TAKE TWELVE

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 (TS3) is the best Pixar as EVER done.  The pinnacle.  The top.   Just watch the first TS and compare it to TS3.  Try TS2 and then TS3.  Crayons and paper compared with computers.  (Yes, I know it was all computers but still, take a look.)  And yes, it is Oscar Worthy.

The real question is, what’s next?  Cars 2.  That makes my wife happy.  She loves the rusty old tow truck Mater.  She loves Mater’s buck teeth and voice.  Ok, then.  If I ever get rich, I want a big HD, Blu-Ray and a copy of Cars.  I have seen Cars on Blue-Ray and all I can say is, OOON GAA WAA!

TAKE ELEVEN

Old joke:
Daddy, Mommy and Baby Tomato are taking a walk when the baby falls behind and begins to cry.  Daddy Tomato goes to the baby, smacks it on the head and says:
“KETCHUP!”  I’m here till Thursday!  Be sure to tip your wait staff!

I am in catch up mode and here goes:

Despicable Me Versus Toy Story 3

Why bother?  Toy Story 3 (TS3) is far better in all categories.  TS3 is so hip that it tips its hat to “Cool Hand Luke!”  TS3 represents the high point of both a franchise and the technologies used to create it.  BUT, Despicable Me (DM) has it’s charms.  It was never going to compete against Pixar.  DM competes instead with Bond.  James Bond. 

With the news that it may be years before we see another Bond picture DM fills the bill.  I want  more of the Minions.  The Minions nearly steal the show.  I like the character Gru but I love the Minions.  Here’s hoping the studio does this.

TAKE TEN

I choose to go to Jordan Commons in Sandy, Utah because it is

different.  The within the complex serves to separate you from reality.  The mini-town square does this well.  The concessions are different and varied.  Pizza, salads and gelato are among the choices.  Popcorn is still the king of the concessions stand. 

I did not like the lack of choices in the diet realm.  Diet Coke, Coke Zero and bottled water.  Yesterday, Ellen and I had a new experience.

Enter the new Coca-Cola Freestyle Beverage System.  The self-serve fountain has a touch screen where there is a choice of more than 100 different drink combinations.  This includes waters, juices, teas and sparkling drinks that have never before been available in this country.  Several machines are working at the Jordan Commons as a test of the idea and to gauge customer reaction. 

From what I saw, the Coca-Cola Freestyle Beverage System machines are an instant hit with moviegoers.  Adults and children excitedly choose several flavors at a time.  The flavor most chosen so far?  Orange Coke.  My choice is Fanta Zero Peach.  This could be the start of something big.       

TAKE NINE

The Summer so far.......
Iron Man 2
Toy Story 3
Hum.  Ho Hum.
That's all, folks!

Ages ago, when I worked in the oil fields around Bartlesville, OK there came time to clean out an oil well with chemicals called fracking a well.  I am sure the well owners had other "f" words to call it.  To frack a well, you had to have several large trucks filled with men and the men ran the pressure gauges and looked after the equipment.  It was a traveling circus of the oil patch.  I asked my boss, Blaine, what it was costing to do this. 

"Well, Jimmer," he slowly replied in his Idaho and Oklahoma drawl.  "Get yourself an oil drum and fill it full of one dollar bills.  Then light the whole thing on fire!"

He let out his crazy laugh. 

Hollywood is burning bunches of barrels of one dollar bills, only, they aren't laughing.

TAKE EIGHT

It was fifty years ago tonight that the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Pycho" made people afraid to take showers.  50!  Anthony Perkins gave new meaning to the term "Creep."  I think he was the template for all creeps for years to come!  Poor Janet Leigh later said that it was a role that she could not shake.  Hitchcock wanted the film in black and white because he felt that if he shot it in color it would be too gory.  

How about a bit of trivia?

• The "blood" in the shower scene was really chocolate sauce!  Yummy!
• The car Janet Leigh drove, a 1957 Ford, was the same one the Cleaver family drove on "Leave It to Beaver." So not only did she steal from her employer but she took Ward Cleaver's car!
• The sound that the knife makes penetrating the flesh is actually the sound of a knife stabbing a casaba melon.  Try it on your next picnic!

 

TAKE SEVEN

This day cannot pass without a tip of the hat and a hearty "Happy Birthday" to the Drive In Theatre.  It was on June 6, 1933 in Camden, New Jersey that the drive in was born.  I have many fond memories of the drive in as a kid but I will detail them in my book.  My drive in experiences as an adult tend to be less special. 

There are still 300 drive ins through out the U. S.

Again, Happy Birthday, Drive Ins!!! 

TAKE SIX

Iron Man 2- Unwatchable?  What the....?

You can't always get what you want.- Rolling Stones.

First let us go to the tried and true dictionary for the meaning of the word: "Unwatchable."

not suitable or fit for watching : tending to discourage watching "unwatchable." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Merriam-Webster Online. 3 May 2010

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unwatchable

Thanks to the dictionary, unwatchable applies only to television.  Just kidding.  But does it really refer to Iron Man 2?  It is if you believe David Edwards of the Mirror. 

"What none of [us] realised was that another disaster was about to unfold in front of our eyes, for Iron Man 2 is a travesty – a mind-numbingly dull, chaotic and often unwatchable muddle. It might even be the ultimate masterclass in how not to make a movie.  Given the strength of part one, the sequel is not just a terrific failure but a terrific disappointment."

- Edwards, David. "Iron Man 2: World’s First Review - ‘mind-numbingly Dull, Chaotic and Unwatchable’." Http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/04/27/iron-man-2-world-s-first-review-mind-numbingly-dull-chaotic-and-unwatchable-115875-22214759/. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 03 May 2010.

And what effect does this review have on the legion of fan boys and girls queuing up for the opening night this Friday?  None.  Zilch.  Nada. 

The following is a short list of films considered unwatchable:

• Bolero
• It's Pat
• Battlefield Earth
• Son of the Mask
• Kazaam

Those five films are truly unwatchable.  And there is no getting back the 8-10 hours of time I wasted seeing them.  Iron Man 2 is clearly not in the same trash heap.