This season's "The Real World" is going to be shot here in Austin this spring.
I remeber watching the very first season of this show back when I was much (much) younger. What I liked about that first season was that these people were really just living together.
Nobody (overtly at least) was trying to use the show as a stepping stone to become quasi-celebrities. All of them were very different (even thought the base stereotypes were still represented) and would genuinely argue. Not TV fight, but argue.
Now the show seems to have become a parody of itself. I hope I never run into any of these bozos.
Here's the story from our local news:
Local K-EYE News
The MTV series that ushered in reality television will land in Austin next month -- for the 16th edition of "The Real World". The 24 episodes will air starting in June. The show brings together seven strangers between the ages of 18
and 24 to live in a swank loft or house and films them around the clock, at home and on the town. Past locations include Los Angeles, Chicago and Paris. Mayor Will Wynn says Austin is the smallest city to host a "Real World" cast.
The site in Austin wasn't disclosed. "The Real World" has been a hit since its 1992 debut season, which was set in New York City. It's M-T-V's longest-running series. Murray would not say where the house is either, but did say,
"They will have very cool digs."
I got the call today from my cousin in Kansas. Five years in and it's time for the divorce.
The honest truth is that I have become bitter about the whole thing. Having been divorced myself for over two years now. I can't help thinking about the horrible things that men and women do to each other...
Her husband was deployed overseas (Iraq) for over a year while she stayed home and worked on her degree with two kids to take care of. He's back for less than six months now and is asking for the seperation.
It's not my place to go into the details, but needless to say he is a scumbag.
She's moving back to Texas this week, arriving back at home the day before Christmas. I offered to take a bus up there and drive her back down on Thursday, but she has good friends to help her get back into town. It's a shame for her to have to go through all this during the holidays.
I was supposed to go and see my dad this week, but I may skip that (as I just saw him thanksgiving) and go see her instead.
I told her today on the phone that she's better off without the guy. Told her that she'll have no problem moving on with her life and taking care of her two kids.
I only hope I didn't lie to her.
The conclusion to my BNAT experiance.
Movie Seven: The Mutations (1973)
IMDB Description: Scientist experiments with crossing humans and plants, for which he uses his students.
Someone from the movie was there (I missed his name being announced) and told several funny anecdotes about the movie before it showed. The funny thing about this was that I have seen it before. This marked only the second time I had ever seen a movie that played at a BNAT event before. The last time had been the NC-17 cut of Robocop that played in year two.
I stuck around for the opening ten minutes of this show before making my way outside to chat with the smokers out front. It was (I believe) just after 2am and the streets downtown were beginning to clear out.
My Notes: Eh. Seen it before.
Movie Eight: Toys Are Not for Children (1972)
Tim League is a fucked up individual. I mean the man has issues. Last year Harry showed us a movie called Teenage Mother that featured a disgustingly vivid (and real I might add) childbirth as the finally. Before this movie Tim informed us that this was his movie to answer for last years creep out movie of the event.
I was worried to say the least.
IMDB Description: Jamie is a mentally stunted adult obsessed with the father whom her mom kicked out when she was a young girl.
Any movie about a young girl not sleeping about her husband, but calling out to her daddy while masturbating is just plain sick. And the audience seemed to be disgusted and amused at the same time. After every chorus of moans at an inappropriate moment there would be a follow up of laughter. I don't want to say that I enjoyed the movie, not sure what that would say about me, but I will say that the experience was...unique.
And I remember talking to friends after the film, "Oh the movie does have a strong moral." I explained. "Never have sex with a john without first confirming two forms of photo ID."
Moriarty introduced the next film to us again. He thanked Tim for the last film. Noting that he had the pleasure of watching it with his parents next to him for the whole thing.
Poor guy.
He explained that the first movie he had shown us was for his mother. This next movie was most defiantly for his father.
Movie Nine: Layercake
The producer of Snatch directed this movie. A British gangster film in the same vain, but without the comedic elements.
IMDB Description: A successful cocaine dealer planning an early retirement is lured back into business by a love interest and an international drug ring.
This was by far my favorite movie of the event. It was a tight and well-told gangster picture that had just the right amount of humor mixed with violence. It was also cool when Colm Meany (from TV’s Deep Space Nine) appeared on screen to a burst of applause.
After the film one of the supporting actors was there and did a brief interview with Moriarty. It was very fun.
My Notes: (Quote from the movie)
"Do you know where I live?"
"No."
"Well fuck off then."
The movie ends and breakfast is served. This was the first time all night I drink water, and not get a refill from the bottomless cup of cola I ordered at the beginning of the night. That combined witht the food really wake me up. I also take some time to brush my teeth and wash my face. I feel reinvented and ready for the home stretch of the final two films of the evening.
Before the next film begins we see a clip from 2001 Maniacs by Eli Roth. A girl is ripped apart by horses in a barn by a crazy southerner. Fun gore movie is coming soon.
We also see the first 5 minutes of a movie called Casshern (spelling?) and I am under impressed.
Movie Ten: Ong Bak (2003)
IMDB Description: Booting lives in a small and peaceful village. One day a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong Bak is stolen...
I have a copy of this movie on top of my entertainment center at home. It's a copy a buddy of mine made for me about 7 or 8 months ago when it first became available on DVD overseas. It stars Phanom Yeerum, and is the best martial arts movie made since the death of Bruce Lee. I think this guy may be better than Lee actually. The copy I have is un-dubbed and un-subtitled. So the great part for me was that I was finally able to see what everyone was saying. Not that the story is all that important. What really matters is seeing the hero kick ass.
This movie tore down the house. The audience went nuts, and I was thrilled that everyone embraced this movie as much as I had.
My Notes: Have seen. Prepare to have your ass handed to you.
Movie Eleven: Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Harry came to the stage for the last time to give us our final movie of the night. He seemed just as cheerful and awake as he had been 24 hours earlier.
He reminded us that the biggest movie star in the world is not Brad Pitt, Will Smith, George Clooney, or any of those Hollywood guys, but a man named Stephen Chow. Last year’s Shaolin Soccer was not huge in the US, but made a big splash in the rest of the world.
IMDB Description: In Canton, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious "Axe Gang" while an obnoxious landlady and her apparently frail husband exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
What the description above neglects to tell you is how amazing this movie is. Starts off strong and doesn’t stop till the credits roll. High action. Incredibly funny. Wonderfully shot and directed. One of the best movies I’ve seen all year.
I couldn’t have picked a better movie to end on if I had tried.
My Notes: Fuck this is good.
So after the movie ended and some goodbyes were said I stumbled out into the afternoon sun. I was a bit punchy, a bit exhausted, a bit dazed, and all I could think about was how much I was looking forward to doing it all again next year.
So I thank Harry Knowles for the invite. I thank Tim and Carrie League for the house to have the party in. And I thank the gods I was able to spend those 24 hours with the best audience in the world.
(For the record I ended up falling asleep after being awake for just over 30 hours. I then slept for just over 17 hours. What a weekend.)
Continued from part one.
Movie Four: Blonde Venus (1932)
IMDB Description: What could she do but flee from love? She loved two men at once!
My Notes: Gorilla Slave Dancers. Can't Sing, Not That Pretty.
When this movie was introduced it was explained that this was widely considered the best movie ever made. Until Citizen Kane came out a few years later. I guess I can see why. Blonde Venus was a pretty sophisticated film for the time it was made in. A woman who goes back to work for her ailing husband and falls for a rich patron of the club who's played by a young and charismatic Carey Grant.
The movie's biggest problem (in my opinion) is its star. Greta Garbo is not what I had always heard about her. She is pretty, but not as pretty as others of her era are. And whoever thought that she was a good singer I can imagine buying Ashley Simpson albums today. Her opening number has her coming out dressed as a gorilla and escorted by black women in tribal wardrobe. Very racist to say the least.
So how did she become a star? After the film I overheard someone saying that she slept her way to the top. Not sure if that's true, but it sure seems right to me.
