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My dream cast for a Clue: The Movie reboot

Posted in movies, pop culture with tags Clue, LEB, movies, pop culture on August 10, 2012 by Paxton

Another great assignment for The League this week. Probably the best one we’ve had. I might have to say that this is the single greatest topic ever conceived in the history of blogging, the Internet, or probably in anything. EVER. And I think the person who suggested said topic is probably as handsome as he his distinguished in his bad assness. The topic?

Remake one of your favorite movies with a cast of current Hollywood stars.

The person who suggested it? The Man-God known as…me. Yes, this is my topic suggestion for the week. I think it’s pretty awesome, hopefully the rest of the League does as well (how could they not?). Anyway, on to this week’s topic. Hollywood loves remakes and reboots. Most recently Hollywood also loves movies based on board games. Why not combine the two? I thought that this was the “perfect storm” of events I needed to beat Hollywood to the punch and cast a reboot of a popular 80s movie based on a board game. And the movie I chose is one of my favorite comedies of all time, Clue: The Movie (which just hit Blu-Ray on Tues).

There has been talk for years of remaking this movie and currently Gore Verbinski is attached (director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies). Who knows how that’s going to turn out, so let’s take a look at my own personal “dream cast” for a new Clue movie. Now just note, I view this reboot as a true, “hard” reboot. It would stay true to the spirit and look of the original movie to a point, but it would not be “in continuity” with the original. It would truly stand on its own.

Here we go. You can click the card images of the new cast to see them bigger.

Clue card back
Wadsworth – Michael Sheen – Originally played by the great Tim Curry. In my eyes there is no better casting for this role than Michael Sheen. You’ve seen him in the Underworld movies as well as Tron: Legacy and Frost/Nixon.

Clue card back
Miss Scarlet – Scarlett Johansson – Originally played by Lesley Ann Warren. Warren was good and funny, but she was not my favorite of the original ensemble. I think ScarJo would be an upgrade. Plus, she has proven that she can do comedy pretty well. And, she’s rather attractive, as Miss Scarlet is supposed to be (not to say that Warren wasn’t attractive).

Clue card back
Col Mustard – This was the hardest role to cast. I am a huge fan of Martin Mull. Just watch him in Mr Mom. He almost steals the movie. Anyway, I was going to put Ed Helms here, and he’d probably be great, but I don’t buy him as a former Army colonel. So, I decided there are two ways to go here, I can go with a more conventional pick that I think fits really well or I can go with an “out of the box” pick. I think I’m leaning towards my “conventional pick”, John C Reilly. Reilly is really funny and I do buy him as a former colonel. As for my unconventional pick, I also really like Bob De Niro. The last decade or so De Niro has shown he has an affinity for comedies and I totally think he’d work. However, as part of this “comedy all star” ensemble I’m building, De Niro sticks out like a sore thumb.

Clue card back
Mrs Peacock – Kristen Wiig – Originally played by the great Eileen Brennan. Wiig is perfect for this part because not only does she look a bit like Brennan (check out the images for comparison), she is funny and quirky and weird. Exactly how Brennan played Mrs Peacock.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 49: Guilty Pleasures

Posted in movies, podcast, pop culture, TV shows with tags movies, Nerd Lunch Podcast, podcast, podcasts, pop culture, TV shows on August 8, 2012 by Paxton

Here we are, 1 episode before the big 5-0. This week we are joined again by Rondal from Strange Kid’s Club and we are doing a somewhat “sequel” to a subject from w-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-y back in Episode 4. That subject was guilty displeasures. However, this week, we are flipping the script and talking about guilty pleasures.

(Via Pretty Random Things)

Yes, guilty pleasures. Those things you do that you are ashamed you do. Watch a terrible TV show, enjoy a bad movie. Maybe you don’t feel guilty about it but everyone else you know gives you crap about it. That’s what we are discussing. And yes, reality television is mentioned more than once. So strap on your listening devices and join us.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or just listen to the episode via the Internet radio machine here.

The Pirate Movie turns 30 years old today

Posted in movies, pop culture with tags anniversary, movies, pirates, pop culture, reviews on August 6, 2012 by Paxton

The Pirate Movie starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy MacNichol was released on August 6, 1982, which is 30 years ago today. Many people consider this movie a cheesy knockoff of the play Pirates of Penzance. However, while it’s incredibly cheesy, it’s more accurate to say that it’s a spoof of the Penzance play. It did not set the box office on fire, but HBO would play it continuously throughout the 80s causing it to have a cult following.

Here’s a newspaper ad of the movie from the day it was released on Aug 6.

Pirate Movie

Not only did this movie spoof pirate movies, it also spoofed musicals like Grease and even had some Star Wars jokes. It seemed like the cast had a really good time making it and most of the songs were very well written.

Check out the awesomely 80s trailer:

I am a big fan of musicals and this was a great one. The soundtrack is truly one for the ages. I still listen to (and workout out to) songs on this album. The songs on the album included some of the more famous Penzance songs like Modern Major-General and Pirate King, but also featured newly written songs specifically for the movie.

Some of my favorite songs in the movie include:

Pumpin’ and Blowin’ by Kristy McNichol (very much a late ’70s-early 80s tune)

The Modern Major-General Song

I am a Pirate King

The very Grease-like final number Happy Endings:

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Review of Oz Book 6: The Emerald City of Oz (1910)

Posted in books, Wizard of Oz with tags Book Report, books, Oz books readthru, reviews, Wizard of Oz on July 30, 2012 by Paxton

Moving right along in my quest to read all of the original Frank Baum Oz novels. Here we are at Book 6. To see my reviews of the first 5 books in this series, click the banner above. Otherwise, keep on reading…

Like the last book, I picked up the illustrated eBook of this from the B&N Nook Store for .99 from Eltanin Publishing. They have rendered a beautifully edited and formatted text and kept all the original Neill illustrations intact. I have been supremely happy with Eltanin’s work thus far on the Oz eBooks I’ve read (Books 4, 5 and 6). They are well worth purchasing and you can’t beat the price. Eltanin is slowly working their way through this series. I also picked up book 7 from them. Unfortunately they haven’t released anything further than book 7 but my hopes are high that the rest will come soon. Check out Eltanin Publishing for some really nice eBooks.

So, the last Oz book, The Road to Oz, was released in 1909 and this book was released the following summer in 1910. As I mentioned, John Neill would once again contribute wonderfully detailed illustrations for the book’s interiors. As a side note, John Neill would go on to write and illustrate several Oz books after Frank Baum died.

With this book, Baum had every intention of ending the Oz series. While reading the book, you can easily see that Baum was closing the door on Oz. We had seen him, in Book 5, parade around characters from his other non-Oz books to drum up interest in those with the hopes of sending his fans to his other stories.

With this being “the last Oz book” as Baum originally envisioned, Baum pulled out all the storytelling stops. Instead of telling one story where we follow a group of characters through a fairly land all the way until the end of the book, in this book Baum tells two different story threads and shifts between them. The first story thread involves the Nome King who first appeared back in Book 3. He’s extremely pissed at being defeated by a little girl and her pet chicken. Plus, they stole his magic belt. So, he gathers his army, convinces several more evil and sinister characters in Oz to take up his cause and storm the Emerald City to take it by force. While the Nome King builds this army and plans his attack, the second story thread involves Dorothy returning to Oz to ask Ozma to allow her and her Aunt and Uncle to live there permanently. The cyclone from Book 1 has destroyed their Kansas farm and the land is about to be taken over by the bank. Ozma agrees and sends Dorothy and her Aunt and Uncle on a carriage tour throughout the countryside of Oz. Along the way, Dorothy learns of the impending attack on the Emerald City and tries to return in time to warn Ozma.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 47: Pop Culture Expanded Universes

Posted in books, comic books, movies, podcast, pop culture, TV shows with tags books, comic books, movies, Nerd Lunch Podcast, podcast, podcasts, pop culture, TV shows on July 24, 2012 by Paxton

Welcome to Episode 47. This week I am hosting the show and Jeeg has gone off on a solo adventure. We replace Jeeg with Shawn from Branded in the 80s and our rotating guest chair goes unfilled. But we actually have a guest. Unfortunately the guest doesn’t use chairs, so that’s why the rotating chair is unfilled. This week we are also joined by regular Atomic Geeks guest, Mark Dury. Our topic this week is Pop Culture Expanded Universes.

You know, the novels, TV shows, comics and cartoons based on already popular pop culture properties that “expand” the “universe” of that property. We discuss the granddaddys of Expanded Universes with Star Wars and Star Trek. However we also cover The Matrix, ET, Farscape, Highlander and even Alf. It’s a lively discussion you should have a lot of fun with. I know I had a lot of fun hosting.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or, you can listen to the episode online right here.

This is the first week of the huge Atomic Geeks/Nerd Lunch cross over series. The new Atomic Geeks episode this week will also be about Expanded Universes. As you saw yesterday, I’m also on Classic Film Jerks this week talking about Casablanca.

Next week, Jeeg and I go over to the Atomic Geeks to talk about mash ups. Digio and Downs from the Atomic Geeks join CT for a discussion about Doctor Who. It’s getting all mixed up and incestuous here in the Atomic Geeks Podcasting Network. Should be a lot of fun.