ThunderCats! HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Usually I am not excited about old movies or TV shows being updated and refreshed, but I found myself excited by this news from the Gizmodo via the Hollywood Reporter, that Thudercats is going to be coming back on Cartoon Network. Check out the link to Gizmodo and Hollywood Reporter

I remember liking the original ThunderCats when I was little. I used to pretend to be Tygra with my magic whip that made me invisible. I would wake up early to try to watch it, but for some reason i could never consistently watch it. i would just see random episodes here and there with little cohesion in what i was watching. Now i get another chance as an adult in indulge my inner child on these characters again. I have two fears however about this remake
1) Snarf - man that guy was annoying
2) it will shatter the good memories i have of ThunderCats from my childhood, cause it will suck.

I am happy to see its being made by the studio that made the Animatrix cause i dug that, and i also like Anime so maybe it will be awesome! I will definitely be setting my DRV to record this when it comes out!

I do hope though that they can come up with some new ideas rather than just digging up these old shows. Its fun sometimes but come on we need something new!

Why I don’t care that ATT is eliminating the unlimited data option.

It was announced that ATT is no longer going to offer the unlimited data option for smartphones on new contracts, and frankly I don’t care. First off I never go anywhere near 2gb on my Iphone. I think on average I use about 700mb a month of data (I check it a whole bunch via the ATT app). I don’t really stream music or movie on my Iphone, and I don’t usually use it for pulling down large files, that’s what one for the three computers I have in my possession is for. Now it’s possible that when the new OS comes out that allows for multi tasking I will end up consuming more data with things like Pandora, but I still don’t think I will be getting close to the cap. If I owned an Ipad and I was streaming movies or TV on it this might cause me to leap up in usage and maybe I will have an issues with the cap, but at far as I am concerned if you are using the Ipad to stream movies and TV you should probably be on a wireless connection which would not eat into your data cap. In most places I can think of where I would want to whip out my Idevice and stream some TV I would have access to some kind of wireless connection so using the data would not be required, I am hard pressed to think of a place where I would really need to stream that TV show now where I would not be on wireless. Ok, one of the changes that is also coming out in the new OS is the ability to actually tether your phone to a computer or device. This is nifty, but again I do not think I will be tethering my phone to a computer and then doing data intensive things, I mean yeah if there was no cap I wouldn’t have to care, but as more ATT customer will tell you the network kinda blows, so if my choice is to stream that Stargate episode to my computer on a tethered connection or to wait till I am on a wireless connection I will wait till I am on the wireless, and off the network. I don’t really have much of a personal used case for tethering, but I am sure there are people out there that will use the hell out of this feature, but again I don’t think the use will be for things that require a lot of data usage, more for things like; getting your email at the airport, or in a cab.

Second as I mentioned ATT kinda blows. As more and more people buy Smartphones on the ATT network and use those smart phones for data it will degrade and degrade the network. Putting this cap in place, a cap that ATT claims will not affect like 90% of users (me included) it will hopefully help with the network congestions. It will make people more responsible with their data usage. Now I guess the claim could be made that since ATT already has the problems they have and already almost no one is reaching the cap it might not help at all, but if more and more phones come on the network they eat a bigger and bigger chunk of the pie even if they don’t use more data than the current users. This does not give ATT a free pass to just keep things they way they are they need to spend the time and the money to boost their network and increase the bandwidth and the reliability of the network as a whole, which leads me to my penultimate point as to why I don’t care that they changed the policy on the data plans

Eventually I think that these networks will get to a place where it will be possible to offer the unlimited data package again, granted it will probably come back as a more expensive option, but I personally believe that it will be back.

Lastly this will end up saving me money. When I bought the Iphone I had to bundle it with the $30 a month data plan, if I can shave off a few bucks a month with a plan with a cap that I don’t think I will ever reach I am all for it. Granted my contract has more than a year and a half on it so I will get to enjoy my unlimited plan till I need to renew, and who know what phone or provider I will end up with when that happens.
So there is my 2 cents on the ATT data plan change. In summary I don’t care.

The Hobbit Dream Team

So you've probably heard the news that Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro has stepped down as director for the much delayed Hobbit movies. This is really disappointing since he has already shown he's a great director of fantasy movies. So who would be a good replacement? Here is my DREAM directors for this movie:

Zombie Jim Henson - With movies like Labyrinth and Dark Crystal in his wheelhouse, Jim Henson is an obvious choice for one of the best fantasy stories ever told. His creature workshop could breath new life into Tolkien's middle earth. David Bowie as a sexy Gandalf?
Why it won't work: He is dead.

Tim Burton - Movies like Sleepy Hollow and Big Fish suggest a director who could do this, but self indulgent movies like Willie Wonka suggest otherwise. If we could get a time machine and grab Tim Burton before he got too big for his britches and decided he can just stamp his own stylistic nonsense onto any franchise he wishes no matter how great (batman, planet of the apes, willy wonka oh god), then it would work. Why it won't work: No part for Johnny Depp

Terry Gilliam - Movies like Baron von Munchhausen and Time Bandits have the feel you want in a fantasy movie. Amazing sets and whimsical characters, made his movies awesome
Why it won't work: His incredible bad luck would be compounded by the bad luck this movie already has and it would create a black hole

Wait who directed HellBoy? He would be great!
Why it won't work: That was Guillermo del Toro you moron.

George Lucas: You know that time machine I wanted to grab for Tim Burton? Do that with him, but grab him hot off the heels of producing Willow.
Why it won't work: jar jar baggins

Peter Jackson: He did a stellar job with the LotR trilogy, but I was happy to see that he wanted someone else to direct the hobbit. The Hobbit was written in a different type of language than LotR so it would be fitting for it to be told a different way on film. It needs some more stylistic charm to it than the LotR. Some time has gone by and he could probably do that now. He could look at it with fresh eyes, and pull off telling this story the way it needs to be told.
Why it won't work: Currently because he says he won't do it.

I really hope Peter Jackson caves and takes the reins on this one, or someone comes out of obscurity to hit it out of the park like he did for LotR.

Still Hope For Better Off Ted? Probably Not, But We'll Try

http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2010-5-27-better-off-ted-fans-should-pray-for-a-short-nbc-finals

Long story short, if the NBA finals don't go to game seven, we get the last two un-aired episodes.

If you have never seen this show, season 1 is on Netflix Instant Watch and it's got a great cast, excellent joke delivery that doesn't stop to explain itself, and was solidly written.

I'll leave this list of outtakes (they had to make a PC version for ABC obviously but filmed the naughty bits) to prove my point.

Season Wrap-Up: Community, Season 1

First off, fuck CBS and fuck Big Bang Theory for putting the next season in Community's timeslot. Way to take more ratings away from shows that deserve them. But I digress.

If it wasn't for Community, Modern Family would be my favorite new show. As it stands, Community kicks everything else in the teeth. The season ended last week and some people were disappointed, others speculative.


Love is in the... uh...

Let's go over the finale and the episode before it. I'm including the episode prior to the finale because Modern Warfare really blew things out of the water in terms of the show's humor and tight writing. A lot of fans were curious how they could outdo such a great episode.

I wouldn't say they came close. However, with season 2 on the way, there still had to be some kind of closure to the show that leads it into next fall. And I think for how intense Modern Warfare was, it was jarring to go back to the usual Greendale. Once you get that out of the way, English As A Second Language was classic stuff. Jeff deconstructing Annie and using Abed's love of movies to deter him from giving in to her charms is brilliant. Senor Chang's mental breakdown leading to a fight with Jeff on top of his smashed Lexus with a keytaur is not something I can say I saw coming. Despite Chang's lost teaching status he's still on the roster, and the study group has moved to taking Anthropology next year. It maintained the same bar of quality and referential humor, while paving an excuse to keep the group together.


A roll of quarters, why?
Speaking of keeping the group together, Pascal's Triangle Revisited was a very interesting episode. Troy learns that living with Abed would be a bad thing for their friendship (as noted by eating a gigantic cookie as the episode goes on). The dean's fetish for dalmatians comes full force, Jon Oliver returns as professor Duncan and tries to hit on everyone, and Britta competes in the Transfer Queen competition, as noted by the banners on all the contestants that say Tranny Queen. One of the contestants is listed as Danielle Harmon, get it? Tranny queen? Never mind. But speaking of Dan Harmon, his love for trolling his fans knows no bounds. A conflict happens and Jeff has to decide between Britta and professor Slater as they both love him.

