No podcast today, folks, but check back next Wednesday for our extensive look at the Scream series, including Scream 4. Until then, let’s have a look at some Britishy trailers, starting with Dan Radcliffe in ghost story The Woman in Black.
Obviously it’s a teaser, so there’s not much to see. But I hear great things about the book so my hopes are high. Just like they are for the new season (or “series”) of Doctor Who.
Can’t wait!
REVIEWED: Source Code. This episode missed the train. But the next one’s in eight minutes. PLUS: BevCast 2.0.
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Well, it’s Monday again, but don’t commit suicide just yet! First enjoy one of my favorites from last Friday’s batch of online April Fool’s gags. It’s from Telltale Games, makers of the recent/upcoming Back to the Future and Jurassic Park games we’ve talked about on the site. Enjoy!
Happy April Fool’s Day, kids! To celebrate, here are some stories that should be jokes, but (as far as I know) are 100% true:
Arnold Schwarzenegger is teaming up with obviously bored comics giant Stan Lee to produce The Governator, a comic book/animated series starring Arnold as himself. Except in this version he quits politics to become a super strong action spy crimefighter, unlike the real world where he quit politics to do an embarrassingly self-aggrandizing comic book/animated series. Now, this news COULD be a joke perpetrated by Entertainment Weekly, but so many sites have reported it as true, that I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Mostly so I could post another clip of Stan Lee’s last infamous collaboration with a celebrity:
In other famous person team-up news, here’s a story that’s been kicking around for awhile, but has seen a recent resurgence: Stephen King and John (Sexy Cougar) Mellencamp are working on a musical called Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Have we learned NOTHING from Spider-Man, people? If you’re doing a musical, get someone who writes musicals, not a washed up rock star. Although, I have to admit I’d love to see Ringo Starr do a modern stage adaptation of the Paul Bunyan story. I think it might go a little something like this:
Finally, James Cameron has revealed his next big innovation in filmmaking: using more film. Cameron’s convinced that shooting film at higher frame rates will blow audiences away. Sure, more frames per second adds up to a clearer picture and smoother movement (see modern videogames which almost all average more than cinema’s 24fps), but I still find it funny that the guy who taught us that action films could have decent scripts (Terminator, Aliens) has completely abandoned story in favor of visuals. “MORE PICTURES! DELIVERED FASTER TO YOUR BRAIN! WHAT DO YOU MEAN AVATAR WAS DERIVATIVE? IT WAS SO PRETTY!”
Have a good weekend!
Another helping of raspberry...TOM?
At least that seems like the most likely explanation for the copious amounts of photoshopped red goo around the characters’ mouths, considering the absence of any apparent lip wounds. Of course there are other possibilities…
We’ll just have to wait for July to find out! IN 3D.
I’m a big fan of The Venture Bros. on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup of programming. Other than Robot Chicken, it’s the only Adult Swim cartoon I still watch. The fourth season blu-ray just came out, and having already secured it and quickly wolfed down every morsel of its content, let me assure you that it is a worthy purchase indeed. And the blu-ray really is the way to go. The animation is gorgeous in high def.
But that’s not why I’m writing today. Series co-creator Jackson Publick announced on his blog that not only has the show been renewed for two more pulse-pounding seasons, but a 90 minute TV movie is on the way as well. That’s huge news, and frankly, a load off my mind, since every show I like gets cancelled after a few seasons, especially quirky niche shows like Venture Bros.
The finale of season four opened up a lot of interesting possibilities, and it’s great that they’ll have at least two more seasons to explore them. One of my favorite things about the show is that the creators don’t just reset the status quo every episode. Characters grow and change, taking full advantage of the serial nature of television. A welcome surprise from a comedy cartoon that first appeared to be a straight forward parody of Johnny Quest, but has grown into an amazingly well-written show that tackles love, failure, growing up, and even death while still remaining funny and packed full of 60s throwback action.
So kudos to you, Team Venture. Here’s to many more seasons of hilarity, heartbreak, and of course, adventure.
This episode is 87 steps ahead of you…if you haven’t listened to the first 86 episodes. REVIEWED: Limitless. PLUS: More fun with hypothetical scenarios!
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…at least that’s what I assume he decided to do halfway through developing Wonder Woman for television. And I think he’s really got something here. Adrianne Palicki only MOSTLY looks like some nerd took a nude photo of her from Playboy and photoshopped his fantasy on top of it.
