"By and Large, Language is a Tool for Concealing the Truth." -- George Carlin

I thought it fitting for tonight's post to start it off at sea level... get it, "C level"!!! BUAHAHAHAH--- *cough cough* whoa, laughed a bit too hard that time, sorry... got me to coughing... hope I didn't damage my singing voice... O, I'm such the crooner, you know... here, let me sing you a few rounds of Louie Louie...

Or not.

OK, here we are, three days deep into the A to Z Challenge, and I'm firing on all cylinders! Let's begin, shall we? We'll start with movies again... I only have one tonight! *GASP*!

Favorite Movies (C):

Chronicles of Riddick (2004): Those of you that know me know that I don't get too into sci-fi... which has always puzzled me, since I'm heavy into fantasy, which is like its Siamese twin or something. I try to like it, but I can only get so far into it before my enthusiasm evaporates like morning dew. But a few Sci-fi titles connect with me, and one of those is Chronicles of Riddick. Yes, it's campy (A really hot planet named "Crematoria"? Seriously?). Yes, it has silly one-liners, absurdly-impossible action scenes, a hokey story, and passable acting (even from the great Judy Dench), but still, I really like it. Vin Diesel fits the lead role perfectly. Karl Urban is in it (he also played Eomer in the LOTR trilogy), and it does feature the rare Triple Pun... ("Skittish, Tombs..." sorry, can't find the clip online, and explaining it would take too long...)... I loved the opening monologue where Dench's voice is setting up the movie and she says, "In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil." This thought led directly to the underlying concept for my fantasy novel that I'm writing, whereby good has to be fought and overthrown by another kind of good... Anyway, Riddick is fun, visually interesting, full of action, and has a terrific ending.

Better stick with acting here... but I might need to make a distinction. I have separate categories for Favorite Actors/Actresses, Favorite Acting Performances, and Favorite Movie Characters. The distinction between the three seems apparent to me, but maybe I should elaborate a bit... take Riddick for example... Vin Diesel plays the role well, but he ain't one of my favorite actors. And actually, the performance works, but it wasn't exactly a stellar/memorable performance. The character of Riddick barely squeaked onto my list, because the character is pretty friggin awesome. Does that make sense?

Bah, nevermind. I'll move on... wait, here's an example...

Favorite Acting Performances (C):

John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997): OK, so I'm a big John Cusack fan from way back in the Better Off Dead days. He just has terrific presence, great timing (comedic and otherwise), and a quirkiness about him that I find awesome. So he's definitely on my Favorite Actor list. He plays a hit man who gets an invitation to go back to his hometown in Michigan for his ten year high school reunion. He just nails the role - it is thoroughly watchable and enjoyable. I shudder to think of how the role might have been handled by any number of his peers. So the performance was terrific, it's on my Favorite Performance list. And the character of Martin Blank itself is a fascinating character. Conflicted, professional, unhinged, cooler than ice, smart... good stuff, and one of my Favorite Characters... so it's on that list as well. All that being said, it's a given that it's on my Favorite Movies list as well... a clean sweep! Plus, I routinely quote the thing, to this day!

While I'm on the topic...

Favorite Movie Characters (C):

Phil Connors (Bill Murray) in Groundhog Day (1993): I'm sure you've seen this one, so I don't need to set it up too much. I love the character arc on this one. Starts off as an arrogant prick, ends up as Mr. Wonderful... Bill Murray is terrific, as usual, and the script is top notch - one of the best comedy scripts of all time, I think. I'm sure you're all with me on this one... even if you're not the biggest Bill Murray fan, you gotta admit he nailed this one.

[Honorable Mentions: Mr. Collins (David Bamber, Pride & Prejudice (BBC 1995))

Don Corleone (Marlon Brando, The Godfather (1972))]

Gotta throw a bone to TV characters here...

Favorite TV Characters (C):

Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons in Big Bang Theory): Man, this show has great writers. Smart, nerdy comedy... but unfortunately, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the double entendre in the name of the show... every episode includes something about sex... it's a shame (an unnecessary, really), since the show and the characters are so darned funny... love Dr. Cooper's character. He rocks.

Hmm... seems almost all of my favorites are men, have you noticed? Well, we'll get to Lady Catherine De Burgh tomorrow...

And now, a song...

Favorite Songs (C):

Hmm... I have three under Favorite Songs, but I don't want to embed them... Cinderella Man by Eminem has profanity in it, but I love the energy. Close To Me by The Cure is a fave for nostalgia's sake, but it is very much an Eighties song... and Close Enough To Change by Margaret Becker is great lyrically and musically, but it is way mellow... so let me shift gears a bit...

Favorite Bands/Singers (C):

Creed: Yes, I know. The only band that seems to be more ridiculed than Creed for some reason is Coldplay, whom I also consider a Favorite. I don't get it! Am I musically retarded or something? Why do people think Creed sucks? I think they have a terrific sound and a ton of great songs... Coldplay has some great stuff as well. Oh, well, if liking them both means I'm lame, then so be it... at least I don't like Nickelback...

Favorite Comics (C):

This one is a no-brainer...

Calvin & Hobbes (1985-1995): Yeah, like I need to tell you about this strip....

OK, time to wrap this post up...

Odds & Ends (C):

Favorite Games: Call of Duty (the original one)
People I'd Like To Meet: Frank Caliendo (comedian/impressionist); George Carlin (yes, I know he's dead); Steven Colbert (one of the funniest men alive); Jeb Corliss (almost died this January in his squirrel suit).
Favorite Book Characters: Curnden Craw (The Heroes, J. Abercrombie); Sandor and Gregor Clegane (Song of Ice and Fire Series by GRRMartin)
Favorite Websites/Blogs: Cake Mix, Cracked
Favorite Places To Eat: Chipotle
Favorite Daughters: Chris

I think that about wraps it up for C. "See" you tomorrow...

Dave the Chucklehead