Late Night - 1980s Cop Show

Long time, no post. Well, I didn't go anywhere, it's just that the Late Night Comedy field has been sparse lately.

But this is good.

Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin remember their 1980s cop show:

IMDB 250 - The Hobbit (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

I think I like this movie more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Having not read any of the books, I can't say why for sure but I can speculate.

I guess that when you spread one book over three movies (instead of three books over three movies), the material is allowed to "breath". You can handle things more slowly and naturally. The beginning of the first Lord of the Rings movie feels jarring - they setup multiple characters, races, histories all at once and then things move seemingly very fast (and perhaps seemingly at random). The beginning of this movie only needs to setup a few characters and a few flashbacks to history to get going. It's much easier to get into. As a fantasy movie, it feels less of a "list of scenes that we need to cover" and edges closer to "Alice in Wonderland" or "The Wizard of Oz".

I also think that Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins is easier to like than Elijah Wood. The group of dwarves that he accompanies are also much more fun than "the fellowship". It follows, then, that the action sequences work more because you care about the characters involved.

It also helps that this movie can start at the beginning. The LOTR trilogy didn't have that. It, again, feels simpler and easier to follow. Perhaps if this movie had been released first, I would have enjoyed LOTR more.

I've spoken before in my review of "Harry Potter and the Something Something" about how dangerous magic is in movies. I'll repeat myself slightly here because it most definitely applies. The magic in this movie has no logic. Perhaps it's explained in the books, I don't know. But I do know that one scene begins with Gandalf creating a huge explosion of white light and knocking out hundreds of enemies in all directions and then a few minutes later, he's trying to fight off a single attacker with a sword. How does that work? If you can use magic in one instance, what happened in the next? In fact, when ever ANYTHING bad happens in the movie, I'm wondering why magic isn't used. Seems pretty straightforward. Similarly, if a character has just been pushed off a giant cliff and is hurtling toward the ground and a giant eagle appears from nowhere to pick him up, what does that mean for all future "whatever will they do" predicaments? It's extremely hard to worry about the outcome of any dramatic situation when you've already seen how magic can just swoop in out of nowhere and save the day.

Given that we know everything will always turn out fine thanks to magic, I can only guess that it'll be very hard to really be worried by anything in the series to come. But this is enjoyable, imaginative and colorful entertainment. I enjoyed it.

6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 371.

Conan and Louis C.K. Reminisce

September 13th was the 20th Anniversary of the first Late Night with Conan O'Brien and one of the writers on his first show was Louis C.K.. In this clip they remember the old days...

P&S - Bono as a Wedding Singer

Preston and Steve riff on the idea of Bono being a wedding singer. After the initial intro, be sure your sound is up because it's a little hard to hear.



Incidentally, the same general concept came up before on the Ben Stiller Show.

Late Night - Joking Bad

In the latest Late Night with Jimmy Fallon spoof, Jimmy reveals that his show is a lot like the TV show "Breaking Bad".

If you haven't been watching "Breaking Bad" this won't be funny to you and, more importantly, you're missing out on one of the great TV shows of our time. Everyone else: enjoy.

P&S - Rocky IV Translation

At the end of Rocky IV, Rocky speak to the Soviet people and single-handedly defeats communism. But when he speaks to them, he speaks through a supposedly Russian interpreter. So is the translation in the movie accurate? Preston and Steve investigate it's validity in this clip:



A few explanations to some of the references:

"Carwashes where the people are." is a reference from earlier in the show.
"Been come to known as." is a garbled phrase inside-joke of the show.
"Resist we much." is a quote from Al Sharpton.
"When it's time to change you've got to rearrange." are some of the lyrics of the Brady Bunch song "Time to Change".

Conan - Jordan Schlansky is Late

Conan has discovered that Jordan Schlansky is coming into work late on Fridays and confronts him about it...


Why would they still work on Friday if there's no show? Either do a show 5 days a week for the audience or enjoy a 3 day weekend every week for yourself. This is a lose-lose.

P&S - "The World's End" Interview

A really Preston and Steve interview with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright. They talk about "The World's End", Star Trek and Star Wars.

Late Night - Brian Williams Raps

In this edition of the continuing series where Brian Williams raps classic hip hop, Brian Williams covers the classic "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Ride Like the Wind Resurfaces

It's coming up on four years since Christopher Cross performed on the finale of the first ever Yacht Rock Party and the online videos of the performances are long gone. But one of them, "Ride Like the Wind", has resurfaced on vimeo.

If, like me, you can't get enough of this, this is exciting news. Here's Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald and The Roots performing "Ride Like the Wind"...

Jesse and the Rippers Reunite

Jesse and the Rippers reunite for a one-time performance of all their greatest hits. And it all happens on Late Night...



There are two ways you can go with the fact that the vocals are lip synched. Maybe it's sad, cheap and insulting. But they were probably lip synching on "Full House" too so you could take it as perhaps "more authentic". You decide.

Late Night - Jesse & the Rippers; Perm Week

This Friday, Late Night will feature a reunion performance of the legendary band Jesse and the Rippers. The San Francisco band will be playing for the first time in decades. Catch it. It's all part of Late Night's Perm Week.