Female Reporter: In acting, there isn't job security, right? There's an incentive to work hard and be a better actor, because you wanna have a job, so why isn't it like that for teachers?[H/T to Shaker GoldFishy.]
Damon: You think job insecurity is what makes me work hard?
Reporter: Well, you have an incentive to work hard, but if there's job security—
Damon: I wanna be an actor. It's not an incentive, that's the thing. See, you take this MBA-style thinking, right? It's the problem with ed policy right now, is this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that. It's like saying that a teacher is gonna get lazy when they have tenure: A teacher wants to teach! I mean, why else would you take a SHITTY salary and really long hours and, and, and do that job, unless you really loved to do it?
[clip from Good Will Hunting in which Matt Damon is crying and hugging Robin Williams]
Male Cameraman (offscreen): Aren't ten percent bad, though? Ten percent of teachers are bad.
Carlsson-Paige: Where'd you get that number?
Cameraman: I don't know. Ten percent of people in any profession maybe should think of something else.
Damon: I— Well, okay, but, I mean, maybe you're a shitty cameraman. I don't know.
Showing posts with label Matt Damon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Damon. Show all posts
Matt Damon Is an Education-Loving Crybaby
So, last weekend, there was a Save Our Schools march in DC while the administration conspired with Congress to cut education funding, and one of the speakers was Matt Damon because James Franco Matt Damon. Afterwards, Reason.TV caught up with Damon and his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, then stitched together footage of Damon knocking down rightwing talking points and a clip of him crying in a movie, because obviously you are a BIG CRYBABY if you defend teachers. Oy.
Open Thread & News Round-Up: The Raw Deal
The Senate will vote on the Raw Deal today at noon eastern. In the meantime, here's the latest...
The Guardian—House of Representatives passes debt bill: "Enough Democrats and Republicans reluctantly joined forces to see the proposed legislation through, 269 votes to 161."
The Hill—Dems furious, see deal as GOP win:
LA Times—Biden denies likening Republicans to terrorists in debt talks:
The coverage of this debacle abroad has been interesting, to say the least. Two of my favorites today: In Der Spiegel, they're running an interview with "Tea Party Co-Founder Mark Meckler," who is a garbage nightmare, and in The Telegraph, under the awesome headline "The real story of the US debt deal is not the triumph of the Tea Party but the death of the Socialist Left," Toby Young says: "To focus on the Tea Party is to ignore the tectonic political shift that's taken place, not just in America but across Europe. The majority of citizens in nearly all the world's most developed countries simply aren't prepared to tolerate the degree of borrowing required to sustain generous welfare programmes any longer."
Which puts me in mind of that great Edwin Starr classic, "Empathy! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Sob.
Elsewhere...
The Hill—Union chief warns of job losses from debt-ceiling deal: "Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said: 'The deal forced upon the White House and the nation represents a form of economic malpractice,' McEntee said in a statement. 'At the least, it will slow economic recovery and impose more joblessness, wage cuts and hardship on America's working families.'"
David Dayen at FDL—Future Congresses Can Change Austerity Terms, But These Democrats Won't: "I don't see these Democrats, who have been parroting the language of austerity so much they have to believe at least some of it, will ever go beyond this agreement. ... The way out of this box is to find different people than the ones currently in office. I don't see any other way around that."
Politico—Matt Damon weighs in on the debt ceiling: "I'm so disgusted, man. ... The wealthy are paying less than they've paid in any time else, certainly in my lifetime. ... It's criminal that like, you know, so little is asked of people who are getting so much; I mean, I don't mind paying more. I really don't mind paying more taxes."
And here's a fun picture lulz.
The Guardian—House of Representatives passes debt bill: "Enough Democrats and Republicans reluctantly joined forces to see the proposed legislation through, 269 votes to 161."
The Hill—Dems furious, see deal as GOP win:
House Democrats on Monday expressed outrage at the White House for how it handled the debt-ceiling negotiations, claiming the administration caved to the GOP and left them in the dark.CBS—Boehner: I got 98 percent of what I wanted: "When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the white House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I'm pretty happy."
The irate lawmakers took exception to the lack of balance between cuts and revenues; they railed against the White House for excluding them from the process; and they accused President Obama of bowing to the demands of Republicans without putting up much of a fight.
"Our negotiators weren't tough enough," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Monday. "They didn't do the work."
...Not only did the agreement slash domestic spending while excluding new tax revenues, many Democrats ranted, but the White House left rank-and-file members in the dark through most of the talks.
...[Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.)] said most Democrats in the New York delegation had requested a meeting with the White House to discuss potential cuts in graduate medical education.
"We couldn't get a meeting," he said.
When the deal was reached Sunday, Engel continued, the White House "didn't bother" to contact House Democrats.
"We all heard that there was this deal through the media," he said.
LA Times—Biden denies likening Republicans to terrorists in debt talks:
"I did not use the terrorism word," he told "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley. "What happened was there were some people who said they felt like they were being held hostage by terrorists. I never said that they were terrorists or weren't terrorists, I just let them vent."Too bad. Because we could really use someone in his position to speak that truth.
The coverage of this debacle abroad has been interesting, to say the least. Two of my favorites today: In Der Spiegel, they're running an interview with "Tea Party Co-Founder Mark Meckler," who is a garbage nightmare, and in The Telegraph, under the awesome headline "The real story of the US debt deal is not the triumph of the Tea Party but the death of the Socialist Left," Toby Young says: "To focus on the Tea Party is to ignore the tectonic political shift that's taken place, not just in America but across Europe. The majority of citizens in nearly all the world's most developed countries simply aren't prepared to tolerate the degree of borrowing required to sustain generous welfare programmes any longer."
Which puts me in mind of that great Edwin Starr classic, "Empathy! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Sob.
Elsewhere...
The Hill—Union chief warns of job losses from debt-ceiling deal: "Gerry McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said: 'The deal forced upon the White House and the nation represents a form of economic malpractice,' McEntee said in a statement. 'At the least, it will slow economic recovery and impose more joblessness, wage cuts and hardship on America's working families.'"
David Dayen at FDL—Future Congresses Can Change Austerity Terms, But These Democrats Won't: "I don't see these Democrats, who have been parroting the language of austerity so much they have to believe at least some of it, will ever go beyond this agreement. ... The way out of this box is to find different people than the ones currently in office. I don't see any other way around that."
Politico—Matt Damon weighs in on the debt ceiling: "I'm so disgusted, man. ... The wealthy are paying less than they've paid in any time else, certainly in my lifetime. ... It's criminal that like, you know, so little is asked of people who are getting so much; I mean, I don't mind paying more. I really don't mind paying more taxes."
