Tron-tastic?

There's a whole lot of buzz at ComicCon over Disney's sequel to their 1982 computer-game movie Tron, Tron Legacy.

Here's the thing: What I most remember about Tron was that seeing it in a theatre gave me a headache. Honestly. I don't know if it was the effects, the plot or the acting. I just know that I had a horrible headache and I was actually nauseous for several hours afterwards.

As with most of Disney's live-action movies, Tron Legacy will be in digital 3-D, which I can only imagine will serve to heighten the headache-nausea factor. Add that to an implausibly stupid plot and you have one puke-tastic movie.

Now I know there are many fans of the original movie out there. And I have seen it several times on TV without experiencing the same effects. But I can't help but wonder if the sequel will induce the same reaction as the original did, 27 years ago (Oh God - I am really showing my age, aren't I?).

In any event, this teaser trailer for the new movie was just released. I'll leave you to form your own opinions. And Tron lovers, please don't inundate me with hate mail - I just calls 'em as I sees as I sees 'em. Here's' the trailer (via):

In other news, from the London Daily Mail comes this bizarre and rather sad tid-bit about Michael Jackson's nose. Is it me, or have we become way too obsessed with celebrities and their all-too-human frailties? I think if we all spent more time thinking about our own lives and how we impact the lives of others, we wouldn't care about whether Jacko had a prosthetic nose or how many African orphans Angelina and Madonna adopt.

More, anon.

Prospero

WTF?!?!?

Some days I struggle to come up with something to write about. Other days, things fall right into my lap in a a perfect alignment of topic. Today was such a day. And so today's perfect alignment topic has to be: WTF?!?!?

Above is a picture of a special high-protein pizza made in a pizza shop in Okinawa. Look closely. Hmm... crust, tomato, spiders, cheese, basil... whoa... WTF?!?!? SPIDERS?!?!? (Wait... give me a few seconds to get that "I-just-walked-into-a-web" feeling off my skin... BRB). There, that's better. According to JapanProbe, the shop also makes a beetle pizza. WTF?!?!?

Okay... so I've recovered from a rather revolting subject there, right? Well, not quite. I don't know from what language the Asian characters are in this video, but what's being shot sure looks like something out a Japanese monster flick:

Seriously... WTF?!?!? I'm sure it's probably some sort of rare, exotic beetle or something. Certainly nothing to be alarmed about. Certainly nothing alien.

And speaking of alien creatures, the video below has been going around. I tried to embed it when I first saw it, but couldn't. A new version must have been put on YouTube since. It claims to be a sighting of a new species, but is clearly the work of Special Effects Artists for some Japanese movie or TV show.

WTF?!?!? That was cool.! I can't wait to see it in context. Anyone know what it's actually from? Next:

From The Museum of Hoaxes comes this exquisitely timely tale about a family in Brazil who found the miraculous face of Michael Jackson on the bottom of their greasy roasting pan. WTF?!?!? I've blogged about the phenomena of pareidolia before. It fascinates me, because I've always loved looking up at the clouds to see what beasties floated above our heads. It just kills me that people take this so seriously. I mean, come on. Really? Michael Jackson just happened to appear in your unwashed cookware? Puh-lease! I'd be more likely to believe an image of Farrah in a jar of hair gel (like how I snuck a half-naked Joe Namath in there?). Anyway, the clever folks at TMOH are referring to this image as "Jackodolia."

And last, but not least, a WTF?!?!? trailer for the upcoming South African Sci-Fi movie District 9. It gets it's WTF?!?!? rating not for weirdness, but for awesomeness, as in: "WTF!? This could be a really cool movie!" Enjoy:

WTF?!?!? did you do today?

More, anon.

Prospero

WTF?!?!? Update: More insanely silly Jackodolia here.

Life's a Bitch...

Lots to talk about tonight (I'm off to D.C. - holla, Sean! - on a business trip tomorrow morning, so I won't get a chance to post again until late Saturday), so let's get right to it, shall we?

I am saddened, but not shocked at the death of Farrah Fawcett, who bravely documented her struggle with cancer, hopefully inspiring others to fight even harder. The footage of her last visit with son Redmond is just heart-breaking. But her pain and suffering have ended. My heart goes out to Ryan, Redmond and her entire family.

Farrah was many things to many people (surprisingly, I did NOT own the iconic poster pictured here - my walls were covered with movie posters, show posters and monster posters in the '70's) but she will always be one of Charlie's Angels to me. However, I fear she will be to MJ what Groucho is to Elvis.

On the other hand, I am shocked, but not saddened by the death of Michael Jackson. An exceptional talent, but an exceptionally disturbed man. MJ was my contemporary. Only a few years older than me, but a superstar before puberty. While some reports portray Papa Joe Jackson as abusive and manipulative, at least he was able to tell his young prodigy "no." Once Michael went out on his own, and had no one to tell him "no," he went a little... okay, a lot... crazy. I, for one, have no trouble believing the charges brought against him in both 1993 and 2003. I hope his troubled soul is finally at peace.

Funny how the picture I have posted of MJ features zombies, doncha think? And speaking of zombies, can you believe Liz Taylor out-lived him? Yikes!

Here's the thing: We live in a bizarre Cult of Celebrity these days. Entertainment News is now Headline News. Granted, 3 famous people have died recently. But why should that overshadow the thousands dying every day because of war, disease, famine and genocide? Why are these three people more important than the the countless killed by acts of violence committed by their fellow men, often in the name of "God?" Yes, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson will all be missed. But so will thousands of soldiers killed in Iraq since that pointless war started. So will thousands of children slaughtered in the jungles of Africa. So will thousands upon thousands who will die of AIDS; cancer; heart disease; plane crashes; train crashes; bombings; car crashes; bus crashes; earthquakes, tsunamis; fires; floods; lightning strikes and any number of freak accidents and acts of stupidity. Sometimes, it's a good idea to step back and gain a little perspective, you know?

Now how's this for a segue?

More on Zombies in a sec...

Next, I want to talk about the most outrageous LGBT story of the day. I saw this mentioned on my local news tonight and laughed myself silly at the idiocy of everyone involved. But then I thought about how awful it must be for the young man that he resorted to this. And how even worse it was for the adults to go along with it. This is plain and simple abuse, both physical and mental. I hope these people all go to jail for what they've done to this young man (via):

There's a special place in hell for these kinds of "Christians."

Okay, time to lighten the mood, just a bit. Via Towleroad, comes this amazing clip of the always fabulous Grace Jones (one of the few women I would actually consider having sex with), performing "Slave to Love" (actually appropriate to my mood, of late) as part of her recent come-back tour:

I can't even hoola-hoop for 5 seconds, let alone an entire song!

Finally, here are some links to three rather amazing trailers for upcoming film releases (via):

First up, Richard (Donnie Darko) Kelly's latest thriller The Box. starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella and based on Richard Matheson's short story "Button, Button." Watch it here. Kelly may well have made a come back after his last film, Southland Tales, was both a critical and financial flop.

Next, this juicy trailer for Zombieland (See? I told ya!), the newest Zom-Com starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Esinberg, Abigail Breslin and Bill Murray as a character listed on IMDb as "Zombie."

Finally, I have to admit a deep, dark secret... Shhhh... Don't tell anyone, but I am not always a Scorcese fan. I don't usually like movies about the violence real people commit against one another. Mob movies; 'gangsta' movies; war movies, boxing movies... There's something different between being killed by one's mortal enemy and being killed by a mythological being or an imaginary movie-maniac. For me, Scorcese's most effective films are about truly disturbed individuals: Taxi Driver; Cape Fear. And I have never been a Leonardo DiCaprio fan. I have no idea what all those girls saw each one of the 500 times they went to see Titanic. But I have admit that he's finally growing into his looks. Though I must admit that I find the trailer for Shutter Island absolutely terrifying. Watch it here.

I'm off to our nation's capitol for a Law School Forum in the morning. I've been to plenty, all over the country, but not to D.C. before. I imagine it will be a little more... intense than most. I'll let you know.

More, anon.

Prospero

On Those With Too Much Time on Their Hands

Michael Jackson is being sued again, this time by director John Landis, who claims that Jackson has withheld royalties for the landmark music video "Thriller." MTV and Jackson were at their heyday. Everyone wanted to (and did) see that video. Landis, who directed Animal House and An American Werewolf in London, was the perfect choice for the humorous horror spoof featuring a werewolf Jackson, a Living Dead Jackson and a bevy of zombie back-up dancers in perfect, stiff-jointed time. It was a sensation (and still holds up as loads of fun today). I always laugh when Michael says "I'm not like other boys," and adore hearing my dear, underrated Vincent Price saying "ya'll's neighborhood" in the narration.

So, while reading about the suit, I came across this gem (forgive me, but I forget where, it was early this morning and I didn't write it down):

"Thriller -- In Lego"

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Now, if you have the 13 and 1/2 minutes, this short is fascinating, on many counts.

The first thing that occurs to me is that someone (two people, in this case) thought to do this in the first place. There are plenty of Lego animations on YouTube. Some of them are silly, some are quite clever. Most are purile and stupid. There are many recreations of movie and TV scenes and even more original material based on existing characters (an aspect of so-called "fan fiction" -- which can get pretty damned weird). So what drives people to make these things?

The second thing that occured to me is that stop-motion is an arduous task, taking many hours to shoot mere seconds of images. This video is over 13 minutes long! Who the hell has that kind of time?

Then I watched the video and it blew my mind. The really good stuff takes a while to get going, but if your computer is fast enough, you can FF through the first few minutes. It's worth it. The clay and paint zombie effects are just brilliant, and the hyper colors and hard geometrics of Lego make a crazy contrast to the more organic clay and cardboard scenery.

And then there is the choreography, which is a stunning feat. It must have taken hundreds of hours to get those stupid Lego people to move in unison. The lighting could be better and some of the "scenery" is beyond crude, but you can't help but admire the filmmakers' earnestness and attention to detail. I think I like this version even better than the Indonesian Prisoners'.

More, anon.

Prospero

P.S. I almost titled this post "The Gayest Toys You'll See this Week."

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