TV And Films

The shows and movies I like (or don’t).

Yesterday’s Trek, today’s tech

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In the 23rd century universe of “Star Trek,” people talked to each other using wireless personal communicators, had easy access to a vast database of information and spent hours gazing at a big wall-mounted video screen.

On 21st century Earth, that future is already here.

Fun little article, though somehow I’m very _un_surprised that so many of today’s electronics are designed by geeks that grew up on Star Trek. Seems only natural to me.

Now all we need is warp drive and the transporter…

(via Jacqueline)

The movie alphabet quiz

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This is really, really evil — identify the movies whose logos were used to create this alphabet.

So far, I’ve got A, B, D, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, V, W, Y, and Z (mouse over each letter to see the answer).

I’m missing C, E, F, J, O, S, T, U, and X, and it’s driving me up the wall…some of them look so familiar.

(via D, who deserves a special circle of hell for subjecting me to this) ;)

Just feeling a little quiet

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There’s a lot of stuff out there on that in-tar-web thing these days, but I just haven’t felt terribly talkative as of late. It’s not really writers block as such, more of a general feeling of not having anything to add. It happens every so often.

The weekend’s been good, with a few days of lounging around, relaxing, and watching movies with Prairie (Lost in Translation, Donnie Darko, Willard, and Party Monster), and out to the Vogue to bounce around, flirt, and hang out with friends. All in all, a very enjoyable night.

I’ve gotten back into the eternal project of re-importing all my CDs into my computer — so far, I’m up to 6,913 songs over 583 albums in 30.38Gb, and that’s probably somewhere under halfway done. Yikes.

And…well, that’s about as exciting as things get right now. I’m sure my usual babble will resurface before terribly long. Until then, though…

iTunes: “Son of a Gun” by K.M.F.D.M. from the album XTORT (1996, 4:23).

The Passion

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The more I read about Mel Gibson’s “The Passion“, the less interested I am in seeing two hours of one man being brutally tortured to death.

However, I did love Satapher’s take on the controversy in a MeFi thread…

Wasn’t it the destiny of Jesus to die for the sins of the world? so that we might be saved?

Shouldnt this movie spark pro-semitism!? Someody had to kill the bastard — somebody had to save your soul! THANK GOD THE JEWS KILLED JESUS AND SAVED OUR SOULS.

GOD DAMN.

Okay, maybe it’s a bit wrong. But it’s really funny.

To me.

iTunes: “Wreath of Barbs (Neuroticfish 2)” by :Wumpscut: from the album Wreath of Barbs (Disc 1 – Classic Remixes) (2002, 5:11).

Star Wars Parts IV-VI on DVD Sept. 21st!

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The good news: the “first” three movies in the Star Wars trilogy (parts VI [A New Hope], V [The Empire Strikes Back], and VI [The Return of the Jedi]) will be released on DVD on September 21st.

The bad news: as has been rumored, speculated, assumed, and generally grumbled about for quite a while now, the DVDs will contain the newer, fancier, Greedo-shoots-first Special Edition versions rather than the original, unedited, like-we-all-remember-and-love versions.

The original “Star Wars” trilogy, comprising the 1977 movie, its 1980 sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” and 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” will be released on DVD as a four-disc boxed set in September, Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced yesterday.

[…]

The boxed set will contain the special editions of the “Star Wars” trilogy released in the late 1990s and not the original theatrical versions.

Ah, well. Even with the Special Edition changes (which, to be honest, some I like and some I don’t), any of the first three films are still far better than the disappointing dreck of Episodes I and II.

And yeah.

I’ll be picking this set up on day one.

Lord of the Rings dating tips

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Epic fantasy as a dating manual?

  • When you’re trying to catch the cute guy’s eye is the exact moment the dwarf will pick to approach you;
  • Eating raw fish is no longer a sign of a sophisticated date. (That said, you have to admit the Atkins plan is working for Gollum.)
  • If you’re the only girl among 100 guys you’ll still fall for the only one who has a girlfriend;
  • When overused, terms of endearment such as “precious” lose their meaning;
  • All couples fight, but battles shouldn’t last so long that one of you has to get up and stretch your legs or use the bathroom;
  • It doesn’t matter if you look like Liv Tyler; your pining and whining will still get on people’s nerves;
  • Don’t blame your friends just because they can see right through your creepy little partner;
  • If you can get along on a road trip, the relationship will probably last;
  • There will come a point when it seems like the relationship should be over. Don’t drag it out. Just end it there.

And finally, the mother of all dating wisdom:

  • Some people will go to any lengths to get a ring; others, having had one for awhile, will go to any lengths to chuck it into a volcano.

(via Rachel)

iTunes: “Moron” by K.M.F.D.M. from the album WWIII (2003, 5:05).

Plot vs. Monster of the Week

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The more I watch of Buffy, I’m starting to notice one definite similarity between my enjoyment of that show and my enjoyment of the X-Files. Nothing terribly earth-shattering, it’s just that both series have two basic types of episode: the “plot” episode and the “monster of the week” episode. In each case, while they’re both enjoyable, it’s really the “plot” episodes that I enjoy the most.

Like I said, nothing terribly earth shattering.

iTunes: “John the Fisherman” by Primus from the album Frizzle Fry (1990, 3:37).

Enterprise in trouble?

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Via /. comes a Cinescape rumor report saying that the latest Star Trek incarnation, Enterprise, might be in jeopardy…

You may remember speculation from last year that STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, the latest TV series in the long-running sci-fi franchise, was in possible danger of being cancelled. Most of these fears seemed to originate with the news that two less episodes of ENTERPRISE would be needed for this season, and when combined with the show’s lackluster ratings, produced gossip that the show could be hanging by a thread. There was also talk that the show was being moved to Friday evenings from its Wednesday perch on the network.

UPN suits and ENTERPRISE producer Rick Berman dispelled the rumor that the program would move to Fridays but did confirm that a shorter run was in store for the third season. Nevertheless, the news was downplayed as a minor issue and not one serious enough to deliver a deathblow to the struggling series. But last week’s abrupt and unexpected cancellation of JAKE 2.0, the series that followed on UPN directly after ENTERPRISE, may have sent a pulse of fear through the cast and crew. At the very least it prompted an individual to write in and tell us what they say the scuttlebutt is on the set right now…

Now, I’ve not seen Enterprise since I moved into my current apartment, and at the time, I wasn’t sorry to stop watching it. It’s still a little sad to see that one of the staples of my life may be coming to such an ignominious end.