Coming Distractions May 19th, 2009

Valkyrie
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Crips and Bloods: Made in America
True Blood - 1st Season
Friday Night Lights - 3rd Season
Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts
Russell Brand in New York
My Bloody Valentine

What's up the similarities between the poster for Alan Ball's new show (see above) and the upcoming Diable Cody/Megan Fox (that lil genius) film Jennifer's Body?

Next, and most urgently: Fridgewatcher!

We finally have Helvetica (and yeah, that's arial, but it's blogspot and a pc and all, plus I didn't want to contribute to the conflict in Iraq). It's amazing that an 80 minute film can be made on a font and still really work. It's also amazing the level of quality of digital film these days. (I'm assuming this was shot on a digital camera) I really wish David Lynch had been aware of these amazing technological advances.

An interesting side effect of watching the film is that afterwards you can't stop noticing the fonts that are everywhere. A little Sans-serif here, a little serif there. Burlington does not seem to be as Helvetica-ized as many larger cities. In an effort to start noticing the words again, and not just the typeface in which they are written, I recommend indulging in some other word-related documentaries. Such as:

Word Wars: Highly overlooked documentary on scrabble, with some bizarre characters/real people that rival any other film on unusual obsessions (such as King of Kong.) Really, really recommend it.

Wordplay: about crosswords, with such interviewees as Will Shortz, John Stewart, and Bill Clinton.

Spellbound: widely beloved doc about the drama of spelling bees.

Then there are some single word documentaries, such as Fuck or The N Word. Am I missing others?

Now please enjoy this trailer for Debbie Gibson's new film, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus or some Romanian pop music.