Weird Al Yankovic, Part 1 of 2

Celebrities, MTV Classics, Vinnie's Personal Favorites 3 Responses »
Mar 312010

In celebration of my 100th post, today’s topic is on one of my all time favorite singers, Weird Al Yankovic. He writes great comedic songs, though many of them are spoofs from other hit songs from many different artists. The music is the same, but the lyrics are still original and all written by Weird Al himself.

I can still remember Weird Al’s first album “Weird Al” Yankovic back in 1983 when I was very young. One of my most favorite songs from that album was “My Bologna” (spoof from “My Sharona”). Even now I still collect his albums. Here are some of his classics in casette tapes.

The fact that Weird Al spoofs many different songs is how I first knew about the “real” versions. Whenever I hear any of those on the radio, the first thing that always comes to mind is the Weird Al version, which is usually better. Let’s face it, many other “real” songs I’ve heard have lyrics that I don’t understand at all, but Weird Al’s lyrics do make sense to me and I find that very helpful. Heck, some of these songs even sound better on the accordion, in my opinion.

As for Weird Al’s music videos over the years, which you can find on Weird Al Yankovic – The Ultimate Video Collection, they are hilarious. There was a time on MTV when some videos are played, then Weird Al shows his version right after each one. Most of the comparisons were very different, with the exceptions of “Fat” and “Eat it” (spoofs of “Bad” and “Beat it”). I can definitely see the strong similarities with those Michael Jackson videos. I’ll tell ya. When it comes to simple gags, Weird Al spares no expense.

Weird Al was once labeled as the Elvis Presley of The Dr. Demento Show. In fact, Dr. Demento himself has made cameos in quite a few of these videos, mainly the older ones.

Weird Al is best known for his Hawaiian shirts, but he’s had many different looks. Of course it’s all based on the song he performs and what artist he’s spoofing. It must be tough going through all of those costume changes for every live concert. Come to think of it, back in 1997 the very first live concert I’ve ever attended was a Weird Al concert. I still have the souvenir T-shirt I got from there. Too bad it doesn’t fit me anymore. It was such a great experience.

That’s it for now. Check my blog for part 2, where I’ll be talking about Weird Al Yankovic in movies and TV.

  • Share/Bookmark
Posted by Vinnie at 9:00 am Tagged with: ,

BloodRayne

Horror Films, Video Game Adaptations 1 Response »
Mar 292010

In this kick butt movie, Kristanna Loken stars as BloodRayne, a vampire half-breed with amazing skills. Unfortunately, she has blood cravings that are difficult to control, but it is helpful that she can also feed on vampires as well as humans and animals. She teams up with vampire hunters Vladimir (Michael Madsen), Sabastian (Matt Davis), and Catherine (Michelle Rodrigez) to battle her vampire father Kagan (Ben Kingsley) and avenge her mother’s death.

I met Kristanna Loken at MegaCon 2010. She was so sweet. I told her that she was great in this film and she thanked me. Oddly, it wasn’t one of the films mentioned in the program and most of the photo choices were from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Painkiller Jane.

I’m not too familiar with the video game version of BloodRayne, but part of Rayne’s journey here is much like a video game adventure. She goes into a dungeon to battle a strong deformed guardian. Then she finds a secret room with quick traps and finds a vampire eye, one of three body parts that would make a vampire invincible. Where’s a strategy guide when you need it?

The second body part is the rib and the third is the heart. Kagan has the rib, but Rayne searches for the heart at an underground cave. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. After that, it all comes down to the final battle in Kagan’s throne room. How exciting.

I like this film overall. Rayne isn’t as smooth as Blade, but she’s still an incredible warrior of skill and beauty.

  • Share/Bookmark
Posted by Vinnie at 9:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Howard Duck

80's Films, Comic Book Titles, Sci-Fi No Responses »
Mar 262010

Now here’s a film I haven’t seen in a long time. Based on the character from “Marvel Comics”, Howard the Duck is about a duck creature from another planet who was suddenly brought to Earth. Of all the places he could’ve landed, Howard ends up in an alley in the city of Cleveland. Everyone he meets is either scared or wants to beat him up. That is until Howard meets Beverly (Lea Thompson) a rock singer with Cyndi Lauper hair, who is trying to get her all girl band, Cherry Bomb, their big break.   

I met Lea Thompson at MegaCon 2010 and she was very sweet.

 

   

Soon Beverly decides to help Howard find answers on how he ended up on Earth and how he’s gonna get home. She takes Howard to see her friend Phil (Tim Robbins), who is a scientist that turns out to be a lab assistant/janitor. But that’s not the worst of it. Phil is highly annoying and has no answer on Howard’s situation. “Undoubtedly, one of Earth’s greatest minds here.”   

Down on his luck, Howard looks for a job, but the only one he could find was at a spa. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out. A duck who can’t swim? Who’d have thought?   

As Howard walks by an appliance store, he sees some things on TV that could really scare any kind of duck. Things like duck hunting, roasted duck on a commercial, and Daffy Duck cartoons. Can you blame him?   

