• Nigel M Smith has a great interview with Chris Colfer about his screenwriting debut Struck By Lightning. IndieWire
• Samuel Zimmerman interviews Sound of My Voice star Christopher Denham about the movie I can’t see tomorrow because the limited release is very limited. Why you hate audiences, Sound of My Voice? Fangoria
• I can whip up a spec script like that if Warner Brothers is looking to Twitter users for new screenplays. Cinema Blend
• I’m really digging the Hell Yeah Horror Manga Tumblr. This gif is creepy, but really clever. Hell Yeah Horror Manga

Hell Yeah Horror Manga

• If that wasn’t enough creep factor for you, this one off Whomp! should make you sad and scared. Whomp!
• Amir pays tribute to that other Pixar film. You know, A Bug’s Life? The Film Experience
• Ironically, Audra McDonald’s version of the Lupone freak out is ineffective because the audience member didn’t have a cellphone out. I was wondering about the un-characteristically poorly proofed tweets. Playbill

Finally, I’m teaching some students “Don’t Tell Mama” from Cabaret today. I came across actual video footage of Judi Dench performing Fraulein Sally Bowles in the original West End production of Cabaret. Yes, it’s synced audio from the cast album. Doesn’t take away from that performance.

• Update on that absolutely absurd Etsy/reseller nonsense from yesterday. The actual company making Ecologica Malibu’s furniture speaks out and Etsy is sending poorly written cease and desist letters to people covering the story with actual evidence. Regretsy
• Turns out that Kazakhstan can now officially draw a link between Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and a surge in tourism. ABC News Australia
• Susan Gerhard has a great interview with Sam Green, the director of a new documentary about Esperanto called The Universal Language. Fandor
• Apparently Biz Markie likes Barbie dolls. Who knew? Gawker
• This is why skilled people can’t have nice things. The Trenches
• Tired of bullet time? How about amazing bullet-time inspired light painting installations? Dude Craft

Bullet Time Light Painting

Finally, the NY Shakespeare Exchange is trying to Kickstart the budget for their 2012-13 season. Their goal is to make Shakespeare accessible to as wide an audience as possible. If they raise 45,000 dollars, they will be doing a really cool video Shakespeare project in honor of Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. They’re going to hire 154 actors to perform all 154 sonnets in 154 locations throughout NYC and release them online for a year leading into the birthday celebration. It’s worth at least watching their fundraising video, if not donating as well. I’m kicking in next week when I get paid again.

• This is why you don’t cross dystopian fiction writers. Kurt Vonnegut’s letter to school board/book burning advocate Charles McCarthy. Letters of Note
• MUBI put together a great collection of Dario Argento images in honor of New York’s Museum of Arts and Design holding an Argento retrospective. Oh yes, there will be blood. MUBI
• Not to be outdone, Fandor has a look at the other Italian master of bloody horror, Mario Bava, that’s worth reading. Fandor
• Apparently, there will be a sequel to the surprisingly good found footage movie The Last Exorcism. Shock Till You Drop
• Josh Brycer pays tribute to Silent Hill 2, one of the first video games to give me nightmares. Quarter to Three
• These two posts paint quite a bad picture of Etsy, the “handmade marketplace.” Regretsy uncovers a blatant reseller/importer featured on Etsy’s blog as a paragon of DIY/handmade culture. Regretsy
• Then the Consumerist covers the backpedaling and spin. The Consumerist
• But it’s okay because Etsy will just delete all the comments, rewrite the interview to say things the “artist” didn’t say, and change their terms of use to allow US sellers to import mass manufactured furniture from Indonesia and claim they make hundreds of large, intricate pieces a month with four employees. Etsy

Editor’s Note: We’ve amended the interview below with additional information from Mariana about her Malibu, CA-based operation. Ecologica Malibu is a collective shop, run on Etsy by Mariana with help from a local staff. In keeping with Etsy’s rules, that collective should have been disclosed within the shop; this is now corrected.

At Etsy, we believe strongly in transparency, and we should have done more in this case to live up to that value. As editors, we should have ensured that relevant details about the people and processes behind Ecologica Malibu came through clearly in this interview. In that regard, we failed and we apologize.

We know you expect to see the best of Etsy in the Featured Seller series, and so our Marketplace Integrity team reviews every shop prior to selection. Based on information Mariana provided us, we were confident that Ecologica Malibu fit our criteria. Our policies on member privacy prevent us from disclosing details of Mariana’s sourcing and business relationships; each seller on Etsy benefits from this protection of privacy. However, we can assure readers that we’ve thoroughly investigated all the questions raised publicly over the last two days with Mariana, including sales on other websites and related business entities. Mariana has documented that the furniture sold on Etsy through their shop is constructed in their Malibu studio from raw materials sourced in Indonesia.

Please remember that discussing a specific member, shop or item (either by name or with identifiable hints) in a negative way is not allowed on Etsy, as you can read in our community policies. The community is the heart of Etsy, and there’s a real person behind each name here. Some of the reaction to this feature has really crossed the line and doesn’t live up to our shared standards. For that reason, we’re taking the rare step of removing all comments, negative and positive, from this post. You are always free to share criticisms of Etsy and we encourage you to do so; if you have a concern about another member, please email Etsy Support directly. We are listening. You can leave your further feedback about Etsy and our policies in this forum post. Thanks.

So, Mariah, what do you think of Etsy’s revisionist history and refusal to admit that they promoted a rule breaking shop?



That’s what I thought. Disgraceful.

At least we have amazing videos to distract ourselves with. Here are selections from Alloy Orchestra’s scores to the latest Ebertfest selections. The arranger/musician commentary on why they recorded these tracks for these films is very eye opening. How would someone talk if they had a clarinet stuck in their head? Kevin B. Lee does great work with this kind of video content.

• See, this is why I was a terrible working actor. I would never think to do something like buy a billboard to advertise my skills to a famous film director. IndieWire
• Jose breaks down just how many of the Cannes Film Festival selections come from returning directors. The Film Experience
• Then there’s the whole “you couldn’t find one female director’s film worth including” aspect that is disappointing. Women and Hollywood
• These animals are especially disappointed in the Cannes Film Festival organizers. BuzzFeed
• I know I’m big on context. Sometimes, actors provide their own context. Take it away, Sketchy Details’ favorite Jennifer Lawrence. Pajiba
• This new example of Etsy incompetence would be funny if it wasn’t for their long record of having arbitrary policies that only apply to legitimate crafters and vintage sellers (not resellers and lying vintage shops). Regretsy
• This post all about an American woman working at a hostess establishment in Japan is a very interesting read. Kotaku
• It’s a cat! It’s a keyring! It’s a potentially deadly self defense weapon! Bit Rebels

Knuckle Kitties have bite

Finally, weep in terror at the awful merchandising that has dogged the entire history of Star Wars. Money: it’s what’s for breakfast at the Lucas household.

• Michael C started an excellent discussion about self-referential/winking horror films at The Film Experience. I already weighed in twice. The Film Experience
• Disney is essentially rebooting The Wind in the Willows under the guise of a theme park adaptation. Cinema Blend
• Ben Kuchera weighs out the pros and cons of funding games on Kickstarter. The PA Report
• How far will the creepy dead celebrity hologram technology go? BuzzFeed
• Michael Moore led a movement to rewrite the Academy Award rules for documentaries. His explanation for the new rules is brilliant. IndieWire
• The Nerdist YouTube channel is getting a DIY horror makeup effects series. You know I’m excited. Shock Till You Drop
• What’s cuter than a smiling corgi? A smiling corgi lawyer who talks in puns and dog jokes. QuickMeme



Finally, I’m mad at myself for not knowing Sword & Laser existed before their debut on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. Their 32 minute video debut is worth watching for any genre fiction fan. It’s a geeky book club with interviews and an animatronic dragon.

• I’m confused and fascinated by this Saw-themed cruise. Would it be a bigger draw if you got to try out some traps without the risk of death? Shock Till You Drop
• The Pulitzer Prize Awards were announced yesterday. Saran Ganim, a 24 year old reporter, won the local reporting award for her coverage of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. The Mary Sue
• Quiara Alegria Hughes won the Pulitzer for Drama for her play Water by the Spoonful. She was a finalist twice before with In the Heights and Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue. Playbill
• And in shocking Pulitzer news, there is no 2012 prize for fiction. The jury’s spin is that not awarding the prize to one book means the three finalists are all winners. Not how it goes down in the history books, jurors. Publishers Weekly
• Until they bring those zombie runs to my area, I can at least train with the storytelling/exercise game Zombies, Run!. Kotaku
• Here’s a cool shot of the space orbiter Discovery being carried by a plane over the capital. Sad that it’s leaving space. NASA

Finally, this close to NSFW edition of Chris Hardwick’s Celebrity Bowling has everything you could want in a nerd/geek themed bowling web series. G4 Staff! Bowling! Professional bowler Billy Hardwick! Awkward social interactions!

• Time Out put together a strange and wonderful list of the 100 Best Horror Films. Nathaniel Rogers’ commentary and the comment section make it worth exploring here. The Film Experience
• NSFW: The new Penny Arcade really captures the level of manipulation that goes on when serious gamers take on board games. Sympathy never works. Penny Arcade
• Apparently, The Hunger Games is still dominating at the US Box Office. Here are the other recent films to manage four #1 weeks in a row. Pajiba
• A Serbian Film is one of those horror films you watch just to say you made it through. This one in particular is compared to the Aristocrats joke. It’s pointless beyond the shock. Now the real uncut version is getting a US release, inappropriate contact with a baby included. I’m…not sure I can go through it again just for that. Fangoria
• Kimberley Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) might manage to make the latest Carrie adaptation something worth watching. Carrie is nothing without believable character development. Shock Till You Drop
• Yeah, yeah. This happened a week ago on Mad Men. It still makes me smile. It’s a nice palate cleanser after all the horror news.

• One time, I’ll remember to get my content finished for a LAMB theme. Here’s a wide array of content inspired by Inglourious Basterds. I’m sure I’ll get around to that German mountain film write-up eventually. LAMB
• It appears the difference between loving and hating Peter and the Starcatcher on Broadway is how willing you are to accept theater as spectacle with low tech effects in a big house. How War Horse got near-universal raves for doing the same with high tech puppets is beyond me. It’s not like War Horse had a particularly sophisticated plot or characters (at all). Broadway World

Finally, I’m serving double videos today. Why? I can’t choose between the two.

First, Sketchy Details favorite Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has a new video called “Candy Candy.” It’s delightful. It also has a chorus entirely in English, so now you can sing more than just the title if you don’t speak Japanese.

And not officially named Sketchy Details favorite Ve Neill was interviewed about the Capitol makeup in The Hunger Games. I knew they intentionally downplayed Effie’s look at the Reaping to ease the audience into the shock of the Capitol’s bizarre couture.

• Christopher Lee came back for an Evil Dead 2-ing of The Wicker Man. Fangoria
• PAX happened this weekend and Easter was the only reason I didn’t try to go. This indie game developer convention pooling bid was genius. The PA Report
• The Operation Kino podcast has a new spin-off: OpKino Indie. Cinema Blend
• Pajiba digs through all 69 films that Titanic beat during its box office reign in order of how much more money Titanic made that weekend. Pajiba
• The only thing funnier than over zealous theater fans losing their minds is over zealous theater fans preemptively mocking themselves for losing their minds. The pre-backlash backlash caused by Raven Symone’s unfortunately timed sick leave from Sister Act. Broadway World
• Did you know American Idol cleared songs like Far East Movement’s “Like a G6″ and “S&M” by Rihanna this season? Turns out they’re doing a 2010-2012 (aka this decade) theme this week. Vote for the Worst
• Bit Rebels has an amazing infographic about slacktivists. You know. People who do minute things to help a cause, like retweet a fundraising link rather than donate? Bit Rebels

Rise of the Slacktivist

Finally, I knew that Weird Al Talk Show sounded too good to be true. He’s up to his old video editing tricks in the first episode of Face to Face with Weird Al Yankovic.

I’m working on some more substantial posts. I just felt bad that nothing went up yet today. Give it a few hours.

• I wish Dustin Rowles was joking about this new zombie film. He’s not. I checked. Pajiba
• If Donna Murphy is actually cast as the Witch in Into the Woods, I’ll actually care about another big NYC production. I mean, we just had one a decade ago. Broadway World
• Eric D. Snider imagines what the 2012 hunger games would look like. I’m scared by how close he comes to modern HS behavior. Snide Remarks
• Eric Kohn takes a look at the indie films about films/film nostalgia trend. Indiewire
• This is how you handle someone lashing out for attention. Why can’t adults read whatever literature they want to? No reason. Just promo work. The Fairy Tale Asylum
• Tired of presidential politics yet? No? Good news: they’re now a video game. Quarter to Three
• So NASA took a photo of IMAX cameras taking a photo of NASA’s work. So meta. NASA Image of the Day Gallery

When do we get the IMAX film of NASA filming IMAX cameras filming NASA for filmed research on space?

Finally, this Skyrim theme song cover is amazing for many reasons. Forget that one violinist and one singer layered 120 tracks to create the effect. It’s a fantastic arrangement of the song used for a really cool video.

• Disney has launched a cruise ship that is filled with giant interactive video games. Kotaku
• Finally, an image based Tumblr for me. NSFW. Hell Yeah Horror Manga
• I’m in a bit of a zombie mood today. Care for some zombie taxidermy? Bit Rebels
• I don’t normally like “x meets y” marketing. Rosemary’s Baby meets The Thing would be a big exception to that rule. Shock Till You Drop
• Etsy has a really offensive post on their blog about a mental health awareness art installation. No, Chappell, having a mental illness like OCD or anxiety is not cute, artistic, or profound. It’s just a medical condition that needs treatment. Feel free to share your outrage as the Etsy moderators are deleting comments that dare to question the lack of research, understanding, or empathy in the post. Etsy
• That’s a shame, too, as the art installation by Anna Schuleit was quite striking as a memorial to all the people who ever stayed at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. These were living, breathing people who were treated like others. The flowers show the dissonance between human beings being locked away for observation and the lives they lived trapped in one place. Bloom

So much life trapped in the walls of a mental hospital.

Finally, I remember when I last music directed a production of Anything Goes, our Reno Sweeney was sick a lot. It fell on me (in a limited run production without an understudy) to sing when she wasn’t there for rehearsals. Jonathan Groff’s performance of “Anything Goes” in the style of Sutton Foster gave me flashbacks to the grind of singing this song over and over until tech started. His aped performance is quite impressive.

• In case you missed it on Twitter, I’m doing short movie news/trailer/review posts for Directors Live now. You can find my posts here, though the site has been a bit slow to update new content. If you scroll through the post, you can see the rest of them on the bottom of the screen. Directors Live
• Joanna Robinson takes great joy in explaining why these 9 TV characters were not missed. Spoilers. Pajiba
• An MMORPG for people who think PVP mode in World of Warcraft is too kind. The PA Report
• I didn’t even want Rock of Ages when it was a Broadway show connected to my then-boss’ husband. Cinema Blend
• It’s not all sad news in Musical Land. Neil Patrick Harris will host the Tonys again. Broadway World
• There might be a Hellraiser TV show coming. Will any cable network allow the level of violence needed to sell the stakes of the series? Shock Till You Drop
• Stuart McLachlan’s life size paper environments are breathtaking. Dude Craft

An undersea fantasy in paper.

Finally, the history of Pokemon in only a about a minute.