Sunday, December 19, 2010

AllMoPs 16

All Manner of Plugs: Issue 16 (12.11.2010)
a weekly informing and recommending email

Written by J.S. Lewis

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PLUG IN

How ya doin'? Thanks for doin' what ya do. You're welcome for doin' what I do. Let's both just keep doin' what we doin'. Dude.

Firstly, I want to thank my sister Mandy who gave both AllMoPs and The Film Tome a snazzy makeover, including original designs for each blog's title. This is the start for better and better. Thanks sis!

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MVOTW


Remember last week when I featured the a cappella covers of "Dynamite"? Well, here's yet another version by the lovable hosts of the Today Show (as part of their "Today Goes Viral" series). It's surprisingly good and just all around light-hearted fun. Al Rocker is the bee's knees! It's worth mentioning that Mike Tompkins help them pull this off. Check out the making of this video.

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A LIST*
*My love for lists marches on with this new addition to AllMoPs.

Each year Time magazine unveils their list of the best photos of the year that graced their pages. 2010.

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NEWS TO ME

Think Nativity programs at the local church are a safe and harmless activity? Watch this and think again.

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MONKEY DO

Late Monday night a baby orangutan was born, a welcome addition to the Melbourne Zoo. See attached storyfor an adorably silly pic.

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RANDOMONIA

If this unsettling video does not exhort you to keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel, I don't know what will. It is disturbing. It is dramatic. It is quite beautiful. I apologize for the poor quality, it is the best I could find. Please drive safe.

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GAMERAIN

"Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" is getting a lot of love. I really wanted to know why and after just watching 3-minutes of gameplay during Gamespot's video review I think I do know. Can't wait to try this one for myself! It has totally reinvented the classic "Pac-Man" in a welcome way. The game currently boasts a 95% on Metacritic. It's available for download on Xbox 360 and PS3.

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THE FILM TOME REPORT

THE TRAILER ROUND-UP

The third trailer for "Tron: Legacy" came out a month ago. This link will take you to them and a few clips Disney has released. The trailers make this film look like the coolest thing since "Inception." However, the clips (especially the one with Castor) left me worried, especially about the dialogue. Might we have another "Avatar" on our hands? A gorgeous film with spectacular special effects and exciting action sequences, but a script in need of work (namely the spoken word). "Tron: Legacy" comes out next week.

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" has an interesting trailer until we actually see the transformer. At that point all excitement left me. I've seen the first and frankly, that was enough. Again, special effects do not make a movie... they make tech demos.

You've been forewarned, the second and latest trailer for "Rio" decreased my eagerness to see it. It is a little distracting to have who I now associate as Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) voice the main bird. On top of that, movie trailer man rattles off a bunch of other famous people who have donated their voices to the cause. That's dandy and all, but that's not necessarily going to make a fine flick. The narrative will, which has a good enough premise. The animation looks very nice, but that's not hard to come by these days.

If a baby orangutan wasn't enough... "Nenette" is a 40-year-old orangutan! She is the oldest resident in a Paris zoo. That could be a fascinating premise of a new Pixar film, but it's not. It is a documentary, but it still looks fascinating! This brings back memories of "Koko: A Talking Gorilla," another primate-y documentary (from 1978) that I love.

Add some testosterone to your weekend with the first trailer for "Thor." This superhero's backstory is especially unique. Anthony Hopkins (who plays Odin) looks great with more hair than ever! Kenneth Branagh, yes, Kenneth Branagh, directs.

None of these trailers left my jaw dropped or mind bewildered. So, no awards this week.

ENLISITED

Stephen King likes putting his Top 10 Films of the Year list out early. He says he considers the years from November to November. He is a compelling writer and this is a compelling list (his Top 10 Films of 2010).

THE GOOD

This is good news to me because, unlike many humans, I thoroughly enjoyed each installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. They were entertaining movies, each with its own grandiose set-pieces. Johnny Depp's performance was a revelation and the antagonists in each film delivered brilliant performances. The stories were wild adventures on the high seas, set against a historical era, but steeped in mythologies. I deem the trilogy a huge success. It is with this forward that I share with you some production stills from the fourth installment "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." The film is due May 20th and I am optimistic again for one of the better series coming out of Hollywood's gates. the brilliance of Depp and Geoffery Rush (who is making a splash this year with his performance in "The King's Speech") return with some new faces. The biggest change is the man in the director's chair: Gore Verbinski has been replaces with Rob Marshall ("Chicago" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"). Does that mean we can expect a few musical numbers? Bring it on! I'm guessing we can look forward to a trailer in the next or month or so.

THE BAD

I was looking VERY forward to the new Farrelly Brothers film, "The Three Stooges." Unfortunately the three wonderful leads they had casted (Jim Carrey, Sean Penn, and Benecio Del Toro) all jumped ship. I easily imagined the greatness that trio would deliver... Well, the Farrellys aren't giving up. They are looking to cast three new stooges. JoBlo.com covers the story in their humorous "Cast This" segment.

