Cobra Commander lives on Twitter

We’ve always laughed at Cobra Commander’s incompetence and absolutely ludicrous schemes to rule the world, but every now and then his tweets serve up something where we can laugh with him.

thanks tom hanks

Serenity Now aka that Seinfeld Movie

Let’s hear it for creative editing!

Rotten Tomatoes gets it wrong

I think many people would agree that Commando is one of the manliest, toughest, awesomest, if not greatest, movies ever made.  My voice deepens when I watch it.  My chest gets hairy.  My penis grows to the size of a missile and I get benign prostatic hyperplasia because of all the testosterone being emitted from the screen.  Surely, this is one of the manliest movies ever.  Right, Rotten Tomatoes?  Arnold would like a word.

I want to believe

Japan is bidding to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.  Having already proven they have the logistic know-how in holding a major sporting event, the organizing committee is focusing its bid on 3D hologram technology.  That’s right, holograms.

Top 5 things to anticipate after Comic-Con

That festival of all things geeky is over and done with, and plenty of news concerning comic-book/sci-fi/action/zombie movies came out over the weekend.  Of interest to me were:

1.  The Avengers – We got separate looks at Thor and Captain America, but Marvel unveiled the full cast.  The biggest news was Edward Norton replaced by Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk.  I like Ruffalo and think he would be more convincing as a softer, chunkier and wussier Banner compared to Norton.  It doesn’t matter how the Hulk would turn out since it’s all CG anyway.  I admire Marvel’s ambition to bring the tried-and-true comic crossover to the movies (not to mention the Infinity Gauntlet).  I just worry they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

2.  Tron Legacy – I was already looking forward to this and have accordingly put myself on a media blackout so I don’t know the specifics of any new info, but it sounds like Comic-Con didn’t do anything to dampen people’s anticipation of this.

3.  Sucker Punch – Zack Snyder brings an original production that looks to be an anime/manga fan’s wet dream come to life.  Girls with guns, zombies and big robots? I’m down. (EDIT:  This poster says it all.)

4.  World War Z – I’m sick of all this vampire crap.  If anyone can draw mass audiences to zombie movies, it’s Brad Pitt, who will be producing and starring in this adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel.  The film’s release still looks a ways off, giving me plenty of time to read the book.

5.  Battle: Los Angeles – Superheroes and zombies seem to be all rage these days, but let’s not forget about aliens and UFOs.  The viral marketing site reportthreats.org does a good job of setting up the movie.  Lots of potential with this one.

Arnold by Stallone

I don’t know what would’ve inspired someone to commit such a gloriously wild idea to canvas, but let’s be thankful he/she did.  Who am I kidding, no woman would ever paint this, right?

Anyway, I can only imagine the banter going on in this painting within a painting:

Stallone:  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Arnold:  …when I was a boy and rock n’ roll came to East Germany, the communists said it was subversive.  Maybe they were right…

Banjo puts folk music on speed

My younger brother was really into the banjo back in the day, claiming to be the only Asian banjo player in the world (Nintendo’s master game designer Shigeru Miyamoto says hello).  Suffice to say it was an interesting period of time to live with him, what with being bombarded with twangy arpeggios every now and then.

When I first heard Mumford & Sons, a band of British dudes playing American folk music, I had flashbacks to my brother’s playing days because the banjo is a prominent part of their sound.  Their single “The Cave” is a good representative of the band at its best.  It’s a rockin’ ditty that starts off with a simple riff and vocals before erupting with some some rapid fire 16th (32nd?) notes.   Mumford & Sons’ album Sigh No More is an uneven product however.  They’re firing on all cylinders when they raise the tempo, but those songs are spaced out between slower, weaker tracks.  Still, I’d imagine these guys would make for a great live show.

Here’s the video for “The Cave.”  It should’ve featured a bunch of Amish on a coke binge tearing apart the house they just built.

Thoughts on Predators aka Adrien Brody’s Brodyquest to channel his inner Batman

Went and saw Predators last week after hearing solid word of mouth from people who know the 80s action movie genre.

The Predator property definitely qualifies as franchise in need of a reboot.  It went downhill as soon as the producers decided the sequel should have the Predator engage in urban warfare with Danny Glover.  In the hands of Robert Rodriguez, Predators heads back to the jungle and back to respectability.  The movie doesn’t surpass anything more than a fun action flick with good set-pieces, solid gunplay and big explosions,  just like the original.  Though credited only as the producer, Rodriguez came up with the idea for Predators back in 1994.  It’s not a classic Rodriguez movie (not enough scantily clad hot chicks), but it’s a good Predator movie.  The story works, Predators cause lots of carnage, people die, Topher Grace’s inclusion makes sense and it sets up well for sequels.

The biggest concern I had was if Adrien Brody worked as an action lead.  He was passable and certainly beefed up to look the part.  I couldn’t get over his Christian Bale-Batman-badass voice he had going on the whole time, though.  It’s neither hilariously bad or totally tough, it’s just a little distraction.  It doesn’t really matter because Brody didn’t really say anything of substance.  Laurence Fishburne had the best one-liner anyway.

Just because