Film

While I’m not nearly as much of a movie buff as many, I do like ’em and watch ’em when I can.

Marie Antoinette

by

Last weekend, Prairie and I went down to the Blacklight, and they were playing Marie Antoinette on the projection screen. Neither of us had seen it, and from the nearly universal panning it got when it came out, it wasn’t terribly high on our ‘to watch’ lists. However, the costumes really caught Prairie’s eye while she was watching it, and we figured it would be worth a rent to see the pretties.

As it turns out, we both really enjoyed the flick. The dialogue, which Prairie said looked fairly insipid when seen in bits and pieces as subtitles at the club, actually worked — it’s rather minimalist, and there’s a fair amount that is just presented as snatches of gossip heard in the background. The gloriously anachronistic soundtrack fit perfectly (for the most part, at least, there was one scene that neither of us liked the music choice for), and we ended up grabbing the soundtrack from iTunes. And, of course, it’s gorgeous to look at.

So don’t let the bad reviews steer you away from this one — for us, at least, it was worth the rent.

In other, unrelated news: this morning, we went out and doubled the size of my shoe collection, replacing my boots and adding a new pair of all-black Converse and some light shoes perfect for wandering out to the pool or walking along a beach.

And after a nice couple hours wandering around Magnuson Park, I know have something a bit more cheerful leading off my photo page. There’s more photos from the day to come, but I have to start paying attention to homework at some point….

Geeks and Film

by

Three amusing articles, all via /.:

  1. Top 20 Hackers in Film History:

    My fellow Geeks! Below you will find a list of the 20 coolest, funniest, dare I say sexiest hackers and computer geeks that have graced the silver screen. While we may be misunderstood and maligned in everyday life, geeks have always been portrayed with a certain power, mystery and intrigue in movies. Practically since the word ‘computer’ entered the American lexicon, Hollywood and the public have been fascinated with the people who make these strange electronic boxes do such cool shit.

  2. Servers in the Movies:

    There are two guidelines for this list. One, they must exist only in the world of movies or TV. Second, they need to fit the following definition: A server is a computer system that provides services or data to other computing systems—called clients—over a network or other communication device.

  3. What Code DOESN’T Do in Real Life (That it Does in the Movies):

    I understand that Hollywood needs to dress things up to make them more entertaining, but in the case of programmers, code, and hackers they’ve done more than dress things up – they’ve morphed a little stuffed teddy bear into a cybernetic polar bear covered in christmas lights and phosphorescent hieroglyphics with a fog machine pumping rainbow smoke out of his ass. In other words, they’ve layered a ridiculous amount of extravagance on top of something that in reality is very grounded.

Not in our stars, but in ourselves.

by

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof; and that conviction depends upon evidence, and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy’s methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the results. We proclaim ourselves indeed as we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his, he didn’t create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and rather sucessfully. Cassius was right: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” Good night, and good luck.

— Edward R. Murrow, as portrayed by David Strathairn in George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck

Every time I hear this monologue, it strikes me — and I’m very sure that this was Clooney’s point — just how topical it is. How easy it would be to replace the references to Sen. McCarthy with references to President Bush and have it read just as accurately.

Eragon and Dragon Wings

by

I’ve not read either of Chris Paolini‘s young-adult fantasy books, Eragon or Eldest (presumably there will be a third at some point, as these are billed as being part of the ‘Inheritance Trilogy’), but I saw a trailer for a movie adaptation of the first book, to be released this Christmas season.

A couple things caught my eye in this trailer: firstly, both Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich star. So far, we’re off to a good start.

The third, though, was a decidedly unusual (in my experience) take on dragon’s wings. In general, dragon wings are presented as structurally similar to a bat’s wings: a thin flesh webbing over a skeletal framework. If there’s any variation at all, its rarely in the wings themselves, but rather in the physiology of the beast itself, with the two most popular variations being either a six-limbed creature (forelegs, rear legs, and wings as a separate set of limbs, generally just behind the forelimbs) or a more bat-like four limbed creature (with the forward set of limbs doubling as both forelegs and wings).

Six-limbed dragon Four-limbed dragon
six-limbed dragon four-limbed dragon

Personally, I’ve always been partial to the four-limbed variety as to my mind, even though we’re dealing with a fantastical creature, it feels more “accurate” for the universe we live in: I can’t think of any naturally occuring six-legged creatures outside of the insect realm; all mammals or reptiles I know of are zero-, two-, or four-limbed (and while it’s been years since I’ve had any sort of biology, I believe there is evidence that all such creatures are genetically four-limbed, and it’s just a matter of whether any of the limbs have evolved into not developing, as with snakes).

(As an aside — one of the strongest disappointments I had with the last Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was the lack of any screentime for the Chinese Dragon during the first challenge in the TriWizard Tournament. While only Harry’s dragon got any ‘hero’ time, we at least saw the miniature versions of all the others, however they were all fairly traditional dragons. I was really looking forward to even a glimpse of a Chinese style dragon, but was sadly denied. Pity, that.)

The upcoming Eragon, while using the more common six-limbed physiology, uses wings of a type I’ve not seen before. Rather than the bat-wing style, they look very much like bird’s wings, complete with feather-like patterning…however, they still appear to be skinned, not feathered.

Under the cut are a few screengrabs I took from the trailer that illustrate the wing style:

Read more

So Very Predictable

by

If anyone else in the world were to stand in front of a few hundred thousand people and ask them to throw money at them — and not just a little money, but nothing smaller than a ten, fifties are preferred — they’d probably get very soundly beaten. If you happen to be named George Lucas, though, you can get away with it again and again and again…

Also today… a follow-up on something we’ve been telling you to expect for quite while now. 2007, as you may well be aware, is the 30th anniversary of the original Star Wars‘ debut in theaters. You’d have to be stupid not to know that Lucasfilm is going to have big DVD release plans with which to celebrate the anniversary, and we’ve been telling you that was the case for many months now. Indeed, during our last visit to the Ranch for the DVD release of Episode III, producer Rick McCallum confirmed that a box set of all six films was going to happen eventually, and animation director Rob Coleman even let it slip that the puppet Yoda from Episode I had already been replaced with a new CG Yoda to match Episodes II & III for the “future” release. T-Bone over at Star Wars Universe recently speculated about this box set, and we’ve been quietly checking in with our industry sources on it as well. Well, we’ve confirmed it: There IS a big, ultimate, 6-film Star Wars anniversary DVD box set planned for 2007. There will be more changes to the films, and there will be LOTS of new, never-before-seen special features – all the good stuff that was held back by Lucasfilm from the original Trilogy DVD release a few years ago. Think deleted scenes and more. We don’t know if good, genuinely-REMASTERED versions of the original theatrical editions of the films will be included or not (though how you could call the set “ultimate” without them, we don’t know). We don’t expect high-definition versions yet, as those formats are just too new. We don’t have ANY other details for you yet, so please don’t ask. But as you consider whether or not to purchase the “limited edition” DVDs due on 9/12… we thought you should know that more IS absolutely on the way next year. ‘Nuff said for now.

(via Scam City)

iTunes “Coin-Operated Boy” by The Dresden Dolls from the album The Dresden Dolls (2004, 4:46).

Battle in Seattle

by

This could be interesting (more so on the off chance that they actually film on location), if true:

Charlize Theron is attached to star in “Battle in Seattle”, reports Production Weekly. Theron’s boyfriend, Stuart Townsend, wrote the film and will be making his directorial debut.

Set in 1999, during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, an eclectic group of demonstrators, including environmental activists, doctors, anarchists, attorneys, eco-terrorists and just plain folks, brings the city to a state of near-chaos, and chases the WTO straight out of town.

(via seattleseattle)

iTunes “The Graveyard” by Webley, Jason from the album Counterpoint (2002, 6:38).