I Did an Event Review for You, teh Internetz

It was for Anthem and about a special viewing of the MoMA's Tim Burton Exhibit. [One of the tags below is included in the taxonomy because Tim Burton draws a lot of things with huge boobs: sexy sunflower womanoids, sexy lady zombies, sexy female aliens, etc.]

Autobahn & Kraftwerk: Side By Side

[For all you achievers.]

A Refreshing Bit Of Sarcasm

Via Defamer:

There is no more personal act in the contemporary society than compiling a Best Of List. Since Congress decreed that people could no longer have personalities and substituted cultural pastiche for humanity, the choices we make in terms of what we put on our year end best lists has said everything about who we are and more importantly, whom we'd like people to think we are.

Wasting My Time: 9/11 Edition

Question: Why did I take the time to weigh in (again) on this unsatisfying film adaptation of Jon Ronson's book The Men Who Stare At Goats?

Answer: I'm probably avoiding real life issues a bit.

"Huh, Collateral Damage"

George Clooney has made a defecation out of one of my all-time-favorite nonfiction books. (Thanks, jerk. Really: Thanks. Thanks especially for the ham-fisted, Big Lebowski stunt casting.)

Beep Boop* seems enthusiastic about this turkey; though Videogum is more in my camp—but: Why trust us? Why not view the trailer and a clip or two from the actual Jon Ronson documentary and decide for yourself?

[Note: This last clip is of Jim Channon, the man Jeff Bridges is playing in the Clooney adaptation. Do you not notice how much more amazing and wildly implausible and frankly more compelling the real guy is?! Ahhhhhhhhrrrrrrrggggggghhhhh!!!1!!]

*My 2003-era blog idols are in their twilight.

Sherlock Holmes Trailer [Pallet Cleanser]

Having read most of the Conan Doyle Holmes books, I am happy to see this.

It's actually no more inaccurate an adaptation than the staid, refined Basil Rathbone version of Sherlock Holmes that's ingrained in our collective pop culture consciousness. And, frankly, I am delighted to see the pendulum swing this far in the other direction.

Finally, Holmes' drug habbit and Watson's athletic build will get some (over)representation.

Thanks for getting divorced from Guy Ritchie, Madonna.

"The Road" Trailer [Do Not Want]

Nothing about this filled me with more dread than the "Dimension Films" logo. Did I really want to think of this adaptation in the same line-up with Scream 3, Halloween H20, Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return and Hellraisers 3-8?

"Look At Me Like A Human Boy"

On The Plastic Jesus Scene From Cool Hand Luke

There was a period when the two middle brothers in my family would sing this around the house a lot. Then my dad would sing it to himself while doing dishes. The Newman performance that inspired this fad in my immediate family is pretty cathartic and suitably ambiguous.

I, for one, can't tell if Newman's weepy banjo playing is actually meant to transform the Jesus statue's glow-in-the-dark plasticity and the Madonna's rhinestones from the mild parody songwriters Ed Rush and George Cromarty had intended into a poignant contemporary analog for the cheap poverty and humility Christianity is notorious for.

Ultimately, I know I'll have to rewatch the whole movie (which I haven't done maybe since high school) to know for sure. However, what I want to think is that this is just a perfect encapsulation of how useful even empty rituals and religious trinkets can be when you are down in the dumps.

Here Is My Kevin Smith Component For The Year

Learn from my mistake: Don't go see Zack and Miri!

Film's rubbish, mate.

Posh Nosh

I saw this cooking show parody while staying up late and watching public television in the Untied States, where I live.

From the show's BBC2 website:

Welcome to the world of POSH NOSH. For me, this is a dream come true. All my life, I've wanted to bring extraordinary food to ordinary people.

This website contains some of the recipes featured in our award-waiting BBC2 series. You may find some of them difficult at first. The techniques are complex, true. And, yes I agree, the language is unusual and hard. But I know you wouldn't want it any other way. Extraordinary food should never be simple. And it certainly mustn't be cheap. One of the lovely things about having a website is that it keeps out people who can't even afford a computer!

[via BBC2 Posh Nosh]

Here are all eight (there may be nine), 10 minute episodes on Your Tube and My Space:
1. Architect's Fish and Chips.
2. Birthday Parties.
3. Paella.
4. Beautiful Food.
5. Bread & Butter Pudding.
6. Leftovers.
7. Sauces.
8. Comfort Food.
9. (which allegedly exists, according to the imdb, but I doubt it) Gilled Sole.

Also and Lastly: Here's an unusually thorough Wikipedia entry. (Bless you, Wikipedia.)

Weirdly Accurate And Topical

Sitcom Filmed In IKEA During Store Hours

Q: Is this trailer for Guy Ben-Ner's family sitcom—using busy Ikea showroom floors as a set—any less jarring than the traditional three-camera sitcom (the ones with no fourth wall and a raucous studio audience)?



(It's a rhetorical question; found via Cabinet)

Clooney To Play NYT's Columnist Paul Krugman In Biopic

LOLzzzz, myself. This image is actually from Burn After Reading—which everyone needs to see this weekend. [Red Band Trailer Here]

I Wish Italian Spiderman Was Funnier

The trailer that took the internet by semi-storm in November of 2007



The 10 installments of it over the course of this past summer.

This One Cat and Girl Comic:

Still Funny!

Batmobile To The Dark Side

It looks like political jerks have figured out my main qualms with The Dark Knight and are touting them all as a good thing. For example, the WSJ's Andrew Klavan:

There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.

Thanks, doofus. Remember that time Bush personally put himself in harm's way? Oh, wait he didn't ever.

My Candidate Makes This Look Good

While not as laughable as the David Brooks Applebees misfire, Rove's recent dig at Obama is yet another failed attempt to paint the presumptive nominee as a haughty elitist. Says Rove:

Even if you never met him [i.e. Obama], you know this guy. He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.

Hey! What if I've never met Obama and I've never been to a country club?
[via MoJo via ABC]

Aside: BHO should pick Tommy Lee Jones as his running mate; Or, if he wants to secure Florida, Jeff Goldblum.

A Pretty Good Simpsons Joke

Some meta-humor after Lisa makes a documentary about her family — displaying their dysfunctional behavior to all of Sundance:



This Hulu makes it so easy to share clips. Amazing.

This Shouldn't (But Did) Appear Before Standard Operating Procedure

So, I was at the Angelika, watching the new Errol Morris documentary Standard Operating Procedure with two of my friends, and this was the commercial that played before the trailers:



I neither jest nor jape when I say unto thee that there were audible groans (audience-wide!) once it became apparent what this was for.

And it's no surprise why: People who go to see a documentary exploration of the Abu Ghraib prison photos, the social context within which they were taken, and the U.S. service people who appear in those photos—these people aren't in the mood for Louis Vuitton.

[Thanks to coworker, not housemate, Jessica who found this online]