Thursday, December 23, 2010

Eli Wallach on The Misfits

Eli Wallach spoke about his billing and experience with Clark Gable on The Misfit at The TCM Film Festival last year. Here's the video. For the rest of the interview check out my youtube channel.



By the way, I highly recommend the TCM Classic Film Fest, this was one of many great interviews with huge film stars. Not to mention seeing some great movies on the big, even huge screen.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Yahoo's How Good Grows















Yahoo's How Good Grows is a great excuse to perform a random act of kindness. Yahoo gave me $100 to start a Ripple of Kindness, as they call it.
I went to the post office and paid for peoples postage. It is so fun to surprise people with kindness. The two women I paid for were so baffled, but pleased.
You don't need money to start a ripple. I've continued my good deeds throughout the week, letting people merge in the parking lots, holding people's places in lines, and watching a women's cart so she could run get her car in the pouring rain.
If you join the fun make sure to share your Ripple at the How Good Grows site.

Monday, December 20, 2010

LA River

I went down to the LA river yesterday with my family to see how high it had gotten. It's been raining here in Los Angeles for several days, and we're all about to wash away.
Here's the video from the Washington Blvd. Bridge, complete with rushing water sound. Not to mention reminding the kid to stay out of the street and the river.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Inception VS Royal Wedding

Finally watching Inception and this revolving room fight scene couldn't help but remind me of another famous revolving room scene.




Of Course, Fred is much more graceful, but I'm sure the choreography was equally as difficult.



Just thought I'd share!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Kinect and Glee Karaoke- Gift Guide





Kinect and Glee Karaoke are my two favorite gaming items I've come across recently. I'm lucky enough to have received a copy of Glee Karaoke a month ago, but I'm going to have to be extra good if I want Santa to bring me the Kinect.

Glee Karaoke has all our favorite songs from the first season. You really do get a little addicted to this. My daughter has sung the same song 5-10 times in row. While I myself can only wrestle it away from her long enough to do a song 2-3 times.

The Kinect for Xbox 360 is an amazing new gaming system that works without remotes. Using skeletal recognition the system reads you body motions to guide you through the games. This is new so there aren't that many games for it. I've only played it a few time myself, but I love it. so nice to be free of the remote, and much more active than other systems.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Golden Globe Nominees









The Golden Globe Nominees were announced for the awards that will be given January 16th. I love the Golden Globes, maybe just a little bit more than the Oscars. It's a little looser, a little crazier. Course I love all my award shows.










Film
Drama

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

The King's Speech is the leader in nominations, with 7. I really enjoyed that film so I say their well deserved. The Social Network Is also amazing, and I've heard great things about Black Swan. The other two aren't really my cup of tea.

Comedy/musical

Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
RED
The Tourist

The Kids Are Alright was a great film for me, though I know a few lesbians who did not appreciate. Alice in Wonderland was very dark but quite good. Burlesque is a bit of a surprise, while the musical number were spectacular and Cher and Christina are amazing singer/dancers. The film was not very good when they stopped singing. Stanley Tucci had some good lines, but Alan Cumming was completely wasted.(By that I mean they didn't allow him much too do,, not that he was intoxicated.)

Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

I've heard not very flattering things about the director of Black Swan so I don't think he should get it. Both The King's Speech and Social Network are neck and neck for me.

Actor, drama

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

I really feel like Geoffrey Rush should be on this list. He was really amazing and a huge part of The King's Speech. I suppose for the film to sweep the show the leads need to be in different catagories.

Actress, drama

Halle Berry, Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Actor, comedy/musical

Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Actress, comedy/musical

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

Supporting actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Supporting actress

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Animated movie

Toy Story 3
The Illusionist
How to Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me
Tangled

Television
Drama

Boardwalk Empire, HBO
Dexter, Showtime
The Good Wife, CBS
Mad Men, AMC
The Walking Dead, AMC

These are all great shows. Mad Men is the nearest and dearest to me, but any of them winning would make sense. It sad how little great TV is on the "networks" anymore. You really need cable to see the good stuff. As this catagory examplifies.

Comedy

30 Rock, NBC
The Big Bang Theory, CBS
The Big C, Showtime
Glee, Fox
Modern Family, ABC
Nurse Jackie, Showtime

With the exception of The Big Bang Theory, I watch all of these. The Big C was a real stand out. Nurse Jackie has been a constantlty good show as has 30 Rock. This is a hard one.

Actor, drama

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall ,Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

I think Cranston won this last year. So I say it will probably go to Steve Buscemi. His is a new show, and he is just him, Fabulous.

Actress, drama

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Hmmm... These are all great ladies. I think Julianna Margulies should get it though. I'm guessing Kyra will definitely take it for her final season of The Closer next year.

Actor, comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Actress, comedy

Toni Collette, The United States of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee

Supporting actor, series, miniseries or movie

Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-O
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

Supporting actress, series, miniseries or movie

Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Miniseries or TV movie

Carlos, Sundance Channel
The Pacific, HBO
Temple Grandin, HBO
You Don't Know Jack, HBO
Pillars of the Earth, Starz

I'm confused wasn't Temple Grandin last year? That should definitely win this year too. An amazing film! I have to say I did not think the Pacific was very good. I'm surprised to see it on this. Maybe they have as big a crush on James Badge Dale as I do.

Actor, miniseries or TV movie

Idris Elba, Luther
Ian McShane, Pillars of the Earth
Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

Actress, miniseries or TV movie

Hayley Atwell, Pillars of the Earth
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
Romola Garai, Emma

Well that's my wrap up, we'll see how it goes. I'll be tweeting during the awards, so you can tweet me about all my bad calls.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Closer Canceled



















The Closer on TNT will have it's final season in 2011. The last season will begin filming in Spring 2011. They will reach their 100th episode. The press release I received says it was Kyra Sedgewick's decision.

I guess now that Kevin Bacon is pulling in the big buck with his commercial (see below), she doesn't need to work. Actually she's probably tired of going back and forth from New York to Los Angeles. I guess that's fair, since I complain when I have to go east of the 405.

I love the Closer. But there is something to the old saying "go out on top". If you haven't been watching this show you better get on it.



Thursday, December 9, 2010

Razor's Rip Rider 360 - Gift Guide





















To kick off my first ever holiday gift guide Razor invited me to give one of my readers a Razor® RipRider™ 360 three-wheeler.
My family and I went to a Razor event a few weeks ago and we had to drag our kid off this thing. It's a bike with built in spin out, what more could a kid want. Check out the video below, if you doubt me!




Razors description: Hands-down, the RipRider 360 is an all-time fan-favorite, with the coveted toy awards spinning around it's front wheel. The RipRider 360 has scored numerous awards, including Disney FamilyFun magazine's Top Ten Toy Award, Parent's magazine Toys of the Year Award, and the National Parenting Publications Awards Gold Award. The RipRider 360 promises 360-degrees of fun, leaving on-lookers dizzy and riders spinning for more. It was dreamed-up by the next generation of toy innovators – President of Razor, Calvin's 12 year-old son, and product features include: Revolutionary design and the ultimate in spinning and drifting action Riders experience amusement park-like thrills in their own driveway. Rear, dual-inclined caster wheels for resistance-free drifting and spinning action – 360 degrees Rugged, all-steel frame and fork The RipRider 360 is for use by riders ages 5+ (maximum weight 160 lbs.) and is available at retail for approximately $99.

To Enter: Just leave a comment on this post to enter. If you want a second chance tweet or facebook it, and come back and post a comment that you did. If you want a third chance follow my blog, and leave yet another comment that you did. I will announce the winner December 14th, which should give ample time to get it to you before Christmas.
All entrants must live in the contiguous United States. Please make sure to include a valid email address with each comment.






WINNER:Melanie is our winner! Congratulations. As soon as you get me your address we'll get it in the mail.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett


Dick Cavett interviewed Mel Brooks last night at the Saban Theatre. It was the funniest night of my life. By the time I got home I had a headache, from laughing so much. Even the audience questions were funny. Not to mention Carl Reiner who was also there, and spoke hysterically about the birth of the 2000 year old man.
I found this event through Writer's Bloc. If you're in LA, I highly recommend you join their mailing list. They have so many fascinating events and quite reasonably price ($25 last night) for what are often once in a life time opportunities.
Here is some video I took last night, of their first moments of the interview. Which was really more of a conversation.

Sorry this video has been removed. You can now see the entire interview on HBO Sept 9th. I highly recommend it!


I have most of the night on my youtube channel.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Community on NBC
















Community on NBC is having a very special stop motion Christmas special this Thursday, Dec. 9th. It's suppose to look just like the old Rudolph movie we all watched every year on TV, growing up. Here's a pic. What do you think?
















I got to go visit the set last week and here are two uncut video I took of the cast talking about the episode, among other things. As an added bonus John Oliver was there from The Daily Show. While other bloggers were picturing Josh naked I was thinking bad thought about Oliver. I love him.








I know it's a little crazy, but I really had no idea how to cut it to make it more coherent. The entire cast was really generous with their time, especially Yvette Brown who sat down for an hour long lunch with us.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Breaking Bad on AMC















Breaking Bad on AMC is a show I have had every intention of watching. I saw the first several episodes of the first season,loved it, and then somehow lost track of it. But now is my opportunity to get all caught up before the new season begins. Because AMC is running a marathon of all the episodes every Wednesday night through March when the new season starts. Beginning Wednesday, December 8 with the pilot episode followed by Episode 101 “Cat’s in the Bag…”. Two episodes will air back-to-back each Wednesday night through March 2011.
It's perfect and I plan on taking advantage of it. Won't you join me?