I went outside for about twenty minutes during the middle of the film to get some fresh air and spent some time talking to Blood Feast 2 Director Herschell Lewis about actor Ryan Reynolds. They had just worked on a movie together and he told me some really funny stuff about him.
Movie Five: Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
Harry introduced this as a Rita Hayworth 3D movie. "What more," I thought to myself, "could a man want in a movie."
IMDB Description: At a lonely military outpost on American Samoa, sticky heat alternates with torrential rain. A ship quarantine strands here Sadie Thompson, a "breezy dame" who sets the Marines afire... and self-righteous Mr. Davidson, powerful head of the Mission Board, who suspects Sadie is a fugitive from the notorious Emerald Club of Honolulu. Meanwhile, Sadie is courted by crude but good-hearted Marine Sgt. Phil O'Hara.
My Notes: Young Charles Brosnan. Morale Arguments. Prostitutes. 3D Rape Is Weird.
It was weird seeing Brosnan as a nameless marine in this movie, with just a handful of lines. He looked so very young. The 3D effects were very cool, and in Technicolor it was oh so vibrant, but useless. This movie seems to have been made in a time when everything was 3D because it was the "hot" thing to do in movies. There is not one instance in the entire movie that calls for 3D. But it was a fun thing to have none the less.
The movie subject matter seemed a little heavy for a Hayworth film. And accusations of prostitution, morale outrage, and the eventual rape by the bible thumping figure of the film were very odd intermixed with music numbers.
In-between Movies: Tim League (owner of the Drafthouse) announced at the end of the movie that during the remainder of the breaks massages would be available for us. There were several chuckles as Eli Roth (Director of Cabin Fever) went tearing out into the lobby for one.
We were shown a trailer of War of the Worlds before the next movie with a bonus intro to the trailer from Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg via a prerecorded tape. Very cool.
Movie Six: Phantom of the Opera (2004)
IMDB Description: A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protege whom he trains and loves.
Harry introduced this movie as the next premiere. About a third of the audience openly booed the movie as soon as the words were out of Harry's mouth. To his credit Harry defended the choice of the film. Saying that this is just the type of movie that Joel Schumacher should be making. I can say that I agreed with this statement.
I am not a fan of musicals. The last few years have begun to change that though. Chicago was an amazing movie. Mulon Rouge is one of my favorite movies of the last ten years. And the South Park movie was a subversive masterpiece and wonderful musical. It seems that the bar had been raised for any other musical being made these days. I decided to go into the movie with an open mind.
A friend after the film summed it up best with two words. Train Wreck. The music was bad; using 80's rock synthesizers and electric guitar mixed with organ music. The singing was over produced and seemed to be dubbed by other singers (whether this is true or not I do not know). The sets were all fetish and no substance, with candelabras coming out of the water fully lit. I really feel like my notes said it all.
My Notes: Ouch.
To Be Continued …
From Slashdot.
Posted by timothy on Monday December 13, @10:59PM
Grub writes "EA has signed a 5-year agreement with the NFL that gives them exclusive rights to use NFL players, teams, and stadiums in their products. CEO Larry Probst, 'The five-year agreement will usher NFL fans through the console technology transition with new ideas and innovative game play experiences.' This is a crushing blow to competitors and an enormous victory for EA, who will undoubtably make sure everyone knows that only they have NFL players and teams come next year's football game advertising bonanza."
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/14/0121244&from=rss
Wow. I just played ESPN's football game a couple weeks ago and have to say that I thought it was pretty cool. The helmet cam feature was a fun way to play the game.
This will kill just about any other football game on the market. How the hell can anyone compete without NFL teams. I would hate to be a football game programer for any other company right now.
This one is a bit long, so I'll be breaking it into at least two parts. Here is part one.
THE MORNING:
I woke up at 7am the morning of the event, my cat nustling his head into my face for attention. I pet him for a minute or so untill he wanders off to lick himself or plan world conquest. I manage to fall back asleep.
The blinds in my room are not completely drawn closed and the sun finds a position in the sky that sends light onto my face at about 8am. I roll around for a moment or two and decide to get up and take a shower before the rest of the house is awake and stealing all the hot water.
I'm dressed and ready to go by 8:45am. For the record that makes it about an hour before I am supposed to be ready. I'm like a child on Christmas morning. I've decided against the hoodie and to wear a brown faux-suide button up I have bought this week. Better to clean my glasses with. Nicer looking.
As the house begins to stir I run out of things to do. The e-mail is checked, the cats are fed, and my bag is packed with all the hygene products I can think of. The Tivo reminds me there is tv to watch. I play the new episode of The O.C. as everyone showers and gets ready for the show. Season 2 is not as good as season one so far
I will say this about my roomates Ford Tauras. I had no idea that a car like that could go 95 miles an hour. To be honest I don't think I really wanted to know that it could. And it's not that I think he's a bad driver. I just hate the idea of getting killed cause somebody has a blind spot. That and I am a bit (oh really Rod) of a control freak and was not the one behind the wheel.
GETTING IN:
The line has already formed when we arrive at The Alamo Drafthouse, and Michael has saved us a place. I see a lot of the smae faces from years past. Lyrae (who I only see at this event) spots me and we hug. That's the part I love most about BNAT. I can see somebody once a year and feel instantly close to them. A sort of ragtag family of geeks who pick up right where we left off from the last year.
All my friends arive and we spend the time chatting with others in the line and trying to guess what it is we may see tonight.
Are bags are checked as we enter. No cameras or camera phones. To my horror I also learn that they won't allow us to take in laptops either. The guy at Mondo T-Shirts is very cool, and locks the laptop up for me in his office for safekeeping.
We are given a big bag of goodies by Harry as we reach the theater lobby. Harry spots me and says, "I loved your pictures this year." It was cool that he recognized me. And the photo concept was mine (with help from my rommie Jen and pictures from Ms. Corn) so I am happy about that as well. We are also wanded down for metal (hidden cameras I assume) as we reach the theater entrance.
Now the first thing you do upon entering BNAT is check out you goodie bag. The bags are always filled with shwag from various movie studios, and generally from movies that are already out, or are old by December. There were a ton of t-shirts and a cool Lord of the Rings: Return o0f the King Weapoms guide. My favorite shwag was Napolian Dynomite Chap Stick. On the tub it quotes the movie, "My Lips Hurt Real Bad." Very funny marketing idea.
There is some mingling as the crowd files in and everyone waits for the show to begin. This is always my favorite part of the show. Before it begins. I talk to everyone I can, asking where they flew in from and if it's thier frist time to Austin. This year a woman in the row behind us flew in from the Phillipiens. Later when Harry starts the show we learn that she is the person who flew in the farthest for the event.
Harry makes his way to the front and the show begins. He starts by telling us that this year will not be as dark as the previous years. That the LOTR years were on the whole a little darker than the first two. Also that this will not be the big star studded fest that the last year was. More quirky, small, Harry-like movies this time around. I am thrilled.
THE MOVIES:
Since I had no laptop to write on, I made little notes in a notepad in the dark as the movie played. I will be sure to let you know what the note was for each movie.
Now I will say now that I was hoping for at least one of two movies this year. I was praying for Sin City. THis is a RObert Rodriguez film at was shot right here in Austin, and Robert and Harry are good friends. The other movie I wanted was Serenity, the spin of movie from the Firefly tv show by Joss Whedon. Read on to see if I got either or both of them.
Movie One - Willie McBean & The Magic Machine. (1965)
IMDB Description: Little Willy McBean joins up with a Mexican monkey named Pablo to travel back in time and stop the evil Prof. von Rotten from changing history.
Harry says this was the first stop motion movie made (for theater release?) and that it has a "racist monkey" in the movie.
At first I thought that this meant a monkey that was a racist. What it really meant was that the monkey wears a sombrero and talks with a rediculous accent.
My notes say: Professor Von Rotten is a gloriously bad name and I love it. ...is a silly place. Camalots Gay Dragon...
So there is a scene in the movie when our hero goes back to stop Von Rotten from pulling the sword from the stone and becoming the King of England. We will ignore that this is fictional history and not real history. The introduction to the castle is a song with the knights dancing around on the round table and kicking thier legs about, and I could not help but think of Monty Python & The Holy Grail. "On second thought, it is a silly place." But better than that is the dragon who comes to the castle. He is so very gay. He talks like that pink Hanna Barberra tiger, and is very funny.
I thought that Wille McBean was a great first movie, and really got everyone itno a good mood for the night to come.
Movie Two: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
IMDB Description: Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a Fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.
Moriarty introduces this movie, and has two guests for before the film. He brings to the stage Liam Aiken and Emily Browning. They play the two children who are orphaned in the movie. They were pretty dull to interview as I recall. Basicly saying that one had read the books before the movie and one had not, and that Jim Carrey was funny and fun to work with. Blah.
I am awre of this being based on children's books, but have not ever read them. I can also say that I had no plans on seeing the movie when it came out. I liked the movie though. It was dark for a children's film, but had some pretty good laughs in it.
Jim Carrey is doing his best Peter Sellers here, playing many different disguised roles as the films villian. I liked them all. It was also cool that when a character played by Billy Connelly is introduced there was applause. As a fan of his stand up comedy I was pleased by the responce.
My notes: Baby subtitles. Dustin Hoffman.
The baby doesn't speak in the film but is subtitled ala the Look Who's Talking movies. At each subtitle there is a laugh.
And for no reason Dustin Hoffman is in the film as an audiance member at a scene at the end of the movie. He has maybe two lines, and then is never seen again. Weird.
Between Movies: We were shown a sneak peak of the Dreamworks CGI film Madagascar. A movie about a lion (Ben Stiller), a zebra (Chris Rock), a giraffe (David Schwimmer), and a hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) who are stranded on a desert island during a Zoo transfer gone wrong. The opening scene where they are stuck in crates on the ship is very funny. Good interplay between the actors (seemingly) and some funny visuals. The rest seed kinda dull.
Movie Three: The Black Swan (1942)
IMDB Description: Seas Ablaze...with black villainy, with fiery romance, with breathless deeds of daring...in the roaring era of Love, Gold and Adventure!
This movie was pretty cool. It has Maureen O'Hara and Tyronne Power as the leads, and I loved it. Very old school pirate action shot in beautiful Technicolor. O'Hara is a favorite of mine from all of here work with John Wayne (and is brilliant in The Quiet Man).
My Notes: Love, Gold & Adventure. Pillow Sniffer. "Can't go wrong drowning polatitions Captian Morgan." - Jamie Boy (Powers)
The above quote got both applause and laughter. It also sums up the attitude of the entire film for me.
There's a great moment when Power takes over O'Hara's room at and a servent brings him the pillow she sleeps on. At this point he has become infatuated with her and he takes the pillow and sniffes it. That got a laugh, and was really quite creepy for an old movie.
Oh, and from that point on if there was a lul inbetween movies or a pause between reel changes you could count on hearing a piraty AARRGGH from someone in the audiance.
Another fun movie.
Between Movies: HGTTG!
Harry introduced us to Executive Producer Robbie Stamp. For those who don't know what the above means...you are an uncultured fool. Seriously.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is a book (radio show, television show, video game, and media empire) known round the world as one of Englands funniest things ever done. It is by Douglas Adams who is a genius by any measure.
The crowd went nuts at the introduction.
My Notes: Concept Art. Vogons! The crowd goes wild. Deep Thought. Brain the size of a planet. Sence a love for the film.
Stamp then showed us some production slides and the very first look at the Vogons. They looked exactly how I wanted them to. I am so happy about it I want to squeel. Stamp really got it. He knew how good Hitchhikers is, and he knew how much we love it. He really seemed like the right person to take care of Adams movie after his death. I was nervous about the movie before. Now I cannot wait to see it.
Vogon man...Vogons.
To Be Continued ...
Went to BNAT 6. Woke up at 8am Saturday, and just walked in the door at 1:20pm Sunday. That's 29 Hours and counting.
We were not allowed laptops into the theater, so I was unable to update the blog. Needless to say it was fun and I am drained in all possible ways. I will update more after I have had some sleep.
I will leave you with only this thought.
