Kimputer's Weblog

It’s that time again. It’s May, and the TV season is about to end. First on my slate is Prison Break (the rest of the other series are nicely queued up on my big hard disk), and that’s because I wasn’t wrong when I reviewed it when it premiered. Not only did it proof to be equal to 24, even airing side by side after 24 resumed its fifth season (excellent move from the Fox network) made it obvious it actually surpassed it in quality. Main reason for that is the time spend with the characters. Getting to know them better means deeper and more meaningful drama can be created. Plus, writing in such a confined space, and keeping it as thrilling and surprising as this whole run has been, requires the extra excellence from the writing and production team.
All in all, Mondays were the most exciting hours at Fox, and I can assure you, with the adrenaline produced by those two series paired together, it makes it a better cardiac work-out than a full two hours on a treadmill. Try to beat that combination !

Living up to its divine hype, The Da Vinci Code unravels a whopping $77 million dollar (top opening for this year). At the foreign box office, it even landed a record opening of all times, rushing passed Star Wars Episode III ($145 million) with $147 million.
At number 2, Dreamwork’s Over The Hedge earns a respectable $37.2 million. While not spectacular, in comparison, Disney’s The Wild opened with a mere $9.6 million. At 3, MI:III hangs on with $11 million, a considerable 56% drop, but good enough to push it beyond the $100 million cume. At 4, Poseidon sinks faster than expected, only $9.2 million in its second week. Roudning out the top 5 is RV, with $5.1 million.

Is this movie really worth boycotting ? Well, after seeing it, I’d say no, it’s harmless entertainment. Revelations are shocking, but only in the sense of the story, not in reality (even if you take in account some facts are based on reputable research). It would even be blasphemy to call this blasphemy, because the ending has such nice wording to it, it can only strengthen one’s faith (if one had one to start with). Having saved myself countless days of reading, I’d say it’s another tip of the hat for Ron Howard, though the movie is less character based than we’re used to. The story is a high-speed cat and mouse game, chasing clues and secrets here and there. Sometimes convolution is too apparent, with unclear and changing allegiances and goals flying off the screen. Even ending on an anti-climax, I can still say it’s an entertaining movie all the way (though not worth the hype of the year award, and the trailer definitely sets the expectations too high).7½.

On the one hand we have singer Queen Latifah, who has proven her worth (even with an Oscar nom behind her belt), and on the other hand we have another singer LL Cool J, who hasn’t proven his worth at all over the years. Pair’m up, and you have something pretty mediocre. The story outline should’ve opened a whole box of possibilities, and some are used, but it’s certainly not edgy in any sense. Then there’s the comedy part, with even a few jokes misfiring, keeps it up at a decent level. Naturally, only Queen Latifah has the meatiest role, as most characters are stock items, with the usual turnarounds at the end of the story.
All in all, executed fine, but not perfect and a bit predictable.7-.

The first 3D animation project bought by the newly formed The Weinstein Company (after the brothers left Disney’s specialty arm Miramax). And it’s not that hard to figure out why they bought it. It’s a contemporary take on the Little Red Cap fairy tale, with a fast paced and multi-threaded story line. It’s very story driven, and while the character outlines are distinct enough, there’s still room for a tiny bit of development there. There are some funny parts, and of course, the somewhat cheaper movie spoof jokes. If those were replaced by more unique new jokes, it would’ve stand out with head and shoulders. As it is now, it’s just a fresh funny movie.7½.

I once had a small sample of this Tempur material in my hands, and I was sold on the idea of this NASA product. Like the website states, it’s an exclusively licensed product, that’s visco-elastic. Hence the form moulds around your head, and it always bounces back to its original state. Besides that, it has pressure relieving qualities.
So, it is worth the €114 euros ? Well, it’s kind of a tough sell. Of course you can’t expect miracles, like sleeping as if you’re floating high on fairy dust. When first used, it might even feel too hard to ever become comfortable. But in the end, it’s still nice material (it’s also temperature sensitive), and from this week’s experience, I think I’m sleeping slightly better (less disturbance during the night, means less occurences of getting up) than normal. This is due to the pressure relievance, hence optimally preserving the blood flow to my massive brains, which even in idle mode needs massive amounts of oxygen.
Since I was already thinking of a new pillow, it’s a no-brainer I got my money worth, but if you already have a comfortable one, I’m not recommending you to spend that much money.

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

Total: 1323 out of 435 votes > Average is: 3.041

“Hey ?!?” you might think, this is not a desk ?!? Well, that’s correct, it’s my bed with a new pillow. It’s just a prelude to the review, and it’s neat anywayz, so let the fivers roll !

