http://www.alexshebar.com/

MovieFest: Year 12.

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:07:38 -0400

This is less of a post, more of a warning.

Now, to get to said warning, I have to give a little history lesson. Don’t worry, it will be short. (Jason, get your head off the desk and pay attention!)

It was the big, round scary year of 2000. I had just finished The Stand, Stephen King’s apocalyptic so-bad-it’s-good opus, and wanted to watch the 6-hour 80’s-classic miniseries. (It had Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe in it. You tell me that’s not an 80’s classic.)

And I wanted to do it in one sitting.

Luckily, I had friends who thought this idea wasn’t not-not-stupid and we began to plan … and make it bigger. Thus was born MovieFest: a 24-hour marathon of movies.

The rules are simple:

If three people have seen the movie, it can’t be watched.
If three people veto a movie, it can’t be watched.
If you don’t watch all movies, then you fail (food and bathroom breaks are acceptable. Sleeping and leaving, not so much.)

That’s it. And this will be the 12th annual fest.

And so, the warning: Like last year, I will be tweeting for 24 hours straight, and it’s hilarious. Most of you will enjoy the insane ramblings of zoinked out on zero-sleep, tons of caffeine and horrible movies. If not, I’d suggest Muuter from Saturday, the 19th to Sunday the 20th. Because it’s going down.

That’s it! Thumbs up, let’s do this thing.

Alex

Ps. For a list of every movie we’ve watched in the 11 years of MovieFest glory, created a decade ago on an awful Angelfire site and updated religiously since then, click here.

Pps. Here’s some videos I’ve made in the past about MovieFest, in case you want to see what the insanity’s all about:

This is my TedX Presentation I did in Cincinnati called...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:39:00 -0400

This is my TedX Presentation I did in Cincinnati called “The Internet Is For Real People,” talking about the advantages of being yourself online. And although I speak WAY too fast and use some crazy hand motions (ah, the joys of being on stage), the info is still good.

Enjoy!

Love the art in this city. prolix21: Vhils in Cincinnati

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:33:00 -0500

Love the art in this city.

prolix21:

Vhils in Cincinnati

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:01:40 -0400

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Directed by: Morgan Spurlock
Starring: Morgan Spurlock
Plot: ”A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.”

Review: Bah, advertising doesn’t work … Ok, someone get me a Coke! (A)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:25:52 -0400

One Day

Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson
Plot: ”After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, sometimes not, on that day.”

Review: The title’s misleading … it feels way longer than one day. (C-)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:22:00 -0400

Fright Night

Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette (and yes, David Tennant)
Plot: ”A teenager suspects that his new neighbor is a vampire. Also, yes, his neighbor is a vampire.”

Review: Well, it wasn’t good … but devilishly entertaining. (B)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:17:00 -0400

50/50

Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan, Anna Kendrick
Plot: ”A comedic account of a 27-year-old guy’s cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.”

Review: An unbelievable sleeper indie hit … like Juno but with cancer. (A+)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:12:00 -0400

The Help

Directed by: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer
Plot: ”A look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.”

Review: *sobs* Damn you white guilt!(A-)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

MovieFest is coming. It will be happening this Saturday, June...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:04:48 -0400

MovieFest is coming. It will be happening this Saturday, June 11th and there will be 24 hours of films. I will watch 24 hours of films. I will tweet for 24 hours straight while watching 24 hours of films. It will be … amazing.

(Above is the video from last year’s Fest that I made. It explains what MovieFest is all about. If you want to skip the video and read instead, you can click right here, which was last’s year’s post - and explains it all.)

Damn, every time I try to go there! thedailywhat: Rapture Fan...

Sun, 22 May 2011 20:08:20 -0400

Damn, every time I try to go there!

thedailywhat:

Rapture Fan Art of the Day: “Rapture Whale” by Ben “xadrian” Rollman.

Well that explains why we’re all still here: Heaven is over capacity.

[epicponyz.]

Give this song a listen: “Days/This Time Tomorrow” - Ray Davies...

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:37:38 -0400

Give this song a listen:

“Days/This Time Tomorrow” - Ray Davies and Mumford & Sons

One of my all time favorite songs being covered by one of my new obsession bands. Yes, I declare this a win.

Whenever I think of flying kites, I think of poor Charlie Brown...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:45:59 -0400

KiteFest oh-eleven

The great giant kites!

5chw4r7z behind the scenes...

Giant evil ghost kite!

Not everyone can stay up... Sad.

Up back up!

Two fish, kite fish.

Me and allison and the fish.

Whenever I think of flying kites, I think of poor Charlie Brown and his toy that wouldn’t soar. I mean, it wasn’t enough that the kid was prematurely bald, he also couldn’t work a toy that three-year-olds delight at using? Sad. Anyway, I thought the annual KiteFest in West Chester would be as depressed as Charlie Brown’s sad walk, but it turns out it was as happy as Charlie Brown’s dog’s happy dance. I got some great shots and I figure I’d share with you.

Ok, I’ve been pushing my love of two new bands, Broken...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:38:00 -0400

Before the concert begins...

The awesome April Smith.

Fitz and the Tantrums do their thing.

Michael Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs

Flute solo!

"Fitz" gets up close with Cincinnati.

Ok, I’ve been pushing my love of two new bands, Broken based April Smith and the Great Picture Show and LA rockers Fitz and the Tantrums, forever now. However, they both played 20th Century Theatre last night together and were amazing. Please, look at these photos and then give them a listen. You will not not be un-sorry.

The Art of Food is a new exhibit at The Carnegie that had...

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:23:00 -0400

The exhibit from above...

The Mona Lisa from toast eating toast.

Beans

Fruit Loops.

Thousands of Mentos

Potato chips

Licorice, candy peanuts and Starbursts

Getting ahead...

The famous Jean-Ro, doing what he does.

The Art of Food is a new exhibit at The Carnegie that had it’s kickoff event last weekend. It features art about food and sometimes made from food - so those of you who don’t feel they’ve lived until they’ve seen van Gogh’s The Potato Eaters made out of potato chips or Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte made from thousands of Fruit Loops, well, start living my friends.

This Week's Weekly Obsessions

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:11:00 -0500

This Week's Weekly Obsessions:

Honey badgers, Artswave, levitating girls, the best pickles in Cincy, more paintball on Community - it’s all here.

My friend Scott had an idea, as he does, and this one was hard...

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:34:46 -0500

Scott and Alex and Bub's

The table. The ladies cheered us on...

Cracking into the burger.

About halfway through, I feel awful.

I power on, and get to the last bite!

Om

Nom

Nom!

Victory!

Our photo goes up on the wall.

My friend Scott had an idea, as he does, and this one was hard to argue with. We would drive two hours to Carmel, Indiana (right outside of Indianapolis) to eat The Big Ugly Burger at Bub’s Burgers and Ice Cream, a meal of monstrous proportions. Adam Richman, of Man vs. Food fame, tried to eat four and get a lifesize cutout. He only go through 2 and a quarter. We just wanted to do one and get our picture on the wall.

And you bet your ass we did just that.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:41:00 -0500

Buried

Directed by: Rodrigo Cortés
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Plot: ”Paul is a U.S. contractor working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it’s a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.”

Review: Shove Reynolds in a box? Gladly! … except for this film.(A-)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

10 Word (or less) Film Review

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:35:32 -0500

Let Me In

Directed by: Matt Reeves
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins
Plot: ”A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.”

Review: Sucks? Hell no, I sank my teeth into this baby.(A-)

See all my 10-word (or less) film reviews here.

thedailywhat: Animated Anatomy of the Day: Fritz Kahn’s iconic...

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:25:44 -0500

thedailywhat:

Animated Anatomy of the Day: Fritz Kahn’s iconic anatomy poster, Der Mensch als Industriepalast, is brought to life in this visually stunning animated short by German designer Henning Lederer.

[cartoonbrew.]

This Week's Weekly Obsessions!

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:08:03 -0500

This Week's Weekly Obsessions!:

Lazy superheroes, George Clooney, The Muppets - this post has it all!