Random Factoid #325

18 06 2010

Rejoice!  “Toy Story 3” opens today!

However, it will be without one familiar face.  Wheezy, the lovable penguin that Woody risks his life to rescue, does not appear in the latest installment of the beloved series.  His absence is quickly explained, but it’s easy to let out a sad “aww” when the news is broken.

Why is there no Wheezy?  Unfortunately, there’s some tragedy behind that.

Joe Ranft, the Pixar animator who lent his voice to the character, passed away in a car accident in 2005.  He was 45 years old with a wife and two children.  Ranft was the head of story at Pixar beginning in 1991, helping to craft every story from “Toy Story,” for which he received an Oscar nomination, to “Cars.”  He also lent his voice to many Pixar characters, most memorably Wheezy, Heimlich the caterpillar in “A Bug’s Life,” Jacques the Shrimp in “Finding Nemo,” and Red the shy firetruck in “Cars.”

The movie “Cars,” which he co-directed, was dedicated to his memory.  And I’d like to dedicate today’s random factoid to Ranft, who stole our hearts with Wheezy 11 years ago.

As part of my tribute, enjoy Wheezy’s song from the end of “Toy Story 2” (although it’s sung by Robert Goulet – also RIP – and not Ranft).


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Random Factoid #324

17 06 2010

In keeping with the Pixar/”Toy Story” theme of the week for Random Factoids, I was planning on whipping out some massive nostalgia today.

I was planning on referencing this section of Random Factoid #19, describing a birthday party of mine:

Age 7 – 1999: The movie was “Toy Story 2,” which is still one of my all-time favorites.  We hosted it at the AMC Studio 30 theater, and I remember that we got to go upstairs, which is restricted to the general public, to the special party room.  The only other thing particularly memorable was that one of my friends had to leave in the first five minutes because he was terrified by Buzz Lightyear on his own planet (which turned out to be Rex playing a video game).  And he was one of the tough kids.

As I was thinking about factoids, I could have sworn that we still had some “Toy Story 2” pencils lying around my house somewhere.  I was planning on announcing to the world that 11 years later, I still had those pencils (which were used as party favors).

But as it turns out, they must have bit the dust because I couldn’t find them.  I only bother to still tell you because I had big plans and big ambitions.  Sorry to disappoint, but sometimes there’s entertainment in failure.  How else can you explain the popularity of the FAIL Blog?

So to compensate, here are some of my favorite clips from the first two movies:


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Random Factoid #323

16 06 2010

I saw “Toy Story 3” last night.  Be EXTREMELY jealous.  Sorry to gloat … my review will be up very soon.

Anyways, I won a prize at my screening last night!  Unlike at the “Step Brothers” screening where I had to answer an insanely challenging question about Will Ferrell, I won the prize based on my knowledge of a running segment on a morning radio show.  The segment always runs about the time I leave to drive to school in the morning, so I know it very well.

As soon as I heard a word that tipped me off to the segment, I stood up in my seat and yelled “CARMEN CALLS!!!!!!!!” at the top of my lungs.  The DJ running the contest made some comment about me being enthusiastic as I ran down to claim my prize like a contestant on “The Price Is Right.”

I got three things: a giant “Toy Story 3” poster that now takes up a third of my bulletin board, a game where you use a Buzz Lightyear gun to shoot disk that save the other toys, and a lovely photo op.  The game is officially titled the “Space Shooter Target Game,” something I only found out after my brother threw it in the trash (whole lot of gratitude for me winning it, I guess).

The best thing of all: the movie made me want to play with the toy.  But alas, I didn’t get to.


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Random Factoid #322

15 06 2010

Back in Random Factoid #73, I manned up enough to say that I cry in movies occasionally. But what I didn’t tell you is what those movies were.

Now, 249 days later, I’m ready to reveal some of those movies. In keeping with the spirit of Pixar, you can probably guess what I’ll tell you.

Three Pixar movies have made me cry.

The song “When She Loved Me” from “Toy Story 2” makes me sob. It’s so beautiful and wonderfully done.

The climax of “Monsters, Inc.” – which I won’t ruin for those dumb enough not to have seen it – made me cry the first time, although I don’t think I’ve cried since.

And I pretty much cry the first and last 15 minutes of “Up.” The “Married Life” sequence at the beginning is so incredibly powerful that I cry earlier and earlier every time, anticipating the tragic end.


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Random Factoid #321

14 06 2010

In celebration of the release of “Toy Story 3” on Friday, I’m going to try to make most of this week’s factoids tie in to Pixar movies somehow.

So, let’s begin.

Honestly, where have the Pixar outtakes gone?  Usually released two or three weeks after the movie originally came out, the outtakes provided me a reason to return to the movies – and I faithfully did.  The last time I remember them doing outtakes was for “Monsters, Inc.” back in 2001.

Maybe Pixar has just gotten too mature for them, or maybe the outtakes have found a nice place in the DVD extras.  But whatever the reason, I sincerely miss seeing them attached to the movie itself.  Maybe “Toy Story 3” will have them … although it looks like Pixar will be printing money with it.  They won’t need the outtakes to get people to come back.


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Random Factoid #320

13 06 2010

Yesterday, I finally got to see a movie that I’ve been wanting to see for many, many years.  13, to be exact.

Ever since I was five years old, I have wanted to see the movie “Masterminds.”  I remember watching the trailer and wanting to be old enough to watch the movie.  The story involves a kid rebel (Vincent Kartheiser) sticking it to oppressive authority (Patrick Stewart).  The preview showed him kicking butt, and they didn’t have many youngsters doing that back in the day (being the year 1997).  It appealed to my wilder side, and ever since, it’s been buried on my “to see” list.

Turns out I saw the movie 3 years ago when it was called “Die Hard.”  Disappointingly, “Masterminds” turned out to be just a junior version of the 1988 Bruce Willis classic.  But now I can say that I saw it, and my inner five-year-old is smiling.

Plus all that ’90s nostalgia was AWESOME.


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Random Factoid #319

12 06 2010

Standardized tests make me _____ .

a. nervous
b. stressed
c. frenzied
d. ALL of the above

It was a test day for the ACT today, and I was there taking the lovely standardized tests with my #2 pencils, calculator, and a brain in what I dub “testing mode.”

But what I didn’t expect my brain to bring was a desire to hear Russell Brand singing.  Throughout the test, some of the Infant Sorrow numbers kept playing over and over in my head.  I fought off these voices better than I had in the past; at times, I would begin to think that the lyrics were the reading passages.

(The answer is D, by the way.)


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Random Factoid #318

11 06 2010

Well, isn’t this disgusting.

Good Houskeeping tested 3D glasses at theaters in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and found that NOT ONE PAIR was sterile.  How gross is that?!  The study reports:

“3D glasses given out at cinemas were found to be contaminated with bacteria that can cause conjunctivitis, skin infections, food poisoning, or even sepsis or pneumonia…”

That’s great, I really wanted a pneumonia when I went to see “Shrek Forever After” in 3D.  For those in need of comfort, listen to the end of the sentence above:

“…but docs say that the germs found are no more threatening than what you find on the arm rest, box of popcorn, or movie seats.”

So as much as I would love to use this as another point against 3D or an excuse to turn people away, I really can’t.  Because if I didn’t start bringing plastic covers for the seats or wearing plastic gloves to handle concession items, it would be incredibly hypocritical.  But there’s definitely something disconcerting about knowing the glasses that you put close to your eyes can have such disgusting bacteria on them when they could be clean!


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Random Factoid #317

10 06 2010

Yesterday, I totally had what M. Carter calls a “Real-Life Movie Moment.” She has a whole template for describing them, so I’ll follow it.

The movie: “Up in the Air”

The moment: While at my dad’s birthday dinner last night, we were waited on by a team of waiters.  The first was an older, more experienced man, perhaps not just a waiter but even a manager.  The second was a younger woman, clearly a trainee.  I assume it was one of her preliminary days on the job because he was walking her through the motions and giving her little tips throughout our meal.  While serving me a cup of gumbo, I could hear him whispering to her, “The spoon goes on the right.  Now reach around him and put it down.”  She did a fine job, but she was clearly flustered and nervous.  She offered cookie-cutter courtesy and was so business oriented that she was more of a robot than a waitress.

The correlation: Ryan and Natalie, duh!  Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) takes neophyte Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) with him on an aerial adventure of lay-offs.  He understands the art of offering these people some sort of sympathy and respect.  She, on the other hand, feels that the firings could go more efficiently if they are performed mechanically and are desensitized.

I just see movies everywhere.  Life imitating art.


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Random Factoid #316

9 06 2010

Recently, my family and I have noticed a very strange looking bird lurking around our neighborhood.  He stands on two large legs, only comes out after dusk, and is not easily scared by cars and people.  He can fly, although I have only seen him do it once.  He shows up irregularly; I will see him several consecutive days and then not again for a week or so.

The bird has become a sort of fascination for my family.  We love to speculate on what it’s doing, what kind of bird it actually is, and what he does during the day.

But we don’t just call it “the weird bird.”  We have given it a name: Kevin.

Catch the movie reference?  We call it Kevin because it reminds us of the large bird that Russell finds in the South American jungles in the movie “Up.”


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Random Factoid #315

8 06 2010

I’m pretty obsessed with movies, but I don’t think I will ever go this far.

Thanks to the Cinema Obsessed girls, I discovered learnnavi.org.  On this site, you can literally learn the language spoken in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”  It is literally just like learning Spanish, French, Latin, or whatever language you take.  There are noun declensions and verb conjugations.  There is vocabulary.  If you had any doubts that Cameron didn’t pull out all the stops for the movie, they will vanish after 30 seconds on this site.

I might pick up a few casual words from the Na’vi vocabulary.  I’d like to see the look on someone’s face when I say “irayo,” and they ask what the heck I just said.  The look would probably be even better once I’ve told them that I have just thanked them in Na’vi.

Check out the site by clicking on the logo below.  It’s fun to explore and to see the extent of “Avatar.”  Clicking on it doesn’t make you a nerd…


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Random Factoid #314

7 06 2010

I didn’t watch the MTV Movie Awards last night.  Did you?

Really, I don’t see the point.  The awards are decided by the box office dollars and the biggest fanboy power.  Find me one serious critic, or really just anybody who has a brain when it comes to film, that would say that “New Moon” is the best movie of the year.  Or better yet, find me a sane person who could look me in the eyes and tell me that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson delivered the performances of the year.

I don’t need an awards show to celebrate the celebrity and the power of the fan.  I see it manifested in People, US Weekly, and the countless other magazines devoted to giving us every detail of the lives of celebrities.  I see it on E!, the channel which was one of the major players in bringing about the so-called “Celebrity Revolution.”  (But not even kidding, do yourself a favor and watch their 20th anniversary special.  It’s one of the smartest looks at our culture I’ve seen.)

No, I reserve my time for awards show that reward people and movies that actually deserve awards.  Movies like “New Moon” have an award in box office millions, and we don’t want to send a message to Robert Pattinson that his acting is … good.

But on a happy note, congratulations Anna Kendrick for winning Best Breakout Performance for “Up in the Air!”


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Random Factoid #313

6 06 2010

Another “just my luck” factoid.

I’ve been waiting since February for “In the Loop” to come from the Houston Library for me. It’s been on my hold list, and I’ve left it on there and held off on putting holds on other movies.

But last night, while flipping through the channels, I noticed “In the Loop” was playing on Showtime. All that time I’ve spent waiting only for it to come on TV right as I’m at the front of the line to get it.

I feel like I’m in a “Seinfeld” episode or something.


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Random Factoid #312

5 06 2010

Just my luck.

On Thursday, I went to see “Kick-Ass” at AMC Studio 30 (you know, the one I always gripe about).  After the movie was over, I headed to the automatic ticket kiosk before returning home.  Because I go the movies so much, I happen to know that the kiosk shows what specific theater number a movie will be showing in at a certain time.

Going all the way back to Random Factoid #1, I shared that I keep a collection of movie ticket stubs.  However, I don’t think I have revealed that I have a desire to get a stub for every theater number at a theater.  So I went to the kiosk with the intent of finding out if “Get Him to the Greek,” which I was planning on seeing the next day, would be in a theater that I didn’t have a ticket stub for.  Sure enough, it was showing in theater 15, one of the ones I didn’t have.  I wrote down the showtimes for theater 15 and made sure that I went to one of them the next day.

I went at 5:00, one of the showtimes for theater 15.  However, when I bought the tickets, the tickets said theater 14.  My brilliant plan backfired.


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Random Factoid #311

4 06 2010

Another factoid on censorship, this time a little different.

Yesterday, I went to the theater to see “Kick-Ass” (yes, I realize that it’s two months old and I’m just now getting to see it).  Or should I say “Kick-A**.”  Both my ticket and the sign on the theater used an asterisk instead of an s.

It just kind of struck me as odd.  The theater owners put up plenty of posters with the full and uncensored title displayed, yet they can’t put it on the marquee?  Or the ticket, which a child would only see if they were going to see the movie?

Their logic clearly escapes me.


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