Isaac Schrödinger

A Stranger Passing By

Izzy Mo:

300 was awful. I just had to say that. The film 300 was terrible. I couldn’t get through 30 minutes without pointing out the historical and cultural inaccuracies. I just couldn’t do it.

Poor soul.

Why are all the bad guys non Caucasian? So the all white, oops I mean, Spartan army is good but the multi-culti Persian army of Indians, Africans, Arabs and Persians is bad?

Yeah, it would have been certainly historical to have a multi-racial Spartan army.

This asinine critique always amuses me. Reverse the situation. Imagine a movie about the Germans losses in North Africa and a reviewer who complains that the movie made the white guys look bad and that the multi-culti army of Brits, South Africans, Indians and Australians were made to look good.

As though it would have been prudent or historically accurate to add a little color to the Wehrmacht. You know, just so that whites don't feel bad.

To Be a Hero

A review of The Dark Knight:

It isn't an overstatement to call The Dark Knight the most sophisticated and ambitious work of its kind. Superior to all three Spider-Man installments and even its amazing predecessor in terms of conceptualization, writing, acting, and direction, Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins is a dark, complex and disturbing film, not the least of which because it grafts its heroics onto the blueprint of actual reality rather than that of spandex-clad supermen. And while such a distinction may make little difference to those already eagerly anticipating the return of the caped crusader, suffice it to say that The Dark Knight qualifies as the first official comic book adaptation that truly succeeds in being a great artistic achievement in its own right.

That's just the first paragraph.

I'm planning to watch it on IMAX.

Sluts and the City

The comments here are gold.

Exhibit A by Mommynator:

Yes - let’s go watch a movie based on a TV show about four selfish, clueless, promiscuous women who wouldn’t know true love if it walked up and smacked them upside the head.

They can’t find true love? Maybe it’s because they’ve been so busy seeking cheap neurological thrills through sex and shopping that they can’t see men as other than objects to be - well, you know - instead of as fellow human beings, one of which to accompany on life’s journey.

Count this 52-year old, 30-years married woman out of this nauseafest.

Indiana Jones Will Never Die

The Fire Ant Gazette on the new Indiana Jones movie:

If you think Bruce Willis survived some unbelievable things in Live Free or Die Harder, you ain't seen nothing yet.

At least supersonic jets aren't involved (I hope).

Experts to the Rescue

Schmucks:

Though he preaches research and good science in the classroom, the world's most famous archaeologist often is an acquisitive tomb raider in the field with a scorched-earth policy about what he leaves behind. While actual archaeologists like the guy and his movies, they wouldn't necessarily want to work alongside him on a dig.

I think they secretly envy him.

Link via Anwyn.

So Lean

This photo reminded me of Doctor Zhivago.

The Party is Downstairs

A most unusual post at Winds of Change:

The creators of hit comedy show South Park have made every episode available online - for free, with ad support, as a joint venture with Comedy Central. These episodes were already wildly popular online as shared clips; all this does it ensure that the creators pick up revenue from the naturally viral nature of their show.

Upon trying to watch a video, I get this:

This. Means. War.

Oxen Craig

This shot reminds me of Sergio Leone.

Become Who You Are Born To Be

It is his destiny.

Top of the World

Pakistanis are good at two things. Cricket and Terrorism. Recently, they've been sucking at cricket but in the let's-get-those-non-existent-virgins mania, they've become number one!

Somehow, I don't think that Vital Signs had this in mind when they sang, "Hum hain Pakistani, hum to jeetain gay haan jeetain gay." [We are Pakistanis and we will win, yes, we will win!]

A Chilling Line

IGN:

"I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger," Heath Ledger's Joker says during the dramatic bank robbery scene that kicks off the film.

John Connor, Get Ready

Judgment Day is coming this year:

Obama 'Frightens Me'. The Bible has warned us that 'A man will come from the East that will be charismatic in nature and have proposed solutions for all our problems and his rhetoric will attract many supporters!'

But Barack seems to be such a nice guy!? Hmm, I think he fooled us all!

Link via The Sandmonkey.

"Don't Talk Back to Darth Vader."

A condensed version of the Star Wars saga.

Opening Credits of Star Wars

Like you've never seen them before.

Link via David Thompson.

Meow!

This photo reminds me of Michelle Pfeiffer.

Cloning Star Wars

It's so dang profitable:

The Clone Wars deal is part of a new partnership between Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. Also announced as an important facet of this partnership was confirmation that The Clone Wars will first be seen by audiences as a theatrical film (reportedly collecting the first three episodes), which will be released by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on Friday, August 15th.

Hmm.

The announcement gives an overview of the series, saying "On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka.

It's releasing on the Independence Day of India and the padawan of Anakin has a name that closely resembles Ashoka -- the greatest Emperor of India. I'm likely reading too much into it.

Thou Shall Not Pass

So says Magneto, er, I'm getting my characters confused.

Another One Falls

Bart Simpson goes over to the Dark Side.

The Morbid Joker

IGN:

Heath Ledger, the actor best known for his turns in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain and the upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight, was found dead this afternoon according to NYTimes.com.

I Never Thought I Would Say This ...

... but those orcs look delicious!

It Is Inevitable

This reminds me of the first Matrix movie.

I Like Them

Er, I mean I like her. The fourth photo is spectacular.

Poor Matt Dillon

Inanities "How to be Matt Dillon at a Cairo International Film Festival press conference in just 14 easy steps":

For added authenticity you should ensure that Omar Sherif refers to you as Matt Damon at the Festival's opening ceremony.

Ahahahaha! At least Sharif didn't snap at him and yell, "LAWRENCE!"

Link via The Sandmonkey.

Make Me a Moron

Charles Johnson:

Your jaw may need to be retrieved from the floor after watching this extended advertisement for Islam from Britain’s Channel 4: “Make Me a Muslim.”

Comment #7 by Zombie:

What I want to see is a reality TV show called

"Make me a Secularist"

in which Muslim fundamentalists have to live like normal human beings for three weeks as cameras follow them around.

Bwahahaha!

Jesus Christ!

What the hell!?

Holy Terminator Batman!

Bale adds another feature to his already impressive resume.

An SRK Product

Great Bong writes another great review:

What Farah Khan adds to “Om Shanti Om” making it such a mega-powerful product (note I do not use the word “film” here) is the visually extravagant, often gaudily spectacular sets, the whacky self-referential humor that is sometimes genuinely laugh-out-loud funny (alas only too brief in comparison to its running time) and the full unleashing of Bollywood’s awe-inspiring star-power as crystallized in the 31-star item number, reminiscent of “John Johnny Janardhan” of “Naseeb” (to be truthful, the 31 while including supernovae like Mithun-da and Dharam-paaji and Jumping Jeetu and a blouse-slipping-off-the-shoulder Rekha Aunty, also had in its roster some asteroid belt debris like Zayed Khan and Aftab Shivdasani who I am sure had to wash all the plates for the after-shoot dinner so as to justify their presence in the song).

Ha! I haven't watched a new Hindi movie in three years but this, oddly enough, makes me want to go out and see the abomination.

It might not be a filim but it has ishtyle!

Bunch of Younglings

The Force is silly.

Rahman + Deva

Charles Johnson:

Completely whacked out, but oddly appealing in a twisted multicultural kinda way.

Indeed!

I remember watching that in 1994. It was in Saudi Arabia; at the time my family shared a satellite with fellow desis in our building. We got less than 10 channels but they were light years ahead* of the soul-crushing dreck in the local arena.

This song, from the movie Kadhalan, was a megahit for two reasons:

1. The music composer, A. R. Rahman, was continuing his meteoric rise in the Indian movie scene. His new sound, a fusion of Western music with an Indian core, was becoming the gold standard and this soundtrack put the rest to shame.
2. The main actor, Prabhu Deva, brought his unique kinetic and wicked ishtyle to the dance sequences. It's usually the actresses who do the heavy duty dance scenes, so Deva had really no competition.

