Where would the edmontonian be without our many contributors, collaborators, and commenters?

Sally and I never set out to make the edmontonian our blog. Sure, we had our names all over it editing submissions and authoring a majority of items, but the edmontonian was always supposed to be a community blog. Jeff and Sally could always go get their own damn vlog.

Whether it was a conversation about A Taste of Edmonton and deep-fried foods that spawned its own video, photos that made up many of our quirky looks at the city, writers that posted items here when they certainly had plenty of other good stuff going on, or collaborating with Edmonton’s online content generatOne year of thanksors, it was joining forces and cross-posting that took the edmontonian from a blog belonging to two people to a true community news source.

Some contributors wrote one post, others became synonymous with the site. Some of our same website contributors made appearances on our ShawTV show, but new friends helped on that too. And we always had a steady crew of commenters (and we consider them part of the overall Edmonton conversation).

Together, that group of people is what made the edmontonian such a good time.

(Photos are deep frying and democracy. Two things we take very seriously.)

By Gregg Beever

I’m back, baby! Before I get started, how about a big round of applause for Mr. Jay Runham who filled in brilliantly for me last month.

Are you done clapping yet?

Okay, good.

So, has everyone watched the Battleship trailer? Somehow I missed Liam Neeson being cast as Admiral E5. Did he lose a bet? Maybe he’s having a “Who can be in the shittiest alien invasion flick?” competition with Aaron Eckhart.

That brings us to the $200 million dollar question (yes, that is the budget), what does the board game, Battleship, have to do with aliens? What the frack is the tie-in there? Wait. Aliens are nebulously destroying battleships from the heavens, just like players of the board game. Right? Is director Peter Berg trying to say that we are the true aliens?

I don’t get it.

All I know is when I’m watching this film in the theater and Liam Neeson utters the line “You sunk my battleship.” I’m going to stand up and slow clap.

But Battleship doesn’t premiere until May of next year and we’re concerned with movies coming out now. What can we look forward to in the month of August with Thor, Transformers, Captain America, Harry Potter and the end of Jim Carrey’s career passing us by?

Two words: Spy Kids! But maybe you don’t have kids, or a desire to have Jessica Alba and Jeremy Piven mercilessly irritate your visual and auditory senses. Maybe you are looking for something more adult, in which case check out Colombiana, opening August 26th. Zoe Saldana may be a terrible Uhura, but she was fantastic as the double-crossing badass, Aisha, in the completely under-appreciated The Losers. Colombiana finds Saldana once again in the ass-kicking roll as a young women who witnessed her parents’ murder and ironically grows up to be an assassin. Sold!

James Franco is back on the big screen this month, his career still reeling from hosting the Oscars with Anne Hathaway. Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens this Friday, teaching us what can happen when a can of super-smartening gas is opened in the presence of damn dirty apes. It also teaches us what hundreds of CGI apes look like. Shitty.

Back for his 10th movie in the last year; it’s Ryan Reynolds! In The Change-Up he teams up with Jason Bateman for a body switching comedy. Yay! That’s not a tired plot. Oh my god, Reynolds is a womanizer stuck in family man Bateman’s body. Now he has to change diapers and and do boring dad stuff. Let the laugh riot begin!

I’m being hard on this movie but, admittedly, the trailer is full of laughs. It could be decent.

Rounding out the August releases are Conan the Barbarian (Aug. 19th), which looks like a good time; Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Aug. 26th), a horror I’m on the fence about; and finally Our Idiot Brother (Aug. 26th), which features the lovely Zooey Deschanel. I don’t need to say anything more.

That’s August folks. Enjoy your time at the movies, and remember to always punch the teenager texting next to you in the mouth.

When he’s not punching teenagers in the mouth, Gregg Beever is on the Internet. He’s usually hanging around here, but has recently been found in the company of hipsters.

“Wait… this is a cartoon?”

I feel like this was a reaction a lot of people had the other night as a small theatre full of us sat down to watch Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (GL: EK). No, this is not the Ryan Reynolds live action Summer Blockbuster, it is a collection of shorts as narrated by Nathan Fillion (Edmonton born and raised). Fillion plays Hal Jordan (the character Ryan Reynolds will also be portraying) as he teaches a new Green Lantern about the beginnings of the Green Lantern Corps.

Lost yet? I’m sure a couple people at the theatre were too. Emerald Knights gives the viewer some backstory into the events about to unfold in it’s live-action counterpart. The difference between the two being that GL:EK serves as both a prequel AND a sequel. Furthermore, it is animated and shows a lot of the stories that couldn’t fit into the live action film.

There exists great voice acting talent in the film. As mentioned above, Nathan Fillion plays Hal Jordan and does an excellent job of narrating the separate stories. Elisabeth Moss seems like she is having fun playing the new recruit, and does a great job providing a gateway to the tales of the Green Lantern’s past. The tough as nails Sinestro is voiced by Jason Isaacs, who is best known for his evil role in the Harry Potter Franchise.

This film is definitely worth the rent if you’re jonesing to go see the live-action adaptation. But if you haven’t read the comics or aren’t familiar with the Green Lantern lore, you may want to wait until after seeing Ryan Reynolds in his CGI jump suit.

Renter beware and Geeks geek-out.

3.5/5

Jay Runham is a movie reviewer, hourly tweeter, and lover of Nonja Turtles. More from him at J-Run.ca/Blog and @MondoJay.

By Gregg Beever

Over the past 24 hours I’ve had to listen to some ridiculous arguments against the proposed arena district. I understand when public money is involved there is bound to be rather strong viewpoints for or against, and I believe there are valid arguments to be made on either side.

For those who are compiling thoughtful, cogent arguments based on fact and logic, I applaud you. However, if you have made one of the following cases against the arena, give your head a shake!

Subsidizing Billionaires

I’ve heard it said many times during this whole arena process, “Why should the taxpayer pay for a building just so millionaires can romp around in it?”

Long have I been perplexed by people’s resentment of hockey players and their gold Terwilliger palaces, particularly in Alberta where the political map is painted conservative blue. The Ales Hemskys and Shawn Horcoffs found a market for their skills – a market that pays extreme well. Is that not capitalism at work? Does anyone else smell hypocrisy?

The common perception I hear repeated over and over is that hockey players are spoiled millionaires playing in a big icy sandbox, and somehow undeserving of their paycheck. There is only one word that describe this view: jealousy. Who wouldn’t want to be paid millions to play a game for a living. If someone gave me a four-year $8.6 million contract to play professional Connect Four, I’d sign that document faster than the NDP registers candidates! I’d require a no-trade clause, of course.

There is a larger view point contained in this argument, however, which is that hockey is entertainment, and entertainment is a frivolous time-waster that does not require public funds. This is idiotic, of course. Every government everywhere spends money on art galleries, museums, and cultural events. But in the misguided minds of some anti-arena folk, hockey is not considered to be part of these valued cultural events because hockey is big business and, as everyone knows, it is not culture unless it’s boring, makes zero money, and is completely subsidized by all levels of government.

If you believe hockey isn’t an enormous part of our culture, then you don’t understand Edmonton or the country you live in.

The Oilers Suck Anyway

I don’t really need to go into detail as to why this is stupid. I’ll simply point my finger out east and say “Toronto Maple Leafs!” Toronto is the league’s most profitable team, yet, when was the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup? Hell, when was the last time they made the playoffs? I honestly don’t remember.

By the way, the Jets sucked too, and Winnipeg has been trying to get their team back ever since it left in 1996. Last night, Twitter caught fire with the news that True North Sports & Entertainment is now very close to completing a deal that would see the Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg. There were reports of celebrations in Manitoba. Suck or no suck, Canadians love their hockey.

City Owns, City Profits

The deal struck between the Katz Group and the City of Edmonton has the city as owner of the new sexy downtown arena. This has prompted some anti-arena types to espouse if Edmonton owns the arena, the city should also profit from it. While I’ll readily admit this isn’t a ridiculous idea, the bottom line of the deal also states the Katz Group is responsible for maintaining the facility. Fancy new arenas aren’t cheap to run. One could easily argue, if the City of Edmonton profits from the arena, it should also assist in maintaining the arena.

Basically, I feel like this is a bit of a wash, and really not much on an issue at all.

I’m sure I’ll hear more ridiculous arguments in the coming months. For now, I await your inevitable trolling in the comments. Bring it on!

By Gregg Beever

“Chick flicks don’t have to suck,” the poster for Bridemaids loudly states. Sounds like good news for boyfriends and husbands the world over who have suffered through Maid in Manhattan, The Wedding Planner, or whatever else Jennifer Lopez has been in. A chick flick with an abundance of dick jokes? Yes, please. That’s something we can get on board with.

Bridesmaids is very much a comedy for women, by women. Writer and lead actress Kristen Wiig has recruited a female comedic ensemble, including Maya Rudolph, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, and Jackie Q herself, Rose Byrne, to fill out all the major characters. In fact, there is only one notable male role in Officer Rhodes, played hilariously by Chris O’Dowd as Wiig’s love interest.

Yes, Jon Hamm is also here, being stupidly handsome as usual, but his role is quite minimal.

The result of this heavily feminine cast is a dirty, yet charming, comedy about friendship, love, redemption, and the methods in which men ask for oral sex. Most importantly, Bridesmaids is funny and willing to travel where few chick flicks are willing to go, featuring a very epic collection of poop jokes in the second act.

Wiig still relies on some played out movie tropes. Spoiler alert; the bride goes missing on her wedding day. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Oh, and Wiig’s character, Annie, has a good thing going with Officer Rhodes but, wouldn’t you know it, she screws it up and has to win him back.

To Wiig’s credit, both of these tired plot points are written well. Wiig has Rhodes essentially tell Annie to fuck off and is legitimately difficult to win over, setting up some genuine tension for the film’s climax.

I’m a big Kristen Wiig fan, and I maintain that MacGruber was hilariously awesome. After a successful opening weekend, I hope Bridesmaids means more big gigs and continued success for her.

So, even if you are a dude, go check out Bridesmaids. You won’t be disappointed.