Have Pencils Will Travel

Tombstar Galactica

2009-04-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

The other night while drinking with friends, I may have accidentally struck gold. Heavy with 7-and-7's and amaretto, we started to paraphrase the recently departed, BSG, even more so Col. Tigh. Slurring turned into "Frak this" and "Skin-jobs". Somewhere in the mix popped out another of my loves in life, Tombstone. Not the pizza but the "every other thing they say is the best tag line I've ever heard", "OK coral shootin'", "Val Kilmer's best role showcasing" Tombstone. And this is what we came up with.
We started with Tigh, who with his ailments, heavy drinking, shoot first demeanor is of course Doc Holiday. This makes Adama Wyatt Earp, which is a pretty easy comparison. As far as the two brothers go we put Pres. Roslin in one seat and Starbuck in the other. Doesn't matter which. Baltar is county sheriff Behan, who sides both sides, depending on the situation. And the cowboys are the cylons. Dean Stockwell in Curly Bill's shoes and Boomer in the Johnny Ringo role. And this would have to be first season stuff. Before all the religion and subplots. After all it's just a drunken idea but an idea with merit.

Top 100 Movie Characters of All Time

2009-03-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

So, movie geek mag, Empire Magazine had itself a little list going of the top one hundred movie characters of all time. And since this mag staff has a memory that lasts slightly longer than that of a gold fish, most of the choices were from the last 15 years. I've copied the top 50 directly below so you can judge for yourself. Here are some from the okay that's a little high but I'll give you it; Heath Ledger as the Joker, no. 3, Cpt. Jack Sparrow at 8, and John McClane at no. 12. Those are impressive characters but maybe a little high. Some that shouldn't even be on the list at all; Jigsaw from the Saw series, no. 30, Neo (Matrix series) at no. 16, and Tyler Durden at no. 1!?! Come on. Pull your heads out of asses, move out of your parents house, and meet a girl. Was Rick Moranis not on this list because it reminded everyone just a little too much like themselves. Now in their defense these were rated by their readers. Surprise, the internet is ruled by dorks.
And this list emcompassed all movies. Really? All time. This list had about maybe 3 or 4 roles prior to 1970.
When looking up this kind of list I saw that Premiere Magazine had a similar list and theirs was done with a lot more taste. Truly taking from all movies this list is not flooded with geek references and not copied from a list of "If a holodec was real and you got to act out a film role who would you be?" I've copied that list below as well. Congratulations go to Premiere for giving a damn as to what gets printed in their magazine.
But between these two lists, I still feel some roles got snubbed and left out. Captain Ahab played by Gregory Peck is a good example. I also enjoyed Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday in Tombstone. That may be playing quite far into the geek side but I think it sits on the fence. Anyone who's seen Man Bites Dog knows how crazy the character Benoit was. But those are just a few and anyone who feels like adding please do. Here are the lists:

Empires top 50
1. Tyler Durden - Fight Club
2. Darth Vader - the Star Wars hexology
3. The Joker - The Dark Knight
4. Han Solo - the Star Wars hexology
5. Hannibal Lecter - the Hannibal Lecter series
6. Indiana Jones - the Indiana Jones trilogy (yeah, I said trilogy)
7. The Dude - The Big Lebowski
8. Captain Jack Sparrow - the Pirates of the Caribean series
9. Ellen Ripley - the Alien series
10. Vito Corleone - The Godfather
11. James Bond - the James Bond series
12. John McClane - the Die Hard series
13. Gollum - the Lord of the Rings trilogy
14. The Terminator - the Terminator series
15. Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
16. Neo - the Matrix trilogy
17. Hans Gruber - Die Hard
18. Travis Bickle - Taxi Driver
19. Jules Winnfield - Pulp Fiction
20. Forrest Gump
21. Michael Corleone - the Godfather trilogy
22. Ellis “Red” Redding - The Shawshank Redemption
23. Harry Callahan - the Dirty Harry series
24. Ash - the Evil Dead trilogy
25. Yoda - the Star Wars hexology
26. Ron Burgundy - Anchorman
27. Tony Montana - Scarface
28. Gandalf - the Lord of the Rings trilogy
29. Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood
30. Jigsaw - the Saw series
31. Aragorn - the Lord of the Rings trilogy
32. Jason Bourne - the Bourne trilogy
33. Tequila - Hardboiled
34. Rocky Balboa
35. Maximus Decimus Meridius - Gladiator
36. Harry Potter
37. Edward Scissorhands
38. Donnie Darko
39. Marty McFly - Back To The Future
40. Patrick Bateman - American Psycho
41. Mary Poppins
42. Alex DeLarge - A Clockwork Orange
43. The Man With No Name - spaghetti western trilogy
44. Peter Venkman - Ghostbusters
45. Amelie Poulain - Amelie
46. Anton Chigurh - No Country For Old Men
47. Blade
48. Tony Stark - Iron Man
49. Walter Sobchak - The Big Lebowski
50. Quint - Jaws

Premieres Entire Listing

1. Vito Corleone of The Godfather
2. Fred C. Dobbs of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
3. Scarlett O'Hara of Gone With the Wind
4. Norman Bates of Psycho
5. James Bond of Dr. No
6. Annie Hall of Annie Hall
7. Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. Ellen Ripley of Alien
9. Jeff Spicoli of Fast Times at Ridgemont High
10. Gollum of Lord of the Rings
11. Margo Channing of All About Eve
12. Charles Foster Kane of Citizen Kane
13. Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird
14. Randle McMurphy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
15. Hannibal Lecter of The Silence of the Lambs
16. Robin Hood of The Adventures of Robin Hood
17. Dorothy Gale of The Wizard of Oz
18. Carl Spackler of Caddyshack
19. Rick Blaine of Casablanca
20. Virgil Tibbs of In the Heat of the Night
21. Susan Vance of Bringing up Baby
22. Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver
23. Eathan Edwards of The Searchers
24. The Little Tramp of Mabel's Strange Predicament
25. Gordon Gekko of Wall Street
26. E.T. of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
27. Marge Gunderson of Fargo
28. Captain Quint of Jaws
29. Daphne/Jerry of Some Like it Hot
30. King Kong of King Kong
31. Norma Desmond of Sunset Boulevard
32. Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's
33. Ratso Rizzo of Midnight Cowboy
34. Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde
35. Dr. Evil of Austin Powers
36. Alex Forrest of Fatal Attraction
37. Jake Gittes of Chinatown
38. Willy Wonka of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
39. Michael Dorsey/Dorthy Michaels of Tootsie
40. The Terminator of The Terminator
41. Jane Craig of Broadcast News
42. "Dirty" Harry Callahan of Dirty Harry
43. Forrest Gump of Forrest Gump
44. Jules Winnfield of Pulp Fiction
45. Mary Poppins of Mary Poppins
46. John McClane of Die Hard
47. Mrs. Robinson of The Graduate
48. John "Bluto" Blutarsky of Animal House
49. Chance the Gardener of Being There
50. Blondie of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
51. Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street
52. Howard Beale of Network
53. Ninotchka of Ninotchka
54. Frank Booth of Blue Velvet
55. The Dude of The Big Lebowski
56. Alan Swann of My Favorite Year
57. Tom Powers of The Public Enemy
58. Phyliss Dietrichson of Double Indemnity
59. Lt. Kilgore of Apocalypse Now
60. George Bailey of It's a Wonderful Life
61. J.J. Hunsecker of Sweet Smell of Success
62. John Shaft of Shaft
63. Carrie White of Carrie
64. Rocky Balboa of Rocky
65. Edward Scissorhands of Edward Scissorhands
66. Navin Johnson of The Jerk
67. Inspector Clouseau of The Pink Panther
68. Alex DeLarge of A Clockwork Orange
69. Terry Malloy of On the Waterfront
70. Judy Benjamin of Private Benjamin
71. Rev. Harry Powell of The Night of the Hunter
72. Lloyd Dobler of Say Anything
73. Norma Rae of Norma Rae
74. Tony Montana of Scarface
75. Dr. Strangelove of Dr. Strangelove
76. Tony Manero of Saturday Night Fever
77. Annie Wilkes of Misery
78. "Mad" Max Rockatansky of Mad Max
79. Hans Beckert of M
80. Sam Spade of The Maltese Falcon
81. Aurora Greenway of Terms of Endearment
82. Jack Torrance of The Shining
83. William Cutting of Gangs of New York
84. Darth Vader of Star Wars
85. Stanley Kowalski of A Streetcar Named Desire
86. Melanie Daniels of The Birds
87. Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
88. Raymond Babbitt of Rain Man
89. Sandy Olsson of Grease
90. John Malkovich of Being John Malkovich
91. Mrs. Iselin of The Manchurian Candidate
92. Dil of The Crying Game
93. Harry Lime of The Third Man
94. Rose Sayer of The African Queen
95. Oda Mae Brown of Ghost
96. Tommy DeVito of GoodFellas
97. Ace Ventura of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
98. Antoine Doinel of The 400 Blows
99. Kevin McCallister of Home Alone
100. Roger "Verbal" Kint of The Usual Suspects

Lux Interior dead at 60

2009-02-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

I only half care about this blog but when I just heard that Lux Interior had died I thought I needed to express some things. If you don't know who I'm talking about, Lux was the co-head of Punk-Rockabilly-Surf-Glam-Rock band known as the Cramps. Started in the mid 70s with his wife, guitarist Poison Ivy, their sound was this raw, garage, mean sound that whenever you heard them play it was this "Fuck you", overly sexed, unmistakeable Thing you would never forget. For those who do know what the hell I'm talking about, understand completely and agree how sad it is to hear of his departure. I had the good fortune to see the Cramps a few times, (they didn't tour too often in their later years, selecting dates only around Halloween.) and it always blew me away. From that first time at the Ventura Theatre, amidst the smallest crowd I've ever seen there, it was like a wrecking ball of energy tearing down anything I had seen before. They were in your face. They didn't care what they did on stage, (Lux usually wound up with his dick hanging out during the final act.) They were rockstars. I can never give them enough accolades. The Cramps will forever stay as one of my favorite bands. I could give you some dopey history lesson that you would just forget. If you really want to remember them well, Psychedelic Jungle/Greatest Hits is some of their best. I know some of you out there that will cry during their cover of Ricky Nelson's "Lonesome Town" from now on. Lux, i hope you're giving the Devil his due.

50 Greatest Special Effects Shots

2008-12-31T16:34:00.000-08:00

Den of Geek has amassed a list that is candy for a child for truly hard-core, movie-effects' fans. The list covers not the momentous events of special effects, but more the tools behind them. It's a great list for those who enjoy the making of documentaries on a dvd or the break down of any gadget and why it works. As with any list their will be some scoffs at what did not make the list, (he goes into explanation on why Bullet Time in the first Matrix was exempted, which his excuse I scoff at myself.). My personal favorite being the process of filming a mass of seagulls for Hitchcock's The Birds, explaining in depth of the the type of camera used and how rare it was. Enthusiasts won't be dissapointed at how in-depth the list goes unless you're the type to get upset at how the magician did their tricks. Enjoy.

via Den of Geek

Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still (remake)

2008-12-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

This film had haunted me since I first heard about it over eight months ago. We've all suffered remakes, good or bad, but just the sheer idea of remaking this film left me gasping. Is nothing in Hollywood sacred? I should know the answer already. Of course not. Any film you grew up with is in danger. Every ounce of your childhood will be torn apart. Any film you found inventive, new, with a life of its own, will be gutted, dissected and put in a cheap display case any time someone decides the world needs a new flea circus. If all this seems a bit extreme then let me tell you about "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
In this weary tale of "the human race be warned," spheres from the far reaches of space land smack dab in the middle of Central Park, N.Y.C., and too-sexy-for-that-kind-of-scientist, Jennifer Connelly, emerges from the crowd to shake hands. As per their role in everything, the military steps in and whoops-a-daisy, moves the plot along.
JenCon happens to be THE scientist who is there every step of the way, befriending our Klaatu (Keanu Reeves, in a role that is always a perfect fit for a blank slate), and aiding his escape. JenCon and Klaatu team up with her Rastafarian step-child (Jaden Smith) and we have ourselves a road trip picture.

I won't harbor too much on Jaden, since I'm a big "Boondocks" fan myself, but he's asked to bog down the plot with this horrendous, "you're not my mom, you're an alien, so help me resurrect the dead" spiel. Apparently, the Smith household has started asking their kin to raise some mortage money. Hard times indeed.

Klaatu's lovely assistant, Gort, meanwhile starts to dissolve into nano-duplicating scarabs and hits the town. Hard. It's up to Keanu to get to Central Park and hit the reset button.
Have I given away too much? Those who will see this tripe fall into two catergories. (a) You're bored out of your skull on a Friday night, and (b) you're a fucking moron. My grocery list of complaints with "TDTESS" runs longer than Santa's list of naughties at Rod Blagojevich's "Who'll Fill Obama's Shoes" auction. Anyone in their right mind holds the original in high regard. Not just as science-fiction gold, but cinema gold as well.
Here are my "Six Reflections" on TDTESS:
-I hope JenCon's contract allows her to do as many indie projects she wants after appeasing the agents and studio heads that made her do this.
-Was the intro set in past India necessary? Couldn't we have just skipped that useless five minutes that just left us with more questions?
-It isn't "The Day the Earth Stood Still" without "Klaatu barada nikto."
-The film ends without Keanu addressing anyone of any worldly, politcal importance on why this is happening. His actions just scare people without letting them know why. I hope this isn't the start of Klaatu going through the motions every five years, only to have a small group of individuals "ask for a little more time."
-In the original, the Earth, for a day, stands still. It's that simple. In this film, this doesn't happen. At the end, there is no one left in NYC, but that's not standing still. That's desertion. If this is the case then we could have named "Independence Day," "The Day the Earth Stood Still."
-Nothing is protected from greedy producers in Hollywood. They will remake "Gone with the Wind" and it will star Eddie Murphy. The only way to stop them is to not see their films. Just walk past the theaters and say, "No thank you." It may take our lifetimes, but if we can stop just one idiotic producer, from shitting all over something important and special, then I will die with a smile on my face.

Diary

2008-12-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday went as follows...Woke up with good artistic intentions. Spent the morning composing the letter to Dark Horse, watched half of Frost/Nixon,(I didn't want to watch the whole thing without Sarah, but since it leaves off just as the interview begins, Sarah be damned.), started writing out what I think could be a novel combining my own experiences with insomnia and the horror/thriller script I started writing, Blood Red Eyes. We'll see where that goes. Started the portrait of Sarah that I had been meaning to do for so long, only it looks this time like I've squashed her features instead of elongating them. Looking at the clock, almost 1, I realize I had completely forgot my lunch plans with Eric. When I reach for my phone there are messages and I feel like shit. This puts me in a sour mood just as Sarah comes home for lunch. When she proof reads my letter and tells me what's wrong with it it only brings me down more. The rest of the day is a haze of a lot of blah.
But nighttime made up for it. Coffee with Steve and Sarah. During dinner met up with Eric and discussed Movies, Cinema, Film, which is something we've talked about before and sometimes its great to talk about them and sometimes it just brings us all down with the lines between commercialism and art and the grey in between all this. I go to meet a friend, possible link to a bigger project concerning zombies, (I know, who isn't doing zombies right now?), says the project is more for a movie his friends wants to animate. I'm weary of proposals especially after the Roscoe incident but I promise myself not to get to wrapped up in it. I'll send some samples next week. Go home and watch Chariots of Fire. I've never seen it. Thank you again Netflix/Microsoft.
I'll post some pictures of some of the work mentioned soon.