photo © 2006 Gareth Simpson | more info (via: Wylio)
Battle Los Angelos is not a bad movie per se, but it doesn’t break any new ground while ripping off Independence Day, Aliens (not it a good way), and Halo (the video game). If fact, this could be a Halo movie, with Master Chief replaced by Master Sergeant.

The movie starts in typical disaster movie fashion, showing us some action, and then rewinding 24 hours so we get to see how the characters got there. As RC put it, “they knew the first 20 minutes was boring as hell, so they had to give us some action to hold us over.” As the characters are introduced, their name is place on the screen as their back story is told. Don’t worry about keeping track, because nothing they say is really important (save for one back story). During this time, news broadcasts are on in the background to fill the viewer in on the impending invasion.

The aliens invade from the water, since they apparently can use the water for fuel. They attack all the coastal cities, so thankfully, the citizens of Columbus, Ohio only have to worry about the NCAA ruining the Buckeyes 2011 season and not the impending alien invasion. Once the attack begins, a lot of explosions go off, and the marines triumph in one small battle at the end.

Throughout the movie, the director has apparently forgotten his steadicam at home and breaks down all notions of giving the characters personal space. Most of the movie is filmed as if the camera was being hand held a foot from the actor’s face.

I give this movie a 2 out of 6.5 stars, and wouldn’t even recommend it as a rental. It was still better than Battlefield Earth though.

There be spoilers after the break
continue reading "Battle LA: A review"

I want to preface this review by telling you I did go into the Twilight movies with an open mind, trying to see what’s so “magical” about them. Fortunately, Eclipse didn’t beat out Battlefield Earth for the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it came close. I give it a 2 out of 6.5. It would be a 1, but it did have werewolves and vampires fighting, so that automatically gives it an additional point.

Read on for the full review, and there may be spoilers (although if you’ve seen the previews, you’ve pretty much seen the movie).
continue reading "Twilight Eclipse – The Review"

A man in the UK has turned his apartment into a replica of Star Trek Voyager:

Tony Alleyne has spent eight years recreating scenes from the cult sci-fi show at his studio apartment.

But what started as a therapeutic hobby for the 56-year-old devotee, following a painful divorce from his wife, has led him to deck the whole property out as the Star Trek Voyager.

The amazing thing is that he was divorced from his wife and then re-did his apartment, instead of the other way around.

From the website:

The easiest email could possibly be.

As more and more everyday communication takes place over email, lots of people have complained about how hard it is to read and respond to every message. This is because they actually read and respond to all their messages.

With Gmail autopilot no longer do you have to worry about actually creating a response. Using technology from Eliza and the CADIE project, Google will craft automated responses in your style. You can adjust for capitalization, typos, brevity and emoticon use.

Yes, you to can become your own Grandpa.