I'm probably just nitpicking here, but there has been some concern on the life of MacBook's battery. Some unlucky customers even complained that his/her battery was defective and doesn't perform as they should be. However, i could consider myself as lucky because as you could see from the image above, even after 17 months and 380+ battery cycles, my MacBook's battery health is still at 100%. It's very nice and a privilege to still have a small things that made you smile.
The Happening. I generally distrust stereotypes especially when their bloated and exaggerated manifestation was applied in film. This is why i don't like parodies. Most of them weren't smart enough and trapped in a mobious loop of 'stereotypes'. What is stereotype you ask? Well, all blondes are stupid, that's one, all arabs are terrorist, that's two, and you get the idea. Now, here's another stereotype, M. Night Shyamalan's films hid the real key to the plot and not revealing it until near the end. And for once, for me at least, he suffers the consequences of this stereotyping.
All movie goers my age must know that little ghost film called "The Sixth Sense". If you're my age, claiming yourself as a movie goer, AND never seen "The Sixth Sense", then i demand you to relinquish your title of 'movie goer' cause you don't deserve to name yourself among one. "The Sixth Sense" was a BOMB at the time. It puts Shyamalan's name on the map, and arguably sky-rocketting the stardom of a boy named Haley Joel-Osmend. His follow up to the film a brilliant, my favorite Shyamalan's film that redefines a genre was "Unbreakable". Then the questionable and debatable "Signs", the political allegory "The Village" that found small love among the crowds (i was one of the small crowd, by the way), and finally the disastrous "Lady in the Water". All this films on his resume bore one small common thing that has since become Shyamalan's stereotype. This little secret key-plot hidden and only be revealed shortly before the end.
It is entirely my personal fault that i entered the theater for "The Happening" with this stereotype of Shyamalan's in mind. Therefore, i had expected that something big, something that packed a "wow", some kind of a slap in the head toward the end. Almost during the entire film, i keep guessing and guessing and guessing and expecting. Then, finally, when it comes to a wrapping up and it turns out that the film wasn't really a "wow" i was devastated and disappointed. This film is almost a waste it won't stand a chance against The Incredible Hulk, also opening this weekend. And this is coming from a man who actually found love to "The Village".
The film opens in Central Park, New York (why does it always have to be New York?). A whisper of wind was its sign. An incoherent speech was its first symptom. And a suicidal tendency was its next and final act. The first few minutes was actually fun, to say the least, we see a woman punctured her own neck, and we see construction workers suddenly feels like they had wings and started to jump off the building on their own accord. What had happened? How does it happen? How will our brandished survivors, Mark Wahlberg and co. stayed alive? Would they stay alive until the end? All these questions immediately floats into my mind, and again, given Shyamalan's stereotype i had going through in the last couple of passages, it should come as no surprise if i expected at least a "wow" or a "gasp" from this film.
The film was going in an uneven pace throughout. Some scenes stood aloft, some "boo" moments worked very very well, but for most of the time, i had trouble to keep my interest afloat. It has too little points to make me actually attached into it. The closest sentence to describe this entire film that i could come up with was, "it feels like a B-film with uneven pace, and card-board acting. And oh, is that a boom-box visible, or am i wrong?" (it was on the scene where Elliot sits with Josh in a dining room. I thought i saw a boom-box on the top-left of the screen. Tell me if i'm wrong). If the film has high points, it was probably its scenes that involve death. They're pretty effective.
For all its worth, the film DID gave an explanation to "The Happening". And of course, i won't reveal it here, it is best if you experience it for yourself. One thing for sure though, the said explanation wasn't even close to pleased me and i'm very sure that i'm not the only one with such grudge in the theater last night.
My rating: *1/2 / **** - Even with *1/2 points, i was being generous for i love M. Night Shyamalan and wasn't quite ready just yet to banish him into the abyss.
Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief). A film that consistently revolving around many critics’ list of best film of all time, the Bicycle Thief is a very simple yet packed a powerful power for a film and should be savored by many who seek more than just an entertainment to kill a time in a film.
Arrived from my favorite era of film industry (post World War II, 1946 – 1955), this film utilizes no professional actor in the role. Lamberto Maggiorani, the front-man of this film was a factory worker. He portrays Antonio Ricci, a struggling family man who queues up every morning for a job in a grim and harsh Rome. One day, he gets a job, but there’s a problem, the job requires him to have a bicycle. He had a bicycle, only that it was currently owned by a pawn shop. In desperate need of a job to support his family, he screams, “I have a bicycle”.
Later that day, Maria, his wife, sells their linen bed-sheets in order to pawn back the bicycle. And as everybody could probably guessed correctly from the title, that the bicycle is going to be stolen, Vittorio De Sica teases us regarding “when” was the bicycle is actually stolen.
It’s a very simple premise, but yet, who couldn’t identify themselves with Ricci? He’s a struggling family man, which in the hardest of time still thought about the well being of his family. Especially with his son who for the most part of the film had their relationship maintained and well developed by De Sica.
In a way, it is a rarity nowadays for a film that maintains a simple premise yet packed it with a punch that even after sixty years still relevant despite its rugged imagery and the unmistakable sense of “old” in its presentation. Therefore, albeit I wasn’t really keen as many other critics who eagerly put “The Bicycle Thief” as one of the best film of all-time, it was one of the best films that I’ve ever seen. And finally, the film’s ending is one of the most daring, heart-wrenching scenes that I felt a significant remorse long after the film closes. It is THAT powerful of a film.
The Bicycle Thief also serves as a solid proof of why the particular era (post World War II) remains one of my most favorite eras of film. Especially more if the film in question came from countries who suffered the most during the war such as Japan, or Italy. There’s no denying the feeling of “lost”, “despair” and “hope” from the filmmakers bleed through the screen. Therefore, in my opinion, even if the film portrays such a simple theme of a man and his bicycle, or a family theme (such as Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story”), it serves incredibly well as an anti-war film. Even more than those pretentious films such as Roberto Benigni’s “Life is Beautiful”. Yeah, I loathe that film, and please let it be like that.
Note: There has been a discussion wether Ladri di Biciclette translated as "The Bicycle Thief" or as "The Bicycle Thieves". Whatever, if you like films, and black-and-white film doesn't made you wince, this is a film worthy of your time.
My rating: **** / **** - Need to see it several more times to test it against the time. But for the time being, it is one of the great films that i've ever seen.
"Controversies" aside, the score-board doesn't lie. It's a solid three goals to nil victory for the Netherlands. Or as one of our local commenter put it, "Oranje van Italy" pointing to the very fact that last night, the Marco van Basten's squad performing a football game which the Italy was best known for.
It may sound as seemingly a mere afterthought, for unlike many couples and soon-to-be-couples we've met who had actively engaged in the blogosphere, we decide to foreclose our journey and keeping it to ourselves. It is ours and even if it may sound selfish (well, it IS selfish), we intended to keep it that way. We might only share it to our grandchildren on our old days. Most of the stories out there on the net about their wedding? Pffttt.. They're joke and far less exciting than ours, anyway. Reading them is a painful experience. Had i shared my experience, you won't stop reading about it. In fact, you might think that i ripped off the story from a pop bestselling novel. Pompous? Maybe, but it's simply the plain vanilla's truth. One of my friend, one of the few whom i shared only a mere tip of an iceberg of my story and this girl i met said that my story is like an exciting fairy-tale. This is two years ago. He said to me - and this is coming from a man whose knowledge on movies is well above average - at the time, "If you managed to marrying her in the end, man, that is a fairy-tale, like in movies". And yep, i ended marrying her. In less than three weeks, anyway.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army arrives in theater on July 11, 2008 and i'm not going to stop by informing you for the n-th time yet again, that Hellboy (the first film) is one of my favorite superhero film, and beside The Dark Knight, is one of my most anticipated summer film this year.
Guillermo del Toro is back for the second film, and as a director with a knack for creating a fantastic creature in film (one only need to look the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth), it's exciting (at least for me) to wait for the sequel as it is said that the sequel will heavily loaded with more fantastic creatures. Here's some example taken from the sketch book, Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie.
It should be worth to note as well, for those who hasn't heard (well, who hasn't?), Guillermo del Toro also appointed to direct The Hobbit, adapted from JRR Tolkien's classic and a prequel to the legendary The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Images taken from Wired.com
As usual, the very last thing i did before head out from my room to go to work was strapping my iPod to my belt, plugged an earphone into my ear, and start playing music at random. This morning, i sense something wasn't entirely right with my right ear. It significantly quieter than the left one. I ignored the fact by attributing to the, most probably, increase of my right ear's wax amount. Yeah, gross, i know. So, i went to work anyway.
This noon, however, when i had a time to examine my Sennheiser MX160 (pictured), i noticed the cause of why my right ear hear less through the earphone. I've lost one of the earphone sleeve (circled in red in the picture). A couple of minutes Googling, i don't find any helpful info of wether they sell the spare earphone sleeve or not. Is anybody had any idea on where i should buy the earphone sleeve? Or is there any such thing as spare earphone sleeve?
I hereby declared my alignment to the Dutch squad in Euro 2008 which would kicked-off in two days' time.
Image courtesy of UEFA's Euro 2008 official website
Finally, some good news for all those DC fans! Producer Donald DeLine talked to the boys of CHUD about the long languishing Green Lantern film. While nothing has kicked into high-gear yet, the future is bright for Hal Jordan.
DeLine confirmed that Jack Black is no longer attached to the lead role, which should make all fans sigh with relief. And it is no longer being touted as a comedic movie. Isn't it nice when Hollywood wakes up and realizes they've wasted time on a really dumb idea?
They are currently awaiting the first draft of a script by Greg Berlanti, which DeLine was hopeful would be on his desk very soon. They are looking to make it a sensible origin story of Hal Jordan, with all the heroics and aliens the story requires. Okay, I'm guessing on the alien part, but I don't really see them changing that.
From my previous Fan Rant, it should be easy to see that this news about Green Lantern possible development in progress is a very good news indeed. With Supermax - Green Arrow film also in probably more-or-less maybe in progress as well (ignore the grammatical error, it's deliberate), DC are right on track on Marvel's Marvelous success' heel (albeit a little bit late, if you asked me).
Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, isn't particularly my favorite superhero. I'd probably go with Kyle Rayner as my favorite Guardians of the Universe. Hal Jordan has had a pretty .. colorful .. experience as Green Lantern. At one time of his career, he has become a Parallax, a supervillain, re-igniting the Sun (yep, the Sun, that big yellow ball thing in the sky?) by sacrificing his life, reborn as The Spectre, and eventually rebirth as Hal Jordan the Green Lantern. Anyway, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, or whomever the producer choose to start the Green Lantern film doesn't really matter to me as long as they could keep the ball rolling and doesn't let the fans waiting for more than we already had.
Guitar Hero for PS2 is a game that i consistently played for the last several months. I had all four titles, and even bought a Guitar controller for it. And even if i'm not nearly good enough to take out "Dragonforce's Through Fire and Flame" in Expert mode like this dude on this video (attached to this post), i could play almost all songs in the games in Expert mode.
Anyway, the next Guitar Hero game was confirmed, and it's Guitar Hero - Aerosmith which as the title suggests, features song selection from Aerosmith's songbook. I'm not particularly hyped with the news. Sure, Aerosmith is one of the prominent rock band for the last couple of decades, but as with any rock band that has been going through several decades, there's a high time and there's a low time. For me, Aerosmith's high time was sometime in 90's. And if you asked me, they has been on a decline ever since. But of course, it won't stop me from buying the game once it's released.
Rumor has it, that Guitar Hero would also released a Guitar Hero - Metallica. Now, THIS is a rumor that made me squeamish with anticipation. Even if Metallica hasn't really bounce back from the ridiculous success of the Black Album (1995? 1994?), i grew up with the band, having introduced to the Black Album, had had a period when i named Master of Puppets as my favorite album of all time, and having all these goosebumps when i saw James Hetfield with his goatee performing The Unforgiven live. Their hard time was well documented in Some Kind of Monster. You, Metallica fans should see the film. Short version, it should be of no surprise that i'm far more eager to anticipate the release of Guitar Hero - Metallica.
YouTube video of a dude kicking Through Fire and Flame in Expert mode, something i hadn't bothered to attempt, yet. :D
Update: It's not a rumor, though we'd only see Guitar Hero - Metallica in 2009.
A wee bit late, but i'm going to write about it anyway. You know how i feel about Awards, awkward and proceed with caution, as always, because to let others tell you what's good and deserved the award and what's not is really not my cup of tea. Especially one from MTV which i personally chose to detached myself from, sometime in 1997-1998. I mean, with ridiculous award such as "Best Summer Movies So Far" and all, it's rather hard to take MTV Movie Awards more seriously than it should be. It's a joke anyway, and should be treated as such.
Anyway, the main interest of the MTV Movie Awards, at least for me, is always the sketches between the awards announcement. Anne Hathaway is so Oh-My-God-Beautiful. How could a woman be so very captivating? I mean, look at that skin! *inhales-exhales*. And Jhonny Depp! A scene stealer! Just wow! 21 Jump Street all over again? Wow! No wonder those girls couldn't stop from screaming. And then there's Wayne's World reunion for the first time (perhaps) since 1994, Coldplay performing their next single, and Ellen Page who looked very small and innocent amidst Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and Will Smith. But boy, for a girl who just turns 20 she nailed the acceptance speech way better than her peers. And then my favorite sketch of the night, Adam Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black promoting Tropic Thunder (the best part, "It'll do until The Dark Knight comes out"). And that comprised all the best moments in the ceremony for me. Roughly a third of duration.
As an afterthought, it might be a bit too early, but i'm gonna be bold as to say that Robert Downey Jr. would had a very memorable year. I might going as far as to name him as my personal best Entertainer of the year. His Iron Man was clearly a phenomenal, and he'd be back later this year with Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller, and everybody who seen his sketch with Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the last American Idol finale a couple of weeks ago should agreed that he could be hilarious without doing much. And if his sketch to promote Tropic Thunder with Jack Black and Ben Stiller in the show is of any indication, he looked very comfortable in the role, and more importantly, clearly having fun with it.
As for the award winner itself? It's comprehensive list should be easily obtainable elsewhere.
This is my very first ever attempt to create a video podcast! A Podcast! A Video! I'm using Jing, a free Screencast app for Mac OS X, if you knew any free Screencast app for Mac OS X that you feel better than one i use, do let me know. Meanwhile, a first attempt is always, well... first. Therefore, i expect that the result will be far less than stellar, mediocre at best, ugly to say the least. But anyway, as with any other masterpieces, persistence is the key. Rome is, after all, doesn't built in a day.
Anyway, as the video captured my entire desktop, the file is fairly large. A staggering 3 MB for a mere minute video and as this was my FIRST attempt, i hadn't bothered to optimize the video for blog. But i promised, i'd get into it later this week as i create more podcast in various programming subject (not just Ruby in Rails, that is). Meanwhile, if you're interested enough, this link will bring you to screencast.com where you could download the video. OR you could straight as an arrow download the file through this link. Wait, allow me to rephrase. MY video. Wow, that actually feels good.
