Movies seen in December 2010

Well now that I'm keeping track of all the movies I've seen and when I can post a little end of month summary of them. This one is being written a bit early, as I'll be vacationing in December and won't have time to do updates. Perhaps I'll go back and edit the post after it's been updated. Just for you.

• Easy A [7] - Decent movie, but probably forgettable.
• The Prestige [9] - This one keeps growing on me everytime I watch it.
• Dogma [7.5] - Not as heavy as I remembered.
• The Illusionist [7.5] - Not as good as The Prestige, but very solid.
• Judge Dredd [5.5] - Actually quite a bit of fun to watch this after fifteen years; probably should give it a higher score...
• Restrepo [8.5] - Terrifying and amazing.
• Aliens [10] - Definitely one of the favourites of all time.
• Alien [10] - Absolutely fantastic film; creepy, suspenseful and engrossing.

My score in braces, out of ten.

On Blu-Ray, Nobody Can Hear you Scream

My, I have made quite a few posts regarding the Alien series of movies. More accurately, the first two movies. Shameful, but I haven't even seen the third or fourth. I just watched the first two again, on Blu-Ray, and have to say they look absolutely amazing. More movies should be given this treatment. I've been holding off on watching these two films until I got my new television set, and now that it's in place, I could finally take a look.

The TV is really wonderful; I'll be sure to have a post dedicated to it soon enough, after I get more of a chance to play with it. These two movies are great, perfect 10s of course, and they really shine here. I didn't think it was possible to get so much detail out of such old movies, but it goes to show you what "they" can do when given the proper time and dedication. I recall a while back when the original Star Trek series was being released in high definition, how great the picture was. When the proper work is done, the image can be brought up to reference quality and best modern-day movies without a problem.

I guess Cameron had everybody in an uproar when he said they will be "de-noising" the film, which when done with Predator, made everyone look like plastic. The transfer lost it's grain and film-like quality. Well whatever he said, it didn't put a negative on the movie. There is a layer of grain on the movie [Aliens] that just looks splendid, and very smooth.

There's not much else to say about it: the quality is astounding and the films themselves are even better. It's safe to say these are both "top five" movies, if you will, and it's time I gave the others a bit of respect and watch them.

Google Storage

Time for another little tech-centric entry. For the past couple of months I have been uploading all my photos to my Google Docs account, and it has been glorious. For years perhaps I have played with the idea of backups and online storage: I have a ton of photos in the range of forty gigabytes and they must be cared for.

First, a little history. Photos have been and I'm sure, always will be, the most important thing we can backup. But how do you do it securely? I started with making CD backups, of course. This evolved into DVDs and eventually, external hard drives. But it took quite some time for me to get into the offsite backup solution, which involved me copying everything to a 500GB drive and leaving it in my drawer at work. It's pretty rudimentary but it's the very least you could do. If you make disc backups, great, but you have to make multiple copies, and you have to keep them offsite.

Restrepo

There is no one word that can summarize feelings for this film. It's going to be difficult to string together any words that can give this documentary, and more importantly the people it features, the respect that they deserve.

Restrepo is the name of an outpost established in the Korangal Valley in Afghanistan, named after a soldier who was killed there during a small skirmish early in his platoons campaign. The film documents a year and some months the platoon spends there, filmed by an embedded journalist and photographer. And it is insane. I just can't get over what these people go through while serving. The footage that is shot on site is intermixed with interviews from some of the soldiers recently after they have been relieved of duty. There are moments where stories are being told through the interviews, cutting from soldier to soldier, and I'm on the edge of my seat.

One sequence in particular serves as conveniently sad and disturbing climax of the film: the Rock Avalanche days. We get first hand accounts of the story, then surprisingly, a cut to footage from shortly after all Hell breaks loose. We see reactions, emotion, plans, chaos, all unfold before our eyes and you realize - not for the first time - that this happened, this was not fake, this really happened to these people. It's a lot to take in.

There are other scenes that show day to day life, interactions with locals, downtime, mourning and the fighting. The film focuses on a few of the soldiers and lets them speak for themselves; there is no political agenda here. It's an absorbing, thought-provoking perspective on war that is both humbling and scary.

The Apprentice

I'm sitting here watching the second last episode of The Apprentice. This is the first non-celebrity edition in quite a while and for that, I'm thankful. I kind of got out of the show for a while and watched last Bret Michael's dominated season, but it was enough to spark the urge to see this show again. You could say it holds a special place in my heart, although as I type that, I know how ridiculous that may sound. If the Apprentice gets a special place, so does a lot of other shows. To give you an idea, if I could only watch one show between the two, The Amazing Race would take the cake (from a reality show perspective).

The show premiered in 2004, a distant six years ago. Life was quite a bit different then, as I lived with three others in an eclectic apartment with a mix of great and more...interesting times. I could go on for a while on memories from this era, but I have to focus on my fondness for this show during that time. My one roommate and I would sit down to watch this every week, and it was fantastic.

This show was different from the others: people weren't starving, they weren't doing crazy physical challenges and to put it bluntly, the show didn't feel fixed. I'm not saying things like Survivor or The Amazing Race are, but there is a lot of magic that happens in post-production. You truly get the sense that Trump is involved and actually cares about the contestants. He will, after all, be working with them (perhaps indirectly) for the next year. Instead of giving the winner a cheque for a million dollars and being done with them, these winners got a real job. This was a real interview, and what a good way to do it. So, instead of trying to survive, everybody focuses on the tasks at hand.

And the tasks are great. I love the small, basic things like taking ice cream and trying to sell it on the streets. Running basic businesses brings things down to a level that you can relate to. And what makes it so relevant to me is that I was in my later years of business education studying at university. This show permeated so much, that one of our financial management professors told us to watch the show, to be discussed in class the next day. I'm not sure if that was real official homework but it was a great exercise in class, and I had already been watching the show anyhow.

I'm not sure how many seasons I watched while still going to school, but after I moved out of town I didn't really have motivation or somebody to which watch the show; I think the ratings dropped heavily (my bad, sorry) and it become the Celebrity Apprentice. The problem I had with that was the tasks were so grand: in one episode they are raising money to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They raise as much money in an episode or two as the winner receives on Survivor. The celebrities, while fighting nobly for their charities, really don't need to be there. Contrast that with this season's contestants who have all been "hit hard by the recession" and they fight hard.

Back in the days of the first couple seasons of The Apprentice, I had much grander dreams of what life would be like and seemingly, the drive to do it all. I'm not sure what happened to that version of myself, but while watching this show I get a gleam that he's still kicking about in there.

The Walking Dead

You know this show exploded onto the scene and continues to be AMC's highest rated show, which is a slight disappointment because other shows, like Mad Men and Breaking Bad deserve a big audience too. So who is watching the show? It took some convincing but I think my parents are (although I suspect my mom's interest will decline) and of course, us zombie lovers. If vampires get a whole host of their own shows, why not zombies?

It's because zombies are relatively one note villains: they want your brains and won't stop till their dead (again) or they've quenched their unending hunger. There's not much variation to them; they move slow or they move fast, they explode easily or are tough to kill, they are the result of a virus or other, mysterious circumstances. But a show like this isn't going to give you all the details of their zombie universe right away, except the obvious (slow, medium toughness).

Rick wakes up from a coma in a hospital, 28 Days Later style and stumbles into the fresh zombie apocalypse,  bringing the viewer along with him. I figure this is a good way to introduce us into it, and the first episode really is fantastic. Rick's reaction to the world around him is suitable, and the touching story of the father and son is really well done. The man's wife is roaming around as a zombie: he has an opportunity to kill her (put her out of her misery) or holding onto hope and letting her "live."

It's not long that Rick sets out to find his own wife and son, and falls into trouble. I won't spoil any of the plot for you; the series follows the comic loosely but stands on it's own, with new characters and situations. This is great, as being a reader of the comics, you're not already spoiled as you are kept in the dark.

I will mention a few things: you absolutely hate Rick's wife. Are we meant to hate her so much? In the comics she does some shady things, but I guess that character is a bit more compassionate and dimensional. I feel as though the show has too many characters going on, and they die before we get to know them. Granted, in the comic, people are dying all the time, but we get to spend more time with them. We still feel their deaths. Background characters are given screen time then killed; I didn't even know their names and am not "shocked" every time as I am in the comics. Sometimes you get a revolving door feel going on in the comics but I'm not sure the show can do that. They simply do not have enough time to develop these characters. This is something that Lost realized early on: stick with a core set of characters and flesh them out fully. Try to introduce new ones and it's too much for the audience and the show itself.

So the zombies aren't the focus, of course, the characters are. And I hope they spend more time with a select few of them. Let's see some flashbacks (we got one so far) and really delve into these people. Let's get them into crazy situations but always focus on the humanity behind it all. That is, after all what we love about zombie pieces.

Easy A

You have to know the primary motivator for watching this film is for Emma Stone. Every since you saw her in Zombieland, you were in love. And by you, I could very well mean, me. To each their own. You (ok, I) realized then that she was in Superbad, which wasn't all that great but I still have it on Blu-Ray, so whatever that tells you, ignore it. All of a sudden, she's driving her own movie. Obviously the Hollywood machine has decided she will be a star, or she is very talented. I'm no judge of acting ability unless it's really terrible, so all I can say is that she is not a terrible actress by any stretch. This leads me to believe that Hollywood has fallen in love with her, and for good reason. The fact that she will be Gwen Stacy concretes the idea.

So how does she fare in this movie? I was a bit skeptical but also a bit entranced by the trailer for this film: a girl, who is not a harlot, pretends to be by effectively allowing rumours to go around school indicating she is sleeping with every guy out there.She emblazes the letter 'A' on her clothes and dresses provocatively to really drive the nail home and let everyone know that she gets around. Things get a little hairy when the lies spin ever so slightly out of control, but for the most part the guys who pay for her "services" effectively have better lives as they become more popular, and in many of the cases, do much better because their self-confidence is improved, even though they did not actually commit the act.

So one of the major things I took away from this film was the telephone game: rumours spread like wildfire when they are juicy, and they spread like wildfire full of napalm when they spread in a high school. Modern society makes it so: everybody has a cell phone and armed with a text plan. As soon as something happens a single person can text a dozen, and then another dozen, compounded...you know how it works. Within an hour everybody should know the rumour or some variation on it. This is not something that I can relate to but definitely I can understand: when I was in high school there was nary a cell phone around (I think they were still relegated to being car phones) and even in university, cell phone usage was not high. In the past five years, it has exploded. There are stats out there that say the average person texts 60 times a day. Seriously? My brain melts out of my ears thinking about it.

There are a few other points to the movie that probably aren't worth discussing: it's funny and worth the watch. The movie wraps up with a happy ending but not for everybody: there are consequences. Teenagers are a funny bunch.

No, I'm Spartacus!

Alright, not the movie, but the Showtime series, Blood and Sand. This show really has it all: sex, violence, drama, gore. And honestly, despite some overly stylized and "fake" looking green screen, this show is quite compelling. I just finished watching the seventh episode and feel it safe to say I'm a fan of the show. The sale wasn't quite there for the first few, but the show is proving itself worth the watch. If not for anything else, then for the sex and violence.

In fact, what spurred me into writing about this was watching a gladiatorial bout and seeing a blade go through a knee. In typical movie fashion, the scene would flash quickly to the next cut, but no, not here. We see it, we see the turmoil, the brutality of it all. This show knows no shame: women in the stands are cheering, ripping off their shirts. Men are drinking from giant goblets. And they are digitally cloned to fill a stadium showcasing a truly wicked crowd: there is no way I would have survived a day in that universe.

With the star being treated for cancer, the second season is being delayed and I fear it will never see the light of day. Apparently there's a bit of a prequel series coming out that should fill the void. In the meantime I would advise everyone, including myself, to watch the original movie. I remember it being good, but my experience with it is foggy.

Skyline

My memory fails me: I could have sworn I wrote a one-liner on the trailer for Skyline. Perhaps I did, and the post never saw the light of day. Well, the fact is, I thought the trailer looked interesting, and I LOL'd when I saw the tongue latch onto a helicopter. The movie was dismissed. But, in my circle, there was excitement for this movie, and for good reason. Science fiction, starring a grotesque alien invasion with slick looking special effects and the hook: you look, you die.

I was misled and surprised when this movie came out, seemingly out of nowhere without fanfare. It was being critically panned: I was informed of an 11% rating. The tomato has been wrong in the past though.

In contrast to a movie such as Independence Day, this film takes place entirely from the perspective of a group of nobodies, holed up in the penthouse of a tall building that has prime viewing of the end of the world. ID4 takes you on a veritable trip of ranks, from the goofy crop-duster to the president himself, ending with such magnificence and massiveness that you can't help but be entertained as you cheer for human race. If anything, Skyline entertains but depresses at the same time, which is not all that surprising anymore. Gone are the days of gift wrapped happy endings: aliens are invading, they want our brains and there is no stopping them.

The movie doesn't convey emotions as well as it could, I suppose, but it gets the point across. I'm more concerned about these aliens; I'm left wanting more. Where do they come from? Are they purely organic? Are they cybernetically enhanced? Answering any of these would be bad as it would take you away from the near-first person perspective and shift you into the seat of the Watcher himself. Do we get a sequel? The ending seems to have left a few people thinking so. I kind of saw it as an extra infusion of cash to add some more to the movie.

Perhaps it is true: you either love this movie or hate it, except for a one person...you know who you are! This movie gets a respectable 7.5/10

Super Mario Galaxy

When did Super Mario Galaxy come out? The following Christmas I received the game as a gift, and so begins one of my greatest shames: I didn't put the disc into my system until most recently, i.e. two weeks ago. Now realize, that's not normal behaviour for anyone except those who lost faith in the Wii, and generally, Nintendo games.

