Moore Weiss Moore Fun

So much for keeping up with this blog... sheesh.

This update is about a month late, but that's okay because today is the day after a very special anniversary indeed. That's right, folks. September 24th was the day Disney finally re-released Oliver & Company all the way back in 1996... ah such good times. Oh what was that? It's also the one-month anniversary of a certain Sistah Gurl and freddiefriend?! Erm... aren't I such a great brother/brother-in-law for remembering that!

I cannot believe Emily and Freddie have been married for a month! It feels like just yesterday I was lying in bed slowly drifting off to dreamland when I heard my phone blow up at least ten thousand times. When I grumpily sat up to check my phone all I could see was a blurry picture of someone's face behind some ring. When I rubbed my eyes and turned on the light, I still saw a blurry picture of someone's face behind some ring. It took my tired brain a few minutes to process what I had just seen, but when I realized what it was, I FREAKED OUT!! Emily was engaged!!

A few months and a visit to Charleston later, it was time for me to head home for the big weekend. I won't bore you with all the in between details though I will share the link to my Sistah Gurl's blog. If you so desire, go peruse about pre/post-wedding details here. Emily's writing is absolutely hilarious which is kinda irritating because amongst the Moore siblings I'm supposed to be the writer. I mean, I love you MLE C Moore Butts! (Seriously, go read her blog now.)

Where was I? Oh that's right it was time to head back home for the most amazing weekend EVER!! Family and friends galore gathered from all over the country to see the best couple of the year get hitched (No offense to the best cousin ever. Claire and Pierce, your wedding was beautiful!). I was really excited to be reunited with all of the Georgia Youth Ballet Homedawgs. It was fantastic to see Carefeeline, Wi, Hannah Michael, and our ballet teachers Maggie and Jonsie. Even the wedding photographer, Randy Olive, danced with us at The Studio for a hot minute.

Who would've thought that my sister who grew up hating 1) the outdoors and 2) animals, would 1) get married outside under a giant oak tree in the middle of August and 2) have a reception in a barn. Renovated but still a barn. Not this Broseph. 

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. After my couple of laps escorting my grandmother and mother down the aisle, I was able to join the other groomsmen just in time to watch my father walk Emily down the aisle. I'm not gonna lie. There were definitely tears shedding from these eyes even before Dad handed Emily off to Freddie. She just looked so radiant and happy. How could I resist?! I was thrilled when our officiant called for us to bow in prayer. I quickly wiped the tears off my face. The only ones who would have noticed were the atheists in the crowd. Not that we had any... maybe one or two.

That's really all I remember from the actual wedding. It's amazing how everything flew by so fast. I wasn't even the one getting married! The reception was loads of fun though. Poignant toasts from the best man/maids of honor, toe-tapping tunes selected by the bride and groom (hint: NO "Electric Slide" or "Cupid Shuffle" here), and a surprise flash mob just for the groom all equals a fantastic time had by all. It wasn't long before it was time to send the happy couple away in their getaway car. There were just too many shenanigans to put into words so here's some of my favorite pics from the wedding weekend:

Oh hey rehearsal time. Thanks for soaking us all in sweat!

Most of the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner

Day of with the maids of honor!

A wonderful shot of the bride and groom remembering those who have passed on. I'm sure they enjoyed the wedding from those VIP seats in heaven :)

Flash mob time! Emily thinks she wants to marry freddiefriend.

GYB Homedawgs/Moore sibz with the one and only Mr. Diddy!

the beautiful beaming couple

So here's to Freddie and Emily Weiss! May your new life together be just as fantastic as the past three years have been. I know you've already had a great honeymoon and are really living it up in Chucktown. I can't wait to get together again in a couple of months for Thanksgiving. Until next time, peace!

It's Happy Hour Again!

Umm... yeah so it's been a while since my last post. So many things have occurred in my life since two years ago. I couldn't possibly start to inform you of my roller coaster life! Just kidding, but seriously I have been crazy busy lately. For one thing, today is the day that my sistah gurl Emily Moore becomes sistah gurl Emily Weiss. I could go on forever, but that will be saved for an upcoming update entitled "Moore Weiss Moore Fun"!

