GearBits

Get 'Free Culture' for...well...Free!

Lawrence Lessig's new book, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity is available as a free e-book download as well as a non-free dead-tree edition. Go for the former.

'Dawn of the Dead' Tops 'The Passion' at Box Office

I guess movie-goers just can't get enough of people coming back from the dead.

Links: full story | Movie site

Banjo Boy Returns

Long before Paris, Nicole and "The Simple Life" confirmed Arkansas to be the center of the hick universe, the world took a pretty dim view of Georgia due to John Boorman's 1972 film "Deliverance". Possibly Burt Reynolds' only decent film, Deliverance struck nerves where we didn't even know they existed. Along with ruining Ned Beatty in any film thereafter (for me), its dueling banjos scene at the gas station remains one of my faves in all of filmdom.

Last fall I Tivo'd an unedited version of Deliverance off of TNT and was perusing through it last night. I watched dueling banjos a few times and started wondering about the sad little banjo kid and what happened to him. Surprisingly I found that after 31 years of anonymity, Billy Redden has returned in Tim Burton's "Big Fish". Read about it in this New Yorker article.

Ringing in a New Record

A new record has been set by The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King....for how long the final credits roll.

Back in 1922, the film Nosferatu credited 11 cast members in 1 minute and 35 seconds.

Star Wars credited 143 people. The Matrix listed 151. The Two Towers credited 559 names, and by the time Matrix: Revolutions rolled around, there were 701 people on the credits. The credits for Titanic lasted all of 7 minutes.

But the final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic beats them all....at a whopping 9 minutes and 33 seconds.

The Lord of the Rings Wireless Games

Wireless software publisher JAMDAT Mobile has announced that it is launching wireless games based on The Lord of the Rings epic. Available through Verizon Wireless' Get it Now service, the games suite include six separate apps:

The Return of the King is an eight-level scrolling adventure game with Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Pippin and Sam battling Orcs, Uruk-hai, Trolls, the Army of the Dead, Shelob and other foes.

The Lord of the Rings Trivia includes more than 360 trivia questions covering characters, objects and locations and more from all three chapters of the Ring trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings Pinball is a fast two-table pinball game wrapped in a Middle-Earth theme.

Wallpapers offer various Middle-Earth images including characters, locations, scenes, and maps. Finally, The Lord of The Rings Tones Player provides ring tones based on the musical score.

New Fiction from J. Michael Straczynski

Since early November, Amazon.com has been showcasing exclusive articles and stories by well-known authors and celebrities.

The latest is a short story, The Salvation of Lyman Terrell, by one of my favorite authors and scriptwriters of all time, J. Michael Straczynski.

Set in the near future, this story about a lawyer with a life-and-death dilemma is standard twilight zone fare, but affords Straczynski followers with a piece not available elsewhere.

Straczynski is a Hugo-award-winning writer, and producer for such television series as The New Twilight Zone; Murder, She Wrote; and Walker, Texas Ranger. He is also the writer for Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and Supreme Power.

However, many will always remember Straczynski as the creator, writer and force of nature behind the science fiction epic Babylon 5.

Adobe's New EBookstore

Software company Adobe Systems recently opened an online store offering customers digital content in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).

The Adobe Digital Media Store offers ebooks from publishers such as Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, McGraw-Hill, and Random House, and includes links to digital publications such as BusinessWeek, Popular Science, the New York Times, and USA Today.

Adobe's move is the latest chapter in the two-steps-forward, one-step-back saga of the ebook industry, which last saw Barnes and Noble exit the ebook market.

Based on Adobe Reader 6.0, digital content from the Digital Media Store uses a digital rights management (DRM) scheme that allows users to view paid-for material on desktop computers and Palm OS-based handheld computers.

Monty Python Autobiography

CNN has a great review of the history of Monty Python, the world's greatest comedy troupe, which has written a group autobiography. The Pythons (St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne Books) was written by the group itself. I expect it may be funny.

The Best Ring Ever

It's no surprise that "The Return of the King," the final installment of "The Lord of the Rings" is racking up $$$ at the box office. According to studio estimates, the movie brought in $73.6 million during its first weekend and $125.1 million since Wednesday when it debuted.

Better yet, the film recorded the global total of $246.1 million during its first five days, breaking the previous record of $202.8 set by the finall installment of "The Matrix."

