January 2005 Archives (15 posts)
Some of the worst movies of 2004
I’ve been watching some of the top 10 worst movies of 2004 and they’re not so bad in my opinion. Ebert hated The Girl Next Door (2004) whereas The DVD Journal loved it and chose it as one of their top 10 DVDs for 2004.
It’s basically a 00’s version of Risky Business staring Emile Hersh and Elisha Cuthbert with an Old School feel to it. In other words, it’s a mindless comedy that had me laughing in a lot of scenes.
On Friday night I spent 3 hours watching Lars von Trier’s Dogville (2003). It’s a tad on the long side but I found myself getting into the film by the halfway mark. It’s unusual in that the whole thing is filmed on a large sound stage with very few props (chalk outlines are used to show where walls would be).
The longer I watched the film the more I sympathized with the lead character—Grace (played by Nicole Kidman). I found that I was drawn into the story, wanting revenge for Grace’s appalling treatment by the people of Dogville. When revenge comes it’s more shocking than a Tarantino film. I was completely surprised by the ending, drained, left cold. I’m not sure if this is the reaction that von Trier wants to leave the audience with but I was impressed by it’s ability to move me. I think it’s a gutsy film that is worth seeing at least once.
Next up is White Chicks (2004) which I can’t believe that I rented but I’m told that it is quite funny. We’ll see.
Posted in Movies at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
The Birth of a “Maga-paper”
I’m not sure how I missed this but the Toronto Star did a major redesign of its Sunday paper so that it looks a lot more like a magazine. There is a great case study at Newsdesigner.com with before and after visuals of the newspaper, I mean magazine.
Posted in Design at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)
My Ziplist
Below is a list of the DVDs (in no particular order) that I have selected for rental from Zip.ca. I’m constantly amazed at the selection of DVDs in their library.
Super Size Me
The Forgotten
Blowup (1966)Ed Wood
The Decalogue (1989)
Touching the Void
Control Room
Paris, Texas (1984)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Badlands
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Many of these films are only carried by a few specialty video stores around the city so I’ve never bothered to rent them. Occasionally they’re shown at rep theatres or film festivals, but I never seem to be able to block of time for these events.
So for me Zip.ca. has made a lot of great films much more accessible. I’m also saving a lot of money buy not having to purchase these DVDs in order to view them. Bombip is lovin’ the Zip.
Posted in Movies at 1:26 PM | Comments (0)
Open Range (2003)
Last night I watched Kevin Costner’s Open Range based on The DVD Journal’s top 10 list of DVD releases for 2004. I wasn’t disappointed.
Open Range is a great western that didn’t do a lot of box office but is worth viewing., Costner directs and stars in the film along with Robert Dvual and Annette Bening. The cinematography is spectacular and left me wanting to head back to Calgary for another visit (the film was shot in Calgary, Alberta).
The story is pretty straightforward and the acting is solid. The sound design is incredible. I watched the DVD with the DTS track and whoa! You feel like you’re right there on the range with the wind and rain blowing around you. You can feel the blast of the shotgun when it is fired. This is one of the best sounding DVDs that I’ve seen in a while.
Overall, an enjoyable film. There is also a second disc that has a great documentary on modern filmmaking that I will have to view at some point.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)
NFL Game Broadcasts Coming to iPods
Yahoo News is reporting that the remaining NFL playoff games will be available for purchase through iTunes Music Store. You’ll be able to purchase/download the entire game for $10.00 or just the highlights for $4.95. If you’re a huge football fan I could see this as being pretty cool. What’s next? Academy Awards acceptance speeches for $0.99?
Posted in News at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
The Terminal (2004)
In a moment of weakness, I rented The Terminal because I thought my wife might enjoy it. After enduring Cast Away (2000) few years ago, I never wanted to see another movie where Tom Hanks is in nearly every scene.
How bad could another Spielberg/Hanks movie be? I really enjoyed Catch Me If You Can (2002) and thought The Terminal might be okay. It was actually pretty good!
Hanks does a great job portraying an eastern European that is trapped in JFK for nine months. The supporting cast was excellent. My favourite character was Gupta—the janitor who enjoys mopping the floors in JFK and watching distracted travellers slip and fall. He’s played by Kumar Pallana who you might remember as the character of Pagoda in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
If you’re in the mood for some light comedy then this is a good rental. There’s nothing special about the DVD other than maybe the DTS track.
Posted in DVD Reviews at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)
Top 10 Favourite Films of 2004
The Incredibles
Before Sunset
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Sideways
Spider-Man 2
The Passion of the Christ
Collateral
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Door in the Floor
Posted in Movies at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)
Bombippy 2.0 is coming
I’m in the process of developing version 2.0 of bombippy.com. You can expect a complete redesign, comments (finally!), better archiving (view entries by category or date), better searching and standards-compliant code (XHTML/CSS).
The redesign is complete and I’m currently developing new templates for the various pages. I took a long look at WordPress but decided to go with Movable Type for publishing.
WordPress has a lot of things going for it but it seems to be changing so rapidly. I’m worried about spending a lot of time developing css templates and having to rewrite them when the next major release comes out (which is soon—version 1.5).
I set up Movable Type on Lissa’s blog and feel comfortable using it. I find that it is a lot easier to customize the design of your site than WordPress. I’ve been inspired by sites like Subtraction and feel that I can’t really go wrong with Movable Type. Stay tuned.
Posted in Bombippy at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)
Edge Codes
Edge Codes: The Art Of Motion Picture Editing is a documentary film, directed by Alex Shuper. It features interviews with George Lucas, Norman Jewison, Thema Schoonmaker (editor for most of Scorses’s films), Sarah Flack (The Limey, Lost in Translation) and others.
The film is available now on DVD but there will be a Toronto premiere at The Royal in Toronto. Director Alex Shuper will be on hand after the screening for a Q & A. The screenings are Feb 18-20. I’m going to check this out on Feb 19 at 7 PM if anyone is interested. Check Festival Cinemas for more details.
Posted in Movies at 2:02 AM | Comments (0)
Meet The Lucky Ones
Meet The Lucky Ones is a brilliant video. I don’t know if it will help Mercury sell any cars though.
Posted in Movies at 8:32 PM | Comments (0)
Zip.ca vs. Blockbuster
I started using Zip.ca this week won’t be renewing my annual Blockbuster Rewards membership ($9.99). The Blockbuster Rewards program has been getting lamer each year with fewer freebies and incentives. The only reason Blockbuster is going to drop late fees and extend viewing periods is because of the online competiton from the likes of Zip.ca and this is a good thing.
So why dump Blockbuster for Zip.ca? Why give up the convenience of being able to visit a local Blockbuster store and grab the latest disc whenever you want?
Price
If you watch a lot of movies each month then Zip.ca is cheaper.
- Blockbuster movie rentals are $5.74 (tax included)
- Zip.ca rentals are as low as $1.79 (tax included)
I have a ‘4 Out’ Membership with Zip.ca that costs $28.69/month (tax included). This allows me to have 4 DVDs out at a time. Delivery costs are free. The more movies I rent, the cheaper it becomes. Consider the following:
- 4 rentals/month costs @ $7.17/rental
- 8 rentals/month costs @ $3.59/rental
- 12 rentals/month costs @ $2.39/rental
- 16 rentals/month costs @ $1.79/rental
Even if I only watch 8 movies for the entire month, I’m still ahead. If I were to rent 8 movies from Blockbuster I would be paying $45.92. 16 movie rentals from Blockbuster costs $91.84
Selection
Zip.ca has a better selection of movies—over 25,000 titles to choose from. Blockbuster has a good selection of current movies but quite often they carry only the fullscreen version of a film (Lost in Translation (2003), Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and others). Sometimes they only carry the VHS version of a film—try and find a DVD copy of Willard (2003).
Blockbuster also has a nasty habit of pulling DVDs from their shelves if they don’t rent every 3-6 months. Last summer I went to several Blockbuster stores to rent a copy of Days of Thunder (not exactly an obscure film). They didn’t have it.
Zip.ca has a great selection of DVDs including The Criterion Collection. Films like 8 1/2, The Battle of Algiers and Down By Law are easy to find.
No late fees
You can keep you Zip.ca DVDs for as long as you like. Watch all of the extra special features or listen to the director commentary if you like. The movies don’t have to be back before noon. Zip.ca mails the DVDs to you and you just drop them in the return envelope when you’re done with them. Shipping is free.
If you tend to binge on movies and watch 5 or more over the course of a weekend then Zip.ca is not for you. If you have sudden urges to watch Rob Schneider or Adam Sandler movies at 10:30 PM then you better stick to Blockbuster. They will probably have those titles in stock.
Lastly, if Zip.ca appeals to you and you’re thinking about signing up then just click on one of the Zip.ca links on bombippy.com!
Posted in Movies at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)
Pricenetwork.ca
Pricenetwork.ca—find the lowest price, hot deals, check the flyers, or browse the classifieds. If you live in Toronto then this is a great site that could save you time and money. Today’s link comes to us from Tim. Thanks Tim!
Posted in Web at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)
Zip.ca
Goodbye $5.74 rentals. Goodbye 2-evening rentals due back before noon. Goodbye late fees! Goodbye Blockbuster! Hello Zip.ca.
I finally joined. Signed up today. Actually, I signed up for VHQ Online first for a free trial. Then I took another look at Zip.ca which was recently redesigned.
After browsing around Zip.ca for 5 minutes I signed up. Next, I cancelled my VHQ Online account for the following reasons:
- Zip.ca has 25,000 titles
- VHQ Online doesn’t tell you how many titles they have
- Zip.ca had every Criterion Collection disc I searched for
- VHQ Online couldn’t find any of the Criterion Collection discs I searched for
- Zip.ca has several AFI Lists to help you pick great movies
I also registered for Zip.ca’s affiliates program. If you’re thinking about trying out their service then click on the sign up link in the sidebar or click on the one below.
Posted in Movies at 7:42 PM | Comments (0)
Remembering Mom
Today, I am remembering my mother.
Posted in Mom at 7:49 PM | Comments (0)
Sideways (2004)
After all of the hype and top 10 lists, I saw Sideways recently. First of all, I enjoyed the film and would rank it in my top 5 favourite films of 2004. A. O. Scott of the New York Times on the other hand considers it The Most Overrated Film of the Year. Whatever.
The ‘wine-speak’ scenes where different characters describe the wine they are tasting or their favourite wines is beautifully written. The way in which Paul Giamati’s character defends his affinity for the pinot noir grape is comical and sad when you realize that he’s really describing himself.
The southern California wine country and culture make Sideways appealing but it’s the different characters that make this film so interesting. Recommended.
By the way, if you’re in the company of a pretentious wine snob, do not bring up the fact that you love Merlot.
Posted in Movie Reviews at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)
