Been almost two weeks since the last update - just haven't had or made the time to be more diligent here, but I'm trying. 

And thus, I need to first give belated Happy Birthday! wishes to

apriljoiex, who celebrated on the 3rd (sorry for the late-ness), and I'll go ahead with two-day early wishes for empressvesica, whose day is the 9th. Here's giving you ladies only good thoughts for a prosperous and fortune-filled year to come.  

So, what's worth mentioning?  Ah, yes - movies.  

As I said a couple weeks ago, I thought Forgetting Sarah Marshall was just outstanding, and not just because of my (obvious) KBell infatuation. The overall quality of the Jason Segel-penned script, with the inclusion of realistically-developed and portrayed characters, made the whole story that much more memorable.  I'm glad to see that other flist-ers have seen it and also approved. Though I do believe the final box-office will show its merit as a financial success (it's already cleared much more than its budget), it doesn't look to be matching the domestic totals of other Judd Apatow productions - The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, or Superbad. Which, really, is unfortunate, because I think FSM is probably the best well-rounded film of the bunch, in terms of balancing comedy and heart with great dialogue. Perhaps Jason Segel's full-frontal scenes scared dudes away from repeated viewings? Oh well - I'll probably see it again this weekend. 

And easily the biggest movie of the year so far is Iron Man, and I also saw that on opening day. I'll add to what other flist-ers have said, and agree that it is definitely worth the price of admission. Director Jon Favreau has hit a home-run with his biggest project to date, and Marvel's first foray into financing their own movie (rather than selling the rights to an outside studio) has paid off.  Iron Man manages to combine an enjoyable script (a little sarcasm and satire cleverly mixed in with the humor, not taking itself too seriously) with an A+ cast and superb visual effects (courtesy of Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic).  I'm not an Iron Man comic die-hard by any means, but I am a little familiar with Tony Stark's background, the type of person he's supposed to be, and with the characters that surround him. And from what I took away from the moves, the entire cast is just about perfect for their roles. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terrence Howard are pitch-perfect in their respective supporting takes on the well-written script. And of course, Robert Downey, Jr. just nails Tony Stark. The attitude and physicality are dead-on for what was really necessary for the character, and he just seems to really be having a ball as a big-budget action-star. 

I'll have to see it again to be completely fair, but I'd say Iron Man ranks right up there in my top-5 of modern-era "comic book" movies.  It's easily better than any of the Spider-Man films, and the Fantastic Four jokes. I think I'd even put it past the first X-Men, and possibly on par with X2. It's still below Superman Returns and Batman Begins on my personal list, but those two are Warner/DC masterpieces that I really almost look at as heavy dramas about comic characters, rather than just comic-based action flicks, which is pretty much where all the others lie.  But as an eye-candy-filled, entertaining-as-hell introduction/origin story that isn't leveled-down for the kiddies (Spider-Man and FF, I'm looking at you), Iron Man is top notch. Go see it. Oh, and stay 'till the end of the credits - especially if you're a Marvel-'verse comic reader. There's a bit of a nice tease. 

I've already got my ticket to see Speed Racer this Friday in IMAX. And it's not that I was highly-anticipating this flick as a "must see right away" type of thing, but just watching the teaser ads the last couple of weeks in HD on my 60" TV made my jaw drop a bit, so I'm anxious to see the next evolutions in visual effects the Wachowski brothers can come up with. Oddly enough, I recently re-watched all the bonus material from The Complete Matrix Collection - all the behind the scenes documentaries and featurettes about the stunt work and filmmaking technologies developed for the first film, Reloaded, and Revolutions, as well as the shorts from The Animatrix. All of that reminded me that Larry and Andy Wachowski have some seriously ballsy imaginations, so my interest in Speed Racer - where the sets and locations are almost entirely virtual - is definitely piqued.  Also, my boy Matthew Fox plays Racer X. So that's another plus.

Speaking of Foxy, last week's episode of Lost: 4.10 - "Something Nice Back Home" - became one of my all-time personal classics, and probably my second favorite of the season (behind 4.05 - "The Constant"). 
  

I see that a couple of other flist-ers have recently started the show, which is awesome. Again I advise anyone that doesn't watch, but is curious about doing so - either borrow or rent the DVDs, or download all the eps from the beginning.  You won't be sorry, and will easily become a more intelligent and quality-discriminating television viewer just by watching.

Battlestar Galactica has also been excellent, but IMO is almost in a plot-limbo right now, as the characters are scattered around  - or away from - the fleet. The acting is still top-shelf as always, but I think we're in the midst of a build-up toward the race for Earth. Seeing the varying reactions by Tori, Col. Tigh, Tyrol and Anders to their respective newly-found identities as Cylons is interesting as hell, though. Lee's beginning to see that having and enforcing the morally-righteous high-ground isn't necessarily what may be best for the populace, politcally, as Baltar's prophet/messiah status builds.  And Kara's facing mutiny along her desperation to "feel" her way to Earth. Classic.

Smallville's still a jumbled mess (and it's gonna drag on for an eighth season - fuck me), but I will say that last week's Tom Welling-directed episode was his best work of the three episodes where he's been behind the camera. Story was hole-filled and preposterous at points (as usual), but his blocking and camera placement was much improved. 

Supernatural is still the only critical-acclaim-worthy show on The CW, and is still fun as hell. The faux-reality satire of "Ghostfacers" had me LMAO for an hour - among the appropriately creepy traditional haunted-house standbys. Tweaking the suspense/horror genre is something this show does consistently well - IMO, on par with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in that regard. I'm really looking forward to seeing how in the hell Dean's soul-to-Hell pact will be dealt with, now that we've got a fourth season to look forward to.

I guess that's about all I've got.  Plus, I'm tired of typing - doing all this tonight since there was no new TV to watch. Tomorrow's another full Thursday night lineup, including the last episode (of a stike-shortened season) of Scrubs to air on NBC. It's almost a sure thing that ABC will pick it up for an eighth and final season, since it's an ABC Studio show. So hopefully we'll get at least 13-17 more episodes to see it sent off properly - one of the funniest shows to ever air, IMO.

Off to bed in a bit, probably. Peace out.




Kristen Bell is awesome.

Random TV talk, among other things....

So this is the first Thursday night in quite a while - months, at least - where everything I watch on this night of the week is brand-spankin' new.

First, and most importantly, Lost is back from its five-week, strike-imposed catch-up period with the first of 6 straight new eps to finish out season four. "Kick-ass" #1.  

Closely following in excitement, Supernatural is also back from its strike-lengthened hiatus with new stuff. "Kick-ass" #2.

In addition, NBC's lineup is all-new, all of which I watch: My Name is Earl, Scrubs ("Kick-ass" #3), The Office ("Kick-ass" #4), 30 Rock, and ER.  Prior to Lost on ABC, Grey's Anatomy is back with new stuff. And before SPN, The CW has another new Smallville. Both Grey's and SV have become little more than tiresome chores to keep watching, but I'm multiple seasons into my show-obligation, and can't stop myself now. *sigh*

Oh, and if all of that were not enough, my hometown Orlando Magic are trying to go up 3 games to none against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the NBA playoffs.The Magic are my second-favorite team (behind my beloved and awesome San Antonio Spurs), so I'd like to see some of that, too. Perhaps both VCRs will be working tonight, in addition to the dual tuner DVR.

Lastly, I didn't want to forget the Happy Birthday! thoughts for my flisters gracejen and candlewaxdreams, as they both have birthdays today and tomorrow, respectively. Hope the last year has treated you well, ladies, and that the next one is even better!

Also trying to decide if I want to see Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay this weekend. I didn't see White Castle until it was on DVD for quite a while, but loved its absurdity - especially the part of NPH. I'm really tempted to see this one in the theaters, stupid though I know it will be. It's like I need something to see this weekend while anticipating next week for Iron Man - which looks loads of fun, btw.

