Back in 2007, J.D. and I were contestants on VH1’s second (and last) season of “World Series of Pop Culture.” We immediately felt a nerdy trivia kinship with all the other competitors, so when castmates Warren McPherson and Smitha Chadaga said they were making a mockumentary about what happens to game show contestants AFTER the game (and their very limited fame) is over, I jumped at the chance to appear as myself in their movie. After making the film festival rounds this year, the co-directors of “Gameshow and Tell” have decided to release the movie in episodes on YouTube each week. Subscribe here to keep updated.

Anyway, here is the first episode, featuring the runners-up on the show, team Wocka Wocka from Kansas City, MO. This episode is a funny exaggeration of the obsessive drive that gave Wocka Wocka the winning edge! Not sure when they’ll release Westerburg High’s episode, but this is the place to find out. Enjoy!

Tags: 2007, episode, film, First, game, gameshow, Gameshow and Tell, mockumentary, movie, released, tell, trivia, vh1, wocka wocka, world series of pop culture

Just got this from Overture Films:

Michael Moore’s next documentary, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, opening nationwide on October 2, 2009. This trailer contains the first footage available from the film, and as you’ll see, the timeliness of the topics it explores will surely resonate with all audiences.

“It’s got it all — lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day.” - Michael Moore

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY tackles an issue Michael Moore has been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan. From Middle America, to the halls of power in Washington, to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, Michael Moore will once again take filmgoers into uncharted territory.

Tags: 2009, capitalism, capitalism: a love story, First, full, Michael, michael moore, moore, new, october, poster, trailer

I just heard KISS’ new song “Modern Day Delilah.” It’s the first single from 2009’s “Sonic Boom,” KISS’ first new album in 11 years.

Listen to the mp3 here or download it if you like … but I have to say …

It is tough being a KISS fan these days.

I appreciate their tenacity. They refuse to go away. Love it. But “they” isn’t KISS anymore. History repeated itself after their big reunion tour in 1996 when band leaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley gradually became alienated again from their 70s bandmates, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.

By the time the band recorded 1998’s “Psycho Circus,” it was back to things as normal, with studio musicians replacing allof Peter’s drumming and much of Ace’s guitar playing. Granted, Peter wasn’t really up to snuff,so I gave ‘em a pass.

Some of the tunes had the old school KISS flavor (some just outright sucked) and my band at the time, Ultimate Fakebook, even covered the title track to show our stubborn support for the old school rocking that KISS was still putting out there.

Now Ace and Peter are gone again, replaced by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer (who are currently wearing the Space Ace and Cat-man make-up instead of going “unmasked” like KISS was in the 80s and early 90s). Sure, they sound tight. Yes, it sounds professional. Yes, it’s “bluesy” and “rootsy.”

But it ain’t KISS. It sounds like some approximation of what Paul and Gene think will get them played on rock radio now.

It’s as stagey and fake as “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” a “reality” show with completely scripted scenarios and contrived plot twists. (Yet I still tune in from time to time to see how my old 70s hero/demon is doing. And I think his family is cool. I’m unhealthily obsessed. After all, KISS is responsible for my entire rock “career.”)

It’s safe. It’s boring. Most of all, it’s no fun.

Yet I will probably be there for the next tour waiting for that curtain to drop so I can see Gene and Paul don the costumes and see the glorious explosions that come just after the opening riff of “Deuce.”

Sad, but true.

By the way, this post has nothing to do with movies, even though this site is all about them, so here ya go:

“Detroit Rock City” is an underrated and overlooked gem of a film that approximates all the energy and excitement of what it was like to be a rock n’ roll fan when you were a kid. Rent it even if you don’t like KISS. It’s that good.

Gene Simmons is in the new Mike Judge (”Office Space,” “Idiocracy”) movie “Extract,” which stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, and Kristen Wiig.

OK.

Tags: 2009, album, boom, day, delilah, download, First, free, gene, kiss, listen, modern, modern day delilah, new, paul, simmons, single, song. mp3, sonic, stanley

One of my Top 3 favorite movies of all time is Spike Lee’s provocative and controversial 1989 film “Do The Right Thing.” It takes place on the hottest day of the summer in one Brooklyn neighborhood and has more heart, laughs, tension, and drama than most movies today. This year marks its 20th anniversary.

If you’ve never seen it, now is the time to go out and rent the sucker. You’ll see early performances by Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, John Turturro, and Martin Lawrence. You’ll witness Spike Lee at the top of his game as a screenwriter, actor, and director. You’ll hear Public Enemy’s anthemic “Fight the Power” in the context that it was meant to be presented in. You’ll wonder at the vibrant colors in Ernest Dickerson’s cinematography.

You’ll see late actors Ossie Davis and Robin Harris, who have never been better. You’ll be presented with tons of likeable characters and watch the mounting racial tension with dread. You’ll ask yourself a lot of questions and struggle with the answers.

The Root has devoted a large part of its website to celebrating the film, and editor-in-chief Henry Louis Gates sat down with Lee for a series of interviews. It’s a great conversation (with clips from the movie), and I learned something else that people don’t talk about too much: Michelle and Barack Obama’s first date was a screening of “Do the Right Thing” at the Chicago Art Institute!

Fight the power indeed.

20 years later, the Obamas are in the White House, and “Do the Right Thing” remains one of the most influential of modern films. I have the Criterion Collection DVD, but it looks as if i might have to buy another one, because the new 20th Anniversary DVD contains a lot of the same extras and a new commentary track from Lee.

Have you seen “Do the Right Thing”? How recently?

Tags: 20th, anniversary, date, Do the Right Thing, First, interview, lee, obama, root, spike

Shown on “American Idol” last night (where QT guest-hosted), this short preview of Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming WWII Nazi-killing war movie “Inglorious Basterds” features not only Mike Myers with a sweet hairpiece and mustache, but also a little bit of his English accent. (Which sounds dangerously close to his Scottish accent from “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” “Shrek” and Fat Bastard in “The Spy Who Shagged Me.”)

I love the part where he gets the crew psyched up for another take. Why? “Because … we … love … making … movies!”

Not so sure about Myers …

Tags: american idol, at, First, footage, in, Inglorious Basterds, look, Mike, Myers, preview, Tarantino, trailer, video