Thursday, January 3, 2008

2008 Is Gonna Be Awesome!

Well 2007 was fun. It gave us Live Earth, the iPhone, and Britney Spears with a Sinead O'Connor haircut. But we got bigger and better things to move on to now, right? Right! Out with the old, in the with new, as they say. Allow me to dedicate this post to persuading you why 2008 will not only be bolder and brighter than last year, but one for the record books.

First off, 2008 is actually considered "The International Year of Planet Earth" by the United Nations General Assembly. As cool as that sounds, all it really means is scientists get more money for research on earth science sort of stuff. But hey, the year got a powerful nickname out of it.

Of course, The UN has ALSO declared it "The International Year of The Potato," so we get some mashed potatoes with our science funds.

It's a leap year!

Bill Gates is expected to step down from daily duties at Microsoft at some point this year.

In November, we'll elect a new president. That's always fun. But without Stephen Colbert on the ballot, I feel I'm at a loss. I also feel cheated by Isaac Asimov who's short story "Franchise" said in 2008, our president would be chosen by a computer program that selects the 'most representative' citizen.

FILM
One can hope the Hollywood writers' strike ends this year, right? Otherwise, we got some sizzling treats already in the oven..

We get the second installment in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" series--The Dark Knight, with Heath Ledger showing his chops as The Joker. I, my friends, am a little too excited.

And the train of comic book-adapted films continues to steam along. We're getting a new revamped "Hulk" movie which is technically a sequel to Ang Lee's disappointing Hulk from 2003. With ED NORTON taking over as the Jekyll-like Bruce Banner. Well that has me excited. June 13, 2008.

Not to mention, Robert Downey Jr. steps in as Iron Man this May.

JJ Abrams mysterious monster movie "Cloverfield" hits theaters this month, as does Stallone's return to the Rambo franchise.

Also hitting theaters this month is Michael Gondry's latest flick, "Be Kind, Rewind." If you didn't know, Gondry has been behind some of the most wonderful films of the past few years. And this one is about Jack Black and Mos-Def re-making movie classics. Gondry will also open up his own video store in NYC where people can make their own movie shorts. Genius marketing, Gondy boy. Hope the Hollywood writers guild doesn't have a whole lot to say about that..

The Matrix's Wachowski Bros will also return this year with their futuristic take on "Speed Racer." Plus Christini Ricci is in it, so...

And Indiana Jones returns with white hair and side kick Shia LaBoeuf in the fourth installment of the George Lucas series after it was high-jacked by wannabes like Nic Cage's National Treasure and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

The new M. Night Shymalan flick -- "The Happening" was, of course, filmed around the area here, following suit with his previous flicks. This one stars Mark Wahlberg and is apparently about global warming.

The new Disney/Pixar production slated for this summer, "Wall-E," looks great with a little Johnny 5-like robot attempting to clean up the earth all by himself as the last living thing on it. And he learns love when he gets visited by a foreign robot.

There is a X-Files sequel in the works, as well as a new addition to The Mummy series.

One of my favorite directors Spike Jonze is directing my favorite childhood book, "Where The Wild Things Are" with some screen writing help from one of my favorite writers, Dave Eggers.

Jim Carrey is lending his cartoony voice to Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears A Hoo"

The new Star Trek, re-booted by hot-writer JJ Abrams should be in theaters come December.

And there is plenty other film reels to look forward to, but those are the ones I'm looking for.


MUSIC
Nostalgic reunions continue to be the biggest news in the music world. Next year, we may get Led Zeppelin tours, Kinks tours, My Bloody Valentine tours...but those are all speculative at this point.

The final spike will be hammered into the old way of buying your music. iTunes will officially have made it when the entire Beatles catalog will be made available on iTunes this year, digitally remastered for the event even.

As far as albums, the new Coldplay and Nada Surf records are what I'm looking forward to most. Nada Surf are always guaranteed good and the new Coldplay is reportedly headed in a Spanish/Cuban direction.

The disbanded Northstar will release an album of leftovers and rarities to help disheartened fans like me cope with the loss.

The mysterious Glassjaw record seems to finally be coming together since weird instrumentals keep popping up on the group's myspace. But... one can only hope.

Green Day are reportedly demoing new material this month.

Oasis want to make a huge huge huge album this year.

We also get some new noise this year from Hot Chip, Jack Johnson, Coldplay, The Offspring, REM, Gnarls Barkley, Weezer, Story of the Year, The Matches, Rise Against, Ace of Base, 311, The Academy Is, Fergie, Aerosmith, Anti Flag, Black Sabbath, a reunited Fenix TX, Taking Back Sunday.


VIDEO GAMES
All I'm worried about is Metal Gear Solid 4.

Although, Ghostbusters 3 seems a little exciting too.


What do you think? 2008 look pretty rad? Did I miss anything that's way too important to miss? Any wild predictions on what we got in store politically? Any big surprises on the horizon? Will we find life on other planets? Invent the HoverBoard? Sound off in the comments folks.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Putting The Money Where My Mouth Is

I'd have my college loans all paid off and maybe even have my own house by now if I wasn't such a dang media junky. The entertainment business would kiss me on the cheek if they knew me and what I was doing for them. Heck, I dropped about 1/3 of my week's pay at Best Buy last night on a stack of CDs and some movies. I'm probably the only thing keeping them afloat!

It's not easy to stay on top of things in a entertainment world so oversaturated with 'stuff', ya know? What have all of you out there in reader land been jamming lately? What music should I be rocking? What movies should I be scoping? What books should I be browsing? Let me know so we can share stories bout em! Below is some of the stuff I've gotten my greedy little hands on (and love) lately.

Music
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Thrice - The Alchemy Index 1 & 2
Hot Hot Heat - Happiness LTD.
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
Whitey - The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train

Movies
Aqua Teen Hunger Force The Movie
28 Days Later
Black Sheep
Science of Sleep
Stranger Than Fiction

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