Cool Shit 10/9

Have an indie music band and want to stand out in the crowd? Head to Craigslist and hire a dancer for $25.

Maybe this guy thought you had to bid the furthest amount away from the actual retail price:



Calvin and Hobbes were certainly destructive in their day...but exactly how much destruction did they cost his parents?

Tomorrowland is an upcoming movie that has buzz surrounding it based on the fact that no one really knows what it's about. Until now. Well, maybe we still don't know everything, but we do know more at least.

Thanksgiving in a bucket sounds both awesome and terrifying all at once. And I want to do it so badly.

Cool Shit 11/21

For those of you who saw Gravity, here's a short film that kinda ties in one of the scenes from the movie. And in a weird way it fleshes out the movie even more, and reveals some more of the thematic concepts I think they were trying to play with in the movie. Anyway, it's worth watching.



"And I know how to throw hand grenades." If that's not one of the better titles of a memoir for Dr. Ruth, I don't know what is.

Want to know how much more time we have on Earth? NASA has given us a list of things that will most likely impact with out planet, so you can assess our risk and decide whether building that new house is really a good idea.

Yesterday we had a list of the weirdest restaurants around the world. Today we have the most expensive.

New Muppets movie coming out this Spring!



I assume by now you've at least heard about the many leaks from the NSA, but what you might not have seen is what exactly was leaked. Well now, if you're the curious type, you can see it. Here.

Cool Shit 10/7

It's hard to believe I movie like I, Frankenstein was greenlit and actually made. It's harder to believe Aaron Eckhart is starring in it. I have no problem with him grabbing cash, I just thought he was over it by now after starring in stuff like The Core and Battle: Los Angeles. Anyway, watch the trailer and tell me I'm wrong. TELL ME I'M WRONG!



Neil DeGrasse Tyson, one of our most original thinkers currently, is asked what he thinks is the most astounding fact about our universe. In his usual fashion, he comes up with a compelling answer that will either make you feel infinitesimal small, or infinitesimal large, depending on your viewpoint. And for nothing else, the video is pretty cool...



After thinking a bit about Stuart Smalley, It's Pat, Night at the Roxbury and other SNL movies that were made, it's kind of amazing that there are others that never got made. My favorite part about this list? When some of the writers suggest they just couldn't figure out how to make a sketch work over a movie's run time. Why that didn't stop the Coneheads from being made, I'll never understand.

Have a morbid obsession with death? Better yet, global death? This handy chart breaks down disasters (both man made and natural and lets you know just how deadly things were and got.

Another one to file in the weird books department (right next to the Voynich Manuscript I guess) is the Codex Seraphinianus - a book that is written in its own language, with a variety of bizarre illustrations. Better yet, it's author is still alive, and you can even purchase it here.

More ridiculous "sexy" Halloween costumes. While the sexy Rick Grimes costume still tops the list in my opinion, based on the origins of the character and the complete lack of sexiness his world brings to the table, the execution of the sexy squid certainly puts it near the top.

Cool Shit 9/24

In 2013, I'm posting an article about a school banning a book. We are doing something wrong.

A quick little video with facts about Playboy. What an interesting, wonderful magazine. Especially true after the book banning article.



I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds awesome. It's a Norwegian film called Troll Hunter, and it's on Netflix. While this article talks about the director getting a chance to make an American remake, take a moment to at least watch the trailer here:



If you're a child of the late 80s/early 90s, you'll enjoy these 15 facts about Nickelodeon. Also, it gives me an opportunity to link to this article I wrote way back about the top Nickelodeon kids' game shows.

I'm not even sure where to begin with this Japanese robot karate movie. The trailer below simply doesn't do it justice, so after watching, read this article about it.



Our continuing coverage of the movie Escape from Tomorrow, the movie shot on the Disney property, takes us into a detailed account of just how the movie was made exactly. And Disney? They're still mum. Conspicuously mum.

Punk rock couture can be purchased for $375 at Urban Outfitters. You know, I don't blame Urban Outfitters for trying to cash in. I mean, sure it's disgusting and expensive, but that's what capitalism allows. No, I blame punk rockers. In their quest to destroy the tradition and identity of other groups they deemed stupid and materialistic, they instead simply created their own identity to be cashed in on. Instead of mocking others for their look, they should have shredded any sense of materialism, or at least not put such effort into the rebellion of style. But now, that's where we are.

Cool Shit 6/25

Live under a rock and finally crawl out to hear about this Marc Maron podcast? Here's a list of the essential interviews you should start off with.

Though it completely altered her career and set an expectation that was simply too high to meet (though Whip-smart and Whitechocolatespaceegg are underrated) Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville came out at absolutely the perfect time to establish that yes, women are equals when it comes to "fuck you" rock. Read about how it all came together.

The Encyclopedia Brown movie better have a way for me to figure out the mystery. You know, like Clue!

This gives a pretty good breakdown of regional BBQ across America.

Ferran Adria may be the most famous chef in the world, and though his restaurant elBulli is no more, he still has plans for something in the future.

I think this interview with Rick Moranis exists because he wrote an album of Jewish music, which may be comedic? I'm not 100%. But it then proceeds to delve deeper into what Rick Moranis is about now, which is interesting.

So This is Happening...

I kind of wanted to believe this was a joke; and kind of didn't. I'm very conflicted. Take a look and decide for yourself. Without further comment, I offer you the trailer for FDR: American Badass (warning: Language!)

Apparently, it's real, and it will be given a "limited release" this year. And while you might suggest it doesn't have the star power of Spielberg's "Lincoln," you have to admit you at least recognized one or two faces.

It remains to be seen how they're going to explain the whole "werewolf being a werewolf without a full moon" thing.

Upright Citizens Brigade Movie: High Road

A mostly improvised movie about weed and the people who love it, the following trailer is UCB's latest endeavor called High Road...

I'm not sure what to think. I like the concept of Upright Citizens Brigade, and improv in general, but this...looks a little amateurish. The trailer is cut poorly and gives off the vibe of a sketch that runs too long. I like some of the people involved, and hope it's funny, but I don't have high hopes.

One movie; one take

The following trailer is for a Uruguararian (it's from Uruguay) horror movie based on a haunted house. What's so special about another haunted house movie aside from the fact it's from Uruguay? It's allegedly shot in one take...

Seems impressive from the minute + trailer...especially the lighting they had to use (candles, lanterns, etc.) and it really seems to set a creepy mood.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no mention of an American release for the film, but fret not; it's of course been remade by Americans, starring the Olsen twins'...younger daughter!

Now this is something you're not gonna see everyday.

No matter what, for the first 30 seconds of this, you are not going to be able to guess where this clip goes...

And I for one am quite thankful for that!

Movie Clip: Battle: Los Angeles

I've been excited ever since I first read about the concept for the movie Battle: Los Angeles. Then when the first trailer came out, I got a little worried. It felt more Independence Day than Black Hawk Down, which it had been rumored to be like. Now I've seen this...

This restores some of the hope I had. It gives a sense of realism and grittiness. Once again, I'm excited for the movie.

"The evil that never dies...it just waits to be reborn."

As a writer, I can only wish that I wrote such a memorable line. But alas, I did not. It's from the trailer from The Manitou, a movie about - well I'm not really sure. But I do know it's EVIL!

Starring Tony Curtis, during his "what did you say? My account is down to what?" phase, the movie looks completely horrible and therefore a must see for the upcoming Halloween celebration. And was that Burgess Meredith I spotted?

Come for the fantastic effects, stay for the climactic moment when Tony Curtis and the Indian guy (what? you thought this movie wouldn't have an Indian guy?) confront the thing in the hospital, where good ol' Tony maybe lingers a little too long on top of Indian guy as they dodge a 1970's fireball special effect.

It's something you won't want to miss! (Had I been able to stream The Manitou from Netflix, this post would be coming to you 2 hours from now.)

Here is a list of the 10 best scenes from the movie, but if you think I'm going to read that and spoil my virgin viewing of this movie, you're just being silly!

Movies: Buried

I love the idea for the movie Buried. I'm just not sure I could watch the movie.

And that has nothing to do with the quality of it.

Let's back up a bit. If you haven't heard of it, Buried is about a man (played by Van Wilder's Ryan Reynolds) buried in a coffin. And that's it. That's the movie. Shot entirely within the confines of the coffin.

I'm not sure if I'm claustrophobic or not. I think I am, but not to a maddening degree. I feel fine in a small closet, or other small spaces where I know I can get out. Fear doesn't grip me if I know there is a secure escape. Where I do get weirded out, are in places where there might not be an escape - caves being the main culprit. So I can't say I have a major phobia if we're going with the classic definition.

But I can tell you that I would certainly be unpredictable if I woke up to find myself buried in a coffin.

Anyway, here's the trailer. Could you sit through this for 94 minutes?

Top Human Villains

Over a year old, but still cool - here's a montage of the "top" villains from movie history. The song of course makes the whole thing.

There are certainly some omissions...Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China, Dr. Emilio Lizardo from Buckaroo Bonzai, and Auric Goldfinger from Goldfinger, just to name a few. I also think there were a few in there that really didn't belong, but whatever, it's still put together well.

Any other glaring omissions you see?

I would pay good money to see this.

Offered without commentary. The idea for the 2011 tentpole movie...Horse Cop: Undercover.

Cheesy Movies? Ha!

I really wish Wired did one of two things when creating this list of cheesiest movies (in honor of Piranha 3-D coming out tomorrow), not use the superlative for cheesy, or at least have the decency to speak to me about cheesy movies.

I mean their list is obviously good, but is it definitive? Of course not. Off the top of my head I thought of three they missed...

Prophecy

No, not the 1995 movie with Christopher Walken as the archangel Gabriel. The 1979 movie with no name stars and a mutant bear killing campers.

Kingdom of the Spiders

Why Wired wouldn't immediately go to a movie starring William Shatner as a veterinarian trying to save a small town from a plague of tarantulas...well now you can see why I was so angered by their list.

Night of the Lepus

This might be my favorite trailer of all time. The narrator's affected voice...the gore...the unknown terror...yes it's about giant bunnies terrorizing people. And no, I have no idea what a lepus is.

Movie Trailer: Monsters

Apparently made for $15,000 (I'm having a really hard time believing that) the movie Monsters looks like this year's District 9 - even down to some of the plot points. But don't take that as a bad thing, as this one seems to ignore some of the societal and sociological questions District 9 brought up (at least in the first 15 minutes before it became another 80s action movie) and goes right for the freaks and screams.

The Saturday Night Live Movie that Never Was

I'm a Saturday Night Live apologist. No, I'm not going to tell you that they never make a mistake, or a bad show, but I will say I find it funnier than the majority. I think it's an easy target these days (it all goes in cycles of course - I'm guessing we're on the cusp of reporters and blogs declaring it funny again). Comedy is an insanely subjective thing, which makes it obviously one of the more difficult things to make successful with a broad audience. That SNL has done it for so long (mostly) is a major feat.

So when the AV Club sent me over to this unproduced SNL sketch movie script, I was certainly intrigued. And the pedigree of writers who worked on it certainly lent credibility to the whole thing.

I'll stop spewing now. Here's a recap of what could have been. I laughed a number of times just reading it. Too bad it shall never see the light of day.

Jaws Returns...

It seems Jaws has recently been injected back into the pop culture zeitgeist.

First, it's certainly no Indiana Jones moment, but Cory Turner, reporting for NPR, casts out in hopes of finding the original mechanical shark (affectionately known as "Bruce," named after Spielberg's lawyer).

The film's art director, Joe Alves, was hired to create the shark, and he remembers very clearly how he decided on those 25 feet. He made two life-size paper drawings of Bruce — one 20 feet long, the other 30 feet. He took the two to a parking garage on the Universal Studios back lot and put them side by side for studio executives. In a classic Goldilocks moment, the bigger shark seemed too big and the little shark too little. So Alves took the middle road.

Thirty years later, Jeff Pirtle, NBC Universal's manager of archives and collections, invited me to his office on the Universal Studios lot and showed me a number of Alves' original schematics for the shark. The width of those famous jaws: nearly 5 feet. The head alone, according to one schematic, weighed 400 pounds.

How pumped would you be just to have a portion of the original drawings?

Of course, that's not the most interesting Jaws related article I've read in the past week. I mean, Take a look at this article, over at Overthinking It that deconstructs the movie. I mean really deconstructs the movie.

Jaws was a trailblazer here, as in so many things. Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) begins the movie as the epitome of American manhood, almost to the point of cliche. He’s a loving husband, a devoted father, and a solitary lawman protecting his community. When confronted by the shark, however, everything spirals out of control. He watches a little boy get chewed up in front of his eyes, and is publicly berated by the grieving mother. Then the shark strikes again, despite the security measures he puts in place… and this time, his own child is nearly taken. If the first two-thirds of the movie is about anything, it’s revealing the impotence of male stereotypes.

Now, I'll be honest, I've seen Jaws well over 100 times, and never delved so deep into it's psyche. But I loved this article. I mean, I'm not going to try to convince you that any of it was done deliberately, but even if it wasn't, it's a great look into what possibly could get into a movie from a director's subconscious.

2009 48 Hour Film Challenge - Philly Edition

Update: Apparently we won some awards last night.

Best acting. Audience award.

Oh yeah, and best movie of the competition.

What that means for us is still a little hazy, but as of right now it might mean a Las Vegas screening sometime in the near future. I wanted to take this space to thank everyone involved for making it the best it could be, and check back for updates. I'll certainly be making them.





“So what’s the ETA on seeing a cut of the movie, J-Hawk?” Shane asked, using one of the numerous “J-“ nicknames we had for our crack editor. We all sat around the computer as he worked, hoping to catch a glimpse of our movie. J-Hawk looked up at all of us, gave a subtle snarl, and returned his attention back toward the editing process.

“I’d say that’s about 15 minutes,” Shane said, trying an ill-timed joke, something we all fancied ourselves masters of. No one engaged with it. It was 5:00. If we were to have a finished entry in the 2009 48 hour film fest, we needed to deliver a tape no later than 7:30 that night.

It was going to be close.

* * * * * *

The 48 Hour Film Fest is a movie competition in which participants have to write, direct, edit, produce and do whatever else is needed to complete a short film in obviously, 48 hours. Each team is given a prop, a character, a line of dialog and a genre on Friday night, and have to submit a finished product (tape/dvd) Sunday evening.

The governing body of the competition uses the prop, line of dialog and character as a way to insure movies are created in the allotted weekend. Nothing special, they can be either crucial or incidental to the plot.

The genre is another story...

Examples of some of genres teams can get are:

• Sci-fi
• Action/Adventure
• Mockumentary
• Drama
• Fantasy
• Buddy film
• Musical/Western
• Stoner/kung fu movie
• Fable
• Holiday movie

Obviously some of these genres, at first glance seem almost impossible to handle in one 48 hour period. After all, a western really looks like a western with horses. A science-fiction movie begs for special effects. And if you can get your hands on these things during the weekend, that’s fantastic. Unfortunately, many teams don’t have the ability to do that, and so they get creative.

Or, at least that's what Nectar of the Gods does.

Nectar of the Gods is the name my friends and I enter these movie competitions. Over the past five years, we have entered seven of these competitions, with varying degrees of success. We traveled to the San Jose Film Festival in 2006, (you can read an edited version of my potential acceptance speech here; sadly I didn't have a chance to use it) and won the audience award at our screening last year for our film. We enter these competitions strictly because we enjoy it; while other teams might have professional ambitions in the field of cinema and are looking to advance their careers or stretch their artistic vision, we do it mostly to stroke our ego and entertain. Accolades outside our friends make it all the better.

The craziness of creating a film in 48 hours.
It's difficult to explain how difficult/stupid it is to make a movie in 48 hours. The creative process (writing, directing, editing, etc.), mixed with the technical process (color correction, sound level adjustment, etc.) is not a Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward union. There's no easy recipe or anything that can be cut. Everything still needs to be done, just in a compressed timeframe.

And Nectar of the Gods does it a little differently. Whereas other teams have clearly defined roles (the writer, the director, the cameraman) we figure it's good to allow everyone to dip their hands in any/all of the filmmaking proficiencies. We also spend an inordinate amount of time on creating the story, trying very hard to develop a coherent outline that people can follow. Possibly because we lack the experience behind the camera that so many others have, we try to make up for it by creating a story everyone would enjoy. And that's why the genre holds a lot of significance for us...

