Truly funny stuff. Never thought I'd say that about a Michael Cera film. I do think his 15 minutes of fame is up, but this movie and the Scott Pilgrim flick he's doing could change things.
I repeat: these are the first 7 minutes of a film that's directed by a vastly talented filmmaker who is definitely here to stay - Kathryn Bigelow. Mark my words.
The first 7 minutes alone shows masterful storytelling / character development with a keen eye for detail (reminds me of Paul Greengrass - who directed the Bourne series) and also of scenes from Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". Given her artist background (San Francisco Art Institute) she also displays a beautiful sense of framing / composition as the culminating few seconds in this scene show.
But most importantly she displays a complete mastery of the audience's anticipation with each growing second in this intro. Wow! Just Wow!
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Green Day's back with a power ballad that reminds you of their last great album ("American Idiot").
Definitely worth a download.
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You can't stop his go. Love the play with words...
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Wow! Looks like Soderbergh's latest (the Informant) finds him channeling his inner Coen brother while Matt Damon's looking more like Philip Seymour Hoffman but acting like the character he played in the Ocean's series.
Hollywood seems like quite the indicator of consumer preference with an uptick in movies based on either sticking it to the corporations (this movie) or banks (Depp / Mann's Public Enemies - out in theaters next week).
Either way, this movie looks destined to hit Comedy Gold and I can't wait.
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The faster a fad rises in pop-cultural consciousness, the faster it falls in the popularity ratings. Thus says a recent study that surmises that "people believe that items that are adopted quickly will become fads, leading them to avoid these items, thus causing these items to die out". Weird, uh?
Besides baby names, the symmetry between popularity rise and fall can carry over to other cultural items. For example, the scientists noted that similar outcomes have been observed in the music industry, where new artists who shoot to the top of the charts right away also fall quickly, and so have lower overall sales than those who rise more slowly. While this finding seems counterintuitive, since a quick rise in popularity would seem like a good thing, it shows that a backlash to perceived fads should be taken into account. As the researchers explain, people who want to ensure the persistence and success of particular items should seek to popularize the items at a slow but steady pace.
I've read a bunch of articles in the recent past, that talked about users' disillusionment with Twitter after signing up en masse, thanks to (maybe) Oprah. But my experience has more closely mimicked that of TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld who explains Twitter's adoption curve thus:
Ever-increasing waves of hype, links, and attention bring in the newbies to Twitter.com where they get their first taste of Twitterdom. Some portion of those set up an account out of curiosity or a fear of being left behind. They try sending out a few Tweets, look around, get bored by the initial banality of the service and abandon it for other pursuits.But that is not the end of it. A lot of them come back, either because they keep getting links from friends or keep hearing about it on TV or whatever, and then they slowly start to see the usefulness—a funny Tweet from a friend, a link to breaking news, a way to keep an eye on the general zeitgeist. Twitter is the kind of thing that is easier to experience than it is to explain. But it is an acquired taste and often requires repeated exposure before people get hooked. Once they do get hooked, there is no going back.
p.s. And if you're wondering what the chart above means, read the entire article here. (via Rex)
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If you're a Firefox user, this is a must-read. Weave, a prototype that attempts to sync your Firefox experience across multiple browsers (and potentially with your mobile phone too - not sure if Fennec supports your iPhone).
I said "attempts" because Weave did such an AWFUL job at this in the past, that I've switched to Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks) since then, but the new 0.4.0 version promises to be more.
List of promised "Major Features" below:
Awesome, if only it worked. Will provide an update shortly.
Download the latest Weave prototype here. Fear not, it's a simple installation and a Firefox reboot should make it work.
Questions? Leave a comment.
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As I contemplate my move to the city and the daily commute via Caltrain, I can't help but hope that Studio Leung's Mac bag for Macbook Air will be out soon.
So friggin cool! Any recommendations for Macbook Air bags?
Aaand, the Macbag is out of stock on the Studio Leung website.
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