Now THAT'S Love...

Now...I love Mamet Dawg...but I'm not sure I'd go around punching sharks like the owner of Jake did.

Actually, I have run into oncoming traffic trying to protect Mamet from being hit...so maybe I would.



Wouldn't you?

Notice a similarity ?

That was a classic famous bullshit response... now here's another.



Of course this isn't a beauty pageant at stake...just the future of the country.

New Curious Case of Ben Button and W. Trailers

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button looks like an amazing movie.
I really dig David Fincher.Zodiac was one of my favorite movies last year.

The music for the trailer makes me feel like it's reminiscent of Tim Burton's work.

The Passing of a Legend

Legendary actor, philanthropist, and racing enthusiast Paul Newman has died.


Everybody thinks of Cool Hand Luke when then think of Newman. But my favorite performance and film with Paul Newman is The Verdict directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet.



Here's a humorous story from his wife of 50 years Joanne Woodward.



Paul Newman - Born: January 26, 1925, Died: September 26, 2008.

Now some videos from our sponsors...

Sarah Silverman Obama Video




John McCain cancels on David Letterman

Happy Anniversary!!!!

The Queen Mary

September 25, 2005







Here's a humorous recollection of the event by my good friend Lon...told in a way only he can.

W. Poster

Can't wait for W.



Not sure if it's a full blown comedy or what....hopefully not....but I love that tagline.

A life misunderestimated.

Believe it or Not....

My buddy Jeff sent me this video today and I couldn't believe what I was watching.

Especially as a father of two kids.



Far be it for me to judge traditions...but still crazy to try and comprehend.

The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration

If you've seen my facebook feed you'll notice I've been checking out my newly purchased The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Box Set DVD and I gotta say I'm really impressed.

As you know, most special editions are not really worth it. They are usually filled with extras you'll never watch. But this box set has some cool extras worth checking out, especially for huge fans of the films like myself.

What I'm most impressed with though is the sound on the DVD. It doesn't get any better then watching a classic like The Godfather in true 5.1 surround sound.

As for the picture.... it's fantastic. Some transfers feel too digital, and they end up not feeling like true film, but Francis Ford Coppola's supervision of the project really prevented that from happening.

So what we have here are great movies, great transfers and cool extras.

What more do you want?

Go out and get it.... NOW!!!

It's an offer you can't...eh.. you get the idea.

Yankees Suck...

Last night was the final game ever to be played in Yankees stadium.

Boo-hoo....SO WHAT ?!!!

Based on "east-coast-bias" ESPN's coverage you would've thought that somebody was murdered and decapitated.

On their website they have about 8 videos from Yankee greats talking about their memories.



Nauseous.

I don't remember this much hoopla when The Celtics left Boston Garden, or when the Lakers left "The Great Western Forum".

It's obviously because it's the Yankees...the team with the most over-rated and over-paid players in the history of Major League Baseball.

The truth is the team sucks this year and the media is desperately finding a way.... any way.... to put them on the front page.

Get over yourselves...ESPN.

I ran across this more appropriate homage to Yankee Stadium over at FanIQ..



Classic.

Those are all great highlights for me of Yankee Stadium...except they left out when the Angels beat the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2002 Division series.

Those shocked faces of Yankee players and fans after the game knowing they had to head to Anaheim tied up....knowing that they'd probably lose the division series....which they eventually did.

Priceless.

There can only be one...

Sunday is my day at Laser Blazer, if you've never been to the store we usually have a DVD playing of a film throughout the day.

There's not really a science to selecting the movie. The staff usually prefers longer flicks so we don't have to restart the DVD too often. We also don't want to throw on anything that is a hard "R" in case some kiddies come in.

So today, I thought it would be a good idea to throw on "Across the Universe" while we worked. You know...to have some Beatles tunes playing in the background.

Now...I've never seen the movie. I've actually heard mixed things about it. I do plan on eventually seeing it one day and I like Julie Taymor's work.

But unfortunately, just listening to the soundtrack and not watching any footage, I quickly came to a perhaps biased conclusion.

Only the Beatles .... can sing Beatles songs.

Everything else is just a cheap imitation....bad Karaoke...no matter who sings it.

I suspect my opinion will never change.

When Saturday Mornings were cool....

I woke up early this morning to the sound of my son up to mischief and I thought about how I used to love Saturday mornings for their cool cartoons.

Of course none of that cool stuff happens nowadays....at least... that I know of.

So I thought I'd hit up YouTube and see if I could find some of my favorite old school cartoons.

Success!!!!



And of course another classic....



and the less popular...



