a weekly recommendations email
Written by J.S. Lewis
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PLUG IN
Here we go! Issue 2! The first step is often considered the most important. No matter what direction, what decision, what destination, the first step starts you there. However, the second step speaks volumes. The second step is the first step to demonstrate a continuation. There are three times: none, once, and more than once. The second step is the beginning of "more than once." Okay, I'll stop. Thanks for plugging in again!
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MVOTW
Michel Gondry is one of world' s greatest visionaries. He is the guy behind "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "The Science of Sleep," and yes, sweded films. He occasionally brings his ideas to the realm of music videos. Also, this is a pretty sweet song.
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RANDOMONIA*
*This section will feature links to rather random items, like today's video of a dancing panda:
I'm not sure what is more worth highlighting, the baby panda in this clip or the annoying commentary by the lady filming it. Decide for yourself.
I came across this link on a friend's blog (tifsong.). Just click on the plug and begin scrolling down the page and be amazed.
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GAMERAIN
Familiar with "Fable"? It is a very successful series from one of the most creative video game developers, Lionhead Studios, and their ringleader Peter Molyneux. I was a huge fan of the first (a revolutionary action-RPG), but have only spent a little time with the second. The third installment is coming out on October 26 for the Xbox 360 and the opening cinematic for the game has been released. Like last week's clip for the new "BioShock" game, it is one of the best in recent memory and works just fine as a short film (with or without knowledge of the game itself, though with is obviously more rewarding). Seriously, this stuff is on par with the Pixar shorts they show before each feature! Do yourself a favor and check it out.
"Halo: Reach" is nearly among us. It falls into trembling hands on September 14th. I will be responsible for two of them. As part of their advertising campaign they have released several trailers, teasers, and some live-action bits. It is impressive. The modern trend for spreading word on video games results in creative projects all on their own. The best way to describe many of them being "short films". You can imagine my appreciation and approval! Just look at a some of these for Bungie's (the studio that started the "Halo") final entry in the beloved franchise: "Deliver Hope," "Remember Reach," and Rooster Teeth's "Red Vs. Blue: Deja View."
"Mafia II" is now out (on 360, PS3, and PC)! It is the sequel to the superb PC game released back in 2002, which is still one of the grandest stories I've ever come across in a video game. "Mafia" is proof that games can have character growth, compelling drama, and prove to be a playable cinematic experience. The sequel is made by the same studio (always a good sign if the first was good) and is currently receiving really good reviews (about a 80% average on Metacritic for the PC version, a bit lower scores for the console releases). I spent a little bit of time with the demo yesterday. It feels true to the original, looks and sounds great, but is still quite a different game. I'm not sure if I will be playing the whole thing anytime soon with the likes of "Reach" almost here and all.
Now for some pitiful news: A man in Hawaii is suing NCsoft (a video game company in South Korea) for $3,000,000. Why? He's addicted to one of their games, "Lineage II." Craig Smallwood claims he has clocked in around 20,000 hours playing the game and he is so hooked he can't take care of himself anymore. "Lineage II" is a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) like the infamous "World of Warcraft." An article from Hawaii News Now simply states, "A federal judge is allowing the lawsuit." I first heard about the story from this news clip on NBC.
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THE FILM TOME REPORT
One of the most bewildering offscreen happenings in Hollywood in recent years has been the passage of Jaoquin Phoenix. "What the heck happened?" is all most of us can utter in regard to the man's current life. Back in October of 2008 he announced his retirement from acting in order to focus solely on the start of his rapping career. I still vividly recall seeing his changed persona on "Letterman." Sheesh! What the heck happened? This was the once outgoing and charming actor responsible for such remarkable performances as his portrayal of Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line" and playing a venomous prince in "Gladiator." We all saw him and loved him in M. Night Shyamalan's (another guy of who we sometimes wonder "what the heck happened?") "Signs." Well, now the offscreen flummox is going to be seen onscreen (I'd say "viewer discretion strongly advised" after what I've read the film contains). Casey Affleck (Ben's little bro) has also donned a director's cap for a documentary entitled "I'm Still Here," subtitled "The Lost Year of Jaoquin Phoenix." Ready for more confounding fodder? Take a look at this trailer. But wait, there's more! (This story just gets more and more intriguing...) Compare these two statements made by Phoenix (as found on Wiki) at different times to different ears: in response to whether or not his "rapping career" was a hoax he said, "This is not a joke. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention." Then, on another occasion, he said, "It's a put-on. I'm going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it." If the latter is truth, the guy is a genius in my book (like Shyamalan), but loses points for letting the cat out of the bag. If the former is true... what the heck? (like Shyamalan)
Anytime the English director Danny Boyle makes a film I am going to see it. His films never bore and always puff my noggin (i.e. "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine"). He also crafted quite a gem that is moving up my own "Top Films" list every day, the Best Picture winner from last year, "Slumdog Millionaire." Boyle also snagged Best Director that night. Thus, I'm eagerly awaiting his next project: "127 Hours." I'm excited about another Boyle-ride, the proficient James Franco playing the lead, and story's origin. Here's a quick synopsis as found on Apple's Movie Trailer site: "'127 Hours' is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah." Us Utahns remember this story well, especially how it ends. Boyle called it "an action movie with a guy who can't movie." Here's the first trailer released for the film. I know where I'm going to be on November 5th!
I first saw this a week or so ago... a child movie critic reviewing some of the latest summer movies. This clip is not only relevant, because the films discussed are still in theaters and are all well-worth knowing about, but also shockingly funny. This tyke is a wee-bit eccentric to say the least eh? He has a clever critic title: "Lights, Camera, Jackson!," but I still have a grudge against him for giving "Inception" anything but an "A" (according to his scholastic grading-scale aptly dubbed "Report Card").... then I have to remind myself, he's eleven. Check it out!
Like aliens? Like monsters? In movies I mean. I sure do! Two of my favorite films from the last decade fit into those two camps, " 괴물 (The Host)" and "Cloverfield." Maybe you're as excited as me for "Skyline" and the cleverly named "Monsters." Then again, maybe not. Both are from relatively new directors who were responsible for visual effects before they got seats with their names on it. Both come out later this year. However, the monster/alien flick I'm most psyched for will be coming out next summer: "Super 8." Produced by Spielberg and directed by J.J. Abrams, nuff said. But I will say this: J.J. is a modern-day King Midas... everything he touches is gold.
Friends and family frequently question me, "Is 'Inception' still number three?" They are referring, of course, to IMDb's Top 250 where "Inception" has been sitting between the "The Godfather"s for a month's time. Well, I just checked this afternoon and it has gone down one notch. "Inception" is currently #4 folks. We call this "settling", expect more to come.
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UNPLUG
Issue 2 is past, and yet, not long ago it was new as can be. 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. Until next week, have a fabulous remainder of August and thanks for plugging in!
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