Only aired a few times, but it ABC already has a season renewal greenlight on it. With the magnificent J.J. Abrams having a small role as exec producer, I thought I might give it a try. ABC knows drama, and so does Abrams, but this show somehow feels a bit slow and bland. Maybe it’s because the premise is a bit weak. While other shows have at least a good base to work its way from, this one is about a bunch of unrelated friends, with Brian being single, and hence the dating game ensues. Blablabla. With shows about a plane crash on a mysterious island, or a group of upcoming surgeons in a Seattle hospital, or a Mormonic polygamist family, it’s hard to stay interested in such a mundane series. Sorry Abrams, gotta pass this one up.

Almost impossible, but MI:III managed to stay on top this week, taking in 49% less than its premiere, $24.5 million. Second was what supposed to be this week’s number one, but the $160 million budgetted Poseidon was only good for a runner up spot. Wolfgang Petersen’s third sea based film capseized during its maiden voyage, with $20.3 million (then again, Titanic opened with $28.8 million and went on to garnish a $600 million cash deposit. Then then again, any movie about a ship going down will make people want to reach for their Titanic DVD anyways, it’s not a good theme to roll such expensive dice with anymore).
R.V. is still good in its counter-programming spot, at 3 with $9.5 million.
At number 4, Linday Lohan continues to lose star power, now opening Just My Luck with an unlucky $5.5 million. Rounding out the top 5 is An American Haunting with $3.7 million.

Pretty solid family dramedy featuring a strong undefined character played Nicolas Cage. Great supporting cast makes the family ordeals feel a bit uncomfortable yet laughable. As a one man journey, it accomplishes its goals on some, but certainly not all occasions. Cage’s character is also fleshed out by his inner voice narration, just how only he can deliver it. Sometimes a bit slow, but at no time boring.7+.

From their last album (Final Straw), I was able to pick less than a handful of songs that had a good base, but sounded as if they weren’t really finished, stuck with half a hook, never flowing into a full song. When a reviewer compared their latest effort coming close to The Goo Goo Dolls, I was definitely interested.
The reviewer, by the way, might as well have his ears bitten of by a rabid dog, because this album is even more disappointing. They must’ve heard one too many Coldplay songs by now, and half of the album is filled with the same uninterested main vocals (on a few songs, a background choir joins with the same uninteresting tone, did ALL the producers fall asleep ?) singing those instantly recognisable downward (hence depressing) hooks. The other half has unimaginative guitar play, making the songs, while uptempo and almost inviting, nothing more than generic rock in the most unflattering way.4-.

I tell ya what, I haven’t earned one dollar (yes, you’ve read it correctly, $1) yet since I started adsensing for Google (beginning of May). C’mon, don’t tell my you didn’t see that block of advertisement in the right menu. I only earn money if you actually click on it, y’know. Now, click away, make me rich !

Between all the noise (which is indeed louder now) of the heavy electric guitar sets, it’s hard to distinguish any music, let alone high quality music. Of course, it’s kind of what you’d expect from them, using the same dual vocal setup, both which haven’t really improved. Their slightly unstable voices didn’t deter them from making a few hits here and there, but on this album I really can’t find any. If you want uncomprosing guitar violence, this might be something for you. Subtlety is nowhere around, so neither am I.4.

A pretty revolutionary dramaon HBO (produced by Tom Hanks), starring Bill Paxton as the head of a big family. And I mean a BIG family. Main focus is the polygamy life-style, with involving family problems mixed with individual ones. This makes for a show with a wide variety of topics, and ranges from funny to frowning dramatic. With the characters built over the episodes, it’s fun to see how everyone evolves and what traits are revealed.
In a voyeuristic and curious way, a few episodes would be sufficient, but they’ve build solid story archs with many aspects shine the light on to last a few years. Definitely a winner (in the eye of yours sologamist truly).

Reaching the top spot this week wasn’t the impossible mission for the second sequel of the series, it was topping the previous opening that seemed impossible (John Woo’s part raised $57.8 million in its first week). Most predictions went higher, and the studio expected somewhere in the $70 million region, but it has to do with $48 million.
A distand second place is last week’s number one, RV makes a $11.1 million roundtrip. Third is for low budget horror flick (supposedly based on true events) An American Haunting with $6.3 million.
Rounding out the top 5 are last week’s Stick It and United 93, resp. $5.5 and $5.2 million.