I tried Twilight Princess on the Wii without much luck. I hated swinging the damn remote every time I wanted to attack. So, after a few hours I put the game away, hence ending my love for the series. It was hearbreaking. Mario was a series that I had already skipped once: Mario 64. I've played it dozens of times but never to completion; definitely not to the same vigor I played any Mario game preceding it. So, with a new Wii console under my credit card, it was time: I casually walked over to my library of games and could hear a squeek of a voice coming from the bottom of the shelf. I looked down. A cloud of dust erupted as I passed my hand over the line of white cases; I could hear the voice again. It was in my head.

Super Mario Galaxy was, all of a sudden, in the system. I was playing it. It felt...natural. It was....fun. What happened in the previous three years that prevented me from playing this? I've certainly had fun playing other games but a high caliber Mario game is something else to behold. Don't forget, this guy changed the way we played video games numerous times through his career.

I was so happy that motion controls did not take centre stage in this outing: you can point the remote at the screen the whole time to pick up gems, or not. Gems certainly help you throughout the game but you won't have a tired arm getting them. There are some "bonus" galaxies that utilize the remote in nifty ways, such as controlling Mario on a giant golf ball, or twist it about as you control Mario on a giant stingray. They are fun, as they break up the rest of the game. There are little throwbacks to coin rooms inside pipes; classic music and enemies roam about as you take on different suits such as the bee and boo.

The 3D aspect is taken to another level. I feel as though they've added another dimension to this game: you can be on one side of an object, run around and you are on the other side. You can be playing on a giant sphere with no boundaries. You get twisted around and play with gravity, and all the while the control just works. Some "planets" are big and just act like levels in previous Mario games. In other levels, you fly from planet to planet and when you step back to think about the amount of design consideration that has gone into them, you are amazed. Mario games have always had very excellent level design and that's what makes them really shine as platformers. This just amps it up a bit.

I realize that I was scared to play this game: it looked different and I wasn't sure how to play it. Perhaps that's what getting older is all about. If I was in my late twenties when Mario 64 came out, would I be too scared to play? Galaxy has reinvigorated my interest in the Wii; I play more casually, without worrying about points, achievements or how long I've been playing. I simply enjoy it.

Sherlock

Preface the forthcoming mind leak with the fact that I know nothing about Sherlock Holmes except the compulsory: he's a slick detective and he has a friend named Watson. The only real Sherlock Holmes product I've ever consumed are episodes of The Next Generation and the aptly titled RDJ vehicle, Sherlock Holmes. So why was I so incredibly pumped for the modern BBC interpretation?

I could feel the raw wave of awesomeness permeating through the Internet like the creeping intensity of the Inception foghorn. Taken me subconsciously, I actively sought out information on Sherlock and, the horror, watched a trailer for the show. This is an absolute first. In a day where I rarely view commercials and the only time I watch a new show is well after it's been proven - i.e. signed for a second season or reached critical mass - watching a trailer for a television show was a foreign concept for me. And the trailer rocked.

But I was scared that because it was the BBC, I would never be able to see this show. Thank you Internet! I watched the trailer and was pleasantly surprised to see the show starting in just a few days. The reverberation must have been strong, as this show exploded onto scene, and I downed it like a litre of chocolate milk.

The best part of the show is the quality, of course, of everything. Of most note is the length of each episode: an hour and a half. During this time we get more intimate with the characters; we get a more well-paced story; we get hooked, and I don't let go. It's sad to say, but this is a show that I never found myself reaching for the second screen. If you have an iOS device, you know exactly what I mean. And it's sad because this happens so frequently with other shows, and it's great because it did not happen with this show. At a proper length, the show becomes the event Lost used to be. I sit down, excited, with a bowl of snacks and a tall glass of sugar by my side. I get slightly giddy, and saddened (because it's no longer with us) how great Lost would have been had it clocked in at least an hour every episode; not forty four minutes, but a true hour or more.

The modern aspect of this adaptation is played out very nicely: even in today's techno-savvy world, there are still clues to be found and deducted upon (inducted?) without the use of lasers and image enhancement. Watching Holmes hop, skip, and jump to conclusions with only five minutes spent with a dead body is an amazing spectacle. And when it all gets explained you can help but feel that oomph as you ask yourself why everybody misses these obvious clues when they are right under their noses. But, that's the magic of the character.

Text messages and cell phones are used in abundance in the show, and when somebody does receive one, or a phone call, the message spills to life on the screen in an organic way, just as the Panic Room titles showed us it's OK to have on screen text stay in the fourth wall. Holmes uses the Internet on his phone all the time: while he may be incredibly brilliant, he's a master at the Internet search, proving that relevant the web is when you know how to use it.

The series is only three episodes long, but is still quite a bit of show to take in. It is definitely worth your time.

Red Wii Attack

Oh my, what have I done? With no intention of buying this limited edition printing of the Wii, I was overwhelmed with the urge once I saw it in stores. It was easy to dismiss it until you see it in person, which is very similar to how the Xbox 360 was purchased way back when.

The problem, of course was that I have a Wii, have had it for quite some time, and never really used it to the degree that any other gaming system has gotten. The motion control stuff is just lost on me; it's more of an annoyance than anything else. But, there are a growing collection of games that deserve some attention for their more "serious" approach; they at least minimize the motion control.

So this red edition comes out, bundled with New Super Mario Bros and the new Wii remote with the Motion Plus built in. Pretty snazzy, as I estimate this in my head as at least a hundred dollar value. Somehow, I get it in my mind that if I sell my current system for a decent chunk, buying the new will be equivalent to the purchase of the game and controller. Plus, it's red. I always regretted a little bit not getting the red 360. So this kind of makes up for it.

Picked up the new Wii tonight, wiped out my old system (and a real shame they make it so difficult to transfer downloaded games to a new system) and booted up the new. I even played the new Mario game for a few minutes and had fun doing it. So now I have this colourful system in my collection, and can't help but think this is all about gaming. It's fun, it's not hiding; the Wii is what it is. Just like the goofy looking Gamecube didn't fool around with extraneous features, the Wii is at it's core a game playing machine, and now it looks the part.

The National - Boxer

This post could be epic or sad; it may end in failure. I have been in love with this album for a very long time now, ever since I first listened to it. Dave introduced me to The National with the track Secret Meeting off their Alligator album. Something about it stuck with me, clicked instantly, to the point of seeking out all their other music. Boxer was released in 2007 and there is a chance I've listened to it hundreds of times; their sound is epic and sweeping. Matt's vocals are hypnotic; paired with the rest of the band, the intricate songs are addictions that never seem to get old. After all these years I love nothing more than to immerse myself in Boxer.

Fake Empire
This track starts off with a wicked piano; I read once that the referenced fake empire could be referring to the USA and it's citizens. People of the country being half-awake to what's going on around them and their role in the world; being told they live in the greatest empire in history but in reality, it's a delicate, verging on unstable land that they must "tiptoe through cities with glass slippers on." Regardless, the percussion and brass wake you up halfway through, getting you pumped for the rest of the album.

Mistaken for Strangers
This song could be described as brooding, perhaps with a somewhat monotone voice as its being pushed along with heavy drums. I just love the idea of being "mistaken for strangers by your own friends," a testament to people's blindness and self-absorption, perhaps. It becomes even more relevant when you love the movie American Psycho so much.

Brainy
Again, with a strong intro this song is almost stalkerish, or describing the intense feeling of falling in love without being allowed to. At least, it reminds me of something to that effect.The hopeful lyrics "you might need me more than you think you will" resonates with me as some kind of forbidden, unknown desire for a girl: I love her but she does not know, and if she does know my desire, she will not recognize it or any kind of desire back towards me.

Squalor Victoria
Again, it may be my own problem but reminds me of a girl. Specifically this song does as I can remember driving, thinking and being worried. "Out of my league, I have birds in my sleeves and I wanna rush in with the fools." The song ends with definitively, something that I can't attest to.

Green Gloves
A slower, more relaxed but sweeping song that resonates with the verses "get inside their heads, love their loves." This song always turns me introspective; the slow moving instruments attaching onto into my brain, moving it forward. As if, putting on my own green gloves, will give me just the boost I need.

Slow Show
This song comes alive to me with the lyric "you know I dreamed about you, for twenty-nine years before I saw you" and "I missed you for twenty-nine years." Truly epic. The instruments at this part become basic, effective and pronounced, with a beautiful piano and drum line. Twenty-nine years, because I am twenty-nine years old, and want to meet the love of my life; it's clear to me what the song is saying as it slowly descends out. This is definitely one of my favourite tracks as it feels deep, layered and personal.

Apartment Story
Just as the previous song ended slowly, this one hits you with sound and a hopefulness, as well as a story of getting older. This reminds me of approaching adulthood; becoming complacent, becoming tired more quickly but also becoming more aware. We have love to give and we are more capable of providing it now than we were when we were younger.

Start a War
This is the part of the album, where if I'm listening late at night and lying down, I will slowly drift to sleep. This song feels comfortable, with a slow build-up that feels like it's getting stronger but never quite jars you awake again. Nobody wants to start a war; stay and confront your battles.

Guest Room
If the last song put me to sleep this one brings me back to life with strong drums. Another song that reminds me of growing up; just as they throw you into prison, you can't do what you did when you were younger without consequences now. Talking about being in the guest room so often, and acting like deviants reminds me of being out of place with friends; we're not settling down. We'll always be holding on; we know change must be made but really, why would I want to?

Racing Like a Pro
Womanly hands? Shooting up the ladder? More coming of age; this album and the years I've been listening to it matches the themes perfectly as I enter into a career, become overwhelmed and my mind races to keep up. I was once glowing too but it feels too long ago. Dumbstruck is the key word here as this song can move me into a sadness that is both comfortable and scary.

Ada
This one is very catchy and gets my feet or head bopping along. The song sounds happier than it would seem; while I don't necessarily relate to this tune in particular I can feel the emotion running through it. It's very beautiful.

Gospel
The album ends perfectly with vocals being front and centre, with simple, supporting instrumentals. I feel as though everything comes together here.

It's weird to think that I'll be listening to this album thirty years from now, and loving it just as much as I do now. Perhaps that won't happen; I listen to Boxer and am reminded of my dream girl, a love lost and of dealing with growing up, letting go of the past and becoming more aware of who I am. It seems crazy, but this album is very emotional; I am attached to it now. It will remind me of long drives on icy roads, and of recovering from bad days, amongst other things.

Listening to it for the purpose of writing this article has not been the same as how I typically listen: eyes closed, volume slightly increased a total immersion in the melody. I can hear each instrument, focus on different parts every listen and experience this anew forever. Sometimes, when the mood is right I am moved, other times I just want to appreciate the music on a simpler level.

Truly, a terrific piece of art.

MediaSonic 4-Bay JBOD Enclosure

There was a time we all remembered, when hard drives were crazy inexpensive and you did not get a ton of space. Some of us remember more so than others: my father brought home a 10GB drive that was in the five and a quarter inch form factor (typically drives are three and a half). I remember having 200MB to play with; compression and file management were critical duties. Then you've seen the older ads, selling 20MB drives for thousands of dollars. In today's standards, $100 will get you more space than you could possibly use, right?

Well, 2TB is a lot, but is also not, at the same time. When dealing with a lot of large multimedia files, those terabytes can quickly dwindle. For the past couple of years we have been buying 1TB drives, and they have been treating us quite well; in the past few months, however, 2TB drives pricing has bottomed out and become the best value. So it's time to get some more space.

Where do you put all these drives? I have four data drives, plus one system drive in my computer case at the moment, and six externals connected via USB. I could squeeze some more into my case, perhaps slap a SATA controller in there for added ports, and convert some external five and a quarter bays into hard drive cages, but that seems like a lot of work, especially with the advent of inexpensive external devices, such as NAS and USB/eSATA enclosures.

I settled on the four bay MediaSonic HFJ2-SU2 enclosure, which offers me four drive bays with a simple USB interface and JBOD functionality. The JBOD thing is new to me, and am glad that one of it's modes is to allow the computer to recognize each drive as it's own. Perhaps down the road, when drive letters are becoming scarce, I would experiment with the other modes, such as four drives becoming two.

Unpacking the device leads to a structurally sound, not-cheap feeling product. I'm sure more expensive devices could offer a few more luxuries, but this definitely does the trick. You open the front door, and you are met with a metal grate; pinch this out and you can slide the drives in. The drives get plastic handles with foam on the front, so when the metal grill is replaced, the connections are made that much tighter, and I imagine vibration would be reduced.

The fan is located on the back, with some front ventilation ports which I assume will have air pulled through and exhausted out. The fan has various modes - I've left it on 'auto' - but I'm not concerned about heat: I always buy 5400 RPM "green" drives as I don't need blazing speeds to access files (my system drive is a speedier 7200RPM). It's not particularly noisy; in fact I've noticed my PS3 is noisier than my computer and drives, but that could be because it's closer. But if you were looking at a bunch of these, running off a server and in a different room, noise would be a non-issue. Power them off when not in use and you are laughing.

Connect the power, connect to the computer via USB, power everything on and you're rolling like you've just installed drives into your computer and connected them. Initalize them, format them if you want (who does anything more than a quick format on multiple TB's these days anyhow?) and you have yourself some inexpensive storage. Buying OEM internal drives and putting them into these enclosures should save you not only money (as opposed to multiple externals), but power, less cable clutter and less headache. And the way the drives are, if the enclosure dies, the drives are easily salvageable.

My particular model does not support RAID and I'm happy it doesn't. I want to maximize space and worry about backups myself. The types of files I'm storing, and how much space they take up, makes it impractical and expensive to do proper backups anyway: prioritize what you need to backup and be realistic. I'll post more about that later on as I move into cloud-based backups. One last thing: this product scores huge bonus points for including a very sturdy screwdriver with it!

Embedded slideshow below, click on it to be brought to the full size images.

Mediasonic HF2 (November 2, 2012)

Movie Update

• The Golden Compass - I finally get around to seeing this film, and I could see why. There was a saturation of these fantasy movies, but I guess it makes sense when they are based on popular books. Unfortunately I didn't pay much attention to this as it was on, but thought the idea of the other world, where people have their "souls" outside their bodies in the form of animals and call them demons...was pretty neat. 6/10
• Jack Brooks Monster Slayer - Definitely a great movie to watch on Halloween: good old monster fun: humour, gore, and the promise of more. 7.5/10
• Saw 3D - I've never been massively into the Saw series but they are entertaining; this one was a little disappointing; the 3D definitely did not add anything. 5/10

Deadgirl

While perusing my recommendations from Netflix, I stumbled into a category called "mind-bending visual thrillers" or something abstract like that, and saw this movie headlining it. Recommended, I'm sure, because I watched The Human Centipede and this movie is similar because...it's twisted? But really, this is the better movie.

Reading the description I was drawn immediately, as they describe two young fellows who are exploring an abandoned hospital then discover something horrifying in the bowels; obviously the title. I could relate a little because, being a young fellow and having some experience with a friend exploring some abandoned buildings one day...but that's where it ends. We did not find any dead women. But it's always a possibility.

And of course these two kids start out as jerks, trashing the place and generally wreaking havoc. They discover this "dead" girl who does appear to be barely alive, confined to bed/table and also, being totally creepy. There was something in her eyes that really got you, and I guess that was the desired effect. You should be aware of the spoilers that are sure to follow. The film gets interesting as these two abandoned kids diverge almost immediately: one wants to call the police, the other wants to "wait and see." The wheels get churning in his head with possibilities I guess.

So they leave, the half way sensible one churning back and forth with what's just happened, and when he returns, we find out his buddy has been playing with the dead girl, and discovered that she was, in fact, dead. And has come back alive. A confined zombie girl? You got it. Then the rapes start, as they bring another morally devoid guy into the mix, as the two take their turns we get a little back story on these misguided youth. Bullied at work and abandoned by their families: the sensible is calling out for his mother every time he goes home but she's never there, just her boyfriend who offers sage but ignored advice. We get a brief description of the other guy, who is now setting up shop with the dead girl, that he lives practically on his own as both of his parents are out of the picture, leaving only his grandmother.

So we have an abandoned zombie girl and two abandoned kids mixing it up, and you get it. This movie has social commentary all over the place and you appreciate it, despite the disturbing and really, troubling imagery present throughout. The movie gets a decent 6/10; I really thought it would be much more terrible.

Movie Update

Slightly slower week for movies, but I did manage to squeeze a few in.

• Zombieland - I think this will prove itself as a good go-to movie for some maniacally gruesome and funny zombie action. Gives me the urge to watch Shaun of the Dead again. 8/10
• Ghost Writer - An incredible movie with great atmosphere, character and intrigue to keep me gripped and interested. 8/10
• Grown Ups - Really just a wretched piece of work. I guess it has some redeeming values but the comedy felt very contrived. 4/10

Blu Alien

I couldn't help but get wrapped up in the excitement of the upcoming Blu Ray release of the Alien Quadrilogy. There are a few things that make me hesitant, first and foremost is the increased standards I have for disc purchasing. It's tough.

The biggest problem here is what I'll assume: these movies are only available in a package, and not individually. Is this a big deal? It is. I have never seen the third and fourth Alien movies. Shameful. The first two are such masterpieces I guess the desire to watch the others was minimized.

I bought those real nice, numbered collectors editions of the first two on DVD many years ago. Of course the quality was great and all, the packaging was fantastic but I never looked at the special features. It would take years for me to realize that just didn't need them; in fact I would tease myself with purchasing Superbit editions such as Panic Room and The Fifth Element. All the bits were devoted to the picture and sound, nothing wasted on relatively useless features.

So I started writing this with the intention of bringing this page to your attention: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare2/alien.htm It's hardcore; like, Rocklords hardcore. What got my attention and the reason I was browsing to it initially was a bit of fuss on the aspect ratio and cropping that was coming on these Blu Ray editions. Clearly, with the comparisons there seems to be, but nothing worth getting excited for. Just look at all the extra detail you're getting! What's really terrifying on these sorts of pages are the graphs comparisons the bitrates of the various editions. Also, the design is atrocious.

In the end I won't be making an effort to purchase these...simply because I don't want the complete package. Eventually they have to release these individually, and perhaps do away with the silly extra's discs. 

Feed Her!

Absolutely disgusting. Absolutely fascinating. Absolutely ridiculous.

Quite a few months ago I downloaded this trailer not knowing what it was about; Cale and I viewed it. We recoiled in horror and laughter. Obviously not a movie that was coming to a theater near you, I had to spread the word. The Human Centipede would become a joke and before you knew it, the film was all over the internet. Oddly enough, I saw this on Netflix and couldn't help myself: morbid curiosity got the best of me.

So the film centers around two American women, lost in the woods of Germany, who get caught up in an evil, mad scientist's jonesing to build a human centipede. That is, sewing three people together...well, I won't go into much detail. You can find more on the web; it's pretty disgusting, and quite the spectacle. The movie definitely delivers gross outs, terrible scenarios and questionable character actions. Instead of following the road when their car breaks down, the girls decide to tromp through the woods.

But, a movie like this doesn't have to make sense, it just has to entertain. And I was fairly surprised to find the quality of the film to be "up there." I was expecting a pretty low budget movie without that Hollywood gloss, but it was there. What's adding to that whole sentiment is how this idea gets pitched, accepted, budgeted and filmed. Who wants to be a part of such depravity? Well, the movie probably deserves the 5.1 rating it's receiving on IMDB, but I question the decision to produce a sequel (of course, it was probably quite inexpensive to make, and hence, pretty profitable).

Who knows though, perhaps this will be a cult phenomenon years down the road, as we gobble up special editions and recuts while we bask in the nostalgia of such a horrible idea.

Southland

Well, where do you even start? This show had me on edge constantly. I can even describe how into this show I would get; so much so that I couldn't watch the whole series/season episode to episode. I had to wait weeks between. You have to figure that a part of why it took so long was because I just didn't want the show to end.

Apparently, the entire series was filmed at once (all thirteen episodes), and the first seven were aired as season one. For some reason, NBC decided to drop the show and the second season, really the last half of the first, was picked up by TNT and aired. And, according to Wikipedia a new season is coming out January 2011. This is tearing: will the "re-imaged" be anywhere near as "crackling" as the original? I sincerely doubt it.

Basically it takes a very specific "cop show" to get me interested; when I was a bit younger my dad and I spent some time watching Adam-12, and if this makes any sense, it had that same rawness as Southland does. It just had cops doing what cops do best. Of course, if I were to watch that old series now that comparison between the two shows is probably razor thin, but that's the way I choose to remember it.

This show as quick, emotionally engaging and sharp; the characters were fantastic, the intro complete with that music is pure classic, the narration is tight and binding. I would be satisfied if the series ended as it did; in and out with a bang.

Movie Update

In keeping with the (requested) bullet lists, and the fact that I do enjoy them, here are some movies I've seen in the past week or so, and oddly enough, a numeric rating indicating how much enjoyment I got out of it. Or perhaps the numbers don't mean much, you be the judge.

