nadsat » Entertainment

Shitty Movie Monday

Zachary — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:21:34 +0000

Reconnect with your youth and enjoy a movie from the 80s or 90s that you may have loved in your middle school days. That’s the basis for Shitty Movie Monday. Some friends of mine created this one Monday when they sat down to relive Starship Troopers in all its glory. They went on to suffer through the trilogy. I don’t normally attend but was called to action this past week for Masters of The Universe.

Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, and surprisingly Courteney Cox all star in this 1987 classic. I loved this movie growing up. Let me rephrase that, I LOVED this movie growing up. I was a He-Man fan in general and the movie just topped things off for me. The movie did show some of its age. The lack of a plot, obvious Star Wars rips, and weak acting also stood out more this time around, but I still loved it.

If there was ever a need to remake a movie, Masters of the Universe should get the push. GI Joe got the green light, why not this?

Also if I ever meet Courteney Cox I won’t talk about how she’s my favorite Friends character or any of the fine movies she’s been a part of. No, I’m going to ask her one thing, “What was it like to work with Dolph on Masters of the Universe?”

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Semi-Tough and Gene Autry

Zachary — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:48:54 +0000

Stumbled across Semi-Tough starring Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson at the local library this weekend and decided to check it out. It’s pretty typical 70s Burt Reynolds goodness, so if you are into that, you’ll enjoy it. The only thing I can think it needed more of a was Burt himself.

It also has nice Gene Autry heavy soundtrack.

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NYC Part III: All good things must come to an end

Zachary — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:51:05 +0000

By the end of our trip Sandy and I were ready to quit our jobs, rent a closet-sized apartment, and make the NYC experience a permanent one. It is just an intoxicating place. The food, the shopping, the sites, the people… something is always happening and that something is never boring. NYC is the star of so many tv shows and movies that would be drab if it not for the setting. The experience solidified my position as a bonafided East Coast snob forever. L.A. can suck it, give me NYC any day. (I’d probably trade San Francisco for Boston though.)

Our last day and a half included a Broadway performance of Spam-a-lot (featuring none other than Clay Aiken), more cheesecake, tea by Moby, 5th and Madison Ave shopping, and a sushi meal beyond description.

Clay Aiken was not too bad. His singing was on par and probably better than most of the other players but his dancing was awkward and somewhat uncoordinated. It was not even a dance intensive show either. He was tolerable though and did not detract from my enjoyment of the show in anyway. More distracting were the classless fans that would hoot and holler whenever Clay would take the stage. Why do middle-aged women love this man?

All that said Spam-a-lot was really a great show and a great Broadway experience. If you’re a fan of anything Monty Python then check this out if you get a chance. I know it’s playing in Vegas as well.

Fifth and Madison Avenue are fun to window shop and people watch along. It’s boutique and high-end designer after boutique and high-end designer. Everything from stalwarts like Tiffany’s (a very impressive store) to up and coming designers, everyone wants to be on one of those two streets. It was funny to see the women with their coffee and pastries doing their best Audrey Hepburn impersonations outside of Tiffany’s. I don’t think Miss Hepburn drank Starbuck’s though.
TeaNY, Moby’s cafe/tea shop in on the Lower East Side, got a mention on Single Guy’s Kitchen as well. It was a fun experience. We actually opened them up at a little after 10. I guess not eating meat makes you sleepy. It was a rather unopposing storefront and more closely resembled a hole in the wall then the restaurant of a famous musician. Moby has never been the loud, look at me type though so this is fitting in a certain light. The food was good and the tea selection was excellent. It gets my recommendation. If I ever go back I’ll be sure to pick up a tea pot and a cook book.
Sushi, like I said, was indescribeable. My sushi lexicon is pretty weak anyway. I usually trust Sandy on matters of sushi and I’ve been spoiled to the ultra-Americanized maki rolls. Basically I eat whatever she puts in front of me at a sushi restaurant and usually enjoy it. Maki, Sandy’s Japanese sister-in-law, selected the restaurant and gave us a recommendation on what to order. I wasn’t about to question anything when what we ordered ended up being a huge tray full of chunks of raw fish with no rolls in sight. We each ate sushi until we couldn’t think about putting another piece in our mouths. The restaurant was called Takahachi and we ate at the Tribeca location.

While eating sushi we drank sake. This doesn’t sound out of the ordinary but I’m not used to sipping on straight booze while eating supper. The sake tasted like a really weak vodka but in a good way. For the record I hate vodka but this wasn’t too bad. I don’t think I want a bottle of sake with every meal but it was a new experience and a good one.

Our last meal in NYC was at the world famous Carnegie Deli. The Carnegie Deli is my most vivid and fondest memory from my first trip to NYC so we had to go back. It was the only restaurant I knew in the city. I covered the experience in depth at Single Guy’s Kitchen so I’ll direct y’all there.

We were sad to leave NYC but unfortunately our trip had to end. Our legs were tired and our checking accounts were empty. We had a wonderful time and started talking about a return trip on the flight home. Having knowledgeable, local guides definitely enhanced the experience as well as not planning too much. A lot of our time was left to just exploring and not worrying about a schedule or rushing to see a certain exhibit or attraction before it closed. Also get a good subway map and get comfortable with the idea of the riding it. The subway really is the best way to get around. Lastly, don’t bother with taking a cab if you come from JFK. As much as I bitched about the train ride into Manhattan, the cab ride out was more expensive and took longer due to traffic. I now think private car is the only way to go (Mr. Big style). Really just avoid flying into JFK if you can.

Thanks for reading and I encourage anyone who has yet to experience this city to start planning a trip.

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Peter Jackson, not just that Lord of the Rings guy

Zachary — Wed, 31 May 2006 16:24:12 +0000

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of accompaning April to her film history course. From my observations, the course is set up so that each class focuses on a different director/film maker. Peter Jackson was the subject of Tuesday’s lecture.

Lord of the Rings and King Kong are the first and only two things that spring to mind when most people think Peter Jackson. Those are very well done films, but this guy is kinda mainstream and hip right now, how does he warrant his own three hour film history lecture?

Peter Jackson is a very talented, inventive, and practically self-taught film maker. He started by running around with his parents little 8mm camera when he was 8 years old, making little movies, practicing little special effects things, etc. He is amazingly creative and it is astonishing the type of work he was able to do just working out of his garage with maybe half a dozen friends.

Peter Jackson started off as a horror, gore guy. However he always kept it really humorous. We watched his first feature length film, “Bad Taste”, and it was so incredibly low budget but it was also so incredibly well made. It was a four year project for the team. All of them starred in multiple roles, did all the special effects work, did all the camera work, etc.

Speaking of special effects, the make up and prosthetics work was really cool considering he made it all in his parent’s garage and kitchen. He has a freaking house blast off and take flight into outer space! If you ever get your hands on a copy of Bad Taste, I highly recommend you watch it and then watch the making of special as well, you will have a new found respect for Peter Jackson.

He has a very dark sense of humor, not dark in the creepy way, but dark in the Monty Python meets South Park kind of way. The next film that we sampled was “Meet the Feebles”. This was an all puppet movie, kind of a play on the muppets. If you thought Team America was the first movie to take puppets and make them do raunchy, outrageous things, watch Meet the Feebles and get back to me. Some of the things include: a rabbit that thinks he has aids, a fox that sings about loving sodomy, and a busty miss piggie clone who rather than commit suicide decides to go on a killing spree. We only watched the end of the flick but now I really want to see the rest of it.

So how did this guy ending up getting 300 million dollars to go make Lord of the Rings? I still have no idea. He made Heavenly Creatures, an independent film about two girls that murder their mother that was nominated for best original screenplay (it lost to Pulp Fiction), and then he made The Frighteners, that ghost movie with Michael J. Fox in it. I like The Fighteners a lot but it was not really a hit and or really critically acclaimed. Hell, I didn’t even know he directed it until I went to this class.

So no, I have no idea how Peter Jackson was given the green light for LOTR, but I’m glad he was. If you have any doubts about his talent or whether or not he can direct without the aid of high end special effects or a giant budget, watch some of his early flicks. I definitely have a new found respect for Peter Jackson.

