SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 90 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 244 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own DA account, paste this in a journal. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total:9

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
(x) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 27

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 37

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 46

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
(x) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 53

(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 61

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 67

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 73

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremacy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 80


(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
( ) Rush Hour 3
Total so far: 87

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
(x) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 98

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Spider-Man 3
(x) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
(x) Shrek 3
Total so far: 116

(x) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 120

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(x) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
Total so far: 127

( ) Baseketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
(x) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 133

( ) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 140

(x) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 146

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
(x) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 151

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 159

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total so far: 168!
Yeah, so aparently movies are my life! LOL!

Ok, maybe it's because I just started watching American Idol for the first time ever halfway through last season, but this season I CAN'T STAND what's going on!

I've never been able to stand the Judges' critiques (except for Simon) and it's SO much worse this year; most of the contestands this year are generic and boaring; and one of only 2 people I was actually looking forward to watching got sent home last night! And don't even get me started on that Adam kid- I am completely dumbfounded that so many people love him- he annoys me to DEATH and I really don't think he's that tallented at all.

Idol would be perfect if all the inverviews and other crap was cut out, all the judges removed except for Simon. Each contestant would give a quick (read 30 second) schpeal about why they chose the song they did and talking to the week's mentor, sing, then move on to the next one! At the end of the show, line all the contestants up on stage and have Simon point to them and give his one or two line critique. Ex: "You have no business being here; you were ok, but don't count on being around for too long; I loved it; you should just give up right now; you sounded good but your look is a bit scary; that was indulgent crap." End of show!

After David Cook won last season, Idol had actually converted me: a series long defamer of all things American Idol. After sending Alexis home last night, Allison better win, or they'll have just wasted all their time because I'll go back to pretending that Idol doesn't exhist.

Favorite Movies of 2008

Ok, so I’m a bit late, but here are my fav movies of 2008. They are not necessarily the best, just the ones I liked the most. In countdown order:

10. Kung Fu Panda: Jack Black voices a panda who is supposed to be “The Dragon Warrior” and as such, is expected to defeat the evil Tai Lung. Earth shattering in neither plot nor animation, it’s still a lot of fun and came out during a time where there wasn’t much playing in the theaters, especially not kids’ movies. It features a talented voice cast (although I have to say that I did expect more screen time for the Furious Five), a not-as-annoying Jack Black, and ends with a nice moral. Overall, a family friendly good time!

9. Iron Man: I know- why is it so low on my list?!!? *Gasps heard all around* It was very well done, a good example of Jon Favreau’s work and bankability, and Robert Downey Jr was amazing. But besides being a well made movie, and fun to see the first time, the movies I enjoy the most are the ones I can watch repeatedly, and this is one I have trouble doing that with (even if Jarvis is awesomely sarcastic and voiced by Paul Bettany). Geek-out moments aside, I have trouble getting through the heavy moral subtext and the rest of it for it to be higher on my list. Sorry. It still rocked, though!

8. Chaos Theory: Not many people have seen or heard of this more indy movie, and until I saw it at Blockbuster, I hadn’t either. But as my husband and I were strolling though on a Friday night as we are often seen doing, we stumbled upon this Ryan Reynolds gem. Now, if you LOVE Ryan Reynolds as the sarcastic, somewhat creepy, raunchy guys of “Van Wilder” and “Waiting,” you probably won’t appreciate him in this. As someone who prefers my Ryan more subdued or kicking ass (see “The Nines” and “Blade 3” ), I loved him in this.

7. Wanted: As an early “Nighwatch” fan, I couldn’t WAIT to see innovative Russian director Timur Bekmambetov’s first English movie. As luck would have it, I ended up having to wait for it on DVD, but it was still a good time! Not as groundbreaking as “Nightwatch” (which I really wasn’t expecting considering the huge stick Hollywood has up its ass), but still carrying Bekmambetov’s signature, this movie makes me hungry for more movies from him. I’m really hoping he goes more the way of Tim Burton and Guermo Del Toro (2 of my fav directors) and is allowed to create bigger budget movies without being held back. Plus, I love James McAvoy in anything he does, and watching him kick ass with Angelina Jolie under the mentorship of Morgan Freeman is AWESOME.

6. Wall-E: Pixar always makes the list of my fav movies for the year whenever they release something. When this first came out, it was being talked about everywhere, so I’m sure you all know all about it and have seen it many times, so I won’t go on for too long about it. I’m just a huge fan of kids’ oriented movies that don’t talk down to them and that does something groundbreaking (a theme that will be repeated during the rest of this list, as I’m sure you’ll see). Plus, Pixar’s shorts are always outstanding and “resto” is my fav so far with the exception of “Geri’s Game.”

5. Speed Racer: Critically, it bombed. Financially, it didn’t do much better. But I still love it! The colors, the effects; visually one of the most stunning movies I’ve seen in a while. Plus, the technology is groundbreaking. Trust me: in a couple of years, everyone will be using the technology and effects that the teams working on Speed Racer engineered. I also loved it because it was a successful translation of the source material into a new medium. In English: it really did feel like a live action Anime and, more importantly, like Speed Racer. Now, there were some issues where the writers/directors/marketing/whoever couldn’t really decide if they wanted to make it a kids’ movie or for adults, which gave the movie a very strange, choppy quality. They should have just decided to gear it towards adults and been done with it, and I think it would have been much better and more critically acclaimed. Regardless, if you were a fan of the Speed Racer cartoons and of groundbreaking (there’s that word again!) effects, you’ll like this.

4. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army: Ok- I wasn’t really a big fan of the first “Hellboy,” but I’m so glad that Guermo Del Toro was able to do “ Pan’s Labyrinth” and get noticed for it, because otherwise I don’t think “Hellboy 2” would exist; and if it did, it wouldn’t be nearly as spectacular! I can appreciate beautiful CG and innovative technology as much as the next pop-culture-geek, but sometimes it’s way overused, and used incorrectly. I often complain how movies don’t feel cemented in reality anymore because of all the CG and how much I miss animatronics and traditional SFX. Guermo Del Toro is a director for someone like me; he balances SFX and CG to make the best, most beautiful, and visionary film that he can. I wish more directors would do that (Hello, George Lucas!) and absolutely cannot wait to see more from him. I have a feeling that he will become one of my all time favorite directors.

3. Tropic Thunder: The first time I saw this was in the theater with my mom and my younger brother. The three of us are pop-culture fiends, so we LAUGHED OUR ASSES OFF when we saw this! And it continues to keep me rolling whenever I see it. For that fact alone (and how hard it is to make me do that) this movie is so high up on my list.

2. The Dark Knight: No real shocker here (except maybe that it isn’t #1). The viral marketing campaign had be salivating for this a year before it was released and sparked an interest in viral marketing in me. Heath Ledger was outstanding as a re-imagined Joker that fits in perfectly into Chris Nolan’s world. Aaron Eckhart I think was just as good as Two-Face, but in the wake of Heath’s death has been somewhat overshadowed. It’s heartbreaking, however, to listen to the Joker tell Batman “I think you and I are destined to do this forever” knowing Heath won’t be around to make that happen**. Chris Nolan is another director whose career I’m looking forward to following and whose movies I hope to continue to enjoy for a long time. Out of this film also came my fav and most often repeated quote of the year: “How about a magic trick?”

1. Cloverfield: Again, a new, exciting (I’m not going to say revolutionary) format for monster/horror films akin to the movies of old that scared you without having to show much. Plus, the handheld style is cool (albeit nauseating) and we don’t really see it used much (esp not in something with this big a budget). Again, cool viral marketing that I’m a sucker for had me counting down days until I could buy my ticked and experience the wonder (the trailer in front of Transformers didn’t hurt, either). It’s all my brother, husband and our friends talked about for weeks after seeing it. And shorter than TDK, I can watch it more frequently, which is what puts it at the top of the list!

Bonus Guilty Pleasure of 2008: Penelope.
I guess I’m just a sucker for James McAvoy and he’s SO cute in this movie! It’s not really very good, and I usually like Christina Ricci (and here I’m not to fond) but I just keep watching it! Truthfully, I do skip most parts that don’t have McAvoy in it, but I guess that’s what makes it a guilty pleasure!

**This is because after Heath Ledger’s performance, no one else will ever be able to play the Joker in that Batman universe, just because we’ll know it’s not Heath. However, I have devised a way to continue the Joker’s story without actually having to show him! Just use Harley Quinn as the villain; she can reference the Joker, be working for him while he’s in Arkham or whatever, give Batman “gifts” from him, etc. Plus, I think this franchise, though awesome, is in desperate need of some estrogen in the form of a strong, bad-ass woman.

Clubs:

So I've finally gotten around to scanning and submitting some of the things I've been doing lately. Mostly Dr. Horrible fanart, but still...

I've been thinking of starting to so portrait commissions. Original pencil sketches for probably around $20-$30 each that would be mail out to you. Would any of you buy them? They'd either be a regular sketch, like: [link] or same style put in full color (I'll post an example later) which would probably cost a bit more.

Get some feelers out there if you can- see what people think.

Thanks for the help, and enjoy the new Dr. Horrible stuff!

XoXo
~Manda

Clubs:

Ok, so I completely don't understand the obsession with the Twilight books, or the movie coming out.

I read the first 2 books in the series and it was torturous; I couldn't convince myself at all to finish the series. It baffles me how such poorly written novels with shallow characters based on an completely spark-less relationship with a poor message can be considered to be good at all, let alone the next Harry Potter.

I don't know; maybe it's because I'm now 23, or because I've just ingested way to much vampire fiction in general that's jaded me to books of this type. But there was nothing I liked about the books at all, and the message it gives the young girls (that's it ok to have no life or personality besides your obsession with one guy) who are reading it is abominable. The relationship between Bella and Edward feels completely forced to me, and I find Bella insipid and Edward completely boring. Jacob actually has come character, but kind of gets shafted after the last half of the second book.

I'm just hoping that the girls who are reading these books are not taking its story too much to heart, and are using it as an opportunity to further expand their reading to much better authors and novels. Even in the narrow genera of "Youth Vampire Fiction" Amelia Atwater-Rhode's book are more mature, believable, and well written than Stephenie Meyers' and she was only 14 or 15 when the first one was published!

And all the buzz surrounding the Twilight movie makes me want to kill myself; I'm SO sick and tired of it. Hopefully it won't do well and they'll nix the plans for a sequel and we won't ever have to be subjected to this media onslaught again!

Now that I'm done ranting, I can remark on at least one positive thing about Ms. Meyers; I also read her adult Sci-fi book "The Host" and loved it. It didn't have the best writing or the most original plot (at least to those who are familiar with sci-fi in general), but it was leagues better than any of the Twilight books and I actually enjoyed it very much. (Keep this to yourself, but I even cried towards the end!!)

Hopefully, now that Twilight is over with, we'll see more novels from her like "The Host" and hope that she's gotten all the teen angst out of her system.

EDIT:
Ok, so I saw the movie and it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong- some parts were completely ridiculous (glitter skin, anyone?) but it not as horrific as the books was. If the movie did anything, it further cemented for me how great an actress Kristen Stewart is; in the novel I could care less about Bella and actually wanted James to kill her in the end because I found her to be so annoying, but she was not nearly as bad the way that Kristen played her. Pulling substance out of a character that isn't written is the sign of an excellent actor and I hope to see more from her in the future.

Since I saw the movie I’ve also spoken to quite a few other people about it; some fans, some not. The hardcore fans of the novel seem to be split equally about the movie- some though it was AMAZING while others thought it was the worst trash they’ve ever seen. Interesting…very interesting…