I’ve posted my schedule below. For the reading, I’m planning to read a new Devil’s Cape short story starring Doctor Camelot. I’ll be interested to hear what people think.
Also, I’m moderating a panel Sunday afternoon about superhero movies. If you’ve got any questions you’d like me to ask the panel, or an particular movies you’d like us to address, please let me know.
ROB’S ARMADILLOCON SCHEDULE
A friend posted his list on Facebook and it got me thinking a bit.
This is not about the best movies you've ever seen. Describe eight experiences watching a movie that stick in your mind as being particularly memorable - for whatever reason.
Here’s my list, in no particular order:
Seeing The Empire Strikes Back for the first time. I was so incredibly excited about the movie from the first trailers I’d seen. I was a huge Star Wars fan and immensely excited to see it. My friend Traylor and I waited outside for more than an hour to get in, I think, at the old Belle Meade theater in Nashville (which was later a BookStar, and I’m not sure what it is now). Still one of my favorite movies.
The Sword and the Sorcerer. This was a shlocky fantasy flick, and the first R-rated film I saw at the theater. Somehow or another I’d heard of it or seen a trailer and I begged my Dad to let me see it. He took me and my friend Ted, and it was kind of a coming of age experience for me. I’m sure it doesn’t hold up to the test of time, but I remember being scared and absolutely loving it. An intense (literally oozing) bad guy, a three-bladed sword (where two of the blades fired out of the sword!), a hero who rips his own crucified body down and uses the spikes (still through his hands!) to kill bad guys? Awesome. Also, naked women. Woot.
I vividly remember going to see Rambo with my uncle Doug when I went to Myrtle Beach with my aunt, uncle, and cousins on vacation. It was kind of a bonding thing, and cool for me because my oldest cousin Stacey wasn’t old enough to see it yet. The most memorable part, though, was when we were waiting for the movie to start. My uncle farted very loudly, then turned to me and, with a straight face, said, “Rob! You shouldn’t do that in a crowded theater! You should at least say ‘Excuse me!’” Yeah, that’s Uncle Doug for you.It seems like I could come up with more of these (like the time I snuck up behind my friends Beth and Leslie when we were watching Watchers at the dollar movies in college, and scared them, or the time the guys and I saw Star Trek: Nemesis for my birthday and I’ve had to apologize every year since for picking such a stinker), but I’ll try to restrain myself.
What are your most memorable movie experiences?
Click here to read the full post with comments.I’m not sure that enjoy is the right word, but I always appreciate this section of the Academy Awards.
EDIT: Not sure of the source of the original video I linked (still included below for posterity) but it wasn’t from the actual Oscars. Here’s the correct one:
And the other one:
Some great talents here.
Click here to read the full post with comments.A friend directed me to this. I could kibitz a bit about some details (it sounds weird to hear Rorschach actually say "Watchmen" out loud; Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are maybe a little too badass). But man, this just looks very cool. I'm looking forward to the movie.
I had a fun being interviewed again by HeroPress, where Devil's Cape is the book of the month for September. 
Check out the interview, where I talk about who I'd cast in a Devil's Cape movie, among other things. And stick around that site for other cool stuff.
Kind of a long story, but I've been kind of... tied up.
Yeah, okay. Sorry about that. Kind of disturbing, huh?
I'm not a huge Michael Bay fan (although I think I enjoy him more than my buddy Spork Boy), but this Verizon FiOS ad is fun and nicely self-deprecating.
And, um, Mr. Bay, if you're interested in making a Devil's Cape movie, I'd be delighted for your people to talk to my people.
Hmm. I wonder if Verizon FiOS works better with TiVo than U-verse does.
Oh, hell yes.
I'm looking forward to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull more than any movie in years.
Check out the teaser trailer below.
Go, Indy, go!
The Acrobatic Flea, AKA Tim from the UK, recently interviewed me for his very cool blog, HeroPress. I talk about Devil's Cape, my favorite role-playing moment, the best comic books going today, superhero movies, and more. Please go check out the interview, then stick around Tim's blog for lots of other good content.
Thanks, Tim!
Ever wonder whatever happened to Rick Moranis?
Not as much as this guy (um, lyrics and a couple visuals not safe for work):
Funny stuff.
Okay, here's something I'd definitely drop down $49.99 for. Now I just need someone to make it.
The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM Studios) is one of my all-time favorites, a "can't miss" anytime I make it to the parks. It's a large building with "cars" inside (the picture at left shows it nicely) and you sit in your table-equipped cars and order your meal while watching a drive-in movie reel populated with 50s-era shorts, cartoons, ads, and movie trailers. The food is good (my mother recently said that the hamburger was the best she'd ever had)--a combination of things like burgers and shakes with pasta and salad offerings. But the real seller here is the atmosphere--the darkened area, the drive-in screen, the campy footage.
The restaurant shows the same movie reel over and over again. It lasts somewhere in the 40 to 50 minute range, so you generally don't notice any repetition unless you tarry too long (and with a huge waiting list filled with other park guests waiting to get in, you shouldn't do that).
I love the reel. It's fun and silly and retro and engrossing--the kind of thing that equally captivates a wide range of people (like my mother, Dina and me, and Alex and Zack--three generations of riveted watchers--that's us in the picture, in case you didn't guess. Yes, I'm wearing a Flash T-shirt. Yes, it's Barry Allen. No, I'm not the hippest cat on the block. Or maybe I am...). And every time I see it, I get a strong urge to watch some old sci-fi movies. Particularly, of course, the ones featured in the restaurant.
Some enterprising soul recorded the list of features and trailer here. I won't list them all in this space since some of them are his shorthand references to the various shorts (like the self-driving electric car or the frying saucer) and some of the references he made I don't understand enough to translate (what's "Garco and WED"?). But I will list the movies below.
Anyway, here's my proposal: Disney should create a DVD package that includes the entire reel, plus copies of all the classic movies on the trailers. They could sell it through regular venues, although of course it would be a perfect souvenir of the restaurant itself. I would totally, totally buy this. A lot of the movies are available individually on DVD or in various compilations, but what I'd like is a nice, slick, remastered DVD set containing all of them. What fun!
Here's the list of movies:
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday. Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status. The animals were found in the Foja mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province in a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation International, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science. "The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip." The possum was described as "one of the worlds smallest marsupials." A 2006 expedition to the same stretch of jungle - dubbed by Conservation International as a "Lost World" because until then humans had rarely visited it - unearthed scores of exotic new species of palms, butterflies and palms. Papua has some of the world's largest tracts of rainforest, but like elsewhere in Indonesia they are being ravaged by illegal logging. Scientists said last year that the Foja area was not under immediate threat, largely because it was so remote. "It's comforting to know that there is a place on Earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," said expedition leader Bruce Beehler. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited." 
Spotted this article today:
Giant Rat Discovered in Indonesia Jungle
Dec 17, 12:47 AM (ET)
ROUSs? I didn't think they existed!
Don't get the reference? You've apparently reached this blog in error! No, seriously, read here. Then buy this movie
Okay, first the downside(s):
My commentary below...
From Sci-Fi Wire:
Okay. Is there any way that this doesn't sound like a horrible beginning to this movie?Lucas: Indy IV Starts In 2007
George Lucas told Empire magazine that he, director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford are aiming to shoot a proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie by mid-2007, with an eye to a 2008 release. But, he added, getting everyone back together may not be easy.
"Before, I was just working with Steven and Harrison," Lucas told the magazine. "Now everybody's a superstar, so it's a little bit more difficult than it was then."
As for the story? "We're basically going to do The Phantom Menace," Lucas said cryptically, referring to Star Wars: Episode I. "People's expectations are way higher than you can deliver. You could just get killed for the whole thing. ... We would do it for fun and just take the hit with the critics and the fans. ... But nobody wants to get into it unless they are really happy with it."
Lucas added: "The 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation has freed up an idea for a plot that was originally deemed too incendiary. I discovered a McGuffin. ... I told the guys about it, and they were a little dubious about it, but it's the best one we've ever found. ... Unfortunately, it was a little too 'connected' for the others. They were afraid of what the critics would think. They said, 'Can't we do it with a different McGuffin? Can't we do this?' and I said no. So we pottered around with that for a couple of years. And then Harrison really wanted to do it, and Steve said 'OK.' I said, 'We'll have to go back to that original McGuffin and take out the offending parts of it, and we'll still use that area of the supernatural to deal with it.'"
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