Gary Oldman up for the voice of General Grievous? That's what TheForce.Net is saying in this article!! Gary Oldman, as you know, played Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a Russian terrorist in Air Force One, and will be playing Lieutenant James Gordon in next year's Batman Begins. Oldman is an awesome actor, so it'll be interesting to see how he'll voice the Droid General in Star Wars: Episode III...assuming the reports are true!!

Today I watched Shrek 2 at the AMC theater near my house. Good movie... I found it a lot more enjoyable than the first one (even though I didn't watch the first one till it came out on video). Puss in Boots, the cat assassin voiced by Antonio Banderas, is hilarious! Especially when he sings Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca. What a crack-up. All the other characters were very funny as well (though not a surprise), but Puss stole the show. I also saw Troy this week. Also a good film, though not very original in the wake of Lord of the Rings and Gladiator four years ago. I saw Van Helsing last week.

...

So anyways, I enjoyed watching Shrek 2 and Troy. That is all.

One of the things I learned in my Alternative Media class (the one I'm getting a 'C' in) is how the mass media in the United States cares more about pleasing advertisers and big corporations (the ones financing these media companies) than they do about giving the public what they want... Which is why you'll sometimes find more pages devoted to advertisements than those with actual news printed on them in newspapers like say, the Los Angeles Times. But this is just PLAIN RIDICULOUS.

Put ads on baseball bases? How dumb is that?? What, right before a Major League baseball game cuts to a commercial, the camera is going to focus on these bases? (Which is obviously the point.) "Tonight's baseball game is brought to you by... Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man 2..." Granted, I don't care if the Spider-Man graphic is shown on the TV screen itself, superimposed in front of the image that's being shot, but to have it printed on a baseball base itself? Advertisers will do WHATEVER it takes to promote their product, will they?

Back in the past, and even today, newspapers were afraid to publish certain stories for fear they're going to draw advertisers away...since those stories weren't going to put the consumer reading that newspaper in a "buying mood." Sure, we live in a capitalist society, but that's just plain pathetic.

Click here for the article on the Sports Illustrated website.

UPDATE: So much for the Spider-Man-on-first-base idea. The Sports Illustrated website has reported that the MLB will not allow ads for the upcoming film to be printed on any of the bases in major league baseball fields next month. Great decision. A sweet victory for the Average Joe who's against this crass example of advertisements gone awry. Thanks to me and this journal entry. Just kidding.

UPDATE #2: Speaking of Spider-Man 2: Last Sunday night I dreamt I was flying the F/A-22 Raptor jet fighter, was fighting a giant spider in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and was watching an NBA playoff game where the Lakers were kicking the Spurs' ass and not the other way around (check the May 2, 2004 entry). Last night, my dream was a combination of the now-defunct TV show Dark Angel (which aired on Fox from 2000 to 2002) and Spider-Man 2! I dreamt that a couple of people and I had to hide Max (played by the BANGIN' Jessica Alba on Dark Angel) from Lydecker (the main villain played by John Savage on Angel) and Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2! At one point, while we weren't running away, I watched as Max and these other people were sleeping on a giant spider-web spun over a street! I think the web was connected to two apartment buildings on both sides of the street...but anyways. It was pretty weird, but a cool dream nonetheless... I think Max got away at the end, and Doc Ock was stuck inside a house or something. Of course, the reason why I had this dream was because I was watching Season 2 of my Dark Angel DVD set yesterday (I have the sets for both Seasons' 1 and 2), and just read the Sports Illustrated article about the baseball bases last night. I know...pretty incoherent journal entry... But this wasn't a coherent dream, now was it?

BATMAN BEGINS: Above are OFFICIAL movie photos of Christian Bale as the new Dark Knight of Gotham! Pictures courtesy of Entertainment Weekly and the official Batman Begins webpage (click on the photos of the new Batmobile below to get to the official site).