Now, here Jeff makes a point, and I think there is something in the air that's plagued multiple season finale writers (HIMYM and 30 Rock made the same conclusions about finding yourself). Jeff is undecided because Britta is the kind of woman who fits the slob lifestyle he lives now, but Slater fits the sophisticated lifestyle he wants. In the end, he picks Annie. The Community slashfic groups on the internet probably spontaneously combusted. This is one of the ways Dan Harmon trolls his audience, and I love him for it.

So what does this mean looking ahead? The show often retcons itself by stating flat out something's done and over with, so I'm not worried. Duncan probably spiked the punch or something stupid will come along and everyone will back off and go back to normal. While some shows suffer from a reset button every episode, Community manages to keep it up by letting the base study group be the launching point for something ridiculous. The words "Last week, on Community" aren't words I'd expect to see on-air, and it's sort of comforting knowing every time you tune in you will be rewarded with something great.

Moving to the entire season, it's had a flawless run. There was a lot of dissension among the ranks over the episode Investigative Journalism due to everyone hating Jack Black, but to those people I say you're an idiot for not realizing that Jack Black's whole purpose was to be deliberately annoying, showing the group that they don't need a wacky fat guy who kicks. Sometimes I think the meta jokes might have flown by, but I've been saying it all season long: Community is a niche show. It fits a specific sect of nerds and people who have been cramming media and popular culture into their mouth like a buffet table at a feeder convention. If I had to guess, I'd say people who like MST3k probably make up this demographic a good bit.

But while it appeases a specific audience, it does it well. Some shows like Big Bang Theory feel like they wrote the word "nerd" on a piece of paper and started a bullet point list on how nerds act based on what people thought of them in 1985. We're all still socially awkward, but we have so much pop culture on our side that we are disappointed when someone doesn't get our references, and Community challenges us in that respect. There are so many layers in most of the jokes. The first one that comes to mind is Jeff and Troy dressing Pierce up as the Cookie Crisp wizard, leading to this line:

"It’s not a meteor, it’s a cookie wand! Me and Jeff made it because it made you look more like the Cookie Crisp wizard! Which is not even a reference I get, because the Cookie Crisp mascot wasn’t a wizard when I was kid! It was a burglar!"

Without getting too distracted, if you're reading this blog, you probably already watch or should watch this show. It may have not had perfect ratings, but it had a perfect season. It's inspired debate and discussion, most of which end up being solved with "you're thinking about this show too hard." Years from now there will be people assuming this show is an indulgent guilty pleasure, but a guilty pleasure means it's something you wouldn't normally watch. This is a show practically catered to you. Enjoy it.

Season Wrap-Up: Modern Family, Season 1

Of the new shows that came out this season, Modern Family brought back the family sitcom. It finished its first season last week with a great finale.


This is one of the funniest things I have seen in my life, hands down.

The finale was billed as a three-parter, which doesn't make sense given the previous two episodes were linked together when the family vacationed to Hawaii, and the finale was about a group photo back home. These were all amazing episodes regardless. I really wish I had something negative to say about the past season as a talking point, but it's been a consistent level of comedy from start to finish. Ed O'Neill never lost his comedic touch and the faint glimmers of Al Bundy still live on in Jay Pritchett. Ty Burrel is both adorable and retarded as Phil. Eric Stonestreet and Tyler Ferguson play the best TV gay couple ever with Cam and Mitch and it never stops being laugh out loud hilarious when one or both of them panic uncontrollably. Everyone is just into their role perfectly. Much like Community, the cast outside of the show acts practically like a family, and I think when you have a cast that are very good friends and lob jokes at each other off the set, you get actors that work naturally together. And for a show about a family, that is really essential for selling some of the crazier things that have happened on the show.


I keep my wallet in my front pocket, so that's what that is.

But back to the original point: the family sitcom has grown stale for a while. Watching an episode of The Middle before Modern Family comes on is like night and day, and one thing I've liked about the better new shows lately is they're adapting to a more updated form of comedy. Yes, you're always going to have your 2 And A Half Mens and things you label under Stuff Old People Love For No Apparent Reason, but there will always be people reinventing the wheel. I really don't think a premier season for has gone off this well in a while, I mean they renewed the snow in January, and on average gets 9-10 million viewers each week.

AND YET BETTER OFF TED GETS CANCELE- okay I need to get off that train, but I'm going to be bitter about ABC until the season 2 DVDs are released and I can watch the final two episodes.

Overall, Modern Family has a grounded basis in well-known sitcom stereotypes, but refuses to indulge in them. You can passively watch the show from the distance and point out, "oh that's the bratty kid, that's the nerdy kid, that's a dumb dad," and so on, but it isn't until you sit down and watch that you see that there is a lot of complexity to all the characters, and that is revealed only when they interact with each other. Phil trying to find something in the garage and tripping up is one thing. Phil trying to find something in the garage and tripping up as his wife reads the list to the symptoms of ADHD, matching Phil's actions, is amazing. If there are two or more main characters on screen or playing off each other (whether they know it or not, like the clip above), it's like comedic alchemy. You know the end result will be a work of art, even if you're unsure about the ingredients going in.

Season Wrap-Up: How I Met Your Mother, Season 5

I am sort of on the fence for this season of MIMYM. I might be biased having watched seasons 1-4 and half of season 5 in a row, but this season was very haphazard in how it handled the characters and their interactions.


I am Christophe... Doppelganger.

Let's get the finale out of the way first. There was a lot of charming moments, but also a lot of awkward ones too. The episode felt longer than it was and I was worried that Marshal and Lily were going to put off having a kid for even longer. But in the end, Barney and Ted are still where they are. Robin choosing to stay in New York was an advancement of her character, but a predictable one. And let's face it, "put a baby in my belly" is a very awkward line to deliver in anything. Probably even a porno. But they did it twice.

Despite my complaints it was really funny. Barney's attempt at being his own doppelganger was great, as was his plan to have sex with everyone from every country. The episode was light on callbacks, the only one I can remember off-hand is Ted thinking he can pull off being a blonde (much like the boots). And wow does he look terrible as one. I'm glad someone in the show finally advanced their lives, and Ted's speech about how the gang became their own doppelgangers was sweet, and the fake-out soon after made me laugh but also want to slap the writers for tricking me so well.

I guess I had two major things that didn't sit right with me: I can understand that Lily is seeing what she wants to see cause she's ready to have a child, but at the same time, isn't it kind of cruel to lie and indulge her in seeing Barney's doppelganger? If the situation was that she kept seeing Barney everywhere, then I could sympathize with the rest of the group, but four months? Wouldn't it be more of the right thing to do to admit the doppelganger promise was just silly? It really seems out of character for everyone to lie to Lily, especially Marshal. And about something she has to spend 9 months carrying, moreso when it's an Eriksen kid.

Second thing ties into the rest of the season: Nothing happened. Robin had her ups and downs but ended up single and living with Ted. Ted bought a house but the only mention of it died in the same episode it started. There was a lot of one-shot episodes this season where everyone tried something different, then settled back to usual. Robin was the only one with a dynamic change to her character, but it didn't get a lot of screentime so she still felt like her issues were in the background. Torturing Barney in Slapsgiving 2 was great, but has Lily's father been back or mentioned since? It's a random thought but when I look over this season I keep seeing episodes where something happened, and it was never mentioned again. Nothing was added to these characters.

I think the continued success and seasons of the show might start to kill it. It's still extremely funny, but it doesn't need to constantly reset it self and essentially stalling. Every time Ted meets someone, it's always a different person every episode. He hasn't had a consistent girlfriend and it's easy to forget that the show is all about Ted. I was hoping Judy Greer would be Ted's girlfriend for a while after the end of The Wedding Bride (that and in the hopes of a future breakup episode with the line, "Say goodbye to THESE!"), and yes one episode isn't enough to tell that, but throw me a bone here.

Over the summer I will probably watch through the series or at least this season again just to get a better judgement call on the whole thing. I just don't want to see this show fall to the wayside after 4 strong seasons and one really funny but roundabout season. It's too early to pan it, or to make that decision until season 6. I'm probably being greedy, but I wanted something more, and with the show's namesake, that's not much to ask.

Goodbye Lost, you ruled.

Last Night on Lost

Note: I don't think there are any spoilers in this I tried to not give anything away as some people have not seen the episode


As I am sure you are aware last night was the last episode of Lost. I don’t usually write about this kind of stuff but I feel like adding my 2 cents. First off, I really liked the ending. If you hated it I am sorry you spent 6 years watching something only to decide that it didn’t meet your outrageous expectations. I say outrageous for a couple of reasons.

First on a show like Lost where there are lots of mysteries and strangeness people have built up ideas in their head as to what explains the mysteries and when the writers endeavor to put answers to those mysteries they are not going to be as cool at the answers you have made up in your head. One of the reasons books are usually better than movie because the books allows you some wiggle room for your imagination to fill in the cracks.

Second NO ending is every entirely satisfying! Can you name a single TV show or book that after you partake of the massive journey from the beginning to the end you were totally happy with how it ended? Cause I can’t think of any. Take every Legend of Zelda game, you spend all this time running around solving problems, you defeat Gannon and then either the world is reset or some other crazy thing that basically makes all your effort for nothing, but you had a good time getting to the end (except of water temples). Endings by nature never live up to the events that took place before the ending, because it’s an Ending! There is nothing more after that, there is no more room for interpretation or surprises, it’s over and people have issues with things being over.

Third, Lost was never about the answers. Lost was always about the questions, if you thought it was about the question you are wrong. It’s not answers that make things interesting, questions make things interesting. We (myself included) thought what we wanted was the answers, but the answers either just lead to more questions, or to answers that put a final nail into questions, some answers were good, and they needed to at least touch on the big things, but for them to go through and try to answer everything takes the fun out of it. The “Island” is mysterious and that is what makes it cool, Lost is not House, there does not need nor should there be an explanation for everything. I have heard the argument that this is bad storytelling, people basically bitching that since they wrote things into the plot they had to answer them, I totally disagree, there are thing in the plot that needed to be answered, but there are many other things that are purely there to flesh out the idea that the Island is a mysterious place where things beyond what is dreamt of in your philosophy (Horatio) are possible. Science tries to find the answers to things, with the seeker of that answer embarking on a quest to get those answers through trial and error. TV is not like that, the audience does not try to find the answers, no amount of theory or trial and error is going to affect the answers, we get the answers when the producers and writers decide to give them to use, and since we don’t really “earn” those answers, I don’t consider sitting in front of a TV screen a justification for earning something, any answer is going to be unsatisfying, especially if that answer is different than the answer you imagined in your head. That was one of the best parts about Lost, sitting around sounding like an idiot to anyone that did not watch the show, and trying to figure out what is going on. For me this was half the fun of Lost, I loved watching the show, but after I watched it I couldn’t wait to discuss it with other fans or check the Lostpedia for some crowd sourced info and theories.

Finally, Lost, depending on when you started it was a 6 year trek. If you have decided that you hated the last episode you are doing yourself a disservice. You are letting something be ruined for you because it didn’t live up to your impossible expectations. Lost is over and we got the ending, remember that it is not the ending that is important it’s the journey that got you there, so if you enjoyed watching the show, “let go” and chill out on the ending. I would be too bad to have something you have enjoyed for 6 seasons, be ruined by 2.5 hours of content, and you know what? If you really hated the answers you were given, re-watch the series, and just don’t watch the last episode and the Lost can continue on however you want it.

If you can think of anything as epic as Lost that has a satisfying ending let me know… but I doubt it

Viacom just ejaculated into my Netflix

Sorry for the lack of TV updates, I do plan on doing season wrap-ups this week for a couple of shows and to complain about next season's terrible scheduling (namely CBS screwing over Community by putting Big Bang Theory in the same timeslot). Waiting on How I Met Your Mother's finale to air which apart from Glee ends my TV season entirely.

But Viacom just released a TON of things from Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. All of The State, Chapelle's Show, Reno 911, Rocko's Modern Life, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Strangers With Candy, Upright Citizen's Brigade, Stella, Ren & Stimpy, and a boatload of standup.

And District 9 was added as well.

But really folks, if there's one thing I want to get across, it's that you should all watch Avatar in its entirety, and now nothing's stopping you.

Nerdsploitation

This is a guest post by Sam

There are two shows that seem to reign supreme in the province of geek comedy: Futurama and The Big Bang Theory. They’re the ones with the jokes for comp sci guys, physics guys, chemistry guys, and the seven women who have overcome their inborn inferiority in the sciences to be able to understand astrophysics jokes .[really Sam, REALLY?-whaler] I should point out right away the following: first, I’m no expert in either show. I’ve watched a bunch of late night Futurama re-runs, and I pick up on some of the self-referential humor and running gags, but my level of knowledge of the inner workings of the show pales in comparison to my knowledge of, say, Arrested Development, pre-cancellation Family Guy, or expert methods for picking up women (alcohol is involved). I know even less about The Big Bang Theory, for reasons that will become clear. In short, don’t crucify me for my inaccuracies, everything I say here I’m reasonably confident I read about on the internet at some point. That being said, I can without a doubt say that Futurama is objectively a far funnier show. Some people think that humor is subjective, that hey, they might even like The Big Bang Theory more; they are wrong. The difference lies in the way both shows approach their geek humor.

The key to a geek comedy is that it must appeal to both geeks and non-geeks alike. At the very least, it has to appeal to geeks in different fields. It can’t be so dense and undecipherable that only PhD candidates can get the jokes, it has to be broad enough for the 50% of America that is by definition below average can get it. This means that the plot can’t rely on an understanding of science to make sense, and that a percentage of jokes need to have broad appeal as well. Here is where the first difference between the shows appears.

Futurama is descended from the Simpsons, which, before the Y2K bug destroyed the world’s computers by forcing web 2.0 on us, was the funniest show of all time. Back before Homer and Marge just had random bizarre things happen to them before a celebrity guest star intervened, The Simpsons had strong plots, superb sight gags, and some of the best 22 minutes episodes of comedy known to man (see: King-Size Homer, Marge vs. The Monorail, Homer at the Bat, etc. etc.). Futurama carried on this tradition, creating robust characters that weren’t just stereotypes (it would be hard to cite precedent for drunken robots and lobster doctors), stories that explored an imaginative non-utopian, not quite dystopian future, and quick witted humor that functions across demographics, thanks to fish-half-out-of-water everyman Fry. The writers were able to create believable characters in a somewhat believable universe, and were able to coax real drama out of them (perhaps the best illustration of this is the episode “Jurassic Bark,” which has pretty much the saddest ending ever since Old Yeller).

The Big Bang Theory has none of this. It’s created by Chuck Lorre, who, instead of pulling a Groening and creating The Simpsons first before making a geek classic, chose to create Two and a Half Men first, commonly regarded as the lowest common denominator of TV sitcoms in the history of the medium. Groening is a geek at heart, and Futurama is his homage to sci-fi. Lorre is a hack first, and The Big Bang Theory is his way of making fun of geeks by making a bad TV show starring that guy from Rosanne. The problem with The Big Bang Theory is, well, everything. The plots are fairly standard sitcom plots, the characters are about as stereotypical as is possible, and it seems that every joke follows the standard setup-punch line-topper format. If Chuck Lorre had made The Wire, it would have just been black people eating fried chicken in front of a live studio audience. I wish I could cite extensive specific examples, but I just can’t seem to sit through an entire episode. I’ve tried. I want to be able to like this show. I like the idea of shows that are “smart” and “geeky.” But this one just isn’t. In my head, it’s always playing like this , and you can imagine how that feels.

Which brings us to the one specific difference in how the two shows treat their audience. Both make strong claims about being scientifically accurate, but it seems that the big joke in The Big Bang is that these guys are nerds. They talk funny, they cite random science facts, and the way the show glosses over the less than well written jokes is by making them too dense for the average viewer, who just picks up on Sheldon-citing-an-obscure-statistic-because-he’s-a-nerd. Here’s a sample from the show’s pilot:

Penny: I'm a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know...

Sheldon:Yes... it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun's apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality.

Penny: Participate in the what?

The joke seems to be that she doesn’t understand what he’s saying. There’s nothing actually funny in what he says, it’s factually correct, there’s no joke in there. If you strip out the fancy talk, it can be re-written as:

Penny: I'm a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to know...

Sheldon:Yes... it tells us that you believe in astrology, which makes you stupid.

Penny: I am stupid!

More examples glommed from the show’s quotes page on Wikipedia? Sure!

Sheldon: I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains.

Penny: Who's Radiohead?

Sheldon: [after twitching for a minute] I have a working knowledge of the important things.

That one is apparently implying that geeks and nerds don’t listen to perhaps the geekiest, nerdiest band on the planet. How about:

Penny: What about Howard and Raj, how did [Sheldon] become friends with them?

Leonard: I don't know...how do carbon atoms form a benzene ring? Proximity and valence electrons.

