TresSugar

A Chat With My Boyfriend About the Day the Earth Stood Still

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:55:07 PST

The last time I chatted with my boyfriend about movies here we discussed Brendan Fraser, mummies, and Yetis and it was a lot of fun. So, I recruited him again for The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name.

I had a feeling that despite a pretty neat-looking cast (Jennifer Connelly, Keanu Reeves, Kathy Bates, Will Smith's kid Jaden, Mad Men's Jon Hamm, and John Cleese - John Cleese!) this movie might not turn out to be all that great. My male companion was skeptical as well but we both agreed to keep an open mind going in. Now I'm here to report that we immediately came to the same conclusion upon exiting the theater: Lame.

To see our thoughts on the film, including a debate about seeing Brendan Fraser movies for the rest of your life versus Keanu Reeves movies, just

read more. Keanu Reeves plays the alien who comes to earth to warn humans to get it together or he'll blow them all up. He is cold and unfeeling. In other words, he is once again well cast. We talk about Reeves and more below, with the bold parts indicating my words and the regular type being his. You've seen the original and liked it. Are you mad at the people who remade this movie? Yeah, well the original was fresh and new at the time but this version is like beating a dead horse . . . just tired. It could have been great, but everything about it seems like a ripoff of other movies like Transformers, Matrix, etc. . . not to mention all the product placement. The save-the-planet message is kind of lost with all those corporate labels splashed around. Does the original have such a hammy environmental message? Do people run around saying, "We can change! We're at the precipice!" The original is all about the aliens being concerned about the destructive nuclear nature of mankind. It doesn't have any environmental message, just "stop blowing stuff up or we'll blow you up!" The current version seems more like Al Gore and Leo Dicaprio wrote the script. OK, if you had to choose between only watching Keanu Reeves movies or only Brendan Fraser movies for the rest of your life, which would you pick? Neither. I'd kill myself. Wait, if it was Point Break or School Ties over and over again, then maybe. Well, actually . . . no, I'd kill myself. I'm tempted to lump this flick in with the likes of say, Independence Day, to give folks an idea of what they're in for, but honestly I don't think this movie is nearly as fun. It is similar to Independence Day in that the supporting cast is pretty awesome, like Jon Hamm, James Fong, and John Cleese. But Independence Day is so much better because the main characters actually communicate with the audience, whereas Keanu is like Neo 2.0. In the first one, is the main scientist a hot lady like Jennifer Connelly and does she have a little kid? She lives in a boarding house and is a secretary or something, so it's an update to make her a scientist. And she's hot in the '50s pointy-boob way. Yes, she has a kid, and in that one, he blows it by telling the secretary's boyfriend (some government stooge) that he saw the alien go in the spaceship. In both the older version and this one, though, there's still that "my buddy, the alien" vibe. Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Cleese Calls Palin a "Parrot" & Gossip Girl Stumps for Obama

CitizenSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:51:04 PDT

Perhaps it's because dear old dad hails from the land of Cleese, or because that accent can make anything sound measured and thought out, this video of John Cleese on Sarah Palin caught my attention this morning. His pointed commentary on Palin comes as the Troopergate probe expands and at one of her becoming-signature enthusiastic rallies yesterday, Palin mistook a group of supporters for protesters.

The crux of Cleese's argument is that if one were to take the whole of Europe, regardless of political persuasion, one wouldn't find "5 percent" who think she's good enough to run the US.

Cleese says:

Can they not see that she's basically learned certain speeches - and she does them very well, she's got a very good memory - but it's like a nice looking parrot. Because the parrot speaks beautifully, and kind of says 'Aw, shucks,' every now and again but doesn't really have any understanding of the meaning of the words that it is producing, even though it is producing them very accurately. . . the extraordinary thing is that so many people are taken in by it.

Does Cleese's argument strike a bad chord - or ring true?

An entirely different generation and genre of entertainment is getting into the mix too. To see the Gossip Girl gang's new Obama ad,

read more. In their take-off on those anti-drug PSAs, apparently McCain is the new high? OK, sorry, I know that's not what they meant but. . . doesn't making something off-limits make it more appealing? Just thinking. . . The spot is part of MoveOn's Youth Vote program. Does it make a compelling case? More compelling than Cleese? Should entertainers stick to that, and leave politics alone?

Monty Python's John Cleese on "I Could Care Less"

GiggleSugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:00:00 PDT

One of the most hilarious dudes who ever lived would like to interrupt his regularly scheduled program of being ultra silly and school you on the misused expression (also my pet peeve) "I could care less." For folks who are scratching their heads, and who regularly use this, let's think for a moment. If you could care less, that means that the thing you're trying to say you don't care about, you do care about just a little because there are other things you hypothetically, could care less about. Mmmkay? But I'll let Cleese do it, cuz he's got cool charts and a better delivery.

Barack Obama to Appoint Minister of Silly Walks

CitizenSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:00:26 PDT

Well, if Obama takes Monty Python's John Cleese up on his offer to serve as speechwriter of his campaign, that might be true.

Cleese, volunteered his comedic services, promising to fill Obama's stump speeches full of "it's just a flesh wound" gags. Oh, please let this come true! Cleese said, "I am due to come to Europe in November but I may be tied up until then because if Barack Obama gets the nomination I'm going to offer my services to him as a speechwriter because I think he is a brilliant man."

And now for something completely different - on the campaign trail!

To see a little sneak preview of the new, improved Obama stump speech titled, "Come On, You Pansy!"