So this happened all the time, even though we like to pretend it didn’t.
In Britain! I meant to say it happened all the time in Britain!
We were way cooler over here in America…
This happened three years after that video. Why is it weird his legs are on top?
I am not a fan of Depeche Mode, but this family from Columbia sure is. After watching these, I heard Enjoy the Silence on the radio, and I couldn’t help but smile.
(SIDENOTE: When I was in high school, um, let’s see… 20 years ago… I remember this one girl gave a speech in our Honors English class about how squids are people, too. I thought, “Squids aren’t people. They’re squids!” Apparently, this is what they called goth back in the day at my school, and goths squids liked Depeche Mode. Don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking – He took Honors English?!)
Don’t ask me how it happened, but I watched the ending of Howie Mandel’s new game show, Take It All. (And Michael Bublé’s Home for the Holidays. No excuses for that either. Actually, Elmo was going to be on it, and I wondered if there were going to be any tasteless puns. I got to hand it to them – there weren’t.)
Anyhowie, the end of Take It All was a hell of a lot (and by hell of a lot, I mean exactly) like an old Game Show Network, um, game show called Friend or Foe? (hosted by the MTV VJ that vocalized keeping her the V-card, Kennedy).
Nothing like a new game show for the holidays.
Essentially, at the game’s end, both players much choose between A or B. For Take It All, A equaled “Keep Mine” and B equaled “Take It All,” and on Friend or Foe?, A equaled “Friend” and B equaled… I can’t recall. If both people choose A, both people win. If both people choose B, both people lose. If only one chooses A, they win everything.
So apparently, NBC is running with this Take It All mentality with some upcoming shows.
Deception looks a lot like ABC’s Revenge to me.
A girl infiltrates a group pretending to be someone else to get revenge… I mean deceive them. Why? Because rich people are assholes.
Even better, NBC is ripping off their own failed projects, because Do No Harm Done seems a lot like Awake. Did they just have a bunch of leftover scripts? (And art department files?)
Each one is about a guy is living two lives. One splits a twelve-hour shift between his dual lives; the other splits waking and sleeping hours. Which for a pothead is twelve hours each. Neither of these is about a pothead.
This post could get quite existential. It’s going to ask the big questions that have no real answers.
First up –
Why is Chris Brown allowed to still be making music?
I’m not even taking any of the Rihanna crap into account. I’m basing it solely on this horrid example of modern music, Don’t Wake Me Up:
What I don’t get is that even though the kid can sing, they do the shittiest auto-tuning of his voice at the 1:11 mark (and beyond). I thought we were done with that!
Second up –
What parent allowed their child to be tortured like this?
I’ll grant you that the video for MGMT’s Kids is amazing. But it’s mostly amazing because it traumatizes a child throughout. The band does explain how they made it, but I didn’t feel like watching that video too.
Third up –
If you can clearly understand the lyrics, why would you show them through the whole damn video?
Matchbox Twenty reunited this summer and released their first song in (look up how long to fill in this blank) years, She’s So Mean, and instead of a clever representation of the song, they gave a literal literal one:
They ultimately released a banned band version, but it’s too late. The damage is already done.
Who am I kidding? These are both great. So it’s an Awesome Battle that ends in total win!
(SIDENOTE: I miss you, Everything is Terrible… I promise not stay away so long ever again!)
THINGS TO WATCH FOR:
With The Campaign on its way to a theater near you, I thought it was a good time to evaluate Will Ferrell’s hits and misses via his earlier supporting roles compared to his starring roles. It’s an Awesome Battle for the ages!
Such diversity… he’s like the Modern Lon Chaney, Jr… or Mod Chaney… or Lon Chaney, Jr. Jr.
Though in these parts he may have played second hat (which seemed to require weird hair… or a hat), no one can deny that Ferrell didn’t chew up his scenes, starting with Mustafa in the Austin Powers. When he wanted to oil up and wrestle in the otherwise horrible The Ladies Man, he brought moments of tolerableness. He not only took on Jesus in Superstar, but also Jay and Silent Bob as they struck back. His Mugatu must have been on crazy pills because he was the only one that could see the fool that Zoolander was. And who could forget his reintroduction streaking through the courtyard (or his ass) in Old School?
All of them are capable of moments of “assholeness“… even Buddy in Elf
He can play it straight (Stranger Than Fiction), he can play it dry (Anchorman), or he can play it over the top (Elf)… but we still have to admit it: he plays it better when he has someone else to play off of (Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys). That might be why I have to give the Awesome Battle to his supporting roles. Or do I?
You know every one of these characters if you’ve seen these films. If you don’t – you just haven’t seen them.
SIDENOTE: Sorry, but I have not seen Megamind, Everything Must Go, or Casa de mi Padre. Or any of his older more criticized flicks like Semi-Pro, Land of the Lost, Bewitched, Kicking and Screaming, or A Night at the Roxbury. I did see Blades of Glory; I regret that. I have no excuses for The Producers, Winter Passing, or Melinda and Melinda, or any of the smaller films. But that’s why none of them are included – I didn’t see them or they sucked so I didn’t see them or they sucked
.
Sibling Rivalry
Recently, on the Hub or some channel like that, I happened to catch back-to-back episodes of both shows, and I’ve already decided that there is a clear winner in the Awesome Battle between He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: The Princess of Power. This post will illustrate my process.
Each of these are classics in their own right, but one stands out as a more advanced arrangement. One could even imagine its back beat being lifted for an artist such as Nicki Minaj:
WINNER: SHE-RA
Let’s take a look at She-Ra’s enemies – The Evil Horde, lead by Hordak:
They were so bad-ass, they didn’t even sell them as part of the She-Ra toyline.
And howzabout He-Man’s baddies, lead by Skeletor:
I kid, I kid… Or should I say “I baby…” (pun!)
(Click here for the real pic.)
WINNER: SHE-RA
Sexual overtones are in all cartoons… especially in ones that phocus on fysique focus on physique. So in He-Man, you have Prince Adam who dresses like this:
Um… yup.
And this is him as He-Man with his merry crew:
Despite furry loin clothes and boots, plus Ram Man’s skirt, this is a bit better.
With She-Ra, well, here’s the whole kitten-caboodle:
Hello ladies…
Even if you excuse the rainbow for the times, on the episode of She-Ra that I watched, at the start of the show, she emerged from one of the other ladies’ tents after spending the night. Remember, this is pre-Brokeback Mountain, too, but mixed messages are mixed messages for a reason.
WINNER: TIE WITH SLIGHT EDGE TO SHE-RA (NOT TO BE INSENSITIVE, BUT I’LL CHOOSE LESBIANS EVERY TIME)
On MOTU, you have Orko:
“Here’s today’s lesson… if you try to be funny, you’re probably not…”
On POP, you have Madame Razz:
Get it! She has a talking broom! (I don’t get it…)
WINNER: TIE… NEITHER ARE THAT FUNNY
Here are some weird things on He-Man:
They fight by shoving, not punching.
Need more proof?
Who’s this guy?
A dragon wearing a horned helmet?
This takes the cake.
No weird pictures for She-Ra because all that shit’s acceptable.
WINNER: SHE-RA
In every episode of She-Ra, you had to watch extra hard to find Loo-Kee hidden somewhere in a scene:
He hid better than this.
The only thing hiding in episodes of He-Man was common sense.
WINNER: SHE-RA
WINNER: HE-MAN
OVERALL WINNER: HE-MAN
This is really one of the weirdest groupings of commercials I’ve ever seen.
This first one doesn’t seem like a real ad on TV, but oh yes – it is:
Does this one feature Legos? Legos?! Who’s watching this?!
This one might (?) be (?) racist (?), but the scariest thing is the concept of a communal chocolate fondue…
It’s good that there are finally movies coming out that I want to see. They’re not necessarily good, but I’ve been hitting up the silver screen more in the last month than all winter with no signs of slowing down.
That having been said, I’m getting caught up on non-blockbuster preview fare, and it’s fair at best.
Take the latest offerings I witnessed (please!), and tell me if you notice something:
First, they are all screenplay movies. By that I mean to evoke Little Miss Sunshine or Cedar Rapids. They are all movies that read well, I’m sure, but have limited commercial commercial appeal.
Second, they either feature the charming Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, or both!
(SIDENOTE: I saw these previews in this exact order before the tragically unfunny Wanderlust.)
Am I eager to see any of them? No. But will I eventually? Yes.
Emily Blunt and Jason Segel are just so charming!
Having just seen Episode I again, it’s put some bad thoughts into my brain about the upcoming John Carter film.
I know I’m late to the party on this critique, but there’s a good reason.
I want John Carter (formerly Of Mars) to be good.
The reason is a simple one – I’m rooting for director Andrew Stanton. And why, you wonder?
Hint: One of the answers is in his hands.
Andrew Stanton wrote and directed two of Pixar’s greats – Finding Nemo and Wall-E. He also wrote and directed this Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ adaptation, so I’m hoping the third time’s just as charming.
But I’m afraid. Very afraid.
Here’s a scene from the preview:
Dusty Arena: Check. Furry-ous Beast: Check.
Now here are some Episode II memories that this drudges up:
Dusty Arena: Check.
Furry-ous Beast: Check.
Couple with that the tired outsider-saves-the-day plot (John Carter’s of Earth, not Mars, so…), and my worries don’t seem unwarranted.
So is this an Attack of the Clones clone? Hopefully, the two films have as much in common as these two do:
One has monkeying around in it and the other has a monkey.
monkeyBLOG monkeyDO 