'Music' in Prospect Park

1 comment (closed), posted on july 30, 2005, tags: entertainment, me, new york

Before tonight, I had never seen The Sound of Music. I am not a fan of musicals. In fact, one might say I have an outright hated for them. I've gone on wild, hour-long rampages before, yelling about how the very idea of a musical angers me. So when Katia told me she wanted to see one of her favorite movies, The Sound of Music in Prospect Park, I wasn't thrilled at the idea.

But, as it turns out, I could not have enjoyed it more. There's something about seeing a movie with 200 other people who all love it. I mean, they love that movie. People cheered when songs started, when something good happened, and they booed and hissed—hissed—at the nazis. There was an energy in the air, something that made my hatred for musicals melt away instantly. After the aerial shots of Salzburg, just as Julie Andrews is visible for the first time and just before she begins to belt out the title song, the audience began to cheer and scream and clap. It was crazy. I've never witnessed such excitement and love for any movie, let alone a musical from the 60s.

I'm glad I hadn't seen the movie before tonight. It was such a great experience to be surrounded by so many fans the first time.

The Egregious Meatball

7 comments (closed), posted on june 13, 2005, tags: entertainment, filmmaking

It's with great pleasure that I finally announce the public release of our latest short film, The Egregious Meatball. We worked really hard on this film and it is our best work yet.

There were a lot of people involved in this project and we got a lot of really great help and support along the way. It didn't win the Amazon short film competition, but we still love it. And now, finally, you can go watch it.

We hope you enjoy it.

24, Season Four

10 comments (closed), posted on january 10, 2005, tags: entertainment

24 knows exactly what it is and it knows exactly how to deliver, constantly, for 24 episodes a season. Yesterday's 2-hour premiere was no exception. The fourth-longest day in Jack Bauer's life began at 7AM PST. Jack is no longer with CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit), for the second time. The second season started with Jack having left CTU, only to be pulled back in, and this season starts with him working for the Secretary of Defense after having been fired from CTU at some point after season three (he was a heroin addict in season three—it's a long story). Of course it only took about 22 minutes for Jack to be back with CTU.

Instantly good news about the beginning of this season? The only characters from the past are Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian, and Chloe was new last season. President Palmer is gone (it's not a spoiler to say that he did not win re-election after season three) and Kim Bauer is living with Chase Edmunds, Jack's partner from last season. I'm sure Kim will come back at some point (she always does), but one can hope that she won't. Anyone who has watched the first two seasons of 24 probably hates the Kim character because she has an affinity for being in several ridiculous situations per season (the second season saw her being chased by a wife-beating murderer, being held hostage in a bomb-shelter by a crazy woodsman, being held hostage in a liquor-store robbery/standoff and killing said wife-beating murderer). Luckily, last season (3) her character was far less visible, even though she was working at CTU. This season she's away for now. Also missing are Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler, who were married between seasons two and three. Tony was the head of CTU in season three but did a few really stupid things and, as far as we know from the end of last season, is in jail. Who knows where Michelle is, and who cares? As far as the rest of the regular cast members from the last three years? Well, if you can think of one of them and I haven't mentioned him or her, they're probably dead. I won't say how because I don't want to spoil things for certain people.

So this season is a blank slate, and it's off to a great start. Much like Shawn, I was a little worried about spending two hours two nights in a row watching 24, but it only took two minutes and I was hooked again. I'm eagerly awaiting tonight's episodes. 24 is one of the few shows on television that makes my palms sweat and my heart race while I yell out things like, "He's got a gun!" and "Now we can only hope he gets two guns!" 24 is now on Mondays at 9:00PM EST on Fox.

Update: For some history on the missing characters from season three, you can see the long comments I posted to Shawn's entry. Note that there are spoilers for that season, in case you haven't seen it.

Music Suggestions Heeded

8 comments (closed), posted on january 3, 2005, tags: entertainment

First I want to thank all of you who gave me music suggestions. I listened to at least a few tracks from every album recommended. It took about 3 hours from beginning to end, but it was worth it because I have a crapload of new music to listen to now. I ended up spending about $100 at the iTMS and here's what I bought:

• Give Up by The Postal Service
• Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
• Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse
• The Execution of All Things by Rilo Kiley
• So Much for the City by The Thrills
• Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie

Still in my shopping cart to be purchased as soon as a few gift certificates on their way finally arrive:

• Treble & Tremble by Earlimart
• Up All Night by Razorlight
• Riot On an Empty Street by Kings of Convenience

I'm really enjoying all the new stuff. I received new Bose TriPort headphones for Christmas, so music on my iPod sounds amazing. Add to that the new AirPort Express we bought and I'm surrounded by music lately. I'm especially in love with The Postal Service right now—Give Up is a fantastic album. Every track was instantly likable and that's very rare for me. I'm just trying to cycle through all the new music and listen to it all. It doesn't help that Katia also put a ton of Beatles and other music on my iPod recently as well.

Oh, and I can't support the Interpol craze. I previewed every track off both albums and found maybe one or two songs I might consider buying, but I don't understand why everyone thinks they're so great? Shawn and I were talking about this the other night: it must just be one of those things where we don't get it. Because I don't think they're all that good but everyone else in the free world thinks they're the best thing since the Beatles. Someone, please, explain it to me.

So thanks again for all the suggestions. Feel free to keep them coming (I would prefer you post them to the other entry to keep them in one place).

Music Suggestions, Please

41 comments (closed), posted on december 13, 2004, tags: entertainment

I need new music. I have this habit with music where I end up listening to the same few albums over and over for months. Then I move on to a new group of albums and do the same thing. This doesn't bother me too much, but I've now cycled through my entire music collection twice and I'm bored. I need new music and I want you to suggest it. I am open to anything, but in the spirit of sharing, I'll tell you that the last few weeks have been spent listening to:

• Belle & Sebastian (If You're Feeling Sinister and Dear Catastrophe Waitress)
• Weezer (The Blue Album)
• Franz Ferdinand
• Linkin Park (Reanimation and Meteora)

Thanks to Shawn's recent suggestions I'm now listening to:

• Elliot Smith (XO)
• Jimmy Eat World (Futures)
• The Shins (Chutes Too Narrow)

But I need more. The only requirement is that it must be available on the iTunes Music Store (US). I don't mind full albums, single tracks, anything. Comment on this entry with your suggestions and I'll give 'em a shot.

Update: I've fixed an issue with the comments. Sorry about that, please continue to suggest songs!

Speaking of Games

6 comments (closed), posted on november 10, 2004, tags: entertainment

A long while ago I wrote something to grab my game data from my Gamespot account, extract all the important bits and put it into a fun design I whipped up. I did it just before Gamespot went through many rounds of site modifications during which they changed their profile pages quite a bit. After a while I stopped trying to keep up with them and let my page fall into disrepair. But they finally seem to be done for now and so, after many regex fixes, my page is working again.

You can check it out: Games!

It looks like absolute shit in Internet Explorer. That's because IE can't handle transparent PNGs without work and doesn't support adjacent sibling selectors which I use extensively. I'm not going to make the effort to make this work in IE. Use a better browser to view it. It's valid XHTML 1.1 and CSS and it looks great in good browsers.

If there's enough interest, I'll release the source for this (even though it's messy) so that other Gamespot people can have their game data on their personal sites.

Entertainment Weekly

4 comments (closed), posted on november 8, 2004, tags: entertainment

Lots of good stuff recently to entertain yourself with. If you haven't seen The Incredibles, you must. It is, in my opinion, Pixar's best work to date. I'm sure it helps a little bit that I'm a sucker for superheroes, but nonetheless it is a fantastic film. They have so much fun with the family's abilities and when you combine that with stellar visuals, great voice acting and a great story, you just can't lose.

Also worth seeing is Sideways, a movie most people haven't even heard of. It stars Paul Giamatti (Private Parts, Man on the Moon, American Splendor) and Thomas Haden Church (most notably "Lowell" from Wings) and it's a quirky, often hilarious road-trip picture about wine, love and failure. Oh, and wine. Can't forget to mention the wine. Anyway, see it. It was directed by the same guy who made About Schmidt and Election.

