'Avatar' Sequels Will Be Jam-Packed with Frames

From iwatchstuff, Avatar 2 and 3 are going to have so many fucking frames, everyone!

Speaking as if the main issue with Avatar was Sam Worthington's herky-jerky movement, James Cameron announced that he "fully intends" to shoot that film's sequels at a higher frame rate--likely at twice the usual speed of film or video. And to prove that the process won't result in something as annoying-to-look-at as when I accidentally had "Motionflow" enabled on my TV, Cameron plans to present some of his ultra-smooth footage tonight, saying of it:

When you author and project a movie at 48 or 60, it becomes a different movie. The 3D shows you a window into reality; the higher frame rate takes the glass out of the window. In fact, it is just reality. It is really stunning.
There's a revolution brewing, and it's going to change the world of collecting crisp nip-slip screen captures.

The Hangover 2 trailer arrives!

Expendables 2 Coming Next August

From cinemablend, After The Expendables firebombed its way to almost three hundred million worldwide, we all knew a sequel was coming as soon as possible. Unfortunately, unlike Saw and other rotating cast films, you can’t just turn out another installment in a year. There’s too many schedules to organize and too much money at stake. Two years though, that’s not a wholly unrealistic goal. In fact, that’s exactly what Stallone and company are shooting for.

The Expendables 2 is set to drop on August 17th, 2012. Most of the original cast has already signed on to come back, and there’s almost a rumor a day of some other big name action star joining the picture. Whether we’ll end up seeing our first taste of Norris or more Willis is all speculation at this point, but with a clear end point in sight, we’ll start getting answers to these questions shortly.

An August release date for an action film isn’t exactly a stretch, but it does seem worth noting that this is just one week after G.I. Joe 2. I would imagine the thought process has something to do with The Expendables 2 being R and catering to an older audience, but it’s still likely these two pictures will cost each other a slight bit of business. I’ll be seeing Stallone break faces, but there’s no telling whether most will follow my lead.

roger ebert's journal: a quintessence of dust

sometimes i hit a piece like this and i feel glad to be alive.



snip

'but what good does it do me to think of the universe as an unthinking mechanism vast beyond comprehension? it gives me the consolation of believing i conceive it as it really is. it makes me thankful that i can conceive it at all. i could have been a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas. in this connection i find the theory of evolution a great consolation. it helps me understand how life came about and how i came to be. it reveals a logical principle i believe applies everywhere in the universe and at all levels: of all the things that exist, animate and inanimate, some will be more successful than others at continuing to exist. of those, some will evolve into greater complexity. this isn't "progress," it is simply the way things work. on this dot of space and in this instant of time, the human mind is a great success story, and i am fortunate to possess one. no, even that's not true, because a goldfish isn't unfortunate to lack one. it's just that knowing what i know, i would rather be a human than a goldfish.'

/snip

read it -- it's all good.

IQ2 greece: athens mosque debate

in collaboration with the british council, last month (february 28th). the motion: only good can come out of building a mosque in athens.

there's quite a lot of greek, as in the introductions, the final speaker and the Q/A -- however, most of it is in english.



there's a 1/2 hour highlight video here.

prior to the debate:
236 for
33 against
24 no opinion

following the debate:
179 for
71 against
43 no opinion

this is the kind of trouble that a country without a separation of church and state inevitably gets into. the state should not be in the business of funding any kind of religious buildings, as it currently does.

Best Actor 1971: Topol in Fiddler on the Roof

Topol received his only Oscar nomination to date for portraying Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical that tells the story of Tevye the poor Jewish milkman and the marriages of his daughters that go further and further away from Jewish tradition. Fiddler on the Roof has some good moments and songs, but it goes on for a little too long.

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical, and certianly old fashioned in many ways, one way being the very obvious acting that often goes with a musical. After all it is pretty hard to break into song in any subtle fashion. Throughout the film there are several overacted performances, or underacted performances. I must say the overacted performances tend to work better for the musical, rather than some of the dull underacted ones. Topol portrays the center of all of these performances.

Tevye is a character that is hard to not portray in at least partially flamboyant fashion. After all he is a character who directly talks to God (the camera) in many scenes. Topol actually handles these particularly well. He is quite convincing in his character's constant questioning, telling or asking God about what is happening to him currently. Topol does in fact make this aspect of the film and Tevye's character aspect pretty natural.

Topol actually handles all the more flamboyant parts of Tevye well. Topol conveys well just the distinct enjoyment, and his distinct jovial attitude Tevye takes toward life. He really throws the right energy into the role that is perfect for Tevye, and do to the fact that he instantly sets up this manner of the character he actually makes breaking out into song for the character pretty natural, well as natural as it can be anyways.

Topol of course sings the songs well enough, but that really does not matter precisely, what I care more about is indeed how they perform the song. He always throws either the right heart or energy into his performances of the songs. I think "If I were a rich man" shows this quality the best, he just completely throws himself into the performance, which is terrific.

I won't say there is a lot of subtle moments in his performance, but he does show more of Tevye than just external colorfulness of the character. He does develop a core of the character showing his character's honest love for his family, sadness for the way the world treats him, and his reluctance to lose the Jewish tradition. It is not a lot but Topol makes sure it is there, and does weave it along with the more flamboyancy of the character. Overall Topol gives the best performance in the film because it appropriately expresses the usual aspects of a musical performance well, without being an excessively over the top performance.

Zack Snyder Says His Superman and the ‘Justice League’ Superman Are Different

From slashfilm [excerpt], A few years back when George Miller was developing a Justice League film he cast it with actors that had no ties to other DC comics movies. Granted, there were fewer DC movies then, but that Justice League wouldn’t have featured Brandon Routh as Superman or Christian Bale as Batman. If it had been made, Superman would have been played by D.J. Cotrona while Armie Hammer would have been Batman.

We’ve been hearing now that new WB president Jeff Robinov wants to have a Justice League film in theaters for 2013, and with the scarce information available we’ve assumed that the George Miller approach had been abandoned in favor of Marvel’s development path for The Avengers. In other words, we thought that Henry Cavill would be Superman, Ryan Reynolds would be Green Lantern, and so forth. But now Superman director Zack Snyder says that isn’t the case.

Read more here

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blog post: ©2011 helen sotiriadis

Hump Day Halt

I'm opting to wait until next Wednesday since there was no response to the question. Also I'm drawing a total blank on topic this morning.

Holy fuck go see Sucker Punch right now

Oh my motherlovin' GOD. I just got back from what I thought was going to be a hodgepodge of ridiculous, mal-formed, boring crap (based solely on the two posts on this blog) and it turns out everyone who hates this movie is WRONG.

Well, maybe not, and here's why. At a certain point, just after the last of the four huge fantasy set-piece sequences ends (girls fighting robots), the whole thing goes bizarrely south like you wouldn't believe. The questionable story choices render the closing narration irredeemably cheesy, and also the opening narration sequence although you didn't know how cheesy when you first heard it, which in turn kinda badly torques your feelings about the main character and possibly, well, the entire movie. Or do they? I really can't say any more, but I see why people don't like it.

I'll have to write a fuller review later because I have to go to bed, but do yourself a favor and spend the money and see this on IMAX as soon as you can. There may be things you don't like about it but there ARE FUCKING MONSTER NINJAS AND STEAMPUNK WWI GERMAN ZOMBIES AND A FUCKING DRAGON CHASING A GODDAMN B-52 BOMBER WITH VANNESSA HUDGEN'S CLEAVAGE HANGING OUT THE BACK OF IT! WHAT ARE YOU FUCKING WAITING FOR???????

Seriously, the answer to "how can a movie have all that stuff and fail" is: It can NOT fail.

MTV’s ‘Teen Wolf’ Trailer – Now With More Shirtlessness

Teen Wolf - MTV Shows

via slashfilm

Hump Day Challenge! Who shall pass into the Hall of Legends?

But first, check out this cute picture of what was actually not a very cute scene at all. As I think I mentioned elsewhere, both Julie and I started new jobs last week, which was exactly the week a rather buff strain of streptococcus bacteria decided to camp out in Zack. Poor kid spent most of the last EIGHT FREAKING DAYS as you see him here, doped up on Motrin so his fever would stop hitting the 104 mark. By far the longest he's ever been sick.

Yeah, suck. On Friday we got him some antibiotics which we thought would turn things around, but after an awful weekend we got real stuff. The strep had just laughed at the first batch, then was thankfully nuked by a shot of penicillin plus.

That's not totally an excuse for spacing on results posting and I am sorry about that. But he's better and we got through it and woo hoo for us.

So, getting to it: I was very, very amused at the output last week. We're still not hitting the numbers like we used to (where is that sister of mine?) but the percentage of truly awesome work was at Olympian levels. Stan hit me early with this one:

Roll, roll, roll the rock
Almost...there...stay on target
Fuck me. Roll, roll, roll...

Which tickled me because I'd been thinking Sisyphus would be a great subject and also because he got a Star Wars reference in there. Nice. This rocked, too:

I'll take that fire, thanks
Humans, enjoy your warm S'mores
Don't really need guts

(When I captioned the Prometheus picture I went for that awesome line from The Critic, but I often think of Prometheus, a la the Wicked Witch from Oz, saying "How about some nice FIRE, humanity?" So this one hit the spot, too.)

AC had this beauty:

greek gods tho potent and famous
behaviorally were quite heinous
they did as they pleased
but i'll bet they were teased
cuz grandfather's name was "uranus"

Knowledgable and raunchy at the same time, and a limerick! While I will always encourage free form poetry, I must say I do fancy the limerick. A lot of you chose limericks this week, and yay for that.

The winner, however, is Catfreeek, for the amazing account of Paul Bunyan's enormous genitalia.

Paul Bunyan was a great big man
who wielded a great big axe
He hung around with and Ox named Babe
whose as blue as a sailor's sac
His legend tells of many things
the big man was a hero
but I have always been curious
why his love life was a zero
perhaps the man was somewhat shy
or has issues with cleanness
Maybe he just scared them off
with his enormous penis

Johnny nearly took it with the follow up:

The things I would do
If I wielded Bunyon’s schlong
I'd achieve world peace

That right there is the kind of lateral thinking that makes it a pleasure to know JSP.

But in the end I had to give it to Cat for numerous little victories. Being the first to highlight PB's junk for one thing, this gem about Medusa (another limerick!):

Medusa was once a great beauty
to Poseidon she gave up her cootie
but they picked the wrong place
Athena messed up her face
What a big price to pay for some booty

...and the real clincher was the following. I love it when Hump Day results in a blogger back-and-forth, and this one goes 1) Cat's Paul Bunyan poem 2) Johnny's hilarious world peace haiku (sporting, I must mention, the HI-larious smug Dennis the Menace avatar that's so recently fashionable, which leads to...)

Dennis tub bubbles
his Mother had it all wrong
released the Kraken

Holy crap does that make me laugh, and it's a Clash of the Titans reference to boot. No, it's THE Clash of the Titans reference.

So that's that! Congrats to all of you (including those I didn't mention specifically) on a great batch of work, and sorry once again for my ongoing tardiness.

It's yours now, Cat... another Thursday challenge? Perhaps this should be discussed in the comments.

Scared of heights? Don't watch this video

Stairway To Heaven Video - Interesting Videos

Best Actor 1971

And the Nominees Were:

Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday

Walter Matthau in Kotch

Gene Hackman in The French Connection

George C. Scott in The Hospital

Topol in Fiddler on the Roof

New 'Pirates' poster showcases the mermaids

'Wonder Woman’ Costume Gets a Slight Makeover After Unpopular Debut

From slashfilm, Don’t let this one go to your head, but think back a couple weeks to the debut of the costume for the new TV Wonder Woman from producer David E. Kelley. Then remember the widespread dismissal that ensued. Now take a look at the photos below. Seemingly in response to the utter disdain for the costume, changes have been made to the suit.

From the waist down it’s an all-new affair. More traditional red boots; the stars down the leg are more visible; and darker blue super-yoga pants instead of electric blue super-plastic ones. Definitely an improvement, but will it help the script, which also has been the target of derision?

I know, I know, I screwed up another Hump Day...

And honestly I'm not even sure who to give it to. There were at least three really good contenders.

I'll make the call and post something when I take lunch (1 pm my time) and give you guys another day-delayed opportunity. Yay, me.

dihydrogen monoxide

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dihydrogen monoxide:

is called 'hydroxyl acid', the substance is the major component of acid rain.

- contributes to the 'greenhouse effect'.
- may cause severe burns.
- is fatal if inhaled.
- contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
- accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
- may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
- has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

- as an industrial solvent and coolant.
- in nuclear power plants.
- in the production of styrofoam.
- as a fire retardant.
- in many forms of cruel animal research.
- in the distribution of pesticides. even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
- as an additive in certain 'junk-foods' and other food products.

source: wikipedia

blog post: ©2011 helen sotiriadis

the atheist experience with... ray comfort

this is the full 1-hr episode of the atheist experience with matt dillahunty and russel glasser with guest, bananaman ray comfort. it's entertaining, or mind-numbing: your choice.

Best Actor 1980: Results

5. Jack Lemmon in Tribute- Lemmon's whole performance seems like Oscar baiting at its worst. It is hammy all the way, which might be okay if it worked, but it does not.

4. Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man- I actually upped O'Toole rating because I thought about my main criticism, that I wanted more of him, that is hardly a criticism. His performance is pretty much a supporting, and a very funny and effective one as a crazed director.

3. Robert Duvall in The Great Santini- I genuinely liked Duvall portrait of the abusive Bull Meechum. He created an interesting family dynamic through his performance, and never turned his character into a one dimensional figure which it easily could have been.

2. John Hurt in The Elephant Man- I can easily see the philosophy behind giving Hurt the win here. He certainly is by far the most pleasant of the characters here, which is funny since it shows how low the other characters are since Merrick is such a nice man despite being given such a hindering deformity. Also Hurt's performance is brilliant in how much emotion he conveys through only his eyes and his voice, and also how honestly human he is as John Merrick.

1. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull- De Niro performance is quite a remarkable achievement. He creates a fascinating complex portrait of a man who at heart is simple thug. He takes this thug though a realizes a complete human being, who is made by De Niro to be both frighteningly effective in his exterior anger and jealousy, and subtly honest in Lamotta's hidden sensitivity and vulnerability. Simply a great performance.

Deserving Performances:
Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People

is warp drive possible?

the interviewer at the world science festival asks lawrence krauss about his book, the physics of star trek, warp drives, and where star trek got it right, and wrong.



EDIT: erm... that doesn't look like a balloon to me...

it's a drag to always be the lonely skeptic in the room

i state my case and watch the room grow silent as a tomb.



via the perplexed observer

Roger Ebert Predicted The Future Of Film In 1987

OMNI: How will the fierce competition between television and the movies work out in the future?

EBERT: "We will have high-definition, wide-screen television sets and a push-button dialing system to order the movie you want at the time you want it. You’ll not go to a video store but instead order a movie on demand and then pay for it. Videocassette tapes as we know them now will be obsolete both for showing prerecorded movies and for recording movies. People will record films on 8mm and will play them back using laser-disk/CD technology."

"I also am very, very excited by the fact that before long, alternative films will penetrate the entire country. Today seventy-five percent of the gross from a typical art film in America comes from as few as six –six– different theaters in six different cities. Ninety percent of the American motion-picture marketplace never shows art films. With this revolution in delivery and distribution, anyone, in any size town or hamlet, will see the movies he or she wants to see. It will be the same as it’s always been with books. You can be a hermit and still read any author you choose."

"By the year 2000 or so, a motion picture will cost as much money as it now costs to publish a book or make a phonograph album."

[excerpts from slashfilm]

17 Images That Will Ruin Your Childhood

#17."Luke! Be Careful! There Are Exposed Springs on That One!"
The Child Saw:


The "bottomless" chasm is as much a staple of the Star Wars universe as the lightsaber. It's a wonderful symbol for that world's vast, endless technology and how small it can make a person feel. Nobody who watched the above scene as a kid was thinking that consciously, but we felt it when Luke, crushed by the revelation from Vader, tumbled down into it, falling, forever ...

Ruined By:


... onto a bunch of used garage sale mattresses.

That behind-the-scenes pic is from the coffeetable book The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Usually it's cool to see the inventive wizardry that went on behind the scenes at Lucasfilm, but now I can't watch that scene without picturing the big pile of smelly mattresses just below Luke that appear to have been collected from various alleys around town.

See them all here

Best Actor 1980: Robert De Niro in Raging Bull

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar from his fourth nomination for portraying Jake Lamotta in Raging Bull.

Raging Bull tells the story of the degradation of professional boxer Jake Lamotta.

Here is a performance that I really do not need to say anything about that really has not already been said. It certainly a heavily praised performance. So perhaps I should examine this particular performance by how one could attempt to criticize the performance.

The main criticism of the performance, from the few instances I have seen of it criticize it generally state that it is a one note performance. Well this certainly could be misinterpreted as one note, but it is an incredibly complex performance. The other criticisms stem usually from the performance being not all sympathetic, this again is exactly as Lamotta should be portrayed. De Niro actually refuses to actually ever make him a charming guy, leaving him as the unintelligent, low life he should be portrayed as. I still though would not say he is entirely unsympathetic, but he only ever gains sympathy by being such a pathetic character.

So yes I disagree with the criticism, even though for awhile I never rated De Niro as one of my favorite winners. This time watching it though his performance really has grown on me, even more so, since I still believed it to be great. Watching this time around though I really began to notice the subtle, introverted aspects De Niro managed to weave with the exterior facade of Lamotta that he always presents often quite loudly.

Lamotta is presented as De Niro as certainly an angry man, constantly filled with jealousy. De Niro shows this as an anger that has developed with Lamotta his entire life, something that he really cannot lose. He presents it really as a defense mechanism for Lamotta to usually hide his own insecurities. The rapid fire, sometimes almost unexpected way he breaks out into his angry fits is especially well handled by De Niro, showing as almost an animalistic tendency.

De Niro really shows these tendencies well in the boxing scenes. Boxing scenes usually are not really moments to allow for great acting. One really generally will not notice if the person is believable as a boxer, it only really is noticeable if they are not believable. De Niro is not only overwhelming believable in the boxing scenes, but more importantly it shows the nature of Lamotta. De Niro's has the full force of an animal in his boxing scenes, and properly conveys both the pleasure and the power that he has inside of the ring. The one place where Lamotta really can be in full command, and unleash his full emotional force.

