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Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Multi Blog Madness
Mood:
 cheeky
Now Playing: And why I never will be a tasting judge on Iron Chef
Topic: Randomness Alert!
I promised a review of the next movie I see, Prairie Home Companion, the movie about a fictionalized version of Garrison Keillors radio program. But then I kinda turned lazy and put the whole thing off. I have a much better reason than laziness for not posting the review so soon after I see it: I haven't seen the whole thing. My movie companion and I were about twenty minutes late for the movie so who knows how much I missed was the actual movie and how many were trailers.
I confess I am not a PHC fan and went because my mother, my movie companion, is a fan of the show. I don't know much about the show in itself so many of the movies characters, like "Dangerous Woman" and
"Guy Noir", are strangers to me. Thinking about it now, that could be a good thing; not knowing anything about the show. It pretty much eliminates any kind of bias.
Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline (a personal favorite of mine) and Lindsay Lohan (who sings in the movie but its toward the end. If you don't like her or her singing, don't worry, its a short number)are in this movie.
I surprised myself and found I liked the movie a lot more than I thought I would. My unofficial review is B- but that could change depending on when I see the first few missing moments of the movie. I won't be tuning into the show anytime soon but it is a good night at the movies.
Why I Will Never Be a Taster on Iron Chef
I hear you should always try new things. I could be into that depending on what the new thing is. New food? Sure. Maybe once. After today I think I may think a little bit more before trying something unfamiliar again.
I was at a store today in the area and the store in question has a oriental food department (I don't know if it was Chinese or Japanese or "other", so I'm going with a broader description.) In a sample case they had California rolls to take and try. It was like this picture except there was no sea food in it. I found out there was no sea food in it the hard way.
Its the kind of thing you would see on Iron Chef but far less elaborate. People were trying them so decided to try one. I pop a smaller one in my mouth and chewed a little. Shortly before I decided to swallow, it was as if my stomach knew what I was tying to feed it and decided to fully revolt against what I was eating. I went to a bathroom and spat it out. Trying to eat kelp doesn't agree with me or my stomach, I gather.
"What are you trying to do to us? This is healthy stuff!"
Anyway, it must have been either the sesame seeds in the rice or the kelp, I suddenly got the nastiest taste in my mouth. Long story short version I guess I didn't like it. But I did try it, and now I know never to go near the stuff again.
The point is, that if I were a guest judge on Iron Chef, if I used the facial expressions I was told I used when tasting the roll, it would be a complete giveaway that I don't like your cooking.
Or better yet, wait till you have an Iron Chef where the secret ingredient is peanut butter. You can't do too many weird things with peanut butter. Or can you?
Hannibal Lecter: As your mother tells you, and my mother certainly told me, it is important, she always used to say, always to try new things.
Tuesday, 6 June 2006
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Mood:
 a-ok
Now Playing: We have movie sign!
Topic: Review Time
X-Men 3 - This was a very good movie. A few plot elements which I won't list here will make some die hard fans angry. Each X-men movie is better than the last. I hope this isn't the final movie, yet I hear are spin offs in the works for certain characters. Wait and see what happens, there was a rumored spin off for a Bond girl but I think that ultimately fell through.
Next movie? Possibly the movie version of the Prairie Home Companion. Will tell you when I know.
Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Katie Couric
Mood:
cheeky
Now Playing: See You in September?
Topic: So long, Farewell....
Na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye Hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey-ey, goodbye
Katie Couric. Miss Katie. Uh yeah, whatever. Yeah, she said goodbye today. She was saying goodbye before today, I bet.
I think I've watched less than two hours of her my entire life. The only time I've watched "Today" was when nominations for awards were announced. I would then stick around to see how shocked or not shocked they were and go back to sleep. (Hey I worked nights then, leave me alone).
She could have taken care of goodbye in two minutes, and not get so emotionally verklempt about it. And don't forget people, shes coming back. Shes not going off to be a hermit and grow a beard, although that would be an interesting look.