And if you're the video-game-playing type, this is a good month for you. Tomorrow, at long last, Halo 2 is released. I preordered my special edition copy nearly a year ago and I'll be playing it the moment I get home from work tomorrow. If you've got XBOX Live and you'll be playing Halo 2, please feel free to email your gamertag to me (garrett at maniacalrage dot net). I'm sure to be playing quite a bit and it would be fun to play with some of you guys.

Next week two more important games are being released: Metriod Prime 2: Echoes and... finally... Half-Life 2. Both look to be absolutely excellent games and both guarantee that I will be glued to my television or computer for quite some time. I am even considering taking a look back at Counter-Strike now that it's running on the Source engine. I haven't played CS since I left college, but I think I played it the equivilant of four lifetimes while I was there.

If you're not interested in first person shooters and have a Gamecube, take a look at Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It's a fantastic game. I've been playing it for the last few weeks and I can't put it down. Very clever and a whole lot of fun (plus about 30 hours of gameplay!).

Oh, and we can't forget that the Nintendo DS comes out in the States on November 21. Very excited about that, even though I'll probably wait until around Christmas to get once since they'll only have a few games out until then. We'll see. I have a feeling there will be quite a few game-related entries here in the coming weeks.

Car Talk

2 comments (closed), posted on october 9, 2004, tags: entertainment

For the past few months, Katia and I have been waking up on Saturdays to NPR's Car Talk. The show, hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi ("Click and Clack"), runs from 11am to 12pm (EST) and is one of the most entertaining hours you'll spend listening to the radio. Tom and Ray are hilarious and terrifyingly smart about cars. Even if you're not a car person (I'm not), you're doing yourself a disservice by not listening. Especially since NPR can be heard nearly everywhere in the US as well as all over the world. If that's not good enough, you can listen to the show online or buy episodes from the iTunes Music Store. Check it out.

Metroid

10 comments (closed), posted on february 23, 2004, tags: entertainment

Metroid was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986, and I must have played the game for at least 5 solid months. As a kid, the game was challenging, engrossing and extremely fun. I still remember the 'shocking' ending—finding out Samus Aran was, in fact, a woman. I also remember the infamous JUSTIN BAILEY ——— ——— password, allowing you to play as Samus without her power suit. And speaking of passwords—somewhere, in some landfill, there are hundreds of scraps of paper with 24 digits written all over them in no particular order, in a 6 year-old's handwriting, with little notes like, "pink clothes" and "before brain."

A few years later, after successfully convincing my parents to buy me a Game Boy, I got a hold of Metroid II: Return of Samus. The year was 1991, the Game Boy was the size of a brick, and I was once again engrossed in a Metroid game. I remember being frustrated most of the time, however, because the game was very large and there was no map of any kind to keep track of where you were/had been, and on the small Game Boy screen that created very annoying game play experiences. Still, it was Metroid, it was more of the same (and more!) and it was good. It was nothing compared to what came next, however.

Super Metroid was released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and is still, to this day, one of my favorite games. Super Metroid was, quite literally, super. It was Metroid on steroids with better graphics, better music, better weapons, a crap-load of new stuff, and some of the tightest game play I've ever experienced. It's one of the few games that made the addition of X, Y, L and R buttons to the SNES controller make sense. I remember how perfectly I could control Samus in Super Metroid. The controller and character felt like an extension of my brain—every movement seamless. The story was great, the game could easily last you 6 hours, and was fun the entire time. It's a good thing, too, because there wouldn't be another Metroid game for 8 years.

In the time between the release of Super Metroid in 1994 and Metroid Prime for the Gamecube in 2002, I went to and graduated from Junior High and High school. I moved from Washington to New Jersey. I went to college. I dropped out of college. I moved to Staten Island, then to New Jersey again. I learned to drive, had my first screwdriver, my first cigarette. I started to think that the next time I would see a Metroid game would be when my teenage kid was playing some future console system in the underground caves humans will dwell in by then. It wasn't quite that long, though.

Metroid Prime was a fantastic game. It takes the ideas of the Metroid series and starts a completely new path into the 3D, first-person-shooter genre. The move was inevitable, and definitely not a mistake. Metroid Prime received several game of the year awards and with good reason. It's rich graphics and tight combat control made the game extremely fun to play. Metroid Prime II is in development right now.

It seemed, with the news of Metroid Prime, that the side-scrolling adventure days of Samus Aran were over. Time to grow up, to move on, to step into the new world of gaming. Everything is first-person now. Hell, I think eventually you'll see a version of the Sims in first person. You'll interact with people in the virtual world, in first-person. Like the real world, but without actually having to leave your house or shower. So too must Samus stop showering, I thought. Luckily, I was wrong.

Metroid Fusion was released in 2002—at the same time as Metroid Prime—for the Game Boy Advance. Suddenly, after 8 years, there were two Metroid games to play. Fusion was called Metroid IV, and continued in the tradition of side-scrolling action that looked nearly identical to Super Metroid (the Game Boy Advance is nearly as capable as the SNES was). The game was tragically short, but aside from that, it was fantastic. A lot of the game play comes directly from Super Metroid, but there are plenty of little additions. Once again I was carrying a Metroid game around with me, which was great.

And now, in 2004, we've got Metroid: Zero Mission. A remake of the first Metroid game and also created for the Game Boy Advance, with a ton of new stuff and a whole new ending to the original storyline. I remember reading an interview with one of the project managers who said that you would "be surprised" with the new ending, and I must say that was entirely true. After I beat Mother Brain and escaped the inevitable, standard 'Self Destruct Sequence Has Been Activated!' bit, I was surprised with what came next. I won't ruin it for you, but I will say that it adds a nice extension to the original game.

Much like Metroid Fusion, Zero Mission is entirely too short. I beat the game the first time, without rushing, in 3 hours and 15 minutes. I've been playing through again, attempting to beat it as quickly as I can, and I'm near the ending and have only been playing for about an hour. I'd be much happier if those times were at least doubled. The good news is, the only reason I'm complaining about length is because the game is so damned good.

Zero Mission also includes a few cut-scenes, which none of the other 2d games have had. They're perfect for the game—anime-style, cartoon cells animated via panning over still frames—and add even more to the experience. Especially great is the first animation in the game, just before you take control of Samus for the first time. You hear the Metroid theme and you get a great close-up of Samus' face. Her eyes are closed, and just as the music peaks, she opens them. It's simple and short, but very effective.

The future for the Metroid series seems to be bright. If Nintendo can release a GBA game every year or two, and a Gamecube game every 2 years, I would be in heaven. Between this and The Legend of Zelda, I don't need any other games. Metroid has been a part of my life for almost 18 years now, and every time a new game is released I get all excited like a little kid. Zero Mission was no different.

The Office Series 2 DVD Info

7 comments (closed), posted on january 28, 2004, tags: entertainment

My friend Kevin (of Los Angeles Times fame) emailed me last night about The Office - Series 2 on DVD:

Regarding your The Office post, I have a contact at the BBC who tells me the second series of The Office will be released in the U.S. on April 20th.

Although that seems dreadfully far away, at least I know when to expect it now. He also said this of future seasons:

They made two more shows after Series 2 in the UK (They were Christmas specials that got huge ratings). Gervais said that's the end of that show.

And apparently they're making a remake of it on NBC... you know it's gonna be another Coupling disaster. Greg Daniels, the producer of King of the Hill, is behind the American The Office. God help us all.

An American version of a popular, award-winning BBC hit produced by Greg Daniels? Fantastic! Where do I buy the hammer to smash my television with?

A Review of the Newest Trailers

3 comments (closed), posted on january 27, 2004, tags: entertainment

The following is a collection of one-to-two-sentence reviews of each of the trailers currently listed under "Newest Trailers" at Apple.com. Note that I've watched every trailer but have obviously not seen any of these films.

