Truer Words - A Journal

Bootleg Movies

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:33:37 GMT

Yesterday at the barbershop, everybody in the room (seven people) was talking about bootleg movies. Based on the comments, I was the only one there who hasn't ever owned one.

It started because a military guy was in the chair talking with John (the lead barber) about American Gangster. They'd both seen it already: the guy in the chair saw it at the theater, John saw it three weeks ago on a Russian bootleg DVD. (Three weeks ago! The movie was released to theaters AFTER that!)

The military guy said he hasn't seen a bootleg of AG yet, but the guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan always have loads of movies with them, all bootleg and some of them pre-release like the AG that John had.

It would have turned into a swap-meet but for the fact that nobody had any with them. (And to be clear, I don't want one and the whole idea kind of bugs me: it's no different than software piracy.)

Earlier this year, another regular at the diner where Rich and I have breakfast every week offered me a copy of the latest Spider Man movie. I had it in my hands, then it occurred to me that the film had just come out in theaters. "What is this, a bootleg?" I asked out loud. He was very upset, told me to shush, and immediately put his movie away again. "How do you know none of these people are cops?" he whispered back.

(Note: This story about the Pirate Act on Ars Technica reminded me to write this.)

Canon on Guitar

seth@macrobyte.net — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:48:33 GMT

This kid really knows how to play the guitar.

I watched for signs of a fake. There are a couple of moments that seem off, but it could be the result of junky camera, or digitization, or something else.

He certainly seems to have all the right motions in both hands. I have some extremely musical friends around here... what do you think? Speak up!

(Thanks for the link, Dad!)

Proof that I Finished!

seth@macrobyte.net — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:08:50 GMT

New England Cable News has a video of some riders coming into the finish line at the Provincetown Inn.

Just after minute two, a rider comes through wearing a blue, green, and white "uniform." That rider would be me, wearing my Mystic Cycle uniform. :-D

Unfortunately, the quality of their online video is, uh... well, there is no quality. It's bad. (Update: it looks fine on Windows, using Media Player 9.) Still, Steve sent the link to me because he knew that was me.

Did You Ever See Wayne's World, Dave?

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 24 May 2005 23:13:32 GMT

Reading the first few paragraphs of Dave Winer's recent essay on blogging and podcasting, one has to wonder if he ever saw the movie whose reference so offended him:

Today we see good reasons why both Apple and Google should be blogging.

For Apple, there's quite a bit of confusion on the blogs after their announcement last night of a podcasting client to be built into iTunes. As the designer of the functionality they're adding, I say this is a good move.

But the blogs are also carrying Jobs's offensive and misguided charac- terization of podcasts as the "Wayne's World of radio." He got it backwards. Wayne's World is fiction, podcasting is real. Of course a baby boomer who owns a movie studio is likely to see it this way. We were brought up on television, our thinking is rooted in the centralized monoculture of the 20th century.

I would guess that anybody who saw the movie knows that Jobs was referring to the Wayne's World cable-access show within the movie, not the movie itself. It was a home-made television show, by the people and for the people. A nearly perfect way to describe podcasting.

Equilibrium, Again

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 02:56:43 GMT

One of my favorite movies of the last ten years is Equilibrium. I've seen it four times.

My preference may actually come down to a single scene. In fact, one momemnt of a particular scene, which I can sum up in a single 'word.'

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."

And all the chaos of emotions burning through John for the first time in his life are suddenly, instantly, temporarily gone.

If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. That made me want to be him, just a little.

I also like the very last moment in the movie. The smile on his face as he watches the beginning of the revolution. Oh, and the gun duel, the last fight scene, was amazing.

(Just watched it for the fourth time.)

Hand Puppet Movies

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 00:21:13 GMT

These little movies are hilarious.

First click on "filmpjes". Then on one of the images to the right. The first, third, and fifth are the funniest.

NBW, Cycling Movies, and Free Pizza!

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 04:15:04 GMT

On Tuesday, Bruce Masterson (old friend of Ellyn's) posted a note about an evening of free pizza and bike movies being hosted by the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen in Cranston, RI.

Didn't think I'd be going, but I mentioned it to Steve. Once he was sure that his boys didn't have basketball games that ight, we decided to go.

