ThaOGDreamWeaver

Matt Berry - Take My Hand

Joy Division - Shadowplay

Fantastic actor, gone way before time, and I can remember pretty much every one of his performances... except this one. (Oddly the only bit that's stuck with me was Simon Pegg channeling Spaced in his cameo as Benji, which then turned into a full-time sidekick role. Which he's done pretty well at). It's very odd that 2 and 3 back-to-back didn't work out - maybe another one you can pin on JJ Abrams - whereas Brad Bird turned it around for Ghost Protocol.

They're kinda... variable. First one was very decent and did some unexpected stuff - like teamwiping the A-List that Ethan/Cruise had been widely advertised with in all the publicity in the first ten minutes. (Does that make Cruise the Scrapper, Corruptor or Mastermind here?) The sequels: if you quietly forget that these kinda movies need a plot, a halfway convincing antagonist, or a McGuffin that could or should be anything more than just a McGuffin, they're fun. MI:Dead Reckoning more or less did away with all three, and still came out as a perfectly popcorn-munchingly watchable flick. There's nothing wrong with that. (Though how the series survived past MI:2 or 3, I don't know). CA:1, also decent: second one, not so much. Reboot: not perfect, but better than CA2, and much better than the box office bomb it turned out to be.

There have also been plenty of not-so-good ones over the years. Although they often provided some laughs (sometimes unintentional). And at least a couple of good dance tunes...

I think Tom Cruise might like a word with you. There's been... a lot. (Though I'm not sure about half of these count). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_television_programs Of the others in recent memory... The Equalizer movies were... pretty unremarkable, but Denzel did decent box office ($150m to $200m on $60m to $70m-ish budgets). X-Files... nah. Loved the series (and the reboot/extension), but neither movie added anything useful. And I would like to present for your consideration/humiliation/obliteration one of the single worst, childhood-wrecking adaps known to man...

That, unfortunately, is not a great opening weekend. Gosling and Blunt should both be red-hot right now. It's had great reviews - including the only one I care about: my partner went to see it on a Tuesday, sadly, I got called to work, and laughed and stayed riveted the whole way through. (They dozed off through most of Dune I & II, just for comparison). Well, that's Hollyweird for ya. You give the people what they ask for - romance, laughs, ludicrous stunts, shirtless Gosling, and a cute dog - and it doesn't catch fire.

...may be stealing that... 🤣🧀 I gotta say though, both The Thing and DOOM himself look pretty dead-on compared to some of Sony's outings. Even though you just know this thing was likely shot on less of a budget than a single episode of Incredible Hulk. Yup. And if you read the list of directors of those movies - Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, and Joe "Gremlins" Dante... ...you'll never guess who gave every one of them a big damn break in movies. And was on the end of the phone if they needed advice or just a friendly ear throughout their careers. https://people.com/ron-howard-mourns-director-roger-corman-death-98-8647362 (And seriously, who else would have taken a chance on Richie from Happy Days as a director?)

Don't worry, we're pretty good at not doing spoilers round here. (Oh, and please cast Gillian Anderson or Cassandra Peterson as amiable psychic/witch/child psychologist Dr. Amy Weaver, Jim. That'd give a nice insight into Clark/Kal-El's upbringing, and explain why his glasses hide his identity even from AI and Facebook. Glaimr magick, y'know.) Anyway... Honestly... I think he wanted to make movies people wanted to watch, and if he saw a movie he liked, he'd have a crack at it himself. Hammer movies, apocalyptic sci-fi, Star Wars and Alien (reusing the same sets and FX shots from BTBTS), stalker horror, detective dramas, counterculture flicks, Hallmark dramas, cape flicks... a movie magpie. And I think he loved the challenge and creativity of doing it against all the odds. Though I do wonder what would have happened if someone - maybe even a couple of the people he trained up - turned round and handed him a decent script and a proper budget.

Well, there’s at least one that’s well within our wheelhouse… And here is a message (via Threads) from his Sue Storm, Rebecca Staab…

Ghost - Year Zero (Censored Version)

So, it's time to say a very sad, but very fond farewell to the King Of Schlock'n'Roll Cinema, the mighty Roger Corman. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17127556 I had a whole long post planned about this. About the cult classics, the successes, the flops, the sheer guts, inventiveness and indefatigability of the guy, as well as being that oddity in Hollywood, a really lovely guy to work with. But maybe the greatest gift he left us with... well. In 2009, he was given an honorary Academy Award. Cynics might have said he probably wouldn't ever have won one himself. He might have even agreed with you. He won it for everyone he trained and inspired to make movies. Hop over to Rog's Wikipedia entry and scroll down to The Roger Corman Film School. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman So, so many people learned - or got early breaks, or career rebirths - working on his flicks: and if you worked well with Rog, people knew you were solid. And he tried things didn't always work, but that people built on: if you've seen The Trip, you can see that it paved the way for Easy Rider - written by and starring three of his protegés. Beyond that, all the young moviemakers who watched his flicks, and thought... I can do that. Tarantino, Rob Rodriguez, Sam Raimi, The Coens, the Russos, so many more. It doesn't have to be perfect. There's stuff you can get away with. There's things you can improvise around. Things might not always be pretty, but there's ways to get it done. Roger never retired - he was still active in production and distribution right up till his credits rolled, at 98 years old. So if there's a fanfare in whatever afterlife moviemakers and fans go to when he shows up... ...it's gotta be this, hasn't it?

There's quite a lot of (political) stuff in the books about...

🥰

Dolly can handle pretty much anyone. Dolly Parton & Rob Halford - Bygones What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You? - Dolly Parton & Stevie Nicks

Elle King - Under The Influence

(Possibly a repost... yell if it was yours)

SPOILERS! But Ahmed Best has been waitsing a looooong time for deesa moment...

Mark is yet another one of those affable Brit actors like Jason Isaacs, who'd love to do romantic leads, dashing heroes, or intricate dramas... ...but winds up as a go-to reliable rotter, even when up against terrible scripts. (Sivana in Shazam was probably the weakest part of that movie plot wise, and yet he pretty much makes it work.) It's a living. As I think Derek Jacobi said, you could be doing this kind of thing in a nice comfy Hollywood studio, or get flown out to stay a great room in Prague... ...or do rep in Croydon. Your choice.

So, something that looks suspiciously like a Tesseract has found its way into the Star Wars verse, and things are about to get a little mixed up... LEGO SW has always had that permission to mess around and make good jokes - and, sometimes, better stories - at the expense of canon. I'm not sure if throwing all the toys on the floor and rebuilding everything is a good idea (as I tell my nieces whenever they start trying to get at my collection). But it's certainly going to be creative. And maybe they should have saved that one fairly epic piece of fanservice for the full reveal...

Aside from the worst attempt at an East End accent I've heard since Basher Tarr, looks decent. The intro flows well and lampshades the usual "training mode" setups, there's some neat ideas, and the plotline looks like it could shape up decently enough (...so far. Though Doc Vazhilok seems to be taking a vacation to King City). Downsides: dialogue does clunk a little, and I presume the combat style gets more fluid once you're familiar with the controls. But unless it comes to mobile, I don't think it's for me. I need more speed in my destruction.

Better. He's the wrong one though! lol Nope, definitely the right one. Per IMDB: When asked if Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner would have his iconic bowl cut in the film, James Gunn replied "Giving my old pal Nate a bowl cut might have been my primary reason for casting him." That's such a horrible thing to do to your best mate, they could almost be British. Well played, sir. Well played indeed. [/em golfclap]

Well, hello, darlings... Back in the old days, we needed the likes of the mighty Cassandra Peterson/Elvira, Jonathan Ross, Svenghoulie, and then MST3k etc to bring us trash gems that should never have seen the light of day. But with Netflix and Prime being content-hungry beasts, there are now... things... lurking in their depths that can madden the mind of the unwary viewer. I invite you to share your discoveries, gain support for any trauma/SAN-roll failures incurred, and be warned of what bizarre, twisted mutations Whollyodd has unleashed upon unsuspecting streaming services. Rules of this thread: We're looking for "so bad it's good / hilarious / can't take your eyes off it." NO POLITICS. (Or commentary about specific actors/actresses/directors/"poor writing" tangentially related to politics). Nic Cage movies are excluded as they have Nic Cage in them, and are therefore automatically watchable. Yes, even Season Of The Witch. That's it. Exhibit A, which I came home to find my partner watching. And I was appalled. And then I got snacks. Look, and behold: NYC Tornado Terror. So... what have you found out there that's filling the bottom of the bill? Unpleasant dreams...

Thought… …whether or not the Jedi abducted kids or asked, the kids might not always see it that way. Especially if they got taken from a happy secure family to a lifetime of discipline, asceticism and service.