The Daily Show: SUPPORT THE TROOPS

Jon Stewart nailed it again:

Another Film Festival and Award Nomination for Killer At Large

Killer At Large has been nominated for an award at the International Filmmaker Festival in Kent, UK.

You can get more details here, but I can tell you this: Only 5 documentaries are playing at the festival, all the rest have won awards at a lot of other festivals and look great and ours is the only film in competition from the United States.

So, it looks like it'll be pretty cool.

We'll find out if any of us are heading out there in the coming week.

(Click on the nominations button on the festival website to check out the other nominees.)

Accomplices To War Crimes

President George Bush, a war criminal at large, partied with large groups of star-struck imbeciles in the state of Utah yesterday. It was a fund-raising visit for John McCain and the President's bloody hands were shaken excitedly by overwhelming supporters who forked over even bloodier mountains of cash.

You see, they love him here in Utah. His approval rating is over 25% higher here than the national average. And it makes sense. Most folks around these parts have a lot in common with George Bush.

Take Mitt Romney, for example, who partied with the president at his luxurious Park City mansion yesterday. Mitt Romney, when running for president, called himself the "CEO candidate". CEOs are usually stereotyped as money grubbing, selfish pricks who have no consideration for the little man. Either that stereotype is bogus, or maybe that's the reason Romney, Bush, and Republican Utahns are one big happy family.

Don Peay, a really fucking rich Utah Republican, said: "It was two hours unplugged with (a war criminal). It was awesome."

His intellectual ponderings continued: "There was very little about politics. It was more about what goes into making decisions on the war and terrorism."

We'll forget about the fact that war and terrorism are the hottest political topics right now and forgive Mr. Peay his gaff. But here's what we should do: Arrest Him.

If it is proven (which members of Congress now believe) that George Bush has broken multiple laws, deceived a nation and consequently committed uncountable war crimes, then all those who fund, support, aid, or abet him are equally guilty.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that "millions of dollars" were thrown at the war criminal during his few hours in Utah. About 100 donors paid $70,100 per couple to attend a private event with the war criminal. The president's limousine was then left in front of the home of accomplices Samuel and Diane Stewart, the hosts of the $500 per person reception, and a $10,000 per person private luncheon beforehand.

Back at Mitt Romney's corporate-bought palace, where "no politics" were being discussed, Romney and Bush decided to rip on Barack Obama's inexperience by saying "The White House is not a place for an internship." You see, Romney has a history of not being comfortable with black people in power. He is still a member of an organization that was officially racist until 1978. Try to guess which one.

Meanwhile, back at the Justice League of Apathetic Protestors, a barely full crowd of sign holders huddled in a park in downtown Salt Lake and listened to Rocky Anderson yell and scream about the terrible war crimes George Bush had committed. "Oh, it's so horrible the things George Bush has done. He's broken so many laws." The crowd applauded and cheered. And then they went home and probably watched a movie or smoked some pot.

I think they're all accomplices to this fiasco also. We all are. Everyday that goes by without the strong armed power of democracy rising up and setting things right is guilt by apathy. I mean, what about a citizen's arrest of George Bush? Has anyone tried? One guy in England, with Hulk sized balls, attempted a citizens arrest on John Bolton recently. How bout dem apples? Not that I, the rather pessimistic author of this diatribe, am some champion for a coup or a government takeover. Actually, I'm one of you. Trying to make a living and pay the bills and find some meaning and purpose in life. The bombs aren't dropping on me. And that George Bush stimulus check is going to pay my rent next month. I was going to attend the protest today, but I had to work. And it would have been a waste of time anyway. I've held too many protest signs in my life. And they all have the same outcome: nothing.

And that's a crime.

Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I've been waiting a long time to see this movie and at the end of the day, it delivered what I needed it to.

That's the short review.

The long review? There were a few problems in the script and with the movie that I wish would have been fixed before cameras started rolling, but overall, I really enjoyed the film.

The things I didn't enjoy? The fact that nothing seemed to be at stake in the film. The world wasn't going to explode if the Soviets won. In fact, Spalko did win and the only thing that blew up was Spalko.

I didn't like the way they used Marion Ravenwood. It seemed to me as though they took too much for granted that we all knew the relationship they had before and they just started her immediately as being kidnapped. But her being kidnapped in Raiders wouldn't have been 1/10th as brilliant if they hadn't started their on-screen relationship in what I would consider to be the single best scene in any Indiana Jones movie.

I thought Mac and Ox (Ray Winstone and John Hurt, respectively) were used sloppily from a screenwriting standpoint and served purposes for individual scenes and not the movie as a whole.

A lot of people had a beef with the Monkeys, but that didn't bug me.

Yeah. I think that's the list of things that bugged me the most. I think the film worked, generally, otherwise and delivered to me the danger, escapes, spills, chills and derring-do that I needed to excite me on an "Indiana Jones" level.

Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf were pitch perfect in their roles and offered me my favorite action sequence in the entire film (the motorcycle chase across the college campus.)

It was fun.

It was really fun. I wouldn't mind seeing more Indiana Jones movies, and I wouldn't mind seeing them about Henry Jones, III, either.

(check out all my other movie reviews here.)

Killer At Large on "Utah Matters"

Our Executive Producer, Dr. Shawn Talbott, sat down with Andy Waits at the KJZZ studio to talk about Killer At Large and the state of obesity in the country.

Included in the interview are never-before-seen-publicly clips of the film.

So, here it is, in three parts:

Killer at Large on the News

So, here's the video from KSL's piece about the film a couple of weeks ago.

In Memoriam

Sydney Pollack
1934-2008

HAN SOLO GRABS LEIA'S BOOB

I'm sure some of you Star Wars sycophants have already seen this, but it's new to me. And hilarious.

INDIANA JONES review

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
*** (three stars)

SPOILER ALERT: This movie was an amazingly joyous retreat from a cockroach filled film office. I put my 12-year-old kid glasses on and held on for the ride. It delivered everything I needed. The opening "American Graffiti" homage was nice yet starkly different from an Indy opening. The title sequence seemed rather requisite and it took a while for the "Oh shit, something's going down" plot to happen. The Atom Bomb, Area 51, and Indy running around a 50s town full of bomb test mannequins felt out of place, but strangely perfect. The warehouse sequence was good yet the script seemed to be chaotic and meandering. And this set up the rest of the film.

With my adult glasses on, Koepp's screenplay was lazy, unfocused and all over the place with no real building of gripping tension or the suspense of something at stake. It had a "Lost" and "Spiderman 3" problem also. Way too many main characters vying for screen time and one-liners. I really would have liked to see what Frank Darabont had come up with.

But anyways, to be truthfully positive, the film was exciting, funny, and nostalgic. And I loved it. Sure all the CGI in the end felt very un-Indy and VERY Phantom Menace. Sure, Tarzan Mutt was ridiculous. Sure, the re-incarnation of Lucas' Ewoks was head-slappingly dumb. And the CGI alien in the end? Didn't it look almost exactly like the aliens in "Close Encounters"? Hell, why didn't they just CG Richard Dreyfuss in there to retrieve the skull? Well, if I had to sum up the only problem with the movie it would be this: George Lucas. It reminded me of the Star Wars prequels. Often good, mostly OK, but always just missing greatness.

The Worst Week Ever

So... posting was supposed to get back to normal, but not 5 hours after I brought Anakin home from the hospital, I had to go the hospital.

They took out my gallbladder.

I don't know how long I'll be here, but I'll be laid up for a while. And if I miss Indiana Jones because of it, I'm going to murder someone.

Quoted in Newsweek

Indeed, yours truly was quoted in Newsweek along with Killer At Large last week.

Check it out here.

Quick Update

If all goes well, Anakin should be out of the hospital tomorrow and all should be back to normal on Tuesday.

Thanks to everybody for their well wishes.

Also, I agree with Steve's post below.

LDS Church Opposes Human Rights

America is coming out of the Dark Ages little by little. Women were eventually able to vote, and then we stopped hanging black people from trees and now we have both a woman and a black presidential candidate.

And now there's even more hope that America is reaching adulthood, gay marriage is now legal in California.

I'm sure you've all heard.

The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 overturning an unconstitutional law banning gay marriage.

Here in Utah, the local news immediately got statements from the LDS church about the decision. I find it ridiculous that an organization, supposedly based on journalism, would immediately think to get a reaction from an organization based on campfire stories. Seriously, whenever a big news story hits the nation, the local Utah news first goes "let's find out what the LDS Church thinks". People who believe in an invisible space-being who created all of existence and then knocked up a married woman with a miracle-toting superhero are the FIRST people you go to for a statement?

But I digress.

The LDS Church called the California decision to grant equal rights to human beings "unfortunate".

And that... is unfortunate.

However, I would bet solid money on the fact that the church itself will change its stance 10-20 years from now. If tithing hits a plateau or if prejudice starts losing them membership (like it did in the late 70s with racism), they'll "hear a message from God" and pretty soon there will be a Gay Mormon Men's Choir. That would be brilliant.

Well wishes from Anakin

For those who haven't heard, Anakin accidentally set himself on fire yesterday. But, as you can see, he's doing a lot better.

He wanted to let everyone know himself, though.

If blogger doesn't work, here's a link for youtube.

BE IN MY MOVIE...

If you're in the Utah area:

I've been shooting a short film all week and it all ends tomorrow night at THE WOOD SHED bar and music lounge.

If you could come and just drink some beer and listen to music while I shoot, I'll make sure you get in the movie.

I just need a moderate crowd there.

Here are the details:

-Steve's short film shooting
-THE WOOD SHED bar and music lounge
-Free door cost
-Some discounted beer and shots
-60 E. 800 S. Salt Lake City
-Show up at 8pm
-We won't go past 10 or 11.

If you come, I will owe you a big one...

STEVEN

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's day, we put together a list over at Big Shiny Robot of top 10 Mother's of Nerd-dom...

It's a pretty great list.

Go over there, check it out and offer any additions you may have.

Dino, Jimmy Stewart and Orson Welles

This is too bizarre and interesting not to be shared.

This is Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Orson Welles on a comedy variety show (I imagine Dino's) doing a comedy sketch and musical number.



Once I started watching it, I couldn't stop. Here are three men who are titans in three completely different ways (each personal favorites of mine for different reasons) doing this hokey and bizarre number.

Wow.

NEW SHORT FILM

It's called "Blow It", and I'm filming it over 4 days. I am currently not sleeping. I shot last night until 3:00am. I hope it turns out half-way competent...

Iron Man Review

Not since 2005's Revenge of the Sith have I been so thoroughly satisfied by a nerd night out at the movies. It wasn't just the movie, the movie was great, but not all of it, it was the experience that started in the theatre beforehand, continued when the trailers started to roll and ended on a fade-out of Samuel L. Jackson.

Let's start with the trailers, which, in my opinion, were as exhilerating as the film itself:

The Dark Knight - This is the trailer that caused so much hullabaloo in the last week and I actually wish I hadn't watched the bootleg and understand now, why Warner Brothers was holding off on putting it on the internet until Sunday. It hit me very hard that I should be seeing this shit for the first time on the big screen and not on a postage-stamp on my computer.

The Incredible Hulk - I wasn't sold on the idea of needing a reboot of the Hulk franchise so quickly. I liked the first film and nothing was really pulling me for this new Hulk film. This trailer changed my mind (especially in light of the post-credits scene of Iron Man).

Prince Caspian - It looks pretty good, but Anakin told me he wants to see it, so it looks like I'm in no matter what.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I had the opportunity to see this trailer on the internet a few days ago and opted against it, hoping beyond hope that it would be on Iron Man. Tears of joy welled in my eyes and May 22 will not come fast enough.

Then Iron Man started.

I was hoping for a lot, but not expecting as much as I hoped for. And, although it wasn't a perfect film (it certainly had flaws), it kicked ass in all the right ways. The acting, across the board was great. Robert Downey, Jr. inhabits the character of Tony Stark in a way that has to be seen to be believed. And I imagine that the studio executives who fought Favreau on casting him are this close to being fired. Jeff Bridges is a joy to watch because it looks like he's having as much fun in the role as the audience is having watching it.

And Gwyneth Paltrow. I've missed her so much. She was amazing in this film for what she was given and absolutely adorable beyond belief.

Terrence Howard did well with what little he had to do, but he wasn't there for this film. He's there for the next film.

The film moved quickly and despite it's 126 minute running time it actually felt like it ended short. Favreau kept the pacing as tight as possible and it paid off. He really did leave the audience wanting more fighting. And the fighting was done so well that I was completely unable to discern what was a physical Winston studio effect and what was a digital Industrial Light and Magic effect. Which is perfect, I don't want to know what was real and what wasn't, I want to believe that the Iron Man armour can work.

So much so, I'm wondering why we haven't built any yet. Jesus.

But, hands down, the best scene in the movie is the post credits scene where Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) comes to recruit Tony Stark for the Avengers. I almost lost control of all of my bodily functions during this scene.

No doubt, this movie is going to mop up at the boxoffice. (At least until Indiana Jones comes out.) My recommendation? Go see it. Now.

In the meantime, I'm going to see it again. And then another time. And then it should be time for Indiana Jones.

Iron Man Review Tomorrow

I just got back from Iron Man.

Check this space tomorrow for a full review.


The short answer? This movie was rad.