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It erased my categories, but some browsing the wordpress forums found me this manual repair. Thank goodness for the intrawebs! David Cumps » WordPress 2.6 Upgrade – Categories Missing
Mamma Mia!
I enjoy the music of ABBA. There. I said it. I got it off my chest. That being said, this is a delightful movie musical which had the full support of the musicians behind ABBA (whom I LOVE because they wrote the music for Chess the musical – lyrics by Tim Rice) as they were executive producers on the film (and I can only assume the original musical). Also one of them makes a cameo during Dancing Queen! The cast is phenomenal. Meryll Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing together? Ok…I can die happy now.
The Dark Knight
This film is staggeringly epic in it’s darkness and execution. Heath Ledger’s performance is incredible, but not in my mind Oscar-worthy (but the Academy doesn’t listen to me so we’ll just let Marissa Tomei win again ;] ). I love that the movie opens with the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) because it maintains the new Batman mantra of not killing off your villains and letting them be little side jokes that Batman totally destroys. Joker lines I’m like a dog chasing cars…I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one! And here we…go! Can’t rely on anyone anymore… Why so serious son? Let’s put a smile on that face….
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Quite an enjoyable film. I have to admit I was originally a little irked when I saw that the film highlighted fantastical elements (á la director Guillermo del Toro’s epic masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth), but Hellboy creator Mike Mingola as del Toro’s wingman, I can’t remain irked…nor can I complain about the results! Ron Perlman returns as the wise-cracking title demon, Selma Blair is firestarter Liz Sherman (Hellboy’s true love) and David Hyde Pierce gets evicted from the ADR booth as Doug Jones (the original body of Abe Sapirn) fully inhabits “Blue” (and does a wonderful job!). Agent Meyers gets traded in for an ectoplasmic, German, Stewie Griffen (Seth McFarlane put his incredibly talented voice into a suit that makes me think of “DANGER Will Robinson!”) and Jeffrey Tambor returns as Hellboy’s boss who is a very empty (and slightly gay) government suit. Toss in an exciting plot about the children … Continue reading →
Wanted
The original comic book idea (penned by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones) is absolutely brilliant and the raw concept is very cleverly adapted: Wesley Gibson’s life sucks, but he doesn’t know his father is one of the top dogs in an underground society of villains.
The Marvelous Wonderettes – Laguna Beach Playhouse
Parking was a nightmare because the Pageant of the Masters was happening. Wheee…. This is a really enjoyable jukebox musical featuring hit songs from the 50’s and 60’s by Andrew Bean (The Andrews Brothers and lots more). My godmother Janet Miller is the original choreography (she’s in New York right now helping the show open off Broadway) and I first saw the show in it’s extended initial run at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, and enjoyed it very much, especially since it was a small space. While it translates well to the larger Laguna stage, I think a black box setting works better. No, I’m not baised! The costumes changed, but they were still nice throwbacks to the 50’s and 60’s. Cast featured original cast members Bets Malone and Julia Dixon-Jackson and newcomer Misty Cotton (from Sideshow at the Colony Theatre with Jackson and Spitfire Grill at Laguna … Continue reading →
The Past Month In Entertainment
My Fair Lady It had the understudy London Mary Poppins as Eliza Doolittle, Marni Nixon as Henry Higgins’ mother and an enthusiastic, Step-In-Time-esque version of With A Little Bit of Luck. Watching this version, it was a stark realization of how much you don’t want to like Alfred Doolittle, but you still end up laughing at his antics…or at least I did…. The lighting was really dim, the set was very impressive and pretty (high arches that you could see stars through!), Henry Higgins was too damn quiet….but still a production worth seeing. Wedding Singer I hadn’t seen the movie before seeing the musical, but it was quite a treat seeing the caliber of performance. No wonder – it’s from the California Conservatory of the Arts (David Green’s post-OCHSA academy of the performing arts). Great 80’s music and lots of comedy. Then, having seen the movie (yay Netflix!), it was … Continue reading →
Hancock
I enjoyed this movie a lot….mostly for the twist, but I liked some of the other plot devices used. I always love stories dealing with anti-heroes and the “dark side” of heroics (lawsuits, property damage, etc) but I especially liked the plot’s take on being able to choose your own destiny….I mean we see that theme a lot (Back to the Future comes to mind), but it felt like this was a new and relevant analysis of it. Maybe it’s the super powers angle…I don’t know. Good job! *teeth baring half-grin*
Houseboating on Lake Shasta
Last Sunday through Thursday I went house boating with Laura and her extended maternal family. Saturday night I crashed at Laura’s house in Redondo Beach so we could take one car from Redondo (25 miles closer to Shasta). Sunday morning we were up at 6am and left the house by 7 to start. We chose the 101 over the 5 because it’s prettier and so we could stop in Paso Robles and visit the A&W Restaurant with carhop service. We got to Paso Robles around 1pm and slowly cruised down “main street” looking for the restaurant. Unable to find it, we scoured the web with my iPhone and found that they tore it down to build a bank. Boo! So we stopped at a Tastee Freeze for burgers and ice cream. Then we headed back on the road. As we approached Gilroy and highway 152 (which we used to get … Continue reading →
Fun at Disneyland!
So last Saturday after team practice, Laura and I told ourselves that we would just go to Disneyland for dinner and maybe a little dancing before heading back to Atomic for the live dancing. My friend Lila Desatoff had called me that morning and let me know that Burnie was in town from San Francisco this weekend, so they were spending the day at Disneyland, so we decided to hook up with them and go to dinner. When we got off the tram, we spent a little bit of time wandering through World of Disney looking at jewelry (Laura and I were still on the quest for the prettiest necklace in all the [Disney]land), then we headed inside the security checkpoint to renew Laura’s annual pass. After spending A LOT OF MONEY (sigh…when did it get so darned expensive to be a Disney die-hard?) we headed into the park to … Continue reading →