Feb 032010
 

Following up on the epic 10 minute rap summary of Robocop, the same team has released Aliens:


open at youtube.com

Watching this reminds me what a great film Aliens turned out to be and how Avatar (by the same director) pales in comparison. It’s not that Avatar was terrible but nobody is going to be making 10 minute rap songs about it in 25 years.

quick update: Hey, they’ve done Terminator 2 as well!

Dec 172009
 

I own all of the Star Wars DVDs except for one – The Phantom Menace. Even the weakest of the others have a certain charm, but TPM was stupid through and through. Even the title is stupid! I have yet to work out exactly what the titular menace actually was. Although the story includes several menaces, none of them seem particularly phantomastical. Unless the menace was supposed to be Palpatine’s amazingly convoluted plan, but that plot point doesn’t really bear fruit until the second film.

Anyway, I haven’t given The Phantom Menace much thought since it first came out but this guy certainly has:




Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Even if you ignore the affectations of the reviewer, he has some pretty insightful points about how TPM fails as a movie.

Jan 222009
 

It has irked me for a long time that although the President of the United States wields great power over the rest of the world, only US citizens get to vote. To be brutally honest it irked me a lot more when Bush II was in power, but I approve of the way our USAian cousins have voted this time. Obama seems exactly what the US and the rest of the world needs – someone thoughtful, honest and willing surround himself with actual experts instead of cronies. That fact that he can string two words together without stumbling is an added bonus.

And its not just me. The action figure industry thinks Obama is pretty cool. This Obama figure is way more bad-ass than the old George W Bush doll.

Nov 232008
 

I was talking with a co-worker a few days ago about Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C-sharp minor – everybody’s favourite piece of overwrought classical piano. I am no piano player, but looking at the sheet music it seems almost impossible to play.

These guys have found a solution:

Mar 222007
 

I am going to assume that we all liked Star Trek:The Next Generation when it was on. However only the most ardent fan would refuse to concede that there were some problems with the show. It was fairly cheesy (even for the late eighties) and its oh-so-earnest attitude made the future look like a fairly dull place to live. Also, I think it will take longer than 400 years for skin tight uniforms to be adopted by any organisation that wants the galaxy to take it seriously.

Over a decade later (has it been that long already?), ST:TNG is ready for a face lift. Have you ever wondered what the show would look like if revisited with the most powerful post-production technique known to man; the laugh track? Me neither, but someone has: