It’s time for some post-Thanksgiving GTM. While you’re sucking down leftover stuffing and cold turkey sandwiches give a gander to that picture above (your first clue) and see if you can guess the movie. As always, leave your guesses in the comments section and I’ll update with additional hints as needed. Good luck.

Update: no correct guesses so far, although I like Batey’s guess the most. I’m not only surprised he immediately thought of Pocahontas, but also that the youtube clip he posted has over 6 million viewings. Random. Anyway, your next clue is the song below:

Update: We have a winner! The answer was Reservoir Dogs, the extremely awesome movie featuring the characters Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, etc. The Fun Loving Criminals actually put a piece of dialogue from the movie in their song “Scooby Snacks” where Mr. Blonde talks about torture being a good idea. Congratulations to ray for flexing his pop culture brain power - be sure to tell all your friends how great you are ray, but only for this week since there’s no way you can ever replicate this level of greatness. Since I believe ray is a first time winner I’m going to award ray the newly minted “surprised kitten award”. Thanks for playing this week and I’ll see you guys next time.

(spread the word about GTM so we can get more players each week)

Ray’s winnings:

-John

A little something from Fallon’s late night show - that’s not as bad as everyone thinks. I kind of like it. There I said it…

-John

In the great comedic stylings of Monty Python, these Australians have made a pretty hilarious mock interview lampooning the supposed idiocy of government bureaucrats. Call them idiots if you will, but I learned a valuable maritime lesson today: don’t make ships out of cardboard. Cardboard is out.

-John

Are you looking for an old-school Vaudevillian show featuring wild dancing women, a knife-juggler, a guy who balances a running lawn mower on his forehead (same guy), a contortionist, a possibly deranged, oversized-sax playing former Fishbone member, a female human beat box, and an Argentine couple (maybe) that shoots crossbows at each other? Are you? Because if you want all of that, free beer, and free admission I can tell you where to find it. In fact I found it right here in C-town last week. It was interesting, entertaining, and at times kind of funny. Plus there was free Dos Equis. It’s not a bad way to spend an evening. Check the calendar for a date near you.

-John

This past weeekend I took a trip up to New York to visit some NYC constituents and spread some pop culture love to those in the big city. While this may seem philanthropic of me (which it is), I also knew that the Big Apple would open its pop culture arms to me and offer up a wealth of interesting media options. Turns out the most prominent was a much-talked-about movie, with a wide-release, that I just hadn’t gotten around to checking out yet. Sometimes it takes a trip to NYC for a guy from C-town to check out Where The Wild Things Are. Whatever. Here’s what I think about it in one sentence: you should see this movie. You. Whomever you are. See it. You probably have friends that didn’t like it and warned you to save your money, and you probably also have friends that thought every scene was ground-breaking and rife with poignant symbolism that resonated with them like no other film has. Either way, see it. This film is so unique you have to decide for yourself. It’s the only way.

For me, the movie is a living, breathing, work of visual art. The cinematography is first-rate and expertly captures the stunning natural beauty of the Australian coast, while the set and art design have got to be the frontrunners for an Academy Award in each respective category. Whether or not he took a cue from the shortcomings of the “new” Star Wars prequels and chose huge puppets over CGI monsters, I don’t know, but Spike Jonze definitely made the right decision. (Sidenote: the #1 problem with the Star Wars prequels was CGI. Not weak acting, not flimsy storylines or trite dialogue - it was CGI. Fact.) Max Records was perfectly cast as, as luck would have it, our anti-hero Max. If ever a young man has been up to the task of carrying a movie on his narrow shoulders, it was Mr. Records. He was on point emotionally, physically and mentally, easily gliding through the wide range of emotions experienced by a character engulfed in sadness and isolation. He delivered at every turn no matter what was asked of him. The other star was James Gandolfini. That’s kind of odd to say since it’s only his voice that appears in the film and I had some reservations about him being able to deliver in this type of capacity, but his vocal talents shone through and gave bristling life and passion to Max’s most important (storywise) monster friend, Carol. The rest of the monster voices were rounded out by Chris Cooper, Amber Heard (who also exceeded expectations with tender and delicate voicework for KW), Forest Whitaker, Paul Dano and the always excellent Catherine O’Hara. The movie touches on loneliness, being misunderstood, sacrifice, compromise, friendship; all of the principles that are so tough to grasp and apply when one is going through adolescence. It reminds you how hard it can be growing up, especially when you don’t fit in the way people want you to. But it’s not all moments of depression or people hugging it out - there were also engaging “action” sequences and lots of genuine comedy. In fact, there were several laugh-out-loud moments that really took me by surprise. Some so absurdly random I won’t divulge any of the particulars to avoid ruining their comedic value. I liked this movie a lot and recommend it to anyone. I can’t guarantee you’ll like it too, but I can guarantee it will be unlike any other movie you see this year. That’s got to be worth something.

-John

Rogue Wave Brushfire Records

Rogue Wave is changing what you think about music coming out of Oakland, California. Unless you already think that music is mellow indie rock sung by dudes who were unemployed due to the fallout of the dot-com bust. In which case Rogue Wave is perpetuating your stereotype. These guys released their third album, Asleep at Heaven’s Gate, on as many labels back in 2007 and have managed to secure prime exposure for their tracks on TV shows such as Scrubs, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, and cult favorite, The O.C.. It seems like all melow indie bands get compared to The Shins at one point or another, so I’ll stray from that comparison (although if you like The Shins you will like Rogue Wave) and say that Rogue Wave has an excellent blend of harmony between their vocalists and does a good job transitioning between acoustic and electric guitars without losing their easy-going pace. Rogue Wave - all they need now is to collaborate with the Oaktown gangster rappers of their choice and they’ll be superstars. That’s all it really takes. Superstars…

-john

I’m happy to be back guest-hosting Guess the Movie while Rhett is tending to the literacy needs of orphans in Uganda. The above picture is your first clue, leave guesses in the comments section and I’ll update as needed. Let’s make it happen - get out there and guess that movie…

UPDATE: We’ve got a winner! Already. One clue. Guess I’m a little rusty with my return and made it too easy. Or maybe I couldn’t subdue the great genius held by this week’s winner, Neal. The correct answer was The Great White Hype, a very underrated boxing satire, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, Jamie Foxx (before he was super-famous) and Peter Berg (before he was a big time director). I think it’s hilarious and recommend it to anyone who has never seen it. Congratulations Neal - be sure to tell all your friends how great you are, but only for this week. Next week you won’t be so great. Or will you?

-John

First let me apologize for the lack of posting recently. The operating system of the East Coast Office computers ate it a few weeks ago and rendered posting impossible. A GTM was able to be posted via remote access, but due to the inability to upload and/or write personal web content at work, the website had to go on a hiatus. To make up for it, I will soon have a special announcement to make about PCC2C accessibility, as well as a very special PCC2C feature. More details on those to come. Also, GTM will return next week after I get back from meeting with some PCC2C New York constituents. Thanks for hanging in there with us.

Anyway, in the mean time I’ve been checking out all of the episodes of Saturday Night Live this season and I’m going to give you a quick and easy rundown of what I think. This is totally valuable.

Best Host: While I thought Ryan Reynolds would easily be the best, I think Gerard Butler actually was my favorite host. He was good in the sketches and it was fun to watch him sing a song or two. To be fair, I think Reynolds was underutilized and was subjected to one of the weaker writing performances of the year.

Best Musical Guest: For me this is an easy one - Lady GaGa. She was original, engaging, entertaining and memorable. She always has the most unique style and stage presence and I thought she was able to couple that with a phenomenal display of her genuine vocal talents as well. The more I see of her, the more of a fan I become.

Best Sketch: Maybe the “What’s Up With That” talk show sketch from Butler’s hosting duties. That one had everything - great singing, great dancing, bizarre wardrobes and a random guest appearance from James Franco. I may be forgetting something, but I think that’s my favorite so far. Great job by Kenan.

Best Cast Member: My knee-jerk reaction is to say Kristen Wiig, because I know she is the most talented and can carry a scene - but honestly, this season, Kenan Thompson has been the funniest cast member. He was great in the aforementioned What’s Up With That, had arguably the best sketch from Megan Fox’s episode where he had a late night infomercial for instructions on sexual positions from an overweight, middle-aged man, and has given all-around great support in sketches and on Weekend Update. Wiig will probably reign supreme by the end of the year, but right now I see Thompson as the standout.

Best Surprise: I think maybe Taylor Swift’s shockingly accurate imitation of Shakira. It was pretty much dead-on.

Best Surprise Guest Appearance: When Drew Barrymore hosted, Justin Long did a surprise bit as Matthew McConaughey discussing his battles with shirts and ghosts that was pretty solid and just edged out Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as the daughter of the porcelain fountain salesman during Reynolds’ gig.

Best Weekend Update Bit: I liked Scrooge McDuck for its originality and I always like Wiig coming out as the nervous travel-book writer who talks really quickly, but I think my favorite guest was Bill Hader’s impression of the Ragin Cajun, James Carvell. His accent and mannerisms were perfect and his dismisall of Rush Limbaugh alone contained 3-4 quotable lines. Comedy gold.

That’s all I’ve got for you guys right now, but feel free to share your SNL realted thoughts in the comments. Rumor alert! Kirkham is going to leave a comment about Gilly.

-John

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Rough Trade Records

This here is a recommendation from G$ over at Indie Street Cred, so you know it’s not only good - it’s hipster cool too. Ed’s Los Angeles home spawned him several lead singer gigs, most notably as the frontman of the awesomely-named band Ima Robot, but now he’s out on his own. Provided you discount the musical accompaniment of the Magnetic Zeros. It’s rich musical production, with low-fi sounding vocals that makes kind of an “indie-orchestra”. Give a little listen to the two-part harmony below and see if you become a fan of Mr. Sharpe and friends. If you do, it will be like supporting the classical arts - what with being an orchestra and all that. Word.

-John