Recent Books/Movies/Music Books A History of the Internet and the Digital Future - Liked It. Pretty cool book. I enjoyed the read, but I think someone less educated on the Internet might get more out of it. As I’m sure all of you know, I’m a pretty big fan of both the Internet and the principles that shaped it (namely: collaboration, openness, transparency, and meritocracy), so a book discussing their history (particularly with the point-of-view of “these things are great”) is sort of preaching to the choir. That being said, it was still very interesting to read a well-researched and highly detailed account of the Internet’s “earliest” days (the Internet is actually crazy young, it’s absolutely amazing). Unfortunately, I think the book might be a little too technical for just anyone to pick up, but if you’re not scared of computers and would like to know more about the history of the Internet, then I think it’s worth checking out. Thanks for the Christmas present, Dylan, Emily, and Charlotte! Movies Zero Dark Thirty - Liked It. The first time I tried watching this movie, I ended up getting pretty bored and not really paying attention for most of the first half (which is not a short amount of time, as the movie is 2.5 hours long). I was kind of surprised by my boredom, because it seemed like everyone had describe the film as “intense”. However, around the halfway mark, things started to pick up a bit, so I figured the movie just took a while to get rolling and I decided to start it over from the beginning just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. My second time through wasn’t quite as boring, but there is definitely a LOT of dialogue in the first half of the movie. However, the lulling aspects of the dialogue actually do set up the terrorist attacks really well. The attacks often caught me completely off guard and really made me experience the chaos and terror of the violence. So, if that was the director’s goal, then I guess the technique was effective. The second half is definitely where the intensity picks up, and I’m assuming you can deduce the reasons why. The Master - Didn’t Like It. Apparently, I do not see eye-to-eye with the majority of movie critics and a lot of movie fans when it comes to director Paul Thomas Anderson. I’m now 0/3 on enjoying Anderson’s critically acclaimed films, with Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood being the other two. I mean, I can tell his films are “well-made”. The acting and cinematography are always great, but they are just so dang slow and I never really care about the plot (I can’t even recall the majority of the plot for either Punch-Drunk Love or There Will Be Blood). If anyone really likes this dude’s movies, feel free to enlighten me on why. Back on the topic of The Master, in particular, does any actor rage better than Joaquin Phoenix? That guy seriously LOSES HIS MIND on screen. House of Sand and Fog - Liked It. This movie definitely left me feeling the worst out of the all the films I’ve watched recently. It starts out pretty slow, and just has this accelerating build to a completely tragic ending. Brutal, man. Thanks for the recommendation, Tim! Music The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do - Fiona Apple: Loved It. I don’t think I’ve heard any of my friends mention this album before, so I just want to go ahead and recommend it to everyone. It’s piano driven singer-songwriter stuff with plenty of eccentricities and dischord. There are a lot of really great tracks and a lot of really good lyrics here. What’s that? Do I feel like some of these songs could’ve been collectively written by my exes? Maybe. Humbug - Arctic Monkeys: Loved It. This album reminded me a lot of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, which is still one of my favorite albums of all time. So… yeah, it’s enjoyable. AM - Arctic Monkeys: Liked It. Sounds like an Arctic Monkeys record. Nothing really mind-blowing. Probably skippable for non-fans. Suck It and See - Arctic Monkeys: Liked It. See above. Watch the Throne - Jay-Z & Kanye West: Liked It. I’m not really a big Jay-Z fan. I think he’s made some amazing music (see my thoughts on The Blueprint -> https://facebook/michael.a.alcorn/posts/10101229798381051), but I also think he’s made a lot of forgettable music, and I think a lot of Watch the Throne is pretty forgettable. There are definitely a few great tracks, though.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 05:58:33 +0000
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