Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Bill Maher criticizes use of famous Ben Franklin quote

On his last New Rule for Friday's Real Time, Bill Maher says that that a famous quote by Ben Franklin is obsolete. The quote from Franklin was this:

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Bill Maher seems to think that Franklin was an absolutist on civil liberties. I can't agree. Franklin was no anarchist, he like the other founding fathers believed in some government and that there would be some small sacrifice in liberty for security. Nothing that I've read about Franklin seemed to indicate that he didn't believe in laws. Note that Franklin talks about essential liberty. Anyway here's Bill's video courtesy of Mediaite and HBO.

Polls: Weiner goes flaccid

As New York city mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's polls go limp; Weiner remains stiff in his defiance of calls for him to leave the race. (In case you don't know, Anthony Weiner left Congress over Internet sexting and was caught doing it again as recently as 2012. Oh, yeah he also sent women pictures of his um... naughty bits.) Lucky for substitute host John Oliver of The Daily Show. He's been given a gift from the comedy gods. Here's his very funny piece.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Stephen Colbert skewers Congressman Steve King

When it comes to right-wing yahoos of the Republican Party, it's hard to beat Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for saying crazy stuff. Of course, he's a Tea Party darling. Lately, he just compared illegal immigrants to dogs. Here is satirist Stephen Colbert to take him down.

The Daily Show covers Goldman Sachs plot to increase the value of aluminum

People should watch The Daily Show more often. They might learn something. Like how Goldman Sachs gooses the price of the futures of aluminum. How do they do it? By creating delays in the warehouse that um... Goldman Sachs owns. They then trade in the commodities.



Friday, July 26, 2013

New favorite link; The Huffington Post UFO News

I'm interested in UFOs and so is The Huffington Post. The Internet news website has its own page for UFO news. I guess we both believe the truth is out there. Anyway, I've posted a favorite link to the site.

Support at the polls: Weiner goes limp

Reported by Tung N. Cheek. New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner's support has gone limp. In a new Marist poll, there's indication that Weiner's exposure on the Internet has had a damaging effect. Once leading, he's now trailing.

Look, I've seen the Weiner picture. It was posted at The Dirty. Let me say to the people of New York, Anthony Weiner is a big talent. You might want to reconsider your disgust of him. Plus he's got a macho Internet name, Carlos Danger. Hold on. Women are attracted to a goofy Internet name?

Anyway, this blog features two video pieces by Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show on Weiner. Here's Colbert's story. Here's The Daily Show's piece.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Reds get a big win over the Giants

Yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the San Francisco Giants, 8-3. It was a big win for the Cincinnati Reds even though they didn't gain ground on the two teams ahead of them, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals. The important thing is that the Reds did not lose ground as the Pirates and the Cardinals won. The Reds are fourteen games over five hundred and remain five back of the leading Cardinals.

Another big thing about the win last night was that it took place on the west coast. The Reds beat the World Champion San Francisco Giants. And if you know the Reds, usually west coast road trips are disasters. But not this year. The Reds took three out of four from the Giants. Here's the story.

Stephen Colbert takes on huge Weiner story

Okay, here's Stephen Colbert's take on the huge Weiner story. You know it's about New York city mayoral candidate, Anthony Weiner, exposing his weiner all over the Internet again. And to be fair and balanced, I used to like Weiner... the candidate. You see he is a liberal like me. But this is a gift from the comedy gods just like when Donald Trump opens his mouth. So if a politician wants to be a weiner, to be fair and balanced, I'll expose it. Enjoy Colbert's take on the big Weiner story. By the way, Weiner's Internet name was "Carlos Danger."


John Oliver uncovers big Weiner scoop

There is a comedy god! Because on Tuesday, New York city mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has announced that there are more sexting and photographs of his um... naughty parts being exposed on the Internet. Here is John Oliver of The Daily Show with his very funny take. Caution. Naughty props in video.


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

I dont' care about the Royal baby

People of America are infatuated with the birth of the Royal baby. We find out today that his name is going to be George. Yawn. I don't care. The kid is not the second coming of Jesus, okay? Thanks to The Daily Show for their great coverage of the the birth. Funny stuff. Hold on. They allow horses in British pubs? WTF?



