An Easterish Tiki!

It has been since November that Tiki Bar TV has delivered a new episode. Long we have waited for the further adventures of Lala, Dr. Tiki, and Johnny-Johnny.

Though the slap-rific ending does please - most of the ep is left with bunny-fisting to pull the laughs.

I chuckled... and sighed.

Meh.



Yo

Grinding Tarantino's House

When Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino announced they would be making a full length feature each and would put them together for a double bill night of B-grade horror schlock fun... I stood up - took notice - and begin to salivate. Rodriguez usually makes pretty good fare (Sin City and Spy Kids are brilliant - the rest borders on annoying) but Tarantino is a genius who's work always takes my movie experience to another world.

The double bill, an over three hour set that included fake trailers and ads for eating establishments, is called GRINDHOUSE with Rodriguez's PLANET TERROR kicking things off and Tarantino's DEATH PROOF following it - Jerry and I snuck off to see it on Saturday (Cara opted to stay away). The whole event was built as a time machine, sending the viewer back to the "grindhouse" days of cinema past. It was brilliant idea with some really fun trailers and novelty "feature presentation" spots litering and expounding on the crazy joy of the show.


PLANET TERROR did it's job and then some. Rodriguez dove into this John Carpenter copy cat mode and did some major homaging to ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - THE THING - ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 - and more! The music was pure Carpenter... which led into the fun of the film. The story is pure crap (and is supposed to be) and the acting is spot on in total enjoyment of the gruesome - shocking - fun sequences that the film has.

PLANET TERROR nails the B-movie experience perfectly - while also reveling in having the cash to do stunts and set pieces that no B-movie could ever afford to do. The film has several special moments - one in particular is a missing reel that arrives just as the group is laying out their plans to deal with on coming zombies - the missing reel screen pops up - and then we find our group stuck in a blazing building with half of the heroes dead... my laughter filled the theater!

Look for some amazing cameos - Michael Bien - Jeff Fahey - Josh Brolin - the cop from FROM DUSK TIL DAWN and KILL BILL! The film just has a ball with it's characters - story -gore - violence... Rodgriguez nails it.


Tarantino does not.

Actually, this is tough to write - the first half of Tarantino's film is superior to PLANET TERROR is many ways (though the missing reel is not as funny). The dialogue snaps - the characters are great - Kurt Russell burns up his screen time making every moment amazing... The first half of the film just plain rocks!


The final sequence in the first half is a stunner! As a good horror/slasher film should do, I was fully invested in our doomed group of girls - and was fairly sickened as the madman snuffed them out. Tarantino's direction - the music - Russell's perfect eating of his taco supreme dinner... it all worked to perfection... and I was mouth agape at the final moments.

I can't say enough about Russell's impact on this section. His cool handling of Stuntman Mike pours through all of the scenes in the first half - and most in the second. It truly is not his fault things derailed... and boy... how did they derail.

The second half of the picture opens with 4 new girls and an extended sequence that has them all talking inside a vehicle and in a diner (mirroring the first half girl talking sequences). The film comes to a grinding halt with the actors (Rosario Dawson even looks lost here) never grabbing hold of the material in any way. Tarantino's dialogue falls completely flat and becomes what seems to be a joke of his own work. The actors fail - the director fails - things begin to fall apart.

Then Russell returns and my hopes begain build again... but Tarantino has completely mishandled his female characters and they infect the Russell scenes. Granted, I was not totally sold on the final end twist - or irony... but I do feel if Tarantino would have casted the movie as opposed to handing off to "would-be" actors, things would have turned out fine.


What saddens me is that the first part of DEATH PROOF is completely stunning. It is enthralling to watch Tarantino go to this new area... and I must say I was salivating at his work... but then the second half cut so deep into my excitement - that it leaves the whole experience as somewhat of a failure!!

I hate the idea that Rodriguez is the one I am leaning to for excited moments to explain to people about the experience... his film is simple - fun... but simple! Tarantino had me for 40 min... but completely failed me for 48 min more.

That tastes a little pungent... and man... those 48 min almost destory GRINDHOUSE. But screw that!!! It is a blast watching the trailers (THANKSGIVING is the funniest with MACHETE running a close second) and all of the spots... Tarantino... get your sh*t together man!!

