"Oh, that's pretty, Mr. Grimsby." "Yeah, it's a bit mild. I think I ought to tear her dress off her other shoulder."

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 1947. Three Stars.

I remember reading the book in high school, and I liked it, even though I thought it was pretty sad. Part of the reason I liked it (and part of the reason I was actually frustrated while reading it) was because, sadly, I could relate to Walter Mitty. I don't remember the details about the story, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as fun as this movie.

I was expecting a kind of dark flick. But it was actually really funny and enjoyable! Both the characters and fantasies were played with satirical and fantastical intent, which made it all fun. Danny Kaye's little reactions to things were priceless. And, Mitty turned out to be a hero and taking control of his life, which this sap loves.

This is the first time I've ever seen Danny Kaye in something, I think. Strange, huh? He was great! At first I got him confused with Donald O'Connor (who was always my favorite actor from Singin' in the Rain!*

Also, Boris Karloff is in this! Most excellent!

I really like the opening credits, with the "credits" on panes of glass that swing open. I'd like to know how they did that. And I loved that dog, "Queenie". What a good actor, behaving then barking on cue! One of my favorite parts, though, is the fantasy number where Mitty's a hat designer. It's funny and unique and racy. It was weird, though, to see only like two "musical" numbers (rather than this being either a total musical or a straight-ahead non-musical venture).

"Your small minds are musclebound with suspicion. That's because the only exercise you ever get is jumping to conclusions."


...OH NO there's a Secret Life of Walter Mitty re-make scheduled to come out this year? Starring Mike Myers as Walter Mitty?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sounds awful!!


* My gramma and my dad used to make me and my sibs watch musicals when I was little. My gramma would have us watch stuff like Lil' Abner and Bye Bye Birdie (which is another favorite of mine). And to this day, I've only seen the first half of The Sound of Music, because it used to come on two VHS tapes, and my gramma made us go to bed after the first tape (no complaints from me though, it was boring!). My dad had us watch stuff like West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also introduced us to movies like Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, River's Edge (which I got to stay up late on a school night to watch!), and Blue Velvet (which I think he showed us by accident!). My mom, on the other hand, introduced us to B-grade sci-fi/horror flicks, and she used to watch "MST3K" with me back in the day. I partly give my family credit for my eclectic taste in movies!

"I think that's the shit, man. Raw intelligence." –OR– "I don't fuckin' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again."

Burn After Reading, 2008. Three and a Half Stars.

Oh, Coen Brothers! Your joints are such a delight.

This movie was quite enjoyable! And Brad Pitt ruled in it. And I looooooove Frances McDormand. And I dug George Clooney's performance, too. It's usually a little hit-or-miss with him for me (but mostly hit. I just think I'm a little sick of seeing so much of him sometimes). Anyways, the characters that he and Tilda Swinton played opposite each other were perfect!

I grew up watching Gilad on TV, so I took particular delight in the boat work-out scene with John Malkovich.

"I'm bigger, than ever. I'm bigger, I'm back. I'm better —I'm back, than ever—I'm back. You fuckers, I'm back."

"Our enemy has realized that they are fighting guys from the future."

Body of Lies, 2008. Three Stars.

Tim and I found ourselves randomly tuning in to the middle of this movie on TV. After both professing that we'd both been meaning to check out this flick, we found it on On Demand and watched it from the beginning.

I don't, and can't pretend to, know how accurately all of the different cultures, governments, and actions are portrayed in this movie. So I'm going on how good the actors are, and how engaging the story is.

So, I was pretty engrossed with the story and the characters. And yup, all the actors are great! It's always nice to see Leo in a good movie, and I was thrilled that Russell Crowe played a not hot guy. And I'm always happy to see Mark Strong, he seems to crop up in the darndest places. And Golshifteh Farahani! She is so pretty, and seems so cool in real life. Among other things, she's currently living in France and furthering her music career with musician Mohsen Namjoo; she had previously been in the Iranian band "Kooch Neshin" (which I think means "Nomads"?), which had remained underground in Iran since rock music and lady singers are forbidden.