I had a good time, in spite of the mood I've been in for the last few weeks. (A mood which, I'm told, has not gone unnoticed by some of you readers...) I was a little late, but that just meant I missed some of the pizza. Finally met Bruce, too (speaking of readers who have noticed my mood...). Not sure why he told me, repeatedly, that he's over weight... looked ok to me. ::shrug::

We watched a documentary of the 1976 ('75?) Paris-Roubaix, one of the Spring Classics. Not one of Eddi Mercx's better rides, though... he lost be over a minute. (Well, losing by a little over a minute in a one day, 166 mile ride, in those terrifying conditions... maybe that's not such a large margin.)

The funniest thing all night was this song they kept playing. An all-male choir -- a really big, all-male choir -- singing "Paaaaareeeeeee ..... Roubaaaaaaaay". Over and over again... but they only played it when the camera was on the peleton. Steve asked something like, "Where'd they learn to sing like that?" and I cracked up immediately. He was right! It's like a singing peleton! (It's going to be a long time before I watch another peleton without expecting them to sing.) The guys at the next table got a chuckle out of it, too.

Good one, Steve.

I had a plate full of popcorn during the movie, and managed to dump the whole thing on the floor. Whee! Ever tried picking popcorn bits out of industrial carpeting? In the dark? At least we were all the way at the back of the room.

Good one, Seth.

Numa Numa: Is that Steve Ivy?!?

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:26:31 GMT

Anybody else think the first "flashed photo" in the original version of the Numa Numa Dance looks oddly like Steve Ivy in a light blue shirt? Hmm.

I love that little movie! The, uh, "dancer" is hilarious (and not untalented at lip sync), and the music is great. Anybody know the name of the band?

Christopher Reeve, Dead at 52

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 08:13:01 GMT

Christopher Reeve, aka Superman, died last night of heart failure at 52.

As corny as the Superman movies were, I grew up with them. How many little boys inside full grown men are crying today for their fallen hero? Mine is.

I actually think his best movie was Somewhere in Time, though I know a lot of people would violently disagree with that. (Also, I haven't seen everything he was in, so that's not really a fair assessment.)

Remember when SuperMan died in the comic books in the early 90's? I bet those black arm bands make at least a minor comeback. (I also hope they remember to leave him out in the sun...)

Ping Pong (er, Table Tennis) Player Jumps Over Table: Incredible Video

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 12:49:05 GMT

I heard about this incredible Japanese ping pong video (update: I've since heard that they are Korean, but I don't know for sure) months ago, and finally got a chance to see it for myself. I've seen a lot of ping pong, but nothing like these guys. The player at the far end of the table does a cartwheel while returning the ball, and keeps returning his opponent's smashes even though he's at least fifteen feet back from the table. Most incredible, though, is that at the end of the point he hits the ball, then leaps right over the table and returns his own hit!

That's what it looks like, anyway. I played it in slow motion. It appears to me that when he comes over the table, the other player (wisely) hits the deck, and the first player returns his own hit to his now empty side of the table, giving the other player the point. They're obviously laughing and smiling at the end, but man that was some amazing ping poing.

(If you don't have Windows Media Player, there's a "format" popup there on the page for switching between WMP (Windows Media Player) and QT (QuickTime).)

I played ping pong for about three hours after bible class last night, with Andrew. I haven't played in two months, and we used that as an excuse for the 13-4 stomping he gave me (13 games to 4). Truth is, I believe he's simply a better player than I am right now. Never should have taught him that alternative paddle grip!

When we really play our best, we're both smashing it across the table in some very exciting volleys... but then I watch that video. Compared to those guys, we're like a couple of old ladies moving in super-slow-mo.

Grayson: Incredible Fan Film Preview

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 25 Jul 2004 12:47:57 GMT

Brian Carnell pointed to Grayson, a Batman-based fan-produced short film.

I recommend watching the big file (160+ Megabytes). It's totally incredible! What a difference between this and the Batman junk the studios put out over the last decade.

Remember this is a fan film. Not produced by a big studio. Here are the director's own words:

In a nutshell, the idea for GRAYSON has been swimming around in my head for too long - so, with the help of a handful of talented artists, and four credit cards, I set out to shape the idea into a reality.

The objective was simple - tell a new and exciting story about the former boy wonder that leaves audiences wanting more. Did I hit the mark? You be the judge.

The storyline hinted at by the preview is just incredible. Would be great if it could actually be made into a full-length movie, but I'm not holding my breath.

Roger Ebert on Macs in Movies

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 24 Jan 2004 18:25:48 GMT

In honor of the Mac's twentieth birthday, MacWorld has essays by seven, uh, famous people (mostly mac-famous). Roger Ebert's is second, and this quote was too good to pass up.

Macs turn up in the movies all the time -- not so much because of product placement, but because so many movie people use them and like them. A historian of the future, counting all the on-screen computers between 1983 and today, would likely conclude that Macs represented 90 percent of the computer market.

Alas, this is not so. But since any reasonable person would choose a Mac over a PC, Apple's market share does provide us with an accurate reading of the percentage of reasonable people in our society.

Also, check out Now and Then, an interview with (and essay by) Steve Jobs.

(Thanks to Duncan for the link.)

Political Royalty Payments

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 27 Dec 2003 11:54:04 GMT

Last night HBO showed Collateral Damage at 8:00 on HBO-E, their most-watched channel. Then at 10:00 they showed True Lies. Both are Schwarzenegger movies.

A couple months ago, before the California re-elections, the Sci-Fi channel and USA both showed lots and lots of Arnie's movies.

Having a Hollywood big boy like Arnold sitting in Cupertino's big chair has to be good for the movie makers. Right? He's certainly going to have their best interests at heart, because he's one of them.

Update: I'm obviously a mac user. Jim Roepcke pointed out that "Cupertino" should have been "Sacramento." Duh. Thanks Jim!

While it's true that Schwarzenegger bankrolled his own campaign, so that he's supposedly not beholden to any special interests, does this mean he's no longer interested in money? Since he was already rich, did he make his last few movies for free? Is it a coincidence that T3 came out just before his campaign for governor?

Answers: No, no, and not very likely.

So with him already in office, what can Hollywood do to keep him happy? Ooh ooh, I know! They can pay him back for his self-financed campaign! But they can't do that directly, it would probably land them in jail. They can, however, show his recent movies a LOT more often, and at prime time, so that his royalty payments are much larger than they would be otherwise.

Huh. I'm apparently turning into a conspiracy theorist. Must be mind manipulation from the G-men.

405

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 06 Oct 2003 18:17:26 GMT

Corinne sent this link to 405, a hilarious short on ifilm.com.

Warning: about one second of this three minute film is somewhat crude. Still funny, but perhaps not for the easily offended. (It's a single hand gesture.)

League of Extraordinary Gentleman

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 21 Jun 2003 16:37:26 GMT

Oh man oh man oh man! I can't wait for this movie to come out. The trailer looks fantastic, and stars Sean Connery (my favorite actor) and Peta Wilson (La Femme Nikita).

Very cool.

Beetlejuice! (Beetlesluggy! Sluggyjuice!)

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 05 Jun 2003 14:03:20 GMT

I knew the "rayths" in the current Sluggy Freelance storyline looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.

Look at the last panel of today's comic. I knew as soon as I saw it, and now the whole storyline makes a little more sense.

Beetlejuice!

(Remember when the daughter agreed to marry B in the movie -- or maybe it's when they did get married -- and Beetlejuice says the same line? "It's showtime!")

About a Boy, at Castle Cinema

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 21:37:52 GMT

Jed, Mark, Corinne and I went to the Castle Cinema in Providence tonight to see About a Boy.

The movie was great, but that's almost beside the point... What a great way to see a movie! The seats were all from Lincoln Towncars, the food was very good (especially the Calimari, which they actually served with Pepperoncini!), and the waitress didn't get in the way of the movie at all.

I know there's at least one other "dinner and a movie" place like this in US, somewhere in Texas. If you live near one, try it out. It's definitely worth it. The evening only cost $35 total for the two of us, about the same for Jed and Mark. It would have been another $5 apiece but Jed had free passes to the movie. I'd go to the movies more often if the whole experience was always this enjoyable.

Copyrights and the MPAA

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 23 May 2002 19:45:28 GMT

Wow, Brian Carnell really loves the bill that the Motion Picture Association of America is trying to get pushed through the U.S. Senate. You see, Brian's one of those big government buffs who think Uncle Sam should legislate everything from what you can do with the water on your land to who you can marry to who should get the job promotion at work.

This new bill wants to make it so that anything which converts an analog signal (just about anything you can record or capture like pictures and sound) to a digital signal (what your computers and DVD players use) will refuse to do so if a hidden "water mark" in the analog material indicates that it's copyrighted.

OK, I'm kidding. Brian's an anarchist, er, a strict independent, and he really hates this bill.

Stargate: The Lost Empire

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:24:22 GMT

I rented Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire this weekend.

I liked it... but then, Stargate is one of my favorite Sci-Fi flicks, and Atlantis is just an animated retelling of the same storyline. With the same characters. Who are all dressed the same. (Can you say, "remake"?)

Twenty minutes into the movie I said, "This reminds me of Stargate." Later, when James Garner's character made his appearance, there was no room left for any doubt. Stargate wasn't exactly a blockbuster, so Disney must have figured most people wouldn't notice or care. However, I see that someone besides me noticed the same thing.

Don't Look Down (Immortality)

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 29 Jan 2002 19:29:50 GMT

I watched Immortality last night (originally known as "The Wisdom of Crocodiles").

At the very, very end, Jude Law (the main character) reminsces about falling out of a tree as a child. He just barely managed to catch a branch as he fell, and hung there for as long as he could, unable to climb back up. His arms burned as he held on much longer than he should have been able to. He remembered very little except the pain of holding on.

And the sweet relief of finally letting go.

His story gave me chills, it felt too familiar.

The Legend of Drunken Master

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 27 Jan 2002 19:53:54 GMT

Yes... it's Yet Another Moview Review!

Friday night I watched Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master. I loved it! In my opinion, this is the best movie Jackie was ever in.

I thought Greg (who knows more about movies than anybody else I know) gave it a bad review, so I'd been putting it off for awhile. However, it turns out that there are two "Drunken Master" films starring Jackie Chan, as Greg said in his comments.

This Drunken Master was originally called "Jui Kuen II", or "Drunken Master II" (in fact it has a whole bunch of other titles, which makes for a little confusion if you're looking for reviews on the net). They re-released this 1994 film in the U.S. in 2000.

The fight scenes are incredible, the plot is interesting, the characters are well developed. What can I say? I'm a Jackie Chan fan, and I think this is his best movie (though there are a number of close runners-up). The movie is dubbed, but they did a great job with it and I think Jackie actually did his own voice-over. Besides... I like dubbed flicks, even those with really bad dubbing.

The Million Dollar Hotel

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 14 Jan 2002 23:52:53 GMT

Watched The Million Dollar Hotel tonight. At first I thought, "this is boring!" It improved, lots. Go rent it, before you finish reading this. Don't let the fact that Bono wrote it scare you away.

On the other hand, keep reading and you won't need to rent it: spoiler alert!

Every review I read talked about Mel Gibson's character as being "complex", but I think that's just because he's a superstar. The movie's not about his character, and looking back on it I'm not even sure why he was there except perhaps to add a name to the credits. He did play it well, but the movie is really about "Tom Tom", played very well by Jeremy Davies.

As usual, I find that this movie was heavily influenced by others. While not a remake, I'll say that MDH is like a dark progeny of American Beauty and The Other Sister. Mix those two movies together -- three parts Beauty to one part Sister -- and stir in a lot of black tar. Out pops MDH, straight from Bono's brain to your VCR.

Maybe that's not fair because it's too obvious, but Tom Tom's narrative soliloquy at the beginning and end of the film sounded an awful lot like Lester's (Spacey's). The "moral" of the story is very similar, too... that of appreciating the perfect beauty of life wherever you find it.

The irony of that statement sort of hits you square between the eyes, since the lines are delivered by a man somewhere between the roof of his apartment building and the street below: his self-inflicted solution to falling in love with the girl of his dreams and making all of his friends rich. Or something like that.

The "paintings" seemed to be a commentary on the movie itself. The critics see them and proclaim that they're dark, mysterious, [more adjectives here], but secretly claim that thye're garbage. Later, beneath the tar paintings are found stolen works by "great artists" from the city's museums, "covered in tar". Again, that was almost too obvious.

One last thing, for anybody who actually reads this far: do you think Tom Tom was actually the idiot he seemed to be, or was he just pretending? The veneer seemed to fall away for a minute when he delivered that poem for Eloise, or showed her his magic roses. She even asked him, "Are you really a retard (or just pretending)?"

Weird movie, but I recommed it.

The Fast and the Furious Point Break

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 10 Jan 2002 10:02:47 GMT

Steve Ivy just mentioned that he watched The Fast and the Furious last night and didn't like it. He didn't even finish it. That reminded me that I watched it two nights ago, and I didn't like it either! (I did finish it, though.)

Steve compares the main character with Keanu Reeves. He's right. In fact, I'm sure F&F is a remake of Point Break, with Reeves and Patrick Swayze (sp). Didn't say that on the box, though. If it had, I definitely wouldn't have rented it.

The Dish

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 20:47:39 GMT

I just watched The Dish.

In three words: I loved it!

Now, to anyone who reads this and knows Larry Fox (from R.R. Donnelley) : Go watch the movie! I'm sure that the wise-guy ("carrier pigeons!") that worked in the dish's tower was based on Larry. Let me know if you agree.