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MacGyver Movie
jake on 2008.05.09 at 11:36 am
There are many pieces of entertainment that can be construed as guilty pleasures. MacGyver was a popular tv show in the late eighties and the latter seasons have not aged well. This has caused some pop culture negativity. When you say MacGyver in public you can receive two basic responses. Some point out his pseudo mullet and laugh. Others get silly grins and reference Swiss Army Knives and Duct Tape. Starting on my birthday I began acquiring the full season DVDs. And as I work my way through season 6 I can stand proud and exclaim the awesomeness of MacGyver. There is no guilt.
Gizmodo recently mentioned that the show’s creator, Lee David Zlotoff, is interested in crating a big budget movie of the property. Hopefully if this is greenlit it will do the classic justice. Yeah, I just called this show a classic.
Also…
Posted in: Television · Movies
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Awesome Pandas?
jake on 2007.10.17 at 08:39 pm
Animated movies full of pop culture references and modern, top-forty songs hurt my brain. That is the first thing triggered when I see advertising like this movie, Kung Fu Panda, and it’s tagline. Why is this movie trying to be so hip? That line is ridiculous. And it has Jack Black in the title role. This movie will be popular to little kids when it first comes out and a footnote in ten years. I’m going to wipe this from my memory and go watch Mulan.
From I Watch Stuff
Posted in: Movies
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Buttercup vs. Dread Pirate Roberts
jake on 2006.06.13 at 03:56 pm
We now have four editions of The Princess Bride. I noticed this in some advertising this morning on IMDB. The original DVD was released in July of 2000. A special edition was released a year later. Nothing is bizarre about that. Lots of movies have two versions. But now we have two more competing editions. Basically it amounts to boy and girl versions.
First we have the Buttercup Edition. A picture of Westley and Buttercup adorns the cover. The famous scene right before he leaves to go stake his claim on the world and save money for their wedding. It’s obviously playing up the romance angle. 
And second we have the Dread Pirate version. Hooray for adventure and sword play! Which the image of “The Dread Pirate Roberts” conveys. Although the special features are listed slightly different, if you compare, the two editions are exactly the same. The only exception being the packaging. The movie itself is something you should have in your collection. But the marketing department needs to go back to the drawing board. I am curious about the new Dread Pirate mockumentary. But I don’t want to choose between a masculine and feminine version of a movie I already posses.
If they really wanted my money they would just go with a singular Fezzik Edition. *Everyone* loves the giant…
Posted in: Movies
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Kevin Smith talks back
jake on 2006.04.03 at 08:50 pm
Kevin Smith came under fire for a speech he gave at the University of Pennsylvania. He recounted the story of his buddy Jason Mewes battle with addiction. The problem is that everyone is jumping on the few sentences that include Jay sleeping with Nicole Richie. Which I have to imagine only happened because of her being in the spotlight. I won’t debate her worthiness of such attention but I’d like to point out Kevin’s attempt to get the whole story out.
Since the gossip sites have seen fit to print only the portion of the Jason Mewes story I told at UPenn (that portion being what said sites seem to feel is the only interesting aspect of Mewes’ life), I figured why not put the whole tale of Jason’s battle with drug addiction into print here, where folks can get a better idea of who Jason truly is and maybe why he fell victim to heroin abuse in the first place.
The story is a good example of what drug addiction can do to you and the people around you.
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 1
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 2
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 3
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 4
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 5
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 6
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 7
- Me and My Shadow, Pt. 8
Update: Added more parts.
Update 2: And another part…
Update 3: man, how many parts are there gonna be?
Update 4: Finally, the conclusion.Posted in: Movies · Recent Events
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Link Dump; Curve Ball, $ 10 Color, Cheap Fireflies, Magdalene Sisters
jake on 2006.03.02 at 02:12 pm
Well today is another birthday for me. I am now a whopping twenty-seven years old. I’ve discovered two new famous-ish people to add to the list of people who share my birthday.
Here are the people I didn’t know…
Bryce Dallas Howard – Not only is she cute, but she’s going to play Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3. I guess I’ll have to start watching all her movies or something. One time this crazy lady at the store claimed I looked like Bryce’s dad, Ron Howard. I’m not sure what that lady was smoking.- Daniel Craig – Oh great, now I have to stick up for the new James Bond every keeps making fun of. Well maybe not that much…
- Lou Reed – Co-founder of Velvet Underground
- Tom Wolfe – Author of The Bonfire of the Vanities
- John Irving – Author of The Cider House Rules
- Heather McComb – Actress from a bunch of different random things. Also married to Dawson. He’s actually a few days older and originally from a neighboring town. And has a couple indirect connections with me.
And the ones I already knew…
And finally some random tidbits I wanted to share.
- Bend it like Beckham — you can’t lose, says study – Apparently we aren’t equipped to handle curving objects.
New $10 bill rolls out Thursday – Now the tens are in color. I still think we should change the sizes of the bills too.- The Magdalene Sisters (get it) – This was a good movie portraying a group of young women forced to stay in a Magdalene Asylum. The DVD also includes a documentary that brings up the aftermath if a girl was lucky enough to leave. Intimate relationships are damaged forever.
- Firefly (from Digg) – Now Firefly is now under $ 20 at Amazon. :) – Bonus side note: Gina Torres, who played Zoe, had a role on The Shield last night.
Update: Added some more birthday people…
Posted in: Science · Television · Movies · Recent Events
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2 Seconds with The Corporation
brian on 2006.03.01 at 10:38 pm
Two second review:
The Corportation, Documentary.
Worth every minute of watching.
This month it was on Comcast OnDemand, via the Sundance Channel. It may have expired today, but check just in case.
Posted in: Politics · Movies
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Serenity released on DVD.
jake on 2005.12.20 at 03:02 pm
Serenity Now!
Today is the Day! Serenity is finally out on DVD. My Amazon preorder should be waiting at my house when I get home. I read a terrifying thing (from Digg) today about the possiblity Joss Whedon wasn’t going to continue with the Firefly universe. While I that would be a tragedy I wanted to touch on something the article said.
...Serenity’s status as a franchise nonstarter; despite Universal’s best marketing efforts…
Has anyone seen the promotional material on TV for Serenity? The 15-second spots where it’s basically just River Tam (Summer Glau) kicking everyone’s ass? I’d just like to point out that there is a fucking lot more to this movie than River beating people up.
The movie was so well received by critics because of the character development. Not because it was an action movie along the vien of Rambo. Universal dropped the ball just like Fox did with promoting the show.
Give the movie a chance, it’s not all that bad being a Browncoat.
Posted in: Movies
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More Serenity
jake on 2005.12.12 at 03:48 pm
I’ve seen two recent posts about Serenity lately. Miraculously they both were brought to my attention through Digg. Of course it seems that Serenity and Firefly has a lot of fans on Digg.
The first is that Serenity is just shy of breaking even. I’ve already pre-ordered my DVD. You should too, then we might get “bullet” number two.
And the second is that there is some talk of a sequel. The only problem I see is that the discussion revolves around bringing it straight to the Sci-Fi channel. Personally I wouldn’t mind Sci-Fi bringing back the series but I’m not sure how I feel about a movie.
Previous posts…
Posted in: Movies
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Dick and Jane, again...?
jake on 2005.12.05 at 10:51 pm
Have you ever met someone who has no idea that some new song is actually a remake, or that the new hit hip hop song is sampling a song by a rock band from the seventies? Yeah? Well I kinda felt like one of the people on the naive side today.
Did everyone but me realize that the new Fun with Dick and Jane movie is actually a remake? I was sifting through the Circuit City flier and noticed the title in a pile of bargain DVD’s. Jim Carey can probably make it humorous. But do we really need another remake?Posted in: Movies
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Serenity
jake on 2005.10.03 at 02:51 pm
Just yesterday I made “a bold move” and went out, by myself, to see Serenity. I had heard good things from the realm of geeks and figured I might like it. I was not dissapointed. With so many others typing their thoughts on it I figured I could just let mine slide. But it didn’t perform well this past weekend (from Digg), and I’d like to extend an invite for the masses to go check the movie out.Serenity pretty much exists because the tv show it was based on (Firefly) had a little misshap —Fox didn’t give any priority to the show against other programming and aired the series out of order—and was cancelled after 11 episodes.
The first pang of interest came after Tom Coates post. Not only did he rave about the movie he also pointed out some interesting statistics where women, who you don’t usually associate with sci–fi programming, enjoyed it more than men. Shortly after that I noticed the Wired review. They pretty much summed up how I feel about the movie and convinced me I should go check Serenity out.
Serenity’s verbal fireworks help compensate for its clumsy special effects. The chases, explosions and battles are choppy and confusing and look a bit cheap. Using Hollywood’s warped abacus, it’s pretty clear that $45 million—Serenity’s reported budget—isn’t enough money to create blockbuster visuals.
Maybe that’s for the better. Rather than spending months working with the Orphanage or Industrial Light and Magic to blow up stuff in slow motion, Whedon invested energy in refining Serenity’s human elements.
I didn’t care that there was a lack of amazing computer generated explosions. Although I did not see major fault in the quality of the action sequences, it wouldn’t have mattered, I was already enjoying the characters and the good dialogue.
Serenity needs to be brought out of its slump. I’m hoping word of mouth will help it perform better in the coming weeks. With all the crap coming out of Hollywood lately Serenity shouldn’t be pushed out of the theaters without even making a divet.
Endnotes: Check out the little quiz after you come home from the movie and see which charcter you’re most like. I’m 75% Capt. Mal Reynolds.
And while you’re viewing the movie… Doesn’t Kaylee (Jewel Staite) remind you a bit of Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye)
Update: Michael Heilemann dicovered a review of Serenity done by Orson Scott Card. The writer of Ender’s Game has nothing but praise for the movie.
Well, guess what.
It’s great.
I’m not going to say it’s the best science fiction movie, ever.
Oh, wait. Yes I am…
...So here’s what I have to say about Serenity:
This is the kind of movie that I have always intended Ender’s Game to be (though the plots are not at all similar).
And this is as good a movie as I always hoped Ender’s Game would be.
His take on it is that no matter how much fluff you put into a science fiction movie the characters have to mean something too. If the audience doesn’t love/hate the characters, you have failed. This is one of the key components to Pixar’s success. It is not just about making a pretty sci-fi world. It is about creating a great story with great characters.
Posted in: Movies
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Guitar Solos, Storm Harvey, Fictional Critic, How to respond to jerky emails
jake on 2005.08.03 at 09:44 pm
In this installment of link dumping we have some interesting tid-bits for all you readers out there. I’ll try and give my thoughts on the latest Harry Potter book if I get a chance. I finished reading it today.
- 100 Greatest ‘Rock’ Guitar Solos – Wooooo Pink Floyd… [from: Best Week Ever Blog
- Tropical Storm Harvey forms near Bermuda – The last time a storm with part of my name on it came through, it was weak and didn’t do a lot of damage. Lets hope Harvey is as big a pansy.
- Class action: $5 if you saw a movie plugged by Sony’s fictional critic – I don’t think this is as big a deal as them suing us. I didn’t mind “A Knight’s Tale” too bad, though that might have had something to do with the company. My worst memories are when the movie makers tried to pull us out of the middle ages and back into some modern crap. I’ll blow off the claim and hopefully some of the money will actually go to charity.
- Communications Course #1 – What to do when someone sends you a snide email. [From: Pixiegal
Posted in: Music · Movies · Web · Recent Events
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Live 8, Uwe Boll needs a new job
jake on 2005.07.05 at 04:24 pm
There were a couple things I wanted to actually post about, but I’m distracted at work and can’t get my brain around them. I’ll just leave you with a handful of links to peruse.
- Andy Budd has a Live 8 Funometer – I was busy with my bros’ (yes that’s plural) graduation parties so I missed it on TV. Though from what I understand, MTV really stunk with their coverage, filling it with ads and commentary instead of listening to the music. Hell, they probably sent some group of morons to the show and it’ll be some new reality series in a few weeks.
- Uwe Boll has been killing movies for a while now, sign this petition to stop him. Too bad it’s not that easy.
- Jason Kottke really gets around.
Posted in: Music · Movies · Web
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Batman Begins
jake on 2005.06.22 at 03:14 pm
Batman Begins is a great movie. It’s doing pretty well, but the movie studios want it to save them.News flash for the film industry, you’re killing yourselves. When it costs $9 a ticket, and the average person doesn’t go by themself, your customers are going to be more selective. Especially when I can wait a few months and buy the thing on DVD for less than the price of two movie tickets. You guys need to clean up your act. You can still make crap loads of money if your customers save some money and can go to more movies.
With all the bull out there you’d think they’d figure it out one of these years…
Sorry about that, back to the movie.
The feel is dark, like some of the Dark Knight’s better graphic novels. I enjoy Tim Burton’s work immensly, but his original Batman movies gave a totally different feel. It was dark more like a scary clown at a theme park. Batman Begins felt more real. Gotham was a living, breathing city, not a backdrop.Everyone who enjoys comics should enjoy this movie. And many people who enjoyed the Spider-Man movies should also enjoy this movie. Batman Begins is more interested in the characters than just blowing things up. Of course lots of things blow up too. I just didn’t find it excessive.
The acting is also high quality. I’ve seen a couple other movies with Christian Bale, but my mind keeps floating back to Newsies. I think it might be linked to how my cousin Amy used to obssess over it. I think I’ll start thinking of him as Batman now. And Michael Caine as Alfred is a good fit too.
If you’re interested in saving some money just do what I did, go to a matinee. But this movie is a must see on the big screen.
Posted in: Movies
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Link Dump #43.6727
jake on 2005.06.22 at 01:57 pm
Well my PowerBook is back, my frisbee team isn’t doing too well and I got to see Batman Begins yesterday (my thoughts in a following post). But I haven’t posted in a few days, so let’s give anyone reading out there a little tidbit of what I’ve found interesting recently.
- Lions Rescue, Guard Beaten Ethiopian Girl – Wow, apparently a young, girl who was kidnapped, to be forced into marriage caveman style (a problem in Ethiopia), was saved by a group of lions. Anybody wanna let loose a few on Tom & Katie? · I also saw this on Boing Boing around lunch time.
- Halloweenie Paper Toys (From Boing Boing) – I think I’m gonna have to save this for decorating my cubicle this October…
- Emo Philips – The Can Man (From Screenhead) – Gotta love this guy. Remarkably, the guy who directed this short also made an original Meet The Parents I’ll have to see if they have that at Netflix...
Nope…
- Finally, for all you nerds out there, Top Open Source Tutorials
Posted in: Movies · Web · Recent Events
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Star Wars: Episode III
jake on 2005.05.30 at 11:13 pm
A Little Intro
Well this took me long enough. I did finish a basic implementation of XML-RPC for Brian and I to update the site. I simply translated over the nice Textpattern implementation.
So now I get to use ecto for writing this post. And if I don’t finish I can save a draft and come back to it later. At least as long as I have Peanut Butter.
The Movie
Being a fan of the original trilogy as a young boy I was excited when these three came out. While Episodes I and II were decent, they could not live up to the memory of the old set. Episode III on the other hand did a good job of living up to the memory. Most of the characters were handled well. Kottke pretty much sums up my feelings with his review and he’s better spoken so I’ll let him finish up....which was the biggest surprise for me, that sadness. Somehow, Lucas made a real old-fashioned tragedy here; he actually made the evil Darth Vader into a sympathetic character.
Balance to the force?
Something I can touch on that is unique to my knowledge pertains to the whole “balance to the force” concept. I recall when Episode I came out a bunch of friends of mine were confused by all the talk of bringing balance to the force. Wasn’t it Luke who wins out? But, as my buddy pointed out, Darth Vader actually hurls the emperor down the ventilation shaft. Was it a ventilation shaft? Ehh… No matter.
The twist is that to remove all of the Sith would not balance the force. It would skew it to all positive. I don’t know if George Lucas meant for this or not, but the galaxy far far away seems to not understand this simple word. For good you need evil. For evil you need good.
My take on it, Anakin does bring balance to the force. If you remember what Obi-Wan says in the first set of movies, that Darth Vader hunted down the Jedi and murdered them all, then you also notice that Yoda and Obi-Wan are seemingly the only Jedi left at the start of Episode IV. A master and an apprentice—well sort of, we know Obi-Wan didn’t directly study under Yoda—are all that are left on either side. Four masters of the force, two on either side. Were the Jedi confused all along?
Posted in: Movies
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Netflix brings in Wal-mart's DVD rentals.
jake on 2005.05.19 at 10:54 am
It was hard to decide between Blockbuster and Netflix. Well now the third competitor, Wal-mart, has folded and is sending customers toward Netflix. Sure it’s probably like fifty people but at least Netflix doesn’t have to worry about them pushing a price war any longer.
Posted in: Movies
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Star Wars Tidbits
jake on 2005.05.13 at 02:02 pm
Well with the new Star Wars movie coming out soon there’s buzz all over the place about related topics.
There’s how stuff works where you can learn the ins and outs of how to build and wield a light saber.
Nearly anything you would normally find around the home or office is easy to cut with a lightsaber, including steel pipes, reinforcing beams, mounting struts and so on. If you happen to find yourself hanging upside down in a cave, a lightsaber is the perfect tool to use to cut the rope.
We also have a little movie combining Star Wars with a funny little movie from last year. Anakin Dynamite uses terminology from the Star Wars universe in the setting of Napoleon Dynamite. It has some discrepancies with the original text, things like not saying “gosh” enough. But it’s still pretty funny if you know the original.
Finally we have Darth Vader’s Weblog. It’s full of posts recounting events from Episodes IV-VI as seen from ole Anakin’s perspective. Things such as parenting.
I escalated my own level of brutality, and he lost ground. Still I found place to wonder: what fires his naked hatred? This is not the sting of a political idealist.
He popped out of the carbon chamber before I could freeze him, which was a neat trick.
Neat trick! Ha! And it’s nice to know the Empire learns its lessons.
And so my master appointed me the task of overseeing the final phases of activating the armaments of the New Order’s greatest work of engineering: a new DEATH STAR, ten times more powerful than the first, a glorious rebirth of Tarkin’s dream. (And this time we’ve built it without the need for a vulnerable secondary thermal exhaust port, right below the main port.)
Ahhh… That darn secondary thermal exhaust port.
Posted in: Movies
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Random Links
jake on 2005.01.10 at 02:21 pm
- I noticed on the Superficial a funny spoof of The Ashley Simpson Show.
- The site that linked to that originally also had a link to a video of the 4-year old drummer. His fills could use a little work, but in general he plays very well for someone his age. He could be cool when he’s older if he doesn’t get full of himself. Otherwise I’ll have to start referring to him as “The Mediocre 34 Year Old Drummer.”
- Gizmodo relays us to some interesting features on Hacking Netflix about adding profiles to user accounts. It has many benefits but I wonder if they thought about pushing movies up the queue if multiple profiles (family members perhaps) request a movie. I’m kinda excited to switch over from my Blockbuster account which I got while trying to barter referrals for my Free Camera
- Unleashed is a new movie starring Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, and Morgan Freeman, looks pretty cool. Too bad Li spends the movie trying not to kill people. ;)
Posted in: Technology · Rant · Music · Movies
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The Bourne Supremacy
jake on 2004.07.24 at 10:56 pm
I was a big fan of The Bourne Identity. I even sat down and read the book after the fact. After buying the Extended Edition with what they call the Bookend Scenes and a “free” ticket I went and viewed The Bourne Supremacy today. Neither of the movies follow the books other than in spirit. The character development is similar, they just tell slightly different stories about an agent who loses his memory and grapples with that and the agency who trained him.There may be some spoilers in here, but I’ll try to keep those to a minimum. I won’t give any big secrets away, but there is more information here than you see in the trailers. Unless you want to be completely left in the dark you can read ahead and still “discover” events in the movie.
Now Jason (Matt Damon) is living a somewhat peaceful life with Marie (Franka Potente) where the only problems he has are nightmares and doubts about his past. The CIA has closed the group he originally worked for but during a mission to discover a mole someone leaves a “forged” fingerprint of Jason Bourne. Then there is an attempt on Jason’s life. Now the CIA is after him for some answers. And assuming the Treadstone group is still being run and they’re still looking for him Jason turns around and goes after them. Throughout the movie Jason not only gets to the bottom of what is going on he learns more about his past and the nightmares he is having.
I really enjoyed this movie. It has some great action scenes, including a wonderful car chase scene. It is built on a foundation of characters, you don’t feel like the action is there for it’s own sake. There are also plenty of plot twists. Jason just doesn’t go down. He’s a machine and does everything deliberately. You get to see why his superiors considered him the number one agent. I’m not sure if I’ll see this a second time, since I’m not rich, but I am definitely buying the DVD when it comes out.Posted in: Movies
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A bunch of Spider-Man related things
jake on 2004.07.07 at 12:13 pm
Wow, there’s a lot of Spidey 2 buzz out there. I saw the movie agian with my mom and youngest brother on Monday. Nothing really new to add. I pretty much covered it in that other exhaustive post. But I have been noticing many things around the net in the last few days.
“The Peril of Doc Ock” – Let’s start it out with a bang, I just found out about this one. It is a great animation done with Legos. Good quality.- Spider-man 2 movie mistakes – From Slashdot.
- Spider-Man vs. True Spider Superpowers – Some science about Spidey’s powers.
- Spider-man 2 game – This is for anyone out there who’s not up on games. For some reason there’s 2 versions of the game. A PC version and a Console version. The PC version is sub-par and only got a 5 out of 10 on Gamespot, with a 3.5 from readers. The console version performed a little better getting a 7.2 from reviewers and a nice 8.5-9.0 from readers depending on which actual console they posted to. My understanding is that the Console version has some minor flaws like repitition. So if they just worked on the story and content it’d be a must-have game. If you’re looking into the game or buying it for someone else, avoid the PC version at all costs. Even if it is a little cheaper.
Posted in: Movies · Web
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Van Wilder Star to Fight Vampires
jake on 2004.07.02 at 03:45 pm
So I forgot to mention a weird thing I saw at the Spider-Man 2 showing a few days ago. They are releasing a third Blade movie. While not a huge surprise by itself, they added a couple of extra characters to the mix. One of them just so happens to be Ryan Reynolds. That's the guy from "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" and one of my favorite funny movies, Van Wilder. He's playing a guy called Hannibal King and it's kinda weird to see him toting guns and stuff.Also he recently became engaged to Alanis Morissette. He seems pretty busy.
Posted in: Music · Movies
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Thoughts on Fahrenheit 9/11
brian on 2004.06.30 at 01:06 pm
While Jake was out at his escapist film, I was out getting a full dose of reality with Michael Moore's latest documentary, F9/11. (OK, I plan on seeing Jake's escapist film as well.)I won't go on and on about it, other than saying this, no matter what your political background is, you should see it, think about it, and talk about it. It's not important that you adopt MM's view of the situation, just that you think about what's going on with your country. Form an opinion of your own, then go out and vote.
I, as a progressive-leaning independent (with some libertarian leanings) tend to think there's more skank stuff going on than the Bush Administration cares to admit. And I think they are a cancer upon our country. Scalpel! But I thought that a head of time.
