We first see Tom (Scott Speedman) and Dan (James Marsden) when they are chatting in a bar.  Tom is telling a rather strange, but interesting story about a fight he was in when he was 8 years old and how his mother dealt with it.  Before long the guys head back to Tom’s apartment.

They seem to be getting along well, quizzing each other about movies.  Which Dan seems to know a lot about; I guess since he works for a movie producer that makes sense.  Tom is a cook at a restaurant and doesn’t seem to know very much about movies; hence his losing very badly at the game they are playing.

When Dan tries to kiss Tom things suddenly change.  Tom pulls away and starts acting in an extremely awkward manner.  Dan is confused by this and tries to figure out what has caused Tom’s unexpected reaction.  His first thought is that maybe Tom has a boyfriend/girlfriend or something along those lines and is feeling guilty about being with someone else.  However, that’s not the case.

Tom’s seemingly bizarre line of questions for Dan continues for a bit until it’s finally revealed that they have met before.  It turns out that they hooked up once, five years ago.  Tom recently found out that he is HIV positive and since Dan is the only man he has ever engaged in sexual activity with he is convinced that he is the one that gave it to him.

Tom’s plan is hold Dan captive until he gets the HIV test results on the blood he drew from him.  If Dan is HIV positive, he will kill him.  If he is negative, he will let him go. 

The bulk of the movie revolves around the interaction between Tom and Dan while they are in Tom’s apartment.  It’s an amazingly suspenseful cat and mouse type game between the two characters.  With each of them trying to maintain the upper hand in the situation.  As the story progresses we learn more about both men.

Both of the actors do a wonderful job and really give it their all.  However, I was especially impressed by Scott’s portrayal of Tom.  I think his character was more complex and multi-dimensional than the character of Dan.  It was a challenging role, with a wide emotional range and Scott really delivered. 

Some of my favorite quotes:

Tom – “Thank you for the compassion.”

Dan – “It’s my fatal flaw.”

Tom – “Compassion?”

Dan – “Yeah, I just can’t stop giving.”

Tom – “And that’s a flaw?”

Dan – “Well, people can take advantage.  You have really beautiful eyes.”

Dan – “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Tom – “No, I have beer.”

Tom – “I may be a little slow with all this, but, ah, you don’t come off as a rookie to me.”

Tom – “No, the truth isn’t that easy.  The truth is confusing.”

Dan – “What’s so confusing about it?”

Tom – “Everybody has their own truth.  You’ve got yours, I’ve got mine, but the only truth that matters is the true truth.  And not what you say or what I say, but what really is.  Sometimes it isn’t easy to figure out.”

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I was glad that Tom didn’t become a killer.  He finally had a moment of clarity and realized there was nothing to gain by killing Dan.  As Tom said “today is day 26 and everything’s different”.

I also liked the fact that I was left pondering some things after the movie was over.  Yes, we find out that Dan is in fact HIV positive.  However, there still is some doubt in my mind as to who had it first.  Is it possible that Tom’s wife contracted it first (after all, she had the first symptoms) and then passed it on to Tom.  Who then may have been responsible for passing it on to Dan?  We will never know for sure, but it raises some interesting questions. 

Then there is the fact that Tom immediately leapt to the conclusion that the only way he could have become HIV positive was through his encounter with Dan.  It appears that he never considered any other alternative; which seems like a pretty narrow minded view, that the only way he could be infected was through his one “gay” experience.

More than anything I think this is an intriguing story about human nature.  Including dealing with grief, feeling the need for justice when you think you have been wronged and taking responsibility for your actions.

 Woody Allen wrote and directed this movie; however, unlike most of his movies, he doesn’t actually appear in it.  This also happens to be his first movie that was filmed entirely in England.  He was able to pull together a wonderful cast; each actor really suits their part.

The story centers around Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).  He is a young man from Ireland that has recently relocated to London.  He grew up very poor and is trying to change his fortune.  Chris was a professional tennis player, however, that wasn’t providing him with the lifestyle he wanted.  So he gives that up and becomes a tennis instructor at an exclusive country club, hoping that it will provide more opportunity for him to move up in the world.

Chris is quite the charmer, plus he spends his free time studying things like Dostoyevsky and listening to opera.  He is setting himself up so that he can successfully integrate himself into the world of the wealthy.  It doesn’t take long before he is befriended by Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode).  Tom is from a very wealthy family and definitely lives the good life.

Tom’s family has private box seats to the opera, so after learning that Chris loves opera he invites him to attend with his family.  In addition to Tom’s parents being in attendance, his sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) is also there.  Of course, she is immediately taken with Chris and it doesn’t take long for them to become involved.

Chloe’s parents are equally as impressed with Chris.  So when Chloe tells her father that Chris is looking for a new line of work, he quickly finds a position for him at one of his companies.  A well paying one, I might add.  Chris finds himself living the type of life that he has dreamed of.

Things are going well for Chris until he is invited to attend a weekend gathering at the Hewett family home in the country.  There he meets a beautiful, sensual woman named Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson).  There is an immediate spark between them.  Come to find out Nola is Tom’s fiancée.  Chris finds he just can’t stop thinking about her.

As you can imagine things get even more complicated as time goes on.  Chris finds himself in Nola’s company quite often since their fiancée’s are brother and sister.  The sexual tension between them keeps building, until the inevitable happens.

This is an interesting, well paced film that starts out as a story about people’s wants, needs and relationships; which ends up turning into a thriller.  I really enjoyed this movie.  It’s an interesting look at human nature and how far they will go to get what they want.

Both Jonathan and Scarlett are amazing in this.  They are both wonderful actors in their own right, but when you put them together they really burn up the screen.  Not to mention, they are both absolutely gorgeous and just ooze sensuality; which is just what is needed for the characters they are portraying.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Tom – “It’s just that it’s 5:00 somewhere, darling, and I’ve some serious cocktails to start making.”

Nola – “I was doing just fine until you showed up.”

Chris – “Ah, the story of my life.”

Chris – “I’m naturally competitive.  Is it off-putting?”

Nola – “I’ll have to think about that for a while.”

Chloe – “Papa says he’s heard great things.  You’re a very clever boy.”

Chris – “Where are you going?”

Nola – “Oh, I’m just having a nervous breakdown.”

Chris – “Why?”

Nola – “Well, I have an audition in ten minutes and, uh.  As usual, my confidence level, which started off at a ten, is now at a zero.”

Chris – “I’m sure she’s not more beautiful than you are.”

Nola – “He saw me across the room and he honed in on me, like a guided missile.”

Nola – “You’re gonna do very well for yourself, unless you blow it.”

Chris – “And how am I going to blow it.”

Nola – “By making a pass at me.”

Chris – “Where was all this confidence when you needed it in the audition?”

Chloe – “His shooting’s not really up to his tennis, poor thing.”

