"Scientists have digitally reprocessed data from the Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys to get this new view of the NGC 5194—the 51st object in Charles Messier's catalog—which is considered "the original spiral nebula." According to NASA, "the processing has further sharpened details and enhanced color and contrast in otherwise faint areas, bringing out dust lanes and extended streams that cross the small companion, along with features in the surroundings and core of M51 itself." The results are amazing, and the battle between 60,000-light-year-wide NGC 5194 and its companion NGC 5195 have never been so crisp and beautiful before."
I have not been this excited for a movie release since The Dark Knight. No questions, hands down. I LOVE the Robin Hood Stories. LOVE THEM. I've been searching the internet weekly for a few months after reading a rumor that they would be releasing the first Robin Hood trailer. I was elated when hollywood decided to reward me on the day of my last final by FINALLY releasing the trailer. Please watch it. Please love it. Please talk to me about it every time you see me!!
Gamboa sent this to me, know it was made for me!! Space, Science, Symphony and Technology - autotuned... "Some find this thought disturbing. I find the Reality thrilling".
So Midpoints Blogger Andy Stone, recently got me to start watching 30 Rock. Thus far, it's been pretty damn entertaining!! So when I say that Fey was in a new comedy coming out, I had to give it a look.
I so badly want want Gibson to not hate The Chosen People. He just looses every time. I haven't decided if I'm willing to pay to see anything he's involved in. But I can't imagine anything he's involved in sucking too hard. Except humanity.
The STS-129 crew has taken a few amazing photos since the mission began and I just wanted to post a few...
The darkness in the background is what we call 'space' and the machinery is a partial view of Space Shuttle Atlantis. This photo was taken from a flight deck window. Nice view.
Lunch Break!
I want to pretend that I would do this in a second... thats not true. It's terrifying to even conceptualize.
The sun is setting behind a thin like of the Earths atmosphere
This photo was taken from the Russian section of the orbital outpost and shows the earths atmosphere making up the horizon
This ring is the size of a galaxy!! It's the Sombrero Galaxy... LOVE IT!!! Hola Senior Galaxcio, te amo! It's in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies and it's one of the largest galaxies in that cluster. The band of dark dust that blankets the mid section is only viable in optical light and its the infrared light that makes the middle glow brightly. So here they took a Spitzers infrared pic and superposed in false-color on an existing Hubble pic it actually glows brightly! actually glows really brightly in infrared light.
This is a pic from the first in a survey of 130 potentially massive star clusters in the Milky Way that astronomers will study over the next five years using a variety of telescopes, including the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes. These stars reside in one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. A close-up of the cluster can be seen in the inset photo. Those bluish large stars are a tip-off to the mass of the young cluster. Astronomers estimate that the cluster is at least 20,000 times as massive as the Sun. Each red supergiant is about 20 times the Sun's mass. The larger color-composite image was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope for the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) Legacy project. The survey penetrates obscuring dust along the thick disk of our galaxy to reveal never-before-seen stars and star clusters.
The Crazies. or can we just call it what it is - A Timothy Olyphant Production
From Paris with Love!! Love = Travolta!!
This actually might be a fun vampire movie. It's got a little bit of a unique spin. Whatever, I'm not going to lie, I love vampires. Not all vampires, for instance I don't even know what Moonlight is about, but give me a good vampire flick anytime!
I found out about Auto-Tune The News last Summer and I haven't been able to get over it. I thought I'd share their newest one that came out on October 15 I also posted a few of their older videos below, including my favorite Auto-Tune, #2 (It's the last Auto-Tune posted below). Enjoy!!
This is Auto Tune #9 - Just came out!! It's great, as usual!
Ahhh, The Sarah Palin. Remember when that happened? Neither do I.
I happen to really like this one. I love the beat that it begins with and I love that the biggest news was about lettuce...
I also love the beginning of this one, if for no other reason than when he asks Gingrich to answer the question in the key of C... Before you comment let me say, I know he isn't really there literally asking him to sing his answer regarding Obama. Thanks for the credit folks!
This was the first Auto-Tune I ever saw and it's my favorite!!
I have the most unforgivable obsession for Showgirls. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I could watch it a thousand times and never get tired of it. So when I got wind of a sequel,(thank you andy) well, that wind picked me up and danced with the spirits of my forefathers in ways I never knew possible. In other words I pretty much pulled out my 8" heals and started working the Goddess routine like it was 1995 all over again! UGH!!! I don't even know what to write. I'm so excited!!! This post is going to make no sense to all the people out there who will never, ever read it. So Everyone. What can I say about this film?? I mean to be real, my thesaurus just doesn't have enough synonyms for 'ridiculous perfection on a platter of trashy trashy lusty DIVA greatness'. Any suggestions? I know what your thinking, the word your looking for Kolsrud, is 'Showgirls'. So wanna hear the news? Wanna hear the REAL NEWS of the day??? Of course you do, watch this miracle unfold, ready?... uh, Showgirls: a story of hope. SHOWGIRLS: A STORY OF HOPE!!!! Flabbergast me into the fire! The only tiddle-bits of info I'm getting from around the inter-web is very, very limited. We have the Title: Showgirls: Story of Hope. Yes, thats right 'SHOWGIRLS: STORY OF HOPE'. Now your asking, what else did you find Kolsrud? what else? I'm glad you asked. Besides the title I also happened to stumble on the tagline: - "Girls hot like hellfire... Business cold as death" Yes Please. YES PLEASE, MORE NOW!! So, there will be updates as I get them. I'm really hoping that this isn't a hoax and that the dream is still alive. Ahh,Hope. This truly will be a story of Hope. I posted a bunch of pics from the original masterpiece below. Haven't seen it? You're dead to me.
Wait - real quick, here are a few details about why the Original Showgirls makes my heart feel warm and fuzzy:
- Professionalism- these girl worked 16 hours days filming the dance scene all the while wearing high heels
- the only time they complained was during the scenes with the monkeys, who constantly stared at their bare breasts (yes you read that correctly)
- Elizabeth Berkley beat out Charlize Theron, Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy for the lead
- Gina Gershon beat out Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie for the supporting part (though she refused to recreate the Sharon Stone leg crossing scene from the Epic Film - Basic Instinct
- Elizabeth Berkley looses her shit like none other: she truly believed in this film. I mean why else would she do it for $100,00 and then spend 1/6 of the movie completely nude?? Dancing! licking stripper poles.. damn. DAAAAAAMN!!! Girl is keeping her shizm REAL.
Plus, Mack Daddy Paul Verhoeven was the first director to ever show up at the Razzies to personally accept Worst Director and Worst picture (only 2 of the films 13 nominations)
Enjoy the below art from the original film ***Showgirls***
Bedazzled hair Nomi? Thank you. Thank you for everything!!!
So I posted a trailer for the new DiCaprio flick, like many many moons ago. Well, checkie, checkie - the official trailer numero dos came out on Monday!!! Wanna see it? See it go!!! For more info on what it's about and whose in it doing whatevsies, check out my previous post... the trailer is pretty self explanatory. I can not wait. period. BUT let me be clear, if it turns out Leo is just a patient and all this shit is just in his mind.. I'm gonna be pissed. Until then, upward and onward!!!
Executive producer Guillermo del Toro posted a clip from a behind-the-scenes look at SPLCE. Just looking at the trailer it seems like it's a sci-fi drama that may tug at the old heart strings. Apparently that is NOT the case. Alright so, Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as DNA superstars who specialize in splicing together DNA from different animals to create unbelievable new hybrids. [Saw a hybrid wolf once, awesome!!!] Anywhosiewhatits they decide to use human DNA to create a new Super-Dooper Hybrid that might yield some astronomical medical benefits. The pharmaceutical company that funds their projects is a typical Bastardlike, HMOish Piece of shit company. See they want the hybrids done fast and they want hybrids that are able to make a short-term profit (not a medical-mary'esq-miracle-hybrid). So these two lovers conduct their own experiment on the DL (how rogue!!). And what do they get... drum roll please.... dadadadadadadadadadadadum!!! DREN!!! The result of their coup de science experiment is Dren. An awesome looking creature that is incredibly intelligent and physically advanced. Dren is well beyond their wildest dreams... and ultimately, becomes their most terrifying nightmare.... damn. I'm good... check it out!!!! He looks SOOOOSOOOSOOSOOO cute, how could he do anything except make babies smile and old men rock out to Tardy for the Party?? he certainly makes me feel alive.
I've had my hat off to the makers of 2012 for some time now, as have many of the other nerdios who've made the slightest effort to peak behind the curtain. None the less, I've been praying for them to drop a few more crumbs off the grownup table and at last my prayers have been answered! Those ball busters over there in Hollyland finally released their SECOND official trailer on Oct 7!!! It is Amazing!! The end of the world may be terrifying but it's gonna be one hell of a ride! Unfortunately they've done a good job restricting the embedding code, so i cant post it straight up. BUT, follow the link below because it's soooooo worth it!!!
Pluto, what a non-planet!! Am I right?? In one word, Yes. Lets make this as basic as possible. On August 24, 2006 Pluto was taken off the list of ‘planets’ in our solar system. Well, its not that easy, you see it was on August 24, 2006 that science finally defined what a planet is, and Pluto, didn’t fit the bill. For a long time there was no definition because there was no debate as to what bodies should be included on our list of planets. But, the more people investigated Pluto the more they began to question whether it was or was not a planet. Some of the things that caused scientists to wonder about plutos viability as a planet included:
It’s path around the sun is not like the rest of our solar system, it’s more elongated. So much so that for 20 years of its nearly 250 year orbital adventure, it is closer to the Sun than Neptune.
Its orbit takes Pluto well above and below the disk shape orbit that all the other planets and even the asteroid belt are attune to. Taking Pluto well outside the boundaries of the Zodiac constellation that all other planets stay well within.
It’s size, its smaller than Mercury. Originally we thought Pluto was much larger than it turned out to be.
Its make up was identical to the many large icy bodies that can be found in a far region of the Solar System called the Kuiper Belt. Scientists have also discovered that Pluto isn’t even the largest Kuiper Belt object. Pluto was just the first one and largest one found up until recently.
The outer planets are “gas giants” (Jupiter and Saturn) or slushy “ice giants” (Uranus and Neptune). Pluto is the only tiny, icy world that isn’t remotely similar to any of the outer planets. And certainly nothing like those closer to the sun (like us).
These things and more prompted scientists to debate Plutos standing as a planet. When a much larger Kuiper Belt object was discovered in 2002 the jig was up. Since then many other Kuiper Belt objects have come into view (Nix, Hydra, Xena, Eris, Quaoar and Sedna are a only a few). All of these objects have the same makeup as Pluto, some larger some smaller. They all orbit the sun in the same elongated path, but since it takes these objects 250-550 years to orbit the sun, many of these them haven’t been close enough for us to see until recently.
None of this means that Pluto and the other Kuiper Belt Objects aren’t just as important as the 8 planets in our solar system, in fact they may be even more important because they teach us more about the orbital make up of our galaxy and have obviously allowed us to define what makes up a planet, at least in this solar system.
Above, is an illustration of the orbital patterns of the Kuiper Belt objects, you can see how it is different from the orbital path of the plaents in our solar system
Um, HELLO!!!! I've been SO EXCITED about this movie coming out!!! I'm sitting in my Con Law class and I decided needed to post the trailer ASAP!! Now, because I'm an honest person, I'm gonna get real -I haven't had the opportunity to watch the trailer so I'm as stoked as you!! I plan on watching it the second my prof lets us out and I CAN'T WAIT! I loved the Elm Street series!! I can't tell you have many nightmares I had before seeing the true art form that is - Freddy. Now all I want is more of him, always, On a final note, because I have to get back to note taking, let me say this - and let me be clear - There is no debate, if Freddy and Jason, excuse me, jason, got into a fight Freddy would destroy him. He kills people in their sleep. you cant beat with that. I don't give a flying fart what argument anyone has, you bring it, I'll win. Period. Now Chucky - thats a whole new ball game :) Enjoy!! A Nightmare on Elm Street in HD
Pairs of Massive Black Holes in the process of merging (see below) are expected to be the most powerful sources of gravitational waves in the entire universe!!
This is NGC 6240, you can see Chandra (here in red, orange and yellow) and this pic is muy importante because in 2002 scientists realized that they'd discovered two black holes on course to collide!!! So the two hole are only like, 3,000 light years or so apart (thats not very much at all!!) and they started heading toward one another about 30 Million years ago. Scientists think the two are spiraling toward one another and will eventually merge in about 50-100 million years from now!! I wanna know what happens when these two exotic objects interact with one another. Supermassive black holes are formed all the time and many galaxies undergo collisions or merges with other galaxies all the time, we've just ever witnessed it in progress. Cool right? Well, to my no readers let me just say this, Con Law today is boring my face off...
Alright, so the H-Scope is the size of a Bus and it takes the most amazing photos of the Universe. No argument there. But over the next few years Hubble's going to reach it's peak of capability and come 2014 she's being replaced. The James Webb Space Telescope is sitting in pieces at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt Merryland and their just waiting to be assembled! The capabilities of the new telescope are unreal! We're going to be able to see details of our solar system and galaxy beyond anything we've ever seen. This thing is going to take pictures of galaxies that exist beyond the Ultra Deep Field. Beyond the Deep Field!! We have no way of understanding how far away that is, but the more I learn about all this stuff the more unbelievable it all becomes. One cool fact is the size of the new scope! The Hub is the size of a bus, she's a huge beast. James is the size of a jetliner. AJet-Liner. JETLINER! So yeah, read about engineers starting the assembly and I had to express my excitement to this, the most popular destination for those interested in... I don't even know how you'd classify this blogs topic. Oh well, Be excited people!! Be excited! if nothing else I'll never run out of pretty pictures for you to peruse. Look here's one below...
This is Arp 274 also known as NGC 5679... its a system of three galaxies that appear to be overlapping in part. However the distances between these three galaxies is pretty awesome and their no where near actual mergence... at least not a few million years ago when this formation existed as you see it here. that still blows my mind!! that whole, time and space and speed thing! The two galaxies with the really bright blueish-white stars along their arms are forming really strong new stars. these stars are over 400 million light-years away! What's cool and Dorkie as shit, is that this photo was taken during the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observations with a telescope. If you're not into the knowhow of stars just know this, the pic a perfect example of how different stellar populations make up the galaxies. Por ejemplo, yellowish older stars can be seen in the central bulge of each galaxy while a bright central cluster of stars pinpoint each nucleus. like I said already, younger blue stars trace the spiral arms, along with pinkish nebulae that are illuminated by new star formation. My favorite part of any galaxy photo is the "interstellar dust"!!! INTERSTELLAR DUST I DAY!!!! You can see the Interstellar dust silhouetted against the starry population. Additionally, it 'scool to note that a pair of foreground stars inside our own Milky Way are at far right.
This movie looks fucking amazing!!! I am so freaked out just thinking about the preview. I mean, COME ON!! How can there be any doubt? You take a true story, actual archived footage, true witnesses and participants, throw in a little suspense and then of course, the ALIENS!!! damn! stay the fuck away form white owls, can I just start with that tiddle-bit of info!?!? So anyway, i wasn't planning to blog for at least another 6 months but some things really need to be shoved into your face and this movie preview is one of them!! I thought that Shutter island was my next big thrill ride... Denied! The Forth Kind is the only film I'm planning on freely loosing my shit to anytime soon. Nov 6, to be exact. Sooooo YEAH, live it, love it, BUT most definitely watch this f-ing trailer... Oh, and B-face if you're actually sitting by your pool, sucking down a cerveza and taking in all of my glory then good for you!! Wanna see the 4th kind?? p.s. world - we're gonna bomb the moon!!
