Neurotrash

2008-07-24T17:13:00.000-04:00

Well, Someone Has to do It

2008-04-09T14:08:00.004-04:00

Hello, Hello, folks. I feel I have a responsibility to keep Neurotrash alive in Adam's absence. Not that I am anywhere near a level of a movie freak that Adam was, but here I am writing all the same.

SO, Today's topic is Adam's beloved and much anticipated

I finally saw the full trailer the other day, after seeing the teaser all over God's green earth. However, in my defense, Adam was who I watched most movies with so I naturally lost something of my desire to see movies sans the Big Man. BUT BUT BUT... Then comes the Iron Man trailer. DAMN! Check it out for yourself and you tell me you have no desire to see this movie!

Iron Man - Theatrical Trailer

Right, now that you have a bit of a tent pitching there, let's get some tech specs in here and give you time to settle down...

RUNTIME- Unknown
ASPECT RATIO- Scope or 2.35:1 (if you do not know what this is just ask and I can clue you in)
RATING- Unknown (though most likely PG-13)

Director- Jon Favreau (yes that guy from Swingers)
Producer- (too many to list, though Stan Lee is amongst them, naturally)
Writers- Mark Fergus (screenplay) & Hawk Ostby (screenplay)

Right. Now back to the goods. Let us start with Robert as the leading man, Tony Stark. Not only do I think that this was a perfect selection for this role, I am glad the Robert is still getting some sweet roles and parts. This is a throw back to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for me as I think that was again, perfect casting. I think we will see Mr. Downy, Jr. not only do well with this character but excel with it. This sort of role, the tough-yet-suave-and-playboy type of role. It seems to it him like a love from what I can tell from the trailer. And a high five and a big thanks go to however stuck to the basic concept of the iron suit! How many times have we seen a known, nay iconic, character ripped apart for the sake of Hollywood. I think that this time we will see a concept that has stuck to the original idea, thereby satisfying all you Fan Boys out there. I know Adam was happy when he saw images of the initial suit that Stark makes in captivity. I seem to recall a phone call from Adam that started out something like this... "DID YOU SEE THE FUCKING SUIT??!!!!"

Well, I hope everyone is excited for this picture as it was one that Adam was anticipating with bated breath, as it were.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE: This year's Sci-FI Marathon will be held at the Drexel East Theater in Columbus, OH on April 19th. It was Adam's favorite movie-going experience and I hope to meet some of Adam's friends there!

Cheers, All.

- K -

Adam's Last Marathon

2008-01-14T04:04:00.000-05:00

For those of you who knew Adam, you would know how much he loved the Sci-Fi and the Horror Marathons hosted by the Drexel and organized by Joe Neff and Bruce Bartoo. Adam's final marathon was the Two-Headed Horror Marathon held at the Drexel Grandview theater this past October.

I recently, literally five minutes ago, stumbled upon a version of his 'play-by-play account' of that night he had sent me to check out. I am not sure why it was never posted but I thought all might like to see this. It is not nearly so lengthy as some of his former accounts of the goings-on of the marathons but, damn it, it is Adam and it helps me to remember him.

Please post comments or thoughts or shoot me a message, I love hearing from folk who knew Adam. I miss you, Edwards-loving Jerk! :)

written on the night of the Two-Headed Marathon IV, Drexel Grandview, Columbus, OH by Adam Bicsanszky

" Marathon time is always a special event for me. As long as I've lived in Cbus, I've tried to get time off to see the sci-and horror marathons.
The horror marathons have always been worth my time, starting at an unnamed competitor with Joe Neff at the helm. After said theater gave Neff the heave-ho, fans were presented with a choice. Go back to Brand X with new folks running the show or remain loyal to Joe and attend the Drexel Grandview with Neff and Bruce Bartoo of Ohio Sci-Fi Marathon fame.
I chose right. But, I'm a sucker for the personal touch. And Neff and Bartoo do that better than anyone in the Midwest.
The Two-Headed Marathon is now on its fourth year. While it still isn't a full 24 hours, I think that works to its credit. The tighter schedule forces out any films that might be weak or perceived as padding. The 13 hour marathon is lean, mean and straight to the point.
Considering how beat to heck I already am today, I can appreciate a less-is-more approach. But enough about me, let's talk movies.

11:16 pm
Finally underway. Trailers trailers trailers. MANIAC. NEAR DARK. Goodness, goodness me. I'm one of a handful of people who saw that one in the th eater. TWINS. PAN'S LABYRINTH. Good schtuff, that one. Dunno if it's horror, b ut it's certainly better than THE LOVE BUG for this audience.
CRONOS. Love that one. Ron Perlman was soooo good in it.
THE SHE-BEAST! Yes. Classic cheese.
SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM! Yes yes yes. Love the two Blacula movies.
Ringo Starr? What the hell? Whoa. I haven't seen this one. SON OF DRACULA. I'm making a note on that one.

11:44
FREAKS starts to applause. Why? It's a substitute for ZOMBIE (aka ZOMBI 2, etc etc), the Lucio Fulci semi-classic. Frankly, we made out on that deal. It's a true classic.
Todd Browning was always fascinated by carnival culture (see his early films like THE UNKNOWN and THE UNHOLY THREE). FREAKS was the culmination of that love affair. He cast real sideshow performers in the film -- people the normal world would classify as freaks -- creating true poignance and pathos in a film most directors could only make as crass exploitation. That the films sympathetic characters are almost entirely the deformed and unusual is testament to Browning's affinity for his sideshow brethren. The so-called "normal" people are the deceivers and betrayers.
When the freaks band together to wreak vengeance on those that have wronged them, it's truly chilling. But it's also just desserts for the villains.

I have the urge to beat down Joe Neff for being a black-hearted Red Sox fan. But, he hates the Yankess. He's not all bad, right?

12:30 am
Out in the lobby networking with the folks behind the marathon, Drexel alum Anna Biszaha showed up (in town from her new digs in Pittsburgh), and folks from the Drexel staff. These folk are the backbone of the film community and Columbus and I'm gladdened and lucky to know them.

12:59 am
Almost 1 am. Things are semi-on schedule. The lobby is filled with people grabbing grub and re-connecting. The marathon is a family affair, and we're glad to have this yearly reunion.

1:15 am
Trailers again. DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE. DON'T GO INTO THE BASEMENT. DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. All very appropriate selections for out next film, THEM (aka ILS), a French-Romanian thriller that really doesn't make me eager to visit my relatives in Eastern Europe.
A French couple are attacked in their new Romanian home by assailants they barely see and most definitely hear. That's all you need to know about the plot of THEM. Who They are and what motivates them is something not revealed until well into the film.
I'm not about to give the lil' secret of ILS away. It's not especially shocking if you think about it, but it's creepy. It certainly doesn't work on everyone, particularly the folk of puffed-up bravado and over-confidence that Americans are braver than all foreigners.
Frankly, were that the case, crime wouldn't exist in America. We all know that's not the case. We're conditioned to think of our country as being unsafe. I don't necessarily believe the hype on that, either.
The film works as a thriller, keeping things out of sight as often as possible. The unknown is scarier than the known. Simple math, there. As long as you don't see Them clearly, They can scare the bejeepers out of you.

3:21 am
I'm out in the lobby, writing away while the trailers play. The only film I haven't seen in the lineup is coming up next, TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER. Gotta watch that.

4:52 am
Wow. Freaky deaky. TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER is over. And the print we had was...unique. Certain things were missing (some 20 seconds of full-frontal nudity) and certain things were added (footage from a handful of movies including Sponge Bob's butt). Yes, indeedy, the power of Satan was in full effect on that one.
The last of the Hammer films (at least for now -- there's allegedly a new one on its way), it stars Richard Widmark as an author and expert on Satanic groups who runs afoul of Father Michael Rayner (Christopher Lee) and his cult.
Rayner and his followers have been raising Catherine (Nastassja Kinski) for some nefarious purpose until her father Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliot) places her in the care of Widmark and his friends. The rest of it is a confusing mess, but the mishmash craziness at the end definitely made it worthwhile.
PS...Christopher Lee is The Man. That is all.

5:15 am
BLACK SHEEP. Gotta sit in for this one just 'cause it's fun.

6:38 am
People liked BLACK SHEEP. It's goofy, which is always a plus at a marathon of any kind. Keeping it light and fun never disappoints at a group outing like a movie marathon.
Killer sheep. Were-sheep. Do I really need to say more?
If you're not signed up on that premise alone, BLACK SHEEP is not for you.

6:56 am
As I've said before, the marathon is a family reunion. So, the breaks are full of animated discussions and exchanges of information. New generations of marathoids are introduced (We even have an attendee this year who's nine months pregnant. No. Really. We could have a new movie freak any moment.), life stories are updated. Fans and freaks network. It's a great thing, and it's half the reason to be here.

8:30 am
TOURIST TRAP is over. What a wonderful piece of schlock. Chuck Conners is uber-wonderful as the telekinetic, drag-dressing freak of a villain. The film is so no-budget that the best special effect is a pre-CHARLIE'S ANGELS Tanya Roberts in a tube top (That's Production Values, folks!).
Trust me. This is NOT a good movie. But it's really fun with the right audience at the right time. This was the right time and the right people to see it with. We're all too worn out to worry about how bad it is. It's easier to lean back in our seats and enjoy it.
I'm tired. I'm worn out. But we're not done, folks. We've got two films left, and I shall be there for both of 'em.

10:26 am
Yeah, MANIAC is a minor classic of the genre, but let's face it -- Joe Spinell's performance is a little over the top. Okay, it's somewhere beyond Shatner. But the movie's still great fun to watch. William Lustig's always been stuck in low-budget purgatory. But he can do things with a handful of pocket change that most directors need a huge budget to accomplish.

10:29 am
LOST BOYS trailer. A fine precursor to our final feature, NEAR DARK.
The film snaps right after the GINGER SNAPS trailer (how appropriate), necessitating a quickie splice before we can proceed (and we were doing really well on time...).
NEAR DARK is apparently getting the remake treatment from the same folks who have done the remakes to TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE HITCHER. Looks-wise, they're not going to have to deviate much from their formula. Katherine Bigelow helped establish the visual dictionary that Michael Bay and his cronies follow.
Cast-wise, though, the remake can't match the original. Adrian Pasdar puts in a fine performance, two decades before HEROES' Nathan Petrelli. The best parts of the ALIENS supporting cast (Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jeanette Goldstein) are the baddies, a group of Southern vampires who roam the open spaces of Texas. Jenny Wright (who pretty much disappeared after THE LAWNMOWER MAN) is the vampires' honey trap, May.
NEAR DARK relies on the culture of the frontier South just as much as the modern world. It's almost a vampire Western, but our hero dwells more in the gray areas of morality than your stock white hat. He's a good man, but flawed enough that he ends up travelling with a group of homicidal bloodsuckers.
These aren't your Universal-era vampires, though. The infection can be cured. When Pasdar's Caleb manages to save himself, he also tries to rescue May, incurring the wrath of the rest of her clan.
The only part of the film that doesn't absolutely hold up is the very, very 80s soundtrack. I'm so glad we've abandoned cheesy synthesizers. That age rightfully died two decades ago, and good riddance.

Not everyone finishes a movie marathon, but that's not really a terrible thing. Not everyone is hardcore enough to stay up all night watching flicks. Those of us who do, well, we're a rare breed. And we're glad to have people like Bruce Bartoo, Joe Neff and Jeff Frank around to make our marathon dreams a reality.
Sure, I'm exhausted. My reflexes are shot. I'm not thinking straight. And when I look at sunlight, I think I'm going to burst into flames. But, I wouldn't trade a Drexel marathon for anything."

Goodbye, Sir

2007-12-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

I hate to be the one to tell anyone who reads this blog...

Adam passed away this past weekend. He is gone. I thought it was all a joke, a prank he was pulling on all of his friends but it was not. I rushed to his apartment when I heard the rumor and found his brother and sister packing up his belongings.

There will be a service for Adam on the 22nd of December in Cleveland at Blessings Cremation Services. More specific details will follow shortly.

Feel free to contact me for more information not covered here.

Kevin

baristacmh AT gmail DOT com

Local Adam B. Memorial

2007-12-13T18:01:00.000-05:00

Hello All-

I have arranged a small memorial service for Adam B. here in Columbus for all of us that will not be able to attend the final service in Cleveland.

It will be Monday, Dec. 17th at 6:00pm at the Drexel Gateway Theater in Columbus.

Please feel free to contact me for any info not mentioned here.

Kevin

baristacmh AT gmail DOT com

Age-Restricted clip from WALK HARD

2007-11-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

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)

2007-11-26T09:21:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

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

Giving thanks...

2007-11-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-12T23:41:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-12T23:29:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

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...

2007-11-07T23:24:00.001-05:00

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

2007-11-07T14:45:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

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!)

2007-11-03T13:20:00.000-04:00

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.

THE DARK KNIGHT Halloween Scavenger Hunt: Columbus

2007-10-31T01:39:00.000-04:00

Conan vs The Topless Women

2007-10-27T10:35:00.000-04:00

via Kotaku and GameTrailers.com:

So, there's gonna be a Conan game for the XBox 360 and the PS3. THQ's making it.
The design looks fantastic. It looks almost like a Frazetta painting brought to life. If there's a heaven, Robert E Howard wholeheartedly approves. Conan is thick and sinewy, in his fighting prime. And...there's bare bosoms in it.
Yes, breasts in a video game. Call the moral police.
Pulp entertainment has long had a tradition of womenfolk in next-to (or less than next-to) nothing and the ultra-capable hero who has to save them. Sure, in modern comics, the women stand shoulder to shoulder with the men, but is Wonder Woman a realistic model of a female warrior? I think not. With the low body fat that a highly-trained soldier such as herself would attain, something tells me that she'd be a little less top-heavy. The objectification of the female form hasn't quite evolved over the ages. Men like their breasts. So, the comic book female tends to look more like a pole dancer than a body builder.
Back in the days of Robert E Howard's pulp stories, though, the womenfolk were there almost as ornaments. They were objects to be won. So, in the game, you run around rescuing topless women. Since many of them were pleasure women or dancers, the pole dancer model applies in spades.
The fundies and the parents groups can't have their children looking at breasts. The kids might start getting ideas (the same ideas they get anyway, seeing as they're hormonal little monsters). So, rest assured, there will be protests. And stories on FOXNews. Somewhere, a woman will break out in tears because her son might some day see a naked breast. Oh, the horror...
While I'm sure there WILL be outrage over this (the game IS rated M, though), the born agains and bible thumpers are missing the point.
If you have to buy a sixty-dollar video game to see a pair of unleashed mammaries, you need to get your keister down to the local strip club and at least see them in person, folks.
That's my two cents worth, at least.

Can you Face the Horror?

2007-10-22T11:25:00.000-04:00

Adam has lent me his lappy-top for some time now, entrusted its care to me. I brought it to him for the Horror Movie Marathon at the Drexel Grandview this past weekend.... Here are his thoughts:

Marathon time is always a special event for me. As long as I've lived in Cbus, I've tried to get time off to see the sci-and horror marathons.
The horror marathons have always been worth my time, starting at an unnamed competitor with Joe Neff at the helm. After said theater gave Neff the heave-ho, fans were presented with a choice. Go back to Brand X with new folks running the show or remain loyal to Joe and attend the Drexel Grandview with Neff and Bruce Bartoo of Ohio Sci-Fi Marathon fame.
I chose right. But, I'm a sucker for the personal touch. And Neff and Bartoo do that better than anyone in the Midwest.
The Two-Headed Marathon is now on its fourth year. While it still isn't a full 24 hours, I think that works to its credit. The tighter schedule forces out any films that might be weak or perceived as padding. The 13 hour marathon is lean, mean and straight to the point.
Considering how beat to heck I already am today, I can appreciate a less-is-more approach. But enough about me, let's talk movies.

11:16 pm
Finally underway. Trailers trailers trailers. MANIAC. NEAR DARK. Goodness, goodness me. I'm one of a handful of people who saw that one in the theater. TWINS. PAN'S LABYRINTH. Good schtuff, that one. Dunno if it's horror, but it's certainly better than THE LOVE BUG for this audience.
CRONOS. Love that one. Ron Perlman was soooo good in it.
THE SHE-BEAST! Yes. Classic cheese.
SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM! Yes yes yes. Love the two Blacula movies.
Ringo Starr? What the hell? Whoa. I haven't seen this one. SON OF DRACULA. I'm making a note on that one.

11:44
FREAKS starts to applause. Why? It's a substitute for ZOMBIE (aka ZOMBI 2, etc etc), the Lucio Fulci semi-classic. Frankly, we made out on that deal. It's a true classic.
Todd Browning was always fascinated by carnival culture (see his early films like THE UNKNOWN and THE UNHOLY THREE). FREAKS was the culmination of that love affair. He cast real sideshow performers in the film -- people the normal world would classify as freaks -- creating true poignance and pathos in a film most directors could only make as crass exploitation. That the films sympathetic characters are almost entirely the deformed and unusual is testament to Browning's affinity for his sideshow brethren. The so-called "normal" people are the deceivers and betrayers.
When the freaks band together to wreak vengeance on those that have wronged them, it's truly chilling. But it's also just desserts for the villains.

I have the urge to beat down Joe Neff for being a black-hearted Red Sox fan. But, he hates the Yankess. He's not all bad, right?

