'The Stand' Casting

The Stand is the longest book I've read since I CHOSE to read Les Miserables in High School (it was a mistake. I totally didn't finish the book). But I did finish The Stand and I loved it! And it gave me a lot of time to get to know the characters and figure out exactly who I think they should be portrayed by. There's a new movie in the works, so maybe I can out my casting vibes and influence the producers...
Adrianne Palicki as Frannie Goldsmith

I actually haven't seen a second of her actually performing, but her image was ingrained in my head after all the Wonder Woman madness. Frannie seemed like she would be strong and sassy but also really vulnerable at times. And I guess that's Wonder Woman for me.

Will Patton as Stu Redman

Amageddon. Remember the Titans. Will Patton is my go-to, down-on-his-luck, noble Texas fellow. And I'm from Texas. I know my shit. And whoever plays Stu has to carry large chunks of the movie/series on their own, and he could totally pull it off.

Young Gil Bellows as Larry Underwood

I watched all of Ally McBeal earlier this year, and Larry reminded me so much of Billy (Gil Bellows) on that show. He fancied himself a nice and noble guy, but was actually kind of a dick. I tried to think of a younger equivalent to Bellows, but nobody really fit the bill.

Anton Yelchin as Nick Andros

Nick was one of my favorites from the book but I couldn't pin him down for awhile. Fright Night came out while I was reading the book, and at one point I caught a trailer, and I was like 'duh, he's totally Nick.' Nick is quiet (obviously), and in the regular world that makes him weak, but post-plague, his quietness seems to draw people in and gain him respect. I think Yelchin is the perfect young dude to pull that off.

Nerd Craftiness: R2D2 Fairy Wing Edition

As a side project/hobby, I've made fairy wings for several years now. They're normally pretty straight forward and just kinda fun and funky, but lately I've been wanting to converge my nerd interests with my craft interests. So I came up with the brilliant idea of nerdy fairy wings. I've got a few other ideas floating around, but the first thing to come to fruition was a set of R2D2 fairy wings.

Originally I had the idea of creating a half 3PO/half R2 set of wings, but that seemed a little too all over the place. Plus, I thought R2 wings could nicely round out a Princess Leia costume (senatorial, not slave). I had to change up my techniques since this is such a departure from my normal work, so things didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. But the end result is still pretty cool, and I know my future nerd wings will be a great success.

And though I won't divulge all my wing-making secrets, I thought I'd walk y'all through the process just for funsies.

Things I Want That Do Not Exist Yet: Fox Reunion Episodes

So, for some reason, Fox has this ability to find fantastic new shows and murder them before they can really build up a fan base. There are tons of lists out there of all the shows that were amazing or had great potential and were prematurely canceled by Fox. It would please me greatly, and I'm sure a lot of others, if Fox would start pumping out reunion episodes for all the stories they cut short. There's a billion to choose from, but these are the four that I would most like to see.
Firefly

I suppose you could argue that Serenity was a reunion special for Firefly, but it didn't really feel that way to me. The movie was great, but it was far more of an action blockbuster/last hurrah piece that lacked the show's tone and delicate handling of little moments. I want to see the crew go another small mission (that will probably get bumbled) that's more about their interactions and relationships and less about actual plot.
Ally McBeal

I recently watched the whole series (save for most of the first season) on Hulu and I had forgotten how fun and delightful the show was. Ally actually lived through 5 seasons, so though it wasn't prematurely canceled, the ending was definitely unsatisfying. In season 4, David E. Kelley brought Robert Downey Jr. in order to boost ratings and it totally worked. He was fantastic on that show. But when he was arrested on drug charges, Fox made Kelley fire him so he was abruptly written off the show and the whole trajectory of the plot was screwed up. Season 5 was a mess. An Ally reunion would be less about making up for lost time and more about a proper story conclusion. And Robert Downey Jr returning to his role as Larry Paul, the best TV lawyer ever.
Arrested Development

Probably one of the most annoying Fox cancellations, Arrested Development actual had a great fan base. It just wasn't large enough and the show was too damn brilliant for people to jump into it willy-nilly. And of course there's been on and off talk of a movie happening, but I worry that an AD movie would lose some of the show's charm, as in the case of Serenity. These characters need a disaster fit for the small screen in order to really shine. And I just really want to know what they're all up to now.
Wonderfalls

Okay. It was a weird show. The main character talked to inanimate objects. I can kind of understand how it got canceled so fast. But it's SO FREAKIN GOOD. (Go watch it now if you haven't seen it. Go!) I think one of the main reasons I want to see more from this show, is that it did take a couple of episodes for me to really get into it, and since there were only 13 episodes released, by the time I was really invested, it was over. There was so much more story that needed to be told.

So yeah. Fox could pick a weeknight and just start pumping these things out like little TV movies. It would be glorious.

New Levels of Stupid

So, 2010 was kind of a bust and a great deal of hope and expectation was placed on 2011. And though some really awesome things have happened so far this year, it seems more like we're going to be dealing with a lot of crazy and stupid. In the past couple of days I've come across a smattering of next-level-stupid bullshit. Engage:

• Tennessee (love it there as I may) is trying to pass legislation that would make it a felony to participate in certain tenements of Islam. With the whole freedom of religion thing we've got going on in this country, it's highly unlikely that this will get put into law, but the fact that legislators see nothing wrong with the principles of this bill, is really frickin scary.
• The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church's rights to picket fallen soldiers' funerals. I know we've got to protect freedom of speech and all that jazz, but really? If it's illegal to yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater, why is it okay to inflict further emotional distress on the families of the recently deceased?
• In addition to republicans trying to restrict a woman's right to choose, they're also trying to make it even harder for children and the low income to get by in this world. God forbid we cut defense budgets or impose higher taxes on the mega-wealthy, but it's totally fine to cut back on education and assistance programs.
• While the whole Charlie Sheen craziness is really sad yet interesting to watch unfold, there's a lot of real shit going in the world right now, and it seems really unsettling to me that so many news outlets are focused so heavily on him. I also have to think that if he is an addict and really needs help, giving him all this media attention probably is reinforcing the idea that he's invincible and could inhibit him from seeking treatment.

Maybe I'm wrong in this, or just focused too much on the negative, but it seems like we're heading into a really dark cultural and political zeitgeist. The whole oil thing isn't helping to calm my nerves either....

2010 Movie Faves

Because of rising ticket prices and Netflix not getting new releases right away, I don't see a lot of movies the year they came out. So this is just a rundown of my favorite 2010 films that I've seen so far. I don't claim to say they are the 'best', they are just the ones that I enjoyed the most. Engage!
The Social Network

It's funny how when this film was first announced, everyone flipped their shit about how stupid a 'Facebook movie' would be. And now it's set to win all the Oscars ever. I came around to the idea of it when Fincher was announced as the director (as he is one of my favorites) and then, like most everyone else, when that creepy-as-hell trailer popped out, I was sold. I absolutely love it when you're not really sure how to feel about the protagonist. Is he good? Is he bad? Am I supposed to like him? In this case, I fucking loved him. I can't wait for this film to come out on DVD so I can play it over and over again and let the dialogue turn into music for my brain.
Black Swan

I've been eagerly awaiting this one for a long time. Everything I'd read about it completely piqued my interest, and I actually started getting worried that I'd overhyped myself. Nope. That was not the case. I went to see it by myself on Christmas Eve and it was one of the most enjoyable cinematic experiences I've ever had. Two other things I love in movies are genre-combinations and watching people go crazy. And this film delivers on both of those points. While on-point (hi-yo!). I've always been a sucker for dance movies (even the terrible ones like Center Stage), but with Black Swan, Aronofsky took the glitz and grandeur out of dance and broke it down to almost a torture regiment, which only makes the whole movie even creepier.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I'm a little torn on Scott Pilgrim. It was one of the movies I was most excited for in 2010, and I loved it, but at the same time I didn't. I think it ended up reading like Watchmen did, in that it basically serves as the perfect trailer for the books. Edgar Wright did a phenomenal job created this universe and making a really, superbly unique film. But unfortunately, so much of the heart and soul of the books was lost due to the condensing of the story. I really would've loved for them to have waited till O'Malley finished all the books, and then created a miniseries or two or three films in order to flesh everything out. But I know that that couldn't have happened. So I'm happy with what we got.
Inception

I know a lot of people lost their shit over Inception and hyped it up to the be most mind-blowing thing ever. I think a lot of those people don't watch a lot of non-mainstream movies. I went into seeing it expecting to understand nothing and end up completely confused. But I was wonderfully surprised to find out that everything was incredibly straight forward. Everything made perfect sense, except for a few points that required further discussion. What I loved about it was the seamless-ness and beauty with which this crazy, multi-layered story was executed. And the creepiness of the underlying Mal/Cobb plot was delightful, as were all the handsome menfolk running about.
How to Train Your Dragon

I think the name really worked against this movie, especially in terms of getting non-children to go see it. The animation was brilliant. The dragons are basically cats and dogs. The actors are hilarious. It's not your typical 'everything works out 100% fine' ending. There's so much about this movie that is amazing, and I hope more grown-ups give it a chance.
Timer

Generally when I hear a movie is about a love-crazed woman determined to find 'the one,' I run the other way. But when it factors in science-fiction and an awesome actress like Emma Caulfield, I'll totally give it a shot on a Sunday afternoon. I came across this movie on Netflix Instant Queue, and I'd never heard of it, but the user ratings were really high, so I gave it a shot, and I was super delighted. Overall, the movie is pretty simplistic and focuses on how relationships have changed and what love really means now that your 'timer' tells you when you'll meet your soulmate. I highly recommend giving it a chance.

Despicable Me

The movie is pretty straight forward and predictable, but really funny and adorable. Between Horton Hears a Who and this, I think I far prefer Steve Carell as a voice actor than a live action performer, as he is super brilliant. There's some brilliant slapstick comedy, and a lot of it stems from the wonderful little yellow minions. I know I'm a sucker for cute things, but there are some genuine hilarious moments in this movie, and it's all around a feel-good experience.
Best Worst Movie

I'd heard of this documentary, and knew it was about Troll 2, considered to be the worst movie of all time, but I didn't know much else. I thought it might be kinda sad and weird, so when I discovered it was actually really delightful, I was pleasantly surprised. I always feel really skeeved out by washed-up celebrities who bank on movies they were in 20 years ago, so to see these people embrace a movie they previously wanted nothing to do with, all because it found a cult fan base, was really amazing. There are still a few pings of awkwardness, but in general, it's great to see the cast and crew join together with the fans to celebrate the awfulness.
From all the movies I didn't see, these are the ones I most want to, and potentially could've been featured on this list:

True Grit: Growing up I hated westerns, but Deadwood, Firefly and No Country for Old Men have changed my outlook. I'm excited.
127 Hours: Danny Boyle is another of my favorite directors, and James Franco has done some pretty awesome stuff, so how could I possibly not like this?
Monsters: District 9 was one of my favorites last year, so I'm up for another stripped-down, alien invasion film. Especially one so highly recommended.
Never Let Me Go: Unfortunately I've had some stuff spoiled for me, when I wanted to go in blind, but I'm still very interested.
Easy A: This is at the top of my Netflix Queue, and it looks hilarious. I love everything Emma Stone's done so far, and the rest of the cast seems awesome.

So yeah. Hopefully this year will have some more kick-ass films. 2011!!