Now all those numbers are meaningless if the movie doesn't live up to the hype, but it does. I just saw the finall installment over the weekend, and I am thrilled to see that finally someone has done Tolkien justice! Peter Jackson will be remembered forever in posterity as the one who fulfilled the impossible: translating the vision of Tolkien into the big screen. The Ring has been building up momentum ever since the first installment "The Fellowship of the Ring" came out two years ago, and this final installment culminates into a crescendo of finale that is ultimately satisfying. Although the ending has to be compromised in the movie (the original ending by Tolkien is long and winding), it is nevertheless satisfying to see the return of halcyon days, and I, for one, am saddened to see the whole series come to an end. The main theme of "humanity" triumphing over evil through friendship, faith, hope, courage, perserverance, and maturity is both precious and eternal in my book.

The Lord of the Rings has been one of my favorite books, and the movie series is now ranked as one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, go out and see it. What are you waiting for?

Wicked

Three years ago while waiting for a flight to take off or land or board or get de-iced or some other air travel inconvenience, I noticed the guy next to me was reading a book with an interesting name, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. A conversation ensued and he told me how wonderful the book was and that I just had to read it. I did a few days later and Wicked instantly became one of my all-time favorite books.

The Wicked Witch of the West was my ultimate horror when I was a little kid. She absolutely scared the holy crap out of me and I just loved it. I can remember watching The Wizard of Oz on our old black and white TV with my hand perched on the channel dial. When the Witch made an appearance, I had to quickly change channels and then switch back and forth a little bit at a time. I just could not handle her in large doses and those small doses gave me nightmares for several days. What an awful woman! I was doubly freaked when I first saw her on a color TV and learned that she was green. Ick.

Maguire's book put a wonderfully woven history behind her and creatively explained a lot of the things that I had always wondered about her. Like, where did those flying monkeys come from? Why is she so green? What's she so pissed about? What's up with those slippers?

Now, my favorite book is a musical on Broadway starring Kristin Chenowith as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. It's playing at the Gershwin in NYC. If I can figure out a way to get up there and see it, I'll report back.

More Marvel Comics Movies on the Way

At the Marvel Enterprises annual meeting last week, the company announced that nearly a dozen movies based on Marvel comics are on the way, including the following all scheduled for 2006 releases:

• X-Men 3, the follow-up to X-Men and X-Men Reloaded...er...I mean X-Men United (which, by the way, came out on DVD yesterday) -- the studio and fans expect that all major players from the first two movies will be back for #3

• Nick Fury, one of Marvel's lesser-known comics

• The sequel to The Hulk will be coming (why? why?!?)

• Captain America, which could be awesome

• Iron Fist -- now if it was Power Man and Iron Fist, then I'd be excited

• Namor, a.k.a. Sub-Mariner -- think Aquaman but fishier and more like Mr. Spock from Star Trek

Other tidbits related to Marvel's movie-making include the disappointing news that The Fantastic Four has been pushed back from winter of next year (2004) to summer of 2005, and Nick Cage has agreed to play John Blaze (better known as Ghost Rider). Man, Stan Lee's gotta be loving life right about now (as if he ever stopped). Let's hope all these are MUCH better than the two stinkers we just witnessed over the summer: The Hulk and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (peeyew)

Comics2Film.com has some really good info and message boards (and an RSS feed to boot!)

Review: 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman

I just finished Neil Gaiman's 2003 book, American Gods. One might call this 'contemporary fantasy' and would be reasonably accurate, although the novel combines features of a lot of different genres.

I really enjoyed this book. It's pretty long -- it took me about twice as long to read this as Michael Crichton's Timeline (although they're completely different types of novels). Despite its length (I would say "thickness," but I read the ebook version), American Gods entertains and engages from start to finish. I really enjoyed Gaiman's ability to use the style of the text to contribute to the character or event being described. Sometimes the writing is fast and loose and at other times it is detailed and specific, depending on the context. I was also impressed at the vast lexicon from which Gaimain pulls; I found myself using the dictionary built into PalmReader on at least a dozen occasions, and some of them I think he just made up.

This book is fantastic enough that you can let yourself sink into it without questioning the realism of every detail, yet realistic enough that you're constantly amazed by the elements of fantasty. Overall, excellent reading...give it a whirl.

The Robot Hall of Fame: First Inductees

Carnegie Mellon University's Robot Hall of Fame recognizes excellence in robotics technology, honoring real-world robots and fictional robots that have inspired scientific accomplishments.

Recently, CMU announced the first inductees into the Hall of Fame, chosen by a jury from 32 nominees.

The honorees: Sojourner, NASA's Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) robot; Unimate, the first industrial robot; R2-D2, the droid from the Star Wars movie trilogy; and HAL, the ship-board computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Jacob R. Matijevic of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory accepted for the Sojourner rover. Joseph F. Engelberger, whose company Unimation installed the first robots on a General Motors assembly line in 1961, accepted for Unimate. Kathleen Holliday of Lucasfilm, accepted for R2-D2. Arthur C. Clarke sent a special message from Sri Lanka, on behalf of HAL.

Also on hand for the celebration were David Prowse (Darth Vader) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) from the first Star Wars episode.

The public is invited to nominate robots for the next induction ceremony, to be held in October 2004, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.

Review: 'The Matrix: Revolutions'

After watching The Matrix: Revolutions, the third (and hopefully final) installation of the Matrix trilogy, I found myself trying to choose among three words to describe the movie: tedious, trite, and unsatisfying. Warning: this review contains spoilers (but if you care, you've probably already seen it).

Regarding "tedious," the movie could have easily been 45 minutes long and still contained the same basic plot elements and storyline, and it might have actually been a better movie. The scene with the squids attacking Zion was about 400% too long. Trinity's death speech is about 1000% too long. The scene where Smith is trying to get Neo to guess that he has taken over a human form is just ridiculous: I expected Smith to next say "It's me, Smith, the program...don't you recognize the voice, you idiot?" And don't get me started on the slow-motion effect (don't you guys have any other buttons on those CGI machines??).

Regarding trite, there were more cliches and predictable one-liners than I could even keep track of. The only two entertaining characters in the whole movie were Agent Smith and the Frenchman -- they had decent dialogue and were sufficiently animated as to actually make you care. In this film, none of the main characters had even as much personality as the machines they were fighting.

Finally, the ending was highly unsatisfying. Suddenly, in the span of about 5 minutes, we go from the end of the world to Paradise. And to add just a slap in the face, the brothers Wachowski made it blatantly obvious that they were leaving the door open for yet another sequel ("who knows, dear, we might see Neo again someday"). Gimme a break.

I was entertained about 30% of the time I was in the theater seat (not counting previews), with the remaining 70% of the time spent alternatively wondering "who wrote this stuff?" and "I wonder if my phone has service." Overall, my rating is a 5 out of 10. The first movie was good, if not great (9.5/10) and the second was somewhat disappointing (7/10), but the third was just a big, fat dud.

I didn't check ratings or reviews much before seeing the movie, but it appears my sentiments aren't mine alone. RottenTomatoes.com's aggregated reviews puts it at a rather lame 34%, and IMDB users rated it a fairly pathetic 6.5 (heck, even Terminator 3 got a 7.0). Here's hoping we've seen the last of Neo and his slow-mo gang.

Mini-Review: 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown

I just finished The Da Vinci Code by "Bestselling Author" Dan Brown. Eh...whatever.

Don't get me wrong, there are some nice aspects to the book. I'd like to think that a lot of the lore and mythology surrounding the Holy Grail (that's no spoiler...keep reading) contained in the story is true -- if not, well then the book's pointless.

The characters are about 3mm deep and rather generic -- there's nothing all that compelling about them at all. The plot takes many twists and turns, but it's based only on a single plotline -- there's nothing else going on that might help develop the context and enrichen the storyline.

Like his earlier novel, Digital Fortress, Brown leads the reader along a path rich with mystery and totally dependent on completely unforseeable events -- it's like you're driving down a road at night without your headlights on.

Unlike better authors, Brown only creates anticipation in the reader in little spurts. Mostly these brief periods of anticipation happened when I was waiting for the characters (supposedly PhD and genius individuals) to figure out something fairly easy. This type of tedium happened also in Digital Fortress, where I fast-forwarded through about 20 electronic pages to get to the point where they finally deduce the answer to a scientific riddle that was, at least IMO, completely obvious.

To sum up, I think the most valuable and interesting aspects of this book center around the science and history that Brown uses as a back-drop. The characters and the actual plot aren't nearly as compelling. To paraphrase an old saying, when it comes to The Da Vinci Code, fact really is more interesting than fiction.

Mini-Review: 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Atwood

I just finished Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood's latest science-fiction novel. Man, what a trip. Don't worry, I won't give any spoilers, so feel free to read on.

The story is basically about a post-apocalyptic world (I won't tell you what specific form the apocalypse takes, though), but roughly 80% of the book is spent in flash-backs leading up to the present, post-disaster, where we find the novel's principal protagonist.

This is my first Atwood novel, and I really enjoyed it. The writing moves along swiftly, sometimes choppy and informal and sometimes exquisitely detailed. The science part is really well done -- not so much that it's overbearing, but enough to convince you that she's carefully thought through the issues at hand.

Overall, an excellent book. While the ending was a bit disatisfactory to me, I'll be the first to admit that I like my novels to be wrapped up in a bow, completely and with few, if any, unresolved issues. In this regard, Atwood irritated me, but I'm sure that most readers won't mind it as much.

Feel free to check out the hardcopy version or, better yet, go snag the Palm Reader e-book and save a few trees.

'A Place So Foreign...' is Excellent Fare

Over vacation, I managed to consume a few novels and other literary works. The most fun thing I read was A Place So Foreign and Eight More, a collection of short stories by Cory Doctorow. Doctorow is a writer, general tech junkie, and blogger over at boingboing.net.

A Place So Foreign and Eight More is, as you might surmise, a set of nine shorts covering a wide range of places, times, and issues. However, they all come back to one general theme: how humans and aliens (terrestrial or otherwise) interact and the bizarre sociologies that result.

To make it all the more yummier, Doctorow makes free e-book versions of his works available. I downloaded a version in Palm Reader format and was happy as a clam (the only downside to e-book reading on a trip is that 10 minutes immediately during take-off and landing during which "all electronic devices must be stowed"...oh well, still beats the dead tree version). You can grab all the free e-book versions of Doctorow's various works at his website.

'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' a Pure Adrenaline Rush

I just got back from seeing Quentin Tarentino's latest film, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, and I'm still soaked with sweat. Virtually from start to finish, this movie keeps your pulse pounding, your eyes riveted, and your gag reflex on the verge of participation. The main stars of the film are Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah, Vivica Fox, and an as-yet-unseen David Carradine (yes, Grasshopper).

Be warned, this is no movie for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. More limbs are lost and pints of blood are spilled than perhaps even in Saving Private Ryan. Tarentino thankfully moves the violence beyond the disturbing into the comically surreal, somewhat through the artful choreography, but primarily through sheer volume.

To be honest, I've never been a huge Uma Thurman fan, but this movie has revealed her (to me, at least) as a really talented actress. The angst and pain, both physical and emotional, of her character are portrayed with amazing depth. The other (few) supporting actors are all well-cast, of course.

The real treats of the movie, however, are Tarentino's special talent for telling off-beat stories and the action choreography. The fight scenes are more mature than anything in the Matrix series, and approach the beauty of those in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (note I said approach, not match).

All in all, I enjoyed this movie a lot. My rating: 9/10. RottenTomatoes.com has it at an 80% (Fresh). Surprisingly enough, as of me writing this, less than five IMDB viewers had rated the movie (I cast my vote of '9').

Oh, and yes, this is only volume 1...the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say, comes to us in February. I can hardly wait...

'Lost in Translation' Subtle and Penetrating

Lost in Translation is a film for the serious movie-goer. It asks you to be patient and, in turn, rewards you with subtlety and insights that might otherwise be completely indistinguishable in a more plot-oriented film.

This movie, which was both written and directed Sofia Coppola, stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Both are impeccable in their parts, and the mind draws a blank when searching for ways in which the acting could have been improved.

Fans of Bill Murray's more offbeat recent works, such as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, will find Lost in Translation a tad less funny and a bit more thoughtful. But don't let that confuse you -- this is still very much a comedy. Most of the laughs are from Murray's expertly nuanced, and often subdued, reactions.

The reviews of Lost in Translation have generally been quite favorable so far. As a reviewer from the Toronto Sun wrote,

"A superbly crafted movie, with knowing dialogue, fine performances and characters that you grow to care deeply for."

My rating: 9 out of 10. RottenTomatoes.com has it at 94% (Fresh) and IMDB viewers ranked it an 8.2 out of 10 (both as of me posting this entry).

'Matchstick Men' Is a Good Time

Nicolas Cage's latest movie, Matchstick Men, is a topsy-turvy tale of two con men trying to pull off a career grift. But there's more than one twist that upsets their plans.

A lot of the movie's best qualities come from Cage's portrayal of Roy, an obsessive-compulsive agoraphobe, who is simultaneously trying to run his cons and come to grips with finding out that he has a 14-year-old daughter by his former wife.

While the movie gets a tad maudlin in a couple of spots, overall, it's primarily a comedic action with a few dramatic and action scenes tossed in for balance. Generally, the story (no spoilers here) is pretty engaging -- I didn't notice that 2 hours had zipped by when the movie ended.

My rating: 8/10. Rottentomatoes.com gave it an 81% (fresh), and IMDB users rated it a 7.5/10.

Getaway In Stockholm 4 On Its Way

The supreme nutters behind the "Getaway In Stockholm" videos are set to release number four in their infamous series this October 15th. The teaser trailer is available now via their website. If your jaw is still a bit slack reading this, let me fill you in. Several years ago, some soon-to-be Darwin award winners in Stockholm thought it would be cool to secure a really fast car, goad the local police into a chase and then film the whole thing. They did. It was very cool and it spawned sequels and copycats galore. At times the calls are so close and the speeds are so great that these videos are almost painful to watch, but impossible to turn away from. Don't try this at home.

'Gigli' Sets New Low in Movies

The new Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez movie has just about everyone in agreement: it sucks. Some of the funniest reading I've done recently is the 130+ reviews of this awful flick over at RottenTomatoes.com. Here's a sample:

"Such an utter wreck of a movie you expect to see it lying on its side somewhere in rural Pennsylvania, with a small gang of engineers circling and a wisp of smoke rising from the caboose."

and

"Gigli is so unrelentingly bad that people may want to see it just as a bonding experience; viewers (read: victims) will want to talk and comfort each other afterwards."

Anyway, you get the idea. With a Tomatometer score of 7% (yes, that's really, really bad...even Ishtar got a 25%), there's no shortage of great quips -- the reviewers certainly had a field day with this one. Plus, you get to wonder what the heck the handful of reviewers tthat complimented the movie were thinking.

Update: According to one news story, Sony has pulled all of its TV advertising for Gigli in hopes of cutting its losses. Wow...what a bummer. Now I can't even get a hint at how bad this film is without actually seeing it.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider

After passing on it while it was in the theaters, we rented the original 2001 film Lara Croft Tomb Raider on a whim. What a mistake.

This has to be one of the worst movies I've ever seen (and I've seen some pretty bad ones). The slight connection tying together the various sequences of otherwise pointless violence that some might claim is the movie's plot resembles a dream you have the night before and then try to retell it the next day at lunch -- full of holes, gaps, incongruities, and a lot of stuff that just doesn't make any sense. Add to that a cast of mediocre actors (Angelina Jolie notwithstanding) and the film is a disaster start to finish. At least 10 times during the movie did I say out loud, "my god, this is so bad."

While the special effects are decent, many defy explanation and most seem only there to distract the viewer from the otherwise gaping plot holes and 2-dimensional characters that occupy the screen. RottenTomatoes.com gave this flick an 18% (Rotten) and IMDB Users gave it a 5.2 out of 10 (both might be a bit gracious, IMO).

Based on this experience, we're revisiting our intentions to go see the forthcoming Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life that will be coming out very soon.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

As the original The Terminator (1984) is one of my favorite movies, and I didn't much care for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), I entered the theater to see Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines with trepidation. Contrary to my expectations, I really enjoyed it.

Thankfully, there's no "cute kid" in this film (thereby avoiding the Scrappy-Doo effect). While Arnold's trademark quippy one-liners are still present, they've been greatly pared back. Those remaining are there mainly for comic relief, and they work surprisingly well.

All told, if you like the Terminator series, or you want to be impressed by a 56-year-old who still has a rock-solid body, go see this movie...you might enjoy it. Rotten Tomatoes.com gave it a 74% (Fresh) rating, and IMDB users rated it a 7.2 out of 10.

