Monday, April 24, 2006
V for Cool
Finally got a chance to see V for Vendetta this past weekend. First off, props to Hugo Weaving for pulling off an excellent role deprived of an actor's primary tool. Second, very cool movie. Dystopian future, corrupt governments, freedom fighters... and whirly knives flying through the air (and then into bad guys). What's not to love? Interesting (and nice) to see a Wachowski bros. movie driven more by the story than by action scenes, though the action scenes were quite well done.
This one is loud enough to warrant seeing in the theatre, but if you miss it it's definitely worth a rent.
Finally got a chance to see V for Vendetta this past weekend. First off, props to Hugo Weaving for pulling off an excellent role deprived of an actor's primary tool. Second, very cool movie. Dystopian future, corrupt governments, freedom fighters... and whirly knives flying through the air (and then into bad guys). What's not to love? Interesting (and nice) to see a Wachowski bros. movie driven more by the story than by action scenes, though the action scenes were quite well done.
This one is loud enough to warrant seeing in the theatre, but if you miss it it's definitely worth a rent.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Has Peter Jackson jumped the shark?!?!?
Saw King Kong on DVD this weekend and I can't even tell you how disappointed I was. I really wanted to like the remake, being a big fan of Jackson and a huge fan of the original, stop-motion classic. After 3+ plus hours of soulful close-ups of what was obviously a very expensive computer model, I didn't care what happened to poor old Kong. The point at which the movie lost me? The pathetically contrived "second wave" of bugs attacking the would-be rescuers at the bottom of the trench. Okay, giant bugs, yeah - cool. However, wave 1 of giants bugs conveniently followed by wave 2 of giant-er bugs... OH C'MON! And while Adrien Brody is a very talented fellow, he made a less-than-believable action star going hand over hand down that vine with Ann hanging from his shoulders (no, I don't ask for too much believability from a movie with giant apes and dinosaurs, but seriously...). At the point where Kong and Miss Darrow were frolicking in the NY snow, I went to get a snack.
Props to Jack Black for trying a more serious role, I didn't think he pulled it off though. Every time he'd look sideways at someone I'd start cracking up. The movie wasn't all bad - the bloodthirsty natives were wonderful, and the Kong vs. T-rex fight was pure bone-crunching goodness. The development of the relationship between Ann and Kong was well handled to begin with, but was too overdone.
Sadly, I can't even recommend renting this one. Wait for cable.
Saw King Kong on DVD this weekend and I can't even tell you how disappointed I was. I really wanted to like the remake, being a big fan of Jackson and a huge fan of the original, stop-motion classic. After 3+ plus hours of soulful close-ups of what was obviously a very expensive computer model, I didn't care what happened to poor old Kong. The point at which the movie lost me? The pathetically contrived "second wave" of bugs attacking the would-be rescuers at the bottom of the trench. Okay, giant bugs, yeah - cool. However, wave 1 of giants bugs conveniently followed by wave 2 of giant-er bugs... OH C'MON! And while Adrien Brody is a very talented fellow, he made a less-than-believable action star going hand over hand down that vine with Ann hanging from his shoulders (no, I don't ask for too much believability from a movie with giant apes and dinosaurs, but seriously...). At the point where Kong and Miss Darrow were frolicking in the NY snow, I went to get a snack.
Props to Jack Black for trying a more serious role, I didn't think he pulled it off though. Every time he'd look sideways at someone I'd start cracking up. The movie wasn't all bad - the bloodthirsty natives were wonderful, and the Kong vs. T-rex fight was pure bone-crunching goodness. The development of the relationship between Ann and Kong was well handled to begin with, but was too overdone.
Sadly, I can't even recommend renting this one. Wait for cable.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Holy crap - Terminator here we come!
Check this out. There's no image with the article, but the mental image called to mind are those skull-crushing tank-things from the opening scenes of Terminator. That or the Crushinator from Futurama.
Check this out. There's no image with the article, but the mental image called to mind are those skull-crushing tank-things from the opening scenes of Terminator. That or the Crushinator from Futurama.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Podcasts are so lame.
The idea isn't, of course. I love the idea of Everyman making their own radio show at home. So much creativity is lost in the sea of corporations that dominate the web.
No, podcasts are lame because of the ridiculous media frenzy and "buzz" that surrounds the term. A podcast is really just an mp3 file (yes, I know it's attached to an RSS feed, blah blah blah - the content is an mp3 file, plain and simple). You don't need an ipod, an iriver, an irazr, an ibrandedpieceofcrap TM. I listen to podcasts on my regular old computer... shocking, I know. My current favorite is iMomus from over at wired.com (here's his latest).
I just think it's funny, because according to the latest statistics, I may very well be one of the only people in the country actually listening to the darn things... and I don't even own an ibrandedpieceofcrap. That's right folks, basically it looks as though around 1% of web surfers download podcasts. To put that in perspective - more people respond to those dreadfully cheesy viagra spam e-mails, than download podcasts. Ouch. Maybe if we just call them mp3's again?
The idea isn't, of course. I love the idea of Everyman making their own radio show at home. So much creativity is lost in the sea of corporations that dominate the web.
No, podcasts are lame because of the ridiculous media frenzy and "buzz" that surrounds the term. A podcast is really just an mp3 file (yes, I know it's attached to an RSS feed, blah blah blah - the content is an mp3 file, plain and simple). You don't need an ipod, an iriver, an irazr, an ibrandedpieceofcrap TM. I listen to podcasts on my regular old computer... shocking, I know. My current favorite is iMomus from over at wired.com (here's his latest).
I just think it's funny, because according to the latest statistics, I may very well be one of the only people in the country actually listening to the darn things... and I don't even own an ibrandedpieceofcrap. That's right folks, basically it looks as though around 1% of web surfers download podcasts. To put that in perspective - more people respond to those dreadfully cheesy viagra spam e-mails, than download podcasts. Ouch. Maybe if we just call them mp3's again?
