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Tags: cdwow, Film, Hugh Jackman, lord of the rings, million dollar baby, movie, real steel, rocky, sound, soundtrack
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Want to watch your dreams?

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Before and after

It sounds crazy, but it just might happen! Berkeley University has come up with a technology that can create images of what the brain sees. Using ‘functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)’ they can read the reactions to the brain. Read the full story here, or watch their findings here:

I’ve always dreamed of watching my dreams, and soon enough I could watch that Inception-worthy concept! While it’s nowhere near that capacity, it’s marvels of science such as this one that gets the imagination flowing.

Who knows, maybe we can record our imagination to explain movie concepts! It would’ve certainly shortened J.R.R. Tolkien’s books if he could just show them to you.

More importantly though it could help people with speaking problems, and those unable to physically move to speak.

Imagine all the money people could save on psychiatrists! Or better yet, recording an embarassing dream and bringing it out on your friend’s wedding night (you’d be a terrible friend, but it should be a great video).

Of course it all leads into the negative sides of this technology. Dreams are sacred videos of the deepest recesses of our mind. Unholy thoughts are kept well hidden from public knowledge (says someone who used to love Will Smith’s ‘Getting Jiggy With It’).

Could it be something similar to Total Recall, perhaps? If they can learn how the mind visualises, they can play it backwards. That’d be dangerous if used in certain ways.

What if your loved one caught a glimpse of what you were dreaming? That person you swore has nothing to do with who you really love could then become a non-existent enemy. But look on the bright side ladies -- At least men’ll know what you’re thinking now.

Or is that a good thing?

What do you reckon is the best or worth to come from this possible technology?

Tags: activity, Berkeley University, brain, cdwow, future, movie, technology, video
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Recycling and Reusing for the Future

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Recycling for the Future

*Captured from YouTube*

For those who rushed out to see Michael Bay’s latest Transformers film Transformers: Dark of the Moon got no doubt a couple hours of action-packed scenes and not much else.

And why would someone wanting action expect anything else, like storyline or acting?

Shia LeBeouf has been given more of a focus in the third film, and that fights for the side of humans to not be replaced by robots in every movie. That’s fantastic for him, but this relates to a different issue.

When spending millions of dollars on expensive stunts for a film, that golden shot where the car blows up or the house falls apart is golden. So golden, it becomes something of a cherished piece.

If you had read a book and found it to be so amazing you wanted it to somehow be in another book just so you could read it again, it wouldn’t have the same effect as before.

A video that has popped online comparing two clips from Transformers 3 to Michael Bay’s 2005 action film The Island (not sure how long the clip will be around for):

As you can see, footage has been recycled and reused six years later. This cost-cutting procedure seems to make heaps of sense (and cents) in the editing room, but is it a good idea?

Michael Bay was caught out doing this before with Pearl Harbor and the first Transformers. This recycling of material in different films can be missed by those who do not possess an incredibly large photographic memory, but when someone points it out, it becomes a concern.

Personally I would not have noticed, and I do apologize for those heading out to see the film and see that one scene, but I’m not on the completely negative side here.

Think of the potential here. We could take Shia LeBeouf from his Transformers work, and put him in Terminator 3. All that yelling and talking about machines could be put to good use!

We could grab the scenes from all of our Hollywood films, stick them all together, and have Darth Vader fighting Qui-Gon Jinn, Rocky beating himself up (or Rambo shooting it out with Rambo II and III), and even the most epic shooting scene with Heat, Scarface, The Matrix and The Killer.

We’ve seen remakes of films, but what about mash-ups? Hollywood…your turn.

Tags: dark, Film, michael bay, moon, movie, pearl harbor, shia lebeouf, Transformers
Posted in Film, Funny Stuff!, movies | Comments Off

How long can you talk on the phone?

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Oh the things Beyonce would tell her...

An American woman was arrested last week on a train after talking on her phone for sixteen hours.

Just think about that for a second. How long have you talked on the phone before? My record was seven, but I mean this was in between doing things, sighing, and repeating the stories, but realising how tired we were not long ago for repeating said story hours before.

She was apparently a “loud talker”, and during the long train ride from California to Oregon she refused to quieten down. But she was talking longer than a viewing of Titanic! She chatted longer than the whole extended version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Actually, let me write this down. She spoke for 960 minutes, which is the equivalent of:

*Big Bang Theory season 1 and season 2 back to front, and 26.27% of season 3.
*Watching the Titanic sink five times (and almost seeing Leo DiCaprio die five times).
*Listening to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way album almost 16 times in a row, or listen to The Fame, The Fame Monster and Born This Way six times through, then halfway through it again (but would you?).
*Watching the entire extended version of Lord of the Rings trilogy, then flying from Sydney, Australia to Auckland in New Zealand, then back again.
*Watching the complete saga of Star Wars films, then watching Avatar (too many aliens!).
*Watching Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, then spending 4.7 hours asking yourself why you watched the last three.