12:30 am
Out in the lobby networking with the folks behind the marathon, Drexel alum Anna Biszaha showed up (in town from her new digs in Pittsburgh), and folks from the Drexel staff. These folk are the backbone of the film community and Columbus and I'm gladdened and lucky to know them.

12:59 am
Almost 1 am. Things are semi-on schedule. The lobby is filled with people grabbing grub and re-connecting. The marathon is a family affair, and we're glad to have this yearly reunion.

1:15 am
Trailers again. DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE. DON'T GO INTO THE BASEMENT. DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. All very appropriate selections for out next film, THEM (aka ILS), a French-Romanian thriller that really doesn't make me eager to visit my relatives in Eastern Europe. A French couple are attacked in their new Romanian home by assailants they barely see and most definitely hear. That's all you need to know about the plot of THEM. Who They are and what motivates them is something not revealed until well into the film. I'm not about to give the lil' secret of ILS away. It's not especially shocking if you think about it, but it's creepy. It certainly doesn't work on everyone, particularly the folk of puffed-up bravado and over-confidence that Americans are braver than all foreigners. Frankly, were that the case, crime wouldn't exist in America. We all know that's not the case. We're conditioned to think of our country as being unsafe. I don't necessarily believe the hype on that, either.
The film works as a thriller, keeping things out of sight as often as possible. The unknown is scarier than the known. Simple math, there. As long as you don't see Them clearly, They can scare the bejeepers out of you.

3:21 am
I'm out in the lobby, writing away while the trailers play. The only film I haven't seen in the lineup is coming up next, TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER. Gotta watch that.

4:52 am
Wow. Freaky deaky. TO THE DEVIL, A DAUGHTER is over. And the print we had was...unique. Certain things were missing (some 20 seconds of full-frontal nudity) and certain things were added (footage from a handful of movies including Sponge Bob's butt). Yes, indeedy, the power of Satan was in full effect on that one. The last of the Hammer films (at least for now -- there's allegedly a new one on its way), it stars Richard Widmark as an author and expert on Satanic groups who runs afoul of Father Michael Rayner (Christopher Lee) and his cult. Rayner and his followers have been raising Catherine (Nastassja Kinski) for some nefarious purpose until her father ,Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliot), places her in the care of Widmark and his friends. The rest of it is a confusing mess, but the mishmash craziness at the end definitely made it worthwhile.
PS...Christopher Lee is The Man. That is all.

5:15 am
BLACK SHEEP. Gotta sit in for this one just 'cause it's fun.

6:38 am
People liked BLACK SHEEP. It's goofy, which is always a plus at a marathon of any kind. Keeping it light and fun never disappoints at a group outing like a movie marathon. Killer sheep. Were-sheep. Do I really need to say more?
If you're not signed up on that premise alone, BLACK SHEEP is not for you.

6:56 am
As I've said before, the marathon is a family reunion. So, the breaks are full of animated discussions and exchanges of information. New generations of marathoids are introduced (We even have an attendee this year who's nine months pregnant. No. Really. We could have a new movie freak any moment.), life stories are updated. Fans and freaks network. It's a great thing, and it's half the reason to be here.

8:30 am
TOURIST TRAP is over. What a wonderful piece of schlock. Chuck Conners is uber-wonderful as the telekinetic, drag-dressing freak of a villain. The film is so no-budget that the best special effect is a pre-CHARLIE'S ANGELS Tanya Roberts in a tube top (That's Production Values, folks!). Trust me. This is NOT a good movie. But it's really fun with the right audience at the right time. This was the right time and the right people to see it with. We're all too worn out to worry about how bad it is. It's easier to lean back in our seats and enjoy it. I'm tired. I'm worn out. But we're not done, folks. We've got two films left, and I shall be there for both of 'em.

10:26 am
Yeah, MANIAC is a minor classic of the genre, but let's face it -- Joe Spinell's performance is a little over the top. Okay, it's somewhere beyond Shatner. But the movie's still great fun to watch. William Lustig's always been stuck in low-budget purgatory. But he can do things with a handful of pocket change that most directors need a huge budget to accomplish.

10:29 am
LOST BOYS trailer. A fine precursor to our final feature, NEAR DARK.
The film snaps right after the GINGER SNAPS trailer (how appropriate), necessitating a quickie splice before we can proceed (and we were doing really well on time...). NEAR DARK is apparently getting the remake treatment from the same folks who have done the remakes to TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE HITCHER. Looks-wise, they're not going to have to deviate much from their formula. Katherine Bigelow helped establish the visual dictionary that Michael Bay and his cronies follow. Cast-wise, though, the remake can't match the original. Adrian Pasdar puts in a fine performance, two decades before HEROES' Nathan Petrelli. The best parts of the ALIENS supporting cast (Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Jeanette Goldstein) are the baddies, a group of Southern vampires who roam the open spaces of Texas. Jenny Wright (who pretty much disappeared after THE LAWNMOWER MAN) is the vampires' honey trap, May. NEAR DARK relies on the culture of the frontier South just as much as the modern world. It's almost a vampire Western, but our hero dwells more in the gray areas of morality than your stock white hat. He's a good man, but flawed enough that he ends up travelling with a group of homicidal bloodsuckers. These aren't your Universal-era vampires, though. The infection can be cured. When Pasdar's Caleb manages to save himself, he also tries to rescue May, incurring the wrath of the rest of her clan. The only part of the film that doesn't absolutely hold up is the very, very 80s soundtrack. I'm so glad we've abandoned cheesy synthesizers. That age rightfully died two decades ago, and good riddance.

Not everyone finishes a movie marathon, but that's not really a terrible thing. Not everyone is hardcore enough to stay up all night watching flicks. Those of us who do, well, we're a rare breed. And we're glad to have people like Bruce Bartoo, Joe Neff and Jeff Frank around to make our marathon dreams a reality. Sure, I'm exhausted. My reflexes are shot. I'm not thinking straight. And when I look at sunlight, I think I'm going to burst into flames. But, I wouldn't trade a Drexel marathon for anything.

Sure it's early...

2007-10-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

via Jamie:
But the nice folks behind The Dark Knight's web-presence have changed www.whysoserious.com ever-so slightly in anticipation of Halloween:

Gotta love the reference to The Long Halloween.

Anne Coulter's been HACKED!!!!

2007-10-17T14:33:00.001-04:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
That's all I have to say.

Adam's affadavit on MICHAEL CLAYTON

2007-10-13T03:07:00.000-04:00

It's official. I'm a Tony Gilroy fan now.
Michael Clayton, his latest script (and his directing debut) is so smart, it shows you the climax at the very beginning of the movie. And yet it doesn't spoil the ending. There's things going on that you don't yet know. Wheels turning.
Just like what's always going on with the title character.
Michael Clayton is a fixer. In the legal world, this means he's the firm's go-to guy when things need cleaned up. He's the guy who shows up when you have no plays. He's the lawyer of last resort. And he's good at his job. Great, even.
You first meet him racing to the home of some rich asshole in Westchester County outside of New York City. The rich guy has just hit someone with his Jaguar and left the scene of the accident. Being a rich asshole, he certainly can't be to blame for any of this. It's that dumb schmuck's fault for getting hit. Yeah, that's it.
Clayton gives the rich guy the skinny, which he's not going to like, and leaves. He's pissed about something, and it shows.
Then, his car blows up.

Skip back four days. Clayton's in trouble. He's in hock for loans his brother took out on a restaurant the two owned together. He's selling the fixtures and booze, trying to scrape enough up to pay the loan sharks.
He's unhappy at his job because, since he's the fixer, he has no equity in the firm. Things go south, say there's a big merger, and he's out on his ass since he has no official position. The restaurant was supposed to be his safety net, and now it's the noose with which he's apparently hung himself to the tune of seventy-five thousand dollars.
His oldest friend at the firm, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has a break down at a deposition for the class action suit he's been working on. He confesses his love to one of the plaintiffs, strips naked, and chases the plaintiffs around in the parking lot.
Clayton is sent to Wisconsin to grab Arthur and get him back under control. Turns out that Arthur is bipolar and off his meds.
It also turns out that he's totally right about their big client being responsible for ungodly environmental damage that's continuing to kill people exposed to their defoliant, since it seeps right into the groundwater.
The corporation has a lot to lose in the lawsuit (the subjects of the class action are asking for $3,000,000,000 (That's three BILLION dollars...much cheddar, even for a major agri-corp). Their general counsel, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), is looking to prove herself and maybe move up into the board room like her predecessor Don Jeffries (Ken Howard). If she can somehow settle the case for a manageable amount, she just might. She's got a problem, though.
Arthur has a memo, the proverbial smoking gun, that could blow the case right out of the water.

Where Michael Clayton shines most is in the performances of its three principals. Clooney, Wilkinson and Swinton are fantastic in it, as are Michael O'Keefe and Sydney Pollack in supporting roles.
The roles are classic movie star fodder, and allow each of the principals room to shine in their own unique way. Clayton is calm and collected, even in the face of peril. Edens is manic and obsessed, but fully on the side of angels now. Crowder is mannered to the point that she rehearses every word that's going to come out of her mouth before she leaves her house every morning.
All three roles offer plenty of star moments, and room for character as well. And, being that all three are fine actors in their own rights, they take advantage of that room to give mannered and deep performances.

Where Michael Clayton succeeds without any effort to shine is its smart, tightly-written script. The script is nearly transparent, fading into the background and letting the actors carry the material. There's no snappy dialogue, no forced patter. Everything feels natural and believable.
Lately, Gilroy's become a fairly adept writer. Who knew that the man behind the scripts for The Cutting Edge, The Devil's Advocate and Armageddon was going to churn out fare like the Jason Bourne movies and Michael Clayton? But he turns out to be a pretty damn good director his first time out. It's not a flashy movie at all. He sets up shots in similar ways to how Paul Greengrass framed the last two Bourne movies, but without the constantly swaying handheld effect. Things feel live, on the fly, very cinema verite.
The pacing is relentless as well. Gilroy and company trimmed out all the fat, giving you only the moments you need to see when you need to see them. You aren't dragged into minutia. Everything counts, be it Clayton reaching out to his estranged son or the final confrontation.
The ending is satisfying in a way few films are any more. The redemption that Clayton earns for himself is hard fought and comes at a great price. But the open-ended conclusion leaves much of the pending justice up to the viewer to decide and imagine. There's no feel-good moment or group hug or triumphant slow-clap. Just a lonely cab ride in the only direction that matters: away.
I'm not certain that Michael Clayton is going to be huge come awards time, but it's certainly a movie worthy of a view or two on the big screen (and an eventual DVD purchase).

Radiohead's IN RAINBOWS is out!!!

2007-10-10T22:21:00.000-04:00

You may or may not have heard (especially because it's almost immediately below this post -- I'm lazy) that Radiohead has a new album out. In Rainbows is not quite a new CD because there is no physical CD (yet -- but that super-deluxe disc box is coming in December).
The price? Damn reasonable, since you set it yourself.
The verdict? Well, it's Radiohead. Some folk will hate it, since they're still blazing the trail begun with Kid A and OK Computer. The stripped down, half-electronic warbling is something that some folk just love and others utterly despise. If you're in the latter group, don't expect to be swayed back to the fold. Just remember that they're absolutely amazing live, and you need tix to their next tour.
Track one is "15 Step", which begins with an almost marching drum sound and those lilting guitars that Radiohead's been known for for the last decade. It almost becomes a smooth jazz tune, though. That might tune people out before they delve deeper into the tracks. It's not a weak song by any means, but the almost sedate groove isn't necessarily what you use to get a crowd fired up.
"Bodysnatchers" might have been a more appropriate starting point. Distortion and real drums are the special of the day here. While the tempos for both songs are nearly identical, "Bodysnatchers" drives the music home with more force and urgency.
The action slows way down with the dreamy "Nude" and the once again lilting "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi". I can see both of these songs carrying more power live, but on the digital equivalent of a record, they're almost ephemeral constructions. They're not bad songs, but they're somewhat slight after the political charge of Hail to the Thief.
"All I Need", while down-tempo, carries some of the dramatic weight and power of Radiohead's aural-pharmatronic live show. I can see this one blowing minds at a concert, especially at the climax's crescendo.
"Faust Arp" is an almost folky side-step with a string accompaniment that drowns out Thom Yorke's voice. Still, it's a gorgeous sounding track.
It does little to prepare you for the thumping rhythm of "Reckoner". The drums seem almost more important than the guitars for the first 90 seconds of the song, when the style of play shifts and the rest of the instruments truly join in. Just when you think you know what you're listening to, the song changes gears and moves from a drone to an almost gospel-esque chant. One of the more interesting tracks for me (being a drummer, I'm all about the rhythm section), and another I'm certain will reformulate your brain chemistry live.
"House of Cards" betrays my age-old 45 Second Rule. If the song doesn't grab you in 45 seconds, it's not really right for airplay. It's not a bad song. Really. But out of the tracks on this album, it's the one I'd probably be least likely to listen to repeatedly.
"Jigsaw Falling Into Place", on the other hand, is the one I'm probably going to throw onto a few compilations. It's the most mainstream radio friendly of the songs, structure-wise (being almost straight-forward rock) and another that truly benefits from listening to LOUD.
The album's closer, "Videotape", seems soft and meek but evolves into an almost plodding drone. The vocals are more important here -- the music seems almost incidental to the process at points, repeating polyrhythms instead of finding a melody. Very odd track for beginning, middle or end.
As I said before, In Rainbows is unlikely to win new converts to the Radiohead fold. For diehard fans, this is yet another desert island disc that they'll be unable to live without. For the rest of the world, they might wonder what the point of it all is. They're missing out, but try explaining it to them and you'll find your arguments are falling on deaf ears.

NIN joins Radiohead in shrugging off the label chains

2007-10-10T08:41:00.000-04:00

Yeah, the news is two days old. I didn't see it until late last night. Sue me.
Trent Reznor announced on the eighth that Nine Inch Nails is a free entity. After eighteen years of recording contracts, he too is on his own.
The RIAA have to be worried already. Two big guns have told them to go fuck themselves. Pretty soon, they'll be left with talentless pop hacks like Britney Spears.
It's a great time to be a music fan, folks.

What the new Radiohead album might mean...

2007-10-01T07:24:00.000-04:00

via Jamie and donewaiting.com:
So, Radiohead has a new album coming out Oct. 101 (whoo-hooooo!). It's called In Rainbows and it may be the death knell of the RIAA and their obselete business model.
Sure, it's been tried before. Public Enemy tried the digital experiment, sans label. And unsigned bands have been throwing their tracks online for ages.
Radiohead going it alone is an event of some significance, though. They're still on the top of their game, and they're still critical darlings.
The mainstream press has already jumped all over the story. That means that mainstream music fans will know about the album, and might actually pay for the download. Then again, there's the legions of idiots who'll be trading it on Limewire and the torrents...
If Radiohead can achieve label-level success without major label distribution, the RIAA is over. Pure and simple. When an artist can control their material -- can control their own music from conception to delivery -- they have all that power that the RIAA has been trying to throw around. And the RIAA...well, they've got nothing.
Sure, Metallica will still sue the shit out of their fans after the RIAA is history. But the business model of the RIAA signatories might just be over. The labels might just implode.
This could be excellent for artists. No more seven-cent-per-unit-sold royalties. No more labels owning the masters. No more oppressive contracts. Freedom -- real creative and artistic freedom.
The labels have strangled recording artists for too long. Look at all the classic rock artists from the 50s and 60s who're starving without royalty payments. Look at the surviving Beatles no longer owning their songs. The current business model is a failure for the artists -- it only serves corporate greed.
It's time for a change. And maybe we've taken the first step in the right direction.

Adam decides AND I LIVED is better off dying

2007-09-04T19:38:00.000-04:00

Written while writer/director Ryan Dacko was stationed in Antartica for the Coast Guard, And I Lived is at various times a teen angst drama, a parable about class, a love story, a long and drawn-out car chase/drag race and an excuse to put 1037 montages into one film.
If that sounds remotely schizophrenic, you don't know the half of it. And I Lived is incredibly earnest when it's focussed on story, but devolves into a confused mess towards the end. Occasionally it takes place in a small country town. Occasionally it seems to be in the city. Occasionally, you'll notice the school building just changes for no reason whatsoever. Just like it can't make up its mind where it takes place, the movie can't make up its mind what kind of movie it is.
It's not to say there aren't things to like about And I Lived. Dacko (who also shot the film himself) has a good eye for composition, and there are quite a few shots that demonstrate skill at framing his actors in just the right way to emphasize his points. Then, right alongside the great shots will be a jerky handheld shot that makes you realize how low-budget the film really is.

In this small town/big city high school, the classes are truly divided. The rich folk dress in whites, the poor folk in black. The color of their skin doesn't matter. Only the color of their shirts makes a difference. There is omnipresent tension between the white shirts and the black shirts, and plenty of resentment both ways.
The conceit that the rich all wear white and the poor all wear black might be meant to hint at the class struggle. It might also hint at race relations, even if the white and black groups are ethnically mixed. The visual is definitely meant to contrast the two groups, so you're always certain of where someone stands.
Frankly, it's a bit heavy-handed.
The filmmaker didn't count on the audience to recognize that the rich and the poor are at odds. He didn't expect the audience to recognize the difference between the two groups. So, he clothes them in opposite colors to show they're opposites.
Of course, opposites attract, so therein lies our love story.

Elaina (Lori Shaufelberger) and Kevin (Matt Clark) both have ties to the leaders of their respective sects. Elaina used to date Jered (David Bianchi), the leader of the white shirts (Of course, Jered himself used to run with the black shirts prior to his mother marrying into money.). Kevin is best friends with Reg (Josue Rivera), the leader of the black shirts and owner of the Dodge Charger that the production company (Charger Films) was named after (the Charger is important to the story! HINT! HINT!). Kevin's also already going out with Meagan (Kim Chesterton).
That doesn't stop him from falling for Elaina, in spite of the rule that the each group sticks with their own kind. Of course, as we already know from countless other stories (including Romeo and Juliet, which the opening narration references), that the tales of star-crossed lovers from opposite camps always end badly.
Oddly, I found the conclusion of the film somewhat weak, mainly because we've seen the tragic end of romance so many times. Had the two lovers just gone their separate ways, Kevin off to college and Elaina to California, the result could have been more real and possibly more effective.
Also, the past romance between Elaina and Jered isn't even hinted at until the climax, and it's a key factor in driving his actions. Some explanation before the fact might have been nice.

Schaufelberger is adequate as Elaina, and Clark is quite decent as Kevin, but it's the supporting players that shine. Josue Rivera and David Bianchi squeeze the most out of their screen time, managing through simple movement to tell more about their characters than the leads do through their speeches. Their conflict is really what drives the story, right up until the big fight scene. Bianchi might get a bit melodramatic in his delivery, but both spit out dialogue that shouldn't work and make it sing.
Also noteable are Kim Chesterton as Meagan and Delaine Dacko as Elaina's friend Susan. Both are credible in their meager screentime (and both would have filled the role of Elaina better than the very Jamie Lee Curtis-y Schuafelberger). The most thankless of roles, that of comic relief, goes to Mike Baird as Stan. He manages to combine bits of Falstaff, Curly and maybe a little bit of Charles Martin Smith in American Graffiti into a guy you'd probably want to hang out with. Until he starts spilling his soda...

Visually, this does not look like a movie shot on under $20,000. Dacko managed to make a film that easily should have cost ten times more on a budget so miniscule that Robert Rodriguez would shudder. Aside from a couple handheld shots that don't quite work and a murkily-lit climax, And I Lived looks like a million bucks and change.
The cinematography and the editing are top-notch. Based on look alone, the film is definitely worth a gander by anyone studying the art of filmmaking. The shot composition is fantastic, and the movie flows quite naturally most of the time.
Hell, they might not work thematically in the story, but the car sequences alone look like the budget was much, much larger. They do, on a budget, what the studio system spends millions on.
My one gripe with the film from a technical standpoint is that the director relies on montages to tell the story, instead of letting the story tell itself. So much time is spent on the sweeping montages that litter the reels that we really only get a few choice minutes to get to know our hero and heroine.
Unfortunately, it's the lack of a relationship with the leads that torpedoes an audience's enjoyment of their journey.

The opening act is where the film is the strongest, in spite of an pointless extended sequence where Kevin and Reg go to the race track. The moment where Kevin and Elaina connect over music is simple, sweet and beautifully shot (watch the camera angles to see how the distance between the two changes). It's as close as we get to knowing Kevin and Elaina as people. And it's almost enough to tell their love story on its own.
From there, the movie just begins unravelling. There's no illustration of the relationship developing between the two, only montages and the occasional shot of the two of them touching hands when no one else is looking. There's mention of them talking on the phone, but we see no conversations between the two of them. We don't see them connect more than a fleeting flirtation, and this makes every moment thereafter feel false.
On top of that, the script morphs from a love story into a massive brawl and then into about a half hour of drag racing and car chases that's supposed to be a fifteen minute drive to the prom.
Let's look at the race and chase sequence for a moment. Imagine that you're a youthful rebel who's decided to take your brand spankin' new rich girl girlfriend to the prom. Except it's supposed to be ending in fifteen minutes (but it's not dark yet). Would you 1) get into a drag race with some Moby-looking dude in a Ford Taurus or 2) get into a car chase around a mall parking lot with two rent-a-cops or 3) go to the damn prom and get it over with? Both sequences have no place in this film, and were included as an indulgence that wastes the viewer's time.
I forgive a lot of things in low-budget films. I'll be extra forgiving of bad actors if there was no money to hire real talent (Clerks). I'll forgive cheesy effects since there was no budget to hire a real effects artist (Evil Dead). I'll even give a pass to bad direction if the overall effect of the movie is good. Wasting my time, I can't forgive.

And I Lived might have been a good ten minute short film. But, with the padding of montages, car chases and an utterly illogical ending (How does someone get shot through another human being when the person in front isn't injured? -- Oh, did I just spoil the ending? Naughty me.), it becomes a colossal waste of my time as a viewer. Don't set a time limit and then willfully exceed it, expecting your audience to play along. Don't promise a story and deliver a montage.
While there's some obvious talent involved in the cinematography department, And I Lived just shows how terrible a writer Ryan Dacko is and quite probably why someone shouldn't attempt to write a story about humanity when disconnected from it. He's a great visual stylist, but he's not much of a storyteller. That's fine, though. Because he shows such a talented eye for capturing the moment in his lenses that he could easily have a future directing other peoples' scripts (how many directors write all their own material, anyway?). With a great script and a budget, he'd be a force to be reckoned with. And I Lived may be incomplete as a story, but as a demo reel of Ryan Dacko's ability with a camera, it may open some doors.

The final verdict? Well, I can't truly say I enjoyed sitting through And I Lived. It takes a lot of chances, but unfortunately not in the sake of telling a great story. I did, however, see plenty of talent on display...enough to check out things that the principals involved do in the future. With luck, we haven't seen the end of any of the cast and crew.

The Zombie Reporting Center reviews DEAD HEIST

2007-09-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

The fun thing about the internets is occasionally you drop in on someone else's little corner of the cyber world. I did just that a little while ago, when I commented on the Zombie Reporting Center's posting of a bit of Fangoria's review of Dead Heist. I kinda called them out for dismissing the film outright without seeing it, as I had fun with it.
Well, the folks over at ZRC aren't cowards. Far be it from them to shrink away from a little movie. So, they had their stab at it and you can read it HERE. While not nearly as positive as my look at it, they're even-handed in their treatment of it. So, I figured I'd show them a lil' link love and let you check out their site.

Wizard's got the goods on HEROES

2007-08-27T13:12:00.000-04:00

via Ain't It Cool News:
There's a huge article over at Wizard Magazine about the DVD release of Heroes. Lots of great lil' insight about the show's first season and some great quotes from the people involved.
I thought about posting the latest pre-season stuff from the metagame, but I think this image is far more ripe for discussion.

The whole milk moustache campaign has raised snickers from time to time, but this one's just purely ridiculous. Not only do we have the milk moustache on barely legal starlet Hayden Panettiere, but she's also getting a splattering of milk on her face and chest. Yup. Milk Bukkake.
Is bukkake coming into the mainstream now? Has it been referenced enough on Howard Stern that everyone knows what it is? I know that my buddy Byron had to explain it to the state of Ohio (well, they figured it out by spying on his website), which cost him his BUKKAKE plates. But, I'd hope that the average person would be slightly more well-informed than the government.
Anyhoo, it's still kinda gross. And worrisome that the advertisers would include fringe imagery in their ad to appeal to the sickos that 1) get all gooey over young girls and 2) are into Japanese porn. Ick.

The 45th New York Film Festival Line up is Released

2007-08-15T19:51:00.001-04:00

Thanks to a source in New York I was given a release of the films to be shown at the 45th New York Film Festival. Please check out the WEBSITE for more info and to buy tickets. Sorry this is so long but it is worth it!

28 Films to Debut at 45th New York Film Festival, Sept. 28–Oct. 14

Closing Night: Persepolis
Five Special Retrospectives, Three Special Event Screenings, Three Sidebars Included

NEW YORK, August 15, 2007—The 45th New York Film Festival will premiere 28 films when it runs Sept. 28-Oct. 14 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and sponsored by Sardinia Region Tourism and The New York Times, also features three unique sidebars, three special event screenings and five retrospective films.
Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis has been selected as the festival’s Closing Night film. The animated coming-of-age story, based on Satrapi’s popular graphic novel about her own childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, won a Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It features the voice talents of Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux and Simon Abkarian, several of whom are expected to attend the festival’s Closing Night screening at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday, Oct. 14. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the film.
The festival’s previously announced Opening Night and Centerpiece selections (Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited and the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men) now headline a strong American contingent in the 2007 slate. Noah Baumbach, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Sidney Lumet all return to the festival with American productions; Julian Schnabel and Abel Ferrara come back with international co-productions; and Brian DePalma, John Landis and Ira Sachs each make their festival debuts.
Baumbach will screen his follow-up to The Squid and the Whale, the very funny and very true Margot at the Wedding. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh star as contentious sisters thrown into a disastrous family weekend caused by Pauline’s (Leigh) engagement to the underwhelming Malcolm (Jack Black). Scott Rudin produces the film, a Paramount Vantage release.
Van Sant’s Paranoid Park, based on the novel by Blake Nelson, details the unraveling of a skateboarder’s life after he is involved in the death of a security guard. Newcomer Alex Nevins stars in the film, for which Van Sant won Cannes’ special 60th Anniversary Prize. IFC First Take will release the film.
The other American titles include Haynes’ I’m Not There—a rumination on the life of Bob Dylan, with actors Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Wishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin each representing elements the famed musician’s mystique—DePalma’s trenchant vision of the Iraq war, Redacted, and Ira Sachs’ taut melodrama Married Life. Lumet returns to the New York Film Festival for the first time in 43 years (Fail-Safe, 1964) with Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, a crime story starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei. Two documentaries—Landis’ Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project and Ed Pincus and Lucia Small’s The Axe in the Attic—round out the festival’s new U.S. productions.
The 45th New York Film Festival honors worldwide film production with more than half of its slate taken from other countries. Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tells the story of magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, paralyzed by a stroke, blinks out a memoir that eloquently captures his vibrant interior life. Mathieu Amalric stars as Bauby in the Miramax release, which won Cannes’ Best Director award and Technical Grand Prize.
Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona will screen his feature film debut The Orphanage, a supernatural drama about a woman who re-opens the orphanage in which she was raised, only to discover terrible secrets as her seven-year-old son, Simón, begins making imaginary friends. The Picturehouse release is presented and produced by last year’s Closing Night director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth).
Among the other international titles in the festival are Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light, which shared with Persepolis the Jury Prize at Cannes; Abel Ferrara’s Italy/U.S. co-production Go Go Tales; Catherine Breillat’s The Last Mistress; Claude Chabrol’s A Girl Cut In Two; Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Flight of the Red Balloon; Eric Rohmer’s The Romance of Astrea and Celadon; Alexander Sokurov’s Alexandra; Béla Tarr’s The Man from London; and Jia Zhang-ke’s documentary Useless. Cannes Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Best Actress prizewinner Secret Sunshine were previously confirmed.
Five films will be featured as special retrospectives of the 45th New York Film Festival: the long-awaited “definitive cut” of Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, honoring the landmark
science fiction film’s 25th anniversary; the premiere of a new score by the Alloy Orchestra to accompany Josef von Sternberg’s 1927 film Underworld, winner of the Best Writing Oscar® at the first Academy Awards®; John Ford’s first major film The Iron Horse (1924), a massive production about the building of the transcontinental railroad; Sven Gade and Heinz Schall’s 1920 German production of Hamlet, starring actress Asta Nielsen in the title role; and an evening titled The Technicolor Show, introduced by Martin Scorsese and featuring John Stahl’s Leave Her to Heaven (1945).
The Walter Reade Theater will also host three upcoming music documentaries as part of the New York Film Festival’s special events. Carlos Saura will screen Fados, an exploration of the celebrated Portuguese musical style. Acclaimed rock documentarian Murray Lerner’s The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965 features footage of Bob Dylan’s infamous Newport performances, where the musician first used electric amplifiers. Peter Bogdanovich will complete the set with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream, an in-depth look at the legendary American rock band to be screened at its full 238 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
Persepolis joins a select group of films that have closed the New York Film Festival, many of which have gone on to critical acclaim and successful theatrical runs. Over the last 20 years, these have included David Mamet’s House of Games, Jane Campion’s The Piano, Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt, Pedro Almodóvar’s Live Flesh and Talk to Her, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams, Alexander Payne’s
Sideways, Michael Haneke’s Caché and last year’s selection, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth. Due to ongoing renovations at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, this year’s New York Film Festival screenings will be held at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in the Time Warner Center. Opening Night will be held at Avery Fisher Hall, as well as Rose Hall. Closing Night will be held at Avery Fisher Hall only. Special events and some retrospective screenings will be held at the Walter Reade Theater.
The 45th New York Film Festival’s selection committee is made up of Richard Peña, chairman and the Film Society’s program director; Kent Jones, associate director of programming at the Film Society and editor-at-large of Film Comment magazine; Scott Foundas, film editor and critic, L.A. Weekly; J. Hoberman, film critic, The Village Voice, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University; and Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic, Entertainment Weekly.
As previously announced, this year’s festival sidebar will honor director and screenwriter Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, a renowned member of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, who solidified his place as a master filmmaker with his 1969 classic, Macunaima. The series, titled Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, will run Sept. 29-Oct. 9 at the Walter Reade Theater.
Two other sidebars are included among the festival’s events screening at the Walter Reade Theater. Views from the Avant-Garde returns for its 11th year as a distinguished showcase of experimental film and video, screening films during the second weekend of the
festival, Oct. 6-7. The festival also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with Chinese Modern: A Tribute to Cathay Studios, Oct. 10-16, screening films from the Hong Kong production house that, more than any other, introduced a distinctly modern lifestyle to Chinese culture.
Additionally, during the festival, the Film Society will salute New Line Cinema’s 40 years of extraordinary filmmaking at a black-tie gala to benefit the Film Society’s campaign to build a new film center. New Line Cinema’s Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne will be honored at the event on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The 45th New York Film Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is sponsored by Sardinia Region Tourism and The New York Times. The screening of Underworld is made possible through the generosity of the Ira M. Resnick Foundation. Tropical Analysis has been organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Os Filmes do Serro. Chinese Modern is sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals: the New York Film Festival, which annually premieres the best films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States, and New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, which focuses on
emerging film talents. Since 1972 when the Film Society honored Charles Chaplin, the annual Gala Tribute celebrates an actor, filmmaker or industry leader who has helped distinguish cinema as an art form. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine.

I will post the actual lineup in a later post, perhaps tomorrow!

What's your problem? Go see HOT ROD!!!

2007-08-07T15:47:00.000-04:00

OK. What's the problem here, yo?
Why the heck aren't you people out there seeing Hot Rod? It's not only one of the funniest movies I've seen all year, it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in ages.
Utterly without irony, Hot Rod wallows in the glorious trash of the 80s, from re-creating the "I'm so angry I could DANCE!" sequence from Footloose to dressing up the Queens of the Stone Age in full 80s regalia for the climax.
And yet, it's more than that. It's a loving send-up of those inspirational sports movies. And a family comedy. And it's got real, actual pathos and humanity (courtesy of the mighty Ian McShane and the always-spectacular Sissy Spacek).
The movie opened a dismal 9th. After Transformers, which opened a month ago. Freakin' Underdog beat it. Seriously, what's wrong with the world?
The film is directed by Akiva Schaffer of the Lonely Island team (the folks who brought us "Dick in a Box" and "Lazy Monday") and written by supergenius Pam Brady (South Park, Team America: World Police, Kid Notorious, Mr Wong). If that's not pedigree enough for ya, it was originally supposed to star Will Ferrell. You know, that really funny guy from Anchorman and Talladega Nights? He ended up serving as executive producer when it became apparent that he was too old and fat to play Rod Kimble.
Instead, they got Lonely Island (and now SNL)'s Andy Samberg to play the title role. And while they lucked out in not getting a fat, overrated blowhard like that Ferrell guy to be in it (he's sunk so low since not getting the Rod role that he's doing internet videos with Adam McKay's kid), it's the supporting cast that shines in Hot Rod.

Isla Fisher is so damn adorable in this movie. She's pure and sweet and wholesome without ever once getting annoying or remotely near anything like the manure the Disney channel shovels into American households each day. I feel bad that the first thing I really noticed her in was The Wedding Crashers, because she's got skills. I watched The Lookout this weekend and loved her in that, too. She's great in everything. And she's bearing Ali G's child. Need I say more about her greatness?

That's Bill Hader, Jorma Taccone, Samberg and Danny R McBride as the stunt team. Samberg's lucky to be surrounded with guys like that. They're all ace comedic actors, and their total lack of fear and ego made each of their characters all the more real. Each of them is given a chance to shine, and they more than rise to the occasion. Bill Hader is gonna be a household name soon enough, with his performance in Superbad looming on the horizon. In this film, he's a gloriously dumb freak with a mullet and a job at the local ice rink. He's Rod's mechanic and...when things are at their lowest for Rod, he provides the voice of reason that only a guy tripping balls with a piece of metal stuck in his head can provide. Jorma Taccone's Kevin is the moral rock of the team, even if he'd rather be serenading his stuffed animals with George Michael songs. And Danny R McBride's Rico dishes out one of the best beatdowns on screen this year, whupping Ken Kirzinger's keister with a road cone in a green tea-fueled rage.
It's dumb, yes. Completely dumb. But, that didn't stop Napoleon Dynamite from becoming a cultural phenomenon. And this is a better film. It's funnier, it has better performances, and it's got a heart three times bigger than the Grinch's after he gets to the top of the mountain (and I ain't talkin' bout no crappy Jim Carrey Grinch, either).
And yet...you people still haven't seen it.

Why? What's wrong with Hot Rod? He didn't rape your childhoods. He never touched your girlfriend in her bikini area. And he's certainly a courteous houseguest when he stops over (unless he's with his dad -- in which case, move the lamps).
Why no love for Hot Rod??? I'm not the only person who's noticed. Ben Lyons over at E!online has wondered exactly why this film hasn't caught on. Sure, it's bound to be a cult hit. And sure it's going to spawn at least four careers (five if Chester Tam gets the notice he deserves for the absolutely hilarious Richardson).
Five years from now, very few of us will be able to say we saw Hot Rod when it first opened. Rest assured, other people will try, but they'll be fronting. A $5 million opening for a wide-release picture is kinda pitiful. And that means it doesn't have long before it hits second run and DVD, where I assure you it will become a classic.
At least Roger Ebert gets it. But with a dearth of bad reviews (check out MetaCritic or Rotten Tomatoes to see how ugly it's gotten), people aren't exactly flocking to the theaters.
Do you REALLY want to be one of the late-comers to the party? Or would you rather be a pioneer? Get your butt in the theater and see it. And listen to this on the way...

For more information about Hot Rod (or to buy a SWEET Team Rod t-shirt), visit Stuntman Forever or the official site

Oh, and PS...I love Will Ferrell. I was just poking fun.

Arctic Tale Hits a Berg

2007-08-05T15:05:00.001-04:00

I had the misfortune of seeing this 'documentary' yesterday and I must say it SUNK. Between the comments of one, Queen Latifah and the personification of every single action of the animals in the film, this was one monotonous whale.

The start was fine, typical wildlife film. Soon, however, we were hearing about the FEELINGS behind each of the animals instincts! Imagine, a walrus depressed for lack of a comfortable sleeping place! THE HORROR!

Additionally, one would think that given this film was in participation with the folks at National Geographic the footage of the animals would be top-notch. Nay, say I. The footage, though amazingly close at times, looked to be the quality produced from my cell phone's camera! Grainy, dark, hard to watch!

See this movie at your own risk. Kids will undoubtedly enjoy the prancing of the baby animals but parents can expect a long long 83 minutes, narrated with comments such as, "When your mother is a polar bear and she calls you, you BEST be coming."

Pax

THE DARK KNIGHT teaser is gone!

2007-08-01T10:15:00.000-04:00

And so is http://www.whysoserious.com.
In its place? Well, you can still get pics of the folks who participated in the ComiCon festivities (shame on Collider for thinking there were none -- do they even pay attention?) via whysoserious' brand-new redirect: http://www.rent-a-clown.com/.
As for the teaser...well, it's still out there. You just have to get creative (potentially copyright infringing) in looking for it.

That darn Joker is at it again! UPDATED -- The Aftermath!!!

2007-07-27T01:39:00.000-04:00

Well, the teaser trailer's not that far off (in fact, footage from the ComiCon presentation's been popping up periodically on YouTube), but the Joker's got a mission for the folks out at SDCC...
The trail begins at THIS SITE...
So, what do you see there? Well, the old Uncle Sam recruiting poster...just, um...enhanced...

...and there are some instructions scrawled underneath...

...and even a satellite photo if you can't figure out where you're headed...

How do I know it's SDCC? Well, the map coordinates are kinda spot on...

Oddly enough, if you look it up on Google Earth, there's even a photograph someone uploaded at the EXACT SPOT everyone's supposed to meet. So, here's what you're looking for (if you're reading this blog and in San Diego)...

I'm sure SOMEONE out there will post something about the fun and games tomorrow...

UPDATE:
So, the event WAS at ComiCon (big surprise there), and you can find information about it on the whysoserious site.

Or, if you're lazy, you can go directly to

The Wannabes

or

Surveillance

to see more of the fun.

And, as an added bonus, the teaser trailer went live today, as well (on the whysoserious site...what, you thought you could get away from it?). It's not nearly as mindblowing as the teaser for Batman Begins, but this one's just a taste...and we've got a full year before we see the finished product...

Goodbye, Harry Potter...

2007-07-21T22:59:00.000-04:00

You know...it's over.
Yeah, we've got two more movies to wait for. But, it's over.
I was confronted with exactly this feeling after watching Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Something beloved is finished. We're not getting any more. Strangely, I never feel this way about comic cancellations, but with book and movie series I get a little twinge of sadness.
There aren't any more Harry Potter books forthcoming. And while I enjoyed the hell out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I'm saddened that I finished it so fast.
I picked the book up last night at the big Borders event. There were about 900 people there, some in costume, some dorks, some kids, some moms, some of pretty much everyone. I people watched for a good long time, enjoyed the atmosphere, and chatted with all the Borders folk I know. And it occurred to me as I was walking up to the store that I was whistling John Williams' "Hedwig's Theme". So, officially count myself as a Potter dork.
No, I wasn't in costume. Shut up.
I went home after a couple hours of people watching, sat down and read for a few minutes before I realized that it was already late and I wasn't gonna finish the book that night.
When I woke up, I was even more reluctant to dive in. Two hours got me halfway through the book before I set off to have fun with my day. Too fast. Needed a break.
I meandered around town, wandered, talked to people, had lunch, watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix again, and generally avoided all but the most perfunctory occasional reading. People kept asking how it was when they saw I was carrying the book with me.
Chances are, you don't give a crap what I say, you're either gonna read the book or you won't. At this point, it's a culturual thing. But let me tell you, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not only a worthy conclusion to the series, it's quite possibly the best book in the series.
After the events of his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry and his friends have decided to skip their final year in favor of a dangerous quest to find all of Voldemort's horcruxes (objects he's fragmented his soul into) and stop his reign of terror once and for all.
Where at times in the last two books, I felt that Rowling was kinda losing the way, the final volume not only nails the dismount, it shows that the whole routine was pretty close to flawless. There's a ton of loose ends that get cleared up. There's actually a sense of finality to the proceedings. Things are coming to a close and everyone knows it.
Where some of the previous volumes got very internalized and talky, this book is almost wall-to-wall action. From the opening ambush to the final fatal battle, you're on the edge of your seat, flipping pages like crazy.
The body count is DEVASTATING. The stakes are high, and not everyone makes it out in one piece (A few fan favorites might be on the butcher's bill, too. Don't get too attached to ANYONE.). Damn near every minor character in the series gets a hero moment where they get to shine.
That's all I'm telling you about the plot. No spoilers. No hints. Nuts to that...read the damn book.
I just don't know what in the world they can cut out to make this movie-length. They might finally have to split the book in half. It's just huge and involving and there's less fat available to edit out.
That's about what we have left at this point. The movies. And then it really is over.
Much as I'm saddened by that prospect, I'm glad that people forced me to read the first couple of books. I've had a great time with them. And I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out. Sure, I'd like it to go forever, but that's not quite how life works, now is it?
Harry and Ron and Hermione have been my friends for the last four years, and I'm sad to know I'll never hear from them again. But I think I'm better off having read their exploits. In a few years' time, I look forward to revisiting their adventures at Hogwarts. Until then, well, it's time to look for something else to get attached to.
Thanks, JK. You've filled another Muggle with joy. Now, write something new and fun. Maybe we'll all be hooked again.

My ramblings on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-09T05:10:00.000-04:00

Hmmm.
What to say about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
Hmmm...
Well, they cut a lot out. But, the book was 896 pages. To cover it fully, with every detail intact, would take days. At two hours and 18 minutes, they've pared the story down to its bare bones, trading internal monologue and political maneuvering and teen romance for action.
We lose a lot of character beats for supporting characters as well. This means very little at all of Tonks, only a few moments with Luna Lovegood and all of Ron Weasley's big moments disappear with the Quidditch (there's broom flying aplenty, but none for the sake of the game in the film). Harry and Cho's romance is whittled down to a handful of fleeting moments that doesn't even whet your appetite.
If that's going to spoil your appreciation of the fifth film in the Harry Potter franchise, don't even bother going. Keep to your books and appreciate them for what they are. You're likely never going to be happy with the films, anyway.
If you're looking for one of the most fast-paced films in the franchise (nearly dizzyingly so) or some harrowing wizard-on-wizard combat? Well, they've got your number exactly.
David Yates, the director of this fifth film in the continuing adventures of Harry Potter, has a background in British television. He's never helmed a production like this. He's more than up to the task, keeping things lean and focussing the film almost entirely on Harry. He is our hero, after all. That makes the film more like a typical American film than the previous chapters, but it's not like they're ever going to win converts to the series at this point. You're either watching them or you aren't.

The film starts out with Harry at his lowest point. Cedric Diggory is dead. Harry feels responsible. He's isolated once again from the wizarding world and he feels miserable. He's tortured mercilessly by his cousin Dudley and his crew (Dudley now sporting the costume of a chav and looking much the worse for it). Bad things happen, and Harry is whisked away from Privet Drive by the Order of the Phoenix (waste no time in getting that title in!).
Harry's reunited with his friends and presented with a new nemesis: the Ministry of Magic themselves. Turns out that Harry's claims of the return of Voldemort aren't believed by the folks at the top, and they'll stop at nothing to squash out any word of the return of He Who Must Not Be Named.
In pursuit of that, the Ministry forces Dumbledore to accept a new teacher at Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge, as brought to shocking pink life by Imelda Staunton, is every bit as iron, unbending and unflinchingly evil as she was on the written page. But there's a bit of humanity to the teensy despot now. I almost felt sorry for her. (Damn you and your acting skills, Imelda Staunton!)
Umbridge starts tightening her fist, enforcing the Ministry's new draconian vision. And that vision doesn't include learning any sort of defense against the Dark Arts (Why would anyone need to defend themselves? Rubbish idea, if you ask me). The students take it upon themselves to have a secret class, with Harry teaching what he's learned from fighting for his life over the last four years.
It's with Dumbledore's Army that the film misses out on some of its best potential material. However, we do end up with a training montage, and that has to mean something, right? Can't have an action movie without a montage, I say.
The kids get pretty darn good at their combat spellcraft, and that's a good thing because we're whisked into the finale very, very quickly.
How's the finale? Well, it's big. Really darn big. The Death Eaters really see action this time (the bulk of their attack on the Quidditch World Cup cut out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), fighting both the D.A. kids and the Order of the Phoenix. And the results are more intense than anything in the series thus far (and earning the film a PG-13 rating).

What's good?
Hmmm. Well, every moment that Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith is on screen, to be sure. They've brought their A games, and consequently, they raise the bar for the rest of the cast, who seem more than adequate to keep up. Staunton as Umbridge, of course. She's so close to how I envisioned the character in the book that she made my flesh crawl. She's the perfect combination of malevolent menace and sickeningly proper ettiquette. I really wish we saw more of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, but he's damn near pushed out of the film until the end.
Jason Isaacs, of course. He's almost always great, though. Ralph Fiennes turns to subtlety to embody the ultimate evil of Lord Voldemort, not going over the top one wee bit. That's left to the batshit crazy Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, who gets precious little screen time, but wrings gallons of madness out of her brief moments.
The kids are growing into fine little actors themselves, and Daniel Radcliffe shows signs that his career is going to continue long after he puts the Potter character to rest. Rupert Grint has already proven that, but gets so little time in this one. The budding Ron-Hermione romance is hinted at, but nothing else. Emma Watson also suffers from near-deletion. If she and Ron aren't right next to Harry, they're not in the movie. Evanna Lynch does a marvelous job with her few scenes as Looney Luna Lovegood. She's creepy and weird to the nth degree with seemingly little or no effort.
The humor. This is a really funny chapter in the series. And considering how dark and violent it gets, the humor is a welcome respite from the gloom that the series is delving into.
The effects work is generally good, though I found the centaurs and Grawp a wee bit cartoonish. The final fight is amazing, though. Throwing in visualizations was very necessary, and Yates and company managed to make the wizarding duels exciting and harrowing.

What's not so good?
Well, cutting out three quarters of the book. Duh.
You miss out on a lot of great character moments. "Weasley is our king." The twins' exit from the school (since they've NEVER had Peeves in the films, this was bound to be weaker for his loss). Harry's romantic confusion (though, in his credit, Radcliffe manages to convey some of that without the setup).
The flying scenes. Remember where I said the effects work was generally good? Well, the flying scenes look like they were shot before Star Wars and before Superman: The Movie. The compositing is sloppy -- not even TV quality by today's standards.

You don't need me to recommend the film to you. Either you're going to see it or you're not. You made that decision years ago. While stripped down to its bare bones, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gets it all pretty close to right. The big moments are all there (including that dreaded third act death). It's just the little things that you end up missing.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!!!

2007-07-04T21:05:00.001-04:00

Adam gets trapped by DEAD HEIST

2007-07-01T00:29:00.000-04:00

Occasionally trouble just finds you.
Say, for instance, being linked to the entirety of Swirl Films upcoming release Dead Heist, written by Anghus Houvouras (Fearsome, 20 Funerals) and directed by Bo Webb (The Idea Guy. That shouldn't be too much trouble, right?
The film's as low-budget as low budget gets, yet still manages to get off an interesting shot or two. Sure, it's highly derivative, but it's also wackily original, too. A melange of dozens of familiar bank heist/vampire/zombie/shoot-em-up movies, the plot of Dead Heist isn't really all that serious about anything other than a body count.
Jackson (DJ Naylor) is a small-time thug and bodyguard who gets mixed up in a scheme with a bunch of low-rent gangsta never-will-be's to rob a bank in a small town.
Doing some preliminary scouting, Jackson meets this weird guy at the local surplus store who spews some weird shit about vampires and zombies. The weird dude is played by Big Daddy Kane, so you KNOW he's gonna end up 1) being right about the zompires (I'm copyrighting that term. I own it. Nobody else can use it.) and 2) kicking a whole lotta ass.
The wannabes are led by Ski (Brandon Hardin, who also was the extras casting director...ain't low budget films great like that?), a guy tougher than he's skinny. And he's one skinny emeffer. Ski gets the bright idea to take the bank a day early, when Jackson's scouting the town and casing the bank. They even manage to score two of the local deputies as hostages, including pretty Deputy Becky (Michelle Mims).
Things go wrong (Do any bank heists EVER go right???), the local po-po shows up and after night falls, so do the living dead. And then things just get messy.

The final verdict? Well, it's not a good film, but I don't think it was trying to be. It's fun, though, and that'll do most nights in front of the Tee-Vee. There's a lot to like in Dead Heist. It never takes itself seriously, but it's also not tonge-in-cheek or smarmily self-aware. This means the film can be violent as hell and even slightly scary while tossing in the occasional one-liner or sight gag.
The filmmaking shows a bit of promise. There are some neat shots, and a cool-as-hell sequence when the bank is finally stormed by a veritable army of the undead (which echoes a scene in this summer's 28 Weeks Later). The acting isn't necessarily award caliber, but that's not what you're looking for when you check out a low-budget flick most of the time, anyway. You're looking for blood, violence and a body count that you have to take your shoes off to tally up. Dead Heist has all that and a can of Krunk energy drink. No, really. There's Krunk Energy Drink in it. Who knew?
I'm sure when they pitched it, the filmmakers threw out names like From Dusk Til' Dawn and Dead Presidents. Not bad films to aspire to be, but Dead Heist doesn't quite have the budget or the talent to line up in the same ranks. Nothing wrong with that, though. Really. Josh Becker's Running Time is another deliciously low-budget affair that I had oodles of fun with on DVD. If you come with the intention of having a good time with this film, there's plenty to be had.

Wanna know how hateful the Right is in about five seconds?

2007-06-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

"...if I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot." -- Ann Coulter

Seriously, that's just sick.
What kind of diseased mind says something like that in a public forum? "I don't agree with someone, so I hope he suffers and dies!" Really.
Ann Coulter is so threatened by Edwards' progressive ideas and agenda that she's wishing death on him. That says loads about his effectiveness. If he's got the Right scared, he could well be the guy we need heading a ticket next November.
We're gonna win, folks.

Keith Calder is Anti-Human!!!

2007-06-22T01:48:00.000-04:00

USA Today has an article on the upcoming film Terra which has already stirred up a shitstorm.
Why? Because the film is about an alien world that must fight to protect itself when invaded by earthlings.
The humans come to the planet to rape it like George Lucas raped fanboy childhoods everywhere, looting the planet's natural resources and disturbing the ecosystem.
Because this parallels the environmental destruction of the earth, one would think this story might be a parable of today. But, the Right Wing bloggerati are already spewing hate at it, accusing producer Keith Calder of being, amongst other things, anti-American and anti-human.
Think about that for a second. Really. What does America have to do with the worldwide consumption of natural resources. Sure, we consume more than our fair share, but we also HAVE more than our fair share. Perhaps this judgement of anti-Americanism by the twits on the Right comes from some guilt? Perhaps they realize that their rabid consumption and wasteful ways are actually endangering our future.
Wait. What am I thinking. The day a Right Winger realizes anything other than "Jesus is coming back...and soon!", I might just die laughing.
Anti-human, though? Seriously... What's anti-human about PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN??? You know, the thing around us that SUSTAINS OUR LIVES??? Are Right Wingers this dumb? Really?
This is the dogmatic stupidity that infuriates me about the Right. They don't want humanity to survive. Why? Because it might cut into profits this month. Things are gonna get a lot worse unless someone smacks some sense into the neo-cons...if that's even possible. They might not be bright enough to actually absorb information that's not spoon fed to them by a fat, annoying Oxy-cotin addict or a vitamin shill with a show on FOX News.
Yeah, Keith Caldwell's anti-human, all right. Any moron who believes that might as well join the rest of the lemmings in their march to the sea. The rest of us don't need them any more.

