LONELYPOND PRESENTS

Ok, I’m taking on faith you have those movie stubs to something original — Bandslam, (500) Days of Summer…I’ll let you off the hook if it’s Julie and Julia or District 9, but G.I. Joe, well G.I. Joe is part of the problem — Hollywood’s ADDICTION to remakes.

Tonight I was having a fairly long + involved Twitter conversation w/ @IDOL_HANDS about remakes starting with the news that Todd McFarlane (Mr. I created Spawn and own the world’s most expensive baseball) is planning a remake of The Wizard of Oz with some Ripley/Alien DNA mixed in. And then for a couple of days, the universe has been buzzing (mostly anti — there’s a Twitition against it) about Robert Zemeckis + Disney’s plan to remake The Yellow Submarine. TYS is not my favorite Beatles movie but it is so one of a kind you have to respect it…my favorite Beatles movie is Hard Day’s Night (must buy), one of the best, cleanest + simplest band movies (I’ve mentioned this before).

I think my friends @TheWebFiles sum it up best: “Telegraph of London says “Twitter killing Hollywood movies?” http://bit.ly/5uF1L Solution? Stop making crappy movies.”

I promised FT links…well, Peter Aspden had a column about Twitter but unlike Vanessa Friedman who paid enough attention to know it didn’t suit her, Aspden tweeted 3 times, follows 3 people + thinks that’s education enough to toss off a column about it…oh, and FT editor folks, if someone’s talking about Twitter in an article (this is happening more frequently + I first noticed it w/ The Pet Shop Boys profile), could you include a link to their @ tag. Thank you. @ me at @lonelypond

And another few links — in a non rant fashion — the aforementioned Ms. Friedman on Mad Men and their trousers.

And the aforementioned Mr. Aspden on Brigitte Bardot (he is considerably more informed + interested about Ms. Bardot than Twitter)…this bit made me perk up: ““Bardot is as important an export as Renault automobiles,” observed Simone de Beauvoir in her perceptive 1959 essay “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome”, a welcome reminder of a time when intellectuals were genuinely fascinated by popular culture.”

Simon Schama’s review of Nicholson Baker’s The Anthologist, which indulges/experiments in verse. I will have to get the library to track me down a copy of the book.

And Harry Eyres finally gets Man on Wire.

Have been transferring CDs to iTunes with plans to make a travel playlist for adventure so I must be getting to doing that. Disappointed to not find the Buffy CD where I expected but the pile included Red, Hot and Blue, Aly and AJ’s Into The Rush, all Depeche Mode The Singles Cds, Pet Shop Boys Very, Carmen McRae, Adam Ant’s Antics in The Forbidden Zone + E.C. Scott’s Come Get Your Love. Mix songs from that with what’s already in my library + it should be interesting. I’ll hit you with a mixtape when I’m done.

Good night!

Note: Warehouse 13 fun; good Eureka so far; no, don’t take the Wizards of Waverly place characters’ powers away in the movie (Gayle claims it’s a tease — Dad will keep his + they’ll continue as wizards in training); enjoying The Middleman DVDs + looking forward to a new season of The Big Bang Theory. Now, read a book and go see Bandslam, darn it.

I did mention rant ; )

Two articles in the local papers about Taming of the Shrew and Theatre Under the Trees. The Dispatch’s does a great job of giving you a sense of what the Theatre Under The Trees experience is like and the Record’s article is a fairly lively overview of the play.

Newest internet finds:

Have been having fun with Shirt.Woot — a new t-shirt for $10 posted each night at 12:01 a.m. They have a Derby every week with new designs — this week’s theme was Tatoo (finalists); it’s a fun and relaxing way to get a look at (and vote for) some cool art. @apelad tipped me to it and his was the Monday shirt.

The Cabonauts starting following me — new web series — and I got to thinking that I might want to find out more about what’s out there. And then The Web Files starting following me, I caught their trailer, I’m a sucker for a good hat and a trenchcoat, I followed back, watched their first interview with Tay Zonday, liked the questions and thought this is a good way to get to know what’s out there…They’re up to 3 episodes so far — Safety Geeks SVI looks like a fun and funny show.

A flash of enthusiasm/inspiration visited and I decided it might be fun to put host Kristyn Burtt in a Blink Kitty Love episode and we exchanged a few e-mails. They are hoping to cover animation at some point, they’re just not sure how. I don’t think Blink Kitty Love is ready for the big time yet, but I am mulling over how to increase your favorite crazy crushing band’s fan base (as well as redesign their website) and it was nice to be taken seriously. So best of luck to The Web Files…I’m looking forward to picking up some tips from your future episodes. And maybe Ms. Burtt and Tammy can go out in their hats + trenchcoats for cupcakes and coffee (yes, in the next episode, Tammy puts on the hat + trenchcoat disguise to find out more about Ty’s girlfriend –TY HAS A GIRLFRIEND??????? Don’t worry, you’ll find out more about it after #tamingshakespeare’s over. Until then, check out your favorite episodes –and drop some redesign comments PLEASE — on the Blink Kitty Love site. Tomorrow (Friday), we do a special Guess or Sneak the 80’s Sax Solos.

And I really enjoyed the Apollo 11 rebroadcast. Thanks and props to John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for the experience. And NASA for joining in on Twitter.

And the Fourth Plinth is still happening. I pop in a couple of times a day — random bits of weirdness and/or mopping. Right now, very energetic guy with a guitar who just turned in his doctoral thesis.

Miss The Big Bang Theory, haven’t really had a chance to watch Eureka — although S.A.R.A.H. is tweeting about TIRDS?, still looking forward to the Wizards movie but can’t catch the first half of the vampire saga as we have SHOWS (very exciting; see articles above), haven’t see the newest Harry Potter yet, annoyed that (500) Days of Summer isn’t in town, a little excited about G.I. Joe, and tired. Don’t forget to pick up your Middleman DVDs next week and take care! I’ll miss you, but SHOWS! Taming of The Shrew rocks a park maybe not near you, but you’ll hear the laughter.

Have a great afternoon — and wish me nice weather.

And because I know you’re as excited about this as I am (and if you’re not, you might be the reason ABC Family didn’t pick up Season 2 immediately so I think I’m ignoring you) — a snazzy new Middleman site exists. Now, let’s get us some snazzy new content.

DVDs (July 28th) and a comic are coming and a panel at San Diego Comic Con where the cast will read the script of the scuttled 13th episode. I have a show, but you, yes you, go and take video.

Some lonelypond style reviews (after the longish Star Trek one); for those not interested in movies or TV, enjoy this cartoon about the perils of literary analysis:

STAR TREK: First, I was wrong about Chris Pine. He did an excellent job as the James T. Kirk the Reboot. Strong acting, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and John Cho as standouts. Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike and Chris Hemsworth as Kirk pater added to the heroic gravitas. I do object to the Spock/Uhuru implied romance — she was his student and is in his direct chain of command — as Gayle said, there’s no universe where that happens. Also WAY too many closeups* and apparently a little something called lens flare that even J J Abrams admits he indulged too much in…and i09 with some more behind the scenes info.

I did miss EPIC scope; I think space was handled poorly…when the Enterprise comes up through particles outside of Saturn, I wanted the camera to pull back and for there to be SCOPE + MAJESTY + the BREATHTAKING empty beauty of between the stars. I actually found myself missing the lonely, tiny models hanging on strings from the original series. And I missed the real McCoy. Karl Urban’s voice just didn’t have the range for snarky but concerned, although he had some great lines — or maybe he didn’t have the director to lead him…I think even Nimoy was a hair off; but so very Spock.

So, in summary, sequel, yes, but put someone else behind the camera and lose the frigging flashlight. Fewer closeups, more banter, take some of the action a hair slower and no ice planet Hoth please (people behind me actually yelled “Rebel Alliance” — aren’t shout outs to one treasured science fiction universe enough — I won’t even discuss the villian’s Babylon 5 lifted transport).

Next topic: I actually broke down and watched this week’s Smallville as we’re entering the end game for The Miser and I really needed some action to relax a bit…Smallville is a very serious show and you know how you can tell that? Everyone’s wearing black, everyone, dudes, and they’re all standing (in black) yammering at Clark (in black) very seriously. They are wasting Tom Welling. And where’d the coolest music (when there was no Middleman) on TV go? Boo…Legion seems to be coming back for the finale; I don’t know where they buried Lois and BOO. still the smallest of villes.

iDate a Bad Boy: I need to watch iGo Japan to remember when iCarly movies were funny…PeeWee Babies, couldn’t he have had a fairy or unicorn tatoo; that would have made so much more sense. Bah. Sam and Freddy stuff funny in the first half; Sam and Spencer stuff funny in the second half, so I can look foward to the Double Trouble event, where Jennette McCurdy appears on True Jackson.

Snake and Bacon…my buddy and fellow Gullible and Twitchy animator @pseudochron is a big Adult Swim fan and posted a link to the Snake and Bacon premiere. Random + funny, although it did make me miss the glories of The Tick.

SPOON! And that should tide you over for awhile.

*If you had seen all of their bodies instead of just contorted, angry faces, you would have seen Quinto’s body want to kill Kirk while his face remained impassive half a heartbeat before he did it and you would have seen Pine let him, even though Kirk would have read all the warning signs — and it would have been AMAZING. There’s a reason we have limbs and a torso; they help us express and read emotion, especially the ones we want to keep hidden. Proof that closeups aren’t always the ticket: Spock remembering the destruction of Vulcan — you can see the distance and his incapacity to do anything and it’s one of the best scenes in the movie.

Not only is The Middleman DVD coming out in July, but there is also an upcoming Middleman graphic novel due out: “The Doomsday Armaggedon Apocalypse.” It ties up Season One loose ends, including the Lacy + Wendy’s Sexy Boss question. Javier Grillo-Marxuach gives you just the FAQ’s.

And now I’m curling up with my iPod, watching episode 9 or maybe 11, and taking at least a three day blogging break. If you miss me, zip back through the Middle reviews, they’re still fun. Or check out Blink Kitty Love; I’ll be cuing up some lyrics.

Enjoy your weekend. Watch something that makes you laugh. Or take long walks and avoid screens of all sorts. I haven’t decided which option to check.

Why? Well, they’d probably enjoy it too much for starters. And on the minorest of notes, one of the most impressive things about the Watchmen in the Dave Gibbons drawn graphic novel was that they were ugly and schlubby and real. Can’t have that in Hollywood. Everything/one looks shiny.

Alan Moore is an excellent writer, one of the best at entwining sex and violence and grim while tarting them up with psychology and literary awareness and pretension. It’s literary enough that you can believe/make up anything you want to make you feel better about watching the violence, sex and nihilism. If there are virtues in the graphic novel, they are probably to be found in the intense, intricate clutter Moore created with his world, a clutter which will probably not transfer to the screen.

Yes, that was a rant, but the non rant version where I still lose all my comic book street cred follows:

I just don’t want to watch the Watchmen. Yes, I read the graphic novel, I saw the impact it had on comics and you know what, I’m still one of those goofs who reads Blue Monday and the animated Brave and the Bold and hopes for a Legion that remembers fun and dating, a person willing to consider that dating Lois Lane beats flying(or not dating Catwoman) and is enough reason to put on blue tights and/or glasses and that there’s nothing wrong with trying to make “truth, justice and the American way” values people can believe in.

What am I going to do instead? Watch my favorite superhero movie, The Shadow, a classy production (starring Alec Baldwin) about a man who triumphs over his inner demons, uses them to help others, and maintains both his sense of style and sense of humor. A movie that has top of the line actors(great Jonathan Winters and Ian McKellan work plus John Lone as one of my favorite movie villians) excellent art design, costuming and production values. And you know what, the good guys win; they even win laughing.

Then I watch my favorite episode of The Middleman, probably #5, the Zombie Trout one, or maybe #3, with Sensei Ping.

And then I buy The Tick vs. Season 1 and see him defeat some of the best supervillians ever: The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, El Seed, Chairface.

And then I write my own darn heroes.

End rant.

I am downloading the 12th and final episode of The Middleman which I have not watched since it ran on TV (stubbornness and sadness both) so I’m going to see if it’s better than I remember. And I did the search for MiddleNews and thanks to an update on the ACTUAL Middleblog, I can tell you the DVD is coming out in the summer of 2009. There are also links to all the TV critics who rated “The Middleman” as one of the top shows/episodes of last year.

Almost time to start planning the legendary Art Crawl party.

Right, quick insomniac stream of conciousness TV and multi media notes:

SMALLVILLE: still not great Lois writing, but some great Lois and Clark moments in the Doomsday meets Chloe wedding disaster. Great use of limited special effects, much heightening of drama. Erica Durance and Tom Welling do good work and fit in well together at the farm, there’s a nice feel. The return of Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang got me in trouble — if you’re going to come back, come back in style — and she did. Wow. And with the “Did the Archer believe you?” message, the intrigue vibe came with her. Some beautiful moments — excellent visuals by the director — and the last sequence was breathtaking and beautiful and actually made me want to watch the next episode (but no joy there ’til Jan. 15th); don’t take any kryptonite cookies and avoid Kristin Kreuk in black leather or anything resembling it, that’s my advice.

iCarly — downloaded iWin a Date, which is another of my favorite episodes…Gibby’s great fun. Also watched iWon’t Tell (I think that’s the title) and realized that Miranda Cosgrove is a master of the comic meltdown rant, a core iCarly concept. Between iCarly’s “Random Dancing” segments and True Jackson’s “Dance Party” have decided I need an actual stereo with speakers I can control remotely from any room downstairs. More dancing always good. True Jackson continues funny, but they keep throwing in these “I’m only a teen in way over my head moments” and I just don’t like them.

Disney: Bolt’s getting good and neutral tweets on Twitter; the “Harper Knows” Wizards of Waverly Place(Flash does not approve of Wizards; for her Selena Gomez is always the villanous Mikayla, we think) episode was actually fun — between that show and the Big Bang Theory there will be so much embrace your inner and outer geek going on that I dread to see what shows filter out of the next iteration of inspiration based on that premise.

Anything else? Hmmm, have Spirited Away on loan, must watch sometime this week and see if anime love lingers post Howl’s Moving Castle.

All right, I’m done and too tired to link. Google, Ask or Yahoo…you’ll find it. Good night all. Enjoy your Monday(yes, even if it requires large amounts of lasagna).

Oh, A Middleman update(I’ll link for fellow Middleman lovers) — apparently Natalie Morales has been signed for a pilot of something scifi Star trek spoofy and here’s a blog containing interviews about the future (or not) of the Middleman. Kevin Sorbo’s in there too –oddly, I just iPwatched the episode he appeared in…tomorrow, maybe episode 11????? The DVD set should come with a bonus CD of the show’s music to soothe the no season 2 heartbreak.

Well, the Big Bang Theory has given up on anything but Sheldon vs. Penny and it’s working — very very funny. Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons have great chemistry and both have legendary comic timing. I loved when Penny did the 3 part knock on Sheldon’s door; Raj and Howard on the supermodel trail a good sidenote and Johhny Galecki seems to be sliding quite nicely into the whisper of reason role.

Still watching The Middleman on my iPod and lamenting its lack of a future. Have decided I need to upgrade my rating on the Tuba and Puppet episodes; Lacey and The Middleman do such a delicate and nuanced dance of attraction that it is actually delightful to watch. And how could a show with someone as exuberantly joyful and sexy as Brit Morgan’s Lacey(and I usually skew brunette) get cancelled. Come on people. Gayle at least wants it out on DVD. I want a second season. I’ve been remembering scenes and not remembering which episode they’re from — I think next on the Middle agenda is watching the Kevin Sorbo one, although maybe I should watch a Roger Moore James Bond or In Like Flint just to get in the mood.

Anything else while I’m on the TV track — Smallville. Nice to see so much of Erica Durance, but have faith in your actors and get better darn writers. Having the villian of the week telling Lois and Clark (pick a different one each week) they have feelings for each other is a cheap excuse for a relationship. Show it, don’t tell it — isn’t that even in the basic scriptwriting books so EVEN if you substituted formula for talent or effort, the Smallville scribes should still be doing it right. But they aren’t. No one’s actively keeping secrets from anyone and that’s so not Smallville. I never thought I’d miss Lana, but I do. Kristin Kreuk’s Lana was actually allowed to be amused by things, even while withholding information. I miss that. But don’t mistake that for an I miss Clark and Lana. I don’t. I miss storylines that are driven by things that matter to the characters and I think a Smallville driven by the Jimmy-Chloe-Doomsday triangle is a Smallville that doesn’t work.

And yes, welcome to what I think is the last Middleman episode review…yes, there can be a sigh; there can also be a hope that somehow there will eventually something worthy of the EM scale again. Watched Episode 4 last night, The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum, with its lovely Dr. Phil parody — major + for that. I think this episode might have had the best music..pause while I see if I can find out who it was…Russian Futurists again, Arm’s Way, Scientific and Islands. The Middleman music and links can be found at heard on tv…it links you from the song to last.fm, which is handy — it also links you to various buying options but I’m a test drive first with music.

Back to Middleratings…I think this might be Lacey’s best episode– she doesn’t really do anything except sit around and poke her nose into Wendy Watson’s life and it’s GREAT. Plastic surgery aliens very funny; training day and the Middleman’s excitement about it also fun. Bad boyfriend taste lingering also works.

+ for Rendezvous Point, + for Lacey-Middleman interaction, + for Manicoids, + for training wheels, + for rescue entrance (spaceship plus “clean living was his credo and justice was his ride”), + for day in the life feel, + for timing (Dr. Gil blasted at just the exact right moment), ++ for MiddleMatt’s gleam as he enjoys “training day,” + for Wendy’s interrogation of the droid — The Middleman really excels at things you don’t want to miss going on in the background — +for Xanadu reference, - for cheesy moustache, oh, they’re always a minus, unless one turned up on Ida.

And the score, on the EM scale of (-6 to +6): +5.5; good all around episode, chock full o’ Middlelore. We like it. I think I’m going to have to go back and watch the “Cursed Tuba” episode and see if I like it better the second time around.

As the Middleman might say, “walk with purpose” folks and have a darn good time.