Well, it has been a bit of a bleary Sunday. I woke up tired and my cold is still hanging on, so I have been stumbling through an uneventful day, punctuating it with naps. I just finished grading some papers and that took the last of my coherence, so here's a smattering of pop culture updates and new items.This new functionality of GMail is intended to prevent incoherence of a different sort: it's called Mail Goggles, and in an effort to curb drunk emailing, it requires you to do a few math calculations before you are allowed to send email. I think we can all point to a few occasions, perhaps some recent, when this might have come in handy.
This might seem incoherent, but it's true: individually wrapped slices of peanut butter for convenience in sandwich cuisine.
This might have been more coherent alongside the Flintstones clip from a few days ago, but here's a cool people-powered vehicle. (Related update: another people-powered craft didn't fare so well on its journey.)
Finally, when your crossword puzzle has turned into nothing more than an incoherent collection of letters, you can turn to this handy tool.
Bonus debate: The question arose recently of why Samuel L. Jackson has the reputation and cred that he does, considering that, in the opinion of some, his career has consisted only of overdone performances in bad movies. In order to shed light on this pressing question, I went through the IMDb and put together this list of Mr. Jackson's movies, leaving out his television, video game, and voice work. Take a look and judge for yourself: is this the oeuvre of the gritty Olivier, the finest actor of his generation - or just the resume of hack? Let us know via the poll on the main page and your comments.Update: poll removed 10/21/08.
Lakeview Terrace (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Jumper (2008)
Cleaner (2007)
1408 (2007)
Resurrecting the Champ (2007)
Home of the Brave (2006)
Black Snake Moan (2006)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Freedomland (2006)
The Man (2005)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
xXx: State of the Union (2005)
Coach Carter (2005)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Twisted (2004/I) .
Country of My Skull (2004) .
S.W.A.T. (2003) .
Basic (2003)
xXx (2002)
The House on Turk Street (2002)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Changing Lanes (2002)
The Comeback (2002)
The 51st State (2001)
The Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Unbreakable (2000) .
Shaft (2000)
Rules of Engagement (2000) .
Any Given Wednesday (2000)
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) .
Violon rouge, Le (1998)
The Negotiator (1998)
Out of Sight (1998)
Sphere (1998)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Eve's Bayou (1997)
One Eight Seven (1997)
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
A Time to Kill (1996)
Trees Lounge (1996)
The Great White Hype (1996)
Sydney (1996)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
Kiss of Death (1995/I)
Losing Isaiah (1995)
The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994)
The New Age (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Hail Caesar (1994)
Fresh (1994)
True Romance (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Menace II Society (1993)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
Fathers & Sons (1992)
Patriot Games (1992)
White Sands (1992)
Juice (1992)
Jumpin' at the Boneyard
Strictly Business (1991)
Johnny Suede (1991)
Jungle Fever (1991)
The Return of Superfly (1990)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Exorcist III (1990)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Betsy's Wedding (1990)
Def by Temptation (1990)
A Shock to the System (1990)
Sea of Love (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Coming to America (1988)
School Daze (1988) .... Leeds
Magic Sticks (1987) (as Sam Jackson) .... Bum
Ragtime (1981)
Together for Days (1972)
2 comments:
My thoughts on Samuel L. Jackson:
He's done some good things. He's done some bad things. But the man is following his bliss and making a decidedly good living doing it.
Percentage-wise, that puts him in the top 1% of actors.
And he generates a positive reaction from people (most people) in the work that he does.
He does not take himself too seriously, and that's reflected in the roles that he frequently takes--the scripts with Denzel Washington's coffee rings on them.
I forgot who did this--I think it might have been Chris Rock--but one Academy Awards Show, they did a very telling segment about how out of touch the Academy Awards were. The aforementioned correspondent went to the Magic Johnson Multiplex in Washington D.C. and interviewed people about the "best" movie they'd seen last year. None of the Best Picture nominees was mentioned. There were things like "Saw," and comedies...but...none of the Best Picture nominees.
Samuel L. Jackson may never play "Othello" (I think he'd be superb, by the way), but I also think that if he starred in "Training Day," he wouldn't have won the Academy Award (as Denzel Washington did). It cuts both ways.
In the meantime, he's doing what every actor does these days--they're not counting the awards, they're counting the box office receipts.
It's survival. What's wrong with that?
I don't think there's anything wrong with being prolific. My Jackson-hating stemmed from my "realization" that he wasn't a very good actor. I used to think he was the shit. I was disappointed when I started seeing him for the awkward two-dimensional hack that he is. But power to him for racking up the door receipts and being marketable.
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