Sunday, May 30, 2010

Movie 2010.05.30 - Robin Hood

Another Robin Hood movie. My, Hollywood's running out of ideas these days.

Movie about how Robin Longstride started off as an archer in the Crusades to becoming an impostor of Sir Robert Loxley of Nottingham. Sir Walter Loxley obviously knows this is not his son, but requests Robin to play along, so that their lands won't be taken over by the crown.

With John as the new King of England, he orders his goon Sir Godfrey to go around the country collecting tax. Little does King John that Sir Godfrey is in cahoots with King Philip of France. So Sir Godfrey goes around the countryside terrorizing the locals, inciting unrest. Feeling the wrath of the Barons of the North, King John promises to sign a charter of rights, guaranteeing certain rights to the people. With this assurance, Robin and the Northern Barons push back the French, who has already landed on England's south coast. Robin kills the escaping Sir Godfrey with an arrow through the neck.

King John, little man that he is, sees it as a victory for Robin. He burns up the Charter of the Forest when the Northern Barons come knocking, and declares Robin to be an outlaw. Left with no choice, Robin Hood and Lady Marion, together with his merry men retreat to Sherwood Forest.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Movie 2010.05.29 - The Losers

Another DC Comics adaptation. If you've never heard of The Losers before, well, it's pretty much the same as the A-Team, but lesser-known.

A group of US Special Services experts are sent to a jungle somewhere in Bolivia to take out a drug lord. At the last moment before the smart bomb is dropped from the skies, they discover kids inside the jungle camp being used as drug mules. They tell their handlers to abort the mission while they go in and rescue the kids. A guy called Max radios back and ignores their request. The kids were saved in the nick of time, but as the helicopter is lifting off, it was shot down.

Left for dead, the Losers kill time in Boliva until a woman by the name of Aisha approaches them with a plan to get back at Max. The group manages to foil Max' plan in procuring a clean nuclear bomb, but he still got away. Getting ready for the sequel, I guess.

Movie 2010.05.29 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I'm always hesitant to watch movies adapted from video games. I mean, you know the plot; you've seen the visuals. What else can the movie offer you? With Prince of Persia the Movie, I was pleasantly surprised. For one, it looked much better than the side-scrolling platform game from Broderbund I played on the PC. Two, I haven't played the newer Prince of Persia titles from Ubisoft, so I don't know the story.

Now I know. You have Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) falsely accused of killing his father. He escapes with the Princess of Alamut, Tamina (Gemma Arterton). Using the Dagger of Time and its special time-rewinding powers, they defeat the Hassansins employed by his evil uncle Nazim (Ben Kingsley), who secretly plots to become king. With the help of tax evader Sheik Amar and his mate Seso, they expose Nazim for who he is, and clears Princess Tamina of charges of providing the Kosh with weapons of mass destruction. And they all live happily ever after.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Book 2010.05.15 - Outliers: The Story of Success

In this book, Malcolm Gladwell tells us that it's all about opportunities. It doesn't matter how smart you are, or how rich your parents are. You have to be there at the right place in the right time in order to be hugely successful. Well, sometimes wealth does bring about certain opportunities not open to others.

Does that mean we should all just give up if we don't satisfy the above criteria? No, there is still the 10,000-hour rule. You can be born at the right time and show up at the right place, but if you don't practise your craft for at least 10,000 hours, you're still gonna amount to nothing, even if your IQ is 195.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Trying out Google Search Stories

Was sort of inspired when the first SearchStory called "Parisian Love" came out. Google Search Story (via YouTube) is about telling a story through search.

Now Google allows you to DIY. Just go to www.youtube.com/user/SearchStories and click on "Create your own". Enter your search terms (up to seven), choose what kind of search you want (normal web search, images, maps, books, product search, blog search, or news), choose an appropriate soundtrack (non-copyrighted, of course), and voila! Your very own SearchStory.
Very easy - just type, select, point and click.