Movies: April 2005 Archives
With the advent of QuickTime 7, Apple has made the Serenity trailer available in High Definition. Here is a direct-download link to a 108Mb zip file (138Mb unzipped). This file is pretty amazing. The resolution of the movie is 1920x816. The display on my 15" PowerBook is only 1280x854 -- so I can't even fit the movie on my display at full size!
Even if I could, my puny 1.25Ghz G4 can't even play the movie at full frame rate. In fact, I only get something like 3-10 FPS. Apple recommends a G5, and I can definitely see why.
Still, just looking at individual frames -- it looks amazing in HD. The special effects, whicih looked great in lo-def, hold up in HD. So, they should really impress when seen on the big screen.
I have watched the Serenity trailer every day since it hit the 'net. Man, am I salivating over this movie.
-Andy.
I went and saw the new "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" movie with Mike and Pratima this evening. It was crazy-crowded (Silicon Valley is nerd-central, after all). Pratima bought the tickets online (sparing us from one line), but there was still a crazy-long line to get into the theatre. We got there over a half hour before show time, and the line stretched around the building.
Even though the line was terribly long, we still got pretty decent seats. The movie itself was only okay -- it didn't knock my socks off, but it didn't bore me to tears either. I think that I was expecting it to be funnier. There were quite a few funny parts, but I felt like there was more too it than what I saw. I guess I should read the book if I want the full scoop...
-Andy.
I drove up to Berkeley after work today to see "Kung Fu Hustle" with Mike. Totally amazingly awesome flick. The kung fu action doesn't disappoint (of course), but what really sets this movie apart is its sense of humor and whimsy. Highly recommended.
-Andy.
I drove up to Emeryville last night after work, and finally managed to see "Sin City". I went with Mike along with his office mate and office mate's girlfriend. On the whole, the movie was quite good -- everything that I hoped it would be. Even though I have never read "Sin City", that doesn't mean that I haven't always wanted to read it. From what I can tell, Robert Rodriguez really captured the look and feel of the comic with this film. But what was most intriguing, were the themes of the movie beyond the epic violence.
All of the hero-types of the movie were rebels -- people who didn't fit in to the masses-controlling structures like church/government/mob/etc. That viewpoint definitely stood out, when I reflected upon the movie. I'm still piecing together what the movie was trying to say about love. It seems like that emotion popped up at odd times, and in odd dynamics. One of the points was that loving someone isn't necessarily about passion, it can just be caring for someone, in whatever way that takes place.
Anyways, if you're down with overly violent movies, then this one certainly comes recommended.
-Andy.