Stephen Colbert looks at Domino's Pizza Drone

Hey, Domino's Pizza has a pizza delivering drone. Here's Stephen Colbert's funny piece on the pizza drone with a humorous look at the pizza delivery guy sex fantasy. Bonus. I've included Stephen's hilarious take on another drone delivering food copter, the Tacocopter.


Stephen Colbert rips Fox News racism

In his own way, Stephen Colbert doing his angry white guy conservative act, destroys Fox News Bill O' Reilly and Bernie Goldberg by telling America what makes them afraid. Black men. And Colbert brings up the point that it's only a tiny, miniscule portion of the black population that commits crimes. Here is Stephen Colbert with his segment "The Word" on Fox News racism.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Colbert takes on deGrasse Tyson's theory that humans are like worms to aliens

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson believes that aliens may have visited earth but weren't interested in sticking around due to man's lack of intelligence. Well, if the aliens were watching Sarah Palin, I can see why. Here's Stephen Colbert's take on his theory.

Huge Weiner news

Hold on. Big Weiner news. Former congressman and New York mayoral candidate, Anthony Weiner, was caught doing it again. He was sexting last summer. This is after he left Congress for the same thing. And get this. There are pictures of his um... naughty parts that he allegedly sent to a woman. So Weiner is exposing himself. I'm going to bet his poll numbers will go limp. And why is his wife Huma Abedin supporting him? The guy wants to cheat on you, Huma. Stop listening to the song "Stand By Your Man" women. Yes, show your anger by stopping being a campaign prop. Here's the story from the Huffington Post.

Why do we Americans care about the Royal baby?

What is the big deal about the Royal baby? I'm an American. Didn't we fight a war to be free from the influence of the English monarchy? This is a kid who will not know want or have to worry about a bloody thing. I will bet a quatloo that he will not have any major influence on the world. Thank God for the Daily Show. Substitute host John Oliver and Englishman gives his funny reaction to the baby and the ludicrous CNN analyst who says Princess Kate was brilliant for the delivering a male. Is this the twenty first century?

R.I.P.D. 3D review

Did you know that spicy Indian food will expose the dead living among us? It's just one of the many rules of the afterlife in the movie, R.I.P.D. The film stars Ryan Reynolds and Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges.

In R.I.P.D., Boston detective Nick Walker (Ryan Reynolds) confronts his partner, Bobby Hayes (Kevin Bacon) about some gold which they took from a crime scene. They decide to turn the gold in. But before they can do that, a call comes in that a major drug dealer is holed up in a warehouse. Nick is killed during the arrest attempt and he's sucked up to purgatory. Once there, he's greeted by Mildred Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker), a supervisor, in the Rest In Peace Department or R.I.P.D. Oh,that's where the title of the movie comes from. Anyway, Proctor explains that the purpose of R.I.P.D. is to go to earth and arrest the dead that are hiding among the living. They're called "deados." What? No zombies? Proctor knows about Walker's life and offers him a deal. Use his police skills and enlist in the R.I.P.D or face judgment. Walker decides to join the force. You didn't think he would choose judgment, did you? I mean that's the end of the movie.

Nick is paired with R.I.P.D. officer, Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges). Pulsipher, let's call him Roy, was a sheriff from the Wild West when he was killed. Roy decides to show the rookie, Nick, the ropes. You know like the Indian food trick. Once a deado is exposed, he or she becomes a hulk of rotting flesh. When a suspect literally vomits some gold, Nick suspects that stolen gold from his life and this gold must be related and part of a bigger mystery.

It took five writers to bring this movie to life from a comic book of the same name by Peter Lenkov. Peter, sorry to mention your name with this movie that's sure to be nominated for a Razzie award. But I'm sure your comic book was better. There are multiple problems with the movie, R.I.P.D. First, it tries to be Men in Black. (1997) But that movie was witty in its juxtaposition of modern life with aliens among us. R.I.P.D is not witty unless you like vomiting and deformed monsters. Second, the comic timing that director Robert Schwentke had for RED (2010) abandons him. That's because the writers do a terrible job at writing jokes. Then there are the plot holes. Let me put it this way. In this universe, there is evidence of God. I mean the guys in R.I.P.D. report to somebody. And somebody is judging the departed souls. So how come God can't tell the R.I.P.D. who is dead or not? To quote James T. Kirk in Star Trek V, "Aren't you God?" But why even have a R.I.P.D.? I think God can return the dead to the afterlife. If only Peter Lenkov wrote about other undead characters in his comic. Republicans. I keeed. I keeed. No, I mean zombies. Yeah, the world needs another zombie flick or a vampire movie, starring teenagers.

Ryan Reynolds needs to read his scripts. Dude, the ladies love your body but it's time for them to love your mind. I will give him credit for an earnes t performance here. Playing Walker's wife is Stephanie Szostak. She radiates a beautiful soul, one that you can see why Nickis reluctant about letting go. Mary-Louise Parker is given very little to do in the comic area and that's a waste. But the worst performance comes from Jeff Bridges. His Roy is similar to his Rooster Cogburn from True Grit (2010) if Cogburn smoked meth. And many times, it sounds like he has marbles in his mouth. Can't laugh if you don't understand what he's saying. But I must admit there's also something appealing about his Roy. Maybe it's the devil may care attitude that works with the cowboy mentality. He reminds me of a R rated Yosemite Sam.

There are two performances that could have been used to better comic effect. Supermodel Marissa Miller is Pavlenko who is Roy's avatar. You see the R.I.P.D. must use avatars to operate on earth. So Roy's is a gorgeous blonde. There's comic gold that needed more mining here. Then there is Nick's avatar. He's an old Chinese man named Chen. He's played by legendary character Chinese actor James Hong.  (Pictured above.)   Now this is interesting. Hong has been in show business since the fifties. He's been in classic films like Chinatown. (1974) Was in a porn movie called China Girl. (1975) No, he did not perform sex acts. Was in great television shows. The Taxi episode, The Great Race (1979) comes to mind. Then there are the iconic genre films. Blade Runner. (1981) Big Trouble in Little China. (1986) He was the voice of Mr. Ping in Kung Fu Panda. (2008) That's quite a resume.

As for the 3D version of R.I.P.D., it represents what's wrong with converting a 2D movie to 3D. And R.I.P.D. is a conversion. I've written many times the lack of quality of 3D cinema when you compare a conversion to a movie shot in native 3D, i.e. with 3D cameras. What you get with R.I.P.D. is the pop up book effect. There's depth between 2D cutouts. That's what it looks like. You can't get the popping effect of native 3D where objects feel like they're in the theater with you. At least most of this movie featured day scenes and the darkness issue with many conversions is not present. But the lack of the pushing out from the screen or popping makes this movie an ordinary 3D conversion. Nothing to see here. Save your money and watch the 2D version.

R.I.P.D. is not a good movie. It lacks laughs. It's not terrible either. I mean I did not find it boring. Could be a guilty pleasure. The grade is C Plus.




Monday, July 22, 2013

The Next Avengers movie: What happened to Thanos?

Remember the post-credits scene in The Avengers? (2012) There was the leader of the Chitauri, conferring with what many say was Thanos. He's a bad guy and from the scene, it looks like he will be in the next movie. Well, at this year's Comic Con, director Joss Whedon announced that the new Avengers movie will be called Avengers: Age of Ultron. Obviously, the sequel will feature Ultron.

Now who is Ultron and where is Thanos? Ultron in the Marvel comic book universe is some type of evil robot. Look, guys, from what I can tell there are many iterations of Ultron. But if it's the featured bad guy, where is Thanos? IO9 speculates that Thanos will be in the third Avengers movie. If all this is Greek to you, join the crowd. I haven't read an Avengers comic in decades. Still looking forward to the new Avengers movie.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Bill Maher destroys smart/stupid Republicans

On this week's Real Time with Bill Maher, his last New Rule, he goes after crazy and stupid Republicans with advanced degrees. For example, he says that conservative rock star, Dr. Ben Carson, believes the world is only 6000 years old. If you get the chance to see the whole New Rules segment, enjoy the rule regarding the racist funny phony names of Asiana flight 214. It makes it worth it to get HBO. Anyway, here's the last New Rule courtesy of HBO and Mediaite.

Dan Savage makes conservative sick

Okay, I'm watching this week's Real Time with Bill Maher. His guests include conservative Grover Norquist and gay activist Dan Savage. Anyway, Dan makes a joke about gay sex that makes Grover Norquist look sick. I mean you could see the hatred on his face. Wow. Gay men have been around since the dawn of men. Stop living in the fifties, Grover. Caution. The upcoming video features frank talk about sex but no explicit depictions. Thanks to HBO and Mediaite for this video. Love Dan's joke about allowing only lesbian women to marry.

Evidence of Tea Party racism

Liberals often accuse the Tea Party of racism. Well, here's more proof of it. Last week at a rally by the Tea Party and attended by conservative Republicans, Ken Crow, co-founder of Tea Party Community, said this,

"From those incredible blood lines of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and John Smith. And all these great Americans, Martin Luther King. These great Americans who built this country. You came from them. And the unique thing about being from that part of the world, when you learn about breeding, you learn that you cannot breed Secretariat to a donkey and expect to win the Kentucky Derby. You guys have incredible DNA and don’t forget it."

Got it folks? He's saying immigrants don't have the DNA of whites. He's saying they're inferior. This statement could have been made by a Nazi in the thirties. This is proof of Tea Party racism.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

New York Times gigantic breaking news story: "College students are having sex"

By Tung N. Cheek.

Oh the humanity. We need to contact the radical feminists and the pc police. The New York Times is breaking a gigantic news story. College women are having sex. Must get the radical feminists and pc police to stop the naughtiness. Here is Stephen Colbert's news commentary.

The Daily Show on the Egypt crisis

We've missed out on important news with the Trayvon Martin tragedy. One of the stories is the military coup in Egypt. And what a mess. You see the United States wants to influence Egypt by giving them money. But American law prohibits giving money to the Egyptian army if the new government comes about by military coup. You see the "old" Egyptian government was not so friendly to the United States. So maybe we want the change. Here' what John Oliver of The Daily Show has to say about the Egyptian crisis.



Friday, July 19, 2013

Stephen Colbert on the Spitzer and Weiner political campaigns

Well, you knew that Stephen Colbert would weigh in on the Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner's political resurrections. Here he is taking on recent sexual scandals. The piece also includes a funny interview with Eliot Spitzer where Colbert asks a tough question and says this "ain't Charlie Rose mother f#$ker." Stephen Colbert, you are definitely not Charlie Rose.


Thursday, July 18, 2013

Lewis Black takes on Texas Governor Rick Perry

Texas Governor Rick Perry is attacking other states for their alleged high taxes and over regulation through ads. The purpose? To lure other states' businesses to move to Texas. Well here is comedian Lewis Black with his Daily Show piece, "Back in Black" to take on Perry.


The Daily Show: Weiner is all in

Christmas just came early for comedians. Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer is running for New York City comptroller. Now what forced him from office as governor? He had a fondness for prostitutes. Well, the madam that allegedly supplied him with hookers, Kristin Davis, is running against him. Then there is former congressman Anthony Weiner. He was forced from office for using the Internet to show women his junk. He's running for mayor of New York city and now is leading the pack. Comedy gold. You didn't think this stuff would get by The Daily Show? Here's their funny piece.


Republicans support the rich and stick it to the poor

Well, conservative House Republicans give subsidies to big farming companies and defunds food stamps for the poor. Folks, what doe that tell you? They hate the poor and exist to support the rich. I need Stephen Colbert to make sense of this.

The pc police attack Rolling Stone

It amazes me that there is outrage over the cover of the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone which features a picture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The picture which the suspect shot himself and has appeared on the New York Times shows a young man with un-kept long hair and needing a shave. He looks like a rock star rather than a terrorist. The caption for the story on the cover reads,

"THE BOMBER" "How a Popular, Promising Student Was Failed by his Family, Fell Into Radical Islam and Became a Monster."

So there's nothing on the cover of the Rolling Stone glamorizing Tsarnaev with maybe the exception of the photograph. But The Rolling Stone is practicing journalism. Not propaganda for the state. So the purpose is to tell the truth. The cover accurately describes what happened. And the photo shows a picture of a person who doesn't look like a terrorist but will become one. Again, that's accurate. He was a young attractive kid who will turn into a monster.

That attack by the pc (political correct) police on The Rolling Stone is more damaging than the photograph. The reason is that the pc crowd is practicing a form of censorship. The damage? It occurs to the truth. If you are a liberal, go buy a copy of this Rolling Stone. Being liberal means you believe in free speech. Support it.

In the meantime, enjoy Stephen Colbert's commentary. He reminds us that Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, and Roman Polanski were once on the cover of The Rolling Stone. Stephen Colbert was also on the cover.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Stephen Colbert on the non-riots over the Zimmerman verdict

Here's Stephen Colbert's funny piece on the non-riot, peaceful protests over the Zimmerman verdict. Yeah, I'm sure that's disappointing angry white conservatives. Anyway, it's all covered in his Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger. Also covered is Fox News arrival of Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

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Stephen Colbert on the Royal Baby

As an American, I don't see why all the intense interest in the Royal baby. Neither does Stephen Colbert. Here's his funny piece as he realizes he really is interested in the Royal baby.

Helen Mirren on The Daily Show

Here's an interview from The Daily Show with the lovely and talented actress, Helen Mirren. Oops forgot, she's also an Oscar winning actress. Oh yeah, she's got a movie coming out. Red 2.

The Daily Show takes on the Royal baby

The Daily Show's substitute host is Jon Oliver. He's English. So it's appropriate that he comment on the wait for the royal baby.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Stephen Colbert on the Zimmerman verdict and race

I know you're tired of the George Zimmerman trial and the verdict. So how about some satire from Stephen Colbert on the verdict and race?

Case closed? T. Rex was a hunter not a scavenger

Peter Larson, a paleontologist at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota says that a Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. Rex) tooth found inside the healed tailbone of a duckbill dinosaur indicates that T. Rex was a hunter not a scavenger. Here's the story from the National Geographic. Below is a clip from Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) a mother T. Rex making a kill for her children.




Stephen Colbert on KTVU's mistake involving the pilot names of Asiana flight 214

Okay somebody at the NSTB has a silly and racist sense of humor. After the tragedy of Asiana flight 214, somebody over there released fake, funny sounding names of the pilots. However, some genius over at television station KTVU thought they were real and had a news caster read them. This is rich comic fodder for Stephen Colbert. And by the way as a Chinese American, I do have a sense of humor. So don't wonder why I didn't find this incident to be despicable.

The Daily Show on Immigration Reform

Yesterday, The Daily Show covered Immigration Reform passed by the Senate and likely will die in the House of Representatives. Al Madrigal objects to lumping all Hispanic peoples into Latino. Being Chinese American, I sympathize. I mean white people lump Chinese with Japanese all the time. Yeah, I might look like a Japanese person but the Chinese are different. There are some similarities in Asian cultures but they are different. Anyway, here Al's very funny piece. Hold on. The Chileans really love mayonnaise?

Monday, July 15, 2013

Pacific Rim 3D review

When I reviewed Battleship (2012), I asked this question. "Does a dumb idea for a movie make a dumb movie?" Now say you're a Hollywood movie studio executive. A guy pitches this to you. Giant robots fight giant monsters. I would hope you would say, "What are you, eight years old?' Believe it or not, that's the premise of Pacific Rim. Okay, it's not that dumb since there's an obvious nod to anime and Godzilla movies. I wonder if they got the idea from the Futurama episode, "Anthology of Interest, I." Anyway, giant robots duking it out with giant monsters doesn't make one think of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Still, a moviegoer must take notice when director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) writes a screenplay with Travis Beacham and directs a movie.

In the near future, a fissure under the Pacific ocean, opens a path between the Earth and another dimension. Gigantic monsters called Kaiju (Japanese for strange creatures.) are released from the rift. They're here because they heard there were great barbecue ribs at the Montgomery Inn. Ahhh... okay, that's not whey they're here. They've entered our dimension to eliminate mankind from the planet so their masters can take over. Wait a minute. Didn't I see this plot somewhere else? Independence Day. (1996) Battle: Los Angeles. (2011) Anyway, to fight them, the humans create Jaegers (German for "hunter.") which are giant robots. These machines are driven by two people who have neural connection known as the Drift. In the Drift, the two pilots can share memories.

One of the Jaeger pilots is Raleigh Becket. (Charlie Hunnam) He's a top notch pilot until he suffers a devastating war loss in battle The Keijus adapt and start defeating the Jaegers. The humans abandon the Jaeger program in favor of a wall that they believe will keep the Jaegers at bay. Jaeger program general Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) protests the decision. He takes four Jaegers and starts a fighting force in Hong Kong. Hold on. Who makes up these names? Why don't we just throw out the most macho sounding words as possible. How about John Wayne Marlboro? But I digress, assisting Pentecost are pilot Mako Mori. (Rinko Kikurchi) and researcher Dr. Newton Geizler. (Charlie Day) Five years after his tragedy, Becket is a construction worker on a defensive wall. When a Keiju breaches the wall at Hong Kong, one of Pentecost's Jaegers saves the day. Pentecost implements a plan to deliver a nuclear bomb to the fissure to destroy the pathway between the two dimensions. Short of pilots, he enlists Becket to join the force. Wait a minute. What rocket scientist thought that a giant wall would keep a giant monster at bay? I mean did it occur to anyone that said giant monster would merely bust a hole in the wall? And if you could keep the giant monster outside of the wall, the giant monster is still out there. It's plot holes like these that gets me rooting for the giant monsters.

The actors are very good with the script they were given. Charlie Hunnam as Becket displays the past emotional scars well. Rinko Kikurchi is one hell of a martial artist who has a burning desire to pilot a Jaeger. She's sexy too. Charlie Day who looks like J.J. Abrams is a hoot as geeky and daring scientist, Newt Geizler. The one performance that doesn't work so much is Idris Elba's General Pentecost. It's a lot of cliche dialogue and he basically yells most of his lines.

If you expect the giant robots and giant monsters to break out in song and dance, you got another thing coming. The actors are not going to spout off Shakespeare. Though I guess this might be del Toro's attempt to get an Oscar category for Best Giant Robots vs. Giant Monsters film. What you get with Pacific Rim is a Top Gun with giant robots instead of jet fighters. Yep, there's conflict between pilots. You get your fist fight with pilots. The main character, Becket, has emotional scars that handicap him from piloting his machine. Mori must overcome her own demons to show her worth to pilot a Jaeger. See a bunch of cliches.

But somewhere among the contrivances and cliches, there's a fun movie. Come on. it's giant robots. Giant monsters. Del Toro mixes martial arts with all the mayhem that is caused when giant robots fight giant monsters in big cities. The fights are logical and exciting. I mean you got giant robots that use train cars and ships as bludgeons. Buildings crumble. Monster guts are spilled all over the place. And later the humans recycle the monster guts for consumption. Gross but it's funny cool. Maybe there's a special Oscar here. Best Giant Monster Brains in a movie. How about Best Giant Monster Parasite in a movie? But a good movie cannot survive merely on action scenes. There's got to be people we care about. The most compelling is that of Mori who we see in a sad and harrowing flashback when a Kaiju chases her as a little girl.

As for the 3D version of this film, when I was watching it I thought at times it was filmed in 3D. Then other times it was clear it was conversion from 2D. After researching it, I found out why it looked that way. Pacific Rim is a hybrid. CGI scenes were shot in native 3D. So those special effects CGI scenes have depth. However, many scenes in the movie lack pop or a pushing out effect. It's what I call the snobby approach to 3D. Look you've got to use the 3D medium or lose it. Still, because the CGI scenes have depth, I mildly recommend seeing Pacific Rim in 3D.

Pacific Rim is one fun movie but don't expect Oscars. If I were the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, I would say this. "Best Giant Robots versus Giant Monsters Movie, ever." The grade is B.


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Looks like more of the realistic James Bond

Yahoo is reporting that Sam Mendes who directed the last James Bond movie, Skyfall, will be back to direct the next one. The script will again be handled by John Logan. (Gladiator, Star Trek: Nemesis) If you recall, Skyfall is a more realistic Bond, more like the Bourne movies. That's made clear by the mini-documentary "Q" on the Skyfall Blu-Ray where Mendes announces his dislike for Q's past gadgets. But if you look at the last three Bond movies, Bond has really gotten pretty serious. Gone are the bad guy's volcano lairs.

But is this Bond more fun than the ones in the past? The old Bond franchise movies had a history of garish and large gestures by the villains. Blofeld's volcano lair. (You Only Live Twice) Goldfinger's plan to nuke the gold in Fort Knox. (Goldfinger) Stromberg's plan to start World War 3 and build a giant city under the sea. (The Spy Who Loved Me) And those movies which may seem campy by today's standards were very successful. They were also a lot of fun. Daniel Craig is a great Bond but he needs to loosen up. Just remember Quantum of Solace.

Exciting ski chase opening from The Spy Who Loved Me. (1977)

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Know your Trolls

So, you've decided to participate in the comments section of you favorite website. You make a comment. And then come back to the thread. You notice that some guy has responded with a not so nice reply. You comment back. He attacks you. You reply. This goes on for a few days. You're annoyed. You detect that maybe the guy is doing this on purpose. You've just had your first contact with an Internet Troll.

What is a Troll (Internet)?

Wikipedia describes a Troll as "is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally[3][4] or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[5] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."

Now, not every angry person on the Internet is a Troll. It's the world wide web. Vigorous debate is not trolling. And there are a lot of jerks. But a Troll usually takes delight in provoking readers into an emotional response. The basic way is by taking ad hominem attacks but a Troll can also make comments that sets the forum or chat room into frenzy. And not every Troll is a full time Troll. A point that will discussed in further detail.

Who are the prey of a Troll?

Trolls require a food source. If thinking people didn't exist, Trolls could not exist. But Trolls like a particular food. They love the websites with passionate followers. Nerds are nice targets because Trolls like to think they are above nerds since the Troll thinks he's pretty cool. Nerds are also very passionate about their interests. Go to some Star Trek websites and you will find Trolls, quite mean and angry ones.

Some Trolls like to prey upon a single writer. If a Troll detects you're a passionate person, you're a prime victim for a Troll. The Troll will engage you and try to get you to write comments. This will go on until there's quite a bit of spam. (Bulk messages.)

How to detect a Troll

There are different types of Trolls. Some Trolls will share various characteristics but remember the goal will be the same. Provoke. And then get the readers to spam. Trolls rely on anonymity. They're cowards. Because if you knew who they were, you may contact the real person and confront him. Trolls are also anti-social. They may act like you as far as interests but take pleasure in torturing you. So, let's look at the types of Trolls.

1. The Crazy Troll. This type of Troll will write something that's not based on reality or that is totally outside of the mainstream of the website. For example, the Crazy Troll will go to a Chicago Bulls website and say "Michael Jordan sucks."

2. The Lying Troll. This Troll will spread lies about you. He will attribute words and ideas that you didn't make and attack you for them.
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3. The Werewolf Troll. This Troll is a guy who seems to be like you as far as interests. He'll turn up and become a regular contributor. But when the time arises, he'll troll somebody. Then retreat back to his regular routine. Similar to the Traitor Troll.

4. The Traitor Troll aka Part Time Troll. This Troll is a regular to the website. He'll share the same interests as you. But he'll also take delight on occasion to Troll somebody. He'll then be the regular contributor that he once was until he feels a sadistic need to torture somebody. This guy thinks he's not a Troll but in essence is one since he engages in it to pleasure himself.

How to get rid of a Troll.

Getting rid of a Troll is not easy. The title of this article was derived from a Troll I met. He had the regular writers debating him on a crazy idea. Then he ended the conversation by writing, "Know your trolls." Yeah, some Trolls like to declare victory and laugh at you. Well, at least the Troll left. Here are some ideas for getting rid of a Troll.

1. Contact the website's administrator or moderator. This might seem juvenile but it's probably the best way to get rid of a Troll. The problem is that moderators want to maintain neutrality in a dispute. The best you can do is point out specifically the trolling activity. Hopefully, he'll agree and put a stop to the trolling.

2. Don't feed the Trolls. Trolls act like they want the last word. Not really. They want you to keep responding to them. Trolls will write something like, "I'm done." Then you reply. Then they come back even though they said they were done. See how it works? By that time you've spammed the site. So, after you feel like you've responded, end it quickly. Stop responding. I know it's hard. Very hard. But Trolls feed on your outrage.

3. Expose the Troll, preferably with friends. If you expose a Troll alone, it's not very effective. And by the way, point out specifically what he has been doing to show he's a Troll. Now it might cause a Troll to pause but it won't get rid of him or stop his trolling activity. On the other hand, if a group attacks a Troll, then the Troll usually knows the gig is up. He will probably leave or stop trolling. But be advised. Remember to not feed the Troll. Expose, then stop quickly. He wants you to continue fighting with him.

4. Leave the forum. This one hurts the most. It feels as if you're letting the Troll win by leaving the forum. You've made friends and now you're leaving. Well, a couple of things. First, are you happy getting trolled by some a__shole? Free yourself. And you can always contact your buddies by say email, or Facebook. And actually, it's the Troll that loses. No food source. He won't be able to troll you on the forum. He'll either leave or stop it. You have also cleaned up the forum. So be happy, don't let an a__shole mess with your life.

The Internet is a wonderful thing. There's a ton of information you can get there. There's entertainment. There's connecting to people all over the world. And there's also vermin. You're going to run into Trolls. Suck it up and don't play their game. They can't hurt you, they want you to do that to yourself. Don't let a Troll diminish your enjoyment of the Internet.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Funny or Die has new products for women

Hollywood has badly treated women by depicting their beautiful bodies in bikinis. This was demonstrated by the evil scene in Star Trek Into Darkness where a gorgeous Alice Eve stripped to her underwear. Righteous radical feminists with the PC police were right to call it the end of civilization. How dare a woman be that beautiful? We need somebody to make the world safe from naughty pictures.

At least the website, Funny or Die is doing something about  it. Here are Hollywood actresses advocating new products for the advancement of women.   Post by Tung N. Cheek

1.  Analeigh Tipton for "Vibe."


2.  Mandy Moore for this Red Bull product.


3.  Oscar winning actress Marion Cotillard for Forehead Tittaes.

Connie Pillich fights for women

I have known Ohio State Rep. Connie Pillich (D) for many years. She is a conscientious, and courageous lawyer. Last week, she was on The Rachel Maddow Show. Why? She was asked about Ohio's restrictions on abortions. First, we did not send politicians to Columbus to mess with abortion. And I'm talking about mostly Republicans who have an obsession about this. What about jobs?

Ohio abortion restrictions were included in the budget. And they include mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking an abortion. Seriously. What happened to Reagan's "getting the government off the backs of the people?" When it comes to a woman's body, the Republicans are hypocrites. Here's Connie Pillich fighting for women against the right-wing's attack on them.

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Big Brother exposes hidden racism

I'm not a fan of reality television. I feel it's cheap and lacks imagination. That being said, the reality show Big Brother (CBS) has exposed something that has been driven underground in these modern times. I'm talking about racism.

In Big Brother, the cameras are on the contestants twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The camera caught contestant Aaryn Gries saying this of Asian American Helen, "Dude,shut up, go make some rice." Later, contestant Gina Marie said this, "Andy was like, 'I'm gonna punch her in the face,' and I was like, 'Maybe that'll make her eyes straight.'"

I'm an Asian American. And I agree with host Julie Chen. Yes, she's right it takes us back to when we were children as Asian Americans. It's a time we were told we were different. Yes, Asians eat rice. But we know why these comments are made. They're designed to make the Asian, a lesser human being. They're not made as compliments. And of course, the making an Asian's eyes straight is blatant insult by trying to show Asians are not as good as white people. It's clearly racist.

So what did Big Brother teach us about society? The two contestants are young. They're not old with old ideas. It means something that every minority has known when living in America today. Racism still exists.

The Heat review

In 2011, director Paul Feig made the blockbuster comedy Bridesmaids. It featured Melissa McCarthy in a breakout role as a nutty woman without an internal monologue. So would the two follow that up with a dramatic, soulful indie movie? You would get a better chance of having co-star Sandra Bullock going on a date with her ex-husband Jesse James. What you get is a McCarthy-Bullock movie called The Heat.

In The Heat, Bullock plays an ambitious FBI agent, Sarah Ashburn. She's ambitious, and one hell of an agent. She's also uptight and not liked for her cocky behavior. McCarthy is another version of her character from Bridesmaids. She's a Boston cop named Shannon Mullins who says whatever is on her mind. And she's not afraid of whipping out her gun whenever she can to get what she wants. Lucky for the audience that this is a movie since the stuff she does and says would get her fired within an hour. Ashburn is sent to Boston to capture a shadowy, big time criminal who's not afraid of chopping up his victims. While interrogating a small time drug dealer, Ashburn is forced to work with Mullins to find her target.

Katie Dippold of TV's Parks and Recreation has written a script with some funny jokes. But we're not talking about Woody Allen. The gags are big and broad. For this type of comedy to work, we need two things. A good director and a cast to delver the goods. Director Feig stages the physical comedy well.

But it's the cast that carries this comedy. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy aren't playing against type here. Bullock's straight as an arrow FBI agent won't get her another Oscar but she still has the good comic timing. And when she becomes the fish out of water, she's a hoot. Melissa McCarthy is playing noting new here and she knows it. Yet, she's willing to be unappealing to get the laughs. To quote a Steve Martin album, "Comedy is not pretty."

The Heat turns the buddy cop movie on its head. It's loud and profane. And it's hilarious. The grade is A.