Say My Name

Here's something everyone can enjoy:

The Prison Bitch Name Generator

Mine is "Mustache Girl."

A little perspective on what we are spending on combat and reconstruction over in Iraq. At an average cost of $80,000 per building, that money would pay for the construction of almost 3.5 million new homes for Americans who need them. If you average one year of tuition to $20,000, that would be enough funding to put nearly 3.5 million young adults through college. (btw, those tiny images at the base of the money pile are a person and an automobile.)


(photo from crunchweb.net)

What I've Learned From Watching Movies

(from Nostalgia Central)

1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.
2. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it's aired.
3. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
4. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speaking English with a German accent will do. Similarly, when they are alone, all German soldiers prefer to speak English to each other.
5. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.
6. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).
7. If a microphone is turned on it will immediately feedback.
8. All grocery shopping involves the purchase of French loaves which will be placed in open brown paper bags (Caveat: when said bags break, only fruit will spill out).
9. You will survive any battle in any war UNLESS you show someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.
10. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at once (it's called Stallone's Law).
11. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in you room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.
12. Plain or even ugly girls can become movie star pretty simply by removing their glasses and rearranging their hair.
13. All beds have special L-shaped sheets that reach to armpit level on a woman but only up to the waist of the man lying beside her.
14. You can always find a chainsaw when you need one.
    

Before all the hype dies down, I'd like to share with you a small collection of unfortunate Star Wars costumes:

Astonishing Facts From Around The Globe #1

• Ten years ago, only 500 people in China could ski. This year, an estimated 5,000,000 Chinese will visit ski resorts.

• McDonald's restaurants will buy 54,000,000 pounds of fresh apples this year. Two years ago, McDonald's purchased 0 pounds of apples. This is attributed to the shift to more healthy menu options.

• 60.7 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2004 presidential election, the highest percentage in 36 years. However, more than 78 million did not vote. This means President Bush won re-election by receiving votes from less than 31% of all eligible voters in the United States.

• G-rated family films earn far more money than any other rating. Yet only 3% of Hollywood's output is G-rated.

• More than 2,500 left-handed people are killed each year from using products that are made for right-handed people.

• The busiest shopping hour of the holiday season is between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve.

• Actor Bill Murray doesn't have a publicist or an agent.

Mundane Television

(from Reuters)

The rock band Nine Inch Nails said on Friday it canceled plans to appear on next week's MTV Movie Awards after the network questioned the band's plans to perform in front of an image of President Bush.

The band was slated to perform "The Hand That Feeds," the first single from its latest album.

A Los Angeles Times review called the song "a warning against blind acceptance of authority, including that of a president leading his nation to war."

"We were set to perform 'The Hand That Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me," Nine Inch Nails' leader Trent Reznor said in a statement posted on the band's Web site.

MTV said in a statement: "While we respect Nine Inch Nails' point of view, we were uncomfortable with their performance being built around a partisan political statement. When we discussed our discomfort with the band, their choice was to unfortunately pull out of the Movie Awards."

Blogger's Note: While NIN takes the high road with their integrity intact, you can still see watered-down performances from Eminem and Mariah Carey, along with a humdrum lineup of special guest presenters like Sandra Bullock and Hillary Duff.

The Way Of The Future

I don't want to start beating a dead horse or anything, but after finally seeing The Aviator I can say with great confidence that it easily beats out Million Dollar Baby in every possible way. Acting, story, direction, cinematography, cooler title, you name it. And I thought Baby was a pretty good flick, but I can see clearly now that Scorsese was robbed yet again at the Oscars. Of course it should come as little surprise really- along with the Grammys, the Oscars have become such a popularity contest that it's more about designer labels and ego-stroke than it is about giving genuine recognition for achievements in film.

