Month: December 2004

Punk’d

Usually I am not interested in television programs. I don’t watch much of them and I don’t want to watch much of them. Unless they are really good. Than I make an exception. That’s how I am with TV. Or at least this is how I want to be with TV.

For some time now Martin was bugging me about this MTV show called “Punk’d” done by Ashton Kutcher. I was already thinking about renting it some time in the future. Today Martin had enough of my reasons and all that crap about television, jumped from his seat, grabbed the DVD, and made me watch one episode. The one about tax enforcement officers confiscating property, if you are interested. So, I liked it. It was funny. I took both DVDs – the complete first season – and went home to watch.

The show turned out to be as good as I expected it to be. I watched all the episodes, plus all the bonus features, deleted scenes, and everything else I could find straigt through. No breaks.

If you’ve heard nothing about this show, here is a small summary for you. The idea is very similar to the “Candid camera”, “Show me the funny”, etc. Hidden cameras, actors, setup pranks, and one victim.

What is so different from the other shows? Well, first of all, all victims are celebrities. Secondly, the setup thingy is extremely serious with large sums of money going in, to make it all look realistic. Thirdly, victim’s best friends and/or relatives are assisting in the prank to make it more believable. Fourthly, the scenarios are original. These are not some stupid jokes a third-grader can read in the magazine and try to pull on you. We are talking tax enforcement officers (actors, of course, but with all the merchandize) confiscating property, crane accidentally destroying a house, car theft of a $250,000 collection edition vehicle, busting of illegal casino, and things like that. Add to all of these great acting skills and talents of the people involved and excellent commentary and hosting by Ashton – and you have a really amazing show.

So, I suggest that if you have a chance of finding it, than find it and watch it. Rent it if you have to. It’s worth it. If you are out of luck, I’ll rip it off and share it for you. Probably I will do it anyway. Ashton asked me himself. Yup. In special features of the second DVD he called me names and asked me to rip and share the show. So I will.

The Young Master

Being a great fan of Chinese martial arts movies in general and Jackie Chan in particular, I had to watch “The Young Master” (also known as “Shi di chu ma”). It is one of the first movies directed and produced by Jackie Chan himself. And it was very good.

The story was kind of weak. But it usually is in these movies. It is only to match and mix fighters of all levels into both group and duel fights. Which there were plenty in the film. Four fights were standing out and I guess they were either the classics by the time Chan did them, or they became classics afterwards. When Dragon (played by Jackie) is fighting with cheif police inspector’s son, who is using a wooden bench is interesting and innovative. Especially the part where the bench is used to tie and control the opponent. Fight between Chan and cheif police inspector in the house was hilarious. It can be used to measure Chan’s progress in recent movies. Fight with inspector’s daughter and her dress was classy. It was so good that Jackie even tries to use it two times in the same movie, when later he fights two bad guys using a dress from the shop. The closing fight with the bad guy was good too. It was surprisingly long and style changing.

This movie is fun and if you like either Chinese movies about kung-fu or Jackie’s action movies, you should see this one.

7 out of 10.

Video of the ultrasound examinations

14 weeks21 weeksIt’s been a long while since I’ve promised to digitize video clips from Olga’s two ultrasound examinations. First examination was on the 30th of August 2004, when the baby inside was 14 weeks and 4 days old. Video of that examination is here (120 MB). Second examination was on the 10th of October 2004, when the baby inside was about 21 weeks old. Video of that examination is here (135 MB) and some screenshot images are here.

Thanks to Hazard for helping with the whole conversion process.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Olga and I went to the movies today after a somewhat break. We’ve watched “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason“. It is, if you don’t know, the sequel to “Bridget Jones’s Diary“. We haven’t seen the first film, though, but decided to go anyway.

Short story: both of us enjoyed the movie. It is nice and classy comedy romance with few bits of drama. It turned out to be slightly better than both of us expected. I was suprised by the plot curves – it went further than usual with all those Thai prison and cocain thingies. But it was all good. Casual humour and the amount of jokes were also good, as well as costume design, scene setup, decorations, and character development. In fact, the only issue I have with this film is – Ren�e Zellweger. Not that she cannot act, she surely can. But in this film she was way over herself. She tried to be something she is not and it didn’t look nice.

Overall, the movie leaves the feeling of reading an interesting blog with bits and pieces of everything – humor, links, pictures, joy and sadness, thoughts, and unfamiliar people getting slightly more familiar. I think that it was worth the time, but I am not planning to see it again.

6 out of 10.

House of Sand and Fog

I am writing this post being totally smashed and shaken by “House of Sand and Fog” that I have watched on DVD a couple of hours ago. I can barely find any words to express myself.

This is one of the greatest movies that I have seen recently. It is a pure drama, which don’t come out that often. No product coloring like comedy or action were added. It is somewhat slow paced and all “artistic” will brilliant photography and sound pieces. In fact, it is done in the way that usually leaves me very unsatisfied and frastrated. I don’t like this type of movies. But “House of Sand and Fog” was an exception.

Vadim Perelman shoud really be awarded a bunch of awards for this film. Especially considering that he directed, produced, and screenplayed it. And considering the fact that this is his first movie ever. Unbelievable! The rest of the crew were great too. Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley delivered excellent performace, while there plenty was coming from the supporting roles too.

This film is an absolute must see. 10 out of 10.