Here's Some 'Community' Outtakes for a Friday

alison-brie-ice-cream-1

Many of these made me laugh. Some made me, well, experience other emotions. Anyway, here’s a little video containing some fun Community outtakes.

Enjoy them as this week’s episode may be the last one ever. Fingers crossed for a renewal from NBC, though. Thursday night’s episode would be a hard way to go out.

No, I didn’t think it was that great. I was hoping for more. On a side note, don’t read anything into the fact that most of these outtakes contain scenes with Alison Brie. That’s just a coincidence.

I also have no idea how the picture of her eating ice cream came back again. I thought I got rid of that. Please accept my humble apologies and I will try not to let it happen again.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woP-4BP4w5M?rel=0&w=525&h=295]


'Walking Dead' Season 3 Visual Effects

Walking Dead

Continuing our trend of highlighting visual effects work, here’s a reel from Stargate Studios showcasing their work on The Walking Dead season 3. In addition to all the great zombie kills, pay particular attention to what they did with the prison. And they did it all with Adobe After Effects. Huh.

Great stuff.

[vimeo 63430867 w=525 h=295]


How to Teach Your Unborn Child About 'Star Trek'

star-trek-enterprise

Geeks/nerds out there expecting a child in the near future, this video is for you: How to Teach Your Unborn Child About Star Trek. That’s right, it’s never too early to start teaching your child the important fundamentals.

Well, you might want to wait until they actually have ears and can hear (about 20 weeks or so). But then, get to it.

If I ever have children (hey, you never know), in addition to Star Trek, I will also be teaching them about Star Wars during the all-important internal gestation period. This will, of course, inevitably lead to many enjoyable Star Trek vs. Star Wars debates.

That does sound like fun. I may have to work on that.

[youtube www.youtube.com/watch

(h/t to Dr. Tom Mahoney for the link)


And Now, a Very Special Episode of 'Downton Zombey'

downton-zombey

This amused me quite a bit. Of course, it helps if you watch Downton Abbey… And love zombies.

Fortunately, I do. I guess I should also mention that if you do watch Downton Abbey but haven’t seen this season’s finale, you may actually get some spoilers in this. So, beware and enjoy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p540lbdF70?rel=0&w=525&h=394]


Some News and a New 'Mad Men' Promo

I have been extremely busy the last several days and as such, haven’t had much to say here. Rest assured I’ll be back in short order. In the meantime, check out this promo for the upcoming season of Mad Men.

It’s in black and white, so you know it’s gonna be classy. Also, see if you can spot any new faces in the mix. I bet you can.

Cheers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I03g36sbU8Y?rel=0&w=525&h=295]


The Green Screen Is Your Friend

If you watch a lot of movies and TV as I do (and occasionally even make them), you’ve probably sometimes wondered “How did they do that”? Well, as you’ll see from this video, they “did that” with a lot of green screen and visual effects.

Visual effects is a huge part of Hollywood and the men and women who work in that industry should be recognized and rewarded as such. This is only a small fraction of the work they do each and every day.

Enjoy and try not to be too shocked.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k?rel=0&w=525&h=295]


Some Useful and Interesting Things For A Friday

alison-brie-ice-cream-1

Hey, it’s Friday. Congrats, you made it through another week! I’ve had a fun week (more on that below) but, as usual, I’m glad it’s Friday and the week is over.

Although, knowing me as I do, I’m pretty sure I won’t be taking the whole weekend off or anything. Much too much to do, especially with the new project and knowing we’re going to be moving again in a few months.

But that’s later. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy another edition of Useful and Interesting Things.

• My pal Matt Raub and I are back doing a podcast for The Flickcast. I’m very happy about it and you can listen to the brand new episode which kicks off season two right here.

• Confused about who’s who and who’s related to who in the Star Wars universe? Perhaps this handy chart will help.

• I know, you’re still sometimes having trouble with well-known punctuation like the comma “,” or the semi-colon “;” but that hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals from coming up with 8 new punctuation marks to surprise and delight you.