And here's a fun picture lulz.
Film Corner!
Below, the trailer for the upcoming box office smash from Steven Soderbergh Contagion, the working title for which my top secret sources (full disclosure: I don't actually have any top secret sources) have informed me was Oh Noes! White People Are Getting Sick, Ya'll!
Dame Gwyneth Paltrow was at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory, at which people of Asian descent were present (UH-OH!), according to the voiceover by her movie-husband Matt Damon. He is asked if she mentioned seeing anyone who was sick, and he says nope! Over a scene of Dame Gwyneth Paltrow hugging her movie-child which is supposed to be heartbreaking (but isn't, because, really, everyone's pretty tired of her waxing anecdotal in real life about favorite fishmongers and her didactic preaching about grody fatties, so if there's one person we're prepared to view as a cinematic metaphor for self-indulgent celebrity and thus respond with apathy as her privileged character dies of bird flu, it's Dame Gwyneth Paltrow), Matt Damon says, "She said she was just jetlagged." Whoops!
"ONE TOUCH" ominously looms onscreen, stark text floating against a backdrop of, I dunno, red blood cells and coffee grounds or something. "TRANSMISSION."
It is at this point that I begin to recall, not in a conscious way but a visceral way, in which a memory does not lay itself across the mind but crawls up from the depths of one's gut, dragging behind it a creeping unease, a time in which men (mostly) were dying of a disease the name of which my nation's president would not utter, and there was talk of TRANSMISSION through water fountains and sweat and kisses and maybe all it took was ONE TOUCH. And I'm really grossed out by this movie, because, while the stuff of that memory shouldn't be off-limits, the fact that this trailer doesn't seem to share that memory with me at all, just seems to pretend it never happened and this is just entertainment, makes something well up in my throat, disgust I think, and I remember having this feeling before with other "disease thrillers" that want to deny in the interest of fun and profit what should be a communal memory that gives us all pause, we people of a certain age.
Anyway! I soldier on.
Dr. Kate Winslet exposits to Matt Damon that "the average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute; in between, we're touching doorknobs, water fountains (!), and each other." Scenes of people touching things. Scenes of Dame Gwyneth Paltrow getting sick. Cut to Dr. Laurence Fishburne expositing, "So we have a virus with no treatment protocol, and no vaccine at this time."
"ONE INSTANT" ominously looms onscreen. "INFECTION."
Dame Gwyneth Paltrow is in the hospital. Matt Damon is panicked. She does not have a history of seizures! She makes some kind of contorted face. (ACTING!) Cut to Dr. Fishburne telling Dr. Winslet, "As of last night, there are 32 cases."
"ONE CONTACT" ominously looms onscreen. "CONTAGION."
"Unfortunately, she did die," Dr. Someone-Who-Looks-Like-Hank-Azaria-with-a-Beard tells Matt Damon, who doesn't get it. The doctor has to repeat himself. Matt Damon is shocked! "What are you talking about?!" he shouts. "What happened to her? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!"
It is at this point that I start to think about the privilege of being a (relatively or objectively) rich, white, straight, Western person, where your partner/spouse dying of a virus for which there is no medicine (either at all, or available to you) is such a rarity that you cannot conceive of its ever happening to your family, and I Google statistics on malaria deaths worldwide, and I read about how malaria killed between 708,000 and 1,003,000 people in 2008 alone, 89% of which occurred in Africa, and about how "Malaria is the 2nd leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa, after HIV/AIDS," and suddenly I am just HATING this fucking trailer, and I don't even care if the movie has some awesome message (spoiler alert: it doesn't!) about rich, white, straight, Western persons taking for granted that we PROBABLY WON'T DIE OF A CURABLE AND PREVENTABLE DISEASE, because it's being marketed as: "An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak." Barrrrrrf!
In fact, DOUBLE BARF because also I already saw this movie when it was called Outbreak.
Anyway! I soldier on.
Because white people are getting sick, there are helicopters and government types looking concerned and concerns about someone having "weaponized the bird flu." Dr. Fishburne says, "Someone doesn't HAVE to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are doing that."
LOL WHUT. What is this movie?!
Enter Jude Law, who's playing a Professor of Counting from Cockney University: "On day one, there were two people, and then four, and then sixteen. In two months, it's a billion. That's where we're headed!" In case you are a visual learner, images of two, four, sixteen, and one billion people are helpfully provided.
National Guard. The president is going "underground." (LULZ.) Panic. Suspicious media. Destroying samples in a lab. Monkeys in cages. Empty airport. Trash piled up on a city street.
UH-OH! Dr. Winslet is sick. Dr. Fishburne promises to get her "out." There are lots of people whose lives are affected—lots and lots of WHITE PEOPLE. Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Marion Cotillard… GOOD THING DR. FISHBURNE IS SO INTERESTED IN SAVING THEM! Except for Dame Gwyneth Paltrow, of course. Who already died. RIP GOOP.
"NO ONE IS IMMUNE" ominously looms onscreen. "TO FEAR."
Montage of more "action thriller about a deadly disease" stuff. "It's mutating!" someone says. Of course it is.
Dame Gwyneth Paltrow was at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory, at which people of Asian descent were present (UH-OH!), according to the voiceover by her movie-husband Matt Damon. He is asked if she mentioned seeing anyone who was sick, and he says nope! Over a scene of Dame Gwyneth Paltrow hugging her movie-child which is supposed to be heartbreaking (but isn't, because, really, everyone's pretty tired of her waxing anecdotal in real life about favorite fishmongers and her didactic preaching about grody fatties, so if there's one person we're prepared to view as a cinematic metaphor for self-indulgent celebrity and thus respond with apathy as her privileged character dies of bird flu, it's Dame Gwyneth Paltrow), Matt Damon says, "She said she was just jetlagged." Whoops!
"ONE TOUCH" ominously looms onscreen, stark text floating against a backdrop of, I dunno, red blood cells and coffee grounds or something. "TRANSMISSION."
It is at this point that I begin to recall, not in a conscious way but a visceral way, in which a memory does not lay itself across the mind but crawls up from the depths of one's gut, dragging behind it a creeping unease, a time in which men (mostly) were dying of a disease the name of which my nation's president would not utter, and there was talk of TRANSMISSION through water fountains and sweat and kisses and maybe all it took was ONE TOUCH. And I'm really grossed out by this movie, because, while the stuff of that memory shouldn't be off-limits, the fact that this trailer doesn't seem to share that memory with me at all, just seems to pretend it never happened and this is just entertainment, makes something well up in my throat, disgust I think, and I remember having this feeling before with other "disease thrillers" that want to deny in the interest of fun and profit what should be a communal memory that gives us all pause, we people of a certain age.
Anyway! I soldier on.
Dr. Kate Winslet exposits to Matt Damon that "the average person touches their face three to five times every waking minute; in between, we're touching doorknobs, water fountains (!), and each other." Scenes of people touching things. Scenes of Dame Gwyneth Paltrow getting sick. Cut to Dr. Laurence Fishburne expositing, "So we have a virus with no treatment protocol, and no vaccine at this time."
"ONE INSTANT" ominously looms onscreen. "INFECTION."
Dame Gwyneth Paltrow is in the hospital. Matt Damon is panicked. She does not have a history of seizures! She makes some kind of contorted face. (ACTING!) Cut to Dr. Fishburne telling Dr. Winslet, "As of last night, there are 32 cases."
"ONE CONTACT" ominously looms onscreen. "CONTAGION."
"Unfortunately, she did die," Dr. Someone-Who-Looks-Like-Hank-Azaria-with-a-Beard tells Matt Damon, who doesn't get it. The doctor has to repeat himself. Matt Damon is shocked! "What are you talking about?!" he shouts. "What happened to her? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!"
It is at this point that I start to think about the privilege of being a (relatively or objectively) rich, white, straight, Western person, where your partner/spouse dying of a virus for which there is no medicine (either at all, or available to you) is such a rarity that you cannot conceive of its ever happening to your family, and I Google statistics on malaria deaths worldwide, and I read about how malaria killed between 708,000 and 1,003,000 people in 2008 alone, 89% of which occurred in Africa, and about how "Malaria is the 2nd leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa, after HIV/AIDS," and suddenly I am just HATING this fucking trailer, and I don't even care if the movie has some awesome message (spoiler alert: it doesn't!) about rich, white, straight, Western persons taking for granted that we PROBABLY WON'T DIE OF A CURABLE AND PREVENTABLE DISEASE, because it's being marketed as: "An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak." Barrrrrrf!
In fact, DOUBLE BARF because also I already saw this movie when it was called Outbreak.
Anyway! I soldier on.
Because white people are getting sick, there are helicopters and government types looking concerned and concerns about someone having "weaponized the bird flu." Dr. Fishburne says, "Someone doesn't HAVE to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are doing that."
LOL WHUT. What is this movie?!
Enter Jude Law, who's playing a Professor of Counting from Cockney University: "On day one, there were two people, and then four, and then sixteen. In two months, it's a billion. That's where we're headed!" In case you are a visual learner, images of two, four, sixteen, and one billion people are helpfully provided.
National Guard. The president is going "underground." (LULZ.) Panic. Suspicious media. Destroying samples in a lab. Monkeys in cages. Empty airport. Trash piled up on a city street.
UH-OH! Dr. Winslet is sick. Dr. Fishburne promises to get her "out." There are lots of people whose lives are affected—lots and lots of WHITE PEOPLE. Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Marion Cotillard… GOOD THING DR. FISHBURNE IS SO INTERESTED IN SAVING THEM! Except for Dame Gwyneth Paltrow, of course. Who already died. RIP GOOP.
"NO ONE IS IMMUNE" ominously looms onscreen. "TO FEAR."
Montage of more "action thriller about a deadly disease" stuff. "It's mutating!" someone says. Of course it is.
John Krasinski will star in Matt Damon's directorial debut...
...according to Collider:Never one to be outdone by his Good Will Hunting buddy Ben Affleck, Matt Damon will soon follow that old actor’s cliché and admit that all he ever really wanted to do was direct. Damon has been considering stepping into a director’s chair for a while now, initially planning to cut his teeth on the long discussed baseball wife-swap movie The Trade, which also would have featured himself and Affleck in the lead roles. However, that movie is now on hold due to undetermined legal troubles and Damon plans to move on to Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and Eskimo Kisses. The wheels are already in motion on the project, with a rough start date in place for next year with John Krasinski attached to star. Hit the jump for further details on Damon’s directorial debut.
So what is this mysterious movie all about? Apparently it’s follows a man who embarks on a cross-country crime spree with his daughter. Presumably it’ll be something along the lines of Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon, but with a little Bonnie and Clyde thrown in for good measure. Though Damon didn’t mention who Krasinski would play in the movie, it wouldn’t be out of the question to assume that he’ll be playing the father.
Damon could have a knack for working behind the camera. After all, the guy has worked with some of the finest filmmakers in the business like Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, and Steven Soderbergh, just to name a few. He must have learned something about directing through osmosis alone and let’s not forget that Damon has an Oscar on his mantle for writing, not acting and the guy who shared that award with him certainly had no problem transitioning to behind the camera. Even if Father Daughter Time proves to be a one off career oddity for Damon, it will be worth taking a peak at just to see if he has any directorial chops.
-Joey's Two Cents: I'm eager to see Damon direct...thoughts?Matt Damon might be making his directorial debut soon...
...according to Deadline:In a $500,000 against $800,000 deal, Warner Bros is finalizing a deal to acquire Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and Eskimo Kisses, the Matthew Aldrich spec that Deadline told you yesterday had five bids on the table. The deal is just happening, and I expect the next development to be that Matt Damon is working on this picture as its star and also eyeing it as potentially the one on which he'll make his feature directing debut. He will also produce through his WB-based company Pearl Street, with partner Ben Affleck, Chris Moore and Drew Vinton also producing.
This has been a spec auction with some big twists and turns, because one of the bids that rivaled the one from Warner Bros was made by Damon and Moore, with money from a private financier. Other bids came in from Paramount (with JJ Abrams attached to produce), Fox (for Peter Chernin), Mandate, Walter Parkes through his discretionary fund, with Relativity Media and others also in the mix.
The script focuses on a man who goes on the lam with his daughter, his accomplice on a three-state crime spree.
CAA, Aldrich's manager Jewerl Ross and attorney Jamie Feldman were working on the auction all day yesterday and by last night, it looked like Damon and Moore would land the deal, but this morning Warner Bros upped the ante. Since the studio has a first-look deal that Damon made with his and Moore's former Live Planet partner Affleck, it shouldn't be a difficult maneuver to plug Damon right into the center of the film.
This is a strong spec sale at a time when not a lot of money is being paid in the marketplace for scripts that don't come with attachments. Adrich said that he wrote his script on and off, putting it down when he was hired on assignment and picking it back up. "The spec road wasn't really the plan, I finished the draft, gave it to my manager and new agents, who loved it, and the idea was to attach a director," he said. "It took off from there." While specs are considered the riskiest form of employment right now, Aldrich said it has worked well for him.
"The one film I've had produced was a spec, so I guess I'm batting 2 for 2," he said. "Specs are turning out to be a pretty good business model. But the idea wasn't to make a deal, it was to make a movie. The script is not high concept, it's a smallish, very personal, dark but playful road movie about a father and daughter."
The reason they were heading for the independent offer, according to Ross, was becasue they wanted to protect the vision of the film and feared that would be difficult at a studio. But they sparked to the continued involvement of Damon, who has pledged just that.
"When one of the biggest movie stars in the world, who also happens to be an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, gets on the phone with your client and offers to protect the writer's vision and opens his hand to be a creative partner, it's hard to say no," Ross said. "The money becomes secondary. This script is not the obvious studio movie. There are no explosions. It will require delicate handling. Avoiding years of development hell was our goal."
-Joey's Two Cents: It sounds like an interesting project, and I can't wait to see what Damon can do as a director...thoughts?
Free Will via The Adjustment Bureau
With the 31,173 verses in the complete Word of God, there are a handful of verses that most people reference... and Jeremiah 29:11 is one of those. The NIV states, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Personally, I'm a The Message fan, and it says, "I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future hope for."
As its documented on this here very blogsite, I'm a Christ-Follower, and I fully believe in The Word of God as infallible, unbreakable and perfect, as inspired by God.
Having said that, we saw a movie yesterday that gives an interesting perspective on those plans that God has for you.
The movie is called "The Adjustment Bureau", and it opens on a Congressman named David Norris (Matt Damon), and a troubled bid to be a New York Senator. Things get really crazy when there is a chance encounter with a lovely young lady (Emily Blunt) in a men's restroom... and after the election, he wasn't supposed to meet her again--but he did. And thus lies the problem.
There is a group called The Adjustment Bureau who watch over everyone and everything, and makes sure all goes according to plan... be it His plan or his plan, they call the big boss "The Chairman". As the movie progresses, you will find they never are very specific about who or what The Chairman is, and probably that's on purpose so The Chairman can stand for whatever the audience may believe is in charge.
We discover the mystery girl's name is Elise, and she and David fall in love quickly... but at every turn, their romance wasn't supposed to happen, and The Adjustment Bureau does all that it can to stop them and split them up.
Overall, the movie is quite good, and at its heart, takes a deep subject--God's purpose and "free will"--and turns it into somewhat of a sci-fi/action/romance flick. Matt Damon has managed to transformed himself into an incredible versatile actor over the last decade, and in "The Adjustment Bureau", he's completely believable as David Norris, while Emily Blunt is someone I've really taken a liking to over the last few years, first noticed in "The Devil Wears Prada" and shining in 2009's "Sunshine Cleaning", alongside with Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with).
The movie has a stellar supporting cast as well, which includes John Slattery from "Mad Men" (I kept expecting him to light up a cigarette) as Richardson, one of the Bureau, character actor Anthony Mackie (he played Tupac in Hurricane Rhett's favorite film, the Biggie bio "Notorious") as Harry, the main "caseworker" with David and Elise's case, and Michael Kelly as Congressman Norris' campaign manager.
The action is great, the special effects aren't heavy but they really don't need to be, and the story itself is quite a premise... its that God... or The Chairman, as they call Him, has a certain plan in place, but if the caseworkers (or "angels" as someone calls them in the movie) aren't doing their jobs, things can go awry.
This begs this question... We know that God is in control, we know that He knows our past and our future, but does He change His plans for us based on our reactions to what we are in the midst of, or does He ultimately have a desire for us to follow one path, but has another laid out before us because He understands that is the path we will take?
And that brings up the subject of Free Will itself.... or rather, Free Will vs. Predestination. Okay, okay, let me give you full disclosure here. I want to be honest with you and tell you... I don't really give a rip. I mean, maybe I should. I gave my heart and soul to Christ in January of 1995, and whether I chose Him freely or He had pre-determined that to be, doesn't matter to me, I am completely confident in my decision and stand by it. So does He.
In the movie, David Norris confronts one of the higher-ups in The Bureau, and is told that they control everything, and what The Chairman wants to happen will happen because of their Chairman-directed guidance. When Norris asks, "What about free will?", Thompson (Terence Stamp in a brilliantly played bad guy who is only bad because he's doing his job) essentially tells him, and I'm paraphrasing here, but says, "We were in control through the cro-magnon age and brought you into civilization, then let you have it. You gave us the dark ages. We took control again and brought you the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, and then gave it back to you in the early 1900s, and in fifty years, you gave us two world wars, the depression and the holocaust. We felt like we needed to step back in." I'm sure that monologue itself is full of Biblical inaccuracies, but it was well written.
I was actually surprised about how much I liked this movie, and how well it handled the subject... there was a lot of room for error, and a lot of room to be offensive and polarizing to people of various faiths (mostly Christians), but it handled it well, only briefly dipping into the answers to those Free Will questions, but instead making the questions themselves the focus of the movie.
Now, I will say this... I didn't like the very ending. The movie was solid, the build-up was solid (if not a little predictable at points) and the climax was riveting... but the denouement was a let down. Its a play on words to say "deus ex machina" but that's kinda what it was. Actually, that's exactly what it was. I also felt like they left a few unnecessary loose ends... at the end, I turned to The Lovely Steph Leann and said, "Poor Adrian. What happened to that guy?"
Overall, most of the secular world will find it a pretty good film, perhaps a bit forgettable in the long run. For those with belief in God, and His plan, I think you'll find it more interesting, if not thought provoking and worthy of discussion. However, if that's not what you want, I don't think it will be deep enough to force that upon you. Worth a matinee.
The language is minimal, though there is an F-Bomb in there, and the violence is also minimal. There is a gettin' it on scene between the two main characters, though nothing is shown save for passionate faces.
As its documented on this here very blogsite, I'm a Christ-Follower, and I fully believe in The Word of God as infallible, unbreakable and perfect, as inspired by God.
Having said that, we saw a movie yesterday that gives an interesting perspective on those plans that God has for you.
The movie is called "The Adjustment Bureau", and it opens on a Congressman named David Norris (Matt Damon), and a troubled bid to be a New York Senator. Things get really crazy when there is a chance encounter with a lovely young lady (Emily Blunt) in a men's restroom... and after the election, he wasn't supposed to meet her again--but he did. And thus lies the problem.
There is a group called The Adjustment Bureau who watch over everyone and everything, and makes sure all goes according to plan... be it His plan or his plan, they call the big boss "The Chairman". As the movie progresses, you will find they never are very specific about who or what The Chairman is, and probably that's on purpose so The Chairman can stand for whatever the audience may believe is in charge.
We discover the mystery girl's name is Elise, and she and David fall in love quickly... but at every turn, their romance wasn't supposed to happen, and The Adjustment Bureau does all that it can to stop them and split them up.
 |
| Matt Damon and Emily Blunt... will she reach The Goddess or Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with) status? Probably not. But she is growing on me. |
The movie has a stellar supporting cast as well, which includes John Slattery from "Mad Men" (I kept expecting him to light up a cigarette) as Richardson, one of the Bureau, character actor Anthony Mackie (he played Tupac in Hurricane Rhett's favorite film, the Biggie bio "Notorious") as Harry, the main "caseworker" with David and Elise's case, and Michael Kelly as Congressman Norris' campaign manager.
The action is great, the special effects aren't heavy but they really don't need to be, and the story itself is quite a premise... its that God... or The Chairman, as they call Him, has a certain plan in place, but if the caseworkers (or "angels" as someone calls them in the movie) aren't doing their jobs, things can go awry.
This begs this question... We know that God is in control, we know that He knows our past and our future, but does He change His plans for us based on our reactions to what we are in the midst of, or does He ultimately have a desire for us to follow one path, but has another laid out before us because He understands that is the path we will take?
And that brings up the subject of Free Will itself.... or rather, Free Will vs. Predestination. Okay, okay, let me give you full disclosure here. I want to be honest with you and tell you... I don't really give a rip. I mean, maybe I should. I gave my heart and soul to Christ in January of 1995, and whether I chose Him freely or He had pre-determined that to be, doesn't matter to me, I am completely confident in my decision and stand by it. So does He.
In the movie, David Norris confronts one of the higher-ups in The Bureau, and is told that they control everything, and what The Chairman wants to happen will happen because of their Chairman-directed guidance. When Norris asks, "What about free will?", Thompson (Terence Stamp in a brilliantly played bad guy who is only bad because he's doing his job) essentially tells him, and I'm paraphrasing here, but says, "We were in control through the cro-magnon age and brought you into civilization, then let you have it. You gave us the dark ages. We took control again and brought you the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, and then gave it back to you in the early 1900s, and in fifty years, you gave us two world wars, the depression and the holocaust. We felt like we needed to step back in." I'm sure that monologue itself is full of Biblical inaccuracies, but it was well written.
I was actually surprised about how much I liked this movie, and how well it handled the subject... there was a lot of room for error, and a lot of room to be offensive and polarizing to people of various faiths (mostly Christians), but it handled it well, only briefly dipping into the answers to those Free Will questions, but instead making the questions themselves the focus of the movie.
 |
| Anthony Mackie (far left) walking next to John Slattery, from the Sterling Cooper branch of The Adjustment Bureau. |
Overall, most of the secular world will find it a pretty good film, perhaps a bit forgettable in the long run. For those with belief in God, and His plan, I think you'll find it more interesting, if not thought provoking and worthy of discussion. However, if that's not what you want, I don't think it will be deep enough to force that upon you. Worth a matinee.
The language is minimal, though there is an F-Bomb in there, and the violence is also minimal. There is a gettin' it on scene between the two main characters, though nothing is shown save for passionate faces.
The 100 Coolest Things of 2008... 100 - 91
Note... if you are reading this on Facebook, the videos below won't show up. Go to Clouds in My Coffee to read the original post, and see the videos.
Well, its time. After careful consideration, moving the list around, weighing "what's cooler, this or that?" time after time, I've finished the list.
First, here's how the list is compiled... first and foremost, its my own list. This is what is "cool" to d$. Some things, books, movies, shows, whatever, just came out this year, some have been around for a while, but this was the year that I chose to read/watch/view/whatever... some people I've known for a while... but this seemed to be the year that they made the leap from "eh" to "cool!!".
Before we begin the list, however, I have to mention a forgotten item from 2007's list... this should have been on the list last year, and was missed somehow. So, a 2008 Cool Honorable Mention goes to...
"The Bourne Ultimatum", rated PG-13, starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Albert Finney, Joan Allen and David Strathairn. Man, I loved this movie... its the third movie in the Bourne films, after Identity and Supremacy, its full of action, its full of gunplay, its full of fun, and though its a Herky Jerky Film (you know, those kind of movies where it seems like the camera is moving so fast, you have no clue whats going on) its worth the viewing.
Yes, they are planning to do a fourth Bourne film--but there's a hitch. While Universal owns the rights to Robert Ludlum's library, the author who created and wrote the first Bourne novels, they don't own the rights to "Jason Bourne". The series was picked up and written by other authors, so there is a deal to be worked out.
Now that that's out of the way... the 100 Coolest Things of 2008:
100. "Too Late to Say Goodbye" by Ann Rule. I'm a sucker for crime drama stories, as you'll see later on in our countdown. Here's the synopsis, via Amazon:
Bart Corbin appeared to share an idyllic life with his pretty wife, Jennifer: a home in an upscale Atlanta suburb, two adorable young sons. But there were secrets below the surface -- including an affair of Bart's that drove Jenn to look for love on the Internet -- that would prove deadly on the December morning Jenn was found with a single gunshot wound to her head. Police suspected suicide, but her disbelieving family knew Jenn had been excited to move on from Bart with someone she had met online. As disturbing clues emerged, a relentless county investigator dredged up a shattering revelation: fourteen years earlier, Bart Corbin's former girlfriend, lovely dental student Dolly Hearn, also died -- a gunshot wound to her head that was ruled a suicide. It was a chilling link in the chain that would ensnare the remorseless killer behind both tragic deaths: Bart Corbin.
And there's a twist right smack dab in the middle of it that will catch you completely off guard. What's more, as I was finishing the novel, I actually caught the Dateline NBC episode featuring this very case, on DNC-TV.
99. Paul Carby. I like to call him Paulie Walnuts here on the blog. He and his wife, Sammi, are expecting a little girl in a matter of days, and seriously, that little girl is going to have an awesome dad. I knew I liked Paulie when The Lovely Steph Leann and I went over for dinner, along with Britlicious and Croyle, and KT and J Rob, and as we were looking at Paulie's movie collection, he informed all of us that "DieHard" is his favorite movie of all time, and perhaps the greatest movie ever made. He had my heart right then. In a straight way, of course.
98. "Sydney White". PG-13, starring the growing-on-me-like-kudzu Amanda Bynes. There's nothing new in this movie, there's not remarkable about this movie, there's nothing about this movie that screams "Oscar!" or "Golden Globe!" What there is in this movie, though, is fun. Just fun. Sydney White is a chick off to college, and ends up making friends with these 7 outcast guys. There's a witch--or just a mean chick named Rachel Witchburn--and a prince--or just a guy named Tyler Prince--and other fairy tale references find their way into this silly little film that I found quite entertaining, and would watch again... and that's a good thing.
Amanda Bynes? She's one of The Lovely Steph Leann's favorite actresses, and really, she's... pretty.
97. Michael Phelps. Eight gold medals in the same Olympics will earn you a spot on this list any year. Nikki Brown, take note.
96. "Freedom is Worth the Price". Found this video online. Its worth another look.
95. "You're Married??" One of the funniest commercials of the year comes from an insurance company. The Lovely Steph Leann loves this one.
94. Leann Corby. Here I was, doling out the magic at The Happiest Place in the Mall, and I look up to see Leann Corby. Well, it's Leann Laurence now, but still... she was my first Troy State Date, in September of 1993, we had been friends all along, and it was great to see her from out of nowhere.
I wrote on December 9th about that experience, and you can read it at the bottom of this post. With pictures!
93. "Unholy Messenger: The Life & Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer" by Stephen Singular. I remember flipping on the news sometime a few years ago, and seeing a live press conference on not only Fox News, but DNC/Obama-TV, but also the Clinton News Network and everywhere else... the Wichita, KS, police were discussing catching the "BTK Killer" after a decades long manhunt... who was this guy? He was a vicious serial killer who had stopped murdering 20 years ago, but had recently resurfaced...
So, this year, I ended up picking up this book and reading it through. It was kinda creepy, actually... Singular tells the ghastly tale of Dennis Rader, the serial killer who terrorized Wichita and taunted police for decades, in a mostly dispassionate style that fits Rader's modus operandi perfectly. A meticulous planner who stalked before striking, Rader, whose bland, midwestern Christian Everyman persona makes him all the more chilling, blamed an evil spirit he called Rex for his repeated spells of bloodlust.
His particular kicks came from killing people in front of their families and photographing victims' corpses in S&M poses, in one case in the basement of the church in which he served as president of the congregation, an office he took to heart, just as he did his jobs as a city "compliance officer" and a home-security technician, both of which gave him cover for his "projects." Based primarily on Rader's confession and court papers, Singular's account includes Rader's mainline Protestant pastor's views that the BTK slayings manifest Rader's intermittent possession by a demonic force. Such theological aspects distinguish this macabre, riveting, scary case from those of other serial killers. (not my description, by the way, but it suited the purpose).
92. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army". Rated PG-13, starring Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. I throughly enjoyed the first movie, so when Mikey called me up and asked if I'd go see the 2nd one with him, I was all about it. And rightly so...
There's a Golden Army out there, and bad guys want to control it to dominate. Don't they always want to dominate? Enter Hellboy, his girlfriend Liz and buddy Abe Sapien, all with the special powers and attitude from the first one. Not only does the flick have great special effects, a funny and great storyline, and some pretty good acting, but the gem of the film is the director, Guillermo del Toro, the same guy who did "Pan's Labyrinth". He's got some kind of vision when he makes a film.
91. "Valleydale Dot Oh Are Gee". Our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) has a redesigned website. So, to promote this site, a couple of our guys, and a vacuuming member, decided to do a little video. And oh my gosh, is it funny. The singer is... well, I don't know his name, but Big Poppa in the back there is Chandler Wallace, our tech guy expert, and on the drum(sticks) is Kris Dekker, music minister.
My favorite part? The head bob that Chandler does right in the middle... and the yee-haw doesn't hurt either. Priceless.
Coming up... Sharpies, haircuts and J Rob... and the first of our three "Pruitt Awards of Coolness"
Well, its time. After careful consideration, moving the list around, weighing "what's cooler, this or that?" time after time, I've finished the list.
First, here's how the list is compiled... first and foremost, its my own list. This is what is "cool" to d$. Some things, books, movies, shows, whatever, just came out this year, some have been around for a while, but this was the year that I chose to read/watch/view/whatever... some people I've known for a while... but this seemed to be the year that they made the leap from "eh" to "cool!!".
Before we begin the list, however, I have to mention a forgotten item from 2007's list... this should have been on the list last year, and was missed somehow. So, a 2008 Cool Honorable Mention goes to...
"The Bourne Ultimatum", rated PG-13, starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Albert Finney, Joan Allen and David Strathairn. Man, I loved this movie... its the third movie in the Bourne films, after Identity and Supremacy, its full of action, its full of gunplay, its full of fun, and though its a Herky Jerky Film (you know, those kind of movies where it seems like the camera is moving so fast, you have no clue whats going on) its worth the viewing.
Yes, they are planning to do a fourth Bourne film--but there's a hitch. While Universal owns the rights to Robert Ludlum's library, the author who created and wrote the first Bourne novels, they don't own the rights to "Jason Bourne". The series was picked up and written by other authors, so there is a deal to be worked out.
Now that that's out of the way... the 100 Coolest Things of 2008:
100. "Too Late to Say Goodbye" by Ann Rule. I'm a sucker for crime drama stories, as you'll see later on in our countdown. Here's the synopsis, via Amazon:
Bart Corbin appeared to share an idyllic life with his pretty wife, Jennifer: a home in an upscale Atlanta suburb, two adorable young sons. But there were secrets below the surface -- including an affair of Bart's that drove Jenn to look for love on the Internet -- that would prove deadly on the December morning Jenn was found with a single gunshot wound to her head. Police suspected suicide, but her disbelieving family knew Jenn had been excited to move on from Bart with someone she had met online. As disturbing clues emerged, a relentless county investigator dredged up a shattering revelation: fourteen years earlier, Bart Corbin's former girlfriend, lovely dental student Dolly Hearn, also died -- a gunshot wound to her head that was ruled a suicide. It was a chilling link in the chain that would ensnare the remorseless killer behind both tragic deaths: Bart Corbin.
And there's a twist right smack dab in the middle of it that will catch you completely off guard. What's more, as I was finishing the novel, I actually caught the Dateline NBC episode featuring this very case, on DNC-TV.
99. Paul Carby. I like to call him Paulie Walnuts here on the blog. He and his wife, Sammi, are expecting a little girl in a matter of days, and seriously, that little girl is going to have an awesome dad. I knew I liked Paulie when The Lovely Steph Leann and I went over for dinner, along with Britlicious and Croyle, and KT and J Rob, and as we were looking at Paulie's movie collection, he informed all of us that "DieHard" is his favorite movie of all time, and perhaps the greatest movie ever made. He had my heart right then. In a straight way, of course.
98. "Sydney White". PG-13, starring the growing-on-me-like-kudzu Amanda Bynes. There's nothing new in this movie, there's not remarkable about this movie, there's nothing about this movie that screams "Oscar!" or "Golden Globe!" What there is in this movie, though, is fun. Just fun. Sydney White is a chick off to college, and ends up making friends with these 7 outcast guys. There's a witch--or just a mean chick named Rachel Witchburn--and a prince--or just a guy named Tyler Prince--and other fairy tale references find their way into this silly little film that I found quite entertaining, and would watch again... and that's a good thing.
Amanda Bynes? She's one of The Lovely Steph Leann's favorite actresses, and really, she's... pretty.
97. Michael Phelps. Eight gold medals in the same Olympics will earn you a spot on this list any year. Nikki Brown, take note.
96. "Freedom is Worth the Price". Found this video online. Its worth another look.
95. "You're Married??" One of the funniest commercials of the year comes from an insurance company. The Lovely Steph Leann loves this one.
94. Leann Corby. Here I was, doling out the magic at The Happiest Place in the Mall, and I look up to see Leann Corby. Well, it's Leann Laurence now, but still... she was my first Troy State Date, in September of 1993, we had been friends all along, and it was great to see her from out of nowhere.
I wrote on December 9th about that experience, and you can read it at the bottom of this post. With pictures!
93. "Unholy Messenger: The Life & Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer" by Stephen Singular. I remember flipping on the news sometime a few years ago, and seeing a live press conference on not only Fox News, but DNC/Obama-TV, but also the Clinton News Network and everywhere else... the Wichita, KS, police were discussing catching the "BTK Killer" after a decades long manhunt... who was this guy? He was a vicious serial killer who had stopped murdering 20 years ago, but had recently resurfaced...
So, this year, I ended up picking up this book and reading it through. It was kinda creepy, actually... Singular tells the ghastly tale of Dennis Rader, the serial killer who terrorized Wichita and taunted police for decades, in a mostly dispassionate style that fits Rader's modus operandi perfectly. A meticulous planner who stalked before striking, Rader, whose bland, midwestern Christian Everyman persona makes him all the more chilling, blamed an evil spirit he called Rex for his repeated spells of bloodlust.
His particular kicks came from killing people in front of their families and photographing victims' corpses in S&M poses, in one case in the basement of the church in which he served as president of the congregation, an office he took to heart, just as he did his jobs as a city "compliance officer" and a home-security technician, both of which gave him cover for his "projects." Based primarily on Rader's confession and court papers, Singular's account includes Rader's mainline Protestant pastor's views that the BTK slayings manifest Rader's intermittent possession by a demonic force. Such theological aspects distinguish this macabre, riveting, scary case from those of other serial killers. (not my description, by the way, but it suited the purpose).
92. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army". Rated PG-13, starring Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. I throughly enjoyed the first movie, so when Mikey called me up and asked if I'd go see the 2nd one with him, I was all about it. And rightly so...
There's a Golden Army out there, and bad guys want to control it to dominate. Don't they always want to dominate? Enter Hellboy, his girlfriend Liz and buddy Abe Sapien, all with the special powers and attitude from the first one. Not only does the flick have great special effects, a funny and great storyline, and some pretty good acting, but the gem of the film is the director, Guillermo del Toro, the same guy who did "Pan's Labyrinth". He's got some kind of vision when he makes a film.
91. "Valleydale Dot Oh Are Gee". Our church, Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) has a redesigned website. So, to promote this site, a couple of our guys, and a vacuuming member, decided to do a little video. And oh my gosh, is it funny. The singer is... well, I don't know his name, but Big Poppa in the back there is Chandler Wallace, our tech guy expert, and on the drum(sticks) is Kris Dekker, music minister.
My favorite part? The head bob that Chandler does right in the middle... and the yee-haw doesn't hurt either. Priceless.
Coming up... Sharpies, haircuts and J Rob... and the first of our three "Pruitt Awards of Coolness"
Hannah Pruitt, Matt Damon, The Lost Boys and Other Random Things
It's midnight, I'm done with Day 5 on my 30 Days of Him Journey... you can enjoy this shameless self promotion and read about it over on Welcome to Delaware, where I know you've traveled far... so I thought I'd give you whats rolling around in my head tonight...
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.
Song playing right now: "Secret Garden" from Bruce Springsteen, the Jerry Maguire Mix
First stop... Hannah Pruitt. Final destination, sleep. Stops along the way, Matt Damon, vampires, Lindsay Lohan, Twilight, Fracks and Leann Corby.
$$$$$$$$$$
I thought I'd mention to you that tonight's songs are coming from a playlist entitled "Hannah Pruitt". I have funny musical tastes... sometimes I want to hear Jodeci, a few minutes later I want some Jars of Clay, then I'm in the mood for LL Cool J, and right after that, classic Clint Black.
So I put together a playlist of about 60 songs that I could, at any time, want to hear. As the playlist evolves, I'll take some off (like tonight, I removed Celine Dion's "To Love You More" and "If You Asked Me To" and The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", and added Dino's "I Like It" and "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores). See, random.
Song currently playing: "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call
Anyway, it gets the name "Hannah Pruitt" because, while I was making this playlist the other day, I was actually talking to Hannah Pruitt via gMail chat. And I have also determined that Hannah might just be the coolest person I know. Seriously. She's a really cool chick. I've actively tried to find things that would make her uncool, and I haven't come up with anything yet. I'm working on it. For now, "Hannah Pruitt" plays via iTunes.
$$$$$$$$$$
So, Sean Penn and Lindsay Lohan showed up to the same party. They nuzzled. Right now you are trying to decide whether you actually care enough to click on this link to read about it. I mean, right after you are done throwing up in your mouth.
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"The Bourne Ultimatum" is on Starz right now. Well, it is, but I just turned the tv off... anyway, I was commenting to The Lovely Steph Leann that Matt Damon is actually a pretty good actor. I mean, he's big and bad and very believable as a dude that can rip your head off and hock a snot rocket down your neck in the very, very good Bourne trilogy (though it might become a four-logy, as I've heard they are making another one...) but when you watch him in the Ocean's films, he's a dork.
Song currently playing: "Touch Me (all night long)" by Cathy Dennis--this is sometimes odd, as it tends to, even on shuffle, follow Caedmon's Call or a Christy Nockel worship song. Hmm.
Personally, I didn't care for "Good Will Hunting", but Damon has done some good stuff... "Rounders" works because of him and Edward Norton's ability to pull off a pretty lame script... well, them and John Malkovich's portrayal of Teddy KGB, on my short list of favorite movie characters of all time. You can also check out Matt in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", where he's hilarious, as well as "Dogma", my 98th favorite film of all time.
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McQ has finally written a book. Its called "Strength in the Struggle", and its a composition of her essays, poems, devotions and photography from the past several years.
