Hobbit? Sure. Sequel? Wait, what?

I figured he'd get around to it. PJ and NLP have "put their differences behind them" (agreed on a price) and they're gonna make that Hobbit movie... and a sequel.

Sequel? Did JRRT write a sequel? Did I miss something? First I thought they're gonna split it into two parts, but that's not what they said. "The Hobbit" + sequel = ??? Bilbo Joins the Circus? The Exciting Adventure of Bilbo on the Floor? Revenge of Bilbo? Hobbit II: The Reckoning?

/got nuthin
//still think it will be good

The way I quote myself works is not entirely understood.

Skidoo is coming.

Skidoo is one of those strange movies from the 60s that must be seen to be believed. I haven't seen it, but I'd like to. (Thanks to Mark Evanier for the cool graphic.)

Made in 1968 by Otto Preminger, Skidoo stars Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Frank Gorshin, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, George Raft, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney and Groucho Marx (in his final movie role). It's scored by Harry Nilsson.

Have you seen Head, the Monkees movie? Or Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles movie? They both are horrible and completely incomprehensible, but there is nothing else like them. That's hard to say in a long history of cinema.

I've seen a lot of movies, and I like movies, and I like things I don't understand (as Grace Slick once said). If you're that kind of film buff, you should schedule some DVR time to watch Skidoo.

It won't be good, but it will be something to see.

Clive and Monica, you have failed me. You too, Paul.

I finally saw Shoot 'Em Up. It was good for two acts and then completely sucked. Ridiculous stunts began and it ran out of plot, so there was no ending. Sometimes the wanting is better than the having.

I support the writers' strike.

When I was a journeyman member of the International Typographers' Union Local Nr. 14, we were also told that we should take a year off from pay increases because management had to pay extra cash to buy phototypesetting equipment. Any time they tell you to "take a year off" or "take this rate now to grow the business" they are fucking you in the ass with sand in it.

Breaking news: Surf's Up is #66.

Yes, that's right movie fans, we watched Surf's Up last night and I thoroughly loved it. Even more the second time. So now it's #66 on my Top 100 Favorite Movies, right after Monty Python and the Holy Grail and just before The Incredibles. As Dan Burns once said about my movie list, "Lots of comedies."

What got bumped to #101? It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. All That Jazz is now on the bubble. If I had a proper website, there would be a way to check my Top 100 Favorite Movies list any time you wanted to. If you suddenly feel a need to check if your favorite movie is on my list, just drop me a line.

The way I quote myself works is not entirely understood.

The exciting adventure of Paul on the floor.

When you haven't seen a movie in 42 years, except a couple of viewings on television, you wonder how it will hold up. Help! is just as delightful today as it was in 1965.

After making the pseudo-documentary A Hard Day's Night, they wanted to do something different. Director Richard Lester said that a documentary of their lives in 1965 would have been X-rated, so they needed a plot.

This is a wonderful movie. It's not a satire, it has no political references, it's not a drug-induced trip movie, it's just silly. I guess you could call it a parody of spy movies, Bond movies in particular.

Mostly it's filled with terrific locales, wonderful music (Beatles songs and incidental music as well), hilarious British character actors, and lots of witty dialogue.

It's not stupid/good, cause it's not stupid. It's too fluffy to be stupid or good. I like it a lot, but it will never make the Top 100.

I can say no more.

Lucas peddles half-baked shit.

In this LA Times article, Lucas admits there's nothing good in his new TV series.

"The Skywalkers aren't in it, and it's about minor characters," Lucas said in an interview. "It has nothing to do with Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader or any of those people. It's completely different. But it's a good idea, and it's going to be a lot of fun to do."

He's saying, "It's Star Wars, you fucking losers, you'll buy it and you don't care if it's good or not. Remember the prequels?" To further decode this missive, "a lot of fun to do" means "I'll have a lot of fun counting the money I make from you rubes."

I'll say it again: I don't want to watch anything made from backstory. Yes, I'm looking at you, Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The good news is that Lucas has nary a clue as to how television works and so far nobody wants to buy this thing. Who would have though that it was television excecutives that taught him a lesson about making good stuff?

The 100 scariest movie scenes.

It's an interesting list, because they are selecting "scenes" and not movies. Many movies have several scenes included. (I feel I must mention that once again, "of all time" is totally unnecessary.) Lots of the scenes have video clickies, and there is some really scary stuff here. Definitely chill producing.

I've seen 24 of these movies (I'm counting movies and not scenes) and as with most lists of "horror" movies, there are lots of the "classics" that I haven't seen (like Halloween, Friday the 13th, or any of these movies with II or III in the title).

Willy Wonka? Well, the author seems to like scenes that weird you out, like the teddy bears from Akira. Not what I thought he'd pick from that movie. It's a fun list, even just to click and see what clever title he gave to each scene. Scary movies are fun! Happy Halloween!

Top vampire movies.

Peeve #1: "of all time" not necessary or even meaningful in this list of the greatest 70 vampire movies. When I first clicked the link, I started thinking about all the vampire movies I've seen, and they'll even include my favorite one, which is...

Hey, you know what? Vampire movies suck. I mean, they're bad. Really bad. There aren't any good ones. I came to the conclusion that two of my favorite genres work excellently in print and horribly on the screen: detectives and vampires.

I've seen 17 of these flicks. I guess my favorites would be the Underworld movies, Dracula (the original), and Interview With the Vampire. This list reminds me that I still haven't seen The Lost Boys, Vampyros Lesbos, Vampire Hunter D and The Fearless Vampire Killers (which sounds like a hoot).

50 best movie robots.

I have to say it's a thorough list, although I have a couple of issues (surprised?).

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was not a movie, and the list would be fine without Twiki.

The robot spiders from Runaway were much cooler than #43. Of course, I prefer faceless robots to stupid sycophantic Threepio.

By the way, the names of those two toasters are "Artoo" and "Threepio." Those other nomenclatures are their designations. That's geek nitpicking at its finest right there.

I still cringe at the word "droideka." It was invented between the moment we finished writing cards for Young Jedi and the premiere of the movie. We exchanged shocked and stunned looks when that word hit the screen.

Cylons at #32? They haven't seen the new series. Perhaps anthropormphic skinjobs did't make the cut, or maybe they wised up about the TV thing. If we had to dip into the TV pool, Six is better than Twiki.

I don't think they've missed any movie robots. Can you think of any?

MacGuffin value meal.

How to turn your movie into a Hitchcock thriller in thirteen easy steps. Too bad he couldn't come up with 39 steps. Ha!

Even when you know how this works, it's still amazing to see it in action. We watched Rope, a Hitch flick neither of us had seen before, and all the trademarks were there.

Watching a Hitchcock film is like watching that guy spin the plates on Ed Sullivan. You know what he's going to do, but he's so damned good at it that it's fun to watch.

Poor Demi.

Some folks don't know how to age gracefully. Reportedly Demi Moore has spent over $400,000 on plastic surgery and can't understand why she can't get a role in Hollywood.

Maybe it's because she looks like a stretched out old hag. I couldn't believe the closeups in Charlie's Angels. She is definitely heading into Michael Jackson territory. Leave it alone, ladies. Natural is best.

I was gonna post a recent picture, but she's too hideous.

There's a difference.

Hell yeah I want to see Shoot 'Em Up this weekend. Unfortunately, there's a problem.

There's a difference between an apostrophe and a single open quote. The official "Shoot 'Em Up" logo has the wrong one. It should be an apostrophe, but it's a single open quote. You should never use an open quote, single or double, without a close quote.

You can see this tragedy on the movie's website. I should have added this to my list of Things I Don't Like, lousy apostrophes. Or maybe a new list of Crimes Against Typography. We can lump in here as well the department store signs that say "Mens" and "Womens" without using an apostrophe at all.

Guilty pleasures.

I'm here to talk about movies. The kind of movies you have fun watching. You can't skip them when you see them on TV. But they'll never make your Top 100. They'll never win an Oscar, and they don't make any kind of Best Of lists.

Sometimes, you know they're bad. Really bad, like you kind of cringe when people find out you like them. But I'm here to say, step forward! Take a stand! There are shitty movies you love, and I want to know what they are. I'll come clean with a few I've thought of recently. I'm sure I've got more than this.

Alien Vs. Predator - I like this movie a lot. What did you expect? The fight scenes between the eponymous beasties are terrific. I even like the dopey plot line with the human chickie who gets the "killer" mark from Fred the Predator.

Help! - This movie is fun all the way through. Who can forget "The Amazing Adventure of Paul on the Floor"? Or the way the bad guy says, "Bee-at-tulls"? Or the crazy British henchman who can't get the right plugs? I love this movie.

Tank Girl - Yes, the comic was excellent, but so was the comic for Barb Wire. (I can't even bring myself to put BW on this list.) Anyway, Lori Petty driving a tank with Naomi Watts as Jet Girl. "Feeling a little inadequate?" Malcolm McDowell!

Bedazzled - You know that Brandon Fraser is funny. Admit it. Liz Hurley is deliciously devilish, and I can't help but laugh every time she shows up as another male fantasy icon.

Big Trouble in Little China - Sure, we all love this movie, but it's pretty damned crappy, let's face it. Not gonna win any awards. But what fun!

Resident Evil - That one and the second one too. It's not just about Milla kicking ass. Zombies, shotguns, you know the drill. This is fun stuff!

Underworld - Both of 'em. Sure, I have a terrible fascination with vampires, I admit it. Kate in leather and vinyl. Guns, guns, guns.

Ten things to hate about Star Trek.

Well, they forgot my favorite thing to hate about Star Trek: No pockets!

Here are ten other good things, though.

God help me, this might be good.

Perhaps my first exposure to the world of anime was Speed Racer. (If not that, it was 8th Man.) It was stupid and I hated it. It took a long time to get my head around the fact that all Japanese animation wasn't awful like Speed Racer.

My personal journey with the Matrix movies included reading the scripts before the second and third movies were released. I was not optimistic, and the films held no pleasant surprises.

How can I find myself thinking that the new Speed Racer flick written by the The Wachowski Siblings could be good?

Here are some reasons from the linked article you're too lazy to read: John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox. Honest. Saints preserve us!

Shoot 'Em Up.

Clive Owen. Monica Bellucci. Me, in the theater, waiting for this movie to open. See the trailer. It's a black comedy. A little bit of the old ultraviolence. Some world-class cleavage. "I'm a British nanny, and I'm dangerous."

Neil's making a movie about Dee Dee.

For those of you excited about the pic of Neil Gaiman's Death I posted (well, Dani liked it), here's news that Neil is making his directorial debut in a movie about her!

If somebody made Death and they screwed it up, it would hurt. She's like my kid. If anyone's going to screw it up I'd rather it were me."

Yay!

Shocho's Top 100 Movies

I've updated my list, which I have posted here in the past, but I can't come up with a good way to turn a list of 100 movies into a decently-formatted blog post. I added a list of my top 10 (which hasn't changed for years) to the sidebar, and here are the additions since last year in July:

73. Boondock Saints
83. Clerks II
88. House of Flying Daggers

The films that fell off the bottom are Chicago, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and The Silence of the Lambs.

I guess I don't like horror movies.

Here's a list of the Top 50 Horror Movies. I've only seen 9 of them. None of those are on my Top 100.