Monday, May 31, 2010

Box office



From ew, Shrek Forever After is still the winner of the weakest Memorial Day in years. But now a drop-off from Sex in the City 2 has propelled the PG-13-rated Prince of Persia into second place for the holiday frame. The Jake Gyllenhaal-starring actioner grossed $37.7 million for the four days while Sex earned $37.1 million for the four days. The R-rated romp starring Sarah Jessica Parker has been unable in its five day opening weekend to outgross the $57 million earned by the original Sex and the City movie, which bowed in 2008.

Shrek Forever After wins with $55 million for the weekend for a total of $145 million while Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood round out the top five with $20.6 million and $13.5 million respectively.

Unanswered Lost Questions

Happy Memorial Day!

Awesome T-shirt on Tee Fury today


Get one.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Large Crane Is Large, Lifts Korean Warship



From geekology, There are cranes, and then there are CRANES. This is one of the all capital ones.

This warship is the [South Korean] Cheonan, which has an interesting history. The 1,200-ton vessel was split into two after being struck by a North Korean torpedo. It sank into the Yellow Sea on the March 26th, 2010. 46 of the 104 members of the crew perished.

The rear section of the warship was recovered recently, on April 15th. The bow, which is pictured above, was lifted out of the water on April 24th

Hello, South Korea? This is the GW. I know it's the third time in a month, but I was wondering if maybe I could borrow your crane for a little. My penis is on the floor again.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Grean Lantern plot revealed


From slashfilm [excerpt], In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

Sex and the City 2 universally loathed?



From slashfilm, Every now and then, a movie comes around that receives nearly universal derision and spawns a wealth of delightfully vicious, brutal film criticism (Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen comes to mind). This week, that film is Sex and the City 2, whose creatively written reviews seem like they’re much more fun to read than the leaden 2.5-hour film is to watch. Sure, nothing will stop this movie from making over $70 million this weekend, but the wordsmithery demonstrated in the pieces below almost make Sex and the City 2’s success worth it.

Author: Roger Ebert
Site/Outlet: Chicago Sun-Times
Excerpt:

The movie’s visual style is arthritic. Director Michael Patrick King covers the sitcom dialogue by dutifully cutting back and forth to whoever is speaking. A sample of Carrie’s realistic dialogue in a marital argument: “You knew when I married you I was more Coco Chanel than coq au vin.” Carrie also narrates the film, providing useful guidelines for those challenged by its intricacies. Sample: “Later that day, Big and I arrived home.”

Read the rest here

Dennis Hopper dead



LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dennis Hopper, the high-flying Hollywood wild man whose memorable and erratic career included an early turn in "Rebel Without a Cause," an improbable smash with "Easy Rider" and a classic character role in "Blue Velvet," has died. He was 74.

Hopper died Saturday at his Venice home, surrounded by family and friends, family friend Alex Hitz said. Hopper's manager announced in October 2009 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The success of "Easy Rider," and the spectacular failure of his next film, "The Last Movie," fit the pattern for the talented but sometimes uncontrollable actor-director, who also had parts in such favorites as "Apocalypse Now" and "Hoosiers." He was a two-time Academy Award nominee, and in March 2010, was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

After a promising start that included roles in two James Dean films, Hopper's acting career had languished as he developed a reputation for throwing tantrums and abusing alcohol and drugs. On the set of "True Grit," Hopper so angered John Wayne that the star reportedly chased Hopper with a loaded gun.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Gary Coleman Dead at 42


From LATimes.com

Gary Coleman, who soared to fame in the late 1970s as the child star of the hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and whose post-TV-series life included a stint as a shopping mall security guard and an unlikely run for California governor, died Friday. He was 42.

The diminutive Coleman, whose adult height was 4 feet 8 inches, died at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage earlier this week, according to a statement from hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank.

Link.

HHD: Things I Suck At, results are in!


