Go see THE COVE!

Folks,

The Cove is an excellent documentary and if it's playing in your hometown - I strongly urge you to see it and/or to look for it on video later this year.

23,000 dolphins a year slaughtered in this one cove - and no one seems to be able to stop the Japanese government from practically endorsing this behavior.

Oddly - as the film shows - the mercury levels from the pollution these dolphins are exposed to show up in their meat at 20 times the acceptable level for mercury consumption in seafood as set forth by the WHO (World Health Organization) or even allowed in Japan for that matter - yet - the meat is being resold as "whale" meat - not dolphin meat - and thus poisoning their own citizenry.

The whole thing is really preposterous if you think about the fact that if we can't as a civilized society stop something like this from happening in one tiny cove - you've really gotta wonder what we're actually capable of doing.

I guess it should come as no surprise as the genocide continues in Darfur - a much more serious issue than this - but it really is mind-boggling since I certainly wouldn't consider the Japanese government as far gone as the powers that be in Darfur...

Anyhow - see the movie - tell a friend. Here's the trailer...JG

Hippie Weirdo Yoga Farmers are kinda disturbing...

My friend Steve sent me this link...now here's a TV show that might make for a good horror-feature remake! - JG

Klingon Happy Meal...

I mean - Klingons were not the biggest part of the original Star Trek film, but clearly Ronald M. didn't care much about that...JG

Just Shoot Me, He Said...

I mean - this is odd - but seemingly real.

Forget piercings - this guy wants to have a gunshot wound...

I like the tension right up to the final moment - real or unreal that worked.

As for wanting to get shot to have a wound? Kind of a dumb idea...JG

Star Trek in the Park

Portland is a great city wish I could visit again and man if only LA had such entertainment in the parks...

Scroll down to see the video...JG

Trek in the Park

Funny People viral videos are - well - Funny

Don't forget to check out my Judd Apatow interview in the July/August issue of Creative Screenwriting Magazine - on sale everywhere.

Apatow was a great interview and I'm quite happy with the way the piece turned out.

Funny People is a funny enough film (go see it) and interestingly they filmed a large concert sequence with so much great footage that there isn't time for in the film that they've already planned a DVD of it but have begun releasing some viral videos of it.

check out their site at : www.funnypeoplemovie.com -JG

I'm the first person to ever sign up on Facebook and Twitter!

Hooray - I'm such an early adopter of new tek... or maybe not.

Nonetheless - I'm now on Twitter and Facebook and will do my darndest to post as often as makes sense without utterly boring you.

TWITTER: yogoldsmith

--- yeah my name was taken ages ago

FACEBOOK: Jeff Goldsmith

Here I set up an actual page so you can become a fan and follow what I'm doing.

I prefer fans rather than friend requests since I'm keeping the other profile I created reserved for family and folks I actually know in the real physical world - and hey - you don't want to see my mom's updates anyhow - so - no offense - please choose the fan option if you're interested!

And of course I'm always still up to answer an email - so - you can always hit me that way as well!

--JG

Wainy Days in the Summer Sun

If you haven't yet seen it - don't forget to tune into Wainy Days - now in its fourth season of webisodes, it's great stuff.

Of course this is the brainchild of good 'ole David Wain (Role Models) and he really bats it out of the park with each quirky episode. It's Wain's smart writing that really makes the show. Were he to do it with "no-names" I'm sure it would be equally as successful as its already been, yet the fact that he uses stars and popular comedians only elevates it.

Check it out at www.wainydays.com
-JG

Wow the future sucks!

Thankfully none of this ever happened.

I mean - who buys clothes from a computer?

You can't even try them on...

-JG

You'll Go INSANE from playing this awesome game!

Empire Magazine out of the UK is celebrating their 20th Anniversary and they've put together an amazing collage that is interactive and contains images relating to 50 great movies (some honestly are not so great - but whatever)

I love Empire Magazine - and you'll love this game - so check it out.

The darkened areas on the photo are films that I've already "solved" as this is a screen-shot of my game in progress.

REMEMBER TO SOUND OUT the image that you're seeing - literally say it out loud to yourself and you should be able to guess the movie title.

I had to describe the flags into google to get a hint for the ones with flags - but this game is a blast! - JG

You can click below to play now!

http://www.empireonline.com/crypticcanvas/

Death Star destroys the Enterprise!

Glad to see the Star Wars vs. Star Trek rivalry is alive and well...

I believe this was created by Mike Horn --JG

New Kirk and Spock(s) take on doubtful fans

This was a funny Saturday Night Live sketch... however I'm not so sure you can write off the original series or its fans so easily just yet...something I of course look forward to examining in the Star Trek Q&A I'll be doing this Tuesday. Look for it in Itunes on May 8th...-JG

Furniture for Black People and White People (and Hispanics too)

This is a very odd commercial that cracked me up. It seems this is a real company, but I'm not 100% sure on it.



Actually I just called and they are a real company - it turns out Rhett and Link made this commercial for them and these comedians have been specializing in cheezy commericals that have become internet sensations - you can visit their site to learn more about them and even watch a news piece on how this commercial has goten Red Furniture calls from around the world...

(http://rhettandlink.com/)


Enjoy-JG

Slap Chop Music Video

Somebody had a lotta time on their hands and a love for a certain infomercial... kinda funny... kinda creepy... - JG

Talking Gadgets Talk Blade Runner

Um, yeah - this amused me...

