6 things W/Da7e [02/28

 

In the Clive Barker young adult fiction book called "The Thief of Always," they refer to February as The Great Beast of February. It's a dreary month that includes Valentines Day and for people that need vitamin D to feel good about themselves, it's hell.BUT! It's over. And writing and speculating about the Oscars is over. I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders, then I turned on the news.HEY GUYS! Did you know that crazy stuff is going down in Wisconsin? I'm of course kidding. I didn't turn on the news, I re-watched Cool World. In two words: still bad. [The Oscars â€" Who Cares?]

 

Have I mentioned I don’t care about the Oscars? Because I don’t, really. Don’t believe anything you read about me in anyone’s live blog, I cared, like 80% less than that makes me out to care.

I even did a podcast about why I didn’t care: HERE.

I bet that a good majority of stuff you read today will be about the Oscars, who wore what, what was undeserving or MORE deserving. Here’s the thing: this is all a media circus bought and paid for by the same studios THE SAME STUDIOS that put out every Razzie winner this year.

I see the point in nominees, because it’s good to narrow down each year’s releases to the most worthy of a chance rental or DVD purchase, but I don’t see the point in declaring winners for a campaign that has nothing to do with the public. The Oscars aren’t populist, they’re like Wal-Mart giving awards that Wal-Mart executives vote on: “Best Lawn Furniture for People With Lower Back Problems.” I really could care less.

Like most things at this level in Hollywood, the Academy Awards are all about money. Go ahead and put some faith in them, but be ready to take it away once you see through the veil of good intentions.

I was in a room with a dozen people watching the Oscars while Katey Rich from CinemaBlend and David Ehrlich from Cinematical live-blogged the proceedings. At one point, David decided he would like to drink a cupcake.

This was more interesting than the ceremony:

Anyway, there was a bright spot in the telecast and that was James Franco:

Franco don’t give a f*ck.

They guy was tweeting from the stage, shooting video on his cell phone and looked totally like he was fulfilling his obligation to be there. The dress thing was humiliating, but Franco (and, yes, I’m using his General Hospital character’s name) was so not impressed with the whole affair. He managed to literally do the bare minimum required of him as a host, and I dug that.

He was taking the Oscars as seriously as they could be taken for hiring “young” hosts, then writing them material that was the same old crap.

Look at this video James Franco tweeted from backstage last night and watch his face at the end. This dude knows it’s all bull.

[Childish Gambino - Freaks And Geeks]

 

Have I written about Donald Glover as Childish Gambino? Yes. In my first 6 Things w/Da7e ever, I mentioned Glover’s album Culdesac and how it was: a) great and b) available online for for free download.

I quoted a lyric from the album: “To all my fans who say Donald Glover ‘bout to blow/ Just give me six months so you can say ‘I told you so’”

I quoted it seven months ago, and like Donald Glover has been paying attention, he’s going to blow up.

Last week, he released his premiere music video as Childish Gambino, his rapping alter-ego (as opposed to his comedy ego on display with Derrick Comedy and Community) and announced his I AM DONALD tour, which will feature both rapping and stand up comedy.

This music video is bold and introduces a Donald Glover persona that has been absent from his non-musical works. Namely one that calls his penis and elephant trunk because it never forgets.

Add to that Glover’s near-brilliant performance opposite Levar Burton in a recent Community episode, and there’s no way you aren’t getting a bunch of Donald Glover in your life over the next few months.

Check out more at IAmDonald.com and look for Childish Gambino’s new EP March 8th.

[I Wish I’d Thought Of That â€" PAN]

 

BEWARE â€" we have entered the age of the fairy tale. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. We’ve run most of our franchises into the ground and people can only take so much re-booting. Adaptations from Comic Books take to reboots well (they are arguably part of the storytelling format, sort of a looping myth applied to different decades), but not everything takes it’s sequels, prequels and spin-offs quite so well (Wall Street 3 is not something I see on the horizon).

So we’re already slated to jump knee-deep into the new sludge of fairy tale re-imaginings. Hanna, Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters jump to mind when I think of projects based on fairy tales that are rushing to the screen. Add to that an upcoming Grimm’s Fairytales TV series and we’re on our way to fairy-tale remake land.

Which is totally fine by me (as a person who has his own fairy-tale reimagining short on his production slate this year), because I dig the idea of updating fairytales for adults. Or just leaving them the way they are (most of the original fairy tales have dark endings that are in no way happy, as was the purpose of fairy tales at their inception â€" like how Ring Around The Roses is about the Black Plague).

One of my very early jobs in New York was as an assistant set designer on a proof-of-concept short about Hansel and Gretel killing the witch they escaped from. We built an entire woodland cabin on one abandoned floor of a Queens storage unit. We trucked in moss and rocks and built a fireplace, we textured the walls with putty and built one of the walls to reveal stacked cages with children inside.

I got paid, but never questioned if they used the set or where the proof of concept reel went. So, for all I know, I’m going to be really surprised to see Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

ANYWAY, getting back on track, SCRIPTSHADOW, an invaluable resource for screenplay reporting, has coverage for PAN by Ben Magid. This is the script that got Ben noticed in the industry and currently the project is set up to be directed by Ben Hibon, the guy who did the animated sequences of the Hallows in the latest Harry Potter flick.

Here’s the premise: A recently retired police captain, Hook, is called back in to action when a boy goes missing under mysterious circumstances. He enlists the help of a woman named Wendy who, since her own kidnapping as a child, has been diagnosed as clinically insane.

Yeah, it’s pretty cool. CLICK HERE

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[Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair]

Los Angelinos â€" I envy you.

All through March, and into April, Quentin Tarantino is programming the New Beverly theater, which includes an assault of awesome movies you rarely or never get to see on the big screen (CRACK HOUSE? I saw that shit on VHS!).

However, the newsmaking story is that Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is going to debut at the New Beverly on March 27th through April 2nd. The Whole Bloody Affair is Volumes 1 & 2 cut together into one fantastic celebration of cinema featuring action, drama, man, sorry, I’m really psyched for this cut.

And we’ve been waiting 8 years for it to show in the US. The internet film-obsessive group-think is trying to figure out just what this cut is going to be. We know it’s unrated, but it may still be different from the Whole Bloody Affair cut that showed at Cannes.

I’m not crazy enough to fly out to LA, but someone better see this cut and tell me how awesome it is.

Above is an appendix of the “Everything is a Remix” project that outlines how Kill Bill might be the most film-obsessive film ever. Just to whet your appetite.

[Two and A Half Men Finale Leaked]

 

The producers of Two and a Half Men have probably had one of the worst weeks ever. Good thing they have this series-ending scene in their back pocket.

Charlie Sheen, not the character Charlie was the alien all along. I was not surprised.

[Redford Sent Us]

 

 

This is an interesting oddity of online film. It’s a documentary shot by A.J. Meadows during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival that follows Scott Hutcheson through the life of a movie blogger at the festival.

Bloggers from GordonandtheWhale.com ad FilmSchoolRejects.com show up, along with some other familiar names like Devin Faraci.

Overall, the doc provides a neat glimpse into the hectic festival life of a blogger, down to the sleepless nights and a pretty funny segment about WeAreMovieGeeks.com posting an obituary for an actress that had yet to die.

All and all, Redford Sent Us is a documentary taking in the process as it happens, it doesn’t have a thesis or a point of view that it’s trying to sway you towards. It’s interesting because Sundance seems so exclusive to those outside of it, seeing the scale of the online press alone and hearing John Cooper (the Director of the festival) talk about why he likes bloggers but dislikes Twitter is an interesting perspective to sample…you know, from my side of the table.

The complete documentary embedded above.BAM!Whatup, Internet, I just survived February. That's getting more difficult each year.As always, I'm causing a ruckus about pop culture, media and mostly pregnant girls on @Da7e and I'll see you next week.

Source: The home of a million blended cupcakes

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