Hubble snapped this panoramic view of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars that live in the core of a giant star cluster!! this is one of the first images ever taken with the new Wide Field Camera that was installed aboard the telescope in may 2009. Big deal camera because it can take pictures in various different wave lengths... meaning details, color and clarity we've yet to see! Oh, I have an idea, lets bomb all of them!!
Mercury, what a gem! Am I right?? Now, I’m not preaching about the fun poison causing mercury that you can get from old glass thermometers or the really dense Mercury you can ingest after slaughtering dolphins! I wish!! No, I’m talking about the big round thing near the sun. yeah, I know, your thinking Mercury, I aint no fan of WWF. Well good, you missed that trash wagon, but this my acquaintances is a planet. So in 2004… 2004!! We sent up a spacecraft known as the Messenger. And after five years The Messenger finished its third and final flyby of Mercury yesterday!! Its true! Not only did we send her a shout-out but we got pretty close to her face when we did it! Yep, the Messenger skimmed over the planet just 228 K above the surface. The latest images wont be available until tonight but there is a lot of talk about the detail and quality of the images, as well as their scientific value. The Messenger will be the first spacecraft to orbit the inner most planet in our solar system!! Check it, to get to Mercury and back, the messenger is having to follow a path that includes one flyby of Earth, two flyby’s of Venus, and three flyby’s of mercury. “Why should I give a shit?” you ask, well for one, this is the first new spacecraft data from mercury since the Mariner mission like 30 some years ago. Dos, the M-machine is designed unlike any other spacecraft because its gotta hold itself together in an extreme environment that’s incredibly close to the sun (which is hot). Additionally, Its only Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury that are terrestrial planets. Mercury is one with the oldest surface, it has the largest daily variations in surface temperature and it’s the least explored…. Still don’t care? Alright, lets put this into a language you’ll be at all interested in… um, well this mission is really exciting because in order to succeed we created the most powerful and capable camera every imagined by scientists (thus it’ll be in your phone by 2015) with the capability of surviving so close to the sun (your phone can be dropped kicked and perhaps burned to a crisp, all the while still remaining functional). Additionally, getting info on a planet so similar in make up to our own means we can begin to understand how our planet will evolve and survive the next million years. Plus, if Mercury isn’t your fav, at least this info will help us learn more about whatever globe you do like. The only two planets in our solar system that have a global internal magnetic field are mercury and Earth… by characterizing M’s magnetic field we can try to figure out why the inner planets have such huge differences in their magnetic history. Anyway - Messenger is also looking into some deep crater interiors near the planets poles, craters that are never kissed by the sunlight, meaning maybe, the planet closest to the sol, has ice… also known as frozen agua. So whatever, I know, mercury isn’t my particular fav either, BUT this is still some cool shit and I figure you might want to see some cool pics. The ones below are not from the most recent flyby, but their still pretty stellar... In conclusion, here is Mercury. Lets Bomb it!!! This is a shot of the Matisse Crater... meaning less to you, but mighty powerful to old M.
I simply don't have very many words to describe the video below. Except to say that it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I think I may have played it at least 23 times in the past month... err maybe more. I recommend it. it's amazing. Also, for those of you who love it as much as I do, you can now just come to my site to see it, and share it with everyone! So Enjoy!
So here’s the plan; the LCROSS mission will blast its way into the moons surface, creating a crater 5k in diameter, to once and for all find an answer to the daunting question as to whether water exists on the moon. On Oct 9 an object with weight of an SUV traveling at 6,000 mph will crash into a crater near on of the moons poles. The impact will dislodge a plethora of material and create a plume that will be visible to even the most benign telescopes here on earth. Instruments on LCROSS will analyze the plume for water or compounds that contain water. According to one science person the LCROSS will also “reawaken the public to the adventure of space travel, supporting human exploration and scientific discovery.” So we want to know about water and we want to encourage the publics inner child to once again look toward the heaven in the hopes that one day, they too can slam a bomb into a local planet. The water on the moon question is so pivotal and profound that we already have an answer to it. The answer is um, yes. There is water on the moon. Real water. So check it out, the announcement was made a few days ago, although the unofficial reports surfaced a few weeks ago. Scientists around the world agree, water is not only found on the moon but it is profoundly widespread and can be found along the moons equator (the hot part of most spherical shapes rockin around the big one). This blows away decades of belief that it would be impossible for water to exist on the moon. Even when there was evidence that water did exist on the moon, scientists tried to dismiss the idea. The rocks brought back by the astronauts during the Apollo missions were assumed to be contaminated once back on earth. The water residue on spacecrafts returning from space has always been deemed residue, which must have been picked within our hemisphere. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (kinda like a super incredible version of the satellite used for Google maps) has completely, 100% determined, that water can be found all over the moons surface. And not just water, but also hydroxyl, which is composed of one hydrogen and one oxygen. Now don’t let me deceive you, the Moon is still incredibly dry. There is only about a liter of water for every ton of soil. But what the hell, a month ago the scientists in India found water on the moons surface during the Chandrayaan-1 mission but they immediately dismissed the findings. To me, it seems like there has been a hell of a lot more evidence that water is indeed on the moon and all these asshole scientists have just been to stubborn to consider their initial assumption (made a million years ago I might add) has been wrong this entire time. Now tell me, what justification do we have to Bomb the moon this October? Scientists say they are interested in finding out whether water could be hiding within the craters of the moon near it’s poles, were lack of sunlight might prevent ice from evaporating. But we found water already!! And we found water in areas we thought would never, ever have it. So I figure, why cant they just assume there’s water in the area they thought was the only area that water could exist? The answer to this question is full of shit (at least the ones I’ve been reading). I get it, its cheap, failsafe, fun, interesting, and a 6 year olds wet dream. It’s also a bomb. A Bomb that will hit the moon with such a massive impact we will be able to see it from our back yards. Gross.
Here is an artists idea of what the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will look like when it is deployed for the LCROSS Mission Impact:
If badass had a homepage you can bet your bottom dollar that Tombstone would be one of the first source links at the top of her screen. "You tell em I'm coming!! and Hell's coming with me! HELL IS COMING WITH ME!!!" - Wyatt finding his revenge! The Earp brothers, led by Mr. Wyatt Earp himself are staples in the cowboy hall of fame. If there was an all star team for Badasses all three of those boys would make the list. Lets not forget the best of the best, Doc Holliday. Played by Val Kilmer, always on his A-game, throwing in his signature poker chip over the knuckles routine. I'm for real, check out his other movies, it's his staple move, he does it in every movie he's in. Anyway, shot in the AZ during the summer, the temp on the set made it's way up to 134. Not surprising with all the lighting and rising body count. The original director had them wear all wool costumes to stick with the times... UGH!!! I can't even begin to think about the weight loss diets that type of water loss would appeal to!!! Oh Gaaad its so good!!!
So here is the run down, without ruining it, Tombstone is a lawless town. The Earp boys make their way to AZ with the hopes of striking rich in silver. Doc, comes to the southwest hoping the dry air will help with his tuberculosis. Soon after, we are introduced to 'the cowboys' the first organized crime outfit in American History. You see back in the olden days, 'out west' towns had no sheriffs, because there was no law. The Earps, having retired from sheriff work, try to keep out of the mess being drawn up by the cowboys... Pshya Right! Please! Like these macho macho men are gonna sit back wand watch lawlessness drive fear into the hearts of the innocent! NEVER! Sooner than later they realize they can't make a future in a town without any law. This is not the way the cowboys hoped the future would pan out. Thus - conflict. But real life conflict!! This shit happened man!! Sure some people in the real world ran left instead of right, and maybe there as lot more or perhaps less spur cuttings!! Thats right, I said it 'spur cutting'!! Imagine, your enemy on the ground before you, having just lost a a fight, you walk up and as a final reminder that you are the ultimate Badass, you cut his face open with the spur on the back of your boot!! WHAAPOW!!!!
Plus the cast is freaking sweeeeet!!! Kurt Russell is one of the best actors to ever play in a western (only to e outdone by Seth Bullock in Deadwood). Seth Elliot, oh Seth Elliot!! When I think about Tombstone it's his huge white mustache that fills my mind with sweet western recollection. Bill Curtis, not bad at all. Val Kilmer, as I said before - my fav in this one. But the quote that just gets my pulse going is the convo between Virgil and Wyatt. Wyatt is telling Virgil it's not worth fighting the cowboys and it's sure as shit not worth starting a fight with them based on a minor criminal violation like having guns in the town. Wyatt asks "you wanna risk all that over a misdemeanor?" and without hesitation Virgil responds with "Damn right I'll risk it, their breaking the law!!" Well Helloooo Justice! Welcome to the wild west!
One of my favorite parts about this movie is the thunder. The looming doom thunder!!! The anti-subtle foreshadowing, beyond lion, wanna be dome, roaring thunder!! There is so much thunder it makes me question what's more fun, the gun fights or the dances of thunder doom. The lightening is so over the top bright you may be forced to avert my eyes occasionally. It's during one of these lightening storms when the cowboys make some of their more vicious moves. Like the classic 'in the back' shooting, and cowardly, no warning shanking. Blood everywhere!!! Women screaming, doctors cursing, brothers fighting for the revenge of the fallen!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I am the wrong sex and 100 years too late for my time!! (side bar - there is a surprising number of instances in this film where men are open hand slapping each other. it's a little weird... thats all there is to say about that.)
I wish I could post movies on the blog and you all could just instantly upload them into your brains. You'd be such a happier person if you took the time to view this film. The horses, the clothes, the hats, the guns, the slang, the high step'n ladies and the shit eating cowboys all climaxing with more than just one fight at the O.K. Corral!! It almost seems like too much - it's not!!! But I won't lie, it leaves you wanting to shoot a gun. or at least watch someone shoot a gun. or maybe, watch another movie where there is a lot of guns being shot!!! So, get it, watch it and love it!!
I found one of the best scenes form the movie, it doesn't ruin anything for you. It DOES have my favorite line, the one I spoke about above between Virgil and Wyatt!! Plus it includes a fight in the O.K. Corral! Did I mention Wyatt's gun is called 'the peace maker'? Uh, it's just too good. Oh, and for those of you familiar with this masterpiece let me just say to you- "I'm your Huckleberry."
I guess when reviewing Strangeland its important to remember a few key facts. One: I wasn't even old enough to drive when this movie came out. Two: Its written by Dee Snider, the guy from Twisted Sister and so expectations should be about high as the height requirement at an semi-large ferris wheel. Three: it was put together during a time when teens being lured away by psychopaths in teen chat rooms was just starting to become a major problem. Four: did I mention that Snider didn't just write it, he also stared in it. Sure, there are some scenes that are pretty hard to watch. Mostly just forced piercings and other forms of torture that involve gages and needles of all sorts. I feel like crawling out of my skin just thinking about it. Snider also tries to preach messages to the audience via ranting monologues, very Zombie like in nature, but not even close to being as enlightening as Otis Driftwood, run rabbit run. Snider did however get Robert Englund to act in the film. The main character actually references the nightmare on elm street series a few times through words and actions. Another interesting observation is that the music sounds like it was a complete rip off from Se7ven, strange considering the guy responsible for the entire film is a musician. So, it's worth the 85 minutes if your completely stumped on choosing tonight's entertainment, or if you have enough alcohol to enjoy a very campy-like film. Strangeland is pretty funny to watch when you consider, what did his band mates think when they watched him in this movie? Oh, I should also mention Snider is working on a sequel!! Yep, joy of joy's!! In fact it should be out sometime in 2009. Not gonna lie, I'm a little excited to see whose involved in the picture, which stars have fallen far enough? I wonder.
Milla Jovovich has let it slip that she is gonna be taking on numero 4 in the Resident Evil series!! There was little more than rumors for a while, but a few sources are now claiming to have heard the news from the 5th element herself! I'll have more info as soon as I get it! But might I take the liberty to say, "hellz yeaahh!!"
Al Pacino. Be still my beating heart. What a mighty fine man, I mean demon err devilman attorney at law. Who knows who he is, except the use - BADASS!! Even in 3 inch heals the guy has me swooning.. Mostly because of his swaga and style. The dialogue aint that bad either. No really, this movie is really well scripted, like the bible or any other popular book people are reading these days. Well, scripted is one, well acted is another. Tis indeed well acted. With Keanu breaking away from being 'the one' true love of Sandra in Speed and becoming the kinda of manly spawn of satan we know him to be. Charlize Theron does an excellent job being in love and also being an insane B!! The story line in this film is really a fun ride! We go from the twang of Gainsville to the infinity pools atop the towers in NYC! Gotta make a note here, if your like many of the peeps I know, you may be the type to do more than on thing while enjoying a film or ten. If so, pay close attention to the dressing room scene when Charlize has the opportunity to test out a new friends boobies; "real or not real, feel - thats the true test". its in this scene that i grew as a movie watcher... not the boobs you sicko, NO! the greatness of the direction here and the choices made concerning the demonic introduction is really mind blowing.. or at least it was in 1834 when this movie was made. Check er out!
Totally excited to see this pelicula!! I'll admit at first I was incredibly skeptical! I mean come one, Megan Fox... do anything? Psh! right! However, when I read it was written by Diablo Cody my interest was peaked. So I sought it out and can't begin to tell you how totally intrigued I am! one second your thinking "Hmmm nice, perhaps potential... maybe a comedy-thriller or horror-comedy?!" who knows!! By the end of the trailer you just want more... not of the Foxter but of Amanda Seyfried. yep, gonna admit I have a bit of a thang for the likes of Amanda. I really think she's great! so great in fact I think she may make up for Foxy's inability to act. Plus with the writing being as potentially genius as I think it could be, well this has winner written all over it! No, really!! Check it out!!!
So I gotta thing for the creepster horror imagine that is the land of Rob Zombies mind!! I loved house of a thousand corpses (which I will write about) I laughed through The Devils Rejects (Which will be bloggified in the near future as well) but most recently I finally watch Halloween. The reason for my tardiness is that I never had the chance to see Halloween in theaters. So the day it came out I bought the directors cut. I thought that my williningness to pick up the directors cut I might save any questions anyone could muster about my Zombie Loyalty. However, the director’s cut is 11 minutes longer than the original and somewhere in those 11 minutes there is a BRUTAL rape scene. And I mean brutal. My brutality meter ranges from lower elements of awkward discomfort where I talk through the scene while watching it, to more intense on scene moments where I actually get up to ‘go to the bathroom’ and come back when I hear the scene change. Only a few times in my life have I ever felt compelled to fast forward or skip a scene entirely. I hardly ever feel awkward enough to ruin any gratuitous moments in a film. However, Very early on in the Halloween, the Directors Cut, there is a rape scene that is so graphic, I actually got up and turned off the movie… completely!! Completely! I ejected it. I put in something else. I never finished the my Rob Zombie horror flick!!! If that doesn’t prove how crazy disturbing it was, nothing will. But, just recently I finally watched the movie. I got up and left the room for a moment to avoid the mind rape of rape but I immediately returned and enjoyed the rest of the Zombie experience. Oh how sweet!!!! I love when Sherri Moon tries to act like a normal person. Well, as normal as you can be when your kid is Michael Myers. She’s just meant to play the messed up, badass, train wreck skank villain that I love to believe she is in the real world! The movie stayed true to the original while also building the horror spectacularly. It was well acted and it had me from creepy child kills his family. I say see it. I say see it before H2 comes to a film palace near you!! I wish I’d watched this one in theaters. It must have been an amazing time. I’d say in theaters, this would be a solid four knees to the face!! Oh it’s so good!! One tiny flaw is the length. Not long enough that it ruined my experience by any means, but afterwards, realizing how long the movie was, I paused and had to admit there was a good 20-30 min of film that wouldn’t be missed. Other then that passing afterthought, I have to say, again, I love Rob Zombies F-d up mind sooooooooo much!!!!! Bring on H2… BRING IT ON I SAY!!!!
Badass movie alert!! Smokin’ Aces is a masterpiece of action/comedy and class with a capital K!! You aren’t gonna see a lot of your green machine peace lovers lining up to buy this dvd. This movie is what I imagine the inside of a dudes mind looks like when they imagine being part of a bloody, kickass video game. So it’s a Tarantino wannabe production. I have no patience for that… But it’s just one so well! Storyline? BAH!! Get on with the killing!! The plot line is basically just the introduction of the hitmen, and boy is it done with the utmost amount of taste. You know what I mean. A close up of bullet casing hitting the ground and a dude wearing cowboy chaps, sporting a mohawk leaps from behind a couch, does a double summersault past four heavily armed guards, taking each of them out while his badass name is blasted across the screen to the latest ‘Skinny Puppy’ track – all in slow motion of course. What more do you need?!? Nada! I can tell you that right now! Lets not forget the walking PDA announcement that is Buddy Israel!! So many of these hitmen, while doing their best to kill Israel, are freaking hysterical!! Additionally the cast is an orchestra of talent and beauty! Lets take example A – Alicia Keys, seen here holding a magnum and remaining smoking hot! Speaking of eye candy, Ryan Reynolds. That is all. Oh my gosh, I can’t say enough! I know this review is pretty useless (and I promise to try harder starting tomorrow) but I had to just jump online and talk about how much this movie rocks! It’s my soup box, I’ll use it as I damn well please!
Can’t get the Trek off my mind! I’d been stoked about the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie since the moment I heard the rumors hit the mill. I watched the Next Generation as a kid, then as a semi-adult and finally as a pretend one. So, while the original may not have been my nightly viewing, it was the old timers who starred in all the fantastic films that lined our VHS shelf. Because I was very young when introduced to the wonders of space I should take a moment to thank my mom for introducing me to the tastes of trekster and my brother for keeping me in check. Anywhoseits, this film lives up to the highest of expectations… Mine. I could chat about the amazing cast, filled with a bunch of talented noobs, all of whom handle the backstories and essence of each character solidly enough to establish the oh so quirky and cocky attitudes us trek lovers are expecting from certain characters… Or I could rant about the storyline itself, being a bit of a mindbender at times and oh so perfectly put together and perfected. No! You see I plan on writing my epic response to the film another time. For now, I just wanted to give a shoutie out to J.J. who truly is the star in this trek… just look at the pic on the left!!! It’s so awesome and amazing to just look at!! The action is incredible and he makes the film so much fun! The beautiful sets, the amazing CGI, the red matter, the black holes, the time warps, the camera angles, the special effects, the cast, the crew ALL OF IT!! J.J. just knows how to put it all together, take a peek at cloverfield for another example of his genius. Point is, I Muy muy love it and plan on seeing it at least twice more in theaters as well as picking up my Blu-Ray copy in time for the holidays. If you’ve not seen it, see it. If you’ve seen it, see it again. And F.Y.izzle I consider myself to be a lifetime, hard-core star trek fan. However, I’ve heard rumbles that the purists might not like this film as much as the next guy. I attached a pretty funny video below that goes over those ideas and it’s worth a few laughs
So, I got an email from someone who stumbled upon my blog while searching for banana nut bread recipes. I don't ask questions, fate is fate. Anyway she was complaining that I don't give synopsis's for the movies I rant about. No, I don't. I guess I need to explain my reasoning. Amoung the obvious reason of not spoiling things for the reader, I've been trying to get my dad to go to a movie for 25 years. No matter how great a film is, he's still never been in a movie theater with me. What sucks the most is that I can't even tell the man why the film is so great and would change his life foreever. My pop will interrupt me, calling 'mute' the second I go beyond the title. He deems a movie ruined if I tell him what genre it fits into. So, I've had to learn how to describe the awesomeness of films without saying anything about the story line. Additionally, I know few people with the talent and grace to talk about movies without ruining the plot for all within earshot. I admit that I most definitely have the gift, but I would hate to go too far, even once. So, msfx1982, I hope you found your receipe and now you know why I don't give up too much info regarding the films I blab about. You're welcome to comment about the movies, just try not to be the spoiler amoungst the group.
I am so excited about the new stills released about Burtons take on Alice in Wonderland! Mia Wasikowska is Alice, Alan Rickman plays the caterpillar and of course, J. Depp is playing the Mad Hatter, which should be so much fun! All of these guys are super talented and the Depp/Burton duo always proves to be a collection of amazing character choices. Filming is done, and it's being 3'D'd as I type. I'm not too stoked about the 3-D phenomena hitting hollyland these days, but hey, when done right it'c pretty cool. I already consider the story to be pretty dark, so having it Burtonized opens up endless possibilities. I hope I'm as blown away as I think I could be. Anywho, I'll keep the updates coming when it comes to Alice and Wonderland, I see it being a huge success.
One of the best blockbusters to ever come out of hollyland, Cloverfield, takes the b-rated movie terrain and mutates it into one of the greatest sci-fi thrill rides ever. This film some how managed to save all the suspense for the theater. Scouring the internet for weeks, nerds everywhere were left empty-handed attempting to catch a mere glimpse of the ride they were about to strap into. While I tend to watch many of my cinematic favorites a multiple of times, this happens to grace my screen more often than others. Filmed entirely by handicam, this "human eye" perspective is truly terrifying and makes a Godzillaesq flick feel more realistic than any King Kong feature I've ever seen!! Additionally the handicam operator adds some light hilarity to the film that makes some of the more intense scenes a little lighter for those having a harder time stomaching the man eating predators... and the 'night visions'-subway scene makes me crawl out of my skin no matter how many times I see it. Whoever was in charge of those sound effects deserves a medal of of enormous proportions. Need I mention the "human implosion/explosion/what the hell happened to her behind that curtain" nightmare that occurs!!?!? UGH!! Everyone, just drop what your doing, grab your copy off the shelf and start this magnificent journey immediately. What? Don't have a copy? <<>> what?!>> why?? Wait, not important, get to zia, or steal your brothers, snag a couch and prepare yourself for an underwater adventure - sin underwater. Anywhosiewhatsits, Manhattan may not be able to take me on as a return resident anytime soon... its not the potential eye-bleeding, innards exploding, monster chomping, al-qaeda eat your heart out terrorism type of doom that could potentially take my life!!! It's the smog... no really. Ever been there? It has a smell to it.
My Dog's name is Sy. He is laying next my bed and for some reason he smells so bad right now. I mean he usually smells bad but not as insanely grotesque as this very moment. He's also breathing really loud and moving around every few minutes. I thought that might be interesting to someone out there. That is all.
I don't know about you, but I could always use a little more walking dead in my life. And with a huge thank you to transformers junkie Mr. Andrew Stone, my sites have now been set on the new Woody Harrelson flick - Zombieland. Oh. My. Gaad... please take a look at this masterpiece... and while doing so consider this, Harrelson, is arguable one of the most interesting and diveres actors in hollyland. Like, for reals n' stuff. Think hard people, you have him paying a nerdy dimwit in Cheers, Psycho love killer in Natural Born Killers, Drug Addicted Porn King in The People v. Larry Flynt. He goes from Will and Grace to No Country for Old Men without missing a beat. What makes im so cool is that throughout his career there is very little evidence to suggest he ever fallen victim to type casting. A feet that seems muy hard for actors who dabble in the sitcom genre. He's so good!!! Be real, you would never, ever confuse his character from Natural Born with that in King Pin. I dare say that he may be a badass... like a true bad ass... the type you don't really give immediate props to but after a good few moments of clear thought - well it seems down right obvious. Im really excited for this flick. I'm also really excited to see it and compare it to the zombie man-hating feminists film Doghouse which is also coming out in the next six months. The beauty of these films, combining horror, suspense, thrills and laughs is that they'll still rate pretty high on the "knees to the face" rating system while hopefully making me laugh. Harrelson always seems to bring some witty charm to his characters, I pray he doesn't disappoint us here. I have much faith.
I figure with Shutter Island coming out I would sit back and take a look at a Scorsese classic, Goofellas!! Right around the time I thought all movies about criminal figures have a moralistic undertone Scorsese blasted my mind away with this amazing take on organized crime. From the cushy jail accommodations, amazing suits, beautiful women and easy money there is no reason in the world I wouldn't want to be involved with a "wise guy" so long as they stay out of the drug scene. Drugs of course, seem to be the downfall of all organized crime figures depicted in hollywood. Didn't they make it clear to with Tony Montana: "Don't get high on your own supply"? Anywhosiewhatsit, Goodfellas also happens to be the keeper of one of my favorite hollywood moments, the "how am I funny" scene with the lovely and talented Mr. Joe Pescie. Speaking of names you love, De Niro ads to the class of the film (per usual) and need I mention the beauty of Ray Liotta?! No, of course not. The Jersey women make perfect cameos every few scenes, with huge air, big nails, bad clothes and a dash of idiocy. You know, now that I think about it Goodfellas has a number of scenes that I'd put in my top 2 tiers of movie magic. Furthermore, I can never get over how Scorsese shoots so much of this movie in Medium shot - he knows the movie is powerful enough that close ups are rarely necessary to expose the intensity and he also knows his actors are so baller, that the audience deserves to watch their faces and body language change with the constant shifts of emotion. Just watch the scene below to get an idea of what I'm talking about. The temperament shifts from one extreme to the other so quickly and so realistically it's brilliance is hard to match.
WARNING: REALLY REALLY BAD LANGUAGE IN THE VIDEO BELLOW... oh gaaaad it's so good!!
Watched Top Gun tonight and it was so much fun. It's unbelievable that almost three decades later, the flight/fight scenes in this film are still tantalizing. What some fail to recognize is that Kenny Loggins gave the world one of the most amazingly funny sports moments in the history of hollywood. The sand volleyball game between all the guys is fantastic. Everyone is (sweaty, shirtless and did I mention the scene is shot in suuuper slow motion. Tommy Boy plays a guy worth rooting for, a protagonist that makes you want to stand up and cheer more than a few times throughout the screening. Anyways, 'Good Time Rewind' is gonna let me talk about some dvd's in my collection that I may not have seen in a long time and are worth an honorable mention out here on the inter-web. Top Gun, you have never let me down.
