#Jon Dinklage

[glfc2112]

YYNOT presents Bubba Bash January 7, 2023 Keswick Theater Glenside, Pennsylvania Bubba Bash takes place on the third anniversary of Neil Peart’s death.  All proceeds go to benefit Cedars Sinai.  Check the following links for tickets and auction items. Here is the Blabbermouth article on the event.  Get your tickets before they are sold out.  It’s one event you don’t want to miss. Auction items - YYNOT.com Tickets - https://bit.ly/3FAaT6U

[targs-on-zorses]

Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow & Benjen Stark | Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington & Joseph Mawle

Game of Thrones | 1.02

[jbaileyfansite]

Universal released their 'For Your Consideration' Awards Campaign for 'Wicked'

[seriouslycromulent]

Thoughts on "Unfrosted"

I just finished watching the Unfrosted movie on Netflix. And unlike some of the usual wannabe "influencer" YT vloggers, I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to watch it again.

To me, this is a silly, light-hearted what-if story about pop culture nonsense. It's not intended to be gut-bustingly funny like Tropic Thunder or The Hangover or a battle of the wittiest bon mots like Frasier. It's just good-natured fun and goofiness that's meant to make you smile and say, "I get that reference!" every 2 minutes.

I loved spotting all the comedians and actors whose work I enjoy. But my favorite characters in the film have to be Peter Dinklage as the head of the "Milk Mafia," and Christian Slater as his main enforcer. I would seriously watch an entire film with their characters as the main focus.

I also got a special kick out of seeing John Slattery and Jon Hamm don their 5th Avenue personas one more time.

And can I just say, the little kids in this movie who help them develop the product: They are going to be the ones to watch in the future. Especially the little girl! She kept shocking me with her delivery and acting choices, and I couldn't help but think, "How old is this child?!" I hope she goes far, because she was really good.

To quote Jerry in a recent interview, "It's a pop tart movie. None of this matters!" As long as you keep that in mind, I think you'll enjoy it. And if you don't enjoy it, then it doesn't really matter that much any way.

[daenysthedreamer101]

GOT - Behind the scenes Masterlist

General Masterlist

The most expressive brows in Westeros

Harry and Emilia / Pt 2

Game of Funko Pops/ Pt 2

Iain and Emilia

Emilia bts over the years

Game of Umbrellas

[bellemorte79]

Reading this casually and did a spit-take when I got to this paragraph below...oh don't mind me. I'm just vibing...

[agentnico]

Wicked (2024) review

Look, I’m not gonna be one them sods who makes a “this is a wicked movie” jokes. Nope - I won’t succumb to that level. Just don’t look at my Letterboxd.

Plot: Misunderstood because of her green skin, a young woman named Elphaba forges an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take very different paths.

I recall my wife really wanting to see the original stage production for her birthday, so I took her to the West End show and it was alright. Fun songs and a great production, but I have never myself really cared for all things Oz-related. Especially with Wicked, which essentially feels like a Harry Potter-riff with the primal location being Shiz University, that might as well be called amateur Hogwarts. Mind you, when I made this observation, my wife snapped back “oh my god, it’s almost as if all wizard schools have to be Harry Potter related!!”. I get it, Wicked has a humongous fan base and this movie is going to make so much money. It’s actually crazy to think that we may be having the most strongest box office thanksgiving in a long while, with Gladiator II, Wicked and Moana 2 all releasing one week from each other. However Gladiator II in my eyes was a major disappointment (except for Denzel!), Moana 2 we shall see, and as for Wicked? Well…

I wonder how many audience members are going to get pissed off when they find out that this is a Part One? I’m aware that when this movie project was first announced it was mentioned that it was a two-parter, but in the marketing there has been absolute zilch about two movies, so I’m guessing some casual moviegoers are gonna be like “what in the f***?!” in the screenings. However speaking of the two parts, the original stage production is about 3 hours long. Now take this - Wicked Pt. 1 happens to also be nearly 3 hours long. Yet it finishes at exactly the part where in the original play the intermission happens. So I’m totally bamboozled as to how they managed to extend the first half of the play into 3hrs, as me and my wife both agreed that the story beats are pretty faithful to the original source material. So I must give props to this film’s pacing, as you never really are bored and the events that transpire play out with solid energy from beginning to end. That being said, you totally do feel the run time. This movie is long, so thank goodness they split the movie in two. Heck, should have made it a trilogy of films, cause if we look at The Hobbit, Peter Jackson and his team managed to make three major motion pictures out of a tiny little children’s’ book!

The narrative isn’t the only element that stays faithful to the stage musical, as also all the songs are performed in nearly the same way. It’s really common in Hollywood productions to change-up/modernise songs from stage to screen, yet here with Wicked they keep the same spirit, so it was lovely to see them be respectful to their origins. Also let’s not lie - these songs are absolute bangers. Me and my wife were listening to the soundtrack on the drive back and having the absolute best time!

Let’s talk about Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Look, I’m going to base my thoughts sorely on their performances within the film, and not judge them on their real-life issues, whether it be Grande as a homewrecker (it’s times like this I’m happy to have my wife, as she spills all the goss) or with Cynthia Erivo’s online hysterics over the edited Wicked poster. In the movie itself though these two are fantastic. Cynthia Erivo’s voice is just something else, and I recall when I first saw her in the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale back in 2018 where she solo performed “This Old Heart of Mine”, and I knew she was going places. Now as Elphaba she performs those songs with such soaringly raw and vulnerable emotion, that it truly is incredible to witness. Those of you who are familiar with the original stage production, just you wait till you hear her belt out “Defying Gravity”. If you know you know. As for Ariana Grande, the only time previously I’ve seen her act (aside from SNL) was when she cameo’d as herself in Zoolander No. 2 as the latex BDSM orgy girl. Take that information as you will, but my point is I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing her acting chops till now. As Glinda she really riffs of the spoiled Mean Girls energy, and I must say she managed to really deliver a fun and comedic performance. There were some solid laughs in my audience during some of her bits. Also, I know we’re never supposed to comment on people’s physical selves these days, but I’m genuinely worried about Grande’s health. We can see every bone in her body, and her face looks drained of all life (and it’s not simply due to her no longer wearing fake tan) - just hoping she’s okay. But yep, performance wise solid stuff, and in fact the movie’s best scenes are when Grande and Erivo share the screen together, as they both have wonderful sisterhood chemistry. Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero brings some real Chris Pine energy with charm and charisma a-plenty, and Peter Dinklage made for a loveable goat. However the rest of the cast left room for more to be desired. Michelle Yeoh feels really miscast as Madame Morrible, as her ‘performance’ came off more as if she was reading lines of a teleprompter - so wooden and flat. Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz goes full Goldblum which not much else to add. And Ethan Slater as Boq was a waste, as Boq in the original play is the main source of comic relief, however in the movie he was so bland and boring. But I guess he was on set mainly to entertain Ariana Grande - oh yes we went there!

Here’s a strange one though - the film feels as if Kevin Feige and the MCU were in charge of making it. It’s a common conversation how most Marvel movies have a very digital bland look to them, and the company’s approach to colour grading (or lack of) makes for really cheap looking final products. Well Wicked looks like a Marvel movie. The world of Oz is supposed to be the goat when it comes to overly vibrant and saturated sets and aesthetics, and yet the world in the film looks like it does have colour, yet has this greyish filter over it that makes it look bland and kind of ugly. I do also think that director Jon M. Chu struggles a little with directing massive big crowd dance sequences, as most of those scenes in the film seemed really messy and disorganised, almost as if it were a school production.

I found myself to enjoy Wicked way more than I expected, mostly due to its two central female performances, the great soundtrack and a surprisingly energetic pace for a 3hr long movie, but also I can easily knit-pick the other weak cast performances, the dull-looking cinematography and direction. As a date night movie though me and my wife had, and yes I’ll say it - a wicked time! See you next November for Part Two!

Overall score: 7/10

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

I'm not really into musicals. Or stage musical adaptations. But this was good. It has a lot of cool stuff. Enjoyable.

[milliondollarbaby87]

Wicked (2024) Review

Life has never been easy for Elphaba after being born totally green, resented by her father and ridiculed by everyone she meets. Everything is about to change when her powers are spotted and she attends Shiz University. An unlikely friendship with a very popular girl named Glinda would change everything. *Wicked: Part I* ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Wicked (2024) Review

[roysexton]

“Why can’t you teach us history instead of harping on the past?” Wicked … the movie (part one)

Wicked. An adjective. A thirty year old book by Gregory Maguire. A twenty year old musical by Stephen Schwartz. A present day marketing/merchandising juggernaut by Universal Pictures. And, oddly enough, the post-2024 presidential election escapist allegorical cautionary tale none of us quite realized we would need. (And here my money would have been on Joker: Folie à Deux to fill that…

[9eeeeevvvvvaaaaa6]

It´s been a long time coming but it is happening. The anticipated day is here. Kickoff of the WICKED world tour...

Planning on watching W I C K E D and I kinda want the

Music Frame LS60UD (2024) - Wicked Edition (Samsung Austria)

!

…

Logo of the 2024-2025 two-part film adaptation of Wicked, Wikipedia

World premiere(s)/press tours of Part 1 (2024):

Sydney, Australia State Theater on November 3rd, 2024

Los Angeles, USA Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on November 9th, 2024

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: Elf (2003)

Elf (2003)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and language

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2023/12/review-elf-2003.html>

Score: 3 out of 5

Elf is the kind of Christmas movie that you'd think was made in 1983 or even 1963, not 2003. It's a straightforward throwback to the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials of the '60s and '70s, with a plot largely devoid of crude humor... starring Will Ferrell at a time when he and the rest of the "Frat Pack" of gleefully lowbrow comedy stars and writers were pushing boundaries with a new breed of decidedly grown-up sex comedies. Director Jon Favreau consciously toned down the original PG-13 script into something a lot more lighthearted and family-friendly once he got on board, at times to a fault (and to Ferrell's frustration on set), but it ultimately worked out in the end to produce a film that a lot of people of my generation regard as a comedy classic and one of their favorite unironic holiday movies (i.e. not something like Die Hard or Bad Santa, the latter of which came out the same year as this). As someone who missed the film when it first came out and only saw it recently, I don't quite have the same attachment to it, but I definitely see where the affection comes from. There's barely much of a plot, but what it has is ultimately enough, the film being largely the kind of "sketch movie" that's about dropping unusual characters into funny situations and seeing how they react. I had a very nice time watching it, thanks to both Ferrell's performance as the titular elf and an old-fashioned sense of humor that's not afraid of getting cornball and doesn't try to pretend it's anything other than what it is, and while it did feel kind of insubstantial, it's still a film I'd happily recommend around the holiday season.

Our protagonist Buddy is a human who, as an infant, accidentally snuck into Santa Claus' sack when Santa visited his orphanage on the night of Christmas Eve. Growing up at the North Pole, he's always known he was different from the other elves: he's much bigger, for one, and he aged into an adult far faster. One day, he finally learns the truth about his ancestry and realizes why all the other elves made fun of him, which marks the beginning of a journey to New York City to find the birth father who abandoned him, Walter Hobbs, now an executive at a children's book publisher and, by all appearances, a right jerk who values money over his family and even the quality of his company's books.

If you've ever seen a heartwarming holiday special, then you don't need me to tell you where this movie's going from there, and this movie knows it. It devotes fairly little time to its story, instead concerning itself with its jokes and its comic routines, most of which revolve around Buddy, played by Ferrell as essentially a young boy in the body of a grown man, interacting with the modern world and causing chaos wherever he goes. He's not completely helpless, shown to be a surprisingly gifted handyman thanks to his experience in Santa's workshop (where do you think all the toys under your tree as a kid came from? Your parents? China?), but he's otherwise a less shouty, more family-friendly take on the archetypal Ferrell manchild character, with the emphasis here placed on the "child" thanks to him having been raised in a candy-cane, primary-colored version of the North Pole straight out of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (complete with a cameo by Ray Harryhausen voicing a stop-motion polar bear). And honestly, Ferrell was perfect in the role. There's a reason this kind of character has been his type as a comic actor, and that's because he brings exactly the kind of energy that a movie like this needs. There's just something inherently funny about a grown man dressed as a Christmas elf, but Ferrell doesn't just rest on the premise here, he gives it his all and always makes me smile.

The cast here is large and sprawling, and some of them get more to grab onto than others. James Caan as Walter is the closest thing a movie this wholesome has to an antagonistic force, and while his arc of realizing that there's more to life than getting ahead in the cutthroat corporate world is predictable, he otherwise sells it admirably. The first act at the North Pole is filled with memorable presences like Ed Asner as a Santa straight out of an old Coca-Cola commercial and Bob Newhart as Buddy's adoptive elf father, as well as great set design that makes for a very sharp contrast to the rest of the film spent in the Big Apple. Peter Dinklage only has one scene as a full-of-himself children's author, but the moment he steps foot on screen, you can figure out immediately what the casting directors of Game of Thrones saw in him. Unfortunately, I thought that Zooey Deschanel got short shrift as the cynical department store clerk Jovie, feeling as though a lot of her character arc was left on the cutting room floor. She gets a lot of focus in a few particular scenes and sells them very well, especially when it comes to her singing voice, but she's otherwise absent for such long stretches that I was at times surprised when the film remembered that she existed. (It was amusing, however, seeing her play the grouch who doesn't believe in Christmas and has Ferrell's manic pixie dream guy inject some excitement into her life given how she'd later be typecast. Especially since she's blonde in this film, without what would become her signature bangs.)

This was a symptom of the film's biggest fault, the manner in which the plot jumps all over the place, from Buddy's relationship with his father Walter to his romance with Jovie to Walter's problems at work and home to a sudden third-act turn into Buddy having to literally save Christmas. It's very scattershot, and while I was often amused, I wouldn't say I was particularly hooked by the film's story, threadbare as it was. At times, I wonder if Ferrell might have had a point in wanting this to be a somewhat darker movie than what we ultimately got, one that spent more time with its characters and gave them room to breathe between all the jokes. The 2000s were a time when comedies weren't afraid to slow down, and when Pixar was in its golden age of animated family comedies that nevertheless threw a lot of kids my age for a loop. I think a version of this movie that's ten to fifteen minutes longer, mostly devoted to character beats and interactions, might have left more of an impact on me.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, though, Elf is still a very funny movie with Will Ferrell doing what he does best, one that I don't think would've endured as it has if it hadn't been as lightweight as it is. Overall, I had a very good time watching it, and whenever I have kids, I guarantee this one's gonna be in rotation every December.

[targs-on-zorses]

Game of Thrones | 1.01 Winter is Coming

[movieassholes]

Hey, Jackweed. I get more action in a week than you've had your entire life.

Miles Finch - Elf (2003)

[westeroswisdom]

On 17 April 2011* HBO aired Game of Thrones for the first time. S01E01 was instantly iconic and gave birth to an endless stream of “Winter Is Coming” memes.

Happy Birthday GoT! 🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯

Tyrion was dispensing wisdom right from the start.

_______________________ * Okay, that's 18 April 2011 for our friends in the Eastern Hemisphere.  🌍🌏  

[possiblynotpayingattention]

I'll never EVER get over the dumpster fire that was season 8 of GOT...

But the fact the actors/actresses themselves got bamboozled over the script, makes me feel just a little bit better. 🫠

i wonder if actors ever get their scripts and are like

well this is fucking stupid