Snakes on a Plane (2006)

OK so I must admit I was very skeptical about whether this would be any good at all. I even thought that there was a very good chance that it would become a victim of the 30 minute rule. But overall it was not the greatest thing that I have ever seen, but it ended up to actually be watchable despite how outrageous and unbelievable the plot line was. So if you think you might like an action movie with a twist you should at least give it a shot. 6 out of 10

Bee Movie (2007)

This movie ended up really being pretty good. Although the story line was kind of wacky it was a cartoon after all. It was quite humorous and the animation was awesome. The story follows Barry B. Benson voiced by Jerry Seinfeld and his adventure out of the hive after graduating and not quite ready to take his place in the hive's workforce just yet. Once again I find that just because it is a cartoon does not mean that it is only for children. So do not let that sway you from checking it out. 8 out of 10

A Little Sex (1982)

OK so here is another perfect example of a film custom made for the 30 minute rule. 1 out of 10

Festival Express (2003)

An interesting documentary about the 1970 Festival Express tour. While no doubt there is a bunch of good music played through out the film. My one complaint would be that there was a little too much footage of the performances and for the most part showing full songs was not entirely necessary and I feel it would have been better if the songs were partially interspersed better with the commentary about the tour of which there should have been more of. 7 out of 10

My Blue Heaven (1990)

Wow there is nothing heavenly or funny about this comedy. I recommend skipping this one if you have the choice. 1 out of 10

Smile (2005)

A very touching independent film about two girls with the same birthday who live worlds apart. One with a near perfect life in California and the other in China living with a terrible facial deformity. Although the acting is not all that amazing the story really makes up for it. With Sean Astin and Cheri Oteri playing back-up roles that do not let their star power become overwhelming. Although I still cannot help but think of some SNL skits anytime cheri talks. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for something a little different and do not worry it is not entirely subtitled. 7 out 10

Eraser (1996)

A decent action film with a good story. It follows a government agent played by the governator who's job it is to protect high profile witnesses so that they can make it to testify at different trials. With enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I definitely recommend this to any fans of Arnold or of action movies. Do not go in expecting the greatest thing ever and you might just be surprised. 7 out of 10

Necessary Roughness (1991)

I had always heard good things about this comedy. Unfortunately I did not see where all of the hype came from. It was just above average at best and altogether kind of a let down. If you are a big football fan perhaps you will enjoy it more but otherwise I recommend it only if you are bored and do not have much of anything better to watch. 6 out of 10

The Wolf Man (1941)

I am not sure if I am the only one that finds it hard to believe that back in the day people were frightened by some of the classic horror films. I often watch them mainly because they are classics and I find then kind of comedic. This one was more of the same. Tolerable but unfortunately nothing mind blowing. Perhaps it was a break through for it's time but nothing truly amazing for this day and age. But because it is a classic and any horror buff should see it I give it a 7 out of 10.

Amos & Andrew (1993)

Going into this I did not really expect much and what I got ended up being nothing fantastic but nothing wretched either. It was tolerable and kept my attention. Do not expect anything golden if you plan to see this just an OK Comedy with two stars who have some much better pictures. 6 out of 10

Square Dance (1987)

Wow what a snore fest. No more really needs to be said. Easily unanimously voted to use the 30 minute rule on this one. 1 out of 10

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

I had some high hopes for this one. The trailers for it seemed like it would be pretty funny. However it did not turn out exactly the way I hoped that it would. The animation was fantastic however the story is where it did not quite meet my expectations. The jokes were alright but the good ones were just to few and far between. Probably alright for kids but unfortunately for me it ended up being only a 5 out of 10.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

So I must say growing up the Indiana Jones movies were always some of my favorites and they still hold up today. However this movie does slip a little. Let's face it Harrison Ford is looking a little old. Which makes some of the action sequences a little less believable. Over all the story was pretty good and Shia LaBeouf was great. He has really come into his own since the Even Stevens days and I have liked the majority of his work thus far. Overall at it's core its a pretty good adventure film and any fan of Indy will probably enjoy it. But if you are new to the series do not let this film place judgment on the others. 7 out of 10

Lifelock

OK, so I hear the commercials for LifeLock probably at least once a day and I always thought that guy giving out his own SSN was an idiot. Now here is some proof.

District B13

District B13 ended up being a decent film. If you can get past the dubbed English or if you know French you may like this. It has some really good parkour foot chases. The story is just alright but the amount of action makes up for it. If you are looking for an action movie and do not mind it when the words do not match up with the lips there is a good chance that you may like this. 6 out of 10

Undead (2003)

An Australian Zombie film hmm. I did not have really too much hope for this movie. I generally like horror films and comedy. However this was just somewhere in the middle with really not enough of either to make it really all that great. The jokes were alright but nothing to spectacular. It is alright if you are bored and looking for an OK movie. But if you are looking for a better zombie comedy I suggest Shaun of the Dead (2004) and not this. 5 out of 10

Iron Man (2008)

I had pretty high hopes for this movie and did not disappoint in anyway. It was action packed and funny. The CG was fantastic and the story was never a let down at any point. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job playing Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. Although I have not yet begun reading the Iron Man comic books there is no doubt in my mind that they are just as good as the other Marvel comics that I currently read. If they even half as good as this movie was then they will not be disappointed. I am a pretty big fan of the Spider-Man movies and I enjoyed this film even more than those. There is a scene after the credits so do not forget to hang in there for it. I highly recommend this film to any fan of comic books, action movies, or just about anything. 9 out of 10

High Noon (1952)

Voted #106 in the IMDB top 250. While I do not feel it is quite that good I do feel that it was really good. It was a lot better than what I expected. I am generally not really into a lot of Westerns or a lot of older movies. I am broadening my horizons with these things all of the time and movies like this inspire me to continue to check out different genres that may not be favorites of mine. Gary Cooper plays retiring Marshall Will Kane who finds out that his arch nemesis Frank Miller is coming into town and despite being able to leave town with his new wife (played by Grace Kelly) he decides to stick around for one last show down. Played out in semi-real time, the movie follows Will as he tries to round up a Posse to go up against Frank. Definitely worth a look if you are into old classics or Westerns. 7 out of 10

The Final Cut (2004)

This movie has a really interesting plot. An organic implant has been created that records everything that a person sees and hears and then after they die the footage is edited down and played back at their "rememory". Robin Williams does a great job playing a "cutter" (a person who edits the footage and creates the rememory) haunted by a memory from his childhood. It has some good twists and turns and over all ended up being good. Check it out if you are looking for something a little different. 7 out of 10

The Contract (2006)

So Morgan Freeman and John Cusack together in a thriller that looks to have a decent plot sounds like a good film right? Unfortunately this is not completely true. It was alright but not fantastic and to be honest for a thriller it was kind of a snore. If you are into the cast or thrillers then you might be into it, but do not expect anything ground breaking. 4 out of 10.

Top 10 views of Earth From Space

Here are some fantastic pictures from the ISS of Earth. Enjoy!

One Fine Day (1996)

This film was alright. Nothing too spectacular really about it. Your typical single parent type romance film. It was not terrible but it also was not the greatest thing. If you like a decent romance movie then you will probably enjoy this. 7 out of 10.

88 Minutes (2007)

I have been looking forward to seeing this since I had seen the first trailer for it. I have liked a good portion of the Al Pacino's films despite my initial experience with a brutally awful City Hall. This was a good who-dunnit type movie that kept me guessing with every twist and turn of the story. It was very enjoyable and definitely worth checking out if you are into a good mystery type thriller. 8 out of 10

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

This film ended up being pretty good. Keke Palmer did a wonderful job playing the roll of Akeelah. She is an actress to keep your eyes on because she is definitely going places. Also I thought Laurence Fishburne did a great job playing her spelling tutor. I know that he has done more things than just The Matrix films but for some reason anytime I see him that is what I always think of. The story was very good and heart warming and progressed at a good pace without becoming unbearably slow really at any point. Definitely worth checking out. 8 out of 10

They Might Be Giants at the Egg

This past weekend Leslie and I traveled to the Egg in Albany to check out They Might Be Giants. For anyone who is unfamiliar with these guys I highly recommend checking them out. They are kind of a quirky Alternative. You may have even heard some of their songs and are not aware of it such as "The Boss of Me" (Malcolm in the Middle Theme). "Istanbul", "Particle Man", "Birdhouse in Your Soul". They put on a really good show and had a good amount of audience participation. They joked around with everyone through out their set and everyone seemed to have a really great time.

Nim's Island

Nim's Island ended up being a pretty good movie. It had a great story and a good cast. I have always liked Jodie Foster's work and this ended up being no different. She did a great job playing a best selling agoraphobic author who gets put into situations that take her out of her safe Purell sanctuary and out into the rest of the world. Abigail Breslin was very good as well. I have not seen much of her stuff but she definitely seems like a child actress who is going places. This is a great movie to take your kids to, or if you do not have any children it is also good for someone who just likes a good heart warming film. 8 out of 10

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Wow what a snore fest this turned out to be. The first one was alright and at least watchable but we had to put the 30 minute rule in to affect on this. It never really took off or went anywhere. 1 out of 10.

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

I was originally supposed to watch this film for a course that I took in college about the psychology of Death. Although at the time I knew nothing about what the film was about, I never did much research on it to find out much about it I just added to my list of movies to see. It turned out to be rather interesting but probably a film that you would have to see more than once in order to figure out a lot of the little nuances that are occurring through out the story. There was not anything really spectacular about it but it did keep my attention. It's worth checking out if you are looking for something a little different. 6 out of 10

Lost: Via Domus

So I consider myself a pretty big Lost fan. Although I do not get completely obsessive I do watch all of the episodes, participate in any ARG's, listen to a couple of podcasts, and visit the occasional fan site. So when I heard that they were coming out with a Lost video game I knew that I would have to get it. Unfortunately it was not that great. It really did not add anything to the canon and it was rather short and linear with really no action. So if you are a Lost it is interesting just to see things from another survivor's perspective. But other than that you should probably pass on it. 6 out of 10

Watch Them Die

Here is another group worth checking out. Their guitar work is actually not too bad

Burnt By The Sun

Just found these guys. If your in to Hardcore you should check them out.

The Clearing (2004)

Honestly this movie was kind of weird. The story was alright and there was an OK amount of Suspense. I felt over all it was kind of slow moving and did not really lead to all too much. Also I do not know if it just me or not but Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe kind of look very similar which made things a little confusing. But it was not an awful movie. 6 out 10

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2009)

This film was actually better than I expected it to be. Although not nearly as good as the first two movies. It had an alright story and some pretty good car crashes. For those of you who liked the first two or are in to racing movies you should give it a shot. 6 out 10

Gears of War 2 at Comic Con

Epic will be giving a sneak preview of Gears of War 2 at Comic Con later this month. More info here.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

I had heard some good things about this documentary and had been looking forward to seeing it. Unfortunately it was not laid out the way that I had hoped. Had there been more of the presentation that Al Gore did I feel it would have been better. But through out the film there were scenes of him at the farm were he grew up and of him doing research on his laptop that I feel did not mix well. Over all though the message was there though. To learn more go to www.climatecrisis.org 8 out of 10

21 (2008)

I was pretty excited when I first heard that they were making "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich into a movie. Unfortunately though I found out that the movie is not so much based on the book as it is inspired by it. So basically that means that they have made some pretty major changes to the story. I am a big fan of Ben Mezrich's and I have read the majority of his books and have loved them all. But unfortunately I got myself a little too over hyped for this film and I can not lie it did let me down a little. It still was pretty good though just not nearly as good as I hoped. If you have not read the book then perhaps you may enjoy it more than one who has. 7 out of 10

Netflix possibly coming to XBox live

Netflix might bring movie rentals to XBox live. Read more here.

Mars rovers get reprieve

Earlier this week NASA planned budget cuts would have shut down Spirit and Opportunity. But just yesterday they have announced that the rovers will not be shut down due to budget cuts. read more here.

Full South Park Episodes

South Park Studios have started showing full South Park episodes on their website. You can now watch any South Park episode at their website, which can be found here.

Man of the Year (2006)

I had heard so many good things about this film that I thought it would be great. But unfortunately what happens to be the case all to often is that when things get hyped up so much can they really ever live up to ones expectations. Although it was alright and kept my attention for the most part, it just was not as funny as I thought it was going to be. Outside of that I thought Robin Williams did an excellent job. 6 out of 10

Vantage Point (2008)

At first I was unsure about whether this would be all that good. But afterwards I am so happy that I saw it. It is a great action suspense film that kept you guessing exactly what was going to happen all of the time. It has many twists and turns and one of the best car chases I have seen in a while. The way that the story unfolds is rather unique as well showing an event from different view points letting you in on new details with each view. I highly recommend it. 9 out of 10

Court Will Examine Profanity Rules

The Supreme Court will examine there indecency rules when curses are said on a live broadcast. More here.

Highlander: The Source (2007)

So I have enjoyed pretty much every Highlander movie that I have seem thus far. Unfortunately I feel that this one did not live up to my expectations. It was alright but not great. I have seem all of the movies in the series thus far but I have not seen any of the TV shows. Perhaps there is a hidden correlation there that I missed which is why I did not enjoy this one as much. Anyways If you are a fan of the series then you should probably give this a shot. I may even give it a second chance once I see the TV series and see whether I enjoy it any more. 3 out 10

Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

I thought that this was a great interpretation of the Dr. Suess classic. It was a slightly different outing for the Seth Rogan/Jonah Hill crew. Usually you will see them dropping the F Bomb every other word that comes out of their mouths, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that I loved Superbad. So it is good to see that they can do more than just curse. These guys have a great path laid out in front of them and I look forward to seeing where they go to next. 8 out of 10.

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006)

Follows in the usual American Pie style of teen raunchiness. Though not nearly as good as the originals it still was decent and had a good amount of laughs. If you like the franchise thus far then you should probably give this a shot. 6 out of 10

Trend Micro's site hacked

Trend Micro's website was hacked the other day which led to many other sites being compromised. Here are the details. Also here is another article with a video showing what the exploit looks like from an end user's perspective.

Google Sky

Google has launched Google Sky in the browser. Some really nice stuff here.

MASH (1970)

OK, so I really liked M*A*S*H the sitcom but my god how did it develop from such an awful movie. I was really surprised at how unfunny this movie was. I also thought that more of the cast from the sitcom was also in the movie but apparently that is not the case. I gave it a chance and had to invoke the half hour rule. Therefore it gets a 1 out of 10.

Fool's Gold (2008)

I was a bit apprehensive about whether this movie would be any good. After seeing it I must say that it turned out to be really not that bad. Is the acting perfect or the story the best thing I have ever seen, no. But does that mean that it is not a good movie, absolutely not. It has the elements of a treasure hunt with the added features of a romance. While it is no Indiana Jones or National Treasure it kept my attention and entertained me for a afternoon. I give it a 6 out of 10.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

Despite only loosely following the books I feel that this film was good. Whether it be because of cost, time allocation, or some other reason there were a bunch of scenes that were significantly changed. Despite that however they told a great story that was easy to follow and entertaining even for someone who has not read the books. Also for the fans of the books that may be worried that they completely butchered the stories, fear not because all of the basic elements are there and it can be enjoyed by you as well. I give this movie a 8 out of 10.

Training Day (2001)

Denzel Washington plays a corrupt narcotics detective and Ethan Hawke plays a rookie cop riding along on his "Training Day" and learning the ins and outs of the job. Whether this movie has any sort of truth to it or whether it shows on actual scenarios that a LAPD narcotics officer would run in to I do not know, but the characters were well written and it was very interesting to watch the story unravel and see the development of Ethan's character as he realizes that things are not always as they seem. Overall I feel this was a great movie therefore I give it a 7 out of 10.

Driving Lessons (2006)

I am a pretty big Harry Potter fan and I think the Rupert Grint does a pretty good job playing Ron Weasley in the films so I thought I would give another film of his a shot. From the trailers that I have seen it looked like it would be decent and funny. But wow was I deceived. I found it very dry and boring. I will give any movie a shot and will watch the first half hour before stopping it if it has not grabbed my attention. Which was the case with this film. I give it a 1 out of 10.

Fracture

I liked this film quite a bit. It kept me guessing all the way to the end. Anthony Hopkin's and Ryan Gosling's performances were great. I also found the kinetic art devices that were featured very interesting. It turns out that they are created by Mark Bischof and a quick search on Youtube brings up an interview that he did showing a massive device that he created. Also if you search kinetic art you get a bunch of videos including this one that are pretty good. Overall I give Fracture a 9 out of 10

A Bug's Life

In an effort to create some more content I figure since I watch a decent amount of movies I would throw up some quick two cent reviews. Nothing big or fancy just a quick blurb.

So I finally saw A Bug's Life last night. I have heard many people say good things about it and I must admit I was not disappointed. It had a decent story line and the animation was top notch as all Pixar films generally are. It had many laugh out loud moments and even though it is probably considered a children's film by some it can be enjoyed by adults as well. I give it a 8 out of 10.

Microsoft lowers the price on Vista

In an unprecedented move Microsoft plans to lower the price of several versions of Windows Vista. More information can be found here.

Kevin Rose Interview with CNET

Here is an interview that Kevin did with Caroline McCarthy during FOWA.

New Five Dollar Bill

Diagrams of the new five dollar bill. Check it out here.

Firefox patch

Firefox 2.0.0.12 to be released tomorrow or Friday. This update fixes a severe vulnerability. Run your updater folks. More info here.

Sci-Fi techs we could have today

Ten techs from science fiction that we could have today if they just weren't too damn expensive.

Diebold Voting Machine Key copied

A key that will open all of the Diebold voting machines has been easily copied from a picture on the company's own website. More here.

California Election Fraud

Interesting video from a voter in California who re-registered as a Republican so that he could vote in the primary but was not listed correctly when he went to vote. Check it out.

Been a while

I know it has been a while since I last posted anything. But I have got some new ideas for this blog and I hope to have some time soon to begin implementing them. Keep checking back.

Microsoft makes a bid for Yahoo

Microsoft has made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo of $44.6 Billion. Read more here.

Rage Against The Machine to Reunite at Coachella

Rage Against The Machine is set to reunite to perform at the Coachella festival. More information here.

Mr. Lif in Bus Accident

Definitive Jux rapper Mr. Lif, rap group The Coup, Metro, DJ Big Wiz and members of their entourage escaped serious injury when the bus they were traveling in flipped and caught on fire 30 miles outside of San Diego. The rappers were on an 21-date excursion titled the "Mr. Lif Plays with The Coup Tour," which kicked off on November 21 in Calgary, Canada. "Miraculously, everyone managed to escape with his or her lives," Def Jux founder El-P said in a statement posted on the Definitive Jux website. "There were injuries suffered to different degrees ranging from minor to serious but everyone is essentially OK and getting treated in various hospitals. The bus and everything in the bus was destroyed in the fire." DJ Big Wiz, Silk-E of The Coup and a merchandising assistant sustained the most serious injuries and are currently recovering. "Everyone else is battered, but relatively unscathed," El-P said. More here

Congress Approves Net Gambling ban

Wow, you would think the government has more important things to worry about. Read about it here.

Toshiba Battery Recall

Toshiba has joined the growing list of Laptop manufacturers recalling batteries. Check your battery to see if it is being recalled. More information here.

Interesting photos

Photos on how to prepare rat. Looks kind of like chicken... Check it out.

ITV

Apple has announced their new ITV product which will allow streaming of video and music from your computer to your TV. For more information and a video demonstration go here.

103 Inch HD Plasma

Panasonic has accounced that they will be releasing a 103 inch HD Plasma TV. The price a mere $69,999.95. Read more here.

