What You Should Have Seen #23

Cabin in the Woods

By the time this gets posted, this movie will either be already out of theaters or won’t have much time left. Sorry. I’m writing a lot of these early posts during my off time in order to have some material banked away so I’ll be able to post consistently.

I wanted to see this movie for one reason: Joss Whedon. I became a fan with Buffy and stayed around for Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible. And Astonishing X-Men. And the new Buffy and Angel comic books. I will be there for everything he has a hand in. I mean, the Avengers? Seriously you guys, the Avengers! Gah, the freakin' AVENGERS!!!

On its surface, Cabin in the Woods is a generic kids-in-the-woods slasher flick. Joss, however, does a great job at letting us know right from the get-go that that isn’t the case. I don’t want to spoil anything in case you haven’t seen it yet, in case you’re just waiting for it to come out on DVD.

There was a feel to this movie. I really want to compare it to Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, but it would be a very narrow comparison, and I don’t know how fair it would be to compare the two. I mean, I really liked J&SB, but for a much different reason. It was juvenile and over the top. It was one big inside joke, and I was in on it. I got that inside joke vibe from Cabin in the Woods, but there is one big difference between these two movies. J&SB was an inside joke that was extremely overt and really excluded people who weren’t cool enough to get it. I can’t imagine that anybody who hadn’t seen the other View Askewniverse movies laughed as much as I did. Joss, though, was a bit more subtle. You don’t have to be a Whedonite to enjoy the movie. It helps on a few layers, but it’s not necessary. It’s accessible.

The movie felt like a conglomeration of past Joss works, but not as a weak rehashing. I got Buffy vibes (horror, monsters, a better version of The Initiative). I got Angel vibes (monsters, season five end-of-the-world, Wolfram & Hart senior partners). I got Dollhouse vibes (manipulation). I didn’t get any Firefly vibes, but I read that if you look close enough you’ll see a Reaver or two. The interplay between the main characters was spot-on Whedon. His scripting ability is one of the things I enjoy the most about his writing. It’s quick, it’s sharp, it’s witty, and more often than not it’s hilarious.

If you know anything about Joss, you know that he likes to reuse actors he’s worked with before. Here we get Amy Acker (Fred from Angel and Whiskey from Dollhouse), Fran Kranz (Topher from Dollhouse and the up-coming Much Ado About Nothing), Tom Lenk (Andrew from Buffy), and now Chris Hemsworth (Marvel’s The Avengers). This last one is kind of backwards. The movie was finished a few years ago, before Hemsworth was Thor. It’s just a coincidence that he was in CitW and now he’s in a franchise movie directed and co-written by Whedon (Have you seen the Avengers or read my write-up on it? You HAVEN'T?!?! What the hell is wrong with you? Go read my write-up then watch the movie. They're both worth the price of admission.).

The best surprise, at least to me, was the inclusion of Bradley Whitford. I love him. I loved him when Aaron Sorkin was putting words in his mouth, and he made the almost-unwatchable “The Good Guys,” well, watchable. Now I get to hear him say word that Joss is putting in his mouth? Awesome. And he didn’t disappoint.

I loved this movie. I loved everything about it, and I was glad to let NCG Cinemas swipe my debit card and remove money from my checking account. And you know what? I’m going spend even more money on this movie when it comes out on DVD. I will own it. It was that good. You know what else I might get? This. THAT’S how much I liked the movie.

So if you haven’t seen the movie yet and it’s still in theaters, go. Go now. If it’s already gone, write yourself a note and buy it (screw Redbox) when it comes out on DVD.

What You Should Have Seen #22

The Avengers

The wait for this movie, the build-up, the prequels and the non-stop advertising…they’ve all been worth it.

Real quick, I feel the need to let anyone reading this know that there will be spoilers. I’ll be as vague as possible in most instances, but there’s going to be some details I’ll have to talk about. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know anything other than what’s been shown in the trailers, then read no farther. Just know that this movie is worth your hard-earned coin. ALL of your hard-earned coin.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, stay through the credits. It's pretty much a must-do now for all of Marvel's movies, but it needs to be said here. Stay until all the credits have rolled. You won't regret it.

What You Should Have Watched #15

Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a strange addiction, but I do tend to go through withdrawal if I don’t watch TV regularly.

To give you an idea of how much TV I WANT to watch versus how much I’m ABLE to watch, check this out: according to my DVR, I have 67 series scheduled to record throughout the year. Of those, 11 are for my kids, but I’ll watch probably half of those (Phineas and Ferb, Ultimate Spider-Man, etc.). Currently, my DVR is 51% full with 95 recordings. Of those 95 recordings, 45 of them belong to my kids. Whereas I delete my shows after I’m done watching them, my kids like to watch their stuff over and over and over, so I keep it up there until I need more space. I haven’t had to delete any of their recordings since switching from Comcast service to AT&T U-Verse.

I enjoy almost every type of show except for most reality shows. I say most because one of my favorite shows right now is Drinking Made Easy on HDNet. I also enjoy sitcoms (Community, New Girl, Happy Endings, etc.), cop dramas…with a twist (Castle, Psych, White Collar, etc.), horror (Walking Dead, Supernatural), and even period pieces and fantasy shows (Boardwalk Empire, Spartacus, Game of Thrones).

There are some actors I’ll follow to anything they do. Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and just about anybody who has ever worked with Joss Whedon (although I gave up on Ringer halfway through the first episode). Peter Dinklage won me over with Death at a Funeral (the original) and Threshold. Also, I loves me some pretty ladies.

There are also a few web series that I enjoy. Right now I’ve got a pretty big crush on Felicia Day, and I’m thoroughly enjoying The Guild and The Flog, and I’ll be checking out the shows on “Geek and Sundry” as they appear. I also watch Epic Meal Time every week. One of these days…ONE OF THESE DAYS…I’m going to make one of their dishes.

If you couldn’t tell, I love my DVR. After putting the kids to bed each night and cleaning up from dinner and getting stuff ready for the next day, I only get about an hour or so to watch TV before I fall asleep. I like to watch the sitcoms first; I feel like I accomplish more if I watch three shows instead of just one. Then I’ll move on to the one-hour dramas, focusing on the must-sees: Castle, Fringe, Game of Thrones. Some stuff, no matter how awesome it is, can wait until the entire season has finished. That’s what I did with Justified, Southland, and Alcatraz this season.

As much as I love watching TV, I’m seriously considering doing something drastic. Things at work are getting a bit uncertain, so I’m thinking of cancelling my U-Verse subscription. I’d keep my Internet, I’m not totally crazy, but there are enough options out there that this wouldn’t affect me TOO much. I’ve got a Netflix account, and I’ve got a Wii in the living room and an X-Box in my bedroom (my bedroom TV has a Netflix app, so I’ve got a back-up if something happens to the X-Box), so there’s an option. The downside to that is that there’s a pretty decent delay between the time a season wraps to when it’s available to stream. With my viewing habits of a couple of shows this season, though, I’m apparently becoming a bit more comfortable with that. This would be how I catch my premium cable shows. I’d just have to make sure to stay away from spoilers. I’d also end up getting a Hulu+ subscription, something that can also be streamed through the Wii and X-Box. I had it when it was first available on the X-Box, but it really didn’t offer enough to keep me with it past the free trial. If I don’t have a cable subscription, this is how I’d catch my major network shows. Should I do this, I’d also consider an Amazon Prime account. I’d be able to use it on my X-Box, but not the Wii in the living room.

One thing you should expect from this blog is up-to-the-minute TV news. I might share awesome happenings (like whenever an announcement about the new season of Arrested Development is made), but chances are you’ll be able to find it earlier at an actual entertainment news blog. If you’d like a recommendation, I check Warming Glow daily. It’s got a very sarcastic tone to it, but the writers really care about good television. It’s the first blog I check each day.

As this ends, I just realized that I haven’t given you a taste of what I watch. Here’s a bit of a sampling: Anything by Joss Whedon, anything by Aaron Sorkin, Game of Thrones, Californication, Shameless, Family Guy, How I Met Your Mother, Castle, Psych, White Collar, Mad Men, Community, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Modern Family, Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23, Happy Endings, Cougar Town, Person of Interest, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Louie, Archer, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Drinking Made Easy, Spartacus, Magic Town.

That’s certainly not everything I watch, but it’s a huge chunk of it.

Clean Shaven Video Constitutional

Nathan Fillion on Conan last week. I want to be best friends with this guy.



Damn, looks like I've got to go vote for the People's Choice Awards now. Thanks a lot, Christy!



So apparently Donald Glover hangs out with puppets? You can't see him in the video, but you can hear him. Sounds like he's the one with the camera.



I don't think this video is all that creative, but some of it is pretty funny. It's two guys at Target trying to get help finding various made-up items.



Has Liam Neeson alway been a badass, or was Taken a shift for him? Whatever the reason, I like him in roles like this. Here's the trailer for his latest film, The Grey.



Oh, HELLS yes! A horror movie written by Joss Whedon? I'll be seeing this in the theater, thank you. No Netflix or Redbox for me on this one. And it's got Topher from Dollhouse in it. Nice to see Whedon giving some work to someone he's already worked with. You don't see that much. /sarcasm

I'll sign an online petition to save Community, but that's about it. After having my heart broken by the likes of Firefly, Arrested Development and Terriers, I realize that good shows sometimes get cancelled. But sure, I'll sign a petition. And post funny videos.



Will Ferrell made some Old Milwaukee commercials for some reason. Sure, why not?







I just found out that American Psycho is getting a remake, and I wanted to share my favorite scene from the movie. I really like Christian Bale. I love Huey Lewis and the News. I love Christian Bale deconstructing Huey Lewis and the News with such a smile. And I love Christian Bale's fancy footwork right before going at Jared Leto with an axe. There are more monolouges following the HL&tN one, which are almost just as good, but this is my favorite. Be warned, there's blood and some language, but I think it's worth it.


American Psycho - Pop Monologues from laviesportive on Vimeo.


Jason Segel. Alison Brie as a Brit. Andy from Parks and Recreation. The same guy who did Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. This is a romantic comedy I can get behind.



"Thunderstruck" is far and away my favorite AC/DC song. It just pumps you up. So yeah, I'm probably going to like it in a Star Wars mash-up.



Okay, this mash-up of Star Wars and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas made me smile.



If I just say, "Star Wars cello duel," will that be enough to get you to view this video? Musically, it's awesome, and visually, it's surprising.



THIS is why I haven't gotten my kids Kinectimals for our (my) XBox.



Like Pulp Fiction? Ever wanted to see it chronological order? Neither did I, but apparently somebody did. They recut the movie and put the whole damn thing on YouTube. So, here it is.



Also, in case you've forgotten: When I can remember to add this to the bottom of my posts, I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But when you click ads, I get a little bit of money, and as a single father of three, every penny from every source helps...especially with Christmas looming on the horizon. So I’m going to keep this tiny bit of begging at the bottom of my posts, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. The only thing it costs you is time. :) Thanks so much!

Pumpkin Carving Video Constitutional

If you can't tell, I'm giddy right now. Here's the first official trailer for Joss Whedon's Avengers movie. It's short on story and big on character shots, but I dno't care. It looks amazing, and I cant' wait to see this as soon as it's released. So far the only stumbling block for me has been the inclusion of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, but I think I can get past that.




The latest Epic Meal Time. Two words: squid shots.



I always come into these outtake videos expecting the best but being horribly disappointed because it's just people laughing at the camera with no set-up. Plain line flubs aren't funny to us...do something else! And the cast of Community DOES do something else!









I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of Minecraft. It's just not the sort of game I like. But I appreciate the thought, time and energy that people put into it. Now somebody has gone and put Weeping Angels from Doctor Who in it. It's kind of freaky.



I never got into Voltron as a kid. I was always a huge fan of the Transformers and G.I. Joe, and I gave He-Man a viewing every now and then. But I AM a fan of Psych (and super pissed that this season's premiere went completely under my radar), and this fan video stars Det. Lassiter himself, Timothy Omundson.



I like Brad Pitt, but this made me laugh...for about the first 30 seconds, then it just got old. But I do remember seeing this in the theater and being taken totally by surprise by this scene.



I'm taking all three of the kids to The Muppets. I don't care how stressful it'll be, they'll love what they sit still long enough to watch.

I highly doubt I'll actually see this in the theater, but I'll probably Redbox the new American Pie movie when it's available.



 


















Probably for the rest of the month I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit it out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But my experiment this weekend proved to me that I actually AM making a spot of cash whenever the ads are clicked. So I’m going to put this little disclaimer on the bottom of all my posts for the next month or so, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. Thanks so much!

What You Should Have Read #42

Last Week’s Comic Book Awesomeness

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9 #1 – Oh, I miss the show. The comic is great, but I really miss the show. I liked how Season 8 started, but I didn’t really care for how it ended. I hope I don’t feel the same way about Season 9, because I enjoyed the first issue.

Journey Into Mystery #627 – Loki’s not in this one, it’s all about Mephisto…and his showing here is just as good as his showing in the last issue of New Mutants. It’s a smart and cunning Mephisto. I like that. From the beginning, the opening text/recap page, it’s all about Mephisto and his involvement in Fear Itself. On one hand, I like to think that the inevitable confrontation between Mephisto and Loki will be epic, but it might be epic on a small scale…two powerful entities out-snarking one another.

New Avengers #16 – Hmm. Daredevil in the Avengers. Is he a full member now or an associate, one they call when his special talents are needed? He’s not on the cover for the next issue, so the question is valid. I like him. I like Bendis writing him. But is he really one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Let’s see where this goes.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 – I like Miles Morales. I like him and I like his family. He’s not Peter Parker and they aren’t Aunt May and Uncle Ben, but they’re good people and I like them. This is how you raise a Spider-Man. I hate that people are in an uproar about this. I hate that people are upset that this is a boy of color who becomes the new Spider-Man. I hate that there were ignorant people upset and didn’t understand a quote by artist Sara Pichelli and assumed the new Spider-Man was gay, and they had a problem with that. I understand that you’re introduced to a character and fall in love with him, but sometimes people die, and in this case, it was a fictional character named Peter Parker. This new kid isn’t Peter Parker, and he shouldn’t be Peter Parker. Peter Parker is dead. Deal with it. This kid has different powers and a different background. The origin, in general, is the same, but the results are different. That’s how it SHOULD be. If Brian Michael Bendis wanted to write more Peter Parker Spider-Man stories, he wouldn’t have killed Peter Parker. Now we get to read Miles Morales Spider-Man stories, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I trust Bendis to provide me with an entertaining and engaging story, and I so far haven’t been disappointed with this first issue. Also, Spider-Man’s uncle looks to be Deadpool.

Uncanny X-Force #15 – This is, by far, the best of the X-books at the moment. The action is there, the wit is there, and the art is there. It’s a good-looking book that is good to read. When this eventually ends, I would totally read a buddy team-up book featuring Deadpool and Phantomex.

DC’s New 52 Week 2

Deathstroke #1 – This must be the week of villainous books for me. I’ve never been a great fan of Deathstroke, but I’ve appreciated what he’s done and how he’s done it. There’s nothing here about the character that would keep me coming back to the book, but I’m curious as to what’s in the briefcase. I want to know if the eventual revelation will be a satisfying payoff.

Green Lantern #1 – Fuck DC and their reboot. Between this issue and Red Lanterns, what exactly was rebooted with the various Lanterns? I mean, I’ve been reading GL for quite a while now and I know what’s going on, but this was a not a new user friendly book. There’s SO much backstory that needs to be known. And from what I’ve seen and read, the Batman line is doing similar shenanigans. If you’re going to reboot, reboot. Push the button and start everything over. Now, that being said, I enjoyed this book and how it continued the story from before the “reboot.”

Red Lanterns #1 – I’m not totally sure this is a necessary title. This seems like mini-series material to me. It was good, but I don’t know if it presented enough…foresight?...to warrant a full series. I like the stuff with Atrocitus and the rest of his Red Lanterns, but the Earthbound stuff seems shoehorned in.

Resurrection Man #1 – I didn’t read this book the first time around. I ended up picking up the entire series on Ebay for cheap about 7 years or so ago. I remember thoroughly enjoying it, so I was interested to see what would happen here. I’m glad Mitch is back, and I’m really interested in seeing all the stories Abnett and Lanning came come up with using this wonderful premise.

Suicide Squad #1 – Great first issue. We meet the team, we see a bit of action, and we’re left looking forward to these six secret villains tasked to killing 60,000 people. I really miss Gail Simone’s Secret Six, especially after Batgirl #1, which I did not like, but judging from the first issue, I think I’m going to like this new Suicide Squad. And I’m really happy they kept on King Shark.

Superboy #1 – Well, this was a surprise. At it’s most basic level, the premise of Superboy is exactly the same as the original premise for Connor Kent. Replace Cadmus (who is apparently pretty active in the New 52) with N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and you’ve got a different character made up of the same building blocks. I like where this is going. I’m going to read more of this book. 

Probably for the rest of the month I’m going to whore myself out with an impassioned plea: click on the ads. PLEASE click on the ads. I don’t care if you exit it out of it immediately or actually look around. This isn’t some professional blog where I believe in the products I’m shilling. These are automatic ads placed by Google. But my experiment this weekend proved to me that I actually AM making a spot of cash whenever the ads are clicked. So I’m going to put this little disclaimer on the bottom of all my posts for the next month or so, and I hope you’ll take an extra 10 seconds after reading my blog to click on an ad. Thanks so much!

Back-to-School Video Dump!!

Joss Whedon confirms everyone's suspicions by revealing who his favorite actor is.



Here's the leaked Thor trailer from CCI. I wonder if it'll still work when I get around to posting these videos?



Here's a clip from Hesher, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman. Sold.



If you can tell me what this movie is about based solely on the trailer, then you win the Internet.



Here's the trailer for Season 6 of Supernatural, although everything in here is from the past season. It's probably the season premier I'm looking forward to the most, with Modern Family and Community tied for a close second.



Auto-Tune the News took a stab at Antoine Dodson, who is now famous for talking about local rape on the Huntsville news.



I don't often click on links that my dad emails me, but I gambled with this one and found it very amusing. It's like a modern Abbot and Costello bit.



Here it is! Eva Mendes' Sex Tape!

Eva Mendes Sex Tape from Eva Mendes