Ready for Wearable Technology?

Wearable technology (like smartwatches or Google glass) has become the latest subject dominating the technology news.

The latest development?

Circuit board fabric.


Unlike the previous devices, this development actually interests me.

A visor or watch that acts like a smartphone?  Not interested.

A shirt that that can be used for electronics?  That I find interesting.  The fabric itself wouldn't be enough for ac an actual computer (at least not for the foreseeable future) but it would provide a framework for electronic devices to communicate with each other.

Among other things, the fabric could facilitate biometric monitoring for law enforcement or military personnel.

The current round of "wearables" are just run of the mill electronic devices given a different form.  The circuit broad fabric has the potential to lead to different types of devices.

That's why it interests me.

Now Appearing Next to "Self-Absorbed" in the Dictionary....

Came across this at PetaPixel and just had to comment: Kim Kardashian is publishing a photo book of her selfies.


That's right, if you haven't got enough of this self-absorbed woman who has become famous despite having no discernible talent, you can now purchase a book a look at her selfies to your heart's content.

The thing that bothers me is that there will be people that buy this idiotic tripe.


At this point you might as well just put her picture in the dictionary across from the term "self-absorbed" or maybe "narcissist". 

Who else would think people would want to buy a book full of pictures that you took of yourself.

Universal Goes for Broke, Combines Two Hollywood Fads

Universal Studios has acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles series of books by Anne Rice.

In doing so, Universal has successfully combined two of Hollywood's recent fads: Vampire movies and reboots.  The series has already had two movies.  The first being Interview With the Vampire and the second being Queen of the Damned.


Combining two overdone fads.  What could possibly go wrong?

Second Penguins of Madagascar Trailer Released

20th Century Fox/Dreamworks have released the second trailer for the upcoming Penguins of Madagascar Movie.



This happens to be one of the few movies released this year that I actually have any interest in seeing.

What does it say when the one movie I have any interest in involves animated penguins?

Ghostbusters 3 in Works With a Predictable "New Take"

Hat Tip: Digital Trends

A Ghostbusters 3 movie is currently in the planning stages.  The new take on the franchise?


An All-Female Cast!


Really, that's all you need to for a fresh take on an old franchise?  Change the genders of the characters?

Given the director (Paul Feig), one of those roles is almost guaranteed to go the Melissa McCarthy.


This entire things comes off like a director coming up with an excuse to cast their favorite actor in the movie, no matter what it takes to do so.  Not exactly a strong sign in regards to that director's creativity.

New Bettie Page/Bunny Yeager Photo Book

Hat Tip: Shutterbug

There is a new photobook from Rizzoli International due out this September, Bettie Page: Queen of the Curves.

The book features 250 images of Bettie Page taken by Bunny Yeager.  Some of the images are in color, others in black and white and come from Yeager's personal archive.  Many have never been seen before.

The book goes on sale September 23 and has a $50.00 cover price.

Warner Plans on Bringing Even More Dragons the the Big Screen

Hat Tip: Dark Horizons

Warner has just obtained the screen rights to the Dragonriders of Pern books written by Anne McCaffery.  In case you're wondering, that's a total of 22 books.


For those unfamiliar with the books, they involve a planet that periodically faces a space born threat as a result of a wondering planetoid that is home to "thread".  Thread is a spore-like organism capable of surviving in space that devours any organic material it comes in contact with.

The planet is colonized by space travelers (making this science fiction instead of fantasy).  The colonist engage in genetic modification of an indigenous species to create "Dragons" that can be used to combat the thread while falling through the atmosphere, preventing it from reaching the ground.


The dragons breath fire and can "go between" (a form of teleportation.)


I like the books and hope they are successfully translated to the big screen, but I'm not holding my breath.  Hollywood seems to have this mentality where everything has to be turned into an action movie blockbuster and the McCaffery stories really aren't "blockbuster" material.  The books center primarily on social interactions than anything else.  This suggest a need to concentrate on plot, not action.

Going the "blockbuster" route would probably result in a movie with lots of combat scenes with dragons fighting thread and not much else.  This would not do justice to the material.


Warner might be better served going the Game of Thrones route by turning the books into a television series.  A television series would involve more plot and character development which are the strengths of the books.  They really aren't "action" oriented.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-Ray 68% Off at Amazon (and others)

Hat Tip: Geeks are Sexy

Amazons Deal of the Day: 68% off on Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-Ray Set (Extended Edition).  You can pick this up today for $37.99 with free shipping.  It's usually $119.98.


Other Deals:

The complete Andy Griffith show on DVD is 75% off.
The Frasier complete DVD set is 63% off.
The complete Taxi DVD set is 62% off.
The complete Cheers DVD set is 70% off.

These deals run for a week.


Check Amazon's Featured Deals for more movies/t.v. shows.

WB Plans Seven Film "Arabian Nights" Franchise

Hat Tip: Dark Horizons


Warner Brothers is planning a seven-film franchise based on One Thousand and One Nights.


This does make a certain amount of sense.  The material is public domain and hasn't been used as source material recently.

The problem may lie in execution. 


The source material consists of multiple short stories.  Short stories don't always translate well to full-length motion pictures.  One short story doesn't provide enough material for an entire film.  Creating a full-length film either requires expanding the story (also known as "padding") or using multiple stories in the same film. 

Films with multiple stories, or anthologies, typically don't perform well at theaters.


Based on the number of films planned, it looks like WB has chosen the first approach, devoting each film to a single story.  This will result in a cohesive story-line for each film but will require the script-writer to come up with a great deal of original material for each film.

WB better have some creative writers on tap.

*Facepalm*

That was the only appropriate response after seeing this:


Will Ferrell and Adam McKay team up for Manimal movie


That produced a mental image of Will Ferrell morphing into an animal.  It was like a parody version of the Twilight series.  (Which has already been done, btw.)

I think this idea is a perfect illustration on why Hollywood has a problem.  Far too many movie decisions seem based on coming up with a way to justify special effects.

Best Rickroll Ever

For those of you not familiar with the term, Rickrolling refers to tricking someone into viewing this:



The fact that the song currently has 85 million hits should tell you how popular Rickrolling people has become.


This one might be the best one ever.

Someone at Bishop Fox (a digital security firm) has found a way to Rickroll Chromecast users.


The method has to do with the way the Chromecast devices works when it first connects to a network.or, more importantly, when reconnecting after losing its connection to that network or to the Internet.

The Chromecast device works like an unsecured wireless router when first connecting.  During this period it can be told to connect to any wireless network within its range.  The device can also be told to disconnect from the network to which it is currently connected using a wireless signal.


This means it is possible to tell a Chromecast device to disconnect from the owner's wireless router and connect to yours instead.  After doing this, you can tell it to show to whatever video you want the owner to see.

Including Rick Astley.

Now I Know Why I'm Bored With Hollywood

Hat Tip: PetaPixel


Why am I bored with Hollywood?

Far too many directors using the same shot every scene, no matter what the context.



Michael Bay - What is Bayhem? from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.


Not only does Hollywood have a lack of creativity when it comes to the content of movies, it lacks creativity when it comes to filming them.

Impressive Trailer for Chinese Animated Film Due in 2016

Hat Tip: Geek Tyrant


Viewing the trailer for the upcoming Master Jiang and the Six Kingdoms (scroll down to bottom of post to view) makes me wonder why American film companies can't come up with something that looks this interesting.

Personally, there have been few (if any) movies produced by Hollywood recently that have interested me enough to go through the effort of actually seeing them in a theater.  Certainly nothing that interested me enough to spend $10 or more to see.

Everything produced be Hollywood today seems to be produced by rote.  The American film industry seems to be content with just going through the motions, with little attempt to produce anything requiring actual creativity.


The last Hollywood produced animated film I watched was Frozen, and that one I waited until it was released on cable to watch.

I found myself predicting the plot in advance.  It's not a very creative film when you know what is going to happen 30 minutes in advance.  (Oh, look.  That must be the villain.  Oh, and the Prince is going to betray the Princess.)

It's a movie produced by formula.


I don't think you can say the same thing about the Chinese film.



I thought I'd update this post to include the trailer for Disney's new animated film: Big Hero 6




My immediate response "predictable".

Teen discovers danger and authorities refuse to believe him, so he rounds up his friends to deal with it himself.  That's the plot to The Blob.

Which is what the blow-up robot resembles. 

And they have to use the predictable "leak" jokes for the robot.  That looks like the old animate joke where a character gets shot repeatedly then drinks a lot of water.

This is what passes for creativity in modern Hollywood.

Clan of the Cave Bear Getting Remake Treatment by Lifetime

Hat Tip: Dark Horizons


According to Variety, Lifetime is looking into creating a series based on Jean Auel's series of books set in the neolithic period.  They have ordered a pilot being produced by Fox 21 and Lionsgate in association with Imagine Television and Allison Shearmur Productions.

That involves some very impressive talent.  (The list includes Ron Howard and Linda Woolverton.  Woolverton's resume includes work on Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland and The Lion King.)


Auel's 6 book series provides a large amount of source material to draw from.


Personally, I'm a bit surprised Hollywood hasn't touched Auel's work outside of the 1986 movie with Daryl Hannah as Ayla.

The fact that the movie wasn't well received might have something to do with the books not being touched before now.  (Auel's $40 Million lawsuit to stop any further use of the material may also have played a part.  Nothing says "radioactive" quite like a lawsuit by the material's author.)


As a side note, reading some of the 1986 movie reviews just reinforced the notion of just how clueless some movie critics can be.

There is one critic that criticized the decision to use a fictitious language instead of English.  The decision to have the actors speak English would have resulted in critics complaining about "lack of realism."

Probably from the same critic.

Then there is the lack of verbal linguistic ability assigned to the neanderthals in the novel.  Any attempt to portray this while using English would have resulted in the neanderthals sounding like Tonto from the Lone Ranger serials.

You can imagine how the critics would have responded to THAT.


Part of the problem for the 1986 film stems from the material itself.  The movie was fairly faithful to the book.  The producers of the Lifetime pilot are going to encounter the same limitations.

The Clan of the Cave Bear may just be a book that doesn't translate well on screen, be it t.v. or theater.


Just to have a little fun at Roger Ebert's expense.  He gave the 1986 movie 1.5 out of 4 stars.  He gave Anaconda 3.5   Anaconda is on my list of worse films aver made.  Bad plot.  Bad Acting.  Cliche after cliche.  Cheesy CG affects.  And the "snake" bears no relation to the real animal and breaks laws of physics.

This is what Ebert gave 3.5/4 stars.

Hollywood Is Scraping Bottom of Barrel With Dumbo Remake

Hat Tip: Cartoon Brew
(Original Story: Hollywood Reporter.)


I really hope this one is a hoax.

Disney is apparently planning to follow up on its success with the live action version of Sleeping Beauty (Maleficent) with a live action version of Dumbo.


Of all the Disney properties to recreate as a live action movie, they choose Dumbo?


The original version only works due to cartoon "physics".  A flying CG elephant with unbelievably big ears just isn't going to work the same.


It's also only 60  minutes long, requiring a certain amount of padding.  The padding will be a “unique family story that parallels Dumbo’s story."


That phrase alone is enough to give me nightmares.

Hollywood Struggles to Make Money This Year

Today, The Hollywood Reporter has an article that attempts to answer the question: "What's Behind Summer's Free Fall at the Multiple."


Entering the Fourth of July weekend, revenue for Hollywood movies was down 15% compared to last year. Revenue is down 19.3% exiting the weekend.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, revenues are down across the board.  All types of movies are having difficulty making the type of money ther made in past years.


2014 looks to be the first year since 2001 that a Summer Blockbuster failed to reach the $300 Million mark domestically.  X-Men: Days of Future Past is this year's top revenue earner at $227 Million domestically.  Last year, Iron Man 3 earned over $400 Million.


Less expensive movies, including comedies and family oriented movies have also struggled this year.

Blended (Adam Sandler) and A Million Ways to Die in the West (Seth MacFarlane) both struggled to top $40 Million.  Adam Sandler's 2013 Grown Ups 2 grossed $133 Million and MacFarlane's 2012 Ted grossed over $200 Million.

Disney's Malifecent is the only family show to hit the $200 Million mark this year.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 only managed $140 Million.


So we know revenue is down across the board, but why?


Part of this is due to Hollywood.  Viewers get tired of seeing the same material regurgitated on a regular basis.  Hollywood's lack of originality may play a part in the lower revenues this year.


The primary problem, though, is probably the economy.

You don't hear much about this from the "main-stream" media, but the economy right now really isn't in great shape.


GDP shrank 2.9% the First Quarter this year.  A shrinking economy means people have less money to spend, and discretionary spending is always the first thing people cut back on.  That means less movie money.

The bad economic news has continued.  The June job numbers showed an increase of 288,000 jobs.

Great, right?

Not really.  The economy gained 750,000 Part Time Jobs and lost over 500,000 Full Time Jobs.  That shift from full-time to part-time accounts for the entire gain in the number of jobs.  There is no increase in the number of hours being worked and there may actually be a decrease in work hours (and wages).


I like to dump on Hollywood for lack of originality  (Really, another reboot?) but I don't think Hollywood itself is to blame for the disappointing revenue numbers this year.  They're the victims of a struggling economy.  It's just that the media refuses to report bad news when in comes to the economy right now.

Deal Alert: Large Selection of Movies on Sale at Amazon

Hat Tip: Geeks Are Sexy


I have Amazon on my checklist, somehow this one doesn't show up in my list.  Amazon's Spotlight Deal Today covers a large selection of DVD/Blu-Ray Movie Titles.  The list of covered titles is 231 pages long.  (Use the filter controls to limit the number of options shown at the same time.)

There is also a small selection of boxed sets on sale.


You can also click on "Spotlight Deals" in the upper part of the left column, then select "TV" to see all the deals currently available on television shows.

Oddly, the option to see the spotlight deals doesn't show up if you start by going to the main page and clicking on the deals link.

Origin of Commonly Used Science Fiction Terms

Ever wonder where those terms used in Science Fiction Books or Movies come from?


Well, someone at io9 has come up with a list of 31 terms and has done research into each of those terms, including the earliest known usage of each term.

(The list also includes some nice Sci-Fi pulp magazine cover art for those that like pretty pictures.)

If interested in the origin of terms not included in the list, head over to the Science Fiction Citations website.


For example, the word "blaster" first appears in a story published by Weird Tales in 1925, written by "Nictzin Dyalhis".  The author actually uses the term "blastor", but it's the same idea.  (There is speculation that he changed the spelling of his name when writing science fiction, but there is a WW 1 draft card and census bureau data with the same spelling.)

The entry for "blaster" includes a brief snippet from the story which includes the term.  It also includes the term "disintegrator".


The list does include some well known authors, with H.G. Wells having more than one entry on the list.

Thoughts on the Supreme Court Aereo Decision

The Supreme Court released its Aereo decision today.  They ruled 6-3 that Aereo's business model constituted Copyright infringement.

The ruling held that Aero rebroadcasting copyright material fell under the "public performance" definition of the 1976 Copyright Act.  The relevant clause made it illegal "to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work ... to the public by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public are capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places at the same time or at different times."


Here's a translation of that clause for those not familiar with legalese  .

It is illegal to copy a broadcast containing copyrighted material and then rebroadcast that material to the general public.  The manner of receiving the broadcast and the number of people receiving it are irrelevant.

Given this, I think it's fairly obvious that Aereo's business model violated the 1976 Copyright Act.  They were streaming copied versions of copyrighted material over the Internet.


The dissent held that Aereo's business model was no different from the videocassette recording industry business found legal in the 1984 Betamax case.  I have to disagree with Scalia on this one (I don't do that very often).

There is a key distinction between the technology involved in the Betamax and Aereo cases.  In the Betamax case, the recorder was located in the user's home.  With Aero, the material was stored on Aereo's servers, and the streamed over the Internet when the user wanted to watch it.

When someone used a videocassette recorder, everything is done in the privacy of the home and more importantly, there is no rebroadcast of the material.  Aereo recoded the material on their servers and then rebroadcast it.


The fundamental flaw in Aereo's business model is that is involves streaming the copyright material over the Internet after it has been recorded.  This constitutes a broadcast, or as the law puts it "a performance."  It is the streaming video portion of Aereo's business model that distinguishes it from technology used in the home to record television shows and is what makes Aereo's actions illegal.

Amazon Deal of the Day: Save 81% on Marilyn Monroe Blu-Rays

Amazon's Bonus Deal of the Day is 81% off of bundled Marilyn Monroe Blu-Ray Movies.


Get 9 Blu-Ray movies for $38.99 (free S&H).  This is an 81% savings on the $199.99 list price.


The bundle includes:

Bus Stop
Niagara
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
How to Marry a Millionaire
River of No Return
There's No Business Like Show Business
The Seven Year Itch
Some Like it Hot
The Misfits

The ratings at the IMDB range from 6.5 to 8.4.  (Some Like it Hot being the highest rated.)

Now This is a Reboot I Can Get Behind

I've tended to be very critical of the latest reboot/remake trend coming out of Hollywood, but this reboot is one I can get behind.

CBBC is rebooting Danger Mouse.

He's getting an upgrade in the process as well. The eye patch is now an "iPatch".


For those unfamiliar with Danger Mouse, Hulu has 19 episodes available, out of the 161 produced.  The episodes available on Hulu are the full-length episodes (24 minute run time).  The previous episodes were more like serials, shorter with story-lines spread over multiple episodes.

Deal Alert: Save 78% on Aliens Anthology Blu-Ray Set

Hat Tip: Geeks are Sexy

Amazon's Bonus Deal of the Day: 78% off of the Alien Anthology Set, including Prometheus movie.  Get the Alien movies plus Prometheus for $19.99.

Penguins of Madagascar Trailer

The Penguins from Madagascar have scored their own movie spin-off (in addition to the t.v. series.)



The movie has potential given the television show.  Of course, there's no guarantee given the different people involved.

"Tarzan" Movie Shows What is Wrong With Hollywood

The Warner Brothers' Live Action version of Tarzan is finally in production.  The project started in 2003 and it has taken over a decade for production to start.


That stat alone should tell you there is something wrong in Hollywood.  It should not take over ten years between a studio buying into a proposed movie and production starting.  That's a ten year money pit.


Then there's the plot: After living in London for several years, Tarzan is hired by Queen Victoria to investigate  a shady mining company.

Oh, goody.  A cut-and-paste environmental/evil-corporation plot line.


Want to know how generic that plot is?  Try replacing "After living in London for several years, Tarzan..." with "Sherlock Holmes..."  or "Allan Quatermain".  As an alternative, move the time period and have the investigation being done by an FBI agent that is part Sioux.


It's like the movie companies have pre-made scripts with certain portions left blank: protagonist, time-period and the evil corporate entity.


But it will be in 3D.  (In other words, a "blockbuster" with lots of nifty special effects and loud explosions.)

Deal Alert: 81% Off Original Star Trek Full Series at Amazon

Hat Tip: Geeks are Sexy

Amazon's Deal of the day is the complete original Star Trek television show on Blu-Ray.


The set can be purchased today for $59.99. (With free shipping).

It usually cost $321.99

What's not to Like About Self-Driving Cars?

Here's the answer from Conan O'Brien:



A computer controlled vehicle with no brakes or steering wheel?

What could possibly go wrong?


Hat Tip: <re/code>

Deal Alert: Up To 65% Off of Blu-Ray/DVD Collections at Amazon

Hat Tip: Geeks Are Sexy


Amazon's Deal of the Day is on DVD/Blu-Ray Collections.  Save up to 65%.

The deal applies to Movie and Television collections.


Some of the titles covered:  Battlestar Galactica (the newer series), Rocky, the Riddick movies, Back to the Future, Firefly, Columbo, Alfred Hitchcock.  And that's just the first page, out of six pages.



Th sale comes just in time to purchase something for Father's Day, and the list is broad enough that there should be something available that should please even the hardest person to shop for.

New FCC Broadband Rules

Via: The Washington Post and Digital Trends


The FCC has proposed redefining the term "Broadband".

Currently, ISP companies have to supply 4 Mps download and 1 Mps to meet that definition.  The FCC has proposed altering that to 10 Mps or even 25 Mps.


There are people rejoicing about this online because it will force ISP companies to spend money on infrastructure.

Think about that for a minute.  Do you really think it's a good idea for the Federal Government to have the ability to force American companies to spend billions of dollars?

And it gets worse when you realize that this is being done to benefit two companies: Google and Netflix.

The Government imposing a burden on one company in order to provide a beneficial result to another company is not what is supposed to happen in a free society.


Netflix and Google (through YouTube) combined account for up to 40% of current Internet companies.  They are the ones that need the additional bandwidth, but instead of paying for it themselves they have gone to the Government and apparently found a way to force other companies to pay for the infrastructure they need for their businesses.

Getting the Government to force other companies to pay for your business expenses is nice work, if you can get it.


It gets worse when you realize that Google is not just a content provider.  It is an ISP itself, and in direct competition with the companies hit by this regulation.  The new rules would not affect Google as an ISP provider largely due to the nature of its Internet Service.  It only provides service in a few small areas with high population densities.

Why does that matter?  Well as someone pointed out in the Washington Post comment section, there is a big difference to providing Internet service to an area with dense and sparse populations.

The average connection speed in South Korea is 50 Mps.  Roughly 5 times that in the U.S.  South Korea has a population on 20 Million people in an area the size of Wyoming. 

Wyoming's Population is just over 500,000.  When you break it down on a population basis, the Infrastructure needed to provide service to Wyoming is 40 times as expensive as it is to provide the same service to South Korea.

An ISP could provide 50 Mps service in Wyoming.  It would just have to charge 40 times as much as those in South Korea to do so.


This brings us back to Google and its "Internet Service".

Google Fiber is only available in 2 cities right now and one of those helped with financing.  The exact amount of aid from Kansas City is unknown, but it runs into the millions. 

Other ISPs have to pay 3%-5% of subscription revenues from customers.  Google got a waiver.  Other ISPs cannot put their wires on municipal utility poles.  Google was allowed to do so free of charge.  Kansas City also agreed to provide electricity and space for Google's equipment, free of charge.


Now Google has gone to the FCC and apparently gotten it to force other ISPs to pay for the Infrastructure Google wants to use as a content provider.  How much help do you think they will get from Government? 


Google has perfected getting someone else to pay for its business expenses.  When the Government is involved it's called "Corporate Welfare."

A Prosthetic Leg That's Just Too Cool For Words

I came across this while checking out my RSS feed today: a prosthetic leg design for rock climbing.  This isn't normally the type of subject I comment on but this one is in a class by itself.

Beyond the fact that it allows amputees the ability to engage in physical activity they wouldn't normally be able to participate it, it's just cool looking.

For some behind the scene information on its development, check out the project's design page on Behance.

A Look at Past Fashion Predictions

Brought to you by British Pathe, a look at what people in 1960 though fashion would look like in the year 2000.




The concept here is "The Past in Prolog".  It makes a certain amount of sense with fashion, but they missed the time period drawn from by at least century in this clip.

One of those outfits looks like it should have been worn at the battle of Waterloo.

Today's WTF Moment: Ethel Merman Disco Album

Hat Tip: Neatorama


Really?  Ethel Merman released a disco album?





The funny thing is,I can take Ethel doing disco better than those backup singers.  Ethel is just being Ethel with a disco beat.  Those backup singers are shrill.

Live Action Toy Story

Someone had too much time on their hands and did a live action version of Toy Story using real toys.  (It's gotten over 11 Million views at this time.)




The only potential problem here is a Copyright Infringement Notice. Google's DRM software doesn't always work well and parody works (like this one)can get hit. You have to give the film-makers credit on this. It's quite an undertaking. It shows what "amateur" producers are capable of with today's technology.

Amazon Deal on Marvel Blu-Ray Bundle

Hat Tip: Geeks are Sexy

Amazon currently has a deal on a Marvel Blu-Ray Bundle


Get 10 Movies on Blu-Ray for $64.99.  That's a 68% savings on the original $199.99 price.


The bundle includes Daredevil, Electra, the two Fantastic Four movies and all the X-Men related movies (except the one currently in theaters).

The X-Kitties!

Source: The Pet Collective via Geekosystem

Warning!  Cute Overload.

More Movie Sins: The Wolverine

I admit it.  I'm hooked on these.

You Can be in Latest Star Wars Movie

Hat Tip: Space.com

There is currently an Omaze Unicef fundraiser featuring a chance to win a spot in the Star War VII movie.

The number of entries depends on the amount pledged.  (You don't have to donate to enter, but you only get one entry)

The fundraiser also features premiums given to those that donate a certain amount.  Premiums include concept art, signed scripts, and limited edition collectibles.

Maybe the Best Article on Net Neutrality

CNET has an article on The Comcast/NetFlix deal and Net Neutrality that may be the best article on the subject.

It's a fairly dispassionate, balanced look at the subject without all the hype and emotional pleas you tend to get from other sites.  They apparently have taken a stance on the issue and have decided to act as advocates for one side or the other.  This results in bad journalism.  (Look out for phases like "holding consumers hostage."  Any article with that sort of emotional hyperbole is one written by a very biased source.  And, yes.  I have seen that phrase when the Comcast/Netflix deal or net neutrality is discussed.)


It's especially useful for those that don't truly understand how the Internet works.  The analogy of the highway system is one anyone can understand.


Since net neutrality seems to be one of the hottest news topics right now, anyone wanting a better grasp of the subject should go read the article.

Coming Summer 2015....

Hat Tip: Dark Horizons

Finally.  A Sequel (or is it prequel?) I may actually watch:

Movie Sins, the Mutant Version

Hat Tip: Geek Tyrant

Movie Sins has posted two new videos pointing out the sins of two of the X-Men related movies; X-Men: First Class and Origins: Wolverine.

They're particularly harsh on the latter.

Please, Don't Give Hollywood any Reboot Ideas

Neatorama has just posted an article on the failed 2001 pilot for an Electra Woman and Dyna Girl reboot.

For those of you too young to have had them inflicted on you, they were part of the 1970's Sid and Marty Croft show.  (Saturday Morning Cartoon/Children's Television shows were common at one time.)  I actually watched this as a child, and yes I realize I am dating myself with this confession.

I couldn't imagine watching this sort of show after reaching a certain age.  I also have a hard time seeing how a serious reboot would work, which is probably why the pilot failed to get any traction.


It might work as a tongue-in-cheek parody of the superhero genre, something along the lines of the 1960's Batman show.  (The current comic reboot trend just screams the need for a little parody.)

Watch the trailer and decide for yourself whether the show had any chance at succeeding, beyond starring Markie Post that is.

RiffTrax Godzilla Kickstarter Project Funded in 12 Hours

This goes to show the popularity of RiffTrax, and the disdain for the 1998 Matthew Broderick version of Godzilla.

The Riftrax Kickstarter drive to fund a live riff of the movie received $100,000 in funding the first day it was posted.  (Actually, it was less than 12 hours.)


The funding is still open, so you can get some of the goodies given out to backers.  Some of the best ones are already gone, though.  (You can no longer get the script used by one of the RiffTrax guys or the ability to right a riff for the live performance).

NBC Releases Trailer for New Constantine Series

Hat Tip: Digital Trends


This one combines two of the latest entertainment trends: comic book remakes and supernatural television series.



The trailer makes the series look interesting.  I might actually check this one out. (Unlike a great many of the other new television series that have been announced.)


I see two potential problems.

First, the market for supernatural television series may have reached a saturation point.  The general public may just be too bored with the genre for this series to work.

Second, the trailer shows some fairly impressive special effects.  These don't come cheap.  The production costs could prove to be a problem and could lead to the series being dropped quickly or the special effects being reduced in order to control costs.

The 100 "Best" B Movies

Paste Magazine has come up with a list of the 100 "Best" B Movies.


What exactly is a B Movie?

Originally, they were the second half of a double-feature.  Double -features largely disappeared in the 1950's and the term began to be applied to films that shared characteristics with those second feature films.

The main characteristics of a "B" film are low budget and fast production time, and are meant for general release.


The other characteristics associated with "B" movies are often a result of the constraints imposed by the budget and time limitations.  (Bad acting, pathetic special effects, lousy shot selection etc.)

B movies are largely a thing of the past when it comes to theater release.  They still exist to some extent with straight-to-video and made for t.v. movies.  (SyFy "originals" come to mind.)


The "Best" B Movie according the Paste?  The 1987 film Hard Ticket to Hawaii.

I have never heard of this film before the Paste list, let alone watched it.


Plan 9 From Outer Space wound up at #11.  Check the list for yourself to see if there are really 10 B films better (or worse depending on your perspective.)


Hat Tip: Neatorama

12 Principles of Animation from the Disney Animators

This actually goes back decades.  Two of the main Disney animators wrote a book in 1981, The Illusion Of Life: Disney Animation, which detailed the principles used by the Disney animators

New York artist Vincenzo Lodigiani has posted a short film on Vimeo ilustrating those principles.



This is useful information for any modern animator to keep in mind, and they apply no matter what method of animation is utilized.

Check out the author's Vimeo page for more animations.


Hat Tip: AV Club

Trailer For A Million Ways to Die in The West Released. You Can't Watch it Here.

Today say the release of the trailer for Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in The West.


It's exactly what you'd expect from the person who gave the world Ted, a raunch-fest filled with infantile sex humor (This time he's decided to add explicit gore to the mix as well.)

The trailer is so bad that it has an R rating.


That's the trailer's rating, not the film's.

The trailer is so bad that it can't possibly be shown on broadcast television, at least no during primetime.  That should give you an idea of what the film is going to be like.

There is No Hope for Hollywood

According to Geekosystem, Hollywood has decided to create a new Power Rangers Movie.


Do I need to add anything to that headline?


It's almost to the point where the Hollywood studios seem determined to get their movies featured on Joel Hodgson's MST3K reboot.  How could he possibly resist something like this?

Now This is How You Capitalize on a Bad Movie

The SyFy Channel has jst found a new way to make money off of bad made for t.v. movies.

Merchandising!

This June,you can purchase your very own Sharknado!


Hat Tip: Geeks are Sexy


P.S.  I just can't wait until the viral videos featuring that thing show up on YouTube.  Maybe a contest for the most creative method used to destroy it?

5th Grade Boy's "Synchonized Swimming" Team

The 5th Grade Talent Show at W.A. Porter Elementary School in Hurst, Texas featured a group of "Synchronized Swimmers".

Just watch the video, no words needed.

Hollywood Remake Craze Hits Rock Bottom

It's official.  The Hollywood remake craze has hit rock bottom. 


There's a plan in the works to make a film version of Green Acres.


Really, Hollywood?

That's the best you can come up with right now?  Green Acres? 

What's next?  My Mother the Car?

Another remake of My Favorite Martian?


Hollywood right now reminds me of an addict that has run out of money and is looking for cheaper and cheaper fixes.  Green Acres is Hollywood's version of Sterno.


Time for an intervention to wean Hollywood off its remake addiction.

Comic Book Adaption Craze Strikes T.V.

Television show comic book adaptations were inevitable given the success of film franchises like Captain America and Spider-man. 

The SyFy Channel has officially been hit with the Comic Book Adaptation mania, announcing three series in the works based on various comic books. 



Pax Romana and Ronin will both be produced as mini-series.

Letter 44 will apparently get a full series.


Let's just hope the results are better than Sharknado.

Google Glass: Just More Proof That There's a Sucker Born Every Minute

Hat Tip: Wall Street Journal, Digits Column

The initial results from the Google Glass teardown are in.

The product that Google is currently charging $1,500 for (when they are actually selling it.) contains under $100 in electronic components.  (The actual number the analysis came up with was $79.78)

That is a shockingly low number given the $1,500 initial price tag.


Granted, there are price factors beyond the electronic components.

Google spend a great deal of money on research and development.  The company will certainly want to recoup those costs.  That increases the cost of the product, at least until those costs are recovered.

The size and shape of the product may also increase manufacturing costs.  Putting those components in a fairly large, rectangular object (like a typical point-and-shoot camera) isn't nearly as difficult as squeezing them into an object small enough to fit on a pair of glasses.

The biggest technological break through seems to be the display.  Google manages to squeeze 640x360 pixel resolution out of a component that fits on a dime.   Google incorporates the technique used by projection t.v.s to make the output seem much larger.

One problem facing Google when it comes to Google Glass is the technological break through that hasn't happened: batteries.  The form factor forces Google to use an underpowered battery leading to short battery life.


To put the Google Glass in perspective, look at the GoPro3.

Same 5MP resolution in a camera mall enough to be used as a helmet cam.  It sells for $200.


That is what Google will have to compete with if it wants Google Glass to succeed.  The form factor that allows Google Glass to be worn on glasses may be worth a premium.  $1,300 is just too much.


And Google really needs to be careful when trying to charge that much.  If they get any interest, other companies will be quick to introduce competing products.  And the fact that Google Glass is made with ordinary components or existing technology means they have little ability to stop other companies from doing so, and those companies will have little difficulty in producing competing products.

 (Work on Google Glass started in 2011.  It won't even take competitors the three years it took Google given an existing product to work with.)

They may even be able to pull off something better.

At a lower price.

20 Movies I Can't Miss This Summer? Watch Me

Cinema Blend has a list of the 20 Top Movies Not to Miss This Summer.

If those movies are example of the best this summer has to offer movie wise, my library card will be getting a workout.  Here's the list (in chronological order)


The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A sequel to a reboot, the Hollywood version of double-dipping.


Godzilla
A reboot of a reboot.  (More double-dipping)  I have been underwhelmed by the trailers.  Cliched governmental conspiracy plot with incorporation of real-life disasters and footage that looks lifted from Jurassic Park.  Sign me up!


X-Men: Days of Future Past
Plot directly lifted from Marvel Comics. (This may actually bode well for the film given the apparent lack of creativity in Hollywood now days.)  The problem is that the plot has been done to death in other movies since it originally appeared in the X-Men comic books.  How many movies with "go back into the past in order to change the present" plots do we need?


Maleficent
Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty asks herself "What's My Motivation?"  Disney basically gives Sleeping Beauty the villain-centric treatment Wicked gave to The Wizard of Oz.

