The Bloated Penguin

Okay, that might have been a misleading title to this post, but if you think about the kids in the ads for Ally Bank, it is quite cruel. Anyways, these have been running for a little while now, but I thought it would be worth posting them in one place. I wonder if they were all done in one take.

Fun pieces – makes me want a pony.

After quite a disappointing 2009, it looks like big studios were saving themselves for the turn of the decade. Check out a couple of new trailers from some big profile flicks coming out later this year.

Tron Legacy

Nice! I have to be honest – I wasn’t a huge fan of the original but I think it’s mostly because I’m from a different generation. I liked it a lot, but I think this new one looks like it could be what the Tron franchise needs to go beyond cult status. I’ll definitely watch the original before I check this out as you can tell from this new trailer that Tron Legacy is in fact a sequel. Fingers crossed for Disney on this one as a followup to Alice in Wonderland.

Iron Man 2

Interesting…. Very interesting indeed. I’m curious to see how this one turns out because right now it’s got a lot going against it. From the looks of the cast, I think it actually has too many well-known names attached. Also, sequels (with respect to T2) hardly ever turn out well. In any case, it’ll be fun to watch RDJ and Donny Cheadle jump in their suits and beat the snot out of some robots.

So far, 2010 is looking up in terms of big budget flicks.

I say this with the utmost respect to Kathryn Bigalow and The Hurt Locker gang, but Jason Reitman was absolutely robbed last night. In case you were sleeping or living in a cave, last night was the Academy Awards and Up In The Air wasn’t given a sniff of an award. With Avatar taking all of the awards that have to do with a computer, I really thought that George Clooney and the rest of the peeps involved with Jason Reitman’s flick had a chance. Turns out I was wrong…

I’ve seen The Hurt Locker and it’s pretty good. My only beef with it is that I’m really tired of war stuff. Tanks, tanned cammo, automatic weapons and disassociated soldiers has been done… Al lot. Granted, The Hurt Locker was one of the better flicks to show this, but at the end of the day, Up In The Air was an original, well portrayed look into the times. It included elements of social commentary, comedy, drama and some great performances. Yes, it was an adapted story, but at the end of the day, aren’t all movies?

Again, nothing against The Hurt Locker, but Up In The Air was absolutely robbed last night.

If you follow The Bloated Penguin (shout out to mom!) then you know that I’ve got a slight obsession with all things Neil Patrick Harris. I was a HUGE Doogie fan and seeing him emerge as a pop-culture icon over the years gives me hope for a happy life. Anyways, upon hearing that NPH will be in the new Smurfs movie (uh, yeah….) I’ve decided to show my top 10 NPH moments ever. Drum roll please:

#10 – NPH’s first cameo as himself in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle

Some great insight into what went on behind the scenes on the set of Doogie Howser

#9 – NPH’s song Laundry Day for Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog

We always knew he had singing chops, but this has become a classic in the new age world of Joss Whedon

#8 – NPH Performing Barney Stinson’s singing number on How I Met Your Mother’s 100th episode

In an episode that guest starred Rachel Bilson, this was actually the highlight – that says something

#7 – NPH as Barney Stinson explaining the Hot versus Crazy graph

Not only hilarious, it actually kind of makes sense… so I’ve heard.

#6 – NPH’s Old Spice Commercial

“I used to be a doctor for pretend”

#5 – NPH sings about shoes on Sesame Street

I’ve only actually seen this clip online so I have no idea why he’s dressed like and angel.

#4 – NPH’s return in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Nothing like seeing someone drive on shrooms

#3 – NPH intros the 2009 Emmy’s

Dude can sing like really REALLY fast

#2 – NPH mocks himself as he does a Doogie Howser journal entry as Barney Stinson

It’s always nice to see someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

#1 Doogie Howser MD

This song alone made me want to learn how to play the keyboard. Turns out it’s really difficult so I never got started.

There you have it.

I’m kind of wigging out like a crack-addict after the first three hours of rehab. I miss Fringe. Thursday nights used be an event, now? Well, last evening I actually went out of my apartment. With people. Come back Fringe, PLEASE.

If any of that rings true to you, you can do one of two things. You can join the Fringe Facebook group and receive updates during this ridiculous hiatus.

OR

You can just stay here and check it all out in one place:

A couple of weeks ago, this was posted

Then on Feb 18th, they posted this:

Also on the 18th, these photos were posted (the gallery is at the bottom of this post)

Then on Tuesday Feb 23, they posted a link to the Fringe Hidden Elements Game

Fringe Hidden Elements Game

And Last evening, these images were posted

With this video here

If you haven’t checked this out by now you really should. The Grammy’s went way beyond the cassette player and fast forwarded into the modern world of social media for their 2010 site. Focusing on the concept of “We’re all fans,” The Grammy’s site incorporated Youtube clips, images, Tweets and Flckr feeds from real people about their favorite artists.

Performers like LL Cool J, Lady Gaga, Leonard Cohen, Taylor Swift and Green Day all have dedicated fans that submitted their own versions of their favorite artists’ hits. Although the intro to each artist is a bit heavy, the concept is really nice and the it runs very smoothly. I know that this campaign is over, but if you’re looking for how official sites make smooth transitions between different methods of social media, this is a great example.

Check it out here.

In celebration of Disneyland re-releasing Captain EO, I’ve decided to completely waste your time and destroy all of your daily productivity by posting the entire short (borrowed from Youtube). In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, Disneyland California brought back and re-premiered the sci-fi short this week.

Captain EO was created in 1986 as an attraction for people to come to the theme park. Starring Michael Jackson, Anjelica Huston and a bunch of puppets, the short also has big names like Francis Coppola and George Lucas attached. Captain EO is a 3D sci-fi space ship type short film that ran for about 10 years in Disneyland. In 1997 it was replaced by another attraction, Honey I Shrunk The Audience… I probably don’t have explain how Honey I Shrunk The Audience was barely the attraction that Captain EO was.

In any case, with the passing of the King of Pop, Disneyland decided to bring Captain EO out of the vault for a short run at the Tomorrowland Theater. If you can’t make it all the way to Anaheim, you can watch it below (sans 3D glasses of course)

I don’t know how I feel about this one. On one hand, I really like Stephen Chow and I think Green Hornet is actually going to do much worse than it could have had he been involved. My personal favorite Chow flick is Shaolin Soccer, but I’m also partial to Kung Fu Hustle. So, I respect him and his filmmaking and especially for what he’s been able to do with a North American audience.

But on hearing the news of Chow doing a remake of Enter The Dragon which is titled Tai Chi, I’m a little bit on the fence. Enter The Dragon is the epitome of a classic genre film. Growing up Asian in North America during the 80’s, there were really only two things I wanted to be. One was a hockey player, the other was Bruce Lee.

After reading through the brief synopsis of Tai Chi I can see this film being made by Chow. His Ben Stiller-like approach to parody is really fun – I’m just really unsure if this is going to come off as a slap in the face to one of the greatest flicks of all time.