Kimputer's Weblog

Just testing a link (not mine).

Rate 1 (FR#^&% MESS !) to 5 (how very tidy !). Only rate the latest picture, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 962 out of 273 votes > Average is: 3.524

No, it’s NOT a mess, it’s a belated xmas gift for myself !

Not having seen it in the movie theatre due to a crowded schedule, combined with bad critics and box office cume of just $30 million, still makes you wonder why 2 hunks from 2 generations didn’t attract a large crowd. The movie itself isn’t that bad. Overall, it’s lightly entertaining. The story hobbles along like a car on imperfect wooden wheels, but it’s still moving nonetheless. In the end, the whole experience feels tinny, and the humor is not worth rolling on the floor for. But still, with an open mind, it’s entertaining.6½.

With 2 hits on their resume already, one cannot escape the curiosity of taking a peek into their debut album. Well, debut as in mainstream, having released 2 already. As the title says, and a few other track names, this album leans a bit towards funk, and second to jazz, that’s exactly how you can get me ticked off. The record company made a wise choice releasing the melodieus Where is the Love and Shut Up first, as they probably wouldn’t have made a dent in the billboard charts otherwise. Those kind are not to be found on the rest of the CD. A bit more experimenting with short melodies has gone awry, as too short a melody is no melody at all, with some so irritating you praise the Lord for having bought the album.4+.

So I thought, what the heck, it’s just a nasal voice. Let her start with a clean slate. That slate, wasn’t clean for long. Her nasal voice still stings me, and she’s even experimenting with a deliberate high voice (which isn’t a success). Some more experimental percussions are used in most song, but why experiment if you can’t make a good normal song first ? I’ll grant her this, the overall feeling of the album is a good mood with happy tunes for most people, though it’s still an irritating mood with irritating tunes for me personally. The song Try comes most closely to a normal song, but still fails. I predict it will fall in good taste with people who like her previous work, but for me, it’s not palatable at all.3.

Robert Rodriguez’ third El Mariachi movie, which comes off pretty standard, compared to his own standards. There are no surprises or awe inspiring scenes while watching this movie. It’s the usual action scenes with gun shots, followed by a falling body with a bit of flair. Most done with a bit of fireworks, some wire work, showed in high speed. The story however, turned out to be a bit better than I expected. Johnny Depp has another marvelous role that fits him like a glove, and without him, the grade would definitely have been lower.7.

Take a look at these pictures: pic1 | pic2
It?s Eva Mendes. Getting roles in bigger and bigger pictures, she climbed from 2 Fast 2 Furious to Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and starred alongside Denzel Washington in Out of Time. Bigger roles are coming her way the next few years.

More pictures and info here.

Rate 1 (sucks) to 5 (cool). Only rate the latest pictures, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 456 out of 138 votes > Average is: 3.304

Thank you BILL GATES !!! Of course, he’s trying to make me work harder, so I can sell more Windows and Office packages. But for this case, yeah, let’s.

Can it be true ? Is the new US Federal antispamming law (use of PO Box, and a valid return address to unsubscribe, with fines possible as high as $1 million) really having effect ? Today, I received only 67 spam messages, down from 200 something.
Well, while only time will tell, but I’m currently inclined to tag this as a fluke. As more and more people get online, 24/7, combined with less and less knowledge, the number of zombie pc’s (worm-like virii with spamming abilities) will explode, and that will possibly result in an exponential increase in spam.
Worse still, if it doesn’t help, why should a European Law work. Or even the rest of the world, for that matter ? Guess I’ll need to order a few extra DEL-keys, I’m sure it will be the first key that wears off.
Are you one of the few lucky blessed people with a clean mailbox ?

Take a look at these pictures: pic1 | pic2 | pic3
Yupz, it’s Scarlett Johansson, and 2003 is really her year. While I already knew she’d grow up to be a star since her “Introducing” credit (even though it was already her sixth picture) in The Horse Whisperer, this year’s double Golden Globe nominations proved my point. A short review on both movies (because these aren’t regular box office movies):

Girl with a Pearl Earring – Named after the most famous painting of Dutch painter Vermeer, it tells the tale of how the painting came to life. Taking place in Delft, 1665, it’s a time where you can’t really get connected to (old class systems, an unknown concept for most people). Slowly, telling the story of Griet, a maid, you really get a sense of both the period, and the characters. That’s accomplished with minimal dialogue, and there’s crackling silence carrying the atmosphere in most scenes. The score is unlike the usual orchestra trying to give it a feeling of times past, but instead, you get an excitement hightening score, which actually works very well. The director must have loved and studied Vermeer’s work long and closely, because it all adds up in the picture. Making even a non-artsy down-to-earth guy like me notice how he shoots art like art itself with just the right colors, shadows, textures and composition. 8-.

Lost in Translation – Like above, it’s almost a period piece too, except it would be the current period. Getting the sense of life in Japan, through foreign eyes. The story itself is character driven, and with the indepedent status of this movie, you’d expect a lot of psychological mambo jambo. But none of this is true. The dialogues are fresh and funny, and the deeper thoughts are woven in subtlely. This of course, due to Bill Murray’s natural charm, and superb acting by Scarlett Johansson.8+.

Next up for Scarlett is The Perfect Score, a more mainstream movie, which she has to carry herself, as her name is the only outstanding one of the ensemble cast. After that she’ll star besides John Travolta in A Love Song for Bobby Long, followed opposite Helen Hunt in a period piece, A Good Woman. Continuing her streak of interesting choices, she’ ll have a long career ahead.

More pictures and info here.

Highly critically acclaimed, and even chosen as album of the year here and there. Being a double CD, there must be something in it for me, right ? Wrong, it’s double the boredom, double the aggravation. Totalling at 39 tracks (19 for Andre 3000, 20 for Big Boi), there are a handful of intros, interludes and such, leaving you with a still high 30 full songs. Ranging from jazzy songs, mixed with some high speed rap to the samples-heavy scratching, they ALL have something irritating to it. I’d probably rip someone’s hi-fi installation apart if I’d hear one of those songs again, so to be safe, I deleted all tracks from my hard disk, with a sector wipe to follow.1+.

Once, they had a few mainstream hits. I could live with that. Then finally came their self-titled album, so this must be really good. Then I heard a handful of songs, not noticing it, because I kept hearing the same thing. Somehow, they’ve managed to put in the same chorus, same shouts, same guitar riff, same rhythm and same drumbeats in almost every song. (If I put a 5 second excerpt from “Feeling this” and “Violence”, I’d bet you 100 bucks you couldn’t keep them apart, giving you a full minute to think about it). This trend was noticable on their previous albums, and I’m pretty sure I won’t even bother downloading their next one.3-.

Nothing surprising happening, The King still on his throne with $30.8 million. Last week’s number 2, Cheaper by the Dozen, stays with $21.9 million. Something’s Gotta Give climbs back to number 3, in its fourth week, with a 10% uptick, $12.5 million

An intimite view of a small tragic family drama. Nicely worked out character-driven story, where everything feels a tiny bit more real, instead of the usual contrived feeling you get with scripted drama. Performances are great, even the little girls give a smashing performance. Definitely one of the better independent movie from the past two years (as this one has been on the shelf for quite some time. Opening in the Canadian Film Festival in 2002, nominated for Golden Globes in 2004).8-.

Can you believe it ? Fifth year in a row, and I even doubled my chances this year by buying TWO New Year’s Eve lottery ticks. And what did I get ? Not even two fiddy, no, exactly freakin’ zero zero zero point zero zero. Next year, I’m gonna kill the person who’ll sell me those lousy tickets again.