Yearly Archives: 2014

Movie Review: RoboCop (2014)

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Joel KinnamanThe news that there would be a remake of “RoboCop” was met with hostility from both the press and fans of the 1987 original. I have yet to see the original. My bad, guys.

This did end up working to my advantage, however, because I had no bias going into this remake. Whatever this movie did, it would not feel like it was ruining any part of my childhood. As a movie, “RoboCop” could have done much, much worse. However, it is just there. It doesn’t do much, and it doesn’t contribute much to the character or sci-fi itself. It just kind of expects you to be thrilled.

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Movie Review: The Lego Movie

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LEGO

Every once in a while, a film needs to come around that alleviates all of your worries and reminds you that everything is awesome. As the main song suggests, “The Lego Movie” is exactly what you are looking for.

“The Lego Movie” is the movie that I had no idea I was waiting for. Even after waiting a week to see it, the hype does not tamper its impact at all. “The Lego Movie” proves that you don’t have to be Pixar to create something that is both great for kids and the annoyed parents that they drag with them to the movies.

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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: A Love/Hate Relationship with Rom-Coms

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1329146834_how-to-lose-a-guy-in-10-days-640Valentine’s Day is to Romantic Comedies what Halloween is to Horror Films: Apparently the only time of the year when it is okay to talk about them. Come on, nobody wants to read about your feelings about “The Evil Dead” in July.

Some of you might already know how I feel about horror films. What you might not know is that I don’t know how to feel about rom-coms. It is a genre that I have greatly enjoyed during a few very brief occasions, and then hated on most others. It is a genre that is already a subdivision of one genre, yet there are so many subdivisions within it as well.

Rom-Coms are not as simple as they may seem. When it comes to rom-coms, I guess you can say that It’s Complicated (Thank you! Thank you very much! I’ll be here all week).

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Weekly Roundup of Movie Memorabilia on eBay: The Titanic Business Edition

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TitanicDealer

According to scientists, about 95% of the world’s ocean remains unexplored. One could say the same about eBay.

Today is a day that will live in infamy. It is the day that the Velociraptor Cage from “Jurassic Park,” which influenced this post, was no longer listed on eBay. It’s whereabouts, and the final price it was sold for, will remain shrouded in history.

But you know what they say: if you love something set it free. So from that we move on to this week’s selection of memorabilia. Folks, this week did not disappoint. In fact, I found so many that I will have to save them for another post.

I learned a lot from this week’s selection. Mainly that there are a lot of “Titanic” props on eBay. Enough so that being a “Titanic Prop Dealer” (as seen in the certificate above) is an actual job title that someone can have. Given what an epic film that is, I believe there will be no shortage of props until the day somebody finally begins selling off chunks of the actual boat. Seriously, the “Titanic” prop business is just about big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ. Also, let me just note that I have absolutely no idea what can get you listed on the NASDAQ; I just heard Walter White say this on “Breaking Bad” once and it sounded cool.

Anyway, come and join me for yet another exciting trip down the eBay rabbit hole:

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Oscars 2014: Who Should Win

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Lemmons

Maybe it is just me, but the Oscars are taking place kind of late this year. While the ceremony usually happens in late February, this year it is being held the first weekend of March.

Okay, so it is only about a week later than usual, but that one week makes a slightly big difference. I have a feeling that it has something to do with the Olympics (thanks for that one, Putin). What that really means is that there has been this multi-week period since the nominations were announced that the Oscars have been barely in the news, except for the occasional precursor awards. Don’t worry though, in about two weeks, the Oscar hype will come back in full force.

At that point, it will be time to get serious with the nominations. Now, it is time to have some fun with them, and I mean “fun” in a very loose way. There is nothing fun about snubbing “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Anyway, voters always have the tendency to get it wrong in at least a few of the categories. While I am not a voter, I have a movie blog so I can just pretend I’m voting anyway. I love technology.

If the world were actually a right and just place, here is who and what would win in the top Oscar categories this year:

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Analog This: Kroll Show Is The Sketch Show I’ve Been Waiting For

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lizandliz

I can’t stop laughing at this. Image via Hulu

I have a theory about people who say they hate certain funny TV shows*: they’ve never actually watched a full episode of that show.

Maybe they have seen five minutes of the actual show, but mostly  they have just watched the commercials for it. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a cliche, but it applies especially well to comedy. Even I have fallen victim to the commercial trap before (a dumber version of me once said “that show “Arrested Development” looks stupid”), and it seems to really be taking a hold on “Kroll Show.” This is a shame, as “Kroll Show” also happens to be one of the funniest shows on television right now.

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Movie Review: The Act of Killing

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the-act-of-killing_cFrom “The Wolf of Wall Street” to “American Hustle,” the year 2013 has seen a lot of criminals on the big screen, and nobody has known what to do with them. Do we hate them because they are criminals? Or do we try and understand their situation because they are human?

These are the two questions at the heart of “The Act of Killing,” a riveting documentary that shows that both of these questions are right and wrong at the same time.

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Weekly Roundup of Movie Memorabilia on eBay: Useless Sweater Edition

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Spiderman3Sweater

According to scientists, about 95% of the world’s ocean remains unexplored. One could say the same about eBay.

Another week, and no disappointments this time. My eBay Screenshots folder gets bigger and weirder by the day. This time, I also spent some time exploring what costumes the site had to offer. As always, people will buy just about anything if it means they own a piece of movie history, no matter how bad the prop or the movie itself.

This week, I left with even more questions than answers. Who finds these props? Who likes “Daredevil”? Who remembers “Syriana”? Perhaps these questions can be answered as I venture further down the rabbit hole:

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Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead At Age 46

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US-ENTERTAINMENT-HUNGER GAMES-PREMIERE

Image via CNN

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead today in his Manhattan apartment. The cause of death was an apparent heroin overdose. He was 46.

I hate writing that. Every obituary requires a sentence or two stating the person, cause of death, and the age. It is always painful to write, partly because of how objective it is, and partly because it now means that I will have to refer to the person in the past tense from then on out.

This time, I find it especially hard to write it without emotion. Philip Seymour Hoffman really was one of the absolute best. That is something that people usually say after someone has passed. However, I use no exaggeration when I say that Hoffman really was one of the best there ever was.

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Weekly Roundup of Movie Memorabilia On eBay : Velociraptor Edition

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JurassicParkCageAccording to scientists, about 95% of the world’s ocean remains unexplored. One could say the same about eBay.

Thanks to this tweet, I was alerted to the existence of the actual velociraptor cage from “Jurassic Park” (pictured above), which is being sold on eBay for about $100,000. This is good if you have a serious velociraptor/Jeff Goldblum problem, but even better if you are a film buff with way too much cash to spend.

So, this led me to tumble down the movie memorabilia section wormhole on eBay. As you might expect, much of the stuff on there is centered on “Star Wars” and other sci-fi and horror classics. But then, there is some stuff that is just too odd to explain. They cost the kind of money that only Jordan Belfort and Nicolas Cage would be willing to spend.

What I am about to show you barely scratches the surface. Today, I introduce the first part of a new weekly roundup of the most awesome, weirdest, and inexplicable movie memorabilia you can find on eBay. The qualifications: it must be an actual prop or costume from a film. So keep your damn Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lunch boxes to yourself.

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