Random Tonight

Google to tackle Wikipedia with new knowledge service (link)

anti-gym commercials (video)

the evil eye (video)

the bible according to google earth (pics)

sky is falling (video)

office space trailer re-cut (video)

blonde mic check (video)

voicemail from dad (video)

Japanese female MMA fighter (video)

Final Boss of Mushihime-sama (video)

When I was young, I used to eat whatever food showed up, and some of that were spicy foods. Several times they were a little hot for me, but I was taught to eat the food I was given, so whatever. There are only a few spicy things that I tolerate nowadays; like wasabi for example, but for the most part I try and avoid them. I just don't get what's so great about spicy foods. I get that it tastes better spicy for some people, and that's an honest excuse. However, when the tongue is burning, the eyes are tearing up, the face is sweating and turning red, I question how appealling it really is. I get this impression that people go through all that trouble and pain, just to prove how "tough" or "badass" they are by eating such a spicy food. It's like a badge of honor or some crap like that. That better not be the case, because that's just stupid. I personally like eating food that goes down easy for me with no hassle. I consider really spicy stuff a hassle, so it's really not worth it for me to choose "el scorcho grande" flavor, if at the end my tongue is so burned up that I can't even taste anything, and I like to eat food so I can taste it.

Movies I've Seen Recently...

I Am Legend  (2007)  C+

The sight of a deserted New York City, and the tale of the last human male on earth trying to survive is a horrific but intriguing premise. In the movie "I Am Legend," this premise has a certain artistic beauty in it, when we see Robert Neville; played wonderfully by Will Smith, and his dog go around the city by day hunting for food, to browsing the DVD store. As the story goes, Dr. Neville is not alone, and the rest of humanity has been infected by a virus, causing them to be monstrous, angry, vampires of the night. Story sounds pretty awesome doesn't it? Unfortunately because of a really stupid plot hole in the climax of the story, the rest of the film was pretty much ruined for me. The rest of the movie completely relied on that plot hole, which makes it bad screenwriting by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman. Director Francis Lawrence should have also seen the mistake the turn of the movie was heading. Loved the premise, disappointed by the final results. Too bad.

The Mist  (2007)  B+

Out of nowhere, another Stephen King adaptation by Frank Darabont turns out to be a really good film. While the fear of what's in the mist is the basic dillema of the movie, "The Mist" really becomes a case study of the human condition. That's the true horror in the story, what human beings are capable of doing in extreme traumatic conditions. Thomas Jane plays the lead role as the person we are suppose to relate to, while he deals with such an impossible situation. The rest of the cast consists of your common man out there, from the law attorney, teacher, army men, to the religious zealot. There are scenes that jump out to scare you, and horrific scenes of violence that I wasn't expecting. The movie isn't without it's flaws however, as there are times you will ask "why didn't they just" or "why did they do that." "The Mist" is a cautionary tale, and it can be pretty depressing to experiece this film.

When You Live Random

The Dark Knight Trailer (video)

The Dark Knight Prologue IMAX short (video)
 
5 minutes of Cloverfield (video)

watch Jackass 2.5 online (link)

coca-cola cheat sheet (video)

get your commercial jetpacks! (link)

real life superpowers (link)

President Anagrams (video)

passive help (video)

Street Fighter: The Later Years part 7 (video)

How do you see Sushi? Delicious or Uncooked fish? This is a question that was posted on the Nintendo Wii's "Everybody Votes Channel." Being that I'm of an Asian background, I easily voted "Delicious" and predicted that it will also be the most popular answer. A week later, the most popular answer turns out to be "Uncooked Fish," which honestly completely took me by surprise. This channel also showcases a map of the US and highlights the most popular response by state. For this question, the states that had the most votes on "Delicious" were all the west coast states and one state on the east coast. The rest of the country however voted "uncooked fish." What is this, a red state blue state thing again? Sometimes I do take for granted the fact that there's still a lot of people out there who aren't well versed on asian foods outside of Chinese fast food.

I never thought I'd once again feel the sense of awe and excitement when going to a movie theater, but I did feel exactly that when I went to the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood, CA. That movie theater is what I would call a luxury or premium movie house, because while it cost more to watch a movie there ($12), there are several amenities that standard movie theaters don't offer.

The most obvious change is that this is a reserved seating theater. You actually choose what seat you want to be in when watching the movie, so "first come first serve" only applies to when you purchase the ticket and not how fast you can get into a seat. The seats are slightly larger than average, the armrest actually conveniently supports two people, the leg space has more room (which also allows for easier access walking in front of people in their seats), and the front rows of the theater are far back enough that you don't have to crane your neck back so much like in regular theaters.

There are no theater advertisements, and all you get are the movie trailers and the movie itself. Somebody also monitors the room on occasion to make sure that there are no distractions from disruptive audience members. Other things that are note worthy is their 21+ age screenings, that really do not allow people under the age of 21 to see certain movies. Those screenings even offers alcoholic beverages courtesy of an actual bar. The theater even has a cafe restaurant area and a store, for people who want to eat or shop (no tickets required for those). Basically, this theater really is made for the movie-goer who wants a little bit more comfort and class. I can't say whether the extra costs really justifies going to a premium movie theater such as the ArcLight, but it sure was a treat, and I would love to go back sometime again.

New Random Change Of Heart

golden globe nominees (link)

Machine Girl movie trailer (video)

glow in the dark cats (link)

superhero beat down - language (video)

W00t! is word of the year (link)

exercise ball surprise (video)

Baywatch of Warcraft (video)

social networking alarm clock (link)

jenga meets twister (video)

a very pac-man Christmas (video)

Movies I've Seen Recently...

Juno (2007)  A

Smart, funny, and even a social commentary, "Juno" is a very entertaining movie about a pregnant teenager giving up her child for adoption. Ellen Page plays the title character as a very witty and independent girl, and she plays a very memorable role. The things she says and do are just a delight, and absolutely captivating. The strongest strength in the movie is the dialog, which like Juno herself are very smart, witty, and funny. The story also have some thought provoking commentary about social classes between the middle class and the upper class, as well as talk about relationships, and even a comment about the different age groups. The characters here are very well written and well acted, that they chose a very good cast for the roles. One could argue that things can be a little self-aware, but the screenwriting by Diablo Cody and direction by Jason Reitman keeps things from going too over the top. I loved this movie, and it's one of my most favorite releases of 2007.

Hitman (2007)  C

Based off the video game series by Eidos, "Hitman" is an entertaining action movie that gets bogged down by being a little too ambitious with the plot. This is one of those movies that makes you try to use your brain to follow the plot, but at the same time it's very much a "keep your brain in check" type of film. This movie actually felt like it's already a sequel as they throw in characters that we are suppose to already know, as well as assume we already have an understanding to how the main character is as a hitman. Timothy Olyphant does a remarkable job as "Agent 47", and Olga Kurylenko is just hot hot hot as the leading actress. Unfortunately there are tons of character flaws and overall logical errors that occurs in the film, that it pretty much deflated many of the positive things about the movie. I enjoyed it just the same though, but the film simply could have been much better than the actual result.