Year: 2009

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Yesterday I watched “Fifty Dead Men Walking” in the cinema.  As with almost any European movie, there was no promotion of it, no posters, announcements, or trailers.  So I had no idea what was it about when I went to see it.

The film is based on a book, which is based on a real life story of Martin McGartland – a guy who was hired by British police to spy on IRA back in 1980’s.  I haven’t read the book and I don’t know much about Ireland, but that location at that time had a lot of potential for an interesting movie.

However, this movie failed to utilize that potential.  First of all, it was badly executed technically – plenty of reflections, shades, weird lighting, and lots of hand help camera work were quite annoying.   Maybe that’s just me, or maybe that’s what Hollywood movies do to one’s tastes.

While for a real life story is quite impressive, the way it was conveyed in the film was rather slow and sporadic at times.  It was difficult to understand the time frames, as well as some characters in the film seemed to be out of place.

Overall, an average movie for 3 stars.  Perhaps your own opinion of it would be quite different though.  If you want to see this film, try to get it on DVD – it’s a bit painful for the eyes on a big screen.

Google Reader : too user friendly?

I think of Google Reader as a very user friendly application. It clean and simple and only shows you things which you need to see.  Or does it any more?  Here are the options that I see for each RSS item:

Google Reader item options

Let’s see:

  • Add comment.  I can add comments to blogs posts and news and my friends can read those comments and reply and so on and so forth.
  • Add star.  Star is like a bookmark.  I can quickly find the starred articles with a single click.  And I can also share my starred articles by selecting so in the Settings.
  • Like.  I can “like” the article.  Other people can see that I liked it.
  • Share.  Share it with other people.
  • Share with note.  That’s like share and add comment in one.
  • Email.  This one is easy.
  • Keep unread.  So that I can easily find it and read later.
  • Add tags.  So that I can find it easily later and/or share it via Settings.

I am all for making sharing easy, but isn’t it too much?  I see it as a huge overlap in functionality.  Such huge that it gets confusing now.  What’s the difference between the “star” and “like”?  Do I “like” everything I “share”?  Do I “like” everything I comment?  Is it shared or “liked” if I just “Add comment”? How do I “star” or “share” everything I “like”? And so on and so forth.

I think this should be simplified in one action per option:  star, share, comment, email, tag.  If you want to bookmark, you “star” it.  If you want to share, you “share”.  If you want to comment, you “comment”.  If you want to star and share, then you actually click “star” and “share”.  If you want to comment and share, then add your comment and click “share”.  With boolean options everything comes back to the sane world – you either did it or not.

What do you think?

Boney Nem – Livin’ La Vida Loca

You’ve all heard Ricky Martin’s greatest hist “Livin’ La Vida Loca”.  But have you ever thought that it’s a bit too light, too pop for your ears?  If you have, then you’d probably like this version of the song.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9vKQuJe7Mk]

Taken

Taken

I just came back from the cinema, where I watched “Taken“.  I’ve seen this film earlier on DVD, and it doesn’t have much to offer for the big screen versus the huge TV, but it’s a good enough movie to watch a few times.  And I have to say that I enjoyed watching it again as much as I enjoyed watching it for the first time.

There is something about average looking special agents who can tare Europe apart if they need so.  There is something about tough guys shooting, fighting, and driving in a very efficient way, without any show off what so ever.  There is something about pissed off fathers coming to get their daughters.  Well, except maybe the last one, this film is very similar to the Bourne films, so if you enjoyed those, you will enjoy this one too.

The film is a little bit slow to start and is a bit too verbose (to my taste) on the father’s love and protection of his daughter, but once it starts with the action stuff, it never stops until the very end.  There is plenty to watch and follow, and there is enough suspense to keep you glued to the screen.

Overall, an excellent action movie – 5 stars.