7/31/2008 - Super Chuck Norris bros

I don't know how Chuck Norris got such a reputation for being a badass. I've never watched Walker: Texas Ranger, but I can't see how being a pretend kung-fu sherrif can elevate you to such a world renowned force of destruction. He did fight Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon and while it was an epic battle, he eventually lost. By that standard, Kareem Abdul Jabbar should have the same kind of status as Chuck Norris. Oh well... you might as well have fun with the idea of being able to obliterate everything in your path and make a video game out of it:

7/30/2008 - Is iPhone 2.0 Worth It?

After playing with the new iPod Touch 2.0 software, I can confidently say that mobile computing has finally arrived. I have played with software on my old Palm before, but that's exactly all I was doing... "playing". Compared to the robust nature of the iPhone/iPod Touch applications, Palm software is child's play. Sure, the hardware and interface of the iPhone is years ahead of my old Palm, but it's the architecture and ecosystem that Apple has presented with the App Store that is a true revolution. Chris Pirillo has a good demonstration of what can be done with the new iPhone Apps:



Now how cool is that Midomi app? I had an idea to program something like that once, but never did I imagine the use of voice recognition in that way. It's too bad my iPod Touch doesn't have a microphone... otherwise I'd have fun with that. Speaking of which, this video doesn't even cover the games that are available in the App Store. Most of these games use the accelerometer as steering controls, but some of them use the touchscreen as well. I wouldn't go as far as saying that it will outdo the Nintendo DS or the PSP, but it's always fun to see how the gaming industry takes on the challenge of new hardware.

7/29/2008 - Top 10 Riddler Riddles

Christopher Nolan could make sinister yet realistic villains out of R'as Al Ghul, Scarecrow, the Joker, and Two-Face. But there is just no way that he could include the Riddler in any future Batman movies of his. The Riddler only works as camp material as in the Schumacher crapfests or the 1960's TV series. Don't get me wrong... I actually like the Riddler as a comic book villain. Someone who would leave cryptic clues to his own crimes just to challenge the authorities is one sick individual with some kind of superiority complex.

James Rolfe, AKA the Angry Video Game Nerd, not only does reviews of bad video games... he also comments on pop culture media by doing movie reviews and Top 10 lists, all very interesting, and all edited with skill. Here is his list of Top 10 Riddler Riddles from the 1960's TV series, and I always get a chuckle out of the way Frank Gorshin's infectious laugh:

7/28/2008 - Peter Popoff Miracle Spring Water

I remember years ago when I had insomnia on Sunday nights (which were quite frequent), I would be flipping the channels, and I came across this televangelist named Peter Popoff. He was trying to "give away" this "Miracle Spring Water" which he claimed was from Chernobyl (no joke). At that point, you should know that this guy is a fraud. What's most disturbing though is how many people attend his "sermons" to get their ailments "cured". Now, I know I'm using a lot of quotation marks here, but there's nothing in this guy's presentation I can take seriously. No matter what you think of organized religion, you simply cannot give frauds like this any credence, otherwise everybody will become atheists and deservedly so. If you think I'm exaggerating, just take at look at this video:

7/26/2008 - The Dark Knight Trailer Spoof

The summer of 2008 definitely belongs to the superhero in terms of movies. It started out with the excellent Iron Man, then came the outstanding Incredible Hulk, and of course finished up with The Dark Knight. What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said? How much more praise can I give it? First of all, watching a movie like this at a midnight showing is the only way to go. Having an enthusiastic crowd makes even a so-so movie seem good. For this movie, people showed up dressed as Batman and Joker, of course. But there was also somebody in a full Spider-Man outfit! Ah, the comic book/sci-fi/fantasy crowd is the best group of people you'll ever meet. And this movie definitely catered to us... we ate it all up and wanted seconds.

I have to say that after watching the The Dark Knight, I never want to watch another bad movie again. Doing so would be like a waste of life. That's not to say that the movie is perfect... there are plenty of flaws that I could point out, compared to Iron Man which I believe was the perfect summer movie. But The Dark Knight is on such a higher playing field in terms of the acting and storytelling that it's hard to compare it to Iron Man. Everything I liked about Batman Begins is amplified in this movie... the character relationships, the heightened realism, and the uncompromising grittiness.