Mike Patton (yay!) does a song on this soundtrack (with Serj Tankian, yuck), and the end credits feature a not very Guns N' Roses-y Guns N' Roses song (yuck).

"My family is not dying tonight. You are coming with me."

Mirrors, 2008. Two and a Half Stars.

I was in the mood for a scary movie. But this movie just didn't do it for me. Mirrors creep me way out, but not movies about mirrors. And especially not this movie about mirrors. There really wasn't much scary atmosphere or anything like that, and everything felt forced. So I just wasn't in to buying what these mirrors were selling.

One interesting thing is Esseker and the story of how the mirrors got haunted (THOUGH since "Esseker" was being written in a MIRROR, I really felt that they should have done the corny thing of the name being backwards and it really being "Rekesse". HWAH!). Also, Amy Smart is in this, and she's great. And her death scene was really the only other cool thing about this movie.

The ending's a bit cheesy, but I liked it a little. Though it didn't fit in with the rest of the movie, since it was so stylized when everything else was so reality-based. Which is a shame! Wasted potential.

Kiefer Sutherland, I miss you in The Lost Boys.

"It's almost a shame to smoke it. It's like killing a unicorn. It's like... a bomb."

Pineapple Express, 2008. Three Stars.

This movie was funny! And good!

I wasn't sure that I was going to like it; even as a non-stoner, I still enjoy stoner humor... most of the time. Sometimes it gets a little grating and unimaginative. So even though it has a good cast and writers that I like, I wasn't sure if this would be good, or just average.

Yeah, it definitely went where I didn't expect it to go. And it was so so funny.

Unsurprisingly, I had a crush on James Franco in "Freaks and Geeks". It was great to see him in something not serious, and also working with Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow again!

And My Guy's in it! If you didn't know that I've been a tremendous fan of his since seeing him in The Warriors, then now you know.

I could watch this movie several times in a row and not get sick of it.

"Time to go suck today's dick."

"Yeah it was funny, it was a fart-free set!"

Funny People, 2009. Three Stars.

This movie is very good. But I thought there would be more focus on the comedy since there were so many good comics and actors in it (plus I had spent a lot of time on RAAAAAAAANDY's website). Also, there's a lot of dick talk. I'm normally fine with stuff like that, but after awhile it got a little excruciating, especially from Adam Sandler's caustic character.

Anyways, the comics are funny, the cast is perfect, and there are lots of great cameos. James Taylor's appearance was probably one of the funniest parts! But this movie ended up getting surprisingly serious. And a little scary. And sad. And it felt like a very long movie. And it got pretty painful to watch. But still, it's good and I'd recommend checking it out if you come across it.

I'm starting to get excited about Aubrey Plaza. I love her in "Parks and Recreation", and she's great in this too. And I just found out that she's going to play Julie Powers in the Scott Pilgrim movie (so perfect!). Which I'm still not looking forward to. I love everyone involved but I don't think it can do the comic book that I love so dearly the justice it deserves. But I'll still see it. Hopefully by not keeping up with the video blogs and all that jazz, everything will be a surprise and I'll love it.

"It's a gift... and a curse."

"Monk", 2002–2009. Three and a Half Stars.

Speaking of excellent shows coming back from the brink of awfulness, there's also "Monk"!!

So, this show was great. But the last few seasons, however, got really stagnant; there wasn't much room for innovation until Monk was able to grow, and he couldn't grow until he started to solved Trudy's murder. (I always thought it was curious that a character so important to the main character in this show ended up being played by two different actresses, the first Trudy being Stellina Rusich.)

