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Cryptographers on DRM: "design for failure." by TDavid |
Speaking on the RSA conference panel Hollywood's Last Chance - Getting it Right on Digital Piracy, Carter Laren, security architect at Cryptographic Research, noted that cryptography is "good at some problems, such as transmitting data so it can't be eavesdropped or even authentication, but it can't solve the content protection problem. If people have legitimate access to content, then you can't stop them misusing it.Who wants to wager that Hollywood and the RIAA still won't get it? DRM is broken in the sense that customers do not like being jailed; they want freedom for the music and movies that they purchase. Some are saying that it's just a matter of time before some teenage hacker cracks the current DRM schemes and then the cat and mouse game will begin anew. Solutions?
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Catwoman claws to the top in the 25th annual Razzies by TDavid |
Nominations for the 25th annual Razzies, which honor the worst films of the year, were announced on Monday with "Catwoman," the Halle Berry box office bomb, besting "Alexander," Oliver Stone's much maligned tale of the bleached blond conqueror, by seven nominations to six.Has Oliver Stone lost his luster?
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Ad overdose before movies start by TDavid |
Yeah, yeah, I know why, it's the same reason TiVo wants to mess around with ads during fast forward.
The number of advertisements that show before a movie begins has been growing over time. People joke about how the actual movie doesn't start until half an hour after the official time -- leading some people to simply show up late, knowing they won't actually be missing anythingWe've been late to our last few movie experiences. Used to want to always be there on time, but not any more. If it wasn't for movie popcorn and the outside entertainment aspect (as a family or couple), we probably would never go to the theater any more.
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Bitten by 10 hours of Spider-man 2 DVD extras by TDavid |
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Titanic wreck faces worst danger than decay: man by TDavid |
Visitors wanting to see or salvage the world's most famous shipwreck may be finishing off what an iceberg did to the Titanic 92 years ago, according to one of the marine explorers who found the ship's watery grave.I'm fascinated by Titanic and found the movie to be one of the biggest surprises that I've ever seen. I totally expected it to suck, I mean, we already know what happens to most of the people who rode that ship ... but what a wonderful surprise. I wasn't the only one though, who made it the bestselling movie of all time. I wonder how or the Titanic perfume is doing?
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Review: Polar Express by TDavid |
It's about a boy who gets on a train that rides to North Pole and Santa picks out a toy for each child. It is centered around the concept of believing which is something that sooner or later, people grow up and lose when it comes to the magic of Christmas. It is based largely on the 32-page children's picture book by Chis Van Allsburg, but obviously content had to be added by Back To The Future director Robert Zemeckis to fill a full-length movie. Along the way there is some great animation which sometimes made this viewer think he was not watching a cartoon. There's a scene where the train is going up and down a steep incline and it is almost like you are on a roller coaster which some other pessimistic reviewers are calling cheap video game tricks, but I liked these parts of the film. Tom Hanks is the voice for multiple characters, including the narrator, and he does a good job voice acting with a storyline that is intentionally simplistic.
Warner Bros.' big-budget movie for children, "The Polar Express," pulled into theaters on Wednesday with a load of mixed reviews, ranging from praise for an instant holiday classic to jeers for a huge disappointment. The computer-animated movie, which reportedly cost about $270 million to make and market, is a major financial risk for the studio and a creative risk for the new "performance capture" technology used to make it.Our youngest child enjoyed this movie (age 11) but it didn't get rave reviews from our 14 year old or 13 year old, the older of which saw some teen girls he knew from school in the theater and seemed ashamed to admit he was at this movie with his family. Incidentally, I don't blame him for his embarassment. After Polar Express we went to eat at the Olive Garden, good food, mmm.
Overall, I'd say Polar Express is good for younger children as there is a sweet, although somewhat cliched Christmas oriented plotline and the overall visuals reminded me a bit of The Nightmare Before Christmas and I'm not sure if the 280+ million dollars was worth it. I can't bag too much on holiday family films like this without feeling a bit Scrooge-like, so I'll just go up the middle with this rating (yeah, the coward's way out as a reviewer, I know, but I enjoy Christmas time and snow and giving presents -- la, la, la!). As of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 62% and is giving another animated film: The Incredibles a much higher rating. Polar Express is a film that will look and play as cool as a snowy evening on a progressive scan DVD player and you may want to wait for it for a Christmas release because I don't think it will last that long in theaters. This might explain why they released it so early, so that if it did indeed tank in the theaters then they could rush it out there as a DVD right at Christmas time to help recover the expensive production. Grade: C.
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Research shows its the end that justify the means in horror flicks by TDavid |
Glenn Sparks, a Purdue University professor, said the euphoria people feel when the credits roll or they finally leave a house of horrors is what keeps them coming back even if they absolutely hated the experience.I'm still trying to decide if Monday I'll start writing fiction again for the first time since 1998 in the 50,000 word challenge during National Writing Month. I was originally planning on doing it, but with non-fiction and upon closer inspection, I realized non-fiction didn't fall within the challenge guidelines.
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Twilight Zone take three: Forest Whitaker is definitely no Rod Serling by TDavid |
Woefully miscast as the series' host, Forest Whitaker delivers facile introductions devoid of Serling's literary finesse.I'm only a few stories into watching the 44 episode set and I'm already tired of Whitaker. I was so excited when I saw this DVD set at Best Buy that it wa an immediate buy. Since I haven't followed TV that much the last few years I was totally unaware that there was a new Twilight Zone. One of the coolest things about the Twilight Zone is the famous twists. The part at the very end where you think you know how it is going to end and get turned the other way. That's a formula I don't think I'll ever tire of.
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Christopher Reeve AKA "Superman" Dies at 52 by TDavid |
The man who soared to fame as the star of the Superman films and was grounded by a paralyzing accident in mid career has died at the age of 52.It's my understanding that there might be another Superman film and I sure hope whoever they get to play Superman doesn't suck. Reeve made me believe that he really could fly. R.I.P Mr. Reeve. Below you'll find a screenshot of the amp I made, which as soon as they fix their server issues I can (hopefully) link up and share with you.
What other bloggers are saying:
Digger's Realm: "Such a tragic end to a guy who had everything. Looks, money and a successful career came to a halt with one fall from a horse."
No Math: "He never gave up on life despite his injuries. He really was, I have to say it, a super man."
Outwit, Outblog, Outsnark: "Most people will tell you their favorite memory of him was as Superman, but my favorite movie of his was Somewhere in Time. I’m a romantic shmuck and the thought of him, a rather towering figure, reduced to a man desperate to be with the woman he loved…well…powerful stuff."
Wicked Muse: "So, I'm sitting here at work (taking a short break to post this), plowing through work when a co-worker comes by and says, "Hey, Superman died." "No way! BS!"
Unfogged: "He was inspiring, and his death is the more sad because one sensed that he really did have hope, and believed that his determination could help him be cured."
Prototype Creative: "i, and no doubt most of the world, believed if anyone could heal and come back from paralysis from a broken neck it would have been him."
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Rodney Dangerfield dies at 82 by TDavid |
Rodney Dangerfield, the comic who got laughs out of getting no respect, died Tuesday.Rest In Peace, Rodney. You made many, many people laugh and that's a commodity that seems to be in short supply sometimes.
| MARVEL, SPIDER-MAN, DOCTOR OCTOPUS and all MARVEL character names and distinctive likenesses thereof: TM & © 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. MARVEL and SPIDER-MAN: Trademarks registered in the USA and certain other countries. © 2003 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved. |