BB 12/30/16

Good morning and TGIF Phoenix! It’s time for Friday Flicks to start the New Year’s weekend off right.
This week’s selection is currently in theaters: Rogue One – A Star Wars Story.

Plot:
All looks lost for the Rebellion against the Empire as they learn of the existence of a new super weapon, the Death Star. Once a possible weakness in its construction is uncovered, the Rebel Alliance must set out on a desperate mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. The future of the entire galaxy now rests upon its success.

Trivia:
• This film is set days before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and five years after Star Wars Rebels (2014).
• Costume designer David Crossman stated that some of the original costumes used in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) were used in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).
• This is the first Star Wars film in which no one utters the name "Skywalker".
• The character of Grand Moff Tarkin, played in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) by Peter Cushing, is revived and "performed" by Cushing despite his death in 1994. Cushing is resurrected with CGI and actually performed by Guy Henry. Cushing receives a special "with special recognition to Peter Cushing" honorable mention in the end credits. Similarly, the character of young Princess Leia has a brief cameo, with much help recreating her facial features with CGI, while physically performed by Ingvild Deila.
• Hidden Mickey: During the battle of Scarif, an exploding fighter ship plumes smoke in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. Around 1 hour and 45 mins.

Goofs:
• In the opening sequence, the Imperial shuttle is flying to Galen's farm to take him back to the Empire, and can be seen flying over Jyn's head as she runs back to the farm to warn her parents. The shuttle knows where Galen lives and presumably flies in a straight line, yet arrives well after Jyn arrives, leaving Jyn plenty of time to talk to her father and be hidden in the cave by her mother.
• When the shuttle lands on Scarif all of the palm trees surrounding the landing pad are coconut palms. Later an exterior shot of the shuttle shows date palms with pruned leaf bases. These palms are easily available and transplanted as mature trees as the trees in this shot were.
• During the space battle over Scarif, in one shot of Gold Leader's Y-Wing cockpit, the edge of the Death Star's equatorial trench can be seen through the back window of the cockpit behind him. This is reused footage from the rebel attack on the Death Star from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
• At the first appearance of Orson Krennic the wind is blowing very strong and his cape is moving very strong too. But during the close-up scenes the cape almost doesn't move. In different shots, it's moving strong again.
• When landing the Transport the crew is preparing for landing as they deploy landing gear. You even hear them say that the landing gear is locked in position. Minutes later, when they actually are landing, you see the landing gear coming out of the Transport, not being deployed earlier.

Have a fangtastic Friday, and a safe New Year's celebration!
<3 Brock V"""V

BB 12/29/16

Good morning Phoenix! How about some Thursday Trivia? Here’s some New Year’s Eve Fun Facts for you!
• Auld Lang Syne is sung at midnight to toast in the New Year. The song was composed by Robert Burns sometimes in the 1700's. The term means "old long ago" or "the good old days."
• Stats of the first New York ball: 700 pounds; 5 feet in diameter. The ball was made from wood and iron. The very first ball lowering in Times Square was December 31, 1907.
• The modern ball that is dropped is made from Waterford Crystal and weights over 1,000 pounds. There are over 9,000 LED lights, but uses hardly any energy. The ball begins to drop at 11:59 and completes the journey exactly at midnight to ring in the New Year.
• The ball was not lowered in 1942 and 1943 due to wartime restrictions.
• The Catholic Church denounced any New Year's celebrations as paganism. Ironically, as Christianity rolled through the world, the Catholic community devised other types of celebrations for the "Feast of Christ's Circumcision," which is observed the same as New Year's Eve and Day.
• It is often thought that the first visitors you see after ringing in the New Year would bring you good or bad luck, depending on who you keep as friends and enemies. That's why most people celebrating on New Year's Eve often do so with friends and family.
• If the first person to visit you was a tall and dark-haired man, this was especially lucky.
• Items or food that is ring-shaped is also good luck. This symbolizes "coming full circle", which is what one year does. Some cultures eat ring-like food through the evening and through the night to ensure that good luck will be bestowed upon everyone who eats.
• Black-eyed peas (usually with ham) are often consumed in certain parts of the United States. These are thought to bring good fortune in cultures around the world, not just in the U.S.
• Other foods that are eaten on New Year's Eve are cabbage because the leaves represent prosperity. Ham (or a hog) also symbolizes prosperity. In Asian cultures, rice is a hearty and lucky staple that is eaten around midnight to signify the coming year of fortune.

Don't know about you, but I'll be glad when 2016 is over - someone go wrap Betty White in bubble wrap till January 1st!
Have a fangtastic day my friends. <3 Brock V"""V

BB 12/23/16

Good morning Phoenix! TGIF! Hope you’re all ready for the holidays, or ready for them to be over. *grins*
It’s time for a Friday Flicks. I have a new release holiday movie for you that is premiering today, and sounds hilarious. It’s called “Why Him?” and stars Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad fame and James Franco, so it’s bound to be funny.
Plot:
Over the holidays, Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). The rivalry develops, and Ned's panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.
Trivia:
• According to Megan Mullally, the cast was given free access to improvise as much as they wanted to and eventually 240 hours of films was shot on camera, which had to be trimmed to 90 minutes for the final film.
• The 'Why Him' poster was featured in season 9 of How I Met Your Mother episode 12, air date 12/03/13 a full 3 years prior to big screen release!
• Based on UK television show "Cuckoo."
• Director John Hamburg was actor James Franco's professor at New York University.
There’s no known goofs yet, so if anyone sees it this weekend and spots one, let me know!
Have a fangtastic Friday, and wear your body armor if you have to do any last minute shopping! <3 Brock V"""V

BB 12/9/16

Morning Phoenix and TGIF! Welcome to another edition of Friday Flicks. Today’s selection is currently in theaters and stars Kate McKinnon (from SNL fame), Jason Bateman, TJ Miller, and Jennifer Aniston.
Office Christmas Party! It’s rated R, so not suitable for kids, but looks to be a laugh riot.
Plot:
When the CEO (Jennifer Aniston) tries to close her hard-partying brother's branch, he (T.J. Miller) and his Chief Technical Officer (Jason Bateman) must rally their co-workers and host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs.

Trivia:
• The title of the movie was inspired by an SNL skit called "Office Christmas Party"
• Both actresses Kate McKinnon and Vanessa Bayer are cast members of Saturday Night Live.
• Karan Soni and T.J. Miller have previously starred together in Deadpool (2016).
• Fifth collaboration between Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. They previously starred together in The Break-Up (2006), The Switch (2010), Horrible Bosses (2011), and Horrible Bosses 2 (2014).
• The first part of the opening credits features stills, outtakes, and alternate lines

No goofs available yet.
This sounds like a fun movie for us grownups. Maybe I can get some of the warriors to come watch it with me.

Have a fangtastic weekend my friends! <3 Brock V"""V

BB 12/8/16

Happy Thursday Phoenix! It's time for a Top 10, but it's going to be a Top 10 with a twist. This month's theme is all about Christmas.
This time, YOU tell us: What are your favorite holiday traditions? Whether they're serious or funny, or happened in the past, but no longer, list 'em here - It's an audience participation Top 10 day!
Have a fangtastic day! <3 Brock V"""V

 

 Karen Jones Sadowski Happy Thursday Brock!

Chris Smith Tradition since childhood - we always open gifts on Christmas Eve after a nice dinner, then have our big dinner Christmas Day. When my mother still was at home, and my sister was alive, we would see which one of us could make my ultra religious mom swear first. (we were adults at the time)

Peggy Foye Cooking with mom

Andrea Harder Baking with my kids. :)

Geneva Vaughn We always could open one gift on Christmas Eve then all the rest Christmas Day. Then we went to the grandparents house.

 

BB 12/2/16

Afternoon and TGIF Phoenix.  It’s time for some Friday Flicks.  I’ll be highlighting Christmas and Christmas themed movies this month.

After my post yesterday, one of the comments about favorite holiday movies was Polar Express.  That’s the one I’ll highlight today.

Plot:  This is the story of a young hero boy on Christmas Eve who boards on a powerful magical train that's headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus's home. What unfolds is an adventure which follows a doubting boy, who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole; during this ride, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery which shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Trivia:

·         When the Hero Boy first meets the Hobo on the roof of the train, he is playing the carol "Good King Wenceslas." The story of Saint Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia is that of a king braving the harsh winter to bring alms to the poor on the Feast of Stephan, December 26th. His page finds he can't go on through the harsh conditions and is directed to walk in the footprints that the king has made in the snow. The Hobo directs Hero Boy to follow behind him and ultimately helps him reach the engine before they make it to the tunnel, thus allowing him to find and help his friend. This is also a representation of the Holy Spirit idea of the Hobo, that he guides those who believe in Him to safety, even in perilous times.

·         The address spoken by the conductor early in the film "11344 Edbrooke" is the real address of Robert Zemeckis' childhood home. The home is in a south side of Chicago neighborhood called Roseland.

·         A close examination of all the ticket numbers reveals that they all contain the number "1225" in them. Pere Marquette No. 1225 was used as a model for the Polar Express locomotive. 12-25 also refers to the date of Christmas - December 25th.

·         When Hero Boy falls asleep, the clock in his bedroom reads 10:20 - the same time as the clock in Scrooge's bedroom when Marley's ghost appears, in the Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (1951).

·         The Polar Express is another Christmas Carol movie. Hero Boy is Scrooge and doesn't believe in Santa anymore causing the 3 ghosts of Christmas (the Hobo, Conductor, and Santa) to change him forever. The Hobo is the Ghost of Christmas Past, and plays the role of Christmas Future. He tries to intimidate Hero Boy into changing his ways using only himself instead of the future. The Conductor is the Ghost Christmas Present and is in charge of keeping order in the present to get Hero Boy to Santa. Finally, Santa is Christmas Future and changes Hero Boy forever, like Scrooge was. They even pay homage to Dickens' classic by having a Scrooge puppet dance on screen briefly. (Controlled by Christmas Past)

Goofs:

·         When the train runs into the caribou, the noise they are making is actually that of elk.

·         Know-It-All states that the train is a Baldwin 2-8-4 locomotive built in 1931. The Polar Express was modeled from plans of Pere Marquette 1225 which is a 2-8-4 type built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1941.

·         Throughout the movie, the number of cars on the train changes, from just three, to as many as eleven plus. This is most obvious when the hobo and Boy are skiing on the roofs of the cars, and when they are on the ice tack.

·         The first time the Boy goes downstairs on Christmas eve there is a red snowman skirt on the tree. Then on Christmas morning, as the train is going around the tree the skirt on the tree is yellow kind of color and has bells on it.

·         All the characters when they ring the bell hold it by the bell instead of the ribbons. The bell will not ring if this is done.

Have a fangtastic day and start to the weekend everyone.
<3 Brock V"""V

BB 12/1/16

Good morning Phoenix! Happy Thursday and Happy December 1st! For the Thursday Top 10, here’s the top 10 Christmas movies per rottentomatoes.com. Ready? Here we go….

10: Arthur Christmas
9: Die Hard
8: The Nightmare Before Christmas
7: The Apartment
6: Tangerine
5: Stalag 17
4: The Shop Around The Corner
3: Holiday Inn
2: Miracle on 34th Street

And number 1 - *drum roll*

It’s A Wonderful Life

Some of these wouldn’t normally be considered Christmas movies, but they took place during Christmas, so they made the list.

How about you? What’s your top go-to faves for Christmas? Personally, I prefer comedies, such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or Home Alone. I think the kid in Home Alone pulls such epic pranks, he’s got to be related to Kade. Yup – no doubt.

Have a fangtastic Thursday! <3 Brock V"""V