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Yoichi Wada

Yoichi Wada says trade must prepare for switch to digital distribution and server-based games and I have to largely agree with him in an Interview he gave to MCV. Digital distribution is going to happen it makes sence from every business standpoint. Console’s will still be here but we may not recognize them as such. They will probably resemble a modem with a very large internal hard drive and by large I mean at least1 hundred Terra-bit (HD video takes up a lot of space) which by then will be a solid state flash drive costing no more than current console drives with a reliability that can only be found in solid state,  there will be no need for a fan or at least a very small one. These hard drives will store all of our music, video, pictures and of course games all downloaded from who ever you want to buy them from and you will be watching everything on your 100 inch LCD  HD  TV. If this is starting to sound familiar to you it’s because we have been living with  it’s crude ancestor for 4 years now. Sony started the ball rolling with the PS2  and Microsoft got the message, the PC was not going to be that futuristic media center they had envisioned for everybody, they had no choice but to  respond.  Yes I can hear the Hardcore gamers already, “no Xbox 360+ could ever replace a PC for gaming” and you would be right if things stayed the way they are now. There is a service out there right now that is in beta  called  OnLive which promises HD-level games over a broadband connection. Will this actually be the answer, who knows. but the idea is to have servers do all the heavy lifting and get the hardware out of your house. Yes I heard you again latency is the problem and I didn’t say it was here now. The Wii has shown that at least half the gaming market is the casual gamer who doesn’t demand high performance or graphics anyway. Microsoft’s introduction of Avatars, Netflix and the whole NXE experience along with their recent addition of Twitter/Facebook have shown the industry as a whole is turning to a more Social media network based modal were even the traditional controller is in question. Project Netal anyone.  Hardcore gamers will always be here it’s the nature of the beast to want to be the last man standing in any competition all  in photo realism, just look at Call of Duty: MW2. Any company that ignores that segment does so at their own risk, unless your Nintendo and have decided that it is not your market anymore.

Wada warned that “all the distributors and sales firms will suffer a big negative impact” from a new era in which interactive entertainment switches from software run on hardware in the home to server-based offerings, game streaming and digital distribution.

He claimed that format-holders including Sony and Microsoft are already prepared for the shift – and that third-parties must follow suit. Source:  MCV

image via ohdeedoh

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and got to share it with the people you love. I had one of the best Thanksgivings since moving to the states about 17 years ago; thank you to everyone who made it possible yesterday. One of my 2009 goals was to always be thankful and so, to me, thanksgiving happens everyday in my life. I saw The Ugly Truth which was a cute chick flick movie and Julie & Julia which I loved because the last few years I thought about going to pursue my other dream: baking/cooking.

I woke up this morning with a big smile and feeling energized. Christmas is in exactly 4 weeks so I decided to kick off the season by listening to KOST which plays Christmas music all day on my blackberry via I heart Radio application. In addition, I am going to try and watch a Christmas related movie everyday until Christmas. Today I will be watching: A Christmas Story. I would love to get your recommendations.

What family traditions are you looking forward to this holiday season?

p.s. Ratatouille died early Tuesday morning!!!

I am thankful for:

• Matt
• my wonderful family
• friends
• my career
• my clients
• the fact business & the economy is picking up
• our housemate Jen & her dog Mia
• my condo finally being rented!
• good health
• living in the NW
• PABA
• Q Center
• HMBA
• My Subaru
• having a wood stove in our room
• the fact I can upgrade my iPhone to the 3GS tomorrow
• Craigslist (for selling my old iPhone at a profit
• rain
• snow
• Netflix
• surround sound
• Apple & Steve Jobs

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Okay, so I figured I’d seen the first four, I might as well finish the franchise, right?

So what’s it about?: Another Stifler who just so happens to be a high school virgin gets a guilt free pass from his girlfriend as he goes visits his college cousin in time for the Naked Mile.  Oh, yeah, and chaos ensues.

The Good: Well, it’s sufficiently funny and entertaining, and for a direct-to-video movie labelled under one of the raunchiest teen comedy franchises to date it’s not half bad.  And the characters are definitely a step up from those in Band Camp (which is probably why these were brought back for film 6).  Oh, and this wins for probably the only film that depicts a little person as sexy, so props.

