A New Karate Kid

Today I saw the trailer on /Film for the new Karate Kid movie.  It keeps the same basic plot as The Karate Kid, but the characters are different.  I've complained about remakes before, but at least this looks okay so far. Kids today haven't seen the original The Karate Kid, so they can have a story for their generation, even if it doesn't look to be as great a movie.  Jackie Chan is in it as the Mr. Miyagi figure, so that's cool.

I'll probably watch it when it's on TV...or whatever the next Hulu is.

Superhero cover

If you browse through my posts on this blog, you'll notice that I've written a lot about superheroes.  That's because I love all the aspects of superhero stories so much- the super powers, yeah, but also the character study/development, the take on morality, and the commentary on our world.

Lately, I've been thinking about a superhero having an alter ego as a taxi driver. Superman is Clark Kent at the Daily Planet so he can keep up with breaking news and help as he's able. The downside is Clark has to do all the work a reporter does first to earn a living and second to keep his position at the Daily Planet so he can stay close to the news. I see pros and cons for my taxi driver scenario as well.

Pros

• can listen to police radio as he cruises around the city
• has a valid alibi--taxis can show up pretty much anywhere at any time
• personal transportation (significantly more important if his superpower has nothing to do with transportation)

Cons

• conflict of interests - What does he do if he hears a call he wants to respond to while he has a passenger in the car?
• rush hour
• use gas money for patrolling/cruising
• difficult to maintain a reputation as a reliable cabbie

I have no idea what sort of hero he'd be or what abilities he'd have.  I've been thinking about the practicality of alter egos only.  I think there are fun possibilities for a taxi driver by day, a superhero by...well, day or night.  Maybe some day I'll play around with the idea.

And there's a glance at the randomness that passes through my mind.  If you want to suggest a topic for me to blog about, ask me a question, or contact me for some other reason, you can do so at formspring.me.

Assigned seats in movie theaters

My hometown's movie theaters do not have assigned seats, but I recently went to a movie theater that printed your seat assignment on your ticket.  If it were a system that lets you choose your seat when you buy your ticket, that might be okay, but I don't like automatically assigned seats.

The movie theater I went to assigns seats systematically--you don't get to choose where you want to sit.  The first person to purchase a ticket for the screening gets the center seat in the center row and then seat assignments fan out from there, filling the theater from the center out.

I can see how that system provides an incentive to get there early to get a good seat. People will buy their tickets as early as possible to get those good seats because if they're late, they'll have to sit in the fringe seats.

That system isn't horrible, but I'd rather not have assigned seats.  While it might be fair that the earlier you buy your ticket, the better seat you should have, there's a nice level playing field in buying your ticket and then filling seats on a first come, first serve basis.  I'm regularly in the movie theater 20 minutes before the movie starts, and even earlier if I think it's going to be busy.  I go early so I can have a better pick of seating, but I also don't mind spending the extra time there.  I don't mind the previews, or even the pre-previews they show now, and my friends and I can always fill that time with conversation.

Walking into a movie theater, popcorn in hand, and looking up at the available seats is part of the experience of going.   It's not as much fun stepping up the aisles, moving directly to your assigned seat.

Media junkie

Today I watched 2 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, 1 episode of Greatest American Hero, 1 episode of Batman Beyond, and a bunch of YouTube videos.  I'm still playing catch up with HIMYM.  GAH continues to amuse and entertain me in the good-hearted ways TV can.  I thought I had seen every episode of BB, but apparently not.

I made 5 posts on my tumblr and wrote my 700th tweet (which was uneventful because I stink at realizing when I reach benchmarks).

It was all very wonderful.

formspring.me

Formspring started a new free service, formspring.me, that allows people to send you comments, questions, or any other text.  They can send it anonymously or leave their contact info.  You can reply on formspring.me and/or integrate your answers onto Twitter, Tumblr, Blogger, and Facebook.  It's easy; it's simple.

Feel free to contact me on formspring.me here.  You can send questions, get in touch, or suggest topics for me to write about.  If you'd like me to respond to you personally, please include a way for me to do that.

Chartjackers single on Monday

Chartjackers is a project to get an internet-made single to the top of the UK music charts in time for Children in Need in December.  The effort is led by four YouTubers: Charlie, Alex, Johnny, and Jimmy.  Nine weeks ago, they started by asking viewers on YouTube to submit lyrics for a cheesy love song.  Then came the melody, vocalists, album artwork, music video, and promotion.  The guys have made YouTube videos along the way and BBC Switch has kept track of the Chartjackers with weekly TV episodes of their work. 

All that time and effort is for this Monday, November 9th, when the single "I've Got Nothing" goes for sale internationally on iTunes.  Only purchases in the UK count towards sliding the single up the music charts, but all the money from all the downloads goes directly to charity. 

This may be the first time an internet community produces a chart-topping single, and anyone in the world can get involved.  Starting this Monday, search iTunes for "I've Got Nothing" by the Chartjackers and download the song.  The money goes straight to Children and Need and your effort could help make internet and music history.

Roswell Costumes

Last week, io9 posted a gallery of characters in costume. They featured costumes from Buffy, E.T., The Office, Supernatural, and even Gargoyles. It’s a good list that spans decades of TV shows and movies, animated and live action, sci-fi and not, so I was surprised when I got to the end of the post and saw nothing from Roswell. Most of the main cast dressed up in the pilot episode, and a few of the costumes had a clever significance. To make up for io9’s lack of Roswell goodness, here are Alex, Liz, and Max in costume. I didn’t realize the full connections on my own (especially about Ripley)—I read about them in Crash Into Me years ago. So I have an excellent memory for this sort of stuff. That’s why I’m a media student.

This one’s easy. Alex (played by Colin Hanks) dressed up as an astronaut. It’s a nice shout-out to Apollo 13 which starred Tom Hanks (his father), Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon. Alex doesn’t know about the aliens at this point, so it’s fitting that his costume is space—but not alien—related.

Liz dressed like Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from Alien: Resurrection. It’s fitting because like Ripley, Liz is brought back to life by aliens. After a fight breaks out in the Crashdown, Liz is shot in the stomach and Max heals her, saving her life. Ripley’s DNA was mixed with alien DNA and later in Roswell, we find out the Liz also changed on a biological level when Max healed her.

Max dressed to look like an MIB agent. An alien MIB agent, oh the irony. The first time I saw the pilot, I thought the best part about the costume was that Max looked completely normal at the festival when everyone around him was dressed like space creatures. The alien looks human; the humans look alien. I love the complete reversal. Max prefers the hide-in-plain-sight strategy throughout the series and his choice of costume in the pilot certainly follows that idea.

The costumes are one of the many reasons I believe Roswell has the best pilot episode of any TV series I’ve seen. Maybe some day I’ll post my other reasons.

Images are from Screencap Paradise.