Cakebug Tranch

Initially it was going to be just a play about a dude and his facial hair. It shifted a bit as it turned into more of a narrative. Now it's mostly about a dude dealing with the ramifications of what happens when your entire identity is wrapped up in your beard and you compulsively eat the hairs from it. Investors line up to the right... PS

The premise is so ridiculous that were it to be filmed, it would feature Nic Cage and go straight to HDTGM. Well, okay, I like it. And I will gladly send you a copy when it's finished!

Pizza Pizza! Good lord! Look, promise me, that when you next come to Toronto, you'll call me and we can recalibrate your memories of what Canada tastes like. We can do much, much better...! Canadian blood definitely entitles you to writing such stoic lumberporn. The beard is a prerequisite though (as is calling it a cottage, not a cabin...) so you might want to look into Hair Club for Chins.

Oh Christ, I've spent the last 3 years or so catching up to back episodes of CBB and HDTGM: I finally got up to date on HDTGM but this change means the middle 200 episodes of CBB are gone to me now. Dammit. I guess I'll just start listening to the new ones, but, still... DAMMIT.

Harvey's? Really? That's not one you hear people hankering over very often. Usually it's Tim Horton's or Ketchup-flavoured chips. It's just, like... Harvey's? I won't try to convince you otherwise, but I'd maybe suggest next time you're up here you avoid it, just so you can live in that euphoria of believing it's good. Memory is a funny thing. I'm never that far up as Lake of Bays - what on earth took you up there? Appreciate the tip, though!

Oof, I'm oh-for-two when it comes to Musical Mondays so far - just haven't got around to watching either of the films nominated, even though I'm a big fan of this concept. Bump me way down the list of nominators for my sins. I totally meant to watch 'Hedwig' - I have it sitting right there - but just never got there, and saw 'Hairspray' years ago. I suck. I remember clearly when 'Hairspray' was made, because it was all shot here in Toronto: that awful school they use for Tracy's school is a real place - Lord Lansdowne School down near College and Spadina, just off the U of T campus: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/lordlansdowne/Home.aspx It really looks like that. Other than that, I got nothin'. Sorry guys. Now that holidays are over, I'll try to get back into the swing of things here!

I echo what Cameron said. Thanks to everyone.

Amazing link Elie, fascinating read. I had never heard of Sinbad growing up, yet my first toehold in knowing who he was, was at a sleepover party where I am sure we watched a movie about a wisecracking genie. My friends and I were big basketball fans, so there's NO WAY that was Shaq in Kazaam. If you'd asked me before I read this Mandela Effect article, I would have confidently agreed there was a Sinbad genie movie. Now I'm just wigged out.

I would to. I.

Finally listened to the Howdie episode while finishing Christmas shopping. I hope Jason sweeps the field in the second half of the presentations, because the 'recount' bit has had its time, I think. Really fun episode. Would have loved to see some of the guests there to accept their awards (phoning in, or whatever) but overall, super fun. One thing I wondered about: in the replay of the audience question where the live audience member makes a connection between Bloodsport and Gymkata, June reacts immediately and with perfect memory of the previous film that's being referenced. This makes me wonder if the whole 'I can't remember any movies' thing is a bit exaggerated? I get that there's a lot of films but to claim no point of reference to any film at all handicaps her ability to contribute for the sake of a bit... Do we get Howdies Part 2 next or 'Grease 2' Mini? Hoping for the latter and some of our C+Os.

Yes, I agree. The only thing that saved those episodes is the presence of my-future-best-friend, Adam Scott.

Bumping this movie, which is certified as the worst-reviewed movie ever on Rotten Tomatoes - 0% rating on 116 reviews.

Amazing! And a Neo-Morpheus reunion! 'John Wick' was one of the best airplane movies I ever saw. Looking forward to my next long flight for chapter 2.

I saw this in a theatre full of knuckle-dragging troglodyte Australian simpletons who thought they were in for a light-hearted Brad Pitt romp. They LAUGHED THEIR ASSES OFF when he got smoked by the taxi. Like, ripples of laughter carrying over way into the next scene. They were thoroughly confused about where their funny movie went by the end.

Complete knee-jerk reaction? "Cool as Ice" and "Crank" for the inside looks. I'm also very fond of "Stealth," if only because that was the next movie up when I finally caught up in the back episodes. Also, I approached the live ep of 'The Phantom' with extreme trepidation because I was a MASSIVE Phantom comicbook fan as a kid (as someone said in the C+Os, it's still the most popular comic in Australia), but aside from them mocking the mythology (which, and I'll defend this to the end, is awesome), I quite enjoyed it. Mostly because that movie was a hot mess and really made me sad as a 16 year old. Shameful admission, taylor anne:

I haven't seen it before either. My wife's a fellow musical theatre nerd so she's excited to participate in Musical Mondays by proxy. Will try to fit it in tonight, maybe. Looking forward to it!

Okay, so it's Christmas time, which means for some reason one of the channels my kids watch marathons the entire 'Home Alone' series (I feel dirty just writing that phrase) throughout the season. The first movie's a classic, entirely based on the cuteness of the kid and John Hughes. The second is a tired retread, with a hilarious moment where the kid realises he's flown to NYC instead of Florida by looking out of the airport window at the New York skyline across the street, but is mostly more of the same. Then there's the third one. (Let's pretend Home Alone 4 doesn't exist. Deal? Deal.) The third one is a different kid, different family, but instead of him being 'home alone' a long way away from his family, he's just home sick that day and his parents are at work. Way to ratchet up the tension, guys. The kid (Alex this time) somehow gets hold of a super top secret computer chip that's hidden in his toy car, that bandits want to retrieve from him. Three robbers in white jumpsuits try to infiltrate his house and Alex attempts to murder them by throwing heavy things on their heads. AND SCARLETT JOHANSSON IS IN IT AS A TWELVE YEAR OLD. This is the worst movie of the season. 'Jingle all the way' is poetry in comparison. JOHN HUGHES GETS WRITING AND PRODUCING CREDIT.

Ha ha, no, I went from the Gaston Leroux novel through the Lon Chaney vehicle, and we did indeed look in on Argento and the Englund version - as well as one with Charles 'Tywin Lannister' Dance - before finishing up in the musical and all of its versions - even the astonishing - ASTONISHING - sequel. We also did comic book versions, if memory serves. It is not a book that stands up to rigorous scrutiny, let's just say.

I genuinely had to look at that 'Junior' image at the bottom of the montage several times, so weird did it look to me without Scheer, Zouks, and June's faces on those bodies.

I couldn't care less what Scheer has to say about the winner this week. Jammer wins. Pens down, everyone.

I taught an adaptation theory class years ago and very foolishly picked The Phantom of the Opera (along with Romeo and Juliet and War Horse) as a case study, which meant we examined all versions of that thing for four weeks. Terrible mistake, particularly when you place that movie (Gerard Butler WHAT?) up alongside the rest of the versions of the story. My students were thrilled to move on to War Horse, and that's a puppet show based on a children's book. Far be it from me to argue with memories from being 13 though!

Criminy, I just made the choice/mistake/decision to visit the HDTGM reddit thread on Grease 2 and there is a long discussion - in GREAT detail, like, yesterday - about Cameron Esposito's Village People episode. Looks like people are still mad about it. Does anyone here post in both places?

I'm offended that you're offended.

I think if we start getting into the chronology and timeline of that movie, giant cracks form and the WTF moments are everywhere. Probably best just to enjoy it for the songs and the characters and the like. Logic has no role here. Edit: like, as Taylor says, logic about porcelain midwifery.