The Bad: Um… how many Stiflers are there?  Were the other characters just not cool enough to have a never ending supply of cousins?  And the whole thing was reused.  The characters, the plot, nothing was original.

The Verdict: A fun film, but nothing more than that.

Nếu bạn là một nhà đầu tư chứng khoán, trước khi quyết định mua cổ phiếu, bạn cần phải hết sức cẩn trọng. Ðặc biệt là cần tính toán kỹ và xác định xem cổ phiếu của công ty đó có giá trị hay không. Tốt nhất là nên nắm được cách thức đầu tư và an toàn nhất nên chọn các công ty đã có những thành công và tiếng tăm nhất định trên thị trường.

Nói thì rất dễ, nhưng để tìm ra được những dấu hiệu quan trọng giúp bạn nhận biết việc đầu tư của mình có chính xác và khôn ngoan hay không lại không đơn giản chút nào. Dưới đây là cách thức và các dấu hiệu giúp bạn nhận ra các cổ phiếu có giá trị trên thị trường.

Đầu tiên, bạn hãy lập ra một danh sách các công ty lớn, đã phát hành cổ phiếu ra thị trường. Sau đó bạn sẽ thường xuyên theo dõi sự lên xuống giá cổ phiếu đó trên thị trường.

Tuy nhiên, để xác định đâu là một công ty lớn, cổ phiếu của nó sẽ có giá trị trên thị trường, bạn cần phải căn cứ vào năm dấu hiệu phân biệt quan trọng sau đây:

1. Có thương hiệu nổi tiếng và uy tín trên thị trường

Trước hết, bạn hãy nghĩ đến các thương hiệu nổi tiếng trên thế giới mà chủ sở hữu của nó đã đầu tư vào sản xuất trong đất nước bạn, dưới dạng các công ty 100% vốn nước ngoài hay các công ty liên doanh. Ví dụ như General Electric, Microsoft, Apple, Marlboro…, đó là những thương hiệu được xếp hạng trong 40 thương hiệu nổi tiếng nhất trên thế giới, theo sự bình chọn và đánh giá của Tổ chức tư vấn thương hiệu Interbrand. Dấu hiệu này rất quan trọng, đảm bảo sự thành công trong kinh doanh của công ty này trên đất nước của bạn, và hiển nhiên cổ phiếu của họ chắc chắn sẽ có giá trị trên thị trường. Nếu bạn quyết định đầu tư vào cổ phiếu của những công ty này, mức độ rủi ro sẽ rất ít.

2. Kinh doanh những sản phẩm và dịch vụ có ý nghĩa

Bạn hãy tìm kiếm những công ty mà sản phẩm, dịch vụ của chúng thực sự là nhu cầu thiết yếu và là sở thích của người tiêu dùng. Các công ty dược phẩm: ví dụ  như hãng dược phẩm khổng lồ Novartis của Thụy Sĩ chẳng hạn, những sản phẩm do công ty này sản xuất ra như thuốc bổ Calcium và dầu nong… bán đắt như tôm tươi. Bất kể khách hàng là người lắm tiền nhiều của hay không dư dả lắm, họ đều sẵn sàng mua những sản phẩm như vậy.

Tại sao vậy? Bởi kinh tế ngày một tăng trưởng đã khuyến khích người dân có nhu cầu chăm sóc sức khỏe cao hơn. Đồng hành với sự thịnh vượng kinh tế là xu hướng ngồi làm việc tại chỗ trước màn hành vi tính nhiều hơn. Trẻ em cũng không thoát khỏi xu hướng này. Các nhân tố đó sẽ dẫn đến tình trạng béo phì, tăng huyết áp hay tiểu đường, khiến nhu cầu sử dụng thuốc gia tăng.

Bên cạnh đó, các hãng khác như Coca-Cola hay Yum!… cũng là chủ sở hữu những sản phẩm rất được người tiêu dùng ưa chuộng, và chắc chắn chúng sẽ còn được mua nhiều.

3. Thu nhập chắc chắn và đáng tin cậy, tăng trưởng trong bán hàng và lợi nhuận chính đáng

Tức là trước khi quyết định đầu tư vào cổ phiếu của một công ty, bạn nên xem xét ba vấn đề cơ bản của công ty là: thu nhập; lượng hàng bán ra trên thị trường và lợi nhuận.

- Về thu nhập, bạn có thể sử dụng một số chỉ tiêu sau để đánh giá sự chắc chắn và đáng tin cậy của công ty:

+ Chỉ số thu nhập trên một đơn vị cổ phiếu – EPS (Earning per Share): thu nhập dòng hay lợi nhuận sau thuế có thể được xem xét bằng tổng lợi nhuận hay xét trên một đơn vị cổ phiếu gọi là chỉ số EPS. Một công ty có sự gia tăng về tốc độ tăng trưởng thu nhập khi tốc độ tăng trưởng thu nhập của quý sau cao hơn quý trước. Một cổ phiếu tốt, có tốc độ gia tăng về tăng trưởng thu nhập cao hơn so với ba hay bốn quý trước. Tăng trưởng của chỉ số thu nhập ít nhất là 25% so với cùng quý của năm trước. EPS hàng năm của cổ phiếu tốt ít nhất phải tăng trưởng 25% so với ba năm trước.

Ví dụ: Tập đoàn Johnson & Johnson có thu nhập tăng trong 73 năm liên tiếp, có tốc độ tăng đột biến tiền lãi cổ phần (cổ tức) trong 44 năm liên tiếp, và công khai yết thị thu nhập kiếm được tăng trong 21 năm liên tiếp.Theo bạn, cổ phiếu của tập đoàn này có thực sự hấp dẫn không?

+ Chỉ số thị giá chia cho thu nhập của mỗi cổ phần – P/E là một trong những chỉ số phân tích quan trọng quyết định đầu tư chứng khoán của nhà đầu tư. Thu nhập từ cổ phiếu sẽ có ảnh hưởng quyết định đến giá thị trường của cổ phiếu đó. Hệ số P/E đo lường mốiquan hệ giữa giá thị trường (Market Price – PM) và thua nhập của mỗi cổ phiếu (EPS) và được tính như sau:

P/E= PM/EPS.

Thông thường, nhiều người cho rằng nên chọn mua những cổ phiếu có P/E thấp vì theo họ những cổ phiếu có chỉ số này cao là đắt và không nên mua. Nhưng trên thực tế, những cổ phiếu tốt nhất thường có chỉ số này rất cao.

Hệ số P/E rất có ích cho việc định giá cổ phiếu. Giả sử bạn đang muốn mua một cổ phiếu hiện tại chưa được giao dịch trên thị trường, nhưng chưa biết mua với giá bao nhiêu là hợp lý. Nếu bạn biết thu nhập của công ty này (EPS), bạn có thể lấy nó nhân với chỉ số P/E được công bố trên thị trường giao dịch chứng khoán của nhóm cổ phiếu tương tự như cổ phiếu này, bạn sẽ xác định được giá của cổ phiếu mà bạn muốn mua.

- Về sự tăng trưởng bán hàng: Đây là chỉ tiêu quan trọng nhất để đo lường một công ty có sức mạnh hay không và là nhân tố chính của tăng trưởng. Khi chọn lựa cổ phiếu tốt hãy tìm công ty có tốc độ bán hàng mạnh để làm tiền đề cho tăng trưởng thu nhập. Tiêu chí để xác định công ty có tăng trưởng bán hàng tốt nếu ba quý gần nhất có sự tăng lượng hàng bán lớn hơn hoặc bằng 25% so với quý gần nhất trước đó.

- Về lợi nhuận: có thể đánh giá trên hai chỉ tiêu:

+ Lợi nhuận ròng: đánh giá tỷ lệ chuyển doanh thu thành thu nhập. Trên quan điểm của nhà đầu tư, nên tìm những công ty có sự tăng về tỷ lệ lợi nhuận ròng/doanh thu. Con số này càng lớn thì có nghĩa công ty đang có xu hướng quản lý và các hoạt động khác tốt lên. Tiêu chí để xác định cho chỉ tiêu này là lợi nhuận trước thuế ít nhất đạt 18% doanh thu. Yêu cầu lợi nhuận sau thuế luôn đạt 10% trở lên.

+ Lợi nhuận trên vốn chủ sở hữu (ROE): Hệ số này phản ánh mức thu nhập ròng trên vốn cổ phần của cổ đông.

ROE= Lợi nhuận ròng/Vốn cổ đông hay giá trị tài sản ròng hữu hình.

Hệ số này thường được các nhà đầu tư phân tích để so sánh với các cổ phiếu khác nhau trên thị trường. Thông thường, hệ số thu nhập trên vốn cổ phần càng cao thì các cổ phiếu càng hấp dẫn, vì hệ số này cho thấy cách đánh giá khả năng sinh lời và các tỷ suất lợi nhuận của công ty khi đem so sánh với hệ số thu nhập trên vốn cổ phần của các công ty khác.

4. Chịu sự quản lý và điều hành bởi các nhà lãnh đạo tài ba

Đây là một trong những tiêu chuẩn và dấu hiệu khá quan trọng mà bạn nên tìm hiểu trước khi quyết định đầu tư. Nếu nhà lãnh đạo giỏi, công ty sẽ phát triển đúng hướng và sẽ là yếu tố đảm bảo sự thành công trong đầu tư vào cổ phiếu của bạn. Thậm chí, nếu chẳng may công ty rơi vào tình trạng gay go, trước bờ vực của sự phá sản, nhưng nếu được điều hành và dẫn dắt của một nhà lãnh đạo tài ba, rất có thể nó sẽ vượt qua được khó khăn, quay về đúng hướng.

Richard Parson – Giám đốc điều hành của Time Warner là một trong những nhà lãnh đạo tài giỏi như thế. Ông đã làm được một điều kỳ diệu: giá cổ phiếu của hãng gần như đã quay về mức trước khi rơi vào khủng hoảng, trước khi ông về nắm quyền. Sau cuộc sáp nhập khủng hoảng với AOL trong năm 2001, giá cổ phiếu Time Warner đã rớt tự do. Thế nhưng trong năm 2005, Parson đã dần kéo công việc kinh doanh của hãng truyền thông lớn nhất thế giới này trở về quỹ đạo cũ. Ông đã giải quyết dứt điểm từng vấn đề đau đầu của Time Warner , từ trả bớt nợ, bán bớt các bộ phận làm ăn không hiệu quả cho đến dàn xếp ổn thỏa các các cuộc điều tra liên bang và vụ kiện của các cổ đông.

Bạn có thể tìm hiểu thông tin có ích và ấn tượng về các nhà lãnh đạo giỏi, có uy tín trên các trang web giới thiệu về doanh nghiệp và doanh nhân. Ví dụ, trên trên web www.fool.com, có nhiều tin tức về những nhà lãnh đạo này trên chuyên mục “xác định sự quản lý có hiệu quả” (Identifying effective management) hay “Điều tra về đầu tư” (Investigative Investing).

5. Có lợi thế cạnh tranh nhất định

Trở lại ví dụ của hãng Time Warner và AOL sau khi sáp nhập. Mặc dù trong thời gian đầu, AOL gặp rất nhiều khó khăn, song họ vẫn giữ được nhiều khách hàng trung thành. Tại sao nhiều khách hàng vẫn trung thành với họ? Bất cứ một nhà cung cấp dịch vụ trực tuyến nào cũng muốn cung cấp cho người sử dụng một địa chỉ e-mail miễn phí và lôi kéo khách hàng sử dụng địa chỉ email của mình, chứ không phải của các đối thủ cạnh tranh. Và khi một ai đó đã sử dụng địa chỉ email do hãng của bạn cung cấp, chắc chắn họ sẽ không dễ dàng từ bỏ địa chỉ e-mail của bạn để sử dụng địa chỉ e-mail của một nhà cung cấp khác. Đơn giản là họ sẽ gặp nhiều rắc rối và đau đầu vì thông báo địa chỉ e-mail mới cũng như mất thời gian cập nhật và nhận thư từ từ nhiều địa chỉ e-mail.

