Archives for Film & TV
NBC’s new Hulu video site launched today and you can now watch The Big Lebowski in its entirety for free on your computer anytime you want. Productivity everywhere just took a dive.
Nerd improvement
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In this episode, Cord wonders why websites can’t be truly off-the-shelf, while Jerry obsesses over goofy Web 2.0 stuff that Cord’s still skeptical about. Also: Murphy’s Law and the Peter Principle, Napoleon Dynamite vs. the Wes Anderson oeuvre, web ads, why Elliott Spitzer’s unsafe at any speed, and nerds can fix things, so why can’t you? Check it out. To subscribe in iTunes, click here.
I’ve been meaning to post this since I got a flyer for it in my copy of the Inland Empire DVD: David Lynch has his own brand of organic coffee. It’s called David Lynch Signature Cup and it kinda reminds me of Trump Steaks, “The World’s Greatest Steaks”™ available exclusively from the Sharper Image.
Thoughts on the Macworld announcements
The MacBook Air looks great, but it doesn’t solve any problem I have. My life isn’t that mobile, so my MacBook is portable enough. No need to pay more and give up features for the weight reduction. But it’s still damn sexy.The big story out of Macworld to me, is the revamped Apple TV. I’ve been on the fence about getting one since it came out, but now it looks like it’s a no-brainer (especially with the price drop to $229). Before it was basically just a big iPod. You downloaded content on your Mac and then synced it. Now you can browse straight from your TV. That’s great in itself, but the killer feature is the podcasting support.
I watch and listen to podcasts more than I watch TV. I simply prefer the niche content to the generally bland greatest-common-denominator stuff on TV. I think most people would if they could easily access it and watch it on a big screen. Streaming video Podcast support on the Apple TV basically adds a hundred thousand new channels to your cable line-up. No doubt more producers will jump into video-podcasting because they now have a viable way to get into people’s living rooms.
Biggest disappointment: the iPhone update. Yeah, location detection is great, but come on, my notes still don’t sync to my Mac? Seriously? No to-dos on this putative “smartphone”? Please throw me a bone here.
Marjoe Gortner: Huckster or hero?
Recently I saw the terrific 1972 documentary Marjoe recommended by Christopher Hitchens in God is not Great. It tells the story of Marjoe Gortman, a child preacher who since the age of four was trotted around by his parents at tent revivals to much (lucrative) fanfare. As Hitchens explains,
A decade or so later, Mr. Gortner exacted the best possible revenge for his stolen and empty childhood, and decided to do the general public a favor in order to make up for his conscious fraudulence. He invited a film crew to follow him as he ostensibly “returned” to preach the gospel, and took the trouble to explain how all the tricks are pulled. This is how you induce motherly women (he was a handsome lad) to part with their savings. This is how you time the music to create an ecstatic effect. This is when you speak of how Jesus visited you personally. Here is how you put invisible ink on your forehead, in the shape of a cross, so that it will suddenly show up when you start perspiring. This is when you really move in for the kill. He keeps all his promises, telling the film’s director in advance what he can and will do and then going out into the auditorium to enact it with absolute conviction. People weep and yell, and collapse in spasms and fits, shrieking their savior’s name. Cynical, coarse, brutish old men and women wait for the psychological moment to demand money, and start counting it gleefully before the charade of the “service” is even over. … The film Marjoe won an Academy Award in 1972, and has made absolutely no difference at all. The mills of the TV preachers continue to grind, and the poor continue to finance the rich, just as if the glittering temples and palaces of Las Vegas had been built by the money of those who won rather than those who lost.
I’m not sure on whom exactly Hitchens thinks Gortman exacted his revenge. I pity his marks as much as I pity him. Related to Hitchens’s point that the film made no difference, I was most interested in the evangelical’s reaction once Gortner’s true self was revealed. Unfortunately that isn’t in the film. The only info on Wikipedia is this: “At the time of the film’s release he generated considerable press, but the movie was never shown in theaters in the Southern United States, based on the fears of the distributor over the outrage it would cause in the Bible Belt.” I can’t find much else, even on Westlaw.
After he left the preaching circuit, he recorded an unsuccessful album and portrayed a series of minor characters in TV and the movies, including stints on Kojak, Fantasy Island, and The A-Team. After the 1995 entry on his IMDB page, the trail goes cold, and one of the top Google results for his name is a page titled “Dead or Alive? - Marjoe Gortner,” which doesn’t have any answers. If anyone has any information, I’d be curious to learn more. Here are some excerpts from the documentary:
Allez cuisine!
One of my favorite things about Iron Chef America (and there are many) is the ham that is The Chairman. Each time after he’s on screen I ask Kathleen, “Who is that guy?” and I inform her of my intention to find out and start a fan club. Consider this the first step.Turns out he’s Mark Dacascos, an actor and martial arts dude. Of his extensive action and kung-fu film repertoire I can’t say I’ve heard, let alone seen any of them. Interestingly he played the lead in a short-lived TV version of The Crow. Here is the official Mark Dacascos website. Here he is in the trailer for “I Am Omega,” which looks way more fun than the new Will Smith remake.
Is is just me, or does the look of Adrien Brody’s character in Wes Anderson’s upcoming film, The Darjeeling Limited, seem completely based on Jarvis Cocker? Here’s my comparison.
Jules Winnfield in type
If you’ve missed any of the seven episode of 24 this season, you can watch them all for free at the Fox website. As much as I love 24, I’m afraid it’s jumped the shark. Enjoy it while it’s still around.
Super Bowl tech
Ars has a nice write up on the technology behind the Super Bowl. I’d always wondered how the first-down yellow line–which makes football considerably more watchable–actually works.Making the system work requires several hours of pregame setup. Sportvision, for instance, takes a laser surveying system out to the center of the field, then uses it to precisely map elevations and contours. This information is used to create a detailed stadium model is then passed to computers in the production truck. The cameras on the field are equipped with specialized sensors that measure pan, tilt, and zoom data so that the line can be properly projected and kept in the correct perspective as the camera moves. … Out in the truck, techs use color keying to paint the line only on the field, not on the players. One palette tells the system what colors it can paint on, while another palette includes skin tones and uniform colors that cannot be painted on.
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This is the personal site of Jerry Brito, a lawyer and writer in Washington, D.C. He’s an academic researcher and the creator of Unclutterer and several other blogs. More »
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