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Thank You for Smoking

Zachary — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 03:16:05 +0000

I want to work for Big Tobacco. I just finished browsing the RJ Reynolds website but alas no relevant looking jobs. They could use a Materials Engineer right? Cigarettes are nothing more than a combination of materials. Maybe I could invent some new sort of paper to wrap them in.

I don’t think I have an addictive personality but I do day dream and I’m probably borderline impressionable. I watch an old Clint Eastwood western and I want to be a cowboy; I watch Goodfellas and want to be a gangster. Maybe it’s just because those are cool things to do. I don’t watch Philadelphia and want to be gay.

Well the point of this post (I promise there is one) is that Thank You For Smoking is a seriously bad ass movie. It was the first time in recent memory where all the quotes from critics they put in the preview are actually true. It actually was the “funniest American comedy since The 40-year Old Virgin.” It has even displaced Junebug as my recommended movie.

The other half of the story is that this was mine and April’s first attempt at a long distance date. Crazy? Why yes, yes it is. I actually got that idea from that made for TV movie, “Pirates of Silicon Valley” about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Bill Gates apparently did it with his wife while they were apart. The concept is simple, you and your significant other are apart but still want to go out on a date, what do you do? You decide on a movie you both want to see, go see at about the same time and then call one another afterwards to talk about it, just like you were walking out of the theater together. Good enough for the richest man in the world, good enough for me.

I think this falls under the “hopelessly romantic” category, but others have described it as “cute” , “pathetic”, or just simply “weird.” I thought it worked out pretty well. But I’m curious to hear what my faithful yet always thoughtful, demanding readers have to say.

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Feels so good, feeling good again

Zachary — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 19:08:19 +0000

Saturday night in Richmond, Robert Earl Keen playing at The Canal Club, who wouldn’t want to go?

Well the first problem is how to get there. I went with Tom, a fellow indentured servant for Honeywell, and we both live in Chester, about 15 miles or more down I-95 from our destination. Since it was just the two of us and we both wanted to drink, we decided to suck it up and take a cab. $40 later we arrived at The Canal Club. Granted I live a ways from downtown but $40? It’s no wonder people drink and drive, no incentive to take a taxi and there is no public transport option.

After getting inside and shelling out $4 for a hospital piss cup full of icehouse, it hit us. Why the hell didn’t we pregame?! I attribute it to the fact that we are out of the college setting and Chester is just plain boring. I swear living here adds at least five years to you. With no other options we decided to just empty the wallets and get hammered (luckily bottles of bud/coors were only $3 so we enjoyed that for the rest of the night).

The opening acts were each one man shows. The first guy’s claim to fame was writing some song for Grey’s Anatomy. He closed with that and no one seemed to notice until he mentioned it. The real opening act was Jalan Crossland. A solo guy from Wyoming that played guitar, 5-string, and 4-string banjo. He was pretty talented and had a nice folk/bluegrass sound. It complimented the rest of the show pretty well.

I think it was after 11 before Robert Earl Keen and company hit the stage but the wait was well worth it. It was a nice, intimate venue; the perfect kind of setting for a show like that. Some of his best stuff is when he just gets up there and tells a story and it just flows into a song about that particular story.

If you’ve never heard any REK before, I highly recommend it. Probably his most famous songs are “The Road Goes on Forever” and “Merry Christmas from the Family”. But I’d also recommend “Corpus Christi Bay”, “The Front Porch Song”, “Everclear”, and “Copenhagen”. My favorite track is probably “Feeling Good Again”.

Anyway, after the show we wandered over to Wonderland. A semi-emo bar but still one of my favorites. It has free darts, $2.75 24oz PBR cans, and nice people. Besides, there is just something great about holding a giant can of PBR.

After last call (2am) I call the cab service that brought us up. I’m standing in the middle of downtown Richmond with people exiting bars all over the place and dispatcher has the nerve to tell me “I don’t have any cabs in the area, it’ll be 20-30 minutes”. After telling them what they could do with that taxi when it arrived, I hung up and proceeded to hail one of the many other taxis driving down the street.

I didn’t get rip, roaring drunk (hard to do that on just beer) but had a good time, drank beer, and heard some good music. In the words of Robert Earl Keen, “it feels so good, feeling good again.”

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