Thursday, February 21, 2008
Filed under: Lists — Malcolm Owen @ 12:41 pm
As you may know, I’m not one to go to the cinema all that often. Indeed, you might want to say that I dislike the cinema experience. And that is true for the most part. I would rather wait for the DVD to eventually get released than to go to the movies, purely because the experience doesn’t suck so much. Here’s my main 3 reasons for avoiding cinemas…
Some Staff Are Wannabe Film Critics, and They Suck
Don’t get me wrong, most of the staff that work at cinemas are A-OK. They know that they’re doing a job and they perform well. Granted, I can forgive a bit of confusion at the concession stand if it’s a new person working that bit, but I just cannot stand the guy that thinks he knows more than anyone else about films, and therefore his opinion is law. Usually it’s the guy serving or tearing the tickets, and I would expect either a good comment or no comment about what specific film I am going to see. I don’t expect to be questioned on my choice of film by the person selling the goddamned tickets to said film.
When I went to see Cloverfield, after I paid for my ticket the moron behind the counter said that he wouldn’t recommend it at all. Now, bearing in mind that (a) I’d just bought the tickets and (b) he’s employed to generally promote and sell tickets, the last thing I want is him saying I’m going to be disappointed, even when I’m telling him that I have seen some of JJ Abrams’ stuff in the past and have been heartily entertained by it. It’s very bad customer service when you are attacking your own customers. It’s even worse when you consider that this is in a city with more than just that cinema, and there’s heavy competition between them all.
Watching a Film with Other People Sucks
If I want to watch a film and it’s one that I’ve been waiting to see, the last thing I want is for the other people in the cinema to be noisy. Why do people feel the need to bring their newborn baby to a film with loud noises that will scare the kid senseless causing it to cry, scream or crap itself? What is the point of the “Turn your Phone Off” warning before the film when idiots that seem to have mentally blanked that phrase from their minds decide it’s time to talk to one of their gormless buddies as loudly as humanly possible, short of using cans and string? What failure in life decides that the best course of action is to say loudly what they think will happen (or if they have enough time on their hands that they’re willing to see a film twice in the cinema, what will be happening) when everyone else in the theatre are watching intently, thereby spoiling the story for everyone? If I’m forced into going to a cinema, I’d rather choose the latest possible showing to avoid these idiots. At least when watching films on DVD, the only person that I can possibly disturb would be myself. And I know full well I can pause it whilst I go to get another drink from the fridge.
The Food Sucks and Requires a Mortgage
Talking about refreshments, why does the food at the local movieplexodome fail to be tasty? There’s hotdogs that taste like rubber, popcorn that could easily substitute polystyrene pellets for packaging in boxes, and the noisiest sweet packaging known to man. If this was all sold cheaply, it’d be all right. But it’s not. I’m spending more on the food than I am on the already expensive ticket to get into the place, and for that price I expect quality.
It’s a shame that most cinemas forbid you from taking your own food into a screening, because I do love the idea of eating an XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger whilst enjoying senseless violence on the big screen. It’d be cheaper too. At least my couch doesn’t care.
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Filed under: Other — Malcolm Owen @ 10:17 am
I’m sure everyone has heard of the story that if X amount of people put their religion down as “Jedi” on the Census, it becomes legally recognised. Granted, that may or may not be completely true/legal/whatever, but some people do take things a bit too seriously. I mean, what are the ultra-fans going to do, set up their own “Jedi Church”?
Wannabe Jedi Knights are advised to brush up on their lightsaber techniques, dust off their copy of the Jedi Handbook, and get down to Surrey, where two Star Wars aficionados have announced their intention to open a training centre dedicated to promoting the popular alternative religion.
Wait, what?
Training to become a Jedi Master can apparently take up to two years, during which time disciples will have to master the lightsaber, study technology, martial arts and meditation and “learn the importance of neuro-linguistic programming” - something which is reckoned to act as a substitute for Jedi mind-control powers.
…So, just to clarify. There’s some people out there that want to celebrate thinking they are a Jedi, pretending to be a Jedi, with other people that think they are Jedi as well. And they are opening a training centre in order to do so. Mentioning that “neuro-linguistic programming” thing makes it seem a bit sinister though…
Morda Helol explained: “We are not extremists, we are not psychotics and we are not a cult. This is a treatment plan to better your life. It is exploiting the best parts of your life. You can follow it completely or at you own pace. We open our doors to anyone.”
Well… That makes it all right then. Although it does sound an awful lot like what a cult would say to the outside world anyway to convince people that they aren’t. And it is up to the people involved to do what they want with their lives, to believe in what they want to believe, to pretend that the acting in Episode 3 wasn’t wooden… At least it’s only confined to one location…
According to Mr Helol, he’s had offers from Brazil, France, Spain and the US to establish similar chapters. He declared: “This is going worldwide.”
Mr Lucas, what exactly have you done with these people?
[Via The Register]
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Filed under: Other, TV — Malcolm Owen @ 7:26 am
Recently, I’ve had some free time to go and visit a few important people in my life. As part of that, I had to get some shopping to avoid that whole “Eat them out of house and home” scenario. As usual, to collect my usual supply of Coke Zero and Relentless, I passed down the drinks section, and this little beauty caught my eye.
Yes, it’s an officially branded 24: The Series energy drink. A large can about twice the size of Red Bull, and less than half the price. How could I possibly refuse?
Reading the CTU-coated can, you somehow get the feeling that this is a cheap cash-in on the franchise. The blurb on the back says “Be Your Own Action Hero… When the clock is ticking, revive and conquer Jack Bauer style. You can pack a lot of action into 24 hours… every second counts”, and I presume you have to use your own imagination to fill in the gap where the ticking clock and sound effects go.
Poured into a glass, the liquid looks like Red Bull, namely appearing like a sample of urine with glow-stick liquids thrown in for good measure. The taste however, is different.
Red Bull has this habit of smacking you in the face with it’s potent taste as soon as you take a mouthful, but it quickly settles down. This 24 drink doesn’t have that sort of wallop to your taste buds, preferring a slightly more soothing taste at first, which is a nice change. However… when it goes away, it leaves behind a fairly foul aftertaste which I can only describe as Vimto-Halitosis. Unfortunately, this taste stays with you as you go for another sip, and it cumilates the further you drink. Towards the end of the can, I didn’t want to drink it any more.
Somehow I feel that Jack Bauer would not allow this drink to exist if he drank it. At least I now know why it’s so cheap…
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Filed under: Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 3:08 pm
According to many sources, including Engadget, HD DVD is now dead. Blu-Ray has won, and the world of entertainment is now decided for the next few years. We now have our modern VHS and Betamax. Huzzah…
…And I don’t really care. Why? I don’t have anything HD, excluding my computers (monitor resolution, here. Not movie-playing). I use DVDs all the time. I don’t have a big screen HD TV, I don’t have an Xbox 360 or PS3, I don’t watch High-Def films. Why? Because I don’t want to spend a ton of cash on stuff that will come down in price. And DVD is still good enough for me.
Maybe in a year or two, I will care more. Now? I don’t really care…
[Via Engadget]
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Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Other — Malcolm Owen @ 1:15 pm
Yes, 100 Kirbies. As in Kirby but plural. And in costumes. Kick-ass costumes. Like ones that don’t really exist. Really!
I want a Poster… Now…
[Via VG Cats]
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Thursday, February 7, 2008
Filed under: Midweek Movie — Malcolm Owen @ 11:35 pm
I will readily admit that I have a liking for Lost and other epically strange programmes that stray from the norm. I will also admit to liking weird concept films (I’m still excited over the entire idea of Series 7: the Contenders, the film that’s a TV series that’s too hot for TV, where the contestants have to kill each other). I am also a sucker for watching films in almost completely empty cinemas.
The stars aligned when, last night, a group of friends said they were going to see the latest hypefest, Cloverfield.
I just had to go and see it…
(more…)
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Filed under: Midweek Movie, Website News — Malcolm Owen @ 12:16 pm
As you might be aware, Midweek DVD has been a semi-regular feature of Blatantly Random, whereby I would talk about a random DVD for a few hundred words, usually telling you to watch it for reasons that most normal people won’t care about. Well, thanks to a recent cinema trip with some friends, and after having a mostly great time, I feel that I should be able to talk about cinema releases, not just DVDs.
Midweek DVD is now Midweek Movie. I can now talk about new films, not just old, obscure and obtuse films.
Thank you for reading.
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Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Filed under: Gadgets, Gaming, Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 7:24 pm
So yeah, there was this guy “Ben Heckendorn” (fantastic surname by the way…) whom decided that he wanted to beat all the DS and PSP owners in the world by making the ultimate portable gaming console. And he did. A portable Xbox 360. Looked good, and deserved a place on the pedestal of greatness forever. And all was good.
Then, Microsoft unleashed the Xbox 360 Elite.
Mr Heckendorn (Still rocking the surname of greatness), decided to take things to the next level. Ben worked hard to cram another 360 into another case to make a far superior Xbox 360 Elite Laptop. A self-contained unit, similar to a laptop in that there’s a mounted screen, built-in camera, keyboard etc, except it’s a 360 Elite. It works exactly how a 360 would do, except it’s in laptop form. Absolutely fantastic.
He is a living legend that should be hired by a large electronics company to come up with the greatest stuff imaginable. Microsoft, pay this man money and make this commercial.
[via Engadget]
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Monday, February 4, 2008
Filed under: Gaming — Justin Lee @ 3:53 pm
Another charged episode of VideogameGuys.com podcast has been posted, in this episode we discuss the fall of ID Software and the rise of Valve software in the PC gaming market. Of course, we round up the video game news of the week and throw in a few jokes for good measure.
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Filed under: Internet — Malcolm Owen @ 3:52 pm
Pownce, Kevin Rose’s baby when he isn’t dealing with social news or internet television, has now been released to the general public to use. That’s apparently news to some people, because it’s been vaguely invite-only for a while, but now any Tom, Richard or Harry will be able to sign up for the service. For those that might not have heard about it, Pownce is similar to Twitter in terms of it being public announcements through… the intertubes….
That isn’t the point of the post.
My problem is with their damn Pownce client. They have built something via that Adobe AIR platform, which means it works on both my Mac and PC. How it works on the Mac is fine. It’s in the Dock and I keep it there all the time. Works pretty well. On the PC, however…
I expect the client to work similar to how Trillian, MSN, ICQ, or indeed any instant messaging client under the sun to work. There’s a Pownce icon in the system tray, sitting there doing nothing. I can click and right-click it, but it does zilch. If I minimise the Pownce client, it goes down to the Start bar like a normal minimised program would do. If I close it, however, the client shuts down, the system tray icon disappears, and I get the log-in page when I start the client up again.
If it was able to work from the system tray, much like most of what are down there already work, I’d be happier. Since there is no way to set how this works, I’m stuck with the problem whenever I am using my PC.
It infuriates me, that’s all…
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