My Favorite Laker

It warmed my heart to watch last nights stellar performance of my favorite Laker - Lamar Odom. I love his goofy grin. I love his Go Go Gadget Arms. I love his post-game interviews. And I love how he plays through the pain of the disgustingly large contusion on his back without complaining. Word on the street is that the contusion was visible though his jersey on last nights telecast. Gross. If he would bring back the star on the side of his head my joy would be complete.

Memories

Last night I watched Magnetic Rose which is the first segment on Memories. It was pretty much one of the greatest animated shows I have ever seen. It was right up there with Castle in the Sky and just behind Cowboy Bebop. I am really looking forward to the other two segments on the DVD.

So here is a quick recap of Magnetic Rose: A space ship that kind of operates like a salvage vessel picks up a distress signal from a broken down space station. The crew boards the space station to investigate and discovers that an AI system has kind of gone haywire and is creating a virtual reality based on the memories of the deceased opera star who used to live on the station. The story is quite poignant and the animation is awesome. But what really makes the show work for me is how it is built around Puccini's Un bel di vedremo from Madame Butterfly. The haunting beauty of the song permeates the action and adds a sense of depth and sadness that resonated perfectly with me.

Surrogates

So a guy at work showed me the trailer for Surrogates - the latest Bruce Willis vehicle based on the graphic novel with the same title. I absolutely love the premise. I find the whole idea of people living their lives remotely via these surrogates that they control to be fascinating. It is like a live action version of Second Life. I also like the idea that people now die when their surrogate dies. Similar to The Matrix in that aspect I guess. Another interesting way the story could go is if the surrogates start killing the people that control them. I have no idea if that is what this story will be about but I would love it if it were the case.

So like I said, I love the premise but I am a little leery of the execution. Maybe it is due to Bruce Willis' wig? I really hope that this movie works. Here is the trailer:

SURROGATES trailer in HD

Lakers Punch Back

Can we finally put to rest the meme of the Lakers being soft and not having any heart? That was the most gritty and physical win of this post-season for the Lake Show. Had vibes of a boxing match to it. They easily could have folded when Denver continued to pound them on the inside. Instead, they decided to pound back. Pau came up huge down the stretch on the glass as well as on defense. Kobe was Kobe. And Ariza did what Ariza does best. This was by far my favorite game to watch of this years playoffs. I loved watching Denver make a huge play and then watching the Lakers throw their counter punch. And vice versa. Billups' three was huge (even if he did step out of bounds). Carmelo was amazing. Wow. Just a great game made even better by the Lakers gutting it out at the end. I can't wait for game 2. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Kobe closes out with 18 in the 4th. Clutch.

Return of Punch-out and Mike Tyson

It makes me so happy to see that both Punch-out and Mike Tyson are returning to pop culture prominence. Punch-out returns courtesy of Nintendo Wii:

Mike Tyson makes his return courtesy of Hollywood and his cameo in The Hangover:

Dead is Dead?

So the season 5 finale of Lost totally lived up to my expectations. It wasn't my favorite finale of the series but it was still hyperbolificly legendary. My mind is still weaving and winding through the various possibilities and trying to piece everything together. I don't want this to turn into a recap of the episode. You can go here for an excellent recap by somebody much more qualified than me. However, I do want to float an idea I had while I was working on the year end close for one of our entities. 

SPOILER ALERT

So Miles can communicate with dead people but he can't see them right? Hurley, however, not only can communicate with dead people but he can also see them right? So maybe in the final season Hurley is going to play an integral role in identifying those who are really dead. It seems that someone or something is taking the shape/persona of people who have died on the island. Whether it be smokey or the unnamed dark haired adversary of Jacob remains to be determined. Smokey and the unnamed dark haired adversary could actually be one and the same. But that is the least of my worries right now. Back to the topic at hand. 

Someone/something has "re-animated" or taken the shape of Ecco's brother Yemi, Jack's Father Christian, Jack's half-sister Claire (I stand by her being dead, she was hit by a rocket), Ben's "daughter" Alex, and Locke. I don't recall Hurley ever seeing one of these apparitions. When he does see them is he going to notice something different about them? Is he going to be able to tell the difference between the truly dead and the re-animated dead? Is Hurley going to be the deciding factor in the coming war? Is that why he has been rolling around the island with the mysterious guitar case? Is he Jacob's ace in the hole? 

So many possibilities to how the final season can unfold. This is why I love Lost so much. No other serialized drama has ever engaged me so much after the initial viewing of each episode.

Take The Mask Off

One of my friends, who is quite the rascal in his own right, sent me the link to this "focus group" that Spike Jonze did in preparation for Where the Wild Things Are. I try to keep this a spoiler free zone so I don't want to say too much about the clip before you see it so I will just say that is absolutely hilarious for a variety of reasons. After the clip I will tell you why I liked it so much.

Where The Wild Things Are Focus Group #1 from Lance Bangs on Vimeo.

So the reason I found this to be so funny is that I can totally see myself doing the same thing if I had access to a totally awesome mask and a cute little neighbor boy with a funny voice. I would totally try to tell him that I wasn't wearing the mask but mess up and admit that I was. I would then chuckle at myself because I would think I am soooo funny.  Probably because I am. Needless to say, my excitement for Where The Wild Things Are continues grow.

PS Check out the blog We Love You So which was initially set up by Spike Jonze to "shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make this massive project a reality." It is totally awesome.

Star Trek in 3 Words

I. Loved. It.

Mr. Bananagrabber's Animation Rights

Mr. Bananagrabber and his Segway made a brief appearance on last Sunday's episode of Mitch Hurwitz's new TV show Sit Down, Shut Up. I knew those animation rights would come back to bite me in the ass. You can see the 2 second appearance courtesy of Hulu below:

I continue to withhold judgment on Sit Down, Shut Up. I really want to like it but so far I only laugh a couple of times an episode. It is definitely no Arrested Development but I will give it a few more episodes to see if it can find its groove.

The New Hotness: District 9

The new hotness that seems to be sweeping the computerweb by storm today is the trailer for the Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp project titled District 9. Multiple friends have already sent me the link to the trailer and have expressed their interest so I thought that I would throw my support into the ring as well. I love the idea of aliens living in refugee camps and I love the gritty feel of the trailer. Perfectly executed to pique my interest.