voluntaryXchange

Doh!

We started watching The Lincoln Lawyer last night, and got about halfway through it.

I couldn’t figure out why it was called Lincoln Lawyer. I literally had to type it into Google’s search bar, when just then my brain clicked into gear.

Doh!

Technorati Tags: lincoln,lawyer

Black Swan: Worst Best Film Nominee I’ve Ever Seen

We watched Black Swan the other night.

This film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, and won 62 other awards.

Are you kidding me?

Yes, the cinematography was good. Yes, Natalie Portman was very good. And yes, I like all 5 stars: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.

Even so, holy crap is this film overrated. We weren’t more than 10 minutes into it before one of us asked if we should turn it off.

The plot is one-dimensional: obsessed artist becomes more obsessed. The portrayal is scattershot: volatile, clipped, scenes that leave the viewer guessing what is real and what is not. But it isn’t clear why I should care? It isn’t because the protagonist is appealing. It isn’t because the story line is attractive. And am I really supposed to think the show won’t go on?

I like Natalie Portman a lot. But, let’s face it: she got a Best Actress because 1) she’s deserved one for a while, 2) she learned to dance for the role, 3) the role is about a crazy person, 4) she takes her clothes off, and 5) she simulates orgasm.

I haven’t paid attention, but I sure hope South Park, Family Guy, or The Simpsons has done a parody of this.

Technorati Tags: black,swan

Could We Build a Death Star by 2500 A.D.?

The vXboy is into Star Wars; how could I not link to this estimate of how much it would cost to build a death star?

The skinny: 13,000 times the world’s current GDP.

My addition to the meme?

• Suppose the government takes 25% of GDP in taxes, and
• Spends a fifth of that on defense, and
• Spends half of that on building a death star, and
• Global real growth is 3% per year, then:
• We’d need 520,000 times our current global real GDP, and
• That could occur by doubling our real GDP 19 times,
• Which at 3% would take us about 450 years.

That’s right, by 2500 AD we should be able to build a death star, using plausible assumptions.

Technorati Tags: death,star,cost,build,2500 AD

Is It Just Me? Kim Dotcom and “The Running Man” Edition

Am I the only one who has noticed the resemblance between Kim Dotcom — the mastermind behind zero marginal cost site Megaupload, and Dynamo from The Running Man?

Technorati Tags: kim,dotcom,running,man,dynamo,Erland Van Lidth De Jeude

RIP, Actors We Lost in 2011

TCM Remembers 2011:

It’s a good way to spend 5 minutes …

Of course, it has all the big names, plus those actors you always had a soft spot for, like Charles Napier for me, plus lots of people I’d forgotten about, like Susannah York, and lots whose faces I recognized but whose names I never knew, like William Campbell and John Wood.

Technorati Tags: actor,died,2011

Only In Utah (Can You Be Fined for Screening an R-Rated Movie)

A movie theater in Salt Lake City was fined for screening The Hangover II.

The cops didn’t do this on their own; they were asked to look into this:

Utah Highway Patrol officers issued the citation against Brewvies in early September after a complaint was filed with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Yes, the violation is an exploitation of a law intended for another purpose:

The law is generally used to regulate strip clubs, which aren't permitted to have nude dancers — g-strings and pasties are required to be worn — if they serve liquor. The law is applied only to businesses with liquor licenses, so it wouldn't apply to alcohol-free theaters.

I wonder if this got called in by the owners of other movie theaters or restaurants: it is legal, and quite common in Utah, for restaurants that serve liquor to offer dinner packages that include movie tickets.

The fine issued by the state liquor board Thursday is the first for Brewvies, which only allows people 21 years and older to attend their movies and serves food and liquor to patrons. But under state law, many PG-13 and R-rated movies could net the theater a fine because of prohibitions on showing a film with sex acts, full-frontal nudity or even the "caressing" of breasts or buttocks.

I haven’t seen most of these movies, but under the law Brewvies could be fined for showing some of them.

Technorati Tags: salt,lake,brewvvies,movie,hangover,fine

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

FOXNews is reporting that there are rumors that Nicholas Cage is a vampire because of the existence of a photo from the 19th century that looks like him.

Well shucks … he just must be, because he sure did look that character he played from the 50’s in Peggy Sue Got Married.

Technorati Tags: nicholas,cage,vampire

How the Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended

I’m such an idiot. I’ve read the book, seen the movies, but I never thought of this:

For my part, I’ve always thought Tolkien’s occasional, but very convenient, use of giant eagles was the biggest deus ex machina in the series.

Via Bryan Caplan at Econlog.

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Wishful Thinking

I wish I’d known this was there when I drove through Iowa a few years ago. Talk about a touristy side-trip …

And don’tcha just love the little Enterprise?

Technorati Tags: kirk,birthplace,memorial,star,trek

Heard In Utah

At last week’s Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire, they had a procession of all the participants in costume.

At the end were two guys pulling a cart, crying “Bring out your dead”.

Outside of Utah that references one particular cultural meme.

Inside Utah it references a completely different meme specific to the local culture: I heard a kid shout out “Hey look! They even have pioneers!”.

Technorati Tags: monty,python,utah,bring,dead,renaissance,faire