City of Angels

This one is a little off from our normal fare... But I'd like to take this opportunity to point out how incredible the graphics team for the MLB All-Star game did this year. In the past (Or at least the three major ones I can remember...), the logo has focused on and incorporated the architecture of the stadium into its design. This year, the logo is an impressively clever little remix of the Angels team logo. A mash-up if you will. (Did I mention that the game is taking place at the Angels' in Anaheim? Well, it's taking place at Angels Stadium this year.)

The Angels' logo started life as a simple red "A" in a gothic font. Nothing special. In fact, it remains mostly the same today, but there were a few changes in between. In the late 80's and early 90's, the "A" was given a slightly italic look, and the cross-bar was made into a bat and wings and a halo were added. After Disney bought the team, the logo had a brief stint with an incredibly stylized "A" in front of a full baseball diamond and just as fanciful wings before they took it back to the gothic "A" that we all know and love today, with the low-key yet effective addition of a golden halo around it's peak. Incurring one more minor change after Disney sold the company a year and a half ago, the logo's halo changed color from gold to silver, which is the logo we know and love today.

The All-Star logo takes that same "A" and makes it a star. Halo and all. An incredibly simple and incredibly effective logo that doesn't pull any marketing punches with the general public, and still promotes the game effectively while giving the host field and team a gracious tip of the hat. Good work MLB. This ones WAY better than last years gaudy St. Louis logo.

*LOGO PIC UP SOON*

Top 5: Presidents in Film

In honor of our great Nation's Birthday, I've put together a list of the top five most incredible Presidents in cinema for your enjoyment.  Happy 4th-o-July everybody... Celebrate safely!

#5- President James Dale (Jack Nicholson)- Mars Attacks!
Never has a leader remained so calm, cool, and mellow as President James Dale during Tim Burton's imagining of the invasion of earth.  "I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for them, and that ain't bad."

#4- President Skroob (Mel Brooks)- Spaceballs
I know... I know... He's not an American President.  But he's STILL one of the funniest President's I've ever seen! He may have been a little inept, but at least he didn't make up words like "strategery!" "I can't make decisions! I'm a PRESIDENT!"

#3- President George W. Bush (James Adomien)- Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
I'm not a proponent of using drugs, but  James Adomien's performance as George W. Bush made us all stop and wonder... Was Bush on drugs? Or would they have, in fact, made him a better President? "Shit, It's Cheney! Come on, you guys, keep quiet!"

#2- President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman)- Independence Day
We've already had a President on the list that was involved with an alien invasion, but President Whitmore handled it the exact opposite from President Dale.  Jack Nicholson may have preferred to allow the aliens to "come in peace," but all that ended up doing was get him killed.  Bill Pullman hopped into a flight suit to fly a jet to take them down himself (Fun fact: President Bush dressed up in a flight suit hoping to do the exact same thing to the Middle East before realizing the mission was not, in fact, accomplished).  President Whitmore also has one of the best monologues in summer blockbuster history: "The Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate... OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!"

#1- President James Marshall (Harrison Ford)- Air Force One
The greatest American President since... Well, ever!  I'm sure the others could have come close if they had dropped such an ass-kicking on their opponents, but even then... Does Washington screaming "Wheres my family?!?" at the Brits have the same effect? Certainly not. President Marshall is a TRUE American hero (I'm looking at YOU Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson, other Roosevelt, and Kennedy!).  And really... is there any other quote that I can pick to end this? "GET OFF MY PLANE!"

Throwback Thursdays: The Goonies-R-Good Enough

When i started this blog (A whopping three days ago! Has it already been that long?) I wanted to talk about things I found incredible. Of course, things on the present can be incredible, and you can certainly get excited about things that have potential to be incredible in the future... But we can't forget the past! So, I'm devoting every Thursday to something incredible from the past. And this week's feature is... The Goonies!

I first saw this flick at a birthday party sleepover when I was a wee lad of, oh, we'll say seven or eight. Creepy Crawlers were in fashion (Remember? "They're snuggy, they're buggy, you can embarrass your Dad! You can be a little creep without being bad!") I remember it from the very beginning... Nothing but silence as the camera pulled back from a skull to reveal it as the dot in the "i" of the logo.  Then I was immediately drawn in by the Fratellis: A criminal family that manages to be a fantastic mix of humorous, threatening, and slightly scary at the same time (Anne Ramsey (Mama Fratelli) still haunts my dreams from every now and again.)  After one of my favorite opening credits sequences of all time (and one of John Williams great lost theme songs), we're introduced to the Goonies themselves.  Mikey, Chunk, Mouth, Data, and Brand.  You could immediately connect with these kids, because they were essentially you and your friends. And on top of that, they got to go on the adventure that you always DREAMED about when you were a kid.  I think that's why its such an incredible and timeless movie... You got to live vicariously through these kids that you could see yourselves as.  And along the way we meet Sloth... For those of you who haven't seen this flick, Sloth is a Fratelli as well, though we was dropped ("Only dropped once! Ok, maybe twice...") as a baby which resulted in physical deformation and mental disabilities. He exists at first as something to be frightened of... His family has him chained to the wall in the basement of their hideout, and he towers over our heroes as a monster.  But as the story progresses, we find that he is very much the gentile giant, and ends up becoming a loved character and arguably one of the most memorable and quoted characters of all time. 

Richard Donner takes us on an exciting, terrifying, and fun adventure into the secret caves below Astoria, Oregon, where famed pirate One-Eyed Willie hid his treasure as a last act of defiance against the British Military that pursues him.  The Goonies are forced to navigate a series of treacherous traps and pitfalls all while racing to stay ahead of the Fratellis.  This movie is one of my absolute favorites, and will always have a place on my DVD shelves as time passes.  If its not considered a classic already, it needs to be.

And now, I give you... The Truffle Shuffle!

Slackers! -or- The 100 Greatest Insults in Film

Hey.

So, I'm sorry I let you down. I didn't mean to. I just got busy and... and I fell asleep when I got home. I didn't mean to forget that I had plans with you Blog. And I know there isn't much I can say right at this point... But I hope I can make things better by posting this video in addition to another Blog I'll write as soon as I'm done with this one. I hope you'll forgive me.

-Ian

Ok, now that THAT'S over with... I present the 100 greatest insults in all of film. Spanning generations, Harry Hanrahan has compiled the best and most memorable insults, comebacks, and smack talk Hollywood has produced.  NOT SAFE FOR WORK PEOPLE! There's plenty of cursing and offensive language... Enjoy!