Hope Everyone Had A Good Easter Weekend...

Check out more Jesus mania at the Objective Ministries: Kidz Artwork Gallery

The Incredible Journey of James Jamblesworth

Here's another short film from the halcyon days of my youth.

Check out this email I just got...

Hello, Dent Believers!

It’s been great to see the response from all of you! We knew that citizens of Gotham would rally behind Harvey Dent and you have! (It was inspiring to see some of you on TV!) Gotham citizens have come out to meet the Dentmobiles, many of them using the Dentmobiles as an opportunity to meet up with other Harvey Dent supporters in their neighborhoods and build this grassroots campaign.

The momentum is building!


There have been sporadic reports of rallies being broken up by police, which is disturbing. Does it indicate a bias on the part of the men in blue? A backlash against Harvey Dent because of his campaign to stop corruption?

Harvey Dent is expected to make his decision whether to run for Gotham District Attorney within days, and seeing all of you out there with your signs and banners can only tell him that Gotham needs him! Gotham is asking for change! That we believe in Harvey Dent!

Spread the word. Make an impression! And don’t forget to check out the latest submissions at http://www.ibelieveinharveydent.com/youinaction.aspx . We’ve been told that Mr. Dent may be close to making a decision – so your efforts can make a difference!

Finally, don’t forget to check http://www.ibelieveinharveydent.com/ontheroad.aspx to see if a Dentmobile is coming to a neighborhood near you this weekend.

Take Back Gotham!

Feast your eyes: Criterion Edition

Criterion, fine purveyor of DVDs since 1998, never fails to impress me with awesome cover art.

They sprung to relevancy on the tail of the cumbersome and inevitably doomed laserdisc format, and since DVDs became the standard, they've continually released definitive editions of classics and would-be-classics.

They cost a pretty penny, but for the collector type, it would seem totally worth it.



Consider the stunning new cover to Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, as compared with the standard DVD release. Which would you rather reach for from your shelf at home:


I don't know, but I would way rather watch the movie on the left. Cornball movie star glances be damned!

Criterion Website
Criterion Wikipedia Entry

Check out the look of some other new titles they've got coming out (click pictures to get the full effect):

Spring Music Excitement Schedule - Update!

Extra! Extra! Jack White pulls another trick from out his sleeve.

Looks like the Raconteurs have a new album coming out next Tuesday (March 25). And Consolers of the Lonely comes to us with no prior hype or leaks. That's some old fashion shit - hearkening back to a time when you didn't have the chance to know everything about an album before it's released. A little mystery goes a long way.



"The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement."

More excerpts from the press release, tourdates (they're coming to SF in April!) and a tracklist after the jump.


"The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding its availability, reception or perception.

"With this release, The Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important 'first week sales'. We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by its first weeks sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it.

"The reason we are announcing this release one week ahead of time is because of retail pre-ordering and stocking, information about this album's imminent release was bound to come to light and could be confusing to fans. Also in the event that the record leaks, we didn't want this method of release to be seen as a REACTION to such a leak. It's not. The actual worst thing about a leak is the usual poor sound quality, akin to watching a movie on a wristwatch instead of in a theater. Which for the album's creators is a bit of a letdown, but again, it is completely up to the listener.

"There will be a video up on the internet for the first single, 'Salute Your Solution', on the 25th as well, provided it gets edited in time. We just filmed it the other day!

1. Consoler Of The Lonely
2. Salute Your Solution
3. You Don't Understand Me
4. Old Enough
5. The Switch And The Spur
6. Hold Up
7. Top Yourself
8. Many Shades Of Black
9. Five On The Five
10. Attention
11. Pull This Blanket Off
12. Rich Kid Blues
13. These Stones Will Shout
14. Carolina Drama

Raconteurs tour dates:

04-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
04-21 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
04-22 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
04-23 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365 Club
04-25 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-26 Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
04-28 Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
04-29 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
05-01 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
05-02 Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ
05-04 New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
06-13 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-26 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
07-12 Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park
07-13 Naas, Ireland - Oxegen Festival

Happy Street Patrick Day!

News Report of Leprechaun Sighting in Mobile, Alabama (2006)

Spring Music Excitement Schedule

With the official 1st day of Spring on Friday, it's probably a good time to preview what's hitting record stores in the coming weeks.

I've included the album covers(click to enlarge) for the ones I'm most excited about, and posted MP3s(right-click to download) for you to get excited about.

March 18th
Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams
Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens (MP3)
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (MP3)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Dodos - Visitor


March 25th

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue (MP3)
B-52s - Funplex






April 1st

Black Keys - Attack & Release (MP3)
Annuals - Wet Zoo EP
R.E.M - Accelerate



April 8th
Clinic - Do It
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (MP3)
Tapes N' Tapes - Walk It Off




April 15th
Brian Jonestown Massacre - My Bloody Underground (album preview)
Kooks - Konk - DEFINITELY DON'T BUY THIS (Kooks Suck!)
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Plastic Constellations - We Appreciate You
South - You Are Here
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha

April 22nd
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell (MP3)
Islands - Arm's Way (tentative date)
El Perro Del Mar - From the Valley to the Stars
Whitesnake - Good to Be Bad


April 29th
Constantines - Kensington Heights (MP3)
Portishead - Third
The Roots - Rising Down
Bun B - II Trill
Def Leppard - Songs from the Sparkle Lounge


May 6th
No Age - Nouns
Serena Maneesh - SM Backwards





May 13th
Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost (album preview)
Foxy Brown - Brooklyn's Don Diva





May 20th
Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head (...gratuitous, I know)

BBall Styles by the Miles

You've undoubtedly heard the real-world male fairy-tale of the trip through every Major League Baseball stadium in the States, or the more common tour of the classic parks. The romance of this notion doesn't escape me, though it's obviously doused in a fair bit of insanity, (obsession and most likely boredom).

Enter Andrew Cieszynski from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He's near the end of his tour of all 30 NBA Arenas in 1 season (a decidedly less romantic proposition than the baseball odyssey).


No doubt a taxing mission, and something that you'd imagine some rich retiree would take on. Not some youngish joe-blow who's simultaneously trying to hold down a modest job.

Well, he's on the verge of completing his journey. Kid's got moxy.

Check out what he had to say about his trip to Toronto RaptorLand: Raptors game. Or his trip to the Bay Area: Warriors game.

Here's an interview from Yahoo! Sports.

Song of the Week - "Fear"

The rowdy ones from Kelowna are back with a new LP entitled Shots.

Combining the tunefulness of their self-titled debut and the anarchy of, uh, the Fight for Anarchy EP, this new record is stellar. It's only something like 28 minutes long, but it burns bright with a unrehearsed spirit. Call it spontaneous combustion.

Listen to "Fear" (right click to download).

A Movie Thing - Photosynthesis 351

I've uploaded my first video on YouTube... finally.


It's a short thing I made during my time at Queen's University. I shot it with my pal Alessia in a Kingston alley way back in the early 00s. Holla back 2K3!

I'm going to try and post all my old shorts in the weeks to come, so subscribe to my channel to keep posted.

New "The Incredible Hulk" Trailer (Zanzibar Edition)

Starring Ed Norton and Toronto strip joint Zanzibar (which apparently is right down the street from the Appolo Theater (what the shit?!)).

• 
  

It was hard enough to explain to audiences Batman Begins as a reboot not associated with any of the earlier films. How will they differentiate 2008's The Incredible Hulk from 2003's Hulk.


Looks like the major distinguishing factor is this one's dumber. And there's another hulk, err...(help me out Hulk comic fans), another hulk type monster à la Godzilla versus Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again.

Tim Roth's the baddie and William Hurt plays General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross.

Which brings up the more important fact that I saw Tim Roth nodding out side stage at the White Stripes' Toronto show last summer. Also saw him in Kensington Market. Booyah!

"Guiding Light" Finds the Avant-Garde

The longest running soap opera ever, and the longest running scripted show period, "Guiding Light" has revamped its format (melo)dramatically.

Out with the traditional shooting style that soaps are known for, in with a new handheld DV format. They've even scrapped their old sets (designed to hold the static multi-camera set up, like a theater stage), and are shooting on location in Peapack, NJ.


I watched one episode last week, and they've far from mastered the technique, but it's an intriguing decision at the very least. The question remains though, will soap opera fans go for this? (and what will Lars von Trier's reaction be?)

EW has an article on the change here. Read Radar's smarmy comments here.

My Favorite Nolan Since Ryan

There's a good read (that doesn't give much away) over at the NYTimes on Christopher Nolan and the making of The Dark Knight.

Read it here.


128 days to go!

Play it again Stan

The New York Times has a very cool multimedia feature on how to play defense against the NBA's most powerful offensive weapons. It's called "The Defense Never Rests" and it's presented with audio from Stan Van Gundy.

Which reminds me, has anyone noticed that if you double-click any word in a Times article, a new window with a definition pops up. It's either very cool or very annoying.

"Watchmen" Images Released

In a blog post titled "One Year to Midnight", director Zack Snyder has unleashed some teaser photos from 2009's Watchmen. Enjoy, speculate, nitpick (and click images to expand):

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian

Snyder also notes that filming is complete, which means an entire year of post - wowza!

Conveniently enough, those reliable souls at the A.V. Club have put together an Alan Moore Primer. I hope for him and all of our sakes that this turns out better than the style over substance dud that was the other recent Moore adaptation, V for Vendetta.

Follow the link below for the rest of the photos:

Patrick Wilson as Night Owl

Matthew Goode as Ozymandias

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach

Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre

The Dark Knight Poster Update

These two posters (click for larger image) were released a while ago, but I just came across them recently while perusing Batman On Film. Only 131 days left.

Click "Rifle through the rest" to see the other poster...

The Youth of Today/Science Projects Gone Bad/Juicy Beans

For my money, this is one of the best things I've seen on the Internet in a long time.

At once hilarious and utterly terrifying. Photobasement compiled this collection of questionable kid's science projects.

Please, please, please... Check it all out here. I guarantee you'll laugh out loud at least once.

Keep reading on for more of my favourites...



I have to say, I'm definitely less haunted by the bleak promise of the video game addled youth of today, than I'm haunted by memories of glue and whiteboards and cutting out those damn bubble letters.

You['re]Tube is a wonderland...

Sometimes you run your mouse across the YouTube, and you wind up in the most beautiful crevices (sometimes you end up with shit on your finger).... Alas, some cool random videos:

From some of the people who brought you "Wainy Days", presenting mock soap opera... "Horrible People". Stay tuned to all 4 episodes for the gem line, "Don't let some dead zygote come between you an old friend."

Follow the below link for two more gems...



You may recognize him from such films as House of Flying Daggers and Infernal Affairs, Chinese Film/Pop Superstar Andy Lau saves fan from asshole (surprise!) security guards. Watch video here. Man, oh man... this guy is a freaking superhero!

At the Kustendorf 2008 Film Festival, Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica held a full-blown funeral for Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard. Watch video here. "A sunbathed Mecavnik is today shrouded in sorrow, Gone into eternity is Die Hard 4." I guess they're not so into Maggie Q...

Props to Kaiju Shakedown (Variety's Asian Film Blog) for the last two videos.

Trailer Park

This week's most interesting trailer releases feature two very poorly named films (brought to you by M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening):

First, there's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We can probably thank the Pirates franchise for the clumsy title. Click here for the trailer.

I don't know, the whole thing is so congealed by nostalgia that it seems inescapably irrelevant. But it could be fun, although just remember people it's a tetralogy, not a "quadrilogy".


And then there's Olivier Assayas's new film, Boarding Gate. I'll forgive the title here since Asia Argento levels out the cool factor (click the poster for an example of what I mean). Click here for the trailer.

Although it's unlikely to reach the genius of Irma Vep, hopefully it's better than Demonlover (which is setting the bar pretty low).


Bonus Trailer: Love Songs