Mr. Anderson
Run, don't walk, to the new The Matrix: Revolutions trailer.

I must face him... alone
Looking more the part of darkness, Cinescape has a photo of Anakin in Episode III. Cool photo. Is it too early to get excited about a movie that is coming out in 18 months? (Principal photography is done.)

King on Writing
Stephen King has submitted an interesting article to Entertainment Weekly (he is a monthly contributor) on unpublished books and writers. It champions the cause of one writer and book, Ron McLarty's "The Memory of Running", which has been released only in audio format. The crux behind the article is King's appraisal of the current state of the publishing industry. E.g., "Publishing houses, once proudly independent, are today little more than corporate wampum beads, their cultural clout all but gone." I suppose I've seen that come to pass in recent years myself; slowly but surely the 'bestsellers' have shown very little appeal for me.

I postulate that this is part of the global trend of the media catering to the common masses (don't get me started on reality tv). I talked at length about a related subject a while back, and now it seems that lowbrow, baser subjects are coming to dominate the written word, too. Complex movies, scripts, and books may be one day a thing of the past; at present they are started to be plainly ridiculed (most recently: The Matrix Reloaded") for being too tough for the public to digest (e.g., when a reviewer or moviegoer remarks, "It doesn't make any sense", or, my favorite, "It was dumb".). Boo hoo.

In any event, this doesn't present much hope for us unpublished writers. Of course, now I can say that only the BEST writers don't get published. SCORE!

PS. He also takes time to scathe one of my nemeses, James Patterson (one of my favorite anecdotes is how I threw his book, "Along Came a Spider", across the room after about 30 pages), for which I am endebted.

Neat article
I don't know if it's true, but it sure seems plausible. Here's a little article my dad sent me today:

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos
not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Then again it may all be in perfect order and I have become dyslexic overnight. Let me know.

18-10

Well, the outcome wasn't what I wanted, but we played a lot stronger than I thought we would. Our defense held up pretty impressively when I thought they'd break, and our offense, while not incredibly proficient, still managed to play better than the last two games. We're a work in progress, to be expected when you lose 6 players from the offense and 8 from the defense to the NFL. In the end, though we surprised a lot of people by sustaining a halftime lead, Nebraska's running game wore Penn State down.

Matrix Ping Pong
From Japan (what a surprise), this acrobatic take off on a Matrix-type ping pong match is as hilarious as it is impressive to watch. I have nothing to add. My creative juices are sapped. Go PSU.

Once Upon a Time
Walter Chaw lays waste to Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I'm not too surprised. At least I've seen all the movies that Rodriquez steals from.

Reawakening a dead franchise

The first step was taken by hiring Memento director Christopher Nolan. Now the bigger task of filling the shoes appropriately has been done.

I can't think of anyone better suited to playing the dark, psychologically complex, intelligent and violent caper crusader than Christian Bale. This is the best news I've received in a while. Anyone who has a better idea for Bruce Wayne is free to indulge your insanity.

We show them Chinese boxing!
The trailer for Tarantino's new film, Kill Bill is presented for your viewing pleasure by me. Well, Yahoo, really, but at least give me credit for inventing the internet.

Mucking great books
It's really sad when pretentious and self-congratulatingly-intelligent filmmakers go and decide to ruin a great book, I Am Legend, in favor of some simplistic and shortsighted melodrama. I am referring to Charlton Heston's limp Omega Man, now out on DVD (not that we needed it). I saw it once a long time ago and wasn't interested, but Walter Chaw pretty much nails it, in his own scathing style, naturally. I'd rent it again just for amusement, but the thought of watching a beloved book (THE best 'vampire' book EVER) turned into babbleshit doesn't appeal so much.

Lord of the Rings: The Inside Scoop
Thanks to the tireless efforts and weak work schedule of my roommate, I've been sent to yet another fantastically distracting website. The so-called "Secret Diaries" of the characters in the Lord of the Rings is a hilarious romp. Looks like September's reprojections will be put on hold yet again. Here's a few excerpts:

Diary of Legolas, Day 33: "Boromir tempted by Ring. So tedious. Cannot be tempted myself, as already have everything I want i.e. perfect hair and a butt like granite."

Diary of Ringwraith No. 5, Day 1: "Just opened Christmas pressie from Sauron. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty ring!"

Diary of Aragon, Day Eleven: "Orcs killed: 7. V. good. Stubble update: Looking mangy. Legolas may be hotter than me. I wonder if he would like me if I was King?"

Now back to work...

Warning
The Amazon.com: DVD Sale has already claimed over 100 dollars of my hard-earned money. This message is to spread the temptation plague and thereby relieve myself. Kind of like getting a song out of your head by singing it to someone else so they have it in their head. Evil rating: 3.

We are...

I'm not looking forward to this weekend. Of course, last year we were in the same situation, in that no one expected us to win the game, much less keep it close. The difference is we have lost 8 starting defensive players and Larry Johnson from a strong team last year. BC jumped all over us and we never recovered. I'm not imagining Nebraska to be as kind.