Musical Monday: Repo! The Genetic Opera - Night Surgeon (#13).

[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]

This was a very difficult one to choose. I knew it would be from this movie... but which one? Obviously not the one that will be a little higher on the list, but there are so many others (I could have really done at least half the other songs in the film). The big ones, of course, include the catchy "Let the Monster Rise," the emotional pain-filled "Legal Assassin," and the damn near almost winner, "Chase the Morning." But I went with this one for a few reasons. First, yeah, it's catchy... and it's a haunting and creepy tune with a man fighting with his inner demons. Second, they use a very easy and basic set to great atmospheric effect. The overall visual of the scene mixed with the song just won me over the others.

Unfortunately, the video is not allowed to embed. So Click Here to go see the video.

60/60 Review #47: The Godfather Part III.

I only knew 2 things about this movie going into it. 1) It's considered "the worst of the best" (i.e. the worst film in one of the best trilogies) and 2) Sophia Coppola was a big reason for that. Well... I wasn't lied to. Michael (Al Pacino) is trying to go legit, though they "pull [him] back in." Particularly, his nephew Vincent (Andy Garcia), a hot-head, is ruining things for him. So while he's dealing with business deals that involve the Vatican, Michael is also trying to deal with his nephew's affairs, including a more literal one with his daughter (and Vincent's own cousin), Mary (Sophia Coppola).

So... let's start with the incest. Tis a bit strange only 1 person in this movie finds the relationship at least moderately strange. But even then, I'm not entirely certain it's because the two are related and more that one is Michael's daughter and the other a wannabe-gangster. There's really only one line in the movie that makes note of the fact they're related. But anyway, that's not really the problem with Sophia Coppola--at least in my opinion.

So while on the subject of what is wrong, let's look at the acting. Yeah, she's pretty rough in it. There are a couple others who could use some help, too, but she's the worst. Pacino is fine, though--just as with the previous film--I couldn't care much about him or his character. I maybe liked his arch a little more in this film than the last one. He seemed more vulnerable and human this time out. Ironically, I liked Andy Garcia the most... and he was essentially playing a classic Pacino-type character.

You could probably easily guess my opinion of this film. The first is most enjoyable due to the character of Vito. The second's best bits are the Vito flashback sequences with De Niro. There is no Vito in this film, flashback or otherwise. If you need it a little more spelled out, I didn't particularly fall for this movie. The best parts are with Pacino acting more human and Andy Garcia acting more like Pacino. I couldn't care less about all the Vatican stuff or any of the politics of the businesses. Like the whole of the film, it just wasn't all that interesting. It was capable and overall well-made, but nothing "great."


Stop Saying OK! OK.

(P.S. That wraps up Crime Month Part 2! And now I'm done with all the crime stuff all together! I think the rest of the year is pretty much downhill from here. October is going to be insanely awesome. Why? Just look at what's coming up first to give you an idea. I'm moving from "The Worst of the Best" to "The Best of the Worst" next week with Troll 2. It's time for Horror Month. Oh my Goooooodddddddd!)

60/60 Extra: Casino.

Note: For only the second time in this project, I will have to use the short review format.

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Premise: Two mobster friends have troubles while running a Casino in Vegas... or something.

Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Kevin Pollack, and Don Rickles.

My Reaction: I can't emphasize enough... how little I cared about this movie. It's not that I didn't care for it. It's that I just really didn't care. It starts out somewhat stylish enough with an interesting alternating voice-over and whatnot. But that just keeps going. After 40 minutes of voice-over explanations and no real story to speak of... it lost me. I'll be honest--I just started chatting it up with my podcast co-host, Steve for the next 2 and a half hours or however long I had left in this way-too-long movie. Yeah, I was still paying half attention to the movie, but it was so dull and uninteresting to me I just couldn't care less. It's not a poorly made film on a technical or acting level. Not at all. It was just yet another flick that wasn't for me. Sorry.


Feed Me, Seymour!

(P.S. Only for quality purposes and random bits of intrigue do I give it this high of a rating. It certainly doesn't deserve to be in the same lower ratings as some of the other films I've seen. Again, I don't think it was bad--I just didn't care.)

