Austin Powers 4: The Father Who Loved Me

According to Nikki Finke (you really should read her excellent blog Deadline Hollywood Daily) Mike Myers is working on the fourth installment in the Austin Powers series.

Apparently, the next one is going to be about the relationship Myers had with his own father and center on Dr. Evil's relationship with his son (Seth Green, prepare to get really busy, not that, you know Robot Chicken is not keeping you busy right now).

I was kinda off Mike Myers after I heard about what a nightmare he was to work with it, but I did feel kinda sad about the way he got dumped on this summer during the whole The Love Guru box-office fiasco. I mean, some people are exacting, and comedians even more so (by all accounts Peter Sellers was no walk in the park either).

But then he acted like a right, royal Brett Favre-like diva on Conan O'Brien's show, and now I don't like him again.

The producers will have to be careful and set limits on Myers here. No one wants a self-indulgent father-son movie here man, after all it's Austin Powers...

...yeah baby!

LINKS

DH: New Line Panting for Austin Powers 4

Manny Being Manny...In LA?!

Wow, huge trade, huge!

I mean, I know that I had kind of started going the other way on Manny Ramirez's whole "Manny being Manny" act after he shoved the Boston Red Sox's traveling secretary.

But now that he is a LA Dodger, I might start going back the other way again.

I mean, was he really that much of a hassle that the Red Sox felt compelled to move him? Obviously, this was a cost-saving move on the Red Sox's part. I know Theo Epstein is a Billy Beane disciple, but when did the Red Sox become a Moneyball team? Is Manny worth $20 million a season? We'll find out when he's not around to protect David "Big Papi" Ortiz.

Oh yeah, Ken Griffey Jr. got traded too...

LINKS

ESPN: Manny Traded
ESPN: Griffey Jr. Traded

America's Got Fat!

This is from the current issue of The Economist.

Apparently, a quarter of all adults in the United States are considered obese.

Phew, so it wasn't just me after all.

Donuts, here I come!

LINKS

Economist: Girth of a Nation

Fine, I Like San Francisco Again

Last night I hated San Francisco (it was cold and dark and we were walking around the Mission looking for a cab).

Today I love San Francisco (bright and sunny and beautiful).

Really this is too much.

Suddenly, Sunshine

And there it was, glorious sunshine, beaming down on the world.

The Bay Bridge, vanishing magnificently into the horizon, spanning a sea of cobalt blue, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze in the air.

Fine, there is something to like about San Francisco after all.

Unmentionables

Okay fine, so an Old Navy from where to buy one's unmentionables because one packed everything but the essentials within walking distance (and I use that term loosely) of The Clift?

Finally, something I like about San Francisco.

Bay Bridge Shrouded In Mist

The Bay Bridge shrouded in mist, it's cold, oh so cold, it's getting dark, and of course, no cab to be found anywhere...

...of course, it's San Francisco.

Wow That Must Have Been A Big Earthquake

Okay, I know it was only a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Los Angeles at 11:42 AM PST today (Tuesday, 29 July 2008).

But apparently it was enough to knock out the LA Times server!

The Better Half is fine. Dori, apparently, went into hiding when it happened, but she eventually emerged, none the worse for wear.

Most importantly, my beautiful TV was not damaged!

LINKS

USGS Earthquake Report
CNN: Earthquake Rocks LA

Armada At The House Of Blues

Check it kids, my colleague Cody's rock band Armada is playing at the House of Blues on Sunset in Los Angeles this Thursday at 8: 30 pm.

Be there, or you know...

LINKS

Armada MySpace Page

What If Cats Could Drive...

...would their cars really look like this?

The Meow Mix Mobile, spied in San Francisco.

Really?

Union Square

Cold, so cold.

Grey, so grey.

Dreary, so dreary.

Overrated, so overrated.

San Francisco, So San Francisco.

The Skyline Looks Familiar

Hmm...skyscrapers shrouded in mist...

...why, could it possibly be San Francisco?

It Really Is San Francisco

It's foggy, and you're stuck in mind-numbing traffic...

...it really is San Francisco!

It Must Be San Francisco

It's grey, it's cold...

...why it must be San Francisco!

I Can't Wait For The Next Underworld

Okay, so I was bit disappointed to hear that the original director Len Wiseman and star Kate Beckinsale of Underworld and Underworld: Evolution had bowed out of the next installment and it was being released in January of next year (January, where movies go to die).

But I changed my mind thanks to a recent Entertainment Weekly article on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

First of all, Kate is being replaced by the great Rhona Mitra (awesome)!



Second, the great Bill Nighy is going to cash a paycheck and reprise his role as the awesome villain! Fantastic!



Third, it's being directed by a French special-effects wizard: Patrick Tatopoulos. He's French. Amazing!

Apparently Michael Sheen is back (he is not just limited to playing biographical roles like Tony Blair and David Frost). It was on the first movie that his long-time girlfriend and the mother of his child Kate hooked up with the director Len Wiseman (who she is currently married to). I suppose it's no accident that he's on board for this installment and the other two aren't.



Can't wait!

LINKS

EW: Underworld Sneak Peek

They Call It Xanadu

The Better Half recruited some of our friends (Eliza, Roee, Ruthie, and Jason) for a drive-in showing of the camp classic Xanadu.

The event was organized by Angel City Drive In and co-sponsored by the L.A. Derby Dolls (yes, Los Angeles's very own Roller Derby team). A lot of old-school roller skates were in attendance.


Now, Chhoto (my sister) loved this movie growing up, and I always made fun of her for it. But the dirty truth is that I sat and watched it with her every time (so, you know, I could make fun of it).



I had no idea, no idea that it was this, um, ridiculous.

But it was all oh-so-much fun! Jason found this fantastic quote from a Rotten Tomatoes review:

"Look at Xanadu with an eye toward storytelling superiority and your head will explode. To appreciate the madness within, one must take in the blinding neon sights with an open heart and at least one nostril-coating line of cocaine."




Wow, I guess my sister and I were a little ahead of our time!

Sing it with me now:

A place where nobody dared to go, the love that we came to know
They call it Xanadu

And now, open your eyes and see, what we have made is real
We are in Xanadu

A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star
An everlasting world and you're here with me, eternally

The love, the echoes of long ago, you needed the world to know
They are in Xanadu

The dream that came through a million years
That lived on through all the tears, it came to Xanadu

A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star
An everlasting world and you're here with me, eternally

Now that I'm here, now that you're near in Xanadu, Xanadu


LINKS

Rotten Tomatoes: Xanadu
Angel City Drive In
LA Derby Dolls

Tennis In Carson

The Better Half and I watched a high-quality quarterfinal match between Jelena Jankovic and Nadia Petrova at the East West Bank Classic in Carson, CA at the Home Depot Center.

It was an interesting match. Jankovic is the perennial under-achiever who is fun to watch because she is as neurotic and demonstrative as they come. Petrova has a very aesthetically-pleasing game, but makes the usual mental lapses at the important times.

Fortunes swung wildly throughout the match. At one point you would think Jankovic would run away with it, and then in the very next point, she would slump her shoulders in apparent defeat.

Petrova had her chances, many chances, but made some pretty big errors (usually on the volley) and Jankovic wrapped up the match 7-5 6-4. Both players alternated between crisp, probing groundstrokes, and basic errors, but it was very entertaining right up towards the end.

Things got interesting when the Tennis version of the ESPN Game Day crew showed up to conduct an interview with Jankovic.


Pam Shriver (not a very pleasant interviewer) asked Jankovic about her always "talking" on court and about her knee injury and things got a bit testy. Jankovic continued to explain herself well after the cameras were off, and it was a little tense all around. In fact, Cliff Drysdale, Mary Joe Fernandez, and Shriver did not seem to interact at all during the breaks, so it was an interesting insight into what happens behind the scenes at these things.


Cliff did stop to pose for a picture for me. Nice guy!



The players themselves didn't really have time to stop for us, so we made do.


LINKS

AFP: Jankovic Books Semi Final Berth

The Massacre At Colombo

An innings and 239 runs!

Four Sri Lanka batsmen had centuries (and none of their names ended with Jayasuriya). The highest scores by an Indian batsman were 56 and 43 (and none of these innings were by a batsman whose name ended with a Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, or Sehwag).

India loves to play in the Subcontinent. The dusty pitches blunt a pace attack and helps their own spinners. The Indian batsmen have always prided themselves on their ability to play spin, thereby playing up their advantage at home.


And then Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis (the latter making his Test debut) demolished Our Boys, with figures of 11 (11!) for 110 and 8 for 132.

Yup, the Indians, the "masters" of spin, were a combined 19 for 242 against Sri Lanka's, wait for it, spinners.

All the hype was focused on Mendis going into this match given his mind-bending 6 for 13 performance against India in the Asia Cup final. But the wily old master Muralitharan wasn't going away easily; not only did he win his 19th Man of the Match Award (19th?!), but he also dismissed the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar for the seventh time in Tests, the most number of times Tendulkar has been dismissed by a bowler.


And just like, India was done in again.

Just, just when you start believing in them, that's when they let you down.

LINKS

Cricinfo: Murali and Mendis Maul India
Cricinfo: Match Home

The Rocker, Um, Rocks

I know, as soon as I saw the poster I knew that it was the great Rainn Wilson.

And no, I was a fan of Wilson way before The Office and Dwight Schrute. Ever since I saw him in that admirable, but ulitmately flawed meta-biographical film Baadasssss! (Mario Van Peebles's film about how his father Melvin Van Peebles made Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song) I've been an admirer (apparently he killed as host of this year's Film Independent's Spirit Awards).

In any case, according to any early review from Variety, The Rocker is awesome, and a nice change of pace from the usual Judd Apatow-branded man-child comedy (we have too may of those now, way too many).

Now you can be ahead of the trend and be the first to see the movie when it comes out in August. That way when your friends ask you if you've heard of this awesome new movie called The Rocker you can turn to them and say, heard of it?, I've lived it my friend.

I've lived it.

LINKS

Variety: The Rocker Review

Two Doors Down To Some Catchy Pop Music

A lovely little slice of 80s-style electronica-infused catchy dance-rock.

The song is called "Two Doors Down" and is by Mystery Jets.

Good stuff (courtesy of Left of Center, Channel 26 on your SIRIUS dial).

Click below to play the video:




LINKS

All Music Guide: Mystery Jets

Miley Cyrus Goes Green

No really, Hannah Montana herself, Miley (Scion/Meal-ticket of Billy Ray) Cyrus has an eco-anthem out called, imaganitvely enough, "Wake Up America."

I would make some snarky comment about the completely transparent commercial cynicism of the whole enterprise if the song wasn't...so...d*mn...catchy!

And hey, if it convinces spoilt, Disney-weaned pre-teen girls everywhere that their daddies' Range Rovers are not quite necessary for making that hazardous journey from their McMansions to the Forever XXI stores, then it's all worth it right?

Click below to play the video:

Best Campaign Button Ever!

Okay, so it's not an official campaign button, but a souvenir sold during Barack Obama's recent speech in Berlin.

Once again, the Euros beat us in design.

LINKS

NYT: Obama Vague on Issues Pleases Crowd in Europe

My TA Gets An Emmy Nomination

Pretty cool, Marc Clark, my old TA from USC just received an Emmy nomination for editing Top Chef (Marc was my camera TA at 'SC, but apparently he can do everything).

Of course, since he actually makes the insufferable Padma Lakshmi somewhat tolerable through the magic of his editing, I saw forget the vote counting and just hand the man his Emmy right now. That, my friends, is some serious editing!

Well done Marc and best of luck!

LINKS

Emmy Nominations

Sunset With The Hodads

The Better Half and I attended the first of this summer's Sunset Concert Series down in Hermosa Beach.

It was packed, much bigger than last year. Word must be betting around.

The Hodads were an awesome, fun, surf cover band, and did a few inspired covers as well, including one of "Hey Ya."

Sometimes living by the beach has its advantages.

LINKS

The Hodads Official Website