George Lucas is more clever than I thought. For those of you who even care about Episode III coming out next year but don't understand why there's yet another new villain in the final prequel (when Count Dooku from Episode II is still alive and Anakin finally becomes Vader), I found this neat little theory at The Force.Net:

"Many people could not understand the reasons for having a new bad guy, when Dooku was available to be developed as a character. But when you think about it, having Grievous is a logical progression. First bad guy was Darth Maul. Shadowy, silent and deadly. Intense use of the Dark Side. Devoted to his master and to his missions. Second one was a fallen Jedi Master, Count Dooku. Knows the Jedi inside and out. A manipulative and devious character. He can twist and turn people and situations to his advantage. Third one is General Grievous. A cyborg with no pity or remorse. His only purpose is to bring death and destruction to the Republic and the Jedi. If Darth Sidious can combine all these traits into one person, that would be the ultimate apprentice. That apprentice's name would be DARTH VADER."

Pretty cool! Here's a neat fan-made drawing that I also checked out at TheForce.Net:

KILL BILL VOL. 2... I saw the film last friday, and I liked it in that it was more story-oriented than Vol. 1. And Pai Mei was hilarious! And dope, 'cause he kicks ass. In case you haven't seen the movie yet, don't expect an action-packed gorefest at the end, since (I said before) it's all story.

Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle For... I didn't type the whole title since I don't know what the whole title is--since it couldn't fit the TV screen when I was watching the movie at one of my friends' house. Anyways, Godzilla vs. Mothra was one of 3 cheesy-ass movies that I watched on cable TV today after my friend and I got back from the Laker training facility in El Segundo (near Los Angeles International Airport)...where I got autographs by Slava Medvedenko and Brian Cook. But NO Shaq or Kobe. Or Payton or Malone for that matter. Could've gotten an autograph by Devean George if he didn't drive off once I walked up to his car window (all the players were already in their cars and there was a pretty large crowd of fans who showed up). Where was I?

Oh yea, I watched Drumline, a movie about freakin' college bands; Kangaroo Jack, a live-action movie about a Kangaroo who wears a red shirt during most of the movie (and talks in one sequence, although that part fortunately passed when I began watching the movie); and of course, Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle For Pornography (not the real title, but I didn't feel like typing "..."). These movies, however, were so damn cheesy they were entertaining (and my friend and I watched American Ninja 3 at one point). To sound like a snotty film critic, I was engrossed in their banality...although I'll shoot myself if I ever get the urge to type a screenplay that's inspired by these movies. *Shutters...*

UPDATE: I watched The Apprentice on NBC for the first time today...and needless to say, I was missing out! Great show-- But you know Kwame's team is gonna lose! The Spider-Man 2 trailer wasn't so bad either.

UPDATE #2: The full title is Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth. Too plain... I like The Battle for Pornography better.

IF YOU'RE EAGERLY awaiting the DVD arrival of the original Star Wars trilogy--which comes out on September 21st--here's how the box covers for the full screen (gold cover) and wide screen (silver) versions will look like. Can't wait!

The new Batmobile... From next year's Batman Begins:

DID ANY OF YOU see the 8:00 PM episode of The Simpsons today? It spoofed The Phantom Menace with a movie called Cosmic Wars: The Gathering Storm. Despite the fact The Simpsons is like, 5 YEARS LATE in having this major parody...this episode gave a hilarious indictment on the prequels and George Lucas carrying more about digital technology than storyline. Pretty funny. So anyways... General Grievous is gonna rule in Episode III! He's gonna be the NEXT DARTH MAUL! (Thinks about what happened to Maul at the end of Episode I...) No wait...

Don't you guys like it how I always contradict myself over the prequels? One minute I'm calling Lucas a biatch for the failure of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, the next minute I'm posting up several photos of that General Grievous fella on this page! Make up your mind, Parman! Anyways, it's almost 10:00 at night, and I have to get back to studying!!! But before I do... Here's an old pic of Britney Spears. She can't sing for squat, but I'd still do her.