Why Hollywood never gets any work done. (guest submission from Insider Andrea)
Spotted on the same site: a ratings schema I can get behind.
When dating AOL, breaking up is not an option.
Linking to this will score me points with my dork-loving girlfriend for weeks: Helvetica vs. Arial (no longer online: engagestudio.com/helvetica)
Movie, band, and brand fonts. (no longer online: typenow.net/themed.htm)
Snakes on a Soundtrack (guest submission from Girl on a Blog Andrea)
Vintage 2001: A Space Odyssey goodness: Kubrick at the premiere and an interview with actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. (spotted on Daring Fireball)
FontLover.com (no longer online: fontlover.com), a new blog about, well, guess. (spotted on Blue Vinyl)
Finally, the perfect plectrum to play LED Zeppelin. (guest submission from Dave, including the wonderfully horrible pun)
Superman Returns teaser and trailer rendered in green-screened Lego. (guest submission from Last Daughter of Krypton Andrea)
The new version of Opera is loaded with bells & whistles, including its own widget thing. With something similar built in to Windows and Mac OS X, or free from Yahoo (no longer online: widgets.yahoo.com), what’s the point?
New Line Cinema woos & wows the dorks at the New York Licensing Show. I liked the giant Optimus Prime.
WOW! *look*look*look*look*look*look* BORAT HOME PAGE! (no longer online: borat.tv)
Je ne veux pas ces putains de serpants sur la puriture de l’avion! (guest submission from Francophile Andrea)
Even if the marketing hadn’t trumpeted the dramatic return of burnt-out Hollywood high-concept screenwriter Shane Black, it’d be painfully obvious Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a movie crafted specifically for the audience he practically created with his Lethal Weapon quadrilogy.
The all-over-the-place plot leaves a few threads dangling (What happened to the whole Michelle Monaghan femme fatale setup? Was it too obvious to be anything other than a red herring?), but that’s not really what matters; the movie is exactly what what Hollywood execs and critics alike mean when they use the belabored cliche “a ride that you either get on or you don’t.”
Most. Pagan. Watch. Ever. (no longer online: thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/7d2b/) (spotted on Boing Boing)
Nature upends the fairytale (no longer online: cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/20/oatmeal.bear.ap). (guest submission from Godless Killing Machine Andrea)
Shopify is going to be huge. Set up a complete, functioning e-commerce site (that doesn’t look like ass) for free? Worth 2-3% of every order, I think.
Amazing news for sci-fi dorks and film school geeks alike: late 2007 brings, at long last, Ridley Scott’s definitive Blade Runner: The Final Cut (no longer online: comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=14724) in both theatrical and a massive DVD release including no less than four versions of the film.
Some concept art from the Tim Burton Superman movie that wasn’t (no longer online: kal-el.org). Not since Zardoz have we seen crazy psychedelic floating skulls like these.
How much is a feature film digital download worth? Or rather, how much are consumers willing to pay? An “album” of songs far, far less than cd quality goes for $9.99, so maybe $9.99-19.99 movies will work after all. (guest submission from Wisely-Keeping-Her-Netflix-Subscription Andrea)
A great site [no longer online: boardsmag.com/screeningroom] full of interesting commercials, shorts, and music videos (notable: They Might be Giants’ “Bastard Wants to Hit Me”). (spotted on Boing Boing)
Have no fear of The Dork Report continuing to live up to its name; it’s Transformers Update time!
Memo to future first children: showing up at concerts given by avid anti-war artists is probably not a good idea [no longer online: ateaseweb.com/news/archive/2006/06/on_the_shitlist.php].
Unsurprising it wouldn’t occur to the Pentagon to research a Peace Bomb or a Kitten Bomb [no longer online: http://indyink.com/images/designs/Felix.gif]. (spotted on Fortean Times, with reporting by Andrea)
A new interpretation on a classic product of The Mighty Marvel Metaphor Machine. “GrrrrrrrrRRRRRAGH HULK CUM!!!” [no longer online: soulmaninc.co.uk/images/Banner_Hulk_Transformation.jpg]
Heyyy! Only a few select scenes in Superman Returns will be in 3D? Rip-off! [no longer online: imax.com:80/ImaxWeb/filmDetail.do?type=comingSoon&movieID=code__.__27]
From Here to Eternity is famous for a lot of reasons: Burt Lancaster’s and Deborah Kerr’s hot clinch on the beach, the mere presence of Frank Sinatra, and, like a lot of canonical classics, its own fame.
But, gradually, it dawns on you: what it’s really about is the utter inconsequence of our lives. Constantly overshadowing the many plot threads is the inevitable appearance of the Japanese overhead. And once they arrive, all the personal and professional troubles, the affairs and crimes, everything, becomes irrelevant.
Just as Apple is rumored to be launching yet another iPod generation (no longer online: appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1818), Microsoft readies its iTunes Killer [no longer online: wired.com/news/technology/0,71178-0.html]. Hey, wasn’t that called Urge (no longer online: urge.com)? (spotted on Macintouch and AppleInsider)
Actual photos from inside a Chinese iPod factory make me feel queasy about owning one.
Despite being a big ratings hit in the UK, the Doctor Who revolving door hasn’t stopped spinning. Billie Piper will leave at the end of season two. As the show is at least as much about her (and her extended family) than it is the Doctor, this will perhaps have a bigger impact than even Christopher Eccleston’s dramatic exit from the lead role. (spotted on Outpost Gallifrey)
Heil Kitty! [no longer online: hitlercats.motime.com] (guest submission from Andrea)
The redesigned Criterion Collection site is clean and classy, although I’m not crazy about the new logo and the Flash intro is a yawner. One to look forward to: a new three disc edition of Seven Samurai.
Nonsuch Records launches a blog, featuring a recent post from Dork Report favorite Laura Veirs.
Fake is the New Real, Pt. II. Eek! (guest submission from Dave)
Wipe your tears away, indeed. Bush as Bono.
An all-star musical tribute to Neil. (guest submission from Soon-to-be-Sandman-Fan Andrea)
The answer is, of course, all of the above. Haven’t you read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay? (guest submission from Superman’s Pal Andrea)
Watch Yahoo.com evolve [no longer online: news.com.com/2300-1032_3-6072801-1.html] from a list of blue links to lots of lists of blue links. Two of The Dork Report’s favorite topics, rolled up into one: evolution and web design!
Here’re today’s Mac-obsessed gooberlinks:
Marvel Comics nutjob Avi Arad goes indie [no longer online: ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=3045] and disses the most interesting movie [no longer online: thehulk.com] Marvel ever made. (guest submission from Roving Comics Reporter Andrea)
Tune in to see who gets voted out of the litterbox in Kitty Survivor [no longer online: www.ew.com:80/ew/article/reuters/0,24012,1203382_10_0_,00.html]. (guest submission from Meow Andrea)
Hey Thirtysomething Perpetual Boys, upgrade a cherished toy for a mere ¥18,000! (guest submission from Dave)
Watch the naive Kitten of Doom [no longer online: youtube.com/watch?v=p2wyhgP0FVo] taunt fate. (spotted on Salon)
Peter Gabriel’s label Real World Records launches Real World Remixed.
In related news, Real World Multimedia’s Noodle Heaven is now free. It’s utterly brilliant and equally indescribable.
Apple’s cutting edge interface design is no match for rampaging cuteness. (guest submission from Dave)
A few million more years, and these bird brains [no longer online: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0808_020808_crow.html] will invent the fishing rod.
Why murderize hookers and zombies when you could be cleansing the earth of the wicked? (spotted on Fortean Times)