The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford  
The Departed - Lots of fackin swearin'.
No Country For Old Men - hardcore
Anchorman - Comedies don't get a lot of respect on "best of" lists because they're considered less-than-important filmmaking. But damn, that movie made me cry with laughter in the theater which I had never done before or since.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Epic visuals.
The Royal Tenenbaums - Epic storytelling.  
Ghost World - Jeez that feels like a lifetime ago.  
Amelie - Gorgeous.
Kill Bill 1&2 & Inglorious Basterds - Considering I despise Tarentino as a personality/celebrity, not a bad decade, sir. Kudos. You read my blog, right, QT?
Zodiac - Gorgeous.
High Fidelity: I don't think you could work at a used music store and not appreciate this movie on some level.

Proof Family Entertainment Can Rock: The Incredibles & WALL-E - Really well-done & solid. The design of the Incredibles, the film titles, and a lot of the merch was just excellent. WALL-E: the robot itself was just great. A fucking CUBE with a hollow MIDDLE. And he folded up SO NEAT.

My Post-Apocalyptic Winners: Children of Men and The Road

My Mid-Apocalypse Winners: 28 Days Later and Shawn of the Dead

Best geek movie franchise: Lord of the Rings

Worst: Star Wars prequels

I think Fight Club should get an honorable mention, as it was released in Oct. of '99 & it's still fucking rad.

I think The Matrix should get an honorable mention (another '99er) because, despite whether you liked it or hated it, and despite the rest of the trilogy which totally gayed up a good thing, I think this movie held a lot of impact on the last decade. It took the wire-fu from Hong Kong and transformed it into a hyper-real high-tech computery visual language for fight scenes. 10 years later and you watch a trailer for a movie like "Kick Ass", and the Matrix is all over it. As a direct result of it, kung fu has become a standard fight scene element in most American action films (heck, it actually turned around and affected a lot of the subsequent Hong Kong output). Unlike hype surrounding movies like The Phantom Menace & Avatar, The Matrix really DID affect how (certain types of) films are made.

Semi-Honorable Mentions go to Death to Smoochy, Idiocracy, Team America: World Police, and Pootie Tang, which I enjoyed certain moments of immensely, even if the movies themselves were sort of mediocre. Generally eh movies with a few really really incredibly good scenes. Derka derka.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

Moon - Jeez, that was pretty fuckin' good.

Triplets of Belleville - Jeez, that was pretty fuckin' good.

Labels: 2010, blog, Rambling

NOTE: I like to make blog posts about this sort of shit, both for my own future reference, and in case anybody's Googling for answers to similar question I may have run into myself.

I recently purchased an HP Pavilion Elite e9280t PC (64-bit Windows 7,  i7-920 quadcore processor, 8GB of RAM) after a sudden failure of my old Alienware machine (32-bit XP, Pentium 4 3.2ghz processor, 4GB of RAM, though XP only recognized 3.25GB of it). The old girl was circa 2005, and I'd maxed it out long ago (trying such unadvisable things like RAIDing SSDs, tweaking the heck out of XP, etc), so a replacement was needed. Here are some positives and negatives regarding HP, upgrading to Win7 64-bit, Adobe, and other junk:

POSITIVES, SO FAR:
* This machine is indeed fast. After Effects render comparison of an 3:38 8GB uncompressed AVI: My old Alienware machine rendered it in 33:38. This new machine just rendered the same project in 3:32. Yes, that's right. Slightly faster than real time. I'm sure this is laughably slow to super-pro video dudes with super-pro workstation gear, but I am completely and totally psyched about this right now.

* Windows 7 is not too shabby, generally speaking. I am not fond of the new start menu, and I am coping with this 'pin to taskbar' business. But this is coming from a dude that used the Win98-like "Windows Classic" layout the whole time he used XP. So basically, I'll admit that interface changes rattle me easily.

* Upgrading to iTunes 9 did not cause me to lose my Quicktime 7 Pro license. Yay.

* Adobe Creative Suite CS2 & Production Studio Premium installed and activated AOK. CS3 did not activate for me because I was unable to uninstall/deactivate it on the old machine. But one fairly painless phone call got me an authorization code. (Note: I read complaints on forums about huge wait times, and this phone number was recommended, and now I recommend it too: 1-800-642-3623. I called at 7am west coast time and only waited on hold for like, five minutes or so.)

* Windows 7 totally recognized this oddball old Sony Media Converter box I have, which XP did not.

* Oh my goodness. Windows shows font previews as icons now? WHAT A NOTION.

* This machine is SO WONDERFULLY QUIET. I can't tell you how important that is to me. Humming fans in a home office drive me hella bonkers. Yeah, that's right. I said 'hella bonkers'.

