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Cam Bert

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Posts posted by Cam Bert

  1. Posted

    I'm not American or know much about American politics but I assume the whole state votes for the govern correct? So say Gabbi does make it on to the ballot, that means that a majority of the voters still had to vote for her right? Not just her five friends and grandma, but the majority of the third most populated state. California in 2017 had a population of 39,360,000 people. However that population includes youth and people that can't vote not to mention the number of people that don't vote for governor. The 2018 gubernatorial race had a turn out of 12,464,235 voters. That means Gabbi would need at least 33.4% of that vote which means roughly 4.2 million votes. That's more votes than any third party candidate has gotten in the history of California gubernatorial elections and as far as my math can tell more than all third party votes in California ever! What was it that drove them to this candidate they had never heard of? 

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

    4 minutes ago, DannytheWall said:

    This sounds like an amazing(ly bad) movie. Skipped this one but the podcast was still hilarious. 

    Blink (your ears?) and you'd miss it, but Jason thought it sounded like a better movie if Gabbi was a teenager, and that's exactly the premise of the comic book Prez by Mark Russell. 

    Jason & Paul talked about Mark Russell's The Flintsones on a minisode somewhere, and yep, that book is in fact a VERY subversive social satire with genuine humor, pathos, and deep thoughts. If you liked that, look up Prez. 

    Prez takes place in a near-future dystopia ruled by social media and corporations, a fateful combination that unwittingly allows a 16-year old girl who goes viral thanks to an unfortunate hot dog on a stick incident and finds herself catapulted to the highest office in the land. And biting satire ensues. The comic isn't as pointed as the Flintstones, and kind of has to rush to something like an ending, but there's some real gold in there. 

    Another crazy fact? This is the *second* teenage president in DC comics. The first Prez was in 1974 written by Jack Simon (cocreator of Captain America) and features a young man named, foreshadowing-ly, Prez, who is a local hometown hero that goes on to win the presidency. It's a more straightforward story, inspired by the then-recent constitutional amendment that lowered the US voting age to 18, but could have used some more comicbook gimmickry like, I don't know, say, dinosaurs on jetpacks as a national emergency or something. It only lasted four issues but remains a perrenial favorite on any "How Did This Get Made" Comic Book Version trivia night.    

    You can read Russell's Prez on comixology here   

    Neil Gaiman also wrote a great story about Prez in one of his issues of Sandman (might edit number in here later) that about his presidency and post presidency life that takes the character very seriously.

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    15 hours ago, Doctor Suessicide said:

    When she said this I was fully expecting it to be a joke that the other cronies react to, like "that was a suggestion not a law!" But if it was supposed to be a joke it was dropped on the floor.

    I mean I think so many of the "jokes" here are so forced and telegraphed if it was trying to be one, it might have been the most subtle.

  6. Posted

    Govern Gabbi's first initiative as governor is for people to ride the bus instead of drive cars. The female crony of Balse complains numerous times of riding the bus so we know that this measure went into effect. Yet we have two story points that revolve around Gabbi's friends and family driving. First there is her Grandma and her non-stop car problems which means she's still driving around around and not bussing it which Gabbi is cool with. Also her friend Ellie is driving around getting parking tickets because she refuses to pay for parking. Balse threaten to boot her car because driving means so much to her. Gabbi is also seemingly fine with her friend driving everywhere and not paying tickets. Now if her plan was to force people with environmentally bad cars to stop driving, what's to stop them from buying an old clunker like her grandma or friend? Or rather is this all a deep statement on the hypocrisy of politicians looking the other way when policies would effect their friends and family.

    • Like 3

  7. Posted

    Attention all HDTGM fans, if you are down with your circa 2018 memes you will no doubt remember VoiceoverPete aka Pete Accetturo. He was a corporate spokesman that became a spokesman on Fiverr. For as low as  $25 you could hire Pete to film himself saying whatever you wanted in front of a greenscreen. He quickly became a meme superstar particularly in the gaming/Fortnite communities. What does this have to do with Govern Gabbi? Well he's in it! He is one of the many news anchors seen throughout the movie. This is interesting to me for two main reasons. One, it was commented on the international flavor of the news anchors. This is probably because they were all hired from the website Fiverr. Many of the spokespeople on Fiverr are based all around the world and accept jobs from anywhere. And while we are not sure how much he was paid, the fact they were hiring Fiverr people instead of local actors means they were going for as cheap as possible. This is also interesting to me because not one of the news anchors is credited in the movie. So not only were these people hired on Fiverr on the cheap but then they are even not credited in the movie either in case somebody else wants to hire them. For shame Niebauers, for shame.

    • Like 3

  8. Posted

    When I was a wee lad there were three movies we had on tape that I was always asking to watch or watching. Bedknobs and Broomsticks was amongst them. I can't tell you how many times I watched this movie as a kid. It was probably the least watched of the three to be fair, but it was still watched a ton. That said I have no seen it since I was maybe 12. I could tell you the story, the order of events, the characters, etc. However, if pressed I don't think I could tell you more than a song in the movie. Watching it again, I loved it for the memories but it bizarre to me that virtually all the music just never stuck with me or left a lasting impression. I was frankly shocked when songs happened. I think it's the opposite of Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins has these fantastic songs which overshadow the just okay story. Bedknobs has just okay songs that are overshadow by these wonderful effects and fun story.

    • Like 4

  9. Posted

    On 10/6/2020 at 5:31 AM, AlmostAGhost said:

    Eugene Levy always took me some getting used to, his performance is so bonkers. But I've grown to really love it, it's so funny.

    I agree. He seems out there but it really is a fully realized character. The only person I still find it hard to get use to is Jennifer Coolidge's character. Just seems a little out of place.

    • Like 3

  10. Posted

    5 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    I think the thing that causes your biggest complaint is the movie is improvised. So, the funniest takes are just whatever they said in the moment or the funniest bits overshadowed the actual plot threads being any resolution. So, if a three hour cut exists, it solves your problem but I bet that cut drags.

    I'd say yes and no to this. I mean Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, etc. were also improvised as well but have more of a cohesive story. They way these films work is that they are given a scene with just an A to B description. For example it would be something like "The Folksmen find out The New Mainstreet Band is doing the same opening song. They eventually decide on 'Eat at Joes' " The dialogue is improvised but the actors know what the scene is about and where it should go. This is what they did in his prior movies and on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm. However they will also do "Just talk about this or that" to get funny jokes. So when editing they naturally want to put the funnier bits in but most scenes should have a skeletal story they adhere to. I think the fact Eugene Levy is credited as a co-writer explains why his stuff has the most linear story and how each scene builds and sends that story forward. If you think about it every scene of him and Katherine O'Hara move their story while being funny and improvised.

    • Like 3

  11. Posted

    Just now, Cameron H. said:

    Again, I think the movie is showing how uncool folk is. Where you expect there to be drama, there isn’t — except for *them* there is. Does that make sense? It’s a bunch of Mr Rogers and this is as edgy as they get.

    I loved the New Mainstreet Singers, because it was about how a group can evolve to the point it’s unrecognizable, but is able to kind of “cash in.” They only have one of the original 9 members so they can technically call themselves the same band, but they’ve gone from being this quasi-Christian group to this color worshiping cult. It reminds me of how Mike Love gets to call his group The Beach Boys even though Brian Wilson has more original band members in his current band.

    That makes sense and I get what you are saying. 

    Now that I think about it there is type of meta-commentary in that. That there is no growth to these characters because they are mostly stuck in their little world. You can see that in The Folksmen who complain about The New Mainstreet Singers not being 'real' folk, because they have this very specific and slight version of what they should be and folk should be. To a degree they all do, and to expect them to change or grow would be counter to that.

    • Like 3

  12. Posted

    24 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    Will Mitch lose his mind and never return? Do the Folksmen figure out what to play?

    I agree with the first point. As I said the Mitch and Mickey stuff is the heart of the movie and the only part to provide an arc. The Folksmen until you said that (concert aside) I didn't realize that was their story until now. And if it was it was one scene late until the movie. To me their thing is Michael McKean character seems so apart from the other two you're just kinda thinking something will come from that. When they're practicing their songs there is tension from him about the Skeleton song so there is stuff there but it just to me feels like it goes nowhere. The New Main Street Singers has so many plot threads that just kinda go nowhere or have nothing. The movie is funny. I don't deny that and I get it is being more subtle but just at the end it seems more like "Oh that was funny, put that bit in" then a constructed story leading to something. That's why I'd rather watch his prior movies to this one.

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    So I've seen this movie four times now and I always think the same thing, "This is funny but pointless." Most of the Guest movies as much as they are a collection of scenes the always seem to have a point or an overall story. Spinal Tap (not officially his movie) sees the band breakup and reform, Waiting for Guffman is putting on this show to be noticed, Best in Show is a competition and who will be number 1. A Mighty Wind just kinda seems to lack that. It's all about getting to the show and putting on the show but the fact the show will go on or without a hitch never seems to be in question. The Mitch and Mickey story is the only one with any kind of arc. The others are fine but just full of little bits that don't all add up or go anywhere. It's funny but just feels a bit hollow in the end.

    • Like 3

  14. Posted

    I'm sorry if this has been mentioned but I'm too lazy to go back and check.

    After Annie's mother's funeral her and Jake sit down and have a talk what to do about the business. He first asks her if she wants to make lighting fixtures for the rest of her life? Here's the thing though, if you own the business you don't make the fixatures. You manage the company and have employees do that. What if he was speaking in a more metaphorical sense and meant "you don't want to be running a lighting fixture company for the rest of your life" even then, what kind of argument is that? Sure they can manage the company and increase their profits or maybe they can hire a manager to run it, take the profits and put it into the careers they want. If he wants to be a pilot he can still check in on the company and fly planes! CEOs of companies aren't constantly at their factories and warehouses. They can just use the profits from the place to fund their schooling and piloting and then sell it at a later date. Think of your future guys.

    However, the more shocking thing we learn is Jake has only been working there for a year! We know him and his wife have been married for six years and of that he's only been working for her mom for one of them. On top of that Annie's mom was preparing Jake to take over for when she retires which sounds like it was soon. He's only been doing it one year!  He went from entry level employee to future head of the company in a year? The mom is clearly looking out for them and he's just cutting work in the middle of the day for flight school? Who knows what other fuckery Jake has been up to. What was he doing those first five years? Why did he take the job if not for a secure future only to throw that all away the moment he gets it? I'm really siding with Annie's mom on this one, Jake is a a doughnut. 

    • Like 3

  16. Posted

    2 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    Ha no I just googled it. Geddy Lee was asked about it!

    "The Runaways had a ginormous chip on their shoulders. I remember that show. We had trouble with our gear so our soundcheck got delayed and The Runaways never got one. But we were always good to whoever was opening for us. We had no bias against them because they were girls - none of that bullshit. I know they said that we were laughing at them when they played, but quite frankly they were too shitty to listen to. And 40 years later they have a story to tell about it. Who knew?"

    Classic prog snobbish and classic Canadian passive aggressive rage.

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

    Well, they’re just such different bands. The Runaways are pretty raw and Rush is super polished — almost mathematically precise. It’s such a weird bill. It reminds me of Hendrix opening for the Monkees.

    Wait, that happened? That's so bizarre.

    It's just somebody being like "oh, these people are popular and this person is a popular up and comer just put them together" without taking style of music into consideration.

    • Like 2

  18. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

    From IMDB: “In the DVD commentary, Joan Jett states it was the Canadian rock band Rush that bullied The Runaways from having a sound check.”

    I’m sure it didn’t go down like it did in the movie, but maybe they were snobs or something.

     

    Yea that makes more sense. I've heard tell of many musicians fucking with, or just being dicks to the opening act because they don't want to be out shined. Denying an opening act a sound check so you sound better than them I'm sure was a very common occurrence. I could see this being the case but like you said I could see them being more snobbish much more the case.

    • Like 3

  19. Posted

    While on the talk of things Japanese, I should point out two more facts. One obvious one I found out just looking them up now.

    First, yes clearly they didn't go to Japan to film this, but it always shocks me how a simple google search would solve some of their more clearly mistakes. First, a band as big as they were would have been in a luxury hotel which would be fully western. There is an off chance if the room was big enough they would have had a tatami room, but that's more of a specialized thing and wouldn't have a mattress just on the floor. You'd have futons which the staff would put out and put away. Also ramen, the soup is so important. You'd never get a bowl of just noodles, and if you did it would be either soba or udon and not in a ramen bowl. Unless Joan Jett went out and bought some instant ramen and made it herself that's not how it'd look. Come on, just google these things production designer.

    Second, it wasn't just any photographer they sent to take pictures of Cherie, it was Kishin Shinoyama. Kishin Shinoyama is a very famous photographer, mostly known for his erotic and nude photography. He also did a ton of album and cover work for a variety of artists. He even worked with John Lenon and Yoko Ono. He's a very famous and well respected photographer. There is no need to point this out in the movie, but it is worth mentioning that this wasn't just some fly by night cheesecake photoshoot.

    • Like 4

  20. Posted

    4 hours ago, grudlian. said:

    Yeah, I knew The Runaways were massive in Japan. Wikipedia says they were the fourth most imported music band in whatever year that was. Im curious if Cam Bert has any insight into if The Runaways have a lasting legacy in Japan.

    I'm sad to say it is not that big of a lasting legacy. 

    I think a lot of this is to do with Japan's weird music system. The bands you hear about here are huge but there are ones you never hear of, get no airplay but are still huge and have followings. I'm sure some people are familiar with "Japanese Idols" like AKB48, Morning Musume, etc. Basically an all female pop group that they sell the girls as much if not more than the music. While the members of AKB48 get charting hits and appear on a variety of variety shows and have photo books released of them, there is a whole subset of "underground idols" that have just as massive and dedicated fan base but you'll never see them on TV or hear their music unless you seek it out.  However, this is not just for female pop groups but every genre of music. The birth of this trend was from the early 80s, so you didn't see a lot of female rockers in Japan. I'm sure there are some female rock groups that were inspired by them but none that leap to mind. I would half expect Shonen Knife was. There are still some female only rock/punk bands out there but they are in that underground status and unless you actively seek them out it's hard to find them or their influences.

    Much like other bands that were huge in Japan at that time it's only the ones that continues to perform that have any sort of lasting legacy with the exception being Queen. So while people will still get excited for KISS, Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, etc. sadly Cheap Trick, The Runaways, etc. are mostly a memory.

    Fun fact the poster or DVD cover for this movie is the image of their Japan appearance so maybe that look is "iconic" or they're selling it on sex appeal.

    1 hour ago, Cameron H. said:

    This is somewhat reinforced by the fact that according to IMDb, the band that was giving them shit about doing a sound check was Rush! There’s no way a Seventies punk band would have been caught dead opening for Rush.

    I'm no Rush expert but I have a hard time imaging them being like "Ew, girls." Maybe it was their roadies or managers.

    • Like 3

  21. Posted

    2 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

    Yea, for real. And she's had a really interesting life too... became a successful lawyer and a Jeopardy champion!

    But one side angle of that is how they handled her in this. They cast Alia Shawkat who is great, but did she even have any lines? Did she one word? But on the other hand, Fox wasn't even allowed to play on their first album, which this film covers. They ending up using, if I recall right, Blondie's bassist. So in a way, she was somewhat expandable in this story.

    I legit didn't even recognize Alia Shawkat in this. Now that you mention it I don't think she does have a single speaking line. Maybe when they're in the pool she does some shouting but that's about it.

    • Like 3

  23. Posted

    On 9/14/2020 at 12:51 PM, grudlian. said:

    I wondered about this as well. I watched this on my phone while working. So, I figured maybe I missed the scratches on the film but I didn't notice any.

    Robert Rodriguez claims he purposefully scratched the film for Planet Terror from Grind House. Velocipastor's first movie was a fake trailer that he expanded to a full length movie and claims he destroyed the film. So, I think this guy is just a huge fan of Grind House or Robert Rodriguez.

     

    17 hours ago, theworstbuddhist said:

    I don't know how common it was but it certainly has been a thing in the past for directors to "distress" or otherwise interfere with unexposed film in order to "bake in" a special effect. I remember the commentary track for Pitch Black talked about taking a gamble on some kind of chemical bath that didn't work out the way they hoped.

    Yes, I know Peter Jackson wasn't the only one to do it, I was more trying to point out he said he copied the same methods which resulted in Peter Jackson's case a film that looked like it was from the early 20th century and his looked very digital.

  24. Posted

    Sorry I just need to rant a bit more about this movie mostly the writer/director. Let's look at two claims he made that were read out in the episode.  First the claim that he baked the film and scuffed it up with dirt and grit to add texture and lines to it. For me this story rang some bells. I was a huge Peter Jackson fan loving Bad Taste and Dead Alive from my early teens. Between those movies he made a smaller non-b movie called Forgotten Silver about a made up turn of the century New Zealand film maker. Do you want to take a guess how Jackson created authentic looking lost footage? Hint it involves ovens and dirt. His methods were so good they fooled people. Did anybody notice any grain or artifact like quality to Velocipastor? No it looked digital for for that budget was most likely digital. So if he did what Peter Jackson famously did and fooled people with, how did we not notice it?

    The second thing I want to talk about is his story about how he came up with the idea. He said his phone auto-corrected velociraptor to velicopaster and that gave him the idea. I want you to pick up your phone right now and type in the word "velociraptor." Did your phone autocorrect that word? Try misspelling it. What most likely will happen is it will correct it to velociraptor or just underline it in red. What it will not do is autocorrect it to velocipastor. Why is that? Autocorrect doesn't make up words. Why would it correct it to something that doesn't exist. Now, maybe he wanted to write velociraptor and misspelled it. Yet that's not an as funny story. It's a better story if the phone did it and it inspired me than me just making a mistake and thinking it was funny.

    I'm not saying the filmmaker is a bad guy just the two story they read from him have a distinct aura of BS about them to me. It makes me highly doubt the claims the money came from his mom's friend. More likely like Kevin Smith or other first time film makers he just maxed out his credit cards. Yet that's not funny or quirky as he seems to wants this whole thing to be.

    • Like 4

  25. Posted

    As expected I was not a fan of this movie. I very much agree with Paul that this movie has comedy chops but it just keeps getting in the way of itself. Rather it walks this fine line of being a wacky comedy and being a B-movie pastiche. Let's start with the first real joke, the car exploding. The gag of putting "VFX: Car on fire" or whatever it was is a fine joke. It's a little inside to film making process when shots like that exist in not yet completed films. Yet, in a real B movie would that shot exist? No it would be a terrible effect or some stock footage. Imagine that scene but say they cut to clearly some stock footage of a car in an open area that's clearly not that location exploding. Still funny but yet actually in keeping with B-movie style and behavior. Both are fine jokes yet one is an homage and the other just a joke. To me it's more like he wanted to make this silly movie but could only get a little money to make it so he decided "if I deliberately make it bad then I can get away with doing things on the cheap." This was a comedy first that they slapped B-movie onto to cover up possible short comings. That's the problem. B-Movie is not a genre. To take tropes from all these things and try and put them together muddies the waters.

    To support this point look at the movie Manborg. Manborg was a super low budget (a few thousand) Canadian movie from the early 2010s. That movie was trying to be a send up of 1980s sci-fi post apocalypse movies. Story-wise the movie is pitch perfect to those types of movies. Yet there are jokes within it but the story and how it plays out is on point for an 80s bad movie. It is clear what it is mimicking. There are good in jokes like a character being Australian a nod to the ozplotation films of the 80s that show it is aware of its roots and what it was doing. Visually the film doesn't capture the full look and feel of the 80s because they use lots of green screen. Yet the cheap costumes and the filters they use add to a retro film. It's a goofy movie that cost nothing to make and was made out of love of films of that genre. Now Velicopastor is suppose to be doing a similar thing yet it just leaves you with more questions. The hosts note they aren't sure when this film is suppose to take place. They note the Vietnam war but there are no visual clues that this is a lost or dated film. The cars are modern, the dress is modern, none of this evokes a specific time or type of "B-movie." They read claims from the director that the film was baked in an over and dragged around in a car. Did anybody notice any grain or film like quality to the movie? No it looked digital for for that budget was most likely digital. There is nothing in this film other than stilted acting and dialogue that indicates it is suppose to be a "bad movie." Both Manborg and Velicopastor are super low budget movies that are comedies. The main difference one is a B movie parody first and comedy second while one is a comedy first and a b movie second. Of course this is all subjective to the viewer and your mileage may vary. Personally I feel if you want to be a funny parody like Airplane!, Young Frankenstein, or Black Dynamite you must be what you are parodying first, and not like Superhero Movie or Meet the Spartans where the framework of what you're parodying is a set up for jokes within the movie and really has nothing to do with the movie.

    Paranormal Activity, Eraserhead, Primer, and El Mariachi budget's combined equaled that of Velocipastor with enough left over to make something like Manborg. Having no money is no excuse to make something purposefully bad.

    • Like 6
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