The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of: Jumper

The Good:

1. Jamie Bell. Ok....Jumper is not a great movie by any means. Nor is it a long one....only 83 minutes. However, whenever Jamie Bell was on screen, it was a little bit easier to take. He gives the film a shot of energy that is sorely missed whenever he is off screen.

2. Hayden Christensen's Looks. I'm only human. He does doff his shirt a few times in the movie, I'm all for that...keep me watching.

3. Lack of moral issues. Christensen's character is a bit of a bastard. Early on, we discover he earns his money by robbing banks, yet nothing is made of this fact in a moral way. In fact, he never uses his powers for "good", even when shown an opportunity. Good for the screenwriters. Not everyone with superpowers has to be a do-gooder.

The Bad:

1. Hayden Christensen's acting. I thought he was wooden in the Star Wars films because that was how Lucas directed him. Perhaps I was wrong. He tackles this role with too much intensity which only makes him seem stiffer.

2. She-Who-I-Will-Not-Name. She plays his mother in the film. Total screen time is only about 3 minutes (which is a good thing). Someday I'll go into why I'm against her.

3. The Plot Issues. There are a number of plot issues that affect the credibility of the film. I'll mention two. One--at the beginning of the film, Christensen's character is 13 and supposedly learns about his ability for the first time. Later, it is established he actually used his ability for the first time when he was only 5 years old. If I developed the ability to teleport at age 5, I think I'd remember that. I have memories from when I was five. Two--just at the moment when it look like the bad guys have been shaken off....suddenly the bad guys just happen to have a machine that will allow them to continue. How convienent.

The Ugly:

1. Sam Jackson's Hair:



What the hell is that? Why does he even have it? There is a tretise to be found somewhere in the correlation between a movies quality and the villian's hairstyle. There is absolutely no reason to have a discolored Chia Pet as hair. It's just distracting.

Verdict: Rent it.

Keyword Search

Being a young blog, most keyword searches leading here have tended toward the benign and obvious. However, I was just checking my StatCounter account (or is SiteMeter better to use?) and someone accessed this blog using:

Julius Wechter religion

Who in the world is Julius Wechter? And what religion does he have going for him? I'm at a loss on how that string led here.

Valentine's Day

For all those of you celebrating today with somebody special:



May you have a wonderful day.

For all those like me who have nobody to celebrate today with:



Go out....buy one of these and enjoy!



After all....it's over in 24 hours.

Burning Question

Answer in the comments.........

Which is the better theme song:

"The Electric Company"

or

"The Great Space Coaster"

?

And to all a good night.....

I don't want to leave everyone for the night on the previous sour post....so I present puppies! Who doesn't love pictures of puppies? Awww........

Ugh

Great.....it just hit me that Valentine's Day is in 2 days. Another one I get to celebrate single and alone....keeping alive the streak that goes back to the year I was born.

Sigh....maybe someday.....

Oh yes......no B.O. this week

Yes.....I know I haven't posted the Box Office grosses the past few weeks. It's actually a decision I made. January through April are usually a very fallow time for the movies, and frankly the less I have to write about Fool's Gold, Meet the Spartans and Hannah Montana, the saner I'll be for when the good stuff starts again and I do re-start the grosses post.

But hey, if you want to go see Hannah Montana, I'm not going to stop you.

Show me that smile again.......

I had kind of a crappy weekend heading into the first half of today. I'll spare the details since no one likes a Mr. Weepy. Things are starting to look up though. So I'll simply post a nice little picture.

Plinko Schminko

Looking back at my post of the Tic Tac Dough dragon a few days ago got my mind going on all the game shows I used to watch growing up. Nothing would make me happier than for daytime TV to return to a game show filled schedule. Joker's Wild, Card Sharks, Blockbusters, Hot Potato, Deal of the Century, Tic Tac Dough, Match Game....the list goes on. I could easily spend 24 hours straight watching old episodes of these shows. At least The Price is Right is still on.

I kind of like Drew Carey as the new host. He's still a little green when it comes to hosting: he doesn't explain the rules of the games that well and doesn't have quite the level of contestant rapport that Barker had, but I think he'll get there. I do miss some of the games though. Penny Ante was my favoirte, where the contestant had to guess the right price for an item and pushed the button lighting up a row of pennies with the sound "BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUP!" to reveal a yes or no answer. Hurdles was also a favorite, probably why I became a hurdler in high school.

However, there is one game on TPIR that I have never been a fan of, and have still never understood it's appeal.



I truly fail to get Plinko. When a contestant is shown a car as a prize, I fully expect them to jump and whoop around the stage. However, whenever Plinko is announced, the contestant goes even crazier, as if a genie has granted them as many wishes and he/she can wish.

Plinko is one of the few games on TPIR that doesn't require some type of skill, it's purely a luck based game. The chip can be placed anywhere on the board and has a chance to go anywhere, like an old pachinko game. First, the contestant has to win Plinko chips, otherwise they only get 1 chip, so the possibility immediately exists to earn much less than $50000 if the contestant can't price. I've seen people miss on 2 or 3 chips and therefore start off being able to earn much less. I've seen people drop 3 or 4 chips into the $0 slot, walking away with almost nothing. In fact, most of the Plinko games I watch end up with the contestant winning $5000 or less; which is no great shake. According to Wikipedia, the most anyone has won on the $50000 Plinko board (replacing the $25000 board in 1998) is $30100. Good for them, so they earned 60% of the maximum total, not the greatest percentage. I just don't like the idea of a game where it's possible for the contestant to get all the Plinko chips and still be able to walk away with $0. Even in Punch-A-Bunch, the worst a contestant can do is $50.

I guess the thought of a possible $50000 is enough to make people spazz out. I'd rather play Hole in One-Or Two!

(Totally unrelated thought: How awesome would it be to have a TPIR Game Show Host Guest Host week? If Drew Carey ever goes on vacation, have old hosts like Monty Hall, Tom Kennedy, Wink Martindale, Jim Perry and Richard Dawson come in to each do a show. That I wouldn't miss.)

Blog Title Explanation (more exciting than post heading)

So I imagine the burning question on everyone's mind is.....What does 'I Deny You the Nidus!' even mean? Well, if you already know the answer to that question then you are my best friend forever. If not, this post will provide the answer.

Back in the early 1980's, Nickelodeon was a fledging television network that I watched faithfully. Being a new network, they did not have a lot of original programming so instead they imported a number of shows from other countries. Many of these shows (primarily from England and New Zealand) had a sci-fi twist to them and were presented under the banner "The Third Eye". About 4 shows comprised "The Third Eye", only 2 of which have stayed with me, as I made sure to watch them every time the came back on in rotation. Yes, the 4 shows were basically looped for quite some time. The first show was called "Children of the Stones", a fantastic sci-fi story about a scientist and his son who arrive in a small town to study the odd stone formations found there and get caught up in a mystery involving the town's "Happy Ones". I'll write more detail about this show on a later date.

The other show, and the one more pertinent to my blog, was "Into the Labyrinth". (presented in three pictures on top of each other, as I don't know how to do side by side pictures yet...sorry)





In this show, three young children in the English countryside are mysteriously drawn to a cave, in which lives an imprisoned wizard, Rothgo. Rothgo is dying as he has lost his power source, known as the Nidus. He asks the three children to help him find it. The Nidus is lost somewhere in time, so once the three kids agree to help, they are sent back in time to start their search for the Nidus. Each episode takes place in a different "time period", which, given the budgtary limitations of the show, all took place in the same set of caves, but with different window dressings, meant to invoke the time period. (Easier to swallow when I was only 10 watching this.) The Nidus is disguised as some object in each time period and only by looking at that object's reflection will the fact that it is the Nidus be revealed.

Now, there is also a nemesis. A witch, Belor, pictured in my header, is also after the Nidus, so she can control its power for herself. In each time period, she is able to disguise herself as a different charatcer. Now, here is where my title comes in. At the end of each episode, the children discover which object is the Nidus. At that point, Belor transforms from her disguise into her real form, points at the object and yells: "I deny you the Nidus!" This causes the Nidus to be thrown through time into a different era. The kids then follow to that next time period and their adventures start anew. Until the last episode, when you can pretty much guess what will happen.

There were three seasons of "Into the Labyrinth." Season 2 follows the same pattern. Rothgo has again lost the Nidus, and the kids have to search for it, with Belor trying to stop them; and yelling "I deny you the Nidus!" until the final episode, natch. In season 3, only the oldest of the children returns, finds a new wizard he has to help with some other object......whatever, Season 3 was bad.

When deciding the title of my blog, I first came up with a number of different variations on my name, then decided that was dumb, as a lot of people have already done that and better than I could do. So one day I was going through my movie collection, looking for something or other to watch (I really need to organize it), when I came upon the DVD's of the show. Immediately, I knew that I'd use "I Deny You the Nidus" as the title. It's a phrase I like and remembered, it reminds me of growing up and the obscene amount of TV I watched, and it wasn't some corny play on my last name Flink (not an easy name to do workplay with).

Thus was "I Deny You the Nidus!" born.

The DVD's I have of the show are bootleg versions I bought from Ebay, copied from the English DVD release. I believe the series is still sold on DVD in England, for those who have region-free players. Or I'm sure Ebay must still have them. I would recommend buying the series and also "Children of the Stones". They might skew a little young, but they are well done shows and a nice throwback to classic sci-fi.

If anyone has heard of or seen these series, let me know. I don't want to be the only soul who enjoys them.

P.S. Oh yes, add "The Tomorrow People" to that list. But that's another post.

International Idiocy: Get Me to the Cemetery on Time Edition

Dateline: London

I love how the article states that "some people got very angry and had to be restrained by other mourners." Like the horses made some sort of a collective decision beforehand to disrupt everything. I can just envision these people suing the horses later on for inflicting emotional distress.


EDIT: 11:04pm Wow, do I sound bitter here. What got into me? I guess it's that I could understand being upset, but having to be restrained? If that happened to me, I'm not sure if anyone could really be blamed, horses do spook, but who would these people have gone after? The horses?

Currently feeling.....

Play Me

Curtain up.....light the lights.....

It would appear that perhaps all those years spent practicing my Oscar acceptance speech is starting to pay off. Or at least I might be a step closer to fulfilling my dream of slapping She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named. I have made my first appearance on another blog!

Over at PUNTABULOUS, a few pictures I took over the weekend have been put up. The witty and talented Craig, who writes Puntabulous, posted a recipe last week of a Buffalo Chicken Dip for use during the Super Bowl. Anyone who made it was asked to send in pictures. I brushed aside my normal reticence, stepped out of my comfort zone, and snapped some pics of myself making the recipe (and for some reason a lot of different T-Shirts).

Craig obviously has some magic in him, as he made me look and sound better than I would normally consider myself. So head on over to check out the pics and the blog. Then keep going back every day!

FagaBeefe!

Midnight Madness

Come see how good a night can be
Are you ready for a brand new game?
(a brand new game)
Come take a chance and play with me
And you're never gonna be the same

When Midnight MadnessStarts to get to you
Doesn't matter what you say
Doesn't matter what you do.
You gotta play.

Just when you think you've had your fun
And you're ready to say goodnight
(don't say goodnight)
You'll find the fun has just begun
'Cause the game's gonna last all night.

Just when you think you've had your fun
And you're ready to say goodnight
(don't say goodnight)
You'll find the fun has just begun
'Cause the game's gonna last all night.

When Midnight MadnessStarts to get to you
Doesn't matter what you say
Doesn't matter what you do.
Whooo!

Song by: David and Julius Wechter

Catching up with the movies---

I was hoping to do some Good, Bad and Ugly's for these films.....but the aforementioned issues got in the way. So I'll just encapsulate:

Away From Her: Quite a lovely touching film. Julie Christie deserves the Oscar for this one. A nice, quiet, flowing performance. No big scenes, just a solid job from beginning to end. The movie even ended on a slight up note, which was pleasant.

Eating Out 2: Sloopy Seconds: Ok, I laughed at some stuff, but overall this was pretty bad. Yes, the actors were pretty to look at, but that is why the internet was invented. Watching a movie, I want to watch a movie, with characters and story.

Rambo: He blows shit up! It was comforting to see gratuitous 80's violence on the screen again. The story and characters were massively simplistic, but just enough to keep me going. Who doesn't love watching someone get an arrow through the face, then get blown up by a land mine?

Norbit: Solely watched because of the Oscar nomination for Makeup. I've seen a glimpse of hell.

Atonement: Not as good as I hoped. The ending "twist" did not work in the context of the film; it left a rather bland feeling behind. As the movie ends up being predicated on the twist, it deadens the movie a little.

2001 Maniacs: A little too goofy for it's own good, at least the gore effects were done well. Robert Englund was a hoot.

Surf's Up: It's ok, but entirely predictable. How this beat out The Simpsons Movie for the Best Animated Film nomination, I'll never know.

Suck it Verizon!....you too life.....

Ugh,

Well, my phone and internet went down for the better part of a week. Verizon was no help, telling me to stay at home for 9 hours so I can be there for a repairman, only to tell me after 9 1/2 hours that it was a cable problem and nobody was going to come after all. Fun fun. Then it goes down again and they finally send a repairman, at 8:00am on Saturday morning. At least everything is fixed....just in time for my mother to develop a slight medical problem. I'm not going to bother with the specifics; I don't want to depress everyone, plus it seems that it's easily treatable and shouldn't be a factor long-term wise. So the past two weeks have not been oodles of fun.

Onwards and upwards to better things...I hope

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of: Cloverfield

The Good:

1. Population Control. Manhattan is already overcrowded as it is. It was kind of nice to see a monster rampage around freeing up some space so us suburbanites can come in and have some elbow room.

2. Those little tiny monsters. I want one as a pet. I have many uses for him. Plus, I will love him and I will pet him and I will cuddle him and I will call him George.

3. The actors. They all did a decent job in fulfilling the sketch of their characters. I wasn't expecting much development in a 73 minute film and I got exactly what I wanted. Relatively blank people with just a touch or two of personality.

The Bad:

1. Real Estate. You think the prices to live in Manhattan were bad before. Try finding a place after half if it has been leveled.

2. Character Motivation. Yes, without the entire saving the friend angle (since the film did not imply to me they were a couple) there would have been no Cloverfield. Still, if that was me, I'd say to myself: "I'm in my early 20's, there'll be other friends." And I would have been in Brooklyn long before anyone else.

The Ugly:

1. The monster. Good job on it. Appropriately ugly looking.

2. The Camerawork. This didn't affect me at all; I saw The Blair Witch Project and wasn't affected by that, so I knew going in I wasn't going to be bothered by shaky-cam. However, I do know quite a few people that will have trouble watching the film. It is what it is.

Overall: Enjoyable, fun monster flick. I'd recommend it more for a matinee as 74 minutes is really short to shell out $10 on.

Something Lighter

After yesterday's heavy post, I needed something a little warm and fuzzy before resuming.

Why do we Care?

This post is in reference to the recent deaths of Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger. I might sound slightly callous, but that is not my intent. I am quite sad at the loss of both of these actors, but as I was thinking about it, a thought crept into my mind.

Let's deal with Heath Ledger, since he is the more recent of the two deceased. When I first saw the news, my jaw dropped slightly, a felt blood rush tingling sensation, and a small amount of tears welled up in my eyes. A day later, this title thought popped into my mind.

Why do I care? I never met Heath Ledger personally, I never saw him with my own eyes on the street or at some movie function. To the best of my knowledge, I never came within 2 miles of him. I've only seen him in 6 movies since 1999. Pieces of a few others, but only 6 that I've sat through. Yet, when I saw the news of his death, it was like a small gut punch. I look though the New York Times and my own local paper every day. They both have obituary sections. The local paper lists 10-20 names every day of people from the surrounding community. The Times does to, plus they have larger obit for this scientist, that social researcher, this retired executive. They've all died, but I don't feel anything; I don't get teary, I don't get sad. Obviously, their death is traumatic for their family members and friends, but not knowing the person myself, I don't really have much of a reaction?

So what is it about Heath Ledger's death that causes a reaction? His age? Yes, he was 6 years younger than myself, but I've seen obits for young people before and haven't had a reaction. And as I said before, I didn't have a personal relationship with him. Is it his celebrity? I'll admit that people do have strange relationships with celebrities. I've had the fortune to meet a few of them, and once you chat with them for a while, you realize that they're simply a normal human being that's been given a talent to do something or other slightly better than most people, but still, they're just a regular person. While I enjoyed watching Heath Ledger on the screen, I would say most of his movies were passably enjoyable, but nothing too memorable. Is it Brokeback Mountain? As a gay man, the movie was certainly a touch of a watershed in terms of movie history, and I certainly thought the movie was fantastic; but I see over 100 films a year in the theaters and know quite well that Brokeback was just a movie and not a real life documentary. Maybe it's the fact that the person will never act/play/whatever again? Possibly, but there is almost nobody I can think of who had a famous career in any field of which I had to see everything they did. In terms of movies, I pick and choose what I want to see. An actor I like might appear in nothing I want to see for the rest of his/her life. Is it the thought that maybe there is a great performance in the future that will never happen now?

So I end up confused. Whenever I see an obit for a celebrity (recently: Ledger, Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette), there is a definite twinge of sadness that comes over me, stronger for some, lesser for others. But what is behind that twinge? I'll pose the question to those of you who read this post. What do you think it is? I would imagine most people are in the same boat, never having had any contact with the deceased besides the results of their career. So why is it that people have a visceral reaction to a celebrity's death, when that celebrity is virtually unknown to them?

Dammit

God...this is incredibly depressing. My jaw dropped when I saw this news tonight. I'll actually shed a tear over this one, I loved watching Heath Ledger act in anything he did. Too sad...way too sad.