Horrorthonner’s don’t disappoint! Reading through your haikus I concluded that I’ve never known a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.* There was a lot of suckage to wade through and I learned a lot (things perhaps I didn’t want to know) about my fellow bloggers.


In no particular order I learned that 50P hates babies,

i'm good with kids, but
i'm no help when they're infants
can't change a diaper

(could probably learn
but the smell of baby shit?
insurmountable)


I learned that most of us suck at sports,

Stan,

8th grade little league
Not one hit. The whole season.
Stick to wiffle ball

I feel your pain, brother.
JSP,

I also can’t bowl
Ball always drifts to gutter
As do all my thoughts

Octo,

Nemesis baseball
Can't catch flyballs in movies?
I so was that kid

AC,

batting-handicapped
throwing, catching, kicking fine;
can't hit ball with stick

DCD,

I suck at all sports.
Did gymnastics in my youth,
growth spurt ended that.


I didn’t learn anything about Catfreeek because I concluded long ago that her home must look like that of a hoarder,

I suck at cleaning
just can't get motivated
I dust once a year

Big pile junk mail
I throw it on the table
knowing that it's junk

My bedroom's messy
I do vacuum often though
a must with 5 cats


The runner up is JSP with this little gem,

Horrid singing voice
When singing “Happy Birthday”
I just mouth the words
Me too, little brother.


The winner is AC for revealing a number of personal insecurities,

i just don't sleep well
of all the things i suck at
this for me is worst

it's hard to say no
bites me in the ass daily
will i ever learn

admitting i'm wrong
incredibly difficult
fortunately rare



My favorite of AC’s,

i've no fashion sense
don't do "outfits" or "shopping"
but you all knew that

AC, I’ve struggled with this my entire life. My solution? When I buy clothing I just buy whatever the mannequin is wearing in Old Navy, he can’t be wrong, right?
Congratulations, AC!

*I just love to crowbar that in whenever opportunity presents itself.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Warner Bros Unveils "Sherlock Holmes 2" Details


From worstpreviews, During a Warner Bros presentation, the studio announced that the "Sherlock Holmes" sequel is moving forward and has already set a December 16th, 2011 release date. Shooting will begin in the fall.

Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law and Rachel McAdams will all return, but McAdams will not be the leading lady this time. Regarding the villain, Moriarty will take center stage.

The first "Sherlock Holmes" movie was released during Christmas (December 25th) of last year and went on to gross over $516 million in worldwide box office. The film was developed for $90 million.

Shoryuken: Arguably The Most Impressive Sexual Move To Have In Your Arsenal


Video is NSFW NSFW NSFW due to 360-degrees of penis plus naked chick with bubble butt.

This is a video of some guy about to have the sexual intercourses with a ladyfriend but decides to throw a couple Street Fighter shoryukens in the air before stumbling into the camera and remaining a virgin after all. Smooth move buddy, and you were this close.

See video here

Scientists Discover New Species Of Handfish. Wait -- Fish With Freakin' Hands?



From geekology, I've known about other species of handfish for awhile because I pretty much know everything including most of the stuff the government tries so hard to keep from us. The island from LOST actually existing aside, there's a new species to add to the soon-to-be-extinct list: the pink handfish.

Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor....the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a recent scientific review of the handfish family.

All of the world's 14 known species of handfish are found only in shallow, coastal waters off southeastern Australia, the review notes.

Even among the previously known species, the fish are poorly studied, the review authors add, and little is known about their biology or behavior.

And we probably never will. Just sayin', these guys are gonna be extinct before I am. Now, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Time to bait your fingers and do a little hairy handfishing! That's nautical talk for sinking your own battleship. Huh? I'm TALKIN' ABOUT INKIN' YOUR OCTOPUS, YO!

Alice In Wonderland Becomes the Sixth Film To Pass $1 Billion Mark



From slashfilm, On Thursday, Disney’s Tim Burton-directed 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland will become the sixth movie to cross the $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and the first Spring release to ever accomplish the milestone.

The film has earned over $332 million domestically and over $667 million in international markets. Wonderland joins the elite ranks side by side with Avatar, Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and The Dark Knight. This also makes Alice Disney’s second highest grossing film to date.

Watch Heidi Montag's Transformers 3 Audition Tape



From cinemablend, Heidi Montag is mostly known for being a brain dead socialite, so no one really took it seriously when earlier this week word leaked that she was lobbying to take over for Megan Fox on Transformers 3, even though she’d gone so far as to make an audition tape. Now that Michael Bay has filled the part by casting a Victoria’s Secret model, you have to wonder if she might not have been a seriously contender. Compared to Rosie whatsername, she’s a thespian and she capably fills the only criteria that seems to matter to Bay: She’s hot.

Montag didn’t get the part but the audition tape she sent in to Bay did. Apparently she missed those rumors about a year ago which indicated that Megan Fox originally got the part by washing Michael Bay’s Ferrari in a bikini. If she really wanted the role she probably should have grabbed a bucket and a sponge. Instead the audition video tries to prove she’s credible as an action bad-ass, blissfully unaware that the women in Transformers don’t do any action stuff, mostly they fall down in ways that allow the camera to zoom in on their heaving bosom.

Creepy 'The Last Exorcism' trailer

"Martyrs" Horror Film is Being Remade


From worstpreviews, Paramount Pictures has acquired a script by Mark Smith (Vacancy, The Hold in 3D) and set it up with Platinum Dunes. Now comes word that the new project is actually a remake of Pascal Laugier's "Martyrs" horror film.

"'Martyrs' is a remake of the French horror film that I wrote for Wyck Godfrey (Temple/Hill) who's producing the Twilight films among others," said Smith.

The original "Martyrs" shocked audiences for its unrelenting violent nature. It revolves around a young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child. That leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Michael Bay Says Megan Fox Was Pale and Underweight for "Transformers 3"


From worstpreviews, Megan Fox recently stated that she quit "Transformers 3" after director Michael Bay was verbally abusive toward her. It now turns out that tensions started when Fox arrived on set of the third film looking pale, underweight and unhealthy (according to Bay).

The director expressed his displeasure and gave the actress two weeks to go from size 0 to size 2 or 4. He was hoping that Fox would have the same curves she had in the last two installments.

Fox didn't feel like tanning or gaining weight, so she left the production and is now being replaced by a British model Rosie Huntington-Whitely, who has no prior acting experience. She is, however, recommended by Steven Spielberg.

The Wrap got in touch with Fox's people, who said the following about the situation: "We disagree with the assessment about her weight. She looks healthy and happy."

It turns out that even if Fox didn't quit, she probably would have been fired anyway. Shia LaBeouf, meanwhile, is not happy that his co-star is being replaced.

LOST Bonus 12-14 Minute Epilogue Will Be Released on DVD


From slashfilm, While the Lost series finale has already aired, the story isn’t completely over. Lost fans can look forward to a bonus 12-14 minute epilogue on the Lost Complete Series DVD set. What might it involve?

Go here for the details.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

HHD: Things you suck at

Confession time; I can’t throw a football. It’s true and it’s just one of the many things I suck at. Over the years people have tried to show me how to properly execute a perfect spiral, however any and all attempts at throwing a football result in sheer embarrassment (picture the ball flipping end over end and you get the picture). One of my greatest fears is walking past people playing football and having the ball land somewhere near me; “Hey buddy, a little help?” No words strike mortal fear in my heart more than being asked to throw a football to someone. For some reason this seems to happen to me a lot. I’ve learned to “walk” the football over and hand it to the individual who referred to me as “buddy” [I hate that, by the way]. To add insult to injury my 10 year old son can throw a perfect spiral and on more than one occasion has asked me to play with him. I do it out of paternal duty but I die a little inside. I picture Ben in a shrink’s office some day saying, “My low self-esteem comes from throwing a football with my father…”

Like I said, football is only one of a multitude of suckage in my life. Despite taking statistics 5 times across 4 universities I still can’t do them. I can interpret an ANOVA table and execute a Chi Square with ease, but ask me to do anything beyond that and you might as well ask me to analyze the dead seas scrolls. This has been a huge impediment in my career because all research requires a sound understanding of statistical principals. If it wasn’t for AC and Mr. AC I’d probably still be in graduate school.

Public speaking? I’d rather be caned in Singapore. The few times I’ve ever had to public speak (mostly in graduate school), it ended abysmally. When I gave an impromptu speech at JSP’s wedding many years ago I was panicking on the inside. Let us never speak of it again. This too has hindered my career. I’m a full-time clinician these days and that’s the way I like it. One on one conversation is my comfort zone.

Oh there is so much more. I can’t drive a stick shift, I can’t wind surf or understand the principals of sailing, I have a terrible memory and cannot recall the details of anything I read or conversations I have (thank god for good chart notes), I never remember names, I forget what people do for a living (JSP, Jordan, 50P? No idea), I don’t how to play chess or poker and to this day I don’t understand the rules/scoring of a football game (“first down”, what the fuck does that even mean?), I suck at all board games and can’t play video games to save my life.

Wow. I’m depressed.

Okay Horrorthonners, I’ve bared my soul to you once again and I expect you do to the same. My favorite HHD topics are those that force people to reveal personal insecurities. Please don’t disappoint me!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In answer to "Where the hell was Stan?..."

Photobucket
The beautiful moment

Photobucket
MrsX, pictured here wearing the product of Stan's last few sneaky weeks. (The ring, not the hat.)

Johnny Sweatpants' answer to the title question was "He's up to no good." That's only somewhat accurate. The last few weeks have been consumed with the subterfuge of travelling secretly to Baltimore to ask her father's permission, buying the ring and then finding a place to hide it in our 900 square foot apartment (behind the wrestling DVDs - I KNEW it was safe there), and booking our (first real) vacation (ever) to the Bahamas, which was where I dropped the bomb.

I just wanted to share the news here, because even though there's a handful of you out there I still haven't met face to face, I consider all of you very close friends, and my intellectual peers (who am I kidding - my intellectual superiors :).

We're still figuring out what the heck we're actually going to do for the wedding, as to where, when, how big, etc, but I'll certainly be keeping you all updated.

MrsX has also yet to decide if she's going to keep her blog last name, or change it to MrsStan, or MrsX-Stan, so we'll see.

There's a Human Centipede Video Game


From iwatchstuff, It's a lot like normal Centipede, but with the added challenge of trying not to throw up.

Play it here

Quentin Tarantino's Next is a Dracula Film?


From worstpreviews, Austrian newspapers are reporting that director Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) will soon spend four nights in Vienna to visit castles in the nearby countryside.

Kreuzenstein Castle in Lower Austria – one of the locations for Nicolas Cage's "Season of the Witch" – has been tipped as a possible location for Tarantino's new project. But what is this new project?

According to the papers, Tarantino is scouting locations for a Dracula movie. Consider this just a rumor since the papers are not providing any quotes or details.

'Amityville Horror' home for sale in NY for $1.15M


By Associated Press

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. – The house made famous in the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror" is up for sale in New York — ghosts not included.

The five-bedroom Dutch Colonial went on the market Monday for $1.15 million.

The Oscar-nominated film is based on the story of the Lutz family's brief stay in the house in 1975 after six members of the DeFeo family were shot and killed as they slept in the home. Eldest son Ronald DeFeo Jr. was convicted of the murders.

The crime spawned a book and a series of movies that chronicled various supernatural horrors, including visions of walls oozing slime, moving furniture and a visit from a demonic pig named Jodie. The original film stars James Brolin and Margot Kidder.