It’s a long time when you think about it.

Tags: album, alien, born this way, cdwow, Film, Lady Gaga, lord of the rings, movie, music, predator, Star Wars, the fame
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Seagal packs a crunch

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Here he is breaking the Da Vinci code.

Oh what a glorious sight to see Steven Seagal breaking bones in his action films.

It’s those moments when you buy those 8 DVD packs that you can grab a couple of friends around, load up the fridge, and watch action films that make you laugh for all the wrong reasons.

Making the sound effects for breaking bones sounds more like people chewing on carrots and breaking celery, which gives you a pretty clear indication why kids don’t eat their vegetables – it reminds them of when they broke their finger on the swing set.

Crunch.

The film buffs responsible for ‘Every Arnold Scream From Every Arnold Movie’ and ‘Cinema’s Abused Dwarfs’ put together a video containing every bone that Steven Seagal has ever broken. Foolish ol’ me guessed it would be thirty, but I was way off before half the video finished.

Imagine a script reading for Steven and a director:

Director: “SO you’re going to take down the bodyguard at-”
Steven Seagal: “And break his arm?”
D: “Well, no I was thinking maybe punch him or someth-”
S: “I could break his nose?”
D: “I guess, but does it have to be breaking?”
S: “………yes.”

I suggest you check out the video here, then scoop up some Seagal action packs here and here.

Tags: action, bones, break, cdwow, Film, movie, stephen seagal
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Peter Jackson’s back in Hobbiton

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Lookin' good Pete!

Peter Jackson might be a name that still resonates when you hear it, but it used to be someone I was a keen follower on.

Step back in time for when the first Lord of the Rings was released. Remember the amazing special effects, beautiful cinematography and pure orchestrated soundtrack that immediately took you somewhere else?

I was infatuated with the film. So much so, I even attempted to read the books, just so I could find out what happened next. I didn’t end up reading past the second party the hobbits had. Amazing detail in those books, but wow it was real deep on small details.

When the second film came out, again it was a flurry of internet websites reading every production note, and hunting for DVD extras behind the scenes.

The Hobbit has started filming this week. Lord of the Rings was an amazing trilogy and after King Kong, most were expecting Jackson to fade into the darkness, never to pop up again.

But as a talented director – demonstrated by his earlier work – it wasn’t his time to finish. Sure, it’s back to the world of Tolkien, but if anyone was going to do The Hobbit, it would be he.

Fighting months of delays, it’s back in the works, and this may be the only project I’m looking forward to for a secure endpiece.

That, and the motion-capture Tin Tin film.

Was anyone as big a LotR fan as I?

Tags: bilbo baggins, cdwow, Film, hobbit, lord of the rings, lotr, movie, peter jackson
Posted in Current Affairs, Film, movies | 2 Comments »

Noah’s Ark with buffet and swimming pool

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Oh, the memories...

I remember a time when catchphrase “Buuuuddy!” Pauly Shore was in his prime. Encino Man and Jury Duty had brought him fairly decent fame, but it was Bio-Dome that I remember him best for. Alongside pre-crazy (I think) Stephen Baldwin, they played two slackers trapped in a closed off ecological dome, and it was great.

Great in the sense that I felt dumb after watching it, so any self-loathing washed away pretty fast. Let me put it this way: Rotten Tomatoes rated it 5%.

But just when you thought that the film world couldn’t have arrived to the real world so quickly, something new approached on the horizon.

A new hotel is in the works, designed by a Russian firm with the International Union of Architects, that is a self-contained biosphere. Designed to withstand floods, it’s considered more of a reaction towards climate change and rising sea levels. With solar, thermal and wind power, as well as a rainwater collection (perfect at the start of a flood) the hotel will be able to survive.

Looks like a whale, dunnit?

Hopefully it won’t be considered as a haven for two of each kind of animal, but working in a hotel would prove to you that humans have more of an animal instinct than first thought. Considering it is a hotel, I’m sure the same events may unfold from Bio-Dome, but I hope for the world’s sake it doesn’t, because it seems pretty cool.

But at what cost? How much would it be for one of these rooms? What if your credit card runs out before the storm calms? Are you shot out of the top along with your luggage? I’m pretty sure most travel insurance states that an ‘Act of God’ will void your cover.

What kind of crazy science fiction ideas are you hoping to come out soon?

Tags: ark, bio-dome, encino man, environment, Film, hotel, jury duty, movie, pauly shore, stephen baldwin
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Pasta, Praying and Prying

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

A thesaurus has to stop at some point.

Eat, Pray, Love is ready in a week’s time, which means a perfect pre-order considering the wait for release is almost nil.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-indulgent travel plan after her messy divorce became an enlightened one.

I recently holidayed in Bali myself, and had luckily met an extremely knowledgeable young taxi driver who also worked at a restaurant. This restaurant became the caterer for the film’s cast and crew. No surprise considering the amazing food Bali can have.

But it was about Ketut Liyer, the healer in the film, that he had some juicy gossip about. “He didn’t want to be in the film, but it’s probably for the best because he says the same thing to everyone who visits him,” the driver said. He clears his throat to do an elderly voice: “Ohhh you gonna have two marriages, you’re so smart, blah blah blah”.

I found this utterly hilarious. Maybe it was jealousy that the old man could charge ten times more than usual for the same work, or that the driver heard nothing but Ketut this and Ketut that, but I could see how it would have brought about many wanna-be Gilberts that followed her journey after reading the book. What’s worse would be the aftermath of the movie, considering people don’t like reading books.

I didn’t want to try out the healer. Mostly because I didn’t want two marriages on my conscious when I’m not after the first. Though for someone whom I’ve never met to say “You’re so smart” would be nice.

Then I did a bit of research, and it turned out he was hospitalised a few months ago because of being overworked. Hotels organised tour groups to include a consultation, and he apparently worked from morning until night.

At 96 years of age, that’s a lot of work. And people complain about retiring in their 60s…

Tags: bali, book, eat pray love, elizabeth gilbert, Film, julia roberts, ketut, movie
Posted in Film, Funny Stuff!, books, movies | Comments Off

Pearl Jam gets a dose of Almost Famous

Monday, January 24th, 2011

'Ten: Remastered' - Pearl Jam

Cameron Crowe, the director who successfully made almost everyone desire to be a Rolling Stone magazine journalist after ‘Almost Famous’, is finishing up on his documentary about Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam’s history is ridiculously long, and fans from the beginning will struggle at explaining the ups and downs of their career. Most would, in their faded, hole-ridden tour shirts, throw up the horns or light up their lighter (not iPhone) in respect.

One way or another, Pearl Jam has been in your life.

It’s just one of those names you’ve heard over and over again in the music industry. Much like the reaction to a name like Led Zeppelin, if you haven’t heard their music, you’ve heard of them. And you’re in luck in this case. The band’s still together.

In fact they’re usually on tour. Over twenty years of music, and still running around on stage.

I remember seeing Pearl Jam in my home town. I had just finished listening to the Ten album for the umpteenth time, and was ready to be amazed. It was hard to comprehend a band that sounded so much better live. I also thought with the number of lighters swaying in the air that the stadium’s smoke alarm would set off, showering down on the sweaty mosh-pit fans who were singing every word harmoniously, even if frontman Eddie Vedder was two words behind.

We’ve got a large collection of their discography here, and I suggest you at least check out their release of the ‘Ten’ album. They’ve remastered the whole thing, and whacked a whole bunch more on to it (And yet, I still can’t understand half of what’s said in ‘Even Flow’…).

Tags: album, almost famous, cameron crowe, eddie vedder, even flow, Film, movie, Pearl Jam, remastered, rolling stone
Posted in Live Music, movies, music | Comments Off

How to make your own stakeout van

Monday, November 8th, 2010

I saw a white van today that resembled something like this.

Creepy.

I automatically assumed it was the police staking out the building across the road. This is the toll that countless films and television shows has had on my level of observation and apparent paranoia. But stakeout vans is where ‘it’s at. All the cool cops and undercover agents have them.

But it had some key features missing that would give it the iconic stakeout van.

First: Give your van a company. Most likely a moving company, or a pizza shop. I’ve chosen Tony’s Pizza (because I’m hungry).

"If it ain't Tonys, then you've chosen someone else!"

Second: Put a picture that says the company’s job too, just so passersby won’t read too much because of the colourful pictures. The best solution is something warm. That way, the heat radiation coming out of your vehicle could be blamed on the toasty warm pizzas that Tony himself cooked up.

It's authentic because he's smiling.

And finally to top it all off, add that strange satellite dish on top.

Why? Just because, aight?

Add a street, and viola! Your perfect hidden police surveillance van.

"Nuthin' suss...just a delivery..."

Any other movie clichés that pop into your head?