Sephy’s Platzish

Well, this is something that I should have hit a long time ago, but like I had said a while ago, I’ve been busy with a few other things, so the blog’s been on the back burner for a while. Actually, if I had kept myself to the one post a day theme, I would have hit this mark in March, but it’s May and I’ve made it!

I’d like to take a look back for the benefit of those of you who haven’t been reading since the beginning, with some of my favourite posts over the last few months.

When I started, the main posts on here were my Tuesday & Wednesday posts about Rockstar Supernova, with my unique insights into the performances of the show. One such post that sticks out is my commentary on the 10th week’s results show, where I got, shall we say, a little annoyed at the constant plugs:

And we see the rockers coming into Television City in a bunch of H***a E*****t S*s, surrounded by throngs of people there for the show, including one person who had their hands in the shape of a heart. I guess I missed that memo Back in the studio and Brooke announces that the encore performer gets the car they came in! Whoa! Free pub baby!

Of those people, how many do you think were there for this show, and how many were there for The Price is Right?

3 mentions of the name of the car so far before the break, then we see the adboard for it, then we see the AD for it

After Rockstar was over, I had to search for stuff to post about. So I discussed some of the more interesting things that I have been doing. I also discussed some of the things that I’ve discovered in my continuing quest to make it down under.

Something that I haven’t done for a while is watch some movies. I’d intended on actually getting a list of the movies I haven’t watched but need to watch, but that’s gone to the far back burner, especially since I’ve discovered The West Wing. I would definitely encourage you to go through my posts labeled movies for some reviews I did in the past. I think you’ll like them

You’ll also notice that I’ve changed the look of some things here, including adding a widget for BUMPzee, which I joined a little while ago, and don’t really have much of an idea of how to get things going there. I’m also thinking of putting a thing for MyBlogLog on here as well.

This is my current settings for my site feed. I used to have it as a full feed, but after discovering that there may be sites out there (aside from legitimate feed readers such as Bloglines and Google Reader) which take your content without your permission and make money off of it, I switched to a partial feed.

The other day, I read in a list of tips to become a better blogger that you should have a full site feed to become better. They don’t exactly explain why it’s better to have a full feed, though there are some good arguements towards publishing a full feed, and I’m inclined to agree with their viewpoint - I know that I prefer to have a full post in my Google Reader - it makes things easier for me because I’m not juggling tabs to view different posts with it all there for me to see. I’ve turned the full feeds back on for the blog now and restored the little message I had on the bottom of my posts (you’ll see it only if you subscribe via RSS).

So, here’s to the next 200 posts coming quite a bit faster than the first 200, and for those that keep looking, here’s a picture of Dilana’s nude face

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a bus, but this isn’t about me. It’s about a movie based on this concept - Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Basically, it’s a story of two drag queens and a transvestite who are summoned from their base in Sydney to Alice Springs to perform at a hotel/casino. Now, anyone familiar with even the basics of transport in Australia will know that it it’s a long, hard slog to get from one city to the other, involving long periods of (for the lack of a better term) lonliness, even when travelling with mates.

In fact, during the movie, there are two journeys going on - the one at the centre of the movie, and the running gag - the “Philips Coast-to-Coast Classic”, and somehow, the two paths meet up a couple of times during the movie. Clearly, she is a fast runner.

However, the main journey does encounter some delays, most notably when it is decided to take the shortcut (essentially an unimproved track through the desert) instead of staying on the sealed roads while heading toward Port Augusta. Thus, they are led through the outback (the filming of which featured many of the creatures that are native to the desert lands) and the result is predictable - the dust clogs up the engine and they wind up stranded. Bernadette (the transvestite) heads off for help, finds it, but once they come upon the scene of the bus, now painted purple (or lavender, but it looked pink), they run off quite quickly. Eventually help is found, a pink kite (which later ends up somewhere else in Southeast Asia) is used to locate them, and they hobble their way to a small roadhouse, then onwards to Coober Pedy and to Alice Springs.

