Play time is over sooner than I expected. I'm back to work tomorrow and then out of town for a bit so the ol' SoulHonky blog might be dormant for the next month or so. Hopefully I'll find some free time to drop a few notes and what not but not as much as I was expecting (especially with the fall TV season about to start. Looks like I won't be able to catch as many shows as I had planned to).
Why is it so hard to make a reliable web browser? I'm currently back to using mainly Safari since their last update has definitely been an improvement but there are still some sites that have something (I think it's a flash advertisement) that brings the browser to a standstill. Firefox doesn't have a problem with those pages but that browser (on Macs at least) is guaranteed to freeze up or just stop working at least three times a day. I tried Opera which was decent enough however when you go to sites, it often brings up whatever was last saved in the cache aka whatever was up the last time you visited. So every time you go to a page, you basically have to reload to get the most updated version. That's just too annoying. Finally there's Camino. I used it for a bit but wasn't impressed. They just had another update so I might check it out but as we stand, I've still yet to find a great web browser that won't tick me off at least once a day.
Some friendly acquaintences of mine have created a web series. It will be released on Strike TV and the show is about a man in a coma trapped in his own mind. The webseries is called "Coma, Period". Congrats to everyone involved and everyone else, enjoy!
Defamer posted Eric Spiegelman's time lapse video of the sky over one of the wildfires burning up Los Angeles.
Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.
Don't really love what I have going on right now but I'm trying to shake things up around here.
Abilify has been talked about on CNN, Bill Maher, and other news shows. Now that I've seen the ad for it, I can't believe that people aren't talking more about it. This is the craziest thing I've seen in a while. The ad is 30 second long; the disclaimer is 45 seconds. And it's one of the scariest disclaimers I've seen in some time; the kicker being that when the guy says Abilify worked for him, the title pops up "Results May Vary".
If you have 7 minutes to spare, check this out to find out what happens when your girlfriend doesn't remember that you left for two weeks on a backpacking trip in Europe.
Here's part 1 of a spoof that some people I know put together. Keep an eye out for the one and only James Ferris as "West Hollywood"
While I'm at it, here's another Funny or Die video. A star-studded cast for a GI Joe parody.
I should be back up and posting next week but in case I'm not (or even if I am), check out "Spaced" which is now available on Hulu. Season 1 is top notch. Here's the pilot.
I'm working on a tight schedule on my new job so I might not be posting much these next couple of weeks.
I've had this bit in my head all week. I didn't really think it was that funny when I first saw it but now it pops into my head every so often and seems funny. Kind of like the SNL "You Like-a the juice?!" skit.
As I work on my suphero TV show idea, I'm running into some unforeseen difficulties. The first is coming up with superhero names that haven't been used. That's pretty tough since there are so many heroes out there but I think I'm doing alright. The one name I'm using that is a duplicate is Rubble, but I think that's just the name of a Transformer so I think I can get away with it.
The bigger problem is the name of the city that it takes place in. Right now I'm leaning towards Harding City, namd after one of our worst presidents. However, another issue I'm having is tone; I want it to have some funny stuff but still be more of a drama and I think that might push it too far towards being a straight comedy. I know they are big shoes to fill but I liked the tone of The West Wing; a lot of comedy but very much a serious drama.
The title of the show was already taken. I want to call it "The Dying Breed" but there was an indie horror film with that name recently. I don't think that should be too much of a problem either since nobody really saw that film.
Anyway, I think the opening of the show I have is pretty good. Two acts are down and I'm just nervous about the actual case that they have to solve, whether there's enough going on. I'm going to go back and breakdown the pilots for NYPD Blue and maybe a couple other cop shows to see how the format is. Don't be surprised to see a future post about that.
I've pretty much crapped the bed on sticking with my resolutions so here's a new revamped list.
1. Write a scene a day: This could lead to less blogging but I shouldn't be going a day without writing at least one scene. And if I do, I should make it up by writing a couple of scenes another day. So from here on in, I'll be either writing a scene a day of "The Dying Breed", the superhero pilot I have plotted out, or rewriting "The Lost Angels", a comedy/spoof pilot which is done but I need to fix a couple of scenes. I also could work a bit on "Really", the reality webisode project. Or maybe even start something new. The bottom line is that I have too many ideas floating around to not write.
2. 100 sit-ups a day: I was doing this for a bit and then stopped. Going to the gym might not be in the cards but there's no reason that I can't be doing 100 crunches a day.
3. Back to Diet Soda/Water: Again, something I was doing well but have fallen off. Hard. I now have a Mountain Dew and Miiky Way Dark bar for breakfast every morning. (Sidenote: Milky Way Dark is the best candy bar out there, bar none). I've done a good job cutting down on my lunch (not going out, bringing pita and cold cuts) but the soda consumption is up and none of it diet soda.
4. K.I.T.: I've never been good at keeping in contact with people and probably won't start this until mid-July but I need to keep in contact with people.
5. "Do Gooder": The trainer at my high school used to say this and it's something I really need to start trying. Just be a little bit better, a little less lazy, a little more caring, what have you.
So why not just look at Amy Adams for a bit.
Or how about watch a favorite movie from my childhood.
Eric and Taylor, two of my co-workers, just showed me a couple of cool youtube clips. Yes, it's a slow Friday. The first is a very interesting card trick
The second is an awareness test. See if you can count the right amount of passes on the first try.
Should have stuck to my gut.
After selling my IMAX stock, I reinvested in it and it has become my big loser. I've lost almost 10% of my investment in it. The other stock that I was already holding, Yamana Gold, has seen a boost, moving up 21%. Unfortunately, since I have more money tied up in IMAX, I'm actually still down. (Only three dollars. It's not iike I'm throwing tons of money into the market.)
The two new buys actually are doing well. Bank of America dropped when I first bought it but now it's even. Ford, on the other hand, is up 10%, making me a cool 22 dollar profit to start planning my retirement on.
I'm really considering dumping my IMAX stock but I think I'll go another week or so before I pull the trigger.
I consider myself to be a pretty personable guy but when it comes to job interviews, I always freeze up and drop the ball. A recent interview went pretty poorly as I was just on a different page as the interviewer. I'd tell a story and she'd draw a completely wrong conclusion. I'd tell a joke and it would fall flat. Basically, if I had just walked in, farted, and walked out, I probably would have left a better lasting impression.
That wasn't my worst interview though. One of my first job interviews, I was basically a mute, too nervous to talk. Then in an interview with writer/director Jake Kasdan, to be his assistant on "Orange County", I walked in and noticed a chair that was pretty far away from his desk. He even mentioned that it was pretty far back. So I decided to sit on the bench in between his desk and the chair. Now, anyone who has ever been in any sort of office would immediately recognize the "bench" that is in front of a couple of chairs as actually being a coffee table but for some reason I didn't. I plopped my posterior down, Kasdan seemed surprised, and I immediately realized what I had done. Interviews are hard enough but they become immediately more difficult when you're constantly thinking "I can't believe I'm sitting on his coffee table".
Continue reading " Hollywood Stories: Interviews" »
The stock market hasn't been good for the ol' SoulHonky. I stupidly listened to Jim Cramer when I tried my first venture into stocks and it was a disaster. Cramer and some other stock "experts" had me choosing stocks that quickly lost 90% of their value. One stock delisted completely. I still have them in my Sharebuilder account because it would cost more to sell them than they are worth.
My second venture went a little better. I bought it after the stock market collapse, during the first jump up last year. Most of my stocks failed but IMAX showed some profit. The mini-controversy about a growing number of IMAX screens turning out to not actually be IMAX-sized screens got me worried so I put a stop loss order on the stock. I'll probably regret selling it but I'm going to bank on a couple of comebacks now with the money I have remaining (all in all, my second stock venture cost me 110 bucks with Southwest Airlines and Luby's Restaurant losing money. Yamana Gold is about even and I held onto that stock. I only own 44 dollars worth and a sale costs 10 bucks so it doesn't make sense to sell now.
Which reminds me, if you're buying stocks online, make sure you're investing enough money to make it worthwhile. Twice now I've spread myself too thin by buying a bunch of stocks and then, when all is said and done, wasting almost a fifth of my money on fees.
Speaking of wasting money, my latest two picks are risky ones but I'm thinking that there's nowhere to go but up. I invested in Ford Motors and Bank of America. Ford looks like it is going to be one of the only American auto companies left standing so they could be bouncing back. Bank of America is showing some signs of life and I could see them coming out of this financial debacle doing alright. Also, the stocks are at 5.50 for Ford and just a little over 11 bucks for Bank of America so you'd think they'd have to show some signs of improvement. A year ago, Ford was at 8 bucks and B of A was at 40.
I think every Monday I might try to give a little update on the stocks and eventually I might put a little bit more money into the market. As of now, I'm going to sit back and watch my latest picks to see how they do. Things aren't going well. IMAX is up 50 cents since I sold it. I might have to put in an order to buy some of it tonight.
A knee jerk reaction to the Celtics' loss over at Can Danny?.
And another Nike commercial that makes me laugh.
The New York Times is the most notable newspaper in America and they still haven't figured out how to make a good website. Their main homepage is still impossibly cluttered while their latest feature, the Times Wire, looks like a more boring version of the much-hated new layout of Gawker/Defamer. On the bright side, they do have a section where you can check which stories/subject you want, making the site like a Times version of Twitter, but then why not make that feature accessible on, you know, Twitter?
The site also makes a key mistake by putting the major ad (which, of course, is an Apple ad since they are taking over the internet with their giant ads) on the front page. Most people are probably going to be linking to stories through other sites so they really need to put big ads on their individual content pages. Which reminds me, I need to do that too.
The Times also doesn't seem to be making much effort to market their writers, which is the main thing that would draw people to the site. The web is about breaking news and personalities. The Times isn't doing a good job of looking like it has either.
A few things.
Apologies to Internet Explorer users. For some reason SoulHonky doesn't seem to work right on that browser. The row that should appear on the right comes up on the bottom of the page, so you have to scroll down to see the song of the day and The Tryout.
Another note to everyone to try and click on the google ad whenever you visit so the SoulHonky can make some scratch. After a banner month of April in which I brought in just under three dollars, I'm almost at 10 bucks!
I thought I had something else to note but I can't remember it so I'll just post this video with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant puppets that made me laugh.
Most people probably have no idea what 60Frames was but it was a fairly well financed website that was trying to be deliver high quality webisodes, almost like an online network. That business model failed so they tried to start becoming more of an production company focusing on online material but they've now basically gone bankrupt and belly up.
