Random Factoid #208

21 02 2010

If you look up in the address bar of your Internet browser, you should notice a tiny little picture whose contents are virtually indistinguishable.

In case you were wondering, that is a picture of me underneath the “American Beauty” plaque outside of the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles where the Oscars are held.

I took pictures of a lot of my favorite winners, including “The Departed” and (I believe) “Annie Hall.”  Possibly “Slumdog Millionaire” too just for kicks.

What illustrious movie from 2009 will get its plaque right underneath that?  Just trying to add some suspense to a good old factoid…


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #207

20 02 2010

I always thought I had a good ear for music, but I raised my game to a new level last night.

While taking a paper break and watching the Olympics, I saw part of a segment on Norwegian skier Aksel Lund Svindal (I had to go to Yahoo to look that one up).  They showed him intensely focusing on skiing and doing other exercise to better himself physically.  Of course, NBC added some intense music to go along with it.

All of a sudden, I realized that I recognized the music.

I said out loud, “That’s so random.  They are using the score from ‘Frost/Nixon’ when they discovered Nixon and the Watergate scandal!”

It was the track “Watergate” from the “Frost/Nixon” soundtrack which I bought last year when the score was nominated for an Oscar.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #206

19 02 2010

Today marks the release of “Shutter Island,” the first movie in 2010 that I actually have an active interest in seeing.

Today is also February 19th.  I thought to myself that this was pretty late for the first interesting movie of the year to come out.

So I consulted my ticket collection at the first movies I saw in a given year released in that year.  The latest recorded day that I have seen my first movie of a given year was “Wild Hogs” on March 11, 2007.  Every other year, I had seen a new release in January.

Could this year top 2007?  Hopefully not, because I really want to see “Shutter Island.”  But depending on how my history research paper and musical rehearsal go, it could be a photo finish…


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #205

18 02 2010

I remember that when I first started using the Internet to get information about movies way back in early 1999, the site that I became the most enamored with is one that I still look at today: the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

The only movie that I remember looking at that fateful visit was “10 Things I Hate About You.”  Still haven’t seen it despite the teen classic status it has among my generation.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #204

17 02 2010

A little while back, I saw a friend of mine counting how many movies she had seen on the IMDb top 250 list (one of the best indicators of the average moviegoer’s favorite flicks).  Today, I did the same.  Here’s my rundown:

  • 7 of the top 10, including the #1 movie “The Shawshank Redemption”
  • 25 of the top 50
  • 43 of the top 100
  • 92 of the top 250

But the list changes all the time, so the number fluctuates.

And it would be higher if it weren’t for all those stinking old movies and foreign movies that only have 2,500 votes.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #203

16 02 2010

Just some fun for you all today: some more reviews from before I started blogging.  These come from the MovieTickets.com website, and they were my replies to their friendly day after email requests.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #202

15 02 2010

People obsessed with the future often remind us that we can tell our kids “I lived in a world where…”.  For my parents, they can say they lived in a world where segregation still existed and cable didn’t.

There are plenty of things I can say to my kids.  I lived in a world where September 11th was just another date on the calendar.  Where you had to dial-up to get Internet.  On the movie side of things, where “E.T.” was the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusting for inflation).  Where Arnold Schwarzenegger was just a Terminator and a Kindergarten Cop.  Where the Oscars weren’t held on a Sunday.

But one that I think they won’t be able to believe, unfortunately, is that I lived in a world where you could go to a movie and not be bothered by commercials before the trailers.

I remember this world vividly.  It ended on November 15, 2002, when they showed ads for an EZ-Bake oven that made chocolate bugs before “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”  It stunned the audience.  Little did we know, this would become a mainstay of trips to the movie theater.  And it would only get worse.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #201

14 02 2010

Happy Valentine’s Day (or Singles Awareness Day, as it often seems to some).

I remember in 2003, my parents gave me the DVD of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” as a present before we headed up to Baltimore for President’s Day weekend – although we ended up staying three extra days because of the blizzard of the century blowing through.  Needless to say, the DVD came in very handy for entertainment.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #200

13 02 2010

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been sharing this experience with you all for 200 days, yet here we are.  Random Factoid #200.

“Marshall and the Movies” is not, however, the first movie blog I have written.  Back in December 2007, I attempted to start an Oscars blog called “Bold Oscar Predictions.”  The site would be largely modeled after AwardsDaily and InContention, the two sites I frequent the most.  My main goal was to write columns that used the history of the Academy’s choices to predict the nominees and winners.

I set up the site the day after I finished my finals in ninth grade, although I can’t seem to pinpoint my motivation.  My first post was to be called “Why Amy Adams Won’t Be Nominated for an Oscar.”  I was almost finished when I had to go out the door, never to return again.

I set the site up on a random server, and I made the stupid mistake of not writing down what I called it or where I set it up.  For over two years, I have been searching for this blog.  It was all in vain until a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out the spam from my Gmail account.  I got a notice from “blog.com,” which I was about to delete before I remembered “Bold Oscar Predictions.”  After a lengthy reset password process, I finally found the blog.  Completely barren, of course, but it was still nice to have finally found it.

(Oh, and Amy Adams, if you ever read this, it’s ABSOLUTELY nothing personal on the post.  Your role as Julie Powell is what inspired this blog!)


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #199

12 02 2010

As I dug through my wallet this week, I discovered something about myself that I did not want to discover.

I am a wasteful person.

I found a free movie ticket to AMC Theaters that was over two months expired.  Just think of what I could have seen with that ticket.

Oh, and Random Factoid #2-0-0 coming tomorrow.  Get excited.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #198

11 02 2010

Oh, and one more thing about my fantasy football team, the Houston Iron Men.

Yahoo Fantasy Football leaves a space where you can “talk smack.”  When I put together my team before the official beginning of the season, I put in this quote:

“Is it better to be feared or respected?  I say, is it too much to ask for both?”

While everyone else trash talked (and while I never checked my team), I classed it up with my Tony Stark quote from “Iron Man.”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #197

10 02 2010

When I wrote Random Factoid #141, I hadn’t done this in over half a decade. Now, I have done it twice in less than three months.

I have read the source material of a movie after I saw the movie.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I read “Up in the Air,” the novel by Walter Kirn. I brought it with me to Argentina and began it there when I found out that I would be interviewing Kevin Renick. I was under the mistaken impression that he wrote the song after reading the book, so I pile-drove through the first half in order to be prepared. After more research, I discovered that he hadn’t read the book, and my pace slowed quite a bit.

Overall, I liked the book. I much prefer Jason Reitman’s take on it though, which is very distinctly different from Kirn’s novel.

(And for those of you who read Random Factoid #195, yes, it was the movie tie-in edition.)


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #196

9 02 2010

For the past two years, my fantasy football team has been called the Houston Iron Men.

The team name comes not from some sort of sports context.  Rather, it comes solely from the movie “Iron Man.”

And it sounds like a cool team name – it works in both contexts.

Oh, and if you were wondering how the team did, it’s best that you don’t ask.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #195

8 02 2010

Way back when, I talked about how I usually enjoy reading the source material of a movie before I plop down in the theater seat and watch.  Allow me to continue this thread in my mind.

Usually, a new edition of the book is released in tandem with the release of the movie adaptation.  The covers usually feature either artwork from the movie or the poster.

More often than not, I will wait until the “movie tie-in” edition is released to buy the book.  It makes me feel like I’m reading the movie, not just a book.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Random Factoids

Random Factoid #194

7 02 2010

The Los Angeles Times, you are simply amazing!  Literally, you are taking fanning the flames of my obsession to a whole new level and I love it!

It’s like the stock market, except you put your money on Oscar candidates!  It’s so much fun to play the strategy game, especially knowing that you aren’t losing any real money.  I’m putting big money on potential underdogs (such as “Inglourious Basterds” in Best Picture and “The Hurt Locker” in Best Screenplay) and significantly less on the locked winners (such as Mo’Nique).

I just downloaded this today, and it is already the most fun app I have on my iPhone.  Search “The Envelope” and download the one from the Los Angeles Times.  Even if you aren’t as obsessed as I am, it’s still a good time.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Random Factoids

« Previous Entries Next Entries »