Round table photo of legendary directors

Love this photograph of directors Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis and Francis Ford Coppola getting together for a group shot at a 50th birthday party for Lucas on May 14, 1994. It was a daylong affair at which the famed circle of filmmakers who’d long been part [...]

The assassination of Yogi by the coward Booboo

The 2007 ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD ranks high on my list of favorite films, which is why I’m so enthralled by the recent YouTube video, “Booboo Kills Yogi,” an alternate ending to Warner Bros.’ embarrassingly bad “Yogi Bear” release. In this version, Booboo decides to cash in on the $5,000 [...]

Charity gift cards: great last-minute gifts for do-gooders

Got a minimalist on the gift list? Someone living simply who really doesn’t want anything for the holidays? Yep, they can be difficult… just ask my wife.

While baked goods or experiences can work well for this crowd, another option has sprung up over the past few years: charity gift cards. Just like the consumption-oriented versions, these cards allow you to purchase a certain amount of monetary value… which the recipient can then donate to a favorite charity.

The difference between the way the moon looks and the way it photographs

The rare occurrence on late Monday night/early Tuesday morning of a lunar eclipse happening at the same time as Winter Solstice enthralled the blogosphere. The last time this happened was in 1638. Many people waited and took photos. Their photographic results popping up on Facebook reminds me of this funny cartoon. In all seriousness, this [...]

Naked News: DADT! DADT! DADT! Also, Chloe Sevigny took off her pants

• OMG DADT!!! Senate repeals the ban on gays serving openly in the military. About fucking time.
  
  
• New online-dating detectives can help you sort the Mr./Ms. Rights from the Mr./Ms. Convicted Felons, just in case your crim-dar is not working.
  
  

Plastic bag monster invades Slovenia

The concept of a “plastic bag monster” isn’t completely new — reusable bag companies Blue Avocado and Chico Bags (above) have both created monstrous characters out of disposable shopping bags to represent the environmental damage created by these ubiquitous items. Slovenian artist/designer The Miha Artnak has expanded the concept literally with a plastic bag monster entitled Lovka na lovce, or “The Tackle of the Tentacle,” that extends through the streets of capital city Ljubljana.

Vimeo of the Week: Water & Rocks

Water & Rocks, New Zealand from Metron on Vimeo. When posting my favorite Vimeo video of the week round these parts I find myself returning to moving, ethereal short films focusing on natural beauty. This week’s choice, Water & Rocks, is one of those types. As I have two friends in New Zealand now I [...]

TRON:LEGACY

A realistic-looking young Jeff Bridges is possibly TRON:LEGACY’s only high point.

For those who haven’t seen TRON since childhood, TRON: LEGACY might seem less like a true sequel and more like a complete reinterpretation. Long gone is the charmingly outdated animation of the 1982 original. In its place is a super slick, CG-world light years ahead of where the first film left off 28 years ago. Are we supposed to believe that the people/programs of Tron have advanced that far in under three decades? Of course not. TRON: LEGACY is less about believability and more about putting audiences in an experience so immersive that it distracts from the story’s many loopholes. The only problem is that with so many gaping flaws in the narrative it’s difficult to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Playing with Google’s new tool (heh)

We’re totally hooked on Google’s new book search tool, which lets you search and graph the frequency of words in millions of books from 1800 to today. You can even compare and contrast two words or phrases to see how they fare in print over the years. It’s intended for scholars, but it’s free for anyone to use. “We wanted to show what becomes possible when you apply very high-turbo data analysis to questions in the humanities,” said one of the geniuses behind the toy — er, tool. He calls the method “culturomics” — which is a hell of a lot catchier than the tool’s title: the Books Ngram Viewer (gotta love the nerd factor). We took the tool for a test drive…

Google’s Zeitgeist 2010

This YouTube video from Google takes a look back at this year and “based on the aggregation of billions of search queries people typed into Google this year…captures the spirit of 2010.” And of course the spirit stick of 2010 will be waved by Antoine Dodson who will beat any bed intruder with said spirit [...]

Johnny Cash’s to-do note

All in all that’s a pretty productive day. Johnny Cash’s handwritten note was auctioned off for $6,000. [Via]

Two end-of-year docs as antidote to holidays

Are you craving to counteract all that holiday cheer with some good old-fashioned documentary depression? Never fear, two hard-hitters are still in theatres and soon to be on-demand or in your queue. I saw them both in recent weeks and while both hold their end of the bargain to keep up the doc-is-downer reputation, one is a far more complex experience than the other. (By the way, doc had a good year – with CATFISH, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, I’M STILL HERE – filmmakers soon may be able to ditch the downer syndrome and engage nonfiction for what it should be – more diverse in approach, content, tone and negotiation with ‘truth.’) I’m speaking here of INSIDE JOB (Charles Ferguson) and WAITING FOR SUPERMAN (Davis Guggenheim).

Sundance Film Festival follow up: WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

President Obama with some of the children from WAITING FOR SUPERMAN After winning the Audience Award for Best Documentary at Sundance, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN went onto teach, excite and generally rile up audiences everywhere with its take on the depressing state of US public education. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, who won an Oscar in 2006 [...]

Sundance Film Festival follow up: HOWL

Before Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman wrote and directed HOWL, they worked on several other films together, starting in the 80s with COMMON THREADS: STORIES FROM THE QUILT, a documentary about the stories behind the AIDS Memorial Quilt that won the Oscar for Best Documentary. They went onto make THE CELLULOID CLOSET, a doc about [...]

COMING JANUARY 30 – ALL NEW SEASON OF BRICK CITY

THE REAL SITUATION IN NEW JERSEY’S LARGEST CITY:

SEASON 2 OF SUNDANCE CHANNEL’S “BRICK CITY” CAPTURES NEWARK’S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE OF CHANGE

Forest Whitaker Executive Produces

New Season Of Peabody Award-Winning Docu-Series Premieres On Sunday, January 30^th 2011 at 8pm ET/PT

In Season 2 of the engaging and dramatic series BRICK CITY, change is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and heart-in-the-mouth plunges. Sundance Channel’s Peabody Award-winning series returns to Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, to explore a question that people everywhere can understand: how do you continue to change yourself, your community, your city when the setbacks come fast and furious? The six one-hour episodes of BRICK CITY follow Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Police Director Garry McCarthy and Newark citizens from across the socioeconomic spectrum to tell a story of resilience, resolve and optimism in the face of political, economic, and personal upheaval. BRICK CITY Season 2 will air Sundays at 8:00pm from January 30^th – March 6^th.

The Domino Clock and a note on impractical design

Watches and clocks that obfuscate the time confound me. Why sacrifice an object’s primary purpose for the sake of whimsy? I don’t own any watches with numberless faces or clocks that try to reinvent the simple, straightforward and long-established system of telling time. This has always been my point of view, but lately I’ve been weakening. It all started when I saw this watch at the MoMA store, and though I’m still not sure if the time shown in the picture is 10:05 or 10:10 or maybe even past 11, I love it.

Keith Richards apologetic signature

The New York Public Library shared this amusing anecdote from Keith Richards’ visit in October. While Keef was waiting ‘backstage’ in the center before the talk, he unexpectedly lit up a cigarette in Marie’s office, and grabbed the clay saucer underneath the orchid for a makeshift ash tray. He then asked for the window to [...]

Naked News: DADT, plus scientists prove the sexually obvious

TKTKT

• Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal passes in the house!
  
  
• Because sometimes we need scientists to tell us the obvious: Indiana University study finds that women who regularly use lube have higher levels of sexual satisfaction.
  
  
• More obvious from the ivory towers: Study shows sex helps neurotic people relax.
  
  
• A stem-cell cure for AIDS?! Maybe…
  
  

Less popular novels from the author of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

College Humor spoofs Stieg Larsson’s insanely popular Millennium Trilogy with some of his less well known books. Speaking of Larsson, a month or so ago I randomly caught Charlie Rose’s interview with Noomi Rapace who played the lead in the Swedish film adaptation of these novels. Rapace was so stunning and mesmerizing I couldn’t turn [...]

Green tech finds (12/16/10)

Plastic bottles you can eat, a tiny solar home, and hybrid street sweepers… this week’s green tech finds. Audi’s green history: You likely associate the phrase “green cars” with Toyota and Honda; Denis Duquet at The Car Guide thinks Audi should be on that list, also… More bang from your bike: Fandi Meng’s I-Green battery [...]

Sundance Channel Honored with First Ever Golden Globe Nominations: CARLOS

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS FOR: BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION AND BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION ______________________________________________________________________ Nomination Goes to Network’s First Scripted Project CARLOS and its Star Édgar Ramírez New York, December 14, 2010 –Sundance Channel was recognized with its first ever Golden [...]

Can “Spider-Man” recoup $65 mil?

By now everyone has heard about the less than fortuitous opening previews for “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” The mega-musical, directed by Julie Taymor with music by Bono and The Edge, has broken records (and the bank) with a $65 million initial budget, more than twice as big as the previous record holder, “Shrek the Musical.” “Spider-Man” is up against a monster task to turn a profit, and its extremely limited in that it can’t travel. Part of the reason it cost so much to produce is because the Foxwoods Theater on Broadway was built especially for “Spider-Man,” with specific height and construction requirements for its many flying sequences and stunts. It’s going to take a lot to make that $65 million back, but how much, exactly?

Love & sex in YA lit: THE COMPLICATED

Our friends, Em & Nora (who we like to call “Em & No”), recently launched a site for grown-ups about young adult literature called LoveYALit.com*, since (according to the New York Times) more and more people 18-and-over are enjoying books originally intended for the 18-and-under set. Of course, books about teens, the most hormonal among us, often deal with issues of first romantic relationships and sexual awakenings — and reading them as adults can emotionally transport us back to our own teenage years, when those things were really new and exciting, dramatic and traumatic. So we asked Em & Nora to give us a sampling of the good, the bad and the complicated of YA love and sex. We published the good and the bad earlier, here’s the complicated:

Scene in New York: CHRISTMAS STORY leg lamp

My friend Annie and one of my favorite food bloggers spotted and snapped this great photo in Tribeca of the controversial leg lamp from A CHRISTMAS STORY aka “the B.B. gun movie.” Relatedly, what ever happened to Peter Billingsley, the child actor who played “Ralphie” in the aforementioned movie? He grew up to become a [...]

Blah blah blah movies

In the spirit of Mad Men’s Don Draper “What?” video or LOST’s “6 seasons of Sawyer saying ‘son of a bitch’” comes this compilation of clips from various movies with people and characters saying “blah blah blah.”