Trusted Friend

[Marimba ringtone plays]


Hello?


Hey. It's me.


Who is this?


Me. Or you. From your past.


Um, what do you want?


Yeah, I wanted to call you and tell you it's a bad idea.

Mythbusting Obama

The president was on Mythbusters last night. Did you see it? I did. Not because Obama was on the show, but in spite of it. Not a fan of Obama. Am a fan of Mythbusters.

Anyway, he asked Adam and Jamie to retest a myth:


[Direct link]

Adam and Jamie tested the myth ... for the third time ... and, once again, busted it. But, you know, that myth was perfect for Obama:

• It's from Europe.
• It had been tried before, more than once, and shown to fail.
• It was paired with Hellboy.
• It involved smoke and mirrors.

I wonder if there are any other myths that would make sense for Obama to want Adam and Jamie to test?

Rehabilitating Mel

It must suck to be Mel Gibson right now. And I say "right now" because at one time, it was great to be Mel Gibson. Or so it seemed.

He had a bunch of hit movies. Like Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 and Lethal Weapon 3 and ...

Actually, he had a lot of hit movies ... as well as some not so hit movies.

But, for a while, he was golden.

Now, not so much. First, there was his drunk driven arrest about four years back. Now, there's the audio tapes (more than one) of his argument with his girlfriend. You usually have to attend a cabinet meeting featuring both Rahm Emanuel and Joe Biden to get that much crazy and profanity in one place.

Right now, if you read the news, Mel Gibson is seen at Satan incarnate. And, though he's a talented actor, director and screenwriter, it seems that his career might be over. Unless he can be rehabilitated. But, is that possible? I think it might be.

It will be tough, though. Giving money to save the rain forest won't work. He's done that. Give millions to help sick children? Done that. No, that's not nearly enough.

So, what would it take to rehabilitate Mel Gibson?

• The promise to not make Mad Max 4.
• The promise to not make Lethal Weapon 5.
• The promise to not make What Women Want II.
• Claim an oil spill that occurred 457 days after George Bush left office is Bush's fault.
• Claim a terrorist attack that occurred 234 days after George Bush took office is Bush's fault.
• Declare 9/11 an inside job.
• Make a movie with Hugo Chavez.
• Call the Tea Party "too white" then call for the only black on the Supreme Court to resign.
• Drug and anally rape a 13-year-old girl.
• Hang around a polling place with a bat, threatening to kill some crackers.

Perhaps this would be enough to return Mel Gibson to everyone's good graces.

Is he crazy? Yeah, probably. But, he's not the right kind of crazy. He needs to be batsh*t crazy, barking moonbat crazy, to get his career back.

I'm not sure it's worth it.

The "Best" Movies: Recap, part 22

I'm giving a rundown of the "best" movies (details about the list are here). I've done 210 of 222 so far. Now, the final dozen:

• Toy Story
  #99 Top 100 (2007)
  #6 Animation
  Saw it on DVD. Never cared to see it in the theatres. It was okay.
• Unforgiven
  #98 Top 100 (1998)
  #68 Top 100 (2007)
  #4 Western
  Best Picture (1992)
  Clint Eastwood movie. Good film.
• Vertigo
  #61 Top 100 (1998)
  #9 Top 100 (2007)
  #1 Mystery
  Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock make an awesome team. Again.
• West Side Story
  #41 Top 100 (1998)
  #51 Top 100 (2007)
  Best Picture (1961)
  Definitely NOT the best picture of the year; "The Guns of Navarone," "The Hustler," and "Judgment at Nuremberg" were all better. Pretty good music, though. Although the dancing Puerto Ricans in the fruity-colored outfits is a bit odd.
• When Harry Met Sally...
  #6 Romantic comedy
  Not a bad film.
• White Heat
  #4 Gangster movie
  Top of the world, Ma!
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  #67 Top 100 (2007)
  What a dump!
• Wings
  Best Picture (1928)
  First movie (and only silent film) to win Best Picture. Actually, "Wings" and "Sunrise" each won Best Production awards ("Wings" won Most Outstanding Production and "Sunrise" won Most Artistic Quality of Production). In 1929, they combined the two awards (as Best Production) and said that "Wings" was considered the Best Production the previous year. As for the movie itself, it's a pretty good film.
• Witness for the Prosecution
  #6 Courtroom drama
  Good murder mystery. I liked this film.
• Wuthering Heights (1939)
  #73 Top 100 (1998)
  Never read the book. After seeing the movie, I don't think I missed out on anything.
• Yankee Doodle Dandy
  #100 Top 100 (1998)
  #98 Top 100 (2007)
  Good film. And it's funny watching James Cagney sing and dance, after having him pigeon-holed as a gangster type.
• You Can't Take It with You
  Best Picture (1938)
  Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra should be a can't miss. But, I just wasn't floored by it. Perhaps, after "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and "It's A Wonderful Life," I was expecting more.

That wraps up 222 of the "best" movies. Many I watched simply because I decided to watch whatever was on the list. Some were good. Some weren't.

Overall, though, I'm glad I did this.

The "Best" Movies: Recap, part 21

I'm giving a rundown of the "best" movies (details about the list are here). I've done 200 so far. Now, another 10:

• The Third Man
  #57 Top 100 (1998)
  #5 Mystery
  Good film. Oh, and the theme is my standard ringtone on my BlackBerry.
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  #30 Top 100 (1998)
  #38 Top 100 (2007)
  Good movie. This is the one that does NOT contain the line, "We don't need no stinking badges." It's actually, "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!"
• The Usual Suspects
  #10 Mystery
  Great film with a great twist.
• The Verdict
  #4 Courtroom drama
  Good Paul Newman vehicle. Worth a watch.
• The Wild Bunch
  #80 Top 100 (1998)
  #79 Top 100 (2007)
  #6 Western
  An okay western. Very good in places.
• The Wizard of Oz
  #6 Top 100 (1998)
  #10 Top 100 (2007)
  #1 Fantasy
  Well, bust my buttons! Nobody should miss this movie. Not nobody, not no how.
• Titanic
  #83 Top 100 (2007)
  #6 Epics
  Best Picture (1997)
  Okay, I admit, it was a pretty good film. My favorite part? When Leonardo DiCaprio sank.
• To Kill a Mockingbird
  #34 Top 100 (1998)
  #25 Top 100 (2007)
  #1 Courtroom drama
  It was a good film. I just didn't think it was as great as everyone else seems to think.
• Tom Jones
  Best Picture (1963)
  So-so film. It creeped me out when Tom seduced Mrs. Waters, who was played by the actress who played his mother in an earlier scene. The twist at the end is related to this. Still, creeped me the heck out.
• Tootsie
  #62 Top 100 (1998)
  #69 Top 100 (2007)
  Decent film. And one of the few movies with a lesbian kiss scene involving a man and a woman.

Only 12 more to go. Those are coming up soon.