Classic scenes from the movies part 3

The first clip is from Glengarry Glen Ross. For those of you who've seen it, you know that I could've chosen many, many scenes from this movie, but you also know that if I had to pick one, it would be this one. A little background. GGR was orginally a David Mamet play that opened on Broadway in the 80s. It's about real estate salesmen looking for that big deal to "close." I remember Empire magazine describing this movie as "a film about a bunch of guys sitting around, talking shite. But what wonderful guys. What wonderful shite." This really does sum the movie up.

Director James Foley decided to adapt it for the big screen and, because the dialogue was so actor-friendly, had no problem lining up a heavyweight cast for the film - Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon (who, IMO, should've shared the Best Actor Oscar that year for this, with Denzel for Malcolm X [on a side note, it went that year to, coincidentally, Pacino for what is surely his worst performance - Scent of a Woman - ham acting indeed]), Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Jonathan Pryce and Alec Baldwin.

This scene features Baldwin in his only scene of the movie and, interestingly enough, this scene wasn't even featured in the original play. Foley had Mamet write this scene especially for Baldwin once he'd climbed on board. In 5 short minutes, Alec Baldwin sets the gold standard for foul-mouthed monologues - a performance he has yet to better...




The next scene is from the French film Amelie. It is, in fact, the opening of the film and, like Magnolia, is one of the best openings to a movie I've ever seen.

A delightful, whimsical fable in which we see the world through eyes of matchmaker-turned-matchmakee (is that a word?) Amelie (played with appropriate doe-eyed innocence by the then-unknown Audrey Tatou).

The opening scene sets the tone for the entire film and, if you're familiar with the work of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ( the wholly-original Delicatessen and the equally strange City of Lost Children), you know you're in for a treat...




...and, as a bonus clip, here's clip featuree Kevin Spacey on Inside the Actor's Studio giving dead-on impersonations of some famous actors - including Lemmon and Pacino. Genius.

The Fall - the best movie I've seen this year

On Sunday Courtney and I watched what can only be described as one of the most original movies I've ever seen.

The movie is The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh. It's set in LA in 1915 in a hospital. A young girl with a broken arm befriends an actor in one of the hospital beds. He enchants her with a magical story with a cast of characters based on people she's seen in the hospital...before I go any further, take a look at the trailer, for it synopsizes the film better than I can...



The movie is an amazing amalgam of The Wizard of Oz , Life of Pi (best fiction book ever written, IMO), The Princess Bride (but bear in mind that this movie is, in parts, quite violent and deserving of its R rating) and, and, and well, I can't describe what else, except to say that it's so much more than the sum of its influences.

Five-year-old Romanian first-time actress Catinca Untaru is mesmerising as the young girl, while Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) gives a wonderfully-rounded performance as the storyteller/red bandit/blue bandit/actor/drug addict/etc.

The cinematography, art direction, costume design and all-around-visuals in the movie are among the best I've EVER seen.

The movie was shot over four years (!) in 28 countries (double !) and was truly a labor of love for Singh, who also co-writes and co-produces.

Arresting, funny, scary, wonderful. The Fall has it all. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Guitar Hero Baby!

Here's me, multi-tasking as usual, while Finn (in his sling...the greatest invention, ever!) tries to learn the words to Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes...




...and now, after trying numerous times (and failing) to master Freebird on expert, we take a well-deserved nap.

Jon Stewart Hits Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Dick Morris On Sarah Palin Hypocrisy

(Reprinted from The Huffington Post)Wednesday night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart hit Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly with damning evidence of their hypocrisy regarding Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

While Rove recently praised Palin's experience as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Stewart showed video of Rove trashing Virginia Governor — and former Richmond Mayor — Tim Kaine's executive experience, listing all the cities that are bigger than Richmond and calling such a pick "political."

Then, after recent video of O'Reilly describing Bristol Palin's pregnancy as a family issue, Stewart showed a clip of the Fox News host blaming Jamie Lynn Spears' parents for her teenage pregnancy.

Finally, after showing video of Dick Morris complaining about the rampant sexism in the media coverage of Sarah Palin, Stewart unveiled a clip of Morris saying that Hillary hides behind the sexism defense, and that anytime "the big boys" pick on Hillary, "she retreats behind the apron strings."

"In Dick Morris' defense," Stewart said, "he is a lying sack of sh*t."

Kucinich is STILL the man!

Here's Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-Ohio) speech from the Democratic National Convention. He was my first choice for President and his was the only campaign I've ever given money to. I'm with him on every issue.

It's a hell of a speech!

Two new, upcoming TV shows that I'm, like, totally freakin' psyched about. Man.

If you've never seen Little Britain, then I'm afraid, my friend, you've never lived. Get thee to Amazon and order it. Presently. In the meantime, the creators and stars, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, have created Little Britain USA for HBO. It's a sketch comedy show and this new series mixes some of the characters from Little Britain with new, American creations. It starts Sept 28th, so order HBO (if you don't already have it) or drop your ethics and down-load it on the down-low.




Also coming out this Fall, also on HBO is True Blood, a vampire drama. Why watch, you ask? Because it was created by Alan Ball, who created one of the best shows of the last 20 years - Six Feet Under, it's an allegory for the treatment of homosexuals in today's society and it's on HBO, so there'll be plenty of sex, violence, blood and gore.

Cate "singing" Japanese

So Cate found some Japanese Princess website as she was browsing the internet the other day. As with a lot of Japanese sites, the page has cheesy, kitschy pop music sung by a no doubt prepubescent girl in the background.

Because Cate is 5 and would happily go to the same website to play the same game over and over again, she has now "learned the words" to a Japanese pop song. Observe...





And as a special pop bonus, here's Cate dorking around again as Leona Lewis, singing "Bleeding Love"

Classic scenes from the movies - Part 2

Here are a couple of scenes that compliment each other, and are similar, in many ways. First, both films are in black and white. Next, each film stars (in the case of the former unarguably and in the case of the latter arguably) the best actors of their respective generations. Both films feature boxers. Both movies feature protagonists who are way past their prime. Both films won the Best Actor Oscars for their respective leads. Both scenes have largely the same exact dialogue (you'll see). Both films feature short, chubby and respected character actors as the boxers' brothers. Both films feature blondes as the love interests. Both films are widely regarded as essential tough-guy classics. And both films contain the following undeniably classic scenes. Have you guessed what they are yet?

The first scene is from On the Waterfront (1954) and features Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger and yes, it's the famous back-of-the-cab-I-coulda-been-a-contender scene. The next scene is from Raging Bull (1980) and features Robert DeNiro as real-life washed-up pugilist Jake LaMotta in the prologue/epilogue scene, reciting the I-coulda-been-a-contender speech from On the Waterfront in front of a mirror.

I love these scenes because they show both actors at the very top of their game, giving incredibly naturalistic performances in two of the best films ever made. Enjoy.

My latest story for the paper

Here's a story I just did for the paper on Keesler's military working dogs. Though I've always been a big fan of all things canine, I didn't really know much about working dogs until I started researching and interviewing for this story...they're uh...pretty fierce, to say the least, but EXTREMELY well looked after. Anyway, here's the story (original link here):

Man's best friends train as canine warriors

by Staff Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez
Keesler Public Affairs

8/19/2008 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- The dog was big, fluffy, shaggy and golden-brown ... perfect if you want a big hug from a furry friend.

Or not. This dog wasn't trained for hugs. This dog was trained to attack!

The 81st Security Forces Squadron's military working dogs aren't your average hounds. They're specifically raised from birth and trained to be the canine equivalent of those who protect and serve.

"They're not pets, and they're not bred to be pets," said Tech. Sgt. Damian Phillips, kennel master. "They're trained attack dogs. If they're tolerant of people, (they won't be able to) apprehend a potential threat."

Because of the temperament required to be a working dog, these canines can't just "sleep at the foot of the bed." They live in a specially-designed kennel and each dog has his or her own specific enclosed area.

"The dogs are maintained in (the kennel) 24/7 and only myself, military working dog trainers or the on-duty handler are allowed inside the kennels," said Sergeant Phillips. "Even regular patrolmen aren't allowed to pet, touch or feed the dogs, but they can give them water (through a caged door) and spray out their area."

Working dogs receive complete and precise care every day.

"We go into the kennels every two to three hours and have a checklist that must be signed annotating all checks," explained Sergeant Phillips. "We ensure that they always have enough water and that their area is clean."

Weight maintenance and nutrition for the working dogs are closely monitored by the dog handlers. Per Department of Defense regulations, all military working dogs must be fed a particular brand of high-qualilty dog food, said Sergeant Phillips. In order to maintain the correct weight, the amount of food is constantly adjusted.

"(The type and amount of) food they get is exact, their training is exact and their duty is exact," said Sergeant Phillips. "They are required to have daily exercise, like physical training runs with their handlers, and they're also required to run our obstacle course at least once daily."

While the dogs are closely looked after by all of the trained security forces personnel that work in the working dog shop, each dog has a specific handler.

"I like working with the dogs -- it's a step up and new challenge from being a normal cop," said Staff Sgt. Benjamin McQuagge, a working dog handler. "(My dog and I) have a good relationship; we work out and play a lot."

The close relationship between a working dog and his handler extends beyond normal duty hours.

"Our job involves long hours and coming in on our days off," said Sergeant Phillips. "Even when we deploy, our dogs go with us -- be it the Middle East, the U.S.-Mexico border or even in support of the Secret Service. We do it, though, because we care about the dogs, and we love our job."

The technical training school for security forces personnel is about 10 weeks. The technical school to be a dog handler, referred to as "K9 school," at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is even longer -- 12 weeks.

"The training style is based on repetition -- the training gets drilled into us," said Sergeant McQuagge. "They teach us that each dog is different, how to read a dog and how to work with a dog. You're very comfortable with being a dog handler by the time you leave."

Not just any cop can become a military dog handler. Specific steps must be taken in order to qualify.

"You need to be a 5-level with a good record to be a dog handler," explained Sergeant Phillips. "You have to then put in a package with the virtual military personnel flight and, of course, successfully make it through the K9 school at Lackland."

With all of the care and training it takes to work with military working dogs, when it comes to where to house the operation, Keesler's new working dog facility more than meets the requirements, said Sergeant Phillips.

"This building is a $2 million facility with its own veterinary examination room, trainer office and food preparation room," said Sergeant Phillips. "Having every room (that you need) on site is nice."

Classic scenes from the movies - Part 1

This is the first in what I hope will be (if I have the discipline to stick with it) a continuing series of my favorite scenes in certain movies. There will be no order, rhyme, nor reason behind the series...sometimes I'll post a few clips, sometimes only one...


The first is one of the best movie prologues I've ever seen...the opening of PT Anderson's Magnolia...




Next, a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time (in my top five). It's from All That Jazz, a semi-autobiographical film from the great dancer/choregographer/director Bob Fosse (Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Lenny). This scene is one of the musical numbers from direcor Joe Gideon's (Roy Scheider playing a thinly-veiled Fosse) new, as yet unreleased, musical. It features a great song and some of the best choreography ever committed to film...