The main problem with 60frames and with most sites like it is simply: there's no reason to go back everyday. Web shows aren't, and may never be, something that people will flock to every day of the week. In order for one of these sites to really make it big, they need to be more than just a webisode gallery; they need constant news. It would be easier for a site like The Daily Beast, Ain't It Cool News, or something like that to expand into webshows since they already have an audience that check the sites out on a regular basis. ESPN tried this with Mayne Street. although that brings up the second issue.
Most of these shows just aren't very good. Most of 60Frames' content was, albeit well produced, just plain bad. It really wasn't any better than the average user submitted Funny or Die video. This is just another reason you need another focal point for your site. If you have news, gossip, editorials that draw people in, you can get by if one or all of your shows are bad. Doubling down on your shows breaking out is just a bad way to go. Also, 60Frames launched with a bunch of shows rather than just starting out with one or two and trying to really promote those shows. (Also, while I know driving traffic to the site is most important, you still have to make your stuff embeddable. If other sites can't post your stuff, it's a missed opportunity. It gets more views for the advertising and it also helps promote the site.)
Online entertainment will eventually blossom but people need to really reevaluate their business models and be willing to invest, not just money, but a lot of time and elbow grease into developing a site with constant updates and its own personality. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for someone to really get a handle on this.
The Sports Guy's latest article bemoaning the supposed fall from grace of the Sox is more than a bit naive. He notes the rise in play of guys like Johnny Damon and Big Papi but was this really a revelation? Did he really just notice these improvements? Was it really just right now that he started to consider that something more than synergy and the power of the Red Sox Nation might have helped these guys improve? Also, did he not realize that the Red Sox had been losing for years with cheaters? It's not like the team just discovered performance enhancing drugs existed in the 2003 offseason.
While it did feel nice to hold our heads high and act like we did it the old fashioned way, I think most people, including myself, knew that there was more than a little self-delusion going on there. Did people really think the Sox or any team was/is void of any players on the juice? Hell, two of the most prominent and beloved Sox pre-2004 were Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra, both have been linked to performance enhancing drugs. The Sox are in the same boat as pretty much every recent World Series winning team. Yeah it sucks but I don't think it's nearly as damning as Spygate. Hell, even the Tuck Rule was more BS than this.
And if there was ever a case of someone not learning his lesson, Simmons' discussions begins and ends with the players from 2004 who are gone or, in Papi's case, on the decline. If we're going to look sideways at Big Papi then why aren't we also wondering about little Dustin? Mike Lowell went from throw-in to MVP; shouldn't we start to question that? This is life in The Steroids Era. It's how it's always been. Just until now, Red Sox fans have been able to lie to themselves because nobody close to the current team had been caught red handed like this. (Granted, some people could argue, as my friend Morgan did, that Manny failed the test because Joe Torre just taught him The Yankee Way).
Honestly, I'm just happy that the Sports Guy didn't cook up some crazy conspiracy theory to blame Theo for introducing steroid to the Sox.
The internet is abuzz with Red Sox and Yankees fans discussing the Manny Ramirez incident. (Dodgers fans are holding off to avoid the traffic). It's disappointing to hear that another star baseball player was busted using roids. At this point, baseball players are the new boobs; if they look really impressive, everyone is immediately going to assume they've been "enhanced".
It sucks that Manny did this, who knows how long he's been doing it, and you have to wonder who else he's close with was doing it with him. Honestly, it won't affect my opinion all that much. Usually roids is just another reason to hate someone I already despise like A-Rod and Clemens (although thankfully, A-Rod gives us a ton of things to mock him for so losing "A-Roid" won't make him an less of a target or even a bit harder to mock). I still love the Nomaaaah year in Beantown even though I think it's pretty obvious that he was juicing. I wish people wouldn't use these drugs but I have to imagine that Jose Canseco was right and that most a majority of stars are on something. It's a shame.
And whenever I hear a roids story I can't help but think of this classic SNL sketch.
I've posted my playoff predictions up over at Can Danny? With the injuries to Manu and KG, it looks like a LeBron vs. Kobe Finals is a sure thing.
I think the phrase "building a better mousetrap" is going to be replaced by "building a better browser" in the future. No matter how much the internet evolves, browsers constantly seem to be a step behind and they are all filled with flaws.
I'm now back on Firefox which is good enough although it crashes on my Mac all the time and has a number of other flaws. I had been trying Camino, a kind of Firefox for Mac, but it just doesn't work. The Remember Password feature barely works and it seems slower on a lot of sites, especially ESPN. I downloaded Opera but that browers simply didn't work on certain sites and also had the issue of loading up the page from the last time you visited. When you go to a site, you get whatever is in the cache; you have to reload in order to get the actual up-to-date page. Finally Safari is fine but its kind of the basic, no frills browser. I haven't used Internet Explorer since I moved to Mac (and hated it when I had a PC).
So what else is out there? Why can't someone come up with a great browser? What features do you want on your personal browser? On Firefox I have a nice little bottom line/sports scores app. Is someone working on a kind of IPhone type browser? A browser which works as an organizer and internet browser? Something that you can modify so you can get alerts from things like your e-mail or Facebook account?
There has to be something out there (or, at least, on the horizon).
Thanks to Todd for posting this... on Facebook.
Don't forget to visit the SoulHonky sponsors so I can make some loot. I've racked up an amazing $4.75 so far in my blogging career. Clearly, Soulhonky.com will not be eligible for any federal bailout money.
The current logic is that newspapers are going under because of websites. Personally, I think newspapers are going under because of a lack of websites, namely their own. If the major newspapers were really as good as they claimed to be, they would be offering the best websites out there. The web should be seen as a great expansion of the newspaper business; they don't have to wait until the morning to get their breaking news out there. They can print headlines when they happen and then deliver the full detailed story in the morning. Instead, most newspapers seem to half-ass their websites, especially when it comes to making money.
Take for example (an example to which I often refer), ESPN the Magazine. I don't know anyone who actually reads ESPN the Mag but I know countless numbers of people who get it. Why? Because in order to get access to ESPN's Insider web stories, you have to sign up and pay a small fee. And part of what you pay for is a subscription to the magazine. So ESPN found a way to boost their subscription numbers (which helps boost their ad prices) even though nobody really wants the magazine.
Newspapers should be doing the same thing. You want to read the latest insights from a paper's famous reporters/critics, pay a small fee (which also includes a subscription to the paper). Hell, the New York Times could make some scratch just by offering a second Insider only crossword puzzle every day. Also, these sites should work with the local stations (and some of them already have sister stations) in order to embed some video on their sites. The avenues are out there, newspapers just need to stop sitting at their stands and acting like people are still going to come to them.
Continue reading " Sunday vs. Every Day" »
I've been a little more active over at Can Danny for the last week or so so if you want to kill some time, head over there and check out a rant against John Hollinger, a 2008 draft redux, and a wild 13 team trade that I believe works under the salary cap rules. The 2007 redux will probably be posted tomorrow. So check out that and other random basketball goodness over at Can Danny?
And if you don't like that, then I fart in your general direction.
We can now add Pitchfork to the growing list of sites that have ruined their web design. Facebook and ESPN made some portable friendly sites and they are annoying. Sites like Gawker also have swapped their look and have become worse for it. I'm not really sure why web design is all that difficult. I mean, it's not easy and my own lack of HTML knowledge is why I stick with the fairly basic Movable Type default three-column look but I'd have to think that people have figured out a way to build a better website.
Granted, I wasn't a fan of the Java/Flash phase when everyone had to have weird and pointless graphnics and what not before downloading a page but there's gotta be a way to make a site both visually pleasing and simple enough for portable devices.
Pitchfork also loses points for making the biggest thing on the screen their banner ad.
No, the one and only SoulHonky.com did not make Time's list of Top 25 blogs but it didn't make the list of 5 Overrated Blogs so we're counting it as a victory. I don't go to a lot of the blogs on the list although Slash Film is pretty damn good. I'd consider NY Magazine's Vulture blog to be my favorite followed by assorted sports and film sites but there isn't a random blog that I've really taken a shine to of late. Maybe because nobody actually "take a shine to" things anymore.
Since I don't feel like scrolling through the Top 25 and typing them down, here's Time's 5 overrated sites.
TechCrunch: Never heard of this one but it was supposedly very popular back in the day. The day being yesteday.
Gawker: I'd actually go with Gawker's West Coast sister site Defamer here although both sites have hit hard times and supposedly Defamer is on the block (current block: selling, future block: chopping). On the bright side, the Gawker empire's sports blog Deadspin was one of the best blogs of the year and deservedly so.
Jim Cramer's Blog: Why would anyone still listen to the guy who urged people to buy Wachovia stock a day or so before the company went out of business? Here's a link to fellow Worstie Gawker about that bad call of bad calls.
Perez Hilton: I've never really been a fan of this one. I preferred the Superficial and then WWTDD but both of them have sort of become paparazzi porn of late with most of their entries being candid shots of scantily clad celebs. And no, I'm not quite sure why I said that like it's a bad thing.
Daily Kos: A site that was born out of hatred of George W. Bush doesn't really have much purpose now that they have their guy in power. It can't be long before Kos switches hats with Bill O'Reilly and starts bashing conservatives who question our current fearless leader.
So over at Trailer Addict they often have caption writing contests for screen grabs for films. I decided to try my hand at it and it and ended up winning (or alt least being one of the top 5). A childish excitement washed over me until I read that what I won was a copy of "Swing Vote" which seems more like a punishment. Here's the pic, my caption is below.
My caption was: "PICTURED: Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammar as they sit down to watch "Swing Vote". Their agents would be fired moments after this photo was taken."
Although I think my favorite of the top five was: "Even in the White House, Cinemax is scrambled."
Check out the rest of the caption and some new trailers of at Trailer Addict.
I haven't been updating my cafepress story because, well, nobody has ever bought anything besides me but I came up with a new logo and thought I'd throw it on some t-shirts. If you want to check out the store, just click here or on the hilarious logo below.
To start, I'd like to remind people of the glorious ads to the right. Feel free to click on those ads and check out whatever it is they are selling so that the SoulHonky can make some money off of this blog. Thanks you for your support.
That plea aside, I've been trying to get SoulHonky.com onto a bit of a schedule and I think I've finally figured it out. While I'll always drop random entries and embedded videos now and then, I want to have a regular feature for every day. Here's the lineup right now.
Monday: Song of the Day. I'd like to have a theme for the songs of the week rather than just randomly throwing stuff up there so every Monday I'm going to announce to the 12 of you that read this site just what that week's theme will be. It's not a stunning feature, I know, but it's Monday, you just had a weekend off so you shouldn't be wasting that much time at work that you can keep checking here. But if you do, click on the ads.
Tuesday: Tuesday is the new Tryout. I'll post up a nem album that I either like, have heard is good, or just feel like checking out and people can react to the album in this post.
Wednesday: I was going to put Freaks here but that script just isn't that good so why would I post it on Hump Day? I think I'm going to go back to posting the pages of my sit-com/web-series based at a reality TV production company. Granted, I really shouldn't post anything since people could lift the good stuff and steal it but the scripts are WGA protected and I don't think much is coming of them anyways so why not?
Thursday: I don't really have anything for Thursday. If I keep up with the Cowrite contest I could post my weekly entry here but I'm leaning towards tapping out of that since I'm not a fan of the script or the structure. Every other week this could be the spot for The Seltzer Bottle but I don't have anything for the off-weeks. Maybe it'll be nothing. Maybe I'll just post old web videos that I liked. Who knows.
Friday: Weekend Small Talk is the Friday feature. Random lists of favorite for people to discuss in the comments or amongst themselves.
Saturday: Probably nothing although if I see a movie on Friday night, I'll probably post something about it on Saturday or Sunday.
Sunday: I think I'm going to dump the pages of "Freaks" here on Sunday. It's not a high profile spot but it could be something that slackers could read on Monday morning if they don't feel like starting their week off by actually working.
I toyed with the idea of bringing The Unprocrastinator back but I'm not sure if I want to go down that route. Anyway, that seems like a decent schedule. It's busy and will keep the entries flowing but it's not going to be too much for me to keep up with.
Don't forget about the Watch It! column. It's underneath The Tryout on the right and I'm usually throwing one or two things there a week. I've just added the second leaked song from Raekwon's new album and a new trailer for a film called "Skills Like This".
Hope everyone enjoys the blog. I'm always open to suggestions or criticism or whatever so don't be afraid to leave a comment or two.
While the calendar claimed that the New Year started a month ago, I think everyone knows that the new year doesn't start until after football season aka the Super Bowl. (Really, who cares about the Pro Bowl?). Also, how many people actually come off of Christmas and New Years in the mood for exercising, being a better person, or whatever their Resolutions are?
So Happy New Year! Here are a few special dates for the upcoming month.
Feb 2nd: Groundhog Day. Lame holiday, great movie.
Feb 3rd: Barrack Obama makes a startling announcement when he proclaims, "February is now White History Month because that's what you crackers are, HISTORY!"
Feb 5th: National Weatherman's Day. There's a 20% chance that people will remember this and a possibility that nobody really cares.
Feb 6th: Fanboys everywhere finally get to see their long-awaited dream, the film "Fanboys."
Feb 7th: Harvey Weinstein says, "I told you so."
Feb 10th: New albums from Mos Def and Lily Allen. Despite two lifetimes spent fighting for truth, today will not mark the end of hip hop being considered a bad influence while little white girls are just harmlessly precocious.
Feb 11th: Sarah Palin's birthday. Talk show hosts use the day to use all of the Palin jokes that they weren't able to get out during the campaign.
Feb 13th: The NBA kicks off its season with All-Star Weekend. What? There's been half a season played already? Well of course but let's be honest, the casual fan (aka 80% of NBA fans) doesn't start paying attention to hoops until the run for the playoffs really begins. If you aren't interested in hoops, Joss Whedon's latest (and likely soon-to-be-cancelled) show "Dollhouse" premieres on Fox.
Feb 14th: Watch as your coupled up co-workers get flowers or presents and talk about their big plans for the evening. Go home and watch "Love Actually" for the umpteenth time and tell yourself "It's only a movie, It's only a movie, it's only a movie...". If you're a guy, forget to buy your girl something but prepare a heart-warming speech to ensure Valentine's Day Make Up sex.
Feb 15th: Cheapskates can start looking for girlfriends now that they won't have to but them anything for Valentine's Day.
Feb 16th: President's Day or Let's All Be Grumpy Because We Don't Have Today Off From Work Day.
Feb 22nd: Find out which movies most of America didn't see were the best of 2008! Check out the fashion, the drama, Hugh Jackman singing and dancing. Find out who was able to twist the most arms and run the best campaign to get elected Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Fluffer. Or just go see Fired Up or Madea Goes to Jail and ignore Hollywood's multi-million dollar pat of itself on the back.
Feb 23rd: Dakota Fanning's Birthday! Calm down perverts, she's still only 15.
Feb 28th: Look back at the month and rationalize that the four times you went to the gym should be enough to satisfy your resolution to start working out. Order Dominos pizze and chicken kickers (and, hell, get the garlic sticks too. You earned it).
Any other days I missed?
After taking far too many easy Facebook movie quizzes, I decided to try my hand and creating one of my own. The actual facebook quiz can be found if you search quizzes for Soulhonky.com. That version has multiple choice options for each answer. Here, I've removed that (mostly for space reasons).
So here it goes.
1. Which of these famous roles wasn't originally offered to (and turned down by) James Caan?
* Superman in Superman
* Chief Brody in Jaws
* Ted Kramer in Kramer vs. Kramer
* Det. Doyle in The French Connection
* Col. Lucas in Apocalypse Now
2. What was the original title of Pixar's "Cars"?
3, How was Little Shop of Horrors supposed to end?
4. Josh Brolin was initially rejected after auditioning for which movie?
* No Country for Old Men
* The Goonies
* W.
* Milk
* American Gangster
5. What actress appeared on TV in a homemade Catwoman costume in hopes of convincing producers to cast her in Batman Returns?
6. What was Leonardo DiCaprio's reason for turning down the role of Neo in "The Matrix"?
7. Adrien Brody spent months working on this Academy Award nominated film but then found out, at the screening, that his lead role had been cut to just a few minutes of screen time.
8. Had "The Natural" been faithful to the novel on which it was based, how would it have ended?
9. Jodie Foster left David Fincher's "The Game" over creative differences; who replaced her?
10. Which movie did Francis Ford Coppola agree to make because he needed money to save his winery?
11. This SNL star was originally slated to be the star of 30 Rock (the role was rewritten for Jane Krakowski)
12. What actor wanted to direct Frost/Nixon but was turned down by the playwright?
13. This actor was supposed to play Linus in Ocean's 11?
14. Recently, an acclaimed director was asked if he wanted to make a sequel to his most famous film. His response: "I would have less interest in that than I would in having cigarettes put out in my eyes."
Name the director and film.
15. What was the original title of M. Night Shymalan's "The Happening"?
Here are the answers.
Continue reading " The First SoulHonky Facebook Movie Quiz" »
My boredom drove me to create a fanpage of the one and only www.soulhonky.com on Facebook. If you want to announce your love, hate, or use of the site for procrastination purposes, search www.soulhonky.com on Face book or just click here to get to the fanpage.
And if you think I never give you anything, I recommend checking out WWTDD for some pictures of the lovely Olga Kurylenko. (Ladies, well, yeah, I don't really give you anything.)
I started getting some spam comments so I turned up the comments filter but it's now been brought to my attention that legit comments were getting junked as well. Apologies to those people whose comment were either delayed or deleted. (Both of you).
I'm still working on this so if you comment doesn't pop up immediately either give it some time or e-mail me at admin@soulhonky.com.
So SoulHonky.com now has a Twitter page. Feel free to become a follower or comment or do whatever it is people do with Twitter. I'm trying to figure out exactly what the point is or how it's different from status updates on Facebook or how I became so old that I have no idea what Twitter and Lady Gaga are yet think both should be kept away from children.
We'll see how this goes or how long it lasts.
People often wonder why I waste time on message boards but the fact of the matter is that it is the only place where I get to really discuss things that I'm interested. It's a place where people can go and rant about the intricacies of basketball, the many ways Tony Allen is terrible, the problems with The Dark Knight, wonder aloud if there was a worse film than Max Payne last year, etc. Usually bringing these things up in conversation will get you nothing more than an eye roll so it's always nice to find some place where you can discuss things that most people don't care about. Not only does it let you discuss your interests but it also is open for creativity.
One of the best posts of the last year on my main message board @ okayplayer.com was from a guy who goes by the name Stylez Dainty. The post was called: My ideas for indie movies that have never been done before. The post was a list of cliche-breaking ideas like
-In a prank gone wrong, a group of friends accidentally kill someone. They immediately confess to the authorities.
-A college professor is a good husband and father with a happy home life.
-A group of lovable losers decide not to commit a crime.
-A road trip goes according to plan.
This post inspired many others on the board to chine in with their own ideas. One of mine was "A white teacher an inner city school is just in it for the paycheck."
It's not groundbreaking but it's a good way to get the brain working whether you're at home bored or falling asleep at work. While most message board posts are discussions over films, sports, what have you, the creative ones often pop up to spice things up. The OKSports board has a post that pops up every so often called "The Shortest Books in the World". It's a clever way to complain about things. Some of the shortest books have been: "Clock Management" by Andy Reid, "Run Blocking" by Steve Smith (foreword by Randy Moss), or "Clutch" by Alex Rodriguez.
Does this make me any less of a loser for wasting time on these boards? No. Should I still cut down the time I waste on them? Definitely. But the knee-jerk dismissal of the boards is misguided. Long live the message board!
I've decided to try to ads to the site to see if I can't make some scratch off of all of my ramblings. So please feel free to click the ad to the right and check out whatever google thinks they should advertise on this site. Apparently they've taken the soulhonky name and decided to advertise soul, R&B, and funk. I guess I should have seen that coming.
The rejiggering of the site is about done. Not sure how thrilled I am with the new look but there's not really much I can do with my limited HTML/web design skills. Hope people like the site. Happy New Year.
In a somewhat confusing move, Cablevision (the TV arm of General Electrics) just purchased the Sundance Channel for 496 million dollars. The thing that seems odd about this is that the Sundance Channel doesn't really offer much of anything. It's not like Sundance has been a great brand name in the mass market (a lot of their prize winning films tank at the box office) and the channel itself hasn't really done much. At first I thought the channel could be a great way to help indie films get distribution. If a film went to Sundance and didn't get picked up by a studio, the Sundance Channel could offer to give the film a short run so that at least someone outside of Park City would get to see the film. That never materialized and the channel became little more than an artsy HBO.
That being said, how much is an artsy HBO, or even HBO itself, going to be worth in the near future. With sites like Hulu offering films on demand and sites like Netflix allowing people to download films immediately, will movie channels be all that viable in the near future? Isn't HBO's future more dependent on their original programming to draw in subscribers? Is The Sundance Channel suddenly going to tap into that sort of market? Some reports had GE looking to turn the channel into an ad driven entity but most of the new original programming is about saving the Earth so I'm not sure what kind of advertising they'll attract. I just can't see "The Green House Effect" brought to you by Mitsubishi and Burger King. At best, I could see Sundance becoming a For Profit PBS but, again, what's the profit in that?
In the end, the only real reason that this purchase makes any sense is so that GE could own the main competition to their current indie channel IFC. That being said, wouldn't it have made more sense just to let the Sundance channel fold as opposed to spending almost 500 million on it? And what exactly is the downside of having a little competition? It's not like either channel is really amounting to much anyway.
Maybe it's my business naivite showing here but it would seem like spending $500 million to improve IFC would make more sense than buying Sundance. That's just me.
This weekend marks the opening of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", the well-reviewed and probably much loved film from the mind of Jason Segal and produced by Judd Apatow. Most of the reviews I've read said it wasn't as good as Knocked Up or Superbad so odds are I won't be a huge fan since I thought those two films were only passable. I thought it was really odd that one reviewer said this movie wasn't nearly as "sensitive" as those two since there weren't really many legit emotions in either film. Either way, I'll probably end up seeing the film and realizing mid-way through that these films just aren't my cup of tea.
That being said, one thing that has struck me is the fact that the cast of Apatow's Undeclared doesn't seem to be getting the same love that the Freaks & Geeks crew has. While F&G holdovers Segal and Seth Rogen have fared well, the rest of the cast has been mostly MIA from the rest of the Apatow ouevre. The one person who has worked in a number of the films is Carla Gallo but she's been blessed with the rather unceremonious roles of "Toe-Sucking Girl" in 40 Year Old Virgin, "Period Blood Girl" in Superbad, and "Gag Me Girl" in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Jay Baruchel has worked his way back into the good graces, getting to get pink eye in Knocked Up and I have to imagine Judd gave him a recommendation for Ben Stiller's new Tropic Thunder. but still... I'm not saying that Monica Keena should be playing Sarah Marshall or that Charlie Hunnam deserve a role but you'd think they'd get something.
Then again, in Jake Kasdan's film "The TV Set", they make fun of the fact that studios often force the wrong actors onto producers. Kasdan and Apatow both comment that the studio nixed their first choices for leads in Undeclared (they wanted Segal and then Rogen) so maybe there's something there.
So what does all of this mean? Nothing really. Just that it is 4am and I can't sleep so I'm talking out of my ass. Which reminds me, I really need to get a new keyboard.
So I was out and about this weekend and I saw a couple of hipster dudes complimenting one another on their beards. It was a very depressing moment because I too have a beard and it was like I was looking into an unflattering mirror. And since I'm also out of shape like the two hipsters, you could just say all mirrors are unflattering so adding the adjective was a weak attempt at making myself feel better. Regardless, I started noticing more and more guys with beards (insert gay joke here) and almost all of them had a kind of haughty quality to them. The hipster "too cool to be too cool but you don't even know what too cool really is because you're not as cool as me" vibe. Basically, it's not that they are too cool, it's that you and I are not cool enough. Of course, their conversations were usually as ridiculous as any as you'd hear in a frat house. It's like fart and dick jokes are only funny if the audience listening to them is limited. If they hear a fart joke, it's funny. If YOU hear a fart joke, it's not. I feel like we're a decade away from bearded guys saying things like, "Wedding Singer was popular but Sandler's best work was Billy Madison." Followed by, "Sandler, pshaw? His work doesn't evoke the same working class struggle of Farley."
Of course, me saying all of this makes me just as guilty. Alas, I'm a denizen of Hollywood with a beard and opinion. I'm basically the most pretentious lowest common denominator.
If you've ever wondered how Uwe Boll keeps being able to make movies, look no further than this blurb from CinemaBlend.
Often you will find that filming in a certain country offers incentives and tax breaks not offered in the US. Usually though, you’ll find that in order to be entitled to them, you have to meet certain conditions, for example filming in that particular country and/or employing a certain percentage of native workers as your film crew. Germany has these incentives but, crucially, no such restrictive requirements put upon them. Germans can fund your movie and you can make it wherever and however you like.
But crucially, the bizarre tax laws in Germany mean that any wealthy Germans who invest in a movie can write-off the production cost, delay paying their taxes and generally reduce their tax burden. When you disseminate all the boring legal business law surrounding it the bottom line is this – the German investors in a movie only pay tax on any RETURNS the movie makes, their investment is 100% deductible, so the minute the movie makes a profit, said investor has to start paying tax. Plus the investors can actually borrow money to put towards investment and write that off too. Assuming you’re a sharp enough businessman you have a potential goldmine in the making; a way to make money from investing in bad movies...
Uwe took advantage of this loophole and has been a director ever since. They've recently closed the loophole but projects already in development were grandfathered in so Uwe still has some properties which can lose money and make his financiers rich.
Uwe's films haven't improved but apparently CinemaBlend's opinion of him has. Boll's latest "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" was well on its way to matching "One Missed Call" as the worst reviewed film of the year ("Call" has a 0% at Rotten Tomatoes) but CinemaBlend's three star review (the only positive review) saved it. (Well, kind of saved it; over at Metacritic, Uwe's film is ranked last with a 17% rating to 24% for "One Missed".)
CBS has announced that on Sunday, February 17th they will start running the first season of the Showtime series Dexter. Word is that the show has been ADRing clean lines to use over the swears and also shooting some alternate scenes to place the more violent moments of the show. While I can't say that A&E's cleaned up version of The Sopranos wowed me, this is the logical step for the networks.
I wouldn't be stunned if Fox soon started replaying the early seasons of their stalwart FX shows (The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, and even Damages). NBC has already moved Law & Order:Criminal Intent back to the Peacock (it had been shuttled over to USA this year) and they also have other shows like Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice ready to be moved over as well. Should networks be relaxed knowing that they have these aces in the hole waiting to be aired? Should programming departments be nervous, knowing that these higher quality shows are about to hit the air?
As odd as it sounds, the one group that should probably root for these shows to succeed is writers. These shows are better than 99% of the current television fodder and if higher caliber shows can attract a wide audience, perhaps networks (when the strike is over) will be more willing to take a chance on headier material. While I can't imagine that something like "The Wire" will ever cross over, shows like Monk, Burn Notice, and Dexter seem like they could definitely catch the general public's attention. Yes, the WGA would prefer to see all network ratings to crumble, but they also have to be afraid of the worst case scenario: these shows struggle to find audiences while reality reaches like "Dance War" or "When Women Rule the World" stack up the ratings.
The WGA may be fighting for better treatment behind the scenes but their efforts could also impact the television landscape on the screen as well. As Hollywood would have it, it seems like both the writers and the networks could now be rooting for a serial killer to save the day.
When the WGA was wooing reality writers to join their cause (although not letting us actually join the Guild), I always thought that the whole thing seemed sketchy. If the WGA really respected us and wanted us, why not let us join the Guild? In the end, it was obvious that the main concern for the WGA was the WGA and that having reality writers on their side would give them more leverage in the strike talks. I was annoyed by it then (as a reality writer) just as I am growing wary and a bit frustrated that it seems the same thing is happening to the WGA.
Near the beginning of the strike, right after Studios sent out letters to show runners that they could be sued for breaking their contract (which is different than that of writers), a few show runners voiced their concerns and some even hinted at wanting the strike to end ASAP. One even uttered the unmentionable, crossing the picket line. But then something happened, the actors rode in on their white horses and told the writers to hold steady. Your fight is our fight, they sang. Solidarity! And with that, resolve was strengthened and the lines were maintained.
Now maybe it's my personal paranoia but I just don't buy any of this, especially since many actors continued working during the strike. Is SAG really about solidarity? I don't think so. If the WGA is still on strike when their negotiations begin, it only helps SAG's position. Not only can they threaten their own strike, they can also offer help to end WGA's labor dispute. If you don't think that actors won't sell out the writers if it means sweetening their own deal, you haven't live in Hollywood very long. The actors are going to want to go back to work and I can't imagine that once they strike a deal that they won't want the WGA back at work as well. Unless SAG offers 100% support, I can't see this all working out. Cancelling a silly awards show is one thing but staying out of work to show solidarity with the writing staff is another.
The WGA might have struck because they thought it would help their own negotiations but as the weeks turn to months, the strikes only real value is going to be as leverage for others.
My Hollywood tenure has been filled with hits and misses, lowering of expecations, and a whole lot of laziness. This is the year of actually getting out there and doing something (or, in terms of writing, staying in and sitting down and doing something). I have a bunch of ideas just gathering dust and its high time I did something.
Currently, I'm a story producer in reality television. I'm basically the middle step in the process. Footage is shot, I work to pare it down and mold it into a story and then hand it off to the editors so they can add music, transitions, and make it sing. It can be interesting work but it's also mind-numbing. If you think reality television is bad, imagine sifting through the hundreds of hours that don't make the actual programs. On the bright side, because I work in reality TV I'm not on strike right now. While part of me feels like a scab, most of me simply wants nothing to do with the WGA until I have to deal with the WGA (after I, hopefully, sell a script).
The Writers Guild tried to organize reality TV but failed. The one group of writer they actually talked into striking (America's Next Top Model) all got fired. The producers realized that their show was so formatted that they could get away with skipping the middle step and just giving the editors the footage and notes from the directors and producers in the field. The show continued to get ratings (even if there was a reported decline in quality) and suddenly other producers followed suit. More and more reality shows are going off without a story team. Not that I can blame them. Some shows are so set-up that you simply don't need the middle man. A lot of dating shows or faux-reality (The Hills, for example) can survive with the editors just working off of the notes someone takes during shooting. It's not like The Real World, Survivor, or Big Brother in which hundreds of hours of footage are shot and it takes someone to collect all of the moments and put them together as a story.
In the end, I support the Writers but I just don't see how they can win. If the producers can make deals with the directors and actors, I'd have to imagine that the writers will start getting pressure from all sides to come back to work. The actors will want to get back to work and the below-the-line crew members will really be pushing for the writers to get off the picket lines so that they can get back to making a living. The first ones to cross will likely be the film scribes because most of the major issues deal with television. I wouldn't be stunned to see a number of top writers crossing over and simply negotiating their own deals.
Now, this isn't to say the WGA isn't in the right on most, if not all, of the issues. The problem is that they are dealing with studios that aren't studios anymore. In the past, studios and networks would feel the pinch if there was a strike. But now they are all parts of big corporations. NBC is owned by GE. The strike just means that the entertainment arm of GE is in trouble and that they need to up the revenues in their other departments. Unless the strike is going to become a boycott of all GE merchandise, it isn't going to have a crippling impact to anyone but the smaller studios and the writers themselves.
Sad to say, but that's the world we live in. Now I remember why I got so lazy.