Well, because the series would end with the solving of Trudy's murder, this last season was phenomenal! Monk finally starts progressing and growing as a person, the characters around him also develop, and situations aren't dictated by his predictable reactions to everything. It was also cool to see how he finally got his badge back (which was something he always sought during the series), but since he (and the department) has changed and grown so much over the years, he realized he was happier just doing his Monk thang on his own. And, did anyone see the two-part series finale? It was so perfect! Everything I could have wanted and more.

Also, I'm a little bit of a sap, and I really like that Sharona and Disher got together, and that Disher is heading his own department in NJ. Mostly I'm very happy that Disher finally got so less annoying!! Unfortunately, Julie's character remained pretty flat. And I really think it's the character, not the actress (she was good in that episode "Mr. Monk and the Critic"!).

If you've never watched an episode of this show in your life, and you wanna get in to it, I suggest checking out the first few seasons, then a few of the first Natalie seasons, then the last season. Those will all give you a decent Monk experience. Then, if you like it, check out the rest of the seasons. It's easy to check out episodes of this show since, if it's anything like it is now, USA will be re-airing Monk marathons for ages to come.

Whenever I see Craig T. Nelson ("Coach")'s name in credits, for a split second I think it's actually Michael J. Nelson ("Mystery Science Theater 3000") and I get excited. I know that's weird. And don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to see the dad from Poltergeist!

"You're still such an odd little fruit. Is that a women's jacket?"

"Scrubs", 2001–Present. Three and a Half Stars.

When "Scrubs" first started to air, I thought it looked like another uninspired hospital show, so I never bothered to watch it. Then, in 2007, on a rare day that I was at the gym, a bunch of "Scrubs" episodes were being shown. That's when I fell in love with the show. It was funny and weird!

I got all caught up on the episodes by obsessively DVR-ing and watching all of the repeats that are constantly being re-aired on multiple stations. I was so happy because there were so many episodes to catch up on, and I thought the new-to-me hilarity would never end. But because I'm so good at being obsessive, and because reruns are so popular with TV channels, I was caught up in less than a year.

But thankfully, new episodes were still airing!

Unthankfully, starting a couple of seasons ago, and especially the entirety of the last season, the show began to bite the big one. The fresh and fun characters were getting old and predictable, J.D.'s enjoyable eccentricities started turning into pathetic zaniness, and it was like the show just didn't care about itself any more. I thought that last season was the final season, but it ended on that weird episode that felt like it should have been like the third or fourth episode of the season, and it was just so weird.

Surprisingly, that wasn't its final season though! It moved to a new network. And the latest season has started and is safely under way. I am loving it!

Lots of changes! And successful changes! The actual Sacred Heart hospital is a different building, and it's built closer to the "school". So there are two fresh locations right there. There are much-needed new story archs and general things that happen, but it still fits within the the "Scrubs" universe. Interesting of all, there's like a new "crew" of med students, and they work well with the already established characters. And, there's a new "J.D.", and she's a hot chick! Who is interesting and neurotic and funny! Her name is Lucy. In the first few episodes, we follow around both J.D. (who, after the first few episodes, is gone. It's sad, but very needed.) and this girl, Lucy, and we hear both of their inner monologues. Now we just hear Lucy's. I didn't think this would work out, but it totally does so far!

Dr. Cox? Still there. And still remains one of my most favorite characters on television. The Janitor? Not there anymore unfortunately, but the explanation of his departure was "classic"! Also unfortunately, there are two "bumbling" security guards that seem to have taken over his "place" on the show, and they're my least favorite parts of the new season. Turk is still there, and is currently looking for a new best friend at work. Elliot's there too, and is pregnant with J.D.'s baby. Ted left early on in the season, but did so on a high note. Todd's still totally there, which is most excellent. Dr. Kelso left, but didn't really, because now he's living in one of the dorm rooms. Haven't seen Carla, though she has been mentioned, but have seen Jordan. Other characters like Dr. Beardface are around in the background, so I don't know why I haven't seen Hooch yet. I hope he comes back. Hooch is crazy.

