As long as we've got each other

Hello.

Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

Is it me you're looking for? I know, I haven't been around.

(via Animal New York)

Happy New Year!

Join the now, man.
(courtesy of the geniuses at Everything is Terrible)

Yes, I know, it's been ages since I posted anything.

I've been busy! Here, here's a list of 80s-90s sci-fi movies that actually SHOULD be remade. Discuss and debate. I'll be back soon with more actual, you know, writing and stuff.

Science!

Videogum reports on a scientific study that established the supposedly saddest, most tear-inducing scene in movies--a statement successfully refuted by Videogums's own example.

They make a good case...this is a very personal thing, though. I've discovered it's the viewing experiences that you don't expect to tear up to that are most likely to leave you a sobbing wreck. Herewith my examples:

1. Silent Running
This obscure hippy-dippy early 70's eco-sci-fi flick starring Bruce Dern was the first movie that ever made me cry (post-child, I mean. Everybody cries at movies when they're little.). Watching it late night on TV and the last scene with that damn little robot watering plants and that damn sappy ballad comes on and...water works. Shit.

2. Lonesome Dove
The original 1989 miniseries, which, by the way, still holds up like gangbusters, best miniseries ever on network TV. My parents taped this for me (on a device called a "VCR") because I was on a summer camp trip when it aired. I got home and watched the whole thing straight through on a Saturday. When (SPOILER) Gus dies in hour 5...shit.


3. Toy Story 3
Most recent. What? Like you didn't.

Feel free to share your thoughts. This is a no-judgements environment.

Some things are just awesome.

Here you go:

Sesame Street breaks it down from Wonderful Creative on Vimeo.

(Discovered via Best Week Ever)

What the hell we supposed to use, man? Harsh language?

In Movieline (which, speaking of nostalgia, I had a subscription to the defunct print version of for years), a nice, short and wholly accurate look back at one of the most influential films of the last 3 decades, arguably THE great sci-fi-action-horror movie, and one of my personal favorites, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

This is cool.

BUCK 65 "Superstars Don't Love" from Travis Hopkins on Vimeo.

Discovered via IMSO.

We feel the need, the need...for speed.

So, something is coming to an end, but it will end with a bang. Casino O'Fortune Cookie Productions will be no more after this summer but we've got one more show at Joe's Pub, which will also soon close for months of major renovations. So, you should come out! June 25th! Our usual pop culture craziness with an all-star cast! Does this looks familiar?

Well, check it:

Take us to bed or lose us forever!

The reason the Rapture was a bust on Saturday?

Because Macho Man Randy Savage sacrificed himself for our sins.

Wait...what?

This, I think, can go without comment. (Thanks to the lovely Plucky Charms for posting this on my Facebook wall.)

Plus, bonus points for William Shatner stars in: Silverhawks

Here, spend some time with illustrator Sean Hartter's alternative universe movie posters (and Atari cartridges. And paperback covers. And Topps cards.) This is my favorite kind of pop-culture mashup: combining the obscure, the mainstream and the bizarre with an obvious love for the tactile objects and half-remembered tropes of the last Century, to create something really weird, and cool.

Tonight! Prepare to gain some experience points.

Tonight, Neil O'Fortune will be your Dungeon Master of Ceremonies for the premiere edition of D20 Burlesque, a night dedicated completely to role-playing games. Yup. That is some geeky shit. But it's going to be fun, and hey, look, I've gamed. I have been a dedicated gamer. I have spent hours rolling the die and calculating "To Hit Armor Class Zero." In middle school I had a subscription to Dragon magazine. Say it loud, I'm nerd and I'm proud!

This venture is the brainchild of Anja Keister, who is a relative newcomer to the scene and is sure to make a big splash with her first production because, well, there's an enormous audience for it! (And in all serious I'm honored she asked me to host her first show.) And listen: these performers are not posers. These are genuine sexy geeks, they are keepin' it real and are, frankly, the kind of girls that the 13-year old me with a Half-Elven Ranger named Lars could only dream about.

The show's at the Parkside Lounge tonight at 11:30 so you still have time to get down there! Don't miss out, you know you're one of us.

If you're a fan of American pop culture, do not miss this one.

I don't post about the Gameshow Speakeasy as much as I used to but we are thrilled to be on a regular monthly schedule at our beautiful new home, Le Poisson Rouge, on every third Thursday. That means that our next show is this Thursday the 17th; yes, that is St. Patrick's Day. That means we're either the ideal low-key counter-programming, OR the ideal opener to a night of green beer debauchery.

Either way, you do NOT want to miss this show because I'm especially excited about our celebrity mystery guest. Seriously, it is one not to miss. I'll see you there.

Meta-Monday!

At my desk and Pandora just played Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap (on a Sleigh Bells channel. Not a bad choice, although I've noticed that Pandora is not nearly as far-ranging or interesting as it was, say, 6 months ago, right? More corporate? Fewer deep cuts or out-there connections? Still good because, you know, free, but much more repetitive and greatest-hits-ish.)

ANYWAY! I can't hear that song without thinking about this, and having to try not to laugh at my day job. It's so good because who remembers that scene, who makes the connection, it's just so good. Also: wow, now the OC and the SNL sketch that made this whole connection are starting to feel like relics of an ancient time called the middle-noughts or something, we are really running out of past and nostalgia is collapsing on itself. But this is still funny. Incidentally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Lindsay Robertson first brought my attention to this on the now largely abandoned Lindsayism.

ANYWAY! Here's the thing at Best Week Ever. You will have to search elsewhere for the actual SNL video, but you'll find it and it's worth it.

Snake Plissken's Day Off

I don't think it's possible for me to be more excited about our next show at Joe's Pub this Saturday, the most amazing striptease, variety and comedy tribute ever to two guys named John.

Frankly, between the two of them they've got more than enough career to warrant their own individual shows (Halloween, Sixteen Candles, Escape from New York, The Breakfast Club, The Thing, Pretty in Pink, Assault on Precinct 13, Vacation, They Live, Home Alone, Big Trouble in Little China, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Fog...I mean, what?!) And THAT'S why I love that we're combining these two tributes, to two filmmakers that defined cult fandom for an entire generation of American moviegoers: the man who truly taught us to scream at the movies, and the man who defined what we all thought it meant to be a teenager.

It's gonna be good. Get your tickets now.

I'm never not in the mood for this.

Sometimes I watch it because I need a pick-me-up, or want to clear my head when I'm in the middle of working, or...just because.

The Ballad of G.I. Joe from Olivia Wilde

Finally, Michael Myers meets the Breakfast Club

Yeah, remember this?

Well, check it:

Yeah. John Hughes vs. John Carpenter Burlesque. At Joe's Pub on the 26th. Holy shit. I mean, yes, I know, it's my show. And I love all of our shows. But this one...yeah. Just get your tickets now, ok?

Between-The-Holidays-Killing-Time Video of the Day Number Three, You're Welcome.

The Found Footage Festival's Top 10 VHS finds of 2010.

Between-The-Holidays-Killing-Time Video of the Day Number Two, You're Welcome.

Ok, this one is pretty geeky. Sorry, embedding disabled.
Via Topless Robot.