Deep Cuts

Why can't I stop listening to this song?

Please help.

Dr. Horrible's Maniacal Marketing Scheme

Clever bastards.

Last Saturday, the Whedon's (Buffy, Serenity) released Act III of Dr. Horrible on their website for free viewing via Hulu. Later that same day, free Hulu streaming of the three part "tragicomic musical" ended, leaving us with only the pay-to-play iTunes downloads.

Their evil master-plan (yielding the Whedon's $1.99 a pop for each of the three parts,) has been a huge success, with Acts I, II, and III currently holding the top 3 'most-downloaded' rankings of ALL TV-Episodes on iTunes.

Dr. Horrible, Act II

Ok, I'm going to admit it. I love musicals. Please, don't mock me.

Act II of Dr. Horrible was uploaded today. I give it a big-thumbs up. Seriously looking forward to the release of Act III on Friday.

Give Act I a chance, it gets better with Act II.

The web-series has been a huge success so far. The creator, Josh Whedon, claims that they've been getting nearly 1000 hits per second, and Act I immediately soared to the #1 video download on iTunes (and at a cost of $1.99, no less).

Matt, brace yourself...

My friend made a rather irate post on his blog today. It seems that he's been devastated by the recently released trailer for The Watchmen.

In effort to sooth his saddened soul, I sought out the trailer for The Spirit; what I believe to be an example of graphic-novel adaption goodness, directed by Frank Miller of Sin City fame.



But my attempt to lift Matt's spirits (puuuuunnn, get it?) was ultimately quashed under the horrendous rumors of...
*drum roll please* 300 2 (as in a sequel to the homoerotic meat-head shit-fest that was 300).

WHAT THE FUCK??? Seriously Frank, what in God's name would posses you to a.) make a sequel to a testosterone-pumped costume party (answer: $$$), and b.) make a fictional sequel to a HISTORICAL EVENT (answer: ???)

The Spirit better be as good the trailers make it look. Better, in fact. Otherwise Frank Miller is going to find himself on my shit-list, right next to Zack Snyder.

Flight of the Low-Rent Super Villain

Comedy of the mundane is in.

In Flight of the Conchords fashion, Neil Patrick Harris' latest project (yes, that's Doogie Howser) is a web-series that derives it's humor from the banality of a traditionally sensationalized topic. In the case of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the painfully average day-to-day life of a humble super villain is explored.

And yes, it is a musical.

It purportedly began as a labor-of-love project outside the Hollywoood system, during the WGA strike earlier this year. From what I've seen so far, there isn't enough substance for the project to go anywhere beyond a limited run of webisodes. But these days, who knows?

The trailer is below. Act I (of three) is out now, and available to view on the creator's website: http://www.drhorrible.com/

Cinema Nostalgia

"The stuff that dreams are made of..."
(Ethan Hawke & River Phoenix in Explorers)

Long ago, in a time when my imagination was still both vibrant and active, there were films that, to me, made anything seem possible. These movies portrayed fantastic worlds filled with hope and heroism, clearly defined moral conflicts between good and evil, and very often had central characters no older than my pre-adolescent self.

It was a time long before the internet and cell phones were a daily part of my life. Before cigarettes, parking citations, sociopathic employers, student loans, and shaving.

But most importantly, it was a time before CGI.

Lately, memories of these films have resurfaced and caused overwhelming sensations of sudden nostalgia, longing, and loss to rattle my stomach. In effort to both validate and exorcise these feelings, I have sought shared recognition and remembrance from my peers of these forgotten films. Sadly, too many of my friends either have no recollection of these mid-80's gems, or never even saw them to begin with.

Having been raised by reformed hippies, intellectuals, and artists in San Francisco, California, I had no religious upbringing whatsoever. Instead, these films formed my base of cultural mythology.

For the sake of not beating a dead-horse, I will leave the original Star Wars trilogy off the list, as well as The Labyrinth and Short Circuit.



1.) TIME BANDITS
(Dir: Terry Gilliam, 1982)










Before the masterpiece Brazil, Terry Gilliam had already seen silver-screen success with Monthy Python & the Holy Grail. His next major directorial triumph came in 1982 with Time Bandits. The film tells the story of a band of midgets, formerly employed by God ("the Supreme Being") as a maintenance crew.

Disgruntled and under appreciated, the team steal the only map that charts holes in the fabric of the universe (there are many of course, since they "only had seven days to put the bloody thing together"). They use the map to travel through space and time, robbing both historical figures and figures of myth and legend, simply for the sake of profit, all while being pursued by a very upset Supreme Being, as well as the forces of darkness who wish to secure the map for themselves.

Told through the perspective of Kevin, a small boy whom is at first mistaken as the Supreme Being and then kidnapped, the bandits are as much guided by their map as they are by Kevin's moral compass. The film notably features appearances by Sean Connery, and John Clease as Robin Hood.



2.) THE DARK CRYSTAL
(Dir: Jim Henson & Frank Oz, 1982)











It wasn't until college that I rediscovered this Henson classic, and had the surprising epiphany that the entire story was one big drug reference.

The plot centers around the sexually ambiguous and child-like Jen, the last of the Gelflings (almost). Jen is caught in a fantasy world dominated by two forces at conflict; the stoner-like Mystics who are peaceful, slow moving and in-tune with nature, and the shrill, frightening, high-strung (and obviously evil) Skesis. The Skesis rule the planet with the power of the dark crystal (a rather direct methamphetamine reference), which they worship obsessively. The outstanding visuals and production design of Dark Crystal are reason enough to revisit this otherwise pointless film.




3.) THE NEVERENDING STORY
(Dir: Wolfgang Peterson, 1984)














Featuring the Luke Skywalker-esq Atryeu, Falcor the Luck Dragon, the Rock-Biter, and a slew of other equally amazing fantasy creatures and characters. All told through the pre-pubescent 'everyman' Sebastian.

'Nuff said.

If you don't already know and love this film, than you have undoubtedly succumbed to the Swamps of Sadness.

At all costs, AVOID THE SEQUELS!!!




4.) EXPLORERS
(Dir: Joe Dante, 1985)
Long before Bill Clinton made the saxophone cool again with his iconic appearance on the Arsenio Hall show, teenage aliens were jamming out for the enjoyment of the young River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke in Explorers.

I have long since forgotten the plot details of this film. What I can remember is a trio of middle-school aged characters who build a home-made spaceship out of the body of a 'tilt-a-whirl' carnival ride and metal trashcan. How fucking rad is that??

After being contacted through dreams and visions, they fly their spaceship into orbit and rendezvous with a pair of aliens who are obsessed with Earth's media-transmissions. The aliens are only able to communicate in english by speaking in sound-bites taken from radio transmissions, television programs, and pop-culture movies.

However, the three young explorers soon discover that the aliens are also children themselves, and have stolen the ship to joy-ride across space and visit Earth, the source of their entertainment. All hell breaks loose when papa-alien arrives to discipline them, and the movie sadly goes down-hill from there.

Worth revisiting, even if only for the sake of refreshing my memory as to the details of the plot.




5.) FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR
(Dir: Randal Kleiser, 1986)










Hands down, without a doubt, the most significant and repeatedly watched film of my childhood. I'm positive that at the age of four, I demanded that my parents rent this movie for me every single weekend for several months in a row. Why they didn't just buy it on VHS is a mystery.

In fact, the reason that I first saw the original Star Wars, was because my mother had suggested it as an alternative to renting Flight of the Navigator for the ten trillionth time in a row. I promptly threw a fit in the video store (which did not end until I was at home and the Millenium Falcon was on our television screen. Star Wars then immediately replaced Navigator as my repeated rental. In fact, I was so closed-minded about renting new movies at this age, that I saw Star Wars at least a dozen times before being coaxed into renting Empire Strikes Back).

This Disney classic tells the story of David, an adolescent Florida resident who is abducted by an unmanned alien craft on the Fourth of July. David awakens with no memories of the abduction and soon discovers that eight years have past since he was last seen on Earth. Due to mysterious "time-dilation", David has not aged since his disappearance. He is taken into custody by a rather militant-like NASA, who have also captured the space-craft that returned him to Earth.

After being aided in his escape by an 80's pop-culture-loving NASA intern (played by a young and surprisingly attractive Sarah Jessica Parker), David boards the spacecraft and befriends the robotic pilot Max (voiced by none other than Pee-Wee Herman). Max's memory has been damaged and he requires the navigational knowledge contained in David's brain to return to his homeworld, implanted in David during his 8 year abduction.

Again, this by far my favorite (non-Star Wars) childhood film. And with the uber-cool liquid metal T-1000-esq spaceship, probably the only non-lame example of computer generated imagery in popular film that I can think of.



6.) THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
(Dir: Terry Gilliam, 1988)













The second Terry Gilliam film of great significance to my childhood, and my first exposure to meta-theatrical plot structures.

John Neville stars as Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron Von Munchausen, decorated soldier, traveler extraordinaire and the world's greatest liar.

The significantly layered meta-fictive qualities of the film (more so even than Gilliam had achieved several years prior in Brazil) make it almost impossible, if not entirely futile, to discuss the plot in any detail here. With Gilliam's outstanding aesthetic taste and epic vision of fantasy, and with remarkably enjoyable performances from the cast (featuring Robin Williams, Eric Idle, Johnathan Pryce, and a very young Uma Thurman), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is not a film to be forgotten.

With any luck, Gilliam's upcoming Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (coming in 2009, featuring the final performance of Heath Ledger) will bare some resemblance in theme and tone to this childhood favorite.