Net Neutrality Might Be Dead

Alo Party Peoples.

This is going to be short because I need sleep. There's been a new development in the ongoing debate about net neutrality in the US. Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers can't discriminate in regards to content they provide access to. A recent ruling by a federal court said that the FCC didn't have the authority to enforce this. I was concerned, but I hoped that we could sort it out.

Now, we kind of did. Good thing, ISPs can't ban lawful websites. Bad news, they can charge websites like say, Netflix or YouTube more for faster service. This has already happened with Netflix. Honestly, I'm a little sad. I don't want an Internet that's split up like that image. That is a less accessible web, a less open web, and freedom of information is very important to me. The rules are up for a vote on May 15th, and I urge you to contact the FCC and urge them to strike down what one Nash called "plain extortion" on the part of ISPs.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

An Apology

Alo Party Peoples.

I would like to apologize for not covering Transcendence this weekend. For reasons beyond my control, I couldn't get into a theater to see it. I've failed to live up to my promise, and it wouldn't be relevant for me to cover it two weeks after release. As compensation, next weekend I will subject myself to The Amazing Spider-Man 2.* I am very sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you can forgive me for it.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Archivis News Update, In Space (4-20-2014)

Alo Party Peoples.

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so let's get right to it.

Image courtesy of NASA

NASA put it's newest spacesuit design up for a public vote a while ago. In all honesty, these look kind of ridiculous. It looks like something right out of Flash Gordon. Like how people in the 1930s thought spacesuits would look now. The results of the poll will be announced on April 30th, and a finished suit is expected to be made by November. For the record, I voted 'Technology'.

Speaking of space travel, this is the trailer for the upcoming Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar. It looks really good. Granted, maybe that's just because I agree that our more-or-less abandonment of manned space exploration is a sad turn of events, and that "our destiny lies above us", but I am loving this trailer. My only real gripe is that it seems to only acknowledge American achievements in space, Sputnik and Gagarin go unspoken of, but that's really nitpicking an otherwise beautiful trailer. The movie comes out in November, and I can't wait to see it.


That's all for now, and I'll hopefully see you in a few days with a review of Transcendence.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Let's Go Out To The Movies: Disneynature Bears

Alo Party Peoples.



There's been a change in schedule. Originally I was going to review Transcendence this week, a movie about a mad transcendent (read: more intelligent than a human) AI played by Johnny Depp taking over the world. As ridiculously appealing as that sounds, I had to skip it, I'll try to work it back into the schedule some time. Instead we're talking about a nature documentary, because my entire family really wanted to see it. I'm all for documentaries, for example the new Cosmos hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson is something you should be putting in front of your eyes, and in a country where 25% of our population are geocentrists, we probably need more of them.

How is this one about a group of grizzly bears in Alaska? It's pretty good. The cinematography is gorgeous, the animals never seem to notice the cameramen, and the narration by John C Riley gets a laugh every now and then. That's all that really needs to be said, if your'e in the mood for footage of bears played with acoustic guitars and riffed by a man with such gems as "What do you do if your claw gets stuck in the clam?" then have at it. It seems that Transcendence has been getting a real beating by the critics.

I know this is short, but there isn't that much to say, and sometimes short is sweet.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Let's Go Out To The Movies: Draft Day

Alo Party Peoples.

I know that this is an odd pick for me, usually the films I cover have a more fanciful bent to them, but it was a slow weekend for new releases. The only other options were Oculus, which I can't cover because it is a horror movie, or Rio 2, and I already covered one kids film this year. So we're talking about this.

At the NFL draft, where the coaches pick new players fresh out of college, Sonny Weaver, played by Kevin Costner, has the chance to rebuild his team after a thirteen year losing streak. To do this, he trades his chance to choose a player for the next three years so he can get the first pick. Incidentally, if you don't know the first thing about sports, neither do I, all you really need to know is that this was a big risk. Everyone on his staff thinks that this a stupid thing to do. Over the next thirteen hours he debates over his choice player with his staff while discussing his policies.

The only real thing I noticed about this movie is that for a movie about the NFL, there is a surprising lack of football being played. The focus here is on the work behind the scenes. The people who put together the spectacle.

I'm sorry, I know I'm stretching for material. It's because I can't really think of anything to say about this movie. It's perfectly average. It looks nice, it moves along at a good clip, the actors all do their jobs well, and there isn't anything really wrong with it, but there just isn't anything that memorable about the movie other than some shots being in split screen. Even that stops in the second half of the movie.

In conclusion, Draft Day is just alright. Sorry guys, there just wasn't much out this week. Maybe it's just that I don't know football, but I can't really recommend this movie.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Let's Talk About Movies; Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Followup

Note-A Level 3 Spoiler Warning is in effect. Major plot details of Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be discussed. Plot details that will more likely than not bleed over into Agents of Shield. Proceed reading at your own risk.-End Note

Alo Party Peoples.

Now that you've had a chance to go see the movie, we can talk about the twist. Let's skip the pleasantries and get right to it.

So, after finding out that the super secret info Nick Fury gave them originated from Cap's old training ground in New Jersey, he and Natasha go there and find a, giant vacuum tube supercomputer, okay, underneath it. When they power it on, they discover that it houses the uploaded consciousness of Arnim Zola, a Nazi mad science booster from First Avenger. Who promptly informs them that Hydra, the Nazi mad science R&D department from First Avenger, didn't die with the Red Skull. Instead, it just took on a new form. After the war, most of Hydra got drafted into the newly formed Shield, where it ended up becoming a sort of cancer. Achieving massive influence within the organization, using the Winter Soldier to kill people they didn't like, and shaping the post war world to be ready to "give up their freedom for security".