Neighbors say gawkers still occasionally come by, mostly on Halloween.

Funniest news lead a reporter has ever written?



From geekology, There's quality journalism and then there's quality journalism. And this is the latter. I'm talking about words strung together so profoundly that Putlizer himself just rolled over in his grave and shat a printing press.

"BERVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- The Brevard County doctor who was arrested for groping a woman while dressed as Captain America with a burrito in his pants will not go to jail."

Nor will he be going back to Taco Bell. Fire sauce might not be that hot in your mouth, but in your penis, oh man, in your penis.

Back to the Future and Time Travel’s Effect on Twin Pine Mall



Fromslashfilm [excerpt], Twin Pines Mall (real filming location: Puente Hills Mall in Industry, California, in eastern Los Angeles County) was the location that Doc Emmett L. Brown revealed his new invention, the DeLorean time machine, to Marty McFly. Anyone who has seen the movie remembers that the Libyan terrorists show up and Marty escapes in the DeLorean, which sends him back to 1955 without any plutonium to get him back home. This is the inciting incident of the film.

During the experiment, Doc becomes nostalgic about how he invented time travel and remembered that the land where the Twin Pine Mall currently stands in 1985, use to be farm land owned by Old Man Peabody, a crazy man who was obsessed with breading pine trees. And yes, we see Old Man Peabody and his family after Marty gets sent back in time and crashes into his barn. When Marty escapes, he runs over one of a pair of pine trees on display in Peabody’s front yard.

The result is when McFly returns back to 1985 later on in the movie, the name of the mall has changed to “Lone Pine Mall”.

JSP you missed the gag



The Ewok tee-shirt I previously posted was making fun of this popular shirt, which you'll probably see people wearing if you walk around Walmart.

Remastered Reprint of Noriyoshi Ohrai’s The Empire Strikes Back Poster



From slashfilm, As you know, it is the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. To celebrate, LucasFilm has been releasing some col new books, art prints, posters, and collectibles focusing on the original trilogy sequel. One of my favorite posters from Empire was composed by Japanese artist Noriyoshi Ohrai.

Apparently, StarWarsShop recently discovered one of the actual 8×10-inch high-resolution transparencies of Ohrai’s original artwork within the Lucasfilm archives, and “felt Empire’s 30th anniversary was the perfect occasion to bring back this classic piece of original trilogy illustration.”

StarWarsShop has resurrected Ohrai’s masterpiece illustration in a rich, colorful one-sheet size poster limited to just 500 pieces, a number which is sure to drive desirability once the edition has sold out. Even collectors who own an original release poster exhibiting Ohrai’s Empire artwork will want to pick this one up, as it captures the color and clarity of the artist’s original artwork better than any poster we’ve seen — even the 1980 originals!



The large, high-res source transparency has allowed them to print this one-sheet size poster with color and clarity true to the original, with quality superior to the U.S. posters printed back in 1980. StarWarsShop has opted to reproduce this rare U.S. version of the artwork complete with English title, a first for this “snow” version of Ohrai’s Empire artwork (incidentally, we’ve also added Ohrai’s painted signature back into the illustration, which had been dropped from the U.S. originals).

You can purchase the 27×40-inch poster by Noriyoshi Ohrai on StarWarsShop for only $19.99. The printing is limited to just 500 pieces, so they are sure to go quick.

Monday, May 24, 2010

I'm LOST!


Seriously, I can't figure out what the finale means... any spoily comments welcome!

Brittany Murphy's Husband is Found Dead


From worstpreviews, Just five months after actress Brittany Murphy passed away from cardiac arrest, her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, has also been found dead in his California home. The couple had no children.

Law enforcements say that Murphy's mother, Sharon, called for help after she found Monjack in the master bedroom at around 9:30pm on Sunday. He was pronounced dead sometime after paramedics arrived. Cause of death was not immediately known. Monjack was 39 years old.

For those who don't remember, Monjack was the one who tried to sue Warner Bros for not asking Murphy to return for "Happy Feet 2." The rejection, he said, was the reason why his wife passed away.

Good lord

Box Office


From ew [excerpt], Who knew the appetite for Shrek would abate so significantly in just three years? Whereas Shrek the Third bowed to over $121 million back in summer 2007, Shrek Forever After, which boasted a slew of expensive 3-D screens, opened this weekend to just $71.2 million. (IMAX screens accounted for 7 percent of the total.) The PG-rated animated flick from Dreamworks Animation generated a solid A Cinemascore from audiences, which bodes well for the movie’s staying power, but the opening is still far beneath what the third and even second installment in the uber-successful franchise opened to. In fact, the only Shrek movie that opened weaker than Shrek Forever After was the original in 2001, a completely unique concept at the time that opened to $42 million.

The other new wide release of the frame was the Relativity Media financed R-rated comedy MacGruber. Unfortunately for this property, based on the Saturday Night Live skit, the concept was widely rejected by moviegoers. Earning only $4.1 million for the weekend and a C- from Cinemascore, MacGruber may find it challenging to earn back the meager $10 million it cost to make the film. From producer Lorne Michaels, and starring SNL castmates Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, MacGruber opened in sixth place.

The majority of the remaining top 10 films were holdovers, with both Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood dropping less than 50 percent for the weekend. Iron Man nabbed the second slot for its third weekend in theaters. The Robert Downey Jr. starrer grossed an additional $26.6 million to put its total cume at $251.2 million. Robin Hood fell 48 percent its second weekend in theaters. From director Ridley Scott, the PG-13 rated epic tale starring Russell Crowe grossed $18.7 million for a total two-week gross of $66.1 million. As expected, the film has outperformed internationally, where the total gross stands at $125 million.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

7 Souls



This is probably as a good a time to get into this as any, so here goes. I certainly can't tell you how to spend your own money. And this isn't like recommending movies; it's craftier and more underhanded. Nevertheless: I co-wrote a teen supernatural thriller called 7 Souls (along with friend/writing partner Barney Miller, no relation to the television show with the bassline) which Random House/Delacorte is publishing in July, and, well, I know that other people besides me are watching the Amazon pre-orders. I'm just saying. What? The Amazon page? Oh, if you insist: link

As with any unknown quantity, this could be a real stink-bomb. But I don't think so.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

That's No Moon!: Three Ewok Deathstar Shirt



From geekology, It's a space station. As you may or may not know, the t-shirt was invented in 1722 by a Mr. Nathanial T. Shirk to keep your nipples from falling off. One misnomer at the London patent office later and the rest, my friends, is history. A history I just made up. Which let's be honest, is far more interesting than the real thing. Did I ever tell you the one about how our solar system was created by two magicians fighting over a turtle? That one's actually true.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Seeing Is Believing: How The Old Star Wars Opening Crawls Were Filmed


From geekology, Just like this (because this is a picture of one being filmed is the thing).

When I saw this setup, print in Esquire, I assumed they had built a physical crawl, dragged through the camera's field of view to create the effect. Looking closer, though, it's obvious that it was the camera that moved in this setup, slowly and carefully rolled back over the glossy, printed plate, which measured about six feet long.
It looks like a colored lightbox with the letters glowing through an opaque film. Awesome. You know, it's amazing what you can accomplish even without computers. Kidding, computers are life.,

Happy 30th Empire Strikes Back!


(CNN) -- Neil Sobleski of Dayton, Ohio had been looking forward to it more than anything else.

"I was 4 years old in May of 1980 and already a certified 'Star Wars' maniac," he said. "I had a slew of the toys, and they were my most prized possessions."

On the fateful day when he went to see "The Empire Strikes Back," the second movie in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, Sobleski had little patience for the movie to start.

