Aardvark'd Review

I got my copy of Aardvark'd: 12 Weeks with Geeks this week. This is the documentary that was filmed over the summer at Fog Creek Software , home of Joel Spolsky . Fog Creek hired a team of 4 interns to build Copilot (codenamed Project Aardvark ), a software package that allows for remote computer assistance.

I really liked Aardvark'd. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but the subject matter is esoteric enough that I can't complain too much. It did a good job of giving a flavor of daily life at Fog Creek. It also did a reasonable job of documenting the development process behind Copilot. It was interesting to see the negotiations behind the purchase of copilot.com, the user testing performed on Copilot, and the kinds of issues that the team encountered while demoing Copilot at a trade show. I also enjoyed the segments where the interns were interviewed about where software bugs come from, how programmers react to them, and how they eliminate them. Those scenes rang true to this professional developer, without being beyond the grasp of a layman. Finally, I liked seeing the excitement around the first sale of Copilot and the reactions of the interns as the left for the summer, knowing that their "baby" would continue to grow and develop without them.

In addition to covering Copilot, Aardvark'd also had some coverage of the Y Combinator Summer Founders Program in Boston. These segments were particularly excellent, especially the interviews with Paul Graham . In fact, I thought the segments were so good that Y Combinator should consider funding a documentary completely about the Summer Founders Program for 2006.

Aardvark'd did have some weak points. The main problem was the use of too much irrelevant filler material. The film was 80 minutes long, but I felt that there was only about 60 minutes of real content. Sure, it's nice to include a few clips not directly related to the subject matter, just to give the viewer a slice of life at Fog Creek. But Aardvark'd went overboard. It got tedious hearing about the cockroaches the interns found in the bathroom, the party that got shut down by the landlord, the debate over whether it was possible to jump out of the window to the next building, and (especially) the tomatoes growing on the balcony. One or two of these scenes might have been acceptable, but combined, it made it feel like the director was really stretching to reach the 80 minute mark.

Still, if you are the kind of person that would be interested in a documentary about 4 geeks building a commercial software product over one summer, then these weaknesses are easily overlooked, and I strongly recommend purchasing a copy of the DVD. Nice job Fog Creek and Boondoggle Films !

Batman Begins

The office went to see Batman Begins today. I had been looking forward to it, since it looked like a return to the darker, brooding Batman typified by Tim Burton 's Batman movies. Aside from a few stupid plot elements (a microwave emitter?! c'mon…), I really enjoyed it. The 141 minute runtime breezed by.

The movie did a nice job of explaining Batman's true origins and motivations, giving him depth and humanity. There were also some well placed comedic moments that worked without being cheesy. I hope they make a sequel to this film. (My friend David says that the studio has a trilogy option on the director and some key actors, so that bodes well.)

The Animation Show

I went to see The Animation Show at The Oaks Theater tonight. My review: meh. There were only one or two shorts that I really liked. The rest were mediocre and boring. Don Hertzfeld can usually be counted on to produce a great short, but his submission this year ( The Meaning of Life ) was art-house crap. The best short of the bunch was Ward 13 , a claymation comedy. It was genuinely funny, as claymation violence is wont to be. It also heightened my anticipation of the forthcoming release of Wallace and Gromit - The Curse of The Were Rabbit .

Don't waste your money on The Animation Show, but do watch Ward 13 if you get a chance.

Mark Cuban on Fixing Movie Distribution

Mark Cuban has published a spot on blog entry about why theater admissions are down year-over-year and what to do about it. His suggestions, while radical, make a ton of sense. Specifically, his thoughts on "defining the value of the theatrical experience" seem incredibly rational and, at the same time, revolutionary. I went to see Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room last weekend. Why wasn't anyone trying to sell me a DVD of the film on the way out of the theater?

Revenge of the Sith

Warning: Minor spoliers.

The office went to see Revenge of the Sith today. I went into the theater not expecting much, after being very disappointed in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Happily, Revenge of the Sith is a better movie than other other prequels, but it's not great. The special effects are awesome and the action is fast-paced, but when you don't really care about the characters, none of this matters.

I found it almost impossible to form any kind of emotional connection with any of the characters. Anakin would be the most likely character to care about, but it's pretty hard to do so when his attitudes bounce back and forth between good and evil like a ping-pong ball. One moment he's threatening to arrest or kill Palpatine, and then, 30 seconds later, he's calling Palpatine his master. This kind of inexplicable shift in attitudes happens 2-3 times, which really kills any kind of bond you might have with his character. The painful love scenes and occasionally terrible dialog don't help either.

The key to enjoying this film is to have suitably low expectations. If you've seen the first two prequels, then you should be set.

(Note: I am a huge fan of the original Star Wars trilogy. When I was in middle school I wore Star Wars t-shirts to school. If you think Revenge of the Sith is great, then I'm happy for you. But please don't try to insinuate that this prequel can touch any of the films from the original trilogy. The original trilogy is the one true Star Wars. Have a nice day.)

The Smartest Guys in the Room

I went to see Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room last night. I'm a fan of business documentaries, so I expected to enjoy it, and I wasn't disappointed. The film does an excellent job of telling the story of Enron and helping to understand who the players were, and what they did. While I had certainly heard of Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andrew Fastow before, I now have a much clearer conception of their motivations and roles.

One of the best aspects of the film was its refusal to take the easy way out by just portraying Enron as a case of a few bad people ripping off the virtuous masses. Instead, the filmmakers pointed out the amazing level of complicity (or at least, willful ignorance) necessary to commit the fraud. They even invoked Stanley Milgram's famous experiments to show that ordinary people can become monsters under the right circumstances, which really made you think about how you would act in an Enron-esque scenario.

Speaking of complicity, especially damning was the evidence of wrongdoing by the investment banking industry. I've never placed much credence in stock analysts, and this film has reinforced that attitude. There are just too many conflicts of interest when analysts make recommendations.

I was a little disappointed that more specifics weren't given about Enron's various accounting and trading schemes. For example, the simple descriptions given of Fastow's LJM partnerships sounded so blatantly illegal that I don't understand how the auditors could have even considered allowing it. I guess that was partly the point, but I still feel like I'm missing something. At least concepts like mark-to-market accounting and incidents like the Nigerian barge deal were introduced and explained.

Go see this film. It's really well done, and it'll make you think.

Anime Double Feature

Mark and I went to The Oaks Theater on Saturday night to see an anime double feature of Sky Blue and Appleseed . I really liked Sky Blue. The animation was gorgeous, with good integration of CG and traditional animation. The setting was imaginative, the characters were fairly well developed, and the plot was compelling.

Appleseed was more of a mixed bag. The animation was mostly beautiful, although the integration of CG could have been better. The characters sometimes looked incorrectly lighted and plastic-y due to the use of 3D effects. The character development and plot also left something to be desired. I didn't care what happened to the characters in Appleseed nearly as much as those in Sky Blue. If you are a fan of animation, then I recommend both films, but see Sky Blue first.

After the films we ate at Eat'n Park . This was my first time at Eat'n Park, which is something of a cultural milestone. It's not that the food is that great (it's like Denny's), but if you live in Pittsburgh you have to eat at Eat'n Park, just like you have to eat at Waffle House if you live in the South. I did find out that Eat'n Park has a midnight breakfast buffet from 12am-3am on Friday and Saturday, which is good to know.

Netflix

I reactivated my Netflix account last night. You can see the movies I'm currently watching in the sidebar. If you have a Netflix account and want to be my Netflix Friend (so we can see each other's ratings), let me know.

Sideways

I saw Sideways this evening at the Cedar Lee Theatre . It's the best movie I've seen in quite awhile. Paul Giamatti does an amazing job, just as he did in American Splendor. It's one of those very subtle movies that builds on you over time, and ventures between comedy and contemplation and bravado and despair, without overdoing any of them. Highly recommended.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Review

Phil and I saw Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence this afternoon. While it's definitely not as good as the genre-defining original, it is still a very solid and enjoyable film. The animation quality was excellent, the only problem being a few 3D shots that seemed stylistically out of place. The story was also interesting, if overly philosophical on occasion.

If you're an anime fan, go see it.

Ghost in the Shell 2

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence opens at Shaker Square Cinemas in Cleveland on Friday. Phil and I are planning to go to either the 7:10p or 9:30p showing on Friday. Anyone else interested in going? We could grab dinner at one of the restaurants at Shaker Square (Luchita's comes to mind).

Hero

Phil and I went to see Hero , starring Jet Li, tonight. It was excellent. The plot was much more nuanced and satisfying than the trailers would have you believe.

I'm holding out for a hero.

Super Size Me

I went with Josh to the Carolina Theatre in downtown Durham for a showing of Super Size Me this weekend. If you haven't heard, it's a documentary about a guy who eats nothing but McDonald's for 30 straight days. I found it very funny. If you are thinking, "I don't need to watch a film to know that eating at McDonald's every day isn't healthy," you should realize that the film also covers the broader topic of obesity in America. And even when it's telling you something you already know, it's does it in an entertaining way.

I was interested to learn that 78% of McDonald's customers eat there at least once a week. McDonald's obviously has a core customer base that they rely on for steady business. I personally haven't been to McDonald's in over a year, and I've talked to many other people who've said the same, so apparently you either visit McDonald's frequently or you never go.

This was the first time I'd been to Carolina Theatre, and I was quite impressed. It's in a nice building that is also used for staging plays and other events. It's also not too far from the Cosmic Cantina . :-)

House of Sand and Fog

I rented House of Sand and Fog a few days ago. It had been on my list of movies to see because the trailer looked interesting and because I'm a fan of Jennifer Connelly. The film is a real Shakespearean-style tragedy, which you don't see much of these days. Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley both gave excellent performances. I really liked it, but it's not a movie to watch if you want to be put into a good mood.

Shrek 2

I went to see Shrek 2 this evening. It's opening day, but I (correctly) figured that a 10:00pm showing wouldn't be too crowded. It's on par with the original, but it took awhile to get going. My favorite segment was KNIGHTS (a parody of COPS ).

iTunes Movie Trailers

Why would I want to watch movie trailers in iTunes ? When I heard that movie trailers had been added to ITMS, I thought it was a pretty useless thing to do, but harmless. Now, in order to watch the fullscreen version of the trailer for The Incredibles, you have to go to ITMS. My main objection to movie trailers in ITMS is that they aren't listed in any meaningful manner. The trailer organization on the Apple movie trailers website is much more coherent.

The Last Samurai

David and I rented The Last Samurai last night. I'm a big fan of historical dramas, so I liked it. Costuming, staging, and the general historical arc of the plot seemed accurate. The film did go overboard in glorifying the samurai, though. Meiji-era samurai were essentially reactionaries that resisted anything foreign or new. The movie didn't really portray that, which made the conflict more one-sided than it really was. Still, there was some subtlety to it, and as long as you maintain an appropriate amount of skepticism while viewing it, it's an enjoyable film.

Kill Bill Volume 2

David and I went to see Kill Bill Vol. 2 last night. I liked it, but it had a totally different mood than Vol. 1. I don't know if it's really fair to compare Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, since they were originally supposed to be all the same film. Sometime I'd like to watch Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 back to back, as I think the whole thing will go together very well, considering the contrasting styles in Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Before the film, I stopped off at Borders and picked up the American Splendor anthology that was published in conjunction with the movie's release.

The Future of Movies

The future is here: ASCII films streamed over Telnet. Try telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl for Star Wars: A New Hope.

Battlestar Galactica

I finally got around to watching the new Battlestar Galactica mini-series. Overall, I thought it was engaging. The special effects were excellent for a TV show, and the writing and acting was mostly well done. Occasionally the dialogue was overly-dramatic and corny, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. Judging from the ending, they are planning on continuing the show if it performs well enough, and I hope it does.

I haven't seen the original Battlestar Galactica, but it's now available on DVD, so I'll have to add it to my Netflix queue when I restart my Netflix membership.

