Sequels, Part twos, follow-ups, these are
the films that viewers go to for more of the same. Some are the second half of
the preceding movie, Godfather 2 for instance, some expand on the original,
some do little more than reference the parent film. There is always great
debate as to the value of the sequel yet we are drawn to them. When the first movie is of high quality it makes the sequel a poison chalice
Here’s ten of the best sequels to good movies
1. Bride of Frankenstein
2.Aliens
3. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
4. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
5. 28 Weeks Later
6. From Russia With Love
7. Airplane II: The Sequel
8. The Empire Strikes Back
9. Magnum Force
10. Carry On Nurse
…and some of the worst
1. Grease 2 2. More American Graffiti 3. Return To Oz 4. Beyond The Poseidon Adventure
So I took it upon myself to watch seasons1-5 of The Office. I began on January 1st and finished on 25th January: that's a total of 100 episodes in 25 days. Phew! I am taking a pause before commencing seasons 6, 7 and 8.
I approached the Office, or as it's call here in the UK, The US Office with the expectation that it would be just another copy of a successful comedy format. The quality of series 1, 2 and the Christmas special of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's The Office set an extremely high bar so I started viewing with trepidation. I needn't have worried: its wonderful.
The trials and tribulations of the staff of the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin paper company make for some of the best entertainment of recent years. The standard of writing and performances are consistently high and guest directors such as Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams take the helm for the odd episode seamlessly confirming the quality of the regular directors. The cast (the family if you like) consist of tremendous characters each given time and room to develop.
Michael Scott joins the pantheon of classic comedy
characters whose comedic attributes and clod hopping sensibilities are
underpinned by genuine pathos. The relationships are the heart of the office, in
particular that of Pam and Jim whose ongoing "will they won't
they" storyline becomes something meaningful.
Dwight Shrute is the assistant to the regional manager
whose loyalty to Scott is just one aspect of a obnoxious yet fascinating
character. The other workers of the office develop over the seasons and we
glimpse into their lives, but never too deeply. The Office grows and develops over the seasons and becomes something more with each episode. Extremely funny but also genuinely moving at times. I personally, would put The Office right up there with the best of US Situation comedies like Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. It really is that good.
I look forward to seeing how things unfold for the employees of Dunder Mifflin with great enthusiasm and, this time, with no trepidation at all.
Michael Scott's best quotes
15.) “I am Michael, and I am part English, Irish, German, and Scottish, sort of a virtual United Nations.”
14.) “Presents are the best way to show someone how much you care. It is like this tangible thing that you can point to and say, ‘Hey man, I love you this many dollars-worth.’” 13.) “Nobody likes beets, Dwight. You should grow something everybody does like. You should grow candy.”
12.) “Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information.”
11.) “I’m friends with everybody in this office. We’re all best friends. I love everybody here. But sometimes your best friends start coming into work late and start having dentist appointments that aren’t dentist appointments, and that is when it’s nice to let them know that you could beat them up.” 10.) “Between the sheets, we were like Jordan and Pippen.”
9.) “Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he’s really not a part of our family. Also, he’s divorced, so he’s really not a part of his family.” 8.) “Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”
7.) “You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards … when they’re acting retarded.”
6.) “You may look around and see two groups here: white collar, blue collar. But I don’t see it that way, and you know why not? Because I am collar-blind.”
5.) “I love babies. I think they are beautiful in all sorts of different ways. I try to pick up and hold a baby every day, if possible, because it nourishes me. It feeds my soul. Babies are drawn to me. And I think it’s because they see me as one of them. But … cooler and with my life put together a little bit more. If a baby were president, there would be no taxes. There would be no war.” 4.) “My proudest moment here wasn’t when I increased profits by 17 percent, or cut expenditures without losing a single member of staff. No, no, no. It was a young Guatemalan guy, first job in the country, barely spoke a word of English, but he came to me and said, ‘Mr. Scott, will you be the godfather to my child?’ Didn’t work out in the end. We had to let him go. He sucked.”
3.) “You’ll notice, I didn’t have anybody being Arab. I thought that would be too explosive, uh, no pun intended. But I just thought, “too soon” for Arabs, maybe next year. You know, the ball’s in their court.”
2.) “Happy birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party is so lame!”
1.) “If I had a gun, with two bullets, and I was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden and Toby, I would shoot Toby twice.”
Via http://haphappy.com/2011/04/27/15-funniest-michael-scott-quotes/
Holly-self confessed dweeb and Michael's soul mate
David- Head honcho who rules with an iron palm
Meredith-Alcoholic who's up for a liaison
Kelly-air headed Hindu
Jan-powerful career woman meets mad woman
Toby-HR man and Michael Scott nemesis
Karen-The one that Jim gave away
Oscar -gay and prone to exasperation
Phylis-malleable mother figure
Kevin-Sloth like number cruncher
Further Viewing:
Actors from The Office have starred in movies also,most being standard fare however here's a selection of great smaller movies featuring members of the cast
10 of the best
Bizarre, esoteric and downright weird mainstream comic books.
With the rise of independent comic books in the eighties opportunities for
writers and artists to explore new challenging avenues became frequent but
there was a time that, within the constraints of the four colour format and
commercial considerations of the traditional Superhero
comic book, some
creators pushed the envelope: and got away with it. Some did it under the radar, some in obvious ways and some utilising downright silly methods to make a point. Artistically and within the script, ambition and surrealism collided and led the way for experimentation in that mainstream thereby influencing the independent creator.
Krazy Kat,Little Nemo and others had been given free reign previously but that
was within the more cerebral newspaper world. These stories took place in the
highly commercial world of the Marvel/DC cape & cowl universe. 1.Doctor Strange-Steve Ditko,Stan Lee 2.Warlock / Captain Marvel-Jim Starlin
3. Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.LD./ Captain America-Jim Steranko 4. The Creeper-Steve Ditko 5.American Flagg-Howard Chaykin 6. Deadman-Neal Adams 7. Swamp Thing-Alan Moore 8.Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane-Kurt Shaffenberger 9.Howard the Duck-Steve Gerber 10.Mister Miracle-Jack Kirby
Axl Rose. Cringe inducing anagrammatic name. Nasal caterwauling. Ridiculous own brand dancing. Pompous bloated bad boy. Sub Mick Jagger posturing. Pseudo Robert Plant aesthetic. But most of all a screeching voice
I think its fair to say that
Django Unchained represents Quentin Tarantino’s entry into the Western cannon
or rather the Spaghetti Western cannon. It’s a Western that takes the slave
trade as its setting and the journey of Django as its story.
Tarantino is the master of
imprinting a genre with his own DNA and Django Unchained is undoubtedly a
Tarantino movie in its style, dialogue and invention.
I chose to see it in 35mm at
The Everyman Screen on the Green and if it was Tarantino’s intention to create
a movie that looks like a classic widescreen Western he achieves his ambition
perfectly. As per usual there is a great soundtrack and the production values
are spot on. If you get the chance to see it in it's natural 35mm glory I urge you to do so.
Christoph Malz is a magnetic
cinematic presence as bounty hunter Doctor King Schulz and he becomes Obi Wan Kenobi
to Jamie Foxx’s Skywalker: although in many ways he has more in common with
Hans Solo.
Leonardo di Caprio plays a
villain who is bereft of any redeeming features and Samuel L Jackson not only
looks like the generic Uncle Tom figure but also plays the compliant house
slave to Di Caprio’s Calvin Candie as a cross between the unseen Maid from Tom
& Jerry and a judgemental father figure.
Django Unchained does
feature stylised violence, which, predictably enough, has promoted mild
hysteria, yet it is no more than that of Peckinpah or DePalma.
There is an intrinsic humour
in many scenes, which is a counterbalance to the genuinely upsetting depiction
of the treatment of slaves. Django’s retribution on those guilty of benefitting
from slavery is swift and brutal, in fact both Django and King Schulz have a
default position for dealing with bad people: kill them.
It continues the traditions
of the revenge Western and Korean movies such as Oldboy, Lady Vengeance and
Sympathy for Mister Vengeance. Django’s vengeance is not so much against
individuals that have wronged him but rather revenge on the whole rotten and
barbaric institution of slavery.
