Interesting links for February 9th through February 12th:

• Gallery: How Google Got Its Colorful Logo – The evolution of the design of the Google logo. I love the little magnifying glass.
• Lori Nix Photography – Beautiful photography of miniatures and models.
• French Artist Talks To Aliens Using Crazy Font [Art] – Can you figure out what these messages say?
• How to Fold a Towel Monkey – wikiHow – Cute tutorial on how to fold your towels into a monkey shape. You’ve got to love that posing cat in all of the photos. Attention seeker!

Yesterday I got to go to a free screening of The Bank Job. Here’s my review:

The Plot

What in heavens would a movie called The Bank Job ever be about? Seriously, though, the answer is not a simple “a bank job”. The movie is set in 1971 and is based on a true unsolved bank robbery of a bank in Marylebone, London (I have no idea which elements of the plot are true). Jason Statham plays small-time criminal/mechanic Terry Leather who receives a proposition from former flame Martine (Saffron Burrows) of a “simple” bank job, targeting a roomful of safe deposit boxes. Terry agrees and puts together a crew of friends, all amateurs, to rob the bank. What Terry and his crew don’t know though is that the boxes contain all types of secrets. Martine is secretly working for a MI:5/6 faction, desperate to get their hands on the content of one of the boxes: compromising photos of a certain Royal, that are being used by black activist Michael X to get out of being prosecuted. Besides that, there are other people who don’t want the contents of their boxes to see the light of day and before Terry knows it, he’s in deep trouble.

The Good and The Bad

The main problem I have with this movie is that it lacks tension and suspense. The movie tries to give a historical account of the bank robbery and reveals everything from the start. Even before Terry gets the proposal of the bank robbery, the viewer knows everything about the compromising photos; who they are from, what they are being used for, who wants them and that Martine is supposed to get them. There are no twists and turns whatsoever and everything that happens in the movie is fairly predictable. The writers could have easily made it a bit more exciting: why did we as the viewer have to know what Martine was up to from the start? Why did we have to know from the beginning what was in the boxes? It would have worked so much better if the viewer found out each thing at the same time as Terry, adding a whole lot more surprised to the story.

The pacing of the movie is also slightly off. After a perfect introduction of all the players and the plot (not confusing, structured and to the point), the film continues to show how they rob the bank for about 30-40 minutes with not much exciting happening during that time. It finally picks up some pace once they open the safety deposit boxes, but the film still feels at least 20 minutes too long.

For those of you expecting some cool action movie, I’m warning you it isn’t. You won’t find any gun fights, car chases or explosions in this movie. It’s meant as a thriller and as I said before, it even fails in this aspect.

What I did love of The Bank Job was the look and feel to it. The clothes, the hairdos, the furniture; it captures the vibe of that era perfectly. I also liked trying to recognize which parts where actually filmed on location. There are a couple of scenes at underground stations (Tottenham Court Road, Edgeware Road, Baker Street) and at Paddington Station and now and then I was going: “Hey, I know that place”.

The Verdict

The Bank Job left me a bit disappointed. It’s an okay movie, but there was so much potential in it to be a whole lot greater. The story of the bank robbery is intriguing and the film just doesn’t do that story justice. Instead of a riveting suspense movie, we get a solemn account of the events. My tip: wait for the dvd; it’s not worth going to the cinema for.

[rating:3]

By now you should know I love Annie Leibovitz’s photography. I just recently discovered these two photo spreads picturing the Wizard of Oz and Hitchcock movies. The first set is from December 2005 and features Keira Knightley as Dorothy Gale. If you want to see all the images, take a look at the slideshow.

The second set just came out this week and features a wide collection of current day actors posing in iconic Hitchcock scenes. I love these two with Jodie Foster in The Birds and Marion Cotillard in Psycho. Check out FirstShowing for more Hitchcock.

Update: Apparently though they are not from Annie Leibovitz. (I misread the other article). Still they are beautiful photos.

Episode 41: “Even if nobody else sings along”

Tonight I finally finished watching the third season of Lost after starting it about a week ago. I had seen Season 2 in a similar manner back in the summer of 2006 and never got into Season 3 at the time. While I love the show, it’s somehow not one of those series that I’ll sit down for and watch every week. I have the exact same problem with 24 and it’s got to do with the timespan of both series. With each of them one season translates to a much lesser amount of time, as in: one season of 24 spans 24 hours and one season of Lost is about 30 days. When watching it once a week on TV over a period of 5-7 months, the story seems to move so slow and the full realization of the amount of time that passes in the show feels off. I find it’s way more fun to watch those type of series in one go.

My favourite scene of the series has to be the opening of Season 2 (with the opening of Season 3 a strong second). It’s a perfect blend of music, mystery and clues for those who can figure it out (you know what I mean if you’ve seen it). I love the rush/high you get when you realize something before the TV show or movie shows it to you (the reason why I love The Others and The Prestige so much; I “conquered” the movie). I had that with this scene:

The continuation of my previous Trailerrific post. In this one, I’ll be discussing the trailers of movies of which we’ve already seen at least one trailer.

The Forbidden Kingdom
Back in November I saw an early trailer for this movie, which used some unfinished edits and the soundtrack of Hero [link]. Then in the December the official trailer came out [link]. While both trailers made the movie look entertaining enough, I don’t think it captured the essence of the movie that well. Now the new trailer has been released and I’m just psyched to see this film. [Trailer] [Posters]

Iron Man
I never liked the Iron Man character, but I think this movie is about to change my mind. The first trailer came out a couple of weeks ago [link] and it already convinced me to see the movie. A new TV spot has come out now and it shows even more actions scenes and kick-ass effects. For those of you, who already want to see the movie, I suggest skipping this trailer. You’ve already decided to go and this trailer doesn’t add any more value, except perhaps some more spoiled scenes. [TV Spot] [Official Website]

Wanted
This movie looks pretty great, but I’m still disappointed they’re not following the comic (which is much more dark and evil). The trailer was released a couple of weeks ago [link] and now a TV spot has appeared. Watch it, skip it, whatever you want. It doesn’t show any real new scenes, so it’s pretty “safe” to watch. [TV Spot]

Prince Caspian
I liked The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It wasn’t a great movie, but if you take it for what it is (a kids story) it’s pretty spot on. Heck, it’s a whole lot better than the life-size people in beaver costumes from the version I remember. The trailer for the sequel appeared some time ago [link] and during the Superbowl a TV spot was aired. As with the Wanted TV spot they don’t show any scenes that we hadn’t seen in the trailer. [TV Spot]

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
I want this movie to be hilarious just because I love all the actors in it (Jason Segal, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand), but I have a feeling it won’t be as funny as I hope. The trailer was released in December [link] and now a red band version has come out. [Red Band Trailer]

Episode 40: “No name, no other alias”

The Dark Knight trailer redone in Lego. I don’t think more explanation is required:

In the past week a lot of new trailers have come out, mainly because of the Superbowl. Now most of these trailers haven’t appeared on the Apple trailer site yet, but about half of them are from movies with already a trailer released. I’ll be splitting this post up this week into two parts: the trailers that are completely new from movies of which we haven’t seen anything yet, and the trailers of movies of which we’ve already seen at least one trailer.

First up, the new trailers:

Taken
I can’t believe I hadn’t heard more of this movie. It’s about Liam Neeson who after his daughter is kidnapped in Paris, goes on a manhunt trying to find those responsible. So far, it’s only slated for an end of February French release, with no known release dates for other countries. [Trailer]

Superhero Movie
Sometimes a movie comes along that you know you’re going to hate, but that most people are going to love. For me, this is one of those movies. It’s from the makers of Naked Gun and Scary Movie. Need I say more? I seriously can not stand these type of stupid parody movies. If you liked those movies, I’m guessing you’ll like this one. If you didn’t: To Avoid At All Costs.

Mongol
The trailer looks interesting and the film has been nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film), but I’ve heard reviews that weren’t that taken by this movie. It’s about the life of Genghis Khan, but its an interpretation and doesn’t follow the true history. [Trailer]

The Happening
I heard about the script of this movie a long time back, when M. Night Shyamalan was having trouble getting it made. I understand why, cause it isn’t your typical disaster movie. Without giving to much away, the basic gist of it is that people begin randomly committing suicide, killing themselves for absolutely no reason whatsoever. It seems an interesting movie, but it’s a tad difficult to promote.

The Grand
This is one of those films that looks half-interesting. Let me explain. It’s an improvisational ensemble comedy about several competitors in a poker tournament in Las Vegas. There are seven main characters, each playing a different poker stereotype. For me, half of those characters look funny and interesting, the other half not so much. [Trailer]

Second Skin
I know that people like documentaries about unusual people obsessed with their hobby, but do we really need a documentary for ever type of obsession? First Trekkies, then MacHeads and now Second Skin. What’s next? Knitting?? [Trailer]

The second half of this post can be expected tomorrow.

Interesting links for February 8th:

• The Evolution of Tech Companies’ Logos – Interesting post on the history of companies and their logos. It’s not complete (there are a couple of things I know they’re not mentioning), but it’s worth a read.
• 5 Ways to say “Be My Valentine” to a Geek – This is just so sweet! I love the first suggestion [Via Geeks Are Sexy]
• Triviagasm: Behind the Cybernetics with the Next Terminator Generation – Great list of facts about the different type of Terminator models.

Last Wednesday, I got the chance to see a screening of Definitely, Maybe, the new movie from the makers of Notting Hill and Love, Actually.

The Plot

Ryan Reynolds plays the Manhattan advertiser Will Hayes who is about to get divorced and his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), wants to hear the story of how he and her mother ended up together. He agrees to tell her the whole story, but changes the names, so that she (and the viewers) will have to keep on guessing which woman Will eventually marries. The story flashes back to 1992 when Will moves to New York for two months to work on the presidential campaign for Bill Clinton. Over the course of the next 16 years, Will has to deal with his relationships with three different woman, but which of these is Maya’s mother? Is it Emily (Elizabeth Banks), Will’s college sweetheart, who’s struggling with their long-distance relationship? Or is it April (Isla Fisher), the quirky copy machine girl? Or is it Summer (Rachel Weisz), the outspoken journalist and childhood friend of Emily?

The Good and The Bad

This is not your typical romantic comedy, where boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl and they end up happily ever after. And that’s a good thing. In contrast to other movies, Definitely, Maybe keeps the viewer guessing on who Will will end up with and it is not until the end of the movie that you finally find out. This takes away the whole problem of predicability that most romantic comedies suffer from.

Ryan Reynolds sets down a likable character and he has a great chemistry with each of his female leads. His character grows in the 16 years that we see him and Reynolds achieves portraying the right transformation. There’s really a difference between the 1992 “Will” and the current day “Will”. Abigail Breslin is sweet as his questioning, smart-alecky 10 year old daughter, although I know there are people who are going to find her annoying.

The three love-interests are perfectly cast. I love that Elizabeth Banks is getting larger movie roles. She was great in Scrubs and in this film she excels in bringing the girl-next-door Emily to life. I’m looking forward to see her Zack and Miri Make A Porno. I hadn’t seen Isla Fisher before, but I had heard a lot of raving reviews about her previous performances. Now I understand why. Her character is so fun and spontaneous, but at the same time quite vulnerable. Rachel Weisz never fails to amaze me, again pulling off a completely different character than in her previous films.

While the guessing game keeps the movie unpredictable and original, it also makes it a bit confusing. With there being different girlfriends, which couple are you supposed to root for? It saves itself a bit by having three likable actresses. Each character has endearing qualities and at a certain point in the movie it didn’t matter for me anymore who Will ended up with.

This film may be a romantic comedy, but don’t expect romance and comedy every step of the way. Will has three different girlfriends and you know from the start he’ll only end with one, so be prepared for at least some heartache and heartbreak.

The Verdict

This is a sweet romantic story of how a man deals with his various relationships and eventually finds love. If you don’t like romantic comedies, this isn’t going to change your mind, but it exceeds the standard chick flick productions. Definitely, Maybe is perfect as a date movie and I am sure it is going to be a big Valentine’s Day success.

[rating:4]

Episode 39: “Take anything you want”

These videos are just weird. They are from a Japanese TV show called Zuiikin’ English that aired in Japan in 1992, meant to teach English and gymnastic exercises at the same time. The complete collection of 55 videos can be found here.

Various Phrases:

What To Do If Your Husband Comes Home Drunk:

What To Do When You’re Robbed:

Let’s Go Dutch: