A Ghoulish moment on the Red Line

Reading the unexpurgated text of Michael Jackson's Last Will and Testament, courtesy of the Boston Metro. The will itself is about as much fun to read as a well executed Bill of Lading.

Star Trek (2009)

Kudos to J.J. Abrams for figuring out that Kirk, Spock and McCoy et al are characters in the end that can played again and again by the right cast.
And it is in the casting that the new Star Trek franchise is the strongest, Chris Pine finds Captain Kirk quite easily without recourse to any of William Shatner's iconography, Zachary Quinto's Mister Spock is a post-Nimoy revelation and I expect great things from Karl Urban's Doctor McCoy.

Too bad the script is such a paint by the numbers affair with a bloodless villain and storyline that heavily recalls "Star Trek Nemesis" (2002), the last gasp of the Next Generation's run in feature films.
in truth I begin to think that there are no more Star Trek stories left to tell the franchise has soldiered on thru FIVE television series a stack of films, thousands of awful paperbacks...Honestly is there any creative water left in the well?
As long as the writers and producers are fixated on recreating the whole space battle motif behind "The Wrath of Khan" then I suspect they'll get maybe two more sequels out of this admittedly impeccable cast before they hit another creative wall.
Then again they might get something cool going, but they have to lay off all the "Master and Commander" in outer space stuff and try boldly going somewhere new and different.
Maybe do some exploring when is the last time anyone did any of that in a Star Trek franchise?

Sean Penn has apparently dropped out of the Farrelly's Brother's proposed Three Stooges picture...

Am I the only blogger on Ghod's Green Earth who is appalled that a charmless collection of goyim are all champin' at the bit to play the fabled middle stooge??

The fact that anyone is reviving the Stooges at all is a strong indicator that the end times may be upon us.

As funny as the old Columbia two reelers were, the whole filmography was factory output.
Who the hell wants to remake factory output anyway?
Frankly, it is a mere accident of American Culture that the Stooges are such cultural icons today since their colleagues at Columbia from Sterling Holloway to Buster Keaton and the sadly forgotten Charlie Chase all did equally worthwhile work at the time.
Hell as far as I am concerned, that Curley's replacement Shemp who also had his own series of solo two-reelers did his best work alone!

Notes to a screening of "Land of the Lost" at the Tri Town Drive In

Will Ferrell is never gonna rise above being Will Ferrell, Chaplin was the Tramp, Jerry Lewis was the Kid, John Belushi was Bluto...Ferrell is ....well a the same clueless egomaniac in every film....Ron Burgundy over and over again.
And what the hell, the public loves it...I can't say much thought for opening a can of satiric whoop-ass on a minor Saturday Morning sci fi show like "Land of the Lost" constitutes some great comedic departure for all concerned...On the other hand I laughed more than I thought I would (which seems to be my half hearted refrain this summer), and the movie did look great on that big-ass outdoor screen.
Speaking of which I must report with some anger that someone tossed a rock thru the screen at some point last week leaving a small hole in the lower right hand corner.
Nothing too huge mind you, but just enough to mar what is otherwise a fresh looking screen.
Hopefully it will be fixed soon as vandalism like that should not be tolerated.
if Governor Patrick wants to be re-elected by a wide margin next year he ought to come out hard for a law making it a felony to vandalize Drive In screens...Venues like the Mendon and the Tri Town are rare and should not be subjected to this kind of abuse.

"Mine that Bird" is my pony in today's Belmont Stakes

lacking a horse as a triple crown contender, then the only game in town is jockey Calvin Borel's improbable bid to beat thirty odd steeds to the roses.
And besides, if Borel will win it'll mean something to him, he will turn somersaults in the saddle it'll be fun television at least.

Notes to a screening of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"

Of everything you could think of, who'd a thunk Ben Stiller would end up a family film star??
Well, I snark and I shouldn't as I laughed a whole lot more than I expected at the above movie, that is pretty damn amazing considering that the director, Shawn Levy has a long rap sheet composed of lame sequels.
Let me also single out Hank Azaria who is particularly hilarious with a real gift for redeeming mediocre material. His pouncey evil Pharaoh character neatly bookends his more heroic "Blue Rajah" routine from the unjustly overlooked "Mystery Men". I wish someone would write him some a-list material, th' man has a real talent for comedy.
Oh and forgive my Geek Bona Fides but I'd swear that Amy Adams' sexy tomboyish Amelia Earhart characterization could easily serve as a audition to play Cousin Pat Savage in a notional Doc Savage motion picture?
But the real good news is that the Tri Town Drive in out in Fitchburg has recently repaired and power-washed it's GIANT outdoor screen giving new life to this last of the almighty outdoor movie venues. If you have a big budget action comedy or fantasy film you have to see this summer, honestly it's worth the mishaugas to see it at the Tri Town...it's like they have a whole new screen....hell I'm in love all over again.

Sat next to a woman on the Red Line from Alewife this morning

who was delicately sipping her morning coffee out of what appeared to be an old fruit jar.

So from that I deduce that we haven't quite hit rock bottom in this recession.