What I want more than anything in the world

At this moment, right now at 1:27 AM on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009, more than anything in the world I want to look like Paul Rudd in this picture.

(Click image for a larger one)
You could offer me sex with a supermodel or a cure for Crohns and right now I would choose to look like Paul Rudd in that picture.

Tumbling through the blogosphere

So there's this thing called tumblr that's like some sort of Micro-blogging site. Since Nussypaloozy has gotten a little stagnant I figured I'd spice things up. Now Nussypaloozy.blogspot.com has a sister site located at nussypaloozy.tumblr.com. It's like this sites kid brother or something. Anyway, I don't think anyone reads this site so I doubt anyone will read that one either.

Summer Movie Spectacular

Iron Man came out last weekend and that means the Summer Blockbuster season has started. In honor of this event I'm going to run down some of the more awesome movies coming out this summer.


First off we have Iron Man of course. This is the movie based off of the Marvel comic book of the same name. Basically super rich engineer Tony Stark makes a robotic suit to fight crime/protect humanity. It's really fucking cool, and doubly so because he engineered the whole thing.

Why you should watch it: It's another superhero movie which means its a great popcorn action flick, but more importantly it stars Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. He's very convincing as Stark and he's just so damn charming. Furthermore this movie makes engineering look cool without being too hokey (I'm looking at your Michael Bay and the "science" in your Tranformers movie). I can see this movie getting more kids into engineering. If they release a Iron Man branded erector set or robotics kit it'd probably sell really well! It's also the best superhero movie since Batman Begins!

Second up is the archaeologist/adventurer himself, Indiana Jones and the Mother Fucking Crystal Skull. This movie brings back old Indy in all of his glory. He's pretty old now, but judging from the trailers he still knows how to kick some ass.

Why you should watch it: If you enjoyed any of the Indiana Jones movies you're already obligated to come see this one (and really who didn't enjoy any of the Indiana Jones movies?). Also don't forget The Motherfucking Labeouf is in this. Furthermore, it seems Stephen Spielberg and Harrison Ford are keeping George Lucas in check as far as dumb "Star Wars Prequel style" cheese is concerned.

Next is another comic book movie, The Dark Knight. This is the follow up to one of my favorite superhero movies Batman Begins. Christian Bale is back as Baman and this time he's gotta fight the Joker (played by the late Heath Ledger).

Why you should watch it: Christopher Nolan is back at the helm as director and between him and Christian Bale I have yet to be disappointed in their respective work (and collaborative work). Furthermore, initial reports are saying this is some of Heath Ledgers best work to date. Finally, you've got monster actors like Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine reprising their roles from the previous film and newcomer Aaron Eckhart, who was great in Thank You for Smoking, rounding out the cast. This movie might just be better than Iron Man!

Finally, rounding out our list of must see movies this summer is Wall•E. The computer generated tale from Pixar about a small little robot who's left on Earth to clean it up.

Why you should watch it: I don't even quite understand what this is about other than a little robot, and I don't know if I want to find out until I go and watch it. It's Pixar so its gonna be pretty decent and really can you say no to these eyes?


P.S. While not coming out this summer I have to point out that when the Arrested Development movie does come out I expect everyone reading to buy at least 1 ticket... per showing.

Yes Binging

I've found that my life is very very predictable recently and I want to shake it up a bit. The easiest way for me to do so is to go on what's called a Yes Binge. James Gunn (of Slither fame) went on one and wrote about it a couple months ago. He described it as such:

A Yes Binge is basically making a commitment for six months to say "YES" to anything you're on the fence about. If it's an automatic "no," say "no," but if you have to think about it, say "yes." This has been a blast for me, since I'm usually pretty stingy with my time, both socially and work-wise. Now I'm overbooked and tired as hell from going out most every night, but I'm happier than I've been in a long time too. So, if you find yourself in a rut, try out a Yes Binge.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm going to say "Yes" to things I normally wouldn't. I started this Great Experiment off by going Ice Skating (oooh big step there!) and getting my hair cut. Both of which turned out well. So, feel free to abuse me with this, and constantly remind me that I have to say "yes" to any iffy call. Obviously I won't say yes to anything since automatic no's still get a "no", but it should be fun and/or interesting!

Feel free to leave comments about yes binges you've been on! (Or on if you think my new haircut looks alright)

Oscar Picks

Since the Writer's Strike is over, the Oscars are now free to do whatever it is they do. And as a watcher of great film, I feel it's my duty to make some Oscar picks. So without futher ado here are some picks and a brief rationale behind each one:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Why: Because Daniel Day Lewis has a milkshake and you have a milkshake, and he has a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And his straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... He... drinks... your... milkshake! He drinks it up!

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

Javier Bardem should win this award because he portrays the creepiest most convincing killer since Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Ellen Page should win because it'd be funny. She's like 20 and she's beating people who've been in show business longer than she's been alive. Plus I have a huge crush on her. Plus Plus a vote for Ellen Page is really a vote for Michael Cera.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)

It's a chick playing a dude, and while I haven't seen I'm Not There (it's Netflixed, don't worry), a chick cross dressing is the quickest way to an academy award short of playing a retard (err a Mentally Challenged Person, sorry Mom)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird

Never has animated film looked so tasty. And never has a cartoon "for kids" been so engrossing (besides previous Pixar installments, but they've really reached a level of polish here.

Achievement in directing
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

A toss up really. They both do an incredible job with their respective movies. I think No Country for Old Men is overall a better movie so I'm going to have to go with that I guess. Either could win.

Achievement in film editing
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes

Roderick Jaynes should win not only because the editing in No Country for Old Men was top notch but because Roderick Jaynes doesn't actually exist.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova

Absofuckinglutely Falling Slowly should win. Plus I can't wait to see Hank Tallinder (er Glen Hansard) perform this song on stage. On a side note, and in an unprecedented event of Oscar crossover, I want to sing this song with Ellen Page.



Best motion picture of the year
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

People complain there's no "climax" in this movie but fuck them, its one of the most exciting, well written, well acted movies I've seen in a while.

Adapted screenplay
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Like I said, its awesomely well written. I call Shenanigans if There Will Be Blood wins this because it might be a "good" critically acclaimed movie but there's no fucking dialog except for the end.

Original screenplay
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody

Ignoring shit like "Honest to Blog" I thought this script was original and fresh and whatever other adjectives critics always use to describe an Indy hit. But seriously, I enjoyed it and it was definitely quotable if a bit over the top sometimes.

So there you go, I skipped the dumb shit like Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Foreign Film and Documentary because I'd just be pulling stuff out of my ass, and no one wants that.

Semi-Breaking News: WRITERS STRIKE OVER

It's been rumored for over a week now but its finally "official". A deal has been struck. The writers are getting 2% of the distributor's gross on New Media (Internet) content! That's like 10 times as much as they get on DVDs. Showrunners come back Monday, Writers come back Wednesday. TELEVISION IS BACK!

Constantly updated coverage found here at Deadline Hollywood Daily

Excuse me while I run around my house in celebration shouting "The Writer's Strike is Over" a la "The Yankees Win the Pendent" or "May Day"

Garfield is not a funny cat and Marmaduke is an equally unfunny dog.

Update! Recently it has been brought to my attention that there is a new site that has successfully made Garfield a redeemable funny comic and that is Garfield minus Garfield. Jon IS crazy! (And sometimes funny!)


Ed Note: I wrote this a while ago, but didn't finish it until recently and in the effort spacing posts out and timely posts (see Super Bowl post) I've decided to wait and post it now.

I'm a firm believer that newspaper comics forever sucked with the death of Calvin and Hobbes and the death of Charles Schultz. Garfield and Marmaduke are shining examples of this. I was under impression the comics were called the "Funnies" because they had what people like to call "Jokes" in them. There are no jokes in these comics, in fact you don't even make me smile. It makes one wonder why these comics continue to be made. Maybe they're operating on a higher level, maybe the fact that they're NOT funny IS the joke, and Brad Anderson and Jim Davis are sitting in their homes laughing at all the dumb people who continue to read their comics. Probably not the case, but anyways I digress. The point of this blog entry is to introduce you, my fair reader (pluralizing may be a stretch), to two excellent websites devoted to pointing out exactly how painfully unfunny these comics are.

As far as Garfield goes, I thought it pretty dumb until I assumed that John can't actually hear Garfield. Mentally removing Garfield's thought bubbles at least made the comics somewhat bearable as it seems John isn't just weird for the sake of funny, he's certifiably insane. Sadly, that can only last so long, and Garfield still seems to be found in the paper every day. Thankfully, some crazy internet people have decided to act out Garfield strips. Behold, LasagnaCat! (Thankfully this has nothing to do with the ever-hated LOLCats, may they burn in the fiery pits of Internet hell) The live action recreations of the strips are funny because they're so not funny,(Ed Note: He loves IRONY. See if you can find the meta-double-irony in this post) but what really pushes it over the edge is the music videos that follow each strip that could only have been conceived by someone on acid.

The following site really needs no lengthy introduction, as its just some guy who's decided to explain what each Marmaduke comic means. Two of my favorites are: Marmaduke Buries Bones and Marmaduke has a lady friend. Both quality and the comments are quality as well. I think the site reached its pinacle when the author declared:

STOP
STOP IT
JESUS CHRIST STOP IT
...
BRAD ANDERSON WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU
...
JESUS FUCK STOP IT
I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU
WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS
EVERYTHING YOU CREATE IS CANCER AND MADNESS
HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE

In conclusion, if there's anything I hate more than shitty, unfunny product, its shitty, unfunny product that makes someone money for an extended period of time. Goodnight.