Monthly Archive for August, 2008Page 2 of 4

Tropic Thunder - TXT Message Review

Tropic ThunderWhen I first saw the trailer for Tropic Thunder, I was less than impressed. 'Oh great, another Ben Stiller movie with umpteen quotes that I'll be hearing for the next three years.' Well, the quotability doesn't compare to Zoolander, but the movie cracked me up. (a celebrity packed cast certainly didn't hurt) Here's the deal: 160 characters or less - as texted to Nick upon egress.

tropic thunder was pretty effin funny. tom cruise puts it down! def better than i was expecting. retard humor may not be for everyone, but i dug it.

If you hate opposed to Ben Stiller, you probably won't love this - but I guarantee you'll laugh your ass off.

The House Bunny - TXT Message Review

I decided to take the day off. I needed some Neal time and hit the movies. Two things you may not know about me: I enjoy seeing movies alone and Anna Farris is one of my favorite actresses. She and Regina Hall were the best parts of the Scary Movie flicks. I don't even think I need to mention her performance in Just Friends. So, it was a no-brainer when I realized that her new movie,The House Bunny, opened today. Here's the skinny in 160 characters or less.

anna farris continues to be crazy funny. she's totally in the zone. the other girls are kinda man of the house. didn't realize it was a happy madison movie.

Nick is also a Farris fan. I wonder what he will think... Perhaps you should tune in next Tuesday and find out!

AFI 100 Years 100 Movies Podcast #3 - A Lady in the Sun

AFI Movies Podcast

Goodfellas, The Apartment, A Place in the Sun, Sophie's Choice, and My Fair Lady are on the table as Conrad and Nick continue their countdown of the American Film Institutes's 100 Years... 100 Movies.

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The Top 9 Ways to Piss Me Off in the Movie Theater

9. Asking stupid questions out loud. Surprisingly, I don't mind if you talk during the movie. Sometimes a well-placed joke can make a boring film better. But I do mind if you start asking dumb questions about the characters or the plot that will be clearly answered in time if you just pay attention and shut the @#$% up.

8. Sitting next to me and texting during the the movie. Ever notice what happens when the movie starts? The lights turn off. That means it goes dark in the theater and any light not coming from the screen is really distracting. Don't sit next to me and text message your stupid friends about the gangbang you're going to after the movie because your annoying cellphone is shining its stupid light in my eyes.

7. Leaving your obnoxious ringtone ready to play at full blast. Cellphone ringtones are glorified midi files with awful melodies and atrocious sound f/x. Still, I'm aware that the majority of Americans are going deaf from listening to their Bon Jovi mp3s too loud on their iPods, so I try to be merciful. But if you refuse to put your cellphone on vibrate and you have an annoying ringtone, either leave the phone at home or don't sit in my theater.

6. Throwing your trash under my feet. I love being a slob at the movies just as much as the next guy. But don't throw your garbage under my seat or anywhere else in my personal sloppy space. I don't want to stand up and step on your half-eaten nachos or your sticky leftover Sour Patch Kids sugar. And I especially don't want to step in a puddle of your warm Dr. Pepper.

5. Pulling on or tugging at my chair as you go to and from your seat. This sounds like an obscure complaint, but it happens all the time. A lot of people out there must be gravity challenged because this never fails to piss me off. When you're in the row behind me and you have to piss in the middle of the movie, don't use the back of my seat as a shaky hand rail on your way out to the bathroom AND on your way back in.

4. Making excessively loud eating noises. Sneaking food into the movies is a grand tradition that I proudly participate in to the fullest. But if you're bringing your own food into the theater, don't eat it so @#$%ing loud that I can't hear the movie. To the guy who sat next to me in Speed Racer -- you don't need to crunch everything with your mouth wide open and then audibly schlurp your fingers clean when you're done.

3. Sitting next to me and eat nasty food. I'll never forget when I went to see the Blair Witch Project. The whiny woman who sat down next to me had a concession stand hot dog, and it smelled like rotting ham. As the lights began to dim, I quickly glanced at the nasty wiener and I kid you not -- it was pale gray. If you're going to eat something gross and/or fetid at the movies, go sit next to someone other than me.

2. Applauding during or after the film. This isn't a concert, jackass. There are no live performers to feel the appreciation of your applause. It's a bunch of still images strung together on a thin strip of gelatin that gets played real fast through a projector. That strip of film doesn't give a @#$% whether you clap or not. Laugh, gasp, scream, whatever. I don't care. Just don't clap for the moving pictures.

1. Kicking the back of my seat. I understand that for some especially tall people out there, certain movie theater seating just doesn't have enough leg room. But is it really necessary to thwack the back of my seat throughout the entire movie? No, it's not. And you're a moron if you do it. And I will turn around and tell you off too -- in the middle of the film with no hesitation -- if it gets to be too much.

More: The Top 9 Things That Suck About Modern Movies!

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

Great, You Took a Comic Book and Adapted it Panel by Panel into a Film. Who Gives a Shit?!

The blogosphere is buzzing about Zack Snyder's "faithful" adaptation of the Watchmen mini series into a film. When I say mini series, I mean it. Watchmen is, in fact, a collection of single issues as opposed to an original novel-length work. But "The Most Celebrated Comic Book Mini Series of All Time" isn't as impressive, so I understand why it's universally referred to as a graphic novel. Watching this movie is supposed to be like the comic moving before your eyes (though they already did that with Warner Premiere's Motion Comics and it looks like poop).

Truthfully, it all leaves me feeling cold. If the movie is just a direct adaptation of the comic, then who gives a shit? I already read Watchmen. It was great. I don't need to read it again, let alone sit as a captive audience member for some ungodly length of time in a movie theater. By the way, three fucking hours??! Snyder, are you out of your gourd? I sat thru 2.5 hours of The Dark Poop and I almost screamed in pain after 1.5 hours. If Watchmen is going to be 180 minutes, then split it in half ala Kill Bill so I can go home for a couple months in the middle.

Continue reading 'Great, You Took a Comic Book and Adapted it Panel by Panel into a Film. Who Gives a Shit?!'

Slang of the Week - Salty

In case you didn't catch it last week, we started a new feature called Slang of the Week. Nick and I believe that the vernacular should be celebrated. This week’s slang is salty. I've never heard anyone use it outside western PA, but that doesn't mean you can't start. This one is simple, easy to use, and can be understood using context clues alone.

salt·y [sawl-tee] –adjective, salt·i·er, salt·i·est.
–adjective
1. sad or upset, often used as a taunt: Don't get all salty just because your cat died.
2. angry or raging to the point of tears: Angela was pretty salty when her husband left her at the altar

[Origin: 1980-1990, the mean streets; see Crusty]

formatting shamelessly stolen from dictionary.com

AudioShocker Podcast #43 - Nutsack Ultramaximizer

Chop Shop, Step Brothers, Will Ferrell's nutsack, True Romance, over-hyped Judd Apatow movies, Seth Rogen as the new Lil Jon, Alanis Morissette and Dave Coulie, ProTools and the L1 Ultramaximizer, Dave Cockrum (not Cockring), Superpowers: A Novel by David J Schwartz, Final Crisis #2, She-Hulk #30 and #31, GG Studio, Green Arrow / Black Canary #11, Last Defenders #6, Marvel Adventures Hulk #14, Charlie Barlett, and too much more to remember.

Click here to visit the AudioShocker Store!

FNMTV - Gym Class Heroes, The Game, We The Kings, Solange

It's hard in these streets. That's the only real excuse I have for not writing this post on Saturday. You know the deal: MTV debuts new videos during FNMTV and I tell you what I think. Easy peasy

Gym Class Heroes - Cookie Jar
I hope this is supposed to be a joke. The 'white background video' returns with a vengeance, a vocoder, and shitty synth line. If The Cool Kids are a bunch of lame scene kids - then what the eff is this? I just can't take any part of this seriously, not with homeboy's bull nose ring.

The Game - My Life (ft. Lil Wayne)
Game is such a drama queen. Is his life really that hard? Wait till the end where he smears a cross on his chest - in blood. Seriously, how effing into yourself are you? You are not John Lennon, Biggie, or Jesus. And who name drops Kanye twice on a track? As if that weren't enough, Lil Wayne rides shotgun with a vocoder. Weezy is giving T-pain a run for his money.

We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet (Live)
I've never even heard of these oldboys, but it sounds a lot like Panic at the Disco. In other words: they are probably popular, but not for any logical reason.

Solange - Sandcastle Disco
Solange is Beyonce's sister in case you didn't know. The song is pretty breezy - but hey, it's a song about a DJ, I expected as much. Yeah, this is a "white background video", but I like it more than others I have seen recently. Overuse of CG? Perhaps, but I dig the whole mod/60's thing. We both know this could have been done way worse.

The Bottom Line: The Game needs to stop feeling himself so much. He is no longer relavant in my musical sphere.

Impromptu Letter Writing Campaign: Make Mini Marvels Monthly

Elephant SteveYou know those cartoon strips by Chris Giarrusso that sit in the back of Marvel Adventures comics? They're awesome. And it's not fair that we only get one strip a month.

Mini Marvels should be a monthly comic book! Email mondomarvel@marvel.com and tell them. I already wrote the letter for you (see below). Just copy it into your email client and hit send! And if you don't want to send the email for me, at least do it for Elephant Steve.

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Make Mini Marvels Monthly!!!!

The Mini Marvels Anthology was great and all, but I've already read all of those strips before! The Mini Marvels cartoons by Chris G are far too great to be relegated to the back of Marvel Adventures comics (which, by the way, are some of the best comic books on the market right now - don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!) with only one new strip a month. That's just not enough! That's why I need you to make Mini Marvels a monthly series!!!! Or at least a quarterly collection of new material!!!!! How many exclamation points do I have to use to let you know how serious I am???!!!!!! MAKE MINI MARVELS MONTHLY!!!

Beatcast #5 - Phoenix Bay by Nik Furious

Phoenix Bay, another new hip hop beat by Nik Furious. This electronic instrumental was unearthed when Nik (a.k.a. me) got ProTools back after a few years without his L1 Ultramaximizer.