A Serious Man

Anyone who knows me knows that I have issues with the Coen brothers. I appreciate their films but I tend to dislike them. However, I just saw a trailer for their latest flick A Serious Man and I have to say this is probably one of the best trailers I have ever seen in my life and I will most definitely be seeing this film. I wanted to share the trailer because I really do think it's a bit of a masterpiece. No joke.

Julian Plenti - Games For Days

I love Interpol. Let's just get that out in the open. I love them and everything they do and I don't care that they appear to be a kind of dull live band (but I don't know, I've never seen them - just vids) because the music they make is just absolutely wonderful to my ears.

That said, I also adore with an ardent passion (redundant? Perhaps.) Julian Plenti, which is Paul Banks' alter musical ego. I think the music he has made on his own has a very clear direction, and a great one at that, and I love just about every song on Plenti's album.

If it sounds like I'm gushing it's because I am. But this is because I have just discovered a music video for Plenti's first single "Games for Days." Now the video, itself, is kind of lame. I mean, I have no idea what's going on in it aside from spray paint and handcuffs in a hotel room (which I guess might be enough depending on who you are), but there are a couple of other factors that far outweigh the generally confusing plot.

For one, Paul Banks (Julian Plenti) is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous (in my humble opinion). The facial hair, the clothes, the smiles...beautiful. But more importantly it's the other person in the video that makes it so great. And that person is Emily Haines of the band Metric (and also an artist with her own solo album). And now for me to just go ahead and gush about her because the truth is Emily Haines is one of my top female role models. I think she is intelligent, I think she is beautiful, I think she is sexy, I think she is talented, I think she is basically everything a wonderful woman should be - confident, interesting, funny. And she makes some of the most heartbreaking music around.

Now, I never knew Emily Haines knew Paul Banks. I had not been made aware of this. So, I was totally floored to see her in the music video. Being beautiful, sexy, and strong at that, although I suppose that's to be expected of her. And to mix that kind of attitude with Bank's suddenly very apparent confidence and his own particular brand of sex appeal it makes the video one of the most magnetic things I've ever seen, and to be honest I suddenly feel like writing an entire novel dedicated to the characters portrayed by these two artists.

So anyway! Enough yappin! Here's the video I speak of so highly!

YouTube Doubler

So, my roommate is out to the movies and I'm here all by myself just killing time on StumbleUpon when a truly excellent site comes up. It's for some YouTube Doubler Beta, which is simply a place where you can plug two different YouTube video urls in and they'll play them together providing you with a mash-up of the two videos. Here's the link to the mash-up that popped up when I saw the page because it's pretty awesome. I've seen an interview with the guy on the left during an episode of the wonderful show IFC Media Project. If you get IFC you should totally check out that show, too.

100 Important Directors of Animated Short Films

I'm going to try and see all of these. I am making it a mission. I've already seen a couple, but that's not nearly enough...

Whoa, TCM, WHOA.

I love Turner Classic Movies. I really, honestly do. I think it is a wonderful channel and one of my favorites, no doubt about it. And now I see that (thanks to an article on the movie blog ropeofsilicon) TCM has released a series of 32 "re-imagined posters" for some classic films. Some of these are really lovely. My two favorites are the following:


These are two of my favorite classics, so I'm happy TCM did a great job with their reinvented posters. But I have to say, I'm a huge fan of contemporary takes on classic movies in general. One of my other favorite examples are what Vanity Fair magazine has done a couple of times in the past. Their 2007 Hollywood Portfolio was a modern take on the film noir genre and involved some of my favorite actors and actresses. And then in 2008 their Hollywood Portfolio was made up of current actors and actresses reenacting famous Hitchcock moments. Both are lovely shoots by Annie Leibovitz.

Anywho, if you're a fan of this sort of thing check out the full set of posters and then the Vanity Fair shoots. All good stuff.

Why I want to see Jennifer's Body

I'm really hoping Diablo Cody brings it, and this little PSA is giving me hope...


EMBED-Megan Fox Public Service Announcement - Watch more free videos

Some thoughts about the blog thusfar...

So, I'm actually rather enjoying having this blog, you know. Though I don't know why. I think the only person who reads it is my best friend (by the by, if you don't happen to be her, I suggest you gander at her blog, as well, as it often time appears far more interesting than mine and her vocabulary is infinitely better than mine, too) and, really, just about everything on this here blog has been discussed with her at some previous time already so it's kind of pointless for her to just read it again online.

Yet I completely intend to continue with this little venture, anyway. I think this is because on a deeper, more personal, more embarrassing level I'm a bit full of myself. I honestly think I like cool things and that other people should like these cool things, too, and so I've created this blog to spend my time talking about these things hoping someone will find it and agree with me. 'Cause...um...that's what I want - someone to agree with me. Believe me to be correct. Inflate my ego, I suppose. I don't know why, but that's what I believe to be the root of this thing. Plus, I really like to talk. I'll go ahead and blame four years of competitive speech for that, but I'll admit that it's more likely that I did four years of speech because I like to talk so much rather than the other way around.

And, much like I said in the beginning, I also love lists and organizing things and having knowledge and thoughts all in one handy-dandy spot: This here blog. And I think it's because of my love of listing and organizing things that I've started things like the Spotlights and the Cool Comics of the Month. But I think, honestly, I'm just going to cancel those while I'm ahead. Though I love the idea of titles and sections, I think I'm just going to go with the flow instead of trying to label and organize every little thing. It seems to come off a bit forced to me when I do it like that, and the end result makes me unhappy. So that's just gonna end right now. After I post this I'm going to go back and edit the tags.

But anyway, I guess that's about it. I just wanted to lay these thoughts out in type. Now it's time to go reorganize, something I love almost as much as simply organizing.

About the lack of Cool Comic of the Month...

I have an excuse for that! And the excuse is, the comic I have decided to feature is currently not in my hands. I loaned it out to the best friend and she hasn't read it yet. SO! There will be no Cool Comic for the month of July, I'm afraid. I really want the volume in my hand so I can refer back to its awesomeness, you know? But perhaps I will have it back within the next couple of weeks. There's no guarantee, but you also never know.

In case you're wondering, the Cool Comic is Wormwood Gentleman Corpse Vol. 1 by Ben Templesmith.

Anyway, in the hopes of distracting anyone who cares about Cool Comic of the Month, I present a short clip from the delightfully strange Korean film I'm a Cyborg But That's OK. Now, I know without any context this clip is going to seem VERY BIZARRE, but I almost think it's better that way...

Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer

I know if there's anything I should be posting right now it's the Cool Comic of the Month, but I can't get over the fact that a new trailer is out from one of my All Time Favorite directors, Wes Anderson. I heard about him directing The Fantastic Mr. Fox a while back, but never really thought about it. That is, when I saw the trailer and realized it was all in stop-motion I just kind of lost it, having not considered that a movie about talking foxes would likely be animated in some form. The movie looks very visually appealing, very funny, and very interesting. It also has an amazing cast. So, without further ado, THE TRAILER!

Ahaha...

The hilarious Cleolinda has graced us, her adoring fans, with her version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 15 minutes. It is, of course, delightful. Her "Movies in 15 Minutes" are always wonderful, and something I recommend any and all of you read when you get the chance.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that. If you scroll down to the comments you will also find a hilarious gif...if you've seen the movie you'll know it when you see it. And you'll know why it's hilarious.

ALSO: Cool Comic of the Month is probably going up later today. I'm still deciding which one to do...I've read quite a few this month, you see.

Until then!