Category: Arts & Entertainment
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Spoiled
Update: Yeah, ignore this post. At least, the bitchin’, if not the speculatin’. See comment 12. One of the consequences of working at home is that it can turn your standard garden-variety internet addiction into a full-blown compulsion. I’ve had more days than I’d like to admit where I’ve reached the end of the internet…
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The Hits Just Keep On Coming
The whole Rifftrax thing has been accreting coolness like an asteroid belt; eventually I’m just going to have to be redirecting this site to that one. What’s cool now is they finally got Mary Jo Pehl to do one. She played Mrs. Forrester on “Mystery Science Theater” (and also Jan in the pan from The…
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At least my name isn’t Earl, I suppose.
Now I know how the Geico Caveman feels. One of my friends has been complaining that a Korean R&B singer has stolen her identity. I don’t know if one Korean singer is better or worse than an entire new series (warning: that link plays video). The series, which I decree shall never again be mentioned…
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I just want a decent copy of this video!
My favorite commercial ever, back from when Cartoon Network was still cool, has been impossible to find for years. Once again, YouTube saves the day: I would’ve been willing to move back to Atlanta and work for Cartoon Network all based on that one ad. And the one where Jinx the Cat is riding a…
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Thieves just like flies
I don’t know when it was decided that comic book movie blockbusters were required to have multiple villains in them; I’m guessing it was during pre-production of Batman Returns when someone realized that more people would pay to see Michelle Pfeiffer in a leather catsuit than would be willing to see Danny DeVito dressed like…
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Jim Henson’s Dharma Initiative Babies
You’d have to be pretty cynical, or have already given up on the series altogether, not to think that this week’s episode of “Lost” was pretty damn cool. The guys behind the show have admitted to being big fans of Stephen King, which probably explains why this couldn’t have been a better TV adaptation of…
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Uncanny Valley
In robotics (and increasingly used in talking about CGI), the term “Uncanny Valley” refers to the point at which the attempt to make an artificial character more human-like backfires, and the character becomes more repulsive and disturbing than realistic. Scott McCloud gives a simple, easily understandable explanation for why this happens in Understanding Comics: humans…
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And one more
There was one movie I forgot to mention in my last post, Hot Fuzz. And the fact that I was talking about every movie I’ve seen in the last three months and forgot to mention it, pretty much says it all. I’ve got to be one of the only internet nerds who wasn’t blown away…
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Catching Up
Crunch mode or no, Netflix still keeps taking my money, so I’ve got to stay on top of the latest in years-old movies I never got around to seeing while they were still relevant. And if you’re horrified at the thought that I’ve been watching movies and not putting my opinions of them up on…
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An Inconvenient Doofus
It’s an old and tired cliche that Hollywood producers are greedy, clueless, and artistically bankrupt, eager to cash in on something without really understanding it. But apparently it’s not enough of a cliche that there’s a standout example, at least there’s not one I can think of. When you think of gimmicky plot twists, you…
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Too Hot for Television
Last night Fox aired the two-part pilot for its series “Drive”, with another episode tonight. It’s about an illegal cross-country Cannonball Run-style car race for 32 million dollars, where the racers are coerced into participating, spies hired by the race operators are everywhere, and death is one of the punishments for finishing last (presumably). It’s…
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Reel Missing
I got even more to say about Grindhouse. Cory made the point that people are trying to claim if you didn’t like Death Proof, you didn’t “get” it. You can see that in a lot of the internet reviews, and I’m sure if I had a job where I actually talked to people, I’d be…