Posted by Allen on December 30, 2005 under Web, Web Design | 
Okay, the idea’s decent enough: What will sports and the sports viewing experience be like ten years from now? That I’m cool with–how we viewers watch sports has changed quite a bit in the last ten years and is sure to change even more in the next ten.
But man, whoever put that project together needs to have their keys to the Internet taken away. Most of the featured “predictions” (quotes necessitated because I can’t imagine most of them were made with any seriousness, especially given that we’re only talking ten years in the future) were laughable and the Flash-based presentation itself was horrible, like the folks at ESPN found an intern in the production department, gave them a copy of the Flash software and some URLs to tutorial sites, slapped ‘em on the ass and told ‘em to let ‘er rip.[1] Awful, awful stuff.
The best part of the presentation was the predictions by Frank Gibeau of EA Sports, who seemed to have the most practical, most considered, most likely–and, honestly, the coolest–ideas for where the sports experience is going. Makes sense to me that the best ideas would be coming from the guy working in the video game industry, since they probably spend more time thinking about exactly how viewers take in sports than anyone else.
Posted by Allen on December 29, 2005 under Typography, Web Design |
The graphic designer in me was all over part one of Typographica’s Best Fonts of 2005. These are all gorgeous typefaces (I especially liked Proxima Nova, Arrival and Vista Sans) that I wish were available for free, but of course they aren’t–these are professional-grade fonts and, as such, ain’t cheap. But they do make me want to go find some new fonts to use in those occasional design projects I undertake.
All of this reminds me that I’ve been meaning to mention how glad I was to find that I’m not the only typography geek I know. Upon reading that Microsoft was releasing a new batch of fonts that would be shipping with Windows Vista, a friend of mine installed his beta copy of Vista (he’s got an MSDN [1] subscription and so has a really, really early version of the software) just to get those fonts. That’s right, he installed an entire operating system (a bloated, beta Microsoft operating system, no less) so that he could get six new fonts–mainly, I think, just to get the new fixed-width font so he could use it in code editors.
Of course, I asked him to slip me the fonts, too. Consolas is so, so purty for editing code…
It’s also worth noting, if you’re into this kind of thing, that Windows Vista and the next version of Microsoft Office will also have a new font for its user interface, the first change since Microsoft began using Tahoma back in Office 97.
Posted by Allen on December 28, 2005 under Comic Books, Pop Culture |
Happy 83rd birthday to Stan “The Man” Lee! Without Stan (not to mention his pencil-pushin’ partners, most notably including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko), the comics industry as we know it today would be a radically different place–if it even existed at all. Stan created or co-created Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Thor, the Avengers–most of the Marvel Universe originally came from Stan [1]. These characters Stan co-created also changed the entire model on which superheroes were constructed: his heroes experienced self-doubt, angst, love, fear–they actually had depth, which was pretty revolutionary for superheroes in the 1960s. [2]
Stan’s still considered something of an ambassador for Marvel and the industry as a whole (which is why, of course, he has a cameo in every Marvel-related movie produced these days). He’s likely still the comics-related personality most recognizable to the general population. Of course, he’s likely the only comics-related personality recognizable to the general population… [3]
(Thanks, Jeff, for the tip!)
Posted by Allen on under Books |
Thanks very much to everyone who suggested books to add to my reading list. Pretty much every recommendation you gave me has gone on the list; how soon I get to start working through those books, I don’t know. Probably depends on when I can get to the library.
In the meantime, I’ve started (for the third time) a book I’ve been meaning to read forever-and-a-half: Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I keep starting it and losing the thread of it–not out of lack of interest, but just because my ADD self hasn’t quite been able to keep my head in the book. But I’m hoping this time to stay with it and finish it. Maybe telling all of you that I’m reading it will help keep my head in it.
Also added to the list was the book Terry got me for Christmas: The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, which I hadn’t even heard of but sounds fascinating. I’m not completely sure what it’s about just yet, though I know it deals a lot with the situation in contemporary Afghanistan. Tell you what: I’ll give you guys a full book report when I’m done.
Posted by Allen on December 27, 2005 under General |
As I’ve been predicting since early in the negotiations, Disney and Pixar are nearing a deal to re-up their distribution deal, which was set to expire after the release of Cars next year. I can’t honestly see how anyone might have believed this deal wasn’t going to happen–both companies stood to lose way, way too much if they parted ways: too much money for Disney, too much caché for Pixar.
I do have some concerns about the new agreement, if the information out there right now turns out to be true. If Disney were to outright purchase Pixar and make them the official Disney animation division, as one rumor has it, Pixar would lose the independence that’s allowed them to craft their movies they want the way they want to make them. If Disney owns them rather than simply distributs their product, Disney would likely want to have more of a white-gloved, three-fingered hand in what Pixar does and how, and we’ve already seen how wretchedly Disney manages their current animation department. I might be less concerned if they installed John Lasseter as Almighty Inscrutable Pixar Overlord and left them alone, but I have trouble imaginging Disney buying a new toy and not wanting to play with it.
Part of the deal might also include allowing Disney’s current 3D animation department to produce Pixar-sanctioned sequels to some of the Pixar catalog. I’m not sure if this one’s true or not, since Disney’s in-house 3D division seems to be nothing more than a poorly-constructed sham (”Circle 7 Studios” taking its name from the logo for the ABC studio across the street from their offices). I had been thinking that Pixar wouldn’t want to be involved with making any direct-to-video sequels of their work…until I remembered that Toy Story 2 was originally intended to be exactly that. So we’ll see; I’m going to leave this development in the “skeptical” column for now.
Those concerns aside, though, I’m very glad this deal’s going to get done. I’m not the biggest fan of The Mouse, but I realize that Pixar’s better off having their name connected to Disney than not. The distribution and promotion they get (like, say, having their creations slapped all over theme parks around the world) from being associated with the Disney Multimedia Conglomerate can’t be beat by anyone else they could have snuggled up with. And they certainly didn’t want to get into distributing their own movies; far better to let a company with that infrastructure in place take care of it so Pixar can stick with what they do best.
Posted by Allen on under Movies |
As I’ve been predicting since early in the negotiations, Disney and Pixar are nearing a deal to re-up their distribution deal, which was set to expire after the release of Cars next year. I can’t honestly see how anyone might have believed this deal wasn’t going to happen — both companies stood to lose way, way too much if they parted ways: too much money for Disney, too much caché for Pixar.
I do have some concerns about the new agreement, if the information out there right now turns out to be true. If Disney were to outright purchase Pixar and make them the official Disney animation division, as one rumor has it, Pixar would lose the independence that’s allowed them to craft their movies they want the way they want to make them. If Disney owns them rather than simply distributs their product, Disney would likely want to have more of a white-gloved, three-fingered hand in what Pixar does and how, and we’ve already seen how wretchedly Disney manages their current animation department. I might be less concerned if they installed John Lasseter as Almighty Inscrutable Pixar Overlord and left them alone, but I have trouble imaginging Disney buying a new toy and not wanting to play with it.
Part of the deal might also include allowing Disney’s current 3D animation department to produce Pixar-sanctioned sequels to some of the Pixar catalog. I’m not sure if this one’s true or not, since Disney’s in-house 3D division seems to be nothing more than a poorly-constructed sham (”Circle 7 Studios” taking its name from the logo for the ABC studio across the street from their offices). I had been thinking that Pixar wouldn’t want to be involved with making any direct-to-video sequels of their work…until I remembered that Toy Story 2 was originally intended to be exactly that. So we’ll see; I’m going to leave this development in the “skeptical” column for now.
Those concerns aside, though, I’m very glad this deal’s going to get done. I’m not the biggest fan of The Mouse, but I realize that Pixar’s better off having their name connected to Disney than not. The distribution and promotion they get (like, say, having their creations slapped all over theme parks around the world) from being associated with the Disney Multimedia Conglomerate can’t be beat by anyone else they could have snuggled up with. And they certainly didn’t want to get into distributing their own movies; far better to let a company with that infrastructure in place take care of it so Pixar can stick with what they do best.
Posted by Allen on December 26, 2005 under Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews |
One of the things I most admire about Steven Spielberg is his ability–and his willingness–to balance his desire to make his deepely personal Films with his desire to make big-budget crowd-pleasing popcorn-chomping Flicks. He’s equally adept at making both kinds of movies and has created classic examples of each, though I have to admit I have something of a preference for his Flicks. When directors of his ability apply their talents to big action movies, you know that you’re usually going to get one of those all-too-rare combinations: a smart, well-made blockbuster.
So as soon as I heard that Spielberg was making War of the Worlds (based, of course, on the H.G. Wells novel), I knew the result would likely be something I was going to enjoy–Spielberg plus Scary Monsters of Some Sort plus Big Special Effects will almost always equal an entertaining movie in my book. When a director as completely in command of his skills as Spielberg decides its time to put a good scare into his audience, a scare is just what they’re gonna get. And make no mistake: War of the Worlds is far more horror movie than action movie.
Spielberg realizes that this story has been told plenty of times before: he knows that there’s an excellent chance that most of his audience has at least some familiarity with the basics of the story. The audience probably knows just who or what the attackers are, and they probably know the circumstances which eventually bring about the attackers’ defeat. In fact, Spielberg counts on that fact. Because his audience knows the plot, he can leave out some details and assume the viewers can fill in the blanks he intentionally leaves empty.
Spielberg keeps the focus of his movie on a very personal level, staying entirely with Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning as a father and daughter with a less-than-ideal relationship. That choice proves to be what makes War of the Worlds different from the great many other aliens-inavde-planet-Earth movies that have featured largely the same plot–and what made the events of the movie so much more frightening. Neither the characters nor the audience ever get a clear confirmation as to just what’s happening. We–and they–get speculation and rumors from other characters (contradictory rumors and speculation, at that), but we never get those familiar scenes, for example, of The President Receiving Intelligence From His Staff and Making the Big Decisions. We get very little report of what’s happening with the Martian attackers in the rest of the world–we don’t, as a matter of fact, ever know for sure that they’re Martians (one of those details Spielberg left up to our common experience with this story). We never even find out definitively what’s happening outside the New York-Boston corridor.
| War of the Worlds (2005) |
| Grade: B+ |
| Directed By: |
Steven Spielberg |
| Written By: |
Josh Friedman
David Koepp
(Based on the H.G. Wells novel) |
| Studio: |
Paramount/DreamWorks |
An interesting side effect of Spielberg’s telling the story the way he did was the changes it necessitated in the type of protagonist he used. Cruise’s Ray Ferrier isn’t a typical Big Hollywood Action Spectacular Hero: he’s not particularly sympathetic (at first, anyway); he’s not the one leading the Forces of Good against the Evildoers; he’s not the Chosen One; he’s not the cause of or the focus of the aliens’ actions; he’s not the catalyst for the aliens’ downfall. He’s just a guy. He’s a guy focused entirely on trying to protect his children from the insanity destroying his world. He’s the focus of the story only because Spielberg chose to make him so, not because the larger story demanded it–Ferrier is completely inconsequential to the larger story, and that fact is what makes his journey so compelling.
There’s one drawback to Speilberg’s commitment to the personal, though: the ending of the movie felt startlingly contrived. When the focus is on the Big Picture, simply defeating the enemies would be enough to create a happy ending, but that doesn’t work as well when that focus is on the Very Small Picture. The details necessary to make sure the audience went home with smiles on their faces didn’t strike me as true in War of the Worlds; had Spielberg been completely honest with his story, he would’ve realized that this movie was one that likely shouldn’t have had a happy ending.
Posted by Allen on December 23, 2005 under General |
I know, I know–two-and-a-half months and nothing new has gone up here. [1] I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to let the site run fallow. I have some things cooking in my head, though, and so the ol’ site here might start getting some new love very soon. Oscar season’s coming up on us pretty soon, and it’s getting gosh-darn close to Year In Review time. So be patient, and maybe some scintillating new Moviegeekz content will grace your monitor before much longer.
In the meantime, enjoy whichever holiday(s) you choose to observe!
Posted by Allen on December 21, 2005 under Web |
Official Friend of Do or Do Not Mister Snitch is accepting nominations for the Best Blog Posts of 2005. I’m not soliciting votes or anything here, believe me–just wanting to help get this contest out there. (Though if you wanted to vote for some of my more eloquent or more hilarious posts, by all means, feel free.)
Here’s what Snitch is looking for:
1) Something truly witty or milk-out-your-nose funny is always welcome. Everyone tries comedy, few do it well.
2) That unique piece of information or research that everyone’s looking for, but only one blog has.
3) An issue that everyone is discussing, but only one post nails.
4) An unusual subject that few attempt, and fewer do well.
5) An interesting use of language, such as an entire post in the form of a pallindrome, or an Ogden Nash ditty.
6) Something of great service or interest to the blogosphere. Perhaps a link to blogging tools or resources that everyone should know about.
7) A great comment thread.
8) Lightning in a bottle. A post that captures a moment. Something you’d stick in a time capsule.
9) Originality, inspiration, insight, foresight. If it’s touched by greatness, we want to know about it.
10) Anything compelling. When you’re drawn to something, and you know others will be, you don’t have to analyze it.
You can leave comments at that post or email him at mistersnitch [at] hotmail [dot] com if you so desire. So get on it!
Posted by Allen on December 20, 2005 under Pop Culture, TV |
Like so, so, so many others, I’m of the opinion that Saturday Night Live has been spinning its wheels in the mud pit of mediocrity for years now. But it’s nice to know that occassionally, they can still bring the funny old-school:
“You can call us Aaron Burr the way we’re droppin’ Hamiltons.”
I mean, c’mon…they name-check Google Maps in there. That shit speaks to me, yo.
« previous home
top
