"I don't drink... wine."

Courtesy of the Brothers Brick, a stunning LEGO vignette for Halloween:

Pounce! Repeat!

Nothing is as adorable as watching a young owlet practice the fine art of "Going in For the Kill" (Via Neatorama):

No offence, Zach, but I'm paying attention to Fiona.

Zach Galifianakis.

Zach Galifianakis. Zach Galifianakis. Zach Galifianakis.

Not to besmirch the man's talent, but I often think that many people simply just like saying his name over and over again (that is, those people who can pronounce his name).

Anyway, though I haven't seen The Hangover or any other of his films yet, I had been exposed to him twice before he suddenly became King of the Universe. The second time was through the "Live at the Purple Onion" trailers that appeared on my MST3K DVD's from the Shout! Factory.

The first time was way back to five years ago when I discovered a video for Fiona Apple's "Not About Love". The video was made in one day by Apple and her friends, which included Zach. So you get a great big helping of Zach poorly lip syncing, Zach running down the road with his belly hanging out and Zach striking poses while standing waist deep in water.

The Long Riders was a loooong time ago.

From the AV Club:

There will be three Jeff Bridges in movie theaters this Christmas—a one-eyed, grizzly Bridges in the Coen Bros.’ version of True Grit, and both a gray and distinguished Bridges and a creepy CGI bobblehead Bridges in Tron: Legacy—and now there will be one on television too, as Bridges has just been announced as the host of Saturday Night Live on Dec. 18. It’s the first time Bridges has been on the show since February of 1983, when he shared hosting duties with his brother Beau. In a related story, Beau Bridges has announced that come Dec. 18, he will finally be making some real headway on that wall-sized crossword puzzle he got from SkyMall. Nah, we kid Beau Bridges. He’s a good sport.

Hell, I wouldn't joke too hard on Beau. He's a nice guy who works steady and has a project coming up costarring with George Clooney. Jeff should be quite proud of his older brother, Beau.

Dennis Quaid, on the other hand...

Lonely Little Surfer Dude

The first time I came across the Series 2 Lego Minifigs at Walmart, I bought two of them blind at $1.99 a piece. I ended up with the "Explorer" (Yea!) and "Maraca Man" (Eh).

The second time I went to that Walmart, I was armed with a barcode decoder! Alas, the one I was looking for ("The Spartan") was nowhere to be found, so I gave them all a pass.

The third and final time I went to that Walmart, I discovered that the display was gone. They had initially put it in a back corner where the packages could be easily ripped open and stolen, so I have to wonder if this was a factor in the display going bye-bye. I looked around some more, and in a miscellaneous aisle I found exactly one minifig pack hanging from a hook. Such a sad, sad sight, so I took pity on it and laid down $1.99 plus tax on the mysterious loner. What did I get?

It's not exactly one I was dying to get, but for a buck ninety-nine I'll take the little guy home.

When sex is cute as a button.

May I just say that more trailers should include William H. Macy and Kate Micucci playing ukuleles:

"YA THINK!?"

Metafilter publishes a one-link post on the recent debate where Christine O'Donnell questions the separation of church & state. They soon took it down due to it existing mostly as an excuse to laugh at her ignorance of the Constitution, but I still had a window of it up on my computer. Good thing, too, because the Metafilter comments are proving to be the high point of my very crappy day:


Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > ?
posted by The Card Cheat


Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > Potted plant
posted by Dark Messiah


Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Sarah Palin > Christine O'Donnell > Bag of Hammers
posted by zarq


When I saw the headline for this in the morning I thought it was one of those Evangelical gotcha things where the actual phrase 'separation of church and state' isn't in the Constitution but rather in a Jefferson letter, so I was like 'Oh you stupid...' and then I read the thing and it turns out no, she just has no idea.
posted by shakespeherian


"You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp," Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O'Donnell's grasp of the Constitution.
YA THINK!?
posted by zarq


You guys are being unduly hard on potted plants and bags of hammers.
posted by entropicamericana


Mabye she meant that those words aren't in the First Amendment.
Fucking brilliant way of phrasing it. Good thing she's not vying for some kind of position of authority where she'll have to speak publicly.
posted by Dark Messiah


Hey, there, watch it, Dark Mesiah.

(says the potted plant community)

As horrifying as this is:

Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience.
"You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp,"

You don't think often as gasps being comforting, but for me, this one was.
posted by MCMikeNamara

Happy Birthday, Mr. Corbin.

Clicking on to the IMDb this morning, I was greeted by the usual list of celebrity birthdays. Among them was Barry Corbin, who today reaches the age of 70. Prior to 2007, Corbin would have most likely been remembered by the general public for Northern Exposure (and by the smaller geekier class for WarGames). But with No Country For Old Men, he took a one-scene role, and the incredible dialog therein, and marked for himself a place in cinema history. Of course, that's my own humble opinion (scene starts at five minute mark):



Ellis: "In back!"

Bell: "How'd you know I was here?"

Ellis: "Who else'd be driving up in your truck?"

Bell: "You heard it?"

Ellis: "How's that?"

Bell: "You hear my - you're havin fun with me."

Ellis: "What give you that idea. I'd seen one of them cats heard it."

Bell: "Well how'd you know it was my truck? "

Ellis: "I deduced it, when you walked in."

Bell: "How many a them things you got now?"

Ellis: "Cats? Well, I don't know. Several. Well, it depends on what you mean by got. Some of 'em are half-wild, and some of 'em are just outlaws."

(Pause)

Bell: "How you been, Ellis?"

Ellis: "You're lookin at it. I got to say... you're lookin' older."

Bell: "I am older."

Ellis: "Got a letter from your wife. She writes me pretty regular, keeps me up on the family news."

Bell: "Didn't know there was any."

Ellis: "Told me you're quittin."

(Sheriff Bell heads toward the kitchen counter.)

Bell: "You want a cup?"

Ellis: "'Preciate it."

Bell: "How fresh is that coffee?"

Ellis: "I generally make a fresh pot ever week even if there's some left over."

(Pause)

Bell: "That man that shot you died in prison?"

Ellis: "In Angola. Yeah."

Bell: "What would you a done if he'd been released?"

Ellis: "Oh, I don't know. Nothin. Wouldn't be no point in it."

Bell: "I'm kindly surprised to hear you say that."

Ellis: "Well, all the time you spend tryin to get back what's been took from you there's more goin out the door. After a while you just have to try and get a tourniquet on it. Your granddad never asked me to sign on as a deputy. Loretta tells me you're quittin. How come're you doin that?"

Bell: "I don't know. I feel overmatched. I always figured when I got older God would sort of come into my life in somehow. He didn't. I don't blame him. If I was him I'd have the same opinion of me that he does."

Ellis: "You don't know what he thinks."

(Pause)

Ellis: "I sent Uncle Mac's thumbbuster and badge over to the Rangers, to put it in their museum. Your daddy ever tell you how Uncle Mac come to his reward? Gunned down on his own porch over in Hudspeth County. Seven or eight of 'em come up there. Wantin this and wantin that. Uncle Mac went back in the house to get the shotgun, but they was ahead of him. Shot him in his doorway. Aunt Ella come out and tried to stop the bleedin. Uncle Mac all the while tryin to get that shotgun. They just set there on their horses watchin him die. After awhile one of 'em says somethin in Injun and they turned and left out. Uncle Mac knew the score even if Aunt Ella didn't. Shot through the left lung and that was that. As they say."

Bell: "When did he die?"

Ellis: "Nineteen zero and uh, nine..."

Bell: "No, I mean was it right away or in the night or when was it?"

Ellis: "I believe it was that night. She buried him the next mornin. Diggin in that hard old caliche. What you got ain't nothin new. This country is hard on people. You can't stop what's comin. Ain't all waitin on you. That's vanity."

