Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

IMDB: This film is a sequel in name only to Valley of the Dolls (1967). An all-girl rock band goes to Hollywood to make it big. There they find success, but luckily for us, they sink into a cesspool of decadence. This film has a sleeping woman performing on a gun which is in her mouth. It has women posing as men. It has lesbian sex scenes. It is also written by Roger Ebert, who had become friends with Russ Meyer after writing favorable reviews of several of his films.

What I saw: Film started with a bang. Music was incredible. Would love to catch the soundtrack some day. I love the photography, the mood, the ambiance of the whole spectacle. Some very off cats in this one. I always knew Ebert was a little askew in his personal movie tastes but this one was a little odd for my taste. As my friend Alexandre said: This is a twisted cross between Silence of the Lambs and Rocky Horror Picture Show. 5 boobies out of 10 (hey, what can I say, it's a russ Myers film!!)

How many flicks on this list...

Picked this one off Kate's Blog (a friend of Kevin, who is a friend of James and Ferda. You are apparently a a movie whore (or movie man-ho) if you have seen at least 100 films on this list... First impression: this should be easy. Here goes:

(1) Pirates of the Caribbean
() Boondock Saints
() The Mexican
(2) Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch (the one with owen wilson)
(3) Neverending Story
(4) Blazing Saddles
(5) Airplane
(6) The Princess Bride
(7) Young Frankenstien
() AnchorMan
(8) Napoleon Dynamite
() Saw
() White Noise
() White Oleander
(9) Anger Management
(10) 50 First Dates
() Jason X
(11) Scream
(12) Scream 2
(13) Scream 3
(14) Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
(15) American Pie
(16) American Pie 2
(17) American Wedding
(18) Harry Potter
(19) Harry Potter 2
(20) Harry Potter 3
() Resident Evil I
() Resident Evil 2
(21) The Wedding Singer
(22) The Wedding Planner
() Little Black Book
(23) The Village
(24) Donnie Darko
(25) Lilo & Stitch
(26) Finding Nemo
(27) Finding Neverland
(28) 13 Ghosts
(29) Signs
(30) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre2 (the one with jessica biel)
() Butterfly Effect
(31) Thirteen going on 30
() I Robot
(32) Dodgeball
(33) Universal Soldier
() A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came A Spider
() Deep impact
() KingPin
(34) Never Been Kissed
(35) Meet The Parents
(36) Meet the Fockers....
(37) Eight Crazy Nights
() A Cinderella Story
(38) The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(39) Dumb & Dumber
(40) Dumb & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
(41) Halloween
(42) The Ring
(43) The Ring 2
() Harold & Kumar (white castle)
(44) Practical Magic
(45) Chicago
(46) Ghost Ship
(47) From Hell
(48) Hellboy
(49) Secret Window
(50) I Am Sam
(51) The Whole Nine Yards
(52) The Whole Ten Yards
(53) The Day After Tomorrow
(54) Child's Play
() Bride of Chucky
(55) Ten Things I Hate About You
(56) Just Married
(57) Gothika
(58) Nightmare on Elm Street
(59) Sixteen Candles
(60) Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
(61) Seven (SE7EN)
(62) Oceans Eleven
(63) Oceans Twelve
() Identity
() Lone Star State of Mind
(64) Bedazzled
(65) Predator I
(66) Predator II
(67) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
(68) Christine
(69) ET
(70) Children of the Corn
(71) My boss' daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
(72) Frailty
() Best bet
(73) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She's All That
() Calendar Girls
(74) Sideways
(75) Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(76) Ever after
(77) Forrest Gump
(78) Big Trouble in Little China
(79) X-men 1
(80) X-men 2
() Jeepers Creepers....
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(81) Catch Me If You Can
(82) The Others
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
(83) Cruel Intentions
(84) The Hot Chick
() Swimfan
(85) Miracle
() Old School
() Ray
() The Notebook
(86) K-Pax
(87) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(88) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(89) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
() A Walk to Remember
() Boogeyman
(90) Hitch
() Back Door Sluts 9
(91) The Fifth Element
(92) Star Wars episode I The Phantom Menace
(93) Star Wars episode II Attack of The Clones
(94) Star Wars episode III Revenge of The Sith
(95) Star Wars episode IV A New Hope
(96) Star Wars episode V The Empire Strikes Back
(97) Star Wars episode VI Return of The Jedi...
() Troop Beverly Hills
() Swimming with Sharks
(98) Air Force One
() For Richer or Poorer
(99) Trainspotting
() People under the stairs
(100) Blue Velvet
(101) Sound of music
() Parent Trap (the original)
(102) The Burbs
(103) The Terminator
(104) Empire Records
() SLC Punk
() Wild girls
(105) A Clockwork Orange
() The Order
(106) Spiderman
(107) Spiderman 2
(108) Amelie
() Mean Girls
(109) Shrek
(110) Shrek 2
(111) The Incredibles
(112) Collateral
(113) The Fast & The Furious
() 2 Fast 2 Furious
(114) Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow
(115) Closer
(116) Titanic
() Saved
(117) Bowling For Columbine
(118) Farenheit 9/11
(119) The Sixth Sense
(120) Artificial intelligence (AI)
() Love actually
() Shutter
() Ella Enchanted
() Princess diaries 1
() Princess diaries 2
() Constantine
(121) Million Dollar Baby
() Envy
(122) Eurotrip
() Malibu's Most wanted
(123) Big Daddy
() Black Sheep
(124) The Breakfast Club
(125) West Side Story
(126) A Christmas Story
(127) Spanglish
(128) Pulp Fiction
() Sleepover
(129) The Evil Dead
(130) Killer Klowns From Outer Space
() The seed of chucky
(131) Vanilla Sky
(132) Nightmare Before Christmas
(133) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
(134) Interview With The Vampire
(135) The Crow
(136) Purple Rain
(137) Reservoir Dogs
(138) Wayne's World
(139) Wayne's World 2
(140) 21 Grams
(141) Blow
(142) Edward Scissorhands
(143) Clerks
(144) Beauty And The Beast
() Guess Who
() Monster In-law
(145) ELF
(146) Stuart Little
(147) Stuart Little 2
(148) Mall Rats
(149) Chasing Amy
() Chasing Liberty
(150) Dogma
(151) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
(152) Beetlejuice
(153) Last Samurai
() The Amityville Horror
() The Aviator
() Romeo and Juliet (original)
() Beauty Shop
(154) Legally Blonde
() Legally Blonde 2
(155) Forgotten
() Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen
(156) Grudge (japanese or american)
() Wimbledon
(157) Bring It On
() Bring It On 2
() flight of the phoenix
() Johnsons family vaction
() Vegas family vacation
(158) Thirteen
(159) 2001: a space odessy
(160) Dr. Strangelove how i came to love the bomb
(161) indiana jones and the temple of doom
(162) indiana jones and the raiders of the lost ark
(163) indiana jones and the last crusade
(164) animal house
(165) happy gilmore
() once upon at time in mexico
() love dont cost a thing
(166) Breakfast at Tiffany's
(167) Bend it like Beckham
(168) Meet Joe Black

Heh heh heh... 168... pimpin' movies is my game! Kewl!

Millions

Heads up, statisticians; another Nintendo milestone for ya. At some undisclosed time on Thursday morning, the two millionth unique user logged into the Nintendo Wi-Fi system.

Since Nintendo loves to put big numbers in perspective, their press release points out that this number is more than the population of fifteen of the United States...which, of course, is sort of silly, seeing as how the tally is coming from players worldwide. Still, it's an impressive number, and perhaps this added confidence in online gaming will give Nintendo the shove it needs to back it unconditionally for the upcoming Wii.
Upcoming games utilizing the Nintendo Wi-Fi feature? Some big ones: Final Fantasy III, Star Fox: Command, Yoshi's Island 2, you name it. Nintendo WFC is here to stay.

Cloak & Dagger

Many folks foncly remember watching the movie The Wizard (staring Fred Savage) and thinking it was the coolest 90 minute commercial for Nintendo, Super Mario 3 and the Powerglove. Well, rewing a few years when Atari was kings of the home consoles and you would probably have been as giddy about the film Cloak & Dagger.

IMDB says: 1-year-old Davey, whose mother is dead and whose father is preoccupied with his own problems, has retreated into a world of video games and an imaginary hero-pal, the swashbuckling superspy Jack Flack. When an FBI agent about to be murdered slips him a video cartridge containing top-secret data, Davey is suddenly plunged into the intrigue and danger of real-life espionage. No adult believes his story, so he must run a gauntlet of violence and villainy aided only by a younger girl and the encouragement of "Jack Flack" at his side. How long can a comic-book role model guide him through this encounter with reality?

I say: What a cool little kids movie. It reminded me of these awesome Saturday made-for-tv movie specials I saw as a kid. Henry Thomas, fresh from a performance in E.T., plays a believable kid that finds danger at every corner street. Highlights include a few nice scenes in a video game store show some cool retro gaming equipment and nice hard to find Atari adverts. A fen film for young ones - along the lines of Goonies, Explorers and War games. 6.5 catridges out of 10.

Snakes on a Plane: Worth it?

The film that was over-exposed before it ever even hit the screen. Now I pride myself for being a B-movie film buff but SOAP didn't quite make it in my book. Mildly entertaing in a few scenes, the film, cast and storyline are - like the audience - waiting for the punch-line of the film : one line of dialogue. Before and after that... lame.

Fun? Meh! There are just so many waysthat a snake can kill a passenger on a plane. There are just so many ways one can kill a snake. SOAP is pretty much a compendium of how a snake can kill and how one can kill a snake.. on a plane mind you.

Should one go see it just to hear one line of dialogue? That's up to you to decide but in my book, SOAP was a wash-out. 3 MF'ing snakes on a MF'ing plane out of 10... but you don't have to take my word for it.

24: Season 5 - Pretty good!

We finished watching 24 Season 5 on Friday. we hd downloaded the lot from the web. It's hard to give this one a review without ruining some of it. I'll opt out of giving it a full review. Instead, i'll simply say that we enjoyed it quite a bit and that they did a really interesting thing this year... they left us on a cliffhanger similar to Season 1. Pretty sweet. You never know who will dies in this show and brings great appeal to the show. They do a great job introducing new charaters we care for every season.

Can't wait for next season - I still haven't decided if i'll PVR the episodes or wait for the entire run to be available for D/L. Again, if you have never checked out "24", it's a must. Season 5 gets a 7.5 tickers out of 10.

Transformers movie: ???

What did they do to Megatron??

OK, Most of you know that there is a live-action Transformers film coming out next July. Pictures are slowly leaking onto the internet. Expect a American-Choppers paint style Optimus Prime big rig and this thing as a Megaron... Not the Tranformers I remember Mr. Michael Bay!

Wii Release Date Announcement?

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Friday Night, I put down a few dollars and finally got my grubby little hands on the Nintendo DS game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I had been looking for this Capcom game for a while.

It was released early on in the first Months AD (that "After DS" was released, for those of you in the know). It quickly sold out and Capcom never reissued the title. You can sometimes find copies on Ebay for $50+. Well I was lucky enough to find a used copy at a new EB Games store in Gatineau for $29. All I can say is: what a fun little game this is.

I'm not much into these Attorney TV shows but this little game keeps me awake at night. Play is simple and once I have completed the game I may just store it away for a few years until I forget the solutions but it's a fun ride. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney gets a solid 8.5 out of 10.

24: Season 5

I would like to thank fellow canadian Elisha Cutbert for taking time out of her busy schedule to make a cameo appearance in 24 Season 5 which I am currently watching. Meeow!

Fot those of you who have not yet seen Season 5, I believe it is coming out on DVD next Month. It's an excellent story arc. Plenty of stists and turns in this one.

Unbreakable Redux

This past week-end, we watched the M. Night film UNBREAKABLE. I like this film every time I see it. After the show I made the remark, it's as though Lex Luthor had helped Clark Kent become Superman in order to have a place in life: his arch ennemy. Great film. Little action but you get a good psyche examination into what makes a superhero and a villain. 7.5 Comics out of 10.

Movie Factoid: The film takes place in Philadelphia. On the wall of Elijah's workshop among the newspaper clippings is a headline "Killer Virus Released at Airport". Bruce Willis starred in Twelve Monkeys (1995), in which a killer virus was first released at the Philadelphia airport.

The Fugitive: Prison Break Ep 1

Last night was the premiere of Prison Break Season 2. PLease do not read on if you do not want to fall on a spoiler or two.

I must say that I enjoyed the first episode. Not yet as engaging as last season but I don't mind the direction they are taking with it. I am hoping that they find a way to reinvent the "Fugitive" storyline a bit. Comparison can already be drawn between the two. Fugitive is on the run. Semi-charismatic FBI agent on the trail. IMO, the FBI guy was the best new element. I am hoping that we will slowly develop a empathy for this guy's character. It would be quite the coup if they can manage this. Empathy for the fugitive and the cop after him - I like. Episode 1 get a mark of 7 Fugitives out of 10.

PS: If you haven't seen this week's episode, don't watch the previews after the show. They seem to give way too much of next week's plot.

The Island

Ryan lent me the film The Island last week. We watched it on Thursday night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Parallels to Logan's Run run rampant after viewing this film but it still held up.

If you are in the mood for a futuristic trip to a world where you slowly learn piece by piece what is really going on in this universe, you might enjoy this one. It's a light, action packed film with pretty good special effects. Not what I expected.

I give this one 7 lotto winners out of 10.

Snakes on a Plane - Anyone?

OK, on this 21st of August, I just have to know...

Did anyone go out and see Snakes on a Plane this week-end? Better yet, what did you think of it?

When was the last film that you saw where it has hype but for being a - very bad- film but apparently provides the viewer with a fun movie going experience? I'm drawing a blank here.

I can think of movies like Freddy vs. Jason, Aliens vs. Predator or a Bruce Campbell flick but this one seems to have an aura about it. Maybe it's just Palmer constantly telling me itès going to be the best film ever for the last 3 weeks during lunch hours.

Arcade: EA goes cold on PSP... More DS work in future.

Ouch. Hard blow to Sony when EA says it out loud. Let's face it. The PSP had so much potential yet it didn't deliver. It's not surprising to read something like this:

EA says it has shifted its handheld priorities since DS began pulling away from PSP. "There's no doubt that EA has historically bet more on PSP," said Garner. "I think we were excited by the technology, but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun.

Makes you wonder... with all the bad press Sony has been getting pre-PS3 launch... i'm sure top exectutives are not too happy.

Stolen Summer: Holiday Movie Viewings

What to do when you have a month off? Go Camping? Check. Help gf move in? Check. Go to Montreal? Check. Visit Mont Tremblant? Check? Watch Movies? But of course.

Clerks 2: Let's face it Clerks rocked. It was done on a string budget. it was witty. it was original. It was the start of a movement of independant films. It had something special. Fast forward 10 years later and Kevin Smith decides to make a sequel. Is it still funny? Some of it. Is it original? Somewhat. Did I like it. Yeah - but i would recomment it to Smith fans. A rental for the rest of you. My ratings: 6.5 donkeys out of 10.

Crimson Rivers 2: I loved the first film. It was beatiful. it was creepy. It had good plot twists. if only it would have had a better ending. How does this sequel rank up? Kinda the same thing minue the intreague, plot twists and creepyness. A disapointment. 4 monks out of 10.

Dead and Breakfast: Cheap B-movie that I picked up at HMV for $6.66 during their last horror DVD sale. Skip it unless you are into an evening of getting really drunk and listening to a sub-par horror flick. Play a drinking game where you spot the bad acting and flubs in the film. 2 Zombies our of 10.

The Corpse Bride: A many of you know, I am a huge fan of Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas. Not only is the film funny, dark and cute - but the film was also an achievement in puppetry. Well if you liked the first film, you are in for a treat. Corpse Bride is also worth the stop. great animation, great voice acting and you can tell it's a Burton film. Loved it. 7.5 dead corpses out of 10.

Moise - L'affaire Roch Theriault: A very hard subject matter - this true story is played perfectly by Luc Picard. He is charming, charismatic and scary. Cults as a very interesting subject matter - I have not seen many films which dealt with the subject. This film id definately worth a rental - Just make sure you are in the right mood. 7 cults out of 10.

Jamel: 100% Debouse: Jamel is probably my favorite comedian from France. He was simply hilarious in the french tv show "H" and in Asterix: Mission Cleopatre. I decided to pick this stand-up DVD in Montreal. Unfortunately, the routine is too much centerer on French news to be funny for us north americans. Too bad. 5 laughs out of 10.

Les Boys IV: Les Boys is a true classic in Quebec. For us hockey is a religion. It shouldn't be a surprise that they roll out these hockey comedies every few years. I fully expect to see a Les Boys 5 in the next 2 years. How did this one fare? Not too bad considering it's the 4th one. Some funny bits that should make people at a party laugh through the night. 6 Old Timers out of 10.

Les Revenant: My holidays would not have been complete without a zombie flick. Les revenant is an awesome film and is a great social commentary on society. Imagine old people coming back from the dead and needing to be reintegrated into society. What would you do? Givethem their old jobs back? Do they have rights? How different arte they? How do you deal with their reinsertion into society? Great take on the zombie genre. 8.5 Zombies out of 10.

Wonderland: John Holmes was a Porn Star in the 70s. He apparently ruled the world. He was the basis for the Walberg role in Boogie Nights. He lived life in the fast lane and was involved in a publicized murder case in the early 80s. This film explored the 2 murder case scenarios. Entertaining. 7 Porn Stars out of 10.

Jersey Girl: Cinthia hadn't seen this Kevin Smith film. We watched it a few nights before seeing Clerks 2. Many people hate this film yet I kinds have a soft spot for it. I know, I know. Ckick flick central. What can I say. A good film. 7.5 Bennifers out of 10.

Fluffy Cumsalot: Let's face it, portn stars have very strange stage names sometimes. This funny documentary explores the origin of some of these names. A good watch. 6.5 Dirk Digglers out of 10.

My Architect: A famous architect that lived for his work dies. He was so absorbed by his work that he was rarely at home. Many years later his son attempts to find out who his father was by visiting my architectural masterpieces and speaking to the people that knew his father. A toutching documetary. 6 building plans out of 10.

Incident at Loch Ness: Herzog is a great director that has done some well known films over the years. A few years back him and the screen writer of X-Men decided to make a film documentary about the Loch Ness monster. Strange things happened during the shoot. It's documented here. Great fun through these strange, strange events. 6 Nessies out of 10.

Firefly: The Complete Series: I FINALLY got through watching Firefly. I had tried a few years back but gave up after the first 2 shows. This time, i stuck to it and discovered a funny, witty sci-fi adventure. A must see series. 8.5 Jane's Town out of 10.

Serenity: Fans wanted it. Weaton delivered. A great conclusion to the Firefly tv series. Another must-see for Firefly and Joss Weaton fans. 7.5 Reavers out of 10.

The Amazing Story of Superman: A few years back. Ken Burns made a great documentary called Empire of Dreams for the release of the Star Wars DVD set. Well, this time he takes on the man of steel's universe and delivers. 7.5 kriptonite Rocks out of 10.

Tip Toes: Strange, strange chick film. Family reunions, little people, romance story, etc. I'll bet that never has a film hired so many little people actors since The Wizard of Oz. OK plot - no more. 5 Mini-Mes out of 10.

A Celebration of Me, Grover: I love Sesame Street. I grew up on it and Grover has always been one of my favorite monsters. A great Sesame Street style roast full of puns and classic SS clips. Just don't say the word "roast" near a chicken!! 7 Roasts out of 10. "gaaawwwkk!!"

Hellboy: I hear they are making a sequel to this film. Can't say i was ever too familiar with this comic book character. Film one was sub-par in my book. great costumes but plot was so-so. A rental if you are into comic book flicks but this won't crack your top 10 comib book inspired films. 5.5 devil children out of 10.

A Passage to Ottawa: Always cool to see films that were filmed in your home town. I wonder if New-Yorkers are over this feeling. Anyhow, I would qualify this little movie as a cute independant film. I enjoyed it. Good - Catch it on TV. If plays on the tube from time to time. 5.5 Rideau Canal boat rides out of 10.

Signin' in the Rain: One of my top 10 films of all time. Always makes me feel happy when i watch it. i was very glad that Cinthia enjoyed it. She turnde it down dozens of times thinking she wouldn't enjoy a musical. Well, she did. 9 Good Mornin's out of 10.

(Drive-In) Asterix et les Vikings/Good Cop, Bon Cop: Cinthia an I decided to catch a double-bill at the Templeton drive-in 2 weeks ago. Yep, we still have one last drive-in theatre in the area. it's in Gatineau. She had never been to the drive-in in her life. Great times. We first watched Asterix. This cartoon was funny. Some good parts although I didn't care much for the modern music and shading-art style. 5 magic potions out of 10.

Good Cop, Bon Cop is probably the funniest film I have seen this Summer. Half french and half english, this film has the makings of a great series. i definately hope they make more of these. Action galore - it's rare that a canadian film goes all out in the special effects and stunts department. Funny dialogue and great play by the main actors. 8 dead guys on the highways out of 10.

Movie Factoid: Stolen Summer is the name of a film which was made following the first Project Greenlight experiment.

Joystick: Some Wii Titles

Reports are pointing to a November 2nd launch for the new Nintendo gaming console. Here are the scheduled Nintendo Wii launch titles:

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Blitz: The League
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Elebits
Excite Truck
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Far Cry
GT Pro Series
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Madden NFL 07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Metal Slug Anthology
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Monster 4x4 World Circuit
Need for Speed: Carbon
Open Season
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Wii Sports

Not bad at all. If you add to this a dozen or so Virtual Console games, early adopters of the new console could have a nice selection of titles to choose from.

Movie Factoid: The tagline for the film Joystick was: "More fun than games". Not sure about that. Painful film to watch.

The Great Outdoors - 2006 Summer Holidays - Weeks 3 & 4

The fun didn't end there. On the 3rd week of July, we decided to go camping. Cinthia chose Mont Tremblant as our destination. She opted for a small lake called lac l'escalier. We chose the middle of the week in order to avoid week-end campers. We thought that the roads would be clear and we would be able to get there faster. Little did we know that there would be a torrential rain fall with thunder and lightning the day before that would break a bunch of trees and that there would be debris all over the roads near Tremblant. It was an adventure. At least we didn't get caught in the storm ourselves.

When we got there, we quickly set up the tent and headed to the beach. Not much of a beach. There was only about 5 or 6 feet of sand around the lake. That was a little disappointing but our mood quickly changed when we got in the water. This lake was awesome. You could walk and walk and the water was still at waist level. This was really cool. We got closer to the middle of the lake and we had water up to our necks. It was quite pleasant. A bonus to us was that very few people were out that day - probably still drying off from the storm that hit the night before.

We walked, swam again the next morning and chilled by the fire. I must say that day two's fire was much better than the first day. Might have been the fact that some of the wood wasn't dry enough. Cinthia made her traditional camping meal: Spaghetti. We had a very nice time there. I even got to play a little DS while relaxing under a tree.

On our last day, we visited the village at Tremblant. Nice, but too commercial for my taste. I did snap a few nice pictures of the place but can't say that I would ever want to go back there. Nice, but not my cup of tea.

On week four, Cinthia went back to work and I chilled in town. We dropped by my parents for a visit at their cottage and watched a few movies.

On my final week-end, we went in Gatineau Park and took a nice long walk around Pink Lake.

I have to give 2006 Summer Holidays a solid thumb's up. I had never taken a full month off and I recommend it to anyone who can manage it. You can't relax fully in one or two weeks - To really let go and forget about work, a longer period is a must. I am refreshed and much more relaxed as I take on the new challenges of this new job. Long live summer holidays.

The Wizard - a DS Collection

When taking a break from watching DVDs I often play with my DS. Here is a list of my collection.

Nintendo DS Games Collection

Movie Factoid: In the awsome kids flick The Wizard staring Fred Savage, the sounds made by Lucas' Power Glove as he punches its keys are the famous five tones from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Québec-Montréal - 2006 Summer Holidays - Week 2

Okay, so we only went to Montréal. We're saving Qu/bec for October or November to go see the Tintin exposition. Québec-Montréal is still a very funny film. Check it out!

week 2 brought so well deserved R&R for us. After a move, a birthday, placing everying in the house and a garage sale, we headed out to Montréal for a few days.

We opted to go by Bus in order to relax a bit and not be stuck with the car in downtown Montreal. Bus trip was great and we got to the Central Bus Station at around 10am. Did a little reconnaissance at one of my favorite BD stores and headed down St-Catherine towards our Bed and Breakfast to drop our bags. We stayed at Les Bons Matins yet again. It's hard to go elsewhere now that we have discovered this little island of paradise in downtown Montreal. Again worth the extra dollar or two for an amazing decor and awsome breakfast (which is included with the room). Check it out!

The days shopping didn't bring too, too much spending. I bought a few Blake et Mortimer books as a couple of Tintin reference books to add to my collection. Cinthia picked up some clothes at Jacob (now that I think of it she spent more than I did... again!)

In the evening, we headed towards St-Denis for the Comedy Fest. We had bought tickets to Laurent Paquin. He delivered a great show. His classic bit about the weather really nails it for me:

Ever notice how when weather people on TV give out the weather, they never say that there is a 50/50 chance of rain. It's always 40% or 60%. If you think about it, some of these 40%s and 60%s are actually 50%s. Wouldn't that be awesome if they came on with the truth. Today, it might rain, or it might not - We don't know! None of this 40 or 60% B.S.

The next day brought some nice weather and we walked in Old Montreal for a good part of the day. We took some nice pictures and then decided to do more shopping on Mont-Royal. There, ben was in his element and things were back to normal - I blew a couple of bills on a bunch of DVDs and comics. It felt great! :) Following a nice long walk in the latin quarters, we decided to sit down for a nice Sushi dinner.

Following the dinner, we headed to the Comedy fest again for a few street acts then headed to the bus station to get back home. All in all, a wonderful short escapist trip away from home. We had a great time.

Movie factoid: Québec-Montréal won 4 Jutras awards in 2003.

Mannequin: On the Move - 2006 Summer Holidays - Week 1

The move happened on July 4th. That's right The Cinful One moved into my place on my birthday. How cool is that. It was rather funny when a couple of weeks prior to that, in an email to my grandmother, I mentioned that Cinthia would be moving in soon. She replied that maybe she would be my birthday gift and move in on my birthday. Turns out that she was right. My beautiful girlfriend moved in!!

All in all the move went extremely well. We had some great help from both our sets of parents and we hired some movers to take care of the big pieces. They were able to move everything but a couch which - according to them - was too big to get out of help place. Err… How the heck did it get in then? We laugh about it now but we were a little miffed at the fact that these professionals not only were not able to get it out but they also banged up a wall and an area of the ceiling at her old place. For those wondering, the couch is not still at the apartment. A few days later, Cinthia's brother, her dad and myself took it out and moved it to her bro's place - a shame that it didn't make the original trip. We look at it this way, if it was hard to get it out of her place, it would have been even harder to move it into our front room as the door frame is much smaller.

We were able to incorporate pretty much all of her stuff into my place. We gave lots of stuff always and were fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of a garage sale at her parent's place the following Saturday. All in all, when all bills were counted, I made $326 and Cinthia sold for $98. My money is in a jar awaiting for Nintendo's Wii to come out this Fall. Wiiiiiiiiii!

Amidst all the hoopla of a move and garage sale, I turned thirty something. I received a nice indoor grill (Similar to the George Forman one) and got the ultimate remote control: a Harmony 360. Really cool. I will talk a little more about the remote in a few posts. Geeky friends - stay tuned!

Week one was a long one and we accomplished a lot. Thank goodness we had some help from our loved ones. Thanks a bunch.

I also read on a few blogs that a few of you are now addicted to the goodness that is the Nintendo DS (Ferda, James, Ryan and co.). I am glad to hear that you are all enjoying it. I have been raving about the little gem for so long, it's nice to read that others like it as well. (James, I will forward you my friend codes when I get a chance).

Movie Factoid: The girl that played the Mannequin in Mannequin: On the Move later played the movie role of Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

National Lampoon's Vacation

It has been a long time since I blogged. I can hear Sena now pointing out my shortcomings as a blogger - How dare mess with her daily reading material. As Randal pointed out in Clerks: "There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, now is there!". I must admit, it's been a while. What have I been up to all this time? Well...

I was on a well deserved vacation! Four and a half weeks of pure bliss of doing absolutely nothing - resting on the beach of an ocean in the southern hemisphere, feasting on the food of the gods while being cooled down by the delicate wind off a palm tree branch held by a beautiful young tanned… *whoa!* Wake up there buddy. That's not exactly how it transpired. It was even *better* than that (to me anyways!)

I was indeed on holidays for that length of time. It was the first time in my life that I took that long a break from work. I guess the last time I had a break that lasted for that long I was in High School. What a way to live when you think about it… I guess that's what one can look forward to when they retire *sigh!* 25 more years before that happens!!

Right before holidays, I also decided to change jobs. My old boss is now a director and he approached me at the beginning of June with an interesting opportunity. Seeing as the program where I was working was on hold while waiting for funding, I decided to make a move. I am taking a job doing something I love which is to work on a Web site and develop a program for new immigrants. Should be fun!

In the next few posts, I will highlight what transpired during my 4 weeks off. Here begins that recap of: Summer Holidays 2006.

Born on the Fourth of July

Showing Tomorrow: A Serial begins: July in Review (the move, the trip to Montreal, the camping escapade and the vacation in review!)

Born on the Fourth of July: Well, what can I say. It's true. I was indeed born on the 4th or July.

Cinemania

Since the site's primary purpose is to record flims I watch, I decided to give the site a new look that I feel fits the task. Hope you all like it.

Cinemania: Loved this documentary about a few strange movie viewers in the New-York area.

Turn Right, Turn Left

"He's Baaaaaaaack!"

Vacation time is indeed over. Time for a little shift to stir things up on the blog. We'll see where it goes. Welcome to the PopCorn Gallery (or TPG for all you government workers. What can I say - we love accronyms).

When I first re-started Artoo's, the idea was to have a place where I would be able to record my movie viewings somewhere and share a little bit of my days with friends and family. I've pretty much been able to stick with it and have a nice record of what i have watched and done in the last year or so.

Turn Right, Turn Left: Awesome flick by Johnny To. If you liked Serendipity, check it out!