Interesting links for July 19th through July 23rd:

• Why Me?: Pop Quiz Clock – Later when I'm grown-up and rich and have a mansion, I want a room full of only clocks and one chair (maybe I'm a tad crazy). This clock sooo belongs there!
• It was on fire when I got here – Exhausted, but awesome – Blog post from the guy whose house they used as Dr Horrible's lair. It's not a set, it's actually someone's house (if I'm right he was on some American reality tv show that built it for him).
• Exclusive: Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen – Interview with Jed Whedon (brother of) and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, who both wrote, created, produced and starred in Dr Horrible.

Episode 74: “He big in nothing, important in good elephant”

I discovered this a couple of years ago, but it remains hilarious. A guy bought a dvd of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, while in China and it wasn’t completely what he expected. It contained English subtitles, but they were translations of the Chinese interpretation… and sometimes they were way, way off:

If you don’t want to watch the entire thing, the guy who discovered it has got a blog post up with the most hilarious translations.

I like my pretty gadgets to remain pretty. Preferably I’d stick them in a big plastic cocoon, where nothing nasty can happen to them, but that’s not very feasible. I hate scratches and smudges on my laptop (and phone and camera and well, any gadget), so I want some way to protect them. But at the same time I want them to remain shiny and pretty.

I haven’t tried these Gelaskins yet myself, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. It’s a very thin protective cover for your gadget and it uses micro channels to allow for a bubble free adhesion. It also doesn’t leave a residue behind once you want to remove it, so there’s no damage to your precious gadgets.

So far they’ve got Gelaskins for a whole bunch of different gadgets: iPods, phones, laptops (Mac and PC), even Nintendo DS and PSP. Not every design is available for every gadget, but even then you’ve got a huge selection to choose from.

The only problem I have is with the shipping costs. If you order an iPod or phone skin (anything but a laptop skin), it’s fine: depending where you are, the shipping is only between $4 and $6. If you want a laptop skin and you live in the US or Canada, you’re also fine: shipping’s only $7/8. But if you want a laptop skin and you live elsewhere, it’s suddenly $20. Eek! That almost doubles the price and that’s just a tad too much for something like this.

I’d like to get one of these for my laptop, but I’d have to order more than just the one for me. Anybody maybe interested in doing an order together?

Episode 73: “I will never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing I say”

I don’t really listen to classical music. It’s not that I don’t like it; some of it I do. I just have never taken the time to figure out which ones I exactly like. This TED talk about classical music is enough to convince me I should find the time:

I’m not the type of movie geek that’s desperate to collect autographs of all my favourite actors, but I do like to get a glimpse of them once in a while. So yesterday I made my way to Leicester Square for The Dark Knight premiere, not realizing the freneticness and busyness I was getting myself into. People are pushy! I got squashed and crushed by all these fans wanting their favourite star to see them. Okay, okay, I was one of those fans, but I try to respect other people’s personal space and not bug the person in front of me. Plus I wasn’t yelling hysterically for them to come over, while in the midst of an interview.

Anyhow I did get to see some stuff and Cristiano managed to make some beautiful photos. Here are some great shots of fans who were dressed up as Batman characters (I think I actually met the two in the right photo during the Dark Knight ARG):

After standing there for almost an hour the fun finally started; accompanied with flames and ominous music, the Tumbler Batmobile was brought out:

And then all the actors arrived… Michael Caine:

… Aaron Eckhart:

… Maggie Gyllenhaal (these photos are just gorgeous):

And of course… Christian Bale:

Unsurprisingly most people didn’t recognize Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, The Prestige and Memento (tsss, and they call themselves fans):

There were also other non-Dark Knight actors, like Forest Whitaker (didn’t manage to get a photo of him), Peter Sarsgaard (Maggie Gyllenhaal’s fiancee) and John Simm:

After that we had been standing for almost two hours and our legs were killing us. It didn’t look like anybody else would show, so we struggled our way out of the crowd. Check out all the photos on Cristiano’s Flickr page, there are a lot more up there.

Episode 72: “… it’s mind boggingly detailed”

I haven’t played the Tomb Raider games for a while now, but this one looks pretty cool. This ‘Beneath The Surface’ video debuted last week at E3 and I can’t wait to see the real trailer.

It’s that time of the year again, where studios are warming up for next year’s TV season, producing pilots they hope will become the next big hit. Somehow some of these pilot always turns up on the internetz, be it intentionally or not. I’ll try to review the ones I come across, giving feedback if it’s worth watching next fall or not.

The first is The Mentalist, a CBS produced police drama, starring Simon Baker (The Guardian). He plays Patrick Jane, a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who uses his remarkable skills of observation to help solve cases. Five years ago Jane was a TV celebrity psychic, who was involved in the hunt for the serial killer Red John. On TV he (falsely) claimed he could feel Red John with his paranormal abilities and Red John responded by killing Jane’s family. Since then he’s stopped with the psychic angle, admitting his powers were fake, and started working as a crime consultant. Jane is known for his lack of protocol and his unusual method of solving cases, infuriating his senior agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney) and the other members of the team (Owain Yeoman, Amanda Righetti and Tim Kang).

When I heard the premise of this series, I thought it would be a Psych/Monk rip-off. It’s not though, not at all. Where Psych and Monk are both pretty upbeat and funny, The Mentalist is more darker and serious than those two series. It has a bit of the same base story, but in the execution they’re nothing alike. The character of Patrick Jane can be funny at times, but his circumstances and background are painted more seriously, giving him a rougher, more realistic edge.

Patrick Jane is the type of person who knows he’s the smartest person in the room and will remind you of that very fact. He’s arrogant and slightly annoying to most of the people he shares the screen with. In another actor’s hands this could have turned out bad, but Simon Baker makes it work; you actually start liking him. He’s a great lead and you’re straight away rooting for his character. 

Robin Tunney, who I typically find quite annoying, is decent enough as Jane’s supervisor. The other supporting characters are all okay, even though we don’t get to see much of them in this pilot. It’s great to see Owain Yeoman again on TV, but his track records with new series haven’t fared that well (both The Nine and Kitchen Confidential were cancelled after 13 episodes). And the same counts for Amanda Righetti (Reunion got cancelled after 13 episodes too). Fingers crossed The Mentalist doesn’t go down that same road.

The Mentalist is an interesting new series that doesn’t require too much effort to get into. Most episodes will be stand-alone and I’m guessing the light season story arch of Red John will not frighten off the occasional viewer. Additionally, it’s an easy series to commit to; there’s no real mystery and mythology to get hooked by, and if the series does get cancelled, there won’t be too many never-to-be-solved loose ends. I’m not sure if they’ll stick to this pilot; there’s always the chance they’ll recast, rewrite and reshoot certain stuff. I liked it though, and it’s going on my to-watch for this fall.

Choke
This could be a great movie. It’s based on the same-named book from Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) and features a sex-addict who wants to sleep with his deranged mother’s doctor. I’m guessing there’s more to the story than only that, but the trailer looks pretty funny. [Trailer]

Ponyo On The Cliff
I love Studio Ghibli movies and this trailer for the latest one is just great. It’s about a 5-year old boy and his friendship with a goldfish princess who wants to be human. The trailer is in Japanese, but the story still kind of comes across. [Trailer]

The Longshots
This movie looks kind of average, a tad soppy, but perhaps an okay family film. Based on a true story, it’s about the first and only girl quarterback in Pop Warner history. What most surprised me of this movie though? It’s directed by Fred (Limp Bizkit) Durst. [Trailer]

Watchmen
Wow. I haven’t read the comic yet, so I can’t say if it stays true to it’s roots, but this just looks amazing. So far I’ve stayed away from anything remotely related to Watchmen, just because I don’t want to be spoiled (I want to read the comic before the movie though). To be honest, I have no idea what it even is about; superheroes, of course, but for the rest… [Trailer]

The Good, The Bad and The Weird
A Korean spaghetti western. Do I really need to say more? This trailer looks like so much fun, I’m hoping it will get picked up for a wider release (it was shown in Cannes, so chances are it eventually will, question is: when is “eventually”?). It’s directed by Ji-Woon Kim, who previsouly did A Tale of Two Sisters and I’m guessing we’ll be taken on an equally weird, yet exhilarating journey. [Trailer]

Surfer Dude
A movie with Matthew McConaughey as a “surfer dude”. I was expecting some Ben Stiller/Adam Sandler type comedy, but it looks different than that. It stars McConaughey as a surfer who due to money problems signs up to be a new Virtual Reality and Reality TV show star. I don’t expect this to be my type of movie, but it still could be funny. [Trailer]

Zack and Miri Make A Porno
This is a Kevin Smith movie, so you should know what to expect from him. Here Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks star as best friends Zack and MIri, who want to solve their cashflow problems by making a porno. The second part of the trailer is a bit crude, but hey what did you expect from a movie about a porno? [Trailer]

Eagle Eye
I don’t get all the hype around Shia LaBeouf. He’s an okay actor and did an okay job in Transformers and Indy IV, but I don’t understand all the fuss about him. Here he plays Jerry, a kid who gets tangled up in a terrorist cell plotting a political assassination. The trailer reminds me a bit of the start of The Matrix without all the sci-fi virtual reality stuff thrown into it. [Trailer]

How To Lose Friends and Alientate People
I normally like Simon Pegg, but this movie just looks too Hollywoody. I didn’t laugh once during this trailer, not a good sign for movie that’s meant as a comedy. Pegg stars as a British writer struggling to survive at a New York magazine. [Trailer]

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
It might surprise you that although I’m a sucker for musicals, I haven’t seen High School Musical. This is actually the first time ever I’ve seen actual footage. And it looks gloriously cheesy as hell! If the previous songs are as catchy as these, no wonder it’s the hit it is. [Trailer]

Terminator 4: Salvation
I’m still not convinced that McG is the right man for this movie, but Christian Bale as John Connor is just perfect casting. This is just a teaser trailer, but you do see some different types of Terminators and I can’t wait to see what else they come up. I only don’t know how they’re going to relate this to the TV show: just act as if that never existed? [Trailer]

Repo: The Genetic Opera
I mentioned this movie way back last October when I did the first of my Trailerrific posts and now finally a real trailer has come out. You know how I love my musicals and this sounds just great. Plus it doesn’t have that cutesiness most musicals suffer from; it’s deliciously dark. [Trailer]

Marley & Me
This trailer was barely worth mentioning; all you see is Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston running after a dog on a beach. It could turn out to be a very lame movie, but it’s directed by the guy behind Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada and is written by the screenwriter who did Out of SIght and Minority Report. [Trailer]

The Express
I barely watch sports as it is, let alone American Football. So why would I watch a movie about just that sport? For all the sport freaks out there though, you might want to take a look at this movie. It’s about the life of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. [Trailer]

The Perfect Game
Again another sports movie. Yawn… This time it’s about the first non-US team to win the Little League World Series. [Trailer]

Burn After Reading
I’m not a fan of the Coen brothers (No Country For Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou?), but this movie looks like fun. Both Brad Pitt and George Clooney look hilarious. Pitt stars as a gym employee who gets his hands on a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent. He decides to use it for blackmail, but gets himself only into more trouble. [Trailer]

Admiral
For a completely Russian produced piece, this looks pretty amazing. Drama, love, bombs, it seems to have all the makings of an epic war movie. It stars Konstantin Khabensky (from Nightwatch and Daywatch) as Admiral Kolchak, a war hero who falls in love with his best friend’s wife. [Trailer] 

Twilight
Cheese alert! And not the good type of cheese either. This movie just looks so bad, I won’t waste any words on it further. [Trailer]

Religulous
I wonder what and how the reactions of this movie are going to be. It doesn’t seem to be offensive or so, but then I’m not religious at all. It seems to be a great documentary on the current state of world religion and moreover Bill Maher’s take on it. [Trailer]

Babylon A.D.
How can we make a movie look more epic than it actually is? Simple: just add Lux Aeterna as the score to the trailer. Seriously though, this looks pretty cool. It’s not going to win any Oscars or anything like that, but it will be a great action-packed summer movie. [Trailer]

Episode 71: “Shoes, shoes, shoes”

Just as a reminder: today’s the last day Dr Horrible is still available on ze itnernetz. Keeping with that topic, I found a dancing and singing Neil Patrick Harris as the Shoe Fairy in Sesame Street. I couldn’t embed it here though, so you’ll have to head on over to YouTube to check it out.

For the past five years, I’ve always owned at least one pair of black knee-high high-heeled boots, which act as my main every day shoes. I’m very picky concerning my boots and each of my past pairs have to be exactly as I want them. They have to be black leather; no buckles, laces or other extra stuff on it; preferably a zipper on the side; rounded nose; high heel, but no stilettos, then again also not too big and lumpy; not too wide; and, most importantly comfortable (if I’m going to walk around all them, they better not only be pretty). Add to that the fact that my feet aren’t the same size and it’s pretty difficult to find a pair of great boots.

So I know all about the woes and troubles of finding shoes that fit and that’s why I like Duo Boots. While not perfect for me (they don’t sell different feet size shoes), they do sell boots where you can specify your calf size and shoes where you can specify your foot width. I know a lot of people who would love this service and it makes sense. It’s all about supplying shoes that fit a person exactly, instead of settling with something that kind of fits. 

It helps that the shoes are also gorgeous. As I said before, I’m most of the time pretty picky, but here there a couple of boots I fallen straight away in love with. They’re a bit on the pricy side, but then you’ll get a pair of boots that fit perfectly on you. For me, that extra cost is completely justified if that means more comfort and less pain. 

Duo Boots are based in the UK with stores in Bath, London, Edinburgh and Manchester and there’s also one European store in Amsterdam. They also have an online store and (if you have a credit card) will ship all over the world.