The Avengers Trailer

Merry Leap Day!

I really don't know why Leap Day isn't more celebrated... it only comes around once every 4 years, yet somehow Groundhog Day gets more coverage and that is beyond stupid.  Sorry Punxsutawney Phil!  But honestly, last week's episode of 30 Rock had it right.  Leap Day should be a celebration, and while it may be short notice to plan a parade for tomorrow we can all at least wear blue and yellow like Leap Day William.  Don't forget!

Also, check out 11Points for a list of random Leap Day facts.

Leap Day William!  If you're scratching your head, check out the episode on Hulu

The plot of Memento in picture form

If you're confused by the plot of Memento (it's a given), this graphic probably won't help.  But you can try to make sense of it at least; it can't be more puzzling than watching the movie.  Right-click>View Image to enlarge, though I doubt your monitor is large enough. (via)

If Monty Python and The Holy Grail was made by kids

It might turn out something like this:

from Neatorama

Movie: The Movie

From Jimmy Kimmel Live, the trailer for the greatest movie ever made:

Tom Hanks Career Timeline

For my 500th post (yes, 500!) I didn't want to make just some random post of something funny I found online, and instead decided to provide another installment in my longest original series.  I've given you the career timelines of Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, and Jim Carrey and now I give you one for a legend: Tom Hanks.

Like all my other graphs, there were data points for all of Hanks' films from IMDB, but I was surprised to see a large data set missing from Metacritic.  I can understand some of his earlier, lesser known films, but the omission of Splash, A League of Their Own, and even Turner & Hooch were shocking to say the least.  In fact, Metacritic only had one Hanks film pre-1993 (Big). Rotten Tomatoes didn't have reviews on a few earlier films for Hanks, but that's been the norm with these so far.  With these missing data points in mind, comparisons can really be seen starting with Sleepless in Seattle.  From that point on, there are 3 datum (finally able to use that Biology education for something!) for every film.

As I was collecting all the scores from newest movie to oldest, it took me until Tom's first starring gig, Mazes and Monsters, to find a score under 5 on IMDB.  In fact, only 3 of his films from 1990-present failed to score above a 6:  Joe Versus the Volcano, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and Larry Crowne (5.9).  His 90's films have an astonishing track record, as even his "worst" film averaged a 6.73 (You've Got Mail).  With the exception of some earlier films (excluding Splash, Big, etc) and the Da Vinci Code movies, Tom Hanks has achieved a steadily stellar film career.  Films like Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, and Cast Away speak for themselves. The Toy Story films didn't hurt either.

This was my largest film set so far, so click to see in all its glory

As if we needed more proof that Adam Sandler has gone downhill...

... He just received a record-setting 11 Razzie nominations for this years awards.  Sandler received 2 nominations for worst actor (Just Go With It, Jack and Jill), worst actress (Jack and Jill), worst screen ensemble for Jack and Jill, worst screenplay (Jack and Jill, Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star), and 2 nominations for worst screen couple (Just Go With It, Jack and Jill).  Oh, and worst film nominations for the aforementioned movies also contribute to his record setting tally.  Despite this, Sandler's "film" Jack and Jill fared worse, receiving 12 nominations despite there only being 10 categories.  Full list of nominees here.

Team Kevin

I was going to post about this earlier in the week when it started, but it took off ridiculously fast and I didn't even have a chance; that's the power of the internet now.  But anyway, as I'm sure most of you have heard, Taylor Swift offered 18 year old Kevin McGuire, who is battling leukemia for the second time, a date to the ACM Awards.  This was the result of an internet campaign that started on Facebook, where Kevin's sister gathered support for Taylor Swift to take him to prom.  The campaign took off (100,000+ members) and quickly spread to Twitter, where celebrities and athletes spread the message.  The news went from local to national, until Swift herself responded:

"Kevin, I'm so sorry but I won't be able to make it to your prom. But I was wondering, the ACM Awards are coming up.. Would you be my date? Love, Taylor"

Kevin is actually in my brother's class, and attends Sterling High School (my former high school) so I can actually relate to this on a personal level.  Kevin battled through leukemia before, and I have no doubt he'll do it again... meeting Taylor Swift certainly couldn't hurt. It's certainly reassuring to see celebrities be down to earth instead of holier than thou, and hopefully this will be something to remember for everyone involved.

10,000 Views!!

The B Long Blog just surpassed 10,000 views!! I know it's not that high, but it's still an accomplishment.  Here's to 10,000 more, and how about some more Facebook likes?  Let's get to 50! Thanks guys!!

Jimmy Fallon does "Jeremy" (Lin)

I've said before (probably) that Jimmy Fallon really found his niche hosting Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and his show is definitely the best on the late night rotation.  Last night he delivered a near perfect Eddie Vedder singing Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" as a tribute to New York Knicks suprise star Jeremy Lin (much like his Tebowie performance).  Check it out below, found at Uproxx:

An interview with the voice of Admiral Ackbar

It's NOT a trap!

However, this is a trap:

A Volkswagen I would actually buy

Via Neatorama

Nintendo soap

These Nintendo "cartridges" are actually soap with labels made to look exactly like real life Nintendo games.  They look pretty damn realistic too, don't you think?  You can actually buy them too, check them out here.  From Buzzfeed

Accepted!!

How many years did Bill Murray stay in "Groundhog Day"?

I meant to post this on Groundhog's Day (duh) but forgot about it.  It's nothing new, and I feel like I've posted it before (I haven't) but it's still interesting.  So how much time did Phil Connors (Bill Murray) actually spend trapped in "Groundhog Day"?

8 years, 8 months, and 16 days

How was this number obtained?  Find out here!

Reese's Heaven

Oh.  My.  God.  I want now!! (via)

Stay Puft Cake Man

I previously posted about Stay Puft s'mores, but now the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man returns in cake form.  Looks like the Ghostbusters already have it under control:

Click for larger version, more photos here!

Chris Cornell punches gay basher at airport

No, not really, but I figured the headline would be better than "Chris Cornell yells at gay bashing man for calling an Obama supporting man a queer at a Seattle airport lounge".  Hopefully you can agree with me on that one.

But really, he did break up a fight in the airport when a man called another man a queer just for supporting Obama.  Cornell was in Seattle for an Obama fundraising concert when he heard "queer" and took action.  He cursed at the man and yelled "you deliberately called him a queer to make him feel uncomfortable in front of a lot of people" and then security intervened.  I always thought Chris was an asshole, and though I support him in this case, he still comes off as an asshole.

The Beatles considered reuniting

Several times, actually.  From Rolling Stone:

The Beatles had considered getting back together while all four members were still alive, says Paul McCartney. "There was talk of re-forming the Beatles a couple of times," he tells Rolling Stone, "but it didn't jell, there was not enough passion behind the idea."

According to McCartney, the band was very pleased with having come full circle creatively, and worried about tainting their legacy. "More importantly, it could have spoiled the whole idea of the Beatles, so wrong that they'd be like 'Oh, my God, they weren't any good,'" he says. "The re-formation suggestions were never convincing enough. They were kind of nice when they happened – 'That would be good, yeah' – but then one of us would always not fancy it. And that was enough, because we were the ultimate democracy."

Man un-ironically goes into cardiac arrest at "Heart Attack Grill" (UPDATED)

Three slabs of meat, 12 strips of bacon, cheese, onion, tomato and special sauce

A man was enjoying a 6,000-calorie Triple Bypass Burger and Flatliner Fries Saturday night at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas when his server noticed "he was having the sweats and shaking." EMTs responded immediately to the scene and took the customer away in an ambulance.

This isn't the first tragic event associated with the Sin City eatery. Blair River, the Grill's nearly 600-pound spokesperson, died last year at the age of 29.

Bolded for emphasis.  Might I add that anyone over 350 pounds eats free?  Yep, they're encouraging obese people to eat 3 days worth of calories in a single meal.  I'm (not) shocked this happened.  More pictures and video at Buzzfeed.

Mattel making Back to the Future hoverboards?

Finally!!  Too bad they won't hover, but still, amazing.  From Vulture:

Perhaps encouraged by Nike's recent released of a limited-edition shoe line based on the self-lacing future shoes from Back to the Future Part II, Mattel has announced plans to potentially release a hover board this Christmas. Says the toy manufacturer, "This totally awesome 1:1 replica of the hover board from the BTTF 2 and BTTF 3 films includes multiple whooshing sounds and will glide over most surfaces," though it won't actually, y'know, hover. ("Check back in 2015 for that feature," the product description adds.) The manufacturer will take orders for the item this March, and provided that its production minimums are met, you'll get your non-hovering hover board this Christmas. Now, who can get to making some giant hologram sharks? 

Still need a last minute Valentine's Day idea?

Just print, cut, and give to your sweetheart! (via)

Taco night!!

With a side of #9 and queso (not pictured).

Pierre Pierre

From ComingSoon:

Screen Daily is reporting that the comedy Pierre Pierre, which would team comedian Jim Carrey with Borat director Larry Charles, is back on track thanks to the help of Mark Damon's Foresight Unlimited, which has closed distribution deals in a number of international markets.

