Thor: The Dark World

Here's the trailer to the new Thor movie, The Dark World, starring my guy crush Thor, ahem, Chris Hemsworth. Ever since the Ultimates launch, I have loved beardo Thor and am happy to see that version of the Thunderer translated onto the big screen. Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings reprise their roles as Jane and Darcy. Anthony Hopkins as Odin and even Tom Hiddleston as Loki also return. From the looks of it, Thor and Loki have to team-up to take down a new villain threatening all Nine Realms.

You can catch a quick glimpse of Jaimie Alexander as Sif (glimpsed at 1:06 as Mjolnir flies by and then a closeup at 1:14) but I failed to sight the Warriors Three on my first viewing.

Thor: The Dark World is set for release 8 November 2013.

3D Sex & Zen explodes in the Hong Kong box office

It's all over the news. 3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (pictured right) not only blew away Ang Lee's Lust, Caution as the highest grossing erotica film in Hong Kong theaters but also got on top of Avatar as the highest grossing 3D film in Hong Kong. Lines formed outside the theaters all weekend. There were even several women-only showings of the film, I guess to "protect" "delicate feminine sensibilities." It's produced by Stephen Siu, who was also executive producer to the 90s film Sex & Zen. The story is based on The Carnal Prayer Mat and this film features Japanese AV idols.

I saw the original 1991 Sex and Zen (pictured below) at the original Alamo Drafthouse in Austin during their Asian Sundays film series. That film was more silly than scintillating. It evoked a funny mixture of raunchy sex comedies like Porkys or American Pie with period piece erotica like Fanny Hill. SPOILER: But there's a hilarious scene with a horse penis. You really do have to see it to laugh. I also enjoyed the sexy martial arts pic Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, a Shaw Brothers film, during this run of Asian films.

One correction to the story that's been circulating. 3D Sex and Zen is not the first 3D porn. It's the first IMAX 3D porn. I saw the first 3D porn, an American porn called Disco Dolls in Hot Skin or just Hot Skin (1977), at the Dobie when the Dobie still focused on indie and foreign films. It "starred" John Holmes, Bill Margold, Serena, Lesllie Bovee, and Uschi Digard.

The projectionist had something, the filter I think my friend said, in backwards for about half the film, causing the 3D effects to be even less spectacular than the intended ho hum and giving me quite the headache. Being red-green colorblind, the old style paper 3D glasses with the blue and red lenses already give me problems. The story, like every porn story, was pretty lame. Something about an undercover detective. It was filled with stupid jokes and unfunny dirty puns. Like most 70s porn. (Wow. I never realized how many sex movies I've seen in the theater.)

Both Sex and Zen movies are based on the same Chinese story but I don't know how closely the narratives overlap. The new film hasn't made it to American shores yet and I'm not sure how many US IMAX 3-D venues are going to want to show it. In America, IMAX has been mostly confined to family films or summer blockbusters so far.

I haven't seen an US release date yet so I guess American audiences will just have to wait. If the critical consensus holds true, that's the theme of 3D Sex and Zen; while a racy soft core porn, the story actually promotes abstinence. Based on the trailer, it looks more serious in tone than the original. And there's some serious fighting going on.

thundercats are loose!

Here's the preview trailer that aired on 25 February 2011 for the Cartoon Network remake of the beloved 80s cartoon series Thundercats. From the limited footage, it appears this version will take place on the original homeworld of Thundera. Either that or a lot more cat people managed to make it to New Thundera this time. Fans principal complaints so far have been (1) where's Panthro, (2) where's the Lair, (3) where's the Thundertank. Let's hope Lion-O has learned some respect in the last twentysomething years and quits yelling "Thundercats ho" when he wants Cheetara to show up.

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I don't get it...

Apparently there's a new meme circulating in certain corners of the internet; the geeky, video-game obsessed corners. The trailer for Dead Island has become the gold standard for "difficult to watch" clips.

This week's episode of The Escapist's webseries Extra Credits criticizes EA's recent marketing campaigns as not advancing the image of video games as more than mere "kids play" or for adult men amidst arrested development. After taking EA to task for its recent marketing flubs and not living up to its initial promises to be a company dedicated to "electronic artists" pushing the boundaries of computer interaction, the episode wraps up by saying "There. Now the Dead Island trailer isn't the most depressing thing you've seen this week."

A forum reply to the trailer for We Dare, a new Wii title collecting "adult themed" minigames (but only rated for 12 and up for "mild sexual references), described the game's ad as "almost more painful to sit through then [sic] the Dead Island trailer."

What I haven't quite ferreted out yet is whether these and similar comments are aimed at the style of the video itself, with its slow motion cuts and reverse chronological ordering all Memento style, or its substance, more or less tracing the death arc of a young girl on a tropical vacation with her parents. Are they art crit comments or  sympathetic hearts? Or both? I guess only time will tell as this meme develops. Just ask Antoine Dodson. Until next time... stay double rainbow.

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Here's the official Dead Island trailer.

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Here's the Backwards-Forwards trailer. It reassembles the Dead Island trailer into roughly chronological order.

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Here's the so-called LITERAL* trailer. In bad taste? You make the call!

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* literal is another internet meme in which people sing about quite literally what's going on onscreen. I first became aware of it in the context of the Total Eclipse of the Heart video. This may or may not have any relation to the MadTV sketch seen [HERE] and [HERE] and [HERE].