* I am trying out one of the SSDs I yanked from the Alien in an external enclosure as a scratch/render disk, via the eSATA connections I did not realize were on the back of the HP. Don't know how much it's helping, but as far as the above render test goes, it ain't hurtin.
 
* I chucked in a Western Digital Caviar Black internal drive as my new project drive. Installed easily. Newegg rules. I believe it was 23 hours from order placement to it arriving on my doorstep.

* Even though it is maybe not necessary/useful for a machine with so much RAM, I set up a 4GB Sandisk UltraII flash card with Readyboost, because I had it kicking around for my camera.

NEGATIVES SO FAR (I am a negative person, so of course this list is longer):
* Ordering from HP.com sort of blows. They (admirably) built the custom order and had it ready seven days before their estimated ship date. But then, after sending me a "Your Order Has Shipped" email with FedEx tracking numbers, in an amazing feat of corporate disorganization, they LET MY ORDER SIT ON A SHELF FOR SEVEN DAYS, angered a new customer in new and unimaginable ways, and basically made me hate them.

* One speaker had a defective wire; replacement already en route. HP Customer Service lady was wicked nice. But I still generally hate them. (On the plus side, the one speaker & subwoofer that did work sounded waaaaay better than my old setup, so I can't wait to get the replacement). UPDATE 12/24: New speakers came. Sound great. Wired remote is retarded. My dad had a wired remote on his top-loading VCR in 1985. The fuck.

* This video card (NVIDEA GeForce GTX 260) for some reason won't allow my Samsung 940BX monitors to go higher than 1280x1040, though my old video card/XP did. Oddly, I looked up the monitors on Samsung's site and it says "max resolution 1280x1040". So... was my old setup doing something wrong/special? I have no idea. Need to investigate more.

* I am a stupid person sometimes, and in the whirlwind consumer frenzy of suddenly needing to replace a very important work computer that had crashed, I misread some specs, not noting the difference between PCI and PCIe connectors. So neither my ancient SCSI card (for my ancient awesome 11x17 scanner) nor my fairly-old Wavecenter digital ADAT audio card fit in this machine. I need a solution for this soon, I reckon. UPDATE: 12/23: I bought a new Tascam US-122 MKII to replace my whole damned setup, and after fiddling with it for 24 hrs, I think I just might like it. A lot. Will comment more soon.

* CS2 programs (InDesign, GoLive, Audition) make Windows 7 revert to a simplified mode which is slightly annoying, but I might eventually choose that as my default theme anyway. GoLive layout view/code view got a little wonky until I re-picked "web view" from the bottom pane pulldown. UPDATE 12/24: I had trouble with my plugins at first but now they're rockin', mostly. Some of my Cakewalk and Waves stuff didn't show up in Audition.

* HP sacrificed valuable chassis space to an "HP Personal Media Drive" and an "HP Pocket Media Drive". Some proprietary bullshit. And of course, a lot of HP dumb-ass software came preloaded. They are both essentially internal USB ports, so if I really wanted to, I could probably buy an extension wire and make use of the ports if I really wanted to.

* When I loaded my Wacom Intuos 2, it activated some weird-ass Microsoft Tablet PC shit in Windows 7, causing every pen click to have irritating-as-hell animated cursor shit accompany it. After a bit of Googling, here are a few options on how to disable that wack shizz: Try this one first and see if it fixes it: OPTION ONE: Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services>Tablet PC Input Service>Stop Service. Then right click on the Tablet PC Input Service>Propertie>Change Startup Type from "Automatic" to "Disabled". (If that doesn't do it for you, here are two other things to try: OPTION TWO: Control Panel>Pen and Touch>Press and Hold>Settings: Uncheck "Enable Press and Hold...". OPTION THREE: Run gpedit.msc Navigate to User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Tablet PC>Cursors>Right click to edit>Enable "Turn off pen feedback".) UPDATE 12/24: Dumb cursors have thankfully not returned, but I have had to re-set my preferences twice now upon reboot (I change both buttons to right click and adjust for dual monitor setup). Annoying. I am setting the TabletServiceWacom service to "Automatic (Delayed Start)" to see if maybe it's getting messed with at startup or what.


December 19, 2009

Labels: blog, Rambling

Labels: 2009, blog, Photography

Pride of the fleet. Burned oil like a fleeing Iraqi. Was well on its way to rotting away completely. Frightening Mass Pike experiences. Pitched and yawed like a ship at sea. I am fairly certain that "yawed" is a word. More photos, and some old writing I, uh, wrote about it can be found here.

Labels: blog, Rambling

Labels: 2009, blog, Photography

MIDDLESEX - Cover design by Henry Sene Yee, Cover illustration by Olga Grlic, published by Picador I haven't read this book yet, but I look at it everytime I end up perusing Barnes and Noble. The black and white/matte finish is classy. Hell, even the gold-embossed Pulitzer badge - something usually slapped on long after the cover has been completed - looks great. The mix of photographic smoke-as-water combined with flat silhouette figures is awesome. The implication of cool naked chicks hanging around being naked while smoking cigarettes doesn't hurt anything, either. And now that I've read the credits and know the illustrator is named "Olga Grlic", well, I'm in love. This is a really nice looking book cover. C'mon!		RICHARD III - Pelican Shakespeare edition, illustration by Riccardo Vecchio - Not a great cover generally speaking, but the illustrations on this whole series are pretty fucking outstanding. Check the rad lion.
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION - Penguin Great Ideas edition, 2006 - Designer: David Pearson, Art Director: Jim Stoddart - This whole series is really sweet, nicely printed. I like this 'un best. In fact I lifted the text box design for the cover of Broken Lines. I'm an unimaginative prick sometimes.		THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE (2005) - by good ol' John Hodgman, published by Dutton, cover layout by Sam Potts - Great mix of flat blue and gloss orange. I really like covers that are filled with text and info... if you care, you take the time to read it (like a good Chris Ware cover). It helps that it's all extremely funny and sharply written, 'course.
THE COMPLETE PEANUTS SERIES - designed by Seth, published by Fantagraphics - I'm psyched for this whole collection for the Charles Schultz goodness, of course. But I gotta say these books look pretty great. The color variations are dang pleasant, Seth's lettering (and occasional aping of Schultz's style for endpapers, etc) are top notch and really fit the project well. My only complaint was the decision to feature a different character on the cover/spine, which has already led to really lame useless characters being featured. Seems like an idea that sort of paints the publishers into a corner, but I suppose they have a master plan. Err, right?		GOOD FAITH - by Jane Smiley, cover layout by Gabriele Wilson - A fine example of using clip art in a non-stupid way. Simple, straightforward, great color choices. Jumps off the ol' store bookshelf, ya know?
THE VARIETIES OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERIENCE - by Carl Sagan, cover layout by Amanda Dewey - I can't tell if I like this cover, or if I just like the typeface. I mean, I appreciate the stark simplicity of it all. I like the two colors. I look at it everytime I walk by it in Barnes'n'Noble. So I guess that means.... I like it? Semi-interesting sidenote: Google Image Search "sagan varieties" and you get photos of Kirsten Dunst in a bikini. Okay... that's not even semi-interesting. Sorry. But it's weird, am I right?

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

THE TOYOTA YARIS LIFTBACK (2007-2008) - Of all the great car designs in the world I could talk about, I choose this little fella. Because every time I see one on the street, I am struck by just how dang NICE they are. The proportions, the styling, the hefty stance. They are like fat little shiny burritos. I want a black one, no rear spoiler thing, no plastic wheel covers-just black steel rims. As a side note, let me say that this car was introduced with one of the worst ad campaigns I'd ever seen. The computer-generated bullshit that filled my TV screen the first couple years these were out made me so angry I literally was unable to see the car.

SHURON RONSIR ZYL EYEGLASS FRAMES - These classic-ass frames have been around for a long long time (according to the manufacturer's site, they sold their 16 millionth pair in 1971). They are apparently pronounced "zill". I searched for quite awhile before finally finding these babies, and now they are mine. Buy some; Look like me,

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

MUSE - KNIGHTS OF CYDONIA (2006) - Directed by Joseph Kahn - Cowboys, kung-fu, sci-fi, 60s/70s execution. Superimposed hawks. A chrome-bikini-clad woman on a unicorn with a magical CD. Dirtbikes. Droids. Band-as-hologram. This thing is amazing. It's not too often I see a music video and actually get jealous that I didn't make it. There is an uncensored version on the director's website, but honestly his site has to much Flash-wankery for me to bother with. PETER, BJORN & JOHN - YOUNG FOLKS (2006) - Directed by Ted Malmros - This video successfully compliments the song. Which, you know, should be the goal of all video makers, but most sorta miss the mark. But this works. It's cute and eye-catching and plain ol' apt. It fits, damn it. I think the limited animation approach mostly succeeds, though there a few times I feel like they're rehashing the same clips a few too many times. The art style itself is great. Simple, clean, good color palette. GORILLAZ - CLINT EASTWOOD (2001) - Art by JC Hewlett - Christ, I think I could put the Gorillaz in like, every category I've made here. They're just awesome. Most everything they release is just so goddamned quality. But it all started with this video (maybe. I think. Right? I'm no goddamned Gorillaz historian.) and I think it still stands as one of the best animated videos I've ever seen. I mean, I'm still in love with the song, too. So that sure don't hurt.