Here’s a sneak peak of the sense-shattering first episode!
This episode is gonna keep its sheep suit on / Until it’s sure that you’ve been shown / That it can be trusted walking with you alone. / Owoooooooo! REVIEWED: Red Riding Hood. PLUS: Vagina blood.
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Remember this business? Well now we’ve got a teaser:
So look. It’s VERY anime. And normally I’m not into that. Granted the original Thundercats was anime too, but 80s anime occupies a different, more loved spot in my conscious. At any rate, as much as I might normally turn away from this, my heart actually quickened a bit. For some reason, just seeing Wilykit and Wilykat jumping around, Tygra going all invisible, and Cheetara spinning that bo staff brought back so many awesome memories that I just have to believe the creators of the reboot have latched on to what made the original great. I’ll definitely give this show a chance. And when it fails me horribly, you’ll read about it here.
[Via Screened]
Time to play my favorite cartoon-turned-live-action-movie game: Gag Ratio! It’s simple and you can play along at home. Step one, watch the new trailer for The Smurfs. Let’s do that now!
Did you do it? Great. Now mute the audio so you don’t have to listen to that godawful commercial. And by the way, Yahoo! and its advertisers: You think you’re so cool with your non-skippable advertising embedded into my site? Well, your product is terrible and nobody loves you. There, I’ve cleverly countered your marketing with counter-marketing. Game. Set. Ryan.
What were we doing? Oh right. Now that you’ve seen the trailer, you count up all the jokes and put them into three piles. Pile 1 is for slapstick jokes where people fall down or get hurt. Pile 2 is for dick and fart jokes, anything scatological or sexual. Pile 3 is any other joke. Aaaaaannnnd GO!
How’d you do? Here’s what I came up with:
SLAPSTICK: 5
DICK/FART: 7
NOT FUNNY: 4
OTHER: 0
Oh, did I forget to mention the pile for derivative, unfunny bullshit? Well, on my third viewing of the trailer, I decided there needed to be a fourth pile. Anyway, this summer don’t forget to Smurf the Smurfin’ Smurf! RADICAL!
After the last episode, you were never supposed to listen to this podcast again. Your plan has changed. REVIEWED: The Adjustment Bureau. PLUS: We play a game and fix the Oscars.
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Happy Monday, kids. Here’s another batch of stuff that fell through the cracks…
Badass Digest reports that Shane Black, writer of Lethal Weapon and writer/director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang may direct Iron Man 3. Good news, I say. I’m usually a fan of Black’s stuff, and he’s got just the sense of humor (and reporre with Downey Jr.) for the job. Of course, this would be his first comic book flick. But as you can see below, he’s been studying up:
Speaking of comics, /Film reveals that the producers for that Godawful Spider-Man musical have hired a new writer to fix it. They wanted someone who really understood the character of Spider-Man. What makes him appealing both from a visceral, action-focused perspective, as well as an emotional character-focused perspective. With that in mind, they’ve hired ANY 15-YEAR-OLD IN AMERICA.
In happier times.
I’ll tell you who needs his story rewritten (segue!), Tommy the Green Power Ranger AKA Jason David Frank. And yes I knew that name from memory because I saw it every weekday morning for a good four years straight. Sadly, according to Geekologie, JDF’s in a bit of a jam after cracking some dude in the jaw so hard, his teeth came out. To be fair, this was during an officially sanctioned mixed-martial arts bout. To be EXTRA fair, this was NOT the guy he was supposed to be fighting, but some random employee of the gym. Apparently he forgot the Power Ranger’s rule of escalation: start out with harmless gymnastics, wait for the bad guy to power up BEFORE you morph.
Hey, know what else was green and a part of my childhood? Gremlins, which was a horror comedy directed by the great Joe Dante. And now it looks like Dante may be returning to the genre with a new Vampire/Werewolf comedy called Monster Love. Yeah it’s kind of a tired concept at this point, but if anyone can inject some new life into it, it’s him. /Film’s got the pres release.
Finally, you know I love to end a roundup with a video, so check out this excellent compilation of conspicuous product placement in films put together by FilmDrunk (via /Film):
It’s a great video, but of course it’s missing one of Logan and my favorites, featuring a very-pre-famous George Clooney:
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