Vegetarian diet ended around 2am this morning, officially, with a celebratory chicken sammich. Yes, I know that's technically one day BEFORE it would've been the end of October, but I'm not eating rabbit food all Halloween weekend (the food vendors in Salem are NOT serving tofurkey) especially when one of the big events involves a big wedding.
Finally tally: three weeks, five pounds - the exact same amount I generally lose on Slimfast for the same amount of time. Yeah... definitely not worth the effort; other than having learned a few new ways to prepare salad.
I'm off to Five Guys now, to reintroduce red meat in style. When the weekend is over, I'm planning on trying November (save, obviously, for Thanksgiving) piscatarian - which apparently means no meat but fish, which sounds more sane.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Is Green Lantern wearing Superman's hand-me-downs?
Say one thing for Warners/DC: They are really good at keeping production material from failed/abandoned projects from winding up online. Makes sense, given that they were the first "big" outfit to publically blame a movie's failure on Internet leaks ("Batman & Robin" - the "novelty" of blaming web-gossip pretty much made AICN, publicity-wise.) I mean... people realize that George Miller actually cast, scripted, boarded and costumed the Justice League movie and we've never seen a shred of it, right?Uh... yikes! Funny thing, though...
You can't see it in that "natural light" snap, but it's actually pretty damn elaborate - especially for a practical effect: The muscle-suit is actually overlayed with clear plastic plates and levels of lights to make it look vaugely bioluminescent. One "portion" of this lighting looked awfully familiar to me...
Coincidence? ...yeah, probably - but it strikes me kinda "funny" that "glowy sinews" is a kind of running-theme in WB superhero reboots.
Check Johnsons' page for the full set.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Humble Suggestion
Yes, fan posters suck, and this is probably a good indicator of why I'm not a graphic-designer. Still, if I was working in Marvel Studios' marketing department and they said "we need teaser posters for Captain America NOW!," this is probably what I'd be handing in.
(mostly built off the one pic from the EW set that I earlier thought "could be a poster on its own")
(mostly built off the one pic from the EW set that I earlier thought "could be a poster on its own")
Chris Evans as Captain America (updated!)
Your "Impressiveness Of Entertainment Weekly Cover Debut" Scorecard, thus far:
Avengers: 1 Green Lantern Corps: 0
That'll do just fine, thanks.
iFanboy.com was johnny on-the-spot with scans, check them out. Good shot of Hugo as a not-yet-monsterfaced (or are they doing the mask thing?) Red Skull, but the big "squee!" will be for a strikingly-iconic-looking (it could be a poster on it's own) rear shot featuring the Mark I "triangle shield."
This is really happening.
EDIT
One more thing: I swear to any gods who'll hear me that if the fucking Teabaggers start tainting this by dressing up as Cap at their douchebag rallies... it's ON.
Avengers: 1 Green Lantern Corps: 0
That'll do just fine, thanks.
This is really happening.
EDIT
One more thing: I swear to any gods who'll hear me that if the fucking Teabaggers start tainting this by dressing up as Cap at their douchebag rallies... it's ON.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Rise
By now everybody knows the Big News, straight from Christopher Nolan: The Riddler is NOT in the next (and presumably final) Batman movie, and the title is now "The Dark Knight Rises."
Awful, awful, awful fucking title. It sounds like its it's own fan film. Not that it matters, everyone is just gonna call it "the third Batman" anyway.
As for Riddler... yeah, probably would've been kinda redundant to do another master-planner criminal, and everything that makes Riddler not just a more conservatively-dressed Joker was likely to have been tossed in Nolan's stringently down-to-earth universe. Either way, the bad-guy speculation now goes back to square one; with the possible extra detail that the film is casting around for "a female lead." So... Catwoman? Talia al Ghul? Poison Ivy? Harley Quinn (a way of having Joker again without having Joker again)? Batgirl (no one says there can't be a decade or so in between in "movie-time" for Barbara Gordon to grow up)?
Serious question, now: Am I the only one getting the strong feeling that no matter how good this is it's going to be recieved as a kind of dissapointment?
"Dark Knight" being a cultural-phenomenon was lightning in a bottle, a one-time-only confluence of "wow, Joker!" and "wow, tragic actor death!" That's not going to happen again. So if this "fails" to outdraw the original (to say nothing of Avatar), the headline is pretty-much already written, yes? "Batman Can't Beat 3rd-Movie-Curse," "A Step Back After Inception," etc?
Awful, awful, awful fucking title. It sounds like its it's own fan film. Not that it matters, everyone is just gonna call it "the third Batman" anyway.
As for Riddler... yeah, probably would've been kinda redundant to do another master-planner criminal, and everything that makes Riddler not just a more conservatively-dressed Joker was likely to have been tossed in Nolan's stringently down-to-earth universe. Either way, the bad-guy speculation now goes back to square one; with the possible extra detail that the film is casting around for "a female lead." So... Catwoman? Talia al Ghul? Poison Ivy? Harley Quinn (a way of having Joker again without having Joker again)? Batgirl (no one says there can't be a decade or so in between in "movie-time" for Barbara Gordon to grow up)?
Serious question, now: Am I the only one getting the strong feeling that no matter how good this is it's going to be recieved as a kind of dissapointment?
"Dark Knight" being a cultural-phenomenon was lightning in a bottle, a one-time-only confluence of "wow, Joker!" and "wow, tragic actor death!" That's not going to happen again. So if this "fails" to outdraw the original (to say nothing of Avatar), the headline is pretty-much already written, yes? "Batman Can't Beat 3rd-Movie-Curse," "A Step Back After Inception," etc?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
and the fandom rejoiced
Independent filmmaker Eddie Lebron, whom you may remember from the pretty-solid feature length "Mega Man" Fan-Film last year, has formally announced his production of a "Sonic the Hedgehog" Fan-Film.
The best parts of "Mega Man" were Lebron's grasp of action, scene composition, not-bad-at-all use of visual effects and clever narrative compromises toward realizing the game in live-action (and on a budget) so the notion of him tackling a feature built around a main character (and presumably several others) realized wholly through CGI is encouraging as far as I'm concerned. The BIG news, of course, is who he's landed to provide Sonic's voice...
Way. Past. Cool.
The best parts of "Mega Man" were Lebron's grasp of action, scene composition, not-bad-at-all use of visual effects and clever narrative compromises toward realizing the game in live-action (and on a budget) so the notion of him tackling a feature built around a main character (and presumably several others) realized wholly through CGI is encouraging as far as I'm concerned. The BIG news, of course, is who he's landed to provide Sonic's voice...
Way. Past. Cool.
regular folks
(warning: political stuff after the jump, don't wanna see/read such things, don't click it)
You've all seen the footage of the guy stomping on the lady's head at the Rand Paul rally, right?
Well, here it is:
Charming.
The media's inability (or, more likely, unwillingness) to "figure out" the mindset of the so-called "Tea Party" is, I've come to believe, mostly an inability to admit that more than one thing can be "true" of a person - or "movement" of persons, for that matter.
Someone who dislikes the "Tea Party" will tell you: "They're ignorant, reactionary, small-minded jerks."
Someone who LIKES them will respond: "No! They represent the voice and face of ordinary, average people."
Who's right? They both are.
One of the worst things that ever happened to human civilization was the moment that being "average," "ordinary" or "typical" were goals... things to be strived for, instead of escaped from. What I see in that video, and this election cycle, is just the latest manifestation of this.
Just my opinion.
You've all seen the footage of the guy stomping on the lady's head at the Rand Paul rally, right?
Well, here it is:
Charming.
The media's inability (or, more likely, unwillingness) to "figure out" the mindset of the so-called "Tea Party" is, I've come to believe, mostly an inability to admit that more than one thing can be "true" of a person - or "movement" of persons, for that matter.
Someone who dislikes the "Tea Party" will tell you: "They're ignorant, reactionary, small-minded jerks."
Someone who LIKES them will respond: "No! They represent the voice and face of ordinary, average people."
Who's right? They both are.
One of the worst things that ever happened to human civilization was the moment that being "average," "ordinary" or "typical" were goals... things to be strived for, instead of escaped from. What I see in that video, and this election cycle, is just the latest manifestation of this.
Just my opinion.
best character
Question: Has anyone seen (or "got?") a still image of the little pool-cleaning robot from "Paranormal Activity 2?" Or, perhaps, know what "brand" or model it is?
Everyone seems to be gaga over that thing, and I can certainly sign on for the idea that it's the best "character" in the film, but there doesn't seem to be a picture of it anyplace...
Everyone seems to be gaga over that thing, and I can certainly sign on for the idea that it's the best "character" in the film, but there doesn't seem to be a picture of it anyplace...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Because he's Batman
This is a few months old, but have people read this Aaron Diaz article about Batman?
The basic argument is that Batman has actually become the LEAST realistic/believable hero in comics by virtue of the insane amounts of skills attributed to him and the cognitive dissonance of spending more money than most national defense budgets in order to combat street-crime in the least efficient manner humanly possible. It's a clever read.
For people who mainly know the movies or TV shows: In order to make his "usefulness" when sharing a world with Superman etc. make sense, the comic Batman is generally written as the World's Greatest Human - a master of all martial-arts, a human-computer level intellect, possessed of essentially-unlimited cash resources and the ability to spend them on entire space-stations without attracting attention.
The basic argument is that Batman has actually become the LEAST realistic/believable hero in comics by virtue of the insane amounts of skills attributed to him and the cognitive dissonance of spending more money than most national defense budgets in order to combat street-crime in the least efficient manner humanly possible. It's a clever read.
