policefash-pink
I didn't get to watch the People's Choice Awards so I think I'll save my reporting strength for the Golden Globes next week. To whet your taste for snarky reviews, check out the Go Fug Yourself reports on the event. I especially liked the Jennifer Morrison comment, which begins with "This is what happens when an interest in macrame takes a sinister turn."
movies
Like many reviewers, I liked this film better than its predecessor, although I still had some problems with it. (As usual, the villain's henchmen couldn't hit the broad side of a barn whereas every shot from the heroes hits the target.) Reasonably entertaining, with fine performances from Jude Law and Jared Harris (trivia: son of actor Richard Harris), overacting (possibly required for the role) from Robert Downey, Jr., and the perfect casting of Stephen Fry as Mycroft. (I really hope that the success of the Iron Man and Holmes franchises mean Downey's rehabilitation will last.)

War Horse

Jan. 4th, 2012 07:49 am
movies
Given the many positive reviews I saw of this film, I was surprised and disappointed at how weak I found it. Review with spoilers )

Good Sports

Jan. 3rd, 2012 02:45 pm
gatorhead
The sports ghods have been good to me this weekend:
  • Thanks to our special teams, Florida beat Ohio State (whose new coach is our former coach, who left last year due to health issues) in the Gator Bowl today

  • The hapless Miami Dolphins actually managed to beat one of their traditional rivals, the New York Jets, and keep them out of the playoffs (much to the disgust of [livejournal.com profile] grrm)

  • Australia had an improbable win in the Boxing Day Test (cricket) over India and is currently leading them again in the second Test in the series
Also, congratulations to [livejournal.com profile] fringefaan, whose Oregon Ducks beat Wisconsin today in a nailbiter for their first Rose Bowl win in 95 years in the highest scoring Rose Bowl game in history.
humor-alien
Dave Barry's annual Year in Review column is one of the first things I look for on New Year's Day. Sample quotes:
"It was a year in which the nation was subjected to a seemingly endless barrage of highly publicized pronouncements from Charlie Sheen, a man who, where you have a central nervous system, has a Magic 8-Ball."

"The economic crisis is even worse in Europe, where the Greek government sends out an e-mail to everybody in its address book claiming it was mugged in London and needs its friends to wire it some emergency cash so it can get home."
spaceghost
But nope - the whole site is nutjob heaven! Or at least a nutjob Earth where President Obama traveled to Mars:
According to Mr. Basiago and Mr. Stillings, in Summer 1980 they attended a three-week factual seminar about Mars to prepare them for trips that were then later taken to Mars via teleportation. The course was taught by remote viewing pioneer Major Ed Dames, who was then serving as a scientific and technical intelligence officer for the U.S. Army. It was held at The College of the Siskiyous, a small college near Mt. Shasta in California.

They state that ten teenagers were enrolled in the Mars training program. In addition to Basiago and Stillings, two of the eight other teenagers in Major Dames’ class that they can identify today were Barack Obama, who was then using the name “Barry Soetoro,” and Regina Dugan, who Mr. Obama appointed the 19th director and first female director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2009. [snip]
yearend
Sydney fireworks impressive as always - and now that I've proved I'm a grown-up and can stay up until midnight, I'm going to bed :-> Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year to all!!!
twistplane
Here goes, in alphabetical order:

Albuquerque, NM
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Boston, MA (February and December)
Broomfield, CO
Death Valley, CA
Grand Canyon, AZ
Kansas City, MO
Reno, NV
San Jose, CA
Santa Fe, NM (February and November)
Wheeling, IL
Winslow, AZ
humor-alien
The trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator" comedy was recently released, showing the actor as a psychotic leader of a country. And now that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has died, Cohen has put out an official statement from the character he'll be playing in the movie.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM HIS EXCELLENCY ADMIRAL GENERAL ALADEEN - SUPREME LEADER, ALL TRIUMPHANT GENERAL AND CHIEF OPHTHALMOLOGIST OF PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF WADIYA

I am saddened to learn of the passing of my dear friend Kim Jong-Il. Our thoughts go out to his wife and 813 children. 'K-Jo' was a great leader, good friend and average doubles badminton partner. He died as he lived, in 3-inch lifts. An extraordinary man, he did so much to spread compassion, wisdom, and uranium throughout the world.

On behalf of myself, Ahmadinejad, Chavez, and Newt Gingrich, we would like to welcome his son, Kim Jong Un, into the Axis of Evil.
xmas-lookjewish

  • Riff from comedian Marc Maron:
    "I usually grow my beard out around Christmas. I like to go to malls dressed as Jesus and then walk around the mall and go, 'No! No! This wasn't what it was supposed to be about, people!' Then if there's a Santa at the mall, I walk up to him and say, 'Listen, fat man, you're just a clown at my birthday party.'"
  • Christmas video card from Find the Funny features some unexpected voices from the news

  • The Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus singing Tom Lehrer (I'm also providing the lyrics, which are a bit hard to hear)

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!
xmas-koala
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!

xmas-lookjewish
Time for my annual holiday rant, which you can find here
thumbs
Given the reviews I read, I had expected this animated feature about one of the main characters in the Shrek films to be a lot more clever than it was. The plot was one-dimensional -- childhood friend betrayed our swashbuckling hero, re-emerges in his life with female sidekick and convinces him to join them for a big caper, yadda yadda yadda, paint-by-numbers. There are many, many action scenes and because we chose to see this film in a late session in 2D rather than 3D to try to avoid mobs of children, we probably noticed their frequency a lot more and were a lot less impressed with them. As usual, there are winks to the adults in the audience but not many, and the film was just not very engaging, unfortunately.
xdolfan
The loss by the Green Bay Packers today means that Miami's record of having an undefeated season through the Super Bowl remains intact. We don't have much to be happy about this season so I'll take what I can get :->
snoopybooks
Just finished the P.D. James Pride and Prejudice sequel, Death Comes to Pemberley. Reviews have been glowing but I was disappointed in it. Full review )
thumbs
As usual when we travel, it's movie time. Reviews with spoilers )
taffkim
A reminder to send in your TAFF ballot - deadline is December 9. In case you couldn't tell, this blog supports Kim Kofmel :->
platy
Got a voucher from one of those Groupon-type places for a mani/pedi (my first pedi!) and figured just before a three-week trip was a good time to schedule it. I upgraded to the newfangled Shellac gel polish after reading up on it. The first advantage I'd read about is true: it's dry before you leave the salon thanks to bonding through an ultraviolet heat lamp. Now we'll see if the second is true as well - it's supposed to last two weeks without chipping, which if I'm lucky will take me through my LISA workshop. Unfortunately, I'm going to be testing it to destruction: not sure that estimate takes into account luggage shlepping and airline seats
taffkim
A reminder to send in your TAFF ballot. In case you couldn't tell, this blog supports Kim Kofmel :->
Page generated Jan. 28th, 2012 07:45 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios