Bristol Palin was announced as a contestant on this year's Dancing with the Stars and I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed that this is really the avenue that the Palin's are taking. On one hand, Palin the Younger is trying to present herself as a spokesperson for safe sex. Unfortunately, what most kids are going to see is the other hand; that Palin is now a celebrity, pretty much only because she got knocked up while she was near her mom's spotlight, and now she's getting to be famous because of it.

And unless Palin is trying to become a professional dancer, shouldn't she be focusing on getting an actual trade besides, you know, being a celebrity? I'm hoping for the best for the Palin family in this but while Dancing with the Star might be a great adventure for Bristol, I think it hurts the message she's trying to send to other youngsters and it also doesn't really seem to be a move that will give her or her child a stronger foundation for the future.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

I'm not sure how Cee-Lo is going to make a radio friendly version of this song but it should be a big hit. Most people know Cee-Lo from his Gnarls Barkley success but I recommend checking out his solo stuff as well as some of the songs from his original crew, Goodie Mobb.

Posted by SoulHonky at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

The trailer for Frank Darabont's new AMC series "The Walking Dead" is out and I have to say that I'm underwhelmed. I'm just not seeing anything that I'd really want to watch for two hours, let alone for an hour a week. I kind of hope the show is more of an anthology collection but maybe there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the main story and main characters. It does kind of make me want to take another crack at "Best. Apocalypse. Ever." which I thought could be a "Crash" type film with a bunch of seemingly random but interwoven tales of people waking up the morning after the world ends. But I still have to finish the pilot that I've been putting off for months and month before I commit to working on something else.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Obviously, things will change over the coming weeks when more people get injured or roster spots are solidified but looking at the breakdown of most leagues, I think the best bet is to go RB and WR in the first two rounds and then another RB in the third. In the 4th round, you just take the best available player, be it Antonio Gates, Matt Forte, Wes Welker, or Brett Favre (and I might actually draft them in that order).

However, there's one thing that you have to keep in mind that no "expert" can lead you in (and something that the ESPN draft tracker is definitely not too helpful with) and that's knowing your league. For instance, I'm in one league that is RB-centric. In that league, I might be able to get away with taking two running backs and while still landing one of the better WR's in the league. I've done mock draft and usually going WR and RB in the first two rounds works best but that's because those leagues often have people grabbing a number of QB's and WR's in the early rounds. If everyone other team in your league goes RB/RB in the first two rounds, you'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to your WR/RB position.

That being said, there are some deals to be had so far. Guys like Ahmad Bradshaw, Jahvid Best, Arian Foster, Cadillac Williams, Clinton Portis all seem to be slipping pretty deep into these mock drafts. Ditto for Wes Welker. In the ideal draft scenario, I usually ended up with RB in the first, WR in the second, then Pierre Thomas in the 3rd, Matt Forte in the 4th, Wes Welker 5th, and then either the best TE or QB available. If neither of them really wowed me, I often went with another WR like Percy Harvin. Now, I think some of these guys (like Forte, Welker, and Harvin) could move up in the ranking as the preseason wears on but this still seems like the best approach. The only way I'd really break from it is if I had a shot at two great backs. For instance, in one draft I was able to get Steven Jackson and DeAngelo Williams. I wasn't going to pass on Williams just to fill my quote at WR. After four rounds I had Jackson, Williams, Forte and Antonio Gates. My WR's were going to be thin but I can live with that since I had a top TE and three nice RB options.

As for QB, I know Brees and Rodgers (and Brady and Manning) offer some nice points but I just feel more comfortable with going late and maybe settling for Favre or Kevin Kolb. I also think Vince Young's intriguing and Carson Palmer could bounce back since he has a sick receiving corps with Ochocinco, TO, Antonio Bryant, Matt Jones, and the Greshem kid at TE. It's hard not to go after one of those two guys in the early second round but if you do that, I feel like it just puts more pressure on all of your next picks (especially at WR).

Well, I've now officially spent too much time writing about Fantasy Football so it'll be a week or so (when my leagues actually start drafting) before I chime in again.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Well, it's that time of year again, when everyone is trying to figure out their fantasy football draft strategies (and the rest of the world tries to ignore the incessant fantasy football talk coming from their cooler co-workers). Before I go into my early round strategy, a word of warning... I'm terrible at fantasy football. I've had some decent years but more often than not, I draft a young guy before he is worth a damn ala having DeAngelo Williams his first two years but not his third) and my sleeper receivers usually don't wake up until they are looking for a 9 to 5 job. So odds are that you should ignore this but I still think it makes sense.

Looking at this season, there are two things that jump out at me: 1. there are almost know sure fire reliable workhorse backs and 2. there are even fewer elite #1 receivers out there. The first part of that is pretty obvious to anyone playing fantasy; the platoon has taken over and most every team is running a two back system out there now. However, I haven't seen part 2 be mentioned as much. But looking at it, the only receivers I really love are Andre Johnson and Randy Moss. Larry Fitzgerald is hurt, lost Anquan Boldin across from him, and has Matt Leinart throwing at him. Brandon Marshall's in a new system. I keep expecting a down year from Reggie Wayne. I had Roddy White last year and didn't love him as a #1. Calvin Johnson's a beast but how often will the Lions actually score? Now, I'm not saying that all of these guys are bums but if I had to pick between having a surefire #1 WR like Johnson or Moss and having a lesser back like Rashard Mendenhall instead of Ryan Grant, Shonn Greene, or even DeAngelo Williams, I'd do it.

So the way my top picks break down is:
1. Chris Johnson
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Ray Rice
4. Mo Jo Drew
5. Frank Gore
6. Michael Turner
7. Andre Johnson
8. Randy Moss

The wild cards are DeAngelo Williams and Steven Jackson. In Williams' case, he's going to lose carries to Jonathon Stewart and I also think that all defenses are going to really be focusing on the run 100% this year which could make things more difficult. If you get DeAngelo, you almost have to try to get Stewart which might be unlikely and, at best, just means you spent your 2nd and 3rd round picks on running backs from the same team. SJax have Megatron's problem - will his team ever score? Not to mention that he isn't getting any younger and, like the Panthers, the Rams have a passing attack that you'd almost rather see press their luck so the run is going to be priority #1 for opposing defenses.

So for me, Johnson and Moss go first and then 9/10/11 is Williams, Jackson, and Ryan Grant. Grant goes there because he's in a great offense and seems to be as low risk of a pick (albeit with little hope of a huge breakout year) as there is out there.

That brings us to the wraparound #12 and #13. For me the question is this: do you invest in one of the best remaining receivers, maybe go for one of the elite QB's, or just go with the usual plan of grabbing the best two running backs available.

I usually go running backs but if a draft pans out like mine has this far, you're picking between: Shonn Greene, Cedric Benson, Pierre Thomas, Rashard Mendenhall and then the Question Marks (Ryan Matthews, Knowshown Moreno, Beanie Wells, Jamaal Charles, etc.) Might it not be better to hold off and grab a QB or receiver? Why not grab a top QB or WR and roll the dice on Felix Jones in round 3 as opposed to taking Jamaal Charles now? I'm not a huge fan of QB's in the first round (especially because the one time I did it, I took Tom Brady and he went down in the first game of the season) but Brees and Rodgers are pretty damn great and I feel like there's a fairly steep drop-off after the top 4 QB's.

Honestly, I'm still a bit torn on what to do here so I'll hold off the answer to this until the second round post. But for now, I'm going to roll the dice with Shonn Greene at #12.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

One thing that has struck me as odd about the whole Mosque debate and the rising anti-Muslim sentiment out there is the fact that one of the main issues that people (especially Christians) have with Muslims is that they are too devout. It's odd that people keep lambasting Muslims for following their beliefs (for instance, commenters on Fox's site blasted a football player for fasting and not drinking water for Ramadan) yet at the same time, the Christians often call for more people to get back to the Bible. Glenn Back called for people to get back to their faith but if he really became more devout would he start clinging to some of the more outlandish Mormon claims, like black skin is the curse of the descendants of Cain and mark of an inferior people?

To me, it's crazy that people can be so stunned when the Taliban stones someone to death for adultery and then turns around and calls homosexuality an abomination. In both cases, the Bible calls for the death penalty (as well as a woman having sex before marriage and cursing your parents). And if you want to talk sanctity of marriage, Jesus himself (according to both Matthew and Mark) said that divorce was equivalent to adultery. Now I'm not saying that Prop 8 supporters should start stoning people but they do have to really look at the text that they keep quoting and see that it calls for the same atrocities that many people hate Muslims for.