It is interesting to note that De Niro is a domineering presence throughout the film, despite not really being charming or charismatic. De Niro though has the right ability to be interesting, very interesting, despite portraying the uncharismatic Lamotta. I think De Niro is particularly strong in his moments with Lamotta wife Vicki. It is strong acting by De Niro, in that I did not doubt his ability to pick her up, because of his certian presence, despite lacking an innate charm. It is interesting relationship, but De Niro conveys his uncharismatic sway that he does have over her at times entirely convincing.

To me the best part of De Niro's performance is when he actually does show the sensitivity Lamotta has, which he does try to hide behind his rage. It is the combination he has between these aspects of Lamotta that is so fascinating which De Niro pulls off magnificently. De Niro always has the right undercurrent of the sensitivity and a certian nervousness of Lamotta underneath his angry exterior.

His jealous fits over his wife, are shown through De Niro his inability to ever really think she could really be completely devoted to him. Even more interesting though is his sensitivity over his boxing achievement and ability. De Niro earnestly shows Lamotta want to achieve greatness, and how he becomes truly disheartened from his set backs, such as when he cries like a baby after throwing the fight. That scene could have been easily all wrong, but De Niro really show the true nature of Lamotta in that scene.

De Niro exceeds well in every aspect of Lamotta, fully realizing the man, finding depth always even when it seems like there is very little of it in the man. De Niro does not make Lamotta's slow descent a physical one, but also a mental and psychological one. He shows that Lamotta slowly becomes less and less able in his abilities as a boxer, but also grows even more desperate, and even more sensitive creating eventually his biggest jealous rages, and his loss of his title.

It is incredible to see De Niro at the end of the film. He no longer is a champ, or at all a special man. He has lost any talent he once had, but still attempts to keep his time in the sun through his terrible comedy routines. This complete loss of everything he ever had, is striking because De Niro slowly brought Lamotta to his end. It interesting to see though that he does show that has Lamotta has learned a little, a very little do to his free fall from the top. Overall De Niro is an intense performance as well as subtle and complex performance that is completely deserving of its reputation it has received.

the architecture lab

click image to source

via architechnophilia

James Cameron to Take "Avatar 2" Cast to Meet Brazilian Tribes

From worstpreviews, A few days ago, James Cameron took Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Xingu River in Brazil, where he spoke against the construction of the hydroelectic dam, claiming that it would destroy the homes of some indigenous people.

Cameron said that if he visited the indigenous tribes before filming "Avatar," it would have been a better movie. This is a mistake he is planning to correct for "Avatar 2," by taking the entire cast to Brazil's Amazonian rain forest for them to be inspired by the place.

"'Avatar' is a film about the rain forest and its indigenous people. Before I start to shoot the two films I want to bring my actors here, so I can better tell this story," said the director. "Actors could learn about the natives and what real life in the jungle is like."

finale

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my DoF is way too shallow here -- should've tightened the aperture.
license:  creative commons.

this is the same flower, a few days earlier:


©2011 helen sotiriadis

Disturbing: Breastfeeding doll toy

TR3N (TRON 3) Teaser 2 - The Dillingers' Chat (TRON: Leagcy Bu-Ray Easter Egg)

Boost Your Car Remote with Your Head

From brainz.org, If you forget where you parked and your key remote signal is not strong enough to help you find the car, there is a simple trick to amplify the signal and increase your chances of easily finding it. Simply place the remote under your chin, open your mouth and press the button. Your oral cavity will amplify the signal and with any luck, you'll locate your car immediately.

[JPX] This totally works

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Seventy old school video game deaths In 2:30

From geekology

Best Actor 1980: John Hurt in The Elephant Man

John Hurt received his second Oscar nomination for portraying John Merrick the titular character of The Elephant Man.

The Elephant man is the surprisingly touching story of a deformed man's journey to find human dignity in the 19th century.

John Hurt's performance as John Merrick is just about the pinnacle of the minimalistic acting. Hurt technically has many hindrances to give an effective performance. For example he basically cannot use his face, since it is almost entirely covered up with make up. He also cannot use his body really to do anything more than suggest the movements of the Merrick's disability.

I will say that the make up, and Hurt's manner as  Merrick made me never ever think I was really seeing an actor, but rather just the man himself. The way he walks and moves as Merrick always seem entirely natural, he never seemed like an actor ever doing any of this but just the authentic man himself. He never once overacts with a single mannerism which he could have easily. Although it must be said as well, that make up is incredible, and should have won a special award. Hurt though wears the make up in the right way, and does not let it do the performance for him.

The only assets Hurt really has at completely at his disposal overall, is his eyes and his voice. Hurt's eyes really are quite special here, because they always show the human, and humane quality of Merrick, which works to great effect. He is always able to convey the sad state of Merrick, but never as an entirely sad man. He display with only his eyes his fear of others early on, but also later he expresses the character's honest love and humanity especially well.  I believe his moment near the end of the film where he looks around in the theater, we see only through Hurt's eyes Merrick's true wonderment and happiness in that scene.

Equally special is Hurt's voice as Merrick. He is hindered as well in this aspect due to an imperfect mouth, and bronchitis, but Hurt gives Merrick and tender quiet voice from which he speaks. It is incredibly well used in the film as at first he struggles to speak words that seem meaningless to him. As he grows more comfortable with his surroundings he finally lets his voice out in a clear and meaningful fashion as he quotes his favorite passage from the bible. A striking scene and I think most of the credit, should come to Hurt subtle and moving delivery.

Hurt uses his eyes and his voice well throughout the film, even though still he remains a very withdrawn character, barring two scenes. One where he screams in horror from seeing himself, and another where he lashes out telling everyone that he is a man not an animal. Both well handled by Hurt, but I do believe his best moments, are his quiet tender, and very moving moments.

One scene in particular I think is his best, and most moving scene. It is when a theater actress Madge Kendal (Anne Bancroft) comes to visit him. It is a small, but moving scene as Merrick recites Shakespeare to her, and she recites back to him. It is a wonderful moment, and Hurt is perfectly honest, and loving in this moment, showing the real man behind his disfigurement. Overall a nice subtle performance from Hurt, which although may be simple in some ways, it does not prevent it from being deeply effective.

Apollo 18 Movie Abandoned by Studio?

From moviesonline, I am really surprised by this move but it seems that Apollo 18 just got kicked to the curb in a big kind of way. The movie is ready to rock and was slated for an April 22nd release and out of the blue comes word via Deadline that The Weinsteins have buried the film and moved its release date to January 6th 2012. What would make a studio move a movie that is completed back such a long period? I have no clue.

I have read some pretty scathing remarks about the movie but I for one was still looking forward to checking out the film which is ‘based on a true story’ all be it about as true as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. [ The True Story of Apollo 18 ]

Synopsis: Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972 was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission.

While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.

Countries That Don't Use The Metric System

From geekology, Looks like we're in good company -- high-five, Liberia and Myanmar! We're miles ahead of all those other countries, amirite?! No? Kilometers behind? SONOFA. *takes 3/4" socket off penis and chucks over cubicle wall like a grenade* "OW!! WHO THREW THIS?!" Haha -- that was just on my pecker, bro!

sub zero - winter night timelapse

by randy halverson



via phil plait

a new leaf

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i enjoy sharing cool stuff, ideas and imagery, so i'm going to start an experiment.

starting with a new leaf, i'm going to start uploading some of my new images under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-sharealike license. this means that you can copy, distribute, transmit the work, and/or remix and adapt the work, provided that you attribute the work to me specifically by name, not use it for commercial purposes, and if you alter, transform or build upon my work, you may distribute your work under the same or similar license.

if you use this... i'd love to hear about it.
thoughts?


blog post: ©2011 helen sotiriadis

hans rosling and the magic washing machine

this is the third video with hans rosling that i'm linking to in this blog -- i think i must create a label for him. in hans rosling's hands, data sings.



©2011 helen sotiriadis

Box Office

From ew, Armed with an arsenal of weapons and one gnarly imagination, the young women of Sucker Punch nonetheless met their match in the form of a seventh-grader named Greg Heffley. Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was voted most popular by moviegoers this weekend, grossing $24.4 million, according to studio estimates. Based on Jeff Kinney’s bestselling “novels in cartoons,” the comedy sequel outperformed last year’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which debuted to $22.1 million. Rodrick Rules, about that best-left-forgotten period known as middle school, was produced for $18 million, and the fact that the PG-rated film surpassed its budget on opening weekend bodes well for the green-lighting of a third Wimpy Kid movie. Furthermore, Rodrick Rules received a strong “A-” grade from CinemaScore audiences. Granted, half of CinemaScore’s survey sample was under the age of 18.

Read the full article here

[JPX] I must confess that I watched Wimpy Kid over the weekend and thought it was really funny/cute in a Christmas Story kind of way. I think I was laughing more than the kids in the auidence. BTW, the kid on the right lives in my home town.

Why Everyone Hates Sucker Punch

From sexybeast, Critics, fanboys, and the moviegoing public rarely reach consensus, but on the action movie Sucker Punch, they all seem to agree that it's horrific. Chris Lee examines the vitriol.

