Now that you’ve read our writer Knuckle Supper‘s review of Scott Pilgrim VS the World, you should know a little more about the project.  If nothing else, you should now know that it began as a graphic novel and have a rough idea about the manner in which it was adapted into a full-on motion picture.   It can be a big leap from the pages of a hand drawn comic book to the big screen and, in building that bridge, a few branches had to be cut.  The folks over at ADULT SWIM have decided to make that transition just slightly smoother, by providing an additional 4-minute short titled, “Scott Pilgrim VS The Animation“.  Through it’s  format alone, the cartoon helps to segue from the 2-dimensional black and white pages of Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s now classic, illustrated work to it’s live-action cinematic counterpart, but that isn’t it’s only benefit.  The short also works as a prologue, filling in and setting up a piece of the storyline that never made it into Edgar Wright‘s final movie.  The mini-film focuses on a flashback sequence from VOL. 2 of the book series, which establishes how Scott and Kim Pine originally met and began playing music together.

The network aired their brief animated contribution last night, in preparation of the the film’s release today, but we have it posted here for everyone that may have blinked and missed it.  It was produced by Jason DeMarco, and features voice work by actors Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Mae Whitman, and Jason Schwartzman.

Enjoy (more…)

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[Read Part One feat. the 179 exhibit HERE]

A few months ago, I was watching Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network when an image of a giant pie-chart that was painted on the side of a building was shown.  The pie-chart was divided into 4 sections, representing what viewers could expect to witness on Adult Swim during the 2010 year. Descending from largest to smallest percentage-wise, the divided portions of the chart were as follows: “EXPLOSIONS“, “MEAT“, “P’TOOTS“, and “LOVE“.  The bottom corner of the screen identified the location of the mural as being in Seattle and I recognized the spot immediately.  It was on 45th St. just barely on the West side of Interstate 5, which separates Wallingford from the U-District. The building that it’s painted on contains Milano Pizza, a joint that stays open and delivers pizza until 3 am every night.  Since first noticing the image on television, I’ve traveled by it and seen the painting numerous times.  I’ve also seen various other locations with almost identical murals in other cities, shown on Adult Swim, generally with somebody posing in front of it.   I’ve thought about taking a photo myself, but never really got around to it.   On the day of the opening reception for the 179 exhibit at Upper Playground, my bus traveled past that location as usual but, as I looked off to the right to glance at the painted wall once more, I noticed that somebody was painting something else over it.  At first I was disappointed but, upon further inspection, I recognized that what was being painting on the wall was a 100 times more awesome than what was on there before. (more…)

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Exactly a month ago today, it was my girlfriend’s birthday.  We spent the night downtown at the Moore Theater in Seattle.  Exactly one year before that, we celebrated in the exact same building by attending a performance by Antony and The Johnsons.  If you managed to read the review that I wrote of that show, you might remember that we were provided with seats in our very own balcony, among ancient stained glass windows and majestic statues.  The historic building felt as if it had been constructed specifically for just such an occasion.  Antony Hegarty‘s operatic vocals mixed with the vibrating piano chords and resonating strings of his stripped-down mini-orchestra; swirling up to the classic dome ceiling and filling every cement crack in the architecture.  It was a magically chilling experience that my lady has chalked up as her “favorite concert ever.”  Yep, “favorite“.  Yep… “magical“.  Yep, these are the standards that I’ve created for myself and was forced to live up to.  So, like I said, we returned to the same beautiful historic building as on that memorable occasion a year prior.  The major difference was that, this time, cellos and vibrato were exchanged for fake piss and weed jokes and the theater seats, previously occupied with an awe-struck audience so silent that you could hear a pin drop, were now filled with screaming white trash alcoholics. (more…)

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Recently, Will Ferrell‘s FunnyOrDie.com teamed up with HBO to present a new television program entitled, Funny Or Die Presents.  The weekly series airs each Friday night and features a rotating cast of comedians, actors, and FunnyOrDie.com regulars.  The first airing of the show took place on February 19th and, although I have never seen a full episode, it appears that the pay-cable version of FOD follows a similar content as that of the website, however the new format seems to provide for a more in-depth and lengthier approach, allowing the contributors to explore new uncharted territory.

Last Friday, HBO aired Episode #4, which featured a presentation by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim.  We are huge fans of Tim and Eric‘s work from Tom Goes to the Mayor to Awesome Show, Great Job! and, although they have done an amazing job at establishing their own signature style, they still continuously manage to produce new projects that are fresh and innovative.  If you read our review of last years Awesome Tour or have witnessed any of Wareheim‘s video directing work, then you probably understand exactly what we’re referring to.  Father and Son, the duo’s contribution to Funny or Die Presents, is dark  and hilarious piece that exhibits even more range and breaks new barriers for the comedy team. (more…)

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“It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house”
- Conan O’Brien

By now, most people know all about the drama surrounding Conan O’Brien finally getting the Tonight Show spot and then, more or less, slowly being pushed from the position that he had dreamed about obtaining for so long.  Details and opinions can me mixed but, when it’s all said and done, it doesn’t matter.  The Tonight Show has lost their credibility and Conan has gained even more of it throughout this entire fiasco.  Jay Leno still comes across as your parents friend who tells bad jokes like, “Working hard or hardly working?“, as he took his role back entertaining the elderly with insomnia.

Recently there have been many rumors about what would be 8 foot Irishman‘s next move.  The rumor with the biggest hype behind it was that the former talkshow host/comedy writer my be going on a multi-city live tour.  Due to legally binding stipulations in his exit contract with NBC, which would prevent him from appearing in a talk show spot with any other station for months, this would be a great way for O’Brien to sustain his momentum and remain in the public eye in the meantime.  Well, this is now officially much more than a rumor, as tickets for the tour went live this morning.

Being marketed as, “A night of music, comedy, hugging, and the occasional awkward silence“, the 30 city tour kicks off on April 12th in Eugene, OR and ends on June 14th at the FOX theatre in Atlanta, GA.  Perhaps even more surprising than the tour itself, however,  is the information that it will include a stop at the Bonaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN.  The press release states that the live comedy/music review “will include longtime sidekick Andy Richter and the former Tonight Show band” however, word is that Max Weinberg will not be part of it.

Get your tickets fast, because these spots are bound to disappear quickly.

Here are the tour dates: (more…)

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LSD…  it’s a helluva drug.  Back in the day, I did my share (and, perhaps, the shares of a few others).  Some believe that it has the potential to help turn you into such a super genius, that you appear freakishly insane to anyone else that’s not “on your level“.  Then again, it’s always possible that the reverse is happening and they really are going so ape-shit crazy, that it only leads them to believe that that they have a growing mental superiority.  One thing’s for sure; these chemical roller-coasters have the ability to twist up and whack out a synapse, like eating a parasitic egg-salad-sandwich from the vending machine of an interstellar truck stop bathroom.  The reality is that, even with all of the epiphanies and life lessons that one may obtain during these odysseys, there is really no scientific control for the experimenter/guinea pig and, short of a clone or view into a parallel dimension, no one can ever really know if they would have arrived at those same conclusions without the “aid” of the hallucinogen.  The good part is, since there is no way to make that determination, it doesn’t really matter and there are more detrimental things in the world than examining the differences between arrogance and confidence, exploitation and opportunity, respect and glorification, inspiration and contrivance, hustling and…well, hustling.  Despite the blatant self-aggrandizement implied in his stage name, Sean “Har Mar Superstar” Tillmann seems to have an incredibly firm grasp on these concepts and plenty of others.  Of all the electric realizations that I had, however, there is one specific principle that truly epitomizes Tillmann‘s career for me: “Regardless of how clearly, simply, honestly, or directly you express a pure truth, it doesn’t mean that anyone else will, necessarily, hear, believe, or even understand what you are trying to relate to them.” (more…)

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