Yes...I know...more confirmation that I'm friggin OLD!!!

Will Ferrell and the Internet

Classic stuff from the genius that is Will Ferrell.

See more Will Ferrell videos at Funny or Die

The Godfather DVD and DeNiro

The newly remastered and high definition version of The Godfather Trilogy will be released on September 23rd on DVD and Blu-Ray. I plan on double dipping and picking up my favorite film series.... again.

Coincidently, I recently came across this clip on YouTube of Robert De Niro auditioning for the part of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. It's from the documentary "The Godfather: An Inside Look" which I believe is also in the new set.



Wow...look at that passion and intensity. It's really palpable. There seems to be very little of that left in his more recent work.

Understandably...the dude is like 65.

As I've noted before I think the guy deserves to coast and go for the hefty paycheck now. He's paid his dues.

It's still funny to watch the contrast though between his early work and his current work.



Classic.

Have you no HONOR, sir ?

Hot on the heels of John McCain's completely out of touch assessment of the United States economy, comes this latest ad from Barack Obama.

Critics will say it's just a typical negative, election-season commercial.

The problem with that thought is that it also happens to be completely true.

Check out the sources for those quotes...those aren't your small-time newspapers or your run-of-the-mill blogs.... like yours truly.



Classic.

More Evidence....

Appaloosa Trailer

I'm really looking forward to Appaloosa.



Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris... in a western....'nuff said

I'm so there.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Meltdown

Jake "the Snake" Roberts was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up.

So it's heartbreaking to see him implode like this.

Wrestling is a hard life and Jake was one of the superstars that put it in the mainstream.

The WWE has tried to get him help, but it hasn't worked... obviously.

It's easy to blame his troubles on the lifestyle, environment, and injuries, but at some point the man has to be accountable.

His plight has been well documented in the film "Beyond the Mat."

Very sad.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call...if not for him, maybe others struggling with addiction.

Check out the TMZ video here.

Righteous Kill - Review

The good news is that Righteous Kill is not a total embarrassment.

The bad news....this is not a good movie.

I'm a big fan of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. So it's been hard to see their level of craft diminish throughout the years.

But the truth is it's inevitable.

Like a superstar athlete, skills and motivation eventually diminish.

I totally understand that.

Yet for whatever reason fans are less forgiving of actors, as if the physical and mental demands are less strenuous for a performer.

That's far from the truth.

I understand when successful actors do projects simply for the paycheck.

Sometimes it's just work.

Still when a project has the caliber of talent assembled here, it is an extreme disappointment when greatness is not achieved.

The movie is just a mess.

The script is reminiscent of a movie of a week, or a direct to DVD thriller.

The direction by Jon Avnet is competent, yet uninspiring.

There is simply not enough meat and support for the players to sink their teeth into.

Not that it would matter anyways.

What I've noticed in Robert De Niro's recent work is that he doesn't seem to have any joy left in his performances. The passion seems to be gone for him. In my opinion his last good artistic endeavor was a film that he directed The Good Shepherd. Everything else seems like it's a paycheck for him.

Al Pacino's case however, seems to be different. One can tell that Pacino still enjoys to act. The problem of late for him has been his choice of projects. I believe that Pacino has been hurt by his inability to find movies which are age appropriate.He is 68 years of old, so I'm sure the roles are limiting. Also since working with Michael Mann on Heat and The Insider he hasn't worked with a talented director who is able to challenge and inspire him. Perhaps he feels that he can create a good film just with his natural talent and presence.

That's simply not the case.

In my opinion, his last good performance was in The Merchant of Venice. Obviously a theater rat like Pacino would be hard pressed to screw up the Bard.

Righteous Kill is not entirely awful, it is a little fun to see the actors work together after all these years.

It gives the audience a glimpse of potential.

For me, I kept imagining a movie written by David Mamet. Something where Pacino and De Niro could just depend on the dialogue rather than something physically and emotionally demanding.

They both have had histories with Mamet.

Pacino with Glengarry Glen Ross, De Niro with The Untouchables and Ronin.

But this isn't Mamet...far from it.

The twist in the film is so obvious it's laughable. The explanation is pathetic.

Without giving away too much...it's just not good...that's the best thing I can say about it.

My final recommendation would be to just wait for the DVD.

But if one is inclined to check it out in the theater, I guess it would be a harmless diversion, just as long as one doesn't expect much.

Heck it might even be a good thing.

A successful box office return might even inspire Pacino and De Niro to work with each other again.

Maybe on something more worthy of their talents.

Something by Mamet maybe?