Harry Podder and the Big Apple

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

hal9209 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:14:00 +0000

When I first saw the preview of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World I knew it is a must-see movie of the year. The tagline for the movie is an epic of epic epicness is totally right! I love this movie! Most people didn’t even see the movie and they are totally missing out. I guess I understand why most people can’t seem to get it. It is a movie adaptation of a comic book that take it’s inspiration from video game, it is a genre-bending movie that could be action, romantic comedy, fantasy, or a teen flick. I mean how confusing is that? but that’s the genius of it all! It is out of this genre-bending, medium-crossing that make the movie interesting and connecting to the video game generation that grow up in the 80s!

The film has a simple plot – Scott Pilgrim must defeat 7 evil exes of Ramona if he want to continue dating her. The premise sounds completely juvenile, and I think just like the ridiculous title of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it somehow free up the creative process as a result and create something awesome. The movie really make the comic book it based on become alive! Almost every frame can be trace back from the original comic. It is a faithful adaptation that was unfortunately, misunderstood. The best part of the movie is the sense of fun, it is just fun from top to bottom, from the logo of the studio to credit!

I think the biggest problem the film has is casting Michael Cera as the lead. He is perfect for the role because the character is essentially him, if u read the comic, u would agree it really is him! i mean come on, the character is a slacker in Canada!! but that is exactly the problem! Cera has been playing essentially the same character over and over again in all of his movies that I think audience just get tired of it! I wish this is actually his first movie, if it is, maybe more people might like it, instead of avoiding it just because the perception is that, Michael Cera is playing the same old character again. But in the end I have to say I can’t imagine anyone else can play his character because it is so him, and his lazy-ass-clueless-passive-agressive delivery is to the perfection!

Seriously, go see this movie, it’s fresh and new, it’s way better than seeing the same old sequels of the summer!

P.S. I went to their promotion at the Apple Store, here are some pictures:

The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner

hal9209 — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:23:00 +0000

I must say I quite enjoy this extra book in the Twilight Universe. It certainly add another dimension to Eclipse and show us behind the scene of what’s going on outside of Bella’s point of view! The most frustrating aspect of the Twilight series (also its strength) is that it was mostly told in Bella’s point of view, She might be sweet and brave but she’s definitely not the smartest person in the world! Therefore it’s great to not be in her head and see the “world” differently.

The book centered around Bree Tanner, a side character in Eclipse that pretty much no one would really remember. After you read this book you will feel so sorry for the ending of Eclipse and you will hate the Vultori even more. I like how the book finally confirmed our suspicion that the Volturi “encouraged” Victoria and her army. What I loved the most is of course the end where through Bree’s point of view, we saw the interaction and the kindness of the Cullen clan.

From what I read I know that this book come along because of the development of the movie Eclipse. So I hope when they are making the next two movie, it might spark her with idea to write another book or two about other characters in the Twilight Universe.

A side note: This is my first e-book purchase via iBook Store. It’s painless and totally readable on the awesome iPhone 4 screen. Of course I wouldn’t mind it if I have an iPad to read it as well~ :p

The Last Airbender

hal9209 — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:43:00 +0000

I have lost faith in M. Night’s ability to make good movie a long time ago. I keep hoping he will prove me wrong by delivering a kick-ass movie. The trailer of the Last Airbender does look awesome, and the fact that this is an adaptation rather than a pure original story makes me feel better about the prospect of this movie. Yet I have to say, I was fooled again! The universe of Last Airbender is fascinating to me. The movie did successfully recreated that world, however, character-wise, everyone is pretty bland. Dialogues are boring and it just couldn’t keep me interested. Sorry M. Night, you have done it again, a movie with fascinating concept, and yet, the delivery falls completely short!

Eclipse

hal9209 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:38:30 +0000

Eclipse was okay in the sense that it is in line with my expectation. One good thing about the Twilight series as movie is that we can get outside of Bella’s head for once, and it’s most noticeable here on Eclipse where there are far more scenes where Bella isn’t there and we still see what’s going on! From the scenes in Seattle to the Volturi’s observation to Victoria escape from the Cullens and the wolves, these are what make it worth the jump to the cinema. The fight scenes, of course, is the main draw this time around. They are great, but it’s a bit short in my opinion.

Jacob’s abs continue to play a major role and command screen time in this movie. But this time around there’s a handsome new vampire Riley fighting for my attention. As for Edward, I guess I finally get used to the diamond skin special effect – either that or they actually improved the effect, because it looks less cheesy than the previous movies. One of the bigger controversy of this movie is the recasting of the character Victoria. The end result is that, I don’t think it make any different whoever play this part. The screen time is a lot more than the previous movie, but in all seriousness, she probably has less than 10 lines in the movie.

Okay, so 3 movies down, 2 more to go! We’ll have to wait for Breaking Dawn Part I in November 2011!

Toy Story 3

hal9209 — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:11:24 +0000

Toy Story 3 possibly is the best “threequel” in recent year. It was made with really an independent story in mind, a story about growing up and letting go. Now that the owner is all grow up and ready for college, what can the toys do? And despite the heavy theme and subject, the movie still carries touch of charm and humor. Pixar can really do no wrong here, even in sequels they can raise up the standard so high that i doubt anyone can come close.

I am not going to spoil the story here because it is a story that you need to see yourself! but one thing I can say is that Pixar seems to find out how to use silent effectively, as demonstrated in WALLE. They use it again here in one climatic scene with none of the characters speaks a word, just a shot panning the faces of the characters and yet the emotions in the scene is so powerful that I dare anyone who saw that scene not to cry.

I want to mention two cameos, one is Miyazaki’s Totoro, another, the iMac~ Seriously this might be the best movie of this summer.

Big Bang Doctor

hal9209 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:20:34 +0000

***Spoilers alert, especially if you are following the American schedule of Doctor Who****

The latest season of Doctor Who was a strong season with a fantastic Doctor, I do have some problems with a particular plot element, but luckily the season finale completely erased my complain by being so cleverly plotted. The first part “Pandorica Opens” is epic and emotional. The Stonehenge location, Roman time period and the appearance of almost all the villains of Doctor Who Universe make this as big as the other season finale we have seen from the Davies era. Not only that, the cameo of all the supporting characters this season before the credit to give the Doctor his warning really make this season a collection of tightly connected stories that we have not seen before. The stakes is as high as ever because just like last season finale where the entire reality might get erased, this time around, everything would have never been existed. Yet Moffat really is a good writer who is the best when during with the smallest thing to use it the most effectively. Less is more is always his case. This time around is a single cyberman. I have never seen a Cyberman that is this scary before! Moffat is really great with bring out the creepy horror elements!

The emotional part of the story is the reappearance of Rory, who turns out to be an Auton with memories of Rory, in which Amy still don’t remember him because he never existed. Moffat crafted this wonderful and yet heart-wrenching exchange between the two where Rory trying to make Amy remember, and yet by the time Amy remembers, Rory started to lose himself to the programming of Auton. And the role is reversed that Amy is the one who trying to get Rory to remember who he is. Yet Rory eventually lost control of his plastic gun hand and killed Amy.

The second part “Big Bang” explores and push the limit of time travel that Doctor Who, as a show that’s about a Time Traveler, never really addressed head on. And it is this episode that satisfied my complains about time travel and that very front and center crack in time problem. First of all the episode easily solved all the cliffhangers of the previous episode: the death of Amy, Auton-Rory, the evil alliance, and the imprisonment of the Doctor, without falling into cheap tricks. The visual cue of a Fez and a mop to indicate the different time is brilliant! The two Doctor and two Amy from different time can interact together, which is completely cool, kind of like the end of Star Trek the new movie, where the new and old Spock meets. Then there’s once again a single use of Dalek is more effective than the millions of the Daleks as we have seen from the finale of season 1, 2 and 4.

The best part of the episode is of course after the Doctor sacrifice himself and woke up in a time-rewinding and erasing “zone.” We finally found out the meaning behind that out of place cryptic talk the Doctor had with Amy in the Weeping Angel episode! It wasn’t the Doctor from that episode, it’s the Doctor from the future at this moment! No wonder! That’s so awesome! And that bed time story the Doctor planted in Amy’s head when she’s little was brilliant: the doctor and the TARDIS, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Who would have thought it fit right into the old wedding saying and work itself perfectly to bring the Doctor back to existance on Amy’s wedding day!

I can’t wait for the Christmas episode and next season! Steve Moffat really is a great!!

iPhone 4 impressions

hal9209 — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:08:26 +0000

After a 3 hours wait at the 14th Street Apple Store on the launch day, I got my new iPhone!! I always said descriptions, specs, pictures don’t do justice to an Apple product. You can to see it in person and touch it with your own hands to really understand what it is. Same situation with iPhone 4. The press all said how good the physical design and screen is, but it will still manage to wow you when you see it for yourself!

The screen is crystal clear and with vivid color. But truly words can’t describe it, it’s like the screen is magical that things can all of the sudden looks good on it! I was browsing some of my pictures and videos taken before this and through this screen they suddenly looks fantastic! I am not kidding! and even Youtube videos looks amazing! I have never seen text render so good before. The density of pixels make this a true HD screen! The feeling is like when you go from a standard TV to a high-def, you will be amazed!

The physical design of the phone itself just screams high quality and style, gone are the plastic and the “thickness.” Honestly you can’t really said the iPhone 3GS was thick, but next to the new iPhone, it looks obese! I can not get my hands off the new phone, if you think I was obsessed before, you have seen nothing yet!

As for the performance, everything is either instantly, like the camera operation or much faster like loading many big heavy apps! ”Multitasking” works great and I love the orientation lock before I am those lazy type that read thing lying down~ lol~ Speaking of camera, it takes much much better pictures, in fact I am amazed at how good it look! It rivals your point and shoot camera.

I bought the bumper as well. I didn’t think I was going to buy it, but once I see it in person, I was intrigued. It looks great with hard and soft rubber mix in the design and additional metallic buttons for sleep/wake and volumes are on the bumper itself, therefore the design really merges the bumper with the phone, I love it!

The only problem so far is waiting for the third party app to update to support the better looking graphics and multitasking and other great features in iOS4 and the new phone. They still works great even without supporting it, but they will look a hell lot better if they do!

Prince of Persia

hal9209 — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:42:05 +0000

I walked into the theater without much expectation, if any, at all. We all know video games based movie sucks big time. This movie doesn’t change that, but surprisingly, is probably the most enjoyable video game based movies I have seen.

Directed by the fourth Harry Potter movie’s director Mike Newell, the movie run rather smoothly. Even when it switch between a Period epic to some kind of romantic comedy where the leads have the standard love-hate arguments the whole journey relationship to the insertion of goofy elements like a gambling ranch of tax-hating entrepreneur that was built upon an ostrich race. Now that guy was silly and goofy all at one, but I can’t help but laugh about how the great villain of Doc Octopus from Spider-man is now a comic relief. Jake Gyllenhaal did a good job to be a muscular Persian warrior prince, even though to me, underneath all that muscle, he’s still that same kid in the dark Donnie Darko that has a goofy smile. As for Sir Ben Kingsley, he looks bored, and I am bored too, please stop casting him as a villain in some epic children’s summer movies! The man was Gandhi!! There must be some role of him other than a typical villain!

The major element in the movie is of course, going back in time using sand and the dagger of time. I have always hated that plot device, no matter what movie it is. Because it make the last 90 minutes almost irelevant! Some less talented writers and directors would probably, well, most likely use it to get themselves out of a dead end in the story, or to pretty much hit the reset button cos they have no idea how to continue. Case in point is season finale of Doctor Who’s third season where 10% of human race were killed and the rest were enslaved for an entire year, the entire planet become a war factory for war against the worlds. And yet in the end, all of that never really happened because of time reverse plot device! In this movie, it has a slight better used because the characters experienced the future so they know how to act to correct their action and avoid a certain fate. Still, I do not like this plot device and hope no stories ever use it again.

