Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Nerd Man of the Month: James Gunn

When you cower at the thought of giant alien slugs trying to pry their way into Nathan Fillion's orifices or when you've had three bottles of Boone's Farm and spend the entire night watching and re-watching Sarah Michelle Gellar in Scooby-Doo or when you accidentally wet yourself in fear while watching Dawn of the Dead, who do you blame? I actually can't answer that for you, but I can tell you who you should be blaming. That'd be James Gunn, writer, director, occasional actor and recipient of the prized Nerd Man of the Month honor for July.

If you're married to my husband like I am, then you've probably seen a lot of James Gunn's work because, seriously, we have quite the extensive collection (sans Scooby Doo). We've got Gunn's masterwork, Slither, a very funny, very scary film and very gross film featuring the aforementioned slugs and the aforementioned Nathan Fillion. We've got Dawn of the Dead, a recent classic addition to the zombie hall of fame. (Which is located right next door to the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's weird, I know.) We've had Tromeo and Juliet, described on imdb as "a modern punk adaptation of Shakespeare's classic," which, uh, doesn't really do it justice. I think we may have lost that one. On purpose. Don't tell my husband. And we've got Lollilove, starring James and written and directed by his wife, Jenna Fischer of The Office. Gunn is hilarious as one half of a self-centered Hollywood couple who decide to help homeless people by giving them lollipops. It's one of the meanest, funniest movies I've seen in ages and is highly recommended.

Gunn earns July's top nerdy honor, too, because of his wickedly funny blog, which I've mentioned in previous posts. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to interview a prostitute in Amsterdam or get a bug trapped in your ear or how many times you can reasonably use the word "motherfucker" and all its derivations in a sentence, James is your man. Also, he's good to dogs and his brother is Sean Gunn from the late, lamented Gilmore Girls. So for all the people who find my blog by googling "Sean Gunn's chest," now you know who Sean Gunn's chest's brother is, too.

Now let's all go watch Slither. Fillion wrassles a slug-possessed deer!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

James is the man! If you agree (and I can see that you might), check us out at www.jgas.org - JGAS is short for James Gunn Appreciation Society. We're real, and we're here to eat you! (Just kidding)

Liz said...

The husband and I are card-carrying members of JGAS. It's a fine, fine society.

Charles Edward Fluffington Penguin said...

Could I possibly suggest a future candidate for Nerd Man of the Month - Neil Oliver? He's a historian and archaelogist who presents the BBC TV programme "Coast", he's got a lively interest in historical battle re-enactment, and he's also drop dead gorgeous. Well, I think he is, anyway.

Go on, Google him. Just for me. :-)

crowe said...

Awwww, no mention of the Specials, in which James Gunn plays the rather mopey, slightly-femmy Minuteman (minute as in "my-noot"/small, not tricorned revolutionary). Just saw that one the other day; loved it! Had no idea that Gunn was in charge of the latest Dawn of the Dead. Will have to check it out now. Thanks!

Liz said...

I just googled Neil Oliver and am now quite intrigued. You've made me think I should do something on archaeologists as I've always had a special place in my heart for Michael Wood, too. Thanks for the tip!

Liz said...

And hey, Crowe, sorry about leaving out The Specials. I haven't seen it myself but have heard enough about it that I should have included it. Me and my foggy brain!

annie said...

... i still dont want to see Slither. :x

Anonymous said...

He looks like Commander Data.

And Data don't fuck around.

JD said...

Great post! I love reading his blog on myspace. Jenna and James make a great couple.

Anonymous said...

The only really significant things to come out of The Specials were James' SAG card and his marriage.

SB said...

Well being that I am the husband and the one who is a big fan of James I guess I should comment.

1. SLiTHER is a must see. There is no viable reason to not see this instant classic. It's funny, well written, superbly directed, and dammit, Bill Pardy!

2. Tromeo & Juliet is an aquired taste. Not everyone or will be able to make it through the whole movie but it is worth it to see James in one of his finest acting roles.

3. Dawn of the Dead is one of, if not THE BEST, remake of a horror movie to date. And we know there have been a plethora of them the last few years. It is non-stop frantic zombie action with a slid plot and great acting and directing.

4. Lolli Love. Sadly not many know of this little gem but it is strongly recommended that you see this movie. If you have Blockbuster Online or Netflix, put it at the top of your queue now. Do it. Now. I will wait.

5. His blog. It's worth a gander. What I find interesting is that my wife and I are like the uncool, poorer version of James and Jenna. We seem to do a lot of the same things and have many of the same interests. So I would like to pretend that if we all met we would maybe buy houses next to each other and hang out watching DVD's of cool and hip TV shows, playing with our pets, and making fun of Nathan Fillion.

There is so much more about James but getting to know him is easy by reading the blog and watching the above movies plus others.

--Silver said...

Oh my Gos, Tromeo & Juliet... I don't think the Wife will ever forgive me for renting that one time. And we have Slither on DVD.

I'm gonna have to go check out that hombre's blog now...

.

--Silver said...

Errr, "God". I don't like Louis Gosset Jr. that much.

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