'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Recommended
Faces of the Fallen
Purple Gene Reviews
'Sideways'
Purple Genes' review of the movie "Sideways" - directed by Alexander Payne and just released:
Wine - Wine - Wine.......Whine - Whine - Whine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti - Harvey Pekar in "American Splendor" and Pig Vomit in "Private Parts") wakes up to the door pounding....somebody wants him to move his car......Oh shit....he's late for picking up his college buddy Jack (Thomas Hayden Church - Lyle Van de Groot in "George of the Jungle - Killer in "Lone Star State of Mind") who is getting married in a week - to the beautiful daughter of a rich Armenian - Christine Erganian (Alysia Reiner - Artist in "Kissing Jessica Stein")........Well Jack, who is a part time Jingle Jockey and former soap actor, can't wait to get away on his week long batchelor party up in the Santa Barbara wine country with Miles, who is a - can't seem to get his novel published - recently divorced - Saab driving - Pinot Noir nosing annoying NERD!!!!!
So they start right off with all the wine snob references and the whining about their life and turn off highway 101 at Andersen's Pea Soup Windmill Exit - Solvang!
Well, Jack is one horny dog and he wants to get his putter polished before the wedding.....and Miles is one mopey mother fucker and he can't get over his divorce of two years ago ....and is waiting for that CALL from his Agent saying the publisher has accepted his book......and they check into a Motel and go wine tasting........So they Hit the Sanford Winery and try their ' 99 Pinot Noir - "deep color, hint of chocolate, nuances of berry, complicated yet intriguing nose" says Miles.....Jack says "it tastes pretty good" !!! Just when the movie needs some action - in walks Maya (Virginia Madsen - Dolly (great Tits) in the "Hot Spot" - Helen in "Candyman" - Princess Irulan in "Dune") who is the Knowledgable wine pourer and wanna be Horticulturist (smart and sexy) and strikes up a conversation with Miles....Jack picks up on Stephanie (Sandro Oh - Patti in "Under the Tuscan Sun" and Rita Wu in HBOs' "Arli$$") who is a wild motorcyle driving waitress from Buellton with a little girl.....Now remember - Jack wants to get laid and he's getting married in a week sooooo let the LYING begin.......Jack and Miles take Maya and Stephanie out to dinner and they get to know each other over vintage Pinot (No Merlot !!says Miles!!) Jack tells the girls he's an acter (no mention of a wedding) and that Miles is a published Novelist (He's still waiting to be published)..................
They all get laid in a whirling wine haze and we have heaven here for a couple days......Miles accidently tells Maya that Jack is getting married in a few more days.... so Maya gets pissed at Miles and leaves and Stephanie bashes Jacks' face in with her motorcycle helmet.............
I didn't think I was going to like this movie, but I ended up really really enjoying all the wine snob references, the touching developing relationship between Miles (Oscar nominee from this) and Maya (She was surprisingly wonderful) and Jacks' ribald big baby boner boy role......
Well......Jack gets married - broken nose and all.....Miles ends up opening his favorite bottle of wine (Chateau Cheval ' 61) in a macdonalds in a paper cup and comes back to his lonely losers apartment - completely wasted but OK and there is a message on his phone from Maya...."I'd like to see you again sometime"...........Cut to the end of the movie with Miles walking up her blue stairway.........Ahhh...Hollywood...It works!!!!
I'm going to pop the cork on my Sanford ' 99 Pinot Noir and wrestle with my Grand daughter!!!!!!!
Purple Gene gives "Sideway" 10 Pinot Noir corks out of ten for being so sweet and smart and satisfying - like this delicious Pinot!
Purple Gene
Thanks, Purple Gene!
Reader Recommended Reading
Roger Ebert
An Excerpt:
Brad Bird's previous film was "The Iron Giant" (1999), about a misunderstood robot from outer space, and the little boy who becomes his friend. It had a charm and delicacy that was unique in the genre, and "The Incredibles," too, has special qualities, especially in the subtle ways it observes its gifted characters trying to dumb down and join the crowd. Kids in the audience will likely miss that level, but will like the exuberance of characters like Dash. Grown-ups are likely to be surprised by how smart the movie is, and how sneakily perceptive.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny & breezy.
World Tour to Kick Off March 1
U2
Look for U2 to start its world tour on March 1 in Florida in support of its new album, the band's manager Paul McGuinness told Billboard.
