You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July, 2007.
…was apparently one of the lines used to describe Barnabas Collins in the gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, which ran on ABC from 1966-1971 for over 1,200 episodes. They didn’t use the word “vampire” until the 410th episode, according to the trivia on imdb. I’ve never heard of this show, but it seems like a riot! It’s about a wealthy family in Maine, and strange events surrounding them involving vampires, witches and werewolves. The show still has a dedicated fan base that attends Dark Shadow Conventions called the Dark Shadow Festival. Sounds like time to throw this on my Netflix queue!
I just found out on Rotten Tomatoes that Johnny Depp will be in the big screen adaptation. He is a huge fan of the old series, and a deal has just been closed between Warner Bros. and the estate of Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis according to Variety. Depp reportedly wanted to be Barnabas Collins, the vampire patriarch, as a child watching the show.
I love vampires, I love campy vampires, and I love Johnny Depp. I can’t wait!
I fiiinally made it out to see Live Free or Die Hard, and I must say I had a blast! However, I think the key to my enjoyment was that I heard so much in the 2 weeks since its release that it was not worthy of being called a “Die Hard” movie, but that it was only a fun Bruce Willis action movie, that I prepared myself mentally and got what I expected.
First, I gotta say that Bruce is still hot! He’s tough and definitely not too old for this s&*#. Willis stepping back into the his trademark character John McClane – in a PG-13-ified version with no swearing and no wife-beater – was enjoyable to watch. Actually, the movie as a whole didn’t take itself too seriously and it was self aware of its oftentimes ridiculous action scenes (the truck scene was so silly!), which in turn made the ridiculous scenes forgiveable.
Justin Long was adorable in it, and not as annoying as I anticipated him to be. All the other characters were pretty cool in my book…from Maggie Q as an ass-kicking villain to the well-cast Mary Elizabeth Winstead who channeled Holly Gennero McClane’s energy (played by Bonnie Bedelia in Die Hard & Die Hard 2). I did feel like Kevin Smith could have had better lines – couldn’t they have let him write some of his own lines? (or did they?)
I’m guessing that 20th Century Fox hired Len Wiseman (“Underworld”) to direct Die Hard 4 instead of John McTiernan – or someone of his experience level – since the movie was designed for Justin Long’s generation, not Bruce Willis.’ (Let’s just say I gasped loudly when Long’s character dissed CCR, even though the film was pro-Creedence) So that was a shame, but hey, I’m not complaining. I had a great time in the theater.
Basically, the movie was really cute. “Cute” is a word that wouldn’t be used to describe any “Die Hard” movie, so in summation, Live Free was a really great Bruce Willis summer action flick that goes great with a big greasy tub of popcorn after clicking your brain to the comfortable “off” position, ready to ingest empty calories.
Check out Moviehole for a pretty balanced review by a Die Hard (pun intended) fan of the original trilogy. His review is less positive than mine, but he hits the nail on the head.
I never understood dumping waste in the ocean…did we really think that all that garbage would just disappear?
For the last week, the seas of Juhu Beach in Mumbai, India, has been churning out more than 300 tons of rubbish – mostly high quality recyclable plastic. An average daily clean up until the beginning of July was about 4-5 tons of garbage. Due to unspecified changes in levels of sea current and wave patterns, huge quantities of waste was being dumped on Juhu beach. Improperly cleaned storm drains may also be to blame. Read more on DNA India>>
Juhu Beach is the most famous beach in Mumbai city, situated on the shores of the Arabian sea. The flat beach (when rubbish-free) boasts a gorgeous view of the sunset. TravelIndia.Net wisely advises that swimming in Juhu beach is not recommended. It is famous for its street food vendors, and is nearby luxury hotels and posh bungalows owned by Bollywood stars, and numerous attractions for children from horse and donkey rides to acrobats. See exactly where Mumbai is located on google maps >>
Looking for a way to kill time at work that’s more intellectually stimulating than browsing through YouTube? Here’s a fun intelligence word game. If you don’t get the answers, it will drive you crazy, but in a fun sort of way. Try not to cheat – as the answers are readily available online.You can either download the game in an excel document or play the Intelligence Test online. It seems that scoring between 19-23 qualifies you as a “genius.” There doesn’t seem to be any time limit. Good luck!
Want to see if your I.Q. is high enough to join Mensa? Try the Official Mensa Workout >>
