Fishing in the Discount Bin - Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace

And today on Fishing in the Discount Bin, it's time for my secret shame.  I kinda like Episode I.  This first popped up in my notes at July 11, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Back to the Future Part III

Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, bloggin' about the movies I own.  We get to the end of the Back to the Future trilogy with Back to the Future Part III.  This is originally in my notes at July 5, 2015.

Time for Targ!

Time to roll out another installment of U62: The Targ!  This time out, I’ve got quite few things to talk about, so that’s what I do.  What am I talking about on Episode 9.06: The Adventures of Clippy McGoo?

• We got a couple of cool movie trailers out this week, so I share my thoughts on the trailers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Doctor Strange
• My thoughts on Star Wars cartoons as I reflect on the season finale of Star Wars Rebels.
• And another installment of Mark Tastes Random Things, as I sample the latest offering for the Phillips Soda Company.

And, I have a special question for you, the listener!  Listen to the podcast, and leave me your answer in the comments below!

So let’s roll out Episode 9.06: The Adventures of Clippy McGoo!

Go check it out on the main website!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Back to the Future Part II

 Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I wind up blogging about one of the many movies I own and re-watch from time to time.  I'm currently going the Back to the Future trilogy, so right now, we're on Back to the Future Part II.  This was in my notes at July 4, 2015.

A New Week, A New Podcast!

Well, now that my life is returning to some sense of regularity, shall we try to get podcasts out on a regular basis?  I don’t have much to ramble about in Episode 9.05: Just Another Saturday, but I have a few things to ramble about nonetheless.  What are my rambles?

• Well, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now on Blu-Ray, so I’ve watched it again and have some new thoughts to share.
• Speaking of Star Wars, we’ve got the first trailer for Rogue One, so I’ve got some thoughts to share on that.
• And we’re getting more Marvel TV shows and reviews for Captain America: Civil War are out, so I share the news.

And that’s all I’ve got on Episode 9.05: Just Another Saturday!

Check it out at the main site!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer

So when Disney bought Lucasfilm a few years back and announced their grand plans for the Star Wars franchise, one of the most intriguing was the announcement of the standalone films.  These films would be set outside the main saga of Episodes I thru however many Disney feels like making, and tell some of the other stories that happen in this universe.  "It's about thinking of the Star Wars universe as a setting, not a saga," was one of the phrases bandied about when they started going into depth on this.  Of course, it's not new.  For precedent, we've got the Clone Wars movie and cartoon, and the Ewok TV movies of yore.  The umbrella title the Disney came up for this expanded universe was Star Wars Anthologies.  Some where along the way, though, they simplified it to Star Wars Stories.  And, we just got the first trailer for this first Star Wars Story, Rogue One.

Rogue One tells one of the most speculated-about stories in the Star Wars universe:  taking place shortly before Episode IV, it details the Rebellion mission to steal the plans to the Death Star.  The story itself was hatched by legendary ILM visual effects artist John Knoll, and fleshed out by screenwriters Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz.  Gareth Edwards, director of 2014's Godzilla reboot, came on board to direct.  In one of the earlier interviews about the project, Edwards mentioned how this is grittier than the rest of Star Wars:  "No one cares about the Force...there's no Jedi swooping in at the last minute to save you."

 

Not much is known about our cast of characters yet.  The only whose been named so far is the one named in the trailer, Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones.  She'll be leading a ragtag group of Rebel commandos on this mission, including Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, Hannibal himself Mads Mikkelsen, Hong Kong action legend Donnie Yen, and Wash from Firefly, Alan Tudyk.  Of course we need villains, so we get Ben Mendelsohn as an Imperial admiral.

Watching the trailer today, I was amazed at how much the actress playing Mon Mothma looks like the original actress from Return of the Jedi.  A quick search online reveals that that actress is Genevieve O'Reilly, and she actually played Mon Mothma in Revenge of the Sith, but her scenes were cut!

In this trailer, there's definitely much to like.  They play up some of the classic Star Wars imagery quite well.  That scene of the Death Star's dish being lowered into place.  The Imperial Walkers marching along the landscape.  But we do get a few new things too, like some funky new Stormtrooper design and that one guy taking out a Stormtrooper with some martial arts moves.

In all honesty, I'm having a little bit of trouble getting excited for this one.  I think I'm still on a massive Force Awakens hangover.  I'm older now...I need more time to recover before the next Star Wars party comes along.  If anything, I think we're going to see Star Wars hype level out from here on out.  Force Awakens was very much like Phantom Menace in the "OH MY GOD!!!  IT'S BACK!!!" mentality in the advertising.

I'm cautiously optimistic.  Like I said, there's a lot of good-looking stuff in that trailer, but I need to take to Tylenol, crash on the couch, and wait for The Force Awakens to finish passing through my system.


Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theatres on December 16.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Back to the Future

Here on Fishing in the Discount Bin, I kinda hate tackling my absolute favourite movies, because I never know what to say.  But, I keep watching them, and I keep trying.  I'm embarking on the Back to the Future trilogy, and I'm starting at the beginning with Back to the Future.  This is in my notes at July 4, 2015.

Blame is Counterproductive

The first few hours of Wednesday morning went pretty well.  Got up, had breakfast, on the computer checking the morning news, and since I was already planning on seeing Batman v Superman come the weekend, I went ahead and bought my tickets online.  Went downstairs, started up the car to go to work, and something strange happened.

The "battery" light came on.  I'd never seen that light come on before.  So of course, it threw me into a full-blown panic.  Leafing through the owner's manual, it recommended I shut off everything:  no fan, no radio, no nothing.  So I did that, successfully drove into work, and I obssesed on it all day.  Made for a great radio show, though, as I shared my woes on the air and got a few good calls from the shadetree mechanics in the region telling me how I could fix it myself, but I decided not to dick around with it.  Next day, I'd take it into the shop.

The Targ Is Back! Finally!

Holy moly!  What happened to me?  Where did I go?  How come I haven’t done a podcast in 6 weeks or so?  Well, as Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way…to get in the way of your hobbies.”  (I may be paraphrasing.)  Well, I had my first weekend to myself in a while, which was the perfect time to sit down and record Episode 9.04:  Mark v Cheeseburgers — Dawn of Obesity.  What do I ramble about?

• Well, i go into the specifics of what happened to me.
• I just got home from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so some off-the-cuff thoughts.
• In fact, off-the-cuff thoughts on all the superhero TV shows on TV these days.
• And International Women’s Day a few weeks ago had me reminiscing about the women’s studies course I had to take in college.

All this in Episode 9.04:  Mark v Cheeseburgers — Dawn of Obesity

Go to the main site to give it a listen!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Jupiter Ascending

Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the movies I own and have recently watched again.   Here we go with one of the biggest bombs of last year, Jupiter Ascending.  This was in my notes at July 1, 2015. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Kingsman: The Secret Service

Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, blogging about a movie I own.  This time out, we get to last year's super-awesome spin on superspies, Kingsman: The Secret Service.  This is in my notes at June 28, 2016.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Jurassic World

Here we go again, with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about the many movies I own.  What can I say?  Blogging about them gives me some justification for owning so many.  Anywho, after doing The Lost World: Jurassic Park last time, I browsed through my notes and figured, "Hey!  Let's skip ahead to October 25, 2015 and do Jurassic World."  So, here we are.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Welcome back to Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly rant about one of the many movies I own.  Today, we tackled Jurassic Park's lesser sequel, The Lost World.  This is originally in my notes at June 7, 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Jurassic Park

Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the movies I own.  Today, we get to a film where I constantly amaze myself at how much I love it:  Jurassic Park.  This is originally in my notes at June 6, 2015.

Scarecrow's Oscar Picks - 2016 Edition

Hey!  The Oscars are tonight, and as I lay on the couch fighting off one hell of a flu, I realized I haven't done my annual tradition of blogging my Oscar Picks!  Of course, I've been doing this ever since I launched by website way back in 1997, so the tradition must continue!

Continuing the tradition I began on my college radio show back in the day, my Oscar Picks are a little bit different.  I only do my picks in the categories that I have a good track record in predicting:  Best Visual Effects, Best Original Song, and Best Animated Film.  So let's get to it, shall we?

Best Visual Effects

• Ex Machina
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Martian
• The Revenant 

My Thoughts:  Wow!  So many good choices this year.  We had The Martian re-creating Mars, The Revenant with all manner of computer animated animals, and Ex Machina with hot androids.  But there is no question who's going to take it this year.  If there's one thing that people marveled at in Mad Max: Fury Road, it was a return to practical effects work, and big beautiful stuntwork, with the addition of CGI to enhance.  If Mad Max gets at least one win, it has to be here.

My Pick:  Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Animated Film

• Anomalisa
• Boy & the World
• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• When Marnie Was There   

My Thoughts:  For the first time in a long time, this category is full of a bunch of nominees I've never heard of!  Anomalisa is a stop-motion animated drama from the guy who did Being John Malkovich about a self-help author who has an affair in a hotel one weekend...Boy & the World doesn`t have much of a plot description on Wikipedia, but it`s Brazilian.  I'm mildly surprised that Shaun the Sheep Movie got a nomination, but I shouldn't be, as Aardman Animation is an Oscar favourite, as is Japan's Studio Ghibli, which is why their final film When Marnie Was There no doubt got nominated.  And, perpetual Oscar favourite Pixar is represented with Inside Out.  Inside Out was a real comeback film for Pixar after slumping for most of this decade, so I think the Oscars are going to reward the comeback.

My Pick:  Inside Out

Best Original Song

• "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey
• "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction
• "Simple Song #3" from Youth 
• "Til it Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground
• "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre  

My Thoughts:  Crap, this is a tough one.  Whatever happened to the good ol' days when it was just the one from the Disney animated film?  I know it's not going to be Writing's on the Wall, as everyone pretty much agrees it's one of the weakest James Bond themes.  Your guess is as good as mine.

My Pick:  Umm...Fifty Shades of Grey, cuz wouldn't it be hilarious if we could call that film an Oscar winner?

And let's do the big one

Best Picture

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room 
• Spotlight

My Thoughts:  Wow!  I've seen two of the nominees!  That's a personal record!  It's Mad Max and The Revenant, in case you're wondering.  This is one of the most diverse selections in a long time, as even the professional pundits are having trouble selecting a winner.  I know they opened it up to more than 5 nominees so that way more mainstream films would get recognized, so it'd be nice if it went to one of the more mainstream ones.  I dunno...my gut says The Martian.

My Pick:  The Martian

The Oscars are tonight, February 28. 

Fishing in the Discount Bin - A Goofy Movie

Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the many movies I own.  Continuing with "Disney animated films based on Disney Afternoon shows" with A Goofy Movie.  This was originally in my notes at May 31, 2015.

The Targ is Back for Another Week!

Well, gang, I’m finally back!  Took last week off for the Family Day weekend, and in fact, I mention what I was up to in Episode 9.03: The Meat Sweats.  So what ramblings do I ramble this week?

•     As I mentioned, how I spent my Family Day weekend.
•     Some off-the-cuff comments on seeing The Reverent and Deadpool.
•     Pondering what new Blu-Rays to buy
•     And sampling two — yes two! — different McDonald’s burgers in more Mark Tastes Random Things

So give Episode 9.03: The Meat Sweats a listen!

Check it out on the main website!

Fishing in the Discount Bin - DuckTales: The Movie -- Treasure of the Lost Lamp

Here we go again, Fishing in the Discount Bin, in which I attempt to justify all the time I spend on the couch watching movies by blogging about them.  This time out, I do DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.  This originally showed up in my notes at May 31 2015.

Fishing in the Discount Bin - Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of the many movies I own.  We're taking a brief look at George Lucas's Ewok TV movies, and today we do The Battle for Endor.  This is in my notes at May 15, 2015.

The Targ Keeps Targin'!

Well, now that I’m back, the real challenge begins:  can I keep things going for an entire series…a minimum of 13 episodes?  I’ll do my best, darn it!

I almost feel like I have to apologize for those who might be tuning this week after last week’s round table special.  We’re back to normal now.  Just me…rambling about the topics I like.  And what are the topics in Episode 9.02: A Windy Day?

• More Star Wars rambling of course!  Talking about the new action figures that are out there!
• The rise of the Cinematic Universe…even Hasbro is getting in on the act!
• A bid farewell to 1980s nostalgia, and begin welcoming 1990s nostalgia!

And more!

So give Episode 9.02: A Windy Day a listen!

Head to the main site to give it a listen!