"We'll play approximately 35 shows in the arenas in the spring in the U.S.," McGuinness said.
U2 will then play 30 stadium shows across Europe, return to North America for another 35-date arena swing and finish up in Japan and Australia.
U2
Killed This Year
Over 100 Journalists
More than 100 journalists have been killed since January, making 2004 the most deadly year for journalists in a decade, an international media rights group said.
The slayings of three journalists in recent days in Ivory Coast, Nicaragua and the Philippines pushed this year's total to 101, the International Federation of Journalists said Friday.
The organization recorded 83 killings of media staff in 2003 and 70 in 2002. The most deadly year for journalists since the organization began compiling annual reports in 1988 was 1994, when 115 were killed, including 48 during the genocide in Rwanda.
The federation also highlighted the dangers in Iraq, where it said 62 journalists have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Over 100 Journalists
Turns 75
Popeye
Popeye celebrates his 75th birthday this year, animated evidence that a steady diet of leafy green vegetables and pipe smoking can guarantee you Hulk Hogan forearms as a septuagenarian.
To honor the veteran sailor man, the unveiled a retrospective Saturday featuring rarities and collectibles from the cartoon hero's career.
The exhibit at the midtown Manhattan Museum of Television and Radio features five flat-screen televisions running a loop of classic cartoons, with Popeye proudly proclaiming, "I yam what I yam." He's joined, as always, by the usual cast of sidekicks: love interest Olive Oyl, nemesis Bluto, the ever-indigent Wimpy and baby Swee' Pea.
Popeye was launched in 1929, debuting in a minor role in the comic strip "Thimble Theater." The sailor was an immediate hit with readers, and artist E.C. Segar converted him into the star of the strip within two years.
But it was the Max Fleischer short films, 109 in all, that ingrained the spinach-chomping sailor into the national consciousness. The first one debuted in 1933, and Popeye became such an instant icon that spinach consumption in the United States jumped 33 percent during the 1930s.
Popeye
Broadway Bound
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington will star as Brutus in a production of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" opening on Broadway later this season, it was announced Friday.
The play, directed by Daniel Sullivan, will begin preview performances sometime in March and open at the Belasco Theatre in April on a date to be announced, said Chris Boneau, a spokesman for the production. Further casting will be announced later, Boneau added.
Denzel Washington
Sue Diaz & Timberlake for Assault
Photogs
Two photographers sued Cameron Diaz and her boyfriend Justin Timberlake for assault and battery, claiming the celebrity couple taunted and attacked them outside a fancy hotel.
Saul Lazo and Jose Gonzalez said the "Charlie's Angels" star and the pop singer threatened them as they tried to photograph the couple near the famed Chateau Marmont on Nov. 6.
A representative for the couple said he could not immediately comment on the suit, but said in a previous statement they were "ambushed by two men" on a dark street and acted only in self-defense.
Photogs
Must Repay $780G in Tour Fight
Rod Stewart
Singer Rod Stewart must repay the $780,000 he accepted as a deposit for a Latin American concert tour that was canceled, a jury ruled Friday.
The jury also assessed damages of $1.6 million against Stewart's lawyers and agents at the ICM talent agency for their roles in negotiating a contract for the tour.
The contract called for Stewart, 59, to be paid $2.1 million in advance for nine concerts in Central and South America that would start in February 2002. The document was not signed by promoter Howard Pollack, although he e-mailed he would do so.
About $780,000 of the advance was paid before Stewart's associates canceled the tour in mid-January 2002; the money was not returned. Pollack and two other promoters sued.
Rod Stewart
N.Y. Lawyer Sues for $15M
'Law & Order'
Lawyer Ravi Batra sued the producers of the television show "Law & Order" for $15 million Friday, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one "ripped from the headlines" episode.
The episode, "Floater," initially focuses on the husband of a woman whose decomposed body is found in the Hudson River. Detectives investigate the husband's alibi - and find a corruption scandal at the courthouse where the wife worked. The scandal includes her divorce lawyer and a judge who has heard a suspiciously large number of the lawyer's cases.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, where Batra is well-known in legal and political circles, investigations by the Brooklyn district attorney's office have resulted in arrests for the alleged fixing of matrimonial cases by judges and lawyers, and for the alleged sale of consultancies and appointments to judgeships.
The lawsuit says the "Floater" episode featured an Indian-American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra - including a bald head and facial hair.
'Law & Order'
Principal Whipped To Punish Students
Matanuska Christian
Matanuska Christian School's principal has been fired and a teacher has quit over a disciplinary incident in which the principal had himself whipped in front of two students.
Principal Steve Unfreid, who said he was inspired in his choice of disciplinary tactics by the actions of Jesus, asked teacher Joe Brost to whip him in front of two male students in the school's basement last month after the boys were caught kissing girls in the locker room for the second time in a week.
Unfreid, in an interview Friday at his home, acknowledged he should have called the boys' parents first but expressed no regret for his behavior.
The decision to take the boys' punishment on himself showed a form of Christianity that was too radical for some members of the school community, Unfreid said, sitting cross-legged on a leather couch in his Wasilla living room Friday afternoon.
Since coming to the school as a teacher several years ago, he said, he pushed for the school to admit a married student, laid on hands in an effort to heal a girl basketball player's injured ankle, and has taken troubled students into his family's home.
Matanuska Christian
Thanks, Vic!
Pitt QB Uses Expletive
Tyler Palko
Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko used an expletive during a live postgame interview with NBC after the Panthers upset No. 24 Notre Dame 41-38 Saturday.
While meeting later with reporters, Palko apologized before taking any questions.
"Before I start, I lost my composure on the field and said something in the heat of the moment," Palko said. "That's not me. That's not Tyler. It was just a heat of the moment kind of thing. I apologize to my teammates, my family and anybody that was watching."
Palko became the first player to throw five touchdown passes against the Irish and was 26-of-42 for 334 yards, with no interceptions. The Panthers won on a field goal with 1 second left.
Tyler Palko
Ads For California
Ahnold
Californians will soon see advertisements urging them to help give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other foreign-born citizens the chance to run for president.
The cable television ads, set to being running Monday, are from a Silicon Valley-based group that wants to amend the U.S. Constitution, which limits the presidency to people born in the United States. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria but became a U.S. citizen in 1983.
The TV ads mark the first significant attempt to build public support for an amendment. While polls show Schwarzenegger remains popular with voters, the idea of a constitutional change is not.
Ahnold
In Memory
Ed Kemmer
Actor Ed Kemmer, who played the intrepid Cmdr. Buzz Corry in the popular 1950s children's television show "Space Patrol" before becoming a regular on daytime soap operas, has died. He was 84.
Kemmer died Tuesday at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City after suffering a stroke on Nov. 5, family friend Jean-Noel Bassior told the Los Angeles Times.
"Space Patrol" chronicled the adventures of Corry, who fought intergalactic villains of the 30th century while flying around in his Terra V spacecraft with comic sidekick Cadet Happy.
The series, which also spawned a radio version, ran from 1950 to 1955 and was broadcast live on ABC as a weekly half-hour program.
He later switched to playing bad guys with appearances on shows including "Perry Mason," "Gunsmoke" and "Maverick." He moved to New York in 1964 and spent the next 19 years starring regularly on soap operas such as "The Edge of Night," "As the World Turns," "The Secret Storm" and "Somerset."
Kemmer spent 11 months in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II after his P-51 fighter plane was shot down over France in 1944. He and others in the POW camp staged plays, and after the war he studied acting.
Kemmer is survived by his wife of 35 years, former actress Fran Sharon, and three children.
Ed Kemmer
In Memory
Russell 'O.D.B.' Jones
The rap artist O.D.B., who lived a life as wild as his lyrics, collapsed and died inside a recording studio Saturday, his record label said. He was 35.
O.D.B. had complained of chest pains before collapsing at the Manhattan studio, according to a statement from Roc-a-Fella records.
O.D.B., also known as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt or his legal name of Russell Jones, was a founding member of the hit rap group the Wu-Tang Clan in the early 1990s. With his offbeat, unorthodox delivery, he segued into a successful solo career and released several hit singles.
In February 1998, he crashed the stage at the Grammy Awards and hijacked a microphone from singer Shawn Colvin as she accepted an award, apparently upset over losing the best rap album Grammy to Puff Daddy. He complained that he spent a lot of money for new clothes because he thought he was going to win. The rapper later apologized. Later in 1998, he was wounded in a shooting during a robbery in his apartment.
In 2001 he was sentenced to two to four years in prison for drug possession; plus two concurrent years for escaping from a rehab clinic. He was released in 2003 and immediately signed with Roc-a-Fella.
O.D.B. would have turned 36 on Monday.
Russell 'O.D.B.' Jones
