Need something to anger up the blood? Why not try a documentary dealing with a huge, if often unmentioned, social issue. Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy played the Sundance Film Festival and got a pretty decent write-up in Variety. I'm anxious to check it out, provided I ever get the chance. It has an all-star cast with the likes of Bill Cosby, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock. Variety basically calls this one kind of softball, but I'm sure it's more thought provoking than 99.9% of the stuff I'm going to see this year.

Maybe. The director of the forthcoming Gears of War movie expressed an interest in the 3D movie technology in an interview with BloodyDisgusting.com. Anyone who's played the "drop and pop" shooter would just how over the top the series has been, and the implementation of the 3D technology into the its celluloid incarnation, would come as no surprise. I, for one, am a huge proponent of the 3D experience at the theater. It gives the entertainment business some leverage to make profit, and it also provides a more unique experience for movie goers who might otherwise stay home and watch a movie.

If you were as big of a fan of the 1up Show as I was, then this is for you. A new video podcast, if you will(it's on Google), about video games. It's called Co-Op and is being produced by former members of 1up.com, who now call themselves Area 5. Anyway, I'm a big fan of podcasts in general so this is just icing on the cake.

Thanks to Adam Quigley at Always Watching for pointing out how cool the Spanish version of The Spirit poster is. Oddly enough, This doesn't make me want to see the movie though.

Jon Podesta and President Barrack Obama have issued their support for a proposal to change the date that NTSC signals will be stopped. This transition to ATSC broadcasts has been a long time in the making but I cant imagine pushing the dated from February 17th to June 12th is going to make that big of a difference and neither does CES Chief Gary Shapiro. In a letter he wrote to President Obama he outlined 5 specific alternatives to pushing the date back:

1. A fix of the accounting issues such as the anti-deficiency rules that are preventing NTIA from sending out coupons despite available funding. Only 19 million of the 33.5 million available coupons have been redeemed.
2. Examine total funding for the coupon program and explore any need for additional funding, for example, to send coupons out via first class mail to eliminate three week delivery delays.
3. Elimination of the 90-day expiration date on coupons, which would put more coupons into use.
4. Explore additional funding for government call centers and funding to local grassroots groups to answer questions about the DTV transition.
5. Should the government determine that the supply of converter boxes will not meet demand, examine permitting use of converter box coupons to purchase access to digital television either through pay service (cable, satellite or fiber) or credit toward purchase of a limited feature or low cost digital television.

Personally, I don't think things are quite ready yet. Some signals still seem weak and public awareness isn't total yet. But, I also don't think a delay of a few weeks is going to make a tremendous difference. Keep the transition date and push for better quality signals. I can barely even get PBS in my bedroom.

The 81st annual Oscar nominees were announced early this morning. Were there any shocks? A few. The Dark Knight only got 8 nods. Kind of surprising depending on which side of the fence you are sitting on. I'm still surprised that Heath Ledger got the supporting actor nod. But the biggest shock to me is that Benjamin Button got 13 nominations. Benjamin Button? Really? I saw another movie that was a much better depiction of the nuances of aging, and told a much better story,in my opinion, it was called Synecdoche, New York. It, however, was not nominated for A N Y T H I N G. I am really pleased that both Man on Wire and Encounters at the End of the World were both nominated; Both are spectacular. I've to catch up a little in the next 31 days. I've only seen 2 of the movies in the best picture category!

P.S. I wasn't at all surprised at the wrestler not being nominated for best picture.

Last year was the year we needed to escape. The reality of a broken-down economy and uncertain times, had us flocking in droves (movie sales were up 2% from 2007), to the local movie house where we payed big bucks to be distracted, saddened, overjoyed and mystified (and of course, stuffed with popcorn [after all, what's a post about flicks without a nod to corn]). There was a crystal skull, a million-dollar game show and group of anarchist clowns. And we loved it. So instead of doing a traditional top 10 list of my favorite movies from the year that was 2008, I've instead decided to compile a list to celebrate the movies that I've seen and been extremely excited by. I've seen a lot by some standards and too few by others, and all the while I've managed to retain a sense of wonderment and bewilderment. And yes, I'm sure my regimentation will fall along the lines of other top ten lists, but never mind that, these are movies that moved me, reaffirmed my faith in the moving picture narrative as a viable art form well and provided a bit of happiness in an unhappy world. By the way, I'm not going to go in spoiler territory, or even give a synopsis of each film, I'm simply going to state some of my impressions about each movie, after all I wouldn't want to ruin it for you.

Synecdoche, New York

"Every one is disappointing, the more you know someone" Knowing that you don't know is the most essential step to knowing, you know? The past is not static, it's always changing. Of course there is uncertainty about the future but what about the now? This movie doesn't make any sense, and that's what made it so enjoyable to me. Aside from it's aphoristic tendencies and it's mnemonic ciphers, it remains a touching small scale (pardon the pun) story. It's a story about aging and how the past is strictly conceptual now and therefore ever changing. Go see it. Then come back to it. Or don't. Because the movie can be so nebulous and incoherent times, it will constantly be shifting in your memory. But doesn't everything?

Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Bole not only introduced a new word into the vocab of the west, he introduced us to Mumbai with this beautiful film. This is a great feel good (sometimes bad) movie gushing with candy-coated mantras about destiny and love, which I suspect, for many people, will be a turn-off. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful and feels beautiful. Did I mention how beautiful it is? It even winks its proverbial eye at traditional Bollywood flicks. So stick with it, and maybe, by the end, even you may start to believe that love truly does conquer all.

Man on Wire

This movie is ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING
in a low-key kind of way. This movie is sincere, minimal at times and eccentric by the very nature of its subject. It's magic. It's gray against blue with a tiny line in between. It's visually poetic. And the music is superb. This movie amazed me and it wasn't because of the extraordinary feats performed, and they were extraordinary, it was because I realized someone else still believes in the incantatory.

Låt den rätte komma in

Can you recall the satisfaction obtained from crunching through the fresh layer of snowfall on brisk night? Or what it was like to meet someone new? Remember how it was to have a crush on someone before you even knew what that meant? If not, this movie will remind you, if only temporarily. Poor little Eli probably can't remember these things. She's forgotten how. But she meets Oscar, and begins to relearn. As do we. This movie is about abandonment, loyalty and the melancholy promise of a sustained childhood friendship. It can't last. Inevitably we change. This is a cold movie with a somber undercurrent about a warm friendship, and of course...a vampire. You know, when I heard this was going to be remade for American audiences I couldn't help but chuckle and think, hasn't this already been done? And then I thought, why remake it? It's perfect the way it is.

Encounters at the End of the World

If Planet Earth is the Citizen Kane of documentaries then Encounters at the End of the World is the Bicycle Thief. It's boring, but that's a good thing, why should exciting get all the limelight anyway? Sometimes things need to be slow and surgically sterile, after all, that's just as vibrant of a sensation as any. That's not really fair though. This film isn't really boring, it's just reserved and/or polite. Unlike most movies, it's not an assault on our senses. In other words: It's not Bad Ass dude! But really it is.
So there you have it, five fantastic 2008 flicks that caused my heart to swell.