If you’ve got time to kill, check out the Clark and Michael show. Heard Kevin Smith recommending this on KROQ this morning. It’s Michael Cera from Arrested Development and Clark Duke from, apparently, the apartment next door. Amusing web show peppered with some brilliant lines:
[They] rested their balls on our chins and brushed our teeth with their dicks!
I cannot wait to use that line at work!
The Office is spinning off a video game. Yeah, I wouldn’t have bet on that, either. It’s marketed towards casual gamers, and will only be on handhelds (e.g., Nintendo DS) and PCs.
AbbyShot is a company that makes replica costumes from famous movies (although not always in an official capacity, judging by the names, or lack thereof). Some interesting stuff. And you don’t have to wonder if you’d look silly in them. AbbyShot uses real scifi geeks as models, removing all guesswork!
If you’re hung up on Uma Thurman (and I know some of you are), you can get the jacket she wore in Kill Bill. They also have Neo’s coat from The Matrix, which looks really cool, but I’m concerned about the response I’d get if I tried to wear it. “Holy shit! Agent Smith ate Neo and stole his coat! You’re dead, you fuckin’ coat stealer!” pummel pummel pummel
No, they’ve got exactly one coat that I could pull off. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
Just saw Flight of the Conchords (HBO show site, band site). Very funny, very creative, and great music. I guess the genre is “digi-folk parody”, but whatever you call it, it’s damn entertaining. Finally, HBO finally has something on Sunday nights that won’t give you a stress-related ulcer.
(If the animation annoys you, just hit Escape.)
While Kevin Smith inspired me to pursue filmmaking (albeit lazily and half-heartedly, with slightly less effort than I muster for breathing), I aspire to create movies like Judd Apatow’s. Knocked Up was awesome the whole way through. There are parts where Apatow just machine guns you with jokes, which are hilarious, because he had the balls to make it Rated R. Unsurprisingly, it’s already 163 on the IMDB Top 250. And man, is Katherine Heigl is hot (I call dibs. Sorry.). So if you were thinking of waiting for the DVD, aww, man, so sorry, ’cause you’re totally not doing that. ‘Cause I said so. And you’re welcome.
Here’s a humorous riff on Marvel’s movie obsession. If you read (between the lines of) Variety, you know that Marvel’s got so many movies in the works because former head Avi Arad has a serious producer fantasy. Probably from watching too much Entourage. Of course, it’s fairly common among captains of industry; same thing goes for other Mark Cuban and Jeff Skoll. Just become a billionaire and all your wildest entertainment industry dreams will come true. In a way, it’s the modern American equivalent of rich European merchants and land owners buying a royal title. Producer, Lord – it’s all the same thing. I haven’t seen anyone buy themselves a writer or director title, so I plan to be the first. Hopefully, it’s cheaper than producer.
I recently rented Monster House on DVD. Some photorealistic shots ala Toy Story, and the house looked like an incredibly complex model, especially as it breaks aparts and comes alive. Overall, it was OK, but I had higher expectations (for the story, not the animation).
However, the DVD does have a hidden gem. While checking out the special features I saw a section on concept art. I was expecting the usual pencil sketches, maybe a couple quick color illustrations. Instead, I was happily blown away by these fantastic concept paintings by Chris Appelhans. It’s Norman Rockwell meets Vincent Price (and maybe Chuck Jones). They lose a bit on a monitor, but look great blown up on a widescreen TV.
Rod would like you to know that this is not a test.
Thanks to Agent Mystery for the forward. There’s more at Stuntman Forever, but this is by far the best one. And it’s safe for work.
Variety reports on Universal making a movie of the old Spy Hunter video game. I can remember countless hours playing that in arcades and on my Apple IIc. Apparently, this is a revival of the project, which was originally to be directed by John Woo and starring The Rock. This seems, directorially, a step down. No idea if The Rock is still playing The Lead.
