blogger feels sickening these days

I wrote so many articles since my last post. Recently I stopped writing for the newspaper in NJ - they have a new editor and aren't interested in film reviews. I still do the occasional MacCast article. In dtotal I have about ten articles, 3 from the paper and 7 from MacCast that I didn't post here. I've fallen out of love with the layout here as well as the content management system. I have a wordpress blog now that I'll be using to go into a different direction entirely. My life is shaping up far different than I expected an entire one year ago. You can follow me on twitter via "bigdarnhero" at the moment.

At The Movies: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Over recent decades graphic novels have developed their own niche within the world of film. Some of them offer a serious tone with a touch of witty humor such as the "X-Men" series and the franchise reboot "Batman Begins," while others like "Spider-Man 2" offer a balanced mix. We've seen those that try to be serious and flop big time like "Hulk" and "Daredevil" and others that embrace the idea of just being a good popcorn movie. The territory can be risky for those who try to be nothing more than fun, as exemplified by "Batman and Robin."

"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is a sequel to a mixed bag. "Fantastic Four" had the witty humor and climactic actions scenes, but was riddled with storytelling issues and a runtime unbefitting of a summer action flick. Thankfully the team behind the movie learned from their mistakes and shaved fourteen minutes off the runtime. The sequel has a story just as shallow and pointless as the first, but doesn't present itself as anything more than what it is. In that way it is far superior in comparison.

If you have yet to see "Fantastic Four" there is no need to hesitate in seeing this movie. The only things you need to know you probably gathered from the trailers. There are five people starring, they're in a freak accident, they somehow survive, they gained random super powers as a result, four decided to be good, one decided to be evil, the four thought they killed the one, audience knows that he will likely be coming back. If you found that sentence a bit uncomfortable and jarring, you have now completely experienced the acting and storyline of the first and are ready for the sequel.

As suggested in the title the popular "Silver Surfer" of the Marvel universe appears, voiced by Laurence Fishburne of "The Matrix" trilogy and modeled after Doug Jones. If this movie is lacking anything, it's lacking in its title character. By first glance alone one could argue that the "Silver Surfer" looks like an interesting character, so it's hard to see why he is tossed aside and only given a few lines of dialogue and a short amount of spotlight. However a script for a standalone "Silver Surfer" movie is allegedly in the works and it is very likely that he will reappear in the next "Fantastic Four" outing.

Another change this time around is the MPAA rating going from a PG-13 to a PG for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo. Director Tim Story claims that the rating was just a coincidence and nothing was altered or cut to achieve it, however he sees the film as multi-generational and would like nobody to be excluded from seeing it. While it may not be a family film by nature, everyone in the family should have a good time if they aren't expecting too much. The new "Fantastic Four" is a passable summer action flick and well worth your hour and a half. For those interested, an extended edition of "Fantastic Four" has just hit the selves on DVD.

At The Movies: Ocean's Thirteen

"Ocean's Thirteen" is the third in the remake franchise of the classic Rat Pack film from 1960. Nearly the entire cast returns, with the exception of female leads Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Their absence is directly addressed in the film by Danny Ocean (George Clooney) as he yells "It's not their fight!" Unlike its predecessors, this heist film isn't about financial gain. Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), close friend of Ocean, makes the mistake of doing business with the Willy Bank (Al Pacino). Bank's vicious ego is played up well by Al Pacino and is exactly what this franchise needs. Bank expectedly double crosses Reuben, breaking the sacred pact between those who have shaken Sinatra's hand. Ocean and his crew decide to sabotage Bank and his new Casino on it's opening night to help out Rueben, now recovering from a heart attack.

We are told some of the plans details, left with questions, watch the mystery unfold, and as usual are given the last piece of the puzzle at the last possible second. This formula worked well for in the first two, completely surprising the majority of the audience each time. With director Steven Soderbergh's latest attempt the formula feels a bit dry, the mysteries a bit less potent, and the missing piece a lot less unexpected. You will likely find yourself saying "that's just not possible" to some of the things Ocean's crew pull off, but enjoying it enough to suspend disbelief and ignore the plot holes.

The Ocean's franchise is known for offering ironically clean and ethical films. This third outing does a great job of placing thieves in a heroic situation, to the point where they even right the wrongs they commit to another. The smooth pace, snappy dialog, and enjoyable subplots are all improved upon, but the biggest problem is that we don't get to see enough of the characters we like so much. Where there was more character development in the first two films, this film is about the characters we know doing what we know them for.

Part of what makes up for the lack of character development is the execution of the heist and how well it unfolds over a period of two hours. Telling a story this complex could easily get messy, even more so when you have ensemble cast staring some of the most respected actors of our time that people want to see. You're never left thinking a scene is redundant, taking too long, or causing you to wonder impatiently about another character. But you are left wanting more screentime for François Toulour (Vincent Cassel) and the hilarious duo Virgil (Casey Affleck) and Turk Malloy (Scott Caan). Further complimenting the smooth storytelling is the excellent score by David Holmes. Once again he provides music just as cool as the movie and characters on screen.

There is only one major problem with the concept for "Ocean's Thirteen," it's not really necessary. Watching this movie is like listening to a b-side track from one of your favorite bands. It's fun, it's catchy, but in the end it was cut from the album for a reason: it wasn't needed. However, out of all the sequels we've seen this summer this is likely the best of them all and should not be overlooked. Thankfully, unlike the "Spider-Man" and "Shrek" franchises, sequels are not currently planned and the franchise appears to be retiring. "Ocean's Thirteen" is without a doubt an acceptable and enjoyable end to the franchise, and worth the two hours of your time.


Originally published in The Hammonton News

At The Movies: Shrek the Third

When seeing "Shrek the Third" you probably are walking in knowing exactly what you're going to get. If you walk in expecting a cinematic masterpiece you're bound to be let down, but if you're looking for an extra couple hours of what first two offered you'll get exactly what you're looking for. The basic working formula of a great cast, modern twists on old fairy tales, and double meanings galore is carried over and expanded upon in this second sequel. The issue lies simply with if you care enough to see more.

The first "Shrek" film was a surprise to say the least. Filled with charm, wit, and relatable characters it proved to be enjoyable for the entire family. "Shrek" also established DreamWorks as a true competitor to Walt Disney Pictures in the field of animated features. The fact that "Shrek 2" was as much of a success was by no means a fluke. The guys at DreamWorks teamed up with this cast know how to make a fun movie, "Shrek the Third" solidifies their credibility. Rather than just adding more stars to the cast and telling the same jokes again, it's apparent they did their best not to deliver a repetitive script.

Five members from "Saturday Night Live", two from the "Monty Python" cast, Justin Timberlake, and star of "The Office" John Krasinski among others are all worked into a modest ninety-three minutes of film. Even the smallest of parts prove to be most memorable and humorous. As the first "Shrek" this movie is about a journey, so the characters are used in predictable and fun ways throughout Shrek's (Mike Myers) quest. With the recent death of King Harold (John Cleese), Shrek is reluctant to take over his role. Shrek journeys to find the only other remaining heir, Artie (Justin Timberlake), a textbook reject who is eager to take the title.

While departing Shrek is less than enthusiastic to find out he is soon to be a father, which is the source of a lot of humor that might keep an adult audience interested. As soon as Shrek leaves for his journey Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) rounds up the usual fairy tale baddies to take over kingdom of Far Far Away. All of the fairy tale princesses, villains, and sidekick heroes are pulled out of the book of stock characters once again to take their part in the fight over the fate of Far Far Away.

The first two movies are among my favorite animated films, but I couldn't help but feel a third was almost certainly going to kill the charm of the first two. "Shrek the Third" is completely predictable, mildly crude, and completely unnecessary. I had no desire to see this movie going in, yet found myself slowly and reluctantly enjoying it. The same old "Shrek" with a few slight twits worked well this time around, but will it the next? Dreamworks Animation recently revealed forth Shrek is in the works for a 2010 release and a spin-off based on the "Puss in Boots" character played by Antonio Banderas soon after. Work has also gotten arond about a possible fifth Shrek later on. In the meantime, there is plenty of fun to be had with "Shrek the Third."



“Shrek the Third” is rated PG by the MPAA for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action.

At The Movies: Spider-Man 3

Since the 1960s Spider-Man has been Marvel's flagship character, simply because he is the most down-to-earth superhero around. As in the comics, Peter Parker/Spider-Man 
(Tobey Maguire) is portrayed as an average guy who just wants to do the right thing, making a few mistakes in the process. “Spider-Man 3” continues to explore the usual struggles of life magnified by the words memorable words of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), “With great power comes great responsibility."

In “Spider-Man 3” the way those issues and themes are depicted makes the movie more like a daytime soap opera. The previous movies featured only one villain, to make sure due attention was given and the movies wouldn't be cluttered. Deviating from that course turned out to be a huge mistake, and on many levels ruined the experience. Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace), Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and a vengeful Harry Osborn (James Franco) are all fighting for screentime and completely underdeveloped characters. It doesn't help that these are three of the most interesting and popular characters in the Spider-Man universe, with the most complex stories to be told. The material in this film should not have been compressed into a single movie, but rather told properly over a few films or not told at all.

Fans have been begging director Sam Raimi to include Venom in the series since production of the first film began. The character finally gets his literal fifteen minutes of tacked on fame, but we never actually hear the name “Venom” spoken. The only story to the character we receive is a meteor crashing on earth in the beginning of the film with an extra terrestrial goop making its way onto Peter Parker, and later Eddie Brock. It is said that the substance amplifies aggression and brings out the darker qualities of the object it is attached to. This leads to dark scenes of Peter doing things we would have never imagined him doing, and some fun, campy scenes of him indulging in his fame and popularity.

As a whole, the movie feels unfinished and does not fulfill even moderate expectations. For the most part the acting feels more tongue-in-cheek than in the previous films, at times clashing with the dramatic tones of the movie. The best performance is given after the final action scene by Academy Award-nominee Thomas Haden Church, which is truly a shame because there were plenty of great opportunities for the recurring characters to really make something great out of their legacy. The special effects are acceptable, but they definitely could have used some more work. Given how fast everything happens viewers are never really given the opportunity to enjoy the great characters. Often finding yourself bored of what's on screen, you'll probably be wondering what's happening with one of the other storylines.

“Spider-Man 3” is enjoyable if you're a huge fan of the series, but there is little compelling or innovative material to urge you to watch a second time. Riddled with too many plots and villains, it's hard to imagine how a group of people who have worked together on two solid previous films could let the series come to this. Sony Pictures is currently planning three more sequels according to director Sam Raimi, and all of the cast and crew have expressed mixed feelings on returning. Hopefully the next films will take a step back and tell the stories at a proper pace, but at this point it's hard to say if the audience is sick of “Spider-Man.”

There is plenty of fun to be had with this movie, but it's far from the best in the series as the amazing cast is underutilized.

The Apple Mighty Mouse: The Epitome of Love/Hate Relationships

Might Mouse USD $49.00 (Wired), USD $69.00 (Wireless)

Website: apple.com


From the first day I switched, I started looking for the perfect mouse to match the cosmetic look of my Mac. I knew after my first experience with the Mighty Mouse that I would have a difficult time using it. The issues with the Mighty Mouse however, proved not to be enough to hold me back from purchasing. But for some people it may be nearly impossible to use.

The root of the problem is simply that it is not a true "two-button mouse." For some people this will mean nothing more than changes in their computing habits. Most noticeably, in order to right click with the mouse your left finger must be lifted completely up off of it. It could be that this issue is fixable with a simple software update from Apple or a hack, or it may be unchangeable do to the hardware. This annoyed me greatly, but after a few hours of regular use I found myself adjusting.

If you are a gamer this will probably stop you from purchasing it altogether. Why? As an example, imagine yourself playing a First Person Shooter. As in most games you are holding down the right button to zoom in on your target, you finally have it in perfect view and you left click to fire. What happens? Nothing. You have to exit the zoom by lifting your finger off the right button before you can make use of the left one. Personally that isn't an issue for me, but I'm sure many Mac gamers that would never be able to switch for that reason alone.

Before using the Mighty Mouse I was using a standard Logitech Optical USB Mouse. Using the Mighty Mouse makes everyday computing feel much more eloquent than using a third party device. The scroll ball undeniably has a much smoother feel than your average scroll wheel, thus adding to your browsing experience. The four customizable buttons are fantastic, but it would have been nice to be able to set the middle button and side buttons too handle primary and secondary clicks.

Whether or not the Mighty Mouse is a good mouse for you, depends on what you do on a daily basis and if you are willing to make those habitual changes to your clicking. I would however not base my experience with the Mighty Mouse only by using it in the store, as after I brought it home I found myself enjoying it a lot more. But the truth is that at USD $49.00 for the wired version and $69.00 for the wireless, you may feel completely unfulfilled as the mouse does not make its own gravy. I can't give it anymore than three stars whole-heartedly.

Software Review: NewsFire

Newsfire USD $18.99

Website: newsfirerss.com

I never really saw the value of using an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader or aggregator, but with the strong recommendation from a friend and the desire to spend less time browsing digg I decided to give NewsFire a chance. At the time I started using NewsFire my default BitTorrent client was Xtorrent, another Mac application by David Watanabe. My previous experience with Xtorrent gave me high expectations for the design and simplicity of the application, and in those terms I was definitely not let down.

NewsFire appropriately touts itself as "The 'Anjelina Jolie of applications'" on its home page. Using the slick brushed look of applications Apple's Safari, NewsFire looks like it belongs on your Mac. When a RSS feed is updated the feed entry swoops to the top of the list, grabbing your attention with a simple animation. While it doesn't offer many unique visual features, fitting into the operating system so well goes a long way for any application.

Also helping it blend into OS X, NewsFire allows you to set groups and labels to manage your content and even includes Spotlight integration. NewsFire can organize your content so you only read the things you care about. With the "Smart Feeds" feature, anyone familiar with iTunes will know what they are doing immediately. You can quickly make a "Smart Feed" based on combination of attributes like date, author, description, or type of file attachment. "Search Feeds" allow you to make a custom feed to pull from specific search terms on certain websites, which can be very useful if you find yourself repeating the same searches often.

The only problem I have so far, is that I wish there were more features. If NewsFire integrated tabs for the sake of having multiple feeds open and visiting links within the same application, the experience would feel much more streamlined. However, David Watanabe has developed an application so beautiful, simple, and stable that it feels like a feature Apple just forgot to include with OS X. Considering the current USD $18.99 price tag and the fact that it just feels to be missing a little something extra, it might not be the perfect application for a casual user.

NewsFire, being one of the few applications I always leave running, gets four stars and a whole-hearted recommendation to anyone who is looking for a simple RSS reader.

Originally Published on The MacCast

Disco: Up In Flames

Disco USD $29.95

Website: discoapp.com

When only in it's beta stages, I proudly gave Disco a five star rating this past December. It's an affordable, simple to use alternative to Roxio's Toast, boasting nearly all the disc burning features a casual user would never need. In addition to it's remarkable amount of features and level of simplicity, Disco has one of the most eloquent user interfaces available on any operating platform. If you know of the application, chances are it caught your eye with the smoke that emits from the application while you're burning. Unfortunately, at the time of the review that feature was not available to anyone with the Intel GMA950 Graphics Processor, leaving Mac mini and MacBook users in the dark.

With the 1.0 milestone, Disco has made a less capable version of Smoke available to the majority of modern Macs. It currently lacks full interaction on some of the less powerful Macs, but we are happy to see less people being left out. Despite this major feature now being common to the majority of users, Disco still retains some of its previous flaws. Its imaging and burning system is currently limited to IMG, ISO, DMG, BIN/CUE files, which can greatly hinder those migrating from other platforms. Support for other formats like Padus DiscJuggler's CDI/CDJ or MDF/MDS images is sorely lacking. For some, this will make the extra money for a different application worth spending.

Other lacking features are only noticeable if you are making your comparison to applications like Roxio's Toast and Popcorn. You will not find Disco to be the DVD authoring application you may have been hoping for, however it will properly burn VIDEO_TS folders already authored. Regardless of its not being an entire media burning suite, Disco makes itself worth every penny. Discography is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to keep their burning track record organized. Spanning, the ability to spread large files and folders across multiple DVDs and CDs, is also an ability so useful you'll find yourself missing when using other burning applications.

As of March 5th, 2007 the introductory price of USD $14.95 has ceased, and the full price of USD $29.95 is in effect. A 3 user family pack is available for USD $59.90, and is worth every penny. A free trial of seven burns is provided at the official Disco website, and a fantastic article on the history of the application was recently published on their blog. Disco being without a doubt one of the top applications to keep your eye on in 2007, it's safe to say we can expect nothing but the best from the team behind it in the future.

Originally Published on The MacCast

iTunes 101: Using iTunes 7+iPod to Transfer All of Your Media

With iTunes 7, Apple has given users the ability to sync the songs in their “Purchased” category between multiple machines. The biggest complaint about this feature is that it only lets you transfer songs that are from the iTunes Store, however much like the “Analog Hole” Apple has also given us a work around.

If you're the kind of person that likes having a playlist of all your purchased music, the default purchases playlist will no longer fit your needs. So before we get going, you may want to make a smart playlist with “Kind Contains Protected” as the rule. This playlist is handy to have even if you don't use it on a daily basis, so I highly suggest you make one eventually. Now that you've done that, just follow these instructions:

Step 1: Select all files in the category you choose (Music, TV Shows, Movies, Podcasts, or Audiobooks are compatible with this method).

Step 2: Drag and drop those files onto the “Purchased” category.

Step 3: To keep it up to date just periodically drag your “Recently Added” playlist to “Purchased” or do so manually. Keeping up with your music is the most tedious part of this method.

Once you do this you will be able to transfer your media to multiple machines. This will work with Automatic or Manual Syncing. If you would like your iPod to transfer files between PC and MAC iTunes, you are going to have to format your iPod with Windows, and then do this method. A Windows formated iPod will sync with a Mac for it's main machine. The only drawback with this is that Windows formatted iPod are in FAT32, meaning the name of the iPod will show up as all capital letters in OS X even after renaming it.

At The Movies: Rocky Balboa

Thirty years ago Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in “Rocky” which became one of the best sports films of all time. Unfortunately the four sequels lacked consistency in quality and heart, ironically mirroring not only the character “Rocky” but arguably Stallone's career as well. Even Stallone himself has publicly expressed his disappointment in “Rocky V” as a finished product, as it did not end the series on the high note he was hoping for. So it's no surprise that over a decade later he has resurrected the franchise with what is meant to be the last movie in the “Rocky” series.

The majority of the movie as the title “Rocky Balboa” suggests is about “Rocky” as a person. We get to see what has become of his life since losing all of his money in “Rocky V” and how he is dealing with the loss of his wife. A surprising amount of characters return to the sequel, giving us a sense of closure on all the stories the franchise has to tell. This movie is about “Rocky” and does not offer the in depth focus on the opponent that was usually offered in the other films. In that sense “Rocky Balboa” showcases Stallone's ability to make an excellent film driven by characters as opposed to action.

Pacing is all the more vital in a movie that picks up many years after it's predecessor. This is the only area I felt this movie fell short to the point of it being annoying. Great epic dialogues between close characters are fine, but hearing so many crafted lines in a short period of time pulls the human element out of the story despite the excellent acting from main characters. It does not ruin the experience, but it does start to feel awkward about twenty minutes into the movie. As usual the dialogue between subsequent characters is less than stellar and often annoying. That said, “Rocky Balboa” is able to portray variety in the humorous and dramatic tones as well as the original film did.

All of the music is enjoyable and succeeds in bringing you into the moment as all the other “Rocky” films. The parts involving the simulated computer fight and the real fight thereafter feel like mere compliments to the story as opposed to something we are supposed to care about. The movie could have used an extra twenty minutes to flesh out the main story a bit more and fix the aforementioned pacing issues. But it is safe to say that at this point most fans are satisfied with 102 good minutes of film to honor the series.

“Rocky Balboa” calls heavily on brief flashback sequences and references to the previous films, however if you only saw the original there is still much to enjoy about this movie. Fans who were disappointed in the last film will be happy that Stallone learned from the mistakes made the last time around. The concept may be sound ridiculous, but if you can overlook the unrealistic ideas presented you will more than likely have a great time.

“Rocky Balboa” serves as a great mirror to the original and excellent conclusion to the franchise.

“Rocky Balboa” being possibly the best sequel in the franchise gets a 9 out of 10.

Now on DVD: “Invincible” stars Mark Wahlberg as Eagle's legend Vince Papale. M Night Shyamalan turns the bedtime story he invented for his kids into a riveting mystery movie. Sean Penn stars in another film adaptation of the novel “All The King's Men” alongside Jude Law and Anthony Hopkins.

Originally published in The Hammonton News