
Monday, March 8, 2010
One step forward, 23 steps back (re-post)

Sunday, February 28, 2010
You can't meddle with the mettle of a metal medal
United States 45 53 49 147 290
China 56 23 32 111 246
Russia 26 26 35 87 165
Germany 26 23 22 71 146
Great Britain 20 13 15 48 101
Australia 16 16 17 49 97
Canada 17 16 11 44 94
France 9 19 23 51 88
Norway 12 13 8 33 70
South Korea 13 10 8 31 67
Italy 9 11 13 33 62
Kenya 11 11 6 28 61
Japan 9 9 12 30 57
Netherlands 11 6 7 24 52
Ukraine 7 5 15 27 46
Cuba 2 11 11 24 39
Belarus 5 6 11 22 38
Spain 5 10 3 18 38
Austria 4 7 8 19 34
Poland 4 9 3 16 33
Sweden 5 6 5 16 32
Switzerland 8 0 7 15 31
Jamaica 6 3 2 11 26
Brazil 3 4 8 15 25
Czech Republic 5 3 4 12 25
Kazakhstan 2 5 7 14 23
Hungary 3 5 2 10 21
Slovakia 4 3 2 9 20
Romania 4 1 3 8 17
New Zealand 3 1 5 9 16
Ethiopia 4 1 2 7 16
Slovenia 1 4 3 8 14
Turkey 1 4 3 8 14
Finland 1 2 6 9 13
Denmark 2 2 3 7 13
Croatia 0 4 4 8 12
Georgia 3 0 3 6 12
Azerbaijan 1 2 4 7 11
North Korea 2 1 3 6 11
Argentina 2 0 4 6 10
Uzbekistan 1 2 3 6 10
Latvia 1 3 1 5 10
Mongolia 2 2 0 4 10
Thailand 2 2 0 4 10
Zimbabwe 1 3 0 4 9
Bulgaria 1 1 3 5 8
Indonesia 1 1 3 5 8
Lithuania 0 2 3 5 7
Mexico 2 0 1 3 7
Estonia 1 2 0 3 7
Armenia 0 0 6 6 6
Greece 0 2 2 4 6
Nigeria 0 1 3 4 5
India 1 0 2 3 5
Belgium 1 1 0 2 5
Dominican Republic 1 1 0 2 5
Portugal 1 1 0 2 5
Taiwan 0 0 4 4 4
Ireland 0 1 2 3 4
Serbia 0 1 2 3 4
Iran 1 0 1 2 4
Trinidad and Tobago 0 2 0 2 4
Algeria 0 1 1 2 3
Bahamas 0 1 1 2 3
Colombia 0 1 1 2 3
Kyrgyzstan 0 1 1 2 3
Morocco 0 1 1 2 3
Tajikistan 0 1 1 2 3
Bahrain 1 0 0 1 3
Cameroon 1 0 0 1 3
Panama 1 0 0 1 3
Tunisia 1 0 0 1 3
Chile 0 1 0 1 2
Ecuador 0 1 0 1 2
Iceland 0 1 0 1 2
Malaysia 0 1 0 1 2
Singapore 0 1 0 1 2
South Africa 0 1 0 1 2
Sudan 0 1 0 1 2
Vietnam 0 1 0 1 2
Afghanistan 0 0 1 1 1
Egypt 0 0 1 1 1
Israel 0 0 1 1 1
Mauritius 0 0 1 1 1
Moldova 0 0 1 1 1
Togo 0 0 1 1 1
Venezuela 0 0 1 1 1
Friday, February 26, 2010
Twoetry Two

traff*c
Friday, January 8, 2010
The bowl is half-empty
Congratulations to the Alabama Crimson Tide, winner of last night's so-called "National Championship Bowl" and holder of this year's mythical NCAA football crown. I say "mythical" because, while I believe they have a good claim to the title, for some reason we still don't have a true playoff system to definitively settle the matter. (Mr. President... ahem... I believe this was one of your campaign promises...)But I'd like to imagine a world in which we had been treated to a month of playoff-level excitement. A world where we had gotten to see 16 of the season's top-ranked college football teams battle for the ultimate, indisputable title.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
James Cameron jumps the (glowing, blue, four-eyed) shark
I would give it three stars *** (worthwhile), but only barely. Once the novelty wears off, I'll drop it to two stars ** (tolerable). In any case, I would recommend waiting for video. ("But wait," you say, "don't I need to see it in 3D?" You don't need to see anything in 3D!)
On the plus side, the special effects were good and some of the action scenes were very well done. I like Sam Worthington as an actor, too, and he did a good job in this movie despite the thin script.
The CGI was good - better than anything previous - but it's not the tremendous leap forward that it was hyped to be. At the end of the day, it still looks like a glorified video game. The motion capture thing has been done before, and I thought Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a bigger technical leap forward in marrying live action and animation.
Maybe I would feel different if the story were worth watching, but that is where this movie really falls apart. Here are my complaints (SPOILERS!):
- Have you seen Dances with Wolves and Braveheart? Then you're familiar with this plot. Have you seen any of Cameron's previous movies? Then you've heard this dialogue. Cameron recycled so much of Aliens that he should sue himself for copyright infringement: space marines, an evil all-powerful corporation represented by a sleazy corporate executive, mechanical robot suits... he even used Sigourney Weaver! That familiarity alone wouldn't necessarily be such a bad thing, but Cameron's style is so heavy-handed and clichéd that it was painful.
- The physiology of the main alien species, the Na'vi, is completely incompatible with that of the rest of the fauna on Pandora. All of the other alien species have six legs, four eyes, feathery antennae and no hair. The Na'vi have bodies that look like ours. Sure, that makes them more personable, but it also makes them look out of place.
- All of the animal species on Pandora look and behave like glowing blue, six-legged versions of Earth species. There are Pandoran dogs and horses and pterodactyls and jungle cats. I saw a great 2005 Discovery Channel special called Alien Planet that had more interesting life forms. If the Discovery Channel could do something like that on a shoestring, why couldn't Cameron do the same with his billion-dollar production budget? Also, with only a few exceptions, the plants and trees look like Earth plants and trees.
- Unobtainium? Please.
- The Na'vi physically bond with animals on Pandora using biological, fiber optic-like tentacles that emerge from the end of their ponytails. Wait... what? I can't believe I just typed that.
- In the movie's most dramatic moment, the humans destroy the giant tree where the Na'vi live. The allusion to the 9-11 attack on the Twin Towers was not appreciated, especially since Cameron has Americans committing this act of horror. In scene after scene, he depicts the vast majority of these humans as insensitive and eager to spill Na'vi blood. I not only found this unbelievable, I also found it despicable. Shame on you, James Cameron.
- There was a lot of pointless potty talk. My seven-year-old would have really liked a lot of things in this movie, but there's no way I'll let him watch it until he's older. There's no reason Cameron couldn't have made this movie more family-friendly. And to be honest, it would have worked much better that way: if you have a ridiculous and cliché-filled plot, why not add a touch of wonder and whimsy, so those deficiencies aren't so glaring?
So here is my movie review quote (for the back of the Blu-ray packaging): "best-thing-since-Star Wars... I would recommend... very well done... technical leap forward... unbelievable."
And here is the Crazy People quote: "A huge disappointment... fail, fail fail... heavy-handed and clichéd... painful... despicable... shame on you, James Cameron."
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Alien Robot Zombie Christmas 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Random top 10 list: hottest Hollywood actresses
On a recent flight, instead of the usual Delta Airlines travel magazine, my seatback held a copy of Rolling Stone. Inside were articles about two incredibly hott (yes, that's how the kidz spell it these dayz) actresses: Megan Fox and Scarlett Johansson. That got me thinking, and so without further ado, here is a list of the hottest actresses in movies today.#6. Gabrielle Union
#7. Jessica Alba
#8. Angelina Jolie
Friends was so last decade, so what is this actress still doing looking so amazing? Now if only she'd make a movie men wouldn't mind watching. (Something with a car chase or an explosion, please.) photos