» Continue reading A Review of the Newest Trailers

Good Television

2 comments (closed), posted on january 26, 2004, tags: entertainment

Millions of Americans watching the Golden Globes must have been really confused when Ricky Gervais, co-creator and lead of The Office, a BBC comedy, stepped on stage not once but twice to win both the Best Comedy and Best Comedy Actor awards at an American awards show that has never had a UK winner in those categories before.

I, however, am not surprised. The Office is truly unique and definitely one of the funniest new shows in the past few years. Gervais is especially hilarious to watch, but only because he plays his character—David Brent, "the seedy boss"—almost too well. The show is completely written by Gervais and co-creator Stephen Merchant, but feels mostly ad-libbed, which has a surprising effect on you as a viewer: you feel like you're watching a real documentary. That feeling makes you cringe even harder when David Brent tells a bad joke and stands there giggling while other characters stare at him, and makes you laugh even harder when Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) says something utterly ridiculous about being in the army.

If you haven't yet done so, consider purchasing The Office - The Complete First Series on DVD. It's only $20 for six episodes of quality television (and behind-the-scenes stuff too). You won't regret it. Now if they would just finally release the second series on DVD here in the US...

The Office: First Episode Quote

2 comments (closed), posted on december 29, 2003, tags: entertainment

My favorite quote from the first episode of The Office:

"My proudest moment here wasn’t when I increased profits by 17%, or cut expenditure without losing a single member of staff. No. It was a young Greek guy, first job in the country, hardly spoke a word of English, but he came to me and he went ‘Mr Brent, will you be the Godfather to my child?’

Didn’t happen in the end. We had to let him go, he was rubbish. He was rubbish!”

I plan to post my favourite line from each of the six episodes of the first season. If you're interested, get your copy of The Office right here.

Matrix Revolutions Outlook

5 comments (closed), posted on november 4, 2003, tags: entertainment

Well, after 6 months, The Matrix Revolutions arrives in theaters tomorrow. It's strange that I almost forgot about it completely this week (mostly due to the new job), but when Reloaded came out I was excited for months prior. I guess that's the difference between waiting 5 years and waiting 6 months.

So far, the reviews aren't looking so good. A check on Rotten Tomatoes last night yielded a rating of 19%. Today that rating has gone up to 44% (of all reviews last night, only 2 were positive—today with more reviews that number has gone up to 7 of 16). Doesn't sound like anyone is really liking it. Even though that won't stop me from seeing the film (nor from liking it), I have to admit that it is a bit depressing. Then again, Reloaded only received a rating of 73% (based on 207 reviews), which isn't terrific either. Perhaps tomorrow when more reviews are released the number will creep up.

I haven't decided yet whether to deal with the whole opening-night-madness thing. Don't get me wrong—I want to see the movie, but I just don't know if I want to wait in line for 2 hours on a work-day. It seems I have some time to decide, since my theater of choice hasn't sold-out a single show on Wednesday yet. I think part of my reluctance to see the film is the finality of it. After this, it's over. I really like this series. Regardless of whether or not Revolutions is great, it's a shame it will be over tomorrow.

Last Movies of the Summer

2 comments (closed), posted on september 1, 2003, tags: entertainment

S.W.A.T., which appeared as though it was 'one of those movies where everyone shoots everything and things blow up and nothing matters,' was great. It's a completely believable film from beginning to end, and believe it or not—it's a character film for the most part. There is action, but it's not even close to excessive. The situations and actions sequences are completely believable, and the film has great pacing and flow. It's the perfect summer movie, and you should definitely see it unless you're the type who only likes movies about 'people' and 'emotion' and 'minus anything that isn't romance.' If you are that type, I'm sorry to have wasted your time in this paragraph. Read below.

American Splendor was a really good movie. It's sort of hard to tell why, though, which is troubling. The best description is that it's just a really solid film from beginning to end. The acting is solid, the script, the direction—all of it. It's possible it might be nominated for Academy Awards, but I don't think it will win any. It's weird. Ebert gave it four stars, and I agree—it's probably one of the best movies I've seen in a long time—but I don't quite know exactly why I agree. I can't describe it, you should just see it. It's a part-documentary about a comic-book writer. I know that doesn't sound great, but trust me—you'll like it. If you don't, you'll probably still like S.W.A.T.. If you don't like that either, read below.

Dirty Pretty Things wasn't all that great. I don't know, the trailers make it seem like a suspense or a thriller, but it's definitely not either. It has a few moments that are 'thrilling' and maybe a moment of 'suspense' or two, but other than that, it's a lot of neither of those things ('drama'). I think it would have worked better as a thriller all the way through. Some of the ideas were creepy but they were tossed aside after 30 seconds of creepy music and then you were transported with a cut to another mood (usually not 'creepy'). I'm sure some people will love it (I know some who did), and if you're one of those, you'll probably really like American Splendor too (that's not to say these movies are at all alike, just that neither of them are S.W.A.T. (see above on both counts)). I wasn't a big fan, though.

Note: I apologize for all the 'single quotes,' in advance (even though you'll read this 'after' you've read everything else (I apologize for all the parenthesis too)).

Forgot. F-O-R-G-O-T. Forgot.

1 comment (closed), posted on august 20, 2003, tags: entertainment

A few weeks ago Katia and I saw Spellbound, a great documentary that follows eight kids as they try to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee. It opens with a fantastic clip of one of the eight kids—the goofiest one (and maybe the youngest as well), Harry Altman—having what seems to be a mental breakdown when asked to spell the word "banns." He makes all sorts of facial contortions, talks to himself ("I've got to think of something..."), and other good stuff. It's the perfect opening for a funny and fun documentary.

It's interesting to see the National Spelling Bee from this angle. How hard the kids study, prepare, concentrate—it's all rather frightening. The subject of coaching your child to be a National finalist being like child abuse came up several times in the film as a joke, and for good reason—it seems like a form of abuse. The only reason it's acceptable is that most of the children seem to, in some sort of masochistic way, enjoy it.

If you don't get a chance to catch this documentary in a theater, you should definitely rent it when it's available. It's a really great film and you won't be disappointed.

Best Car Commercial Ever

posted on july 30, 2003, tags: entertainment

The Honda "Cog" commercial, for their new Accord, was created in the UK. It's two minutes long, and is comprised of one single tracking shot (edit: there are actually two shots, one comprising the first minute, one the second, that are seamlessly edited together... still—not bad at all!), in which pieces of one of the six hand-made new Honda Accords work like dominos to further motion. There are no special effects in this commercial. It's all physics, tons of planning, and 606 takes*.

If you haven't seen this, you absolutely must. You can find the commercial at their UK website by clicking here. It's a flash site, so you may have to wait for loading. To view the commercial, click the link with the star next to it that says, "Click here for the two most precise minutes of TV you will ever see."

Simply amazing.

* I know it's hard to believe, but this is all true. For more information, you can check out the ULRP article (snopes.com) about this commercial.

Just Another Day with Mike Lowrey

3 comments (closed), posted on july 22, 2003, tags: entertainment

The unfortunate thing about Bad Boys II is that it tried to accomplish too much. It tried to pull off two and a half hours, and it tried to do so with tons of action and mostly meaningless dialogue. The problem is, it didn't work. While I liked the movie on a whole, I felt as though at least an hour of it wasn't worth the time. Condense the thing and maybe we'll talk.

The good thing about Bad Boys was that it was Michael Bay's first movie. It was good, too. It had the right amount of action and lots of laughs from Lawrence and Smith. It felt almost as if the writers knew the two actors and knew how to make them interact with the best outcome. But in the sequel, that was not the case. The dialogue felt forced, the communication and interaction stale. But the actions scenes were great—if long and often a bit harsh. That, however, does not make a movie good.

This sequel did what most sequels do, by trying to outdo the original. The sad thing is, it would have been better if it were just another day in the life of these two guys minus half of the car chases and minus an hour of footage. The first movie was succinct. It started, it went, it ended. This movie started, stalled, picked up, stalled, stalled further, picked up, etcetera for two and a half hours. Very often you found yourself thinking the same thing Martin Lawrence's character was saying, specifically: "This is the fifth gun-fight in two days!" Yes. It is. And if you're thinking this is ridiculous, what are we thinking?

Rise of the Machines [and Apathy]

7 comments (closed), posted on july 8, 2003, tags: entertainment

Making a sequel for the purposes of making a sequel is never good. And that's exactly what Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines felt like. From the [weak] beginning until the [stronger] ending, T3 was more about lengthy effects-laden battle sequences and catch phrases than anything else, even though the fate of the world was at stake. In fact, that whole 'nuclear holocaust' thing is actually, as Ebert wrote, secondary:

The movie cares so exclusively about its handful of characters that what happens to them is of supreme importance, and the planet is merely a backdrop.

While that might work somewhere else, it fails in T3. The film does not earn its ending, although I can say that the movie did get better as it progressed. It's unfortunate that by the time the storyline and action sequences start to become less jarring and out of place, the movie's remaining time is down to 20 minutes.

Also, I don't know why the director and special effects people felt this was an acceptable film to release, since you can see the digital blurring-out of Arnold Schwarzenegger's crows-feet (and various other wrinkles) throughout the whole film. And speaking of the effects: what the hell is going on when, 10 years after Terminator 2: Judgement Day, in which the effects were unbelievably great for their time, you can't pull off liquid-metal effects? Craziness! I can't believe how poor some of the effects were in this movie. In fact, the only really great ones were when the T-101 (Arnold) was beaten up at the end and you could see through parts of his body. But, much like everything else, just when this gets good, it's over. Unfortunate.

After watching the movie last night, I kept thinking more about the time paradoxes that take place in the series, and came across a depressing realization that nothing in any of the three films matters. Sending a Terminator back to the past to kill someone doesn't work, since, if it were to succeed, it would negate its own existence. That means the Terminator could never exist unless it failed, meaning it would never succeed, meaning 6 hours of my life have been spent hoping John Conner survives regardless of the fact that he will because he can't not [succeed]. Either way, it's all a big loop—a loop that didn't need T3 to be involved.

Big and Green

3 comments (closed), posted on july 3, 2003, tags: entertainment

Let me start off by saying I can understand why 75% of people who see Ang Lee's Hulk absolutely hate it. I can also understand why 15% of the remainder sorta liked it maybe a little I don't know it was sorta boring in places and he looked weird oh and what was that all about I know but it could have been faster. I fall into the remaining 10% who really liked it.

Hulk is not an average comic book movie. It doesn't have a concrete good versus evil story (hell, Hulk isn't really good at all anyway), it doesn't have a sweeping, epic love story or a moral. What it does have, though, is a giant, completely CG, completely green, relatively crappy in parts Hulk. Oh, and Jennifer Connelly. And fantastic cinematography. And some really great transitions. And an enormous amount of silence, in those places where you would expect loud and yet the quiet is even more interesting and powerful. And the editing—well, it's amazing.

Yes, it takes about 45 minutes before you get to see the Hulk. Yes, the movie is over two hours long. Yes, the Hulk looks really bad in parts. But see, what you're missing is that this isn't Spider-man. It isn't supposed to be. It's supposed to be a story about a man. Not a super-hero. Not a saviour. Just a man who has something inside of him no one expected. Something he cannot control. It is, very much, the opening act of Bruce Banner's life.

I really enjoyed it, but I can understand why you wouldn't. Absolutely. With no ill-regard, either. I don't think I'll ever seek out seeing this film again, but I'm glad I saw it today.

Good Stuff

4 comments (closed), posted on june 18, 2003, tags: entertainment

Recently I signed back up with NetFlix after a few years away from the service and I don't know how I survived without it. I started using it back in its first year, and then cancelled about a year later because I ran out of money (not from NetFlix, just in general). And now, after much time without it, I'm loving it.

This past week I've watched One Hour Photo, The Rules of Attraction (not good), Monsters, Inc. (Katia hadn't seen this) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (she hadn't seen that either). In just one week, NetFlix was worth the $20 a month. Right now I have 3 more DVDs on their way—I'm gonna make the most of the unlimited rentals.

Another great thing recently is my crazy obsession with BlogShares. When this whole thing started I wasn't really interested, but the other day I started clicking around and making a few transactions and now—4 days later—I'm almost a millionaire. Granted, I also paid $15 for the premium membership (20 transactions a day just wasn't enough). It's been a lot of fun to play with. More on this later.

Also worth picking up is The Animatrix, a collection of 9 short anime films based on or in the world of The Matrix. There are some really fantastic shorts, one in particular done by Square (the people who made the Final Fantasy film) called "Final Flight of the Osiris" that will blow anyone away with its detail. A few of the films tie into the trilogy and those that don't have unique storylines. Definitely worth watching if you're a fan of the movies.

What Do You Plead?

posted on june 10, 2003, tags: entertainment

Over the weekend we made a trip to the Angelika to see Capturing the Friedmans, a documentary about a family destroyed by child pornography and molestation charges in the late 80s. It was this years Grand Jury Prize winning film at Sundance, and with good reason.

CTF was the epitome of a well-made documentary. Directed by Andrew Jarecki*, this documentary relies heavily on family films shot during the time all of these terrible allegations came out. Where a normal family would have buckled down and turned to hiding and secrecy, the Friedmans' sons continued to film home movies and record audio of arguments. The footage is remarkable, since it ranges in subject matter from Seder to the day before Arnold Friedman, the father, is to plead guilty or innocent.

If you have the chance to see this, you should. If nothing else, it gives you a very intimate look at a family dealing with something so terrible it is almost incomprehensible. It's a fair documentary, and really does what it does well. For more information, see Ebert's Review and the Sundance '03 Film Note.

* Jarecki has done some really strange things other than this film. He was the co-founder of MovieFone.com, and co-wrote and performed the theme song for the TV show Felicity. Weird.

Brooklyn Loves Fight Club

1 comment (closed), posted on june 2, 2003, tags: entertainment

Last week I finished reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk*, and shortly thereafter, so did Katia. So, last night, we decided we both really wanted to see the film again, having already seen it a long while ago, before reading the book. We called the local video store, and they told us their one copy on DVD was out.

Not to be broken that easily, we rode a mile to the nearest Blockbuster. Unfortunately—we didn't call before we went—after all that riding, their one copy on DVD was rented out too. Once again, however, we decided we weren't finished. We rode another mile in the opposite-ish direction to Bedford Avenue only to find that the video store there had one copy on DVD—and it was fucking rented out.

I don't understand it, but apparently Brooklyn loves Fight Club, specifically on DVD. In the end, we actually found it at the first place (right near our apartment), where it had been returned 20 minutes after I called the first time. Weird.

* The book itself was really great. I definitely recommend it for anyone—and it's a quick read too.

Pixar Wins Again

1 comment (closed), posted on may 31, 2003, tags: entertainment

Finding Nemo was absolutely fantastic. From a visual standpoint, the movie was stunning. It was so gorgeous and fun to watch, I almost didn't want it to end. The characters looked so great and the environments were at times unbelievable in their fantastic-ness.

The voice acting was also great, specifically Ellen DeGeneres' character who was hilarious. And, like usual, Pixar picked plenty of really cute young voices for small characters that just make you want to squeeze the screen.

The story was great, the scenery was great, and the movie in its entirety was great. Even if you don't think this movie is for you—it is. No one will dislike it. In fact, I can almost bet anyone would love it.

Also of note is that there's a trailer for Pixar's next feature film—which comes out in November (really soon!)—about defunct superheroes. It looks hilarious.

The Last 68 Hours

posted on may 26, 2003, tags: entertainment

Friday night at around 8:00PM, Shawn, Katia and I walked to Enid's in Greenpoint. We drank for about two hours. Then we walked across the park to the Turkey's Nest. We drank for about two hours. Then we went to Palace Fried Chicken and ordered, and we all walked home while eating greasy [fantastic!] chicken.

Saturday we slept in until 2:00PM, lounged around for several hours, and then hopped on the L train to Bedford to stop at a fish market and grocery store, where we got ingredients to make Tuna Ceviche and Chicken with Peanut Sauce. Long story short, several hours later, the Tuna Ceviche turned out like shit and I ended up eating Chicken with Skippy on top (you must try this, it's great). After that nightmare, we journeyed into the city and saw Bruce Almighty with Shawn and then stopped by Ben & Jerry's to get ice cream (I got a chocolate shake of which I had 1/3—the rest was used by Katia to "stop the hiccups"). The movie was funny, and even thought the ending was cheesy, it was minimal and there were some really, really hilarious parts (specifically one with Steven Carell (of "The Daily Show" fame), who I really enjoy). If you like Jim Carrey, it's worth it.

Sunday we slept in until 1:30PM. Then we made pancakes (Aunt Jamima's Mix) and then ventured into the city midday to visit the Guggenheim, which ended up being a bad idea since it was Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend and it was packed with all sorts of people. So we walked down to the Met and took a stroll through some of their exhibitions before heading back down to Union Square where we stopped at Petco to get some large things of cat food and then to Barnes & Noble and finally the Virgin Megastore where we purchased—sadly—Twister on DVD (long story short—we were having an awkward craving to watch it and the local video store here doesn't have it on DVD). We traveled home and watched the movie.

Today we slept in until 1:00PM. Then we made eggs and bacon, and I went into the city to buy a bicycle (at Toys 'R' Us no less). It's a Murray, in case you're curious, and even though that's a great coincidence, it is not, however, the reason I bought it. And for those of you who associate TRU with childrens' bikes—while you might be right in your association, I promise I didn't buy one. This is a bike for big people. I'm big. Then Katia and I rode around for a few hours all over Greenpoint. A few minutes ago we ate Sushi we ordered from a place nearby we had never tried (it was good).

And now I'm writing this. In case you were curious what I did this weekend.

Part Two

1 comment (closed), posted on may 18, 2003, tags: entertainment

I'm going to make my comments about The Matrix Reloaded short and sweet. I feel like wasting time giving overly general feelings and not being able to say anything about parts of the film (most notably, the ending) in specific aren't worth it. In a week or two, after the rush to see the film is over, I plan to go more in depth into what I thought about specific details and story-lines.

In general, I liked it. At first I felt a little disappointed by some elements, but the more I think about it and the more it settles, I really liked the film a lot. It was exactly what it should have been: the line between point A and point B. There were definitely parts of the film that were poorly handled (the most obvious was the digital fight scene with Neo and the many, many Agent Smiths), but in the long-run the action was tight, fast and really, really fun.

All in all, the film was really great and I'm planning to see it again in the next few days because I'm the type of person who does that sort of thing. If you haven't seen it yet, you definitely must. In a few days, I will write [extensively] about what the movie means to me / theories of what we could see in Revolutions.

Kips Bay Screwed Me

posted on may 18, 2003, tags: entertainment

We were supposed to see The Matrix Reloaded at 7:30PM on Thursday at the Loew's Kips Bay Theater on 2nd Avenue between 30th and 31st. I left work at 5:15PM that day and got the theater at 5:30. There weren't very many people there, to my surprise, and I began to feel like a jackass for getting there so early.

Just to be sure, I asked someone at the customer service kiosk when they would start a line for the 7:30 show. She told me no earlier than 7:00PM. So I waited, playing Time Crisis 3 (you can switch weapons now!) until Shawn and Katia met up with me at 6:30. We decided, since there was no line yet, to go grab some food at a pizza place around the corner. We got back to the theater at 7:00, and there was a very short line of people to get in. I was confused, and when we got up to the ticket collection guy, we saw a huge crowd of people waiting for the 8:00 show, but none for ours, which, sadly, meant that they had already let everyone in.

We walked into the theater and it was already nearly full. There were, however, about 35 seats near the center/center of the room that weren't taken, but they were roped off 'reserved.' Apparently, Loew's decided it was acceptable to sell a group of tickets to some small company, give them all the best seats, and then literally tell all the complaining people (myself included) that we could either sit in the front row or wait for the next non-sold-out-show (11:00PM).

I almost lost it, started screaming at the manager, and then we attempted to just get in line for the 8:00 show (which we did, but then got our tickets checked at the door and kicked out). We got our money back and decided to find somewhere else.

That somewhere else ended up being the Battery Park Stadium 16, which is actually a much better theater anyway, all the way downtown. We had to wait in line for an hour and a half outside, but we were nearly at the front of the line and ended up getting the best seats in the house. And finally, after many hours, plenty of rage, tons of cigarettes, and walking later, we saw the movie.

Reloaded

1 comment (closed), posted on may 11, 2003, tags: entertainment

Then she asked when the next birthday was. I said mine, May 15. She asked what we were doing, and Katia replied that it was "Matrix day." That's what we were doing. The conversation quickly moved on, and though her father looked almost asleep in the corner, slowly dragging on his cigarette, minutes later he suddenly shot up and yelled out, "Reloaded!" We laughed hard and long.

Finally, after nearly four years, the sequel to one the more visually stunning films in my memory is coming. I purchased my tickets yesterday, and Shawn, Katia and I will be attending Thursday night.

Sure, I'll have to be in line for hours to get good seats, and tickets cost 35 bucks for the three of us, but it's all worth it. For a nut like me, this is the perfect birthday present. I can't wait.

X-Men United

4 comments (closed), posted on may 6, 2003, tags: entertainment

Due to the iPod event, I waited until Saturday night to see X2: X-Men United. Being a huge fan of Wolverine since I was a child (one of the few comic books I actually read), I was pleasantly surprised that the first X-Men film was nearly entirely about the character. That, combined with the fact that Hugh Jackman pulls that character off so well and that the claws looked so cool, made me really happy with the first film.

The sequel, whose title makes more sense after seeing it, was very different from its predecessor. In the first film, action sequences were usually light-hearted and sometime comical. In this film, however, it's very different. For instance—Wolverine kills people. Several. A few of them in a rage that had nothing comical or light-hearted about it. For people who think that comic books are like cartoons, this movie will be shocking. It's often depressing, sad, scary and raw.

For those of us who grew up with X-Men, this film is exactly where it should be. The effects, story and acting were all in the right places. The third film should be interesting.

One Bad, One Good

1 comment (closed), posted on april 27, 2003, tags: entertainment

I saw two movies in the past week. The first, Anger Management, was a huge disappointment. It felt like the only reason this movie was made was because Jack Nicholson agreed to do a film with Adam Sandler. In fact, all the jokes in the movie felt like they were written because Nicholson would be doing them, and for that reason only. If it had been some no-name in the movie with Sandler, people would have been outraged. It was funny for no more than a total of 7 minutes, and even then it wasn't funny funny. So disappointing. The only Adam Sandler movie I have liked in the past few years was Punch Drunk Love, and that wasn't even an Adam Sandler movie. I used to be such a huge fan. Bleh.

The other film was Identity, starring (among others) John Cusack. Despite a few awkward shots at the end (totaling maybe 40 seconds), I really liked this film a lot. Apparently most of the moviegoers in the theater didn't, since there was laughter as the credits rolled. I didn't understand why, though. This film was really well put together. The idea was nice and handled in a way that felt somewhat unique. The acting was good, the scenery and suspense were just right. I would definitely recommend this film.

UnReality

3 comments (closed), posted on april 15, 2003, tags: entertainment

Somehow I seem to continuously get trapped into watching Fox 'reality' shows. Luckily, this year I am not watching American Idol, but its place seems to be jam-packed with other crap. Most recently was Married By America. It ended last night with an absolutely useless finale. Not a single person got married.

I understand this is a Fox show, and shit is supposed to go wrong, but they could have named the show correctly from the beginning. Something like, Nearly Fake Married By Rupert Murdock or Fucking, Fighting, Awkwardness and More, Or: Tuesday Night 9PM Timeslot Filler #472. Granted, I knew what I was getting into. I knew the show would be ridiculous. I knew it. And yet I still fucking watched it. Why? What the fuck? Have I become unable to control my watching habits? Or is it the possibility of seeing a blurred out nipple and white trash arguing about shake-and-bake chicken that keeps me coming back for more?

