a. Things I will and will not Miss about Japan
c. Adobe killed its golden goose by removing ImageReady from its CS3 suite completely and adding key ImageReady functions to its recently-acquired Dreamweaver CS3, instead. Here are my woes, exactly expressed by an Adobe Forums poster:
[...] I heard that Image ready [sic] was going by the wayside in CS3, but I didn't panic, since I figured most of the image slicing and web optimization features would just be integrated into Photoshop CS3. When I opened up [sic] Photoshop CS3 and found out this was not the case, again, I didn't panic because I figured the new and improved Fireworks/Photoshop integration would do the trick.Damn right. When will you people learn?Then I fired up Fireworks, loaded up my PSD, and panicked. The PSD was all screwed up. None of the clipping layers were working, and even some layer styles did not transfer over exactly.
This is really frustrating me [sic]. I have had to fire up my old copy of ImageReady CS2 and use it. [I, too, am now running two copies of Photoshop.]
[...] when it comes to slicing a design, ImageReady was the best. It's slice sets were genius. I dig fireworks, and have no problem using it, but if it's not going to read my PSD with [...original] alterations, it's useless.
If anyone has any idea on how I can adjust my workflow to try and overcome this frustration, I'd appreciate it. Until I figure something out, I'll be using ImageReady CS2 for web graphic optimization.
d. Finally, here is one metric ton of rapid-fire film reviews. Enjoy. ;)
Sicko A- I wish Michael Moore would not be so melodramatically dichotomous when delivering his facts. For instance, even though Canada and the UK are much nicer places to live in, than the US, both are far from the medical paradises that Moore depicts them to be. Overall, though, the film is a shocking eye-opener, and it is effective at what it sets out to accomplish.
Die Hard 1 B+ As always, this is 80s action fun at its best, even though it's somewhat rough around the edges.
Die Hard 2 B- Ditto. This one is set in the 90s and is not as clever as its prequel.
Die Hard 3: With a Vengeance B- Though well-written and well-executed, the film loses momentum in the third act.
Loaded Weapon 1 C+ This is a clever, well-performed parody of action film clichés with a long list of celebrity cameos. 'Nuff said.
Blood Diamond C+ This film is, essentially, a half-assed story that uses actors of mismatched strengths. Djimon Hounsou quietly carries the entire show on his shoulders, while Leonardo DiCaprio struggles to act in a serious, adult role, while his voice and mannerism are still teenager-ish, somehow. What Jennifer Connelly was doing in this train wreck, we will never know.
Catch a Fire B- This is a far more effective African film than Blood Diamond, but in this case Derek Luke, the protagonist, cannot pull off the rebel/revolutionary on par with Tim Robbins's apartheid-era white cop; he's just too much of a nice guy. In the end, though, the story feels athentic and satisfying.
Me la debes [You Owe me One] B+ Apparently released as a bonus for Y tu mamá también, this short film is a look at the hilariously-unlikely and tangled love affairs within a seemingly-ordinary, middle-class Spanish family.
Outlaw C- This is a confused and poorly-written excuse for a British vigilante film, with enough shaky motion to give you a headache and with Sean Bean wasted on yet another inexplicably bad role.
Солярис [Solyaris] Solid A. This is a film that needs no justifications, although I have to add that, this time around, I have a newfound appreciation for the long car-ride scenes that Tatrkovsky shot in Japan.
Blue Thunder B- Mhumm. This time around, the film turned out to be not as cool as I remembered it from my childhood. In the end, Roy Scheider is a hack and casting him against Malcolm McDowell, well, what the fuck?
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema B+ Slavoj Žižek, a Slovenian philosopher, lectures on the (apparently Lacanian) psychology of cinema for two hours and a half, touching on everything between City Lights and The Matrix. It's not for everyone, but if you're into this sort of thing, you just might enjoy yourself and dicover a few films worth seeing along the way, as I did.
Barry Lyndon A Some say that this is the most authentic period piece around. Others marvel at Kubrick's revolutionary use of "three f/0.70 lenses developed by Zeiss for NASA" (Wikipedia) to shoot a number of very effective candle-lit scenes. Ultimately, regardless of whether you will value the film for its narrative, cinematogrpahic or technical aspects, Barry Lyndon is a magnificent cinematic masterpiece.
