November 29, 2005
MOVIES I'M NOT SURE ABOUT
Here's yet another movie list, but not a 'best' or 'worst' list; these are curious items on the stuff-to-get-to roster. There's many I KNOW I wanna see, but these...
MR. SATURDAY NIGHT - the Billy Crystal vehicle, it's not a comedy but a drama about a ficticious midcentury comedian, using both funny and serious situations to showcase Crystal's varied talents. Reports indicate that it's acceptable if you are forewarned not to expect 100% jokes, and I'm curious about the take on the borscht circuit, whether or not Crystal successfully does period material and how he combined the influences of Dangerfield and Rickles (his goal according to a few reviewers).
SO LONG AT THE FAIR - a late 40's Hammer film and the only time I'm aware that Dirk Bogarde worked with (here assistant director) Jimmy Sangster, it's cited as the inspiration for Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES and tons of other stuff. Haven't located a release in any format.
THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD - early 70's creepfest consisting of three or four seperate stories, I'm always interested to see Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in (here non-Dracula) use, but the extra attraction for me is that not only is an early Joanna Lumley part to be had but an early appearance of Nyree Dawn Porter, another action/adventure babe later to be seen in "The Protectors" with Robert Vaughn. One story is from the pen of the sometimes-great Richard Matheson.
FUNERAL IN BERLIN - from a Len Deighton spy novel, it's Michael Caine's sequel performance as Harry Palmer from THE IPCRESS FILE, made about 15 years after the earlier mid-sixties suspense flick. IPCRESS was neither DR. NO nor THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, but it's a far cry from stuff like Roger-Moore-Bond fare. Hope it's as good as the first, but doubt it.
GET CARTER - this 1971 British crime thriller pits one hit man against another and is the film on this list I'm most certain will be worth it. I'm told it's so often ripped off for method, it's the British "French Connection".
OH DAD POOR DAD MOMMA'S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET AND I'M FEELING SO SAD - this comedy is one of the only three 1960's vehicles of which I can think for supercomedian Jonathan Winters (the others being the unreleased THE LOVED ONE and the properly restored IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD). This one's the obscure one and possibly came from Broadway material.
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME - I'd prefer to see Robin Williams in things like GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, but he pulled off more reflective material in THE BIRDCAGE and such. This film's from a story by Richard Matheson (LAST MAN ON EARTH/THE OMEGA MAN, the original KOLCHAK, etc.). Any good? We'll see.
Permission to Come Aboard?
Permission granted!
Boredom will make you do strange things: ball up rubber bands, gaze out the window, smother a homeless man just to watch him die. But out of such doldrums can come the most surprising of internet finds. Last night turned up this little gem, and I now proudly call myself a member of....
And who are the Aqua Agents? Why, they're a cadre of fun-loving and inspiring... um... shills. Actually, the corporate-branded animated ambassadors for Captain D's seafood restaurant chain. "Animated" is rather a stretch here, as you'll soon see upon registering yourself at the agent sign-in. There's Rip, Kat, Tug, Jen and Scooter and the whole crew of two-dimensional motionless characters seem determined not to make any disturbance or collect your attention in any way whatsoever. They are one step away from being employed as "person crossing street" in the sign at the nearest intersection.
But I have come to praise the Aqua Agents, not to bury them! So what sort of hijinks can we expect with this lively bunch? Well, you can... register your birthday! And then what? Well... you can see who else was born on your birthday! And? And you can... see what important world events occured on your birthday. And so on.
But there are games! From this fierce and competitive underwater kingdom comes... Tic-Tac-Toe! A rousing game of Xs and Os with.. um.. yourself? Absolutely! Go for it! What you can do is compete against yourself unto a tie, and then repeat the game and see if you can tie any faster. And how about "Memory", wherein you are called upon to match two character faces underneath the chips until all 12 are gone. Of course, it helps if the characters are, you know, memorable.
Still, I, Ulysses, your stern and flinty deep sea captain, pledge my faithful devotion to the Aqua Agents and will dutifully honor our pledge to provide subpar fish-ities to extremely sad and lonely old men. Where there is a broken home with an alcoholic father and faithless wife, we'll be there! Where there is a child who still retains the hope of escaping her childhood without scurvy, you'll see me. For we are the few, the discreet and undiscerning: the Aqua Agents!!
Stay tuned as we take on the nefarious plans of Whataguy & Addaboy, those mischiefmakers of the Whatakids super-villian organization. Never shall we submit to The Order of Beef! Long Live Mercury-Infested SwimAbouts!
Disclosure: The author of this post will sincerely entertain offers from the Captain D's organization to perform live as a member of the Aqua Agents for any sponsored or catered corporate events. It should be known that I am a rather fetching lad even in the tightest of spandex unitards (a very wide and tall belt would help, though. Cape is a must) and have the corps d'esprit necessary to up sales by at least 1/10th of a basis point. I have no compunction about placing tridents in the hands of fetted CEOs at such events and christening the "Big Tuna" with a wet and hardy fishslap across the face. I have no shame; just an abiding love for our scaled friends. I can be reached through this website. Thank you.)
November 25, 2005
Caucus, Caucus , Caucus
The idea has been brought forth that a full caucus of clowns needs to congregate at some point in the month of December. The date ... open for negotiation. The setting ... there's a Chinese place in SW Houston that serves Peking Duck. Uber and I have that high on our "To Eat" list. Uber also suggested he's got coupons for an Ethiopian restaurant (no, that's not an oxymoron ... just funny).
Since the Rocky thing takes place the weekend of the 10th, I'll go ahead and start the ball rolling with a date of either the following Sunday (11th ... the brunching hour perhaps) or the Saturday following (17th ... dinner or lunch). If anyone's got problems with the dates, suggest an alternate. If there's a preference for dining options, state it. Otherwise, prepare for an assclown-only meeting so's we can all update our material a bit more for the following year.
Peace!
November 21, 2005
ART
It'd be an argument for going to RHPS if she still did much of that...
November 15, 2005
"Can your stomach stand the shocking facts..."
"Sex Party" mom (who just got 30 years) picture here
November 11, 2005
So What's The Status...
of the Ringwalds? JW posted something about a disbandment on her LJ. Huh?
November 04, 2005
Sorry Charlie
Dear Charlie Sexton,
You suck!
Sincerely,
Houstonian in a Huff
(aka, a Molly & the Ringwalds fan who was eagerly looking forward to good clean 80s fun over a birthday weekend)
November 03, 2005
Yngwie!
Yngwie in review ... over at the nicer, bigger, more pretentious, less goat-referring-to blog.