bob_barron

Good list, Illusionist is one of those films I never got around to seeing. I think Scoop and Prestige gave me my magician fix for 06.

Heel v. heel? Ugh, pass on Edge v. Orton.

I don't like the phrase boarders

Yes

The sound was off apparently. They had a run of 6/7 good shows, so I wouldn't say something is wrong at all. They just had two off weeks

SNL Review- Jeremy Piven/AFI Wow, lots of people died since December In Memoriam- Peter Boyle- I met him once and he was really nice. Easily the funniest part of Raymond. Saddam Hussein- I don’t know…I liked him. James Brown- Sex Machine is one of the best songs ever. And he was in Blues Brothers 2000 and Rocky IV. That’s awesome. Gerald R. Ford- Would you want to be president when he was? No, me neither. So I respect that. The Saints 2006 Season- A great run. Thank you for making me believe. Mailbag!!!!!!!!!!!!- [email protected] Hey Bob- I know it’s a little too early to discuss this. But I’m a sucker for wrestling rumours on the Internet. Regarding Wrestlemania this year, there has been talk that three of the main event matches will be the following- Cena v. Orton or HHH- WWE Title Batista v. Taker- World Title Vince v. Foley HHH is really hurt so I guess that takes him out of the title picture at WM. What do you think about these three matches possibly being planned for Mania in April? What is the likelihood that these matches will actually get the green light from Vince? Thanks, Bob. Later- Ken HHH is out for Wrestlemania which is pretty funny. I’ve heard nothing about Vince-Foley. Big Dave v. Taker seems likely to happen which should be a fun trainwreck. Plans for Cena are undecided. [email protected] writes- Bob- Everyone knows you’re a big Avril Lavigne fan. So I was wondering if you’ve heard the news about her yet. Avril is coming out with a new album in the spring of this year. The album is called The Best Damn Thing, and it was produced by Rob Cavallo, the same dude who produced Green Day’s American Idiot. The album’s lead single will be called ‘Girlfriend,’ but she already new song out there called ‘Keep Holding On.’ I simply wanted to get your thoughts on this news and on Avril’s attempt at a comeback. Mark I wouldn’t really call it a comeback. Three years between albums is pretty standard, plus she’s been in the public eye. She spent most of 2005 touring and also appeared in three movies. I’m very excited about the album, I love Keep Holding On. I’ve been waiting for this album since Christmas 2005, and I’m sure it will be great. Wanna be in the mailbag??? Email me at [email protected]. And now the review.... Cold Opening Cast- Darrell Hammond, Amy Poehler Thoughts- Well this cold opening was…..long. And it dragged. A lot. Darrell’s way into his Chris Matthews impression. The goal is to be funny and somewhat accurate, not attempting to pick up every verbal tic a guy has. Amy as Hillary was pretty good, and she had a lot of good lines. Her bleeping wasn’t as funny as it should’ve been either. I think had this been shorter it would’ve been a lot funnier, but this just felt like it would never end. **3/4 Monologue Cast- Jeremy Piven, Fred Armisen Thoughts- What was this? Another skit that went way past its expiration date. There were a few good lines sprinkled here and there but seriously….what the hell was this? *1/2 Urigrow Cast- Jason Sudeikis, Kristin Wiig Thoughts- Sudeikis washing the dog while talking about urinating got me. I also kind of laughed at him taking the large piss at the end. Yes, I know I should turn in my comedy reviewing badge. *** Move the Chains Cast- Piven, Sudeikis, Andy Samberg Thoughts- I miss the Greg Gumbel-Phil Simms team, I’m not feeling Nantz and Simms. Especially since on Sunday Simms decided to broadcast like John Madden and state the obvious on every play. They’re better then Joe Buck and Aikman though. I like Aikman a lot, but Buck is just brutal. Just like Andy Samberg. Nice segueway. Andy was his usual annoying self. Piven got a few good lines here, and I liked the Automatic Death Disease joke. But a guy saying move the chains over and over again…not so much. ** TV Funhouse Thoughts- I asked Smigel last week if his cartoon was going to be offensive, and he said no. I knew we were in deep shit. I don’t know what the hell this was supposed to be either, but George W. as a chipmunk isn’t as funny Smigel thought it would be.* The First Person in the History of the World to Dance Cast- Sudekis, Armisen Thoughts- They must’ve really been desperate on ideas. Don Pardo saying “His name was Eric,” was pretty funny though. *1/4 Macgruber Cast- Piven, Forte, Rudolph Thoughts- Mocking MAGUYVER? Is this 1988? I did laugh at this though, but I don’t think it needed to be done thrice in one night. But seriously….Macguyver? *** Two A-Holes at An Adoption Agency Cast- Piven, Sudeikis, Wiig, Poehler Thoughts- Soon, Two A-Holes are going to be totally played out. I like every Two A-Holes they do, but no need to beat this skit into the ground. Some really good lines from the A-Holes and I loved the Borat impression and Jason asking how they pay for the baby. I don’t think Piven played off the Two A-holes as well he could have. I liked this a lot, but give the A-Holes a rest. ***1/2 Macgruber Cast- Piven, Forte, Rudolph Thoughts- Alright. I admit to laughing at this too, but it was the same freaking thing, so I can’t give it too much love. How does that even get pitched? “Hey, remember that TV show Macguyver?” There was an episode of Macguyver where they once revealed first name. I think it was Agnes. **1/2 AFI Thoughts- I’ve listened to a few AFI songs but never saw what they looked like. Now I know what they look like. And I’m horrified! The lead singer looks like he should be at home slitting his wrists. Who wouldn’t want to punch him in the face? And the guy on the right looks like Flock of Seagulls! And this song wasn’t even that good either. So thumbs down on AFI. **1/4 Weekend Update Cast- Seth Meyers, Poehler, Hammond Thoughts- Continuing the dating ourselves, Rich Little? Rich Little? Granted this was just an excuse for Darrell to show off his other impressions, but really, who remembers Rich Little? Amy had a few clunkers, but Seth was ON. The Islamophobia joke was hilarious. And I also loved the video game joke too. Good stuff. The REALLY segment was tremendous. They did the segment in the Justin Timberlake dress and it was funny, but this was much better. So many great lines, and they were mocking Michael Vick so hey! This was probably the best Update of the Poehler-Meyers era, and these guys are really coming into their own. **** It’s Common! Cast- Common, Piven, Kenan Thompson, Samberg Thoughts- Who the hell is Common? A quick check at wikipedia reveals that he used go by Common Sense and his dad played in the ABA. This wasn’t as funny as the Ludacris one with most of Andy’s line falling flat or being the same as last time. Piven was hilarious though and helped make this skit not a total loss. **1/4 Macgruber Cast- Piven, Forte, Rudolph Thoughts- Yep, this one died off as expected. DUD Unicorn Cast- Piven, Thompson, Hader, Poehler, Armisen, Hammond, Wiig, Sudeikis Thoughts- Last year they did a skit regarding unicorns and I admitted that I didn’t know they were imaginary for a long time. I stand by that statement. Darrell as the random crazy guy was my favourite part. This was just late in the show filler, although I agree that you should be nice to unicorns. *1/2 SNL Digital Short Cast- Samberg Thoughts- Was this supposed to be poking fun at Eddie Murphy and Norbit? I hope so, so Eddie throws another shit fit about SNL mocking him. Apparently they’ve been trying to get this on the air since the season began, and now I can see why. Now THIS was Andy’s Rocky V. I’d knew I’d get to use it! DUD AFI “Miss Murder” Thoughts- The first half, where they were using all the synthesisers was horrible. Loved the second half, although I still think the lead singer should be dragged out of his car and beaten. **1/2 The Bottom Line- Avg. skit was **.06 making this a thumbs down show. I’m worried SNL is starting to lose the momentum they were building throughout the season. A lot of these skits were just dead in the water and Piven didn’t really add anything, except in the Blizzard Man skit. I’m not too hopeful about Drew Barrymore, but hopefully these last two shows were aberrations, and the season will pick back up again. Thumbs Down

