#HarryPotter’s newest adventure…., sorta

It’s only 1,500 words, but still: it’s something.

From the Associate Press, via Canada’s National Post:

“…Harry Potter is back — mysterious, married, and going grey.

J.K. Rowling has given fans a glimpse of the grown-up boy wizard in a new story posted Tuesday on her Pottermore website. It’s the first update since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007, but Rowling spokesman Mark Hutchinson said there are “no plans” for a new Potter novel.

Bob Newhart CLASSIC: “The Driving Instructor” (1960)

In my humble opinion, this is still one of the all-time best comedy bits, ever.

Growing up, we kept our LPs*** stored in a new (at the time) GE Stereophonic Console in the living room, and as a kid I went through them all: Henry Mancini, Sing Along with Mitch Miller!, dozens of sundry Christmas albums, Bill Cosby, ….and Bob Newhart.

Below is probably the very first comedy routine I ever heard, and the parent album won a Grammy Award back in 1961. Yet it’s a testament to its simple brilliance that it still works perfectly 50+ years later.

Enjoy:

60 years later: Raymond Burr in ‘Rear Window’ (1954)

Rear Window has been one of my all-time favorite movies from the very first time I saw it.

To me, it’s Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece: memorable, endlessly watchable, and nerve-wracking. For one thing, I wanted to live on that gigantic set: it was spectacular. Didn’t hurt that the film starred not only Jimmy Stewart, who oozed sincerity from every pore, but also Grace Kelly, who vied for my teenage heart with Maureen O’Hara (Maureen usually won that one, though: I had a weakness for redheads back then).

The movie’s premise is simple enough: Jeff (Stewart), a photographer with a broken leg who’s recuperating in his New York City apartment, spends his time spying on his neighbors from his window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

‘The Masters’ as …Mini-Golf (VIDEO)

I normally watch at least the last two rounds of The Masters most years, but was otherwise engaged last weekend and ended up missing it completely.

However, if you either (A) missed it, too, or (B) somehow couldn’t care less, the folks over at Mashable.com highlighted a gentleman named Simon Connor giving The Masters a mini-golf makeover which is, by any standard, funny and wonderfully clever.

All credit goes to Simon and Mashable for this, as well as Adam Baldwin for making us aware of it in the first place:

I hope ‘Incredibles: 2’ is at least pretty good, because the original WAS ‘Incredible’…

In case you (somehow) hadn’t heard, one of the best family films in recent memory will finally get its sequel:

(via Total Film) – “…Yep, The Incredibles 2 is a reality, and we couldn’t be more excited.

Officially announced by Disney Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger at today’s shareholder’s meeting, that sound you can probably hear is Pixar fans’ brains exploding.

The project is in the very early stages – Brad Bird has only just put pen to paper – but just the fact that Disney / Pixar will be continuing the adventures of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and their children Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack is reason enough to celebrate…”

And the official “Tweet” is below:

If the President COULDN’T Lie, …What Would You Ask Him?

Today we’re honored to have another offering from our friend, the Deja Reviewer! And given the upcoming State Of The Union Speech, this post is particularly timely. 

-JTR

—

In the 1997 comedy Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays a dishonest lawyer named Fletcher who is dismayed when he finds himself unable to lie about even the smallest thing one day. This setup results in numerous memorable gags and funny jokes.

One of my favorites is when he drives like a maniac and gets pulled over by a police officer. He’s forced to relate every little misdeed he had just done, such as speeding, changing lanes without signaling, nearly hitting pedestrians, and more. But that’s not all.

The cop then asks if there’s “anything else?”, and Fletcher grudgingly admits that he’s accumulated dozens of unpaid parking tickets, and they’re hidden in the glove compartment.

After this deluge of painful confessions, he sinks into his seat and quietly says, “Be gentle.”

It’s back: the NHL Winter Classic!

We were denied the opportunity to see it last year, but thankfully it’s back. And if you haven’t seen this event before, you owe it to yourself to watch.

It’s gonna be special, especially with having skipped a year.

Even if you’re not a hockey fan, …try it.

Just once:

Carol Burnett: TV humor today sounds like it was “written by teenage boys in a locker room”

Can’t argue with anything Carol and Tim say here:

First, let me give credit to Piers Morgan, of whom I’m usually highly critical. He conducted a solid interview, and let his guests respond without arguing with them, in and of itself an exceedingly rare occurrence.

But the primary takeaway I had after watching the entire interview was how far modern television has fallen from my youth. As a member of the generation which grew up watching Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, et al on TV with my entire family, those shows not only were clever then, they are still clever now.