Year: 2007

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Movie Review

jun062007_ff4_two.jpgFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, is the kind of movie that reminds me why I’ve decided at some point, to establish standards in my choice of movies. Not that it’s earth – shattering mind you. Far from it. Rather, Fantastic Four II is the kind of movie that’ll make you answer, when someone asks if you like it, that ‘it’s ok..‘, or ‘it’s entertaining..‘, with your voice trailing off, or some response to that effect.

And since you can’t really pinpoint why you don’t like it, but find it a stretch to call it a bad movie either, you just smile, shake your head or shrug your shoulders, and forget about it. Proof of it? The day after you’ve forgotten you’ve watched it, and by next week any memory of it is completely erased altogether.

Which is, you see, the exact opposite of two of the best most entertaining movies I’ve ever watched, which happen to both be based on superheroes. And that is Superman, the first one with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, and Batman Returns, with Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer.

And here’s the part where you sit back for a moment, if you’ve happened to be around at the time they were released (1978 and 1992 respectively), where, you will likely nod your head in agreement, and appreciate along with me, the sheer entertainment these two provided.

And then you realize as well, how Fantastic Four II completely pales in comparison to those two. So much so, one might argue, that it shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same movie review as the other two.

And I am getting closer to the point I am trying to make.

Read the rest at Movie Exchange.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

jun062007_ff4_two.jpgFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, is the kind of movie that reminds me why I’ve decided at some point, to establish standards in my choice of movies. Not that it’s earth – shattering mind you. Far from it. Rather, Fantastic Four II is the kind of movie that’ll make you answer, when someone asks if you like it, that ‘it’s ok..‘, or ‘it’s entertaining..‘, with your voice trailing off, or some response to that effect.

And since you can’t really pinpoint why you don’t like it, but find it a stretch to call it a bad movie either, you just smile, shake your head or shrug your shoulders, and forget about it. Proof of it? The day after you’ve forgotten you’ve watched it, and by next week any memory of it is completely erased altogether.

Which is, you see, the exact opposite of two of the best most entertaining movies I’ve ever watched, which happen to both be based on superheroes. And that is Superman, the first one with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, and Batman Returns, with Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer.

And here’s the part where you sit back for a moment, if you’ve happened to be around at the time they were released (1978 and 1992 respectively), where, you will likely nod your head in agreement, and appreciate along with me, the sheer entertainment these two provided.

And then you realize as well, how Fantastic Four II completely pales in comparison to those two. So much so, one might argue, that it shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same movie review as the other two.

And I am getting closer to the point I am trying to make.

Continue reading Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Phoebe don’t like cables. Only does Wifi.

I spent waaaay too much time trying to get the Davicom USB NIC to work on Xubuntu 7.04 on Phoebe (my laptop. I name my PCs after funny sitcom characters. The others are Tobias and Kramer.), as detailed here, and finally gave up. First, it was difficult trying to get Make to run in the first place. Since I didn’t have a net connection (I’m installing a NIC remember?), I had to make do with the install CD, and work with Synaptic which I wasn’t familiar yet with. Strangely enough I had to include the CD as a source of packages even after it already mentions the CD as a source twice (looks like a bug).

I finally got Make going by following a recommendation to change the line "#include <linux /config.h>" to "#include <linux /configfs.h> in the dm9601.c file. But my issues didn’t stop there, as after I finally had a hold of the precious dm9601.ko file Make produced, and added it to my modules, it then wouldn’t recognize my USB NIC at all. I read somewhere that it worked for some other guy after a series of reboots and plugging / unplugging, but after several tries of that I got nada.

I gotta tell you after working on and off on that thing for a week, I was severely disheartened (yeah it’s that serious. Serious enough for me to call myself severely disheartened.) I was about to ditch the dang notebook in when the weirdest thing happened – the USB WIFI NIC worked instead.

Continue reading Phoebe don’t like cables. Only does Wifi.

Aspiring DIY Online Publishers: Learn Photoshop

You know I’ve been blogging for almost 8 years now, and am still constantly floored as to the fact that what I write here is actually read by real people. I know that sounds nuts, since this is, of course, a blog on the in’ernet for chrissake, but I just checked out my ‘Just a few thoughts before I hie of to ZZZ land’ post last May 21, and the counter there says its been read 2412 times.

Now I know that counter can be wrong and is nowhere near as accurate as I’d want it to be, but 2412 times?!?! Even if the right number is just half that, I’d still be floored.

The reason why these things surprise me I think, is really because I really just write for myself when I write on this thing. Now I know that sounds like a whole lotta hallelujah, but that’s the truth. Stuff happens to me, and I wanna write it here so I won’t forget. Writing it here, I get to put a date and time stamp on it, and maybe two or three folks, like, say, a batchmate or a relative, will check it out and chime in with their own thoughts. Perfectly reasonable, right?

But 2412?!? Wow, if I say so myself.

Continue reading Aspiring DIY Online Publishers: Learn Photoshop

Sometimes I wish

I could just spend my days writing movie reviews or expounding on my thoughts about Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or whomever is making the news in the NBA these days, on my laptop at some coffee shop (with free or as free as possible wifi), and just live off of that.

There was a time I thought it could be done, but the fact that almost all the blogs I sent writing applications to rejected me, I think, was a sign that was not meant to be :P . Which is good, if you think about it, because it helped me to decide to make my own movie review and basketball blogs, and heck if I’d rather enjoy the fruits (what fruits?!?) of my own writing rather than someone else.

At any rate, all is good. I still get to write in coffee shops alongside my honey, and we talk about the sites and any such thing we might find relevant at the time, and I tell you, it’s hard to find a better more complete peace in the world than at that very moment, when all you hold dear is near you, and everything you value in your life is accounted for and in good shape. People with hate in their hearts should feel how that feels, if only to know that such things are attainable.

Continue reading Sometimes I wish

Thoughts on Heroes, JLA and The Sopranos

I got a complete copy Heroes the other month, admittedly caught up in the buzz, and sadly, I’m not very impressed. It was interesting at the start, but soon that gibberish Suresh is mumbling at the start starts to grate on you, and you realize that, dang he isn’t making any sense at all. Everything else goes downhill from that.

From the predictable plot to the inconceivable ‘I’ve got super powers, woe is me!’ idea, I just watched the thing to find out what’s gonna happen at the end, and even that was stretched when in the last three or four episodes, they obviously had run out of things to say, they were stretching as hard as they could, and the thing was slowing down to a goddam crawl. Case in point, that subplot about parents getting separated and their kid insisting they get back together? The kid was being an unreasonable brat, and was hardly worth sympathy. And now he can control machines. I can understand flying, also traveling in time, but controlling an ATM to give up cash? Dude.Come.On.

Continue reading Thoughts on Heroes, JLA and The Sopranos

I haven’t been updating this much because

I’ve been worried about my host server’s RAM consumption, which at 352mb. has once again proven not enough. Last night it started to kill processes again (usually mysql), and the sites weren’t connecting. I checked Analytics and at some point around 10PM, visits spiked to almost 100 just for kikay for that one hour, and dived after that, indicating a mysql crash (since the sites weren’t loading anymore, the visitors left). At this very moment Kikay is loading like molasses and I’ve already sent an email asking what’s up.

So anytime I wanna blog here, I actually think twice because I know it’s just gonna tax the db since we’re on the same host, even if just one bit. Last night I finally got email to work and stopped short of installing Spamassassin when I realized it can be a big RAM hog as well, even though I know it’s necessary.

Continue reading I haven’t been updating this much because

French Film Festival Schedule Opens on June 8 – 17. Free Admission!

jun042007_frenchfilmfest.jpg

The French Film Festival opens on Thursday next week, June 7, 2007 at Shangri-La Plaza.

Venue: Cinema 3 Shangri La Cineplex June 8-17

LIST OF FILMS:
Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) by Luc Besson
Fair Play (2006) by Lionel Bailliu
Gamblers (2005) by Frederic Balekdjian
March of the Penguins (2005) by Luc Jacuet
Not There to be Loved (2005) by Stephane Brize
OSS 117 (2006) by Michel Hazanavicius
Sequins (2004) by Eleanore Faucher
The Ax (2005) by Costa-Gavras
The Little Lieutenant (2005) by Xavier Beauvois
Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006) by Tom Tykwer

Continue reading French Film Festival Schedule Opens on June 8 – 17. Free Admission!