Full of rage and milkshakes.

A bunch of new images have been uploaded. Go to the gallery and click on “Last uploads” to check out the new additions. We will try to keep them coming.

Futurestein.

This week, Jordu Schell and regular N.E.R.D.s Joey Rocket, A.J. Catalano and Gabriel Koerner are joined by very special guests Derek Mears and Jenny Flack. Derek is probably best known as the newest Jason Voorhees. Derek and Wife Jenny are both involved in Channel 101 and the canceled Acceptable TV (VH1). Come listen to all of the nerdy business we get wrapped up in.

N.E.R.D.cast

N.E.R.D.cast is available through iTunes, or you can subscribe to this and future N.E.R.D.casts by clicking on the link in the right sidebar.>>>

8 ft 5 inches of annoying.

Gross!

Good swimmer. Can’t breath underwater, which is unfortunately where it lives.

Jordu welcomes back Gabriel Koerner and A.J. Catalano, with a special guest interruption. We discuss (again) cgi versus practical effects and find out about more ape attacks.

N.E.R.D.cast

N.E.R.D.cast is available through iTunes, or you can subscribe to this and future N.E.R.D.casts by clicking on the link in the right sidebar.>>>

It can breath underwater, but sadly, it is a miserable swimmer.

Dream smasher.

They were forced to attend a team-building weekend.

Warning:
This blog is way off-topic from monsters, creatures, robots, genetic mutations and Frankensteins. It is about film, though. Read on if you care to know any of my thoughts outside of making rubber junk.

Last night I saw a film on DVD. I am not 100% sure why I rented it; I guess the blurb on the back of the DVD clamshell case looked vaguely interesting. The film was entitled “Havoc”, and starred nobody’s favorite actress, Anne Hathaway. It concerned itself essentially with a group of spoiled, very wealthy teens from Pacific Palisades (an affluent community on the California Coast situated between Brentwood and Malibu), all of whom are obsessed with the ‘gangsta’ lifestyle. They talk, dance–occasionally rap (!)– in the style of Black and Latino urban gangs, despite the fact that none of them have ever really been exposed to the realities of this life. So for starters, you are already irked by watching these white folks adopt a lifestyle they know nothing about—especially when they try to act ‘tough’. It’s just obnoxious. Ms. Hathaway, horrendously miscast and looking like a complete idiot, tries to convince the audience that she really can s-t-r-e-t-c-h as an actress. Other than the numerous sex scenes in the film, a few of which feature the overrated assets of Hathaway and various other actresses, Hathaway doesn’t seem to be able to stretch at all. Watching her attempt to be black must rank as some of the most ridiculous, embarrassing and overall offensive filmmaking I have seen; dare I say, it even trumps Anthony Hopkins trying to convince audiences that he actually is black in the total piece of shit, “The Human Stain”. That gem also featured Nicole Kidman attempting to make us believe she’s a janitor. The preceding is not a misprint—I walked out of this piece of garbage faster than I walked out of “Bonfire of the Vanities”, and I only gave that one twenty minutes.

But back to the point: the utter travesty that is “Havoc”. Hathaway and ‘crew’ decide one night to go down to East L.A. and ‘get all up in da grill’ of some genuine Latino gangster types. The very idea that snooty, rich white chicks would even deign to look upon the urban blight of Los Angeles is absurd—but when you watch them actually become immersed in this culture and are accepted into it….well, you are making a fantasy picture more tripped out than Oz on acid. Of course, things end up going too far, and the girls get all freaked out by the filthy brown people, and then call the cops on them. So, just to clarify: They think they are tigers. They decide to go to the jungle and live amongst real tigers. Real tigers end up being dangerous and they bite and stuff. The fake tigers retreat to ‘civilization’, hire poachers, and send them out to kill all the real tigers. Who’s the victim? Who do you feel sorry for in that not-all-that-simplified clarification of this grotesque story? I’ll bet you don’t feel too bad for the fake tigers, do you? I sure didn’t.

Why, you may ask, am I writing this blog about such a stupid and worthless piece of trash? Because I was deeply offended by it. So offended, in fact, that I am contemplating writing the producers of this thing and laying into them. Where was the conscience of these filmmakers? Did they really expect us to sympathize with the Great White Hope who co-opts, then infiltrates something they can’t handle, and then wants to dispose of it once they realize it is beyond their abilities to control? What a disgusting message.

Now, this thing was released directly to video, and I’ll bet I know why, or at least this is what I’d like to think; Anne Hathaway’s ‘people’, upon viewing it, decided it might be best to keep it….quiet.
A. She’s topless in it—several times.
B. The subject matter and storyline are astonishingly vulgar and offensive and,
C. It reveals that she is a dreadfully bad actress, at least when she tries to play anything other than a dopey Disney princess.

Now of course, I believe in freedom of speech, and the rights of an artist to create whatever they think they need to. But there is, in my opinion, a certain responsibility in creating. A responsibility to present a well-thought-out piece of work that can inform, sometimes enrage, but always have integrity, and an understanding of the world around you. Only through this can one expect to make anything worthwhile, enduring and meaningful.

I have seen many films that have made me angry—David Mamet’s brilliant “Oleanna” comes to mind—but this is something else entirely to me; this ‘film’ is saying that you can adopt any little lifestyle you want, but that you can and should protect yourself against the realities of that life—basically, being a complete hypocrite is just fine, especially if you are rich—and white. I disrespectfully disagree. The thoughtless and arrogant attitude that this film presents is nothing short of a bold statement in favor of classism, racism and the rape of cultural ideologies. I can’t think of anything more irresponsible, appalling or shameful.

This is a very special “on the road” episode. We recorded this while in Indianapolis at Maskfest. Our very special guests were Magician, Rusty Ammerman and Effects Artist, Actor and all around Goofball, Tom Savini. Listen close for a very special cameo. And be prepared to have your ears assaulted with more nerdiness than you are used to.

N.E.R.D.cast

N.E.R.D.cast is available through iTunes, or you can subscribe to this and future N.E.R.D.casts by clicking on the link in the right sidebar.>>>

Quiet. He’s thinking.

Floater. If you look into its eyes, it’ll swallow your soul…then crap it out as marshmallows.