Thursday, September 29, 2016

In Every Generation...

 This is actor Robert Conrad

 This is actor Art Hindle

 This is actor Larry Manetti

This is actor Misha Collins

Somebody explain to me how these aren't all the same person? Is he a Highlander? Is there a Robert Conrad gene? I need to understand how this can happen. Are there others?

Hot Wheels: The Movie!


Forget about the presidential debate, I've got some REAL news to discuss: Mattel is producing a Hot Wheels movie. And, no, this will not be a blog post mocking this idea, but one enthusiastically applauding it for one reason: It's going to be directed by Justin Lin.

Justin Lin, of course, is the beloved, adored, and highly acclaimed (by me, anyway) director of such films as Better Luck Tomorrow, Star Trek: Beyond, the third thru six Fast and Furious films, and several episodes of HBO's True Detectives. That's a legit resume, and even if you scorn the Fast and Furious movies, at the very least you have to admit they made a lot of money and that they feature cars that go fast. Those cars, of course, were all very hot and had wheels, making him the perfect choice.

There are no story details as of yet, so one can only guess as to what this film will actually look like. Will it be live action or CG? Will it feature fill size cars or little toy cars? Will they have human drivers or be autonomous? Will he cast long-time collaborator Sung Kang, who is the Robert DeNiro to his Martin Scorsese?

All of these questions will be answered soon enough, but no matter what I'll be there opening night. (Unless I kill myself first.)

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

My Thoughts on That Debate


I am not an undecided voter. In fact, I am decidedly against Donald Trump, and have been for most of my life. As long as I can remember, he has been a figure of ridicule and scorn and pretty much the embodiment of everything that is wrong with our culture. He also seems like a bit of an asshole. But anyway, I went into this debate already knowing who I was going to vote for, and watched pretty much just to see how much damage their guy could do to my gal. The answer is... none, but I think he probably damaged himself. If I was undecided, this debate would've made that decision pretty crystal clear.

To begin with, Hillary Clinton isn't really my gal, so much as she's the one running against Donald Trump. I think she'll make a fine president, but I do think she's beatable because she's so divisive, and I'm not entirely comfortable with some of her history, nor am I gung ho about the concept of voting for a relative of a former president. That just seems weird to me. And, no, I wasn't rooting for Bernie. I was kind of hoping Martin O'Malley would get the nomination.

Oh, but after having watched this debate, any doubts about her electability or ability to lead this country went away. This was as good and commanding a debate performance as I've ever seen, going all the way back to, well, her husband. I actually thought John Kerry did really well in his debates, but both Gore and Obama were mediocre. But Hillary was like Lloyd Bensten shoved into the body of Ross Perot then sent to the same tailor as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I think the Lloyd Benten part was a compliment.

But Donald Trump was just an idiot. What can you say about a guy who, when accused of being sued for not allowing any black people from renting an apartment in one of his buildings, his only defense was to say they reached a settlement where he didn't have to admit guilt. He actually said that. Innocent people usually don't settle, especially not when they are rich and white.

Anyway, I'm not a political commentator and I don't really have much all to say. I just haven't written on this blog in a while, and I thought this would be a good excuse to get back into it.

Alicia Vikander Review: Ex Machina