Yo

"Under the Boardwalk..."

I don't think I have ever enjoyed watching a game of Monopoly being played on screen... holy God did they nail the Free Parking conversation... and Janice's story about the goo-ma being shot through her bee hive!!! That killed me!!!

The Sopranos returned last night and we had our first viewing in our home... with our TV...


YUMMY!!!

The episode was brilliant! We finally got to see the newspaper hit the driveway - Tim Van Patten did an astounding job of directing (some of the lake scenes were amongst the most beautiful of the series) - and the episode just killed me with hysterics!

Bobby's final two scenes were strong and emotional - they really nailed a moment for his character (especially with his daughter running into his arms - hair ablaze like the kid he just murdered). Then "Magic Moment" comes on... and I realize my favorite television show is back... easing out a final few magical moments.


Entourage also came back last night - quality was still strong (more than a few great laughs from Johnny-Drama and Turtle) and I was happy to see Carla Gugino joining the cast. I loved her from the Spy Kids movies (and her few scenes in Sin City!) and I hope she sticks around for a while.

After the show I downloaded some Entourage tunes - enjoyed those on the way in today!!

The weekend was great - Easter - the Masters (way to go Zach!!!!) - GRINDHOUSE (pretty damn good until the last half of Tarantino's... it is his first failure) - and the return of Super Soprano Sundays... got me a weeks worth of cavatelli to eat!


Yo

Prepare for Six in seven

Folks - it is upon us... The Sopranos returns Sunday for the second part of season 6 (which should be season 7... who is doing this at HBO?!?!) and once again expectations are high and most of us will be disappointed.

I will be thrilled with what I get - knowing that later I can watch the show and find all of the goodies and quality on DVD.

Anyway, here is a great catch up piece that is on YouTube - 7 minutes to catch everyone up... it is pretty funny too!



Gotta start cooking up some pasta - YO!!!

Georgia... oooohhhh Georgia!!

Cara and I were lucky enough to take a short vacation this past week - we headed off to Atlanta, Georgia, to meet her parents. There we would spend a few short days playing golf, touring the state, and walking the Augusta holes!!

Here are some pics


This is Stone Mountain outside of Athens - Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis are carved into the side of this mountain of a rock. The image took decades to finish.


Cara and her mother Cherie stroll up the mountain.


It might be shocking now, since it is only 28 degrees out, but it was a mighty hot day there on that rock! Here we are at the top - you could see for miles (though it was a little overcast).


This painted dog was one of many on the University of Georgia campus - I am standing with Bob, Cara's dad. And no - I did not mount the dog... though it had been discussed.


The Masters - Augusta... We woke up early Tuesday morning (about 4 am in Iowa) and found our way down to the course. It - is - astounding!!


This is the clubhouse - look at that Georgia white!!!


What's wrong with my red hat!??! Kiss my @ss!!


Vijay tees off!


Sergio eyes it up.


Cara ogles Mike Weir.


Tiger is chillin.


The day was gorgeous and not too hot (the sun finally calmed around 2 - my burning flesh could relax)!


We wrapped up the day taking some pics by the clubhouse - I am sure Cherie could tell you what tree that is... but I have no idea!


Now it's time to settle in and watch some golf - I have the Masters recording at home... can't wait til the weekend when we can watch it in HD!!!

Yo

I hung my head...

Hi gang - I am back from Augusta and will post some images later tonight or tomorrow. For right now, we need to talk about The Shield.

Kern has mentioned his passion for the show and I have written some longer pieces about several seasons - last night, I watched the season 6 opener and was again thrilled to be in Vic Mackey's world.

The Shield has always gotten the frantic psychotic realm of LA down - consistently provided stories that shocked and thrilled viewers... but sometimes it's characters bordered on ridiculous (Aceveda - your tyrst with the prostitute was odd).

Last season brought in Mr. Best Actor Forrest Whitaker to up the acting quality (actually raising the bar from Glenn Close!) and the series saw a huge leap in dramatic impact with Lem's conflicted storyline. The Shield reveled in it's character's struggle to maintain good and to hold on to their souls while trying to do good while being bad. Vic's strain to save Lem and keep the Barn from going under is noble... but his actions are anything but.

Walter Goggins stunned me last night - when the crew learns of Kavanaugh's lies about Lem having a second deal (the reason Shane killed him), Vic and Ronnie react with frustration accordingly... but Shane... poor Shane... the guilt... the utter tradgedy that is his life now....

It was a major moment for the actor - the character - and the show!!

What a start... it is going to be one helluva ending.

Masters pics and stories soon - YO!

I don't have a green jacket

Mickelson - Singh - Woods..... Findlay!

Howdy folks,

Cara and I head out on our trip tonight - we will be driving down to Kansas City to stay at her sister's (Tricia and fiance Graham). Then tomorrow morning bright and early we fly out to Atlanta.

The whole reason we are going is that Cara's father (Bob) won tickets to the practice round of the Masters.

That is golf to those who are not with the sport scene (as someone who is constantly catching up with Cara on the sport scene - don't be ashamed).

Tuesday we will be walking the course at Augusta and seeing the greats play the game. It is going to take all of my energy not to scream for Tiger when we walks up to tee off. He always looks so cute in his Nike garb...

ahem.

Anyway, we will be shooting several rounds of golf on various days (18 holes worth on Monday!) and it will be time for Jed to shine!! I have bought new shoes - my clubs are worn in... and I am primed to make my break in the sport.

It's my time baby!!!

Or not.

Pics will follow next week - adieu to those stuck in Iowa... suckers.

Yo

Badda... Badda... *sniff*

Ya know - I do tend to watch movies over and over. Good movies... bad movies... some times I watch a film that I cherished and watched ten times over when I was young... and see the quality has dropped... others, just reaffirm the greatness.

So Cara and I started watching Sopranos from the beginning (she had not seen them all) in preparation for the upcoming Final Episodes... and I realized - this show is simply amazing.

Last year I watched the series again with Devin (though I missed most of Seasons 4 & 5) so it has not been that long since I viewed these... I am just amazed that I can continually be surprised - excited - humored - blown away... by this show.

The direction is always spotless... the writing rarely falters... often, we look to the plotting for problems... but after watching these from back to back... with less expectation... I see the patience and passion the show has.

It just continues to stun.

So here comes April 8th - the final 9 episodes. With the finale last Season I felt I wanted the series to end... after watching again... I am truly going to miss the show.

The Sopranos is and always will be one of the greatest TV series ever created. Period.

Yo

Fo' Sale

What up Damfinoblog!
We're building a new home in Dallas Center and need to sell our first house. So, if you know anyone looking please keep us in mind. You can view all the details at fsbo.com with the listing #93889. Our ideal buyer would be someone wanting to downgrade from a single-wide or mom's basement.
Keep it real.

Urnotme

Mr. Spendy

*note, I wanted to post this last week but have not had any time... end note*

Once upon a time there was a boy... and he was awfully spendy. Mr. Spendy didn't actually make very much money - and what he did have he wasted on booze and flowers for his girlie - but he had an innate desire to "own" the finer things in life.

He was pretty naughty in November and bought an Audi A4. Many have seen Mr. Spendy's beloved A4 - but he thought he had better add some images for the others. Pics below;


ooooh!


yum


My daily view.


Hee-hee!!

But even more so, Mr. Spendy felt an empty place where a certain item's love should live. Mr. Spendy needed something more... he needed an HD TV.

Last weekend marked the breaking point for Mr. Spendy and his girl - they had gotten some funds back from the Government and Mr. Spendy had some plans on how they should spend them... of course his girl had quite a different idea... but they met half way.

American held a nice deal of 2 years no interest - this allowed Mr. Spendy to pay off small amounts monthly and take the large sum from the Gov. and invest it away - this made the girl very happy. Mr. Spendy had found his way to buy his TV.

Sony - Mr. Spendy loves the brand - LCD - Mr. Spendy found this type of TV to offer the best image quality - Bravia XBR - the Sony model that just sort of screamed "TAKE ME HOME!!!" to Mr. Spendy.


Girlie and Lilly are excited.


Mr. Spendy - obviously happy.


Even the batteries say Sony!


46 inches of drooley!!!


This is the first thing we watched - over the air first!!


The picture does not do it justice... it - looks - good!

Mr. Spendy is thrilled... he can sleep soundly... until the next toy is in his sights.

Yo

Craig......Daniel Craig...007

Casino Royale comes out today on DVD and Blue Ray HD disk. Let us all support the new and improved James Bond by adding this great film to our collections.



sheriff

caracaracaracaracara=29

I woke up this morning determined to lie and deceive my beloved fiance - but first, I had to make like I was pathetic.

Cara turned 29 this morning and I said "Happy Birthday" to her as she left, but that was about it. My plan depended upon her thinking I was a bum... a louse who did nothing for her special day.

Hell - I even skipped blogging about her birthday (thus the late post) to keep her thinking I was a jerk.


She had some friends give her balloons - that was nice... that helped her get over that I was doing nothing for her day. As she worked away, I ran around franticly trying to get everything done so I could get to work.

I baked the cake - got the flowers - wrapped the gifts... and set up everything so Lilly could not get to it.


Cara came home and was surprised - another successful game of Jed the trickster!!


I should let everyone know I am typing this half drunk... thus the odd - not so interesting writing... my language skills suck after a glass of cabernet and a shot of makers!


Happy Birthday baby!!

Yo

This will make you lose your sh*t!

Finally, a re-edited trailer that looks and feels like a real trailer.



And it is truly f*cking funny!!!

Yo

Surprising Stranger

I do love film - I looove falling into a picture not knowing it is going to be fantastic... I love being visually entertained with hidden objects or elements within the frame that lead the observant viewer down a seperate yet interesting path than that of the laid out plot or story.

I love films that surprise me. "Stranger Than Fiction" surprised the hell out of me.


The film was released back in November, after a troubling showing at the Toronto Film festival (the festival that is supposed to let us all know what films will be the big critic and award winners of the year... but The Departed did not even play there this year), and somewhat limped it's way through a few weeks at the box office. It opened strong with $13 million, yet ended up with only a $40 million final haul in.

Cara had expressed interest in the film - ahhh but Jed, he was far to busy with Scorsese and DePalma to mess with the likes of Ferrell and Marc Forster. Thusly, the film was skipped (if only Cara would have pushed a little harder for what she wanted... c'est tragedie!!).

What a mis-caluculation.


Stranger Than Fiction steps to a tempo that PT Anderson and Peter Weir have danced to, charging their comedic leads (Sandler and Carrey) to step beyond their humorous performances to find the actor that may be hiding in them. The film's director also taps into Anderson and Weir's style, making an odd combination of the two talents. I guess I should be fair and pull Michel Gondry into this discussion - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind danced a similar number to this film!

The visual clues and games the film plays can slide on past the viewer with ease - there are no un-neccessary cuts or odd shots that make the film "artistic" - my excitement was in finding the images and trying to understand what relationship they played to the characters in the film. The picture above is one shot that definitely got my mind working...

What impressed me about Forster's work in the film is first, the monumental leap forward in direction (Finding Neverland was pretty useless) but also the astounding performances that he got out of his actors that inhabit the picture.


Emma Thompson stunned me in her work as Author Kay Eiffel - her determination to finish - her odd relationship with the world and the "characters" within it... here I mean relationship within Thompson's performance - not within the story.

Thompson absolutely shreds every moment of screen time she gets - going as far as stealing all of the energy that Hoffman can bring to a scene!!


I guess you cannot discuss the film without analyzing Will Ferrell's work. This was to be Ferrell's coming out party - "I AM AN ACTOR" - he cries from atop the mountain!

Well, yes he is - for 99% of the picture. He slips only for a few moments (one moment between him and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and that can be blamed on the director for not getting his scene right. Ferrell knocks some tough scenes way the hell out of the park... and yet, the performance is subduded and perfected. I am quite impressed.


So where the hell was it during the award season? Why did the critics just shrug it off as a misfire for Ferrell and crew? Who let this marvelous gem of a film slip behind the false joy of Little Miss Sunshine and all of the other unworthy contenders this year?

Well - I guess I did.

Shame on me.



And Cara for not making me see it.

Stranger Than Fiction = A


Yo