Well, I moved out here to Hollywood, CA from Michigan with the rest of the Caliblog team in 2004 to do a gamut of things...I suppose I should get working on that...
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Earlier this week I had a friend back East ask me if I had seen any celebrities lately. The truth is, I honestly can never remember who I've seen when somebody asks me anymore. So, for those of my friends who are always asking I'm going to just go ahead and post it whenever I do, just like I used to way back when. Nothing fancy, just a quick entry. So, anyway, today I saw Helen Slater (of Supergirl fame) at the market. That's all.
SIMON, JESSICA, EDGAR, AND KEVIN
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Arclight in downtown Hollywood hosted a special screening of the BBC series SPACED to coincide with the long-overdue U.S. release of SPACED on DVD. As I mentioned previously I really wanted to go to this, but I wasn't sure if I would have a chance since I just found out the day before. I thought, "What the heck" though and took a chance. Originally Mike had shown some interest in wanting to go along, but decided after some debate that he needed to work on some Pedal stuff that he had put off. A couple of other friends mentioned wanting to go, but I never got a definite answer, so I decided to just go ahead and go by myself. It...was...AWESOME! Not only did I get there in time to beat some of the crowd, but I actually got to talk to Simon Pegg himself preceded by a high-five from both him and director Edgar Wright. I'll admit I got a little fan-boy giddy. To top it all off, after a series of odd events I actually ended up sitting in the freakin' front row with the panel seated in director's chairs a few feet out and let me tell you I was nowhere near one of the first ones to get in. How awesome is that?! Prior to the screening, Kevin Smith (who was moderating the panel) came out and introduced the co-creators and stars of the series Simon Pegg and Jessica (Stevenson) Hynes and director Edgar Wright. After a quick intro they screened a few episodes (with an amazing audience response, heck I've seen most of the episodes at least three or four times and I was still laughing out loud) and then the four came back up for a Q&A session. It was just a great 3 hours. Aside for my love of the series, my main reason for going down to the event was that unlike the celebrities I see all the time around here, Simon and Jessica reside in the U.K. and the odds of running into them again are not very good. I believe Edgar's actually staying with Quentin Tarantino right now, so that's always a possibility. My only other shot will probably be when Simon, Edgar, and Nick Frost (and possibly Jessica, you never know) do there U.S. tour to promote the third installment of their "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy", The World's End. I'm sure I'm just going to start to babble on now still riding on that wave of exhilaration from the evenings events, so I'm just going to end it here. My only regret is that because I was so sure that it was a long shot that I would even get to attend, I hadn't charged my camera battery up and it died prematurely -NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! [A quick side note -It was also Simon Pegg's anniversary tonight and his better half accompanied him to the event. Poor girl.]
'SPACED' ON DVD IN THE U.S. -FINALLY!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I am very excited today because after waiting forever one of my favorite TV series, SPACED is finally being released to Region 1 DVD (At last, the circle is now complete). For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, SPACED is the creation Simon Pegg and Jessica (Stevenson) Hynes about two strangers pretending to be a couple to get a flat in North London. It originally aired on BBC Channel 4 sandwiched between Friends and Frasier (not a bad time slot).
[SPACED clip 1 (zombies)]
[SPACED clip 2 (Star Wars)]
[SPACED clip 3 (Gunfight)]
I became interested in the series following the release of Shaun of the Dead, which Simon also wrote and stars in (along with Hot Fuzz), and I just fell in love with it. I've probably seen the entire series at least four or five times, one time in one long block (in my defense, the show only ran 14 episodes split into two separate series). It also stars Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as his gun-happy best mate, Mike. Rounding out the cast is Julia Deakin, Katy Carmichael, and Mark Heap (Simon's co-star on the sketch show Big Train, another very funny show that I can't get enough of).
[clips from Big Train]
All of the episodes of Spaced are directed by Egdar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz -starting to see a pattern here?). The show is just ripe with pop culture references and obscure jokes, ironically enough usually nodding to American films. Just as a fair warning, this is the kind of show where you're either the kind of person who gets or you're not. There's not really an in-between. Despite it's low episode count and unavailability in the U.S. market, SPACED has developed an amazingly large fan base including a modest celebrity following (long live the internet). Kevin Smith describes SPACED as, "...kinda like watching a Kevin Smith film if Kevin Smith had any real talent." I just found out, as a matter of fact, that Smith will be hosting a Q&A tomorrow night at the Arclight Cinema to compliment the U.S. release of the DVD. Simon, Jessica and Edgar will all be there. It should be pretty cool. I'm going to attempt to go, though it appears that people will be coming out in droves according to the message boards, but since I regrettably won't be attending the SDCC this year (where they will also appear) I'm hoping to make it to this, but I'm not holding my breath. For now, though, I have my Twiglets and some Jaffa cakes and I'm just going to kick back and enjoy a little SPACED.
DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG [PART 2]
Monday, July 21, 2008
So, funny thing: I found (and by 'found', I mean Mike told me about it) this new video online on Saturday and thought it was really cool, so I wrote a post telling everyone about it so they could also enjoy it. You may have read it, it's the...one...before this...one. Well, come Sunday evening I happen to read that the video is only going to be available to watch until midnight Sunday night. That means unless you happened to read the post and watch it in that fairly small window of opportunity, you've probably missed it. Fret not, though (who SAYS that?!) creator Joss Whedon (that's right -Buffy and Firefly, Joss Whedon) assures us that it will be making it's way to an extras-packed DVD sometime in the near future.
In the meantime, iTunes has acquired exclusive rights to distribute the three acts through the iTunes store. If you haven't seen it yet, why not just check out the first act. I'm pretty sure you'll want to see the rest after that. I've never purchased ANYTHING from the iTunes store before, but you better believe that my iPod is sporting three new videos as we speak (yeah!). You can still go to DrHorrible.com and check out everything else, but the videos...not so much. That's my bad.
DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Earlier today Mike asked me if I was familiar with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, to which I replied, "Umm...no..." He told me that an acquaintance of his, Felicia Day, was in it, which I thought was cool, but when he said that Neil Patrick Harris was also in it the deal was sealed. Since his breakout cameo in 2004's Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (or in my eyes his hilarious portrayal of Lance in 2002's Undercover Brother) NPH has shaken off the stigma of going through life forever being known as Doogie Howser, M.D. and he has come out the other side a tour de force in the realm of comedy. Just watch the pilot episode of How I Met Your Mother and tell me he wasn't stir-fried awesome. As much as I enjoy watching him steal a scene, it's nice to see him take the lead and just run with it as Dr. Horrible. Oh, and Nathan Fillion is in it as well, portraying the narcissistic hero, Captain Hammer (ironically enough, Nathan also happens to be a fan-favorite to play Captain America in the upcoming Marvel movie). So, where was I...Oh, yes, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 3-part tale of a diabolical genius who shares with the world (via his VLOG) his aspirations to gain membership in the Evil League of Evil and, to a lesser extent, total world domination. The monkey wrench in his plan is the fairly heroic Captain Hammer, who is not only his nemesis in the battle of good and evil, but also for the affections of his beautiful laundry buddy, who he painfully pines for with the shy awkwardness of a twelve year old boy. I've watched it twice today already and must say I'm hooked, but don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. And for those of you who are wondering from the title if this is a musical or not: Oh, yeah! Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog -it's gonna be lengen.........wait for it.........DARY! (That's right. I went there)
Friday, July 18, 2008
"Wow!" is the first word that comes to mind when wanting to describe The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan has once again found a way to keep a sense of believability to this series while still being amazingly true to the fantastical characters of it's comic book counterpart. Half-way through I actually forgot that I was watching a comic book movie and felt like I was enthralled in a noir crime drama. I became less concerned with the characters and more concerned with the consequences. Plenty of action, of course, but the drama, the comedy, the pain, the suspense -it was all there. Just a good solid movie.
How can I say anything about The Dark Knight and not mention the late Heath Ledger. To go in with as much anticipation and expectations as I did and come out blown away is no easy task. More than likely you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Ladies and Gentleman -Mr. Ledger does not disappoint. When it was first announced that he would be playing the part of The Joker in the Batman sequel I was more than mildly skeptical. As images and clips began to emerge the feeling was slightly quelled -but, c'mon! He barely seems anything like The Joker that we all know and love. EXACTLY. For years creators have been focusing on the clown side of The Joker: the gadgets, the themes, his odd sense of style. Nolan's Joker has none of that. His only agenda? Chaos, pure and simple...and sharing it with as many people as he can. Once the actual trailers came out for the movie, you could see what they were going for. "This might be pretty good." Fast forward to this Thursday night watching the first scene of the movie and I thought, "Well this Joker's pretty cool", but after the 'Disappearing Pencil Trick' I was gone. This wasn't your father's Clowned Prince of Crime anymore. Oh, no. This guy was a lunatic in every sense of the word and, honestly, I spent the rest of the movie with tingling anticipation and uncertainty as to what he may do next. Bravo, Mr. Ledger, bravo. You've re-defined the archetype. My only disappointment now is that I want more and that just ain't gonna happen. But like another great Joker once said, "If you're gonna go...go with a smile!" All that's left to see now is if his performance was Oscar-worthy enough for that little gold statue that sects of the Hollywood community are pushing for his performance to get. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see, unlike The Dark Knight, which you can go and see right now. Go! I'll wait...
***An interesting footnote: Though we'll all still be able to enjoy Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (the unfinished scenes for his character will be played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farell -I am not making that up), his final completed performance will stand as his genius portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. Ironically enough, the first role of his career was in Clowning Around, which is about -you guessed it...clowns.***
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Okay, so maybe this post isn't as ominous as it might sound. Today I decided to go down to a blood drive I'd seen posted around town earlier in the week and spare a pint of O+ for some poor soul who may need a top off. I used to give blood on a regular basis whenever the Red Cross had a drive going on, but it's been a while. I hate being poked with that dang needle, but it's such a small effort for such a critical resource. As I left I remembered that I used to make the extra effort to do nice things for people all the time and it felt great, fund-raising events, volunteering for meals-on-wheels, walk-a-thons, so much stuff that I haven't even considered in years. I guess over time I've gotten jaded and self-involved. I kept turning more and more inward and all but shut myself out of the world around me, and to tell the truth, it's made me miserable. So, with that in mind I've decided to create a new community website (link), one than anyone can join in and post on. Everyday I am going to make a conscious effort to do a "good deed" outside of what I would have already done incidentally and post it daily. I'm hoping this will keep me on track and motivated (the world can be so distracting, you know?) as well as encourage others to jump on and do the same. Just like working out, it's much easier if you have a partner. It doesn't have to be big -maybe drop fifty cents in a donation jar or let somebody who has two items in front of your fifty item trasaction at the supermarket, but a little goes a long way.
Soon after I take this hot pink gauze off of my arm from the blood-letting, I will be off to the Arclight theater in Hollywood for a midnight screening of The Dark Knight (woo-hoo!). I bought my tickets a few weeks back when there were two midnight showings and that has now turned into THIRTEEN sold-out midnight showings at the Arclight...THIRTEEN! Which means that all but one screen in the building will be playing The Dark Knight. But it's not being left out of the midnight movie mayhem -oh, no. That particular screen has been set aside for a Hollywood thrill ride of epic proportions...Mama Mia. How will a Batman movie this anticipated be able to compete with a box office draw like that? Good luck, Mr. Wayne...good luck.
Well, isn't this a surprise...
Monday, July 14, 2008
So, today I decided to check out my buddy Justin's site and see what kind of crazy things he's been up to lately. I watched whatever newer stuff I hadn't seen yet, and decided to delve into some of his other videos when I came across this (link). Now you'd think that someone in my social circle would have mentioned something to me about this in the couple of months, but somehow I have remained completely oblivious. The only question now is...how do I respond? Hmmmm.........
