Watch this…it is worth it.
Dan, I think you’ll like this video.
Archive for the 'Movies' Category
Why did no one tell me that the movie is NOTHING like the short story. Okay old guy in the 20th century becomes younger.
I’m happy F. Scott never saw this.
And how did a short story turn into a 2 hour and 40 minute movie? Oh…I guess it has to do with my first point – that the movie has nothing to do with it.
I watched Iron Man this morning and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The DVD has been sitting on my desk for a while unwatched. I’m not sure why I it has sat ignored so long because I’ve heard good things about it. Part of the problem is that there have been so many superhero movies as of late it is hard to discern which ones are worth watching.
Robert Downey Jr. does a great job playing Mr. Starks. The character is believable and makes a great plot. I like the distribution of action in the movie. It was balanced and well-thought out. Superhero movies tend to put all of the action sequences at the end. The beginning is spent developing the character. Iron Man spreads it over the movie pretty well.
One gripe I have with the movie is that I didn’t hate the villain enough. I like it when superhero movies have strong identifiable villains. The villain is a good adversary for Iron Man to fight, but its unclear he is extreme enough to be a great nemesis.
This is a lackluster post, but I just watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and I don’t get it. Damn…this movie is long and disconnected. Furthermore, it uses silence and music to the extreme.
This is the first time I’ve watched it in its entirety and the first time I’ve watched it in a long time. For some reason it was better in my memory. Anyway, if you get it…Please…Please…Please, tell me!!!
Let’s cut right to the chase: Lansing Cinema 8 of Lansing, IL – the worst theater that I have ever been to. I enjoy movies and consider myself an avid movie-goer. This by far culminates into the worst theater experience I have ever had. Here is the story:
On Friday, Monica went to visit Kim at her new residence in Valpo, IN via the South Shore Line electric commuter train. On Saturday, Monica called me and urged me to visit the Indiana Dunes State Park with them. I decided to join them and will write a little about the state park later. We stayed the night and left for home on Sunday. On the way home, we decided to stop and catch a movie. Both of us are horror fans and decided to catch Mirrors. The theater looked a bit old, obviously we would not be experiencing THX surround sound and stadium seating, but we wanted to see a movie anyway. Unfortunately the film started at 3:00 pm and the current time was 2:00. At the point, we decided a quick meal at Olive Garden was in order (a basket of bread sticks seemed like a delicious idea, and it was). About 40 minutes later, I dished out $12 for two tickets (cheap by Chicago standards) and we went into the theater.
We were about 20 minutes early, so the theater contained few people initially. Sadly, that trend would change all the way through the first five minutes of the movie. Not that I mind seeing movies with a large audience. For instance, we went to see The Dark Knight on opening day, here in Chicago, and the crowds at the theater were selling out showings every half hour. No, the problems came from this specific audience.
The first sign of trouble came from behind us. A young girl, probably 6 or 7, seeing the movie with her mother would not stop inquiring about the opening scene where a man had his neck cut open – hardly appropriate for a girl her age. To be fair, this girl probably did not know any better (but maybe she should have and her mother definitely should have), but she kept talking at a normal conversational volume intermittently for the entire time we were in the theater. The worst part, besides the constant murmuring of voices behind us, was that at every somewhat scary scene everyone would laugh afterward, completely destroying the mood of the movie. I think everyone knows the part in a horror movie where someone jumps out from behind a corner or a loud noise suddenly strikes, a distraction to spook you and set up something scarier. This showing of Mirrors could not possibly be enjoyed because every moment was interrupted.
Monica left and asked the manager if we could have a refund. The answer was yes, as long as we left before 30 minutes into the movie. I decided that we should leave. At the counter, the manager saw us approaching and pulled out two yellow pieces of paper. As I got closer, I realized they were vouchers for a future movie. Unfortunately, my phone just died, so I was unaware of the current time. Several times ( about three or four), I asked the manager what time it was. He would not answer, he only said that we were no longer eligible for a refund. Again, I asked for the time, he said it was about 3:40, so we had been in the movie for 40 minutes. Slightly skeptical of this time, I reasoned that he could not fudge the time by even 10 minutes? Considering we live in Chicago, tickets for Lansing, IL, in the worst theater (that I’ve been to), are completely worthless. Taking another route, I said, Monica came out here several minutes ago, so at most you are talking about five minutes. To me, it seemed reasonable that we should receive a refund. Still not knowing the time, I felt helpless to argue and walked out without the movie passes. (To all you Econ people out there – here is a great example of the effects of incomplete information on bargaining/negotiating).
When we got in the car, I looked at the radio and saw 3:35 staring back at me. After arguing for a while, it could have easily been 3:30 when we first approached the desk and much earlier when Monica initially did. I felt a surge of anger rise up inside me. Considering we had only been watching about 15 minutes of the movie and the rest had been previews, I really hated Lansing Cinema 8 at this moment. Instead of getting upset, I turned the ignition and sped out of the parking lot.
I recommend everyone watch this video. It is an extremely fascinating documentary about copyright law. If you have heard of The Pirate Bay, DJ Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album or Girl Talk, you will find this video especially fascinating. It considers some of the issues of online pirating and using samples in music.
Perhpas I did not give enough credit to Sony, but it appears that their Blu-ray format will take over after Toshiba bows out from the HD DVD biz.:
Toshiba said Tuesday that it would cease production of its HD DVD players and recorders immediately and close out the business by the end of March.
It is a good thing I did not pick up a HD DVD player for the 360. I am wondering if the result of this format war was not the superiority of one over the another (because my understanding is they were nearly identical except for what studios/companies were supporting what technology), but maybe the market is not ready to replace DVDs yet. In fact, I feel almost certain that this is the case.
The technology to access these high def formats has recently come down in price from its formerly sky high position. Maybe the folks at Toshiba knew a little bit more than the average consumer when they were lowering prices though. The movies themselves are also more expensive in this format. The key to all of this really is the HDTV. A consumer has zero demand for any of these products without the TV to access it. Perhaps this also says something about that market, but I think we can expect HDTVs to be even more pervasive than they have come.
All in all, I am curious if Sony’s Blu-ray winning this battle against HD DVD means that Blu-ray is the next step after DVDs or just another stepping stone on the way to the next HD format.
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