So there’s going to be a Yogi Bear movie. In 3D. I feel neither happy nor sad about this, I never really liked Yogi that much anyway.
But the promotional poster… well, there are no words. THAT pose, with THAT tagline? REALLY?
Is it wrong that, whilst this YouTube video of a kids’ school play of 80′s gangster flick, Scarface, should be a tiny bit disturbing, I really only found it a complete delight to watch?
Obviously they don’t let the young actors swear, that would be wrong. Instead they replace the naughty bits with nice words that are kinder on the ears of the little cherubs – “FUDGE YOU TONY!” –and Mr. Montana seems to have been enjoying tucking into a scrummy kilo of popcorn.
Unfortunately, the video isn’t really a school play, it’s a video made by Marc Klasfeld and Rockhard Films who did Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” video.
Whilst it seems to have provoked some shocked and angry comments from viewers, I think it’s silly and more than a little bit funny.
And seriously, “can’t you stop saying fudge all the time? It’s boring, Tony.”
This was the week that I dispelled with my Chatroulette virginity. I became a Chatrouletter; a Chatroulette-ette.
If you’ve not heard of it already, it’s nothing to do with cats or gambling. Instead it’s a website that pairs randomly chosen strangers who can then interact via webcam conversations. If you don’t like the look of the person you’re paired with, because, for example, they’re ugly or a perv or really really boring then you can hit the ‘next’ button and move on to another random (‘nexted’ is now the term used for being shunted on for the next poor sucker, as in “woah, dude, you were totally nexted” etc.).
It first came to my attention when I saw this video of Merton and his ‘pianochatimprov’, which has since been imitated by Ben Folds in front of a live audience.
Having gate-crashed a Hardboiled Wonderland music orgy (or writing session, whatever) I quizzed my friend Mr Lewis on his previous experience of the website.
After hearing of his… interesting attempts to entertain his fellow Chatrouletters – dancing around the room, playing music, introducing his dog – it sounded like it had some potential so we decided to give it a whirl. The fabulously grizzly-looking Chris took the helm and the rest of us were but giggling faces bobbing in the background.
We hit gold straight away with a nice Polish couple in Warsaw, who liked the guys’ music and had learned English in Brighton so we had a nice little chat. Despite Mr Lewis’ complaints that ‘you’re not supposed to spend this long on one person’ we spent about 5 minutes with them before the screen froze and we were forced to move on.
Then came a string of willies. And by that I mean actual willies. This is the downside to Chatroulette – it seems to be frequented by many, many men who take enjoyment out of exposing their naked nether regions to random strangers. Each to their own, I suppose, but really? Luckily, in a group, we were able to have a cheer and a dry heave and then click the next button, but had I been on my own this may have been hugely more disturbing – perhaps Chatroulette is more of a group activity?
In the next 15 minutes we danced to the music of two lads from Germany with spotty wallpaper who are in a band called Five11, we met a man with a nice hat who had a little groove to our tunes, a young couple holding stuffed toys up to the camera (we held up the dog, we won) and some boring people that we nexted too quickly to recall them. Oh, and we saw some more willies.
It was definitely a laugh, but mostly because I was with a group of friends. I think the high volume of dodgy mofos partaking in Chatroulette could be far too creepy for me on my own. Equally, Chris always quickly nexted any girls who looked under 18 as he said it was ‘just a bit too weird’.
In general the idea is fascinating, within seconds you can be chatting with people from all over the world and as soon as your attention starts to fade you can just click them away. I can’t say I’ll be spending many evenings on it, but no doubt it may well be brought forward at the next drunken party.
If you’re interested in giving it a go then I’ve found this nifty bingo game to keep you entertained as you next. How many will you get?
Right, so having taken a peek at Peter Serafinowicz’s directorial music video business yesterday I was reminded of the absolute mind-numbing atrocity that is the US version of Spaced, and seeing as the pilot (which no, is NOT being commissioned) was only recently revealed to the British public, I thought I was due a rant.
As I’ve mentioned before I love Spaced, I think it rocks, hugely. I love Simon Pegg (in fact, if you’re reading this Simon, I’m free most week nights if you ever want to become friends or something… you know, I think we’d get on), Nick Frost and Jessica Hynes, and I believe the whole two series’ worth of sit-com was artfully written, crafted and acted. It perfectly captured life at the turn of the millennium and, although a tiny bit dated, still rings true for many twenty-somethings today.
So imagine my sardonic mirth when I discovered that in 2007 Fox had bought the rights to make a US version of my beloved sitcom. Not just that, the whole transaction went completely over the heads of Pegg, Hynes, and director Edgar Wright,as noted by Simon Pegg in an official statement made in March 2008:
My main problem with the notion of a Spaced remake is the sheer lack of respect that Granada/ Wonderland/Warner Bros have displayed in respectively selling out and appropriating our ideas without even letting us know. A decision I can only presume was made as a way of avoiding having to give us any money, whilst at the same time using mine and Edgar’s name in their press release, in order to trade on the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, even professing, as Peter Johnson did, to being a big fan of the show and its creators. A device made all the more heinous by the fact that the press release neglected to mention the show’s co-creator and female voice, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson).
The fact is, when we signed our contracts ten years ago, we had neither the experience or the kudos to demand any clauses securing any control over future reversioning. As a result, we have no rights. The show does not belong to us and, those that do own it have no obligation to include us in any future plans. You would perhaps hope though, out of basic professional respect and courtesy, we might have been consulted.
Why Spaced? Yes it’s a great show, but the reason it became so loved by UK audiences was its inherent ‘here and nowness’ and the actors’ ability to so brilliantly reflect the thoughts and actions of, well, us. It is cleverly made, with a myriad of popular culture references woven into each show and a distinctive surrealism underpinning each episode. And above all else it’s funny – really, really funny. I’ve been watching it for 10 years and it still makes me laugh.
So, rather than create their own show based on the premise of two strangers securing a flat by pretending to be a couple – which Pegg himself noted is ‘hardly Ibsen’ – Fox decided to pinch (and yes, I use the word PINCH) Spaced and create a pilot episode, barely even bothering to change the script, except to make it a hell of a lot worse. They simply decided ride on the Spaced bandwagon, without the consent of its original makers and above all did a REALLY BAD job of it.
Luckily for me, and no doubt all of us, the pilot was never aired, and as such, never commissioned. Earlier this month a UK blogger managed to track down a video of the pilot and finally we were able to view it in its partially-made glory. In its defence this is only a few glimpses of scenes, and I think maybe the actress, Sara Rue, has the potential to be quite funny, but that doesn’t diffuse my anger, no not one bit.
Even Edgar Wright twittered his concern over “the large amount of you who stabbed out their eyes or washed them with bleach,” after watching it.
So make sure you keep all toxic substances or sharp objects well out of reach and have a butchers at this:
I'm Laura Wilkins, and this is where I write about all the things I find interesting - art, music, fashion, telly and anything else that pops into my head.
I'm a writer and digital media bod, living and obsessing over all things Brighton.
I love cheese, lie-ins and finally have my very own kitten.
contact me at:
laura [at] thewilkyway.co.uk