Go see this movie, regardless of what you think of MM, go see it. Some like this whiner, are scared. It's just a movie. An op-ed piece. By the way, only people who can't back up their opinions don't enable comments on their weblogs. He can whine on his weblog, but MM can't in his movie? Weblogs are about discussion. Don't be close minded. If you don't agree, then that's fine. At least your ticket money goes to support intelligent, thought provoking documentaries in theaters, instead of the just the regular mindless stuff. Variety (of movies, and of opinions) is always better.
Posted in: Politics · Movies
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Thoughts on Spider-Man 2
jake on 2004.06.30 at 11:12 am
What's it all about?
Well I barely got any sleep last night, about 3 hours worth, because I went to one of 'dem midnight showings of Spider-Man 2. All the same actors reprise thier respective roles in this better sequel. The movie takes place a couple years after the first one. Peter (Tobey Maguire) is having a hard time coping with the fact that because he is out fighting crime there's no time for things like, homework, girls, a job. He quickly starts to melt down and question why he's wearing spandex in the first place.
Meanwhile Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is busy losing his sanity when his experiment fails and his wife is killed. It also probably doesn't help that his tentacles have their own AI so when the safety chip is destroyed in the accident they start to influence his thought.So now we have a madman running around and Spidey no where to be found. To top it all off, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is engaged half way through and Harry (James Franco) is obsessed with destroying Spidey. Luckily Peter comes to his senses and we see a lovely climactic battle between hero and villain.
A couple scenes I really liked.
The first was the big train battle scene. (Where the first picture comes from). It's action packed and has some nice twists. The second is when Peter is really questioning himself and ends up using an elevator to reach the ground floor of a building. Some random guy shows up and they exchange a few funny words, and we learn that the spandex suit rides up in the crotch sometimes.
I loved this movie, hands down. I can nitpick about random things, but that's mostly just cause I used to have a Spider-Man bike when I was 2 and watched re-runs of the TV show around the same time (ie he's my favorite comic book character of all time). The action was great, the character development was great, and I will probably see it again, when I'm not half asleep.What next?
They lead into a third movie where a few people are introduced to be possibly the next villains. I'd actually prefer a double villain setup. Harry obviously could become the second Green Goblin as he did in the comic books. Curt Conners (Dylan Baker) could be the Lizard as he does in the comic books. However that would make a third experiment gone awry in three movies, a little redundant. I'd love to see Venom come about but that might be a lot of development for one movie.
What works for me? Peter discovers the black alien suit in the next movie which leads into a 4th and possibly final Spider-Man film against Venom. While this is going on he fights with the second Green Goblin and another villain, perhaps the Lizard or Kraven the Hunter, or someone else not as cheesy as The Painter.
I'll probably add to this if I get a chance once my brain is functioning a bit better, or if I can remember some things by seeing it a second time.
Side note
Why the heck am I the only one of my friends who can spot Stan Lee (credited as "Man Dodging Debris" in Spidey 2) in all of these movies? He’s had cameos in a few Marvel movies now and with exception of Hulk, where he actually is on camera for more an one second and paired with Lou Ferrigno, no one ever sees him. “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”
Also:
Posted in: Movies
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Movies I plan on seeing.
jake on 2004.06.13 at 10:46 pm
There are a lot of movies coming out. Lots of diversity in this list. They're just links to the trailers. You can get to the official sites if they exist through the trailers pages. Enjoy...
- The Bourne Supremacy - I loved the first book and loved the first movie (even though they were different) so I have a good feeling after watching the trailer I'll like this one too.
- Spider-Man 2 - I already have tickets for this. I'd probably go see it if they replaced Tobey Maguire with Jaleel White (no offense to Jaleel).
- Dodgeball - I liked this the first time, when it was Baseketball. But it still looks funny... ;)
- Danny Deckchair
- Saved!
- Garden State - That one should be obvious
- Napoleon Dynamite
- The Incredibles
- SpongBob Squarepants - I've always loved this little guy, I'll probably bring my little brother.
- Hero - not a huge fan of wire-fu, but this looks good.
- Ocean's 12 - Apparently "they're all back," that's all we get out of the teaser.
- Anchorman - Woo hoo! Will Ferrell
- King Arthur
Whew, that took forever.
Posted in: Movies
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New Net Trailer for "Garden State"
jake on 2004.06.12 at 11:55 pm
I stumbled upon a new trailer for "Garden State." I'm pretty sure I wanna see it.
Posted in: Movies
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Fahrenheit 911 Trailer Up
brian on 2004.06.03 at 12:14 am
Fahrenheit 911 Trailer is now available online, and will be in theaters in the United States on June 25th. Hallelujah. I can't wait. Think of Michael Moore what you like, but the man can make movies. I wonder if I'll have to go the Coolidge Corner Theatre to see this one, or whether it'll be out in "main stream" theaters. I can't wait. Have I said that already?
Jake: Completely unrelated, this is our 500th post. Yippee!
Posted in: Politics · Movies
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Incredibles Trailer online
jake on 2004.05.14 at 02:46 pm
On a much lighter note, The Incredibles comes out in November. And you can see a full trailer now. Looks like a good movie, just like everything else Pixar makes.Posted in: Movies
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'Passion' points out flaw in corporate theory
jake on 2004.05.12 at 02:42 pm
Well here's some proof for you. According to Reuters, recently Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" has been top of the heap for piracy on P2P networks. As was pointed out in a study a little while ago, P2P piracy does not have a direct correlation to sales of the product being pirated.The Reuters article points out the two most downloaded films of the past year.
A company spokesman said the Pixar and Walt Disney Company animated flick "Finding Nemo" and the little-known Miramax "Shaolin Soccer" are the most pirated films online over the past year.
Umm... well Shaolin Soccer was only just released in select cities in the US. I know I saw an add for it "coming soon" over a year ago. So how were we supposed to pay to see it? And Finding Nemo broke the record for DVD sales when it was released. I can imagine "The Passion" doing something similar. Anyone else see a problem here?
Posted in: Technology · Movies
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More redundant movie links
jake on 2004.05.10 at 12:53 pm
Cory posted two articles from Strange Horizons. It is a web based magazine where they run user submitted stories. They have compiled lists of overly used plot lines. Stories We See Too Often and Horror Stories We See Too Often
The only problem I have with the lists is in the horror list, under "Serial killer or vampire stalks and slays victim(s)." we find "d. The serial killer was abused as a child." This is based in reality, so a fiction piece about a serial killer would more often than not revolve around chile abuse. It is not always one of the causes, but it does occur regularly. I did a paper in college where I pointed out links of a handful of higher profile serial killers and their history of being abused. Here's Henry Lee Lucas,
When little Henry sliced an eye while playing with a knife with his brother, his bootlegging, prostitute mother -- Viola Lucas -- left his gashed orb unattended for days until it eventually withered and had to be removed by a doctor. Once mom beat him so severely with a piece of wood that he lay in a semi-conscious state for three days before Viola's boyfriend decide to take him to a local hospital. Another time, she cruelly decided to send Hank to school in a dress and with his hair curled.
There is some question as to whether Lucas actually committed the numerous murders he confessed to, but let's just say he wasn't very well adjusted either way. Unless the writer wants to stray from reality, abuse makes sense.
Posted in: Movies
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Interesting movies lost in limbo
jake on 2004.05.10 at 12:15 pm
Kuro5hin has an interesting post about screenplays that were never made. Sometimes, when pondering the repetitiveness of Hollywood, I wonder how many movies are never made that have at least somewhat original plots.
I thought the premise of Avatar was pretty good. Though as I sifted through it the original story had a few too many clichés. Like, man thrown into weird environment decides to stay behind because he find purpose and love in new environment. But overall I enjoyed it, and I wouldn't mind seeing some computer generated animals...
The slinger's neck snaps forward, and its long, pointed head detaches, flying through the woods as a self-guiding venomous glider... a smart-dart. The hexapede senses the dart and bolts, bounding in evasive zigzags. The dart tracks it unerringly through the trees and buries itself in its flank. The hexapede staggers. It stands, its muscles spasming, then falls over. The dart starts emitting a series of high-pitched squeals, which allow the body to home in on it blindly. The neck bends down, and is rejoined to the dart. Josh catches a glimpse of hair-like tendrils lacing together... some kind of neural interface. Then the slinger starts to rip the hexapede part.
Posted in: Movies
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Garden State
jake on 2004.05.05 at 10:14 pm
I randomly found the trailer for this new movie called Garden State. What draws me to this so much is Zach Braff, one of the stars of Scrubs. It's right up there as my favorite show. Zach wrote and directed the movie, which I believe he has done for at least one episode of Scrubs. I'll definitely be checking this movie out.When Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral, he reconnects with old friends and - since he’s gone off his depression medication - himself. A chance meeting with Sam (Natalie Portman), who also suffering from various maladies, opens his world to the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.
Posted in: Movies
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Kill Bill 3?
jake on 2004.04.13 at 07:20 pm
At first I thought this was another stupid cash in...
But Tarantino is apparently taking a different route. He plans on taking the daughter of Vivica A Fox's character and having her get revenge against Uma Thurman's character. He will do this by waiting 10-15 years and shooting some now, some then. Very cool.
Posted in: Movies
6 Comments -
Good Home Audio Fun
brian on 2004.03.05 at 07:31 pm
The JayZConstructionSet and Apple's GarageBand lead to hours of at home artistic fun. Proceed with caution!
Posted in: Technology · Movies
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Garfield the Movie?
jake on 2003.12.19 at 04:21 pm
I had no idea there was going to be a Garfield movie. But the fact that you can watch a trailer of it proves it.
I'm not sure what to think of this. It doesn't seem to have much of a plot, though it's just a teaser, and the idea of it being 3D kinda creeps me out.
Personally I'd much rather see a Get Fuzzy movie. It has a similar setup of characters, only Bucky is a lot more harsh than Garfield.
Posted in: Movies
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Doune Castle - It's not a model
jake on 2003.09.16 at 11:42 am
This past weekend I was pointed to the article about Doune Castle in the local paper. Coincidentally I am giving the Collector’s Edition of Holy Grail to my little bro for his birthday. My friends and I growing up made sure he loved all things Python, he actually requested it as a must have. Well after Soul Caliber II.I figured this was a good way to christen the image capabilities I recently added. I had a hard time coming up with the first picture to post. Anything relating to Monty Python is a good candidate in my book. It probably has some bugs to work out, but it seems to be functioning fairly well.
Now, about that article, the most interesting thing to me is the real history behind the castle. It is one the best preserved castles in Scotland. And though it was built a hundred years later it is in a region where people like William Wallace traveled.
Overlooking a picturesque river just south of the brooding Scottish highlands, Doune Castle is in a region once roamed by Scottish heroes like Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.
The 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge — in which a force led by Wallace defeated the English — took place eight miles southeast of here. A monument at Stirling pays homage to Wallace, long revered in Scotland but little known in the United States until Mel Gibson portrayed him in the movie “Braveheart.”
Doune Castle is considered the best-preserved medieval castle in Scotland. It was built at the end of the 14th century by Robert Stewart, the first Duke of Albany, whose story is laced with intrigue.
Of course people wandering around there randomly spouting quotes from the movie is pretty sweet too.
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Image from Talin’s Illustrated Travel JournalPosted in: Rant · Movies
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Tobacco firm courting celebrities toward brand
jake on 2003.08.08 at 03:17 pm
Freedom Tobacco is making an attempt to push its new cigarettes with adult celebrities. If you are to believe the study(1) recently concluded, this is a side step to advertising to a young audience.
I can see where activists have a problem with this. If the study's results are accurate then teens watching celebrities smoke onscreen will emulate them. And what are you most likely to smoke if you learn from a celebrity. Whatever they're having.
Posted in: Politics · Television · Movies
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Special Effects Vs. Plotline
jake on 2003.07.30 at 04:08 pm
I read a story a couple days ago that oversimplified things and pretty much bothered me. By using the new Hulk movie as an example it discussed over the top special effects and the storylines that usually suffer as a result.
In the visual-effects community, ILM’s Hulk was seen as a major achievement: the life in the creature’s eyes, the way light played naturally off its skin, its synthesis into its surroundings, all were deemed first-rate. Film critics, however, panned not only the movie but ILM’s work. The monster didn’t look real. Case closed. Moviegoers must’ve agreed, because after a huge opening weekend, “The Hulk” died at the box office.
Hulk is a good movie. Spider-Man may have been better at this, but the character development was very good in the Hulk. You felt attached to the characters, even the big green guy himself. Using CGI the creators gave him facial expressions. In the scene where he saves Betty from the mutated dogs, he shows real life.
It is possible to say, well in general he doesn't look realistic at all. Just because he can make a sad face, doesn't mean he looks real doing it. Well news flash, he isn't real! He's a 15′ green behemoth! The reason he doesn't look realistic is because nothing like the Hulk exists in our world. It's impossible to make him look 100% real because we have no basis for him in our brains.
Movies are entertainment, we all need to suspend some disbelief. I'm tired of people not just relaxing and watching a movie for what it is.
Posted in: Rant · Movies
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Finding Nemo and Pixar
jake on 2003.05.30 at 04:12 pm
Today Finding Nemo is coming out in theaters. I'm waiting till Sunday to see it with a small group of friends.
There's a review of it at CNN.com.
In the past, the partnership of Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios has brought us the "Toy Story" films, "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc." Their latest collaboration, "Finding Nemo" continues the amazing winning streak.
And there's also a tour recap at The Salt Lake Tribune. The article relates some of the ideas that make the whole operation tick. Things like, the "bathroom effect" theory.
Here's the "bathroom effect" theory, as Greenberg explains it: "If you have bathrooms that are scattered throughout the building, you use the bathroom nearest to where you're sitting. If there was one bathroom, all kinds of people would come together and talk with one another all the time -- you'd meet different people if you were waiting in line. It would enhance communication, and you'd be talking about things outside of work."
Posted in: Technology · Movies
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Indiana Jones Trilogy on DVD
jake on 2003.05.09 at 09:17 pm
The Indiana Jones Trilogy will be released on DVD November 4th. View a trailer with this information at apple.com.
Posted in: Movies
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