Villains're gettin' softer...

Wits: 4/5
Story: 2.5/5
Perception: 4/5
Rating: 3/5


It seems that the animation villains got all soft by the end of 2010. This one, a blue light-bulb-headed alien, doesn't really know which path is the one to choose.

The big letdown of the movie was the story, which lacked some spark because it seemed both very predictable and drawling; this made me loose patience at times.

Besides that the rest was more than OK. The voicing was chosen with pinpoint accuracy. And the majority of the puns had the right amount of wit. What I enjoyed even more was the general sarcastic/parody sense of humor in relation to the movie genre.

I can't voice an opinion on the 3D, but regarding the score: AC/DC, Guns'N'Roses...sound more than appropriate for a villain centered movie.

Maybe this movie wasn't that lucky, and got me on a bad day...so I think you should give it a chance; probably I would do the same one day or another.









Details - Spoiler Alert!!!

The No, You Can't posters were awesome
His introductions were appropriate for a Super-Villain
For the quotes - it's easier :p

If it ain't original at least let it be Big...

Acting: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 3.5/5

I live under the impression that the reboots are the word of order, some of them already came up, most are to come.
On paper Tron Legacy is not said to be a reboot of the original Tron, but more of a follow-up. A follow-up that can be understood without seeing the first one and which follows the same path: the main hero gets sucked into the digital world where he has to fight the virtual despotic villain controlling it in order to save the outer world. This time it will be the former main character, new one's dad, and a native hottie that will help the young hero to accomplish the task.

The movie has a Disney predictability all the way from the beginning and each tile comes down at the expected moment; this could come up from the lack of originaliity. At some points the story gets a bit slower than what I was expecting and it lingers in some wannabe emotional moments which I found somewhat boring.

The acting was ok in general. As figured Bridges was top-notch, as for the two youngsters, the hotness level compensates some inaccuracy in their authenticity.

These were the less positive points of the film, but when it comes to the visual effects and to the music they're awesome. The 3D is fully justified, rendering the virtual world so touchable and almost real. Moreover, Daft Punk's sound is in perfect harmony with the whole picture and the emotional intensity. Solely CGI Bridges aka C.L.U looks as if it was designed a couple of years ago.

Interested in game/action/geek/effects...movies, go see it; if none rings a bell skip it.










Stuff - Spoiler Alert!!!

The end doesn't look like a Disney type one: the father had to sacrifice himself
"Do you know Jules Verne? What's he like?"
Never forget however advanced the technology a good knock always makes it respond.

Passive introspection

Here is something that's been making me wonder for some time now: Does our subconscious have masochist traits?

When I let my mind wander around, at least once a week it comes up with some dumb event from the past which I regret it happened. Moreover, it makes me relieve the strange feeling that I had about myself even enhancing some discomforting aspects.

What is strange is that pleasant memories usually need to be triggered by an event or an interaction with a person or an object. In general they don't pop-up in moments when the active part of the brain is on stand-by.

So, is it in our nature to be self-doubtful, insecure and disappointed of ourselves? Or is just me the one who has all these weird passive behavioural manifestations? The thing is that I'm quite happy with what I am...but maybe my inner-self thinks otherwise...

Perfection is Madness

Acting: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Perception: 4.5/5
Rating: 4.5/5

Living in the world of showbiz is known to be tough, by adding the pretentiousness of the target audience your environment gets one step closer to hell.
A perfectionist ballerina receives the most desired part in the business: The Swan Queen. This means that she has to be the incarnation of both purity and darkness. A drop of schizophrenia is all that's needed to turn her upside down and make her almost live the part up to the last detail, thus giving us a twisted disturbing psychotic experience.

I will not hide it from you the movie is good, but creepy. There are some wicked paranoid scenes that mesmerize you, but others seem one drop (and many more blood ones) too much. But I should have saw it comming since the director is the one that did Requiem for a Dream. And probably that is why it didn't appeal to me at a maximum potential even though the adequate setting was in place.

