Culture kills... wait, I mean cutlery

Week 10: Pageant of the Transmundane

Hello from the Land of Dreams... wait, this is Newark, which really no one dreams about, or rather has pleasant dreams about, because let's face it, I am sure someone has had a nightmare about trying to escape from Newark.

AHEM. After that rigmarole, perhaps I should just get on with the show.

This week's winning entry comes from the Nintendo-based blog, The Tanooki. A particular writer for the blog named Pete discovered a Flickr photostream consisting of old school video games redone in Lego.

And since this week's winning entry was game related, well, it is fitting that I have a game-related sighting for this Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award. Thus, a Grand Theft Auto mod become a beautiful display of appreciation for bringing this gem to my attention.

Congrats Pete and the staff of the Tanooki for such a memorable find.

The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Labels: transmundanity

Ricky Gervais gave me something to think about

The Comedy Network recently showed the finale of Extras, and there was a scene that really resonated with me, and so I sought it out to share it with the rest of you. It seems like I've been writing this post forever, even though it has only been about 6 days. Then again, in the blogging world, 6 days is a lifetime.

If you have been watching Extras and you haven't seen the final Christmas special, this video and the description that follows it will have a few spoilers about how things turn out on the series as this is near the end of that episode. Keep that in mind.

Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) was a former extra who finally had a big swig from the fountain of fame, but because of his own hubris, it seems his career as an actor is in trouble, and in a bid to remain famous, he agrees to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, and while there, he finally has a catharsis about the nature of fame, celebrity and simple human decency, and he shares his thoughts with his fellow quasi-celebrities and the viewing audience of Britain.

Like I said, this soliloquy really resonated for me because really I am on both sides of what Gervais/Millman is saying. On the one hand, I am guilty by association, because I am, though not a huge presence in the world of celebrity reporting, I contribute to the overall sea of voices lionizing/demonizing celebrities. No, I haven't lain in a gutter taking pictures up the skirt of an up-and-coming young actress, but I have gotten perverse pleasure out of slamming enough of them. Did it make a positive contribution to anyone? I don't think so. I pick on celebrities because it is easy, and a lot of the time, it is harder to take the high road than to take the high road. Occasionally I can get my stuff together enough that I can make a principled stand against talking about certain people, but I often find myself beset by the temptation to take one last shot.

Yes, some people truly deserve it though, and in those cases, I don't feel so bad for doing it, but I would say there are more than a few times when I've felt a little ashamed of myself for attacking someone when they are going through some stuff in their lives that they aren't advertising to the world through their publicists and in the future, I will be a little more mindful of that. However, if you appear on a reality show to deal with a problem, well, pretty much you are fair game now.

And by the same token, I also understand the desire to be famous in my own small way. I relish traffic, especially when it suddenly bursts... and when I got that link from the IMDB and the five figure hits(and numerous comments) from that, I was on top of the world. The dark side of that are those days when it seems like you are sitting on a desert island somewhere and you have no hope of someone coming to visit you. I've gotten better about that over the past couple of years, but I still remember some of those really bad days. But I've also come to realize that really, no amount of sustained traffic would ever be enough, because once I reached another plateau, I'd always want more in an unhealthy and obsessive way.

And the challenge for me is avoiding doing the toxic things which would get me a lot of readers and hits quickly, but are ultimately bad for me and this blog in the long run, which would be the equivalent of appearing on Celebrity Big Brother for an actor. Things in this category include starting a war of words with a more prominent individual than myself based on personal attacks (rather than a mere disagreement with their ideas or work) or deliberately writing posts of a controversial nature (like if I suddenly wrote posts with titles like "Star Wars and Its Fanboys Suck!" or "Wanna See Miley Cyrus Naked!?" or "I Beat Off Andy Dick (with a Stick)", or making a public spectacle of myself, but really none of that is good attention, and the benefits I would achieve wouldn't last, and in some cases, I would be far worse off than I was when I began, because acting like that burns a lot of bridges. Yes, you can rebuild them, but that takes a lot more work, and I am a lazy, lazy man.

It is a strange thing when a work of fiction makes you reevaluate every aspect of a large part of your life.

Labels: blogging, videos

A Movie a Year: A look back

Both Lee from Quit your Day Job and Samuraifrog did this meme they picked up from the Onion's AV Club. Basically the gist is that you select a movie from every year that you've been alive that you would call a favorite.

Now, I've always preferred hamburger to steak, so let's just say at times my choices may not exactly be prime rib. And since the AV club version had alternates, well, I decided to include a couple of runners-up for each year.

I am prepared for the wholesale mocking I am about to receive for some of these choices.

1976: Network. I just watched this last week, and it still holds up remarkably well in a creepy, creepy way. Runners-Up: Assault on Precinct 13/All the President's Men

1977: A Bridge Too Far. I've expressed a great affection for this movie in the past, and I still feel it got gypped in terms of Oscar nominations. Runners-Up: The Spy Who Loved Me/Star Wars

1978: Dawn of the Dead. A movie that inspired so many, and when I saw it as a kid, I was traumatized, but man, it has some staying power. Runners-Up: Animal House/Halloween

1979: The Warriors. This one was a toss-up, with the tie breaker being mainly based on the fact that if given a choice most days, I would watch the one I chose. Runners-Up: Alien/China Syndrome

1980: Caddyshack. I'm all about the 'shack... Bill Murray, Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield... all I have to say. Runners-Up:The Empire Strikes Back/The Shining

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Do I really need to explain this choice? Honestly, I don't think I have to. Runners-Up: Escape from New York/Thief

1982: The Thing. Another one of my favorite movies. To me, this is the alien-related movie of 1982, even though the other one made me cry... it just hasn't held up the same way for me. Runners-Up: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid/The World According to Garp

1983: WarGames. I watch this movie every time it is on. It is silly, but I like it. Runners-Up: Trading Places/Monty Python's Meaning of Life

1984: Beverly Hills Cop. A great action/comedy, and a movie that balances those two aspects well. Runners-Up: Ghostbusters/Revenge of the Nerds

1985: Silverado. Until I tried putting together this list, I never realized how many movies I loved were made in 1985. I am sort of surprised that Silverado ended up at the top of this year for me, but through the "what would you rather watch?" game, it prevailed. Runners-Up: Remo Williams/Better Off Dead

1986: Night of the Creeps. I'm not going to defend it at length. It is just good, writhing fun, what can I say? Runners-Up: Tampopo/Ruthless People

1987: Raising Arizona. A Coen Brothers comedic farce over a balls-to-the-wall, tricked out action satire? This was the closest year for two movies to take #1 for me... the margin was hair thin. Runners-Up: Robocop/Princess Bride

1988: Die Hard. John McClane kicks serious ass while getting chewed up by the rigors of an action movie. Talk about a legend. Runners-Up: Comic Book Confidential/Bloodsport

1989: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. After seeing this again recently, the elements of the plot hold together really well, especially for a time travel movie, and the two leads are still likable. Runners-Up: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade/Uncle Buck

1990: Quick Change. I think this is one of the most underrated movies ever made. Snake Plissken had an easier time escaping from New York than these three hapless bank robbers. Runners-Up: GoodFellas/Robocop II

1991: Silence of the Lambs. Even though Anthony Hopkins does ham it up a bit, I've always felt that this movie was a great atmospheric thriller. Runners-Up: Terminator II/Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey

1992: Wayne's World. It is a goofy movie that realizes it is such and plays to those strengths with a wink. Runners-Up: My Cousin Vinnie/Manufacturing Consent

1993: Gettysburg. An epic battle deserves an epic movie. It was perhaps Jeff Daniels' finest role to date. Runners-Up: The Sandlot/Last Action Hero

1994: Pulp Fiction. I went with the easy choice... Sam Jackson, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames. I can't deny their combined star power in this movie. Runners-Up: The Paper/True Lies

1995: Babe. It makes me weep more every time I see it. Runners-Up: Goldeneye/Die Hard with a Vengeance

1996: The Long Kiss Goodnight. I wrote about this movie as one of my first Remembering columns, and I still think it is one of the hippest and most quotable little action movies to come out in the past couple of decades. Runners-Up: Matilda/The People Vs. Larry Flynt

1997: L.A. Confidential. A taut cop procedural with corruption, Hollywood vice and an all-star cast. What is not to like? Runners-Up: Starship Troopers/The Fifth Element

1998: The Big Lebowski. Was there any doubt that this would be my choice for 1998? Runners-Up: Ronin/Babe:Pig in the City

1999: Fight Club. I still laugh every time I see this movie when I picture Janeane Garofalo playing Marla Singer. A great big swig of Fincher style. Runners-Up: Galaxy Quest/Payback

2000: O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Good Actors. Check. Good writing. Check. An Allusion to another work of myth/fiction that I love. Double Check. Runners-Up: The Whole Nine Yards/Snatch

2001: Ocean's Eleven. I like a good con, or a good scheme, and what plays out in this Steven Soderburgh remake is exactly what I am talking about. Runners-Up: Series 7: The Contenders/Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back

2002: An Evening with Kevin Smith. While not a theatrical release, I still count it as a documentary, and it was one of the most entertaining and informative things I saw that year. Runners-Up: The Bourne Identity/XXX

2003: Kill Bill Vol. 1. I like Spaghetti Westerns, I like Kung Fu/Samurai movies, and I love revenge... so this one is a given. Runners-Up: The Corporation/Old School

2004: Kill Bill Vol. 2. See above. Runners-Up: Shaun of the Dead/Anchorman

2005: Sin City. Stylish, ultra-violent and just really good at what it does, this movie has stuck with me since I saw it. Runners-Up: Kung Fu Hustle/Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2006: Casino Royale. I have been a James Bond fan since I was a kid (I was a Moore man), and this movie made me forget about the gimmicks and the half-hearted humor of those earlier films and see the character anew. To erase a 40 year legacy in one film and rebuild it just as quickly is something truly noteworthy. Runners-Up: Lucky Number Slevin/Cocaine Cowboys

2007: Hot Fuzz. A spoof and true homage to the entire police procedural/cop action movie ever made. I love what Pegg and Wright do, and I look forward to the last part of their Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy. Runners-Up: Shoot Em Up/No Country for Old Men

Now, I haven't seen enough movies from 2008 to actually make a choice at this moment, which I think is the best option at the moment.

So, let the mocking begin. And feel free to try this little exercise yourself.

Labels: memes, movies

Remembering Cocaine Cowboys

I saw Cocaine Cowboys about a year ago on The Documentary Channel, and it made quite an impression on me, and recently I had another chance to see it, and I thought it was worth discussing.

The documentary, directed by Billy Corben, discusses the Cocaine trade in Miami in the late 1970's and first half of the 1980's through a series of interviews, focusing primarily on the exploits of Jon Roberts, a former Mafia associate and Mickey Munday, a drug smuggler/pilot, who together trafficked and wholesaled billions of dollars worth of Columbian cocaine into South Florida. Soon, new players are introduced, like Rivi Ayala, a former Chicago car thief who became a hitman for one of the most powerful people in the Medellin cartel's American operations, Griselda Blanco, who was known as the Godmother, a woman who escalated the level of violence of the drug trade in South Florida and started a war on the streets of Miami. Ultimately, it was level of violence which ultimately led to a massive crackdown on the drug trade in the region.

The strange thing for me is after watching this documentary, Scarface or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City doesn't seem as outlandish or extravagant compared with the reality of how violent the drug trade was in those days, or how profligate the spending of its kingpins were. I am sort of surprised that an enterprising DVD wholesaler hasn't put the two movies together in one package truth be told.

But one of the fascinating aspects that was revealed throughout the documentary was the fact that there was so much drug money floating around the city (in the billions) it became instrumental in helping develop the formerly sleepy resort community into a thriving modern metropolis, as all the money that trickled down into the economy from the purchase of luxury items and cars and the billions of dollars socked away in the areas banks, as well as the development of property as a laundering technique all had their effect on building the infrastructure of the city and helping the region become a center of trade and industry beyond the drug and tourist trade.

Now the narrative is the reason to watch this documentary to be sure, but the presentation is excellent as well. It is tightly edited, and features a score by Jan Hammer of Miami Vice fame. It is documentary of both style and substance.

I learned recently that at the end of this month, Corben is releasing a sequel to Cocaine Cowboys entitled Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' with the Godmother, which deals with the crack cocaine business in Oakland in the early 1990's, and since there are elements which are related to the first movie, I am very interested in seeing it as well.

Labels: movies

5 Signs you Own Too Many Games

A few weeks back, Lee from Quit your Day Job posted an entry called the Top five signs that your DVD Collecting is Getting Out of Hand, and during the course of discussing his list, well, I discussed my video game collection, and in doing so, a post concept was born... err, ripped off rather.

1. If you calculate in the time it will take to finish all those games, you realize that do at least one of the following: a) complete the in class hours for a 4 year bachelor's degree b) complete the writing of novel of 350-550 pages long based on an average writing speed of at least 150 words per hour c) watch 500 of the greatest movies ever made and still have time to watch the entire run of multiple tv series. Despite this, you still nonetheless want to see them through.

2. You own more games than you do movies(in any format). Yes, I own far more games for the various systems I have than I do movies on DVD and VHS cassette.

3. You have not only bought multiple copies of a game including buying additional copies as part of a set or getting a collector's/special edition of a game, but you have at least one instance of unintentionally buying a game that you already own.

4. You now find that you can identify many of the voice actors by name in any game you play now, but you have actually gotten interested in a game because a particular voice actor or actress was in it. I've bought games because Jennifer Hale and Jim Ward were in them.

5. You own more games for a system than the places you buy games from do. I own more PS2 games than Blockbuster, Walmart (I am as surprised as anyone) and 7 other places that sell such titles.

Yes, I am guilty of them all... is there anything you think I missed?

Labels: video games

Sunday Night Video: Bargearse Part 1

I was doing research for another entry when I discovered a funny parody of a 1976 Australian cop show called Bluey by the Late Show in 1993.

There are 10 episodes and they are available on DVD (and Youtube).

Labels: television, videos

Week 9: Pageant of the Transmundane

Well, I almost handed out the Krusty this week to a blog centered on a single theme. Almost. But then, I read something so exquisitely well crafted and so tailored to my tastes, and well, I just had to recognize it.

Burbanked almost snuck this one by me this morning, but our crack research team (an intrepid lad who looks strikingly like me), found it and saw the beauty contained within.

What did Alan do to win this award? Nothing much... well, except for weaving movie cliches and verse together into a neat little package.

And I guess it doesn't hurt that I sell a related t-shirt. I mean great minds think alike.

Because this week's winning entry is movie related, well, wouldn't the most appropriate picture be one that was used to advertise the Simpsons Movie? I thought so, and thus ran with the following for the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award this week:

Congrats Alan... just think, if you win again in the next 35 weeks, you can get the Triple Crown to go with your two Super Transmundanity Awards.

The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Labels: transmundanity