Alec – “He’s right, Eleanor.  I think you’ve had one too many G and T’s.”

Chris – “I like it when you drink.  You get flirtatious.”

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

Wow, what an amazing performance by Jonathan during the scenes when Chris kills Nola and the elderly lady next door.  I love the range of emotions he goes through; it makes the scenes feel so realistic.  Starting off so shaky that he can barely put the shotgun together, to calmly and cold bloodedly pulling the trigger and then having a bit of a meltdown over what he has done.

The scene when Chris tosses the wedding ring is great.  I love the slo-mo visual as it goes towards the water, but then it hits the railing and bounces back (unbeknownst to Chris).  Only in this case instead of losing the match as you would in tennis, it’s actually the thing that makes him come out on top.

This is a Canadian film with French dialogue.  It centers on the main character of Zac and covers his life from 1960 until the early 1980’s.  Zac was born on Christmas Day in 1960.  He is the fourth child (all sons) and had a rather dramatic entrance into the world.  Starting off by being legally dead for a few seconds and then followed by being accidentally dropped before he even leaves the hospital.  It’s a wonder the poor boy survived at all.

Jump forward to Christmas 1966.  Zac has always hated Christmas; his birthday gets lumped together with it, his day starts with midnight mass and he never gets the gifts he really wants.  For example, his dad gets him a hockey game, when what he really wants is a pram for dolls.  Which his mom secretly gets for him, but when his dad finds out he makes her return it, to Zac’s great disappointment.

Zac never fit in with his older brothers.  They each had their own interests and he couldn’t relate to them, or they to him.  The worst one was Raymond, (the second oldest brother) who went out of his way to relentlessly torment him.  Zac idolized his dad when he was younger and his dad liked to do special things with him (without the other boys).  One of their favorite things to do together was to go to “Norm the King of Fries”.  It was their own special father/son excursion and it meant so much to Zac. 

His relationship with his father took a drastic turn when he was only seven years old.  His mom recently had another son (Yvan) and she enlisted Zac to help take care of him.  Pushing his pram, holding and comforting him when he would cry (Zac is the only one that could calm him down).  His dad barely tolerated these activities, but the final straw was when he caught Zac dressed up in his mom’s clothes and jewelry pretending to be Yvan’s mother.  Things were never the same between them after that.  His father became very short with him and would continually try to push him to be the type of son he wanted him to be.

After seeing how Zac could effortlessly calm his colicky brother his mom becomes convinced he has a special gift.  She takes him to see the Tupperware lady (who supposedly also has a gift) to confirm it.  She is thrilled when the woman agrees with her suspicions and proceeds to tell the whole family about Zac’s gift of healing.  This leads to them calling anytime they have an injury or illness to ask him to think about them and heal them (even if it’s just a small cut).

We jump forward to 1975, Zac still doesn’t fit in with his brothers, he and his father’s relationship has remained strained and we find that he really doesn’t fit in at school either.  This has led to him becoming a bit of a rebel.  Listing to music his father doesn’t approve of, dressing in a glam style, becoming an atheist, smoking, etc.  Zac is so torn between following his attraction to other guys and being the type of son his father wants.  He misses having his father’s approval and the close relationship they had when he was younger, but can seem to find a way to get it back.  As we move forward in time we watch as Zac and his family continue to go through ups and downs in their lives.

This is a very moving and emotional film.  I really felt for the character of Zac.  He struggled so much during his life trying to find a balance between fitting in and becoming the person he was meant to be.  His mother was the only person in his life that loved and supported him unconditionally.  They had a wonderful relationship and I really enjoyed the interaction between the two characters.

Marc-André Grondin played the character of Zac from age 15 to age 21.  This is the first thing I had ever seen him in and I have to say I was blown away by his performance.  He provided such an honest and realistic portrayal of the character.  The emotional depth and range he brought to the screen was amazing.  I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of his movies.

Some of my favorite quotes: 

Zac – “My three brothers were morons.” 

Mom – “I’ll go see Mrs. Whatshername, the Tupperware lady.  She, too, has a gift.” 

Zac – “I had just turned seven and, unwittingly, declared war on my father.” 

Dad – “He’s a crybaby, he dresses like a girl.  It’s not normal.”

Mom – “Get over it.  It’s you who’s not normal.” 

Zac – “Midnight mass was so short and sweet now that I’d become an atheist.” 

Zac – “Having a crazy brother also had its advantages.  Always ready to help …” 

Raymond – “Pay up, you little b*st*rd.” 

Zac – “For the modest sum of $2.” 

Zac – “Being happy and healthy, or miserable and f*cked up?  It’s a no-brainer.” 

Zac – “How sweet life was since I had become so happy and fulfilled.”

Random Stuff:

The title references two things; the song by Patsy Cline and the names of the five sons, Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zac and Yvan.

Loved the scene when Zac was singing along to David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity”.

The film is based on true events in the writer’s own lives, which have been blended together.  The areas concerning sexuality and the father/son relationship are based on François Boulay’s life.  Whereas, the areas concerning music and faith were based on Jean-Marc Vallée’s life.

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I was surprised when Raymond actually stood up for Zac at Christian’s wedding.  It was an interesting turn of events after all the grief Raymond had put Zac through in his life.

It was so tragic that it took the death of another son before Zac’s father could learn to accept him for who he is.  When he hugged Zac it brought tears to my eyes.

I loved the ending with Zac now being the one to drive his dad to get fries at “Norm the King of Fries”.

This is another terrific Danny Boyle movie.  He has a real knack for picking interesting stories, great actors and is an amazing director.  This movie has an incredible feel about it and is full of amazing shots (very post apocalyptic, but also very real).  It holds your attention the whole way through.

The movie starts off showing various acts of rioting and violence.  As the camera pans back we see that the images are being shown on multiple TVs and the location is a lab.  Come to find out the scientists have these poor chimps strapped down to tables and they are being forced to view all this violence just so the scientists can study the effect.  Cue the animal activists, who then break in to free the chimps.  They are told that the chimps are infected with “Rage” and are highly contagious.  The virus spreads through blood and saliva.  However, the activists don’t believe the scientist and before you know it they are all infected.

It’s now 28 days later and we are seeing a man, Jim (Cillian Murphy), in a hospital bed.  He is laying there completely naked (yes, full frontal), hooked up to all kinds of monitoring equipment, IVs, etc.  He appears to be just waking up and seems rather confused.  You know what I noticed most about Cillian in this scene (no it’s not what you think, get your mind out of the gutter), what incredibly long, gorgeous eyelashes he has (I’m jealous).

Jim unhooks himself from everything, scrounges up some scrubs to wear and starts wandering around the hospital.  It’s deserted and a bit on the trashed side.  After a quick break to guzzle down a Pepsi, he heads outside.  As he is walking through the streets of London, he finds that it is equally deserted as the hospital was.  There are abandoned cars, trucks and buses everywhere; trash litters the streets.  It’s very desolate and there is an ominous feeling in the air.

