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Category: Movies

Everything Is Stargate: (#5) Wreck-It Ralph

My favorite TV show is Stargate SG-1. I’m also a big fan of Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and the original Stargate movie. Given how many episodes of those shows there were, I’ve noticed that nearly every English-language studio movie of the past 25 or so years, and nearly every sci-fi TV show, has somebody in it who appeared on a Stargate property. And if you include crew members, it’s even easier to make connections. It rarely takes more than two steps. In this new “Everything Is Stargate” series, I’m going to post photos from films I’m watching that contain people from Stargate.

This weekend my sons and I watched Wreck-It Ralph, a charming animated movie we’d all seen before and enjoyed. Martin Jarvis provides the voice of Saitine, pictured on the right here:

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Jarvis played Davos in an episode of Stargate Atlantis titled “The Seer.” Here he is (with Firefly‘s Jewel Staite on the left):

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Previous posts in the “Everything Is Stargate” series.

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Record Of The Day: Push The Sky Away – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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My first introduction to Nick Cave came in 2005 when I went four nights in a row to the Little Theatre in Rochester, NY, to watch the concert film and documentary Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, in which Cave is featured singing the title track and talking about Cohen. I enjoyed him in the film, but didn’t really dig in.

Then in 2010, Nick Cave’s song “O Children” was featured in my favorite moment in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1:

I decided it was time to dig in.

Push The Sky Away came out two years ago. We just got a vinyl copy at the store this week and it’s great. Moody and rich and just what you want to hear when it’s down to the last few people on a Wednesday night in the winter.

BUY IT.

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A truly great Western

The_Man_from_Laramie_Poster Last night I watched The Man From Laramie for the first time, and it joined my select list of favorite Westerns, along with Tombstone and Silverado.

The Man From Laramie stars Jimmy Stewart in his fifth and final collaboration with director Anthony Mann. Mann directed Stewart in five Westerns in five years: Winchester ’73 (1950); Bend of the River (1952); The Naked Spur (1953); The Far Country (1955); and The Man from Laramie (1955). Also featured in this film are five-time Oscar nominee and Tony winner Arthur Kennedy; Oscar winner Donald Crisp; film noir favorite Cathy O’Donnell; and Oscar nominee Aline MacMahon. Jack Elam, known for playing villains, has a small but important role.

I was surprised by the dark tone of this film. It’s nearly Shakespearean in the way the tension mounts as one violent accident after another befalls Stewart’s character. The darkness of the plot is in sharp contrast to the gorgeous scenery and daytime action. The Man From Laramie was one of the first films shot in CinemaScope, and it really captures the majesty of the New Mexico landscape.

As always, Stewart is never less than compelling. I’ve always been a fan of his Western work in the radio drama The Six Shooter (listen), made during the same period as the Mann films, and it translates well to the screen.

Here’s what the New York Times had to say in 1955, and a more recent essay.

Highly recommended.

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Everything Is Stargate: (#4) No Country For Old Men

My favorite TV show is Stargate SG-1. I’m also a big fan of Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and the original Stargate movie. Given how many episodes of those shows there were, I’ve noticed that nearly every English-language studio movie of the past 25 or so years, and nearly every sci-fi TV show, has somebody in it who appeared on a Stargate property. And if you include crew members, it’s even easier to make connections. It rarely takes more than two steps. In this new “Everything Is Stargate” series, I’m going to post photos from films I’m watching that contain people from Stargate.

After a weekend of watching some pretty atrocious movies, I ended my night last night with No Country For Old Men, which features Thomas Kopache in a minor role (seen below with Josh Brolin). Kopache was in one episode of Stargate SG-1, among many other film and TV appearances.

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Previous posts in the “Everything Is Stargate” series.

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Everything Is Stargate: (#3) The Twilight Saga: New Moon

My favorite TV show is Stargate SG-1. I’m also a big fan of Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and the original Stargate movie. Given how many episodes of those shows there were, I’ve noticed that nearly every English-language studio movie of the past 25 or so years, and nearly every sci-fi TV show, has somebody in it who appeared on a Stargate property. And if you include crew members, it’s even easier to make connections. It rarely takes more than two steps. In this new “Everything Is Stargate” series, I’m going to post photos from films I’m watching that contain people from Stargate.

I’m not proud of this, but today I’m watching the Twilight saga. There are many shared actors with the Stargate franchises, but Christopher Heyerdahl was the first one I recognized. He played Todd The Wraith on Stargate Atlantis and Pallan on Stargate SG-1.

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Previous posts in the “Everything Is Stargate” series.

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POEM: if tonight were the last night

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if tonight were the last night

if tonight were
the last night
you are the one
I’d want to be with

if the waters
were rising I’d
reach for your hand
pull you close

if the moon fell
to the Earth below
I’d watch the sky
darken with you

if this were
my last dance
I’d want you
in my arms

if the strings
began playing
as the screen
faded to black

if there would
never be any
chance to
go back

if tonight were
the end of all nights
you’d be the one
the only one

/ / /

Jason Crane
5 February 2015
Oak Street

NOTE: I wrote this quickly over the end credit music of Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World.

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The Trials Of Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is one of my heroes. I’ve read many books about him and watched quite a few documentaries. I admire him for his courage and his willingness to stand against the racist power structure of his time, at the cost of his fortune and his reputation. Today I finally watched The Trials Of Muhammad Ali, which came out in 2013. If you’re new to Ali and you’d like a solid overview of his life, particularly his religious and political life, this is a good place to start. Well edited and interesting. And if you, like me, are well versed in the Ali story, I think you’ll still find this entertaining and informative, as I did.

And of course you need to watch one of the great documentaries of all time, and probably the greatest boxing documentary, When We Were Kings.

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Everything Is Stargate: (#1) Groundhog Day

My favorite TV show is Stargate SG-1. I’m also a big fan of Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and the original Stargate movie. Given how many episodes of those shows there were, I’ve noticed that nearly every English-language studio movie of the past 25 or so years, and nearly every sci-fi TV show, has somebody in it who appeared on a Stargate property. And if you include crew members, it’s even easier to make connections. It rarely takes more than two steps. In this new “Everything Is Stargate” series, I’m going to post photos from films I’m watching that contain people from Stargate.

The most recent movie I watched was Groundhog Day, and somebody from Stargate appears 2:38 into the movie:

Click for a larger version.
Click for a larger version.

The actor in the middle is Willie Garson, who appeared as Martin Lloyd in three episodes of Stargate SG-1.

See how easy this is?

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Your “I’ll Watch It Whenever It Comes On” Movies

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I asked folks on Twitter and Facebook for the movies they’ll watch whenever those movies come on. Here’s what everyone said.

  • Liz Ball: Love Actually
  • Brett G Porter: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
  • Steve: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
  • Jim Colbert: Dazed and Confused, Two Lane Blacktop, Blazing Saddles, Animal House. Pretty much any old school Universal horror movie, too.
  • Caitlin Wynn: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • Sarah Cosgrove: Grosse Pointe Blank, Mallrats, High Fidelty, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Urban Cowboy
  • Carol Ann LaMendola: Lord Of The Rings
  • Kimberly Taylor: Princess Bride, Shawshank, A Few Good Men
  • Jenn Weinzierl Binus: Firefly, Friends, BSG-the new one, not the old one, Star Wars, Despicable Me’s, Wallace and Gromit, Dogma, Goonies, Harry and the Hendersons, The Ref, Cheesy 80’s teen movies, Marvel movies, Iron Giant, Mel Brooks movies and Monty Python
  • Bill Thompson: Dr. Strangelove
  • Tommy Bruce: Seconding Lord of the Rings. Also Zoolander
  • Tess Lecuyer: Guns of Navarone
  • Chip Mefford: La Strada, Les Aventureiers, Two for the Road, Until the End of the World, Beat the Devil, After the Fox, M. Hulot’s Holiday, Sharknado, They Live!, Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!
  • Don Levy: The Breakfast Club, Airplane, West Side Story
  • Dean Bonner: Blazing Saddles, Chupacabra vs The Alamo, Young Frankenstein, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein
  • Sarah Russell: The Birdcage, Out of Africa
  • Bob DeRosa: Dr. Strangelove, Breaking Away, Five Easy Pieces, American Graffiti, Pulp Fiction, Midnight Cowboy
  • Allison Shea: Philadelphia Story, Gone With the Wind, Princess Bride, Breaking Away, Poseidon Adventure, most of the classic movie musicals….
  • Terri Hinte: The Godfather, Umbrellas of Cherbourg
  • Jonathan Barry Hooks: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
  • Theresa Vincent Smith: Spaceballs, Harry Potter
  • Laurie Pepper: Say Anything, Maltese Falcon, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Night of the Hunter
  • Andrea Wolper: The Palm Beach Story, Dirty Dancing, The Hidden Fortress, The Lady Eve, Moonstruck
  • Annine Everson: The Third Man, To Have and Have Not, any Avenger, most Johnny Depp, Amelie
  • Gregg-Lion Hands Symons: Tommy Boy, Raising Arizona, The Quiet Man, Kill Bill, Party Girl, Zero Effect, Snatch
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