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A Halloween Treat for the Browncoats Still Survivin' Out There

It hasn't been a great month of news in the Whedonverse.

First we learned from shocktillyoudrop.com that the release of Joss Whedon's feature horror film Cabin in the Woods has been bumped from February 2010 to January 2011 in order to render it into 3-D. Cabin is produced and written by Whedon and is being helmed by co-writer and first-time director Drew Goddard (a writer and producer on Buffy, Alias, and Lost).  MGM reps told the site the decision was due to the good response the film has received at screenings and the desire to spruce it up with 3-D. Whether this has anything to do with MGM teetering on the verge of bankruptcy is open to speculation, though the studio does seem sincere in its willingness to spend more money on the 3-D conversion, rather than just dump the film off quickly and quietly this winter.

Then came the news so sadly familiar to fans of Whedon shows on Fox TV: during November sweeps Whedon's Dollhouse is being taken off the network's Friday nights (where Fox sends all Joss's shows to die). While Fox says it still intends to air all 13 eps of this season's Dollhouse, the writing could be on the wall for the fine little Dushku-starring show.

Of course the last Whedon show to get the Friday night axe from Fox was the wonderful, much-beloved space Western Firefly in 2002. And the first (and for now, only) feature film Joss has directed was the very, very enjoyable and painfully over-looked Firefly follow-up, 2005's Serenity.

Well, at least ABC still feels the love for Firefly's Capt. Mal Reynolds (aka Capt. Tightpants) and let actor Nathan Fillion don the browncoat at least one more time on his newish mystery show Castle:

"Didn't you wear that like five years ago?"
"So?"
"So, don't you think you should move on?"
"I like it."

Star Wars Potato Head Fans, Book Your Tickets to Orlando...

If you read the title of this post and thought, "What in the heck is a Star Wars Potato Head?", then chances are you're an adult who's only familiar with the classic Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head of yore -- the plastic figures with removable googly eyes and hats and whatnot.  Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the New Age of Potato Heads.  The family of starches finally got wise to the ways of promotional tie-ins, and now they're available in the likeness of characters from several major movie franchises, from Indiana Jones (Taters of the Lost Ark) to Spider-Man to Transformers (Optimus (Opti-Mash) Prime and Bumblebee (Bumble Spud)).

There have also been Star Wars Potato Heads on the market for a while, ranging from Darth Tater to Artoo-Potatoo to Luke Frywalker, but now three more are being added to the roster come October.  The hitch is that they'll only be available at Disney World (well, at least until they pop up on eBay). 

Feast your eyes on the newcomers:

Chipbacca...

Mashter Yoda...

and C-3PotatO.

I'm kind of surprised that these guys weren't available in time for May and June's Star Wars weekends at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, but perhaps The Powers That Be are banking on the fact that real Star Wars geeks will make a second trip south in order to snatch up these latest toys.  If any of you out there planning to head to the Happiest Place on Earth this fall, can I give you my order?

The Best Cinema I've Seen All Month...

...And it's a freakin' video-game trailer.

This week as my tech-savvy, cutting edge friends are all Facebooking about their lust for the new iPhone, my music-maven, pop-loving, and gaming pals are raving over the opening cinematic animation for the new Beatles: Rock Band game, set to arrive in stores in early September. (And some are giddy about both.)

Now I don't play Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but I'm sure I'd instantly become suitably addicted if given half the chance, especially if it's the music of the Beatles (or better yet, the Stones). I do love the Beatles, like any right-minded human being--they're one of the few pop culture phenomenons that cannot be overexposed, overhyped, or backlashed on. They are just too good, too timeless, too important. (I'm an Abbey Road guy, myself.)

But that's besides the point. This isn't about the Rock Band game, or really even about the Beatles: it's about roughly a minute of animated footage, at the end of the trailer, that is not only some of the coolest imagery I've seen in a long while, but absolutely inspiring, invigorating in its creativity. It was created by Harmonix, the company designing the game for Electronic Arts and MTV Games.

If you're already feeling a bit bloated and logy and sugar-crashing from just six week's worth of summer styrofoam movies, let this cleanse your palette and squeegee your third eye clean. When James wrote so eloquently a few weeks ago about how Pixar needs to bust out of the box, this is the kind of thing that leapt to my mind--what I dream of seeing them doing on a grand, epic scale. Something that gets back to the sort of experimentation and imagination that fueled the animation of folks like Ralph Bashki in the '70s.

The first half of the Beatles: Rock Band cinematic is very cool stuff, but be sure to hang in for the last third--that's the point at which this goes beyond a game ad or a nostalgic trip down Penny Lane and becomes something breathtakingly dazzling. The sort of soaring creative imagery we need to see much more of in fantasy or science fiction filmmaking, live-action or animated. (And yes, Julie Taymor give it a whirl in the wildly uneven Across the Universe, an earnestly corny hit-and-miss Beatles musical that does grow on me as time goes by.)

Check it out at the game site here, or the embedded video below:

Yeah? Howsabout that gigantic Ganesh-y Hindu Rhino-phant, huh? Be gone, Wolverine and Transformers and Harry Potter! Gigantic Ganesh-y Hindu Rhino-phant is my new summer hero! I love his regal, majestic stride! I love his flag! And his tuba! I want to see an entire animated feature revolving around him. That last minute of the piece is like The Lion King's "Circle of Life" gathering on acid. By way of Salvador Dali. While floating down the Ganges.

Yeah, it's promotional material, a commercial. Yeah, it's for a video game. But right now, this month, this is the most exciting, inspiring bit of cinema vision around. Now get out there and top it, Hollywood.

Because No One Has Enough Cool T-Shirts

When redblog was brand spankin' new, I wrote a post about some of my favorite movie-related t-shirts.  One of them was "Tarantino Babies":

Now SplitReason.com's designed a similarly-themed shirt featuring the Watchmen characters.

Baby Rorschach's sign says "Nap Time is Nigh."  Gotta love it.

The same site also offers this funny take on Ghostbusters, with the guys attempting to fight off the ghosts from Pac-Man. 

If your wardrobe is lacking a cool movie tee, be sure to read back over this post I wrote during the holidays, which lists some other great sites that sell cinematically-inspired clothes.   

Or, you could forget about t-shirts and instead go all out (and be the envy of each and every nerd in your neighborhood) by purchasing a replica of The Captain's Chair from Star Trek.

Yes, this product actually exists.  It costs over $3,000 once you figure in shipping charges, but it exists.  You know you want one...

A Sure-Fire Way to Get Kicked Out of Your Five-Year-Old Niece's Birthday Party

I was never really into the whole My Pretty Pony and My Little Pony crazes growing up... I was more of a Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake girl.  But I've got to give credit to Finnish artist Mari Kasurinen for majorly upping the Cool Factor of these otherwise sticky-sweet model horses.  

Check out this site for several more movie-character-turned-pony creations inspired by the likes of Star Wars, Alien, Pan's Labyrinth, Beauty and the Beast and more.  They're bound to scare the living daylights out of the young girls who would normally be in the market for these toys -- and I'm pretty sure Edward Scissorhorse wouldn't pass even the most lenient of toy safety inspections -- but these are works of art, not playthings!

Here are my favorites (mouse over the pictures to see which movie they're from):

 

 

This one's the best in my book...

I would venture to guess that pony versions of the Twilight characters can't be far behind...

A Much Better Version of Watchmen

I know some of you found Watchmen to be too dark, too violent, too racy, or downright immoral. Not to mention just plain confusing and long.

Well, you're all in luck! Coming soon, Watchmen the Saturday morning cartoon series!

Okay, not really. Nor is it discovered promo material from the late '80s Saturday morning cartoon wasteland. It's a brilliant spoof recently created by Happy Harry Partridge and hosted over at Newsgrounds.

Absolutely spot-on perfect. Kudos all around! It has now replaced this as my favorite take on '80s cartoons.

(Thanks, Jim S. for the tip!)

A Hollywood Holiday

Every year, we have the same holiday fantasy: A drive through a snowy landscape (with enough snow to be visually appealing but not so much that the roads are jammed), a hug at the door as we arrive where our family is gathering, the joy in the faces of appropriately grateful children as tasteful-but-wonderful gifts are opened, a home-cooked meal served to a group of smiling people you love bedecked in reindeer-embossed sweaters and smiling.  And yet, our holidays are more likely to be like those recently assessed by The New York Times' David Carr, in a piece on holiday moviegoing, where at a certain point, " ... you will stare across a roomful of torn wrapping paper and aging relatives with flecks of ham on their holiday sweaters and say, “Now what?”