Adam falls hard for ONCE

2007-06-21T02:42:00.000-04:00

I hate musicals, by and large.
Musicals, unlike opera, tend to stop the story, bring things to a halt, have a musical number, then continue with the narrative. This is why I refuse to consider West Side Story (still not a fan, but so what?) or Moulin Rouge (which I adore) musicals. They're closer to opera, where the songs tell the story. They just have some spoken dialogue in-between.
Strangely, I adore Singin' In the Rain, which exists purely for the joy of the songs.
I'm weird that way.
Needless to say, I hate musicals.
I was still knocked on my ass by Once, the brilliant little Irish film that's finally found its way to the states. It's deceptively simple, incredibly heartfelt and sweet, and meticulously crafted on a miniscule budget.
Glen Hansard from the band The Frames and Markéta Irglová (with whom Hansard released The Swell Season last year) are Guy and Girl (they have names, but they don't really matter). He's a street musician who also works in his father's vacuum cleaner repair shop. She's an immigrant from the Czech Republic who's working odd jobs to support her mom and daughter.
They come together by the simplest of coincidences, all for the love of music. It's a love story, to be sure. But it's as much about the love of music and the need to have their voice heard than it is about two people falling for one another.
Like 2005's Hustle and Flow, Once is very much a movie about desperation. However, where Craig Brewer's film wallows in the hopelessness of the lead's situation, John Carney's Once clothes itself in the joy of music itself. The characters sing because they have love in their hearts. For their lost loves and perhaps for each other. Occasionally that love brings pain, but it's better to have loved and lost, eh?
The relationship between the guy and girl is awkward (he's nearly 2 decades older than her, neither of them is really over their exes, etc), but remarkably honest. Not a moment of the movie feels forced, even the one Hollywood moment in the entire film (a swooping crane shot at the end). Shot hand-held, cinéma vérité style, the film feels lifelike. The ending defies Hollywood logic and still feels satisfying.
Have I mentioned the songs? Fantastic. Simply fantastic. I'm gonna track down the soundtrack...and if I can, the album that Hansard and Irglová did together. I'm still humming the tunes hours later, and I can see wanting them in my music library for years to come.
Hansard's voice has an earnest everyman quality. The emotion he pours out in his songs is palapable and very, very real. I've not listened to The Frames before, but I'll be listening now. And Irglová, at the ripe old age of 17 when she did the soundtrack has all the experience and pipes of someone like Kirsty McColl. As a backup or a lead vocalist, she's a treat to listen to, and she raises the bar for the rest of the performers.
Get your asses to the theater and check this one out. It's wonderful to the nth degree.

Yes! A DVD double dip I'll gladly pony up the money for!

2007-06-19T10:49:00.000-04:00

from TVShowsOnDVD.com:
They're gonna be re-releasing Twin Peaks all remastered and nice for a new series-spanning mega boxset this fall.
Word is, there will be tons of extras. And the DVD's being produced by the same guys who are working feverishly on the 4 disc superdeluxe Blade Runner set that's also coming in the fall.
This is something to be excited about. And trust me, I'm positively giddy with happiness about this.
Extras include the pilot episode (previously unavailable on R1 DVD) and interviews with most of the principals involved, EXCEPT some of the Twin Peaks hotties. Apparenly Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee and Laura Flynn Boyle didn't think enough of the series or wanted too much money. I don't believe I heard anything about Heather Graham, either way. But, my favorite name of all time (and my pick for the bestest of the babes from the show) Madchen Amick (Sleepwalkers, Dream Lover, Barry Sonnenfeld's fantastic Fantasy Island remake) did.
Pardon me while I do a happy dance here.
Funnily enough, I heard about this from a friend a couple of days ago. And apparently, according to the article, rumbings about it have been circulating for up to two years. Wow. Consider my finger firmly on the pulse of what's happening.
The fun thing? I'll probably donate my original issue DVDs to someone after I get this new box (instead of selling 'em). Why? Because there's always someone who's NEVER seen Twin Peaks and needs to.
This is great news, and I'll be itching for this set until it drops in October.

Adam says SICKO is good for your health!

2007-06-16T12:02:00.000-04:00

Michael Moore has a bad reputation.
He's a rabble rouser, to be sure. An enemy of a good portion of the establishment. A gadfly stinging the rump of corporate America.
Liberal as I might be, even I have some problems with Moore. He's PT Barnum with a political agenda. The show is sometimes more important than the message with him. The irritation he causes is sometimes the root inspiration for his actions. Not change itself, but the annoyance he causes his enemies.
Quite a lot of the time, Moore gets the Right so enraged, it helps them to stave off attempts to actually enact change.
Moore's necessary, though. He's a funny guy who tackles unfunny subjects.
And now, he's gone after the most unfunny thing ever. The American health care system.
Sicko is a gigantic wake up call. A smack to the face of the American people. It's chilling at times, seeing how utterly broken our health care system is.
At one point in the movie, Moore travels to California and sees security camera footage of an elderly woman dropped off on the street by the hospital she was being treated at because she couldn't pay. The woman is confused and disoriented -- you can tell that from the silent footage. And she's wandering around with no idea where she is or where she should go.
The footage is terrifying.
That could be any one of us. Or our mothers. Or our children.
What kind of nation do we live in where a HOSPITAL dumps patients on the street? Literally dumps them.

It wouldn't be a Michael Moore film without some form of a stunt. In Sicko, he takes a flotilla of civillian 9/11 rescue volunteers and other people in need of health care and takes them to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba looking for health care.
Of course, he can't get into the naval base. So he takes the people to a Cuban hospital, in face of the US embargo of the island. Shame on you, Michael Moore. You got a woman prescriptions for inhalers (that would cost her $120 in the US) for the equivalent of $0.05 in Cuba. Shame shame shame.
Seriously. The drugs cost $119.95 LESS in Cuba.
I thought we lived in the greatest nation of the history of the world. I thought we lived in a nation that can do anything, should we put our mind to it. How can we not provide health care to ALL our citizens when a Third World country like Cuba can manage it?

Yes, Moore admits in the film that he gave money to the webmaster of MooreWatch to keep his wife in treatment rather than he have to shut down his website, fully hoping that Jim Kenefick continue to bust his balls. Say what you will about Moore's motives, but no conservative group gave Kenefick the money.
Instead, his enemy did.
Don't you wish you had enemies like that?

Tony Benn, a former member of the British Parliament, puts the whole issue in perspective. The whole thing is about democracy. Prior to democracy, all the power was in the hands of the rich. Giving the poor the vote moved the power from the marketplace to the polling place.
Choice depends on the freedom to choose. If you're in debt, you lose the freedom to choose. When the poor feel helpless, they don't vote. And that keeps the power in the marketplace, not the polling place.

Sicko is mature beyond Moore's previous work. He doesn't get snarky. He doesn't have cutesy cartoons. Why? Because there's no humor in tragedy. And our health care system is a tragedy.
The movie ends on a hopeful not of "What if?", realizing that our pharmaceutical and health care industries are completely entrenched and won't go quietly into that good corporate night. But what if we could provide for our citizens as they deserve. We live in the richest, most productive nation on earth. Don't we owe it to our own people?

Adam doesn't go for THE OH IN OHIO

2007-06-15T12:47:00.000-04:00

Independent film has stagnated over the last 15 years, spiraling the bowl into the pit of mediocrity.
Indie films have become so formulaic and rote that the constant stream of Hollywood remakes seems positively riveting by comparison.
So goes the naval-gazing introspection of The Oh in Ohio, a handsomely-shot, earnestly performed mess from last summer. Where the filmmaking and acting are both top-notch, the movie suffers from its indie subject matter and sensibilities, substituting false character notes for story and content.
Both Priscilla (Parker Posey) and Jack Chase (Paul Rudd) are unhappy in their marriage. Why? Because Priscilla has never had an orgasm. Jack is convinced it's not him. After all, he has his youthful memories as a stud to remind him of his prowess in the sack.
After all of this suffering, both of them go their separate ways, Jack with a student (Mischa Barton) and Priscilla on a walkabout of sexual discovery. She tries everything to achieve happiness, starting with a sex guru played by Liza Minelli who embodies every stereotype feminism has to offer with maybe the exception of the crew-cut bull dyke. Priscilla gets her lesbian moment, though, with a sex shop clerk played by Heather Graham. Because, as you all know, all lesbians are hot. Mmmmm, hot lesbians...
Where was I? Oh, yes, Priscilla's sex life. Well, she turns into quite sexual adventurer, the entire time complaining that she's never there when she has sex (after she's already discovered her orgasm through mechanical means). Considering that she realizes that her frigidity is totally internal, and she's learned to let go and enjoy the act on her own, the entire middle of the movie feels artificial to the nth degree.
The ending is utterly unresolved, Priscilla's journey left on the wayside as she considers a new life. Her story and her marriage to Jack are discarded with little thought to emotional consequence or even the audience's curiousity.
Simply put, all the magic that Rudd, Keith David, Parker Posey and the great Danny DeVito bring to the movie seems an utter waste, since there's nothing really going on and no actual arc for their characters to develop.
The whole thing seems rather pointless, as there are no real lessons learned and nothing actually makes any progress in their lives. I'm almost positive that the writers just thought it would be witty to make a movie about orgasms called The Oh in Ohio and the entire production was based around just how utterly witty they were for that magnificent play on words.
The Oh in Ohio is worthwhile only if you're desperate to see a movie with any of the previously mentioned actors, of if you're really jonesing for a taste of Cleveland. Otherwise, it's merely time killer.

I still want one of these. Badly. Now.

2007-06-05T22:32:00.000-04:00

Wow. Get me this DVD. Like, now...

2007-05-27T23:34:00.000-04:00

Just...wow. Incredible lineup on that one.

Heroes Metagame: Kaito Nakamura/tracking systems

2007-05-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

The latest email from Wireless came last night. Didn't wanna read it until I watched the season finale later today (iTunes download starts around noon-ish, I think), but it appears it didn't make any difference (unless they show some of Hana's travels).

First, Hana points us towards Kaito Nakamura (Hiro's pa, for the un-savvy) and his Yamagato Fellowship.
The Fellowship profess to be an organization that studies heroes. Imagine that...
There is a video message from Kaito Nakamura on the site. However, it is in Japanese. And I know about three words in Japanese. So, I'm no help there.
Amongst their studies are Gawain, Thor, Beowulf, Jason, Crazy Horse and one Takezo Kensei, the "Sword Saint" Hiro is fond of.

Takezo Kensei

A wild savage turned master swordsman whose heroics helped unify Japan.

Takezo found a sword frozen in the snow that helped him focus all his strength and courage. Some say this sword, and Takezo’s power, were a Godsend.

With war threatening to fracture Japan, he went to the Dragon of Kiso Mountain and asked him to teach him the secrets of the sword. The Dragon agreed to help in exchange for all of his love. Takezo loved a princess with all his heart but knew Japan would fall if he did not triumph, so he agreed. The Dragon taught him and he became Kensei (a sword saint).

With his newfound knowledge, Kensei fought and won a great battle – thus saving his people. After the battle, the Dragon came to Kensei’s palace to collect on their deal. The Dragon demanded the life of the princess. Kensei refused and cut out his own heart, handed it to the dragon and said, “My love is in here. Take it.” And then he died. When the Dragon saw what Kensei was willing to sacrifice for his people (and his love) he was so moved that he replaced Kensei’s heart and breathed fire-life back into the swordsman.

The Takezo dynasty went on to rule Japan with valour and love for a hundred years.

Find the other bios on your own. I'm not doing ALL the work for ya.

Second, this post appeared last night on Hana's blog.

I’m in China.

Believe it or not, I am about to be launched into space. Really. I am not writing in metaphor. I’m not trying to be cute. I’m about to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s the only chance we’ve got to put an end to this. It’s the only chance we’ve got for freedom.

Linderman’s organization has two tracking systems…

One is called the Walker System -- HRG and Parkman are busy disabling it right now in New York City. Sadly, Ted Spague died on this mission. Another casualty in our war.

The second system is a satellite orbiting up in the heavens. Anyone who’s been “marked” -- anyone with the double-incision marks (like me) can be tracked 24 hours a day by this machine. So, I have to destroy it.

Like Linderman’s intranet in Vegas, I can’t crack this system unless I get close.
The Chinese have the next bird leaving planet Earth. That’s why I’m here. Who knew our little journey would lead to this?

No matter what happens to me up there, know your help has been invaluable to the cause. Know that this is all about to finally end. At least for now…

With you always,

HG

I wonder what surprises the Heroes crew have planned for the summer in the metagame...

Harvey Dent...Jokerized???

2007-05-19T18:12:00.000-04:00

via AICN:
So, it's finally making sense. After the deployment of the I Believe in Harvey Dent campaign page (see the original story below), Warner Bros has set up a DIFFERENT page, I Believe in Harvey Too.
Here's what you see when you first open the page:

There's a couple of boxes underneath, though...to input your email addy and a captcha code. Put those in, and you get a cryptic message:

Get it wrong and you get this:

If you've done it correctly, you'll receive an email from tragicpast@ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com saying the following:

I always say, you never know what a man is truly made of until you peel the skin off his face one piece at a time. Here is your chance to help:
http://www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com/submitpixel_flash.aspx?uid=a3f2297e0ef24b168b35ed994599f2f6
There will be a set of X and Y coordinates that will allow you to erase one of the pixels in the ersatz Dent poster. And there's something hiding underneath. AICN thinks it's the long-awaited first official pic of the Joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger.
As of 6:00 pm EST, here's what we had:

12:00 am on Sunday

Yup. Definitely the Joker. By morning, most of it should be visible!!! YAY!!!

Almost there...almost there...

3:00 pm

I Believe in Harvey Dent

2007-05-17T21:40:00.000-04:00

TONIGHT, WE DINE IN CLEVELAND!!!

2007-05-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

Absolutely brilliant

BBC's PANORAMA takes a look at Scientology

2007-05-16T00:15:00.000-04:00

via the awesome Rav:
No guarantee on how long these will stay up. So, watch 'em while you can.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Own the car from DEATH PROOF!

2007-05-15T08:08:00.000-04:00

Tell me you wouldn't look like a smooooth pimp if you offered a girl a ride in Stuntman Mike's car.

OK. They'd probably think you were creepy. But, you still want it, don't you?
How much you wanna bet the reserve's over a hundred Gs?

Because you demanded it!!! PORN!!!

2007-05-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

OK. That was spiffy. How's about some religion to wash "that taste" out of your minds?

New Bruce Campbell commercial for Old Spice

2007-05-14T20:12:00.000-04:00

It's a SECRET

2007-05-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

Somewhere in this post, there is a secret link. If this link is real, this represents the first definitive word about something long rumored, but never confirmed. And it means that the "reshoots" are done and it's really, REALLY happening. However, I'd bet a package like this isn't coming out in the US. And the bastards don't ship overseas. Dammit.
And if you look at the labels for this post, you know what it's about.

Star Wars Robot Chicken preview!

2007-05-07T01:21:00.000-04:00

Right click and SAVE AS

On Bushisms

2007-04-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

Those who know me know what a HUGE fan I am of the president.
I've frequently called him an idiot, based on his near-insane foreign policy and his complete lack of understanding of what the American people want or need. I've also frequently chuckled at his gaffes in grammar and syntax, dubbed by some clever SOB as Bushisms.
I had a strangely clarifying thought this morning, though. Technically, under the rules of poetic license, all of his missteps are totally valid. The only real criteria for true poetic license is having been published. As the president of the United States, and as governor of Texas, he's been published more times than you can shake Dick Cheney's shotgun at.
So, technically speaking...he's allowed to make up language as he goes along. He can simply write it off as poetic license, and we can either accept it or go take that proverbial flying leap.

Sandford

2007-04-29T09:36:00.000-04:00

via Film Ick:
Those of you who have seen Hot Fuzz will be amused.
Those of you who have not...suck.

Spinal Tap is back!

2007-04-26T16:03:00.000-04:00

Well...sorta. They're in a 15 minute short for the Live Earth concert. And they're also slated to perform at the event.
Check it out!

New feature on The Golden Compass website: Meet Your Daemon

2007-04-25T07:51:00.000-04:00

In the world of the His Dark Materials novels (which I still haven't read -- I suck), your soul lives outside your body in human form. The soul is called a daemon, and it takes the form of an animal that matches your personality.

Meet my daemon:

Decided to play around with the Meet Your Daemon feature on The Golden Compass site. Needless to say, I was surprised. I got a jackal daemon named Xanthia, one of 118 different jackal daemons or something like that. I didn't commit it to memory.

Here's the fun thing...you folks can help determine if the daemon is right for me. If you take the above quiz, your input will affect what final form the daemon takes.
You have 12 days until it settles into its final form.

Heroes metagame: Nathan Petrelli website

2007-04-24T07:06:00.000-04:00

The latest email from Hana Gitelman pointed the way to the election website for Nathan Petrelli's congressional campaign.
There's a wealth of information, downloads and goodness for you to check out.