Tương tự như vậy, hãng dịch vụ cho thuê phim Netflix của Mỹ là một trong những hãng có tên tuổi và tiên phong trong lĩnh vực cho thuê DVD và bán phim trên mạng internet. Khách hàng có thể thâm nhập vào danh mục các bộ phim mà họ muốn xem và khó có thể từ chối những dịch vụ mà họ cung cấp.

Đó chính là những công ty có một lợi thế cạnh tranh nhất định trên thị trường, mà khi quyết định đầu tư cổ phiếu, bạn có thể xem xét đến chúng.

Sau khi bạn đã xác định được đâu là một công ty mạnh, có triển vọng trên thị trường, bạn quyết định tìm kiếm và mua cổ phiếu của nó với bất cứ giá nào? Đừng làm như vậy. Các công ty chất lượng cao, giá cổ phiếu của họ thường ở mức trung bình. Nếu bạn trả giá cho cổ phiếu của họ quá cao, rất có thể sẽ làm ảnh hưởng đến hoạt động kinh doanh và tổn hại đến thu nhập của họ. Vì vậy, nếu bạn là một người kiên nhẫn, bạn nên chờ đợi thời cơ. Ví dụ: một hãng kinh doanh rất thành công, nhưng gần đây họ bán cổ phiếu với một giá hoàn toàn không quá cao như nhiều người nghĩ. Đó chính là hãng Coca-Cola. Chỉ số P/E của hãng này chỉ xấp xỉ xung quanh 22, thấp hơn mức trung bình trong lịch sử của hãng này.

“Một công ty lớn có giá cổ phiếu không quá cao”, đó chính là một công thức kiếm được nhiều tiền trong đầu tư chứng khoán trong nhiều thập kỷ nay. Bạn nên suy nghĩ về điều này trước khi quyết định mua cổ phiếu của một công ty nào đó.

Tuấn Anh (Dịch từ Motley Fool và tham khảo một số thông tin trên mạng)

I approached the content of Seattle writer/director Lynn Shelton’s Humpday with some trepidation – in America pretty much the worst thing you can say (or even imply) about a straight man is that he may have some sexual interest in another man. You can see this in evidence in everything from homophobic stand-up comedy to sports trash-talking to films about straight men posing as gays to gain some special right or privilege (or the girl). What I did not want to see was yet another gay-bashing disguised as comedy. I was delighted to find the subject treated in an honest, sensitive and thoughtful manner in the knowing and funny film Humpday.

Dealing with issues of identity and choices beyond sex and sexuality, Humpday chronicles the reunion of college buddies Ben and Andrew. One has taken a more conventional path including marriage, a house and talk of having children. The other has followed the path of the Beat generation artists and poets, traveling around the world with no particular goal in mind but the trip itself. Their assumptions about one another are challenged as are their doubts about themselves and the choices they have made.

Shelton’s script is beautifully crafted and realized. Knowing a bit about the film from reviews and word-of-mouth, I wondered through the first half hour or so how she was going to pull this off. Natural, believable characters unfold as their relationships bend and twist and evolve, revealing surprising truths about love and friendship and sex. Strong performances from the cast, including Shelton’s own luminous supporting role as free-spirited Monica, demonstrate the director’s skillful,  subtle touch. Alycia Delmore’s turn as Anna, the patient wife struggling to understand her husband and herself and what it means to be married, brings a focus and clarity that is clever and satisfying. Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard ultimately carry  the day though, delivering what feels like a single seamless performance in their critical scenes together. Their chemistry is just right, as is this enjoyable AND intelligent film.

Humpday is available on Netflix.

It’s that time of year.
“Black Friday” ads are being “leaked” left and right, and every time I turn on the Food Network I see another new recipe for stuffing.  Boy do I love Thanksgiving.

I love everything about the holiday; I love the football, the food, the family, the trip home and the sales.  It’s my favorite holiday.

This year at wwwwY we’re going to do our own take on a Thanksgiving tradition.  The act of “giving thanks” is common, and Devin and I have decided to give thanks to that which we are thankful for this year.

Yes, I am thankful for my friends, thankful for my health and thankful for my wonderful family; but this isn’t that kind of “thanks”.  I want to give thanks wwwwY style.  Give thanks to those things that I as a member of Gen Y use and appreciate every day, that we may now take for granted.

