Kimputer's Weblog

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

Total: 694 out of 214 votes > Average is: 3.243

Right on, what have we learned today ? Besides the fact that Paris Hilton’s phone wasn’t really hacked (the supposed hack was actually more in the direction of information grabbing after successfully guessing the blonde’s password) ? Or besides the fact that a lot of stars use T-Mobile (and hence, the Sidekick feature launched last year, of which Paris and Nicole were part of the publicity campaign, which basically is an online version for your pictures, address book and notes handled by a beefed up phone. Or besides the fact that there were no nude pictures to be found (and hence, really boring) ? Or besides the fact that Nicole Richie is using a blackberry ? Or that creating a professional website including the registration of the domain name and getting it live online takes less than a day (godaddy.com took care of www.parishiltonsmobile.com within a day. DURING THE WEEKEND !!!) ?
Not much really.

Starpower at the boxoffice, as Will Smith and Keanu Reeves fight for the top spot. Only by a narrow margin does Will smooch his way on top again, with $31.8 million for the comedy Hitch. While the trailer reminds us of The Matrix, former the One still manages to bring in $30.5 million for Constantine, good enough for the runner-up spot.
Third place is for family flick Because of Winn-Dixie, with $10.9 million. At number four is Son of the Mask, this time starring Jamie Kennedy, suffers from horrible exit polls, but still manages a $7.7 million gross.
Still showing some fighting spirit is Million Dollar Baby, hangin on the top 5 with $7.2 million

We all know her from the honey dipped ballads in the nineties, and she kept releasing albums throughout the years. Last year, even two flashed by (probably unnoticed), in Januari there was a best-of album and in October there was a Christmas album. Now comes another one, probably to compensate for the lost screen time (she disappeared from both the silver and the tv screen).
For this album she’s trying a new style. And, it’s a bit slow. I can’t handle anything slower than 30bpm(which is a lowly 0.5bps), and this album is filled with them. Most of the tracks have a light funky style rhythm reminding me of the late Barry White, but with the low baritone voice replaced by the familiar luscious female one. It’s definitely not the voice that makes me skip track after track. It’s just that I don’t want to fall asleep. Maybe it serves better in the background of a dark moody lounge, but it’s not for me at work or at home. So here’s the rating, all for the technical merits.6.

Yupz, they did it again. The Smoking Gun has gotten a hold on a 1903-page transcript of the procedings that led the Santa Barbara Grand Jury to start the indictment process against Michael Jackson. These 2003/2004 documents are sealed on the strict gag-orderly judge Melville commands. Now on the frontpage of the website, if I were a copying machine company, I’d definitely would want to know if it was your brand which was used (as sneaking out a stack of sealed documents must have involved a super fast machine), and use it as free publicity.
The transcript itself reveals a lot of the sworn witness testimonies from not only the accuser and the family, but also people who worked closely with Michael Jackson. A quick analysis reveals that the stalled trial could go both ways. Many details from all of the questioned parties (including pretty solid evidence supporting the allegations) suggest Jackson could land in jail before his face falls off from un-natural decay (which should happen in just a few more years). A few conflicting details here and there though, could mean that now is problably the time to start your monthly subscription on the How to Sue Michael Jackson Foundation Newsletter. Make up your mind here.

Not a very imaginative title, but the movie itself does more than it suggests. It’s a small budget, story driven light dramedy, setup as a road movie of two old friends. Covering one week, seemingly unessential, it turns out to be quite different. A quite exploratory journey leads you through life (with wine as metaphore, relating on more levels), the view on it, the laughs and cries from it. The screenplay is smartly written, and gently directed. If you want to see an indie this year, this is probably the one to go for.8-.

This Woman, right. You don’t have to tell me.
Rocket launched at an age of 13, blessed with a powerful subtlely swerving voice, she’s already released some tens of albums. The latest one is just like we’d expect, a nice marriage between country rock and pop. Most songs swing quite a bit, some are sweet as honey, and some are too standard to bear listening any more. All in all, a bit on the middle of the road.7+.

An hourlong of hard thinking, puzzling, scratching on the head and squinting my eyes. But it’s done. The engine (WordPress) running this weblog has been updated a few notches. Nuff work done, so you’ll have to live with the default lay-out that came with it, for a while.

Will Smith is hitching a ride on the upcoming Valentine Day, as his romantic comedy Hitch was loved all the way to number one this week. Opening bigger than any other romantic comedy (previously 50 First Dates), with $45.3 million.
Second place is for Boogeyman, scary enough for $10.8 million. Third place goes to Are We There Yet? with $8.5 million.
As the Oscars near, Million Dollar Baby keeps rising in the charts, now at number four with $7.6 million. Kids round off the top five, helping Pooh’s Heffalump Movie premiere with $6 million.

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

Total: 1239 out of 397 votes > Average is: 3.121

You keep learning new things every day. Today, I learned about the Whizzinator. A fake penis, which you can fill up with the liquid of your choice (usually clean urine), which is kept warm by a heat pack. It’s sold over all over the internet for the sole purpose of beating drug tests (and hence, I never heard of it before).
Anyways, you know Tom Sizemore, the bad guy from Striking Distance (starring with Bruce Willis) ? Or the bad guy from Heat ? Or the soldier from Black Hawk Down ? Or the soldier from Saving Private Ryan ? Well, that guy has both a drug problem and a beating girlfriend problem (particularly Heidi Fleiss), was caught with a Whizzinator during his probation, and has since failed more drug tests than there are M&M’s in a yellow bag.
I wonder if it’s good (since everybody now knows about this device) or bad (since a celebrity has been caught) publicity for the company in question ?

Some four years ago we already met one half of the family, so now it’s time for the other half. While the new addition to the movie (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) are another few wacky characters, it somehow doesn’t lift this movie above the original Meet the Parents. The fun is still there, and so are the simple storylines. Still, it doesn’t feel as outrageous as I remember the original. It’s not really a must-see, but if you’re in for a quick laugh, this is definitely it.7½.

Every year, you’ve gotta try every category once. So too a music derived film has to be seen. Ray Charles is this year’s entry, is a drama, without any of the documentary feel to it. With full cooperation before the late music legend passed, the dramatisation feels real including all the more nasty stuff. Insight in his psyche is there, though not too deep. It’s directed with a nice balance between drama, story and musical entertainment.
Highlight is, of course, Jamie Foxx’s performance, capturing all the mannerisms while delivering the heart and soul like he’s Ray himself. Clocking in at 2 and a half hours, it seems a little bit too long, but in the end, it feels just right (especially if the extra half an hour of extra footage suggests a three hour cut would have been possible). 7½.

After four years, Jack knows better than to tease us with “…and this… is the longest day of my life”, because every now and then, it WILL get worse. And so another long day has begun. While some time goes by inbetween seasons, the gripping storywriting doesn’t skip a beat. Quality of every aspect remains high. Writing, acting, and overall production value, with the occasional well-designed twist. It’s almost sad they action packed 4 episodes as the season opener, and hence, we’re already down a third of the day.

New software is also fun, by the way. Mostly viruses. Nifty little piece of highly efficient software code. We’ve seen them with advanced anti-virus detection (and disable mechanism). Same for firewalls. Then we have those with a built-in SMTP engine. Those with advance email scanning. Those with advance (in- and outbound) replication mechanism. And the list goes on and on.
Now two of the new ones are just as innovative. One turns the volume down for you (so you can’t hear the warnings bells going off. Interesting addition to the domestic toilet seat arguments), and one clearly states “You’re stupid” on-screen, and through the speakers (hopefully this feature is not copyrighted, because it’s very useful to say the least). But what if both are on your PC, who would win ?