The biggest example that many people give to differentiate the hateful Muslims and other religions is that Muslims want to wipe out other religions. Like the Christians never pulled any stunts like that. And like it doesn't say that in the Bible. The first commandment is that there is only one God and twice in the Bible it says that worshipping another God is punishable by death.

The biggest difference isn't the religions; it's the charlatans that have taken it over. Christian leaders often are just looking for money and some political power. They aren't trying to get their hands dirty with actual work (often because their hands are already dirty from their constant sinning). Also, Western Civilization often trumps religious beliefs. Case in point, people are getting fired up for football season but in the early 1900's, many states banned sporting contests on Sunday because that was the sabbath. Of course, now pundits have reasons for why playing sports on Sunday isn't REALLY breaking the Sabbath but that's just because religion has realized that it needs to bend with the times in order to stay relevant. However when it comes to think like homosexuality, the Church seems to think that it still had a card to play and the tide hasn't turned enough for them to start reevaluating the text as they have in so many other cases.

As for the Muslims, they still have too much faith to get with the times. I mean, the terrorists do have it right; we're trying to subvert their religion to get them caught up with modern day living and potential harmony. It's the main problem with the wars in the Middle East; we're bringing freedom to a land that still believe that freedom is the devil's workshop.

Since I'm just rambling right now, I'll switch topics and move onto the further hypocrisy of Sarah Palin. After Dr. Laura quit her show, Palin tweeted,

Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence"isn't American,not fair")

Ignoring her ignorance on the First Amendment and what it really covers, I think it's ridiculous that she is up in arms about activists taking back the airwaves when her entire existence right now is basically about the Tea Party which is just a bunch of activists taking back the government. Also, I hope she'll be stepping up next time someone tries to censor a hip hop group or when someone demands a boycott of someone like the Dixie Chicks because they spoke their mind. It's just mind boggling to me that someone who basically has branded herself as an activist for the people gets upset when other activists accomplish something through the use of their collective voice. And how does someone have the right to a national radio show but it's completely fair for gay couples not to have equal rights.

Which reminds me, I'm tired of people posing the question, "Is homosexuality a choice or are people born that way?" Where's the third option? It's nurture. Maybe there's something that makes people more open to it but I really don't think that there's one gene that guarantees someone's sexuality. Because if there's a gay gene, is there also a fat chick gene? Is there an Asian school girl gene or a busty tramp gene? It's almost a cliche now, collegiate girls experimenting with their sexuality, do they have the "it's just a phase" gene?

I think that gay rights advocates might stay away from this because it shines light on the fact that if homosexuality becomes more accepted, there will be more homosexuals or at least more people willing to try things out. What keeps most people in their lanes isn't their genetics, it's the lifestyle that's been ingrained in their heads. Sexy phases (big lips are in! short hair is sexy! hairy chests are what women want!) don't come and go because of some shift in genetics. And there's always the prison example - when homosexuality is all you have, some people start to shift that way. It's only natural.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Man, I really want to read the script "A Couple of Dicks" and find out what went wrong from the time the film made it onto the "The Black List" (a list of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood) and then somehow became the almost laughless film "Cop Out". Now, admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of Kevin Smith but I thought this film really failed on most every level. It looked better than MacGruber but other than that, it wasn't even better than that flick. At least MacGruber had a handful of legitimately funny moments; Cop Out didn't really have any.

One of the problems was the casting. Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis had zero chemistry together, not that their characters ever really felt developed or like a team. One problem is that Morgan rarely seems like a normal person. I love him in 30 Rock and any of his whacked out talk show interviews but in a role as a regular guy, it just doesn't work. The casting of Morgan goes along with the rest of the film which didn't seem to know what it wanted to be. It seemed like Smith was going for a feel like "Fletch" or "Beverly Hills Cop" but instead of giving us Fletch or Axel Foley, we just got two generic lead characters.

Maybe fans of Smith's work will like this (I also hated Zach and Miri Make a Porno but apparently some people enjoyed it.) but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

In case you were worried about the current state of development in Hollywood, here's a story that will... probably make you more worried. From The Playlist...

Producer Wayne Rice, who looked at calendar and saw that 11-11-11 fell on Friday, decided he wanted to open a movie on that day (no, we're not being bitchy, that's actually the story behind this thing), and set out to find a director to help realize his dream. That man, Darren Lynn Bousman. (Director of Saw 3 and 4).

At least it's an original idea, right? Anyway, if you haven't already, you should check out Absofacto. If you've already done that, why not check out some of these trailers.

The first is Gza's documentary on the Wu-Tang Clan. It should be out on DVD soon.

Next is one of those Hijinks Ensue type movies with an impetus that I've seen before (someone helping a person into an apartment that turns out not to be their's) but it still looks interesting enough. At the very least, this seems like a rental.

And finally, it's Doug Liman's film about Valerie Plame, the spy that the Bush administration outed when her husband basically called bullshit on the whole weapons of mass destruction rationale for invading Iraq. It should be interesting to see how Doug Liman handles a film with actual story in it (or if he'll just turn this true story into another run for you lives film like Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Jumper.

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

The last couple months, I've been struggling to find new music that I like but Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist came through once again. Absofacto is a side project of Jonathan Visger (of Mason Proper) and the songs he's been putting together are a nice mix of catchy and mellow. I feel like the sound is familiar but I can't really pinpoint what bands I'd compare it to (maybe a mellower Ra Ra Riot?)

Just as great as the music IMO is the do it yourself approach Jonathan is taking; releasing the songs on his website, having a name your price deal for the singles, as well as a ten dollar download of all of the songs so far. I've always thought that this is the future of music, with artists taking control of their distribution, the internet being the means of marketing and spreading the word about the band, and the people actually making the music not losing most of their money to a record label.

I'd definitely recommend checking out the Absofacto website where you can download the music and also check out some video blogs that Jonathan had posted. So support an indie artist and get some great music while you're at it.

Here's the latest track from Absofacto.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

I haven't blogged about the NBA for a while and there hasn't been too much going on but there definitely have been some notable moves and rumors. Obviously, the main move that caught my attention was the Celtics picking up the Big Shamrock. While Shaq does have his issues, I think he'll fit in great in Boston and we need him since I'm not sure that Kendrick Perkins will be 100% at any point of this season.

The person who might be more worrisome in terms of chemistry is Rajon Rondo. Rondo established himself as one of the main cogs of the offense (if not the main cog) during the playoffs and he's recently stated that he was better than Derrick Rose. Rondo seems like a guy who wants to go out and prove it every night. Unfortunately for NBA fans who care about the regular season, I doubt the rest of the Celtics lineup is going to be that interesting in obliging. If it seemed like the C's went half speed for the second half of last season, it's not going to get any better with another year under their belts, more wear and tear on their body, and Shaq Diesel who usually spends half the season in park. Hopefully the Big Three and Rondo have been together long enough to know one another but part of me is worried about some bumps along the way this season.

Outside of Boston, the biggest news seems to be Carmelo Anthony. Now, I've wanted him to get out of Denver for a couple of years now and I don't think there's any way that he should sign an extension there so I don't think these trade rumblings are anything but inevitable. The Magic might be the best place for him, in terms of chance to win it all, but I think New York should be his destination. With Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Wilson Chandler, and Kelenna Azubuike, along with Eddy Curry's expiring contract, the Knicks do have the pieces to make an interesting offer to Denver.
On a related note, if 'Melo leaves and heads to the Eastern Conference then the days of the West being best are officially over. The East has already been better at the top for a couple years now but if the Knicks can raise up, then I think depth-wise, the East will be just as tough as the West.

And finally, LeBron James is still whining about his elbow.

"I go out there and get a hard workout, and I know the elbow is not 100 percent healthy. It feels great, but I'm not going to wait until it hurts to start icing it."

Now, I was off the LeBron bandwagon a couple of years ago but it really does seem like he's done a heel turn and is trying to become the A-Rod of the NBA. I'll readily admit that I'm rooting for the Superfriends down in Miami to fail.

Posted by SoulHonky at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Since moving to LA, I've truly learned the importance of tipping servers and not downloading music illegally. Since I have met a lot of musicians and actors (who are usually waiting tables) you start to realize the effect that both tipping and ripping have on people. I've been pretty good for the last couple of years but I have to admit that a new site was brought to my attention and that, coupled with the need to download a lot of 80's songs for my friend's wedding party, got me back on the downloading teet.

The site is mp3eagle.com and it's kind of like a pay-for-play Limewire or Napster. For 100 bucks you can get unlimited downloads for a year. The quality is usually good (although the quality of playback on the site itself is lousy; it makes the songs sound worse than they do when you download them) and you don't have to deal with misnamed or looped or crappy quality or all of the other things that make Limewire and those other services annoying. You don't have to buy the yearlong unlimited service, you can just load in any amount of money you want and since the songs are about 3 cents a track and albums are usually around 2 bucks, a little money can go a long way.

Now, I'm not saying that you should go out and start using this site, especially when looking for records for new bands or indie outfits that really could use your money, but in this economic climate (yep, I'm using that as a rationalization) it's tough to turn down an offer like this, especially when it comes to older songs or albums that you always wanted to buy but never bothered to. (I'm looking at you, Beatles!)

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Darren Aronofsky still hasn't had a breakout hit but, then again, it's not like he's really looking to make one. "Black Swan" might be able to be a sleeper hit but odds are that it will still be the same middling box office returns and high critical praise. One thing that Aronofsky has going for him this time out is Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis making out; something which seems to be keeping most people from focusing on kind of bizarre nature of the trailer itself. At the very worst, this trailer succeeds because it's intriguing and newsworthy. How the rest of the marketing campaign (and, you know, the film itself) plays out remains to be seen but this is a nice start.

Posted by SoulHonky at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

If you haven't been watching "Louie" on FX, you should check it out. It took me a couple of episodes to get used to the set-up since it's not a typical sit-com. It's more like a couple of vignettes with bits of stand-up mixed in. And sometimes the scenes aren't really focused on comedy. Still, it's one of my new favorite shows on TV.

Here's one of my favorite clips as well as episode #3 featuring Ricky Gervais.

Posted by SoulHonky at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

"Animal Kingdom" is a slow burn and I never really got completely involved in the main character but it's still one of the better movies of the year and a film that I like more as I keep thinking about it. The title of the film refers to the basic theme of the film - who's are the kings of the jungle and who are the prey; who's being protected and who's doing the protecting. The film is a slow burn but it keeps you on your toes. The acting is top notch with Joel Edgerton stepping forward as a guy who should probably get his 15 minutes in Hollywood soon. His role is especially impressive when you remember that he played the semi-mute Russian bodyguard in "Smoking Aces".

This is definitely not a film for everyone since it's a slow paced ride and almost cinema verite when compared to most American crime dramas but it's a very interesting film and the first time director figured out how to do it in under two hours; something that most American directors need to take note of since most of our crime dramas run at an often bloated 2.5 hours.

I'd recommend skimming the reviews and not watching the trailer because they give away some of the turns in the film. Just go in cold, sit back and enjoy.

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

"The Other Guys" is a testament to how funny Will Ferrell, Rob Riggle, and the rest of that crew are. And I say that because, as a film, "The Other Guys" could be the worst movie of the year. Nothing happens. There are a lot of moments of dead air. The film only got a couple of of gags out of the actual story or out of any situation and the rest was mainly improv one liners and completely random gags. It almost felt like the movie might have been better (and, oddly enough, more cohesive) if it was a Monty Python style sketch movie.

It's tough to rank this film because of the odd dichotomy - it was fun but at times it was hard to get through. While a lot of the supporting guys did well, key players like Michael Keaton and Steve Coogan added nothing to the proceedings. The film was funny but most of its actual gags fell flat and had to be saved by improv one liners.

In the end, I'll just rank it in terms of how much I enjoyed myself watching it and throw it in at #9. It'll be interesting to see if the Ferrell/McKay/Henchy crew gets back to tying to write a coherent film. It kind of seems like they gave up on it after Semi-Pro tanked and now they're going for loosely plotted films that are basically a fairly random collection of set pieces for people to improv in. I hope they get back to that or it might just time for them to all move on; it seems like McKay is ready to do so as he's readying a comic book film, "The Boys".

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a movie that doesn't really need a review. The fact of the matter is that if you like the trailer, you'll really like the film. If you think the trailer looks annoying, I don't think the film is quite good enough to win you over. So feast your eyes on this and make up your mind.

As for me, I really liked it. I wouldn't say that I loved it because it's just a simple, fun comedy and there's nothing to really push it over the edge into greatness. It sits happily in very goodness. I went in with middling expectations and the film turned out to be better than I had hoped. Basically, it reminded me of Spaced or Hot Fuzz if it was made for American sensibilities and was directed by a music video director. The reason that I don't think it would win over any converts is because the film has a lot of guffaws but not many side-splittingly funny moments. There are a lot of great lines but not a ton of hilarious situations. The fights scenes are fairly forgettable although they are all stylistically impressive. It was a role that Michael Cera was born to play (and this is coming from someone who was quickly growing tired of him) and it doesn't hurt that I'm a big fan of Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Alison Pill is great in it while Kieran Culkin reminds everyone that he can nail the role of the cad, no matter what sexuality. A lot of people seem to be surprised at how he steals most of the scenes he's in but he's basically playing a gay version of Igby from "Igby Goes Down". The film does slow down a bit near the end and I think the funniest bit might have been before the movie even started but there were still enough laughs to keep me grinning in my seat.

Reading some of the negative reviews, it's hard to figure out what movie that the critics were going to see. Some complaints are that it's hollow but it's a basic comedy and I'm thankful that they didn't waste too much time trying to build some moral to the story. Also, Edgar Wright makes funny fluff; it's not like Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz had a huge heart or were soulful reminders of woebegone days. Scott Pilgrim is very close to those films at its core but the huge difference is the video game vibe the film has is very different from the cop or zombie genre and the hipster lovable loserish guy who actually does really well with girls isn't as affable or generally appealing as the lovable losers of Wright's previous two films (or Spaced). A young Simon Pegg probably would have knocked this role out of the park but Cera fills in nicely.

I'd heartily recommend the film but I just have a feeling that there are people who are just kind of programmed not to be into it. For them, it might be a film that they catch on TV one day and say, "Hey, that movie wasn't too bad." But for tonight my choices were checking out "Scott Pilgrim" or staying home and watching "The Hills Have Thighs" and I'm happy to say that I made the right decision.

(And in terms of my earlier entry about stakes, this film doesn't really have much but if you're really tuning in to see who wins the fights or who gets the girl, well, you're just in the wrong mindset to enjoy the film. It's nothing more than a light comedy.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 01:58 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

One of the most common complaints about Inception (and don't worry, there will be no spoilers for that movie here) is that the stakes weren't big enough and that people never really felt any real sense of threat. I agreed with that but a film that made a fairly unmistakable mistake when it comes to stakes is Richard Kelly's "The Box". (And yes, there will be spoilers for The Box but honestly reading this will save your from spoiling two hours by actually watching the movie.)

If there was a charlatan filmmaker out there right now, Kelly would get my vote. His film usually seem to be about something greater and often are intended to be about something bigger but, in the end, they're all kind of nonsense. If you loved "Donnie Darko" then don't listen to the director's commentary on the DVD because you start to realize that there's really no logical master plan behind it. "Southland Tales" is interesting on its face but is pretty shallow at its core. And so it goes with "The Box" a film that has some intriguing parts but halfway through you start to realize that it's not going anywhere.

The biggest miscue that the film made was that midway through the film, you learned that the box that the couple received was part of a bigger plan by some mysterious higher power ("the ones who controlled the lightning") and if enough human beings pushed the button, mankind would be wiped off the face of the earth. Pretty heavy stuff. After that, the film went back to the story of James Marsden and Cameron Diaz, the random couple we'd been following. A couple who had already decided whether or not they would push the button. A couple who from here on out really had no more part to play in the fate of the world as we know it. But that was it. That was who we then followed for the rest of the movie.

To me, this seems like a fairly rookie mistake for any screenwriter. You simply can't introduce stakes that are FAR bigger than that of your main characters and then ignore it and just go back to the more personal stakes of said characters. You can't have the fate of the known world be a random factoid that you never really go back to in favor of the fate of some random couple. It's hard to care about whether Marsden or Diaz's characters save themselves when they might just be wiped off the planet anyway.

Kelly does a great job building tension for most of the movie but once the answers start coming, the film starts going wrong. I'd really like to see him work on a script by somebody else because I feel like he's a strong director but his writing kind of lets him down. He's like a poor man's M. Night Shymalan in that way.

Anyway, if you are interested in "The Box", you might as well just watch the old "Twilight Zone" episode that was based on the same short story as this film was. (And as you can probably guess, Kelly made up the last 3/4's of the film since it had nothing to do with the actual short story itself. It was like a half hour high quality remake of the Twilight Zone episode and then a ninety minute a fan fiction sequel to it. Without further ado, here's the first part of "Button, Button." (And if you don't want to deal with the character stuff in the beginning, the plot gets going at the 4:30 mark.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Check out a couple of videos for my friend's fantasy football site draftdude.com. Also, after watching the videos you should head over to draftdude and sign up!

And here's an example of improv running amok.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

Here's a project that a friendly acquaintance of mine is trying to put together. Take a look and see if you want to kick a few bucks his way. Click on the pic below to head over to Kickstarter.com and watch a little pitch reel that Doug has put together for the project.

Posted by SoulHonky at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Everyone should watch, and then tell their friends to watch, this new video from Monster Paws directed by the up-and-coming Josh Klein. Seriously, spread the news.

And yes, that is Issac Kaapy aka the best part of Terminator: Salvation. (Well, besides the Termintorbikes. Those things were sweet.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

I haven't checked this out yet but I thought I'd post it up - it's the pilot for the new Showtime series "The Big C".

Posted by SoulHonky at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments ()

There have been some pretty great catches lately but the Matrix moves on this ball girl are tough to beat. (Thanks to JDubb's for bringing my attention to this.)

Posted by SoulHonky at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

I'll admit it; I'm kind of looking forward to this one. (I found the trailer originally at slashfilm.com.) I'm also interested to see how much stuff they shot at the office I used to work at. The last clip in the trailer is in said building. I got done right before they started filming. Last I heard, they were flinging feces into the my boss's old office.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

The above poll was featured on FoxNews.com and it really shows how hypocritical so many people on the Right can be when it comes to loving America and standing up for the beliefs of our forefathers. To say, "I don't care what the judge thinks about the Constitution" is one of the most ridiculous options out there (but one that 43% of the people voted for.) The Constitution is pretty much ALL the judge here was supposed to consider. It's kills me that Right Wingers so often decry activist judges but then turn around and want a judge to ignore the law of the land when it comes to gay marriage.

As for the third option, "I'm not sure but shouldn't the voters views count for something?", this is also kind of silly because the whole reason that we have three branches of government is to protect the rights of minorities who might be overlooked or taken advantage of by the majority should popular vote be all that matters. If it wasn't for the judicial system, many of the important steps this culture has taken, particularly in race and gender equality, might never have happened.

But this isn't the only attack on the Constitution. Republicans are also trying to repeal the 14th Amendment. Now, I actually agree with their stance on the rights of illegal aliens and their offspring but I'm not sure why the amendment has to be wiped out. The men who crafted the 14th amendment never had to deal with illegal immigrants because there were no immigration laws in the 1860's. I would think that there would just need to be a new amendment regarding illegal immigrants or the argument would have to the children of illegals don't get birthrights because that would be profiting from a crime. Granted, that would be a harder argument to make since the children would be paying for the sins of their parents but I do see the Right's side of this argument.

And it's not like the Left is innocent in all of this. Last night, Paul Begala compared deporting illegal aliens in America to The Trail of Tears, which is wrong on pretty much every level and almost an insult to Native Americans. I'm also stunned at how many people just ignore the fact that illegal immigrants are here, you know, illegally. Apparently, nobody wants to go on the record and just admit that we need illegal immigrants for cheaper goods and to do the menial labor that most Americans don't want to do and that most companies don't want to pay minimum wage for.
And I still say that we need to stop fighting over the word "marriage" and take it out of the law books - take the current laws but call it a "civil union". Let all adult couples have the same rights and let the Church, synagogue, mosque, etc. define marriage for their followers but apparently there aren't many people backing me on that one.

Oh, and if you're wondering why I have Fox News' ticker on the top of my page, it's because it's the only embeddable ticker that I know of. If other sites would make them, I'd put them up but Fox seems to be ahead of the game on this one.

Posted by SoulHonky at 07:08 PM | Permalink | Comments ()

Resolutions are like the spam in the inbox of life. I'm not quite sure what I mean by that but it seems right. Anyway, I've pretty much failed to live up to any of the promises that I made myself this past year so what better time to start than yesterday?

I'm paring down the resolutions for the final stretch run of the 2010 calendar. I need to finish the TV pilot I've been not working on, work out regularly, and either quit drinking or learn to not drink in excess and then spend Sunday laying around watching whatever movies are available on the movie channels.

There are other ideas that I'd love to pin down as resolutions but I'll just stick with those three and chalk the rest up to things I'd like to pursue. One of the ideas is to write a song a month but that's something I've never really followed up on, mainly because I have no actual musical talent. Not that that stopped me from writing and "performing" one song, a derivative blues track.

So here it is, the thoroughly embarrassing first single from The Creepy Uncles. Right now the title is "Your Name" but I might change that. So enjoy it if you can.

Posted by SoulHonky at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments ()