LDS Church Opposes Human Rights

America is coming out of the Dark Ages little by little. Women were eventually able to vote, and then we stopped hanging black people from trees and now we have both a woman and a black presidential candidate.

And now there's even more hope that America is reaching adulthood, gay marriage is now legal in California.

I'm sure you've all heard.

The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 overturning an unconstitutional law banning gay marriage.

Here in Utah, the local news immediately got statements from the LDS church about the decision. I find it ridiculous that an organization, supposedly based on journalism, would immediately think to get a reaction from an organization based on campfire stories. Seriously, whenever a big news story hits the nation, the local Utah news first goes "let's find out what the LDS Church thinks". People who believe in an invisible space-being who created all of existence and then knocked up a married woman with a miracle-toting superhero are the FIRST people you go to for a statement?

But I digress.

The LDS Church called the California decision to grant equal rights to human beings "unfortunate".

And that... is unfortunate.

However, I would bet solid money on the fact that the church itself will change its stance 10-20 years from now. If tithing hits a plateau or if prejudice starts losing them membership (like it did in the late 70s with racism), they'll "hear a message from God" and pretty soon there will be a Gay Mormon Men's Choir. That would be brilliant.

Well wishes from Anakin

For those who haven't heard, Anakin accidentally set himself on fire yesterday. But, as you can see, he's doing a lot better.

He wanted to let everyone know himself, though.

If blogger doesn't work, here's a link for youtube.

BE IN MY MOVIE...

If you're in the Utah area:

I've been shooting a short film all week and it all ends tomorrow night at THE WOOD SHED bar and music lounge.

If you could come and just drink some beer and listen to music while I shoot, I'll make sure you get in the movie.

I just need a moderate crowd there.

Here are the details:

-Steve's short film shooting
-THE WOOD SHED bar and music lounge
-Free door cost
-Some discounted beer and shots
-60 E. 800 S. Salt Lake City
-Show up at 8pm
-We won't go past 10 or 11.

If you come, I will owe you a big one...

STEVEN

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's day, we put together a list over at Big Shiny Robot of top 10 Mother's of Nerd-dom...

It's a pretty great list.

Go over there, check it out and offer any additions you may have.

Dino, Jimmy Stewart and Orson Welles

This is too bizarre and interesting not to be shared.

This is Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Orson Welles on a comedy variety show (I imagine Dino's) doing a comedy sketch and musical number.



Once I started watching it, I couldn't stop. Here are three men who are titans in three completely different ways (each personal favorites of mine for different reasons) doing this hokey and bizarre number.

Wow.

NEW SHORT FILM

It's called "Blow It", and I'm filming it over 4 days. I am currently not sleeping. I shot last night until 3:00am. I hope it turns out half-way competent...

Iron Man Review

Not since 2005's Revenge of the Sith have I been so thoroughly satisfied by a nerd night out at the movies. It wasn't just the movie, the movie was great, but not all of it, it was the experience that started in the theatre beforehand, continued when the trailers started to roll and ended on a fade-out of Samuel L. Jackson.

Let's start with the trailers, which, in my opinion, were as exhilerating as the film itself:

The Dark Knight - This is the trailer that caused so much hullabaloo in the last week and I actually wish I hadn't watched the bootleg and understand now, why Warner Brothers was holding off on putting it on the internet until Sunday. It hit me very hard that I should be seeing this shit for the first time on the big screen and not on a postage-stamp on my computer.

The Incredible Hulk - I wasn't sold on the idea of needing a reboot of the Hulk franchise so quickly. I liked the first film and nothing was really pulling me for this new Hulk film. This trailer changed my mind (especially in light of the post-credits scene of Iron Man).

Prince Caspian - It looks pretty good, but Anakin told me he wants to see it, so it looks like I'm in no matter what.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I had the opportunity to see this trailer on the internet a few days ago and opted against it, hoping beyond hope that it would be on Iron Man. Tears of joy welled in my eyes and May 22 will not come fast enough.

Then Iron Man started.

I was hoping for a lot, but not expecting as much as I hoped for. And, although it wasn't a perfect film (it certainly had flaws), it kicked ass in all the right ways. The acting, across the board was great. Robert Downey, Jr. inhabits the character of Tony Stark in a way that has to be seen to be believed. And I imagine that the studio executives who fought Favreau on casting him are this close to being fired. Jeff Bridges is a joy to watch because it looks like he's having as much fun in the role as the audience is having watching it.

And Gwyneth Paltrow. I've missed her so much. She was amazing in this film for what she was given and absolutely adorable beyond belief.

Terrence Howard did well with what little he had to do, but he wasn't there for this film. He's there for the next film.

The film moved quickly and despite it's 126 minute running time it actually felt like it ended short. Favreau kept the pacing as tight as possible and it paid off. He really did leave the audience wanting more fighting. And the fighting was done so well that I was completely unable to discern what was a physical Winston studio effect and what was a digital Industrial Light and Magic effect. Which is perfect, I don't want to know what was real and what wasn't, I want to believe that the Iron Man armour can work.

So much so, I'm wondering why we haven't built any yet. Jesus.

But, hands down, the best scene in the movie is the post credits scene where Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) comes to recruit Tony Stark for the Avengers. I almost lost control of all of my bodily functions during this scene.

No doubt, this movie is going to mop up at the boxoffice. (At least until Indiana Jones comes out.) My recommendation? Go see it. Now.

In the meantime, I'm going to see it again. And then another time. And then it should be time for Indiana Jones.

Iron Man Review Tomorrow

I just got back from Iron Man.

Check this space tomorrow for a full review.


The short answer? This movie was rad.

NEW DARK KNIGHT TRAILER

Here's the link to the HD trailer.

WARNERS BROS REMOVED THE ONE WE HAD

They must have shit loads of copyright trackers who just surf the net looking to fuck up nerds.

Indiana Jones TV Spot

Killer at Large on the News

KSL Eyewitness News did a piece about our Producer and Killer At Large.

So...

Check it out.

Venture Bros. Season 3 preview.

'Nuff said.

BATMAN ON DRUGS

Republican Tactics Against Harvey Dent

You all know there's a boatload of viral marketing going on for The Dark Knight. I'm not sure if there's a cost benefit to it for Warner Bros. yet, but it's fun as hell. In fact, I can't figure out why Marvel hasn't started working on viral marketing for the Hulk yet. That's a movie that can use it.

Anyhow, the opponents of Harvey Dent are push polling in the most Republican ways right now.

Don't believe me?

Check out Big Shiny Robot. They've got a rundown on it and the phone number to call to take the poll yourself.

HONG KONG FILM TAGLINES

List Of Actual Subtitles Used In Films Made In Hong Kong When Translated To English:

hattip BLAMEITONTHEVOICES

I am damn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.

Fatty, you with your thick face have hurt my instep.

Gun wounds again?

Same old rules: no eyes, no groin.

A normal person wouldn't steal pituitaries.

Damn, I'll burn you into a BBQ chicken!

Take my advice, or I'll spank you without pants.

Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?

Quiet or I'll blow your throat up.

You always use violence. I should've ordered glutinous rice chicken.

I'll fire aimlessly if you don't come out!

You daring lousy guy.

Beat him out of recognizable shape!

I have been scared shitless too much lately.

I got knife scars more than the number of your leg's hair!

Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.

The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?

How can you use my intestines as a gift?

This will be of fine service for you, you bag of the scum. I am sure you will not mind that I remove your manhoods and leave them out on the dessert flour for your aunts to eat.

Yah-hah, evil spider woman! I have captured you by the short rabbits and can now deliver you violently to your gynecologist for a thorough extermination.

Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karate feets on some ass of the giant lizard person.

Best Schwarzenegger Movie Clip Ever

More Dark Knight Virals

Harvey Dent held a press conference today...

Or was set to at least, until a hostage situation broke out.

Here's the video.



For more updates, check out Big Shiny Robot.

Clone Wars Trailer!

Star Wars is better than all of you.

Click here for a link to a new theatrical Clone Wars trailer.

Goodfellas.

'Nuff said.

Saturday Short

I made a Saturday Short today. I know it's Sunday. This went from conception to final product in about 5 hours and my son and my nephew helped with the story.

"Mormon Hunnies" and This Divided State

I was trolling about the internet and found these "Mormon Hunnies" discussing This Divided State...

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Widget

Countdown to the new trailer...

