It's Arrested Development

There's been a lot of hoopla over Arrested Development the last few weeks due to Netflix picking it up for a 4th season close to ten years after its original cancellation.

 

Hoopla

I started watching it along with How I Met Your Mother soon after I signed up for Netflix on the recommendation of a friend.  I'm part-way through the second season and I can easily say that it is probably the funniest and best show to ever have been released on television.  I don't want to spend too much time on it right now because I actually want to go watch it but let me just say that if you have Netflix and haven't seen it, drop what you're doing and start immediately.  If the show doesn't have you sucked in by the Fire Sale of episode 2 you aren't human.

All you need to know about the premise is in the opening.  "And now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together... It's Arrested Development."

It has several actors you probably know that have gone on to do bigger things such as Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Michael Cera, and I just don't want to go on any more because do yourself a favor and just watch it.

From the last episode I watched:

Okay seriously I'm going to go watch an episode right now, as should you.

On the next Arrested Development...

Videos Too Long to Post to Facebook But Still are at Least Partially Worth Your Time

Sorry to keep you waiting, friends.  I've been very busy lately and haven't had the time to post.  For right now I just wanted to share a few videos that I've discovered on YouTube in my spare time over the last couple weeks.  I tend to post videos I find on Facebook, but I feel like these are too long and uninteresting for the Facebook crowd.  You, my dear readers, are a different story, for better or worse.

The first video is entitled The Death and Return of Superman and looks at DC comic's decision to kill off Superman in the 1990's and the aftermath of said decision.  While the visuals appear cheap, the short film was produced professionally and includes several big name talents including Elijah Wood, Simon Pegg, and Ron Howard.  The cheap quality of most of the footage only adds to the humor and overall it's a very interesting look at the creative process behind comic books while remaining thoroughly entertaining during its 15 minute run time.  If you have 15 minutes to kill I highly recommend it.

The second video, on the other hand, is not worth sitting through its entire run time.  This isn't to say that it's bad , but due to the fact that it's the length of an entire feature film.  That would be because the video is Toy Story lovingly recreated shot for shot with real toys.  I couldn't sit through the whole thing and only jumped around watching a few clips, but what I did see was very impressively done.  I should also mention that Toy Story was a very big part of my early childhood.  How serious?  I'm pretty sure when I was in preschool I alternating watching it every night with A Charlie Brown Christmas for some reason.  This strange combo likely helped develop me into the twisted shell of a man I am today.  Anyways, the point is that this video had me nostalgia tripping hard, which made the short time I spent with it worthwhile.  Because nostalgia is a powerful tool against the uninitiated.  But, we are initiated... aren't we, Bruce?

Random Musings About a Bathroom Door

Since I was in the first grade and was first exposed to Pokémon, I have always felt that a portion of the wood pattern on the my bathroom door has looked like the Pokémon Grimer.  I've never shared this random tidbit with anyone.  At the same time, it does seem like something that would be difficult to work into a conversation, even when someone would be over my house, without being awkward and forced.

Anyways I saw it today and thought "Why not post it to the blog?"  So that's what I'm doing.

What do you think?  Yes?  No?  Am I just grasping at topics for posts because I enjoy seeing the post count go up?  Is anyone actually reading this?

And you know what else just occurred to me?  In none of the eleven posts since the comeback have I posted any music.  I've been on yet another Radiohead kick lately, and this song has been popping up on my iPod a lot the last few days.

I'm done now.  I swear.

The Xbox One Reveal in a Nutshell

The other day I shared my thoughts on the Xbox One.  Search any gaming website or forum and you can see that my concerns are shared by many.  In reality people are freaking out.  The press conference Microsoft held the other day has led to nothing but negative press and word of mouth.  Maybe they can stop the bleeding at E3, but the common perception of the announcement is summed up nicely in this GIF.

UPDATE:  Since this topic is too fun to stop talking about, Cracked just posted an article that, in their unique style, explains the problems with the Xbox One.  The article also includes a video that I've seen floating around the 'net today summarizing the conference in under two minutes that I've included below.  If the point hasn't been driven home yet, this video is sure to do it.

Bane's Speech as Performed by The Joker

This is great.  Some guy on YouTube does a perfect imitation of Mark Hamill's interpretation of the Joker and uses it to recite Bane's speech about Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight Rises.

For those of you who don't know, Mark Hamill is most famous for playing the little known role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.  In recent years he's become well known for providing voice work for The Joker over a variety of mediums, most notably the animated Batman series from the '90's and the excellent Batman: Arkham video games (not including the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins).

All the same dude.

Anyway this is just a fun re-imagining of  what could have been if Hamill's Joker "liberated" Gotham in the place of Tom Hardy's Bane.  And it needs to be said again, the guy who did this really did an outstanding job of imitating Mark Hamill's voice.

And to compare, here's a behind the scenes video of Hamill providing voice work for Batman: Arkham City.