AND THE WEIRD

Emma Stone (from "Zombieland" and "Easy A") is staring as Peter Parker's initial love interest, Gwen Stacy, in the "Spider-Man" reboot. Proof. The role was played quite well by Bryce Dallas Howard in the "old" one. It still leaves me scratching my head that we're getting an all new "Spider-Man" film franchise this soon... Do you know the other roles? Andrew Garfield (Eduardo in "The Social Network") is the main man. Martin Sheen is Uncle Ben. Sally Field as Aunt May. Rhys Ifans (?) is going to play the first villain, The Lizard. Of course, his character was once a doctor. Marc Webb (who was pointed out to me as having a fitting last name) snags this as his second feature directing (after "(500) Days of Summer").

KEEPIN' IT SHORT


This is a powerful animated short. An interesting and inspiring take on the Greek myth.

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UNPLUG

Fluffy moose! If you have any comments, questions, requests, complaints or threats please let your voice be heard by allmops@gmail.com. If you wish to be removed from the AllMoPs send-list, let me know. If you wish to add someone, let me know. Remember, all previous AllMoPs are available at my blog, All Manner of Posts. Keep it chill and thanks for plugging in!

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Sunday, December 5, 2010

AllMoPs 15

All Manner of Plugs: Issue 15 (12.5.2010)
a weekly informing and recommending email

Written by J.S. Lewis

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PLUG IN

Dear one, dear all! Hope y'all had a fabulous Thanksgiving ("And I'm thankful! Are you thankful?") week. You may or may not have noticed that AllMoPs took a well-deserved break last week. Well, we're back now with plugs-a-plenty! Merrymake.

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MVOTW

We got a triple-feature up in here! Raise doz handz 'n keep 'em up!


Tompkin's deserves a Grammy for this. The boy's done an a cappella cover Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." He performs every vocal version of various instruments himself. Make sure you watch till the end when it breaks each sound down. An incredible song and production. This is a one-man-show that's going down in the history books fo sho.


A Jewish a cappella group in NY has done a parody of Tompkin's work. That's right, this is a variation on a variation. Some nice Jewish twists here... "spin the dreeeeeeeeeidel" is gonna be the new catchphrase on the streets folks. Eat it up!


The multiple PIPs (picture-in-picture) MV format reminded me of this gem by SOUR. This has been in my mind ever since I first saw it (thanks to Lyvia, my TMA 102 TA). The song itself is nothing to write home about, but the genius of multiple web-cam interactions is required viewing. Just imagining trying to plan this gives me a headache... Props SOUR & Co. for making one of the neatest MVs I've ever seen.

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MONKEY DO

Did you know there is an Annual Monkey Festival in Thailand. Thousands of chimps are presented to a feast with over 3 tons of food, while hundreds humans watch. I hope to witness the festivities for myself someday. Story (with video and pics) here.

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RANDOMONIA

Okay. Trust me on this. Plug in your headphones and listen to this. (Thanks Nancy!)

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THE FILM TOME REPORT

THE TRAILER ROUND-UP

I remember hearing word about this on the web months ago... I was thrilled to stumble upon the trailer just now. "The Beaver" stars Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster. The film is directed by the latter. It's hard to take the film's ridiculous premise, subject matter, and namesake seriously, but the makers ain't kidding when they declare "Genre: Drama." Something like this is easier to swallow having seen "Lars and the Real Girl," a nice small film (like "The Beaver") about a guy who overcome's personal problems and mental illness through a relationship with a doll. Like a heist plan hatched in a "Ocean's"-movie, this just might be crazy enough to work. It's good to see Gibson again.

Speaking of the "Ocean's" series... here is a doc from the mastermind (Steven Soderbergh) behind the remake and its welcomed sequels: "And Everything is Going Fine." This is a tribute for and about Spalding Gray, a zealous storyteller. All who tell stories can find something of interest herein. This came as a pleasant surprise.

"Mars Needs Moms." If you say so. This CGI-adventure from Disney is one of the most realistic looking computer animations I have ever seen. I just hope the narrative and innovations can match the visual detail.

Another good-looking CG-animated feature. This one is appropriately due come Spring. You see, "Hop" is about the Easter Bunny. It comes from the studio behind "Despicable Me," a film I thought I'd deplore and actually quite liked. (Isn't that bunny playing "The Song" by Blur?)

Toss of the Week: Did you know Earth Day was April 22nd? Well, now we both do. I've missed Disneynature's previous Earth Day releases ("Earth" and "Oceans"), but I'm putting "African Cats" on my calender. I've still yet to catch up with the "Planet Earth" series and the aforementioned Disneynature features, but believe I love love love nature docs. "African Cats" looks astounding. Cinematography and documentation at its finest. I'm thrilled!

KEEPIN' IT SHORT*
*In this all-new segment within "The Film Tome Report," I will be delivering a short film for your consideration.

Directed by Aaron Yonda

This humorous and clever bit won Best Short Film and Best Concept at the Chicago Horror Film Festival in 2006. I thoroughly enjoy perspective pieces like this. On a somewhat related note, "The Bottle Neck" by Hans Christian Anderson is a personal favorite.

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UNPLUG

Chubby wombats! If you have any comments, questions, requests, complaints or threats please let your voice be heard by allmops@gmail.com. If you wish to be removed from the AllMoPs send-list, let me know. If you wish to add someone, let me know. Remember, all previous AllMoPs are available at my blog, All Manner of Posts. Start making the best of the last month of this new decade and thanks for plugging in!

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