One of the recurring themes is that of tolerance. It all starts out well in Sydney where the type of show that they do is generally well-received. However, in Broken Hill, they receive a harsh lesson in how intolerant people can be when after they finish their stay in the hotel, they find their bus adorned with the phrase “AIDS Fuckers Go Home”. At the roadhouse (where they were suggested to perform by the mechanic who helped them out of being stranded), they were essentially booed off of the stage, preferring to be entertained by the wife of the mechanic who did this amazing trick with some pingpong balls. Interestingly, the only people in the country who really tolerated them (aside from some folks in Alice Springs) were a group of Aboriginals who asked them to attend their camp and they put on a show that ended up in the two groups essentially merging their music.

It’s a movie that discusses (indirectly) some interesting aspects of modern society - particularly the acceptance of people who choose to live their lives differently than the rest of us. I personally do accept the fact that there are people who do choose to live this way; if that’s what they think is the right way of living for them, then they should go for it.

I saw this over on Chubber Cheekers, and I found this interesting. This is a list of 252 movies; apparently if you seen 85 or more of them, you should get a life (I’d think a number closer to something well over half like 150 or more might be suitable for claiming someone “needs a life”). Anyhoo, if you know me, it’s fairly easy to tell that I’m nowhere near that 85 mark. In all fairness, I’m kinda stretching what I have watched as there are a couple in there that I watched ages ago (namely Little Mermaid and Terminator 2). There are some that I didn’t count which I have seen bits of - like Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Napoleon Dynamite. Enjoy!

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total so far: 3

( ) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchor Man
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 3

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 4

( ) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 5

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 6

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 6

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 6

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 7

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 7

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Seven
( ) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 7

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 9

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 12

( ) X-Men
( ) X2
( ) X-3
( ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
( ) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far:13

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total so far: 13

( ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
( ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 13

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 13

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
( ) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 15

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
( ) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 15

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) The Ghost and the Darkness
Total so far: 15

( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 18

( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total: 18

If you were looking to give me advice on something, I regret to inform you that this isn’t the time right now. Actually, it’s time for another movie review!

A while ago, I had mentioned some DVDs that I had received, and as it turns out, one of them was Short Circuit. You can probably guess how it ends (generically) as there is a sequel, but I belive that this is the first time that I’ve seen the first movie in a long time, if at all; that’s because I was a bit confused and was thinking that this was the movie where Johnny is fixing himself in the Radio Shack, but it is the sequel that this happens in.

Before tackling the actual movie, I want to bring something important to the attention of DVD makers - if you claim that “SHORT CIRCUIT IS PRESENTED IN A 2.35:1 WIDESCREEN ASPECT RATIO”, then make sure that the whole movie is actually in that AR. When I put the DVD into the computer to take some screenshots, the actual movie was presented in a 4:3 AR, standard for most TVs, but this isn’t disclosed on the box.

Another quite surprising thing about the DVD is the lack of extras. Most DVDs now have English, Spanish and French language and subtitle tracks, but Short Circuit has two English tracks - Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 2.0, and does not have any subtitles (it doesn’t even appear to be closed-captioned as there is no CC logo on the box). Additionally, there are no additional features such as a director’s commentary, deleted scenes (though the director did put some of them into the closing credits), or the theatrical trailer (see below). In fact, here is the menu for the movie -

Now, the feature presentation…

It all starts with scenes of a computer-type device being formed with the last scene showing S.A.I.N.T. 5 operational, ready to have its manufacturer’s tag placed on it. This is all in preparation for a bunch of tanks to come and destroy a very nice flower patch before they get destroyed by these new S.A.I.N.T. machines. Fortunately, they decided to place plastic replica people into the vehicles. Afterwards, the robots are placed into a police line-up where they are praised for destroying these tanks.

You know that there is trouble ahead when you hear thunder in the background, forcing the well-prepared brass to take the presentation inside the Nova offices. This begs the question - if these robots were real, if they had to take the presentation inside, then woulnd’t that mean that they couldn’t use these robots in their operation GotchaLast if it were raining or snowing in Moscow?

Now, since the only place they can actually charge the robots is outside, and there’s a thunderstorm approaching (you’d think that if it was raining at the demonstration ground, it’d be raining at the Nova building, but it’s actually clear when the Trailways buses appear), the general tendency would be to make sure that the electronics are protected from electrical surge, but the numbskull in charge of the charging of the robots just kinda blows it off and, of course, what happens? Yep…

In the meantime, the inventor’s assistant Ben is trying to get Newton (the inventor) out and hobnobbing with the brass, including a visiting Senator; of course Newton is the stereotypical geek - insulated to the world, but he uses his robotic hand to give him an assist in replying to Ben’s request

A brilliant move on the behalf of the director is to actually use some of the footage from the beginning of the movie during the hobnobbing scenes, before the discovery of the disappearance of Number 5…

Three observations about these robots, and Nova in General -

1. They are incredibly light as a trashcan being pushed by a robot is enough to overpower them.
2. Exposed wiring looks incredibly like a dog’s teat.
3. Their security guard can’t read the sign at the entrance

Fortunately, 5 manages to get away from the people from “Security” bent on his destruction, and finds his way onto the top of a food wagon that caters “partys”

Even in the 80s, there was some great product placement - take a look at the ads, commercials and other assortment of cool, old stuff that they got into the movie

The one bit of cultural knowledge that Number 5 manages to pick up on the best are the antics of the Three Stooges. The great thing is that he has just enough time to program the other robots to mimic their act. It’s interesting that Howard didn’t raise a red flag over having not just $11 million, but $44 million of robot out there (like he had done when Ben & Newton decided to take Number 1 along with them and their Apple Macintosh).

The most interesting thing about the movie is the relationship that Newton (the man who hadn’t driven for 5 years, but isn’t awarded a cake from Ben - clearly 5’s driving was worse) and Stephanie make. The meet at first when her van is hijacked by Number 5 and she rides along trying to get him to stop; and that meeting ends in her wanting to meet with him again. By the end, they’re planning to go off to Wyoming and live their lives together, despite all the times that she thought that he was lying to her.

Interestingly, in the scene where Number 5 summons Newton to meet Stephanie, radio geeks will appreciate the fact that you could see that they used a labelmaker to make labels to represent the five robots and the FCC licenses that they had taken for their use, but since the movie is 20 years old, the licenses have probably lapsed, thus they do not appear in their online listings.

This is definitely one movie that deserves to be seen, and the main reason isn’t the story; it’s the fella that steals the show comedically, Ben Jabituya, portrayed by Fisher Stevens. Basically, if he starts speaking, expect to laugh. Below is an audio clip from early in the movie; there’s a point where there is a sound that goes pfft (note that this is a poor textual representation of a computer, so the actual sound will be different). You should refer back to the picture of the reply to Ben’s request to go to hobnob when this happens

Here’s a second audio clip, just because I can do it; this is of one of the more memorable lines from the movie (maybe that’s just because there’s a radio host in my area who might have used this as a drop-in once or twice); just after Number 5 reactivates himself, and Ben and the other Nova employee stop at the side of the road. The question is “What should we do?”…

Lastly, here is the trailer for the movie. I know I’ve heard the narrator’s work previously in other commercials; his talents used to be quite common on TV, but maybe I’m wrong about that.

Addendum: Sorry for the odeo player deciding to play the audio at double pitch; I really don’t know how that happened, but I bet it has something to do with sample rates….

When I was growing up, I never watched that many movies; in fact, I remember people asking what the last movie I was at in the theatre, and I’d say the name of a movie that’d been out on tape for a few years already. We also never watched too many movies at home; we first got cable in 1993, and whenever we would sign up for the movie channels we’d rarely watch them.

So anyway, because of this, there are literally dozens of movies that most people have watched that I haven’t watched (or even worse, never heard of). I was happy not having watched these movies because I didn’t think that they had any significance to me, but there was cultural significance. Now, I have a list about as long as my arm of movies that I want to watch or should watch. Some of the movies in this list are (in no particular order, and includes some movies that I’ve watched already) -

Back to the Future trilogy
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Romeo + Juliet
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Pump up the Volume
Top Gun
The Client
Dead Man Walking

Then, we have the Aussie Movies -
Strictly Ballroom
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Muriel’s Wedding

I *know* that I am missing quite a few movies from this list, but what I want to do is make kind of a “master” list of movies that I should watch, and try to acquire them and watch them.

I’d be interested to know if there are other movies that are ones that everyone should watch and that I probably missed out on watching; leave a comment if you have some suggestions for me to take up, and we’ll let it go from there.