The problem?  The movie attempts to humanize someone who isn't human.  Maleficent is based on the old stories of the evil Fae or Sidhe; beings that, by there very nature, were malevolent towards humanity.

They didn't need a motive to be evil.  They just were.

Trying to humanizing Maleficent is like trying to humanize Hitler.

(Plus, from what I can tell from the trailers Angelina Jolie just lacks the ability to pull off "evil".)


A Million Ways to Die in the West
The good news?  It's not a reboot and it's not based on a non-Hollywood written work.  It's from an actual movie script.

The bad news?  It's from the people that gave us Ted.  (Notice the number of "F" reviews?)

And don't forget, the movie is apparently being used by Seth MacFarlane to launch his acting career.   I've seen pictures produced by wannabe actors.  It usually doesn't go well.


The Fault of Our Stars
A movie that deals with someone with terminal cancer.

Too depressing for me.


Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise.  (Okay, that was snarky.)

Try Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day.  Does that combo sound like it makes sense?


22 Jump Street
A movie based on a t.v. reboot.  (More double dipping.)


How to Train You Dragon 2
Yawn.  Another sequel.


Snowpiercer
Sci-Fi movie based on a French Graphic Novel.  The last survivors of humanity live together on a single train due to devastating ice age.

Instead of the plot centering around the struggle to survive it's focused on class warfare.

I just know that if I watch this film I'm going to keep asking myself questions about the obvious plot holes.  (Really?  Where do they get their fuel?  Or Food?)


Transformers: Age of Extinction
You know that saying about guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days?

Try "movie franchises begin to smell after three movies." 

In case you were wondering about the James Bond franchise, the third movie was Goldfinger.  That was followed by Thunderball.  It's difficult to keep a franchise fresh that many films in.  And the plan is apparently for another two films after this one.


Tammy
A comedy version of Falling Down.

Stars Susan Sarandon and Melissa McCarthy.  McCarthy might be able to pull this one off, but that's not guaranteed.


Life Itself
Film tribute to the late Roger Ebert.


Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Is it a sequel to a reboot or a reboot of a sequel?  Either way, it's more Hollywood double dipping.

Oh, good.  More CGI.

And the previous movie's glaring plot hole still applies.  You know the hole "world overrun by apes" thing?  There aren't enough apes on the earth to create the ape army shown in the previous movie.


Jupiter Ascending
I'll repeat what I said when I saw the trailer: Oh, look.  Space elves.


Guardians of the Galaxy
Based on the Marvel reboot of one of its lesser known titles.  That means the movie will lack the following inherit in titles like The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor or the Avengers.

Did you even know this was based on a Marvel comic book before reading this? 

The track record of Marvel adaptations has been fairly good, so there's a decent chance this movie will be worth watching.  (Viewers will also have fewer expectations than they would with more well know titles.)


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Another reboot, this time with CGI generated characters.  Joy!

And the character art makes me wonder if the producers really wanted to make a Godzilla movie.

The Giver
I have no idea what this film will be like.  I've never read the book it's based on. 

(Just checked Wikipedia.  It's another Young Adult series.  Ugh.  Twilight?  Divergent?)


The Expendables 3
A movie series written by and featuring has-been actors looking for work. 

This one is a bit of a crap shoot.  It could be good or bad depending on how the director plays things.  There is certainly enough talent given the actors involved.

On the other hand, all those egos could get in the way.


The Maze Runner
Another movie based on a young-adult series. 

Young-adult books tend to have plots that lack a certain amount of sophistication.  This can lead to a movie with what amounts to a dumbed-down plot.  Couple that with young actors and you can have a real bomb.

This one seems to have the potential for a really thin plot.  Try a full-length movie version of the maze scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.


That's the entire list. 

The final score?
Sequels: 6
Reboots: 5
Double Dip:  4
Books/Comic Books/Graphic Novels:  3
Young Adult Novels:  2

Total "Lack of Originality" Score:  20

The Hobbit Sequel Title Generator

Great minds think alike.  (Or is that depraved?)

The people over at us vs. th3m have come up with a  web page that generates titles for sequels to the Hobbit movie.

I have taken the luxury of including one of the title I recently suggested in a blog post.


Have fun coming up with alternatives.

Dark Matter Could Send Asteroids Crashing Into Earth!

Today's sensationalist headline brought to you courtesy of Space.com.


Harvard scientists are suggesting that the pattern of large-scale planetary extinction that seems to be caused by meteor or comet bombardment could be caused by the sun's galactic orbit interacting with a sphere of dark matter.

The Sun's orbit oscillates as it travels around the edge of the galaxy.  This oscillation causes the Sun to travel through the dark matter disk and the gravitational effect could conceivably include disruption of the Ort cloud, causing cometary bombardment of the inner planets.

The dark matter disk would replace "Nemesis" as the cause of periodic extinctions.


Personally, I'm just waiting until a dark matter created asteroid disaster makes it into a SyFy "Originals" movie.  Any guess as to how long that will take?

Weirdest Cover Ever?

Somehow I ran across this video on YouTube:




It's Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings doing a cover of A Whiter Shade of Pale.

Is this the weirdest cover ever?

It's Fairy Tale Night on TCM

TCM's lineup tonight features three fairy-tale movies.

The 1946 Black and White version of Beauty and the Beast kicks things off at 8:00 PM Easter.  Followed by The Glass Slipper at 10:00 PM.  (A musical version of Cinderella starring Leslie Caron.)

It finishes as 12:00 Midnight with Hans Christian Anderson starring Danny Kaye.  (Another Musical)


Saturday night is usually a night with lousy television choices.  (At least as far as I'm concerned)  I have the feeling TCM I'll be watching TCM a great deal tonight..  That, or listening to the radio.


P.S.  The 5:00 PM show is Gunga Din.  It's another good movie, but falls outside the fairy-tale genre.

Someone Gives Bruce Springsteen Virtual Sex Change

Hat Tip: AV Club

Turns out, if you play a Bruce Springsteen 33 of "I'm on Fire" at 45 speed he sounds remarkably like Dolly Parton.  The best part is the last 30 seconds or so.

The Next Hobbit Film Gets New Title

Hat Tip: Digital Trends

The last film in the Hobbit Trilogy has been renamed.  Instead of The Hobbit: There and Back Again it will be The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.

Given all the extraneous material that had to be included in order to make three films, I suggest some alternatives.

The Hobbit: Two Films Too Many.

The Hobbit: Finally Over.

The Hobbit: Roger Corman was a slacker when it comes to padding.

The Hobbit: Enough Already

The Hobbit: Tolkein is Rolling Over in Hs Grave.

And Finally,
The Hobbit: Three Films to Get There, Now for Three More to Get Back Again.


BTW, I have to correct something in a previous post.  I miscalculated the amount of padding involved.

The Hobbit in written form is about 300 pages.  Each book in the trilogy runs 450-500 pages.  That means Peter Jackson had to add the equivalent of 1,200 pages to the Hobbit in order to produce a trilogy instead of a single film.

And I Thought Watching Paint Dry Was Boring

Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia have been watching a piece of pitch (tar) drip–very slowly–for 85 years.

It started as an experiment (conceived in 1927) as a way to demonstrate the liquid nature of even the most viscous fluid.  The tar has produced 9 drops in the 85 years it has been running, and only the last has been caught on camera.

This is apparently the longest running experiment on record.  (Does anyone actually keep track of that?)


And I thought waiting for paint to dry was boring.

(I actually had a job where I had to do that.  I worked at a test lab that did quality control for a building manufacturer.  Testing paint samples required spraying two coats of paint on a piece of metal.  The first coat had to dry before the second was applied.)

For those of you without the needed patience, here's a time-lapse video.

Mystery Science Theater Reboot in Works?

Geekosystem has a post speculating on a MST3K reboot.

 This would be coming from Joel Hodgson, not from the RiffTrax guys.  (Not that I have anything against Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy.)  This would apparently be an online program similar to the original series with a new host and probably new robots.

The biggest hurdle will probably lining up fodder.


I've been complaining lately about all the reboots coming out of Hollywood lately.  I could actually get behind this one.


As an added bonus, Wired posted an online article on MST3K  today:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Definitive Oral History of a TV Masterpiece



(The article has a brief note on Joel attempting a reboot, but little detail.)

3 Dev Adam, Bizarre Superhero Movie

Hat Tip: Neatorama

Watching the clips in the video you have to ask how well the producers understood American comic books.

I only have three words: carnivorous guinea pigs.

I Knew There Was a Reason Not to Look Forward to the Next Hobbit Film

Hat Tip: Geekosystem

After watching the first film installation of the Hobbit, I really was not looking forward to the second movie.  The only reason for two movies was the inclusion of a great deal of extraneous material.

The Hobbit runs about 300 pages in book form.

The books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy each run 450-500 pages.

Given the difference, creating two movies out of the Hobbit requires adding the equivalent of 700 additional pages.  Additional material in the movie industry is referred to as "padding", and the producers of the Hobbit films have literally created an entire movie's worth of it.

All that padding results in problems, and there's nothing more enjoyable than poking fun of those problems.  Someone did that in video form and posted it to YouTube.

The video lasts almost 15 minutes.

85,000 Historic Films Loaded to YouTube

Hat Tip: Engadget

British Pathe has uploaded 85,000 historic newsreels to their YouTube Channel.  The films cover 80 years worth of documentaries starting from 1896.

Footage includes coverage from both World Wars, interviews of those that survived the Titanic disaster and other noteworthy events.

Some examples:





British Pathe also has a blog and a website if interested.

This promises to provide an invaluable resource for bloggers looking for historic footage to go with blog articles.

We Need a Statute of Limitations on Sequels

That latest move in Hollywood seems to be resurrecting decades old movie franchises.

The latest recycling effort?

Mrs. Doubtfire!

Do we really need a Mrs. Doubtfire sequel 21-years after the original?  Do we need any sequel 21-years after the original?

I think it's official at this point.

The people responsible for writing scripts for Hollywood have no creativity.  They are only capable of recycling old ideas or stealing ideas from those outside the movie industry.


If you want originality, don't look to Hollywood.

New Saturn Moon May be Forming

Hat Tip: Geekosystem

The Cassini space probe may have captured a new moon forming out of Saturn's ring system.

The potential moon has been nicknamed "Peggy".


Now we know why all those support calls take so long:

What the Heck? KFC Corsage?

And, yes. It's a real product.

The Remake Craze Continues: NBC to remake Rosemary's Baby

BuzzFeed has posted the trailer for the upcoming NBC mini-series Rosemary's Baby.

The NBC remake was written by Scott Abbott (Queen of the Damned) and James Wong (American Horror Story) and runs four hours.  Zoe Saldana replaces Mia Farrow as Rosemary.

Lunar Eclipse Map for April 14-15 Eclipse

Space.com has a map showing where the April 14-15 eclipse will be visible.

Looks like the eclipse will be viewable in its entirety for the Continental USA.  (With possible exception of the extreme northeast.)

Alaska and Hawaii will have a full or partial eclipse depending on where you are in those States.  (Most of Alaska sill only experience a partial eclipse.

Cartoon Voice Actor Does Darth Vader. Somehow, It's Just Not the Same.

I know this was posted to YouTube some time ago, but I just came across it recently.  Someone has posted a video of Jim Cummings reading part of the Star Wars script as Winnie-the-Pooh.

The idea alone is enough to make you giggle.  The actual video is better.



Of course, this raises the question:  Is it Winie-the-Vader or Darth Pooh?

Amazon Deal of the Day: Save 69% on The Simpsons Season Collections

Amazon has a short-time deal on Season Collections of the Simpsons.

The deal only covers the DVD version, but you can save almost 70%.  The price with the deal ranges from $13.99 to $17.99 depending on the season.

The deal runs through April 10.

Hollywood's Remake Craze Runs Amok

I feel like I'm channeling Sarah Jessica Parker from Hocus Pocus: Amok! Amok! Amok!

The Hollywood remake craze really has gotten out of hand.  Do we really need another version of Godzilla?  Or another Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles movie?

It gets worse when you think about all the equals coming out of Hollywood, some of them are sequels to films that weren't even recently made.  I can understand Star Wars chapter VII.  (That is technically a sequel to a film made in 1983.)  The franchise has been updated on an ongoing basis with the re-release of the original film with additional footage and the three prequels.  But a Goonies sequel? 

Think about that one.  Goonies was released in 1985.  How do you produce a sequel when there has been no activity related to the film for 30 years?

Why would there be any interest?


It's more absurd when you start discussing remakes of remakes.  Besides the latest Godzilla remake, you can now add Battlestar Gaactica to that list.

Battlestar Galactica first appeared on television in 1978 and lasted for 17 episodes (24 shows total do to the number of two-part episodes.)  It was remade in 2003 by the SyFy channel.  The remake was more sucessful and ran four seasons.

It is now being remade as a feature film.


Remakes do make some sense.  It's similar to the branding effect of making a James Bond film.  The name recognition alone helps with marketing the film.  Those that saw (and enjoyed) the previous film should automatically have some interest in the sequel and name recognition helps when marketing remakes.

I just wish they would actually come up with something original. 

Climax! Television Show. The First James Bond Appearance.

Before appearing on the big screen, James Bond made appeared in an episode of the 1950's television series: Climax!

Barry Nelson played James Bond.

Don't recognize the name?  Nelson was primarily a television actor and showed up in many television series in a guest spot.  He also played the Hotel Manager in the original Shining movie.




The Internet Archive lists the episode as being in the Public Domain.  (They try their best to check copyright status, but they can make mistakes.)

According to IMDB, the Casino Royale spot was actually a pilot for a James Bond t.v. series that never materialized. 

Extended Godzilla Trailer Released

Warner Brothers has released an extended trailer for the new Godzilla movie.




This follows two very short trailers that barely show anything at all.

After seeing this trailer, I see why.  Color me unimpressed.

The trailer starts with an earthquake at a nuclear power plant.  In Japan.  (That appears to be Mt. Fuji.)  But you only show Caucasian actors in the trailer.

Followed by a tidal wave on a tropical beach. 

Incorporating actual disasters in Japan and Indonesia seems a little crass to me.


This is followed by a scene that looks like it was lifted directly out of Jurassic Park.


And the movie seems to throw in a Government conspiracy/cover-up for good measure.


A remake of a remake that relies on incorporating actual events and scenes that could have been lifted from another film (and the obligatory Government coverup) just screams lack of creativity.

You can't always tell how good (or bad) a movie will be from the trailer, but this trailer does not result in me wanting to see this film.  It seems to indicate another Hollywood production where all the effort was geared toward special effects and everything else was just a second thought, including plot.

Shaun the Sheep Short: Synchronised Swiming

This reminds me a little of the old Laff-A-Lympics cartoon.  (Am I dating myself with that?)

Wallace and Gromit Movie Spinoff: Shaun the Sheep

Shaun the Sheep from the Wallace and Gromit franchise is getting his own movie.



It's hard to tell how god the movie will be based on the teaser, but the fact that it's from the people that produced Wallace and Gromit suggests it should be worth watching.

Get Lost in Middle Earth

For all those Lord of the Rings Geeks out there, the LOTR Project website has a new interactive map showing the location where the events in the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit take place.

The map does take a little time to load, so be patient.

The tabs on the right of the screen control what is displayed on the map.  (They aren't visible in the screenshot, but you should see them on the actual map.)  Options include places where important events occurred , paths taken by various characters, and important locations.  Zoom in/out by using the control on the left or the scroll button on your mouse.

Star Wars Featurette: The Birth of the Lightsaber

Hat Tip: Digital Trends

The Star Wars YouTube channel has a new video on the origin of the lightsaber.

RiffTrax Bait: "Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century"

Stumbled across this at Monster Island News and just had to repost.

Really?

A Blaxpoitation knock-off of King Kong with an unbelievable disco theme song?  What's not to like?


And it's set for release on DVD.


I can't wait for the guys over at RiffTrax to get hold of this thing.

Riff Trax Live Event Announced. Plus Catch Them on Nat Geo.

The guys at Riff Trax have announced their latest Live event.

Watch them give Sharknado! the treatment live at cinemas nationwide on Thursday, July 10 or Tuesday, July 15.

Tickets go on sale May 2.

You'll also have a chance to catch them on television April Fool's Day on the National Geographic Channel.

This runs three hours starting 8pm Eastern/7pm Central.
Check the RiffTrax tv page for local listings.

Amazon Deal on Complete Farscape Series

Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day is up to 70% off the complete Farscape collection, on Blu-ray or DVD.  (The Blu-ray set is 65% off, the DVD set 70% off.)

The price is good for today only (March 28, 2014) or until supplies last.

TCM Airing Silent Films Tomorrow Morning (March 28) Orphans of the Storm and Sherlock Holmes

For you silent film buffs, Turner Classic Movies will air Orphans of the Storm tomorrow (March 28) 8am ET/5am PT.  Note, that's am, not pm.

This is the last film the two starred in together. 

This is followed a little later (10:45am ET/7:45am PT) by a silent version of Sherlock Holmes featuring John Barrymore.

Jupiter Ascending: Space Elves and Winged Monkeys

Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new trailer for the upcoming Jupiter Ascending movie (set for release this July.)



To some extent it looks like fairly typical summer blockbuster fair. Lots of big budget special effects and a pedestrian plot.  (Exiled princess must reclaim her throne.)

Personally, I don't think the look of the alien that rescues the princess bodes well for the creativity of this movie.  Really?  Pointed ears is the best you can come up with?

Apparently the producers decided to take advantage of the Lord of the Rings success and go with Space Elves.  (Or Vulcan knock-offs for you Trekkies out there.)  They also apparently decided to steal from the latest T.V. craze and relocate elements from children's' books.  That monster looks suspiciously like a winged monkey.

You really can't tell how good a movie will be based on the trailer, but personally I didn't see anything to differentiate Jupiter Ascending from any other special effects heavy Sci-Fi movie released by Hollywood recently.

"More Ridiculous Than Sharknado"

Want a good giggle? Try this trailer.


[Trailer] Poseidon Rex is Possibly More Ridiculous Than Sharknado

Looking for a Good Movie, Try This List.

Someone on Reddit (with a little too much time on their hands) has compiled a list of films that have garnered the most 9 at 10 scores at IMDB by year.  (The results are a little different from the highest rated film by year, as that result includes films that have only gotten a few votes.)

The film name provides a link to the IMDB web-site page for that film.

It's a good starting point when looking for a good movie.  The list isn't necessarily the "best" movie by year.  Some movies on the list have a lower rating than other movies made that year.  They just have more 9 or 10 ratings from voters.

For example: 1961 lists Breakfast at Tiffany's.  It has a 7.9 rating.  Yojimbo was also released in 1961.  It has an 8.6 rating. 

Hat Tip: AV Club

Absolutely Brilliant Starwars Mashup

Oh, I wish I was this creative.




Master Yoda from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

My favorite part?

Yoda plays R2 like a steel drum.

I also like the violin section.   You Only Live Twice?

The Mutants are Coming! The Mutants are Coming!

The second trailer for the next X-Men movie has just been released.




I like this better than the first trailer.  That one focuses too much on the dark future that the X-Men try to prevent.

Book Review: The Doctor and the Dinosaurs by Mike Resnick

I picked up Mike Resnick's latest edition in his Weird West series in my last trip to the library.  I enjoyed the previous three books in the series and expected to enjoy the fourth installment.

I was a little disappointed by it, instead.

For those that have not read any of Reasnick's Weird West tales, the books combine steam-punk with the western genre and feature notable historical figures.  Those figures include people like Doc Holiday, Thomas Edison (out of place geographically), Ned Buntline, Bat Masterson, Geronimo, Billy the Kid, etc.

Brief biographies of the historical figures are included at the end of each book.

I actually have mixed feelings about this addition to the series.

It is well written and entertaining.

The problem I have with it is best explained with a brief synopses of the plot:

Geronimo, the Apache Medicine Man, conscripts a dying Doc Holliday to solve a problem caused by the actions taken by other medicine men.  Holliday joins forces with Teddy Roosevelt and are supported by inventions created by Thomas Edison and Ned Buntline.

That synopses could easily be used for the previous book in the series: The Doctor and the Rough Rider.

Unlike the three previous books in the series, this one covers no new ground.  There is no interesting twist on the steam-punk western genre to differentiate it from previous books in the series.


It's worth reading if you haven't read on of Resnick's Weird West books before.  It's also worth reading if you don't mind it being a little too much like the previous book in the series.

It's skippable if looking for a novel take on the genre.