Pop Culture Will Eat Itself

Independence Day - Schoolhouse Rock Style

Sean — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:06:55 +0000

What better way to celebrate the independence of your country than to recap it’s founding with a little clip from Schoolhouse Rock:

Happy Fourth everyone!

Clash of the Titans Being Remade

Sean — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:47:41 +0000

Hollywood has been churning out remakes lately. Most of them suck. This week we even found out that Red Sonja is being remade. 100% chance of suckage. But there’s hope. Once in a while a remake comes along that actually makes sense. Where modern technology can actually help tell the story in a more convincing way. I know humbly present one of these rare opportunities: Clash of the Titans.

Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier is set to direct an updated version of the 1981 classic. If his last film is any indication, Leterrier knows how to use special effects, which should greatly help improve the story’s presentation.

Admittedly there was something charming about the special effects in the original Clash of the Titans. Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion effects are great, but they look dated. Really dated. If the remake can keep the same spirit as the original, but update the effects to modern standards, the result could be fantastic. If they try to go overboard and rely on effects at the expense of the story, it will suck hard. I guess we’ll just have to wait until 2010 to find out.

Random Cover of the Week - Nina Gordon is “Straight Outta Compton”

Sean — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:56:11 +0000

Following up on last week’s white-boy-gangsta-rap cover, here’s Nina Gordon’s take on N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton”. You may remember Gordon as part of 90’s rockers Veruca Salt. Now she’s a solo artist, more in the singer/songwriter vein. There’s something strangely hot about a woman using this much profanity, and doing it so casually…

Thanks to Gareth at Analogue for reminding me of this.

The Dark Knight Pizza Trailer

Sean — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:19:31 +0000

This new trailer for The Dark Knight is brought to us by Dominos Pizza. They make shitty pizza, but the trailer is fresh and tasty. It features some new dialogue and footage, and focuses heavily on Batman’s psyche. Is it July 18th yet?

Another Poster for The Dark Knight

Sean — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:17:42 +0000

There’s apparently no end to the marketing for The Dark Knight. Here’s yet another poster, and this one is good. It shows the connection between The Joker and Batman by making an image of the hero out of the villain’s trademark playing cards. Awesome.

As always, click to enlarge.

First Trailer for James Bond in Quantum of Solace

Sean — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:45:15 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never been a huge James Bond fan. Sure, the movies are fun, and have their exciting moments, and everyone loves Sean Connery. But for some reason they never really grabbed me. Until Casino Royale that is. I really liked the re-imagining of the Bond franchise. The grittier feel. Daniel Craig’s darker spin on the character. They make for a far more interesting storyline.

So it’s with a fair amount of anticipation that I present the first trailer for the next chapter in the Bond series: Quantum of Solace:

I’d say so far it looks pretty good. Almost like a Bourne movie. Which can only be a good thing.

Quantum of Solace hits theaters November 7th.

These are Gummy Lighthouses, Right?

Sean — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:33:08 +0000

Ah, you’ve gotta love the unintentional comedy. I mean, they’re lighthouses, right?

Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert Sing!

Sean — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:10:36 +0000

One can only expect fun and fireworks when two former Daily Show correspondents get together. And that’s just what we got when Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell got together at NYC’s Apple Store for a sit down about Carell’s Get Smart. The pair shows off their wide range of talents when they decide to sing the National Anthem, in harmony! Check it out:

Sunday Music Spotlight - Dr. Dog

Sean — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:26:39 +0000

Contrary to what the name may evoke, Dr. Dog is not the unholy love child of Dr. Dre and his protege Snoop Dogg. Nor is it the latest fad in children’s television programming. So what is it? It’s a band built on the idea that they are the only band that ever was, and therefore gets to make up their own rules as they go along.

The genesis of what would become Dr. Dog started in Philly in the late 90s. Their first album, the basement-recorded The Psychedelic Swamp, was full of reverb-drenched guitars and lots of delay. At that point, the only two “official” members of the band were Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken. The two handled whatever songwriting, vocals, and instrumentation were necessary. For their next effort, Toothbrush, they filled out the band and started to get serious.

The band started to gain popularity after My Morning Jacket invited them to open on an East Coast tour. Since then they’ve appeared on Conan, Letterman, and The Late, Late Show. They’ve played Bonnaroo. And they’ve had a song on a major motion picture soundtrack.

Fate, the band’s fifth release, is due out July 22nd on Park the Van Records.

Dr Dog - The Old Days
The first single from Fate has a classic sing-along chorus and vocals reminiscent of a young Perry Ferrell.

Dr Dog - Aint It Strange

A cut from last year’s We All Belong, “Ain’t it Strange” definitely shows a Paul McCartney influence.

Videos
Official Video for “My Old Ways Again”

“Say Something”, live

Links
Pre-Order Fate
Official Site
MySpace
Park The Van Records

Rose McGown to Star in Red Sonja Remake

Sean — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:11:15 +0000

From the “wha?” department…

Rose McGowan is set to star in a remake of the ~~ridiculous~~ classic 80’s fantasy Red Sonja. Even stranger, the movie is set to be made by her boyfriend, Robert Rodriguez.

If you don’t remember Red Sonja I don’t blame you. I’m pretty sure the only reason I do is that my little brother watched it on about 200 times on an endless loop (on Beta, nonetheless). The basic premise is that Sonja is a female version of Conan the Barbarian, and she has to save her world from an evil bad guy out to take it over.

Now that you’re caught up, let’s count the ways this is a bad idea. First, in the original Sonja is played by Brigitte Nielsen, a 6′ 1″ Dane who is built to play an ass-kicking Valkyrie. McGowan is 5′ 4″. Not exactly barbarian material.

Second, Rodriguez is a good director, but he doesn’t exactly have any experience in the fantasy genre. He does great with Mexican westerns (Desperado, El Mariachi) and zombie flicks (Planet Terror), so-so with comic book movies (Sin City), and I’m assuming fairly well with kids movies (all the Spy Kids movies). But what makes us think he’ll be any good at epic fantasy?

Finally, and most importantly, the original movie was just stupid. So how about we just leave it alone? To wither and die. Like it should.