• The Killer Inside Me - A slick little movie with a great performance by Casey Affleck; 7/10
• Cloverfield - I was scared to watch this movie again, one, because the monster is slightly scary and two, I was worried my enjoyment of it would be sullied. Both are true (just a tad), but I got a real kick out of the it; 8/10
• Shutter Island - Was I supposed to know "the deal" the entire time, or was the movie spoiled for me before? Either way you take it, this was a fantastic movie; 9/10
• THX 1138 - I recall liking this more the first time I saw it years ago. My mind just wasn't into it this time though; 6/10
• Evil Dead - Really, just a classic. 10/10

Photography in Motion

One of the things I always wanted to try out was some motion in photos, and this past summer I had an opportunity when I tagged along with my sister and niece to Canada's Wonderland. The goal of this type of shot (there must be a term for it, but I'm terrible, and don't have it) is to capture your subject in focus, while their surroundings are blurred, showing that they are, in fact, moving.

Alright, enough with the clumsy description!

First Outing in Urban Exploration

We went exploring some abandoned structures a few weeks ago, here is a small photo gallery of the adventure: Abandoned Durham A couple of the images are below, but click on the link for the full gallery; and more offline if you are interested.

Grain Elevator in Pontypool - that's right, from the movie!

Notable Trailers

I've been struggling with a method of putting up my trailer watching habits for so long, I figured the towel is thrown, and just let it flow.

• True Grit - Well this trailer rocks; I've never been a huge fan of westerns, but this remake has me interested in seeing both. I remember my dad's Beta copy of True Grit laying around the house when I was a kid.
• Paranormal Activity 2 - It's hard for me to put into words: I'm interested in this because it doesn't look like they are trying to hide the fact that this is a cash-grabbing sequel, and with that in mentality, the film could be a nice, consumable horror movie.
• The Tempest - Julie Taymor strikes again; Titus garnered my weird interest, and this looks even more so: visually striking and full of interesting characters. What more could you expect from a modern adaptation of Shakespeare?
• IP Man - Most likely won't be seeing this in theatres: just way too ridiculous (but also looking kind of fun)
• 127 Hours - Yes, this is a must watch. 'Nuff said.
• Skyline - Another War of the Worlds with the absolute bleak, no-win situation. Premise looks good but the giant bug-tongues got me laughing.

Memory Conversion

I was tasked with converting a number of old high school-era videos into some kind of digital format, with the obvious choice being DVD. It doesn't matter what you choose, however, because the purpose is the same: preservation. Being the procrastinator that I am, I am just now getting around to it, and there are moments of course, that the goal of preservation becomes questionable.

Do you just leave these memories alone? The mind has already constructed them in detail of it choosing, suppressing the bad, enhancing the good and scrubbing the ugly. A video camera preserves, without judgement and objectively, your memories for you. Watching them can take an emotional toll.

But there are good moments; seeing a group of friends driving in a car you once loved, seeing the fashions (and how they haven't changed that much for some) and laughing at some of the ridiculous things we used to do. And of course, the bad: cringing whenever you see or hear yourself and dreading those embarrassing moments. In order to do this sort of project, you must be willing to step back and realize: what's done is done, you were who you were and you're a better person for it now. Or whatever helps you sleep at night, your call.

Right now I'm just doing the analog to digital conversion; this process is done in real time of course, and for my setup, I do not have any sound. This, I know right now, is a good thing. Later on, the video must be de-interlaced and converted to something a little more practical for casual viewing, at which point I'll probably have a little more insight into what I've witnessed.

True Blood: Travesty

When you have seasons of television available, do the seasons get titles? Individual episodes do, but when you see these on shelves, it's always boring "season six" or "volume two." They should get on that.

The third season of True Blood has wrapped up and, being generally "excited" for each episode, I watched them on a weekly basis. I was only a few in when I first wrote about the third season, but now that the whole debacle is over, I can easily say this was a massive disappointment. There are a number of things wrong with this season, but the most offensive is how characters have entire story arcs that go nowhere and don't cross paths with other stories. Even in season two things came together, but here, you have a situation where, for example, Sam's story is completely irrelevant to the interests of the series. Not once does his new found family of shifters and dog-fighting matches cross paths with Sookie, Jason, or any bit characters. The whole arc is there just to fill time.

So that sort of thing goes on, then there is the terribleness of the characters themselves: Jason goes from absolute idiot to courageous protector randomly and unevenly. There are too many meta-humans? The werewolves are presented as weak, stupid and trailer trash. It's unfortunate such a magnificent beast is treated like garbage, although we should keep in mind the show's headliner are still vampires. And now they are introducing witches and wizards? Fairies? Spoiler: they should have left "what is Sookie" alone.

About the only good thing, looking back, is Eric. Just give this guy his own show. Skaarsgard is fantastic and I'm keen to see more of what he's done [watch Generation Kill] and will be doing. You know he's the star: at the very end of the last episode, he is buried alive, but instead of making us wait a year hanging onto the cliff, we wait about two minutes before he shows up again.

Many of these shows make it hard to wait for the next season, but I am definitely not awaiting the next now.

Netflix Primer

The first time I streamed something over the Internet was most likely fourteen years ago when I first hopped onto "high speed" service. High speed quoted simply because by today's standards, well, let's just say it's come a long way and I would love to post about those days some other time. The method of delivery was Realplayer, unfortunately still around and because of those terrible years, has a horrible stigma around the name (to me, at least, I assume everybody hates it). What was streamed? I have no idea, but an educated guess would be a movie trailer.

Essentially the quality was terrible, there was lots of buffering and yeah, the quality was horrible. But what can you expect in terms of quality back then? I remember downloading Quicktime movie trailers back then that were about 240x152 or something ridiculous like that. So you can imagine what a stream would be. Overall not a great experience, and something that I wouldn't go back to until my hand is forced with sites such as Youtube. Quality is getting better, as is the whole experience.

So you can now stream a few minutes, in high quality, but a whole movie? I've ignored the whole scene, only taking a peek at a few articles here and there, until Netflix launched in Canada a few days ago. So there are lots of questions but we'll get right to the point: can I stream high definition onto my television and watch a movie without interruption? The first test would be yes, yes you can.

Now, Primer is the definition of a low-budget, indie flick so the quality cannot be superb, and perhaps is not the best movie for testing a streaming service like this, but quality be damned, this movie is one of the best. Just one last note on the quality: it did have some of those "streaming artifacts" and blocking present, so in considering choosing this format or a disc, the disc is always going to win. But something must be said for the convenience of selecting a movie and you watching it within seconds.

They say Primer was filmed for $7000 but you would never know it: the low-budgetness is built right into the film: a young group of what we can only call inventors, are inventing. They are cost-conscience and using whatever they can around the house. We have no idea what they are building and it doesn't matter. They speak in another tongue that you should be able to understand, and you sort of do, but moving onto the next scene it hits you that you are still unclear what just happened.

And then you are watching a movie about avoiding doubles and time travel. Things get interesting and tense, as the movie progresses things start making sense but it's still unclear how this device works, but don't worry, it's not relevant. This movie has such lofty ideas and doesn't hold back; you appreciate the ability and freedom to analyze what you've just seen after the movie is done.

I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the end but that's not going to get me down. Primer is a blast to watch, and reaffirms my faith in science fiction film-making: it's more about the ideas than the special effects.

How I Met Your Mother

Something happened to the sitcom and myself (and some of my friends) that deemed them obsolete and terrible. What contributed was the laugh track: if a show had a laugh track you could not watch it and your life would be better. But that's only for modern shows, say, in the past ten years or so. Nostalgia has a way of overpowering reason, and "classic" shows will always be as such, making it easy even now to watch re-runs of Friends in moderation.

I would hazard a guess and say that everyone is on the same boat, judging by the fact that half hour sitcoms have decreased in numbers significantly, being replaced by a boat load of CSI clones and legal dramas. Oh, and don't forget about the ridiculous volume of reality television wandering around too.

There have been a few short comedies that I've been watching (and enjoying) such as The Office (which is getting terrible), Parks and Recreation (which is getting better) and 30 Rock (which is the best). When How I Met Your Mother was suggested to me, I met it with great hesitation. I watched the first episode, or did I? Something may have happened and I didn't get any farther than that. I wasn't overly impressed, and it would be at least a year before I tried again.

Success. Consider me hooked. In my prejudice I've forgotten how well written and sharp a traditional "sitcom" could be. This show does have me laughing out loud on occasion, and I feel as though it is "keeping it fresh" so to speak. So what happens is that I watch the entire first season in about two weeks, and you could expect that I'll be done the second in half that time. Twenty-two minutes is nothing to consume; no real commitment is made and even at twenty two episodes a season, it just feels right. Truly, I have become conditioned on these hour long, twelve episode seasons found elsewhere.

Shut Up or Die

Pontypool. The movie. If you haven't seen it: see it.

One of the most interesting things about getting into a new zombie (franchise, if necessary) is exploring the world weaved. How is the zombification spread? What type of zombies are they? Do they move fast, slow? Do they have superpowers? This film delivers: the "infection" is spread through the English language and what better setting for the entire duration of the film than a talk radio sound booth?

This is a Canadian production and as such you can't expect very much out of it; I did not. But the movie delivers on a regular movie standard, and is not a situation where you would say "that was good, considering it's a Canadian movie." The type of originality you see here is astounding, and when you consider that it must have been done on a budget you enjoy it all the much more for it. And unlike other low-budget films, this one works that to its advantage: taking place in one area the entire time, i.e. the sound booth, and with a skeleton crew for a cast, it all lines up with a small town, small-budget radio station doing its thing every morning. It's perfectly woven into the delivery of the story and the concepts.

Through the call-ins, interviews and conversations with the field reporter, the situation progresses we are pulled in and our imagination can freely go wild. This movie is not going to show us too much as many others do, showcasing budget CGI, or revealing the creature at the end of the film.

Everything just clicks and this movie bubbles up to the top areas of my favourite movies, for at least the past couple of years.

Demons aren't interested in poor people

Wow, sorry about that.

The Unborn was not a movie I would watch on my own, although the poster grabbed my attention: the backside of a beautiful, underwear-clad woman. And she delivers a couple of times throughout the movie, but what really stood out for me was how stinking rich these people are. These are late-teens, going to college or university or some super-rich private school they live in mansions all by themselves. Perhaps it's on the cutting room floor but lady there and all her friends live in their own respective mansions with no parents in site. So when she has to go around breaking all the mirrors in her house (you've seen Mirrors too right?) you think to yourself "just a few mirrors, here and there."

No, she has about a hundred to break up. I'm not even sure I've looked in 100 different mirrors my entire life, but they are everywhere in her house. And does it accomplish much? No. One of the things that I did not understand was that this demon has a variety of ways to get into other people's bodies, mirrors and so on but it's never clearly defined. So when she breaks up the mirrors, the demon just does something else that is convenient. So you are cheated, because there are no rules.

But there are some cool sequences, gruesome deaths and ridiculous dialog/characters. A snack of a movie best served with friends casually.

Goose on the Move

Sometimes I park in the donut at work: this is not as delicious as it should be, but every so often I make up for this and purchase a donut at work, but not in the morning.

The donut is a small roundabout in front of one of the entrances at work; in fact it's the entrance I use all the time as it's nice and close to my office. Or perhaps I should just say, my desk. In any event this little roundabout has a bit of a circular "garden" in the middle, which serves a couple of functions. One of which I suppose is to control chaos, forcing traffic in a particular direction. The other is to look pleasant. And I quote garden because I'm not sure what constitutes a garden: I am indeed not knowing. This particular collection of plants seem to grow pretty naturally, look pretty harsh to walk through and in general, is not colourful or flowerful. But it's still nice.

So I was approaching the circle and a goose was making its way quickly to this little planted area. As I slowed to begin going around the donut, the goose was stretching it's neck to see over the low shrubbery, calculating the height of these plants and quickly looking to either side. He sought refuge, and was uncertain if he found it. 

I circled around the donut to the opposite side and stopped the car. I pop open the door and this goose is just crashing through the brush, not caring what he's stepping on yet going full speed because he's terrified of this little island of green. I just didn't understand why he didn't fly, as well as why he was alone: these things are always in gangs. He sees me and stops. Now he must face the decision of killing me or going back. His first though must have been murder as he yelled, squawking a few good times. He's harmless though. I proceeded to the building and LOL'd.  

The Box

What a ridiculous title, but what a ridiculous idea. It's impossible to tell by the previous statement but I really enjoy the concept of this device: push a button, grab a clean million, somebody dies, all is good, right? The obvious moral/ethical dilemma had me believe this would be such a boring movie, that I was caught off guard on just how...decent, the film was. I still had a lot of problems with it though: is it really necessary for Diaz to try that accent all the time?

And I was lost. I didn't know until the credits rolled that this was Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame and confusion. So it perfectly explains the WTF directions this movie took abruptly and frequently. The sci-fi element was injected into your skull hard before you had a chance to prepare yourself. My brain was left abused, and I wasn't sure what to do afterwards. What did the average movie-goer think of this old switcheroo as they left the theatre? Or perhaps it's that I watched the trailer, dismissed the movie and if any attention was paid, I would know it was going to be a confusing mental exercise. Hell, I watched it on a Saturday afternoon as an afterthought; something to fill the background.

So while I have nothing interesting to say about the movie, I would say it felt good to watch a movie in the afternoon, but it was tough overcoming the crushing guilt of sunny skies and a cool wind outdoors. These are the sacrifices we must make though.

True Blood

I'm now five episodes into the third season of True Blood, and I get that slight inkling that I'm going to watch this show for as long as it's on simply because it is what it is. This is to say, the first season was tremendous. The second season was great, but the characters were uneven. The third season is having a difficult time grasping me the way the previous two did. I can't quite put my finger on it; perhaps there are too many vampires in pop culture now; perhaps it's the general lack of Sookie nudity. We'll never know.

So they've introduced werewolves into the series now, which sounds great but I find lacking. Perhaps they will take on a bigger role and become more involved. But then again, I know they can't take the center stage because this show is all about vampires, after all. It's great that they have other mythical creatures roaming about and I always hope they expand on them. Werewolves seem to have the ability to change at any time, which seems odd, right?

