I’ve accepted that I’m a slightly excitable person, meaning: If I like something, I really like it; and if I don’t, I can still usually find something to appreciate in it anyway. I suppose it’s even one of the qualities I’ve come to like most about myself in recent years. But this past week, I’ve had such strong reactions to things that I’ve begun to question whether I’m normal. As usual, I turn to you, PopWatchers, to make me feel sane. I share my moments, you share yours.
• Last Saturday, I saw my first ad for the July 7 Lifetime Movie Network premiere of Destination: Infestation, a film about an airplane overrun by ants. ANTS! It stars Antonio Sabato Jr. (pictured), and did I mention that it’s called Destination: Infestation? I got chills and sat there repeating the title to myself, out loud, for a good ten seconds. (Note to LMN: You really should be advertising this on your website. I would’ve linked.)
• On Monday, NBC should have had a camera on me while I watched episode 2 of Age of Loveand put the live feed in a little box on the bottom left of the screen.It was the best workout I’ve had in months. I was beating the couchwith a pillow (when I wasn’t using one of my hands to press the mutebutton — like when Tessa said she had "great morals and greatthoughts"). I then called my friend Eva in L.A. and spent anotherhour convincing her that she had to watch, if only to see what I mayhave called "the best moment of TV ever" — the scene in the hot tubwhere bachelor Mark Philippoussis and his bikini’d twentysomething"kittens" sat in painfully awkward silence as he looked like he wantedto kill himself. (Watch the episode here.)
• Finally, on Tuesday, I went to a screening of the upcoming feature documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters(in theaters August 17). It’s the story of two men’s epic battle to berecognized as the highest scorer on Donkey Kong. At one point, whenchallenger Steve Wiebe prepares to do battle, "Eye of the Tiger" plays.I was so pumped up for him that I air-boxed to the opening beats. Whoam I? And if any of the four other people in the screening room wererooting for gaming legend Billy Mitchell, I apologize if you overheardme turn to my friend Ian and say, "Suck it, Billy!"
Your turn. Have you had a strong reaction to a TV or movie moment that kinda scared you?
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please review Chris Brown’s remix of “Umbrella!!” I know it has nothing to do w/ this post, but it’s horrible!!! Like the remix of “Girlfriend.”
Mandi-
Never fear, your PW friends are here!
My BF makes fun of how spazzed out I get for movies I am really excited for. For example, the first time I saw the Transformers trailer, I jumped off the couch, screaming and replayed it about 90 times.
It is still awsome.
The down side to this is that the movies sometimes are not all they are cracked up to be. (See “The Hulk.”)
I will also laugh hysterically at Kathy Griffin’s Bravo Show and will replay the really great moments on “Footballer$ Wive$” – Why, oh Why can ABC not make this show work in the US??
For starters, Lost’s 3rd season. No season of tv has made me yell at the screen more often than this frustrating mess that has made me feel like they make it all up as they go along. And this crap with the Others, who IMHO are the lamest villains ever invented has been making me so mad! How can the Losties be so naive about the Others, and why didn’t Jack kill that stupid cult leader when he had a chance? I HATE the Others with such a passion that I’m still 7 episodes behind on the finale (on my tivo). I can barely sit through an episode without yelling obsenities and feeling the need to blog the next day titles like “I’m no longer drinking the Lost Koolade”.
Firefly got me jazzed up enough to dress like Jayne Cobb at a few comic book conventions to help promote “Serenity”.
Oh, and I yelled out an audible “doobie Doo” when the Burn Notice ad showed Bruce Campbell. I dig that crazy fool enough to tivo anything he’s in.
Deal or No Deal has the power to turn me into a complete lunatic! I will scream at the tv “TAKE THE DEAL” or cover my eyes with a pillow before they open the case.
Anon – right there with you on Transformers. My brothers think I am a complete nerd b/c since I saw the trailer and everytime I see it on TV, I can’t shut up about how excited I am to see the autobots and decepticons on the big screen!!!
Mandi, I can feel your pain, because that’s EXACTLY how I felt the first time I went to see the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. I sat in the theater on opening day hoping to God the film didn’t stink because all the press I read had zero faith in it, and I love Orlando and Johnny to death. I sat there with goosebumps for two hours because the film was so awesome and perfect and exciting and I KNEW it was going to be a huge success. The day they announce there will be a part four I’ll be jumping up and down like a 7-year-old and I can’t wait!
I am a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan, so I was thrilled when my husband and I went to see the third one. About 10 minutes or so from the end of the movie I understood what would happen with Will and Elizabeth and I bawled the rest of the movie. I then got up before the movie was fully over and stormed out of the theatre. When my husband found me, still crying and very pissed off they would end a Disney movie that way, I explained that their relationship hit too close to home. He had no idea what I was talking about and still makes fun of me for it.
jpt: That is so sweet! Did you see the last Will/Elizabeth scene after the credits? At least it put a positive spin on the ending. I also felt heartbroken when Will was stabbed. I love Orlando, and I can’t bear to watch someone run a sword through him, even tho it’s just in a movie.
thanks for the spoiler sans a warning, sarah =\
I hate these new adverts which are placed with the comments!
I get violently angry when characters I love are killed. Here are some that have boiled my blood:
Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) on Lost. I swore, from season one when he almost died, if they kill my Hobbit, I will forever boycott this series. He’s the reason I started watching Lost, and now it’s over for me. So bite me, JJ Abrams!!! Should’ve offed Matthew Fox instead. He’s annoyed the hell out of me since Party of Five!
Edgar on 24 last season. So unnecessary.
Haldir in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It should be illegal to kill elves, especially since they weren’t even at Helm’s Deep in the book.
Norrington in Pirates: At World’s End. He so didn’t deserve that.
ugh: I apologize for the spoiler. I got a little carried away there.
Oh Mandi, I love ya Mandi, because if you didn’t know my middle name is “strong reactio to tv or movie that scared me” I have so many examples, but one stands out, years ago when the Kenneth Brannagh film Frankestein came out I went to opening night at one point the monster kills a child, and the nanny of the child was blamed, and rushed through the movies only high impact scene towards a rope high on a tower, where she was going to be hanged. I couldn’t believe it, she was innocent and with my heart racing I proceded to let the entire theatre know it by standing up and top of my lungs screaming at the screen “SHE DIDN’T DO IT! MY GOD SHE DIDN’T DO IT!” Let’s just say my friends don’t like going to the movies with me because of the way I react to them.
Like anon, I got WAY too excited when I first saw the “Transormers” trailer…now whenever my brother and I are in a theater or at home and we see a trailer/commercial for it, i grab him by the front of the shirt and yell “Transformers!!”…(I think this tactic even got my girlfriend halfway interested in the movie)
I also got pumped up after the first full-length trailer for “Live Free or Die Hard.” The ads for that movie have become the stuff of semi-legend for me and my brother. We’ll randomly quote stuff to each other like bust out “Command Center?! (hearty laugh)” Yeah, we’re weird.
I’m well known amongst friends for being way too much of a spazz at times. I’m not really “allowed” to watch the Oscars and other awards shows because I get way too emotionally involved. I express my upset verbally when the people I feel are deserving don’t win and I get way too excited when the people I like do win.
I still go into a bit of a tantrum whenever I talk about the 3rd Harry Potter movie (Prisoner of Azkaban). I was so frustrated by that movie. My fiance says I’m only disappointed in it because it’s my favorite book of the series, but I really don’t think that’s the case. I think it was just badly done and the director was totally wrong for Harry Potter. They didn’t explain who the Marauders who created the Marauders Map were, for crying out loud!!!! Why????
I also saw “Apocalypto” for the first time last weekend, and a random part where a snake takes a chunk out of some guys neck actually made me look away and scream out “Oh…myGod!” (snakes creep me out).
It was notable because it was the first time I’d shown fear while watching a movie with the gf.
Well, when Jennifer Beals pulled out her bra in that famous scene from Flashdance, I as a 15 year old boy had a STRONG reaction to it!!!!!!!!!!
It still makes me happy. Oh, and when she says later on in the movie, ‘So What turns you on?’ I really don’t remember the rest of the movie, lol.
I haven’t been able to watch Wheel of Fortune for about 5 years. Ever since a man had an insane amount of money from one spin (he landed on $10,000 and got like, 5 T’s or something), the answer was obvious and he STILL got it wrong. I literally screamed at the poor guy and laid down and pounded on the floor for about 10 minutes. Yeah, my husband stayed away from me for a while after that.
The strongest reaction I’ve had was in “American History X” when Edward Norton makes the guy bite the curb then stomps on his head. I jumped up off the couch, then fell back down on it, then fell off of it, all the time clutching my arms around myself. Gives me the chills just typing this.
No one I know wants to watch the Oscars with me, either. Well, I do have strong convictions !!
Not that I’m trying to plug EW (I swear I don’t work there), but I had such a ’strong’ reaction to the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1 last summer that my boyfriend jumped out of the shower because he thought I was mortally injured from my screaming. Alas, no: One of the contestents couldn’t name a Russell Crowe movie or something.
That American History X scene is a good one, my wife literally couldnt watch it, and made me mute the TV. However, there really can only be one choice for guys in their early 30-s: the scene in John Carpenter’s The Thing when the guy’s chest opens up and bites the doc’s arms off. For guys my age, biggest “Holy $hit!!” moment ever.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. I don’t know why I watch that show. The questions are easy, which is why they have to find dumb as dirt people to provide melodrama (ooh, are the 5th graders smarter?). I can’t resist screaming at that the contestants as they stumble over the answers.
My “confession” is that I’m SO OVER getting ironically excited about stuff that I know is really complete crap. Sorry.
24: when Palmer died…I screamed so loud. After it, I had to stop the tv and rewind few times to believe it!!! And to this day, Tony is not dead, he is just away…
Creepiest TV moment ever….at the end of the infamous “Melrose Place” episode when Dr. Kimberly Shaw pulls off her wig and reveals an enormous, hideous scar across her head, signifying she had transformed from a nice, sweet lady into a dangerous psychotic.
Back then, before TV producers hyped everything to the max (“Stay tuned for the shocking conclusion!”) and Internet spoilers gave every away all the twists weeks before the airdate, it was an incredbly surprising and deeply disturbing scene. I jumped off my couch, gasped so hard that I couldn’t breathe, and then felt chills up and down my whole body.
Kudos to the freakin’ brilliant Marcia Cross for scaring the living daylights out of me!
The trailers…especially the teaser trailers…for the three Star Wars prequels left me with chills. Especially for Revenge of the Sith…the whole, “Vader…Rise” bit. It was so hard trying not to squeal like a school girl and run around the theater with giddy joy. Don’t even ask how I was on each of their opening nights.
As much as I hate to admit watching American Idol…I threw things at the tv when Daughtry was voted off.
During the last summer Olympic games I started bawling when this little Chinese gymnest fell off the bars. I honestly couldn’t tell you why but I was literally sobbing.
For the season 2 finale of The Office, I couldn’t watch it live, as I had to go out with a bunch of my friends that night. When I finally got to watch the episode at 2 in the morning (on my 12-inch Powerbook screen), after the screen cut to black after The Kiss, I started sobbing. And didn’t stop for like, half an hour. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. It may have been the late hour, it may have been the fact that I was slightly drunk, but I sat there weeping for Jim (and Pam) for way longer than is normal.
I also get really, REALLY into Cash Cab. Yelling answers at the TV. It’s pretty much my goal in life to ride in the Cash Cab. Really.
I’m a big fan of Angel and David Boreanaz. And I’m usually on top of new shows for the fall season. But I had no idea David was doing Bones. So when I saw the first commericial I started screaming “Boreanaz, Boreanaz, Boreanaz!!!” My b/f thought I was crazy. Luckily he loves me. We currently both watch Bones!
ugh, spoiler? what the hell r u talking about? if you haven’t seen the movie by now then you shouldn’t complain when someone says something about it. idiot!
I started bawling so hard at the end of Million Dollar Baby, even though I knew what was coming (thanks, New York Times, for spoiling it!) I can’t remember having such an emotional reaction to a movie.