"I'm seeing symbols."
"There's much we've kept from you, Sam."
"This isn't my war." "I fear it will soon be."
"What you're about to see is top secret. Do not tell my mother."
"They've gotta mean something. Like a message or a map."
"Megatron wants what's in my mind!"
"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
June 24.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Some Movie Bitlits
Haven't had much to blog home about lately, but there's been a few bits of movie news come across my desk that I feel like sharing.
First up, the world famous British animation house Aardman Studios, which gave us the Wallace and Gromit franchise, and what I think is one of the funniest animated movies ever made, Chicken Run. Aardman just announced their next slate of films.
First up, Pirates! Pirates! will be based on the book The Pirates! (in an Adventures with Scientists), which is about a group of pirates who have a wacky adventure with Charles Darwin and a talking chimp.
After that will be the holiday flick Arthur Christmas, which seeks to answer the age old question, "How does Santa deliver every present in one night?"
Pirates! will be made in the classic stop-motion animation that Aardman is famous for. Arthur Christmas will be computer animated.
As we all know, the big trend in Hollywood right now is remakes.
Yesterday, they officially began filming the remake of the classic 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans. For those who don't remember, Clash of the Titans was based on the classic Greek myth of Perseus. It's also notable in that it was the final film to feature special effects from stop motion animation maestro Ray Harryhausen. The original starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus and Laurence Olivier as Zeus.
The remake stars Sam Worthington, soon to be seen in Terminator Salvation as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes as Hades. Apparently, in the remake, Hades is now the villain. Louis Leterrier, director of The Incredible Hulk, is directing.
March 2010 is the targeted release date!
If we're not doing re-makes, then we're doing sequels to beloved 80's franchises. Bruce Willis gave us one more Die Hard, Harrison Ford gave us another Indiana Jones, and as I write this, Disney has begun filming Tron 2.
The latest 80's franchise that's getting a long overdue sequel...Wall Street.
That's right, the classic drama directed by Oliver Stone and starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen as ruthless stockbrokers is getting a sequel. It focuses on Douglas's character of Gordon Gekko, released from prison, and getting back in the game. Today, it was announced that Stone is coming back to direct.
First up, the world famous British animation house Aardman Studios, which gave us the Wallace and Gromit franchise, and what I think is one of the funniest animated movies ever made, Chicken Run. Aardman just announced their next slate of films.
First up, Pirates! Pirates! will be based on the book The Pirates! (in an Adventures with Scientists), which is about a group of pirates who have a wacky adventure with Charles Darwin and a talking chimp.
After that will be the holiday flick Arthur Christmas, which seeks to answer the age old question, "How does Santa deliver every present in one night?"
Pirates! will be made in the classic stop-motion animation that Aardman is famous for. Arthur Christmas will be computer animated.
As we all know, the big trend in Hollywood right now is remakes.
Yesterday, they officially began filming the remake of the classic 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans. For those who don't remember, Clash of the Titans was based on the classic Greek myth of Perseus. It's also notable in that it was the final film to feature special effects from stop motion animation maestro Ray Harryhausen. The original starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus and Laurence Olivier as Zeus.
The remake stars Sam Worthington, soon to be seen in Terminator Salvation as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes as Hades. Apparently, in the remake, Hades is now the villain. Louis Leterrier, director of The Incredible Hulk, is directing.
March 2010 is the targeted release date!
If we're not doing re-makes, then we're doing sequels to beloved 80's franchises. Bruce Willis gave us one more Die Hard, Harrison Ford gave us another Indiana Jones, and as I write this, Disney has begun filming Tron 2.
The latest 80's franchise that's getting a long overdue sequel...Wall Street.
That's right, the classic drama directed by Oliver Stone and starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen as ruthless stockbrokers is getting a sequel. It focuses on Douglas's character of Gordon Gekko, released from prison, and getting back in the game. Today, it was announced that Stone is coming back to direct.
Labels:
Movie stuff
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Latest Targ's Up!
Another Sunday morning can only mean the best of Sunday traditions...a new episode of my podcast, U62: The Targ!
This week, it's Episode 2.29: Rule of 3. We're going to sit down and chat about me having spent 3 years in Athabasca, yet another treatise on my love of KFC, and there's a couple of straight-to-DVD movies I just have to tell you about.
Click here to listen!
Subscribe in iTunes
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Another New YouTube Vid: A Taste of Athabasca
Alrighty then, we've got a new YouTube video!
A Taste of Athabasca is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Athabasca Heritage Society...the community group dedicated to historical preservation. A variation on the traditional potluck supper, this one has people preparing a variety of foods from around the world. You get a wide variety of foods from around the globe, without having to leave Athabasca.
And, as I've said many times in the past, if there's food involved, I'm there.
So here it is! A Taste of Athabasca.
A Taste of Athabasca is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Athabasca Heritage Society...the community group dedicated to historical preservation. A variation on the traditional potluck supper, this one has people preparing a variety of foods from around the world. You get a wide variety of foods from around the globe, without having to leave Athabasca.
And, as I've said many times in the past, if there's food involved, I'm there.
So here it is! A Taste of Athabasca.
Labels:
YouTube Movies
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Latest Targ's Up!
U62: The Targ kind of went for every week to every two weeks this month, just because a lot of weekends were spent driving to various family Easter functions.
But, all of the Easter craziness is behind us, so we should be back on our regular timetable.
This week, it's Episode 2.28: Cloudy Skies. I'm offering up thoughts on Gordon Ramsay, the final episode of Corner Gas, and the best worst line in comics.
Click here to listen!
Subscribe in iTunes
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Friday, April 17, 2009
Aggregator!
Nothing really fancy in this blog entry...just some news that's been bubbling up inside me that I need to share.
First up, news on my hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic! This is, perhaps, a little bit out of left field, but it is very cool.
A few weeks ago, Weird Al posted on his Twitter feed a picture of himself with Rob Zombie and Malcolm McDowell. A few hours later, the Weird Al websites had it figured out.
Weird Al has a cameo in Zombie's upcoming slasher film, Halloween 2!
Zombie officially confirmed it on his MySpace page earlier this week. The set-up: Malcolm McDowell is back as Dr. Samuel Loomis, the psychiatrist who seeks to rehabilitate Michael Myers. He's like the Van Helsing to Michael Myers' Dracula. Anyway, in #2, Loomis has written a book about his encounters with Michael Myers, and goes onto a talk to show to pimp it. And who else is on that talk show? Weird Al!
Wow. Who knew that Zombie is a Weird Al fan? Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 is due out Halloween this year.
It's a proud Pixar tradition to have an animated short film in front of their feature films. Pixar's latest, Up, comes out at the end of May, and they have announced the details on the short film that'll be in front of Up.
Partly Cloudy seeks to answer that age-old question about cartoons: if storks bring babies, where do the storks get the babies?
The answer: storks get them from clouds, who sculpt babies out of clouds.
What happens when a stork and a tempermental cloud get into a fight? Find out in...Partly Cloudy.
Partly Cloudy was written and directed by Peter Sohn, a Pixar animator and storyboard artist who worked on Finding Nemo, the Incredibles and Ratatouille.
First up, news on my hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic! This is, perhaps, a little bit out of left field, but it is very cool.
A few weeks ago, Weird Al posted on his Twitter feed a picture of himself with Rob Zombie and Malcolm McDowell. A few hours later, the Weird Al websites had it figured out.
Weird Al has a cameo in Zombie's upcoming slasher film, Halloween 2!
Zombie officially confirmed it on his MySpace page earlier this week. The set-up: Malcolm McDowell is back as Dr. Samuel Loomis, the psychiatrist who seeks to rehabilitate Michael Myers. He's like the Van Helsing to Michael Myers' Dracula. Anyway, in #2, Loomis has written a book about his encounters with Michael Myers, and goes onto a talk to show to pimp it. And who else is on that talk show? Weird Al!
Wow. Who knew that Zombie is a Weird Al fan? Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 is due out Halloween this year.
It's a proud Pixar tradition to have an animated short film in front of their feature films. Pixar's latest, Up, comes out at the end of May, and they have announced the details on the short film that'll be in front of Up.
Partly Cloudy seeks to answer that age-old question about cartoons: if storks bring babies, where do the storks get the babies?
The answer: storks get them from clouds, who sculpt babies out of clouds.
What happens when a stork and a tempermental cloud get into a fight? Find out in...Partly Cloudy.
Partly Cloudy was written and directed by Peter Sohn, a Pixar animator and storyboard artist who worked on Finding Nemo, the Incredibles and Ratatouille.
Labels:
Movie stuff,
Weird Al Rocks
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The End of Corner Gas
Well, I just wanted to take a minute to talk about the end of that Canadian pop culture phenomenon Corner Gas.
For those who missed the CTV promotional blitz, Corner Gas had its final episode last night. After six seasons, they decided to bring it to an end. And in a way, I applaud them for that. Series creator and star Brent Butt said he wanted to go out while the show was on top. Far too many sitcoms these days are on long after they stop being funny. Besides, it leads into my podcast from a couple weeks ago, where I discussed the concept of finite storytelling and bringing TV shows to an end at a logical point.
But yeah. As much as I loved Corner Gas, I started losing interest. It was early in season 4 where I went, "Oh. They've discovered their formula and they're sticking to it." I've missed pretty much all of season 5 and season 6. I blame CTV for that. It used to be on at 8PM, and because I have to go to bed so early because of my job, I could watch it right before bed. Then some genius had the idea to move it to 10:30PM. Oh, well. I see you can watch most of the episodes at ctv.ca, so maybe I should go do some catch-up. Or, I can also buy the DVDs.
The final episode itself...had a bit of a cute plot. Brent keeps disappearing on Wednesday nights, so finally people decide to follow him to find out where he's been running off to. Turns out he's performing at a comedy club in the city, and is becoming a minor success as a stand-up comic. Of course, the whole set-up was a bit of an in-joke to the genesis of the series. Butt frequently said he came up with the idea for the show back when he was being interviewed for his stand-up shows. Reporters would always ask, "What would you do for a living if you weren't a stand-up comic?" and his answer would always be, "Probably back in my hometown pumping gas."
Butt said that he didn't want to do the massive final episode like most American sitcoms do...that he wanted it to feel just like a regular episode. And in that aspect, he succeeded spectacularly. It really feel just like a regular episode. It reminded me of the final episode of that other Canadian pop culture phenomenon, The Red Green Show. Just like Red Green, Corner Gas even resolved the loose ends with a simple coda saying what all the main characters went on to achieve.
But it was good. And it's gone now. But it'll live forever, online, on DVD, and on reruns on the Comedy Network.
For those who missed the CTV promotional blitz, Corner Gas had its final episode last night. After six seasons, they decided to bring it to an end. And in a way, I applaud them for that. Series creator and star Brent Butt said he wanted to go out while the show was on top. Far too many sitcoms these days are on long after they stop being funny. Besides, it leads into my podcast from a couple weeks ago, where I discussed the concept of finite storytelling and bringing TV shows to an end at a logical point.
But yeah. As much as I loved Corner Gas, I started losing interest. It was early in season 4 where I went, "Oh. They've discovered their formula and they're sticking to it." I've missed pretty much all of season 5 and season 6. I blame CTV for that. It used to be on at 8PM, and because I have to go to bed so early because of my job, I could watch it right before bed. Then some genius had the idea to move it to 10:30PM. Oh, well. I see you can watch most of the episodes at ctv.ca, so maybe I should go do some catch-up. Or, I can also buy the DVDs.
The final episode itself...had a bit of a cute plot. Brent keeps disappearing on Wednesday nights, so finally people decide to follow him to find out where he's been running off to. Turns out he's performing at a comedy club in the city, and is becoming a minor success as a stand-up comic. Of course, the whole set-up was a bit of an in-joke to the genesis of the series. Butt frequently said he came up with the idea for the show back when he was being interviewed for his stand-up shows. Reporters would always ask, "What would you do for a living if you weren't a stand-up comic?" and his answer would always be, "Probably back in my hometown pumping gas."
Butt said that he didn't want to do the massive final episode like most American sitcoms do...that he wanted it to feel just like a regular episode. And in that aspect, he succeeded spectacularly. It really feel just like a regular episode. It reminded me of the final episode of that other Canadian pop culture phenomenon, The Red Green Show. Just like Red Green, Corner Gas even resolved the loose ends with a simple coda saying what all the main characters went on to achieve.
But it was good. And it's gone now. But it'll live forever, online, on DVD, and on reruns on the Comedy Network.
Labels:
TV Stuff
Monday, April 13, 2009
My New YouTube Vid: The Athabasca Community Centre
While I didn't get a new episode of my podcast up this weekend, I was able to throw together a new YouTube video.
The Athabasca Community Centre was a proud part of the Athabasca landscape for a very, very long time. But it got too old and too small. So they built the Athabasca Regional Multiplex to replace it. And the Community Centre came tumbling down.
OK, I only made this because I fell victim to the guy thing of watching heavy equipment at work. Yay, heavy equipment!
Behold the demolition.
The Athabasca Community Centre was a proud part of the Athabasca landscape for a very, very long time. But it got too old and too small. So they built the Athabasca Regional Multiplex to replace it. And the Community Centre came tumbling down.
OK, I only made this because I fell victim to the guy thing of watching heavy equipment at work. Yay, heavy equipment!
Behold the demolition.
Labels:
YouTube Movies
Sunday, April 12, 2009
No Targ This Week
Sorry, folks, once again, there's no episode of U62: The Targ this week. Why? Because it's Easter! I'm home in Entwistle, munching on chocolate bunnies.
Next week, I won't be running around so much on weekends, so we should be back to a regular schedule.
In the by-and-by, you can help yourself to a rerun.
Next week, I won't be running around so much on weekends, so we should be back to a regular schedule.
In the by-and-by, you can help yourself to a rerun.
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Pokemon 11 Review
Alright! Because people actually have been asking me about this all weekend, it's time to finally sit down and watch and review Pokemon 11. Or maybe, I should finally start referring to it by its proper name....
Pokemon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior
Original Japanese Name: Giratina and the Sky Bouquet: Shaymin
Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama...just like the first 10.
Backstory: Holy moly! Can you believe that there have been 11 of these films? And I own them all on DVD. Whenever I hear about the latest one, I begin the countdown to its North American release so I can add it to my collection and have the whole franchise! Gotta catch em' all, after all. Plus, there was some interesting musings afoot about this film. Seems that the creators of the franchise are trying something new with the film. The prior film, The Rise of Darkrai, was the first in a trilogy, making this part II. How would they continue the story? Why would they bother? Let's find out together.
Plot: Our story begins with Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Dawn resting in a picturesque seaside city when, out of the woods, comes a timid little Shaymin. Shaymin is on a journey to a mythical flower garden, where she and the rest of their kind will change to their sky forms and fly off on an epic journey. But, this Shaymin had a little detour. Seems it was caught in the crossfire between Giratina and Dialga, and now the Giratina is hunting it down. Not long after, our heroes are sucked into Giratina's domain, the strange parallel world known as the Reverse World, where they meet a scientist named Newton, who has been studying the Reverse World. Newton explains that, thanks to Shaymin getting involved, Giratina is trapped in the Reverse World. But that's not all. Also mucking things up is Zero, Newton's one time assistant whose time in the Reverse World has now driven him mad. Zero now seeks to capture Giratina and conquer the Reverse World, destroying our world in the process! It's up to our heroes to save the world! That's a lot of exposition just for "big Pokemon fight lots."
What I Liked: Big Pokemon fight lots. And some very beautiful animated locations, for a Pokemon film.
What I Didn't Like: Far too much exposition for what we've come to expect from these films. And it's quite formulaic for the franchise.
Final Assessment: A respectable entry in the franchise.
3 Nibs
Bonus Features: None. Nada. Zilch. Zip.
Where Are We This Time?: Following the trend that started with the fifth movie, the location was based on a real life location. This time around, our heroes traveled to the city of Bergen, Norway and the Sognefjord
The End of Giratina and the Sky Warrior, but our heroes will return in: Arceus: To the Conquering of Space-Time
Labels:
Movie Reviews
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Latest Targ's Up!
Sunday morning means a new episode of U62: The Targ, and this is appropriately titled Episode 2.27: Sunday Morning.
In this one, I explain why I didn't have an episode this week (but you already know why if you've seen my latest YouTube video), I offer up my thoughts on the Family Guy/Star Trek episode, and the latest news on the Toy Story franchise.
Click here to go listen to it!
Click here to find it in iTunes!
Labels:
U62: The Targ
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The Athabasca Auto and RV Show
My latest YouTube epic is ready to be unleashed on the masses!
Last weekend was the first-ever Athabasca Auto and RV Show. Thanks to my job, I was up there, broadcasting live on location, mingling with the crowd, and just being a super radio star.
And, as I do, the camera was along and I filmed as much as I could.
So, here it is...The Athabasca Auto and RV Show.
Last weekend was the first-ever Athabasca Auto and RV Show. Thanks to my job, I was up there, broadcasting live on location, mingling with the crowd, and just being a super radio star.
And, as I do, the camera was along and I filmed as much as I could.
So, here it is...The Athabasca Auto and RV Show.
Labels:
YouTube Movies
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Various News Bits
Again, just a compilation of news bits I've picked up from around the 'net.
YAY! My collection of brilliant-but-canceled TV shows on DVD will once again be complete! Today, they announced the release of Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second Season.
You'll get all 13 episodes from the second and final season, plus four featurettes about the TV show. Available on regular DVD and Blu-Ray, for those who've made the Great Upgrade.
The big day? July 21.
This, of course, is really good news because it wasn't too long ago that series creator Bryan Fuller was saying that they couldn't announce a release date until the final three episodes had aired on TV. Since they're announcing this release, it's a safe bet that the final three episodes will air before July 21.
And also, we've got good news for the Pixar fans.
It's been known for some time now that Pixar is planning on re-releasing Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to theatres, all re-mixed and converted to 3D. Of course, this is part of the promotional blitz for Toy Story 3, which is going to be Pixar's summer blockbuster for 2010.
Toy Story was scheduled for a release in October of 2009, and #2 was going to be out in February of 2010.
Well, today, they announced that, for the first two weeks in October, the two Toy Story films will be released as a double-feature, kind of like Grindhouse.
Truth be told, I'm kind of looking forward to this. The first two Toy Stories are the only Pixar films I haven't seen in the theatre.
And this one is just kind of neat.
The man...the legend...accomplished actor, stand-up comic, writer and playwright Steve Martin is going to be performing at...the Grand Ole Opry.
How did this come about? Well, among his many talents, Steve Martin also plays the banjo. He worked it into his stand up act back in the 1970s. Many actually consider him a bit of a banjo prodigy. Anyway, back in January, Steve Martin released his first bluegrass album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.
Steve Martin's Opry performance is going to be on May 30, so mark your calendars accordingly!
YAY! My collection of brilliant-but-canceled TV shows on DVD will once again be complete! Today, they announced the release of Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second Season.
You'll get all 13 episodes from the second and final season, plus four featurettes about the TV show. Available on regular DVD and Blu-Ray, for those who've made the Great Upgrade.
The big day? July 21.
This, of course, is really good news because it wasn't too long ago that series creator Bryan Fuller was saying that they couldn't announce a release date until the final three episodes had aired on TV. Since they're announcing this release, it's a safe bet that the final three episodes will air before July 21.
And also, we've got good news for the Pixar fans.
It's been known for some time now that Pixar is planning on re-releasing Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to theatres, all re-mixed and converted to 3D. Of course, this is part of the promotional blitz for Toy Story 3, which is going to be Pixar's summer blockbuster for 2010.
Toy Story was scheduled for a release in October of 2009, and #2 was going to be out in February of 2010.
Well, today, they announced that, for the first two weeks in October, the two Toy Story films will be released as a double-feature, kind of like Grindhouse.
Truth be told, I'm kind of looking forward to this. The first two Toy Stories are the only Pixar films I haven't seen in the theatre.
And this one is just kind of neat.
The man...the legend...accomplished actor, stand-up comic, writer and playwright Steve Martin is going to be performing at...the Grand Ole Opry.
How did this come about? Well, among his many talents, Steve Martin also plays the banjo. He worked it into his stand up act back in the 1970s. Many actually consider him a bit of a banjo prodigy. Anyway, back in January, Steve Martin released his first bluegrass album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.
Steve Martin's Opry performance is going to be on May 30, so mark your calendars accordingly!
Labels:
life
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)