(New) Glow Sticks, Simon, Stratego, You Can't Do That On Television, Leonard Nimoy, Standby Lights Camera Action (including a look at "The Sting II"!), The Tomorrow People, Reggie Jackson's World of Sports, Honey Smacks
I don't endorse this candidate, but I found this commercial to actually be pretty witty compared to most dull and boring political ads, especially since most are smarmy or just plain nasty attack ads (and always full of blatant misrepresentations of the truth):
There's a simple reason why I pared these two up. Neither are very good, and it's doubtful you'll find many people claiming that either of these are in it for the quality of the product. They're both designed for a quick buck and are both far more popular than they should be.
To put it mildly they both suck. Badly.
Sit down and turn on Armageddon, Bad Boys, The Rock, The Island, or Pearl Harbor with a cold Miller Lite, Bud Light, Budweiser, Budweiser Select, Keystone, Busch Beer, Michelob Ultra, Natural Light, or Milwaukees Best.
Remember COLD, because the reason why bad beer is served ice cold is to mask the terrible taste.
Enjoy!
*/**** (for both the films and beer)
This second entry was a bit harder, more inventive, and less cliche.
The Godfather is a brilliant film for which will require a much more appropriate place for me to review it. Different time, different day. Since I'm trying to make these more concise then a normal review, it'll just have to wait.
Film: *****/*****
The selection for this film are Italian brews (surprise!) which actually hails from Italy. It makes for a perfect match for the Gangsters who hail from Italy.
-Birra Moretti: It's a relatively easy to drink, slightly bitter, but not that good compared to the La Rossa that the same company makes, which brings me to...
-Birra Moretti La Rossa: To be honest I wasn't sure about this beer the first time I bought it. Soon after finishing my first one I was sold. It has a very hoppy and very malty flavor to it, and finishes quite nicely. Unfortunately, at 7.2% you might not be making it to the finale if you're drinking a 6-pack.
I'm going to try something new. Have you ever gotten bored of drinking the same uninspired beers or alcohol while watching your favorite film? Want to mix it up? Well sit on down and read on!
Halloween may have passed but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a good pumpkin beer since Thanksgiving is right around the corner. What better film to have a pumpkin beer than say, Halloween?
Again, Halloween has passed but who gives a damn!?! Go for it.
Halloween is in many respect the first real modern slasher film (that and Black Christmas but that might have to wait for a few weeks). It spurred multiple films and gave rise to many other franchises which would not have existed without these films.
Movie: *** 1/2 /*****
Beers to pair:
- Dogfish Head Punkin: Yes, I spelled that correctly. Not as overpowering as other pumpkin beers. Nutmeg and clove flavors. Sweet flavors, and all together good. At 7% you probably won't make it through to the end if you keep a steady flow of these into your body.
- Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale: Wonderful blend of all ingredients, presented in a wonderful, powerful blend. Strong pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg aroma. Flavor is the same with a slight alcohol presence which is absent from so many other pumpkin beers. Coming in 22 oz bottles and coming in at 8%, don't expect to make it to the final act if you finish two.
-Blue Moon Harvest Moon - Pumpkin beer for the "regular" Joe. Coming in at 5% you'll get sick of the taste before you hit the floor.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to one of my local movie theaters and actually viewing two episodes of Star Trek the original series on a large movie screen.
For those of you who do not watch a lot of Star Trek or have not seen the Menagerie yet, it was absoultely amazing. Non-scifi fans probably should stay away, for obvious reasons.
Anyway, onto the technical aspects. The colors have never been as vibrant, and the image quality was almost as good as any film I've seen on a big screen and far better looking than any film I've seen that is at least as old as this is - 40+ years to be more exact. There were no scratches, no washed out colors, and nothing that you'd expect from the standard broadcast image that fans have known for the last few decades. It is much better looking than both varieties of the DVDs that they've sold as well. Compared to this, they're absolute crap.
The new graphics were great. Captain Pike actually looked like he was on Earth, and the added shuttle effects and additional people to the Starbase at the start of the story were a nice touch. The only thing I was disappointed with was that they didn't replace the Talos Star System chart at the start of the “Cage” footage. If they learn anything from this, it would be that the original Enterprise looks amazing just as it is on the big screen (there are rumors that they're drastically changing the look of the ship for Star Trek XI).
There were three times everyone laughed. One was when they discussed how Orion women were irresistible, and then cut to Kirk's intense close-up reaction shot. Priceless. Other moments were when Spock has (I guess) a momentary lapse of his Vulcan-ness and yells "THE WOMEN!!!" all shocked looking on the transporter pad, and when Vina yells "No! Let me finish!" when Number One and Yeoman Colt are beamed down and Pike. A few chuckles when Spock yet again let his Vulcan-ness lapse when he smiled early on in the story with the odd plants and when the Keeper made reference to Colt realizing she might a chance (*wink* *wink*) with the captain. Apparently seeing paper come out of the Enterprise ’s computer was funny as well to many. So much for the “paperless” society in the far future.
The only real downside was that while the ticket receipt and e-mail confirmation said 7:30pm for a starting time, the actual event began at 7:00 pm where I was seeing it. Thank goodness we discovered this at around 7:35 so we were able to get there just after 7:00. We just missed some of the behind the scenes feature. There were people still coming in at 7:30, about 5-10 minutes after the actual episode began. I'd be really ticked off, especially at $12.50 a ticket.
The Avengers was fantastic. That is, the Avengers television show as opposed to the crummy Avengers film staring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman made in 1998. That film was an empty shell compared to the Avengers from the 1960s.
Unfortunately this review will completely ignore the Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore from Goldfinger) and Linda Thorson eras. I've seen so little of the two (and none in terms of Thorson). Any attempts would be rendered futile. I've never even seen an episode of the "New Avengers" so I can't even discuss it.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Avengers, each episode revolves generally around a murder or other crime (but generally someone's dead). Enter Patrick Macnee as 'John Steed', a sophisticated gent (and he even wears a bowler!). As a general rule he has a partner ("in crime" - so to speak), and all but one or two exceptions that partner is a she. For the era I've watched she's 'Emma Peel', played by Diana Rigg.
The show is abosoltely tounge-in-cheek camp, but unlike so much "camp" that goes horribly wrong, you're always along for the ride. Each episode almost plays off like a complete joke, a joke you'd expect was stolen and used for an Austin Powers film, but they play it straight enough that you just want more. Assassin cats? People who wear boots to climb on ceilings because they want to be more like birds? The list can go on and on.
In fact the direction this show takes could not be farther from the style that Danger Man, which I reviewed not too long ago, takes. Polar opposites, but both arrive exactly what they meant to.
****/*****
The new Star Trek movie has just started filming today.
They've also cast Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike. Good choice.
From trekmovie.com:
11/07 - 3/08: Production/Principal Photography Phase
3/08 - 12/08: Post-production Phase
12/25/08: RELEASE!
We'll have to see how this all goes down in the coming months.
For the fans of the old Nick show "Legends of the Hidden Temple":
