For the first time in forever, we begin by talking about music as Neal tells about a hip hop show he hit up featuring Prophit and COTN, then it's Joss Stone, Teddy Riley, foobar2000 vs. Winamp vs. iTunes, the Street Fighter II instrumental album, Neal's deep thoughts on TV, Jean-Claude Van Damme in The Quest, The Postman, Blast!, TMNT purchased by Nickelodeon... will they @#$% it up like Avatar? AND what will Neal dress up as for Halloween??? Plus, a lot of stuff about comics, from the Turtles to Blue Wraith (more next week!) and Phantom of the Attic.
Tag Archive for 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'Page 2 of 5
Part 4 of INDECENT PROPOSAL begins in crisis as Ross Campbell and Nick Marino talk about Wet Moon casting, which quickly leads to the disastrous (and supervillainous) The Last Airbender casting and begs the question: is M Night Shyamalan a real-life supervillain? Things shift to Batman and Robin #1, All-Star Superman, We3, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, buying comics because you can't stop, incredible creators who shouldn't work together, Astonishing X-Men, New X-Men and superhero fashion sense, X-Men Legacy, JRjr and Armor Wars II, and more.
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Neal thinks that Nick would think that Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is racist. The Last Airbender trailer exceeds expectations but still disappoints these two Avatar fans who cannot get over the bizarre casting choices. Michael Jackson and Billy Mays have left the building. Play it to the Bone and Gran Torino are solid movies. Neal tells Nick about New Era hats with Marvel Comics stuff on them. Nick tells Neal about G-Man, Avengers: The Initiative, X-Men Legacy, Demon in a Bottle, and a short western comic by Skipper Martin from the new Outlaw Territory anthology. Also: is Alan Moore the literary Dov Charney? And what is podcast vérité?
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OMG. OMG OMG OMG. Everyone! you have to read this article about The Last Airbender extras casting director, DeeDee Ricketts (who is probably casting the whole damn Avatar movie, from the looks of it).
Here's a choice excerpt:
"We want you to dress in traditional cultural ethnic attire," she said. "If you're Korean, wear a kimono. If you're from Belgium, wear lederhosen."
Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. Korean kimonos? Belgian lederhosen?
For added perspective, please check out this excellent op-ed piece. It features the POV of someone who actually attended the Philadelphia casting call.
And let me end this blog post right by linking to the website of DeeDee Ricketts.
Once again, a choice excerpt:
Check out the AFFRICAN IMIGRANTS we found for TEARS OF THE SUN, the Afghan Village with real AFGHANS we discovered for CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR or the LA GANG MEMBERS who made TRAINING DAY sizzle. Finding real people, who add the nuances that make any scene more believable, is what we strive for.
HOLY SHIT. Please note that both "African" and "immigrants" are spelled wrong in that paragraph. No wonder the casting is totally fucked in The Last Airbender.
P.S. If you haven't been there already, please visit Saving the World with Postage. It's a LiveJournal blog devoted to protesting the insane Avatar casting decisions.
P.P.S. Check out the new and improved Charlie Wilson's War... now featuring "real AFGHANS" who were discovered exclusively for the filming of this movie! Way to go, DD Casting!!!
Coraline in 3D is awesome, Neal was not taken with Liam Neeson in Taken, Michael Phelps should be allowed to smoke as much weed as he wants, Hulk Vs. Wolverine is just okay, Eulogy is quirky but funny, Rob Schneider in The Hot Chick gets funnier with time, Neal enjoyed The Cleaner, Keanu Reeves in Cowboy Beebop, Battlestar Galactica finally gets some action, My Chemical Romance suckles from the teat of Watchmen, Black Panther #1 is an excellent issue, X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1 is pretty good too, and Kyle Baker can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants in comics.
British humor vs. rap music, Nick loves Balls Out and JCVD, Neal reminisces about Edgewood Town Center, Gabriel Bros vs. American Apparel, Nick watched people light fires in the streets of Pittsburgh after the Steelers won the Super Bowl, Neal watched Super Bowl Commercials and hated them, Nick watched Chaos;HEAd and loved it, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, New Avengers #49 and Luke Cage, Avengers: The Initiative #21 and Clor, and In Like Flint is overrated.
Then, after the end theme, the guys discuss some shocking casting news for The Last Airbender - Dev Patel is in as Zuko. As usual, the casting makes no sense and Neal is revoking M. Night Shyamalan's Chaat Stand Pass.
My Bloody Valentine in 3D was fun for Nick, Neal thinks Elizabeth Banks was miscast in The Uninvited, both Neal and Nick think The Last Airbender movie has been miscast too, arguing about Colin Hanks leads to arguing about Jack Black, Nick liked Sean William Scott in Balls Out but disliked Beyonce on I Am... Sasha Fierce, Neal enjoyed Tremors while Nick enjoyed X-Men: Legacy #220 (he also read Mighty Avengers #21 and War Machine #2), and Neal is almost done watching Hatuna Meuheret (Late Marriage).
Nick loves Uncle Iroh and Appa
Insanity aside, there was an upswing to this discovery: I started talking about Avatar more. And that's always a good thing in my book (which has lots of pictures, little text, and very few pages).
All this discussion reminded me of an exercise I've been playing for the past few months. Said exercise is easy -- select your two favorite characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender and reveal your true inner self to the entire world. It sounds overly simple, but it's shockingly accurate.
Here, I'll go first:
Me:
1. Uncle Iroh
2. Appa
Now here's a few more for your consideration:
Justique (of the AudioShocker podcast):
1. Aang
2. Azula
Ross Campbell (of Soaking Luna fame):
1. Katara
2. Zuko
My brother-in-law (of Mack Trucks employ):
1. Azula
2. Toph
My day job co-worker (of webmaster trade):
1. Zuko
2. Momo
Get it? Okay, now it's your turn. Reveal your true inner being to the cosmos by naming your two favorite Avatar characters in the comments. (I would love to delve into the psychological implications of these choices right here, but I'll save that for the comments as well... along with a few celebrity predictions!)
Racial slurs in Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood and his Eastwoody, Black Snake Moan and its Son House soundtrack, A Time to Kill reveals Neal and his Matthew McConaughey man-crush, Nick just heard 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake's "Ayo Technology," Neal just saw Yes Man with Jim Carrey and Zoey Deschanel, he also saw JCVD with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Nick read Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #5 and Tales of the TMNT #53 and X-Men: Worlds Apart #3, and after the end theme the guys talks about superhero decadence and Bill Willingham.
Welcome to the 1st Annual AudioShocker YOU DON'T SUCK Awards for 2008, where we celebrate the few pieces of mass media that didn't completely blow last year. In keeping with our "Music. Movies. Comic Books. Pop Culture. Media is kind of our thing." credo, we've carefully evaluated offerings in the categories of Music (by Neal), Movies (by Pete), Comics (by Nick), and TV (by all of us). Here are the results:
Music (Arists, Singles, Videos, and Albums)
The nominees are:
- Lil Wayne - A Milli / Ms. Officer / any of his collabos.
- Pink - So What / Sober (both from Funhouse)
- Vampire Weekend - Oxford Coma
- The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
- The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
- Portishead - Third
The 2008 YOU DON'T SUCK Music Winner is: The Cool Kids
Neal says: It's always hard to decide with music. This is the most subjective category there is. Lil Wayne was stellar, but vocoders prevent us from giving him top honors. Pink returned to relevance with killer singles and Vampire Weekend brought us alternative music (and a video) that didn't suck. New favorite The Ting Tings and Pete's pick Portishead rounded out our noms. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the nominees, but there can be only one winner. The fantastically hip Cool Kids know how to make a good record and their beats have ridiculous knock.
Movies (Films, Flicks, and Moving Pictures)
The nominees are:
- WALL-E
- In Bruges
- Burn After Reading
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Wrestler
The 2008 YOU DON'T SUCK Movies Winner is: In Bruges
Pete says: In Bruges was the best-written movie of the year and has incredible performances from its three main actors (Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Gleeson). This is the first film from writer-director Martin McDonagh, and in that regard this strikes me as another reason to single out the film, since we can be optimistic about another strong filmic auteur (though the man is, apparently, a well-seasoned playwright) making the scene. Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler were excellent, but neither topples In Bruges as my pick for the all-caps not sucking distinction.
Comics (Ongoings, Minis, One-Shots, and OGNs)
The nominees are:
- Avengers: The Initiative #14-19 (Marvel Comics)
- Kill All Parents! (Image Comics)
- Terra #1-4 (DC Comics)
- War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33-35 (Marvel Comics)
- Water Baby (Minx / DC Comics)
The 2008 YOU DON'T SUCK Comics Winner is: War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33-35
Nick says: I'm obsessed with War Machine thanks to this story arc. These issues (a.k.a. Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-35) follow Jim Rhodes after an electronic recording of Tony Stark prompts him to prepare for an impending crisis (Secret Invasion). Christos Gage, Sean Chen, Sandu Florea, Jay David Ramos, Joe Caramagna, Adi Granov, and Bill Rosemann are all in top form as they deliver the best comics of 2008. (This goes without says that I've been nursing an addiction to Marvel vs. Capcom lately and Rhodey happens to be my fighter of choice.)
Television (Shows, Finales, and Premiers)
The nominees are:
- Chuck
- Avatar
- Metalocalypse
- Mad Men
- The Spectacular Spider-Man
The 2008 YOU DON'T SUCK Television Winner is: Avatar: The Last Airbender
We say: Honestly, was there ever really a doubt? Avatar has been an AudioShocker favorite since before there was an AudioShocker.com! This Nickelodeon original made us sit up and take notice with its tremendous visuals, compelling story, and surprisingly mature themes. We're sad we couldn't give Chuck and Mad Men higher marks, but Buster Bluth and Don Draper would want it this way. Now we're keeping our eyes peeled for new episodes of Big Love, BSG, Entourage, and Spectacular Spidey!
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