Entertainment

Icon From The Past

Submitted by ptemples on Sat, 01/02/2010 - 11:17

Fucked Company logoI watched the movie Autumn the night before last. It was quite entertaining; it highlighted the rise and fall of a fictional Dot Com company called Landshark founded by two brothers--one, a computer techie-genius; the other, a sliver-tongued snake-oil businessman/CEO.

There's one scene from the movie that I especially liked--the business brother arrives at the startup company's offices to find every staff member huddled in the conference room around a laptop. When he enters, they try and hide what they've been looking at. It's the web site, FuckedCompany.com. FC's tagline was, "the official lubricant of the new economy." Anyway, in the movie, Landshark had made it onto FC; it reportedly had only a few weeks of operating capital left. As in the real world of the early 21st century, the report of the fictional company's demise in the movie plot is uncanningly accurate. Reports were more often supplied by insiders who had intimate knowledge of a company's upcoming F-d status.

When I tried calling up this iconic site this morning, I was greeted with a rather humorous statement from FC: "Fuckedcompany is... sorta fucked." Seems the FC is kaput. Sigh. It, along with the other iconic symbol from the movie--Omni Magazine--have been relagated to the /dev/null of history. I did find all the old archives of FC on archive.org. In fact, it appears that FC remained in business up until about August 11, 2008 until it, too became, well, F*cked.

2010 prediction:"Google finally flips the switch and creates Skynet." -Nilay Patel, Engadget

Submitted by ptemples on Sat, 01/02/2010 - 10:39

ptemples: 2010 prediction: "Google finally flips the switch and creates Skynet." -Nilay Patel, Engadget

See original: Twitter 2010 prediction:"Google finally flips the switch and creates Skynet." -Nilay Patel, Engadget

Fido (2006)

Submitted by ptemples on Tue, 11/24/2009 - 19:27

FidoFido (2006)

What a quirky, charming, and different take on a zombie comedy. This "zomedy" originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, but I saw it last night on the Sundance channel. It's set in 1950s suburbia, where humans have fought off zombies and created their little protected utopia inhabited by only tame zombies wearing electronic dog collars who serve humans and perform the humdrum, tedious chores. Occasionally, like pit bulls do, they occasionally slip their "collars" and eat people.

It's hard to believe we're watching the same Carrie Anne Moss, diva of the Matrix movies, playing the straight-laced, cheery housewife who eventually falls for the charms of their household zombie servant, Fido. Along the way, their lonely but good-hearted son, Timmy also becomes best pals with Fido. The emotionless and wimpy dad, played by Dylan Baker, is a real hoot, too.

If you're expecting Shawn of the Dead, go somewhere else. This movie is humorous, but it's not in your face.

 

Attending a fabulous performance: "A Cappella Masterpieces" in the Sanders Theatre at Harvard right now.

Submitted by ptemples on Sat, 10/31/2009 - 21:08

ptemples: Attending a fabulous performance: "A Cappella Masterpieces" in the Sanders Theatre at Harvard right now.

See original: Twitter Attending a fabulous performance: "A Cappella Masterpieces" in the Sanders Theatre at Harvard right now.

Photo du Jour: Humorous Marquee Messages at the Old Cleveland Circle Cinema

Submitted by ptemples on Tue, 10/06/2009 - 09:53

June 11, 2009: Shown here: several cryptic, humorous messages still lingering on the marquees of the old Circle Cinema Theater in Cleveland Circle. The theater has an impressive legacy, according to CinemaTreasures.org. It closed its doors on September 7, 2008.

I took in a few movies there now and then, during the later era when the threater was a typical, boring multiplex and well past its prime.

humorous marquee messages at the old Cleveland Circle Cinema (1/3)humorous marquee messages at the old Cleveland Circle Cinema (2/3)humorous marquee messages at the old Cleveland Circle Cinema (3/3)

 

It's a little sad how much GEICO thinks we care about their gecko mascot. Someone should tell them before they make a movie.

Submitted by ptemples on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 09:31

ptemples: It's a little sad how much GEICO thinks we care about their gecko mascot. Someone should tell them before they make a movie (via @badbanana)

See original: Twitter It's a little sad how much GEICO thinks we care about their gecko mascot. Someone should tell them before they make a movie.

That new NBC TV show "Trauma" looks like a train wreck...err, plane crash, I mean tanker explosion/ helicopter crash? Well...

Submitted by ptemples on Wed, 09/30/2009 - 11:51

ptemples: That new NBC TV show "Trauma" looks like a train wreck...err, plane crash, I mean tanker explosion/ helicopter crash? Well, it's a disaster.

See original: Twitter That new NBC TV show "Trauma" looks like a train wreck...err, plane crash, I mean tanker explosion/ helicopter crash? Well...

"Woody Allen demands release of fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski." Wait a minute--didn't Woody like'em a little bit on the ...

Submitted by ptemples on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 21:12

ptemples: "Woody Allen demands release of fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski." Wait a minute--didn't Woody like'em a little bit on the young side, too?

See original: Twitter "Woody Allen demands release of fellow filmmaker Roman Polanski." Wait a minute--didn't Woody like'em a little bit on the ...

This week's episode of #trueblood was a real cliffhanger. How the heck did the imprisoned Godric show up to save Sookie in ...

Submitted by ptemples on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 09:00

ptemples: This week's episode of #trueblood was a real cliffhanger. How the heck did the imprisoned Godric show up to save Sookie in the nick of time?

See original: Twitter This week's episode of #trueblood was a real cliffhanger. How the heck did the imprisoned Godric show up to save Sookie in ...

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