Well, I saw the movie District 9 yesterday.

This may be the summer movie of the year. And it may be the best scifi movie of the year, including the wonderful release called Moon, which I saw earlier this summer (I can’t decide).

It’s amazing to me that two real science fiction movies got released in one year. For so many years, I thought we would be left to the drivel being pandered to us on what has now been renamed The SyFy Channel. (rumor is that this is the new name because it’s how teens text it).

I won’t give you a synopsis of the movie, because you can find that anywhere. I’ll tell you though, the way the characters morph and your sympathies change is truly adult fair. No simple answers here. Just as the Rotten Tomatoes short review says, this will become a SciFi classic. Like Blade Runner, it is not the kind of movie that depends of special effects even though the major effect is almost constantly visible.

District 9: One of the special effect is always there.

It looms there in changing light and does nothing, yet you know it will eventually play a part in this astonishing drama.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I loved this film. See it, see it, see it.

Of course it is not a perfect film and has a few faults. You might even pick up on them as you think about and review the film, but none of the flaws interferes with its brilliance.

The beach – at last. Ahhhhh!

I saw two movies yesterday. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince & a wonderful film titled Moon.

Potter was much better than I expected! In fact I really enjoyed it. By now people should know that the movies don’t follow the books exactly but they do follow them faithfully. I’d recommend that you see it!

Moon, is a film that you won’t find often at the multiplex but is definitely worth tracking down. Watch the preview… You’ll see what I mean.

This post is also a test of publishing from the iPhone. It could make it easier to post on the run.

It’s been a long time since my last post, but I’m back.  I tried upgrading my various blogs and all  worked well until I got to my blog Whispers.  The upgrade crashed with a fatal error.  You can see for yourself.

Anyway the point is, I was running a series of shorts by talented film maker Anne Flournoy called the Louise Log. You get a chance to hear what is going on in Louise’s head (I like headphones but not necessary) as she goes through her daily life.  It’s very funny.  Since I hadn’t been blogging, I missed posting #13 and now it is up for a vote to be played on WNET (PBS station) as a short.  So I was going to post #13 (titled Louise and the Repairman), and put in a plug to go vote for it, which is real easy to do.

Just go to this Thirteen.org link and vote.

I’m posting the short here, but to see all of the episodes, go to Anne’s website and click on the Louise Log.

After you see this and when you go to Anne’s site, you can view #14, but remember to vote.  The poll closes at 5pm EDT.

New Jersey!

There was a car show too!

I have not mentioned here, that for Christmas, I received an iPhone 3G from my wife.  Now, I have never lusted for an iPhone 3G nor even mentioned it to her.  It just seemed to me to be another electronic gadget, but I’ve had it almost two months now, and you’d have to forcibly prior it from my hands.

front screen of iPhone

What makes the iPhone so good, is not only the tight integration of the programs that come

Some of my iPhone apps

installed but apps you can get that add to its usefulness. Many are free or 99 cents. Now I won’t go anywhere without it.  Right now, one of my favorites is Flixster, for finding movies.  But, my favorite is something called Koi Pond.

The purpose of Koi Pond is, well,… it doesn’t have a purpose.  Perhaps that’s why I like it.  The stereo sound of the thunder is fantastic.

I saw Ghost Town yesterday. What a fun movie. It starts out smooth and picks up speed as the movie goes on because we start to actually care about the characters. It’s premise is that a dentist (Ricky Gervais) goes into the hospital for a colonoscopy and finds out later that during the procedure, he died for seven minutes (“a bit less”) and can now see dead people. Greg Kinnear, whose demise opens up the movie, becomes his antagonist/guide/side kick/friend and tries to convince Gervais to break up the relationship his widowed wife (Téa Leoni) is in… But, never mind, I’m telling too much… Go see it. The perfect entertainment for these troubling times if you want a laugh.

Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, and Greg Kinnear in Ghost Town

Thank you Onion!!!

Top Story On John McCain Run Out Of Obligation

So I’m crusin’ Twitter (not that I’m a subscriber – it’s a long story) and I notice all these references to Dr. Horrible. My search for it, eventually got me to the Dr. Horrible website. What a treat!!! It’s from Joss Whedon, who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. It’s starring Neil Patrick Harris and others you know.

What we have here is a pure Internet show. It’s not on TV (but it is TV). It’s not theater (but it is theater – in the Little Shop of Horrors genre). Please, please go to the website to see the episodes, but for those of you who need to see a sample first, here’s the preview:

If you really enjoy it, you can download the episodes at iTunes.

It was with a half heart that I went to see Hancock today. My wife and I couldn’t decide whether to see that or Wall-e. We both figured that Wall-e would at least be entertaining, and Hancock had gotten mixed reviews. We decided on Hancock and am I glad we did.

If you’re expecting something like The Hulk or Iron Man (I really loved Iron Man and thought it was head and shoulders over The Hulk), yes, you will be disappointed. Hancock is a little more cerebral. Imagine a super hero who does time in jail and drinks too much and basically has a bad attitude… that’s Hancock. Even though I thought I had figured out “the twist“, I was still surprised by the end. If you can only see two movies this summer (and that’s totally understandable considering the price of everything – especially gas), then see Hancock if you want something different, and Iron Man if you want more fun, but both are excellent choices. If you can only see one movie, make it Hancock.