Mmmmmm...Chocolate

This way to the Official Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Trailer:

CATCF Full Trailer

How Sony could take a commanding lead in the next-gen console wars:

Confessions of a Madman

(Excerps from Entertainment Weekly's recent interview with George Lucas)

1) Fans are not going to win a debate with Lucas about his creative choices for the prequels, which, tone and technology aside, are grounded in the aesthetic of his original trilogy- a blend of "1940's-style storytelling and acting, which verges on the operatic- and something that's contemporary and has weight to it." More than anything he believes the clash of these modes is why Menace and Clones "got killed" by critics. He blames everyone but himself. "I don't mind [the style]. If anyone wants to go back into film history they can go, 'Oh, I see.'...But that's the style , and unfortunately, I've been trapped in it for 30 years."

2) (referring to Episode I) "I didn't care. I said, "This is the story. I know I'm going to need to use Hamburger Helper to get it to two hours, but that's what I want to do.'"

3) Having more time with the script might have helped: On each film, Lucas didn't complete the screenplay until the start of production due to his disdain for wordsmithing. Lucas says his creative strategy for the prequels was to find the film in postproduction. Principal photography was just another draft of the script; the real polish would occur through a back-and-forth process of editing and reshooting. With Sith, Lucas pushed this approach to the edge: "I kept [the script] looser. There were things I hadn't worked out, which was a dangerous thing to do."

4) Sith's most pivotal moment occured last summer, when the FX artists at Industrial Light & Magic told Lucas they didn't think it was clear why Anakin went bad.

5) ...he volunteers that his prequel storyline- derived from material he'd brainstormed over 30 years ago to inform his writing of Star Wars- was "thin...It was not written as a movie. It's basically a character study and exhibition piece about politics- two things that are not dramatic. [Not like] the dramatic story that was constructed for Star Wars. But I wanted to be faithful to it, so I didn't construct other stories. It is what it is."

6) By Lucas' own calculation, 60 percent of the prequel plot he dreamed up decades earlier takes place in Sith. The remaining 40 percent he split evenly between Menace and Clones, meaning each film contained a lot of...filler. Or in Lucas parlance, "jazz riffs...things that I enjoy...just doodle around a lot"- mostly in the form of blending live action and animation to create exotic worlds and emotionally resonant characters. You know, like Jar Jar. "That's the whole point to me. Making it the way I want it to be. That's what it comes down to," he says. "Somebody's got to be happy out of all this. It might as well be me."

Blogger's Note: Well that explains a lot, doesn't it? The prequels turned out so poorly due to George Lucas basically not giving a shit. That'll do it everytime.

Revenge of the Sith Review

Well, I've been waiting awhile to write this little review. I've got a lot I want to cover so I think some sort of bulleted pros/cons list is in order. If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to find out any plot points, read no further because this is going to get spoilery.

Okay, let's start with the positives...

• May as well begin with the obvious...If you compare the three prequels, Sith would be the best of the bunch. But that's kind of like saying Natalie is the best Dixie Chick- they're all rather disappointing. Ritzy Glitzy special FX aside, Episodes I-III don't come close to the coolness and moxie of the original trilogy. Not once during these new prequels did I experience anything like the thrill of watching Han Solo barrel straight into an asteroid field for the first time, or in seeing the rebel fighters' desperate attempt at destroying the original Death Star. I don't care if stuff looked like models most of the time...It had excitement and heart to it that made you want to believe it was real. Does this still qualify as a positive point toward the film? Question it we must not, let's keep going.

• Jar Jar didn't have one speaking line. Hey, after his endless yammering in Episode I this is definitely worth mentioning.

• Ian McDiarmid was able to overcome Lucas' terrible direction. His character actually has character, the majority of his lines actually have some meaning and his portrayal of Palpatine/Sidious is the best performance you're going to find in, well, probably any Star Wars film.

• Lucas did a better job at tying up the loose ends than I thought he was going to. I expected continuous lightsaber fights and then about 5-10 minutes of wrap-up to tie us in to the original trilogy. I think he gave us 20-30 mins of resolution.

• It was cool to finally see what the Wookie planet Kashyyyk (I think there really are three Y's) looked like and the Chewbacca cameo wasn't too overblown. When you really look at the structure of the film, that entire part wasn't really necessary, but I'll let it slide.

• I like to rate a big, epic film by how many 'goosebump moments' I experience while I'm in the theatre. In watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they were numerous. While watching Episode III last night, there were two of them. The first was the scene where Obi-Wan is about to throw down with General Grievous. When Grievous approached him with the wildly spinning lightsabers scorching the ground...That was pretty badass. The second instance was when Yoda confronted Darth Sidious on the rising platform in the center of the senate chamber. It just had that epic feel to it that I wish we got to experience more often in these movies. I think Lucas too often chooses to go the humorous route.

• I like that Lucas didn't hold back in showing the destruction of Anakin. His fate on the lava planet has been speculated amongst the fanboys for years and what we see in the film is pretty graphic and also quite effective. That being said, I can't help but think that Obi-Wan would have put Anakin out of his misery rather than leaving him to possibly survive. But it's not like Lucas had any choice in the matter; Vader has what you might call a 'significant' role in Episodes IV-VI.

Now it's time for the negatives...

• More George Lucas direction means more bad acting from talented actors. Ewan, Natalie, Samuel, Liam...I honestly feel bad for them at times because I've seen them all in better roles and I know the great work they are capable of, but without proper inspiration and guidance they appear lost and unconvincing. Of course, the terrible dialogue doesn't help their cause any. It's no secret that this area is probably Lucas' greatest weakness. Many lines are just flatout painful, particularly when he tries to work any sort of romance angle. You'll find more convincing dialogue on the daytime soaps.

• The birth of Luke and Leia was pretty ridiculous. Padme named the two of them like someone had a gun to her head. That's just lazy writing, folks. He got from point A to point B the shortest way possible. But hey, we did just get a 20-minute lightsaber fight, right? And how did Padme not know she was having twins? They can fuse complex working robotics onto Anakin's charred, limbless remains but they don't have ultrasounds?

• The script had a lot of page-filling. The space battle at the start of the film was more convoluted than it needed to be, the chase scene with Obi-Wan and Grievous was just ridiculous and unnecessary and the skirmish between the Army of the Republic and the Wookies, although I enjoyed seeing Chewbacca, was really more timekiller than anything.

• Anakin's transition from Jedi to 'Dark Lord of the Sith' took less time than my last oil change. I never felt that Anakin was truly justified in turning his back on the Jedi. The only leverage the Emperor really had over him was the promise of preempting Padme's possible death. I just didn't find his transition to be convincing enough...Although their double team on Mace Windu was pretty well done. I wanted more moments like that one- to really see Anakin in his downward spiral. Ah well.

• While it was cool to see the official rise of Darth Vader as we know him, what was up with James Earl Jones' melodramatic delivery? "NOOOOoooOOoooooo!" C'mon, that was supposed to be your money shot, George.

• I will always firmly believe that Lucas has relied far too heavily on CGI in making these new films. As evident in the Lord of the Rings films, the most convincing results use a mixture of real sets, models and computer effects. I'm just not able to shake the feeling that the characters are running through a digital painting or something. Especially because the original trilogy is always there in the back of my mind...The original movies that, in my mind at least, felt much more grounded and believable.

• All I hear from people is how Sith felt 'more like the original movies.' The only reason they say that is because it had the most references to the films we love. There are many issues of continuity that really widen the gap for me between the films. For instance, why is it the spacecraft and graphical interfaces became so much more primitive looking as time went on? There was nothing in Episodes IV-VI that looked even close to the sleek little silver bullet ship Padme cruised around in. During many battle scenes throughout Clones and Sith we saw all kinds of complex, fast-moving walkers of various design...Why were these replaced by the trudging AT-AT walkers in Empire. Also, why is it the Jedi in the original trilogy weren't nearly as acrobatic as the Jedi in the new movies? Simply because George didn't have the budget? And why did R2 suddenly forget for three movies that he had rocket boosters? I could go on and on.

When all is said and done, my feelings on the prequels are as follows....Phantom Menace was awful, Attack of the Clones was mediocre and Revenge of the Sith was okay. So at least there was some progression there. While there were elements of Episode III that I did enjoy, in the end I thought there were more misses than hits. This can largely be attributed to the fact that the audience is forced to complete the script for themselves because Mr. Lucas fell short in delivering the goods. I think my dear friend Cookie summed things up nicely with a message she left on my Instant Messenger at around 3am last night..."Well, at least I have closure."

Torrey's Opinion:
5- Strongly Recommended
4- Recommended
3- A Mixed Bag
2- Sub-par
1- Don't Bother

Random Related Fact: The lightsaber handle used by Ewan McGregor in Sith was the same one that Alec Guinness had in A New Hope.

HUZZAH!

(from the Hollywood Reporter)

After several weeks of negotiations, Fox Broadcasting Co. has sealed a deal to bring back real-time political thriller "24" for two more seasons.

The network has also given a last-minute renewal to reigning best-comedy Emmy winner "Arrested Development," which has been on the bubble since the network cut back the show's second-season order in the spring because of underwhelming ratings.

Both shows are produced by Fox's News Corp. sibling, 20th Century Fox TV, and Imagine TV, the small-screen arm of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment.

While there has been a lot of buzz about "Arrested Development" getting a short order for next season, Fox's decision to pick up a full-season, 22-episode order of the quirky series, comes as somewhat of a surprise.

"'Arrested Development' is one of the best comedies on television," Fox's recently appointed entertainment president Peter Liguori said. "The decision to order another season becomes easy when you consider its amazing cast, creative brilliance, critical acclaim and advertiser appeal."

Blogger's Note: Well Mr. Peter Liguori, whoever he is, just made my Christmas card list. First he resurrects Family Guy and now he's saved Arrested from what would have been a horrific miscarriage of justice. Bring back Futurama and I'll donate a kidney.

Pretty much this exact same scenario happened to me at work the other day...


(from pvponline.com)

Googlisms

This is a neat little website that shows what Google thinks of you...
www.googlism.com

Here are some choice picks from the results I got:

• torrey is among the top 3 realtors in manchester

• torrey is by invitation only

• torrey is the president of the san francisco art institute

• torrey is a brilliant writer (by far the best of the bunch)

• torrey is our adopted golden retriever

• torrey is escalating his push for massive increases in forced psychiatric drugging (it only makes sense)

• torrey is stripped of his command and transferred ashore when his bold tactics in seeking out the enemy result in his ship's being torpedoed

• torrey is a classic liberal

• torrey is no scientist (hard to argue this one)

• torrey is not a person who you should mess with

• torrey is a large boned black & tan male with a strong back

• torrey is the number one catcher and has seen some time in the outfield in the early going (in a different context, this one is hilarious and quite accurate)
  

Foolishness!

(from pressherald.com)

Changing Maine's clocks from Eastern time to Atlantic time would be welcome in Sheila McFarlane's home in Houlton, where the sun wakes people early and, in the winter, vanishes long before the dinner hour.

But the idea isn't so popular at the Navy Yard Bar and Billiards in Kittery.

"That would be ridiculous," said the owner, Joe Sugden. Someone getting out of work in New Hampshire would lose an hour just driving across the bridge.

Maine lawmakers, having bounced the idea around for years, said Wednesday that voters should decide.

Members of the State and Local Government Committee unanimously endorsed a bill that, if approved by voters, would put Maine on Atlantic time along with Canada's Maritime Provinces.

The proposal would eliminate daylight-saving time, so the change would be noticeable for just five months of the year - from the end of October to the beginning of April. During that period, Maine would be an hour ahead of Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., for example. In the summer, Maine would be on the same schedule as its U.S. neighbors.

The bill now goes to the Senate and House. If it is approved, voters will decide in a November 2006 referendum. Final approval is required from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"It would be like staying on daylight-saving time year round," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kevin Glynn, D-South Portland.

Supporters say the bill can only help - from improving economic production to creating better moods in winter. Construction crews and other businesses could work later into fall and winter evenings. And Mainers would likely save on energy bills.

Opponents say the change would create a mess - confusing visitors and isolating Maine from the rest of the eastern seaboard.

"We in the Northeast are all accustomed to the same time zone, particularly between Portland and Boston," said Patricia Douglas, spokeswoman for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority in Portland.

"I think the negatives would probably outweigh the positives," Douglas said. "Scheduling would be a nightmare."