I recently watched the latest John Mayer DVD, on Blu-Ray.

What’s the deal with that anyway? What if you watch a Blu-Ray? I’ve really only heard people say “xxx DVD on Blu-Ray” which makes no sense. The term “DVD” has become synonymous with “Movie” which is completely false, in a lot of respects. Firstly (which some people might not realize) is that the V in DVD does not stand for “Video”. It is “versatile”. What everyone knows and loves as “DVD” is actually more specifically “DVD-Video”. There is a whole other realm of “DVD-Audio” discs out there.

Anyway, that’s not my point right now. My point is, I returned said John Mayer movie to Netflix. As usual, I was prompted to “Rate My Recent Return” to “Reveal 2 Movies I’ll Love”. Anyway, here’s what I got:

Six Feet Under and the Godfather? Really? That’s totally random and not remotely relevant to a music-type-movie. Granted I do “love” both. Oh well, kudos Netflix.

(1) I’ve watched 5 movies since Tuesday: The Shining, Batman Begins, Get Smart, The Dark Knight, and Full Metal Jacket. I think my sixth tonight will be Back to the Future Part 1, or Children of Men. (2) I finally bought a cookbook. The one I had in New York, I left in New York. I’ve gone far too long just throwing random things together and calling it a meal. “Hmm, here’s some canned tuna.. and.. oh, teriyaki sauce, that could work.. annnd, hmm.. I’ve got some peas.. something else, something else.. rice! Maybe I’ll crush up some Cheese-its in there for some extra texture. Great, its a meal!” (3) I need to buy a plane ticket, and that’s all I can say about that for now. (4) This morning I made a latte.

Also, I’d like to say that The Dark Knight is probably the best movie of 2008. Though I want to let it sit with me a little longer since it’s still “fresh”. I would hate to jump to such a bold conclusion. Really though, I rarely see a movie twice in the theater. Let alone twice in about a week! The second viewing was at the IMAX, which I would highly recommend (Some scenes in the film were shot with the special IMAX camera to get the highest resolution possible. The sound’s not too bad either).

I think I’m going to make chicken marsala for dinner.

Color, Interactive Menus, and Scene Access should not be considered “special features” of a DVD or Blu-Ray.

I don’t think people read the back of a DVD in much detail anyway. But if they did, I doubt these “features” would be all that impressive. “Sweet! I can skip to any scene I want!? And there’s an interactive menu for me to interact with before I start my movie!? And my movie will be in color!? Ah, technology…”

I finally got around to watching the movie Once in its entirety. Since Netflix doesn’t allow users to give fractions of stars, I’m going to give it 2 stars (instead of 2.5), which means “I Didn’t Like It”. The “Girl”, played by Markéta Irglová, really annoyed me. Specifically during the beginning of the film. I’ll explain.

The movie opens with the “Guy” (why don’t they have names?) performing one of his original songs late at night. Then, the “girl” appears and tips him (poorly). The guy is basically blowing her off, but she is persistent, and flirty (in my opinion). They meet again the next day and hang out a bit. And again on the following day. Mind you, both of them are flirting like crazy. Later at night, they’re at the guy’s place on his bed listening to his music. As the girl is about to leave, the guy asks “do you want to stay over?”. The girl is taken aback, and her response is brief silence followed by “well.. fuck this”. She leaves and the next day, the guy is apologizing for ‘how he acted’!

First: The fact that the girl has a husband would justify her reaction if the guy knew about it! He didn’t find out until way later. Second: If you have a husband, girl, why are you totally into this guy? Third: Your husband left you, you’re acting like you’ve moved on. What’s the problem with someone you’re clearly into asking if you’d like to spend the night? Fourth: React nicer! How about something like “Aw, I’m sorry you thought that’s what was going on here. I have a husband, you see, and do not want to sleep with you”. Not “well fuck this”!

I feel that this was a legitimate question given the circumstances leading to it. It was a yes or no question without any sort of pressure at all. I’m not saying that she was wrong to turn him down, just her reaction was out of line. A simple, kind “no” would have been appropriate.

Thoughts? Comments?

As an aside, why can’t Netflix users give star fractions? The recommendation engine displays them! No fair.

Things:
My turntable came yesterday. I still have to set it up.
Dream Theater, Gnarls Barkley, and Muse have new CDs out.
Pete wrote a great review of the Matthew Good show in New York City.
Jim is visiting this weekend.
The movie 21 was “ehh”.
I really liked Fargo and Citizen Kane (that’s an old thought.. I wanted to add another point).
Happy April… and…
I also want to know if anyone actually went to my site on April 1st, please leave a comment.

Since nobody reads Pete’s Blog, I’ve transcribed his latest post. I placed a CD/DVD order this past month. Here’s what happened once the batch of things arrived:

Pete: I hate you.
Pete: Oh god, I hate you.
Adam: Why? Why?
Adam: What happened?
Pete: Did you order “A Perfect Fake”?
Adam: Haha… Why?
Adam: It’s a documentary. Looked interesting.
Pete: I hate you.
Adam: What happened?
Adam: HAHAHA! the COVER!
Pete: Nothing happened. It’s just that I’m now on company record as ordering a documentary about sex dolls
Adam: Haha!
Adam: Hahahaha!
Adam: It’s about digital artistry. And THEN into sex dolls.
Pete: So… Did you really want this? Or were you just trying to be funny?
Adam: I looked online.
Pete: Be honest. I’m trying to calculate the appropriate level of wrath with which to descend upon you.
Adam: No seriously. I went looking through the DVDs, under Documentary.
Pete: And when you did this “research” it didn’t occur to you what it was about?
Adam: Yes. I only read things stating it was about CGI and stuff.
Adam: Like that Final Fantasy film, where everyone was CGI.
Pete: Well, i read a little bit about it too, and one of the first things I gathered about it was the fact that it was about lonely Japanese men building detachable plastic vagina’s into latex anime girls.
Adam: Wow… Yea.
Adam: I missed that stuff. That’s funny though.

I’ll be sure to write a review at some point.

I’ll keep this rant as short and sweet as possible, its not worth going into to much detail.

Back in August of 2007 I stumbled upon the teaser trailer for a movie, then called nothing more than 1-18-08 which was the release date shown at the very end of the trailer. Over time, numerous viral marketing websites, and abstract working titles, the movie became known by its official name “Cloverfield”. I have been excited for this release date since that first viewing in August. The teaser trailer (and later official trailer) are downloaded to my desktop in the highest HD resolution available for those random “you gotta see this” moments. The movie poster was the background on my iPhone.

I was prepared in case the movie was to be a letdown. Which it was, but allow me to explain. It was a great movie. I was on the edge of my seat, so to speak, for the entire duration. But of course leave it to J.J. Abrams to not give away any answers at all when the movie is all over. I stayed through the credits hoping for something tagged onto the very very end with something, anything at all that would redeem this film and make it live up to all the hype. It failed.

I must repeat though, it was a great movie. My problem with it is that the hype, the marketing, the secrecy for that matter were totally unnecessary. It was just a movie. Nothing special happened whatsoever. And that’s why I’m mad.

The funniest ending possible would be, after an hour and a half of the monster destroying the city, the scene cuts. We see Hurley (from Lost) waking up quickly in a sweat. He says “Dude, what a weird dream”. Cuts to black. *Boom* sound effect and the LOST logo appears on the screen. Below that reads “Watch the 2-Hour Premiere Event Thursday Jan 31st at 8/7c on ABC”. And there you have it. Cloverfield can be a full length feature film plug for the new season of Lost.

I missed a day. And I had such a good streak going on there. Dag nabbit!

The answer to this post’s question/title is at the moment, I still don’t know. I opted against the various 12:01 am showings for a more reasonable time this evening. At a digital cinema no less. Which is an issue I would like to address.

I found it difficult to find a webpage specifically detailing the specifications of movie theaters in my area. With the whole “digital cinema” thing going on, DLP.com gives a list of theaters that support their digital cinema technology. However, you then have to go to something like MovieTickets.com to actually see a schedule. What I want is a thorough breakdown of the numerous theaters in my area. Actually a thoroughly technical breakdown. I’m talking
- Total number (and brand) of speakers.
- Possibly even a blueprint of the speaker layout.
- Number of seats, with a description of their cushioning/leg room/reclining/arm rest/etc.
- Projection systems available (not like any of that would make sense to me).
- Screen size. Length x Height style. None of this diagonal crap. And type of screen, I’m sure there are multiple types.
Mind you, this would need to be for each theater in the theater which should obviously be searchable by movie by movie time. So you should be able to look up your movie and time and see exactly what you’ll be getting yourself into (with even maybe some customer feedback comments). Had this website existed, I would have used it to find an awesome theater showing Cloverfield for tonight. I’ll jot something down after I see it. Maybe.

I’m finally making an attempt at writing something here and to keep with the trend of things it will be about nothing. My, it has been a while.

We’ll start with a rousing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I’m watching 28 Weeks Later while I write this. I’ve been doing that rather frequently, half watching a movie while I do something else. Though, its been for ones I knew up front wouldn’t be all that great. Such as The Darwin Awards. Last week was Deliver Us From Evil which turned out to be more interesting than I thought and I would recommend.

So, I have been busy. Which would be my excuse for not posing a thing since last year. I have signed a lease for an apartment here in San Francisco. A very cosey 1 bedroom in Inner Richmond, less than 2 blocks from Golden Gate Park. The unit not only has a fireplace inside, but there is also private parking, an elevator, and laundry facilities in the building. Basically everything you can’t find in a New York City apartment, ha!

The long awaited (for me at least) Cloverfield (aka 1.18.08) comes out soon! I’ve entered into two separate contests for an early screening of the film here in SF, all of 2 days in advance. Coincidentally, my lease starts on the 18th. Crazy!

I’ve decided that I want to watch this movie. It seems interesting. Though, I can’t remember the first one all that well. Did they ever describe how the virus started in the first place? Anyway. I’m out.