archives :: pop culture
Viggo who?
Can't say as I've ever heard of him… Kidding, of course: although last week—and not for the first time—I deeply, deeply wished that Peter Jackson had been able to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to play Aragorn. Mortensen is such a piss-headed... [read more]
when genres collide
ELENDIL THE TALL, son of Amandil, Lord of Andúnië, became leader of the Faithful upon his father's desperate mission to the uttermost West. In seven ships the remnant fled the wrack of Númenór, and were cast upon the shores of... [read more]
Son of Kong
Not sure how I missed this. (Via WHEDONesque) Consternation spread quickly across the Internet movie fan universe. In April, Peter Jackson, director of the big-budget remake of “King Kong,” broadcast his plans to expand the ape epic (due in theaters... [read more]
fisking Lucas's moral universe, part II(a)
Without doubt, volumes have been written on the metaphysics of Lucas's galaxy far, far away. A pity: for in the end, there's no there there, just a mishmash of ideas lifted from Eastern—mostly Chinese—religious traditions, spiced up with enough emphasis... [read more]
fisking Lucas's moral universe, part I
What he has unwittingly revealed instead is just how conventional a thinker he really is. True visionaries transcend their times: but Lucas cannot even manage to see beyond the hermetic confines of Hollywood groupthink, in which dire predictions of rising fascism in W's America are as hackneyed as they are de rigueur. [read more]
Irish eyes
It being St. Patrick's Day and all, I propose a toast to a Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hewson of Dublin. Her given name is Alison. He hasn't used his in years. [read more]
Sith
The full trailer for The Revenge of the Sith was released today. At the official Lucasfilm site you apparently have to be a paying member just to view the damn thing. But thanks to Jonah Goldberg, here is a link... [read more]
what he said
Manolo shouts, work it, sister! Like many InstaPundit readers yesterday, I followed the link to Dr. Rice Enters the Matrix. But then I searched newsites looking for images that weren't scanned from the print edition of the WaPo. With mixed... [read more]
King Arthur lives?
[Repost from 9 July 2004—because burning through a light fever isn't conducive to writing new stuff, and because there just hasn't been enough Tolkien-blogging around here.] Last week at Tech Central Station, Kenneth Silber offered thoughts on the Once and... [read more]
scary monsters
The fantasy and horror/fantasy genres almost invariably feature heroes (or just protagonists) combatting some kind of personified evil. I rather arbitrarily draw a distinction between horror/fantasy and straight horror in terms of story resolution: if the protagonists win an unambiguous... [read more]
Narnia
While Peter Jackson toils on the King Kong remake, his Weta Workshop (which, oddly, has an empty website) is busy at work on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Flea points up a very, very cool Narnia... [read more]
"a most illogical holiday"
John Scalzi's masterful The Ten Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time has already been widely linked. Yet to my mind, the case of the lost Star Trek Christmas episode has not received its due emphasis. Mr. Spock, with... [read more]
Ichiro!
Last night Jeff Percifield devoted one of his trademark link-rich bios to the Seattle fielder. If you are even a casual baseball fan, do take a look. [read more]
the kid rocks
Over in the sideblog a few days back I mocked Bruce Springsteen for his claim of receiving “enormous sustenance” from Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman—a communion of the damned, if there ever was one. Now, countering one celebrity's political views... [read more]
go Mariners!
My wife and I call Seattle our hometown. But sometimes it's just heartbreaking to be a Mariners fan (cough.377cough). But thanks to Orrin Judd, tonight I have some reason to cheer. (Well, besides this, I mean.) Politically, the Mariners bat... [read more]
bump
Two nights into the GOP convention, and my guess is that Terry McAuliffe is having kittens by the litter. Really ill-tempered hairless little yowlers, too. Apologies for the lack of posts. I've got lots to write about, some of it... [read more]
bizarro world
As a rule, I don't blog breaking news. But this is just weird. MTV, ROLLING STONE and the rock and roll establishment — past and present — have cast their vote, and their man is John Kerry. So on Sunday... [read more]
one particularly stupid white man
The Sydney Morning Herald reports from a news conference by spheroid propagandist and money-grubbing enemy collaborator Michael Moore (registration probably required). At a press conference for foreign correspondents in New York on Tuesday, Moore said Mr Howard's decision to get... [read more]
Michael Moore, collaborator
What tangled webs some cretins weave. United Arab Emirates based Front Row Entertainment is planning to release Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 in the Middle East beginning on July 14 according to managing director Gianluca Chacra. The film will first be... [read more]
be frightened. be very frightened.
Jeff Goldstein is a bad, bad man. And my hero. UPDATE: More Moore.... [read more]
babes for Bush
Ace is stoked that Lara Flynn Boyle has declared herself a Bush supporter. Insert standard disclaimers here, about the shallowness of celebrity culture, irrational appeals to authority, etc. Nonetheless: it was a little underwhelming back in 2000 when the Hollywood... [read more]
I always wondered about that.
In an early scene of The Matrix, there is a news report in the background about the terrorist activities of a certain Morpheus. [read more]
lost in translation
The latest cinematic version of the Iliad opens this Friday. Based on the cast—which includes Peter O'Toole, Brad Pitt, and Sean Bean, among other luminaries—and the price tag (some $200 million), Troy should be one astonishing spectacle. The operative word,... [read more]
a Jewish Western?
Rumors of this have been going round the past couple of weeks, but perhaps there's some there there after all: Mel Gibson looks set to provoke further antipathy among the Jewish community with plans to make a film about the... [read more]
guess that clinches it
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat watched Mel Gibsons's controversial “Passion of the Christ” at a private screening on Saturday and said it was not anti-Semitic, officials said. He watched the film — which Jewish groups... [read more]
cultural relevancy and the play-doh Jesus
There is something from my overlong post of Friday night that is worth revisiting. Here, again, is a portion of TNR literary critic Leon Wieseltier's screed against The Passion of the Christ. Gibson is under the impression that he has... [read more]
The Passion and the fury
If I can't yet comment on the movie proper, I can comment on the commentary, of which there is a lot. Let's start with the NYT review. [read more]
mtv (again)
True confession: Like about 98% of American males over the age of 13, I find Ms. Spears fascinating. (The other 2% are gay.) But I fear that she and her fellow pop tarts have [read more]
quotes of the week
Over at Moviehole, Mel Gibson speculates on his future as an action hero: He laughs when asked how much money he still gets offered for a new Lethal Weapon. “Ah, good question. I’m too old and I can’t deal with... [read more]
bummer.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." [read more]
mtv chastened?
Via my friend Peter Gornell comes this note from the culture wars: Under intense scrutiny following Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance during last week's Super Bowl, MTV has quietly plucked a number of its edgiest music videos out of its daytime... [read more]
Inkling heaven
Via TORn comes news that New Zealand is no longer just Middle-earth: it is now officially also Narnia. After almost a year of negotiations New Zealand has secured the multimillion-dollar Hollywood movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Work... [read more]
perhaps a bit harsh
The Return of the King continues to pull in astonishing reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. But not everyone is pleased. Consider the Weekly Standard's Jonathan V. Last, for instance. Some of his points seem well taken—although I... [read more]
more Rhys-Davies
Back in October, when this blog was so very young, I posted this on John Rhys-Davies, actor, gentleman, and anti-idiotarian. He continues to impress; and considering the political orientation of certain of his LotR costars, these comments at an official... [read more]
more Jonah-blogging
Some guys—in this case Jonah Goldberg—have all the fun. It's official. Tomorrrow afternoon I will be interviewed for a mini-documentary on the Lord of the Rings which — I'm told — will eventually find its way on to the Return... [read more]
yup, still a moron
Viggo Mortensen and someone named Buckethead have a new CD out… …and it's dedicated to Noam Chomsky: Viggo and Buckethead's new music and spoken word cd is now available at Perceval Press. The description of the cd reads: Dedicated to... [read more]
life imitates...The Simpsons
I just saw this episode in reruns a couple of weeks back. From Canada's National Post: An Oregon scientist inspired by Homer Simpson has successfully created “tomacco” — a tomato plant that contains nicotine. … Mr. Baur says the... [read more]
the anti-Viggo
Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies has been a favorite of mine since his portrayal of Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I've recently discovered a few more reasons to appreciate him, however. In July he and Sean Astin were guests... [read more]
critical notice: Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino is a fanboy idol sans pareil; the fact that I had until now never experienced one of his movies meant that my geek creds were in serious jeopardy. So while we were back home in the other Washington... [read more]
