Golden Compass Author tells Sensitive Man to not be so Damn Sensitive

I like when authors stand their ground about controversy in a respectful yet ardently fuck-you way.

I never got through the Golden Compass (or Northern Lights anywhere outside of North America) but I was a kid when I read them and more quick to bore. I also never knew there was that much controversy about them or that Philip Pullman is considered an atheistic writer. It's really here nor there for this blog but, personally, I'm surprised because I never caught that tone from the movie trailers. But, really, I was too busy wondering why the polar bears were wearing armour anyways. But hey, Christians get Narnia movies, seems only fair people against organized religion get His Dark Materials movies. Wow, does that title sound evil... I'm not sure how either is doing at the box office, so its possible no one is gettin' nothin'.

Maybe people are just too sensitive.

via Boing Boing

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

April Whos

So April means a lot of school work. It also means season 5 of Doctor Who starts. Must... reconcile... conflicted... feelings...

Ahh. That's the stuff. I know there's a lot of fear out there about Matt Smith, but he seems funny and charming in the clips I've seen. They aren't messing with the mold at all but who cares. Get it? WHO cares!?

I disgust myself.

via io9, where they have a bunch more clips as well.

Am I... Ginger?

Scott Pilgrim vs. Expectations

So, whoa.

I mean the trailer is pretty good. I've been excited about this movie for a while. But the internet does seem to be losing its shit over this like minute and a half of trailer. Let's think about this movie for a second.

Alright, Edgar Wright. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Also Spaced. When I heard he was directing I knew that this was likely going to be a pretty good adaptation. Those are some of the most intelligent comedies made in recent bits. So, really I'm excited for his next movie no matter what.

Oh, and then add Michael Cera. My love for him has not abated despite Year One. I do sorta get the hate that has sprung up for him. Yes, he often plays the same character. Well, sort of. I mean, he has a certain sense of delivery (which I love) that can make him seem more like the same then he would otherwise, follow? The characters he plays seem more similar than they would normally because of his delivery. I'm not saying they're that much different, but I am saying that many many many other actors have made careers of playing slight variations of themselves and are still generally considered good actors (cough cough george clooney). I think Cera has a great ear for comedy and balls to people who are tired of his schtick.

Now Scott Pilgrim, on paper... You know, I don't love these books. Disclaimer: I've read the first two of the Pilgrim series, and it is possible that they get better. Point: I dig the fight my exes bit (especially as a final act reveal in the first book) but otherwise I find the series unremarkable. I don't hate it, but it's not mind-blowing. Yes, it oozes style that often makes you dig the genre-bending/awareness, but the dialogue and characters are a tad underdeveloped.

Also, the books aren't all about videogames(!), but that's all the trailer seems to be about. Lots of comic/videogamey violence. Maybe that's how they're trying to sell the movie, but in the books there's a lot more that goes on. There is a lot of talking, a lot of music stuff (especially as it relates to indie rock in Toronto), and most importantly there's Pilgrim being a dumb dumb. While the fight scenes do look pretty bad-ass (is Cera seriously fighting Jason Schwartzman with a flaming katana!?) I think the movie will miss an opportunity if it doesn't also feature prominently the music and self loathing of the books.

This movie has a lot to live up to, I mean even beyond me. There are a lot of people really excited about this movie, and we've seen what expectations will do for a film. I just sorta want to cover my head and duck... like, after I watch the trailer again.

AVP?

I'm pretty excited by the new Predators movie being produced by Robert Rodriguez. But this new story-board for the next Alien movie has blown my mind. The filmmakers are really taking the Alien franchise in a fascinating new direction. There may be haters, but I predict in years to come this will be considered the definitive Alien flick. Screw Ridley Scott.

Just a sample:

This movie is gonna kick-asssss!

Alien Vs Pooh (via Warren Ellis)

If anyone wants to be eaten I'll be waiting in here.

Walk Weird

Hey, there's a trailer out for the fake biopic on Weird Al Yankovic. I know the majority of the world has gone sour on Weird Al but I have fond memories of his music from kidhood. I didn't listen to much pop music when I was younger, I was more into the DC Talk, but I actually ended up stealing a tape from my cousin. How I justified that with the DC Talk I'm at a loss to explain. But anyways, I came into contact with a lot of popular music first through Mr. Weird Al. I mean, I heard "Smells like Nirvana" long before I ever heard "Smells like Teen Spirit." Indeed whenever I hear Nirvana's version in, you know, big boy world I'm always confused as to the absense of mooing.

Anyways, if you won't watch this for me, or for Weird Al, do it for Patton.

via /Film

Stewart vs. Beck O-TEN

So The Daily Show is on break this week, but I'm always a little behind because I watch it online. Stewart dedicated the first half of the show to a Glen Beck impression. It's an impressive and scathing 15min. I've embedded the majority below. Canadian link.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Conservative Libertarian
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

Stewart astutely takes Beck's logic to its illogical extent on the issue of the degredation of political and ethical principles. If health care swings us to Russia, then Jesus swings us to Iran. Indeed, there are many examples of nations which have theocratic governments, and Beck never misses an opportunity to tell us how we need to bomb them with gusto.

Now, this isn't the first time Stewart has done his Beckpression. Stewart has done this once before (Can link), and indeed it was funnier then, but it didn't take up the bulk of the show. I wonder if dedicating half their last show before the break is meant to stir up a shit storm. It's not like Fox and/or TDS don't like a good fight. I mean, both revel in this sort of mudslinging. Beck can delegitimize Stewart as the jester mouthpiece for the liberal agenda, and Daily Show can shore up a reel of moronic and morally detestable Beck sound clips for Fox hating guffaws. Viewers will eat it up. I know I did when TDS took on Jim Cramer.

But then again, maybe Beck will just take it all in good fun...

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

It's so ingenious it almost doesn't make any sense what so ever.

Obligitory Futurama Post

Yes, I know that Comedy Central released a teaser trailer for season six of Futurama. Since I've already mostly seen it, it's not that big of a deal. Also, it's only 30 seconds long and not terribly funny. It's so uneventful I'm not even going to embed it.

This I will though:

There's also a part two.

Fine video, but there's a missed opportunity at the end. As he lay dying, Cain should have said Giant Bender's dying words: "I came here with a simple dream. A dream of killing all humans. And this is how it must end? Who's the real 7 billion ton robot monster here? Not I, not I.."

It's called: "What the Shit is Going on Here"

Enough said.

Roger Ebert on Glenn Beck

Now, picking on Glenn Beck is like shooting fish strapped to your gun barrel, but Beck has started railing on Christians now, which struck me as odd. Is he trying to peel away every last demographic that doesn't think he's insane. Basically he said, if your church preaches social justice, you're in a Nazi church. Of course you are...

Roger Ebert has an amusing article about Beck's comments. At one point after Beck tells Ebert to call his church to make sure it's not into the whole Social Justice thing, Ebert writes:

I was on the brink of picking up the phone and asking Francis Cardinal George if he was down on this whole social justice thing, but then I recalled that I no longer use the telephone. Do you suppose the cardinal texts?

Heh.

Beck is a terrible force in politics and news media, but the most giving man in humour today. Seriously, he embodies ham. With like a honey-crazy glaze.

NSFS: Not Safe for Souls

Last night we watched Silence of the Lambs. We got to the part with the, erm, NSFW tuck-back dance. Strangely enough I've seen creepier videos that use Q Lazzarus' Goodbye Horses.

Eagle vs. Shark vs. Dynamite

Alright so I know this movie is super old, but I watched it a few weeks ago with Slagathor and, and well this movie deserves some credit.

I mean, I sorta wanted to see it when I saw the posters for it way back in the day, but it never really became a big deal and so as with many other movies it falls back into the the recess of the mind until you see at your local independent movie rental store. Oh so since now that we love FotC, and we have to pick something or else we'll have to talk all evening, it's rental time.

Background information: I was super pumped for Napoleon Dynamite before it came out--I was on the bandwagon before there was any wagon at all nevermind a bandwagon. And I saw it when it came out on video, and it was pretty damn funny. Then a year later there were tools running amock with Vote Pedro shirts. I think about then I soured a little on the film. I mean, I'll probly watch it again, and I'll like it, but it's not funny anymore when bros like it. That's why I don't listen to Modest Mouse anymore. I know its elitist blah blah blah, but what fun is liking something weird if everyone likes it. Popular isn't weird.

Check out the reviews for the EvS. Yes, it is sorta like Napoleon Dynamite. Dead-pan oddness with lots of 8-year-old nerdisms. But unlike Napoleon, this movie actually does something.

And I mean it. Napoleon Dynamite was solely about its own oddity. All of the movie's humour is predicated upon the surrealness of the characters, and the arc of the movie (okay the semblence of an arc) is a bare thread of some sort of developing maturity (and I think this is lopping on a good dose of credit). EvS has characters that are real, with problems that are real, both which manage to even be relatable at times. Both the characters and the movie have arcs that make sense, and are heartwarming. Character move from socially incapable and emotionally stunted to characters that are adorably more socially capable and a little more mature.

It's also pretty damn funny. There are many lol moments as well as, for Slagathor and I, a few rofl moments. The end is also climactic where ND was a fizzle on a horse. Further, throughout the movie there are a handful of strange animated parts. They're a little fucked up, and the complete randomness of their inclusion makes me love the movie just a little more. (I even contemplated not mentioning them so that if you see the movie you can also have a wtf moment as well)

I know I've been vague in my review, but that's because its funnier not to know much about the movie beforehand. Also I'm lazy.

In conclusion: Fuck the lazy Napoleon Dynamite and see a movie that actually uses the deadpan oddity to a point. You know, what makes good movies.

I'm so complex.