25 Days Til 30 - Coming Up On "This Is Gonna Suck"

Here's a brief preview of what I'll be watching and discussion on some upcoming episodes of "This Is Gonna Suck".

Oh Sit!: A televised Musical Chairs competition hosted by Jamie Kennedy. There is no part of that sentence that I'm looking forward to.

Sunday School Musical: A long while back I posted a poll asking what movies from The Asylum I should watch and discuss on the podcast. Two movies tied for first place. The first one, Sherlock Holmes, I have already watched and discussed on a previous episode. This monstrosity, The Asylum's answer to "High School Musical", is still waiting in the wings. I know it's going to be painful.

My Bare Lady: I didn't even know this show existed until I stumbled upon it while looking around on Hulu. What's the premise? Here you go, straight from Wikipedia; "United Kingdom-based reality TV show that aired on the Fox Reality Channel. The series followed four American female porn stars as they took acting lessons and performed in scenes from classic drama alongside British actors in London's West End". Let's take a moment to process this, a show about porn stars taking acting lessons and performing in scenes from classic dramas with British actors. Who in the blue hell came up with this concept? This can't possibly be anything but a train wreck, which is exactly why I will suffer through it for the podcast.

26 Days Til 30 - Movies I Haven't Seen

I've seen a pretty good amount of movies so far in my life. But I'm positive there are even more movies that are considered popular or significant that I haven't seen. Naturally, I'm a little curious to see how behind on things I am so I decided to take a look at the IMBD Top 250 list and see which "big" movies I haven't seen yet for one reason or another. This may be a long post since this is a long list I'm referencing, so get comfortable.

The Shawshank Redemption
The Godfather
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Fight Club
Goodfellas
The Matrix
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Se7en
Rear Window
It's A Wonderful Life
Apocalypse Now
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Saving Private Ryan
Alien
Spirited Away
The Shining
The Departed
The Dark Knight Rises
Taxi Driver
Aliens
Gladiator
WALL-E
Reservoir Dogs
Requiem For A Dream
Full Metal Jacket
L.A. Confidential
Some Like It Hot
Princess Mononoke
Amadeus
2001: A Space Odyssey 
Raging Bull
Die Hard
Blade Runner
Scarface
Platoon
The Thing (either version)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Kill Bill: Volume 1
Gone With the Wind
The Avengers
V For Vendetta
Million Dollar Baby
A Beautiful Mind
Black Swan
The Graduate
Rocky
Slumdog Millionaire
Life of Pi
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness
District 9
Shutter Island
A Streetcar Named Desire
Rosemary's Baby
Harvey


OK, I think that'll do it. Since this is the Internet, you are now free to make judgments about my value as a person based on the fact I haven't watched any of these movies.

27 Days Til 30 - An Hour of Music With Pandora

So a long while ago I decided to occasionally make some posts on here called "An Hour of Music With..." and then choose a channel on one of my free streaming music apps, listen to an hour of music on there without skipping a song and writing my thoughts about what I'm hearing. Well... it's close to a year and half now since I first mentioned the concept and just now I'm doing it for the first time. Don't judge. I need content to fill this 30 Days Til 3 project somehow. Anyway, here's an hour of music from Pandora. And I'm not choosing a specific station this go around, I'm using the Shuffle function. So who knows what we're going to hear? Alright, here we go!

"Take Out The Trash" by They Might Be Giants: Good start! Anytime's a good time for some TMBG. Not one of my favorite tracks from their album "The Else", but still a good song all the same. Got a very grungy feel to it thanks to the fuzzy effect on the guitars.

"Piano Man" by Billy Joel: An absolute classic! I really don't think I need to say much more.

"Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon: I'm sure it helps matters greatly that most of the stations in my Pandora line-up are of artists and genres I enjoy. So I'm remaining positive that I will get stuck listening to crap very few times. That being said, third good song in a row. Promising hour so far.

"Call Me (Original Long Version)" by Blondie: Aw, yeah! Sing to me, Debbie Harry! And they aren't kidding when they have this labeled "Long Version". 8 minutes long. Wow.

Autographs & Apologies" by Motion City Soundtrack: Still not overly familiar with this band despite being introduced to them a few years ago by my friend, Katrina. I keep meaning to look up some of their stuff on YouTube, but it never seems to ever leap to the front of my mind to do so. I like what I hear in this song though. Very crisp sounding guitars, nice piano and keyboard and the vocals aren't grating like so many bands that have come into popularity over the last decade.

"Set Fire To The Rain" by Adele: And we hit our first roadblock. Still, a streak of 5 pretty good songs become coming across one I hate is pretty good. I'll be glad when this song is done in 3 minutes from now.

"Steven's Last Night In Town" by Ben Folds Five: Ahh, that's much better. Easily one of the jazziest tunes to come from the inaccurately named trio. I actually saw the band perform this song live with Ben Folds using a melodica to play the clarinet part. Good stuff!

"The Man Who Sold The World" by David Bowie: I've heard the Nirvana cover many times, but this is the first time I've heard the original version. Maybe it's because I'm used to the Nirvana cover, but I'm not a fan of the vocal effects that Bowie is using on this song. And maybe this makes me a bad rock music fan, but I can't help it. Chalk it up to being "Covered Up", as TV Tropes would put it.

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds: Another classic! I don't think there's anybody who doesn't like this song. BRB, nostalgia is washing over me.

"Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins: "The killer in me is the killer in you". I guess that's kinda deep. But then again, I never said I was looking for deeper meaning as I listen to these songs. Man, love that string section.

"Wonderboy" by Tenacious D": Easily the most epic of epic songs.

"Party In The CIA" by "Weird Al" Yankovic: Well, it is a parody. But it's a parody of "Party In The USA". ...In conclusion; Go to Hell, Miley Cyrus!

"I Melt With You" by Modern English: All right, some more 80s goodness. I still find it funny that both Burger King and Hershey's have used this song in commercials campaigns despite the song's true meaning. It's about nuclear annihilation.

"Defying Gravity" from Wicked: Nice! Great way to cap off this first edition of "An Hour Of Music With..." I dare anyone to tell me that listening to this song does not pump you up or inspire you somehow. Because if you tell me that, I will call you a liar to your face! Also, Idina Menzel, your voice is a gift from the theatre gods. I could listen to her sing the phone book and be captivated.



OK, that'll do it for today. Thanks for coming back!

28 Days Til 30 - Fall 2013 Movie Season Preview

We're more than halfway through August and that means Fall is approaching. And with each new season that comes up on the calendar, that means a new crop of movies are going to be released into theatres. Much like I did earlier this year when looking at the upcoming Summer movies - which, by the way, I saw none of - I decided to do the same for the upcoming Fall movies using the most recent Entertainment Weekly issue as my guide.

Now I'm not going to cover every single movie coming out over the course of the next 3-4 months, that would take far too much time than I'm willing to invest in this. So I'll be covering the movies which would interest me or that I feel like touching on for one reason or another. OK, on we go!

Metallica Through The River (September 27): The movie is being described as "an action-heavy narrative that sends a roadie on a series of nighttime misadventures while the band shreds through its back catalog in 3-D close-ups". I'll pass, thanks.

Runner Runner (October 4): A thriller that revolves around poker written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the two who wrote Rounders which may be considered the quintessential poker movie. You have my attention.

Bad Milo! (October 4): Here's is the entire write-up of this movie in Entertainment Weekly; "In all seriousness, Bad Milo! is a demon inside Ken Marino's butt". ... I really don't know what to say in response to that.

Romeo and Juliet (October 11): I get this feeling this version will be much more subdued than the Baz Luhrman fever dream that came out in the 90s. Might be worth a look.

Zero Charisma (October 11): Apparently, this movie is about a role-playing game master who worries that he suffers from the titular problem. As long as the writers didn't decide to follow the model of "Let's makes these characters like the ones on The Big Bang Theory because that's how nerds act and people find that funny", it should be worth a watch.

Carrie (October 18): What's this? A version of Carrie where the lead actress is actually close to the character's age? Hell, the fact that a high school student is being played by a 16-year-old and not someone in their mid-to-late 20s is pretty mind blowing! All snarkiness aside, I'm looking forward to seeing this one. The novel is great and the original movie was very unnerving. I can only anticipate what they'll do with this version.

Last Vegas (November 1): OK, stop me if you've heard this one before. Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline play four childhood friends who came together in Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Don't think of it as Grumpy Old Men meets The Hangover because director Jon Turtletaub might beat the crap out of you if you do.

About Time (November 1): A young man learns that all the men in his family have the ability to travel through time. Don't make your judgments just yet though, director Richard Curtis says this is "an anti-time-travel time-travel movie". It focuses less on the sci-fi aspects of the concept on more on the philosophical question: What really matters when it comes to time? This unconventional look at time-travel sounds like it's worth a look to me.

Tyler Perry's A Medea Christmas (December 13):  Please, make these Medea movies stop!

Saving Mr. Banks (December 13): A movie about the issues that occurred as Walt Disney Pictures tried to adapt Mary Poppins into a movie? And Tom Hanks stars as Walt Disney? Sold!

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (December 20): I enjoyed the first Anchorman movie. A sequel should be some more goofy fun.

August: Osage County (December 25): I heard great things about this Tony award winning play. I'm guessing this film version will be the closest I get to seeing it. No real complaints about that though, More Broadway plays should get film adaptations so that a wider audience can be exposed to them. 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (December 25): Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig star in this movie which is adapted from a James Thurber short story about a man who imagines himself in fantastical and heroic situations in an effort to make his dull life seem more interesting. Color me intrigued.

29 Days Til 30 - The State of "Wings Of York"

I figured now would be a good time for me to make a brief statement about one of my various side projects. Around this time last year I decided to start a food blog of sorts called "Wings Of York". As you may have guessed, the focus of this blog would be Buffalo wings. My initial concept was to see how many wings and how many different sauces I could try in York - and possibly other surrounding areas - over the course of a year. But I ended up falling behind in my documenting and, as a result, the blog ended up stagnating with no new updates since February. Needless to say, I'm more than a little disappointed in myself as a result of this.

But I'm not giving up. After this 30 Days Til 30 project concludes, I'm going to do a hard reset on "Wings Of York". Or, to use a term bandied about frequently in pop culture these days, it'll be a reboot. I'll focus more on trying the different varieties of sauces available and won't limit myself to any form of time frame. If it takes me 2 years to try all the flavors that Arooga's has to offer, then so be it! And I won't be doing an ongoing tally of how many wings I've eaten. It's about quality, not quantity.

So, yeah, just wanted to put that out there. Look for the new life cycle of "Wings Of York" coming Fall 2013 at wingsofyork.blogspot.com

30 Days 'Til 30 - What It's All About?

Hello everyone. Welcome to the first day of a month long project I decided to embark on. In one month, I will be turning 30. I can hardly believe it myself. So I thought I'd like to do something interesting leading up to that date. And so, here we are; The 30 Days Til 30 Project!

What I'm setting out to do is create and post a new piece of content here everyday from now until September 18th, the day before my birthday. It may be a blog post of some kind, a new podcast episode or even a video. Whatever it may be, it'll be posted right here for the next 30 days. Taking this into consideration, do I have something special planned for September 19th? Why, yes, yes I do. I'll be taking a break from posting anything here and just enjoy the day. I feel I'll have earned it.

I'm thinking of making one of the posts past the halfway point an "Ask Me Anything..." type of post. And, of course, I'm hoping I am actually able to keep up with this and not fall behind, lose interest or quit at some point over the course of the next month. I admit, I've abandoned a whole lot of projects in the past. And I'm honestly going to try to not let that happen with this one.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy whatever may come these next 30 days!

2013 Summer Movie Season Preview

It won't be long now until the big Summer movies begin to pour into theatres around the country. And since it's been a while since I've posted anything here, I decided to take a look at some of these movies - assisted by last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly which was the Summer Movie Preview issue - and give my thoughts on them. I can almost smell the popcorn!

The Great Gatsby (May 10) - Believe or not, I've never read this book. It was never assigned in any of my high school or college classes, nor did I ever pick it up to read it on my own. Perhaps the release of this film will spur me to take a look before seeing it. And that fact that it's in 3D has me even more intrigued. I doubt there are many straight forward dramas out there that have been filmed in 3D. Usually you'd associate that effect with sci-fi, fantasy, or animated films where you'd figure there will be an action sequence occurring at some point when objects will seem to just leap off the screen at you. I'm interested to see how this will translate to a movie like "The Great Gatsby".

Now You See Me (May 31) - The following summary is paraphrased from Entertainment Weekly; "A thriller about a group of magicians who full off elaborate Robin Hood-esque bank heists while by chased by the FBI". I think that's a pretty interesting premise. And after seeing a trailer for this movie before "Jurassic Park 3D", I was even more intrigued. I definitely think I'll be checking this one out.

The Purge (May 31) - Ethan Hawke stars in this movie which takes place in a world where all crime is legal for one night a year. Trailers online have been touting this movie as one of the most disturbing to come out this year. I think it might be worth a look.

Much Ado About Nothing (June 7) -  Joss Whedon's directing a film adaptation of a Shakespeare play starring Nathan Fillion? Sign me up!

Monsters University (June 21) - The prequel to the Disney/Pixar film "Monsters Inc.". Do I really need to say any more?

Pacific Rim (July 12) - I was instantly intrigued when I saw a trailer online a few months ago for this movie that features giant, human-piloted robots called Jaegers which fight monstrous creatures called kaiju. And yes, if I see this you can be sure to hear me "complain" as to why Dr. Cube and numerous other personalities from Kaiju Big Battel weren't included.

The Smurfs 2 (July 31) - Really? This is a thing? Moving on.

R.I.P.D. (July 19) - "R.I.P.D." is based on a graphic novel with the following premise; After a young cop is shot dead in the line of duty, he joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest In Peace Department and tries to find the man who killed him. Well, consider my curiosity aroused. I think this one's worth a look.

The To Do List (August 16) - Aubrey Plaza and Alia Shawkat in a coming of age comedy set in the 90s? And it's being described as sort of a gender flip of American Pie? Sold!

Cockneys vs. Zombies (August 2) - The undead are unleashed on London's East End. But let's be honest, I'd go see this movie based on the title alone.

In A World (August 9) - A vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie trailer voice-overs, to fulfill her dream of becoming a voice-over artist. Sounds pretty good to me.

Now I'm sure many of you are asking about some titles that I haven't mentioned in this post. So I'll address some of those "concerns" right now.

"Hey, you didn't mention 'Iron Man 3'. What gives?" - I haven't seen the first two Iron Man movies, so it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to be anticipated the third one in the series. Plus, I've never been a big comic book reader so I guess I'm just not all that into comic book movies.

"You ignored 'Man Of Steel'. Why?" - Again, not a big comic book movie guy.

 Thanks for indulging me by reading this post. Here's hoping you find plenty of entertainment in the coming Summer months!