Where I is

This blog is old. What are you doing here? OK, feel free to look around. But remember, you can now find me here and here. Enjoy.

Dazed Darwin

There's more to see at the zoo than bored monkeys and napping tigers. The shot above is part of a hilarious informational sign in front of the aviary at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX.

I'm not quite sure what the artist was trying to depict here, but Darwin sure looks confused by those disembodied birds.

Music: Still listening to that new M.I.A. album

Have you heard the story? British-born Sri Lankan hip-hopper M.I.A. was denied a visa to come to the U.S. for years because of her politically subversive lyrics and ties to guerrilla fighters in her father's homeland.

So, she skipped the studio sessions with American producers - and reportedly Gwen Stefani - and recorded her new album "Kala" in third-world countries and, the AP reports, with a decidedly third-world political perspective and sound.

That back story sure beats Vanilla Ice's "I'm from the streets, yo!" b.s. from back in the day, but does it herald a good album?

Sort of. "Kala" is a mixed bag, and it's taking me a while to get into it. The album's sounds and subjects are more experimental than on M.I.A.'s last release "Arular." There's less hip-hop, more disco and world beats and, unfortunately, more filler on this release. Still, tracks like "XR2" and "Paper Planes" are worth repeat listens. "Boyz" almost recaptures the quirky, beckoning beats and spirit of "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun" from "Arular," but it's not quite there.

I'm looking forward to decoding the lyrics a little more, since most of the songs seem inspired by political conflicts and the toll they take on people and their lands.

These new songs are different, but they're still good. She'll nail it on the next one. For now, dig on this clip for "Jimmy," one of my favs from "Kala."



Links:

MIAUK.com

M.I.A. at MySpace

AP story on M.I.A.

Photo from The Associated Press

Film: 'Darjeeling Limited' trailer

So, there's a "Darjeeling Limited" trailer floating around the web. Scroll down to view a YouTubey version.

The new Wes Anderson film stars Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson (no Luke?) as siblings touring India. Anderson wrote the script with Schwartzman and first-time collaborator Roman Coppola, who I haven't heard much about since "CQ' came out back in 2001. Natalie Portman, Anjelica Houston and Bill Murray co-star.

"Darjeeling" looks like it combines the odd family dynamics of "The Royal Tenenbaums" and the divisive insanity of "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." So, yeah, it looks good, and I can't wait to see it - if it comes to my local Cinemark. (Damn you Brownsville, you one-horse town).

The film opens Sept. 29 in some markets.



Links:

High res trailer

Official movie site

Photo from Fox Searchlight

Film: Hey 'Superbad' fans

So, "Superbad" is the number one film in the country and tons of people still don't know about "Clark and Michael"? It's cool. I just watched my first episode today, although I've been meaning to check it out for a few months now.

"Clark and Michael" is a great little Internet TV series starring and written by "Superbad" star Michael Cera and pal Clark Duke, who had a cameo in "Superbad." The ten-episode series is about little more than the pair trying to sell a TV pilot about their lives to the networks, but it's damn funny and each ep is only about ten minutes long.

The few eps of "C&M" I watched made me laugh just as much as "Superbad" did - and McLovin' isn't even in the thing. The series does feature cames by cool kids like Patton Oswalt, Andy Richter, David Cross, Tony Hale from "Arrested Development" plus the great line "They brushed our teeth with their dicks."

It's funny. Watch it.

Links:

ClarkandMichael.com

Clark Duke's YouTube Channel

Photo from ClarkandMichael.com

TV: 'Keep flirting to a minimun'

If you owned a TV news station, would you hire an anchorwoman whom you had to remind to "keep flirting to a minimum" when dealing with news sources? I wouldn't, but KYTX Channel 19 president - and Rick Perry clone - Phil Hurley did.

Hurley hired former bikini model and WWE "diva" Lauren Jones (that's her mug up there) as an anchor to boost ratings for his local newscast in Tyler, TX. Jones has no journalism experience and is probably best known by teenage boys who watched her on WWE hoping to catch a nipple slip. It's all documented on FOX's new "comedic reality" show "Anchorwoman," which premiered tonight.

I'd read nothing about "Anchorwoman" before catching the first two eps on FOX, but I knew what I was getting after the first minute or so. It's another fish-out-of-water tale with nothing new to say and only a hint of humor, mostly at the expense of the uber-bubbly Jones who, like Homer Simpson, seems at times unable to have an inner dialogue.

Sure, at least it's a "documentary-style" reality show instead of the "seven people picked to live on a pirate ship" variety, but I don't see it holding anyone's interest after a few eps. I mean, what do viewers really have to look forward to but watching a clueless, monster-boobed party girl alienating her serious co-workers and screwing up the news?

The character I find most interesting on the series isn't Jones, but station owner Hurley. It's pretty fascinating watching such a stiff and unimaginative suit so obsessed with the bottom line and so unconcerned about his staff that he's willing to damage their reputations, sink their morale, and kill his station's credibility with one dumb decision.

Still, I'm not sure how much credibility this station or its employess had in the first place. I might be wrong, but it looks like they hired a dog (yes, the "bow wow wow" kind) to do the weather.

"Anchorwoman" airs Wednesdays on FOX.

Links:

Anchorwoman at FOX.com

Lauren Jones' last job

KYTX 19 (Lauren's current job)

Photo from FOX.

TV: Logan Echolls is CBS's new vampire

Wassup "Veronica Mars" fans? Still waiting for season three to hit the stores (you think we'll really get to see that trailer for the proposed season 4)? Well, while you wait, take comfort in the fact that a lot of "VM" stars have already moved on to paying gigs. The latest news is that Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls) will star in the upcoming CBS drama "Moonlight," about a vampire detective named Mick -- not Angel, or Nick Knight -- seeking redemption in Los Angeles.

Dohring doesn't play the lead. He plays a confidante to Mick (Alex O’Loughlin) named Josef, an ages-old vamp who, much like Logan, is rich and likes to misbehave. According to Film.com, Dhoring's role was originally played by 60-year-old actor Rade Serbedzija, but the producers decided to recast the role to make it less ... boring.



Sure, this series looks like a watered-down, big three version of "Angel," but I'm going to give it a chance now that Dohring's on board (and the fact that I was looking for a legit reason to watch it anyway). It can't be nearly as bad as, say, "The Dresden Files," right? CBS plans to air the thing on Fridays this fall. Good luck Dohring.

Film: '1408' quick review

In "1408," John Cusack plays a depressed writer trapped inside an "evil fucking room" that's clearly bent on driving him nuts and then driving him dead. Once shut in the room, Cusack's Mike Enslin endures tons of disturbing tricks straight outta Stephen King's big bag of horror randomness. He's left witless by flapper-era spooks, attacked by a mask-wearing slasher and even receives a visit from his dead daughter. Most of what happens in "1408" is pretty creepy (especially the periodic blasting of The Carpenter's "We've Only Just Begun"), but it's not the source material or the script, based on a short story by King, that makes "1408" one of the best King adaptations since 1980's "The Shining." The credit should go to Cusack and director Mikael Håfström.

Cusack fully commits to his role, somehow adding weight to Enslin's reheated back story and the ensuing tale of redemption. He makes you feel his emotional, psychological and physical pangs -- whether you want to or not. Håfström's film is refreshingly gore free, but it's still scary as hell. The Swedish filmmaker's suspense-crafting skills cannot be overstated here. The expository scenes leading up to the frights progress with a haunted air, thanks in part to a great supporting turn by Samuel L. Jackson, but things get really tense once Cusack checks into the suite of horrors. Those who don't suffer from anxiety or vertigo will get a chilling taste of both watching Cusack sneak across a ledge in an ill-fated attempt to escape the room. Things get so nerve-wracking that some might want to look away from the screen (like I did) for a few seconds in the third act.

If gripping suspense films are your thing, then "1408" is a must-see. Be warned though. Like most horror/suspense mash-ups, the ending here is more than mildly ambiguous. What might seem like a Hollywood ending to some might seem bleak to others. The ambiguity doesn't spoil what came before though, and it's sure to spark tons of theories from chatty film buffs.

TV: Battlestar Galactica music video

dr. baltar, bsg

Like all things in nature, Battlestar Galactica has earned its own silly but affectionate parody song/video. I don' t know who made it, and I don't think I want to know, but it's up for streaming here at SciFi.com.

The clip is called "A New Crew in Town" and it points out the differences between the old school Galactica and the new version and features clips from both. It's mildly entertaining, if only for lines like "Sorry Dirk Benedict/Don't want you to lose face/But I'd rather share my space with Kara Thrace."

Music: Download Oasis' 1998 unplugged show ... and don't look back in anger

oasis

Patch over at In Search of Arcadia has done Britpop fans a wonderful favor. He's posted MP3 links to every track from Oasis' 1998 MTV Unplugged set.

There are two great things about these tracks. The bulk of them are off What's the Story Morning Glory, my favorite Oasis album, and Noel Gallagher sings lead on all of them instead of lead singer Liam, who reportedly had laryngitis or some shit.

The tracks sound even better than I remember them. Noel's voice sounds great and the band is backed by some beautiful strings and horns.

Grab the track below and click here to download the entire set.

MP3:
Oasis - 'Cast No Shadow' (Unplugged)

Film: Three recent beautiful failures

the science of sleep

Have you ever watched a movie and thought, "Wow, that was a mess, but I loved it"? I have, and I have a name for movies that make me feel that way. I call 'em "beautiful failures."

Beautiful failures are usually too long, too weird, too sloppy or just plain stupid, but they're always strangely compelling and, well, beautiful. They're the movies you think you hate but you can't stop thinking about. You come back to them over and over and you can't figure out why. They can be very complex, pretentious or even too simple or mass appealing. Other film buffs might tell you different, but there's really no formula to creating a beautiful failure.

Some of my favorite beautiful failures are Steven Soderbergh's Solaris, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and David Cronenberg's awkward 1996 thriller Crash. I love these films for different reasons, but I recognize that they're all a little ... dreadful.

Here are a few titles I've recently added to my list of beautiful failures. Please, share some of your favorite "bf's" in the comments.

The Science of Sleep

The problems start with the packaging and advertising for director Michel Gondry's follow-up to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The trailer and DVD box try to sell the film as a quirky romantic comedy full of whimsical dream sequences and cute one-liners. What you really get is a seemingly chaotic but densely structured character study of an unlikable, mentally ill manchild (Gael Garcia Bernal).

There's a lot of good here, though. Bernal's character has trouble disassociating fantasy from reality, and Gondry illustrates this with some charming and singular visual tricks. Also, the ending is somewhat of a stunner that brilliantly unites all the disparate ideas and elements that came before. Unfortunately, most viewers will be confused and sick of all the seeming randomness before the third act. Bernal and the rest of the cast are great, but most of the characters are unappealing or hard to relate to. Still, I'll go back to this movie again for its brave storytelling, strange comedic bits and great visuals.
View the trailer

The Fountain

Where to start? The Fountain is the perfect beautiful failure. It's at times fiercely incoherent, silly and pretentious, but it's also visually impressive and features a very strong lead performance by Hugh Jackman.

All of the "big ideas" director Daron Aronofsky (Pi, Requim for a Dream) attempts to convey here can be gleaned from the preface of one of those Don't Sweat the Small Stuff books, but he delivers his dime store philosophy in an extravagant package that constantly switches from compelling to laughable (picture a bald Jackman reaching nirvana while sitting in a lotus position). Add to that a bunch of muddled biblical references, plot strands that go nowhere and performances that range from sleepy (Rachel Weisz) to irrelevant (Ellen Burstyn) and you have a "bf" that, somehow, demands repeat viewing.
View the trailer

Ghost Rider

This campy comic book adaptation is about a guy with a flaming skull for a head, but that's the least ridiculous thing about it. After delivering two joyless duds based on Marvel books (Daredevil and Elektra) writer-director Mark Steven Johnson amps Ghost Rider's absurdity factor up to 11. Unfortunately, that's way too high -- even for a comic book movie.

The film is a poorly written, painfully simplistic and predictable popcorn flick, but its worst attributes are what will keep me coming back to it. You have to admire a film that so economically delivers the cheap thrills and seems willing to suck ass to do so. The cast members do their best to make sure that Ghost Rider makes you smirk for 90 minutes and slips out of your system faster than a Diet Coke. It's a sick and fascinating thing to watch Nicholas Cage violently hammer tons of trite quirks and ticks into his character (He eats M&Ms from a champagne flute! He listens to The Carpenters! He speaks with an undefinable accent!). Peter Fonda and Sam Elliot ham it up, but the real kick here is Wes Bentley as the film's impossibly witless and fruity villain, Blackheart.
View the trailer, I dare you

Mad props from BlogCritics

My last Veronica Mars review was selected as an Editor's Pick over at BlogCritics Magazine. Also, another VM review was syndicated to national newspaper Web sites. Here's what BC has to say:

"What a great show! Just every episode, I love every episode. I think Mike Moody loves it too, otherwise how could he cover it all so well? And, who doesn't love Veronica? I think we all love Veronica. Veronica who? Veronica Mars!"
-BlogCritics Magazine

We done good

I couldn't believe it. Close to 2,000 hits yesterday and today. Wow. This little blog got close to 4,000 hits in two days.

This is really motivating. Most of the hits came courtesy of Whedonesque. It seems the editors of the A-list Joss Whedon blog really dug the "Catching up with the Buffy cast" post I wrote last week. It looks like I'll have to write that promised part 2 pretty soon.

So yes, this does mean I'm not abandoning Gold Teeth. I probably won't have the time to update it daily, but for now you can still look forward to fresh content every week. I've yet to decide what to do with this blog permanently though, but I'll figure it out.

Thanks for reading, and expect more Whedonverse posts plus media reviews, news, music and more .

Gold Teeth closes mouth

Gold Teeth will be pretty quiet in the coming months. Actually, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this blog from now on.

I got a new job and it's going to demand a lot of my time for a while. The good news is that part of the new job will be blogging about TV and pop culture, so anyone will be able to read Gold Teeth-esque content at the new Web site we're building for Valley Freedom.

Stay tuned for more. Thanks ... MM.

Film: Aykroyd says Ghostbusters III will be CGI

Dan Aykroyd recently told country music station CISN that he is working on a second sequel to the 1984 hit Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters III: Hellbent will be a CGI film instead of live action, Aykroyd said. The plot involves the Ghostbusters traveling to hell (shades of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey?). Aykroyd wrote the script.

Bill Murray has agreed to voice a character, probably reprising his role as wisecracking Peter Venkman from the first two films, and Harold Ramis is already attached.

There have been rumors of a third Ghostbusters film for years. The idea of a "young Ghostbusters" film was circulated in the 90s with names like Will Smith and Ben Stiller tossed around. Hellbent sounds more like an all-star, big budget version of The Real Ghostbusters animated series from the 1980s.

Aykrod and Ramis wrote and starred in the first two films. There's no word yet on a release date or whether this project will hit theaters or go straight to DVD. Listen to the Aykroyd interview here.

TV: Veronica Mars (3.11) - 'Poughkeepsie, Tramps & Thieves'

vm 3-11

(Air date: 1/30/07)
The theme of this week’s episode was trust -- when to give it and who to give it to. Apparently, according to Veronica Mars, you can kinda trust hookers looking to evade their pimps. Unfortunately, you can’t trust a semi-reformed bad boy like Logan Echolls.

The teaser and first act of this ep were hilarious and very, very intriguing. There was no sign of Piz, Mac or Wallace, but we did get a whole lot of face time with Max (a.k.a. the Louis Skolnick-looking dude who sells phony term papers on campus). I couldn’t keep up with how many clever Battlestar Galactica references were dropped in the opening scene alone (I lost count at 400 billion). If more Max means more Galactica references, then I say give the guy some credit sequence billing.

