Man On Wire

It's been some time since I blogged much of anything. There really isn't an excuse for it, I just didn't see much point in it whilst I was living my life, building a home office and working on some other things (writing a screenplay, co-writing and improvising in a successful advertising campaign, etc.). It's been a fairly productive year, considering I also have a full time job to contend with. Still, I had a nagging feeling that I wasn't doing enough. Then I watched Man On Wire and understood why.

Man On Wire is a documentary about wire walker Philippe Petit's historic tightrope walk between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. The film is one of the most inspirational pieces of cinema I've ever seen. It documents, through interviews and recreations, the journey Petit took to make his dream come true. The man wanted to walk on air, and he did it. What he did makes all my dreams, and the dreams of nearly everyone I've ever met, seem so small, so insignificant and most of all, so attainable.

So, here I am, with a fire under my ass, writing a short blog about a massive amount of inspiration that was bottled in 1 hour and 47 minutes. If you have dreams of your own, watch this film. I hope it helps you as immensely as it has me.

We let him guard the base...

Toy Fair has come and gone and now we get to see a slew of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy pics. Want to know who's in the movie? Well, just peruse the Transformers fan sites and you'll get an idea. That's what I did, and I came across a pic of Wheelie.
Yeah...Wheelie. You remember him from the cartoon, right?

No?

Here he is...

Remember now? He's annoying little Autobot that spoke in rhymes. Well, he's apparently in the new flick and he looks like this...

Wall-E anyone?

Camp Crystal Lake Reopens

What was the best way to spend Valentine's Day Weekend? Why, watch the Friday The 13th remake, of course! Filled to the brim with gratuitous nudity, splashy gore and wooden acting; the movie is surprisingly better than it has any right to be.

Director Marcus Nispel and Producer Michael Bay decided to make this film closer to its inspiration than they did with their previous outing, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

While Massacre was a remake of one film, Friday is a re-imagining of a series. The film starts with a flashback to the end of the original Friday The 13th, quickly explaining where Jason comes from and why he has his Mother's head by the bathtub. There are nods to different films in the series (look closely for the wheel chair towards the end) and the characters have the same motivations as those in an other Friday The 13th movie. They're all horny teens who want to smoke grass and drink. the new Camp Crystal Lake is a familiar place from a misspent youth at the horror movies.

For all the similarities to the original series, there is one difference that sets this film apart from the others. Jason is no longer a carbon copy rip off of the Halloween series' Michael Myers. Jason runs and kills. There is an unexplained bit where he keeps a girl chained up in an abandoned mine shaft, but hey, this is the same series that gave us the following gems...

and

The film has some laughably bad dialogue ("Oh my fuck!" and "Fuck you, gun!"), lots of topless women (saving the most "spectacular" for last) and PLENTY of machetes in the face. All in all, I'd say it's a great way to forget about stimulus packages and plane crashes for an hour and a half.

Separated at Birth?

Jason X, the futuristic Cyber Jason that's spawned a series of spin-off novels and comics.

Is he really the twin of...

COBRA COMMANDER?!?!?!?!?!?!

Oh me, oh my, this is hysterical!

I survived...

Yesterday marked the first day of the New York Comic Con. I spent most of the day hanging with some friends and talking smack on X-Men The Last Stand and Dalek porno. All in all, a fun time. I even scored some really cool swag...

Yes, that's right...a Micro Talking Dalek! Hearing this little garbage can robot scream "Exterminate the Doctor, the enemy of the DALEKS!" makes me happy. Very happy.

After the show, my friends and I wound up walking about 15 blocks (4 of which were avenues) to one of the best BBQ places I've been in a looooong time. Check out Rub BBQ when you get a chance. It's on 23rd between 7th and 8th I believe.

Now it's on to Day 2, wherein I attempt to find parking in Manhattan and try not to destroy myself after the Con.

25 things you probably didn't know about me

I got tagged in one of those silly Facebook "things you didn't know about me" notes. So I figured I'd post it here.

Here you go...

1. It took me 3 viewings to realize I hate The Phantom Menace.

2. At the tender age of 12, I outwitted a man in a brown van. He was following my friend and I as we were coming back from the comic store. He drove slowly at first, following us up the street. We turned to take a short cut and he followed, gradually increasing his speed. We both saw the creep edge forward. We were approaching the cemetery near my house. We both had the same idea. We banked a hard left. We ran through a yard then hopped a fence and ran through the cemetery, no doubt disturbing the quiet dead beneath our pounding Nikes.

3. This is the first year where I actually have to pay to get into NY Comic Con.

4. At the age of 29, I learned I was willing to kill another human being in a life or death situation.

5. My favorite potato chip of all time is Utz’s Crab Chip.

6. I have an extensive collection of Silver Age Legion of Super Heroes comics.

7. I still own most of my original Star Wars toys.

8. I’ve never seen Buffy The Vampire Slayer

9. I once saw Sarah Jessica Parker HOUSE a Gray’s Papaya hot dog.

10. For an avid reader, I actually read pretty slow. I don’t have an attention deficit disorder, nor am I dyslexic. I’ve always been slightly annoyed by this trait.

11. The number 11 is always seems to pop up in my life.

12. I almost skipped my grammar school graduation so I could see Jurassic Park. Man oh man did I hate that place.

13. One of my best friends and I used to hang out at the same comic store and movie theater and shows when we were kids, but we only wound up becoming friends in our early twenties.

14. I think it would be awesome if Dinosaurs wore saddles, but that's scientifically impossible.

15. I corrected the title of this note 'cause it was grammatically incorrect.

16. I think Titanic is a laugh riot because it's so awful.

17. I have a black hole where my heart is supposed to be.

18. I once tried to build an entire wardrobe around the character of Dr. Who, complete with a sonic screwdriver.

19. I'd probably eat a bacon-wrapped scallop out of the garbage.

20. This list is tedious.

21. I think Rob Blagojevich is one of the most fascinating people ever covered on the news.

22. I'd rather be a European sewer adventurer than an office jerk.

23. I hate Anne Rice for emasculating the vampire.

24. I think Josie And The Pussycats is one of the funniest movies ever made.

25. I probably tagged more that 25 people on this. Whatever.

Funny Email

Monster sent out its monthly newsletter today. The title was "What are the signs of a bad job?". I tried laughing, but I wound up crying on the inside. Yay. I wish I got this e-mail 8 years ago.