Hello Happy Pitbulls

Jackie Chan rocks

I got a link to this via @Pistachio on Twitter and it was just way too good to resist sharing. When I'm out and about we have to see the new Jet Li/Jackie Chan flick, The Forbidden Kingdom.

Wizard Rock? Who knew?

I started reading the Harry Potter series about 6 years ago after one of my friend's 5th grade daughters recommended it to me. Once I started, I couldn't put them down and I eagerly awaited the release of each new book.  As I read each book, I loved each one better than the next. The complex story lines kept me in each book and painted an unusually vivid picture of Hogwarts and all of the unique characters.  When each movie was released, they were so true to what my mind's eye had created as a mental image.  I was completely satisfied with how the movie portrayed the action and the complexities of the characters and the wizarding world and I was a die-hard devotee of the books -- making sure I read them cover to cover before stepping into the theater.

Until the 5th book (Order of the Phoenix).  This book was particularly daunting for me to take on, and for some reason (maybe the sheer size of it!), I couldn't get into it. I made the mistake of seeing the film before I read the book -- an I was disappointed.  The film just didn't have the same level of complexity that the others had before it.  It was good -- it just wasn't as good as the films before it.

So, after talking to my die-hard Harry Potter fan friends, I learned that there was so much missing from the film that was in the book, I finally mustered up what I needed to get into the book, and now I am a few hundred pages in and loving it.

Last weekend, with all of the excitement about the release of the final chapter of the series and the concurrent release of the Order of the Phoenix, there was a great story on NPR about Wizard Rock.

This is something that I had no idea existed. I woke up at 2:30 with another bout of insomnia and found some fun stuff on you tube.  This is something I'm missing out on!  If I was 20 years younger, this is probably what I'd be doing right now!

Trashy Cult Movie du Jour

Tonight, Turner Classic Movies transformed into the Trashy Cult Movie tonight with one of my favorite exploitation classics, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Nothing like fast car driving, crazy, murderous go-go dancers on a Wednesday night. What a shock to see this film on television!  This one has some of the worst dialog ever put on celluloid - which truly makes it a classic!

R.I.P. Russ Meyer.  Tura Satana is still kickin' !

Vote for Springfield! MY Springfield!

Urgent call to all geeks!  There are just a few hours left in the voting to vote for the REAL Springfield of the Simpsons -- Springfield, MA.  Vote tonight if you care about me. Voting closes tonight at midnight.

Come on now, Mayor Quimby is definitely from Massachusetts!  Just ask Ted Kennedy!

While you are at the USA Today site, watch the Springfield Video.  That's where I spent the first 17 years of my life.

When did Homer get a piggy?

This movie could be really silly, but I have to say I am SO looking forward to see the Simpsons movie.  I have been obsessed with watching this particular trailer, although there are about five of them on You Tube that have me in total stitches.  Go to about 20 seconds from the end of this trailer and you'll sum up how we feel about our dog Zero (aka Piggy or Pig-Pig). Why is that so funny?

True Grit Confession

I absolutely cannot stand the sound of John Wayne's voice. It's painful torture. Call me un-American if you will.  Just give me a Clint Eastwood movie and call it a day.

Sickened by Sicko

We trekked down to Vacaville today to see Michael Moore's new documentary, Sicko, only to find out that the theater never received the film, so it wasn't showing as advertised.  The 16-year-old behind the counter snickered, "Sorry, don't know what to tell you!" So, we trekked back up 80 to Sacramento to catch it at the Tower Theater.  We got there just in time.

Like all other Michael Moore films, he tells a horrible story with a great sense of humor. It's so incredibly messed up how we can spend billions of dollars on our various war efforts, but we can't spend money to take care of our nation and keep us all healthy.  He wasn't telling the story of the uninsured - he was telling the story of how the health care industry just reams its members. Having been through several bad experiences with Kaiser, I've heard storied about how HMO's work hard to avoid having to actually provide services to keep their costs down.  When I tore my meniscus back in 2001, Kaiser told me they would only aggressively try to treat it if I was an athlete.  I ended up having to pay out of pocket to go to a real doctor to get an MRI and surgery to get fixed up a couple of years later.

Now that I have decent insurance working for the State, I feel pretty good about my ability to get decent health care. When I just had my experience with blinky growing, I was approved by my insurance company for an MRI within 3 days, and all of that went pretty well.  When I got back from Sicko, I decided to see whether the billing had been processed.  Ready for this?

Amount Billed:  $6,553.00
My Share:  $1,404.14.

Where am I going to get that from?  Pull it out of my ass?  Good thing I have insurance, right? Not to mention the fact  that my monthly premium is $901 (a good chunk of which is paid by my employer). Why is it so expensive in this country, considering that I've been paying for insurance for my husband who has gone to the doctor about 3 times since we've had this insurance?

I definitely count my blessings, because in just the last few years alone, I have had my share of health issues, and fortunately, I have insurance that helps. We've just got to do a better job.

Now that I've seen the film, I'm going to look at some of the counter-arguments against Michael Moore. I believe the Health Care industry does disseminate a certain about of misinformation, but I'm more inclined to believe Michael Moore.  I'm sure more on this later.

Psyched for Sicko

Hi there! Lefty leaning liberal here. I'm looking forward to this weekend's premiere of Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko. Everything I've seen looks over-the-top, in-your-face, classic Michael Moore.  Taking things to an extreme to prove a point. It should be a good one.  I'm particularly looking forward to the scenes at Guantanamo Bay.  Here's a link to the trailer if you haven't seen it.

I got plans for Saturday now!

The Ten Commandments

Nothing says "Hey, it's Passover and the Easter Bunny is coming to town" like the Ten Commandments. This is one of the true great epic movies of all time and a yearly classic for Mike and me.  I knew it was coming up, but we stumbled upon it this year about an hour into it.

When I was working on the Godfather Trilogy restoration/remaster, the people down in LA who were my contacts for getting film prints were telling me about the work they were doing restoring the Ten Commandments.  I would have loved to work on that film!

It still gives me the heebie jeebies when the Angel of Death floats around the neighborhood.  I used to be scared to look out my window at night, even though I wasn't the first born OR a son!

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate whatever. For all you pagans, happy spring!

X Files News Break on Slashdot

While catching up on some blog reading, I saw this item on Slashdot: Julianne Moore to play Dana Scully.

So, is Julianne Moore the official replacer of actresses that don't want to reprise their roles? Recall that she played the role of Agent Clarise Starling in Hannibal when Jodie Foster passed on the role.

Fortunately, Julianne Moore's performance in Hannibal was convincing enough that it almost didn't matter that they replaced the lead character and I just off the top of my head, I think casting her as Dana Scully is a good fit. What the heck is Gillian Anderson doing anyways? Oh, apparently I missed her in the Last King of Scotland. I need to see that one, among others.

Will I go see a new X-Files movie? You betcha!