The Princess Bride - The Battle of Wits

Hehe, I guess I just wanted an excuse to post a scene from this movie...and this is probably my favorite part. Either that or the fencing match.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

This video doesn't include the final conclusion: "They were both poisoned. I've spent the last few years building a resistance to iocane powder."

Movie Revue: Speed Racer!

The Racer family is all about racing (who'd have guessed?). Their middle son, Speed, is the hottest driver in racing--and has no corporate sponsor. Royalton Industries offers him a lucrative deal, but the Racer family doesn't trust the big corporations. When Speed turns Royalton down, he's told that the corporate sponsors (who control everything) will never let him win another race. Speed sets out to prove them wrong by entering the dangerous cross-country race that (may have) killed his older brother Rex--who may or may not be the mysterious Racer X.

Johnny says: It was very funny. I especially loved Chim-Chim (the monkey) and Spritle, the youngest kid. Basically, they were the comic relief. I would probably give it...hmm...four and a half stars out of five!

Monica says: I LOVED this movie. The whole time, one thought kept going through my head: holy *beep* that was awesome! I honestly did not know the Wachowski brothers could direct a PG movie (what? The people who brought you "The Matrix" and "V for Vendetta" can do a family movie??) but it was just amazingly cool. The driving scenes were action-packed (and kind of ridiculous, but in a really fun way). Surprisingly, the characters were well-developed and I could tell how much the whole family cared about each other. And Royalton was a slimeball. I'm sure the actor is a wonderful person in real life, but his character made me want to reach into the movie screen and slap him. Or possibly something more drastic. I recognized him from "V for Vendetta" and he was a slimeball in that movie too. Anyway, the acting is very good. Overall, the movie had some good messages, about overcoming challenges, staying true to your family, and fighting corruption, and it was just FUN. Probably the most fun I've ever had at the movies.

Also, the debate about Racer X's identity reminded me of a scene from The Princess Bride. "Racer X sounds like Rex, so they must be the same person! But wait, that's too obvious! They can't be the same! But wait! What an amazing twist it would be if everyone was led to believe that he wasn't and it turns out that he is!"

(Therefore, I can clearly NOT choose the cup in front of ME!)

Annnnnnnd, after that rambling review, I give this movie four and a half out of five stars. Some of the dialogue was kinda dumb, but that's the only thing.

Go see Speed Racer. NOW.

DeathSponge NotePants

This video combines one of the most intelligent animated shows with one of the dumbest. The words are from "Death Note," an anime show about a boy who finds Death's notebook, which basically gives him the power to kill anyone just by writing their name in the book. But in this video, the ultimate power belongs to SpongeBob SquarePants.

Now that's scary. And disturbing. And hilarious.

Moonlight update!!

So, the diehard "Moonlight" fans organized a CONVENTION this weekend in LA to support the cast and writers of the show...apparently there is a chance (not sure how big it is, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed) that the show will be picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel!!

...which I can't watch either at home (with no cable) or at school (basic cable only) but we're not going to worry about that right now. We're going to concentrate on getting the show picked up for another season and then worry about how I'm going to watch it...thanks to the Internet, I'll be able to find it SOMEWHERE. Or beg my parents to get cable TV. Which hasn't worked yet, but whatever.

Two other notes: Go see Speed Racer. Now. That movie is fan-frickin-tastic, and Johnny and I will have a full review up soon.

Also, check out my new favorite Twilight site: www.twilightguy.com Yes, it's all about a guy reading Twilight. He is awesome, and he just proves my point that Twilight isn't just for 13-year-0ld fangirls (not that there's anything wrong with being a teenage fangirl). He does commentary on each chapter and includes stories from other "Twilight guys." Also, he's my age and not only has his own syndicated radio show, but a publishing deal! *decides to be admiring rather than jealous* His first book is coming out next year...something to look forward to after Breaking Dawn and TtM. And season 2 of "Moonlight."

Oooh! Today I saw an ad in the window of my local Borders for their Breaking Dawn release party, right after we came out of "Speed Racer." I was quite excited.

Discovery Channel: I Love the World

I love DSC!! Mythbusters and Cash Cab are two of my favorite shows. Yeah, Discovery Channel is just awesome.

Fare thee well, cable television! I shall miss you over the summer! (and my friends, too...)

My weekend in revue...

So Friday night was the finale of Moonlight. There is a possibility that the CW will pick it up to continue the series. Please do! The fans will thank you forever (and ever and ever...). Anyway, the finale was AMAZING. Alas, there are open storylines that will never be explored (unless the show gets picked up again!) but all in all, it was not as depressing as I thought it would be. I was very sad to see Moonlight go. Hopefully if the show doesn't get picked up, the actors will all be back in other roles. Mick finally said "I love you" to Beth. Not gonna lie, that part made me squeal.

I remember when the show first started last fall, I wasn't that excited about it. Of course, I watched it anyway because it's about vampires. The first few eps were okay, nothing special, but then the fourth episode BLEW ME AWAY and from then on I watched every week without fail. Oh, and I also got Johnny hooked around episode 5 or 6, and my awesome friend Ryan started watching with us when it came back in April.

Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight saga, is being re-released on May 31st with the first chapter of Breaking Dawn (book 4) which comes out August 2nd!! Normally I would be the first in line to buy it, but we have a dilemma here. I already have a copy of Eclipse, purchased last summer when it was released the first time.

I have officially gotten one person addicted to Twilight! I talked about it constantly and made my roommate read the book. She then read the entire series in less than a week (which also happened to be right before finals week!). She had to buy New Moon because I still don't have a copy of that one. Ryan has also promised to read the books over the summer, which just proves how awesome he is.

I'm finishing up my finals this week, and Johnny graduates from 8th grade on June 4th (congrats in advance!) so VR will probably be back that week or the week after.

And once again, an original concept is shot down...

CBS is canceling "Moonlight"!  How dare they?  Seriously, Moonlight won the People's Choice Award for Best New Drama.  Apparently the ratings are "too low."  Well, gee, ya think the five months without ANY new episodes for ANY show had something to do with that?  Honestly.  And it doesn't matter how many fans are PO'd about this.  I don't think networks like "odd" shows.  Why gamble on an original concept when you can crank out another CSI spinoff and seven new reality shows?  Oooh, look!  "Farmer Wants a Wife!"  And the networks are satisfied.  Because there is always an audience.  It doesn't have to be good.

I think that's the real problem.  It's exactly what gets me so mad at Disney with their constant sequels: quality is overlooked because enough people will be (somewhat) satisfied with the same old stuff we've seen a thousand times already (I'm trying very hard to keep my language clean here!).  The same thing is happening on TV.  The cookie-cutter dramas and "un-reality" shows are the status quo.  You know exactly what you're getting into.  The networks can bank on it.  They're reliable.  Predictable.  Boring.

Then you have a show like Moonlight--fantastic acting, great production, the best soundtrack I've EVER heard in a TV show--but no built-in fan base.  In fact, before the show aired you had the invariable skeptics comparing it unfavorably to Angel (and Forever Knight).  It is hard to get a new vampire show up and running.  In the past couple years they've tried it twice, and both times it's been shot down after only one season (Blood Ties supposedly had 2 seasons, but apparently all 22 episodes were supposed to be Season 1).  But we did everything we could for Moonlight, and CBS won't give them another chance.

Sigh.  I think the previous success of shows like Buffy and Angel actually can work against new vampire dramas, because you do have people who think only one show can be good and none of the rest can ever compare.  Then you have the genre fans (like me) who can see the good (and, yes, bad) in each show.

For your reading pleasure, I will give you my 3-sentence analysis of all of the vampire dramas that I've seen, to date.

Forever Knight (1992-1995): Follows Officer Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire, in Toronto.

I love it because: It's the original "vampire-as-crimefighter" show.  And I giggle every time I hear Nick's partner's name (Schanke, pronounced "skanky.")

If I could change one thing, I would...give it some humor.  Seriously, this show is almost as melodramatic as "Interview."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003): Follows Buffy Summers, the Chosen One who must slay the demons/vampires/random creepy crawlies along with her band of supernatural sidekicks.

I love it because: Joss Whedon is a master genius, Buffy kicks serious butt, and it has some good eye candy (I still think Oz is the perfect boyfriend!  I love him!).  And the musical episode.

If I could change one thing, I would...give at least one love story a happy ending, or at least a semi-happy one.  Whedon must've had some serious heartbreak in his life.

Angel (2000-2004): The Buffy spinoff follows her undead love interest, Angel, the vampire with a soul.

I love it because: it's the first vampire show I ever watched, it has Charisma Carpenter (who also kicks butt!) and I just think all of the characters are fantastic.  I even love the bad guys (in a 'l0ve-to-hate-them' sort of way)

If I could change one thing, I would...resolve the ending.  Could we be a little more open-ended, please?  And also not kill off half of the main characters in the last season.

Blood Ties (2007-2008): This underrated Lifetime drama follows Vicki Nelson, a human PI, and her undead assistant Henry Fitzroy.

I love it because: it has Kyle Schmid, Christina Cox is awesome, Kyle Schmid, Vicki kicks butt, Kyle Schmid, some really funny episodes...and did I mention how hot Kyle Schmid is?  Mmm, he can seduce me any time!

If I could change one thing, I would...make it more consistent.  The show was actually pretty hit-or-miss; I loved a lot of the episodes, but some of them had awful storylines.  At least the acting (and eye candy!) was always top-notch.

Moonlight (2oo7-2008): Mick St. John, an undead PI, solves cases with the help of his possible-girlfriend Beth ("It's complicated")

I love it because: Alex O'Loughlin is an awesome actor (and nearly as hot as Kyle...seriously, very close second...Kyle's closer to my age), the music rocks, it has Jason Dohring as Mick's old buddy (seriously, like 400 years old!) Josef, they're finally going somewhere with Mick and Beth's relationship

If I could change one thing, I would...NOT CANCEL IT!!!  Arrrrrgh!  Oh, and also have some women kicking butt.  Come on, step into the 21st century.  Women can slay the dragons too, you know.

In happier news, happy birthday to Twilight star Robert Pattinson!  Yay Edward!

Twilight Lexicon Interviews Catherine Hardwicke

From my favorite Twilight fan site, Twilight Lexicon, comes this EXCLUSIVE interview with the director of the TTM, Catherine Hardwicke! Catherine addresses the issue of pleasing the fans. She likes the book. Major bonus points, Catherine! She knows how important the movie is to the fans because she's a fan herself. We have exactly 7 months until the movie comes out...consider the buzz generated! But give us MORE. Thank you!

Also this week, the final word on whether "Moonlight" will be renewed for a 2nd season (*crosses fingers hopefully*). I need my Mick fix!

Oh, and although this isn't really movie related, read The Host! It is amazingly fantastic. Stephenie Meyer pwns JK Rowling...although after watching some interviews with JKR I think I may have been a bit harsh in my rant. I think she just got sick of all of the fame--before Deathly Hallows came out she was more famous than Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus combined. Dateline devoted an entire show to the 7th book, she was appearing on TV shows every day...I think Harry Potter got more coverage last summer than any other story. She wouldn't be the first author to get sick of her characters--Douglas Adams, author of the 5-book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, killed off his entire character base in the fifth book (probably so the fans wouldn't beg him to make it a 6-book trilogy). I hope Stephenie never becomes so famous that she loses touch with her fans.

Twilight in HD- official teaser trailer

And with...let's see...7 months and 7 days until the movie comes out, the trailer is released. Within hours, tens of thousands of people watch it. Continuously. And I am one of them.

Reading the comments on YouTube and the Twilight Lexicon (ooh! I should link to them!) I saw more "OMG"s and exclamation marks than anywhere else in my life. The fangirls have spoken, and they want MORE.

No, seriously, give us more. NOW.

Maybe I should start rebuilding that time machine...anyone know where I can find a flux capacitor?