Little Giants - Where are They Now?

With the Super Bowl tomorrow, I’ve decided to boycott the big game. Say what? Yes, since the game is just another replay of the Boston/New York rivalry (see Celtics/Knicks, Red Sox/Yankees, or anything on ESPN), I’m not watching the game. I don’t need to see East Coast football. Sigh.

So, where does this post have to do with anything related to the game (besides the fact of that it’s the amount of chance I give the actual Giants for the game)? As I was cleaning the house today (Jessica was looking at flowers for the wedding), the remote decided to stop on the ABC Family channel. What movie was playing? That’s right, the classic Little Giants.

As I’m watching it I’m like, “What ever happened to the kids who played in that game?” I mean, Spike looks like a young Hayden Christensen, (sadly, it isn’t). Naturally, I did a little digging on IMDB.com so you don’t have to. Some have stayed in Hollywood while it looks like some have dropped off the face of the earth.

Becky “Icebox” O’Shea
Played By: Shawna Waldron
Role: The girl who wanted to play football, and could.
After Giants: The next major role she was in was playing the President’s daughter in The American President. Then, she kind of disappeared from the radar for a bit acting in smaller roles for a few movies and tv shows, but not much. Let’s check on her now:

Really? That’s The Icebox? Hollywood, why the hell haven’t you put her in more movies? She’s got that spunk (you never lose spunk) that would really make her like a really great girl to have guys fall in love with. I mean, you keep casting dumb blondes like Jessica Simpson (which luckily that might come to an end) and Paris Hilton, why the hell not her (who’s not dumb, nor blonde, but just the opposite)? Talk to me, Shawna, I’ll write something for you (Not, I’m not in the WGA, so I can write). Plus, guys (and some ladies), she’s single (so her MySpace page says at the moment of this writing).

Movies No One Should See - The Rules

I fell as if I have to do this first, before I trot out the first movie. You’ll be like, “Hunh, why is he saying that?” and I’ll get comments about why I selected that film. I still expect those comments, now you’ll understand (hopefully) where I’m coming from. Also, those familiar to my writing of this column, will see some changes to what the post looks like, which will be nice.

Let me state this again, movies are a subjective art form; what one person might like, twenty might hate. It’s all about personal opinion. When you read critic’s reviews of movies, you are reading opinions, though educated knowledgeable opinions. Each one of them has their own likes and dislikes (just like you), which is why you should always try and read multiple opinions about a certain movie, in turn that indirectly lead to the birth of the internet. Message boards aren’t always the best way to do it since no one invests time into saying “The movie sucked,” as people who write articles (or blogs) are better informed as they take passion, knowledge and time into their criticizing.

The Top 10 Movies I’m Excited to See in 2008

Three blog posts in three days? Don’t get too excited, I’m trying to publish stuff now before it get too irreverent. You’ll get that movie review next week.

Now that we’ve taken a look back and what last year offered, let’s take a look forward at some of the movies that should be out by this time next year. While everyone has different favorite movies that they are looking for (The new Indiana Jones Movie, James Bond 22), here’s my top ten (in no order) followed by other movies that I’m excited for as well. If you want to chime in about which ones you’re geeking please do, but this is my list of movies I want to see. Don’t chastise me for not having your favorite on here.

10. Cloverfield (1-18-0
Who: A bunk of “unknown” actors
What: Something attacks New York, the Statue of Liberty’s Head flies off. People with cameras run.
When: 1-18-08, duh
Why: If you haven’t been paying attention to the internet, then you most likely don’t know anything about this movie. Don’t worry, most people don’t either. Google Cloverfield or 1-18-08 to get caught up. Here’s the teaser trailer that was before Transformers, and it was the best thing I saw all night.

Choice Line from the Trailer: None, just the Statue of Liberty’s head.

End of the World, I Mean 2007, Movie Review

While it is just a little more than a week into the new year, it’s not too late to still look back at the past year of movies. Here on this blog, we don’t have the resources or time to see every movie that came out this year missing some critic darlings. That’s why you’ll see some movies that were released in theaters in 06 on here, or even earlier then that in terms of movies we’ve finally got around to seeing.

Last year was my friend Matt helping me review movies. This year, my guest reviewer is my friend Miah. He knows his movies, and he has an internet radio show called Pigs in (Cyber)Space (Thursday nights, Localgoat.com 8-10 pacific time).   As for these movies, we want to hear if you agree no not; respond in the comments.

Best Movie You First Saw This Year
Robby: Children of Men - Sure, it’s a little sad, but it’s filled with so many good moments, and hope. Plus, I droll over long uncut shots (yes, I know that some of them were “invisicut”). It was one of the best sci-fi films I had seen in years and a much better “end of the world” movie where a team of people don’t have to save the world from a disaster (kinda, but that’s not a shot at Sunshine. It is at Armageddon).

Miah: No Country for Old Men. - What a great film. The Coen brothers finally doing what they do best again, a no frills thriller. It is very much in the spirit of their 1984 masterwork Blood Simple. No Country could very well be their greatest picture. And that’s saying alot.

Where is Your God Now? - A Mini Review of Sunshine

First off, I wish that they played this movie in theaters around where I live (or at least advertised it) that way I could feel as if I was flying into the Sun. I’ve wanted to see it since I saw the trailer/read about it. And, now that it’s on DVD, I did. My verdict?

About 50 years in the future, the Sun is “dying” and the people of earth send a bomb the size of Manhattan to jump start the star. Accompanying the bomb to the Sun is a crew of 8 in the Icarus II (the first one apparently didn’t do its mission 7years ago which is why they send the second) to make sure this one goes off as it is the last hope for mankind. After 16 months of traveling, the crew comes across a signal and determine that it is the first Icarus. Then, the discussion is if they deter from their mission to see what went wrong or if they stay on their intended path.

At Least He’s First in Line for that New iPhone… - A Mini Review of I am Legend

Yes, I’m bringing these mini reviews back, so sit your butt down and read them.

Curious by this movie, I went out and read the book about a month ago. It’s a short book, and I finished it on an airplane from Seattle to Orlando. Then on Sunday, I saw the movie. Will I be one of those pretentious critics that say that they love the book more than the movie?

Alright, I liked the book. It’s a very character driven book and suggest you should read it. But this isn’t a blog about comparing books and movies (save Matt’s article from the previous blog), it’s a blog about movies. While I prefer the book’s ending, I will now focus on the movie (2 1/2 paragraphs into the review).

Will Smith is alone three years after a virus that was supposed to kill cancer instead either killed humans or turned them to vampires like creatures (while never really mentioning the word “vampire” in the entire movie ala Shaun of the Dead but replace the word “vampire” with the word “zombie”). With his trusty dog Sam, he tries to survive and hopefully find a cure that will reverse the damage that the virus has cased the vampires sub-humans.

Top Ten DVDs I want for Christmas

‘Tis the season. Now, I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but being an American Catholic, I must display giving as well as consumerism. Still haven’t gotten that DVD for the movie buff in your life? Hey, get them these gifts! These are DVDs that I don’t own that I’m salivating over. Not all of them are new, but hey, who cares. These are the DVD versions, not the HD or Blu Ray, since I don’t have either of those players yet. Note: These are in no particular order. Bonus: They also have images, so you don’t get confused and by me them the wrong one.

1. Blade Runner - Four-Disc Collector’s Edition
Why - Because Ridley Scott has finally finished his film. Maybe, for now…
Details - Disc 1 - “Final” Cut of film with commentary. Disc 2 - Full Length Documentary. Disc 3 - 1982 Theatrical version, 1982 International version, 1992 Director’s Cut. Disc 4 - 90 minutes of more featurettes/promotional material/other things.
Notes - Why don’t I want the five-disc collector’s set that comes in the briefcase? Because my DVD shelves can’t hold the King Kong Production DVD set that’s shaped like a briefcase. While that extra disc is nice, it’s not essential to my collection. Sure, that cut would be interesting, but how many copies of a movie do I really need? Though, if I do happen to get the briefcase edition, I wouldn’t complain. Remember: there’s seven editions coming out soon, be sure you get the right format for your video player.

Michael Bay is an Idiot

Other considered titles of this blog: Michael Bay Doesn’t Know Where His Money Comes From, Michael Bay Doesn’t Know From Where His Money Comes (Proper English), Michael Bay Doesn’t Believe We Landed on the Moon, Michael Bay Knows the Cake is a Lie (A Portal joke) and Michael Bay Thinks the Future is Far More Futuristic Than Originally Predicted (That’s a Southland Tales joke)

Some of you might know my dislike of Michael Bay (Old blog posts: Michael Bay Doesn’t Get Motion Sickness and This is a Million Times Better than Armageddon! - A Mini Review of Transformers (which has that Michael Bay Doesn’t Get Motion Sickness post reposted)). The only movie that I’ve liked of his is The Rock and the first 45 minutes of The Island until he “Michael Bay’d” it up.

So, what has he done this time? He’s got the hottest selling DVD in the world (Transformers), millions of dollars, and the ability to make movies with lots of money behind them (All three things I wish I had). Michael Bay opened his mouth again and decided to say something dumb: From his website forums that he posted:

“What you don’t understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth.
“Bay”

Um, what? Listen, I know that there have been some insane theories in the world (I know, I have a few), but this one is just wrong for several reasons.

The Spreading Madness of King George

Editor’s Note: This post has been sitting in my head after I saw Spider-Man 3 a few weeks ago (Spider-Man 3 (Two-Disc Special Edition) now out on DVD).

While normally I don’t write posts this long, it’s quite important that I talk about this. It’s a very exciting time where I diagnose a very serious illness that’s been running through Hollywood for quite a while now. It needs to be quarantined, as it’s hit good and bad directors, and producers. Hollywood keeps throwing money at the problem to try and cure it, but nothing helps. What is this horrible virus?

The George Lucas Disease

The sickness was named after the director and creator of Star Wars. This sickness didn’t really become full blown until early 1999 when George Lucas directed his first movie in 22 years: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. When the first Star Wars was made, Industrial Light and Magic created new ways of filming detailed models in ways audiences had never seen before. By being able to manipulate the camera, and with the increase the use of a little known tool known as a “computer,” scenes were filmed to make them bigger and more realistic. Who knew back then that this “computer” would the the start of this disease.

Ten Things I Learned from 80’s Movies that Shaped My Life - Airplane!

This week I’m flying around the country. So naturally with my sick sense of humor I decided to rip my “Don’t Call Me Shirley! Edition” Airplane! DVD ontop my iPod and watch it in flight. That, with Snakes on a Plane, and my girlfriend thinks I’m building up bad plane karma. For me, flying a six hour flight is painful enough. So, I put this post up. Yes, it’s the first repeat post, but that’s because I’ll be in the air for the next two days. Enjoy:

I was born and grew up in the 1980’s, so naturally I learned things from that decade’s movies that made me into the person I am today. Lucky for you, I’m here to pass that information to you for your benefit in a list of ten (along with things I might have learned had I paid more attention). Today’s movie: Airplane!

1. Never have the fish

When the options are steak or fish, remember: always have the lasagna. I don’t like lasagna, so I’m screwed. Wait, I could have the steak. Steak is good, right? Well, if you’re going to have the fish, make sure you’re friends don’t have it as well…