Carr's solution -- as it is for so many of us -- is to go to, or watch, a movie; in fact, when Redbox polled over a thousand customers about their holiday moviegoing traditions and opinions earlier this year, "Watching a holiday movie" came in third when people were asked about their favorite holiday traditions -- behind gift-giving (#1) and tree-trimming (#2), but well ahead of the #4 answer, baking holiday cookies. Considering that the DVD player takes less time to warm up than the oven -- and that no one's ever burnt themselves on a copy of Scrooged -- I can  glimpse the reasoning behind that result.

Hum Along: Potential Oscar Songs (And Other Bits of Happiness)

The Academy sent out the "short" list yesterday of those 49 songs eligible for Best Original Song at the Oscars. From this list, up to five songs can be nominated (though in the past as there have been as few as three).

Needless to say, High School Musical 3: Senior Year dominates the list with 11 entries. Because really, parents, you haven't heard those songs enough yet. (Don't panic, non-HSM fans--only two of those songs can be nominated.)

Most of the rest of it is stuff I don't recognize (all those instantly forgettable songs that play during the closing credits as you shuffle out or flip off the DVD). I haven't seen Repo! The Generic Opera yet (it has three in the running), so I'm outta the loop there, and sadly I missed Hamlet 2 and its "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" in theaters.

But I did see--and am growing to love more and more--Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And much of my love for the film (besides Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, and Paul Rudd) is for its three songs--each of them intended to be a silly spoof, but each also kind of charming and infectious in its own way.

And so, I give you "Dracula's Lament," which is eligible for a nomination and which I hope very, very much to see Jason Segel performing--with puppets--at the Kodak Theater in February.

Everybody join with me: "Dracula musical! Dracula musical! Dracula musical!"

Anyone else care to make a case for any of the other 48 songs on the list? Or for any that were ignored?

And for you fellow Aldous Snow and Sarah Marshall fans, there's more Infant Sorrow goodness after the jump.

Gifts for the Movie Buff

Retailers refer to today -- the day after Thanksgiving -- as Black Friday.  They hope to end up "in the black" -- bad economy notwithstanding -- as a result of the shopping frenzy that takes over the country year after year when people wake up from their turkey stupors, credit cards in hand, raring to spend some dough. 

For those of you who have movie-lovers on your shopping lists, let me offer a few gift suggestions.  Yes, some of these are strange -- or maybe a better word is "unique" -- but, let's be honest... chances are that anyone who's a hard-core film fanatic is already a little bit goofy. 

- Movie-inspired t-shirts: You might have to do a little digging, but a good place to start is here on Café Press. Or here.  Or if they're like our dear writer Locke and are a sucker for puns and word-twists (and also happen to be vegetarian), then one of these tees is a must! Finally, any child of the '80s would surely love to don a retro movie shirt, no?

- Any drama queens or kings in the family?  Perhaps they deserve an "Oscer"!

- What Bond fan wouldn't appreciate a spy gadget or two?

- At Sideshow Collectibles, there are tons of replicas and figurines to win the hearts of any comic book geek. I'm talking $200 Iron Man busts - awwww, yeah!

- Anyone who's ever looked through a SkyMall catalog while traveling knows that they offer awesome Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars memorabilia, in addition to a wide array of other unusual movie-related gifts.  An Indiana Jones bullwhip?  Check! A Batman Begins cane-sword?  Check!

If all else fails, you can always enable your favorite movie fan to "take the show on the road," literally, with a portable DVD player.

Now get to shopping!

Wax On!

Yesterday, Tinker Bell became the tiniest "celebrity" immortalized at Madame Tussauds London, the famous wax museum.

While I've been to London a few times, I've never made it over to Madame Tussauds.  There are a few other Tussauds locations now, too -- including one opening in Hollywood next year -- but I guess there's something creepy to me about lifelike wax figures (on top of the fact that there always seems to be a huge line, at least at the original location in London).  I don't foresee a visit in my immediate future!

However, I don't get too unsettled by just looking at pictures of the museum's inhabitants... here are a few others added recently:

James Bond and M, as part of "The Bond Experience"


Troy from High School Musical 3
I wonder how many teenage girls have fainted at the sight of the Faux Efron?