By the way, Charles titled his post, "Saturday Night Bollywood". Technically, this is not from Bollywood since that term refers to the Bombay-based Hindi movie industry. This song is actually in the Tamil language. (Though, because of its massive popularity, the entire movie was later dubbed into Hindi and called Humse Hai Muqabala.)

* Baywatch was the most popular show, of course.

Butter Head?

Miss Universe 1994 didn't know what she was getting in to.

Sure, They Look Alike But ...

... The burning question is: Does Jabouri know Kung Fu?

This Place is Getting to Me

This reminds me of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

It Preys on Governors

That's one ugly &*(>/|])%^#=.

Time with Prime

The leader of the Autobots grants an interview.

QUESTION: Where did the Optimus voice come from?

CULLLEN: I was actually impersonating my brother Larry. He had served in the Marine Corps. in Vietnam. A Purple Heart recipient, as well as the Bronze Star. And when he came home, there had been a significant change in him. His voice was the first thing that I noticed and so I quickly began impersonating that. And he would says things like [in perfect Optimus Prime], I think you're going a little far with that, Peter!

I can see and hear that.

HALO Madness

Never played the game nor stood in a line for a game.

Death in Radaman!

Osama like you've never seen him before.

You Gotta Respect the Japanese.

They know the way of the Samurai.

No Jew For You

AFP:

A rising Egyptian film star who plays the son-in-law of Saddam Hussein in a BBC drama faces a possible ban on performing in Egypt for acting with an Israeli in the film.

Actor Amr Waked, now shooting in Tunisia, ran into trouble when his union learned that Israeli actor Yigal Naor is playing the role of the ousted and executed dictator in the drama about his life.

He's working with a Yahoodi!

"The position of the union is clear in its rejection of normalisation (with Israel) and requires that members abide by this position," Ashraf Zaki, the head of the union, told AFP.

Idiots.

Link via The Sudanese Thinker.

What Utter Dreck

IGN:

In a follow-up to their confirmation that Stephen Sommers will direct G.I. Joe, Variety offers this new description of the team: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer. The property is closer in tone to X-Men and James Bond than a war film."

Scot-o-phobes!

Just goes to show how "a particular discourse (neoconservatism and Islamaphobia) is perpetuated in popular culture".

Transformers Transformed

Wazir Uddin on Michael Bay's Transformers:

Promoting a certain interpretation of the "Cube" as being for "good" or for conquering the world is analogous to the "moderate/reformist" struggle against "fundamentalism/Islamism" that is being constructed. The opening scenes of the film are located in a US military base stationed in Qatar, with iconic Islamic architecture and turban-wearing Arabs. The scene shows an elite US soldier who benevolently protects a young Arab boy from harm as the base is attacked by aliens. The soldier risks his own life to save the Arab boy and eventually returns him to the safe embrace of his father.

Such benevolent and heroic portrayal of US forces in the Middle East is clearly a product of fictional delusion; the atrocities and abuses of human rights by the occupying US forces in Iraq are well documented.

It says a lot about supposed American atrocities in the Middle East when the author has to resort to such an asinine interpretation of a Hollywood movie to somehow "prove" that the US military isn't so peachy.

Later on, he analyzes The Incredibles to show how "a particular discourse (neoconservatism and Islamaphobia) is perpetuated in popular culture".

A fanatic will see what he wants to see.

Yazdis Defined

Dry Bones provides the true Jihadi perspective.

Oh, the answer to the last question: Superman.

Not in Hollywood

Full2 Faltu on one of the greatest 'dance items' in Bollywood history:

Madhuri Dixit became famous after this one song. I remember that when the movie was released, we only had Doordarshan and the song was such a rage that every home would be playing that song. Madhuri Dixit is one actress who really likes to dance. You can see the happiness on her face when she dances. Another actor who enjoys dancing is Govinda. She went on to dance in many songs after that but ek do teen was the birth of a superstar.

Quite right.

There are details of other items as well. My personal favorites are from Khal Nayak (again with Madhuri Dixit) and Rangeela.

Naagin Reloaded

I don't know about the movie but the review is a classic:

Everybody knows that the one thing every young girl fears is discovering, once she has given her heart to someone, that she was a serpent in her past life and that her snake husband wants her back. Guess what? That fear comes true for the poor Monisha.

Oh, I laughed so hard at that.

Link via DesiPundit.

HAHAHAHA

This is cruel.

Happy Holidays!

She wins the Dolores Umbridge Award hands down:

It is the book that millions of children have been desperately waiting to read over the school holidays.

But for 400 furious pupils, finding out what happens to Harry Potter, his friends and enemies in the seventh and final book of the series came sooner than expected.

At the final assembly of the term last Friday, their headmistress picked up the 607-page book - and read from the last page to her astonished captive audience.

What a cruel woman.

Super!

Kara Zor-El.

Lumos

Wikipedia: Spells in Harry Potter.

I bet that 'Accio' would be Homer Simpson's favorite spell. Accio Remote! would be handy. And I can see him yelling Accio Beer! and then a can hitting him in the head.

Doh!

Doc Brown Ain't Real

Done With Mirrors:

Memo to the reality-based: God can do that: You can't.

Naughty Pirates

Hey, I would watch that movie!

Worthwhile

Umar Lee:

Malaysia bans the blasphemous film Evan Almighty which features the kind of humor loved by many in the secular white West and their Asian flunkies.

That's interesting. He doesn't explicitly condone or condemn this behavior. It's one thing to say, "Hey, don't watch this movie, it's offensive" and another to actually have governments ban the film.

This might appear to be a small matter but it's not. If one doesn't stand up for freedom of speech -- yes, that includes movies one doesn't like -- then one day the tables can be turned and then guess who'll be on the receiving end of a ban.

Update
Sheila in the comments says that the movie hasn't been banned in Malaysia. Though, many are clamoring for it. Let's see what happens.

Wacky Bollywood

After the father selling his daughter, the practice of ferocious dog fights, and education with a rifle posts, here's something a bit light.

The Jan Pehechan Ho song from 1966 made me think of the famous Dil Se.. song Chaiyya Chaiyya (Singers: Sukhwinder Singh, Sapna Awasti) from 1998. They were released in different eras but both are bursting with fun and entertainment.

Hollywood has also utilized Chaiyya Chaiyya, in Spike Lee's Inside Man. The music plays in the very beginning of the movie.

You Tube videos of other songs from Dil Se..

• Dil Se Re (A. R. Rahman, Anuradha, Anupama).
• Jiya Jale (Lata Mangeshkar, M.G. Sreekumar).
• Satrangi Re (Sonu Nigam).

Potter Rises

James Berardinelli got an advanced screening of the fifth Harry Potter movie. The review is already up:

With The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter has truly come into his own, fulfilling the promise of The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. These are no longer cute stories of wizards and magic and things that go bump in the night. They are dark tales where the themes and creature become increasingly distorted as the frames whiz by. The Order of the Phoenix is the best on offer to-date from the Harry Potter cinematic franchise, and one of the few reasons during the summer of 2007 to venture out to a multiplex.

Excellent. Though, the one thing that grated me in the last two movies was the portrayal of Dumbledore by Gambon. The late Richard Harris showcased the wizard as wise and latently powerful. However, Gambon's Dumbledore comes off as an old, bumbling fool. I hope that has changed in this latest Potter entry.

"Big-budget Tedium"

Michael Bay's Transformers gets a scathing review by James Berardinelli.

Update
OPFOR liked it:

Raptors, Predators, Ospreys, Nighthawks, Warthogs, HH-60s, AC-130s, C-17s, C-130s and F-16s all made an appearance (no Navy jets, sorry Lex!). Yeah, short of C-5s and F-15s, that's pretty much our entire inventory.

