Mikey's The Big Wiener Update

When I originally wrote the post about Mikey's Weepies Music Video it was to congratulate him for winning the contest. However, when I linked to the contest info I realized that they were not going to officially announce the winner until July 29th - today. I didn't want to get anybody in trouble or scoop The Weepies themselves so I modified my post to congratulate him on being named a finalist. But now it is official. So congratulations Mike Warner. As I said before, I guess you don't suck at your job nor at making music videos. I just have one remaining question. The press release states that "Michael won $10,000 and more." What does the more refer to? I am hoping that more refers to the complete Sex And The City Collection on Blu-Ray.

Too Cuil For School?

Word on the street is that Cuil, the new search engine that launched today, is supposed to give Google a run for its money. Only time will tell I guess. I played around with it a little today and liked the way results came back with a snapshot of the web site. Images included sometimes. Cuil supposedly has 121,617,892,992 web sites indexed for its searches. Rumor has it that that is more than Google uses. Is it true? I have no idea. Do I care? Not really. What it comes down to for me is breaking the habit that I have developed over the years of using Google. But really, do I need to break this habit? Google has yet to let me down. I love my Gmail. I love my Google homepage with my movie times widget. I love my Google reader. I just love Google. Cuil is going to need to do something impressive to get me to switch. Will they be successful? I have no idea. Will it be interesting to watch? Of course.

Mikey's The Big Wiener

A few weeks ago my friend who sometimes refers to himself as The Boxpilot submitted an entry to The Weepies music video contest. The essence of the contest was that The Weepies decided to take their $10,000 music video budget and award it to whoever came up with the best idea. The winning video would also become their official video for their song Hideaway.

About a week ago, I found out that Mikey's entry was selected as a finalist. So I went to the contest website to see what kind of competition he was up against. I almost made it through 2 other entries before I was forced to tap out due to the lameness of the other finalists. Mikey's entry was so much better that it wasn't even close. Way to go Mikey. Make sure this goes on your reel. Right after Stealth and Zoom of course.

In honor of Mikey's super awesome achievement, I decided to post the video below for your viewing pleasure. My favorite parts of the video are the vignetting and the magic bag. I wish I had a magic bag like that. I think my life would be so much more enjoyable if every time I reached in to my bag I was able to pull out exactly what the moment required and then it glowed or flashed with triumph.

Oh yeah, and make sure you watch the video all the way to the end. The payoff is quite nice.

I Just Want My Phone Call

Soooo, Dark Knight. I have seen it twice already and will probably see it one more time before it leaves the theaters. It was near perfection. What more can be said? Well I have a few more things to say. I was hooked immediately by the opening sequence. I felt like I was watching a scene from Heat. Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger. I am at a loss for words. His portrayal of The Joker was legendary. The part that really stood out to me the most was the way he would kind of lick his lips and swallow. Absolutely twisted and disturbing. My crappy, hyperbole filled words cannot do justice to describing how amazing he was. And finally, the soundtrack blew my mind. There was this recurring kind of screeching sound (violins maybe) that amped up the intensity of every scene in which it was used by a factor of like 3 million.

One last thing. There is a reason that Dark Knight did almost $160 million in domestic box office sales this weekend. Believe the hype and watch this movie. One of my friends, texted me this weekend saying that it was instantly in his top 5 movies of all time. Maybe he was caught up in the delirium of the moment. Maybe not. All I know is that it is really really really good.

Perspective

Mad Men

My second favorite television drama of all time returns in roughly two weeks. Strong words, I know. Yet true words. Mad Men is hands down my second favorite television drama of all time. The writing is superb. The acting is top notch. But it is the production design that stole my heart. Everything from the costumes to the TV sets playing actual clips from the era in the background is pitch perfect. If Mad Men was a video game, the production design would be a flawless victory.

As I mentioned before, the season two premiere is in roughly two weeks - July 27. The premiere will be available on-demand the following day. I will be waiting for the on-demand version because my lame-ass cable provider does not offer AMC in HD. However, Mad Men on-demand is available in HD. Therefore, I will wait the extra day to enjoy the beauty of HD.

To give you, the reader, a little taste of what you have been missing if you have not yet watched an episode, I am embedding a my favorite clip from season one which just so happens to be from the season finale. Here is the setup:

Don Draper - the shows flawed hero - has recently been promoted to partner at his Madison Avenue Ad Agency - Sterling Cooper. He has built his reputation on his creative genius and his other-worldly ability to sell the clients on the greatness of his ideas. The pitch from this scene is being made to Eastman Kodak who is looking for a way to sell their innovative slide projector "wheel." The idea that Don comes up with is nothing short of magical due to the emotions it evokes. The power of the scene is that much more impressive when you, the viewer, have the context of the previous 12.9 episodes. I try to keep this blag a spoiler-free zone so I will leave the set-up at that.



If you have not yet had the opportunity to experience Mad Men in it's full length episodic glory, do yourself a favor and watch a few. You will be hooked. I promise. Also, there are only 13 episodes in the first season so there is no need to feel overwhelmed by adding another series to your portfolio. Especially considering we are currently buried in the depths of TV hell that is the summer months.

PS Season two starts in two weeks. There is still time to get caught up. You can thank me later.

A Milli A Milli A Milli

Tha Carter III has been in stores for one month and one day as of today. If you are still not listening to it than I don't think we can be friends. Seriously. If you don't appreciate the pounding bass coupled with the genius Rick Ross sample of A Milli than I don't think we will ever hang out. Seriously. If you can't recognize the genius of "Safe sex is great sex, so you better use a latex, cause you don't want that late text, that "I think I'm late" text." from the Lollipop remix than don't even bother asking me if I want to grab some pho with you. Seriously.

PS click here to download a copy of the A Milli remix which dropped to celebrate the million copies sold mark.

The Importance of Opinions

Kenneth Turan of the LA Times wrote and excellent piece today on what it means to be a film critic and the importance of staying true to your beliefs. Click here for the full article. This article found particular resonance with me because of a conversation I had yesterday with multiple friends regarding Wall-E. The essence of the conversation was that overall Wall-E was a great movie, however, the vast majority of the conversation revolved around finding fault with the animation, or internal consistency, or science fiction logic. As the conversation progressed I found myself questioning my initial opinion of the film. I had to keep reminding myself that I thoroughly enjoyed Wall-E and not to let subsequent criticism tarnish that experience. This article was a good reminder of the importance of trusting personal impressions and holding to one's opinion because it is in fact one's opinion. Turan said it best when he cited the following passage from Robert Warshow's The Immediate Experience:

"A man goes to the movies. The critic must me honest enough to admit that he is a man."

In culmination, I exhort you, the faithful reader, to not hesitate to form your own opinions regarding film, literature, art, and even sports. For they are in fact your opinions.

Don't Brave the Wicked Water Unless You Got Powaaa

In conjunction with today's limited release of the Back to the Future II inspired Nike Hyperdunks - McFly Edition (special flux capacitor included, no really, special flux capacitor included) Nike released the latest Hyperdunk commercial and it is hilarious. Production value is excellent and the dialog is fantastic. It had me rolling with joy. Especially after the barber shop scene. Truly top notch. Makes me want to go out and buy a pair of Hyperdunks. Oh wait, I forgot to set up camp last night outside of Undefeated in Santa Monica to secure my limited edition pair, complete with hover board inspired insoles.

Click here for a great image gallery provided courtesy of Gizmodo.com and see below for the new commercial. Enjoy.