My favorite tech blog, Gizmodo.com, has announced the winners of its “Go Miniman Go!” video contest. It’s all part of the hoopla celebrating of the 30th anniversary of the Lego mini-fig (those little posable plastic guys).
Click here to watch the top five winners, which range from a pretty persuasive argument about the right to “bear arms” (yes, there is a pun there) to the Lego equivalent of “We Are the World.” Pretty touchy-feely stuff.
My favorite is “Weltraffer” (I presume this means something profound in Danish), which basically chronicles the whole of European history in about four minutes. With Legos.
You can also see videos by the three acclaimed Lego filmmakers who judged the “Go Miniman Go!” contest. Check it out.
Follow the “Yellow Brick Road”: Captain Kirk sings “Rocket Man”
I know, I know. “Star Trek” doesn’t hit theaters until May 8, 2009.
That doesn’t stop me from getting giddy about the thought of my favorite space travelers returning to the big screen. Just think! Kirk, Spock, Bones and the gang boldly going where they’ve gone many, many times before!
To tide myself over until May, I’ve turned to the above video, created YouTube poster Chromafly.
Here’s William Shatner’s famous rendition of “Rocket Man” by Elton John, set to clips from the “Star Trek: The Animated Series.” Enjoy.
Happy holidays! Batman wishes each and every one of you a merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, everyone! It’s the Bat-Man, bringing you holiday cheer in the form of a big ol’ slap across your smug mug.
Batman isn’t exactly the merriest of fellows, but he does love Christmas.
Just ask Chris Sims of Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog. My favorite comic-book blogger has crafted a hilarious tale of holiday hijinx and Christmas cheer based on Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” It’s called (duh!) “How Batman Saved Christmas.”
I dare you to read it, either silently or aloud. Seriously. You’ll spray your sister with eggnog.
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Chris got in the Christmas spirit earlier this week with “Six Days of Santa Claus.” Scroll down to read it here.
Nothing says “Christmas in California” like the sight of Santa on a surfboard.
The Jolly Old Elf caught some waves this week at Pismo Beach, and he looked like a pro.
Santa, obviously in the mood for a little R&R on the Central Coast, didn’t stop there.
He also performed some impressive faceplants at the Los Osos skatepark, skinned his knees on the steep rock face of Cerro Cabrillo, caught some air on his mountain bike at Morro Bay and got teed off (nyuck, nyuck) at the Dairy Creek Golf Course. Not bad for a fat guy in a fur suit.
The episode premieres on HBO.com today but doesn’t hit the airwaves until Jan. 18 (!), so this is the perfect chance to spend some quality time with Brett and Jemaine.
For those who don’t watch the show, “Flight of the Conchords” follows the American misadventures of two quirky New Zealand musicians who break into song at the slightest provocation. They’re clueless, comical and wonderfully nerdy. Seriously. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be watching this.
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The science fiction fanatics over at io9.com have produced some sweet content in recent days.
First up are the 10 worst science fiction remakes in recent movie history, just in time for Keanu Reeve’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” The post explains “what when wrong” with each project, noting that even usually reliable directors like Tim Burton (”Planet of the Apes”) and Frank Oz (”Stepford Wives”) have produced some stinky sci-fi garbage.
All of this begs the question: Will a tanking economy and international turmoil diminish filmgoers’ taste for bleak Hollywood epics?
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Meanwhile, do you have enough John Malkovich in your life?
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” scored a hit recently with “La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci” — starring Bill Heder as a sexy, chain-smoking Italian talk show host.
In this hilarious clip, he interviews actor John Malkovich in nonsense Italian, promotes his “sex movie” and coddles his overgrown youngster.
Bad Horse welcomes new minions to the Evil League of Evil
Looks like the Evil League of Evil has a few new members.
“Buffy” creator Joss Whedon and company have made their picks for the nastiest, most dastardly supervillains in cyberspace. The winners will appear on the upcoming DVD of the online sensation “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.”
Lord Viscount Genghis Napoleon Stabbington III, pictured above, is a legacy candidate — the latest in a long line of charmingly patricidal English noblemen. Ol’ Stabby doesn’t quite seem to have his heart in homicide; he appears a bit conflicted about doing in dear old dad at “the moment when he would least expect it — his death bed.” Poor bugger.
Mr. Terrible offers a musical explanation for his superiority over Dr. Horrible, interrupting his musical diatribe only to take a call from Mom.
