Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.

- Edwin Hubble

Rob Dean examines the overlooked, unappreciated or unfairly maligned movies. Sometimes these films haven't been seen by anyone, and sometimes they've been seen by everyone - who loathed them. This is Missing Reels.

"The hands are not the issue. The fight is the issue. The battle is the issue. Who imposes the terms of the battle will impose the terms of the peace. Think he has a handicap? No. The other guy has a handicap if he cannot control himself. You control yourself, you control him."

We are at a point of divergence in the history of action movies - it's happened previously, where two philosophies are diametrically opposed and stand in stark contrast with each other. One is the more popular, socially acceptable version that is equated with money, gloss and mindless fun that is represented by Hollywood. The other is more associated with smaller films, critical acceptance, international audiences and a lack of funds that is offset by a display of skill. I'm talking about Explosions vs. Fights.

Please note - these are overarching terms meant to reductively label two mindsets. They are not mutually exclusive, per se, nor fully descriptive of the issues at hand. But, for the purposes of this discussion, it's easiest to separate these two worlds using these (notably obsolete) words.

The School of Explosions is presided over by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay - it's the world of the flashy spectacle where excess is encouraged and there is no gesture considered "too broad" or an action setpiece that can be seen as "too convoluted." A reliance on celebrities, pretty people, and CGI, films made in the School of Explosions are geared towards ADHD addled audiences more interested in seeing something cool than seeing something that makes sense - even using the shaky internal logic of the movie itself.

Click to read more ...

From Upright Citizens Brigade:

From The Kids in the Hall -

A Nerd PSA that finally shatters the silence...

(Via Topless Robot)

Today's word of the day is Ensnare:

Via Senor Gif

How have I never seen this video before? "Batdance," sure, I'm familiar with "Batdance." But "Partyman" by Prince for 1989's Batman? Hooooooly crap. I actually really like this song and as a youth was obsessed with whether or not Prince says "the funkiest man" or "the fuckingest man." I know the latter choice doesn't make sense, but profanity is a mystery in the magical eyes of a child.

I'm still quietly judging you.

Click to read more ...

Summer afternoon— summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

- Henry James

Fisticuffs is when you tell me who would win in a knockdown, dragout, physical fight to the death between two people or groups.

Today's pairing is The Grimace  VS. Snuffleupagus

The Grimace, Ronald Macdonald's gelatinous amorphous blob friend who appears to be missing anything resembling a central nervous system, locked in mortal combat against Snuffleupagus, the tusk-less wooly mammoth that burst through imaginary veils to become real to the adults on Sesame Street.

Two beasts enter, only one will leave! Plead your case in the comments below!

MK12 | Follow the Sun | 2011 from MK12 on Vimeo.

MK12 made this slice of nightmare fuel - enjoy!

(Via The Daily What)

Success in the modern age is marked by two things: oversaturation and inevitable backlash. As something is recognized as being good or entertaining or lucrative, then many lampreys suddenly attach themselves to the underbelly of the main success. They ape the creative talent, the marketing, the pitch, the layout, the look, the hook. Catchphrases are spun out and apparel is adorned with recognizable images from the successful venture. Late night talk shows and morning zoo crews make lazy references and inept impressions of the successful venture. Everyone clings to the successful venture - pushing it into more markets and spinning it in novel - if ridiculously unnecessary - ways.

Then, when the last branded bar of soap or hollow script for the TV spin off rolls off the assembly line - the backlash begins. In fairness, it is not the successful venture that people are angry about; it's the constant reminder of the successful venture. The endless hype and pimping and cross-promoting and synergizing and Halloween costumes and frat boy imitations. The neverending loop of YouTube parodies coupled with the hours of proselytizing by fans that need you to "get it." It's all of the ephemera surrounding the successful venture that causes this backlash; the resentment of enduring all of these unoriginal interruptions that smack less of the fun and unique property and more of the soulless and derivative cashcow that it became.

Sometimes the creators of the successful venture buy into the hype - and so they get torn down with it in the Backlash Phase. Sometimes the sales figures for new revenue streams or diversified audience shares are so enticing that creators and their corporate barons willingly sacrifice the successful venture. Who knows when the next hit will come, so everyone pile on this thing now! Everyone releases their version of a remake of an 80s cartoon with scores made up of repetitive bellowing of deep bass notes, presented with the poster in blue and orange, and the making-of-featurette with untrained celebutantes boasting of the integration of the latest CGI trickery into this "ride" - all while pimping the tie-in to the specific fast food chain and soon-to-be-forgotten pop music group. That original spark, the successful venture that forged something new and exposed people's interests to the harsh light of capitalism, becomes awash in its descendants, indistinguishable to most people's hate, and relies on nerds to argue for its exclusion from the pack.

But what does this all have to do with graphic sex on film? The answer...might surprise you.

Click to read more ...

I woke up and thought it would be a better world if there existed a video that combined the song "Are You Ready for the Summer?" sung by children in the movie Meatballs with scenes of brutal murders from the Friday the 13th series of films.

And Crispin Glover dancing like a spaz.

This is the life I chose.

Today's word of the day is Drastic:

Via Pleated Jeans