Wiseguys members Joe Leibovich, Andy Fleming, and Robert Callahan sat down with the good folks at the Shut Up and Listen podcast to talk about comedy, improv, and all sorts of fun stuff. Check it out at here or on iTunes.

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Memphis comics are taking over the Shut Up and Listen Podcast!

This week we are joined by the funniest person in Memphis, Andy Fleming, and two other members of the Memphis comedy improv troupe, the Wise Guys, Robert Callahan, and Joey Hack.

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Topics include: The Goonies, improv, Memphis comedy, a trip to the Metal Museum, reality shows, beer, Joey is married to the sea, the Memphis Comedy Blog, Memphis band Oracle and the Mountain, and much much more. Listen and laugh with us.

Check out the Wise Guys here.

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Our interview with Social Media Expedition’s podcast is now up.  We ran long (of course) but what do you expect when you turn the tables on a couple of podcasters?

You can find the article here.

And you can download the podcast here.

They have a really great show if you’re into web development or internet culture, subscribe to their show in iTunes! I already have.

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This week we bring back two old friends and one newcomer. There will be laughs, there will be tears, but funny enough there was no drinking of beers.

Memphis comics, Mo Alexander and Katrina Murrell,  join Jared and Matt in lengthy and explicit conversations about giving birth, scaring people, Memphis comedy, strange beer accessories, bombing the moon, the shelf life of breast milk, and much much more.

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By Joe Leibovich

In the decade since The Blair Witch Project’s release, there have been a number of efforts to recapture the lightning in a bottle that small budget horror film produced.  These have been mainly disappointing efforts (Cloverfield, anyone?).

Paranormal Activity, however, not only matches Blair Witch on every level. It destroys it.

The set up for Paranormal Activity is fairly simple.  A San Diego couple is dealing with some kind of apparent haunting.  We learn very quickly that Katie (Katie Featherstone), an English major, has been sporadically dealing with these issues throughout her life. Her slight jackass boyfriend Micah (Micah Sloat), a day trader (!) decides to buy a video camera to try to capture the phenomena.

The film plays out strictly on the tapes that Micah’s ever present camera picks up.  In other words, the entire movie is seen from the perspective of a camcorder.

The movie starts off with relatively minor occurrences…a noise here, some keys that fall off a counter there.  And, it’s clear that Micah finds the whole thing to be kind of fun.  But, as you might expect, things escalate and we watch the horror grow and the characters break down over the course of the movie.

Paranormal Activity is genuinely scary.  This is a low budget movie – $16,000 – and it does not rely heavily on special effects.  It also doesn’t feature a musical soundtrack or score.  What it does feature, is a series of overnight time elapse shots of the couple’s bedroom with an open door to a hallway.  We watch this footage in abject fear of what may or may not be outside that door.  And when things do happen within the bedroom, the events can be riveting and terrifying.

Both of the lead actors are unknown (well, until now), and both turn in terrific performance. Katie Featherstone is the emotional center of this film.  Whatever is (or isn’t) happening in the movie is centered on her.  It is made clear very early on that the two simply can’t get out of the house to avoid danger, as the danger is following her.  Featherstone is terrific, and conveys a wide range of emotions and horror.  If there’s one distracting thing about her performance its that she is a dead ringer for The Office’s Jenna Fischer, and at times that takes away from what’s going on.

Micah Sloat is also convincing in his role.  He starts out as bemused and obnoxious, but over the course of the movie he clearly is seeking safety behind the camera.

Paranormal Activity is a well paced, well made, and at times genuinely horrifying movie.  It’s something different, and is a real treat for folks who like to be scared.

Yes, there is some hokey stuff in the movie.  Why would a certain piece of physical evidence be available to appear?  Yeah, there are times when the acting is not 100% natural. And, then there is the ending.   Steven Spielberg took an interest in this movie, and reportedly suggested a new ending to director and screenwriter Oren Peli.  It’s kind of unfortunate that Peli listened to him.  I am not going to reveal the ending here or the original ending.  Suffice to say, from what I have read, the original ending was more true to the movie as a whole, instead of the more “pat” ending that is now on the film.

Paranormal Activity has some real scares of both the “sudden bump” type and those of psychological nature.  The Paranormal Activity is not a great work of cinematic artistry. But it is well made and different from what we usually get in horror films. It’s a testament to the film’s effectiveness is how scary a simple shot of a character standing still is.

Paranormal Activity is an original, scary movie. It will create a lot of sleepless nights and nightmares. It’s well worth seeing. If you can take it.

On the movie report card, I give Paranormal Activity a B+.

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By Joe Leibovich

There is a great deal of magic in director Spike Jonez’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book Where the Wild Things Are.  It is a movie that creates a very palpable world of wonder and beauty. However, I am not entirely sure who the target audience is for this film and I am not entirely sure the magic lasts through the entire film.

Jonez, along with Dave Eggers adapted Sendak’s very short book into a fully realized film vision.  It is the story of a young boy named Max (played to perfection by neophyte Max Records) who feels alienated and abandoned by his single mother (Catherine Keener) and sister.  One evening, after his sister’s friends destroy his snow fort and his mother has a date over for dinner (an inexplicable usage of Mark Ruffalo, who may have 2-3 lines),  the energetic and angry Max throws a tantrum and flees the house.  He finds a boat and sails away to an island inhabited by huge and wonderous monsters.  Through trickery, he avoids being eaten by them to become their king. And that, as the book and movie say, is when the wild rumpus begins.

The Wild Things are true marvels.  They are a actual costumes, not CGI creations.  And that choice gives this film a feeling of reality and warmth.  The visuals on the island of the Wild Things are stunning. From the creatures themselves to the various structures and landscapes that are gilmpses from Max’s “real life” are quite amazing.

The acting by all the participants is excellent.  Max Records is a true find, and is absolutely perfect in his role.  The voice actors who portray the Wild Things fill their roles with humor and feeling.  Each of the Wild Things seems to be a piece of Max or people in Max’s life.   James Gandolfini is Carol, who is Max’s closest surrogate on the isle.  He gives a nuanced and emotion filled performance as a beast with anger issues who feels ignored, just like a certain little boy in a wolf suit.  The entire ensemble of beasts is terrific, from Catherine O’Hara as a “downer” monster, to Forrest Whittaker as a creature who likes to put holes in trees, to Lauren Ambrose, the mother/sister figure on the island.

The first half of Where the Wild Things Are is captivating, and unlike anything I have ever seen before.  No film has ever captured the feelings of being a boy so well.

About halfway through the movie, Gandolfini gives a speech about losing teeth slowly- how day by day they can get looser, and day by day the spaces between them grow larger, until one day you wake up and have no teeth left at all. It’s a wonderful metaphor for alienation and loss. It is, also, however, somewhat how I felt about the movie.

At a certain point, and I am not sure when it happened, I was no longer under the spell of this movie.  The emotional connection to Max had dissipated, and the movie simply did not have the impact on me it had held before.

This is not to say Where The Wild Things Are is not a good movie. It is. Spike Jonez has put together something very special.  I wonder if young children will truly enjoy this PG rated film from beginning to end, or if they may grow restless.  To its credit, Where The Wild Things Are deals with a lot of serious, emotional issues – childhood anger, loneliness, control issues. But it does it subtly, and in such a way that it shouldn’t bore the audience. Still, I wonder if it may be too much for children. And, if that is the case, who is this movie aimed at?

All that said, Where The Wild Things Are is a Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius (sorry…), and it is a wholly original, sweet, and magical piece of filmmaking  that will stick with you for “through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year” if not longer.

On the Movie Report Card, I give Where The Wild Things Are an A-

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We love Memphis and so does she, and by she we mean Kerry Crawford, of ilovememphisblog.com fame.

Kerry was nice enough to invite us into her home and tell us why she loves the Bluff City.

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Topics include: Memphis, swine flu rap, roller derby, restaurants, local music, coffee shops, and the general love of our fair city.

Kerry recording the podcast.

Jared and Justin love Memphis.

Images provided by ilovememphis on flickr.

(continue reading…)

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Look! Its the second episode of the third season of the Shut Up and Listen Podcast.

In this special episode, all the way from England, Kevin McNally graces us with his musical stylings.

Stay a while and listen…you might learn something.

Steve Earnshaw, Chris Hendrix, and Jared B. Callan talk with Kevin about music, women, beer, his trips to the US, and the American Health-care system.

Cheers!

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