Contagion, Another Year, Black Swan and Fair Game
I watch a lot of films throughout the year but I also miss a lot of really good films. This week I’ve been trying to catch up a little, clean out the PVR, check off my Zip List, Netflix List and check out the new titles on iTunes.
Contagion (2011)
If you’ve read this blog for any period of time you’ll know that Steven Soderbergh is my favourite director. His latest thriller about a deadly virus has a stellar ensemble cast and reminded me a little of his earlier film Traffic, probably because he also shot parts of that film and Cliff Martinez provided the score as he does here.
After watching this film you will wash your hands a lot more often. You will try not to touch your face as often as you do (2-3 thousand times a day). You will agree with me that Jude Law’s fake teeth in this film are incredibly distracting and kinda funny looking.
Why didn’t Soderbergh just cast Steve Buschemi in the role of a blogger with bad teeth?
Another Year (2010)
My friend Andy, hounded me for weeks to watch this film directed by Mike Leigh. The plot on IMDB describes it as “a look at four seasons in the lives of a happily married couple and their relationships with their family and friends.” Sounds boring doesn’t it?
The family and friends of this happily married couple are some of the saddest characters you will ever meet on your LCD/LED/Plasma screen and they are fascinating. Leigh’s script was nominated for an Oscar and Lesley Manville’s performance as Mary, the wine guzzling divorcee is fantastic.
Black Swan (2010)
I’m not sure why I skipped this film last year. I loved Darren Aronofsky’s direction in The Wrestler and Natalie Portman is great in everything she does (unless George Lucas is directing her). I’m not a fan of ballet and that kept me from watching one of the best films from 2010.
Vincent Cassel is great as the outspoken artistic director. I mean who gets to talk to people like that other than Hank Moody (David Duchovny) in Californication?
Barbara Hershey spent years getting plastic surgery for her role as the creepy, controlling mother that should have been in Carrie. I found her to be much more frightening than Portman’s transformation into the Black Swan.
Fair Game (2010)
It’s no secret that Sean Penn can’t stand George Bush and the Republican Party. Making this film was his chance to speak out against the Bush administration in the guise of a slick political thriller. None of the names have been changed to protect the guilty. Cheney and his neocons are portrayed as liars hell-bent on going to war.
I knew nothing about this film before watching it and was surprised to learn that it was based on a true story. The way in which Liman ends the film is brilliant and nice done. One side note. It was really strange seeing Ty Burrell from Modern Family cast as a neighbour in a serious film like this.
Posted in Movies at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)
Stuff & Junk is Back
It’s been over a year since Lissa’s blog at stuffandjunk.com crashed and later hacked. She wanted to get back to blogging so I gave the site a quick redesign and updated her blog to Movable Type 5 is long over due.
I can’t believe she’s created 1,140 entries since 2004. Unfortunately I have to figure out a way to import them into her archives. It might be another year before that project gets completed. So if you’ve been missing her quirky sense of humour then drop by for a visit.
Posted in Blogs at 1:47 PM | Comments (1)
Save Money On Your Bell Internet Service
If you use Bell Internet service then chances are you’re getting ripped off. Bell has a nasty habit of changing their Internet packages and never telling their customers about the great savings.
In Ontario, Bell is trying to be competitive with Rogers and other ISPs. If you switch and become a Bell customer you can get some great deals on Internet service. I recently checked the new prices for some of the packages and found that they had dropped but I was still paying the old price! Bell will never tell you that you can save money by reviewing your Internet service. Why would they? Somebody has to pay for the subsidized service of their new customers.
Fibe 12
I’m using Bell’s Fibe 12 service and pay $54.95 a month. I also have to rent a Bell modem for $4.95. So for $59.90 a month I get:
- Download speeds of up to 12 Mbps
- Upload speeds of up to 1 Mbps
- 50 GB of bandwidth
When I checked the Bell website I discovered that the Fibe 12 package now costs $46.95 month and you don’t have to rent a Bell modem. According to the Bell representative that I spoke to, back in August 2011 they lowered the price and removed the mandatory modem rental. I’ve been paying an extra $12.95 per month to Bell and figure I’m out around $64.75. Unless you ask Bell to update your plan they will happily take your money. Review your internet service with Bell. Check your latest bill and find out if you’re paying too much.
I Switched To Fibe 16
I decided to move up to Bell’s Fibe 16 plan for $48.95 per month which will give me:
- Download speeds of up to 16 Mbps
- Upload speeds of up to 1 Mbps
- 65 GB of bandwidth
This is still cheaper than what I am paying now with a slower plan and I don’t have to rent a modem each month (they said they would waive the one time modem fee).
Lower Monthly Bandwidth
In the last 3 days, Bell has reduced the monthly bandwidth limits with each of their packages. The Fibe 12 package now allows only 40 GB per month of uploads/downloads. It used to be 50 GB per month.
The Fibe 16 package allowed 75 GB per month when I signed up earlier in the week. It now shows as being 65 GB per month! Crafty buggers. For an additional $5/month you can order what Bell calls usage insurance – 40 GB of additional bandwidth.
So a Fibe 16 package with usage insurance would cost $53.95 per month and give you a download cap of 105 GB. If you go over that limit then you pay $1/GB extra. Criminal.
Check your Internet service package with Bell Canada. Review it and make sure you’re not paying too much because Bell won’t tell you this. They’re too busy trying to figure out how they can squeeze more money out of their customers. Their new strategy seems to be: increase the download speeds and reduce the monthly bandwidth caps.
Posted in Technology at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
Claudine Kerr Remembered
Ten years ago on January 2 my mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. The years have flown by but it still feels like yesterday when I showed this video at her funeral to celebrate her life.
I had a few days to scan the images and animate them in Adobe After Effects. The first time I heard Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World was on the television show Party Of Five in 1998. Since then it has been used in a number of films — Meet Joe Black, Finding Forrester and 50 First Dates.
I posted the video on Facebook and it was nice to see that so many friends and family have fond memories of her and miss her as well.
Posted in Mom at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
What I’ve Been Watching
It’s been a busy year at JAK Media but I always find time to watch television and movies (instead of sleeping). The screeners and Zip.ca discs have been piling up while the PVR has been running out of storage. Here’s a quick look at what I’ve been watching in the last couple of months.
Armadillo (2010)
This is a great war doc that follows a Danish platoon for 6 months in Afghanistan. The camera work is beautiful and the unlimited access on the front lines creates some incredible tension at times. It doesn’t hurt that the film created controversy around the alleged “liquidation” of Taliban forces by the Danes during combat.
Homeland (TV Series 2011)
Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis provided the best spy drama on television since Rubicon. Season one (12 episodes) ended a couple of weeks ago and the show was just nominated for a bunch of Golden Globes – best drama, best actor, best actress. Season two returns to Showtime in 2012. Official website
Boss (TV Series 2011)
I was a little skeptical until halfway through the first episode when Kelsey Grammer explodes with anger as Tom Kane, mayor of Chicago. The season finale was a tour de force and one of the best hours of television this year. Gus Van Sant is a series producer an directs a number of episodes. The series received Golden Globe nominations for best drama and best actor (Grammer). Unfortunately it only airs on STARZ in the US. Official website
Limitless (2011)
Bradley Cooper plays a struggling NY writer that comes across a mind expanding drug that gives him limitless possibilities on Wall Street. I found it entertaining and noticed that the film made it onto a few critics’ top 10 lists.
Revanche (2008)
This might be the best foreign film that I saw this year. Goëtz Spielmann directs a superb cast in this tragic thriller set in Vienna. Nominated for an Oscar – best foreign film.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
It was nice to see Michael Douglas reprise his role as Gordon Gekko but this sequel doesn’t measure up to the original. I didn’t like Shia LaBeouf’s character but was pleased to hear a soundtrack but David Byrne and Brian Eno. Worst cameo – Oliver Stone. Best cameo – Charlie Sheen.
Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
What a great film! This doc about veteran New York City fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham will put a smile on your face. Cunningham at the age of 80 has the energy and enthusiasm of someone half his age. He’s also a bit of a mystery which adds to the appeal of this film.
The Goonies (1985)
I know. I’m all over the map here. This one was sitting on the PVR for months and I hadn’t seen the original in over 20 years. It was interesting to watch Josh Brolin in his first film but this movie and the video game was much better when I was 13 years old.
Battle Los Angeles (2011)
I thought this might be half decent for the special effects alone but no, it was pretty lame. Aaron Eckhart serves up some of the cheesiest dialogue of the year and guess what? The aliens lose this time but just barely. Phew! There, I just save you 116 minutes.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)
I didn’t grow up with The Beatles and the George Harrison tunes in my iTunes library were difficult to find. After watching Martin Scorsese’s doc for almost four hours I can now say that I’m a fan and George is in my regular playlist.
Drive Angry (2011)
I am a complete sucker for Nic Cage movies and if you like campy over-acting then this film delivers but it is William Fichtner that steals several scenes with the quirkiest performance of the year as The Accountant. Don’t ask.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
I still regret that I didn’t see this Werner Herzog documentary in its 3D glory. After watching it on Blu-ray I’m even more disappointed. The Chauvet caves in southern France are interesting subject but I expected the Herzog magic to take this film to the next level.
Food, Inc. (2008)
I wasn’t expecting much from this doc so I was very impressed at how disturbed I was at the content. It’ hard to believe how manufactured our food is and how much control a handful of companies have over our food supply. Everyone should watch this film.
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
I’m embarrassed to say that I watched this entire film. I can’t believe they made another one that is in theatres right now. I was looking for a mindless comedy and well, this fits the bill all too well. Do not watch.
Mesrine: Part 1 Killer Instinct (2008)
This is an interesting period drama about French gangster Jacques Mesrine played by Vincent Cassel. Part of the film takes place in Montreal during the 1970s. Now I have to track down Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1.
Posted in Movies at 7:53 PM | Comments (2)
iNet for Network Monitoring on your Mac
I wanted to find out how many devices were on my home network and quickly came across iNet from BananaGlue. I just hooked up a new AppleTV and wanted to get an idea of the activity on my network and if it might interfere with video streaming to my downstairs TV.
The interface for iNet is great and quickly told me how may clients were on my network which was a lot more than I suspected – iPhone, iPad, 2 laptops, iPod, PS3 a couple of desktop computers, and 2 routers. As long as I’m not doing a downloading a huge software update then my home network seems to run pretty accommodate everyone. If things slow down then I can launch iNet and figure out where my network might be bogged down.
Posted in OS X Software at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
National Post Photo Gaffe
I did a double take when I saw the accompanying photo for a story in The National Post – Computers of law firms in Potash deal attacked. Is that a photo of an Apple PowerBook G3 Series laptop from 1998?
The caption below the photo says “Hackers can use a laptop and wireless phone connection from their car to intercept a company’s data”. While I don’t disagree with the caption I find it hard to believe that Chinese hackers are using 13-year-old laptops!
The National Post photo editor assigned to this story probably didn’t think anyone would notice if they used an old file photo from 1998 for this story in 2011. This makes the paper look lazy and amateurish. The online version of this story uses a much more appropriate image so I can’t be the first person to notice this gaffe.
Posted in News at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
Rethinking Zip.ca
Last month I received an email from Zip.ca that announced they were raising their prices and making some changes to their offerings that will improve their service. For example on most plans they will start charging a $1 fee for every Blu-ray title. Uh-oh!
I’m currently using their 2 DVD Unlimited plan for $19.95 – 2 DVDs out at a time with unlimited shipments/month. If I want to rent a Blu-ray they will charge an additional $1 each time. Any time a company raises their rates you have to review their service.
Zip.ca has a great library but I almost never receive the DVDs I want when I want them. I put films on my ZipList queue and months go by. I just checked my list and removed 7 movies that I’ve watched on satellite TV – Casino Jack, The Mechanic, 44 Inch Chest and Bronson.
Half the time I get their discs and they sit on my desk for weeks before I get around to watching them. Lately I’ve been “backing up” the DVDs to my computer so I can watch the films later if I know I won’t have time. For now I’m going to remove all of the Blu-ray titles off my ZipList so I don’t get billed extra each month.
I have so many unwatched movies on my shelf that it is getting harder to justify spending $240/year on films I might watch from Zip.ca. I attend some film festivals for free and often get screeners for review. Throw in the odd film I purchase from Amazon or the films sitting on my PVR and I probably have 50-75 films waiting to be watched!
Where am I going to find 100 hours to watch movies in the next couple of monhts? And you thought you had problems.
Posted in Movies at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)
Vivian Maier
I was looking through the latest issue of Lenswork magazine and read a feature on photographer Vivian Maier. During her lifetime, Maier took over 100,000 photos and never published any of them.
Maier’s work was discovered by accident and has inspired a book,
Visit www.vivianmaier.com to see some of her photos.
Posted in Photography at 9:05 AM | Comments (0)
The Business of Halloween
Who knew that Halloween had become such a lucrative business? This infographic has some interesting stats on the average spending for costumes/candy/decorations.
Via: Business Credit Cards Blog
Posted in Miscellaneous at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
The Ascent of Alex Honnold
This segment on 60 Minutes blew my mind. You couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to do what this kid is doing.
Posted in Observations at 8:48 PM | Comments (2)
Lion Recovery To The Rescue
If you have a Macintosh computer and you’re not running OS X Lion you should seriously think about upgrading. Why? Read on.
I upgraded to OS X Lion when it came out and love the new features. Last night I decided run the latest Software Update for my Mac (OS X 10.7.2) because it provides support for Apple’s new iCloud service. After downloading the hefty 818.59 MB I restarted my computer and the software updater began updating my system software.
Did I mention that it was raining outside? It wasn’t raining very hard. I didn’t see any lightning or hear any thunder and thought it was a great time to update my computer. Then the power went out. The lights flickered and everything went black. The room fell silent and I screamed “Noooooo!”
After three minutes the power came back on and my Mac Pro would not start up. I watched the cursor for 5 minutes hoping that something would happen. I shut down. Restarted. Waited again. Shut down. At this point I panicked, then realized that:
- I have a Time Machine back up of my main drive.
- I have a recent SuperDuper backup of my main drive.
- I’m running OS X Lion that has a great feature called Lion Recovery which saved me hours of hassle.
I restarted my computer held down the Option key and selected the Recovery HD drive which let me completely restore my system from a Time Machine backup that took place 20 minutes before everything went dark.
In less than 90 minutes my computer was up and running again. I’m amazed at how many people don’t back up their computers. Ever. Apple has made it incredible easy to do backups of your Mac and you’re crazy if don’t take a few minutes to set this up.
I could have saved myself 90 minutes of hassle if I had some form of UPS and I used to have one. Maybe it is time to get another one. Any recommendations? What are people out there using?
Posted in OS X Software at 11:28 PM | Comments (1)
What’s New On Netflix.ca?
If you use Netflix.ca then sometimes you just want a simple list of new films and TV shows that are now available. Visit What’s New on Netflix Canada to find out. (Thanks Andy)
Posted in Movies at 5:16 PM | Comments (1)
Free Doc Screenings in Toronto
There are two free screenings of of some great documentary films tomorrow night in Toronto.
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-75, directed by Göran Hugo Olsson is showing at 6:30pm – Hart House Library, 7 Hart House Circle, University of Toronto.
Olsson compiles the undiscovered work of Swedish journalists who traveled to the United States in the late sixties to document the black power movement in America. This film was popular at Hot Docs earlier in the year and admission is free as part of the Conscious Activism Doc Series.
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson is showing at 7pm – NFB MEDIATHEQUE, 150 John Street (corner Richmond St. W).
Gunnarsson presents a biography of ideas featuring iconic Canadian scientist, educator, broadcaster and activist David Suzuki. At 73 years of age Suzuki delivered what he describes as “a last lecture – a distillation of my life and thoughts, my legacy, what I want to say before I die.â€
Posted in Movies at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
Rocky Mountain Express
When was the last time you saw an amazing IMAX film with a Canadian theme? Rocky Mountain Express tells the incredible story of how Canada’s first transcontinental railway was laid. By retracing the original route aboard a restored steam engine, locomotive 2816 takes the audience back to 1885 when Canada was trying to build the longest railway in the world through the unmapped Rocky Mountains.
Creating a transportation route that joined the east to the west was critical in terms of nation building. There were concerns that competing American railroads would move north and claim the Canadian west. A Canadian route through the Rockies was considered impossible because of avalanches, deep canyons and treacherous mountain passes.
Veteran director Stephen Low uses incredible IMAX aerial photography and breathtaking vistas to put the audience into the landscape. Through archival photos and beautifully animated 3D maps you get a sense of how difficult it was to lay each mile of track. The film doesn’t shy away from the poor treatment of Chinese and Japanese Canadians that worked in under dangerous conditions in constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
If you enjoy landscape photography as I do then you will absolutely love this film. In a Q&A with Stephen Low he revealed that the film was self-funded and took 5 years to make. At times he and his crew would wait weeks until the light was right for filming. Rocky Mountain Express is a labour of love and a pleasure to watch.
The sound design in the film is also first rate. How can you go wrong with a steam locomotive on an IMAX screen? I often felt like I was sitting beside the tracks when the train whisked by onscreen.
Train enthusiast will also love this film which goes into some detail about locomotive 2816 – CPR Empress. It’s one of only a few preserved CPR steam locomotives operating in North America today.
Rocky Mountain Express premieres at Shoppers Drug Mart OMNIMAX Theatre at the Ontario Science Centre on October 1, 2011.
Posted in Movies at 4:19 PM | Comments (1)
2011 TIFF Picks
It’s that time of year again. The Toronto International Film Festival is fast approaching. If you don’t have tickets yet then you’re too late unless you want to stand in rush lines for hours on end.
Getting tickets to TIFF is like playing the lottery. You select the films you want to watch, make some alternate choices and drop your tickets off at the box office. This year my tickets are in box 9.
On Aug 29, TIFF will select one of approximately 50 boxes in a draw to determine which tickets get processed first. Here are my primary picks:
- Paul Williams Still Alive
- Trespass
- Outside Satan
- The Woman in the Fifth
- From the Sky Down
- Killer Joe
- Page Eight
My alternate picks are:
I’m already second guessing half my selections. Do I really care what happened to Paul Williams? In the 80s I watched him in Phantom of the Paradise on City TV, more times than I care to mention. I’m curious to find out why he dropped out site.
My guilty pleasure in this list in Tresspass. I can’t pass up a Nic Cage movie, try as I may. For that matter I can’t pass up U2 doc and hope to see Davis Guggenheim’s From the Sky Down.
Does William Friedkin have any of that French Connection magic left? I’m hoping he does with Killer Joe and the killer cast he’s been given. Throw in a few European films and some more docs and I’ll be a happy camper.
Posted in 2011 TIFF at 4:31 PM | Comments (2)
Why do restaurants microwave deserts?
This is a random rant about restaurant food and microwaves. I blame chef Gordon Ramsay.
There was a story in the National Post (Eating Away at Nostalgia) about the reopening of a famous Montreal restaurant called Laurier BBQ. Gordon Ramsay took over the restaurant, renovated, made some minor changes to the menu and renamed it Laurier Gordon Ramsay. In the article Ramsay comments on the deserts served at the old Laurier BBQ:
“The mocha cake is staying,” he announced Tuesday. Just don’t bloody ask that it be heated in the microwave, as had been the custom. “From a chef’s point of view, to stick a dessert in the microwave, it hurts,” he said. “God it hurts. It’s like sticking a knife in, twisting and putting it even further.”
If your restaurant isn’t a fast food joint you should never microwave cake, pie, or any desert that is normally served warm! How is it that restaurants don’t understand this simple concept.
I once went to a restaurant in the Beach neighbourhood of Toronto called Whitlock’s Restaurant and I’ll never go back. I ordered a strawberry rhubarb pie and asked for it to be warmed up. The server returned in a few minutes. My pie tasted like sweet glue. The pastry was like rubber.
I asked the server how the pie was warmed up and he said “microwave”. This was about eight years ago and a slice of pie at this place was $8. I would expect this from a McDonald’s for 95 cent apple pie in a box but not a restaurant.
Whenever I order a desert that needs warming up I ask how the restaurant does this. Most of the time they say they’ll throw it in the microwave. I tell them that I want it warmed up in an oven. Occasionally the restaurant will say that they can’t do this which I find amazing and leads to a discussion on whether they have stoves in their kitchen.
If you own a restaurant and you allow your kitchen staff to heat deserts in a microwave then you’re a lazy idiot and should be managing a McDonald’s instead.
Posted in Food at 1:20 PM | Comments (2)
Lemmy (2010)
I just watched Lemmy (2010) on Netflix and was impressed by how little I knew about Motorhead’s front man. 66 year-old Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister makes Keith Richards look like a pussy cat. The guy smokes like a fiend and has been drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels every day since he was 30!
At one point in the film, fellow musician Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath revealed that he tried to keep up with Lemmy one night and had to visit the hospital the next day for alcohol poisoning. Aside from the hard living lifestyle, Lemmy comes across as a hard-working eccentric that is a really nice guy.
I can’t say that I am a huge fan of Motorhead’s music but I found this documentary to be quite interesting. Lemmy is a one of a kind musician that is having a great time, playing music, out-lasting and out-living his peers.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 10:56 PM | Comments (1)
The Apple University Solution
What happens to Apple when Steve Jobs can no longer steer the mothership? Since 2008, Apple has been pinning its hopes on Apple University – designed to teach Apple employees to think like Steve Jobs. Some people might snicker at this but after his return to Apple the stock price has soared over 7,000 per cent. The man knows a thing or two about successfully guiding the company.
Research and design by Online Colleges Resource. Thanks to M. Saleem for the link to this infographic.
Posted in Apple at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
Clean Your Camera Sensor
It’s been over two years since I purchased my Canon 5D and I’ve never cleaned the image sensor. I use my Giotto Rocket Air Blaster
to remove the dust off the sensor. I get nervous about poking around inside my expensive camera and prefer to leave it to the experts. For $40, you can have a technician at Vistek clean your sensor until every last bit of dust is gone. Because mine had never been cleaned it took quite a while.
So why is cleaning your image sensor such a big deal? When you start to see long strands of dust or black spots throughout your images, you know your image sensor is dirty. This can be removed by cloning parts of the image in Photoshop but the this digital dust removal takes time when you’re working on a final image. If I can save hours of post production work then it is totally worth it to me.
If you’ve had a digital SLR camera for several years and never bothered to clean it then maybe it is time to get it cleaned professionally. I feel like I have a new camera again.
Posted in Photography at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)
