The 5 Most Overrated Pieces in Recent Pop Culture

Recently, Penn Jillette has been creating short videos of his shrill bitchings to YouTube. One such video was of his ideas of what is underrated and what is overrated in current pop culture. Always the optimist, Jillette gave society a chance by saying the good things that he thinks need more credit. So, with that in mind, I present you with the five figures/phenomena/assorted things that I find overrated in pop culture today.


5. Guillermo del Toro--Writer, Director, Producer


In Esquire's 75th Anniversary Edition, it named the 75 most influential people of the 21st century. Guillermo del Toro was one of these people. Now, as reputable as Esquire is, being a step above Playboy, its reasoning behind the choice was kind of bullshit. It feeds us some crap about how he shows us the twisted realism of the human soul. That's pretty impressive considering he's only had three movies out in the United States. I'm not going to deny that he is a visionary when it comes to the design of costumes, creatures and various characters in his movies.
However, being good at CGI does not qualify one for a spot amongst the most influential people in the 21st century.


Let's discuss his movies for a minute, shall we?
Hellboy wasn't that bad of a movie. It had a solid anti-hero with interesting side characters and the snappy one-liners that the mainstream audiences cream themselves for. However, because it was his first major movie released in America, he didn't really have the clout to "Toro it Up" as much as he would like.
With Hellboy II: The Golden Army, he pulled out all the stops. It doubled in snappy one-liners, its characters lost complexity and it had a musical number. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! A MUSICAL NUMBER!! In what kind of hellish bizarro-world does this make sense? What's next Guillermo? A tap dance extravaganza? Singing plays no part in graphic novel movies and never should...


...unless it's Little Lulu, she's just darling.
Also, David Hyde Pierce was no longer the voice of Abe Sapien, therefore offering nothing.


Doesn't really look Mexican.



4. Weezer--Middle-Aged Band


Remember when Weezer was actually a legitimate band that made decent music? Yeah, neither do I. It seems that Weezer’s place in music is simply to give fat fourteen-year-old girls that shop at Hot Topic something to identify with. Now, I have to give them the Blue Album and Pinkerton. Those two albums are considered well written in many music circles. However, the Red Album? Really? Two songs on that album prove why listening to Weezer is the musical equivalent to eating a shit sandwich. The first, “Pork and Beans.” The song is basically about how Rivers Cuomo doesn’t care what you think! He likes his life and he’s going to live it however he feels! Damn the man! Yeah! If he didn’t care what everyone thought of him he probably wouldn’t be a rock star, specifically one that craves attention from his lesions of pimply faced depressed fans.


Furthermore, if Weezer only cared about doing what they want and not making money or building a fan base why would they make a video including every Internet phenomena in it? They knew that every kid and his brother (and even his mom for that matter) would watch it just to catch a glimse of those stupid unicorns talking about candy mountain and all the other useless crap that YouTube has to offer. So not only are they hypocrites, but the song wasn’t even that good. Really Rivers? You eat candy and pork and beans together? I hardly believe that.

The next song is "Heart Songs." Can someone please get Rivers Cuomo a tampon? He’s bleeding from that giant vagina of his….oh wait, that’s his mouth. I swear to Christ, what is the point of making a song about all the bands and songs that you liked as a kid? I don’t know about you but when I was thirteen I didn’t exactly have the most impeccable taste in music. (Unless N’Sync is considered impeccable, and oh, I think it is). One of the lyrics is “Got together with my bros” Rivers Cuomo just said "bros". You know, like the term frat boys use to refer to their friends. I can’t even go on any further than this. I just threw up in my mouth.

You're not Buddy Holly...


3. Japan



How many times have you heard some Anime geek talk about how much greater Japan is than any other country in the world? Depending on who you are, anywhere from "all the fucking time" to "not at all." I fall into the “all the fucking time” category. Now Japan has some pretty cool things going for it. Technology and Ninja Warrior come to mind. But for everything cool that comes out of it, fifteen completely insane things follow. How many seizures do their cartoons have to give us before we learn our mistakes?


Oh, and did you know that Japan’s women’s rights are pretty much non-existent and the majority of the Japanese hate the Koreans that live there even though they forced them to come during World War II? Yeah so if you think Japan is cool, then you’re a sexist AND a racist. Also, this:




That's Poop. As a Hat...Case Closed.


2. Hunter S. Thompson

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pretty awesome book. Gonzo journalism is another pretty awesome thing that Hunter S. Thompson is accredited for creating. Another thing that Hunter S. Thompson is accredited for creating? Indie fucktards that think they’re awesome and unique because they’ve heard of Hunter S. Thompson. Since the release of the movie Gonzo so many hipsters have jumped on the Thompson train that it’s derailed and killed several bystanders at the train station. Do you know how many douche bags dressed up as Hunter S. Thompson this Halloween without knowing anything about his work? All of them.

I can say with absolute certainty that one of these ass clowns is a rapist. My money is on the middle guy.


1. Rickrolling

Rickrolling is the Internet craze that involves tricking an unwitting victim into clicking on a link that they think will bring them to a related web page. Oh, but it doesn’t. Instead it brings them to the video of 80’s one hit wonder Rick Astley’s video of “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

Ginger.


To be honest, the first time I was rickrolled I thought it was pretty funny. It continued to be funny for at least a month or so after that. Then it happened. While innocently watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I looked on as puppets sang about friendship. Suddenly, with a halt of puppet voices the music started playing. Rick Astley burst forth from the float like a newborn babe from the womb. The entire audience of the parade got rickrolled!


Not only did rickrolling jump the shark, but it did a couple of flips on the way over as well. How about a new type of rolling with a different washed up star? My suggestion: Ruckerrolling. How great would it be if you were clicking through the Internet, possibly looking at kittens when you decide to click on a link for kitten care. Then BAM! There is Darius Rucker singing about the Tender Crisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch. Now that’s comedic gold!



"Please Make Me Relevant Again!!"


--Michelle Scott (Honorary Super Dudette!)

Should We Stop Making Violent Movies???

To discover the possibility that the work one has devoted one’s entire life to is unnecessary or even detrimental to the existence of human society may come as a dreadful shock, but it is an issue that every action filmmaker must face at some point in his or her life. Having been fascinated with action sequences in film and aspiring to replicate them throughout the entire latter portion of my teenage years, the idea that pursuing this craft is bad and perfecting it even worse in the grand scheme of the universe causes me to agonize at long stretches over the significance of the work that I aim to achieve. With the entire collective genre of the action film shouldering the burden of countless accusations – the promotion and influencing of violence throughout the world and the desensitizing of the world’s youth to violent subject material notwithstanding – one would wonder if it would be better that action movies or movies containing violence in any shape or form were completely erased from the face of the planet. But certainly, I tell myself, a genre that has generated such overwhelming appeal throughout the history of cinema must be good for something; a convincing argument in our defense seems constantly to be at the tip of my tongue, but it invariably dissolves as I struggle to put it to words. In my pursuit to find a justification for the existence of the action film, I have realized that trying to logically refute many of the common points of concern in regards to the genre is an exercise in futility; the negatives are there, and to ignore or falsely disprove them would be nothing more than to live in a disillusioned fantasy of self-deceit. However, I believe that the first step towards redemption for the art of the action filmmaker is the acceptance of such commonly associated shortcomings and the understanding that they are not as universally negative as they seem. (cont.)


--Jon Truei (Honorary Super Dude!)

(TO READ THE ENTIRE FASCINATING ARTICLE BY JON TRUEI, CLICK HERE!!)

Should We Stop Making Violent Movies? (Full Article)

To discover the possibility that the work one has devoted one’s entire life to is unnecessary or even detrimental to the existence of human society may come as a dreadful shock, but it is an issue that every action filmmaker must face at some point in his or her life. Having been fascinated with action sequences in film and aspiring to replicate them throughout the entire latter portion of my teenage years, the idea that pursuing this craft is bad and perfecting it even worse in the grand scheme of the universe causes me to agonize at long stretches over the significance of the work that I aim to achieve. With the entire collective genre of the action film shouldering the burden of countless accusations – the promotion and influencing of violence throughout the world and the desensitizing of the world’s youth to violent subject material notwithstanding – one would wonder if it would be better that action movies or movies containing violence in any shape or form were completely erased from the face of the planet. But certainly, I tell myself, a genre that has generated such overwhelming appeal throughout the history of cinema must be good for something; a convincing argument in our defense seems constantly to be at the tip of my tongue, but it invariably dissolves as I struggle to put it to words. In my pursuit to find a justification for the existence of the action film, I have realized that trying to logically refute many of the common points of concern in regards to the genre is an exercise in futility; the negatives are there, and to ignore or falsely disprove them would be nothing more than to live in a disillusioned fantasy of self-deceit. However, I believe that the first step towards redemption for the art of the action filmmaker is the acceptance of such commonly associated shortcomings and the understanding that they are not as universally negative as they seem.

Reading Lawrence Weschler’s “Valkyries Over Iraq” was a complete nightmare for me in that it communicated effectively and in relatively few words all of the reasons why people like me should not be making movies. Throughout his essay, Weschler synthesizes interviews from various industry members involved in the production of the war films Apocalypse Now (1979) and Jarhead (2005) in order to voice his primary concern with war films as a whole: regardless of intention, even films with the most adamant anti-war messages end up presenting in their depiction of warfare and chaotic battles an almost pornographic allure from which members of the audience will invariably derive a sense of pleasure and violent inspiration. The existence of the epic battlefield setpiece is especially pivotal to this concern – cited by Weschler as the failure of such supposedly anti-war films as Apocalypse Now, with the enormous spectacle of its infamous “Ride of the Valkyries” helicopter bombing referred to throughout the essay as an ironic, inspirational piece for overzealous, hot-blooded young soldiers – and the ultimate success of the unconventional Jarhead, which chooses to exclude such scenes entirely. In Weschler’s interview with Apocalypse Now director Francis Ford Coppola, Coppola is forced to admit that “to make a film that is truly antiwar, it would not be set anywhere near battlefields or theaters of war, but rather in human situations far from those” (258). The danger in this statement is that it can be extended by association to mean that making movies centered on violence without subconsciously filling onscreen violence with pornographic appeal is not possible if violence is shown in any form.

Faced with such a blindingly logical argument, even I myself, seemingly dismissed in value to the level below that of a pornographer by its words, cannot claim to be capable of completely refuting it. In trying to reconcile myself with the weight of such charges, I bring up in my mind the typical structure of many of the films that I so admire, as in concept form they do not seem to be unhealthy in the slightest. In actuality, a great number of the action films that I study so religiously follow benevolent characters with good intentions faced with situations forced upon them by malevolent circumstances beyond their control; violence resulting is merely incidental. Surely, I tell myself, the depiction of good triumphing over evil through necessary violence is not too terribly unhealthy for the average viewers eyes, but thinking more clearly into the matter, I must admit to myself that such a simple justification is a trap I cannot let myself fall into if I am to be honest with myself – regardless of the underlying themes of righteousness in such films, their highlights remain the violent spectacles that their stories seem to be in opposition to – in fact, believing in such a justification would even further solidify the arguments of Weschler who clearly discusses in his essay the problem of violent appeal in opposition to a film’s message. Taking a film like Michael Mann’s crime thriller Collateral (2004), a film following a hapless cab driver struggling to stop an assassin for hire who is forcing the driver to chauffeur him from hit to hit, into view as my case in point, anyone having seen the film would have a hard time trying to suggest that Michael Mann is trying to persuade people to drive around and commit murders, especially in light of his established reputation throughout his career for trying to represent violence as realistically as possible. However, when the film is brought up amongst its fans, the scenes undergoing the most enthusiastic discussion are almost inevitably the assassin’s calm dispatching of two muggers, or the infamously violent nightclub setpiece in which he must push through a massive crowd of dancers and armed bodyguards in order to reach a target. I, myself, must admit to skipping straight to such scenes whenever I pop the film into my DVD player, and the same could be said of many other movies I own in which cinematic action is present.

Having declared myself beaten in the face of Weschler’s words, many disturbing questions present themselves. Do films containing violent material invariably cause people to take pleasure in and desire violence in their lives? Am I doing the world a disservice by continuing to pursue the work of my passion? Does the collective action filmmaking community lack a significant justification to exist? In wrestling with the burden of such implications of my work, I turn to the advice of my friends in the stunt filmmaking industry, many of whom have already begun devoting their professional careers to the production of action films.

Art appeals to human intuition far more than to reason

–Lucy Van Atta

Amidst the countless heap of ardent opinions thrown at me following my positioning of these questions, I found a particular kinship in the words of Paul Drechsler-Martell. As a professional stunt actor and aspiring action filmmaker, the significance (or lack thereof) of the action film is an integral part of Paul’s life, and, having ruminated himself at great length on the matter in his own personal experiences, he insists that the implications of Weschler’s words are not as fatal as they may seem:

Questioning the necessity of action films is almost like asking ‘why do people pay money to see movies that make them cry?’ What we desire the most in films is to feel; we go through different emotions like happiness, pain, fear, laughter, arousal, sadness, etc. and I think it's silly to think that films should be made only for the positive emotions or only for certain emotions in general.

An audience will naturally tend to seek out the highest emotional point in a film; in a war film, or in any action film in general, this is very likely to be the most violent scene in the story. To say that the appeal that one derives from such violent scenes is pornographic may be true in many ways, but in accepting it as truth, one must also be willing to admit that all other emotional peaks in other genres share an almost identical pornographic appeal as well. In the same way I find myself constantly replaying the most violent scenes in certain films, I am incredibly drawn to the happiest, the most tragic, the most horrifying, the funniest, or the most romantic scenes in others. Much in the same way that I view Collateral, as I watch Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990), I find myself forwarding to the heart-rending scene in which the misshapen Edward, embracing the woman he loves in his arms, recalls the death of the loving scientist who created him, but this does not suggest in any way that I desire death and sadness in my life, just as my predilection towards the most tense scenes of Collateral has not caused me to tear up local clubs with a gun in hand. We, as filmgoers, enjoy experiencing emotional extremes in films not because these extremes define who want to be or what we want to happen in our lives, but because something about emotional extremes feels more inexplicably human to us than anything else that could be shown on the screens that we so intently study.

Doubtless, there will be a certain number of outliers amongst the public audience who seek to use cinema as a reference point justifying their own irrational behaviors; violent people seeking violent entertainment will find violent movies with which they feel they can relate, just as people who are wishing to wallow excessively in their own depression, prejudices, ideologies, etc. will seek out corresponding fiction in which they can immerse themselves.

The fact that we designate something as art means that it is art for us, but says nothing about what it is in itself for other people.

–Thomas McEvilley

In reading Terry Tempest Williams’ “A Shark in the Mind of One Contemplating Wilderness,” I discover that Weschler’s argument hits so hard only because he limits himself to the subject of the war film; just as the idea that pornographic appeal extends to all films, the possibility of wildly unconventional interpretations and their resulting influences upon people exists within every genre of film as well. By this rationale, negative influence can be gained from any film or artistic presentation; to be able to account for every last exception would be a battle lost from the beginning. There will always be another person who thinks it is ok to be racist, uncouth, and offensive to others after watching too much Comedy Central or another teenage girl who finds herself molding herself into the image of the superficial high school divas of Mean Girls (2004), but if we are to remove an entire genre of films from the shelves, then who is to say that next week, another genre won’t be subject to extinguishing? If we are to extinguish films entirely, who is to say that music or books will be safe once people begin to blame the emotional problems of the world upon them? To erase our fantasies and our experiences of the emotional extremes that we so love would be to destroy what makes us human. Now, after carefully analyzing this thought and its implications, I find that the answers I was looking for had been waiting for me in the pages of Weschler’s essay all along. Anthony Swofford himself admits that “art should expand rather than constrict people’s moral range,” and to these words, I cannot agree more.


--Jon Truei (Honorary Super Dude!)

Blackberrys are Nuggnuts...(Nuggnuts=Word of the Day)

When Alex and Dave put out the word that they were looking for a few guest-bloggers (hooray, Twitter!), I took the bait and drafted a lengthy blog about why women do the things they do. I polled a few random dudes and although they came up with some interesting questions('Are thongs really comfortable?'), I scrapped the whole thing.Well... said 'scrapping' was not my idea. Rather, my BlackBerry ate it. (College slackers everywhere - take notes. Dogs do not eat homework. Electronics do!)

Hence, the story of the awful BlackBerry was born.

In recent years, the BlackBerry has transformed from the business man's pixilated email generator to a socialite necessity. Stuck at a mind-numbing business conference? Check out the RSS feed from PerezHilton.com! Stranded on the train? Vent all your frustrations on Twitter! Change of plans? Update everyone via Facebook!

We've all got them now - attorneys, college students, even the perpetually angry metal kid standing outside the Khyber (true story). And Hollywood can't get enough of their diamond encrusted BlackBerrys (I'm pretty sure there is a website dedicated to celebutards and their Berrys). Who knew Research In Motion could cram the entirety of our lives into the palms of our hands?

Being a gadget freak myself (yes, yes... and a whiny, needy girl), I just had to have one. I wouldn't take no for an answer and I will most definitely stomp, pout, and pull hair if need be. Alas, I trotted down to my local wireless store and picked out my very own BlackBerry Pearl and sensible silicone cover to go with it (okay...fine. It was hot pink). Nearly a year went by and the joy and elation of Gmail in my hand had yet to wear off. We skipped off tothe west coast together, to the Jersey shore, and all the way to Jamaica. Boy oh boy, this BlackBerry kicked ass.

And then... the honeymoon was over. Merrily sitting around a bonfire,with beer and BlackBerry in hand, I pushed a few buttons to check the weather. And there it was. Porn. Wha – PORN!? But this is a phone. I HAVE PHONE PORN!? They can DO that!?

I didn't even know they HAD phone porn…

When the initial shock had subsided (and everyone had a good, haaarrrrddd look at the oiled-up blonde on the screen), I tried to make amends with my Berry.

We tried rigorous counseling (thanks for nothing, Verizon), home remedies, and a whole lot of TLC, but one thing was for sure – my hot pink BlackBerry had taken a turn for the worse...

Memory shortages, disappearing messages, that really fucking irritating animated hourglass… it's become clear that this media-packed phone is just not interested with keeping up with the Jones'.

What a waste. I truly had high regards for RIM phones, but it saddens me to say that I bought a piece of junk. I've heard others gripe about the Pearl, and plenty of techno geeks will rattle off their arguments for and against. What drew me to the tiniest of the BlackBerrys was… well, it's tiny-ness. Who wants to look like they're talking into a fat pad of Post-Its? So, in true womanly fashion, I traded necessities (i.e., memory) for vanity (i.e., OMG that's so0o0o cute!). However, I've learned a very good lesson here – I should have held out for that new-fangled Google phone.

Dammit.

--ViciousKris (Honorary Super Dudette)

Impossible is Eating the Sun.

"Impossible doesn't mean very difficult. Very difficult is getting a Nobel Prize; impossible is eating the sun."


This is a quote from Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors game for Sega CD. It is said in a very cool/matter-of-fact way by Lou Reed after he decapitates Penn and Teller in the Impossible Mode."

Currently (it actually may have ended by now, but anyways...) there are a group of kids playing the joke game "Desert Bus" non-stop for charity.

I thought that I should give this a quick mention...for no other reason than I think it's probably the most awesome thing ever.

(Also, if you don't watch the show Summer Heights High on HBO, you're cheating yourself out of life.)

-@lex

(Also, for those of you who haven't seen it...Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog.

**********************************************************************

Since you mentioned the Nobel Prize, it reminded me of a prize I'd much rather win, the Ig Nobel Prize, awarded each year for ten studies that "first make people laugh, and then make them think."

It's organized by the publication Annals of Improbable Research, Awards have been presented for calculating the exact odds (860,609,175,188, 282,100 to 1) that Mikhail Gorbachev is the Antichrist, a report called "Failure of Electric Shock Treatment for Rattlesnake Envenomation" and "Transmission of Gonorrhea Through an Inflatable Doll."

