Monthly Archives: February 2016

Movies

4 Movie Heroes Who Would Be Villains Today…

Amusing video, if you have about 8 or so minutes to spare, in which Tom Reimann explores the above, movies which, over the course of time, have made us re-evaluate the “heroes” of said features…

I find the notion fascinating and the examples he gives quite accurate.

Well, with one sorta/kinda exception: Dirty Harry.

While the character of Harry Callahan, introduced in the original Dirty Harry film, became a “hero” in subsequent releases, I’m not so sure his presentation in the original film was quite what it seemed.

Don’t get me wrong: There is clearly a glorification of this character who is exactly what the narrator above describes him as: A racist, nasty individual whose worldview problem solving involves using a gun…or fists…or whathaveyou.

The opening sequence involving the bank robbery is the first clue.  We should be horrified by the mayhem Harry creates in that opening scene, yet the movie plays to our bloodlust.

In effect, I always felt the film wanted to push audiences to root for a fascist cop.  I believe we were supposed to feel uncomfortable in his presence and uncomfortable with the things he did.  Further, his methods don’t always work.  He has the killer captured but because he goes above and beyond what is allowed by the law, the killer is released.

I’ll grant you the film stacks the deck in Harry’s favor but as a work it nonetheless, at least to me, is an interesting curio which presents deeper questions about our need for law and order and our feelings regarding the world being out of control…and the way a fascist longing plays to those fears.

While I enjoyed a couple of the sequels, none of those subsequent films were anywhere near as interesting as the first.

Having said that, I did think back to which films I felt my opinion of them changed over time.

I would have to say the earlier Sean Connery Bond films have aged especially poorly, in particular regarding his character’s “handling” of women.  In the third Bond film, Goldfinger, which many people consider the best of the Bond films and the one that established the blueprint for subsequent films, Bond is particularly vulgar when it comes to women…

Yikes.  And this wasn’t even the worst scene showing Bond’s uh… dated way of dealing with women.  That would probably be this one…

The scene is, in a modern context, especially cringe worthy as Pussy Galore (yep, that was the female character’s name) is presented subtly as being a lesbian and what Bond does, effectively force himself on her -or if you prefer, rape her- he makes a “real” woman out of her.

And the way its presented in the film itself!  Almost comically!  Look, they flip each other while having some clever banter!  Great foreplay!

As I said, it makes me cringe more than a little seeing it now.  Then again, there are those who feel the character of James Bond should be looked at as a villain but, not unlike Harry Callahan, one who happens to be working on our side.

Movies

American Ultra (2015) a (mildly) belated review

Neither fish nor fowl…

The above expression was exactly what I thought of when I finished watching the 2015 box-office flop American Ultra.  Did the film deserve such a cruel fate?  Was it as good as its trailer (at least to me) suggested it could be?

The answer to the above questions isn’t quite as black and white as one would think.

To begin, the above trailer does a good job telling you American Ultra’s basic plot.  You have a stoner named Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg, pretty good in the role) and his girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart, also quite good) who live in a small, dead-end town and smoke pot and work in their dead end jobs.  When we first meet them, Mike wants to take Phoebe to Hawaii and surprise her with a marriage proposal.  But at the airport he has a panic attack and is unable to leave the town.  It turns out he’s had many of these panic attacks before and they keep him in this town.

Meanwhile, over in Washington D.C., an agent named Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton, yet another actor doing good work) is tipped off that her subject, Mike Howell (natch) and the entire operation he was a part of is about to be shut down.  And by shut down we mean “killed”.

Lasseter confronts a fellow agent, the young and obnoxious Adrian Yates (Topher Grace, providing another great acting turn), and he admits he has initiated the shut down of Lasseter’s old project and that Mike Howell will be dead before the day is out.  Lasseter, however, does an end around the obnoxious agent and shows up at Howell’s small town and, shown partially in the clip above, tries to “active” him so that he will be able to defend himself.

What follows is plenty of action, blood, and, especially with Mike Howell’s character, confusion as this mellow stoner finds he is suddenly a killing machine.  The body count rises as Yates seals the town off, intent on killing not only Howell but also Lasseter, whom he instantly knows has activated this agent.

Sounds good, right?

Well…

Ok, I started this review by posting the “neither fish nor fowl” quote.  The quote refers to something that either isn’t easily categorized or something that does not rightly belong or fit well in a given group or situation.

That later definition, in a nutshell, is what keeps American Ultra from rising up from a “good” film to being a truly “great” film.

Mind you, I like the four main actors.  I like the situation/story created by screenwriter Max Landis.  Further, I can understand his twitter expressed frustration when the film was released and didn’t make much money at the box office.  Clearly there was great thought placed in this screenplay and, frankly, the movie should have done better than it did and one hopes it can do so in the video market.

Having said that, the film unfortunately does have flaws.  To begin, there are plot elements that make you scratch your head.  I don’t want to give away SPOILERS, so I’ll leave some of those elements from this discussion, but suffice to say when you learn of certain characters’ identities you think maybe there was an easier way of giving Howell a head’s up and/or sprinting him to safety.  Also, agent Lasseter makes it to Howell’s town in record time, no?

Worse, unfortunately, is that as humorous as the film is at times, it is never really a “laugh out loud” funny-type work.  It felt as thought the movie’s creators were trying hard to clean things up and they did this a little too well.  These stoners -and their friends- are never as grubby as they could have been (see Cheech and Chong).  Also, the action/killings presented are never as graphic as they could have been.  Rather than bouncing between extremes -laughs versus gore- the film tries to create an even keel and sometimes being middle of the road is not where you want to be with comedy or action.

Having said all that, American Ultra is, nonetheless, an at times clever and humorous film with good to great acting, sympathetic leads and hissable villains.  Perhaps its box office problems were more a result of when it was released, the competition it faced, and how it was marketed more than anything else.

In the end, I would recommend the film but note that while a decent bit of entertainment, I left feeling it could -and should- have been even better.

*****

POSTSCRIPT: Getting back to screenwriter Max Landis, he also received quite a bit of negative attention, again because of his twitter writings, regarding his view that the character of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a “Mary Sue”.

Not having seen The Force Awakens, I can’t comment on that particular opinion, but I will say this: Mr. Landis created a very interesting character in Phoebe Larson (the Kristen Stewart character) in American Ultra but then he just went and made her a typical “damsel in distress” with the movie’s climax.

Mr. Landis: You may well be right regarding the character of Rey in The Force Awakens, and it appears to me you have passion regarding storytelling and an awareness of cliches.  Unfortunately, you fell for one here and, in a movie that could have been better in many ways, the damsel in distress role the character of Phoebe eventually takes is one of the film’s most egregious errors.

Had you recognized that cliche, I’m certain you could have turned it on its ear and made something more with her.

Hell, not only could you have, you should have!

Sports

Rare Super Bowl I recording results in clash between owner and NFL

This article shocked me.

It is from the New York Times and is written by Richard Sandomir and concerns Troy Haupt, a North Carolina man who likely has in his possession the only almost-complete copy of the TV broadcast of Super Bowl I between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs…and how the NFL is playing hardball with him regarding its sale and use:

Out of a rare Super Bowl I recording a clash with the NFL unspools

The upshot of the article is this: For reasons unknown, Mr. Haupt’s father recorded most of the television broadcast of Super Bowl I back in 1967.  The copy is far from perfect, according to the article, and the colors fade in and out and there is a choppiness to it resulting from Mr. Haupt’s father cutting out the commercials (the recording equipment of that era, understandably, wasn’t as good as it is now).  Further, he did not record the half-time show and, to save tape, much of the 3rd quarter.

Having said all that and noting the lost material, this nonetheless appears to be the ONLY existing copy of the first Super Bowl’s television presentation as all other copies were destroyed.

At the risk of giving away everything in the article (you really should read it!) Mr. Haupt, understandably, wanted to make some money from his father’s foresight and sell the recording to the NFL.  After all, it is a historical recording and the NFL itself tried to recreate it with film clips this past year but they don’t have the real thing.

So Mr. Haupt contacted the NFL and told them he was willing to sell the tape for one million dollars.  The NFL counter-offered $30,000 and, when he refused, essentially went “nuclear” on him.

They forbid him from selling the tapes to anyone else as they deem the material on the tapes their copyright material.  Further, when CBS offered $25,000 to interview Mr. Haupt and show some clips from his tapes the NFL apparently shut that down completely.  The NFL claims they didn’t do so, but one can’t help but wonder.

So Mr. Haupt has a piece of history he is forbidden by the NFL from making a dime off of…unless it is the NFL who gets the material in the end and at the price they want to pay for it and a historical record ages ever more.

Bear in mind, the NFL is a multi-BILLION dollar operation.  The Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell has reportedly made some $210 million since 2007.  Obviously, they could/should easily afford the one million to pay Mr. Haupt for his historic -and very unique- tape.  As incomplete as it is, the recording is obviously legitimate and the price he’s asking for it, at least to me (a big caveat: hey, it isn’t my money we’re talking about!) doesn’t seem too far out of the realm of reason.

The strong-armed tactics the NFL is employing to keep Mr. Haupt from benefiting from his unique recording, on the other hand, does seem petty and bullying.  Further, you would think the NFL could turn around and make money from this recording by cleaning it up and releasing it with their “reconstruction” in a video/digital format.

Hopefully the fact that the story has come out and the negative attention it is sure to draw toward the NFL might make the people there change their minds.

We’ll see.

General

Technology tuesday…

Just blogged about Microsoft testing of underwater data centers and now comes this equally fascinating article regarding the potential end of compact florescent lights, or CFLs…

It’s the beginning of the end for CFL bulbs

Having (coincidentally, I assure you) just bought a pack of CFL bulbs, the above article by Lily Hay Newman for Slate.com nonetheless does not surprise me.  I’ve noticed the growing presence of LED bulbs…

…and heard they were an even better energy usage and light producing alternative to the CFL bulbs, which in turn were a much better, long lasting, more energy efficient bulb than the old filament bulbs.  What kept me from buying them was what kept me from going into CFLs at first: Price.

But the price of LED lights is dropping and becoming more competitive to the CFL bulbs.  They are clearly a better choice than the CFL bulbs as even GE, a company that makes many electronics including light bulbs, has already decided to discontinue making CFL bulbs.

While the CFL technology is dead quite yet, the writing is clearly on the wall and I seriously doubt we’ll be seeing CFL bulbs for all that much longer.

Perhaps what amazes me the most is how quickly we’ve moved from the regular, not so long lasting (and very hot) bulbs to CFL bulbs to, now, LED bulbs.

Sometimes technology moves at a breakneck speed!

Computers/Electronics

Data centers of the future…?

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Given the rapidly exploding use of the “cloud” for computer/smartphone related data storage, it is no wonder that large companies invested in this technology are looking for ways of making it more efficient and less costly.

Having said that, I really didn’t see this coming:

Microsoft Just Put A Data Center Under Water

The above linked article, written by David Goldman and appearing on CNNmoney, is exactly what the headline states.  Microsoft, in the interests of expanding and making their cloud services better, are experimenting with creating water tight “pods” that are put into the oceans and using them for their cloud based services.

You would think electronics and water, especially salty sea water, would not mix, but the article points out the potential benefits of underwater tech like this.  For one, these pods could be fitted with turbines and thus use the ocean’s currents to create the electricity for their use.  Given the colder climes underwater, it also solves the need for high energy use in air-conditioning server rooms.  Thus, the “carbon footprint” of these underwater units could be considerably smaller than those currently housed in buildings.

On other potential issue, the noise pollution created by these apparatus, may similarly not be a big problem as, according to the techs quoted in this article, the sounds are “drowned out” by nearby shrimp and crabs.

Read the article, it is quite fascinating and shows at the very least the future may wind up being a wild and interesting place.

General

If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying…

If there’s one thing you can count on regarding professional sports it is that if one can improve one’s standing in their sport by cheating while -of course- not getting caught, they’ll do so.

Sports is a cutthroat business measured coldly with fraction of a second stop-watches and fractions of a millimeter tape.

We’ve dealt with steroids, under-inflated balls, corked bats, etc. etc. but the story below may well take the cake.

In an article by Chris Mills for Gizmodo.com, he notes how a young, professional cyclist was found to have hidden engine in one of her racing bicycles.  The terminology used for this form of cheating is amusing, to say the least:

Cycling Has Moved From Actual Doping to ‘Mechanical’ Doping

What did Femke Van den Driessche, the 19-year-old Belgian cyclocross star at the center of this controversy have to say about this?  From the article:

(Van den Driessche claimed) the bike (with the hidden motor) belonged to a friend, and mistakenly found its way into her race-day bike lineup.

Uh huh.

I’m sure that’s exactly what happened.

General

Solving cold case crimes using a…deck of cards?!

Fascinating article by Leon Neyfakh for Slate.com regarding an ingenious new way to solve cold case crimes.  Yes, it does indeed involve a deck of cards!

Cold Case Playing Cards Are An Ingenious New Way of Cracking Unsolved Crimes

At the risk of stepping all over the article (you should read it!), penal authorities have copied the deck of card concept used during the second Iraq war to post information on unsolved crimes.  If you don’t recall the whole deck of cards concept from the Iraq War, it went like this: A list of all the “most wanted” Iraq figures were posted on a deck of cards the soldiers played or distributed to people in Iraq.  Rewards were offered and, essentially, you had a large deck of “wanted” posters available in a pocket sized edition.

Fast forward to today where this concept is being used with the cards distributed to prisoners, among them, those in Connecticut and Florida.  The cards are ordinary playing cards but on them is information regarding a cold case and rewards (if any) are offered along with a number to call if someone has any information on the unsolved crime.

Because inmates mingle in very close quarters, there is a possibility they may overheard other inmates brag/lament/talk of knowing about a crime they were never brought to justice for and/or in which they knew a friend or several friends/acquaintances who were involved.  They may sit on this information, never knowing if the story they heard was true or not but with the playing cards, they now have the means of verifying this to be the case and, hopefully, they will subsequently take the initiative and tell someone what they know of these old, unsolved cases.

The playing cards thus become a very clever way to effectively “interview” a large population of their knowledge of any number of crimes.

General

Surveillance state…

Rather chilling article by David E. Sanger for The New York Times notes tat because of new technologies, the means by which companies or governments can “spy” on individuals is becoming greater and greater.

That brand new toaster you bought?  Believe it or not, it could be a surveillance device, along with any other modern device -toys, clothing, bedsheets(!)- that logs into the internet.

Sounds ridiculous?  Read on:

New Technologies Give Government Ample Means To Track Suspects, Study Finds