Korea


When viral marketing goes horribly wrong

You may remember the original Red Dawn, a piece of gung-ho anti-communist nonsense from 1984 about the Russians invading Colorado. It’s been a while since I saw it, but I don’t remember it being all that good. Despite my reservations, it’s got a cult following and inspired a remake, which was shot in 2010 and starred Chris Hemsworth- later to be Thor.

The new version of Red Dawn changed the invaders to the Chinese. However, for various reasons it was shelved and didn’t see the light of day until last year. Not wanting to miss out on the now lucrative Chinese market, the invaders were changed to North Korea.

Worried that they had a crap film with a ludicrous premise, the studio knew they needed a really good marketing campaign, so they put in a call to Kim Jong Un. “Kimmy!” they said, “Kimmy, baby! We need you to prance around a bit and look threatening, so that the kids’ll buy the set-up of our new movie. Can you do that for us, sort of Gangnam Style but with nukes? We promise you the real Mickey Mouse, and we’ll build you a better theme park. Just act all tough and say some nonsense about how you’re going to destroy America. There’s no need to actually do anything.”

Kim was a bit late getting into the role- the film’s been and gone and is already out on BLu-ray– but, you have to admit, he’s very convincing.


Trailer time- oriental oddness edition

There haven’t been any trailers worth highlighting for a few weeks, but just today I’ve seen nearly a dozen. Rather than one big trailer time post on Sunday I think I’ll spread them over a few days.

A selection of movies from the orient first.

A Tale of Legendary Libido.

Tokyo Gore Police. By the people behind Machine Girl, who seem to be keeping Japan’s fake blood industry afloat all by themselves.

Wushu, starring Sammo Hung.

Shaolin Girl, a spin off from Shaolin Soccer.

Onechanbara. Bikini girls versus the undead.


Isaac Asimov would be proud

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425927.stm
South Korea is to draw up a Robot Ethics Charter.

ASIMOV’S LAWS OF ROBOTICS
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.


Super Best friends

Just qucik before dashing off to the office, this morning the New York Times reports GW Bush has called for a second resolution mainly to help Tony Blair. Isn’t that sweet? They should just go full hog and rent a room together…..

On another war front, what is the Washington Times doing with an article about US strategy to win a South Korea – US war against North Korea? Time to get really scared. Did you notice the congestion charge has gone done a treat? Swine.

I have found another new band and I must admit they are really good. It was only a matter of time before a band took the name, The Postal Service. Good stuff.

Just my luck as the damn report can’t be saved to disk! Mierde.


I'm back

Another day and another dollar. Thanks to my stupidity I might have to lash out �800 for a new company laptop. Why me? In other news, MASH fans across America are hoping for another all out war with North Korea. Funny how the Gulf War never had any sitcom spin offs.

CNN is reporting something so unbelievable it is akin to UFO abduction. No really! Apparently they believe some dot-coms are making money! It must be a pre-April fools day joke on investors around the globe.

Find out what Brekfast Club stereotype you are and then you can determine how successful you will be. Very interesting. Only in Seattle.

Enough of this, I have had it for the day.


Will It Play In Peoria

The Independent sent a reporter to Nixon’s barometer town to see what residents thought of the war and the economy in the lead up to Dubya’s State of the Union today. Surprisingly, 90% of those questioned were against the war, a large number of them veterans.

Jack Bradley, a Korean War veteran and maverick Republican whom I find braving the frost on his daily morning walk, is even more forthright. “We’re going to go billions of dollars into debt, and to save what? A pile of sand?” he asks. “Korea was the forgotten war, and I’m afraid this war in Iraq will be a forgotten war, too. It will create a massive explosion in the Middle East and only make people more inclined to hate us. If we don’t rein in our imperialist tendencies, I think the US is on the same course as the Roman Empire.”


Cart/ Donkey

Even a cursory examination of North Korea would make you think it is a larger threat than Iraq, so why aren’t we hearing the same sort of rhetoric aimed at Pyongyang. There might be fears that NK has nukes that it wouldn’t be afraid of using as a last ditch thing, but the current war hungry atmosphere means they’re unwilling to find a talking answer either.