Friday Grab Bag

• So This is Christmas...er...It WAS Christmas, Wasn't It? - Every year the good folks over at Venture Industries releases some sort of holiday treat (last year it was the Monarch & Dr. Girlfriend's stirring rendition of the Bing & Bowie classic "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth"). Well this year is no exception. Over at Quick Stop Entertainment, the team of Jackson Publick & Doc Hammer - along with a plethora of their voice actors - has unleashed holiday Hell in the form of a superb cover of a traditional British christmas song. Right click here to download.
• Direct to Podcast? That Makes Me the Premiere - Remember how you used to love Mystery Science Theater 3000? Remember those crazy halcyon days you would talk about the show (referring to it in the ultra hip, yet fairly efficient, manner of "MST3K") endlessly? Hoping there was someway Mike and the 'Bots could bring their snarky comments to more recent films? And what if I told you that you could have those voices in your head during the movie come from an iPod and not just your repressed traumatic memories of boy scout camp? Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, stop talking to your computer. People will think there's something wrong with you. Are you out of your damn mind? But more importantly, head on over to RiffTrax. RiffTrax is the revolutionary interactive commentary system by Mike Nelson (he played "Mike" on MST3K - not much in the character name stretching dept., but that's life) and usually features at least one fellow cohort (usually one of the voices of the bots!). Basically you pay anywhere from 99 cents to $3.99 for a audio file, download it to your computer, put it on your favorite Mp3 player, and then play it during the particular movie featured. It's a pretty cool idea and I wouldn't be surprised if this starts popping up all over the place. Anyways, head on over and check out some of the free samples.
• Not Funny, But Still Pretty Friggin Cool - Yup, Giant Squids are all over the place. Do NOT fuck with them. I remember a time when we didn't even know they existed, and now it appears that we're gonna have to battle them all for the supremacy of our world. Oh well. They used a chainsaw to defeat the one in Peter Benchley's The Beast, so how tough can they be? Special Props to my Friend Erin who sent me this link with the note "Don't Go in the Water! Giant Squids are more plentiful than we thought!" Excellent use of the word "plentiful" - 5 points.
• Prepare Mind for Imminent Blowing - Check this out, y'all! Gonna need some sound for this:

• Trust Me, It's For Your Own Good - Listen, I understand no one really WANTS to see United 93. It's a too soon wound that many of us can easily recall what happened and how we felt that day. But you really should see it. To quote one of those oh so clever writers at Ain't It Cool News, United 93 is "the very best movie that I will never, ever see again". It's an amazing movie that is emotionally riveting. It feels like a documentary, and even though you know the general outline of the whole situation, you still seem to be waiting on the edge of your seat for the next moment the entire time. Since so many "real" people were used in it (real United stewardesses, the actual people from the Air Traffic Control offices on 9/11) it has a real sense of authenticity about it, which just ratchets up the tension and the emotion even more. Of all the films i've seen this year, only United 93 and The Fountain left me feeling emotional and truly moved by what I just saw. Both left me asking questions about how I was living my life and how I was showing my love to others. It's an important movie that people shouldn't be afraid to watch. I can't recommend it highly enough, and you shouldn't shrink away from the movie just because it makes you uncomfortable. If anything, you should encounter such a movie head on, and force yourself to undergo it in an attempt at finding some sort of resolution. Go see United 93!
• This Is For the ONE PERSON Who Hasn't Been Sent This in a Mass Email Yet. So Keith, this One's For You - Here's a cool collection of pavement drawings this guy, Julian Beever (stop giggling), creates on sidewalks around the world. He uses forced perspective in his drawing to create some of these cool images. Some of them are pretty cool, and almost all of them leave you feeling like you're being lied to - which I guess is a compliment.
• But What About "Best Performances By a Sassy and/or Ethnic Sidekick in '06"? - I love top ten lists. I do. I love when people start trying to codify things. Usually I don't agree with it, and often times I find myself realizing it's an incredibly subjective and futile effort to rank one artistic expression above another. But I'll be damned if I don't find myself reading all of them in December/January when all websites, TV shows, and magazines start printing them out. It serves multiple purposes for me: 1) it informs me of anything that's slipped under my radar, or reminds me of something I had meant to enjoy but forgot; B) It lets me know the pulse of the nation - how folks are feeling these days, what's enjoyable, what's not - it pretty much helps map out the critical landscape; iii) it tells me where the particular site/publication is in terms of its tastes, and if i can continue reading it in good conscience; Fourthly) it helps me hone my own thoughts about the previous year's output and debate the worth of the works. So yes, they are overly simplistic tools that continue our obsession with ranking things and comparing items that are incomparable, but they are also great ways to generate conversation, debates, and thought processes. So thanks again, Gawker.com, for the Top Ten Best Lindsay Lohan Farts of 2006 (although I think #7 - In Wilmer Valderrama's pool while Passed Out on Vicodin - is a little overhyped).
• Speaking of Which - The Top Ten Best of The Best of Lists for 2006/2007 -
  10) Best ReCut Film Trailers of 2006 by Rolling Stone - The ironic juxtaposition gets a LIL tedious after a while, but some of these are pure gold, I tells ya!
  9) Best of 2006, The Guest List at Pitchfork - Yes, Pitchfork is pretentious and longwinded and everything else that is wrong with them. Still they introduce me to tons of new music, good and bad, and keep me feeling hip. However, I actually prefer the guest list which shows what the indie kids themselves are listening to when not slumming it in Brooklyn.
  8) Best Viral Videos of 2006 at iFilm - You know that annoying/hilarious/annoying video you and everyone at VH1 was obsessed with for two weeks and now kind of feel ashamed of it? Here's all of them compiled in list form!
  7) TMZ's Naughtiest of 2006 - I like seeing people act crazy. And I love the word "firecrotch". It's just good olde fashioned fun.
  6) Top Ten Disappointing Children of Artists - Ouch. Just Ouch.
  5) Massawyrm's Best/Worst of 2006...Sorta - Yes I referenced this list earlier, but I happen to like the way the guy writes, and his specialty categories are pretty damn hilarious. Also, despite his insistence, it makes me really want to endure Little Man. It's like my own Everest. But with a bad, long-running midget joke.
  4) Best Links of 2006 on Kottke.Org - Nerdy? Oh Sweet Jesus, Yes. But Nerdy can be fun AND educational.
  3) AV Club's Year in Film 2006 - Despite being associated with a "joke magazine", the AV Club is offering some of the best film criticism out there. Although I don't always agree 100% with them, the critiques are well written and generally tend to hewn closer to my tastes than, say, Joel Siegel (more on him later).
  2) Top Ten Gayest Moments of 2006 - If Jackass Number Two isn't on the top of this list, then they ain't doin' their jobs.
  1) eFilmCritic's The Whores of The Year - hilarious! compelling! a thrillride! this is actually a pretty funny example of all of those movie quotes from the same nobodies who seem to love every movie and proclaimed White Chicks the next Citizen Kane. Also, I love me some "Douche Bag Award".
• WHAT AM I WATCHING: "The Office", "Scrubs", United 93, "Pardon the Interruption", Idle Hands, "Jeopardy", "Frisky Dingo", Oldboy (again), "Afro Samurai", "Robot Chicken", "Heroes", Pan's Labyrinth, Step Up, The Warriors, Cemetery Man, Little Shop of Horrors, "Attack of the Show", The Brothers Grimm, Road House, "Real World/Road Rules Challenge - The Duel", Alien Intruder, A Scanner Darkly, "Arrested Development" reruns, Talladega Nights: The Ricky Bobby Story, "Bad Girls Club", Beerfest, The Sound of Music.
• WHAT'S GOING INTO MY EARS: The Dears, Gang of Losers; The Decemberists, The Crane Wife; Clint Mansell (featuring Kronos Quartet & Mogwai), The Fountain OST; The Shins, Wincing the Night Away; Neko Case, Blacklisted; Nas, Hip Hop is Dead; Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit; Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood; The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America; The Knife, Silent Shout; The Streets, A Grand Don't Come for Free; Jesus Christ Superstar London Cast Recording; Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther; Grizzly Bear, Yellow House; My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade; This American Life podcast; Little Shop of Horrors OST.

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend. I'll be back next week with a slew of Movie reviews, some random musing, an episode of Frisky Dingo, some top ten lists of my own, and maybe - just maybe - some Sexy Results? Til then - i leave you with this: