Unlike the new Transformers movie, this video has neither gigantic robot testicles or offensive racial stereotypes. That either makes it three times better or three times worse than the actual movie, depending on the audience. One thing we can all agree on, at least, is that it is two hundred and four times shorter*.
Via @sursly
*: I would say this makes it over two hundred times more worth your time, but that is probably not a universal truth.
If you have an hour and a half to spare, enjoy a meat-free Friday! If not, I’m sure some other time would be a good time to go vegetarian.
Via @essrose
Bad news for local art house cinemas from Consumerist:
IFC Entertainment has reached a deal with Comcast and Cablevision that pipes all its films, in HD, to cable boxes, giving moviegoers an option to ditch their local art houses.
Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reports Cablevision charges $6.95 for either standard definition or high-definition, while Comcast charges $6.99 for SD and $7.99 for HD.
Coincidentally, my own local “college town ghetto” art house cinema just expanded. It will cost $2 more to see a movie there than to see it at home through Cablevision. Luckily, we have Time Warner round these parts so the threat isn’t so immediate, but it’s in the mail, that’s for sure.
It’s really sad to see a beloved cultural icon like this die, but I suppose people want what they want, and society evolves.
Although I don’t think Donnie Darko is as hard to grasp as the creators of this video seem to think it is, I have to second a commenter on VideoSift and upvote for the old-timey piano rendition of Mad World.
Via Neil Gaiman:
Would people mind spreading http://bit.ly/xTG5 around a bit? Put links up to it and such? It’s the first Coraline trailer I’ve liked
With an endorsement like that, how could I resist?
First, it was a reincarnation of Wazzup?, and now this:
When will it end? At the beginning, probably.
/me waits for the next ARPAnet mashup/remix.
I’ve been an atheist since I reached the age of reason and I realized that my grandmother’s claims that “there were no dinosaurs” were filthy Christian lies, but recently I’ve decided to become a lot less tolerant of theists. After all, tolerance is counterproductive when the thing you are tolerating has caused more wars and killed more people than anything else throughout history, and when it threatens to weaken society by teaching children myths as facts and restricting personal freedoms.
Much of my inspiration for this choice came from (of course) Richard Dawkins and his An Atheist’s Call to Arms lecture from a while back:
The real impetus for this post, however, came from an atheist blog I’ve been following lately, Pharyngula, and a video by a busty young lady explaining why atheists do, and should, care about the stupid blathering theists do:
I haven’t seen Religulous yet, but I plan on seeing it sometime this weekend.
Know this, if you are a theist, I do not and can not respect you, no more than you would respect an adult who believes in the Tooth Fairy. To me, you are no different than any other insane cultist- something to be shunned and mocked, and maybe to feel a bit sorry for. I will probably leave you alone, as I know there is little sense in arguing against insanity, and I would hope you would extend me the same courtesy, but I imagine you don’t feel the same way.
No, the only threat to you I pose lies in my existence, and that I am not alone.
edit, 2008.10.23:
People seem to be slightly misinterpreting me, here.
Let me clarify by reposting part of my reply from there:
As I’ve said before, people can believe in any nonsense, invisible pink unicorns, flying spaghetti monsters, teapots orbiting Mars, that they want. As long as this belief stays a private thing, it doesn’t affect anyone else, I’ve no problem with it. But as soon as it enters public policy, affecting laws, the way children are taught, or personal freedoms; or as soon as someone decides to go to war over it; it becomes a blight upon society that needs to be removed.
Which is the whole point of militant atheism, really- not to actually forbid people’s private beliefs (who cares?) but to ensure a secular society, one that has more of a basis in science, rationality, and fact than superstition and myth.
Why do believers automatically assume that others always want to convert them, seriously? Not everyone is a missionary. Chances are, if I don’t know you personally and you have no say in my life I really couldn’t care less what nonsense you believe. That latter bit is the important bit: religion should have no say in my life. It can have all the say in your life you want it to, as long as that say is from internal sources, not external (i.e., governmental) ones.
Why haven’t I seen this movie yet? It doesn’t appear to be on Netflix, that’s probably a good reason. Must still be a VHS-only movie :(
It seems right up my alley, what with all the sillyness, and the zombies, and the stupid religious zealots getting (I imagine) eaten. Plus, the ridiculous comedy / horror / song mashup seem to be along the same lines as the wonderful Cannibal! The Musical, which, as you may know, I loved.
Here’s one of the musical numbers, which I found today on ectomo, and which prompted this post:
Edit: Found it on DVD!
Via VideoSift, a mashup of one of my favorite classic rock songs (I prefer the super extended versions) and classic Hammer horror:
If this doesn’t get you in the mood for Halloween, I don’t know what will!