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

SIX FEET UNDER (2001-2005) - Digital Kitchen, music by Whatsisname Newman - I love this sequence. I think it should so obviously be on this list of Really Nice Things, it almost seems like I should exclude it due to its obviousity, know what I mean? Great music, great editing cuts to the music, great imagery, great execution. Some of it could have come out corny (time lapse of flowers dying? Come ON!) but they pulled it off. It's pretty great. Watch the sequence & stuff from the DVD.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (2006) - Shadowplay Studios - Awesome. I assume it was done in After Effects, and it's top-notch. No bullshit preset animation crap, no dumb effects, just good graphic design and typography, sliced up and animated in a classy way. The recreation of some of the packaging must have been a ball-buster, and it completely paid off. It rocks. Watch the sequence.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002) - Nexus Productions, I think. - I liked this but didn't love it. The animation technique was nice, the colors were nice, the overall graphic treatment was nice. The extended lines off of the type (Helvetica or Coolvetica or whatever the hell it is) really didn't do it for me at all, which is tough nuts for me because the whole sequence is built around the gimmick. It all plays very well with the John Williams score. It's totally like, tons better than most crap movie titles, don't get me wrong. I mean, it's on this extremely important webpage, right? I mean, I made the effort. Watch it on the YouTube.

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

BEASTIE BOYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY (2000) - Menu and package design: Bill McMullen/The Orange Network, DVD production: Sean Wright-Anderson - The packaging has some above average illustration work on it and a nice lil' booklet, but my main target of praise are the DVD menus. They're all just really slick and spot-on. The Beastie Boys have a long history of having a really strong graphic presence. Sometimes the packaging outclasses the product itself (Intergalactic!). Anyhoo, this DVD collection is the shit and the menus are solid.

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

ROBERT JOHNSON - KING OF THE DELTA BLUES (1961) - painting by Burt Goldblatt - Easily one of my favorite paintings for an album cover, ever. I've seen so many variations on the ONE photo of Robert Johnson, it just makes this unique angle all the more original. I just dig the shit out of it.

DJ SHADOW - ENTRODUCING (1996) - Photograph by B+ - I love this photo. And as a graphic designer dork who loves good type and layouts and negative space and all that crap, I love the fact that none of it is present here. It's a great pure photo of a store I'd love to be in. The full width photo with the nice record store kitty sitting on the bins is even better.

GORILLAZ - GORILLAZ (2001) - Art by JC Hewlett - An awesome mix of photo and animation-style artwork, smack in the middle of a plain white field. The lighting of the drawing is great, too. That yellowy green glow of gross flourescent banks. Somehow it says everything that needs to be said about this band. Understated and awesome.

SUGAR - FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING (1994) - Textile designs by Lou Kregel - Not the best example of type integration (the title is in that corny 50's font, the band name is rather out of place with its blocky, uh, blockiness) but I just love the textile designs so much I can't help but embrace the whole package. I have the promo version of this, which is a nice thick book (more like a file folder) with a LOT of textile design work like this on the inner cards (a different one for each song on the album). I would probably be much less impressed had I only ever seen the standard jewel case version. As a complete aside, I used to work at a used CD store, and dumb new workers really would file this under easy listening.

REM - UP (1998) - dunno who did the design - I don't think I've ever listened top this album, cos I'm not too crazy about REM. But it's totally sweet looking. Awesome color choices. If it isn't screenprinted, then it's a superb photoshop job to replicate the look.

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

KNOB CREEK - I don't like whiskey. But I like this bottle, goddamnit. Nice type, nice color palette. One of the sharper looking labels at the liquor store.

SIMPLY ORANGE JUICE - I don't claim this is the flashiest package design in the world, but it's certainly the nicest orange juice container when compared to all the other orange juice containers. There's some nice solid typography going on on this little juicy bastard. IT CAUGHT MY EYE, OKAY???

DORITOS X-13D CHIPS - Putting aside the whole hamburger-flavored chip conversation for a sec, I'd just like to say that I like this bag. It makes me laugh. If I was about to board an extremely top-secret military aircraft while wearing an experimental spacesuit, then I would expect a seriously labcoated woman holding a clipboard to hand me this as an in-flight snack.

Labels: blog, Rambling, Really Nice

Labels: blog, Photography

Labels: 2008, blog, Photography

Labels: 2003, blog, Photography