Howard and Beverly’s friendship soon becomes intimate. Only to be interrupted by Phil and his collogues, Carter (Miles Chaplin) and Dr. Jenning (Jeffery Jones), who have the answer to Howard’s arrival. It was an experimental laser beam that was aimed at the wrong planet. The beam could be the answer to send Howard home. Unfortunately, the laser malfunctioned and brought something else to Earth. I’m not sure what exactly, but it’s an evil force that has taken over Dr. Jenning’s body, known as one of the dark overlords of the universe. Things really get dangerous now as he plans to bring other dark overlords to Earth and take over the planet.   

According to the end credits, quite a few different actors played Howard. One of them was Ed Gale, who I met at Spooky Empire 2009.   

   

I liked this film. It’s filled with excitement and humor. With Howard being the only duck character on Earth, this movie reminds me of ALF. The only real difference is that ALF doesn’t swear, smoke, drink beer, or look at dirty magazines, which are all things that Howard does. However, he’s nothing like Duckman. Too bad, that would’ve been interesting.

  • Share/Bookmark
Posted by Vinnie at 9:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Modern Mummy Movie

Horror Films No Responses »
Mar 242010

The Mummy (Widescreen Collector’s Edition) was a unique take on the old movie monster. It helped me understand that a mummy is not only a zombie wrapped in bandages. Immhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is a creepy plague spreader with a jaw that opens wider than Freddie Kruger.

Immhotep was accidentally awakened from his tomb and is on the loose. Rick O’Connell (Brendan Frazier) was selected to find the city of Hamunaptra and put that monster back in his place. Rick is a funny character, especially when he has to put up with his colleges Jonathan (John Hannah) and his little buddy Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor). This film also stars Rachael Weisz as Eve, the gorgeous librarian, who helps Rick with her knowledge on ancient Egypt.

The special effects on Immhotep are amazing. The first organs he got were Mr. Burns’ (Tuc Watkins) eyes. Since Mr. Burns is blind without his glasses, I’m surprised that Immhotep doesn’t need glasses himself after that. It would sure look funny if he did.

Immhotep’s mummified priests are more like the standard types of mummies. Rick battles them, like Ash battles skeletons in Army of Darkness. Same with those other mummy warriors that can smoothly crawl on the walls.

Even though Immhotep grows stronger as he collects more organs from other innocent victims, he screams in panic and flees quickly whenever there’s a cat present. I know that cats are supposed to be the guardians of the underworld. No wonder they’re worshipped in Egypt, and not only because they’re cute animals. But think about it, is a cat scratch more dangerous than a gunshot?

I think this was a well-made movie. It’s good to see that old movie monsters never go out of style. They can only be perfected, just like with that new film The Wolfman.

  • Share/Bookmark
Posted by Vinnie at 9:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Napoleon Dynamite

MTV Classics, Vinnie's Personal Favorites No Responses »
Mar 222010

This teen comedy produced by MTV Productions stars Jon Heder in his breakthrough role as Napoleon Dynamite, a gawky teenager, who is delusional and blunt. It’s so funny.

According to the Internet Movie Data Base, Tina Majorino was a child star, but left acting to finish high school. This film was the start of her comeback costarring as Deb, the pretty and sweet teen. I just love her.

The story line goes in several directions. First, Napoleon and his best friend Pedro (Efren Ramirez) try to get dates for the school dance. Meanwhile, Napoleon’s brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) and his uncle Rico (Jon Gries) try to raise money as door to door salesmen in order to buy a time machine online. After that, Pedro runs for class president and Napoleon tries to help him out. Part of his campaign included breaking a piñata that looks like his opponent Summer (Haylie Duff). It looked like a pretty one, but it was only shown briefly. Too bad Pedro got in trouble for it.

Napoleon has some interesting catchphrases that really stick out. Some of my favorites include “Gosh!”, “Idiot!”, and “Lucky.” I have to ask though. What is up with those moon boots? I used to have a pair just like that… when I was in second grade!

Napoleon also likes to shop at thrift stores. It was where he found that dance moves VHS tape, which really pays off later on. You never know what kinds of things you’ll find in those places. It’s like the old saying, “One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.”

At MegaCon 2010, while my sister was getting Virginia Hey’s autograph, I went to the table right next to her, where I met Ellen Dubin, who played the role of Trisha’s (Emily Dunn) mother, Ilene. She was very nice.

 

It was amazing to find that Ellen Dubin was in this movie. In fact, she told me that this autographed photo here was from her own camera and the only one from the set. Her agent was sitting next to her and told me how rare it was.

This is a good movie. In fact, I can see a possible TV series coming from this. I’m still surprised that there wasn’t a sequel yet. Just like with Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

  • Share/Bookmark
Posted by Vinnie at 9:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,
Older Entries
© 2010 What Vinnie Thinks Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha

Bad Behavior has blocked 46 access attempts in the last 7 days.