where ideas go to die

What the iPad Hath Wrought

Posted by Paul on Feb 6th, 2010 in General | 2 comments

I thought about writing a piece about how the Apple iPad has already affected the eBook market for the worse — despite the fact that the damn thing isn’t even out yet. But then I read an article over at gizmodo.com that eloquently summed up all of my thoughts.

Rather than burn calories on the topic myself, I give you…

Why (and How) Apple Killed the $9.99 eBook.

Tablet Watch — 01/27/10

Posted by Paul on Jan 27th, 2010 in General | 0 comments

Okay, the actual “watching” part is over since the device is not only here here, but named: It’s called the “Apple iPad” — which, let’s face it, is a lousy moniker. It is, however, much better than Nintendo’s “Wii” — which still makes me titter like a school girl whenever I hear it. On the other hand, the Wii, despite its name, is one of the best-selling consumer electronics products in history, so I’m sure the iPad won’t be too hobbled by its dubious appellation.

Now that it’s here, what is the damn thing? Well — Reader’s Digest version — it’s a bigger iPhone (only without, you know, the phone). It uses a modified version of that device’s operating system, and has a touch-sensitive screen. When you finally get your hands on the iPad, you will look like the late Billy Barty carrying an iPhone.

Comparisons to that earlier Apple gadget are, while accurate, incomplete. Yes, the iPad runs iPhone apps and functions in a way that’s quite similar to its older cousin, but the bigger screen is a tremendous enhancement for web surfing, video and all of things the iPhone can do but which currently cause eyestrain. If the iPad were only a bigger iPhone and nothing more, I for one would not be interested. For me, the two things which push it over the edge and make it a suitable laptop replacement are a) the e-reader capability and the bookstore which comes with it and b) the fact that it runs a modified version of iWorks — the Apple equivalent to Microsoft Office. The fact that I will be able to use the iPad not only to read but, more importantly, to write saves the gadget from being more than a glorified toy.

I could give you a lot of specs on the iPad, but why don’t I let Apple handle the ballyhoo-ing themselves? There’s an iPad section on their official site and it includes tons of stats, pictures, and even a seven minute video. The Apple execs interviewed in said video are, in my opinion, a little too pleased with themselves, but try and look past that at the feature overview and the shots of the iPad in action.

The tech sites seem to be underwhelmed with the unveiling and I understand many of their reservations. The truth is, however, that the things they consider liabilities don’t matter to me. Okay, so the iPad doesn’t have a camera. I was unlikely to use one anyway. The one thing that does bum me out is the device’s inability to multitask. You can’t run two applications at once which means you can’t listen to music while you write or surf.

Anyway, here’s engadget’s list of observations and gripes after their brief hands-on:

It’s not light. It feels pretty weighty in your hand.

The screen is stunning, and it’s 1024 x 768. Feels just like a huge iPhone in your hands.

The speed of the CPU is something to be marveled at. It is blazingly fast from what we can tell. Webpages loaded up super fast, and scrolling was without a hiccup. Moving into and out of apps was a breeze. Everything flew.

There’s no multitasking at all. It’s a real disappointment. All this power and very little you can do with it at once. No multitasking means no streaming Pandora when you’re working in Pages… you can figure it out. It’s a real setback for this device.

The ebook implementation is about as close as you can get to reading without a stack of bound paper in your hand. The visual stuff really helps flesh out the experience. It may be just for show, but it counts here.

No camera. None, nada. Zip. No video conferencing here folks. Hell, it doesn’t have an SMS app!

It’s running iPhone OS 3.2.

The keyboard is good, not great. Not quite as responsive as it looked in the demos.

No Flash confirmed. So Hulu is out for you, folks!

Here’s engadget’s hands-on video:

Gizmodo has a list of 8 things which suck about the iPad. Here it is in its entirety:

Big, Ugly Bezel
Have you seen the bezel on this thing?! It’s huge! I know you don’t want to accidentally input a command when your thumb is holding it, but come on.

No Multitasking
This is a backbreaker. If this is supposed to be a replacement for netbooks, how can it possibly not have multitasking? Are you saying I can’t listen to Pandora while writing a document? I can’t have my Twitter app open at the same time as my browser? I can’t have AIM open at the same time as my email? Are you kidding me? This alone guarantees that I will not buy this product.

No Cameras
No front facing camera is one thing. But no back facing camera either? Why the hell not? I can’t imagine what the downside was for including at least one camera. Could this thing not handle video iChat?

Touch Keyboard
So much for Apple revolutionizing tablet inputs; this is the same big, ugly touchscreen keyboard we’ve seen on other tablets, and unless you’re lying on the couch with your knees propping it up, it’ll be awkward to use.

No HDMI Out
Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you’d just buy an AppleTV already.

The Name iPad
Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of ‘em!

No Flash
No Flash is annoying but not a dealbreaker on the iPhone and iPod Touch. On something that’s supposed to be closer to a netbook or laptop? It will leave huge, gaping holes in websites. I hope you don’t care about streaming video! God knows not many casual internet users do. Oh wait, nevermind, they all do.

Adapters, Adapters, Adapters
So much for those smooth lines. If you want to plug anything into this, such as a digital camera, you need all sorts of ugly adapters. You need an adapter for USB for god’s sake.

Update: Why stop at 8? Here are more things we are discovering that suck about the iPad.

It’s Not Widescreen
Widescreen movies look lousy on this thing thanks to its 4:3 screen, according to Blam, who checked out some of Star Trek on one. It’s like owning a 4:3 TV all over again!

Doesn’t Support T-Mobile 3G
Sure, it’s “unlocked.” But it won’t work on T-Mobile, and it uses microSIMs that literally no one else uses.

Again, most of these complaints don’t interest me. The lack of multitasking is a bummer, as is the lack of Flash support, but these are things which could probably be corrected with a firmware update.

All in all, I’m pleased with both the device (or what I’ve seen of it so far) and with the price point. There are multiple iPad models varying by storage capacity and the presence (or lack thereof) of 3G, but the iPad starts at $499. This is considerably lower than the $1000 nearly everyone was predicting.

Tablet Watch — 01/26/10

Posted by Paul on Jan 26th, 2010 in General | 0 comments

Tired of hearing about the forthcoming Apple tablet yet? Well, suck it up: we’re in the home stretch now.

There’s been a bounty of tablet-related items from around the Internet today so let’s cut right to the chase, shall we?

Mac|Life: Apple Partnering With Barnes & Noble For Tablet?:

Rumor has it that Barnes and Noble will be heading up the book section of a revamped iTunes store, and will play a major part in tomorrow’s unveiling of the tablet computer. If true, this would be very surprising indeed since B&N just launched the Nook, a proprietary e-reader similar to Amazon’s Kindle.

The suits in Cupertino [where Apple is headquartered] have been rumored in recent weeks to be holding closed-door meetings with publishers HarperCollins and McGraw-Hill, but the quickest way to get a million or more books on the tablet in one shot would be to partner with the current e-book underdog, Barnes & Noble. The bookseller’s own Nook device has been slow to gain traction against Amazon’s popular Kindle, while both booksellers offer reader apps for the iPhone via iTunes.

New York Times: With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday:

The New York Times is confirming some tech specs for the forthcoming device (although their source is unclear):

It will run all the applications of the iPhone and iPod Touch, have a persistent wireless connection over 3G cellphone networks and Wi-Fi, and will be built with a 10-inch color display, allowing newspapers, magazines and book publishers to deliver their products with an eye to the design that had grabbed readers in print.

They elaborate:

People who have seen the tablet say Apple will market it not just as a way to read news, books and other material, but also a way for companies to charge for all that content. By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era.

Times reporters Brad Stone and Stephanie Clifford say there’s just one problem with that scenario: Apple CEO Steve Jobs:

Mr. Jobs, the chief executive, made Apple the most important distributor of music by imposing its own will on the music labels, bullying them into accepting Apple’s pricing and other terms. Apple sold lots of music, but the music labels claimed that iTunes had destroyed the concept of the album and damaged their already deteriorating bottom lines.

Frankly, I find this grousing on the part of the record labels to be pretty hollow. Yes, Jobs sounds like he can be something of a bully, but without his influence, we might not have a record industry at all. Translation: I’m not exactly impressed with how the music business inadvertently engineered its own backslide several years ago, and whether or not it was Jobs, they needed someone to save them from themselves. The fact that they were even in a position to be “bullied” is very telling.

Gizmodo: How the Apple Tablet Interface Could (And Should) Work:

Designer Lex Lareo has developed his own take on how he believes the Apple Tablet should work. Although he apparently has nothing to do with Apple, his presentation is both slick and intriguing. Here are a couple of neat (and very convincing) videos:

CrunchGear: McGraw-Hill CEO Confirms Apple Tablet is Coming Tomorrow:

In an interview with McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw, CNBC confirmed not only the unveiling of the device, but also the fact that his company’s been working closely with Apple to bring textbooks to the gadget. Here’s video…

The quote comes late in the video so here it is for you lazy folks…

Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.

Kotaku: Apple Tablet Detected Running Games at Apple H.Q., Research Group Says:

Video gaming site Kotaku filed a report on “evidence” that the iTablet/iSlate will, in addition to its apparent e-reader abilities, also function as a gaming device.

In a blog post on Sunday, Flurry’s vice president of marketing, Peter Farago, announced that his firm, which offers developers the ability to track activity of mobile applications, sniffed out heavy usage of programs running on “approximately 50 devices that match the characteristics of Apple’s rumored tablet device.” Flurry claims to be able to “reliably ‘place’ these devices geographically on Apple’s Cupertino campus.”

When a commenter asked if Flurry might just be detecting iPhone activity, Flurry himself responded:

If this were an iPhone we were looking at, the hardware would tell us when we ask it (via the software). So we can rule out that this is an iPhone. Also, we already see verified iPhone devices testing OS 4.0 and these leave (Apple’s Cupertino, CA) campus, whereas this device does not. This makes sense given the secrecy around the new tablet device as the launch event nears.

Engadget: WSJ: Apple Wants e-books to be $12.99 or $14.99 for Hardcover Best Sellers:

Tech site Engadget sites the Wall Street Journal as their source on the pricing of books for the Apple tablet: $12.99 or $14.99 for hardcover best sellers with some titles offered for as little as $9.99. This pricing structure is higher on the whole than Amazon’s model for their Kindle device, but the books sold by Apple may contain color or multimedia.

That’s the skinny for now. The press conference at which the tablet is expected to make its debut is at 10AM PST tomorrow. Can you sense the crackle of excitement in the air, my friends? That’s not burning ozone you smell. It’s… progress.

Tablet Watch 01/25/10

Posted by Paul on Jan 25th, 2010 in General | 0 comments

Here’s more on the Apple Tablet as we roll closer and closer to Wednesday’s unveiling. Steve Jobs is allegedly referring to the device as, “the most important thing I’ve ever done”. We shall see.

In an article entitled “What an Apple Tablet would Mean for Publishing”, PC World Business Center argues that the iSlate/iTablet has the potential to completely alter the current publishing landscape — particularly for magazines and newspapers. Writer Kirk McElhearn argues (I think successfully) that the time has come for publishers to stop giving away their content for free. Competent reporters and commentators have the right to be paid for their work, and the current model of revenue generation through online ads has been a miserable failure.

At the end of a failed 15-year experiment in giving away its product, the press (newspapers and magazines) has begun to renounce free. It’s slow in starting, because of the inertia of this decade and a half, but the New York Times announced recently that it would begin charging for its Website, and others are sure to follow. (In fact, this was a huge game of chicken, where U.S. newspapers wanted to start charging for their content, but none wanted to be the first to take the leap.) But payment for Websites alone won’t be enough to change newspapers’ and magazines’ bottom lines from red to black. Apple’s tablet, however, will.

…we need the press: the fourth estate is a necessary check for our government and business. As long as free thrives, the press can’t do its job correctly. Free may be good for freeloaders, but it’s bad for society. Those who want things to be free forget that there are still people doing the work they get for nothing, and those people need to be paid. As the old saw goes, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. (And, please, spare me the comments about how free will lead to other forms of income; this has been tried, and has been a massive failure, with only rare exceptions such as Google.)

