Quick Thoughts on Some Movies!

Hi Everybody! I'm uploading the first episode of a new series called Opinion-Hated. It's a podcast type thingy where Jeremy and I exchange opinions about hot button nerd topics. It's also 20 minutes long and is taking FOREVER to upload. So in the mean time I thought I would give you some good old fashioned written down thoughts on a few movies I've viewed recently.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

I believe this movie might just be the longest joke I've ever watched. Essentially it all builds up to a finale that is hinted at in the begining and Hipsters are the punchline. The movie itself is a documentary by an amazing street artist named Banksy about another "artist" Thierry Guetta. Basically Thierry makes his money by selling beat up old clothes to stupid Hipsters at a ridiculous mark up. In addition to this he was also known for having a video camera with him at all times. The story of Thierry discovering street art and meeting the underground artists is fascinating, but the documentary takes an odd turn toward the end.

Thierry decides to become a street artist himself and forms the persona "Mr Brain Wash". His work is all derivative and even made by other people (he sees himself as a facilitator and button pusher) yet thanks to the sheer stupidity of masses he makes it big after just one art show. The movie seems to build up to this moment where it winks and tells you that art is dead, but you can still auction off the corpse. All in all I loved this film. A great deal of that probably comes from how prominently stencils and graffiti are featured (an old hobby of mine). It was fast paced and quirky and told the story of an interesting and eccentric man who may or may not be mentally handicapped, but in the end it doesn't matter, because he got your money, hipsters.

Space Jam

On the spur of the moment Lee, Jessica, Jeremy and I decided to watch Space Jam (thank you Vudu). Honestly I remember enjoying this as a child… then again I enjoyed a lot of things. After watching this again however, I've found that it has not aged as well as some might think. The entire movie feels like an extended commercial for… well nothing in particular. The animation is significantly dated and the human characters with the cartoons just looks odd. In comparison, Who Framed Roger Rabbit has held up much better. This is probably due to the fact that they used real actors for that film and not an NBA star. Also, a noir-esque story doesn't hurt.

My wife made a good point that the animation seems dated because they tried to represent the characters with a more bubbly shaded approach as compared to the straight 2D of Roger Rabbit. In the end I just couldn't shake the feeling that I would rather be watching an old WB cartoon, like the ones you catch glimpses of throughout Space Jam.

Secret of Kells

This movie was in limited release when it came out in theaters and it didn't have any more fanfare when it was released on DVD so I really can't blame you if you've not heard of it. Secret of Kells is an animated film about a young boy in a village surrounded by a great wall that was built to keep invading Vikings out. It is stunning and beautiful and breathes new life into the "cartoon network" style animation. It is also boring.

I find myself a bit torn because I really did love this movie, but I can't help but admit that it is somewhat boring. It is a very simple story but it unfolds quite elegantly. It's not in the traditional western style of grand action and consequence. It is smaller and much more personal. I highly recommend it, but keep in mind it is a tad bit slow.

The Living Wake

This is a small indie movie about an eccentric man who wishes to achieve greatness and find the meaning of life. K Roth Binew is told by a doctor that he has one day to live and this film chronicles it. The humor is dark and the characters quirky. There are touches of Wes Anderson here and there and it strives desperately for that indie feel much like the movie Wrist Cutters. Much like Wrist Cutters it misses the mark in editing and falls a bit short. All in all though there are some good and touching moments and it is worth a watch, if you can stand tremendous over acting. Oh and Jesse Eisenberg is in it.

Making a DisAppointment

I've been under-disappointed lately.

I mean, everything has turned out better than expected. I watched The Room and it was suitably hilarious and awkward. I played Kane and Lynch 2 and while it was bad it was still at least playable. I watched all of The Last Airbender and left with my sanity in check, thinking only that it's biggest crime was trying too much with no talent.

Much in the way something gets over hyped *cough* Avatar *cough* and then doesn't live up to its astronomical expectations. I'm having a similar problem, except I've been hoping for these things to be massive unequivocal failures but I've only been met by things I can identify as just plain old bad. Granted, having a sunny disposition as I do it is a tad bit difficult, but still, I have decided to set out on a journey, much like Mr. Glass, to find that magical train-wreck. I want to play the unplayable game, read the unreadable book, and watch the unwatchable movie.

This will test the limits of my sanity and challenge my optimistic outlook. My starting point is this: it has to be worse than Twilight New Moon, which will be difficult, because that movie almost broke me. I'm open to suggestions but I think I am going to start with Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness for the Playstation 2. This should be a fun experiment.

Jack@$$: It's like 'Saw' as a comedy

This is going to be by far the most ridiculous sounding review I ever write. Not because I loved Jackass 3D, but the reason I loved it. My enjoyment did not come from the ridiculous stunts and rude humor (though they were hilarious), but for something else. I can't even believe I'm going to say this, but it was deep. This was more than just a series of short pranks and men tempting darwin. This film is comradery personified. It is an up close and intimate look at friendship through the ages.

Let me paint this on a broader canvas. Jackass initially starts as any other entry in the series (albeit in 3D). Each and every gag elicits the same reaction: They vaguely set up what is going to happen (or in some cases jump right into the gag). At this point you figure out what is going to happen before the impact or action, you cringe, gasp, then laugh. The process is almost exhausting, but a movie where you get tired from laughing? I'd call that a success of a comedy.

Throughout the film you will see these men destroy their bodies (and minds) for our entertainment. At face value it's funny, but there is something behind all this. When the movie opened Johnny Knoxville introduced it in the usual fashion. The first thing I noticed was how much older he looked. Granted, I didn't watch the show very often while it was on because I didn't have cable, I still caught it enough. Toward the end of the movie Knoxville makes a comment about doing this for 10 years, and that's when it hit me.

A decade later and these guys are still the best of friends, even though they constantly torture each other. Jackass 3D is a testament to those friendships, perhaps like the ones you had back in high school, or elementary school, or maybe it speaks to you now. That, for the most part, is what I was thinking about as the credits rolled. I thought about my best friend Jake who is now married, living in North Carolina, and working for Uncle Sam. I thought of talks about Metal Gear Solid 2 with 'nextgenps2'. My first date with my wife at Yogurt Land. Hanging out in my friends garage till 4am. All of these things came to mind because of this film, it certainly is an odd power, but Jackass 3D wields it elegantly. The credits roll to early footage of the Jackass gang, some stuff before the series even made it on TV, all to the catchy tune "Memories" by Weezer (I tried to find the version from the film, but the video below is actually the 'official' music video, not the one from the credits).

Yes, Jackass 3D is a raunchy comedy, which I usually don't buy into. Then again, raunchy comedies are almost never this good. From the very beginning you get the feeling that the cast is reuniting after some time apart, and realizing that the best times they had were together (even if they constantly need to protect their *ahem* family jewels around each other). I've never really had a friendship like that in particular (the kind that hurt each other for laughs), personally I avoid pain, but just because I never had a group of friends like that I didn't feel alienated or out of touch with the cast. These guys genuinely care about each other and that's what shines through. That is how this movie succeeds where so many others fumble, the relationships.

So there you have it. In my opinion Jackass 3D will probably be one of the best films of the year, and it seems like a fitting farewell to this cast of characters we grew up with. A decade ago these guys picked up a camera and did something stupid that ended up being funny. They stuck with that formula and it still works to this day. Now 10 years later they are older, and perhaps wiser, but with only a faint wink and nod to the camera, they don't like to show it.

For the Love of Gaming: Pirates

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I have to take on another hot topic. There is a parasite leeching off the game industry, and while some may say no harm no foul or that it's a victimless crime, there is real damage being done. Here we delve into the murky dreary and falsely idolized waters of piracy, focusing mainly on games, but dabbling in other places too. (Cue sweeping Pirates of the Caribbean theme)

Piracy of games seems to be growing into a common practice, what at first was accessible to only the determined is now made easily available to the masses via torrent sites which shall go unnamed. I'll give you the cut and dry right up front so as not to beat around the bush: I think pirating games, movies and the like is wrong. Take that with a grain of salt, this is coming from a guy who won't even theater hop. Back to the subject at hand though, no matter how you try to present it pirating is stealing plain and simple.

Now then, there are two sides to this argument: the developers crying foul over lost profits and the pirates complaining about game prices and Distribution Rights Management. I'm going to tackle the Dev's side first.

The affect of piracy on Developers is similar to that of a problem the National Parks Service has. People go into these beautiful parks and they want to take something back with them, say, a rock. The problem is if everyone takes a rock eventually there will be nothing left. Many people justify this by saying that it's just one rock, what's the harm? It's the same for pirating, many people believe they are just one person downloading a game or movie and that it could hardly have any affect, but it does. Now, companies aren't going bankrupt over this, but it takes a toll.

Its such an odd relationship between Devs, publishers, and the people they make games for. It's like a parasite that slowly sucks the life out of a creature while complaining the entire time that the animal isn't accommodating enough or that its blood isn't quite the parasites taste. If you didn't catch that, the pirates are the parasite, see what I did there?

People are just so self entitled now. I've heard the argument that a person wouldn't buy a game in the first place, so the dev is not loosing a sale when they download it. Or if the games sucks then it's not worth the money. Look, we live in a very informed age when it comes to our purchases. You can find multiple reviews for almost anything on the internet, even sweet shirts. The point is with a video game you can almost always tell if it's something you're going to enjoy.

This gives birth to the opinion that if a game is well received critically but you download it and dislike it then you are justified. Honestly how self centered do you have to be to think that if the game isn't exactly what you want that you are somehow entitled to steal it. The game developers aren't making it for you alone, they have a broad audience to think about because they need to make money to continue making games. You pay for permission to play the game, and you can make a good decision, I believe in you. The internet has removed all pleas of ignorance from your case. You are either an informed customer, or an ignorant (though usually informed) thief. It's almost funny that the internet, the thing pirates thrive on, has destroyed all reasons to pirate. All the information you need to make a responsible purchase is right there in front of you.

Internet! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems

There is also the argument that piracy is required for old games, and that publishers don't get money for out of print games. This one is a bit less black and white then pirating new games. Again, the internet that you love so much has destroyed your argument. While there are games that do not exist anywhere but pirate sites, certain websites like D2D and GOG have really aided with this. You can go there and legitimately download old and out of print titles.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is gaming and movies attract, on large, immature facets of our culture. People would rather spend hours justifying their selfish actions then doing the honorable thing. What's worse is now there is a thriving culture that believes pirates are a modern day Robin Hood, standing up against the evil companies that would dare protect their investments with Distribution Rights Management. Here's the thing, if you disagree strongly with a companies DRM then don't buy the game. By downloading it illegally you're only making it worse for everyone because they will implement more severe DRM next time.

I'll leave you with one last story, something to reflect on for those still rooting for the pirates. A while back several Indie developers got together and made the awesome package known as the Humble Indie Bundle. This was a collection of 5 (later 6) amazing games. The best part was you could name your own price and on top of that give either half or all the money to charity! It was a fantastic idea and had no DRM. Unfortunately though, due to its lack of DRM the bundle was pirated. Think about that for just a moment. A pack of six games that you could literally pay just one cent for, to charity no less, was pirated.

So please stop pirating (if you are, if you aren't; Good job!) before you ruin gaming for everyone either through excessive DRM or the collapse of the industry. The sad thing is, this article probably won't do anything to sway your opinion more then likely. If you've been able to steal a persons hard work and still sleep at night there's nothing I can say to change that. Does that make you a bad person… Well let's just say in Fallout 3 you'd be getting negative Karma, and in InFamous you'd be shooting red lightning, and in Bioshock you'd be killing little girls, you monster.

Back in my day: Video Rental Stores

You've probably heard the news by now: Blockbuster has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. I've heard many a person say they'd seen it coming, well of course you did, the writing was on the wall years ago. This is not going to be about Blockbusters corporate failings or their final desperate throws. No, this is about losing something.

We have now lost an experience: going to the video store. Much like going to the record store (or late night record shop if you're into impulsive/compulsive/insane things). One could go to the video store and browse for hours, in fact it has long since been a running joke that it's never easy to rent a movie. But just because it was "difficult" didn't mean it was a bad thing.

Sometimes you would go in knowing what you wanted and other times just to look and find something. I loved going in to a Blockbuster or Hollywood video or Super Duper Video and wandering. The box art of a movie might catch my eye, and then I would rent something that I had never even heard of before.

Yes, of course you can browse with our modern alternatives like NetFlix and RedBox but it just isn't the same. It's to early for a nostalgic look at video stores, but I can just picture myself as an old man telling my grandchildren about how we used to go to a store to borrow movies, and you could just walk around looking at all the different titles.

I suppose it's just odd for me to think that this experience I've known since I was a little kid is going to, for the most part, be gone forever. I don't mean to make it sound like such an earth shatteringly big deal, I just see it as something that a few years from now will be commented on like "hey, isn't it weird that we haven't like been to a store to rent t movie in like years" before it vanishes from memory.

Honestly I love RedBox and Netflix, I think they're great, but I'm going to miss the aimless wandering. It reminds me of a Shepard, I didn't care where I was going, because the journey is the worthier part.