June 25, 2009
Rest in Peace Michael Jackson...
More to come...
June 24, 2009
Commercials We Love - "Terry Tate - Office Linebacker"
The acting in this is great, especially the guy wimpering behind the recycling bin, and also the guy who plays Terry, Lester Rasta Speight, who I remember was also very funny when he appeared as a semi-regular on My Wife and Kids.
Related Posts
Commercials We Love - "Laptop Hunters"
Commercial We Love - "Be Like Mike"
Commercials We Love - "Super Mario Land 2"
Commercials We Love - Cindy Crawford & Little Richard for Charlie
June 23, 2009
What Puts Your Butt in the Movie Seat?

We couldn't agree more. Each day, there seems to be new Megan Fox news, whether it's an interview in Entertainment Weekly, her comments on her relationship with Brian Austin Green, comparisons to Angelina Jolie, or photos of her at Transformers' UK, German, and LA premieres.

Based on this, we concluded that Mendelson's theory is correct. We men will go see a movie just because the actress in it is hot. In fact, after much deliberation, we agreed that we're more likely to see a movie starring an older or less attractive actress we think is talented and/or has a track record of being in good movies. Such actresses include Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Jodie Foster, Joan Allen, and Diane Keaton.
Katie Holmes in The Gift...

We embarassedly admit we stood on line and paid hard earned cash to see some of these, and we're pretty sure we wouldn't have if it weren't for the nudity. And we've even made a mental note about two upcoming releases -- Fox plays a possessed cheerleader in Jennifer's Body and Jessica Biel plays a stripper in Powder Blue...
Guess you can forget what we said about not being shallow...
June 17, 2009
The Evolution of the 80s Teen Movie - How Bob Clark, Gen X, and Home Video Changed the Landscape of American Cinema - Part II
In the 1970s, cable television was largely relegated to rural or mountainous areas where large terrestrial antennas were scarce, making home reception of broadcast television signals difficult if not impossible. However, the 1980’s saw an explosion of American households in urban areas gaining access to cable television. During the decade, the number of cable TV households in the US more than tripled, from 17% in 1978 to 57% by 1989.

The growth of cable television was greatly fueled by the development of premium movie channels like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and The Movie Channel, and the continuous slate of popular films they offered. Prior to cable television, once a film completed its theatrical run, it was usually years before it made its way to network television where, if the film was exceedingly popular, it might be broadcast twice a year.
At the same time that cable television was beginning to boom, sales of home videocassette



America, and particularly Hollywood, was soon completely enamored with the teen movie genre. The profit margin (box office receipts now combined with cable TV revenues) of movies like Porky’s, Private Lessons, Homework, and The Last American Virgin proved very attractive to film production companies and their investors. Particularly intriguing were the low-budgets these films offered, typically less than $10 million and often less than half that. Actors almost always worked cheaply, as most were happy just to have a role in a Hollywood feature. Principal photography took place locally, props were simple and inexpensive, and shooting schedules tight. Screenplays could be written quickly, as writers could tap into their own teenage experience (real or imagined) for material.



Interestingly, one of Hinton’s later novels, Tex, had previously been made into a feature film directed by Tim Hunter and starring Matt Dillon. Tex, though, was barely noticed upon its release in the summer of 1982. Not the case when production began on The Outsiders. Director Francis Ford Coppola had won two Best Director Oscars for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and had also helmed the critically acclaimed Apocalypse Now. As a result, Coppola had ascended to the pantheon of America’s greatest living filmmakers, so when he signed on to shoot The Outsiders, Hollywood took notice. With a respected director like Coppola now working in the genre, the modern teen film now had Hollywood’s official seal of approval
The Outsiders firmly established that teen movies could successfully extend beyond comedy. As a result, Hollywood soon began cranking out more teen dramas (Racing with the Moon, All the Right Moves, Rumble Fish), and expanding teen movies into other genres, such as thrillers (The Boys Next Door, Out of Control) and horror movies (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Fright Night.)

Next:
Part III: The Brat Pack and the Legacy of 80s Teen Movie
The Evolution of the 80s Teen Movie - Part I
June 12, 2009
10 Reasons We Love Al Bundy
9. He's a real All-American guy.

The kind of guy we'd enjoy hanging out with. He drives a Dodge, drinks beer, likes sports, TV, John Wayne movies, and frequents a local strip bar called The Jiggly Room.
8. He turned us on to Psycho Dad
Al's favorite TV show glorified guns, violence, and matricide. Sadly, a Congressional hearing led to its cancellation.
7. He's got cool friends.
Where would Al be without his running buddies, Jefferson, Griff, Ike, Bob Rooney, and Officer Dan?
6. Chicks dig him.


5. He's great with the insults.
4. His daughter is hot!
3. He's the founder of No Ma'am.
With their motto of "Carpe Mammarium" ("Seize the hooters") The National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood does more fine work than Greenpeace, Feed The Children, and the Red Cross combined.
View the No Ma'am charter or purchase an authentic No Ma'am tee shirt courtesy of E.E. Bell (Bob Rooney) at E.E. Bell Online. (We got ours!)
2. He scored 4 touchdowns in one game!
1. He makes us feel better about ourselves.

No matter how lousy our lives are, Al's is just a little bit worse. His neverending misery cheers us up.
Related links:
Married With Children Official Site at Sony Pictures Television
June 10, 2009
Beatles Rock Band is Best at E3
No seriously, I was tied up with E3 and other miscellaneous crap.

Judging from the opening cinematic and gameplay trailer, the game's look is absolutely stunning. Plus, Beatles Rock Band was apparently created with cooperation and input from Paul, Ringo, and John Lennon's and George Harrison's widows, which should give an indication of what to expect from the game in terms of quality. (The four have been notoriously protective about how the Beatles' music, likenesses and brand are used. )
Songs from the Beatles' catalog that will be part of the game include "I Saw Her Standing There", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Day Tripper", "Octopus’s Garden", and "Here Comes The Sun" (with the rest of the Abbey Road album to follow shortly after the game's release), plus 40 more tunes. Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for "Helter Skelter", "Nowhere Man", "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and "Yer Blues".
In anticipation of the game's September 9th release, I've create this official Beatles: Rock Band countdown clock. (Let's hope the game includes "Strawberry Fields Forever" so the theme I chose makes sense.)
The Beatles Rock Band Official Site
June 9, 2009
Things That Bug Me About Teen Wolf

First of all, it's made quite clear that it's the guy's 5th foul... I mean, the guy had fouled out... You have to leave the court when you foul out. My 7 year old son knows that. Did none of the movie's writers, producers, cast or crew have any familiarity at all with the rules of basketball? Couldn't someone (even a janitor who was mopping up the sweat on the gym floor so none of the actors would slip) have stepped up and said, "Hey, you know guys, if that was the guy's fifth foul, then he'd really have to go to the bench."?
And to make it worse, there was no time left on the clock, so the ref (correctly) clears the court... But for some reason, he allows this one guy (Mick) who, once again, had fouled out of the game, to stand right underneath the basket during the foul shots. The ref even has to tell the kid to "Get back." This really irritates me because it's just completely unrealistic. ("More unrealistic than a teenage werewolf playing basketball," you ask? Yes, I think so.)

Susan Ursiti is one of those 80s actresses that was in one movie and then you never saw or heard from her again. Kinda like that really hot girl who played the blond (I think her character's name was Cookie) in One Crazy Summer. Or that chick who played Scotty Palmer's girlfriend in Hardbodies (Teal Roberts is her name)... Or Patrick Dempsey's girlfriend in Loverboy?... Or that girl with the really big forehead from Can't Buy Me Love... What happened to these women? Did they get married and quit the business?... Or were they sucked into that same Hollywood actress black hole that claimed Mary Stuart Masterson?

How does Niles not lose his footing while standing (and dancing) atop a moving van?
This stunt defies gravity and several other laws of physics. Later in the movie, The Wolf is able to do it, maybe due to his enhanced animal agility and balance, but Niles... no way.

I would more likely believe the existence of actual werewolves than that fat load being on the court making sky hooks.
Was that a body double for the girl who plays Pam?
Watch the scene below very carefully. As Pam seduces Scott, she takes off her bra, and then there's a weird cut, and then we only see the girl's back... Looks like a different girl to me. The actress playing this part is named Lorie Griffin, and I'm wondering, when they were casting, why didn't they just tell her, "Look, there's a scene where you'll have to take your top off; it won't be shown, but we need you semi-nude for this one scene." So what happened? Did she agree to take her top off and then changed her mind last minute? This ain't exactly a Lady MacBeth kind of role; they could've gotten a thousand actresses for this part. So why not just hire an actress that has no problem with the nudity and just pay her, instead of having to pay Lorie AND a body double? Just a thought...
Why'd they make a sequel?

The infamous Teen Wolf Too starring Jason Bateman shares the title of worst comedy sequel of the 80s with Short Circuit 2, Jaws 3-D, Jason Takes Manhattan, and Mannequin 2: On the Move.
Why can't I buy that song that plays during the end credits?
No, not "Win in the End", which is the song that plays during the basketball game montage where Michael J. Fox does the same behind the back pass and the same layup twenty-five times. I'm actually talking about "Shooting for the Moon" which is one of the best songs from a movie EVER. Everyone... I repeat, EVERYONE I know who's seen this movie, LOVES that song. And yet, because there's no official soundtrack for Teen Wolf, there's no way to get a CD-quality copy of it. And you can't get it by recording the audio from the DVD either, because there's a bunch of crowd cheers and dialog on top of it. I checked, and Amy Holland has a few CDs available on Amazon, but none of them have "Shooting for the Moon" on them. Totally unacceptable.
Why does becoming a werewolf make you a better basketball player?
Makes no sense whatsoever on any level -- physiologically, psychologically, or zoologically.
Teen Wolf at IMDB.com
June 2, 2009
Who was the Greatest Athlete of the 80s?
This rare video clip that I dug out of the Pop Culture Fiend Archives asked that very question. So I broke it down and came up with the answer:
Navratilova dominated women's tennis during the mid-eighties, but in the early part of the decade, she battled Chris Evert for supremacy and by 1988, Martina had been overtaken by Steffi Graf...
Forget the 80s, had his career not been cut short by injury, Bo Jackson might very well be considered the greatest athlete of all-time. Still the only athlete to reach All-Pro level in two sports (he was elected to the MLB All-Star Game in 1989 and the NFL Pro Bowl that same year) Bo also won All-America honors and a Heisman trophy while at Auburn University. Unfortunately, all of this happened too late (1985 or later) for him to be considered the greatest athlete of the 80s...
Tyson was ferocious beast, a knock-out machine the likes of which boxing had never seen. But like Jackson, Tyson was virtually unknown prior to 1985. And although he would win his first heavyweight championship the following year, Tyson fought in an era where that division was grossly short on talent...
No doubt Jordan was spectacular in the 80s. At the University of North Carolina, he won a championship, was a two-time All-American, and the Naismith Award as College Player of the Year in 1984. As a pro during the 80s, Jordan was first team All-NBA three times, and won four scoring titles, on his way to becoming the greatest basketball player of all-time. But its worth noting that Jordan won exactly ZERO NBA championships in the 80s...
So my vote goes to Gretzky. During the 80s, The Great One won seven NHL scoring titles, four championships, and an amazing nine MVP awards. In the process, he obliterated a host of major NHL records, including most points in a season (215 in '85-'86), most goals in a season (92 in in '81-'82), and longest consecutive point scoring streak (51 games in '83-'84).
Related Posts:
The Photo That Launched the Nike Empire
Related Links:
Why Bo Jackson is the Greatest Athlete Ever
ESPN's Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century