Kimputer's Weblog

Jason Bourne comes out of hiding to make a box office splash, recording the best numbers for an August opening yet. The Bourne Ultimatum hands off a not so secretly $70.2 million, riding on a wave of superb critical reviews (85 points on metacritic).
Meanwhile, the Simpsons 2D cartoon takes a steep dive, with a 65% drop coming in at $25.6 million. Still it easily passed the $100 million mark, the cume now at $128.5 million in its second week.
A new entry at number 3, Disney’s Underdog doesn’t impress much, with just $12 million. Rounding out the top 5 is I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with $10.5 million and Hairspray with $9.3 million.

This is the first Comedy Central movie to be released wide, and that’s probably a good choice. Two years ago, Strangers with Candy had a limited release, and the strange nature of that comedy isn’t for anyone. This movie though, is quite accessible, combining unpredictable sketches with goofy characters. Problem though is, the most good and unpredictable stuff, was already in the trailer. In the movie itself, there’s basically nothing left to surprise us with, hence leaving the big laughs out of reach. Besides the skit-like nature, there is a tiny story wrapped around it, but it’s not much. So here’s just a grade for not being boring.6.

A new website eh ? And they’re even willing to detail all the new improvements ?

Et voila, here’s the improvement:

Anywayz, can’t check if I won anything this month, I mean, c’mon, isn’t it about time ? Even Bernoulli’s Principle combined with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says I should’ve won at least 18 times by now.

AND FOR YOU GEEKS: NO, I don’t use IE, it’s just nicer for screenshot purposes.

Writer/director Brad Bird missed out a bit with his first Pixar Studios release, The Incredibles, 3 years ago. Sure it was entertaining, but lacked the warmth of his first animation The Iron Giant.
His second Pixar/Disney team-up, is a whole other story. Back in with great character design (also missing, or at least, too predictable in The Incredibles), and originality. A bit of unpredictability goes a long way, but the direction has also improved by a great margin. Great point-of-view shots keeps it interesting, with many sizzling hot chase scenes for excitement and superb atmospheric lighting amplifying the romantic Parisian feeling.
Mixing vermin rats with exotic food is an utterly bad and disgusting idea, but how this movie is presented, it’s as exquisite as the imagined prepared dishes on-screen.8½.

A new medical drama airing on TNT, starring Treat Williams in yet another “doctor” role. Fresh off the train from the idyllic Everwood, he’s back to being full-time surgeon in an organ transplant specialising hospital. And of course, would we dare call this a drama without the mandatory neglected kid. Throw in an ex-wife who happens to be one of your closest colleague (organ donor liaison), and let the doc frolic around with a nurse. Enough drama for you ?
I can tell you, it’s not. Drama comes from the dying patient, and the joyous recepient. Which means, another fresh case every week. Personal drama is just a side note, inconsistent and and usually just put in to add something to the patient story. There doesn’t seem to be any follow up at all, and even then, it would probably be one-dimensional. Throwing in a “I see dead people” thing for the main character, is another weakness, as for the past few years, I can name five shows that already have done that (Haunted, Ghost Whisperer, Raines, Medium, Tru Calling. I.E. IT’S GETTING OLD !!!).
And lastly, with such a title, this show is particularly cold. Here’s one for a speedy return of Grey’s Anatomy, and hoping the spin-off, Private Practice, will deliver (and even if it doesn’t, Grey will continue to dominate Thursday night anyways).