Movies

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: 1-7 Nation Army

lais-ribeiro-victoriassecret14-02Well, that was a soccer game yesterday. I was expecting to be talking about a Brazil final with Argentina but that’s definitely not happening now. So I guess we’ll see who will be the second team in the World Cup final later today.

In the meantime, there’s lots more happening in the world than a bit of soccer. But let’s start this off by cheering up the Brazilians with Lais Ribeiro.

Warren G. Harding is often considered one of America’s worst Presidents. If not for a cover-up of a lengthy affair, Harding may never have won the Presidency. (New York Times)

Major Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie collapsed earlier this year. Here’s a look at what went happened. (Canadian Lawyer)

The BBC is taking the first step to clean up the news. They’ve banned giving equal time to climate change deniers. It’s just the facts from now on. (Salon)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Breaking Gravity

lacey-chabert-maxim13-01Howdy gang. I’ve drawn in for Jackie this week to cover the entertainment beat.

There are two big wide releases this week. Runner Runner stars, but is not directed by, Ben Affleck. Unfortunately, when you don’t get Ben involved behind the camera, it doesn’t always work out well as this one’s received mixed to poor reviews. Your other option is Gravity starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It’s received near universal critical acclaim which is down to the brilliant direction of Alfonso Cuaron. I won’t be seeing it in theatres because I just can’t take Sandra Bullock seriously. I blame Speed 2… and most of her career.

Anyway, let’s get on with the links. Let’s start with Lacey Chabert who is apparently still making movies which is something that I didn’t know.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: The Real Story

lizzy-caplan-gq13-04It’s the end of the week so it’s time for links. Before we get started, don’t forget that there’s still time to sign up for the Lowdown Blog Hockey Pool. Well, Breaking Bad is ending tonight. I don’t watch that so I don’t have to worry about replacing it. But if you’re looking for something new, Alan Sepinwall says that Masters of Sex, starring Lizzy Caplan, is a good watch. Sepinwall is a bit trolly, though, so take that recommendation with a grain of salt.

Qatar’s efforts to run the 2022 World Cup has been nothing but controversial but this takes the cake. An investigation had found that the Qatari organizing committee has been using what amounts to slave labour to get ready for the World Cup. (The Guardian)

Did video games drive Aaron Alexis to his shooting at the Navy Yard? Not even close. The FBI found a note from Alexis saying that low-frequency radio waves drove him to it. (Talking Points Memo)

Reuters’ Next was supposed to be a big consumer offering from Reuters but was cancelled as a result of just one person leaving. (BuzzFeed)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Show Me the Money

ronda-rousey-maxim13-03Jackie’s off this weekend and I’ve drawn in. As tends to be the case when I do the ELO, I don’t have any good new releases to talk about this weekend. Sure, Denzel’s got a new movie with Marky Mark but it doesn’t sound like 2 Guns is a great film. If you’d rather completely melt your brain out your ear, you can always check out The Smurfs 2. Poor NPH getting stuck with this.

Let’s start off today’s links with UFC Women’s champ and Ultimate Fighter coach Ronda Rousey.

Continue reading →

2 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Video Games

Forget the Silver Screen, Put Mass Effect on TV

mass-effect-the-movie-posterHollywood and the video games industry don’t have a very good track record of adapting the other’s work. A quick look at the movie adaptation of video games shows a track record of consistent critical flops with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within scoring the highest Tomato Meter score of 43%. Video games based on movies and TV shows haven’t fared much better as good licensed games are more the exception than the rule.

As the week’s go by, I hear more and more about the planned Mass Effect movie. It’s not just Hollywood’s terrible track record in turning video games into a live-action dramatic presentation that worries me. It’s that Mass Effect can’t be turned into a movie without removing its soul.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Sequestered

jennifer-love-hewitt-shape13-07While the US government may have been sequestered (or maybe it’s just the collective sanity of the Congress that’s been sequestered), we’re still in action. Also still in action, Jennifer Love Hewitt. Terrible segue but still a great picture even if she’s looking a little thin/Photoshopped in this one.

The NRA will bully people, especially the news media, if they try to access records of people who are registered gun owners. However, they access that info regularly for fundraising. Hypocrites much? (Gawker)

In the latest case of the US Congress playing chicken with the global economy, the mandatory spending cuts negotiated in 2010 called “the sequester” started this week. So what exactly is it? (Washington Post)

I’ve probably put this post too far up in the post but I found it interesting just the same. Folks are accusing Budweiser of watering down its beer. (The Week)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Written in the Stars

halle-berry-vanityfair13-01Good news, folks. If everything goes according to schedule, Jackie is back in two weeks. So you only have to put up with my take on the ELO today and next Saturday.

And even better news for you guys is that there are some decent movies this weekend. If you’re looking for a Twilight parody or a zombie movie parody, you’ll be looking for Warm Bodies. It’s actually been well reviewed. If you just want to watch a bad 80’s action movie, there’s Sly’s new Bullet to the Head. It’s Sly doing an action movie. Can it be anything other than campishly bad? Okay, Cliffhanger was just bad.

Anyway, Vanity Fair did their annual Hollywood issue again. I don’t quite know why but Halle Berry was in it. Has she been in a good movie since X-Men 2? Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: The Start of Awards Season

megan-fox-esquire13-01I’m still covering for Jackie while the internet tubes in Australia unmelt. Did I mention that it was really hot in Australia this week? I think I heard something on the BBC about the heat melting the train/subway system in Sydney. Not that 45° C is that hot… Or that I woke up to -19° C yesterday before tacking on another nine degrees of windchill.

Anyway, this would be a good weekend to warm up at the movies. There are three new releases in theatres this week. Arnold is back in The Last Stand. Mahk Wahlberg stahs in Broken City. I don’t know if he sounds like Tommy from Quiznee in the movie. Finally, Jessica Chastain follows up her Golden Globe winning performance in Zero Dark Thirty by appearing in the horror flick Mama. Only Mama is fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and the three average out to 48%. So, like I said, it WOULD be a good weekend at the movies but it clearly isn’t… Unless you want to watch the Governator. That’s acceptable.

Alright, let’s start today’s links with Megan Fox. Yes, we have a link about her today.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: And The Globe Goes To

keira-knightley-allure12-03Since I’m drawing in to cover this week’s entertainment and pop culture links, we have to assume that Jackie has melted in the Australian heat wave… Anyway, the Golden Globes are this weekend so we’ll get our first indication at who or what will be the front runners at the Oscars. Speaking of which, the Academy Awards nominees were announced this week because the Academy says they don’t want to appear influenced by the Globes… So they moved the nomination announcement up because of the Globes? Makes sense…

Anyway, this weekend at the theatres gives us two big releases. There’s a new release in the form of Gangster Squad which actually has a cast despite the fact that the ads are only promoting Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It also boasts a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. If you want to watch a good movie that opens this weekend, Zero Dark Thirty goes to wide release this weekend so you can finally see it. But just for fun, let’s start this edition of the ELO with Keira Knightley. We don’t feature her on the blog nearly enough. Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: A Week at the Movies

jessica-chastain-gquk13-01Have you been reading Scott’s list of the Top 45 Movies of 2012? If you haven’t, you’re missing the most thorough breakdown of the year in movies that I’ve seen. Today, he’s dropping Part Three which covers #15 to #1. Therefore, I thought it was fitting to lead off this linkdump with actress Jessica Chastain.

Blue Brothers is one of the all-time great comedies. This oral history looks at how the movie almost never got made. (Vanity Fair)

If comedies aren’t your speed, maybe you’d rather read about Ben and Matt got their big breaks with Good Will Hunting. (Boston Magazine)

Okay, so Notre Dame got hilariously beaten by Alabama for the BCS Championship. My question is whether they even deserved to be there. After Penn State was nearly sanctioned out of existence for the Jerry Sandusky affair, the Notre Dame rape scandal was swept under the rug allowing them to get within one game of a national championship. (The Nation)

After the jump, did Dalhousie women’s hockey get screwed out of a season, Tony Bourdain vs. Travel Channel and a montage of montage. Continue reading →