I felt Thank You For Smoking lost its momentum midway through, especially when Thank You... had a lot of good ideas, but I think it could've been so much better. Clerks 2 was much funnier

My list of all movies seen in 06, ranked in order from best to worst. Analysis coming later- 1) The Departed 2) Little Miss Sunshine 3) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 4) United 93 5) Rocky Balboa 6) Letters from Iwo Jima 7) Casino Royale 8) Inside Man 9) Little Children 10) Running Scared 11) Notes on a Scandal 12) Children of Men 13) Babel 14) Flags of our Fathers 15) Jackass: The Movie 16) Dreamgirls 17) Gridiron Gang 18) Snakes on a Plane 19) Clerks 2 20) Mission: Impossible 3 21) Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story 22) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 23) Stranger than Fiction 24) Blood Diamond 25) The Queen 26) World Trade Center 27) Last King of Scotland 28) Pan’s Labryinth 29) Neil Young: Heart of Gold 30) Scoop 31) Worldplay 32) Déjà Vu 33) Infamous 34) This Film is Not Yet Rated 35) The Lake House 36) The Prestige 37) Thank You For Smoking 38) Venus 39) Brick 40) Over the Hedge 41) For Your Consideration 42) Monster House 43) Miami Vice 44) Fast Food Nation 45) V for Vendetta 46) Crank 47) The Black Dahlia 48) She’s the Man 49) Slither 50) Night at the Museum 51) Miss Potter 52) The US v. John Lennon 53) The Good Shepherd 54) Glory Road 55) Devil Wears Prada 56) Material Girls 57) Pursuit of Happyness 58) The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing 59) Let’s Go to Prison 60) The Omen 61) Accepted 62) Superman Returns 63) Fuck 64) Driving Lessons 65) Great New Wonderful 66) Nacho Libre 67) Keeping Up with the Steins 68) When Do We Eat 69) Science of Sleep 70) Click 71) American Dreanz 72) Stick It 73) The Break-Up 74) Pink Panther 75) Just My Luck 76) Deck the Halls 77) Scary Movie 4 78) The Shaggy Dog 79) Freedomland 80) Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction

Yes, I couldn't stop laughing. Especially the scene in the hospital, or when they get stopped by the cop. I loved that movie

If he can lift the 700 pound Andre the Giant, he can do anything

The 1997 Rumble match is bad. Austin's performance is funny, but as a whole, the Rumble is bad

Just saw Venus, pretty good movie, O'Toole was wonderful. I loved Little Miss Sunshine. Had tears in my face from laughing the whole movie. The scene where the brother flips out made it my favourite movie of the year....until the Departed

You just admitted you didn't see the movie! I didn't like the Devil Wears Prada, but Streep was hilarious. She had perfect comic timing, knew how to play the bitch and was also able to make Miranda sympathetic enough so she wasn't totally unlikeable. Also, it was a weak year (as usual) for Best Actress. Really can't think of anyone else who deserved a nomination.

Last night's episode seemed like pure filler. Not much going on

The average gross of the Best Picture Nominees is 48 million. I expect that to rise since I think people will start seeing Letters from Iwo Jima. Children of Men's made about 30 million domestically and 30 mil worldwide. It's a depressing movie about no more babies, I don't think it was expected to do that well. I don't put much stock in that EW column.

What was wrong with Wills performance. I personally though his performance in ALI looked like a bad impression and none of the lines were believably performed, but I would say that although Pursuit annoyed me to no end it was a great performance. Nothing was wrong with it, I just think there were much better performances out there.

While I think Scorcese deserves to win, Clint did a fantastic job with Letters so it wouldn't be a miscarriage of justice if he won. And it'd be so funny. Aside from Will Smith, none of the nominations really bother me all that much.

2004 should be #1 just for the part with Mick Foley. That was a true holy shit moment

Dreamgirls was a victim of its own hype. I think Mark Wahlberg was in the movie a fair amount. I'm glad Notes on a Scandal also wasn't ignored.

Borat's not an original character, the movie was adapted from the TV show. That's why it's adapted screenplay.

United 93 getting a best picture snub I don't agree with, and I think there were better candidates then Will Smith and Abigail Breslin. I'm glad Little Children got some love.

I still have to see Venus actually- tomorrow I think. Best Supporting Actor was the hardest for me to narrow down- so many great performances in that category.

Best Picture- The Departed Little Miss Sunshine United 93 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Letters from Iwo Jima Best Actor- Fortest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Clive Owen, Children of Men Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa Best Actress- Helen Mirren, The Queen Dame Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada Kate Winslet, Little Children Renee Zelwegger, Miss Potter Best Supporting Actor- Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls Kazunari Ninomya, Letters from Iwo Jima Mark Wahlberg, The Departed Best Supporting Actress- Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls Rinko Kikuchi, Babel Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal Maggie Gyllenhall, World Trade Center Best Screenplay, Original- Little Miss Sunshine written by Michael Arndt United 93, written by Paul Greengrass Babel, written by Guillermo Arriaga The Queen, written by Peter Morgan Stranger than Fiction, written by Zac Helm Best Screenplay, Adapted- The Departed, written by William Monahan Borat, written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Maynham, Dan Mazer, Todd Phillips Letters from Iwo Jima, written by Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Tadamichi Kuribyashi Little Children written by Todd Field, Tom Perotta Notes on a Scandal, written by Patrick Miller and Zoe Heller Best Director- Martin Scorcese, The Departed Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, Little Miss Sunshine Paul Greengrass, United 93 Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima Spike Lee, Inside Man

Dreamgirls does deserve nominations for Eddie and Jennifer Hudson though. I'll post my list of nominees in a bit. I'm hoping Little Children and Letters from Iwo Jima get some love. And that they don't forget United 93

Too much lowercase. The Bears just can't win. Yesterday they were the team that crushed the spirit of New Orleans, and now they're going to be denying Peyton his Super Bowl ring