Category: Popular Culture

It’s Improv, Eh?

I’m stretching Canada Day to Canada Two-Day. Why? Because we had record-breaking heat a couple of days ago and my air conditioner is on the fritz. I need an infusion of the Great White North.

For those too :::ahem::: young to recognize this pair of hosers, Rick Moranis (playing Bob on the left, looking at your computer screen) went on to play that geeky guy in Ghostbusters who turns into a living gargoyle, and he also starred in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movies and is in perpetual re-runs at the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience 3-D show at Disneyland and DisneyWorld. Dave Thomas (not that Dave Thomas), who plays Doug on the right, is probably best known to American audiences for appearing with Brett Butler in the nineties sitcom, Grace Under Fire.

See, you can start off as a bumbling fool and go on to greater and better things. Maybe there’s hope for me after all, eh?

Hulk Me Baby One More Time

Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk

The fam-dam went to The Incredible Hulk late last week to celebrate Youngest Son writing his last ever final high school exam. I give The Incredible Hulk several thumbs up. I liked it better than Iron Man, even though the latter stars Robert Downey, Jr. and I do love me some RDJ. However, as a kid, my favorite comics were Batman, The Incredible Hulk, Sergeant Rock and Jonah Hex, in that order. I can’t recall ever reading an Iron Man comic, although I probably did. The Brother had quite an extensive comic collection, and I made full use of it (by the way, I could never figure out why Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t make a Sergeant Rock movie and why Clint Eastwood didn’t star in a movie version of Jonah Hex—both when they were a, um, tad younger. Because both actors would have perfect in those roles. If you’re familiar with the comics of which I speak, aren’t I right? Of course I am. Thank you.

Robert Downey, Jr.'s Iron Man

Anyway, while I enjoyed Iron Man (mainly because of RDJ; his acting and the quirky wit he instills into most of his characters always get me), The Incredible Hulk has my vote. If you’re an Iron Man/RDJ fan, though, Robert Downey, Jr. has a cameo in The Incredible Hulk. The cameo sets up all sorts of wonderful possibilities for a sequel to both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. I can’t wait. As the only woman in a house full of men (until Allie McBeagle, even all our pets were male), I think I’ve seen nearly every super-hero movie out there, so I’ve developed quite an affinity for them.

(P.S. Yeah, I know, both those pictures are tiny. WordPress 2.5.1 has some glitches in the Upload Images thingie, and I can’t be bothered to figure it out).

A scene in The Incredible Hulk references Bella Coola, British Columbia. If you saw Sex and The City, The Movie and read about how people were flooding bookstores looking for the book Mr. Big reads from in the movie, but the book doesn’t exist, well, Bella Coola does exist. I ain’t got a clue if The Incredible Hulk was shot in B.C. or if the scenes that say they’re in Bella Coola really are in Bella Coola, however, if you’re interested in checking out some gorgeous scenery, check out this link.

By the way, have you ever read an Incredible Hulk reference in a romance novel? Don’t you think you should? If your answer is yes, have I got a story for you! Yes, indeedy, BORROWING ALEX features an Incredible Hulk reference. For those who already have the book, consider yourselves brainiacs for being so on top of popular culture! Then flip to page 45 for the reference. It was one of my favorite scenes to write.  

Those who haven’t yet bought a copy of BORROWING ALEX, if you beg real nice, I might excerpt the scene on the blog. Of course, I’d rather you buy a copy of the book so I can keep my family in Kraft Dinner, but if you need motivation (and don’t we all?), just ask in the comments section and I’ll provide the excerpt later in the week.

SATC, The Movie

Eldest Son took me to see Sex and the City, The Movie yesterday—a belated Mother’s Day present. How would I describe it? “Predictable but fun.” (Yes, you can quote me). If you’re a fan of the series, it’s worth seeing in a theater, although it is “waitable” (as in waiting to rent the DVD). I didn’t want to wait, though, because I figured by then I would have heard all the spoilers.

I read an interview where Michael Patrick King (the writer) said he didn’t want the movie to feel like 3 back-to-back episodes of the series, but, um, that’s pretty much how it feels (okay, it feels more like 4 back-to-back episodes). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Here we have some very well-loved characters, and there’s only so much Mr. King (good name!) could do with them without alienating his fan base. I give the movie a thumbs-up. Should they make a sequel? Definitely not. The movie provides a nice nightcap to the series. But I don’t need to get drunk.

The funniest part of the movie? “The Charlotte.”

The tenderest moment? “The Bridge.”

IMO, anyway. If you’ve seen the movie, what’s your take?

There’s a cute “Match Your Man” quiz on the Sex and the City, The Movie website. Look in the bottom right hand corner. I took the quiz, and it looks like Harry is the best match for My Liege. Well, I’ve been married to the guy forever, so that makes sense. 😉

You want spoilers? I got spoilers! I’ve formatted them in white font, so if you DON’T want to read spoilers, whatever you do, do NOT highlight the following paragraph. Highlighting the following paragraph WILL reveal the spoilers.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Spoilers:

  • Carrie and Big get married

  • He breaks her heart first

  • Charlotte gets pregnant

  • Steve cheats on Miranda

  • They get back together

  • Samantha leaves Smith

  • They don’t get back together

  • The girls are all happy and together at the end.

The COOKie Doesn’t Crumble!

You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather when David Cook won American Idol last night. I thought for sure David Archuleta would win…even though I was rooting for David Cook. Thank you to all the Americans who voted for Big David on my behalf. You know, I have no clue if non-Americans can vote in American Idol, but I figure it’s not called North American Idol and there is a Canadian Idol, so I’ve never tried to vote in the American version.

Go, DC, go! I’ll be very interested in seeing what sort of post-American Idol CD he releases. Please, please, Idol record producers, don’t try to “mainstream” the essence that is David Cook the way that occurred with Taylor Hicks and Bo Bice. Please let the man be. Himself.