Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I'm waiting for: Middleman (DVD)

I don't really watch all that much TV, generally, and when I do, I tend to gravitate towards shows falling into one of the following categories:

1) Unapologetically nerdy - Nature specials, History channel specials. You know the type. I'm the kind of person who could watch "Planet Earth" in HD for HOURS, and I have. I want to know about all the little intricacies of the squid life cycle, or the exact crushing power of a lion's jaws as compared with an eagle. Nerdy.

2) Orgasmically geeky - The type of show which has no problem referencing a slew of pop culture icons in under 5 minutes. I think a lot of people are attracted to shows like this, which accounts for the unprecedented success (and verbal speed) of Gilmore Girls.


Lorelei and Lorelei have average speaking speed of ~145wpm.
Liza Weil thinks that's pretty slow.

It's easy to categorize the latter type of shows into something you can dismiss because they're so pop-culture lite, but according to Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You, these kinds of shows encourage us to think on our feet and develop faster cognitive skills.

So it's no wonder that I was enthralled by summer 2008 new-comer "The Middleman", which was originally based off of a comic book of the same name. Writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach created a witty fast-paced dialogue that draws on ennumerable areas of pop-culture. Not to mention that all the main characters are hot.


Sexy AND Smart: Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar
are here to protect you from amazonian fish-eating zombies.

According to all the current news sources for the undeniably dorky, "The Middleman" is not currently on track to be released to DVD. And ABC Family which hosted the original run of the show has neglected to put up whole episodes for viewing. So there is currently no legal recourse for those who want to access this show and see what I'm talking about. However, I will certainly be offering up the contents of my wallet for anything else Grillo-Marxuach produces (as evidenced by my gleeful joy when I ordered a copy of the comic off of Amazon.com).

If you have a chance to see any episodes of Middleman, jump on the opportunity. I promise that it's worth it.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Cult Classics

Even though I felt traumatized by Rocky Horror Picture Show from an early age, I've always been drawn towards what society calls "Cult Classics". I remember wandering around video stores to the Cult section and wondering if there was something implicit in making a cult movie. Did you watch a film the first time around and just know? I've seen my share of cult hits, and I know they can range from irrevocably awful (Tank Girl) to bizarrely quirky (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) to just plain awesome (Office Space).

Wikipedia claims that a "Cult Classic" is a film that develops a strong, obsessive following after an initial failed release, and I'm sure that quotability must be one of those facets which yields obsession. But there must be more than this, or the entire James Bond series would be considered cult films. And it can't be based solely on the inital flop, because some things I consider cult films simply didn't do all that poorly to begin with.

Mostly, I'm thinking of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog which has three episodes totaling 45 minutes in length when strung together. Originally released directly to web, it has just made its first appearance on the DVD and BlueRay shelves, and when I saw that, I snagged a copy, ASAP.

The Dr. Horrible cast wants you to know that
writers' strikes can't be held accountable for poor media.
Got a strike? Go out and write it yourself.

When I first watched this online, I knew, INSTANTLY that DHSAB was going to be a cult classic. People would simply be unable to ignore the draw of Dr. Horrible's fantastic music and witty dialogue. Dr. Horrible is expertly played by Neil Patrick Harris, who was completely able to translate Billy's quiet, bumbling, unhappiness to the screen. This is certainly a film where the viewer is intended to firmly side with the 'villain'. Biggest complaint, as worded by my mother: "Wait, that's it?? Where's the rest of it?" (which, frankly, is how I felt about RHPS)

While it's true that DHSAB ends on a low note (not to mention somewhat out-of-the-blue), I don't feel it's unfair for the director Joss Whedon to ask his audience to stretch their minds a little bit and realize that DHSAB is a bit like life and you don't always get what you hoped for. And in this case, it's a good thing.

And anyway, the music is FANTASTIC. I have the soundtrack in my car and I listen to it pretty much constantly.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog can be viewed online for free at Hulu. Just follow the link. (NOTE: You must have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to view the video)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Misti's Link of the Month - Yelp.com

I know it's been quite some time since I posted last, and now you're getting just a glimmer of a post, but it's worth it, I promise!

My job has me traveling all over the state, and that means that every few weeks or so, I'm thrown into a new location and I have to start all over again, learning where to eat, where to shop, the best libraries, et. al. Yelp.com is a handy tool which has allowed me to learn my surroundings with a much greater ease. Yelp provides user-written reviews to give a sense of place for each reviewed location. You don't even have to join in order to search through your local area.

It's even fun to write reviews for all the place you've eaten, and I know that I, personally, have been sucked into the yelp bubble. It seems like it's a very popular site for west-coasters, but the east coast is starting to catch up and is this is a tremendous resource for people in big cities like SF or NYC who are looking for a great dinner on the fly. Yelp includes information on formality, price range, kid-friendliness, parking... all the things you really need to know.

Visit Yelp.com and find all the places you've been missing!