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse [The Testament of Dr. Mabuse] A
This is one of Fritz Lang's most mature works, made on the verge of his escape from Nazi Germany. The Testament contains the roots of film noir and the modern detective thriller, but even more so, it is effective on the psychological level, in its most minute narrative subtleties:
The film is a sophisticated work, and the best known movie in the series. It was only Lang's second sound film (the first being M) but its use of sound was highly advanced; a repeated motif in the film is sound that is misidentified by either the characters or the audience (a pocketwatch spring unwinding, intended to simulate a telephone's ring; a gunshot masked by the sound of car horns; a ticking that seems to be a bomb until we see the spoon tapping on an eggshell). It's a motif that fits neatly in with a larger theme of unsuccessful communication of all kinds. (Wikipedia)However, The Testament is not entirely bourgeois in its artistry. As Rosabel, an IMDb reviewer, writes,
[...] The negative reaction of the Nazi government to [...the] story[,] of a criminal mastermind destabilizing society through terror crimes[,] prompted Lang to leave the country for his own safety. The parallels between the film, with its plot of a hidden criminal psychopath issuing orders to his followers to carry out acts of industrial sabotage, currency forging and other attacks on the public safety, and the Nazis' thuggish tactics in seizing power in Germany, make for an interesting subtext.The Testament is brilliant both in terms of its narrative and technical finesse, but, in Rosabel's words, "the conclusion of the film is a slightly ambiguous one, as evil is not overcome by good, but instead collapses under the weight of its own insanity." Either way, The Testament will feel you satisfied.
Colour Me Kubrick C+ "The true story of a man [played by John Malkovich] who posed as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut [sic], despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him" (IMDb). Ho-hum.
Mulholland Dr. As always, this is a straight-A, rock-solid mindfuck, courtesy of David Lynch. To say any more would ruin it.
Lost Highway I give this film a straight B for what, in all fairness, is Lynch's study for Mulholland Dr.. It is much harsher than the latter film, but it definitely has its moments.
that's a lot of movies. While on a David Lynch kick, have you seen Wild at Heart? Love it! Well just that Nicolas Cage dances on a car, and speaks like Elvis... again. Actually, love it is a strong statement, i loved those parts. that was all.
Blood Diamond I would agree. It was a mainstream public service announcement for stuff that anyone with half a mind probably already knew regarding diamonds. Or maybe I hang out with too many conspiracy lovers. And Jennifer Connelly (sp?) blows another performance. Sunrise, sunset.
Yes, that is, indeed, a shitload of movies. ;) Anyways, it's funny you should mention Wild at Heart, since I am actually downloading it right now; I heard it was pretty good.
Also, I wholeheartedly agree with you, with regard to Blood Diamond, but I am a little bit confused - what do conspiracy theories have anything to do with it? At any rate, Connelly was pretty good in Requiem for a Dream...and Dark City (one of my most favourite films), but I guess you're right: she never grew too much as an actress, either.
So tell me, my friend, what good films have you seen recently?
Sesame street: elmocize.
Two thumbs way way up. I'm all set to be tickled now. :)
Eh? Getting nostalgic for your childhood? I used to watch a re-tooled version of "Sesame Street" in Hebrew in the mid-1990s myself.
P.S. I'll tickle you any day of the week! All you've got to do is ask. ;)
:) naw. just messing with you. well no i saw it with some kids in the familia. :)
i have the new tickle me elmo. its freaky!!!
Kids, eh? Where are you right now, anyway? ...and Tickle Me Elmo, heh. Does it moan and say "don't stop"? ;)
um... im in a similar time zone. *nods* yeah... actually I think it might.
so does the tickle me MLP for that matter. ;)
I wasn't all that impressed by her in Requiem, although I think that may be one of the best movies i've ever seen. A++ because not many movies will actually intrigue me enough to watch more than once, and this one does, although i'm in a funk for a couple days after watching it.
Movies seen recently: Serenity... finally. Great movie. Finally saw Taxi Driver and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Event Horizon is another classic, and that inspired me to see Fire in the Sky, which is all in preparation to see Sunshine (which i have since heard is a garbage, but i don't really listen to critics because they're all pompous asses.
Speakin' of, what do you use to dl? as in what client and what sites do you use? also have you heard any good music recently?
MLP: You tease me, young miss. Would you like to come up to my apartment for a cup of coffee and a discussion of your...stuffed toys? ;)
Paulx: Mhumm. Good films are like good wine to me; I can drink them in over and over and over again. Something like Glengarry Glen Ross can be the height of mental ecstasy for me...well, in terms of film, anyway.
Regardless, yes, the funk doth, indeed, affect the mind at times. cf. American Beauty, Brazil and Pleasantville, in my case.
