Not especially good.

“Intermission” is the obligatory Oscar column.

As a film journalist who also does time on the “intereview-but-really-just-promotion-for-the-movie-and-traffic-bumping-celebrity-cameo-for-you” dancefloor, I’m probably supposed to feel some sort of sympathy or kinship with Krishnan Guru-Murthy in this clip, but… no. Fuck no. It is fucking awesome watching Quentin rear up in (wholly justified) self-assurance and “Fuck you, you and this production only exist because of people like me, I’m the Film God doing you favor being here and that was the line!” (paraphrased, obviously) swagger when the “violence in movies” question comes up…

Obviously, you need to engage in discussions about things… up to a point. But much like climate change and evolution, that a direct causal link between violent media and real-world violence does not exist is fucking settled in the eyes of intelligent, reason-minded people (which, yes, excludes basically half the media) and people with a genuine understand/appreciation of film, art, culture etc. (which excludes the other half) and eventually you just has to say “Fuck it. The world is round, Intelligent Design/Creationism is horseshit, carbon emissions aren’t good for us, 9-11 wasn’t an inside job, the Holocaust actually happened, the President was born in the United States and violent movies and video games have never been and never will be responsible for a single solitary act of actual violence anywhere ever!,” move the hell on and the leave the goddamn troglodytes to sniff their fingers and rot while the rest of us keep progressing forward.

Good lord, how did it take this long for someone to do this!?

My friends at ScrewAttack have a show called “Death Battle.” If you haven’t been watching, the basic idea is: “Who would win?” nerd-debates + actual in-depth research + crazy-good production values, topped off with an animated short visualizing the projected result. Very much worth checking out.

Today, they’ve finally taken up the “versus” question that’s been topping these sorts of lists for the better part of two decades now: GOKU vs. SUPERMAN. Go. Watch. Now.

http://www.springboardplatform.com/mediaplayer/springboard/video/scre004/711/640319/

Just got done watching what turned out to be bullshit-packed run of nominations, now it’s time to go to bed, blog more later.

For now… “Silver Linings Playbook,” huh? Really? That’s where the bar is now? Because we’re all thrilled DeNiro decided to show up ambulatory and it turns out David O. Russell’s taste in magical problem-solving imaginary girlfriends corresponds to that of lots of other industry people and movie critics?

Fine. Great. Whatever. I look forward to equally-deserving two-part episodes of “Modern Family” and “Parenthood” getting their nominations next year…

So, yesterday I ran a Big Picture episode about “Amazing Spider-Man #700” and the subsequent “Superior Spider-Man” relaunch…

SPOILERS FOR HERE ON:

…in which I said that A.) I was digging at least the concept at play, i.e. that Peter Parker dies in ASM #700 with Doctor Octopus having taken over his body and intending to impersonate Spider-Man… but as a good guy because he’d also inherited Peter’s memories/mind as well; and B.) That it was still not worth freaking out over since if it didn’t work it’d stupid-easy for Marvel to just say “Hey, look! Peter’s soul/consciousness/whatever isn’t totally gone and is re-asserting itself!” to get him back into the “real” lead.

Well, turns out the FIRST ISSUE of “Superior” (out now) closes with the reveal that, suprise surprise, Peter Parker’s “ghost” (does it really matter in what sense?) is “haunting” Ock-as-Spidey; curbing his darker impulses while also scheming to retake control of his body/mind/life. Instead of being the way they get “out” of the new status quo, this is the (temporary) status quo.

So, basically, this means that the whole “End of Amazing!”/”Launch of new series!” thing was a 90s-style “NEW #1!!!!” sales-stunt; and that ultimately “Superior” will wind up being a long-ish “That time I was a ghost and fought Doc Ock for control of my own body” miniseries of “Amazing,” which will almost-certainly revert to it’s original title/numbering on a “big” number (800?) and that whatever the title/numbeirng is at the time Peter will probably be “back” in time for the next movie.

…but you already knew that.

Here’s your obligatory episode about “Amazing Spider-Man #700.”

FYI, video footage of the Game OverThinker/MovieBob Q&A is now up on Blip and The Other Blog.

Today, my friend and colleague Jim Sterling is a hero:

NOTE: Graphic imagery from 1:20 – 1:49

Let’s just get this over with…

“Intermission” tackles the “Zero Dark Thirty” controversy.