Caddickisms

Silverado is one of my favorite westerns. It’s fun, exciting, has a good story, and features at least seven of my favorite big name actors (Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, John Cleese, and Jeff Goldblum). The bad guys are bad, and the good guys are good—even the ones who used to be bad guys. I even like the music.

Kevin Costner plays one of the most fun, energetic roles I’ve seen him in, and he does a great job. Some say he steals the show in this movie, and I can see that, but my favorite characters in this one are Mal (Glover) and Paden (Kline). They seem to be the most sympathetic characters, plus they get a good share of the memorable lines. Here’s a sample:

Paden: Hangin’ around with you is no picnic.

Mal: If I find any cattle on our land, I’m gonna start carvin’ them into steaks. And believe me, that’s one thing I know about.

Paden: What is it you want from me?
Cobb: Nothin’. Do nothin’. Don’t get between us.
Paden: I’m a great believer in doin’ nothin’.
Cobb: We understand each other then?
Paden: Don’t worry about me. If you’re taking on Emmett, the LAST place I want to be is between you.

And my favorite line from the movie:

Mal: Now, I don’t wanna kill you, and you don’t wanna be dead.

There’s nothing particularly mind-blowing about the film, but it’s very well acted, very well directed (by Lawrence Kasdan), has a good script, and as I said, is just plain fun to watch.

Even if you don’t like westerns in general, I think this movie will appeal to everyone. I give it four out of five stars.

Bonus points if you can guess my second favorite line (Hint: it’s not above, and it’s delivered as a throw-away)

Technorati Tags: Silverado, movie, review, western, Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Lawrence Kasdan

Related posts

• Summer Movie List 2 - Revenge of the Trailer (3)
• Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand (0)
• Review: Walk the Line (0)
• Review: V for Vendetta (0)
• Review: Underworld: Evolution (0)

My friend and I first saw this movie in the mid-eighties on the recommendation of a video store clerk. That was probably the best tip we ever got from a video store clerk (and we got a lot of them… we had a lot of free time on our hands).

Now, about 20 years later, much of the detail of the movie had faded from memory. I couldn’t remember more than a couple of scenes, let alone how it ended. All I really knew was that I loved it and that I had witnessed pure talent. What stuck with me most from that first viewing were three things: the hedge maze from the beginning (I love those things), the excellent writing, and the superb acting.

Sleuth began its life as an extremely successful two-man play, and the movie seems to be staged very similarly—you can almost picture the sets laid out on the stage, the actors demanding your full attention—and in this movie, that’s a treat. Olivier and Caine provide brilliant performances, and both were nominated as Best Actor for 1972’s Oscars (the award went to Brando for The Godfather).

The plot is superbly spun. I don’t want to give anything away, but by the end you’ll be guessing about who to believe about anything. This is a story that—for the most part—doesn’t treat the audience like idiots. You actually have to pay attention, listen, and think to fully grasp what is happening. There isn’t enough of that in most movies these days.

While I really do love this movie, the verbal fencing match (which is both well done and necessary) does slow the pacing down in the first act, and a bit of the second, which means it can’t pull in the coveted 5 star rating I’d love to give it. It’s a solid 4 star film, though. Easily one of the best mystery movies I’ve ever seen. Twice now, I didn’t see the end coming.

(In visiting IMDB to get the link above, I ran across this remake planned for 2008. Caine returns, but takes the Olivier role and Jude Law steps in as Milo. With Kenneth Branagh directing, this could be an excellent movie. Sadly, I doubt it will be a box-office success, but I hope I’m proven wrong.)

Technorati Tags: Sleuth, mystery, play, movie, murder, Michael Caine, Lawrence Olivier, Jude Law

Related posts

• Summer Movie List 2 - Revenge of the Trailer (3)
• Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand (0)
• Review: Walk the Line (0)
• Review: V for Vendetta (0)
• Review: Underworld: Evolution (0)

SCI FI Wire | The News Service of the SCI FI Channel

SCI FI Channel’s award-winning series Battlestar Galactica will move to a new timeslot starting Jan. 21, 2007: Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, following the premiere of the new original series The Dresden Files at 9 p.m.

