The Pandemonium Of The Sun

AMC’s new series, “The Walking Dead” trailer

Matthew — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:35:41 +0000

Set to premiere Halloween night, based on the acclaimed comic series by Robert Kirkman, involving Frank Darabont creatively, and airing on AMC who are already knocking it out of the park with Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Rubicon, and featuring hordes of zombies…I can’t imagine how this will be anything but awesome.

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New Ceelo

Matthew — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:56:48 +0000

Pretty catchy tune.

Very Niiiiice!

Matthew — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:28:44 +0000

Via Entertainment Weekly:

Netflix announced a deal Tuesday that will allow the online subscription service to stream movies from Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and MGM, according to The New York Times. In a deal that Wall Street analysts estimate will cost Netflix $900 million over the course of five years, the company purchased the streaming rights to the three studios’ output from the premium TV network Epix. The deal, which begins Sept. 1, will allow Netflix to add such movies as Iron Man and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to its “Watch Instantly” library of online titles.

LOST (in a nutshell?)

Matthew — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:47:13 +0000

I was listening to some of the Feynman lectures recently on my (mostly) trusty iPod, which is the sort of thing I do to keep my brain from atrophying while working my mundane job, when a quote of his, totally unrelated to the lecture, popped into my (hopefully) mostly un-atrophied brain:

“It doesn’t seem to me that this fantastically marvelous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different planets, and all these atoms with all their motions, and so on, all this complicated thing can merely be a stage so that God can watch human beings struggle for good and evil — which is the view that religion has. The stage is too big for the drama.”

And I got to wondering if the producers of LOST had that quote in mind when they were crafting their little show and thought “yeah, you’re right, Feynman…so we’ll set it on an island instead and throw in a polar bear for good measure.”

Just food for thought.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Matthew — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:05:40 +0000

My copy of David Mitchell’s latest novel came in the mail today via the UK. It’s not out for another week or so in the US, but my impatience and preference for the European edition’s cover (no dust jacket, and a tasteful cream and blue woodcut illustration) drove me to go ahead and order it.

I’m finishing up Dan Simmons’ dark, intriguing, and well-written sci-fi novel Hyperion at the moment, but Thousand Autumns will be quickly devoured after that. Blog posts for both shall be forthcoming.

Dennis Hopper, RIP

Chris — Sun, 30 May 2010 04:31:31 +0000

Joe R. Lansdale

Matthew — Sun, 02 May 2010 21:16:04 +0000

You should probably read the works of Joe R. Lansdale. His books are dark, funny, compelling, prolific, imaginative… but most importantly, intelligent and fucking fun.

I’m not sure if he’s more well known for his series of dark mysteries featuring a couple of East Texas pals named Hap and Leonard, or for his short story “Bubba Ho-Tep”, which was the basis of the now classic film. Either way, he’s got the storytelling skills to keep any fan of horror or mystery fiction entertained, along with the stylistic chops required to keep most lit snobs sticking around.

If you can find it, I recommend staring with his collection of short stories (which includes the aforementioned “Bubba Ho-Tep”), Writer of the Purple Rage. You won’t be disappointed.

As I told the friend who turned me onto him, his books make me want to buy a house in East Texas, sit on the front porch with a cooler full of cold beer and wait for the weird shit to happen.

The Human Centipede trailer

Matthew — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:08:07 +0000

The premise of this film is so fucking outrageous and demented that I don’t know whether to respond with utter horror or hilarity. All I know is I have to see it. Wow.

Red Letter Media

Matthew — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:30:49 +0000

A certain genius from Wisconsin, of all places, posted a hilarious and spot on review of Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace some months back to much acclaim. Now he’s back with an even more epic evisceration of Attack of the Clones. Both of these videos are much more worthwhile than either of the films they meticulously and hilariously deconstruct.

Enjoy part one of the latest below.

Attack of the Clones Review: Part 1

RIP Mark Linkous

Chris — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:14:38 +0000

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, dead at the age of 47 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the heart.
This is terribly sad news. It’s A Wonderful Life is still one of my favorite albums and it will never be the same for me in light of this horrible tragedy.

