sundance

2010: Top Five Gay Records (yes, a little late)

Robyn ‘Dancing On My Own’ (Official Video) from Robyn on Vimeo.

I know, I know it is already 2011! But 2010 was a really great year for fans of house beats and electronic music. 2010 saw some rather impressive albums and they all had a 90s alternative, electric vibe. See below for my top five music moments of 2010. And yes, I know, I am big gay cliche.

TRUE GRIT

I can’t speak to whether the Coen brothers’ TRUE GRIT is as faithful to the book as they claim, but if it is I’d be interested to see how author Charles Portis handles a grueling revenge story brought to a not so thrilling end followed by an abrupt 25-year flash forward and a less than satisfying conclusion. Despite great performances from the five lead actors and the efforts of two of the best filmmakers working today, this version of TRUE GRIT lacks the heart at the core of the 1969 film adaptation, not to mention the gratification an audience is due when the object of a burning revenge is shot dead.

Scrap metal recycling: a money-making byproduct of river clean-up

Recycling scrap metal isn’t just an activity for greenies anymore… with prices for these commodities on the rise, collecting aluminum cans or metal construction debris has gotten profitable. I know I even regularly see stories on the local news about copper thieves…

One source of scrap metal that didn’t strike me until reading a story on American Recycler, though, is waterways. Turns out that dumping your broken refrigerator, or your clunker car, in a stream or river was relatively common just a few decades ago. While laws have curtailed the practice, there’s apparently still a lot of junk metal in our waterways… and non-profits dedicated to cleaning them up have discovered a new revenue stream.

Movie theater trailer marriage proposals

The 21st century’s answer to the skywriting marriage proposal is turning out to be the movie theater trailer proposal, with production values and costs ever increasing. In 2008, there was the simple surprise by the nerdy boyfriend, followed by the more complicated yet similarly unwatchable airplane disaster trailer that same year, and the open love letter with the ear-shattering Kenny-G soundtrack in 2009 (here’s the in-theater reaction).

Pummelvision: flash your life before your eyes

My Pummelvision from Matthew Rodriguez on Vimeo. Pummelvision is a fun web project from Jakob Lodwick (co-founder of Vimeo) that takes your photos from Facebook, Flickr, or Tumblr and turns them into a video that “flashes your life before your eyes.” Above is my life since 2005.

Sundance Film Festival Follow Up: SYMPATHY FOR DELICIOUS

Mark Ruffalo made his presence known at last year’s Sundance Film Festival with his performance in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and again with his directorial debut, SYMPATHY FOR DELICIOUS. Nominated for both the Grand Jury Prize and the Special Jury Prize, Ruffalo took home the former for his story about a DJ in a [...]

Sundance Film Festival Follow Up: JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK came out just as the comedienne turned 75, a fact her many cosmetic procedures have attempted to conceal. Rivers, however, admits to her age as readily as she dishes out trash talk on the red carpet. One of the hardest and longest working women in show biz, Rivers began [...]

Ed Helms to star in CEDAR RAPIDS at Sundance

Ed Helms as a lovable loser, John C. Reilly as a lovable buffoon, Anne Heche as a lovable redhead, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as the lovable guy who gets the best lines. What’s not to look forward to in Miguel Arteta’s comedy about an insurance salesman (Helms) who learns about life beyond his small-town existence [...]