It's about 25 hours after the fact, and I still don't know how to process a Rita Hayworth 3D Rape Movie. And that is not the weird movie...
Hello, my name is Rod, and I am addicted to movies.
So as I posted on Tuesday, I will be going to a 24 hour movie marathon this Saturday.
Last Wedensday I went and saw Blade Trinity at the Lakecreek Drafthouse.
Last night I bought and watched The Bourne Supremecy.
Tonight I went and saw Ocean's 12 and as I type this I am watching Airplane.
I think I may have a problem here.
I'll let you know tomorrow at the Drafthouse.
John Lennon was killed exactly 24 years ago outside his New York apartment after being shot by Mark Chapman.
I was raised on the music of the 60's. My mom (a semi-reformed hippie) always had the house filled with The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and of course The Beatles. I knew I was a Beatles fan before I was able to understand who they really were.
Like most teens that liked The Fab Four, I was drawn to the (relative) edginess of Lennon. He seemed to speak his mind no matter what others thought. Here's a man who claimed to be bigger than Jesus. That is a rock star.
As I have grown older I have come to see Paul McCartney as the better songwriter. Paul may not have had the bite that was often felt in John's music, but nobody ever recorded a catchier hook. I can see that now, as the need for rebelliousness in my music fades with age.
But who knows what John Lennon could have done as a mature recording artist. We can only imagine what he could have written with the wisdom of age on his side.
What a sad reminder today is. I think i'll go put on Rubber Soul.
So this weekend is the once a year geekfest known round the world as The Butt-Numb-A-Thon.
For those who don't know: BNAT (as it has come to be known) is an annual movie marathon held at The Alamo Drafthouse Movie Theater each December right here in Austin, TX. This is the event's sixth year, and my fifth time attending.
The event serves two purposes.
Most importantly it raises money to help run the Kid's Film Club at the Drafthouse. Each Saturday afternoon the theater shows old-school kids films for free to anyone who brings a child. They show very cool things like Sinbad of the Seven Seas, 20,000 League's Under the Sea, and Clash of the Titans. This one event has always raised enough dough to keep the club going for the next year.
The second thing it does is celebrate Harry Knowles (Ain't it Cool's creator) birthday. Love him or hate him it is a given that he has become a force e to be reckoned with in the movie industry.
And the event is always a complete blast!
The first year Harry screened Pitch Black. This was before anyone had any idea what it was, and Vin Diesel showed up to say hello to all the attendees.
Last year we got to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with Peter Jackson, his wife, and the Writer in Attendance! We also saw an unfinished cut of Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson himself there!
Needless to say it was an incredible experience.
So there were only 240 tickets available this year. There were over nine thousand and seven hundred entries to get tickets, and by some great feat of luck my six cohorts and myself got tickets to the event. It’s this weekend, and I am giddy with anticipation.
If they allow us to take our laptops this year (no electronics last year) I will be blogging the event for the entire 24 hours. This should be really fun to read, as I tend to get very weird at about the 18-hour mark.
This is a great show. Here's why.
I have always been a fan of the "Stranded/Survival Genre" of entertainment. I grew up with Robinson Curruso as one of my favorite books. As a child I will admit to liking Gilligan's Island, and as an adult I will even admit to liking Cast Away. Except the ending kind of sucked. Just about the only thing in that genre I din't like was Survivor. But that has more to do with not liking reality TV as a whole than anything else.
So it was no suprise to anyone that I was quick to Tivo a show like Lost as soon as I could.
I thought that the two hour pilot episode was awesome. It was visually entertaining, and the story seemed solid, if not just a bit drawn out. The next few episodes did a good job of laying the characters out with some broad strokes.
I love the use of flashbacks. It's a good way to not have the entire show on the island. I also like the concept of spending one episode on one characters backstory.
About the only complaint that I could have said about the show has been resolved as of this weeks episode. I enjoy the mystery of the show. What will be sure to be reffered to as the mythology of the series.
What resides on the island? Is it truly different for each person who sees it.
Who are the others? And more importantly, is Ethan the only one who has snuck into the group?
These things will surely keep me coming back for more.