Speaking of Blades of Glory
Apr 02When Matt commented on seeing Blades of Glory (Matt’s score: One surprising thumbs up) it reminded me of this bit of genius marketing – the PR people for Blades of Glory got Ask A Ninja to come to their press junket day. And the results are spectacular. Particularly considering Ninja holds his own against Will Farrell, who can set lesser comedians on fire apparently. Just by quipping at them.
Local boy (local to me, anyhow) Paul Campbell leaves Battlestar Galactica (via a bullet no less) and moves to Hollywood. And gets a pilot! A meta pilot sitcom. And it’s funny. But that just means execs don’t want it. So they put it up on YouTube. And then they start making YouTube shorts. Meta YouTube shorts. And they’re funny. Now there’s pressure to get the show made. Boy, I hope so. I hate TV right now.
And if you’re looking for a good comedy podcast (which are hard to find), I’d like to recommend I Love Movies with Doug Benson. Doug runs with the Mr. Show circle of comedians, so his guest list is solid.
Actually, it's quite brilliant
Apr 01One of my favorite movies (and definitely my favorite movie adapted from a play) is Sleuth, wherein a young Michael Caine matches wits with an Sir Larry Olivier. It’s definitely a old-school film, set almost entirely inside an English country mansion. And in this neverending season of remakes, someone has decided to update the film. This would normally drive me batty, as remakes rarely match their roots.
However, the remake is going to star Michael Caine and Jude Law. With Jude Law taking Caine’s role, and Sir Michael Caine taking Sir Olivier’s role. And the brilliance is that Jude Law has already re-did Caine in Alfie. Fate doesn’t get more fatey that that, really.
Really, I think it should be a rule – if you’re going to remake a Michael Caine film, you have to use Jude Law. And I’d go see them – Get Carter would have been a far better film, no doubt, with Law instead of Sylvester Stallone. “I am the Law!” No you ain’t!
Let’s fan out and see what we’ve got;
I see product placement… and dead people.
Apr 01It’s supposed to be invisible right? They’re supposed to put stuff into movies, and we see the label, but we don’t know we saw the label, and then later we leave and go, “I really need a beer and Twinkies.” But it’s never worked that way on me. And I doubt it works on other people either. But they do it all the time and it’s getting worse and frankly, it’s starting to interfere with my interest in the films that stoop to grab the cash.
I understand the concept – movie’s require money to make and product placement pays big bucks. But in recent years it seems like ad companies have started pining for the days of ET, when the product played a key role in the film. Like Castaway – did the dude have to work for for FedEx? No, but he did, and so in a movie where the guy spends 90 minutes ALONE ON A FUCKING ISLAND, we still get to see FedEx boxes throughout. Fantastic.
But when they start worming their way into the poster, despite what happens in the film, I’m done. I can’t play along any more. With rare exception, I’m doing my viewing through pre-viewed movies when they reach their must-go price – that way, none of my money makes it to the filmmakers.
Observe;
Consider My Bowels Disrupted
Apr 01I’m about one-third of the way through reading (and in parts, re-reading) the entirety of Transmetropolitan, Warren Ellis’ and Darick Robertson’s brilliant, vicious take on a scary American future.
It’s like sudsing up for a long, hot bath in razor blades and cotton candy. And I’m loving every cutting second.
God bless you, Warren Ellis. Whichever fucked-up god is in charge of overseeing your twisted corner of the universe, may he BLESS YOU.
