Quick movie reviews

Up: I don't know what Pixar puts in their water, but they've produced yet another classic. If you only see one Ed Asner movie in 2009, this is the one you'll want to go to. And I've got to admit that I got a bit misty-eyed there during a couple of parts. I defy you not to get a little choked up in the first ten minutes. Challenge!

The Hangover: Hilarious, bawdy fun. You know, not that many movies show Vegas during the day (it ain't that pretty of a town in the sunlight). I'm so glad that general audiences are now catching onto the comedic genius that is Zach Galifianakis. The Comedians of Comedy are slowly taking over the mainstream. When can we expect a Brian Posehn romantic comedy?

Song to close out the weekend: "Cannibal Queen" by Miniature Tigers

A few months ago my brother turned me onto "The Interface" video podcast. It's a good way to check out some new bands, but nothing I saw really grabbed me. That is until I saw the episode featuring Miniature Tigers. I was instantly hooked.

Their album is wonderful slice of summer pop. In fact, I think it's the Best Album Of 2009 That Came Out In 2008.

Fun Trivia: The "Cannibal Queen" video above was filmed in the Ghostbusters firehouse.

And starring Roger Ebert as Venombot

Some choice nuggets from Roger Ebert's one star review of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen:

If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.

...

The movie has been signed by Michael Bay. This is the same man who directed The Rock in 1996. Now he has made Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Faust made a better deal.

...

I find it amusing that creatures that can unfold out of a Camaro and stand four stories high do most of their fighting with...fists. Like I say, dumber than a box of staples.

Wow. There are lots of unimpressed critics out there. I'm morbidly curious to see if it's as bad as everyone says (I'm usually pretty forgiving of Big Dumb Action Movies). But then again, I'm not going to pay for a ticket, since I thought the first Transformers was absolutely terrible. Unless someone else springs for my admission, I'll likely end up catching this on cable, where the small screen will no doubt make it even more of a jumbled mess.

Crush of the Week: Joey Lauren Adams

This week's Crush is actress Joey Lauren Adams. She was on "Today" yesterday talking with Al Roker about some charity work and, boy, does she still have it.



Memories of the '90s came flooding back. She's the sole reason why I have a fetish for women wearing nothing but hockey jerseys. (And I love her singing in that flick.)

Requiem for the King of Pop

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, 1958-2009.



To quote Dave Chappelle: "He made Thriller. *Thriller*."

(I prefer to remember him as above rather than the total walking freak show that he became.)

Bunzilla vs. Cubilcetron

Yesterday morning I was greeted by this chocolate-devouring anime rabbit propped up against my computer monitor. It wasn't my birthday. And it wasn't Easter. So...why?

Just because. My friend - who also moonlights as a part-time game diva at Gamestop - took the cardboard promo piece from her store and figured it said something about me. She and her co-workers refer to it as "Bunzilla." Or more accurately "Bunzirra!"

I didn't trash it as I was thinking of replacing my '08-'09 UR Basketball poster anyway. I swear, my cube's turning into a Spencer's Gifts franchise (though it pales in comparison to my aforementioned friend's workspace).

Requiem for the ultimate sidekick

R.I.P. Ed McMahon, 1923-2009.



I can hear St. Peter now: "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Ed! Hey-oooooo!"

My Summer of Britcoms: a bloody prelude

Thanks for all of your suggestions, folks. I've done some very basic research - this article helped - and decided to spend the summer taking in the following shows, depending on availability (*ahem* torrents).

In no particular order:

• "Spaced"


• "No Heroics"


• "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace"


• "Saxondale"


• "Peep Show"


• "Black Books"


• "The Mighty Boosh"


• "The Worst Week of My Life"

Hopefully, I'll get to all of those over the next couple of months. As I finish a series, I'll let you guys know what I think. Midway through this summer I plan on cleansing my Britcom palate with "Dead Set" (a zombie outbreak in the "Big Brother" house!). And then, possibly, I'll extend this little project in the autumn and tackle some of the classic, pre-aughts shows that were recommended.

Now, where can I get a good scone and a Pimm's Cup around here?

Song to close out the weekend: "So Human" by Lady Sovereign

I worked a little on my Summer Mix CD this weekend and, unfortunately, this song had to be cut in favor of another one. Sov's Cure reworking is one of the only bright spots on Jigsaw (which is pretty much rubbish and not half as fun as her debut).

Best. Viral ad. Ever?

The makers of the Nazi zombie film Dead Snow commissioned this viral marketing campaign to promote the Norwegian DVD (and concurrent US theatrical release). Curiously, the above video doesn't feature any Nazis, zombies, or even snow. Just a bunch of not-safe-for-work hot chicks jiggling to an inane Europop song. Genius.

For the record, I was intent on checking out this movie well before I saw this video. It did not affect my opinion. At all.

My summer gaming: worldwide domination, Homer say "D'oh!," smashing stuff, and zombies

So when I got my Xbox 360 I had these grandiose plans of not getting too far ahead of myself in buying games. Then recently Gamestop had a "Buy 2 Used Games Get 1 Free" sale and, well, I got too far ahead of myself. But what I bought should last me throughout the summer.

Civilization Revolution: The first evening that I popped this in I ended up staying up until 5 am playing it. But I won my campaign! Worldwide domination is pretty damn intoxicating.

The Simpsons Game: The critics were right in that (so far) this is the funniest episode of "The Simpsons" in years.

The Incredible Hulk: Sometimes a dude's just got to smash stuff, you know?

Plants vs. Zombies: This is an ingeniously simple PC game that's almost as much of a time vampire as Peggle. Evenings have been lost playing this, my friends.

Those should keep me busy until Beatles: Rock Band and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 come out in September (two games of a very rare species: ones that I won't have a problem paying full price for).

Crush of the Week: Carrie Prejean

This week's Crush is former Miss California Carrie Prejean.



Let's all put aside our differences, practice some tolerance, and appreciate the hot.

I have found internet nirvana.

Explosions and boobs (keep on refreshing). That's pretty much why the internet was invented, isn't it?

Note: It's safe for work, unless your workplace frowns upon pictures of stuff getting blowed up and disembodied clothed breasts on par with anything out of the Sears catalog. And if they do, I feel sorry for you.

My Summer Reading List: cars and zombies

Last week my summer reading arrived from Amazon:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith I've never read any of Austen's stuff before. Why? It's severely lacking in zombie content. Luckily, that oversight has been rectified.

Driving Like Crazy: Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-Bending by P.J. O'Rourke One of my favorite columnists/pundits/humorists puts the politics aside (mostly) and collects his writing about cars.

Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne No love is purer than zombie love. Maybe after I read this I'll finally get inspired to write that zombierotica novel that's been kicking around my noggin.

I've really slacked off in my reading lately (thanks, Xbox 360!), but I think these three books should get me back into the swing of things and keep me occupied for a while. After I'm done with them, I'll probably try to put a dent in my immense reading pile by reading some older tomes: Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What, Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers, Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, William F. Buckley's God & Man at Yale, or Iain Gately's Tobacco.

Then again, I'm tempted to work my way through some epic books whose length seem a bit daunting: Atlas Shrugged, The Stand, or The Count of Monte Cristo (which I've already read the first 1/4th of).

R.I.F.!

Crush of the Week: Bryce Dallas Howard

This week's Crush is actress Bryce Dallas Howard. Most recently she was a non-entity in Terminator Salvation.



Who knew that Opie had such fine genes?

Quick movie reviews

Terminator: Salvation: If you don't think too much about the plot holes, unnecessary characters, questionable motivations, and other nonsense*, this was a fun action flick. McG's palette of browns and grays really nailed the Judgment Day landscape. Honestly, I think my favorite part of the movie was the sound design. The various tones, buzzes, and beeps of the different terminators were pretty cool.

Star Trek: As I mentioned earlier, I've never seen a full episode or movie of this series before, but I had a freakin' BLAST watching this! It's definitely the highlight of the summer movie season thus far. They really made the movie newbie-friendly. The only real criticism that I have is that Simon Pegg doesn't appear until the last act. Also, apparently Diora Baird must've gotten cut out of the film.

WALL-E: So I finally got around to seeing this. It was cute, the animation was stunning, but I just didn't fall in love with it like seemingly everyone else on the planet did. *shrug*

*To see what could have been, read this and this. Maybe not the best choices, but pretty ballsy.