"I remember that my mom and I were going to see the movie with my aunt, and I found the wait to get to the theater at the local mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, excruciating," he said. "After what seemed like an eternity, we were finally seated at the theater, and the familiar 'Star Wars' title logo was blazing from the screen, larger than life, with the opening crawl going by as fast as I could read it. For the next two hours, I was riveted to the screen."

There is one moment everyone remembers from the "The Empire Strikes Back" more than anything else: The revelation that Darth Vader is, in fact, Luke's father.

Then 9-year-old John Booth remembers the moment well.

"I heard from some kids that Darth Vader was Luke's father, and even though it was spoiled, it made me want to see it even more," he said.

Read the rest here

Chomp! Pac-Man, the arcade classic, turns 30



CNN) -- A rotund, voracious figure follows a trail through a maze. As he rounds a corner, he is confronted by ghostlike monsters attempting to wipe him out. He turns and flees, but soon discovers an additional source of power that briefly turns him from hunted into hunter.

This simple premise gave birth to Pac-Man, the most successful coin-operated video game in history.

The pop-culture sensation, released in Japan 30 years ago this week, created millions of glazed-eye addicts and spawned more than 400 products, including a cartoon, a breakfast cereal and a hit song.

Read full article here

The 5 Worst Deaths Written for Great Characters (And Why)

#5.Capt. James T. Kirk


From cracked, William Shatner played the same character for 28 years, and inspired something like a religion. Somewhere, right now, a grown man is dressed in a Captain Kirk uniform, probably while in a crowded room next to some other guy dressed like a Klingon. So how did they send off the star of one of the most popular and lucrative franchises in entertainment history?



The Death:

They dropped a bridge on him. After decades of (sometimes shirtlessly) tangling with the universe's biggest baddies and boning the hottest aliens, Kirk leaves the mortal coil by way of subpar building construction codes.

While watching Star Trek: Generations we knew something was wrong when, during a face-off with the movie's main bad guy with Captain Picard, Kirk tells Picard to hold off the bad guy for him. James T. Kirk passing the chance to punch a dude? That's like a heroin addict saying, "Man, can you shoot up my stash for me? I got an errand to run."



So instead Kirk goes to fetch a remote to disable the cloak on a bunch of missiles Soran (the bad guy) was about to launch. The remote just so happens to be on a rickety bridge and, as Kirk manages to make a final act of disabling the cloaking system, the bridge collapses down a cliff, taking Kirk with it.

What Really Happened:

First of all, it's clear that Kirk was shoehorned into the film only because the suits weren't confident they could get people to watch a Kirk-less Star Trek movie (Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley both refused to be in the movie, saying the crew got a perfectly good sendoff in The Undiscovered Country, a film specifically written for that purpose). Then, when the writers were sitting around brainstorming ideas for, you know, what to actually do with him, somebody said, "Why don't we kill Kirk?" (yes, that's literally what they said).

So, they brought Shatner and Kirk back to the franchise specifically to kill his ass, and thus wrote in a death for him where he... gets shot in the back by the bad guy.

They filmed it, too:



That didn't make it into the movie because test audiences felt it wasn't heroic enough. So, grossly misunderstanding that feedback, they had a rusty bridge accidentally fall on him instead. Couldn't he at least been having sex with something at the time?

See the rest of the list here

Avengers movie becoming unnecessarily complicated



From cienmablend, Since Marvel first announced plans that it would be making an Avengers film, fans have assumed that the plot would be a storyline taken straight out of the comics: Loki, Thor's half-brother and the God of Mischief, uses his powers to brainwash The Hulk and creates global chaos, leaving only The Avengers to stop him. By the time the film rolls around in 2012, Loki, who will be played by Tom Hiddleston in Kenneth Branagh's Thor, will already be an established villain in the Marvel universe and taking a page right out of the comics would make all of the fanboys happy. On paper it appears to be a win-win, but perhaps Marvel doesn't see it that way.

REad the rest here

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...