My YouTube channel turns three today! Something about five days after my wife’s birthday, makes me feel very creative.
Anyone else think WordPress keeps making slight steps backwards? These posts used to be fun to edit and organize, and now I can’t even intent paragraphs.
I am pretty much still up to my regular business, working, listening to podcasts, and playing video games when I can.
Favorite Podcasts :
Turtle Soup
What Are You Watching
Mike and Tom Eat Snacks
Comic Book Queers Legacy
PlayStation Access
Wrestling with Freddie
Welcome to Our Show
Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum
Games I’m currently into are Fortnite and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Shredder’s Revenge.
At 23,057 views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.
At 2,153 views – our most popular comic review is still Avengers 51.
Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views
Best Views Ever : December 31, 2017 with 412.
Countries with nine views : Martinique, Seychelles, Syria, and Cape Verde! So three years running with nine views from Cape Verde, and two years for Syria. Martinique and Seychelles, welcome!
At 1.5k views, our most popular YouTube video is still Buying Batman Caped Crusader Pack in Fortnite!
. . .
Thank you everyone for continuing to come check out the blog as often as you do! I really appreciate it and I can’t believe we are heading towards our tenth year!
and knowing them as I do now, I feel like certain films are going to be overlooked. I also was looking over the list and envisioning writing about it as so many great movies came out in 1995! Plus, I’m due for a proper blog entry. So click the link above, and follow along, if you will!
Should be fun to look back at these movies from a fresh perspective, but also remembering what it was like to watch these 27 years ago! I was 13, so movies meant so much more back then.
January
Murder in the First, Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman. Slater’s other interview movie, this time interviewing Kevin Bacon’s prisoner, I remember watching this and being blown away by Bacon’s range. I should rewatch this as I don’t recall The Mace, Lee Ermey, and Stephen Tobolowsky being in this, or Kyra Sedgwick.
S.F.W., I recall Kevin Smith talking about this movie, how it was the other convenience store movie, this one featuring Joey Lauren Adams, and apparently Tobey Maguire. I should make a point of watching this, and in a twist, it is actually streaming, unlike so many movies I want to watch. So if you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it too.
Before Sunrise, WAYW is a huge fan of this film series with Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy. I’ve never seen this trilogy, I’ve heard great things, and I love how every nine years, they make another one. Alex pointed out in one of their latest episodes how we’re currently in a nineth year, so if we are getting one, it should be soon. Apparently the third one came out and they filmed it secretly, so they could do that again. Before Sunrise isn’t streaming anywhere that I’m subscribed too.
Highlander The Final Dimension, the third Highlander movie. I don’t quite remember this one, the Highlander movies, until the fourth one, sort of follow the previous film, but also contradicts it, it is a very complicated continuity, for something that shouldn’t be that complicated of a plot about the last immortal standing, regains their mortality. Simply, don’t tell the last story, don’t ever give that hard of a number of, there’s only six left, so watch out. I like the first movie, but once Duncan MacLeod’s show and line of movies came along, I was all for it. It was such a great opportunity for the franchise to have a new direction, and they didn’t waste the opportunity.
Gargoyles The Movie : The Heroes Awaken. Remember Gargoyles, everybody? Such a great series, and I should see if I can get Walker D to start it with me, as I remember it being very good, but not finishing it as animation was bonkers in the 90s, with no real direction on when new episodes were coming out, if they were coming out, and so many reruns. The “movie” is just the first five episodes reedited to make a fun movie, just like how She-Ra did it with her series, but I want to say she did it the reverse, where it was a movie, and then they broke it out to the first five episodes. So not just like She-Ra, I suppose.
February
It is also fun seeing how Hollywood works, who was hot that year and just kept making movies. Which means they were hot the previous year and then their slew of movies come out in the next calendar year.
Boys on the Side, one of my favorite Drew Barrymore movies. I’m a huge fan of Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise comic book series, and he must have done an interview where he talked about a SiP movie would have the same feel as Boys on the Side. Some laughs, some action, a lot of heart. Maybe it was someone on the SiP message board, now that I’m typing this. I’m getting a memory of a thread wherein people are discussing what a SiP movie would be about. Who knows, but I watched this movie and really was blown away by everything that happens in it. I should rewatch it as I don’t recall Matthew McConaughey being in it. I remember Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Barrymore, of course, and them having a third friend, but seeing how that third friend is Mary-Louise Parker, who I loved from the West Wing and followed her to Weeds, she doesn’t look like the MLP I feel hard for from the movie poster, but she was younger then. I’m going to put a complete list on the bottom of this post so I can refer to it later of which movies I want to revisit and where they are streaming. It is streaming on Hulu, and seeing the screencap, that is clearly MLP and she looks as great as she always does. Its just not a flattering poster, which is unfortunate.
Billy Madsen, a legendary Adam Sandler movie, where he has to go through school again, all the way from Kindergarten to, I’m not sure he gets to high school before the plot runs its course. Mortal Kombat’s Bridgette Wilson (she’ll always be Sonya Blade to me), is the romantic interest in the film. Bradley Whitford, way before West Wing, is a perfect foil in it. Norm Macdonald and Steve Buscemi are in it, such a comedy classic.
The Quick and the Dead, Sam Raimi’s western starring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio. I recall watching this on a cable channel, and it not grabbing me. Probably the commercial breaks made it easy to jump out and onto something else. It is streaming on Netflix. Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Tobin Bell, Gary Sinise, and Bruce Campbell are in this?! Well, of course, Bruce Campbell is in this, I need to give this a proper go.
The Brady Bunch Movie, I’m pretty sure I only saw this once it came to TV, and I only saw it because Davy Jones of the Monkees was a guest star in it. Oh, and 90s Spider-Man voice actor, Christopher Daniel Barnes is Greg Brady in this. Did you know CDB is also Prince Eric in the Little Mermaid? Once you hear you, you won’t be able to not hear it again. Gary Cole and Shelley Long as the parents, and I was curious who was Marcia Brady and it was Christine Taylor, who you probably know as Ben Stiller’s wife, who is in a slew of his movies. Were Micky and Peter in this, they must be at the big dance at the end of the movie, I don’t recall them, Davy gets a few scenes, if I remember correctly. I also don’t remember Michael McKean, Jean Smart, or James Avery being in this, but it’s a pretty busy movie. Lots going on. I was never really into the Brady Bunch, only seeing a handful of episodes and seeing retrospectives about it.
March
Outbreak, what a movie! Starring the monkey from Friends, as that’s all I knew at the time. My wife and I just rewatched this sometime last year, and it really holds up. Such an all star cast too! Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Jr., Patrick Dempsey, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, JT Walsh in a typical JT Walsh role, but really nailing it! They really don’t make all start movies like this anymore. Probably too much money and probably not getting that much back for it.
Bye Bye Love, now here’s a movie I saw more than I probably should have. Great story for the 90s about having kids and being divorce, but I don’t think that part really landed on me. Paul Reiser, Matthew Modine, Randy Quaid, are the dads, just trying their best. It is streaming on Starz, but we don’t have that, but I recall loving the movie. One of those movies, where the kids became big name actors like Mae Whitman and Eliza Dushku. Empire Records’ Johnny Whitworth is one of the kids, and Jack Black is in this and he must have been one too. Rob Reiner is also great in this, and I’m a huge Reiner fan. Might have to track this to see if it ever streams elsewhere. Strangely, VUDU doesn’t have it. If it was cheap enough, I would throw four dollars at it.
Major Payne starring Damon Wayans, I almost saw at school, and then again on Comedy Central. I’m not sure I’m ready for it. I want to say the tape didn’t work at school, and I may have missed the first couple segments of it on TV.
Tall Tell, I recall my father buying the VHS and growing up, we tried to do family movie nights. This was the first movie that I tried to skip, as it didn’t look that good. Maybe it was just the day, but I must have watched it, with my arms crossed, daring the movie to try to entertain me. It is the story of what if Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Pecos Bill all lived in the same setting. I’m still not that familiar with Pecos Bill. I’m a huge fan of the Paul Henry story, man vs. machine, ever since I saw the documentary, The Terminator, as a young lad, its definitely been one of my huge concerns that one day, machine is going to win, and win big. Patrick Swayze is Pecos Bill, Oliver Platt is Paul Bunyan, and Roger Aaron Brown is John Henry. It is on Disney Plus, so I should see if I can get the family together to watch it. Walker D is notorious for shooting down all movie ideas, so I’m probably setting myself up for some disappointment.
Tank Girl, based on the very British comic book, I recall starting and just not connecting with it.
Tommy Boy, a Chris Farley and David Spade classic! Brian Dennehy, Bo Derek, and Rob Lowe also co-star. I don’t recall Dan Aykroyd in it, but I mostly remember Farley and Spade and how funny it is.
April
I’ve never seen Bad Boys, and have no real interest in it. I’m run cold on Martin Lawrence.
I’ve seen moments of While You Were Sleeping, and I also have seen scenes of Sleepless in Seattle, neither film was in my wheelhouse in 1995. Sleepless came out in 1993, when I was even more inclined to not watch it.
I’ve also not seen any of the Friday movies.
I’ve never seen any Children of the Damned movies.
My wife is a huge fan of the original two Escape to Witch Mountain movies, and she didn’t even know there was a remake in 1995. We didn’t care for the Rock remake in 2009.
Ooof, I didn’t see any of these April 1995 films
May
I recall starting French Kiss starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline, and not connecting to it.
I must have seen a Freaky Friday movie, I was more incline to watch the male versions of this concept of switching bodies between an adult and a child/teenager.
Die Hard with a Vengeance, here we go. My wife and I treated ourselves to the Die Hard digital collection and finally watched all five of them. Die Hard Three is probably my second favorite one, but it is definitely the one I’ve seen the most. This is my Die Hard. It has all of the charm of the first one, but on a large scale. Bruce Willis, of course, joined by Samuel L. Jackson, as they struggle against Jeremy Irons. Such a great film!
Braveheart, I’ve seen Mel Gibson’s opus. I didn’t connect to it then, and then it became a parody of itself in the media as shows had fun with the face paint and all of the yelling. So that’s Braveheart in my head. I recall it felt like a chore to watch and then it won the Oscars, and then it became one of those “Oscar movies,” that I know it deserves some respect, but I’m never going to watch it again, most likely.
Casper, starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman. With a very fun guest appearance by Dan Aykroyd. I really enjoyed this then, and the Wiki page implies there is a slew of guest stars, but I don’t recall Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, or Mel Gibson being in this. I do remember watching this in eight grade social studies, that was a fun class.
Mad Love, starring Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell. Matthew Lillard and Liv Schreiber are also in it, but I don’t recall them, but I also wasn’t invested in the film. Too chaotic, maybe? I didn’t connect to it.
June
The Bridges of Madison County. I was obsessed, OBSESSED!!!, with the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Lists of Greatest Movies and all of their spin off lists. Once I started working at NAU-Yuma, and started making actual money, I had this amazing Excel sheet, tracking all of the movies, with which movies appeared on multiple lists, and if Best Buy or Hastings had the movie for cheap, I would treat myself to the movie. So I bought Bridges of Madison County, and watched it. It was okay. I run cold on Meryl Streep, barely seeing a handful of her movies. I get it, she’s in a lot of Oscar movies, but besides this one and Doubt, I don’t think I’ve seen that many of her films. Looking at her Wiki page, as I was curious to see which ones I’ve actually seen. The Devil Wears Prada in 2006, I didn’t connect to it. I want to watch Lions for Lambs, but only because Andrew Garfield talked about how it was his first real movie role. Oh yeah, Mama Mia! I loved that movie, I still haven’t seen the second one. Fantastic Mr. Fox, if that counts. The Giver, such a great book, deserved a better movie. I do like how at one point, she realized she needed to start being in more popular films or rom coms. Probably a nice break for her. In the Woods, I didn’t care for, but I also had higher expectations going into it. Anna Kendrick’s lesser musical performances. The Last Five Years was so much better. Was she in Mary Poppins Returns? Oh yeah, she’s in Ryan Murphy’s The Prom, that movie would have been better without the celebrity angle. So yeah, those are my experiences with Meryl Streep. I should watch Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie’s Choice, but also, I’m not going to any time soon.
Congo, I recall enjoying, but not any real specifics in it. That’s the gorilla sign language movie, right? It is streaming on Starz. Great cast, Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Joey Pants (Pantoliano), and Bruce Campbell.
Batman Forever. June 16, 1995. Here we go. By 1995, we had moved from Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) to Yuma proper. I still recall sitting in our backyard, and my father asking me if I wanted to watch Batman Forever or the Power Rangers movie. In my 13 year old head, this was such a silly question, as of course, we’ll watch both movies. They are the only two films I even want to watch, and I’m pretty sure this is the first movie I saw in the theater that year, as none of the above even register as a theater movie to me. (Spoilers, I guess that Power Rangers also came out this year). Anyway, I was asked which one of the two I wanted to see, and I had to say Batman Forever, as of the two, I was (and still am) a huge Batman fan, but I secretly hoped we would watch Power Rangers, as there was a lot of hype for that first movie. I love Batman Forever, and it is even better now as we have so many live action Batman films, so its nice that in the catalogue, there’s some lighter films in there.
Do I wish Jim Carrey was less Carrey as the Riddler? Sure, do I wish that final outfit of his on the island, wasn’t so much, whatever it is? Sure. Is Val Kilmer a great Batman and an even better Bruce Wayne, heck yes! We finally got a live action Robin again, in Chris O’Donnell, who is great in the role. Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, yes please! Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar as Two-Face’s lady friends. Nicole Kidman, who has never been hotter than she was in this movie. People will tell you other films, but this is prime Kidman for me. Never been better. Well, until I saw Paddington, and I was like, where has this Kidman been this whole time? I like her in Moulin Rouge, but in terms of pure attraction, this is it for me. I’m not sure why I’m trying to win this argument. This is also my first Kidman exposure, so that probably plays a factor into all of this.
Pocahontas, we must have seen this in theaters, but I’ve definitely seen this. I do like learning how Christian Bale was the voice of Tom in it, a slight consolation prize for being in Disney’s Newsies, is how I’m sure he viewed it. He had a Disney contract, and made the most of it. A pretty fun movie. I still get the words, Savages Savages, stuck in my head to this day.
I’ve yet to see any Leprechaun movies, even the one with Jennifer Aniston.
Apollo 13. We probably didn’t watch this in the theater, but I must have saw it on HBO or one of the other movie channels, as I saw this movie a bunch. I love me some Kevin Bacon and Gary Sinise is in this, who I also love. Ron Howard directing, of course starring Tom Hanks and a slew of actors. An all star studded cast! Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, Mumford’s Loren Dean (not sure why he doesn’t get more roles), Clint Howard of course, and Roger Corman is in this. Wiki says Bryce Dallas Howard is in this, she must be one of the daugthers? Such a great movie, it really captured my attention and imagination, and it is a long movie, but I would watch it now. Its on Peacock but behind a paywall that we refuse to pay for, we have too many subscriptions, but apparently, not enough. One day I’ll watch the rest of the Saved by the Bell reboot.
Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone, I recall really enjoying. It wasn’t until years later, when I learned that Dredd never takes off his helmet, and looking at, Stallone is constantly taking his helmet. Which always bugs me in these superhero movies when the hero has to go maskless for so much of it, just because the studio paid millions of dollars for that face, they’re going to get their money’s worth. Probably why Marvel Studios has so many of their heroes not even wear masks, as why bother working in damaging the suit, just to get to the part where they take off the mask. I don’t recall much of this film and seeing the cast list doesn’t trick any real memories. I recall Rob Schneider trying too hard in this. I don’t recall Diane Lane or James Earl Jones being in this. I haven’t seen the newer Dredd film, but I heard good things.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers : The Movie. We did end up seeing this in the theater. I recall thinking it was essential viewing, as how else will the show explain the change of powers and Zords? They are going to have to put words on the screen, “hey kids, hope you watch the movie, as here we go!” They didn’t have to do that as the show made up its own origins, making the movie’s continuity extremely questionable. Not sure why they went with that direction as it just means the movie itself was a 15 million dollar commercial for the show, which I reckon it was going to be that, but it made 66.4 million back, so that’s why we got at least a second movie out of it. Movie takes place between seasons two and three of the series.
Besides putting Amy Jo Johnson more into the hearts of young boys everywhere, the movie’s real legacy was Trouble by Shampoo. It doesn’t even take much to put this song in my head, just the word, Trouble, would do it, and also, Uh Oh, is all it takes, then I’ll be there singing the first two lines of the chorus. There was a Behind the Scenes special on Fox and they kept hyping the music video for the official song from the movie and I was blown away with how catchy the song is. Is it super cheesy and embarrassing to enjoy, a guilty pleasure, if you would? Yes, but does it bring a smile to my face when it plays on my iPhone when I’m shuffling songs? Heck yeah!
But that confusion and disappointment when that third season started, and I was like, why are they telling a different story? That is pretty real. Great cliffhanger from season two to three, that was a long wait and it was in prime time, so that made it feel special too.
July
Species, I was definitely too young to fully appreciate it. I remember, like most people, being blown away by how attractive Natasha Henstridge is in it, and the scares were scary, but being lost by the plot.
The Indian in the Cupboard, I must have saw, but we watched it a few years back and it felt like the first time. A concept that would have really overrun my imagination if I had committed to it more. Such a great story idea.
Under Siege 2 : Dark Territory, I must have seen this, or at least, the set pieces. Steven Seagal on a train, doing Steven Seagal action stuff. I don’t think I took to either Under Siege movie. Now, Executive Decision, I liked that one.
Clueless, the movie that gave us Paul Rudd! Also set up Alicia Silverstone for many years! Such a great movie! Donald Faison and Breckin Meyer too. Dan Hedaya and Brittany Murphy. Is Wallace Shawn in this, he must be one of the teachers. It is streaming on HBO Max. Be fun to revisit it.
Free Willy 2 : The Adventure Home, I remember it not being as good as the first one, but how could it be? They made several Free Willy movies, four total and a TV series I didn’t know about. Jason James Richter is in all three, then the tv series is actually an animated series, ran for two seasons, and then there was a roboot in 2010, with Bindi Irwin, in her film debut, and Beau Bridges. My favorite Bridges brother.
Kids. Ooof, this movie! I’ve seen it once, that scene with Chloe Sevigny, that’s as many times as you should watch this movie. Rosario Dawson is in this too, but I only remember Sevigny in it. Googling “Kids Movie Streaming” is not the way to get an answer.
The Net, starring Sandra Bullock. I was thinking about this movie the other week, with how dated I’m sure it must be, and how the dangers of the film, we just take for granted now.
Operation Dumbo Drop was advertised on the back of many of my comic books for a while, but I never saw it, or heard much about it.
Waterworld, I’ve seen once, and I didn’t connect to it at all.
August
I may have saw Babe in school, but I remember much of it.
Something to Talk About, I haven’t seen it fully, my wife is a huge fan of this Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid rom com. It was on TV a couple times and we watched it from whatever that scene was to the end, so I’ve seen the last half of it a couple times.
Virtuosity, Denzel Washington v Russell Crowe, one of them is a robot, or something? I’m remembering the final action sequence pretty clearly, so I wonder if I saw the last 30 minutes before watching whatever movie came on afterward.
Dangerous Minds, starring the amazing Michelle Pfeiffer. I do love me a high school teacher trying to change the school movie. Well, until Hilary Swank’s 2007 Freedom Writers, sort of killed all of my enthusiasm for the genre. When we’re watching one of these movies and we’re following the teacher and her one class, are we supposed to be under the impression that the teacher is applying the same thought and energy to the rest of the classes that they teach? Or is this a special class and the rest, the teacher is simply going through the motions with? Especially these high school movies, where we know they are teaching at least four other classes. Anyway, that’s a thought and question I didn’t have until Freedom Writers, and now it makes me apply that question to every movie in the genre.
Dangerous Minds has that great Dylan vs. Dylan discussion of Bob Dylan or Dylan Thomas, who I’m still not that familiar with Thomas’ work outside of what is referenced in the film.
Mortal Kombat, no wonder I associate Bridgette Wilson so much, it came out in the same year as Billy Madsen. What a one two punch for Wilson! Not a bad movie, the first one and the remake are pretty good. Christopher Lambert also had a good year, as Rayden.
Desperado, directed and written by Robert Rodriguez. Starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. I remember the set pieces and being blown away by Salma Hayek. Clearly I was 13 and going through some things. I don’t remember Steve Buscemi being in this, or Quentin Tarantino. Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo, I can place in it.
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, I recall watching on TV, Tim Daly turns into Sean Yong. That’s pretty much all I remember, and how hard women really do have it. Harvey Fierstein and Jeremy Piven are also in this, apparently.
Lord of Illusions, Clive Baker wrote and directed it. Scott Bakula is in it, it was advertised on the back cover of most of my comics for what felt like forever, but I never saw it. It might be streaming on Tubi, but Google has misled me before with Tubi.
September
To Wong Fo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, I have always been a fan of the title of this movie, but never had an opportunity to watch t. It isn’t streaming anywhere, which seems odd in today’s culture. Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and Johnny Leggs (John Leguizamo), as drag queens on a road trip? How is this not on at least two streaming services?! Apparently Stockard Channing is in this too! RuPaul and Robin Williams?!
Truman, I remember being super excited to watch this on HBO. Gary Sinise as one of my favorite presidents, yes please. I want to say the movie was pretty good, broad strokes but it was a movie and not a miniseries. Based off, of course, David McCullough’s biography. From humble beginnings to President of the United States. What a story!
I must have seen Angelina Jolie’s Hackers, or I may be getting it confused with 1992’s Sneakers. Looking at Sneakers’ Wiki, one looks like a comedy and the other is a very dated moody film about hackers. I probably seen it the one time and it didn’t leave much of an impression. Jonny Lee Miller, Lorraine Bracco, and Matthew Lillard are in it? It might be free on YouTube.
It is free on YouTube!
Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects. Definitely did not see this in theaters, but definitely worn out a DVD of this movie, such a legendary film! Worthy of multiple rewatches. Amazing cast too! Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Laminteri, Kevin Pollack, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacy, and Dan Hedaya. Is Giancarlo Esposito and Clark Gregg in it? Oh, Esposito is one of the detectives. Gregg is one of the doctors.
Empire Records, another one I definitely did not see in theaters, but once made available to me, I watched so many times! Wait, so Bye Bye Love and Empire Records came out in the same year, so he must be one of the teenaged characters. Heck, they could all be teenagers, but fresh face, so they look younger in my mind’s eye. Empire Records, such a classic film and one of my favorites! Dman the man, save the Empire! Which is opened until midnight. Midnight! So many quotable lines! This past Rex Manning Day, April 8, I treated myself to the soundtrack and whenever a song I don’t recognize comes on, its almost always from Empire Records.
Seven, I’m starting to see why WAYW is covering 1995, so many legendary films! David Fincher directed, starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey having quite the year! Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, Richard Roundtree, a young Richard Schiff, and John C. McGinley are all in it. Another movie that gets better with multiple viewings. What’s in the box?! WHAT’S IN THE BOX?! So great.
Showgirls, starring Elizabeth Berkely, not as bad as people want you to believe it is. Plus, Elizabeth Berkely. Kyle MacLachlan (Hello, Captain!), Gina Gershon, and Robert Davi are in it too. This was definitely something I watched on HBO.
Just in time to kick off October, Halloween : The Curse of Michael Myers, the sixth movie in the franchise. I’m on record 5 and 6 are my favorite of the Halloween sequels, we really get into the character of Myers with these. Donald Pleasence is the detective, and Paul Rudd is in this too! Wow, Rudd really does not age, or if he does, its for the better!
October
Assassins, starring Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas, trying to kill each other. I had no idea this was a Richard Donner movie, nor that the Wachowskis wrote it! It is streaming on HBO Max. I recall a scene in the shower. Julianne Moore is in it too!
Strange Days, definitely a movie I did not appreciate until later in life. I watched it as Juliette Lewis is in it, but the cast is pretty amazing. Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Tom Sizemore, Vincent D’Onofrio, William Fichtner. A future movie (of 1999) and lots of drugs and even more plot that I could not follow for the life of me. Kathryn Bigelow directed, with a screenplay co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks.
Get Shorty, I watched once, remember it being fun, that’s about it. Big cast too! It was all a rage. John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, and John Gries. A gangster movie set in Hollywood.
Mallrats, here we go! Another film where, once it was in my hands, I absorbed it fully! I should have been keeping track of my favorite films of 1995, as I’m sure I can easily create a Top Ten list. You’ll find it on the bottom of this list. Kevin Smith’s second film with such a great cast! Jason Lee, Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Mewes, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Renee Humphrey, Ethan Suplee, Michael Rooker, Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Brian O’Halloran, Stan Lee, and Scott Mosier! A day at the mall, well spent!
Now and Then was a movie that I wanted to watch back in the day, follow a group of girls at one point in their live, then we skip 15 years, and they’re all grown up. Still can’t as it isn’t streaming anywhere. Well dang. Fun to see who was supposed to grow into who :
Gaby Hoffmann into Demi Moore (sort of maybe did?)
Christina Ricci into Rosie O’Donnell
Ashleigh Aston Moore into Rita Wilson
Thora Birch into Melanie Griffith, again, sort of did?
Two out of four, not too bad.
Bonnie Hunt is in this?!
Doom Generation, I watched because of Rose McGowan, and this is another trippy drug induced movie with a lot of plot my younger self did not follow that closely. Though I was probably a tad older when I watched it.
Leaving Las Vegas, I need to watch, but it isn’t streaming anywhere. This movie earned Nicolas Cage is Oscar. Elisabeth Shue is in it as well, as is Steven Weber, Emily Procter, French Stewart, R. Lee Ermey, having an amazing year, and Mariska Hargitay.
Mighty Aphrodite, which earned Mira Sorvino her Oscar, written and directed by Woody Allen. Not streaming anywhere but I was part of the camp that thought Mira Sorvino would have made an amazing Katchoo in Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise movie. Along with Jennifer Connelly as Francine. Imagine the universe that got that movie?! I know I do.
Powder, a young genius pale boy, with superpowers. I saw it once and really enjoyed it back in the day. Then in 1996, John Travolta made Phenomenon, which in my mind, was like the adult Powder. But maybe they are nothing alike?! Powder stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Mary Steenburgen, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum, and Ray Wise.
November
Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls, so Jim Carrey had an incredible movie this year and a sequel to Ace Ventura. I wonder if I saw this one in the theater? This is the movie that made me realize that the Batcave would have to be covered in bat poop. Poor Alfred, that must have been a terrible day when he realized he couldn’t just let the poop be.
The American President. We got three West Wing actors all having movies out before the show launched in 1999. This is Martin Sheen’s film and a lot of sets for this movie were later used to make West Wing. This movie is written by Aaron Sorkin, and directed by my boy, Rob Reiner. Michael Douglas is the President, and he’s trying to date Annette Bening. Sheen and Michael J. Fox are on Douglas’ staff. This is also streaming on Starz, which is a shame as I wouldn’t mind rewatching it again. John Mahoney, Richard Dreyfuss, Wendie Malick, and of course, Joshua Malina are in it. Wiki states Samantha Mathis is in this, but I don’t remember her in it. I Googled “Samantha Mathis American President,” and got no image results from the movie.
GoldenEye, now I definitely saw this in the theater. This was my first big screen James Bond movie, which is probably why I always consider Pierce Brosnan my James Bond. Such a fun movie and great performance by Brosnan. Is it my favorite Bond film of his, I believe so. Do they get less good with each one? Probably, I’ll have to rewatch them and see. Amazon Prime has GoldenEye, and the rest of his are behind paywalls, so dumb. Sean Bean is 006, which is fun to get more lore of who are these numbers. Famke Janssen and Alan Cumming are in it, and I rewatched this right before X-Men 2 came out, just to see them in their first film but they were united. Mutants United. Judi Dench as M. Is Minnie Driver in this, I don’t remember her being in it. Oh, she’s the singer. I have to rewatch this as the screencap is familiar but I have no memory of the context.
It Takes Two, starring the Olsen Twins, Kirstie Alley, and Steve Guttenberg. More like Greatenberg, am I right? A take on the classic Parent Trap, but with a Prince and the Pauper twist to it. You have to suspend your disbelief that two girls unrelated to each other, look exactly like each other, but that’s an Olsen twin movie for you. When they are not playing sisters.
Casino, WAYW is going to talk about this movie a bunch, but I barely recall watching it. I need to rewatch it, but it isn’t streaming anywhere. Martin Scorsese opus, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Kevin Pollock. I mostly remember it coming in two VHS tapes and that being very intimidating.
Toy Story comes out, and wins the hearts of everybody who saw it! Such an amazing film and the films get better with each one, until the fourth one. I’m mostly kidding, but the story should have stopped at 3.
December
Sense and Sensibility, I probably saw the one time. Ang Lee directed it, so I probably watched it as his Hulk was coming out in 2003. Great cast, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant. A couple years ago, I gave Hugh Grant a fair shake and saw as many movies of his as I could that were streaming, and I quickly got on board the Hugh Grant train. Grant it, pun very intended!, I was way late, but he has a great body of work. Very enjoyable.
Heat, the movie that kicked off this whole thing!
Alex and Nick reviewed Heat, I bought it five dollars through VUDU, it was the Director’s Definitive edition, and I’m like an hour into it. They end the episode stating they will review 1995 next and here we are.
Heat is Michael Mann’s cops and robbers opus. Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, John Voight, star of Anaconda. Hank Azaria, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, a young Natalie Portman, Kevin Gage, and Danny Trejo. Such a perfect film!
Jumanji, we just watched this a month ago, Walker was really into it, and I’ve caught him watching it a few times since then. Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt, most likely the first film I saw of hers and immediately fell in love. A very young Kirsten Dunst. David Alan Grier is also in it.
Sabrina, oh gosh, I completely forgot about this film! I’m not sure what made me take a chance on this movie, but once I saw it, I immediately bought the VHS, and watched it so many times. It wasn’t until years later, I learned it was a remake of a 1954 film. The remake is directed by Sydney Pollack, and it starts Julia Ormond, who is initially attracted to the fun brother, Greg Kinnear, and then slowly becomes fond of the older, more mature, Harrison Ford. It is streaming on Paramount Plus and I should rewatch it, as it has been years. Harrison Ford is so good in it!
I’m pretty sure I saw Mel Brooks’ Dracula : Dead and Loving It, or at the very least, I started it. I may have noped out as I wasn’t in the mood for outlandish comedy. Leslie Nielsen as dragon, Steven Weber is in it as well.
Grumpier Old Men, is a title I love and I wish more sequels were bold enough to add an -er to their original title for the sequel. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are back at it and their grumpier than ever! I saw this in high school and it was pretty fun. Kevin Pollak and Daryl Hannah are also in it with Burgess Meredith.
12 Monkeys, I started and didn’t connect with. Too out there and I wasn’t ready for it.
I need to watch Mr. Holland’s Opus. It doesn’t appear to be streaming anywhere.
Well, that’s 1995 and my opinions of the majority of the films from the year!
I have no idea how WAYW is going to cover this massive year in one movie, they are going to have to either give one sentence opinions or just narrow it down to ten films each. I’ll do a follow up post about which movies they highlight.
Sorry I haven’t written anything for half the year. I tried to turn the blog into a PlayStation / Video Game blog, which I would admit that was a pretty giant pivot. Those posts were not as popular as the comic book ones, and since I’m sort of out of the comic book buying game, but way into video games, I thought I could make a transition. Which leaves me in a lurch of what to write about.
I do think about the blog quite a bit, but can’t really think of anything to really write that wouldn’t be a few sentences.
My son, Walker Dennis, and I have committed to making our YouTube channel something to be proud of :
We have 34 subscribers and I made an entire series of Fall Guys videos as I successfully completed the battle pass. So those work as a bit of a podcast with a guided hand. I am way into Fortnite now, and getting better at it. Those videos seem to be going over very well. So if you want regular content, that’s where I am these days.
I also do not like WordPress’ new format for creating posts, I know there was a way to revert it back to Classic mode, but I’m failing to find that now.
So that is what I have been up to these past few months. If you, dear reader, would not mind subscribing, we could definitely use more subscribers.
Seriously though, thank you all that still come to the site and read the old posts, it really does make me so happy that so many are still coming around and finding posts to enjoy.
At 14,231 views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.
At 2,072 views – our most popular comic review is still Avengers 51.
Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views
Best Views Ever : December 31, 2017 with 412.
I’m still a tad obsess with getting my visitors from countries with nine views to ten views so if you know anyone in Syria, Cape Verde, Guyana, Mozambique, Laos, and Papua New Guinea, please encourage them to check out the blog! Though we have been sitting on nine visitors from Guyana, Laos, and Cape Verde for a few years now. We finally got our 10th visitor from Fiji, so thank you that lovely individual!
Once Fall Guys Season Five starts, some time around July 12, I should be back to making daily podcast / gameplay videos. I will try to think of some fun posts or maybe just try to do some posts that are only a few sentences. I really want to avoid just linking to YouTube videos, as I feel weird about the self promotion, but maybe I need to get over that to be successful.
Thank you so much for coming to the blog, either if it is your first time or if you are a loyal reader, I really really do appreciate it.
I can’t believe I started this blog seven years ago! Seems like ages ago my wife was visiting friends in San Francisco, and I had a lot of time on my hands and needed a break from Fallout 3. We have come a long way from strictly comic book reviews and doing more PlayStation focus posts. I really wish I had a comic book store that was local, but I also have boxes and boxes of back issues that I could be reviewing too. I just barely have time these days to even game for an hour some nights. Being an adult is not all it is cracked up to be. But enough of the woes, let us get to the fun!
At 8,168 views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.
At 1,964 views – our most popular comic review is still Avengers 51.
Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views
I’m still a tad obsess with getting my visitors from countries with nine views to ten views so if you know anyone in Guyana, Laos, Cape Verde, and Fiji, please encourage them to check out the blog! I say that but apparently I have not earn any views from Cape Verde, Guyana, Laos, and Fiji, in over a year. Well, dang it!
I did get additional visitors from Mauritius (10), Cuba (10), and Uzbekistan (12), so that’s nice!
Once again, thank you, all of the visitors who have made all of this possible – I wouldn’t keep doing this if it wasn’t for the constant encouragement of visitors. Thank you.
Thank you again for everyone who has come to the blog, even with the lack of reviews of current comics. People still do seem to be coming for older reviews, but I appreciate that the video game posts have been getting some love too as that’s mostly all I can write about until I get inspired to tackle a different topic.
Man, oh man! I am the absolute worst! Every other year, I’m way off with my own blog’s birthday! This is by far the worst amount of time to have passed. I had the thought a month ago but then I forgot about it as I went up the stairs and now I remembered it, but this time, while in front of the computer.
At 6,702 views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.
At 1,849 views – our most popular comic review is still Avengers 51.
Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views
I’m still a tad obsess with getting my visitors from countries with nine views to ten views so if you know anyone in Cape Verde, Guyana, Laos (still!), plus new countries : Yemen, Mauritius, Cuba, Fiji, and Uzbekistan.
Once again, thank you, all of the visitors who have made all of this possible – I wouldn’t keep doing this if it wasn’t for the constant encouragement of visitors. Thank you.
Thank you again for everyone who has come to the blog, even with the lack of reviews of current comics. People still do seem to be coming for older reviews but I appreciate that the video game posts have been getting love too as that’s mostly all I can write about until I get inspired to tackle a different topic.
I was joking the other day about how much sleep Gwyneth Paltrow got during her conscious coupling to Chris Martin. I’m simply not a fan of Coldplay. Do they offer sleeping bags at their live concerts or do you have to bring your own? I was joking about how she probably respected him as an artist and chose to never listen to his music, in fear that it wasn’t good and she would have to live her days pretending to like it. But from occasion, she would hear this lovely sound that worked as a nice white noise machine and she would sleep and sleep.
Coldplay tried to trick me into liking them with that Superhero song of theirs that they teamed up with Chainsmokers to create “Something Like This.” At first, I enjoyed all the superhero references but there was this nagging suspicion that something wasn’t right. Especially as I was getting sleepy as I was driving and I figured out that it must be Coldplay but with an undercurrent of something else.
I’ve been tempted to start a Coldplay channel on Pandora and just downvote only Coldplay songs, but I doubt that would translate to my other Pandora channels.
From there, I started taking Paltrow for granted, saying how she was only really amazing in Duets, a film I really really enjoy. She was also great in Bounce and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Within that same moment, I remembered she was in Se7en and got “what’s in the box?” stuck in my head for a while after that. Ironically so.
She’s really been in some amazing films and I did a deep dive into her career to see if she’s usually great or am I just allowing her early films to set a tone for her that she doesn’t even adhere to.
Here is the link to her Wikipedia page, if you want to follow along.
She’s Young Wendy in Hook. Good film, it is mostly a piece of trivia as she’s not really doing much in it besides one scene, right?
Seven, great film! She’s quiet in it and almost forgettable.
I want to watch Pallbearer, as I sort of like David Schwimmer and I am still confused why he didn’t get more work after Kissing a Fool. Such a great film and he plays against type in it so that should have shown his range. He must have been so confused after that film came out and didn’t get more roles like that. Shame Jason Lee doesn’t work more these days too. I get that actors peak and then find roles that they want to do but I want more Jason Lee in my life. Did Mili Avital ever do anything else? She’s literally just the girl in that film, the object of desire but I liked what she did with what she had to work with. Some Law and Order episodes, that’s a shame but what I expected to see.
Back to Paltrow.
Emma, a film I haven’t seen but like Great Expectations, starts forming this picture I have of her of being in artsy films I have no interest in. I recall watching Great Expectations with my arms crossed, demanding the film entertain me. Which is no way to watch a movie. I also was not entertained and meant to read the book but never got around to it.
In-between those films, she did Sliding Doors. A film that I felt lost during but came back around to it a few years ago and it really stands out. Big Love’s Jeanne Tripplehorn is in it and that was fun to discover. That film does a lot with its 99 minutes. Maybe I came to it a few minutes in on HBO or something and missed the crucial set up. It is a great concept for a movie and it moves too.
Shakespeare in Love, which I enjoyed at the time. She’s good in it. I recall mostly watching it just for Ben Affleck as I’m still a pretty big fan of his. I should watch it again as most of that cast is amazing. I didn’t even know Colin Firth was in it. Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, and Tom Wilkinson (what does he do between this film and Batman Begins?). Rupertr Everett is in it too, whatever happened to him? Dame Judi Dench is in it as well though I never quite was impress with her like I’m supposed to be. Her legend is based off of her stage work, right? She hasn’t really done many films that I’ve seen. She’s good as M in those James Bond films and I’m glad they carried her over from the Brosnan films to the Craig films.
I should watch Chocolat (especially after I Love You Man, I just never got around to it), Iris has Kate Winslet in it. Notes on a Scandal is one of the first films I recall her being in that was not Bond related. A trailer that was pretty good in regards to telling me I wouldn’t want to watch it. Yep, those are the films. I guess I view her as the British Meryl Streep, she does films that just don’t either appeal to me or cross over into my sphere, so I never even hear of them.
Wilkinson does Rush Hour and Shakespeare in Love in 1998. Ride with the Devil, a fun western film with Tobey Maguire and Jewel (why she doesn’t act more, is beyond me) by Ang Lee. I should watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I like that cast, I just never got around to it. Then he’s in Batman Begins.
Everett wins all of our hearts with My Best Friend’s Wedding, so now I’m going to have “Say a Little Prayer For You” stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Sometimes these deep dives have consequences. He commits career suicide with Inspector Gadget. I attempted A Midsummer Night’s Dream and has started doing voice work which makes sense, he has a good voice. So yeah, Inspector Gadget buried him, which didn’t necessarily happened to Matthew Broderick. Hey, Michelle Trachtenberg was Penny in that film, she escaped it. Though Broderick has paid his dues and his kids needed to go to college so he shouldn’t be punished for doing a money film.
Thanks to Musicloverslove for hosting that video, oh and you are welcome.
I chose Affleck over Matt Damon so I didn’t watch Talented Mr. Ripley. I like to pick sides.
2000 is the year I start really liking her. She is in Bounce with Affleck and she steals my heart in Duets. Well, that entire movie steals my heart. Duets and Mumford, are two films that I’ve probably seen the most.
Her father, Bruce Paltrow, directed Duets.
She’s in The Anniversary Party which is really Alan Cummings and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s film as they produced, directed, wrote, and star in it. There is a slew of actors in the film so it is pretty great if you like to play the Kevin Bacon Separation game.
If you are curious, her Bacon Number is 2, she’s in Mortdecai with Johnny Depp and he’s in Black Mass with Kevin Bacon. Two films I have yet to see. I didn’t even know Bacon was in Black Mass.
I saw Shallow Hal, and that might be the film that soured me on Jack Black. He wasn’t the guaranteed good time after that film. It also isn’t very good.
I definitely don’t see every Wes Anderson film (not sure why not) so I have yet to watch Royal Tenenbaums. I like the casts of his films, so I’m not sure why I don’t seek them out more. I want to see Bottle Rocket as I’m a huge Luke Wilson fan. I saw Rushmore and didn’t get the big deal about it. I seemed to be the only one in my circle who liked Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, well me and my friend, Jay. I didn’t care for Fantastic Mr. Fox, we rented it and it was the third movie of the weekend so maybe I was just burned out. I wanted to watch Moonrise Kingdom.
She has a cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember, but I don’t recall her at all.
So I start losing track of her around 2002. I thought about watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, though I’ve never been a big fan of Jude Law or Angelina Jolie. I was under the impression I wasn’t a big Paltrow fan too, so triple whammy but it looks like I’ve enjoyed the bulk of her films, thus far.
I had no interest in View from the Top.
I hadn’t heard of Possession but it has Aaron Eckhart so I should at least see if it is available.
I type all of that but I’m not watching any movie any time soon.
I keep having this memory of a commentary track where she makes a joke about who Brad Pitt was dating and she said she doesn’t know but she knows she was 1994 to 1997, and she said the dates real fast. It was pretty funny. Maybe it was an interview as I just Googled “Gwyneth Paltrow commentary track” and didn’t get any hits on the first three pages.
I haven’t heard of Sylvia and it doesn’t sound like a film I would be into.
I skipped three films of her earlier work. Hard Eight, I haven’t heard of. It has John C. Reilly and Samuel L. Jackson in it. I haven’t heard of Hush. She was in a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, A Perfect Murder. That film has Michael Douglas and Viggo Mortensen so no rush to see that one either.
I hadn’t heard of Proof but it has Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hope Davis in it. I’ll watch any film with Hope Davis! I just haven’t seen enough of her films. Such an amazing actress.
She was in Infamous, the other Capote film of 2006. Toby Jones is Capote and the film has Hope Davis, these two would appear in Wayward Pines a decade later. Sandra Bullock and Daniel Craig are in it along with Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver. I’ll add it to the list.
Running with Scissors is a film I wanted to watch as the story sounded very interesting. She reteams with Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love. Brian Cox and Alec Baldwin are in it. So is Patrick Wilson, and there was a time I was watching all of his films, then he exploded on the scene and now it is hard to keep up. Gabrielle Union is in it and I like her, though I don’t see nearly enough of her films. Kirstin Chenoweth I can take or leave.
Her brother wrote and directed The Good Night, which I also hadn’t heard of. Good cast though with Martin Freeman, Danny DeVito and Simon Pegg. Penelope Cruz is in it as well but I don’t have any real connection with her.
2008 gives us Paltrow as Pepper Potts in Iron Man. There is that great quote, that I can’t find right now, about Robert Downey Jr. convincing her to be in Iron Man so that she can be in movies people actually want to watch. I’m sure if I can find the proper quote, I could search for it easier. I found a slew of quotes about him saying Paltrow and Jon Favreau will be in Avengers 4.
She was in Two Lovers with Joaquin Phoenix and Elias Koteas, in what I can only imagine in a small role. Though from the Wikipedia page, it looks like he’s pretty involved in the final act. I should seek this out too, though Joaquin doesn’t do much for me since Quills.
Iron Man 2, she’s also good in.
I was tempted to see Country Strong, her third film where she sings in after Duets and Infamous. Tim McGraw with no hat on. Tobey Maguire co-produced the film as his daughter’s nanny wrote and directed the film. Trivia!
I recall the advertising for Contagion, a film my mother would love, I’m sure, as she’s a real nut for disaster films. The film has a stellar cast – Marion Cotillard, who I have to see more films of hers, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Elliot Gould, Bryan Cranston, and Demetri Martin! What?! This reminds me that I wanted to watch Taking Woodstock, which was directed by Ang Lee, that guy is pretty well rounded.
I haven’t heard of Thanks for Sharing, but it has Pink in it so my wife will be interested in that. The film also stars Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, and Josh Gad. I guess Paltrow has started making smaller films or I’m even more out of touch with films than I thought I was.
She was great, of course, in The Avengers and Iron Man 3.
At least she had more to do in Iron Man 3.
Mortdecai seemed like a joke of a film and then it got lousy reviews but what else was it going to be? A sleeper hit? It does feature Ewan McGregor and Olivia Munn, two people I enjoy watching. Paul Bettany and Jeff Goldblum too.
Her appearing in Spider-Man Homecoming was a very nice surprised. I’m glad she came back to the franchise. Hopefully she’s here to stay or at least, gets a nice payday for a few hours work.
According to Wikipedia, she is slated to be in Infinity War and Avengers 4(Ever? Maybe?) That seems to be the popular theory. Time Travel or Fantastic Four related, which would be spectacular!
. . .
Television wise, she’s hosting Saturday Night Live once with Ceeloo Green for Season 36 Episode 12. My Nintendos! Apparently she has been on four other episodes, probably friends of those hosts.
She did a voice on the Clerks Animated Series, which seems familiar.
She was on five episodes of Glee, as Holly Holliday, which I think I saw one of those episodes. I really had to stop with that show once Rachel and Kurt kept flying (or driving?) back from New York to Ohio and I looked it up and there is no way college students can afford that trip as often as they did it. It is ten hours one way, so they will show up in Ohio for two scenes, be back in New York by night time, during the same day. It was beyond belief! Plus, screw those two coming back and not leaving the show. Argh! I’m over it.
For those interested, Season 2, Episodes 7 (The Substitute), 15 (Sexy), & 17 (A Night of Neglect), and Season Five, Episodes 12 (100) & 13 (New Directions).
She’s friends with Ryan Murphy and he thought she should showcase her singing prior to Country Strong coming out.
Thanks to vinsanity70 for hosting the entire episode!
She was on The Marriage Ref, a show my wife and I really enjoyed. She was on the episode with Jerry Seinfeld and Greg Giraldo. Tom Papa was great as the host too. Season Two wasn’t as good though.
Thanks to George R. Whitaker for hosting the entire episode of this series!
Her episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was nice too.
. . .
She has won so many awards and nominated for even more that she has her own Awards Wikipedia page!
Thanks to the Oscars for hosting their own video! Not bad getting the award from Jack Nicholson.
So she’s an Best Actress Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love, for her role as Viola De Lesseps, which I don’t think usually precedes her name, for whatever reason. It isn’t like there is a time limit on how long one can use that. It isn’t also like her career took a twist like poor Cuba Gooding Jr. either. She also won a Golden Globe for that role. She was nominated for her role in Proof for another Golden Globe.
For the Oscar, she beat out Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth, Fernanda Montenegro for Central Station, Maryl Streep for One True Thing, and Emily Watson in Hilary and Jackie. Count Blanchett as another actress I’m not drawn towards. Those are four films I also never heard of. I know Watson from Equilibrium and I’m probably one of a handful of people who kept getting Emily Watson and Emma Watson confused, always thinking Emily was doing very well for herself, getting all types of roles and attention but it was Emma.
Shakespeare in Love won the most awards at the 71st Academy Awards with seven. Tough competition against Saving Private Ryan. 1998 was a good year for films. Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture, Steven Spielberg won Best Director for Saving Private Ryan, Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard won for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Stephen Warbeck won Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Ron Judkins won Best Sound for Saving Private Ryan. Martin Childs won Best Art Direction and Jill Quertier won Best Set Decoration for Shakespeare in Love. Janusz Kaminski won Best Cinematography for Saving Private Ryan. Sandy Powell won Best Costume Design for Shakespeare in Love. Lastly, Michael Kahn won Best Film Editing for Saving Private Ryan. Poor Joseph Fiennes wasn’t even nominated for Best Actor and Geoffrey Rush was at least nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Montenegro is a Brazilian actress, who I’ve ever only seen in Love in the Time of Cholera.
Thanks to AwardsShowNetwork for hosting this video. Getting the award from Tim Robbins isn’t too bad. He was in Howard the Duck and Antitrust! Two fun guilty pleasure films. Of course, with Shawshank Redemption and Bull Durham, one can afford to have a little fun later in his career. And earlier, he’s in the pilot episode of Moonlighting too!
Tad awkward with the thanks to the Weinsteins, but that’ll be true for an entire decade of awards though.
The Golden Globe win is a tad more impressive as it is in Musical or Comedy and I’ve seen more of those films. She beat out Cameron Diaz from There’s Something About Mary, Jane Horrocks in Little Voice, Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex and Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. I’ve attempted Opposite of Sex and it didn’t grab me. I passed on You’ve Got Mail as I barely watched Sleepless in Seattle. I’ve never even heard of Little Voice nor Jane Horrocks until right now. She was in The Witches and Memphis Belle, so I’ve seen two of her films.
Shakespeare in Love also won Best Film – Musical or Comedy. I can’t believe Patch Adams was nominated, I hate that movie so much! Bulworth, Mask of Zorro and There’s Something About Mary are pretty great. People don’t seem to talk about Bulworth enough, except for how it introduced people to Halle Berry. A British film, Still Crazy, was also nominated.
It also won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay over Bulworth, Happiness, Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show. Storywise, Truman Show got robbed! At least Truman Show earned Jim Carrey Best Actor – Drama, it won Best Music, Original Score by Burkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass. Ed Harris won Best Supporting Actor.
Michael Caine won Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for his role in Little Voice, maybe I should try to watch that movie.
Paltrow lost her second chance at a Golden Globe in 2006 to Felicity Huffman in Transamerica. That year, Maria Bello was nominated for A History of Violence, Charlize Theron for North Country and Ziyi Zhang for Memoris of a Geisha. I have only seen A History of Violence out of those five and Bello should have won as she’s amazing in that film. Funny enough, Dench would love to Reese Witherspoon so both Paltrow and Dench were nominated the same years twice, and both won their awards and lost awards together eight years later. Dench was in Mrs. Henderson Presents and Witherspoon was in Walk the Line, two more films I haven’t seen. I’ll be tempted by Walk the Line.
I didn’t know John Williams did the score for Memoirs of a Geisha, he won Best Original Score. Walk the Line won several awards that year as did Brokeback Mountain. 2006 was also the year I started dating my wife as I watched Capote and Brokeback Mountain with her, on the same day so that we could enjoy the Oscars later that day.
George Clooney won Supporting Actor for his role in Syriana, the first Batman to win a major award. Christian Bale would eventually win an Oscar for The Fighter, so Clooney isn’t alone anymore.
Thanks to rp58641 for hosting this video. Allison Brie looks amazing, as always!
In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Glee. Apparently Wikipedia keeps these awards under the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and not the Primetime Emmy Award, took me some doing to locate her win at the 63rd Emmys. She was officially nominated for the Substitute episode of Glee. She beat out Elizabeth Banks from 30 Rock, Kristin Chenoweth, also on Glee, Tina Fey from various characters on SNL (lame?), Dot-Marie Jone also from Glee and Cloris Leachman from Raising Hope. There was a time when Glee was pretty beloved.
For her Oustanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 5th Screen Actors Guide Awards, she beat out the same group from the Oscars – which makes sense – but instead of Montenegro, they swapped in her Golden Globe competitor, Jane Horrocks.
Sort of cool to be fifth person to win an award. Jodie Foster won the first one for Nell – a film I still think about from time to time when Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson have to figure out exactly why Nell talks the way she does. After that, it just makes sense and they can start communicating with her. Jeremy Davis is in that film too.
Susan Sarandon won for Dead Man Walking, I’m not a huge fan of Sean Penn’s so I didn’t watch it. Frances McDormand won for Fargo, a film I tried to watch when I was younger but couldn’t get into it. Helena Hunt won for As Good as It Gets.
Paltrow also won for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, which is an award that I like. I hate to be in a film that wins that award but not counted towards the cast of the film. That’ll be awkward! Her co-winners were – Ben Affleck, Simon Callow, Jim Carter, Martin Clunes, Judi Dench, Joseph Fiennes, Daniel Brocklebank, Colin Firth, Paltrow (of course), Geoffrey Rush, Antony Sher and Imelda Staunton.
That award wasn’t given out at the first ceremony. So Apollo 13’s cast won the first one at the second ceremony, next The Birdcage, then The Full Monty and Shakespeare in Love. I should watch Full Monty again as that cast has gone on to do more work. I still don’t have much interest in Birdcage.
In 2013, she was nominated for Best Actress in an Action Movie for the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for her work in Iron Man 3, losing out to Sandra Bullock in Gravity, which is Gravity even considered an action movie? I guess if you are a film critic. Jennifer Lawrence one the very first one for the first Hunger Games, the year prior. Bullock beat out Jennifer Lawrence (Catching Fire) and Evangeline Lilly for Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Did Lilly do much in the second Hobbit film? I barely remember her in it but that was a long film.
MTV Movie Awards
She won 1998 MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss with Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love. Back when I used to swear only by the MTV Movie Awards, they nominated the films I actually watched. Then I just stopped watching movies, a kid will do that you during the very few years. She lost to Cameron Diaz for There’s Something About Mary in the Best Female Performance. Diaz also beat out Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can’t Hardly Wait, a much better film than those two movies. Jennifer Lopez was nominated for Out of Sight, which I couldn’t get more than 30 minutes in a few years ago when I attempted the film. They were on a highway and life happened and I haven’t gone back. Liv Tyler was also nominated for Armageddon. Fiennes was nominated for Breakthrough Male but lost to James Van Der Beek for Varsity Blues. Which I can’t blame MTV for making that choice. Shakespeare in Love lost Best Picture to There’s Something About Mary.
Paltrow and Fiennes beat out Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon and Denise Richards in Wild Things, which is pretty amazing. George Clooney and Jennifer Lope in Out of Sight. Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller in There’s Something About Mary, which is surprising as that film sort of swept the awards that night. I’m surprised to be reminded that Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain was nominated for Lolita, way to go MTV! Seems very bold of a choice for a nomination.
At the 2001 MTV Movie Awards, she and Ben Affleck lost Best Kiss in Bounce to Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas’ kiss in Save the Last Dance. I can’t blame MTV for that one. Also nominated was Jon Abrahams and Anna Faris in Scary Movie, which I don’t recall a kiss in that film. I mostly remember Tori Spelling (I almost wrote Donna Spelling, 90210 represent!) and the ghost bed scene from that film and the buckets of sperm for Anna Faris in the freezer scene. David Cross in the wheelchair. Was the first one the one where the guy puts his football gear on the girlfriend? That was a funny gag too.
Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt’s kiss in Cast Away (at the end, maybe?) and Anthony Hopkins and Julianna Moore’s kiss in Hannibal were nominated as well. I don’t recall either kiss.
That was Bounce’s only nomination.
Sean Patrick Thomas also won Breakthrough Male for Save the Last Dance. I did like how the sequel to that film had a girl from the streets trying out for ballet, the only real move a sequel could do.
At the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, Paltrow and Jude Law lost their best kiss in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to Rachel McAdams and The Gos’ kiss in The Notebook. That one, I won’t even question, he built her a house! Though Natalie Portman and Zach Braff’s kiss in the rain in Garden State is pretty up there but kissing in the year of the Notebook, why even bother. Jennifer Garner and Natassia Malthe kissed in Elektra and I don’t recall that at all. Must have been in a middle of a fight, probably in the woods. That movie isn’t very good. Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch rounded out the kissing in The Girl Next Door.
Teen Choice Awards
In 1998, she was nominated for Choice Actress – Film and Sexiest Love Scene for the Teen Choice Awards. That second one seems odd for a category for the Teen Choice Awards. Looking at the nominations, I should be watching these awards as they also seem to be nominating the films I watched.
Freddie Prinze Jr. won Choice Movie : Actor, for She’s All That, beating out Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillipe, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Sandler, Will Smith AND Ben Stiller! That’s my boy!
Jennifer Love Hewitt won Choice Movie : Actress for I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. 1998 was the first year for the award show. So even more impressive for these two actors to win the very first awards. She beat out Drew Barrymore, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Paltrow, Christina Ricci, and Reese Witherspoon.
Sarah Michelle Gellar won Choice Movie : Villain for Cruel Intentions. James Van Der Beek won Choice Movie : Breakout Star for Varsity Blues. Cruel Intentions won Choice Movie : Drama and There’s Something About Mary beat Shakespeare in Love for Choice Movie : Comedy. City of Angels won Best Soundtrack.
Rachael Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s love scene in She’s All That won Love Scene – which I don’t even remember a love scene in that film, I guess it means falling in love and not sex scene? Probably as Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan were nominated for Never Been Kiss. Sex scene for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in Notting Ill. Elizabeth Hurley and Matthew McConaughey in EDtv. Love scene for Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You. Sex scene for Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon in Cruel Intentions.
Sarah Michelle Gellar also won TV Actress for Buffy.
FPJr won Hottie Male and Hewitt won Hottie Female.
Stone Cold Steve Austin won Professional Wrestler over Kurt Angle, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, THe Rock, Sable and The Undertaker.
In 2001, Sarah Michelle Gellar won Best Actress : Comedy for Daphne Blake in Scooby Doo. FPJr was nominated for Fred Jones but lost to Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2. Gellar beat out Paltrow from Shallow Hal, which makes sense. She also beat out Selma Blair and Cameron Diaz in The Sweet Thing (canceling each other out?), Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaires, Christina Ricci in Pumpkin (a decent film), Winona Ryder in Mr. Deeds and Reese Witherspoon in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Instead of Love Scene, they broke it up (maybe?) and went with Movie : Chemistry and Movie : Liplock. The Spider-Man kiss won Liplock (and Movie: Action/Drama and Actor : Action/Drama for Tobey Maguire). Mandy Moore and Shane West won Movie : Chemistry for A Walk to Remember.
Somehow Mr. Deeds won Movie : Summer.
Gellar kept her reign of Best TV Actress Action/Drama for Buffy. Tom Welling won Breakout TV Star Male for Smallville. Alyson Hannigan won TV Sidekick for Willow on Buffy.
In 2008, Rachel Bilson won Movie : Action Actress for Jumper. Paltrow lost, as Pepper Potts doesn’t do anything actiony in the first Iron Man film. Abigail Breslin in Nim’s Island, Diane Kruger in National Treasure : Book of Secrets, and Christina Ricci in Speed Racer were all nominated. I haven’t seen Speed Racer but I don’t recall Ricci being in that film.
In 2010, Zoe Saldana won Movie Actress : Sci-Fi for Avatar. Paltrow was nominated for Iron Man 2, probably lost due to Iron Man 2 not being Sci-Fi. Scarlett Johansson was also nominated for Iron Man 2. Rachel McAdams was nominated for Time Traveler’s Wife, a film I still want to see and Amanda Peet was nominated for 2012.
In 2013, Anne Hathaway won Movie Actress : Action for being Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Paltrow was again nominated for Potts (three for three!) in Iron Man 3. Jessica Biel in Total Recall, Adrianne Palicki for GI Joe : Retaliation and Rachel Weisz in The Bourne Legacy were also nominated. Iron Man 3 did beat out Dark Knight Rises for Movie : Action, which is a bold choice. Downey beat out Bale for Movie Actor : Action. So Poor Paltrow probably thought she was a lock for her category. Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn Part 2 ends Twilight’s like five year reign over Teen Choice and MTV Movie awards, is probably when I stopped watching these things.
Paltrow lost the 1998 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress to Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. New to the category that year was Holly Hunter in Living Out Loud and Ally Sheedy in High Art, two more films I haven’t seen or heard about.
She lost the 1998 Empire Award Best Actress to Cate Blanchett, but she was nominated for Sliding Doors, as it is a British award. Peter Howitt did win Best British Director for Sliding Doors. Sliding Doors lost to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for Best British Film. Odd how they did Best Category and then Best British Category. Like, one sort of trumps the other. Here is the best overall actress, but if we are narrowing it down to only British people, then she is the clear winner. Helen Hunt was also nominated for As Good as It Gets, Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight and Pam Grier in Jackie Brown. Awkwardly, her Award Wikipedia page states she won that award but the page for the 4th Empire Award states Blanchett won.
She won the 3rd Florida Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress for both Shakespeare in Love and Sliding Doors. Ian McKellen won Best Actor for both Apt Pupil and Gods and Monsters. Shakespeare in Love won Best Film and Best Screenplay for Norman and Stoppard. Christina Ricci won Best Supporting Actress for Buffalo ’66, Opposite of Sex and Pecker. So the FFCC really appreciates hard workers.
Impressively, Paltrow has only ever been nominated once for a Razzie, 2015’s Worst Actress for Mortdecai. Dakota Johnson earned Worst Actress for Fifty Shades of Grey, sharing it with Jamie Dorman #NotMyChristian. Those two also share Worst Screen Combo. Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four took Worst Picture and Worst Director. Shades also won Worst Screenplay, I didn’t hate that movie but it different wasn’t the sexy romp it advertised itself to be. All four “Fantastics” were nominated for Combo. Katherine Heigl in home Sweet Hell, Mila Kunis in Jupiter Ascending and Jennifer Lopez in Boy Next Door were also nominated for Worst Actress. I saw the Honest Trailer for Jupiter Ascending and Boy Next Door wasn’t a horrible film. Lopez still has it going on. Grey won five of the six categories it was nominated in. I misread it originally, Fantastic Four AND Fifty Shades of Grey won Worst Picture. Ouch! Sam Taylor-Johnson dodged the only bullet not winning director for Grey.
Paltrow lost the 1998 Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress to Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth, so Blanchett may have thought she had a chance at the Oscar. She was Paltrow’s main rival that year. Emily Watson was also nominated for Hilary and Jackie.
People’s Choice Awards
I used to be a big fan of the People’s Choice Awards too until Twilight dominated the awards for half of a decade.
In 2013, for Iron Man 3, Paltrow lost both Favorite Actress and Duo. Iron Man 3 did win Favorite Movie and Action Movie. I do like how they use “Favorite” instead of “Best” as that is what it really is. I also like how being nominated in one category doesn’t eliminate you from another. That’s how Sandra Bullock won Favorite Movie Actress, Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress, and Favorite Comedic Movie Actress. Paltrow was only nominated in Favorite Movie Actress, as was Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Melissa McCarthy.
Somehow Sandra Bullock & George Clooney won Favorite Movie Duo, though I’m pretty sure they are only together for like ten minutes. Clearly people saw Bullock’s name and just checked her name whenever they saw it. Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. were nominated for Iron Man 3. Jennifer Aniston & Jason Sudeikis for We’re the Millers. Bullock beat out herself and McCarthy in The Heat, one would think there would be vote split action but I guess not. Chris Pine & Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness round out that category.
Shoot, Iron Man 3 won two of its three categories, only losing the one Paltrow was in. That doesn’t seem right.
In something I find highly suspicious, at the 1998 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, they awarded Paltrow a “Special Award” for both Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love. I did a quick Google search and no one seems to have written about how silly that seems. They gave Best Actress to Susan Sarandon for Stepmom, so who knows what is happening there. Madden did win Best Director for Shakespeare in Love and Best Screenplay – Original went to Peter Howitt for Sliding Doors. I wouldn’t mind learning more about that Special Award decision. I like Sarandon in Stepmom but it seems so out of left field.
Satellite Awards
Satellite is one of those words I can never spell.
In 1996, Paltrow won the very first Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Emma. So funny to think about these awards that are relatively new. She beat out Glenn Close in 101 Dalmatians, Shirley MacLaine in Mrs. Winterbourne, Heather Matarazzo in Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Bette Midler in First Wives Club. Which seems super impressive for her first big role. Matarazzo was in Scream 3, Princess diaries, Sorority Boys, Saved!, Princess Dairies 2: Royal Engagement. She’s Hathaway’s friend in those movies. So she must have been super young in Welcome to the Dollhouse, which I’ve heard of.
In 1998, she lost Best Actress – Musical or Comedy to Christina Ricci in Opposite of Sex. Ricci was having a banner year that year too. Horrocks, Hunter and Meg Ryan were You’ve Got Mail were all nominated. Shakespeare in Love did win Best Film – Musical or Comedy. But lost a slew of awards! Truman Show’s Dennis Gassner won Best Art Direction, Thin Red Line’s John Toll won Best Cinematography, Elizabeth’s Alexandra Byrne won Best Costume Design, Thin Red Line’s Terrence Malick won Best Director, Saving Private Ryan’s Michael Kahn won Best Editing, Pleasantville’s Gary Ross won Best Screenplay – Original, and Bill Murray in Rushmore won Best Supporting Actor – Musical or Comedy over Geoffrey Rush.
In 2002, she lost Best Supporting Actress – Musical or Comedy for Royal Tenenbaums, to Maggie Smith in Gosford Park. Which I still haven’t seen but that’s another good cast. Anjelica Huston was also nominated from Royal Tenenbaums, so maybe there was some vote splitting. BUT! Helen Mirren and Emily Watson were both nominated for Gosford Park, so Smith must have been very good in it. If I was a betting man, I would have thought all of the vote splitting would have worked in Miriam Shor’s favor for Heding and the Angry Inch. I’m not familiar with her or the film.
In 2010, Country Strong’s title track lost Best Original Song to Burlesque’s You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me. 127 Hours’ If I Rise, Alice in Wonderland’s Alice, and two songs from Twilight Saga : Eclipse were also nominated, What Part of Forever and Eclipse.
Saturn Awards
The Saturn Awards is another award show I should follow but is it even aired on television? I thought Spike had them for a time.
In 1995, she was nominated for Se7en for Best Supporting Actress, but lost to Bonnie Hunt in Jumanji. I do like Bonnie Hunt. Also nominated was Illeana Douglas in To Die For, Salma Hayek for Desperado, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Dolores Claiborne, and Juliette Lewis in From Dusk till Dawn. Dolores Claiborne is the only film of that group that I haven’t heard of or watched. Actually, I know of Desperado but I haven’t’ seen that one, now that I think about it. It is an adaption of a Stephen King work and in 2013, Time Magazine named it in the top ten best adaptions of his. Kathy Bates is in it too. It came in seventh.
In 2008, Paltrow was nominated for Best Actress for Iron Man but lost to Angelina Jolie in Changeling. Which are two different performances in vastly different films. Cate Blanchett rears her head again in Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Maggie Gyllenhaal in Dark Knight, Julianne Moore in Blindness, Emily Mortimer in Transsiberian were also nominated. I should check out Transsiberian as I do enjoy Mortimer. Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley and Kate Mara are in it. I do like Kate Mara too!
. . .
So, just based off of Emma and Great Expectations, I have her as this fancy dancy actress in my mind and she clearly doesn’t deserve to be written off like that. I’m glad I went down this deep dive with her career. I have a few movies I need to check out.
For my own benefit, those films would be –
Pallbearer
Talented Mr. Ripley
Anniversary Party, as I don’t remember her being in it.
Royal Tenenbaums
Thanks to Rohan for hosting the video.
Austin Powers in Goldmember – scratch that, she’s in the parody Tom Cruise movie with Cruise as Powers and Paltrow as the girl. Dixie Normous, get it?
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, maybe?
Proof
Running with Scissors
Contagion
Thanks for Sharing, is on Hulu right now
Country Strong
Two Lovers
That could be a decent couple weeks of films. I’ll definitey seek out Pallbearer, Proof, and Contagion, if I have to narrow it down to three films.
At 3,602 views – our most popular post is still my post about Bounce Patrol.
At 1,468 views – our most popular comic review has been New Avengers 51, beating out last year’s Death of Wolverine 3.
Best Ever Single Day View : 275 -July 24, 2014 . I imagine this must still be it, it is the only stat I can’t recreate it.
Best Month : May 2018, with 6,157 views
I’m still a tad obsess with getting my visitors from countries with nine views to ten views so if you know anyone in Cape Verde, Guyana, Laos (still!), and Armenia, please let them know they are always welcomed back. Moldova went from 9 to 11 from last year.
Once again, thank you, all of the visitors who have made all of this possible – I wouldn’t keep doing this if it wasn’t for the constant encouragement of visitors. Thank you.
I’m trying to do a better job of thinking of posts and maybe I should just bite the bullet and start doing posts that are barely 50 words but I never think that’s worthy of a full post but if I do enough of those, maybe it’ll ignite a desire to do longer posts. I’m just not really doing anything besides being the best husband and father I can be and that’s been cutting into my time to do other posts. I should just do posts regarding the television series and movies I’ve seen. I just have to get back into the writing habit.
Thank you again for everyone who has come to the blog, even with the lack of reviews of current comics. People do seem to be coming for older reviews.
Right now, I’m making some slow progress in Lego Dimensions. We saw Incredibles 2 in the theater, and really enjoyed it. Last night, we got an hour into Last Jedi and hopefully we can get back to it relatively soon. Its just hard to find time to do everything I want to do, there are only so many hours in the day but I’m going to work harder with the blog as I do enjoy the outlet it provides.
Now, I never referred to it as Volume Two as Volume One started with issue 208 so there was no need to clarify which volume of the title it was but this has been Volume Two of X-Men Legacy.
Of the 24 issues, I own 14 of the issues – 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 14. On my Wishlist are two issues – 20 and 23, both of which are due to Hastings not having my comics in.
The reason I own so many of these is how often Magik showed up in this series. A few of them are due to Kitty being there for Illyana being part of Cyclops’ Uncanny team helped keep her involved.
There have been some great storylines in this series, such as Prodigal, Invasive Exotic, Hope and Glory, Wear the Grudge Like a Crown and the concluding storyline.
This series was written by the mastermind that is Simon Spurrier. Along the way, he had some excellent artist on board.
1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 23, 24 – Tan Eng Huat
4, 5, 6 – Jorge Molina
10, 11, 12, 16 – Paul Davidson
17, 18, 21, 22 – Khoi Pham
My favorite would have to be the Wear the Grudge Like a Crown.
Some might have dismissed the title as a solo David Haller title or as a satellite title but it tied into and used the current titles’ continuity to both enhance and place this title.
This was also Blindfold’s title, as she was in each issue and was crucial to the overall story arc.
There will be an issue 300 of Legacy but issue 24 concluded this second volume. Spurrier does have a section of 300 that will involve his Legacy run but that is technically part of volume one with the renumbering.
Magik was an original member of the team, thus, I own most of them until she left. Doug joins later during Necrosha.
The storylines and tie-ins this title had were :
Return of Legion
Necrosha
Siege
Second Coming
Fall of the New Mutants
Rise of the New Mutants
Age of X
Unfinished Business
Fear Itself
Exiled
Fear the Future
Fight the Future
The creative team for the series have been :
1, 2, 3, 4 – Zeb Wells and Diogenes Neves
5 – Zeb Wells and Zachary Baldus6, 7, 8 – Zeb Wells and Diogenes Neves
9, 10 – Zeb Wells and Paul Davidson
11 – Kieron Gillen and Niko Henrichon
12, 13, 14 – Zeb Wells and Ibraim Roberson
15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 – Zeb Wells and Leonard Kirk
22, 23, 24 – Mike Carey and Steve Kurth
25, 26, 27 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
28 -Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Michael Ryan
29, 30, 31, 32 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lafuente
33, 34, 35, 36, 37 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lopez
38, 39, 40 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
41 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and David Lopez
42, 43 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning with Kieron Gillen and Carmine Di Giandomenico
44, 45, 46 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Leandro Fernandez
47, 48, 49, 50 – Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and Felix Ruiz with Klebs
Pretty cool how they kept getting artists back to the title, it really does add synergy.
I have 13 issues on my wishlist, most of them are Variant covers –
1 – Ross, Benjamin, McLeod, 2nd Printing
4 – 70th Anniversary Frame Variant
6 – Zombie Variant
10 – Deadpool Variant
13 – Heroic Age Variant
15 – Art Adams Variant17 – Regular Cover (I own the Variant) Magik is on the regular cover, so that’s why I still want it
24 – Regular Cover
25 – Art Adams Variant
37 – Regular Cover
So I really just want 24 and 37 as I’ve already read issue 17. But it would be nice to knock off some of these variants one day.
41 issues, all written by Brian Michael Bendis! It should be stated that Cory Petit lettered every issue as well, which is pretty impressive to keep the same letterer for an entire series.
The series ran from, cover dated, January 2013 to August 2015
Since this was the main flagship title, sharing the honor with Uncanny – a lot took place in this series. This is the series where the time misplaced Original Five X-Men starred. Crossover overs storylines were – Battle of the Atom / Trial of Jean Grey / Black Vortex. Other storylines include the much demanded sequel to Battle of the Atom, the Ultimate Adventure and the Utopians arc.
Art Teams were –
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 – Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Colorist Marte Gracia and VC’s Cory Petit
Issue five, Inker Von Grawbadger had help from Craig Yeung and Gracia had help from Jason Keith. Issues nine & ten, Gracia had help from Rain Beredo. Issue twenty-nine, Gracia had help from Jason Keith.
6, 7, 8 – David Marquez on both pencils and inks, Gracia and Petit
12, 13 – Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Colorist Rain Beredo and VC’s Cory Petit
15 – David Lafuente on both pencils and inks, Colorist Jim Campbell and VC’s Cory Petit
19 – Brandon Peterson on both pencils and inks, Colorist Israel Silva and VC’s Cory Petit
20 – Brandon Peterson and Mahmud Asrar shared art duties, Colorist Gracia returned and helped Silva and VC’s Cory Petit stuck around as well
21 – Brandon Peterson and legend Brent Anderson (did a few pages on his own) Silva colored Petersn’s pages and Campbell did the Anderson pages, VC’s Cory Petit did all of his own lettering
25 – The All Star Jam Issue! Artists David Marquez with Justin Ponsor on colors for the Framing Device, VC’s Cory Petit on lettering duties – the other artistic talents of :
Bruce Timm & Laura Martin, Arthur Adams & Justin Ponsor, David Mack, Skottie Young & Jason Keith, Robbi Rodriquez & Justin Ponsor, Lee Bermejo & Marte Gracia, Kent Williams, JG Jones, Ronnie Del Carmen, J. Scott Campbell & Nei Ruffino, Maris Wicks, Jason Shiga, Dan Hipp, Max Wittert, Jake Parker & Matthew Wilson, Jill Thompson and Paul Smith & Bob Wiacek & Jordie Bellaire
30 – Sara Pichelli, Colorist Marte Gracia and VC’s Cory Petit
31, 32, 33, 34, 36 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marte Gracia and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
Issue 31 Gracia had helped from Jason Keith. Issue 34, Gracia received some support from Marcelo Maiolo.
35 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marcelo Maiolo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
37 – Mike Del Mundo on pencils, inks and colors, though Marco D’Alfonso helped with the coloring and VC’s Cory Petit on lettering
38, 39 – Andrea Sorrentino on pencils and inks, Colorist Marcelo Maiolo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
40 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Rain Beredo and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
41 – Mahmud Asrar on both pencils and inks, Colorist Marte Gracia and Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
There was a whole host of variant covers with this series so I’m not listing cover artists – not that I do but in case you were wondering.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 