Everything is better with Cheetos...

I was perusing some of the stories on The New York Times website today, and happened across a restaurant review for Xiao Ye, some new hipster hangout on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The fact that the writer gives the place a "meh" review is minor in comparison to a particular picture of one of their dishes--Cheeto-coated fried chicken! I thinking a new food trend incorporating Cheetos into cuisine on par with adding bacon to everything is long overdue.

Robots in Disguise

Michael Bay is filming Transformers 3 in Washington DC. They are staging the vehicles out in front of my office. I missed getting all the cars as they were rolling out, but I will have more opportunities this week. Looks like one of the Transformers is a Waste Management trash truck.

I'll bet she makes better hamburgers than McDonald's, too...

I think the Flash needs to lay off the beer and run a little more...

We've all gotten married at one point or another, but I think there's still one of us that hasn't had a formal wedding yet. If he ever ties the knot again, may his wedding be as awesome as this couple:

OMD 16 Years Later

The first new OMD album in 16 years comes out Tuesday. The official website is streaming it for free, and I have to tell you it is fantastic. They have also just released their first new video in 20 plus years. Very Post Modern, but what do you expect from an 80's synth band? I'm just so happy to see Andy and Paul making music together again.

Repressed passive aggressive Chinese anger...

I think the second commercial in the series is my favorite.

Never say no to Panda:

MacNinja

Rumors are circulating that Steve Jobs is really a ninja. Caught with shurikens while trying to board a plane might have been his unwanted unveiling. Of course, Apple claims that none of it is true, but isn't that what all ninjas would claim? I think Apple is just a gigantic front for the world's largest group of ninjas. Prove me wrong!

And a collective sigh from sorority row is heard emanating from Oxford...

So after months of anticipation, the campaign to adopt Admiral Ackbar as the official mascot of the Ole Miss Rebels is officially dead. For politically correct reasons, Colonel Reb was dropped as their mascot back in 2003, and they've been without a mascot since then. Predictably, most of the traditional Ole Miss students were against installing the leader of the Rebel Alliance fleet to lead them into football games in the SEC. What surprised me, though, was what actually killed the dream of geeks throughout the South--George Lucas! The guy pimps out Star Wars merchandise to anything that can make a dime, so why stop at the college mascot level?

Soon Everyone Will Think They Are Jesus!

Just need some popcorn and a bottle of Colt 45...

Hey. You want to be a fahmah?...

As I was watching the previous video I posted, I found this collection of Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes. I so miss these kind of movies:

I knew these men...

It's been an interesting day that's tied together old 80's action movie stars and Star Wars. First, Sylvester Stallone reveals that he auditioned for the part of Han Solo. Then, I came across this hilarious mashup of Star Wars and Arnold:

When a Korean is near, watch your language...

When Firecracker George was in South Korea teaching English, I wonder if he led a similar class lesson. A little NSFW if small children or pregnant women are around:

Green Lantern, starring cleavage and, uh, sorry, spaced out for a minute. What was I saying?

When you're a little kid, what would be cooler than getting to go to Comic Con? Getting into the Green Lantern panel? Yeah, pretty cool. Getting picked on to ask a question during the panel? Yup, much cooler. Getting Ryan Reynolds to recite the Green Lantern oath to you? Man, that's pretty cool. I don't know how you can top that. Telling all your friends that you got a clear live view of Blake Lively's boobs? Jackpot.

Seriously, that cleavage was like George Michael's butt. They're mesmerizing. You just can't quite take your eyes off them. The worst thing you can do is try to ignore them. They're a force to be reckoned with.

Don't need to be high to appreciate that...

A short follow-up to Wild Willie's previous post:

Dream a little dream in a little dream in a little dream...

I overheard a conversation between two teenage girls today about Inception that went something like this:

Yeah, like, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I heard it was, like, really weird, but really good. It's like about these guys that can, like, go into your dreams. And they can tell you to give you a million dollars in your dream, and like, I guess you give them a million dollars in real life. And, like, you can do anything in these dreams. Like, jet skis driving on streets, and stuff. I don't know. It's kind of hard to explain. It's weird and stuff. I really want to see it.

Well, I'm not sure she quite got the plot right (or really much of anything), but I will agree that it was really good. Oddly though, the film wasn't really that weird, and that's surprisingly a good thing.

Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a new kind of intellectual property thief. With his team, he steals ideas, although not in the conventional way. Instead of breaking into a physical vault, they utilize a method of shared dreaming to enter the dreams of their mark and literally steal an idea locked in the subconscious safe of their minds. A heist of Saito (Ken Watanabe), a Japanese energy tycoon, is unsuccessful, but turns into an offer for Cobb and his gang that is just too good to pass up. Instead of a stealing ideas, they are tasked to plant one in the mind of Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy), the heir to a massive energy company that threatens to monopolize the entire global market if not broken up.

Part of what makes this film so entertaining is the whole heist aspect of the plot with a seemingly impossible item to steal (or in the case of Inception, to plant), an intricate plan to pull of the job, and a hand-picked team with each member having unique skills to contribute. Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Eames (Tom Hardy) are the point men of sorts for Cobb's team, Yusuf (Dileep Rao) is the science guy in charge of keeping them in their dream state, and Saito is the money man bank rolling the whole endeavor. Ariadne (Ellen Page) is a newcomer to this world who acts as an "architect" of dreamscapes for the team, and also provides the rookie questions that allows the movie to explain to the audience what the rules are in the dream world. As in any good heist movie, the method and plan is outlined up front and then put into play for us to watch and enjoy.

Now this being a dream movie, you'd expect things to get complicated. In some ways, it does, but unlike most films I recall delving into dreams, Christopher Nolan doesn't make this film overly complex or abstract. In the film, Cobb tests Ariadne during her recruitment to make up a maze on paper in two minutes that he can solve in one. Like this, Nolan creates a maze of sorts with dreams occurring within dreams, but keeps things linear enough that we can follow him on the journey, and with careful attention, not get lost. Questions arise, but are answerable with the rules and information laid out. Unlike other movies delving into dreams or other types of alternate states (e.g. The Matrix), Nolan doesn't get lost in obtuse philosophical ideas about conciousness and self-awareness to the point of running the movie in circles. And I think this is the beauty of Inception. It's a solvable puzzle, but leaves just enough ambiguity at the end to keep it interesting.

The musical orchestration by Hans Zimmer is quite good and complements the mood to the movie. I'm glad this didn't feel like an afterthought compared to most movie soundtracks lately. My only complaint is that the music may have been utilized too much. Hardly a second goes by that the music isn't playing in the background. Maybe it's just me, but it got a bit distracting when I became aware of it (almost like watching a Michael Bay movie and realizing how many damn shots the guy uses per scene). Still, after reading this post on the New York Times ArtsBeats blog, I was even more appreciative of the thought that went into composing the music for this film.

Every actor utilized in the film fits with their character. Suprisingly, Ellen Page may be the weakest link in the cast, but is probably related more to the fact that she still looks like a 13 year girl rather than a college-aged whiz kid. And this is, I think, the third movie in a row with Leonardo DiCaprio I've rated up in the Dangerously Cheesy level. The guy can do no wrong it seems, and Inception has convincingly erased any memory of him I had in Titanic.

Reebok Alien Stomper

Reading something about Comic-Con led to an article about shoes inspired by video games (check out the Street Fighter Dunks). This got me thinking about some sweet kicks that Firecracker George had. Turns out Reebok is set to release the Reebok Alien Stomper in two new colorways in Fall/Winter 2010. A quick search turned up Alien Stompers in all sorts of colors, grey/red, blue/white, black red, all gray, and reflector. I still like the classic grey/red.

I Don't Know If I Can Live In A World Where The Justice League Is This Cool

Video Games | DC Universe Online | Exclusive Who Do You Trust Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Yeah, this might be kinda cool...

The new trailer for Tron: Legacy was released at Comic-Con. I have a feeling that the crowd in San Diego erupted like a Yosemitebear choir watching double rainbows when this aired. Whoooooaaa!!! Oh my gah, oh my gah, oh my gahahahahaaaaa!!! What does this meeeeean?!



And for a little more of a tease, six tracks from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk. This is like a geek's wet dream. Disney certainly knows how to build up some hype:

Daft Punk for Tron Legacy Soundtrack by Hypetrak

What Does It MEEEEan?

This really cracked me up.