clarkblog

THE BEST ROBOT MOVIE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN

This month marks the tenth anniversary of The Iron Giant, one of the best animated movies ever made.

Directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), it's the story of a towering robot that falls to Earth and the boy who befriends it. Not only is the titular giant one of my favorite robots, I submit that this emotionally-charged story -- deceptively simple but deeply layered -- is one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. It makes me laugh and cry like hell every time I watch it.

Critically acclaimed but ignored by movie-going audiences upon its release, The Iron Giant is well worth your time if you've never seen it. And you won't watch it just once, trust me.

Here's a good tribute up at Wired, and another from Drew Morton here.

SUMMER SIPPIN'

(500) Days of Summer
Directed by Marc Webb
Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

I'm not the biggest fan of rom-coms but (500) Days of Summer won me over with sheer wit and charm. It's well-acted with a smart and funny script that recalls the best of Woody Allen and Cameron Crowe. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a fine leading man and we finally have a believable -- even touching -- role befitting the singular Xanax-glazed expression of Zooey Deschanel.

The Dead Weather
Horehound

The sultry, angry vocals of The Kills' frontwoman Alison Mossheart are poured like brown gravy over a bed of deep-fried Southern Goth rock laid down by Jack White, Dean Fertita and Little Jack Lawrence. I can't say if this debut album is a classic but right now it sounds like nothing else out there, which is reason enough to keep it spinning till fall.

Torchwood: Children of Earth
Directed by Euros Lyn

This five-hour mini-series is billed as the sci-fi event of the summer and I'm hard-pressed to disagree. You don't need to know much about the British TV show Torchwood to dive in and enjoy this thrilling and very dark sci-fi mini-series. But if you know the show's first two shaky seasons, you'll be amazed just how far it's evolved. Creator Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who) and team reboot the entire premise with fearless aplomb. And it pays off wonderfully. Now available on DVD.

True Blood: Season One

Vampires mostly bore me, so the current glut of fang-bangers can't perish soon enough. I'm late to the True Blood game, and honestly wondered if I'd make it past the first two or three terrible episodes. But this lurid bucket of pulp trash proves more addictive than I expected. My guilty pleasure of the summer. But I'm still not sure about following it into its second season.