Archive for October, 2009

Halloween Tip: NO EWOKS

A guilty pleasure of mine as of late is watching NBC’s Today before I leave for work.

What once was a great morning show now seems like a way to fill hours in the most surreal way.  Willard Scott wishing people a happy 100th and Al Roker throwin’ it to your local weather man aren’t enough, so they’ve started to pad the already too-long four hour broadcast with lifestyle segments, such as Matt Lauer playing beer pong with George Wendt.

This morning, I apparently made the poor choice of leaving early.

The Today show team was dressed as Star Wars cast members, and someone let drunken Ewoks loose. Really.

Click play to see Al Roker get humped by Ewoks, and a Darth Vader-dressed Ann Curry tell off one of their furry friends to stay away from the booze. Wow.

Original Post: LOL: Drunk Ewoks Ruin Today Show Halloween Segment | /Film.

It’s A New Ted Leo Track!

The older I get, the more picky I find myself getting with music.

I’m not sure if the overall quality of music has dropped over the years, or my tastes have become more discriminating, but instead of reaching out for what’s new and different, I tend to find myself coming back to some old favorites, and following their every move.

One of those artists is Ted Leo. Whether solo or with his backing band the Pharmacists, Ted mixes just enough punk bravado with the ability to write one heck of a catchy hook. And honestly, I don’t think there’s a single album of his that I don’t love.

So, of course, with his new album coming next year, I’m quite excited to see what he’s got cooking. Which brings us to the above video!

This past week during the CMJ Music Festival in NYC, Ted did a solo acoustic set, where he played some classics, along with new songs.  One such new song is “One Polaroid A Day”, and I think it’s the perfect way for you to start your Thursday morning.

Click play, and enjoy. I know I did.

Original Post:  Ted Leo @ CMJ: One Polaroid a Day.

You Better Smile With THE HAPPINESS HAT

Gotta love this.  In the type of product which only the internet can provide, I give you the Happiness Hat.

Find yourself as the type that doesn’t smile too often? GREAT!

Slap this hat on, and if you’re not smiling, it will STAB YOUR SKULL WITH A METAL SPIKE.

GET TO SMILING FROWN FACE.

Original Post:  The Happiness Hat Will Spike Your Skull – Happiness hat – Gizmodo.

Hey! AVATAR Has A Plot After All!

With less than two months until it’s release, the nerds are getting all a flutter over Jim Cameron’s 3D CGI opus Avatar.

Sure, we had the teaser trailer, we had the “Avatar Day” extravaganza, and then there were literally MONTHS of arguing across the web. But as embedded above, the second, full length trailer has hit the web thanks to…uh…some country other than the US (hense the subtitles).

Honestly, I sat through the Avatar Day screening, and this drastically shorter trailer has sold me on the project in a far greater way than that footage did.

Sure, the plot is basically Dances With Wolves lite, but it’s framed through the eyes of one of the greatest sci-fi directors of our time. And I have to admit, robot suits versus dragons gives me a giant raging nerd boner.

I had a feeling this would happen, but I’m pretty happy to say…

Avatar – I’m Sold!

See you in theaters December 18th.

EDIT: @4:15pm – Look! Yahoo! gave us the English version!

Original Post: Watch the Second Avatar Trailer — Without the Blur – Avatar – io9.

An Extended Look At The Lost Art Of Movie Posters

Note: In the interest of growing my “personal brand” here at BoR, I’m going to be investing in some more lengthy thought pieces on the site, which will be joined with the “Cynicism” tag.  This is the first of such posts, and presumably/hopefully won’t be the last. Let me know what you think in the comments.

As you’ve probably noticed over time here at Blast-O-Rama, there is very little I enjoy more than a well crafted, beautifully executed movie poster.

However, it seems as the years have gone on, the focus is less on giving the audience a taste of what’s to come, and more a generic collage of actors in costume, which makes you hope that the movie turns out well.

Case in point…this latest poster for Sherlock Holmes.  By no means offensive visually, what does it tell you about the film?  Aside from Downey’s devious smirk, it’s another prime example of names and faces selling the picture, versus the poster giving an audience a glimpse of what will hit the screen this Christmas.  I’d figure with a director as unique as Guy Ritchie helming the flick, you’d want to put style at the forefront, but alas…

And that isn’t to say there aren’t risks being taken.  Take a look at the Where The Wild Things Are poster above.  Gritty, childlike…there’s a roughness to it which immediately pulls forward what Spike Jonze is attempting to do with the film.  It’s a snapshot which leaves the viewer interested in the end product.

But I can’t shake the feeling that the marketing suits just want us to throw our $10 at something which has been seen before…which certainly explains the disturbing trend in repetitive poster designs and DVD covers.

What really bothers me about it though? It doesn’t need to be this way.  Heck, you only need to look at the fantastic poster designs of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s to know how much better it could be.

Luckily, amazing artists (many times alongside promotional events put on by independent movie houses) are still creating stunning posters for films.  Effectively joining their art with existing art, these posters not only invoke the films they derive their inspiration from, but create a unique product that fans of the film and of art alike would want to hang on their wall.

Take this Halloween triptych put together for the Horror movie series appearing at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX.  (Shown above, click for larger images.), or this fantastic Fight Club poster (below), which is a design so strong they decided to make both prints and t-shirts of it.

I guess what I’m getting at is this…in an era where studios are claiming how much money they’re losing in different revenue streams, why don’t they look at a great way to build the brand of their projects, extend the art from not just what appears on the silver screen, but what instead we can have framed and mounted on our walls. These limited edition posters can go for as much as $30-$50 a piece, and are undoubtedly worth every penny.

I’m tired of seeing floating heads promote what I’m going to be seeing next Friday. Let art beget art, and let it be good.

Kanye or Hitler?

Thanks to my buddy Jami, it’s my pleasure to share with you what might be the next big party game…

KANYE OR HITLER

Presented at UCB-LA by the awesome comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates, the game is probably far harder than you’d expect.

Click play and see how you do.

Original Post:  YouTube – Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler?.

Our First Look At THE A TEAM

Zooming across the web comes our first look at this summer’s movie relaunch of the classic A-Team TV series.

This promotional image of the cast (which you can click, for Big McLargeHuge), gives our first clear looks at Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck, District 9’s Sharlto Copley as Capt. “Howling Mad” Murdock, Liam Neeson as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith, and MMA Fighter Rampage Jackson as B.A. Baracus. Plus, in the distance, you can see their new van.

For me, the movie is only a hit if there’s a scene where they get Rampage to drink warm milk to get him on a plane.

Whatcha thinkin, interwebs?

Original Post:  First Official Look: The A-Team | /Film.

ASTRO BOY: A Review

So, this lovely Sunday morning, I awoke early. I had passes for a 10am screening of Astro Boy.

Now, allow me to explain my place here, as an audience member…I’m not an existing Astro Boy fan. I’m aware of its relevance in Japanese anime/manga history, the importance of Tezuka Osamu, but ultimately, I’m ignorant of the character and it’s history.  I enjoyed Imagi’s last film, their 2007 relaunch of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise.  Sure, the story was a bit weak, but the animation was stunning, and it seemed like the studio was a few films away from a true classic.

After a delay in starting the screening (the audience was mostly families, and the company sponsoring the screening was hoping to fill the theater a bit more), the lights went dark, and the flick began.

We started in a not-too-distant future (the film never dates itself), where the floating Metro City sits in the skies above Earth, a psuedo utopia.  A clean city, where all work is done by robots. And when the city is finished with their robots, they simply dump the broken bots onto the Earth’s surface below.  Said background is given in a video presentation in the class of young Toby (Freddie Highmore), son of the amazing scientist Doctor Tenma (a surprisingly reserved Nicholas Cage).  Why that video is playing in a physics class, given the pop quiz they are given immediately after, I’m not sure, but I guess they had to shoehorn that in somewhere. Serve the plot.

Turns out, Toby is SUPER smart! He aces the physics test very quickly, and then meets with his robot servant, Orrin (Eugene Levy). Toby has a conversation with his father via hologram, and it turns out the workaholic Doctor Tenma won’t be able to spend time with his son Toby. Doctor Tenma has to finish a very important project, the launch of Iron Monger The Peacekeeper. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, Toby rewires Orrin to go visit his father! And Toby gets there, sneaking his way into the Ministry of Science, meeting the evil President Obidiah Stane Stone (Donald Sutherland, and no, I don’t know how you can be president of a city).  Toby pisses off President Stone, and Stone has him taken away by guards. Tenma doesn’t really protest this, and this helps the audience understand that Stone is evil, if his not quite Gran Moff Tarkin look didn’t already give that away.

Cut to the launch of the Peacemaker. He’s designed to be run on Blue Core Energy (a project designed by Doctor Elfun, played by a completely wasted Bill Nighy), a boring macguffin that has an evil negative counterpart, called RED Core Energy! Awesome!  The launch of the Peacemaker occurs using the blue core energy, it’s not threatening enough for Evil Villain Stereotype President Stone, so they throw the RED core in, and shit goes haywire. Of course, who has snuck in, but Toby! And who gets stuck with the Peacemaker behind an “energy shield”? You guessed it! TOBY! The Peacemaker tries to break through the shield, is unsuccessful, and the ricocheting blast KILLS TOBY DEAD LEAVING ONLY HIS CAP. Which is seen by every character as a minor inconvenience. What the HELL. A 13 year old child just died, and it’s like President Stone told them they have to work this Saturday.

Ugh.

As you can imagine, this leads to our Pinocchio moment, where a grief ridden Doctor Tenma builds a robot version of his son Toby, powering him with the good Blue Core energy. Of course, like the murdering of a child, this is an effortless creation by Tenma. Because the plot needs it to happen. We have to continue on.

