If I ever have twins, I'd use one for parts.
Steven Wright
31st December 2007

Ponderings For 2007-12-31

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13th December 2007

Ponderings For 2007-12-13

  • I’m writing this as I sit here listening to the new 3 CD set of the Blade Runner soundtrack. I scrounged up an early copy online to check out. Don’t worry, I’ll be buying the set when it comes out next Tuesday. The Blade Runner/Vangelis/film score nerd in me just couldn’t resist hunting it down early to check out. It’s a great set, btw. The first CD is a repackaging of the existing soundtrack CD from the early 90’s. The second CD is a bunch of unreleased material from the original score. It’s a very cool disc for us fans. It has a style and flow of its own, surprisingly well rounded away from both the film and the first CD material. It’s mostly the lower key, moody material. A cool CD to play in a dark room during the late hours while you’re typing away at the keyboard. Disc 3 is odd but cool. It’s assembled kinda like the first disc, as primarily music with some dialog thrown in as atmosphere. This material, however, is newly created and not from the film itself. Much of it is a reworking of material from the film, both musically and in terms of dialog (moody and atmospheric). Yet it’s also kind of an album in and of itself. It’s easily as cool to us Vangelis fanatics like myself as it is to us Blade Runner fanatics (guilty as well). It could do with less saxophone, though (but that’s just me and my dislike for that instrument). It’s like having the Vangelis of old back again.
  • As you’ve likely noticed, more movie reviews are starting to finally appear. I aim to have all remaining reviews posted by the end of this weekend.
  • NYC cops are taking entrapment to the next level. Good grief.
  • A nice collection of photos from the recent Mutant Enemy Day on the picket lines for the WGA. If you’re looking for more video and photos of the day, there’s tons and tons of it online. Just do some searching.
  • Johnny Depp as Pee-Wee? Hmmm. That’ll surely be interesting.
  • Journeyman has apparently bitten the proverbial dust
  • Avatar has been pushed from summer of 2009 to winter of 2009. Hmmm, a James Cameron movie getting bumped from summer to winter? How unusual.
  • The overzealous RIAA continues their shenanigans
  • OK, I’m off to the midnight preview screening for I Am Legend. I might get my review posted when I get back. If not, I promise to get it posted tomorrow.

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18th November 2007

Ponderings For 2007-11-18

  • Oooooh, finally a definitive soundtrack release for Blade Runner. Boy, all the stops are being pulled out for us Blade Runner fanatics. This 25th anniversary is becoming THE time to be a Blade Runner obsessed fan like myself. After years and years of us fans wanting high quality releases of the film, soundtrack and other extras, we are finally getting it all, and more.
  • 100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers. AWESOME video. Too cool.
  • Then there are these wicked fun videos of the random ramblings of spam messages put to animation. Spamland 1, 2 & 3.
  • And if that’s not fun enough, how about watching the Eiffel Tower (the one in Vegas, anyway) get hit by lightning?
  • Another cool casting move by JJ Abrams for the new Trek film - Jennifer Morrison.
  • Dinner In The Sky. You gotta be kidding me.
  • For anyone doubting just how stupid the major studios are, or how bad sequels can be, look no further - Crank 2! I can’t image it possibly being worse than the first (which I continue to seriously consider naming as my all-time least favorite movie), but I’m sure they’ll find a way to do so.
  • The idea of Tim Burton doing a 3D version of Alice In Wonderland is a bit of a scary proposition.
  • One last tidbit. For any of you wondering how insane fans of Joss Whedon are, here’s a forum thread discussing the upcoming planned writers strike day that will reassemble the Mutant Enemy writing team (Mutant Enemy was the production company of Joss’ 3 shows of Buffy, Angel & Firefly). Guess they are planning on having the strike last a while.

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28th October 2007

Ponderings For 2007-10-28

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4th October 2007

Ponderings For 2007-10-04

  • Today was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1. Hurrah!
  • Ooooh, a new Sony Bravia commercial. I swear, these are the coolest commercials ever. If you didn’t see the first two, they are also fantastic. What makes these commercials truly great is that they are staged in the real world, not some CGI or stage-based production. It gives them a far grander feeling of scale and style.
  • The awesome specs for the HD-DVD release of Zodiac are finally announced. I can’t wait. David Fincher’s special edition releases are the only ones that come close to rivaling the likes of Ridley Scott.
  • Speaking of which, check out Bill Hunt’s review of Ridley’s mouth-wateringly awesome sounding Final Cut of Blade Runner. I can’t wait to pick up the ultimate brief-case housed HD disc set. If only the film was going to be run in the Chicago area, dang it.
  • If you missed Pushing Daisies last night (shame on you), you can catch it when it re-airs tomorrow (Friday), or online, etc. Speaking of which, the debut episode scored big in the ratings. Woo hoo! ABC has been strongly behind the show up to the launch, and this will help keep them there.
  • Uh oh. The RIAA just got a leg up. Sadly, it wasn’t from the neighborhood dog.
  • Universal takes the step that we all knew was coming with the likes of HD-DVD: in-movie shopping. The whole “interactivity” push of HD-DVD in particular is one of the most useless pieces of studio distraction in all of the HD format features. I wish they’d knock it off and pay more attention to the types of content that are actually interesting. Then again, with my recent Blu-Ray frustrations, the HD-DVD format is looking less annoying with each day.
  • 640 GB solid state drives? I want one. Or two. Or three. Or four. Or more.
  • As indifferent as I am towards Apple these days, this surely makes me feel sympathy towards the company. The fact that they have to deal with these mouth-breathers is reason enough for sympathy.
  • Could ABC really be reviving Rob Thomas’ series Cupid a decade later? If so, they’ve gotta air it after Pushing Daisies. That would be a cool time slot partnership.
  • Is McG going to direct Terminator 4? You know, a couple years ago that news would have sent me screaming into the night in fear of the final piece of crap it would have been. But it turns out the guy actually has directing talent, as was displayed recently with We Are Marshall and the brand new TV series Chuck.
  • Hmmm, a 100 GB version of the Blu-Ray disc may be in the near future. I may have a bit of a Blu-Ray rant in an upcoming posting, once I get a couple issues sorted out. I swear, these HD formats sure went out of their way to make their own industry a complete mess.
  • This cursory article gives some insight into why IE tends to be such a messed up browser.
  • Universal sure took their time following through on this, but they have finally announced season 2 of SeaQuest on DVD. While I consider season 2 to be the weakest season, at least there’s hope that they’ll make it to releasing the final third season eventually. That third season was something of an overhaul of the series, and was actually a lot better than it ever got credit for. Then again, Universal has a long and distinguished history of revamping shows and cancelling them that same year, every time.
  • Here’s one of those pictures that’s amusing for its stupidity. But when you put it in the context in which it was used, it goes WAY beyond stupidity.
  • The late Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. provides some amusing political insights in a new book compiling his journals.

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