That's all I've got.  May not get to update tomorrow, so I hope everyone's weekend goes swimmingly.




Kristen Bell is awesome. 

It seems this is the only reason I try and post here lately. Just haven't had the time and/or motivation to ramble about much else, but I still stick around to read the flist when I can.

Anyway, I need to give some belated happy wishes to

lalam, who's day was on the 10th. I was in the middle of vegging-out time with_cinjudes_, so I was hardly online at all last week. I hope the big one wasn't too bad, Laura ;)

Also, in celebrity-world, belated wishes to Nicholas Brendon (and his twin brother Kelly Donovan), who turned 37 on the 12th, and - yay! on-time! - wishes today, the 14th, to my girl Sarah Michelle Gellar.  Mrs. Prinze is the big 3-1. Hard to believe.  And as I did last year, I will commemorate the two-days-apart birthdays of the actors who played their roles in my uber-'ship with a few pics. Cut below for the non-B/X-ers (pretty much all but me): 

 

And just because, some old-school SMG as Buffy:

That's all I've got for now. Hope everyone's weekend was good.





Kristen Bell is awesome.

Kind of in a weird mood, but I just wanted to make a super-quick pop-in to give "Happy Birthday" celebrity shouts today, March 27th, to Nathan Fillion - my respect for whom and admiration of needs no real explanation to anyone reading this; Elizabeth Mitchell - she has impressed me more than I can say as Dr. Juliet Burke on Lost; and Mariah Carey. Yes, Mariah - I know what some may think, and shut up. 

I was a fan of hers waaaay back in the day when she first arrived as a seven-octave-ranged vocal-phenom - I'm talking middle-school days for me.  I mean, I was obsessed, and there was no bigger fan/purchaser of her albums and singles than me. She's had her well-publicized ups and downs and weird idiosyncracies on full diisplay for awhile now, but she's still got the chops - I've seen her live three times, so I know.

Anyway, also wanted to add a big CONGRATULATIONS to  houses7177 and her husband, who welcomed their first bundle of joy into the world on Saturday, just before Easter. I heard through _cinjudes_ that everything went fairly smoothly, so I was glad to hear that her pregnancy burden was finally lifted. Now she just has a new person to raise! ;) 

That's about it - pretty boring right now. Oh - but less than 8 days until _cinjudes_arrives here in O-Town for vacation! Sweet!




Kristen Bell is awesome.

I know the day's almost over, but it's still the 29th here, so the day's just an excuse to have an entry. And, it's worth noting a date that comes around only once every four years. 

Plus, you know, I wanted to make a post to prove that I do still exist. I've barely been able to check my email regularly the last few weeks, so updating and commenting here have been virtually impossible.  BUT - I have been scrambling to read my flist every few days, so I have been keeping up with all the wonderful ramblings my fascinating flist has to offer, I just can't seem to comment or reply nearly as often as I'd like.

Oh, and I also need to wish a very belated Happy Birthday! to blackmamba2517. I'm not sure if she's even been on LJ in ages - no updates for over a year - but her birthday was the 23rd, she's still got an LJ page, and I knew her prior to the world of LJ and flists. So if you eventually see this Hallie, I didn't forget, I just got busy!

I have no time to even get into it now, but for anyone who keeps up with Lost, I sure hope you are enjoying the ride as much as I am. This season is just redefining the nature of how to blow one's mind with serial television. Especially last night's episode, 4.05 - "The Constant". A seriously whacked-out hour of TV, in absolutely the best way possible.

Will be driving down to West Palm Beach tomorrow, for a wedding on Sunday afternoon - the wedding for which I went to Las Vegas two weeks ago for the groom's bachelor party - so another weekend of trying to catch up on the interwebs will be shot. Oh well. Having a life of some sort is not too bad, I suppose.  

On that note, I'm off to do some laundry.  Hope everyone's weekend is swell.




Kristen Bell is awesome.