So, Tenma has his Toby back, he’s perfect and amazing, and everything’s good.

Until two scenes later, Tenma has decided that Robot Toby is the worst creation he’s ever had, and he needs to be destroyed.

Why? Because the plot needs it to happen.

Either way, this results in a sequence where Robot Toby learns he can fly, dig through things, has flashlight/x-ray eyes, etc.  He apparently wasn’t aware he was a robot.

Now, I know that Robot Toby has Toby’s intelligence, they even said as much.  You think the lack of socks, shoes and feet (replaced by robot rocket boots), along with having metal underpants as opposed to gentials DIDN’T GIVE AWAY THAT HE WASN’T NORMAL?!

I know this is a kids movie, but don’t treat the entire audience like we’re retarded. Show some RESPECT.

Anyway, since Doctor Tenma doesn’t want Toby around, he goes flying, evil President Stone notices the flying boy, thinks it’s bad therefor must be destroyed, and he lands on the surface.

We continue with the Pinocchio references, as Robot Toby (now calling himself Astro, a name given to him by the useless addition of a Robot Revolution Force or something like that) ends up taking up with a group of surface dweller human children, including one voiced by Kristen Bell, a girl named Cora who apparently once lived in Metro City. Why did she leave? No idea. Why are the other kids orphans? No idea.  All it’s really there for is to keep the plot moving, and get Astro mixed up with Ham Egg, a robot rebuilder who seems like a new father for Astro, but turns against him the minute the plot needs it.  This gives us our equivalent to the circus sequence from Pinocchio, as Astro fights a number of robots in a “Robo War” or something like that.

Without giving too much away, I’ll cut to the chase. The film results in a large set piece where Astro ends up back in Metro City, fights President Stone in Iron Monger The Peacemaker.  It’s an amazing visual set piece, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no solid reasoning or depth into what occurs.  The battle ends with Metro City returning to Earth’s surface, Doctor Tenma loving his Robot Son (just ’cause. I guess Tenma is bipolar), Cora meeting her family, and everyone living happily ever after.

Oh, and then an alien shows up and Astro punches it in the face.

…

Really.

I…I wish I could make reasonable sense as to why this film is as disjointed and nonsensical as it is. Sure, it looks beautiful, but it doesn’t even try to make sense.  It’s insulting to it’s audience, it’s insulting to it’s source material, and it’s just poorly done.

And that’s just the surface of many issues in the film.  I could rant and rave about how terrible Highmore is as a voice actor (unless they intentionally used the most indifferent of his takes), how inconsistent the environment design was (signs in English! Then Japanese! Then Korean! For no reason!), or how really screwed up it was that a film based on a Japanese property was created with an entirely white cast (seriously, even the background characters were ALL white).

But I’ve already wasted 1100+ words.

Astro Boy is a film to avoid. Like a terrible blind date, sure, it’s nice to look at, but the more it opens it’s mouth, the more time you regret spending with it.

EVERYTHING MUST GO…Including Will Ferrell’s Salary

On this site, I haven’t been too ashamed about sharing my biases, so here’s another.

I love Will Ferrell. Sure, he’s not had the best track record as of late, but I still think he’s one of the most solid comedic talents in Hollywood. Why? Because he gives his all to a character. No matter how ridiculous, you believe the character is real.

And it certainly broke my heart when in arguably his best role to date, that of Harold Crick in 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction, the world basically didn’t even notice the film existed.

Never the less, it seems Ferrell is ready to take risks again, starting with the forthcoming independent film Everything Must Go.

First, to get it out of the way, the main reason why this film has gotten noticed is the budget. $10 million, total. In an era when Will could earn that himself, it’s nice to see he’s taking a risk on a project not just in content, but also in his pocketbook.

But the plot is what has me.  Based on a Raymond Carver short story, Will Ferrell plays a man who gets kicked out of his house by his wife, who has decided to throw all his belongings on the lawn.  Ergo, Ferrell spends the next four days selling every one of his possessions off in a lawn sale.

What makes the flick sound interesting though, is Ferrell plays a total, bleak asshole of a character. A motivational speaker with an alcohol problem, he ends up assaulting a co-worker, is fired, and his wife decides to leave him – all in the same day.

Can Ferrell pull it off? We’ll find out when Everything Must Go hits theaters.

Original Post: Will Ferrell thinks indie with Everything Must Go – HitFix.com.

I’m In A Comic!

Ok, I’ll admit, the headline isn’t a huge revelation, as I’ve been in a comic (and written a few) in my time.

Either way, this past Friday, I appeared in the comic Hello With Cheese.

Created by my friends Darren Gendron and Bryan Prindiville, Friday’s comic wrapped up a week of Where The Wild Things Are related strips, by showcasing those of us across the web who are super excited for this weekend’s release of the Spike Jonze adaptation.

Jump on over to Hello With Cheese, click the link for the larger version, and see who else you can recognize!

Original Post: Hello With Cheese » Archive » Getting in line..

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