It is as clear as daylight that Natalie Portman does the movie...with some help from her mentor to the dark side, and also counterpart, Mila Kunis. She shares her internal struggle in a brilliant manner, so much that you would wonder if she didn't need therapy after the shooting was done. In addition, the whole part looks as if it was written for her, so fragile on the outside but capable of an extraordinary metamorphosis. On the other hand Cassel didn't impress me as expected and the mother freaked me out a couple of times, even when she was supposed to act normal. So as the first one didn't look involved enough the latter has overplaying too much.

The music contributed a great deal to the atmosphere (it is after all a ballet themed movie) and as a fun fact (if fun could be an appropriate term) the score is the one from Swan Lake but played backwards and distorted; so sometimes this thing can have a meaning. Also the theme picks up the pace at the critical spots so there is some kind of a warning of what might come.

The filming was good with the exception of some exaggerated closeups that were somewhat invasive on the perspective.


This one should definitely be seen, probably only once (at least in my case), but prepare to have shivers down you spine and to hear a lot of people startling.










Personal Thoughts - Spoiler Alert!!!

Some unnecessary bloddy scenes: the former ballerina stabing her face and the finger pealing 
Real world or imagination?: the same face stabbing scene, the X (as in drug) scene
At some point I had a Fight Club revelation, which proved to be only half true
The Black Swan dance (Act 2) is amazing, the proof that the metamorphosis was done 
Cassel's hands look huge compared to Natalie's face
Mirrors were everywhere and made stuff creepier
The movie has the most beautiful posters: the whole bunch of them; Variations:

and others...

The movie is a real Swan Song. ;)
I had to turn on the light while writing the post

A briliant perfomance doesn't always need a good Speech

Acting: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 5/5

Things have got more serious, more Oscar-moody.
In modern day monarchies, the crowned-head are there to sign papers and talk. But what happens when your speaking abilities aren't so functional and your country is preparing for one of the most difficult periods of the human history...you hire Barbosa as your therapist.

This is that kind of movie that makes your spirit feel energized by the time the credits start rolling. Everything is so smoothly harmonized from the general ambiance up to the characters' play. The entire picture seems to capture every spot as if it would be directly connected to your mind.

Coming back to the interpretations, they are all pure gold. It is a little bit intriguing that a cast individually known for less serious productions builds up perfectly this story, no wonder that they've been all nominated for their respective categories.The irony/self-irony lines juggle were brilliant.

Colin Firth's stammer made have throat aches as if I was the one with a temper attack due to a speech impediment. Geoffrey Rush gave the impression that there were actually two main characters all along this movie, but the King has to take more credit. And Helena Bonham Carter proved she is actually normal by giving a solid distant but caring future Queen representation. 

To fuel my skeptical being I found that there was one twist-turn too much for my taste, but that's only because I enjoy looking for the pin in the haystack. So stop reading this and go to see the movie, that come back to read the footnotes.










Thoughts on stuff - Spoiler Alert!!!

Is it me or half of the British+Irish solid actors have had a role in Harry Potter?
Is it OK to laugh at the Hitler bit? Even more: Is it OK to consider the one's not laughing, and acting shocked, as uptight?
Probably the cursing part could be considered as a cheap laugh...but it was a damn good one ;)
The movie was approved by Queen Elisabeth II before it was released to public


 
 

Who said that Owls can't live amazing adventures...

Wits: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 4.5/5 


Ever wondered what the Lord of the Rings would look like if the characters were animals, here is the owl version of it. Inspired by a book series, which focuses on these birds, the movie follows the story of a young owlet who believes in the legends that he grew up with. After he is kidnapped, more of owletnapped, by the evil ones of his kind, he discovers that the stories had a spark of reality and his dreams seem to be more palpable. I imagine that by now, you all know that this is going to end with an epic battle.

The movie in its whole is simply beautiful. Every scene, shot, detail is so perfectly drawn and rendered that I regret not seeing it in a 3D theater; I believe it would have been breathtaking. Snyder's touch for picturing combats (already seen in 300) doesn't cease to impress, the liveliness of the action making you forget that the bloody effects have been dimmed due to the presence of young audience. And all of this with...Owls.

The story includes many motives already seen in this kind of production and it has a quite predictable ending, but so did Avatar, and on a much larger scale. But it's awesome imaging made millions of people consider it as the best movie in history. You should know that for me this one is better than Avatar, since it has less common characters, and also because there's no Deus Ex Machina, a safety situation solving trick that I personally hate.

I would have liked some more character development, especially for the group of friends deciding to make the voyage; but anyway, the voices were compatible with the perception of the characters.

So, this is very artistic pretty educational jewel, to be appreciated by kids and adults alike; probably less for boy teenagers.









Details - Spoiler Alert!!!

Without the totalitarian, xenophobic and tyrannic political rulers and regimes throughout history the villain personifications would have lacked models
Thank God there's Wikipedia to understand what the main word of the story, gizzard, the gut from an owl's point of view; on the other hand how some magical metal could affect the insides of a bird, that's pure mystery 
'You're gonna give her daymares!'

Is giving up on stuff really the answer?

It was planned to write one day about the burring environment issue and the exasperating reasoning related to it. The next video was quite the last drop:




There's only two words for it: high-quality-custom-made BS.
First of all, it was one of the most politically cliched speech I've ever heard on the matter. All that was said was, poor people (especially Chinese), poisonous plastic, democracy (as if it had something to do), the little bottle, and the 2nd rate comedian puns; and NO real information to support any of these. The clamshell example reminded me of what a "world renowned scientist" and also dictator-wife once said: "How comes that cows make ammonia by themselves and you need all these high pressure and temperatures?" By the way, Biomimicry is the fundament of most of the human inventions, and it's being used without bearing a pompous name for centuries and centuries: planes are an obvious example of this.

On a more general scale the majority of the environmental talk are turned about plastics and I know you might say that I'm biased, but all of this is not about one product but more on a mentality. It goes like this: Something (plastic, cars, cow dung...) pollutes and it is bad, let's get rid of it. Well, my answer is the last 150 years are the source of this menace, technology is bad, rocks were alright, let's get back to the stone age.

What I don't understand is this tendency to advertise a backwards trend, when all it is needed is to go forward and improve the existent solutions or come with brand new ones. Of course, that what is superfluous needs to go and that can be pretty easily spotted. Let's take the example of plastics: for the technical solutions it is slightly impossible to revert to previous materials like metal or wood, but on the other hand some extra layers of packaging should go away. There are very few who could really do 180° and give up the cosines and easiness of today's comfort, probably very determined people and Amish communities; but for the basic somehow selfish human being, like myself, this is unimaginable: I mean why should we give up on stuff, which are about 75% useful, when we can do better? The military research still advances so new inventions should come up sooner or later.

Also, the ones involved in decision taking processes ought to be less biased (especially from a monetary point of view) and once a decision has been taken a whole mechanism should be put in motion to watch how things are done. Like for the chemicals inside toys and for waste disposal: every step has to be registered and so, no mistakes, involuntary or not, should appear. Example: companies should be forced to obey the stricter rule between the one of their country of origin or the one where they're selling the product; that's how regions with looser legislation won't end up with rejected batches from other corners of the world. The reasoning should be done on a planetary scale not on a petty wallet-size one. It may sound utopic but I still keep some hope on the human preservation reflex.

Another thing is about education: people should me more informed in a responsible way about everything coming in contact with them. This should be done in an instructional manner, without any materialistic or apocalyptic witchcraft-style way: plastic bottles are bad, they have chemicals in them! The thing is, that everything has chemicals in them and instead of seeing all this like kryptonite, we should learn to read a label and not take everything for granted.

In my opinion the major workshops of the present are: recycling - the intelligent way (not dumping into a hole and covering it up), non-fetishist or snotty alternative sources of energy, better fuel to energy ratio machines, less greed and dumb money-digging and population positive awareness.
To conclude, we generated our own freaking geological era, we can't go back, we should go forth but leave the blindfold and the spiked-boots behind.

You Got Stung

Acting: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Perception: 4/5
Rating: 3/5 (3.5 on the big screen)


Far from being an intellectual movie once, but frankly it was just what I was looking for.It has a Kick Ass touch to it, but doesn't reach the same level of originality.

So, a non-hero figure plays a non-hero main character who realizes that he hasn't been living his life as he should after his father's death. And he does this, as the pure megalomaniac that he is, by becoming a superhero armed with stubbornness, self-esteem up the wazoo and a very skilled partner. All of this with a little media manipulation on the side.

The story was all right, not much plot entanglements, just a couple of aces up the sleeve. But its rhythm was quite intense, so the movie was nicely dozed up in action. The action trio, the good guys and their nemesis, were well sketched and the actors playing them did their job decently. In general the characters worn their comic-book hero costumes with the right amount of behavioral exaggeration.

Christoph Waltz embodied perfectly another villain caricaturisation; he reminds me of Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith. Kato was a very good surprise, with his witty replies and his numerous aptitudes; the English difficulties bit was something that I didn't really followed. Actually the average was lowered by Rogen, which was only decent as I've said before, because there were some exaggerated features that were too exaggerated. Cameron was a cute accessory and intrigue source of the movie but hasn't a crucial part.

On the sensory side, first of all the 3D is borderline worthless, but the film has good shots and cool effects, especially when it involves Kung Fu or the Black Beauty; by the way, besides the Bat-Mobile there is no other cooler car. There were a couple of editing or conversion errors, but you won't find them unless you're really looking for them.

If you're seeking a movie for a buddies cinema-night, take your shoot with this one: you'll have a very good time.










Pros and Cons - Spoiler Alert!!!

I didn't get the trunk multiplication effect from the first combat and mainly because it never occurred again afterwards.
Chudnofsky's introduction scene is purely brilliant 
For further reference, polycarbonate is one of the toughest plastics out there (especially transparent ones), but don't take your chances to stop bullet after bullet
Cameron's age ambiguity 31, actually 36...well make more of a 40

Sometimes titles don't say anything....

Acting: 3.5/5
Story: 2/5
Perception: 3/5
Rating: 3/5 

It seems that I'm crossing shallow waters cinematographically speaking, and this time I stumbled upon a so-called spy movie.

I guess everybody remembers Ethan Hunt and his exploits which first were Mission: Impossible and later became Mission: you're shitting me (no good pun was found). Well, in this one the lord of scientology embraced the same occupation. Only that now, not only he seems to be SuperHunt on steroids aka Roy Miller aka you'll find out by watching, but also...on shrooms.
So the superspy wackjob bumps into an innocent damsel, who will inevitably be dragged into his patriot-gone-rogue or the other way around act.

I guess that all the borderline superhero abilities showed mainly by Cruise, were intended to deliver the impression of an ironic depiction of spy movies; but the story still kept a seriousness aura around it, which was somewhat opposed to the fact that I don't recall an instant when the main male character was bleeding.
Cameron Diaz's character had her own annoying part: the impossibility of following instructions which was intended to be funny, but failed to do so after a couple of occurrences.

Even with all these imperfections the movie still remains pleasant to watch, but anyway none of those can compare with the exasperating effect of the blackouts cutting of the crucial moments.

So, if you have to watch it you shouldn't despair, it's easily bearable; you could even see it on your own without any external constraint if you're not looking for anything subtle. One more thing, how in Tom Cruise's name did they come up with the title?!?!?!










Stuff - Spoiler Alert!!!

"I'll kill myself and then her" "I did, but I asked him to stay in the booth" with their respective tones
The talk with the hired gun on the train is to dumbest thing a person could have done in this kind of situation, yet not a funny cliche, but that doesn't stop them from using it; luckily the "Oh my God! Just die!" scene came after to improve the atmosphere
The car-ride on the truck scene looked pretty smooth and cool
 

More of an A- but still a good time

Acting: 3.5/5
Story: 4/5
Perception: 3.5/5
Rating: 3.5/5

From time to time one needs to relax his/her synapses in a slight active manner; that's where teen comedies step in in my case. And when they're more than bearable the whole situation gets even better.

This one's about the stigmatization in the high-school world and the power of rumor over the one of facts. Inspired by the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emma Stone tends to assume the supposed trollop role and play by accordingly. This makes her bargain her fake promiscuity, in the detriment of her former nonexistent but still clean-cut image; and soon the whole deal goes to pot.

I found Olive to be very genuinely played, in opposition with the rest of the characters who seem more or less hyperbolized. Intentioned or not, the behavioral or the situational absurd fuels a lot of laughter.

Special mention for the parents and their very unconventional parenting skills and for the chapter titles and their quite snobbish complexity, which I sometimes employ as well. There were some goofs in editing but they're overlookable.

There's nothing more to add, a cool light movie for those in need of unwinding...










Quotes - Spoiler Alert!!!

The Sexy Silk entrance coupled with the Anagram dialog are pure gold...for this type of film of course :)
"A is for Awesome"
 "Is there an Olive here?/There's a whole jar of them in the fridge"
"This is public school. If I can keep the girls off the pole and the boys off the pipe, I get a bonus."
"So, what's with your new look? It's very whore couture."
"You dress like a stripper/...a highend stripper" 

'10 in a few lines

2010 being over, it is the time when we all look back on the last 365 days and try to sum up the moments that mainly influenced our existence.

So, I thought that it would be nice to remember and share a list of all the positive aspects of 2010.

• Best moment: the instant when I received my diploma (clichéd, but true)
• Best sightseeing: the view of the Mont Blanc
• Best trip: the Irish week
• Best musical discovery: the briliant guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriella
• Best movie: Inception 
• Best book: The Silmarillion
• Best show: The Enchanted Flute at Nuits de Fourvière in Lyon
  
• Best acquisition: my current flat

Unfortunately there was no music album released this year that genuinely impressed and for this I hope that 2011 will show an improvement.
I wish you all have an excellent 2011.  

Happy New Year! 

Iconic family animation

Wits: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 4.5/5 

I've been wating for some time to see this animation and I finally managed to do so.
The word that could best describe it is: cute.

In a village of vikings that have to fight dragons to survive, the chief's son doesn't seem to be fit to follow the tradition. By accident he befriends one of the most feared of the dragons, and so he discovers all the secrets of their kind and develops a special bond between man and beast.

The kid is very funny, Baruchel really found his character type for the time being. An the dragon really completes his story. By voicing the chief, Butler reminds us of his first famous role which suits him very well; but Gobber is even more hilarious. The teens are a bit clichéd, but OK; Fishlegs being slightly on top of the bunch.

The animations seem perfect, and the dragon drawings really evoke the features and behaviour of breed of reptile. I can't say anything of the 3D but I have the impression that it was also well done.

There is a bit of sadness related to the end of the adventure, but in my opinion this comes up with a touch of originality which is to be encouraged; youngsters should know that everything comes with a price and that life isn't always shinny and bright but even so one should make the most out of it.

All in all, this could be considered an icon in family animation.








Funny - Spoiler Alert!!!

There are some flight sequences that remind of Avatar and its key in 3D experience succes
I know that this king of movie is supposed to be seen as relate-able by the audiences of our time, but the fact that Viking teenagers faced the same struggle as do the ones of our days is a bit too animationous, because they would have started training at 10 utmost and by the age of 17 the most of them would already have a kid
The magic of father-son serious talks is infinite
I thought that Toothless was a female dragon after her jealousy episode against the girl...

Oneiric

At this magical time of the year, I would like to write a couple of words about a magical manifestation of the human brain that has been dazzling me for quite a while. In my non-specialist opinion, it seems to be the most complex activity of the entire nervous system: dreaming.
There are plenty of more or less scientific theories that try to explain its purpose and its meaning, but I won't develop any of them. I only wanted to express my fascination related to this phenomenon.
During an apparent state of almost complete inactivity, there are bits of our being that are entirely awake. First the eyes that swing around whilst closed, and even if the visual systems are shut down, one could live the most vivid experiences of an entire day, and sometimes even remember them. In addition the brain seems to be racing as if a normal activity would be in question. Our organisms are even more impressive, being able to block the involvement of the muscles in the process, thus avoiding involuntary injuries.
A dream would pick random thoughts, people, places, feelings, mix them together and deliver a more than authentic cocktail, that sometimes remains plausible even after waking up. You could end up on a video game quest, with a blockbuster tension, taking place somewhere you'd seen but never been to, being surrounded by your childhood friends who seem to be best buds with your office colleagues and never doubt the improbability of such an exploit.  
At times, one could also find the desired answers to various issues, throughout a dream, or almost die trying to escape one.
There are people who say that the real life is what you dream, and that the dream what you seem to be living every day; and this sound like a cool concept.
Obviously such an amazing phenomenon was depicted in all sorts of art forms, the latest being the movie I consider to be the best of 2010: Inception, which shows that dreams could be manipulated, altered and twisted to serve a purpose. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to control this really active state of the mind and make it work to our advantage as the body rests...food for thought...
One more thing, the most important aspirations that someone could have from one's existence are also called dreams; should that be a deception for the real life or a spark of hope for the imaginary one? Because for each side there are only some dreams that come true.
So anyone sharing the same fascination?

Ahoy! Trailer crossing the bows!

Some days ago the trailer for the next PotC: On Stranger Tides was released to open seas, so as a fan of Captain Jack Sparrow and a victim of franchises, I'll pass it on too and then speak my mind...

First of all, everyone agrees that the first movie was the best of them all, and everytime a new one is out you just hope that it will return to that initial quality. The third one had a slight chance of doing so but unfortunately this one will surely not make it. I don't know if this is only caused by the arrival of a new director, or just because the whole team couldn't come up with anything comparable to the Curse of the Black Pearl, but there's something fishy about it.
Starting with the whole irony that at first Jack was supposed to be the surprise bonus, who now ends up being the main reason for the cash inflow. The character that really makes the movie today was criticized by the Disney rulers for destroying it back in the good old Aztec Gold days. Moreover, in this trailer the impression is that the entire story is built around him.
Which brings me to the second part, that I must sadly admit: without the two cheesy lovebirds there is no Pirates of the Caribbean, just one hell of an entertaining brilliantly played deranged pirate and his counterpart who has annoyed me from the start (with a couple of exceptions, like the final battle in At Worlds End); there's a major cast/concept alteration, so change the title.
This cast alteration generated another issue: no lovebirds, no romantic theme; no romantic theme, not a Hollywood entrance hit. So they draw out the good looking latin-blooded actress bonus card and it seems to me that they stuck it on Jackie-boy, which is outrageous. Sparrow shouldn't have an obvious female companion(?), and Penelope Cruz even less, she's not the type of character for the movie, silly-mad and really mad aren't quite compatible in my opinion. Plus, I'm still looking for a film where I could find Cruz interesting (some help? and don't say Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona...she's Shutter Island mad in there and not in the good way).
On the other hand Black Beard should do a pretty good job, the role going well McShane's type. 
Thus being said, I'm looking forward to being proven wrong in all the bad aspects listed above, only 5 more months to wait.   

The Extended Introduction before Hell breaks loose

Acting: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Perception: 3.5/5
Rating: 3.5/5

There are apparently harmless concepts that could become as addictive as drugs; one of them is franchise movies, and when you know that one's end is near something will automatically trigger inside your head and that trip to the cinema will become imminent...This is how I end up seeing the latest HP, the beginning of the end.
Splitting the book into two movies seems to be a win-win scenario both for WB and for the fans, who have another chance of seeing their hero. But for casual viewers, like myself, this could be a little frustrating because all the foreplay has been extended and exhausted and what you get is the all annoying To Be Continued... feeling. I must admit that I was expecting the story to be even more monotonous and dull, but there are several intensive scenes separated by prolonged "meaningful" moments reinforced with the appropriate Hollywood-style background music.
Compared to its predecessors, this HP is no longer a kids movie, the audience has to have evolved with the character (not the actor, a couple of years difference). It continues by amplifying the dark and gloomy trend of the other films, becoming more like a thriller with some humorous bits, than an adventure story; this is probably due also to the schism of the contents of the book. 
I've also noticed some strange camera positioning and movements that were typical to amateur-style filming and not to gazillion $$$ productions and which combined with some bizarre dialogs made parts of the (extended) camping sequence weird if not dump.
There's not much to say about the actors, since they almost developed a second nature by playing these characters all their teenage lives, excepting some details (see below). I will just say that Bellatrix freaks me out more and more...
This movie should be seen by those who aren't fans of the book or who aren't interested in the whole movie story not for even a bit. If your last contact with this wizardy world was last year when the previous movie was out, prepare for a rough start, because tons of information will flood your brain, leaving you no time to process.









Details - Spoiler Alert!!!

The worldwide camping was the source of all strange moments, in terms of acting, events and transitions. There are some dialogs that lack coherence, and the jealousy vs. anger scenes inside the trio seem a bit overplayed.
Nonetheless, it was so droll to see a rugged version of a teenage icon.
I guess that all the girls saw a dream come true: Hermione's bottomless bag.
The image that was given to the new organization of the Ministry, along with their true-blood policy, seems to be a nazi hint.

Connectivity on the go...

I'll start this revival with some of my impressions regarding the fore-mentioned cutie.

It had been a while since I was envying all those smartphone owners around me, and when the opportunity showed up I tried to take full advantage of it. So after a long analysis, I settled my mind on the HTC Desire.

 ...and I can assure you that I don't regret it.

Like any other device it has its strengths and its weaknesses, but for the moment it matches all my requests. 

Here's an overview from the outside to the inside.
At first view, its design is very appealing and ergonomic. A great plus is the 3.7" AMOLED Screen (res. 480x800) which renders browsing and media interaction more than pleasant.
From a more technical point of view, the 1GHz CPU enables the gadget to manage heavy multitasking in the blink of an eye. The 400+ Mb RAM is satisfying; a slight weakness being the ROM (150Mb) which limits the amount of applications installed. On the other hand, the micro-SD card allows you to take all the photos and videos that you like and to carry your music everywhere with you, without worrying about the phone's internal memory.
Talking about photos and videos the phone comes with a 5MP camera, so no sharable instant is going to be lost no more; it can't replace a real camera (mainly because of the zoom capacity) but it was never meant to do so.
The real weak spot is the battery lifetime, since I've never been able to make it last more than 2 days during professional usage (email, calendar, rss feeds syncing all day, internet when needed all on 3G+, and several applications...) or one day on heavy duty (WIFI, multimedia, GPS navigaton, photos...). It is true that I never tried to save up power to the extreme, but in that case it would no longer have been a smartphone.
Last but not least is the OS, the Android 2.2 Froyo, coupled with the HTC Sense, which enables you to customize the widgets and shortcuts in the most convenient way for different situations. There are people who accuse Google of enslaving the users' personal data, but in my case that has more or less happened already (I've been using Gmail, Calendar, Documents, Maps, Blogger... for quite a while) and moreover, I think that this is better than being tied to the Apple system, which is basically the same thing...even worse.
In addition, the Market has become a real competitor of the AppStore without having the same imposed exclusivity.
For the ones interested, here are some applications that are worth a look: a task manager (Advanced Task Manager), an antivirus (Lookout), Blogaway (a Blogger Client), Gesture Search, Goggles, Shazam, Google Sky Map, gReader (a Google Reader client), Metal Detector...
For the high-end gadget fans there is also an HD version of the phone, with more looks and a bit more powerful, but for me this one is just all that I needed...not to forget that besides all these, it can call and be called and send and receive messages ;)

Returning...

Once again it has been a while since l last shared something on this blog. At the time I was spending some self-imposed holidays at home.

And a bunch of stuff changed have since as I've started a new chapter on the professional side of my life: working on a PhD project and thus extending my stay in Strasbourg by 3 more years.

So, in the last month I got my diploma, a job, a new house, made new friends and became mobile with this cutie, which I'm using to write this post.

See you soon!

Past-Future

It was assumed to be an alteration of the Matrix, it is a phenomenon that most people encounter several times in their lives; I, myself, have lived it pretty often. I'm talking about deja-vu.
Every once in a while it might feel like the same thing has already happened just the way it does at the time; and I want to know what is all of this about!
The thing is that there are no real theories behind the event; it can't be lab-s(t)imulated so it is nearly impossible to study it. So all the real ideas are as plausible as the fictional ones.
What's uttered is that deja-vu could be related to syndromes such as schizophrenia or anxiety or that it's a malfunction in the perception of memories, which would place stuff that happened milliseconds ago in a far distant period of time.

Opening the gate to other worlds, first we have dreams. The phenomenon is depicting something you've dreamed in a vivid moment; but dreaming something that particularly precise, ain't it wicked? (But I have a strong feeling that you'll be reading some other stuff about dreaming here soon.)
 There's also the Matrix proposition, but that's a bit far-fetched.
And so we're left with the final explanation, which I tend to embrace in a supernatural way of seeing things even though Fringe is not my cup of tea...drum-roll...Deja-vus are glimpses of memories from other dimensions that the person has already visited. So our minds go wandering from time-place to time-place and their keep little tokens that come up when you except the least.
I guess that makes us all visionaries (if we could trigger the reenactment at any given instant) or is my dark side darker that I thought, with its deja-vus any other month...

Far from being Despicable at all

Wits: 4/5
Story: 3.5/5
Perception: 5/5
Rating: 4/5 

Gru is a vilain, and one of the good ones. Now he needs to reinstate himself as the greatest of them all and to do so he has to aim up-high. But this time he needs more than his recurrent help and thus...the PowerPuff Girls are born...sorta...they're three little girls with similar behavior as the said cartoon characters but with no superpowers.

To paraphrase one of the girls: this movie is so funny I'm gonna die!!!
The general idea is not the newest on the market: a bad guy gone softer due to something/someone fuzzy and sweet showing up in his life, but the final product is worth its 3D ticket money. The roller-coaster ride is pretty awesome.
At the beginning it seemed to be a little slow and used-up, but it gets a real boost after ten minutes. I guess the thing is that Gru alone is just another Igor-like speaking villain, but all it really needs is some interaction with another character to let the fun come out.
Also, Thumbs-Up for the Minions who fill-up their part more than decently emphasizing on the less subtle side of humour, but funny nonetheless. The girls, in general, are OK, although I was not looking for the hearty part of the movie, so the little sister appealed to me more being the funniest of the three.  
If you go to see it in theatres wait for the first part of the credits also there are some amusing and enjoyable 3D sequences.
All in all, it's an entertaining animation with a good 3D finishing.










Funny - Spoiler Alert!!!

Agnes (the little one) is to die for. 
Personal fave: the fluorescent Minion
I don't know why but all of Vector's stuff look very Apple-ish which is ironic since he looks like a teenage Bill Gates
The Bank of Evil: formerly Lehman Brothers 
"Mr. Gru is nice / But scary / Like Santa"
GRU is actually the name of the new KGB

Ode to Chemistry - IYC 2011

Next year it's the International Year of Chemistry, and I consider this to be a huge opportunity for this field of activity to get a better image.
Nowadays the public opinion mostly ignores or associates this branch of science with all the bad stuff in the world. Well, it is time to spread out the word and bring out the coolness in Chemistry. As a chemist I can assure you that the opportunities in this domain are limitless and that without Chemistry, all the commodities that are today taken for granted would not have been possible. A shortlist would be:

• Medical and Pharmaceutical advancements 
• Transportation
• Technical and Device Development
• Energy
• Food
• Constructions
• Cosmetics
• Quality of living

...and many more

You would probably bring up the Environmental issue, but that is like saying that the Nuclear Bomb is the fault of Atomic Physics. The thing is, Chemistry has the capacity to clean-up after itself (it already provides the tools, you know...), all that is needed is that the humans really take the situation seriously and change their views and behavior.
So, for all the Chemists out there, do your job well and be good lobbyists! and for the non-Chemists widen your perspective on this amazing Science!