All posts by archangel

Film

The Art of Monster House

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I recently rented Monster House on DVD. Some photorealistic shots ala Toy Story, and the house looked like an incredibly complex model, especially as it breaks aparts and comes alive. Overall, it was OK, but I had higher expectations (for the story, not the animation).

However, the DVD does have a hidden gem. While checking out the special features I saw a section on concept art. I was expecting the usual pencil sketches, maybe a couple quick color illustrations. Instead, I was happily blown away by these fantastic concept paintings by Chris Appelhans. It’s Norman Rockwell meets Vincent Price (and maybe Chuck Jones). They lose a bit on a monitor, but look great blown up on a widescreen TV.

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Technology

IOSS BIOS Savior

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This post belongs in the “day late and a dollar short” category. I recently messed up my motherboard. Short version is that I noticed the clock speed was low for the processor I installed, so I updated the BIOS. That didn’t work, so I reset the BIOS settings via the jumper. And ever since then, I’ve gotten an “incorrect CPU speed” message, and it won’t boot. So now I gotta get a PLCC chip puller to remove the BIOS chip and mail it back to ASUS, so they can reflash it and mail it back to me. I figure this will take 2-3 weeks, and if it doesn’t work, I gotta buy a new system.

So apart from the kindness Agent Bladerunner has shown in loaning me his laptop, I could be without Internet access at home for a up to a month. Considering that most TV shows are dead for the summer1, this could be the best thing to happen to me in over a decade. More on that later.

So this life changing event never would have happened if I had known about the IOSS BIOS Savior. Basically, you pull out your BIOS chip with the included chip puller, pop in the tiny daughter card (RD1), and place the original chip in that. You also have a switch that allows you to switch from the original chip to the RD1.

After installing the RD1, you backup the current BIOS to it, then update the original chip to your hearts content. Mess up your system like me? No problem! Just flip the switch, and you’re back to the original BIOS (which, of course, you tested after backing up so you know it works).

It costs $20-30, versus $5 S&H to get your mobo mfr. to reflash your chip (or $25 to send you a new one). But without it you’re dangerously at risk of Internet lossage, which could lead to the following:

  • Learning new things offline, instead of online where you can take a 20 minute game break every 10 minutes.
  • Reading books
  • Watching the Netflix movies that arrived 4 months ago
  • Going to the *gasp* gym!

Sweet sassy molassey, man, get that damn BIOS savior now!

  1. Aside from the brilliant, Agent Mystery-produced So You Think You Can Dance. The chicks on this show are crazy hot. And dancers! And wearing skin-tight dental floss! And way too young for you! Geez, man, why aren’t you watching this??? [↩]
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BTW, Film

Movie News

Some interesting film news. The Hughes Brothers, who did From Hell, are directing a film version of Kung Fu. And apparently Blizzard Entertainment has commissioned a script for Diablo. No word on whether it’s live action or animated, but I’d always heard those slick, 3D rendered cinematics were done as practice for a movie. Perhaps that’s it. And Robert Rodriguez, fresh off of Planet Terror (aka, Grindhouse part I), will be doing a remake of Barbarella. I never saw the first, but I’m sure this will be entertaining. No word on who will star, succeeding Jane Fonda. Rosario Dawson, perhaps?

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Film, Rants

Mann Has Balls

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This is awesome. I was visiting the web site for Mann’s Theatres, when I read these truly heartwarming words on their locations page:

Children under 5 will not be admitted to “PG-13” OR “R” rated films

Bless their hearts. I can’t wait for other theatres (you listening, Cinemark?) to follow suit. And also, I’ve always preferred the British spelling of theatres.

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Television

NBC Schedule

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Variety reports on the new NBC schedule.

The good news is that Heroes is back, and they also have a short spin-off called Heroes: Origins. Origins will be six 1-hour shows, each showcasing a new hero we’ve never seen before. At the end of the series, you’ll be able to vote on the web for who you want added to the regular show.

They’re also adding The Bionic Woman, starring some Brit I’ve never heard of. Her name’s Michelle Ryan, and she’s looker, but doesn’t remind you at all of Lindsay Wagner. Still, from this photo, I wouldn’t mind trying out a Sleep Number bed with her:

Michelle Ryan

Gone is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Boo! And The Black Donnely’s, which I never watched, but would have had I known Paul Haggis was behind it. Oh well.

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Film, Technology

Netflix Streaming

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So I hadn’t rented from Netflix in a while, and thought it was time to remedy that. Especially with most TV shows having a season finale in May. I was actually surfing the site for a while before I noticed the “Watch Now” tab at the top. It turns out that Netflix now has over 2,000 movies available for streaming. I was amazed that they never sent me so much as an email about this major new feature. I can only guess that since I wasn’t costing them any money, they didn’t want to remind me I had a subscription, which is pretty lame of them. So I now must punish them by making up for my dormancy.

The feature is pretty simple, find a movie and hit play. You need to download a proprietary player, but that’s all quick and painless. Harvey, a 4:3 black and white film looked good in full screen on my 21″ monitor. The Italian Job (Marky Mark version) also looked good (certainly Charlize Theron did), but at 2.35:1, it used maybe 1/3 of my screen. Video quality is based on bandwidth; my connection rated “high”, which is the best offered at 1.6 to 2.2+ Mbps.

There is a limit on viewing, you get 1 hour per dollar you pay monthly. So my discounted 4-DVD plan gives me 20 hours of viewing per month. A nice, cost-free bonus.

Update: Looks like there’s an 18 hour cap, despite their wording. And another problem is that I was “charged” 1h50m for The Italian Job, even though I watched at most 10 minutes of it. So know that you’ll be dinged for the whole movie, even if you watch just a part of it.

The selection is pretty small by Netflix standards, but if I hadn’t already seen so many films, it might appear better. Here’s a partial list of movies I gave 5 stars to, which are available for instant playing:

The Bridge on the River Kwai
Casablanca
Chinatown
A Clockwork Orange
Cool Hand Luke
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Dirty Dozen
Harvey
The Jerk
North by Northwest
Run Lola Run
Strangers on a Train: Special Edition

Now some movies, if you watch them on a computer screen, should get your subscription canceled. I mean, The Matrix? But many shouldn’t suffer at all from small screen viewing. And if you really cared about quality, you would have seen it in the theater.

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