Harry Potter Madness!

A little late to the game, but why not… like most of the free world, I’ve been crazy for Harry Potter the last couple of weeks. The Kate and I started our Potter journey by watching a movie a night leading up to the release of the 5th movie.

We saw the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Imax 3D and enjoyed it immensely – the film that is… the IMAX presentation left surprisingly much to be desired. It was clear that the movie was shot in 35mm as the larger 70mm IMAX presentation exhibited a LOT of grain, especially during the darker scenes. The 3D presentation was simply atrocious for a $13 entrance fee. The projectors used perpendicular linear polarized light, which means you could not tilt your head without seeing cross talk between the two images. With this level of presentation, they really should have used circularly polarized light like most of the new 3D digital projectors use. Also, the 3D content itself was very disappointing. It was clear from the flat characters at different depths that the movie was shot in standard 2D and converted to 3D using some algorithms. Not terribly effective. Anyway, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t bother seeing it in IMAX. Tons of fun for the Potter fan, but lame in IMAX. Boo.

We caught up with the 6th book by reading Wikipedia. Yay, Wikipedia… only spoilers from the 7th book had already made their way onto the pages, so we got a bit more spoiled than we would have liked. There was an awful lot that I didn’t remember from the 6th book as it was released on my wedding day two years ago. Kate and I read it while traveling back to Boston then but the cramped 90 square foot dorm room we were sharing was not conductive to long term Harry Potter memory retention.

We got to the 7th book the day it was released and *boys turn off eyes for silly cuteness description* took turns reading the book to each other. I’ve been working on voices reading Kate some comics at night so it was lots of fun. Kate took a few voices as well – boy, that girl does a mean Kreacher! *boys, it’s safe again* We finally finished the book a couple days ago and I heartily enjoyed it. There were lots of small twists to characters that exceeded my expectations with what Rowling would do. The first half of the book dragged a little bit, but otherwise we were completely hooked the entire way through. It was a great book and a really nice way to end the series. Kudos all around.

That’s it for now. Kate’s home in Iowa for the week, so I’ll be making me some more frequent blog posts to stem my loneliness Hope the week is starting off well for everybody,

-Mr. Bobbo J. Bobberson III, esquire

Yea, so Lord of the Rings needs to die

I just read about this again last night and realized that Lord of the Rings needs to die. If you click on the link, you’ll see release information for the THIRD set of Lord of the Rings DVDs to be released on August 29. Each movie will be released in a separate two disc set with Disc One containing both the theatrical and extended versions of the movies and Disc Two containing a BRAND SPANKING NEW FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY!!!! Whoop-de-fucking-do-me-in-the-ass-do!

While it’s cool to package both the regular and extended versions on one disc, why the hell do you do it now? Both of the past sets have set sales records and HD-DVD versions of the films have already been announced. Compressing the Extended Versions down to one disc requires tons of compression that will result in the loss of all commentary and DTS sound tracks and a crappier picture. I imagine the only people who really want to see another 6 hours of behind the scenes LOTR footage are the fans who’ve already shelled out for the 20 hours of bonus footage already available on the Extended Editions and Regular editions. To throw further salt on the wound, each set has an MSRP of $28.98, and while you may be able to find each set for $20, this is hardly a bargain. Maybe New Line is releasing these films because Peter Jackson wouldn’t let them screw him out of $100mil.

In other “needs to die” news, I’m silently boycotting IGN.com’s DVD site because they are posting a crazy amount of Star Wars features to celebrate Lucasfilm’s release of the original films. You already know how I feel about these sets and to add insult to injury, the films will not even be presented in a widescreen TV friendly anamorphic transfer.

-Burned Bob

Why I don’t care about 9/11 films

“It’s about Americans doing their jobs. It’s about Americans seeing each other only as Americans. It’s about the real promise of America, fulfilled.”
-Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger review of “World Trade Center.”

This quote is why I don’t care about the two fictional 9/11 films released so far and don’t expect to be interested in any future movies on the subject. Because of the tragic nature of the event, 9/11 storytelling possibilities are essentially limited to “creating a moving picture of how normal people rise to the level of heroes in the midst of horror.” *Yawn* There are many, many films that already show the glory of being Joe 6 Pack, and I really don’t feel like spending $9 to have Hollywood pick at my 9/11 feelings to give me the same old melodrama.

“For all its crude effectiveness as a true-life melodrama of survival, World Trade Center doesn’t do much with 9/11, except to sentimentalize it for popular consumption.”
-Dana Stevens, Slate review of Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center”

Because it’s been so soon, I guess we’re stuck with these melodramatic movies that the average movie goer may well enjoy. But I’d like to see something a little more innovative, something that generally makes me think. How about telling the story of a firefighter who was too afraid to go into the towers as they fell? How would a character grieve with that human failing and how would his future actions be different? I’m guessing will see such a movie in a few years and critics will rave at how refreshing it is to see something new done with 9/11. Look back at their reviews of the current 9/11 movies, and I bet they’ll be big praises of showcasing the human spirit and blah blah blah.

-Bob

MegaMATCH!

Howdy howdy,

So how’s life been for everyone these last two months?  Good?  Good?  I hope so!  I’ve been worked extra hard at the lab to the point of feeling burned out. The good news about work is that I’m getting my name on a patent for all the work I’m doing.  I don’t feel like I’ve really contributed a whole lot of research or new ideas but I’ve been doing a lot of legwork by designing testing methods and then testing device after device after device after… fortunately there’s a break in testing now so I’m free to read papers all day… I need a new job or at least a new project.

Last weekend was lots of fun!  Kate and I went to my cousin Heather’s wedding in Chicago.  The wedding was held at The Catalyst Ranch, the funnest, most eclectic, craziest loft I’ve ever seen.  The wedding was a mix of class and goofiness with Heather’s sister’s husband officiating the ceremony courtesy of his new status as an official Universalist Life Church minister.  The food was catered by someone with a show on the Food Network so it was very tasty though a bit too out there for my picky wife’s tastes.

At the wedding, I was introduced to the husband of Heather’s childhood friend Lisa – a guy named Andy Wachowski (co-writer/director of the Matrix films).  He was a really nice guy and chatted with me on a bunch of technology and entertainment topics.  He thinks the future of entertainment lies in interactive entertainment (i.e. video games) but for it to become the dominant entertainment form it has to win over the housewife crowd.  I joked that he should make a “Days of Our Lives” video game but he wasn’t sure how well he could integrate kung-fu with that world.  All in all, a very cool dude – he even got some beer for my little brother.

In other entertainment news, I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately.  Marvel recently released the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Volume 1, which contains roughly 40 issues of one of the best runs of X-Men comics of all time.  This $63 volume is a fantastic deal and the reproduction quality is simply fantastic.  So yeah, go buy it!

My goal for this week is to write two more posts.  That’s right, two more posts.  I’ve been having trouble lately diving head first into things (work, comics, world cup) and forgetting about everything else (friends)… something I should change.

And besides, I couldn’t possibly take another Amber Alert!

-Bob

Star Wars needs to die

http://starwars.com/episode-iv/release/video/news20060503.html

The official Star Wars website posted that the original unaltered trilogy will be released on DVD on September 12. Each film will be released in a two disc set – the first disc containing the super special 2004 version and the second containing the original theatrical version.

I bought the original 4disc set of Eps 4-6 when they were released near the end of 2004. A "special" 3disc set – identical to the 4disc set minus the 4th disc – was released for the holiday season 2005. Now here comes three two disc sets – three of the discs being identical to previous releases.
My thoughts on this new release? Fuck you George Lucas. All the hardcore fans who actually care about the differences between the special editions and the original trilogy have already purchased the 2004 release. Now, a short two years later, we get the opportunity to shell out another $60 to buy what we should have been able to buy originally? And all we get are the original films, none of the extras that were missing from the original 4disc set? Oy oy.

What's so sad is that not only do fans encourage this type of behaviour, they demand it. From a business standpoint Lucas and Fox are doing exactly what they should rereleasing the same film over and over again as long as each release gets them more money. Lucas has long disrespected his fans, even though they built his empire through merchandising purchases, and they love him for it.

For a long time I've been a part of this system buying the original trilogy VHS tapes twice (THX versions and Special Editions) and then the DVD set. But I've had enough of this for now and there's no way I'm paying for virtually the same movies again. The people who buy this set – the people that are so in love with Star Wars that they have to have it all – should really think about what this set does for them. Is "strengthening" your fantastical isolated world worth encouraging a fat old man to peddle more worthless product on you?

I'm not buying the same thing again, not this time. In two or three years we'll be seeing a high def release of all the Star Wars films, though we'll probably see the same multiple release schenannigans again. I might buy the films again then, but only if there is a significant jump in quality over the DVD releases and I can get all the material that should be there. This is the last straw for me – these are just movies and I'll enjoy them for what they are. But I refuse to keep endorsing a practice that encourages shitting on me and you.

-Bob

Me Oscar Thoughts

So the big shock was of course Crash winning best picture over Brokeback. I'm a little disappointed because I thought Brokeback was the better film but Crash is making people talk more in depth and isn't used as a one note joke. Brokeback's subtle story of unrequited love over many years was more carefully constructed and beautifully shot than Crash, which pounded its message over your head. Much of Crash was beautifully shot and scored but at times (i.e. the car rescue) it went a bit over the top with its melodrama. The film had characters acting as both pure good and pure evil, leaving the viewer to average them out to grey. I found some of the Crash stories powerful – I liked Sandra Bullock's character and Ryan Phillippe's had an interesting twist, but I just felt it was short of greatness. I guess I am nitpicking because the film was really good, in fact I would have chosen it as my second favorite behind Brokeback. It's just when a movie is almost great it's very easy to nitpick. I am excited for Paul Haggis and hope he has a very successful career to look forward to.

Overall, I was pretty bored by the show though I did appreciate it being broadcast in high def. Jon Stewart started off slow but his jokes got funnier as the night went on. Favorite joke of the night: "Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars. For Three 6 Mafia, one."
Most cringe-worthy moment – Ang Lee saying "I wish I could quit you" upon accepting his directing award. This guy is so sensitive and so smart and so talented so why did he have to quote the most irritating line from his film? Ugh ugh ugh.

I have to go do real work now, but I'll be back later to review my predictions.

-Bob

Hot Boll!

I read an interesting interview with everybody’s favorite video game movie director Uwe Boll on EuroGamer today.  I saw his first video game adaptation, House of the Dead, and it was one of the most godawful movies I have ever seen.  Nothing about it was original and every standard tenet of decent movie making was thrown out the window with terrible writing, acting, directing…  Yet the guy’s persisted and made two more terribly reviewed game movies, Alone in the Dark and Bloodrayne, and is scheduled to make three more over the next couple years.  I haven’t seen his last two movies but I have to admit to jumping on the Boll hate bandwagon in bashing them.  After reading this interview, I do have some sympathy with the guy, but continuing to adapt games to movies is clearly not the way to gain respect from the industry.  He needs to take a lower profile project like his pre-game work and really craft a decent film.

From what I know about him, it seems like he’s a guy with a genuine passion for making movies.  But maybe, like Ed Wood, he doesn’t have the talent to back up that passion.  Out of curiosity, I’d see a new film of his that he generally thought was good (and isn’t based on a game).  Maybe I should revisit House of the Dead.  I do love some terrible, terrible movies, and maybe now I can appreciate the awfulness of that film.

-Bob

2006 Oscar Predictions

Best Picture – Brokeback Mountain
Directing – Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain
Adapted Screenplay – Brokeback Mountain
Original Screenplay – Crash
Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote
Supporting Actor – George Clooney in Syriana
Actress – Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line (though I really want Felicity Huffman to win!)
Supporting Actress – Catherine Keener in Capote
Animated Feature – Miyazaki’sHowl’s Moving Castle
Art Direction – Good Night, and Good Luck
Cinematography – Brokeback Mountain
Costume Design – Walk the Line
Documentary Feature – March of the Penguins
Documentary Short – God Sleeps in Rwanda
Film Editing – Walk the Line
Foreign Film – Paradise Now
Makeup – Cinderella Man
Music Score – Brokeback Mountain
Music Song – Dolly Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru” from Transamerica
Short Film (Animated) – The Moon and the Son
Short Film (Live Action) – Cashback
Sound Editing – King Kong
Sound Mixing – Walk the line
Visual Effects – King Kong

There ya have it. I’m guessing I’ll get about 50% right

-Bob

Yay Friday

I’m at work but my mind is wandering too much to start research right away so thought I’d make a post. I convinced Kate to watch the beginning of “The Aristocrats” last night. I saw the movie earlier in the summer in a packed early screening on the MIT campus. Everyone in the audience was laughing the entire time. It was easily one of the funniest and most enjoyable movie going experiences of the year. I told Kate about how funny it was but she was appalled by the movie – hmmm, who’d have thought my wife wouldn’t want to see a movie about the most disgusting joke in the world. So we started the movie. After a couple of underage fisting references, I took the look of horror on her face to mean she had enough. I asked if she wanted to stop the movie, but she wanted to go on! We made it through the whole movie and she laughed quite a few times. I’m continually amazed at how much my dirty influence is taking over on her – first she liked “Sin City,” and now she liked this! Granted, she was more impressed by the range of comedians and filming style than the exquisite dirtiness of the joke, but still, I’m impressed.

I may write a review of the movie later but I might get lazy and not. Eh, it’s a blog, who cares?