Chopped Onion Studios

I love Zach Galifianakis’ videos online “Between Two Ferns” because they are awkward and hilarious, so I wanted to see more of Zach’s stand up. In 2005 when he performed at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, his routine was recorded (the filming of which seemed a bit scrambled), and Michael Blieden directed this feature including a scene involving Zach playing his own twin brother Seth being interviewed. This show was originally produced by Netflix and I watched it on…

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Spider-Man: Homecoming is a super hero film with solid actors, lots of eye candy, plenty of easter eggs, and is a fun movie from start to finish (including the credits). Portraying Spider-Man for a second time after being introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016 with Chris Evans), is Tom Holland. He plays a high school aged Peter Parker who tries to balance his normal life with the thrills and danger that come with wearing spandex in public. And fighting…

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The new releases in theatres for Friday July 14 include War for the Planet of the Apes (sci-fi action), Wish Upon (horror), and expanding to more theatres is The Big Sick (romantic comedy). Currently in theatres, the top 5 films based on box office grosses are Spider-Man: Homecoming (action/adventure), Despicable Me 3 (animated adventure), Baby Driver (action crime), Wonder Woman (action/adventure), and Cars 3 (animated action). War for the Planet of the Apes is the 3rd part of the rebooted…

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For the 29th year, the Freewill Shakespeare Festival is playing outdoors at the Heritage Amphitheater in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton. Each year they perform a tragedy and a comedy on alternating nights for over 3 weeks, rain or shine, for crowds up to 1000 people. This year they are performing Merchant of Venice (tragedy) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (comedy), and I saw the comedy. I have seen a handful of shows over the years, my wife has seen…

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Baby Driver is musically inspired, has a number of sketchy characters, and is a lot of fun with an uncommon level of style. Written and directed by Edgar Wright, Baby Driver is about a getaway driver with a cute name, flawless driving skills, and a good heart. Populating his world are a variety of not so nice criminals and he finds himself wrapped up in a world where nice, law abiding citizens do not belong. Distinctive to this film is…

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Despicable Me 3 came out in theatres recently, is the fourth film to star the lovable yellow minions, and is being successful across the globe. Illumination Pictures developed DM3 as their 8th film in their 10th year of operation, (the first Despicable Me is their first) and as a first for them, used a wider aspect ratio (2.35:1 versus 1.85:1, it shows on the big screen). Music was made by Pharrell Williams, the minions, and by Heitor Pereira (who has…

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Having recently watched some more recently made nature videos, I wanted to watch some older ones such as the IMAX and National Geographic produced Mountain Gorilla which came out in 1992. IMAX films are often less than 1 hour long, have great resolution (in spite of watching on a DVD), and capture some amazing moments in the wild. This short documentary takes its time getting to the gorillas and the narration is paced and voiced in a stuffy science class…

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After the last season of the tv series Vikings ended, I began to miss having those wild Europeans in my house. The show is graphic, honest, and full of intriguing characters so I was happy to finally watch all 4 episodes of the History Channel’s Real Vikings. This 4 part series explores the history and growth of actual vikings and also heavily references the tv show. Two of the lead vikings on the show are based on people who really…

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Everyone should see a Coen brothers movie to see if they like their style, their humor, the actors, and for the laughs. The Big Lebowski might be my favorite of their films due to how funny the film is, the absurdity of the plot, and the performances of numerous cast members. I have been a fan of Joel and Ethan Coen since Raising Arizona (1987 starring Nicolas Cage) which they also wrote and directed and I rewatched The Big Lebowski…

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I made a “deal” with my significant other that if we watched Fifty Shades Darker (2017), the sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), then we would have to watch a parody film based on the first one, Fifty Shades of Black (2016). Lately I have been watching a lot of parodies, I especially like ones with Marlon Wayans, and two years ago we watched the first Fifty Shades of Grey. The trailers for the dramatic movies make the films…

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