3 Guys & Glee are on ITunes!

I'm very excited, the 3 Guys & Glee podcast is now on ITunes. So, you can easily subscribe and listen to your favorite Glee podcast involving 3 Guys from Tampa...who are named Rabid Nick, Jimbo and Kevin....who are straight.....ok, nevermind. Anyway, it's here, so click HERE and subscribe Today!!! (And, if you could write a review, I would appreciate it!)

3 Guys & The Quest for the Holy Fail - Slimed

Finally, the Holy Fail column is back. And this week, the movie was done by a couple of local filmmakers which makes it all that more fun. The movie was so good, we were able to contact them, and the interview will be up tomorrow. But, when you look at the column, be sure to check out the amazing trailer at the bottom, and try our custom drink recipe. Click HERE to read the 3 Guys & the Quest for the Holy FAIL

A return to the Cove- My interview with Ric O'Barry

Back in October, I spoke with Ric O’Barry, the Flipper trainer turned dolphin defender featured prominently in The Cove, the documentary about the capture and slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. At the time, O’Barry was excited that the movie was coming out, finally exposing the travesty he had spent so much of his life trying to stop. Well, a lot has happened since then — including The Cove’s win of an Academy Award for best feature documentary. Notoriously, his acceptance segment was cut off when he hoisted a sign urging viewers to “TEXT DOLPHIN to 44144.”

On May 5, Tampa Bay gets a rare chance to hear from O’Barry in person at a special screening of The Cove at Muvico Baywalk (see box). The screening is a fundraiser for the Oceanic Preservation Society, helping O’Barry to continue his work saving dolphins. In advance of that event, I called O’Barry to talk about what has happened in Tajii since the film and its Oscar win.

In the interview, I ask him if the dolphin hunting has stopped, what he thought about an U.S. Military Base refusing to show the film, and a ton more. Check it out!
An Interview with Ric O'Barry

/Film interviews Tommy Wiseau

Since seeing The Room, I have seen and heard all kinds of interviews with director/writer/producer/star Tommy Wiseau. I have to admit, I love it because they always make me laugh. This interview, done by David at /Film was no different. His wording was great, and of course, Wiseau is... one of a kind. Check out the interview!!

Interview with Tommy Wiseau, Director of "The Room" from /Film on Vimeo.

NPH is on Glee, bitches!

NPH is scheduled for this season on Glee. I know, you're excited, right? Well, the question has been, what will his role be. Finally, we get the anwser straight from Doogie's mouth, and it sounds awesome! Check it out!

Chuck trailer

This is why I love Chuck more than any other show on TV, and that is because they are happy to make fun of themselves. Check out the trailer, and whether you are a fan of good ol' Charles Bartowski or not, I'm sure you'll still get a heardy chuckle!

Twilight Trailer

So, I have to admit, I am not a fan of Twilight...at all. It's the crazy fans, the team Edward vs. team Jacob, the lip biting Bella, all of it, it's all just plain annoying to me. That being said, this trailer looks pretty interesting. Check it out!

Joss Whedon comic

As you probably know, being the delicously geeky movie fans you are, that Joss Whedon, the geek prince, is set to write and direct Avengers. It's cause for celebration, but I prefer to be cautiously optomistic as the world loves to take my fellow geek away from me just as things are getting good (see 'Firefly'). So, check out this comic that made me crackup. And remember, you can't stop the signal!!!

Harry Potter movie gets me all kinds of excited!

I am a huge fan of movie posters. The designs are intriguing, and their attempt to tell a story is often really great, but sometimes, they are just too busy. I am a huge fan of a simple concept in movie posters, and this poster has it right. Check it out, and join me in excitement for the last two movies!

Are Red Band trailers reaching those that shouldn't see them?

EDITORS NOTE: This story appeared on Creative Loafing. Check it out by clicking HERE

As the recent success of the Kick-Ass preview shows, Red Band Trailers (R/NC-17/unrated) are extremely popular online. Some people are complaining that images of little children cursing and killing people are too much for their own kids to see, but should studios stop distributing the extreme content, and are they doing enough to make it out of kids reach?

Red Band trailers are previews that are not rated by the MPAA and generally contain content not appropriate for all audiences. These trailers that are passed around websites with ease are all the rage online. Currently, you have to enter your birth date to be able to view the trailer. Is that enough to ensure that the audience under 18 is not able to see the material considered not suitable for them?

In my opinion, it requires anyone to either put in their correct date, and see it, or lie about their birth date. If the children are lying about their date, then the parents need to be aware their child is lying, and redband trailers are the least of their worries. However, I don’t know what parents are wanting studios to do, if the trailer goes online, which is a great way to get the attention of the internet community, there doesn’t seem to be much more they can do to ensure the trailer is not viewed by the improper audience, without ensuring the trailer is not embedded on other sites, which would hurt traffic, and defeat the purpose.

I am not a parent, so I admit I am not able to see the whole picture, but like so many other issues, it seems to me parents need to take responsibility for their children, and pass that same responsibility on to their children. If the parents deem content of a violent or sexual content not appropriate, then the child needs to be responsible enough not to see it. If, as a parent, they don’t think the child is able to do that, then that is something a parent needs to be taking care of. Either make sure the Internet is supervised, or locked to ensure they are not able to see such content.

When parents blame the studio for putting out content, they need to realize 10 and 12 year-olds are not their targeted demographic — it is usually the 18-25 year old males that they are aiming to reach — and as a result should not be held responsible for people outside the demographic that get hold of the video.

It is the Internet, and the United States loves the idea of having free reign of the information, ideas and people on the Internet. As such, you can’t have it both ways: either censor the information, and stop claiming we give free reign to the world wide web, or tell the parents to do their job and take charge of their own children.

Death at a Funeral Review

Death at a Funeral is a remake of the 2007 Frank Oz directed British movie by the same name. With that being said, as a movie critic, it is required by our law to say the original is better; to not do so would result in lashings and beatings from Roger Ebert. However, I’m going to be the rebel here and avoid the sentence completely, and simply say the two had very different styles of humor. Are you going to find this movie funny? I guess you’re just going to have to keep reading to find out.

Death at a Funeral stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoe Saldana, Luke Wilson, Tracy Morgan, James Marsden, and Danny Glover to name a few of the many stars. Now, as a Sci-Fi fan, I was simply thinking they got Ney’Tiri, Cyclops, and Shepherd Book all in one movie, so imagine my surprise when I sat down to watch a ridiculous comedy that actually had a bit of heart.

The movie is about Aaron (Rock) dealing with his fathers funeral, and all of his crazy relatives that show up. You would think they are there to pay their respects to their fallen friend, but almost everyone has an ulterior motive, which leads to wacky shenanigans, a crazy midget, drug use, and plenty of poop jokes. Aaron, however, is a conservative guy, who seems to only want the sense of family, and shelters the entire burden in the film, which, on paper is easily identifiable.

For me, I thought James Marsden’s character was the best part. He was the boyfriend of Zoe Saldana, who was slipped a hallucinogen and spends the entire funeral completely high, which ends up with him naked on the roof, in front of everyone and is proof that Marsden needs to do more comedy work. The other star was Danny Glover, as the crotchety uncle. He was great as the guy who was “way too old for this shit.” There were other adequate performances from Saldana and Luke Wilson, but everyone else seemed to not have much interest in the lines. Rock just seemed to have no sense of comedic timing, and his lines just felt like they had zingers thrown in at the last minute with no sense of timing, and a very dry delivery. Martin Lawrence was his typical self, not deviating at all, so if you think that is a good thing, you’ll enjoy it; for me, however, it seemed tired.

The original movie didn’t do well because the overall census was that it was too dry and straight laced to be funny, and too crazy of a concept to be a drama. The remake makes it very clear that it is trying to be a comedy, and felt like it was over compensating a bit. There were plenty of parts I laughed at, and the audience seemed to eat it up, but sadly, stoned midgets and poop jokes don’t have the same effect they used to on me, and as a result, I only found this movie slightly enjoyable, but overall forgettable. If you love the simpler things in comedy, however, you will definitely enjoy this movie.

EDITORS NOTE: This appeared on Creative Loafing's website. Check it out HERE!

Sunscreen Film Fest film - Charlie Valentine

Charlie Valentine is one of many movies that appeared at the Sunscreen Film Festival. The movie is an attempt to have a really good character drama with famous actors, and mob themes. While the movie doesn’t really hit on either note, it still makes for an interesting enough film.

The film stars Raymond Barry in the titular role as an aging gangster who is continuing his life as a thief. When a job goes bad, he is forced to do something he does all too well; cut and run. When the same situation arises when he meets up with his estranged son (NCIS star Michael Weatherly) the idea of cutting and running is a tough one.

The film is an attempt to be quite dramatic, with a scoundrel and womanizer who only cares about himself in Charlie Valentine, but the problem is the script just leaves the great acting feeling like a sore thumb. Barry does a great job as an elderly mobster, but we never see him as anything more than a screw up, which makes his near legendary status seem unfamiliar. Weatherly’s estranged son meets his father after an extended stretch, and despite being abandoned and his mother dyeing, he is happy to greet his father with open arms, for the promise of his father’s life. However, again, since Valentine is nothing more of a screw up in the audiences eyes, it just seems forced and silly.

There was plenty of violence, and the gore, despite being extremely in your face, was pretty good. There were plenty of dead bodies, and blood fountains in this movie. Coupled with the naked women seeded throughout the movie, this film feels like they tried extremely hard for the R rating the film received.

The film showed that good acting can almost overcome some weak writing, almost, and if you like some of the classic mob stories of the ‘70s, then you will find something familiar here, just not as well done. Overall, I thought it was a good addition to the film festival, showing the more dramatic side of the festival.

Should Cell Phone Jammers become common place?

EDITORS NOTE: This appeared in Creative Loafing. Click HERE to check it out and read the really interesting comments that followed!!

As the hero comes busting through the door, he confronts the villain, and sees the damsel in distress, he debates how to make his grand move, only to be stopped by the latest hip hop song as the person behind you in the theater picks up their phone. The person pretends to be considerate, whispering, talking about what restaurant they want to go to later, or what they are up to the next day as the rest of the audience in the theater all contemplates exactly how long of a sentence they would get for murdering a theater patron. We all have been there, and we have all contemplated the murder of an inconsiderate theater member with a cell phone, but what would happen if theaters picked up a handy little cell phone jammer? Would you support that decision?

Cell phone jammers are down to around $200, but it’s the morality and legality of the situation, more than the cost. So, first off, would you support a jammer morally? Would you mind the idea of having no touch to the outside world while you are watching a movie? Some would say they wouldn’t mind not having the annoying talking person that is always behind them, but they would think twice about not getting email, texts or phone calls. For me, I would have no problem shutting the outside world off for a movie, especially one I am really excited for, and would probably consider cold blooded murder on the person that interrupts it. If I am worried my house is on fire, my relatives are dead, or my dog just kidnapped a school bus full of penguins, then I would choose a later showing for the movie, end of story.

So, if people like me wouldn’t mind the jammer, than it must be illegal, right? Jammers themselves aren’t illegal, but the idea of blocking an emergency phone call is a legal problem the theaters probably don’t want to get themselves mixed up with, and is probably the reason we still get texts during movies. I am sure there are hundreds of lawyers out there, ready to pounce on any theater wanting to stop what some people consider an emergency, citing some breach in constitutional rights. Considering I am not a lawyer, I won’t cite the actual laws, but if anyone would like to look up the clause blocking me from my cinema bliss, feel free to post it in the comments.

When I am lucky enough to see a pre-screening for a movie, they ask you to turn off your cellphones, and they actually remind you several more times before the movie starts. During the movie, the theater is scanning with a video camera and some actually use infrared cameras to look for heat signatures, to stop movie pirates. However, since they can’t distinguish between a camcorder and a person with an active social life, they simply ask you to leave immediately. I think this should become a regular practice, and anyone caught with an active cell phone should be asked to leave. A few months of this practice will result in people turning off their cell phones or paying a lot of money for a partially viewed movie.

The only other idea is a theater bouncer. Take one of the big, gym loving bouncers from Ybor and offer them free popcorn (they love that stuff) and ask them to simply walk up and down the isle looking menacing. If he sees a cell phone out, he is allowed to tackle that person, dragging them out by their hair. After a few beaten theatergoers are dragged out in front of your eyes, you will be much less likely to forget to turn off your cell phone.

So, what do you think? Should cell phone jammers become common place? How about my theater bouncer idea? What is your idea for a more pleasant theater experience (barring the fact that we aren’t above fully automatic weapons)?

Burn Notice gets renewed through season 6

My favorite show on TV, USA's Burn Notice got some great news this week in the form of a pickup. It was leaked that the show was renewed through season 6. It's great news as we gear up for a June 3rd start of Season 4, two more seasons is a welcome sign that USA has plenty of confidence in their show. And why shouldn't they? Burn Notice has the top demos for it's time slot and is the highest ranking scripted show on television. So, while it's no surprise, the news will definetly help me sleep better tonight. So, have you gotten on the Burn Notice train yet?

Star Wars Uncut Trailer

Star Wars Uncut is an amazing project that chops up Star Wars into little 15-second clips and asks fans on the Internet to submit different 15 second clips that get put together to for a remade Star Wars film. The idea is brilliant, and as you can see from the trailer, so are some of the clips. Some are just cheesy attempts, while some look they have real potential, but either way, it's cool those people got out there and made some film. Check it out, and let me know your thoughts on the idea!

Star Wars Uncut "The Escape" from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.