The Dark Knight Countdown - Heath's Final Completed Appearance

Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight is his final completed appearance in a film.

He was filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when he died.


Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight) wrote a tribute to Heath for Newsweek.

4 weeks to The Dark Knight!!
July 18, 2008!

Lost Thursdays

Sorry I missed last week's Lost Thursdays!! Again the information was taken from lostpedia.com

Here are some interesting books that have played a minor role in LOST.

The Chronicles of Narnia:


Could Charlotte Staples Lewis be a reference to Clive Staples Lewis?
Keep in mind that Narnia is a magically place where time passes more quickly than people are used to.

O Pioneers! (Willa Cather)



The two main characters in this novel are Alexandria a strong, independent resourceful girl, and her eventual husband Karl (spelled Carl in the book)

Slaughterhouse V (Kurt Vonnegut)



Desmond becoming "unstuck in time" is similar to the experience of Billy Pilgrim in the novel. Both men are in the military and experience ridicule because of their experiences.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum)



In the book, Dorthy Gale's uncle is named Henry (presumably Henry Gale). In LOST, Henry Gale arrived on the island through a hot air balloon ( in the book, the wizard arrived in Oz using the same method). Also, the episode "The man behind the curtain" is a reference to the wizard, and of course Season 4's finale entitled "There's no Place Like Home" is a famous quote from the book.



Sawyer has been noted to read the following books:
Watership Down
A Wrinkle In Town
Of Mice and Men
The Fountainhead
Are you there God, it's me, Margaret
Julius Caeser
Lord of the Flies, and more...

To Celebrate the Big New York Trip

Lets have a look at the World Famous Deserts sold at Serendipity III in NYC

Above is the Frrozen Haute Chocolate sold for a whopping $25,000.The delicacy is made from a blend of 28 rare cocoas from around the world and contains five grams of edible 23-karat gold and is served in a crystal goblet (imported from Rome) which is also lined with edible gold. It is topped with whipped cream, more gold sprinkles, and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound. There are also take home goodies that come with the treat, such as an 18K gold bracelet with a carat's worth of diamonds that rests at the base of the goblet and a gold spoon set with white and chocolate-colored diamonds.

Also found at Serendipity III is the Golden Opulance Sundae

Currently holding the world record for most expensive treat, it starts with 5 scoops of vanilla ice cream made from Tahitian Vanilla beans and Madagascar Vanilla, and it's and cover them in 23k edible gold leaf. The world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana and chunks of the rarest Chuao Chocolate top the icecream. On top of that, the sundae contains Parisian candied fruit, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. Then a bit of Grand Passion Caviar is placed in a small bowl on top. The frozen treat is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal with an 18k gold spoon.

New in Theaters 6/20/2008

Get Smart

The Love Guru


Kit Kittredge: An American Girl


Brick Lane

New on DVD 6/17/2008

Jericho - Season 2

Californication - Season 1


Fool's Gold


ER - Season 9


Be Kind Rewind

The Happening Movie Review

First, let me start by saying that I love M. Night Shyamalan. I think he is different and unique in a way that always allows me to take something from all his movies that I love. Even if they aren't my favorite movies of all time, I always leave them having enjoyed the movie and picked out lots of things that I liked.

I read about this movie and his thought process behind it before I went to see it. I always like to see where he was coming from. For me, there were several things mentioned on the front page of the website that stuck out to me as interesting and appealing: 1 - the idea of "have we gone too far as humans," what if nature develops a survival mechanism at the same time that we lose our survival mechanism; 2 - this loss of our survival mechanism, the idea of it is pretty terrifying, if we lose this innate desire to stay alive and instead go to the opposite extreme immediately; 3 - the way that the movie (and all of his movies really) focus on the relationship between people and the struggle as humans that we have to just maintain a balance with each other. I just liked the ideas behind everything and was interested in the way he would do it.

The movie did not disappoint me. I am a huge fan of Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel going back to The Basketball Diaries, Fear and The Big Hit for Wahlberg and Almost Famous and The Good Girl for Deschanel. I've been following both of them from the beginning. Although I have heard arguments that Mark Wahlberg cannot play the science teacher as well as he can play the bad ass, I still maintain that he was wonderful in this movie. He does tend to have an almost cheesy aura to him when he's playing the nice guy (see RockStar, Fear - the beginning of it, The Big Hit, I Heart Huckabees) but I still think he can pull off anything. And not just because he looks like that. As far as storyline and development of the movie goes, I thought it was fabulous. It's risky territory to make your bad guys "nature" or "the plants" but Shyamalan pulled it off in a genuine way where I was never thinking, "omg this is so ridiculous." And the movie is at its core about the way that we as humans have become a threat to the planet, but also about how we overcome and rise up in the midst of tragedy. One of my favorite scenes was where Alma (Deschanel) was watching Elliot and Jess (Wahlberg and Ashlyn Sanchez) mourn. I cried probably 5 times in this movie. But it was also a bad day for me, so maybe that's why I cried. haha

Either way, I highly recommend the movie, but go into it with an open mind.

The Dark Knight Countdown - Heath's Influence

Heath Ledger said he was inspired by the characters of

A Clockwork Orange's Alex


and Sid Vicious


when preparing for his role as The Joker.

5 weeks to The Dark Knight!!
July 18, 2008!

I Heart New York

I'M GOING TO NEW YORK!!!!! I've never been and I've always wanted to go and I finally got an opportunity!!!!

There's good news and bad news...good news is: I'M GOING TO NEW YORK!! (As you already know now) bad news is...I leave the night of the Breaking Dawn party!! So I won't be at Barnes & Noble like I previously said I would! But YOU still need to be there!!

Yay New York!!!!!
August 1 - August 4. Woo hoo!!

Online Dance Battle - M & M Cru video

Here is the latest video from the M&M Cru!!



Check out the links below for more online dance battle videos!
JonChu YouTube
Miley & Mandy YouTube

Fabulous is the perfect word for her...

[Excerpt from her interview in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly]

Some people can't reconcile your old persona, where you talked about knives and cutting, with your more recent identity as a mother and activist.

"...it's not that different. The reason I talked about going through certain pains or even cutting myself is that I was already out the other side. I knew there were people that do that — and somehow are happy that somebody admitted they did and discussed how they got out of it. I don't see the point of doing an interview unless you're going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I'm extremely human and have done some dark things, I don't think makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do and I'd like to think it's the nice thing to do."



I definitely agree with her. I think it takes strength and courage to open up about a painful or troublesome time in your past, one when you maybe didn't make the best decisions. I think that opening up about your dark moments allows other people the freedom to feel like they can open up about theirs and I think that helps promote healing in all sorts of different ways. And I definitely don't think that who you were really has anything to say about who you are except for showing how far you can come and what you can OVERcome.

Also, check out To Write Love on Her Arms if what Angelina talks about sounds like something you have dealt with.

New in Theaters 6/13/2008

The Happening

The Incredible Hulk


Baghead


Quid Pro Quo

The Air I Breathe Movie Review

First of all, my initial thought was..."okay...that was strange." But when I thought about it, I liked it. It basically follows the stories of 5 individuals separately and also shows how they all connect. It's along the lines of Crash and other movies of that nature. It blankets each story with a specific emotion, such as "Happiness," "Sorrow," "Love," etc. It's short, only an hour and a half, so I sort-of expected a little more. You all should know by now that I am a huge Sarah Michelle Gellar fan and I thought she was wonderful in this. She was probably my favorite part of the movie and not just because she was Buffy. I also thought Kevin Bacon did a great job. I normally go back and forth on how I think of him. The movie definitely has a recognizable cast including Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Julie Delpy, and Emile Hirsch. I enjoyed everyone in the movie. I can't at the end of it say that it struck anything special in a way that other movies sometimes do, but I enjoyed it.

I would recommend it, but I probably wouldn't watch it again.

The Air I Breathe

Movies Based on Books

Based on my last post, these are the books I need to read ASAP!!

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood


Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist


He's Just Not That Into You


The Road


Yes Man


Revolutionary Road


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Marley and Me


The Time Travelers Wife

2008 Movies

Image Source

So, yes, 2008 is half over. But this is my list of movies that I am excited about coming out in the last half of the year!! I'll tell you why!

June:
The Incredible Hulk (6/13)
Why: Because I think it deserves another chance. And because Edward Norton rocks my face off.

The Happening (6/13)
Why: Because I will see every M. Night Shyamalan movie, no matter whether it looks good or bad. And because I love Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.

Get Smart (6/20)
Why: Because Steve Carell is hilarious and Anne Hathaway is so pretty.

Wanted (6/27)
Why: Because who doesn't want to see that movie after watching the previews??


July:
Hancock (7/4)
Why: Because Will Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron are fabulous.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (7/11)
Why: Because it is written, directed and produced by the guy who did Pan's Labyrinth. That at least makes it worth seeing. And also because I enjoyed the first one more than I thought I would.

The Dark Knight (7/18)
Why: Because Batman Begins is my favorite comic book movie of all time. Because Christian Bale has been one of my favorites ever since Newsies. And because Heath Ledger gave so much of himself to the part. I will see it if for no other reason than that Heath Ledger found it to be that important.

Step Brothers (7/25)
Why: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly - always worth seeing.


August:
The Rocker (8/1)
Why: Dwight is in it. And so is that girl from Superbad. I love her!!

Swing Vote (8/1)
Why: Mainly probably just because it's making fun of politics and I find that interesting.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (8/8)
Why: Because I love the books and because America Ferrera is just so sweet.

The Accidental Husband (8/22)
Why: Denny Duquette is in it.

The House Bunny (8/22)
Why: Anna Farris and that girl from Superbad. And it just looks funny.


September:
Eagle Eye (9/26)
Why: Because the trailer looks awesome and because I love Shia LaBeouf.


October:
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist (10/3)
Why: Michael Cera. Period.

Nights in Rodanthe (10/3)
Why: It's based on a Nicholas Sparks book that I loved.

He's Just Not That Into You (10/24)
Why: Because of the cast - Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line, Big Love), Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long, Ben Affleck. And it's produced by Drew Barrymore.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (10/24)
Why: Because it's High School Musical.

RocknRolla (10/31)
Why: Guy Ritchie directed it and Gerard Butler stars in it. Yep, I'm seeing it.


November:
Quantum of Solace (11/7)
Why: Daniel Craig as James Bond. Fabulous.

Australia (11/14)
Why: Baz Luhrmann wrote and directed it. I love him.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (11/21)
Why: Harry Potter!

Four Christmases (11/28)
Why: Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon

The Road (11/28)
Why: Book was written by Cormac McCarthy.


December:
Yes Man (12/19)
Why: Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel. I love them both.

Revolutionary Road (12/19)
Why: Mainly because it's Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet together again.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (12/19)
Why: F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, Brad Pitt stars.

The Spirit (12/25)
Why: Frank Miller wrote the graphic novel. (He also wrote Sin City and 300 - two of my favorite movies.)

Bedtime Stories (12/25)
Why: Adam Sandler, Kerri Russell, Courtney Cox. It just looks cute.

Marley & Me (12/25)
Why: Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. I'm interested.

The Time Travelers Wife (12/25)
Why: Because I've heard the book is fabulous and I love Rachel McAdams.

New on DVD 6/10/2008

The Bucket List

The Other Boleyn Girl


Jumper


John Adams (HBO Miniseries)


Army Wives - Season 1


Home Improvement - Season 4


7th Heaven - Season 6

The Go-Getter

I'm interested in seeing this movie. I usually like Jena Malone and Zooey Deschanel and after reading this review by Rolling Stone, I definitely am going to watch it!!

PostSecret 6-8-2008

He really would. He really does.

PostSecret

My most anticipated Fall TV picks!

Fall TV Preview - new shows next season!

I am most excited about...



Fringe
JJ Abram's new show - Tuesdays at 9pm on Fox


Kath and Kim
Molly Shannon & Selma Blair? I'll definitely at least give it a chance!



90210

Bones Season 4

Hart Hanson, creator of the tv show Bones, was interviewed by TV Guide about the shocking season 3 finale and about some upcoming developments in season 4!

My favorite is that there will be a 2-hour season premiere in the fall and it's shot on location in London!!

The Dark Knight Countdown - Movie Title

The Dark Knight is the only Batman film to not have "Batman" in the title.

6 weeks to The Dark Knight!!
July 18, 2008!