Sesums

Sesums now on Twitter

// February 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Personal

Yes, it’s true. I’m as addicted as a circus clown to Jack Daniels.

Something I’ve frequently mocked in the past has worked its way into my repertoire. Just like jazz dance class.

Anyways, please follow me at http://twitter.com/sesums

JULY was my last post??!! That can’t be!

// February 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Personal

I guess I must have experienced one of those space-time continuum thingers I keep seeing in sci-fi movies, ’cause it doesn’t seem that long since my last post. What can I say? I’ve been busy doing tons of stuff related to my career in my free time, and it’s left me with nary a minute to spare posting anything longer than 140 characters. Which leads me to my next post….

A Serious Man

// July 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Observational

It’s not often that a movie trailer compels me to see a film I know absolutely nothing about, but this is certainly the case for the Coen Brother’s next effort: A Serious Man.

Not much is revealed plot-wise  – but the Coen’s strong grasp of pacing and character is evident throughout.

Tron LEGACY test footage released

// July 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Personal

More LED lighting than your Christmas tree

Tron has always been a film that polarized people – either you loved it or hated it. I for one, loved it, and I got a lot of flack in the early 80’s from many friends for that very reason. It should come as no surprise then, that the currently-in-development “TRON LEGACY” sequel has got me somewhat excited. To further this excitement, Joseph Kosinski, someone I had the luck to briefly meet and see present at the 2007 FITC conference in Toronto, has been attached to direct.

Kosinski, a Director with an eye for exciting visuals and action, has garnered his recognition primarily through his work on television commercials and trailers – many of which have revolved around video game licenses. (Many will recognize his “Starry Night” trailer for Halo 3, or his “Mad World” trailer for Gears of War). So, it would seem fitting that he should segue his talents and unique vision to a feature-length project such as Tron – a film whose premise is entirely based inside the virtual.

For those who were unaware, Kosinski released a trailer for the then-titled TR2N at the San Diego Comic Con last year (2008) to an exclusive audience. This trailer was never re-played, and never made its way officially to the internet, outside of a blurry camera-phone recorded youtube video (which was scrutinized incessantly). Kosinski has finally decided to release this video to coordinate with the hype at at this year’s Comic Con, so I recommend that everybody jump to the official Tron Legacy website to check it out. Remember, this footage is just a test, and has nothing to do with the plot of the film itself, although it has been confirmed that Jeff Bridges will be reprising his role as Kevin Flynn at both his current and original-Tron ages. Wow.

Galleries 1988 – retro film awesomeness

// July 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Observational

"Sears family portrait of the year"

I happened to come across this link today, and am still reeling from the bad-assness of the content. I don’t know why I haven’t come across it before, but it features interpretations of favorite iconic films by some very talented artists. My personal faves include “Save the clocktower” (a summary of Back to the Future) and “The Torrences”.

Great stuff.

“District 9″ – new trailer impresses.

// July 9th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Observational

Wow… after a summer of disappointing, noisy blockbusters, consider me hopeful that District 9 will actually deliver. Neill Blomkamp is a director I’ve been following for a couple of years, but he hasn’t been provided with the opportunity to release a full-length film. With Peter Jackson’s support, hopefully this will be the springboard for future projects.

It’s waaaaaaaay stupid.

// June 24th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Observational

Insert urban slang here!

Wendy’s Restaurant got around to changing their company ad slogan and in doing so, managed to get themselves added to the list of businesses who really don’t know how to appease their clientele. (It’s an unofficial list). I’m well-aware that this change isn’t incredibly recent, but I keep seeing the ads on tv and they’ve bothered me to a point where I had to finally say something.

Although varying slightly between Canada and the US, I have to say that it’s the Canadian version of the slogan that actually bothers me more so in this instance. Whereas in the US the slogan is, “It’s Waaaaaaaay better than fast food”. (Uhhhh, it IS fast food, dummies). The Canadian slogan is an inexplicable, “It’s Waaaaaaaay Delicious”.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I need to describe something with emphasis, I find that throwing in a “waaaaaay” before an adjective is the best means of doing so. Such as:
“That cottage cheese is waaaaaaaay smelly. Throw it out.”
Or “Your garden is waaaaaaaay dirty! Put some flowers in it, dum dum!”

Kidding aside, I don’t know how the brand team at Wendy’s could ever think that this slogan would ever have any appeal to their business’ demographic whatsoever. I mean, how do you think that slogan brainstorm session went?

“Alright team. Wendy’s needs a new slogan. So what do we know about their demographic?”
“They’re stupid!”
“They don’t understand the meaning of the word “really”!”
“They’re under 21, and are therefore uneducated street people who don’t know how to talk!”
“Those are all some waaaaaaaay good observations team. Keep it up.”
“What about the rest of the population that doesn’t fall into the “uneducated adolescent street people” category? You know, like, normal people?”
…
“You’re fired Johnson.”

Anyways, the point I’m attempting to make here is, although I may not be fall in Wendy’s key demographic when it comes to marketing, I was young once, and certainly don’t ever remember using something like “waaaaaaaay” as a descriptive word. Even when with friends. In fact, I’m pretty certain I have never heard that word used to describe something, ever. And I have nephews. And they DO fall into that demographic. And if they ever were caught speaking in such a manner I would hope an adult (such as myself) would be close enough, and have enough good sense to smack them across the back of their heads and say “Smarten up! – You’re not a dumb douchebag”.

We’re not dumb douchebags, so stop pandering to us like we are. Appealing to the lowest common denominator, especially when it comes to branding, only contributes to reinforcing societal idiocy as acceptable and patronizes the rest of the population with half a brain who knows better.

“That was a waaaaaaaay neat article, Nev!”

Thank-you waaaaaaaay much.

It’s official: Hollywood is out of ideas.

// June 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Observational

"Yeeaagh! I hate dis moofie!"

I’ve decided to compose a list of SOME of the movie remakes that either in production, or scheduled to go into production shortly below. Please keep in mind that I chose to completely omit any recent or past remakes such as Halloween or The Taking of Pelham 123.

Some of these remakes may be considered “reboots” (much like the recent Star Trek was), but for the most part, they’re authentic re-do’s of films that, in many cases, are less than 20 years old. The sad thing is, none of these films warrant a re-make. Many are strong films that still hold an important place in pop culture, and others are films so lousy, you wonder why they’re being remade at all.

For your information:

Cliffhanger
Total Recall
Drop Dead Fred
Fright Night
Robocop
Flight of the Navigator
The Last Starfighter
The Shadow
Conan the Barbarian
The Birds
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Warriors
Short Circuit
Dune
Footloose
Commando

…among others.

More original content please.

Nev tributes Ghostbusters 25th Anniversary

// June 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Personal

JL5-2020

In honour of the 25-year anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters and in anticipation of the very-soon-to-be-released “Ghostbusters: The Video Game”, I’ve decided to release a tribute trailer as a means of commemorating the very film responsible for some of my most obsessive behavior – especially throughout my early teens. Heck, what am I saying? Here I am, a supposedly “full-grown” man with a wife, kids and a profession and yet I still manage to spare the time to make fake trailers for my own pleasure… the obsession is obviously still very much alive.

This trailer is a bit of an antithesis to the actual film in itself, as I played-up the dramatic/thriller/action side of the story and completely omitted any of the comedic or silly parts. What this essentially means is: don’t expect any shots of giant marshmallow-men, big-haired 80’s bad-guys or nerdy accountants. – Big-haired 80’s damsels however, are more than welcome.

I don’t know what it is about Ghostbusters that has had such a huge impact on my life – god knows it sure scared the hell out of me when I first saw it in the theatre. The years following saw it turn into an obsession that can easily be compared to that of the most extreme trekker; as I meticulously created a new proton pack every year for  Halloween – sacrificing many of my sister’s toys in the process, saw more letters published in the Ghostbusters comic book than any other fan and inhaled every piece of  news I could find about the boys in grey and their future adventures.

In the early 90’s, as the news petered off and the cartoon went off the air, it became apparent that Ghostbusters was on its way out – no matter how hard I tried to hold on. Personally, the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate as the steady fade of news allowed me to push my fandom to the back seat for a while and focus more on the ever-important social growth a teen tends to go through… but it was always there.

Throughout the 90’s I would randomly check the few GB-related websites for news and would occasionally be treated to a tease regarding a new film, but these tidbits were obviously unfulfilled as the new millenium approached. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that things really started to pick up again, and the possibility of something new brought the hibernating fandom back into the foreground of my thoughts. A videogame? A movie? For real.

I think that the friends I made post-high school sort of had an inkling that I liked Ghostbusters, but I don’t think it was until very recently that they started to realize the true degree in which I enjoy it. Oddly enough, regardless of my age, I’m currently embracing the re-insertion of Ghostbusters into my life rather than concealing it (which would be the less embarrassing route to take). For those who know me as a real Batman fan, my fervor for Ghostbusters is even stronger, and I figure, why conceal something that has had such a personal impact?

With that being said, expect to see me in line for the game on June 16th and online yapping about any future news in the months/years to come.

Sorry for the delay…

// May 28th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Personal

For those actually visiting the site, I’m sure you have noticed a large-ish gap of time where nothing has been posted. I would like to say that this was a result of personal injury or the complete lack of anything worth reporting on, but the simple truth is that I’ve been busy contending to daily life and all that it entails. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have something in the works however.

In fact, you can expect a post in a couple of days showcasing something completely nerd-tastic that I’ve been working on. Something completely of my own desire which was done without any necessity whatsoever! FUN!

Until then…