Entertainment
grrlscientist | July 15, 2009tags: The Magic Behind Harry Potter 6, interview, celebrity gossip, funny, streaming video
This is a streaming video of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This Special contains cast interviews and exclusive footage of the new movie. [Part 2/5] [10:15]
Part 1
grrlscientist | July 15, 2009tags: The Magic Behind Harry Potter 6, interview, celebrity gossip, funny, streaming video
This is a streaming video of the new Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This Special contains cast interviews and exclusive footage of the new movie. [Part 1/5 -- the remainder of the parts will be posted tomorrow] [10:12]
pharyngula | July 12, 2009Eric Jayne has put together a list of his top 30 atheist songs. It seems like it ought to be longer — to my mind, if it isn't praising Jesus or any other supernatural entity, it's an atheist song…which means just about every decent piece of music there is. (That is not to say, of course, that there aren't any good religious songs — I've got a small collection of gospel music on my iPod that's pretty darned lively).
grrlscientist | July 3, 2009tags: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film, movie, trailer, entertainment, streaming video
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will open on 17 July 2009. I have been waiting eagerly for more than one year for this film, ever since Warner Bros claimed it was going to be released one year ago .. but wasn't! [6:33]
grrlscientist | June 26, 2009tags: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film, movie, trailer, entertainment, streaming video
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will open on 17 July 2009. I have been waiting eagerly for more than one year for this film, ever since Warner Bros claimed it was going to be released in November 2008 .. but wasn't! [1:45]
pharyngula | June 13, 2009Maybe. I see a bit more ahistorical melodrama in the trailer for Creation than I like…but it is a movie, after, even if it is about Charles Darwin.
I like that it puts the idea that Darwin killed god front and center, but we'll have to see if it waffles to make an accommodating ending.
The trailer is also on YouTube if you're having trouble viewing this.
pharyngula | June 12, 2009It wasn't that long ago that it was illegal in many states for black people to marry white people — this was the same kind of sentiment promoted by people who are defending marriage from gays nowadays, and I hope it will someday soon look as unbelievable as those old laws. Old laws? They were only overturned on this day in 1967, in the Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia!
Roy Zimmerman (with Laura Love, John McCutcheon, and Sandy O) has a song for this day, of course.
You can see the Lovings in this short news piece.
Aaargh! Obama screws up, very, very badly! I could forgive his…
pharyngula | June 9, 2009I am now a cover model for CDs.
Look for me soon to be gyrating in a rock video, then comes the feature role in soft-core porn, then the drugs and parties, then the stint in rehab, and finally the special documentary on VH1. Oh, heck, I'm going all the way: I'm taking over for Ozzie once he retires.
This is all predicated on the album being a hit, of course. But how can it not? Not only do I grace the cover art, but it has songs like "The Ecstasy of Mallard" and "Going Gay for House".
pharyngula | June 9, 2009I finally saw the new Star Trek movie — I really do live way out in the boondocks, you know, and we only have one theater, with a single screen, and we had to wait for the Hannah Montana movie to run its course before we could bring in something interesting. Although, I'm afraid, it ultimately wasn't that interesting.
There were some good elements to the movie. Star Trek was and is character driven, with these now-familiar personalities bouncing off of each other while resolving some esoteric skiffy crisis. That's always been the fun part of a Trek movie, and this one preserves that and even…
pharyngula | May 24, 2009Once upon a time, we got a request to help The Countess in an online poll. For our participation, she agreed to write an erotic horror story with us in mind.
It's done! You can now go read Maneater! All yours, for free! It might still be nice if you left some feedback on the story, though.
pharyngula | May 12, 2009This is going to be pure velveeta, undiluted fake cheese…but I still want to see it.
The octopus had better win, or I'll be deeply offended, and will have to picket the theater.
pharyngula | May 6, 2009The season of comic book movies is off to a very poor start. I went off to see Wolverine with low expectations — I read Ebert's review ahead of time — but even so, it failed to rise even to the basement of my presumption.
The problem was that comic book movies should be fun, and they should explore the unique and peculiar character at the center. Think about Spiderman, with the kid discovering his superpowers and bouncing off of walls trying them out, or Iron Man and its playboy tycoon finding out that he has a conscience. You set aside the silliness of the premise to enjoy the thrill of the…
pharyngula | April 30, 2009There's a funny Cat and Girl comic that makes fun of our success as atheists, saying that we've gone mainstream. Read it, I got a chuckle…but one of the panels listing factors in our loss of indie cred says, "We have our own Jonas Brothers." Now I'm stuck. I can't figure out who our equivalent would be.
In case you don't know, the Jonas Brothers are a band that plays a kind of Christian pop — they're on the Disney Channel and appeal to prepubescent girls like David Cassidy did to my generation, only they are even more wholesome and extremely overt in their religiosity.
I'm pondering this,…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2009tags: Phinneas Phogg, Seattle, Pike Place Market, parrots, pets, entertainment, streaming video
This interesting video is an interview with Chris and Phineas Phogg, who entertain crowds at the Pike Place Market in my other home, Seattle. In this video, Chris talks about about their lives as Buskers. This video reminds me of my own beloved Congo African Grey parrot, Zazu, who died while under the care of a so-called Veterinary Technician while I was in the hospital. I always want another Grey parrot, but watching this video makes me especially miss my parrot, and my home. [5:30]
pharyngula | April 14, 2009
I'd say that's pretty groovy, but then they'd kick me out of the hep cats club, wouldn't they?
grrlscientist | April 1, 2009tags: sand monsters, animation, children, streaming video
This streaming video presents a fascinating world of sand animation where a child fights monsters, dragons and ghosts with the power of his violin's sound, a melody that is able to make all these scary characters run away [4:45]
pharyngula | March 23, 2009I've received a few queries about the end of the Battlestar Galactica series, and I can't offer an opinion — I didn't watch it. Since there seems to be enough fans here, though, I'll turn you loose on it. Great? Sucked? Eh?
I didn't watch it because I haven't watched much of the series at all. There are a couple of reasons: 1) I'm old enough to remember the original BSG, and was not at all interested (I know, it's radically different, but I didn't know that at the beginning); 2) it's on the Sci-Fi Channel, which has become the label of instant recognition for cheesy formulaic crap; 3) I did…
pharyngula | March 11, 2009I hope these guys win a Grammy, because this rap is the bomb.
It's even better than that Narwhal song.
pharyngula | March 7, 2009We made the 45 mile drive to distant Alexandria to see Watchmen this afternoon. On the way there, I learned that neither Skatje nor Collin had ever even tried to read the graphic novel, so I almost slammed on the brakes and turned around to make them sit down and read it before I'd take them — but my own fanboi nature prevented me from putting off the movie any longer, so I took them anyway. The kids have been sternly instructed now that we're home that they're required to read it. Good thing I kept going, too — it was excellent. Where Ironman was last summer's exhilarating carnival ride of a…
pharyngula | March 6, 2009I am hoping to go see Watchmen this weekend, but I have been informed that there is something seriously wrong with it.
Spoiler below the fold.
The ending has been changed! If you've read the graphic novel, you know there is supposed to be a titanic space squid. There is no squid! Zack Snyder, you bastard, you've made a squidless movie! You can imagine my reaction.
I'll still go see it for the first three hours and ninety-leven minutes, but they better be darned good to make up for this horrible omission. And yeah, I might start ranting at the screen in German when it ends.