If you have been on IMDb recently, you will have seen some or all of the coming releases. After taking a look at all of the trailers for upcoming movies (it was a slow day, alright?) I was surprised about the movies that I am most excited about this summer.
If you have seen Taken, then you should not be surprised that I am super excited about Taken 2. I don't know how Liam Neeson went from being Kinsey to being the go-to-guy for middle-aged action movies, but somehow he did. I think that Taken 2 is a winner.
I barely remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger Total Recall (vague recollections of the Terminator's face exploding) but I am really excited about the new version with Colin Farrell. As long as it is not another Alexander, I would watch Colin Farrell any day of the week.
It was a hard decision to pick a final movie, but in the end I had to go with the Expendables 2. I am a sucker for sequels and remakes, what can I say? I did not love the Expendables, but the trailer for the second movie looks awesome. Plus, Schwarzenegger is in it, PLUS, Gale from the Hunger Games. Thank. You. Hollywood.
My list of notable runner-ups: Looper (anything with Joseph Gordon-Levitt is worth the price of admission), Savages (a love triangle with two willing guys... Interesting), and The Dark Knight Rises. To be honest, I hate this Batman. But I will am so so so excited for pretty much every other person in the movie. Christian Bale is a lame Batman, but I think that Tom Hardy will be great, and I can't wait for a new Catwoman. My only question: what the hell is the point of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character? I guess that I will have to go and find out!
Monday 2 July 2012
Monday 27 February 2012
Consider This...
I just watched this blog which I found to be very interesting. I did not watch much of the Oscars this year because I did not love any of the movies that were in the running. I thought that plenty of them were good movies, but I could not find even one to really root for. This blog discusses the Oscars, and how so few movies today have important female characters. I would not call myself a feminist, really, but I thought that this was an interesting test for movies.
The Bechdel Test for Oscars Nominees
The Bechdel Test for Oscars Nominees
Monday 23 January 2012
Tragedies that were Almost Celebrity Tragedies
We have all heard about celebrities who almost died, either from a car accident, a drug overdose, or just general run-of-the-mill health scares. I am not particularly interested in these type of near-death experiences, though. Everyone has a friend or a cousin who could have died in a car accident, or a drug overdose, or from a brain aneurism (not that I am trivializing your pain). I am more interested in hearing about celebrities who nearly died in some major event that captured the world's attention. I am sure that there are too many instances to count, but I stumbled across three examples on IMDb of celebrities who could have died in these events, thus making them even more newsworthy (if that is even possible).
I read about my first example a few weeks ago, when I looked up "The Fighter" on IMDb. If you haven't seen it, come back to Earth and rent "The Fighter". Good movie. Anyways, I flipped to Mark Wahlberg's page, and found out that Mark Wahlberg and some friends were originally going to be on one of the plane's that crashed in to the World Trade Center. They were supposed to be on the flight from Boston to Los Angeles, but instead decided to charter a flight to Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival. Yes people, movies saved this man's life. What a wonderful thing. As I was writing this blog today, I actually saw on the news that Marky Mark has been taking some heat from his critics (can you believe that people could criticize celebrities for anything?) for some comments he made about how he would be braver than all of the other people on the planes that crashed in to the World Trade Center. Well, he did not say that (exactly), but he did say, "We certainly would have tried to do something to fight. I've had probably over 50 dreams about it." You heard it here; Marky Mark would have been a hero. Just keep telling yourself that, Mark.
I also recently learned about another celebrity who could have died on 9/11. Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for an Oscar for playing Precious in the 2009 Oscar winning film. On September 11th, she slept in when she was supposed to attend class at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which is located across the street from where the World Trade Center buildings were. Like I have done (once or twice) she figured that since she already was going to be late for class, she would just watch some television instead of rushing in. Soon after, a plane hit the World Trade Center, and debris from the building hit her school. Teachers and students were killed. Gabourey Sidibe, however, survived because she decided to stay home to watch some t.v.
Another tragic event that two Hollywood stars escaped was the Manson murders in Hollywood in 1969. Murphy Brown (or as she probably would rather be called, Candice Bergen) was in a relationship with Terry Melcher, a Hollywood record producer. In 1969 they rented their house out to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. Charles Manson was crazy angry at Terry Melcher (he wasn't just crazy, and he wasn't just angry, he was crazy angry) and decided that he wanted to "send him a message". Knowing that Melcher did not actually live there anymore, Manson sent his crazy disciples (they weren't angry... just crazy) to kill anyone who was there. I think we all know how horrible the story turned out. But, Candice Bergen had moved, and Roman Polanski was out of town, so both of these huge stars went on to other endeavours; Bergen to "Murphy Brown" and "Miss Congeniality", and Polanski to... statutory rape? Has he done anything else that is noteworthy? Debatable.
Anyways, I think that the moral of this story is that being a hugely rich and important celebrity (no offense intended to Gabourey Sidibe) will not save you from being killed in a horrible and tragic incident; apparently they have to rely on good old-fashioned luck, just like us!
I read about my first example a few weeks ago, when I looked up "The Fighter" on IMDb. If you haven't seen it, come back to Earth and rent "The Fighter". Good movie. Anyways, I flipped to Mark Wahlberg's page, and found out that Mark Wahlberg and some friends were originally going to be on one of the plane's that crashed in to the World Trade Center. They were supposed to be on the flight from Boston to Los Angeles, but instead decided to charter a flight to Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival. Yes people, movies saved this man's life. What a wonderful thing. As I was writing this blog today, I actually saw on the news that Marky Mark has been taking some heat from his critics (can you believe that people could criticize celebrities for anything?) for some comments he made about how he would be braver than all of the other people on the planes that crashed in to the World Trade Center. Well, he did not say that (exactly), but he did say, "We certainly would have tried to do something to fight. I've had probably over 50 dreams about it." You heard it here; Marky Mark would have been a hero. Just keep telling yourself that, Mark.
I also recently learned about another celebrity who could have died on 9/11. Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for an Oscar for playing Precious in the 2009 Oscar winning film. On September 11th, she slept in when she was supposed to attend class at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which is located across the street from where the World Trade Center buildings were. Like I have done (once or twice) she figured that since she already was going to be late for class, she would just watch some television instead of rushing in. Soon after, a plane hit the World Trade Center, and debris from the building hit her school. Teachers and students were killed. Gabourey Sidibe, however, survived because she decided to stay home to watch some t.v.
Another tragic event that two Hollywood stars escaped was the Manson murders in Hollywood in 1969. Murphy Brown (or as she probably would rather be called, Candice Bergen) was in a relationship with Terry Melcher, a Hollywood record producer. In 1969 they rented their house out to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. Charles Manson was crazy angry at Terry Melcher (he wasn't just crazy, and he wasn't just angry, he was crazy angry) and decided that he wanted to "send him a message". Knowing that Melcher did not actually live there anymore, Manson sent his crazy disciples (they weren't angry... just crazy) to kill anyone who was there. I think we all know how horrible the story turned out. But, Candice Bergen had moved, and Roman Polanski was out of town, so both of these huge stars went on to other endeavours; Bergen to "Murphy Brown" and "Miss Congeniality", and Polanski to... statutory rape? Has he done anything else that is noteworthy? Debatable.
Anyways, I think that the moral of this story is that being a hugely rich and important celebrity (no offense intended to Gabourey Sidibe) will not save you from being killed in a horrible and tragic incident; apparently they have to rely on good old-fashioned luck, just like us!
Friday 13 January 2012
The Wilhelm Scream
Well, today's post is a complete surprise to me! I was going to write a posting about Disney movies. I decided to focus on a few of my favourite Disney movies, and I kept finding "WILHELM SCREAM" in the IMDb movie Trivia. I did not know what it was, but each trivia post mentions where the scream can be found in the movie. It was hard to miss "WILHELM SCREAM" listed under "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "Toy Story" and "Cars".
I found a video which explained that the Wilhelm Scream is a stock sound effect from Warner Bros. that was first used in the 1951 film "Distant Drums" when a man is attacked by an alligator. After the movie, the sound recording was used in another movie, "The Charge at Feather River" when a soldier, Private Wilhelm, is shot in the leg with an arrow. From this point on, the recording was tagged "Wilhelm" and used in numerous movies in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I have never even heard of these movies, let alone seen them, so I have no intention of listing them. However, some sound effects fans (there are sound effects fans?) started to notice the same scream popping up in movies, and they borrowed it off a film's audio track to use in their own movies.
One such sound effects fan, Ben Burtt, was hired to create the sound effects for a small film called "Star Wars". Maybe you have heard of it? Ben adopted the Wilhelm Scream as a personal calling card, and used it in all of the Star Wars movies. And then for good measure, he included it in all of the Indiana Jones movies. He and his friends thought that it was a funny inside joke, so they added it in to movies whenever they could: "Willow", "Poltergeist", "Batman Returns", and "Planet of the Apes" (the lame Mark Wahlberg version) to name a few. Before long, other sound effects fans started to put it in to their movies: "Gremlins 2", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Fifth Element", "Reservoir Dogs", "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"and "Return of the King", "Kill Bill" and "Team America: World Police". It really is not worth trying to list all of the movies with the Wilhelm Scream, because it has been used in AT LEAST 130 movies! It has even been in tv shows such as "Family Guy" and "The X-Files". Apparently, it is the least "inside" of all Hollywood "inside jokes".
The Wilhelm Scream even inspired a Wilhelm Game. Next time you are at the theater and the movie has a Wilhelm Scream, point at the screen and yell "Wilhelm!" Just don't do it if you are there with me, because when the annoyed theater staff comes to kick you out, I will shrug and say, "I don't know that person", and wave as you are escorted away.
I found a video which explained that the Wilhelm Scream is a stock sound effect from Warner Bros. that was first used in the 1951 film "Distant Drums" when a man is attacked by an alligator. After the movie, the sound recording was used in another movie, "The Charge at Feather River" when a soldier, Private Wilhelm, is shot in the leg with an arrow. From this point on, the recording was tagged "Wilhelm" and used in numerous movies in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I have never even heard of these movies, let alone seen them, so I have no intention of listing them. However, some sound effects fans (there are sound effects fans?) started to notice the same scream popping up in movies, and they borrowed it off a film's audio track to use in their own movies.
One such sound effects fan, Ben Burtt, was hired to create the sound effects for a small film called "Star Wars". Maybe you have heard of it? Ben adopted the Wilhelm Scream as a personal calling card, and used it in all of the Star Wars movies. And then for good measure, he included it in all of the Indiana Jones movies. He and his friends thought that it was a funny inside joke, so they added it in to movies whenever they could: "Willow", "Poltergeist", "Batman Returns", and "Planet of the Apes" (the lame Mark Wahlberg version) to name a few. Before long, other sound effects fans started to put it in to their movies: "Gremlins 2", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Fifth Element", "Reservoir Dogs", "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"and "Return of the King", "Kill Bill" and "Team America: World Police". It really is not worth trying to list all of the movies with the Wilhelm Scream, because it has been used in AT LEAST 130 movies! It has even been in tv shows such as "Family Guy" and "The X-Files". Apparently, it is the least "inside" of all Hollywood "inside jokes".
The Wilhelm Scream even inspired a Wilhelm Game. Next time you are at the theater and the movie has a Wilhelm Scream, point at the screen and yell "Wilhelm!" Just don't do it if you are there with me, because when the annoyed theater staff comes to kick you out, I will shrug and say, "I don't know that person", and wave as you are escorted away.
Thursday 12 January 2012
IMDb and the Critics Choice Movie Awards Show
I am watching the Critics Choice Awards as we speak, and I have IMDb open on my iPhone. I think that I need to invest in an iPad. It would make my life significantly easier.
My favourite new star is Elle Fanning, who is being interviewed as we speak by some man in a nice suit who does not really matter enough to me to warrant a name. When "Super 8" came out, I spent a few days learning everything that I could about Elle Fanning. If I was a 16-year old boy right now, I would be completely in love with her. Ok, I will admit it, even if I was a 16-year old girl, I would probably still have a raging crush on her. Even though Elle does not look too much like her sister anymore, it was uncanny how identical they looked when they were younger! In fact, Elle played a younger Dakota Fanning character in two different roles, "I Am Sam" and "Taken". Elle is one of my new favourite young actresses, and I continually check her IMDb page to see if there is any new information, or photos of her. She is always one of the best dressed on the red carpet.
The unnamed host-man is now interviewing a few people connected with "The Artist", the new silent French film. I am excited to see it, if only to see what everyone is talking about. It will only be the second silent film that I have seen; today I learned from IMDb that the Charlie Chaplin film "City Lights" is both Emma Stone and Geoffrey Rush's favourite movie. I tried watching it but, suffice to say, I did not need to find Part 2 through 6 of the movie on YouTube. Hopefully I have better luck with "The Artist".
Some lady-host is now interviewing Thomas Horn, who was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his role in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". If you have not heard of Thomas Horn, you are not alone. When I looked at the IMDb page for this movie, and jumped to Thomas' page, I noticed that he only has two roles listed on his page: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and "Jeopardy"! Yes, this kid actually won Jeopardy, and then in his first film role he co-stars with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, and he is a contender for this year's awards season! He must get a lot of 13 year-old girl stalkers, this kid is a Superkid!
Well, the Red Carpet show is over; I hope that you (Mom) have enjoyed these interesting tidbits that I picked up from IMDb. When I watch these awards shows and I see Hollywood stars dressed up in expensive designer clothes, I like to find out anything that makes me realize that they are not much different than us. Just way richer (and better dressed) versions of us.
My favourite new star is Elle Fanning, who is being interviewed as we speak by some man in a nice suit who does not really matter enough to me to warrant a name. When "Super 8" came out, I spent a few days learning everything that I could about Elle Fanning. If I was a 16-year old boy right now, I would be completely in love with her. Ok, I will admit it, even if I was a 16-year old girl, I would probably still have a raging crush on her. Even though Elle does not look too much like her sister anymore, it was uncanny how identical they looked when they were younger! In fact, Elle played a younger Dakota Fanning character in two different roles, "I Am Sam" and "Taken". Elle is one of my new favourite young actresses, and I continually check her IMDb page to see if there is any new information, or photos of her. She is always one of the best dressed on the red carpet.
The unnamed host-man is now interviewing a few people connected with "The Artist", the new silent French film. I am excited to see it, if only to see what everyone is talking about. It will only be the second silent film that I have seen; today I learned from IMDb that the Charlie Chaplin film "City Lights" is both Emma Stone and Geoffrey Rush's favourite movie. I tried watching it but, suffice to say, I did not need to find Part 2 through 6 of the movie on YouTube. Hopefully I have better luck with "The Artist".
Some lady-host is now interviewing Thomas Horn, who was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his role in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". If you have not heard of Thomas Horn, you are not alone. When I looked at the IMDb page for this movie, and jumped to Thomas' page, I noticed that he only has two roles listed on his page: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and "Jeopardy"! Yes, this kid actually won Jeopardy, and then in his first film role he co-stars with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, and he is a contender for this year's awards season! He must get a lot of 13 year-old girl stalkers, this kid is a Superkid!
Well, the Red Carpet show is over; I hope that you (Mom) have enjoyed these interesting tidbits that I picked up from IMDb. When I watch these awards shows and I see Hollywood stars dressed up in expensive designer clothes, I like to find out anything that makes me realize that they are not much different than us. Just way richer (and better dressed) versions of us.
Wednesday 11 January 2012
What am I doing?
Hello nonexistent followers! I am writing, at this point, with the understanding that no one is going to read this or any future posts. Well, maybe I can beg my mom to follow me. Let's be honest, though; she is too busy to follow me.
I am creating a page to talk about the only thing that I really care to talk or learn about, and that is pretty much anything that can be found on IMDb. I am borderline obsessed with checking IMDb for updates on movies, tv shows, or the entertainment industry in general. My favourite pasttime is watching television, movies, listening to radio, or browsing IMDb. I am the type of person who actually wanted to work at Blockbuster since I was a kid (a dream that I actually accomplished after three applications, and only a matter of months before the company went bankrupt). My husband would much rather talk about black holes or the Theory of Relativity, so I thought that I could instead channel my obsession into a blog, rather than sidetrack his "higher" thinking.
So, my Mission Statement, until further notice, is that I will post and discuss news and facts weekly from IMDb that I find interesting. In answer to your nonexistent questions: Yes, this is completely subjective. I am writing based on topics that I find interesting. No, I am not only going to talk about new movies or tv shows. Who knows what will catch my fancy each week? If it is on IMDb, it is fair game.
So, nonexistent followers, continue not following me every week, and we'll see what comes up! Well, I'll see... You won't, because you still won't be following me...
Sincerely, Amy (Screen Junkie)
P.S. if you are IMDb, please don't sue me. I love you!
I am creating a page to talk about the only thing that I really care to talk or learn about, and that is pretty much anything that can be found on IMDb. I am borderline obsessed with checking IMDb for updates on movies, tv shows, or the entertainment industry in general. My favourite pasttime is watching television, movies, listening to radio, or browsing IMDb. I am the type of person who actually wanted to work at Blockbuster since I was a kid (a dream that I actually accomplished after three applications, and only a matter of months before the company went bankrupt). My husband would much rather talk about black holes or the Theory of Relativity, so I thought that I could instead channel my obsession into a blog, rather than sidetrack his "higher" thinking.
So, my Mission Statement, until further notice, is that I will post and discuss news and facts weekly from IMDb that I find interesting. In answer to your nonexistent questions: Yes, this is completely subjective. I am writing based on topics that I find interesting. No, I am not only going to talk about new movies or tv shows. Who knows what will catch my fancy each week? If it is on IMDb, it is fair game.
So, nonexistent followers, continue not following me every week, and we'll see what comes up! Well, I'll see... You won't, because you still won't be following me...
Sincerely, Amy (Screen Junkie)
P.S. if you are IMDb, please don't sue me. I love you!
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