The Annekenstein Monster

I watched Mike Judge’s (“Beavis and Butthead”, “King of the Hill”, “Office Space”) latest film, “Idiocracy” the other night.  The movie was completed in 2004, but the studio basically abandoned it and chose not to promote or distribute it in any meaningful way.  Apparently, it was released only in seven cities, three of them in Texas, none in New York.
First off, I can understand if someone watched this movie and hated it.  I laughed way more than I thought I would, and I quite enjoyed it.  It’s got some down-time moments, and there are scenes that don’t quite work, but I suspect some of that may have been a result of Judge not getting money from the studio to polish those scenes.
Luke Wilson plays an average guy who is hibernated for 500 years (Maya Rudolph plays his average female co-hibernator).  They wake up in the year 2505.  In the interim, the population of the world has been totally dumbed down.  Imagine a world where the height of culture is a TV show called “Ow! My Balls!”.  Idiocy, crass commercialism, and instant gratification rule the day and everyone is a moron.  So, compartively speaking, Wilson’s character is seen as the smartest person in the world.  He has trouble fitting in, though, since language has devolved to such a state that someone who speaks even semi-coherently is considered “faggy”.  Wilson is terrific, and Rudolph avoids playing herself as an SNL character and plays it straight and effectively.  There are also some terrific performances by others in the cast who are playing the idiots.
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.  Grateful for the laughs it gave me, I was able to look beyond the few trouble spots it has.  Definitely a comedy worth searching out.

Technorati Tags: idiocracy, review, criticism, film, comedy

So, last week I spent two afternoons dressed up as a giant cigarette.  It was for some TV ads for Smoker’s Helpline.  It was a great looking costume.  However, for one of the ads, I was required to be in the back seat of a minivan.  At over 7 feet of cigarette and me, I didn’t really fit, so they had to take the seat out and I kind of crawled in and perched myself on the floor. It wasn’t that uncomfortable a position, but I came out of the experience with a sore neck.  Kind of like a pinched nerve type of dealy.  That was Thursday, and today my neck is still sore.
Part of the problem is that I’ve been having difficulties with my pillow in bed.  It’s too flat, yet if I combine it with a second pillow, it’s too tall.

Anyway, is there any way I can sue Big Tobacco for my sore neck problem?  Successfully sue, I might add.

Hey!  Did you know that the first annual PEI Revue is less than two weeks away?

What’s the PEI Revue, you ask.  Well, it’s a comedic look back at the year that just passed by on PEI.  It plays at the Carrefour Theatre Jan.18-20.

It’s gonna be pretty funny, I think.  More details to come as the event approaches.

After a couple of roles where I kind of got turned off of Paul Giamatti, I’d like to thank him for his performance in The Illusionist.  I thought he was terrific.  And I quite liked the movie, too.

And speaking of illusionists, those who are into being deceived and misdirected and befuddled, and who know how to find things on torrent sites, well, you should download search out “Derren Brown: Something Wicked This Way Comes“.  It’s a taped performance of his most recent stage show.  It’s quite enjoyable, and the ending should really impress.  Thanks, by the way, to DaveM for turning me on to Derren Brown.

(See how I misdirected you there?  I started off by talking about Paul Giamatti in the movie The Illusionist, but I ended up selling you a pitch for a video.  Sorry, no links in this post)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Thomas Haden Church / BROKEN TRAIL
Robert Duvall / BROKEN TRAIL
Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I
William H. Macy / NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES
Matthew Perry / THE RON CLARK STORY
Annekenstein Pick: Robert Duvall

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Annette Bening / MRS. HARRIS
Shirley Jones / HIDDEN PLACES
Cloris Leachman / MRS. HARRIS
Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I
Greta Scacchi / BROKEN TRAIL
Annekenstein Pick: Annette Bening

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini / THE SOPRANOS
Michael C. Hall / DEXTER
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE
James Spader / BOSTON LEGAL
Kiefer Sutherland / 24
Annekenstein Pick: (tough category) Hugh Laurie  (personal fave: Michael C. Hall)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette / MEDIUM
Edie Falco / THE SOPRANOS
Mariska Hargitay / LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
Kyra Sedgwick / THE CLOSER
Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY
Annekestein Pick:  Edie Falco

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK
Steve Carell / THE OFFICE
Jason Lee / MY NAME IS EARL
Jeremy Piven / ENTOURAGE
Tony Shalhoub / MONK
Annekenstein Pick:  Steve Carell

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY
Felicity Huffman / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus / THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE
Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE
Mary-Louise Parker / WEEDS
Jaime Pressly / MY NAME IS EARL
Annekenstein Pick:  Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
24 – FOX
BOSTON LEGAL – ABC
DEADWOOD – HBO
GREY’S ANATOMY – ABC
THE SOPRANOS – HBO
Annekenstein Pick:  Deadwood

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – ABC
ENTOURAGE – HBO
THE OFFICE – NBC
UGLY BETTY – ABC
WEEDS – SHOWTIME
Annekenstein Pick: The Office

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole – Venus
Will Smith – The Pursuit Of Happyness
Forest Whitaker – The Last King Of Scotland
Annekenstein Pick:   Leonardo DiCaprio

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Penelope Cruz – Volver
Judi Dench – Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren – The Queen
Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet – Little Children
Annekenstein Pick: Helen Mirren

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed
Jackie Earle Haley – Little Children
Djimon Hounsou – Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls
Annekenstein Pick: Leonardo DiCaprio

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza – Babel
Cate Blanchett – Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi – Babel
Annekenstein Pick: Rinko Kikuchi

Best Ensemble Cast:

Babel, Bobby, The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine
Annekenstein Pick: The Departed

Today, I was fitted for a cigarette suit.

That is all.  Carry on.

5. I will strive to not view the Saddam Hussein Gets Hanged (or Hung) video(s).  I’ve never seen E.T., and I’ll be damned if I watch this.  Further to this, I will also strive to continue my life-long goal of actively eradicating most celebrity gossip and “news” from my life.  (My friend, DaveS, vows to force me to watch E.T. when I’m old and infirm.  I swear to god, I’ll fight it.)

4. I will strive to contribute at least one post a day to this blog.  I’ve gone blog-soft in the past couple of months.  it’s not that I no longer have anything to say (not that I ever did), it’s just that lately, any time I think about posting, it’s followed by an “ah, why bother?”.  It’s time to either bother again, or never bother.  Before I never bother, I think I should try to bother.  One post a day.  At least.  How hard can that be?

3. I will strive to become more fit.  I know I’m not a “go to the gym” guy (but I’m not ruling out that I may, someday, be that kind of guy), but I can sure do more than I’m doing now, which is nothing.  I will try to develop and maintain a regimen of daily activity, even if the activity amounts to nothing more than a half-hour walk.  From fat acorns mighty oaks lose weight.  (I’ve been contemplating making a wild resolution where I vow to not eat KFC for a whole year.  But I’m smart enough to know that there’s no hope of me keeping that one)

2.  I will strive to spend less time on the computer.  This may be counter-productive to goal number 4, but would most likely be of benefit to goal number 3.  Too much of too many days is spent idly surfing through the internets.  I realize that less time on the computer may result in more time watching TV (and may increase the difficulty of achieving goal number 5), so, as a sub-strive I vow to keep my television viewing habits in reign.

1. I will strive to engage more people in conversation this year.  I will also strive to be more engaging when people try to begin conversations with me.  Over the past couple of years, I’ve succumbed to a social-anxiety disorder, mired in an ever-empowered dread of social situations.  I have been letting my ultra-shyness beat me into a corner.  I need to begin to engage the world more (this one, by the way, will be even more difficult than not eating KFC for a whole year).

The provincial newspaper, The Guardian, had a Sally Cole penned write-up on the theatrical year in review.  Not one word was given to The Guild, which had a pretty busy year, theatrically speaking.
We all know that any article that even mentions theatre is a rarity for The Guardian (especially since Laurie Murphy has moved away), so perhaps I shouldn’t complain. ( I can only assume that the fax that had some bantam-A Souris hockey scores didn’t get received, so they had some extra room).  But to have an article allege itself to be a year-end wrap-up of the theatrical year, and then to not even mention the Guild, well, that’s pretty shoddy.

Either that, or the piece was only supposed to honour those who advertise more in The Guardian than those who do not.  Honestly, I don’t know if Anne & Gilbert or Victoria Playhouse did much Guardian advertising, or even if the Guild did, so that may be a totally unjustified assertion on my part.

Anyway, for next summer’s Sketch22 show, I’m going to write a sketch that contains a hockey game, played on stage.  Maybe that way, the Guardian will pay attention to the fact that actual theatre actually happens at the Guild.

And Jack McAndrew, don’t even think about stealing this little blog piece and passing it off as your own.