2013 here we go…not really.. Geeky 2013 Calendars:

OK, we’re not even halfway through the year. Nearly, but not there yet.

Hey Geeks, as you may be aware there world is not ending at the end of 2012, so you might want to consider getting a calendar for 2013. Check out these cool suggestions:

Avengers 2013 Wall Calendar
Peanuts 2013 Wall Calendar
Harry Potter Lego 2013 Wall Calendar
Brave 2013 Wall Calendar

The Hunger Games 2013 Wall Calendar
Harry Potter Special Edition 2013 Wall Calendar
Doctor Who 2013 Wall Calendar
Doctor Who Special Edition 2013 Wall Calendar
Buffy The Vampire Slayer 2013 Wall Calendar:
The Big Bang Theory 2013 Wall Calendar:
How I Met Your Mother 2013 Wall Calendar:
Spartacus 2013 Wall Calendar
Game of Thrones 2013 Wall Calendar:
Angry Birds 2013 Wall Calendar:
The Dark Knight Batman Rises 2013 Wall Calendar
The Walking Dead 2013 Wall Calendar

 

 

My favorite movies of 2010.

Wow, I’m on time this year around.

As usual, since 2003, I’ve been logging every movie I’ve watched. Every previous I’ve attempted to try to be a regular reviewer failed terribly, so I simply compile these lists, which is more a reflection of how I’ve enjoyed them.

Even if I appreciate a lot a movie for it’s script and production, doesn’t always mean I loved it. Sometimes I might even find the most ludicrous written and produced movie amusing, and for that I’d enjoyed it so much to include among my favorites.

I find that despite a very disappointing Summer season of movies overall (with some very very bright stars), 2010 was a more satisfying year for movies in my opinion.

My Favorite Movies I watched in 2010:

(In no particular order, except the order I watched them)

- Sherlock Holmes (can’t believe I’d ever include a Guy Ritchie’s film among my favorites, but this was a great “update” and the cast deserve a lot of credit for my listing it here)

- How to Train Your Dragon (It be so good if this was the new template for Dreamworks animation, sadly if the recent shown Kung Fu Panda 2 trailers is any indication, it will not be the new template. Don’t get me wrong Kung Fu Panda was fun but that was it. How to Train Your Dragon was filled with heart that are usually only found in Pixar movies, not only that was gorgeously produced and very well written).

- Ghost Writer (I still got a few chapters of The Ghost to finish, but Roman Polansky did it again with an impressive cast nonetheless)

- Toy Story 3 (The movie of the year in my opinion. I was “cursing” Pixar for making me cry again, don’t know which was worse, me crying when Andy handed the toys over to Bonnie this year, of last year during the Ellie Badge thing in Up.)

- Inception

- Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

- The Social Network (if Toy Story 3 wasn’t around, I think this would probably be the movie of the year for me).

- Lost Paradise in Tokyo (a Japenase movie about forming a disfunctional family in a disfunctional city)

- Air Doll

- Third Star (I’m a sucker for movies that explore friendships and this was a very well done one.)

- Friendship! (Fun, fun, fun…. I would almost call it AmericaTrip, cause it reminded me of Eurotrip in several moments).

-Exit Through the Gift Shop (I love how midway through you’re almost forced to question whether this is really a documentary or just another one of Banksy works of art).

- Kyoto Uzumasa Monogatari – Kyoto Story (a lovely piece of changes in this town)

- 聽說 – Hear Me (I’m almost disappointed I didn’t bought the DVDs on sight, because they were already available in Taiwan, when I was back there in August)

- R. U. There (a very cool companion piece for some of the subjects explored in The Social Network).

 

Worst Movies I watched in 2010

- Nine (how could this gathered talent turn out something this bad).

- Sex and the City 2 (at least I didn’t have to pay to watch this)

- Brilliantlove (one of rare times I almost left the movie midway through, had to be really strong to get to the end of it, and it wasn’t even a long movie. It had a interesting concept, but director decided he preferred to create a soft-porn movie instead.)

- Ponto.org (Ugh, great concept, dreadful delivery).

 

Honorable Mentions

- Zombieland (it premiered late here, so I only got to watch it in 2010. A precussor for the Zombie fare it would come later in the year)

- Kick-Ass (anyone else remember Chloe Moretz as the little sister from 500 Days of Summer, I do. Already found her impressive back then).

- Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Underrated. It was not meant to be huge at all, it reminded me of some great adventure movies from the 80′s)

- Ponyo, gorgeous movie, I still prefer some of the previous Yamazaki movies though.

- Paranormal Activity 2, don’t  know how long the gimmick will last, but this was very well done.

