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Apr 08 2010

So who’s getting an iPad?

Published by japadamus under tech, review

Apple released the iPad this Saturday, and so far the device has sold over 450,000 units, 300,000 of which were sold on launch day. I made the trek to the Apple store, which had two lines, one for iPad pre-orders, and the other for non-preorder buyers. The pre-order line was empty when I arrived at the Palo Alto store at about 11:30am, and there were about 20 people or so in the non-preorder line.

Most people were in the store playing with the iPad. The iPad demo area was packed, and it took a few minutes of waiting just to get to a demo unit.

The build quality of the iPad is impressive. It’s a very solid device and the aluminum back and glass screen feel very sturdy.

The iPad’s 9.7” screen looks great, although the glossy finish will be awful in the sun. HD video was smooth, and colors were rich. HD YouTube videos looked good as well.

There were only a few apps on the iPad, and many were just iPhone apps enlarged for the iPad’s screen. Since these apps are essentially just enlarged, text and images were very pixelated. That was a big disappointment, because it will likely mean you need to buy new ‘HD’ versions of apps, unless you want to stick with low res iPhone versions.

Apps that were made for the iPad, like Flight Control, did look pretty good. The large screen gives you a lot of real estate for gaming, web browsing, and reading email, which is a big improvement over the iPhone. The iPad’s keyboard in horizontal mode is also pretty easy to type on. You do miss the tactile feedback of real keys, but the iPad’s virtual keyboard is a decent enough alternative to type out emails.

With music however, the extra space isn’t really used well. That’s not a big gripe, but I would have liked to see the iPad’s big screen used for liner notes or something.

eBooks look good on the iPad, and the device has a cool page turning effect that makes eBooks look like real books. Color is a big plus that differentiates the iPad from the Kindle, for example. And while many novels are just black in white, there are a ton of books that will benefit from the iPad’s high res color screen.

The speed of the iPad was impressive, especially when compared to the iPhone. Websites loaded quickly, and zooming and scrolling was very responsive.

At the end of the day though, I just couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger on an iPad – and believe me, I was looking for any excuse to do so. Like many people, I can’t really see how the iPad will fit into my daily life, so although the device is certainly cool, it’s not worth the $500+.

I’d suggest a wait-and-see approach at this point, for a few reasons. First of all, the iPad won’t really replace a laptop or an iPhone, so you don’t need to buy it now. You can wait until the price drops, or wait for Apple to release refurb units at a $100 discount.

Also, the accessories currently available for the iPad are underwhelming. Apple had a few overpriced cases in stock, all of which felt pretty cheap. If you buy now, you’ll need to get a case to protect the iPad, but most likely you’ll want to upgrade to a better case in the near future.

And, today Apple announced that the iPad will be upgraded to the iPhone OS 4.0 in the fall. That’s just another reason to wait before purchasing the device.

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Mar 15 2010

Capitalism: Not for morons

Published by japadamus under Bob Loblaw, review

Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story came out on DVD recently, giving us more of Moore’s anti-corporate, pro little guy shtick. This time, Moore focuses on the mortgage crisis and its impact on American homeowners and workers.

Moore does a pretty good job of highlighting greed by American corporations. Of course, Moore sprinkles in a bunch of hard luck stories that are make us get angry at rich people and feel bad for the poor. Towards the end, Moore plays a clip from FDR and asks us why things like shelter, a job, education and food aren’t guaranteed for all

Americans.

It’s interesting though that while Moore is hammering corporations, he doesn’t hold individuals accountable for their decisions. After all, individual greed was behind many of the refinances that caused the mortgage crisis. People refinanced their homes to get cash, and then spent this cash on products rather than insuring that they would be able to pay off their mortgages.

Moore also accuses banks of hiding variable interest rates in ‘fine print.’ But really, if you’re dealing with a six or seven figure mortgage, don’t individuals have the responsibility to take some time and read the fine print, and understand what they’re signing?

You can make as many laws as you want, but at the end of the day if individuals are making deals that they can’t afford and don’t understand, they will be ripped off. That’s not a problem with capitalism…that’s natural selection.

Really, I think the moral of the story here is that capitalism is not for morons. And that’s true of any situation that involves lots of cash.

What’s more troubling though, is that Moore calls for protests by citizens when they feel like they’ve been wronged by big corporations. Is that really the solution here? If you make bad financial decisions and your property is rightfully seized by your debtors, it isn’t virtuous to protest – it’s breaking the promise that you made.

Moore also extols the virtues of a socialism, which is utterly ridiculous. Modifying our government to cater the lowest common denominator will make America less competitive while protecting the people in our society that contribute the least.

That may sound like a good idea when you’re looking at a poor family being evicted from their homes. But it’s not such a good idea when you see the thousand dollar rims on their 86 Honda Accord.

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Nov 09 2009

Paranormal Activity is scary…if you are retarded

Published by japadamus under review

Paranormal Activity has been the surprise scary movie of the year. It racked up a few weeks at #1 while earning about $100 million to date. The most spectacular part of this movie is that it was made for only $13k.

I don’t really get the appeal of this movie though. The plot, and I’m going to give away a bunch of spoilers here, is that a couple has had some weird stuff happening in their house. So, the boyfriend gets a camera and starts recording. It’s kind of like the Blair Witch project, except you’re looking at basically the same house the whole movie.

That’s boring.

The scary parts of the movie are even worse. Since the movie is filmed with a cheap handheld video camera, you can’t really see very much – it’s like you’re looking at surveillance tape from a convenience store or something.

And, you don’t really see anything scary…it’s all implied. For example, you don’t see the demon, but you see his foot prints. And you don’t see the demon attack the girlfriend, but you see her zoom across the room.

I guess the movie would be scary if you believe that all this crazy shit was recorded, and the police and FBI decided to take this evidence and release it as a movie instead of going to court with it or showing it to reporters. Because…you know…that happens all the time.

But if you don’t buy into that, then you’re left with a pretty tedious low res movie that really tries your patience more than anything. I mean, you don’t even see anyone getting killed or attacked. You just see this couple freaking out constantly, and that is boring.

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Oct 02 2009

Instant Coffee…from Starbucks

Published by japadamus under food, review

If you’ve been to Starbucks in the last few days you’ve probably noticed the company’s newest product, Via instant coffee. The company has been promoting Via heavily by giving away free samples. This weekend, Starbucks will also run taste tests in its stores, where customers will likely put Via up against the company’s brewed coffee.

I tried my first cup of Via today with mixed results. I tried the Extra Bold version of the product, Specialty Roast and Medium versions of Via are also available.

Via is sold in thin packages that have become common among powdered beverages. Unlike Folgers, which uses crystals, Via looks like finely ground coffee.

Making a cup of Via is simple – all you do is pour Via into a cup and add water. This worked well for me, Via dissolved well and the coffee looked, well, like a normal cup of coffee.

Via didn’t taste exactly like brewed coffee, however. It was a bit weak for my taste, especially compared to Starbucks’ brewed bold coffee, which is pretty strong.

This is the main problem I have with instant coffee, or even home dripped coffee for that matter – most of the time it’s just too weak and watered down. I do have to say though that Via was closer to a traditional cup of coffee than other instant brands.

Overall, Via isn’t world changing, but it is a good option if you’re stuck without traditional coffee. However, for about a dollar per packet it’s an expensive cup of instant coffee.

If I had a pack of Via handy in the office I would consider whether I want to walk to Starbucks, take the time to brew a cup of dripped coffee, or use Via. Unless I was really strapped for time, I think I would prefer to walk to a Starbucks. However, I would prefer Via over most home made drip coffee.

I think mainly what Starbucks is selling here is a brand name. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of innovation with Via over other instant brands, and while Via does taste better than other instant coffees I’ve tried, it’s still at most a time-saving option, not a preference.

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Aug 23 2009

Julie and Julia

Published by japadamus under food, review

There have been a ton of blockbusters out this summer, but the previews for Julie and Julia really piqued my interest. Cooking and blogging sounds, well, right up my alley.

Julie and Julia is two stories in one. The first is about how Julia Child got started with her first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The second is about Julie, who pledges to make every recipe in Mastering the Art in just 365 days.

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Aug 14 2009

A new take on aliens with District 9

Published by japadamus under review

Out of this year’s crop of summer movies, I was most excited about District 9. The previews were vague, but they suggest a completely new take on the aliens-arrive-on-earth genre that is quite realistic.

I went to the premier last night and I have to say, District 9 is a must see.

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Jul 11 2009

Bruno

Published by japadamus under review

I’m a big fan of these Sacha Baron Cohen movies. Borat was a great, great movie, and so I lined up for the midnight release of Cohen’s latest pic Bruno.

The verdict? It’s a must see, but not necessarily in theaters.

Bruno delivers non-stop laughs…respectable, even though the film is only an hour and a half long. While some critics say Bruno was just one long gay joke, I have to say I think Cohen took the gay joke to several new levels.

I don’t want to give away much…it’s really better when you see it yourself, but in general Bruno follows a similar plot as Borat. A foreigner in the US works towards a goal while learning about the country. Oh yeah, and there’s gay sidekick stuff in the movie as well.

I have to say, watching Cohen pull of his pranks makes me think he deserves an oscar or something. I mean, the guy can really act well. He not only keeps a straight face, but pulls his victims in to the pranks as well. And unlike a fictional movie, Cohen only gets one take. I gotta give the guy props for that.

At times, the movie was so gay it made me cringe. Watching a huge cock twirling around on a 3 story screen was…well…a bit too much cock for my taste. So to speak.

But Cohen does a good job of taking the gay jokes to another level. More dirty, more vulgar, more funny.

It’s a funny film that you can enjoy, while at the same time marveling at the stupidity of Americans and Cohen’s incredible ability to maintain his character.

Again, I highly recommend Bruno, but the film doesn’t benefit much from the big screen. Perhaps save your $10 and wait until it comes out on Blu Ray…but do make sure to see it.

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Apr 22 2009

Craftsteak

Published by japadamus under food and dining, review, Las Vegas

On Saturday TJFKAK and I continued our Las Vegas steakhouse vacation at Craftsteak, the steakhouse created by Tom Colicchio. If you’re a fan of Top Chef, you know Colicchio as the show’s head judge.

Craftsteak is located in the MGM Grand, and it’s a really nice location. The restaurant has a huge bar with 175 different scotches, as well as an enormous wine selection.

We went with the $60 price fix menu which included an appetizer course, entree course with sides, and dessert. A $30 wine pairing was also available but we didn’t spring for it.

The price fix menu was served family style and portioned per the number of people eating. The amount of food was close to perfect – if anything there was too much food for the two of us.

The first course included quail, a persian cucumber salad, a fennel salad and mozzarella. Both the fennel and cucumber salad had a nice yuzu citrus flavor. The cucumber salad also included watercress, and the bitterness of the watercress was a nice contrast to the yuzu.

The fennel was shaved into thin, linguine noodle-sized pieces. It had a crisp texture and a fresh flavor that also mixed well with the citrus.

Both salads complemented the charred quail, which was nicely cooked. The quail meat was juicy, although it was served a bit cold.

The mozzarella was rich, and even though I’m not a big fan of cheese it was tasty. The cheese was topped with a bell pepper salsa that, like the fennel, had a nice crunchy texture.

The main course included a flat iron steak, skirt steak and scallops. Although the cuts of steak weren’t anything special, the meat was well cooked and tender. The scallops were also a nice contrast to the steaks. All three dishes were simple, but they worked well together. It was actually a ton of food, even though the cuts of meat were not as large as Cut.

Sides included mashed potatoes, snap peas, and shiitake mushrooms. The peas were the highlight here. They were sweet and crisp and perfectly flavored.

Again though, the one fault of the main course was temperature. The steak was served warm, not hot. It seemed like they had been sitting out for a bit before being served. This kind of makes sense, given this was a multi-course price fix menu that required a lot of timing to serve, but still, temperature is kind of a fundamental thing, right?

I’m not gonna comment much on the deserts, because I only had a few bites, but TJFKAK seemed to love it. I got a scotch that the sommelier tailored to the caramel in the ice cream and cake, and that was a clear winner.

Side by side, I’d have to say I prefer Craftsteak over Cut by a slim margin. Keep in mind though that we had different types of meals at both restaurants, so it’s not really an apples to apples comparison. I feel like we got a better idea of the chef’s take on steak at Craftsteak mostly because we got to taste so many flavor combinations.

I also think I’d be more likely to return to Craftsteak than Cut. Craft had a ton of interesting menu items that we didn’t get to try, including some pretty tasty looking Japanese Kobe dishes. And one thing that’s great for scotch lovers is that Craftsteak has several scotch tasting flights, ranging from reasonable to ridiculously priced. Definitely check this one out the next time you’re in Vegas.

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Apr 21 2009

Cut

Published by japadamus under food and dining, review

This weekend TJFKAK and I went to Vegas. The theme this trip was steak, and we put two of Vegas’ finest steakhouses on the itinerary.

The first steakhouse we went to was called Cut. This is a relatively new restaurant located in the Palazzo. Actually, the Palazzo itself is pretty new – it opened only last year next to it’s parent property, the Venetian.

At cut we opted for a basic appetizer/entree meal plus a few mixed drinks and wine. We started with Kobe beef sashimi and a shrimp and lobster louie.

The sashimi was quite good. It was tender and rich, and not the least bit stringy or chewy. The texture was kind of like toro actually. The kobe was dressed with a soy ginger blend that reminded me of a korean seasoning. The sauce did overpower the flavor of the meat, really acting more like a marinade than a dressing, but still it worked well.

The shrimp and lobster louie was a complete change of pace. It was more european in seasoning and it was mixed with a rich, creamy cheese sauce. Out of the two I enjoyed the sashimi a bit more, probably because it was pretty unique, although both dishes were nice starters.

Like other vegas steakhouses, Cut has a wide selection of beef. They had two types of American beef that were aged between 15 and 25 days, if I remember correctly. They also had a Japanese Kobe beef that was way out of my price range.

In any case, I went with a rib eye and TJFKAK went with a NY. Both were dry aged for 25 days. We ordered shishito peppers and mashed potatoes as sides.

The rib eye had a nice char to it, and the temperature was on point. We also got a yuzu-butter dipping sauce that gave the steaks a nice citrus flavor. Cut also serves their steaks with a variety of mustards, but I found these to be unremarkable.

The only issue I had is that we really ended up with a lot of food. My rib eye was 16 ounces, which was a lot after the apps. In the future, I’d try the filet with an appetizer, rather than going for a big cut.

There was, unfortunately, a lot that we didn’t get to try on Cut’s menu. They had an oxtail bullion that seems like a must-try for next time. We also didn’t really get into their wine menu – I had a glass of cab, that’s it. I’d suggest that larger parties order a few bottles to get a feeling for Cut’s enormous wine selection.

Another interesting note is that we saw Annie Duke, celebrity poker player and star of the celebrity apprentice at Cut. She was actually just a couple tables down from us.

In any case, Cut was an above average steakhouse. However, in Vegas, it’d bet that Cut gets lost among the others. The Palazzo itself has three steakhouses, and I don’t think Cut stands out….not because it was a bad restaurant, but that it merely meets what has become an insanely high standard for upscale steakhouses in Vegas.

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Apr 08 2009

The Bridge

Published by japadamus under review

The Bridge is a documentary about people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge to commit suicide. Stern and Carolla mentioned the movie on their shows, and both recommended it. I’d have to agree as well.

The movie’s main, lets call it a gimmick, is that it shows people actually jumping off the golden gate to their death. In some cases, you see people walking back and forth along the bridge, then climbing over the rail and taking the leap.

Sure, it’s disturbing. I mean, it’s insane to think that some camera man is just watching these people jumping off the bridge without calling the cops or anything.

But what keeps this movie from being a snuff film is that it actually goes into the lives of the suicide victims with interviews with friends and family of the victims. That’s a key element that really personalizes the images of the people jumping off the bridge.

In a lot of cases, it seems like there was nothing that could really have been done for the victims. The deaths showed in The Bridge were not the first suicide attempts for most of the people featured. In some cases they had mental illnesses that caused them to be really depressed. In other cases the people were just really…well…bummed out.

It’s a tough movie to actually start watching, but once you see a few minutes you really get pulled in. Sure, you feel voyeuristic in a way, but hearing the friends and family of victims speak kind of validates the movie. It turns it from a dirty kind of snuff film into more of a tribute.

In any case, the movie is really well done, and I recommend it. I don’t know where it’s available for rent, but you can really just download it off of bittorrent. And keep in mind it’s not a date movie, or a movie to watch while eating…or while high for that matter. It’s really heavy, best watched on a sunny weekend afternoon.

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Jan 06 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

Published by japadamus under review

I’ve been hearing a lot about Slumdog Millionaire over the past month. The movie didn’t seem to have a huge advertising budget, but it has benefited from great word of mouth reviews and excellent press.

Slumdog is essentially a love story told through the context of India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. That seemed like a really odd premise for me and kind of gimmicky, but it really works pretty well.

The movie focuses on Jamal, who has reached the final question in Millionaire. Police suspect that Jamal has cheated since he is an uneducated slumdog that serves tea for a living. But Jamal goes through each question and explains how events in his life helped him to learn the answers.

A lot of Jamal’s stories are hard luck third world stories. He also tells the story of Latika, the girl he’s in love with.

This plot seems pretty generic, right? But trust me, Slumdog tells this story very well.

And here’s a spoiler…

Jamal gets the girl, wins the money and the story has a happy ending, which also seems very cliché. But after hearing about all of Jamal’s hard luck anything but a happy ending would be pretty devastating.

The movie benefits from a great screenplay and decent actors. In many ways it reminds me of that John Cusack movie Serendipity. I mean, Slumdog could have easily gone down that cheesy route. But it didn’t…it works in a lot of gay shit like destiny and fate in a very real, compelling story.

Slumdog does come close though to being a bit unbelievable at times. I mean, it really is pretty lucky that Jamal knew the answers to these questions. The idea of Jamal finding Latika in a country with a billion people is also hard to believe.

The most unbelievable thing is how attractive Latika ends up being. Jamal starts liking her when she’s just a kid…but she turns out to be like supermodel hot. Now, I don’t mean to be racist but like 99% of Indians I see are just not very attractive whatsoever. Like, at most 1 out of 20 are somewhat ‘cute’. But really, the odds that Jamal would fall in love with this girl and her turning out so hot and not fat or anything is really a lot to take for granted.

In any case, it is a great movie and I suggest you see it. It has elements of humor, but for the most part it is very depressing, so don’t go after a big dinner or anything like that. It does have a happy, teary kind of fairytale ending though that will make you feel all cheery inside.

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Oct 16 2008

Scooby-Scooby-Doo — the iRobot Scooba

Published by japadamus under tech, shopping, Bob Loblaw, review

Okay, so as Japa, El Jeffe, and Jak all know, I really wanted a goddamned Scooba to appear on woot.com. It was 6.5 months since it was last featured on the site, and I had only recently realized that I am indeed the perfect storm of tech geek and lazyass to covet a robot that mops floors. I hoped that it would be useful in keeping my apt. hardwood and lineolium floors cleaner since L.A.’s air is sagging with soot.

I tried it out tonight in my lineolium kitchen, which is approximately 24-28 square feet. Not too large, but it definitely needed mopping. I’m not trying to be gross, but when you have 2 cats, windows open to L.A. soot, and just random drops of dried liquid, you need to mop more often than you’d like. This is the best test for the Scooba. I didn’t vaccuum or sweep before using the Scooba.

The Scooba has a 4 part system — vaccuuming, washing, scrubbing and squeeging. Another great aspect is that it has separate chambers for the clean and dirty water, so it’s not just using dirty water all over the floor. The Scooba is about 6 inches larger in diameter than the Roomba and is much higher. It has a detachable water tank that fits into the electrical portion of the robot.

The Scooba manuevered remarkably well and was about as loud as the Roomba. Like the Roomba, it has the similar sort of seemingly random circular pattern of moving about the floor space. It left a very thin layer of water that quickly dried, and did a surprisingly good job of scrubbing the dried liquid stains off of the floor. The one thing I had concerns about while watching it operate was that it did not seem to do a good job of vaccuuming as I saw a fortune cookie paper fortune getting pushed around the floor. However, when I emptied the vaccuum bin, there was an astonishing amount of hair and bits of dust in it, so apparently it does a good job of vaccuuming smaller items. The dirty water chamber contained dark grey, opaque water. So, apparently it does its job.

The one big issue I had was the battery life. After about 20 minutes, the Scooba stopped and chimed the odd 4 tone noise without any additional beeps afterward, which wasn’t listed in the manual. I have this problem with my Roomba, too, and I figured out that it basically means the battery needs to be recharged or just taken out and put back in. I tried the latter and it didn’t work, so I just called it quits at that point as the Scooba had covered most of the kitchen floor. This was a big disappointment to me. Admittedly I didn’t charge it 16 hours that the manual suggested for a first time use, but the indicator light indicated after 4 hours that it was charged. Plus, the manual also says that the battery should be charged for 3 hours before each use, which requires a fair amount of forethought, which isn’t always my strength in househould cleaning.

El Jeffe says that I could do the same mopping with a mop and a bucket in a shorter amount of time and for much less money. Both of these points are true, but really, if you’re as lazy as me, you’re not going to be mopping the floors every week. Okay, hell, even every month. Maybe every 6 months. So presuming you use the Scooba more often than that, then I feel like you’re actually saving time. Plus, there’s the dirty water issue, and I dislike that about the usual mop and bucket water stuff.

Overall, I’d say the Scooba does its job and does it well. I’ll have to see how the Scooba holds up over the next few months. Amazon had a bunch of mixed reviews about the Scooba’s longevity. I got a $33 warranty through a 3rd party warranty provider precisely because of the problems with maintenance. Water + electronics = maintenance problems. Shocker.

But, getting back on point, I’m not sure if this review has done a good job of recommending the Scooba or if it’s made you decide to keep on your socks when you come to my apartment. If you can get a brand new Scooba for $180 (It normally retails between $300-400 new), I’d recommend getting one. And hopefully you won’t need to wear socks in your apartment after using the Scooba.

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Jul 31 2008

The Dark Knight

Published by japadamus under review

I saw the Dark Knight with TJFKAK this weekend. And we didn’t just see the regular version - we saw it in Imax.

First of all, one thing about Imax. I mean, it’s cool that the screen is so large, but the size of the screen makes seats up front absolutely horrible. And that’s where we were sitting.

When you’re in the front few rows you can barely see the top portion of the screen. Plus, you’re so close up that it’s easy to get motion sick when there is a lot of movement on screen - kind of like playing a first person shooter. By the final 30 minutes of the movie I was about to yak. No joke.

As for the movie itself, it was good…but not as great as a lot of critics were making it out to be. And I should issue a spoiler alert here, before I go on any further.

One thing that was really troubling for me was the lack of realism. Look, I can believe that Batman has this car that can turn into a motorcycle…and I can kind of buy that his cape allows him to fly around and survive falls from high buildings. But at one part of the movie Batman uses all the phones in Gotham city to create a virtual 3D image of rooms.

Now, that’s just ridiculous. First of all, a cell phone can’t do sonar. It just doesn’t have the processing power, audio power or microphone accuracy to do so. Not only that, but I find it very unlikely that Batman can take control of all cell phones in a city and use that to create a 3D vision of his surroundings. For one thing, it would take a long time for all that data to be transmitted from the phone to Batman’s cave - and unless all these phones had a super high bandwidth data connection there would be no way for this data to be transmitted and processed in real time. Not only that, but the bandwidth that this would require would bring down every single cell phone network in the city.

Finally, it’s not realistic that Morgan Freeman can look at tons of small little monitors to find individual people in a city. I mean, in the movie he’s basically looking at 200 small monitors, many of which are showing gibberish. Sorry, that doesn’t make sense. I liken this plot twist to James Bond’s invisible car. It was not necessary and it takes away from the realism of the rest of the movie.

And look, I understand this is a super hero movie. But the whole deal with Dark Knight was that it is so real and shows human emotion, conflicts, blah blah blah. In this context I feel like the movie studio is treating me like an ignorant asshole when I’m forced to believe that Batman can see through walls.

I have a similar gripe with the Joker as well. I mean, throughout the film the Joker goes out of his way to set up elaborate, time sensitive attacks. To accomplish this he would need a team of hundreds of workers, which would be difficult since the Joker started off on his own…plus, he burned all of his money. Literally.

In many ways the Joker acts like any comic book villain, going for the elaborate sharks-with-lasers-on-their-heads act, rather than just using his resources to, say, buy a bunch of guns and start shooting.

Those gripes aside, I did like Heath Ledger’s performance. A LOT of the attention on Ledger was hype, sure, but he did an excellent job as the joker…especially when you compare it to his performance in 10 Things I Hate About You.

I mean, some of the best scenes were closeups on Ledger while he works through crazy Joker rants. And this is why my problems about the realism of the movie are justified. Ledger made a crazy guy with makeup real. He made you understand this character. Then you have Batman fucking seeing through walls with every cell phone in the city.

Christian Bale was a passable Batman. He does a good job as the playboy, and a decent job as Batman. I mean, I hate how Batman has to always be infatuated with some chick, and I hate how that always ends up impacting the city as a whole. But if you buy this plot then you’ll like seeing Bale work through it.

And going to the plot of the movie itself, well, it was a bit long. It seems like they crammed two movies into one, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…a movie with only Two Face would have been boring after seeing the Joker.

Another key aspect to the plot is that the Joker tries to create chaos in a Saw-like way…putting people in difficult positions and making them choose to do something bad for their own benefit. This is a hard plot to buy…but Ledger makes it work.

I do think, however, that the movie would have benefited by going for the ‘R’ rating. There were plenty of scenes that could be way more gruesome and graphic…but the camera awkwardly cuts away to preserve the PG-13 rating.

And that’s not important just visually, but for consistency as well. I mean, you kind of understand Batman’s conflict between being just and vengeful…but then you think to Abu Ghraib and guards forcing Iraqis to butt fuck each other, and then Batman just seems like a whiny bitch.

But look, all gripes aside the movie is good. It captures you, and as long as you don’t get hung up on the reality of the outside world you understand the Batman, Joker and Two Face characters. And it’s not a small feat to bring these comic characters to a motion picture…but it works. Barely, but it works.

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Apr 07 2008

What I think about Cloverfield

Published by japadamus under review

So I watched Cloverfield this weekend. It’s on bittorrent now so you can download it for free - decent quality, but since you’re watching it through some handheld video camera I don’t think it makes much of a difference.

One thing, this movie made me very very sick. But to the film’s credit I kept watching. Like, I would throw up a bit in my mouth…and I had curry for dinner so that was not wonderful…but then I would just swallow it and keep watching.

All in all, the movie was interesting. I mean, the whole love story was absolute crap…not to mention the first 30 mins of the movie where they’re at the party. I mean, really, if it was a video from the department of defense don’t you think they’d cut out all this bullshit?

I don’t see why action movies or horror movies or sci fi movies seem to require some sort of love story. I’d be more interested in seeing the guy ditch the girl to save his own life…which is more realistic and would be way more interesting.

But the handheld video viewpoint adds a great sense of realism. It is kind of difficult to believe that the guy actually kept the camera on the right stuff for so long…and that his battery didn’t die. But it was a good effect - pretty original and great for this story in particular.

The monster was disappointing, I thought. And maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure how many monsters they were. The movie made it seem like there was just one monster going around town, but it seems like there could have been several.

Also, there is a lot of stuff that is not explained. This fits with the whole video camera thing…but it also makes the movie more frustrating. Like, why did this girl’s head explode after she got bit by the parasite thing? And what happened to the monster after the bombing? And why wasn’t the monster being hurt by all the missiles and guns and stuff?

Still, it was a good movie and it made you want more…despite the nausea. I heard that they are releasing sequels that are from different camera angles, and I’m really looking forward to that.

If you haven’t seen it already, you do have to check it out. Although I would suggest a smaller screen for those of you prone to motion sickness. But I don’t think the movie has very much rewatchability…so, I wouldn’t suggest buying it on DVD.

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Jan 03 2008

I am Legend and Superbad review

Published by japadamus under review

I watched I am Legend and Superbad on the way back from Hawaii, and I have to say, both movies were pretty enjoyable. Here are the plots in a nutshell: Michael Cera gets eaten by zombies and Will Smith fucks a drunk high school girl.

No, not really…but there will be some spoilers here.

So I am Legend takes place in a post-apocalyptic New York city. You basically have Will Smith as the last man in the city gathering food, doing his daily stuff and avoiding getting killed by infected New Yorkers. Like Castaway, but in NY, not an island, with a dog, instead of a volleyball, and with zombies.

The movie starts off really strong. You figure out that a virus has killed off most of the world, turning victims into zombies. Will Smith has a rare immunity, and he works to live day-to-day while searching for a cure to the virus. At night, the zombies come out, so he has to hide inside his apartment.

This is pretty interesting, especially since the visuals of deserted new york are so stunning. You also get to see how he’s tailored his life to both surviving and searching for a cure. His only companion is his dog sam.

After about an hour of this, Will Smith starts fucking up, and basically ruins everything. He gets caught in a trap, which leads to his dog getting killed. Then he goes nuts, and almost dies before being saved by another survivor.

This is where the story starts to get a little boring. Without going into too much depth, he finds a cure for the virus slightly before getting killed by zombies. But he saves the other survivor and her son, and they go on to a safe colony.

If that seems a bit rushed…well, it’s the same way in the movie. You start to wonder why Will Smith can be so smart about setting up his lab and stuff, but then he does lots of dumb shit to ruin everything. Sure, he’s kind of a martyr. But he didn’t have to be.

It’s a bit annoying, but still, the movie is very entertaining and is great visually. Will Smith does an okay job holding the screen alone with his dog for much of the movie. He plays the normal Will Smith educated black guy that can occasionally break out the ebonics when things get crazy. It’s a lot like his character in Enemy of the State.

On the other hand, I absolutely loved Superbad. The movie has a typical modern-teen-coming-of-age premise, with the two main characters, Michael Cera and some fat kid, trying to score alcohol for a party.

I think Cera did a great job with this role. That is to say, he played the dorky, quirky role that he also played in Arrested Development. But in Superbad, Cera brings this role to the forefront, and it surprisingly holds for the length of the movie. I think Cera will eventually get type-cast into this role, but in Superbad it works perfectly. It’s almost Napolean Dynomitic in the sense that Cera’s sound bites, along with his delivery, are LOL funny.

The fat kid who co-stars with Cera adds a bit of contrast. He is belligerent and crass, but fits oddly well with best-friend Cera. You have the fat spaz, and Cera who is mostly calm and conservative, and the back and forth between these two is responsible for much of the movie’s memorable dialogue.

Also co-starring is McLovin, your typical dork character of these movies. In an american pie-like plot twist, the dorky guy does non-dorky stuff…so that was a bit predictable. But overall the three main characters work so well together even these cliches are forgivable.

The plot is rounded out by a couple of cops, Seth Rogan and some other guy. These two were more slapsticky than anything…but they do support the story’s secondary plotline.

I read some complains that Superbad was boring, but I thought it was solid all the way through. Just keep in mind that it’s not Big Momma’s House funny - Superbad has more of a quiet, ironic humor mixed in with teenage antic.

Both movies are must-sees, however. But Superbad is a bit better if you don’t want to get bogged down by the dreary storyline of I am Legend.

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