Happy Halloween

Links to scary movie reviews for your entertainment:

Frankenstein

Boris Karloff as the pitiable Monster in James Whale’s subversively clever take on why mad scientists should get out of the laboratory more often.

The Curse of Frankenstein

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in Hammer Films’ much darker update of the story.

Dracula

Bela Legosi and his Hungarian accent star in the movie that made the character famous.

Dracula the Spanish version

The vastly superior version of the movie above.

Horror of Dracula

Cushing and Lee again in ripping good story about the infamous Count filmed in lush Technicolor.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Disney goes dark in the early 1980’s film that will make you think twice about going to any carnival.

The Watcher in the Woods

Disney’s ghost story involving the disappearance of a teenager girl decades before has chills and a twist ending.

Gojira

The Japanese movie that started the giant monster movie craze is actually a very reflective and sad film that never treats the big guy as a joke.

Godzilla

The hacked and spliced together American version of Gojira that most people remember.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidora

Godzilla is the bad guy again in an updated take that becomes a morality fable about Japan’s responsibility in WWII and takes shots at the declining youth culture. 

Dracula (1931 Spanish Version) Review

Filmed simultaneously as the famous English language version, the Spanish Dracula is now regarded as being technically superior. Using the same shooting script and sets, but with a different director and cast, it offers a fascinating contrast in approaches. While the English version got all the fame, this is the better movie by far.

 

As the talkies took over the movie industry, demand for native language films grew in Mexico, Central, and South America. This was a sizeable market and filming Spanish language versions alongside the English version was one way to capitalize on the opportunity with dubbing being the other. People wanted to hear their native language and, better yet, see people speaking it on screen.

Universal Pictures decided to film a Spanish version of Dracula at the same time as Tod Browning’s production. Paul Kohner, the former successor to Carl Laemmle who was shoved out of his position running Universal to make room for Junior, was assigned to produce it using the same script and sets. He hired George Melford to direct and the two decided they would one up the other production in every way they could.

During the day, Browning’s version filmed on the sets and by night Melford’s used them. Even the same chalk marks for positions on set were used by the actors. Since the same shooting script was used, I will refer you to my earlier review of Dracula for the plot points. Instead, the focus will be on the differences between the films and why I believe this version to be superior.

First off, the babe factor is a big reason. Yes, that is sexist, but it is also accurate. Even the girl wearing glasses is very attractive and, more importantly, gets more of a chance to act. All the actors benefit from the better direction and pacing of this version, but the women really got a better deal. Perhaps Browning wasn’t good with handling actresses.

Take the bookworm above. In the English version, she is only briefly seen and heard. But here her role is expanded, first by having her comically fall on Renfield (Pablo Alvarez Rubio) repeatedly in the bouncing coach and then by increasing her dialogue. Note that he is not as effete as Dwight Frye’s interpretation and does not seem to mind this happening. She is also shown taking something of an interest in him and later gets a little scene for herself.

Dracula (1931) Review

What better way to celebrate Halloween than with the most famous blood sucker of them all? Supernatural horror films gained acceptance and big box office in America when Bela Legosi donned the cape of Count Dracula. Beset by production problems and an unknown actor in the main part, it was an amazing achievement in its time. Has this horror classic withstood the test of time?

When Carl Laemmle, Jr. was put in charge of Universal Pictures by his father, one of the first things he did was put into motion his plans to revamp the horror movie genre for talkies. Since Dracula was already a very successful Broadway and touring play, it was the ideal subject for introducing the supernatural into horror movies. Prior to it, horror was consisted of the psychological or deformed humans types, with nothing “spooky” allowed. It was thought that American audiences would reject such silliness.

I think we all know how that theory panned out.

Hiring the famous director of Lon Chaney’s incredibly popular silent films, Tod Browning, would insure success because it would be easy to get Chaney to play the part. But “The Man of 10oo Faces” died of lung cancer in 1930 and the studio looked at a lot of actors for the part. Oddly, the star of the smash Broadway play, Bela Legosi, was not considered for the part. In fact, he had to make a desperate concession on salary to get the role he was already famous for and this was only after everyone else passed on it.

Please park your modern day sensibilities and travel back to the more innocent era of the Great Depression to witness a movie that shocked and thrilled the American public.

Health 10-27-2011

I knew helping out on a move on Monday would cost me, but I was hoping it would not be most of a week. But here it is, Thursday, and I am struggling mightily. While the brain is working sporadically and well enough to meet minimal requirements on crossword puzzles, the body is doing its own thing. Or more accurately, not doing a thing. Audiosurf was flat out awful today and I am barely keeping my eyes open.

In fact, I need to lie down.

Harry Potter DVDs and BD’s to Fall Under Cloak of Invisibility

Showing how bad things are in DVD sales, Warner Brothers have decided to milk as much money out of the Harry Potter movies they can in the short term. After December 29th, they will stop producing and shipping all of the movies in the series.

The article mentions Disney has done this with their animated films and I would not be surprised to see this trend expand. Home video sales have cratered and the studios are looking for a way out of the market, in my opinion. It would not be surprising if some in the industry would like things to return to the theater only model, but I cannot see that being viable.

With the death of DVD’s being proclaimed widely and Blu-ray not being very successful, it looks like the digital download format is the only option in the future. Since the studios hate that, it will be a messy transition.

I had thought of getting the last two films to complete my Harry Potter set, but now I do not feel like doing so. This sort of cheap stunt is really irritating, but I suspect it will work. I just do not want to contribute to it succeeding.

Frankenstein (1931) Review

Halloween fun goes Universal with a review of James Whale’s subversive masterpiece that frightened audiences and packed the theaters. Return with me to a more innocent time when gore did not exist in movies, television was a science fiction idea, and scared kids still hid behind movie theater seats. Warning: This will be a monster of a review!

1931 was the year that made horror movies popular and proved they could compete for the pennies of Depression era movie goers. Early in the year, Dracula had come out and caused a sensation with its gothic atmosphere featuring an exotic supernatural villain. Known as a B movie studio, Universal Pictures finally had their chance to move up to the big leagues and they had to strike while the iron was hot.

So another adaptation of a classic horror novel was the logical next step. Having bought the rights to Peggy Webling’s stage play interpretation of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the studio moved ahead at full steam.

The movie begins with a quaint rarity: a warning to the audience. Delivered by Edward Van Sloan, the actor portraying Doctor Waldman, it was added after a test screening in California shocked its audience. In this exceptionally jaded era of lost innocence, the concept of people actually have to be warned about content is alien. But this was a more civilized time and not only were children sheltered, many adults were.

So please watch this movie with that in mind.

The opening credits set an uneasy and creepy mood, with strange and unholy eyes being the focus behind the letters presented on screen. To modern eyes, it looks psychedelic, but it would have been nightmarish—even delirious to the eyes of the time.

Anonymous Takes on Pedophiles

One of the beautiful things about life is that while you can never find someone you agree on one hundred percent of things, you also cannot find someone you will disagree on everything.

Those rogue hackers called Anonymous have done a great service to the world recently. There is a shadowy covert world on the Internet where all sorts of malignant activities are carried out with the absolute worst being the creation and dissemination of child pornography. So when they hacked and tracked the members of a large ring involved in this kind of evil, I have to salute them.

I may not agree with them on many things, but this is the kind of vigilante justice I can back.

I remember looking at TOR at one point while pondering whether or not there was a necessity for more privacy in communications between friends and talking about sensitive issues. The cons outweighed the pros, but the idea that this kind of software could be used for truly vile stuff always stuck with me.

Privacy is needed on the Net, but there are lines that have been crossed and pedophiles are so far over the line it isn’t worth arguing about.

So well done, Anonymous, well done.

Health 10-22-2011

It has been an interesting week health wise. Starting with the disastrous weekend, things rebounded on Monday. In fact, things went fairly well until Friday, when it fell apart again.

Two factors appear to be involved: overdoing things and tapering off the H2O2 therapy.

For the moment, there seems to be a limit on how many workouts I can get in a week before it negatively affects me. Two can be done and then I degrade in the stamina and upper respiratory areas. Third is simply asking for trouble.

On the hydrogen peroxide end of things, it appears I tapered off too quickly to once a day and will go back to twice a day to see what happens. I do not relish this, as drinking the foul stuff is not fun in the slightest. Hopefully, the innards will go back to being cooperative as they showed signs of rebelling again.

Slept a great deal yesterday and was unable to get very far into a monster review I am writing. The brain simply quit working. I better get that up Monday morning at the latest.

Gaddafi Is Dead

According to the latest news, it really appears to be him. Warning, graphic pictures at the link. The gold plated .45 seems to be a strong identifier to me and it looks like him despite all the damage.

It has been a long time coming for this certifiable lunatic. I remember when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up and the Berlin disco bombing for that matter too. The world is a better place with him and his son gone, but I have a bad feeling about Libya.

After watching Egypt slide following their revolution, this one looks even messier. Islamic extremists will be looking to take power and one way or the other, they will.

For the moment, at least there is the potential of change for the better for the Libyan people. It is up to them now.

Shape of Things to Come

As the economic conditions continue to deteriorate to the inevitable collapse, governments at all levels will become obsessed with picking the pockets of the citizen completely clean. There has already been discussion of confiscating private retirement accounts, which has been done in other countries. Pumping up inflation is another way savings are wiped out and that is the plan in the United Kingdom.

But here is an idea that blindsided me and is already law in Louisiana. All secondhand goods are to be paid for by check or plastic from now on. Curiously, pawn shops are exempted. But what about Goodwill and Salvation Army stores? This also effectively outlaws rummage sales and any other private sale, since you would have to have enough money to survive checks bouncing or to have a credit card scanner. Those have fees per transaction to use, by the way.

Asinine barely begins to describe this. Supposedly this is to stop materials thefts and theft in general. Most of the buyers there are shady and doing it off the books anyway, so it will not stop crime. But it will destroy a lot of small businesses.

So why pass this law?

I suspect the real answer is that it is all about taxes. It is easier to keep track of what should be taxed because checks, debit cards, and credit cards are all traceable. They want a chunk of unreported “black market” sales that go on all the time between private citizens. The legitimate businesses already keep track of that and pay their taxes, but there is an attitude among some legislators that there is a huge underground economy that can bring in big revenue streams.

To some degree, they are right and that is why a national sales tax replacing the income tax would be very effective. But an individual state doing this will just encourage legitimate buyers to stop buying and criminals will do one of two things: money laundering and shopping out of state.

I feel assaulted by dangerous waves of stupidity.

Squid Girl Episode 4, Season 1

UPDATE September 4, 2018

More DMCA take downs have hit the blog despite screen captures long being considered fair use. Due to my not being able to afford a lawyer, I have no choice but to remove them or have the blog suspended. Only the words will be left.

TVTokyo is proving to be foolishly draconian in targeting posts meant to get people interested in seeing the Squid Girl anime and perhaps even purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray. Being anti-piracy myself this is infuriating that they are targeting posts I wrote hoping to encourage people to try out a delightful show.

The silliness with a heart continues as everyone’s favorite invader from the bottom of the sea learns about money, family life, and suffers from an identity crisis. There will be puns.

Want to Buy Sumfin?

Fulfilling her vow to protect the ocean by picking up litter, Squid Girl is amazed at the volume of trash humans produce. But what is that strange object? A terrified (as always) Nagisa identifies it as a wallet and Ika gets her first lesson in money. As a reward for finding and returning, the owner gifts her with 10,000 yen.

While she knows of money, Squid Girl has no concept of how it all works and quickly is barraged with more advice than she can handle. After all, she is just a fresh squid to the surface world.

Sent to shop with Nagisa, the whole world of consumerism opens before her. But little does she know she is being stalked by Sanae who was able to smell her a block away. Yes, smell her. Sanae has more screws loose than a rusty old Yugo.

Shrimp addiction, Chizuru’s sadistic streak, and mental illness all get covered in this very amusing story that plays out like a warped after school special. In the end, there is no way to disagree with Nagisa’s quietly horrified take on the whole situation.

Care to Come Aboard?

Ever wondered where Squid Girl ended up living after invading? Here we get the answer when she isn’t allowed to follow Eiko and her family home for the night. So her base, The Lemon Beach House is where she spends her nights.

But a tragic death of an appliance and the binding of another means it will be a very boring night for a young squid. Drastic measures are required and the fallout from them the next morning can only lead to one thing…

Yes, Chizuru has decided to let Ika stay over at their house! Crabby Eiko is less than thrilled for good reason, given the damage all those tentacles can do. What follows is very sweet, though. Having her first experiences at normal things families do, Squid Girl has a great time.

Video games are played, boredom resurfaces, and what appears to be a shout out to another blue haired anime girl follow.

That’s So Fishy Its Fake

Sheer insanity.

That’s what this wonderfully loopy segment is and it all starts with an innocuous reconnaissance run on a popular neighboring beach. Eiko and Squid Girl are stunned to find kids recognizing her and pulling on her tentacles. Could she be that infamous?

Not exactly. There is another Squid Girl!

Instant identity crisis time for our tentacled would be terror when she confronts her “twin.” It does not matter that the other Squid Girl is a shapely young thing wearing an obvious and oversized mask. Much like when Takeru made a squid hat in episode one, she cannot tell the difference.

But forget the deep sea existential crisis, the real humor is in the insane creation of the rival restaurant owner. We get to see not one, but two versions of his brilliant work. Let us say that the more he innovates, the less appealing his work becomes – even if it has animatronic tentacles and other special features.

An hilarious competition of the Squid Girl’s ensues with the fate of Ika’s future on the line. There will be collateral damage, scares, and a stunning reveal. Just what lurks beneath that expression of the new girl?

Thoughts

Episode 4 has all of Squid Girl’s best points on display. Segment one has the foibles of Squid Girl featured, plus a nice moral message to start it. There is an endearing quality to the show and the middle segment captures the warmth the show often exudes. Part of the fun is seeing the title character have new experiences, but the sense of appreciation for everyday things is rewarding as well. But the sheer insanity of the final story is the episode stealer.

Highlights from the three segments for me:

The short exchange between Chizuru and Eiko when the younger sister sent Nagisa to escort Ika shopping. A very nicely written bit.

The reaction to the box’s contents at the end of the first segment.

The warm fuzzies generated by the montage in the second story.

Realizing how none of the main females in the cast have a ridiculously buxom body that is so prevalent in anime. Eiko, Chizuru, Sanae, Nagisa, and Squid Girl have relatively normal body types. The appearance of the new girl brought that home, because she is the stereotypical anime girl in appearance.

I also liked the hint that the stereotypical beauty seems to be on the shy side in this episode. That final look back added an unexpected moment of poignancy to an otherwise gonzo story. We will see her again.

It seems the American voice actors have settled into their roles by this point in recording and I have to say they do a good job. The refreshing normalcy of the voice portrayals of Eiko and Nagisa stood out to me.

Stupidity Is Its Own Reward

There is a reason instructions should be followed and today I became the poster child of why. 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide should only be transferred from containers while wearing protective gloves because it will burn bare skin. So of course I thought I could be careful and skip finding the gloves.

I think the quantity was only one to two drops that got loose, but that spread out fast despite rinsing my hands. In fact, I though I had got off scot free until five minutes later when the pain began.

Casualty count: right thumb, forefinger, middle finger, pinky, palm, left forefinger and pinky. The fingertips looked like reverse fingerprints. Hot needles is how I would describe the pain.

So far everything is still functioning due to an application of Vaseline and I will see how that goes.

Meanwhile, as of last night and today, everything tastes like bleach. My surmise is that I have hit the saturation point on the H2O2 therapy and should start ramping down to maintenance levels today.

Yesterday, I was able to get a workout in on the home gym and assorted other things done with a nap thrown in. That is a relief after the horrendous weekend and a good indication of how the therapy has helped. The mild chest congestion is gone as of today from what I can tell and given the struggles with bronchitis this year is simply amazing.

I am pleased with H2O2 and displeased with my stupidity. Lesson learned, sigh.

So Much for That

Instead of being at stake conference, I find myself relegated to sitting at home and typing this post. One of the things about having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is that you often do not get to do what you badly want to. To a certain degree, your agency is curtailed.

The entire weekend was a bust because I overdid things on Friday. Though I will admit that given the unpredictability of the illness, I may have already been in trouble. So I did not go to the birthday party, the two sessions of stake conference, and the special meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve. The latter is especially disappointing for me.

After knowing I was in no condition to go anywhere Saturday, I concentrated on resting up for today. It was to no avail and I knew I was in trouble from the moment I got up at 6 AM. My father offered to drive me, but it turns out the car would have needed gas anyway and though it was severely tempting, I would not violate the Sabbath. In the end, it would not have mattered because I was in very bad shape and would have been a zombie through the whole thing.

I have done that before and can testify to the fact that you come away with little to no benefit, since you don’t remember what was said. Instead of an uplifting and edifying experience, it becomes a miserable marathon of trying to stay awake. Only around 11:30 AM was I able to begin to function today to illustrate the problem.

Not being able to do things like this gnaws at my very soul and now I need to find my way out of the foul temper I am in. I will listen to my library of scriptures, hymns, and conference talks and hope to find some peace there.

