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Chicago Lamb Meet-up Aftermath
Since I haven’t posted much content lately (I’m working on it, just been very busy with non-blog stuff, and still watching the Flash TV series with just 2 episodes left) I thought I’d write up a quick post about the Chicago Lamb Meet-Up that happened last weekend. I’m not a hugely social person, but since I had already talked to almost everyone that showed up on either their podcast, mine, or both, it felt a lot more like meeting a group of friends instead of a bunch of people I had never met before. I considered doing a podcast for Filmwhys, but didn’t really have any ideas or the equipment to make it happen. But I did appear on the two other podcasts that recorded on Sunday in Alcohollywood Studios. So make sure you check out The Lambcast where we mostly played a somewhat movie-related round of Cards Against Humanity along with a bit of a discussion afterwards. I also appeared on The Lair of the Unwanted where we also mostly just played a big Game of the Unwanted though I didn’t make as much of an appearance on that episode. And if you want to see what I actually look like, I appeared on a video over at Film Yarn where I talked about my top 5 of the year so far, which unsurprisingly feature four films that I reviewed on this site and the fifth was also featured. I also wanted to thank everyone from French Toast Sunday, Clint from Alcohollywood, Chris from After Credits, Dylan from Man, I Love Films (kinda), Vern from Vern’s Video Vortex, Nick from Your Face!, Lackey from The Nightmare Gallery, and a couple I missed on Saturday, Dan from Public Transportation Snob, and Steve from 1001 Plus. Next week should have some more posts again including an animated Batman movie I should have watched a while ago, a classic superhero movie, my thoughts on the Flash series, and finally the final 100 Essential Superhero Movie list. Until next time, this has been Bubbawheat for Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights.
Nominated for a Lammy!
If you’re a film blogger, you should know about the Lamb already. If you don’t, it’s the Large Association of Movie Blogs with over 1,500 member blogs and growing. They’re currently running their yearly awards for movie sites like this one and I’ve made it to the finals in the category of Best Genre Blog.
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First Impressions: Lammy Awards 2013 Best Genre Blog part 2
Ok, I went through all the action-oriented and foreign genre sites yesterday and now I’m back to finish up the rest of the Genre sites to see what I’m up against and share my thoughts with you. And remember, if you’re a Lamb member yourself, feel free to use these first impressions to help make your decision on what to vote for to make the final nominees for this year’s Lammy awards.
First Impressions: Lammy Awards 2013 Genre Blogs part 1
I did this last year with the other 5 horror and sci-fi sites I was up against, and this year things are done a little bit differently. The category has been split up into horror and an all-encompassing “genre” category. I was, and still am, in favor of this change because there are so many sites out there that focus on a specific genre of movies that might not work in any other category. There’s also an extra narrowing down of the field of blogs. Now instead of going from the entire Lamb database down to the 5-10 nominees, the field is narrowed down to eligible sites either through their own inclusion, or the inclusion of others. So again, I’ll be checking out all the sites in my category and sharing my first impressions. This will be a little more interesting due to the fact that the genres are so wildly encompassing, but I will try to group them as best as I can. Some of the things that I found myself looking at were: frequency of updates, ease of finding an actual movie review within the genre, overall feel of the site, and as a matter of curiosity: if they include a link back to the Lamb site or not. While linking back to the Lamb isn’t a very big factor in getting my nomination, if it’s a close tie between two sites, linking back to the Lamb could push them over the edge.
Podcasts and Lammy Awards
Recently I had the chance to guest on a fairly new podcast out there called the Film Pasture and it’s run over at the Lamb’s site. Pat from 100 years of Movies and I talk about the recent batch of DC movies, both their live action hits (Dark Knight Trilogy), misses (Green Lantern), and their animated movies. We also discuss what their prospects look like in the future with the upcoming Man of Steel.
Megamind
Megamind 2010
After going through a few documentaries, I figured it was time to get back to some more lighthearted fare. And it also helped that the newest announced acting school over at the LAMB is for Brad Pitt, who conveniently voices Metro Man in this movie. This movie is a real mash-up of different superhero tropes looked at through different angles, and there are quite a few surprise twists along with several unsurprising twists, which I will be mentioning farther down in this review in case you haven’t seen this movie yet. I don’t think knowing any of the twists beforehand really affect the outcome of the movie, but this is your spoiler warning anyway. There are also a few nice touching moments, and throughout the whole thing is a lot of laughs.
I’m expanding my borders
I think I’ve been going a little overboard lately, but it’s all good for now. I’ve recently started contributing over at the Lamb by doing a weekly game and I’m also working on another weekly feature over there. Not only that, but if you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve got a lovely new icon up at the top of the page with an F on it. Click it or click here for this site’s Facebook page. Be sure to “like” it and I’ll also be doing a near-daily game/discussion over there featuring some great minimalist movie posters. Basically I’ll be looking online for minimalist posters that catch my eye but might not be the easiest to recognize what movie they are for, so I’ll blank out the title and see if you can figure it out. I might toss in some real easy ones that I just think look good, so be sure and tell me what you think of the poster too, instead of just guessing the movie.
FTMN Poll and Lamb MOTM
I’ve been watching a lot of animation lately and wanted to know what you think about it? I’m a big fan of animation, both hand drawn and CG from Toy Story to Shrek to DC and Marvel animation to classics like Secret of NIMH to anime like Akira. The one thing that most people can’t get past is that it’s not a genre, it’s a medium. An animated movie can be anything from G to R to XXX, and even though popular opinion may slowly be changing, it’s still generally considered to be kids stuff.
Aside from the poll, I also wanted to plug another Lamb event – the Movie of the Month. Every month, up to 10 Lamb members choose a movie that gets put on a poll on the Lamb site (top right corner). The winner becomes the Movie of the Month and Lamb members are encouraged to watch and review it, and it’s also the topic of that week’s Lambcast. I tossed my hat in the ring this month with the movie that I enjoyed the most this past month, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. So if you want to hear me talk about the movie on a podcast, which will be my first podcast, go to the Lamb and vote for Gremlins 2!
First Impressions: A Look at the Lammys Best Horror/Sci-Fi
First off, I’m sorry I don’t have another Superhero Shorts for you today. I really enjoy this feature, but the part I enjoy most is the interviews. And unfortunately, I can’t write both halves of the interview so I’m beholden to the filmmakers who are willing to give me the time to answer my silly little questions. I do have a couple in the works where I’m just waiting on their response, and I’m always on the lookout for fan films new and old to try and contact. If you know of any that I haven’t featured yet, please let me know, especially if you have any contact information. So instead, since the Large Association of Movie Blogs is right at the start of the voting process for their Lammy awards, I thought I’d take a page out of Fogs’ Movie Reviews and take a closer look at all the blogs nominated for Best Horror or Sci-Fi blog, which includes this site.
A Big Thanks, and Upcoming Lamb News
I’ve got to start out by saying a great big thank you to all of my readers and Lamb members. As most of you know, or could have figured out by the large poster that was hanging out in the sidebar for a while, the Large Association of Movie Blogs aka Lamb has been holding their yearly awards. And from over 1,200 members, and probably well over a hundred genre blogs, I made it through to the nominations stage to be eligible for the best Sci-Fi or Horror blog. I really appreciate the votes of confidence and while I think it’ll be a tough challenge to nab the top spot, it feels really good to make it this far. Voting starts this weekend, be sure to keep an eye out and keep me in mind. Now, I was going to make a blog post about the parallels of mutant discrimination in the movies and how it can relate to almost any minority group, I’m in too good a mood for such a heavy subject. Instead, I’m moving that topic into my review for X-Men: The Last Stand, which is where it has the most relevance anyway. Then, I was going to compare the different actors that played the same mutants across different movies, but it turned into mostly First Class vs. the X-Men trilogy, and then it became late so instead I’ll just be writing a short post.
Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights 