Shira's in New York for the VMA's...
But fear not! My guest co-host this week is Bibliotech creator, author and Mahalo CTO Mark Jeffrey. Next week, we've got a very special show planned with some other guests, and then look for the return of Shira later this month!
Another brilliant episode from Zach Galifianakis. Brought to you by "Need for Speed: Shift."
This episode features probably the single meanest segment aimed at an individual YouTuber we've ever done. I mean, Jake Walmsley is definitely crying out for some negative attention, but still...I may have gone too far. Even Maria Sansone doesn't usually have to deal with this much of my wrath.
Gonna be tough...I mean, the Federal Commission of T-Pain signed off on this one. PLUS you get the return of Katie Couric. But these just keep getting better, so I'll have to hold out hope.
So what could be so useful about depression? Depressed people often think intensely about their problems. These thoughts are called ruminations; they are persistent and depressed people have difficulty thinking about anything else. Numerous studies have also shown that this thinking style is often highly analytical. They dwell on a complex problem, breaking it down into smaller components, which are considered one at a time.
Basically, the idea is that sad bastards sit and home and think about their lives over and over again, and that this in turn causes their brain to function in a more intensely focused, analytical manner, which in turn makes them smarter, or at least better at critical thinking and problem solving.
These people who wrote the article are scientists, whereas I host a weekly web show in which I make sarcastic remarks about cat videos and Shane Dawson, so you decide who to trust...but I'm not sure I buy this idea. It implies that the thinking you do when you're depressed is, in some ways, analytical, and even productive. And it's not. Repetition alone doesn't count as critical thinking...and that's all depression is...the repetition in the mind of negative, hateful thoughts without an "off" switch.
It's not like depressed people are really looking at their lives analytically and breaking the shit down in an organized, strategic manner. "Well, let's see, on this side, I hate my father, but I love gelato! And I'm not happy at my job, but puppies! And I'm uncertain as to whether I'll ever find true love, and deep down, I suspect that it's all meaningless and I could die at any moment and no one would ever care...but, hey, that new Final Destination movie's coming out soon!"
I don't think there's anything productive about being depressed, and the idea that it might make you better at math strikes me as counter-intuitive. Sure, you're focused when you're depressed, but only on one thing - feeling depressed.
60 episodes and we're not totally out of ideas yet...I'm stunned.
And for all those asking in the YouTube comments, the Percolator Girl seems fine at the end of the video. I think there's a chance that clip might actually be less funny if she had expired. (I'd probably still want to show it, though, cause it's awesome.)
Mahalo has launched its first white-label Q&A community, for Conundrum Wines. I actually tried their white table wine the other night, and it was pretty good. (Plus, it has a screw top, which makes you feel extra-classy.)
Anyway, ConundrumLand is a great to post any sort of puzzling or baffling decision you've been wrestling with. I've asked a few questions of my own on there and gotten some reasonable answers. Give it a try...we're pretty proud of it: http://www.whatsyourconundrum.com/
Trailer DOES feature Fred Willard and Zach Galifianakis, and is actually kind of funny, but even Cera's "dangerous" alter-ego pretty much seems exactly like George Michael Bluth. Nevertheless, I'm intrigued...
For the pedantic people out there, yes, yes, I know that Shane Dawson will still work with The Station. We shoot these early, okay? I didn't know that at the time! Geez!
Also, I seriously could not believe the blatant insertion of FULL ADS in the middle of Barely Digital videos. I'm not one of those people that's intensely bothered by online advertising. I will gladly wait through a 15-30 second clip in front of some good content, no complaints. But interrupting the middle of your 3 minute video with an extended ad for a movie is just insulting, PLUS it ruins the continuity of your video because I'm guaranteed to shut it off halfway through. Just awful.
A lot of contemporary games seem to share a similar style. Feels like there was more variety back in the NES/SNES days than there is today, where you'd get a "Castlevania" game and a "Super Mario" game and "Pilotwings" and they'd all be very different experiences. This essentially looks like "Devil May Cry" meets "Assassin's Creed" set inside the forthcoming "Dante's Inferno."
I'll still have to check it out. I love me some old-school Castlevania.
What's the deal with putting "From the director of 'Titanic'" on this trailer? I mean, yes, it's the most popular movie of all-time, but "Terminator 2" and "Aliens" are no slouches, either, and seem to have more in common with this intergalactic war film. Just saying...
This is pretty impressive stuff, in that it appears much of the film will center on the computer-generated Na'vi characters, and that they will spend much of their time emoting.
Though motion-capture has clearly come a long way, there have only been a few instances where I've really felt that it was used successfully to create a real, sympathetic, relatable character as opposed to just effects. Gollum is obviously still the gold standard for this, though I guess "Benjamin Button" last year was also impressive. Curious to see what Cameron does with it.
Anyway, clearly a must-see, and a movie we've been waiting to get a look at for a long time.
Seems like all of these guys (and of course it's all guys) are going for the same maneuver. Pull your bottom lip way up over your upper lip. I guess there are no points for originality.
The cast of season nine of the popular reality show Dancing with the Stars was announced on August 17, 2009. The season will premiere on September 21, 2009, on ABC.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/08/dancing-with-the-stars-meet-the-season-9-contenders-none-of-whom-are-named-paula-abdul.html1The 2009 cast includes Aaron Carter, Tom DeLay, Macy Gray, Melissa Joan Hart, Kathy Ireland, Michael Irvin, Chuck Liddell, Mya, Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond, among others.
If they're bringing DeLay on to be this season's "villain," it's sort of a master stroke. I'm also curious to see who will be more blisteringly insane - DeLay or Michael Irvin. Seriously, can we get some Vegas odds on this? Compared to the two of them, Macy Gray's behavior will likely be boring and predictable.
Was just not into the last Flaming Lips album...They're a genuinely goofy band, but the sing-songy cutesy vibe of stuff like "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" (I mean, even that name) just got old fast.
But this "See The Leaves" song is old-skool Lips at their best. Trippy, weird, discordantly infectious...I'm digging it. The new album, "Embryonic," comes out October 13.
Really well-executed parody of the "Inglourious Basterds" trailer...The sound effects make it.
...using the awesome power of hilarity. Well played.
HOLY GOD there are some crazy trippy insane fantasy films coming out this year. "The Lovely Bones," "Alice in Wonderland," "Where the Wild Goddamn Things Are" and then this mind-bender from Terry Gilliam, featuring the final screen performance from the late Heath Ledger.
The trailer looks a bit like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," but with updated special effects and a ton of movie stars. And Tom Waits as the Devil. I'm in.
This compilation of scenes of Cera doing his trademark "mumbly embarrassed guy" schtick certainly makes the case that he's been permanently and horrifically typecast. I've seen all these movies/shows save "Nick and Nora" and even I occasionally would need a minute to figure out where a given clip came from. This guy needs to do an action film or something.
Though I've sort of tired of his whole routine at this point, I AM considerably pleased that he's agreed (according to the most recent rumors I've heard) to come back for the potential "Arrested Development" movie. You need the entire Bluth Family intact for that to work, I suspect...
I think this one came out particularly well. Also, I get to insult the people of Belgium, coming right on the heels of my mocking the people of Argentina a few weeks back. Shall we just start doing this alphabetically? Look out, Cambodia!
There are only two possibilities, to my mind:
(1) The similarity is unintentional. The Obama logo combines a familiar symbol for doctors/medical care along with the classic "Obama logo" from the 2008 campaign. It's just similar shapes.
(2) The similarity is intentional, and Obama is a Shadow Nazi. He's stupidly revealing to us his actual, dark intentions, via the use of logos, and Rush Limbaugh's the only American savvy enough to put the pieces together, sort of like a paranoia-and-Oxycontin-fueled, obese version of Tom Hanks in the "Da Vinci Code."
Can't really decide, though...Both options seem so plausible.
I approve of their anti-Whoopi Goldberg platform, but I strongly disagree with their anti-Blingee platform...hmm...
This is a link to an actual blog post in which a conservative lady bitches about not liking the design of Barack Obama's birthday cake. For real. Also, I'm not sure if you guys have heard about this, but he's sort of like the Joker! zOMG!
I just really wanted an excuse to link to a blog that features the following sentence:
"Love him or hate him, George Bush had a real cake for his birthday."
OK, I will grant him that, and only that. George Bush succeeds in a way we typically only celebrate for 1-year-olds and pets - eating a delicious looking cake on his birfday.
Stung by a collapse in advertising revenue as the recession shredded Fleet Street's traditional business model, Murdoch declared that the era of a free-for-all in online news was over.
"Quality journalism is not cheap," said Murdoch. "The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free. We intend to charge for all our news websites."
OK, fine, quality journalism isn't cheap. Agreed. But what about what Rupert Murdoch publishes?
Is it standard cop procedure to "punk" people who try to hire undercover cops as hitmen? Or did they just make a special exception in this case because it was going to be so hilarious and awesome? I'm not sure, but I likes it.
Quite possibly my all-time favorite viral video gets the royal treatment. Talk about TWIYT GOLD! It doesn't get much better than this, folks.
Really awesome '80s-style TV documentary about Dharma. Look out for their octagonal seal!
Maybe not Mother of the Year material, but this technique certainly seems effective.
But really, I think this is a commentary on the speed of technological advancement and how it affects all our lives. 10 years ago, a mother could TOTALLY get away with dragging her small child by the neck through a Verizon store (or, I guess, back then, a Sam Goody or something). But now, with cell phone cameras and YouTube, it's just not doable any more. We're all going to need some time to adjust.
This looks completely amazing. Flew totally under my radar. Pitch-black comedy from the Coen Brothers, made for less than $20 million. SHIT YES. Opening October 2nd!
Either Bill O'Reilly doesn't understand the concept of a "life expectancy rate" or he assumes people who watch his show don't. Either way, it does not bode well for the guy's fans.
This is probably the dumbest thing I've actually heard the man say, which is SIGNIFICANT, because he says really dumb things on TV all the time.
Enjoy My Little Gears of War Ponies. (Also featured at no extra cost: Zelda and Iron Man themes!)
I didn't see this coming. He had so much poise in that role...
WOW...When I worked at the video store, we used to get people requesting this movie, or at least talking about it, and it was utterly impossible to find. Jones asked the director, Michael Glyn, to squash the film back in the '90s, and it was essentially disappeared after that point...No VHS, no Laserdisc, nothing. To have it, you have to have taped it off of TV back in '87.
Yet here is a pretty high-quality version of the entire film, uploaded to YouTube! Hope it's still up this evening so I get a chance to watch the whole thing. What a find! Go Internet!
Um...yes. This looks amazing. Lithgow is a perfect actor to bring in to this ensemble. Can not wait for September.
Awesome cover from Beck's "Record Club" project, in which he and friends record covers of an entire album in one day, and then release the tracks online one by one. This is the third "Velvet Underground and Nico" cover, following "Waiting for the Man" and "Sunday Morning." I think this is the best yet.
It's this hilarious or insipid? I kind of can't tell. Anyway, I'd probably see it just because of the amazing cast.
The horror film Oprhan opened on July 24, 2009. It tells the story of a couple, played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, who adopt a nine-year-old girl named Esther (played by Isabelle Fuhrman).The weekend that the film opened, several blogs, including Gawker, gave away the film's twist ending. Read the subsection below marked "Spoiler!" to find out what happens!
Warning...it's mind-shatteringly ridiculous...
But if you simply must know, Mahalo's got you covered:
HD clips from the films run in the background while an orchestra plays music from the films. Oh, and Anthony Daniels narrates and fills in the gaps left in the story.
I don't know...I guess I just don't really get this. Going to a theater to see an orchestra play John Williams music...ok, I get it. Hanging out at home and watching "Star Wars" movies on an HDTV. I get it. Going to a theater to see movie clips and listen to bits of the scores? Hmm...
The one thing I will say is that tickets are apparently pretty reasonable. You'd sort of expect George Lucas to totally gouge people on something like this, but tickets in a lot of arenas start under $40, which for a night out at a concert hall is actually not too bad.
Why is Arnold brandishing a knife at the beginning of this video? Just seems kind of weird...right? Is that just me? Hard to imagine almost any other public figure shooting a video of themselves in their office, thanking the people of their community, while waving a two-foot knife around. That's more the behavior we reserve for...what's the word I'm looking for...oh yeah, insane cranks.
Still, he gets his point across. California: I will f-ing cut you. At least, I'm assuming that's his point.
Genius. Can't wait for this one. That shot of the Cheshire Cat floating through the trees is sort of perfect.
Michael Karolchyk apparently owns a gym and is an insane, humiliating meathead. So when Fox News wanted to engage someone in a thoughtful discussion of surgeon general nominee, Dr. Regina Benjamin, they naturally thought to give him a call. And, he, naturally, agreed not only to participate, but to wear a shirt that says "No Chubbies," apparently unaware of the potential dual meanings of that term.
This whole segment is just really unbelievable. Not even because it's wrong to make fun of people for an aspect of their physical appearance that they may or may not be able to control, but just because anyone would put this disgraceful mook on television. He makes Dr. Phil seem like a sober, rational professional in comparison.
Well, I don't have concept art. I don't have the firm release date, but I do know who is directing the WORLD OF WARCRAFT film and that is Sam Raimi. It will come out in trades later this week or next. But you can take this one to the bank. Sam is going to make a huge budget fantasy bit of unfuckingimaginable coolness - and it will be yanked from the WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
Now - isn't that the sort of Awesome we're supposed to get to kick start Comic Con with? I think so.
Blurgh...
I love fantasy, I like Warcraft games (though I've never gotten into WoW) and I love Sam Raimi, but this is NOT a good fit. After seeing the genius of Drag Me to Hell this summer, I am more convinced than ever of one simple fact: Sam Raimi needs to get the hell out of his own way.
He's just NEVER going to be James Cameron or Steven Spielberg. He's a low-budget horror movie director at heart, and when he's trying to branch out, the results are usually not pretty. When he's making a tongue-in-cheek horror film, or an intimate character-driven thriller like A Simple Plan, you can just FEEL his enthusiasm leaping off the screen. In contrast, Spider-Man and For the Love of the Game are hollow and soulless.
The second Spider-Man is almost the exception to this rule. It's an above-average comic book film, though not one that I ever feel like revisiting or that I would rate with the best of the genre. But that's also the only film in that series where he got to kind of let his particular, idiosyncratic, wacky side loose. (I'm not sure WHAT'S going on in the third one...Maybe that's when Tobey Maguire let HIS idiosyncratic, wacky side loose.)
Essentially, the bigger the budget, the more Sam Raimi gets lost behind shiny special effects and plodding, lazy storytelling. And a World of Warcraft film, by definition, will have to be uber-massive.
Surely SOMEONE else could make some room for this in their schedule...I'd even throw, say, Zack Snyder or Ridley Scott into the mix before I'd hand this over to Sam Raimi.
It's not just because I think he tends to flub big-budget, major studio properties, but also the opportunity cost of NOT getting any more really awesome, really Sam Raimi-esque movies for the years he has to spend laboring over this leviathan.
More than 100 people lined up outside a marijuana dispensary in the San Fernando Valley this morning, lured by the offer of free cannabis for the first 100 patients.
The nonprofit dispensary in Canoga Park, Roscoe's Compassionate Collective, advertised the offer last week in Kush L.A., a monthly cannabis magazine, with a pull-out coupon for patients with marijuana medical cards and updated prescriptions.
Only 100 people showed up? They must not have done a good job advertising. Later this week, at Comic Con, 100 people will queue up for a chance to get a free "Ben 10" hat. I can't imagine how well a free pot giveaway would go over down there.
This does go to prove my theory, though...The only way to get people to drive out to the Valley is to offer them a lot of free drugs. And even then, it's kind of a challenge, and a lot of them won't bother.
Hats off to the heroes who bravely ran in there and pulled this family out. They used metal pipes to break the windshield and pulled the mother and daughter to safety, then had to actually enter the car to pull out a four-year-old boy.
To be sure, Obama is anything but a lush. But unlike his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, who refrained from cracking open a cold one in or out of the White House, Obama has enjoyed a tasty beverage or two since moving into the Executive Mansion.
What's missing from this paragraph comparing the propensity for our last two presidents to enjoy a spirited beverage? Hmm...
Oh, right, the fact that George W. Bush didn't drink because he once got shit-hammered on a daily basis, and the purging of alcohol from his system via Jesus was essentially the narrative he sold about himself to get elected. He didn't simply "refrain" from cracking open a cold one in the White House...If he had, it would have been a major national scandal.
Obama, though he has admitted to dabbling with the occasional substance in the past, has never admitted to any kind of alcohol problem, nor has he given us reason to suspect that he may have one. So I fail to see how his enjoying an occasional glass of wine or a margarita is worthy of a two-page news article.
(Also, if you believe the National Enquirer, which did have that John Edwards affair story way before anyone else, Bush was right back to his boozy ways while occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but that's beside the point.)
Easily one of my favorite series of the moment. I've been rewatching Season 1 and it holds up tremendously. Can't wait for more Draper!
Seriously, look at that middle frame! I'm going to make 100,000,000 imaginary dollars! Bwa ha ha ha!
Here's the scenario...You're a mixed martial artist who has gained some level of notoriety. You're being interviewed for an Internet video. The host, a comedy lady, tells you she has an idea for a romantic comedy that would star the two of you...
So here's the question: Is it then appropriate to just start dry humping her? I mean, on the one hand, she's just making banter with you for the purposes of an entertainment show, apparently has no desire to engage in any sort of intimate or physical contact with you, and you're being filmed. But on the other hand...I mean, come on..."romantic comedy"...Am I right?
The University of Colorado at Boulder is working with NASA to develop a new communications technology now being tested on the International Space Station, which will extend Earth's Internet into outer space and across the solar system.
Called Disruption Tolerant Networking, or DTN, the new technology will enable NASA and other space agencies around the world to better communicate with international fleets of spacecraft that will be used to explore the moon and Mars in the future.
Space Internet, eh? Just as long as there aren't any space comment threads. All it would take is one 12-year-old to call some alien a "fag" and we're got intergalactic war on our hands, people. You don't want that.
The pornographic movie industry has long had only a casual interest in plot and dialogue. But moviemakers are focusing even less on narrative arcs these days. Instead, they are filming more short scenes that can be easily uploaded to Web sites and sold in several-minute chunks.
Fascinating article I can only presume has been held back since 1997 about how porno movies are dispensing with 90 minute plotlines and just becoming collections of 8-10 minute scenes. You know, what with the Internet and all. Wait, did I say fascinating? I meant ludicrously inane. I get those two mixed up.
I'm all for human interest-y stories about pornographic filmmaking. This isn't me being a prude. It's just that this is not news. This is about as far from news as anything I have ever read in any newspaper, including Mervyn's inserts, "missed connection" classifieds and ads for pot doctors.
The inclusion of a plot in a porno doesn't even matter to THE PERSON WATCHING THE PORNO, let alone the public at large.
Besides, the Internet's been a popular place to find pornography for multiple decades at this point. The fact that streaming video isn't the best place to feature 10 minute interludes of bad acting and junior high AV Club-level effects work isn't exactly what you'd consider a Pentagon Papers-level scoop.
Now, though, Page Six tells us just how Megan Fox nabbed the role in the first place. According to them, when Michael Bay auditioned her for the first Transformers, he actually made her wash his Ferrari while he filmed the whole thing. Yup. She washed his car. His Ferrari. While he filmed her. And that's how she got the role in Transformers. If you need anymore proof of just how perverted Hollywood is sometimes, look no further than Mr. Michael Bay. Oh, but it gets better ...
I mean, it may sound a bit crude, but how else is Michael Bay even supposed to decide who to cast in his movies. The roles require no real acting ability, so you can't really have potential actresses read lines. And there are so many quick cuts, you never even get a clear look at them during the 260 minute running time, so a conventional screen test is pointless.
The best system would just be to put them in a bright room and spin around them quickly while throwing shards of metal and shrapnel in their direction. Anyone who survives and doesn't run out of the room screaming and begging for her life gets the part!
Hopefully, this is better than Robert De Niro's film about an emotionally troubled sports fan. Cause that one didn't go so well.
Also, I'm dubious about any film Peter Travers dubs as "vital."
More demented genius from the man behind the Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins remixes. This is fast becoming my favorite YouTube channel.
We have accomplished so much and there’s much more to do, but my family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most. And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier – I’ve never been one to waste time or resources.
Seriously...what the hell is she talking about? This statement makes no sense. It implies that she made the decision to step down as governor (only after "prayerful consideration," mind you) BEFORE she made the decision not to run for a second term...Guh? Was there a time in which she considered quitting before the end of her first term and then running for a second? Cause...that's weird...
Also, I just LOVED this sentence:
"I’ve never thought I needed a title before one’s name to forge progress in America."
But...but...I thought that a community organizer didn't do anything, while a Governor had real responsibilities! It seems like that whole 2008 election was forever ago, but she said that less than 1 year ago!
Okay, I'm sorry...what the hell is she talking about? It sounds like she's afraid to pause after a sentence, lest any of us get a chance to actually think about what's being said, or reporters have a shot at asking questions. By the time she gets around to the "full-court press analogy," I sort of tuned out without realizing.
This was one of the most challenging episodes I've ever had to write because of all the celebrity deaths. I want to reference them, because our show discusses what's buzzy and in the news, and this dominated everyone's attention all week...And I have to at least attempt to be funny, because that's what we do.
But I don't want to make people upset or offend anyone. That's not what I'm about. So I try to find a happy middle ground, a way to mock the situation or the coverage, without making light of people's genuine feelings of loss and sadness. Not easy.
Making fun of Leighton Meester and Asher Roth? Easy.
Should we be concerned that there may not be enough Internet to divide between the rest of us?
Note for YouTube commenters: It doesn't matter if this is fake. It would still be awesome.
So awesome...One of my top 3 favorite things about the Internet is how we all get to share in the glory of hilarious local news clips that otherwise would go unseen outside of a single urban area.
As if we hadn't lost enough beloved figures of American pop culture this week, pitchman Billy Mays was found dead this morning in his Tampa, Florida home. What is it with 50 year old guys dropping this week? That's only 20 years older than I am right now...Unacceptable...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529328,00.html
This is my favorite Mays remix video...I'll be playing it while pouring out a little Orange Glo is Mays' memory...Definitely look for a tribute on next week's TWIYT.
When I first read about Ricky Gervais (easily among my favorite living comedians) making a film with Louis CK, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Patrick Stewart, John Hodgman and Jonah Hill, I knew it would be something I'd want to see.
Somehow, I'm still blown away by how funny and fresh this movie looks. It's an odd, abstract premise (in a universe where everyone is purely honest at all times, one guy figures out that he can lie without consequences) and it sounds gimmicky, but the jokes certainly seem to work. It could just be a perfect fit for Gervais' acerbic, smugly superior persona.
Here's hoping that Gervais has created his third masterpiece. This is now officially among my most anticipated films of the year.
Yes, yes, I haven't seen it. And probably never will. But according to reviewers and bloggers, the film features two minstrel-esque robots who speak with "urban slang," sport gold teeth and...wait for it...don't know how to read. Even the SCREENWRITERS are telling Film School Rejects that they are not thrilled with how the characters ended up, and insist that they had nothing to do with the good tooth stuff.
M.B., you've done it again.
Premise: You will be the dog walker hired by daddy (me) to walk Skittles. I will introduce you to the kids, and you will tell them you are going to help Skittles get her exercise when Daddy is too busy to walk her. At that point you will walk Skittles to your car and take her to her new family 20 minutes from my place. Then return holding just a leash. The story will be that Skittles broke free of the leash and took off. At this point prepare for crying, things being thrown at you, and possibly cursing. My kids are young and dramatic, their girls.
Pay will be $500. The job will take roughly 2 hours at best.
Folks, this is what I call parenting. Also, is anyone else wondering how his dead aunt managed to give the kids a cocker spaniel? Meddling families extend into even the afterlife! My God...has anyone told Tyler Perry? He could probably squeeze at minimum a tetralogy out of that.
Could I want to see this movie any more than I do right now? I'm not sure it's physically possible.
pwn3d! FTL! Fail! Other Internet expressions of derision!
Really awesome Mahalo page about how to best appreciate beer. I don't consider myself a connoisseur or anything, but I think I know a bit about how to appreciate a nice brew...and I found this page very enlightening. Check it out:
The film has not been screened for a large number of gays for a reason. Throughout the many private screenings [the filmmakers] have had, the reaction from gays has been almost uniformally one of alarm. It is not a scathing depiction of homophobia -- but a grotesque satire of homosexuality. Brüno is a sickening mixture of narcissism, fetishism and shallowness - and he is virtually the only gay representation in the movie. The 'homophobia' of the various straight men who he encounters and propositions, seems only natural when faced with such an odious sexual monster.
Why don't people understand comedy?
Listen, this is VERY EASY. Sacha Baron Cohen's characters are not intended as direct insults to minority groups. CLEARLY. They are ridiculous over-the-top caricatures designed specifically to illicit a REACTION from people who don't know better. By playing to every stupid, backwards stereotype Americans have about homosexuals (particularly European homosexuals), Cohen teases out prejudices that most bigots would not typically reveal to a movie camera.
You don't even have to have seen the "Bruno" film to know this. (I haven't seen it). This is what Cohen's characters ALWAYS DO, and it's what Bruno did on the old (ingenious) episodes of "Da Ali G Show." It's PATENTLY OBVIOUS. In fact, what makes the movies so hilarious is that the character is SO OBVIOUSLY a joke, a silly collection of quirks that could only be created by a comedian playing a prank on dumbasses.
The same thing happened when "Borat" was released in 2006...Simpletons complained that it was offensive to American immigrants or people from Central Asia. It's not. Try to get jokes, people...It makes them more funny.
Seriously, is the "end of the world" really just going to be the collapse of a bunch of high-rises? Because that's about all that happens in this trailer. Apparently, if you live in Nebraska, you're going to be totally cool.
I think all these "Jurassic Park" dinos just wanted to hang out and chill for a sec. Perhaps we were being hasty trying to run away from them and destroy them and junk.
Holy crap this looks atrocious. Surprising coming from the director of "Swordfish" and "Gone in 60 Seconds." Oh, wait, no, that's not surprising at all.
The movie does discover a new rule for horror filmmakers of the future, however...Geographical facts about Antarctica? Not scary.
It's cool that Danny Trejo wants to give you his latest, erm, blockbuster for free...but why not just let people download it or stream it from his site? Charging $6 shipping and handling kind of hurts the whole "free movie" promotion. It's only a few bucks less than I can get discount movies at a Best Buy or other store. Also, I love how the site is called:
VENGEANCE - THE MOVIE!
"Man, how did they turn that abstract concept into a movie? Seems like it would work better as an HBO miniseries or something."
