Youth In Revolt
August 23, 2009
I can’t believe I had never heard of this movie until yesterday, but Youth In Revolt, a movie adapation of the C.D. Lang book is coming to theaters October 30 and it will star Michael Cera as Nick Twisp. I’ve had this book recommended to me countless trusted friends, but have been to busy to get around to reading it. Well, now I get to watch the movie instead, and it has one of my favorite actors, Michael Cera. Ever since seeing him star in Arrested Development (my all-time favorite show) as the earnest and awkard George Michael Bluth, I’ve been a fan of Cera’s work. Superbad was great, too.
If the trailer is any real indication, this looks like it’ll be a great movie, regardless of the good casting decision. The movie looks to be a unique take on the “dorky boy trys to win girl” plot, and seeing Michael Cera playing two personalities looks like the funniest dual roll since Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger. And as if that’s not enough to get me psyched up for the movie, I was stoked to hear one of my well-documented favorite songs, “Timebomb” by the Old 97′s. Here’s hoping they feature more music from Rhett Miller and company in the film.
Funny People
July 20, 2009
Judd Apatow, as you all know, doesn’t make mistakes. Well, The Cable Guy sucked, but everything since then that he’s even been loosely associated with has been great (see Freaks and Geeks, 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Pineappple Express, etc, etc). The latest from this comic master is Funny People, a movie about, well, funny people. The story follows two comedians, played by Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, as one faces a terminal illness, and the other is trying to make a career. This definitely has the makings of a more serious movie than previous Apatow works, but he has always embedded a certain amount of heart and morals into everything he’s done anyway.
I just stumbled upon the TV trailer, which can be seen below, and it looks very promising. Per usual with Apatow, the trailer also features an amazing song (anyone think MIA would be as big as she was without the Pineapple Express trailer?). The tune, “Ain’t That Strange” by Rhett Miller, was one of my favorites off his 2007 album, “The Believer” and I always thought it flew too far under the radar, so I’m really glad to see it get some exposure here. Hopefully, it also gets a prominent role in the film itself, which is scheduled to hit theaters July 31.
The Return of Rhett
May 18, 2009
Followers of this blog already know that I have a deep appreciation for the musical stylings of Rhett Miller. Last year’s Old 97′s album, Blame It On Gravity, was my favorite since Too Far To Care, and now he has a new, self-titled solo album on the way. Color me giddy. Beyond preparing for the release of this album, Rhett also had the time to make a guest appearance on perhaps the single funniest show on TV right now, 30 Rock. Didn’t catch this awesomeness? I’ve got a video for you below.
Sharing the stage with Mike D, Elvis Costello, Wylecf Jean, Cyndi Lauper and a host of others, Rhett lent his vocal talent to “Kidney Now,” a genius homage/satire of all those celebrity songs for a cause that everyone loved to do in the 80′s. Check out the video below, and if you would like a downloadable version, you can find it on iTunes, with proceeds benefitting the National Kidney Foundation.
Time Bomb!
March 30, 2009
Video games in the post-Super Nintendo era have never really done it for me. The 3-d gaming era brought too realistic graphics, too complicated controllers, too much complicatedness to the world of gaming, which takes away from the whole reason to play video games -to have fun (at least to me). One big exception though is the Guitar Hero/Rock Band series. Come on. Admit it. You’ve all had your moment with this game. My neighbor is a multi-hour per day Rock Band player, and I recently went and played the game with him. Evidently you can buy additional songs for the game . I was more than happy to see that he had a ridiculous (in the good way) live version of “Time Bomb” by The Old 97′s. I hadn’t heard such a high-quality live version of this song (the YouTube ones were a little amateurish) and I investigated it more. Found out that this version can be heard on their live double-album Alive & Wired.
For your listenning/and viewing pleasure:
