Critical End!

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

I fully expect this to be the biggest hit of the upcoming holiday season.

It’s been a while since Rowan Atkinson last lit up my local cineplex.  Since another Mr. Bean is still out of the question (Atkinson said in several interviews that 2007’s Mr. Bean’s Holiday was the final send-off of the character), it looks like we’re going to have to settle with Johnny English Reborn.  Sure, the first one was just so-so and performed as such in America, but you have to remember that it was a huge hit on it’s native UK where Rowan is still a box office draw.

No, that headline isn’t a reference to any dead terrorists. The Three Amigos ride again thanks to a photo shoot and interview session by Empire Magazine. Badass Digest has a short behind-the-scenes video of the shoot which reveals that John Landis was on hand as well. Can’t wait to read the full article!

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.

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:

This episode is better off dead. REVIEWED: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Say Anything… PLUS: Our contest winner is finally rewarded!

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There is seriously nothing going on today, so let’s check in on that old Critical End! fallback: Community! 

In case you haven’t been watching, it’s back from it’s mid-season hiatus and funnier than ever.  They’re also returning the show to it’s roots, and moving away from some of the more over-the-top scenarios that they’ve been doing.  It was also great to see Chevy have more to do in last Thursday’s Pierce heavy episode.  Creator Dan Harmon is promising even more red hot Chevy action in an upcoming episode that features the entire cast visiting Pierce after he ends up in the hospital.  Oh, and Entertainment Weekly also has some great news about an upcoming (nerd alert!) Dungeons & Dragons themed ep.  Is this the best show on television yet or what, folks?

Anyway, here’s some more Community Season 2 news straight from the cast and crew themselves:

I don’t think we ever posted it here, but I’m a big fan of this video of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon doing their dueling Michael Caine impressions:

Michael Caine, apparently, doesn’t dig it so much. Or at least, he felt compelled to have a little fun at the expense of anyone who tries to imitate his Britishy tones:

[Via Badass Digest]

This episode can’t do nothing for ya, boy. REVIEWED: True Grit (1969), True Grit (2010). PLUS: The Oscar talk begins.

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After seeing this, I’ll take back some of the ill words I had for it a few weeks back, but not all. 

I stand by my statement that Seth Rogan is a terrible voice casting choice.  He’s too “I’m really a formally fat Jewish guy” to sound alien.  And speaking of voice work, we live in an age where we no longer need trailers read to to us by some fancy voice guy…so why hire one just to read “Paul”?  And finally: Nick Frost was not allowed to talk in this trailer.  He charges extra for that.

Not a ton going down today, but remember that new CG animated Road Runner short WB was working on? Well here it is (in full this time), and you don’t have to suffer through some terrible Cats & Dogs movie to see it.

I dig it. It hit all the right beats, had me laughing out loud, then got out quickly. And it reminded me of Tangled, in that it was produced with CG, but was obviously tailored to look like its hand-drawn source material. Nice going, WB. Let’s see more where this came from, hopefully in front of better movies than Cats & Dogs.

[Via /Film]

His record speaks for itself, but I’ll always know him best as the man who helped bring us this:

Godspeed, sir.

This list isn't for you, Li'l Eeyore!

Happy Halloween, folks!  If you’re like me, Halloween has transformed over the years from an excuse to dress up and bug people for candy to an excuse to sit at home and watch scary movies.  And eat candy.

Recently, some friends asked me to put together a list of thriller/horror movies that I recommended.  I was pretty happy with what I came up with, so I’m sharing it with you, in case you needed some inspiration for your own All Hallows’ Eve celebration.  Feel free to disagree in the comments.

SOME REALLY GREAT AND PRETTY GOOD THRILLER/HORROR MOVIES IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER EXCEPT THE LAST ONE!

• Psycho (thriller/slasher) Obviously.  First and best slasher.
• Three…Extremes (Saam gaang yi – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – This one’s great for a party because it’s composed of three short stories, all creepy.  None of them are blow-you-away-awesome but they’re each fun and disgusting in their own way.  Gets very gross.
• The Evil Dead Trilogy (horror/horror comedy/action adventure) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – Obviously a must see.  The second one’s the best, but they’re all great and better as a marathon.
• Psycho Beach Party (horror comedy) My favorite horror comedy of all time.  Gidget meets Hitchcock.
• Re-Animator (horror/dark comedy) – Crazy college student discovers Frankenstein serum, creates super disturbing zombies.  Jeffrey Combs is amazing in this.
• Dead Alive – (horror comedy-ish) aka Braindead.  Early Peter Jackson does Evil Dead.
• The Frighteners (horror comedy-ish) later Peter Jackson does Ghostbusters
• The Mist (thriller) – Most of the movie is an awesome and faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novella.  Then the end…oh man, the end.  Different from the book but AMAZING.
• Undead (horror comedy)  Probably my second favorite horror comedy.  Australian zombie flick with kickass action and a really weird plot twist.  Succeeds both in the comedy and the horror which is rare.
• Infection (Kansen – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – Some weird infection makes people kill people in gruesome and awesome ways.  The story’s not stellar, but the suspense and effects are pretty great.
• Identity – Remember this?  John Cusack….anyone?  I liked it.
• Dawn of the Dead (the 2004 remake)  I wasn’t a fan of Romero’s original but this remake is pretty good.
• Premonition (Yogen – subtitled) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – NOT the Sandra Bullock version.  Very cool film.
• The Omen (the original)- Watch Instantly from Netflix – Awesome suspense film made even better by giving you the opportunity to do Gregory Peck impression’s the whole time.  I’ll get you started:
  • “I remember when my daddy gave me that gun. He told me that I should never point it at anything in the house; and that he’d rather I’d shoot at tin cans in the backyard. But he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted – if I could hit ’em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird…”
• The Howling (horror/dark comedy) – Early Joe Dante’s take on werewolves mixed with some weird social commentary.  If you watch this, you must PROMISE me that you’ll be deathly quiet when the female lead is searching the dark office.  Because the best thing ever is about to happen.
• The Descent – Spooky thangs in a cave.
• Creepshow (cheese factor) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – Adaptation of several Stephen King short stories.  The one King himself stars in is hilarious.
• Final Destination (cheese factor)  Though I secretly like this movie on a non-ironic level.  Avoid all the sequels.
• Gremlins and/or Gremlins 2 – Again, an obvious one.
• The Thing (John Carpenter)
• Black Sheep (horror comedy)
• The Eye (Gin gwai – subtitled) NOT the Jessica Alba version.
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original) – It’s not stellar but it did invent the chainsaw maniac as well as the documentary style horror movie.
• The ‘burbs – Watch Instantly from Netflix – (horror/comedy)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (cheese factor) Got to get a Christmas one on the list.  See Logan’s detailed review here.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (cheese factor/horror comedy)- Watch Instantly from Netflix
• The Wickerman (original)  Two words: Christopher Lee.
• Child’s Play (slasher) – Watch Instantly from Netflix – The series is really hit or miss but the first one is pretty solid.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Series (slasher) – Most of these movies aren’t “good” per se, but they’re kind of required viewing of the genre.  The worthwhile entries are:
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street- Watch Instantly from Netflix
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
  • New Nightmare- Watch Instantly from Netflix
  • Freddy vs. Jason
• Friday the 13th Series (slasher) – Most are even worse than the Elm Street movies.  The first Friday the 13th is reasonably good and has a nice twist that everyone already knows.  And Freddy vs. Jason is actually pretty awesome (a highlight for both characters).  Also, despite Logan’s protests, I thought the Michael Bay produced remake was surprisingly good.  The others are only good for their comedic value.  Particularly…
  • Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter – Funny for not being the final chapter, and containing the antics of both Corey Feldman and Crispin Glover.
  • Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan – Hilarious for NOT taking place in Manhattan.
  • Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday – Watch Instantly from Netflix – Jason is killed when the FBI sets up a “sting” for him that consists of a naked chick in a cabin.  Then his demon possesses the black guy from X-Files.
  • Jason X – Jason IN SPACE!
• Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (horror comedy) – Now you’re ready for this one.  The horror comedy that becomes an actual horror movie as it goes along.

This is some serious shit, folks.  Ever since Telltale announced that Christopher Lloyd would reprise the role of Doc Brown (in voiceover) for the new Back to the Future videogame, nerds have been waiting with bated breath to hear who’d play Marty.  They’ve secured the likeness of Michael J. Fox, but presumably he’s not well enough to actually play the role.  

Enter AJ LoCascio. He sent Telltale an mp3 of himself doing Marty and it was so good they gave him the job. Drop everything and check out the video below. It’s about as flawless as anyone could hope for. Even Bob Gale says so. I think I’m officially out of things to worry about, this game is going to be brilliant.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the state of comedy:

Yes, you are looking at the first picture of Adam Sandler as “Jill” from the upcoming romantic comedy Jack and Jill that we first told warned you about back here.  Clearly, this film will be the height of comedy…in 1998.