(P.P.S. Just to spur things on even more... I, funnily enough, wrote this review while I was only half-paying attention, as well. I was watching television of some sort.)

Musical Monday: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - Laundry Day (My Freeze Ray) (#14).

[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]

I can assure you this isn't the only song from this short film on this list. But I included this one because it's a good introduction to the character and his main struggle. He wants to be a villain and rule the world, but he's also a human with needs and is in love with a woman who doesn't notice him and who he has trouble even talking to. Not to mention it's a catchy song with some clevery writing and good cinematography to go along with it.

The Knobbies #2 - Winners!

It's time for the results! This is it, ladies and gentlemen. Only 7 people voted (which is actually less than the amount of people who actually participated in The Vlog this season... strangely enough). But those 7 have spoken... in most of the categories (some didn't participate in all of them). And here is what they had to say.

NOTE: Please read the following winners before watching the video! Some of them are referenced within the clip.

Favorite Impression From Nick

In a tie for Second Place... Bill Clinton and Sean Connery. However, we also have a tie for First! The Winners are...

Heath Ledger's Joker and Elmo!

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Favorite Non-Story Time Episode (Excluding the Finale)

We all know Story Times were the favorites this year, but what was your absolute favorite Non-Story Time Episode... not including the finale? With only 6 voters, we have a 2-way tie for Second Place between Episodes 6 and 10. But The Winner Is...

Episode 2: Casting Call - Part 2 (Of course, the only Non-Story Time episode focused on the Story Time actors).

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Favorite Story Time Episode

This was a tight race. There were 7 voters and a 2-way tie for Second Place between #2 (Kai) and #4 (Jess' Version). But The Winner... by 1 vote... is...

Story Time #5 - Cokie & Wrinkles!

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Least Favorite Season 3 Episode

Only 6 voters this time around... ending in a 3-way tie for First Place. It seems there was equal dislike for Episode 1 (Casting Call Part 1), Episode 4 (A Minor Setback), and Episode 10 (A Change of Focus). The last is particularly interesting since it came in second place for favorite Non-Story Time episode (not to mention I like that one quite a bit myself...).

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The Best Part of Story Times #3 and 4?

There's a 3-way tie for First...

Sebastian's Over-acting, Tom's scarves, and the "I, [age] [name]" lines.

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The Best Part of Story Time #5?

While one person really adored the Meta-Quality of the episode... most gave their vote to James as The Narrator for an overwhelming win. Congrats, James!

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The Best Part of The Finale?

This was one of the biggest surprises for me. In Second Place...

The Hotel Fight.

That's right. The big 3-way face-off was only second place! So what could have possibly taken the top spot?

Kai's Declaration of Vengeance. That's right, Kai! You're just awesome like that!

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Least Favorite Season 3 Character (Human)

In Second Place... Jess and Barry (Tom)

And we have a tie for First! And The Winners(?) are...

Jason and Sebastian*!

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Least Favorite Season 3 Character (Non-Human)

There's another 3-way tie for Second Place, belonging to Wrinkles, Sheep, and Nigel. However, we truly do have some winners here. Why? Because with an overwhelming 4 votes...

You just love them all!

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Favorite Cliffhanger

Of course, the only cliffhangers voted on were in the finale.

In Third Place.. Who's At Nick's Door?
In Second Place... What Happened to Rachel and Jess?
And The Winner Is...

Kai's Ending!

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What Do You Think Happened To Rachel And/Or Jess?

Most of you (3) believe they are both in critical condition. However, the other 3 of you believe that either Rachel died (Jess won), They both died, or Neither died and Rachel is in critical condition. We'll see if y'all are right or wrong next season!

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Who Do You Think Was At Nick's Door At The End Of The Season Finale?

With a tie, most (2 each) believe it was either Kai or Other (out of curiosity, those who voted Other... any thoughts?). The only other votes went to Cokie and Rachel. We'll see!

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Who Do You Want To See More Of In Season 4?

No real winners or losers in this category. But with a massive 6 (of a possible 6) votes, Kai received the most votes. Never fear, dear watchers! You'll get plenty of Kai next season... considering he's the main villain for the season.

Otherwise, Sebastian and Barry/Tom both received 4 votes. Jason, Rachel, Jess, Dylan, and Sheep received 3 votes. And poor Cokie only received 2 votes (you ain't getting rid of him that easily, though!)

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What Was Your Favorite Moment This Season?

With only 2 people writing in, these were the responses I received:

-James as The Narrator
-Dylan singing!

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What Was Your Least Favorite Moment This Season?

With only 3 people writing in, these were the responses I received:

-The Non-Story Time stuff (...thanks? :P )
-Wrinkles' accent (indeed)
-When it ended. :) (aww!)

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And here are the rest of the categories! Enjoy!

The Demented Podcast #23 - What About The Penis?

For our newest episode, Steve and I are joined by Tom Clift of Movie Reviews by Tom Clift. Honestly, it seems that ever since that episode months back with Travis, we've hardly been able to go one episode without at least saying the word "penis." Well, now we at least have a reason. On board today we're talking about black comedies with Harold and Maude and 11:14.

(WARNING: Spoilers for 11:14.)

Of course, Tom then has to live up to his past title as one of the best players of The Tower... can he do it, or does his climb this time through turn into a black comedy of its own? Listen and find out!

Current Tower Leaderboard
1) Steve - 133 Points
2) Scott - 97 Points

Current/Previous Battle Royale Champions
(BR2) Dylan Fields - 114 Points
(BR1) Rachel Thuro - 171 Points

You can listen to this episode on the player below or by subscribing through iTunes.

That being said, enjoy! Thanks goes out to Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website for great, royalty-free music. And thanks to Google for helping me find a website that will give me free video game audio samples.

UPDATE: KNOBBIES!

I was wondering why I wasn't getting any more votes for The Knobbies. So I took a gander. Apparently, I closed off voting last week! I clicked the wrong "end voting" day when I made it, so it hasn't been allowing people to vote! Well... I extended it a bit. You have through tomorrow to get your votes in, and the results will be up on Sunday! Sorry for that! (If you need to vote, click the Vlog Season 3 poster to the side of this blog.)

60/60 Review #46: The Godfather Part II.

I've only seen The Godfather once, and it was a few years ago, hence why only the second and third are on this list. Now, I'm not sure if the fact I haven't seen it in a while adds or detracts anything from the viewing of its sequel. I'm also not sure if it even matters. The majority of films on this 60/60 List are reviewable because while they might universally be considered classics or essentials, they aren't all necessarily universally loved and adored--if that makes sense. However, there are a handful of films on this list that surpass opinion. So far, such have been films like Citizen Kane or Casablanca. The Godfather Part II is not only considered one of the best sequels of all time, but one of the best films ever made (generally found in most film snobs Top 5s and/or 10s), and some argue it even better than the original. Even as of this review, it's in the #3 spot on the imdb Top 250 (whatever that means to you). Long story short, it's damn pointless to review this film.

But I'm gonna do it anyway. Just because.

This is both a prequel and a sequel, giving us two parallel stories juxtaposed against each other. First is the rise of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) and how he inevitably became The Godfather. The second is of his son, Michael (Al Pacino), and his fall as he tries to take hold of and control the family business. The film co-also stars Diane Keaton, John Cazale, and Robert Duvall.

The best way to look at this is to look at the two segments separately and then together. I found the De Niro flashback segments to be the best parts of the film. It was the more interesting half by far, and I actually cared about his rise to power (despite knowing his fate from the first film). De Niro is pretty excellent in the role, especially imitating Marlon Brando's voice from the first film... while simultaneously speaking almost entirely in Italian. But I suppose he did win an Oscar for this role for a reason. Part of me wishes more of the film (or even the majority of it) would have followed this part of the story instead.

The Pacino segments were decent in their own right, and he definitely gained back some of the respect and credibility I'd lost from him over the last couple films (granted, this one came before it, but still). He did very good. That being said, this side of the film wasn't really that exciting to me. I didn't care about the characters or what was going on. The family drama was dull (except for the whole "who betrayed him?" part, but that was only near the beginning. Also, the "abortion" scene was very well done and intense and heartbreaking). And unfortunately, there was more of this part of the film than the other. It wasn't bad or poorly done or anything--it just wasn't for me.

As they're juxtaposed, it works pretty well. And the pacing is pretty good. For the most part, it's kept pretty even. You'll get a long segment of one, then a long segment of the other; a short for one, a short for the other. But there are times when it's not so even and you can tell (and, as you can probably figure, it's usually in favor of the Pacino segments).

I'm not going to review the quality of this film. As an understatement, it's good. The music, cinematography, acting, etc... as I've said before, it's considered one of the greatest films ever made and it won 6 Oscars. There's a reason for all of that. Films of poor quality don't typically reach those standards. So instead, I can only review it on entertainment level, and as we know... entertainment value changes on a person-to-person basis. So for me, I enjoyed half the movie quite a bit; the other half of the movie... was alright. And the length (oh yeah, you knew I wasn't gonna let that slide)? 3 and a half hours... I'd actually say it's not too far off the length it should be. I'd say it could probably lose 30-45 minutes, most of it in the first half. But that's a bit too long for an adequate evening enjoyment. All of that being said, my scoring based on my personal entertainment level would be...


I Am McLovin!

(P.S. Let the hatred begin.)

60/60 Extra: Carlito's Way.

This is the third Brian de Palma film in a row for this month, and it seems they've been decreasing in my favor as they went. I loved The Untouchables. Scarface was alright, though overrated. And then there's Carlito's Way. The film follows Carlito (Al Pacino), a man who has recently gotten out of jail thanks to some info that his lawyer, David (Sean Penn), found about his arrest. But instead of getting into trouble again, Carlito wants to keep clean and go straight. But with people like Benny (John Leguizamo), Pachanga (Luis Guzman), and Lalin (Viggo Mortensen), he finds it harder and harder to keep out of things.

I'm probably going to get some flak for this, but I really did not care for this film. Everything just felt... wrong. Let me try to explain what I mean. It almost seemed as if this film was a joke. The overall tone I took from the film was... goofy. The acting, the music, the costuming and characters... it just felt silly. Don't even get me started on that horrid voice-over narration.

The acting was painful, at least to me. Sean Penn was good, I suppose, but Pacino drove me crazy. His accent was bizarre, and the way he delivered his lines was just strange. I know I'm sounding repetitive, but that's the best way I can describe it. And then there was Viggo Mortensen. It wasn't until halfway through his scene that I even realized it was him... he was so unrecognizable. And it was that scene when I first realized how ridiculously goofy the movie was.

As for the music... I suppose the songs themselves were good, but their use was more cheesy than anything. The best example of this is a love scene between Pacino and the main female... set to Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful." I'm not kidding. It was so painfully bad. I couldn't stop thinking about how much of a joke everything seemed.

If I were to give a compliment to this film, I'd say the last 15-20 minutes. The climax of the film is tense and nicely done. And the whole scene on the escalator (what is it with de Palma and escalators?) was fantastic. But otherwise, the movie was, again, goofy and came off like a joke. The voice-over was bad, something about Pacino was off, the use of music was cheesy... and, yes, the movie was too long for what it was. Needless to say, it wasn't one of my favorites. There were some things in it I liked, and I didn't hate it or anything. It was just... not for me.


Stop Saying OK! OK.

Musical Monday: Man Of La Manca - I, Don Quixote (#15).

[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]

I really like this movie. Then again, I really like the Don Quixote story (and one day, I'll get around to reading the whole thing). This is one of the first songs of the film (it's been a while, but I actually think this is the first song). This version of the story gives us Cervantes (the writer of Don Quixote) arrested by the Spanish Inquisition, and he puts on the play for (and using) the other prisoners in the dungeon with him. This is the introduction of the Don Quixote story and character and the style of the film--going back and forth between the prison and the fantasy view. And... well... it's just a fun, catchy song! I hate that I couldn't find the film version with the entire lead-in, because it's the build-up that makes it really great. But here's just the song from the film.