February 2010 – Page 2 – Pop Culture Nerd

I’m a Big Fat Liar

Within the last week or so, two of my blogger friends, le0pard13 and Poncho, kindly bestowed on me the Creative Writer Award (Poncho also gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award), with the real implication being they think I’m a bald-faced liar. Which I take as a huge compliment! It takes a lot of talent to be a convincing liar, I’ll have you know.

One of the rules in accepting the award requires me to post statements about myself—some lies, some truths—and have readers guess which is which. I also have to thank the people who gave me the award and then give it to seven others.

So here goes: Thank you, le0pard13 and Poncho, for telling me to my face how you really feel about me. People who call me a liar behind my back are cowards and need to be whacked repeatedly with nunchucks.

As for nominating seven other bloggers, I only know about five and they’ve all received this award already (thanks a lot for picking me last, guys; what is this, kickball?). So, I will pass it on to only one other blogger, the divine Ms. Shell Sherree, who does beautiful illustrations, schools me on Australian lingo, and is a gorgeous friend.

Now for the statements:

I once provided backstage security for Duran Duran at a concert.
Mel Gibson and I once shopped for books together.
I was in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down.
Several years ago, I finished the New York Marathon right behind P. Diddy.
I’m a crack shot at the firing range.
I have a black belt in tae kwon do and once trained with Chuck Norris.
I was voted Most Likely to Win Hot Dog Eating Contest in high school.
I worked briefly for the FBI after college.
I’ve skydived out of a C-130.
I once played Charlie in a school production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Think you can figure out which statements are true or false? Have at it! Extra points if you tell me why you think something is a lie or truth.

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Winners of Ben Sherwood’s THE SURVIVORS CLUB

With Random.org‘s help, I drew the following 5 names to receive a trade paperback copy of this book from Hachette Book Group:

Alana (Whitman)
Lydia
le0pard13
WotV
Elizabeth (APMonkey)

Congrats! Please DM or e-mail me your address (click on “contact” tab at top of page) and I’ll pass it along to the publisher. If I don’t hear from you by 5 p.m. PST Sunday, alternate names will be selected.

Thanks to all for entering and telling me what kind of survivor you are. Stay tuned for more giveaways soon!

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Movie Review: FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

During most of the Luc Besson-produced From Paris with Love, I had no idea what was going on. Oddly enough, being a fan of plot-driven movies, I still found it to be a blast, and I’m not just talking about the explosions. It’s because of John Travolta having more fun than I’ve ever seen him have on screen, making it impossible for me to not enjoy the ride with him.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is a junior CIA agent living in Paris with a cover job in the U.S. Embassy, doing little more than grunt work and eager to take on more dangerous assignments. He gets his wish when the agency teams him up with loose cannon agent Charlie Wax (Travolta) to take down drug dealers and terrorists. You don’t need to know more than that because it’s irrelevant. Do you remember what the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was about? No, but you’re probably still chuckling about Johnny Depp’s performance as Captain Jack.

And so it is here with Travolta’s portrayal of the profane, badass, bald, goateed, tattooed, beefed up Wax with even beefier guns. When he first appears on screen, I thought, “Oh no, he just graduated from the Nicolas Cage School of Hambone Overacting.”

But the actor quickly won me over with the sheer joy he exudes in playing this character. Watching him take down bad guys and blow things up is like watching a child get exactly what he wants on Christmas morning. (I couldn’t help but also think that since this movie was shot while his son Jett was still alive, it may be a long time before we see Travolta this gleeful again.) And a movie with so many explosions, car chases and shootouts—done in spectacular “Aw, YEAH!”-inducing style—needs a big character like Wax to anchor it. Anything less would have been blown away with the scenery.

Nerd verdict: Fun adventure in Paris

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2010 Oscar Nominations & Script Giveaway

By now, you’ve heard the Oscar noms (you haven’t? click here) and have probably dissected them with your friends, but I’ll throw in my two cents anyway and then get to the script giveaway.

The nominees were mostly predictable so my excitement was muted (it was also wayyy early when nominations were announced), and the few surprises were not happy ones. Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart? Someone needs to explain that to me. No way was she better than Melanie Laurent’s subtly seething performance in Inglourious Basterds or Marion Cotillard’s wife whose heart is breaking in Nine.

And I liked The Blind Side, mostly (only?) because of Sandra Bullock’s performance, so I’m okay with her nomination, but the movie has no business being in the best picture race. Neither does A Serious Man, which HAS NO ENDING! Why have the Coen brothers decided it’s okay to put their characters through all sorts of travails and then resolve nothing? They did that with No Country for Old Men and again with Serious Man. I am done with their films for now.

OK, rant over, let’s get to the giveaway. First of all—it’s open to international readers. I will e-mail a script from one of this year’s Oscar-nominated films to everyone who can get 3 people to subscribe via e-mail to this site (if you’re already a subscriber, you only have to get 2 others). If you can get 6 people, I’ll e-mail you 2 scripts. I don’t spam or give out the list to anyone.

After they subscribe, just send me their e-mail addresses so I know which ones to give you credit for, then tell me which script(s) you want. There’s no time limit to this giveaway.

Available screenplays: