Author: The Hinoeuma
Movie Monday: Casual Encounters 2016
Five years ago, today, the film Casual Encounters was released. Directed by Zachary Adler, it was written by Sebastian J. Michael and Erik Steinmetz. Filmed in Los Angeles, it starred Taran Killam, Brooklyn Decker, David Krumholtz, Mark Boone Junior, David Arquette, Sienna Farall and Aimee-Lynn Chadwick.
When Justin’s girlfriend of five years leaves him heartbroken and embarrassed after a public breakup, his “trying to be helpful” but, somewhat misguided friends talk him into the strange world of on-line dating.
With easy access to HD equipment, aspiring filmmakers can now make low-budget movies which look very slick. However, there’s not much [that] can be done for bad acting. Most every movie genre is difficult to master but, the raunchy sex comedy may be one of the most difficult. [They] struggle to find a balance between lewd jokes which often involve bodily fluids and anything remotely clever or interesting. Sadly, [this movie] doesn’t come close to finding this balance or presenting anything which is remotely humorous. The line between cringe-worth and funny is very thin but, this movie isn’t even close enough to the line…
Mike Long
DVD Sleuth
June 1, 2016
Hmmm…sounds like a dog of a movie, even with David Krumholtz (Numb3rs TV Series). ~Vic
POTD: Don’t Laugh
This belonged to the gentleman that used to cut our grass. Unfortunately, he passed away a few months back. I miss him. ~Vic
Picture of the Day
Song Sunday: Machinehead
“Leaning on my conscience wall…”
This Sunday’s song submission, from my Samsung playlist, is Machinehead by the British alternative grunge rock band Bush, formed in London, England, in 1992. The seventh track from the album Sixteen Stone, it was the fifth and final single from their 1994 debut. Released April 9, 1996, it was written by lead singer Gavin Rossdale. It reached #1 on the Canada Rock/Alternative chart, #3 on the UK’s Rock & Metal chart and, #4 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay & Mainstream Rock charts.
The song won the MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie (1997) and was nominated for the MTV Music Video Awards Best Video from a Film (Fear 1996).
Rossdale’s dog, Wilson, makes an appearance in the video.
Media Appearances
Bush Official (Website)
POTD: Asteraceae
This could be a Daisy or a Mum. They are in the same family. Mums usually come out in the Autumn so, I’m going with some form of Daisy. ~Vic
Picture of the Day
Hans 2021 Movie Draft: Round Eleven-Pick Eight-Love Actually 2003
Hanspostcard has a movie draft challenge. This is my Round Eleven pick.
Category: Romance/Holiday/Animation
Film: Love Actually
All I have to say is, this is a great movie. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. ~Vic
Written and directed by Richard Curtis (with six producers in tow), this is a Christmas romance romp with an all-star ensemble cast, mostly comprised of Brits. There are ten separate stories, that become interwoven in places…with one exception. This was Curtis’s Directorial Debut.
Filmed primarily in London, production was a collaboration between the US, the UK & France, with the first release on September 7, 2003, at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The movie opens with Prime Minister David talking about the state of the world.
[1] Rock and Roll legend Billy Mack records a Christmas version of the song Love Is All Around (by The Troggs). He thinks it’s crap but, he promotes it, anyway. He spends Christmas with his manager Joe and, you can see him on various TV sets throughout the movie.
[2] Best man Mark (a very young Andrew Lincoln sans Colt Python) is in love with Peter’s soon-to-be wife, Juliet, though they both believe that Mark dislikes her. He declares his love with cue cards on Christmas Eve.
[3] Jamie discovers his girlfriend is having an affair with his brother. He meets Aurélia but, she doesn’t speak any English. He learns Portuguese to communicate his love for her.
[4] Harry & Karen are happily married and raising their children. Mia is Harry’s new secretary. He is drawn to her and nearly destroys his marriage over her.
[5] Karen’s brother is David, the Prime Minister. He finds himself attracted to staffer Natalie and having to deal with the U.S. President.
[6] Daniel, Karen’s friend, is still mourning the loss of his wife, Joanna. His step-son Sam is interested in an American classmate, also named Joanna. Sam shows his affection for Joanna at the airport (before she returns to the US). Daniel crosses paths with Carol and is interested.
[7] Sarah works for Harry and is in love with Karl. Karl is interested but, Sarah’s mentally ill brother Michael is an issue.
[8] Colin tells his friend Tony that he is traveling to America to try to woo some women there. He meets Stacey, Jeannie and Carol-Anne in Milwaukee and they invite him to stay with them. Roommate Harriet shows up, later.
[9] John (a young Martin Freeman…Arthur Dent/Bilbo Baggins) and Judy meet as nude stand-ins for a film that Tony is a production assistant for. Comfortable with each other simulating sex, they are shy with clothes on, later.
[10] Rufus is a jewelry salesman, wrapping Harry’s gift for Mia and, he assists Sam at the airport in getting to Joanna before her flight. He was, originally, to be a Christmas angel but, a script re-write removed that part of the story.
a series of […] videos by Robert Palmer.
Image Credit: IMDb
Trivia Bits:
♦ Knowing about Billy Bob Thornton’s quite unusual fear of antique furniture, Hugh Grant would sometimes flash a piece of antique [furniture] (which is abundant in England) in front of Thornton just before the cameras rolled and watch him freak out in amusement (an issue that is part of the dialogue in Sling Blade).
♦ Simon Pegg was considered for the role of Rufus.
♦ For the role of her lovelorn character Karen, Emma Thompson has said that she drew on the immense heartbreak she experienced over former husband Kenneth Branagh’s affair with Helena Bonham Carter with whom he had co-starred, and directed, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994). This extramarital affair ultimately led to their divorce in 1995.
♦ The airport greeting footage at the beginning and end of this movie is real. Writer/director Curtis had a team of cameramen film at Heathrow airport for a week and, whenever they saw something that would fit in, they asked the people involved for permission to use the footage.
♦ For her one-minute cameo, Claudia Schiffer received a reported £200,000 (roughly $300,000 U.S.).
Additional Reading:
Epilogue
Full Cast List
How We Made Love Actually (The Guardian/12-16-2013)
POTD: Glass Jar
Out on an evening walk, passing by a house with a stone wall, I saw this. I have no idea why it was there or what kind of liquid it holds. No, I didn’t taste it. ~Vic
Picture of the Day
Tune Tuesday: Can’t Stop The Feeling 2016
Five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake. Released on May 6, 2016, it is the second track from the Trolls motion picture soundtrack album. It debuted at #1 on the chart and was the best selling digital song of 2016.
Written by Timberlake, Max Martin and Shellback, Timberlake was also executive producer of the album. It was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Original Song), a Golden Globe (Best Original Song) and won a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
The sunny song, which arrived a few minutes after midnight, has the potential to be a contender for the song of the summer. He was tapped to pen and perform new songs for the animated movie, and he will also voice the character Branch.
Jon Blistein
Rolling Stone
May 6, 2016
Can’t Stop the Feeling is a straight-up pop hit that is funky and fun, with a solid disco feel that will inspire you to get up and dance, as the lyrics instruct us all to do. The song gives off a feeling of pure joy that only a talent as great as Timberlake could bring to the table.
Jon Niles
Music Times
May 6, 2016
Story Sunday: The War On Computers
San Francisco Examiner
10-27-1968
The International Society for the Abolition of Data-Processing Machines […] was founded by Harvey Matusow in the late 1960s. Its aim was “to conduct guerrilla warfare against the computer by such means as sending a penny too much or too little when paying a utility bill.”
Matusow also authored The Beast of Business, which was supposed to serve as a manual for the guerrilla warfare against the computer. I wonder if any of the techniques he detailed would still work today?
However, Matusow is best known for giving evidence in court against individuals during the McCarthy era. Later, he claimed that the FBI had paid him to give false testimony and he detailed these allegations in his book False Witness.
He seems to have had a rather eccentric life and career. Some other highlights of it, from the University of Sussex’s page about him:
♦ Founded a band called the Harvey Matusow’s Jew’s Harp Band
♦ Married approximately twelve times
♦ Is possibly part of the reason The Beatles broke up – he held the party where John Lennon met Yoko Ono
♦ Worked as a children’s TV clown called Cockyboo in Tucson, Arizona
♦ Converted to Mormonism and spent his last years known as Job MatusowAlex Boese
Weird Universe
May 29, 2021
Additional Reading:
Frustrations: Guerrilla War Against Computers (Time Magazine/09-12-1969)
POTD: Lost Booties
[Update… blogger and skincare specialist Ruth has pointed out my terrible storytelling and possible crimes against proper sentence structure (I’m so laughing, Ruth…). No, I didn’t find these booties walking down the sidewalk all by themselves. I should have inserted “while I was” ahead of “walking”, hopefully indicating that *I* was doing the walking, not the empty booties. Thanks, Ruth. I really must behave myself in the future!]
Found these […] walking on the sidewalk. The stone on this wall is at the corner of the James Cheek house property (c. 1875). I guess they weren’t wanted anymore.
I am forever finding strange things in this town. ~Vic
08-16-2020
Picture of the Day
Funny Friday: Computer Humor
Adding another heading…changing things up a bit, again.
I’ve been a computer geek since I was a senior in high school (1983-1984) and, well…I still laugh at this stuff. I have a few cartoons on my sidebar (won’t show up in the WP Reader) ~Vic
Flower Moon 2021
I’ve done two previous posts. I did the big write-up in 2019. The second post in 2020 had some older pix. My stupidphone still can’t get a clear moon shot but, it does make an artistic blur. Today’s Full Moon for EDT occurred at 7:13a but, tonight’s Moon rise was around 10:20p. Howl for me! ~Vic
POTD: Painted Bench
Small garden.
My evening walk.
08-09-2020
Picture of the Day
Music Monday: The Ballad of Captain Kidd 1701
Artist: James Thornhill
Image Credit: Wikipedia & Wikimedia
Three hundred, twenty years ago, yesterday, Scottish Sea Captain William Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock in London at low tide:
[P]roceedings against [Kidd] had been long and notorious. The actions for which he was tried had been still more notorious, one involving murder and five [involving] piracy. His career had been brief, brilliant in the beginning [but], catastrophic at the end. The general excitement at the time of his execution and, all during his imprisonment in London, had been at [a] fever pitch. Gossip went to work and, the wildest of tales of Kidd’s wickedness and wealth were believed. […] Upon his death, numerous accounts, both factual and fictitious, appeared.
William Hallam Bonner
University of Buffalo
American Literature, Vol. 15, No. 4, Jan. 1944
Journal Storage
Kidd was commissioned by King William III (William of Orange) as a Privateer and carried a license to hunt pirates, reserving 10% of any bounty acquired for the Crown. His murder charge was the result of the killing of crew member William Moore, his gunner, during a near mutiny.
Of all the things written and expressed, the ballad Captain Kid’s Farewel to the Seas (or the Famous Pirate’s Lament) was the only thing to survive. It was quite popular in the Colonies where the Captain had a home and may be considered America’s first folk legend. There is a British version and an American version, which changed the Captain’s first name to Robert for some strange reason and, several contemporary covers. The last website, below, has his name as John. He had to be hanged, twice, as the rope broke the first time. ~Vic
Additional Reading:
Captain Kidd Lyrics (David Kidd Website/Wayback Machine)
Captain Kidd Song (Wikipedia)
The Ballad of Captain Kidd (Chivalry Website Archive)
Wizard of the Seas (Ex-Classics Website)
Cosmic-Observation 