I sort of saw a parallel there with how the Space Race got jump started by both sides hiring German rocket scientists captured during the war, but I don't think that's what they were going for. What do I think they were going for? I'll get to that later.

They also discover that Zola helped Shield develop a special algorithm to track literally everyone on Earth. I'm not kidding, Shield is tracking your movements, your purchases, your Internet surfing, your employment, and your everything else. All in the name of using that information to find potential threats, and kill them before they become a problem. That's actually why they've been building the weaponized helicarriers, to be the means by which they will kill them. To stop this, Steve, Natasha, and their veteran friend Sam "Falcon" Wilson break into Shield HQ and upload Shield's secrets to the Internet, where they immediately start trending on Twitter, after which they end up becoming fugitives on the run from a Hydra infiltrated Shield that now has nothing to hide.

It's not that big a leap to say that there's more than a little influence from the WikiLeaks scandal last year. I'm as much for freedom of information as anyone else, but I realize that what Chelsea Manning did put quite a few people overseas in serious danger. We keep secrets for a reason, not everybody is a trustworthy individual that won't immediately use that information to destroy you. "We [security agencies/Shield] take the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be."

It's a big risk for them to make that parallel, and it seems that the filmmakers are of the opinion that the whistle blowers had noble intentions but that their actions will have very serious consequences. I agree with that. The real question however is, why would they take that risk? Surely they know that there are plenty of critics and media personalities that are vehemently opposed to WikiLeaks, not that they're without good reason for being so, and that they will certainly think of attacking anything that even looks like it might sympathize with them.

My follow up question is this. How can you make a Captain America movie set in the present day and not be political in some way? No, the Avengers doesn't count because it isn't really Old Glory's movie. When I asked my father that question, he said something like this. "It would have to be a very flat movie. You have to speak so some side of the political spectrum to make this character work in the present." I very much agree. When you have a movie where your lead character is named after a country and wears it's colors as their uniform, politics kind of come bundled with the material.

I've been thinking about this, and I think it's worth discussing. Please let me know what you think in the comments and/or on social media.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Let's Go Out To The Movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Note-A Level 1 Spoiler Warning is in effect. You've been warned. Nothing major, but I can't discuss a movie without talking about what happens in it. If you want to stay completely unspoiled, stop reading now, and go see the movie. It's damn good.-End Note-

Alo Party Peoples. 

I'm going to start by talking about that Marvel Studios special that aired a few weeks ago. Don't worry, I'll get to the movie, but they raised a point that I think is relevant here. They talked about how Captain America was a unique part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a peculiar way. Steve is the only member of the Avengers that can't go back to the realms of his first movie. Thor can always return to Asgard, and Tony Stark can always come back to Pepper Potts, but Steve Rogers can't go back to the 1940's. Time travel via glacier is a one-way trip.

And things in the United States have certainly changed since the 1940's'. We put a man on the moon, Jim Crow laws got the ax, atomic weapons forever changed international politics, and radical Islamic terrorism became an all too real threat. The film reflects this with a complete change in tone and aesthetic from First Avenger. Taking the franchise from a retro throwback WWII pulp adventure, to a modern, Bourne-esque espionage thriller. How did that work out?

As the film opens, Steve is working with Black Widow as part of Shield's special ops team, but he's feeling a little conflicted about being a walking symbol for a government that hasn't been winning many popularity contests lately. He feels especially conflicted about it when he discovers that Shield is building a fleet of weaponized helicarriers in response to Loki's invasion of New York. After an attack on Nick Fury's life by the mysterious Winter Soldier, a figure believed to be behind several history shaping asassinations, Nick gives Steve some super secret info, and he ends up on the run from the law with Natasha.

I probably don't have to spell out the paralell there. Something bad happened in New York, the US government responds with a big military boost, and the embodiment of everything good about America isn't happy about it. That isn't exactly subtle, and it isn't the only thing being paralleled. Unfortunately, saying what the other thing is would give too much away. I might do a followup after people have had a chance to see the movie, but for now let's just say that it's a game changer. As in, you won't believe they went there.

The action is a bit different from the other Marvel movies. Going from the ray guns and magic of its predecessors to mostly realistic bullets and blades. That action is very well done, and it comes with a shift in tone to a slightly more serious kind of superhero movie. It isn't as grim as DC has been recently, but this is a new direction for these movies to take and they handle it well.

The assembled cast works off eachother well. Chris Evans and Scarlet Johannsen have fantastic chemistry, Anthony Mackie as a veteran friend of Steve's with a pair of bionic wings is good, Samuel L Jackson brings real weight to Nick Fury, and Robert Redford does a good job as one of Shield's higher ups.

If there is a real problem with the movie, it's that the Winter Soldier himself isn't present a lot of the time. But that's nitpicking, and when he does show up it works really well. 

In conclusion, this is probably tied with Iron Man 3 for best non-Avengers Marvel movie so far, but aside from that, it works well as an action movie on its own. It has shown that Marvel Studios has room for a more serious endeavor. Or at least as serious as a movie about Captain America can be expected to be.

Oh, and stay after the credits. This is Marvel movie #9, you know the drill by now.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B