The Alphabet Project: Z is for...

Zardoz (1974)

Zed (Sean Connery) is an exterminator, a savage warrior living in a post-apocalyptic future world. Like all exterminators, Zed worships a stone head called Zardoz as a god. Zardoz promises all those who worship it that when they die, they will go to the Vortex, a community inhabited by immortal men and women. Zed finds himself in Zardoz's mouth and Zardoz arrives in the Vortex. Zed's arrival in the Vortex begins to cause disruption, as Zed sets out to discover the secrets of Zardoz. Hilarity ensuses when Zed encounters a stranger named Arthur Frayn in a library and Arthur teaches Zed to read and reveals Zardoz's secrets, which could bring about the fall of all life in The Vortex and lead Zed to giving the immortals, the gift of death.

Trivia: The scene where Zed (Sean Connery) and Consuella (Charlotte Rampling) turn into skeletons had to be shot three times. The first time, the film was damaged, and the second time, a studio helper accidentally exposed the negatives. Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling were extremely annoyed, because of the time they had to spend having make-up done. To help keep the movie cost down, Sean Connery used his own car and drove himself during the production. John Boorman then gave him half the money that had been budgeted to hire him a car and driver. The idea was Connery's, according to Boorman. According to John Boorman, Sean Connery found it incredibly difficult to get work when he abandoned the James Bond role a second time after Diamonds are Forever. Thus, Boorman was able to hire Connery very cheaply for this project. Burt Reynolds was the first choice for Zed, but he bowed out due to illness.

Umm...okay. You would think somebody like Sean Connery would be in demand after six Bond movies. This was an okay sci-fi movie that had a pretty standard plot for the genre. An upperclass part of society (the immortals) live high on the hog with an easy life, while elsewhere (everybody else) works to provide for the immortals and they are controlled by a guardian group (the brutals, including Connery), but the upper class is stagnant and has lost the ability to grow and prosper and needs help to kick start the process or in this case restart. Oh, and Connery runs around the whole movie wearing a loin cloth or something.

Okay Mick, you figured it out. Since I gave you a pretty major hint (pre-75, Sean Connery movie) you don't get to pick a movie for me. Instead, come up with 2 or 3 new movie projects for me and I will put it to a vote. I know one that you have mentioned is having me watch the IMDb bottom ten (the ten worst rated movies), now come up with 2 more.

The Alphabet Project: Y is for...

Yellowbeard (1983)

Yellowbeard (Graham Chapman), a pirate's pirate, is allowed to escape from prison to lead the authorities to his treasure. He finds that his wife (Madeline Kahn) neglected to tell him that he now has a son (Martin Hewitt), 20, and shame of shame, an intellectual. Hilarity ensues when the British Navy, Yellowbeard, his son, and members of Yellowbeard's old crew all go after the treasure.

Trivia: Blind Pew (John Cleese) is named after a pirate in the classic adventure story Treasure Island. Yellowbeard is obviously based on the infamous, murderous real-life pirate Edward "Blackbeard" Teach. Blackbeard wove hemp into his hair, and lit it to frighten his prey, as Yellowbeard does in the film. Also, Teach was known for murdering the target ships' crew in horrific ways if the ship resisted in any way. The joke about Yellowbeard committing horrific acts of violence and thievery but being imprisoned for tax evasion is an obvious reference to Al Capone. John Cleese has stated that he accepted a role in this film only as a favor to Graham Chapman, and that he thought the script was the worst that he had ever read. Marty Feldman died during filming on December 2, 1982 of a massive heart attack.

You could definitly see some of the humor in this that is a staple of Monty Python. It is a minor Monty Python reunion with three of the six members (Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, and John Cleese. Coincidentaly, it is also the second half-python movie I have included in the Alphabet Project, the other was Jaberwocky) It also includes some very talented comedic actors from this side of the pond with Madeline Kahn, Mart Feldman, Cheech Marin, and Tommy Chong. Peter Boyle played the bad guy. Pretty funny pirate movie.

Up Last: "Z" This Week's Clue: He saw the future and it didn't work. Last Week's Guesses:

Yo Ho Ho - This is a sensitive film about human solidarity filled with humor and poetry.

The Alphabet Project: X is for...

Xchange (2000)

In the near future, a company called Xchange owns a mind transference technology that enables instantaneous travel by swapping bodies with someone at the destination. A member of the privileged corporate class ("Corpie") (Kim Coates) Xchanging for the first time unwittingly switches bodies with a terrorist (Kyle MacLachlan). Forced to hide in a limited life span cloned body (Stephen Baldwin) with just 2 days remaining, he races against time to stop the terrorist and regain his body. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Stephen Baldwin turned down the role of Jack in Speed(1994). (Whew, that was a close one). He is one of the famed Baldwin brothers with Alec, William, and Daniel. He met his wife on a New York Subway. Don't you appreciate knowing all this great stuff about a Baldwin?

Oh, those wonderful Baldwin boys. This movie has one of them and one is too many. On the whole, Xchange was a decent Sci-Fi thriller and I admit, Stephen Baldwin is the perfect actor to play a mindless drone body inhabited by somebody else's mind. But did they have to have hundreds of him running around? The premise is pretty sound but the execution was a little shaky, like how did Stephen Baldwin get from L.A. to New York while in his new body in like two minutes? If he could have done that in the first place, he wouldn't have needed to Xchange in the first place. Well, anyway, Yeah Kim, You were able to guess it correctly. You get to pick a movie for me. (Umm...Anonymous Ken? Are you there? You still need to pick a movie for me from like 3 months ago.)

Next Up: "Y"...Well, because. This Week's Clue: Swashbucklers, pirates, public floggings, saucy tarts, beggars, queens, & jolly rogers. GLWACOY. Last Week's Guesses, Umm...Kim's was the only one.

The Alphabet Project: W is for...

What's New Pussycat? (1965)

Michael James (Peter O'Toole), a notorious womanizer, desperately wants to be faithful to his fiancee Carole (Romy Schneider), but runs into serious problems since every woman he meets seems to fall in love with him. His psychoanalyst Dr. Fassbender (Peter Sellers) can't help him either since he's busy courting one of his patients who in turn longs for Michael. Hilarity ensues as all the characters check into the Chateau Chantelle hotel for the weekend not knowing of each other's presence.

