Red Sox reliever Robbie Ross Jr. starred in Entourage movie as kid who used to see dead people?

Everybody remembers Haley Joel Osment from his role in the 1999 film The Sixth Sense:



Not as well known, however, is the fact that he played a major role in 2015's Entourage movie:



Osment's character in Entourage is basically the identical twin of Red Sox pitcher Robbie Ross Jr.:

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Create your own "Stranger Things" style logo; plus my two main gripes with the show

At makeitstranger.com, you can build your own logo to replicate the one used in Stranger Things.  I'm totally on board for Season 2 and I love that the show referenced all sorts of '80s movies, but two instances of blatant scene stealing bothered me:

1. ET: Kids on bicycles are chased by bad men in cop cars vans.  Just as they are surrounded and about to be caught, the extraterrestrial girl with superpowers, riding along with the main character, makes the bikes a van fly, allowing them to escape.

2. Aliens: Person captured by alien scary monster is hanging from wall in glob of goo, nearly dead, with a baby alien scary monster attached to his face/down his throat.


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Spectacular YouTube rabbit holes: "Auralnauts" and Screen Junkies' "Honest Trailers"

The genius of YouTube is that you search for one thing, but an hour-and-a-half later you've watched 54 more related clips.  Here's my most recent rabbit-hole experience:

It started when two Twitter accounts I follow for Celtics news got involved in a conversation regarding the newly released trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  Included was this highly comical video (if you're a Star Wars fan) in which Darth Vader's grandson, Kylo Ren, takes in the preview for the new spinoff film:



Shortly after that I was watching "Terminator Genisys Trailer - Paradox Edition" (time-travel movies always have serious logical flaws...):



Then it was back to "STAR WARS EP 1: Jedi Party":



Before I got sucked into the rest of that series from Auralnauts (which I'm sure will happen on a later date) I was diverted by Screen Junkies' "Honest Trailers," another YouTube gold mine.  Here's their Game of Thrones:




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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus

"He lives on my block, and drives an I-Roc."

I don't remember when exactly I discovered Wheatus' Teenage Dirtbag, but I think it was long after the song's release in 2000.  Regardless, I find its lyrics quite entertaining.

Until I looked up the video just now I had no idea that it was featured in the Jason Biggs/Mena Suvari movie Loser from the same year (a "loser" itself that attempted to ride the coattails of 1999's American Pie, which also starred the same two actors).

I can't say I've ever heard another song by Wheatus, but I assume some do exist.   

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Awesome (not very) Old Song of the Week: "O.N.E." by Yeasayer

I noticed this song in the second episodes of Roadies, which appears to be Cameron Crowe's extended modern-day version of Almost Famous.  I knew I'd heard it before, but I wasn't exactly sure when or where.  I just assumed it was an '80s hit I never learned the name of, but upon further research I've learned that Yeasayer released O.N.E. in 2010:



I guess these guys nailed the "make a new song that sounds like it's from the '80s" concept five years before Walk the Moon did.



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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "The Ballroom Blitz" by the Sweet (and Cassandra)

The Ballroom Blitz was originally released by the Sweet in 1973.  However, I'm partial to the Wayne's World Tia Carrere version from 1992:



The song is currently featured in advertisements for the film Suicide Squad:



And the weird thing is, some other ads for the movie include Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which was also from Wayne's World.

I'm not a comic book guy, so the fact that Batman is in this film is really messing with me.


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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies

I was watching the movie The Walk (better than I expected) yesterday and noticed it used a French version of this tune.  However, I was never actually aware of what the title was or who sang it--I only knew some of the lyrics.

My first attempted google search was Candy Girl, which I immediately remembered is a New Edition song--strangely enough the group I wrote about last week.

Attempt No. 2, Sugar, Sugar, nailed it.  By the Archies, from 1969:




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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Lucky Man" by The Verve

The Verve is best known for either A) not being The Verve Pipe, or B) their hit Bittersweet Symphony off of 1997's Urban Hymns album.  However, I think Lucky Man (from that same disc) is a much better song.

It also gets extra points in my book for being the background music in the For Love of the Game trailer (pictured).  Even though For Love of the Game is Kevin Costner's third-best baseball movie, it's still got some great moments.





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Is the U.S. Army trying to recruit kids to fight space aliens?

The first time the above commercial aired on my TV, I originally thought it was just a U.S. Army ad.  But, I perked up when he said "war of '96" and then really started paying attention when the "Aliens Defeated" newspaper came on the screen.  Because I remember seeing Independence Day in the theater during the summer of 1996 and I knew there was a sequel coming out this year, I figured out what it was for (I like this new trend of movie trailers pretending to be real life, which as far as I know began with The Purge: Election Year).

The weird thing is, when you go to joinESD.com (ESD is an acronym they've made up for Earth Space Defense) the lines are pretty blurred between what is Independence Day: Resurgence promotion and what is trying to get you to actually join the army.  There are definitely some kids out there who will want to sign up because they really think they're going to protect Earth from space aliens...


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Did Zaza Pachulia permanently ruin Star Wars Day for the Atlanta Hawks?

If that title doesn't make you curious, I don't know what will (and no, Zaza Pachulia is not a Star Wars character, he's an NBA center).  Here's my maybe-not-quite-lucid train of thought that led to this blog:

In Game 2 of their second-round series Wednesday night, the Hawks trailed the Cavaliers 74-38 at halftime.

Nice job by the Hawks to avoid getting doubled up. https://t.co/mUg9TFCO9j

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) May 5, 2016

Cleveland eventually won 123-98, while hitting a league-record 25 three-pointers.  The blowout prompted this tweet from former Celtics reporter Jessica Camerato:

Eight years ago today, the Hawks lost 99-65 to the Celtics in Game 7 of the first round.

— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoCSN) May 5, 2016

I was at that game and I remember it well--it was an absolute mauling.  The top-seeded and eventual-champion Celts somehow failed to win on the road in that series against the eighth-seeded Hawks, which prompted this absurd premature celebration from Atlanta big man Zaza Pachulia after his club's 103-100 victory in Game 6:





Kevin Garnett was not amused (start watching this clip at 3:35).

Pachulia may have tempted the force with his antics, as the Hawks are 0-5 in playoff games on Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) since his ridiculous outburst, with an average margin of defeat of 24.2 points.

5/4/08 - Celtics 99, Hawks 65
5/4/10 - Magic 114, Hawks 71
5/4/11 - Bulls 86, Hawks 73
5/4/12 - Celtics 90, Hawks 84
5/4/16 - Cavs 123, Hawks 98


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This 'Star Wars Day' thing is getting out of hand

I remember I was playing trivia in a bar one night about four years ago when I first learned that "Star Wars Day" was a thing.  My team guessed that it was "May the first," which I'm still convinced sounds more accurate than "May the fourth."  At the time, "Star Wars Day" was known of only to serious fans of the genre.  It's suddenly blown up over the past few years, and now it's everywhere.

Here's what I saw when I opened up Twitter a few hours ago:

I might as well feed the beast.  Some previous Star Wars related blogs I've written:

Star Wars cereal tastes exactly like Fruit Loops. All Fruit Loops.

Star Wars began with episodes 4-6, followed by 1-3, then back to 7, now we get a sort of 3-and-a-half?

Darth Vader and Tedy Bruschi's Fantasy Football Draft

Paul Pierce and Star Wars Inspired Awesome(?) Old Song of the Week


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LeBron James trying to 'Be Like Mike' in Space Jam 2

The Hollywood Reporter announced today that there really is going to be a Space Jam 2 starring LeBron James, presumably in the Michael Jordan role from the 1996 original.  My initial thought is that this will be another poor attempt by LeBron to "Be like Mike," along the lines of his bizarre failed layup attempt in last year's playoffs:





As much as I hate to admit it though, LeBron was great in Trainwreck:





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Not So Awesome Old Song of the Week: "The NeverEnding Story" by Limahl

I have this Spotify ad to thank for putting The NeverEnding Story theme song back in my head:



That's the original actor who played Atreyu in the 1984 film, along with the real voice of Falkor, together again 32 years later.

I was a big fan of the song as an eight-year-old (and an even bigger fan of the movie), but I'm not sure it stands the test of time very well--or has any appeal to people other than children, for that matter.

Wikipedia fact: Limahl is an anagram for Hamill, the singer's actual last name.




RELATED:
Awesome Old Song/Movie Clip of the Week: David Bowie's "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth


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Star Wars began with episodes 4-6, followed by 1-3, then back to 7, now we get a sort of 3-and-a-half?

Here's the trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is scheduled to open December 16:



It takes place shortly before the original Star Wars with the plot centered around the rebels stealing the plans for the first Death Star.  But, it's also it's own separate spinoff storyline (sort of) with different characters.  The regular Episode 8 is on track to come out in 2017.


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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Steal My Sunshine" by Len

It's impossible not to feel happy when the beginning of Len's 1999 hit Steal My Sunshine comes on.  That's always a good characteristic for a song to have.  The track was featured in the film Go from the same year.  Quick sidebar--Go is a highly underrated movie that's much more intelligent than it looks.

Len's third album You Can't Stop the Bum Rush (pictured) had one other solid single, Feelin' Alright, but was mostly a disappointment considering the catchy-ness of their first (and only) hit.




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This extremely pleasant movie trailer is actually super, super creepy

Take a look:

#KeepAmericaGreat #ThePurgehttps://t.co/JtMknRM5m9

— #ThePurge (@UniversalHorror) February 26, 2016

On the off chance you don't know what The Purge is, here's the trailer for the original:




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Awesome Old Movie Clip of the Week: Both swordsmen aren't left-handed in 'The Princess Bride'

It just came to my attention that Saul Berenson (Homeland) is Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride).

My mind was slightly blown.

I also can't believe I've been watching Homeland for years and had no idea the actor's name is Mandy (Patinkin).  In honor of this shocking realization, here is one of my favorite scenes from The Princess Bride:




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That's not Scotch. I don't understand how movies can make these kind of mistakes.

Take a look at this scene from the 2014 film That Awkward Moment (which is sneaky pretty good):



At the end of the clip she says "I brought Scotch--I don't know if you guys drink Scotch?"  The thing is, it's clearly not Scotch.  It's a very recognizable bottle of Bulleit rye whiskey.  I don't understand how this possibly made it into the movie.  With all the people on set (and editors after the fact), how did nobody catch this?

The crazy thing is, this mistake shouldn't even fly among the four characters in the scene, let alone the hundreds of people involved in the real-life production.

Assuming she somehow bought the booze (which likely would've been on a shelf marked "whiskey" or "rye") without looking at the label and realizing it's not Scotch, the chances are extremely high that at least one (if not all) of the three well-to-do 20-something New York City bachelors (who spend a lot of time drinking in bars) would immediately know what it actually was.

I have a hard time believing none of those four actors even noticed, let alone all the other pairs of eyes and ears that were on this before the movie was released.  It seems unfathomable that this error wasn't discovered.  Or did they just not care?  And if that's the case, it bugs me just as much.


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I really want to live in the treehouse from this Viagra commercial (remember the Swiss Family Robinson?)

Seriously, how cool is this house?  Notice the hammock hanging underneath--awesome.



It reminds me of when I was a kid and I wanted more than anything to live in the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse.




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From what I've seen in TV and movies, owning a pawn shop looks extrordinarily profitable

To the best of my recollection, I've never actually been inside a pawn shop.  I'm 100 percent certain that I have never bought or sold anything in one.  The extent of my pawn shop knowledge comes entirely from what I've seen in television shows and movies.

Having said that, I do feel as though I have a good grasp of how they work, because I've watched this exact sequence of events go down hundreds of times:

1. Guy with major issues walks into pawn shop with a fancy watch and plunks it down on the counter (quick sidebar--it's impressive how messed-up broke guys with no wallets always manage to have really expensive watches on hand).

2. Pawn shop owner scrutinizes it briefly with his little monocle/microscope thing and is able to ascertain the watch's exact value and everything it's made of in a matter of seconds (I'm always very impressed by this).

3. Pawn shop owner says "I'll give you 50 bucks for it."

4. Guy with major issues says "What?!  It cost me $2,000!"

5. Pawn shop owner snarkily says "Maybe, but in here it's worth 50 bucks."

6. Scene cuts to guy with major issues angrily walking out the door holding his $50 (on occasion he leaves with a gun instead), even though he needs $10,000 to solve whatever is currently the most major of his issues.

So what I'm thinking is, if this is how every single pawn shop transaction goes, the owners must be doing pretty well for themselves.


EDITORS NOTE: I swear I did not have this clip from Trading Places in mind as I wrote this blog.  I haven't seen the film in probably 20 years, but I came across it while searching for a picture to add afterwards.  I guess that proves my point:




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