Indiana Jones TV Spot

Killer at Large on the News

KSL Eyewitness News did a piece about our Producer and Killer At Large.

So...

Check it out.

Venture Bros. Season 3 preview.

'Nuff said.

BATMAN ON DRUGS

Republican Tactics Against Harvey Dent

You all know there's a boatload of viral marketing going on for The Dark Knight. I'm not sure if there's a cost benefit to it for Warner Bros. yet, but it's fun as hell. In fact, I can't figure out why Marvel hasn't started working on viral marketing for the Hulk yet. That's a movie that can use it.

Anyhow, the opponents of Harvey Dent are push polling in the most Republican ways right now.

Don't believe me?

Check out Big Shiny Robot. They've got a rundown on it and the phone number to call to take the poll yourself.

HONG KONG FILM TAGLINES

List Of Actual Subtitles Used In Films Made In Hong Kong When Translated To English:

hattip BLAMEITONTHEVOICES

I am damn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.

Fatty, you with your thick face have hurt my instep.

Gun wounds again?

Same old rules: no eyes, no groin.

A normal person wouldn't steal pituitaries.

Damn, I'll burn you into a BBQ chicken!

Take my advice, or I'll spank you without pants.

Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?

Quiet or I'll blow your throat up.

You always use violence. I should've ordered glutinous rice chicken.

I'll fire aimlessly if you don't come out!

You daring lousy guy.

Beat him out of recognizable shape!

I have been scared shitless too much lately.

I got knife scars more than the number of your leg's hair!

Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.

The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?

How can you use my intestines as a gift?

This will be of fine service for you, you bag of the scum. I am sure you will not mind that I remove your manhoods and leave them out on the dessert flour for your aunts to eat.

Yah-hah, evil spider woman! I have captured you by the short rabbits and can now deliver you violently to your gynecologist for a thorough extermination.

Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.

Best Schwarzenegger Movie Clip Ever

More Dark Knight Virals

Harvey Dent held a press conference today...

Or was set to at least, until a hostage situation broke out.

Here's the video.



For more updates, check out Big Shiny Robot.

Clone Wars Trailer!

Star Wars is better than all of you.

Click here for a link to a new theatrical Clone Wars trailer.

Goodfellas.

'Nuff said.

Saturday Short

I made a Saturday Short today. I know it's Sunday. This went from conception to final product in about 5 hours and my son and my nephew helped with the story.

"Mormon Hunnies" and This Divided State

I was trolling about the internet and found these "Mormon Hunnies" discussing This Divided State...

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Widget

Countdown to the new trailer...

Shine a Light and Leatherheads

A few nights ago, we all got tickets to see an advanced screening of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary at an IMAX theatre.

It was amazing, but to call it a documentary is something of a misnomer. True, it has documentary elements to it, perhaps 20 minutes of fantastic archive footage, but this really is a concert film.

But what a concert film!

The Rolling Stones have been a rock and roll mainstay for as long as I've lived doubled and to see them on a screen four stories high, I assumed that their age would show. I'm so glad that assumption was laid quickly to rest.

The performance of the Rolling Stones hasn't aged a day.

This film proves without a doubt that the Rolling Stones deserve their long careers as rock stars, no questions asked. And each member of the band was given his time in the spotlight, both in the archive footage and on the stage. Aside from Mick Jagger, who has always been and probably always will be the most energetic member of the group, it was amazing to see Keith Richards step into the spotlight. It doesn't look as though time has been kind to him, but when the he steps into the spotlight it's like he's a different person.

The sound and image were so good that I felt like I was part of the crowd. So much so that I felt like the people behind me were clapping. Also, I strongly desired a beer.

My only complaint about the film? I wish there was more of the documentary interludes. In a 2 hour film, we got 1 hour and 40 minutes of concert and 20 minutes of documentary and I would have liked to see that evened out a little bit more.

But how can I complain? I watched an amazing Stones performance that's probably the closest thing I'll ever get to seeing them live... Unless they tour again. In which case, I'm there.

My recommendation? If you like the Rolling Stones, you have to see this film. If you don't like the Stones, well then... There's probably something wrong with you.

So, next on the agenda:


George Clooney's Leatherheads. I went to see this tonight and it was pretty funny. I mean, there can be no mistake, it really is a fairly competent ape of screwball comedies from the 30's. It's not as good as my favorites, but it was competent.

Clooney has impressed me as a filmmaker with all of his films. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck have both found their way into my DVD collection. I really liked the both of them. Clooney also has this Cary Grant quality to him that is undeniable. He's just bloody fun to watch.

This was clearly a directorial outing based around recreating a light-hearted screwball romp and it works. Yes, it has problems. Yes, there are a few weird things with the time setting of the film in relation to the War. Yes, the other guy, Kraz....whatever the dude from that show on TVs name is...is a little too old for the part.

But it doesn't matter. This movie is a throwback to a day when movies didn't have to make total sense. And they could have wholes. It was a throwback to when all a movie had to do was entertain and that's all this movie did for me. And it did it in a style I love.

And so, that made it worth watching for me.

Another important thing to note: I hate, hate, hate football. And that wasn't a deal breaker in this movie. There really wasn't much football in it. It was about the characters and that was good times.

So. There you go. Shine a Light and Leatherheads.

Quick Update

1) I posted a new piece on Short Story... Short film rather. I wrote this one for Joel. Read it here.

2) Another press mention of Killer At Large. Read it here.

3) Some reviews of KAL should be up and around soon. We're getting some coverage for this upcoming festival.

4) I saw the Scorsese-Stones doc, "Shine A Light" a few days ago. Hopefully I'll have time to write up my thoughts about it tonight. Look for that.

5) There was something else I wanted to tell everyone, but I forgot what it was. But just so there's a link to click, go to Big Shiny Robot!

BRAND NEW "DARK KNIGHT" TRAILER

FOR BRYAN

2 Festivals

So, Killer At Large is playing Tuesday night at the First Take Film Festival in Augusta, Georgia.

Jitterbug just got accepted into the Maryland Film Festival as well.

So, we're swamped with publicity work at the moment.

Also, the local paper here mentioned Killer At Large in the paper today.

Clown Travel Agency

So, "The Dark Knight" had another of it's viral marketing campaigns today. At 3:00 pm the "Clown Travel Agency" left a riddle in place for people to figure out and follow. Miraculously, Salt Lake City was listed amongst cities participating in the campaign.

Without a seconds hesitation, some of the other Big Shiny Robots (Kill-Tacular-Tron) helped me figure out the riddle:

Ready to Have a Ball?

A Special Bag of Fun Awaits the First to Claim It,
But You'd Better Strike Fast, There's
No Time To Spare.

We were thinking the baseball stadium for a minute, but we realized that there were no spares in baseball. (We're nerds, not jocks.) Bowling Alley.

So we dropped everything at the office and headed to the largest bowling alley closest to downtown:


Here we are... The AMF Bowling alley on 2200 S. State Street in Salt Lake...


Going in....

When we got inside, we were told to talk to the lady at the front desk. Dr. Cyborg asked her what was going on with the Clown Travel Agency and we were promptly told that she couldn't tell us anything. "I'm not aloud to say anything more than you have your clues and you're in the right place."

As we looked around, we realized that there were a dozen other fellow Bat-nerds, all on cell-phones trying to get the clues to find the bag of whatever. Some of us assumed it would just be some type of Bat-loot.

We followed suit, jumped on our phones and started asking for help, but we were too late. Some Bat-nerds more enterprising than we deduced that whatever it was was in a locker in the alley. The combination was somewhere on the website and they got a bowling bag.

Inside the bag? A Joker playing card, a cell phone...


...and a Joker bowling ball:

Notice a phone number on the bowling ball?

So did we. The gents that found it used the phone provided in the bag to call the number and then left promptly.

What did it say?



So... They know who we are...

How comforting.

(Also, I gave my card to the guys with the ball and they said they'd email me any more updates about what happens with the phone.... So, look for that....)

UPDATE: Now that all the cities have finished their treasure hunt, we’re being asked to go to a website called http://acmesecuritysystems.com/delos, type in the password “Needle” and our email address…. More when I find out what the hell is up, as it is, the server is too busy to process my request….

UPDATE 2: I did what I needed to on the website and Jim Gordon called me.

Check it out:



(Cross posted at Big Shiny Robot)

Armageddon in Retrospect

The new (and, sadly, probably the last) Vonnegut book came out today.

I picked up a copy this morning. I'll read it tonight and have something to say about it tomorrow. Also, be on the look out, I've got advanced tickets to Scorsese's "Shine A Light" tonight.

So, until then, I'm going to go steal a mirror.

Karl Rove, Evil Genius

I don't like Karl Rove. I mean, as far as his politics go, he's a pretty evil person.

But just because someone is evil, it doesn't mean that they aren't brilliant.

Rove wrote this piece about the Democratic nominating convention for Newsweek and it's one of the best pieces of punditry I've read in a long time. It's insightful, spot-on, well-written and... okay, I'll admit it... brilliant.

So, here it is: The Dems' Knife Fight.

Nader talks about consumer protection

God bless that man.

I mean, if you believe there is a God.

Which there probably isn't... But, whatever... Either way, Ralph Nader is a prince.

Killer At Large

I just got an acceptance letter from a film festival for Killer At Large.

More info soon to come.

I was going to write a review for Run, Fatboy, Run but then decided not to. It was pretty "meh." It had 3, maybe 4, kind of funny jokes in it. The filmmaking was pretty pedestrian.

Anyhow, more info soon.

Jitterbug

A short film Elias, Steve and I Executive Produced (meaning we helped a little in post) has been accepted to 2 festivals and has a website now.

It's called Jitterbug.

It's a great little film and you can watch it over at the website. I'm really happy to be involved with it.

But it's premiering in May at the Charleston and Berkshire Film Festivals.

Check it out and be sure to watch for it.

Clinton's Bosnia Trip

This is certainly not any type of nail in the coffin of the Clinton campaign, but this is pretty funny. In this day and age of 24 hour news, you should assume people have tape of any public event or photo-op you've ever been to. So you should make damn sure to watch the tape before you recollect anything.

Also, pay close attention to the Clinton camp's spin-doctor in the video. They're rationale for the gaffe is actually laugh out loud funny.

Sexy Politics

I've finally found a website that combines two of my greatest pleasures:

1) trivia quizzes (in this case those of the political variety)

and

2) watching cute girls take off their clothes

Indeed, Sexypolitics.com has come up with a great incentive for learning about the things that affect you politically. I mean, honestly, who wouldn't take politics a little more seriously if they could watch girls in various outfits and uniforms take off a bit of clothing with each correct answer?

The only downside? It's safe for work.

Anyhow, apparently I'm pretty good at it. I've only done about 10 quizzes and made the top 10 high scores on most of them. (It sucks, I did the one that I got the #1 score for before I registered.)

Anyhow, check it out.

FUNNY SHIT

hat tip BLAME IT ON THE VOICES

BYU POLICE BEAT

Got some real gems this time:

Feb. 29: BYU police received a call reporting a white male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt walking around Maeser Hill hitting people. When officers responded, the suspicious male was not on the premises.

March 1: BYU police received a call reporting suspicious behavior in a Heritage Hall parking lot. Individuals were seen running around the parking lot and looking into cars. Upon investigation it was determined that the students were chasing deer around the lot.

March 7: A suspicious male was seen walking a dog near Wymount. When police responded neither the man nor the dog was present. NOTE: Who the fuck is making these police calls?

March 9: A male BYU student received a threatening text message indicating he would die. The student responded with a text message saying that he would take the sender of the text message with him. There are no known suspects.

March 10: Residents of Wymount called BYU police when they noticed a suspicious male in their commons area. None of the residents recognized the man, who had been sitting and watching children play for an hour. When an officer responded they discovered that the man was watching his sister's children while she was out of the house and had taken them to the playground. His story checked out but when the officers ran his information they discovered a warrant for his arrest. They promptly arrested the man, who had failed to appear in court for a speeding ticket.

March 12: A male student posted fliers in female dorm halls asking for dates to satisfy a dating requirement for his marriage preparation class. The fliers not only violate BYU policy but were disturbing female residents. Police discovered that the student was not enrolled in that class and the professor he said he had has retired.

March 14: A student called BYU police when she noticed three suspicious males walking around a parking lot. When police responded they determined that the suspicious males were actually grounds crew who had been picking up trash.

In Memoriam

Anthony Minghella
1954 - 2008

Holy shit. I saw this news and it's really pretty shocking. I think The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley are two of the best movies in the last twenty years.

Minghella had been doing some opera and I was anxiously awaiting the announcement of his next project, not his premature death.

Star Wars TV

Star Wars Live Action TV series news.

God, this makes me happy.

Worst Movie Pitch I've Heard in a Long Time

So, I read up on the trade news a lot. And I caught this bit over at JoBlo about Lena Headey (the female lead in the drastically over-rated sausage party 300) joining the cast of a film called Tell Tale.

The former Sparta queen has joined TELL-TALE, the contemporized version of Edgar Allen Poe's macabre short story "The Tell-Tale Heart". The movie, from director Michael Cuesta (DEXTER, SIX FEET UNDER), stars Josh Lucas as a heart transplant recipient compelled by his new organ to seek revenge on the donor's killer. Brian Cox is a crusty cop on the confounding case.

I'm pretty sure that rates near the top of worst pitches for a film I've ever heard. It's almost as bad as the film Donald pitched to his brother Charlie in Adaptation.

This is just silly.

New Short Story

The Other Man....

More Bush Arrogance

George Bush, a guy who went AWOL for months from a national guard position his dad got him into to keep him out of Vietnam, said the following to troops in Afghanistan today:

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

What an arrogant douche-bag.

Eliot Spitzer....

I'm glad he showed some spine and resigned instead of protracting things and staying in office.

Aside from that though, can you blame a guy for wanting a piece of this girl:


Whether he paid for her or not, she's ten steps higher on the scale than Monica Lewinski and about a thousand times better than soliciting dudes in the bathroom.

I'm not saying Spitzer didn't do anything wrong, all I'm saying is that he should get some points for taste.

No 2008 Ashdown Candidacy

I'm sure most of you who have hung around this blog for the last few years know that we were pretty excited about Pete Ashdown's candidacy in 2006.

Well, he's not running for anything in 2008 and it makes me a little sad. But, we still have 2010 to look forward to.

From an email this afternoon:

The Tribune just asked, so I thought I should release a statement about
2008 candidacy on my website:

A number of people have asked whether I will be running for Utah
governor or congress this year. It is humbling to be considered.
However, currently my commitment to my family, XMission, and the local
organizations I sit on boards for does not lend the time required for a
candidacy this year. In January I took on the role of chairing the Utah
Heritage Foundation for two years and I feel strongly about seeing that
role through. I am looking forward to what political possibilities are
presented in 2010.

http://peteashdown.org/journal/2008/03/11/2008-elections/

So, here's to 2010.