My return post will focus on movies of course. What will possibly be the most influential trilogy of my generation has come to its conclusion this past weekend. You may be asking yourself if I've somehow lapsed back in time to 2003, when The Return of the King was released into theaters thus concluding the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. While that trilogy is indeed extremely impressive, and I absolutely love it to death, I'm talking about a different set of movies. A set that doesn't exactly follow a narrative structure yet still manages to tell its own story with each entry. I'm talking about what has come to be known as the Cornetto Trilogy.

For the unaware, the Cornetto Trilogy is made up of director Edgar Wright's zombie masterpiece Shaun of the Dead, the action/buddy cop sendup Hot Fuzz, and the apocalyptic blast The World's End. Wright co-wrote each film with his frequent collaborator and star Simon Pegg, and each film co-stars their buddy Nick Frost. AND EACH FILM IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!! 

Here's a little backstory. I'm a huge movie buff (DUH), specifically horror movies. In the spring of 2004, young 17-year old Joseph Moore was very excited to hear that there would be a new entry in the zombie sub genre, a British horror comedy that would be an homage to the classic Romero films while telling a fresh story in a fun way. I remember watching the UK preview for Shaun of the Dead and giggling with glee as a couple of blokes attempt to deal with the chaos around them. I knew I had to see this movie right away, but being a British film I had to wait quite a few months before it was released in the states.

Months and a birthday went by, and finally Shaun found its way to the Atlanta area. An extremely excited yet very lazy (still no driver's license) 18-year old talked his wonderful father into driving about 45 minutes out of the way to witness what is arguably the best zombie movie ever made. The way it balances horror and humor yet still manages to feel very real and connects you to the characters and their plight is something that no zombie film ever did prior nor has done since. Our titular Shaun's post breakup/hungover trip to the store as zombies lurch around him is just one instance of the dry humor found here, and it only gets better from there. After our group finds themselves holed up in their favorite pub, insanity eventually finds them as Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" blasts through the jukebox. But not only is this film hilarious; it also has a sense of heart. The relationship between Shaun and his girlfriend Liz is very sweet. As the film progresses Shaun turns from slacker to hero, and you want the two to end up together by the end of the film. I haven't even touched on the bromance between Shaun and his stoner/best friend Ed, played brilliantly by co-star Frost. Let me just say things get emotional toward the end, and the last few frames are wonderful. Really I could go on and on about how brilliant this film is, but there's other things to discuss.

You can't imagine my excitement when I heard Wright, Pegg, and Frost were teaming up again to sendup Michael Bay's stylized action films. Action isn't my favorite, but I knew if anyone could make me appreciate the genre, these three hombres would be the ones to do it. So when Hot Fuzz was released in 2007 I was once again in movie nerd heaven. Fuzz is gleefully silly and surprisingly gory. Wright shows more growth as a director while still using his trademarks whips and quick edits that give his films such a fun energy. Pegg and Frost of course are brilliant yet again. Their chemistry is spot-on as Pegg's straightforward Sergeant Nicholas Angel eventually loosens up and befriends Frost's kinda clueless Lieutenant Danny Butterman, who may be a little too obsessed with action flicks. Like I said before, action isn't my favorite genre sooo I'm a little biased when I say I prefer Shaun to Fuzz. My former roommate and I used to watch the two movies back-to-back, and we would argue about which was the better film. Of course it was pointless to argue because there was no way either was going to budge. I was a horror guy, and he was an action guy. That was that. I love both these films for existing though just for the fact they bring people together to chat and/or argue about how awesome they truly are.

Which brings me to their latest collaboration, The World's End. As per usual I had to wait AGES before it was released in the good ol' US of A. To prepare myself for the epic reunion of these three collaborators, I decided to watch their classic UK series, "Spaced".  The show stars Simon Pegg and fellow writer Jessica Stevenson as two recently single 20-somethings who decide to pose as a couple in order to move into a flat. Many pop culture references and misadventures ensue in the way only Wright and Pegg know how. Seriously y'all, if you haven't watched it, or if you've heard of it but never got around to viewing it, stop reading this blog right now and get on Netflix. The entire series is streaming there for your viewing pleasure!

I got distracted. Back to The World's End. First off I was absolutely ecstatic when I discovered certain theaters around the country were showing ALL THREE FILMS!!! When I found out it was playing in Atlanta while I was in town for my sister's wedding I was discouraged. Being the awesome brother I am, I didn't want to take away from her weekend. However, being the kind-hearted sister Emily is, she informed me there were no wedding shenanigans planned the Thursday evening the trilogy was showing, and she gave me her blessing to spend my evening reveling in all kinds of blood and ice cream. I. Could. Not. Wait!!!

And ohhh my Thursday evening was quite the blast. I attended the trilogy with a few theater friends who had never seen any of the movies so not only did I get to watch the best trilogy ever put on film, but I got to share my experience with those who were less fortunate than myself. I am SUCH a thoughtful person! Shaun was amazeballs of course, Fuzz was almost equally groovy, and then it was time for the End. I was giddy in my seat as the film started with Simon Pegg, as Gary King, recounting his and his friends' failed attempt at The Golden Mile, 12 beers in 12 different pubs, all in the course of one evening. When the screen shows King recounting his tale to what I assume is his AA group, I knew I would be in for a good time. 

The World's End is an absolute blast from beginning to apocalyptic end (wow I'm clever...). The opening introduces you to each of our five central characters. Pegg's King gathers his five friends together in their hometown to complete the mission they failed to complete in their adolescence, The Golden Mile. Only as their trek goes on, the five gents realize something is amiss with the townsfolk. Not only must they battle themselves and the issues between the five of them, they also have to figure out the strange goings-on as they continue toward the last pub, The World's End. 

Pegg and Frost switch up their usual roles. This time around Frost is more of the straight man to Pegg's manic 40-year old longing for his teenage years. Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, and Cornetto newcomer Eddie Marsan fit into the crew quite nicely. Each of their characters has a backstory, and each are fully realized throughout the length of the film. Wright and Pegg were even nice enough to add some estrogen into all the testosterone. Rosamund Pike is a beautiful presence and really holds her own as if she's one of the guys. Once our heroes find out what's going on in their hometown, shit really hits the fan. Blue blood sprays the screen in an awesome bathroom brawl. The fight scenes are tight and you can actually see what's going on. It's clear Wright learned a  lot from his fight scenes in the Pegg and Frost-less but still awesome Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

It's not all blood and ink though. As I said the gents aren't exactly at peace with one another, specifically Pegg and Frost. To give away their relationship would spoil the movie, but let me say their dialogue during the climax of the movie is fantastic, and I jumped in my seat during a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reveal.

I still can't believe I was able to witness such a breath of fresh air amongst what has honestly been kind of a downer of a year for this movie-goer. Sure there have been some good movies, but none have even come close to being as awesome as The World's End. I know I will be seeing it at least two more times while it's in theaters. I'm sure I'll miss things that I missed the first go-around, and I cannot wait. Oh! And a quick shootout to the soundtrack for the film, which I have not been able to get out of my head for the past week. It is awesome!! Wright and Pegg did a bangup job compiling and slew of late 80s/early 90s rock that I have quickly fallen in love with.

So now that you've (hopefully) read through this entire thing, get off your bum, speed to your nearest theater, and see The World's End. It's the best movie to come out this year if not the past five years. Seriously, y'all. It's amazeballs. Deuces.

Storms in the South

It's been a while so I figured it was time for an update. I'm headed aboard the Pineapple Express in a couple of days to attend the James Franco Wedding-Palooza. It will be spectacular, and I hope to have crazy stories to share with you all. Until that time, I have a different story for you. It by no means has anything to do with what is occurring in my life at the time. It literally just popped into my head, and I felt it was amusing enough to share with the masses.

We're going back to the spring of 1998. I was a swastika-omitting, sequin-showing, tap-dancing German soldier in a ballet version of The Sound of Music. Yes, it is as awful as it sounds. Anyway, it was closing weekend, and a few of us volunteered to help take the set apart. I did not personally volunteer, but Mom and Dad had, and I was not one of Rebecca Black's too-young-to-operate-a-moving-vehicle-but-I-am-anyway friends so I had the pleasure of helping. Yay.

Dad and I were outside. I don't remember exactly why we were outside so I'll just say we were loading up the truck or whatever vehicle we had. It was drizzling a little bit, and the sky was rapidly turning more and more ominous. All of a sudden, Dad got a page. For those of you who do not know what a page is (though I'm sure most reading this blog do), before cell phones we had these handy dandy devices called beepers. Here's how they work. Someone wants to get in touch with you, so he (or she!) will send you a page. Your beeper goes off with some sort of message. What does that mean? It means "Get to a pay phone right now!" What's a pay phone? Never mind.

Back in 1998, pay phones were still easily accessible, and there happened to be one on the school patio. So Dad called my grandfather while I stood idly by wondering what was so important. I quickly found out.

Out in the distance, I saw for the first and only time in my life, a funnel cloud. My first thought was "Awesome!" but then I started to freak out. Mind you, even when I freak out I still sound like Eeyore if he were to say, "Dad, we need to get inside right now!" Fortunately, Dad saw the funnel cloud too, and we rushed inside.

Inside, the backstage crew was packing up the last of the boxes, the ballet mistress was crossing off her checklist, and my sister and her ballerina friends who also had the privilege to stay while their parents cleaned up were playing tag in the audience. That was the scene when Dad and I burst through the auditorium doors. Everyone was quickly informed of the looming tornado. The little girls started screaming while the adults tried to calm them, but we all wanted to know one thing: Where do we go?!

You know in the movies when everyone knows they're about to die, but one person pops up out of nowhere with some infinite wisdom? That's what happened here. All of a sudden, there was a janitor in the wings, and all he said was, "There's a basement." Of course there is. Just like there's a basement in the Alamo. Why didn't we think of that?

So the janitor led us the children sprinted down the hallway while the janitor shouted directions. We were all screaming, but I could still hear the wind howling outside. I felt like the walls were going to collapse on top us, and all I could think was, "Great. I'm going to die in a high school before I'm even in high school." After the 5K to East Jesus Nowhere, we found the staircase to the basement. Since a tornado was about to send us to Oz, we dashed down, not even thinking there may be a serial killer with knives for hands waiting to... Wait. We were under 12 years old. We had no idea who Freddy Krueger was. Moving on.

When you think of a basement to a school, you think more like a boiler room. This was the exact opposite. It was an extension of the school, with more classrooms and lockers, but it was safe because it was underground! The adults and Random Janitor Man soon joined us. There was a door down one hallway, which we steered clear of, but I clearly remember the wind still howling and the rain swirling in circles. It was probably the most terrifying moment of my life. Then, just like that, the storm vanished. The sun came out. The sky turned blue. The birds were singing awayyy. It was like nothing had ever happened. Welcome to storms in the South.

do you remember?

Okay, so it's not quite the 21st of September (hence the title; i'm so clever), but it is the best month of the year! Why is that, you ask? Well, September 2nd just happens to be my birthday. Of course, if you are reading this blog, chances are you already know me and already knew that little tidbit of information. If not, now you know, and we can move on with our lives.


While I've never made too big a deal of my birthday, it's still made for pretty awesome times throughout the years. I was blessed with parents who were creative enough to plan some unique parties back in the day. You see, I was obsessed with letters as a child. My 3rd birthday was all about letters. There were 27 balloons, each with a letter of the alphabet (and one the spelled "and" naturally). My cake had the alphabet on it. I was an ecstatic 3-year old. Well, as ecstatic as Joseph Moore can get. Also, my 5th birthday was a "Wheel of Fortune" themed party (starting to see a pattern here?). Yep, my childhood was awesome.

The awesomeness doesn't stop there though, as the past four years I have been fortunate enough to celebrate my special day at Walt Disney World, whether it be while at work or afterward in the Orlando area.


I've already shared some festivities with a few friends this year. Good times were shared at Chili's as we all nom-ed on its pseudo-Mexican greatness. Some of my very best friends were unable to attend so who knows? Perhaps the celebration has just begun! Not to imitate my sister, who enjoys celebrating for the entire month of July, but I'd hate to exclude people whom I LOOOVE from my birthday festivities! That would be cruel... Okay, so it is an excuse for more party time. You would do it too!


In other news, I plan to attend my third stilt workshop this year in about a week or so. I put off going to workshops for so long because I was afraid of being 2 feet higher off the ground than I already am, but I put my fears aside and actually enjoyed myself. So I'm looking forward to the next workshop!

Also, thanks to a fun night of kareoke, "Poison Arrow" by ABC is one of the songs I currently listen to on repeat. I've heard it before, but thanks to my good friend Nick, I will never get its terribly cheesy chorus out of my head, and I LOOOVE it! (And that's not sarcasm!)

As for movies, I checked out a couple of horror movies lately. First, I saw the Fright Night remake, which is fun, silly, and stupid, exactly what a remake of a kitschy 80s horror movie should be. Also, do me a favor and DO NOT see Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. It officially has the honor of holding my personal "Worst Movie of the Year" award. Stupid, not scary (except for that one scene seen it the previews), and full of stupid characters making stupid moves... basically, just awful.

Anyway, I gotta go to work. I'll try to update more frequently. Until then, shoot that poison arrow! I'm out.

A New Web-Slinger???

I know I'm a little late to jump on this train, but I thought I'd give my two cents about The Amazing Spider-Man, coming to theaters next summer.


For one thing, anybody who knows me in the least bit knows that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) is without question my favorite movie of all time. No, it's not the best movie ever made. It's my personal favorite, and you better believe I will be watching it on my birthday in a couple of weeks (get excited, people of Bradley Falls).

So how do I feel about the reboot? At first, I was absolutely furious. It seemed absolutely unnecessary for Marvel to start over from scratch when they had just a great saga going. (Though the general consensus is that Spider-Man 3 is a terrible film.) I thought Marvel was being incredibly lazy making another superhero movie for the moolah. Upon further investigation however, this is what I discovered: Sam Raimi and the Sony executives were having a dispute over the 4th film in Raimi's saga. Seeing no resolution in the near future, Raimi dropped out of the project, with his stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst tagging along. Then Sony had quite a dilemma: who to replace them?

Enter music video and feature film director Marc Webb, whose (500) Days of Summer is without a doubt one of the greatest romantic comedies of the new century, if not ever. Next up, Maguire's replacement for Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The role eventually went to British actor Andrew Garfield. I was not excited at first because 1) he's British and 2) he's in his late 20s playing a high schooler. After the first few pictures and some thought, I realized Garfield looks decent as the nerdy Parker, and people in their 20s have been playing high schoolers forever (Hello, Grease!). So no harm done. Finally, who would play the damsel in distress? I guess since the filmmakers are going back to the beginning, they chose to bring back Parker's first romantic interest from the original comics. That's right, folks. Before red-headed bombshell Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker had a thing for a cute little blonde thing called Gwen Stacy. (Disclaimer: I know this info from research. I've never read a "Spider-Man" comic book in my life.) Stacy actually made an appearance in Spider-Man 3 by Ron Howard's daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, but no matter because this is a reboot! In this film, Stacy will be portrayed by current "It" girl Emma Stone, which is pretty exciting because I looove her.


So there you have it. I still have my qualms. There is no wayyy this updated version is going to be anywhere near as good as the original. I haven't found out who is composing the music, but no one will be able to compare to Danny Elfman's score in the original. I still get chills every time I hear the opening of either of Raimi's flicks. I will admit, though, that this new film does have a good lineup thus far, including the one and only Sally Field is Parker's Aunt May. Also, the teaser trailer recently released looks impressive. That POV shot of Spidey scaling the buildings of NYC is pretty sweet. So I guess we'll just have to wait until next summer to see what happens.

In other news, I have joined the Twitterverse. Follow me @GimmeMoore24 for even more banal insight into my, er... exciting life! Later.