For a movie like this, you must have a great villain. My favorite movie villain was Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Note the word "was". It is now the Joker in The Dark Knight. Much praise has been given to Heath Ledger for his performance and it is much deserved. But what I saw on the screen was not Heath Ledger. It was not an actor reciting lines and "acting". What I saw was the definitive Joker... a deranged maniac with a deep hidden intelligence who only wants to create chaos. If something like that existed in the real world, it would scare you to your soul.

Speaking of which, something else that was scary (intentionally) was Harvey Dent/Two-Face. And it's not just the CG makeup (which showed how ballsy the producers were in greenlighting such a gruesome visage for the movie). If you know anything about the comics, you know the destiny that's in store for Harvey Dent and the way they present the character before his disfigurement really makes you dread his fate. It may be an inappropriate comparison, but I liken it to watching historical footage of September 10, 2001. And when you see Harvey fall to the dark side, it's a real shot to the gut.

The Dark Night is not just another superhero movie. In fact, Batman is not really a superhero at all. He has no super powers...just gadgets, training, and dedication. The Joker and Two-Face have no super powers either. And yet, you could not classify this movie as just a crime-drama, the genre it's probably closest to. And that's because there is this heightened reality by nature of its extreme characters and situations. It's this heightened reality that allows you to forgive its flaws and leaps in logic. For example, could the Joker really have rigged the hospital with explosives without anybody noticing? Of course not, but we accept it because, well, it's the freakin' Joker!

The bottom line: The Dark Knight is a once-in-a-lifetime movie you must experience. You don't have to be a superhero fan... just a fan of movies. So now we get to today's video, which is nothing more than a spoof on The Dark Knight's trailer. Even though it's a spoof, it feels like a tribute. After all, it takes some dedication to dress up like Batman and Joker and film in public:

7/24/2008 - TOP 3 WORST internet browsers

I think the Angry Video Game Nerd has really started a trend. He was the first to come out with reviews of really bad video games complete with profanity-laced screeds. There have been many on YouTube and other sites copying him with varying degrees of success. Not surprisingly, there are other people who have taken the same approach in reviewing bad movies as well. You could say it's like "Siskel & Ebert" with Tourettes syndrome. It's such a successful format that you could apply it to anything that can be reviewed. So why not review bad web browsers in the same way?



He's right... you probably don't remember when you had to pay for a web browser. That was before there were online stores and paid advertising on the internet. Ah, the simpler days.

7/23/2008 - 3D Okkusenman

As much as I am in worship of Capcom right now for making an old-school 8-bit Mega Man game for current gen systems, I would still like to see them remake Mega Man 2 like they did the original Mega Man for the PSP. Just to reiterate one more time, Mega Man is my favorite NES game and I think it has the greatest videogame soundtrack with the greatest single music track included. The first Mega Man is great too and definitely deserves the tribute of a remake, but Mega Man 2 is that much better and is widely considered to be the best game in the series. Given Capcom's current respect for retromania, I have no doubt they will eventually remake Mega Man 2, but in the meantime we have this fan-created 3-D CGI of the game which is really an awesome tribute to the game:



This little video might also serve as a template for a CG Mega Man movie, too.

7/22/2008 - Street Fighter IV anime clip

It's funny... I'm so anticipating the release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (let's call it Street Fighter II HD from now on), is Street Fighter IV itself. The thing is, even though IV will be so much more technically advanced than II, having 3D graphics and all, I'm still looking forward to SF2HD more because it's a game I'm so familiar with having played it for years. And now with the ability of playing others online to see if my old school skills are still up to snuff makes me want to develop my thumb callous all over again before the game's release.

I mean it's GREAT that SF4 will still have somewhat of a nostalgia feel in that the gameplay will still be in 2D and the inclusion of the original 12 World Warriors helps too. See, Capcom is definitely catering to us old school gamers with the Street Fighter and Mega Man franchises. I mean, the fact that they would make a Mega Man 9 with 8-bit graphics is basically a love letter to me... and I'm ready with the roses and champagne.