The paradox of the Musical/Western genre.
Every year, looking at the list of genres, we placed one at the top of the “Most Difficult” page. Perhaps we were naïve, maybe we were cocky, probably we were stupid, but whatever the reason a few of us wanted the challenge of musical/western. None of us had much singing/songwriting ability, and none of us had access to cowboy hats, let alone horses. Yet year after year, when action/adventure, and holiday film reared their ugly heads, we wistfully looked up at the dirty lights of the bar we usually congregated in to kick off the weekend and asked ourselves “what if?”

Until this year of course.

This year, 2009, made it a reality. And it was a reality that didn’t sink in until probably around midnight on Friday, the moment when our feelings went from, “yes, a musical!” to “Shit, a musical!”

Because none of us know the first thing about writing a song, we were left to depend on friends/family/anyone we hadn’t recently offended. That list was short. Luckily we found someone not only with enough talent to eclipse our non-talent, but also enough tolerance to deal with us for many of the 48 hours. While I won’t reveal her identity for professional reasons, I will say we wouldn’t have been able to make half as good a movie without her participation.

She wasn’t the only one that made this movie great though. Friends not only chipped in as actors/helpers, they also willingly sacrificed personal time and space to allow us to shoot in different/unique locations.

So what went right with the weekend?

The music.
First and foremost. It did all it could to mask our horrible singing. It sacrificed itself and took the bullet. While it couldn’t work miracles, it certainly stretched far beyond what we could have asked of it.

The editing.
If any of us have an actual, professional skill that helps us make these movies, it’s our editor. Not just an actual editor, his knack for taking the marginal material we shoot and turning it into something enjoyable is nothing short of an art form. It’s why we loosen the leash during the editing process and let him get away with not showing us the movie until roughly an hour before its due. Seriously seriously though, we have made movies without him and they have suffered. This year we raced against the clock, and J-Man aloofly lounged on a loveseat with his laptop, piecing together our raw footage into a viewable finished product.

The “chief” scene.
Going to 11 on the cliched “police chief hates his rogue detective” didn’t have to work. But it did. In spades.

Bob Seger Live at the TLA ’79.
A joke so inside there’s no way anyone who watches gets it. But it’s the small, subtle details that make the movie that much more special.

The end.
Turning the end into a walk-down-the-street singalong was an eleventh hour addition. I’m glad we decided to do it.

The closing credits song.
I’m not sure we could have dissuaded Mikey (a new father who pitched in much more than we could have expected) anymore about the closing song. Quick summary. Mikey, on his way somewhere to do something family-related and not movie-related on Sunday, text-messaged a few of us with a semi-coherent thought about writing a song to go over the credits at the end. At first we dismissed it, thinking nothing would materialize. Then Mikey showed up, asking to do this. We humored him as we scrambled to get the rest of the paperwork and other necessities finished for the film. We even openly told him it was doubtful we would even have time to add the song in. Short of gagging him, we made it perfectly clear his work was most likely going to end up on the clichéd “cutting room floor.”

The camaraderie.
Every year at one point during the weekend I ask myself why I’m attempting to make a movie in such a short period of time (usually during the screening of the other movies – Jesus, I mean c’mon. It’s called a beginning, a middle and an end. I respect everyone that completes a final product, but would it kill anyone to spend a little more time on a story that makes sense?). And yet there I am, back for more. Why? It’s not a fun weekend. There’s not a lot of sleep, nerves get stretched, and the stench is definitely noticeable on Sunday. It’s because of the people and the fun we can have during these extreme conditions. This film was no exception.

Whether he thought we were kidding, mean, dumb, whatever, he continued to tweak, write and sing what can only be described as a beautiful tribute to not only our film, but also to Bjork. You really have to listen. But there’s no way we could have constructed a better exclamation point to our film.

I hope you not only enjoy “Get ‘em McGettigan,” but also understand at least a little the process behind making one a film like this. Please let me know in the comments whether you enjoyed this write up as I can easily go through more detail about our general process as well as how our other movies got made.