Song currently playing: "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. Ironic. Ha!
She's self publishing, which is why a paper back costs close to $40 bucks... the hardcover is even more, but how often do you know someone who has their name on the spine of a book on your bookshelf.
Personally, I've had an idea rolling around my head for about 11 years. One of the characters--bear with me, I've already decided this--is named Daily Johnson.
Song currently playing: "Good Run of Bad Luck" by Clint Black
Daily was supposed to be named Daisy, but her mom's "S" looks like an "L", and that's what the nurse put on the birth certificate. She's short, short hair and glasses. She looks like what my friend Devan Craddock looked like in school. There are other characters in my little story, but Daily is the one that sticks out.
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Song currently playing: "We Danced Anyway" by Deana Carter
(helping The Lovely Steph Leann with the weather in Pensacola, where she's headed for a few days)
Song currently playing: "Tortured, Tangled Hearts" by The Dixie Chicks
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This next little blurb goes straight out to Katy Sexton--though I'm sure there are many out there who love "The Lost Boys" (and, unfortunately, many out there who said, "Huh?" when I mentioned "The Lost Boys"), she is who I think of when I think of Lost Boy Fans.
Cracked.com gave 8 things that today's modern vampires could learn from The Lost Boys. And its hilarious.
Song currently playing, after realizing my iTunes wasn't on shuffle: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" by Al Green
My favorite is "Vampires Can Really Do a Number on Your Plumbing", which says, "Vampires, on the other hand, will emit a bloodcurdling scream, their flesh will melt, blood will shoot out of all of your sinks and pipes, and your toilet will violently explode for no good reason whatsoever.
With that being said, you may want to avoid this method of vampire slaying altogether unless it can be executed in a kiddie pool in the backyard, or somewhere else that isn’t hooked up to your house’s pipes. After all, in these tough economic times, who wants to have to hire a plumber to scrape melted vampire out of their pipes?"
By the way, did you know they did a sequel to this movie? It actually shouldn't count, because only one of the Two Coreys was involved. I'm not sure if Feldman was in the right by being in it, or Haim was more right by NOT being in it. Then again, what else does Corey Haim have to do right now?
And you know they had to call Kiefer Sutherland. You know they did.
"Yes, Mr. Sutherland, um... we wanted to know if... well, if you'd be interested in... being... well, being David the Vampire again?"
"I'm sorry, being who?"
"You know, David, the lead vampire in... The Lost Boys. We are doing a sequel and we thought if you could help, I mean, you could lend some credibility to our project... even Haim won't do it and..."
"Dude. Do you know who I am?"
"Yes sir, you're Kiefer Sutherland and..."
"I'm 'effin Jack Bauer. Don't ever call me again. Or I. Will. Kill. You."
--click--
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Song currently playing while I formatted this post, and added links:
"You and I Both" by Jason Mraz
"I'll Be Okay" by Amanda Marshall
"I Guess The Lord Must Be in New York City" by Harry Nilsson
"Circle" by Sarah McLachlan
"Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman
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So, here's DNC-TV's list of The Lamest Blogs on the Internet. No doubt, The Anonymous Poster would have put mine on this list, but she keeps coming back, doesn't she? As for the list, some actually look amusing enough to check out for a minute.. except anything using the words "Hilton", "Kim", "Paris" or "Kardashian", and that freaky looking Pepsi-KFC blog. Weird.
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From the More Random Than d$ Department...
So, a week or so ago, I posted the music list for December, my Christmas favorites, along with the hideously awesome video to "Last Christmas" by Wham!.
Well, there's a website out there commited to this song so much, they do nothing but post covers to the song... 360 of them... and counting. No, I'm being totally serious.
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Song currently playing: "Love Shoulda Brought You Home Last Night" by Toni Braxton
Something tells me The Lovely Steph Leann would LOVE ELL OH VEE EE her a Frack. Just sayin'.
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Song currently playing: "Bye Bye" by Jo Dee Messina
"Twilight" was terrible. Seriously. I went into it, having not read the book, trying to be as open minded as someone who had never read the Harry Potter novels, yet was walking in to see "Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone" (you can't say "Goblet of Fire" or "Order of the Phoenix" because if that's your first Harry Potter movie, you won't have a clue whats going on. Its like jumping in to 4th episode of Season 3 of Lost. Heck, even someone watching every episode of that show won't know whats going on... where was I?)
And it was terrible. I was so bored. It was weird seeing Mike Dexter from "Can't Hardly Wait" try to be this older father figure.
Song currently playing: "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne
Anyway, I almost fell asleep... when Edward Patterson appeared onscreen, the girls behind me actually when "Ooowww! Hottie!!" Seriously, there was about 10 good minutes of this film, minutes that made me think, "Okay, this might be good", and then it just flailed and flopped and sucked. Terrible.
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Now, before you get all "Oh, you didn't like it because its a chick movie!" on me, just remember... "Notting Hill", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Steel Magnolias" all rank highly on The Dave100. Love those films. Because they are actually good.
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Finally, wanted to shout out to Leann Lawerence--my very first Troy State University date. Leann Corby (then) was this chick I met...
Song currently playing: "Sail On" by Lionel Richie & the Commodores
...at our Troy State orientation in July of 1993. I thought she was beautiful. I asked her out, she said yes (there's much more to the story, but really, when you're married to The Lovely Steph Leann, its all just inconsequential) and we went to dinner and a movie, "The Man Without a Face" starring Mel Gibson.
We didn't go out again, as I turned my attention to Wisconsin Ginny, then to Kat Gates and so on, but Leann and I remained friends through college. She was that kind of friend I would run into, or we'd have lunch here and there, and we'd catch up, and then another month or two would go by before we could speak again and so on...
Leann and Dave... 15 years later...
Well, I graduated, she did too, she went one way, I went another. Lo and behold, The Lovely Steph Leann and I are at the wedding of one of my high school friends, Stephanie Phillips, and Leann Corby is there! Her fiancee (could have been husband by then), David, knew Stephanie and her groom, Perry, and it was like, "Wow..."
Song currently playing: "Slide" by The Goo Goo Dolls
If you told me at the beginning of the day to name 10 people that I never thought I'd see in The Happiest Place in the Mall, I'm not even sure Leann would have come to mind. And she came in, husband and children in tow.
And it was just awesome to see them both. Leann still looked great, we swapped quick stories and catch-up tales and they were on their way. But it was great to see her! So Leann, hope to see you soon.
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Songs playing while I wrap up:
"Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks
"Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLachlan
"Sunday Afternoon" by Joel Blount
and appropriately... "Kiss and Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans
I'm going to bed now, to my own Leann. My The Lovely Steph Leann, that is.