G.I. Joe casting (part 2)

I know we are all disappointed the GI Joe sequel got it's summer release pushed back, but here is some more casting ideas if hollywood had let me direct a live action GI Joe movie when i was 10.

   Burt Reynolds would bring some class to the role of Mutt.

 Night Court's Richard Moll has the physicality to play an excellent Destro.

       Kevin Bacon as, the least adventurously named GI Joe, Dial-Tone

      Dennis Quaid can add his boyish charm to the role of Dusty

                              Stallone as Flint

      Annette Bening has sufficient spunk to play Lady Jaye

 In a bit of stunt casting i think Mark Lynn Baker and Bronson Pinchot could play the roles of Xomat and Tomax, the cobra twins.

    Geena Davis as Zartan's sister Zarana.

Part 1 of my casting choices is HERE

Finally they to figure out a way to work this scene into the live action movie as well:

Jim Henson's New York

A few weeks ago I walked around uptown and photographed all the buildings I knew about in New York City connected to Jim Henson in someway or another.

In 1963 Henson and his family first moved to New York from Washington D.C.  They lived in the apartment building at 12 Beekman Place, which is one of the tiny streets east of 1st Ave in midtown.

The first muppet studio was only a few blocks away at 303 E 53rd St, which looks like this now:

It was here the small crew worked on commercials, variety show sketches and experimental pieces like the short film Time Piece.

In 1963 the expanding muppet crew moved uptown to 227 E 67th St, which is now the resuraunt L'Absinthe;

In another 10 years Henson moved the workshop again - just down the street to 201 67th St. Keeping the 227 building as well for business affairs.

In 1978 the workshop moved once again to a townhouse at 117 E 69th St. Unfortunately it was completely covered in scaffolding when I was there - it was just sold recently and looked like it was being renovated. Here is a picture of what it used to look like:

This would be home to the muppets until 2003 when the workshop moved to LA.

Some time around 1983 Jim Henson bought an apartment in The Sherry- Netherland Hotel at 781 5th Ave,  overlooking central park.

Finally from 1980 to 1993 at 833 Lexington Ave the was a muppet themed store called Muppet Stuff. Today it is one of 8,000 Le Pain Quotidiens, though the old fashioned building still looks the same.

"Jim loved being Jim, and he could show it, especially during the later years out here in Los Angeles, with his Missoni sweaters and his flowing hair. Who would figure Jim Henson to be a guy who would rent a yacht? But i took him on a cruise one year and he took me the next celebrating out 25th anniversary together. Jim had a love for aesthetic things, for beautiful things and beautiful women." -Bernie Brillstein, Jim Henson's Manager

"What was that feeling? Why it was the gentle slither of the mantle of soldierly glory sliding off one's shoulders!- and the cooling effect of the oceans of tears drying up!The single-combat warriors war had been removed. They would continue to be honored and men would continue to be awed by their courage; but the day when an astronaut could parade up broadway while traffic policemen wept in the intersections was no more. Never again would an astronaut be perceived as a protector of the people, risking his life to do battle in the heavens. Not even the first american to walk on the moon would ever know the outpouring of a people's most primal emotions that Shepard, Cooper and above all, Glenn had known. The era of America's first single-combat warriors had come, and it had gone, perhaps never to be relived." -Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

Remember when they brought back the Twilight Zone in the 1980s? One of those episodes, which is not very good, is about a boy who keeps his grandfather alive by telling him one long story. Every night he stops the story at an exciting spot so the grandfather must stay alive to hear what happens the next night. The episode takes place down south somewhere in the early 20th century, it is a great idea though the execution is a little bit dull. I used to tell stories with my grandfather when i was kid. I can not clearly remember but i do not think we would finish each others. I think i would tell one then he would tell one. Except it didn't happen down south deep in the Appalachian mountains but in a driveway in albany ny. Instead of the sounds of horses hooves, cicadas or crackling fires that were in this Twilight Zone, there was only lawn sprinklers and cars backing out of driveways. I cannot remember any of these stories at all, i only vaguely remember most of mine used the name Tom which i was utterly fascinated with when i was a kid. I think if i was thinking of a story and need a sort of generic main character i would always have a clearer vision of what this person would look like if they were named Tom. It just sounds right doesn't it?

making of

There are few things in life more enjoyable to me then watching clips of music producers, hunched over their mixing boards, explaining how a song was put together. I love listening as sections are muted then brought back allowing you to fully appreciate what is really happening in the song. A few of my favorites include this clip of Butch Vig talking about the Nirvana song In Bloom This great clip of Robbie Robertson breaking down Up On Cripple Creek for us. Also has some nice tributes to the late-great Levon Helm towards the end Finally the very classy Sir George Martin discussing one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs A Day in the Life. A long clip, which plays the song in it's entirety at one point, is worth sitting through.