• OK, the Ponderings postings are gonna have to be split up for the rest of the week. After the long down time, things have built up to the point where I don’t wanna overwhelm you with too much at once. So, let’s see if I can sufficiently whelm you. And I’m hoping to catch up on a number of movie reviews throughout the rest of the week.
• RIP: Isaac Hayes & Bernie Mac
• Check out this fantastic Willy Wonka recut trailer perfectly titled “Wonka” - it’s so awesome, I wish I had thought to do it first.
• Happy 100th birthday to animated film
• I can’t wait to see James Cameron’s new, technology-pushing, state-of-the-art, 3D extravaganza Avatar. Here’s an interesting article on it.
• Speaking of 3D, The Polar Express is coming to Blu-Ray in 3D! Now I’d like to see Monster House and Beowulf get 3D releases on BD.
• Holy cow! 9/11 really was a conspiracy…
• Now this is one very impressive obituary
• The crazy Burj Dubai skyscraper is nearly finished. This thing is insane. Check out these photos.
• Here’s some very cool lightning photos from the massive lightning storm that rolled through here in the Chicago area a couple weeks ago.
• Speaking of lightning, you’ve gotta check out this awesome slo-mo footage of a lightning strike
• Still speaking of lightning, here’s one crazy video of a CLOSE strike (warning: strong language)
• And if you think that lightning strike was close, how bout being on a bus as it’s hit by a tornado (or grazed pretty darn close, at the very least)
• Google Insights is a pretty cool new service
• Now here’s some awesome chess set design
• Too cool - Yoda The Cat
• Warp Drive: yet another Star Trek technology that scientists are determined to actually make possible
• In the market for a new car?
• Here’s a vantage point that I bet you’ve never seen a shuttle launch from before
• Slightly older news that somehow got past me, which I had to learn about in print form in Doctor Who Magazine. Anwyay, something I’ve been wanting since Doctor Who returned to the airwaves is to have Nicholas Courtney return as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. I’m finally getting my wish. Well, almost - he’s appearing on spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. Frankly, that’s almost a better show for him to appear on, as he has a direct history with actress Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane.
• Speaking of Doctor Who, congratulations are due for the brilliant Steven Moffat for winning his third consecutive Hugo Award for Doctor Who. This time for the episode titled Blink, which is possbily my all-time favorite episode of the series (new or old). I’ve watched it dozens and dozens of times.
• Composer Bear McCreary hasn’t done as much posting to his blog over the summer, what with Battlestar between episode runs and him being busy on multiple other shows. However, he just popped in with this amusing bit of trivia that was brought to his attention. As always, the stuff he posts is fascinating in its detail. Not only does he point out and provide clips of the two versions of the sequence, but he even provides the clip with the rejected original cue. This is what us film score nut-jobs geek out on (and BSG fans). Yeah, I’m a dork. A dork who’s anxiously awaiting the new CD release of Bear’s score for Eureka, which I’ve ordered, and will be winging its way to my door very soon.

• OK, time to do another HD disc rant. This time the target is HD-DVD. More specifically, it’s the HD-DVD/DVD combo format. I got my third defective combo format disc yesterday (Mr. Bean’s Holiday), following up my other recent one (Bourne Ultimatum) and the first one (Hot Fuzz). So far, they’ve all been Universal titles, and have been fixed by getting an exchange for another copy (which I’ll be doing for Mr. Bean tomorrow). Not only are these combo discs typically more expensive (most often by about $5) than the normal non-combo release, but these things are clearly an unreliable format technique. At this point, I’m extremely hesitant to buy any combo format releases.
• Amazingly, StarTrek.com is in trouble, getting caught in cut-backs.
• A new trailer for WALL-E has hit the net. My inner (and outer) PIXAR nerd is all aflutter. I can’t wait.
• So, The 4400 is officially canceled after 4 season. I’m just slightly behind in watching the show (a couple episodes away from finishing the first season).
• Beowulf (which I just saw again today in IMAX 3D) has been slotted for HD-DVD release on February 26. I’d love to see them attempt a 3D presentation on the disc (the first high-def 3D content?).
• Speaking of HD-DVD, Universal recently announced the upcoming release of Fletch. Hmmm, as much as I love the movie, I have to wonder just how big a difference a high def transfer will make for that one. Frankly, I think Fletch Lives might benefit a bit more from it (and it’s one of the all-time under appreciated sequels).
• Here’s a well coordinated attempt to throw a log
• Wesley Snipes proves why the backlash has everything to do with him, NOT his race.
• And, it’s old news by this point that’s been reported on every entertainment and non-entertainment news source alike - Peter Jackson and New Line are teaming up after all for not just The Hobbit, but also a sequel to The Hobbit.

The latest entry into the sword-n-sandles epic fad in recent years ends up being better than most every other entry thanks to the creative quality and production talents of director Robert Zemeckis, as well as a good script and a talented cast.

Writing: I’ve read the original poem of Beowulf back in the high school years, and can’t say I remember it all too well beyond some of the broad strokes and characters. I therefor don’t consider myself all too qualified to comment on the adaptive nature of the film. The story is a simple enough tale of pride, lust and revenge. Like many of the best, it’s also a story of gray areas and imperfect characters. For all his heroic qualities, Beowulf is a flawed character capable of great mistakes, and he knows it. Toss into the mix some of the weirder qualities of the story and creatures and you’ve got an entertaining movie. I don’t recall the poem version of the Beowulf character being the gray area character of this film, but rather a traditional heroic character (something I would find less interesting). I’m sure the academics would argue in favor of the poem for any change that Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery made for the film, but I think they did a great job.

Production: There’s little doubt that one of the more interesting aspects of the film is the motion capture 3D animation approach. This is the third film with Zemeckis’ involvement to use this technique. The Polar Express was the first, and used it to great effects. Monster House wasn’t quite the classic that The Polar Express was, but was still a fun movie (which Zemeckis produced, but did not direct). Beowulf is a more aggressive use of the technology, due primarily to story.

Cast: Ray Winstone does an excellent job as Beowulf. Despite all the praise that Gerard Butler got for the lead role in 300 (a similarly geared movie), I though his performance was cardboard and typical. Winstone, however, brings a much more varied and dynamic feel to his performance. Then again, I consider Beowulf superior to 300 in pretty much every way. Angelina Jolie may be pretty obvious casting for the seductress of the story, but that’s for good reason. The slick delivery of her dialog is something Jolie makes work quite well. Crispin Glover, who hasn’t worked with Zemeckis since his legendary performance as George McFly in the first Back To The Future, is an inspired choice for Grendel. It’s hard to recognize a human performance beneath that character, and Glover is one of the actors strange enough to make that work. Robin Wright-Penn does an excellent job as Wealthow, the dignified romantic interest. And hey, she can sing, too. Like Jolie as the seductress, Anthony Hopkins is an obvious bit of casting for the aged king. He gets to play the depraved aspects of the character with great fun. Supporting roles are filled with fantastic actors, from Brendan Gleeson to John Malkovich to Alison Lohman.

Music: Coming as a surprise to precisely nobody, the score is provided by Alan Silvestri. Having score all of Zemeckis’ previous films, it was obligatory that he score this one. Of course this is a good thing, as Silvestri and Zemeckis are one of the greatest director/composer teams out there (and have been going strong for some 25 years now). Silvestri’s score is absolutely fantastic. One of the best of the year. It plays off grand themes and aggressive orchestration very well. Having said that, I think I enjoyed some of the simple moments of the quiet scenes in the score just as much. The couple songs that Penn performs are co-written with Glen Ballard, who Silvestri worked with on The Polar Express. They’re good songs, one of which is adapted well for the end credits.

• Yeah, the many reviews for which I’m behind will finally start to show up over the holiday weekend. For a list of what I’ve seen that don’t yet have reviews posted, just check out the latter part of my 2007 viewing log.
• I’m enjoying listening to Alan Silvestri’s great Beowulf score on CD (released today) as I type this. Great score (great movie, too).
• Coolness. Director David Twohy hasn’t given up on another Riddick movie. I hope he can pull it off.
• The interesting impact of the writer strike on the production (and completion) of Battlestar. Man, it would royally suck if the show got prematurely cut short, so very close to the planned finish line. I’m sure Ron Moore will fight tooth and nail to get it to that finish line. BTW, don’t forget that Razor airs on Saturday. I’ve already seen it in a theater last week, and it’s great. Some cool moments for classic Battlestar geeks like myself for added fun.
• Some specs and the cool cover art are detailed for the HD-DVD release of David Fincher’s Zodiac. Given his previous special edition DVD sets for his other movies, I’m sure this release will be spectacular. Can’t wait.
• Speaking of DVD releases, A&E has revealed some neato specs on their upcoming season 1 & 2 set for the Weird Science TV series. I was a fan of the show (still have many of them on tape from their original USA Network airings). Very cool that they got Vanessa Angel, Michael Manasseri and John Mallory Asher to all contribute in audio commentaries.
• So, Hasselhoff might appear on the new Knight Rider remake.
• Looks like I’ve figured what my next portable media player will be: the Cowon A3. I currently own the Cowon X5, which is an overall nice player (my battery is near dead, and I need to get around to replacing it). I’m not in a big hurry to upgrade, but that A3 sure does look awesome.

• So, BBC is confirming a fifth season of the new Doctor Who, but it’s gonna be a bit of a wait. Plus, David Tennant looks to be stepping down. Not before doing a few more appearances, which’ll be cool.
• Hmmm, Steven Lisberger has sold a new movie called Soul Code, which he will direct. Let’s see if he can get this one off the ground.
• Google has added a cool new “My Library” system to their online book system. It actually fits my needs nicely. Simple and flexible, particularly with a straight forward tagging system.
• Speaking of Google, they have FINALLY added a search function to their Reader application. I use reader heavily every day, and have always found it frustrating that it didn’t have a search. Then again, it’s amusing that Google, famous for the function of searching, was missing such a thing in such an obvious way.
• Microsoft has released their suite of new Windows Live apps. The one I’ve been waiting for is the Photo Gallery app. Since my recent switch back to XP, the one thing I was lacking was being able to browse and work with files of Microsoft’s HD Photo format, which I use heavily for my photo archive scanning project.
• Sanyo has revealed their awesome looking new Xacti DMX-HD1000 high def camcorder. I want one.
• What’s this world coming to when you can’t assault somebody with a snack?
• When’s the last time that you flew on an airline that gave you such a high level of satisfaction and safety as to sacrifice a goat to appease the Hindu sky god?
• Check out some of the coolest shadow puppet work you’ll likely ever see
• Woah, check out the impressive photo of true chaos
• Or how about some unusual grave stones?
• Or better yet, just one funny gravestone
• Or an amusing warning sign to parents
• Check out the nifty Virgin space port
• Or how about the oldest known skyscrapers? Pretty impressive.
• On a related note, check out the oldest photo of Tokyo. Or should I say Edo?
• An interesting timeline for the history of web browsers
• So, Bionic Woman and Life on Mars are to be repurposed to Sci-Fi & USA. The more airings the merrier.
• There won’t be a Kevin Smith episode of Battlestar after all.
• Check out the coverage of an impressive explosion for The Dark Knight (the next Batman film)
• A new “red band” trailer has begun appearing online for Beowulf. As the red band type trailer would imply, this version contains more of the graphic type material. Cool trailer.