Age-Restricted clip from WALK HARD

If you don't feel like going through Moviefone/New Line's hoops, you can download the whole thing via Mediafire.

Stephen Chow's CJ7 trailer hits Yahoo (Singapore)

via AICN:

More imaginative fun from Stephen Chow, hopefully.
If you simply MUST have this for your own (ie, put it on your iPod, etc), you can download the .flv file from MediaFire.

IMAX Featurette: THE DARK KNIGHT

The IMAX version of the sequel to Batman Begins is gonna be SPECIAL.

Giving thanks...

This is one of those personal posts that would usually end up on someone's myspace page. Usually marked PRIVATE or FRIENDS ONLY or whatever they do. So, if you don't care about the personal stuff, hit the BACK button now. Or go watch the BME Pain Olympics. It'll brighten your day.

You know...I have a lot to be thankful for.
I ruminate on this every year. Even years I don't get the requisite turkey dinner and nonsense. I've come to take Thanksgiving seriously in my advanced age. No, seriously. I do.
I've set aside the day each year to think about what I really am thankful for. And every year, it comes down to two things: family and friends. They're the two things I'm most thankful for every year.
My family might be spread to the four winds. We might not get together nearly often enough. But...we are a family. The love is still there, and always will be, no matter what. I'm grateful to have what family I have. My sister and brother. My aunt and uncle. My niece and nephew. Even my Republican-in-name-only brother-in-law. Even if I haven't gotten to visit any of them this year (which totally sucks), I still feel close as can be to all of 'em.
My friends are the same way. They're the family that's grown up around me. Each of them might only cruise in to my life every six months, but the hour or two we get to spend together is precious time. I'm appreciative that they give of themselves to me every single day and, like the family, I try and let them know that.
Life is good. I feel I'm at the exact spot where I'm supposed to be, knowing what I need to know and who I need to know. That's satisfying in a way that the simpler definitions of success never can be.
I give thanks for all this, and all that is to come.

Canadians take their workplace safety SERIOUSLY

Jamieson showed me some graphic and disturbing Canadian PSAs about workplace safety.

These commercials are downright horrifying.

They certainly get their point across.

I mean...damn. I'm going to worry every time I get on a ladder for a while after that.

That one's the worst, at least for me (I feel for burn victims, bearing some scars myself).
Thing is, I can see why they'd play ads like this. Workplace safety is a heavy responsibility. One we all need to pay more attention to. And if you're not paying attention by the end of these ads...you're NEVER going to.

And now...a moment with the producers

I've been posting so much pro-writers propaganda, I figured I'd include something pro-producers. Here's some of the bigwigs from the AMPTP stating their case:

A simple primer on the writers' strike

via Mark Verheiden:

They lay out their case simply and very effectively. Of course, the AMPTP folks don't see it that way. They'd like to continue making money hand over fist while the people who made them money in the first place get both jack and squat.
I do love some of the arguments that internet idiots have posed. Writers are "greedy" and "should be happy with what they have". Yeesh.
McDonalds employees should be happy with what they have too, huh? Which is why most people won't work at fucking McDonalds (and why we NEED undocumented aliens to fill menial jobs like that). People stuck in the ghetto should be happy with what they have, too. Yeah. Economic empowerment is bad. KNOW YOUR PLACE, POOR PEOPLE.
Internet trolls are funny.
I could spew more invective, but it's hardly worth it. Responding to morons doesn't work. Isn't that right, rexcase/Anonymous? Responding to you hasn't enlightened you one bit, has it?

So you say you don't understand the WGA strike...

Well...being writers, they have a blog. Imagine that. New media.
And they even posted some videos explaining their position. Also in new media.
Here's Damon Lindelof (that pesky Lost show) and Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives) stating their case:

Here's Greg Daniels and Paul Lieberstein from The Office. Damn they break the issue down in an easy manner.

If you need a more personal angle, might I suggest the anecdotes from Mark Verheiden's blog.

After all of this, I actually feel bad for having purchased shows via iTunes.
I promise I'll only steal shows until writers get a fair deal.

HEADSET JOCKEYS

From rexcase, the anonymous troll in the Dead Patrol review comments.
Interesting take on clothing stores a la The Office. Not funny. At all.
In fact, that's pretty much all I have to say about it. Not funny.

International IRON MAN trailer

Too bad I can't find a quicktime. The little bit at the end...I giggled. But, I'm a dork.

DEAD PATROL episode 1 review (ammended with 100% less slag!)

via the Zombie Reporting Center:
Episode 1: "Trapped"

Zombies are great fodder for genre storytelling. After all, it's end of the world stuff.
However, Dead Patrol isn't great storytelling. It's not even good storytelling.
Sure, they managed to get a Skinny Puppy song for their main titles. Sure, they stole the design for those main titles from The 4400. It looks and feels pretty professional.
Everything else pretty much sucks.
The logic of the premise is extremely weak to begin with. After the zombie apocalypse, the Army begins nuking cities. Well, let's look at that. In zombie lore, they dead go to where the food is. If the cities are no longer inhabited and there was no food available, they wouldn't still be in the cities. Oops.
Second problem? They send a two man team in. One's a young guy. The other's a 40s-ish housewife-looking bird with an eyebrow piercing. The military would never allow eyebrow piercings. Sorry. That'd be a spectacularly bad idea in a zombie apocalypse as well. Ever seen someone with a piercing in a fight? That piercing almost always ends up being ripped out. And eyebrow piercings bleed a LOT.
Thinking in the logic of the zombie genre, that's a tremendously risky thing to have. Either the zombie rips it out and you get infected via the blood, or the zombie rips it out and you get blood in your eye, blinding you at a crucial moment.
Two soldiers against an entire city full of the undead? Um...The military isn't stupid. Not gonna happen. The military can't tie a pair of shoes without at least twelve soldiers. Zombies would rate a few more, I think.
The two soldiers steal a Lamborghini to make their getaway. Problem #1 - they crash out of the garage (through a plate glass window, which mysteriously has no frame). That would have seriously damaged the car. Problem #2 - they stop for an old lady zombie (I think it was an attempt at humor, but, well...just not funny). Besides, the CGI for the car was just fucking terrible. Save the money and buy a used Rabbit or something.
Well...where was the vehicle they brought the warhead in on? They show a trailer. But no vehicle to tow it. Why not just drive that out?
Better yet...if you're going to nuke a city...just send a missile. Then your "two man team" doesn't have to face the living dead at all...that is until they find the missile silo.
I haven't even mentioned the uneven and mostly hilariously bad zombie effects. The less said about them the better, actually.
I've since been contacted by two of the people involved in the making of this web series (see one of them spewing stupidity in the comments) who attempted to explain the shortcomings. Apparently, there WAS a truck and there WERE more troops. But somehow these two got left behind (they could have mentioned this...a line of dialogue would have explained it). And there's a backstory to the eyebrow piercing...which while still totally a bad idea will apparently be explained in future episodes. The only explanation for why missiles weren't sent instead of soldiers? No drama.
Yes, that's exactly how the military operates. Based on drama. Yeesh.
Out of consideration for Jas, I will give the second episode a chance (It's apparently gonna be ready before the month is over...which is QUICK turnaround for a web show...I be impressed). I hope to bring you better tidings when it drops.