I recently got an invite to Google Wave and haven’t found much use for it so far, mainly because I don’t have any people who I usually communicate with on a regular basis on it to communicate with.  I’m hoping once they bestow some invites upon me I’ll be able to try it out in earnest.

Even though I haven’t found much use for it, a few people have already put it to good use, making Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting inspired mashups to show the power of the service.

I know I’ve thought to myself quite often that there aren’t nearly enough movies with say, mutant sized sharks or octopi anymore. Well today is my lucky day. Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus stars 80′s pop star Debbie Gibson and 90′s greaseball Lorenzo Lamas. With a story featuring giant water dwellers and the best D list celebrities in one movie, what more can you ask for? Before having even seen it I think I’m going to pencil this one in as the best movie ever. The shark eats the Golden Gate Bridge and takes down a plane, how could it not be the best movie ever?

I have been absolutely dying to see The Wrestler in theatres. There has been so much buzz about the movie since the movie was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival and it finally will be hitting theatres in wide release January 23. The closest it had been playing to where I live was Mississauga, which even though I was really bumped to see it, I wasn’t a 40 minute drive away pumped. I’ve been a huge wrestling geek since I was a kid, so wanting to check this movie out is pretty much a no brainer.

The movie stars Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a washed up wrestler who used to be a big name in the 1980′s. The movie draws a lot of inspiration from the lives of real life wrestlers who don’t know when to move on. I’ve heard that the concept at the heart of the movie parallels the life of Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who was featured in the 1999 documentary Beyond The Mat. It showed him at a point in his career, well past his prime, where he’s gone from performing at Madison Square Garden with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant in the WWF, to performing to half filled small town community centres and arenas to make a few bucks.

I have to say Mickey Rourke looks amazing for a 52 year old guy to get into that kind of shape he was in for this movie. With his long locks and physique he kinda reminds me of former ECW wrestler Jerry Lynn minus the goatee. He also has that face that looks as worn as an old catchers mitt. As a longtime watcher of wrestling I’ve seen this story play out so many times, where an old wrestler doesn’t know when to give it up because they always think they’ve got one more big run in their tank. Vince McMahon tends to like to bring the old guys back for one last run quite often, so many of the old timers do tend to slug it out into their 40′s and 50′s thinking they can get that one last shot.

In honour of The Wrestler and 80′s wrestling I decided to get out my old rubber wrestlers and make like it was Wrestlemania 3 on my messy desk.

I think I’m going to try and catch Zack and Miri Make a Porno this weekend. It just seems to have all the elements that should combine to make a good comedy.

Kevin Smith – Judd Apatow seems to have taken over the comedy world lately, so Kevin decided to steal Judd’s biggest frybag star and mix him in with some of the usual suspects(Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson) you’ve come to expect in a Kevin Smith movie. It’s like the battle for who’s top dog in geek comedies.

Seth Rogen – He’s been in pretty much every comedy released in the last 3 years. Yet somehow I still haven’t tired of his white guy afro schick.

Elizabeth Banks – I’ll admit it, before this movie I really had no idea who she was, but really, for these comedies all you really need is a fresh pretty face to bring in the geek crowd. She’s even got a supporting part in next weekends comedic release, Role Models, which I also want to see.

Porno – Sets a good awkward premise right from the title that will surely get some peoples “granny panties” in a knot. Even better is that they attempt to make a bad Star Wars porno. The title of the movie combined with a tongue in cheek poster(above) managed to get them in trouble with the MPAA. Luckily here in Canada we aren’t such prudes.

With those building blocks what could go wrong? The strong supporting cast features Darryl from The Office, Justin Long of smarmy Mac guy fame and Kenny Hotz of Kenny vs Spenny. Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 63% so far which usually bodes good. And I think the biggest question I’ll have going into this movie is whether Kevin Smith can somehow top the awkwardness of the donkey sex show that appeared in Clerks 2. It kinda makes for a tough act to follow.

This is getting to be the tail end of the summer and it seems the last couple of years this is when some of the better summer comedies seem to get released. It was Superbad last year and Talladega Nights the year before. It seems once all the big action films of the year are released people are ready for some comedy. I’m kinda hoping that Hamlet 2 ends up being one of this year’s great comedies.

This movie has perked my interest merely on the whole stupidity of the concept. I think everyone who went to high school probably did Hamlet in English class. It’s probably one of the more universally known plays in the human history. So therein lies the humour in the fact that everyone knows pretty much every character in that Shakespearean tragedy dies at the climax of the play. Making a tongue in cheek sequel to it just seems like they are sticking a thumb in the eye of the geniuses who green lit bad sequels like Dumb And Dumber or The Mask 2.

I have to say they were pretty clever to include the bit about from one of the co-writers of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and Team America: World Police. It’s not Matt Stone or Trey Parker, but Pam Brady. She has long been a contributor to South Park and wrote one of my favourite episodes, the one about the underpants gnomes. So given that I’m willing to give her a shot. The movie also has Steve Coogan, who’s pretty good in anything he’s in. This is a movie I kinda suspect will be a lot more crude then what the trailer implies, which is typically a good thing. Hamlet 2 goes into wide release August 27th.

I went to go see Get Smart tonight. I really liked it. Having watched the show as a kid in reruns on YTV I think they did a really good job of picking up the essence of the original series while still adding something new and fresh to the presentation of it. Get Smart was funny and featured lots of good action sequences that I found came off pretty fresh while managing not to come off as too slapstick or heavy at any point. I found it just came off well on-screen.

I found the chemistry between Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway got off to a bit of a rocky start, but by the end it seemed they both seemed like they were on the same page. I liked the rest of the cast as well. You had Hiro from Heroes, President Camacho from Idiocracy, Chancellor Valorum from The Phantom Menace, Azmat from Borat. It was just kind of amusing piecing together the cast and where you know them from. I look forward to seeing a sequel to this one and can only hope it’s as well put together as the first.

I caught Michael Moore’s Sicko on TV tonight. I like watching Michael Moore’s movies, but I am aware that he tends to paint a pretty one sided picture at times. Though even if it does show just one side of the story, there is always truth in the story he’s presenting, even if he is cherry picking his facts.

The part I found that disturbed me about this movie was the fact I am a Canadian and was appalled by the health care system that is in place in the United States, and how much just straight up lies that go on to keep that corrupt system in place. I can’t even imagine being American and having this be my reality. The US is so afraid of socialism and so corrupted by the drive of capitalism that it is going to lead to the downfall of the country. I will readily admit that our health care system isn’t the be all, end all here in Canada. But to know that if I fell down the stairs and broke my leg that it might cause me to go bankrupt because of health care bills is a pretty disconcerting feeling to have to live everyday with. After watching this movie it definitely opens my eyes to the eroding state of our health care in Canada. There has been a lot of talk of privatization, so I will definitely keep that in mind the next time it comes to vote.

I decided on a whim to go to the movies tonight. I highly suggest if you’re the type that doesn’t like packed theatres, go on a Wednesday night. There was next to no one there. Corina and I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall and there were maybe 15 people, and it was showing in one of the bigger theatres. As I’m sure you’re aware this is the latest effort from Judd Apatow, who at this point directs or produces about 91 films a year these days. I don’t think he actually sleeps. Anyhow, it was pretty much what you would expect from an Apatow movie. Some gratuitous penis shots, sprinkled with a couple corking one liners and a cast of usual suspects paired up with some decent eye candy(Kristin Bell and Mila Kunis). Lather, rinse, repeat, you know the drill. With that being said I enjoyed it. I would probably rank it as better then Knocked Up(which I really didn’t like that much) but not nearly as good as Superbad or 30 Year Old Virgin. Take that for what you will.

I haven’t been to the movies in awhile, but I found the whole experience pretty off-putting. We went without having dinner beforehand, figuring we would just get some food there. As you would expect it was expensive. We had a free pass, so for 1 ticket, a hot dog, nachos and candy for one order and large popcorn and large pop as the other it was $32. I had no desire to get a large popcorn, but the combos they cobble together made it somehow the best deal. I wanted a regular popcorn and pop, yet it was more then the large popcorn and pop because the combo included a big bag of M&Ms. The large combo came with a small candy as well. I had the choice of Glosett Raisin(gross) or Nibs(double gross).

Once we got in the theatre we were met with the usual crap image quality that movie theatres are known for. I find I used to give this a pass, but now I have an HDTV and the differences are just so glaring now. It seems the only thing the theatres have going for themselves nowadays is that people just want to get out of their houses from time to time. You would figure these theatre chains would try and put a little more effort into making the trip out worthwhile. George Lucas was preaching about digital back in the late 1990′s and theatres haven’t really listened. It’s now 10 years later and I still don’t see a large influx of digital screens available in my area.

It seems very odd that not one, but 2 movies are opening on consecutive weekends that have the same names as some popular British rock music.

First we have a romantic comedy andthis week’s number one movie, Fool’s Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. This was the name of the biggest hit by The Stone Roses, minus the apostrophe. While the term Fool’s Gold is an old figure of speech, as soon as I hear the term I think of Mani’s bass line and the percussive groove of the Stone Roses.

The second movie is another romantic comedy coming out next weekend called Definitely, Maybe starring Ryan Reynolds. This is also the name of Oasis’ 1994 debut album, though minus the comma. The title is a tongue in cheek oxymoron and I can only assume a bit of a British-ism.

Now the part I find so odd about this is just the fact that these 2 bands are linked to each other, with essentially the Stone Roses being a major influence of the musical movement Britpop, to which Oasis was the frontrunner of the genre. I’m sure it’s just coincidence, it just seems like a really odd one. If Hollywood starts pumping out Parklife, Different Class or Urban Hymns movies it’ll definitely confirm my suspicions that they are trying to co-opt the music of my teenage years.

I saw an article today from /Film about how John Singleton want Woody Harrelson for the A-Team movie. Now to me this seems like a pretty logical choice. But what got me thinking and wanting to blog on the topic is the character of BA Baracus, as played by Mr. T. I think it is quite possible that there is absolutely no one that can be play the role of a muscle bound, gold chain wearing, mohawked black man, aside from Mr. T himself. Anyone else that might fill that role would be just a caricature of the man himself. The man is a walking cartoon character Looking around Hollywood there aren’t too many black actors that would fit the bill. I just did some searching and found a rumour about Ice Cube playing BA Baracus. I hope not. The portly, ex-NWA rapper doesn’t cut it for me, even if he will sport a mohawk.

Here’s a video of Mr T telling it like is. Whenever I think of this video I think of the Barenaked Ladies. Back in the 1990′s before they blew up big in the US they used to do interviews on MuchMusic and whenever they were there they would be asked if there was a video they wanted to have shown and pretty much every time they would pick this video, which I always thought was totally awesome.