It's Friday, right?
- Saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor last night. Overall? I enjoyed it for what it was. However.
There were parts I really loved and parts I hated.
Loved: Rick is Rick, enough said; Jonathon actually gets a happy ending (it makes sense once you see the film); casting Jet Li for the villain because he rocked the role; Michelle Yeoh; the location shots; the twist with the Yetis; the flashes of humor; the final scene between Rick, Alex, and the Dragon Emperor; Brendan Fraser shirtless (what, I'm shallow like that)
Hated: the chase scene in Shanghai - it was FAR too long; Russell Wong not being in it nearly enough; it sometimes felt like Stephen Sommers Rob Cohen didn't really know how to get the story told; beating us over the head with the Yetis; Maria Bello as Evie in the beginning (once we got past the 30 or so minute mark, she was much better); the lack of much of the tongue in cheek humor that defined the first two films
Like I said, I enjoyed it for what it was - a summer popcorn flick - but it wasn't the first film. It wasn't even the second film, and I really missed Oded and Arnold. This one feels more plot-driven than the others, and I'm not entirely sure it works.
- Apparently there was an article/column in the L.A. Times today (I think it was today) detailing why Heath Ledger shouldn't get an Oscar for TDK. Or rather, attempting to detail why, but instead devolving into a "don't give it to him because he OD'd" rant. I had this whole long thing written up in regards to it, but I'm not going to post it. The fact of the matter is, I honestly don't think that Heath would be getting the Oscar buzz he's getting if he were still alive. Yes, he's amazing in the role. But people were saying he should get the Oscar back in early February, before anyone had even seen the film. I'm not even going to speculate on who may or may not get nominated, let alone win, until much later in the year when the real contenders start coming out. I will, however, say that if he gets nominated and wins, there will ALWAYS be a black cloud over it because of his death. Of course, I'm of the opinion that he'll get nominated, but not win. Let's face it, the Academy has given out one post-humous acting Oscar.
Also, it amuses me to see people on blogs/LJ/wherever being all "Oh, the Oscars don't mean shit anyway, Crash/Jennifer Hudson/Juno/whatever won, it's all about popularity". Part of me wants to bust their little bubbles by informing them that while the Oscars may not mean shit to them (who are, let's face, anonymous people in the grand scheme of things staring at a computer monitor), but they sure as hell mean something to the actors/writers/directors/studios/etc. Last time I looked, working Hollywood considered it an honor to just be nominated, forget about winning. There's a reason the winners get emotional at the podium. And if they're all about popularity, why have Tom Cruise (at the height of his career & popularity, before he went batshit) and Will Smith never won one? Why does Russell Crowe (shush, Brenda, you already know I now agree with you!) have one, when he's not exactly the most popular actor in Hollywood? Why have only TWO of the top 10 grossing films of all time (Titanic and LOTR: ROTK) won for best picture? I don't know about you, but box office gross is a pretty good indication of popularity.
Wow, that turned out to be far more of a Ranty McRantypants portion than I intended it to be. Oh, well.
- Have I mentioned that I'm (more than) a little peeved that there are NO photos of Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy out yet?? This is, however, slightly offset by word that he's going to be in TR2N. I may have made dolphin noises when I heard that.
- Hey, look, I'm actually doing an end of the month comment stat post!
Top Commenters on idiosyncratic's LiveJournal
(Self comments excluded from rankings)
1azewewish 1268
2starrwisher 314
3the_stowaway 284
4wendyr 256
5antheia 231
6leggyslove 201
7simplysonia 179
8editorzon 147
9unholyglee 142
10cocoajava 135
11honeyandvinegar 108
12sweill 103
13mata090680 99
14glendaglamazon 95
15txdville 85
16coolwhipdiva 81
17mirorelle 81
18emilyx 74
19ladymoonray 73
20dellastarr 72
21without_me 69
22shanalle 68
23buhfly 68
24mystisblom 68
25arami 66
26wendy 66
27liv_tyler 64
28geneli4 63
29chrismm 63
30cupiscent 61
31azrhiaz 61
32iamari 60
33acari 57
34shinysparkly 57
35moonmelody 55
36fiesty_red 55
37ink_stain 54
38ethrosdemon 52
39_redpanda_ 48
40stormcloude 46
41parksie 46
42dawning_star 44
43blusilva 43
44airgiodslv 43
45david_wenham 42
46reibebe_dj 41
47tvillingar 40
48technosage 39
49babyofthegroup 39
50poisondreams 37
51beunydd 37
52loveflyfree 35
53maleyka 35
54escapisms 34
55ramlatch 34
56estrella30 33
57mcee 33
58ktnb81 33
59trianne 31
60tenaciousmetoo 29
61neveragain 29
62jenfr 29
63cykie 28
64kaytee4ever 28
65madame_d 27
66lisaofdoom 27
67orlisbunny 27
68freyafloyd 27
69dreamiflame 27
70sabrinagb 25
71disc_sophist 25
72hotcoal 25
73meredevachon 24
74fergus80 24
75pippinspeach 24
76broodface 24
77araliesse 24
78karl_urban 24
79bexone 23
80orlisheart 22
81zarah5 22
82cruelandunusual 21
83brightest_blue 21
84santacarlagypsy 21
85mshydehj7 21
86peppervl 21
87dreambastion 21
88turning_leaf 21
89gingerpig 20
90litashields 20
91cathybites 20
92immune 20
93magickalmolly 20
94nellifer 20
95keyweegirlie 19
96qthelights 19
97crantz 19
98killerweasel 18
99kay_wray 18
100magickly 18
Total Commenters: 468 (368 not shown)
Total Comments: 12004
Report generated 8/1/2008 12:29:37 PM by scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7
There were parts I really loved and parts I hated.
Loved: Rick is Rick, enough said; Jonathon actually gets a happy ending (it makes sense once you see the film); casting Jet Li for the villain because he rocked the role; Michelle Yeoh; the location shots; the twist with the Yetis; the flashes of humor; the final scene between Rick, Alex, and the Dragon Emperor; Brendan Fraser shirtless (what, I'm shallow like that)
Hated: the chase scene in Shanghai - it was FAR too long; Russell Wong not being in it nearly enough; it sometimes felt like Stephen Sommers Rob Cohen didn't really know how to get the story told; beating us over the head with the Yetis; Maria Bello as Evie in the beginning (once we got past the 30 or so minute mark, she was much better); the lack of much of the tongue in cheek humor that defined the first two films
Like I said, I enjoyed it for what it was - a summer popcorn flick - but it wasn't the first film. It wasn't even the second film, and I really missed Oded and Arnold. This one feels more plot-driven than the others, and I'm not entirely sure it works.
- Apparently there was an article/column in the L.A. Times today (I think it was today) detailing why Heath Ledger shouldn't get an Oscar for TDK. Or rather, attempting to detail why, but instead devolving into a "don't give it to him because he OD'd" rant. I had this whole long thing written up in regards to it, but I'm not going to post it. The fact of the matter is, I honestly don't think that Heath would be getting the Oscar buzz he's getting if he were still alive. Yes, he's amazing in the role. But people were saying he should get the Oscar back in early February, before anyone had even seen the film. I'm not even going to speculate on who may or may not get nominated, let alone win, until much later in the year when the real contenders start coming out. I will, however, say that if he gets nominated and wins, there will ALWAYS be a black cloud over it because of his death. Of course, I'm of the opinion that he'll get nominated, but not win. Let's face it, the Academy has given out one post-humous acting Oscar.
Also, it amuses me to see people on blogs/LJ/wherever being all "Oh, the Oscars don't mean shit anyway, Crash/Jennifer Hudson/Juno/whatever won, it's all about popularity". Part of me wants to bust their little bubbles by informing them that while the Oscars may not mean shit to them (who are, let's face, anonymous people in the grand scheme of things staring at a computer monitor), but they sure as hell mean something to the actors/writers/directors/studios/etc. Last time I looked, working Hollywood considered it an honor to just be nominated, forget about winning. There's a reason the winners get emotional at the podium. And if they're all about popularity, why have Tom Cruise (at the height of his career & popularity, before he went batshit) and Will Smith never won one? Why does Russell Crowe (shush, Brenda, you already know I now agree with you!) have one, when he's not exactly the most popular actor in Hollywood? Why have only TWO of the top 10 grossing films of all time (Titanic and LOTR: ROTK) won for best picture? I don't know about you, but box office gross is a pretty good indication of popularity.
Wow, that turned out to be far more of a Ranty McRantypants portion than I intended it to be. Oh, well.
- Have I mentioned that I'm (more than) a little peeved that there are NO photos of Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy out yet?? This is, however, slightly offset by word that he's going to be in TR2N. I may have made dolphin noises when I heard that.
- Hey, look, I'm actually doing an end of the month comment stat post!
Top Commenters on idiosyncratic's LiveJournal
(Self comments excluded from rankings)
1azewewish 1268
2starrwisher 314
3the_stowaway 284
4wendyr 256
5antheia 231
6leggyslove 201
7simplysonia 179
8editorzon 147
9unholyglee 142
10cocoajava 135
11honeyandvinegar 108
12sweill 103
13mata090680 99
14glendaglamazon 95
15txdville 85
16coolwhipdiva 81
17mirorelle 81
18emilyx 74
19ladymoonray 73
20dellastarr 72
21without_me 69
22shanalle 68
23buhfly 68
24mystisblom 68
25arami 66
26wendy 66
27liv_tyler 64
28geneli4 63
29chrismm 63
30cupiscent 61
31azrhiaz 61
32iamari 60
33acari 57
34shinysparkly 57
35moonmelody 55
36fiesty_red 55
37ink_stain 54
38ethrosdemon 52
39_redpanda_ 48
40stormcloude 46
41parksie 46
42dawning_star 44
43blusilva 43
44airgiodslv 43
45david_wenham 42
46reibebe_dj 41
47tvillingar 40
48technosage 39
49babyofthegroup 39
50poisondreams 37
51beunydd 37
52loveflyfree 35
53maleyka 35
54escapisms 34
55ramlatch 34
56estrella30 33
57mcee 33
58ktnb81 33
59trianne 31
60tenaciousmetoo 29
61neveragain 29
62jenfr 29
63cykie 28
64kaytee4ever 28
65madame_d 27
66lisaofdoom 27
67orlisbunny 27
68freyafloyd 27
69dreamiflame 27
70sabrinagb 25
71disc_sophist 25
72hotcoal 25
73meredevachon 24
74fergus80 24
75pippinspeach 24
76broodface 24
77araliesse 24
78karl_urban 24
79bexone 23
80orlisheart 22
81zarah5 22
82cruelandunusual 21
83brightest_blue 21
84santacarlagypsy 21
85mshydehj7 21
86peppervl 21
87dreambastion 21
88turning_leaf 21
89gingerpig 20
90litashields 20
91cathybites 20
92immune 20
93magickalmolly 20
94nellifer 20
95keyweegirlie 19
96qthelights 19
97crantz 19
98killerweasel 18
99kay_wray 18
100magickly 18
Total Commenters: 468 (368 not shown)
Total Comments: 12004
Report generated 8/1/2008 12:29:37 PM by scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7