0304.29 : Oh, and yesterday's USA Today revealed Buffy creator Joss Whedon's 10 Favorite Episodes to date. Some interesting choices.

0304.29 : Be sure to celebrate Walpurgis Night tomorrow -- which is also Free Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins! (Coincidence? You decide.)

0304.28 : The mad geniuses at Apple released iTunes 4 today, which now features a beautifully integrated online music store seamlessly built-in. (Plus, a new generation of slimmer yet beefier iPods!) Pretty damn cool.

0304.27 : The new issue of Newsweek has an intriguing article (by Brad Stone) about the new space race being led by private industry -- including Jeff Bezos.

0304.26 : Happy Birthday, PFC Jessica Lynch.

0304.25 : Last night I was treated to the Austin premiere of Cirque du Soleil: Alegria (thanks to my friend Rebecca Campbell of the Austin Film Society). Wow. Very impressive stuff, especially from the third row (though I must admit the contortionist crossed the line into disturbing; then again, third row). Overall, however, it was consistently entertaining and thoroughly fascinating, not just on a creative level but also a (very) technical one -- from the production infrastructure to performers who challenge the boundaries of the superhuman. The entire Cirque phenomenon is a textbook example of how to blend art and commerce to build a potent brand without sacrificing its heart. Highly recommended (especially if you have kids). (Running through May 18 in Austin.)

0304.24 : Furreal Friends are animatronic, interactive robot cats and kittens from Tiger Toys that aren't just freaky, they're downright creepy. (Be sure to watch the video to see what I mean.)

0304.23 : Behold the wonders of Zombo.com, where the infinite is possible! (Make sure your sound is turned on... and up.)

0304.22 : Travel forward in time to the year 2046 and read excerpts from the new best-selling memoir, "My Name Is Blanket". (Courtesy of Paul Ford's Ftrain.com)

0304.21 : There's a nice article (by Stephen Saito) about the Austin film industry in today's Daily Texan.

0304.20 : The New York Times has a great article today (by Warren St. John) entitled "Why TiVo Owners Can't Shut Up"... and boy howdy, can I sure relate! (If you don't already have one, go buy a TiVo right now... it's a benevolent household god!)

0304.19 : Congratulations to the cast and crew of Buffy The Vampire Slayer for wrapping their seventh and final season in Los Angeles this week. Check out some great photos from last night's wrap party here or (big page load) here. There's also a nice interview with Joss here (The series finale airs May 20 on UPN.)

0304.16 : Congrats to my friend Tom Copeland for 20 years of service with the Texas Film Commission! (And apologies for missing the party!)

0304.15 : The new (May) issue of Scientific American has a great cover story by Max Tegmark on parallel universes. Highly recommended and thoroughly fascinating reading.

0304.14 : A masked professional wrestler known as "The Great Sasuke" has won a local assembly election in Japan's conservative Iwate prefecture... and has vowed to keep his mask on and demonstrate his "superabundant power". Reuters has the story here (be sure to click on the awesome photo). (Found on Die Puny Humans.)

0304.13 : Happy Birthday, Ron Perlman!

0304.12 : We Love The Iraqi Information Minister Dot Com (Now go there before your stomach roasts in hell.)

0304.11 : This afternoon I saw James Cameron's stunning new documentary Ghosts of the Abyss in 3-D (but sadly, not Imax) at the Regal Metropolitan theater. There's a good reason it's among the best reviewed movies of the year so far -- it's amazing. I still find the 3-D effect a little dodgy (maybe it's because I wear glasses, but I periodically register annoying ghosting), but it's still a pretty extraordinary piece of (digital) filmmaking. Recommended.

0304.11 : Scary Wired cover story (by Ben Mezrich) on Hollywood's tracking boards at this link. Eek.

0304.08 : Big treat today. I finally made it out to Dripping Springs to visit the (massive) set of The Alamo (by production designer Michael Corenblith) with my pals Marc English and Jeff, er, Jett Garner. ;-) Very impressive stuff, and it was great seeing several folks from the Secondhand Lions crew like John Pritchett -- who gave me an amazing gift (an original shooting script from the production of our beloved Buckaroo Banzai).

0304.07 : The new Krispy Kreme Special Doughnut of the Month(s) is Chocolate Malted Kreme. It's a chocolate iced doughnut filled with malted cream and sprinkled with crushed chocolate malted milk balls. And it's frelling fantastic. (Available until June 1.)

0304.07 : Congratulations to Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post for winning the second Pulitzer Prize for Film Criticism ever awarded (Roger Ebert won the first in 1975). I like to think he won for his Blade II review last year, which was utter genius.

0304.04 : Speaking of which... I keep meaning to mention that I've been listening to lots of internet radio lately (thanks to iTunes) -- mainly SomaFM's ingenious Secret Agent channel (grab the broadband stream here). I also listen to KCRW (Santa Monica public radio; broadband stream), Jim Aquino's Fistful of Soundtracks (which I desperately wish had a broadband stream) and, in small doses, the truly frightening Japan-A-Radio.

0304.03 : "Could the federal government find out what you're watching on TV? Even if you're not the subject of a criminal investigation? The answer is yes... under the USA Patriot Act." Read TelevisionWeek's entire(ly) frightening article by Phillip Swann here.

0304.02 : COLOSSAL SQUID... because sometimes Giant Squid just ain't damn big enough.

0304.01 : Oh, and Uruk-hai are protesting negative portrayals in Lord of the Rings.

0304.01 : Yeah, yeah... I took some time off and didn't warn you. Sorry. I was a little under the weather and, well, kinda bummed about Farscape (not to mention seeing another perfectly good Best Picture Oscar wasted). So I rearranged my home office. Anyway... I rediscovered a regular dose of joy that's well worth sharing -- bookmark harrumph! (and be sure to browse the previous entries; Heather Champ is an online goddess, generating some of the best photography on the web).

0303.23 : Congrats to The Pianist on its stunning triple upset at tonight's Oscars -- winning Best Director (Roman Polanski), Actor (Adrien Brody), and Adapted Screenplay (Ronald Harwood) -- and to Hayao Miyazaki (Animated Feature, Spirited Away) and Pedro Almodovar (Original Screenplay, Talk To Her).

0303.21 : "So what do we do?" "We hope." Praise and thanks to David Kemper and the entire Farscape crew for four magnificent seasons. Godspeed John Crichton and the crew of Moya. TO BE CONTINUED

0303.20 : You have got to check out Micah Wright's ingeniously subversive Propaganda Remix Project, in which he takes classic war propaganda posters and gives them a modern twist. (See also this excellent Newsarama interview.) You can buy the book (Back The Attack! Remixed War Propaganda) at Amazon and buy posters and t-shirts at Micah's CafeShop.

0303.20 : Oh, and I also saw the new Animatrix short film, Final Flight of the Osiris, which is attached to (the end of) all prints of Dreamcatcher. Visually stunning, it's frustratingly short. Rather than offering a complete story, it teases with just a couple sequences and a handful of scenes, and feels like a mere slice of a movie. Artistically and technically impressive work by the Square team (who did Final Fantasy), but ultimately unsatisfying in and of itself. (Click here for a trailer and here for a clip.)

0303.20 : So I saw Dreamcatcher the other night (after being surreally searched and hand-wanded by security -- not for weapons, but for digital cameras). Freaky, insane stuff. Sort of "Signs" meets "Hearts in Atlantis" (or, as Glen said, "Scooby Doo" meets "The Big Chill" meets "The Thing"). It's got a lot of problems and is waaaaaay over the top, but I still thought it was an entertaining B-movie guilty pleasure. I mean, how often do you get to see Morgan Freeman play John Wayne? Plus Damian Lewis ("Band of Brothers") is really good, and I didn't even recognize Donnie Wahlberg as Duddits. Just be warned that the movie is completely nuts... and, on at least one level, a timely and disturbing metaphor for current American foreign policy. (Dreamcatcher opens tomorrow nationwide.)

0303.19 : Happy (Sixth) Birthday, Hellboy.com! Woo-hoo!

0303.19 : I love this. Imagine an ATM that dares to tell its customers to "Submit - Conform - Obey" (among other things) and prints "you are not what you own" on its receipts. Well, dream no more! Check out the Subversive ATM at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. (Found on Die Puny Humans.)

0303.19 : Holy crap! Former Vice President Al Gore has joined Apple's Board of Directors. Really! More details at News.com.com and Yahoo/Reuters.

0303.18 : This is cool... An online guide to Gargoyles in New York City. (Found on Metafilter.)

0303.15 : My Q&A with Daniela Amavia about CHILDREN OF DUNE is now online. (Thanks, AICN.)

0303.15 : Salon has a great article (by Adrienne Crew) about the ongoing online campaign to save Farscape (one of my five favorite shows), including an innovative initiative by the non-profit Viewer Consortium to fan-finance an episode. (Farscape's fourth season cliffhanger finale -- and de facto series finale -- airs Friday on SciFi.) Farscape quote of the day: "If you settle for what they're giving you, you deserve what you get. DON'T SETTLE."

0303.14 : I had a wonderful 90 minute conversation with my dear friend Daniela this afternoon, who stars in CHILDREN OF DUNE (premiering on SciFi Channel this Sunday, and highly recommended). I hope to be posting a short Q&A with her on AICN this weekend.

0303.14 : I realize this is kinda cheating, but I'm posting several retroactive updates for the past week in order to get caught up. (I've been totally consumed by SXSW, which has been damn good this year.)

0303.13 : Holy crap this is cool! Check out RUSTBOY (Thanks Adam & Harry.)

0303.12 : Thoroughly great day today. At SXSW this morning I saw Greg Pritikin's absolutely brilliant and hysterical DUMMY, which stars the amazing Adrien Brody (alongside Milla Jovovich, Ileana Douglas and Vera Farmiga). It was standing room only at the Alamo, and I very happily stood. (Look for my review soon on AICN.) Then I had lunch at Mezzaluna (spinach gnocchi... yum) with my friend Adam Joseph and some other cool people, after which I was treated to a tour of Digital Anvil and a behind-the-scenes peek at their new Freelancer game. Very cool stuff (though Microsoft still gives me the heebie-jeebies).

0303.11 : Saw PHONE BOOTH. As my friend Glen (basically) said, "that was a pretty good movie that could have been a really great short film."

0303.10 : Had a great lunch today at Las Manitas (flautas) with Wrye Martin of Civilian Pictures and producer Anne Walker. Then we did the Film Financing round table / panel at SXSW with Sarah Price, who's like an indie filmmaking superhero. Later at the Paramount I got to see Greg Pak's exquisite and inspired ROBOT STORIES which -- as you might imagine -- I totally fell in love with. (Look for my review soon on AICN.)

0303.09 : Attended the DGA luncheon at Shoreline Grill with Tim, which was a real pleasure. Later checked out Don Coscarelli's BUBBA HO-TEP at SXSW. Pretty damn cool, and gleefully twisted.

0303.08 : Met John Lee Hancock this evening at the Texas Film Commission party. Heck of a nice guy. Sadly missed the Milkshake Media open house, though.

0303.07 : Attended the Texas Film Hall of Fame tonight with Tim, who's in town for the weekend and screened a rough teaser for SECONDHAND LIONS, which looked beautiful. Also got to chat with Robert Duvall and Elvis Mitchell (among many others), which was a huge treat.

0303.03 : In two days... FAITH RETURNS. (And so do I, btw.)

0301-0302 : Click here for January and February, 2003.