TV And Films

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

iTMS Exclusive: LXG Soundtrack

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Looks like Apple’s iTunes Music Store is catching on (or, at the very least, getting enough interest to warrant an interesting experiment): in the US market, the soundtrack for the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen will only be available through the iTMS — no CD’s will be pressed.

I’ve got mixed feelings on this, personally. One of the things that has kept me from jumping full-bore into the iTMS for my music is the paucity of full ID3 tags in the purchased files. As I’ve been importing my CD collection, I’ve been working on being very thorough with the metadata included with each song: Artist, Title, Album, Year of release, and Composer are all information that I want available in my collection. Unfortunately, with the tracks I’ve purchased from the iTMS so far, Artist, Title, and Album seem to be all you get.

With a soundtrack release that (at least in the US market) has no physical media, how easy is it going to be for me to track down the rest of the metadata that I want included for search and organizational purposes? Not very, would be my guess, which concerns me. I like the idea, concept, and execution of the iTMS a lot, and I do support this experiment — just gimme my metadata!

(via MacRumors)

Angels or Devils

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You ever read Eckhart? Eckhart saw it all too. You know what he said? He said the only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won’t let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they’re not punishing you, he said. They’re freeing your soul. So…if you’re frightened of dying, and you’re holding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It’s just a matter of how you look at it, that’s all.

— Louis, in Jacob’s Ladder

Katharine Hepburn dies

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Katharine Hepburn, an icon of feminist strength and spirit who brought a chiseled beauty and patrician bearing to such films as “The Philadelphia Story” and “The African Queen,” died Sunday, her executor and town authorities said. She was 96.

Town authorities and the executor of Hepburn’s estate, Cynthia McFadden, said Hepburn died Sunday at 2:50 p.m. at her home in Old Saybrook. She had been in declining health in recent years.

During her 60-year career, she won a record four Academy Awards and was nominated 12 times, which stood as a record until Meryl Streep surpassed her nomination total in 2003. Her Oscars were for “Morning Glory,” 1933; “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” 1967; “A Lion in Winter,” 1968; and “On Golden Pond,” 1981.

Despite her success, Hepburn always felt she could have done more.

“I could have accomplished three times what I’ve accomplished,” she once said. “I haven’t realized my full potential. It’s disgusting.”

But, she said, “Life’s what’s important. Walking, houses, family. Birth and pain and joy — and then death. Acting’s just waiting for the custard pie. That’s all.”

A truly wonderful woman, who’ll definitely be missed.

(via Prairie)

The Animatrix

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I got woken up this morning at 9am (thankfully, only half an hour before my alarm usually starts blaring) by the door buzzer. “Package for ya.” Rock on. Hauled myself out of bed, tossed on clothes, and stumbled downstairs.

End result — thanks to Amazon, I’ve got my copy of The Animatrix one day before its official street date. As long as I was awake, and didn’t have to actually wander out to my bus stop until around noon, I popped in the disc.

Very, very cool.

The Animatrix (just in case you didn’t catch my earlier posts) is a collection of nine animated short subjects expanding the universe portrayed in the Matrix films.

My favorite two episodes are Final Flight of the Osiris (incredible near photorealistic animation from the team behind Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and the sexiest sword fight I’ve ever seen) and Beyond (nice animation, and a quietly magical story).

Finding Nemo

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I love going to see Pixar’s movies on opening weekend. Preferably during the day, when the theater is full of children — kids get so wrapped up in the movie, it’s an absolute joy to be able to sit in the midst of all that excitement.

Pixar continues their as yet unbroken string of excellent movies with Finding Nemo, the story of a father’s hunt for his missing child. Quite simply, the movie is flat-out gorgeous — set in the ocean off of Australia, the entire film is a visual treat. Everything from the eye-popping colors of the tropical fish to the depth and fluidity of the ocean is captured perfectly.

As usual, in addition to the pervasive eye candy, Pixar has kept up their usual excellent standards of creating a true family film — one that can be enjoyed just as much by adults (and children at heart) as children. Excellently acted all around, in many ways the real star of the film is Ellen DeGeneres as Dori, a scatterbrained but very sweet and optimistic Blue Tang.

My personal favorite characters, though, were actually secondary characters — a flock of seagulls, whose language and constant squawking consists of a single word: “Mine!” A little hard to describe in print, but they got laughs out of me every time they showed up on screen.

All in all, an excellent film. Go see it — and when you do, sit through the credits. No outtakes this time, but some funny bits with characters swimming around during the credits, and one post-credit gag that’s one of the best in the film.

I really have to wonder just how poorly Disney would be doing if they didn’t have the film deal with Pixar. Seems like lately, the only truly good films coming out of the Disney stable are Pixar’s animated gems, and about the only thing that’s really “Disney” about any of them is the logo on the front of the film!

Other good Finding Nemo reading:

The Bourne Identity

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A better than average action movie with Matt Damon as an amnesiac secret agent. Rescued while floating in the ocean with two bullets in his back and a Swiss bank account number hidden in his hip, he has no idea who he is or what he’s in the middle of, but he has an unerring ability to spot danger and dispatch any attackers with ease.

Quite fun to watch — more known for his dramatic roles, Damon does a very credible job with the action scenes, and Famke Potente (of Run Lola Run) is very enjoyable as a girl swept up in Damon’s flight and search for clues. One of the better action/thriller flicks I’ve seen.

Traffic

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Traffic got a ton of good reviews when it came out, but for one reason or another, it just didn’t grab me very much. It wan’t bad at all, and the color tinting technique used to help distinguish the three storylines from each other was interesting to watch, but, while I wasn’t bored, I wasn’t overly involved in it, either. Decent, worth a rent if you’re curious.

Licence plates in The Matrix

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The discussion thread regarding Matrix: Revolutions on the Home Theater Forum is turning up all sorts of interesting tidbits, including the fact that all the licence plates seem to be biblical quotes!

The Twins’ truck on the freeway: DE2852. Deutronomy 28:52 — “They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.”

Trinity and Morephus’ Cadillac on the freeway: DA203. Daniel 2:03 — “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”

Agent Smith’s Audi at the beginning: IS5416. Isaiah 54:16 — “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.”