Super-Duper Friends!!!

2007-04-21T23:25:00.000-04:00

If this becomes a Saturday morning cartoon, all will be right in the world.

Ferris the 13th trailer

2007-04-12T12:48:00.000-04:00

Quite frequently, I find myself loving the hell out of these mash-up trailers.

iPhone. My birthday. Coincidence? I think NOT!

2007-03-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

Apple's iPhone comes out June 11

Socialists review 300!

2007-03-30T00:33:00.000-04:00

My buddy Geoff posted a link on his MySpace blog to the Socialist Worker's review of 300.
It's funny as hell. Like many of the twitchy critics from the Berlinale, they don't quite get it.
Frankly, considering that WE are the gigantic empire invading a small country with elite soldiers and fantastic weapons...maybe 300 is an ANTI-war fable warning us against taking our wee opponents for granted...???

And you wonder why the Socialists lost the Cold War...

IV

2007-03-29T21:19:00.000-04:00

Just click here, dammit.

The horror...the horror...

2007-03-29T21:13:00.000-04:00

Heroes metagame: Hana's website

2007-02-27T01:46:00.000-05:00

Somewhere in all the muck from the previous metagame links, I missed one...Hana Gitelman's homepage.
There are ways to leave messages for HRG, but more importantly, there's an interactive channel open online DURING the show. A link to the interactive experience is on Hana's site.
Of course, I got the email for this AFTER the show had aired...and the content is only available while the show is on. Fun.
There are also two very detailed views of the pneumatic syringe that HRG's people use to inject the tracking isotope in their subjects.

There's a possible reference to a "Darcon" on the schematic, but a Google search turned up nothing useable. Not much else I can glean. Any ideas?

TLC Documentary: The World's First Time Machine

2007-02-27T01:07:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen this yet...watch it. It's a fascinating look at how close physics has come to actual real, practical time travel.

Interesting Wired blog about Heroes

2007-02-21T06:21:00.000-05:00

John Brownlee over at Wired has written an essay favorably comparing NBC's Heroes to Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory. (Each word takes you to a different volume of the trade paperbacks -- ain't I clever?)
I hadn't thought about it before, but it's a fitting comparison. Seven Soldiers pinioned on the idea that these very different characters had to band together to stop a threat without actually knowing/interacting with each other. The series was set up as seven different limited series that all interconnected into a greater story.
Funnily enough, Morrison had teased the series in a four-issue arc in JLA: Classified. The idea was this: periodically throughout human history, earth's population was decimated by an alien race called the Sheeda. They were, essentially, the faeries of myth. Only evil and insidious (much more in line with the faerie myths of old than the romanticized girlie stories of today). The Sheeda were opposed by the original Seven Soldiers, who were decimated in the process.
This new generation of the Seven Soldiers came across their destiny quite by accident (well, aside from Shining Knight) and weren't quite sure what to make of this whole Sheeda thing. It was cloaked by various other evils. People died. Lives were changed. And it was all as high-concept and thrilling as any other book Grant Morrison writes.
Seriously. Grant Morrison is one of the best writers in comics. His run on JLA is still the gold standard for superhero storytelling, and may well be for a while. Seven Soldiers of Victory is a worthy successor, with Great Big Ideas cloaked in the pulp stylings of four-color adventure.
Back to Heroes. The idea has always been presented that, at some point in the show, the various heroes would have to gather together to stop a threat. Of course, the threat has always been up to interpretation. Is it Sylar? Peter? Ted Sprague? The Horned-Rim Glasses guy? The mystery and the sense of discovery is one of the things that's made Heroes such compelling television. Every one of the characters is on their own quest. Every one of them has their own purpose and agenda. But they all seem to interconnect at odd angles, and they meet up from time to time, reinforcing the belief that there is some sort of Purpose in their interaction.
I like that they're formatting the show as if it were a comic, and that each season will be a volume of the trade paperback, essentially. A self-contained story that fits into a larger (and hopefully greater) whole. It's a different approach for TV, but I'm not unfamiliar with it.
If you haven't checked out Seven Soldiers of Victory, do so. It's really worth a look.

Rogan vs Mencia...hopefully this one won't get deleted...

2007-02-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

Joe Rogan VS Carlos Mencia ONSTAGE VIDEO
Uploaded by CapnHulk

Carlos Mencia: BUSTED!!!

2007-02-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

Heroes metagame: Matt Parkman

2007-02-13T03:20:00.000-05:00

Got a new email from Hana which led to what's supposed to be the last new profile from the Primatech files (at least for now). We've already met Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), but the new entry hints that his storyline is only just beginning to get interesting.

Case File – C3002
Subject: Matt Parkman (Known Aliases: None)
ABILITIES: Telepathy
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PERSONAL HISTORY: Matt Parkman, an LAPD patrol officer, was present at the Walker crime scene where his emerging abilities led him to the discovery of Molly Walker. Parkman began a tenuous working relationship with the FBI, specifically Agent Audrey Hanson, who believed his telepathic abilities would benefit the Sylar investigation.

After Parkman’s capture, his fully manifested abilities continued to aid him in his work with the FBI. He participated in the capture and interrogation of Theodore Sprague (See file C3003) and the continued investigation of Sylar’s murder spree. However, internal reports indicate that the ability may have caused personal problems on the job – he punched a fellow officer in the precinct locker room.
Sylar’s attack at Union Wells High School led Parkman and Agent Hanson to Odessa, Texas where they continued their investigation, during which Parkman became suspicious of my activities. Parkman’s surveillance and unsuccessful raid on Primatech Paper Company resulted in a six-month suspension from the LAPD and ruined his credibility with the FBI. He is currently working as a private security guard in Los Angeles.
* Recent search of pre-natal medical database indicates that Janice Parkman is pregnant. Refer to Prenatal Medical Chart for further study.
* Obtain sample of Amniotic Fluid for internal genetic testing. HIGH INTEREST in Parkman’s offspring and any abilities its genome might possess. Encourage CVS to complete genetic sequencing.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:
His telepathic abilities have posed a problem to him professionally, as evidenced by his departmental review, and personally, as evidenced by marriage counseling records. His desire to advance his career, which now seems to be an impossibility within the LAPD, may be a weakness to be exploited.

DIRECTIVE: Continue tracking and observing. His suspicion of Primatech Paper should not be viewed as a serious threat at this time.

Genius, Thy Name is National Lampoon

2007-02-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

New Hot Fuzz trailer

2007-02-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

via Empire magazine:
Hot Fuzz? Or Hot Sex?
You be the judge.

A little about piracy

2007-02-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

The BBC has a commentary about camcorder piracy that raises an interesting question or two.
First, I had no idea that Canada was such a source for pirated movies. Considering the frequency of Hollywood moving film and television productions to Canada, you'd think they'd have more of an interest in nipping that sort of thing in the bud.
From what I'm to understand, the film industry has been watermarking prints with little red dots in odd patterns. This was primarily to track exactly where bootleg DVD and video files came from.
Smart bootleggers might snip those frames from their masters, but I don't think any of them are that industrious.
Here's the thing I don't get. Pirated movies always suck. Even most DVD rips have tremendous artifacting issues in them. But the cams? They're unwatchable. The sound is utter garbage at best, and utterly incomprehensible most of the time. The picture quality is almost as bad. They're poorly framed, and you get the added benefit of any time someone in a theater moves, you see it.
As a way of duplicating the theatrical experience, cams might have some value. However, I've not seen one where the audience is particularly entertaining. Since bootlegs cannot adequately present the movie, I fail to see any value at all in watching one.
You pay roughly the same amount for a bootleg DVD as you do for a theater ticket. For that price, you get great sound and a sharp, pristine picture. You also get the communal experience of seeing a movie.
Some people have argued with me that you can watch the bootleg with a group of people at home on your big screen TV in your magnificent home theater. Well, what's the point? You can't hear anything. The video quality sucks. Sure, you're saving all that money on admission/concessions/parking/etc. For what? A movie you can't see, can't hear and can't enjoy. What a bargain!

I'll make it as simple as possible. There is no substitute for the theatrical experience. None. Even on a crappy movie, watching it in the theater is such an enhancement. Even those people who wait for a legitimate DVD and watch it in their home theater are missing out. There is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that their sound system is as good as even an average theater's. Sorry. Just isn't possible. And, come on, your DLP projector with an eight foot screen? Well, it doesn't compare to the 65 foot screen I watch movies on.
I'm not one for popcorn -- I ruined myself for that treat -- but grab something from the concession stand (or in the case of a theater with real food, the cafe). Munch on some candy or snacks. Sit down. Relax. Let the experience wash over you.
You just might find you enjoy movies again.
Home video is a great thing. It gives us an intimate connection to our favorite films. However, it's destroyed a generation of movie watchers who don't seem to understand that 1) it's really impolite to take that cell phone call in the middle of a movie or 2) you can wait until you're home to discuss who Jeremy is dating now. These folks are so used to the home experience of pausing, constant interruptions and generally not paying attention that they bring it with them to the theater. Worse yet, they don't seem to understand at all that the other people around them might actually be there for the film, and not them.

How do we combat either of these threats to our movie-watching enjoyment? Well, for one, patronize theaters that have rules. There's no reason a person taking phone calls in a theater should be allowed to remain. Simple economics dictates that you'd want to keep the majority of the customers over the single customer.
Patronize the places with better sound and projection quality -- chances are they pay their projectionists better, or actually (gasp) TRAIN them. If a place cares enough to present the movie in the best possible quality, they probably care enough to want to keep you as a customer. They're giving you an experience you can't duplicate at home, and it should be a special occasion. Even if you go weekly.
And fer cryin' out loud, stop downloading crappy bootlegs. That stuff's no good at all. Enjoy a movie like it was meant to be seen. Bigger than life and spread from one end of the horizon to the other.

I'll get off my soapbox...at least for now.

Heroes metagame update

2007-02-06T11:39:00.000-05:00

New email from Hana Gitelman -- the metagame seems kinda slow and lazy with letting information out there so far.
This one gave instructions in how to find Ted Sprague's file. If you've been paying attention, that's the Radioactive Hands guy who escaped from federal custody (and, if you saw the "extra scene" added last week, met with Hana).

Case File – C3003
Subject: Theodore Sprague (Known Aliases: Ted)
ABILITIES: Can emit radioactive energy from his body.
LOCATION: Unknown
PERSONAL HISTORY: Sprague, a medical equipment salesman from Los Angeles, was tracked and captured during a routine business trip to Kansas. His wife, Karen, most likely died due to the manifestation of Sprague’s ability. She succumbed to cancer after enduring sustained exposure to high levels of radiation.

FBI Agent Audrey Hanson and LAPD officer Matt Parkman (see C3002 file) investigated the death of Robert Fresco, Karen Sprague’s oncologist, as a possible “Sylar” victim. Their investigation instead led them to Sprague, who admitted to accidentally killing Fresco with his radiological ability.

Sprague was soon apprehended while visiting his wife in the hospital. Karen died during the arrest, and Sprague was taken in for questioning by Hanson and Parkman. After questioning, Sprague escaped FBI custody during prisoner transport and fled to the Nevada desert. We captured him there. He has since escaped our custody.

Our preliminary testing indicates that Sprague’s body is capable of releasing upwards of 10,000 Ci of radiation, enough to cause immediate death.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:
Sprague blames both himself and us for his wife’s death. He may seek revenge.

DIRECTIVE: Capture and detain. Use extreme caution as Sprague is not only a danger to anyone attempting to capture him but also a danger to all within a radius of several square miles.

Since the emails/clues seem to come in pairs, there was a second one with a URL for Hana's personal webpage: http://www.samantha48616e61.com/
There's a wee bit more info at that page, but any further information seems only to be "coming soon".

Aqua Terror Hunger Force!

2007-02-01T14:12:00.000-05:00

So, in case you've been hiding in a cave, I have some bad news.
America was confronted with that darn terrorism again. This time, the terrorists were a couple of stoner guys who worked for a viral marketing company.

They sure look scary, don't they? All that smiling. Scary, I tells ya!
These two masters of evil were putting up little LED signs that look like Mooninites from Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. If you aren't aware of what that is, please kill yourself now. We don't like you any more.
Said "packages" sparked a terror alert that apparently crippled the city of Boston. Because...they were battery powered.
Oh my God! Batteries! That remote controlled car is a TERRORIST WEAPON! So's that clock radio! So's your mom's dildo!
Yup. All of 'em are weapons of terror. So are those yellow blinking road signals they put on top of the orange barrels. They have batteries, too! Call Homeland Security!

Really. Does that look like a terrorist device? It looks "sinister" because it had a battery and wires? What the fuck? Come on, now. Think this through. It's a LIGHT-UP SIGN. It's too thin to be a bomb. Duh. Are people THAT dumb???
Of course, the Mooninite signs are probably going to become the hottest selling item on eBay this month. Rightfully so, as they are super-sweet and I want one. But the fact that the city of Boston went on some kind of tear running around the city "disarming" these dangerous signs just makes me laugh. After the first one, you'd figure they noticed they weren't explosive devices.
As to it being a bomb hoax...that would mean they intended them to be seen as bombs. What a load of horse shit.
What a bunch of dummies.

Two plead not guilty to Boston hoax charges
Stoners, Media Conglomerate Responsible for Boston Bomb Hoax
America's New Enemy Has Dreads, Watches Cartoons
Suspicious packages part of Turner Broadcasting marketing campaign
Artists perform at post-arraignment press conference
Two Suspects Arraigned After Turner Marketing Campaign Sparks Terrorism Scare
Boston Mooninite Fetching $5k on eBay
Promotional Gadgets Grip Boston in Fear and Loathing
Arrest Made After 'Suspicious Packages' Paralyzed Boston as Part of Cartoon Network Marketing Campaign
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Bomb T-Shirts

America Held Hostage...by Mooninites

2007-02-01T02:40:00.000-05:00

Bob Dylan is the greatest musical genius of all time.

2007-01-31T01:57:00.000-05:00

via donewaiting.com:

Asolutely hilarious.

Heroes metagame: Hana Gitelman & Sylar

2007-01-30T10:54:00.000-05:00

I still haven't watched last night's episode of Heroes yet, but I'm hoping we've seen more of Hana.
She sent me an email (I still can't quite wrap myself around the idea of metagames, receiving emails from fictional characters and all, but I'm trying) with a hidden login link inside Primatech's website. You might recognize the helix logo from MANY appearances on the show -- including a certain sword.

If she wasn't in more of the episode, I've been in her Primatech files:

CASE FILE: C3001
SUBJECT: Hana Gitelman (Known Aliases: Wireless)
ABILITIES: Can intercept, generate and interpret electronic wireless transmissions.
LOCATION: Currently unknown.
PERSONAL HISTORY: Grandmother fought in World War II in the resistance against Germany. Mother was a decorated Israeli pilot. Both her mother and grandmother were killed in a 1989 terrorist attack, which Gitelman survived.

Gitelman served in the Israeli Army and transferred to Mossad in 1997 where she excelled in Sig-Int and rose through the ranks of the intelligence organization, most likely due to her latent abilities.

I exploited Gitelman’s strong desire to participate in active field work, recruited her from Mossad, and put her in our service. After physical training at our secure facility and the full manifestation of her abilities, Gitelman was sent to Tanzania to intercept data on DNA alteration from Dr. Henry Strauss. She successfully completed the mission, but was captured in the process and turned over to the US Embassy. Her belief that she was working for the CIA and lack of bona fides most likely came as a surprise to her and our intelligence indicates that she escaped.

Gitelman has not been heard from since she escaped custody in Tanzania. I suspect she is living “off the grid” under an assumed identity.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:
Possibly unstable. Refer to Mossad-Prepared Psych Evaluation for detailed analysis. Gitelman may harbor resentment for what she views as our abandonment of her in Tanzania.

DIRECTIVE: Locate and debrief. Gitelman’s abilities makes her a highly valuable asset to the organization.

••CAUTION•• All communication regarding Hana Gitelman should be directed through non-electronic means (no email, text message, instant message, cell phone or land line). Keep all files stored at 4096-bit encryption.

There was a code hidden in her file. I won't tell you where to find it, just like I won't tell you where to find the helix link. You'll be blue if you don't find it, though.
There are also three surveillance photos of Hana in her file. There's also a bit of her Mossad file for your perusal.

There's also a rough sketch of what's been done to Hana/the source of her abilities. She's been injected with a "radio isotope" (radioactive, maybe?) that allows HRG and his people to track her (so much for life off the grid).

The code, by the way, gets you into the Sylar file...

Case File – C3004
Subject: Gabriel Gray Known Aliases: Sylar
ABILITIES: Telekinesis, Multiple Unknown Abilities*
LOCATION: Currently unknown. Last held captive at Odessa Facility.
PERSONAL HISTORY: Gray, a watchmaker by trade, was approached for study by Chandra Suresh who termed Gray his “patient zero.” Gray used his intuitive understanding of the biological workings of individuals on Suresh’s list to obtain their abilities. The specific mechanism of acquiring the powers is uncertain, but requires the removal of the victim’s brain matter.

With the “adoption” of new abilities, Gray assumed the name Sylar and began a killing spree – targeting individuals on Chandra Suresh’s list of “specials”. Although telekinesis is the only ability directly observed, Sylar has ostensibly acquired many other abilities from his victims.

We captured Gray after the Union Wells High School incident. FBI Agent Audrey Hanson and Matt Parkman’s investigation led them to an unsuccessful raid on Primatech Paper while Sylar was in our custody. Under our observation, Sylar proved uncooperative and an incident with Eden McCain/Sarah Ellis led to her death. Despite our best efforts, Sylar escaped from our custody before our study was complete.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE:
Infusion of foreign DNA into Sylar’s genome has corrupted his mind. He is sociopathic and singularly focused on gaining more abilities. His desire to be special will compel him to seek out more victims.

DIRECTIVE: Locate and recapture. Do not terminate. Further study required.

*Review Medical Chart for Codons Tested.

Still nothing new, information-wise. But interesting nonetheless.

Heroes metagame

2007-01-24T11:49:00.000-05:00

It begins here:

Sunshine trailer

2007-01-18T05:19:00.000-05:00

Embed This Video | Visit Fox Searchlight

Football: Is it Un-American?

2007-01-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

via Oliver Willis:

The Daily KOS blog hates football.
Great. Really. I'm all for people exercising their rights. I'm all for people expressing their opinions in a public forum, but this douchebag Jason Miller is WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Let's refute a few of his points.

"Rivers of ice cold beer gushing forth to satiate our desire to numb the mind and lower inhibitions...." or "For about six precious months of the year, the National Football League delivers heavy doses of testosterone, blood, adrenaline, and alcohol."
The NFL is not in the business of selling alcohol. Alcohol might be sold at sporting events, but this doesn't make the NFL responsible for wanting someone to have a beer.
I often enjoy a beer while watching The Daily Show. I guess that makes politics an alcohol salesman. I enjoy going to a theater where I can have a beer. Damn you, Hollywood. You've turned me into an alcoholic!
See how faulty this idiot's reasoning is already? Miller must be a monk, because he'd have to insulate himself from everything that had the possibility to entertain him, since you can enjoy a cold beer just about anywhere. Oh, wait. Monks drank beer, too. So, Miller must be some kind of hermit. And he expects us all to be hermits, too.

"And lest we forget, the NFL provides us with "Man Law" to shield us from our long repressed anima, which is constantly poised to assail our grossly exaggerated masculinity ...."
Since when has professional sports of any type given us any type of legislation (other than say, Bill Bradley)? As a PLAYER, you might learn certain guidelines about how you can live an orderly life. You might learn lessons in discipline and teamwork. But, you'd learn the same things in the Boy Scouts. Or any other youth organization. Once again, Miller is so full of it, it's leaking out his ears.
Since when does our dual masculine/feminine psyche have to be in conflict? Rosey Grier (a football player, and one tough motherfucker) used to show off his needlepoint on talk shows and even children's television. If a massive, hulking football player can endorse needlepoint, I think we can all agree that Mr Miller's bordering on delusional.
"Through the grace of our corporate gods, a host of media innovations (including a network devoted to the NFL and painstakingly detailed year round analyses) have significantly diminished the agony of off-season withdrawal."
Yes, there's an NFL network. But, there's also a Discovery Channel. And Animal Planet. Does he damn the animals for having their own network? Is everyone who has a media outlet evil? DAMN YOU, PBS! YOU HAVE A TV CHANNEL!!!
Congress has CSPAN! They must be oppressing us! Nancy Pelosi, you are an oppressor!
Jason Miller, you are an idiot.
"What could better reflect the collective psychosis of the American Empire than our mass obsession with the NFL? Born through violent revolution, expanded by genocide, enriched by slavery, and elevated to hegemony through imperialism, militarism, and economic tyranny, the United States, like NFL football, embodies avaricious savagery masked by a fastidiously maintained illusion of benevolent civility.
Arising from the same fetid bogs of spiritual decay that spawned the American Way, the NFL reeks with the stench of corporate tyranny, patriarchy, racism, superficiality, greed, competitiveness, and materialism."
Mr Miller, you are utterly out of line here. My family came to the US long after slavery was abolished. My father only arrived here in 1956. What does my family, my American family, have to do with any of this? What does our enjoyment of the game of football have to do with any of this?
Answer: Nothing.
Nor do the families of any other immigrants who've come to this country to escape persecution and tyranny OUTSIDE OF THIS COUNTRY. And all of those people can come together and enjoy a cultural event together, say for instance a sporting event.
At my night/weekend job, I deal with a Japanese gentleman who works at Honda. He's not an American citizen. I don't know that he aspires to be. However, he's an Ohio State Buckeye fan. He adopted them as much as he adopted Columbus, Ohio as his home city. Is it imperialism that a foreigner can come to America and involve himself in our culture through athleticism?
Let's go back to the original paragraph. Yes, America was born in a violent revolution. We were shrugging off the yoke of an oppressive government that exploited us. So, football celebrates that? Good for football. Yay for us.
Mr Miller's not really making much of a case for himself so far.
"Agony of off=season withdrawal"? He must not have heard of basketball, baseball, hockey, NASCAR, arena football, professional soccer, etc. I don't suffer just because the Browns aren't playing. Nor do any other sports fans.
We haven't even gotten into the meat of his arguments yet, folks. Just prima facie stuff in his introduction. And he expects us to take his argument seriously.
Now, he brings up Noam Chomsky. Let's look at the Chomsky quote:
"Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. [audience laughs] That keeps them from worrying about -- [applause] keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it's striking to see the intelligence that's used by ordinary people in [discussions of] sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in -- they have the most exotic information [more laughter] and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this."
Now, obviously, this was a speech in front of a group of people who've fallen hook, line and sinker for Chomsky's bullshit.
Yes, that's right. Noam Chomsky is utterly full of shit. I've said it. I must be a bad liberal now. Noam, Jason, let me tell you something. Entertainment is not a bad thing. If you lead a life without diversion, joy, art or entertainment, you lead the life of an empty biological machine. What's the point, then? Answer: There isn't one. Kill yourself. Kill yourself right now.
Most of the people who use that intelligence to discuss sports use the same intelligence to discuss other things. Like, say, Noam Chomsky being an utter douche bottle and moron who makes the rest of us liberals look bad.
Let's look at something that utterly kills Jason's entire argument...
"It is worth noting that in a few weeks, about 125 million of the Empire’s citizens will settle in for a day of hedonistic pleasure."
According to the US Census Bureau, there are now over 300,963,000 people in the US. So, if over a third of those people are watching the Super Bowl (the "day of hedonistic pleasure" you're talking about), do you really want to offend and alienate a third of the US population?
Isn't politics about bringing people around to your way of thinking? So what you're attempting to do here is to push a third of the country AWAY from the liberal agenda. You're attempting to say that if you like football, you can't possibly be anything other than a tool of the corporations, a GOP-voting zombie and a brain-addled nitwit.
Jason Miller, you are a humorless, joyless sack of festering donkey shit.
Seriously.
"Hallmark Cards calculated that the Super Bowl surpasses New Year’s Eve as the biggest party day of the year. US Americans consume more food on "Super Sunday" than any day except Thanksgiving. Super Bowl celebrants will engorge themselves with about 15,000 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn(1). Meanwhile, 35,000 human beings will die of starvation(2) and our government will continue pouring half of our tax dollars into the murder machine they euphemistically refer to as the Department of "Defense"."
So, during the time that those 35,000 human beings will die of starvation, other people eat. There are human beings dying of starvation right now. Have you given your life wholly over to caring for them? I see your bio says you volunteer at a homeless shelter, Jason. Are you working there 24 hours a day? While you're sleeping, people are dying, Jason. That's so irresponsible of you! Jason, you need to quit your job and start farming and giving your food away for free. People are starving, Jason!
"It may seem unbelievable, but the Daniel Snyder’s of this world are entitled to tax benefits for a portion of the salaries they pay to players. US tax laws actually enable NFL owners to depreciate their employees, thus classifying football players as business capital rather than human beings."
Just like US tax laws allow any business owner to depreciate business capital. Same for big business as well as small. Considering the monstrous sums that professional athletes can now command in salary, is it any wonder that they'd want to depreciate them, when they can be sidelined at any time due to injury?
"When an owner sells their team, their profits are taxed as capital gains. Hence these bloated plutocrats pay a lesser tax rate than we do on our wages or salaries."
Um...sale of a business is not income. Duh.
"Logically, one wonders what the working people got in return for such "investments"."
They got the opportunity to be entertained. What benefit do the working people get from having an opera house or a concert hall in their municipality, Jason? The very same.
Mr Miller then quotes from a Cato Institute report about sports franchises and arenas and their impact on local income.
"For example, the arrival of a new basketball franchise in a metropolitan area increases real per capita income by about $67. But building a new arena for that basketball team reduces real per capita income by almost $73 in each of the 10 years following the construction of the new arena, leading to a net loss of about $6 per person."
Having police costs each individual person money. What if you don't have to call the police. Are you getting your money's worth? What about road use taxes? What if you don't drive? Public transportations costs money! What if I don't ride the bus???
Jason, you're not thinking this through. A stadium or arena costs money. Do you expect these games to take place in parking lots? Hopefully, the stadium has a life expectancy greater than ten years. Which would mean that the real per capita income increase WOULD happen. It just takes time. Like, say, with an investment.
Are you really this dumb, Jason?
Those same cities that have stadiums/arenas/etc can host other events in those facilities, too, you know. For instance, the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland was originally constructed to host the 1936 Olympics (which went, instead, to Berlin -- but imagine if Jesse Owens had been able to compete in front of a home crowd...). Basketball/hockey arenas are frequently used for other events like concerts, trade shows and whatnot.
"Take note of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. He owns the Seattle Seahawks and is on the public dole with the rest of the NFL "billionaires’ club". In 2000 Allen demanded that the state of Washington pony up 75% of the $425 million "necessary" to build a new stadium for his team. His net worth at that time? $40 billion. Despite his nearly unlimited financial means, the state feared Allen’s threats to move the Seahawks and met his demand."
So, what you're expecting is for every NFL owner to pony up the money for their facilities. So, what happens if Green Bay needs a new stadium? It's a municipally owned team. Which means that they'd be able to use tax money to build a new stadium, but all the other teams can't. Because they're owned by rich people. Wouldn't that give Green Bay an unfair advantage?
The municipality retains ownership of the arena if they build it, yes? What's your problem again? If they build it, they can use it for whatever they so choose, including keeping a beloved sports franchise (The Seahawks) in Seattle.
Oh, and forty billion is not unlimited. Duh.
"The NFL cartel further empowers these moneyed elites to successfully insist upon insane television revenues. Who picks up the tab? The cost is ultimately recouped from the fans in the form of increased cable TV rates and higher prices (to offset retailers’ higher advertising costs during NFL games)."
The NFL's television revenues have been falling of late. What with Monday Night Football moving to ESPN from ABC and all... But, it's not like they're poor or anything. So, that's okay.
There's this thing called NFL Sunday Ticket. It's a pay-per-view subscription service. Which means that the cost of the package isn't passed on to the other cable subscribers. Nice try. You lose yet again.
Now, Mr Miller attempts to show off how racist the NFL is with a quote from James Harris (interviewing former NFL player Anthony Prior):
"In the NFL, 65% of the player force--as you know and well document in the text--are Black. Six percent of the general managers are Black. No--as you noted--no owners in the NFL are Black."
Well, it costs about $200 million to buy an NFL franchise. When a black businessman chooses to spend $200 million on a risky investment like a sports fanchise, we'll have a black owner. According to the US Census Bureau, 12.8% of America is considered black. They could stand to do better with the general manager thing, unless there are not enough qualified candidates among the black population (which I doubt). 4.3% of America is considered Asian. Where's the protest from the Asian community?
Frankly, assuming that you're going to be a professional athlete is like assuming you're going to be a movie star. Chances are, it's not going to happen. Not everyone can get a full ride in college. Not everyone can get drafted. Not everyone can get the dream job that they hope for.
However, there is an equality of opportunity in this country. If you're dilligent, talented and in the right place at the right time, anything can happen.
I find it hilarious that, in his article, Miller laments the fact that only 20% of football players get full scholarships and 55% play with no financial assistance. Considering how anti-sport he is, he should be celebrating this fact.
I wish that we could afford to send EVERY college age person to school. However, schools won't educate folks for free yet, and our state and federal government cannot afford to foot the bill. Still, it's a nice dream.
Miller continues with his aimless tirade:
"Imagine what our youth (and the rest of us) could accomplish if we focused more of our time, energy, resources, and efforts on attainable goals and socially redeeming activities."
Well, art's out of the question, now. Speaking of which, how many artists can make a living off of their art?
Attainable goals. Sounds noble, doesn't it? You know what life is with just attainable goals? Empty. With attainable goals, we'd never have put a man on the moon. We'd never have beaten the Axis in World War II. We'd never have conquered smallpox. Or polio.
With attainable goals, without the ability to dream, mankind would be doomed.
"Right here in the United States over a million people are homeless at any given moment. Tens of millions lack proper nutrition and access to health care. Our infant mortality rate is the highest amongst industrialized nations. Untold numbers caught in Katrina’s Diaspora are still scattered to the four corners of the Earth. One in seven US Americans live below poverty level.
And if enough of us amongst the poor and working class united, it would be within our collective power to alleviate the suffering of those in need."
The NFL, through their NFL Charities foundation helps fund
Girl Scouts of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Adventure Girls
The United Way
Medical research
In addition, they even established the NFL Disaster Relief Fund and the NFL Grassroots Program, a fund to help improve community athletic facilities.
Don't forget about all the players who give back to their communities. Like Eddie George, who established a literacy program in Columbus, Ohio.
Infantile Self-Absorbtion indeed.
You want to know what real infantile self-absorbtion is? It's the mindset that everything we do is right and everyone else MUST be deluded. It's the mindset that we're so important in our lofty intellectual towers that the common people MUST be stupid, because they like things we don't.
That's the height of infantile self-absorption.
"Our unitary executive has run roughshod over our Constitution, caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and blatantly violated the Nuremberg Principles. In his recent television address, the Decider informed us that he will defy the will of the American people by sacrificing more of our own and escalating the genocide against the Iraqi people."
It's the NFL's fault that the Shrub got elected. Got it.
"And it would not be beyond our capacity to end these horrendous crimes against humanity. Without the complicity of the masses, Bush, Cheney, et al would be rendered impotent."
Yes. Already got it. Shut up already.
"Yet we choose to remain transfixed by the alluring seductions of the NFL and its corporate partners."
Didn't I say I got it? Jesus fuck a bagpipe. Shut the fuck up already.
"Regrettably, it appears that many of us in the United States suffer from the delusion that the rest of the world exists to provide for our comfort, pleasure, and prosperity."
It does. Enjoy life while you can. Because eventually, you'll be dead.
"Pity we’re too busy "living NFL and drinking Diet Pepsi" to notice the staggering numbers of emaciated, mutilated, and obliterated human beings we are leaving in our wake as we "protect our way of life"...."
So, basically what Jason Miller was trying to say in his misguided and totally clueless "diary" is that the NFL is to blame for all of society's problems. Starvation. War. Pestilence. George W Bush.
Yeah, it's all the fault of an entertainment that only occurs on two days a week for a few months a year. That's GOT to be it.
Wow. What insight. What intellectual fervor.
What bullshit.

Robert Anton Wilson. 1932-2007

2007-01-12T02:19:00.000-05:00

via Ain't It Cool News and Douglas Rushkoff:
Robert Anton Wilson has officially left his body and transended to whatever great unknown awaits us.
I've been struggling with my writing of late. Nothing's been making me happy the last couple of weeks. But I will find my way through this, because of all the writers who've influenced me in the slightest, Robert Anton Wilson was the one who made writing seem, well, important.
I first became aquainted with his work at college (as most people apparently do). My friend Terry loaned me his copy of The Illuminatus Trilogy and I ate it up. Most books, even that size, take me less than a few hours to read. The text was so dense, so rich with detail and citation and goddamn mindblowing stuff -- that it took me over a week to get all the way through it. I'd probably read and reread most of it three or four times in that week, but I needed to.
I immediately rushed out and purchased everything of his I could find. The Shroedinger's Cat Trilogy. Masks of the Illuminati. The Illuminati Papers. Neuropolitics. Prometheus Rising. Cosmic Trigger. I even found a copy of his Playboy Book of Forbidden Words in the closed stacks of my college library.
I wasn't just hooked. I was obsessed. I tracked down and stole a copy of Akron Daraul's A History of Secret Societies since it featured prominently in Wilson's research. I studied the various Masonic conspiracies. The Gnostics. Crowley. Even the Church of the Subgenius.
Because of Robert Anton Wilson, I believe I'm more in touch with both myself and my world. I don't see conspiracies everywhere -- to the contrary, I know that most conspiracy theories are bunkum simply because no one can keep secrets that big for that long. However, I read newspapers with a more critical eye. I notice the minutia and details. Even the occasional fnord that gets past the editorial staff.
Wilson might have been dense and deep and all that horseshit, but he was also one of the funniest motherfuckers this world has ever seen. Many, many comedians owe him a debt -- I doubt Bill Hicks would have gone on the Flying Saucer Tour without a nudge or two from one of Wilson's books, for instance. The humor was one of the things that lasted with me, long after I'd read any of his books. I'd remember a particulary witty and applicable passage at the right time and chuckle to myself. The guy cracked me up like no author I've read who wasn't named Woody Allen.
I've not mentioned his nonfiction yet. Most people consider the sciences separate entities. They see a line of distinction between psychology and physics. Chemistry and sociology. Biology and politics. Wilson found the keys to meld them all together. His Quantum Psychology really did energize my brain to the possibilites that exist when we realize that everything we're trying to discover is all related. Any man that manages to interrelate the writings of Albert Einstein and Timothy Leary is an intellect to be respected. Wilson did that and so much more.

To tell you how influential Wilson was to my thought processes and creative drive, the newsletter Neurotrash from which this blog evolved was originally titled Operation Mindfuck 2 as a nod to Wilson.

There shall never be another. Goodbye, Mr Wilson. Roam free and learn those secrets you've been yearning to.

Hey, Blogger...Two letters...F.U.

2006-12-31T18:55:00.000-05:00

So, Blogger Beta is out of Beta, right?
Everyone's supposed to be able to use the new system. Right?
WRONG.
Apparently, one or more of my blogs (likely this one, Ain't Insane Chatters Neat, Happy Hour and maybe my personal photoblog) contain too many posts to migrate to the new blogger. Which was supposed to change AS SOON AS THEY TOOK IT OUT OF BETA.
I believe the words I want to use to describe the folks at blogger are FUCKING ASSHATS. Geez. Is it out of Beta or not???

My guess is a resounding "NOT!".

Some days, I'm glad I live in a cave...

2006-12-22T00:53:00.000-05:00

Otherwise, I'd have heard about a live-action remake of A Year Without a Santa Claus.

Something tells me I'd have gone on a rampage.

Best music video I've seen all year

2006-12-19T10:17:00.000-05:00

via donewaiting.com:

"Window in the Skies" by U2

This really is a beautiful video. It doesn't hurt that the song is hopeful and transcendent sounding, but the mash-up of all the artists just makes this a celebration of music.
Great stuff.

The continuing saga of the Velvet Underground record...

2006-12-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

from CNN:
Apparently, the winning bidder doesn't have the money. Back to square one. Penn Jillette, where are you???

An Early Christmas Gift for All of You...

2006-12-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

via my e-buddy Jarrette, who killed me 13 times at Halo...

A Charlie Brown Christmas as performed by the cast of Scrubs.
Absolutely wonderful.

Update on that Velvet Underground record...

2006-12-10T07:43:00.003-05:00

$155,401

Adam's read Pro-Life?!?

2006-12-08T11:54:00.000-05:00

This is taken partially from a comment I left on Drew McWeeny's blog. I've expanded it...a little.
The odd thing is, when I wrote my review of PRO-LIFE, I didn't talk about the acting, the direction or the FX work.
I just whined about the writing. When, in fact, it's not the writers' fault that the production schedule is so short and the budget is so tiny. The constraints of a budget are necessary, but occasionally they suck.
Here, they mostly sucked.
The acting in the episode was damn good. I might not have bought the father in the clinic with his wife and daughter. But that made his demise all the more satisfying for me. Perlman is gold even in the shitty Sci-Fi Originals he seems to be the star of half of, and in PRO-LIFE, you guys gave him some actual meat to chew on. He had to make an unsympathetic character human, and he did it with ease.
The direction by Carpenter was everything I expect out of a John Carpenter film. It might not be flashy and jump-cutty and it might not scream "Ooh, Ma! I'm a DIRECTOR now!". However, the man has skills. And he does the job better than almost anyone in the business. Yes, John Carpenter has made a dud or two. But even his failures are interesting to watch, and Pro-Life is no exception.
The FX work? Daaaaaaaaaamn. On a budget, KNB always impresses. If they'd had the time and money to deliver all the extra kills? I don't know that we'd be able to handle the bloodbath. In particular, the abrupt end of Sam shows just how damn disgusting these guys can be on no cash whatsoever.

Well, now I've read the script, thanks to McWeeny posting it on the web. The script has most of the payoff that's not in the episode, and it does it as old-school as possible. Showing things isn't nearly as effective as hinting at them. They knew they were working on a tight budget, and with little or no time. So, they kept as much as possible hidden.
The script plays coy with the viewer, not giving them a good look at the Father until it's time for Dwayne to shuffle off this mortal coil. The writers will just as soon have someone expire off-screen with a terrified, cut-off scream as they will show you a blood fountain when someone gets shot in the neck.
There's a douchebag over in the comments on Drew's blog who literally makes a laundry list of all the things he saw wrong with Pro-Life. Suffice it to say, I'd like to not be that douchebag. Then again, I paid attention to the episode and 1) understood that Dr Morgan's office wasn't very near to where Angelique was giving birth. Or 2) that Dr Morgan was kind of twitchy and had collected an arsenal to protect his VERY REMOTELY LOCATED clinic (Which is why 3) cell phones wouldn't work. As to why the land lines wouldn't, the douche really should have watched the episode.). And yes, 4) abortion clinics operate on skeleton staffs -- not a lot of people want to work there, and it's not safe to have large numbers of people in the place when certain groups are trying to infiltrate them, much as animal testing facilities keep personnel to a minimum.
If nothing else, reading the script has given me a bit of an education at how things can change in the course of production. And how money (or a lack of it) can drive creative decisions on a film. Comparing and contrasting the written page to the finished product is always interesting. And with a bit of feedback from one of the creators, the level of insight is enlightening to say the least.
As McWeeny said on his blog, "I wish it could have been a half-hour longer and that we had another $2 million to spend." With the extra running time, and with a slightly higher budget, Pro-Life could have been polished from a flawed rock into a gem.

Where have all the headlines gone?

2006-12-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been toying with some changes to the ol' blog, and one of them was bringing back the old feature of posting headlines, occasionally with my pissed-off commentary.
Since I set up a forum (that no one uses), I've been putting them there.
If you were to WANT to check them out, head over to the forum. You can even REGISTER. And POST your own links/rants/etc.
Have I mentioned that there's a forum?

Inland Empire trailer!

2006-12-04T00:44:00.000-05:00

Must...see...this...NOW...

Possibly the Coolest eBay Auction of All Time

2006-12-04T00:15:00.000-05:00

from Evan Dorkin:

Someone is selling what truly does appear to be the acetate of the original sessions/mix of Andy Warhol Presents the Velvet Underground and Nico.
The saying that "Only a thousand people ever bought the record when it came out, but each of those thousand founded a band" is pretty close to true. This could quite possibly be one of the most important musical finds in the history of rock, and why a label hasn't snapped this up and released it (or why Penn Jillette hasn't gotten his greedy lil' paws on it) just boggles the mind.
Let's hope this can be cleaned up and released on CD (and vinyl) for future generations. Then, put the record into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Like Dubya? You might just be...INSANE!!!

2006-11-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

A reader named Lee Graham sent this in. Consider me amused. (And thank you, Lee!!!)

Are George W. Bush lovers certifiable? by Andy Bromage (New Haven Advocate)
Read it. Love it. Use it to bash your favorite neocon.

New film from the makers of Infernal Affairs!!!

2006-11-29T22:59:00.000-05:00

from The Aspect Ratio:

傷城 (Confession of Pain)
directors: Wai Keung Lau & Siu Fai Mak
writer: Felix Chung
stars: Tony Leung Kar-Fai, Takashi Kaneshiro, Shu Qui, Chapman To, Emme Wong

Consider this on my radar. Big time. I have to check eDay to see when it's available on DVD.

Here's the trailer:

Adam Aborts Masters of Horror: Pro-Life

2006-11-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

Showtime's Masters of Horror series has been a mixed bag, but I really did enjoy John Carpenter's first outing Cigarette Burns.
When I heard his newest episode was called Pro-Life, I was extremely hopeful that it would surpass his original effort.
The subject of abortion is touchy at best. However, writers Drew McWeeney and Scott Swan (who also penned Cigarette Burns) have depoliticized the issue, focussing on the horror aspect of it. A girl (Caitlin Wachs) takes refuge in a remote abortion clinic, claiming to have been raped and wanting to have the child aborted.
Her father (Ron Perlman), a rabid pro-life activist, shows up at the gates of the clinic, demanding his child back. Perlman's character thinks of himself as a man of faith, and a voice has been telling him to "protect the baby".
What he doesn't know is that the voice ain't God's.
Speeding up considerably from the deliberate pacing of Cigarette Burns, Pro-Life moves at a nearly breakneck pace. The standoff occurs almost in real-time, with things going from bad to worse to downright fucking horrific at a lightning pace. Mistakes are made. Blood (a lot of it) is shed.
This episode is half action movie, half monster movie. Writing-wise, there are a lot of loose ends. Most of them don't really matter, but they do exist. For instance, once the invasion of the clinic starts, certain people just sort of disappear. One of their number might get killed, and then we don't see any more of them. Say, for instance, a pair of clinic employees watch the Father of the baby arrive at the clinic, and then we just don't see them for the rest of the movie. Or, hell, Ron Perlman's character faces the Father...and nothing. He just simply isn't around. No scream offscreen to denote he's dead. Not even a thumping sound effect. Am I to believe that the Father simply let him be?
Considering how good Cigarette Burns was, I'm disappointed with Pro-Life. The pacing was good, the dialogue was decent, but too many loose ends trip up the ending. A decent concept that just doesn't live up to my expectations, Pro-Life is more of a miscarriage than an abortion.

The Borat coverage never ends!!!

2006-11-25T07:42:00.000-05:00

from CNN:

Proving that there's no bad publicity, a Kazakh novelist has nominated Sacha Baron Cohen for an arts award in Kazakhstan.
Freaking awesome.

Adam Goes All-In at Casino Royale

2006-11-17T15:54:00.000-05:00

I grew up watching James Bond films. In fact, my first coherent memory is watching a double feature of You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die at the drive-in.
To say I have a deep, abiding love for Bond would be an understatement. Strangely, I've never picked up the books, even though the reissues are absolutely gorgeous. I've never opened a Bond novel. I'd like to. I just never get around to it.
I can't judge any of the Bond movies based on the novels. However, I'd have to agree with many of the criticisms leveled at the series in its lifetime.
Roger Moore, though suave, was too old by far in his first movie, and was positively ancient by the time he did his last. Therefore, his Bond was hardly palatable to action movie junkies. He got by an smarm and cheeky humor.
Yes, Connery was the best Bond. Why? Because you believed he could be a badass. You believed that he's shoot a guy in the face if he looked at him wrong. You believed that Connery's Bond was dangerous.
George Lazenby? Well, he could have been groomed for the role. But his head got too big too fast, and he was gone faster than he was on the scene.
Timothy Dalton never got a fair shake. He was the heir apparent before Moore...but the producers decided not to cast him because of his youth (bad move, since it doomed us to over a decade of Roger Moore smirking and ever-goofier movies). His two outings as Bond threatened to turn the franchise on its ear and bring us a gritty, realistic Bond.
Something went wrong and the series went right back to utter wackiness when Pierce Brosnan took over the tux. His movies (up until the utterly dreadful Die Another Day weren't BAD. But they just weren't right for the times, and they were getting way too ludicrous for theatrical audiences to believe. Never mind that JJ Abrams and crew were out-Bonding Bond's ancient ass twenty-four times a year on Alias... Or that Kiefer Sutherland reinvented the secret agent hero on 24...
Something needed to be done.

And they've finally gone and done it.
Casino Royale not only redefines the character of James Bond and reintroduces him to the viewing public, but it does it so damn well you'll wonder why they didn't do movies like this to begin with.
Gone are all the gadgets. The wristwatches with ray guns... The jet packs... The magical devices that were the only reason that Bond made it through the mission.
Now, Bond has to rely on his wits. Finally, we get a Bond who can accomplish a mission on his own. A smart Bond.
He's not always smart, though. From the very beginning (a stylish black and white intro that sees James earning his 00 status), we see that Bond has a problem with taking things too personally. Letting his ego get in the way of the job. He's ruthless, yes. But he miscalculates occasionally because he overestimates himself.

M (Judi Dench, the only returning actor from the previous outing) hates his guts. With good reason. He causes an international embarrassment of her department while on assignment. He breaks into her home and announces he's discovered her real name (then almost calls her it out of spite). He hacks into her computer and uses her access to get the information he needs.
When she finally catches up with him (after ANOTHER international incident, this time in America), she's so fed up with him that she implants a tracking chip in him so that she can keep track of his comings and goings.
The two of them have a lot of baggage between them already, and this is his FIRST ASSIGNMENT! Sure, M realizes Bond's intelligence and his willingness to get the job done, but she abhors his methods. Especially when they involve invading her personal space and computer accounts.

There's no threat to destroy the world this time out. There's no ridiculous spy organization. No grand supervillain who will reveal his plot to Bond by telling him all about it.
It was always convenient in the previous Bond formula to have other characters reveal all of the details of what was happening. No more.
Bond actually has to find things out for himself. He's a spy, after all. He investigates things. He tracks people. He uncovers information. And he kicks ass. When push comes to shove, this is a Bond who'll be shoving back. Hard.
The level of violence in this film is kicked up several notches from anything you've seen in the franchise before. The fights are fast, brutal and real. Bond gets just as good as he gives. At several points in this movie, Bond is either beaten down or near death. And he just keeps going. Because it's his job.

The most obvious villain this time out is Le Chiffre [literally French for "The Quantifyer" or "The Calculator"] (Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who you might remember from King Arthur...or not). He's a banker for terrorists, dictators and insurgencies. He invests their ill-gotten gains and makes their funds available to them worldwide.
Bond screws things up for Le Chiffre, via is actions in Africa, the Bahamas and the US. So, when Le Chiffre invites a group of high rollers to the Casino Royale in Montenegro for a high stakes hold 'em game (Yeah, I know it's supposed to be Baccarat. But poker's hot now. And you five card draw lovers can suck it, too.), Bond gets sent. He's not only the best poker player in Her Majesty's secret service, he's already got a score to settle with the host.

Did I say "most obvious villain"? Hmm. Yes, I did. Because Le Chiffre really isn't the villain. Nor are the African terrorists whose $100 million he's just lost. Hell, I don't know if the final villain in the movie is the real villain. Because this movie's just not so black and white as everything you've seen before. There are layers to criminal enterprises, and there's always someone willing to fill the vacuum when one layer gets peeled away (something they actually illustrate in the film).

Vesper Lynd, an MI-6 accountant, is sent along to oversee Her Majesty's money. She's played by the uber-gorgeous Eva Green (The Dreamers, Kingdom of Heaven), which means that you don't need whiz bang gadgets and special effects any more. You can just stare at her. Vesper is every bit a match for Bond intellectually, summed up in their first meeting on the train to Montenegro. And she's just as emotionally guarded as him.
She's not prepared for the stakes they're playing for, though. And when confronted with the violence that follows James around, she breaks. Bond sees her fragility and doesn't see it as a weakness. And he drops his guard.
Bond's always been portrayed as rather cavalier with his affections. He'll bed pretty much any woman to get the information he needs. And then he'll just move on. They tried to change this in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but the experiment failed thanks to Lazenby.
Through the beginning of Casino Royale, Bond is even more rakish. He has a predilection for married women because of the danger involved. And he has zero guilt putting the fairer sex into harm's way if it means getting the job done.
That all changes with Vesper. Bond becomes emotional and vulnerable for the first time. And where it puts him at the end of the film is a great new beginning for this classic character.

Lots of fanboy whining was concentrated around the casting of Daniel Craig as Bond. Oddly enough, most of it was because he's blond. Why that matters, I have no idea. If it was THAT important, they could have just dyed his hair.
Simply put, Craig was the best actor for the part. If you haven't seen Road to Perdition, Layer Cake or Munich yet, get your ass to the video store. Not only does Craig have all the chops to act circles around his competition, he can channel pure machismo in a way unseen since Connery in his heyday. I actually came away from watching Layer Cake telling people, "If they don't cast this guy as the next Bond, they're fucking stupid."
Let me type this big enough for everyone in the cheap seats. DANIEL CRAIG MIGHT WELL BE THE BEST JAMES BOND YET.
Yeah. I went there. I don't believe that this is the best of the Bond films. But Craig certainly brings all manner of new (and welcome) depth to the role.

I haven't mentioned the writing yet. Nor have I mentioned how thoroughly I despise and detest the work of Paul Haggis. He's ruined the last part of Clint Eastwood's directing career (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers) and fooled the Oscars into thinking he was relevant (Crash). I didn't hate The Last Kiss earlier this year, though (I think mainly because of the actors involved) and now I out and out loved a movie he'd written the final pass on (the script is also credited to Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (who previously wrote The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day). Frankly, based on the writing staff alone, I should have avoided this movie like the plague.
Consider me pleasantly surprised by their efforts.
The humor in the film is largely referential of other Bond films and the tired conventions of the series. These guys seem to get it that certain things weren't working and needed to be changed. And it appears that they've changed it all for the better.

Martin Campbell's a competent workman director, and he manages to keep things not only moving at a breakneck pace, but coherent. He's no artist, but this isn't art. This is pulp entertainment at its best.

Casino Royale is not only a dramatic and welcome re-invention of my favorite super spy, it's a kick-ass film that stands on its own merits. It may not be the Bond I grew up with. It may not be exactly like the book. But I'm more than happy to announce to the world that Bond is back. The way he should be
Human. Flawed. Vulnerable. Ruthless. Efficient. Bond. James Bond.

Weirdness: Dating Site for Geeks

2006-11-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

via Wired:
It had to happen...

Really. Not faking. It's a real site.
I guess it exists for those few geeks out there too shy to go to a convention.