I have no real opinion of her but since shes a fellow blonde (Or is she blonde? I thought she had dark hair), I'll wish her a little bit of luck. Don't ask how much, you won't get an answer that isn't laced with sarcasm.
Will I watch the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric? Well, to tell you the truth, no. I don't watch it now, I am not planning on starting any time soon. We'll see what happens. In other words, start your office pool now.
Monday, 29 May 2006
Nada...for now
Mood:
 caffeinated
Now Playing: 80's baby
Topic: Song of the day
Nothing new for today but I promise a review for the X-Men 3 movie tomorrow. For now, a song.
Friday, 19 May 2006
The Da Vinci Code
Mood:
 incredulous
Now Playing: Read the book? No. See the movie? Nope!
Topic: Review Time
So I saw The Da Vinci Code and found I agreed with the massive amount of critics that hate it, the Da Vinci Code is a dud. Even if I had read the book, I'm not sure I would have understood or liked the storys main "plot line". There is a lot of talk, which isn't bad if you are interested in what they were talking about, but in many of the talking scenes I wondered when the movie would be over. I know I could have walked out but I didn't because a) I was with other people and b) as boring as it was I had to see how it ended. I thought it was going to end at least two times before it actually did.
The best part of the movie, no not "the end", was Ian McKellan who made what could have been a cardboard character more interesting. I wish I could say the same for the normally great Tom Hanks. His acting gave me the impression that he was waiting for something else better to come along and in the meantime he did this movie. Audrey Tantou didn't impress me either.
So my final verdict, skip this movie at the theater and wait for it to come to video, and you have a free coupon to use at the video store.
Rating: C-. The rating would be lower if Ian McKellan wasn't as good.
Posted by citizennancy at 9:02 PM EDT
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Updated: Saturday, 20 May 2006 6:31 PM EDT
Movie mini blog!
Mood:
 lazy
Now Playing: One movie down...
Topic: Review Time
One movie down and a couple left to go.
I saw Poseidon last week. It has some similar elements with the original; the idiots who won't follow our heroes, the fact that a rogue wave knocked it over (and not terrorist activities like in the TV remake). The movie was very good, and there is a lot of action. Sure people gotta be killed off, but sometimes it was expected who died next. Course then again at least one victim was of the "thank god hes dead" variety. I give this movie a B+
I had said that I wasn't going to see the DaVinci Code. Well I'm going back on my word, I'm going to see it tomorrow. Why? Paid admission AND dinner at a chicken place. Yeah, I'm a cheap date. A review will be posted on that tomorrow. In the meantime if you want to know what the majority of critics think of the movie, go here http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/da_vinci_code/.
Next week: The X-men 3 movie opens.
Posted by citizennancy at 12:31 AM EDT
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Updated: Friday, 19 May 2006 12:42 AM EDT
Friday, 12 May 2006
A couple of things
Mood:
 chillin'
Now Playing: Things I care about this week
Topic: Randomness Alert!
Tomorrow I will provide a review of the new Poseidon movie with Kurt Russell in it. Will it be as good as the original? Time will only tell.
Now for a short edition of "Things I Care About"
I care: That Good Old JR Jim Ross is back behind the microphone where he belongs on RAW. Course he wasn't gone altogether from the WWE. I expected his absence to be as permanent as those "retirement" matches they have from time to time. (Two wrestlers have a match and the one that loses retires. Rarely lasts, since said wrestler comes back in another form months later). I'm very happy by the news,I think JR and "The King" Jerry Lawler are one of the few all time best commentary teams (The Great Late Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan are one) of WWE.
I don't care: Another person got voted off American Idol. Another "shock". There is at least one "shocking vote off" for each year of American Idol. You had to know it was coming. But then again I am probably one of the fifteen people who still won't let this show get into her. The only use AI has been to me is that it leads in great ratings to House MD and thusly another show I actually like, won't get canned. (Caveat - yeah I have a Kelly Clarkson cd but since you can hear her on the radio I haven't touched it in months.) With all these idols around its a wonder I listen to anything but classic rock and oldies. Paul Revere anyone?
