R. Kelly: Some Kind of Mad Genius

I've told some of you about my fondness for Trapped in the Closet, R. Kelly's narrative, soap opera-style R&B epic. This video from his latest record compresses the arc into a tighter package, only here Kelly shares storytelling duties with Usher.

Like Event Horizon Except Not Soul-Crushingly Awful

Apple has the extended trailer for Sunshine, the new sci-fi flick from Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting). My friend Jason, the chemist/board game geek from Stanford, saw the movie in France earlier in the year and gave it a thumbs up. If Jason doesn't have problems with the science, then only the stodgiest movie muggle has room to gripe. I think we've got one or two in the house, right?

Trailer here.

Ratatouille: Why Sturm5.0 probably won't see it.

Masterpiece or not. Best rendering of this story archetype or not. Unless Grandma wants to take the kids we probably won't see this film. The throw away reason is that they want to see Transformers instead anyway. The real reason is familial and societal. Stories about the underdog overcoming all obstacles to a brilliant end are an American staple. A staple that us Sturms can't relate to. Two possible reasons. The first is that we have never been underdogs and can't empathize with the main characters. Watching a 'woe is me' character is hard. Unless it is Hamlet because *spoilers* he dies *end spoilers*. The other reason could be becasue we are a pretty content stock of folk. You are what you are and you is what you is. And it is good.

Give me the escapism of big robots anyday.

Fun With Fluid Dynamics

Even if you aren't on a fistful of hallucinogens, you should be able to enjoy the old-things-made-new Plasma Pong for at least twenty minutes.

At first, the ideas "Pong" and "Fluid Dynamics" might create a bit of cognitive dissonance, but after about 20 levels of this game you'll understand why they always belonged together and curse the laziness of humanity for not working out all the math and modeling decades earlier.

Download it for Mac or PC at plasmapong.com

Red vs. Blue 100 and done.

It has been a bit since I visited but RvB is ending it's long and wonderful run. Episode 100 should drop tonight and then they will only pull out the guys for specials. Kinda sad news but good. I mean, they don't wanna be Brett Favre.

(I found the news by reading some Wil Wheaton stuff here.)

Now this is a sign of geekdom going MS.

From Fox, Nintendo Europe is using Nicole Kidman in an ad campaign. Now I did go with T-Mobile because they kept sending me pictures of Catherine Zeta-Jones but I dunno about this.

Edit: Here's the commercial. -g

Kanye's "Stronger" Video

Apparently the clip premiered on MTV recently. The Daft Punk robots are featured throughout. Who knows if the actual Frenchmen are beneath the masks? I dig the thumbs up that one of the robots throws midway through the video. And was that Danger Mouse strutting across the street for a split second?

To me this video is significant as a sign of an ongoing shift in contemporary culture. Setting a music video in Japan is no longer the domain of the "kooky" Beastie Boys any more. Tokyo cool is mainstream after 20-years of Blade Runner, manga and anime. I see the influence of Tron, Kill Bill, Akira (dig them tail lights) and Jin-Roh on this promo as well as the lingering influence of Chris Cunningham.

And Tim, this version is a radio edit so it's suitable for sensitive ears.

Edit: Fixed the broken video link.