Apple’s tablet (and the copycats that will follow it) will be a game-changer, just as the iPod and iPhone have been. Because of Apple’s aura, this tablet will get more attention than the plethora of e-book readers we have seen recently. And I’m betting that Apple will get it right, as far as features, interface and usability are concerned. It will also be an excellent tool for reading the news. Newspapers and magazines will be able to package their content in multimedia bundles (either as apps or something similar to the iTunes LP) that will be designed for reading on a portable screen; this won’t simply be web pages viewed on a smaller screen.

Meanwhile ZDNet has published a very interesting piece on Apple’s “Agency Model” for selling applications (and potentially books) to the consumer, and how this model differs from the one used by Amazon for the Kindle.

The agency model is defined as projects funded as a fee-for-service by clients, who either use or re-sell the content. Apple uses the “agency model” now with the App Store, taking a 30 percent cut of whatever the developer charges for an app.

The wholesale model, on the other hand, is when the publisher “sells” the book to an intermediary (i.e. Amazon, Borders, B&N) based on the publisher’s established retail price and a discount schedule, typically around 50 percent. Then the purchaser resells that e-book at whatever price they like.

Apple’s pitch to publishers appears be to that selling their books through the iTunes Store for a 30 percent commission is much better than selling them through Amazon at a 50 percent discount.

Wednesday’s event is likely to be a multistage affair since other products are expected to be unveiled concurrently with the tablet computer. In addition to that device, Wired’s Brian X. Chen expects

iLife 10, an update of Apple’s popular suite of lifestyle programs which includes iPhoto and iMovie.
An update to the iPhone operating system — this is considered by most people to be inevitable since the tablet purportedly runs a souped-up version of that same OS.
An upgrade to iTunes — again, this enhancement would be tablet-related since it’s expected that the ability to buy books and magazines will be added to iTunes so that the tablet can take full advantage of this type of media.

Read Chen’s complete analysis for more detail.

Update: Late Evening:

Dubiously named site cooltechzone.com points out something which in hindsight should have been obvious, but there you go…

Because of the larger display size and beefier hardware, Apple will let developers push the envelope on developing robust, powerful apps that will require more resources. Naturally, this will result in higher priced apps.

We don’t think anyone should be surprised to pay more for apps that are tablet exclusive. However, we don’t ever see those prices catching up to traditional desktop apps.

Tablet Watch — 01/24/10

Posted by Paul on Jan 24th, 2010 in General | 0 comments

This coming Wednesday January 27th, Apple Computer is scheduled to make a big announcement. No one knows for certain what this announcement will be, but most industry experts (and not a few armchair Apple watchers) expect that it will be a new tablet computer — referred to as the iTablet or, perhaps, the iSlate. Of course there is no hard data on what this thing will do or what it will cost, but most people agree that it will be an intermediary device between a cell phone and a laptop computer. Further, most of the speculators are saying that Apple is aiming this device, in part, at the new market carved out by the comparatively new e-Reader class of gadget (best exemplified by the Amazon Kindle). As it does with so many of its products, however, Apple will (allegedly) be revolutionizing what people expect from such a product. The Kindle is a fairly quaint device when compared to other pieces of modern technology. It looks less like a multimedia computer and more like the technology it is seeking to advance — namely books. By all accounts, the iTablet (or iSlate) will be introducing the multimedia elements we’ve come to expect from our computers into the e-Book model. There will (again allegedly) be color, video, and sound, and thus a new paradigm for what literature really means will be created. (Or at least it will if one buys into some of the more hyperbolic prognostication making the rounds on the Internet these days.)

The Los Angeles Times has just published a piece on what the new tablet’s impact upon literature might be. Here are a couple of quotes:

On the other hand, it’s not clear how anyone will get paid for writing, or what will take the place of the existing commercial system, which produces ample dreck but a lot of great stuff as well, often written and edited by experienced professionals with families to support and bills to pay. It may get our egalitarian juices flowing to think that the digital revolution will open up this world, but a literary culture in which everyone is a writer and no one is an editor is likely to leave all of us poorer.

Certainly, authors and publishers should not count on any kind of legal or technological copy protection to assure that their works aren’t reproduced without royalties. The music business has already shown us the futility of “digital-rights management.” Yet it may also show the way to other pricing models. Are music subscription services — Rhapsody, for example — really so different from the subscription libraries that supported novel writing in 19th century England?

A similar return to the past may be necessary to preserve the system of paying advances to writers. In the 18th century, after all, books were sometimes financed by selling investors shares in future profits (one imagines an online marketplace for just such a system today) or by selling advance subscriptions to book buyers. Foundations, universities and rich folks may also emerge as a greater source of patronage.

In the digital future, “publishing” may mostly mean self-publishing. Yet it’s also likely that gatekeepers will spring up — people or firms whose taste and imprimatur have value in the marketplace. They may even function the way old-time publishers like Scribner’s once did, running the digital equivalent of magazines, publishing houses and retail stores under a single brand.

Like many other people, I’m very interested in what this Wednesday announcement will yield. And, since there’s been no more news on the Microsoft Courier, I don’t see any reason not to follow the story closely. I may even throw up a post or two on what it all means (to me anyway).

[The above image is (supposedly) a late-stage prototype of Apple's new tablet computer.]

Update — 1/24/10 — afternoon:

Silicon Valley’s Mercury News has published two columns on the Apple Tablet today. The first (and most interesting) is writer Troy Wolverton’s wish-list for what he’d like to see in the device. Very practical and very sane.

Wolverton on the proper price point:

Rumors are that Apple plans to charge as much as $1,000 for its tablet computer. I hope not. That would be far too expensive for many consumers and too much money for this type of device.

The tablet is likely to be a second computer for most people. As such, it will be competing against netbooks, which typically cost around $350. Apple’s tablet may be niftier than the average netbook, but that’s not going to matter to a lot of consumers if it costs more than twice as much. It may be a pipe dream, but I’d like to see Apple price the tablet at $500 — or less.

Meanwhile, columnist John Boudreau discusses the failure of tablet-style PCs over the past two decades and Apple’s chances of reversing that trend.

Here Boudreau quotes an industry analyst:

“The jury is still out on this particular category,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. “We have already had two turns at this — in the early ’90s and in the early 2000s — and they didn’t catch on. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe it will take Apple to kick-start it. But at this stage, history is not on its side.”

Meanwhile, crunchgear.com has posted an article on the forthcoming tablet’s potential as a gaming device. Reportedly, companies like Electronic Arts will be supporting the iSlate/iTablet so there is room for this sort of speculation.

Here are a couple quotes:

There have been some rumors floating around about the potential for a touch sensitive back on future iPhone devices – similar to the top of the Magic Mouse. And there have been insiders quoted stating that we will be shocked at how we interact with the tablet. Putting two and two together, it’s not out of this world to think that the tablet might be the first device with a multi-touch sensitive back. Another possibility, as seen in the Palm Pre and other mobile devices, an area on the front, apart from the screen, that can be used as a touchpad.

While I’m sure the accelerometer will be included in the device — as it will be required to be compatible with some iPhone apps and games. It doesn’t make as great of a method to control games in a large device. As mentioned earlier, the thought of quickly moving around a large, expensive device like this, is rather scary. Not to mention that the games on the iPhone that use the accelerometers are tuned for the movement of a small device — moving a larger device will make all of these games seem a little off until they are tuned.

As we all know, the prices for games on the iPhone are unbelievably low. Low even compared to other mobile platforms and especially so compared to the other mobile gaming devices.

Will Apple find a way to drive prices higher for apps on the tablet? While we expect the tablet will be seen from an App Store perspective as just another iPhone OS device — like the iPod Touch — it’s possible that Apple will segment certain tablet apps. Perhaps we’ll see multiple versions of the same games — some for the iPhone that work on the tablet — and extended versions just for the tablet.

Another possibility is that the rumored premium app store will actually be for expanded tablet apps. We may see expanded apps — apps to take advantage of specific tablet hardware like the increased screen size — segmented and at higher price points on a premium app store.

