High Tech Noon

Right now, THIS may be the coolest thing on the net.

Greatest Fight Scenes Ever

Rotten Tomatoes has posted their picks for the 20 Greatest Fight Scenes Ever. They picked Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed as their #1 choice. Can't say that I disagree.

Although I think that they've left off some great fight scenes [Emperor of the North: Lee Marvin vs Ernest Borgnine; Hard Times: Charles Bronson vs Robert Tessier; etc], I'll play along. Using just their choices, here are my top ten:

10. From Russia with Love: Sean Connery vs. Robert Shaw
09. The Karate Kid: Daniel-san vs. Johnny
08. Road House: Patrick Swayze vs. Ben Gazzara's thugs
07. Charlie's Angels: The Angels vs. Crispin Glover
06. Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones vs. the big, bald Nazi
05. They Live: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Keith David
04. The Matrix: Neo vs. Agent Smith
03. Game of Death: Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
02. The Transporter: Jason Statham vs. everybody in the bus depot
01. Rocky: Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed

More Spirit Than Last Time

AICN has scored the first look at the full Spirit teaser poster. I like it a whole lot better than the earlier promotional posters for Frank Miller's The Spirit movie. It's a bit odd that my feelings about the movie continue to swing between really liking what they're doing to it just being okay. Actually, I'm kind of diggin' this newest poster.

20 of the Toughest

The List Universe posts their Top 20 Classic Tough Guys. Okay, I’ll play using just the guys on their list, here is how I’d rate them:

1. Lee Marvin
2. Charles Bronson
3. Clint Eastwood
4. Sean Connery
5. John Wayne
6. Kirk Douglas
7. Robert Mitchum
8. Charlton Heston
9. Burt Lancaster
10. Robert Ryan
11. James Coburn
12. Anthony Quinn
13. Yul Brynner
14. Humphrey Bogart
15. Steve McQueen
16. John Garfield
17. Richard Widmark
18. Dana Andrews
19. James Cagney
20. Edward G. Robinson

Whew! I Passed!

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Yeah, baby. And with a PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION!

Zablo Sounds Like...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

So I have a voice good for tv or radio and a look good for radio. Hmmmm....

Fandango: Escape Artist

Last night my wife and I were watching the 1958 Roger Corman cult film "Machine Gun Kelly" starring Charles Bronson. Morey Amsterdam, who is probably best known for his classic role as Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show, was one of the co-stars. Amsterdam played a swishy, one-armed weasel named Fandango who eventually brings about Machine Gun Kelly's downfall, but before he does there's a scene that's so unintentionally funny that I've got to tell you about it.

Okay. So the police have brought Fandango into the station. Fandango is a small, wimpy wanna-be bad guy that everyone pushes around. The cops have been sweating him in order to find Machine Gun Kelly. Despite their best efforts they're unable to get Fandango to break so they turn him loose. After Fandango leaves the room the head detective tells his partner not to worry, he's put his best man on trailing the one-armed weasel. Less than five seconds later the door opens and a cop says, "He got away. I lost him. He slipped into the ladies room and got away."

My wife and I both burst out laughing. Their best cop lost a small, one-armed man named Fandango before he could even get out of the police station! The next scene showed Fandango arriving at the hideout and he was still wearing his huge overcoat with the sleeve pinned up. He didn't even have to try to disguise himself or lose his overcoat.

There's a lesson here. If you really need a quick get away, hit the women's room and don't look back. Not even the best cop will be able to track you through there.

Street Kings

There are currently three movies at the local multiplex that I want to see: "Street Kings," "The Ruins," and "Diary of the Dead."

Today, "Street Kings" won out mainly due to the outstanding folks behind it. The screenplay was created by James [novelist and screenwriter - do I really need to list credits for him?] Elroy, Kurt ["Equilibrium" "The Recruit"] Wimmer, and Jamie Moss. It stars: Keanu ["Matrix"] Reeves, Forest ["The Shield"] Whitaker, Hugh ["House"] Laurie, Chris ["Fantastic Four"] Evans, Cedric "The Entertainer," Jay ["Suicide Kings"] Mohr, Terry ["Harsh Times"] Crews, Naomi ["28 Days Later"] Harris, and Amaury ["Prison Break"] Nolasco. It was directed by David ["Harsh Times"] Ayer.

The Pitch: "The Shield" meets "Training Day." Keanu plays a bad cop falsely accused of killing his old partner who had been talking to internal affairs. His team has a cover-up in place, but Keanu wants to find the killers... no matter the cost to him or the team. Soon no one can be trusted.

The Good: * The story. The action from the opening scenes to the end. * The cast. Chris Evans, Naomi Harris and Cedric the Entertainer need special mention as they made the scenes they were in even better. I was worried that Cedric would be out of place in a serious movie, but he made his character work. * The Tension: The scene in the apartment especially -- "I am your nightmare." The scene in the car when Keanu works the handcuffs and the two scenes that follow -- not your typical turn of events. * The ending [as surprising and as bold as the ending of "The Mist."]

The Bad: everyone.

The Ugly: the two gangbangers after being dug up.

Summary: Although not a classic, "Street Kings" will definitely find a home in my dvd collection. If you're looking for action in the "Training Day" vein, then "Street Kings" is for you.

Lost What?

While watching this, you'll either begin to smile or think it's pretty stupid. I found myself smiling.

Iron Man Looking Good

Have you checked out the new Iron Man trailer? The movie keeps looking better and better!

Jericho Not Dead Yet?

Jericho may be rising from the dead once again. Seems that CBS is in talks with Comcast about a deal similar to one that kept Friday Night Lights alive. You can read all about it here. Let's hope this works out.

RIP - Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston passed away yesterday at the age of 84. Perhaps best known for his Oscar winning role as the title character in "Ben-Hur," I will always remember him first as Taylor from the "Planet of the Apes."

Don't get me wrong, I loved Charlton Heston in "Ben-Hur" which was one of those event movies back in the days before cable tv, VCRs [remember those] and of course DVDs. The first time I watched "Ben-Hur" was on a little black and white tv with my mom. I can remember my excitement during the chariot race and my fear of the lepers. A few years later I watched "Ben-Hur" for the first time on color tv at my grandparents' house and my grandpa told me about the chariot race [and someone actually getting killed during the filming of it].

I would see Charlton Heston pop up in movies after that, but it wasn't until "The Planet of the Apes" [one of my favorite childhood movie experiences] that he hit a streak of movies that really made me take notice. Mr. Heston had a small role in the sequel 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes" -- and there were of course starring roles in "The Omega Man" and "Soylent Green." Although these movies have not held up as well as my childhood memories of them, Mr. Heston was on a roll as far as I was then concerned. You can imagine my delight when he showed up in the all-star cast of the disaster epic, "Earthquake."

Despite winning a Best Actor award, Charlton Heston wasn't one of the first names that came to mind when discussing great actors. Yet, when I think of all the movies that I've enjoyed that he's appeared in from "Ben Hur" to "Tombstone," you'd have to agree that he had talent enough to make him a star.

In his later years, Charlton Heston became more known for his strict conservative political views than his acting. This was quite a change from his liberal views in the 1950's and 60's. In 2002, Mr. Heston announced that he was suffering from sympton's of Alzheimer's disease.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and fans of Charlton Heston.

Liddell on Slice

Former UFC champion, Chuck Liddell was recently asked what he thought about new MMA star Kimbo Slice.

Here's some of what Chuck had to say about Kimbo:

• “People talk about him like he’s the next great thing when he really hasn’t done anything...
• He’s been built up because of the Internet and him beating a bunch of guys on the street...
• I could make some impressive knockout videos too if you let me walk outside and just punch people and knock them out—'hey you, come fight!'...
• We can make a highlight reel tomorrow and go round beating people up and talking about it...
• We could just go up to people and start dropping them. Wow!”
  

Wow indeed.

New Hellboy Trailer

There's a brand new trailer out of Hellboy II: The Golden Army and you can see it here!

Lacking Spirit

SuperHeroHype.com got a first look at three posters which create a bigger image to promote Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit movie. [Say that three times quickly.] I enjoy The Spirit and am an even bigger Frank Miller fan, but I'm not really diggin' the poster. Is it just me?

Not So Smooth Criminal

I've been diggin' Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal forever. If you haven't ever checked it out [or even if you have] CBR has an advance look at the latest issue. Two things before you go: 1] Criminal is not for kids due to the violence & profanity and 2] The latest is a complete in one issue story, so it makes a great place to jump on board. Okay now, here's the link.

New Hellboy Pics!

Yahoo has posted some more Hellboy photos that you can check out here. I'm ready for a new Hellboy movie and the photos make me want it even more.

Evan Bryce Gets Dangerous

Evan Bryce is one of the good guys. He's started a new webcomic over at his blog that features his character Rick Dangerous. Expect a lot of action and a lot of fun. Check it out and tell him I sent ya!

Billie Jean by Any Name...

One of the reasons that I enjoy watching American Idol is that occasionally one of the contestants will present a new version of a song that really works. Chris Daughtry's "Walk the Line" and Blake Lewis' "Time of the Season" are two examples. [Yeah, I know that Daughtry's take was based on Live's cover of the Johnny Cash classic.]

Recently David Cook took a shot Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". It was amazing. I was knocked out by David's Cook's "Billie Jean". It was bold, innovative and actually Chris Cornell's "Billie Jean". Shades of Daughtry.

Lost War Lord of Mars

This one is for Rafael Kayanan and Chris Mills. [with thanks to Bill Crider.] - Craig