HULU is AWESOME.
"GOB's program" cracks me up every time.
Any web site that has full episodes of "The Simpsons", "Arrested Development", "Colbert Report" and "Fantasy Island", and full length movies like Slacker and the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, all whilst simultaneously flipping off the French is okay by me!
No sooner did I post the pilot of Arrested Development to kick off Jeffuary did this little news tidbit arrive: Jeffrey Tambor said on XM Radio's Ron & Fez Show that plans for an AD movie are in the works. Jason Bateman is also very interested, and producers Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard are attempting to round of the rest of the show's cast members. They already have an idea for the storyline, which is the first good reason I've heard yet to end the writers' strike.
If past performance is an indication of future results, it will garner a 92% Tomatometer rating from critics while making $92,000 at the box office. But with the state of comedy movies today (Meet The Spartans, Norbit, Adam Sandler steadfastly refusing to retire), this is refreshing news and obviously incredible news for the fans of the show like me. And since all three seasons are on DVD, you have no excuse not to catch up. (I really want Season Three for my birthday.)
CAN JEFFUARY GET ANY BETTER? I HUMBLY SUBMIT THAT IT CANNOT!
STEVE HOLT!
Photo courtesy of Fox Entertainment
It's that magical month once again, where it's all about me. (Kris also turns 30 at some point this month, but never mind that.)
I've got several things planned for this supersized leap-yearified 29 day month, including: drinking, skiing, the 1st ANNUAL LEAP INTO JEFFUARY NYC PUB CRAWL (details coming soon), videogames, a week long trip to Florida featuring golf, going to the beach, jetskiing and drinking (possibly all at once), a college hockey game, finally going to see that damn Coen Brothers movie, and much much more. Most important of all, I'd like to thank the New York Giants for playing in HYPER-MATCH 101010 on Sunday, making this an extra special Jeffuary. (And win or lose, I will be taking a sick day on Hyper-Match Monday and hitting some golf balls somewhere.)
As I've done for the past two years here on the OPEN HOCKEY BLOG (proud member of the EYE-OPENER family of hate blogs), I'm going to put up a daily post featuring whatever the hell I want (as if I haven't been doing that already). Today, it's a video from one of my all time favorite TV shows.
Arrested Development was one of the funniest shows ever. Sparsely watched but critically acclaimed during its brief three season run on FOX, I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb there. Smartly written and densely packed with jokes, it was also excellently casted (who knew Jason Bateman could be a hilariously dry straight man?). And Will Arnett (GOB) never ceases to crack me up; it's a shame his movie career so far has been awful.
I see new things every time I watch an episode of this show, which is pretty much all I've done for the past month since getting Season 1 and 2 on DVD. And if you didn't follow it from the beginning, I admit it would seem rather daunting; you need to know the background of the characters and their situations to truly appreciate the humor, plot, and many call-backs to previous episodes. With the availability of the shows on DVD, TV (I think it's still on G4TV?) and online (thanks, Hulu!), you have no excuse. I will not let you ignore it. So let's start at the very beginning.
"Pilot"
Season 1
Episode 1
Time: 21:44
Aired: Sunday, November 2, 2003
Moments after Michael Bluth decides he's leaving the family business because he was passed over for a promotion, his father is arrested for shady bookkeeping.
Arrested Development [G4TV site]
Whatever happened to Alia Shawkat? All I know is that she turned 18 last April and she's filled out rather nicely. Couldn't Michael Cera get her a juicy nude scene part in one of his movies?
UPDATE (5:00 PM): Hulu isn't working at all today. Thanks for ruining Jeffuary! Stupid Hulu, with your stupid name. What is a Hulu anyway? Besides a non-working crappy website?
10. Best Simpsons Character Ever? Homer is obviously the best character, but after him I'd have to go with Moe.
9. A big "fuck you" goes out to NBC Universal, who has been sending out "anti-pirating" notices to Optimum Online customers that have "uploaded copyrighted content" to prevent people from "file sharing". Notice how they don't actually accuse anyone of "downloading", and personally I only acquire these files when I've missed an episode, and I delete them immediately afterwards. However, the way file sharing (using bit torrent) works, this means you don't even have to have an entire usable file to be accused of "piracy" and have your cable modem priviledges revoked, which in my book is complete bullshit. Also, doesn't NBC-U realize that this means people are actually interested in their stupid shows? Well, it looks like I won't be tuning into any of your new shows. Imbeciles.
8. Which is creepier: massive amounts of bandwidth devoted to pictures of 17 year old Emma Watson, or 17 year old Hayden Panettiere? Or the fact that I'm linking to them?
7. On MovieMap you can input your favorite movie and it recommends others that you might like. It just so happens that close to my favorite movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" on the map are "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "The Empire Strikes Back", which are also two of my all-time favorites. Also, "The Incredibles" and "Decline and Fall of Western Civilization" are close by, as are "Caddyshack" and "Animal House", which I also love. So I guess this means I have to check out "Now, Voyager" and "The Quiet Man".
6. I played with the Nintendo Wii this weekend, which my cousin Heather brought over. Even though the graphics aren't great, it more than makes up for it with the inventive wireless remote controllers and the immersive interactivity of the games. The best games are Wii Tennis (from Wii Sports) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour (though it's nearly as frustrating as real golf). The most unique thing about the system, the motion-sensing "Wiimotes", is also its biggest problem, since the wild motions people make while playing the game can cause injuries (e.g. my sister hit my niece in the head, and my shoulder is sore from playing tennis).
5. Running up that hill: Carlos Beltran's game-saving catch was great, especially since it took place with a man on 3rd in the 14th inning (a ridiculously long game which the Mets won in 5-3 in the 17th).
4. Bill "Boston Sports Guy" Simmons is simultaneously a douchebag and a genius for live blogging the 2007 NHL Draft a few weeks ago. On one hand, he's really smarmy and sarcastic about the state of the league (even though his beloved NBA took a bigger ratings drop this year than the NHL did), but overall he puts the emphasis on how much Bettman sucks. And that's all you can ask for from an ESPN employee.
3. Speaking of, this Situationist article is interesting: "Negative Press: Is ESPN Killing the National Hockey League by Influencing Public Attitudes?" My short answer is that ESPN sure isn't helping, but Bettman is doing most of it himself. Did I mention Bettman sucks?
2. If you really want to hate the final episode of "The Sopranos", just read TV critic Bob Harris' article: Tony Soprano didn’t just get whacked; he practically got a funeral. A key quote:
"In Catholicism, administration of the Eucharist in the moments before death is known as Viaticum, derived in part from the Latin for...'Journey.'"
