“Escape from the Planet of the Apes.” - By Rich Kelly
Picked up this little number from Mondo today. And by god, the artist Rich Kelly has been hard at work bringing out another stunner of a poster. If any are still on sale you can pick this and a whole mess of great Planet of the Apes posters here from Mondo!
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Just finished Terriers. God damn you FX, why did you let this show die! Well it seems that it also had the most enjoyable theme song I hanve heard in quite a long time. Seriously check this show out.
Rob Duncan - Gunfight Epiphany
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off by Jay Ryan
(Source: fuckyeahmovieposters)
Am I the only one that thinks “Portlandia” isn’t funny?
You know, I used to think that I just didn’t get it. And then for a while, I thought it was a bit crazy or pretentious. But now, after giving it an honest-to-god chance I can say it with confidence:
Portlandia isn’t funny. It just is not.
The new sketch comedy break out hit from IFC starring Fred Armisin and Carrie Brownstein was just added to the netflix roster and at first glance it seemed to have a lot going for me to like. A couple of good comedians doing sketches about the young, hip, organic-lifstyle living residents of Portland. Basically, a sketch show making fun of hipsters.
What ensues is a show that just completely falls flat. Sure, I’ll muster a chuckle every twenty minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I love jokes about hipsters and how ridiculous they and there culture are; I also know that a subject like this can be funny because if seen examples of it outside of this show. I can’t help but think that Portlandia goes about it all wrong. It’s too heavy handed. There is no subtlety or being coy. The sketches are played up so much and amplified as if to say “Oh by the way, this shit is really funny so laugh at it.” And I just can not abide that.
A show that seems to get off on how clever it thinks it is just completely un appealing to me. But if you make a show that thinks its more clever than it really is, then I suppose you can call it the quintessential hipster show by its ideals alone.
Saw this the other day. Neat, little film. Be sure to pay attention. I’ll be sure to write up a review sometime.
Hopefully.
Things I’ve Read: Old Man Logan
Well it has been quite a long time since I reviewed a comic but I just can not keep silent about this one. Old Man Logan isn’t just one of the best comic’s I have ever read, it just might be one of the most important comics I have ever read. And I’ll say this right off the top: I pray to whatever is running this verse that hollywood does not option this for a movie.
That being said, “Old Man Logan” in these short issues has completely regnighted the melancholy that is Wolverine’s character. Taken place several decades in the future, a majority of our Marvel heroes have been long laid to rest (or are just lying). Logan now leads a life of peace and simplicity. Struggling to make ends meet with his family, and ever jaded my his past with how the heroes came to fall, Logan takes up an odd job with an aging Hawkeye to pay his debts and deliver a package from the dessert of California to D.C. With America having been divided up among the villains spanning from Dr. Doom to Red Skull, what ensues is basically an epic road trip with an old Hawkeye and Wolverine getting into all sorts of troubles and kick-ass adventures wile revealing the gut-renching truth about the heroes fall and Logan’s strife.
I am learning to trust writer Mark Miller (Kick-Ass, Ultimate X-Men) implicitly and will most defiantly branch out into his lesser known work having read this. And good god almighty the art in this book! The freaking art! It is just so refreshing to see the world carry on after almost all of the ones that have sworn to protect it are gone and how almost horrifying it is. It also shows how much of an ace in the hole the Wolverine can be (mind you I mean the Wolverine, not Logan). For my money, I cant think of a single better trade to read. One of the best, or at least the most fun!
Top Ten Netflix Discoveries of 2011
Well it’s that time of year again reader(s). Time to reflect on the year that was and make obligatory lists of the best things that happened to me this year! More so that I can compare and bicker with my friends about which is better! So, I havent really been watching much of “New” TV this year but being the kind of guy that I am, I watched a lot of Netflix this year. So I decided to compile the best things that I have discovered this year thanks to Netflix. Now, these mostly consist of TV shows, but a few movies are sprinkled in there so I had to name it appropriately. (I also will attempt to put the Netflix link in the title and the pic of the show so hopefully that doesn’t crap out.)
10. Downton Abbey - I actually heard about this show being talked about by Paul Scheer of all people saying how awesome it was! Now this being my first real “period piece” that I have seen, I gotta say I really liked it! I understand how most of these stries might turn some of the fellas off: A rich aristocratic family in Britain in the early 1900’s is riddled with drama as finding the heir to the estate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s the age old formula of characters over plot, but I like this one damn it! I find myself rooting for the characters I want to succeed and against the ones don’t! It’s worth a gander! Caution: Extreme cases of white people problems. (Edit: upon watching the second season, this show is officially awesome!)
9. The Cave of Forgotten Dreams - You have just got to love a film maker like Werner Herzog. I don’t care who you are. There is something about the way that he approches film-makeing that I just respect. Especially when it comes to documentaries. The Cave of Forgotten Dreams might just be one of the most special documentaries I have seen since The Gates of Heaven. Set in the south of France, the discovery of a cave perfectly preserved for thousands of years, provokes excavators and film makers to take a very close look at the precious mysterious of the cave and early man. The film is amazing in itself, but I am going to take a guess as to how Herzog gets the amazing interviews and footage that you just don’t get in most other documentaries: He never turns off the camera. I mean, he just mustn’t. The questions he asks and the people he talks to are usually done after months of research and you can always tell that Herzog will give you a piece of himself in every film he does and this one is no different!
8. Troll Hunter- Honestly, the poster says it all. Pretty god-damned spectacular! If the title of this movie doesn’t get you nerd panties moist then I suggest that you stop reading this and move on to the next post because this movie is nothing short of awesome. Nuff’ said!
7. Terriers - Ignore the “tremors” poster ripoff, please. Regardless of how clever I think it is. This year I could not seem to get enough of detective shows. And Terriers might have been the most pleasant surprise out of all of them. Set in San Diego, recovered alcoholic Hank Dolworth having been fired from the police force starts his own detective agency with his best friend. they are completely unorthodox and solve crimes the most haphazard way imaginable but it’s absolute gold! Bud god damn it, it will now forever remain a canceled jem of the FX family. You know, usually I try do brush off a good show ending before its time by saying something along the lines of “Well at least it never got the chance to get bad” or “if firefly wasn’t canned we wouldn’t have gotten Serenity.” (maybe that last one was a bit too bold) But it is abundantly clear that this show could have been a monster hit but was not given the chance and it just makes me sad for this whole status quo.
6. Luther - Continuing on the detective show stint I discovered Luther and was hooked in the first 10 minutes. I’ll be damned if Idris Elba is not the powerhouse of an emotionally distraught, cold-as-ice detective that you didn’t even know you needed! London detective inspector Jon Luther is being brought back from a suspension and is ready to get back to work, when he finds out that his now separated wife is seeing someone else. What I just can get enough of is how John’s dealing with a case and his personal life work together. Yeah, yeah, I know that how they usually go but this does it with more punch and intensity and you do NOT wanna fuck with Luther!
5. That Mitchell and Webb Look - I have been told that British humor is only meant for people of a different sensibility and its a lot less accessible to Americans. I personally believe that this show is paramount to understanding how ridiculous the previous statement is. David Mitchell and Robbert Webb might be the most proactive comedy writers since the monty python. Ok maybe not that pivotal, but they are damned smart and funny. A simple sketch comedy format of the highest order!
4. Sherlock - For me it has been really hard to find a good adaptation of the great detective Sherlock Holmes in film or TV that is not from anything as old as 1960, and yes I am counting the newest films with Robert Downy Jr. because those are not appealing to me. But this. This is good. This is very, very good! I would expect Stephen Moffat, the captain behind Doctor Who and other hit British television to write a good modern day adaptation of the great detective, but I never expected it to be this awesome! Start with the cast: You have the amazingly talented and impossibly British Benedict Cumberbatch as the title role. And Benedict plays the role like I somehow always wish it would be played. And the impeccable Martin Freeman as veteran doctor John Watson. I don’t think there is a more clever show that is being made today.
3. Avatar: The Last Airbender - I love recommending shows and movies to friends and vice-versa. But The Last Airbender has been the most difficult show to recommend to people that haven’t seen it. And to be fair, I was very hesitant about what it was about on paper. A wold of divided kingdoms of earth, fire, and water discover the chosen warrior of the world (the Avatar) in a young child that has been frozen for a hundred years and is the last of the “air benders”. God god was I wrong to ever doubt this show. For a children’s show, it is just as epic as any classic work such as lord of the rings or even as adventurous as Star Wars, there I said it! It’s that damn good! And if you are past the point of being convinced to even try this show, you are lost to me.
2. Party Down - WHY DID YOU ALL LET THIS SHOW DIE!? Yeah, I’m talking to you, all you people that did’t watch this brilliant show to keep it’s ratings up! This might have been the funniest show since the original UK Office. Party Down in a workplace comedy from the creators of Veronica Mars and hits it out of the park for laughs and a surprisingly compelling love arc for its maincharacter. The show is inhabited by pretty much every guest star that has been in Veronica Mars and amazing cameos and a show that might just be the best atmosphere for laughs. A run of the mill catering company caters to different events that is ripe foe excellent cameos with the likes of Thomas Lennon, J.K. Simmons, and Steve Guttenberg! Seriously, watch this show, laugh, then weep for what could have been!
1. Breaking Bad - This show really deserves a full wright up, and i will make one most likely on the eve of its final season, possibly this year. But all I can say that has not allready been said will be difficult. So I will make it short. Brian Cranston deserves every bit of praise, award, recognition for his acting and then some! It is with out the best written, directed, and probably most important television show since the wire. It’s that god damn good!
