Monday mini-movies: Cat vs Printer edition

Don't try watching this one without sound. You'll be missing the entire joke.

Watch it with sound, however, and you should be drunk with happy in a matter of one minute and seven seconds.

[Edit: The friend who showed me this video just informed me he originally saw it on filmdrunk.com and, due to blogging etiquette, I should probably mention that...I'm not going to, though.]

Short stories a-comin

As a special feature to staticEchoes.com, there will be a posting of several short stories in a couple weeks.

Some irl friends (damn, I'm hip) held a writing contest (Less of a contest and more of a hijacking of creativity...Yes, there was violence involved) wherein folks were sent a picture and told (at metephorical knifepoint) to write a short story about what was going on in the picture.

Honestly, it was a very unique, very awesome idea that, we hope, will produce some pretty cool stories.

Assuming I don't screw this all up somehow, the opneing paragraph and picture for each story will be posted with a link leading to the full story; each expected to be between five and twenty-five pages in length.

Usually I would recommend you turn on a movie or pop in a video game, but reading can be fun too. Get ready to enjoy!

Check it out: Fringe

I don't do many T.V. posts on staticEchoes.com because most T.V. is poop. (This statement does not include the likes of Weeds. We love Weeds. We love Weeds so, so much.)

However, being a huge X-Phile, I decided to throw hazard to the wind and give Fringe, often compared to the nine-season juggernaut, a chance. I'm one of the sad few who has yet to get Lost, so jumping in from the beginning of a new series sounded like a winning idea. Especially when the new series comes from J.J. Abrams.

I wanted Fringe to be terrible. If it were terrible, that would mean I don't have to dedicate an hour of my time to being planted square in front of the T.V., no matter what, period, every Tuesday night in order to catch the latest episode.

Unfortunately (fortunately, for most folks), Fringe was pretty dang entertaining. The pilot's story was strong, the acting was great and the script is more or less flawless.

My only complaint is, even at an hour and forty minutes, the introduction felt a little rushed. As the week's pass I'm sure I won't care, but don't expect to get eased into the world with this one. You're given a set-up, then a whooole bunch of stuff gets thrown at you as the show hits the ground running. It's easy to follow and easy to believe (as easy to believe as metal arms, teleportation and time travel can be to believe), though, so there's no fear of becoming lost. (You see what I did there?)

Anyway, damnitalltohell, I plan on sticking with Fringe for a while. So long as the show stays on par with the pilot episode, viewers should be in for a great ride.

Movie of the week: Burn After Reading

A bit of a tough decision for this week's movie pick. First we have Pacino and De Niro in their second movie working together and, hopefully, it'll be every bit as BA as Heat.

However, despite the dynamic duo's latest offering of Righteous Kill, my recommendation for this week is going instead to Burn After Reading.

Not only is it written and directed by the Coen brothers, but Burn After Reading also features a cast starring George Clooney, Frances McDermand, Bradd Pitt, Tilda Swinton and John Freaking Malkovich. *head explodes*

After last year's gritty, dramatic and powerful No Country for Old Men, I'm ready for a return to black comedy from two of the genre's best contributors.

Games to get in September

There's a long list this month, but thankfully not too many that really make me want to run out and spend half-a-hunnerd dollars of my own money. As for you guys, spend away!

September
15th- Dragon Quest IV (DS)
16th- Line Riders 2 (DS)
16th- Pure (PS3, 360)
16th- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Every system out there)
16th- Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Wii)
22nd- De Blob (Wii)
23rd- Disgaea DS (DS)
23rd- Lego Batman (Every system ever made)
30th- Legendary (PS3, 360)
30th- Silent Hills: Homecoming (PS3, 360)

DS owners should be happy with such a large selection this month. Everyone else, if nothing in this list of top picks catches your fancy, just wait until October and November. My wallet has run off and won't return my phone calls. Pretty sure it's trying to protect me from myself.

So, I played the demo for Disney's Pure (ATV stunt racer) and, damn, I was impressed. Had no idea the company had it in them. Fast, fun and gorgeous.

As for the rest, given how many decent looking titles there are, I wish I could just get back into the habit of renting again.

Too. Many. Good. Games.

Movies to miss in September

I'm running a little late on the monthly movie and game updates; but better late than never, right?

Unless you actually rely on these posts to make better-informed decisions and, due to the tardiness, accidentally went out and saw Bangkok Dangerous last weekend. THEN you have a right to complain.

So, yeah, here's the list of movies to stay the hell away from in September.

Bangkok Dangerous: Nick Cage confuses me. He makes some pretty decent movies, then he seems to go out of his way to make some pretty terrible ones. It has to take an actual, self-hating effort to get involved with something like this.

Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys: Continuing my completely unfounded quest to hate all things with the name Tyler Perry attached to it, consider this one on September's red list. Next time, leave your name off the project you arrogant jerk. (Note: T.P. may not actually be an arrogant jerk. However, I just realized his initials are T.P., and that's gotta count for something.)

Eagle Eye: Call me crazy, but I'm fairly certain a movie where a completely unbelievable string of events are connected by an all-seeing, all knowing voice on a cell phone telling two people to run here, drive there, shoot that, is likely gonna suck.

Bait Shop: This one's on DVD, so I guess I can't be too mad. It's not like the guys behind this fishing epic are disillusioned into thinking the movie was fit for the big screen or anything.

Made of Honor: Boooooo!...That will be all.

Monday mini-movie: Dizzy squirrel edition

Try not to laugh while watching this. I dare you. Now try not to show everyone you know how awesome this video is.

While looking for a video involving squirrels and misfortune (don't ask), I came across this little gem. My guess is that this fury fellow is, in fact, either a frat boy in disguise or terribly afraid of grass and therefore unwilling to let go.

Either way, it's hilarious.

UFC 88: Breakthrough

Crap. We're back to cheesy-ass titles instead of just calling the numbered event by the last names of the two guys in the main bout.

Next up, UFC 89: Booya.

Anyway, due to some friendly wagering going on, I can't post my predictions for this month's card. Don't want to ruin my chances of winning a buffalo nickel and a warm embrace. Consider this simply your friendly reminder to tune in Saturday and enjoy the show.

For those who are curious, here's the full card:

Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

Rich Franklin vs. Matt Hamill

Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

Dan Henderson vs. Rousimar Palhares

Martin Kampmann vs. Nate Marquardt

Thiago Tavares vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Tim Boetsch vs. Michael Patt

Dong Hyun Kim vs. Matt Brown

Jason Lambert vs. Jason MacDonald

Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan

Movie of the week: Transformers blu-ray

There's literally nothing worth recommending this week. That presents me with a bit of a conundrum.

Instead of something new, how's about something old?

This week's recommendation is the newly released Transformers on blu-ray. Let's all celebrate the end of the HD war (months late, mind you) by watching one of the noteworthy casualties of that drawn out, ridiculous, holy-crap-I'm-glad-it's-over struggle.

Bay always said blu was the way to go and, as of this week, his wish is granted.

Enjoy all that transforms in glorious HD once more.

Reviewage: In Bruges, Tropic Thunder, Be Kind Rewind, Hamlet 2

Given the time it has taken me to get back on a regular bloggin' schedule, it's only natural I'd have a few movie reviews in tow. Lucky for me, they were all quality flicks. If you missed these, git ta watchin.

Go Rent
Be Kind Rewind:

Take a more refined version of the typical Jack Black humor, throw in a dash of the evolving talents of Mos Def and add a heaping helping of off-kilter hilarity and a love for music, skewed history and the good old days of VHS and you have a great buddy comedy that's sure to spawn countless independent Sweding projects wherein jackasses record themselves acting out scenes from all their favorite movies. Be sure to check out the bonus features on this disc, too. Though I can't understand why they didn't include the Black/Def Sweded films, what's on offer is another hour of quality entertainment and behind-the-scenes features.

In Bruges:
While you might need subtitles turned on to understand some of those bloody accents, In Bruges is a vulgar, refreshing take on the classic Euro-gang genre. No interconnected plots or gang wars in this one. No. Instead, Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson play a couple assassins who, after a botched assignment, end up laying low in the podunk city of Bruges. Ferrell can't stay out of trouble, Gleeson can't keep Ferrell under control and a steadily building plot eventually builds to lots of swearing and shootouts through the sleepy streets of Bruges. Consider this one of the best black comedies in quite some time.

Go see
Tropic Thunder:

Tropic Thunder is hilarious. You don't really need to know anything beyond that. Black, Stiller, Downey, Jr. and their supporting cast all deliver knock-out performances with plenty of raunch, gut laughs and even a few moments genuinely worth pondering. Also, after an hour and a half of terrific comedy you get treated to some of the best war scenes caught on film. Explosive fun. Feel free to add that to your DVD box Goldcrest Pictures.

Hamlet 2:

While the story isn't exactly the most complete piece of work, the laughs are big in this parody of life, high school musicals and the close-minded masses who picket without knowing anything about what they are rebelling against. Maybe it's because I know a few too many drama folk, but Steve Coogan's portrayal of a failed-actor-turned-drama-teacher kept me grinning throughout. Also, any film featuring the lines "raped in the face" and "rock me, sexy Jesus" more or less has to be watched, right?