Llama

Patrick & Eugene: "Llama"

I Don’t Believe You Answered It

Transcript here.

28 Weeks Later

Is this film as good as its predecessor? That is the inevitable question, fair or not, that always gets asked about a sequel. With 28 Weeks Later the answer is squarely no. This isn't a bad film, but it's just not as good as the first.

In 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland created a handful of characters with real depth and emotion, characters that have clearly been changed by the events around them. They have adapted, survived, each in their own way.

In the sequel, four screenwriters have managed to do none of that. The characters here are completely one-dimensional, there is no development. They are introduced, given a bit of background, and then we learn nothing else about them. When they die, it's hard to care.

And die they do. One by one the cast is knocked off, though, most in ways that might come as a surprise. Twenty-eight weeks after the outbreak of the rage virus, the initial group of infected have been wiped out, and London has been secured. The U.S. military has moved in and set up a safe district, called the Green Zone, and now protects some 15,000 survivors.

When the virus is reintroduced, the U.S. Army does its best to contain the infection. When that fails, they go to Plan B: Wiping everyone out and laying waste to the Green Zone. Survivors must now contend with the infected and the military. The Army of course has snipers, napalm, flamethrowers, and nerve gas.

The story follows an Army doctor and an AWOL sniper as they try to smuggle out a kid who may just hold the key to immunity. If the infected don't get them, the Army probably will.

In spite of all its flaws, 28 Weeks Later is a passable thriller in its own right. Will it be remembered as the classic its predecessor was? That's doubtful. But it's definitely miles above any of the other horror sequels clogging your Netflix queue.

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo • R • 2007 • 99 minutes

RIP Peter Falk

He was an angel before he was an actor. True fact.

Geburt Einer Nation

Laibach: "Geburt Einer Nation"

I Case You Forgot, Rick Santorum Still Hates Women

In a recent appearamce at Informed Choices, a "crisis pregnancy center" in West Des Moines, professional misogynist, fetus cultist and 2012 Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum called health exceptions to abortion bans "phony."

When I was leading the charge on partial birth abortion, several members came forward and said, "Why don't we just ban all abortions?" Tom Daschle was one of them, if you remember. And Susan Collins, and others. They wanted a health exception, which of course is a phony exception which would make the ban ineffective.

So, you got that, ladies? Your health and well-being? Just a bunch of malarkey. Hokum to be used to kill babies or whatever.

As Think Progess notes, Santorum has previously "decried 'the selfishness, the individual self-centeredness' of legislators who were concerned about the health of pregnant women." Santorum, seemingly, has not wavered on his belief that you are less important than a fetus.

Atlas Shrugged Part 2!

It's live, folks! I'm talking about the Atlas Shrugged Part II website. Okay, so there's not much there yet except for a too-pixilated slideshow (stills from the first film?) and the text "in theaters fall 2012."

But hey, it shows a real commitment by the producers to plunk down $4.99 at godaddy and get the ball rolling. Or the train rolling. Or something. Not sure what the best Randian metaphor is. Wevs.

No word on a DVD release yet. As soon as I know, you'll know. Because I know you want to know as much as I know. You know? I'll be at Redbox the moment it arrives. And no, I will not park in the fire zone. You shouldn't either!

I suspect the producers are waiting on the theatrical run to wind down. It's still playing in seventeen theaters. Seventeen! Huh? Okay.

Oddly, it is running in Austin, which I had thought, you know, according to legend, was some weird lefty outpost in the red and dusty state of Texas. Maybe not. It's also in "Cape Girandeau" (sic), Missouri, birthplace of Rush Limbaugh. Go, Missouri!

Also, the Ayn Rand vs. Jesus debate is heating up. Check your local listings. I hope George Stephanopoulos hosts. "Why don't you wear a flag pin?" I'd wear a flag pin if it were made of Reardon Metal™. (Take that, Lacoste shirt!)

p.s. Link.

Glenn Beck TV!

Recovering quickly from being fired by those liberals over at Fox News, our good friend Glenn Beck is already on his way back to the top. Did he get his own network? Even better: He's getting his own Youtube channel. Which makes him as awesome as every fourteen-year-old out there. So... You go, Glenn!

This Fall (just in time for sweeps week!) Glenn Beck is launching GBTV, an internet-only subscription-based service.

For $4.95 a month fans and detractors alike (so long as they have a credit card! Paypal coming soon!) can watch Beck's new two-hour show. For another five bucks you also get access to a simulcast of his three hour radio show and a show about the Glenn Beck TV network.

And if you have five-plus hours a day and ten bucks a month to dedicate to watching Glenn Beck, more power to you!

I guess it remains to be seen if people are now willing to pay money to get what they used to get for free. But Beck is promising lots of good things:

Eventually, Mr. Beck said, his goal is to have an array of scripted and unscripted shows alongside his own daily show, which will simply be titled Glenn Beck and will run for two hours on weekday afternoons.

"If you're a fan of Jon Stewart, you're going to find something on GBTV that you're going to enjoy," Mr. Beck said. "If you're a fan of 24, you're going to find something on GBTV that you're going to enjoy."

Yay! I guess. I dunno.

If people are willing to pay for this crap, good on them. I think. Who is willing to pay for this crap? Someone, I am sure.

Maybe the same folks who'd buy the young adult novel Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 from Beck's new imprint at Simon and Schuster. Also coming this fall, a new novel "by" Beck titled The Snow Angel. Just in time for Christmas. (And no, before you ask, I will not fucking read that thing.)

Welcome to the Uncanny Valley

Gerber's profoundly disturbing commercial featuring a child doing things with her hands that are just not right. It gives me the heebie jeebies (medical term) every time I see it.

Potter!

Potter chews on his papa's favourite tie. The scamp!