• Feeling anxious or nervous? Lifehacker has you covered on how to beat it. No, alcohol or other controlled substances are not involved, sorry.

• If you make coffee at home and ever do a Pour-Over, you need a Hario V60 Power Kettle. They rock and I’m using one pretty much every day.

• Angry, sad, happy, undecided, indifferent about the end of Downton Abbey season three? Perhaps these tidbits about season four will help you feel better/worse/whatever?

Finally, a here’s a little video I like to call Lego Michael Jackson. Coincidentally that’s pretty much what the person who made the video calls it too.

Plus, in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a little bit of Alison Brie and her freestyle rap skills. This video is here mostly so I can put a photo of her at the top of this post. Yes, she’s eating ice cream, so?

What, you don’t like ice cream or something?

[vimeo 60169112 w=525 h=395]


Take My Money

sonos-playbar

I already have a Sonos music system at home and it’s great. The Playbar looks awesome. Take my money (again).


'Star Trek: TNG' Season Two Bloopers? Make It So!

As a huge fan of the original Star Trek series, I was quite skeptical when Star Trek: The Next Generation came out. Fotunately, it only took about five minutes for the new show to win me over and I’ve been a big fan of Picard, Riker, Data and the rest ever since.

With the series coming out on Blu-ray, we’ve gotten some great supplimental material. One such bit of greatness is this blooper reel from Season Two of the series.

Great stuff indeed. Enjoy.

Update: Sorry kids but it seems the video has been taken down by YouTube for those pesky “copyright violations.” I’ll see if I can find it somewhere else. Meantime, go read a book or something.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_nVEm5Yc3c&w=500&h=281]


Alison Brie as Captain America Works For Me

In keeping with the Avengers theme going this week, I saw this, courtesy of the fine folks at Fan Art Exhibit, and had to post it.

Alison Brie as Cap. I like it. Quite a bit. Probably a bit too much.

Oh well.


The Live-Action 'Star Blazers' Movie Is In the Wild(Star)

star-blazers-1

When I was a kid, I used to watch an animated TV show called Star Blazers in the morning before going to school. It was a great show and I really enjoyed it. Well, it was great to me at the time anyway.

Later, I learned it was actually called Space Cruiser Yamato in Japan (the Star Blazers title attached to it in the States to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars no doubt) and in the years since I first watched, it has become quite popular in Japan and spawned several animated movies and seasons of TV.

More recently, they made a live-action version of the series. I posted a trailer for it awhile back. It was released last year in Japan and has now found its way online.

It’s also available on DVD and Blu-ray, if you can find it. I managed to order a copy from Amazon. We’ll see if it actually arrives.

Until then, there’s always YouTube (or the eventual American remake supposedly being written by Chris McQuarrie).

Enjoy. I did.

[youtube www.youtube.com/watch


No Good Trailers Today, Some Writing Tips Instead

big-fish-1

Yep, that’s right. No good movie trailers were released today. Or, at least not for movies I’m interested in. So there.

On the other hand, I did get a lot of writing done, so today wasn’t a total loss. In fact, I think I’ve finally figured out some problems with a script I’m working on, which is always a good feeling. Of course, fixing some problems can often lead to finding others . . . And so it goes.

Speaking of writing, screenwriter (among his movies is Big Fish, one of my personal favs) and snazzy iOS app developer John August has a great podcast (co-hosted by Craig Mazin) for all you aspiring screenwriters out there. I’m sure I’m late to the party on this and you’ve all been into the podcast from the beginning, but I’ve listened to almost all of the episodes now and I’ve learned a great deal.

Yes, I can still learn. So can you. Come on, you can do it.

Mr. August offers a lot of other advice at his website as well as several examples of his writing work for your reading pleasure. It’s a great resource and one I recommend highly.

