his arm around Bella - with those shades on, he never looked cooler in the whole film.

*The kissing scene was, for lack of a better word, hot.

In the book there was more where that came from.... think we could have elaborated a bit on those parts.

How about when Edward would crawl under the covers with her and talk? Then she would fall asleep in his arms.
There was no hanky-panky there to worry about, just an intimacy that was somewhat halted in the movie version.
Another great missing scene was when he kissed her the second time and she fainted? That would have been completely appropriate and cohesive to the screenplay.

*Must give a shoutout to the music of Twilight. Great job scoring by Carter Burwell, and the soundtrack songs were placed in the perfect places.

In particular 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse - rockin' that Cullen baseball game.
That was the best!

The best scene from the movie was at the very end.

Loved the 'Edward goes for the neck" shot...

Would have been fine to just stop there.

Kind of a cliffhanger...?

*For some info on what will be on the DVD release, here's a link to give you some ideas.

It's an interview with director Catherine Hardwicke, who's already working on extras and deleted scenes for the DVD.

Okay, I'm done obsessing for now.

Joining the club

Hey, my brother Bill started his own blog - you can check it out here.
Should be full of snarky, sarcastic, and cynical comments just like his sister's.

Welcome aboard, bro!

Frightening

When I was younger, I used to be a fan of Mickey Rourke.

Even though you couldn't call him good looking, there was something inherently sexy about the man.

The first time I saw 9 1/2 weeks, I thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

with Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks

Angel Heart was a real fave of mine too, and I thought he did a pretty good job of playing a confused gumshoe in New Orleans voodoo land.

Angel Heart

He was in alot of critically acclaimed roles, such as Barfly, Diner, Rumble Fish, Body Heat, The Pope of Greenwich Village - as well as popular films such as Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man, Sin City, and the aforementioned 9 1/2 Weeks and Angel Heart.

But what the hell has happened to the man?

Mickey Rourke circa NOW.

After falling off the face of the earth after a string of less than stellar films, he has re-emerged as a different person.

Now I know people age, I get that.

But morphing into another species is something all together different.

oh my goodness!

He spent a bit of time in the 90's as a boxer (for which he was trained when he was young) and I guess that must have really messed him up.
I've also heard plastic surgery stories, but if they are true then he should be filthy rich from suing for medical malpractice..
He's not in the Witness Protection program, Doc.

I do hear he is making a comeback of sorts, so I wish him well...

But he sure doesn't look like the same actor I once knew.