Archive for January 2010
The S From Hell
Here’s a funny short film which premiered at Sundance called The S From Hell. It’s a documentary about (fictional) people who recount their traumatic experiences after seeing the old Screen Gems logo that came after old TV shows. But first, here’s the actual logo.
http://www.youtube.com/v/qQ7zZRud1B0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0
Now, here’s the documentary. The only frightening scene is where a boy collapses after watching the S From Hell and his head becomes a pumpkin, disintegrates, and a snake comes out.
http://www.youtube.com/v/YM2AxGYn8jU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0
I don’t think the S From Hell was scary, myself. (But why is it “from hell”?) The new Screen Gems logo, which they show before all their movies, is kinda neat. It’s nice and quiet. Incidentally, it’s called the “S From Heaven”.
Cyrus (Trailer)
Here’s the trailer for Fox Searchlight Pictures’ new dramedy Cyrus, about a man named John (John C. Reilly) who meets a woman named Molly (Marisa Tomei). The two fall in love, but one obstacle stands in John’s way: Molly’s son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill) who wants to protect his mother. The movie is “coming soon”.
The following preview has been approved for appropriate audiences
http://www.traileraddict.com/emd/17854
Comment! What did or didn’t you like about this trailer? Why? If you did like this trailer, are you excited for the movie? Tell me in the comments section below!
Ribbon Hero
From the company behind Guitar Hero and DJ Hero comes an awesome new video game you’re going to love! In Ribbon Hero, you must work against the clock to create decorative masterpieces with Ribbons. You start out as the Ribbon Apprentice, but if you work hard, you too can become THE MASTER OF THE–
No, no, no. It’s not like that at all. You see, Ribbon Hero is a videogame for your computer that’s supposed to make using Office 2007 and the upcoming Office 2010 more fun. How do you earn points? By learning how to do stuff in the Office programs using its new Ribbon interface.
Yeah. That’s it.
The official Ribbon Hero website shows a video with a man telling you “how to stay ahead of your competition”. Hey Microsoft? It’s a learning game. Not really a competitive game.
(But don’t worry, Microsoft. I still think the Windows 7 House Party video is my least favorite of all the publicity you’ve done.)
Free at www.officelabs.com/ribbonhero. And of course I’m going to try it.
Guess What I Saw At Dictionary.com Today?
An advertisement for Cheer. The laundry detergent. Right on the home page.
Um, hey Cheer? Never do that again. I mean, a dictionary website? Of all places! Also, I don’t have to watch an ad when I open my printed dictionary, do I? Just sayin’.
The A-Team (Trailer)
Hey, remember Sharlto Copley, the guy who ingested that weird serum and his DNA turned into that of an alien’s in the District 9 trailer? He’s back in another film, along with other names you might recognize: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Mr. T…they’re part of the new movie called The A-Team, which, I learned from Wikipedia, was a popular ‘80s TV show. I have not watched said show, but from the trailer it looks interesting. And the movie looks good too. It’s about these soldiers who are framed for a crime they didn’t commit and are now soldiers for hire. They look for a way to clear their name. I’m sure I would have to watch the series to get some of the references in the movie, but other than that it looks okay.
Also, does anyone know who Liam Neeson is in this trailer? Is he the guy who says “I love it when a plan comes together”? Because if so, wow. If so, I did not know that that was him, and I’m not sure what to think. Alan Rickman’s American accent was cool in Die Hard, but this one…I don’t know.
WARNING: Internet Explorer Exploited; Media Says Use Different Browser Until Hole is Fixed
You might have heard of the zero-day attack on Internet Explorer which came from the Chinese attacks on Google and other corporations a few days ago. The exploit code has since been released online (read here for more info). IE 6, 7, and 8 are at risk, even those that are installed on Windows 7. Microsoft said it was working on a patch, but for now you are advised to use a different browser. Here are your options.
Firefox (one of the most secure browsers)
Google Chrome
Opera
EULAyzer
Like McAfee SiteAdvisor, EULAyzer is an essential tool for any computer. I’ll show you how it works. It lets you take the license agreement of a program you’re about to install and plug it in to EULAyzer, which then analyzes it and tells you about any “interesting” words or phrases, such as if the program is going to install adware and badware on your computer. It’s actually really cool.
Next, I can just drag the plus sign to the license agreement. Sorry, I haven’t got a video for that. Blogger doesn’t paste it in. Anyway, after I’ve done that, EULAyzer comes up with its list of interesting phrases. Neato!
VIRUS WARNING: Fake Swine Flu email Can Lead to Real Infection–of your computer
There is a Swine Flu email virus passing around the Internet. According to PC World magazine, these fake swine flu emails claim to be from the government–notably the CDC and include subject lines such as "Create your personal Vaccination Profile" and "Government registration program on the H1N1 vaccination" which leads you to a website which then asks you to download a tool to fill out the "registration".
The website employs a common tactic used by spammers: using a legit URL (like "online.cdc.gov") but ending in a suspicious domain name (like "yhnbad.com.im").
If you have Internet Explorer 8, the domain highlighting function can help (which highlights the main part of a URL), and in Firefox, the Locationbar2 add-on could also tell you if a URL is real or not.
To read more, including examples of the email and body text, head over to www.tinyurl.com/mcafeeswinewarning and www.tinyurl.com/symantecswinewarning.
From Paris with Love (Trailer)
I actually didn’t bother with this trailer until I saw a commercial for the movie. I didn’t know until after who John Travolta’s character was, and when I found out, I decided to watch the whole trailer, and it actually looks pretty good. It’s about a man who must work with an American spy to take down a terrorist in Paris.
CAUTION: The following preview has been approved for appropriate audiences
Marmaduke (Trailer)
It’s Monday, so let’s start off with a movie that looks weird. Marmaduke is based on a comic strip that I’ve never heard of (probably because, I’ve heard, it was popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s) and I bet most kids haven’t heard of either. It tells the story of the Winslow family who have a dog named Marmaduke, who, according to Wikipedia, “exhibits many characteristics not typically displayed by dogs.” Ho boy. Another Alvin and the Chipmunks-ish film where animals can talk (Owen Wilson does the voice in this one) and do strange things. Tired, tired, tired. It even might almost be like Alvin a little bit, too: Wikipedia says this about the father character, Phil. “Phil loves his dog despite Marmaduke’s antics but, not surprisingly, gets fed up once in a while.” I can hear it now: “Marmaduke. Marmaduke! MAAAARRRRRRRRMAAAAAADUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKEEE!” Anyway, here’s the trailer.
Marmaduke better be CGI, because he looks too real. This “CGI real-ness” was awesome in Avatar, but not in this film. Also, did you see the way Marmaduke’s mouth moves when he talks? Watch it again (gulp) if you missed it. This was okay in Garfield, but in this movie, honestly, it kinda creeps me out.
Popcorn Bytes 