I’m not alone in this, of course, but I’ve always believed one of the best ways to learn to write something like a screenplay is to read a lot of scripts. It helps to read good ones, too, as Mr. August’s are. No, that’s not brown nosing. They’re just very good and I don’t mind saying it.

In truth, I’m a big fan of reading in general. I guess if you’re reading this, you probably are too.


I Could Use a Laugh, How About You?

This made me laugh. Enjoy your weekend.


Decisions, Decisions

I really hate making decisions in most situations. Often, I have good reasons for choosing either option I’m deciding between. Sadly, I’m in the midst of such a quandry at the moment and not sure how to proceed.

Over the years I’ve discovered that I have a lot of interests. Sometimes, those many interests hinder my focus on one thing in particular. After all, there’s only so many hours in the day and I only have so much energy so. . . you get the idea.

I’m going to be soliciting advice from people who’s opinions I trust and will arrive at some sort of decision sooner rather than later. That’s my process and I guess it’s pretty much the best way to go. I don’t like it but I’ll do it.

Although, I really shouldn’t feel too bad about having to make these kinds of important decisions. It could be so much worse.

I’m very lucky that I even get a choice at all.

 


Going Back to Cali?

I’m not really going back to Cali, because I never left. I was just using that as more of a fun metaphor for what I’m considering. Well, it’s fun to me anyway, and that’s what counts.

This is my website, after all. If you don’t like it, get one of your own. I hear they’re pretty easy and cheap to get these days. You can’t beat that.

Anyway, what I’m considering is a full time return to the business of show. Since I stopped making movies, TV programs and the like I’ve spent a lot of time working on various other things, including The Flickcast. I still want to do those things but, in truth, the bug to get back to my first love has bitten me again . . . and hard. In fact, I think it’s infected.

Sorry about the weird insect imagery. Don’t mean to digress. Moving on. The difference this time is I won’t be going back doing what I did before (producing, etc.). Instead, I’m going to go back on my own terms with my own projects as a writer and director. Or, at the very least, I’m going to give it my best shot.

It all sounds good on the surface and if things continue to go the way I’ve set them in motion, all should be well. Watch this space for further developments.

On a related note, the site move I recently complained about for The Flickcast is done. It actually went well and didn’t even cost me that much. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Please feel free to resume your kind patronage of that fine website. Thanks. And my children thank you. . . Or they will when I finally get some.


'Lazy Sunday 2'

The sequel to the great SNL Digital Short Lazy Sunday arrived last night and it did not disappoint. Watch. Enjoy.


Post Hump Day Report and a Bit About 'Sons of Anarchy'

Yes folks, today is Thursday. Yesterday, as you might be aware, was Wednesday. That day is also know as “hump day” in the parlance of our times.

I’m not sure what this has to do with anything, but I just thought I would point it out. It may be relevant to some of you so that’s just one of the many services I try to provide to my favorite readers. Yes, I’m talking to you.

So, what’s been happening? Well, I’ve been watching a lot of a show called Sons of Anarchy for the past week or so. I had initially started watching it when it premiered a few years ago but as is sometimes the case, things distracted me and I wandered off to be transfixed by some other shiny thing. But now I’m back.

Fortunately, Netflix has my back on this one and has the first three seasons available to watch. I’ve gone through all of them and then resorted to Apple and iTunes for season four, which I’m currently in the middle of.

In case you’re not familiar with the show, it deals with a group of Harley Davidson enthusiasts and mechanics who, mostly through no fault of their own, have misadventures. You see, they’re a club, not a gang and they just want to be left alone to pursue their dream of living outside the mainstream.

Sadly, the law sees it differently and tries to impose the collective will of the self-righteous on our band of likable rouges and anti-heroes. Fortunately, the law turns out to be rather inept and for various reasons is prevented from taking any real punitive action and our favorite club is pretty much free to pursue its version of the American Dream.

The show was created and is principally written by Kurt Sutter. He cut his teeth writing and producing another gritty, anti-hero heavy show called The Shield, one of the best cop shows ever to grace the small screen.

With Sons of Anarchy Sutter is able to take things to a high level and spin his Hamlet-inspired tale in his own, unique fashion. In short, the show is very enjoyable and you quickly come to root for the “bad guys” regardless of any nefarious shit they might do.

That’s one of the cornerstones of good writing and good drama. You are able to take these, by some standards, despicable people and not only make them likable but cause the audience to root for them and hope they succeed.

The Shield had this same quality. Even though Vic Mackey and the strike team were, for lack of a better word, bad you really hoped they would “get away with it” in the end. Sutter obviously learned a lot from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan and he was able to take that knowledge, expand on it, shape it and create a show to be proud of.

This post has somehow turned into a mini-review of Sons of Anarchy, but that wasn’t really my intention. What I really wanted to accomplish here is to make sure that when I find great writing, I let people know about it.

Is Sons of Anarchy a perfect show? No. Does it occasionally veer off into melodrama and borderline soap opera territory? Sure, but rarely.

However, for the most part, it’s a well-written, skillfully produced TV series featuring an excellent cast that includes Charlie Hunnam, Maggie Siff, Ron Perlman, Kim Coates, Mark Boone Junior, Ryan Hurst and Katey Sagal and a cool, counter-culture lifestyle based on freedom to do what you want, when you want.

Any really, who doesn’t think about living that life sometimes? I know I do.

Although, maybe with a bit fewer stabbings, shootings, murders and explosions.


The Eagle Has Landed

I found this while at my Mom’s today. It’s a Dinky Toys Eagle from the TV series Space: 1999. Made in England, circa 1979.

I wonder if it’s worth anything? Even if it was, I doubt I would sell it. Of course, now that I found this I have to wonder what else is hidden in those closets. One day I really need to find out.

That day is not today, however.

eagle-space1999-500x500

Enjoy your weekend.


Obligatory "Best of 2011" Post

Even though I try to stop myself, I’m still a slave to some conventions. One such convention is the “Best Of” lists that invariably crop up at the end of the year.

Of course, I bowed to convention and did one. It was published over at The Flickcast. However, because I like to help and I like you, I’ve included it below as well.

No need to thank me.

As is the usual practice almost anywhere were column inches or post counts matter, writers such as myself take to their keyboards and make lists. I am no exception and, with a great deal of difficulty and toil, have managed to cobble together a list of what I think are some of the best things of 2011.

I don’t really want to bore you with a lot of explanations as to why I picked what I did. Suffice it to say these picks are mine and mine alone. Also, they are not in any particular order, mostly because I find it hard to rank them that closely. Or, I was just too lazy.

Either way, here you go.

Movies

Drive The Artist Attack the Block X-Men: First Class Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol The Descendants Thunder Soul 13 Assassins Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Hugo

TV

Game of Thrones Fringe Community Homeland Breaking Bad Justified Sons of Anarchy Archer Happy Endings Boardwalk Empire

Games, Gadgets, Software, iOS Apps, etc.

Apple iPhone 4S Apple iPad 2 Apple iOS 5 Wordpress Final Draft iA Writer Batman: Arkham City Cal of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Saints Row: The Third Forza Motorsport 4

Comics

Detective Comics Batman (DC) Justice League (DC) Green Lantern (DC) Irredeemable (BOOM! Studios) Daredevil (Marvel) Criminal: Last of the Innocents (Icon / Marvel)


Awesome Comic

I don’t update here as often as I could (big surprise, right?) but I do when I see something cool or fun that I want to share. I have to say this is pretty darn funny, especially if you’re a fan of a certain sci-fi show. Hat tip to my pal ProgGrrl over at the great Galactica Sitrep site for this. Enjoy.

						<img src="http://chrisword.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/2009-11-25-luna-nueva.jpg" alt="2009-11-25-luna-nueva.jpg" border="0" width="550" height="310" align="center">