Entries Tagged 'Entertainment' ↓

Up yours: James Bond (Daniel Craig) flips on a foe

When the family of the late Albert R. Broccoli, producers of the James Bond film series, decided that the archetype needed a reboot, and hired actor Daniel Craig to play the titular superspy in the 21st Bond movie, 2006’s Casino Royale, the fan response was overwhelming…and stupendously negative.

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On September 11th, people repeatedly said that the destruction of the World Trade Center “looked like a movie.” But no one had ever seen a movie before during which an exploding building powerfully, suddenly, ejects thousands of reams of paper with a woeful, confetti-like bloom. That sight was completely unexpected, a detail few would have anticipated, the random visual white noise that reality adds to a disastrous purview.

I thought of 9/11 while scoping this incredible, horizontally-formatted poster for The Dark Knight (double-sided, 40″ x 30″, rolled, $75.00, MoviePoster.com). Of course, that’s director Christopher Nolan’s sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and the late Heath Ledger in his final movie role, opening this Friday, July 18th.

I’m conviced that, especially as we get more and more distance between us and that horrible fall day, imagery straight from the Towers’s deaths will infest our cinematic visions as the only universally credible depictions of apocalypse.

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As written, the comic strip Garfield—cartoonist Jim Davis’ look at the travails of an eponymous cat and its owner—is kind of like the funny pages equivalent of tourists: In the background, not bothering anybody, always there, and quietly looked down upon by people who think they’re much smarter.

So, perhaps it’s appropriate that it took a foreigner, Dan Walsh—and a Dubliner yet!—to turn Garfield from wallpaper into something truly hip: a darkly ironic reflection on “schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life.” Walsh did it, not by rewriting dialogue but, via one genius move: He completely stripped the cat and his unfunny thought balloons out of every panel.

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Infinity and beyond: Buzz Lightyear sketch from Toy Story (1995)

Pixar, the computer animation powerhouse behind such works as Toy Story, above, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and, currently, the number one movie in the country, Wall•E, has created one of the strongest, most dominant brands in entertainment. But, in its early days, the company stumbled and faltered repeatedly, staying in business by the sheer dint of its tenacious founders.

So says David A. Price in his new book, The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. David Price is today’s guest on my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, July 4th, 2 pm ET.

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There’s little I can add to this wonderful, 24-second clip, in which a cute blonde with a delirious life-zest makes beauty out of riding an escalator. Agreed, Gizmodo: We love you, Spinning Lady.

So states director Timur Bekmambetov, above, of his actioner, Wanted, opening today, in an interesting interview with the Canadian web site MoviesOnline. The film stars Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Common as a team of super assassins.

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“Heh, heh…keep laffin’, lil’ white chillun…”: Uncle Remus and friends

You probably know that Disney, global makers of fine family entertainment, has a rich history of racist characters in its long legacy of films, TV shows, and other properties. But any list of the company’s nine most offensive creations, like this one from Cracked.com, that merely ranks Song of the South‘s “Uncle Remus,” above, at number 2 has got to be a doozy.

I dig anything that shoots holes in celebrities and the myth that they’re smarter, better, prettier, or, in any way, superior to regular people. So, I gets down for TMZ on the daily; love the “celebrities without make-up” subgenre; but Go Fug Yourself is the celeb site that I most want, somehow, to get on TV and satellite.

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To a great extent, George Carlin is being remembered today for his “Filthy Words” routine, from his album, Occupation: Foole. In 1973, my radio station, WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM, played the bit over the air, resulting in a complaint and, ultimately, in a landmark Supreme Court ruling on free speech and the First Amendment. (“Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” on the 1972 album, Class Clown, is a similar piece. Its live recitation on a Milwaukee stage got the comic arrested in that year.)

To me, however, Carlin is possibly most significant in that he was the only white comedian I ever heard use the word nigger in a joke who actually made me really, deeply laugh. (The piece appears in his 1990 “Euphemisms” sketch.)

This is less a testament to his hipness or coolness—he had none, from my perspective—or any acceptance I reserve for white people using that word. All I reserve for any white person, without exception—including Carlin—is the suspicion of racism.

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Thanks to DarkRoastedBlend.com for bringing these groovy, manga-coated supersonic jets to light.

Apparently, they’re from the 2007 video game Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. Downloadable content enables the gamer to change the appearance of these advanced fighters…to something that better matches your 5th grader’s room, but maintains critical in-flight stealth characteristics.