Kinda poetic to have these devices do their best to do Blade Runner...

Enjoy - JG

An old Jerky Boys video

I used to love doing prank phone calls and really haven't done one in a while - thus why not take a look back at the pros...



If you're reading this and don't know who The Jerky Boys are just look 'em up in Itunes and buy their first album or watch a little on Youtube.

This clip gives you the rare chance to actually see the people on the other end of the phone. To my memory - and I'm usually wrong - this was produced near the time of their feature film debut many years ago - which was at the height of their career.

Their original tapes were copied and distributed by friends of friends onto college campuses across the world - pre-internet - and based on such underground popularity ready to go mainstream with their film - MTV allowed them to wire their own customer service offices and tape these calls.

It's not exactly representative of their work - but rare and still amusing.

What was genius about their calls aside from being quite funny is they developed a cast of characters who each had their own quirks, so that over the course of that one initial underground tape, you truly got a sense of who these imaginary callers were.

Hollywood couldn't resist and sadly, the script completely failed The Jerky Boys and made for a bad film. With all respect to the co-writers - it was a very tough assignment, to take prank phone calls and make a movie out of them which would star the real-life prank callers. Much can be debated about the film, but, it's late and I'm not going to do it now.

SO - if you're looking for a good laugh - of course check out the above video and make sure to listen to a CD or download from Itunes to hear more of what these guys are about. While often risque, they've always kept me laughing... -JG

Nick Cage Sure Loves Pachinko

These ads really cracked me up. As we all know American stars are often offered insane amounts of cash to do foreign spots and here's a whole set of commercials Cage did for Pachinko.

Back in the day, it seemed that these gigs were one-offs that no one would ever see - of course now with that internet thingy...it ain't the case...

Cage's quirkiness translates well to the absurdity of some of the ad concepts shown here which I guess just proves that cult of personality transcends all borders. -JG

Really Cool Looking Video

A friend of mine sent me this video by Keith Loutit.

I gotta say it's a really cool video that uses a smart blend of stop-motion photography and tilt-shift lens trickery in a perfect combination with the intent of taking an ordinary place and giving it a heightened reality feel.

Enjoy -JG


Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

What if Watchmen was a cheezy Cartoon?

Here's a hilarious fan parody that shows just how cheezy Watchmen would look if cleaned-up to become kid friendly...

Of course the whole conceit behind Watchmen is adult in nature, so I'm quite glad this never happened, but alas, here's the clip for your viewing pleasure! -JG

Hitler Dismayed by new Watchmen Ending!!!

This clip has been used for other purposes a few times before - but it still cracks me up whenever someone finds a new use for it.

The subtitles work quite well with the content and man - somebody just needs to tell 'ole Adolph to get over the fact the original squid ending is gone (there were solid reasons) and that he should go see the film and decide for himself...

If you want to know more about why the squid ending was left by the wayside - keep an eye out for the Watchmen cover story I wrote for the March/April 2009 issue of Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

Please note - they do spoil what the new ending is in this clip - so - if you're trying to avoid that information - only watch this after you've enjoyed the film!

Enjoy! - JG

Watchmen - The Keene Act PSA

Here's another great viral video, this time a 1970s styled Public Service Announcement about the Keene Act, the legislation that forced superheroes to retire as they were deemed dangerous vigilantes.

Again - this clip is nowhere to be found in the film and although it's filled with too much exposition to be chopped straight in - it's really well done and I could see how some of this could end up in a longer director's cut... Enjoy! - JG

The Full Dr. Manhattan Newscast

I really like this clip. Oddly very little of it is in Watchmen. Actually - most of the footage of Dr. Manhattan (B&W here - which looks cool) is shown in pieces during the film - but this news show isn't in the film and it's kind of cool.

Of course there's way too much exposition for it to be in the film and it's really only intended as a viral video - but it's definitely got some style - so enjoy...-JG

Alan Moore Discusses Watchmen

Keep an eye out on newsstands for the Watchmen cover story I wrote for Creative Screenwriting Magazine featuring an interview with screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse - but how about a few words from the master himself, Watchmen writer Alan Moore! - JG

Kate Winslet's Oscar Plan - as told to Ricky Gervais!

Extras was a fantastic show and I totally thought of this clip once I first heard about The Reader - so - now that's she's won an Oscar - it's quite a funny Kate Winslet clip indeed. I wonder if she now regrets doing this skit? Oh - well. She gave a fantastic performance in The Reader - so it's all good... enjoy the clip - JG

Hoorah For Itunes!

Well - this was a cool week.

Itunes recognized the Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast and featured it on it's main podcast homepage.

Our numbers were great before - but this shot us up to number 6 out of the top 100 podcasts in the Film and TV section and to number 56 out of the top 100 podcasts in the main podcasting section.

Thanks Itunes!

And thanks to you for listening in as well!

And heya - while we're chatting about Itunes - don't forget to leave us a positive review on Itunes as well!

I became quite busy with Sundance and am now putting the finishing touches on the March/April 2009 issue (and yes I'm writing a Watchmen cover story) - so expect more blogging after those deadlines...

I plan to podcast the Sundance experience as best I can - so - definitely drop me a line and let me know what you think once those episodes go live.

More Oscar writing nominee episodes are on their way into Itunes soon - so keep an eye out. - JG