Why is Ben Affleck the star of GOP Debt Ceiling Debates? #sunday #weekend #movies

Did you know that congressman Kevin McCarthy once showed a scene from the crime drama, “The Town” during a debt ceiling debate, to convince House Republicans to support John Boehner’s plan to extend the country's debt limit? I had no idea, having just learned about this, since I rarely follow politics that much. So, I’m curious about one thing -- what place do fictional movies have in helping our nations’ leaders make decisions about how the country functions?

Yes, it’s nice to know that cinema is powerful enough to gain attention of, and maybe even influence, members of congress. The part of the movie shown during the debate was a scene where Doug MacRay asks his friend to help him hurt some people.

If the legislature is showing films at their meetings in Washington, should filmmakers be flattered or weirded out by this? Even Ben Affleck found the July 2011 GOP debate screening of “The Town” to be a bit strange. Still, he recommends that they at least show something “more appropriate” such as “The Company Men,” if they’re going to be watching his movies in Washington.

Unlike “The Town,” which is about violent bank robbers, “The Company Men,” starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones tells the story of three men whose lives take an unexpected turn when corporate downsizing renders them jobless. It’s funny -- thanks to the GOP and their interest in how “The Town” relates to their arguments regarding U.S. debt, I learned about a new movie that I never even knew existed until today.

So I suppose, Kevin McCarthy’s screening -- however inappropriate some may believe it was, the clip not only got more people talking about Ben Affleck and “The Town” but also led to “The Company Men” getting extra attention -- because it’s surely going on one of my movie rental lists!

Do YOU think it’s appropriate for legislators to reference films when debating important matters that affect our country’s future?

Have YOU seen “The Company Men”? If so, is it a better movie than “The Town”?

P.S.

Hey folks, guess what.....

You’re viewing The Madlab Post at its new address: www.madlabpost.com

That’s right. No more typing in long URLs. Out with the old www.madlabonline.blogspot.com and in with the new www.madlabpost.com !

A different address but it's still the same ol' blog.

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Parties, Playlists and Moving Pictures from A to Z #atozchallenge #amblogging #2012

Photo by Bart Everson, whose mom made this Rated-R birthday cake for his 17th Birthday!

On Friday, April 15, 2011, I showed you all what my movie collection pretty much looks like while sharing a list of my top 10 independent films. That post marked the 18th day of Arlee Bird’s 2011 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, an online event where participants blog daily for 26 days straight during the month of April, excluding Sundays. The catch is that each blog post has to coincide with a letter of the alphabet, so April 1st would be “A,” April 2nd would be “B” and so forth.

Today, if I showed any of you what my workspace looks like, complete with all notebook paper and index cards filled with unfinished screenplay outlines, character breakdowns and movie ideas, it would make my collection of DVDs and VHS tapes look like they were organized by June Cleaver (which it's clearly not) – that’s how messy I have allowed some of my most treasured blueprints for future works to become.

I have maybe two finished feature length screenplays, one partially completed first-draft of a short film script that is currently a work-in-progress and LOTS of movie treatments sitting around my apartment that have one thing in common, if any – they were all inspired in one way or another by songs that I have listened to on mixtapes, albums of my favorite artists or online radio stations such as Pandora and the now defunct Yahoo Launchcast.

A combination of one old Mariah Carey tune with a popular R. Kelly song aided in my first draft of a short film about a delivery person who takes his attempts to provide customer service way too far – that one is laying somewhere in the notebook paper pile. As I gear up to participate in the 2012 Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year, winging it is not going to be part of the plan, at least for as much as I can help it.

This April, daily blogs at the Madlab Post are each based on a different song that has either been playing in my CD player, on the iPod touch that I no longer have or on my computer at one time or another.

Once upon a time, many of these songs may have also become part of one or several online playlists that I listen to when I’m writing, blogging or working on a new script or video of some sort. In each blog post, these songs will accompany a party planning spin on movies that the tunes remind me of and what they both could represent in the grand scheme of things during this journey that we call life.

Think of it as "Quotes from Music Tribute Movies" meets "5 Harry Potter Cocktail Recipes for Ron Weasley Fans". As if all of this won’t keep my busy enough, I am tinkering with plans to create a video component to my A to Z schedule. The verdict is still out on that but I will post an update about it if anything changes between now and then.

In the meantime, those of you who might want to take on the task of posting something every day can sign up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge between now and April 1st. The only difference this year is that the challenge will include one Sunday since the beginning of April falls on that day. The A to Z website is well worth checking out, even if you plan to sit this one out and just visit the blogs of A to Z participants….such as The Madlab Post, of course!

Just last month, I attended a masquerade party for my cousin's 30th birthday and that whole theme now reminds me of the costumes people wore in "Man in the Iron Mask" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Have you ever been to or hosted any movie themed parties before?

If so, how did they turn out?

What would it take for you to want to RSVP for one today?

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Dude, Where’s My Photos, Videos and Related Media? #movies #amblogging

Welcome to the latest edition of the Monday Movie Meme, hosted by yours truly. Last week, Dale at Smurfin the Web had us discussing movies that won an Oscar for Best Picture during his time to host, which was a fun way to take notice of the 2012 awards season that is upon us.

I’m not going to lie, this week is starting off on a pretty sour note for me, as I just lost everything....I mean, EVERYTHING including media and notes with work for my job and upcoming blog posts that I planned on publishing, including four guest posts for a fellow blogger. After being on the phone with Apple for longer than expecting and being told that I’m at a loss and there is no way to get my content and media back, I have no energy nor patience to write another extensive post like the one on Rupert Grint's $50 socks that I did over the weekend. Needless to say, the topic for this week’s meme is: Lost and Found.

Share on your blog movies about people trying to retrieve something or someone that they once had. Remember to visit fellow Monday Movie Meme participants and leave a comment with your thoughts on the films covered in this topic. Here are my selections for the Lost and Found films. All of them may not represent the best in cinema but hey, the titles are what I can come up with in a short amount of time, among movies that may not have already been mentioned in a previous Monday Movie Meme week.

Overnight Delivery
Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd star in this romantic comedy about a guy who sends a breakup letter -- complete with a used condom and half-naked photos of him and another woman to his girlfriend when he suspects her of cheating. After learning that his suspicions were false, the guy goes on a road trip to try to stop the letter from arriving in his girlfriend’s mail but encounters some shady people and wild antics along the way. I watched this movie when it came on television many years ago and while I thought it had some humorous scenes, I’m not surprised that it was a direct-to-video release.

Blood Diamond
After being captured to work in a mining field for diamonds, man loses son to a group of rebels manned by child soldiers. He then makes a deal with a gun smuggler, risking his life to try to find and save his son from being caught up in the Sierra Leone Civil War. I watched “Blood Diamond” at my Grandmother’s house and was moved enough to add it to my DVD collection, despite the fact that she totally ruined that first-time viewing experience for me by mentioning the fate of one of the main characters, as soon as the movie started playing.

All About the Benjamins
Comedian Mike Epps, rapper Ice Cube and actress Eva Mendes star in this comedy about a bounty hunter who pairs up with a con artist to capture a group of diamond thieves. The con man is only concerned about finding a winning lottery ticket that he lost, to redeem it and get back in the good graces of his girlfriend. The only problem is -- the con artist skipped bail, so the bounty hunter is supposed to arrest him as well. These two men have to learn to work together to get the people and items that they are after.

and lastly....

Dude Where's My Car?
Two stoners named Jesse and Chester wake up with a hangover and cannot remember what they did in the hours leading up to them being at Jesse's house. After realizing that Jesse's car is missing along with their girlfriends' anniversary gifts, the two friends start retrace their steps to figure out where they parked the car.

Yes, I am fully aware that this movie is no Best Picture Oscar contender but to be fair, I was a fan of "That 70's Show" on Fox, back in the day and figured that Ashton Kutcher would be just as funny in "Dude Where's My Car" as he is on the show -- so I bought the DVD. Yes, I have it in my movie collection. No, I don't watch it and haven't played it in years, but I have a cousin who finds this movie to be quite hilarious -- and he's like 35 years of age or something like that.

So that’s it. What are some Lost and Found style movies that come to YOUR mind?

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