X-Men First Class: Having little to no knowledge of the X-Men comic, I thoroughly enjoyed this on an entertaining level, and I liked the actor playing young Professor X, but it would have been cool to see a few more familiar faces. (1/12/12)

Crazy, Stupid, Love.: Whatever you do, do not give up hope after the first 30 minutes thinking this is another “Oh no, Steve Carell is bad at women” movie, because it really is so, so much more. (1/11/12)

Shrooms: Some horror films use a certain group of select clichés; this movie uses all of them (oh, except the ones that give you any sort of good scare). (1/8/12)

Due Date: This film slightly surpassed my low expectations, and I actually did get a couple of good laughs from it. (12/31/11)

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I was going to write personalized messages for each of you on my flist, but as usual, things have been pretty crazy and I've run out of time. So let me just say I hope you all have a holiday full of foods and sounds you love, people who are good to you, and whatever level of excitement/relaxation you desire. Cheers!

Love,
Atomgal

I can't believe I forgot to post this until now!

The Muppets: Thank God it's still okay to be silly. (11/23/11)

Devil: Like most Shyamalan movies (with the exception of the awesome Sixth Sense, of course) this one started out with an intriguing concept that just didn't pay off in the end. (12/4/11)

Ginger Snaps: So gory, so teen-angsty, so Canadian, and so entertaining. (10/23/11)

Rango: Another case of a good movie marketed poorly: with its creative animation and humor that could best be described as "Muppety," this movie should have been more geared toward geeky adults than kids. (9/25/11)

Moneyball: A good story and a powerful performance (as usual) by Brad Pitt, but not being a baseball nut, parts of it went on a little long for me. (9/24/11)

True Grit (2010): Watch this movie, and a couple things will happen: you will fall in love with Jeff Bridges (and the Coen Brothers) all over again, and you will stop using contractions and start talking like the characters in the film. (9/13/11)

Cedar Rapids: I might be inclined to think of this movie as Up in the Air Lite, but the thing is, it dealt with some pretty dark issues while simultaneously featuring John C. Reilly with a trash can lid on his head, so maybe not. (9/11/11)

Nine to Five: Before there was Horrible Bosses or even Office Space, three women - who were as smart as they were ballsy - shook things up in the workplace in a way that was both empowering and hilarious. (9/2/11)

Cowboys & Aliens: Lots of people hated this movie, but I'll allow it a decent beginning and end with a flimsy-at-best middle. (8/16/11)

Horrible Bosses: Jason Sudeikis, you are really talented and funny, so it makes me feel extra bad that every time I see you, I think, "poor man's Ed Helms." (8/2/11)

Bridesmaids: It's good to see the ladies get in on the raunchy humor, because they can do it just as well as the guys do, but to me, the funniest thing about this movie was Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph ad-libbing a simple conversation about sex. (6/21/11)

Shutter Island: With beautiful cinematography, interesting dialogue, and a bit of a mindfuck, this is the most impressive nod to Hitchcock I've ever seen (intended as such or not). (6/16/11)

The Hangover Part II: You know, I really don't care that this was the same movie as The Hangover, because these three guys are hilarious together. (5/30/11)

Day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

Well, I was going to say Jellyfish's ode to Super Mario Brothers, "Ignorance is Bliss," because it has lyrics like, "You remind me of my kid sister/She read so much she got a blister/A big one, I mean big, on her BRAIN, what a SCHMUCK!"

But I talked about Jellyfish already (and I can't find a sample mp3 to share with y'all), so I have another idea for today. Robot Hell from Futurama (featuring Dan Castellaneta, John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Segal, and two Beastie Boys).

I wish Futurama would come out with a CD already, like the Simpsons has on many occasions. But that's another rant for another time.

Okay, for anyone not familiar with the show Futurama (and shame on you because it's awesome), Dan Castellaneta (best known as the voice of Homer Simpson) is the Robot Devil, overlord of Robot Hell, which is located under the depths of an old fun house in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Bender (the robot) wound up there because he joined a cult religion and broke his promise of purity and sinned, mainly because his co-workers (Leela and Fry, the aforementioned Segal and West, respectively) were fed up with his new-found holier-than-thou ways. Little did they know, Bender's activities were being monitored by the cult; hence he met his fate with the Robot Devil. Due to some weird loophole where humans (okay, Zoidberg) can physically locate Robot Hell, Fry and Leela try to rescue Bender. The whole thing is summed up in this excellent song.

What makes me giggle every time is the lyric, "My ass has blisters from the slide," because Billy West sings it so sadly. Also, when Bender says, "Aw, crap, singing," at the very beginning is a favorite quote of mine. I used it as a title to a mix I made for someone once, though I'm embarrassed to report now that I don't remember who. It's a musical number for people who hate musicals. So, me. There's lots of other good lyrics, like "Please stop sinning while I'm singing," and I'm tempted to post all of them here. But this entry has been long enough already. Thanks for paying attention this far, if you still are. This was a super fun distraction for work and wedding planning for me. Whee!

Day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

Well, if it's my funeral, I'll be dead, so I certainly hope I'm not playing anything, because that would mean get your gun - zombies!

I've always been a fan of instrumental music at funerals. Anything with lyrics gets too much meaning attached to it in that context, and it's usually either completely inappropriate or incredibly sad. So, for my funeral, I think it would be funny to play lounge instrumentals of Misfits songs. Enter The Nutley Brass.

I'm constantly amused by lounge versions of rock songs, like Richard Cheese or Paul Anka, but this is the only instrumental album I've come across. I'm sure there are more, but I'll be honest, I haven't actively sought any out because I'm quite happy with TNB. Their version of "Skulls" is something I listen to at work quite a bit, and the "Angel Fuck" is really good. Come on, "Angel Fuck" at a funeral? Awesome.