Cleolinda everywhere

Harry Potter is the Biggest Worldwide Debut Ever with $476M. That is to say, nearly half a billion dollars, blowing through the Eclipse midnight record, the New Moon opening day record, and the Dark Knight weekend record. From what I've seen of Comments on the Interwebs, Twilight fans and Batman fans are united in shouting YEAH WELL WAIT TILL OUR LAST MOVIE COMES OUT, and then they realize they're on the same side and run away to wash that icky fanboy/girl off. Whatever helps you sleep at night, kids.

Guillermo Del Toro and Emma Watson for Beauty and the Beast?; David Yates reveals his next project PP (post-Potter) (whoa, The Stand?); How Harry Potter Changed Publishing (three words: midnight release parties); 10 great, and 10 no-so-great, things about Harry Potter. And here's our discussion post, with a--well, not a defense, but an alternate take on the epilogue. Also:

@bestforfilm: We're opening a bar called Harry Shotters. Drinks include Margaritaskeeters, Cedric Daquiris, Mojicho Changs... #harrypotterdrinks

Concoctions include Pinot Gringotts, Episkey Sours, Mudbloody Marys, Blast Ended Skrewtdriver, Hex on the Beach, Ginny and Tonic, Ron and Coke, Creme De Menter, and my favorite, Madame Hooch.

Since y'all have waited ever so patiently, let's skip straight to TheOneRing.net Exclusive: Behold! Thorin Oakenshield and Orcrist! ( BEHOLD! )

New Secret Life of Dolls thataway. We've had three new entries so far and the read-through is updated, if you need to catch up on those (Christmas II is the first of the new ones). I'm trying to decide which day is best to update on--I'm trying to space them out with some kind of regularity. I was doing them on Saturdays, but I'm not sure if people actually see them on the weekends. Monday seems like a terrible day because, as someone suggested, people are busy catching up. Tuesdays, maybe? Although... if people learn to expect them on Saturdays, maybe it's not a problem. I don't know.

In case you're wondering, it's not that I got tired of the series or forgot about it for nine months. It's that I had a massive block as to how to make those last three entries work. I would sit and pick at the drafts every other week or so, and just... nothing. That last one, I pretty much ended up rewriting the entire thing from scratch the other week. It happens. And if I have to wait nine months for something not-crap to occur to me, well... there it is.

The good news is, I have the next seven entries either written or mostly written, and shit, as Mark would say, is about to get real.


Meanwhile, it's an "I see this working out well for you" kind of day on the movie news front: ( Linkspam! )

A bit of movie news for you all:

From Roger Ebert: Eric Rohmer, 89, wise humanist, RIP. One of the founders of the French New Wave.

Spider Man 4 Scrapped; Tobey Maguire & Sam Raimi & Cast Out; Franchise Reboot Planned; Sony Rebooting Spider-Man in 2012! So... by "reboot," do you mean do the origin story and kill Uncle Ben off all over again? Because I'm sure audiences will sit through that all over again less than ten years later, and--when did the last one come out? Like, five minutes ago?

That said, the scramble in Young Hollywood to grab the newly-vacated roles will be something to see.

(Malkovich confirms Vulture role in Spider-Man 4. Yeah... about that...)

James McAvoy Shoots Down 'The Hobbit' And Ian Fleming Biopic Rumors. 

Stuart Townsend Ditches 'Thor' Over "Creative Differences."

@cleolinda: RT @hollywoodcrush: 'Twilight' Author Stephenie Meyer Reportedly Against Splitting 'Breaking Dawn' Into Two Films

@cleolinda: @Cleolinda Reportedly Against Any 'Breaking Dawn' Film Being Unleashed Upon A Defenseless World

I thought it was Stephenie Meyer's insistence in the first place that Breaking Dawn had to be two movies just like Deathly Hallows omg, so I don't know what's going on here. All I have to say is--you keep on fighting that good fight if it keeps this movie from happening. Seriously. I don't think my embarrassment quick can take it.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn could start shooting this fall, with a Renesmee who may end up "being a full CG creation, but it also may be a human shot on a soundstage that then is used to shrink down." I just--I can't even articulate how I feel about this, except it involves a lot of "Uncanny Valley, oh God" and "Somehow, James Cameron is responsible for this and must pay for his crimes" and "do not want do not want DO NOT WANT."

Rumors of Taylor Lautner's demise somewhat incorrect. Not that I'd blame him for trying to fake his own death at this point.

(Someone asked me if it was true. Without even having to do any fact-checking, I replied that it couldn't be, because Twitter and ONTD would be on fire.)

Via maudelynn: Woman Married To Fat, Emotionally Distant Vampire Escapes Into 'Twilight' Novels. The second photo caption is where I fell over.

Meanwhile, any time I feel cranky (LIKE RIGHT NOW), I go back and look at Twilight retold in lolcats. I know it's old (even the sequel is a bit old by now), but the "I AM HATES U (fer some reason)" pic and the reaction shot right after "I luvs u" kill me. What kind of cat is that, anyway? ETA: Pallas cat! So much want.

MTV Movie Awards roundup, partially courtesy of my Twitter feed: ( JJ Abrams keyboard solo *what?* )

( The rest of the linkspam )

Spent a nasty rainy day baking six dozen cookies for Mom's work lunch meeting tomorrow. Pretty nice, actually.

Also, that package that went missing? UPS Twitter Dude showed up (on Twitter, naturally) to ask if he could help (I guess they use Twitter search to find mentions of "UPS"?), which was great, and then our communication concluded with, my hand to God, "And by the way, your Twilight commentaries are absolutely brilliant. Good work." I could not stop laughing. Oh my God, I am STILL laughing. I mean, it's a lovely compliment, it's just--of all the things I ever expected a customer service professional to say to me? That was not one of them.

( SERIOUSLY, THE UPS GUY, I CANNOT GET OVER THIS )

cleolinda Watching "The Invasion" on cable. Had forgotten how ridiculous the Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig non-romance is.

cleolinda "You're my best friend, I can't risk that." NO YOU MORON! HE'S HOT ANGSTY PEDIATRICIAN MAN! ARE YOU BLIND!

cleolinda And I'm still not sure how she teleported from a residential area to downtown wherever.

cleolinda The funniest part to me is the ending, but I probably shouldn't discuss that on open Twitter.

cleolinda Okay, I've posted a comment on my original review of "The Invasion" to discuss the ending: http://bit.ly/10kjnO

( Read more... )

cleolinda Ah, Nicole Kidman stumbling around 7-11s chugging Mountain Dew. Just like senior year.

cleolinda And in closing, re: "The Invasion": My mother watched the first 1/2 hr or so, and you know her issues with Blond James Bond.

cleolinda She got to the "You're my best friend" scene, stares for a moment, and declares, "She's an idiot." ~The end.~

cleolinda ("That totally looks like his kid, too.")

A quick linkspam so as not to fall behind:

( Vampire Lincoln loves the ladies )

I'm starting to think my constant snivellous snerf is allergies rather than some kind of cold, because it's a persistent, low-grade annoyance. Fnarr.

Meanwhile, the fan failure issue seemed to have been fixed by pulling clots of dust out of the back of the CPU; the system battery's still an issue, but I've talked to a few people, and apparently it's going to involve me going to Wal-Mart and buying a CMOS battery the size of a dime, no big hassle. So I'm working on the computer downstairs during the day to buy a little more time until I get out to do errands on Friday, and when I change out the battery, I'll vacuum can-of-air the inside of the CPU.

Also, activities on The Shelf are continuing, but I don't want to burn everyone out on that, so we'll hold off on updates for now. Although if you have icon requests, let me know, because I think I'm going to kill some time doing those tonight.

Made Of Fail - Episode 13: And That's When the Internet Exploded. Unless there's been a change of plans, I'm scheduled to go on their next podcast to discuss Watchmen (THREEPEAT GUEST, WOO!).

Linkspam! ( Read more... )

So. I didn't get the quiet evening alone I wanted--I realized too late that the church music program my parents were going to (my stepfather plays drums) only lasted two hours; for some reason, I'd thought they'd be out a lot longer. And Lord knows you can't watch The Dark Knight in only two hours.* But the day itself went off quietly and without incident (particularly once I got Elizabeth settled in**), and I got a Lucky Brand locket bracelet that I love and a beautiful jewelry box (hand-pressed aluminum, made in India, I think? There's this store called Ambiance at the Riverchase Galleria, and it's pretty much full of nothing but stuff like that) that I'll have to take pictures of or something, because I can't really do it justice otherwise. Also, I caught my mother watching Casino Royale on cable OF HER OWN FREE WILL. VICTORY IS MINE!

* Can I just say that the DVD extras bite? As in, there aren't any? I mean, I got the two-disc thing and it was like, "Here's the six scenes in IMAX, except you're watching this on a TV so it kind of doesn't help, and here's Hans Zimmer talking about the music." Thanks...? I mean, I wasn't disappointed because I had already heard that the extras sucked and what I really wanted was the movie itself--the whole chase with the truck is so awesome it still makes me giggle--but I just wanted to officially register that complaint.

** I have to add that Elizabeth is the first doll I think I've ever gotten that looked better in person than in the picture. I seriously will have to borrow that camera again and do a little photoshoot.

And then today there was MOAR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING and then I sat down with my Dark Knight DVD and basically skipped around and watched all my favorite parts, which... really are the whole movie, I guess, but I felt like watching them out of order? And the truck part twice. I don't know.

(I did not, however, get werewolf cupcakes. This must be rectified next year.)

But for whatever reason, I'm really tired, so I just wanted to post a couple of things and catch up on the rest tomorrow, I guess: ( Read more... )

God, my jaw is killing me (left side). Tension, I guess. Anyway, Sister Girl came home from the podiatrist and now she has a "flayed Achilles tendon," so I'm pretty much just waiting for the other shoe to drop and fall on my head (so to speak). Mom's foot's doing reasonably okay, though.

Alabama Mayor Charged With Fraud; Mayor arrested on bribery, other charges; Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford enters not-guilty plea, is released. Given that this is the same mayor who wanted to spend a shitload of money nominating Birmingham FOR THE OLYMPICS (as if we even had enough hotels to deal with that) and moved a downtown dome-building project OUT TO THE DOG TRACK to benefit his cronies, I am pleased by these developments.

( More linkspam )