Serenity = meh; really. Taxi Driver...how do I keep missing out on it? One Flew = very, very yes. It's a little sad to think that Jack Nicholson used to be a real actor, before it all went to his head. Event Horizon...ah, yes, that was bullshit extraordinaire; classic - how? Not that I don't remember it, but I just did a little search on mig81.com; on May 14, 2004, I gave it a C- and wrote that it is "a good idea that gets old and bad at the speed of light." I trust myself in these matters, heh. Anyways, Fire in the Sky (I almost typed "Fire in the Skype," heh) actually seems like shit and you have to specify to which Sunshine you are referring to, because there are more than one, apparently. As for film critics, they are, indeed, the highest order of the asshole genus, but so am I. Caveat emptor. ;)
I used to use Azureus, which is a damn good program (but which also eats a shitload of memory). Now I use μTorrent, which is pretty damn good, only my browser loses connectivity to the Internet every once in a while and I can't figure out if μTorrent is doing it, or whether this is WinVista reacting to it, somehow. Also, my (soon to be lost *cry*) fibre optic connection uses a very prissy, all-Japanese authentication application, so who the fuck knows, right?
At any rate, here are some of the sites I use: Deadfrog, Demonoid, Empornium, isoHunt, Mininova, The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, Scarywater, AnimeYume, BoxTorrents, AnimeSuki, BoxTorrents and TorrentSpy. I'm too lazy to link them all up, so...Google to the rescue!
Anyways, when you're searching for shit, you have to be careful, patient and thorough. Keep in mind that each site is best suited for a specific purpose. Deadfrog is best for hentai anime and manga; Demonoid (membership required) is best for top-notch, hi-res movie releases and music discographies (why get an album when you can get an artist's entire body of work all at once?); Empornium (membership required) is, well, pretty self-explanatory; isoHunt indexes other sites, but it has rare torrents sometimes; Mininova and The Pirate Bay have very strong trackers and long-lived torrents; Torrentz is a great open site indexer; ScaryWater, AnimeYume, BoxTorrents, AnimeSuki and BoxTorrents are mostly animé and OST sites; finally, TorrentSpy has rare torrents, every once in a while.
Mhumm. Good music... Well, how about i don't know what i'm doing by Brad Sucks (free to download), the Erotic Lounge Series, Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem, a little bit of Matthew Good Band nostalgia here and there, Mika's weird Life in Cartoon Motion, Pizzicatto Five and, for dessert, mhumm...Angelo Badalamenti (David Lynch's composer).
I dunno why, i liked Serenity. good enough for me. and Fire in the Sky and Event Horizon I found to be good horrors, although i admit not nearly exorcist horrorterrific though, but good enough to make me turn on the lights.
Sunshine is new, been in theatres for what must be six months now, but only finally reaching canada this friday. It's about this crew that leaves earth with a bomb to reignite the Sun and thus save earth from nuclear winter. I've heard the arrogant internet pricks say it's bad, i've heard the arrogant internet pricks say it's good. Eventually, i'll be in a city with a theatre, and maybe, just maybe, it'll still be in theatres.
Yeah, I use utorrent as well, but I'm not sure what is causing your connection loss. I certainly don't have that problem, never have. Peerguardian definitely disagrees with utorrent though. You've tried checking your router/hub to see that those ports aren't blocked and may cause some disconnection or something (i really have no idea if that can even do that though).
I've been looking for a good place to get music, and find isohunt and piratebay to be best, but i was hoping for something super solid for music. ah wails. thanks anyways.
Hey, man, "meh" ≠ "bad"! Meh is meh: "nothing special." Frankly, I liked "Firefly" more; I wish they hadn't killed, it so that the writers would have a chance to develop the story and characters more. Now, Event Horizon is a piece of shit by any measure; I won't back down on this one. ;)
Reignite the sun? It's not another The Core, is it? I actually had a prof show the former film to us, just to point out everything that's wrong with it (I mean, aside from the atrocious acting, heh). Don't get me wrong, though; I'm not completely against apocalyptic trash-films (I did like Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow, despite the terrible aspects of both films).
Bah, I'll sort out my connectivity problems later; I'm too busy to sit down and tweak Windows right now. I'm not connecting through a hub or router, since my current connection goes straight to the fibre optic box outside my apartment. This is clearly something to do with the software side of things.
At any rate - back to your music-finding problem: you speak too generally, sir. Finding good music (just like anything else) is a painstaking process, requiring a lot of patience. Don't be naïve my friend; there is no single, secret "super solid," source for newest MP3s right now. This is not the early 2000s, when we all had FTP servers and chased the holy grails of upload/download ratios and passwords; gone, too, are the days of eDonkey, eMule and all that other crap.
This is the era of Bittorrent, a hit-and-run sort of operation, overall - hence the variety of websites, each suited for a particular purpose. Tell me what exactly you are looking for and I will give you some leads, eh? ;)