Mark

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Movies / /

While this has been a lackluster year for movies, things have been heating up a bit lately. I think the movie that I am most looking forward to this Holiday Season is the Coen Brothers’ new comedy, O Brother, Where art Thou?. Judging from this review, I won’t be disappointed. The setup is fairly standard: 3 prisoners escape and travel across the state to recover a small fortune that was stolen from a bank. But remember, this is Coen Brothers we’re talking about here: “It�s a musical. And it�s based in Homer�s Odyssey.” Thats interesting. Other early reviews are also positive, so I’m confident I’ll enjoy this flick.

The Running Man Bible

Arts & Letters / /

For the uninitiated, The Running Man was a cheesy 80s Schwartzenegger action flick that is generally considered something of an abomination by film critics and even most fans. However, the author of this hilarious review of The Running Man thinks otherwise:

“Did we watch the same film? The unedited version? The one with all the swear words and the scene where the head of a fleeing prisoner explodes like a chinchilla in a convection oven?”

LOL! Go and read his madness. Now

Finally

Computers & Internet / /

When I first found out that Napster was being sued by the 5 largest record labels, I was appalled. Not so much at their protecting their rights and sales (though that is debateable), but that they were passing up a huge business deal. Think about it, 40 million people are using a specific piece of software to trade music. Wouldn’t it make more sense to charge for the right to use that software (as opposed to shutting it down)? Instead of embracing technology, the record industry was foolishly trying to put a stop to Napster. Then all the file sharing clones and alternatives showed up. Remember, Napster is only a company that wants to make money but couldn’t (because of the copyright issue). Finally, someone has realized the potential. German media giant Bertelsmann (1 of the aformentioned 5 largest record labels) recently announced that they would be forming a business alliance with Napster, possibly charging a monthly fee of up to $15.00. Though this probably won’t stop file sharing, it will probably be very lucrative for the parties involved…

Math Against Tyranny

Politics / /

This interesting article shows how the electoral college vote empowers voters more than a raw popular vote. Why do people have such a hard time understanding that the Electoral College is a good thing? An interesting analogy is made: “the same logic that governs our electoral system…also applies to many sports” For instance, in baseball’s World Series, the team that scores the most runs overall is like a candidate who gets the most votes. But in order to win the series, that team must also win 4 games. In the 1960 World Series, the Yankees scored almost twice as many runs as the Pirates, and yet lost the series. “Runs must be grouped in a way that wins games, just as popular votes must be grouped in a way that wins states.” Wery interesting. [via kottke]

Broken

Movies / /

Unbreakable (***) I like it. I moved the full review to the movies section where it belongs. Go and read its coolness.

Unbreakable

Movies / /

If all goes well, I will be viewing the film Unbreakable tonight. This is M. Night Shyamalan’s film first effort since the wildly successful The Sixth Sense. While I enjoyed The Sixth Sense, I wasn’t overly impressed. It was good, but it had some flaws, and thats the kind of film I expect to see tonight. Judging from the early mixed reviews, I think I’m going to be right. We shall see. Check back later for a mini-review.

A user on the Coming Attractions Discussion Forums made this funny observation: “wouldnt it suck if in the end of unbreakable

bruce willis really did die in the train wreck” – eman182. Lol…

Job Security

Computers & Internet / /

Want to know how to make yourself an irreplaceable programmer? Go here and find out how to make your code unmaintainable by anyone but yourself. No wonder most software sucks.

Perspectives Falling Apart

Music / /

Those of you who think my short review of Things Falling Apart sucks will be glad to know that I agree and that I am linking to a funnier review of the cd. So there. For those of you NIN fans who are not familiar with The Meathead Perspective, I do suggest you check it out. Its a riot.

An exerpt from Meatheads review of The Great Collapse: “This track is a bit repetitive, and fairly simplistic, and a bit repetitive, but after listening to it a few times, it grew on me, kinda like a mild case of hives. ”