New main characters: Cole is hilarious (and James Franco's lil bro in real life). Already talked about Lucy, but yeah, she's endearing. I'm enjoying Drew. He's like the chill character, but is also interesting. Maya's the super hot Australian student that keeps cropping up. And Denise is back, as a resident physician and also these new kids' student advisor.

I give this show three and a half stars because of its previous awesomeness, and also its ability to bounce back from the brink of craptasticness. I might be in to this season so much because I had completely given up hope on this show, so things just might seem amazing in comparison. But, if you're like me and also completely gave up hope on this show, just give a few of the new episodes a shot and see what you think.

And I found this Scrubs wiki, if you're new to the series or just need to catch up on the extreme amount of characters.

"Not you, Fat Jesus. Slide it on back."

The Hangover, 2009. Three Stars.

The trailers for this made it seem like a basic "men are miserable when they're married so let's have one last hurrah before we get married and our lives are over" kind of movie. I had no interest in seeing it. (Even though Ed Helms is pretty awesome!)

But then I heard from many people that it was very funny. So when it came out on DVD, someone let me borrow it.

This movie heavily depends on the "here's this unexpected ridiculous thing!!" technique, which I'm big fan of. But, since people were kind of freaking out over it so much, I was expecting ridiculous things. So I wasn't surprised by the ridiculousness. So I didn't laugh very much. But I did enjoy this movie a lot, and I still thought it was funny.

The best part, though, are all the pics from that night that are shown through the end credits. Genius!

Also, A NAKED SEÑOR CHANG is in this!!!!

It was nice to see Heather Graham in a movie again! But I just looked at her imdb.com profile, and she has been in lots. Just stuff I haven't seen. Oops. Still, nice to see her. And Jeffrey Tambor! I like him! And yay for Rachel Harris playing a bitch, too!

I first saw Zach Galifianakis in "Bored to Death" (which I'll write about if I can ever bring myself to finish the first season), and I look forward to seeing him in more stuff.

I can't get Ken Jeong off my mind though. He steals the show almost every time I see him!

..."But more importantly, you're dressed like a gladiator in a desk fort you built during a bad trip."

"Community", 2009–Present. Four Stars.

This show's not only the biggest surprise of the new shows on the Fall '09 line up, but also the funniest thing on television right now. When I first saw an ad for it, I was confused about what it was about, and whether it would be funny or painful (like most budding sitcoms nowadays). But it had me at the first episode. Wholly original, and just so darn funny.

Seriously, every single character on this show is hysterical. I don't have the patience to write about all of them. But really, the characters are great and the actors that play them are phenomenal.

I do have to mention Joel McHale. I only watched "Talk Soup" when John Henson was on it. He was the only one that made the show for me. And it has been disappointing to see his acting career plateau as him basically playing himself as news reporters in the background in movies. But! I started watching the latest "Talk Soup" variation, "The Soup", one day randomly. I loved that the show focused on all the horrors that reality television unleashes on to its viewers (not just talk shows). And, this Joel McHale dude was on it, and he was hilarious! Just the right amount of self-deprecating humor mixed in with self confidence, sarcastic-ness, and ability to rock a suit while remaining agile enough for bits of physical comedy. Also I'm starting to really like his leprechaun-y face. But then I got worried: Would Joel McHale follow in John Henson's footsteps by being on some weird show about a community college that might fail tremendously? Thankfully, no!

So, also, Chevy Chase is in this. Surprising, and, great! I've heard he's not the swellest gentleman ever (but who in Hollywood is?), but his ability to not take himself seriously in this show really works for him, and makes him funny to me again!

But! The best part in this fantastic show? SEÑOR CHANG!!

Hooray for Dan Harmon, the creator of this amazing show. He's worked on other such gems like "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Channel 101"!

I can't wait for new episodes to start airing again. 1/14/2010. Yay!