iP3K

I was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets to an advance screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This movie marks the return of Harrison Ford in the role of the famous adventurer archaeologist. I’ll be upfront with the fact that I was too young to have experienced the original series. I’ve seen their re-runs on TV but haven’t paid significant attention to call myself a fan. I knew little bits and pieces so here is my review from the un-trained eye.

It boils down to be a really fun movie! That’s what you call an adventure epic, there is comic relief, amazing sight seeing and unexpected plot twists. The movie starts off with our heroes already captive from KGB operatives in search of a mysterious box. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. is not the kind of hero that requires an armor, mutant powers or lots of cash, he’s just working with what he’s got and survives stuff you know you just wouldn’t.

However fans of the original series might feel cheated as this movie was produced in the 21st century with all the means available today including CGI (computer generated imagery). When you think about it, many shots would of been near impossible to create in the 80’s with out the use of some funny miniature model. I came into this movie really spoiler free aside the few trailers out there I had no idea of what I would be getting. It’s probably a good thing for you too, because talking about the supernatural elements present inside this movie would spoil part of the mystery. All I could say is that this Crystal Skull would open The Ark and drink from the Holy Grail and still be up for a party.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is that great podcast I’ve fell in love with. Who would of though that by watching an episode of Martin Sargent’s Internet Superstar (episode 9) I would come to discover MobLogic.TV and experience a profound revelation. I used to love following the news, find out what happened in the world and all. But anyone who turns on to their local station to watch the evening news is bound to be heavily disappointed. When you’re stuck with a perception where the media dishes out scandal after scandal, never taking the time to see what it all “really means”. I’d like to say I’m knowledgeable enough to know better. I’d like to consider myself a better Human, caring for my neighbor and not be a mindless sheep. Obviously I no where close to that. But when I watch MobLogic it makes me think, I’m not a consumer of information anymore. You can watch an episode below or check them out at www.moblogic.tv.

This is my first post to feature a Revision3 show. The Totally Rad Show is my favorite program available on their network and I’ve grow to become a serious fan of the hosts. Jeff Cannata, Dan Trachtenberg and Alex Albertch bring you the latest news, reviews and previews from movies, video games, comics, television and all things rad. Their adventure started in March 2007 and they’ve hosted 60 episodes so far. The show comes out on a weekly basis and thanks to Revision3’s distribution methods it’s available in a wide range of formats and devices. Whether you have a cellphone, an iPod or a computer you can download a new episode is available every Tuesday for free. They have their own website with a weekly poll tied to the show and they aggregate various news stories so you can keep up with the ever changing world.

The original idea of the show is like the one of friends having a “couch discussion”, only they wanted to add a little more by filming in front of a green screen where they can have different contextual background and where Steve, the editor, can insert graphics and comments related to the discussion at hand.

This show is pretty much about all the stuff I like and talk about on this blog, a few times I’ve mentioned TRS (Totally Rad Show) with my reviews of Cloverfield and Shaolin Soccer. This show is one of the best you can watch on the web.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I stumbled upon an interesting article via Digg. The article talks about Why Gen Y is Going to Change the Web, a particular section resonated strongly with me.

Work Isn’t Their Whole World: Sure, they’re going to go to work, but it had better be fun. For Gen Y, work isn’t their identity. It’s just a place. Gen Y sees no reason why a company can’t be more accommodating, offering benefits like the ability to work from anywhere, flex-time, a culture that supports team communication, and a “fun” work environment. They’re also not going to blindly follow orders just because you’re the boss. Sometimes dubbed “Generation Why?” they need to “buy in” as to why something is being done. [...]

I feel strongly about this argument. However I feel that there will be a lot more challenges coming our way as our generation is growing out to be very different. Are we the next wave of the 70s peace and love? The best way to sum up the article is that Gen Y grew up with the Internet and the rise of technology. This reminds me a text a quoted two months ago : I’m young, I grew up with Internet and I’m the center of the Universe. [Read Belly Button]

This movie also comes from the mind of Stephen Chow and feels like the natural evolution of Shaolin Soccer. Bigger budget, more special effects and more of what made the first movie this great. The back story involves the “black axe gang” that represents the Yakuzas in Japan. A small housing complex gets into a scuffle with the gang but there is more then just ordinary people living there. Kung fu masters are revealed and they must defend the people living there.

It’s surprisingly fun to watch, there are few unexpected turns, and it pokes fun at reality more then once, when you see two characters running like cartoons with their legs rolling like if they where on bikes. You will recognize many cast members from the previous movie, but this one has a much more mature approach to the manner. People get hurt and die, they fight for good or wrong reasons but it remains a fun movie. It’s a pleasure on the eyes to watch. If you want some entertainment and some martial art action, Kung Fu Hustle is for you.

This super hero movie is like no other, heroes are built. Forget about special powers, Iron Man is about a man, his money and his quest to change the fate of the world. Tony Stark is played by Robert Downey Jr. and he offers a great performance. He’s really believable in his character, without being too emo (see Spiderman). Tony Stark is your typical rich jerk that makes a lot of money selling advance weapons. After demonstrating a new missile called the Jericho he is kidnapped by a terrorist group that demands he replicates those missiles for them. Surprisingly they have all the equipment needed, they just need the brains to complete the project.

The genius he is, decides to build a robotic suit instead of the missile in an attempt to escape. Obviously this prototype is far from the final product he’ll be able to accomplish in a lab with top level equipment. Imagine Batman with more money!

Read the rest of this entry »

Some might remember my infamous Opera 9 vs Firefox 2 vs Internet Explorer 7 post. I’ve decided to take a look back in the past and repeat the experience as new versions of both Opera and Firefox appear to be nearing release. In contrast I’ve chosen to leave the upcoming IE8 out of the battle because it does not seem to be coming as soon as it’s competitors. Safari along other browsers are probably very functional but they don’t spike my interest and don’t seem to make as much flame wars material.

For this review I’ve installed Opera 9.5 Beta 2 and Firefox 3 Beta 5 and aimed at comparing them. Lets get whatever is common out of the way. Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, anti-phising, RSS feed, skins, integrated search, anti-phising. All this is well and pretty much all the browsers woke up and followed the trends that became quite successful.

Read the rest of this entry »

I might be a cynic to call this movie unbelieveable, but Untraceable is really a quick forgetable movie that you might appreciate if you can enjoy mild torture and twisted logic of both heroes and villains of the story.

The idea is simple, someone put up a website called KillWithMe where he streams over the Internet the slow death of a victim. The twist is that it’s actually the viewers that kill because the death is initiated by the viewing of the website. The more people that log on to see the torture, the faster the murder occurs. You would think that since the murderer is annonymous at the beginning and seems to know quite alot about how the FBI agents function there would be a big twist reveal of his identity. I guess they got bored with the mystery and decided to place the movie with an other direction where the bad guy decides to stalk and attack the lead investigator in the case.

The movie ends like a car crash with no clear resolution. Aside the conclusion that a lot of people on the Internet are cluless and very gullable. There are some really annoying product placement like Windows Vista being used on every computer and where every window looks like it’s a media player one. On Star joins the fun but proves that somehow a skilled hacker could break into your cars computer, lock you in and threaten your life. None the less, it’s not a boring movie, things are happening and you have the kind of involvement when you keep telling yourself why didn’t she do this or that.

Wait for it to go on TV, it might be worth it then. 6 out of 10 -