Nuclear Bomb Detonates During Rehearsal For ‘Spider-Man’ Musical
Category: Entertainment
1:40:24 Well Spent
First, an admission: While I saw the first 3 Star Wars movies, that is episode 4, 5, and 6, I only saw Revenge of the Sith among the prequels.
I was visiting my ‘Rents in 2007, and as a family thing, we all watched episode 3, and my reaction was a big Meh.
I actually found it a bit more disappointing than Return of the Jedi, which was surprising, since I’ve seen about 15 minutes of The Phantom Menace in dribs and drabs, the dialogue drives me to change the channel after about 45 seconds.
In any case it gives me the opportunity to review the review of the movie on Red Letter Media, and “Harvey Plinkett” is a genius.
There is some profoundly disturbing humor in the review (3 parts, at link), but this is a cogent and truly intelligent review of The Revenge of the Sith as cinema, and arguably packs more in it’s a bit more than an hour and a half than your average college level film course.
This is someone who loves cinema, and can use Citizen Kane (Which he admits is unfair) as well as the first three Star Wars Movies (I call that fair) to show just how poorly done and pedestrian SW III is.
It is entertaining, even though it is over half as long as the movie being critiques (100 min vs 140 min).
It’s delivered in a sort of Ben Steinesque creepy monotone, but that contributes to the enjoyment.
Theatrical Run Review
Well, it’s Christmas, and we are Jewish, so that means Chinese food and a movie.
We got the (Kosher) Chinese food yesterday, in addition to the stir fry that I made (with hearts of palm instead of bamboo shoots), and we went to see a movie in the theater.
We was the latest Jack Black vehicle, Gulliver’s Travels.
Jack Black … Lemuel Gulliver
Jason Segel … Horatio
Emily Blunt … Princess Mary
Amanda Peet … Darcy Silverman
Billy Connolly … King Theodore
Chris O’Dowd … General Edward
T.J. Miller … Dan
James Corden … Jinks
Catherine Tate … Queen Isabelle
It’s pretty much a piece of fluff, with Jack Black playing Jack Black, but Jack Black is amusing.
The plot bears a reasonable relationship first two parts of the book, though it lacks the social and political satire that John Swift put in, but considering that the original was written in 1726, this is unsurprising.
While a Jack Black vehicle, the best performance is actually by Chris O’Dowd, who is the heavy in the film.
Additionally, Amanda Peet gives a good performance, and is just plain hawt in this, though without showing any skin.
A special shout out to the send up of giant robots.
It’s interesting to see the effect of CGI here, because one of the old school, and rather convincing, techniques used in such films, forced perspective, would have helped to make it more realistic.
It was a fun movie, but I would have preferred to see it on pay per view for about ⅕ the price.
Click on the pictures for full size.
The Stewart Rally
Click for full size
I didn’t go, it was our anniversary, and I have not watched the vids yet, but here are some of the signs I found via “the Google.”
The Nobility Gets the Best Sh%$ to Smoke
Instead of going to the Stewart/Colbert march for Sanity/Fear, Sharon*, the kids, and I went to TNT, an SCA event held by our local group (the Barony of Brighthills).
I got called up to receive a baronial award, the Order of Job, for selfless service to the Barony.
I’m a wee bit confused: I don’t recall doing much beyond cutting up some veggies, making the oldest recorded recipe for chocolate for an event, and washing a few dishes.
In any case, it was our 16th anniversary, and we enjoyed ourselves. We ate, we danced, we made glass beads using a torch.
I got my wife some books as an anniversary gift.
It’s so nice having a wife who doesn’t want to be surprised by such things: I just point her at the book seller, and she says, “Is this OK honey?”
This is much better than the expectation that I am a mind reader.
A good time was had by all.
*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
Gotta Post This Before the Inevitable DMCA Take-Down
The best Simpsons opening ever, courtesy of graffiti artist great Banksey.
This is BRUTAL, and I understand why Murdoch does not want this to go viral:
The Simpsons – Banksy’s intro (HD) | Flabber
I think that their server is getting hammered, so let it buffer a bit before playing.
They Who Must Not Be Named
I understand that Sarah Palin needs to be covered, as she is a Republican Party kingmaker, and a potential candidate for the presidency in 2012.
That being said, the current kerfuffle as to whether Sarah Palin was booed when she went on stage for an interview on the show Dancing With the Stars, that is clearly a “They Who Must Not Be Named” moment.
So DWTS, which I don’t watch anyway, is now on my list of TWMNBN.
That is all.
If there is justice in the world, Ms. Palin will be on the list shortly as well.
If Jack Ain’t Happy…
I Don’t Care About the World Cup
But I have played a bit of Doom lately, so I find this wicked funny:
This is Amazing
Amazing, The Raven
10 Years ago, if you wanted to come even close to approaching something like this, you would have a team of hundereds, and a budget for a 6 minute short of something north of a million.
If you go to the film-makers channel, they have a “behind the scenes” video, and there are a remarkably small number of people doing this.
I see a fairly large number of computer controlled cameras, including variants/clones of the Stedicam, so it’s more than just CGI.
The ability to use computer controlled stabilized cameras means that you can setup and shoot scenes in an afternoon that would have taken weeks in the past.
According to one source, it was shot on a $5000 budget, which would have been impossible with conventional, non computer controlled cameras.
It reminds me of some of the work I do with castings, where tooling for a complex casting now costs less than $50K, while 15 years ago, in would cost something north of $½ million.
That being said, this is a great short, but I would be very dubious of it being any more enjoyable as a full length movie.
I think that adding character development and exposition would likely weaken the impact.
Speaking of Series Finalies
My wife is watching the last episode of 24 as I type this.
I consider it to be poorly written torture and espionage porn, though it is well directed, its pacing reminds me of the first Taking of Pelham 123 movie with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, which is high praise from me.
Still, I don’t watch it, after about 5 minutes, I find myself numb.
Deep Thought
I never watched, nor was interested in watching, the television show Lost.
I don’t know what happened, but I have read that some fanboi (and fangrrl) have been profoundly disappointed.
I feel some schadenfreude at all the fans who were disappointed by the series finale.
I guess that makes me a bad person.
Quote of the Day
You know what Sarah? If we were killing off useless people, you’d be the first to know.“
–Bill Maher, on Leno
I don’t watch Leno, I picked this one up at the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS.
Best Apology Ever!
Writer J.D. Shapiro, apologizing for being the 1st script writer for Battlefield Earth.
Seriously, I cannot do justice to this, not can I provide excerpts that do justice, but here is a sample:
During my Scientology research, I met an employee who I instantly had a crush on. She was kind of a priestess, and had dedicated her life to working for the church by becoming a Sea Org member. She said that she signed a billion-year contract. I said, “What! Really?” She said she got paid a small stipend of $50 a week, to which I said, “Can you get an advance on the billion years, like say, a mere $500,000?” And then she said as a Sea Org member, you can’t have sex unless you’re married. I asked her if she was married. She said yes. So I said, “Great! That means we can have sex!”
It is simply exquisite!
Go read.
Pay Per View Review
It was time for another family movie night, and Charlie chose Up (2009).
Edward Asner…Carl Fredricksen (voice)
Christopher Plummer…Charles Muntz (voice)
Jordan Nagai…Russell (voice)
Bob Peterson…Dug / Alpha (voice)
Delroy Lindo…Beta (voice)
Jerome Ranft…Gamma (voice)
John Ratzenberger…Construction Foreman Tom (voice)
David Kaye…Newsreel Announcer (voice)
Elie Docter…Young Ellie (voice)
Jeremy Leary…Young Carl (voice)
There are some parts that are very funny, but at its core it’s not a funny film, it’s melancholy.
The issues that are significant parts of plot are about infertility or the loss of a child, the loss of a spouse, the abandonment of a child by his father, and the descent of a childhood hero into murderous obsession.
It is well scripted, well animated, and visually arresting, and it is in its own way rather sweet and touching, but I found it to be a basically sad film.
It’s a good film, but it’s much darker than the normal animated fare.
Deep Thought
Must watch Penguins of Madagascar fight Dr. Blowhole.
We Are All Max Bialystock*
Have you heard the latest derivative?
Cantor-Fitzgerald, showing evidence that they are still insane with grief after having 2/3 of their employees on 911, have come up with a twist to their new and innovative financial product, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, a game where people can “bet” funny on the success and failure of movies.
The twist, they are asking for regulatory approval to allow people to bet real money.
If any of you have seen The Producers, then you understand the possibilities:
Here’s how it would work. Hollywood studios, actors, directors, investment banks, hedge funds, and anyone else would be able to buy and sell contracts based on the value of all ticket sales in the first four weeks of a movie’s release. According to Cantor Fitzgerald’s plans, the contracts would each be worth one-millionth of a given movie’s gross sales during that four-week period. Let’s say that you thought Avatar would pull in $500 million during its first four weeks. So, you buy 100 futures contracts at $490, figuring that when Avatar made $500 million you’d be up $1,000. Unfortunately, as it turned out, Avatar “only” made some $430 million domestically in the first month after its release—meaning that you’d lose a cool six grand.
One problem, skeptics say, is that Hollywood insiders could have a huge advantage in such a market. People in the movie business often have far greater access to crucial information about a film’s box office prospects than ordinary investors do—such as how big the marketing budget will be or how bad the performances are. “If the industry is selling, odds are that it is a bad idea to buy,” says Dean Baker, the codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The deeper meaning to all of this is that these folks at Cantor Fitzgerald really see an opportunity for people to use their inside information as a way to steal from the general as a legitimate financial innovation.
It’s not, it’s a fraud, and it is transparently a fraud conceived for the purpose of generating commissions.
It is an indictment of the very concept of “financial innovation” as put forward by Wall Street.
Whoever came up with this idea should be banned from working as a broker for life.
*Seriously, if you don’t understand the reference, for Pete’s sake, get out more, or go to the Wiki.
This is Harsh
Jimmy Kimmel bitch slaps Jay Leno:
It’s brutal.
Damn
At least Rachael Maddow and Ed Schultz still have day jobs.
It’s not the message, as much as it was that management sucked, at least that how it appeared to me, though I was never in a market for the network.
Full statement after the break:
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.
The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a “perfect storm” in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like that of the industry’s long-time trade publication Radio and Records have signaled that these are very difficult and rapidly changing times.
Those companies that remain are facing audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies, are often saddled with crushing debt, and have generally found it difficult to obtain operating or investment capital from traditional sources of funding. In this climate, our painstaking search for new investors has come close several times right up into this week, but ultimately fell short of success.
With radio industry ad revenues down for 10 consecutive quarters, and reportedly off 21% in 2009, signs of improvement have consisted of hoping things will be less bad. And though Internet/new media revenues are projected to grow, our expanding online efforts face the same monetization and profitability challenges in the short term confronting the Web operations of most media companies
When Air America Radio launched in April, 2004 with already-known personalities like Al Franken and then-unknown future stars like Rachel Maddow, it was the only full-time progressive voice in the mainstream broadcast media world. At a critical time in our nation’s history — when dissent on issues such as the Iraq war were often denounced as “un-American” — Air America and its talented team helped millions of Americans remember the importance of compelling discussion about the most pivotal events and decisions of our generation.
Through some 100 radio outlets nationwide, Air America helped build a new sense of purpose and determination among American progressives. With this revival, the progressive movement made major gains in the 2006 mid-term elections and, more recently, in the election of President Barack Obama and a strongly Democratic Congress.
Laws have changed for the better thanks to this revival…..but all the same our company cannot escape the laws of economics. So we intend a rapid, orderly closure over the next few days. All current employees will be paid through today, January 21. A severance package will be offered tomorrow to full-time current employees with more than six months of tenure.
We will strive to assist affiliates and partners in achieving a smooth transition. Starting at 6 pm EST today, we will provide our affiliates, listeners and users a selection of encore programming until 9 pm EST on Monday, January 25, at which time Air America programming will end.
We are proud that Air America’s mission lives on through the words and actions of so many former radio hosts who are active today in progressive causes and media nationwide. In the years ahead, as we look back, we should all be proud of our passionate determination to assure that our nation’s progressive voice would be heard loud and clear. Through the hard work and dedication of current staff, and those who preceded you, a lasting legacy was forged which will now continue through other voices and venues.
Thank you.