Trivia: The scene where Woody Allen's character celebrates his birthday on the wharf was filmed on December 1, 1964 - Woody's 29th birthday. Banned in Norway because of a scene where Peter Sellers tries to commit suicide by burning himself wrapped in a Norwegian flag. The movie began as a semi-autobiographical project for Warren Beatty with Woody Allen writing the screenplay. Eventually Beatty's role became smaller than originally intended and producer Charles Feldman ignored his request to cast his then-girlfriend Leslie Caron instead of Capucine. Beatty then left the project and his role was taken by Peter O'Toole. The title is a line Warren Beatty used on his girlfriends at the time. Dr. Fassbender's line about Rita, played by Ursula Andress, "knowing James Bond" was ad-libbed by Peter Sellers, which explains why Ursula Andress laughs out loud afterwards. Andress played Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No.

I had no idea when I got this movie that Woody Allen wrote the screen play, or for that matter that he was in it. The problem with that is that his parts, excluding the big hotel finale at the end, seemed to be shoehorned into the movie. They really didn't fit. They were funny, yes. They showed Allen's future brilliance, yes. Did they belong in the movie? No. Peter Sellers, on the other hand is a comic genius. I saw him in Dr. Strangelove and the Pink Panther movie, but I don't remember ever seeing him in anything else. I will have to seek out his other films, this man is just plain funny, from his comic timing to his outrageous accent. Then there is Peter O'Toole. He can be serious, he can be funny, I think he can be just about anything he wants to be. In this one he was charming and engaging, which his character was supposed to be, and he was funny. His timing went really well with Sellers timing. After it was over I was wondering, if they had tried to make this movie today, could they have pulled it off. I don't think so. First, you would have to find someone to play the Sellers role and then the O'Toole role and I could not think of a pair of actors that would be able to work together like those two.

Next Up: "X", This Week's Clue: This movie has way too many Baldwins in it. Nobody guessed correctly so I am off the hook for this week, I still owe Amanda, Mick, and Anonymous Ken movies, I have Amanda's and Mick's choices (they should be out this coming week)...but not AK's. Here are the guesses:

Walk The Line - A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Wedding Crashers - John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey, a pair of committed womanizers who sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air, find themselves at odds with one another when John meets and falls for Claire Cleary.

What Dreams May Come - Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife...

Watchers - Based on a novel by Dean Koontz. A boy takes in a stray dog, later finding out that its an ultra-intelligent runaway from a genetic research lab...

When Harry Met Sally - Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.

Waterworld - In a future where the polar ice caps have melted and most of Earth is underwater, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw "smokers," and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl find dry land.

Westworld - A futuristic amusement park becomes a deathtrap when the androids and computer systems used in it begin to murderously run amok.

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf - A bitter aging couple with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.

The Alphabet Project: V is for...

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

A story about five sisters, and their mysterious existence, told in the words of the neighborhood boys who worshiped them and who come together 20 years later to try and solve the mystery of the Lisbon sisters as hilarity ensues. Cecilia (Hanna R. Hall) (13), Lux (Kirsten Dunst)(14), Bonnie (Chelse Swain) (15), Mary (A.J. Cook) (16) and Therese (Leslie Hayman) (17) move with their Mathematics teacher father Mr. Lisbon (James Wood) and their possessive housewife mother Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner) to a calm suburb house. Their beauty attracts the attention of a group of boys that meet in the house on the other side to watch the girls. When Cecilia commits suicide the other girl withdraw into their home for a time. They eventually start to reach out and re-enter society when Lux meets Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett), the handsome football player. When Lux fails to return home after a dance Mrs. Lisbon shuts the girls up in the house and away from society. The girls, desperate for contact with anyone, look to the boys across the street. It is a solitary story of the girls isolation and the sleepy portrayal of how they watched powerless as their fragile lives disappeared.

Trivia: When the boys and girls are calling each other to play songs on the record player, they don't use the standard '555-' phone numbers used in television and film. After she had written the script, Sofia Coppola was heartbroken to discover that another company was already producing an adaptation of the book themselves. However, they were not happy with their script, so she showed them hers and they ended up using it instead.

This was a pretty good film. Kirsten Dunst was probably the most beautiful I have seen her. The whole movie had a soft feel to it. No harsh lighting, no sharp corners, nothing like that as if the whole movie was in a dream. Amanda was able to correctly guess that I was going to be watching The Virgin Suicides so she gets to pick a movie for me it watch and review.

Next Up: "W" This Week's Clue: The theme song, or at least the first two lines of the theme song, are probably more famous then the movie. Last Week's Guesses...um...well, there was only one and it was Amanda's.

The Alphabet Project: U is for...

Ultraviolet (2006)

In a world where a subculture of humans have emerged who have been modified genetically by a vampire-like disease (hemophagia), giving them enhanced speed, incredible stamina and acute intelligence. Hilarity ensues as they are set apart from "normal, healthy" humans, the world is pushed to the brink of worldwide civil war (a war between humans and hemophages) aimed at the destruction of the diseased population. In the middle of this crossfire is an infected woman, Violet (played by Milla Jovovich), who finds herself protecting a nine-year-old boy who has been marked for death by the human government as he is believed to be a threat to humans. Watch The Trailer

Trivia: While on the set, Kurt Wimmer asked Milla Jovovich to punch him, in order to get a feel for the intensity she was putting in her action sequences. For the next several days, Wimmer directed the film with a black eye. The film was taken out of director Kurt Wimmer's hands and completely reedited by the studio after they saw the original version which they apparently did not like; they saw it as 'too emotional' for the action film they were expecting and reedited it so there would be more of an emphasis on the action and to cut it down to a PG-13 rating. According to many reports, the studio cut over 30 minutes from Wimmer's original director's cut of the film. Milla Jovovich's character uses a more authentic variant of "Gun Kata", a unique blend of gunfighting and martial arts developed by director Kurt Wimmer for his previous film Equilibrium (2002).

This movie has a really major identity crisis. It starts out telling you about a disease that gives the victim vampire like qualities including the need to have blood transfusions and that the victim grows fangs...and then pretty much never mentions it again, it then turns into a distopian me against the government type story with Violet being chased by government goons...and then turns into a evil mastermind trying to destroy the world unless Violet can kill him type of story. none of them worked well because there was no real commitment to it. If they had gone with only the me against the government story it would have been a lot better film. First off, why would you mention that you could tell the hemophages by their vampire teeth, and never show the teeth again? Next, it talks about the fact the a hemophage's life span is really short, like the extra enhancement to the body burn it out at an incredible rate (I think it says they have ten years) and that Violet is at the end of her ten year window. And she dies in the middle of the film...only to be brought back by a blood transfusion as if that is the cure and she goes about her business the rest of the way not worrying about any impending death and seems to live happily ever after at the end of the movie. What I wonder is what the movie would have been like with the full director's cut. What a mess. But, on the other hand I know not to mess with future women wearing leather or carrying guns, swords, or other stuff (Aeon Flux, Ultraviolet, Tomb Raider, Kill Bill) As a side note, the special effect were pretty good with the leather (it changed colors) and Weapons (you could download them into a wrist unit and make them appear when you needed them, very computer game-ish). By the way, Mick guess correctly so I owe him a movie (And I also owe Anonymous Ken a movie if he will every pick one...)

Next Up: "V", This Week's Clue: The story of five girls as told by the boys from across the street. And now for this week's guesses.

Underworld - Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a werewolf who longs for the war to end

Underworld: Evolution - This movie continues the saga of war between the Death Dealers (vampires) and the Lycans (werewolves)...

Unbreakable - A suspense thriller with supernatural overtones that revolves around a man who learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

The Alphabet Project: T is for...

The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

In West Texas nearby the border of Mexico, the arrogant new border patrolman Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) mistakenly kills the Mexican cowboy Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) and buries him in the desert. When Melquiades's body is accidentally found one week later, his best friend, the ranch foreman Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones), claims the body to fulfill his promise and bury Melquiades in his hometown of Jimenez, Mexico and presses the local sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yoakam) to find the killer. However, Melquiades is not delivered to Pete because he is not his relative, and his body is reburied in the local cemetery. When Pete discovers the identity of the killer, he kidnaps Mike and forces him to dig up the grave and take the body to Melquiades's family in Mexico. The two journey across the barren landscape of West Texas and Mexico. While in their journey to Mexico, the sad reality of the hopeless Mexicans that live in the proximity of the border with USA is disclosed.

Trivia: Tommy Lee Jones grew up in Midland, Texas (My hometown) and went to high school with Laura Bush. In College his roommate was Al Gore. Director/Actor Jones gave each cast member a copy of Albert Camus' "The Stranger" to read so that they would understand alienation, a big theme in both the novel and the film. Tommy Lee Jones's theatrical directing debut. His only other directing credit was the TV movie The Good Old Boys (1995). Much of the movie was shot on Tommy Lee Jones's own ranch outside of San Antonio.

I know what you are saying, "The three burials of who?" And the answer would by Melquiades Estrada. The reason I picked this one is that I like Tommy lee Jones and this looked interesting... and y'all have had some good luck guessing my picks lately so I had to put you back in your place...just kidding. Actually it is a rather good film especially and Jones and Pepper are together. Dad saw this movie first and when he heard I had seen it he commented that he didn't realize until the end that Dwight Yoakam played the sheriff and I thought, "Oh yeah Dwight Yoakam was in it...wait a minute...he was the sheriff!?" The only other movie I saw Dwight Yoakam in was Sling Blade and the same thing happened, "That was Dwight Yoakam!?"

Up Next: "U", and just a reminder, you will have a shorter time frame to guess, you have until Saturday morning. This Week's Clue: Another one of those future distopian vampire flicks. And now for last week's clues:

The Terminator - A human-looking, apparently unstoppable cyborg is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor; Kyle Reese is sent to stop it.

Three On The Trail - An evil gang is involved in both cattle rustling and the robbing of stagecoaches. Hoppy must stop them... (This is a first, the first Hop-A-Long Cassidy movie guessed)

The Treasures of Tutankhamun - Umm...It's about The Treasures of Tutankhamun, I guess.

Capote - Truman Capote, during his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, the writer develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.

Trainspotting - Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.

Treasure Island - Young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver (the fast food mogul) in search of the buried treasure of the buccaneer Captain Flint...

True Lies - When a secret agent learns of his wife's extra-marital affair, he pursues her and uses his intelligence resources in a job he kept secret from her.

The Alphabet Project: S is for...

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

The L.A. of a not-too-distant future suffers a surge of drug abuse involving a new ultra-addictive and eventually brain-damaging substance simply named "D". Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover narc leading a double life, dutifully reporting to his superiors while effectively having abandoned whatever normal existence he had for a "D" user/dealer career. But this schizophrenic situation and the drug-induced memory and concentration lapses put Bob under mounting stress. Hilarity ensues when an informant accuses Arctor of crimes he didn't commit he and his rag-tag band of friends, his girlfriend Donna, and his roommates Barris (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Luckman (Woody Harrelson) are put under observation, and the department puts one of their undercover agents in charge of gathering evidence, Bob himself.

Trivia: Based on Philip K. Dick's personal drug experiences. The title comes from a paraphrasing of the letters of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. Paul writes on "looking into a mirror darkly". Robert Downey Jr. wrote most of his lines down on post-it notes and scattered them around the set so he could read off them while filming a scene. The rotoscoping team simply animated over the notes to remove them from the film during post-production.

Okay, the first thing you may be asking is why the department suspected Arctor and put him under observation when he was the undercover officer, well, that is simple to explain, when Arctor is in the police station he wears a "Scramble Suit" in which his image and voice is scrambled, if you met him on the street all you would see is a diffused shape that has other peoples images superimposed on it, so a face will be made up of four different faces...come to think of it, it isn't that simple to explain, so basically nobody at the police station knew what he actually looked like and didn't know what name he was using. The animation used is a rotoscoping effect where they animate over the actual actors that are on film. So the images like like the actors. I think this actually made the movie better because the actors, knowing they were going to be animated, acted out more expressively, especially Rory Cochrane who plays and addict named Freck. He was awesomely funny in his expressions. This is one of those types of movies that at first is hard to grasp but as you go everything clicks into place.

Up Next: "T", This Week's Clue: The title character is dead throughout most of the movie. Get those guesses in! Only seven more letters to go! And now for last week's guesses:

Shaft - Shut Your Mouth! New York City police detective John Shaft (nephew of the original 1970s detective) goes on a personal mission to make sure the son of a real estate tycoon is brought to justice after a racially-motivated murder.

Slither - A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.

Swordfish - The world's most dangerous spy is hired by the CIA to coerce a computer hacker recently released from prison to help steal billions in unused government funds.

The Alphabet Project: R is for...

Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)

Showing events from the point of view of two minor characters from Hamlet, men who have no control over their destiny, this film examines fate and asks if we can ever really know what's going on? Are answers as important as the questions? Will Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth) (or is it Guildenstern (Gary Oldman) and Rosencrantz (Tim Roth)) manage to discover the source of Hamlet's malaise as requested by the new king? Will the mysterious players (Richard Dreyfuss and company) who are strolling around the castle reveal the secrets they evidently know? And whose serve is it? Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Richard Dreyfuss' part was to be played by Sean Connery, who abandoned the film for a bigger paycheck in The Hunt for Red October. The title comes from one of the final lines of "Hamlet", where a British ambassador enters the Danish court to find Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes all dead. The ambassador's line is, "...To tell [the King] his commandment is fulfilled, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead." The opening song at the beginning of the movie is Pink Floyd's "Seamus" (Meddle, 1971). The version included in the movie is an instrumental version. The album version has vocals. During the theatre company's performance of pseudo-Hamlet, a sound bit from Pink Floyd's "Echoes" (also from Meddle, 1971) can be heard. The sound of the rapier sword is the first note heard in "Echoes".

I don't know if I would have picked this movie if it wasn't for Ninguelosse and her wonderful blog Cinecism, well, actually, I had never heard of it before, or at least it never registered on my brain. By the way, here is her take on, as she calls it, R+G, I highly recommend that you check it out and become a regular reader, Emily, I owe you a movie (you get to pick a movie for me to watch and review since you guessed correctly). As for the movie, it was highly entertaining. The dialog is wonderful, Oldman and Roth really work great together. The premise is fun, two guys trying to figure out what is happening as a play unfolds around them, when they actually do appear in the play they say their lines and then try to figure out why they said them. During the movie you see sheets of paper blow around the two characters who are oblivious to them, even making some into paper boats and airplanes. The papers are pages from the play Hamlet. Nice touch. And a littler something to confuse you a little more, the characters have trouble all through the movie trying to figure out which one is Rosencrantz and which one is Guildenstern, well, Oldman was cast as Guildenstern and played Rosencrantz and Roth was cast as Rosencrantz and played Guildenstern. Well, I guess you will just have to watch it to figure out that one. Oh yeah, and the movie does seem to be very brown.

Next Up: "S", this week's clue: An undercover cop's life starts to blur as he starts to become addicted to the drugs...while he watches it all unfold on a screen. And now for last week's guesses:

Rob Roy - Honor made him a man. Courage made him a hero. History made him a Legend. In the highlands of Scotland in the 1700s, Rob Roy tries to lead his small town to a better future.

Rain Man - Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country. Five minutes to Wapner!

Rosemary's Baby - A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.

The Alphabet Project: Q is for...

Quadrophenia (1979)

Set against the soundtrack of The Who's 1973 mighty concept album Quadrophenia. Phil Daniels play's working class Jimmy, the drug-induced mod, who hates his job and is misunderstood by his parents, but by night, he comes alive, with the all-nighters, his pills and his scooter riding friends. Always on a high, life can't get any better, then there's the Brighton scooter run, where both mod's and rocker's converge, ending in the battle of the cults on Brighton beach. What goes up must come down, and with Jimmy's comedown his life is turned around, so begins his downward spiral into paranoia and isolation, and the four faceted mindset: Quadrophenia. With its extremely realistic language and violent overtones and classic sixties soundtrack this illness is bound to be contagious. Come along for the ride as hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The Who appear not just on the episode of 'Ready Steady Go!' that Jimmy watches and an album sleeve at the house party but also a portrait of Pete Townsend is on the boy's bedroom wall.

Well, this wasn't much in terms of plot and tends to be more of character development, but it doesn't quite make it for me. The title "Quadrophenia" is like schizophrenia with four distinct personalities and is supposed to represent the four personalities of the members of the Who. I didn't see four personalities, at most I saw two but that is stretching it a bit, it could have just been a young teen who has trouble with his parents and rebels at night with his friends. The Mods vs Rockers aspect was cool to watch, and the music was great, but that was about it.

Well, Impman and Anonymous Ken were able to guess correctly so they get to pick movies for me to watch, that is two in a row for Impman, I guess I need to make this a little harder. So...

Up Next: "R" movies. This week's clue: A plot within a plot within a plot. If Ninquelosse checks in she might get this one since I picked it based in her love for it...so Emily? Are you there? And now for...this week's...guesses? Dang it, AK and Impman got it right off the bat! Not a single incorrect guess.

The Alphabet Project: P is for...

Pi (1998)

The mathematician Maximillian Cohen (Sean Gullette) is tormented by a severe migraine since he was a kid, and he uses many pills to reduce his painful headaches. He is a lonely man, and his only friend is his former professor Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis). Max has the following assumptions, which rules his life: (1) Mathematics is the language of nature; (2) Everything around us can be represented and understood from numbers; (3) If you graph the numbers in any systems, patterns emerge. Therefore there are patterns everywhere in nature. Based on these principles, Max is trying to figure out a system to predict the behavior of the stock market. Due to his research, Max is chased by a Wall Street company with obvious interest in the results of his studies, and by an orthodox Jew follower of the Torah, who believes that this long string of numbers is a code sent from God. Hilarity multiplies exponentially.

Trivia: Pi cost only $60,000 to make, most of which was raised in the form of individual $100 contributions from the director's friends and family. When it was later bought by Artisan Entertainment, each contributor got back a $150 return on their investment. The director's mother catered for the film. The movie ends with Jenna asking for the result of the division of 748 by 238. This simplifies to the fraction 22/7, the result is 3.1428 which is a good approximation of pi often taught in primary schools. (3.1415...) by 3 digits. No location permits were secured for any of the scenes filmed. The crew had to have one man constantly serving as a lookout for police so they could stop filming if needed. Yes Impman, the brain used in the film is real.

I really thought I was clever with my clue. What is more American to a mathematician then Apple Pi? Impman, after coming so close to getting O last week, you got Pi pretty quick this week, well done, I owe you a movie. Okay, this was an awesome film. It was gritty. It was captivating. It kept you interested. It was made for 60 grand. You can really see where Darren Aronofsky came from when he directed Requiem For A Dream.

Next Up: "Q" And you thought you had a hard time finding "P" movies. This Week's Clue: We are the mods, we are the mods. We are, we are, we are the mods. Here are last week's guesses:

Prizzi's Honor - Hired killers by day. Devoted lovers by night. Until they found their next assignment was each other.

Plan 9 From Outer Space - Unspeakable Horrors From Outer Space Paralyze The Living And Resurrect The Dead! (Yes, it really is as bad as they say it is)

Phone Booth - A ringing phone has to be answered.

Pulp Fiction - You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction.

Pie In The Sky - The only thing that stands in the way of fate and true love is a little traffic.

Phenomenon - Some things in life just can't be explained.

The Alphabet Project: O is for...

O (2001)

In this modern version of Shakespeare's Othello, Odin James (Mekhi Phifer) is the black star of the basketball team at an otherwise white boarding school. He is headed for big time with his sport and is in love with Desi (Julia Stiles), the most popular girl in school. Meanwhile, Hugo (Josh Hartnett) is the coach's son, but he is outshone on court by Odin, and his father (Martin Sheen) says he thinks of Odin as a son as well. Hugo's feelings of envy and neglect lead him to construct a plot to make Odin doubt Desi's love for him, a plot which Hugo is willing to take to its most extreme consequences. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Some post production sound was provided by students at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo. They added their sound to the basketball crowds, party fight scene, and the shooting scene in the girls' dorm. This film was being edited by night while O Brother Where Art Thou was being filmed during the day. This film finished production in 1999, and its original release date coincided with the Columbine High School shootings. The release was postponed because of the film's themes of violence and murder in a high-school setting. The music at the end of the movie, "Ave Maria", is from the end of Verdi's opera "Otello", which was also based on the Shakespearean play "Othello".

Okay Impman, I can't give this one to you. Although it is based on Othello, it isn't called Othello and the character's name is Odin. Besides, I gave y'all the title [Next Up: "O"]. Jealousy, intrigue, deception, sex, murder plots, man, sounds like a modern day soap opera doesn't it? It is pretty amazing that Shakespeare's plays can still translate so easily to modern day, and he was thousands of years after the Greek tragedies. So I guess human nature hasn't changed much. The movie itself was very nicely put together, there didn't seem to be any fluff.

Next Up: "P" (no, there isn't a movie called P that I know of) This week's clue: As American As Mathematicians Can Get. While you mull that one over, here are last week's guesses:

Ummm...guess

Othello - The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic...O so close, Impman

The Alphabet Project: N is for...

Nanook Of The North (1922)

Documents one year in the life of Nanook (Nanook), an Eskimo (Inuit) and his family. Describes the trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology. Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological documentary in cinematographic history. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Rated #6 in 2002 by International Documentary Assn. on its list of Top 20 Documentaries of all time. All of the scenes are staged. The woman who plays Nanook's wife was not his actual wife. Nanook died of starvation in 1922, months after the film was completed.

This was actually pretty amazing to watch. It might have been staged but I believe that is only because of having to set up the camera to capture it. One of the cool parts was when Nanook built an igloo, they said it took him around an hour, he even cut out a large section of clear ice to make a window. There was also a scene where Nanook and his family go to a trading post in a kayak. Nanook paddled, his son sat on the his wife (the smiling one) was inside in the front, his other wife was inside in the back with a child and a dog, it was like an Eskimo clown car.

Next Up: "O" This weeks clue: One of the Bard's best tragedies. Now for last week's guesses:

The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad - Incompetent cop Frank Drebbin has to foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - In the dreams of his victims, a spectral child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him.

Nowhere to Run - Escaped convict Sam Gillen single handedly takes on ruthless developers determined to evict Clydie - a widow with two young children.

The Naked Civil Servant - The life and times of Quentin Crisp, an outrageous and flamboyant homosexual, coming of age and growing into old age in conservative England.

No Sex Please: We're British - Porn store owner Pete orders some new stuff from his supplier Niko but Niko mixes up the address with the address of the local Barclays Bank. (Holy Cow, this is a real movie!?)

Naked Lunch - After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally murders his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in an Islamic port town in Africa.

The Night Listener - In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.

North by Northwest - A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

North Country - A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.

North to Alaska - Sam (John Wayne) and George (Stewart Granger) strike gold in Alaska. George sends Sam to Seattle to bring George's fiance back to Alaska.

Nothing to Lose - Nick Beam's life couldn't get any worse. He discovers he has been living a lie and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Ned Kelly - This film is based on "Our Sunshine" by Robert Drew, a novel based on the life of Australian bushranger and icon.

North and South - Two friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.

The Alphabet Project: M is for...

Matchstick Men (2003)

Meet Roy (Nicolas Cage) and Frank (Sam Rockwell), a couple of professional small-time con artists. What Roy, a veteran of the grift, and Frank, his ambitious protege, are swindling these days are "water filtration systems," bargain-basement water filters bought by unsuspecting people who pay ten times their value in order to win bogus prizes like cars, jewelry and overseas vacations--which they never collect. These scams net the flimflam men a few hundred here, another thousand there, which eventually adds up to a lucrative partnership. Roy's private life, however, is not so successful. An obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe with no personal relationships to call his own, Roy is barely hanging on to his wits, and when his idiosyncrasies begin to threaten his criminal productivity he's forced to seek the help of a psychoanalyst just to keep him in working order. While Roy is looking for a quick fix, his therapy begets more than he bargained for: the revelation that he has a teenage daughter (Alison Lohman)--a child whose existence he suspected but never dared confirm. What's more troubling, 14-year-old Angela wants to meet the father she never knew. At first, Angela's appearance disrupts her neurotic father's carefully ordered routine. Soon, however, with his own unique spin on parenthood, Roy begins to enjoy a relationship he never dreamed of having with his daughter. But while he develops paternal feelings for the 14-year-old, she's developing a fascination with Daddy's questionable career. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The airport scenes, which set at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), were actually filmed in the main entrance of the Anaheim Convention Center, a mile south of Disneyland. Due to recent security measures in the nation's airports, liberal filming rights for movies has been severely restricted on airport property. Frank Mercer was named for Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mercer. Roy Waller is seen playing records by the two. Roy's pills are actually Benadryl, a popular over-the-counter allergy medicine. Alison Lohman went to the audition dressed and acted like a 14-year-old girl. Ridley Scott only realized her real age when she told him. She was 22 at the time.

I was a bit surprised when Mick didn't get this movie. He has been wanting me to see it for awhile, but I guess he was busy with three kids and going back to school and stuff. Now for the movie. It was very good. Nic Cage always seems to play the neurotic guy good and Lohman was great as the daughter with the penchant for the family business. It is also kind of telling when you see that Roy can act normal when he is in his con man persona but at home the neurosis comes out. Also related to that, it is cool seeing that when Roy is at home, he wears generic gray sweats of simple nondescript clothing while when he is being a con man he is fashionably attired. Impman, flimflam artist and matchstick man are synonyms for a con man.

Next Up: "N" This weeks clue: It's cool man, it *could* have inspired Northern Exposure maybe, but probably not. (by the way, Anonymous Ken is excluded this week since I am going to be watching it with him.) Now for last weeks guesses:

Miranda - A librarian begins a passionate affair with a mysterious woman who walks into his library.

Monster House - Three teens discover that their neighbor's house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.

The Muppet Movie - Kermit and his new found friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog-legs merchant is after Kermit.

Mary Poppins - A magic nanny comes to work for a cold banker's unhappy family.

Meet The Parents - Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare.

Moby Dick - The sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.

My Girl - A When your Dad's an undertaker, your Mom's in heaven, and your Grandma's got a screw loose...it's good to have a friend who understands you. Even if he is a boy.

Me, Myself and Irene - A nice guy cop with multiple personality disorder, must protect a woman on the run from a corrupt ex-boyfriend and his associates.

The Alphabet Project: L is for...

The Last Days Of Pompeii (1935)

Peaceloving blacksmith Marcus refuses lucrative offers to fight in the arena...until his wife dies for lack of medical care. His life as a gladiator hardens him, and shady enterprises make him the richest man in Pompeii, while his son Flavius (who met Jesus on a brief visit to Judaea) is as gentle as Marcus once was. The final disaster of Marcus and Flavius's cross purposes is interrupted by Vesuvius. Hilarity erupts.

Trivia: Despite all the spectacle, the movie was a box-office flop, and required several re-releases (on a double bill with King Kong (1933) another Marian C. Cooper production) to earn back its cost.

A good 30s Hollywood movie but what surprised me were the not so subtle christian overtones. Marcus disapproves of the slave trade and use of the slaves in the gladiator area but eventually becomes a gladiator himself and becomes disillusioned. He travels to Judea when an old women tells him his son will get the help of the greatest man in Judea. He thinks it is Pontius Pilate, but when his son is gravely injured he asks "the teacher" for his help and his son is healed. He is in Jerusalem when Pilate sentences Jesus, "the teacher" to death. (They even used the standard operating procedure from back then by not showing Jesus, just peoples reactions to him.) Flavius becomes a man who hates his father's job as head of the area and tries to save slaves and free them. Oh yeah, and it is placed in Pompeii so the last ten minutes are very explosive.

Impman, you were on the right track with The Land Before Time and The Land That Time Forgot based on my clue, but 1,927 years ago was 79 A.D. the year Vesuvius erupted.

Up Next: The "M" Movie. The week's clue: Flimflam Artists. Now here are the guesses for L:

The Land Before Time - Four orphan dinosaurs travel the ruins of their world, while grieving the loss of their families and banding together to face the odds of survival.

The Land That Time Forgot - During World War I, a German U-boat sinks a British ship and takes the survivors on board. After it takes a wrong turn the submarine takes them to the unknown land of Caprona, where they find dinosaurs and neanderthals.

Lady Chatterley's Lover - A film adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel. After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires.

The Little Mermaid - A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.

The Alphabet Project: K is for...

Kinky Boots (2005)

Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) may have grown up with his father in the family shoe business, but he never thought that he would take his father's place. Yet, the untimely death of his father places him in that position, only to learn that Price & Sons Shoes is failing. While in despair at his failed attempts to save the business, Charlie has a chance encounter with the flamboyant drag queen cabaret singer, Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Her complaints about the inadequate footwear for her work combined with one of Charles' ex-employees, Lauren (Sarah-Jane Potts), leads to a suggestion to change the product to create a desperate chance to save the business: make men's fetish footwear. Lola is convinced to be their footwear designer and the transition begins. Now this disparate lot must struggle at this unorthodox idea while dealing both the prejudice of the staff, Lola's discomfort in the small town and the selfish manipulation of Charles' greedy fiancee who cannot see the greater good in Charles' dream. Hilarity ensues in drag no less.

Trivia: Inspired by the true story of a traditional English men's footwear factory in Northamptonshire which turned to production of kinky boots for transvestites in order to save the ailing family business and safeguard the jobs of the local community.

Yeah, Mick guessed the movie! In all fairness I did give him a second clue, that it was a recent movie. This was actually a very nice movie. Chiwetel Ejiofor has been nominated for a Golden Globe for this one. He is very good as the drag queen turned shoe designer trying to live in a new conservative town. Joel Edgerton is also good as the reluctant factory owner trying to save his factory. But it is Sarah-Jane Potts that I like the best. She is my ideal...um...she is very cute.

Up Next: ...H,I,J,K... "L" The "L" movie is next. This Week's Clue: 1927 years is a long time. Impman, Anonymous Ken, and Kim you still need to let me know what movie you want me to review for guessing the J movie. Mick you get to pick a movie for me to watch. Now here are the guesses for K:

Kingpin - A star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.

King Kong - A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star.

Kicking And Screaming - Family man Phil Weston, a lifelong victim of his father's competitive nature, takes on the coaching duties of a kids' soccer team, and soon finds that he's also taking on his father's dysfunctional way of relating...

Kalifornia - A journalist duo go on a tour of serial killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman - Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cell mates in a South American prison. Luis, a homosexual, is found...

Kiss The Girls - Police hunting for a serial killer are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time.

K-Pax - Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.

Knockaround Guys - The wannabe sons of mobsters go to a remote town in the Midwest, and get themselves into more trouble than anyone could anticipate.

The Alphabet Project: J is for...

Jabberwocky (1977)

After the death of his father the young Dennis Cooper (Michael Palin) goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called Jabberwocky. Will Dennis make his fortune? Is anyone brave enough to defeat the monster? A medieval tale with Pythonesque humor. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Many of the props and costumes were recycled from the set of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The narrator of the film's trailer warns that it is so terrifying "No one will be admitted to the theatre until the last ten minutes of (the) film". Real horse carcasses are used in the scene where Dennis and the Champion are ambushed by the Black Knight. The horse that the champion rides is visibly disturbed by these surroundings. A tavern in the town is named The Queen's Haemorrhoids.

Well, well, well, my clues maybe a little too easy for you, seeing as three of you came up with Jabberwocky. Oh, yeah, the movie. This was Terry Gilliam's first solo shot at directing and you can see his style starting to come through. Michael Palin is pretty good too. You can tell that there is a major Monty Python influence on the humor of this movie, but you can also tell that it is not fully python. It definitely has it's moments (King Bruno, the Questionable, the knights playing hide and go seek to find a champion) but a fully python film would have included more of those moments, so basically The Holy Grail is a vastly superior film, but Jabberwocky is still funny.

Up Next: The "K" movie. Hopefully, this week's clue will be harder to figure out. This week's clue: It Deals With Charlie's New Factory.

So, Impman, Anonymous Ken, and Kim, get me your movie choices. Here were last week's incorrect guesses:

Jeepers Creepers - A brother and sister driving home for spring break encounter a flesh-eating creature in the isolated countryside that is on it's last day of it's ritualistic eating spree.

Jailhouse Rock - After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.

Jiminy Glick in Lalaland - Culture critic Jiminy Glick gets tied up in a murder case at the Toronto Film Festival.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - The comic 'Bluntman and Chronic' is based on real-life stoners Jay and Silent Bob, so when they get no profit from a big-screen adaptation they set out to wreck the movie.

The Alphabet Project: I is for...

Inventing The Abbotts (1997)

The lives of two closely linked families dangerously intersect in a small Illinois town in the 1950s. Though they are from the wrong side of the tracks, the working class brothers Jacey (Billy Crudup) and Doug Holt (Joaquin Phoenix) are in love with the wealthy and beautiful Abbott sisters. Shy and quiet Doug, who worships his womanizing brother, has eyes for the iconoclastic Pamela (Liv Tyler), but Jacey's affections are more calculating: he's interested in whichever Abbott sister is interested in him. At first, this is the wild sister Eleanor (Jennifer Connelly), but eventually Jacey sets his sights on the unhappily married oldest sister Alice (Joanna Going). For Jacey, his conquest of the Abbotts is a form of economic revenge, as he believes that Lloyd Abbott (Will Patton), the head of the family, stole a patent that made him rich from the Holts' late father, John Charles. When he's eventually revealed as an embittered cad, Jacey's mistreatment of the Abbott girls makes the genuine affection between Doug and Pamela impossible for either family to accept. Delicious hilarity ensues...ummm...Jennifer Connelly.

Trivia: Did I mention Jennifer Connelly is in this movie? Liv Tyler ain't bad either. The narrator is not credited, but is the voice of Michael Keaton.

Well, Kim figured it out at the last minute so I owe her a movie. Let me know what movie you want me to review...Hmm...I have never seen Under The Tuscan Sun...Not that I saying anything, I'm just saying...Did I mention Jennifer Connelly was in this movie? The problem is that she leaves half way through the movie. Dang it. But anyway this was a good solid coming of age movie with Jacey, Eleanor, Doug and Pam still in high school when the movie starts and through college by the end. It was a nice love story.

Next Up: The "J" movie. This Week's Clue: It is one-half Python.

The "I" Guesses:

Identity - Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rainstorm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.

I, Claudius - The history of the Roman Empire as experienced by one of its rulers.

It - Seven youths have to defeat a demonic creature named Pennywise which dresses in a clown suit and terrorizes a 1960's town in Maine.

I Know What You Did Last Summer - Four teens are in great danger one year after their car hits a stranger whose body they dump in the sea.

Innerspace - A hapless store clerk must foil criminals to save the life of the man who, miniaturized in a secret experiment, was accidentally injected into him.

Insomnia -

The Alphabet Project: H is for...

Hard Candy (2005)

For three weeks, 14-year-old Hayley Stark (Ellen Page) has been chatting on-line with 'Lensmaster319', a 32-year old fashion photographer, named Jeff (Patrick Wilson). The two agree to meet at a coffee shop called Nighthawks. They hit it off, despite the massive age difference. Hayley appears to flirt with Jeff, and Jeff generally restrains himself, even admitting that he must wait 4-years until he can be with her. But his reservations are apparently not enough to decline when Hayley all but invites herself over to his house. Once at the house, manipulation becomes the name of the game, and the pedophile seems to be on the non-traditional side of it. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: The title comes from Internet slang for an under-aged girl. Ellen Page was nearly passed over for the role of Hayley because she had a shaved head for another role when she filmed the audition tape she submitted. The opening scenes at Nighthawks was shot last, with the set of Jeff's house transformed into a coffee shop. The very last scene they shot for the film was the bit where Hailey goes into the bathroom and changes into the T-shirt.

Amazing. Chilling. Astounding. Provocative. Extraordinary. Horrific. Controversial. Mesmerizing. Mind numbing. Captivating. Exhausting. Intense. These are but a few words that begin to describe this movie that is above description. I had heard good things about this movie, which is why I chose to include it. I was not disappointed. This movie grabbed you and kept you on your seat. Although the subject of the movie is, at times, hard to handle, this is a movie you should watch. Ellen Page just leaps from the screen from the moment that you see her. It was amazing.

Well, as most of you know, I am going on vacation next week and will be gone for two weeks so this is the last Alphabet Project movie I will see until I get back. I will give you time after I get back to guess the next movie, "I". But if you are just waiting to start guessing, here is the next clue. "All Hail J.C." And now for the "H" guesses:

Harry's Game - Harry is an undercover agent for the British army sent to Northern Ireland to infiltrate the IRA and...I have to see this film, Impman guessed it twice!

Home Alone - An eight year-old, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars.

Hackers - A young boy is arrested by the US Secret Service for writing a computer virus and is banned from using a computer until his 18th birthday...

The Hot Spot - A loner (Johnson) drives into a small Texas town and gets himself a job at a used car dealership. (Don't worry, Impy, it's on my list to watch, thanks to you)

Hellraiser - An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell. (Sounds charming)

Hannibal - Hannibal returns to America and attempts to make contact with disgraced Agent Starling and survive a vengeful victim's plan.

Hide And Seek - As a widower tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide, his daughter finds solace -- at first -- in her imaginary friend.

House - Roger Cobb is a Vietnam vet. Whose career as a horror novelist has taken a turn for the worse when his...

Hitch - While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional "date doctor" (Smith) finds game doesn't quite work on the gossip columnist (Mendes) with whom he's smitten.

Halloween - A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.

The Alphabet Project: G is for...

Garden State (2004)

Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) shuffled through life in a lithium-induced coma until his mother's death inspired a vacation from the pills to see what might happen. A moderately successful TV actor living in Los Angeles, "Large" hasn't been home to the Garden State in nine years. But even with 3,000 miles between them, he's been unable to escape his domineering father Gideon (Ian Holm)and the silencing effect he's had on his son from afar. Stunned to find himself in his hometown after such a long absence, Large finds old acquaintances around every corner living quite unique lives as gravediggers, fast food knights and the panderers of pyramid schemes. Meanwhile, at home, he does his best to avoid a long-simmering but inevitable confrontation with his father. By a twist of fate, Large meets Sam (Natalie Portman), a girl who is everything he isn't. A blast of color, hope and quirks, Sam becomes a sidekick who refuses to ride in his sidecar. Hilarity ensues as her warmth and fearlessness give Large the courage to open his heart to the joy and pain of the infinite abyss that is life.

Trivia: Natalie Portman was Braff's first choice for the role of Sam but he never thought he would get her. Zach Braff wrote the majority of the script while he was in college. Based partly on Braff's own childhood in New Jersey, as well as his days as a struggling actor in Los Angeles before the success of "Scrubs" (2001). When Braff sent the script to people, he would also send them a copy of the songs which would eventually be the soundtrack (which he handpicked). That is why on the actual soundtrack album, all of the songs are in the order that they appear in the movie. The tomb stones in the pet cemetery were made by the cast and crew, and feature their own deceased pets' names. The "helmet" that Sam (Natalie Portman) is wearing on the motorcycle is actually a Rugby scrum-cap. On the commentary track, Natalie Portman admits she had never handled a vinyl record before making this movie. She had to be taught how to start a vintage "record player" properly for the scene in her bedroom.

Wow, I am impressed. Zach Braff is more then a funny man on a funny show. I like how he moves Large through the movie. He starts out in a bleak featureless white bedroom and pretty much sleep walks through his mother's funeral and as he progresses through the film he comes more and more to life. He awakens with the help of his friends and a quirky girl who herself is full of life. I like the rainstorm in the middle of the film, it was a cleansing experience for the characters. There is also an undercurrent throughout the film with the characters wanting to do something unique to prove that they are one of a kind. This can be best seen in Sam. Natalie Portman continues to provide good solid characters. Sam is a fun, quirky, slightly manic, colorful young woman who isn't afraid to laugh at herself but also looks forward to a good cry. So anyway, to paraphrase the movie, "You gotta see this one movie, it'll change your life I swear." Well, maybe not quite that far, but it is a really really good movie. Thanks Kim.

Okay, Kim was able to guess correctly what movie I was going to watch so as a prize, she will get to pick two movies for me to watch and review here at a later date. Here were the other guesses:

Austin Powers in Goldmember - Upon learning that his father has been kidnapped, Austin Powers must travel to 1975 and defeat the aptly-named villain Goldmember - who is working with Dr. Evil.

Goldfinger - Investigating a gold magnate's gold smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.

Gate - A whodunnit on a sheepstation.

Gregory's Girl - Gregory is a normal teen who is infatuated with a classmate. He must work to win her affection.

Gettysburg - In 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

Get Shorty - A mobster travels to Hollywood to collect a debt and discovers that the movie business is much the same as his current job.

Gorillas In The Mist: The story of Dian Fossey - A scientist comes to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fights to protect them.

The Green Mile - The story about the lives of guards on death row leading up to the execution of a wrongly accused man who has the power of faith healing.

Grosse Point Blank - Martin Blank is a professional assassin. He is sent on a mission to a small Detroit suburb, Grosse Pointe, and, by coincidence, his ten-year high school reunion party is taking place there at the same time.

Okay, next up is "H", I am going to start giving very cryptic clues if I can find them to see if I can help y'all narrow it down a bit. So here is your clue: One of the characters may be an ephebophile and the title of the film comes from internet slang.