Stylish Ways’ TOP MOVIES OF 2009

I saw some movies this year and here’s what I liked.  Deal with it:

Best war movie- The Hurt Locker (haven’t seen The Messenger yet)

Best horror movie- tie-Drag Me To Hell/Paranormal Activity

Best action movie- Avatar (more mindless than Star Trek/D9 but better action. )

Best sci fi movie- tie-  Star Trek/District 9

Best foreign movie- Gommorah

Best documentary- Anvil!: The Story of Anvil

Best animated movie- Ponyo

Best comedy- Eastbound and Down (not a movie, but I’m sick of everything Judd Apatow)

Best movie- Inglourious Basterds (could have topped so many other categories, but that’s why it’s the shit)

Worst movie- The Happening (let’s hear some theories about those honey bees)

So bad it’s good- Knowing

Toplikar’s Tip Top 25 Films of the Decade

Adaptation
Almost Famous
Amelie
American Splendor
The Aviator
Brick
Catch Me If You Can
Children of Men
City of God
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
The Corporation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Forty Year Old Virgin
High Fidelity
I Heart Huckabees
Idiocracy
The Incredibles
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Memento
Punch Drunk Love
O’ Brother Where Art Thou?
Ocean’s 11
Requiem for a Dream
The Royal Tenenbaums
Waking Life

As it Happens

Well, the ‘funny picture contest’ didn’t quite blow up the way I’d hoped. I thought it was a good idea. We only got THREE entries. That’s the bad news. I’m personally disappointed that @BARRR and @benasmith didn’t participate. Those guys do everything, everywhere, all the time (for everyone), yet had no time take a picture of their genitalia with whipped cream and a red bow (or something). The good news is: every one of the entries we received was decent and honorable, and each one amused me personally. For that, I thank you all, but particularly @chewyfally for her encouragement at the outset of this campaign. So, thanks!

Who has won, and what have they won, Johnny?

@nesbik is the Grand Prize Winner!
Not a Reindeer.
I simply can not imagine a better holiday photo, without it providing blood, smoke and full-frontal nudity. The ambiguity and asymmetrical nuance of this (seemingly) casual photo celebrate the best parts of our myriad Winter Solstice holidays at their most secular and profane (note the single white glove).
@nesbik wins:
The Liberty Hall Holiday Combo Gift Pack, containing:
-A Liberty Hall Passport (good for cinema and video-store, but no concessions or special events).
-A Liberty Hall t-shirt (size; color and design options are limited).
Plus, I’ve included a DVD-Taken, a movie that hates Albanians and Arabs but only makes me sad because each moment I see him on screen, it reminds me these are the last pictures we’ll see of Liam Neeson before his world is crushed in real life. R.I.P. Natasha Richardson.
-A Frisbee.
The Tucker Max DoucheBag Pack, containing:
-A “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” utility bag. Included inside the bag is a black t-shirt (extra large) emblazoned with “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”, and a bumper sticker saying same.  There is also a wristband reading WWTD? (What Would Tucker Max Do?)

1st Place – @chewyfally
A Fun Day at Sears.
Easily the smartest, most purposefully funny of the photos, it loses by a hair to our champion, above. It just doesn’t contain the same sense of mystery, and to some, is a little too real; too familiar, and evokes a sense of guilt in the finding of amusement in this replica of holiday-cheering schlubby antagonists. Don’t laugh at my Aunt Vida, please!
@chewyfally wins:
-A digital copy bonus disc of The Hangover, a movie the majority of people I encounter enjoy more than I.
-A Frisbee.
-Bubble wrap.
The Tucker Max DoucheBag Pack, containing:
-A “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” utility bag. Included inside the bag is a black t-shirt (large) emblazoned with “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”. There is also a wristband reading WWTD? (What Would Tucker Max Do?)

2nd Place – @TylerBranson
Nobody was Really Sure What Happened.
I know what happened, I know why there was screaming. That muscle-bound, pasty skinhead-guy stole the other man’s shorts.
@TylerBranson wins:
The Tucker Max DoucheBag Pack, containing:
-A “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” utility bag. Included inside the bag is a black t-shirt (extra large) emblazoned with “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”. There is also a wristband reading WWTD? (What Would Tucker Max Do?)
-A Frisbee.
-Bubble wrap.

3rd Place – @BNoomrick
I’ll Be Dead Soon.
Ah, mortality! The lessons snowmen have for us are timeless. It’s funny, and it’s true. This individual was the only one to enter after the deadline was extended. Thank you!
@BNoomrick wins:
-A wristband reading WWTD? (What Would Tucker Max Do?)
-A Frisbee.

Well, that’s it, for now. Come claim your prizes at the box-office. You might bring I.D., please, no big deal.
-permazorch

Soooooo… Let’s Have Another Contest!

We’ll call it, I don’t know, how about,

The Funny Holiday Photo Contest

Submit a funny picture, I mean, a really funny and precious photo. The easiest way I can think of, is via our twitterfeed.
The Winner will get a Liberty Hall Holiday Combo Gift Pack – This is a T-shirt (size/color limited) and Passport (good for $18.00 of regular movie showings and video rental).
Blue, plastic discs (some call them frisbees) emblazoned with the Twin Saturns logo of Liberty Hall will be given to two Runners-Up.

We encourage you to use photos taken recently, and unaltered by an image editor, but the bottom line is: FUNNY.
Judges will consist primarily of Little Edie and The Bombardier, but also include any person hanging about.

-UPDATE-
Wow. We only got three (3) entries for this sucker. That is mighty depressing. Where is your power of your social media, now, humans?! So, here’s the deal: We’ll keep the contest open until Monday, December 14th, 5:00PM. If we get at least 12 different people entering the contest, some lucky entity will win the Liberty Hall Holiday Combo Gift Pack. If we are still limping along with less than a dozen, well, the first several entries will win the same prize: The Tucker Max DoucheBag Pack (great as a gag gift)!

DEADLINE was 9:30PM, December 10th. NEW DEADLINE:
Monday
December 14th
5:00PM.
I will NOT recuse myself, despite a conflict of interest and bipolar ennui. -permazorch

Limited Edition Liberty Hall T-Shirt Winners Announced Below!

Siamese Astronauts wins 1st Prize!
It takes the ‘Dual-Saturn’ logo and gives it a new spin. It looks like the best thing in a deck of cards. Those astronauts have good reason to sweat, and you know it when we’re crashing space junk into the Moon.
Megan Bourque, you brought the awesome sauce. Thank you.

Megan Bourque wins 1st Place

This Reel’s on Fire wins 2nd Prize!
It is a symbol of Chaos (semi-ordered and mostly-contained). It is perfection for the back of hoodie. Unfortunately, I’ve a feeling most casual viewers won’t know if it’s a button or some kind of Mandala, and the Holy Film Reel is soon to become an artifact. No matter! I am proud to be stuck in my time, inflammable.
Patrick Giroux, you’ve given us the superlative B-Side. That is no crime, and it is not weak. Thank you, sir.

Patrick Giroux wins 2nd Prize!

Other Winners:

Catherine Ellsworth

Scott Stewart

John Sebelius

Kelsey Finger

All of the above managed to get their entries turned in before the initial deadline. They each win a blue, properly weighted frisbee, official Liberty Hall stock.
I’d like to give special mention to Catherine Ellsworth and John Sebelius. Her (Ellsworth) design was both specialized to our building itself, yet broad as our core values, from we who facilitate art, or consider ourselves artists, to We the People. His (Sebelius) perfectly encapsulated the video-store, and the history of late-20th-Century film and television, from classics to horror, high and low. Sadly, both were less suitable as shirt design than the winners.

The work of Scott Starrett’s was a big favorite of all who judged entries. Personally, I wish we had a third screen for his combo of film, video and live event. I really wish Liberty Hall had a line of pajamas, because his designs would be mega-sellers on nightwear for kids and adults! I am not kidding in the slightest.

All winners may pick-up their prizes at Wonder Fair, October 17th, or later, at the Liberty Hall box-office.

Thanks go out to all who entered. I know you worked hard on your designs, and we all appreciate your efforts. Thank you, again!

Jason Barr who, if all goes well, is down for helping out at our party at Wonder Fair, as well as being an artist who entered our design contest, well, this man, this Legend, gave the only entry in both hard copy as well as .pdf attachment. It shall be framed.

-permazorch

Contest Deadline Extended!

You still have a chance to immortalize yourself in clothing!

The Liberty Hall T-shirt Design Contest is moving the deadline from Monday, the 5th of October, to Thursday, the 8th of October!
You’ve got until 7:00 PM.

You can do it, America! Come on!

Contest! (See Party Post)

Liberty Hall is seeking new designs from the community at large. We’ve got two screens to make swell t-shirts from, and we want your help. So, we’re having a contest. The winners will be immortalized through clothing (and perhaps more).

1^st Prize:

• A one-year subscription to The Uranium Option. That’s free movies for a year!
• Late-Fee Amnesty (according to our usual dictates)
• A Liberty Hall sweatshirt.
• A Liberty Hall t-shirt (presumably with your design).
• A Liberty Hall Frisbee.

2^nd Prize:

• A one-month subscription to The Uranium Option.
• Late-Fee Amnesty (according to our usual dictates)
• A DVD of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven.
• A Liberty Hall sweatshirt.
• A Liberty Hall t-shirt (again, presumably with your design).

• A Liberty Hall Frisbee. Design Restrictions:
• It must be no larger than 9 inches wide by 12 inches high.
• Black & white is the order, as these will be simple one-color shirts.
• Your design may be dropped off at the box-office, or you may attach a pdf to an email. Send it to dougr@libertyhall.net. Have the subject line read: NEW DESIGN.
• All entries are due by 7:00 PM on Thursday, October 8th, 2009. Winners will be announced on Friday, October 9th, by 7:00 PM.

3rd Prize: You’re Fired.