Shine a Light and Leatherheads

A few nights ago, we all got tickets to see an advanced screening of Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary at an IMAX theatre.

It was amazing, but to call it a documentary is something of a misnomer. True, it has documentary elements to it, perhaps 20 minutes of fantastic archive footage, but this really is a concert film.

But what a concert film!

The Rolling Stones have been a rock and roll mainstay for as long as I've lived doubled and to see them on a screen four stories high, I assumed that their age would show. I'm so glad that assumption was laid quickly to rest.

The performance of the Rolling Stones hasn't aged a day.

This film proves without a doubt that the Rolling Stones deserve their long careers as rock stars, no questions asked. And each member of the band was given his time in the spotlight, both in the archive footage and on the stage. Aside from Mick Jagger, who has always been and probably always will be the most energetic member of the group, it was amazing to see Keith Richards step into the spotlight. It doesn't look as though time has been kind to him, but when the he steps into the spotlight it's like he's a different person.

The sound and image were so good that I felt like I was part of the crowd. So much so that I felt like the people behind me were clapping. Also, I strongly desired a beer.

My only complaint about the film? I wish there was more of the documentary interludes. In a 2 hour film, we got 1 hour and 40 minutes of concert and 20 minutes of documentary and I would have liked to see that evened out a little bit more.

But how can I complain? I watched an amazing Stones performance that's probably the closest thing I'll ever get to seeing them live... Unless they tour again. In which case, I'm there.

My recommendation? If you like the Rolling Stones, you have to see this film. If you don't like the Stones, well then... There's probably something wrong with you.

So, next on the agenda:


George Clooney's Leatherheads. I went to see this tonight and it was pretty funny. I mean, there can be no mistake, it really is a fairly competent ape of screwball comedies from the 30's. It's not as good as my favorites, but it was competent.

Clooney has impressed me as a filmmaker with all of his films. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck have both found their way into my DVD collection. I really liked the both of them. Clooney also has this Cary Grant quality to him that is undeniable. He's just bloody fun to watch.

This was clearly a directorial outing based around recreating a light-hearted screwball romp and it works. Yes, it has problems. Yes, there are a few weird things with the time setting of the film in relation to the War. Yes, the other guy, Kraz....whatever the dude from that show on TVs name is...is a little too old for the part.

But it doesn't matter. This movie is a throwback to a day when movies didn't have to make total sense. And they could have wholes. It was a throwback to when all a movie had to do was entertain and that's all this movie did for me. And it did it in a style I love.

And so, that made it worth watching for me.

Another important thing to note: I hate, hate, hate football. And that wasn't a deal breaker in this movie. There really wasn't much football in it. It was about the characters and that was good times.

So. There you go. Shine a Light and Leatherheads.

Quick Update

1) I posted a new piece on Short Story... Short film rather. I wrote this one for Joel. Read it here.

2) Another press mention of Killer At Large. Read it here.

3) Some reviews of KAL should be up and around soon. We're getting some coverage for this upcoming festival.

4) I saw the Scorsese-Stones doc, "Shine A Light" a few days ago. Hopefully I'll have time to write up my thoughts about it tonight. Look for that.

5) There was something else I wanted to tell everyone, but I forgot what it was. But just so there's a link to click, go to Big Shiny Robot!

BRAND NEW "DARK KNIGHT" TRAILER

FOR BRYAN

2 Festivals

So, Killer At Large is playing Tuesday night at the First Take Film Festival in Augusta, Georgia.

Jitterbug just got accepted into the Maryland Film Festival as well.

So, we're swamped with publicity work at the moment.

Also, the local paper here mentioned Killer At Large in the paper today.

Clown Travel Agency

So, "The Dark Knight" had another of it's viral marketing campaigns today. At 3:00 pm the "Clown Travel Agency" left a riddle in place for people to figure out and follow. Miraculously, Salt Lake City was listed amongst cities participating in the campaign.

Without a seconds hesitation, some of the other Big Shiny Robots (Kill-Tacular-Tron) helped me figure out the riddle:

Ready to Have a Ball?

A Special Bag of Fun Awaits the First to Claim It,
But You'd Better Strike Fast, There's
No Time To Spare.

We were thinking the baseball stadium for a minute, but we realized that there were no spares in baseball. (We're nerds, not jocks.) Bowling Alley.

So we dropped everything at the office and headed to the largest bowling alley closest to downtown:


Here we are... The AMF Bowling alley on 2200 S. State Street in Salt Lake...


Going in....

When we got inside, we were told to talk to the lady at the front desk. Dr. Cyborg asked her what was going on with the Clown Travel Agency and we were promptly told that she couldn't tell us anything. "I'm not aloud to say anything more than you have your clues and you're in the right place."

As we looked around, we realized that there were a dozen other fellow Bat-nerds, all on cell-phones trying to get the clues to find the bag of whatever. Some of us assumed it would just be some type of Bat-loot.

We followed suit, jumped on our phones and started asking for help, but we were too late. Some Bat-nerds more enterprising than we deduced that whatever it was was in a locker in the alley. The combination was somewhere on the website and they got a bowling bag.

Inside the bag? A Joker playing card, a cell phone...


...and a Joker bowling ball:

Notice a phone number on the bowling ball?

So did we. The gents that found it used the phone provided in the bag to call the number and then left promptly.

What did it say?



So... They know who we are...

How comforting.

(Also, I gave my card to the guys with the ball and they said they'd email me any more updates about what happens with the phone.... So, look for that....)

UPDATE: Now that all the cities have finished their treasure hunt, we’re being asked to go to a website called http://acmesecuritysystems.com/delos, type in the password “Needle” and our email address…. More when I find out what the hell is up, as it is, the server is too busy to process my request….

UPDATE 2: I did what I needed to on the website and Jim Gordon called me.

Check it out:



(Cross posted at Big Shiny Robot)

Armageddon in Retrospect

The new (and, sadly, probably the last) Vonnegut book came out today.

I picked up a copy this morning. I'll read it tonight and have something to say about it tomorrow. Also, be on the look out, I've got advanced tickets to Scorsese's "Shine A Light" tonight.

So, until then, I'm going to go steal a mirror.

Karl Rove, Evil Genius

I don't like Karl Rove. I mean, as far as his politics go, he's a pretty evil person.

But just because someone is evil, it doesn't mean that they aren't brilliant.

Rove wrote this piece about the Democratic nominating convention for Newsweek and it's one of the best pieces of punditry I've read in a long time. It's insightful, spot-on, well-written and... okay, I'll admit it... brilliant.

So, here it is: The Dems' Knife Fight.

Nader talks about consumer protection

God bless that man.

I mean, if you believe there is a God.

Which there probably isn't... But, whatever... Either way, Ralph Nader is a prince.

Killer At Large

I just got an acceptance letter from a film festival for Killer At Large.

More info soon to come.

I was going to write a review for Run, Fatboy, Run but then decided not to. It was pretty "meh." It had 3, maybe 4, kind of funny jokes in it. The filmmaking was pretty pedestrian.

Anyhow, more info soon.

Jitterbug

A short film Elias, Steve and I Executive Produced (meaning we helped a little in post) has been accepted to 2 festivals and has a website now.

It's called Jitterbug.

It's a great little film and you can watch it over at the website. I'm really happy to be involved with it.

But it's premiering in May at the Charleston and Berkshire Film Festivals.

Check it out and be sure to watch for it.

Clinton's Bosnia Trip

This is certainly not any type of nail in the coffin of the Clinton campaign, but this is pretty funny. In this day and age of 24 hour news, you should assume people have tape of any public event or photo-op you've ever been to. So you should make damn sure to watch the tape before you recollect anything.

Also, pay close attention to the Clinton camp's spin-doctor in the video. They're rationale for the gaffe is actually laugh out loud funny.

Sexy Politics

I've finally found a website that combines two of my greatest pleasures:

1) trivia quizzes (in this case those of the political variety)

and

2) watching cute girls take off their clothes

Indeed, Sexypolitics.com has come up with a great incentive for learning about the things that affect you politically. I mean, honestly, who wouldn't take politics a little more seriously if they could watch girls in various outfits and uniforms take off a bit of clothing with each correct answer?

The only downside? It's safe for work.

Anyhow, apparently I'm pretty good at it. I've only done about 10 quizzes and made the top 10 high scores on most of them. (It sucks, I did the one that I got the #1 score for before I registered.)

Anyhow, check it out.