Penny: Well yeah sure, when you put it that way.

Let’s just be clear what’s happening here: Leonard is apparently comparing social interactions to chemical processes, because he is autistic and doesn’t know how to relate to people. If he’s implying that proximity and electricity (maybe a spark of it?) are what bring friends together, ok, I’ll half buy that. But the joke once again shows through in Penny’s line, when she subtly informs the audience that you don’t really know what was said, just that it was super nerdy and she is stupid. The secret to all of this is that what Leonard says isn’t funny. He’s just stating a fact. The joke is that it’s got science words in it, not that it’s actually a funny comparison.

A final note before we move on from the land of autistics hanging out with dumb blondes: there’s a blog written by one of the science consultants on the show that explains some of the theory behind what you see on TV. This is all well and good, and they do have some science in there, a positive. But, the science is in there as science, not as humor. The most recent post points out that their whiteboard has chemical reactions for rocket fuel written on it, foreshadowing Sheldon playing with rocket fuel. That’s a neat little easter egg, but it’s not funny, it’s just… equations in the background. And it seems a lot of their science is treated this way: it’s not a science punch line per se, it’s just there as a side note to lend credibility.

On the other hand, Futurama, rather than bludgeoning you with nerdiness, weaves both broad jokes and geek jokes in seamlessly. The little nuggets in the background are funny little commentaries or asides, not just references to science. For example, Cartridge Unit, Cymbal-Banging Monkey, Sinclair 2K and Lisa are all obsolete robots. They’re all funny as characters, but their names also reference actual obsolete computers (or, in the case of Cymbal-Banging Monkey, toys), so unpacking the geek parts yields to a bonus joke, not just random equations. Soylent Cola “varies from person to person.” Bender has nightmares about the number 2. There are countless little flourishes like these that are actually jokes, not just science for science’s sake, and I’m sure the die-hard fans can single out the best of them far better than I can.

In the end, it comes down to Futurama actually being made for its audience, respecting their intelligence, and giving them something for it, while the Big Bang Theory just has a bunch of unfunny science in it to give it “geek appeal.” Of course, the unwashed masses will always trend towards “smart shows” that make them feel more comfortable in not knowing things, and shows like Futurama will bounce from time slot to time slot, network to network, trying the patience of those who love it. But I suppose we true geeks can take quiet comfort in knowing that we’re secretly right, our show really is better, and that those moron geek fans of Big Bang are laughing at a show that’s just blatantly making fun of them.

Nifty Facebook Privacy Tool

I figured i would post about this quick. I came across this tool from ReclaimPrivacy.org, which if you use when logged into Facebook will give you suggestion on how to change your privacy settings. It pointed out somethings that I had overlooked when i recently went in and changed my privacy settings. Is it any wonder that i and others miss some thing when the privacy settings resemble this infographic from the NY Times.

I will probably run it again when Facebook changes the privacy settings again, which you know will happen even though they are "promising" to make the the settings more clear and more simple to use.

Work is kicking my ass

Work is kicking my ass at the moment, but i will post something as soon as i can. Stupid real life getting in the way of posting in my blog

NBC Thursday Night 5/7: He Said, Fully Erect

I am running on 4 hours of sleep so apologies in advance if some of this sounds disjointed.

Community S1E23 "Modern Warfare": I would like to announce the death of television. It died in a furious rage of paintballs and chaos and Dan Harmon is responsible for creating an episode so good, that TV isn't watchable anymore.

Greendale is hosting a paintball tournament, and the person who wins was going to get a blu-ray player, but that was stolen. So instead it's TBD. Troy wants that TBD bad. Jeff, uninterested in all of this, takes a nap in his car. 1 hour later, Jeff wakes up to see the school in ruins and paint. In walking around a post-apocalyptic Greendale he is assaulted by Leonard. Abed swoops in with Pitch Black goggles and wall-runs in front of Jeff, shooting Leonard. From here Jeff learns what has happened. The TBD prize is now the opportunity to choose all your classes for the next semester before everyone else, and it caused a frenzy. Meeting back up with Troy, the three students take out the Chess Club and come across Pierce and Star-Burns, who are stealing all the snacks from the vending machine. Wanting to be with the popular group always, Pierce shoots Star-Burns in the side to join them. But then, Troy, Jeff, and Abed need to take a piss, and they come across Shirley, Britta, and Annie.


These gifs speak for themselves, really.

The study group is ready to finish off the last of the competitors, knowing fully that when that is done, they will have to turn on each other. There are discussions of giving it to Shirley no matter who wins, which Jeff isn't going to do. Running outside, the group gets ambushed by the Glee Club, taking out Troy and Annie. Using Pierce as bait, he gets shot up in favor of the remaining team taking out the enemy. Sitting around a barrel fire, an ambush occurs from a group of roller-skating disco students, but not without a Warriors reference. Shirley and Abed get eliminated, and it's down to Jeff and Britta. It's now late in the morning and the dean just wants the game to end. He hires Senor Chang for the job, and he's a douchebag that brings his own equipment. Jeff and Britta, who are under a lot of pressure, wind up inadvertently having sex, and afterwards Britta uses it to pull a gun on Jeff. Jeff, too clever for his own good, made sure to remove her magazine first. But then... A CHALLENGER APPROACHES


No seriously, what movies did they NOT reference?

Britta, in a sacrifice to Jeff, takes the plunge to end Chang's hail of bullets, leaving Jeff alone. He takes it to the dean, who is happy to say he has a DVD player for Jeff! But that isn't enough. He wants that priority registration. And shoots the dean. Wrapping up, Jeff gives the priority registration to Shirley, but she has to pretend like she has gout since it violates school ethics policy.


They could and ended the episode right here and I would be fine.

This was an incredible episode. For months fans who has been following Dan Harmon's twitter were curious to see how awesome the episode that went grossly over-budget would turn out, and it really dampened the rest of the night. Parks & Rec was great, but it felt like a shadow compared to Modern Warfare. Everything does. If you have any love for any action movies, from Predator to Pitch Black to Hard Boiled and even Face/Off, this episode has it all. I'll say it every week if I have to, if you're not watching this show then there is a big gaping hole in your life.

Hulu: Community S1E23: Modern Warfare

Parks & Recreation S2E22 "Telethon": Despite being overshadowed by the greatest thing TV has to offer, P&R was really funny. Leslie signs everyone up for a telethon that runs from 2AM to 6AM, and she spent all last night making shirts for everyone, so she hadn't slept in over 24 hours. Much like how I feel right now. The sleep deprivation is solved by snacking on lots of Sweetums bars, which leaves Leslie more crazier than she started.


clipboard mouth. CLIPBOARD MOUTH


A block of sugar, indeed.

Leslie entrusts Tom to pick up Detlef Schrempf, an NBA player, as the celebrity guest, but not before Tom taking him to his club and starts drinking heavily. Mark in considering proposing to Ann, while Ann is considering dumping Mark, both of which have told Leslie about their plans. Leslie first tells Mark he should propose for the telethon since it will be a memorable story, but when she hears what Ann wants to do, she breaks down and isn't sure how to handle it.

Meanwhile, Ron Fucking Swanson skimps out to go sleep and we find that he has a condition known as "sleep fighting."


Have you ever seen this man sleep? It's like an underwater ballet.

Ron wakes up enough to do a segment on how to cane a chair, which causes the telethon to LOSE money. Tom is still MIA with Detlef Schrempf, and it's nearing 6AM. Desperately trying to pull things together, Leslie tries several ideas to entertain the audience in the last remaining moments, like recapping her top ten favorite episodes of friends, and attempting to drink 8 glasses of milk in 3 minutes (to which Ann stops her immediately, since she'll die). Other acts inclue someone doing the worm, and Jerry on piano. Finally Tom arrives and declares to the viewers of Pawnee that he is very, very drunk. Detlef offers a $5000, putting them above the goal, and to a well-deserved sleep for Leslie. After she drove onto Ann's lawn.

This was a very hectic, chaotic episode and Leslie really took control of the whole thing. It was one disaster after another and I was reminded of her more neurotic side from the first season, except with added sleep deprivation and a massive sugar rush. Everyone got to have some fun moments and while Leslie held the reins, there wasn't a moment of thinking "where did that character go?" I wouldn't place it in the same tier as Hunting Trip or Sweetums or Possum, but there wasn't a moment that didn't make me smile the whole way through.

Hulu: Parks & Recreation S2E22: Telethon

The Office S6E24 "The Cover-Up": Truthposting here, didn't pay attention to most of this. There was some really funny interaction in the beginning with Jim and Pam messing with Dwight, and it's always nice to see Zach Woods bring some of the same asshole charm he had with Chad from In The Loop.

Sorry for the lack of review, I usually spend this half hour making dinner!

Hulu: The Office S6E24: The Cover-Up

30 Rock S4E20 "The Moms": Everyone's mother is in town for TGS, from the actors to the execs. Jack has to deal with Colleen trying to play a hand in his women troubles, Liz is wondering if she should just try to get married and not waste time waiting on Astronaut Mike Dexter, Jenna and her mom are having a conflict on what to wear, Lutz's mother is literally Lutz in a wig and a sweater. Tracy, who doesn't know his mother, has to have another actor come in to play the part, and Tracy protests. Jack tried to use Kenneth to distract Colleen, but being the mastermind she is has no trouble distracting Kenneth.

The big part of this episode was Liz, when she finds out that her mother passed on her true love instead of the man she married. Her true love being Buzz Aldrin, who guest stars. Liz meets with him and finds out he missed his window of opportunity, and would put Margaret through hell to still be with her. Then one of the most adorable, yet awesome things ever happens:


I don't know about you but I would LOVE to yell at the moon with Buzz Aldrin.

Eventually Jack caves in ans asks Colleen to help him with his love life. And for once, she doesn't have an answer. Jenna and her mother sort out their wardrobe differences, and seeing how happy they were, Tracy decides to accept his fake mom as his mother. The episode ends with a song and to stay tuned for the Mother's Day episode of Bitch Hunter. Fakeout to Bitch Hunter credits, than snap to Marriage Ref. You bastards. I want it to be a real show.

Much like last week this was a cute episode but didn't have too many solid jokes. The two callbacks to Bitch Hunter were great (PUT THE MIMOSAS DOWN... BITCH). I dunno, usually I'm defending 30 Rock left and right this season but this episode felt watered down a bit. It's taking a slight turn for the serious but I think I'm starting to understand why people are not liking the Jack/Liz dynamic. In older eps where Floyd and Liz's other loves came into play the show is still a priority. At first the disconnect was subtle but the final shot of the end of a TGS show during the credits made me snap out of it and see that. TGS is now no longer a part of the show anymore, and I'm still liking 30 Rock, but it needs to get back on the rails for season 5 before it goes from likable and cute to taking off in a different direction.

Granted, I say this as I oogle over a show that spends most of its time not caring it's taking place at a community college, but the writing is so solid and tight to make the backdrop meaningless to the jokes and the delivery. Newsradio is in a similar vein, no one cared about the backdrop being WNYX because it was so well put together. I used to think 30 Rock was in the same boat but it's starting to lose focus, and I don't want to see that happen.

Hulu: 30 Rock S4E20: The Moms

Film: Not Quite Iron Man - Seven Independent Releases To Watch For This Summer

The summer movie season could be said to officially open tomorrow when Iron Man 2 debuts in the USA. That means three to four months of superheroes, big action, and 3D. But there are several independent or limited-release films that can give you a break from all the sound and fury of the summer blockbuster. You already know about movies like Toy Story 3 and The Last Airbender, but here are seven movies you might not know about yet:

Please Give - Opens April 30.

Nicole Holofcener tends to make films about real women. The women in her films are familiar, flawed, charming, annoying, sweet, smart, impulsive - in other words, they are every bit as mutli-faceted and complex as anyone you might encounter in real life, something that is unfortunately not often seen in onscreen women, especially during the summer season. This film features one such woman named Kate, played by the wonderful Catherine Keener. Kate runs an antiques shop that she supplies by buying furniture cheap at estate sales. She tries to teach her daughter to not be materialistic, while she herself wants the same things her daughter wants, she suspects her husband (Oliver Platt) is not being faithful, and she is trying to reconcile her own desire to live well while dealing with the poverty she sees on the street outside her door. It's a comedy about value systems colliding, upper-middle class guilt, moral contradiction, and unsteady familial bonds. It is currently playing in New York and Los Angeles and will be opening in more theaters across the country.

Micmacs - Opens May 28.

With films like Amélie, The City of Lost Children, and Delicatessen, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has given us funny, quirky, slightly dark and off-beat films and his new film looks to be no exception. Bazil (Dany Boon) is an unlucky fellow whose father was killed by a roadside bomb and who is left with a stray bullet lodged in his skull which could kill him at any moment. Released from the hospital after his latest accident with no money and nowhere to live, he encounters a group of junkyard dealers who build him a home from the scrap in their junkyards and help him seek revenge on the weapons manufacturers who created the weapons which orphaned him and left him on the brink of death. This looks to be yet another darkly comic and charming adventure from a unique and interesting filmmaker.

Cyrus - Opens June 18.

The first film from Mark and Jay Duplass - The Puffy Chair - was among the first in the unfortunately named but interesting independent film movement known as "mumblecore." These are films characterized by extremely low budgets, non-professional actors, improvised scripts and explorations of personal relationships. Their new film ups the budget and brings in professional actors, but the heart and soul still appear to be in place. John (John C. Reilly) is divorced and still struggling to adjust to his life seven years after the fact. He meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party and they quickly hit it off. However, in order to make the romance work, John and Molly must contend with Molly's grown son Cyrus (Jonah Hill). He is his mother's best friend and will go to any lengths to stop John's invasion into their life. Festival reactions say that the Duplass brothers have successfully translated their heartfelt, very funny and humane style to a higher budget, so this will be a movie to seek out.

I Am Love - Opens June 18.

Tilda Swinton is one of the best and most under-appreciated actresses of our time. Last year's little-seen Julia featured her fierce and unrestrained ability, and she is consistently the best part of any film in which she appears. This new film from Italy about a wealthy Milan family's undoing due to intense passion. Tilda Swinton is enough of a reason to see any film, but this looks to be a rich, intense, beautiful film and should give Swinton a chance to yet again show off her considerable talent. It's been getting overwhelming praise after every festival in which it has appeared.

Dogtooth - Opens June 25.

This film from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard category at last year's Cannes Film Festival. It is about a family where the children are being raised with zero influence from or exposure to the outside world. Now, they are fully grown, still with no knowledge of the world outside their home. The reactions have been extremely excited, with several critics calling it one of the best films of the year already. It promises to be a disturbing, haunting, and beautiful experience.

The Kids Are Alright - Opens July 7.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as the parents of two children who decide to seek out biological father, a sperm donor. When they find Paul (Mark Ruffalo), he quickly develops a relationship with them that threatens the family unit that Bening and Moore have worked hard to maintain. Reactions from critics have been overwhelmingly positive, with a consensus that it is a smart, funny and heartfelt look into a modern family.

[REC] 2 - Opens July 9.

I couldn't leave off all the sequels, and this one should be exciting for horror fans. It's the sequel to the 2007 Spanish horror film [REC] written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza who both return for this film. The new film follows a medical and special operations team going into the quarantined apartment building to investigate, and finding that religious weapons work to fight off the infected people. The original film was remade badly in the U.S. as Quarantine, but the original still packs a horror punch. With the same writing/directing team returning for this and a promise to upping the ante on the first film, this is one to check out. The first film is available on DVD.

These are all movies I am extremely excited to see, based not only on the pedigree of the filmmakers, but on reviews and reactions from their appearances at festivals. So as you decide what to spend your money on at the theater this summer, please consider scanning your local art house listings for some of these films. They aren't going to have the action and big-budget effects of Iron Man 2 or The A-Team, but they may just surprise you.

Paperless meeting

Imaglide sent this article to me yesterday because he loves stories like this without even realizing that my boss was at this meeting!

I've never been to a big medical meeting like this, but I have been to a lot of clinical trial meetings. You are getting bombarded with information, and generally are given a lot of hand outs, even whole binders sometimes. Having to take a giant binder home with you on the plane can be a big pain. At conferences like this there will be posters for papers and research studies, there will be presentations, and there will be tons of vendors handing out their cards and information on their company or product. That adds up to a LOT of paper.

The integra foundation granted the organizers of the AANS (American Association of Neurogical Surgeons) the funds to provide each attendee of the meeting with an apple Itouch, making this the first paperless meeting in the organizations 76 year history. It was in the interest of going green, but also in the interest in introducing new technology to physicians. My boss pointed out that the entry fee for the meeting had gone up as well, probably to eat some of the cost.