Either way—Billie Jeanne: that fucking douche-bag friend of yours with the bandana freaks me out. Tony: Dude, you never fucking liked her. Ever. I understand. She's a moron. But why didn't you have sex with that hooker rather than just kissing her in the bathroom? When Fox pays for you to go to Las Vegas, pal, you fuck everyone you can. Jill: Kevin is a Jesus super-freak. You were in Playboy. That shit wasn't gonna work. You're too boobalicious*. Kevin: Forget Jesus, man, she's boobalicious!

* Please note that the use of 'boobalicious' here is not to be taken as a good thing. The woman had huge fake breasts. It was not good. I've been told this word makes me sound like a 12-year-old. Fair enough.

A Little Off

1 comment (closed), posted on april 11, 2003, tags: entertainment

I've been a fan of Linkin Park since their first major release album, Hybrid Theory. Their second album, titled Reanimation was a fantastic collection of songs from the first album, remixed and changed by third parties (as well as LP). Reanimation is still a daily play for me. It's so well done—the production value is so tight and the sound quality high—and completely enjoyable if you like the genre.

A few weeks ago, LP released their third album, Meteora, which I bought shortly after. My initial response was a bit hazy. Like listening to Hybrid Theory for the first time, I found myself a bit uninterested in a few of the tracks, and generally pleased with the rest. Also like HT, there are a few tracks that I just didn't like right off the bat.

Over the past few weeks, however, I've begun to enjoy the album quite a bit. There's a real difference with this release (especially compared to Reanimation), and a few of the songs sound altogether new and register a mood I didn't expect to experience. Sadly, one of my favorite tracks right now is "Breaking the Habit," a song that has very obvious ties to electronic songs from the 80s.

If you're a fan of Linkin Park, this album is definitely worth picking up. There are two versions of Meteora. Both include a video inspired by the music and one contains a DVD featuring the making of that video (5 dollars more). I bought the latter, but haven't taken the time to watch either video yet.

Theater Trip

4 comments (closed), posted on march 2, 2003, tags: entertainment

I saw Daredevil on Friday. Meh. After a film like Spiderman, this film just felt so dry. The feeling of grandeur that usually comes from a superhero story, an immenseness almost, was completely missing. I felt as though the entire story of Daredevil took place within a 5-block radius, in one of the most aesthetically boring parts of Manhattan. Some of the effects were well done, but most of them were terrible. Apparently ILM and Manix Entertainment are the only CG companies capable of matching black to black these days. Whoever did this film made some really bad mistakes. Also, frankly, Daredevil's story and abilities are sorta boring. I mean, the radar vision was well handled and cool, but the fact that they claim his heightened sense of touch allows him to jump 40 feet in the air and fall from buildings and land on his feet is just bullshit.

Also, yesterday, I saw Shanghai Knights, which was good but not as good as the original. Jackie Chan felt a little old in this film. There were no stunts, and the movie jumped around a little too much. There were still some amazing scenes (one involving a revolving door, Chan and five police officers, the other involving Chan, a bunch of umbrellas and street thugs), the kind of which make you wonder how someone can do the things Jackie does.

Having not seen very many movies lately, I was happy to be in a theater for these two films—but I wouldn't recommend spending the money to see either until video.

Three Unrelated Items

1 comment (closed), posted on february 25, 2003, tags: entertainment

Saw Old School over the weekend and was more than pleasantly surprised. Laughed far more than I thought I would, right from the beginning. Definitely worth seeing if you're a Will Ferrel fan, although he's not the only good thing in the film. Vince Vaughn has a great dead-pan joke delivery that works really well and can be extremely hilarious. Check it out.

Today I stumbled upon keaggy.com, a fantastic website jammed full of great content from photos of rocks shaped like shoes to randomly chosen poetic dinner ideas. My favorite part of the site, though, is the collection of grocery lists. Some really great stuff in there.

Also worth noting is Ellie's addition of a photoblog using MT. I came up with a PHP solution to reorganizing category display for her, which I'll be posting a tutorial about soon. Until then, enjoy her photos. This is something I plan to add to this site as soon as I get DSL at home (please, Jesus, make it soon?).

Write For the Movies

4 comments (closed), posted on january 14, 2003, tags: entertainment

Dear Michael Crichton,

I've just finished reading your latest novel, Prey. I thought I would take a few moments to give you my opinions and thoughts on this book.

First of all, we know it's a novel. I'm sure you had nothing to do with the cover design, but maybe you could get in touch with Harper Collins Publishers next time you have them publish a book and tell them it's not necessary to write "A Novel" on the cover. I don't think anyone is picking up the book and asking others what it is. "Is this a shovel?" "No, I believe that's a novel." "Well, I won't believe that until I see proof." I think you get my point. If not, just consider the fact that most film posters or covers tend not to say "A Film" on them. Granted, there are probably a few people in the world that occasionally walk into Blockbuster looking for cat litter, but I think it's still safe to assume most people know about these things. Also, on a related subject, could you please ask shampoo companies to stop putting directions on their bottles? Lather, rinse, repeat. We get it. Homeless people get it.

Anyway, about the book:

We all know Prey will be made into a film. Hell, it's probably in production right now. But let me guess—you didn't write the screenplay, did you? I knew it. See, the problem is, you did. The damned book is a screenplay! Front to back, the thing reads so much like a film that I actually found myself yelling "Cut!" when I didn't like the way things were going.

You have this problem with writing excellent novels that get turned into shitty movies. And they're all written by other people. And you're a writer. That seems odd. Do you lack the ability to write in screenplay format? Do INT and EXT confuse and/or frighten you? If so, I think a forty dollar community college course could set you straight. Hell, I'll teach you for free. The problem is, it's so easy that people who shouldn't be writing your book to film translations are! They know the structure, sure, but not the material. I have an idea: hire a college dropout to type the screenplay as you walk around your house in your boxer shorts drinking vodka and spitting it out.

Also: The picture on the back cover isn't fooling anyone. You were born in 1942 (as it says opposite the picture), yet that photo makes you look like you are 25. You're turning 61 this year, Mike—it's okay to look it. Stop letting them airbrush you into a smiling robot from the late eighties. I mean, for chrissakes they did such a heavy job this time getting the wrinkles and sagging flesh out of your neck and forehead that you look like you're made of plastic! Are you a cyborg?

On the subject of robots, though, the book was good. It was a bit shorter than usual, and I feel you're less accurate at telling a story when you use first-person. But that's okay. It was nice to have a shot back to Rising Sun. Same format, yeah? Asians were replaced with nano-machines, though. That was smart.

And they were too (smart, that is (the nano-machines)). You've got such an ability to take a subject and, no matter how complicated, make it seem completely understandable. Not in a dumbed-down way, either, which is nice. You choose topics that are entirely interesting and present them in an even more interesting fasion. Your themes are great (humans are ill prepared, lots of little mistakes can cause horrible outcomes, people don't think, technology can be our enemy, etcetera). I love you.

While it's true that the cover image of a nano-machine "swarm" looks like an illustration from a Shel Silverstein book (was Prey a disgustingly funny tribute to that rhyming bastard?), I liked the "novel" none the less. Maybe even more. Now all you have to do is write the screenplay and give those homeless people a break.

Good work, Mike.

Your friend,
Garrett Murray

FADE TO BLACK. (See, it's easy!)

No More Wondering

3 comments (closed), posted on january 8, 2003, tags: entertainment

A few months ago, I read Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys and absolutely loved it. Since then, I have been dying to see the film starrring Michael Douglas. I'd been told, by plenty of people, that the film was great. I asked how it stood in relation to the book, and was told that even though the film was slightly different, it was still excellent.

They were wrong.

Granted, if I hadn't read the book I think I would have liked the film quite a lot. But after having read the terrific book, I couldn't stand the movie. There was so much left out—damned near all of the narrative—and some of the most interesting parts were changed to fit a film setting. In a few cases, this actually removed entire character stories, some that were really great in print.

The problem with a book like Wonder Boys is that it's a great read, but it was clear throughout that read that it wouldn't come across on film. Apparently Hollywood decided that with all their talent and money they could get around that. But you have to ask yourself if it's worth getting around... I mean, can't some great books just stay books?

If you've seen the film but haven't read the book, please do. And if you haven't experienced either, skip the film and just read the book. Yes, I know, reading is harder than sitting in front of a television smoking cigarettes and drifting off—but it's worth it in this case.

Full Screen

1 comment (closed), posted on december 29, 2002, tags: entertainment

First, you need two ingredients. One, several amazing short films centering around a driver (Clive Owens) and a car (BMW). Two, a channel from the DirecTV satellite lineup.

Then you combine these ingredients using the channel to play these designed-for-Internet-viewing BMW short films back-to-back so that people with a nice, large television and a great digital sound-system can watch them at their finest. Serve and enjoy.

Gay, Kaufman, Old Navy Taxi

8 comments (closed), posted on december 18, 2002, tags: entertainment

Just before viewing Adaptation: Guy sitting to the right of me, talking to his female friend. Conversation ranges from his "art" to her intense enjoyment of Björk's vidoes, some of which "can't be seen on television, but are just brilliant." Moments later, Guy says that a friend of his is having a bit of trouble with his husband. You see, they only support same-sex marriages in Vermont and Hawaii, and, well, "Brian and Tom have residence in New York and Connecticut, but not in Vermont." So, you see, ironicly they're currently fighting the system here in New York. They want the courts here to recognize same-sex marriages. But not because they want to be viewed as a regular married couple, but because they don't. "They're fighting the system to have the state recognize their gay divorce."

Adaptation: Being John Malkovich was an excellent film. For the first 45 minutes. Then it went downhill. Adaptation was exactly the opposite: excellent until the last 45 minutes. That aside, the film was unique and funny, interesting and depressing all at the same time. The idea of writing a screenplay about yourself writing a screenplay was done quite well. The ironic issue of this film, though, is Kaufman's insistance (in the film) that he doesn't want to make a "Hollywood" movie. It's unfortunate that this is exactly what Adaptation becomes in the last 45 minutes. It was going so well, and then, well, it missed a step and couldn't recover. Then again, perhaps this is exactly what Kaufman wanted. I have to give kudos to Susan Orlean, however, for allowing herself to be portrayed the way she was in this film, because it isn't flattering at all and actually quite horrible at times. Worth seeing, but not if you have to travel.

After viewing Adaptation, in NYC Taxi number 1N56: Sometimes advertising executives come up with a new idea, one that is sure to make people like you and me curious as to what they were drinking at the meeting. Katia and I hopped into the backseat of the cab, only to find it covered in red fleece. In the center of the red seat, on the back, was a large patch sewn into place exclaiming, "Old Navy Performace Fleece!" The cab driver, in response to why his seat isn't covered: "I dunno... apparently they felt I didn't need it." That makes sense... someone who sits on their ass all day really doesn't need the soft touch of fleece down there. In fact, they shouldn't really even give him a cushion at all.

Nemesis [Of Good Movies]

2 comments (closed), posted on december 17, 2002, tags: entertainment

Star Trek: Nemesis was not a good ending to the Next Generation series. In fact, the more I think about it, the more angry I get.

First of all, I can't escape the fact that the final episode of the television series was fucking fantastic. How do you end a film series based on a television series that was ended more than properly. The scale is larger, so then in production meetings you have to imagine people are sitting and thinking to themselves, "Jesus, what do we do now?" And, I think, the answer to that is to try to make it more "film-like." More money, more effects. But in this case, that wasn't the answer. Not by a long shot.

There were good points, and quite a few. But there were also quite a few bad points. Unfortunately, when we're talking about a movie, you can't say to yourself, "Well, it was half good," and accept that. Especially not for a "final journey." Nemesis failed to encapsulate the series and failed the cast with its dry vision.

Marshal Mathers

7 comments (closed), posted on november 10, 2002, tags: entertainment

I'm not really an Eminem fan, I swear. All right, so I've been enjoying some of his latest music. Fine, I like it. But I'm not a fan. I promise. Well, maybe a little. But not enough that I'd see 8 Mile had Curtis Hanson not directed it. Having directed L.A. Confidential, I figured there had to be something good about this project for Hanson to attach himself to it. And there was.

8 Mile was a well done, gritty film with a very "real" feel about it. It was designed following a very typical story arc—everyone thinks he/she will fail, that he/she isn't good enough... and he/she almost gives up, but then doesn't... and in spite of everything, he/she succeeds—but it in no way felt contrived or forced, false or unrealistic. The key to this story is the lack of elements that made Glitter and Rock Star so shitty: a limit to success. Let's face it, you don't always want to see the main character get everything they've ever wanted. And you certainly don't always want to see them get it all at once. What 8 Mile manages to do quite well is fill you with satisfaction of the realistic kind. Eminem's character isn't recording triple-platinum albums at the end of the movie, and he isn't playing sold out shows. The triumph is relative to the situation, and to the fact that this is the life of a guy who is just starting to become who he wants to be.

This movie isn't for Eminem fans (although they'll still like it, I'm sure), this movie is for movie fans. People who like to see a well crafted film. And on a side note, I really want to find a job that will allow me to "duel" at lunch.

Spider-Man DVD Disc 2: Stinks

posted on november 8, 2002, tags: entertainment

I loved Spider-Man. I saw it twice in theaters, and wanted to go a third time, but I was told this wasn't something "adults" do with their lives. When I heard the release date for the DVD, I instantly began dreaming about that second disc... how wonderful it would be to see all that behind-the-scenes magic that made Spidey come to live on the big screen in such a fantastic way.

Naturally, I bought the DVD the first chance I got a day or two after it was released. When I got home, the first thing I popped in was that second disc. Having read the content listing from the package on the way home, I was extremely rushed to see what it contained.

But alas, the second disc... well... sucks. Every feature is about 30-90 seconds long, save the HBO Making Of Special, which on its own is interesting but lacking. There's no heavy-duty special-effects features, nothing showing the man who played Spidey in the suit doing all of the insane flipping around, just plain nothing.

When a movie like Spider-Man comes out on DVD, there should be no question whether or not it will be busting with amazing features. Someone really messed up here.

Adam Sandler is Great

posted on november 8, 2002, tags: entertainment

Punch Drunk Love was great. I saw it almost two weeks ago, but with my busy schedule lately, I haven't had much time to sit around discussing my recent movie-going experiences with you and your friend Charles. But in case ol' Chuck is still around:

I had no idea what to expect from this film. At all. And I think that was the best possible way to go into it, as I felt extremely satisfied both during and after watching it. The characters were strange, funny, and sad all at the same time yet remarkably entertaining. Adam Sandler in particular does a fantastic job in PDL, and no matter what anyone tells you, this is not an Adam Sandler movie.

He felt fresh and unique, something I wasn't necessarily expecting even though I had been told to, and fit absolutely perfectly into the role and film. He made this movie what it is, in a way I never expected.

I'm not a PT Anderson fan, in the least, but this movie was beyond worth seeing. If you have a chance, please do so.

Where Does Comedy Come From?

posted on october 22, 2002, tags: entertainment

If you have a chance to see Comedian, do. It was very funny, and at the same time touching and interesting. Watching Jerry Seinfeld in such a candid way was absolutely worth the money and the wait. To see someone who, in my opinion, is extremely funny have trouble and doubt himself gives you such insight into Jerry as a person and not just the former main character of a sitcom about nothing. At the same time, the up-and-coming comedian featured in the film, Orny Adams, is a complete ass. The juxtaposition of Jerry, a genuinely funny and nice guy, and Orny, a young guy who thinks he's the funniest guy you've ever met and deserves everything, only helped to make Orny look even worse. I can't understand why anyone trying to make their mark would behave so childishly in a film they knew would be seen by so many people. Either way, see the film if you can.

Simon is Not So Bad

posted on august 29, 2002, tags: entertainment

After tonight's episode of American Idol, I finally feel that Kelly will actually win. She deserves to. She's fantastic, a talent (the only talent) I actually still enjoy seeing every time. Her voice is great, and she tends to pull out all the stops when singing, often starting a whole new set of long and perfect notes well after she's clearly out of breath. Each song she sings sounds unique—not as thought she's simply covering someone else's work—and fantastic. If Justin wins, I will literally call FOX and tell them to go fuck themselves.

Kevin, a friend from Seattle, told me this evening:

I'm looking at your personal website... noticed you watched American Idol. I went to the live taping just a few hours ago... I chatted with Simon for a few minutes before the show. A nice gentleman... he just plays it up on TV.

This makes sense, but at the same time is somewhat depressing. I hoped, in my heart of hearts, that Simon was actually 100% the man he portrayed on the show—cruel but just, mean but truthful—and the idea of him actually being a nice guy doesn't settle. No matter, I still love him. He (other than Kelly) is the best part of the show. There's talk of not having him be a part of the next version, and I think that would be a terrible mistake.

A Love/Hate Relationship

posted on august 13, 2002, tags: entertainment

I've been watching American Idol since the start, and I've even talked about it here once. I really enjoyed watching idiots make fools of themselves, and Simon Cowell is a terrific guy when it comes to dishing out insults.

But lately, I've begun to hate the fact that I love the show. This is mainly due to the fact that there are only 5 people left, as of tonight, yet each episode is still an hour long. That means, after singing a song of approximately 3 minutes, there are still 45 minutes to be filled. And that's usually accomplished with too many commercials, and lots of little segments on stuff I could care less about.

And it's going to get worse. Next week there will only be 4 people. And after that, only 3. Oh, dear God, that's too many commercials. I hate that I love this show.

No Job? Movie Time!

posted on august 6, 2002, tags: entertainment

So, then. Busy, busy, busy. Well, sort of. I resigned from my job a bit ago. Couldn't be there anymore. Things weren't going at all the way I had hoped they would. Oh, well. I've moved on, and have a few things going. Hopefully some of them will continue the way they are and be successful. Sorry, cyptic opening paragraph, I know.

We saw Signs opening night. I enjoyed it. I felt there were a few things that could have been done differently, and a there were numerous things that bothered me. But, in the end, I really did like it a lot. Besides, I'm a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan—definitely worth seeing, even if you're not.

On the subject of films: I watched Mission: Impossible the other night (partly because I was bored and partly because I haven't seen it in a long while), and was really surprised by how well the ending of that film has stood up to the test of time. I'm not talking about the story or acting, I'm talking about the special effects. The train sequence. The film was made 6 years ago, and those effects still look terrific. I remember the first time I saw the film in a theater—how blown away I was by that last sequence. I still am.

I had to get a new soundcard, but the problems I spoke of before have now been fixed. Apparently this is a known problem between Creative soundcards and motherboards with VIA chipsets. I wish I had known that before I bought the motherboard, but in the end I'd rather get a new soundcard (cheaper) than a new mobo.

Random Items

posted on july 21, 2002, tags: entertainment

I'm in a very random mood:

New Chili's commerical starring N*Sync. Sorry, but this is stupid. I've got no real problem with the group. If I had to choose a boy-band to listen to, it would be them. But for their first product endorsement, Chili's is a ridiculous choice. There's nothing worse than hearing people who make millions of dollars a year sing "I Want My Baby-Back... Ribs."

Saw Eight Legged Freaks last night. It was entertaining. Completely goofy film, but entertaining none the less. I actually liked it more than MIB II.

Currently Hearing, my Winamp plugin, is doing really well. Everyone beta testing it has had success, and I'm really excited to release it. I need to build a quick site for it (something very simple) and finish the example files for server-side implementation. PHP and Perl are done (on that note—I haven't written Perl in a long time... it was an interesting experience). ASP and CFML will be done tonight. Also considering adding a 'song history' feature for those who want it. I would like to hard code the amount of songs saved, though. Right now I'm thinking 5, but maybe people could comment on this?

Jack's website (which I said would be updated regularly) has been forgotten about. That will change in a day or two. I have a million pictures, just need to do something with them.

Various

posted on july 13, 2002, tags: entertainment

Working on a lot of stuff. Also, things going on lately that I'm not at liberty to talk about for a while. All will be discussed in time, don't worry. And it's nothing bad, if that's what you're thinking (or hoping).

Winamp plugin has been on hiatus for the past few days, as I've had other stuff to do. Hope to finish it by the middle of next week, though. Since I've never written a real program before, I've had to learn a new language and it's been difficult but fun. I hope the outcome will at least be worthwhile to a few people.

We saw Men in Black II last weekend. I was disappointed. I liked the first one a lot, but this movie just felt like more of the same, only less funny. It was entertaining, but not as good as I think it probably could have been.

Also, if you haven't yet checked out or submitted to the Desktop Thread on the forums (click here), you should stop by. It's fun.

Great Television

posted on july 3, 2002, tags: entertainment

The Shield is another absolutely wonderful television show I missed last season. But, just as with 24, the miracle of iO On-Demand has saved me. Steve and I have been watching the first season—we're two episodes from the end—and it's terrific.

If you missed this show last season (and don't have On-Demand), make sure to tune in to FX next season and catch it. I can't wait.

Believe me when I say that next season's viewing suggestions will definitely include this show.

I Demand the Best!

posted on june 25, 2002, tags: entertainment

If you haven't been watching American Idol on Fox, then you've been missing out. Don't get me wrong—I hate to admit it when I like stuff like this. But trust me, it's terrific. It's too bad, however, if you haven't been watching it, because you've missed some really funny stuff. There's something about watching a douchebag from Nowheretown, USA sing like absolute garbage and hearing a british man say, "That was pathetic." It's terrific.

I keep forgetting to mention that we saw Minority Report the other night. Very beautiful imagery and an equally interesting story and plot. There were a few times that I felt the unnecessary use of a comedic gag got to be too much, but more often than not it was well worth seeing. Besides, I don't think there will ever be a time when I refuse to see a Spielberg film. Although, I am a little upset about a few shots in the film. I think at this point, one of Spielberg's movies should be absolutely flawless. When I see an effects shot that isn't quite perfect, I get angry. He should accept nothing but perfection. If a guy at ILM said, "This is as good as we can do," he has the right to start shouting, "I directed Saving Private Ryan! I am Steven Spielberg! I will take nothing but the best, damn it! Have you seen the The Color Purple?!" Just my thoughts.

Steve (Ellison, not Spielberg) and I have taken the last few days off from working at the company that recently fell apart. It's been nice to have time to do things I've been needing to do, as well rekindle my love of StarCraft. I can't get enough of that game now. I'm dying to play it right now. I'm sick!

Good and Bad

posted on june 16, 2002, tags: entertainment

We saw The Bourne Identity last night... it was great. Very fun to watch. The action scenes were very cool and the fighting was unique and extremely neat. After the film I wanted to be a super-soldier too. Well, I still want that.

Bad things are happening at work right now. It could get messy. I hope it doesn't.

Annoying Cable

posted on june 11, 2002, tags: entertainment

Is it too much to ask for smart advertising on television?

We have Digital iO cable at home. Cablevision. I see more ads for getting Cablevision cable than anything else. A constant stream of "cable is better than satellite" and "get Cablevision now!" commercials all day and all night long. I don't understand this. I think it's ridiculous that my cable provider doesn't know I have cable. What are they trying to sell me? I already bought the product! I have the gold package (every channel), and yet I still see commercials about adding HBO or Showtime to my lineup. They are already added!

The same thing occurred when I lived in Staten Island and we had DirecTV (satellite). Although I must admit there were fewer instances. Still, every now and then a "sign up for DirecTV and get free installation" commercial would pop up.

Now I'm asking why. Why, in the day of digital cable, should I ever have to see a commercial to sign up for cable? My system should know exactly which channels I have, what my setup is, and at least know that I have fucking cable. I should not have to see these commercials.