Rocky Horror Glee Show

Follow this link to watch the full episode. I think the Glee cast put on a good effort. At least when they take on something they fully commit to it. You can't take the place of Tim Curry though.
http://www.fox.com/glee/full-episodes

David Bowie-Ashes To Ashes-1980

Song of the Week

Well can you highlight Halloween music without throwing in David Bowie? I think he’s worn more costumes than anyone I can think of. This is a fun freaky romp.

The Sweet Smell of Success

DVD Review

I’m in week two of the movie potluck over at Anomalous Material. This week my flick came from Anna of the blog Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile. She recommended the 1957 Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis classic, The Sweet Smell of Success. This is one of those movies that I’d always heard about but never seen.

What a slimy bunch of creeps to spend an hour and thirty-six minutes with! This is one of those old-time films that remind you that people have always done horrible things to each other. Next time someone talks about the degeneration of our current society, point them toward this little gem.

Burt Lancaster plays JJ Hunsecker, a Broadway columnist who’s power to make or break people with a mention in his widely read column has clearly gone to his head. Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, is a Hunsecker wannabe. He’s a crappy PR agent working out of his dingy one room apartment. He wants the type of status Hunsecker has and he’s willing to do the dirty work to get there.

These two slimeballs manipulate and threaten people left and right. They have dirty

secrets on everyone in town and they’ll use them to get their way. Falco is always begging Hunsecker to drop his clients' names into his column. Hunsecker just may throw Falco a bone if he will help to break up upcoming jazz musician’s relationship with his beloved baby sister. We see glimpses of possible character redemption in Hunsecker’s love for his sister and in Falco’s resistance to ruin the innocent musician.

My age was showing as I watched this film and recognized the young jazz musician, Martin Milner, as the guy from the 70’s TV show, Adam 12. I also spotted Darrin’s boss from TV’s Betwitched, and a handful of other old-time actors.

This was a very fast talking film and I’d love to see the size of this script compared to similar films of the same length. Tony Curtis attacks the role as Sidney Falco. He talks fast, paces, fidgets, chats up the ladies and shows a vulnerability underneath his big shot façade. I haven’t seen many Tony Curtis films and I enjoyed watching this vibrant performance. He’s a couple of years away from some of his more famous roles and it’s clear he was a star on the rise.

On the other side, Burt Lancaster had already turned in some of his most memorable performances and had nothing to prove. His give and take with Curtis is powerful and they share the screen well.

Overall, I’m glad I saw this film. I’m not sure I would have stuck with it if it wasn’t a recommendation. It did become quite melodramatic at times and the main characters were so unlikeable, it would have been quite easy to turn this off. However, I found myself thinking about these characters hours after the film was over. That in itself is the makings of a good film.

Colleenie Ghoulie #4

Well my little ghoulies, our time together is quickly coming to an end. I hope I’ve been serving up a nice cauldron of scares for you to enjoy. This week I want to give a nod to arguably the scariest movie of all time…The Exorcist.

I’ve spent weeks trying to find a good clip of Linda Blair doing that head spin. I have to be honest though, after re-watching the scene a dozen times on YouTube, I simply can’t do that to you guys. I found one scene where the mom is downstairs and starts to slowly walk up and I clicked the mouse to logoff before she got to the top. I couldn’t take it!

Honestly, I watched this movie a ridiculous amount of times in an effort to desensitize myself from it. Growing up, we had HBO and Showtime and I tried to watch it every time it came on. I did a pretty good job toughening myself to it except for when she spins her head completely around. It’s interesting why this bothered me so much.

Basically, this was the least effective special effect in an otherwise flawless horror film. Linda Blair clearly looked like a fake doll as the head slowly turned around. Yes, we’re back to the doll thing. I was completely freaked out by this because in some Hollywood prop department THERE-WAS-A-DOLL-THAT-LOOKED-LIKE-THAT!

Imagine how I felt when about a decade later - I was innocently watching some special effects documentary on a lazy Sunday afternoon- and the host was walking by different props on the lot...AND THERE SHE WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN A CORNER! I always knew she was there waiting for me.

So I will not do that to you my sweet ghouls. You are more than welcome to YouTube that head spin yourself.

Have you missed a ghoulie Friday? Catch up now!

Colleenie Ghoulie #1
Colleenie Ghoulie #2
Colleenie Ghoulie #3

GO Giants!

There's no new blog post today. I'm watching the Giants!

RIP To Two TV Icons

We lost two great TV icons this week. Barbara Billingsly, otherwise known as “Beaver’s Mom,” and Tom Bosley, Richie Cunnigham’s father on Happy Days.

I have seen ever single episode of both of these shows and I loved these two dearly. June Cleaver was the perfect mom and housewife that none of us could ever live up to. But just when you think she was little Miss Prim & Proper, she did this hilarious cameo in the 1980 movie, Airplane.



Tom Bosley, as Howard Cunnigham, was always the perfect balance of loving, yet strict father. He was there with advice and support when needed. He apparently had some kind of falling out with the eldest Cunnigham, Chuck (I never saw that kid again after the first season) he still managed to always come through from Ritchie and Joanie.

Song of the Week - Werewolves of London

Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon
I’m not familiar with a lot of Warren Zevon’s music, but I always thought this song was cool. He not only sings about werewolves, he howls too! What more can you ask for?

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

Book Review
Talking to Girls About Duran Duran
By Rob Sheffield


This happens so many times. An author writes a memoir about a cataclysmic event in their life. After the story has been told, however, they have little more to say. This was the case with the follow ups to Julie and Julia, Angela’s Ashes, Marley and Me, and Eat, Pray Love. Once you’ve told the big story, nothing else will live up by comparison.

Fortunately, this is not the case with Rob Sheffield’s new book of essays, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. Sheffield’s first outing, Love Is A Mix Tape, chronicles his young married life and the untimely death of his wife. Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone and his life has a constant soundtrack. His first book was funny and beautiful and I really could feel his love and anguish, but he always kept his sense of humor and while you felt for him, you never pitied him.

His new book goes back in time to give us a glimpse into the songs and people that shaped him. Drawing on music from the 80’s, Sheffield is fearless in admitting songs he loved and the role they played in his upbringing.

Like most of us, when we remember a certain time in our life, we usually remember what song we loved too. So it’s not like Sheffield is necessarily dissecting these songs, but more so using them as vehicles to chronicle key points in his life.

What I love most about Sheffield is how unpretentious he is. This guy works for Rolling Stone and I’m sure he has met a string of great musicians; he could easy parlay this into having a cool, underground, hipster taste for bands we’ve never heard of. He could pretend he never listened to Whitney Houston, but he embraces his love for pop music and all the embarrassment that may come with it. Since I’m also a child of the 80’s, I was familiar with most of the songs covered in the book. Interestingly, though, I have never seen the video for “Shiny Shiny” that Sheffield claims was aired constantly on MTV. I don’t know how that’s possible, but the wonders of the internet cleared that up for me.

I was also never a fan of Duran Duran. It’s interesting that he chose this band of the 80’s because it’s quite true that DD will find a way to get you sooner or later. At the time, I hated them and I thought they were all weird looking pretty boys. It was their release of “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” in 1993 that made me finally admit that I liked their songs. I then went back and enjoyed all the 80’s hits that I shunned at the time.

As I read about Sheffield’s sisters, lack of girlfriends and early jobs, I could reflect on my own 80’s experiences. The true beauty of this book is you will love hearing about Sheffield’s life and family, but it will also, hopefully, take you down the soundtrack of your life.

In honor of pointing out an 80’s band I never heard of (a task I did not think was possible), I’m posting Haysi Fantayzee”s video “Shiny Shiny” for all to enjoy.

The Brothers Bloom - 2008

DVD Review

I’m currently doing a Potluck Movie Pick with the gang over at Anomalous Material. Red set up a great idea where we all nominate movies from the Netflix instant catalog and then everyone is assigned a movie they have not seen.

Chris at Casta La Vista picked my movie for me, The Brothers Bloom. I remember seeing the trailer for this movie awhile back. It has three actors I love: Mark Ruffalo, Adrian Brody and Rachel Weisz. How could it not be great? However, it did seem to have a stylized kind of look to it and I thought it could go either way. I figured I would wait to see if it had good buzz. Well, it basically came and went.

In trying to find the negative aspects of this film, I will say that maybe people found it too slow paced and the settings a bit confusing. Certain settings and the characters’ clothing, made it appear that this film was set in the past. However, they had backpacks, cell phones and karaoke. It’s chance you take when you do something so stylized. A narrator and comic-book like graphics can be a real turn off to an audience. I, though, loved the look and feel of this movie and none of these aspects bothered me. Unfortunately, I guess there wasn’t wide enough appeal at the box office.

Stephen (Ruffalo) and Bloom (Brody) play the Bloom Brothers. Orphaned at a young age, the two brothers bounce from foster home to foster home. Ruffalo, as the older brother, hates this life and resents the other children and the carefree lives they flaunt so innocently. Brody, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to fit in and live a normal life. The constant for Stephen (Ruffalo) is his love for his younger brother. He wants nothing more than to give him what he wants. At a young age, he begins to concoct “cons” and finds he’s quite good at cheating people out of their money. Bloom (Brody) comes alive in cons because it allows him to pretend he has a completely different life. This lifestyle works for Bloom (Brody) for awhile, but it’s still not the true, honest, quiet life he craves. He desperately wants out of the con-man life, but Stephen, who loves it all, keeps pulling him back in. In typical con-movie fashion, he convinces Bloom to do one last job, to heist the very rich and very lonely Penelope ( Rachel Weisz).

Weisz is simply adorable! She lights up the screen and is creatively crazy with intelligence. Audiences rarely get female characters in these types of films that aren’t insipid and unbelievably idiotic. Penelope may be the Bloom Brothers “mark,” but she’s no dummy. In addition, Rinko Kikuchi as Boom Boom, is very cool, powerful and in control of her fate at all times.

The driving force of the story, though, is the relationship between the brothers. Mark Ruffalo once again turns in a fabulously believable performance. As I’ve said before, he makes it look so effortless that I think people take his talent for granted. Brody plays off of him effectively and you can feel his angst in loving his brother, yet desiring a normal, criminal-free lifestyle. It’s hard not to be touched by their deep affection for each other. Stephen strives for nothing more than to make his baby brother happy.

By the end of the film, I felt more attached to the characters than I realized. I had a fun time hanging out with The Brothers Bloom and I hope more people will check this film out. Thanks Chris!

GO GIANTS!

Well, I'm not sure if this guy made a new video for us against the the Phillies, but this still gets the juices going. Colleenie is usually watching sitcoms or DVDs, but she totally supports her Giants. Pop open a beer (or two) and settle in for some great weekend baseball!