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. OK, I think I never put this online. But I’m not the biggest fan of the 3rd film, which seems to be the favorite among a lot of people. I hated some of the direction Cuaron took, and the script did not help, it’s just a fine adaptation, and the book wasn’t even that big. And after how terrible the adaptation for Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince were, It’s very satisfying to get DH Part 1, to be one of the best movies of the series.  I’d place it among 3 of the best from the series so far. In my opinion the other 2 would be Goblet of Fire (Mike Newell brought a level of Britishness that lacked in Cuaron trip here) and The Secret Chamber (despite Columbus making a bit too HomeAlone in some moments, still one of the best adapted books).

- Karate Kid – I still think they should have re-titled this to Kung-Fu Kid. But I’m impressed how good it was. And it’s impressive how more violent it is compared to the original, and the remake featured much younger kids.

- The Town – I love how good a director that Ben Affleck is becoming and what an amazing cast movie this was.

- Never Let me Go – A very good adaptation. The book still carries a much stronger message.

- Buried (it’s haunting, but I bet the average north-american audience hated the ending).

- Black Swan- Gorgeous movie. Will I watch it again? I don’t think so.

- Easy A

Do you Plurk?

I get the impression that Plurk is in a world of Twitter is somewhat like Orkut in a world of Facebook. Still valid in specific places, yet mostly irrelevant.

Orkut used to be dominant in Brazil and India, but recent reports this has changed in the latter. According to Techtree Facebook has surpassed Orkut in presence in India. There has also been a surge on the usage of Facebook in Brazil, but it has yet to surpass Orkut in presence.

That puts Plurk in an interesting position in certain locations of East Asia, in which it’s relevancy it’s comparable to Facebook, and Twitter is barely noticeable. Plurk is so relevant in Taiwan, that local Android smartphones already come with it as a bundled app.

The two picture below illustrate their interesting position in Taiwan.

Screenshot from 7-Eleven website in Taiwan.

Notice that the Social Media channels made available include only Facebook, Plurk and You Tube.

Firefox 3.6 update.

Once again Facebook and Plurk made available as Social Media Channels.

Before I finish this post, let me answer the question that I proposed as this post’s title. Do I Plurk? No I don’t. Don’t even have an account, but I’m aware of many relatives who do, and send those updates to Facebook.

Do you Plurk? It’s not a relevant question if your target public is all in the western hemisphere, but if you plan to reach certain target publics in the East, you should reconsider your positioning, if you don’t Plurk yet.

Follow-up: Guessing the cover: EW Fall TV Preview 2010.

So as it seems EW might be dropping the main feature on the cover, and going with the multiple feature cover like the b-cover from last year.

So in a few ways, I did guessed right some of the features. Here’s the cover for the new issue released last friday:

Featuring:

Tina Fey (30 Rock – NBC)

Jane Lynch (Glee – FOX)

Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim (Hawai Five-O – CBS) – Who carry combined experiences through Battlestar Galatica, 24, Angel and Lost.

Sofia Vergara (Modern Family – ABC) – I was right about the assets, wasn’t I?

Michael C. Hall (Dexter – Showtime)

Courtney Cox-Arquette and Jennifer Aniston (Cougar Town – ABC) – I completely blanked out about this, when listing my guesses.

Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory – CBS)

Surprised that they featured Michael C. Hall, but included nothing from The CW.

3 of them are repeats from last year mosaic cover: Courtney Cox-Arquete, Michael C. Hall and Tina Fey.

Disappointed that they decided to feature 30 Rock again, instead of featuring something that was a lot more fun last season like Chuck.

Guessing the cover: EW Fall TV Preview 2010.

It’s that time of the year again. How time flies when you’re living it. Even when you could be living it even more.

Anyway, since I already did most of the needed catch up (See the following posts from last year here and here), let’s just do a fast countdown and go directly to this year’s guesses:

- Here’s the Network Tally:

A total of 20 covers so far

ABC: 5 (Twin Peaks, Alias, Lost, Greys Anatomy and Private Practice)

CBS: 0 – a big zero.

FOX: 5 (Married with Children, Melrose Place [2x], Time of Your Life, Fringe)

NBC: 7 (Seinfeld, Friends, Suddenly Susan, Veronica’s Closet, Titans, Miss Match and Joey)

WB: 1 (Dawson’s Creek)

UPN: 1 (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer)

The CW: 1 (Gossip Girl)

THE GUESSES

Just like last year, I’ll list my possible guesses for the cover below, with pros and cons. Won’t add odds, because I suck at that assessment.

1) Hawai Five-O – CBS

Pros: Will this finally be the CBS year. After 20 years, EW have yet to grace the #1 network with a Fall Preview issue Cover. Not only a remake of a really classic show, it’s the network 3rd bet on Alex O’Loughlin, who starred in Moonlight (before it’s time, cancelled right before the most recent vampire boom) and Three Rivers. It must be one of the most buzzed new shows for this season.

Cons: EW front cover rarely features new shows with some rare and not impressive cases, also would be another year featuring a drama on the cover. Considering that last season was the season of the new comedies, maybe they’re going to be the ones featured in this year’s cover.

2) Modern Family – ABC

Pros: Beloved by public and critics, Just received an Emmy for best comedy duking it out with Glee. After such a long time wihtout so much buzz about comedies, last year was finally the year.

Cons: Huge ensemble cast, who to feature? Who gets almost a starring nod besides Sophia Vergara’s very prominent features.  OK, bad joke. Sorry for that. But, come on, it’s hard not to look if you’re a heterosexual male.

3) The Big Bang Theory – CBS

Pros: One of the biggest moves from the new fall programming was CBS, stopped being completely safe, and moving one of their highest rated shows from it’s safe spot on Monday Nights, to the so sought after Thursday Night, facing directly against what used to be the home of “Must See TV” NBC, in an already very busy night. Also Jim Parsons was finally recognized for his amazing work as Sheldon. Who to feature on the cover? Jim Parsons of Course. And it finally break the no EW Fall Preview covers for CBS.

Cons: I don’t really have any cons for this ones. Maybe only for the fact is the last show that I remembered to include in the list, and just got in time to include it in the middle of the list. But if there’s a show in this list that I would place on top of my bet list would be this one.

4) Glee – Fox

Pros: Look, here are the Gleeks again.  19 nominations to the Emmy and were basically duking it out for best comedy with Modern Family.

Cons: Same problem as Modern Family, who to feature in a big enssemble cast, but having Jane Lynch as a standout character in the show, might solve this issue. However, Fox two years in a row?

5) Chuck – NBC

Pros: A really beloved show, that seems to not be seen by enough people. An impressive cast and in my case a central couple I really want as a couple (I am among the few who don’t want Temperance and Seeley as a couple on Bones, neither do I want Rick and Kate as a couple on Castle). Having either Zachary Levi alone on the cover, or him with Yvonne would look amazing.

Cons: NBC did renew it for another season, but it wasn’t for a full fledged 22 episode season, only a 13 episode one, and the show still need to fight it out to get the back 9.  I’m already saving a few coins to get a few Subway meals. Also, almost half of the EW covers featured NBC shows, and almost half of them featuring failures.

6)The Office – NBC

Pros: It’s Steve Carrel’s last season heading the show. That’s all I have.

Cons: The Office, hasn’t been a critical darling for the last 2 seasons or so. Jim and Pam got a bit boring ever since they got married and  Rainn Wilson’s Dwight is now basically a caricature.  Despite the impressive fact thathalf the production and writing staff are part of the cast.

If there was a 7th bet I might’ve put in here is CW’s Vampire Diaries, but as most of this network’s shows will have already premiered by the time this issue is releases, I doubt it’ll feature them. Vampire Diaries is probably one of the 1st major broadcast shows to return, which will happen this Thursday, September, 9th.

As a round-up I’m basically putting my bets that a comedy will be featured on the cover, and maybe this will finally be a year to feature a CBS show.

My favorite movies of 2009.

And finally I reach the point I meant to reach 9 months ago. Not really an accomplishment, more like reach an overdue goal.

INTRO: Ever since 2003, I started to log every movie I watch, as I was starting to average almost a movie per week.

As everyone been doing rundown of movies of the decade thing, I’m going to go through these logs and list my favorite movies of each year.

These are my favorite movies of 2009.

- Australia (underrated, but I really enjoyed it. Also having enjoyed it with my mom, might have helped to put it in this list)

- Changeling

- Slumdog Millionaire

- Watchmen (a better adaptation than I expected)

- Gran Torino (Great year for Clint Eastwood movies, normally I’m not a huge fan of him or his movies)

- I Love You Man

- Star Trek (was never able to enjoy any of the shows, but I enjoyed this take from JJ. Abrams)

- Push

- Okuribito (Departures)

- Veronika Decides to Die

- Up

- 500 Days of Summer

- Paranormal Activity

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (it wasn’t in this list originally, but I got to re-watch it on the plane last month, and made me appreciate it in another light)

- Quanto dura o amor ( is an indie Brazilian movie that deserves to be checked out, if you ever get the chance. You know how some movies New York City is almost like a character in the movie itself, this movie happens to be able to do the same with Sao Paulo, and that’s not the only reason to check it out. The movie was really well produced, with well rounded characters).

Least favorite movies of 2009:

- The Day the Earth Stopped (the remake with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connely and Jayden Smith – a remake that no one asked for)

- Angels & Demons (hated how it was adapted)

- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (my nostalgia compels me to watch the movie, which is terrible. This sequel happens to be 10 times worse than the 1st Michael Bay trip into this universe).

- The Ice Age 3 (how not to do 3D for the sake of 3D)

- Besouro (A long form movie should not be like a Music Video, it’s not only about the flash stuff, but also about the script and the rest of the movie. Everything cool about this movie is in the trailer, the rest if just forgetable).

Random Thoughts

These random thoughts are more about why certain movies were not included in either one of the lists above.

This was the year with the real explosion of 3D movies, with the biggest name in this being James “I’m the king of the World’ Cameron’s Avatar. I enjoyed Avatar, I did go to the theater multiple times.  But in the end of the day, it was less about the movie, but a lot more about the cinematic experience the movie provided. The movie was finally taking the 3D screening experience to another level.
I think most of the Avatar detractors, which includes anyone who simply pointed how similar the story was to Pocahontas, pointed how silly is the script, without actually experiencing it, were people who see cinema only as a rational stuff. The magic that was Avatar was the combination of a lot of things, it was a the big screen, the stereoscopy, it’s watching it in a packed screening room, with a bowl of popcorn on your lap. It’s a combo. I think that’s a reason I don’t list the movie among my favorites despite multiple watchings. I don’t own the DVD or Blu-Ray Disk of the movie, and don’t plan to get it anytime soon, as I would never be able to replicate the same experience at home.

Two movies that I think some people might have expected me to feature in the least favorite lists are Dragonball: Evolution and GI. Joe. Unfortunately, I actually enjoyed both on them in some level. They were fun. I’m no purists here, in the sense that I was never a HUGE fan of the Dragonball franchise or the GI. Joe franchise. The movies were fun, mindless fun and you can leave them at that.

Two movies that I think deserve some props but are widely detracted from this year are Gamer and the new Fame. Gamer with all star cast, reminded me a lot of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, by exploring at first some exploitation themes, and then delving deeper into subjects of self-identity, choice and will. Fame from Kevin Tancharoen was a fun movie, a way better remake than a lot of stuff that’s out there, and tried to update some concerns from similar templates from the original movie.

Hangover: watched it and despite enjoying the work from cast, still feel it was one of the most overated movies from this year.

My favorite movies of 2008.

As I review this, it might not be clear, I’m only listing the best (favorite) and the worse (least favorite), no listing all the movies I’ve seen that year. Which would take a lot of work to type in. After a brief count I do watch at least 60 movie titles per year, and that number is higher in years I was less busy.

Now, let me head into 2008.

INTRO: Ever since 2003, I started to log every movie I watch, as I was starting to average almost a movie per week.

As everyone been doing rundown of movies of the decade thing, I’m going to go through these logs and list my favorite movies of each year.

These are my favorite movies of 2008.

- Cloverfield

- Definitely Maybe

- Soom (Breath)

- Iron Man

- Red Belt

- Wall-e

- The Dark Knight

- The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

- Apenas o Fim

- Lat Den Ratte Komma In (Let the Right one In)

- Romance

- Die Tranen Meiner Mutter

- 流浪，神，狗。人 (God, Man, Dog)

- Sydney White

My Least favorite movies of 2008.

- Hancock (1st time ever I almost left the movie in the middle, it was that bad. Can’t believe they’re talking about sequels – I think it’s the worse movie in this list, and there’s some bad stuff below).

- The Happening (The movie that made me lose faith on M. Night Shyamalan)

- Max Payne

- In the name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (it’s Uwe Bowe. No other comment is needed)

- Twilight

Random Comments

Yes. This was the year that started the sparkly vampire madness. If only the movies were actually good or passable, it would be a less sad fact.

It was very bad year for movies, but also a very good one with some titles that will probably stand the test of time. The Dark Knight and Iron Man, two comic book hero movies, done very differently, both with different strengths. And then, there’s Wall-e. I still remember a few years ago when Pixar revealed their slate of upcoming movies, and included both Wall-e and Up. I remember a lot of people winking, and the result were some of the best movies in recent years.  I think Wall-e (the character) might be one of my favorite fictional creations in recent years.

This was also a great year, if you enjoy “foreign” (as in non-hollywood) movies from other countries. I watched great movies from Europe, Asia, and local Brazilian movies are also getting more prominent in my favorite lists.  Among 2008 was Lat Den Ratte Komma In, which Hollywood is remaking as Let me in, and will debut sometime in the next few months, despite the great casting for the US version, I doubt it’ll be a moody and creepy as the original movie.

If you haven’t seen it yet and plan to, I’ll leave you with the same advice from a few posts before. Watch the remake first, then  try the original, never go other way around. The next one to survive this next, might be the adaptations for the Millenium Trilogy series, which David Fincher is the man behind this ship, and have a hard task to follow the amazingly well done Swedish adaptations.