Stop Frame

Any genuine contest between liberty and equality is a contest liberty must lose. (Ronald Dworkin.) Barrack Obama is all about equality, which means that in the final analysis, he'll toss liberty if it gets in the way. Even Brits get it: As I have said before, I do not trust McCain; I think his judgment is erratic and impetuous, and sometimes wrong. But on the big picture, he gets it. He will defend America and the free world whereas Obama will undermine them and aid their enemies. Here’s why. McCain believes in protecting and defending America as it is. Obama tells the world he is ashamed of America and wants to change it into something else. McCain stands for American exceptionalism, the belief that American values are superior to tyrannies. Obama stands for the expiation of America’s original sin in oppressing black people, the third world and the poor. Obama thinks world conflicts are basically the west’s fault, and so it must right the injustic...

This is really nauseating. I can't think of a nice thing to say. Even Karl Urban, who I thought was an awesome choice for McCoy looks.... And look at the leads. Good grief! UPDATE: Having survived reading the article... Simon Pegg as Scotty still looks good, but in the group shot his expression seems to say, "Good grief, look at these fooles." I had hope ( hope , I say) when Karl Urban was cast as McCoy. I laughed out loud because it seemed so perfect. Seeing him in that picture, though, makes my stomach churn. As for the rest of the cast…? Oh. My. God. And the production designs?!? The bridge of the Enterprise as interpreted by Apple Store designers? Abrams bragging that the bridge set is so cool it makes Apple Stores look uncool. He must think the set designs for Logan’s Run are just uber cool and not some Texas shopping mall. Oh wait… And ooh, handrails for crew to hang onto when they hit turbulence. How exciting, realism! Feh! Abrams states that he's not making...

Raiders of the Lost Ark , or, in long form, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark , is arguably a perfect film. What it lacks in depth or intellect it more than makes up for in verve, style, and an extraordinary dedication to craft. Above all else, it rocks. The next two sequels couldn't live up to the original. Temple of Doom decided that "dark" was a good thing. I enjoyed it at the time but it's aged horribly, with Steven Spielberg 's wife-to-be being grating and annoying. Please, please, I now beg, just let her fall into the lava! Only that little Short Round bastard (!) is worse. And while The Last Crusade recaptured a degree of the original's sense of fun, it obliterated two of its cherished characters. Marcus Brody was reduced to being a idiot while Sallah is depicted as hapless and well nigh useless. These were criminal abuses of people who were key to the first film, especially in the way they gave Indiana Jones, the man, background and...

The sad fact is that for many film reviews, I’m often a little late to the party. Of course, thanks to the wonders of DVD, that party never really ends. Once upon a time, movies came and went. If you were lucky, it was re-released a few years later and you’d get a second shot at it. In our oh so modern world, however, the “re-release” happens whenever the DVD finally arrives at our doorstep. Such is the case here, after a workmate suggested that 2005’s A Sound of Thunder was a good silly film, worth the time to watch, and loaned me her copy. She lied. A Sound of Thunder tries to be a throwback, a B-movie with aspirations for a higher grade. In this sense, it’s on par with one of my favorite guilty pleasure films, The Core . The Core is massively silly, but you always get the idea that the cast and crew knew it and were just having a good time. Such is not the case with A Sound of Thunder , wherein cast and crew just lumber along. It never bec...

Newly released on DVD, freshly available from Netflix, now overtaxing my ancient television, Speed Racer . At first glance this is an odd film for the Wachowski Brothers to pick as their follow-up to their Matrix trilogy. However, even a cursory look at those films would reveal a certain love not just for Japanese martial arts, but for Japanese animation (anime). So here he comes, here comes Speed Racer , a film which attempts to be wholly original by taking a cartoon world and turning it into a flesh and blood spectacle. You say this has been tried before, but never to this extent. Most comic-to-film adaptations make some concession, or concessions, to reality. An easy example is Batman. Take a look at the comic Batman’s costume and compare it to any of the big-screen adaptations. From ninja tights to armored suit, which is stupid (as Moviebob very aptly pointed out). Speed Racer , the film, makes no concessions. This is anime brought to life. Everything is bright and garis...

I’m a picky bastard. I want it all. I want clean desktop software that connects seamlessly with a feature-rich portable media player (PMP). For years, this has meant there was precisely one choice: the Apple iPod. This is no longer the case because the mandatory iTunes desktop software stopped being “clean” while the iPod product line – with the very notable exception of the Touch – has stagnated. For purposes of this discussion, let us temporarily put aside two things. First, the iPod Touch. Second, the size of the iTunes music library. I’ll bring them back later, promise. And for purposes of clarification, my current PMP is a refurbished SanDisk Sansa 4GB flash player. I want to upgrade. I’m approaching this a little differently than most might. All of the players on the market are, for the most part, interchangeable. They play mp3’s. Yes, there are other formats, but the mp3 is the universal. The user interfaces are similar; one is ...

While waiting for the fourth disk of season 4 of House to arrive, I watched The Descent . This movie has been out on DVD for a while, so why bring it up now? Because I think I might become a fan of its writer-director, Neil Marshall . His latest is Doomsday , recently released on DVD, and while it’s sort of a mess, it’s a mess in that oh-fun-what-the-heck-let’s-shoot-a-Bentley-through-a-bus sort of way. The Descent is a different sort of animal. Prepare for spoilers. Since this film has been out for a while, I’m going to feel free to reveal. The setup is simple: Six friends go spelunking, complications ensue. Basic complications involve Sarah and Juno. Sarah is an emotional wreck following the rather horrible and tragic deaths of her husband and daughter (this trip is seen as therapy , oh my). Juno is a reckless thrill-seeker who leads an unknowing Sarah and friends into a cave no one has – publicly, at least – ever explored. All goes horribly...