Entertainment Tonight running a trailer-preview for the “Red Dawn” remake is a geuine two-fer: I didn’t think either of those things were still happening.

Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson are not, incidentally, aging backwards – this thing was shot about three years ago and has been shelved largely owing to the MGM crack-up and (reportedly) really, really sucking; then got delayed again to perform a villain-ectomy: Originally the film was about an armed Chinese (replacing the Soviet Union from the original) invasion of the United States; but someone realized that would probably make increasingly vital Chinese distribution/business-relations difficult and decided to digitally re-edit the invaders into North Korea.

The film is now set for a November 21st release date, which will make it only the second stupidest fantasy about expelling imaginary communists from the U.S. that plays out that month.

Forgettable.

“Intermission” is about criticism.

http://cdn-static.liverail.com/js/handshake.html

Devin Faraci at BAD has dug up something pretty spectacularly awful – possibly the worst thing you’ll see on the internet today. A confluence of awful things in the popular culture mixed together in such a way as to feel like a parody… except its all horribly, horribly real.

“Diggity Dave” – some kind of personality from “Pimp My Ride” – has apparently been making a Nolan-Batman fan-film and has taken to “talking it up” recently with an incredible claim: The Aurora Massacre shooter was “obsessed” with the project and contacted Mr. Diggity personally prior to his rampage. I… can’t decide if it’s worse if thats a lie or the truth. I’m not going to embed the video, go watch it on BAD b/c they deserve the traffic – those cats work hard.

The premise: Batman has been shot dead, and a random troubled street-punk pilfers his mask and armor to take up the mantle… only now, New Batman uses guns. Commenters at BAD have dubbed him “Emocore Juggalo Batman,” which is wholly accurate but doesn’t begin to describe just how terrible this thing looks – it’s almost a parody of it’s subgenre, right down to the clear influence of “Boondock Saints.” Watch at your own risk…

Yes, I said I was done talking about [REDACTED]; and I think I’ve been pretty good about that. However, I never said anything about mentioning someone else talking about [REDACTED.]

Honestly, though, I’m mainly posting this short cartoon about [REDACTED] because it’s creator is a fan, tweeted it to me and I thought it was fucking hysterical and deserved more views than it was getting. Enjoy!

“Thor 2” is subtitled “The Dark World,” and now we may know part of what that’s in reference to: Deadline reports that former Doctor Christopher Eccleston has been signed as the new main villain – Malekith. And in case you were thinking the “Thor” movies might be pulling back from the high-fantasy stuff after the character(s) turned out to be so memorable tearing up NYC in “The Avengers;” this fellow’s full name and title is Malekith the Accursed: King of The Dark Elves of Svartalfheim.

Man, that’s even fun just to type…

Unlike most of the supporting/villain cast from the first film, who mainly come from the Silver Age 60s/70s “Thor” stories, Malekith originated during Walt Simonson’s legendary run on the book (considered by many to be the best era of “Thor” comics ever) in the 80s. His main “thing” is shape-shifting and illusion, but as the title implies he’s also got a whole army and realm under his command.

A side-effect of reporting/commenting on the popular culture is that you become acutely aware of your own position in it; to the extent that I still get a little giddy when something I’ve done/said actually becomes a (tiny) part of the stuff I’m commenting upon or otherwise observing.

To wit, it’s felt awfully… “vindicating,” I guess, to get a shout-out from Hollywood-Elsewhere and a name-drop from “Zero Punctuation” within a span of about 10 hours. Kudos, gents.

I’ve been retweeting (when able) people’s photos of themselves buying/eating lunch at any Chik-Fil-A rival today as a little counter-protest against “Chik-Fil-A Appreciation Day;” wherein Republican/Conservative politicians have been encouraging followers to patronize said restaurant chain to show their solidarity with bigotry and anti-gay discrimination.

So far, this is my favorite, tweeted by @laputanwmachine

We only saw a tiny glimpse of Robocop’s chasis in that ED-209 viral thingee awhile back, either for the building of suspense or because they literally haven’t settled on a design yet. Now, Geekscape says they’ve got a concept model of the character…

If this is the real thing (or something close) it’s pretty bad; but also completely plausible as a 2012 moviemaking decision: Too slick, not at all iconic, would never peg it as being Robocop if not prompted. Clearly designed to be “dynamic” in motion (re: a lot more jumping about from New Robocop, because that was such a big, gaping hole in the first one…)

In relation, obviously, to the recent unpleasantness…

In the spirit of this shocking, profound and in-no-way-just-rubber-stamping-what-already-eminently-evident news; I have decided to officially endorse my support of Mario Games, Pizza, 80s Metal and the first two “Spider-Man” movies.

Incidentally, this comes on the heels of the whole “Chik-fil-A” debacle, which is set to become even more absurd on Wednesday as “luminaries” like Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin have encouraged their fans/followers to show pride in their bigotry by making August 1st “Chik-fil-A” day. Here’s an idea: I plan on making it a point to buy/eat some chicken from a competitor on that day as a form of counter-protest, and I encourage my readers/followers/fans to do the same. In fact, if anyone wants to Tweet a picture of themselves eating non-CFA chicken to me (@the_moviebob) on that day, maybe I’ll post some of them here.

Anyway…

This is one of those moments where the realities of 24/7 digital-age politics smash up against our stuck-in-the-1900s election choreography: EVERYBODY already knows that the Democrats, as a party, are nominally on the side of LGBT activism, but this will be the first time it’s ever been written into the “Party Plank” – a list of “official positions” whose convention-time adoption was the subject of much ceremony and fanfare in the days when news only traveled at the speed of train. Still, it’s big news and will be treated as such if it’s indeed going to happen. Important step, piece of history, where-were-you-when, etc.

What interests me is what this says about where the DNC’s collective “head” is at and what it means for how the election will actually play out. Three things immediately jump to mind:

1. Ambiguity Is Over
If nothing else, this is the Democrats aquiescing to a reality the Republicans set up way ahead of them: There’s no “middle ground” this time. This is now officially a “versus” election, where in spite of all the decrying of “divisiveness” you’ll hear from all sides division is the entire goal; casting the choice in such stark terms – Red vs. Blue, White America vs. Multicultural America, Nativist vs. Globalist, Secular vs. Religious, Reason vs. Belief, Tradition vs. Future, Family Values vs. New Normal – that as many would-be voters as possible are spurred to “get off the sidelines” and choose a side (or completely tune out, which can be just as useful to the same ends); with each team gambling that “they’re guys” will be more motivated to pack the polls. The DNC will be saying to pro-LGBT Americans “This is WAR, the prize is your rights, we’ve got your back, now get out there and kick some ass.”

2. The DNC Is Either Confident Of A Win Or Preparing To Lose
As a rule of thumb, politicians and political parties don’t take controversial positions during elections unless they feel they’ve already won or already lost. While taking this position probably won’t make THE difference for Obama’s numbers vs. Romney’s, it will probably make things tighter. Either way, while this is a politically “risky” move (more in a bit) it’s unquestionably a good move for Democrats long-term. LGBT rights, as part of the broader “social issues” package, is the #1 thing that seperates Generations X and Y from their parents and grandparents as a voting demographic; and this is the clearest signal the Dems have sent in quite some time that they’re the party for them. Even if they lose this election, it’s a step toward securing a bloc for next time.

3. Win Or Lose, The DNC Is Writing-Off “Red America.”
If you want a “macro” of the politics of this manuever, it’s that The DNC is willing to concede the previously-swingable (via Labor Union connections) “Blue Collar” demographic (in poli-speak: working-class white people, predominatly rural-rooted and family/church-centered) to Republicans for the forseeable future. Short-term risk, but long-term likely-payoff. The fact is, the “Blue Collar” demo is on-track for continued shrinkage in the visible future: America is becoming less white, less reliant on (domestic) physical-labor and less “rooted” workwise – the jobs/industries with growth prospects are the ones better suited to single, mobile professionals concentrated in urbanized areas. So while becoming “The Party of Gay Rights” will unquestionably drive a not-insignificant portion of the Blue Collar demo to The Right; it’s a demo that might as well be an endangered-species electorally speaking – whatever percentage of the white/midwestern working-class Democrats lose over this will be made up for (with interest) by the two demographic megaton-bombs hanging over the near-future process: Boomers entering retirement age (expectation-of/reliance-on Social Security and Medicare = Democrat votes) and the potential permanent game-changer of either “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants or the children of said immigrants hitting voting age (Republicans eagerness to racially-scapegoat Latinos ensures most of these votes will not go to them.)