More on "The Ruins"

A while back I posted about Bowdoinham-boy Carter Smith and his new film The Ruins; the movie opens today and is getting solid reviews.

Massawyrm from Ain't It Cool News says:

Newcomer director Carter Smith really does his job here. He manages to choose all the right angles to keep the same characters in the confines of the same 30 or so feet interesting at all times. He tempers just the right amount of blood and sound work with off screen injuries and death to keep it both brutal but never over the top. And he never gets gratuitous with anything. Everything is in just the right amount to feel natural.

Capone, from the same website, has this to say:

First-time feature director Carter Smith does not spare us the blood and guts, but he doesn't go overboard with it either, especially when the young med student is forced to perform emergency surgery a couple of times in the group's time atop the temple... The Ruins is great, freak-out-worthy material that will have you questioning every little bump under your skin and itch you can't quite reach. Oh, I need to see this again very soon.

Even Ain't It Cool News' founder, Harry Knowles, seems to love it, in his rambling, horribly-written way.

In addition to the billboards I see everywhere, I checked my e-mail to find the marketing for this film is going full force: Amazon.com had sent me the following notice:

I can't say this is my kind of movie – intense gore-fest horror films aren't at the top of my list. But I'll be out there showing my support, and if any of you want to join me, let me know.

Dreamworks is going full-steam on this one; if the reviews were bad, I'd say they were trying to bum-rush the opening weekend, but with the solid reviews everyone seems to be giving, it looks to me like the studio believes in this one.

Not bad for a kid from Bowdoinham!

iTunes For The Win

Big news; Ars Technica is reporting that Apple is the number one music retailer in the United States:

The news was announced in an e-mail sent this afternoon to some Apple employees, a copy of which was seen by Ars Technica. It includes a screenshot of an Excel file showing the top ten music retailers in the US for January 2008, and Apple is at the top of the list. The iTunes Store leads the pack with 19 percent, Wal-Mart (which includes the brick-and-mortar stores as well as its online properties) is second with 15 percent, and Best Buy is third with 13 percent. Amazon is a distant fourth at 6 percent, trailed by the likes of Borders, Circuit City, and Barnes & Noble. Rhapsody is in the tenth slot with 1 percent.

Wow. Take a look at those numbers – for every five songs sold nationally, one is bought on iTunes. Not bad for a store that didn't exist five years ago.

To my mind, this just goes to show how the old media business models are in upheaval; this is a lead Apple may not be able to keep up in the long term, but the days of the RIAA's hegemony are over. Hollywood faces the same challenges, and the next decade will feature a lot of similar rises and falls before the market figures out a new structure it can support.

Either way, NBC-Universal had better get back on iTunes!

Apple backs the news it up with a press release of their own.

Recaps

On the eve of Batlestar Galactica's Season 4 premiere, it may be a good time for a recap.

Salon put up a comprehensive article yesterday, which ends with a series of "unanswered" questions, some featuring non-show research.

But, as far as I'm concerned, the only way to catch up is to watch this video.

Brilliantly cut and put together, a group of people spent a lot of time on this. Pulling together that much info isn't easy, and deadpan delivery that perfect takes practice.

Apparently, they make a habit out of promoting top-rated serialized televison dramas: they did a similar recap for Lost.

Tracy, Morgan, Will and I just finished watching the two-part Season 3 finale of Battlestar. We are primed, we are pumped, and we are ready for some fresh frakkin' action – for the first time in over a year!

Boss Fight: The Return

Remember "Boss Fight," Jamie's Video-Game-Score Opus?

A friend of his did a remix, and it's totally worth checking out.

I still prefer the original, in all of its 8-bit glory, but this cracked me up.

Good For A Laugh: April 3, 2008

Fuckingrad over at Muxtape.

Because having "The Final Countdown" unexpectedly pop on while you're getting dressed in the next room is hilarious.

Special shout-out for the simple CSS and excellent use of Helvetica.

My Uncle John Is Awesome, Too

I promise not to start posting about my awesome family every two days – I am not Michael Bay – but my dad's older brother John sent me this yesterday:

I couldn't agree more with the title of your post on your dad's comment on Dick Cheney. Your dad is awesome and I've known him for a long time. I also couldn't agree more with his assessment of Dick Cheney. However, I couldn't help but notice that the date of your pronouncement of your dad's awesomeness was April 1!

I assure you, Uncle John, I meant no jest in my post; it can't be helped by dad chose Stupid Internet Joke Day to be so funny.

But I'm proud to be in the same awesome family as the both of you.

Magnum McC?!

Breaking news: Matthew McConaughey may be the next "Magnum, P.I."!

I don't quite know how to react: is this a perfect piece of casting, or a fiasco in the making? I just can't say!

I assume that, this time around, Magnum will be an Iraq War veteran, as opposed to the Selleck's Vietnam War vet, but will it be Iraq I or II?

Only time will tell.

Don't get too excited too fast, though; the part has only been offered to the golden-locked thespian, and nothing is set in stone.

Yet.


[c/o Will]

Re: Coins

From E.B. via iChat:

coins am stupid. Why sombody would need coines if they were a smart. dumb coin is for dumb londons.

check out these coins http://tinyurl.com/2lrx46

That's right, he Rickrolled me.

Lesson of the day: beware the TinyURL!

Coins From Across The Pond

It's been all over the interwebs today, but the United Kingdom just debuted their new coins today, and they are gorgeous.

This is what good design – of any kind – is all about. Beautiful, unified execution that satisfies both form and function. I ordered a set from the Royal Mint; this is the kind of art I want in my workspace, for a quick glance anytime I need inspiration or refreshment. This design has earned a place next to my Creative Power Bar (thanks Lucian and Marie!) and paintings of Bowdoinham and Monhegan. Hell, if the Apple logo can make you more creative, then why not some cold hard British cash?

One a personal note, I've been playing with some branding design of my own for the last few months (really a continuation of a project dating back to college), and had gravitated towards both heraldic styles and fragmented presentation. That's not to say that my ideas looked like this, but my head has been in some damn similar places. Which is makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Not April Fools

Kevin sent me another gem today; the first paragraph is a shining example of comedy writing:

A New Zealand man who claimed he was raped by a wombat and that the experience left him speaking with an Australian accent has been found guilty of wasting police time.

As Josh put it, "I don't even know where to start with that."

The date on the byline is March 29.

Jamie Returns

Jamie took a break from his blog for a while but now he's back and, as usual, perceptive in a way I wish I could (consistently) match:

[on Packrat and World of Warcraft]

Both of these games are insanely popular because they have the balance of monotony and reward down to a science. They pray masterfully on my obsessive tendencies. They deserve to be studied for their resounding success at drawing me and the multitudes like me, hour after hour, deeper down the rabbit hole.

But at their hearts, both games are glorified slot machines. Worse, they're slot machines with the last psychological barrier, the stream of quarters lost one by one, removed. There is no money being wasted, only time, and it's much easier to ignore the minutes falling away because I have, ostensibly, so MANY of them to my name.

Welcome back, friend. We missed you.

My Dad Is Awesome

From a recent email:

Your disgust with Dick Cheney is widely shared. The other day he was quoted, when asked for a response to recent polls showing that a majority of Americans want our military out of Iraq now, as replying, "So?". Makes me more cynical that ever. Apparently I've been wrong all along--for some humans there IS no redeeming merit.