I don't care: About the current state of the WWE, since I mentioned it above, I should add my gripe. The "God" thing has gotta go. Hopefully it will die down after the next pay per view but it did earn Vince McMahon one of the worst people spots on Countdown. He got bronze on the show (worse, worser, worst). For all the stuff he is capable of doing, has done and will do, he deserved a silver. So I think he had it easy that night. Lucky for me there are still a few redeeming values about WWE that keep me watching. Just when I think I will leave it, it always gets a little better. We'll see what happens.
Posted by citizennancy at 1:40 AM EDT
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Updated: Friday, 12 May 2006 1:43 AM EDT
Wednesday, 26 April 2006
Movies!
Mood:
 happy
Now Playing: Month of May Movies
Topic: Review Time
I saw "The Sentinel" on Friday. This movie stars Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. Its a pretty good movie and has a couple of good action scenes. I give it a b+.
I know I said I was going to do a blog on remakes and whether or not they are better than the originals. I got kinda caught up in work so I haven't that yet, so instead there is this: Movies in May!
Movies I don't want to see-
Mission Impossible Three: I liked the first MI but the second one I saw although barely remember what happened. That cannot be a good sign. Plus all this Tom Cruise nonsense is causing me to steer clear of it. It has recent Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman in it, but the only thing I think of when I see him in the trailer is "Tommy Cruise is being menaced by Truman Capote". I'm afraid I won't be able to see the movie without giggling over THAT prospect. Ving Rhames is also in it, but of course he was in the other two (including the one I don't remember).
Da Vinci Code Movie: The other Tom this month is Tom Hanks in the movie adaptation of the book I haven't read. Didn't care about reading the book, care even less about the movie. Already I feel like this is going to be more overexposed and overrated than a certain cowboy movie that came out last year.
If anything, those movies I will wait till they come out on video.
Movies I am Seeing:
Poseidon: There was a remake of the famous seventies diaster flick The Poseidon Adventure on tv sometime in the last year. This is the big screen version. So far it has what the little screen doesn't: Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss (and on a bigger boat too). The trailer is what pulled me in, plus you can try and guess who might be the first to die in some stupid yet perilous way. The original flick is one of my all time favorite flicks (and there is a list, too long to actually list here) so they better not screw it up.
X-men 3 movie: I saw the first two and loved them. I can hardly wait to see what is next for the collective of mutants in this series. No idea if its the last one, but we shall see.
Posted by citizennancy at 3:55 PM EDT
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Updated: Sunday, 30 April 2006 4:57 AM EDT
Friday, 14 April 2006
Song of the day
Mood:
 energetic
Now Playing: Danny Wilson - Marys Prayer
Topic: Song of the day
You Are Buffy the Vampire Slayer
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"We saved the world. I say we have to party."
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Coming soon - A blog on whether or not remakes are better than the original version. I will look at two or three test cases.
Posted by citizennancy at 12:35 AM EDT
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Updated: Friday, 14 April 2006 12:51 AM EDT
Tuesday, 4 April 2006
Worst...Episodes....Ever!
Mood:
 chatty
Now Playing: Worst episodes of shows I've seen
Topic: List-O-Mania
A while back I made a list of my personal favorite episodes of shows I was a fan of. Now its time for the flip side...the bad episodes! In other words, the episodes that made me groan and say "Oh here we go...."
Chicago Hope - Brain Salad Surgery:
At the time I loved it but this episode, aka "The Musical Episode", should have been a sign to me that the show was starting to slowly go downhill. People I liked left, and the episodes got stranger (a "Hitchcockian" episode?). People were fired and rehired but I was never able to get to know them. They went off the air, without much fanfare, a year or so later.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine- Take Me Out To The Holosuite: Anyone who thought that steroids were the worst thing to happen to baseball probably never saw this episode where the DS9 crew play a game of baseball in a holosuite with the Vulcans.
Friends - The One With The Cat: Phoebe thinks her mother (well not real mother cause her real mother was alive and well in Montauk) was reincarnated in a cat. We never saw that cat again, thank goodness.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - "Hamlet": The crew of the Satellite of Love tried their best, but I found out the hard way that Shakespeare movies don't make very good MST3k subjects.
Caroline And The City- "Caroline and the Big Move": This episode is full of things, a wedding, a baby and a new relationship for a reason; this was the last episode before it was canned. The last season of this show is pretty subpar, but what makes this the worst is something beyond peoples control: cancellation. Richard goes to stop Caroline from marrying another guy, and she sees him in the church rafters. Fade out, play credits and music. Its over. The worst thing you can do to an audience, no matter how small its gotten, is end the series on a cliffhanger.
Frasier - "Cheerful Goodbyes": One of the better things about Frasier was that once in a while Cheers alumni would appear on the show. Lillith made regular visits, while Sam, Woody and Diane were there at least once. (Rebecca never appeared on the show, but may have been referred to) By the time the last few seasons came along, the concept of having Frasiers old buddies visiting had reached the point of diminishing returns. Carla, Norm and Cliff were in this episode which is mostly about Frasier and family (and Daphne) being in Boston. They are really there for a lecture but end up at Cliffs retirement party. I enjoyed all three on Cheers, but here they felt wildly out of place. (And it doesn't help that the bar they are having Cliffs party isn't at Cheers, but that couldn't be helped.) No points for guessing if Cliff really retires or not.
That 70's Show - "Eric's Hot Cousin": Eric has a cousin, and a good looking one too. Thats about it. It wouldn't be so bad all by itself but this came out the same year the thankfully short lived "That 80's Show" came out.
X-Files- "Never Again" :The early to mid series run of this series you can pick out a lot of good episodes. This is also true of bad episodes. After David Duchovny started spending less and less time in the series, the quality seemed to go down. (I think he left to start a movie career, which hasn't grown that much at all. Maybe you should have stayed till the end after all?) For me my least favorite is "Never Again", a mostly Scully-only episode. Mulder is never seen, and the story centers around a man and his new tattoo...its talking to him and causing him to do crazy stuff. Nothing really "X-Files-ish" about it at all. Pretty much a nothing episode. I watched it once, and I will Never Again watch it in reruns.
Sliders- "Exodus": Arguments can be made for what is the worst episode of this largely great sci fi series; too many episodes about the Kromaggs, when Jerry O'Connell left the show (his brother left at the same time so they combined two characters into one), but for me it is this episode, at least the last few minutes of this two part episode. They killed off one of the four "original" Sliders, Professor Arturo. It seemed to fall apart slowly after that, strange twists in plot and other original Sliders leaving the show (Rembrandt Brown was the last remaining one). I never saw the last episode, it was taped for me, but it got taped over by something else. I guess that tells how interested I was in how it ended.
Angel - "The Girl In Question": It's easy for me to say the worst episode was the series finale of this awesome series, but thats the easy way out. Its hard to pick out a worst episode. Some moments are strange (Cordelia and Connor getting it on) but other great moments make up for it (how can you not see "Puppet Angel" and not laugh your butt off?). The Girl in Question is actually Buffy Summers but Buffy is not in it. At least not the Buffy we know. Just the some random blonde who we don't even see that well who is supposed to be Buffy. The whole plot was about Angel and Spike checking up on her. Shes fine, sorry to waste an hour of your life. This episode proves one thing, you can't put Buffy in an episode and not have the actual Buffy. Sarah Michelle Gellers involvement, no matter how small, would have improved this episode that much. As it is, its the worst episode of the final season.
Posted by citizennancy at 2:09 PM EDT
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Updated: Tuesday, 27 June 2006 11:53 PM EDT
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