God Bless the Internet - Boba Fett Flashdance
It just doesn’t get any better than this…
Thanks to Chris for sharing this beautiful work with me. LOL!
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
I recently stumbled across this Dr. Horrible website, after getting a Jinx.com newsletter and hearing about them being #1 on iTunes last week as well as crashing their own website due to the influx of traffic. My curiosity got the better of me, so I watched the first episode (which is currently available on their website) and I really enjoyed it!
It’s actually a musical (which I usually hate BTW), about a heart-sick supervillian who finds that his arch-Nemesis Captain Hammer is dating the girl of his dreams. Despite the musical style, it’s really funny and and very entertaining.
It stars Neil Patrick Harris (remember Doogie Howser?) as Dr. Horrible, as well as Nathan Fillion (from Firefly and Serenity) as Captain Hammer. It’s off-beat humor and quirky style reminded me a bit of Mystery Men, which is one of my favorite movies.
There are a couple of things that have really struck me about this show. The first is the intense fan base that it has already developed. It appears that the producers have done a great job of using Social Media and social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Digg to create a viral campaign that has apparently paid off big time for them. Also, the way in which the show was produced is very interesting. According to Wikipedia, the producers apparently wrote the script during the WGA Writer’s Strike in an attempt to “create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike”. With the rapid shift that has been taking place from mainstream television and movie viewing to the web, this could be another big sign that the entertainment world is changing right before our eyes.
I would highly recommend checking out the show. It’s short, and better yet, it’s free. For more info on Dr. Horrible, here are some helpful links:
Super-Duper Movie Review Catch Up
So, for the 3 of you out there that might actually read my blog, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been slacking big time on my movie reviews these past few weeks… So to make it up to you, I’m going to do a quick set of micro-reviews of all the cool (and not so cool) flicks I’ve seen lately. I’m going to do them in chronological order, with the most recent on top… woohoo!
Hancock (3.5 of 5 stars)
I went into this movie with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. The story is quite different than they insinuate in the preview, and has a pretty interesting twist in the end. Despite it’s corny beginning, It’s actually a pretty decent story with a rather redeeming conclusion.
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (3 of 5 stars)
This movie was pretty disappointing. I really liked the first Hellboy movie, and I probably made the classic error of getting my hopes up too high on this one. There were a LOT of things that I didn’t like:
1. First off, they open the movie with a flashback of Hellboy as a child begging his dad to read him a bed time story… He basically looks like a red Eddie Munster, and is a total whiner. C’mon! Hellboy is supposed to be a huge indestructible demon… It’s like picturing Wolverine getting his diaper changed as a baby… This is not how I want to picture Hellboy.
2. They took the campy humor from the first movie, and pushed it way too far. It felt more like a Men in Black movie than the first Hellboy. It was almost like they were making fun of the idea, rather than balancing the story with some well placed humor. As stupid as this may sound, the first movie had such a good balance with the dark and sinister feel to it, that it felt more “believable” somehow.
3. The bad guys were not nearly as cool as those from the first movie. The Prince in this movie was pretty cool, but he basically looked like an elf from LOTR or WoW, or maybe a Wraith from SG:Atlantis. Whereas, Rasputin, Sammael and especially Kroenen from the first movie were totally cool!
4. They casted a new voice actor for Abe Sapien, instead of David Hyde Pierce. I hate it when they do that!
There’s probably more, but those are the main things. It did have a couple of redeeming qualities. The special effects were pretty cool, and as expected there is a lot of action. It still left me wanting more of the first movie though. I may have to see this one again, so I can try to appreciate it for what it is, and not what it isn’t… QQ
Wanted (3 of 5 stars)
This movie could have been really, really cool… but wasn’t. Instead, it was just OK. The story was all over the place. Their gratuitous use of slow-motion blood splatter and the F-bomb seemed to cheapen the story, and made it harder to take serious. The special effects were pretty darn good overall, and there is lots and lots of action and fighting. Angelina Jolie is always a bonus too! Definitely worth seeing, but don’t expect more than a good action flick.
WALL-E (4 of 5 stars)
This movie was great! Very fun and cute. Excellent animation. The fact that the vast majority of the movie has no dialog in it, yet you hardly notice, is amazing. They do such a good job of communicating emotion and feelings through these robots, without ever saying a single word in many scenes. That’s hard to do with humans, let alone with animated robots… My whole family loved it, and I’m sure we’ll be adding this one to our home collection.
Get Smart (3.5 of 5 stars)
This movie was hilarious. It’s basically just a 2 hour version of the preview though. There are a few more scenes that are particularly funny, but most of the best scenes were blown in the trailers. However, there is definitely something to say for the fact that Steve Carell is funny even when he’s just standing there… So if you feel that way about him, you’ll surely enjoy this movie.
Capris for men!?!? What is this world coming to?
So I’ve been noticing over the past couple of weeks a lot of dudes wearing capri pants… I won’t pretend to be an authority on fashion, but I would just like to officially go on record that this is NOT OK!!! Come on guys, we embarrassed ourselves enough in the 80’s with the whole glamrock look. We really don’t need to do this to ourselves again.
So I did a little research and found several other blog posts going back to last summer and fall sharing my sentiments. One site even referred to them as “manpris“… Maybe this has been going on longer than I realized, and I’ve just been in denial… This is not meant as any sort of homophobic or anti-metrosexual statement. It just looks stupid!
End rant here. I feel better now…
Vivendi hints at WotLK release date
I just stumbled across an official press release from Vivendi, the company that acquired Blizzard Entertainment last year, which has some information about the release date of the next World of Warcraft expansion.
Very good operating achievements were offset by non recurring or calendar impacts: the first quarter of 2007 included notably the successful launch of the first expansion set World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (the second expansion set is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008) and the favorable settlement of a tax litigation.
As an avid fan of WoW, I am pleased to see some sort of official statement on this, despite how vague it is. My personal suspicion is that it will be released in October or November of 2008, just in time for the Holidays.
Full press release is here.
The Incredible Hulk (4 of 5 stars)
Thank God for this movie! Not only because it was a legitimately good flick, but because I desperately needed something to cleanse my pallet after seeing “The Happening” last Friday.
This movie has a good story that feels true to the classic Hulk television show, impressive special effects, and lots of action. They actually do a pretty good job of quickly getting you up to speed as to what is going on, and how Bruce Banner has gotten to where he is. You could easily see this movie and enjoy it without already seeing the Eric Bana version, which if you’re lucky is the case for you… (they do a remarkably good job of redeeming themselves from that film). If you are an old-school Hulk fan or like comic book/superhero movies, you won’t be disappointed.
The Happening (1 of 5 stars)
Let me just start by saying that this movie really sucked. In fact, it was so bad it took me a week just to muster up the strength to write this. I saw this last weekend, on opening night, with my wife and parents. We are all fans of M. Night Shyamalan’s other movies, and as a result we had somewhat high expectations for this movie. It was shocking how lame it was.
If you’ve seen the previews, then you’ve probably picked up that something “happens” that causes people to start killing themselves randomly. At first they think it’s a terrorist attack, but later they determine it’s something else. It’s the discovery of what the cause actually is, that is most disappointing about this movie.
I’ll try to justify my comments without giving it away for any of you who may still want to see it, even if it is out of sheer morbid curiosity…
- Horrible acting: There was such an over-the-top campy feel to this film, that I have to wonder if it was intentional. If so, I’m at a complete loss as to why M. Night would do this… It was stupid.
- Weak special effects: There are a handful of CG scenes in the movie (mainly of people killing themselves in horrendous ways) that are pretty cheesy looking. You’ll know what I mean if you see it.
- Humor confusion: There are scenes that are clearly meant to be funny that just aren’t, while other scenes that would seem to be intended to be scary or intense are comical in their own weird little way…
- Retarded Plot: But above all, the worst thing about this movie is the whole premise of what “The Happening” actually is. It’s such an asinine idea, that I could hardly stand it.
Who knows. Maybe M. Night was trying to make such a bad movie that when people left the movie theater, they would be so disappointed that they would partake in their own little “happening” and brutally end their own lives in the parking lot…
I left the theater actually feeling betrayed by this movie. I’ve spoken to a number of other people who’ve seen it as well, and I was somewhat comforted by the fact that they were as disappointed as I was. I hope that if I’ve accomplished anything writing this review, it’s to lower your expectations so low, that if you see this movie you might actually like it…
Come Stumble with me
I have a habit of taking a half hour or so each week to Stumble websites using StumbleUpon.com. It’s been around for a long time, but it’s still a fun way to introduce oneself to some randomly cool, or really weird stuff online. Here are some things that I have recently stumbled upon that caught my attention…
- Park Seasons: This is fun. It reminds me of World of Warcraft for some reason.
- Vlad Studio Wallpapers: I downloaded a bunch of these.
- Politics Explained: This is funny and bizarrely accurate.
- Juggling Game: I have a set of juggling balls just like this. It reminds me of a former employee that used to always steal them from me and play with them. I miss her. QQ.
- Ice Cream Diet: This would probably go in my WTF category…
- Amazing African Photography: This guy is really talented. I’d love to get some of his prints.
You can keep up with my Stumbles here.
Internet Flashback - Kicked in the Nuts
I’ve been thinking about starting up a series of posts that focus on old Internet jokes, memes, etc. A tribute to all of the crazy stuff that has come through our in-boxes over the years. I was reminded of this one tonight, and just had to post it. The guys at my office and I have had countless laughs over this one. Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, but we are obviously easily amused…
More KITN goodness can be found at www.kickedinthenuts.com. Enjoy.
Iron Man (4 of 5 stars)
So it was pretty much a movie marathon weekend, if you haven’t noticed yet… I hooked up with a buddy tonight to see Iron Man for the second time, so I thought I’d write a quick review of it, since I didn’t have this site up and running when I saw it the first time.
This movie was a pleasant surprise. I was very skeptical after seeing the previews, and went into it expecting it to be pretty cheesy. I was actually shocked by how good it was. In fact the first time I saw it, I recall my wife and I looking at each other about 30 minutes into the movie and saying “this is really good!”. I know that if she likes a movie like this enough to want to see it again, it has to be pretty decent.
The movie is about a brilliant young scientist, Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), who owns a large weapons manufacturing company. He has a traumatic experience that causes him to question whether or not his company is helping or hurting the world through the proliferation of weapons. After a bizarre turn of events, he ends up building a super-advanced exoskeleton suit that allows him to fly around and fight with super-human capabilities. It sounds kind of lame, but it had a little bit of the same feeling that Transformers did to me, with a great balance of action, humor and incredible special effects.
I would definitely recommend this movie.
