I'm always upset that every time Steve Carell is promoting a movie, he goes on The Daily Show and not Colbert.Even Stephen was arguably The Daily Show's best running gag, and its been six years since Carell left, and I've been waiting. If anyone watched The Report last night, you would have seen the first new Even Steven in what I gather has been seven years.
Anyway, today I watched all the old segments on the Comedy Central site. I was originally going to put up some of the best, but they were all amazing. Here's every Even Stephen I could find:
So, a couple of days ago, I was watching the trailer for Predators, and something occurred to me. I'm not sure if it's been in a comic or a novel or somewhere, but I wonder what the Predator home world is like. Think about it.
Do they call themselves "Predators?" I mean they're not like lions or t-rexes or something. They hunt for sport. Which would make it a hobby. Does the entire species share the hobby? They have interplanetary ships and high-tech weaponry, which would signify that they have some kind of intelligence or science.
So, what's their planet like? What else do Predators do when they're not hunting? Are there Predator doctors trying to cure Space AIDS? Are there Predator politicians trying to pass health-care bills? Are there hippie Predators that think hunting is wrong?
These are the things that I want to know. I probably wouldn't watch that movie, but then again, I probably won't watch this one either.
Growing up as a child in the 80's was a pretty unique experience. The decadence and excess that appeared in nearly every aspect of the culture seemed normal. The horror movies of yesteryear evolved into blood-drenched slasher flicks. At the height of special effects and animatronic technology, the films went from being about fear suspense to the spectacle of on-screen death. Sequels after sequels got churned out of any movie that could become a franchise. A new generation of monster kids were born, worshiping characters that generally referred to by their ordinary first names. And no one was cooler than Freddy Krueger.
If you're like me, and still have an affinity for these movies, I can't recommend this documentary enough. It came out a couple of months ago (in conjunction with the remake). It's a comprehensive four-hour retrospect of the original eight movies, the television series, and New Line Cinema. It's got interviews with just about every actor, director, writer, and producer that isn't too famous to be in a Freddy Krueger documentary.
It's really interesting. Some of it I knew. Some of it I didn't. But I watched it all in one sitting (apart from pauses for drinks, bathroom, phone calls, etc). There's a really cool stop-motion intro with scenes form the first movie. I got it from Netflix, so I can't comment on the bonus disc.
Watching the documentary also made me realize that I probably haven't watched many of these movies since they were first pressed on DVD eleven years ago. There's a lot of stuff that I forgot from these movies that I used to spend many a late night (and sometimes sit through an afternoon; remember when television wasn't so conservative?) watching. I once even watched them all at once (consecutively, not simultaneously). I don't know if I'd recommend that, but I'm proud to say I've done it.
Anyway, I'm going to go back and watch them all to see if they still hold up. I'll get some reviews up in the next few weeks. Since my box set predates Freddy Vs Jason, I have to rent it, so we'll have to see how motivated I am to do that. I didn't see the remake (something else I wanted to but couldn't motivate myself to do; I really hate Platinum Dunes, and can't bare even the aesthetics), but maybe I'll get up a review when that's on DVD. Anyway, here's how I remeber the films. We'll see how my newer reviews compare:
Nightmare on Elm Street: Genuinely scary, well made movie.
Freddy's Revenge: Some cool sequences, but an overall failure.
Dream Warriors: Really cool and fun. A little goofy. Very close 2nd after the original.
Dream Master: Like 3, but less story and more death.
Dream Child: Not bad, but boring. I think there was a body count of 3. Unacceptable.
Freddy's Dead: Really weird and silly, but still really enjoyable. Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper.
New Nightmare: I give credit for trying something new, but it didn't work. Some really cool and creepy moments.
Freddy Vs Jason: To be fair, it's the only one I first saw as an adult, but just terrible.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 and The Passage are two things that were recently released with unbelievable unanimous positive praise. I picked up both about a month ago, but have unfortunately been way too busy to really put a dent in either of them. However, I figured I'd post early reviews while it would still be relevant, mostly because I feel very early on that both items live up to the hype.
I'm on the third world in Galaxy 2, and I can say that it is already much better than it's predecessor (which I loved and thought had the most imaginative use of 3-D in any video game I've played). The game play is a bit smoother. The power-ups are cooler. It's more challenging. The objectives are clearer. All in all, its a lot like the original, but with improvements where you didn't realize that they were necessary.
I'm only a little over 100 pages into Justin Cronin's The Passage, and early on, I'm really liking this book. I was sucked in right from the first chapter. The characters are great, and the story (which is still being set-up at this point) is really interesting.
Really, both are way better than my progress suggests. I might get up actual reviews when I'm done. As of right now, I give strong approval.
I mentioned Joe the Barbarian a few months ago when it first started. We've just passed the halfway point with issue 5, and while I don't want to talk too much about the story, I will say that this comic is still amazing.Morrison and Murphy work terrifically together. The story is mostly told through beautiful artwork. You really should be reading this.
Everyone's talking about this, so I figured I mention it: Last week, The Melvins, for the first time in their 26 year career, have placed on the Billboard Top 200. Take that, record industry.
