Analog Thoughts on a Digital Age

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Movie Preview: Sicko



I may not necessarily agree with his political stands, but no doubt, Michael Moore is a force to be reckoned with, not only in the movie business, but in American politics as well.His first film, Roger and Me dealt with the problem of unemployment, specifically among the people of his homeown Michigan. His second, Bowling for Columbine, dealt with the legality and misuse of guns in America, with emphasis on the largest gun club in the world, the NRA, and its ties with American politics. His third, and most popular work is the infamous Farenheit 9/11, where he tackles and subjectively criticizes the Bush administration for basically everything bad that's happening around the world.

His latest outing tackles the American health care issue. It's amazing how underdeveloped Americn healthcare is compared to that of all other industrialized countries. Considering that we are talking about the richest country in the world. I mean compared to the Philippines, of course, we are in a much worse state, but remember we are a dirt poor country with a lot of debts. The US has no excuse to be a poor healthcare provider to it's citizens. There is said to be a part where Moore actually brings some 9/11 heroes (Firemen and policemen, rescuers during the 9/11 incident whose health got compromised while doing their job) to Cuba to avail of the healtcare benefits provided by a communist country. This caused a major stir and was brought out in the news a couple of weeks ago. You gotta give it to Moore, if he really wants to make a point he usually does a good job.

Whether this movie will rock or suck is still open for debate, but the healthcare isue isnt. I wonder if Moore laid off all those chicken wings after doing this movie?

Try and click here to see if the trailer is available in your area.

Props to themovieblog

Friday, May 18, 2007

Transformers Trailer. Up. Speechless.



The full trailer of the Transformers movie is upon us. I should have posted this earlier. But I am a working man and would like to keep my job. I was itching to get home the moment I turned my PC on in the office this morning just so that I could watch the 2 minute trailer. Oh, my was it worth it.

You have a choice, go to youtube and be like everyone else and break the servers in half, or just download it from yahoo.

No words. Just watch.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Iron Man Hi-Res Photo

Sweet.



Man, I hope this doesn't suck!

Click on the image for a larger view.

My Five Favorite TV Shows

My Name Is Earl



Its very difficult to pull of a show like My Name Is Earl. Given that it takes place in a relatively rural town in the heartland of the USA, has a cast that portray a bunch of redneck halfwits, yet exhibits the many complicated facets of the ancient oriental principle of Karma and succesfuly exhibits and puts into play many numerous moral conundrums, most of which are unwittingly dealt with by these characters. We, the audience are treated to an intelligently written show featuring characters who think that "prerogative" and "preservative" are the same thing.

Earl is a no good, small time racketeer who has done many bad things. One day he purchases a winning lottery ticked using a stolen dollar and gets run over by a car before he could cash in the ticket. He learns about Karma while watching Carson Daly from his hospital bed and concludes that all the bad things going on in his life are the compound result of all his bad deeds. He then makes a list of all the bad deeds he has made throughout his life and sets out to correct each one. There are hundreds of them so, it was fitting that they make a TV show about it.



The Office



Watching the episodes of The Office in increments is almost impossible. There is no way I could keep myself from watching the next episode. It's quite simply the funniest new sitcom on TV right now.

The name of the company is Dunder Mifflin. Their boss is Michael Scott. He loves his job and his managerial position, and has very weird ways of showing it. His employees don't share his enthusiasm, and sometimes, they let him know that.

The mockumentary-style presentation makes The Office more real and is its strongest appeal. Somehow a lot of the jokes hit home with people because it deals with jargon, situations and drama that most of us in the workforce experience everyday. Imagine taking a camera crew to work one day just to see what happens. Itwill most likely look like an episode of The Office.



Prison Break



I have to admit, I have not gotten into the Prison Break bandwagon. I have had the DVD of the first season for ages, but never got around to watching it. I just thought it was worth mentioning here because my brother, parents and everybody who borrowed my Prison Break 1st Season DVD has loved it and says its their favorite TV show to date. You can't ignore that kind of accolade.

The story of two brothers in prison, one is set to be executed, and the other commits a crime to break himself into the prison where his brother is detained so they can break out together. They have a plan for their escape in the form of a very detailed map of the prison tattooed into the skin of the rescuing brother. A very effective tribute to brotherly love (not the prison kind, though.)


Heroes




I have never been more excited to see the next episode of a series after I get to the end of a Heroes episode. Initially, my interest on this series was piqued by curiosity. Just like everybody, I was intriged by the vocality of its following.

Ordinary people from all walks of life discover that they have extraordinary powers and are dealing with it differently. A New York congressional candidate who can fly, an office clerk from Japan who can bend time and space, a Las Vegas internet stripper and single mom who has dual personalities, a hospice nurse who seems to absorb the abilities of others, and a lot more.

Its the type of series that shoul have been written long ago but seemed for some reason, to have only come up now. With its surprising twists and turns every episode, you really have no idea how the story is going to end up. Yet given the dynamics of the story, there are millions of ways it can end up interesting.

The first season is set to wrap up in a few weeks. Better get ready for the complete season DVD.

House



House is what entertainment journalists call an anti-hero. Somebody unconventional, sometimes unattractive and uncharismatic, who ends up gaining the sympathy of the audience because of his sheer arrogance and infallability to break conformity. House is also what many in the medical field regard as the closest TV has ever gotten to portraying a real doctor. They aren't idealistic, clean, morally rigid professional practitioners who look like they did commercial modelling on the side. Most of them are unkempt, morally gray and look like they got passed over for Beauty and The Geek.

Dr Gregory House is the best doctor anywhere. He heads a diagnostic department for the Princeton Plainsboro Hospital in New Jersey. Along with his protege doctors, he solves medical mysteries like a modern day Sherlock Holmes with a medical license, often using unconventional methods such as not talking to his patients as not to be misled by their "lies" and even breaking into patients' homes to search for medical clues.