For people who mainly know the movies or TV shows: In order to make his "usefulness" when sharing a world with Superman etc. make sense, the comic Batman is generally written as the World's Greatest Human - a master of all martial-arts, a human-computer level intellect, possessed of essentially-unlimited cash resources and the ability to spend them on entire space-stations without attracting attention.
Week 2
Another week as a vegetarian. This still sucks.
The thing is, it MIGHT be better if A.) I had the budget to cook whole "Indian-style" meals for myself or B.) it was possible to actually order decent no-meat food outside of upscale restuarants.
Seriously on "B," though - if this has taught me one thing, it's that people aren't kidding when they say American (Western in general?) food-culture is way too meat-centric: EVERYTHING has some kind of meat base - I couldn't even order cheese sauce for the dipping of tortilla chips because it just "came with" ground-beef in it. At even "classy" fast-food places (think Panera Bread) a "filling" salad means a salad with a sammich's worth of chicken on it.
Stirred a can of "Vegetarian Chili" in with my mac-and-cheese for dinner Friday night. Tasted okay, texture of what I'm assuming was beef-style tofu was alright, but the lack of beef aftertaste totally kills the illusion. I've determined that "meat substitutes" like Tofurkey (it's actually called that - I always thought that was a parody-name!) are not for me.
Either way, once the 30th gets here I'm done with this shit - largely because I hate it, but ultimately because it's just not working. I've lost precisely the same amount of weight (re: not much) as I did the last time I went on SlimFast without cutting the meat, so clearly too much protein (and cutting portion size) is not my problem - which is actually a little disconcerting, to be honest. I'm doing a regular 2000 calorie workout (not including weights and crunches) and only eating one solid meal a day - at this point I'm just going to bite the bullet and see a nutrionist.
The thing is, it MIGHT be better if A.) I had the budget to cook whole "Indian-style" meals for myself or B.) it was possible to actually order decent no-meat food outside of upscale restuarants.
Seriously on "B," though - if this has taught me one thing, it's that people aren't kidding when they say American (Western in general?) food-culture is way too meat-centric: EVERYTHING has some kind of meat base - I couldn't even order cheese sauce for the dipping of tortilla chips because it just "came with" ground-beef in it. At even "classy" fast-food places (think Panera Bread) a "filling" salad means a salad with a sammich's worth of chicken on it.
Stirred a can of "Vegetarian Chili" in with my mac-and-cheese for dinner Friday night. Tasted okay, texture of what I'm assuming was beef-style tofu was alright, but the lack of beef aftertaste totally kills the illusion. I've determined that "meat substitutes" like Tofurkey (it's actually called that - I always thought that was a parody-name!) are not for me.
Either way, once the 30th gets here I'm done with this shit - largely because I hate it, but ultimately because it's just not working. I've lost precisely the same amount of weight (re: not much) as I did the last time I went on SlimFast without cutting the meat, so clearly too much protein (and cutting portion size) is not my problem - which is actually a little disconcerting, to be honest. I'm doing a regular 2000 calorie workout (not including weights and crunches) and only eating one solid meal a day - at this point I'm just going to bite the bullet and see a nutrionist.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Every NES Game Ever in 15 Minutes
If it turns out there's no heaven, and instead just a longer-form loop of THIS... I think I'd be okay with that.
Happy 25th, old friend.
Happy 25th, old friend.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
amazingly racist anti-Chinese political ad
The ONE thing that left-wing and right-wing political advertisers can agree on this year is that demonizing China is a can't-miss strategy: It "works" on both kinds of paranoid white people, and Asian Americans aren't a big (or monolithically one-sided) enough voting bloc for you to "worry" about offending.
With that in mind, behold the latest evidence of human awfulness from right-wing propaganda outfit Citizens United:
Remember, America: LEGIONS of dirty, cackling, dark-skinned murder-machines are waiting JUST over the ocean to swoop in and take you over. Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Anyone else get the feeling that the REAL reason they aren't releasing that "Red Dawn" remake is that they don't want it to be associated with shit like this?
And just keep this mind: Wherever you live, there's someone near you who sees absolutely NOTHING wrong with this kind of xenophobic fear-mongering.
With that in mind, behold the latest evidence of human awfulness from right-wing propaganda outfit Citizens United:
Remember, America: LEGIONS of dirty, cackling, dark-skinned murder-machines are waiting JUST over the ocean to swoop in and take you over. Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Anyone else get the feeling that the REAL reason they aren't releasing that "Red Dawn" remake is that they don't want it to be associated with shit like this?
And just keep this mind: Wherever you live, there's someone near you who sees absolutely NOTHING wrong with this kind of xenophobic fear-mongering.
Faraci Returns
If Harry Knowles is the Odin of internet movie-geek journalism, Devin Faraci - late of Nick Nunziata's Chud.com - is Loki. It's best to think of Devin as the "dark side" of the Promoted Fanboy archetype; a frequent commenter on Chud's forums who landed himself a job writing for the site itself and became, for a time, the infamous "public face" of the whole enterprise... largely based on his outsize, hyper-confrontational personality, penchant for picking fights and "running down" the kind of projects and "sacred cows" other sites (and the "nerd ephemera" in general) were more friendly and/or deferential toward. A month or so back, he quit the site for a mysterious new project, then had a VERY public "falling-out" with Nunziata on Chud's own forums.
Well, now we know where he went: Running "Badass Digest,"a blog/site affiliate of the Alamo Drafthouse brand. It's early yet, but the idea seems to be a kind of "Men's Magazine" for the geek set. Check it out.
I know people tend to "hate" Devin and for myself... yeah, his self-hating geek "schtick" - "I'm better than you because I used to be an activist, I recognize that all this stuff I'm reporting on is stupid and lame and juvenille and if you actually DO take any of it at all seriously you're a sad pathetic loser, did I mention yet that I used to be an activist?" - gets tired as hell...
BUT the guy can write, and he's a unique voice in what does become an awfully same-sounding chorus in this business. Every Rainey Street needs a Dale Gribble, I suppose. So... welcome back, Devin.
Well, now we know where he went: Running "Badass Digest,"a blog/site affiliate of the Alamo Drafthouse brand. It's early yet, but the idea seems to be a kind of "Men's Magazine" for the geek set. Check it out.
I know people tend to "hate" Devin and for myself... yeah, his self-hating geek "schtick" - "I'm better than you because I used to be an activist, I recognize that all this stuff I'm reporting on is stupid and lame and juvenille and if you actually DO take any of it at all seriously you're a sad pathetic loser, did I mention yet that I used to be an activist?" - gets tired as hell...
BUT the guy can write, and he's a unique voice in what does become an awfully same-sounding chorus in this business. Every Rainey Street needs a Dale Gribble, I suppose. So... welcome back, Devin.
Awesome kid and awesome family make awesome Metroid halloween costume
Hat-tip: KOTAKU
Joe DeRosa, age 11, wants to be Samus Aran - the armor-suited lead character from the "Metroid" video-games - for Halloween. Not exactly something you can buy at Target, and not exactly simple on a design level. Fortunately for Joe, based on the DeRosa Family Blog, he comes from a whole family of DIY tech-wizards and MakerFaire afficionados... and they're building a Varia Suit from scratch.
Below the jump... MAGIC.
Here's the video, from the kid's YouTube Channel, of him and his father making the Arm Cannon. I say again: Here's a kid and his dad, building the Arm Cannon from Metroid in the garage.
I'm literally speechless - it's like if Norman Rockwell illustrated an issue of Scott Pilgrim.
The rest of the project (still in-progress) can be seen on their Family Blog, which also shows their construction of a previous project: An animatronic replica of the dragon from "Eragon" - yes, it breathes fire.
Obviously, the final layer of coolness/interest in this is that the one thing "everybody knows" about Metroid is that, under the armor, Samus Aran is a woman. This fact does NOT appear to be a big deal (or even matter at all) to Joe, his father, or anyone else involved (it's not mentioned anywhere on any of their sites.) That shouldn't be surprising or even worth noticing, but, let's face it: It is... and it's all kinds of kickass. Gender-role-ignoring cosplay as a father/son bonding experience for a postcard-perfect American Family... it's like a time-traveling transmission from a better tommorrow.
There is NOTHING about this video, this project, this kid and his family that is not just incredibly awesome. I'm going to sleep now - I haven't gone to sleep feeling good about the human race in forever, and I want to try it.
Joe DeRosa, age 11, wants to be Samus Aran - the armor-suited lead character from the "Metroid" video-games - for Halloween. Not exactly something you can buy at Target, and not exactly simple on a design level. Fortunately for Joe, based on the DeRosa Family Blog, he comes from a whole family of DIY tech-wizards and MakerFaire afficionados... and they're building a Varia Suit from scratch.
Below the jump... MAGIC.
Here's the video, from the kid's YouTube Channel, of him and his father making the Arm Cannon. I say again: Here's a kid and his dad, building the Arm Cannon from Metroid in the garage.
I'm literally speechless - it's like if Norman Rockwell illustrated an issue of Scott Pilgrim.
The rest of the project (still in-progress) can be seen on their Family Blog, which also shows their construction of a previous project: An animatronic replica of the dragon from "Eragon" - yes, it breathes fire.
Obviously, the final layer of coolness/interest in this is that the one thing "everybody knows" about Metroid is that, under the armor, Samus Aran is a woman. This fact does NOT appear to be a big deal (or even matter at all) to Joe, his father, or anyone else involved (it's not mentioned anywhere on any of their sites.) That shouldn't be surprising or even worth noticing, but, let's face it: It is... and it's all kinds of kickass. Gender-role-ignoring cosplay as a father/son bonding experience for a postcard-perfect American Family... it's like a time-traveling transmission from a better tommorrow.
There is NOTHING about this video, this project, this kid and his family that is not just incredibly awesome. I'm going to sleep now - I haven't gone to sleep feeling good about the human race in forever, and I want to try it.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Bigger %!#$
At this point, it's all but innevitable that I'm staring down at least 2 years of being furious at the "Tea Party" for, well... pretty much every single thing they've said they want to do, plan to do and are historically likely to do.
BUT for right now, I'll at least thank them - in a roundabout sort of way - for this...
BUT for right now, I'll at least thank them - in a roundabout sort of way - for this...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
New "Crow" to be earnest, take self VERY seriously, possibly speak to animals
Bloody Disgusting says that Relativity Media's long-gestating Nick Cave/Steve Norrington relaunch of "The Crow" is ramping up again, and that the producers have offered the title role to their first choice: Mark Wahlberg. Apparently, this is for real.
LET THE PHOTOSHOPPING OF STILLS FROM "MAX PAYNE"... BEGIN!!!
I "get" the iconic stature of "The Crow" in the popular culture - Brandon Lee and all that - but beyond that isn't it one of those franchises that "belongs" to the era in culture/music/fashion/etc in which it came out? To me, making another "Crow" movie makes about as much sense as making another Superfly, or a "modern" All In The Family. Part of the reason the franchise stalled-out in the first place is that the audio/visual "atmosphere" associated with the first film - i.e. all the stuff that set it apart from any other generic "revenge from beyond the grave" story was "over" before the second one even came out. Having ANY actor running around looking like Robert Smith as a transgendered ninja-clown is going to be as out of place as bellbottoms and tie-dye.
You have to imagine Wahlberg - the quintessential "all-American-guy" leading-man - has been offered a ton of genre/superhero roles at this point, and he hasn't taken any of them... yet. So there's no garauntee he'll accept this one. If he does, I'd expect a significantly different interpretation of the character than we've seen before... and not just because it's hard to imagine Wahlberg not physically assaulting any makeup-artist who comes near him with a mascara brush.
LET THE PHOTOSHOPPING OF STILLS FROM "MAX PAYNE"... BEGIN!!!
I "get" the iconic stature of "The Crow" in the popular culture - Brandon Lee and all that - but beyond that isn't it one of those franchises that "belongs" to the era in culture/music/fashion/etc in which it came out? To me, making another "Crow" movie makes about as much sense as making another Superfly, or a "modern" All In The Family. Part of the reason the franchise stalled-out in the first place is that the audio/visual "atmosphere" associated with the first film - i.e. all the stuff that set it apart from any other generic "revenge from beyond the grave" story was "over" before the second one even came out. Having ANY actor running around looking like Robert Smith as a transgendered ninja-clown is going to be as out of place as bellbottoms and tie-dye.
You have to imagine Wahlberg - the quintessential "all-American-guy" leading-man - has been offered a ton of genre/superhero roles at this point, and he hasn't taken any of them... yet. So there's no garauntee he'll accept this one. If he does, I'd expect a significantly different interpretation of the character than we've seen before... and not just because it's hard to imagine Wahlberg not physically assaulting any makeup-artist who comes near him with a mascara brush.
Walt Disney Presents: The Avengers
This has been innevitable for at least a year now, but it's still a pretty cool new checkpoint for the "this is really happening" cycle to cross, at last: As of yesterday, the still-in-pre-production "Avengers" movie has officially transfered it's "rights" from Paramount to Disney.
Disney bought Marvel Comics with a plan in mind: They wanted an equally-massive "boy brand" to compliment their massive "girl brand" re: the "Disney Princess" franchise(s), and buying a few thousand superheroes all at once made a certain amount of sense - except it came with a "catch"...
Between the late-1990s and 2009 when the Disney deal was struck, Marvel had already spread-out the FILM rights to a lot of it's "A" characters among multiple studios - so even though Disney now owns, say, Spider-Man... they don't have the rights to make MOVIES about him.
Strictly in terms of the film-rights, it breaks down roughly like this: Sony Pictures owns "Spider-Man," Fox owns "X-Men," "Daredevil," "Ghost Rider," "Fantastic Four" and various ancilliary characters; while Marvel Studios and Paramount had a joint-agreement on the Avengers-connected franchises (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury and the rest.)
Under the terms of this deal, when "Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" come out in 2012/2013 (and their hoped-for sequels after that), they'll come out under the Disney banner - Paramount will retain the rights to "Captain America" and "Thor," both still releasing in 2011 (but if they're both hits, look for Disney to buy THEM "back," too.)
For fans, the immediate-takeaway here is overwhelmingly positive: "Avengers," even before the Disney deal, was meant to serve as the "hub" of the shared-universe-continuity Marvel is hoping to finally bring from the comic world to the film world... and now, there's NO extra red-tape keeping it from interacting with the VAST majority of characters and properties owned by Disney/Marvel. If they want, say, Luke Cage or Doctor Strange or Black Panther or whoever to show up in a big "Avengers" movie to promote THEIR feature; it can happen easily.
Disney bought Marvel Comics with a plan in mind: They wanted an equally-massive "boy brand" to compliment their massive "girl brand" re: the "Disney Princess" franchise(s), and buying a few thousand superheroes all at once made a certain amount of sense - except it came with a "catch"...
Between the late-1990s and 2009 when the Disney deal was struck, Marvel had already spread-out the FILM rights to a lot of it's "A" characters among multiple studios - so even though Disney now owns, say, Spider-Man... they don't have the rights to make MOVIES about him.
Strictly in terms of the film-rights, it breaks down roughly like this: Sony Pictures owns "Spider-Man," Fox owns "X-Men," "Daredevil," "Ghost Rider," "Fantastic Four" and various ancilliary characters; while Marvel Studios and Paramount had a joint-agreement on the Avengers-connected franchises (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury and the rest.)
Under the terms of this deal, when "Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" come out in 2012/2013 (and their hoped-for sequels after that), they'll come out under the Disney banner - Paramount will retain the rights to "Captain America" and "Thor," both still releasing in 2011 (but if they're both hits, look for Disney to buy THEM "back," too.)
For fans, the immediate-takeaway here is overwhelmingly positive: "Avengers," even before the Disney deal, was meant to serve as the "hub" of the shared-universe-continuity Marvel is hoping to finally bring from the comic world to the film world... and now, there's NO extra red-tape keeping it from interacting with the VAST majority of characters and properties owned by Disney/Marvel. If they want, say, Luke Cage or Doctor Strange or Black Panther or whoever to show up in a big "Avengers" movie to promote THEIR feature; it can happen easily.
Monday, October 18, 2010
The NES is Silver today
25 years ago today at FAO Schwarz in Manhattan NY, the first Nintendo Entertainment Systems went on sale in the United States. Home video-gaming had died completely in the U.S. three years earlier in The Crash of 1983, and Nintendo had to package the device with a toy robot in order to convince retailers to carry it.
The system launched 18 available games: Balloon Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Mach Rider, Pinball Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew and, of course, Super Mario Bros.
I still have mine.
The system launched 18 available games: Balloon Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Mach Rider, Pinball Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew and, of course, Super Mario Bros.
I still have mine.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Foodstuffs
As of today, I'm one full week into a diet-experiment in vegetarianism (NOT veganism, though I'm largely switching to whole-wheat pasta and leaving out eggs for the most part) I'm aiming to stretch over the month of October.
I hate it.
I'm gonna stick it out, but I'll tell you right now: This sucks. I have NO CLUE how legitimate vegetarians put up with this shit. I ate an entire bag of carrots and a whole pack of mushrooms for supper last night, and I was still hungry.
Granted, I'm also on Slimfast, but still - if there was a pig walking around near me right now I'd absolutely be tempted to pounce on it and just eat the damn thing...
I hate it.
I'm gonna stick it out, but I'll tell you right now: This sucks. I have NO CLUE how legitimate vegetarians put up with this shit. I ate an entire bag of carrots and a whole pack of mushrooms for supper last night, and I was still hungry.
Granted, I'm also on Slimfast, but still - if there was a pig walking around near me right now I'd absolutely be tempted to pounce on it and just eat the damn thing...
Friday, October 15, 2010
::insert-song-title/lyric-pun-here::
Realistically, there will probably come a day when I've matured sufficiently to no longer be captivated by suspiciously-timed, certainly-not-at-all-publicist-generated gossip-dumps about beautiful actress/singer/models being "outed" as bisexual - but it's not today.
Has "I'll be in my bunk" jumped the memeshark yet?
I remember being back in High School when the whole "pretty-much every woman born after 1978 or so is bi or at least looking to take a shot at it" thing started to hit; attempting to explain to an older lady "counselor" (they had us doing these godawful weekly "sit in a circle and discuss topical young-people issue" things) why it was such a "big deal" for guys our age to "discover" that famous women we were (probably) only ever going to gawk at and/or fantasize about were "into girls." My top-of-my-head explanation back then: "It's sort-of like if you found out Christopher Reeve actually could fly."
I'm still kinda proud of that one...
Has "I'll be in my bunk" jumped the memeshark yet?
I remember being back in High School when the whole "pretty-much every woman born after 1978 or so is bi or at least looking to take a shot at it" thing started to hit; attempting to explain to an older lady "counselor" (they had us doing these godawful weekly "sit in a circle and discuss topical young-people issue" things) why it was such a "big deal" for guys our age to "discover" that famous women we were (probably) only ever going to gawk at and/or fantasize about were "into girls." My top-of-my-head explanation back then: "It's sort-of like if you found out Christopher Reeve actually could fly."
I'm still kinda proud of that one...
danger zone
So... "Top Gun 2," huh?
Of course, it won't be called "Top Gun 2" - it'll be one of those Title: Subtitle sequels. "Top Gun: Something-Plane-Related."
Here's my question: Does anyone give a shit?
Granted, this could easily be one of those "oh, right, you live in a different world than most people" moments - but as far as I've ever seen "Top Gun" has for a long time been up there with "Dirty Dancing" or "Young Guns" in the pantheon of 80s nostalgia-trip movies where the remaining appreciation is entirely ironic; i.e. people remember it mainly to goof on it for the cartoonish misrepresentation of the Air Force, the cheeseball score and soundtrack, the furiously-sincere pouting from Crusie and Kilmer and the comically-blatant homoeroticism. Hell, I honestly doubt that most people under-20 are even AWARE of it... unless maybe their parents or older siblings showed it to them.
Am I missing something? Is there really a big enough contingent of people out there for whom "Top Gun" is still this big, important piece of the culture - and who're really eager to find out what's going on "now" with Maverick?
Apparently, all it takes is ONE: The "cute" part of the story is that this is essentially a "fanboy" project - David Ellison, son of ridiculously-wealthy Oracle Corp founder Larry Ellison, is a film school grad and aviation-afficionado (he produced and acted in "Flyboys," which was basically Top Gun in WWI) and HE'S the one leaning on Jerry Bruckheimer to make TG2 happen - though, as that linked-article pointed out, they've first got to figure out what the make the movie about now that the Air Force is less dedicated to dogfighting and more about precision-bombing.
Of course, it won't be called "Top Gun 2" - it'll be one of those Title: Subtitle sequels. "Top Gun: Something-Plane-Related."
Here's my question: Does anyone give a shit?
Granted, this could easily be one of those "oh, right, you live in a different world than most people" moments - but as far as I've ever seen "Top Gun" has for a long time been up there with "Dirty Dancing" or "Young Guns" in the pantheon of 80s nostalgia-trip movies where the remaining appreciation is entirely ironic; i.e. people remember it mainly to goof on it for the cartoonish misrepresentation of the Air Force, the cheeseball score and soundtrack, the furiously-sincere pouting from Crusie and Kilmer and the comically-blatant homoeroticism. Hell, I honestly doubt that most people under-20 are even AWARE of it... unless maybe their parents or older siblings showed it to them.
Am I missing something? Is there really a big enough contingent of people out there for whom "Top Gun" is still this big, important piece of the culture - and who're really eager to find out what's going on "now" with Maverick?
Apparently, all it takes is ONE: The "cute" part of the story is that this is essentially a "fanboy" project - David Ellison, son of ridiculously-wealthy Oracle Corp founder Larry Ellison, is a film school grad and aviation-afficionado (he produced and acted in "Flyboys," which was basically Top Gun in WWI) and HE'S the one leaning on Jerry Bruckheimer to make TG2 happen - though, as that linked-article pointed out, they've first got to figure out what the make the movie about now that the Air Force is less dedicated to dogfighting and more about precision-bombing.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Car Bear Stare
Have we seen this yet?
Nissan has a new electric car out, "The Leaf." Here's how they're advertising it:
Two things immediately jump to mind:
#1: Yes, that's adorable, agreed. Well done. On the other hand... uh, Nissan? Electric Car manufacturers in general? Guys? Yeah... "buy this car and Gaia will thank you" is the epitome of preaching to the converted, y'know? Like it or not (and believe me, I don't...) if you want to actually sell electric cars, you kinda have to make an ad for Michael Bay's America - i.e. the thousands-strong nitwit-army that looks at this and goes "dude bro, that's sooooo ghey!"
#2: Um, Internet? This has been out there for like a month - so WHY can't I yet find a "parody" version where The Bear then heads across the street and mauls some douchebag with a Hummer? C'mon, get cracking!
Nissan has a new electric car out, "The Leaf." Here's how they're advertising it:
Two things immediately jump to mind:
#1: Yes, that's adorable, agreed. Well done. On the other hand... uh, Nissan? Electric Car manufacturers in general? Guys? Yeah... "buy this car and Gaia will thank you" is the epitome of preaching to the converted, y'know? Like it or not (and believe me, I don't...) if you want to actually sell electric cars, you kinda have to make an ad for Michael Bay's America - i.e. the thousands-strong nitwit-army that looks at this and goes "dude bro, that's sooooo ghey!"
#2: Um, Internet? This has been out there for like a month - so WHY can't I yet find a "parody" version where The Bear then heads across the street and mauls some douchebag with a Hummer? C'mon, get cracking!
This is why zombies don't go to Japan
People may have already seen this in one form or another, but what the hell - slow news day...
The setup: What appears to be a Japanese version of Scare Tactics staged a fairly-elaborate prank; convincing a trio of extremely young children ("Santa Claus age" I think would be the Western shorthand re: how likely they are to have "bought" this) that they needed to defend their home - and a conveniently holed-up news crew - from an attacking Zombie. To complete the illusion, a guy in a sure-to-traumatize-a-six-year-old Zombie costume comes trudging onto the scene. Here's what happened...
Egged-on by the reporter but mostly left to their own devices, the kids (understandably) freak the hell out... but then proceed to set "Home Alone"-style Zombie traps, "beat" the attacker into submission (he's "going along with it") and attempt to suffocate him with saran-wrap. The oldest-looking one goes at him with a plastic sword, shouting "I will destroy you!" and berrating the reporter for not helping them. You would not want to be in Zombie Guy's place had they not (presumably) made sure nothing that might actually HURT was at their disposal - these kids are not fucking around.
And people wonder why no one ever wants to fight Japan hand-to-hand....
The setup: What appears to be a Japanese version of Scare Tactics staged a fairly-elaborate prank; convincing a trio of extremely young children ("Santa Claus age" I think would be the Western shorthand re: how likely they are to have "bought" this) that they needed to defend their home - and a conveniently holed-up news crew - from an attacking Zombie. To complete the illusion, a guy in a sure-to-traumatize-a-six-year-old Zombie costume comes trudging onto the scene. Here's what happened...
Egged-on by the reporter but mostly left to their own devices, the kids (understandably) freak the hell out... but then proceed to set "Home Alone"-style Zombie traps, "beat" the attacker into submission (he's "going along with it") and attempt to suffocate him with saran-wrap. The oldest-looking one goes at him with a plastic sword, shouting "I will destroy you!" and berrating the reporter for not helping them. You would not want to be in Zombie Guy's place had they not (presumably) made sure nothing that might actually HURT was at their disposal - these kids are not fucking around.
And people wonder why no one ever wants to fight Japan hand-to-hand....
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
"Spiderlight" flips-off Sam Raimi, Spider-Man fans, one more time
According to The Wrap, we now know which villain actor Rhys Ifans will be playing as the main heavy of Sony's Spider-Man reboot: Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard.
Fuck. That is all. Just... Fuck...
Okay, perhaps a little more - but still "fuck" basically covers it.
No information is provided (yet) as to what the character will actually "do" in the film, but in the broad strokes this would seem to make perfect sense: The reboot is (still, supposedly) aiming to transform the franchise into a "Twilight"/early-"Buffy" style high school genre flick, and Connors usual origin as a science teacher who turns into a monster after using genetic experiments to try and grow his amputated arm back would fit very snuggly into that kind of template - it requires VERY little explanation ("What is 'The Lizard?'" "um... he's a lizard.") his story-arc can occur independently of Spidey's until they cross and being a schoolteacher he can be "around" the main plot without bending the story (such as it is) into knots.
However...
If you recall, the original three Spider-Man films spent a bunch of B-story time setting up Dylan Baker as the Lizard-to-be. So now, not only will fans (to say nothing of Baker) not get to see that storyline culminate, they'll see a cut-rate version in it's place. Joy.
Fuck. That is all. Just... Fuck...
Okay, perhaps a little more - but still "fuck" basically covers it.
No information is provided (yet) as to what the character will actually "do" in the film, but in the broad strokes this would seem to make perfect sense: The reboot is (still, supposedly) aiming to transform the franchise into a "Twilight"/early-"Buffy" style high school genre flick, and Connors usual origin as a science teacher who turns into a monster after using genetic experiments to try and grow his amputated arm back would fit very snuggly into that kind of template - it requires VERY little explanation ("What is 'The Lizard?'" "um... he's a lizard.") his story-arc can occur independently of Spidey's until they cross and being a schoolteacher he can be "around" the main plot without bending the story (such as it is) into knots.
However...
If you recall, the original three Spider-Man films spent a bunch of B-story time setting up Dylan Baker as the Lizard-to-be. So now, not only will fans (to say nothing of Baker) not get to see that storyline culminate, they'll see a cut-rate version in it's place. Joy.
Podcast Interview (Armchair Thinkers)
Chris and Kyle, aka "The Armchair Thinkers," had your's truly as their guest on the Podcast this week. I thought it went pretty well, Judge for yourself.
Armchair Thinkers Facebook Page.
Armchair Thinkers on iTunes (I'm on EPISODE 9)
Armchair Thinkers Facebook Page.
Armchair Thinkers on iTunes (I'm on EPISODE 9)
NEWSFLASH: Fast Food Not Strictly "Natural"
(Incidentally, I'm in the middle of trying a dietary experiment wherein I'm going vegetarian for the month of October at the moment.)
Via Gizmodo, here's a lady in New York who left a Happy Meal sitting on her table and took a picture of it every day for six months. Spoiler: Nothing Happens. Preservatives, nutritionally-neutral products, etc.
Look, I get the whole thing where companies should be required to post their ingredients, of course. And I get "they shouldn't deceptively market to poor people," and all of that. But the whole broader "Rraaaargh!! McDonalds... BAAADDD!!!" stuff is getting to be one of those things that makes me hate my own culture and "people" (re: whitebread, nominally-liberal, coastal) and vaugely understand why "the rest of the world" resents us so damn much. If you're officially so "comfortable" that just the IDEA of mass-produced "budget" things is repellant to you - I'm sorry, but somebody needs to kick you in the bum. Hard.
Yes, it's surprising that there's enough salt/preservatives/whatever (or so-little legitimate nutrient value) in there that it "keeps" for six months, and it's a big clue that it oughtn't be the STAPLE of your diet. But do y'know what McDonalds would've called this footage 30 years ago? An advertisement. Even disregarding the meat - the fact that the BREAD doesn't seem to have gone moldy would've been some kind of "breakthrough." We'd be air-dropping that shit into the Third World, and the guy who came up with "EverBread" would have some kind of philanthropy award.
Here's an experiment: Get on a plane with some Happy Meals, go to the most war-torn hell-hole imaginable, show them this video and tell them you've got food that "keeps" in open-air for six months. You'll probably be elected Jesus. Then tell them that where you come from, we're so fucking RICH that we've got whole supermarkets DEDICATED just to food that goes bad really quick, because eating is basically pleasure/recreation here and we're into "rustic charm." See how well that goes over ;)
Via Gizmodo, here's a lady in New York who left a Happy Meal sitting on her table and took a picture of it every day for six months. Spoiler: Nothing Happens. Preservatives, nutritionally-neutral products, etc.
Look, I get the whole thing where companies should be required to post their ingredients, of course. And I get "they shouldn't deceptively market to poor people," and all of that. But the whole broader "Rraaaargh!! McDonalds... BAAADDD!!!" stuff is getting to be one of those things that makes me hate my own culture and "people" (re: whitebread, nominally-liberal, coastal) and vaugely understand why "the rest of the world" resents us so damn much. If you're officially so "comfortable" that just the IDEA of mass-produced "budget" things is repellant to you - I'm sorry, but somebody needs to kick you in the bum. Hard.
Yes, it's surprising that there's enough salt/preservatives/whatever (or so-little legitimate nutrient value) in there that it "keeps" for six months, and it's a big clue that it oughtn't be the STAPLE of your diet. But do y'know what McDonalds would've called this footage 30 years ago? An advertisement. Even disregarding the meat - the fact that the BREAD doesn't seem to have gone moldy would've been some kind of "breakthrough." We'd be air-dropping that shit into the Third World, and the guy who came up with "EverBread" would have some kind of philanthropy award.
Here's an experiment: Get on a plane with some Happy Meals, go to the most war-torn hell-hole imaginable, show them this video and tell them you've got food that "keeps" in open-air for six months. You'll probably be elected Jesus. Then tell them that where you come from, we're so fucking RICH that we've got whole supermarkets DEDICATED just to food that goes bad really quick, because eating is basically pleasure/recreation here and we're into "rustic charm." See how well that goes over ;)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Not cool, Target
Memo to: Target -
Fuck you.
Sincerely -
Various peoples' moms.
Ironically... isn't the "real" Iron Man's costume technically home-made?
So... this made it to the air HOW, exactly?
So, you're a Target executive in an ad-pitch meeting, and someone says "we need a character-type we can take down a peg for comedic effect," and someone else says "Ooh! I know who we can totally slap around for funnies: budget-conscious middle-class moms!," and you say "Brilliant!" - because it's not like that's anyone whom Target's business relies-on or anything.
(hat-tip: Jezebel)
Fuck you.
Sincerely -
Various peoples' moms.
Ironically... isn't the "real" Iron Man's costume technically home-made?
So... this made it to the air HOW, exactly?
So, you're a Target executive in an ad-pitch meeting, and someone says "we need a character-type we can take down a peg for comedic effect," and someone else says "Ooh! I know who we can totally slap around for funnies: budget-conscious middle-class moms!," and you say "Brilliant!" - because it's not like that's anyone whom Target's business relies-on or anything.
(hat-tip: Jezebel)
Next Mike Myers film to stink on purpose this time
I hate myself for resorting to that joke, just for the record.
The "news" is a little old by now, so I'm not up for deciding which link "deserves" traffic or credit, but in case you hadn't heard Mike Meyers is being sought to voice the title character in a new feature film based around Looney Tunes mainstay Pepe La Pew.
In principle, I'm not opposed to the idea of building individual features out of the Looney Tunes stable, which Warner Bros. is aggressively pursuing right now (having also greenlit a "Speedy Gonzales" feature with George Lopez earlier this year.) They're strong characters built around reliable comedy types with proven appeal, and Warners is in a mad-dash to secure as many franchise-tentpoles as possible to be ready for when the Harry Potter cash-cow gets put to pasture next year - which is ALSO why they were so eager to start Green Lantern, sign someone for Superman and are likely within weeks of formally announcing The Flash.
However, two things about THIS property stand out in particular, to me:
#1: Does anyone still "get" that the joke of Pepe is built entirely around a wink-wink ethnic caricature, re: it's "funny" that a romantic skunk is French because "frenchmen smell bad?" That's really pretty much it - he's an American spoof at the expense of French sexuality and (percieved) grooming-habits.
#2: How do you, in 2010, "work around" the fact that - as far as cartoon-animals go - Pepe's "schtick" is basically to be something close to a serial-rapist and/or sex-addict? There's really only one Pepe "arc": He aggressively-pursues an unwilling female cat after mistaking her for a skunk. Yes, technically she's only so insistently-resisting because he's a skunk, but the "grownup side" of the joke (and with the Looney Tunes, there always was one) is that we're pretty-much watch sexual-assault-as-slapstick.
All of that, to be sure, is still funny - hysterical, in fact, in the cartoons... but where's the feature in this? Assuming the idea is a feature version of the shorts (it'll almost-certainly by 3D computer-animation or an animation/live-action hybrid) you can bet they won't be having Pepe aggressively tackle-humping a female cat for 90 minutes - so what, then? One imagines some sort of "romantic comedy" scenario, wherein Pepe pursues The Cat in more of a "hapless romantic dweeb" Lloyd Dobbler manner, comically-oblivious to the real reason he's being rebuffed - of course, he'd "figure it out" midway through act 2 and go to some foolish length to mute his olfactory-offensiveness, though ultimately both he and The Cat will learn Very Important Lessons about looking past flaws and being comfortable with who you are.
Egh. THAT was actually depressing to type - imagine how it'd be to watch it?
The "news" is a little old by now, so I'm not up for deciding which link "deserves" traffic or credit, but in case you hadn't heard Mike Meyers is being sought to voice the title character in a new feature film based around Looney Tunes mainstay Pepe La Pew.
In principle, I'm not opposed to the idea of building individual features out of the Looney Tunes stable, which Warner Bros. is aggressively pursuing right now (having also greenlit a "Speedy Gonzales" feature with George Lopez earlier this year.) They're strong characters built around reliable comedy types with proven appeal, and Warners is in a mad-dash to secure as many franchise-tentpoles as possible to be ready for when the Harry Potter cash-cow gets put to pasture next year - which is ALSO why they were so eager to start Green Lantern, sign someone for Superman and are likely within weeks of formally announcing The Flash.
However, two things about THIS property stand out in particular, to me:
#1: Does anyone still "get" that the joke of Pepe is built entirely around a wink-wink ethnic caricature, re: it's "funny" that a romantic skunk is French because "frenchmen smell bad?" That's really pretty much it - he's an American spoof at the expense of French sexuality and (percieved) grooming-habits.
#2: How do you, in 2010, "work around" the fact that - as far as cartoon-animals go - Pepe's "schtick" is basically to be something close to a serial-rapist and/or sex-addict? There's really only one Pepe "arc": He aggressively-pursues an unwilling female cat after mistaking her for a skunk. Yes, technically she's only so insistently-resisting because he's a skunk, but the "grownup side" of the joke (and with the Looney Tunes, there always was one) is that we're pretty-much watch sexual-assault-as-slapstick.
All of that, to be sure, is still funny - hysterical, in fact, in the cartoons... but where's the feature in this? Assuming the idea is a feature version of the shorts (it'll almost-certainly by 3D computer-animation or an animation/live-action hybrid) you can bet they won't be having Pepe aggressively tackle-humping a female cat for 90 minutes - so what, then? One imagines some sort of "romantic comedy" scenario, wherein Pepe pursues The Cat in more of a "hapless romantic dweeb" Lloyd Dobbler manner, comically-oblivious to the real reason he's being rebuffed - of course, he'd "figure it out" midway through act 2 and go to some foolish length to mute his olfactory-offensiveness, though ultimately both he and The Cat will learn Very Important Lessons about looking past flaws and being comfortable with who you are.
Egh. THAT was actually depressing to type - imagine how it'd be to watch it?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
credit where it's due
Loathe as I am, as always, to discuss BoxOffice numbers... well, what do you know? Defying my initial skepticism, "The Social Network" is actually doing quite well for itself - though what's most impressive and gratifying in this case is that it did so this weekend by coming out ahead of a ghastly-looking Katherine Heigl rom-com and Disney's big juicy ass-kiss to the "Family Values" set, "Secretariat."
"Secretariat," incidentally, isn't a BAD movie (it's nowhere near as vile as "The Blind Side," which is the movie it wanted to be) so much as it's an incredibly dull, uninteresting one. This is mostly due to trying to impose the "plucky underdog" inspirational-sports-movie formula onto a story where it doesn't fit - Secretariat was highly-regarded as a genetic miracle of a super-horse, and it was the MARGIN of his victories that were surprising, not the outcome - but it's also due to the self-conscious pandering to "Blind Side's" audience.
See, since the movie doesn't have an "underdog" in the horse, it has to find one in it's female owner i.e. "hmph! What's SHE doing here? Horseracing is a MAN'S sport!"... except, well, "Feminist" is still a dirty-word to the "Values" crowd; so all the conflict is muted in THIS part of the story, too: Marriage-strife kind of just "fixes itself" (in real life, they divorced), and all the grumpy-old-men "come around" without much fuss and the only real "bad guy" is the owner of the rival horse who is, of course, a swarthy "ethnic" caricature.
"Secretariat," incidentally, isn't a BAD movie (it's nowhere near as vile as "The Blind Side," which is the movie it wanted to be) so much as it's an incredibly dull, uninteresting one. This is mostly due to trying to impose the "plucky underdog" inspirational-sports-movie formula onto a story where it doesn't fit - Secretariat was highly-regarded as a genetic miracle of a super-horse, and it was the MARGIN of his victories that were surprising, not the outcome - but it's also due to the self-conscious pandering to "Blind Side's" audience.
See, since the movie doesn't have an "underdog" in the horse, it has to find one in it's female owner i.e. "hmph! What's SHE doing here? Horseracing is a MAN'S sport!"... except, well, "Feminist" is still a dirty-word to the "Values" crowd; so all the conflict is muted in THIS part of the story, too: Marriage-strife kind of just "fixes itself" (in real life, they divorced), and all the grumpy-old-men "come around" without much fuss and the only real "bad guy" is the owner of the rival horse who is, of course, a swarthy "ethnic" caricature.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
"Endhiran"
By the lucky happenstance that I'm right next door to Cambrige, which has a sizable Indian-American population and a theater that caters to them, I was able to see "Endhiran - The Robot" this evening. It's a scifi/action blockbuster from India (specifically the Tamil Nadu region and cinema, which I'm told means makes it not technically a "Bollywood" film.)
The experience was... actually pretty damn awesome and wholly worth seeking out, providing you're familiar-with or at least prepared-for the cultural-eccentricities of Indian popular-cinema; i.e. it's 3 hours long, changes tone between action/comedy/drama/suspense and romance often in the course of a single scene, and stops periodically so that the main cast can perform in a big-scale Music Video not-entirely-related to the plot. But yeah, if you can get into that "groove" it's easy to see why this giant-scale hybrid of Mega Man, Terminator, I Robot, Spider-Man and Frankenstein is the biggest thing in the Eastern World right now.
That said, it DID leave me with a few questions that perhaps some Indian readers (I've got to have some by now) can help me out with?
In case you're wondering, YES, that is a Giant Robot Snake made out of hundreds of Robot Humans all linked together you're seeing in that trailer - and that's not the coolest thing they end up making. The film is a star vehicle for Rajinikanth aka "Superstar Rajini" (that's how he's billed - he even gets his own opening credits seperate from everyone else) the biggest South Indian actor in the world and the highest-paid Asian star outside of Jackie Chan. And when India says "star vehicle," they aren't kidding: Rajini plays a scientist who makes a super-powered robot duplicate of himself, meaning he is both the lead and the co-star... and it gets better: In the third act (re: the third HOUR!) of the story, man and bot have a falling-out when the robot becomes romantically-obsessed with his maker's girlfriend (Aishwarya Rai) and Robot-Rajini restyles himself as a strutting Supervillain with his own duplicate-army... meaning that in the bigger-than-big action finale the Hero, the Villain and the Villain's several-thousand Henchmen are all played by the same actor. (Um... let's not let Mike Meyers find out that you can do that now, okay?)
Alright, so, to the questions:
#1: Granted, I've not been to India, but do people really speak as much English there, casually, as they do in this movie? You only see a few snippets of it in that trailer, but something like 20% (at least) of the spoken dialogue - along with all the road and business signs - in this is in English; especially from the Robots, sundry bad guys and Rai. I knew English-fluency was "preferred" for folks that wanted to enter business and tech fields, but is it that widely spoken in casual conversation? (Forgive my ignorance - I'm an American, the concept of multilingual-fluency as "normal" still amazes us.)
#2: I get that "modesty" is a very important thing in India and Indian entertainment (it's actually kind of a plot-point in the movie re: Robo-Rajini not "getting" modesty) but where exactly is "the line?" Because the food-as-sex-metaphor thing in almost all the song lyrics come off really lurid in the subtitles, and in the dance scenes Rai is rocking some MAJOR corset/cleavage action. Also, I didn't notice any translated cursing in the subs, but everyone says "shit!" in English a lot.
#3: Okay, kinda half-kidding here, but... is "Superstar Rajini" seriosuly considered some kind of "sex-symbol" in Indian popular culture? I mean, I get that he's this incredibly-popular, long-standing cross-media entertainment god, sure... but is there really no "dissonance" intended from having this kinda-doughy, thirty-years-her-senior guy being fawned over by a woman the calibre of Aishwarya Rai? Cuz... if that's actually a "standard" male-hotness-to-female-hotness dynamic in India, I'm thinking I should go there...
The experience was... actually pretty damn awesome and wholly worth seeking out, providing you're familiar-with or at least prepared-for the cultural-eccentricities of Indian popular-cinema; i.e. it's 3 hours long, changes tone between action/comedy/drama/suspense and romance often in the course of a single scene, and stops periodically so that the main cast can perform in a big-scale Music Video not-entirely-related to the plot. But yeah, if you can get into that "groove" it's easy to see why this giant-scale hybrid of Mega Man, Terminator, I Robot, Spider-Man and Frankenstein is the biggest thing in the Eastern World right now.
That said, it DID leave me with a few questions that perhaps some Indian readers (I've got to have some by now) can help me out with?
In case you're wondering, YES, that is a Giant Robot Snake made out of hundreds of Robot Humans all linked together you're seeing in that trailer - and that's not the coolest thing they end up making. The film is a star vehicle for Rajinikanth aka "Superstar Rajini" (that's how he's billed - he even gets his own opening credits seperate from everyone else) the biggest South Indian actor in the world and the highest-paid Asian star outside of Jackie Chan. And when India says "star vehicle," they aren't kidding: Rajini plays a scientist who makes a super-powered robot duplicate of himself, meaning he is both the lead and the co-star... and it gets better: In the third act (re: the third HOUR!) of the story, man and bot have a falling-out when the robot becomes romantically-obsessed with his maker's girlfriend (Aishwarya Rai) and Robot-Rajini restyles himself as a strutting Supervillain with his own duplicate-army... meaning that in the bigger-than-big action finale the Hero, the Villain and the Villain's several-thousand Henchmen are all played by the same actor. (Um... let's not let Mike Meyers find out that you can do that now, okay?)
Alright, so, to the questions:
#1: Granted, I've not been to India, but do people really speak as much English there, casually, as they do in this movie? You only see a few snippets of it in that trailer, but something like 20% (at least) of the spoken dialogue - along with all the road and business signs - in this is in English; especially from the Robots, sundry bad guys and Rai. I knew English-fluency was "preferred" for folks that wanted to enter business and tech fields, but is it that widely spoken in casual conversation? (Forgive my ignorance - I'm an American, the concept of multilingual-fluency as "normal" still amazes us.)
#2: I get that "modesty" is a very important thing in India and Indian entertainment (it's actually kind of a plot-point in the movie re: Robo-Rajini not "getting" modesty) but where exactly is "the line?" Because the food-as-sex-metaphor thing in almost all the song lyrics come off really lurid in the subtitles, and in the dance scenes Rai is rocking some MAJOR corset/cleavage action. Also, I didn't notice any translated cursing in the subs, but everyone says "shit!" in English a lot.
#3: Okay, kinda half-kidding here, but... is "Superstar Rajini" seriosuly considered some kind of "sex-symbol" in Indian popular culture? I mean, I get that he's this incredibly-popular, long-standing cross-media entertainment god, sure... but is there really no "dissonance" intended from having this kinda-doughy, thirty-years-her-senior guy being fawned over by a woman the calibre of Aishwarya Rai? Cuz... if that's actually a "standard" male-hotness-to-female-hotness dynamic in India, I'm thinking I should go there...
Friday, October 8, 2010
David O. Russell to seek Drake's Fortune
Oh, for the love of...
Y'know if someone was to make a list of video-games that ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED TO BE MADE INTO MOVIES, surely the "Uncharted" franchise would be right up there. Actually, thinking back on it, I DID make a list... and yeah, "Uncharted" was on it.
Back when I wrote that, an "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" movie was already being prepped with director and anger-managment-dropout David O. Russell set to helm once he'd finished up his Boston-Area boxing movie, "The Fighter" - which incidentally looks very good; though unfortunately I can already feel myself getting sick of the near-religious REVERENCE it's going to elicit from every tempermental whiteboy hoodlum in my general vicinity when it comes out. (Yeah, America? I know we're all in loooooove with Jeremy Renner in "The Town" but, trust me - in reality "that guy" gets soooo old after a few minutes.)
Heh. That's Christian Bale in there as Mark Whalberg's brother. What would you give to have been a fly on the wall had Russell pulled any of that "Huckabees" crap on his notoriously short-fused ass? Given that Russell reported has all of his extremities still attached, one has to assume they got on well enough...
In any case, "Uncharted" seemingly faded when Russell left to make "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" - but now he's quit that, too, and now THR says he's signed back on to bringing Nathan Drake to the screen. Fuck.
For those blissfully unaware, "Uncharted" is an Indiana Jones (if Dr. Jones lived in the present-day and were a complete douchebag) knockoff noteworthy mainly for graphics and for being among the rare non-Kratos-related PS3 exclusives anyone gives a damn about. The series is built around Nathan Drake; who distinguishes himself by being the single most emminently-hateable ostensible "good guy" in video game history outside maybe that dog from Duck-Hunt.
Egh...
So... this is how it's gonna be, huh, Hollywood? Before I even get close to seeing a proper Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Bowser, Ganon, Kirby, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Samus or any of a thousand video game personas more deserving of cinematic realization onscreen... I have to get Nathan FUCKING Drake first. Great. Super. Can't fuckin' wait.
The search will now be on for the "right" actor for the lead, as the filmmakers go through the motions of pretending that Nathan Drake can't just be played by any generic young-ish white guy.
Y'know if someone was to make a list of video-games that ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED TO BE MADE INTO MOVIES, surely the "Uncharted" franchise would be right up there. Actually, thinking back on it, I DID make a list... and yeah, "Uncharted" was on it.
Back when I wrote that, an "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" movie was already being prepped with director and anger-managment-dropout David O. Russell set to helm once he'd finished up his Boston-Area boxing movie, "The Fighter" - which incidentally looks very good; though unfortunately I can already feel myself getting sick of the near-religious REVERENCE it's going to elicit from every tempermental whiteboy hoodlum in my general vicinity when it comes out. (Yeah, America? I know we're all in loooooove with Jeremy Renner in "The Town" but, trust me - in reality "that guy" gets soooo old after a few minutes.)
Heh. That's Christian Bale in there as Mark Whalberg's brother. What would you give to have been a fly on the wall had Russell pulled any of that "Huckabees" crap on his notoriously short-fused ass? Given that Russell reported has all of his extremities still attached, one has to assume they got on well enough...
In any case, "Uncharted" seemingly faded when Russell left to make "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" - but now he's quit that, too, and now THR says he's signed back on to bringing Nathan Drake to the screen. Fuck.
For those blissfully unaware, "Uncharted" is an Indiana Jones (if Dr. Jones lived in the present-day and were a complete douchebag) knockoff noteworthy mainly for graphics and for being among the rare non-Kratos-related PS3 exclusives anyone gives a damn about. The series is built around Nathan Drake; who distinguishes himself by being the single most emminently-hateable ostensible "good guy" in video game history outside maybe that dog from Duck-Hunt.
Egh...
So... this is how it's gonna be, huh, Hollywood? Before I even get close to seeing a proper Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Bowser, Ganon, Kirby, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Samus or any of a thousand video game personas more deserving of cinematic realization onscreen... I have to get Nathan FUCKING Drake first. Great. Super. Can't fuckin' wait.
The search will now be on for the "right" actor for the lead, as the filmmakers go through the motions of pretending that Nathan Drake can't just be played by any generic young-ish white guy.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Aronofsky to make really good movie... AFTER his next one
These days, every "auteur" director wants Christopher Nolan's deal; i.e. helm a big-budget studio tentpole - preferably a franchise, preferably action genre - and use the boxoffice clout to get the studio to pay for the projects you REALLY want to make.
Darren Aronofsky - currently riding a wave of positive buzz (which I think we're still pretending is soooo totally NOT at least partially due to the promise of Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis sex scene) for "Black Swan" - has been trying to get in on this racket for something like five or six years now, his named bandied about alongside Zack Snyder's for the "Superman" gig and even an active pursuit of an ill-advised "Robocop" remake awhile back. Now, apparently, Fox wants him on the "Wolverine" sequel. Joy.
Fox has been the universal fanboy punching-bag over the last decade of superhero movies, mostly owing to how badly "X-Men 3," "Wolverine," both "Fantastic Fours," "Daredevil," "Electra" and "Dragonball" turned out. But they've recently started making moves with their projects that sound uncharacteristically positive: Hiring the "Crank" guys to do "Ghost Rider 2" and letting Matthew Vaughn make a 1960s-set X-Men versus Hellfire Club movie, mainly.
Having Aronofsky try to salvage Wolverine after the stunning awful first one would seem to be another step in the right direction - but then none of these films have actually come out yet.
Darren Aronofsky - currently riding a wave of positive buzz (which I think we're still pretending is soooo totally NOT at least partially due to the promise of Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis sex scene) for "Black Swan" - has been trying to get in on this racket for something like five or six years now, his named bandied about alongside Zack Snyder's for the "Superman" gig and even an active pursuit of an ill-advised "Robocop" remake awhile back. Now, apparently, Fox wants him on the "Wolverine" sequel. Joy.
Fox has been the universal fanboy punching-bag over the last decade of superhero movies, mostly owing to how badly "X-Men 3," "Wolverine," both "Fantastic Fours," "Daredevil," "Electra" and "Dragonball" turned out. But they've recently started making moves with their projects that sound uncharacteristically positive: Hiring the "Crank" guys to do "Ghost Rider 2" and letting Matthew Vaughn make a 1960s-set X-Men versus Hellfire Club movie, mainly.
Having Aronofsky try to salvage Wolverine after the stunning awful first one would seem to be another step in the right direction - but then none of these films have actually come out yet.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
and THIS is why I don't like people
Have we all heard about THIS by now?
So, apparently Obion County, Tennessee, doesn't have it's own fire department. About 20 years ago, in lieu of getting one they made a deal with neighboring South Fulton to help them out... on a subscription basis: $75 annually gets you on a "list" of homes the South Fulton Fire Department is compelled to save. An "insurance premium" for a civil service, basically. Why not just pay into South Fulton's fund via a tax and make sure ALL of Obion County's homes were covered? Well, we're talking about the Heartland of America, remember, so you've probably answered your own question: A TAX!? What are you, a SOCIALIST!!?? ;)
So a week ago, a couple of houses in Obion County caught fire. The firefighters came out and promptly hosed-down the home that had "paid up." The one next door, where the fire had originated, was not paid up... and not only did they just let it burn - they didn't rescue the cat and three dogs who were trapped inside and burned to death.
Now... setting aside the fact that this kind of bullshit is EXACTLY why I gave up calling myself a "Libertarian" - I mean holy hell, people, I think even Galt's Gulch probably eventually got a fucking fire truck... though, for my "Conservative" readers, here's YOUR GUY defending the policy while his sidekick makes fun of the victim. Really. For fuck's sake... even the most rigidly anti-social-spending people will usually make the obvious exception for police and firefighting.
But setting aside all that, even IF you can "get behind" this whole a'la carte civil service thing... HOW exactly can anyone from the fire department upwards justify letting the animals die along with the house? Alright, he didn't pay to protect the HOUSE so they "had to" let that burn, okay, maybe... but the pets didn't have any "say" in whether or not the check got mailed!
What kind of human being is either staffing or running this fire department that doesn't help them anyway when the tools to do so are literally right at their disposal? Would they have also done nothing were the homeowner himself trapped inside? I almost don't want to know...
So the next time my tongue slips about vast stretches of "humanity" being basically worthless? THIS KIND OF CRAP is probably what I'm talking about.
So, apparently Obion County, Tennessee, doesn't have it's own fire department. About 20 years ago, in lieu of getting one they made a deal with neighboring South Fulton to help them out... on a subscription basis: $75 annually gets you on a "list" of homes the South Fulton Fire Department is compelled to save. An "insurance premium" for a civil service, basically. Why not just pay into South Fulton's fund via a tax and make sure ALL of Obion County's homes were covered? Well, we're talking about the Heartland of America, remember, so you've probably answered your own question: A TAX!? What are you, a SOCIALIST!!?? ;)
So a week ago, a couple of houses in Obion County caught fire. The firefighters came out and promptly hosed-down the home that had "paid up." The one next door, where the fire had originated, was not paid up... and not only did they just let it burn - they didn't rescue the cat and three dogs who were trapped inside and burned to death.
Now... setting aside the fact that this kind of bullshit is EXACTLY why I gave up calling myself a "Libertarian" - I mean holy hell, people, I think even Galt's Gulch probably eventually got a fucking fire truck... though, for my "Conservative" readers, here's YOUR GUY defending the policy while his sidekick makes fun of the victim. Really. For fuck's sake... even the most rigidly anti-social-spending people will usually make the obvious exception for police and firefighting.
But setting aside all that, even IF you can "get behind" this whole a'la carte civil service thing... HOW exactly can anyone from the fire department upwards justify letting the animals die along with the house? Alright, he didn't pay to protect the HOUSE so they "had to" let that burn, okay, maybe... but the pets didn't have any "say" in whether or not the check got mailed!
What kind of human being is either staffing or running this fire department that doesn't help them anyway when the tools to do so are literally right at their disposal? Would they have also done nothing were the homeowner himself trapped inside? I almost don't want to know...
So the next time my tongue slips about vast stretches of "humanity" being basically worthless? THIS KIND OF CRAP is probably what I'm talking about.
Monday, October 4, 2010
You will believe a man can fly... and then slow waaaay down when everything looks its coolest... and then fly again!
Zack Snyder, late of "300," "Watchmen" and the upcoming "Sucker Punch," is the director of "Superman: The Man of Steel" for Warner Bros. and producer Christopher Nolan. So says The Hollywood Reporter, who also mentions rumors of a certain returning bad guy.
Call me... "cautiously psyched."
It's en-vogue to knock Snyder right now - "300" has been swallowed-up - with some justification - in the broader geek-community rejection of Frank Miller and "Watchmen" remains divisive. For what it's worth, I remain of the opinion that it's the third best Superhero movie ever made after "Dark Knight" and "Spider-Man 2" ("Iron Man" and Donner's "Superman" being 4 and 5) and I'll maintain that while it's not as "solid" as TDK it's the braver, bolder, more intellectual and more challenging of the two by far. Also, his first non-adaptation effort, "Sucker Punch," has yet to be seen.
Obviously, it would've been more "interesting" had the job gone to also-rumored Darren Aronofsky, but I can't find anything to be upset about. The web will be full of tedious jokes about "speed-ramping" (like, err... the one in the title of this article, for example...) but I like the sound of it. Snyder can direct actors, "gets" the genre, handles big-scale action like a seasoned master and is thus far distinguished in comic-adaptations by his fidelity to the material - I'd LOVE to know what his "favorite" Superman era or story-arc is, if he has one, because then you'd probably know what the movie was going to look like.
In any case, this will be the first time a Superman movie has been made by a filmmaker more known as a visual-stylist, which should actually be pretty refreshing at this point. Imagine a "Superman" movie that looked as close to any given Superman comic as Dr. Manhattan's origin looked/felt like it's source material? Yeah, I'll file this one under "optimism," for now.
Call me... "cautiously psyched."
It's en-vogue to knock Snyder right now - "300" has been swallowed-up - with some justification - in the broader geek-community rejection of Frank Miller and "Watchmen" remains divisive. For what it's worth, I remain of the opinion that it's the third best Superhero movie ever made after "Dark Knight" and "Spider-Man 2" ("Iron Man" and Donner's "Superman" being 4 and 5) and I'll maintain that while it's not as "solid" as TDK it's the braver, bolder, more intellectual and more challenging of the two by far. Also, his first non-adaptation effort, "Sucker Punch," has yet to be seen.
Obviously, it would've been more "interesting" had the job gone to also-rumored Darren Aronofsky, but I can't find anything to be upset about. The web will be full of tedious jokes about "speed-ramping" (like, err... the one in the title of this article, for example...) but I like the sound of it. Snyder can direct actors, "gets" the genre, handles big-scale action like a seasoned master and is thus far distinguished in comic-adaptations by his fidelity to the material - I'd LOVE to know what his "favorite" Superman era or story-arc is, if he has one, because then you'd probably know what the movie was going to look like.
In any case, this will be the first time a Superman movie has been made by a filmmaker more known as a visual-stylist, which should actually be pretty refreshing at this point. Imagine a "Superman" movie that looked as close to any given Superman comic as Dr. Manhattan's origin looked/felt like it's source material? Yeah, I'll file this one under "optimism," for now.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Emma Stone is (probably) Mary-Jane
According to Deadline, Emma Stone (re: "that hot chick from 'Easy A'") is about to win the dubious honor of being Sony Picture's pick to be the new Mary-Jane Watson in the "Spider-Man" reboot - also known as "Spider-Man Begin-Again" or "Spiderlight" elsewhere on the web.
This is too bad on multiple levels - most-notably because this means the damn thing is still happening, but because Stone is a genuine talent, a real rising star who deserves a major role like this AND she's a dead-ringer for the character, much moreso than Kirsten Dunst ever was; in a different scenario this would be really good news. Sadly, here on Earth-1, the headline is basically "Promising Starlet to Damage Career With Appearance in Innevitable Trainwreck."
"Spider-Man: We Needed to Hold Onto The Rights" is still looking for other cast members, most-notably another actress for Gwen Stacy. Directed by Marc Webb, the film is set to be released in 2012, will be shot in 3D, and suck.
This is too bad on multiple levels - most-notably because this means the damn thing is still happening, but because Stone is a genuine talent, a real rising star who deserves a major role like this AND she's a dead-ringer for the character, much moreso than Kirsten Dunst ever was; in a different scenario this would be really good news. Sadly, here on Earth-1, the headline is basically "Promising Starlet to Damage Career With Appearance in Innevitable Trainwreck."
"Spider-Man: We Needed to Hold Onto The Rights" is still looking for other cast members, most-notably another actress for Gwen Stacy. Directed by Marc Webb, the film is set to be released in 2012, will be shot in 3D, and suck.
Rick Sanchez fired after anti-semitic rant against The Daily Show
...and since his show airs on CNN, this is probably the first time most people are hearing the name Rick Sanchez. MSNBC viewers, imagine a passive-aggressive, even-more-uncharismatic Ed Schultz.
Initially, Sanchez - in an interview with the Sirius Radio show "Standup! With Pete Dominick" - was evidently upset about the mockery his hyperbolic on-air "persona" frequently came in for on "The Daily Show." His explanation? Jon Stewart is "bigoted," presumably against Latinos and minorities in general...
And then it got better: Finding Sanchez unable to cite evidence of bigotry on Stewart's behalf, Dominick - whom you can just hear panting in excitement realizing how much attention his show is about to get for capturing a semi-noteworthy figure melting down live - opted to point out that Jon Stewart is, in fact, a minority himself. Sanchez response? To laugh heartily at the very idea of Jews as an oppressed minority... because, apparently, they "control the media." And CNN.
The only video I could find with that specific part on it was itself being hosted on an anti-Jewish YouTube channel, so I'm not linking to it. Instead, here's the Young Turks on the whole situation:
Initially, Sanchez - in an interview with the Sirius Radio show "Standup! With Pete Dominick" - was evidently upset about the mockery his hyperbolic on-air "persona" frequently came in for on "The Daily Show." His explanation? Jon Stewart is "bigoted," presumably against Latinos and minorities in general...
And then it got better: Finding Sanchez unable to cite evidence of bigotry on Stewart's behalf, Dominick - whom you can just hear panting in excitement realizing how much attention his show is about to get for capturing a semi-noteworthy figure melting down live - opted to point out that Jon Stewart is, in fact, a minority himself. Sanchez response? To laugh heartily at the very idea of Jews as an oppressed minority... because, apparently, they "control the media." And CNN.
The only video I could find with that specific part on it was itself being hosted on an anti-Jewish YouTube channel, so I'm not linking to it. Instead, here's the Young Turks on the whole situation:
Friday, October 1, 2010
Sufferin' Sappho...
Yet another entry for the "Warner Bros. Has No F*cking Idea What To Do With Any DC Character Who Isn't Batman" file: They've handed "Wonder Woman" over to David E. Kelley for new TV show. Because the best possible thing you can do when you own full rights to three out of the four most-bankable franchises in the most moneymaking genre in present-day Hollywood is clearly to dillute their brand-worth with expensive, rapidly-canceled TV genre programming.
Kelley, incidentally, is best known for writing and producing TV series that are incredibly popular while they air but that EVERYONE stops caring about IMMEDIATELY after they end (Ally McBeal, Pickett Fences, L.A. Law, The Practice, Boston Legal, Chicago Hope, etc.) Seriously, be honest: Until you just now read that list, you completely forgot at least half of those shows existed.
Y'know, I'm not gonna say "called it!" since I don't recall ever blogging this and I know I wouldn't have been the only one to say it anyway, but remember earlier this year when DC pulled this decades change-her-outfit-so-people-will-pay-attention-for-a-few-issues bit? (If you haven't seen it or didn't care at the time, she wears pants and what looks like a denim jacket over the one-piece now; so now instead of looking like the world's most ostentatiously-patriotic domme she looks like a recent-divorcee borrowing her daughter's clothes.) Well, I distinctly recall my first reaction being on the lines of "Ah, this means they're about to announce a movie or TV show, since that's exactly what you'd do to the costume to woo 'theres-no-way-in-hell-I'm-showing-that-much-leg-and-cleavage-the-whole-damn-time' actresses to the part."
Kelley, incidentally, is best known for writing and producing TV series that are incredibly popular while they air but that EVERYONE stops caring about IMMEDIATELY after they end (Ally McBeal, Pickett Fences, L.A. Law, The Practice, Boston Legal, Chicago Hope, etc.) Seriously, be honest: Until you just now read that list, you completely forgot at least half of those shows existed.
Y'know, I'm not gonna say "called it!" since I don't recall ever blogging this and I know I wouldn't have been the only one to say it anyway, but remember earlier this year when DC pulled this decades change-her-outfit-so-people-will-pay-attention-for-a-few-issues bit? (If you haven't seen it or didn't care at the time, she wears pants and what looks like a denim jacket over the one-piece now; so now instead of looking like the world's most ostentatiously-patriotic domme she looks like a recent-divorcee borrowing her daughter's clothes.) Well, I distinctly recall my first reaction being on the lines of "Ah, this means they're about to announce a movie or TV show, since that's exactly what you'd do to the costume to woo 'theres-no-way-in-hell-I'm-showing-that-much-leg-and-cleavage-the-whole-damn-time' actresses to the part."Why can't I ever be right about stuff I'd LIKE to happen? Watch, I'll try: "The Spider-Man reboot will be scrapped in favor of a team-up movie with Iceman and Firestar!" Now just watch: That's totally not going to happen ;)
Ah, well... you know the drill, people: Start compiling lists of C-list brunette TV actresses who'd be "perfect" or would "at least get me to watch" etc, etc, etc. Oooh! I know, make a game out of it this time - every list can have Morena Baccarin OR Summer Glau... but not both!
Wuxia Swordsman and Cowboys versus Ninjas? SOLD.
Awww, I wuv you TOO, Relativity Media, Rouge Pictures and Barrie Osborne. BIG HUGS! ;)
Director is a first-timer named Sngmoo Lee, a teacher from the New York Film School working from a script he sold to Osborne (LOTR) under the title "Laundry Warrior." Evidently, they'll be saving money by using up all the FUN that "Ninja Assassin" forgot to bring to work with it ;)
I dunno what I like more, "Ninjas... DAMN." or Danny Huston as what appears to Cowboy Ninja Doctor Doom. If there was a Dinosaur somewhere in there, it'd be the trailer for the Best Thing Ever.
Director is a first-timer named Sngmoo Lee, a teacher from the New York Film School working from a script he sold to Osborne (LOTR) under the title "Laundry Warrior." Evidently, they'll be saving money by using up all the FUN that "Ninja Assassin" forgot to bring to work with it ;)
I dunno what I like more, "Ninjas... DAMN." or Danny Huston as what appears to Cowboy Ninja Doctor Doom. If there was a Dinosaur somewhere in there, it'd be the trailer for the Best Thing Ever.
Escape to the Movies: "The Social Network"
Yes, it's that good. No, it's not "the Facebook movie." No, "it's got Facebook in it" is not a good enough reason to skip it ;)