I just learned today that Don LaFontaine passed away on September 1st. The movies will never be the same.

VidVoyeur612 said it best: “In a world…full of mediocre movies…one man dared to stand up…and attract viewers to theaters…armed only with the power…of his VOICE.”

I dearly love Christopher Nolan (just watch Memento), and the direction was fantastic. Batman just doesn’t do it for me. I didn’t dislike Heath Ledger (prior to Batman), but he was never in my radar of adored actors. But, yes, Heath/The Joker, was… The movie. A twistedly-beautiful, final completed performance.

There are so many other worthwhile things I could have done with $12.50 and an hour and a half.

It had Shia. It had aliens. I liked Shia.

It was sweet, and cute, and it had Gerard Butler. Worth the matinée price, not the full, post-matinée price. Oh, and it had Gerard Butler!

No, not the Iraq war, silly. Don’t cross your fingers on that one. I’m talking about the Blu-Ray/HD DVD war. Sheesh…

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is planning to stop production of equipment compatible with the HD DVD format for high-definition video, allowing the competing Blu-Ray camp a free run, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.
Reuters

The day before Toshiba’s announcement, Wal-Mart made an announcement that they will no longer stock HD DVD movies and players. It is expected that Toshiba will lose tens of millions of dollars. They will continue selling HD equipment at stores but will no longer develop new devices.

I knew Blu-Ray would win. It just has a better name.

It’s James Cagney month on Turner Classic Movies. I am in hog heaven — I even chose not to sleep in lieu of the James Cagney Movie Marathon! I had to share my excitement.

A lot of the hype surrounding the film Cloverfield is: What, exactly, is it they’re running from? What’s destroying New York City? After seeing the film today, it’s not entirely clear. It’s a monster, or rather, they’re monsters. And it/they won.

Whatever type of ‘animal’ you may think the monster is, the notion is simple; There are several men and women running from said monster, one of which is carrying a video camera. They die. Bummer.

Since this is all shot with a hand held video camera, you may want to skip it if you get motion sickness. You may also want to skip it if you have seen Blair Witch Project, would like a little more explanation in your movies or simply value your time and money.

If I had to say something good about it — the special effects are okay, the acting wasn’t the suck and it was only 90 minutes long.  Oh, the best part was the quick flash of a Stealth Bomber.

If it matters, my insane plus-one, who has a soft spot for movies with giant monsters that stomp the bejeebus out of New York or Tokyo, loved it!

Dan is the far superior movie reviewer, so I will keep mine short:

Horrible. CGI Hell. The suck.

After asking my math teacher what date I should put at the top of my test today, I realized, “It’s going to be Hallowe’en in a few days.” I’m a little on the bah-humbugey side of the holidays this year. I was hoping to have my own home by this time, but the slackers at the VA have put that on hold. Well, not having much time to house-hunt has kind of put the search on hold, too. I’d even be happy to rent, but land-lords have little interest in renting to people with any pets, let alone a whole passel of critters.

It’s not that I mind missing out on the Hallowe’en festivities much. Most of the moochers don’t even bother to dress up or even say, “Trick-or-Treat,” anymore. They just knock on the door and blink. Don’t I know that I’m just supposed to give them candy? So, there will be no decorating, no passing out of the candies, no dressing up. Maybe a few late-night, horror movies. Maybe some games. Maybe I’ll just do my homework.

Speaking of movies and games, the M&Ms 50 Dark Movies, Hidden in a Painting game is back again this year. After the game loads, you can navigate around the ‘painting’ with your mouse cursor. You can click on certain images and type in the name of the corresponding movie. Remember, there are 50 images that match a movie title. If you click the image below, I’ve given you the answer to one, can you name the other 49?

Click to enlarge