The video games elements did creep into the movie a bit, like how prince of persia jumping around walls and roofs, because you have to do all that in the game! And I believe that dagger of time also made appearance in the latest incarnation of the game. In all, this movie was surprisingly decent, aside from Sir Ben Kingsley, I don’t think anyone is bored~ lol

The Crack in Time and Space

hal9209 — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:16:02 +0000

I still very much like this new season of Doctor Who and the New Doctor, but one problem has been staring at me the whole time – how they treat the season arc this season! In the past seasons under Russell Davis, the arc are very subtle hints and words that none of the characters really notice until almost the last episodes, like Bad Wolf in season 1, Saxon in season 3, or missing planets in season 4. This season, however, the crack in time and space is front and center, and not only that, the Doctor and Amy all noticed it and know what it does, especially after the Weeping Angels episodes, and yet they are still going on business as usual, just traveling!! You would think the Doctor would go everywhere to try to get to the bottom of it right? But no, they are just continue traveling, and here and there they would notice oh there’s the crack again! and that’s when they would deal with it, and yet the next episode they will seemingly forgot the threat the crack pose to everyone, until they find another crack!

That being said, this past episode on Vincent Van Gogh is probably the best in the season. (The crack wasn’t in the episode probably contributed too!) Each season the Doctor has at least one episode to interact with an historical figure, it’s usually very entertaining and good, probably due to the strength BBC has with period piece. This time though, it’s so good it brings me to tears in the end. First of all the writer of the episode is Richard Curtis, you heard it right, the writer behind most of your favorite British romantic comedies – Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, and Love Actually! And to bring in such an experienced writer you can really see the difference in the quality of the script! The subject matter also have additional emotional resonance because Vincent Van Gogh is such a tragic figure and yet his painting brings out the best of humanity. Depression is something that every one can connect with. Here is the greatest painter of all time that when he was alive he never find out people love and celebrate his paintings. In a sci-fi setting of Doctor Who, we got to witness the what-if – what if Van Gogh can witness his popularity nowadays, what is his reaction! and that scene was so powerful! The use of Athlete’s song Chances is particularly moving as well. Last but not least I have to praise the casting decision of Tony Curran as Vincent Van Gogh. Their resemblance is uncanny! Put some 19 century clothes on and he is Vincent Van Gogh!!

Air Video

hal9209 — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:34:36 +0000

There used to be an app on the iPhone called Simplify Media. What it did was to stream the music that was sitting in your home computer to your iPhone over the air. No matter where you go you would have access to every song in your library, as long as you have cell reception. It works as advertised but for my huge iTunes Library, it seems a bit slow. Not to mention as a New Yorker, I dash in and out of the subway all the time, if I completely rely on this app I would have no music to play. So I rather sync my music to iPhone the “old-fashion” way. Then Google bought Simplify Media take it off the app store, and transform it into a streaming music feature on the upcoming android 2.2 OS.

Anyway, that wasn’t really what I want to talk about, I was simply providing a background. What I want to talk about is an app called Air Video, which does what Simplify Media did to music, but for your videos on the computer! What’s more amazing is that it does it fast, and not only over wi-fi but 3G as well!!! In addition, your video don’t even need to be iPhone compatible at all, because it convert the video on the fly! so even if you have videos that are in Real Video, WMV, AVI, MKV, DIVX, you name it, it can show it on your iPhone over the air. To me it’s like magic! Seriously I am now able to watch some HD quality video files that are like 2.GB + big that I have in my computer on my iPhone! Now I don’t have to keep two copies like what I used to if I want to have high quality file at home while bring a smaller copy with me on the iPhone!

If you know about converting video files takes time, and yet this app can do it instantly so that you are watching the video on the iPhone right away is what makes it magical! It’s so easy to access your entire video library from home using this app. Now I don’t have an iPad just yet, but imagine you use it on the iPad, You can now buy the lowest capacity iPad but can access unlimited videos from your own home computer! Now one slight problem is that it doesn’t work with videos that has DRM, which means, ironically, any videos you bought digitally legally.

For me it just works so well that I think it’s one of the best 3 dollars I spent on the app store! If you still isn’t convince, you can download the free version and try it out yourself!