Thursday 15 April 2010

Best commentary fights?

I'm not sure whether or not this is real or what but anyone who has listened to the Superbad commentary will have heard the fight between Judd Apatow and Jonah Hill about half way through. The fight (more of a verbal exchange) seems to me to be too petty to be fake, though it's kinda weird that they would keep it in the final cut of the commentary. Basically the fight takes place because Apatow's young daughter is present in the recording studio along with Jonah Hill. At the start of the commentary, Apatow lays down the law for Jonah, telling him he can't swear in the presence of his daughter. Unfortunately/hilariously, Jonah breaks this rule, several times which eventually culminates in the two having an argument for around three minutes, which comes to an end with JH telling Judd that his job as a comedian is to swear and be vulgar (or something along those lines). At this point, Apatow leaves the studio for the remainder of the recording.

Can anyone recommend any other good fights/disputes on commentaries? Also as today is the 15th of April, and this is kinda related I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to Seth Rogen.

Sunday 28 March 2010

Underrated TV Show 2: Clerks: The Animated Series

Its a shame that most folks who I chat to don't have a clue that this show even existed, despite being fans of at least a couple of Kevin Smith's flicks. The humour in the show is mostly in the same vein as Smith's later, more 'wacky' View Askew comedies like Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, rather than the more reality grounded comedy of Clerks and Clerks II. The show is absolutely full of references to popular American culture and films and all of the voices in the show are provided by their real-life actors.



As an admitted Kevin Smith fanboy, I gotta say that this show is well worth checking out for Smith's dialogue alone. Also, the animation format gives Smith license to try out a lot of jokes which would either be too impractical to shoot or wouldn't fit into the narrative of one of his films.

So, if you are in any way a fan of Smith's movies, then give the show a watch, you won't regret it. Unfortunately, the show still doesn't have a region 2 release but I managed to get it relatively cheaply on region 1 import.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

HORSE the Band release possibly the greatest media package a band has ever produced.



As anyone who is a big fan of HORSE the Band in any real way will attest, the limits they are willing to go to in order to play shows to their fans throughout the world are staggering. This is most famously evidenced in their 2008 'Earth Tour' which saw them embark on a self financed (over $118,000) journey around the world visiting and playing in over 45 countries. The entire tour was documented heavily and the band have just released a package which includes a 100 page booklet, personalised for you by the band (replete with your own 'one of a kind artefact' from the tour) and a 6 DVD set including HD documentary footage and live shows from the tour.

This is all available at http://www.horsethebandearthtour.com and as far as i'm concerned is well worth checking out. If the $79 price tag is too steep for you then the band have also released another DVD with footage and a show taken from their time in Ukraine which is well worth checking out.



Monday 22 March 2010

Underrated TV Show 1: Freaks and Geeks

Maybe this is just me being slow on the bandwagon, but up until recently, I had barely heard of this awesome show. The show first aired back in '99 so it would have made complete sense for it to have been a staple of my teenage viewing along with That 70's Show, Keenan and Kel and Sister Sister. Unfortunately from what I can gather, the show never really got picked up in the UK by any major TV network like Nickelodeon so I was never exposed to it's delights until I was recently doing some research on Judd Apatow who produced and wrote some of the episodes.





The show is mentionable for several reasons. Firstly, if you checked out the above video, you'll have seen that it's main cast features both James Franco and Seth Rogen in young form. Some of the banter that is bandied back and forth between these guys is absolutely proto-Pineapple Express stuff, which as far as i'm concerned instantly validates this show. Significantly, the show is also set in the late 70s/early 80s so it has an absolutely awesome soundtrack. The time period is an excellent setting for a teenage sitcom and, thankfully, it isn't crammed down your throat in the same way as in That 70's Show.

Unfortunately, the show is partially responsible for giving us the shit-stain on the pants of Hollywood that is Shia LaBouef, but hey, you gotta make compromises somewhere. Peace.

No Friends

Lately, I've been listening to a heck of a lot of hardcore, and while I can totally dig the sounds of the genre's progenitors, I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd take Terror over Circle Jerks or The Descendents. No Friends, then, are a kick ass band for two reasons; firstly they neatly bridge the gap between fast and raw early hardcore and chuggy, heavy and beatdown riddled 90s hardcore and secondly because they are fronted by Tony Foresta, frontman of the always awesome revival thrash band Municipal Waste.

So kick back and enjoy some sweet-ass-no-thrills-old-school hardcore.

Sunday 21 March 2010

City Hunter

City Hunter, for those of you who haven't already encountered this masterpiece of bizarre, comedic kung-fu cinema is a film starring Jackie Chan and is directed by the notoriously outlandish Jing Wong. As a piece of crazy post-modern cinema, the film is well worth checking out. As well as delivering the unique set of stunts and martial arts wizardry which audiences have come to expect from Jackie Chan, we are also lucky enough to be given Jackie dressed as characters from Street Fighter II, the most impressive/amusing of which is arguably Chun Li, though seeing a cinematic manifestation of E. Honda's 'Hundred Hand Slap' is nothing short of poetry in motion.

Below is a clip to pleasure your eyes and ears.

Welcome

It is my intent to use this blog to publish a whole host of interesting, incoherent and ridiculous crap, ranging from films, TV shows music or just some other random shit i've encountered and feel like sharing.

Enjoy.