just a bit of fun...

If you haven't read The Pixar Theory, you should.
The original post came out about a week ago and can be found here.
If you are to lazy to read it, this video covers it pretty well.

Mucho Ado About Nothing

I have never understood people that didn't get Shakespeare.
Even in High School when it was required reading.
The man wrote about universal themes of love and hate; revenge and redemption; loyalty and betrayal.
He wrote tragedies (Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth), comedies (Taming of the Skrew, Loves Labors Lost) and fantasies (Midsummer Nights Dream, The Tempest).
I thing a lot of the problem is that most people only have read Shakespeare or seen it preformed in the classical trained style. And usually then only the tragedies. But Shakespeare wasn't high art in his time. The theater as a whole was looked down upon and was considered entertainment for commoners.
People have been adapting Shakespeare's work for decades to make movies
Throne of Blood = Macbeth
Ran = King Lear
Forbidden Planet = The Tempest
The Lion King = Hamlet
West Side Story = Romeo and Juliet
10 Things I Hate About You = The Taming of the Skrew
There are tons more you can look up online.
People have taken Shakespeare's work and updated them, changed them around to tell the tales in more modern ways. Just look at Romeo + Juliet  from the 90s. Its very 90s!
So I was happy to notice an upswing in the production on one of my favorite plays, Mucho Ado About Nothing.
Just look at this adaption from the 1993, filmed in the actual place the play is set. Great cast, beautiful shot and put together film. It is a bit more in the classical style of Shakespeare, but the real world locations plus acting help convey the story well

The next example, was filmed on stage from London. Set somewhere in the early 1980s. Clever sets and great actors keep this production moving. I highly recommend you rent or buy it, but it is only online. And YES!!! I know it is a bit of a Doctor Who thing.

Which brings us to the lastest adaption. So what does a director, Joss Whedon, do after making one of the highest grossing movies of all time, The Avengers? He adapts Shakespeare on an indie budget, uses all his favorite actors and sets it in modern times. I really look forward to seeing this. I hope it plays around here.

Space Gorilla Wolf MuthaFucker

If you haven't seen it, check out Attack The Block!

Help Get The Goon Made!

Eric Powell'sThe Goon is by far my favoirte comic book being made today. Everyone I have shown it to, has become a fan because of its warped humor, fun violence, and social commentary.
Now BLUR studios and David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Girl with the Dragon Tatoo) want to make it into a movie. But nobody in Hollyweird is listening to them. Sign the petition to to help show support for my favorite book.

Fun Time, Movie Time w/ Coffee and Cigarettes

Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni


Tom Waits and Iggy Pop


The White Stripes give a brief history of Tesla!

BTW, this is why I'm in love with Meg!

The RZA(aka Bobby Digital), The GZA(aka the Genuis, aka Liquid Swords) , and (thats not good) Bill Murray in Delirium


Cate Blanchett verse Herself!

Movies for 2009

Watchmen:
This movie could easily be the best of the year or it could be a cluster fuck on the road to hell. And that of course is IF we see it. Fox and Warner Brothers are deep into a legal battle over the rights to this movie. So it might get delayed or we might never see it at all. But it looks cool.


Star Trek:
Contrary to popular belief I am not a Trekkie. While I will admit watching The Next Generation. Putting the words Star Trek on something doesn't mean I will watch it. But I do like J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe, Cloverfield, M:I3) What I think scaries most fans is that is a reboot for the original series. But with out doing something new, this franchise is dead.


Monster verse Aliens:
Hoepfully this movie will do for 1950s B-movies what Dreamworks did for martial arts movies with Kung-Fu Panda. Just from the trailer you can see references to "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman", "The Blob", "Docter Stranglove" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon". Plus it has a great cast Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Rainn Wilson, and Stephan Colbert to name a few.


Bitch Slap:
Warning, don't watch this at work or with kids in the room.
This movies looks like a cross between Grindhouse and Sin City. Which is pretty much why I want to see it. It clearly is inspired by women in prison movies and crime-chase films from the 1970s. And you know when Lucy Lawless, aka Xena, is the biggest star and she isn't the lead, you know its going to be an exploitation movie!


Black Dynamite:
Warning, don't watch this at work or with kids in the room.
This comedy, clearly draws inspiration from 70s blackploition films like Shaft and Dolemite. And is even shot to look like those films. But seem to have a sense of humor about how those movies played out.


Of course there are other movies coming out this year that I want to see. The new Harry Potter looks awesome. I want to see Crank 2 just to see how they explain Jason Statham's character, Chev Chelios', surviving the first films ending. The Broken Lizard guys (Super Troopers and Beerfest) new movie called Slammin Salmon looks funny. And I am sure there are tons more films coming out later in the year that will be cool.

Doder Made Me Do It!

I take ALOT of crap for where I live and what I choose to do. I hear from friends in far off lands(like California, because they are so normal) why an intelligent person would choose to live here and waste their time. But people have to understand that there is no place like the South Eastern USA. There is a strange duality here that I have never found in any other place in all my travels. A mix of the righteous and the damned, usually in the same people, that can only lead to interesting times. From the mountains of Tennessee to the Mississippi delta, to the swamps of Louisana, there just isn't anyplace like it.
There is a reason that art from this part of the country endures. I doubt the art of Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Elvis Presley, or Johnny Cash would have had a lasting or wide reaching effect if not for the conflicted lands that they called home (aka The South). While we may not be the richest, most educated or "best" part of the country. I have encountered more racism in Montana, more ignorance in NYC, and worse weather in the mountains of Colorado. But last, and most important, this is Home.