Holiday Thoughts

Remember that old holiday song, "I Ain't Getting Nothin' For Christmas"?

That's kind of how I feel.

Oh, I trust my beautiful wife to put something REALLY nice under the tree for me this year. No worries there.

I'm talking MOVIES!

Usually this time of year there is at least one movie coming out on Christmas day for me to get fired up about. Not so much this year - the Christmas day releases this year are:

Bedtime Stories
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marley & Me
The Spirit
Valkyrie

Adam Sandler...GACK! Don't get me started.

Benjamin Button...interesting, but sounds like a slow moving drama. Like MEET JOE BLACK.

Marley & Me. I like Owen Wilson, but this isn't something that's going to make me squeal and jump up and down in my Transformerer jammies.

Valkyrie. Might be great...if I didn't already know the ending.

Some of you might say, "You're not excited about THE SPIRIT? C'mon, Park! Comic book movie!! Bang! Bang! Pow! Pow! Kaboom!"

Um...not really.

I don't really care much for the character (seems more like Dick Tracy with a mask) and it looks like SIN CITY, which kind of gives me a cold blanket feeling of "been there, done that."

But I could be wrong - the movie could be very good. As my friend Drew said, "C'mon, Park! It's Samuel L. Jackson playing a dude called The Octapus!"

Can't argue there.

So how am I going to fill my time over the holidays? I'm glad you asked. Well, Christmas Eve is going to one of the first trials of daddy-hood: staying up all night assembling a 200 piece wooden train set for my son. Could be a loooong night - should I prepare hot cocoa or whiskey? Hands up for cocoa? Whiskey?

Whiskey it is.

Other than that, my time will spent with the family, playing with my son, and taking care of the often-sick-with-pregnancy wife. And eating lots of turkey. Like Ralphie's dad - I'm a certified "turkey junky".

Which brings me to my other favorite activity over Christmas - watching Christmas movies. I have a list of "must watch Christmas favorites", and here they are, in order of preference:

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
2. A Christmas Story
3. Rankin/Bass Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
4. It's A Wonderul Life

CHRISTMAS VACATION is in my estimation the funniest Christmas movie ever, and I can quote it all day, but I'll just stick with one of my favorites for brevity's sake:

(Griswold exits garage with hockey mask and chainsaw)
Todd: Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?
Clark: Bend over and I'll show you.
Todd: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Griswold.
Clark: I wasn't talking to you. (looks at Todd's wife)

Classic.

Merry Christmas! Shitter's Full!

A CHRISTMAS STORY
You can watch it all day long on cable!! Inevitably I watch it 30 minutes at a time over the course of the day in non-consecutive increments. It gives it a kind of Quenton Tarantino feel with jumpy time lines. This film is set in my home state of Indiana. It gives me warm, nostalgiac feelings every time I watch it (even though I grew up in the 80's, not the 50's). Everybody had that one toy you would die for - mine was a Millenium Falcon. Still got it, too - its up in my attic! (Sometimes when my wife isn't home I play with it.)

P.S. Just kidding.

P.P.S. You know, out of context, that last statement is pretty dangerous. I'm glad nothing gets around on the internet. Yep, that should be pretty safe in cyberspace, yessiree.

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER
More nostalgia for Christmas past. I used to watch the old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials every year - but Rudolph was my favorite. Probably because Yukon Cornelius was such a bad ass. If anybody deserved their own full length feature film, it was him.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
I can't help it. Whenever I watch it I tear up like a little baby. It gets me every time. But its hard to commit three hours to watching a film over the holidays, especially when you have a two-year-old. But if for some reason you HAVEN'T seen this movie...you should watch it. It is emotional manipulation at its best - the film just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside (like a "metaphorical Milennium Falcon attic canoodling").

But what do I REALLY want for Christmas - movie-related? How about some HOBBIT news? Wouldn't that be nice? Oh, well. Maybe next Christmas...

Happy Holidays to all you DTF Devotees out there. I hope your holiday week is all kinds of warm, fuzzy...and canoodly.

Hellboy 2 Holiday Wallpaper

A dear friend and fellow fan, Alex H, was nice enough to send DelToroFilms a wonderful HELLBOY 2 Holiday Wallpaper. Great work, Alex!! Feel free to download and share with friends everyone!

What To Do (and Eat) In Wellington

If you are a die-hard Hobbit fan and happen to be travelling to Wellington, New Zealand, here are a few things to make your trip worthwhile:

First, hit up the Weta Cave.

This "mini-museum" features props and displayes from your favorite WETA films, and has WETA merchandise available for purchase.

If you want to take a tour of some of the sites where Lord of the Rings was filmed, try Wellington Movie Tours. They have several different tours (full day or half day) that include lunch, and depending on which you choose, you can see up to 25 LOTR sites near Wellington, including a "Bush walk to Rivendell."

But don't limit yourself just to LOTR activities, check out the sites and the nightlife. Here are a few of Guillermo's favorite places to go:

DINING:

The White House Restaurant

Capitol Restaurant

Logan Brown ("FANTASTIC", says G)

SHOPPING:

Arty Bees Books

Dymocks

To find more things to do in Wellington, click here.

I've never been to Wellington - this is just a helpful guide to some cool things that have been highly recommended. Please feel free to post your recommendations below for others to read!

Doug Jones on 'Criminal Minds' and Other Stuff

Hey all - just a reminder to check out Doug Jones on 'Criminal Minds' tonight, 9:00pm (8pm Central) on CBS. Doug plays the captain of a Fight Club(!) and has this message for his fans:

I know, Dougie as the organizer/captain of a .... FIGHT CLUB!?!?!?!?
I said the same thing when they came to me with this offer, so please tune in
Wednesday night and tell me how I did.

Also, WHILE SHE WAS OUT, GDT's latest producing effort is opening this Friday, I think in limited release. Keep an eye out for it in a theater near you. Here is the movie poster, courtesy of themovieblog.com:

Doug Jones - The Gift

A wonderful gift indeed.

I got the chance to attend an "event" with Doug Jones at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I say "event" in parenthesis because I'm unsure how to classify it - it was kind of a one-man-show-monologue entitled "Identity: The Man Behind the Mask".



Doug essentially gave a lecture on who he is as an actor, how he got to where he is today, and most importantly, how he found his identity. It was more like a performance than a lecture, and I thought Doug did a great job. The audience was really focused on every word - Doug has a great stage presence. He's funny and very likeable (as we all know) and I was surprised how introspective his story was. I was expecting more of a technical lecture on being an actor in Hollywood, but this was about a man finding himself, and I thought Doug had some interesting things to say. He started with his life as sort of an outcast goofy teenager, and went on to cover his "mime" period at Ball State, his first job as a salesman, his big break doing Mac Tonight! commercials, and finally his work with Guillermo Del Toro. I think Doug has done this kind of event before, so if you're lucky you'll get a chance to see it someday - I highly recommend it.

Below is a special treat - this was Doug's "finale" - a mime performance piece called "The Gift". I think it sums up well how Doug views his life at the moment, and how he gets the motivation to do what he does - which is act, travel, travel, act, sit through intense make-up sessions, and repeat. It is clear that you fans out there are what keep him going - so keep up the great support for Doug. THERE'S LOVE!

And now...The Gift: