Reports that Paramount is preparing to announce its full support for the rival Blu-ray disc, which is backed by Sony, could prove the final straw for beleaguered Toshiba in its attempt to control the lucrative high-definition film market.

A spokeswoman for Paramount said that the company's "current plan" involved HD-DVD, but the studio could be ready to jump to Sony's Blu-ray format, according to reports.

In the short term, a switch by Paramount - which is owned by media group Viacom - would allow Blu-ray to benefit from a string of blockbuster movies due for release by the studio in the coming year, including the return of Harrison Ford as archaeologist action hero Indiana Jones. In the long term it would mean just one major Hollywood studio, Universal, left supporting Toshiba's technology.

The war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray has been on the boil for several years without clear signs of a winner emerging. Both formats use new laser technology which allows far greater amounts of information to be stored on a single disc - a development which allows consumers to watch high-definition video at home.

The rival systems are incompatible, however, meaning consumers have had to choose which one they would rather use.

The confusing situation has been dubbed a rerun of the VHS v Betamax wars of the 1980s, in which millions of unfortunate buyers bought Betamax players shortly before the format became obsolete.

HD-DVD, which is mainly supported by computer companies, has been fighting the progress of the more widely supported Blu-ray consortium since the official launch of the two technologies last year.

Its hopes took a serious dent last week after a surprise announcement by the Warner Bros studio, which said that it would no longer support both formats - instead opting to sell its movies exclusively on Blu-ray discs in spring.

Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner Bros Home Entertainment in America, said the decision was driven by an analysis of the market.

"We looked at and were monitoring what consumers were buying and did a lot of research on HD-DVD, Blu-ray and standard definition DVD," he said.

"The reasons people weren't buying high-definition players was because they were confused.

"We were the only studio publishing both formats, but the consumers that were buying were gravitating towards Blu-ray - particularly in the UK and Japan."

Toshiba has reacted badly to the blows, cancelling a press conference due to be held at the industry Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this week and refusing to talk to the media about the situation.

In theaters Friday, October 10th

City Of Ember (rated PG) appears to be geared mainly toward the younger crowds, but still looks interesting.  In order to save the human race an underground city is build to keep them safe for 200 years.  Somewhere along the way someone had a change of plans.  Returning to the surface wasn't part of that plan.  Now all of a sudden the generator that provides their only source of light is on its way out.  Now it's up to a group of curious citizens of Ember to find clues and piece together the mystery that is their underground existence before the lights go out forever.  City Of Ember isn't a high priority on my list, but it definitely caught my attention.  Starring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Martin Landau, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Toby Jones and Mary Kay Place

In theaters Friday, October 17th

Quarantine (rated R) really isn't my kind of movie, but it captured my interest none the less.  A reporter and cameraman are doing a story on the local fire station in Los Angeles when the firemen are called to an emergency.  Once on scene one of the firemen gets attacked by someone or something.  When they try to retreat with their wounded officer they find themselves locked inside of the apartment building.  It's a quarantine.  Strangely none of them can make contact with the outside world.  On TV it is announced that everyone was evacuated from the building.  From here the madness ensues.  Scary stuff.  With the help of the reporter and her cameraman, the movie appears to be shot completely Blair Witch style.  Think Blair Witch meets I Am Legend, right after the mutated outbreak.  Starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, Dania Ramirez, Rade Sherbedgia and Jonathon Schaech.

Sex Drive (rated R) follows the adventures of an 18 year old virgin that meets a girl on line.  When she shows interest he starts a trek across country to lose his virginity.  Along with a couple of friends this sexy voyage is teeming with lots of laughs, wild and crazy mishaps and mayhem.  Who knows, maybe they'll even learn a few valuable lessons along the way.  It could happen.  Starring James Marsden, Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew, Katrina Bowde, Seth Green and Clark Duke.

]]> http://myexpression.wordpress.com/?p=139 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:46:11 +0000 myexpression http://myexpression.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/role-of-women/ saw two films couple of days back; hardcore bollywood in a brand new packaging; yes bollywood is becoming brand concious now; so the two  films; first was "bachna aye hasino"; second was "rock on"; now whats common between the two films; any guesses!!!

formula to dump women; in bachna bipasha was dumped by ranbir kapoor the day were supposed to get married and why becoz he develops cold feet; in rock on some girl, dunno her name playing farhan akhtar's girlfriend is left alone or dumped when he decides to leave after fight breaks out in his band...

now lets look at both the women; what do they do years later; bipasha forgives the man who dumped her at the marriage altar without giving any reasons; and the rock on girl also forgives and claims that she moved on and is happy for the hero...

who are these guys; they are the new age sensitive, yet aggresive, artistic men...

who are these women; they are modern and educated, yet what they do in the end they forgive those fucking men; but wait why should those women be criticised, they will do what the scripts tells them; and all the scripts are unfortuneately written by men who dont want to see their women characters do anything else but forgive these men...

what would have happened; had bipasha chopped off ranbir's balls for what he did and the rock on girl should have given farhan akhtar one tight slap...

men need some chopping and slapping to grow and evolve...

It was Three on a Match, a game show that aired on NBC from 1971 to 1974. Part of what made it boring, given that I was four years old, was that its rules were complicated. I could never figure out what was going on! I started watching this dull but confusing program because it was on against Let's Make a Deal on ABC, which my mother could not abide, and As the World Turns on CBS, which I could not abide. But I kept watching because its congenial host reminded me of my grandfather, and I rather liked imagining seeing my grandfather on TV every weekday afternoon. The grandfatherly host was Bill Cullen, the most versatile and prolific game-show host ever, who worked almost non-stop doing them on radio and television for 40 years. If you were breathing at any time between between the 1950s and the 1980s you almost certainly saw Bill Cullen on TV. Here are a few minutes from a faded copy of Three on a Match that show how the game was played.

Bill's first TV game show was Winner Take All in 1952, and his last was The Joker's Wild in 1986. In between, he did more than twenty others, including the original The Price is Right, I've Got a Secret, Eye Guess, To Tell the Truth, Winning Streak, The $25,000 Pyramid, Pass the Buck, Password Plus while regular host Allen Ludden was ill, Chain Reaction, Blockbusters, Child's Play, and Hot Potato.

I outgrew my grandfather projection issues and for years changed the channel when I saw fuddy-duddy old Bill Cullen. But when I got (and became addicted to) Game Show Network on cable in the 1990s, I saw that not only did Bill Cullen handle every show as if he was born to host it, but he was also funny. If you clicked any of the show names above, you saw clips of some of his finest and funniest moments. So lasting was his game-show legacy that it is said that when the US version Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was being developed, producers wanted to tap Cullen to host it – until they learned that he had been dead for eight years.

In theaters Friday, September 12th

Righteous Kill (rated R) stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as two tough cops on a case to track down a serial killer who has a taste for bad guys.  The evidence screams "killer cop" and the race is on to bring this serial killer (vigilante?) to justice.   Whether you are on the side of the law or the side of street justice, This looks to be a case of "who can you trust".  I saw the trailer for Righteous Kill at one of the last movies I saw, and it looked really good.  It also left me wondering who I should root for.  The good guys, the serial killer, or someone in between.  Hmmm???  Also starring 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Dan Futterman, Trilby Glover, Rob Dyrdek, Mark Famiglietti, Denis O'Hare, Katie Chonacas, Brett Granstaff, Saidah Arrika Ekulona and Alan Blumenfeld.

Burn After Reading (rated R) stars good chums Brad Pitt and George Clooney.  What we have here is a dark comedy that looks rather promising.  An ex CIA agent (something tells me he left on bad terms) misplaces a disc chocked full of sensitive information.  Two gym employees (of the not so bright variety) find said disc and figure they can cash in on this new found treasure.  There was no Official Site to link to this time around, so I linked to a YouTube Trailer instead.  Burn After Reading also stars John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton.

In theaters Friday, September 19th

Blindness (rated R): an outbreak of blindness ravages a city leaving all of its residents blind with the exception of one woman, the wife of a doctor.  Blindness has lured me in with its mysteriously vague trailer.  Again no Official Site was available so I linked to a trailer on YouTube.  The movie appears to revolve around the scenario of "what do you do with a whole city of suddenly stricken blind citizens?" and it would appear the answer is isolation and abandonment, or is it???  The hook is set deep in my lip, dragging me along.  I just gotta know.  Starring Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal, Danny Glover and Alice Braga.

In theaters Friday, September 26th

Eagle Eye (rated PG-13) stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as pawns in a crazy game of violence and death.  Think Neo getting his first call from Morpheus, telling him to climb out on a window ledge, but instead of a well intentioned Morpheus on the other end of the line, it's a crazy power hunger woman that can somehow see your every move.  "The FBI will arrive at your apartment in 30 seconds, you must flee the premises..." or be set up as a terrorist with no way out.  "Follow directions and you'll live through this, disobey and you die" and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  This movie is at the top of my "must see list" for September.  Also staring Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Azizi, Anthony Mackie and Lynn Cohen.

Miracle At St. Anna (rated R) is a Spike Lee Joint on a whole new level.  On December 19th, 1983 a man walks into a post office and requests a 30 cent stamp "please". Hector Negron looks up at the man making the request.  Negron then pulls a gun from under the counter and kills the man while a five million dollar Italian artifact sits in his New York home.  Flashback 39 years to World War II, behind enemy lines to unravel this mystery.  Starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Matteo Sciabordi, Valentina Cervi, Pierfrancesco Favino, John Leguizamo and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

A programação da Rede Record no segundo semestre vai investir pesado em "blockbusters", filmes considerados sucesso de bilheteria no cinema. Muitos deles já foram transmitidos na Rede Globo ou no SBT.

Segundo a assessoria da emissora, o "Tela Máxima", exibido aos domingos, às 21h30, vai transmitir o pacote de longas-metragens, muitos deles inéditos, de diversos gêneros.

A Record afirma que a previsão é que os filmes entrem na programação até o fim do ano.

Entre os principais títulos que serão exibidos estão "007 - Cassino Royale", "A Múmia", "A Sangue Frio", "As Tartarugas Ninjas - O Retorno", "Dois é Bom, Três é Demais", "George - O Curioso", "Matadores de Aluguel", "Jurassic Park", "Miami Vice", "O Mundo Perdido", "O Plano Perfeito", "O Professor Aloprado 2", "O Retorno da Múmia", "Os Seus os Meus e os Nossos", "Premonições", "Protegida por um Anjo", "Ruas Sangrentas - O Acerto Final", "Separados pelo Casamento", "Traffic", "True Lies", "Tudo pela Fama", "Velozes e Furiosos - Desafio em Tóquio", "Vôo United 93" e "Xeque-Mate".

Os filmes da Record costumam impulsionar o ibope da emissora. Em julho, "DOA: Vivo ou Morto", longa de artes marciais baseado em uma série de game homônima, deixou o canal em segundo lugar no ranking da audiência. Com o filme, exibido no "Super Tela", o canal registrou 12 pontos de média do ibope, com pico de 17 pontos. (Fonte: Folha Online)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is directed by Rob Cohen and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel, Stephen Sommers and James Jacks produce the film.

For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker's first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. He used an IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film.

Warner Bros. created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker. After Ledger's death in January 2008, however, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.^[4][5] The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom. Prior to its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. The film broke multiple box office records and was greeted by critical acclaim upon release.^[6]

Directed by: Chris Carter

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Xzibit

What's it About: Mulder and Scully, no longer working for the FBI, are roped back into a case when an FBI agent goes missing and one time priest, Father Joe (Connolly) claims to have had psychic revelations about the case.

I had always imagined that the second X Files movie would deal with the 'truth' which was revealed in the very last episode of the TV series: that the aliens were coming in 2012 and that, most likely, we were all doomed. Instead we are presented with a story which could be easily matched by anything you would catch on TV today, a crime thriller that has some gruesome, nail-biting moments but nothing that you wouldn't forget ten minutes after leaving the cinema. It's not that all movies should have the spectacles of say, The Dark Knight, but this slow boiled detective drama lacks anything that would set it aside from a far fetched CSI episode. One wonders why the X Files team would bother to make a movie at all if they do not wish to take advantage of the longer running time or the scope that a film offers the writers, who, up until now, mostly had one hour segments with which to play.

The 'mystery' storyline certainly disappoints, but this is not surprising really as the main focus here is the relationship between Mulder and Scully, always a tentative issue and one which Carter obviously felt needed more attention. The differences in opinion which the two agents have always held cause problems once more, with Mulder opting to believe in a supernatural explanation for Father Joe's psychic connections and Scully seeing him as nothing more than a phony. Scully's religious beliefs, which Mulder has never truly shared, also come into play. Unfortunately the result is a poor drama about domestic problems and misunderstandings; nothing we have not see a thousand times before both within and outside of The X Files.

Too much time is also spent re-introducing us to the world of Mulder and Scully. The movie feels like one long set up for a climax which we never reach. Various articles and reviews are citing this as a type of closure for Mulder and Scully fans, even while Carter himself is discussing his options for a third movie that would indeed deal with the impending aliens. All in all, as a one time X Files addict, I felt this to be a pointless film: closure was received on the Mulder and Scully relationship in the very last episode. Here, we are presented with an X Files scraped clean of everything that made it interesting including the love/hate tension between the two agents. The only way to win back the crowds and gain new fans now would be to make a kick ass alien invasion movie. Still, I would rather people just rented a box set and relived the memories of the good old days.

*Trivia moment: Watch out for a surprise after the credits; Tis a little cheesy but interesting all the same.

For gory info on the mad scientific procedures in The X Files: I want to Believe, pop over to Fiona's science/sci-fi site here.

Ça commence, généralement, avec un ordinateur ou une console. Un dénominateur commun: le high-tech. Nom de code: GEEK.

Le geek a souvent des références BD mais pas n'importe quelle BD. Ce sera l'univers américain des comic books et / ou surtout celui, japonais des mangas et dérivés animés, dont les références ultimes sont Robotech / Macross (là, je doute de mon affirmation, je me base sur une observation de mon cousin) et les cultissimes Akira et Dragon Ball. D'ailleurs, il a regretté la disparition du Club Dorothée qu'il regardait en mangeant sans pitié ses croissants. Tout ça à cause de parents conservateurs qui craignaient que leur enfant ne devienne un délinquant. Le geek n'est peut-être pas un ange mais ce n'est pas un Ken le Survivant.

Côté grand écran, la science-fiction est un genre particulièrement apprécié du geek (Star Trek pour les plus âgés, Alien, Blade Runner, Matrix et - ai-je besoin de le rappeler? - la trilogie vintage de Star Wars). Ben oui, nous sommes dans un futur très robotisé, informatisé, space-invaderisé. Puis il n'écartera jamais l'éventualité de voir un bon blockbuster américain bourré de testostérone et d'effets spéciaux. Et puisque le comic book fait partie de ses références, il avantagera les films de super-héros tels Batman, Spiderman, X-Men... Du côté nippon, il vénère les animés du Studio Ghibli et a peut-être même versé une larme sur le splendide Tombeau des lucioles.

Mais revenons-en aux origines. Le domaine informatique et celui du jeu.

Ces hobbies font de lui un véritable noctambule. Ses parents pourront vous le confirmer. ;)

S'il est né dans les années 70, début 80, il a éventuellement joué à Pong (Big up à Wall.e et ses 8000 points!), peut-être possédé un Atari, a été enraciné sur le canapé avec la première version de Super Mario Bros (sans parler de Sonic), a tenu entre les mains des jeux électroniques ou une manette d'arcade avant de crier de joie quand Papa Noël a déposé la Game Boy et Tétris il y a presque 20 ans (Chirac: "Putain! 20 ans!"). Il sait ce qu'est un beat'em up et un shoot'em up. Il en a bavé face à Mr Bison, évité les tirs dans R-Type, marqué des centaines de buts, en a sauvé des princesses, a même voyagé sur Monkey Island et Myst. Le PC, qui possédait une touche "turbo" à l'époque, et la NES étaient ses instruments de prédilection. Certains se sont transformés en hardcore gamers ou pire en nolife.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.652728&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Puis vint Sony. Puis revint Steve Jobs.

Même si Mr PC a longtemps tenu la barre, les geeks sont partagés dorénavant entre les deux systèmes (Linux est HS dans mon billet) parce qu'il restera toujours des fanatiques du PC. Pouêt pouêt ("Dis camion"). Sega et Atari ont reçu le carton rouge tandis que Microsoft s'est dédoublé. L'internet a fait son entrée par la grande porte.

Vous remarquerez que le geek est un matérialiste (aucune volonté de critiquer ici même si je me rends compte que ce terme a une connotation négative). C'est pourquoi il va parfois lorgner du côté des téléphones portables, de la hi-fi, de l'automobile et / ou surtout de la photographie. Je ne dis pas que le photographe est un geek hein? Non. Mais le geek se prend souvent de passion pour la photographie. Il aime les trucs techniques.

Mais alors qu'est-ce qu'un nerd, me direz-vous? Certains geeks ne se l'avoueront jamais mais ils en sont. Le terme est péjoratif et beaucoup moins porteur de cool attitude. Visualisez le mec à lunettes qui s'intéresse aux sciences et est quelque peu asocial et rejeté par les autres, dans les teen movies. Ben voilà. C'est un peu caricatural. Les studios hollywoodiens adorent les clichés. Par contre, sachez qu'un nerd saura faire un peu de programmation alors que c'est une option chez le geek.

Quant à moi, je ne me considère pas du tout comme geek, il me manque une certaine "technicité". Mais il est clair que je me suis imprégnée de références de la culture geek. Si vous n'avez pas compris grand-chose de ce que j'ai écrit, peut-être que le cousin / oncle / neveu / copain / frère qui fait l'éternel SAP pour votre ordi vous expliquera mieux que moi ce qu'est un geek.

Si l'envie vous vient de vouloir jouer à des vieux jeux PC: Classic PC Games en téléchargement payant.

Et je ne peux que fortement vous conseiller de louer ou acheter "Le tombeau des lucioles" d'Iseo Takahata, un film de toute beauté. Wow j'apprends par la même occasion qu'un nouveau Ghibli est sorti au Japon.

Si j'écris "il", c'est parce que c'est majoritairement un "il". Même si beaucoup de "elle" se croient geeks après avoir acheté le dernier Blackberry ou iPhone; ça s'appelle céder à la mode. Geek un jour, geek toujours.

Damn, can you imagine waking up to that face in the morning? Probably have bad robot morning breath too. This is a poster of a T-600, which is the terminator that comes before Da Ahnolds T-800 in the new Terminator movie. In this film we will finally see how the war with the Human Race and Skynet got to crackin. Judging from the teaser trailer that was attached to The Dark Knight and the fact that Christian Bale is John Connor in this new trilogy, I am looking forward to seeing a new take on the series. The only BUT here, is the fact that this is directed by McG, who thinks he's so cool he can just go by 3 letters for a name, that's the only thing that scares me a bit.

Terminator Salvation hits theaters next May 22nd. Spotted at Joblo

Because beyond Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker, this film is all about the action. Blowing stuff up, driving very fast, and in an age when you think Michael Mann and John Woo and James Cameron have shown you just about every cinematic stunt that could possibly be done, Christopher Nolan goes and flips a juggernaut end-over-end and you discover that the 'wow' factor isn't dead yet.

But really, it's all about The Joker. It is a peach of a role - and I may be bordering on heresy here - but I'm sure there are other actors who would have made just as much of it. I think the point about Ledger is that a) he's cast against type and b) he died a tragic death shortly after completing this film and so it's his last role (strictly speaking, his last role is still in post-production, but it's incomplete and patched up by a possibly terrifying combination of actors). This didn't stop me from enjoying every moment he was on screen - so can I please have an edited version with just his and Gary Oldman's scenes? That would be worth watching.

(Oh - and I was disappointed that they didn't show the X-files trailer. I may have to resort to YouTube.)

I went to see both of these movies last night. We started to watch a third, but Bunny started getting a migraine. The good news is she's feeling all better today. ;) Now, on with the movies. :)

The Dark Knight was first at bat (HA! I kill me, not). I knew they were going for a darker Batman, but I had no idea how serious they were. I was totally caught off guard by some of the places this movie went. It was dark, it was dirty and it was good. Heath Ledger delivered an amazing Joker unlike none you've ever seen before. I was on the edge of my seat holding tightly to the arm rests. There was a grown man sitting near me doing a lot of "OMG"ing and other such exclamations that took away from my viewing pleasure, but I couldn't really fault the guy. The movie had that effect on people. Unfortunately for me he was a bit more vocal than others and just off to my left. All in all a very good movie with a rather sad ending, but fitting. No disappointments here. The Dark Knight earned every ounce of it's PG-13 rating, and I'm sure it was teetering on the verge of becoming a rated R movie. This Batman movie might not be suited for the younger young ones, but I'll leave that decision in your capable hands. ;) If you haven't seen it yet, it is well worth the price of admission.

Next up at bat (not funny at all this time, go figger) is Wall-E. Wall-E was everything folks had lead me to believe, but with a little more dialog than I expected. The way people were talking I was expecting a handful of words during the whole movie, but there was a bit more than that. Still I was not disappointed. Wall-E was fun, lovable and left you with a few things to think about. The health and wellbeing of the earth was the moral of the day, and it was tackled quite well, poking plenty of fun at us silly humans. It took me so long to see this movie that I would suggest waiting for it to come out on DVD for the simple fact that I'm sure that that time is right around the corner. With that being said, it was worth the price of admission, but it was shown in a tiny little theater due to its being on the border of heading out the door. Still, well worth watching and good fun for the whole family. :mrgreen:

Dear Reader,

Princess and me went to see the dead Heath Ledger acting like a crazed psychopath on Saturday night.

In life, before his apotheosis, he was always a bit of an arrogant prick, so it was refreshing to see him as someone with a little psychological depth for a change. Even if he was only play acting.

The dead Heath Ledger was all right, and he delivered his part pretty well, for an actor in a Hollywood© blockbuster, that is. Everyone's having a sort of filmgasm over his performance, cos it's a double guilty pleasure: not only are we trying to convince ourselves and each other that he's giving a brilliant performance within the context of franchise trash, but we're also trying to convince ourselves and each other that it's not really creepy to be watching someone whose face - so haunting in those close-ups with its mouldring make-up - is right now mouldring in the grave.

The rest of the film was ok, too. I mean, The Dark Knight was no Elektra, but it was good.

Well, good enough.

My main problem, while watching the movie, was that there's all this unusual depth to the text - it's drawn from the patented 'darker' era of comic book heroes, with all the studied angst that accompanies that provenance - and yet i couldn't help translating in my head all the profoundly symbolist scenes into Lego™ playsets or Happy Meal toy-with-purchase combos.

The fact that you could buy a 'commemorative' cap by spending a little more on your pop corn didn't help the literary cred pretensions of the whole shebang.

After the fillum, we hit Bar Bosh for a turkish pizza. The folks at the table next to us had been in the session, too, and they were deconstructing the text all the way through their tapas and tagines, analysing its ramifications, and its deliberations on the human condition.

Guys. It's a live action cartoon, all right?

Yes, good needs its evil counterpart. Yes, chaos complements control. Yes, a faceless hero is not a hero at all.

Sheesh!

Get over it.

The thing i liked best was this: when i was a little bogan, about eight years old, i figured out that all the bad things that befell Gotham could be directly attributed to Super Villains trying to destroy Batman. If he just left Gotham, the city would be safe.

And Bruce Wayne finally figured that out, too.

About time, genius.

Yours,
Gullybogan

above, Princess Lee Radziwill..... (Sister to former first lady Jackie Kennedy)   

Plus....               

NO TO KING  SOOPERS  AND NO TO DELMONICOS  

and.... 

re:  RENEE ASHLEY BAKER'S MOVIE PREMIERE 

Renee Ashley Baker's "movie premiere" will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC....     

and....Screenplay                                          

 NO Book (Only Screenplay--Being Completed For Distribution in movie theatres by Disney....)

 RENEE TO RENEE....View a new photo of Renee Ashley Baker  (click link below):

http://reneeashleybaker.tripod.com/id12.html

DISNEY will distribute Renee Ashley Baker's first motion picture, in movie theatres worldwide, under an "output deal" valued at $53.5 million dollars.  Renee Ashley Baker will "Executive Produce" and U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy will remain co-Producer/Consultant.   Renee Ashley Baker will make a profit of $104.3 million dollars....

I'm not so old that I've had many chances to tell people about things I remember from my childhood, but I specifically remember being able to go to the theatres for less than $5.  See I remember how awesome I thought having a $5 was and I specifically remember having quarters to use in the arcade afterwards.  Now my G-Ma tells me she used to be able to see movies for like a dime, but I'm talking 10 years ago, not decades.  We all know movie ticket prices are going up.  If you have had the pleasure to see Batman in IMAX you probably paid around $15 bucks.  I read an article here on the Movie Blog about why this is happening.  Its pretty interesting.  So it is no far stretch that in a few years, we'll be looking at a 20 spot to get in to the theatre.

I'm ok with that and here is why.

1) The screens are so much bigger that anything I could possibly have at home.  I know some people are ok spending three months salary on a large plasma screen and I even looked into a home projector, but the stuff isn't cheap and at the rate technology is changing, it will be obsolete in a few years.  I went back to one of those $4.50 theatres and saw how small the screen was.  There were people in my way and it only took up about half of my visible range.  The IMAX screen in Irvine is so big that even from decently far back I had to turn my head to see everything.  I don't know how they can get bigger, but I bet it will be sweet.

2) The sound system.  I have decent speakers, I don't use them to their full potential though because I'm a nice guy and I've got neighbors.  Sometimes I'll play that game where you turn the volume up for conversations and down for action sequences.  Maybe you're a jerk that doesn't care, or maybe you have a ranch where you can do whatever you want, but for me, being in a theater that shakes with bass is one of my favorite experiences.

3) The aura.  When you go to a big movie on opening night, you can feel the excitement in the air.  People will clap and cheer for a movie.  You might think that is annoying, but I think that is what the movies are all about.  We can all get together and for two hours or so we are rooting for the same hero and booing the crazy villain.  I love seeing midnight showings because of this.  I don't even mind getting there 4-6 hours early and talking with people.  You can have a great conversation in line and have a little bit of fun too.  I'll be posting a video of me from the Batman premiere in Irvine soon so you can see for yourself.

4) Its something to make a night out of.  Watching a movie can turn into just something to do, but going to the theatres can be the foundation of an awesome adventure.  Start off going out to dinner at a nearby restaurant.  After the movie make your way to the nearest book store and check out the related books and DVDs from the same genre.  Afterwards get desert and hang out in the parking lot.  Now all of these things are inevitably more fun with a group of people or a date, but don't feel bad eating Cold Stone on top of your car at 12:30 on a Friday night, that's what the cool kids wish they could do...

5) It ties in with the last one, but there are few places better to go on a date.  Its a neutral public place which is perfect for a first date.  Like I said, you can make a night out of it so things don't have to end there.  In addition, if you like movies a lot like me, you can use a movie to screen a girl,

EX:

me: wow... Mamma Mia!, what did you think?

her: I loved it, this was one of the best movies I have ever seen, I hope it wins an Oscar

me:                                          (I'm not there, see, I did that thing Batman does where he leaves while people are talking because obviously, as shown by this girls interest in Mamma Mia, she is crazy and it would be best to not get involved)

So that is it, that is why I will pay $20 to see a movie in the theatres.  I don't see everything in theatres, mostly big action movies with explosions and popular movies that would be fun to see on opening night, which are usually one in the same.  People like explosions, make note of that Hollywood.

I hope you two would enjoy paying $20 a ticket.  Have anything to add to my list?  Leave a comment..