The most magnificent entry, however, is the video sent by Tur-Mohel, a wise-cracking Jewish mohel who dreams of lopping the top off the Washington Monument and “keeping the tip.” (Nyuck nyuck nyuck.) Production quality is high, and the Yiddish-inspired puns are absolutely spot on.
“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is available on Amazon.com on Friday and presumably later in stores. (My advice: Pre-order now.)
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You should also vote now to make “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” the “Favorite Online Sensation” at the People’s Choice Awards. Joss Whedon is counting on YOU!
Ever wonder what inspired that hit Kenny Loggins tune, “Footloose”?
Turns out it had something to do with Jimmy Buffett, machetes and Malibu rum. At least, that’s what “Yacht Rock,“ the winning Web series about soft rock stars in the 1970s and ’80s, would have us believe.
Created by J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair, “Yacht Rock” imagines the stories behind some of the era’s biggest hits, featuring fictionalized versions of mega-acts Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald.
Episodes are hosted by “Hollywood” Steve Huey, a music critic for the online All Music Guide.
It’s fun and a little freaky, with intentionally poor production values and a deranged cast. If you remember this music — either with nostalgia or puking disdain — you’ll enjoy “Yacht Rock.”
Channel 101 canceled “Yacht Rock” after 10 episodes, but the show came back earlier this year for a sweet special episode about — you guessed it — “Footloose.”
Ryznar and Stair star as McDonald and Loggins alongside Jason Lee of “My Name is Earl” (playing a shaggy-haired Kevin Bacon) in the goofiest explanation for a hit single ever.
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A note to viewers: Salty language makes the show decidedly not safe-for-work, so wear headphones or check out “Yacht Rock” on your free time.
A presidential election is a rare treat, an event that — like the summer Olympics — comes once every four years. It’s a time of squabbling and in-fighting, of insults and razor-edged entertainment.
Now, with election day just around the corner, it’s time to milk presidential politics for all they’re worth.
First, I present the adorable students of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. As they assure us in the above video, “You can vote however you like.”
Science fiction haven io9.com offers its own alternatives to the Obama-McCain presidential race — ranging from the plausible (terrorism-fighting industrialist Tony Stark) to the slightly more ridiculous (mixed party ticket Conan the Barbarian and Swamp Thing).
Some of these picks have appeared previously on “She Likes to Watch”, but hey, can you resist visiting General Zod’s hilarious campaign site one more time? No, you cannot.
While you’ve waiting in line at your polling place, check out a few of the many movies dedicated to politics’ cinematic side.
NPR’s political team lists its favorite election-season movies, including “All the President’s Men,” “The Manchurian Candidate” and, of course, “Election.”
According to Bob Mondello, election movies can broken down into three categories: films about manipulating the media (”Bob Roberts,” “Wag the Dog”), manipulating the candidate (”Primary Colors”), and manipulating the process (”All the President’s Men”). If this is what makes it to the silver screen, one shudders to think what actually happens in real life.
Box Office Mojo reports that the 2004 remake of “The Manchurian Candidate” is the highest grossing campaign-election movie of all time. The political thriller, which starred Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber, has grossed nearly $66 million dollars — a cool $2.7 mil more than 1993’s amiable “Dave.”
How ’bout it, readers? What’s your favorite election movie?
“Buffy” creator Joss Whedon struck Internet gold with “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” an online series starring Neil Patrick Harris as a mad scientist with only two ambitions: to win over the girl of his dreams and join the Evil League of Evil led by Bad Horse, “the thoroughbred of sin.”
Most of these applications tend to be awkward, embarrassing or just plain painful. However, there are a few gems — such as the tiny tyrant depicted in the above video.
As her mom explains, the Pint-Size Pirate has been terrorizing the neighborhood “almost as soon as she could walk.” Her crimes include accosting strangers in the streets, robbing banks and kidnapping the governor in order to make him her cabin boy. She’s even lured her own sister into a life of crime. Despicable.
Sneak Attack launched a campaign against all cute Australian critters after her husband was “spurred to death” by vicious platypuses (platypi?).
She seems to be trying the same tactic as the Cutinator (pronounced “Cute-i-nator”), a charming puppy with a lovely singing voice.
This bizarre application from the brain-sucking Skull Spider — complete with accordion music! — gets my “Best Use of A Puppet” award.
Law Ninja combines one of my favorite things, ninjas, with one of my least favorite things, lawyers. And the demon Pickle Jar has some pretty impressive credentials; he’s responsible for “the knife, bathroom graffiti (and) the concept of heating a liquid to a dangerously high temperature and then throwing it on someone.”
