The Post with my top 15 TV shows of the year
It was also a pretty decent year on the small screen. Comedies are slowly, but surely, coming back. Some of the heavyweight dramas struggled this year opening the door for others. New shows this year presented us with some great fare that didn't take itself very seriosuly at all turning dark concepts into a good time. So here is the list.

(an x will denote this is a new show on TV)

x 15. The Big Bang Theory, CBS- It could be hokey. Two "nerds" living together and a super oht-chick moving in across the hall which rocks their world. One friend falls for the girl and the other tries to dissuade him thinking he is chasing somethig he can't catch. They have other friends along the way that are being refined to girls by the Cheesecake Facotry waitress across the hall. Funny stuff and not at all as cliche as the concept sounds.

14. Jericho, CBS- The little show that could finished off last season with Jericho, Kansas about to go to battle with the neighboring New Bern. Then it got canceled. Weeks later it got picked up for a short second season to finish the story. It started as a Red State lost and evolved into a battle between people who may be good, but may be bad. Some great tense moments in episodes and I can't wait to see where the second season goes.

13. American Dad, Fox- Maybe it's becasue The Simpsons is down right now. Maybe because Family Guy just outright blows right anymore, but I look forward to American Dad on Sunday nights. Lots of goofy stories this year so far but nothing that is completely random like FG.

12. The Office, NBC- I didn't really like the hour long episode experiment this year. Didn't think it worked at all. But the seocnd half of season 3 was just great. Negotating for a new salary, inapporpriate watermarks, and the relationship between Jim and Pam was really sweet. Tey just outthought themselves this new year so far.

x 11. Dirty Sexy Money- Nick George takes over for his dad when he is murdered in being the legal counsel for the wealthiest family in New York. The Darling clan is insane to various degrees and Nick does all he can to balance his normal family life, and the crazy work life. Not to mention the daughter of the Darlings who wants nothing more than to bed Nick despite his being married. Great characters and some really fun performances on this show.

10. Psych, USA- Shawn Spencer isn't psychic but he has everyone thinking he is. I didn't really care for the show at first but more and more I'm looking forward to that more than Monk. PLus they had some really good episodes with the singing contest, the other psychic, and the prep school teacher murder. The characters really seem to work better now as well.

9. Lost, ABC- It struggled to find its way for sometime and seemed to be spinning wheels once or twice. By the end though it left people scratching their heads as it twisted the future into the story as well as the past. Still it needs to be pointed out though that there were some weird episodes and glacially slow pacing at times.

8. The Sopranos, HBO- Yes all everyone talked about is the fade to black but the last season was very uneven. There were some great episodes but the rest were just good scenes in otherwise unspectacular episodes.

7. Big Love, HBO- It was just flat out better in the year all around. There was a power struggle between the two polygamist compounds. Bill wanted to add a 4th wife. Margene did everythig she could to tell people who she was without outright saying it. Roman was shot. Bill finished his power play against the Greenes. Just a really good season.

6. My Boys, TBS- PJ is the perfect girl. She is a tomboy, really cute, and loves talking and watching sports. And the supporting players on the show are great. Comparing the thresholds of pain was great, as was finding out Bobby is rich. They left some intrigue as to who PJ went to Rome with as she had 3 options by the time the trip rolled around. A fast, breezy half hour of tv.

5. Friday Night Lights, NBC- It suffered some in its sophmore year but is still an excellent drama. Everyone thought they had gone too far into the soap opera realm when they had Landry kill a rapist to protect Tyra but they brought that back from the brink by focusing not on the act- but Landry trying to live and deal with the guilt of committing the act. Him confronting the brother of the victim and admitting the crime were both great, powerful scenes.

x4. Pushing Daisies, ABC- Just a really well done new show. Ned learns at a young age that he can bring things back from the dead by touching it. Just once. If he touches it again it dies for good. A detective learns about this and they make a living out of going to unsolved murder victims, touching them asking who killed them then touching them again. This works well until Ned sees Chuck, his childhood love, and realizes he lost her once and won't lose her again. Along the way Chi McBride and Krisitn Chenowith give great supporting turns and the lead actors are great. It's an amazing looking show as it mixes elements of Dr. Seuss and Tim Burton. A great little hour of telelvision.

3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX- Just a great year for the show. This is kind of a more blunt version of Seinfeld. All the characters are jerks and are fully aware of it. A lot of the plots revolve around them trying to screw each other over in one way or another. Except for the tiems where someone else crosses them. Great episodes like Dumpster Baby, being held hostage by the inbred McPoyle's, Dee dating a retarded perosn, DAY MAN, and the all night dance-a-thon. Rude, crude, and damn proud of it.

2. The Shield, FX- Some of the best television this year was when Vic Macky found out Vendrell killed fellow cop Lem to keep him quiet. It was some fine acting by Walton Goggins as he tried to do everything he could to protect himself which led to putting Vic's family in danger. At the end when Vic walked out of a hearing on his job to go after his family and Shane you knew there was some bad stuff coming. We still know there is and with one season left someone will pay for Shane's deeds.

1. 30 Rock, NBC- In just its second season 30 Rock has become the go-to show on thursday nights for hilariousness. So much funny stuff to mention and in no way would I be doing it justice. Tina Fey and the writers do a great job. Alec Baldwin's performance is still outstanding. Jane Krakowski and Tracy Morgan have been great as have been all the supporting players. The show is completely random at times, and entirely smart at others. It's well worth going out of your way to see.

Okay i'll try and list the funny moments from this year.

Jenna's movie- The Rural Juror
The prince's birthday party
Liz being called a cunt
seinfeld vision
Carrie Fisher and her whole episode
Tracy Jordan coaching the cougars
Werewolf Bar Mitzvah
Mystic Pizza: The Musical
Me Want Food
Ludachrismas

The list goes on and on. Check the show out.
- posted by Brian @ 12/28/2007 01:22:00 PM

 
The Post with my Top 20 movies of the Year
It's amazing. I set the parameters at 20 and after looking through the list and writing down what I liked it was exactly at 20. I absolutely didn't try that at all. So I ranked them, thought about it, and held true with my original rankings.

For a year that many complained was dominated by threequels this was a pretty good year at the movies. Also the fall had some really nice, dark fare. So let's get this thing on the road.

20. Fracture- Anthony Hopkins does his usual stellar work and Ryan Gosling matches him at every turn. Hopkins character kills his wife and her lover and then delights in ducking the punishment that comes with it. Gosling's character gets pushed around trying to solve it and is growing frustrated by Crawford"s (Hopkins) games. Twists and turns abound.

19. Beowulf- Visually it looks awesome. Sure they change the story some but it really does make more sense as it gives some motive to the characters. The performances are really good- especially Crispin Glover.

18. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story- It looks and feels like a parody of movie biopics at times. But underneath that all it has some really hilarious songs, a lot of funny stuff (not LOL, but a steady stream of giggle stuff), really covers the spectrum of music well, and a great performance by John C. Reilly.

17. Smoking Aces- Jeremy Piven plays Buddy Israel who has a hit put out on him by a mob boss. That leads various groups of hit men to converge on a floor of a Las Vegas hotel trying to collect that bounty. It features a lot of firepower, some really fun performances, and doesn't overstay tis welcome.

16. Breach- Loosely based on FBI agent Robert Hanssen being a Soviet spy for 15 years it is an intense thriller. Ryan Phillipee does good work as the young agent brought into the FBi to spy on Hanssen and find evidence that outs him. Two really good acting performances and a story that again works its way towards a satisfying conclusion.

15. Children of Men- A really great contemporary science fiction type movie. Two decades of global human infertility leave mankind with less than one generation to survive. Amidst the police state of the country Theo Faron (Cllive Owen) must find a way to transport a pregnant woman to safety. It explores hope and faith even in the face of nothign but despair.

14. Gone Baby Gone- Ben Affleck's directing debut is notable not so much for the acting (although it's very good) but rather for how he films the bad side of Boston. He puts you there. He makes you feel the grit of the streets and the hopelessness of the people who are there eitehr voluntarily or involuntarily. Plus there is a bit of a morality play at the end. Would you do the right thing even if you knew it was probably the wrong act in the situation? Casey Affleck is really good in this.

13. Eastern Promises- David Cronenburg again crafts a brillant movie. It's not so much a question of what or how but why- and the why isn't visible for a long time. This movie is going in a direction and then veers wildly from it. This isn't one of those out fo the blue moments though- it all makes sense once it happenes. This is another step in Cronenberg moving into the elite directors realm.

12. Live Free or Die Hard- I love John McClane- I admit it. I could've done without turning him from regular cop into a superhero but it didn't really ruin it for me. Timothy Olyphant is great as the villian and Justin Long is good as the wisecracking sidekick. A really fun fast time at the movies.

11. Hot Fuzz- The Shaun of the Dead boys strike again as this time they send-up cop buddy movies. A big city cop is relegated to a small villa and encounters a string of murders that noone else seems to realzie might be connected. Hilarity and Point Break references ensue as we reach our conclusion.

10. Grindhouse- May not have done well but it was a fun 3 hours at the movies. I rate it highly more for RObert Rodriguez's half than Tarantino's. The fake trailers were great, and for the most part the performances were top notch. I didn't like Quentin's half as much as Robert's but its a small quibble.

9. 3:10 to Yuma- Russell Crowe and Christian Bale give great performances as two men who are doing what they need to do to survive all be it operating on opposite ends of the law. The real find though is Ben Foster who is awesome in this as a sociopathic leader that takes over after Crowe's character is arrested. A great remake of an old Western and finally a decent Western out fo Hollywood.

8. 1408- Again, two great actors going at each other. Cusack plays a skeptical writer who doesn't believe in ghosts and spirits. He takes on the challenge of 1408 which as the night wears on has him questioning his sanity, and trying to survive. Is his mind playing tricks on him or does 1408 manifest as a very real entity out to kill him.

7. The Simpsons Movie- I know some were disappointed but I felt this was a great representation of everything I've loved about this show over the years. You could tell certain parts were written by writers from different eras. There were some great laugh-out-loud moments, and the scene where Marge tapes over the wedding video to tell Homer why she left is actually really touching- something that is not easy to pull off.

6. The Mist- Frank Darabont takes a King story and again hits one out of the park. Great performances and the feeling of watching rational people self-destruct under irrational situations. Plus the ending is completely heartbreaking, and so not a copout.

5. The Bourne Ultimatum- Director Paul Greengrass constructs a great 'final" chapter to the Bourne saga. Matt Damon again does fine work, and the ending is just great. It leaves the possibility open in a way for more but does an amazing job of circuling back to the beginning of the series. The nearly quiet fight scene in the middle is worth seeing.

4. American Gangster- Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, and Denzel Washington caused me to say "There is no way that movie sucks." And I was right. Some more great acting performances and while so many gangster movies go for the shoot-them-up ending this goes for a verbal spar between two great actors. Washington is really good in this and the breakfast scene where he casually gets up and shoots a guy a block from the restaurant is great.

3. Knocked Up- The funniest movie of the year in my humble opinion. A story of two people- one successful, the other not so much, accidentally having a kid and the pitfalls that come with being thrust into adulthood. It's a contemporary fairy tale of sorts where the life you end up with might not be the one you thought, it might be better. And there are dick and vagina jokes- that's always fun. I loved the running gag about the dude's beard.

2. Zodiac- A great period piece about the Zodiac Killer and how he claimed victims- both literally and figuratively- all the while setting the tone for the 70's in California. They do a great job of setting the time period, and mood properly. Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job in this as does Mark Ruffalo. A gripping 2 hour and 30 minute look at the search for a killer that still to this day has as many questions as answers.

1. No Country for Old Men- It may be cliche to go with this but this is a fantastic film. Great performances all around and just outstanding directing. The Texas frontiers look especially lush and John Brolin playing cat and mouse with Javier Bardem and Tomym Lee Jones for most of the film is entirely engrossing. By the end you are rooting for the good guy all the while hoping to see the big anticlimatic scene. Then you don't get it. This isn't about gory violence (although it has plenty of it) but rather about how as the world gets older the bad people get grislier and more advanced while the police struggle to maintain order. Another movie that didn't feel like a copout at the end.



There's my list- agree or disagree, but I will state again- This was a great year at the movies.
- posted by Brian @ 12/27/2007 01:23:00 PM

 
The Post with my week 17 NFL picks
Keeping it short and sweet this week since I have lists to get too. Movies today, tv shows tomorrow.

90's music sometime. Not done ranking yet- much harder than I thought. I've been tossing back and forth the top 50


Anyway- went 12-4 last week which brings me to 146-94. Need an extra strong week to hit 160 which will be hard in the no one plays week..oh well

Saturday, Dec. 29

New England at N.Y. Giants, 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 30

Seattle at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 1 p.m.

New Orleans at Chicago, 1 p.m.

San Francisco at Cleveland, 1 p.m.

Detroit at Green Bay, 1 p.m.

Jacksonville at Houston, 1 p.m.

Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

Cincinnati at Miami, 1 p.m.

Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.

Carolina at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.

Dallas at Washington, 1 p.m.

St. Louis at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.

Minnesota at Denver, 4:15 p.m.

San Diego at Oakland, 4:15 p.m.x-

Kansas City at N.Y. Jets, 8:15 p.m.
- posted by Brian @ 12/27/2007 12:39:00 PM

 
The Post with one of my favorite writings ever
I post this every year for a few reasons. One, I think it is a phenomenal work. A simple question and answer piece in a small newspaper years ago. Witht eh way our papers read today it's refreshing to see you could get a simple heartfelt response back then.

Secondly, I think it brings to the front another reason to celebrate this time of year- outside of the main one. The power of imagination and how it isn't really whether you believe in Santa Claus or not but rather that you believe in the belief of something good and pure. Which leads me to...

Thirdly, it's still a fine read after these 110 years because in what has become an increasingly cynical world it takes us to a simpler time both in the world and in our own lives. Back before we stopped believing in things we couldn't see. Back before we thought things like Santa were just aberrations of a business looking for a dollar.

It's still a great piece of work. It's also a huge testament to the author that something written to soothe a young child's soul 110 years ago can still bring solace and peace to those of us today.

I post this because even though we may know the famous quote from it- there is a lot more subtext and nobility behind the words written that day.

Merry Christmas everyday


Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.


"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?"

VIRGINIA O'HANLON."115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."


VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

- posted by Brian @ 12/24/2007 10:37:00 AM

 
The Post with More Christmas Tape fun
I'm about onto the third tape because what was left on the second tape wasn't really anything holiday related. There was a Disney special where Jiminy Cricket was hosting clips of old Disney movies. Then there was a Bob Hope special where he used to introduce the NCAA Americans. Funny stuff usually. Then he brought out Brooke Shields- WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was also a commercial where Lionel Kiddie City was selling a Pee Wee Herman doll- the doll sounded like a drunk Charles Nelson Reilly. Oh well


Tape 3:

A Bugs Bunny Christmas special. Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales

We begin with Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Foghorn Leghorn singing Deck the Halls. That is quite the quartet. Then Pepe LePeu joins in. Damn French bastard.

Our first tale is Scrooge with Porky Pig playing Cratchet. This could be a long special if he needs to deliver any monologues. Yosemite Sam is Scrooge.

Bugs steal coal for Porky, sneaking past Sylvester. Yosemite says he is taking it back and burns his hand in the process. For a super villian he ain't so smart.

Bugs and friends get thrown out and Cratchet gets fired. Cratchet invites him to dinner and calls him Bugs. So wait Bugs is Bugs but Porky isn't Porky? Something is screwy here.

Yosemite pours himself a hot shower and Bugs throws snow in it to freeze the poor guy.

Bugs decides to portray Marley as he continues to big league everyone in this special. Sam and Sylvester end up chasing him into the snow so they then crawl into bed together. Bugs scares them there and Sylvester runs away.

Scrooge changes his ways and gives money to everyone and Tweety Tim leads them in singing to him.

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote short now. If the Road Runner wanted to be nice he would just let the Coyote catch him.

Coyote sets up an avalanche which backfires.

Road runners hate snow so Wile E. changes teh signs for the desert crossing and leads the Runner right up to snow pass. Coyote puts on speed skates and cuts himself into the water.

Wile E. buys a sled and 12 dogs to go after the Runner. Bet you can't see where this is leading.

Next he buys a rocking horse and a lasso to try again. He lassos himself and ends up on a train track. The end.

Now we have Tazmanian Devil as Santa Claus. For some reason Speedy Gonzalez is living with Bugs.

Taz is uncivilized so he does goofy things like eating light bulbs and things that specifically say do not swallow.

Meh! I wanted to love this but it felt long at times....5 out of 10.

And that looks like it is it. Funny I could've sworn there was a Garfield special on one of these tapes. Maybe I missed it. Oh well
- posted by Brian @ 12/23/2007 03:48:00 PM

 
The Post with my Week 16 NFL picks
Last week I went 10-6 which leaves me with this record: 134-90. I have a feeling I will fall short of my goal. But that is still a very good record- so nothing to be upset about.

Went 1-0 last night too so that helps. Let's hit it- with this Christmas themed edition

Saturday, Dec. 22

Dallas at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.- Dallas is clearly the better team but Romo has shown a propensity for having bad games. Last week Jessica Simpson showe dup at the game and he had his worst game all year. Terrell Ownes said she needs to stop coming to games. Basically telling all those faithful to Tony not to come. Dallas wins

Sunday, Dec. 23

N.Y. Giants at Buffalo, 1 p.m.- The Most Wonderful Day of the Year will happen for the Bills this sunday when Kevin Everett- who they thought was paralyzed in week 1- returns to the sidelines for the first time this season. Add that to the fact that the Giants have a spotty quarterback and are not good on the road in a tough environment....UPSET SPECIAL- BUFFALO WINS

Green Bay at Chicago, 1 p.m.- Good king Favre has found the fountain of life this season. Everyone thought he was done last year but he returned and has his team at 12-2 with a possibility of a home championship game. The Bears don't derail that this week. Green Bay wins

Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.- Last time these two teams hooked up they combined for 96 points and 11 touchdown passes in a 51-45 shootout. These week we can hope for 12- the 12 touchdowns of Ohio....Cleveland wins a game they need badly

Kansas City at Detroit, 1 p.m.- Carol of the Bells is probably what Kitna hears in his head after the amount of times he has been sacked this year. This week his offensive line goes against Jared Allen who is really good at getting to the quarterback. Still though the Chiefs look defeated. Detroit wins.

Houston at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.- Jolly Old Peyton Manning is rolling his Colts along again. This week they need to try and balance keeping momentum and getting healthy. I'm worried about this game becasue I think the Colts will look to rest some guys. but still Indianapolis wins

Oakland at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.- Over the River and through the woods would be a good description of the straight ahead ground game Jacksonville employs. Last week they beat up the "physical" Steelers in Pittsburgh and are looking to stay firmly in that 5 spot in the playoffs to meet them again. Jacksonville wins (and yes I realize that isn't technically a Christmas song)

Washington at Minnesota, 1 p.m.- All Gibbs and Childress want for Christmas is some consistent quarterback play. Tavaris Jackson could be the ultimate crutch to the Vikings in the NFC playoffs. Yes they can run the ball well but if he turns the ball over 4 times that won't cut it. Ready for this...UPSET SPECIAL Washington wins.

Miami at New England, 1 p.m.- The Dolphins are about to get run over by the Patriots. New ENgland wins

Philadelphia at New Orleans, 1 p.m.- Donovan has felt times like he is away in a manger. Forgotten, and ridiculded most of the year he is most likely going to make way for Kevin Kolb after this season and go somewhere else. I think they will avenge last season's double loss to the Saints though. Philadelphia wins

Atlanta at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.- When this season is over Arthur Blank will be singing Joy to the World becasue after having a franchise quarterback, head coach, and potential player developer back out on him he has a lot of egg on his face. It gets no better in Arizona. Arizona wins.

Baltimore at Seattle, 4:15 p.m.- Seahawks take on a bunch of unfriendly beasts in the Ravens. Well teh defense anyway. that offense is still horrible. Seattle wins

N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 4:15 p.m.- The Holly and the Ivy in this game. One team is fighting for their playoff lives. the other just for pride. Pride is nice- but doesn't win out here. Tennessee wins.

Tampa Bay at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m.- Oh Holy Night, the 49'ers are pretty awful, they have a 0 percent chance against the Bucs. Tampa Bay wins.

Monday, Dec. 24

Denver at San Diego, 8 p.m.- Chirstmas Eve I celebrate as my Chargers Deck the Halls of Qualcomm Stadium with the Denver Broncos.
- posted by Brian @ 12/21/2007 01:22:00 PM

 
The Post with some short stuff
This time of year is testing my diet resolve. I'm at least treading water right now rather than losing- SMall steps my friends, small steps.


I pretty much have all 100 of my songs downloaded for the 90's list. Sometime over the weekend I will be sitting to rank them. Not sure of the schedule of lists for next week but I'm doing some thinking. The country music list might have to wait unless I find a comprehensive list of the year. We'll work on that.

My Blazer goes into the shop next week. No factual basis for this but something tells me this will be bad. It's about time for some bad things to start happening. I've had a decent run.

Also tonight Pitssburgh plays St. Louis.

Last week Pittsburgh was humbled by the Jacksonville Jaguars. St. Louis was beaten up by the Green Bay Packers. One of those results was expected, the other wasn't.

The Steelers now two straight weeks have been beaten by better teams in the AFC. They need to use the Rams as a ship-righter and get back on track. They will. Pittsburgh wins.
- posted by Brian @ 12/20/2007 02:39:00 PM

 
The Post with the movies I've seen so far this year
Beofre that though just wanted to let you know I got the 90's songs list down to 100 last night...So that will be a go next week.

Now onto the movies:

Children of Men- Fantastic movie about a post-apolyptic world where women can't have children. Some great acting from Clive Owen and some really awesome looking directing. The chase sequence with teh car and motorcycles is really cool.

Primeval- I was hoping for a cheesy little movie like Lake Placid. Instead I got a movie that was way to much geared towards trying to be serious and some really bad sequences with generic characters. Poorly done.

The Hitcher- Was afraid of how bad they'd mess this up and it lived up (or down) to my expectations. Really bad lead characters and the story was made into a complete joke. They over-do the dramatic sequence with the killer and the family, and they turn the big chase into a fucking music video for Nine Inch Nails "Closer." Might be a cheese classic someday but ruined the original.

Smokin' Aces- Done by the guy who directed Narc and this is a really fun little action flick. Good performances from a star studded cast and the movie knows it isn't earth-changing and loves it. Would've liked a little more time with everyone together in the hotel but as it is great stuff.

Epic Movie- Like any other parody movie. Some parts work, a lot of parts don't. The guys who have started doing these don't understand what makes parodies work. Dropping in hip MTV references doesn't cover for that either. Good stuff from Crispin Glover and Darrell Hammond but not nearly enough from them.

Hannibal Rising- Horrible, horrible film. I seriously have no idea what the producers and directors were going for with this film but I'm fairly certain they failed miserably. They at this point have turned the Hannibal Lecter franchise into a complete joke. Hannibal was a brooding teenager in this which was just dumb.

Reno 911: Miami- Funny stuff from the crew. I think my expectations were way high and they just couldn't live up to it. Overall though I enjoyed the film, especially the cameos from people like The Rock and Paul Rudd as a Scarface type character.

Ghost Rider- Nicholas Cage as the title character was hilarious. Not good hilarious though, like laughing at hilarious. He was made up to look about 20 years younger than he actually is. The plot was really goofy, in fact I was so tired when I saw it I dozed off a little. I tried but wasn't really able to get into it.

Zodiac- I do a lot of reading up on serial killers (yeah it's a quirk) and when i saw David Fincher was directing this I got excited. It didn't really disappoint me. It was presented very matter of factly about what happened and touched very nicely on the fact that they have a belief of who was doing it but were never able to nail him before he died. Jake Gyllenhaal was really good in it as was Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.

Breach- Loved the movie and I think it was really overlooked at theaters. Chris Cooper was phenomenal in this and the character relationships were really what drove this movie. Ryan Phillipee didn't do so bad either. I really like Luara Linney too.

The Number 23- I really wanted to like this movie but it just wasn't pulling me into it. I also didn't get the ending I expected. In retrospect the ending made the movie really kind of ridiculous. Really implausible to. Jim Carrey was good- just a bad script I think.

Dead Silence- Nice different direction for the guys who directed Saw. They just decided to make a straight up haunted house/town movie and it really worked in a lot of ways. It was creepy and the whole thing with all noise stopping when the ghost was showing up was a cool effect. Nice ending.

Premonition- Damn Sandra Bullock is still pretty foxy looking for her age. The movie however was not anything good. Really ridiculous plot wise and became completely ridiculous as the movie progressed. There is a hilarious review over at Dread Central.com- I suggest checking that out.

The Hills Have Eyes 2- At the very least it was better than the orignal Hills Have Eyes 2. Not near as good as last year's remake and they relied too much on characters noone cares about. Why should I feel sympathy for a bunch of lame brained recruits that keep doing dumb horror movie things. There are some brutal things in it but that does not a movie make.

TMNT- I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. People expecting the Corey Feldman era movies were going to be disappointed. I heard a lot of griping about the CGI in it too but that looked fine as well. Looked and felt a lot like the comic books and that made it feel more authentic. Good to they didn't rely on big name stars to voice the Turtles.

Blades of Glory- Really enjoyed this movie. Will Ferrell again was hilarious and although I've never been a big Jon Heder fan I thought he was ok in this. Despite that though I think with him basically playing and looking like Owen Wilson- Wilson would've been better in this film, oh well. I love me some Jenna Fischer and Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are great in this.

Grindhouse- A fun time at the movie theater for a few hours. I enjoyed Rodriguez's Planet Terror quite a bit more than Tarantino's Death Proof but both had their charms. Zoe Bell in Tarantino's half stole the film almost with her crazy ass car stunts (her body and looks helped too). The trailers in between were hilarious- the theater started cracking up with teh cameo at the end of Zombie's trailer. People who didn't see this missed out.

Perfect Stranger- Just a horrible film. Somewhere about the halway mark of writing the script the writers realized- we have nowhere for this to end. So they started throwing everything at the viewer hoping something would stick. They also fall back on the old Stephen King trick of 3 false endings before the real ending. Halle Berry is still hot though.

Hot Fuzz- Hilarious effort again from the guys behind Shaun of the Dead. They reference Bad Boys and Point Break. There are plenty of funny characters and there are any number of funny lines in the film. The ending scene cracked me up as did the knives vs guns shootout. Great movie.

Next- Nicholas Cage has apparently given up on his career and is resigned to making goofy appearances in goofier movies. This was way too similar in idea to Deja Vu. Cage had the hair working again and was just completely cruising through the role. The ending is a copout of sorts, and it irritated people in the theater. I'll say this though- Jessica Biel is top 5 best looking women in the entertainment industry right now. Easily.

Fracture- Anthony Hopkins basically plays Hannibal Lecter in this. Ryan Gosling keeps up with him as best he can and a nice twisty plot makes for a surprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it the whole way through and the ending was nice becasue it was never really clear how what was done was done.

Spiderman 3- I kind of put some thoughts up on this earlier in the month but to reiterate. Not as good as the last one. They tried to do too much with not enough time. The dialogue is soap opera level bad. There was no reason for Bryce Dallas Howard to be in this film. PLus they wrapped up some storylines too nicely.

28 Weeks Later- Gory and a pretty nice little flick. It's different in tone than the first one in that it is more horror based rather than drama driven like the first one. Some real good performances from the cast. Great pacing, and sets up in case they decide to do another film in the series.

Shrek the Third- I really like the Shrek films. This film raged from hilarious at spots to amusing throughout. It never really drug. The scene with Pinocchio trying to not tell the Prince somethign about Shrek's wherebouts without lying was funny. Even the stuff that didn't work or didn't seem to accomplish what they were going for (The frog chorus) didn't overstay its welcome.

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End- Fitting end to the trilogy (I hope it's only a trilogy). The third movie helped the second one make more sense but still was kind of a bore at times. The alst 20 minutes made up for it big time though with Sparrow redeeming himself and the huge pirate ship fight so thumbs up overall.

Knocked Up- Hilarious. I laughed hard at this movie throughout. It might have something to do with me loving movies where the shlub gets the hot girl but there was some real good performances and some really funny lines in this. I thought it was pretty nicely paced as well although it did get a little slow in one spot.

Bug- Wasn't sure what to make of this. The performances were good. The directing and everything was good but it just felt a little hollow as a film. Also since it was adapted from a play you could feel where the intermission spot was. I would probably need to see this again to determine how I felt about it, but I wasn't sure what to think.

Hostel Part II- Better than the first film in a lot of ways. Easier to sympthaize with teh characters and the directing and pacing was much better. The first kill was completely brutal and turned a lot of people off but I loved the ending to this film.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer- Not nearly as much fun as the first one. They didn't give the actors as much to do and the story felt pieced together at times. I liked Chiklis in it but he didn't have enough to do for my tastes.

1408- One of the better adaptations of a King novel. John Cusack is great in this and his short scene with Samuel Jackson is all kinds of awesome. When things start going haywire it is delightfully creepy and kind of scary. Really great film.

Live Free or Die Hard- Loved this action film. My one gripe was that they turned John McLaine from everyguy hero to a superhero jumping from tractor trailers to a plane and everything. That was silly. Otherwise though really enjoed the hell out of this film.

License to Wed- Funny but not near as funny as it should've been. Robin Williams has gotten real close (if he isn't there yet) to his expiration date. Plus the whole thing seemed silly that you wouldn't just go find another priest, but whatever.

Transformers- I don't understand making a movie based off a tv show and then changing everything to the fact that it looks nothing like the show. Decepticons can change into anything? Bumblebee is a Camaro?- stupid all around. The parts with Shia LaBeouf and Bumblebee were good and seemed like a different movie than the Michael Bay let's blow up everything in the desert nonsense.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry- I know it took some heat for being insensitive to gays but I think that is people just missing the point of the film. It's a funny movie- moreso becasue of Kevin James than Adam Sandler. It gets a little preachy towards the end but the message is there.

The Simpsons Movie- It took forever but to me it was worth it. Lots of funny moments and nice sly little nods to fans of the series all those years. The scene with Marge tearfully pleaing with Homer was as well done as any scene like that in a movie with human actors. Quality effort and the Spider-Pig stuff was still very funny.

The Bourne Ultimatium- In a summer of threequels this was easily the best. Paul Greengrass directs a great movie and Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is just great again. The ending was perfect in that it took you back to the beginning and was kind of a sly little- will there or won't there be a sequel type ending. The chase scene in the middle is all kinds of phenomenal.

Rush Hour 3- I kind of liked it overall but it was pretty easy to figure out who was the bad guy from the start if you've watched any of these films before. The action sequences are still great and they tied the story together pretty nicely that weaved through all three of them.

Hot Rod- I know you'll think I'm crazy but I really liked this movie. It might've been the presence of Isla Fisher but it was just crazy goofy and made me laugh. The whole scene where they were making fun of the guy for saying "wh-iskey" was funny and the "Cool Beans" scene was great. This will be a cult classic one day.

Superbad- Liked it overall although I thought it was a little uneven. There was barely any backstory given to the two leads as far as any trouble brewing between them. And the cop scenes with McLovin while funny seemed out of place. Still there are some really funny parts in this but I liked Knocked Up better overall.

Resurrecting the Champ- Great little underrated film. Josh Hartnett was good in it and Smauel L. Jackson was his usual golden self. The story really is a nice tale of two men seeking redemption and using the other to get it. The twist you won't see coming about halfway through takes it in a great direction and adds a nice layer to the story. Underrated film and deserved to do better business.

Halloween- Rob Zombie did a decent job but still some of this movie just felt lame. I liked that he used his normal cache of characters but the backstory they added was lame and the nods to the first film were kind of unnecessary. Even Malcolm seemed to be chewing scenery by the end.

Balls of Fury- I wanted to love this film and I just didn't. There were some good parts and the lead guy was really good but it just fell flat in execution at times. It gains points for heavily featuring Rock of Ages and Aisha Tyler in a skimpy outfit most of the time but overall not as funny as it could've been.

Death Sentence- Another movie that I wanted to love but it fell flat in delivery. It was kind of silly the way Bacon acted in this film and it showed the cops to be complete morons in this film. When shit started breaking down towards the end it got really good but there wasn't enough of that.

3:10 to Yuma- Awesome flick and I wish Hollywood would make more westerns like this. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are great but the real find in Ben Foster. He is all kind sof great in the film. Great story and the climatic scene is pretty gripping. Now we just need to stop Costner and start getting stuff like this again.

Mr. Woodcock- It was kind of easy to see why this film sat on the shelves for a year and a half. Billy Bob Thornton is good at these roles but he is playing them too much for them to be effective anymore. Susan Sarandon gives this some class and jazzes up teh big scene at the end, but not enough to save it.

The Kingdom- Awesome little action flick with a nice little message at the end. Actually it's a pretty heavy political message and depending on how you feel about the issue will color your reaction to the film. The actors are good and the directing puts you almost right there with everything going down. I enjoyed it a lot but liek I said depending on your political leaning you might not.

Eastern Promises- Another home run for me from Cronenburg. I could've done without the extended scene in the shower although I get what he was going for. Cassel and Viggo are great in this as is Naomi Watts. I like how the ending was ambiguous as well.

Resident Evil: Extinction- Thought this was a huge improvement over the seocnd film which was garbage. It tied up teh series nicely leaving the door open for more. Does Milla Jovovich do anythign but these movies?

The Brave One- Thought the acting was great but overall thought it was a weak film. It got cartoony at times with the violence and went way over the top at the end.

The Heartbreak Kid- Kind of a weird film. The audeince felt flat for this but it was funny at times. They made Ben Stiller's character a real jerk in this film though which made it hard to get into at times. Their "big shock" moments didn't seem to work as well as before.

30 Days of Night- Gritty and brutal film at times which actually was scary. Again I like Josh Hartnett which worries me that I'm starting to think he is a good actor. I thought the ending was good as well, and loved how the vampires had a language of their own.

We Own the Night- Acting was good but the story felt a little forced in the final third. And then it changed from a character study into a regular old good guys chase the bad guys movie.

Saw IV- Okay. The series isn't like at Friday the 13th type levels yet but it was gettign close. This movie brought it back from there a little bit as it had some nice twists although the final act left people entirely confused.

American Gangster- Really great film. Two great performances and the final scenes are perfectly done and completely intense without any kind of gun battle

Unearthed- The film from this year's After Dark Horrorfest. It wasn't as good as Unrest from last year which disappointed me becasue the director did Dead and Breakfast which is great. A little too silly and CGI heavy at times. The Indian chick in it is way hot though.

Fred Claus- It was fine. Vaughn did the best he could but the movie was a little long and just wasn't up to par with some of his other efforts.

Beowulf- Liked this a lot- even with the story being changed around. The action is fun and it is really gory for a PG-13 movie. Angelina Jolie naked except for gold sashes was a nice touch. She could pretty much get me to drive a truck through an old folks home so promising me power isn't that big of a deal.

The Mist- Loved this film. Darabont did it again when it comes to King novels. The last act of the film is completely heartbreaking and will ruin your day if you are in the wrong frame of mind. More horror films like this need to be made.

Gone Baby Gone- Well shot film that really got into the grittiness of Boston's underground. Nice plotting and some great twists. It becomes a morality play towards the end whicih I welcomed and might open some debate up.

No Country For Old Men- Awesome movie. Great story, some wicked good performances, and just a fast-moving two hours. Impossible to not be into this film.

I Am Legend- Will Smith is very good in this. They spend a lot of time setting up the story which is great and well received. Then they take a left turn towards the end and it becomes plot device central. There are two very sad parts which are born out of the same incident. And I mean they are sad.

That is the year so far...2 more weeks to go that will be up for consideration. Actually my cutoff will be Christmas for this year. So anythign seen by Christmas is elgible for my list.
- posted by Brian @ 12/19/2007 02:06:00 PM

 
The Post with some more minor checking in
I wanted to hit it strong this week and have been struggling to find time to get on here.

