2020 Hindsight

yeah, yeah, it's a teenage high school flick

There's something delicious about seeing that the local movie theatre's first showing of Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban was today at 9:45 am. So delicious that I managed to tempt Doc M into playing hookey with me this morning to go and see it.

I know, I know. Why shirk responsibilities to go and see what amounts to one of those teenage high school films? I mean, what'd you expect a patronum to do? ; )

J.K. Rowling's personal site

I went searching for news of when Book 6 of the Harry Potter series comes out, and instead found this (prolly coinciding with the soon-to-be-released Prizoner of Azkaban movie).

I thought, "What, J.K. Rowling is blogging?" No, it's a flash-based site, and very cleverly done. She debunks some of the gossip and the site includes descriptions of characters and story that's been edited out of the series so far.

Cannes Film Surprise made with iMovie

Tarnation is a small budget home-grown movie.

The surprise hit of the Cannes film festival is a movie made by a first-time director with a budget of precisely $218.32.

Tarnation was created by 31-year-old jobbing actor Jonathan Caouette, using the Apple Macintosh package iMovie. It is a touching and often disturbing family history pieced together via photographs, home movie images from the 1970s and 80s, and interviews by Caouette with his mother and grandparents.

Rest in peace, Tony Randall

I grew up watching the Odd Couple. Tony Randall was Felix Unger to me.

New blog, Defamer, takes on LA LA land

from Gawker, purveyors of fine gossip sites.

On Jay Leno fri night-- the makers of My Date With Drew

Be sure to catch (or TiVo) Friday night's Leno show... the makers of a documentary, My Date With Drew, will be on. It's been taking prizes at film festivals this spring-- Best Documentary, and two Audience Awards for Best Feature. I haven't seen the show (a friend's husband is one of the producer-directors, and our friends screening party has been postponed.)... yet.

What's it about?

Here's the deal. Brian has been crazy about Drew since the 2nd grade when he first saw her in E.T. So now it's 20 years later and he figured since she hasn't come knockin' on his door, he's gonna have to make the first move.

Problem...

She's Drew Barrymore!

But wait, it's not as crazy as you might think. See, Brian figured he'd combine his two great passions in life - making movies and Drew Barrymore - and document his quest to meet Drew. That way he will represent the "everyman", and his quest will seem noble... instead of just desperate.

iChat Status - make iChat display what song iTunes is playing

Very fun. See what your buddies are listening to. Let 'em know what you're hearing. Little OS X app to display the song you're listening to in your iChat custom message. This is a meme that spreads through the IM list. :)

Pooh case thrown out - Disney wins because plaintiffs stole evidence

When you go against The Mouse, thou shalt not steal from its house. (Even if it's to support claims that The Mouse has stolen royalties from you.)

(previous posts about this story)

Precious, Precious, what has it gots in its DVD pocketses?

The Return of the King DVD is on the fast track for release: May 25th. Cool! I've seen all (or very nearly all) the documentary features on the first two. (Gollum: wow). Still making my way through the commentaries, though. So watching the Oscars, I "knew" all the LOTR Oscar winners. Looking forward to the final extended version. I've found the extended versions more satisfying than the theatre versions.

Oh wait. the full AP story says that the Extended version will be released later, near holidays.

Lost In Translation

Saw Lost In Translation yesterday. Excellent on so many levels. The cross-cultural bits were hilarious, and recalled to mind a site recommended by a friend who at the time was working overseas in Japan: Engrish.com.