For a total list of winners, check here!

Being a young, budding engineer, I find that winning the Ig Nobel Prize would be much more desirable (and probably easier) than winning a real one. I might even get my award handed to be by The Professor Emeritus of Gilligan's Island.


-pass and stow

Trailers of the Week 2: The New Batch

Last week, I introduced a new feature to this blog called "Trailers of the Week" in which I choose the top three movie previews of the week (not necessarily in any order), and talk about why they're awesome.

Unfortunately, this week, I haven't seen much of a surge in exciting trailers. I wanted to at least post something, so it doesn't look like I'm crapping out. I tried! Really, I did...

For the sake of argument, let's explore some of what I did find.

First, I'll get the obvious out of the way...

1. WATCHMEN

Zack Snyder, the director of 300, holds in his hands what is sure to be the masturbatory fantasy for geeks and fanboys everywhere for years to come (no pun intended).

I must admit, I've never read the source material; however, I have been watching the Itunes "Featured TV Season" of Watchmen on PSN.

A group of professional fanboys (I'd imagine) with a lot of spare time decided to cut and paste their way through the entire graphic novel, bringing the actual pages and illustrations to life.

I did a half-assed trailer-version of this technique with Daniel Clowes' The Death Ray.

Watchmen should be the best superhero movie ever made.

I'm expecting it to make much much less money than The Dark Knight, but be an overall better film.

The only reason I can say that with confidence is because I've pretty much always had a soft spot in my heart for any Superhero who isn't Batman.

I'm not saying that I have a problem with Batman...he's just never been one of my favorites.

Maybe after Watchmen, I can hold out hope for a film adaptation of The Tick.

2. Special

From a not-quite-traditional Superhero movie, we go to a not-quite-superhero movie...

Michael Rapaport gets shit on left and right. His sitcom sucked taint and his parts in movies are usually more irritating than sand paper rubbed with cat hair and black pepper, sharpened to a point, dipped in shampoo, and jabbed into someone's eye.

Which was why it came as a surprise that this film, featuring Michael Rapaport as the main character looks so fucking cool.

Rapaport plays a somewhat reclusive comic book nerd who volunteers himself to take an experimental anti-depressant. He then begins to have delusions that he is a superhero...or are they delusions? Am I having delusions that this movie is going to be better than I anticipate?

Probably.

But it still looks like it has the potential to be very very cool, so suck it.

3. Astro Boy

Mixed feelings about this one. While it is fucking ASTRO BOY the fucking MOVIE, I'm sort of ambivalent about it being any good.

On one hand, it's animated...which could be good or bad.

Good--It's already in a medium that leans towards children, so being a childish movie won't hurt it. Astro Boy was definitely a children's cartoon, therefore, it's completely understandable that it should remain in animated (but updated) form.

Bad--A live-action version of Astro Boy could be fucking sick! However, the complaints about Speed Racer may beg to differ. I haven't seen Speed Racer yet, so I can't comment. But still, animated is probably for the best.

It's an all-star cast...it's going to make some serious bank...and the toy sales should probably counter the ticket sales.

Well, that's it, everyone! I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did...tune in next week and maybe I'll be slightly more excited about my 3 picks.

I'm excited about Watchmen and Special, but Astro Boy I could take or leave...

Oh well.

-@lex

Thanksgiving: The Aftermath

It's been about a week since the last Super Dudes Power Blog Post and it has been a long week, indeed.
With the loss of a family member and the massive Thanksgiving celebrations with my girlfriend's family, I've had a considerably ambivalent 7 days.

My thoughts are with my family and friends and, going to Thanksgiving at my girlfriend's house made me realize how I'm part of a second large family...
In the same way, (since joining Twitter) I have developed rudimentary friendships with more and more amazing people every day.

Because this is a pretty personal post, I feel that I should keep it short; so, I'll close by saying THANK YOU...to EVERYONE.
Everyone in my personal life...
Everyone I've just met and has subsequently become a part of my personal life...

Thank you to my best friend and fellow "Super Dude": Dave.
Only 25 days left 'til Christmas, super dudes...

Expect surprises.