Movie: '28 Days Later'

28 Days Later, from Fox Searchlight Pictures, is a good horror/suspense/thriller film from the UK. Think Stephen King's The Stand meets Dawn of the Dead, but with a good plot and interesting characters.

In a nutshell, a new virus hits that drives people insane with rage. It's highly contagious and within a month it has devastated the UK. The main characters in the story have managed to avoid being exposed to the virus and are now trying to stay alive in a world where "infecteds" constantly try to hunt them down and kill them. The story basically follows the adventures of a small group of survivors to try and find some military personnel who have been broadcasting a radio message with their location.

The best thing about the film was that it didn't try too hard to be scary. Unlike most American "zombie movies," the frightening moments in 28 Days Later were fairly far between, with just enough pause for you to almost forget it's a scary movie. The storyline and dialogue are believable enough to make you care about what's happening, and the acting was good enough for you to share their horror and fright over what's going on.

None of the main actors in the film, including Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris, are all that well-known, at least not here in the US. Murphy's performance as the dazed and confused bike courier recovering from a coma and having to deal with the catastrophe was actually pretty excellent.

RottenTomatoes.com gave this movie an 88% as of today.

Movie: 'Bend It Like Beckham'

My wife started to read the description of this movie and began with, "A coming-of-age story..." At that point, I shook my head and said, "next." However, now having seen Bend It Like Beckham, I can see why the critics have really liked it.

While I'm neither female nor Indian, the film tells a story nearly everyone can relate to: growing up, finding your own thing, and negotiating all that with your parents. In a micro-nutshell, the main character wants to play soccer and her parents don't want her to. Hilarity and heartbreak follow.

Go see the film. I'm usually pretty hard to please when it comes to movies my wife makes me go see (she has yet to live down "Kate & Leopold"), but this one was a real kick (pun intended).

The Last Person to Finally See 'Chicago'

I don't always get to see the movies I want to, and I don't always see the movies I should -- Chicago is definitely one of the latter.

In case you've been under a rock for the last 8 months or so, Rob Marshall's Chicago is the award-winning film adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical. I can now see why it has won all those awards. It's loaded with top-dollar stars, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere, and the music is pretty splendiferous, too.

Bottom line: Even if you're a dyed-in-the-wool "guy movie" person who wouldn't consider seeing anything without guns (this has them), naked women (this almost has them), swearing (this has it), and violence (yup), go see or rent Chicago...you'll enjoy it.

'The Incredibles' -- Nov 2004

I just saw Finding Nemo, that Disney/Pixar (or rather, Pixar/Disney) film about the fish having an adventure. All in all, it was pretty enjoyable -- kids 4-8 will just love it. Aside: For an interesting take on the Disney/Pixar relationship, check out this short piece by Chris Suellentrop over on Slate.

The most intriguing thing was a Pixar trailer for an upcoming movie of theirs called The Incredibles. The trailer, all animated (of course), featured an obviously out-of-shape ex-superhero attempting to put his old utility belt around a now-rotund belly. Pretty hilarious stuff. Looks like it will be great for adults...at least those who can wait till November 5th...of 2004!

A Mighty Wind

I just saw A Mighty Wind and I loved it. This is the latest mockumentary from the hilarious and warped minds of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Eugene Levy and others. Like their previous films, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and the grand-daddy of all mockrockumentaries (are there any others?), Spinal Tap, this movie presents a variety of oddball characters engaged in a rather mundane event. Hilarity ensues.

"X2" Just Bitchun'

I just saw X2, the new X-Men movie, and, well, it totally rocks! All the good guys you love, and the bad guys you love to hate, are back, and several new faces have been added just to spice things up. The plot has enough ups and downs that you'll leave the theater exhausted from your 2-hour, 14-minute, action-packed adventure. I thought it might be hard to make a movie as fun and true to the comic as the first X-Men movie, but Bryan Singer and cast have done it again. Alan Cumming, as Nightcrawler, was perfect, and nearly every other cast addition was just right on. While we didn't get to see much of Colossus, the fellow cast to play him, Daniel Cudmore, seems about perfect -- big, ridiculously muscular, and did I mention big? While the official movie website has all the info you could ever want, the IMDB entry is, of course, much better organized (thanks again, IMDB!).