Friday Night Highlights: Wolverine, The Goode Family and an Ethan Suplee update!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
REVIEW
What is it?: The X-Men trilogy spin-off/prequel, which tells the back-story of Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman), the self-healing, metal-clawed mutant with no memory of his past.
The cast looks awesome!: Despite the fact that the movie poster makes full use of characters like Cyclops, Gambit and Emma Frost, none of them get much to do. It seemed like every time I thought I was really enjoying a character, they would leave. Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) started off really cool, and quickly descended into a two dimensional pawn. will.i.am (Kestrel), Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Dominic Monaghan (Bolt) and Taylor Kitsch (Gambit) all impress but all get far too little screen time. It must be great to work a few days on a movie and get your head on the poster (I realise they were likely filming much longer than that, but please don’t ruin my story).
In fact, while the film does fill in Wolverine’s back-story, we don’t even get to know him all that well. After fighting through the Civil War, World Wars I and II and Vietnam, and then becoming some sort of mercenary/bounty hunter for the government, Wolverine suddenly decides he doesn’t want to kill people any more. You know, after 100 years of pretty solidly killing people. Why?
VIC-TOR!!!: Hugh spends most of the movie yelling this at his brother Victor, aka Sabretooth, as if he were in a mutant version of A Streetcar Named Desire.
What’s this business about the movie being leaked on the internet?: According to the studio the leaked version was a work in progress and didn’t have final special effects added. Now I haven’t seen the version on the internet, but the version I saw on the big screen had some very hokey SFX going on. One scene, where Wolverine is getting to know his metal claws in a bathroom, inspired giggles and whispers of “how fake!” on account of the claws looking like something out of Roger Rabbit … those things aren’t CGI – they’re cartoons! Sometimes you have to wonder why they don’t just strap plastic ones on in some shots, it would look better.
The green screen work – in the cars and especially out a barn window – are so bad that I have seen better work on The Bold And The Beautiful. Green screen is a tricky thing, and I happen to be of the old-fashioned opinion that if you can’t make it work, just actually film outside! Shocking, right?
I don’t want to spoil anything, but a cameo by one of the X-Men from the original trilogy looks so odd that I am still not convinced they didn’t use CGI instead of the actual actor. That or far too much plastic surgery has been had.

The other mutants couldn't bring themselves to look at Wolverine's cartoon claws.

Any other complaints?: Funny you should ask … the film doesn’t seem to know when it is set. According to the press notes it’s “10 to 15 years before X-Men”. Which would make it the mid-late '80s. And yet there are ‘50s buildings with brand new exit signs, ultra-modern bus stops, ’60s utes next to ’90s ones and rather modern looking keypad door locks.
Which Aussie actors are in it?: Aside from Hugh, there are tiny roles from the likes of Peter O’Brien, Max Cullen, Tahyna Tozzi and Aaron Jeffery.

So, err, did you actually like it?: While it sounds like I’m laying into this movie, I actually enjoyed it. Far more than I thought I would. I have pointed out bad CGI, but there is also quite a bit that is stylistically impressive, and Hugh delivers a solid performance and has surrounded himself in equally solid performers. While I enjoyed the ride, the ending was a little lacking – which is to be expected from a prequel, really.

Is it as good at the other X-Men movies?: It’s definitely better than The Last Stand.
See it?: Just go and have fun already.

His name is Ethan
So, after the whole Ethan Suplee debacle, I went ahead and posted the link to my blog on Twitter. And guess what? Ethan read it! Hilarious.

He sent me the following tweet:

EthanSuplee @scottkeenan YOU BETTER WATCH TONIGHT! And you better get it! I've got my eye on you!


A very cool guy. I promise to watch, sir. But I’m in Australia, so not until Wednesday. And as for getting it … I’ll do my best!

PS: Ethan is totally using the pic I used of him as his Twitter page background now.

Oh Goode for YOU!
The Goode Family is the latest animated series from the mind of Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead, Daria and King Of The Hill (all of which are some of my all-time faves). Centering around a well-meaning, but not especially bright, pollitically-correct environmentalist family, the show starts in the US soon, and a preview video has been released online.
I think it looks like a winner (of course I said the same thing about The Oblongs, which sadly lasted all of three seconds). Check it out and see what you think.

Scott Keenan

I'm a secret mutant o'clock

Dylan Moran's fame

What Dylan Moran Deserves
I own the Black Books box set but I never think of Irish comedian Dylan Moran until I see him and then I am reminded of his greatness. The man in question told Kerry O'Brien "I'm very suspicious of everybody" in an interview that aired this very eve and everything else he said was also universally appealing. If you ignore his hatred of Australia, of course. And I thought, why isn't he more famous? Despite roles in the Simon Pegg flicks Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run, he remains someone that you have to know who he is to know who he is... so I thought of more folk and divided them up into helpful categories.

People who deserve to be more famous
* Dylan Moran - See above
* Hilary Duff - I never thought I'd say this because, when she first burst on the scene as Lizzie Maguire, I accused her of being a 35 year old hag playing a 15 year old... but over the years I've warmed to the Duffster and I think she's cool. She has fun pop songs and I like fun people.
* Will Arnett - I've offered up Will to represent the entire cast of the flawless - and criminally cancelled - show Arrested Development. I know that of late WA has popped up in films more regularly as well as on and off in 30 Rock but, still, he could stand to be Jim Carrey, you know?
* Cameron Daddo - He's hot and can act enough to get by so I don't get why there wasn't a Hugh-Jackman style mania about Cameron in the US at some point. Apart from that stupid model show that, ahem, ruined his marriage.
* Jennifer Love Hewitt - She knew how to get the fame, she just didn't know how to keep the fame. Where did it go wrong for JLH? Why isn't she A-list? I still like her so I'm in favour of someone setting her up with, say, a Robert Pattinson-type and giving her a high-profile job (if only to get the freaking woeful yet incomprehensibly popular Ghost Whisperer off the air).
* Amanda Bynes - Amanda Bynes has felt like she was on the verge of something ever since she semi-emerged from obscurity. I guess it's never going to happen now but she's still ace.
* Taylor Kitsch - The ridiculously dreamy and best thing - amongst a long list of good things - to come out of the brilliant series Friday Night Lights. I love Tim Riggins! However, I feel he will date my list the quickest cos when X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes out, he'll undoubtedly get the fame he deserves. Yeah, Gambit!

People who deserve to be less famous
* Bono - I used to think you were mildly-better-than-OK but now I just want you to take off your glasses, Paul David Hewson. Then wake up to yourself and stop being a pompous ass .
* Gisele Bundchen - You're not with Leo anymore, you're dead to me.
* Britney Spears - I'm all for Mickey-Mouse-Clubbers-done-good-then-bad-then-semi-OK-again fame but you need to be nicer and gain a sense of humour somehow.
* Lleyton Hewitt - You've had an inexplicably good run, Lley-Lley. Bye-bye now.
* Angelina Jolie - Did you deserve your status when you were wielding knives and stealing husbands? Sure. Now you're a UN ambassador and taking in orphans? Yawn. Bring back the vials of blood, ploise.
* Miranda Kerr - I didn't like your DJs predecessor Megan Gale at first but then I warmed to her cos she has a personality. You, however, do not suffer the same affliction. Shame.

People who I don't care about but I thought would be more famous
* Hayden Christensen - He's occasionally appealing but, more importantly, he was Darth Vadar Jr. Shouldn't that give you a lifetime pass in the big leagues? How is he stuffing this up?
* Mischa Barton - Everybody loved her and then, all of a sudden, everybody didn't. It was weird. It was truly overnight. Is it because she's actually a nasty cow?

People who have the right level of fame
* Jim Carrey - I love, love, love Jim Carrey and will never stop - even if he marries a former Playboy bunny and starts writing books about himself. Oh.
* Jennifer Garner - She's funny, seemingly a great person, married to an Affleck, has cute kids and was beyond perfect in Alias. Tick.
* Drew Barrymore - Former bad girl, successful production company, awesome interviewee, kinda kooky and BFFs with Cameron Diaz. All good.
* Jonas Brothers - I love a Hanson-style "mania" even if I don't totally understand what fans experiencing the mania are seeing. At all. Wouldn't the average kid at the fan's school be better looking than a Jonai? Anyway, I like one of their songs, I think. Their movie Camp Rock was absolutely appalling but they've made up for it because they seem to actually like their fans and sometimes they bring the funny (ie. dubbing their little brother Frankie, the "bonus Jonas"). Proceed....

Over and out for now. I hope when next I blog that JLH has miraculously skyrocketed away from those pesky ghosts, out of Jamie Kennedy's arms and back onto, well, at least the B-list.

Carolyn Stewart
Tiredness is killing me o'clock, April 1, 2009