Movie Weekend

Well, depending on how you count it, I potentially saw three new movies this weekend including one really good one! I almost made it to April without seeing a decent 2008 movie.....

Anyway, first up was the good movie. Late in the week my wife and I went to see "Married Life" with Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan and Rachel McAdams.

This is listed as a dark comedy with much emphasis on dark and little emphasis on comedy. It takes place not long after World War II. The basic idea behind it is that the lead character played by Chris Cooper has finally found love in his life and not with his long-suffering wife. However, he's so upset that a divorce would destroy her that he decides everyone would be better off is he just murdered her.

The story is one that continually gives the impression of going in a clear direction and then fools everyone by taking a totally different path. The twists and turns keep it all very interesting.

The acting is first-rate. In fact, I think this is yet another great example of how solid an actor Pierce Brosnan is. The guy could have just been Bond and retired. Instead we get another great performance from him. The story is presented to us via narration from his character's point of view and it's his demeanor and presence that makes this not only work but to drive the story forward. The only misstep here is Rachel McAdams. She just didn't fit here for me. She didn't do a bad job. I just thought she looked too innocent for this role.

The cinematography is notably excellent. Several shots are done to give it a 1950's look. All the sets look great as do the clothes and the personalities. It's like a "Leave It To Beaver" episode re-imagined by Daniel Steele.

I was disappointed to hear several people leave the theater commenting that it was too slow. Doh! Hardly. It's just not their kind of movie.

The second movie came Friday night when my son and I went to see "Dr. Suess' Horton Hears A Who". This is the latest animated movie to come out and it's done extremely well at the box office. I'll give the writers credit. They did a wonderful job taking a very short book and turning it into a 90 minute movie. Bits and pieces of it are interesting. Some of the animation is great but much of it falls flat. The story suffers from all the obvious and frustrating plot lines. There are no surprises here and surprisingly few laughs for a Jim Carrey movie. The best part of the night was before the show where we saw a new preview of the next Pixar movie--"WALL-E". I have high hopes for this one and this preview did nothing but support my thinking.

The last movie was a bit of an odd one. I didn't see it at the theater. The TV station, HDNet Movies, worked out some trial deal to debut a movie on their channel a couple of days before it actually came out in theaters. The movie is called "Flawless" and stars Demi Moore and Michael Caine. The problem with this is that I saw it and then this week it didn't debut anywhere that I could find it. After seeing it I can see why the studios allowed this movie to be tested this way. I'd never heard of it. There hasn't been a preview anywhere and no advertising outside that. I suspect that short of this curious release it would have gone straight to video.

The movie suggests it's a true story of a 1950's female employee in a large diamond company called LonDi or London Diamonds. She's, in fact, the only female manager in the company and this is supposed to be a big deal. The movie starts off with an supposedly aged Demi Moore (but looks like Moore wearing a rubber mask) telling an annoying young reporter her life story. The big moment is when she pulls out a diamond the size of a grapefruit and says, "I stole this from them."

That's all well and good except that the story is entirely dull, unbelievable and not worth your time. It's as slow as slow gets for no good reason and Moore is terribly cast in this role. Michael Caine looks like he figured out this was a bomb 10 minutes after he showed up on set. It's just a lifeless movie that you'll forget about almost immediately after seeing it.

Chris Matthews Needs A Lobotomy

What is the major malfunction with Chris Matthews? This morning he was on the "Morning Joe" show and stated, "We're stuck in Iraq. 4,000 people are dead now because of decisions made by politicians like the Clintons."

Is he joking with that? Somehow the death of 4,000 soldiers in Iraq is the fault of the Clintons, or as he put it, politicians like them. I don't get it. Did this guy fall asleep sometime during 2000 and miss the entire last eight years?

Talk about hate. He hates the Clinton's so much that he doesn't even mention Bush in this statement? I can't even fathom the thought process here.

The Conterfeiters. Yeah, We Saw It

Three of us took in the foreign film, "The Counterfeiters" last night. It's a German film that tells the true story Jewish prisoners in a Nazi camp that are pulled out of the general population (heading straight for the gas chambers) to take part in a huge effort to destabilize the economies of the allied countries by printing massive amounts of counterfeit pounds and dollars. Each of the prisoners involved is an expert in their specific area which is what has postponed their date with early death.

The movie got another rating into the 90's on Rotten Tomatoes and I've spoken several times about my concerns with such movies. Universal appeal rarely results in a good experience for me. Oh, all the acting was superb. All the camera angles were great. The cinematographer was first-rate. The costumes were flawless. However, the story was pretty flat and dull.

There are a scant few scenes where you're pulled into the story and then the monotone plot drones on almost immediately again. A couple of the scenes are problematic. For example, there's a scene where the main character is suddenly, without explanation, wisked out of the camp and taken to the home of the German officer running the project to meet his kids, his gushing wife and to drink his liquor.

The worst part of the music was the inane French music that was as inappropriate as a gansta rap soundtrack playing over "Casablanca". I swear at one point they had circus music going as someone was killed.

So, we're three months into 2008 without having seen a decent 2008 movie.

Gibson Wants Its Cut Of The Tour

Guitar maker Gibson apparently decided that the rejuvenation of the music industry thanks to the smash hits Guitar Hero (and its siblings) and Rock Band was too much good news. They've gone suit happy suing everyone remotely involved in it. This includes Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, K-Mart, Gamestop...... (I need a breather here... almost done... okay...) Activision, Harmonix, MTV Networks and Electronic Arts.

Why? Well, they claim all of these companies are infringing on their intellectual property. The main patent involved prohibits endeavors that, "...simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers..."

Are they joking? Has anyone at Gibson actually tried any of these games? The guitars in them are no more a music instrument than a radio is. You twist some dial, push some buttons and music comes out. The lawyers for the defendants should hand the other side a Rock Band guitar and ask them to play a tune on it sans the console systems. Best of luck. I'd also really like to know what part of Rock Band includes a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers, or for that matter, what the hell they were envisioning when they thought that monster up.

The ironic part about this is that this is yet another case of biting the hand that feeds you. These games are doing wonders for the music industry across the board. After decades of wanting to try to play guitar it was as a result of these games that I actually did start learning. I'm far from alone. These games are driving major interest in playing an instrument. I'm always amazed at how there can be so many companies like Gibson that get taken over by the short-sighted bean counters who can't count past ten. They're not going to get a percentage of the pie here. It's just not going to happen. Instead they're just going to drive irate fans to buy competitors products. Nice job Gibson. Next why not just sue all the customers too.

Funny Games... If Only It Was Either

We saw "Funny Games" tonight. It's a movie starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. Basically it's a story about a typical well-to-do family that ends up tormented by two roving psychopaths.

The movie had its moments. The psychos are very original. Unlike any others you've most likely seen in any movie. They're so grating that you want to reach up into the screen and wring their necks almost from their first appearance on screen. Fans will tell you that's a good thing.

However, the movie is a waste of time. Don't bother seeing this, renting this or watching it on cable. It will trick you by coming up with something interesting every so often to keep you going until you've passed the point of no return and then it'll just disappoint.

The movie starts off well enough with a couple of eerie scenes giving you the impression that it's going to turn up the heat. Then, it treats you to a family of three being held at bay by two frail kids who wield a graphite shaft driver as their only weapon. Oh, don't miss, just before this, Tim Roth's character getting nominated for the award of worst husband on the planet.

The entire middle of the film is completely and utterly implausible and yet it doesn't start there. There are countless missteps here. The victims know what's going to happen, but they don't do anything constructive. They waste time. They reminisce. They eat bread. At this point you want to reach out and strangle them. Fans will tell you this is a good thing.

Then there's a whole scene with a remote that should be shown to all students of film making as how not to completely destroy any respect you might have earned up to that point.

Needless to say, the ending is totally without merit as well. Don't get me wrong--I don't need a typical Hollywood ending but this was just ludicrous. Fans will tell you this is a good thing.

The worst part about it is that the movie had some elements that really could have shined with the right, logical storyline. As it is, it's a complete disaster of a movie. It'll be hard for this not to be in the running for the worst movie I'll see this year and it's only March. And of course, fans will tell you this is a good thing.

Graphic Novels? What? Why?

For several years I've been hearing about a different type of reading experience referred to as the graphic novel. The concept of a graphic novel is that it's a full story that's driven by the illustrations.

Graphic novels come in several flavors but there are two major distinctions. One is referred to as "Manga" and it represents the most traditional type of graphic novel. These are read from back to front and right to left. I suspect this is because Manga mainly comes to us from Japan but I'm not 100% sure about that. I will say it's a bit funny to adjust to at first.

The second type is the standard format. This is just like a typical book except for the illustration elements.

95% of consumers who encounter a graphic novel won't get the point. At least that's my guess. Why? Because to them it's going to appear to be one large collection of comic strips or cartoons. While the genesis of this medium may have a basis in comics I believe it would be a bit insulting to many in the hobby to call them that. Don't think of these as comics or you're going to be in for a shock. The few that I've experienced so far are often filled with very adult topics and content.

Most of the Manga books I've encountered fit the comic book-like mold. Anyone familiar with the eastern phenomenon of "Anime" will feel right at home with Manga. The look and stories are nearly identical. Much of Manga revolves around battles and comic hero-like characters with superpowers. To be frank, it's just not my kind of story. With few exceptions in my traditional reading I'm very much a non-fiction fan or at least things based in reality.

With that said, a friend loaned me a set of graphic novels to introduce me to the genre. I immediately was taken with the look of one of them. Graphic novel fans will know it immediately as it's one of the most famous of the lot. This one is called "Blankets". It's written and illustrated by Craig Thompson.

The first thing that will strike you about the book is its size. I tend to be a slow reader so I told my friend not to expect it back for some time. He assured me that wouldn't be a problem. Understand that we're talking about a book that as heavy as a toaster and nearly three inches thick. I started it on a recent trip to Portland (Oregon) and had finished it before I reached my layover in Chicago--a two-hour flight.

Blankets is a stunningly moving and wonderful book. It tells the story of Craig growing up and coming of age. It's about the wonders of youth and the perspectives of a child. It touches on the powers of creativity that all children harness as well as their struggle to break free from all things as they grow up. It also is a powerful story of first love and the influence this has on life.

In it Craig explains the relationship he had with his brother growing up. How it could go from touchingly close to sadly distant all in the blink of an eye. It conveys the complexities of how children perceive and deal with their parents and the pressure exerted on kids from above. It also touches on areas of his life that had to be difficult to come to terms with. There are moments here that will cut right to the bone with any parent that reads the retelling. Finally there's the amazing story of first love and the emotions and strength one gains from it. All of it is told in a way that seems perfectly suited to the genre. It wouldn't have had the same impact without the imagery and instead of the epic feeling it gives, would have come off as a quick short story.

I felt, upon finishing it, that I'd lost a good friend. I didn't want it to end. I think of it often and always with a warm spot in my heart. I don't think it's a story I will every forget. It also made me nostalgic regarding my own life experiences and this is a good feeling. It rekindles moments of tenderness and pain that shape all our lives.

I can also suggest that if you too are taken with Blankets that you shouldn't expect most graphic novels to fall into this realm. It'd be like expecting most traditional books to be on the level of "War and Peace". This is a masterpiece of the genre and I do hope to find others like it.

The Bank Job

This past weekend we saw "The Bank Job". It's a British movie about a seemingly typical bank heist that, of course, doesn't go exactly as planned.

The movie isn't bad but it's not a film that you need to rush out to see either. The acting is pretty solid and the story has some nice twists. In fact, the best part of the movie is that it continually starts down stereotypical bank robbery story paths and then suddenly veers off into new territory.

The only problem with that approach is that it takes a long time to get to those story arcs. In the end I came away feeling that I got my money's worth. However, here it is Monday and I had to remind myself that I even saw this movie in the first place. Much of the storyline I had to go back and read about to recall exactly what went on.

If you're looking for a fast-paced, electric bank heist film, this isn't it. This is much more a bank heist movie that demands a lot of background, a lot of talking and a lot of planning.

No Balls In The PC Games Business

If I read one more article about how the PC games business is dead or dying as a result of piracy I'm going to lose it. The latest news is from a head guy at THQ who thought it was a good idea to be quoted cursing about it in an article.

Enough already. This industry started in the late 70's and piracy has been an issue from the start. What's more is that the hardware and software have become more standardized over that time than it was back when the PC was first maturing. Then you had to worry about a half-dozen operating systems, different memory managers, different mouse drivers (dozens of them), completely non-standard hardware, writing your own drivers for video, sound and more. Some even wrote their own operating systems to run their games.

What's changed is that the developers have decided they need to create these ridiculously budgeted products and then poorly manage their costs. THAT is what has changed in all this time.

Please explain how, with piracy every bit as rampant today as it has been all along, that this industry has survived for more than 30 years? Perhaps the kids today buy the excuses from these executives but I'm not. I wasn't born yesterday. I watched this industry grow and watched as products actually prospered by removing copy protection over solutions that tried to wring every single penny out of the product. The industry has been complaining about piracy from the moment the first product was pirated 30 years ago. Sierra Online complained about piracy killing their product lines and went on to become the most successful publisher of the day. It wasn't piracy that ultimately ruined them. It was a loss of creativity.

What needs to change is the perspective of those creating the games who feel that piracy is directly taking money out of their pocket. The bottom line is that to expect piracy to not be a factor is ludicrous and suggests that those putting this view forth need to have their heads examined. Piracy is always a factor and yet these same companies managed to become huge corporations working under those same conditions. As usual, now that they've gone public and feel the pressure to squeeze every red cent out for the stockholders, suddenly they want the world to change. Sorry, but your choice to cash in was yours and now you have to live with it.

PC games aren't going anywhere. Games are made for devices with a tiny fraction of the audience of the PC market. You'll find games on just about any device that can run them. I can even get games for my iPod when an iPod isn't even designed for them. Heck, there are games in GPS receivers and other totally foreign platforms.

You have Stardock out there seeing the problem and responding with creative solutions that work for them. You have NCSoft making millions with Guild Wars, Blizzard making billions with World of Warcraft, Microsoft making millions with Flight Simulator. Maxis still continues to crank out successful top-selling products more than 20 years after it started out. Then there are the online services of Steam and other competing services. In the case of Guild Wars, many people suggested that what they did was impossible and yet they've sold millions of copies of that franchise. The customers are there with wallet in hand for the right products.

It is not the fault of the consumer that people like Michael Fitch from THQ simply can't comprehend new business models that work for them. The consumer has always been here and willing and that is not going to change. The pirates are also going to be here and unwilling and that's not going to change. What's going to change is the players who choose to play in this market. THQ can go pound sand. They publish Company of Heroes and have made a mint producing and selling it. How do they explain that? Why is it that they can make real money on this product but can't on others? I'm tired of piracy being blamed for everything that's wrong with these companies.

As I've said time and again, it's the smart companies that find a way. Why was it that Access Software was able to compete, head-on with Microsoft and beat them in sales with their Links golf sim when it had no copy protection what-so-ever? Shouldn't piracy have destroyed that product? Instead it did this so reliably that Microsoft turned around and bought Access and later destroyed all that was good about it. Funny how that seems to happen time and again. The PC golf sim market hasn't been the same since.

To people like Michael Fitch I have a simple response. The PC platform dwarfs every single gaming platform on the planet. If you can't figure out how to make a buck on a platform of that size then perhaps it's time to re-evaluate your job title. Others are doing just fine swimming in those waters so get the hell out of the deep end and go swim in the kiddy section where the complexity isn't so challenging.

Start with creativity. How many more first-person-shooters where we shoot-up a bunch of aliens do you think the market really needs? Why is it that this is the only genre that seems to get a green light these days? Has it dawned on you that perhaps these kinds of "me too" products cause some of the very piracy you condemn? Who wants to pay for the 20th clone of the 20th clone of a worn-out concept?

Again, stop giving interviews telling us that you don't know how to succeed in our world. Just get out of it and stop whining. Leave the development to those who get it.

Does This Image Bother You?

This has been talked about for some time now but I just had a recent conversation about it that caused me to comment on this here. Take a moment and look at the image below:


This photo was taken September 17 in Indianola, Iowa during the national anthem. It was first brought to our attention in an issue of TIME magazine. Much has been said about it since and virtually all of it has been bad. Why did I take the time to mention it here? Because it's my firm belief that if this image bothers you then you are absolutely part of the problem with this country and not part of the solution.

It's people like you who try to suggest that this is an example of Barack Obama showing disrespect for the country or a complete lack of patriotism. Both of those views are absolute bull. It's this kind of ridiculous, useless gesture that people attach all sorts of motives to that mean nothing. Think about it. What does putting your hand over your heart have to do with patriotism or even respect? I've been at events where people have their hands over their heart while they're jabbering with the guy next to them or talking on the cell phone.

The point is that this action is another fictional example of how our politicians play the game with all of us and get away with it with a large percentage of the nation. You know what would show me more respect for the nation? How about supporting the Constitution? How about doing something to help the masses? The current President puts his hand over his heart while knowing full well that his administration lied us into war, exposed a CIA operative, was responsible for destroying the image of John McCain in 2000 by lying to voters in the south with a story about his having a black child (as if that should be some sort of offense) and so on. I would rather he sat on his ass and masturbated during the national anthem than to have had to endure his tangible actions.

I stand at what's known as parade rest during the national anthem. My hands are behind my back and I'm focused on the flag silently without moving about. Even that's a bit much. It's a habit I picked up in the Army. I don't expect others to do it. As George Carlin alluded to in his latest HBO special, there are many things we do as people that are simply a process of inertia. We swear to tell the truth as if the act of raising our right hand in some way triggers a neuron in the brain that keeps us from lying. We swear to God to tell the truth to the court, police, friends, etc. Yet we know that this doesn't stop the dishonest from lying. So what's the point?

Please let me know what the point is with the above picture. Bill Richardson isn't even looking at the flag. Maybe he's checking out the girl in the 5th row with the low-cut dress, but he's a patriot alright. We can tell because his hand is over his heart. You want to impress me with an example of his not respecting the country? Show me something that actually means something. Show me him pissing on the flag behind him, or on Bill Richardson, while the anthem is being sung.

The fact that he doesn't put his hand on his heart suggests to me the very reason this guy is currently winning. It shows that he doesn't just do something because people say it represents something it doesn't. It shows that he's different and right now different is very much what this country needs. We don't need another cookie-cutter President that does every meaningless thing right while blowing all the meaningful ones. I'm not sold on Obama as a candidate yet but it's images like the one above that actually move me closer to him, not further from him. Until people get that, they're not going to understand the power behind his candidacy.

Rock Band/Guitar Hero Music Rebirth

I've been playing around with the family in Rock Band after having an abortive experience with Guitar Hero III (after Easy I found it nearly impossible but remember I am an old fart for these kinds of games now).

Anyway, it seems obvious that the popularity of these games has driven quite a bit of extra music revenue. The problem I have with it is that it's a large sinkhole to nowhere. I pay for a low-quality version of the song on Xbox Live and I can't do anything with it. It's stuck on my Xbox. I can't play it on my iPod or anywhere else unless I resort to some of hacking to get at them.

Worse, buying a song for Rock Band doesn't mean you're going to have it for any subsequent version of the game and will end up having to buy it yet again.

Thinking about this it occurred to me that I'd spend quite a bit of extra cash if one of the developers created a standardized notation system and started selling these for all manner of songs to be downloaded on a PC and matched with our songs. In fact you might find artists out there starting to provide their own with their songs.

Bottom line is that this is something that would get me to re-invest in my entire library. I'm certainly not going to do that with every version of Rock Band that comes out.

U2 Finds A Way

Been off to a slow start this year with respect to movies. Not a lot has interested me so far and the few I've seen have been from last year.

This Friday a bunch of us got together to see "U2 3D". This film is pretty much a musical concert featuring the internationally famous U2 shown in 3D.

The concept is pretty interesting. Of late we've heard a lot about challenges in the music industry with the collapse of CD sales. That's another topic and one that I have a lot to talk about so I'm not going to get side-tracked by it. The only part that is relevant is that this seems to me to be yet another novel way bigger bands can go about generating some serious revenue.

I've never seen U2 live and given my moderate interest in their music and the price of tickets to see them I doubt that I ever pay that much for the experience. However, to see them this way for $12 is another thing entirely. I got a chance to see what all the fuss was about and I was impressed with the band and the show they put on.

What I wasn't so impressed with was the presentation of the "movie" itself. The footage is taken from an event in South America during the band's "Vertigo" tour. The set list (the music played) included nearly all the best-known U2 standards alongside several other more recent entries (namely from Vertigo). However, even with this something fell flat here and I suspect I'm not alone in this assessment as this is only the second week the local theater chain is showing this film and it's already reduced to a single showing each day. That's almost never a good sign.

First, I think I might have to blame the theater. I'm going to see a concert. I expect the audio to be first-rate. Instead here we got a mid-volume, flat audio experience. There was little bass to impress and with the exception of one specific limited example, the audio seemed anything but 3D. Nearly all of it seemed continually to come directly from the screen and nowhere else. This resulted in a lack of energy that is critical to such events.

The 3D video was interesting but, to my mind, underutilized. There were a few key bits and sequences that made it worthwhile but mainly it served only as a limited-use gimmick and that's the biggest shame here. Worse, the director seemed to think it was a great idea to use almost all slow pans around the event. These nearly puts one to sleep while watching. Very little happened that carried the beat or heart of the show itself. The crowd would be pumping their fists to the bass beat and we'd be casually rolling above the audience like angels floating on a cloud completely oblivious to the events below.

All-in-all I think this is a great idea. It just needs to be presented as close to a concert experience as possible with care taken to convey the show's energy. This interpretation failed in that regard.