It doesn’t take too long until Jim has his first encounter with the infected and ends up running for his life.  Luckily for him, two people come to his rescue.  You can tell they have battled the infected many times before; they are organized and know just what to do to take them out.  They take Jim with them to the convenience store that they are using as their home/base.

Jim’s rescuers are Mark (Noah Huntley) and Selena (Naomie Harris).  They have both lost their entire families and are on their own.  Jim tells them he is a bicycle courier.  Last thing he remembers was being hit by a car while carrying a package, then waking up alone in the hospital.

Selena explains to him about the virus.  How there is no longer any government, police, army, TV, radio or electricity.  Jim is the first uninfected person they have seen in six days.  They both try to make Jim understand the bleakness of the situation and how pretty much everyone is either infected or dead.  He doesn’t want to believe that his family is most likely dead, so they finally agree to go with him to find out for sure.

Upon their arrival at his home, Jim finds out that his parents are indeed dead.  Turns out, they committed suicide.  Mark and Selena tell him that they were lucky, because they died peaceful deaths.  Jim doesn’t see it the same way.  You can tell both Mark and Selena have seen and experienced too much; they are so tough and hardened.

On their way back to the convenience store; Jim and Selena find two more survivors, Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns).  They end up staying with them overnight.  Frank has an emergency radio (the kind you crank for power) and plays a radio transmission for them.  It is a pre-recorded message made by soldiers that says that they have the answer for infection and tells them a location to come to.  After a bit of back and forth about the merits of going there, they finally decide that it probably their best hope and set out to find the soldiers.

Some of my favorite scenes (without being too spoilery):

The church scene is terrific.  The look is fantastic with all of the bodies lying on the pews.  Then Jim just had to go and say hello.  You can probably guess what comes next.  Ok Jim, for future reference don’t say “hello” loudly when you are in a church full of maybe dead/maybe not dead people; it’s not likely to go well.  The writing on the wall of the church is just perfect, “the end is extremely f*cking nigh”.

When Mark and Selena rescue Jim from the infected.  I like how after they have safely locked themselves into the convenience store, Mark starts telling Jim a really stupid joke (keep in mind Mark is still wearing his gas mask and they haven’t even introduced themselves yet).  The look on Jim’s face is terrific.  I get the feeling he thinks Mark is a bit mad.

It is such a fun scene when Jim, Selena, Frank and Hannah stop at a grocery store to stock up on supplies.  Their main sustenance up until that point has been candy bars and sodas.  They are all overjoyed to be able to run around the store and grab all the food they want.  Obviously pretty much all the fresh food is spoiled, but there is still a huge variety of canned goods they can eat.  It such a lovely, lighthearted moment for them.  I particularly like when Frank tells Jim to only take the good booze and how he leaves his credit card at the register on their way out.

Cillian is absolutely amazing in the movie.  His character goes from being confused and in denial, to acceptance of the situation and what he has to do to survive, to being the type of person that will do anything necessary to protect those he cares about.  His portrayal is spot on, as you watch his body language and facial expressions you can see the evolution unfold before you.  I also love the fact that although Cillian is not a big, muscular guy; he totally makes you believe that his perfectly capable of performing all the heroic acts that he does (it’s all in the attitude).

Some of my favorite quotes:

Jim – “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.  I shouldn’t have done that.  Sh*t.”

Jim – “Please tell me what the f*ck is going on.”

Mark – “He’s completely humorless.”

Mark – “Ok Jim … I’ve got some bad news.”

Mark – “We’ll all go and find your dead parents together, okay?”

Selena – “Look, if someone gets infected, you’ve got between 10 and 20 seconds to kill them.  It might be your brother or your sister or your oldest friend.  It makes no difference.  And just so you know where you stand, if it happens to you I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

Jim – “What is it about tower blocks and shopping trolleys, huh?”

Selena – “Well, why didn’t you say something before?”

Jim – “Well, because I didn’t think you’d give a sh*t.”

Frank – “You’d never think it … needing rain so badly.  Not in f*cking England.”

Frank – “Just so you know.  I don’t take checks or credit cards.”

Jim – “No, no, no, then we should take the indirect route, the one that’s in broad daylight and that’s not underground.”

Jim – “No, no.  No, see this is a really sh*t idea.  You know why?  Because it’s really obviously a sh*t idea.  So, we’re just gonna drive into a tunnel full of f*ckin’ smashed cars and broken glass.  It’s just really f*cking obviously a shit idea!”

Jim – “World’s worst place to get a flat, huh?”

Frank – “Mmm, irradiated.”

Jim – “Like going on holidays with your f*ckin’ aunt.”

Jim – “Oh, great, valium.  Not only will we be able to get to sleep, but if we’re attacked in the middle of the night, we won’t even care.”

Jim – “Are you stoned?”

Selena – “It’s a long story.”

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

Wow, the scene when Mark becomes infected is both amazing and horrifying.  It is so intense as you watch the battle for life and death.  Then to have Selena hack Mark up with her machete without even flinching.  All the while, Jim is watching in shock and horror.

One of my favorite scenes is when they stop to eat at the site of some old ruins.  The place is beautiful and has a peaceful feeling.  There are even horses running about, oblivious to any of the trouble happening around them.  It’s such a bonding moment for all of them.  They become a family at this point and Serena finally sees (and acknowledges) that maybe there is more to life than just survival.

Yeah, Jim rescues Selena and Hannah from all the soldiers.  I especially like when he takes out the soldier that is holding Selena captive.  It’s amazingly heroic, but also kinda gross (especially the eye thing, yuck).  Then to follow that with Hannah hitting Jim over the head with a glass vase because she thought he was biting Selena, when he was in actuality kissing her.  I love how there are humorous moments like that intermixed with all the action and horror.

 It’s prom night, Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his girlfriend, his best friend and his friend’s girlfriend are on their way to an after prom party.  Chris takes a detour down a country road so he can show his girlfriend the fireflies.  He puts the top down on his convertible so they can see them better.  Once he sees them he turns off the headlights so the effect will be even more magical.  At first everyone is impressed by the sight before them, however, they start to get nervous about him driving without lights on.  He reluctantly turns them back on just in time to see a combine that is stalled out in the middle of the road.  We don’t see what happens because there is a quick cut away right before impact would occur.

We jump forward four years later and find that Chris suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury in the crash.  Which has totally turned his world upside down.  He used to be a high school hockey star with a bright future ahead of him.  Now he has to constantly write notes to himself so he can remember the routine things he has to do each day.  He also has disinhibition, which will cause him at times to say some pretty inappropriate things.  Chris has trouble controlling his left hand, will sometimes suddenly fall asleep and when he gets frustrated about something he gets very angry.

He attends a class at the Independent Life Skills Center in order to help him cope with his new life.  Lewis (Jeff Daniels) is his roommate.  He is a blind man that the center hooked him up with.  Although, Lewis is pretty independent, there are some things that he needs Chris to help him with.  As far as Chris goes, he really needs someone patient that can help him work through his frustrations and Lewis is the perfect man for the job.  He knows how to talk to Chris and is able to help him work through his problems.

One night when Chris is hanging out at the local bar he meets Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode).  Gary recognizes him and introduces himself.  He said he went to the same school but was a couple years ahead of Chris and even dated his sister a couple of times.  Gary has a way about him which causes to Chris immediately feel comfortable with him.  Chris even opens up to him about the accident, how two of his friends died and how it has personally affected his life.

Not too long after meeting Gary, a pretty girl approaches him.  Her name is Luvlee (Isla Fisher) and she is a friend of Gary’s.  Chris is immediately attracted to her and enjoys all the attention she is paying him (he hasn’t had much luck with woman after the accident).  Both Gary and Luvlee go out of their way to make sure Chris feels important. 

It doesn’t take long until we find out what Gary’s ulterior motive is.  He and his friends are going to rob a bank and it just so happens that it’s the bank that Chris works as a night janitor at.  Chris’s immediate reactions are shock, hurt feelings and refusal to cooperate.  However, Gary knows all the right buttons to push and before long he has Chris agreeing to help them.

This is a terrific movie.  There are characters you really care about, an interesting story line and a great buildup to a very suspenseful ending.  Joseph is amazing.  He creates such a believable, multi-layered character and makes you really feel for the guy.  Yes, the accident was his fault and resulted in the deaths of two people.  However, it wasn’t intentional; it was an impulsive teenage act that he has to face the consequences of for the rest of his life.  You can’t help but root for him throughout the story.

I also really enjoyed the interaction between Chris and Lewis.  They made a terrific team and even though they sometimes had disagreements you could tell that they really cared about each other.  Joseph and Jeff had great chemistry and played off each other very well.

The biggest surprise for me in this movie was Matthew Goode.  I had only seen him play good guys before (Matchpoint and Imagine Me & You).  I was really impressed with his convincing portrayal of Gary.  He could pull off the tough guy bits, but was also able to make him more than just the typical one dimensional bad guy.  He brought a lot of depth and charm to the character.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Chris – “I take a shower … with soap.”

Chris – “I eat breakfast but I don’t read the paper.  It confuses me, which makes me mad.”

Lewis – “Hey, kid, your mom called to remind you about Thanksgiving.  I told her you had a hooker in your room and couldn’t talk just now but that I’d be sure to pass on the message.”

Chris – “Yeah. Well, I call tomatoes “lemons.”  I know that’s wrong.  And sometimes certain colors have certain smells.”

Gary – “That’s weird.”

Lewis – “Can I say something?  You won’t get upset?”

Chris – “What?”

Lewis – “I don’t think you should go home anymore.”

Luvlee – “Me and Alice Watts were, like, “Damn, it must be pretty cool to be Chris Pratt”.”

Lewis – “Son of a b*tch, you got laid.”

Chris – “I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

Lewis – “Oh, but you are, my friend, you are.”

Lewis – “And by stage, I’m assuming you mean the kind with a pole?”

Chris – “What do you mean?”

Lewis – “Let’s move on.”

Lewis – “You know, aside from that Reuben hiccup, I think it went pretty well.”

Lewis – “Please tell me you’re not waving your hand in front of my face.”

Luvlee – “Oh, sorry.”

Lewis – “And what happens if I google Gary?”

Gary – “Whoever has the money has the power.”

Lewis – “Start at the end.  Can’t tell a story if you don’t know where it’s going.”

Random Stuff:

Bones is scary.

Chris’s father is an @sshole.

The extra “Behind the Mind of Chris Pratt” was very interesting.  Joseph talks about how he prepared for the part.  He seems like a very intelligent guy that really takes his work seriously.

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I was so sad when they shot and killed Ted.  He was a sweet guy.

I felt so bad for Chris.  When it finally dawned on him what he had gotten himself into, he tried to get out of it, which of course didn’t work.  Now Lewis is in danger because of him.  I liked how as he flipped through his little notebook it gave him the clues he needed to formulate a plan to save Lewis.  Putting into use Lewis’s “start at the end and work your way forward” advice.

 Wow, hard to believe that this is my 100^th post since I started this blog.

 So I just saw one of my favorite bands, AFI, being interviewed on Distortion (Steven Smith’s show on the music channel FUSE).  They had a new album come out last month called “Crash Love” and one of the songs on it is called “Veronica Sawyer Smokes” (it’s my favorite song on the CD).  Turns out, the title is a reference to Winona Ryder’s character in the movie “Heathers”.  I hadn’t watched this movie in a while so it didn’t click as to where the name came from.

By the way, this is not the first time Davey (singer/lyricist for AFI) has made a reference to one of Winona’s characters.  On their “Art of Drowning” CD from 2000, there is a song called “The Despair Factor” that has one of her lines from the movie “Beetlejuice” (“My whole life is a dark room, one big dark room”).   

Anyway, after hearing them talk about the movie, I decided it was time I watched it again.  This is a terrific dark comedy from 1989.  The setting is Westerburg High School.  The most powerful (and downright mean) group at the school consists of three girls named Heather and one girl named Veronica.  I would say they are equally worshiped and hated by their fellow classmates.

Heather McNamara (aka Heather #1) is the leader of the group.  She doesn’t care about anyone but herself.  She is equally as mean to her supposed friends as she is to others at the school.  Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) is a more recent addition to the group, however, she is already getting frustrated with Heather #1 and how she treats others.  Her attempts to make changes to the way the group operates are quickly squashed.

Veronica becomes intrigued by the new guy at school, Jason Dean (Christian Slater) and he seems to be watching her just as intently.  When she finds out how he handled a couple of jocks at school that were hassling him, she is both amused and impressed by him.  It doesn’t take very long before they hook up and become an item.

Heather #1 has been invited to a college party and decides that Veronica should go with her.  Veronica really isn’t happy at being pawed over by the college guys and whatever she had to drink really didn’t agree with her.  She ends up getting sick, which, just makes Heather #1 pissed off.  Heather #1 then threatens to ruin her by telling everyone at school what happened.

By the time Veronica finally gets home she is livid.  As she is ranting in her journal about what happened, Jason unexpectedly shows up at her bedroom window.  They decided that Heather #1 is due for some payback.  So they head over to Heather #1’s house and prepare a “hangover remedy” for her, however, the actual goal is to make her throw up.

Unbeknownst to Veronica, Jason slips Heather #1 a mug with some type of cleaner in it instead of what she had mixed up.  Of course, this leads to a very dead Heather #1.  After a brief moment of freaking out, they quickly come up with a plan to make it look like a suicide; complete with a suicide note (luckily Veronica can copy Heather #1’s writing perfectly).

You would think that with what just happened Veronica would want to steer clear of Jason; but instead she is just as smitten with him as before.  However, as the story progresses, things get even more complicated and twisted.  Leading to Veronica finally realizing that Jason’s idea of right and wrong and hers are completely different. 

I really enjoyed this film; both Winona and Christian were amazing.  It’s from 1989, which means it was quite early in both of their careers.  However, you wouldn’t know that by watching it.  They are both very skilled and have incredible chemistry together.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Veronica – “What is your damage Heather.”

Heather McNamara – “F*ck me gently with a chainsaw.”

Veronica – “Does it not bother you that everyone at this school thinks you’re a piranha?”

Veronica – “How very.”

Veronica – “Really.  That thing you pulled in the caf today was pretty severe.”

Jason – “Yeah, well, the extreme always seems to make an impression.”

Veronica – “No, my life’s not perfect.  I don’t really like my friends.”

Jason – “Yeah, I uh, really don’t like your friends either.”

Veronica – “It’s just like they’re people I work with and our job is being popular and sh*t.”

Jason – “Maybe it’s time to take a vacation.”

Veronica – “I can’t believe it; I just killed my best friend.”

Jason – “And your worst enemy.”

Veronica – “Same difference.”

Jason – “What are we gonna tell the cops?  F*ck it if she can’t take a joke Sarg?”

Jason – “This is the last thing she’ll ever write, she’s gonna want to cash in on as many fifty cent words as possible.”

Jason – “Seven schools in seven states and the only thing different is my locker combination.”

Veronica – “So we killed them didn’t we?”

Jason – “Of course.”

Jason – “Your true feelings were too gross and icky for you to face.”

Veronica – “Are we going to prom or to hell?”

Veronica – “If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human being; you’d be a game show host.”

Random Stuff:

I swear, Winona just doesn’t seem to age.  She is just as beautiful now as she was back then.

You might get the feeling that Christian is channeling Jack Nicholson in this movie.  However, Christian probably put it best when he said “I’m not doing it on purpose, that’s just the way I talk”.

“Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads” is an extra that was filmed in 2001.  It has interviews with some of the cast and crew.  It’s interesting to hear what they have to say about their experiences so many years later.

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I loved the ending, I think it’s better than the original one they had planned (they talk about it in the extra mentioned above).  It’s very suspenseful and you really don’t know how far it will go.  Will the entire school get blown up or will Veronica save the day?  I was shocked when Jason flips her off and she shoots off his finger.  Where did she learn to shoot like that?

It was great when Veronica took the red bow off of Heather Duke, thereby, taking the leadership for herself.  Then she proceeds to make plans with Martha (the very overweight and unpopular girl) to hang out and watch movies together on prom night.

The movie starts off showing a dead body laying on a bed in a hotel room with a Tony Robbins Infomercial playing on the TV.  Next we jump to a church in Boston where a wedding is about to start.  Two cops have just arrived; they are investigating the murder of Steven DeCunzo.  Grace Winterbourne quickly confesses to committing the crime.

At that point we hop back to beginning of story.  Connie Doyle (Ricki Lake) grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey.  Her mom died when she was twelve, leaving her alone with her dad.  They never got along, so on the day of her eighteenth birthday she leaves home.  She figures the best place for her to live is New York City.  

Unfortunately for her, the first person she meets in the big city is Steve DeCunzo.  He acts all charming; telling her that she is beautiful and unappreciated.  She is completely conned by him and ends up moving in with him.  It turns out that he is a petty thief, not an agent like he told her he was.

Things go sort of ok with Steve for awhile.  He’s not the greatest guy, but at least she has a roof over her head.  All that changes when she tells him that she is pregnant.  She’s happy about it, however, he is about as far from happy as you can get.  When she refuses to get rid of it, he throws her out.

As Connie get’s further along in her pregnancy, things go downhill even further.  She loses her waitressing job, because she can no longer fit in the uniform.  Her allotted time that she can stay at the Y has been used up and she has run out of money.  She bumps into a homeless guy on the subway platform and he suggests a shelter that she could possibly stay at.  However, instead of getting on the subway heading to where the shelter is, she accidently gets on a train heading to Boston.

Now she has another problem; she’s on a train that she doesn’t have a ticket for.  She avoids the ticket taker for a while; however, he eventually catches up with her.  Luckily for her there is a nice guy named Hugh (Brendan Fraser) that sees her predicament and covers for her.  He says she’s his wife and holds up two tickets.

Turns out Hugh’s wife, Patricia, is equally as pregnant as Connie is.  While he goes to get them drinks, the two women hang out in the couple’s compartment and talk.  Patricia is just as nice as her husband.  She notices that Connie is soaked from the rain so she gives her some of her clothes to change into.  She also lets Connie try on her wedding ring after she has been admiring it.  Shortly after Connie slips the ring on her finger is when the train wreck occurs.

You can probably see where this is heading.  Both Hugh and Patricia end up dead.  Connie lives, but is mistaken for Patricia (since no one in the family had ever met her before or even seen pictures).  Her wearing the wedding ring (with Patricia and Hugh’s names engraved on it) on top of being pregnant (well no longer pregnant, but a new mother since she went into labor because of the wreck) make it perfectly logical for the family to assume she really is Patricia.

So Hugh’s family, the Winterbournes, bring her and the baby home to live with them.  Turns out the family is loaded and live in this huge mansion.  Connie tries to tell them many times that it’s all a big mistake, but everyone thinks she is just shaken up from the crash and the death of her husband.  Finally, she decides to go along with it, since she has nowhere else to go.

Hugh’s mother, Grace (Shirley MacLaine), immediately accepts Patricia (who is really Connie) into the family.  However, his twin brother, Bill (also played by Brendan Fraser) is skeptical.  She isn’t the type of girl his brother would normally go for and she is not in the same class as them.  He is very suspicious of her.  He keeps trying to interrogate her, but his mother puts a stop to it.  So Bill quietly goes about investigating her behind his mother’s back.

As you can imagine, many awkward moments occur when she doesn’t know things she should if she really was married to Hugh.  Add to that the fact that she speaks rather bluntly, doesn’t know when to shut up and is a bit on the unsophisticated side and you can see that it’s going to be difficult for her to keep her cover story intact.

Things become even more complicated when Bill and Connie start becoming attracted to each other.  On the surface it seems like they are completely different from one another and would never be interested in each other.  However, after spending time together they start to see that there is more than meets the eye.  Of course, this turns out to be more than a simple love story, things get complicated along the way (remember the dead body at the beginning of the movie).

This is a sweet, fun romantic comedy (even with the people dying part).  The actors are great; I really couldn’t picture anyone else in the roles.  I had never seen Ricki in anything before, but I was impressed with her.  She was very good at playing the outspoken, but at the same time vulnerable, Connie.  Shirley’s character is a strong-willed, in charge and doesn’t take no for an answer kind of person.  This is the type she excels at.

It was fun to see Brendan play both of the brothers.  Hugh was a sweet, fun loving, free spirited kind of guy.  In contrast, Bill is a sophisticated, snobbish and very serious type of guy.  Brendan was wonderful in both roles.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Homeless Man – “And here’s a shelter that’s not bad, on the West Side.  I mean they pray at you, but the food’s okay.”

Connie – “Wow, thanks!  I’ve had a rough couple of days.  We’re not really married, are we?”

Connie – “Isn’t that supposed to be bad luck?”

Patricia – “I couldn’t have bad luck.”

Connie – “Do I remember?  I was in a train wreck!  Who’s gonna forget a train wreck.”

Grace – “How did I ever raise such a snob?”

Bill – “It’s a mystery, Mother.”

Grace – “My god you can be insensitive sometimes.”

Bill – “Sometimes?  I must be slipping.”

Bill – “So Mother tells me that I was rude and unfriendly when we met.”

Connie – “You weren’t rude.”

Bill – “Just unfriendly then?  That’s good.  Gives us something to build on.”

Connie – “He was one of the only people I ever met who was kind without a reason.  Not because he wanted something but just because, you know.”

Bill – “You understood him.  I never did.  I always thought there’d be time to figure him out.”

Connie – “It’s great to see a grown man still afraid of his mommy.”

Paco – “I taught my boys the tango … so they could woo all the women.”

Connie – “I do not understand men.”

Paco – “You and me both, honey.”

Bill – “A Cuban butler who loves you.  I mean how many people can say that?”

Random Stuff:

I adored the butler, Paco (Miguel Sandoval); he really cared about the Winterbournes and was very protective of them.  You could tell how much a part of the family he was.  I liked how he could make Grace to do things she didn’t want to, such as, take her medicine.  We also find that he was very involved in the raising of the two boys.  He really was like a father figure to them, since their father was always at work.

I loved the scene when Paco gets drunk because he was dumped by the pool repair guy.  Bill and Connie come to the rescue and try to comfort him.  In his drunken state, he decides he wants to see them dance the tango together.  They humor him and go along with it.  It’s a very sweet scene and I have to say that Brendan is a wonderful, very graceful dancer.  

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

 This is an Irish movie that was originally titled “The Last of the High Kings”, however, it was renamed “Summer Fling” for the U.S. release.  I hate when they change names like that.  The original one fit the film better.  “Summer Fling” makes you think it’s going to be one of those typical American teen movies, which it is not.

Frankie Griffin (Jared Leto) is a 17 year old Irish boy who lives in Howth, County Dublin, Ireland, and the year is 1977.  It’s the end of June which means he has just finished taking his exams and now has to wait until mid-August to find out the results.  Frankie is stressing out and has totally convinced himself that he blew his exams.  On top of that he really has no idea what he wants to do with his life, other than he would like to travel.

Since he is now free from school and this is his last summer before he has to find work or go to college he wants to make this a summer to remember.  There have been two girls he has been eyeing at school, but has never got up the courage to do anything about it.  He figures the thing to do is throw a beach party and get them to come to it.  However, he seems to be having difficulty getting things rolling.  His summer keeps slipping by and he’s not really accomplishing anything he wanted to.

Saying Frankie’s family is slightly eccentric would be putting it mildly.  His Da (Gabriel Byrne) is a stage actor with dreams of making it big in the movies.  He often goes abroad to work in plays.  Even when he is at home with the family he always seems to be “on” and acts in a very dramatic fashion.  The kids all seem to be thrilled when he is home.

His Ma (Catherine O’Hara) is not an easy woman to live with.  She used to be an actress; however, it seems that she gave it up to stay home with the kids while her husband lives out his dream.  You definitely get the sense that she has grown to resent it.  She is loud, opinionated and larger than life.  She is always going on about how they are pureblood and are descendants from Irish nobility, much to her children’s embarrassment.

Frankie is the oldest of five children.  He has two younger brothers and two younger sisters.  The only one he seems to be close to is his youngest brother, Noelie, who ended up with brain damage from an illness he had when he was a baby.  It’s very sweet how Frankie always looks out for him.  He takes Noelie with him most places he goes and is very patient with him.  He is also protective of him and will let him sleep with him if he gets scared at night.

Frankie tends to be on the quiet and introspective side, except around his friends.  Jared does a wonderful job of playing the emotions that the character is going through.  The panic of thinking he has failed his exams, the awkwardness around a girl he likes and the rebellious nature when his ma has pushed him too far.  His Irish accents is passable (not the best I’ve ever heard, but far from the worst).  The only thing that was a little hard to buy was that he didn’t have any luck with girls.  I mean Jared is just too gorgeous; you know girls would be throwing themselves at him.

Some of my favorite scenes (without being too spoilery):

Frankie and his friends are so excited to finally be out of school.  As soon as they finish their exams, they run off to a nearby field, take off their school uniforms and light them on fire.  They all feel so liberated by their newfound freedom.

Frankie takes a turn on Noelie’s Space Hopper (one of those big bouncy ball things with handles on it).  He’s bouncing down the street on it when the two girls he has a crush on pull up right next to him.  He is so embarrassed, but is trying to act like he’s not mortified at them seeing him on it.

Frankie and his friend Nelson aren’t old enough to vote in the election, so his ma falsifies documents so that they can.  She then forces them to vote and tells them they better vote for her candidate.  Frankie doesn’t want to do it, so his way of rebelling is to not actually vote for anyone and write “F*ck You” on the ballet instead.  She will never know about it, but it makes him feel better all the same.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Frankie – “Oh God, I’ve ruined my life before it’s even started.  They might as well take me out and shoot me.”

Frankie – “When I was a kid, I used to wish for an ordinary family.  Sometimes I still do.  The only normal one is Noelie, who has permanent brain damage from an illness when he was a baby.”

Frankie – “The rest of them share varying degrees of incurable insanity.  It’s amazing I turned out ok.”

Nelson – “Are you sure she’s your ma?  If she was your sister, I could really fancy her.”

Frankie – “How come by the time I catch on, it’s always too late?  Screwing up is the only thing I’m getting better at.”

Frankie – “What is it about time?  Whenever you want it to move quick, it goes slow, whenever you want it to go slow, it gallops.”

Jayne – “You’re an eejit, do you know that?”

Frankie – “Yeah.  I know.  Thanks.”

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I love how after Frankie finally has sex for the first time, he is so excited.  He just keeps going on about it and how it would be great if they lived together and could do it whenever they wanted.  He ends up kind of freaking Jayne out, so she throws his clothes out her bedroom window and tells him to leave.  This means he has to leave by climbing down from the second story while he is naked.

If that isn’t bad enough, the next morning, his ma wakes him up and asks him to come downstairs.  When he gets there he finds their priest waiting to talk to him.  You see, his ma isn’t happy that he had sex with a protestant and wants the priest to set him straight.  It was great how at first Frankie pretended to go along with it and then started on this whole really awkward rant about sex and how he can’t help himself.  It was such a funny scene.

 I’m not going to go into detail about the band’s history again, since I recently talked about it in regards to Placebo’s “Soulmates Never Die” DVD.  If you are interested in that stuff, here is a link to that post.  This is a terrific collection of videos covering an eight year span, many of which I had never seen.  It wasn’t until their “Meds” CD that their videos really started being played in the U.S.  Most of their videos are very creative, with some being like mini movies.

Just so you know the version I’m talking about is the one released in the UK.  I have heard the U.S. version doesn’t have all the songs, however, I’ve never really checked it out so I can’t say for sure.  Supposedly some were considered too risqué for the U.S. market so they were left off.  Which kinda ticks me off if it’s true; I really hate censorship like that.    

Placebo are:

Brian Molko – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboard, Effects, Percussion

Stefan Olsdal – Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, Vocals

Steven Hewitt – Drums (at least at the time of this DVD, they now have a new drummer, Steve Forrest)

There are three different ways to play the videos: 

Play All

Play Videos with Commentary (with Brian, Stefan and Steve)

Video Track List – Where you can pick a specific video to play.

Track List:

36 Degrees – This one has the band in or under water throughout the video.  It was filmed in a scuba pool and they had divers that would give them air between takes.  They had to spend a whole lot of time underwater and swore they would never do another video where they had to be in water again.  I thought it was funny when during the commentary Brian said he looks like Marilyn Manson’s younger sister.  I love Brian’s hair when it’s shoulder length like in this video.  I was happy to see in their most recent video “For What It’s Worth” that he has grown it out again. 

Teenage Angst – There is a big black box sitting in a park and when we get to see inside, we find the band.  The inside is completely red and the walls are all stretchy.  Scenes of the band are intercut with scenes of other people inside the box.  I liked how people would throw themselves against the wall and it would stretch out, it looked very cool.   According to the band it was very hot filming in there and there was no air conditioning.

Nancy Boy – This is the first video that Howard Greenhalgh directed for them (he directed five others that are on this DVD).  I get an acid trip vibe from this one.  There are people morphing into other people, a bathtub with a bunch of legs sticking out, doll/people combos, etc.  I especially liked the one that had a regular lower body with large hand/wrist for the torso/head.  This is the first video with Steve in it, but they couldn’t show his face because he was still under contract with another studio, so it’s blurred out.  They wanted Howard to direct a video for them after seeing the video he made for Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”.

Bruise Pristine – Another one by Howard Greenhalgh.  Pretty much consists of the band performing, lots of people kissing and lots of scantily clad bodies with bruises on them.  Also, according to Brian, a lot of gratuitous panty shots.

Pure Morning – I absolutely love this video.  It has Brian standing on the ledge of a tall building with emergency personal, police and reporters all scurrying around below.  I like how he crossed his fingers before leaping off and then the surprise of him walking down the side instead of falling.  The video was inspired by a Grace Kelly movie called “Fourteen Hours”.  Brian said he had to spend about six hours jumping off a small ledge for this one.  I have to add, Brian is just gorgeous in this video.

You Don’t Care About Us – So much for never doing a video in water again.  The setting is an aquarium and the band is being imprisoned there.  Apparently, they are meant to be shark food.  All the little kids there are really evil.  The looks on their faces, when they think they are going to get to see the guys being eaten by sharks, are just frightening.  They filmed at the London Aquarium; however, they were not in the same tank as the sharks.  They had manta rays in the tank with them and apparently they were very friendly.  They liked to come and rub against them.  The guys had to spend about seven hours in the water for this shoot.  Leaving them to swear once again; they were never, ever doing anymore videos that involve them in water.

Every You Every Me – Concert footage which was filmed at Brixton Academy.  They had originally done another video for this song; however, it was banned by management so they had to quickly come up with something else.  This song was used as the theme song for the movie “Cruel Intentions”.  Brian thought he looked rather silly even though he was wearing a very expensive designer dress.

Without You I’m Nothing – Filmed at Irving Plaza in New York City and features David Bowie.  Concert footage of Placebo and Bowie performing together, how cool is that.  Apparently, Bowie called them up and said he really liked their song, he had written a harmony for it and could he sing it with them.  Of course the band jumped at the chance to perform with him.  The footage for the video was filmed by their manager that’s why it’s on the shaky side.

Taste In Men – This video is beautifully shot.  I love the building they used, it looks so elegant.  It looks like a fancy hotel; however, it’s really a registry office.  It has a movie feel to it, with a tarot card reader, an arguing couple, lots of Brian walking down the hallways and an apparent love triangle between Brian and the arguing couple. 

Slave To The Wage – Set in a very modern looking office, with workers doing repetitive and boring tasks.  The main focus is on one of the girls that works there and how she starts seeing things around her begin to shred into strips.  I thought the car shredding was especially cool looking.  This video was inspired by a summer job that Brian had working in a bank shredding documents and also the movie “Gattaca”.

Special K – Sci-fi themed video based on the movie “Fantastic Voyage”.  Steve plays the patient, Stefan one of the medical personnel and Brian is the one that gets shrunk down (along with his spaceship) to maneuver through the patient and try to fix him.  Steve said he really liked filming this one; all he had to do was lay around while being surrounded by pretty women.

Black-Eyed – The concert footage was filmed at the Hurricane Festival in Germany.  The song was used in a movie, about young punks living on the street, called “Engel and Joe”.  The main actors from the movie are the two people featured in the video.  Brian says this is around the time his love affair with white clothing started.

The Bitter End – Shows the band performing inside a big satellite dish (although not really – it was shot in a studio then digitally added).  The heat seeking cameras they used to film the two other people in the video give a really cool glowy effect.  Steve says he lived close by this dish when he was a kid.

This Picture – I always want to call this one “Ashtray Girl”.  There seems to be a bit of a bondage theme at beginning of the video.  Then lots of women with blurred out faces.  It’s meant to be about the loss of identity due to destructive relationships.

Special Needs – The band is performing in an empty pool.  They used lights hanging from helium balloons floating above to light them.  The effect is really soft and beautiful.  We also see a young couple in the locker room interacting with each other, even though the other one is not there.  It’s supposed to represent people making love to a memory after a breakup.  The actors did a great job and you really got the impression the other one was there even though you can’t see them.  

English Summer Rain – This is an all animated video done by Gregoire Pinard.  He is a fan of theirs from South Africa.  He made the video and sent it to the band.  They liked it so they decided to use it.

Protégé Moi – Concert footage from “Soulmates Never Die, Live in Paris”.  There were about 17,000 or 18,000 people in theater.  Once again they had a different video for this song but weren’t able to use it due to its content.  According to Brian, it’s basically a porn film.

Twenty Years – Band performing with acrobatic type circus acts happening around them.   This is the only video that there is no commentary for.

Other Features:

Care in the Community – This is a terrific feature.  It is pretty much just the guys sitting around and talking about various tours, telling funny stories and talking about each other.  I was surprised to find out that Brian is a bit of a Trekkie.  Then he goes on to tell which character in Star Trek each member of the band is and why.   He also talks about getting the role in “Velvet Goldmine” and how it was his first time on stage without his guitar as a security blanket.  It took him a while to figure out what to do with himself while he sang.  The feature is about 40 minutes long.

Extras:

Twenty Years – It appears to be the same video off the playlist.  I’m not sure why it’s an extra.

Spite & Malice – Reading 2000 – Live performance at Reading Festival with special guest Justin Warfield.

20^th Century Boy – Brit Awards 1999 – This was Placebo and David Bowie’s first live performance together.

English Summer Rain Video – Band performance footage intermixed with various backstage stuff.

Nancy Boy Tour Visuals – Kind of a strange video.  The band is not in it.  It looks fan made.

Peeping Tom Tour Visuals – The band is not in this one either.  The focus is on a woman being watched while she is in her home.

Soulmates Never Die Live in Paris Trailer

Random Stuff:

Howard Greenhalgh directed the following Placebo Videos; Nancy Boy, Bruise Pristine, Slave to the Wage, Special K, The Bitter End and This Picture.

 Brian sure had a lot of different hairstyles throughout these videos.

I really enjoyed the commentaries and thought they were a great feature.

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

 This one is an old black and white classic from 1948.  Jim Blandings (Cary Grant) is married and has two daughters.  They live in a two bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in Manhattan.  He is a college graduate, works as an ad man and makes about $15,000 per year.

As the family is getting ready in the morning we see that their apartment is really too small for all of them.  Stuff falls out of closets and cabinets that are too full; they have to maneuver around furniture.  We see Jim and his wife, Muriel (Myrna Loy), trying to both use the bathroom at the same time.  Keep in mind this is back in the day when you only have one sink and a small medicine cabinet sized mirror.

Muriel gets the idea to have improvements made to the apartment to make it more livable.  Jim is shocked to find out that the plan the interior designer has come up with would cost them $7,000 and it certainly wouldn’t make the place any bigger (plus they don’t even own the place, they are just leasing).  After seeing an ad for houses in Connecticut, he decides it would be a much better idea to spend a few thousand more and buy a house that would suit them better.

They are shown a house in Connecticut.  It’s obviously in very poor shape, but the real estate agent really talks it up and has them both picturing what it will be like after it’s all fixed up.  Jim and Muriel are convinced that it’s the perfect house for them and make a deal.  After showing the paperwork to Bill (Melvyn Douglas), Jim’s best friend who is also an attorney, they find that they have paid far more than the market value and are getting a lot less land than they thought.

Bill says that they are being swindled and he will contact the seller to renegotiate the deal.  Unfortunately, Jim and Muriel have made the classic mistake when buying a home.  They bought with their hearts and not their heads.  Meaning they are both already in love with the idea of living there and don’t want to take the chance of losing the house by trying to alter the deal.  They decide to stick with the current agreement.

They finally do take one piece of Bill’s advice and have an engineer look at the house.  He tells them it’s in such bad shape that they should tear it down and build a new one.  They are not happy with his answer so they get more opinions on the matter.  Unfortunately for them, all the professionals tell them the same thing. 

So the decision is made to tear down the house and build a new one.  This means they now need an architect to draw up plans.  During the planning process they keep coming up with new “necessities” for the new home.  Such as, four bedrooms, a dedicated bathroom for every bedroom (keep in mind this is 1948), two closets in each bedroom and various specialty rooms.

Things just keep getting more and more out of hand as the building progresses.  Jim and Muriel make decisions about things they don’t fully understand, which causes further complications and even more money being spent.  Unexpected things keep cropping up during construction and the costs just keep climbing and climbing. 

Some of my favorite quotes:

Bill – “Jim and Muriel Blandings are just like thousands of other New Yorkers:  Modern cliff dwellers.”

Joan – “Ms. Stellwagon says advertising is a basically parasitic profession.”

Jim – “You don’t say.”

Joan – “Ms. Stellwagon says advertising makes people who can’t afford it buy things they don’t want with money they haven’t got.”

Bill – “Yes, sir, he knows a sucker … I mean customer, when he sees one.”

Bill – “You’ve been taken to the cleaners and you don’t even know your pants are off.”

Jim – “Well, so far it’s cost us $13,329.45.”

Muriel – “But we have the nicest vacant lot in the state of Connecticut.”

Muriel – “I refuse to endanger my children’s health in a house with less than four bathrooms.”

Jim – “For $1,300 they can live in a house with three bathrooms and rough it.”

Muriel – “What did you do?”

Jim – “I don’t know, they won’t tell me.”

Jim – “Just because a man is helpful in a business way doesn’t give him extracurricular privileges with my wife.”

Jim – “That’s fine.  For the rest of my life I’ll have to get up at 5 in the morning to catch the 6:15 to get to my office at 8.  It doesn’t even open until 9 and I never get there until 10.

Betsy – “Father, the first principle of lighting a fire is to see if the flue is open.  A 3 year old child knows that.”

Bill – “Muriel, really?  With your husband in New York and your children away?  Think of my reputation.”

Muriel – “Don’t worry, Snow White.  You’ll be just as pure and unsullied in the morning as you were the night before.”

This is a cute, fun movie to watch.  The three lead actors are all terrific in their roles.  However, I will say that I am partial to Cary Grant.  I especially enjoy watching him in comedies like this.  In addition to his great comedic timing, he has such a wonderful screen presence and really grabs your attention.

Random Stuff:

It’s so odd to see two twin beds in Jim and Muriel’s bedroom.

Why on earth do they both sing “Home on the Range” when they take a shower?

The Special Features Section includes a Tex Avery cartoon called “The House of Tomorrow”.

Jan

 



P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

It’s insane that their $11,500 house ended up costing around $38,000 by the time they were done.  That’s the kind of thing that’s amusing in a movie, but completely tragic in real life.

I liked how Gussie just happened to give Jim the perfect ad slogan for Wham, thereby saving his job and in turn allowing them to keep the house.