Happy thoughts for the weekend

First off, it was my birthday earlier this week and I got lots of lovely presents. Mrs. Mosley gave me a special coffee mug now that I finally bought a coffee pot and have started brewing at home to save money:

Lovely, that. Would it were a prevailing attitude in this country, but I'm afraid the Tea Party is the very antithesis of this statement (which makes you wonder how they would handled the blitz).

And for the rest of you, a nice little mashup that a Metafilter user stumbled upon. That lovely young lady is Brian Williams daughter, Allison. She's attempting to break into an acting and singing career. I don't know about her acting chops, but that girl has some pipes.

Wild Target

I think my favorite part of this trailer (and there are many) is the announcer's slight inflection when he has to say two "Rupert's" in a row. I mean, how often does that happen?

It's "NSFW honest car salesman" Friday!

The first is footage of a salesman goofing off between takes while shooting a commercial, and the second is the straight out comedy clip. I am particularly fond of the stock music used in that second one as it was used for so many commercials in the 1980's:

Your antidote to Mary Hart

The Onion's AV Club is a source of endless entertainment for me, not least of which for the jaundiced eye they cast on certain bits of entertainment news. While reading the following from their Newswire, you can practically hear the resignation of the writer as they cynically describe the inevitable:

"Vulture nabbed the exclusive report that Mike Meyers’ funny accents have been hired for a big-screen Pepé Le Pew movie, which will bring Looney Tunes’ amorous skunk into the harsh realm of the 21st century via the alchemy of live-action and CGI. Like its similar, previously announced Bugs Bunny project, it’s all part of Warner Bros.’ plan to revive its long-neglected cartoon characters for a younger audience, whose exposure to increased levels of cadmium have made it impossible for them to discern two-dimensional shapes. Pepé Le Pew, occasionally characterized by people who take these things too seriously as a racist caricature of a smelly French person, will once again work his date-rape-y wiles on Penelope Pussycat, with the two being the only computer animated members of a an otherwise live-action cast. It will be a 90-minute fart joke, and it will make lots of money."

The Dude Abides... er...Rides

Do you think the Coen brothers and Jeff Bridges are having a little fun with us?

"Bow down before me, Palin!"

I got a kick out of this today:

"General Zod" is currently trending higher than Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnel. Two stars of the Tea Party movement are getting their asses kicked in the current news cycle by a fictional character. I guess those gals just aren't being malevolent enough. Time for another slanderous Tweet, Sarah!

True Grit: The Full Trailer

We get a bit of a breather with this expansion. The first trailer was incredibly bleak with no room for humor (unless you count Mattie Ross trying on her hat). This one lets us know that, despite the grave mission of these folks, there will be room for levity (as was the case with Kim Darby and John Wayne).

I hate the fact that the trailer gives away a major plot twist, but I'm sure there's just as much being held under wraps. My faith in the Coens remain eternal (Intolerable Cruelty notwithstanding):

Samuel L. Jackson Quote of the Month: October 2010

Four months ago I showcased a film titled The 51st State, which was an action comedy starring Sam that seemed to have disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. This can be a common occurrence in a crowded marketplace and, truth be told, the movie wasn't meant to be a huge blockbuster anyway so I doubt there were a whole lot of people who cared.

But then there's Astro Boy, which is based on a classic and well-beloved Japanese cartoon. This was not a low profile project, but one that had been anticipated for quite awhile. People were paying attention to this sucker, and yet it came and went in the blink of an eye. It took in only 7 million dollars in it's opening weekend (the low-budget Paranormal Activity drew in the most for the fifth week in a row). In the end, Astro Boy's final tally was just less than half of it's 40 million dollar budget. And just like that... it was gone.

And Sam? He gives voice to a giant robot named Zog that has a total of three or four short lines in the entire film. The first line, which is the one quoted here, is the one that the filmmakers probably figured would get a great audience reaction when they heard Sam's voice come out of the giant robot. But, with all respect to Sam, the line is underwhelming. Sad to say, the same can be said of the film itself.

Ham Egg: "You can't kill me! The rules of robotics were created 50 years ago!"

Zog: "I'm old school."