When I first heard this, I thought it was a bonehead move. Suits moving things around for no good reason, and dismantling a good thing. After all, Sci-Fi had me locked in for a minimum of 3 hours every Friday night (much to my wife’s dismay) with Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis, plus a BSG kicker. Then they cancelled SG-1 and now they’re moving BSG? What does that leave me with on Fridays?! Where’s my block programming?! Now I have to be content with Atlantis and maybe Doctor Who in prime-time Friday slots. Maybe they’ll throw a Heroes rerun in there. Actually, that’s not a bad line-up, but it’s nowhere near as hard of a hit as the original Sci-Fi Friday block.

But while I still feel that pain, I’ve taken some time to think about it and it’s not that boneheaded. On any given weeknight, Sci-Fi faces serious competition from the big 4 networks. Sunday night programming across the board, however, is notoriously slim. BSG has an audience now, and it’s fanatical enough to follow the show to the new slot, so they shouldn’t lose too many viewers. At the same time, they should pick up viewers who are casting about looking for something worth watching on a Sunday night. So viewership should increase — which is really what the network game is all about.

The biggest problem I have is that when The 4400 and The Dead Zone return to USA Network, they’ll be airing on Sunday nights too (if they hold their spots). That’s a conflict I can’t reconcile. I can’t tape two shows at once with only one reliable VCR. So of course you see what NBC Universal (Sci-Fi’s parent) is forcing me to do, don’t you? That’s right: bittorrent to the rescue!

Technorati Tags: Battlestar Galactica, BSG, Sci-Fi, TV, bittorrent, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who, The 4400, Dead Zone

Related posts

• NBC is sharpening its axe (0)
• What I’ve been thinking (0)
• LinkList: Personal Finance + Sci-Fi edition (0)
• Doctor Who Season 2 on Sci-Fi (1)
• 3 years in 8 minutes - BSG (0)

Here’s something to keep in mind…

If you’re ever cooking a frozen dinner in the oven, don’t reach in and pull it out without oven mitts on. The plastic container gets hot, too.

Not that I know anyone who’s done that lately. It just … uh… popped into my head. Yeah. That’s the ticket…

Technorati Tags: stupidity, safety, Jon Lovitz

Related posts

• Why I hate unions (2)
• Traffic jams (0)
• Swiping a sirloin is certainly stupid (0)
• Some people have REALLY short fuses (0)

There were good and bad points to this movie.

First the good: the special effects were really top-notch. Excellent work. And in the end, they were somewhat successful in getting me to empathize with Kong - so I give some credit to the directing, too.

And the bad: everything else.

Seriously, this was a really pretty movie. Great visuals. And like I said, I kinda was rooting for Kong despite knowing he buys it in the end (and if you think that’s a spoiler, you’ve been living under a rock for 60 years or so). But other than that… can’t say I thought it was time well spent.

The length: way too long. I could have cut out about a third of that movie and not lost anything important. This movie was Peter Jackson using the clout he got from the Lord of the Rings films to make a big film just because he could. It was all spectacle and no substance.

Ironically, Jackson did exactly what the “bad guy” of the film, played by Jack Black, did: he took what he loved and killed it. It was obvious that Jackson meant to take the superb original film and create a loving, but even more visually exciting, epic film. What he did was create an unwieldy, and eventually tiresome, creature. I was actually bored during the dinosaur sequences. After the first few minutes, I was thinking, “okay, that was nice - good fighting, I can see he wants to save her, now let’s get back to the plot.” But then it just kept going! Same thing with the bugs… “ooo, creepy — yikes! A couple guys got killed. Nasty. Cool. Okay, get ‘em outta there so we can get along with the plot!” But it just kept going!

Suspension of disbelief? Rarely, if ever. I’m usually pretty forgiving in this department, but come on… from the moment Ann was grabbed by Kong, she’d have been dead purely by accident. Her arms would have pulled off when he took her from the bridge, her bones would have been shattered by the pounding she took while he was running, her neck would have snapped every time he threw her from hand to hand, or over his shoulder - and that’s assuming he would know how to hold her without crushing her to begin with. Then “Jimmy” - who has never, apparently, shot a gun in his life - picks up and loads a machine gun and sharpshoots a bunch of bugs off of Driscoll without even grazing him. (I think that last one was supposed to be for comic effect, but it didn’t work for me at all.)

The plot: not bad, but not great. Certainly not enough to sustain a 3-hour time slot.

I could go on, but it comes down to this: this is one of the few blockbusters (especially one built on visuals) that I can honestly say I’m glad I didn’t spend money or time on in the theaters.

Sadly, despite the promise it held and the great effects, I can only give this one 2 stars.

Technorati Tags: movie, special effects, Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings, Jack Black, blockbusters, King Kong

Related posts

• Summer Movie List 2 - Revenge of the Trailer (3)
• Review: X-Men 3: The Last Stand (0)
• Review: Walk the Line (0)
• Review: V for Vendetta (0)
• Review: Underworld: Evolution (0)

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Last Outpost - TV Squad

Wil Wheaton has taken to doing reviews of old Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. He’s only done a few so far, all from the first season, but they are very funny. A ton of pop-culture references make it even more fun to read.

While speaking as someone who played arguably the most hated hero character in sci-fi until Jar-Jar, he manages to skewer some of the stupid writing that plagued the show, particularly in its premier season.

Data says Ferengi are like traders, and explains this with the most obvious contemporary reference: Yankee traders from 18th century America. This indicates that, in the 24th century, the traditional practice of using 400 year-old comparisons is still in vogue, like when you’re stuck in traffic on the freeway, and you say, “Man, this is just like Vasco de Gama trying to go around the Cape of Good Hope!”

The writing style is engaging, and I find myself agreeing completely with his take on the episodes. I hope he continues to post his thoughts.

Technorati Tags: Wil Wheaton, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jar-Jar, Ferengi

Related posts

• TV updates: 24 and Smallville (w/spoilers) (0)
• Review: Hellboy (0)
• Quick Notes on Entertainment News (0)
• What I’ve been thinking (0)
• The Santa Smackdown! (0)

Dove

I’m probably way behind the times on pointing this out, but I just found this link and needed to post it.

It’s a one-minute movie showing the transformation of a model from pre-make-up to head-shot-on-a-billboard, and is the best example I’ve seen of displaying how distorted our view of beauty (and reality) have become. The resemblance of the finished product (and I use that term purposefully) to the real woman is almost unrecognizable.

It really does bother me that we are so twisted in the way we market beauty in our culture. Not only is it an example of how gullible we are as a people, but it is damaging many of our children - particularly girls - who are trying to attain standards of beauty that are literally unattainable in the real world. It’s very disturbing.

(By the way, one of my pet peeves is the loose use of the word “literally” in popular language. I employ it here in its correct, primary usage. Watch the movie. This post is in the “technology” category for a reason.)

Technorati Tags: transformation, beauty, standards of beauty

Related posts

• What I’ve been thinking (0)
• Does a sex offender live near you? (0)
• Oprah’s Online Training - experience review (2)
• Mind Map of Learning Technologies (4)
• Links from Corporate Learning: Trends and Innovations Day 1 (0)

Wired News: Orson Scott Card Builds an Empire

The above link is an interview with multi-award winning science-fiction author Orson Scott Card on plans for his Empire franchise. Empire was conceived from the beginning as a multi-media endeavor, with the story told in different ways through a novel, comic books, film, and video games.

By the end of the interview, he has made some comments about video games and how he doesn’t play them anymore because they are so repetitive (level, boss, level, boss, level, boss, etc.). I gotta say, I agree with him. I do enjoy playing those games from time to time, but they are mostly the same concept wrapped up in different packaging. (The packaging has gotten to the point where it’s mind-blowing in some games, and sometimes that’s enough, but it’s still the same concept.)

Here’s what he has to say about his attitude towards games:

The only thing I’m interested in any more is the exploration of the world, as a player, but in order to explore this world, you have to be able to master all of these techniques, figure out puzzles, and be really quick on the draw — all stuff that I wasn’t able to do very well after the age of 30. And I’d done it enough to not really be interested in it any more. In a way, I’ve been closed out of video games by the fact that I’m getting old and the games are repetitive.

He thinks the concept fo the Empire game will be trendsetting and a shift for the industry:

The experience from beginning to end in this game is that characters have their own agendas, which is not necessarily the players’ agenda, but is fully understandable to them. Gamers will sympathize with what the characters are trying to do. They will want them to win. So it will not be a matter of just killing mindlessly. It will be about achieving really important objectives.

If the game does in fact turn out to be more complex than “kill or be killed,” the non-player-characters really are sympathetic, and the story is more open-exploration than straight-line narrative, I think it does have a chance to be a serious hit. Those are some of the same qualities that made Myst so revolutionary for its time (and it became the best-selling game in history for over a year, I think).

The quality of, and immersion in, the storyline is something that can make or break a game. Card places the blame for lack of well-developed stories in games on the heads of game publishers (making a distinction between the publishers pulling the strings and creators doing the work).

Until you can get the mindless video game publishing industry off the backs of the video game creators and give them the time to fully create things, instead of working to constant, mindless, meaningless, stupid deadlines, we will never have game creators able to work to their full potential.

Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen in a wholesale fashion. Every once in a while though, something will slip through and it will be a breakout hit. Will Empire be one of those superstars? Hard to say. The source is, after all, rather biased. But in the meantime, what these companies do crank out should at least include some increasingly excellent eye-candy!

Technorati Tags: science-fiction, Orson Scott Card, Empire, video games, Myst

Related posts

• Who’s that wall-crawler?! (0)
• What I’ve been thinking (0)
• What calibur is your lightsaber? (0)
• Video: Photosynth demo - awakening to the true power of the web (0)
• VeinViewer (0)

Pennsylvania Gas Prices - Find Cheap Gas Prices in Pennsylvania

Now this is a useful site (assuming you live in PA, anyway).

Not only can you find the lowest (and highest) gas prices in your area, as reported by site visitors, you can also plot prices per location over time, map the locations, get a comparison with national averages, and see a “Gas Heat Map” of the US that maps relative prices across the country.

Cool stuff! Plus it could save me a little money, which is nice.

Technorati Tags: save money, gas prices, pennsylvania, low prices

Related posts

• Wheel of Lunch! (0)
• Does a sex offender live near you? (0)
• Congratulations, Joe (0)
• Are Google’s day’s numbered? (0)
• Wiki’s in a corporate environment (1)

Well, Blockbuster has been sucking me dry on this movie for a long time (it’s been sitting around my house for way too long). I finally got a chance to watch it.

Inside Man is a good heist flick. All the elements are there, in plain sight, for you to figure everything out. I consider it a personal failure that I didn’t come up with the actual escape plan before it was revealed. I’m usually better at doing that than most people. In this movie though, there were enough distractions and red-herrings that it got past me. To the director (Spike Lee) and the writer (apparently a first-time screenwriter): well done.

If I were to look for any problems, there would be two, though. First, I think it could have been tightened up just a little. At a running time of a bit over 2 hours, a little trimming would have helped. The other was that I think the tying up of the loose ends, while important, took too long after the main plot ended. Momentum just seemed to die rather quickly.

Denzel Washington did a great job, as usual, in the lead role of the detective handling hostage negotiations in this rather odd and extremely well-planned bank robbery. Jodie Foster was a cool customer and a little creepy as the high-society “fixer” who handles Christopher Plummer’s bank owner’s personal stake in the problem. Clive Owen, the lead robber, was very calm and collected - he was a man who knew exactly what to do at every turn.

I’d give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

(Now I just have to find time to watch the other two 3-hour movies that have been sitting here for over a month. It’s hard to find a block of time that big when there are young kids in the house.)

Technorati Tags: heist, Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Clive Owen, movies, reviews, bank robbery

Related posts

• Review: Stardust (0)
• Review: Deja Vu (0)
• Review: Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (0)
• What I’ve been thinking (0)
• Summer Movie List 2 - Revenge of the Trailer (3)