Also, Tricia Helfer is hot.

Japander

Japander is a huge archive of commercials that Western celebrities have done in Japan. I found the Eddie Murphy and Arnold Schwarzenegger commercials particularly amusing. If you saw Lost in Translation , then you should check this out.

Master and Commander Review

Jason and I went to see Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World last night. I really enjoyed it. It was a thinking man's action movie. The film paid close attention to historical detail, and you can see the effort required to attain that level of detail by watching the featurettes posted on the film's website. I liked the messiness of the plot. It wasn't simply "good guys vs. bad guys". It was more about the experience of living on a sailing ship in the early 19th century. If you're a fan of intelligent action movies, or at all interested in history, then I highly recommend Master and Commander.

Master and Commander

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is getting very good reviews . I immediately had high hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer. I mean, last time we saw Russell Crowe in a historical epic, we got Gladiator. It looks like Master and Commander is living up to its promise, so I'm going to try to see it this weekend.

Kill Bill Thoughts

Ever since I saw the Kill Bill teaser trailer , I predicted that Kill Bill would take stylized violence to new heights. Quentin Tarantino didn't let me down. I really liked the film; it was oozing with style and the execution was damned near flawless. I'm hesitant to compare Kill Bill to Tarantino's other films without having seen Volume 2, but I don't think Kill Bill was as good as Pulp Fiction. Kill Bill was great at what it wanted to be, but I don't think it aspired to the same level as Pulp Fiction.

Anyway, if you haven't seen Kill Bill, then run, don't walk, to your local theater.

Kill Bill

Two days 'till Kill Bill ! A group of us is going to see it at 9:30p Friday at the Cinemark in Valley View.

Shaolin Soccer

Shaolin Soccer comes out next Friday. It looks like it's going to be a really funny movie. It's unfortunate that it's dubbed (and possibly edited), but I'll still go see it. Watch this trailer to see what I'm talking about.

T1, T2, T3

Prior to this weekend, I had never seen any of the Terminator movies. At the end of the weekend, I will have seen all three. Joel and Bean wanted to go see T3, so we decided to prep by watching T1 and T2. Thursday night we watched T1, last night we watched T2, and today we are going to go see a matinee of T3. Even though I had never seen T2 before, the trailer must have made an impact on me, because I vividly remembered Arnold cocking that shotgun with one hand while riding a motorcycle. Now, that's badass.

After the movie, I think we're going to head over to Chapel Hill for dinner at 35 Chinese .

Weekend Movie Roundup

I saw two movies this weekend. The first was Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience . It was the first feature film I've seen in an IMAX theater, and, although ticket prices were a bit steep ($11), it was very fun. Of course the visuals were great, but what I really liked was the sound. The rumble of the Saturn V taking off was amazing, and all of the audio was crystal clear. Joel pointed out that a few minor scenes had been cut from the movie, but since the film ran for exactly 2 hours, I'm willing to chalk it up to technical limitations.

This afternoon I caught a matinee of Finding Nemo . It was a terrific film; solid Pixar . I don't think it was as good as Toy Story, but it was better than Monsters, Inc., regardless of what Michael Tsai says . The short at the front of the film was very entertaining as well (I loved the pissed off snowman face). I really should add A Bug's Life to my Netflix queue, as it's the only Pixar feature I haven't seen.

Phone Booth

I went to Southpoint ("Southpoint - Where people come to wear the clothes they bought at Southpoint") to see Phone Booth today, and I'm really glad that I did. It nearly slipped under my radar, but I felt like seeing a movie, and it was the only one at the megaplex that piqued my interest.

Many of the reviews of the movie describe it as "taut", and that's the perfect word for it. It's only 80 minutes long, but that's exactly the right length. Too many movies today take an interesting kernel of a premise and try to stretch it way too far. Phone Booth knows its plot is a one trick pony, executes well, and then ends. I highly recommend the movie, but you had better hurry: Finding Nemo, et. al. will likely push it out of theaters next week.

The Matrix Reloaded Revisited

I saw The Matrix Reloaded for the second time this evening. I enjoyed it much more than the first time I saw it. Why? Because I figured out which parts of the movie were bothering me and ignored them:

• The Dance Scene. This scene really ruins the movie. Since it occurs so early in the film, if you try to accept this scene on good faith, it will kill the rest of the movie for you.
• Neo Flying. Neo's flying ability is just too corny and stupid. Sure, I know he's The One, but just because he could theoretically fly doesn't mean he has to. I really wish the plot had been designed so that Neo could save the day without flying. Flying worked for Superman, but it doesn't work for a guy wearing a black trenchcoat and sunglasses.
• Zion Politics. Who cares. The look of the Zion counselors screams Star Wars ripoff. As my friend Bean said, they might as well put Samuel L. Jackson and Yoda on the counsel.

I think the common thread among the things I dislike is that they shatter the cyberpunk/cypherpunk feel of the movie. Ignoring these things greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the film, but Reloaded is still is a much weaker film than The Matrix.

Sidenote I noticed the following continuity quirk: when Trinity jumps out of the building, her hair is heavily greased back. However, when she is shot and when Neo catches her, her hair is no longer greased back. I supposed they needed to make her look more feminine or something.

Razzle Dazzle

I saw Chicago last night. It was really good, or, as the reviewer on IMDB put it: "So good, it practically jumps in your lap and dry humps you."

I'm normally not a fan of musicals (the South Park movie excluded). When I think of musicals, I think of '50s Technicolor and dubbed singing (e.g. crap like My Fair Lady ). But Chicago was different. It had so much energy that you couldn't help but just sit there and grin at the screen occasionally. And the director doesn't try to make the staging of the musical numbers plausible at all - so you can just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Chicago definitely gave me the old razzle dazzle.

Shackleton

Just for fun, today I decided to catch an IMAX movie at Exploris in Raleigh. I went in the evening, after the museum was closed, so there weren't too many people in the theater, which is how I like it. The film was "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure," and the tale told was quite amazing. Shakleton planned to cross the whole of Antarctica on foot (in 1914). His boat was trapped in ice and destroyed, his crew camped on an ice flow for a few months, and traveled 7 days by life boat to an uninhabited island. But that was only the beginning. Shakleton, with a few other men, then sailed 800 miles in a life boat to South Georgia island (a remote whaling station) and made the first ever crossing of the island (filled with dangerous caves and crevices). Then he traveled back to the island where most of his men were staying and rescued them. At the end of this 15 month ordeal, the number of expedition members dead was 0. Yes, zero.

A biography of Shakleton has been added to my Amazon.com wishlist.

Tarantino

After I got back from The Quiet American last night, I decided watch Jackie Brown , which I've been meaning to watch for around for a month ( Netflix allows you to keep movies for as long as you want). I've really enjoyed the other Quentin Tarantino films that I've seen (Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs), so I had had high hopes for Jackie Brown. I would rate it below Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. It was a bit too long, and some of the unusual aspects of Tarantino's style were not as novel as when I saw Pulp Fiction for the first time. Still, that's not much of a slight, as it was easily one of the best movies I have seen recently.

Tarantino's next film, Kill Bill , looks very unique in a way that I like. It appears to be stylized violence taken to the extreme. Plus, Uma Thurman is hot. :-)

The Quiet American

I went to see The Quiet American last night at the Madstone in Cary . I thought the film was pretty good, especially Michael Caine 's performance. When I got home, I started looking into the background of the movie and found that it was based on a book (of the same title) by Graham Greene . Given that one of the central characters is a CIA agent working to combat communists in Vietnam, I assumed that the book must have been written during or after the Vietnam War. But the book was published in 1956, during the earliest American involvement in Vietnam. Given that, I would agree with the Amazon.com reviewer who said Greene's work was "prophetic". For those considering seeing the movie, don't let my comments mislead you: the film is much more about interpersonal relationships than historical specifics. If you enjoy intelligent films (i.e. not crap like this ), then I highly recommend The Quiet American.