Even though I'm looking forward to SF2HD more, Capcom released something a few weeks ago that brought SF4 back to my attention. It's a little anime cutscene that will be included in the home versions of the game. It depicts a fight between Akuma and Ryu, and of course it is epic. It's not something totally different than the excellent Street Fighter II Movie (anime), but the inclusion of Ryu's stage music made me drool... literally:



You know what's sad, though? Given the recent news that there will be no Ryu or Ken in the next Street Fighter live-action movie, this little anime clip is guaranteed to be better than the upcoming movie. It's also light years ahead of the 1994 Van Damme embarrassment of a movie.

7/22/2008 - Crazy Girl on Train

Yes, gas prices are ridiculously high right now. My New Beetle doesn't get really good gas mileage, and there's the thing about global warming. I'd like to get a hybrid, but they're just a bit expensive right now. So there's this whole bandwagon that says I should be taking public transportation to save money and help out the environment. And yet I have to refuse, and without much thought, too. Why? Because of stuff like this:



So who says public education is going down the tubes? I have to admit, this video makes good use of YouTube's new annotation features.

7/20/2008 - Unfortunately Placed Hotels.com Ad

Some people say that there are no coincidences in life... that everything is ruled by fate. If that is so, then the advertisers of Hotels.com got dealt a cruel hand by fate:

7/19/2008 - WORST Incredible HULK Toy EVER

Being an Incredible Hulk fan, not only do I collect his comic books, I try to collect some of his toys as well. In fact, when the movie came out, I had to suffer through some pretty bad Burger King Kid's Meals because they were offering toys that tied into the movie. However, even if I were a hardcore collector and had to get every Hulk toy out there, I would never NEVER get this one:



When you have a Hulk toy that smiles, that just shows that Marvel has taken their kids line of toys too far.

7/16/2008 - Frying an Egg on a GeForce 9800 GX2 Graphics Card

I don't understand the need for a dedicated gaming PC in today's gaming environment. Back when gaming consoles could only do 2-D graphics and no online connectivity, I could understand the lure of gaming on a PC that could get online and could do 3-D. But ever since the Dreamcast, all that has changed. Video game consoles now can push polygons just about as well as the latest gaming PCs. It's amazing to me how many people complained about the launch price of the Playstation 3 being $600, and yet nobody decries the cost of Alienware hardware that run into the thousands of dollars. I guess if you had an unlimited income source and wanted the absolute "best", there's something for you out there.

I have to say, though, that it never ceases to amaze me how hot the processors of these machines can get. The only thing that is generating the heat is the resistance of electrical impulses. So the faster the processor, the greater the number of electrical impulses per second, and thus the hotter the processor. How hot can the latest processors get these days? "Hot enough to fry an egg" is always a good phrase to test:

7/15/2008 - Water BURNS - Here is the PROOF

I admit... back when I was a kid, I was a big science geek. Well, maybe a wannabe science geek. I say that because even though I was interested in the science and the cool experiments, I was never creative enough to come up with my own experiments or any practical science projects. That's why I was into the educational TV shows like Beakman's World and Bill Nye the Science Guy. They did all the cool experiments and demonstrations on the show so you wouldn't have to. Mythbusters actually takes the same concept to a more extreme level. But I didn't realize that these shows were lacking something... that connection to the average, blue-collar, middle-class viewer. What they really needed was a redneck Aussie doing science experiments like this guy (beware of some salty language):

7/14/2008 - Distracted Kid in Call of Duty 4

Lesson number one in first-person shooter games: do not be distracted by your environment. As this video shows, if you are busy staring at a poster of a topless woman, you will be killed. In the end, it's not worth it:

7/13/2008 - Portable Autonomous Sentry demonstration

Normally, I gather a list of favorite videos that I intend to blog on, and they're put in the order of when I found them. So by the time I actually comment on a video, it's one that I found probably two weeks ago. I am going to make an exception today because this particular video is just so cool.

What could possibly get me so excited? Well, it goes back to the movie Aliens. If you watch the Special Edition DVD, there is a scene where the Colonial Marines have to hole up for the night and they've barricaded themselves because the Aliens "mostly come out at night... mostly." Being badass Marines from the future, they do have some protection: flame throwers, grenade launchers, etc. In this particular scene, though, they deploy what has to be one of the coolest weapons seen in the movies. It's a portable sentry gun that uses a series of cameras and sensors to detect the movement of incoming Aliens and automatically aims and shoots them to bits. It's a great tension building scene, but it always made me wonder if they ever invented a weapon like that.

This also ties into the video game "Perfect Dark", the follow-up to Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. Goldeneye is considered one of the best first-person shooters ever made, and Rare followed it up with a more futuristic game with, of course, futuristic weapons. Some people will say that the Farsight rail gun was the best weapon in Perfect Dark. I have to disagree and say it would have to be the Laptop Gun. Its primary function as a mini-machine gun was great and very lethal. However, its secondary function is what stole the show. You could throw it, and it would attach itself to any surface and be a sentry gun! You could be in an entirely different area in a deathmatch stage and it would fire at any enemies coming near it. It just does the killing for you! And again, I had to wonder... has someone made something like this yet?

Well, this video has the answer:



Wow. That is one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and I would really like one for Christmas. :) Seriously, the Army should pay millions to the inventor of this portable sentry gun, as I'm sure it would be a great addition to the battlefield (it would have to shoot more than paintballs, of course). I just love the way the "target" tries to distract it and fails.

7/12/2008 - Poopfreeze -- Frost it and toss it!!

God bless infomercials... they've given us so much entertainment. From the kitchen gadgets of Ron Popeil to whatever Billy Mays is hawking at the moment, infomercial products have ranged from being ingenious to totally useless. Even if it is a useless product, though, you can still market it as if were the second coming. But sometimes you only have a minute or two to do that and you have to be creative. And that's why some infomercials are blast to watch, even if you aren't tempted to get the product they're selling. For example, I don't have pets, and yet I am mesmerized by this infomercial:



So instead of "set it and forget it", you have "frost it and toss it". Brilliant. Hmmm... even though I don't have pets, I am tempted to get Poopfreeze (gotta love that name). I mean, how cool would it be to have your own canister of liquid nitrogen?

7/10/2008 - Ascii Star Wars (2 movies)

Back when I was college and majoring in Computer Science, we would program using the good old Terminal screen. Similar to the MS-DOS prompt, it's nothing but text-based input. It's oh-so primitive compared to the graphical input with the mouse and cursor, and more recently touch-based controls. Yet, some people actually prefer the text-based input and can do things much faster than others using a mouse. Text input is one thing... text animation is something different altogether, however. Imagine that your only tool to create a picture on the computer is with what is available on the keyboard: letters, numbers, and symbols. As you can imagine, you'd mostly get stick figures. Sure, there are some beautiful examples of ascii art, some of which you can see at this website: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7373/

But imagine again, that you only had these ascii characters to work with, AND you were going to make an animation out of it. Let's just say that it would require A LOT of imagination. And yet, there is always a supply of folks who have enough time, dedication, and imagination to create ascii animation -- even animation based on a feature length movie. Of course, such a movie would have to be Star Wars, which has a legion of fans that meet the exact criteria. Through collaborative effort an ascii version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was made and most of it was captured to YouTube:

7/9/2008 - Honda ASIMO Conducts The Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Growing up watching the Jetsons, I was sure I'd see the day when robots would be a prominent part of society. Yes, there are robotic machines prevalent in the manufacturing industry and you even have robots that do bomb defusing for the police and military. But what we don't have yet are humanoid robots that would take our place in doing menial tasks. Economically that would make sense, as such a technological luxury would always be more expensive than human labor. A good indication of this is how little the Segway scooter has caught on. Sure, it makes it easier for moderate distance transportation, but when you're looking at a $5,000 sticker price, walking doesn't seem too bad.

So instead of being virtual maids or housekeepers, you see modern day robots doing very strange things. I still look forward to the day when I'll have my own little robot bodyguard, but until then, we'll just have to settle for a robot conductor. Yes, of all the things the Honda ASIMO could be programmed to do, conducting music seemed the most practical, I suppose:

7/8/2008 - Pop corn with cell phones

Alright, this video HAS to be a hoax. If not, then everybody who has a cell phone is killing themselves. I mean, I'm sure that there is some extra electromagnetic radiation that we are exposing ourselves to when we use cell phones, but we've had television and radio waves go through us for decades now without any proven ill effects. People have been raising the possibility of a cell phone/cancer link for years and for this video to fool anybody, there must be some lingering fear out there about cell phone use. I have to admit, though... it is quite the magic trick:

7/7/2008 - Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Hulk and Batman

I can't believe I initially liked Batman and Robin. Yes, it's the movie now known as the worst modern superhero movie of all time. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, I know I was a lot younger and more impressionable to pop culture, but damn... I thought I would have at least some taste. Looking back at it now... holy crap. I know what the director Joel Schumacher was thinking. Batman Forever made a bundle at it was campier than the Tim Burton ones... why not make the next movie even campier? The problem with that thinking is the success of Batman Forever was misplaced. It was more a Jim Carrey movie than anything else. And after the mega-hits of Ace Ventura and The Mask back-to-back, his turn as the Riddler was the big draw of Batman Forever.

The thing is, not even Jim Carrey could save Batman and Robin. I have to say it again... holy crap. You know those YouTube videos of people reacting to watching gross videos on the internet? Just record comic book fans watching Batman and Robin and you'll get the exact same reactions. It's just pure torture. Every other line in the movie has some lame pun. I'm not kidding on that. Watch it and see. There are so many idiot choices they made for the movie, it's hard to enumerate them all. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze? Bane as a mindless brute who doesn't even fight Batman? Commissioner Gordon acting like a doofus? Alfred's niece as Batgirl? Bat-nipples? I want to down a beer every time I think about it... and I don't even drink!

You know what the one redeeming thing about Batman and Robin is? That there will never be another superhero movie as bad as it. The fans won't allow it. The internet has made it such that script leaks and fan reactions will steer a movie to the right direction most of the time. That's not to say there will not be bad superhero movies (i.e. Ghost Rider). There just won't be any AS BAD AS Batman and Robin. For a humorous take on all of this, once again we have "ItsJustSomeRandomGuy" with his usual brilliant action figure skits:

7/6/2008 - Stan Lee Cameos

There's a reason why Stan Lee's nickname is "The Man"... and that's because he is. In 1962, with the collaboration of great artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Stan created the Marvel Universe that included the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men. He did this in only a span of about 2 years! Think about it... any comic book artist or writer would be lucky to come up with one hit superhero in their lifetime. Stan literally created an army of them... not just their names or their powers, but their entire origins and years of storylines as well!

I dare say that he has just as much imagination as J. K. Rowling, or even Shakespeare himself. Sure, comic books may be a less mature medium, but the mythologies Stan Lee helped shape are no less compelling. And think of it this way... it did not have to take 40 years for Hollywood and digital effects to catch up to Shakespeare or Rowling like it did for Stan. We are witnessing a Renaissance in movies that parallel the Renaissance in comic books that Stan initiated nearly 5 decades ago. Big name actors like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Tobey McGuire, Alfred Molian, Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Edward Norton, Tim Roth, and William Hurt are starring in superhero movies not just to make a quick dollar... they have a genuine respect for the source material that really presents a modern mythology that is on par with those of the Greeks.

And there must be no higher honor for Stan than to have cameos in these Marvel movies. Besides X-Men 2, Stan has had cameos in all the movies that feature one of his creations. And that's not because he lobbies himself to be in the movie... it's because the filmmakers have such respect for the man that they want to pay tribute to him by making him a part of what he created. Plus, it's something cool for the fans as well, who have come to expect Stan in more fun and prominent cameos of the Marvel movies. So here, with the exception of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, are all of Stan's cameos:

7/5/2008 - Spider-Man 3 How It Should Have Ended

I don't know at what point Spider-Man 3 got all of the hate that its getting now. It seems to be pretty popular to hate Spider-Man 3, even though there are a lot of other movies that deserve more. I thought it was fine even though it clearly is the least enjoyable of the three Spider-Man movies. My major criticism of it is that because director Sam Raimi wanted to wrap everything up as a trilogy, he threw too many things into it for one movie to handle.