Nobody Loves Abdullah

Cry me a river.

Spinning Fools

Silly movie swordfights.

He has a point. It can get very silly--the action transforms into a farce.

For what it's worth, the overall fight between Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang in this movie is the best I've ever seen.

Where are Merry and Pippin?

I don't see them!

Last Blood

Benevolent Misanthropy:

Rocky Balboa was, by all accounts, far better than anyone had any right to expect.

But John Rambo looks jaw-droppingly excellent and Un-Politically-Correct enough to melt professors’ brains from coast to coast just at the mention of the title.

See the footage at You Tube.

I'm Mean

Insignificant Speck(s).

The Common Goal: Victory

Cox and Forkum:

Clearly we live in different times.

Yes, we do. Read the whole thing.

Oddly Enough, It's Not Green

Jadarite:

Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite "was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.

Cool.

What's In A Kiss?

Richard Gere hugged and kissed Shilpa Shetty on stage in India.

Akram writes:

I generally don't pay attention to the comings and goings of the man-children that inhabit Hollywood.  Richard Gere's Indian imbrolio, however, is eminently newsworthy and deserving of analysis.  It reminds us of the continuing existence of sexism, racism and colonial arrogance in the world.

A person who sees that in a kiss -- an affectionate gesture -- is a fanatic. Furthermore, Akram devalues real sexism and racism by unloading on such a trivial incident involving two different celebrities.

Here's what Shilpa Shetty had to say:

"I understand this (kissing) is his culture, not our's. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such a manner."

"I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here," Shetty said.

I still remember watching her first movie (Baazigar) in Pakistan in 1994 with some relatives. In the filim, Shilpa appeared in a swimsuit for the obvious reason of showing some skin. A husband of a relative who was also watching the movie started talking about how that lewd filthiness was going to be the end of Islamic civilization; as though watching Indian actresses in skimpy clothing was the major problem of Muslims or Pakistanis.

It's amusing to read the same level of analysis today.

PG Version of 300

OMG.

Link via Sophist Pundit.

Genius

You Tube: How Superman should have ended.

Contrast

This reminds of Gandalf.

The Neo-Spartans

Even though I've not seen 300, I still want to see the sequel after reading this post.

The Uncouth, Uniracial, Spartans

Neal Stephenson talks about the surreal nature of many 300 reviews. He mentions one of the big criticisms of the movie:

All of the good guys are white people and many of the bad guys are brown. (How this could have been avoided in a film about Spartans versus Persians is never explained [...]

It gets worse.

But such criticisms aren’t really worth arguing with, because they are not serious in the first place — and that is their whole point. Many critics dislike “300” so intensely that they refused to do it the honor of criticizing it as if it were a real movie. Critics at a festival in Berlin walked out, and accused its director of being on the Bush payroll.

Thermopylae is a wedge issue!

Damn you, Frank Miller (for writing the comic in 1999)!

Blind to the Blinder

Wretchard talks about 300 and clueless reviewers:

The most interesting thing about those who habitually denounce ethnocentricity and cultural blindness is that they are not without such sentiments themselves, the difference being that their cultural point of view is rooted in the mid-20th century, rather than say, ancient Lacedaemonia.

Update
Excellent review at Protein Wisdom.

Epic Dimness

This reviewer of 300 is simply clueless. The last paragraph:

[...] keeping in mind Slate's Mickey Kaus' Hitler Rule - never compare anything to Hitler - it isn't a stretch to imagine Adolf's boys at a "300" screening, heil-fiving each other throughout and then lining up to see it again.

Check out how Dana Stevens starts the review:

If 300, the new battle epic based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, had been made in Germany in the mid-1930s, it would be studied today alongside The Eternal Jew as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war.

Of course. If a movie -- based on the events of 480 B.C. -- doesn't quite jive with your modern political views, then that makes it a horrible cinematic experience.

Links via Rotten Tomatoes via Winds of Change.