Horror of Dracula (1958) Review

It is Hammer time which means another horror movie review to celebrate Halloween. This time the most famous vampire of them all gets the British treatment in glorious Technicolor! Blood is sucked, victims are seduced, and a battle of wits between good and evil is enjoined.

After the monster success of The Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer Films decided they needed follow it up with another horror movie. The obvious choice was to remake Dracula using the same formula of action, serious acting, pretty ingénues, gothic sets, and shooting in color. Bringing back the same director and stars would guarantee success. But did it work out as hoped?

Read on to see why I consider Christopher Lee’s Dracula the best portrayal by any actor and Peter Cushing’s heroic Van Helsing the definitive version.

After a long opening credits sequence, the camera zooms in on a crypt placard with the infamous name of Dracula on it. Bright red paint is spattered on it for shock effect and that particular bit is more amusing than frightening. But to audiences back then, it probably worked, since it was a far less jaded time. For us older folks, this kind of in your face “scary” mood setter brings forth feelings of nostalgia. At least it did for me.

Health 10-15-2011

So far this day has one of staggering about, mentally and physically. Crossword puzzle time was atrocious and Audiosurf was terrible. That is after giving myself extra time to wake up to deal with them.

I think assisting in unloading bags of wood pellets yesterday did me in. That is a beyond maximum output for me and I simply feel unwell. No cold or other bug symptoms, just fried from it.

So much for getting another session on the home gym in today. If I do that, then there is no way to get to a birthday party and stake conference later tonight. This makes me concerned about tomorrow, since I have to get up early to travel to Rochester for a single adults meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook as part of stake conference.

Hopefully, all will work out. I also want to get the next horror film review finished that I began writing last night. Nausea from H2O2 is not helping. I feel like I can’t think right now. Ah, CFS brain fog is so much fun.

Health 10-14-2011

Typing using a cat as a wrist rest is not advisable, though I am doing so at the moment.

Yesterday went well, the optometrist was surprised how well I am doing with the bifocal contacts. 20/15 for the wall projection and able to barely read the smallest line on the hand held card. It looks like his saying I was an ideal candidate for the lenses was dead on.

Also picked up the cheapest plastic lensed prescription glasses I could at Wal-Mart. They are not bifocals, but are for working on models so I can peer over them for detail work. Being nearsighted is an attribute rather than a defect for working on miniatures. Weird getting dizzy from new glasses, but the old ones were fifteen years old. I can’t say I like the frames, but they are for home use only so I should not complain.

Got another session in on the home gym. Years of catching up to do, sadly. One of the rollers popped one end of its cover and I need to see if the lifetime warranty covers replacing it. Mostly a cosmetic issue, fortunately.

I am hoping the workouts will help with the bad lower back problems that intensified this year. Hopefully there will be synergy from the H2O2 therapy and the weight training. There should be plenty of oxygen getting to the muscle tissue now.

This week I started doing meditation daily again rather than sporadically. It simply was not enough doing it once in awhile and once again I hope for some synergy with everything else I am doing. After an aborted attempt to put together a music playlist to continue the mood after meditating, I finally have gotten an initial one functional. But I still need to comb through my music library for more.

Some of Pink Floyd’s tunes work, as do songs from The Alan Parsons Project, but most are instrumentals from classical, electronic, and game genres. The music from the old Sierra game RAMA is particularly suited to the purpose.

I seem to be adjusting to the downturn in temperatures better than usual and reactions to the soybean fields being harvested was less than expected. While the sinuses still objected, it was not nearly like before.

It may be the H2O2 therapy helping there. I despise drinking the vile stuff, but it is having positive effects. It is also nice to be consuming yogurt on a daily basis again without any bowel distress. So far, so good.

Adding Insult to Injury

That story about the trojan keylogger infection of the drone control system somehow managed to get worse. It turns out the base’s officers did not notify their superiors about it and they found out from the media. CYA at its best, folks. This really instills confidence about the competency of those in charge at Creech.

It also raises the possibility that this is a garden variety infection, rather than a deliberate hack. The stupidity on display is embarrassing and I hope some careers get black marks for this. Looking for a silver lining here is difficult, but maybe the military will finally do something about the security in place and harden the systems against hacking.

Oh yeah, this whole going mainly to drones is going to work out well…

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) Review

To celebrate Halloween season, Hammer Time begins with a review of the horror film that made the movie studio famous world wide. Plagued by last minute changes to the story and makeup, Hammer’s interpretation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel still chills and thrills over fifty years later. But do not think it a shallow experience, for there is a real story in there too.

In the late 1950’s, British film studio Hammer Films decided to revive the old Universal monsters for another go around. Known mostly for their Quatermass adaptations, the studio focused on remaking Frankenstein. But Universal got wind of the plan and that forced rewrites to the script to avoid a lawsuit. The planned makeup had to change too. Sounds a bit messy, doesn’t it?

Thankfully, a good director, a competent script, and standout acting by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee combined to produce a true classic in the horror genre. Not to mention the movie was a killer at the box office, partially due to it being in color – a change made due to Universal’s threats.

That ability to use color is pressed into service right away with a nice matte composition featuring a lone rider on his horse. Right away the appropriate gothic mood is set and further expanded upon, for it is a dank and dreary prison that the rider has arrived at. The priest (Alex Gallier) has come to the prison at the behest of Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), a possibly insane inmate with a curious story to tell before he is executed.

Health 10-12-1011

Yesterday was qualifies as a good day since I got some things done. Best of all, I was able to get in a workout on my home gym. Sore today, but given that I have a touch of chest congestion to go with mild sinusitis, this is a victory.

The new bifocal contact lenses are behaving so far, but I will give it until the end of the month before I render final judgment. Hopefully the body will not decide to react to them, since they are a big improvement.

Crossword puzzle was barely acceptable with some mitigation due to running into words I had never encountered before. Audiosurf was much better.

Health 10-10-2011

It can be hard to collect one’s thoughts when you feel lousy and have a headache to boot, but here goes.

I am now at the 25 drops three times a day point on the H2O2 therapy and that level will last for a while longer than the norm. While not 100% effective, it has reduced IBS symptoms by at least 95% in occurrence and significantly lessened the severity. That alone makes it a success in my book. The nausea is not improving though.

I dread drinking the concoction and am now using Sunny D to flavor the water. Why? I hate the stuff and I was beginning to have a visceral reaction to fruit juice. So Sunny D is something I do not like anyway, but still tastes better than the straight water with the peroxide in it.

Other benefits experienced include sinusitis symptoms lessening, but not going away. It is strange being able to breath through the nose while suffering them, I must say. Breathing in general is easier, much to my surprise. Walking is easier, which is a welcome change.

Energy levels have been slowly rising to the point I am starting to enact some long planned changes in lifestyle, with a resumption of hobbies being a big part of it. A desire to limit time spent on the Internet means I will be cutting back on that. Not a hard thing to do, since I was already well into the process of doing so.

While things have been improving, you could not judge that by today. Not a good day and the crossword puzzle and Audiosurf confirmed it. Though I did slip into tired and stubborn mode playing the latter, which led to playing too many rounds of it while getting worse scores with each play. It occurs to me that behavior is much like a little kid refusing to admit he is tired and does not need to go to bed. I guess some things never change.

You Cannot Beat Reality for Weirdness

The perfect illustration of why.

Of course when you have a tinpot Marxist dictator in charge of the country, just about anything becomes possible. To me this is utterly insane, simply because it would inspire me to be worse. Frankly, if I found a video game involving running down mimes, I would buy it and play it too much.

While I do not “road rage”, I could easily mime rage.

Not So Shocking News: Drones Are Vulnerable to Hacking

Every time I read someone proclaim the era of human flown combat aircraft is coming to an end, I roll my eyes. It is highly reminiscent of the proclamation that guns were no longer needed on fighters back in the 1960’s. Go check YouTube for videos of strafing done to protect the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to see how false that was.

There are so many vulnerabilities to automated remote systems and guess what, our drones have already been hacked. This is far worse than having Iraqi dissidents intercepting unencrypted real time footage from drones. A keylogger records all the inputs and commands sent to the drones, which means somebody out there is figuring out how the actual control can be disrupted.

The most likely culprit is China, but it could be anyone in this overly wired age. But the most distressing part of this incident is the inability of the military to get rid of the trojan. That should be relatively easy unless the network itself is compromised.

I am no fan of moving warfare to drones for a variety of reasons. Taking out the human risk in warfare risks dehumanizing it to the point of playing a video game. Flexibility is not there in reacting to unforeseen situations, unlike with a human in the cockpit and on site. If we go up against an opponent with real air defenses, drones are very vulnerable to being shot down. Last, but the biggest, is the vulnerability to hacking.

It reminds me of the beginning of the most recent Battlestar Galactica series where the newest Viper fighters were disabled by a virus. Ah science fiction, you always tend to predict the future!

Bleach Ep. 10: Assault on Trip at Sacred Ground

After the somber events of the prior episodes, Bleach takes a breather and veers into a nearly pure comedy episode. A new character that may be the most despised in the series makes his entrance. But is he an idiot or an awesome idiot?

In some circles, there is no way more impressive to make in an entrance than parachuting into the scene. Fortunately, I do not belong to such circles. But Don Kanonji surely does.

He also dresses so flashily that pimps from the 1970’s would consider him garish. The idea of someone like him hurtling out of the sky toward me is enough to cause nightmares, but the audience assembled adore him. So who is this mysterious mustachioed man and what is he doing filming a show in Karakura Town?

Well, Don Kanonji is the most popular exorcist on television in Japan, watched and beloved by millions. That includes Ichigo’s friends and family, much to his horror. Poor Orihime initially fails to score points with the boy by repeating the exorcist’s catch phrase, “Bohahaha” – this due to some trauma involving spirits in his past.

But that does not prevent him from being dragged along with his family to the open set filming at an abandoned hospital. Which leads to my wondering just how the title of the episode fits. Is it a mistranslation or am I missing an aspect of Japanese culture?

Anyway, it is an abandoned hospital and all of Ichigo’s friends are there, including an especially annoying Rukia attempting to blend in with the humans. Annoying to Ichigo that is and quite amusing to the rest of us. But it would not be Bleach without something going wrong of a spiritual nature.

There is a ghastly howl coming from the hospital that Ichigo and Rukia can hear.  So can Chad, Karin, Tatsuki, and Orihime. Yet nobody else in the crowd can hear it. Hmm.

A further education on how Hollows come into being is given by Rukia, complete with full illustrations. One of the better running gags in the series, in my opinion, is her artwork. At this point, Rukia was slowly becoming one of my favorite fictional characters and part of it was due to the glimpses of her child like side from time to time.

So with the lengthy exposition out of the way, it is time for epic level idiocy on the part of our new hero, Don Kanonji! Yes, with the aid of his cane he sets very bad things in motion to the cheers of the assembled crowd.

Oh did I mention he really can see spirits and has some power for a lowly human? Either that or his fabulous get up conveys special abilities to him. Make your own jokes here; there are too many possibilities.

Comedy gold follows as Ichigo’s attempt to intervene goes poorly. If it was not for the unexpected appearance by Urahara, the substitute Soul Reaper would be on the sidelines for the rest of the episode. Kanonji isn’t the only one with a magic cane as “Hat and Clogs” demonstrates in a clever bit.

Freed to remind the viewers he is the hero of the show, Ichigo hauls the TV star into the hospital to do battle with the spirit unleashed. Filled to overflowing in confidence and bravado, Don Kanonji keeps trying to get Ichigo to leave. Yes, the man is a complete idiot. But he does have a compelling and unexpected motivation which involves the 25% of the country who watches him.

25%?! Okay, I should not blink, given reality TV’s hold on American audiences…

The battle is joined and if you ever wondered if Ichigo’s oversized sword could be a liability in battle, you will get your answer in a most satisfying way. We also find out Kanonji is not just an idiot, but a genuinely brave idiot. Lessons are learned, sort of, a new friendship is made, sort of, and the episode provides some needed information, sort of.

So is Don Kanonji an idiot? The answer is a resounding yes. Is he an awesome idiot? That is up to the individual viewer to decide, but I like the vainglorious fool. Oddly enough, he is one of my favorite characters in the series and even gets a major moment in the big plot many years later.

That said (or typed as may be), this is not one of the better episodes of the series. It is not a bad episode, merely fluff without any real substance. People may complain about filler arcs, but this straight from the source material is true filler. At least it is amusing.

Waiting for Guffman 2012, GOP Version

I have often called campaign time the “silly season” when talking to friends and acquaintances.  There is good reason for this as passions are inflamed and the strangest things not only can happen, but will happen. But mostly I call it that because of how people behave.

To the average voter, the November election campaign is all they are aware of and it seems filled with acrimony. They should pay attention to endorsement races and primaries if they want to see the good stuff. There is nothing quite like infighting between people who agree on most things.

Usually it is based on actual positions and has legitimate reasoning  behind it. But often it can be purely emotion based, simply motivated by liking a candidate. “Wooing voters” is a phrase that has much truth in it, for the most ardent supporters act like those in the first blushes of love.

Presidential races bring that out the most for some reason. My suspicion is that there is so much belief in the power of the presidency that it becomes idolization of someone being more than human – or at least very special, if not exceptional. Consequently, demagogues have a better than usual chance to get in than other offices.

This year, there have been some very intense crushes on potential candidates, with their devoted fans eagerly praising and pushing them on message boards, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Perhaps it is dissatisfaction with the established field or just a reaction to the disastrous Obama presidency that had many people waiting for their personal Guffman to show up.

Daniels, Ryan, Jindal, and Rubio were the lesser names that came up, but there have been big names waiting in the wings since the beginning. One of them who was supposed to be the savior of the field was Rick Perry from Texas. His meteoric rise and equally drastic crash illustrates the perils of listening to such hype. That goes for candidates and activists both.

Christ Christie is someone people have repeatedly asked me about and I did not think he would run until recently. But that turned out to be false information based on wishful thinking by those who wanted him in.  In the end, he chose not to run this week which made me very happy. Only by New Jersey standards is he conservative.

Today the other shoe dropped when Sarah Palin announced she wasn’t running. That was a relief to me, for I saw nothing good coming of that and she is far more effective doing what she has been doing. The president is not the ruler of the land, despite what Jim Lehrer may think. While powerful, the Oval Office has far less power than most think – thankfully.

Congress is more important, but harder to get the average voter to care about. I suppose it is the human tendency to desire a king that makes the executive branch more glamorous. A lack of understanding by most of the populace on how governance in the United States works is another factor.

So this is it, there really is nobody else to get into the race now. Just like in the movie, Guffman is a no show. Now the debates are going to matter even more, despite being dog and pony shows run by the media.

But the thing that must happen, no matter what the outcome, is rallying around the candidate running against Obama in 2012. Putting aside internal GOP differences has been very difficult the last several election cycles and has caused problems in turnout. This time I believe it will be different. Almost all the people I have talked to finally understand what is at stake.

Given how ugly things have been already, expect a very nasty election. If people think things are polarized now, they have not seen anything yet.

The Big Sleep (1946 & 1945 versions) Review

Bogey and Bacall. At one point those two names were enough to pack movie theaters and this movie shows why. Filled with an ever twisting plot of blackmail and murder, it was the chemistry between these two that made this movie a true noir classic. But what about the earlier unreleased version shown to soldiers overseas? Read on to find out.

With The Maltese Falcon being a huge hit, Warner Brothers wanted to repeat the success of that private eye picture. The country was still embroiled in World War II and the civilians at home wanted distractions from the war.  Also, the popularity of private eye stories were at their zenith.

The legendary directory Howard Hawkes was put in charge of adapting Raymond Chandler’s novel, The Big Sleep. Having Humphrey Bogart play another P.I. was considered a sure thing and the hot starlet of the moment at Warner’s was Lauren Bacall. The fact they were having an illicit affair begun on the set of To Have and Have Not guaranteed there would be on screen chemistry. Hollywood is nothing if not mercenary in the quest for money.

Two versions of the film exist, the 1945 one shown to the troops and the 1946 re-edited one with different scenes. The latter was done at the behest of Bacall’s agent who was in something of a panic over her negative reviews for Confidential Agent. Desperate to salvage her career in a dog eat dog business (and insure his continued income), the agent talked Jack Warner into reshooting the picture to play up the actress’s “insolence.”

I’ll be reviewing both, starting with the 1946 final product.

The 1946 Version

The Big Sleep opens with the silhouettes of Bogey and Bacall lighting up cigarettes with the credits then being superimposed on them – starting with their names. They get shown before the movie title and illustrate just how star power mattered back then. I should also note that this movie has more smoking in it than any I can remember. No specific brand placement, but one would swear it was entirely financed by the tobacco industry.

A close up on the door of a ritzy residence starts things rolling as private detective Philip Marlowe has arrived at the Sternwood Mansion for a possible job. Keep an eye open for lots of close ups of letters and signs in this movie, Hawkes seemed to like them a lot.

Bogart inhabits the rumpled life of Marlowe effortlessly and brings a jaded weariness to the character. It takes that kind of cynicism when confronted with the killer legs and aggressive flirtations of young Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers). Aggressive as in very physical. She is trouble not even bothering to wait to happen.

Saved by the butler, Marlowe is led in to see his prospective employer, General Sternwood (Charles Waldron). Beset with age related frailties and an inability to drink, he has Marlowe drink for him. Bluntly eloquent about his lack of morals and that of his daughters, he has a problem with a black mailer that needs handling. It seems little Carmen has gotten herself in trouble and owes a considerable amount of money on lost bets. If that is the real story behind it…

Taking the job for $25 a day plus expenses, Marlowe has a couple of names to consider besides that of the blackmailer, Geiger. There had been another blackmail earlier by someone named Joe Brody that had been handled by an old acquaintance of  Marlowe’s, Sean Regan. Oddly enough, Regan is missing much to the dismay of the elderly man.

His oldest daughter, a divorcee named Vivian Rutledge (Lauren Bacall), inserts herself into things by having the butler intercept Marlowe before he leaves. Their meeting leads to classic banter as each fishes for information from the other. But the shamus does find out that Regan was like a son to Sternwood and it piques his curiosity.

Marlowe does what a good private dick should do and that is research. The Hollywood Public Library provides the trivia he needs to pose as a book buyer to investigate Geiger’s rare books shop. The affectation he puts on doesn’t get him far with the pretty and cold Agnes (Sonia Darrin), but it becomes clear that the shop is not what it appears to be.

Across the street is a competing book store, one with a most interesting and unnamed gal running it. Dorothy Malone smolders in her brief scene that always stood out to me. She shows that nice and nerdy is no impediment to being very attractive as they share a mutual flirtation while Marlowe watches the other shop. In a film full of gorgeous gals, she tops them all.

Trailing Geiger leads to his house on Laverne Terrace and soon Marlowe spots a woman arrive then run inside. A check on the car steering wheel registration reveals it is Carmen. Back then, vehicle registrations had to be attached to the steering wheel column and this comes into play more than once as the story unfolds.

Time passes and a tired Marlowe is roused from his boredom by a woman’s scream followed by two gunshots. Before he can do anything, two cars depart in a hurry. The first is a sedan and the second is a station wagon. Why do I mention it? It is a mystery and a lot of clues are being fired at us in shotgun fashion and the theatrical release omits too many explanations.

Breaking inside, the private eye finds an oblivious and mildly giggling Carmen plus one very dead Geiger on the floor. No weapon is present but there is a hidden camera, which was pointed at Carmen’s chair. Another discovery seems to offer the promise of more information, but first things first.

The youngest Sternwood sister is higher than a kite and while never directly explained, it is obvious she has a narcotics problem, probably heroin. Also implied is that she has been posing for dirty pictures. Why else a hidden camera?

Hired to clean up her mess, Marlowe drives her home and instructs the butler that Carmen never left the mansion that night. Vivian is likewise instructed and sparks fly as she argues with Marlowe. Yes, this is a scene inserted to enhance Bacall’s performance and it works well.

Marlowe is now hip deep in the messy situation and while he puts on a brash front, his constant tugging of his ear while puzzled indicates just how confusing the situation really is. It only gets worse after a phone call from his friend, Bernie, at the district attorney's office.

It seems the LAPD have fished a sedan belonging to the Sternwood’s from near a pier – and it has a body in it. Marlowe and Bernie (Regis Toomey) have that casual ease that good friends have and it adds some depth to characters as they discuss what is going on. So who killed Owen Taylor, the chauffeur?

Things keep getting messier as events unfold. Murkier as well, for Mrs. Rutledge is both prying into Marlowe’s case and adding to it when another blackmail attempt is started. It would have been sufficient to have had the normal banter between the now obviously attracted to each other characters, but the phone scene with the two is an absolute delight as they torment a police sergeant on the other end.

Marlowe does seem to have a way with the ladies, as a female cabbie helps him tail a suspect and then gives him her phone number. So far in the film, the gumshoe has had four women hit on him. Not bad for a short guy.

Further trouble enters the picture when Eddie Mars (John Ridgely), a local mobster, finds Marlowe in the company of Carmen at Geiger’s house. Carmen is at her thumb biting best as she is questioned about the murder and you can see the dim cunning of the girl glittering in her eyes. But it is the back and forth between Mars and Marlowe that make the scene terrific fun. It doesn’t hurt he has some interestingly odd henchmen.

One of the best things about The Big Sleep is the witty and intelligent dialogue. I cannot imagine a movie this smart being a hit in the modern day. Too much of the dialogue would go over too many heads.

A lot has happened and the new blackmailer has yet to be be dealt with. When we finally meet Joe Brody (Louis Jean Hedyt), we are in for a treat. His small apartment becomes the set of a small stage play as armed people troop in and out. It is a scene hard to convey as it contains plot exposition, wry character moments, dark comedy, and occasional violence. Just watch the movie to see why it is so entertaining.

The amazing thing is we are only half way through the movie by this point.

Marlowe gets his chance to prove how skillful and dirty an opponent he can be as the chain of events started in Brody’s apartment unfold. Some kind of resolution to the events has been come to, but something is nagging the detective. Where is Sean Regan and what does he have to do with all this?

Why is Mrs. Rutledge so eager for him to consider the case closed? What is her connection to Eddie Mars? The questions mount for Marlowe and he will not leave them alone. The Gordian Knot he has been handed and then told to leave alone will either be solved by him or his own undoing.

The 1945 Version

Filming of the movie was done from late 1944 through early 1945 while the war was still on. In early 1946, reshoots and additional scenes were made, so there was at least a year between shoots. That makes the 1946 film a continuity gaffe hunter’s dream.

The Big Sleep had quite a few changes made to it between the versions. As I wrote before, they were done to protect Bacall’s career and while the two films are basically the same, I think much was lost due to that decision.

Various scenes depicting detective work and plot exposition were cut to add in more Bogey and Bacall byplay. The audiences loved the chemistry and I suppose the scandal involved. During the original filming of the movie, the affair between the two destroyed Bogart’s marriage and by the time the second shoot started he had married his mistress, Bacall. Scandal sells, unfortunately.

In the original cut, Marlowe explores Geiger’s house and disposes evidence that would have shown Carmen was there. In the process of this, he silently discovers that the killer had broken in through the kitchen window. With Carmen in a stupor on the sofa, he goes through things and finds a set of keys that unlocks the desk, which gives him the cypher book. Those were important moments.

Also, there is no Mrs. Rutledge at the Sternwood mansion when Marlowe hauls Carmen there. Those scenes were reshot to add him carrying Carmen in and having sparks fly with Vivian. Watch for some clumsily looped audio during her office visit. Bacall’s lips do not match the dialogue at one point.

Entire performances ended up cut out of the film. District attorney White (Thomas E. Jackson) and Captain Cronjager (James Flavin) were characters in a very good scene that explained much of what had happened regarding the murders. Bernie also shined in this and you could understand Marlowe’s relationship with local law enforcement a lot better. It is top notch stuff and really helped with the flow of the movie.

But there was one scene that definitely needed to be replaced and it is the payoff scene with Mrs. Rutledge. For some baffling reason, it was decided that Bacall looked good in the veil pictured above. She didn’t and it was horribly unflattering. The dialogue also lacked zing and needed work, so the scene was replaced by the much superior restaurant one filled with innuendo.

Thoughts

Howard Hawks’ film is very fast paced, bordering on modern in its 1946 cut. The 1945 is slightly slower but still a roller coaster ride. With a focus on characters and performances over camera work and spectacle, the film feels a bit more grounded than a lot of Hollywood fare. There is a gritty and unflinching attitude on display.

I can’t say the cinematography impressed me. It was competent, I suppose. The scene editing is a tour de force, on the other hand.

The feeling of it being war time is subtle, with a reference to “red points” which were meat ration tokens being the most obvious. Rationing was in full effect at the time and the idea that you couldn’t get whatever you wanted is alien to our modern spoiled times. By the way, the whole red points euphemism for bodies is very clever in my opinion.

Of course the big selling point is the incredible chemistry between Bogart and Bacall. That is what most people will remember about this tautly crafted murder mystery. The chemistry is undeniable, infectious, and often a delight to watch.

But for me, it is the sheer smartness of the story and lines that make me like this movie so very much. Having a very mortal and fallible main character in Marlowe also appeals greatly to me. His wry exasperation at all the guns being pulled on him wonderfully conveys how unusual the circumstances he’s fallen into are. Bogey is one of my favorite actors of all time and I think that is because he always brought a feeling of humanity to his portrayals.

Being made back when there was a morality code for movies actually helped the story, in my opinion. With many things only hinted at rather than explicitly explained, it added to the mystery.

There is a lot to like about this film and along with The Maltese Falcon has to be considered the epitome of private eye films. Highly recommended to all adults.

Technical

While Warner Bros skimped horribly on the cheap mostly cardboard case, the DVD itself is well produced. It is a two sided disc, with each version occupying one side along with all the extras duplicated. Flipping it over reminds me of listening to 33 1/3 albums when I was young and seems appropriate to the era the movie came from.

The video is the standard 4:3 ratio of the original theatrical release and shows nice contrast. While remastered, it is not restored so expect to see scratches from the preserved film.

Audio is monaural, of course. It is nice and clear, which is important given the machine gun delivery of some of the lines. The score comes through well and never overwhelms the dialogue.

The special features include:

A very brief cast and crew rundown which is not even worth glancing at.

A comparison documentary between the two versions, which is well worth checking out.

Behind the scenes trivia which is an absolute hoot. Even the original author, Chandler, didn’t know who killed the chauffeur!

The very clever theatrical trailer may contain the best lead in ever. It is a little gem in its own right.

BEWARE, HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

After wrapping up the murders, Marlowe’s determination to find out what happened to Sean Regan gets him in trouble. Even the DA’s office wants him to drop it. But it is an itch he can’t scratch.

Somebody is tailing him, Mars and Mrs. Rutledge are scheming together, and even a beating by goons doesn’t stop the shamus. Unexpected aid from Harry Jones, the guy tailing him, leads things back to Agnes. Her story is made a little more clear in the 1945 version, but she is a very low level gold digger latching on to a new guy in astounding speed.

That poor sucker is Harry, played by Elisha Cook, Jr. You will recognized him from one of his many small parts in film and television over the decades. The little guy has a memorable couple of appearances late in the film and meets a sad end that upsets Marlowe greatly.

Marlowe may not be a bastion of morality, but his growing outrage against Eddie Mars’ doings begins to drive him into reckless behavior. That lands him handcuffed and tied up when he tracks down Eddie’s wife who was supposed to have run off with Regan. Here we see two different versions as the original scene wasn’t satisfactory and was reshot with a new actress.

The 1945 version had the cold looking Pat Clark playing Mona Mars and the scene played out quite differently. Peggy Knudsen replaced her and was a bit more believable as the kind of gal someone would murder over.

I liked the cowardly cunning of the hitman, Canino (Bob Steele), and also how Vivian fooled him when being used as a human shield. The rat died with a deserved look of surprise on his face.

When the final showdown commences, the shaking and rattled Marlowe is a nice touch of realism. He is human and his bravado has vanished with the death of Jones and having to kill Canino. With him putting on an act of being out of control, Mars is fooled into getting tommy gunned by his own men. Brains, not brawn, wins the day and the girl in the end.

A real mystery to me was why the actress playing Agnes, Sonia Darrin, did not get any billing and essentially vanished from Hollywood. Her part was terrific and she made quite an impression. I eventually found a blog post about her that answered some of my questions.