Meet John Doe - at NAMT

The Meet John Doe website got a face-lift for the upcoming NAMT presentation, and with it new banners:

[/media] # (posted at 10:26)

The Oscars are Bollocks (Occasionally The Dog's)

What's up with the 30s limit on Charlie Kaufmann? Watching the Oscars last night, I was struck by how very hurried and boring the 'thank you' speeches are... and then Charlie Kaufmann gave it away: they've got a big-ass 30s time limit clock ticking away in front of their eyes.

Of course, the pointless intro/outro music between copious ad breaks, the facile and irrelevant montages that accompany them, and the 5s "You are watching..." spots in the middle of each ad break are far more important than hearing what the winners of Academy awards have to say. Bollocks. If the AMPAS keeps churning out an award show where the recipients merely feel obligated to spool off a list of agents, lawyers, managers, directors and producers, they're going to go down in flames fast. Lose the redundant filler nonsense, tell the President of the Society to shut up, and give the winners time to speak. Compare and contrast the excerpts shown from the Technical awards, where the recipients have time to say something vaguely meaningful, and learn, damn you! Shuttling the awards around the Kodak theatre only highlighted the large number of empty seats.

It would help if they got rid of the fucking useless Best Song nominees, too. I really don't need to see Beyoncé yodel another bloody awful pile of saccharine tripe from Andrew Lloyd Webber ever again - especially if he's playing the (unmiked and inaudible) piano with her. Delightful as it is that a Spanish language song was nominated, do we really need Antonio Banderas to sing it so badly the winning composer had to sing it again, properly? No. The Oscars are movie awards. Show us the short films instead, or shut the fuck up.

Finally, who are ABC kidding with their audience demographic? Either car manufacturers' ad agencies are dumb as a bag of rocks, or someone at ABC has pulled a fast one, and persuaded them that the Chris Rock was wrong about who watches the Oscars: industry people and other gay men. Some women, too. Not many of whom are interested in having cars advertised at them again, and again, and again, and again. At least Pepsi put a gay ad on, showing they're vaguely clued up. The rest of them are cretins.

[/media] # (posted at 09:05)

Air America

Grand Central has been media-bombed with excellent ads for the new Air America Radio station, which is also being googlebombed. Since it's aim is to bring an alternative voice to US talk radio - one not gagged by Clearchannel nor sponsored by Halliburton, this is my contribution.

[/media] # (posted at 09:49)

28 Days Later

Danny Boyle's latest is a new take on the zombie genrae that has not a few gut-wrenching moments of horror and some damn good scares. It's creepy as hell to see London abandoned, and the film's style lends itself well to the discordant narrative. It's good to see a lightly scored movie that holds an audience rapt

by its content, rather than completely swept up by emotionally manipulative underscoring.

Of course, the zombies aren't zombies, and the movie's not about the living dead at all. It's not particularly subtle, but since the message isn't writ large enough for most audiences, they're missing the focus on the transformations that Selina and Jim go through - the privations and actions that desperation drive them to. The ending's a bit cute... (minor spoiler) but they're not necessarily picked up... the pilot has other options.

Mad props to Alex Palmer, GSMD alumnus and 'Activist'

[/media/films] # (posted at 10:21)

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Well, I must confess I was concerned. It's fat. A big fat book. It looks like there's a possibility that it's... er... under-edited. It's not. HP5 is a cracking, cracking read, and I'm itching to finish it. I managed to put it down at 03:30EST today, and not read through the night until I was done. Which was probably a good thing, since I'm alive to tell the tale... but it's sitting on the other side of my cube from me, calling to me. I hear its insidious whispers in my over-stressed mind now, seducing me to blow off the really, really, important, honest work I'm doing today. Perhaps I should go the the gym instead.

[/media/books] # (posted at 09:45)

Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle

More silly summer fun from Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz as the Angels, with Demi Moore as a retired Angel. Cameos from all over (Bruce Willis, Farrah Fawcett, Matt LeBlanc, John Cleese - well, the last two aren't so much cameos, but you get the picture). I can't remember what actually happened... but it was fun. Good popcorn movie.

[/media/films] # (posted at 15:53)

The Hulk

An awesome adaptation of The Hulk for the big screen, showing what a master craftsman Ang Lee truly is. He's told the Hulk story with a real focus on Bruce Banner's terrible plight, with a stylish comic-book idiom that comes across as truly novel on celluloid. If you've ever wanted to let your temper rip... see The Hulk for how it's really done. I know I really would like to be that angry now and then :)

Lots of people have been moaning about the CGI - the trailer sucked, but they hadn't finished the rendering and had sped up some of the motion, which was deeply lame. The Hulk in the movie itself is a far, far better rendered guy. The scene with the tanks was almost scary, he's so mad.

Look for the cameo from Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno - very cute.

[/media/films] # (posted at 15:51)