I thought the origin of Venom was pretty spot on, but his inclusion as a last-minute villain left much to be desired. I would have really preferred Eddie Brock getting possessed by the black suit and then fade to credits as a major cliffhanger for the next movie. I mean it would have been pretty epic to have Spider-Man and Venom battling it out during the course of an entire film.

And they should have saved the Gwen Stacy storyline for that movie instead of shoehorning it into this one. I mean if Gwen Stacy were to serve just one purpose in a Spider-Man movie, that would be for Peter to fall in love with her and then be killed off by a major villain so that Peter could be the victim of even more angst. At the very least, Gwen should have been the "damsel in distress" at the end of Spider-Man 3. If you think about it, the last girl Eddie saw Peter with was Gwen. So why kidnap Mary Jane?

I guess the reason for Raimi's decisions was that he wanted the Sandman to be a sympathetic villain and he wanted Harry Osborn to eventually to forgive Peter. With that in mind, I guess I can overlook some of the plot contrivances (the alien suit just happening to land near Peter, for example), and the usual Sam Raimi weirdness (the Peter song and dance routine). A lot of people are less forgiving, however. The folks at "How It Should Have Ended" eschewed their regular format of critiquing a movie's ending and went on to provide a parody of the entire movie for Spider-Man 3:

7/3/2008 - First TV Hulk Transformation

If you want my review of the new Incredible Hulk movie, here it is: it's great. Just like the Iron Man film, it's a movie that I wanted to see again right away in the theaters. Given today's movie prices and that I have a decent home entertainment system, that's a rare thing for me to say. It's just about the best Hulk movie you can make without the budget of Superman Returns. Every movie reviewer out there is comparing it to the first Hulk movie made 5 years ago by Ang Lee, and all I'll say is that it's much better this time around. Don't get me wrong, I actually liked the 2003 movie, but I can see why it turned so many people off. The writer and director of that movie were just being too ambitious in trying to explain how a creature of rage manifested himself out of a scientist. They did so with some respect towards the comics backstory, but most of the audience just weren't interested in that.

They wanted to see Hulk smash, and that's exactly what happens in this new movie. I kind of wish I didn't spoil the movie for myself by watching all the previews, trailers, and commercials, but a lot of what wasn't shown was still a joy to see on screen. The CGI for the Hulk left me initially unconvinced, but I soon appreciated it for its higher action dynamic. I thought that the Hulk's proportions seemed a bit on the skinny, but I did like the Sal Buscema-style hair. The Abomination's design deviated greatly from the one in the comics, but it does work in the movie. Watching the two of them fight is definitely not like watching Godzilla and Mothra going a it.

The best thing about the Incredible Hulk movie for me would have to be Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. I can't see anyone else in the role now, and this is coming from someone who wanted to cast a Hulk movie for years. Norton gave such a sympathetic performance that you couldn't help but root for him. It is much derived from the Bill Bixby's Banner from the old Hulk TV series of which much of this new movie is based. Why would they want this movie to be a throwback to a thirty year-old TV show? Well, it was actually pretty good for its time. Treating the Hulk story as a realistic sci-fi drama instead of a superhero fantasy movie was the smartest decision they made for the TV show. That's not to say there weren't superhuman elements or special effects. Just take the first transformation, for example. Even without computer graphics or morphing, it's pretty convincing:



And yes, I'm glad they included the "white eyes" in the movie.

7/2/2008 - Charlie bit my finger - again!

My casting call for the movie:

Harry (the older boy): Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass"
Charlie: Hannibal Lecter

7/1/2008 - Guys backflip into jeans

This one is pretty self-explanatory by the title. What I can really appreciate about these guys is that if they miss, it would REALLY hurt: