Bizzare TV and Movie Trivia

Ok, ok, some more of my crazy connections expanding some of my favorites.

Roxann Dawson (B'Lanna Torres from Star Trek: Voyager) directed an episode of Lost,"The Long Con" from Season One with flashbacks about Sawyer (Josh Holloway).

Nathan Fillion (Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly) plays Kate's (Evangeline Lily) husband on Lost.

Evangeline Lily and Dominic Monaghan, both in Lost, plan on marrying this summer.

Dominic Monaghan (Charlie from Lost, Merry in Lord of the Rings) starred with Brad Dourif (Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings, Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager).

Gina Torres (Zoe Washburn from Firefly) is married to Laurence Fisburne (Morpheus from The Matrix) which also starred Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, Elrond in Lord of the Rings).

Ron Glass (Shepard Book from Firefly) plays Ross Geller's (David Schwimmer) divorce lawyer on Friends.

Courtney Cox (Monica Geller on Friends) stars with Robert Duncan McNeil (Tom Paris on Star Trek: Voyager) in Masters of the Universe (ok, not one of my favorites).

And to kind of bring this all back to the beginning in a odd sort of way (believe me, I could keep going): Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeil) and B'lanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) get married on Star Trek: Voyager.

Upcoming Movies

Fanboys (August 2007): Four extreme "Star Wars" fans and childhood friends from the Midwest drive across America to Skywalker Ranch in order to sneak a peak at the yet unreleased "Episode 1: Phantom Menace" as one last hoorah for their dying friend. Along the way they run afoul at a Star Trek convention and have it out with the Trekkies.

OK, can this movie be anything but perfect? ;) Score, I just found the trailer as I was writing this. I seriously cried during it, because it's funny not because it's sad. Well, maybe it's a little sad.

Review: Children of Men

In a bleak future where humans are infertile, Theo (Clive Owen) finds hope in a pregnant girl as he tries to lead her safely to The Human Project, an almost mythical gathering of scientists trying to solve the mystery of humans' inability to reproduce.

A stunning, albeit dark and twisted view of the future by Alfonso Cuaron. The awesome performances, intriguing story, and wonderful cinematography make this a great movie. The scenery and dialogue add to the dark grittiness. I am always a fan of movies set in the future. Even movies that seem slightly awkward and staggering.

My favorite parts of the movie:

the future
characters referring to themselves in the third person
coughing strawberry weed
the story

4 out of 5 stars.

Spiderman 3

Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy in Spiderman 3. Isn't she cute? She dies in the comic book so don't hold your breath. Three villains, two girls, one crazy suit. What will Spiderman do? ;)

Bizarre Movie Quiz

Name the 2004 movie in which Chronicles of Narnia's Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy) character's father was played by Lord of the Rings' King Theoden (Bernard Hill).

Update: Wimbledon starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany.

Trailer: Ocean's Thirteen

I enjoyed the first one immensely, the second one somewhat less, the third one... we'll see.

Tom Hanks is James Bond

This is great!

Upcoming Movies: There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!

Upcoming Movies

Blades of Glory (March 2007) Will Ferrell and Jon Heder star as competing Olympic ice skaters. When they are banned from skating they find a loophole which allows them to compete as a pairs team.

Oh my, Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, watch out.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (December 2007) Nicholas Cage is back as Benjamin Franklin Gates, treasure hunter/archeologist, who is searching for the truth behind Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

I loved the original, hope this one can stand up to it.

Bizzare Movie Quiz

Name the movie where Kate Winslet (Miss Titanic, largest grossing movie ever made) and Daniel Craig (Mr. James Bond) were love interests.

Update: A Kid in King Arthur's Court

Trailer: The Last Mimzy

Review: A Night at the Museum

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) takes a night guard position at the Museum of Natural History where after sunset, the exhibits come to life.

Just a fun movie with a lot of laughs and a cute story. I absolutely love the whole premise of this movie, things coming to life at night. The cavemen want fire, the huns are attacking, the lions want to eat you, the small dioramas are trying to invade each other. Enter Jedidiah (Owen Wilson), the cowboy who's at odds with Octavius (Steve Coogan), the Roman. Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney are great as the old night guards, and of course Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt is always wonderful. Be sure to catch Brad Garrett as the voice of the Easter Island head.

My favorite parts of the movie:

what comes to life
old night guards
Rexy
Jedidiah and Octavius

5 out of 5 stars.

Review: We are Marshall

Marshall University's football team's journey to recover after losing most of its players and coaches to a tragic plane crash in 1970.

Excellent movie about real life adversity. Wow, all these true stories are hard to write about. I thought Matthew McConaughy and Matthew Fox who played coaches, Jack Lengyel and Red Dawson, were great. I have heard some critics call it cheesy with all the football cliches, but frankly it was more about the people's struggle than about the football. Plus, what fun would the football scenes be without a little slow-motion tension.

My favorite parts of the movie:

characters
storytelling

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Good Shepherd

Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is recruited into a secret society and joins in at the birth of the CIA.

A fair movie with decent performances. Although, Edward Wilson has to be the most boring character/real person imaginable and with 2 and a half hours of movie that's a lot of boring. However, the twists and turns of his life were interesting and the spy action was very intriguing, double agents, friends who were enemies, enemies who were friends. Be prepared to really concentrate on the plot as it jumps backward and forward through his life and can be confusing with all the people switching sides. Don't expect any laughs either. I think I remember one joke, hmm maybe not. But who expects laughs from this kind of movie anyway. Definitely not a movie I want to see over and over again, but an interesting story about the CIA.

My favorite parts of the movie:

Spy stuff

3 out of 5 stars.

Trailer: Shrek the Third

Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Gardner (Will Smith) struggles to support and shelter himself and his son as he pursues an unpaid intership at a brokerage firm.

An inspirational movie with striking performances. Not really much to say since it is based on a true story.

Chris Gardner's son Christopher is played by Will Smith's actual son, Jadon Smith. I also noticed during the opening credits the name Dan Castellaneta, a name I reconized but could not place since there were many actors I recognized in the movie who's names I did not know. Then this evening I randomly visited The Simpsons Movie Yahoo page and it hit me. It's Homer Simpson. He plays the supervisor of the internship program. He also happens to have graduated from my alma mater NIU. You know me and my connections.

My favorite parts of the movie:

the perfomances
randomly reappearing bone density scanners
Christopher's jokes

5 out of 5 stars.

Trailer: Epic Movie

It might of been the mood I was in when I first saw this, but I found it hilarious. Hmm.

Review: Eragon

Eragon (Ed Speelers) finds a dragon egg and when it hatches for him, he discovers he has become a dragon rider.

Disappointing, for one who has read the book at least. My husband enjoyed it but hasn't read the book. I for one understand that movies can not follow the book completely, but this version went so far as to change major parts of the plot and leave out characters who come into play in the continuing story.

First, the good news. It was visually very pleasing. The scenes with the dragon flying were great. Even the sound effects were very cool. Jeremy Irons did do justice to the character of Brom.

But beyond that there was precious little character development and at least six or seven important characters were left out. Ok, leave out a couple but six or seven. And I can appreciate leaving out some of the locations they visit along their journey so they moved some characters, fine. But when they get to their destination, there is no explanation of the new people they meet or what's going on, it's like battle and done. You don't even learn that one of the characters you meet is a dwarf and what his name even is. Plus they completely change the way the battle is played out. They change the way the evil guys dies (no spoiler there, come on you know an evil guy dies). And they tell you things you're not supposed to find out about until the second book.

I had such high hopes for this movie. But can 106 minutes of movie (less than two hours) do justice to a 497 page book? No!!

Please read the book, it's excellent. Wait to watch the movie.

My favorite parts of the movie:

visually pleasing
sound effects
Brom
Rachel Weisz as the voice of Saphira

3 out of 5 stars.

Lauren's Tidbits

Johnny Depp and pirates like peas and carrots. Besides being in the Pirates of Caribbean franchise. He starred in Finding Neverland about J.M Barrie writing Peter Pan. Of course there's Captain Hook but he also plays pirates with the four boys he befriends in the movie. The movie is excellent but don't look into their lives beyond the movie. Mr. Barrie, plus I think two of the boys, end up committing suicide. How depressing. Anyway, my tidbit is that not one but two other actors from Pirates of the Caribbean star with Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland, Mackenzie Crook and Angus Barnett. What great names. Mackenzie plays Ragetti in Pirates, the humorous lunk who always losing his eye and Mr. Jaspers in Neverland, the usher trying desperately to answer Mr. Barrie's questions about whether the audience likes his plays. Angus plays Mullroy in Pirates the portly British officer who first meets Jack Sparrow trying to commandeer a ship and doesn't believe there is a actual Black Pearl and Mr. Reilly in Neverland, the actor who ends up playing Nana the dog in Peter Pan.

Review: The Holiday

Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) are alone and depressed at Christmas. They decide to switch houses to escape their lives. Iris heads to L.A. and Amanda to England and the general meeting of their perfect guys ensues.

This movie was not quite what I expected, a lot more intelligent dialogue and far less comedy than imagined. Still cute though, but kind of boring. Despite the boringness, there were some things I enjoyed. I love the character of Iris. All the actors are great in this movie. Watch out for Dustin Hoffman's cameo.

I also love the fact the Amanda's profession is as a editor for movie trailers and throughout the movie "the movie guy" narrates her life like a trailer. Lots of fun.

My favorite parts of the movie:

Jack Black's singing
Jude Law's crying
cameos
general chick-flickyness
life trailers

4 out of 5 stars.