Besides giving Veronica a reason to say "frak," Max provided her with the mystery of the week: Track down the hot hooker hired by my friends to seduce me.

I was right there with Veronica in doubting the sudden spark between Max and Chelsea/Wendy/ Fiona (she’s the hooker with a thousand names, and yes, she has a heart of gold). Veronica’s a little more jaded than most -- coming of age while tailing unfaithful spouses for money will do that to you -- but it wasn’t a stretch to think that, maybe, this hooker was playing our Starbuck-loving friend for a fool. He’s desperate and he’s got wads of cash. He’s the perfect mark for a cute hooker-con woman.

But this is Veronica Mars. Things are much more complicated than that. Unfortunately, as the ep went on and the plot continued to coil, things came to a drowsy crawl before the last act hit. It wasn’t hard to keep up with the twists, but after I while I just stopped caring. I’m guessing that most viewers felt the same.

The Galactica references were very funny, and brave, and the plot wasn’t exactly humdrum, but I was a little disturbed by this ep. With the news that VM will ditch season-long arcs in an effort to gain new viewers, one thought kept running through my brain: Name-dropping another low-rated cult TV series and throwing the viewer a million curveballs in one ep probably won’t help raise the ratings. It doesn’t make sense that the powers that be behind VM would want to sacrifice the arcs, which the fans love and have proven to up ratings, but keep all the obscure references and super-dense plots, which undoubtedly alienate new viewers.

Speaking of arcs, we got a great interrogation scene with Keith. Decked out in too-tight fake police duds, he hammered the sanctimonious Lilith House chicks about the night Dean O’Dell died. Yeah, they egged his van and his office, but head Lilith Nish says she egged the Dean’s Volvo alone. Too bad for her then that O’Dell wasn’t driving the Volvo the night he died. Also, Nish’s mouth almost hit the floor when she learned that Keith was investigating O'Dell's death as a murder. I guess that makes her suspect number three, right behind Prof. Landry and Cheaty O’Dell.

I liked the quiet moments between Veronica and Logan, especially the intimate Q&A session at the end (scored by Leonard Cohen). Veronica was pleased and surprised to find out that Logan had never slept with a hooker. He smartly copped to fooling around with that surfer skank in the last ep, but Veronica was cool with it. However, she wasn't cool with Madison (where'd she come from anyway) saying she had a fling with Logan in Aspen. My guess? It might have happened, but Madison is a liar and she likes to push Veronica's buttons. It wouldn't be the first time she tried to screw with Veronica.

Random thought: Why is it that everyone Logan hangs out with or screws, save Veronica, is a shallow jerk (Dick, Mercer, Chip, surfer skank and now Madison)? Logan's come a long way. Shouldn't his friends reflect that journey?

The CW is now streaming this ep online. Also, watch a preview of next Tuesday's ep and consider the question: Is Veronica preggers?

Memorable quote: (Besides all the great Galactica references)
Veronica: (Examining the escort search engine) It's like a Zagat guide for hookers!

Friday Video: Le Tigre - 'Deceptacon'

Here's the Devo-esque clip from Le Tigre's Feminist Sweepstakes. Try this dance at home -- I dare you.

TV: Catching up with the Buffy cast (Part 1)

buffy cast

A few former cast members of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will appear at February's New York ComiCon, Variety reported earlier this week. The news got me wondering about what some of my favorite Buffyverse alums are up to these days.

Sure, most of us know about Alyson Hannigan's blossoming TV career and that Sarah Michelle Gellar has mostly resigned herself to starring in artless horror flicks, but did you know that Nick Brendan (Xander) does voice work for Disney Channel? Have you seen Tom Lenk's (Andrew) insane short film series about an eccentric dancer?

Read on to find out about how these former Buffy actors are keeping busy. I'll post more info about other Buffyverse alum in the coming weeks. And remember; let's try to support some of their projects. It's the least we can do for these talented performers.

Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris)
Nick Brendon had a tough time in TV land after Buffy went off the air in 2003. He starred in a sitcom pilot that never became a series, The Pool at Maddy Breakers, and Fox quickly cancelled Kitchen Confidential, the critically acclaimed but low-rated single-camera series in which Brendon co-starred with Bradley Cooper from Alias.
In between those projects Brendon starred as Roswell's Majandra Delfino's gay cousin in the surprisingly decent ABC Family flick Celeste in the City.
In 2004, he voluntarily entered rehab to fight his addiction to alcohol.
He served as honorary chairperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America during Stuttering Awareness Week from 2000-2003. According to his official Web site, Brendon's fans have raised more than $5,000 for the SFA.
In 2006, Brendan starred in LA's Blank Theater Co. production of Lobster Alice. He co-starred with Charisma Carpenter in another ABC Family flick, Relative Chaos, in 2006 and does voice work on the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long.
Catch Brendon's next project Fire Serpent, a SciFi Channel original film, on Feb. 24.


Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Before arriving on Buffy, Emma Caulfield had already guest-starred on a number of TV series, most memorably on Beverly Hills 90210. Since Buffy's end, she's mostly gone back to taking TV guest spots (Monk, Robot Chicken).
In 2004, Caulfield parodied herself in the award-winning indie mockumentary Bandwagon. In the film, Caulfield portrays herself as a self-absorbed starlet on a downward spiral. Bandwagon won the Maverick Award at the 2004 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film also features cameos by Buffy alum Tom Lenk, Buffy director David Fury and Joss Whedon. Read an interview with her about the film here.
Catch Emma in A Valentine Carol, Feb. 12 on Lifetime.


Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells)
Yep, that's Tom Lenk in that Wendy's commercial. He's also popped up recently on a number of TV shows, including How I Met Your Mother, Six Feet Under and House M.D.
In 2004, Lenk reprised his recurring role as Buffy's Andrew Wells for two hilarious episodes of Angel on theWB. He had a cameo as "Frodo" in Alyson Haniggan's 2006 film Date Movie and will appear in two of this year's major Hollywood releases, 23 with Jim Carey and Michael Bay's Transformers. According to IMDB, he plays a Pentagon analyst in Transformers. (That should be interesting.)
Tom will also appear in the upcoming indie film Equal Opportunity and the horror sequel Boogeyman 2.
Tom is also a well-received stage performer and comedian. He's part of the L.A.-based Strangely Attractive sketch comedy troupe. He started the bizarro comic stage production Unitarded in LA with acting partner Patty Wortham. Tom has also appeared in and directed several short films with other Strangely Attractive members. He has a few of these shorts posted on his MySpace page. The oddest ones star Tom as Trudy, a nerdy, 8-year-old female tap dancer. Check out the clip below.



Next week: Catch up with Amber Benson (Tara), Danny Strong (Andrew) and Tony Head (Giles).

News: Aqua Teen terror plot?

You haven't lived until you've heard Charlie Gibson say "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Seriously.

Why was Gibson talking about the Cartoon Network series on ABC News? Apparently an Aqua Teen marketing stunt threw Boston into a scare today.

About nine electronic devices planted at bridges and other Boston spots by the cable network to promote the show were mistaken for bombs, or other explosive devices. Highways and bridges were closed and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless. They were just boxes with magnetic blinking lights that formed the shape of an Aqua Teen character.

Cartoon Network: No. 1 in bonehead guerrila marketing ideas, G!

Art: Brownsville's Galeria 409 on TV news

oscar alvarez by liza longoria

The Rio Grande Valley's ABC affiliate News Channel 5 recently featured Brownsville's Galeria 409 in anchor/reporter Rick Diaz's weekly "Con Mi Gente" segment.

Diaz interviewed gallery owner Mark Clark about his 155-year-old building in downtown Brownsville. Diaz also spoke to artists Cande Aguilar and Oscar Alvarez. Both artists are now displaying their new work at the gallery.

Watch the Channel 5 segment here, and visit the gallery at 409 E. 13th St. It'll be worth it.