One Red Paperclip

Just over one year ago Kyle MacDonald began trading things starting with a single red paperclip and hoping to one day trade himself up to a house. After several trades he has finally met his goal. Read about it here and also check out his blog here.

Allofmp3.com lawsuit

The UK music industry is proceeding with their lawsuit against allofmp3.com. More information here.

Office 2007 delayed

Microsoft have delayed Office 2007 some more do to "Product performance" issues. Read more here.

Wii may get an early release date

Nintendo's latest console may be released a couple of months earlier than thought. Find out more here. Also here is a video showing the new system and what it can do.

Crack in Foam on Shuttle may delay lauch longer

Last night a crack in the foam on the Shuttle Discovery was discovered. More here.

Chip breaks speed record in Deep Freeze

IBM and Georgia Tech have created a chip to run at 500Ghz. Check it out here.

Skype

Skype is starting to offer free calls to land lines. More information here.

Arlo Guthrie

I went and saw Arlo Guthrie this past Friday night for the Anniversary tour of Alice's Restaurant. I must say it was probably one of the best shows I have seen. For those who may not know Arlo will do a tour once every ten years as the anniversay of the song and it is the only time that you will get to hear the song live because he does not play it any other time. I saw him for the first time a couple of years back and had a great time. After that show I knew that anytime he would come around to the area whether it is a anniversary tour or not I would do my best to check it out. If he happens to come around to your area I highly recommend going out and seeing him. Even if it is not part of the current tour and you do not get to hear the classic Alice's Restaurant I have no doubt in my mind that you will have a fantastic time. Tour Dates

Halo 3

Need I say more? Watch the video.

Has Firefox met it's match?

As a Firefox user for several years going back as far of Firebird 0.6 IE 7 will have to completly blow me away to get me to switch back to IE as my primary browser. Check out this comparison to find out some of the new features coming in IE 7.

X Prize and NASA launch a new challenge

X Prize and NASA have launched a new challenge with a 2.5 million dollar first prize. Let's see what Burt Rutan can do this time. More information here.

What we know about wii

1up has got a great article about what has been announced so far about the wii. Read the article here. What other new things may be announced in the next couple of weeks at E3?

"Wii" pronounced "We"

Nintendo's has released the actual name of it's latest console. More information here.

Charlie Sheen responds

Charlie Sheen has responded to some of the media attention that he has been receiving since he stated his views on 9/11. check out what he said here and here.

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen's interview with Alex Jones is slowly starting to find it's way to main stream media. Spread the word. NY Post article Info Wars

Liquid Metal to return

Just announced on Opie and Anthony Liquid Metal to return to the regular XM line up this spring! About damn time!

XP on a Mac

That's right, the guys over at Projectosx86.org have found the way to install XP on a mac. Watch the video of XP being installed and run on a Mac here.

Google map of Mars

Great new google map of Mars! Check it out here.

The Simpson's intro with real people

Here is an interesting representation of The Simpson's opening with real people. Check it out.

AOL E-mail tax

AOL will begin charging people to send e-mails to its users and get through there SPAM filters. Check out the rest of the story here.

Vista

Microsoft releases some more details on the different versions of Vista. Check it out here.

ITunes sales hit 1 Billion

Itunes sales have finally hit 1 Billion song downloads. Here's the story plus a short interview with the lucky guy who downloaded the 1 billionth song.

RIAA Contradicts themselves some more

Here is the latest news on the RIAA contradicting themselves. Check it out!

organ2/ASLSP

A concert lasting 639 years! John Cage's organ2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) will be performed living up to its name! More info here and here.

Half way there

Steve Fosset is halfway to breaking the aviation distance record. More Here.

1040 on Recycled Paper

Great observation on the 1040 PDF.

Winamp security flaw

Security flaw in Winamp. Latest version 5.13 fixes it. Here's the details.

Paper display's

Philips says paper-like display's in two years. Check it out.

CG

Some amazing CG work. Check it out.

10th "planet" larger then Pluto

Interesting new discovery about the 10th "planet" in the solar system.