2007 RAZZIE nominees

here are this year's (27th Annual) Razzie nominees [ouch!]

Worst Film
Basic Instinct 2
Little Man
BoodRayne
Lady in the Water
The Wicker Man

Worst Actress — almost all of them blondes! is there a message here or what?
Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct 2)
Lindsay Lohan (Just My Luck)
Hilary and Haylie Duff (Material Girls)
Jessica Simpson (Employee of the Month)
Kristanna Loken (BloodRayne) 

Worst Actor
Rob Schneider (Benchwarmers and Little Man)
Tim Allen (Santa Clause 3)
Nicholas Cage (The Wicker Man)
Marlon and Shawn Wayans (Little Man)
Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy, Health Inspector)

Worst Director
Keenon Ivory Wayans (Little Man)
Uwe Boll (BloodRayne)
Michael Caton-Jones (Basic Instinct 2)
Ron Howard (Da Vinci Code)
M. Night Shyamalan (Lady in the Water)

Worst Screen Couple (this category cracks me up)
Tim Allen & Martin Short (Santa Clause 3)
Nicolas Cage & his Bear Suit (Wicker Man)
Hilary & Haylie Duff (Material Girls)
Sharon Stone's Lop-Sided Breasts (Basic Instinct 2)
Shawn Wayans & EITHER Kerry Washington OR Marlon Wayans (Little Man)
 

Basic Instinct 2 and Little Man are spearheading this dubious race with 7 nominations each

rewind and overwrite

how on earth do you un-say sarcastic utterances that sound so absurdly idiotic in hindsight, without sounding inane?

this question has been plaguing me all day long.

i woke up rather early today and found several text messages in my inbox. two of them originated from the same person who was basically breaking a long-standing promise, and in the next breath asking me if i could lend her some money ASAP (*frown*); 2 more messages asking me for favors (other folks), with matching timeframe — right away (*eyebrow lifts half an inch higher*); the last one was an inquiry regarding a delicate matter, which required at least few minutes' reflection…

to make this tale short and sweet, let's just say things went downhill from there.

then out of the blue my celphone rang (a relative). by this time my temper was already starting to fray at the edges. without meaning to, i actually snapped at this person mid-sentence.

by the time i realized what i had done, the words were already out of my mouth. obviously stunned, the caller rang off claiming an emergency meeting or something. i just stood there, with my mouth hanging open and feeling like a criminal. the worst thing was i felt inert, powerless even, to undo the damage.

i knew that that the best thing i could have done was to call her back immediately and apologize, but that would have meant long explanations, which were frankly beyond me at the moment. oh well, i could always buzz her later and grovel properly, i told myself half-convincingly. but the fact was… the longer i waited, the harder it got to find the right words

*sigh* sometimes i wish i had Adam Sandler's remote control (in Click), so i could simply Rewind and Overwrite scenes like these.

latest on The Departed

Chinese authorities have decreed that The Departed will not be shown in China, presumably because they did not like the scene where Chinese agents were trying to buy highly classified materials from irish mob boss Frank Costello (jack nicholson) and his band of lowlifes. they reportedly asked scorcese to change or edit the scene but the director refused.

and so, now it won't get shown in china. hmmm… considering that pirated copies have been circulating in various parts of asia for months now, i don't think this will make much of a difference. talk about closing the barn door after the horse has fled…

in any case, the movie's success (critical and box office receipts) has already prompted talk that interested studio bigwigs are floating the idea of a "sequel". there is no definite word whether scorcese will actually take the project (if it gets offered). there's also some buzz that he might actually consider doing a "prequel" to gather all the Departed guys together and this time with the added bonus of having robert de niro in the cast.

oh man, i would loooove to see that — jack, leo, matt, mark, alec and robert d. all in one big scorcese movie! (*rubs hand gleefully*)

a couple of updates

finally! Acalypto is scheduled to appear in local theaters on jan. 31 (*thunderclap*, followed by sounds of *clashing cymbals*).

let's hope nothing happens to postpone this playdate. not that i expect to enjoy all of it though (it's a gory bloodfest, to say the least). i'll probably be blinking through some portions of it. i'm trying to convince a few adventurous souls here to watch the movie with me. as of last count — it's still zero nyahahaha! scaredy cats!

which reminds me, the Temeraire series (3 books so far) is definitely going to be screenplayed by good ol' Peter Jackson (LOTR, Heavenly Creatures). yayyy! i must admit this is one of the biggest reasons why i began searching for this series in local bookstores. as soon as i've read some excerpts of book 1 (His Majesty's Dragon), i fell for it hook, line and sinker.

apparently the author herself (Naomi Novik) was tickled pink — make that ecstatic — when she heard that PJ had acquired the options to film all 3 books (UPDATE: book 4 is initally titled A Brazen Armament). here is Quint's (one of my favorite critics over at AICN) interview with Ms. Novik regarding the upcoming project…

let’s talk about books

i haven't have had much time to read lately, so i'm back to skimming through some of my old favorite titles. these include a number of fantasy books: Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (His Majesty's Dragon, Throne of Jade, The Black Powder War) and Susanna Clarke's challenging but hugely satisfying Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. There is also John Keegan's masterful Mask of Command and Capt. John Kincaid's droll autobiographical account of the Peninsular War — Adventures in the Rifle Brigade and Random Shots from a Rifleman.

i'm not sure why, but for some reason i find Napoleonic wars fascinating, particularly the Peninsular War (1808 - 1814) which took place in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). i even plodded through vols. 3 and 4 of Sir Charles Oman's A History of the Peninsular War, which a lot of my friends find baffling if not downright bizarre.

in fact i have yet to meet anyone (locally at least) who shares this interest. i guess that makes me a bit of an oddball. big deal.

and then, there's my durable list of old Georgette Heyer favorites (she's like an updated version of Jane Austen, but a lot more funnier and easier to read) and James Herriot's stable of delightful books recounting funny and heartwarming scenes from his veterinary practice (All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, etc.)