Category: quick thought

Pontypool (Sydney Briar is alive)

Had a chance to watch Pontypool last night, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

Pontypool Poster

It’s a low budget horror movie, but the lead, Stephen McHattie, carries the movie like he’s been subbing in for Willem Defoe for years. Flipping over to imdb, his list of credits is huge, although usually as ‘Guy in the back’ – I can’t see that lasting much longer, he has some mean talent.

The film itself is something of a zombie movie, although that’s not quite right – it’s more of a thriller set in a radio station, with the occasional zombie-a-like.

Beyond that though, it’s tough to discuss without giving away some of the magic, so I’ll leave it at this: If you have the time, pick it up – but don’t be expecting a Michael Bay flick.

The Shadow

There’s a new (non-Baldwin) The Shadow movie in the works!

The ShadowIn an exclusive interview with MTV, Uslan—no stranger to superhero adaptations as the producer of all contemporary Batman movies, among others—confirmed that The Shadow is still moving forward, despite the fact there has been seemingly no progress since the initial announcement four years ago.

[…]

When asked about the rumor that Raimi was out as director and [Twilight: Eclipse Director] Slade was in, Uslan said, “Don’t necessarily believe everything you read on the Internet.” And, while he didn’t confirm that Raimi would actually be directing, he said that Raimi was as passionate about the project as he was. – reelzchannel.com

I know this is the general fanboy thought everytime Raimi is attached to direct something – but – what if Bruce Campbell were The Shadow? That chin could put the pulp back into fiction.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1OxkFOK18]

Dead TIME Quotes

Just a couple of random quotes from one of the more interesting TIME pieces (article might be stretching it) I’ve read lately.

The theft of Santa’s bones is still celebrated in Bari with an annual parade and fireworks.

Forty-three years later, Mussolini’s granddaughter Alessandro tipped off police that someone was selling glass vials alleged to hold the remaining brains and blood of Mussolini on eBay for 15,000 Euros. eBay promptly removed the listing.

People have been fixated on Napoleon’s penis … [it] has been compared over the years to a piece of leather, a shriveled eel and to beef jerky.

The Death and Rebirth Of MTV

I’m tight for time today, but I wanted to throw a quick thought out:

The lack of music videos on modern MTV is the stuff of legend, or at least second-rate stand up comedians. While they took a lot of flak for it at the time, I think what we unknowingly witnessed was a media transition that many industries – I’m looking at you especially, Print Journalism/Cartooning/Real Estate – need to consider in the age of the internet.

MTV Logos

My guess is that it was increasingly tough to turn an advertising dime in the mid-to-late ’90s due to the plummeting ratings brought on by the ever-cheapening VCR, and teen proficiency with the record button. Today, between band DVD releases and youtube, pressing on with a straight video platform would be suicidal.

I’m certainly not suggesting that journalists should start following around spoiled teens or that real estate agents should start creating ‘cribs’ styled videos for their clients, but I think it says something that, while it brought on quite a bit of criticism at the time, MTV looked to their core (e.g. Brand T(w)een) and pivoted to catch the wind – instead of panicking, throwing up their hands, and blaming everything on the internet.

Necrotic Spam

This is a piece of spam the comment filter just pulled out for me, I’ve removed the random link that was dropped in the middle, but you’ll know it when you see it.

today I was walking to the grocery store, like always, when I turned down a little shortcut I know through a back alley. I’ve never see anyone before, so I was rather surprised to see a man standing there, with a rather glazed look in his eyes. I walked past him, limewire free download, and stuck his teeth into it. I punched him and ran back home, screaming for help. When I finally got home, my arm was bright red, and looks extremely infected..

Are the spammers trying to warn me of impending zombie doom, or should I really just limewire free download.

iPhone Alarm Ringing In My Ears

By the end of highschool I’d come to hate my bedside clock, or more specifically, the grating stab of the alarm. I moved to the radio function for a few years, but the truth is that I’m a half-awake manhandler and it takes very little effort for me to accidentally knock it over to the soothing white noise of dead air before rejoining li’l Nemo in Slumberland.

In recent times I use my iPhone, but the trouble is that I’m running out of pre-packaged ring tones. It takes me a week or two to get mad at pseudo-R2D2 or cartoon-xylophone, and I’m rapidly moving into novelty-comedy rings just to keep it fresh.

I should rip some John Hughes movie soundtracks – maybe then I could wake up with some Bueller-style vim. Or at least learn to start raging every time I hear Don’t You Forget About Me.

J.T. Johnson > Chuck Norris

This is a snippet from a CNN article, Friday’s Intriguing People.

Was this hotel being run by a racist Abominable Dr. Phibes?

“No, Martha – not the shotgun. Go git that big bar’l-a acid I got sittin’ out in the kitchen.”

J.T. Johnson

To make significant change, you’ve got to jump into the deep end of the pool. Some 45 years ago, St. Augustine, Florida, was a segregated city. African-Americans were attacked and injured for attempting to swim near whites – even in the ocean.

During one demonstration, J.T. Johnson and others jumped into a swimming pool at a local motel. The motel’s white owner then poured acid into the water, and police were called in – all caught on news cameras. Immediately after the incident, President Lyndon Johnson demanded passage of the Civil Rights Act.