Some time ago, I mentioned there was an exhaustive collection of “Bloom County” comic strips coming soon to a bookstore near you. I think I’ve also mentioned that I adore Berke Breathed’s masterwork, but — despite the fact the book is out now and that I covet it like a certain hobbit-y thing covets a certain piece of gaudy jewelry — I have yet to lay claim to a copy. Ain’t it Cool News has seen fit to torment me by running an interview with Scott Dunbier, the editor of the new collections. The piece is surprisingly lengthy and also quite interesting.
Tag Archive for 'Non-reviews'
Keep your flying cars and your food in tablet form. Nothing says “future” to me like this “virtual moleskin” notebook from Microsoft. It’s called the Courier and it’s a “late stage” prototype. Unfortunately, there’s no release date set yet, but I will be watching this one very closely.
Check out this piece about the Courier on Gizmodo. I’ve also embedded their video below.
Post Script 9/29/09:
Since I posted this entry there have been a few updates. In Update #1, Gizmodo reports a rumor that the Courier will be running Windows 7 as its operating system and, most importantly, we could be seeing the product hit store shelves in mid 2010.
Update #2 includes what appears to be a more recent video demonstrating the Courier’s interface. The vid clocks in at four minutes and is pretty fascinating — I just wish there was a demo that wasn’t from the perspective of a graphic designer.
This piece from ZDNet seems to be the source for some of the specifics from the other two stories.
It’s weird, but Apple’s rumored-to-be-forthcoming tablet computer isn’t filling me with as much enthusiasm as the Courier. If the rumored feature set for the “iTablet” is anywhere near accurate, the device would appear to be nothing more than a glorified (and doubtless very expensive) toy.
Second Post Script 9/30/09:
Rumors seem to be solidifying around the aforementioned “iTablet”. So, what market is it targeting? Well, it looks as though the Amazon Kindle may have cause for concern — unless of course this new gizmo from Apple prices itself right out of the market (which seems likely to yours truly). Check out this piece from Mac|Life or this one on Gizmodo to see just what in the hell I’m talking about.
I saw these two clips years ago in a documentary on Bruce Lee (probably in one of A&E’s Biography shows). Not only did I develop an instant man-crush on Lee, the sentiments he expressed stuck with me. Check it out…
I must confess that I’m not too familiar with Ira Glass (or his radio program This American Life), but his advice on writing and storytelling is very direct and reasonable. Check out what the man has to say…
“I will not carry a gun… I’ll carry your books, I’ll carry a torch, I’ll carry a tune, I’ll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I’ll even hari-kari if you show me how, but I will NOT carry a gun!”
This blog is called “Crabapple Cove” because that small town in Maine is the birthplace of Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, the comic hero from the television show MASH. That program began its eleven year run on CBS in 1972, but I’m sure I didn’t become hip to it until it hit syndication (I was, after all, only six when it debuted). I have vivid memories of watching MASH on the tiny black and white TV in my parents’ bedroom. Invariably, in these memories, the sun is still up and I am stretched out on the carpet in my pajamas. Though I was definitely not six, I was probably still much younger than the show’s target demographic. MASH just latched onto my young brain and has not let go since those earlier, simpler times. Why do I think that is? A knee-jerk response would be ‘Because it was funny’, but the real answer is Hawkeye. That character, with his deep-seated distrust of authority and his facility for lobbing witticisms in from the sidelines, had a tremendous impact on my burgeoning psyche.
I’m sure I didn’t realize it at the time, but there are two reasons why Dr. Pierce was so vivid to me as a child. The first was Alan Alda’s performance. It was impeccable. With charm and sincerity, Alda made Hawkeye someone I wanted to emulate. The second reason was Larry Gelbart. Mr. Gelbart, a brilliant comedy writer, was given stewardship of MASH by the network, and it’s his comic sensibilities that permeate the first four or five seasons. Go back and check out some of the early shows on DVD and you’ll see what I’m talking about. MASH isn’t just funny, it’s idiosyncratically funny. It has a point of view and a rhythm which indicates — to me at least — that a single man with a vision was at the helm. Mr. Gelbart was the originator of said vision. He wrote the words and Alan Alda made them sing.
Larry Gelbart died a few days ago and I didn’t want to let the occasion pass without a tip of my metaphorical chapeau. Mr. Gelbart was an unwitting architect in the shaping of my own sense of humor, and I just wanted to thank him properly for all the laughs.
Post Script:
The aforementioned Mr. Alda has weighed in with his thoughts on the matter. Check it out.
Also, here’s Mr. Gelbart’s last interview, given to Vanity Fair Magazine. (Actually, this is an excerpt from the book And Here’s the Kicker, which I reviewed here. A terrific book.)
I do love me some 2D animation. In fact, if I had to choose between the old way and the new, I’d go with hand-drawn every time. (Sorry, Pixar.)
Anyway, here’s a new trailer for The Princess and the Frog. Here’s hoping it’s good…
For a while there, I was maintaining a separate site with some of my 3D model work. Although that site is no more, I thought I’d make a new page on the good ol’ Cove and throw up some of those stills. Check it out…
Lookwell was a pilot made for NBC back in 1991. It was written by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel and starred the inimitable Adam West as a very confused ex-television star. Looking at it now, I can easily see why the network decided not to turn it into a series. It’s hard to imagine O’Brien and Smigel churning out an additional twenty-some-odd episodes using this initial offering as the springboard. Still, I’m awfully fond of this one episode. I saw it years ago on the now defunct TRIO network (as part of their “brilliant but canceled” series), and I stumbled across it again a night or two ago on YouTube. (Sweet Lord, what isn’t on YouTube these days?)
Anyway, watch the pilot for Lookwell (I’ve embedded it below for your convenience). I think you’ll agree that it wouldn’t have necessarily made a good series, but it is an awfully fun way to spend twenty-two and half minutes.
Let me begin with a disclaimer: I bear the Milk People no ill will. Quite the contrary, actually. They’re doing fine work keeping us all stocked-up with lactose-y goodness, and the advertising campaign they’ve maintained to great effect for over fifteen years is a stroke of unadulterated brilliance. So don’t misconstrue anything I’m about to say as an attack on the good folks in the dairy industry. If they were to suffer any collateral damage from the comments which follow, it would sadden me tremendously.
All of that being said, it’s time for fuckers to stop appropriating the “Got Milk? campaign for their own dubious (and decidedly unfunny) purposes. If I see one more bumper sticker which reads “Got Kittens?”, “Got Lima Beans?”, or “Got Porn?” I’m liable to swerve wildly in a fit of pique. It’s not funny; it was never funny, so cut it out.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. I just figured it was time for somebody to finally speak up.
Happy third birthday to Kenny and Luke…
It’s official: I’ve left the world of Windows behind. (Actually, that’s not 100% true, but I’ll come back to that in a minute.)
Last month I bought myself a 24″ iMac, and I couldn’t be happier. The world of OS X (aka “Leopard”) is so much more streamlined and comfortable than the blunt force trauma world of Windows. Here’s an encapsulation of my experience in the Apple realm so far: I do a thing and that thing works without the undue stress or dozens of extra steps one would experience attempting to do a similar thing in Windows. The one exception to that rule would be my attempts to install XP onto my new machine. As some of you may know, Apple’s migration to Intel processors allows their computers to run both of the major operating systems. This is quite a coup, I feel. Not only do you as the consumer get to migrate to a slicker, more efficient operating system, you can also install the old, clunky one. Any Windows programs you may be attached to are only a reboot away. That sounds great on paper, but actually getting the Microsoft OS onto my new machine was a bit of an ordeal. I’ll spare you the particulars, but after some crazy back and forth, I did finally get XP into it’s own little drive partition and it’s there for those rare occasions when I need it. Now that that little speed bump has been cleared, I gotta say that I’m pretty darn pleased with my new toy.
Over two hundred million dollars in less than 5 days for a movie which is, reportedly, utterly incomprehensible and maybe even just a touch racist.
You people realize that if you keep encouraging Michael Bay, he won’t go away, right?
Post Script 07-08-09:
Read this entry from Roger Ebert’s blog. It’s an extremely lucid defense of intelligent viewing…
John Carter:
The latest on Pixar’s John Carter of Mars film (via Chud.com)…
Local Utah news station KLS is reporting that Pixar’s foray into the world of live action, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter of Mars, will be shooting in Utah this fall. That doesn’t mean that John Carter will have multiple wives or attend an indie film festival, but it could mean that Pixar intends to do less green screen then we might have thought.
After all, Utah is home to some of the most unearthly geography on Earth. Monument Valley, which it shares with Arizona, became famous in the films of John Ford; it’s buttes and columns truly look like an alien landscape, and the reddish sands call to mind Mars (or as the Martians call it, Barsoom). Zion National Park also offers incredible scenery, better than anything the CGI masters at Pixar could come up with, as does the Arches National Park. Then there’s Moab. Essentially Utah is Mars.
Utah story via Slashfilm.
Meanwhile, Coming Soon is reporting that Lynn Collins, who played Wolverine’s girlfriend in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has signed on to John Carter of Mars. Or at least her Twitter feed gives that impression. I wasn’t that impressed with her acting in Wolverine, but looks-wise she’d make a great Deja Thoris, the Martian Queen.
Conan:
The above constitutes my second or third posting on the in-production John Carter movie, but strangely, I’ve failed to mention the concurrently in-development adaptation of Conan the Barbarian. If you’ve been following this site for a while you’re no doubt aware of my affection for the original stories by Robert E. Howard (not to mention the 70s comic book adaptation by Roy Thomas and John Buscema), so isn’t it odd that I haven’t mentioned the forthcoming flick? Well, the reason for my silence heretofore is simple: I don’t believe that Lionsgate (the studio currently in possession of the property) is serious about giving the material its due. The first director announced for “Conan” was Brett Ratner, a filmmaker I have no great love for (his movies are competently made, I suppose, but they also have a slick and superficial quality). Some time ago, Ratner left the project and the film went into a sort of “it’s still happening, but we can’t give you any specifics” limbo. Yesterday, the (rather strong) rumor that Marcus Nispel would be taking over the reins on the project emerged. Nispel’s most prominent credit to date was the recent remake of Friday the 13th. Again, not serious. In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I did not see Friday the 13th, but that was primarily because my lack of interest in the film was practically tangible. (I mean you could’ve poked it with a stick and it would’ve cried out.) Anyway, no one’s hoping more than me that Nispel will do right by the material, but my hopes aren’t running high. I just have to wonder whether or not there were better choices for “Conan”. Let me give you two fer instances…
- Howard McCain, the Director of Outlander. As you can see by going down just one post, I thought Outlander was well-made and was certainly infused with some elements which were very Conan-like.
- Michael J. Bassett, the director of the forthcoming Solomon Kane. “Kane” hasn’t gotten a theatrical release yet, but I am assured by an impeccable source that Bassett gets this sort of material. (And, hell, Solomon Kane himself is also a Robert E. Howard creation.)
So, despite the fact that I have a great deal more affection for Conan than I do John Carter, I am convinced that “Carter” will be a better film. At least in the case of “Carter”, I know the director (Andrew Stanton — he of Wall*E and Finding Nemo) is not only highly competent, he is excited about the stories upon which the film will be based.
Post Script:
Okay, I take back some of the above confidence in the adaptation of John Carter. Again, via Chud…
A couple of hours ago I was all high on John Carter of Mars (which I called a Pixar film, but I guess it’s a co-production with Disney and all of the animation nerds on the boards got enraged about the mistake. Sorry!). I loved the idea of the picture shooting in the otherworldly landscape of Utah. I was okay with the idea of Lynn Collins, who didn’t wow me in Wolverine, playing Dejah Thoris.
But then I went to see The Taking of Pelham 123 (review coming!) and when I got home the world had been turned upside down. See, they had hired John Carter himself. And it seems like they did all of their casting during a screening of Wolverine. They hired Gambit.
The guy who played Gambit is going to be playing John Carter, a Civil War soldier who teleports to Mars.
Ugh.
I know that there will be some of you who will point to Taylor Kitsch (what a fucking name. Was is mother’s maiden name KnickKnack?) as an actor on Friday Night Lights, and maybe he’s good there, but he’s still a pretty boy. A pretty, pretty boy.
But I have to try and have faith in Andrew Stanton. I must try to remain open-minded. I must try. I must try.
via Hollywood Reporter
I agree with our faithful commentator. Kitsch is completely wrong for the part. Oh well, Strike One.
Post Script #2:
Well, Nispel has been confirmed by Variety as the director of Conan the Barbarian. Chalk it up my curmudgeonly nature if you like but it really irks me that Variety keeps referring to the film as a remake of the Schwarzenegger flick from the 80s. Whatever the intentions of the helmers of this new movie, I’m fairly certain they have no desire to “remake” the older film.
At least I hope that’s the case. If I’m wrong, my outlook just got a whole lot bleaker.
Below you’ll find the trailer for the video game The Beatles: Rock Band which releases this fall. You should watch this trailer if you fit any one of the following descriptions: 1) Like me, you grew up listening to the Beatles, 2) You’ve played Rock Band or Guitar Hero at any point in the past, or 3) You like things that are righteously cool. Honestly, I have very little interest in the video game itself, but as I watched the trailer, I kept thinking to myself ‘Damn, I’d pay to see a feature film done in this style…’ It’s like Yellow Submarine only, you know, good.
By the by, here’s the trailer for The Princess and the Frog that’s currently showing with UP. “Princess ” is the first traditionally animated feature from the Disney Studio since the disastrous Home on the Range. For a while there, it looked as though there would be no more hand-drawn animation from the studio that Walt built, but Michael Eisner was finally deposed and the new CCO (John Lasseter) understands the studio’s roots better than any other executive could. In the wake of Pixar’s early successes, Eisner and other short-sighted executives decided that people didn’t want to see feature length cartoons done the old fashioned way anymore. The very notion that 2D animation was to blame (when, in fact, it was bad storytelling more than anything else) is ludicrous. I think that traditional animation still has a spark that’s lacking in CGI and I trust that the movie-going public will still embrace the format given a well-told tale.
That being said, I’m not sure The Princess and the Frog looks all that amazing based on this trailer, but I’m pulling for it nonetheless.
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