I need to update my movies seen list for the year because the end of the year will bring List-A-Mania 2007. I think I went over before what that entails.

The 90's list is coming together nicely. I started with a list of roughly 500 songs and have whittled that down to 111 right now. Of course that leaves me right at the toughest part of doing things like this. If you know me you know I have a varied taste in music so it's hard to sit and try and compare songs from one genre (say Latin explosion) to another (say alternative). How do you compare the two and decide which one you truly like over another?

That should be done tonight though. Then comes the next hardest part- ranking those songs in a top 100. But that will be done in time for list-a-mania.

For now though I will end this short entry to get back to work on my lists.


G'Day
- posted by Brian @ 12/18/2007 02:28:00 PM

 
The Post with my Week 15 NFL picks
It has been two weeks since I checked in to do my picks on a Friday, and man were those bad. I went 6-10 which probably effectively killed my chances of hitting 160 for the year. 11-5 last week might have helped me have a chance but sitting at 124-84 means needing to pick up 36 wins over the next 3 weeks. Not impossible but not probable. But we will try our best. At the very least maybe we can finish 50 games over .500

I had Houston winning last night. They were 4-2 going into the game at home so it was kind of a throwing darts pick. Let's move on from there


Saturday, Dec. 15

Cincinnati at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m. - Cincinnati wins the UNderachieving Team Game

Sunday, Dec. 16

Seattle at Carolina, 1 p.m.- Carolina stinks. Seattle wins

Buffalo at Cleveland, 1 p.m.- This is two teams battling for a spot in the playoffs. I love BUffalo but I think Cleveland will score 30 points and don't think Buffalo can match that firepower. Cleveland wins

Tennessee at Kansas City, 1 p.m.- Tennessee wins when Albert Haynesworth plays. He is this week. Tenneessee

Baltimore at Miami, 1 p.m.- Tough game here. Baltimore should humble Miami but this game could go either way. I think if Miami wins there would be a major Raven revolt in the visiting locker room. Baltimore wins

N.Y. Jets at New England, 1 p.m.- New England wins 117-0

Arizona at New Orleans, 1 p.m.- The Saints will struggle with the new-look Cardinals who are trying to hold onto their slim playoff hopes. Arizona wins

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.- Pittsburgh was completley humbled this past week by the Patriots. Even if the weatehr is ugly there Jacksonville is perfectly capable of holding up under it. Jacksonville wins and proves they are ahead of the Steelers in the AFC pecking order

Green Bay at St. Louis, 1 p.m.- I have a better chance of bedding Carrie UNderwood than the Rams do of winning this game. Green Bay

Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.- Atlanta after having their best player let them down have their coach let them down this week. There are some good guys on that team that aren't deserving of this. Tampa Bay wins

Indianapolis at Oakland, 4:05 p.m.- Like you even need to ask. Indianapolis wins

Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.- Dallas wins becasue the Eagles lack of personnel moves is catching up with them

Detroit at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.- Detroit is slipping fast. San Diego wins

Washington at N.Y. Giants, 8:15 p.m.- Washington is battling to finish the season but the Giants are just better. NY Giants win

Monday, Dec. 17

Chicago at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.- I think Chicago is dead in the water on the year. Minnesota needs this win to keep their playoff hope alive. The get it. Minnesota wins
- posted by Brian @ 12/14/2007 01:06:00 PM

 
The Post with a minor post
Haven't had much time to update this week and wasn't able to put together some news for today.

Tomorrow I'll have my picks up and see how I'm doing right now. Then I'll get back into posting.

I'm working on a list of my 100 favorite songs of the 90's as a sequel to my 80's list. Also coming soon will be my 20 favorite movies of the year, my 20 favorite country songs, and either 10 or 20 of my favorite tv shows- if I can formulate a list. 10 will probably be that number though.

COming soon
- posted by Brian @ 12/13/2007 02:19:00 PM

 
The Post with some quick stuff
Last week was a fine week off. I still have about another day's worth fo Christmas shows to watch so I will hit them up in the near future.

Went to a funeral on Thursday which was a sad day. Can't believe it happened. Also- I hate seeing crying people, it always gets me.


We had a Christmas pot luck dinner at work today- so right now I don't feel very good.

Friday night I went o see Bucky Covington, Jason Michael Carrol, and Cole Deggs & the Lonesome at Crocodile Rock. Great little concert- and I was impressed with JMC. Also it was great to hear bands cover songs that weren't "Pour Some Sugar on Me." There is a whole bunch of songs out there that country bands can cover without going back to Def Leppard over and over. JMC hit "Take it on the Run" Bucky covered "Another Brick in the Wall" Good stuff all around. Some fine looking girls there too, that I didn't talk to. No biggie though.

Tonight is the 15th Anniversary of RAW which I am really looking forward to. All kinds of stars from the past are coming back- including Sunny! Oh man I just absolutely can't wait.
- posted by Brian @ 12/10/2007 02:36:00 PM

 
The Post with this week's Picks
No analysis just picks:

I had Washington picked Thursday night...In no particular order the rest

Jacksonville
Philadelphia
Cincinnati
Tampa Bay
Buffalo
Green Bay
Dallas
San Diego
Minnesota
Arizona
Jets
Pittsburgh
Denver
Indianapolis
New Orleans
- posted by Brian @ 12/09/2007 09:56:00 AM

 
The Post with my Christmas tape Journey Day 4
Day 4 kicks off with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Not really one of my favorite Christmas shows but not one I actively dislike.

- Rudolph is different because he has a red nose.

- Santa visits and says Rudolph might not have a chance to be one of his reindeer. Then he sings a song calling himself the "King of Ding-A-Ling" which has a different connotation anymore.

- Herbie the elf doesn't like to make toys- he wants to be a dentist. Then he quits with a snappy little number.

- There is also the Oriental looking snowman.

- Why is Donner Rudolph's father in this show?

- Rudolph also sounds like he has a cold with the nose coat on.

- Some doe thinks Rudolph is cute so he gets all excited and flies. Then the nose cover falls off and Santa tells Donner he should be ashamed. Hey dick- you're almost a diabetic and Donner isn't bashing you.

- Now the doe is singing. Too much singing in this one- now I remember why I was indifferent to it in the past.

- Rudolph meets up with Hermie and says you don't mind me having a red nose to which Hermie replies- as long as you don't mind me being a dentist. You're not a dentist yet Capt. Jumpahead.

- They set out into the snow and meet up with the abominable snowman. Who looks like Rosie o' Donnell kind of.

- Then Yukon Cornelius comes and finds them hiding. He seems like he is hopped up on cocaine.

- Snowman sings Silver and Gold.

- Yukon fights the Bumble and cuts them onto an ice boat because Bumble's can't swim. Then he licks his pick again. Classic tweaker behavior.

- Hermie and Yukon argue over what type of food the fog is thick like. Then Yukon yells "Land Ho" seconds too late.

- They hit the Island of Misfit toys. The Charlie-in-the-box is still creepy to me.

- Some of these toys are insane looking. Now there is a king again.

- Rudolph sets back alone and gets home to see his parents are gone. So he sets back out in the biggest snowstorm of the year.

- He finds them in the Abominable Snowman's cave, and they fight. Rudolph tries to ram his antlers up the snowman's ass.

- Yukon and Hermie save Rudolph and his family. Hermie pulls the Snowman's tooth and then Yukon and the Big guy tumble off a cliff.

- turns out Bumbles bounce so yukon survived the fall. I think they are just making up rules as they go.

- The storm is worse. Santa decides to have Rudolph lead the sleigh and they rescue the misfit toys.

- It's ok but the special really feels long at times.

Next Show: A MUPPET FAMILY CHRISTMAS- OH FUCK YEAH!!!!!!! I forgot about this.

- The whole Muppet gang (Fozzie driving) is headed to his mother's for Christmas becasue Fozzie knows she is going to be lonely this time of year.

- Fozzie's mom is renting her house in the country to Doc and Sprocket. This is already awesome. There is an icy patch on the front step.

- Doorbell rings again and the gang has arrived. Kermit hits the icy patch and falls. Who wouldn't want to spend Christmas with Sam the Eagle and Beaker?

- The phone rings and Animal answers, "Pig" then he throws the phone down.. Hilarious stuff. Miss Piggy is on a photo shoot and posing for a photographer.

- Doorbell again and its THE SWEDISH CHEF- and he hits the icy patch. Awesome.

- The turkey was invited by Swedish Chef and thinks this is a vacation.

- Kermit and Robin sing "Jingle Bells" and that leads into The Electric Mayhem singing "Jingle Bell Rock" Ok this special is sitting at like a massive thumbs up right now. Sprocket thinks so to as he is dancing.

- A Christmas tree is cut down and Fozzie is working on his snowman. Rowlf comes in to tell his joke and hits the icy patch (I was chasing a truck here and boy am I exhausted). Rowlf and Sprocket have a conversation.

- Fozzie and his Snowman sing "Winter Wonderland" broken up by joke interludes (Something about is being so cold a polar beer was in the freezer trying to keep warm.

- A new act is born and Fozzie hits the icy patch. Piggy calls Kermit again and says she is shopping before she comes out to the house.

- Scooter finds a video of the first Christmas the Muppets spent together. MUPPET BABIES!!!. Then Animal busts through the movie screen.

- The turkey is moving in on Gonzo's chicken and a fight is brewing but Kermit hears carolers. The gang from SESAME STREET is here!!! Even the two-headed monster.

- The gang then charges the front door to stay.

- The turkey is cornered by Swedish Chef so to save himself he points out Big Bird is in the building. Chef is amazed. Is the gobbler gobbler humongo.

- The newsman is here and tells us barometers are falling sharply- which means he gets hit with stuff.

- Janice has cookies and makes the mistake of announcing that near Cookie Monster who eats them all. Then Animal says- "That my kind of fella." That would've been the awesomest show ever.

- Sesame Street is presenting "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Grover is the mouse not stirring- he's carrying a bowl and you are to note the hand never touches the spoon.

- Despite the snow Piggy decides to still go to the house and she gets blown away by the storm.

- Fozzie and the Snowman go to do their act for Kermit but Statler and Waldorf cut them off- AMAZING!!!!!!

- The Chef tries to cook Big Bird but they end up singing a duet.

- Doc decides he is friends enough with the Muppets to go out and look for Miss Piggy. Very nice of him.

- Robin then calls to Kermit and says to come to the basement because he found a fraggle hole in the basement- are you serious?!?!

- IS IT FRAGGLE ROCK!!!!!! They don't know what Christmas is but they do pass on a pebble to each other. They've done it 37 times. Then they sing, and give their pebble to Robin.

- Then Ms. Piggy arrives on the scene with Doc who is now dressed like an English guard., and without his truck he has apparently abandoned.

- Miss Piggy sings "Home for the Holidays" for her big entrance. Then she hits the icy patch hahahahahahahahahaha

- The entire Muppet gang then does a Christmas song medley and issues some last minute gifts and wishes to one another. Then Jim Henson makes one of his rare appearances washing dishes with Sprocket- the end.

- This might be my favorite Christmas special ever. It is a lot of fun and combines a bunch of beloved characters from my youth. Easy 10 out of 10- but I'll say 1,000 out of 10 on this.

That'll end for tonight with just a few shows to watch yet.
- posted by Brian @ 12/06/2007 08:06:00 PM

 
The Post with my Christmas Tape Journey Day 3
Good news- Tape 1 is not over yet.

Bad news- The next show is "Tis the Season to be Smurfy"

- Full disclosure: I hated hated hated hated hated hated hated hated hated hated hated the Smurfs. People who watched the Care Bears would make fun of Smurf watchers.

- Anyway- some little Smurf who is just speaking gibberish is celebrating his first Christmas so hey are trying to tell him about everything- Oh boy!!!!

- Commercial time: Crispix cereal will make you do a backflip from a seated position. That's not really what I'm looking for in the morning.

- The usage of the word "smurf" is already ticking me off.

- I don't know who Sassy Smurf was but if she was a regular I might've hung myself. "Smurfatotty" WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!

- Sassy and Old Bastard Smurf are going to help some old lady have a good Christmas by giving her gifts because she is sick.

- Commercial time: Ronald is still turning down that star: The fridge still opens by Santa's wink

- Papa Smurf yells at the other Smurfs for ignoring Grampy and Sassy when they set out to bring gifts.

- One thing to mention is how good the animation is on this, and all the Hanna Barbara cartoons in general. I have the Wacky Races DVD and for being 30+ years old it really doesn't look that outdated compared to today's works.

- Another side note: I was looking for stuff on this special and found Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. It was where a bunch of cartoon characters came to life to teach a kid that drugs aren't cool. I would do anything to get a copy of that on DVD. So if you can help please do.

- Anyway- the people were asleep by the time all the Smurfs got there. SO the little blue intruders set up a Christmas surprise for them. Hooray.

- They are also scaring some gift-nabber. The people got their gifts and Whore Smurf said she will be all better now. She does not look like a doctor however.

- The police try to arrest the old guy because there was no way he afforded all this, but the robber admis he stole everything and everyone is happy except for me who just watched all this garbage.

- Whoever wrote this special can Smurf off- 0 out of 10.

- Now we move to Tape 2

- The ALF Christmas Special. And it begins with a song about cooking cats. Perfect start.

- The Tanners have headed to a cabin in the woods to spend the holidays. it's where Willie spent his childhood Christmas.

- Unpacking the car Willie finds that ALF has packed the living room TV- so he explains about the lack of electricity.

- ALF brings in holly and accidentally lets everyone know what they got for Christmas. He also changed all the tags to say they were from him/

- Brian then tells Willie ALF picked poison oak which is funny cause Willie had it tucked into his shirt collar.

- Willie then cuts a massive promo on ALF and tells him to take the holly into the woods and not hurry back. ALF is upset so he leaves sadly.

- Mr. Foley- who owns the cabin shows up with his van full of toys for the orphaned kids at the hospital and ALF climbs in the van and is stuck. Foley says how his wife passed away two weeks ago and then drives off.

- Santa Foley is now in the hospital with ALF sitting front and center.

- Commercial time: Holiday Chicken McNuggets? They come in a festive box: Leonard Part 6 starring Bill Cosby- no memory of that movie whatsoever.

- The kids get toys and ALF is the only one left so he goes to this little girl named Tiffany. She puts him in her bed and then folds him up in half. She also thinks ALF is a she.

- They have a tea party but before she can put make-up on him he speaks up and surprises Tiffany.

- ALF comes clean to her and then she goes and asks Santa for a new toy and gives back ALF. Mr. Foley visits with the main doctor and he says no need to send him the money. Foreshadowing perhaps?

- Tiffany only wanted to see Santa because someone said he didn't exist. So the doctor showed her the classic "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" speech. The doctor then lets on- this is the last Christmas Tiffany will ever see. So ALF freaks out and goes back to Tiffany's room.

- ALF and Tiffany then have a discussion about what Christmas is really about.

- Willie has opened Mr. Foley's gift and sees he left the deed to the cabin. (Foreshadowing again perhaps)

- Tiffany asks ALF to stay until she falls asleep and says she loves him. That was pretty quick. She's known him for like an hour or so. She then falls asleep and ALF cries as he leaves.

- Commercial Time: Oh man those old milk commercials were the chick would talk and gradually get older and turn into a babe I miss greatly: Family Ties and Valerie's Family is a one hour block on Wednesday- and people think sitcoms today are dead?

- A new couple has arrived at the hospital with the wife in labor. the guy grabs everything out of the car and then forgets his wife. Does that happen in real life? It's always happening in the movies and tv but I would say maybe less than 1% of the men in real life forget their wives.

- They load her onto a gurney and into an elevator but it closes as they all grab stuff and then the elevator gets stuck. ALF was underneath the gurney.

- She is going into labor so ALF comes up wearing a doctor's outfit and announces himself as Dr. Gordon Shamway. ALF is going to deliever this baby. Like I'm sure most woman want a stuffed animal anywhere near their baby tunnel.

- The baby is born as the dad is running to get into the trap door. He hears it in the stairwell and says "Daddy is on the way." I think he calls it Sam but we find out it was a girl. ALF suggests she names it Tiffany.

- Commercial Time: Batteries Not Included- Man did that movie suck

- Willie Tanner was so good at the bad dad jokes- just saying. ALF still has not returned.

- Mr. Foley is driving home- with ALF in the back- and stops on a bridge where he is ready to jump into the river.

- ALF confronts him on it. He recognizes it as the funny looking toy. Foley thinks he is Saint Nicholas. ALF tells him all the good things he has done just this year alone. He then relays the story again about Melmac, and says there are people here who need you yet. Christmas is not what you get, it's what you give of yourself.

- So Foley takes him to the cabin and insists he go down the chimney. However, the Tanners have lit a fire- will ALF do it? Of course he will.

- The Tanners then go visit Tiffany in the hospital and bring her gifts. They tell her to look out the window where ALF is in the car and waving to her. Mr Foley then gives us the voiceover again of the Santa Claus speech.

- In a weird note the girl in this show really did die as she was sick in real life.

- I loved ALF and this is way more melancholy than I remembered but still this is a great Christmas special- although ALF befriending a little girl, performing a delivery, and stopping a guy from committing suicide in the span of a night is a little far fetched. Still though I enjoyed this- 8.5 out of 10
- posted by Brian @ 12/05/2007 06:40:00 PM

 
The Post with my Christmas Tape Journey Day 2
Something occurred to me last night. The tapes are really only 4 hours long I believe as it looks like they were taped in LP version. Whatever...It's still awesome. Hopefully today brings along a more consistent bunch of shows.

- And away we go

- Already I feel good as I see the Rankin/Bass title screen and then "Frosty the Snowman." It's the story of Frosty.

- Kids are indoors and upset. There is a magician in today but he stinks and the rabbit won't even come out of the hat. The magician gives chase and the hat flies onto the snowman the kids had built.

- Something about Frosty yelling "Happy Birthday" still makes me laugh.

- Magician takes the hat back and the kids say it's not yours anymore. What the hell kind of logic is that? I'm pretty sure if they went on The People's Court or something that would be thrown out by the Cuban judge they have now. Kind of cute in an older woman sort of way by the by.

- Commerical time: This commercial for McDonalds with Ronald and the star still pisses me off. I think its the fact that the clown is speaking in rhyme.

Back to the Show:

- Now the narrator says: "The hat certainly did belong to Frosty and the kids." No it doesn't. That's like saying if someone dropped the keys to their BMW and it landed on my foot it is now mine. Is it too much to ask for this show to follow legal precedent.

- Frosty and the kids sing but then he notices the temperature is going up which means bye bye Frosty.

- He'll only stay whole at the North Pole so the kids decide to take him there. And now we get verse 2 of the song. And a parade has now broken out in town. No one is surprised at a walking snowman leading a group of kids.

- Expanding the cop's part in this may not have been wise. It's also deadly because he swallows his whistle.

- No money, no ticket. Still one of my favorite lines. Although I could do without the ticket counter doing his best Goofy impression.

- The bunny- who has apparently left the magician now- points the kids to a refrigerated boxcar and they load up. As the train pulls away the magician hops on and says "Think nasty" I would recommend ATM but I'm not sure that's the direction he is going.

-Commercial time: CALIFORNIA RAISINS!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they sing "I heard it Through the Grapevine"- get it. : Scott Hamilton than warns us not to drink alcohol. Kind of a weird spot to follow the Raisins with.

- Karen is freezing on the boxcar so he decides to get off with her- in a region covered in snow. Probably about the same temperature. But he builds a fire which was nice.

- Actually I lied. They talked a bunch of animals into building the fire. The magician shows up though and blows out Karen's fire and demands the hat.

- Frosty then grabs Karen and goes down the hill since he is the fastest belly-whopper in the West. I tried that once in the backyard. I got the worst case of frostbite ever and pants full of snow.

- They find a greenhouse but get locked in by the magician- just before Santa arrives with the animals. Hocus- the rabbit- relays the situation. The narrator informs us that Santa speaks fluent rabbit. Ok they are just taking creative license here. Is it just rabbit he speaks or all animals?

- Frosty has melted and we get a montage of clips from the previous 20 minutes that is the same style of video given for dead celebrities at the Oscars. Kind of creepy. Also Christmas snow Santa informs us is the specialest kind of snow.

- He brings Frosty back but before he can put the hat on the magician goes to grab it. Santa stops him and says if he touches it he will never get another Christmas gift ever. So not even Santa adheres to law? This shouldn't bother me so much but it does. I get the magician is the villian but the rabbit had the hat blow off his head and onto Frosty. How does possession change in that situation?

- Commercial time: The McDonald's commercials are creepy. Ronald is having a hoe-down with Chicken McNuggets that show you how to dip them in BBQ sauce and eat them. So there are little Nugget puppets dancing around while real nuggets are being eaten. Bizarre.

- The hat goes on Frosty's head and he is alive and that ends the show.

- Definite thumbs up and another of my favorite shows this time of year. Being older though the whole legal subplot is a downer so I'll say 7 out of 10.

- Time for our next show- again presented by Rankin/Bass. Did they do anything besides Christmas shows? Anyway it's "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

- Some dude is reading a book and says, "Only if I knew." Then we see a mouse reading a book and he says, "Only if I knew." He then tells us like a mouse says when they see a big hunk of cheddar "Better start from the top." That better be the end of the mouse analogies.

- Mice have their own mailmen. Our mailmouse-whichever. Everyone's letters to Santa were returned. It might have something to do with the address being The North Pole with no zip code listed. Just a wild guess.

- Commercial time: Boy they really used to show the same commercials a lot. I saw the commercial with Santa opening the fridge by winking for roughly the 6th time now: The Nestle TollHouse commercial was little kids holding cookies to their eyes and then having others eat them. Kind of gross.

- Papa mouse calls the North Pole and says this is Father Mouse. Is that a real name? He gets told Santa hated the letter in the Junctionville Register.

- The human meets with the mayor and says he wants to make Santa happy again with a special clock that will play an annoying song sung by a bunch of 7 year old boys. That probably won't help. The board members disagree with me though and they buid the clock.

- The mice find the letter that says Santa is a myth. They try to figure out who did it and say "Long words" three times which leads them to confronting their kid. I guess. No idea what is going on here. Also the kid only thinks that way because he only thinks with his head. Who the hell wrote that line?

- They take him around and show him all the kids he upset. Patrick- the writer- blows it off as just kids so who cares. They aren't smart. Yeah they don't get caught in a trap by peanut butter.

- Clock ceremony is up now. But it breaks- will Santa show up?

- Commercial time: A bunch of little kids sing about Crayola crayons: Let's congratulate Bob Newhart- they never say why though.

- Everyone gets mad at the clockmaker so the family lacks food and the mice do as well because food doesn't fall off an empty table. Makes sense.

- Now the clockmaker is singing a song about miracles needing a hand. I actually like this song. So no smarmy comments. Well it would be nice if his mouth matched the words.

- Albert- who wrote the note, I was wrong earlier- is upset because he heard the song and he accidentally broke the clock. The father tells him don't be sorry, just correct the problem you created- good advice.

- Back to the present time and no chimes as we hit midnight. Santa hears the song and lands. Now we are back to the poem. And we finish it as Santa has delivered his gifts and taken off again.

- Commercial time: You can still get that Santa calendar from Cherry 7UP. Do they still make that?:- Some little kid brought Santa holiday M&M's

- Such short commercial breaks. Show is over...I like the little diversion in the story and what it added. Despite the annoying song I liked that other one so let's go with a 7 out of 10 on this one as well.

- The next show is up and it is A Charlie Brown Christmas. A classic that Charles Schultz insisted had the biblical story involved. ABC was worried thinking it would affect the ratings. 40 years later it is still shown every year. Fuck you ABC.

- Charlie Brown and Linus discuss why Chuck is always depressed this time of year. Then Snoopy skates in and throws them into a tree.

- Commercial time: Oreo commercial with a little kid falling asleep before Santa arrives. Finally a new commercial.

- Charlie checks his mail and still has no Chrsitmas cards. He sarcastically thanks someone and she misses the point. Pigpen builds a snowman that is dirty as well as Snoopy eats a stack of bones

- Lucy only eats January snow. She is always Mrs. Bringdown. Then Charlie goes to her for advice and pays his nickel. She spouts some psycho-babble at him and he blows her off. Then she suggests he direct their Christmas play.

- Snoopy decorates his doghouse to win a lights and display contest. Charlie is upset by this. Sally then asks him to write a letter for her where she asks all kinds of personal questions. When she asks for 20's Charlie gets upset and leaves.

- Charlie gives them all his hand signals but the cast ignores him and starts dancing and singing. I still do that one kids dance- you know the one if you've seen the special.

- Lucy hands out all the parts and gets into a past with Snoopy where he licks her and they both get grossed out. I think Snoopy got the short end of that one.

- Now Lucy is browbeating Charlie Brown into admitting she is cute. What is her issue?

- The people start dancing again so Charlie suggest just buying a tree and everyone yells at him to get a huge aluminum tree and to do something right. He picks the smallest tree he can find

- Commercial time: Some guy is jumping on furniture because he bit into a York Peppermint Patty. They aren't that good douchebag:- CBSpirit is the worst catch phrase for a network ever.

- Schroeder plays his Beethoven Christmas music and Lucy says he wasn't great because he was never on a bubblegum card.She then yells at him to play "Jingle Bells" three times despite the fact that he has been doing it for a while. Why does anyone talk to her?

- Charlie Brown comes back with his tree and everyone gives him grief, not of the good variety though. They all laugh at the tree then- even Snoopy.

- Charlie then yells for anyone to tell him what Christmas is all about. Linus speaks up and relays to us the biblical story about Christmas.

- Charlie now happy goes outside with his tree, decorates it and they all sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

- Still one of my favorite Christmas shows..easily a 10 out of 10.

-One more today so let's see what the tape has for us now. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Nice. But first

- Commercial Time: Some class hated their teacher but by the end of the year they were buying her McDonald's breakfast and crying. Quite the turnaround.

- The Whos are singing around their Christmas tree with a bunch of gibberish words. Meanwhile the Grinch up in his cave is growing angrier by the minute.

- He tells us everything they will do tomorrow. Including a bunch of stuff I can't even begin to pronounce. Although I can say they will eat Who roast beast. By the visuals they will also preform magic tricks and balancing acts. Then they will sing. It would upset me too if they were just making up words and singing nonsense.

- Then the Grinch gets a wonderfully awful idea to steal Christmas from the Whos. That leads us into the great "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" song. Whoever wrote this thing though had a hard-on for similes and metaphors. He has no reindeer though so he decides to just use Max as one (his dog)

- Silly Max thinks he is riding on the sled but he is pulling it. Then they take off.

- Commercial Time: The Raisins are back again- still is awesome: Not awesome is this damn Santa winking at the fridge commercial:- Kate and Allie were robbed before Christmas:- Pee Wee's Playhouse is a party on Saturday mornings. FOr a few years yet.

- Little Max is doing all he can to keep the sled moving. He is having some issues.

- The Grinch got stuck in the chimney but eventually got out. It probably would've been worse for the Whos had they woken up to a Grinch stuck in the chimney.

