Posts Tagged ‘Movies’
Walt Disney: Can you hire a decent director???
Written by Ron McClure Jr.
Monday, 15 June 2009 13:44
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I love dramatic reenactment — skits, plays and, of course, movies. My love most likely stems from the creative side of me. You see, when I watch a movie, I always want to see, hear, feel and smell what the writer and director are trying to convey. And, I want to be “in” the story. There is nothing more impressive than a well constructed and sonorously conveyed tale.

However, I have an affinity for sports. And, when someone writes a book or makes a movie about sports, I really want to have a “true-to-life” experience. Have you seen “Hoosiers”? If you haven’t, it’s awesome. It is a very closely accurate depiction of the basketball craze here in Indiana. “Hoosiers” is a great example of “making a movie, that depicts the reality of the subject.”

What am I saying? Well, I hate watching movies that completely abandon the "true" story at hand. For example, I just finished watching “Glory Road” (a movie about the all-black Texas Western college basketball championship team in 1966). It is absolutely a monumental story, but “Disney” (like in other movies), almost makes me believe that the story they tell, is well, fiction. “Glory Road” is a good movie, based on an excellent story. The story absolutely carries the movie, and the ridiculous amount of B.S. — like the fake “can’t we all just get along” crap they feed you in the movie — only detracts from the real subject, which is tolerance and acceptance. Why can’t they just tell it like it was? This “reshaping” of history only clouds the true theme, which was racial integration within college basketball.

This movie reminded me of “Miracle” (the Disney movie based on the 1980 USA hockey team victory over the USSR). Almost exactly, the theme was, “the great underdog.” I love the underdog. But, how many movies can be made with the same “cookie-cutter” script? The worst part was that, in both movies, the “game-play announcement” sounded SOOO fake, that it made it hard for me to attach myself to the story. It sounded like a home video, with a bad actor, doing a book-read overdub…well, it sucked. And, the commentary (in both instances) seemed more like modern day vernacular than what would be expected for the times of the movies. One last thing…how in the world does hip-hop music fit into a movie based in 1965-66?

I absotively, posilutely LOVE a good movie, but give me a break. There is nothing worse than taking an incredible story and “transforming” it into a mediocre movie. Disney, you suck!!

 
THE TRUTH ABOUT HDTV
Written by Troglodad
Tuesday, 10 February 2009 09:29
8 Comments

TV holds a very dear place in my heart. Growing up, I saw more of my TV than my parents. When I was stationed overseas, none of my family wrote me letters, but TV was there for me. When I get home from work, and I’ve had a bad day, I can always plop down on the couch and find something to watch on TV. Yes, TV has always, and will always, be there for me.

You’d think I would be thrilled about the switch to Digital TV coming up this summer. But I can’t stand all the lies being thrown at gullible consumers, about my best friend.

First off, let me assure you, despite HH Gregg’s annoying commercials, your trusty old Analog TV is not going to "blitz off" this summer, when analog broadcasts stop.

While I’m at it, I’d like to also point out that you should never, ever buy HDMI cables from an electronics store. Go home and order them online- you’ll pay about 25% of store cost, and get a better cable.

And finally, a TV isn’t really "HD" unless it can output a 1080p picture. Read the fine print. Don’t get suckered into buying a 720p.

If you’re thoroughly confused at this point, keep reading. If you know what I’m talking about, go help a friend instead of spending more time on this article.

Up until now, TV in America has been broadcast on the analog standard. I won’t get into the highly technical definition of what that means. I’ll simplify it. When a record player scratches a vinyl record with a needle, sound vibrations are converted into electrical impulses. That’s analog. When your computer is hooked up to a microphone, it converts the electrical impulses from a microphone into a computer code. That’s digital.

When television stations stop broadcasting in analog, your TV will not shut off. It’ll show snow (static)- just like if you turn to a channel now that there’s no broadcast on. But that doesn’t mean your TV is no longer capable of receiving a picture- it just means no one is going to be broadcasting one (in analog).

Have a VCR? A DVD player? A satellite or cable receiver? All of those items will still emit an analog signal, over cables connected to your TV. You’ll still get a picture. You won’t need a DTV converter, or an HDTV.

Remember when DVDs came out? The picture was so much clearer than a VHS tape or even broadcast TV. That’s because DVDs have a higher resolution. Resolution refers to the pixels on your set. Your TV displays a picture by means of thousands of teeny, tiny colored dots- pixels. Like the road side hazard signs, but on a much tinier scale. The smaller the dots on your screen, and the more there are of them, the finer the picture looks. Kind of like drawing with a crayon, vs. drawing with a pencil.

Broadcast TV has a resolution of 128,400 pixels on the screen. Most analog, picture-tube TVs however could display as many as 307,200 pixels. DVDs output a picture closer to the 300,000 pixels than broadcast TV- explaining why they look so much better.

HDTV has a picture composed of 3,000,000 pixels. Quite a difference.

HDTV’s are defined by two standards, 720i/720p, or 1080i/1080p. Those numbers are a measure of the vertical lines of resolution. Less lines means less pixels. A 720p TV, while being sold for the same price as some 1080p's, DOES NOT have the same picture quality. Please don’t be tricked into thinking otherwise.

NOTE: The "i" and "p" is a reference to interlaced and "progressive scan" and is a technical TV term dating from the days of analog TV. Basically, if a picture is 480 lines high, the interlaced version shows 240 spaced lines in odd-numbered frames, and the other 240 frames on even-numbered frames, there being 30 frames displayed per second on television, creating the illusion of movement for your eye. Progressive scan shows you all 480 lines for each of the 30 frames per second, resulting in a finer picture.

(On a side note, bear in mind that on a 13″ TV, those pixels are going to be smaller than on a 42″ TV. A smaller TV then will have a finer, smoother-looking picture than a large TV)

DON’T OVERPAY FOR CABLES

Anytime you shop for a new HDTV, you’re going to be harassed about buying an HDMI cable. Don’t let your eyes glaze over and don't cave in to pressure.

Those red, white and yellow cables your first VCR used are called "composite" cables. The yellow cable carries a video signal, and the red and white carry audio signals.

When S-Video (Super Video) came out, the yellow cable was replaced with a black cable full of several tiny pins. The video cable was now split up and was capable of producing a better, higher resolution image.

Component cables look just like composite, consisting of a red and white audio lines, and red, green and blue video cables. Component cables can carry stunning 720i/p and 1080i images.

But not 1080p.

See, when all the electronics companies got together to work out sharing the technology of HDTV, they agreed that true 1080p images would only be sent out over HDMI cables- a digital, computery-looking cable. HDMI carries picture and digital audio. No analog involved. This results in superior audio and video, and allows you to fully enjoy the HDTV experience. And you can’t record over HDMI connections.

The problem with HDMI is that the cables are sold in stores for 4 times what they can be bought online. Yes, FOUR (4) times. Or more.

Take the average 6-foot HDMI cable for your new 1080p TV. At Bestbuy, it’ll run you $39.99.

However, any number of websites will sell you a superior cable, for less. My favorite online store, Monoprice.com, sells a gold-plated, 6-foot HDMI cable for $3.56 +shipping.

Yes, $3.56.

Now, you can get more expensive cables at Bestbuy. You can also buy higher quality cables at Monoprice.com. But the cheapest, crappiest cable at Bestbuy is still far more than the best cable Monoprice has to offer.

It’s a racket. It makes McDonald’s profit margin on french fries look tame.

Moral of the story: before you part with your hard-earned cash to enjoy the wonderous beauty of my bestest friend TV, please do just a little reading. The money you could save could be put toward a lot of snacks, something every good couch potato needs.

 
Biggest disappointments in action movies for 2008
Written by Chad Phillips
Wednesday, 31 December 2008 07:03
1 Comment

Actually, this is just the conclusion of the caveman year end (AKA Rear End) movie reviews. This year we manly types didn't have much to choose from in some of our favorite franchises.

In my last review I named this year's Incredible Hulk as topping my list of disappointing movies. Coming in at number two on that list was Guillermo Del Toro's Hell Boy II: The Golden Army. I'm still wondering how a movie franchise which had so much going for it could've gone so wrong. First, there was the stellar cast. Second there was the incredible make-up and sets. Third, there was the special effects team. Fourth, there was the masterful story teller and director, Guillermo Del Toro. And lastly, Del Toro had an incredible story and characters from the previous Hell Boy on which to build the sequal. Yet, for all it had going for it, Hell Boy II is about as exciting as a dirt sandwich. Intimations of just how crummy the movie was going to be were embedded in the opening deckhead underneath Hell Boy's photograph. Apparently someone felt too much needed to be explained…and they did just that. The information was meant to be helpful and cute simultaneously, but it just comes off as cornball with a touch of honey. There was also the very annoying and totally unbelievable scene featuring Hell Boy as, well…a boy, which just didn't work. Many of Hell Boy's one-liners fell flat as well. That's without all the repeat crap we were already exposed to in the first movie. To wit, nothing new is revealed in Hellboy ll, and it lacks the suspenseful story telling of the first installment. It's just a very bad rehash in which too much time is spent on things that don't matter…like the regrettable scene in which Hell Boy and Abe Sapian are reduced to drunken pansies singing Barry Manelow's I Can't Smile Without You. My advice, skip this one for men's night and instead watch it with your boys if you have any. My two younger sons loved it.

That brings me to another Hollywood piece of crap, The Mummy III: Curse of the Dragon Warrior. Again, unlike the previous two Mummy movies, this one has nothing for you if you like both story and humor in the same package. In short, it's the same movie for the third time, but not nearly as entertaining as the first two. To give you an idea of just how bad this latest incarnation of the Mummy is, imagine falling asleep while being chased by an oriental man who is covered with flaming 'smores. That's how bored I was during the chase scenes. And that's pretty much how Jet Li looked as a flaming living statue monster mummy creature. Oh, and did I mention that Rachel Weisz, who plays opposite Brendan Frasier in the first two Mummies was conveniently left out of this latest offering. That's too bad, 'cause she certainly was more fun to watch than her replacement and generated tons more energy with Frasier. Then again, perhaps she saw the script and realized what I'm cluing you into now: The Mummy III sucks out loud.

Finally, the last big disappointment this year (aside from the general election) was Journey to the Center of the Earth. Ultimately unsatisfying as a man flick, Journey gives us the kind of campy sci-fi you can watch with your kids, but which you'd never watch with other adults. While generally likeable, it lacks the things which make it a true knuckle dragger's movie. Don't watch this one guys if you're craving red meat.