Blogging to resume soon

Chris — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:31:58 +0000

Breaktime will soon be over.

Reading Resolutions 2010

Chris — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:27:52 +0000

Much of my spare time in 2009 was taken up by trying to complete the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge I set for myself. A couple of times, I almost quit the challenge. I had attempted it once before, a few years ago, and got to about 12 books before giving up. For me, it’s a tough challenge, since I drift towards the encyclopedic novels of writers like Pynchon or Vollmann. I knew it was a misstep, but I tried to tackle David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest midway through my quest. Halfway through that book, the need to see my quest to the end and get back on track took over. I found myself reading things I wouldn’t necessarily read, just to hit a number. This year, there will be no 52 book quest. I’ll let my natural urges take over again. I have a taste for the maximal, and this is where I will go. I intened on re-reading some old favorites for the first time in many years. A few weeks ago, I gifted a spare copy of William T. Vollmann’s Fathers and Crows to a co-worker. It’s my favorite book, and I intend to revisit it. And I’ve had a copy of Vollmann’s 1400 page Imperial sitting here for months. It will be lonely no more. I wanted to tackle Bolano’s 2666 this past year, but after 30 pages or so, I thought that I might want to read The Savage Detectives first. And thus, I have begun there. Happy readings…..

The Preacher Series Vols 1-9 by Garth Ennis And Steve Dillon (52 Books, 44-52 Down, 0 To Go)

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:41:19 +0000

I’ve decided to lump the lat 9 books of my quest to read 52 books in a year together because they are all tied together. At times, I didn’t think I would be able to complete this quest, especially after spending a month with Infinite Jest this past summer and only getting halfway through (I do plan to get back to it). But here on New Year’s Eve at 9:15 pm I finished book 52, volume 9 of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher series. I’ll state up front that I am not a big graphic novel guy. I tried reading Watchmen earlier this year, got about halfway through, and lost interest. But, after many recommendations from Matt, I decided to give it a spin. It was worth the ride. Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a small town minister who is possessed by Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon. Along for the ride is his girlfriend, ulip, and a sidekick, Cassidy, who happens to be a vampire. After the main storyline is set up, about two thirds of the rest of it is spent filling in the backgrounds of all the characters, and what led them to the present. That’s where the beauty of this series lies. And there’s a huge bonus for hitting all sorts of cultural touchstones for me….Yeats, McSorley’s, Blood Meridian. Most Highly recommended.

Branded Woman by Wade Miller (52 Books, 43 Down, 9 To Go)

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:21:04 +0000

Yet another release from Hard Case Crime, Branded Woman is perhaps the most frustrating book I’ve read of theirs. Cay Morgan has, quite literally, been branded by a man she has crossed. Her quest to get revenge takes her to Mexico, where, of course, things aren’t always as they seem. The problem I had with Branded Woman is a tale of two extremes. When it is good, it is verry good. When it is not, well, it’s just pretty boring, and the boring parts far outweigh the good ones.It’s not quite as disappointing as the Stephen King Hard Case Crime book that I read, but pretty close.

361 by Donald E. Westlake (52 Books, 42 Down, 10 To go)

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:09:41 +0000

Donald Westlake died a year ago today. He was peripherally on my radar (I often see book collectors looking for his harder to find novels written under the pseudonym Richard Stark). When he died, I took even more notice as all the tributes from people i respect started rolling out. Hard Case Crime’s reissue of 361 is my first experience with Westlake, and it certainly won’t be my last. The man is a master. Ray Kelly comes home to New York after a stint in the Air Force and meets his father in New York City. On the trip home to upstate New York, their car is ambushed, with the father being murdered and the son severely injured. Thus starts Ray Kelly’s quest to find the killer of his father. Engrossing and superbly written, this is the best of the Hard Case Crime books I have read thus far, and have gotten my hands on some of those Richard Stark novels for the near future. Very highly recommended.