- He stole their food. Even the Who hash which really pissed off the narrator. Why I don't know?

- He lies to Cindy Lou Who and then disappears with it all. Traveling from house to house robbing everyone and having roughly 1,000,000 bags of stuff.

- The Grinch then assumes all the Whos will cry "Boo Hoo" Kind of conceited to think he could have that effect on them. I was right because Christmas still came and the Whos kept on singing.

- He then figures out that Christmas is more than just the material things. However the sled starts to fall off the cliff but the Grinch- summoning the strength of a million men lifts it high into the air and saves the Whos.

- Again another of my favorites so I give this a high recommendation 10 out of 10 for this as well.


So we'll end there today and this was a better day then yesterday by far. Tomorrow we hit tape 2.
- posted by Brian @ 12/04/2007 10:29:00 AM

 
The Post with my Christmas Tape Journey Day 1
As I mentioned previously- when I was little my mom helped me record a bunch of Christmas shows and what I have today are two 6 hour tapes from 1987 (I was six) and one 4 hour tape from 1989 (Obivously 8). I found them recently again and decided to tear down memory lane as the oldest are now 10 years old. Commercials and everything will be discussed here as we stroll down memory lane.

In the interest of fairness I must say I have no idea what is on these tapes as I've avoided reading labels. It will be as much a surprise to me as it is to anyone. Let's begin my helter skelter ruminations on holidays past.

- Tape 1 is in and we have play. At this point I should say I plan on watching 3-4 hours per day so these posts might get lengthy. I'll try my best to keep you entertained and talk about what is happening. You get plot and humor. But be prepared to skip ahead some maybe.

- And already I have no idea what I'm watching as I miss the title card I believe. It's definitely a Rankin/Bass production which you can tell from the animation.

- Queen Zirloin? And some evil wizard looking guy says he must convince them tonight or it will be Santa' last sleigh ride.

- Queen of the water spirits? Lord of sleep phase? Master of sound nymphs? Commander of the wind demons? Grand Duke of the might elves? Protector of the nooks? King of the Riles? Whoever wrote this was doing some powerful drugs.

- The spirit of death is visiting Santa Claus who is a mortal that people love. This weird roundtable is torn because some want him to continue which means granting him immortality. This seems a little heavy for a kids show.

- This wizard apparently found Santa as a baby and saved him from being someone's meal. Then he sings someting about not having children. Not kidding.

- Watching this I imagine this was like Tim Burton's porn.

- Now some chick is singing. The wizards name is Great Ack? I think. The voice actors sound drunk.

- Some Queen Sheagra is roaming the forest and this one dude is the master of forest animals.

- I hate this thing with every fiber of my being right now.

- The singing chick stole a baby from the lioness. Who is pissed but has now been deemed the protector. I think this is Santa but the show hasn't really signified flashback yet.

- Robin Hood or something just whistled with another guy going to the stream. I would kill for a commercial right now.

- Santa Kid grabs Ack's belt so they can circle the world. When they land they will become invisible to everyone. That's a mighty power there.

- No idea what is happening right now. They are flying in on situations where kids are being treated badly. I would call it foreshadowing but I just don't care right now.

- Are there seriously no commercials in this fucking show?

- Finally. Santa is hard at work with the elves when he winks and a fridge opens that is full with 7UP. Outstanding.

Puffalumps? Holy crap I remember them.

Wrigley's Doublemint gum. These women are a lot more homely looking than the one's in today's commercials- or the Orbitz chick.

There was a Beauty and the Beast show? Some TV movie called "A Hobo's Christmas." HAHAHAHA. Also some guy I never heard of says "Be smart, don't start" Sound advice


- Sadly back to the show. Santa is mad because mortal men just hurt each other and realizes he must go from enchanted forest to live with mortals. What the fuck ever.

- Some dude with a big nose and the lioness are leading Santa to the mortal world. Would've been easier to fly with Ack again I would imagine. But I'm not a mortal man living in a immortal world.

- A bunch of kids show up at Santa's residence- he is now fully grown with a beard- and demand toys. Who do these kids think they are? Then they ask for cats with multi-colored eyes. Demand something else. You've got Village of the Damned type numbers- ask for money or something- or a bike.

- Commercials again: Grimace and the chick are looking for a gift for Ronald and give him a shooting star. But Ronald says he belongs to everyone, not just Ronald. Ungrateful prick.

- Kate and Allie are on CBS. I remember thinking Jane Curtin was funny.

- Some goofy video of kids on a field trip to CBS 10. I think the one chick is still on the news there.

Back to the show

- The one roundtable guy who looks like Brak is pissed that Ack wants to give a toymaker immortality. I'm pissed this think aired. Someone just threw a rock through Santa's window that threatened him to not make toys anymore.

- A snake and a spider have tied up Santa Claus. Santa summons the forest nooks to come. There is a roundtable of evil people who wnat to keep Santa from making children happy because that means they can't make kids do what they want. This is like the worst premise ever.

- Battling forces as Ack and the evil warthogs take turns making lightning. Just retarded on all levels. Ack then kills the Arguas.

- Commercials: Fruitasaurs is being hunted by kids (fruit snacks). Looks like a float. Ronald McDonald is leading a bunch of kids in doin the fry step- ugh.

- Santa's sleigh won't move so he figures out reindeer. This is the hackiest story of Santa ever told. Worse than that television movie with Whoopi Goldberg a few years ago.

- Santa's gifts are stolen and then they are found. Now death is hovering him leading to this stupid show. Then Santa dies

- Commercials: Cinnamone- TOast- Crunch...Just gross. Wendy's is handing out furskin bears, which probably smell like french fries. Simon & Simon is on next as well. That better not be on this tape or I will murder someone.

Back to the show


- Santa's alive and we are done- Thank god....THat show gets a -14 out of 10

Next show is Mickey's Christmas Carol. Now we talking.

- We start with Donald Duck's Christmas story. He spends Christmas with his nephew's.

- Huey, Dewey, and Louie build a snowman, and Donald sleds right into it destroying it. Then he laughs at them. Well that was just outright mean.

- They build a snowman around a rock and trick Donald into crashing into it. A normal person that would kill but well he's a duck.

- Both sides have now built ships and a castle. That was fast. My construction skills were never that good. Donald knocks them all down and then sends over a bullet that splits a wooden pole spanking the kids.

- So they make bullets and fill them with mousetraps to shoot at Donald. Then they shoot flaming embers at Donald's ice ship which melts into the lake. Surprisingly their snow castle doesn't melt. Well the nephews win.

- Now we get the story of Pluto's favorite Christmas. They are visited by Chip and Dale. See Mickey cuts down their tree and then takes it home to decorate.

- Chip & Dale play with an ornament that gets broken. Then Dale starts screwing and unscrewing lights which leads to Pluto's nose getting tweaked, Pluto is mad and trying to point out the chipmunks but Mickey never sees them.

- Dale is hiding as a candle and as he tries to tell Mickey he gets blown off. So he gives chase which ends up with everyone in the tree and it collapsing. How sweet.

- Commercials: You can get a CHerry 7up calendar where you pull off Santa's beard. Also the SMurfs and ALF cartoons are on tomorrow morning.

- Goofy's story now reveals him hunting for Christmas dinner, then ice fishing. But it's a swerve as we see Goofy learning how to ski.

- I'm not really feeling this short. Goofy does sleep in his skiing outfit though which is mildly amusing.

- This is essentially a skiing instructional video with Goofy pratfalling through it. Again- not feeling it.

- It ends as Goofy goes off the huge ski jump and lands in bed. Great.

- Commerical time: NBC has an hour on Sundays of Family Ties and My Two Dads. I wish I had that on tape. Also Bob Eubanks hosts the Newlywed Game at 4:30 everyday.

- And now it's tie for Mickey's Christmas Carol. Mickey asks for Christmas day off and Scrooge grants it but docks him a half day's pay. Sorry but I don't know what half of 2 shillings and a haypenny is.

- Donald comes by to invite Uncle Scrooge to Christmas dinner, but he declines and yells at Donald.

- Two gentleman stop by and try to collect money for the poor. Scrooge says he won't do it because it would put them out of a job. Sound belief system there.

- Scrooge goes home and is haunted by Jacob Marley- who looks a lot like Goofy. They weren't very creative on casting day for this one.

- Scrooge is visited by Jiminy Cricket- the ghost of Christmas past. When Scrooge was young he was at a festive dance and kissed by a girl duck. Years later he turned her away for money. Pesos before hoes I guess.

- Some giant I don't recognize is the ghost of Christmas present. He can't say "pistachio" They go to the house of the Cratchets and see Tiny Tim. He's going to die and then we get the ghost of Christmas future.

- Scrooge sees his grave and gets thrown in. He then wakes up and is so happy to be alive he decides to give money to everyone. That sounds like a scam by the poor collectors- in fact they get 100 gold pieces from Scrooge. The thieves.

- Commerical: This Monday ALF is present. That would help control the cat population.

- Mickey's Christmas Carol gets a solid 8.5 out of 10. Donald's cartoon helps that score a lot. Goofy's cartoon drags it some.

This concludes Day 1..Day 2 is coming tomorrow night.
- posted by Brian @ 12/03/2007 04:32:00 PM