But what's really going on are the flashbacks with Northman. The show has featured flashbacks, obviously to go into details of how a vampire was turned, but we keep going back to a wide variety of time periods with Northman and they are great. By far, this character will be the most fleshed out, involved and quite simply interesting one in the series. Which is a problem, because Sookie, and some of her friends, are just getting terrible. Essentially, the unevenness introduced in the second season continues with this one, but we can always hold out hope that it gets tied together in the end. A part of me knows the best way to watch these shows is one after another within a short period, not once per week.

All that being said, the quality of the show is still quite high and I don't want to give you the wrong impression: I look forward to it every week

In the end, what you believe is yours to decide

The Fourth Kind starts out with Milla appearing on screen and telling you that the following movie is based on events that occured back in 2000, and that the director has spliced in actual footage and audio recordings from not only interviews, but those police car mounted cameras, depicting these events.

It's so genius that I got a hint of watching the original Hulk movie by Ang Lee: the frame would get split between the movie re-enactment and the archived footage, sometimes expanding one while shrinking the other, as well as adding different angles and shuffling them around the screen. The mechanic was implemented really well, and added to the movie. The audio recordings would be played, then the movie re-enactment would pick it up, or sometimes they were being played at the same time, just to show you how faithful they were being.

When they give you the warning at the beginning of the movie that it was going to be disturbing, you are that much more engaged believing these are true events. Some of the imagery was indeed terrifying, and as I tried to sleep that night images would flash into my mind: other worldly-possession, levitation and the voices. It was all great. It's not often that movies stick with me in this way and for that, I have to give it credit. While many of the events were questionable, the idea that they actually occurred is something you can choose to lose yourself into.

Saw IV

These movies are ridiculous, but the sadist in me seems to enjoy the creative ways in which people get dispatched. After twenty some odd years of watching various genres of movies, you've seen a lot of people die on screen, and in many different ways. In fact there must be some good top ten lists devoted to the subject, and if I was a person who cared, you would get one on this very site: but I'm lazy.

Dave and I went to see the first Saw in theatres, and I'm pretty sure we thought it was terrible. Am I mistaken? Because years later I would re-watch this same film, and decide that it was OK. There must be some scientific name for this effect: the first iteration becomes better as the number of sequels increases, with each one decreasing in quality. Or perhaps the first Saw was actually a decent movie, with an original concept, decent acting and proper execution (haha...sorry).

So I watched this one, expecting nothing really but graphic murders. Perhaps it was because the air conditioning was causing too much noise, but I had no idea what was going on here. It also didn't help that I was falling asleep on and off to varying degrees throughout the movie. What's the worst though is that I don't know who any of these characters are: I get the impression they've been involved in the previous movies but I can't be certain of their significance. I was really thrown off at the end when it seems that two of the characters look almost identical: I thought perhaps Jigsaw finally cloned somebody: your doppelganger murdering you, just because he can. Damn.

I just want to throw one more thing into why I enjoy the Saw movies: they are horror movies I can safely watch and know they are not going to give me nightmares later on. Just safe,good old fashioned family entertainment.

Greenberg

I first saw the trailer for this, and was intrigued. Then I realized that it was the same director who did The Squid and the Whale, and I was sold. I'm a huge fan of the aforementioned movie: great performances, screenplay, directing, story, atmosphere: everything. While Greenberg does not live up to the quality of the Squid it was a fascinating study of a conflicted (and flawed?) character. Also, SPOILER ALERT, because I have to. Just skip the rest of this if you haven't seen the film.

One of the things I always look for in a movie like this, is character change, whether it's for the better or worse. In fact, I think that's one of the things I learned back in grade school regarding good story-telling: your protagonist should improve upon themselves in some way. But, I'm not expert. However, I did see this mechanism at work on Greenberg himself. Early in the film, Greenberg meets Florence and immediately attempts to woo her with (from his perspective) his good taste in music. And this sets the tone as this guy is just a robot right now; you know he does this with every woman he finds attractive. They do not seem to hit it off, but a few scenes later he calls her up, ends up going to her place and he goes down on her. While this is happening her shirt is removed and everything is on display, but Greenberg does not appreciate it. In fact, it's just autonomous like the robot he is, and completely in line with his self-serving behaviour he exhibits throughout the rest of the film.

Later on though, as they "take it slow" and they call the situation into question, it becomes clear that Greenberg has more of an interest in Florence, but even to him, he is unsure what it is. Then the moment: she leans over revealing quite a bit of cleavage, and he finds himself staring down her shirt. The camera focuses on her chest, then goes back to Greenberg. It's quite subtle, but it's there: he's seen "the good" before but is now just seeing her for the first time, and seeing in himself that he has fallen in love.

So there it is. The film also touches on a few other issues and in general, was a satisfying watch.

Lego Rock Band

There are too many Rock Band and Guitar Hero games out there. There are not ENOUGH Rock Band and Guitar Hero games out there. The conflict is strong.

I absolutely love going through these games, and also, enjoying them with friends. I find it quite relaxing to just go through set list after set list, blasting through some quality tunes. It's also a lot of fun playing the hits with your friends. What I do not get a lot of enjoyment from, is trying to improve my skill on these games: I'm a player who is stuck at medium; that extra colour is just asking for a little too much. However, that is not entirely true as I can play quite a few songs on hard mode, with the bass guitar only though: hard guitar is just too much. 

Rock Band came around and it was a bit easier [than the Guitar Hero series], but I don't get a kick out of endlessly practicing, which is why I'm excited when a new iteration comes out, with a selection of good songs. I will not pay full price though: I've waited until now, when the game is under twenty dollars, to pick up Lego Rock Band. I've picked up Guitar Hero Aerosmith months ago for $4.99. At such prices, they are an incredible value of gameplay.

Do you like the "Lego" games humour? Perhaps I'm too dense, but I just don't get it. I'm not a fan of it. I've tried playing Lego Batman and it's just too weird. I also don't like how I have no clear idea of what is going on in these games: why are there so many areas that I just can't get to? Perhaps I'm too used to being spoon-fed linear gameplay and I've lost the ability to play games that are geared towards children (but appeal and are enjoyed by adults, calm down)? Turns out they are pulling a Donkey Kong 64 on us all. I won't stand for it. 

The fact is, Lego Rock Band is just a skin: the note highway is the same thing, but instead of shiny bars, you get Lego bricks. You get Lego characters, who I think look terrible and the customization doesn't sit well: the bodies are always a different shade than the faces?! And you get Lego cut-scenes, complete with lack of speech and that Lego humour. I skip them.

But it's all about the music, and this game has a good selection. I'm not going out buying pop albums, but I enjoy playing through these oddly catchy tunes in game. I'm glad they are there as they give you a break from the classic rock and metal that is abundant in the Guitar Hero series. They also further refine the tour mode which is...good.

For me, these games are a reprieve from your "hardcore" titles, such as Assassin's Creed or Mass Effect. I'm actually hoping that after a few hours of this, I will be able to pick up Mass Effect II. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go download all the Franz Ferdinand tracks for Rock Band!