I got to check out the itouch they were given, it was loaded with contact information for all of the attendees of the meeting. This is useful because collaboration is important in medical research, and it is impossible to meet everyone you want to at a giant meeting like this. Every scientific poster that was presented at the meeting was loaded on the itouch, as well as all of the meeting notes. There was an app so they could run polls during the presentations. It was really slick and well organized, the whole front page was apps made especially for the meeting. My boss liked that all of that is still on the device so it can be referred to later. There is more information, and a demo on the app at the AANS website. Also I checked, the app is available for free in the app store, this could be good for people who wished to attend the conference but couldn't.

Just from my immediate experience it has people excited about using this new technology. Since I have an Iphone already, there is already talk about how we can use these devices in our day to day work. Especially for screening research subjects when we are out of the office. Through VPN a physician or a research coordinator who gets a page in the middle of the night about a patient can review their images and vitals right from the palm of their hand. In another example of new technology being introduced to our workplace, one of the coordinating centers for one of our studies sent up USB headsets. We had been using GoToMeeting for monthly webinars, but we'd have to dial in on the phone. Now we will using VOIP for the meeting, which will integrate into GoToMeeting a lot better.

A lot of people might seem like they are very closed off to using new technology, but if you give them a chance like this I think it's exactly what the doctor ordered.

Paying for Privacy?!

I think my tinfoil hat must have slid off my head a little bit cause I just had a totally moon batty idea.

Facebook is not a big fan of privacy, because they want all your information to be as public as possible so they can use that information to sell ads. Take a look at the links below, they do a better job of illustrating both how Facebook has changed in regard to “your” information, but also how the average consumer feels about their privacy Facebook and online in general.

From the EFF
From Gizmodo
From Mashable
From cnet

Basically if Facebook had their way everything on your profile would be public, we are getting to the point where the privacy controls are really just there to make people like me feel a little bit better. My moonbat theory is what if Facebook was to create a pay model? For a price you would have total control over your profile, you could fine tune all your settings just the way you want them. What makes me think this is that originally Facebook said they would not share any information you did not want them to share, but over time that has been loosened up to the point we are at now.

It’s the people that pay attention to tech and things like privacy that are always jumping up and down whenever FB makes one of these changes, but the general public just goes either unaware or they just don’t care. FB knows this, I mean why else would they have defaulted your settings to Public when the other option was to keep the settings they way they were before. They know that when people want to get on to harvest their freaking Farmville radishes they don’t want to read stuff, reading is hard, so they just click next, next, next and then suddenly they now have their profile public for everyone. FB designed the privacy change screens with this in mind.

On top of that they basically make trying to actually configure your settings so complex that I have even given up a few times to get them configured the way I want. The issue is that they kind of have us over a barrel; FB has become an important part of the internet, for better or for worse (I think for worse, but that’s just me) and to opt totally out of FB would limit your social networking abilities on the intertrons. So you can’t really delete your profile, granted they make that hard as hell to do as well, and you don’t really have any control over your information, so what’s a tinfoil hat wearing privacy nut like me supposed to do? Well, jump up and down and yell and scream every time they change the privacy policy, but if they were to let me pay a little bit to have control over my privacy, I would probably do it (it would depend on the cost). They could say that it is to offset the ads costs associated with the loss of information of use privacy nut jobs.

Imagine if in 6 month Facebook came out with this idea after continuously scaring the people like me, this would look like a breath of fresh air in terms of their usual tactics. They could then basically do whatever the hell they want after that with the information of the people that don’t care about their FB privacy.

Puts tinfoil hat back on head squarely

Who wants to be part of a 5-way?... On Skype

Get your mind our of the gutter!

According to this post over at Gizmodo Skype the VoIP chat client is going to enable 5 way video conferencing. I am sure that the business impact of this will be analyzed all over the place, but I wanted to bring up a slightly different point about this new feature, and that is pod-casting. I listen to a lot of podcasts, the iTunes on this computer I am writing this on have about 20 podcast subscriptions, and my other computer has about the same. One of the more annoying things that happen is when there are multiple people on the episode they talk over each other. With this 5 way Skype video chat up to 5 pod-casters could doing the podcast together and they would be able to see who is talking, pick up on body language and expression and know when someone is going to talk.
I would like to start creating a podcast so I am really excited for this to be rolled out, I might even consider paying for it if I used it enough.

Mark your calenders

Lost fans are in for a treat. The series finale is being extended to 2 1/2 hours (if only they were commercial free!). This is definitely essential for how many questions still are left unanswered, and how many characters haven't been killed off yet ::cough KATE cough:: "The End" will air from 9-11:30 with a special Jimmy Kimmel show "aloha to lost" right after. I am glad that they are doing this because Jimmy Kimmel has been a big fan of the show since the very beginning. There will probably be a nice wrap up right before the show too to get you in the mood. For any other show the amount of clip shows they've produced would be ridiculous, but they are entirely necessary for Lost.

Also Saturday night (may 22) they will air the series pilot "enhanced". I really don't like the enhanced episodes of lost they offer on hulu. They seem like they are made for very stupid people, so hopefully this will be something different. I am interested and will probably watch it. It would definitely be good to see the characters from the very beginning one more time.

It is really good to see a network treat a show so well. ABC is definitely smart about things like that. They would be foolish not to market this show well since it has such a huge fanbase, but other networks definitely have screwed over great shows.

I Can't Do It, I Dinna Have The Power (To Autotune)

A lot of Glee fans have been complaining about the back 9 (episodes airing after the incredibly long hiatus) and most of their complaints have been about things the show has always done. Short stories that wrap up by the episode end with a performance finale, pushing characters in the background to showcase others, a lot of whining that makes me wonder if the hiatus made Glee fans somehow expect more from a show than what it was doing currently, just because it was off the air for a long time. It's only in its first season, and it wasn't until today that I realized what was bothering me so much about these issues.

You just don't have the time in 9 episodes to do a huge story arc. There was so much focus on completing a whole story in 13 episodes that it was a singular piece that didn't need any episodes afterwards and could have easily been the whole season ended right there, moving on to the next one. But the hype machine rolls on, and 13 isn't enough.


Let's get serious, no one put this much effort into Hammer since Hammer did it himself.

So what can't you do in 9 episodes that you CAN do with four more episodes like the front 13? For starters, give attention to most of the characters most of the time and their respective plotlines. You have more wiggle room to set the stage and to hype up conclusions you can see coming a mile away that you still bounce in your seat eager to see. Right now things are being created and ended in one or two episodes max, and with 5 episodes left, tell me, what can you do?

Sit back, enjoy the quick fun episodes while they last. If you want the mystical magical "Glee I used to know" then shut the hell up and go back to the dimension you came from where it's a bad show.

I once heard someone say the show jumped the shark. IT'S NOT EVEN IN SEASON 2 YET, GOOD LORD. NERDS. ARG.

Film Review: Mother (2010)

When a person gives you a gift that you didn't know you needed, it's exhilarating. Similarly, when a filmmaker gives you a film that defies all your expectations and takes you to a place that is truly unique, you cannot help but be excited. Bong Joon-ho's new film Mother is just such a film. It follows a widowed mother as she attempts to prove her son's innocence in the murder of a young girl, but this description doesn't do this funny, tense, marvelous film justice. In the hands of a less interesting and less talented filmmaker, this set up might result in a mediocre, cliche-ridden thriller. But Bong Joon-ho is not a conventional filmmaker. He has given us Memories of Murder and 2007's terrific monster movie The Host, and now he has given us Mother.

As the film opens, we see the unnamed mother cutting herbs and watching her son through the doorway of her apothecary. She sells herbal remedies and does unlicensed acupuncture on the side to make ends meet and take care of her forgetful, naïve, and rather simple 27 year-old son Do-joon (Won Bin). He is outside talking with his friend Jin-tae (Jin Ku). She doesn't like him. We will learn more later on. A look of intense focus is on her face as she watches them and inattentively chops her herbs. So focused is she on her son's activities that she cuts herself, just before a car almost hits him. Later, Do-joon drunkenly follows a young girl through a few alleyways and the next morning she is found dead. Do-joon is swiftly arrested after a bit of evidence places him at the scene, but his mother knows he must be innocent. He can't remember what happened to speak in his own defense, so she must prove that someone else committed the murder and framed him. As in the best thrillers, when she starts uncovering the answers, they do little but raise more questions. Never could I predict where this film was going, and each new revelation only made me want more.

As exciting as the filmmaking and storytelling is in this film, it all hinges on the character of the mother, and how believable the performance is. What an asset Kim Hye-ja must be for a filmmaker to rely on. As the mother, she gives a ferocious performance full of intense emotion and deep subtlety. There is never a false moment. Bong Joon-ho lovingly frames her expressive face as she goes between rage, regret, love, fear, despair, and hope with the greatest of ease, and Bong Joon-ho's camera captures every nuance as she moves through the community, unearthing every scrap that could help her in her quest to free her son. She is a force of nature.

Films like this – with their twisty, unpredictable narratives and supremely accomplished craftsmanship – can remind you just how boring so many movies that populate the box office really are. There is no way a movie like this could be produced in Hollywood. It's too hard to package. As Bong Joon-ho's previous films, Mother melds several genres and toys with different elements in each of them. It begins with a lovely and wonderfully surreal shot of Kim Hye-ja dancing in a field, a sad expression on her face. The film that follows this opening shot weaves comedy and suspense masterfully through a beguiling and wildly inventive tale about family and guilt. This weaving does cause the film to meander slightly, but I was never bored and never did my mind wander. It earns every moment, all the way through the marvelous ending. It's an unmissable film from one today's most intriguing filmmakers, already one of the best of the year. With films like Mother already released this year, it is beginning to look like 2010 will be a very exciting year in film.

Film Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

If you are a horror filmmaker, the ultimate opportunity must be to be able craft dreamscapes in which anything can happen and you are limited only by what you can imagine. Think of the possibilities for terrifying and surreal imagery that an imaginative and ambitious horror filmmaker would have open to them in a story like A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's such a shame that, rather than taking advantage of this amazing opportunity, Samuel Bayer and Platinum Dunes productions decided to instead just return to the same boiler room over and over again for this lifeless and dull remake.

The problem with so many modern horror films is that they don't do what they are supposed to do. They don't give the audience suspense or scares. They aren't frightening or unsettling. They aren't even shocking. They are just time-fillers. One of the chief culprits in this trend of bland horror is Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes – the studio to blame for the remakes of Friday the 13^th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hitcher. They have now brought us A Nightmare on Elm Street, a remake of the Wes Craven semi-classic starring the iconic boogeyman Freddy Krueger. It brings back the boogeyman, but none of the scares, originality, or sense of fun has been translated in this slick remake.

The story is simple enough. Nancy (Rooney Mara), Quentin (Kyle Gallner), Kris (Katie Cassidy), and Jesse (Thomas Dekker) begin sharing the same nightmare in which a man in a hat and striped sweater terrorizes them with a glove fixed with razors. They soon realize when this man named Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley, a talented actor dreadfully wasted here) kills them in their dreams, they die in real life. The conflict, then, is to fight the need to sleep, and if they do fall asleep, avoid being killed by Krueger as he takes over their dreams.

This would be a terrific story in which an imaginative filmmaker could create memorable imagery in surreal dream sequences with which to terrify the audience. But this movie is far too lazy to do that, instead giving us jump scare after jump scare with no genuine thrills at any point in the film. This film commits the greatest sin a horror film can commit: it's not scary or fun. In fact, it's boring.

Horror films can provide fantastic and disturbing imagery, explore the darker side of humanity, or simply be a lot of fun. However, many modern horror films do none of these, particularly the most widely seen films. Films with slow-burning suspense and creepiness that make you double check the locks on your doors like The House of the Devil go unseen while films like this win the weekend box office. It hurts horror as a genre, and Platinum Dunes is one of the worst offenders with their consistently lifeless and stale remakes. They depend on the name recognition and hit all the same beats as the original films – there is not one interesting shot in this film that was not cribbed from the original – without justifying their own existence. To be so beholden to the plots and set pieces of the original films arbitrarily limits the ability of the filmmaker to do something compelling and creative, and leads to lazy exercises like this. They have a terrific boogeyman in Haley's Freddy Krueger, and they had the chance to give the audience truly scary images in the limitless possibilities of the dream world, but they waste it all on some jump scares, and twenty-odd jump scares and a bit of blood and gore do not a horror move make.

Youtube.com is down?

I guess Youtube.com is down i keep getting a

502 Server Error

Strange

Can You Index the Future?

Have you ever been freaked out by those auto completes when doing a Google Search? You start typing and Woah! Google knows what I am looking for… freaky! Ok no its not really that freaky and no they don’t “really” know what you are thinking about looking for, they just know what other people have searched for that looks a little bit like what you are typing. Google cannot tell the future, until now!.. well kinda

Google recently invested in a company called Recorded Future, who attempt to use massive amounts of data to tell the future. This type of prediction technology is handy to people that want to know what the various complex markets are going to do in the future, so that investors and business types can make lots of money, well they can make lots of money if they are correct. The theory is that by analyzing massive amounts of data that is currently available a picture of where things are going will emerge. It is suspected that the predictions will be about as accurate as say a weather report, what I would be interested to know is, is it as accurate as a weather prediction for Boston, or a prediction for Phoenix Arizona.

Win...d Power!

The Daemon would be proud (I suggest you go read Daemon by Suarez). Google again showing their ability to want to do good in the long run has invested $38 million in to Wind Farms built by NextEra. You can read the summary here

I love this idea, I am all for any type of energy production that take emphasis off of coal and gasoline power. While I hope that humans will eventually get to a place where we drastically cut down on the amount of harm we cause by our existence, because honestly I don’t see things slowing down, the only thing we can hope for would be to create new sources of power that keep up with our demands for power but are less harmful than what we have now. Wind Farms may not be the most efficient method, and a lot of people don’t like the way they look, but it is a step in the right direction, and to have this change coming from a massive corporation is well … a breath of fresh air. I am sure there are some good bottom line enhancing, financial reasons for Google’s decision here, but at least they are investing in something semi-long term, which show that they are concerned with the big picture rather than just the here and now.

The conversation about power is a tough one, people are happy to admit that they don’t want to use coal and gasoline as power supplies, but they are either unwilling to make the changes to a less harmful method of power because it will also have drawbacks. At least for the short term everything will have draw backs, wind power kills lots of birds, and people are scared to death of nuclear power. Before we get to a place where a non harmful source of power we need to take the baby steps towards things like Wind Power, and you know what, screw birds.

Does Mega Man Care About the Princess?

I should have posted this last week when this was fresh and hip, but I didn’t so its here now

Mario Crossover Epicness

I only played up to the second stage, but being able to blow up Mario’s enemies with a machine gun is ultra epic.

I'm on to you, Hawking...

I think Stephen Hawking just got a Netflix account

After seeing Independence Day he decided that humans contacting aliens probably wouldn't be the best idea!

Now after catching up on Dr. Who he gets to work on figuring out how to build a time machine and just where/when he'd like to go and what he'd like to see.

"If I had a time machine I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime or drop in on Galileo as he turned his telescope to the heavens. Perhaps I'd even travel to the end of the universe to find out how our whole cosmic story ends. "

It will be interesting to see what he thinks when he's caught up on Lost.

I don't know what he'll be watching next, but I know I'll be watching his new documentary on the Discovery channel.

This Week On Netflix Instant Watch (4/23-4/30)

Gonna divide this into three sections: Good or at best "normal" movies, terrible movies you and your friends can drunkenly riff on, and TV show series.

NOTE: I haven't watched most of what I'm listing, these are more notable things that are on IW and were added in the past week.

Normal Movies
Stagecoach - A classic western.

Fargo - Do I need to explain this? If you haven't seen it, see it.

It Might Get Loud - A documentary about three musicians. I hear most of it is really good. It was in theaters last year.

Bad Movies
The Gay Bed & Breakfast Of Terror - I had the pleasure of watching this with some friends and it is awful. One of the worst movies I've seen. It covers just about every gay stereotype and every conservative Christian stereotype (right down to having pictures of GW Bush and his cabinet next to Jesus), makes no sense in parts, and in the end, the only two people left alive, who are gay, become straight and continue to kill gays. It's pretty over the top, and the actors look like they never kissed anyone of the same gender before filming. I'm sure it was made in jest, and if it wasn't, then I wonder what audience this was made for. Not humans, at any rate.

The Glimmer Man - Do you like Damon Wayans? Do you like Steven Segal? No? Well too bad. This is a hilariously bad action movie, with Segal still trying to pull the Bhuddist pacifist act but not enough to kill thugs with razorblades hidden in credit cards. Damon Wayans is the forced partner, who has a love for Casablanca and... oh who am I kidding, you've seen this cookie-cutter plot a million times. It's pretty funny though.

TV Shows
Party Down: Season 2 - Party Down is a great show that's unfortunately on its way to being canceled. They've been putting up the new episodes on Netflix soon after they air on TV. So while there's only one episode here, there's more to come. In the meantime, watch Party Down season 1, which is also on instant watch.

NBC Thursday Night 4/29: Is Marchtember Oneteenth good for you?

Community S1E22 "The Art of Discourse": As to be expected, Community was pretty great last night. Pierce makes an ass of himself and Shirley makes a stand, either she leaves or Pierce does, to which Pierce walks out. But not before Abed smashes Pierce's guitar and whips out a bucket list of fraternity movie tropes he wants to complete before graduating. Jeff and Britta wind up dealing with some high school students going to Greendale for college credit, who want to know how to live their life so they don't end up in their 30s back at community college. This escalates into a shouting match which is embarrassing for humanity, ending in a food fight.


Is there really a winner here?

There has been some dissension in the ranks about this episode, but mainly with the Duh-Off towards the end. Which to me was so absurd and silly you couldn't help but laugh at. Abed straight up says "Man, this show is sloppy." and I lost it. As a big fan of Animal House, Abed and Troy acted out some of my favorite bits, although I'm not sure what movie a robot named Boobtron 4000 is referencing. There is a recurring theme showing that all the characters, regardless of age, are pretty childish. But if you've been following this show, you don't need an episode devoted to it to know that. The writing and acting was so good that when the high school kids taunted Jeff and Britta, you wanted to punch them in the face, and really while some episodes don't feature some characters over others, this gave everyone an equal share. This is, of course, ignoring Senor Chang, who stopped by to steal cookies from Girl Scouts.

It's really hard to sum up Community in a short block of text, but as I will say till the end of time, if you're not watching this, you're missing out. Next week's episode, titled "Modern Warfare", looks like it will be the best one of the season.

Oh, and you get to see how stupid "pwn" sounds when said outside the internet. As if it wasn't already.

Hulu: Community S1E22: The Art of Discourse

Parks and Recreation S2E21 "94 Meetings": If you gave P&R a shot in the first season and didn't like it, I beg you to watch the second. It's vaulted into one of the best newer comedies out there, and keeps getting better. This week, Ron finds out he has to attend 94 meetings because his secretary, April, booked them all for March 31st, since she assumed March has only 30 days in it. So Ron splits up the meetings among the staff (and the non-staff, as Ann and Andy are there) to get them done with. Leslie tries to stop a Pawnee historic house and gazebo from being destroyed, a landmark of Pawnee's first interracial marriage, followed by families of both sides murdering each other. After a mess of disastrous interviews, April finally quits working for Ron, to which Ron seeks her out and gets her to come back to work, teaching her a couple things about how to ensure Ron never has to have a meeting with anyone.


"TOM, SACRIFICE YOUR TINY BODY"

Every character on this show gets more endearing every week. Chris Pratt is just adorable as Andy and there is not a bad moment when he's onscreen, let alone the callback to the fake FBI agent he played during the Halloween episode. April's family was amazing, moreso when they showed her sister Natalie, who is an exact clone of April in looks and demeanor. It was like looking into a window of the early episodes. Overall this episode was very chaotic and I'll probably have to watch it a few more times to fully catch all the jokes. With the hectic pace that is dealing with 94 postponed meetings in a single work day, the humor was rapid fire and didn't take time to breathe at all. I feel I'm not fully qualified to try and contain this one.

Also, Councilman Hauser... isawyourpenis.

Hulu: Parks & Recreation S2E21: 94 Meetings

The Office S6E26 "Body Language": I'm not a huge fan of The Office so I don't want to get into too much detail. I might be missing a few callbacks or references or even things like not laughing when someone does something that's so "them." That being said, this episode wasn't very good. It was about a deal with a laser printer manufacturer and their rep is a very attractive woman, to which Michael Scott is confused if she's removing more of her clothes during the meeting because she's interested in Michael, or if she's flirting to get a better deal from Sabre. In the meantime, Dwight is trying to get Kelly to sign up for a minority executive training program so Darryl doesn't get it.


Shut it, paleface.

They spent way too much time on Michael staring awkwardly at everyone else. Really, the whole printer deal plot was poorly thrown together and built on a pile of being uncomfortable, but failed to do so. They drilled in the fact that the rep was hot a bunch of times and there was a lot of gaps without dialogue that didn't achieve anything in the acting/emotion to make up for that. The second plot with Dwight, however, was fairly funny and had a few good moments. It didn't save the episode or stand out compared to say, last week's episode, but I guess if you're a fan of the show it's better than another clip show.

Hulu: The Office S6E26: Body Language

30 Rock S4E19 "Argus": I don't care what the naysayers tell me, but 30 Rock this season has been great. This week, there is a quarrel as Grizz is getting married, but both Tracy and Dotcom want to be the best man, to which Liz has to play the problem solver yet again. Jenna has a new boyfriend (Will Forte) who Liz feel uncomfortable being around, and after thorough investigation, finds out he is a drag queen who dresses up as Jenna. Which for Jenna, is the perfect thing since she can finally truly be in love with herself in a way she wasn't before. Jack gets a peacock named Argus from Don Geiss' last will and testament, and is feeling a bit lost without Geiss being around anymore. In the end, Liz winds up having to be the best woman to three weddings in order to shut everyone up, and Jack assumes Argus has the soul of Geiss, and gets several problems off his chest as he slips the peacock a glass of whiskey.


HOW DID HE GET UP THERE SO FAST

This was a really happy, sweet episode. Apart from Liz, everyone got what they wanted in the end. I wish I had a gif of Jack experiencing the 5 stages of grief in a matter of seconds. It didn't have a lot of content in terms of plot, and was more of a character exercise. I know this isn't a lot of text devoted to this episode, but it's one that leaves you laughing, but you still smile and go "awwwwww" afterwards. As much as one normally does when seeing someone do a duet then make out with themselves, anyways.

Hulu: 30 Rock S4E19: Argus

It's Me, The Stupidest Android App

I was browsing the Goondroid Wiki for various apps for my HTC Hero when I noticed GentleAlarm. It's pretty clever in that the free version doesn't work on Wednesdays, so you buy the paid one.

Let me take a second to tell you about my alarm setup. I have one set at 7AM, and one set at 7:30. One goes off, I judge how tired I'm feeling, I choose to go back to bed and wait for the second alarm. Given I've had sleep issues, the description of this app intrigued me, especially this "sleep cycle" function.


Hey there gentle dream traveler, let me waste your time. (image courtesy Androlib)

So you start the app and it throws a wall of text at you talking about sleep cycles. I say whatever and set an alarm for 7:30. It sets a pre-alarm for 7. Hang on a minute. Isn't that what I have been doing for the last month? Using the alarms that come with my phone? But I digress, maybe it's got a funny sound or makes beeps in the night to help me sleep or something.

7AM! Buzzing from flashy thing on top of large box. Ung look at flashy thing. Ung see lots of symbols and wall of text. Ung just touch flashy screen until sound go away.

It spouts a bunch of text at you when the pre-alarm goes off. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but when you immediately wake up from an alarm, is the first thing you do read a bunch of words, let alone words telling you what a pre-alarm is? It was like I was holding a lost piece of alien technology. I snoozed the alarm, woke up half an hour later, and uninstalled it.

I really don't think there's a substitute for what I have as my current alarm.

Scared Yet?

If you read the posts that i write you probably have noticed that i am not a big fan of Facebook. I think they are kinda evil. The link below is a time line of the various privacy changes that Facebook has made over time to the Terms of Service.


Adjust Your Tinfoil Hat

Damn!

First?! More Like My Fist in Your Face!

You know what pisses me off in all its incarnations? People that post “First” in the comment sections on the internet. This needs to stop, and as soon as possible. If I had a platform where people actually listened to the thing is say I would scream this from the top of that platform as loud as possible (whoa extended metaphor Batman!)
Posting “First” is just about the more useless thing ever, I mean I sort of understood when it was a big thing over on I can haz Cheezburgr but it extends beyond that, I have seen it on totally random web pages on the internet. I have the ability to figure out what the first posting on a web page is, its pretty clear, you don’t have to waste my time and yours by posting “first” in that comment. I mean if you are really really feel the need to do this, maybe work it into an interesting post. For instance you could start your post with something like “First off I would like to say I am a total and complete fan boy” that way you are getting the inane satisfaction of putting “first” into the first post but you are contributing something to the discussion. I personally think that this should be a banning offence everywhere on the internet. In fact I think someone needs to write a Firefox add on that filters out all these “First” posts.