Thoughts on Red State

I am a pretty big Kevin Smith fan, I suppose.  I listen to two of his weekly podcasts (Smodcast and Hollywood Babble-on) and like his movies (though there are a few I haven't seen including Jersey Girl and Cop Out).  This being the case, I had heard a great deal about Red State before I ever sat down to watch it.  The result is a bit  . . . mixed.

Smith calls this a horror movie.  I'd call  it action/suspense.  I never really felt like I was watching a horror movie, which is fine with me since I don't like horror movies anyway.  The action is decent, there were a few moments that took me by surprise (which is always a good thing) and overall it had a good story and decent acting, specifically from John Goodman.

I don't know if I'd recommend the movie or not.  It wasn't great but it wasn't awful either.  It's like one of those movies you aren't sorry you watched but probably will not watch again.

Target Audience - Episode 16: Pixar Picks

The votes are in!  I tallied all the votes I received ranking the 12 Pixar films and got together with Kelly and Brandon to discuss the list.  Here's how it turned out:

Pixar Movies from Best to Not as Good, But Still Better Than Most Studios:

1. UP
2. Finding Nemo
3. The Incredibles
4. & 5. Ratatouille/Toy Story (tie)
6. Monters, Inc.
7. Wall-E
8. Toy Story 3
9. Toy Story 2
10. Cars
11. A Bug's Life
12 Cars 2

Target Audience - Episode 15: From Funny Books to Film

The beginning of the episode with Kevin of the Pow WoW and Nerdfire Podcasts was begun several months before it was completed.  We had so many technical issues that we ran out of time when we first attempted to record what would have been Episode 8.  You can listen to it here.  It took us a while before we could get together to finish it, but I stand by the lists we came up with:

Luke
1. Watchmen
2. Sin City
3. X-men: First Class
4. Men in Black
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie

Kevin
1. Kick-Ass
2. Iron Man 1 & 2
3. V for Vendetta
4. The Dark Knight
5. Blade Trilogy

Target Audience - Episode 14: Action Jackson

Kelly is back this week and we take a different tact:  we discuss the best action actors!  This was a fun episode to record and I hope it's fun to listen to.  You can here it here.  Here's what we came up with:

Luke
1. Harrison Ford
2. Sigourney Weaver
3. Mel Gibson
4. Arnold Schwarzenegger
5. Russell Crowe

Honerable Mentions: Sassy Latina Sidekick (Michelle Rodriguez, Jenette Goldstein painted brown) & Jet Li/Chao Yun Fat

Kelly
1. Bruce Willis
2. Wesley Snipes
3. Matt Damon
4. Will Smith
5. Christian Bale/Vin Diesel/Dwayne "the Rock?" Johnson

Honerable Mentions: Jackie Chan

Target Audience - Episode 13: Through the Wayback Machine

In this episode, Brandon is back and we discuss the best historical movies.  This ended up being a long one, but there was a lot of history to discuss!  You can listen to the episode here.  Our lists were as follows:

Luke:
1. Ben Hur
2. Glory
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Les Miserables
5. Gladiator

Brandon
1. Master and Commander
2. Last of the Mohicans
3. Hero
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
5. Lawrence of Arabia

Christmas Grievance: "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"

I thought that since I have this forum to discuss pop culture and the entertainment industry, I might use the opportunity to bring up something that always bothers me around the holidays: bad Christmas standard covers.  Oftentimes a pop version of a classic will at best be unsatisfying and will at worst be non-sensical.  The one that I'm thinking of specifically, as the title suggests, is "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth". The original recording of the song, by Spike Jonze is here.

Now, don't get me wrong: this is an obnoxious song, so matter how you slice it.  However, nothing gets my goat more during the holidays than hearing George Straight's version, or one of the other numerous covers of this song, where they just sing it straight (pardon the pun).  What I mean is the whole point of the song is the longing of a little boy who has lost his two front teeth and just wants them back so that he can speak properly.  The entire joke of the song is that his missing maxillary central incisors cause a speech impediment.  If you don't sing the song with that impediment, there is no joke.  The song does not make sense without it.  There's even a line in the song, "it seems so long since I could say, "sister suzie sittin' on a thistle"  that should sound like this "it theems tho long thince I could thay, "thithter thuzie thittin' on a thithle" (I think I just caused my spellchecker to catch fire).

Anyway, just a pet peeve of mine.  Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!  

Target Audience - Episode 12: Not a Dry Eye in Sight

First episode to feature multiple guests!  I had a lot of fun with this one, where we talk about the Top 5 Tearjerkers.  You can listen to the episode here.  The lists were as follows:

Luke:
1. The Films of Pixar
2. Life is Beautiful
3. Big Fish
4. Dumbo
5. Forrest Gump

Liz:
1. My Girl
2. Never Let Me Go
3. Finding Neverland
4. 50/50
5. Atonement

Kelly:
1. UP
2. Savannah Smiles