Cool Shit 1/27

Movies that could have been, but aren't, for one reason or another.

Guns are so attached to our culture that this list of pop culture gun facts shouldn't be too surprising to people.

Missed the Grammys because you were watching True Detective? Here's a look at the top 15 moments so you can sound like you saw them, and here's a ranking of the live performances.

Interested in Katy Perry? Learn more about her here. And yes, there are pictures.

Rafael Nadal, one of the best, and his unorthodox style, in just about everything he does. He's a contradiction of paradoxes, all rolled into one. While not DFW on Federer, it's a good article on what makes Nadal, Nadal. But oh how I wish DFW would have written about Nadal.

Most of these you've probably heard of, but it's still interesting to see how accidents can help make a movie better. It's called innovation, and in my opinion, a director needs to have a lot of it to make everything come together on the screen.

The CES (Consumer Electronics Show) held every year in Las Vegas is a great indicator of the technologies that we'll all be talking about in the next few years. Here's a look at what was going on during the 2014 show.

Cool Shit 9/3

With September here, the kids are off to school, and the networks and movie studios are getting themselves ready to offer new entertainment. And who better than GQ to offer us a look at some of the potential breakouts this Fall? I mean, they can certainly pick out a lot of clothes that would make me go bankrupt should I ever decide I need to look like a Croatian gangster.

Big Bond fan here, so I appreciated a look at some of the funnier moments from the films. Though Moonraker does step from funny to silly once or twice. Let's pretend it never happened.

To me, there's few things weirder or eerier than an abandoned amusement park. Don't think so? Check out these pictures first. And then imagine you're there and a gang of rogue, out of work, disheveled looking clowns are stumbling after you while you are taking a look at the dilapidated roller coaster. Because obviously out of work clowns frequent abandoned amusement parks.

So it seems that Hollywood, in its attempt to create huge piles of money this summer, kinda did the opposite. Once again I'm reminded of a snake eating itself, as this graph suggests they released too many blockbusters, and the public simply said enough. Of course, I also might argue that the quality of these blockbusters had something to do with it as well.

It's funny. Today I woke up and started thinking about what I could have for breakfast. There's cereal, eggs, pancakes, and all that jazz, but I wasn't really feeling any of that. What I really wanted was some fried soup.

Not sure why it was ever considered a flop, although I wondering if it had to do with the idea that critics weren't ready for a movie with both Martin Mull AND Tim Curry. Stupid critics. And yes, I'm talking about CLUE!

And finally - the return of Jam of the Day!

It's So Easy - The Peddlers

Cool Shit 7/15

Sometimes, just having a larger force doesn't necessarily guarantee victory.

Excited by the Voynich Manuscript story I posted the other day? Here are 10 more weird texts that people aren't 100% about.

The Art of Killing is a new documentary from Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. It's bizarre in the sense that the subject matter is heavy, yet the execution is almost light hearted. Here's a discussion about just that...



I had never heard the theory about every Pixar movie being somehow connected. And now, after reading it I'm not sure I'm happy I have heard about it.

Movies visualized as "treasure" maps. Regardless of the movie, these look really cool and you can even try to guess which movie they represent.

John Hodgman speaks about the last great movie he saw: Full Metal Jacket.

Cool Shit 5/24

Look for a whole Arrested Development post coming a bit later today...

Looking for something to do this weekend? How about enjoying a television marathon with these underrated shows you most likely have never heard of.

Seems like Gillian Anderson is having a bit of a resurgence.

Steven Soderbergh, retired film director turned internet entrepreneur? (Seriously, his website is weird, and not what you'd expect from an award winning director. I especially enjoy the "booze" section.)

Oh good lord, this After Earth movie seems WAY too involved to be any good.

Hmmm, I wonder if the location of the next Winter Olympic games will affect my ebay bidding on event tickets.

This look at what former stars of Lost are doing now isn't just interesting to see what the actors are doing, it's fun to try and remember what happened to their characters on Lost. And then you can relive the hatred you had for the series finale.

Cool Shit 4/30

Sometimes when a movie is bad, the people involved will apologize for it.

A really good article on what it took to catch the Boston Marathon bombers. From the Boston Globe.

Not sure if there is some sort of law that speaks to the idea that all bands who break up will eventually reunite at some point in the future; regardless I'm extremely excited for the recently announced Neutral Milk Hotel reunion. Not familiar? Here's a song...



If you're a Star Wars fan, you'll love these set photos from The Empire Strikes Back. Then, head over here for an article on how they shot the speeder chase in Return of the Jedi.

So there's this movie Snowpiercer that I'm kinda of intrigued about. It's about, well I won't do it justice so just go here. There's no release date, and no trailer. So this, to my knowledge is the first footage of it...



You can get anything on the web if you know how to use it. Silk Road everyone!

Cool Shit 4/26

In case you missed it yesterday, I shared some thoughts about The Walking Dead and Hannibal.

Take a look at these crazy photos. You won't know what's what.

Not all great movies are considered great while they're being worked on. Take these 9 for example. And then take a look at what these movies could have been like with some different choices for endings.

Wait - Hitler had a diary? No, no he didn't.

Marc Maron has a new show coming out, about a...podcast? I'm really not sure what it is.

This is a great look into the world of apples. And no matter what you think, you don't know everything about apples.

Cool Shit 3/22

Greece paid a lot of money for the Olympics and now no one is using the venues.

When Lil' Wayne crosses over into stodgy, white America.

Here's a fun game to play on a lazy Friday...is it a picture from NASA or MOMA?

If you like Gary Oldman like I like Gary Oldman, you might enjoy this supercut of him losing his shit...

Gary Oldman Loses His Shit from Flavorwire on Vimeo.

Do you think these changes would have helped these movies? (Honestly, I don't think Superman II needs to be fixed).

Of course sometimes changes suggested for movies can easily ruin them, as suggested here (click on it just for the Steve Martin Passion of the Christ parody notes).

Cool Shit 2/22

Part 2 of the interview with the guy who created Carnivale. Today, he goes into some detail about how the show would have ended.

With the Oscars right around the corner, here's a look at ten of their more lower points.

Hey, look at this. Wesley Snipes is back...starring in some sort of zombie western film. Sounds about right.



A story about a grueling mountain race in Alaska, and about the man who entered and was never seen again.

Having an Oscar party? Or maybe you just want to spice up your boring, everyday, regular popcorn. Here's 5 ways to do just that!

More pictures behind the scenes of famous movies.

Cool Shit 2/1

If you're a fantasy novel fan, you'll easily lose yourself (pun fully intended) in this collection of maps.

Art Bell and former host of the Coast to Coast radio show, is quite possibly getting a new show! (Honestly, it might be worth checking out his wikipedia page for some entertaining Friday reading.)

If you can slog through the atrocious layout and design of the site, you'll be able to enjoy a comprehensive look at the influences and homages in Quentin Tarantino films.

4 volcanos erupting at once! Check out the photos, and don't miss the navigable video (use your arrow keys and you'll be able to take in a 360 degree view of the eruption sites).

House of Cards, a new series on Netflix, comes out today. Here's a look at the first two episodes (Netflix is releasing the whole thing at once so you could make it a weekend watch if you'd like).

And here's a trailer for it to give you an idea of what it will be about:



This is incredible. A look at one of the original drafts (I think the 5th) of Raiders of the Lost Ark - complete with Harrison Ford's notes. A cool look into what really goes into finishing a script - long before the cameras start rolling.

Cool Shit 1/29

Cool list of things you (probably) didn't know about from famous movies.

If you're a Whose Line Is It Anyway fan, you'll want to see who actually won the show. Of course, I don't think this takes the British show into account at all, as Tony Slattery is the obvious true winner. (Paul Merton was my favorite though.) Here's an episode with both Slattery and Merton:



An interview with director Steven Soderbergh.

Original endings to movies. Pretty sure they all made the right decision.

Giving you the best breakdown on sports wagers, read this before you bet the over/under on the National Anthem during the Super Bowl.

Pac Man: The Movie

I think I would pay to see this...

I'd of course rather it be Ms. Pac Man, a much superior game than Pac Man, but beggars can't be choosers.

2010 Black List

Gaining more and more popularity every year, the Hollywood Black List is a subjective "best of" list of unproduced movie scripts floating around. Sometimes they get made, sometimes they don't.

Anyway, this year's list is out, and I have to say, I'm completely underwhelmed. It looks less like a list of cool, quirky scripts that take a risk, and more like a whiteboard on the lot of a major production company. Like most cool things in life, it appears (at least to me) the list has been compromised, and commercialism has reared its head, and swallowed it whole.

But take a look for yourself, and see if there's anything there that makes you get excited for film.

Ranking the Coen Brothers' Movies

Obviously this is a subjective list, so anger over it is fairly meaningless. I do like that the author put some thought into each entry, and I really can't argue with the bottom five. Where things get a little hinky for me is the low rating of Miller's Crossing (which I think was the first movie that showed the Coen Brothers were going to be around for a long time and weren't just "gimmick" directors.

I also think No Country for Old Men is ranked horrendously low, and also don't like the argument against it the author poses (the nature of the content?) However, I'd be hard pressed to bump a movie out of the top 5 to put it in there.

Anyway, check out the list here, and get angry (after all, this IS the internet) for yourself.

The Most Realistic Ghost Stories According to...?

There are a few problems I have with this list of "realistic" ghost movies. The main one is that it's created by a psychic and passed off as completely accurate, with no disclaimer. While I'm not here to tell you what's real and what's not, and won't suggest there isn't an afterlife, can we at least maybe pretend there are some questions as to what it could hold for us? This psychic basically is defining what waits for us after we pass - and no one is questioning that?

Second, if she does know what she's talking about...we have Witchboard to look forward to?

Comedy and Cinema - the Past 30 Years

Comedy is obviously a very subjective concept. What's funny to you may be painfully unfunny to me (I'm looking in your direction According to Jim) and vice versa (I'm looking in your direction sweet, lovable Get a Life). But I'm willing to bet in the last 30 years at least one of the directors interviewed for this piece by GQ has made you laugh. And that's a powerful thing.

Wait a minute...I know him!

It happens to everyone. You're watching a movie, and the crooked cop, or the shift chef, or the guy who simply won't believe aliens are invading his town looks familiar. Or slightly familiar. At least familiar enough to have starred in another movie, but not familiar enough where you know his name.

Well now you don't have to rack your brain. Go here, to the That Guy website.

(To be fair, I really don't think Sam Elliot is a "That Guy" - I mean he was in freakin' Roadhouse! But I don't make the rules.)

A list of What if movies that were started but never finished.

There must be thousands of great ideas out in Hollywood that have been started and not finished. This list goes into a little more detail about fifteen such projects, and doesn't even include Frank Darabont's Indiana Jones script, or William Gibson's Alien 3 script - 2 I wouldn't have minded seeing.

Movies Ruined By Their Third Act

Over at the A.V. Club, the question today is this:

What movies are ruined by their third act?

Some are obvious, perhaps - Vanilla Sky (totally agree), A.I. (is there a word stronger than "totally?" Because if there is, put it in front of agree and that's my opinion), some I don't agree with (Office Space? That's the only way it could have ended really, unless Mamet had directed it, and then we would have had Peter being hauled off to jail amidst a lot more swearing) and some I've never taken a moment to think about (The Fly).

Regardless, off the top of my head, if I had to come up with some, I'd go with pretty much every Mel Brooks movie (I give Blazing Saddles a pass I guess, simply because they certainly go all out to try and sell it). And while not a movie, I'm still not willing to return to Lost (a light cave? really?)

So anyway, what are yours?

Links of Interest 12/3

New Yorker picks the top movies of the decade.

Guy spends 100 days in Glacier National Park taking a photo a day in celebration of the 100 years it’s been around. I sit in my cubicle and weep. (I suggest you start at the bottom)

I’m not saying this list of Baldwin moments was lifted directly from mine that I did like a year ago. I’m saying perhaps “inspired” is a better word?

Prison inmates have nothing better to do, so why not set up frivolous lawsuits?

Not even prostitutes can hide from Google View.

Ok Go – the band that made that crazy treadmill video, is back with a new crazy video.

Chairman Mao’s underground city.

Who doesn’t like 80s video games?

Helping terrify your children. One person at a time.

Top 10 discoveries of 2009.

What is the defining movie of the 2000s? PART 8: 2007

Want to catch up?

If you haven't been following, but would like to catch up now, here are the earlier parts...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

As always, the disclosure/definition: this is not a list of good/great/your personal favorite movies. This is a list to see if we can find what the definitive movie is of the decade. The criteria, as with most internet lists is subjective and vague in its definition. It has to be recognized by a majority of people (that means no art house films), and has to have a positive buzz. It has to be considered by the mainstream and have cultural significance.

Maybe it's me maturing, or maybe because not enough time has passed, but I feel that 2007 doesn't have too many contenders to be a defining movie. And that's ok, because I feel treating this like the Baseball Hall of Fame accepts members is a good thing.

Regardless, let's take a look at what 2007 brings to the table...




Remember, this is not a list of good/great/your personal favorite movies. This is a list to see if we can find what the definitive movie is of the decade. The criteria, as with most internet lists is subjective and vague in its definition. It has to be recognized by a majority of people (that means no art house films), and has to have a positive buzz. It has to be considered by the mainstream and have cultural significance.


First up - the Oscar nominated films:

No Country For Old Men
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood

Of this list, I immediately see 2 contenders. So let's break it down. Atonement? I have no idea what that was about and it was only 2 years ago. I bet in another year it will be the Trivial Pursuit question that stumps everyone when they try to name the 2007 Oscar contending films.

I loved Michael Clayton, but do understand why others might not. Long, meandering, and purposefully ambiguous, I think Clooney and David Bowie both did bang up jobs. I loved that it had a 70s cinematic feel and wish more movies took risks like this one did.

There Will Be Blood? Daniel Day Lewis fantastic. "I drink your milkshake!" Pop culture significance. Seriously, you can't order a milkshake with friends without getting a bunch of terrible impressions of that line. And I'm never going bowling with Daniel Day again.

But is the movie defining?

I don't think so. I think everyone got caught up in the performance and kinda forgot about the movie. Is it still a great film? Absolutely. Is it defining? Nah. It's historical and cool and a great accomplishment, but not special at the end of the day.

That leaves No Country For Old Men and Juno...



(spoiler if you haven't seen the movie. This is the ending! Not that it would mess you up too much)

No Country For Old Men has a lot going for it. Based on a novel from arguably one of the best living writers. Directed by arguably the best directors working in Hollywood. Won the best picture. Things against it? A rather vague and open ended conclusion to the whole thing that left some scratching their heads. While I think the ending is a little jarring, I can also appreciate that it is something different, in that it forces the viewer to interpret it. That's rare and also a little refreshing. I definitely believe it's a good contender for defining movie of the decade.

As for Juno, if you remember it receive ridiculous hype before and during the first two weeks it came out. And that inevitable hype inevitably damaged it. It also put hipsters at war with one another and questioning their values. On one side you had the hipsters who saw it first and created the hype; on the other side you had hipsters who refused to see it because of the hype. Yay hipsters!

Regardless, this film is a smart, edgy teen comedy with a female protagonist - something were not used to. Is the dialog a little over the characters' heads? Possibly...but didn't we all know slightly pretentious teens in school that at least tried to speak like this?

It also doesn't hurt that the writer was a former stripper and broke into Hollywood the way all struggling writers would like to. That the film now is a measuring stick for other indie comedies (_______ is this year's Juno!) doesn't hurt it either. I feel confident choosing it as a contender.

With the Oscar's out of the way, let's turn our attention to the mainstream releases...

300
A small little movie about a bunch of Greeks that hold off the Persian hordes...oh yeah and it was pretty much done all in front of a green screen. Stylish and gory, this movie turned people's both in Hollywood and across the country when it opened so big. Birthing (eww) a number of lines that have become cliche, glorifying hyper violence and yelling, this movie is the rallying cry of a contender for defining movie of the decade. It even has the honor of being the focus of a spoof movie, "Meet the Spartans," something that can't be overlooked.

And really I think that's it for 2007. I thought about Superbad and Knocked Up, and I think they are comedies that people will remember from the decade, but I don't think they have enough staying power to be considered a defining movie. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see it. I think both Old School, Anchorman and Wedding Crashers are all funnier and more iconic, and will stick with that.

Of course we can't ignore the the now time honored tradition of looking at some of the other movies Hollywood trotted out for us to consume...

Transformers
"_________raped my childhood" has become a cliche on the Internet, probably going back to when Lucas released Phantom Menace. People became so outraged because the movie didn't closely adhere to their childhood memories of the original trilogy, so they took this mantra as their battle cry. Ok, so maybe it wasn't the biggest thing in the world, but I've heard it enough that in my head it's a cliche. It's used ad nauseum to describe something that doesn't fit perfectly with the memory of something.

That said, I'm pretty sure Michael Bay is raping all of our childhoods with his Transformer movies.

I understand that it's not so much a movie as it is a really long and loud commercial, and that we sorta as a society are ok with that, but that doesn't mean the movie doesn't have to make sense.

Of course, the joke's on me, because Michael Bay is rich enough to live on a bed made of explosions, while I sit here and write this in a poorly lit cubicle. So he wins. (Apologies if the Fox image I used is from the sequel. I really didn't care enough to figure it out, and really, it's a Megan Fox picture so you shouldn't be too upset.)

Ghost Rider
Nicholas Cage is apparently going broke. I like to think it's because he made choices to star in movies like Ghost Rider. Based on the comic about a motorcycle rider that turns into a flaming skeleton. What? You don't like my plot synopsis? Fine, wiki it, it's a ton more confusing, non sensical, and silly. And yes, I understand anyone could have written that, but I doubt even Tom Wolfe has the writing chops to make it any more coherent. I will give Ghost Rider one little bit of credit - it had the foresight to cast Eva Mendes. While that won't get me to watch the movie, it will get me to linger on it a bit if I sstumble across it on cable.

Grindhouse
This splits people a lot of ways, and with good reason. Comprised of 2 movies that pay homage to the experience of watching a 70s drive-in movie (complete with bad audio and missing reels, which, ok do we all realize these were bad things that people hated?) directors' Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino take slightly different routes to get to the same place.

Rodriguez tackles a zombie movie, and pretty much follows a standard 70's horror movie script note for note. There's the occasionaly wink to the audience, but for the most part he plays it all honest. So what we're leeft with is...a purposelly made mediocre zombie movie - which, yeah I really can't get too enthused about.

Tarantino went a slightly different way, and the results are...mixed. First of all, while the template of a 70s movie is all right there on screen, Tarantino just couldn't contain himself. And that's a good thing. So what we got is a patchwork quilt of all the 70s genres he loved so much, blended with a 2007 Tarantino sensibility. It's interesting to watch it unfold, and that's with absolutely nothing happening for the first 40 minutes. By the time we get to the car chase, we're exhausted from having to deal with the main characters chat about nothing. This would have made a fantastic 30 minute short; I think 90 minutes was just too much.

The other thing Grindhouse had going for it are the "trailers" of made up movies. Speak to a Grindhouse fan and he/she will most likely suggest this is the best part of the movie. While some of them are kinda clever, (Machete looks awesome!) the others definitely are only a gimmick and start to drag.

But don't take my word for it, take a look yourself! (be careful of the violence and nudity - there's a lot of both)



So that leaves us with just 3 contenders for 2007:

No Country For Old Men
Juno
300

Stay tuned for part 8...