Ai Weiwei’s TED talk
Last week, I happened to catch the Frontline episode that profiled Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. It convinced me that he is one of the most important artists on the planet, unafraid to speak out against the Chinese government. Well… the news out of China now is that Ai Weiwei has been detained.
This is unacceptable. More people need to know about this great man and what he represents for the people of China. Watch the video above, his TED talk and check out the Frontline segment here. Spread the word!
Earlier this week, the good people at Splitsider posted an article I wrote about The Cable Guy and its undeserved reputation as a bomb. On a whim, I tweeted at Judd Apatow, the producer of the movie and I was blown away when he retweeted it a few minutes later! Here’s a taste:
The Cable Guy was one of the funniest movies of the 1990s and few people know it. If you’ve only seen it once, chances are you probably still think it’s a stinker. If you happened to revisit it at some point in the last 15 years, you know the real deal — it’s hands-down hilarious. When it was released in 1996, the movie was supposed to be a hit. Looking back at the people involved, it’s hard to fathom how it wasn’t. The Cable Guy roster reads like a comedy dream team: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, Owen Wilson, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk… they’re all in there. ButThe Cable Guy was not a hit at all. Even though the movie technically made money, it was regarded as one of the biggest bombs of the 1990s, an undeserved branding that’s only now starting to wear off. So why did both critics and audiences leave it for dead?
Read on at Splitsider…
I am posting this YouTube video in honor of Red Dead Redemption taking the Game of the Year award at this year’s GDC. For those who haven’t played it, I will expound a little on what’s happening in the clip.
It takes place right after John Marsten, the hero of Red Dead, finishes fighting off hordes of banditos to make his way into Mexico. It’s a particularly challenging and intense part of the game that leaves the player buzzing with adrenaline after it’s over. Knowing this, the designers (in a stroke of brilliance) chose to take the vividness to the next level by going the complete opposite direction of all the action they just put you through. As Marsten slowly rides into Mexico for the first time, the sounds of the game slowly fade away and meld into a haunting song by José González titled “Far Away.” It’s one of the more stunning moments I’ve ever experienced in a game.
Watching the clip isn’t exactly the same out of the context of the game, but the video does a good job of conveying a sense of what it was like. Hats off to whoever captured it for having a setting sun in the background and keeping Marsten’s horseriding at an appropriate, cinematic pace.
Last week, I posted a story in City’s Best Detroit about plans to build a RoboCop statue. Here’s the crazy follow up to that piece:
Affirmative: Detroit’s RoboCop Statue Is Funded
Well that didn’t take long at all. After only six days on Kickstarter, Detroit’s RoboCop statue has been funded! According to the RoboCop Facebook page, a company called Omni Consumer Products donated $25,000 to put the Kickstarter campaign over the top.
Read on at City’s Best.
Punch
A few years ago, this image used to come up first when you searched Google Images for the word “punch.” Sadly, that is not the case any more. I don’t know where it comes from and I don’t know were it went… but I love it.
My sentiments exactly! How he never won for Jesse James or Fargo is beyond me.
I almost wish Roger Deakins would win a lifetime achievement award instead of Best Cinematography at the Oscars, if only so that we could see a much longer montage of all of his work.
Still, this piece is stunning and if he doesn’t win, I will choke the bitch right out of Hollywood.
(via Hollywood Elsewhere)
