Calvin's Canadian Cave of Coolness

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Robot Jox And Robot Wars

You can see the rest of the film by going to You Tube. It's a goofy little battling robot film that takes it's subject matter and political message a little more serious than they should. They showed this once a month on our early movie channels and it was worth the time for me to check in on every now and then. It's such a fun cultural anomaly. I only wish half the movies on the SyFy channel were this much fun.

Then there came Robot Wars which had the same kind of classic stop motion and green screen effects that at the time were in their infancy. Another goofy story backed up by some fun visuals of robot vs robot.

There Must Always Be A Cooling Tower Of Cool

Photographer Richard Gubbels from Utrecht, Netherlands, shot this amazing photo inside the cooling tower of an abandoned power plant.

Damn, I Hate A Cold And Snowy Day

Because I have an overwhelming urge to eat comfort food like grilled cheese sammich...like leftover perogies and pizza. All my gains from last month are going to be lost when I get weighed in two week. As of tomorrow I only eat the mammals and fish that I catch and kill myself. If I can't drag that carcass over a mountain range I won't eat it. I watching Jerseylicious so officially I have hit rock bottom. GAH!

Beyonce Replaced By This Mumbling Numnut

Another example of poor celebrity public relations after a scandal. Instead of Beyonce coming out to admit she lipsynched at the Inauguration because she was nervous and it was a big moment for Obama or SOMETHING reasonably understanding like that, she drops out of singing in the Superbowl Half Time Show.

A relaunch of her career no doubt years on the making has now crashed and burned because image trumped just being a human being and saying she fucked up. People would embrace her and take her back into their superficial hearts just for not blaming something else or everything else for her fuck up.

I would have loved to see one celebrity act without first taking the advice of some focus group or celebrity consultant. Instead of risking anything taking away from the precious game, the NFL decide to go with the most white bread of overrated and irrelevant musical stunt acts - Bob Dylan. I swear, I so love to hate everything about this 'event' and every year the Superbowl never fails to disappoint.

I Have To Be Honest With You All

I like my Tinkerbells to be a little on the trashy side.

Helen Flanagan

Comic Panels Of The Day - Squirrel Girl

I Always Get Kept Out Of The Best Clubs

Model Mayhem - Elena Baylshmidt

http://alenlav.deviantart.com/

Stockholm's Incredible Futuristic Metro

http://www.techgraffiti.com/stockholms-incredible-futuristic-subway

Flipper The Robot Cat

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

"Have you ever faced certain death?"

"If it was so certain I wouldn't be here, would I?"

I think it's impossible for Aubrey Plaza to be anyone other than Aubrey Plaza on film. Her performance in this film is so great but she could be the twin sister of April from Parks and Recreation. That is not a bad thing but I think it did cost her a deserved Oscar nomination. She is so appealing as a girl chasing a mystery and at the same time, a purpose for her life. I found the whole little fairy tale to be enchanting and one of the biggest surprises of last year. This is the exact kind of love story I wish was my reality.

From the producers of Little Miss Sunshine - When an unusual classified ad inspires three cynical Seattle magazine employees to look for the story behind it, they discover a mysterious eccentric named Kenneth, a likable but paranoid supermarket clerk, who believes he's solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon. Together, they embark on a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly heartfelt journey that reveals how far believing can take you.

Delicious

The baby Tapir.

Miami Vice - The Best Television Of My Life

Now that Sonny Crockett had himself some powerful ennui. Who ever thought that a post-it note with the words MTV Cops on it would spurn another pop culture explosion. I so remember the night this show premiered and how watching the pilot thrilled me while breaking my heart.

Because of the outrageous cost of combining popular music with dramatic television you almost never saw the combination. However, in the Age of Video, the team-up was unavoidable and was a huge selling point for this series. It succeeded spectacularly and became the norm but people forget what a risk this was at the time because it drove up the cost of production. The drama is so much stronger with the great song by Phil Collins powering the emotion and that feeling is what I remember most about this great television moment.

Don Johnson gets the time and the character and the swagger completely right and Phillip Michael Thomas just gives him the Caribbean credibility this series needed to survive and set it set apart from the pack. It set a vivid tale of the Miami drug scene in the 1980s that pushed the limits of network television. I can only imagine what it would look like today if one of the cable networks like HBO or AMC had the property. I suspect it would be much like Scarface with scenes of chainsaw executions and Colombian neckties.

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs

Kung Fu Panda - Legends of Awesomeness

"But you're just a big fat panda."

"No, I am THE big fat panda."

What a fantastic animated fantasy set in ancient Japan and surround a Panda and his five fellow students at a Kung Fu Academy. From a hidden valley they bring peace and justice to the gentle citizens they protect.

The animation, voice acting and writing are all fantastic. The comedy is always crisp but fluid at the same time. I always get the impression that people WORKED on the scripts to get the stories right. The creators make maximum use of their running times. There is alot going on here.

If you want to watch a terrific clip of how Po 'stole' the crocodile gang. I love the fit that the head croc throws. Brilliant.

http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/kung-fu-panda-225-clip.html

Plus how can you not love James Hong as Po's father, the nutter goose who runs a noodle stand? That man is a national treasure and brings that touch of class that puts this cartoon above the rest currently on the air.

I love these little morality tales where each member of the Furious Five learns a reason towards their goal to become more enlightened Kung Fu masters. Those character revelations are the best part of the new series on Nickelodeon. The voice acting and animation are top notch. I love the way the characters move, each using their particular brand of fighting to motivate their movements and drive the action. It's a slick piece of cartoon ballet and good fun. Slapstick Kung Fu Comedy.

Of course, Tigress is my favorite character. I LOVE her ennui. She suffers while having to deal with the sloppy mess that is Po. For someone wound so tight as Tigress is, it must be torture to not have someone else like Po totally figured out. I feel her pain. I just want to give that Panda a slap sometimes so he snaps out of whatever flight of fancy he is on.