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Best of 2012: Part Five


Best of 2012: Part Six

Let's Go To The Movies: DISORDERLIES

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The late Ralph Bellamy had one of the longest careers in Hollywood, acting in films from 1931 through 1990.

The Oscar-nominated star appeared opposite such icons as Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Maureen O'Hara, Lucille Ball, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, John Houseman, Claude Rains, Béla Lugosi, George Burns, John Denver, Teri Garr, Donald Pleasence, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jason Robards, Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, and Rosalind Russell.

But one of Bellamy's most fondly remembered parts was playing elderly, infirm billionaire Albert Dennison opposite Mark Morales a.k.a. "Prince Markie Dee," Damon Wimbley a.k.a. "Kool Rock-Ski," and Darren Robinson a.k.a. "Buff Love" a.k.a. "The Human Beat Box."

That's right, The Fat Boys.


At the helm of Disorderlies was Michael Schultz, a solid director that is responsible for some of my favorite low budget comedies of the seventies and eighties including Cooley High, Scavenger Hunt, Car Wash, Krush Groove, The Last Dragon, Carbon Copy, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Spirit tv movie with Sam Jones.  Schultz has continued to direct dozens of television series, most recently Arrow, Chuck, and Hart of Dixie, as well as direct theater.

Grossing over ten million dollars in 1987, Disorderlies quickly became a staple on cable and the svelte challenged hip-hop trio channeled The Three Stooges in their only big screen film. Without a doubt, I'd have been happy to see more of their adventures (Even Kid N' Play got four films), but any chance of that ended in 1995 when Darren Robinson passed away from complications after falling off of a couch.

The Fat Boys as we know it are dead, but Disorderlies lives.

BOOK REPORT: Book News For The Week of December 30th

START THE NEW YEAR OUT RIGHT With A Pair of Grumpy Cat Pasties

Damning with Faint Praise: LITTLE BIG SOLDIER

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During China’s warring states period (475-221 BC), there is a huge battle between two major forces.

One survivor, a simple soldier, finds a young enemy general still alive.

He takes the general prisoner and begins a long journey to collect a reward.

Now, that sounds promising by itself, but when you realize that the older, simple, soldier is Jackie Chan, you expect humor, action, and high adventure.


Verdict
Unfortunately the humor is weak, the action is mostly in the hands of others, and there’s a lot more talking than adventure.


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MAKE BRUNCH FANTASTIC By Adding A Tequila Buffet...Not That Your Brunches Suck or Anything, It's Just That No One Wants to Come Over Anymore

TURN LAUNDRY DAY INTO A POTENTIAL BLOODBATH With the Felt Shark Laundry Basket


Reviews of Films I Have Never Seen: TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D – Overwritten Think Piece Disappoints

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Does it really take over four writers to craft a sequel to the classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Remove the 3D.

Weigh it not in your calculations.

Is a literary quartet necessary to weave a tale about a guy in a leather mask carving up young people with a chain saw?

Let’s experiment and do the beats ourselves.

    •    Good-looking young people arrive at scary place.
    •    Disregard warnings.
    •    Titillating nudity.
    •    Murder One.
    •    Panic.
    •    Murders two through 16.
    •    Flight.
    •    Desperate Defense.
    •    Only survivor prevails against menace.
    •    Sequel teased.

NOW toss in 3D and pat yourself on the back.

In less time than it takes the government to spend 5 billion dollars we’ve outlined a journeyman piece of cinema.

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AND YOU THOUGHT YOUR NEW YEAR'S EVE BASH WAS BAD...

Smallville: Random, Awesome and WTF?! - S9E19: Sacrifice

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You know how Chloe and Tess haven’t exactly been the best of buds lately, on account of Tess betraying them every five minutes? 

Well, they’re going to have to get past all that when Checkmate’s attempted infiltration of Chloe’s computers causes Watchtower to go into lockdown mode, trapping them inside.

Without air. 

Because making it airtight with no real override in the event of something like this was an awesome idea…

The Random:
1. Where exactly does Chloe’s money come from?  Because she’s constantly in Watchtower and even with Ollie’s help, it can’t possibly be cheap to keep up and running and she clearly doesn’t have a day job.  Just curious.

2. Maybe it’s just the lack of oxygen, but Chloe and Tess almost seem to be having non violent girl talk.  Good for them.

3. Faora’s been knocked up by Zod and she’s giving Clark some pointers on Zod’s quest for the Book of Rao.  Countdown to her getting dead commencing…

Yep.  That didn’t take long, now did it?


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RUMOR DU JOUR: David Lynch and Mark Frost Might Be Bringing TWIN PEAKS Back to Television

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today: STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9 – A Celebration

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Twenty years ago today Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered for the first time.

Not only is it my favorite Star Trek series, but it’s my favorite television series of all time.

I watched the premiere episode when it aired, and was immediately drawn in. It was unlike any Star Trek before, or since.

I grew up watching reruns of The Original Series (TOS), and was hooked on The Next Generation (TNG) from it’s pilot.

Deep Space Nine was different though.

It was an intimate look into a part of the Star Trek universe that myself, and pretty much every other Trekkie had been clamoring see.

Unlike TOS and TNG, Deep Space Nine (DS9) did not focus on the adventures of explorers. Instead, it was a glimpse into 24th century life on a space station.

It would have been one thing for the creators of Deep Space Nine to center what would turn out to be an “epic” story (in the truest sense of the word “epic”) on a space station closer to Earth, filled with familiar Federation uniforms, bright lights, and hotel lobby carpets.  But instead, they made the brilliant decision to locate the station further into the “wild west” deeper reaches of space.


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CATZILLA: An Animation That Combines FPS and Your Cat's Ultimate Hatred of You and Your Stuff

It's Time To Kill The Origin Story

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We’ve been so inundated with super hero movies in the last decade that we’re now well into reboot territory.

In 2012 Spider-Man was rebooted, in 2013 Superman will be rebooted for the second time in less than a decade, in a year or so we’ll get a Fantastic Four reboot, and now that the rebooted Batman Trilogy has ended, it’s only a matter of time until that’s rebooted too.

I don’t think there is anything objectionable about this — if you have an interesting character why not keep telling new stories?

But what doesn’t make sense is the obsession with retelling the same origin story over and over again.

For starters, when everyone knows the character’s origin, do we really need to waste screen time with this material?


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SCIENCE GEEK: Why Do Dogs Eat Their Own Poop?

An Open Letter To HULK HOGAN

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Dear Hulk Hogan,

I think about you more than I should.

No, not in that Single White Female/The Fan sense.

Rather, I think about you the same way I think about Superman; rather, I've pondered what you mean in this modern age.

After all, you are Superman, of a fashion.

You made your living as the hero in the business of professional wrestling.  When you dropped the big leg on the Iron Sheik in '84, you launched what seemed at the time like a huge cultural movement: Hulkamania was alive and, to use your term, running wild.

And run you did.  You and Vince McMahon ran with Hulkamania and the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection so far and so fast.  There were t-shirts, action figures, board games, music videos, guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and The A-Team (and who could forget the time you dropped Richard Belzer on his head?), video games, and even a Saturday morning cartoon.


It was the last item that caught my attention, watching you (and an animated avatar voiced by Brad Garrett) take on Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr. Fuji and the like.  From there, I found Wrestling Challenge, Superstars of Wrestling, and of course, Saturday Night's Main Event.

For a kid like me who enjoyed cartoonish tales of good and evil, this was right up my alley.

Of course, no one can stay on top forever.

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The Pull List: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700, DEATHMATCH #1, JUSTICE LEAGUE #15 & More!

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Check out what I checked out this week.

Whether the comics are inspiring or disappointing, I read them all.

Welcome to The Pull List.

And, as always...Spoilers ahead!



Deathmatch #1 (Pick of the Week)
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Art: Carlos Magno
Colors: Michael Garland
Cover: Whilce Portacio
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Price $0.99

In a week where only seven comics were released, Paul Jenkins writes the best book of the week by bringing style and guile to a concept that is on the verge of being played out.

Thirty two heroes and villains are brought to a secret location and none of them remember how they got there. No one has a clue on who would, or could, pull this off and no one is even close to finding a way to escape.

Jenkins blends tension and thought provoking elements to the plot that are not seen in previous incarnations of this model.

The characters are imitations of DC and Marvel’s A-list.

I thought this was the right call for this particular book because the character will resonates more with the reader.

The story is told through the lens of Dragonfly, the Batman character, and he has just done something he vowed never to do. You can probably guess what the “vow” is but the soul of the story deals with how and why these characters will eventually do the same.

Strong character work, perfectly depicted emotions and great action sequences makes Carlos Magno my pick for artist of the week.

The questions produce even more questions without trying too hard and making you think too much. Everything feels like it was seamlessly put together to create an outstanding book. I just hope this series doesn't suffer from first issue-itis. You know, where the first issue rocks and every issue after that sucks?

 I don’t even know if that is thing but that’s what I’m calling it. Don’t let us down, Paul!

Grade: A

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The Symbolism and Biology of KING KONG

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The original King Kong is one of my all-time favorite movies.

I’ve owned it on VHS, DVD, recorded Ted Turner’s colorization off TV and only the lack of a Blu-ray player prevents me from buying it on that format, too.  I watch it every time it shows up on TV despite that, and whenever I’m feeling particularly down or bored, I can always pop it in and cheer myself up.

My parents made the mistake of showing it to me when I was three years old and I haven’t been the same since.

Few of those who see it at that young age ever truly escape its grip.


King Kong is rightfully hailed as one of the best films of all time, but there’s not been too much done with the symbolism of the big ape himself, more as to what the film means as a whole.

So we get to tackle something well known and not so well tread.

Now that’s a treat.

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Press Release: Disney Releases WRECK-IT RALPH on Blu-ray 3/5 & Digital Platforms 2/12

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GOLDEN GLOBE® NOMINATED FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Marking a Disney first, Wreck-It Ralph Released with an Early Debut of the HD Digital and HD Digital 3D Versions - Available for Purchase on February 12, 2013

Followed by the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D™, DVD, SD Digital and On-Demand Debuts March 5, 2013


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