For the past few weeks or so there’s been a debate raging on and on about whether or not bigger, more well-known names and titles should be using the crowd funding website Kickstarter to try and find help with financing their next project.

It began when Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas took to the site for help in making a movie based on his cancelled show, a movie that had been attempted numerous times and failed all of them. Kickstarter was the last resort, and it came through overwhelmingly as fans of the show chipped in and helped the project reach its $2 million goal easily. By the time the campaign was said and done, $5.7 million had been raised for the movie, and a new doorway was opened wide for filmmakers and others.

Not many gave a second thought to the Veronica Mars movie turning to Kickstarter for help; it wasn’t until recently that the debate truly ignited when Zach Braff, the star of the hit sitcom Scrubs and writer/director/producer/star of Garden State, decided to see if Kickstarter could help him make his follow-up to Garden State, Wish I Was Here. Not only did the movie also quickly achieve its $2 million goal, but it ignited quite the firestorm as many argued the merits of the successful or wealthy asking regular folks to pay for their projects to happen.

Happy 68th Birthday today to one of the greats of rock and roll, British and otherwise, a true genius and original in his craft, who not only showed the world what he could do with an electric guitar, but what could also be done with the rock song itself in the way it could be elevated to operatic mythos and all its glories, the man, the leader of The Who, guitarist Pete Townshend.

It’s kind of incredible when you think about the work of Pete Townshend and the overall underrated kind of perception he and The Who have when it comes to one quickly rattling off the names of the great bands and musicians during the arguable golden age of electric rock and roll, the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s. For sure, there are a handful of Who songs that remain blended in with the all-time classics on compilations and classic rock radio and the like, but when you really take into account a band and a man who put so much craft, energy, scope, influence, and sweat and grit into the amount of work that made their bands what they are, Pete Townshend becomes a figurehead who towers high above the rest.

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day today at Amazon is Bioshock Infinite for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for $39.99 each (that’s 33% off the list price of $59.99). The PC and PC Download versions are on sale for only $34.99 each (that’s 42% off the list price of $59.99).

Note – this deal is valid only for today, Sunday, May 19, 2013 until 11:59pm PST while supplies last.

Visit the main sale page for more details.

“Jesus….MacArthur….Jay-Z….the great ones….always return.”

The four dots are meant to represent dramatic pauses. Work with me here, people.

Paramount Pictures has unveiled the latest trailer for the highly anticipated comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. You can check it out here below.

When I saw that a new trailer for Anchorman 2 had hit today I tracked it down with the hope that we would finally get a first look at scenes from the sequel that has been in the works in one form or another for nearly a decade. No go friends. Instead we once again get the Channel 4 News Team – lead anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sports anchor Champ Kind (David Koechner), and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carrell) – giving direct-to-camera quips, showing us that the team chemistry is still there despite having been mothballed since Bush II ran for reelection.

Vanilla Sky
Netflix | Amazon | Epix | Google Play | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Cameron Diaz, Noah Taylor, Timothy Spall
Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: December 14, 2001

Vanilla Sky is one of those movies that, for one reason or another, I never got around to seeing – until now. And it also happens to be one of those movies that nobody ever says, "Meh, it was okay". Cameron Crowe‘s surreal swirl of romance, sci-fi, thriller, and drama is a divisive piece of work, resulting in the vast majority of viewers either loving it or loathing it.

So that being said, there’s very little I can say within the circumstance of this review about this movie that will sway you one way or the other. Vanilla Sky is just one of those flicks you have to see for yourself, and make your own mind up about.

But whichever end your mind is made up about – one thing is certain: Vanilla Sky will fuck with your head.