Woohoo! Our tenth episode! The trek has been a little slower than expected due to the upcoming wedding, but we managed to get one last episode in before going off-the-grid for a week.

Hollywood has been remaking everything under the sun recently. So this week we look at the few things they haven’t touched yet, focusing specifically on 80’s movies. Do we really want a Goonies sequel? What about a Fletch remake? Should everything be left alone, or are there films that are okay to work on further?

RC_010: Leave My 80’s Alone!
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You’ve seen Meet the Parents, right? So far, our wedding planning feels a lot like that movie. Every time I tell someone that we’re dealing with various crises and that we’re stressed and overwhelmed (we’re planning this ourselves), they say, “Oh yes, that’s normal.”

Not like this, it’s not. I’ll spare you the entire list and just cover today.

Today’s been a good day for wedding crises so far. Our first one didn’t occur until the P.M. hours, so that’s an improvement. Of course, we’re only one hour into the P.M.’s, so the day’s still early.

Today’s crisis (so far) is that the person conducting our wedding ceremony has broken her back.

Of course, there’s also the trickle-down crisis that our wedding planner, also acting as the day-of coordinator, is the officiant’s daughter. So while she’s handling all of the various stresses of our wedding details (getting the flowers set up, the catering set up, etc.), she’ll actually be stressing about her mom.

Yeah, I know, I sound like a jerk for worrying about how our wedding will be affected when someone else has just broken their back and may be paralyzed (one surgery done so far; we’ll know more after further surgeries). Obviously they’ve got the much bigger crisis going on.

I’m merely trying to point out to those “that’s normal” people that most of our crises aren’t normal. It’s really been more like a Ben Stiller comedy/tragedy so far.

[sigh] Only three more days to go.

Thanks(?) to SilverChaos for this one. I owe you one. No, really. When you least expect it.

I wouldn’t have believed this if you’d told me 10 seconds into the video, but the singer makes the keyboardist look good.

Come on dude… pick a key.

And no, this one doesn’t count, since it’s not all “professional” like the one above.

Sometimes spoilers can be a good thing. Such as with the review currently posted over at Ain’t It Cool News.

Here’s a snippet. I’ve censored out the spoilers.

In my humble opinion, if the filmmakers want to save this film, drop all the silly stuff, like the [CENSORED], [CENSORED], and the lousy opening sequence and just stick to a straight forward action film… otherwise this will be Will Smith’s first box office dud since WILD WILD WEST.

But what really infuriates me is that with all the resources at their disposal, no one knew what film they were making. This film is the equivalent of being tone deaf. Don’t get me wrong, I think Will Smith is an entertaIning actor but this film, as is, does not work. Hence, the panic I was reading on the executives faces after the screening. This film is not as dark as it thinks it is and not as funny as it thinks it is. It’s right down the middle and that’s a dangerous place to be. IRON MAN got the tone right. The DARK KNIGHT knows exactly what it wants to be. HANCOCK is going into the most competitive summer season since the glorious summer of 1989 Half-Cocked.

Sadly, this is consistent with all of the early reviews I’ve seen about Hancock. I really want this film to work, but so far I’m getting the impression that the Wild Wild West comparison may be painfully accurate.

A platypus…

• A. Lays eggs

• B. Has ten sex chromosomes
• C. Has venom sacs
• D. Can detect electrical fields through its bill

Answer: All of the above.

Yes, the males actually have venom sacs in their hind legs. And for those who are frustrated that humans can’t seem to figure out the mere two sex chromosomes we have, the platypus has ten.

Check out this article for more interesting information about the recent mapping of the platypus genome (don’t worry, it’s dumbed down for people like me).

Ren took her final exam for nursing school today. The instructors are grading the exams and phoning the students who failed by 8:00 p.m. tonight.

Rather, they’re calling the students who “were less than sufficiently successful.”

Coincidentally, I end up with this article from BBC News in my new feeds today. Here’s a snippet:

Liz Beattie, a retired teacher, will call on the association’s annual gathering in Buxton, Derbyshire, to “delete the word ‘fail’ from the educational vocabulary to be replaced with the concept of ‘deferred success’”.

The article is actually reporting that Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is dismissing this concept, pointing out that kids will face many successes and failures in life and that they need to be prepared for both.

Deferred success? Where was this when I was in school? You mean I could have just slacked all the time and succeeded later instead? What a deal!

I’m sorry, but how does that motivate kids to try harder? You’re telling them, “don’t worry if you don’t succeed now; you can just succeed later instead.” That’s not even almost how the world works.

And as for this “less than sufficiently successful” crap, that’s no better. I’d rather be told that I failed a test. That tells me that I performed poorly — that the action I took wasn’t good enough. Telling me that I was “less than sufficiently successful” is worse — that tells me that I’m insufficient and unsuccessful.

See what I’m talking about? One defines my actions, and the other defines me. The irony here is that they’re ending up with the opposite effect. In trying to protect the students’ sense of self-worth, they’ve ended up labeling the student rather than the student’s action.

Hey education system — you failed.

Kudos to Secretary Kelly for seeing through this crap.

Might as well post this one too. Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) stars in this movie about the drummer from an 80’s hair band getting a second chance.

Check out this trailer for The Rocker.

Now wasn’t that way better than Beverly Hills Chihuahua?

So far, the website has essentially just been a repository for the podcasts. From now on, I commit to blogging at least four times a week, with a goal of doing it daily (obviously, I’m going to miss the week of May 18th, as I’ll be on a honeymoon cruise with no Internet).

I’ll keep today’s post short though, as I think this video speaks for itself. You thought the “remake revolution” has been torturous? You ain’t seen nothing yet…

For all those who thought Disney’s non-Pixar movies had hit rock bottom, you were wrong. Apparently there are new depths to explore.

Wow. Dark Knight is going to have a tough time beating this one. As much as my inner child is a Batman fan, Iron Man is solidly a better film. At least, that’s my opinion. Andrew, Brian, and Jeff throw in their thoughts on the year’s first big blockbuster film. How was Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark? Did the film break the mold of campy comic book films? Does it have any appeal outside comic books and action films? And most importantly, will an Avengers movie work?

(contains spoilers halfway through, but warnings are given in plenty of time)

MC_006: Iron Man
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Wow. Andrew really didn’t like Forbidden Kingdom. At all.

Sure, Forbidden Kingdom dominated the box office two weekends ago, but I’m getting the impression it was just due to good marketing. Andrew’s review is insightful and… umm… well, passionate (I think the channeling of Dennis Leary at one point was unintentional). Did I mention he really didn’t like this movie?

Seriously. Download this one. You won’t hear Andrew this angry very often.

As an added bonus, I’ve included Andrew’s “Top 5 Kung Fu Fights” feature. Andrew had recorded this prior to Forbidden Kingdom’s release, but it seems fitting that the episode end up a high-note.

MC_005: Forbidden Kingdom
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