In an increasingly fractured, 700-channel digi-verse, where attentions are divided between myriad media pursuits, strong opinions travel with lightning speed 140 characters at a time, and anything approaching critical consensus is nearly impossible to come by, a movie has arrived to provide a kind of cultural unity seldom seen outside of responses to natural disasters or terrorism.

The critical assessment nearly everyone with access to a computer keyboard seems to share? That director Zack Snyder's impressionistic action epic Sucker Punch is absolutely dreadful.

Read the full article here

[JPX] Anyone see it?

toot your own

like it? click it!
view in the dark

©2011 helen sotiriadis

Catherine Wheel - Fripp - (Chrome 1993)

Goodnight! Sushi Sunday evening!

night time - dark slow beat - intense - female vocals (I have shared this before and will do it again) ♫ http://blip.fm/~1356uo

Ultrablack - Bear Trap (Excision Remix)

DubdustrialFunkStep for well being! ♫ http://blip.fm/~1354cz

Best Actor 1980: Robert Duvall in The Great Santini

Robert Duvall received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meechum in The Great Santini.

The Great Santini is an interesting and effective portrait of a family with a domineering and abusive father, at least for awhile it peters out at the end, also it has a sub plot involving a black local being harassed by racist whites which seems like it came from another movie.

Duvall portrays the father of a family Bull Meechum a hot shot, gung-ho, marine fighter pilot, who treats his family just like he would treat soldiers under his command. It the early moments or any scenes where he is around other Marines, Duvall is quite hilarious with how over the top of a character Meechum is. The character is over the top, but Duvall is a good enough actor though to be able to portray the flamboyant Meechum without ever over acting. Quite a challenge but Duvall pulls it off with ease and humor.

Meechum is a character that could have been portrayed incredibly one dimensional, since the way the character acts is suppose to be sort of a one dimensional meat head, and he could have been easily played that one, or as a one dimensional villain due to his abusive nature toward his family. Duvall never portrays the character either way. I think in particular the abusive nature of the character is well portrayed by Duvall.

Duvall could have easily been just hammering in the abuse, or always showing Meechum as ready to do it constantly. It could have become a performance only on the surface, but Duvall carefully shows that there's much more to Bull Meechum's abuse, than only anger. Duvall carefully shows that this is just the only way Meechum has really learned how to deal with his family, and does not really have the ability to show them love. I think it is interesting because much of his cruelty comes from his belief that he is doing his family a service to make them better people. Duvall shows it as a systematic process, to make them a stronger group.

It would have been easy to show Meechum as having no love for his family, but Duvall subtly shows small instances of love Bull has for his family even when he is acting quite not so. Duvall shows that Meechum does have a limit for himself, and can sense when he has gone to far. Duvall shows this but never says this since Bull would never actually admit it. He does show also that he tries to give his children a good life, and can even be charming in some scenes such as when he first shows off the house to his children. These little charming moments, Duvall realistically mixes them in with the angry ones incredibly.

Duvall possibly shines best though in portraying Bull's specific relationship with his son Ben (Micheal O'Keefe). Bull pressures his son the most, and fights with him the most as well. It is sometimes an intense relationship, and Duvall is especially domineering, and forceful. Also in a moment where Ben finally beats him at basketball Bull is quite the sore loser and attempts to get an emotional reaction from his son anyway he can. A terrific scene of Duvall's, because he is just a completely real honest jerk, no movie acting about, making the scene a lot more effective than if he tried to make Bull some sort of villain rather than a cruel actual human being.

Even better moments are his quiet ones where he does show a restrained fatherly love for his son. Duvall never really indicates it directly but shows it there, and he naturally mixes in a warmness with a coldness that is incredible. His personal best moment though may certainly be a moment where he finds out he is wrong and his son is right. It is an outstanding scene for Duvall when Bull sees he is wrong, and his change and reaction is simply amazing. Overall Duvall has many incredible moments in this performance that easily could have been a one note character. Duvall creates a real portrait of a man, and somehow even creates sympathy for a man who is anything but sympathetic.

VIDEO: Indian Matrix -- Endhiran (Robot)

I've had this video ready to be shared since the end of January... this is some wacky Indian Matrix action.

Zombie Kid Likes Turtles

Deep Response!

Best Actor 1980: Peter O'Toole in The Stunt Man

Peter O'Toole received his sixth Oscar nomination for portraying film director Eli Cross in The Stunt Man.

The Stunt Man is a story of a man who hides from the police acting as the stunt man to a manipulative domineering director. The film is certainly an interesting effort as well as entertaining at times, but it sort of loses its way in the second half.