The plans are for the comedy, about a self-indulgent Frenchman who plans on stealing the Mona Lisa to get enough money to move out of his parent's house, to start shooting in Europe, mostly Germany, over the summer.

This is why Bill Murray wins at life

Bill Murray, professional crazy person, participated in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am over the weekend.  I know the focus was on Tiger Woods and winner Phil Mickelson, but it definitely should have been on Bill:






More pictures here, and click the "Bill Murray" tag below for more craziness.

Congrats to Matt and Trey (and Robert)! (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Finally avenging their Grammy loss to Phil Collins (for Blame Canada), Matt Stone and Trey Parker, along with Robert Lopez, won the Grammy for "Best Musical Theater Album" last night.  They won of course for The Book of Mormon, which has been a huge success on Broadway.  Lucky for me, I have tickets for the show in September!

Congrats!! 527/298

If you didn't know Whitney Houston died...

... just check out BuzzFeed's front page:

 

Food art!



See more here from artist Brock Davis (via Buzzfeed)

Bill Cosby covers The Beatles

Bad Beatles cover, or worst Beatles cover?  You decide:

Did Han or Greedo shoot first?

Here's what George Lucas himself had to say on the matter:

"Well, it's not a religious event. I hate to tell people that. It's a movie, just a movie. The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn't. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down."

I'm really starting to think Lucas is crazy now.  Did he forget that the way HE directed the scene and the way Harrison Ford played it indicated that Han Solo did indeed shoot first?  Me must've, since in every updated version he changed the scene to include a wider shot of Han unnaturally jerking his head while Greedo shoots at him.  You know, with the gun he had pointed at him the whole time, giving Han every reason to shoot first (and not be a "cold-blooded killer").  Tsk tsk.  Video below, from ComingSoon.

South Park supports melanoma research

With these T-shirt designs from Marc Jacobs, in collaboration with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. (via)

Sales support The Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group at New York University

Jim Carrey with a fake mustache and shirtless?

It's all for his cameo in 30 Rock:

Apparently a "Plan B" vending machine exists

Yep, on the campus of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.  For only $25 (pharmacies charge twice that), students can purchase the hilariously appropriately named "Plan B" emergency contraceptive.  Condoms, pregnancy tests, and ?decongestants? are also available in the machine.  Considering one's college years are usually the time to fool around, this actually somehow makes sense.  I'm honestly kind of surprised it took this long to happen.

Bobby Moynihan as Guy Fieri

Homemade buffalo chicken bites!

Notice how one is missing... I couldn't resist

Recipe here if interested.

Bon Iver

Hey Bon Iver! STFU! You're not even that good. Stop talking all that (bull)shit. Thank you!

Note: This was prompted by his fairly shitty performance on SNL last Saturday (2/4)

Kobayashi shatters Wing Bowl record

At yesterday's Wing Bowl held at the Wells Fargo Center, Takeru Kobayashi shattered the previous Wing Bowl record, eating a crazy 337 wings.  The old record?  A mere 254!  He almost puked up the wings in the second round, but managed to continue and eat enough to easily win the 20th annual Wing Bowl.  Better luck next year Americans!

Obsess much?

These are all the DVDs I bought/got right before, during, and after Christmas.

Unfortunately, Lethal Weapon 5 didn't come in the set.

Tom Hanks to star with Catherine Keener in Captain Phillips

From ComingSoon:

Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) has been cast as the wife of Captain Phillips, starring opposite Tom Hanks in the true tale of the man taken hostage by Somali pirates.

Captain Richard Phillips captained the MV Maersk Alabama which, in April of 2009, was hijacked by Somali pirates. Phillips bravely offered himself as a hostage to protect his crew and spent three days a prisoner before being rescued by a team of U.S. Navy SEALS.

The project will be based off Phillip's memoir, "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea," and is expected to enter production shortly.

Watchmen Prequels in the works (UPDATED)

Alan Moore, and plenty of comic book nerdsfans are unhappy about this (though Dave Gibbons has given his blessing). DC Comics will be publishing a 7 part series called Before Watchmen. 
As the title implies, the series will focus on Nite Owl, Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Comedian, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre, and the Minutemen in the events before the original Watchmen series.  It will obviously take place in the original "Watchmen" universe, but won't affect the characters in the best selling graphic novel of all time. 
Personally, I think this should be interesting and I'm looking forward to it... we'll be able to see deeper into the "Watchmen" universe and find out more about the characters we love, instead of just watching that movie from a few years ago.  Since the original won't be altered, I don't see what all the fuss is about.  Find out more info from an interview with J. Michael Straczynski, author of the first part of the series, by following the link above.