Snippets — 01/07/10

Posted by Paul on Jan 7th, 2010 in Reviews | 2 comments

Sadly, my first post of the new year will have to address one of my sins from the last — the sin of sloth. Here then is a rapid fire list of some of the pop culture I consumed in the last couple of months of ‘09. Don’t expect anything too in-depth here, but I would like to add these into the record. I realize I don’t have a rabid following here at the Cove, but sometimes it’s fun for me to go back through all the entries and look back at where I’ve been. If I am entertained by my own antics, then my efforts here have not been wasted.

Star Trek Season 2 on Blu-ray:

At the risk of rehashing my review of Season One, let me just say that the news is pretty much the same here. Sure, there were two or three clunkers, but Season Two was every bit as solid and entertaining as Season One. “Amok Time” wherein Spock goes all horn-dog , “Doomsday Machine” wherein the Enterprise does battle with an enormous bear-claw, and “Journey to Babel” wherein we meet Spock’s mommy and daddy were particular stand-outs.

I also picked up the blu-ray for J.J. Abrams’ 2009 “Star Trek” reboot. My opinion hasn’t changed — it’s still a fun ride and now it’s a fine addition to my library.

2012:

This disaster movie from director Roland Emmerich (does he make anything but disaster movies?) was much better than it had any right being — particularly in light of Rollie’s last cinematic foray, 10,000 B.C. which was a study in boredom. For those of you who didn’t see 2012, do you remember the scenes in the trailer featuring the destruction of Los Angeles? Okay, forget that. It was an hors d‘oeuvre; Emmerich was just getting started. By the time the movie ends, 99.9% of the world’s population has died a horrible death, and the survivors have gone to sea in enormous futuristic Noah’s Arks. I’m not kidding. On a sheer spectacle level, this movie is more fully-packed than just about anything else I’ve seen. Fortunately, Emmerich had the good sense to hire some fine actors to ground the whole thing in some semblance of reality.

Avatar:

I saw Avatar on its first day in theaters and in 3D. I’m glad I did it, but now I’m ready to move on. Story-wise there was nothing in the film I hadn’t seen before, and I was tragically under-involved in the main character’s doings (in fact, I was much more interested in his love interest who seemed the more human of the two despite being ten feet tall and blue). Where the movie excels, certainly, is in its visual presentation. In the months preceding the film’s release date, director James Cameron was promising that Avatar would be a “game changer”. I thought then (and still think) that this was an off-puttingly arrogant thing to say, but it turns out he was right — at least in terms of the movie’s special effects. Avatar is convincing on a whole new level. I just wish that it took more than pretty pictures to generate a billion in box office, but c’est la vie.

Bloom County: The Complete Library: Volume One: 1980-1982:

I finally got around to buying and reading this first of five volumes of Berke Breathed’s “Bloom County” comic strip. For literally decades, my only source for “County” has been the Little Brown collections released while the strip was still at the height of its popularity. These collections were, of course, abridged so this new book was something of a revelation. Storylines went on longer than I remembered them, and characters remained a part of the cast longer than I was given to believe by the older books. In short, Breathed’s creation wasn’t nearly as slapdash as the abridged books led me to believe. I have just one complaint: Volume One ends in September of 1982 and Volume Two doesn’t come out until April. if only i could sit down with all five volumes and read them one after another…

Up in the Air:

After I saw Sideways years ago, I remember remarking how nice it was to see a movie for adults to close out the year. Different year, same reaction. Up in the Air is a well-written, well-acted movie about adults experiencing adult things and having adult conversations. For only being 33 years old, Jason Reitman is a helluva talented writer/director — and for this I hate him.

Image of Bloom County Complete Library Volume 1 (Library of American Comics)

Image of Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two [Blu-ray]

One Final “Phantom Menace” Review to Conclude the Decade

Posted by Paul on Dec 30th, 2009 in Reviews | 4 comments

This series of videos has been floating around the interwebs for a couple of weeks now, but for those you who missed it, here it is: The final word on Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Embedded below are all seven (count ‘em, seven!) parts of this blistering and often funny review. If you’re anything like me, you’ll fire up part one and say to yourself, ‘Well, I’ll just watch the first few minutes, get the gist, and move on’. And then you’ll watch the whole goddamn thing. I could’ve done without the subplot wherein our peculiar narrator turns out to be a serial killer, but his insights into the film and its problems are completely on the money. He even calls Mr. Lucas out on a few things I missed — and I’ve been unfortunate enough to sit through the film many times.

So, sit back, enjoy, and get the prequel hate out of your system once and for all. Because, you know, hate leads to anger, and anger leads to fear, and fear leads to flatulence. Or something. I forget.

Project 880

Posted by Paul on Dec 27th, 2009 in General | 0 comments

I haven’t said anything about James Cameron’s Avatar yet. Look for my mini-review in an upcoming “Snippets” post. Meanwhile, take a gander at this article comparing the finished movie with the treatment Cameron did right after completing Titanic. Just as he did in his piece on Terminator Salvation, Devin Faraci does a canny job of breaking down the differences between the early drafts and the completed work. Link to that earlier article through my review of “Salvation”.

A Heavy Metal Aside

Posted by Paul on Dec 26th, 2009 in General | 0 comments

I was walking through my local Borders Books recently when I spied the latest issue of Heavy Metal magazine. Right away, I knew that the cover had been done by James Ryman. James and I worked together for a few years back in the early aughts. Despite the fact that he’s an unrepentant Limey, James is a gentleman and a fine artist.

If you run across this issue on your local newsstand, pick it up. And tell ‘em your uncle Paulie sent you.

Rambo and Robocop

Posted by Paul on Dec 26th, 2009 in Reviews | 0 comments

[80s-palooza parts 19 & 20.]

In all likelihood, this will be the final entry in the illustrious 80s-palooza film festival. The series began in January of 2009 and a one year run seems appropriate. The two films found in today’s post were not viewed as a double feature. They are paired now because of my recent bout of sloth in regards to updating Crabapple Cove.

Rambo: First Blood Part II:

“Rambo” is a fine action movie, but two things about it struck me immediately. By today’s standards, it’s very modest. It doesn’t have the assaultive quality of modern films directed by the likes of Michael Bay or Stephen Sommers — and that’s a good thing. It saves most of its bang for the last act, and by god, isn’t there some sense to that? Shouldn’t a movie have a build-up rather than firing on all cylinders from the first frame? It’s called storytelling, people, and I’m starting to miss it.

The movie is undermined a bit by its Right Wing Wish Fulfillment plot, and the awkward speechifying from Sylvester Stallone, but it does still hold up.

Robocop:

Robocop, on the other hand, is just about perfect. The film is a surprisingly deft mix of superheroics, action, and satire, and it’s enormously entertaining. I remember when I first heard about the movie and I thought to myself, ‘well, that looks like an embarrassing piece of shit’. When I saw the damn thing, I was floored — against all odds, it actually worked.

It worked then, and it works now. If you haven’t seen it in a while, do yourself a favor and revisit it soon.

The 80s-Palooza Film Festival to Date:

Image of Rambo - First Blood Part II [Blu-ray]

Long Time Gone

Posted by Paul on Dec 22nd, 2009 in Cartoons & Animation, Writing | 6 comments

Wow, it’s been more than a month since I last posted anything here at Crabapple Cove. My mea culpa this time is the same as it was last time: My other going concern — my column at examiner dot com — is taking up most of my internet-based time. I’m planning another post soon on all of the pop culture I’ve consumed since last we spoke, but I’m going to use this one for a little shameless self-promotion. For those of you who were unaware of the fact that I’ve been writing an animation-themed column, here are some of the recent highlights:

Feature Film Reviews:

Holiday Reviews:

The Great Cartoons — an ongoing series on, well, great cartoons:

Nuts n’ Bolts — an ongoing series on some of the technical aspects of traditional animation:

I just broke one hundred posts today. Not all of those are full-blown essays, of course, but the work has been keeping me busy. Stop by over there and say “hello” if you get the chance.

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