It is rather interesting that Timothy Hutton was nominated and won for his clearly leading role in the Supporting role for Ordinary People, yet Peter O'Toole here is really a supporting performance, although a domineering supporting performance. O'Toole's character knows the secret of the stunt man who is hiding from the police, and chooses to exploit him just as he exploits and manipulates the rest of his cast and crew.

I really enjoyed O'Toole performance at first with the all knowing director, who always wants to get his shot, anyway he can get his shot. O'Toole really does command every moment with his domineering presence. He is very enjoyable in fact as he acts gleefully, and practically insanely around the movie set. O 'Toole always has the right demeanor, of brilliant but insane ambition.

O'Toole performance is also quite amusing early on, and certainly has the right amount of fun as well with his performance. I particularly like one moment when his crew is talking about how the film will end up being cut in the end by the studio. Eli Cross though says he knows they will not cut his film, or else he will kill him. O'Toole delivers this line with such insane glee, that is both hilarious and brilliant.

Unfortunately the performance takes a back seat to the rest of the film, and he only comes in and out, since it is a supporting performance. His scenes are the best but they are too few and far between to really allow his character to grow. His character also takes a down turn where the film decides to show him as the villain of the film which I think was a mistake.

O'Toole is still entirely great as Cross becomes even more devious, and demented, but the film leaves him little to do besides this. I just really preferred when he was certainly devious and demented, but in an insane director sort of way rather than in an evil director sort of way. Still O'Toole performance is an effective, sometimes amusing supporting performance, that is the best part of this film.

James Dean Molested By Minister, Elizabeth Taylor Revealed

From huffingtonpost, James Dean's short life is now known perhaps more in legend and lore than solid fact, but even he had a secret no one knew. Except for Elizabeth Taylor.

Kevin Sessums, writing for The Daily Beast, reveals that in a wide ranging interview with the just passed Taylor, the famed actress let him in on a secret about Dean that she had promised she'd keep forever. Sworn to secrecy until Taylor's death, Sessums revealed the hidden past of the Rebel Without a Cause.

"When Jimmy was 11 and his mother passed away, he began to be molested by his minister," Taylor said. "I think that haunted him the rest of his life. In fact, I know it did. We talked about it a lot. During 'Giant' we'd stay up nights and talk and talk, and that was one of the things he confessed to me."

Taylor and Dean co-starred in Giant, a 1956 film for which Dean was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.

After Dean's mother died in 1940, he was sent back from California, where his family had relocated, to Indiana to live with his grandparents. He was sent back on the same train as his mother's body. Known for his young rebel roles, Dean was cast as -- and was in real life -- a confused, somewhat angry and abandoned young man.

Dean was known to have a chip on his shoulder against fathers, thanks in part to never reconciling with his own -- whether the minister story, if true, has anything to do with that, is perhaps unknowable.

While he never married, he had a short-lived public relationship with Italian actress Pier Angeli. Best friend, roommate and biographer William Bast claims to have had a sexually intimate relationship with Dean, as well.

Does 'Sucker Punch' suck?

From collider [excerpt], "The movie swims through the wet dreams of a teenage boy but pretends at higher aspirations of thoughtful escapism and transcendent determination. For a movie where dragons battle fighter jets and teenage girls in skimpy outfits take down samurai golems, Sucker Punch is a surprisingly dull and self-serious affair that can’t be bothered to develop its heroine, but wants a round of applause every time she defeats a CGI monstrosity. Despite all of the energy put into the stunning vistas and designs, nothing in Sucker Punch’s visuals comes close to the majesty of its delusions of grandeur."

Ouch. Read the full review here

Worst tattoo ever?

you bloody fools

on the telegraph, godless in tumourville:

snip

has he ever shared larkin’s yearning for faith?

'no,’ he says. 'there isn’t the evidence and i don’t see why anyone would want it to be true. a permanent, invigilated, regulated dictatorship which you are told is for your own good. i can’t think of anything worse.’

and does he share larkin’s fear of death?

he cannot pretend that he hasn’t been giving this some thought lately. but he approaches the matter elliptically. the philosopher david hume, he says, said you are not afraid of the time before you were born when there was nothingness, so why should you be any more concerned afterwards? 'lucretius put it more simply, saying you’re not going to know you’re dead so there’s nothing to be afraid of. what larkin was saying was, you bloody fools; that’s exactly what i’m afraid of – annihilation.’ he pauses. 'it is a disagreeable thought.’

/snip

hitchens expressed these thoughts in hitch 22, and they've been mine as well since i was a young girl. leave it to hitchens to find others' thoughts and bring them together so well.  i find so few people who understand this.

do you?

when i was reading his memoir, i was moved to take this picture. i don't know why.  i hadn't planned it out, but immediately, i saw it and knelt down to capture it.  to me, it expressed my recession from life:

If movie posters were honest

See them all here