So here it goes: I am thankful for…

Apple – When I custom ordered my Mac Book Pro two years ago it would be an understatement to say I was excited.  I couldn’t wait to ditch windows, its freezing, crashing and slowness.  I felt like my personal efficiency would be increased ten-fold.  I had no idea how right I would be.  My Mac is by far the best computer I have ever used.  To be able to have four programs open and not have to worry about the computer crashing, is nice piece of mind to have.  It’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s productivity in a nutshell, it’s a Mac.  No wonder why half of all computer owning college students own Macs.

Mashable – I want to dub them the king of social media; the king of the internet; the king of technology… I’ll just call them the king of everything Gen Y.  Mashable is one of the most informative, entertaining, cutting edge sites out there.  Chances are, if you have any sort of interest in social media, you know and visit Mashable regularly.  If you don’t, you should probably crawl out from under your rock and go there now and catch up on what you have been missing.  Hats off to the staff at Mashable.  Way to be the best source of internet information on the internet.

Tivo/Netflix – I am thankful for my two main forms of consumption of media.  I have been a devoted Tivo’er for years.  I constantly see others with cable companys’ DVRs and it frankly they just don’t cut it.  Tivo is a far simpler and easier product.  It makes it so I can watch TV on my own time; and when you’re busy, it’s a great freedom to have.  Netflix is another great entertainment service which has become a major player in the entertainment game.  In the past couple of years they have really stepped up their service and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves TV and movies. 

No longer is Netflix just about the well run home delivery.  They have evolved into an instant form of entertainment.  With their highly reliable online streaming option you always have the opportunity to watch something good, and they’re always adding new content.  Within the last month Netflix has taken their “instant” capabilities to the next level by adding their service to the PS3 and making their other streaming compatible devices much more available.  Netflix has done a lot to not only improve their service, but their branding as well.  They have done a great job advertising over all sorts of different mediums and been entertaining while doing it. 

Commercials that Think Outside the Box – I’m so tired of the same old product based commercial formula: introduce the product, show the product, talk about it’s advantages, and sign off the product.  This formula, although effective at times, can be so boring.  We’ve seen it a hundred times.  I want commercials to SHOW ME SOMETHING.  I appreciate when commercials take a risk.  Call someone out like Carl’s Junior is calling out McDonalds or Droid called out the iPhone.  Make a bold claim like the new salad mix commercials with no dressing necessary, or push the envelope like Reebok.  Clutter and overstimulation are something that Gen Y has learned to overcome.  Push the envelope and pull us in, you’ll be rewarded.

GPS – I thought Mapquest was an amazing invention, but thats so 2004.  Since GPS is easily available and affordable (like on my cell phone), there is no excuse to be lost ever again.  With turn-by-turn live directions, I always know where I’m going.  This has saved me from more potential headaches than any other product.  I would recommend everyone, young and old, get a GPS system – you’ll never get lost and never need a map again.  This I am very thankful for

Texting (SMS) – The tried and true method of communication for Gen Y. Texting is the form of communication which became popular because of Gen Y and will stay popular because of Gen Y.  It’s our medium.  Sometimes I don’t need to have a full phone conversation.  Sometimes I need a quick question answered.  Sometimes I need to talk to someone when a phone call isn’t appropriate.  Text messaging solves all these problems.  Gotta love it.

I am a very thankful person, I am very grateful for all I have.  To my friends and family I love you all and you are the reason I am who I am today.  Thank you for being the most important part of my life.  To all the things I mentioned above, thank you for being innovative and making my life a little better and easier.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Follow Todd on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/toddliss

A post compiling some of my favorite USA TODAY portraits. All, except one, taken for the Wednesday print/video/photo “Talking Tech” pieces.
Below: Sonic Solutions CEO Dave Habiger

Demand Media CEO Richard Rosenblatt

Roku CEO Anthony Wood

Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy

Behind the scenes @ Netflix

Google CEO Eric Schmidt

Animoto CEO Brad Jefferson and 2 Spidermen on Hollywood Blvd.

The gang from Baja Sharkeez, Hermosa Beach

Roku adds Flickr, Facebook, Pandora, and more video channels | Crave – CNET.

Just off the heels of adding 2 new models of Roku set-top boxes, now Roku is adding new channels to it’s lineup of Netflix, Amazon, and MLB.com.  Although most of the new channels aren’t video including Pandora, flickr, and Framechannel, we can expect that Roku will be adding even more video soon.   Now that you can get Netflix on many other TV devices like Xbox, PS3, HDTVs and Blu-ray Players, you’ll start to see Roku begin to establish itself as much more than the Netflix TV box.

Until Death 1987

Director: Lamberto Bava

Writers: Lamberto Bava and Dardano Sacchetti

Starring Gioia Scola, David Brandon, Giuseppe De Sando, Roberto Pedicini, Marco Vivio and Urbano Barberini

    Lamberto Bava is one of my favorite of the Italian horror directors, not on the level of his father Mario, but very good nonetheless.  My personal favorite of his is Demons.  So, when I caught a look at this one over at Netflix, I grabbed it up pretty quickly.  It was nothing amazing but still an entertaining film nonetheless.  It was a combination of a Hitchcockian suspense film with a supernatural twist at the end.  It kept that twist under wraps till the very end, for the most part you think the film is following the general rules of a suspense film until the final act comes along and reverses everything.  IT has a steady and brisk pace that carries the viewer along for the ride and also makes you care for what will happen to most of the characters.  Bava sets up the dilemma well in the beginning and ratchets up the tension with each scene till the tension becomes so heavy that you know something is going to break under the weight of all this anticipation.  Bava balances all these ingredients well and it forms into a nice potboiler of a film.

    The plot basics are this, Linda (Scola) has killed her husband with the aid of her lover, Carlo (Brandon) buries the body and hides this nefarious deed from all.  Linda is pregnant with her son and much time passes, six years in fact and everything seems to be going well until a drifter (Barberini) appears at their doorstep.  This drifter becomes helpful but soon Linda begins to fear that he knows something and is trying to bring back the old nightmares of disposing of her husband.  This causes a rift between her and Carlo and things begin to turn violent between them.  It soon seems that the drifter is not who he appears and the justice that has long eluded Linda and Carlo is coming for its comeuppance and not even death will stop it.  Will Linda come to terms with her foul deed or will she perish herself?

    This is a finely crafted film.  Bava’s direction is taut and suspenseful.  The more time that progresses in the film and the higher the levels of tension get till it permeates every scene.  I like how Bava tries to start a love triangle within the film but then pulls the rug out from under you and goes in a different direction.  The script is good too, the only complaint I would make is the film would have benefited more from just being a straight suspense film and really did not need the supernatural twist at the end.  The main story was good enough it did not need that.  The cast is good too, Scola reminds me a lot of Sophia Loren and she has a musky sexuality that permeates all her scenes.  She also has a good acting range that she is able to show all the emotions needed when she finally breaks down at the end.  Brandon is also great as the scummy and amoral lover who doesn’t care about anything but his own base needs.  Barberini is the drifter is very good too, he makes you sympathetic for him from the get go, but deep within you know he is plotting something.  The SFX and effects are good, there is not much but what there is shown and used very well.  The fire at the end of the film is probably the best effect in the film.  This is a solid suspense film that would be a great film if not for the unnecessary supernatural angle at the end.

This one gets 3 out of 5 

Intro:

I start my adventure into the land of Whoopi today, November 20th 2009.  This day will be written about in history books, and I shall be as highly regarded as Lewis and Clark.  Netflix will be my Sacagawea, my Native American Indian lady leading me through this land of the Whoopi, and we shall embark on this journey as soon as I finish making nachos in the microwave oven.  My Netflix account has a few Whoopi movies lined up, or “queued” to all those familiar with hipster Netflix lingo, for instant viewing, and I have chosen one of the more highly regarded of her films to start with, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” My choice wasn’t simply based on reviews of the movie, it’s just really hard to resist a tagline like, “A man named Jack has got her Jumpin’ and the world may never be the same!”  Though, it also helped that I consider my expedition an adventure, and the film’s full title is Jumpin Jack Flash: An Adventure in Comedy.  It just seemed like a match made in heaven, or at least an uninteresting coincidence.

For those of you who do not know the story of Jumpin’ Jack Flash here is a summary of the plot from Netflix filled in with thoughts from yours truly:

Terry, played by Whoopi Goldberg (YAY WHOOPI!), is a banker with an international clientele, gets a cryptic message from an unknown source. After decoding the missive (The fucks a missive?), Terry finds herself in the middle of an international espionage ring with bodies piling up faster than the line at a faulty ATM machine (What does this even mean!? Did someone write a joke in the summary you will only understand after you watch the movie?  Son of a bitch…). Directed by Penny Marshall, this riotous comedy also stars Annie Potts, Carol Kane, Jeroen Krabbe and Roscoe Lee Browne (Who were never heard from again, except for Penny, who partied with the Fonz, and therefore is immortal…Google it)

Movie Poster!

My predictions:

Whoopi is going to get herself into a whole heap of trouble, and she’s inviting me on her laugh riot adventure into the mystical world of banking!  This is going to be a fun trip!  As far as plot points go, I predict there will be a faulty ATM machine…Also, the movie was made in 1986, and during this time period whenever there’s an “international espionage ring” of some kind, it simply means the Russians are going to fuck shit up.  Yes, so the movie is going to playing like a banker’s version of Red Dawn, without the nice glutes of Patrick Swayze, or the whole ‘Russians invading the United States’ thing.  And so, these Commie bastards are going to fuck up Whoopi’s ATM machines, and she’s going to be all like, “AWWW HELL NO!”  Then, she’s going to fly over to Russia, and just start punching people in the face.

Movie:

0:00:00 – Movie Buffering, taking time to look up what missive is

0:00:11 – Dictionary.com claims “missive” is:

“–noun

1. a written message; letter.

–adjective

2.sent or about to be sent, esp. of a letter from an official source.”

Now I truly feel retarded

0:01:02 – “The President forgot Hawaii was a state, and referred to it as ‘Our strongest ally’” Oh Whoopi!  Your movie is already great!

00:01:46 – Whoopi has appeared!  She’s waking up in her PJs and has penguin slippers!

Jon Lovitz Loves His Banking Job!

00:05:49 – Entered work, which is surprisingly a bank…She works with ancient computers, which nowadays are on par with our most intelligent paper weights.  Jon Lovitz is in this movie!  First line, “You ready to saddle up and ride this software?”  Classic.

00:08:22 – Phil Hartman too?  “You could crush bowling balls between those thighs.” Classic #2.  Comedians are funny.

00:11:59 – Jumping Jack Flash sent her a message on her computer!  It said “Yankee Pot Roast Was Delicious.”  Confused by message, and suddenly in the mood for pot roast.

00:15:56 – Whoopi rocking out to the Rolling Stones in her penguin slippers, you go girl!  “Jagger Step!”

00:16:41 – Whoopi thinks second verse of Jumpin’ Jack Flash is “I was raised by two lesbians.” And then says “Lesbians? Com’n Mick!  Fuck a duck!”  Oh boy!  This may be the greatest movie ever made!

00:29:21 – JACK IS BRITISH INTELLIGENCE!  Gosh Whoopi, the things you get yourself into

00:31:24 – Jim Belushi?  Really?  Movie just lost all credibility.  I’m now crying in fetal position yelling, “WHAT HAVE THEY DONE WITH MY BABY!?” at the heavens

00:35:33 – She stole a frying from Jack’s apartment, and is now being held at gunpoint by…Jim Belushi.  I’m now back in my corner crying again in the fetal position yelling “IT WAS ONLY ONE TIME!  IT WAS JUST ONE TIME!” to the heavens.

00:35:55 – She knocked him out with the frying pan; I’m slowly recovering from my Jim Belushi trauma

00:37:00 – There’s people’s names and numbers etched in to bottom of frying pan, and she’s totally calling them!

00:38:10 – “Oh this is great!  I’m down here 1:30 in the morning at the docks!  I should just pin a 100 dollar bill on my ass and scream ‘VICTIM HERE!  VICTIM HERE!’”

00:40:27 – Hahahaha she just got pushed off the dock into the Hudson River, she’s going to be super dirty when she gets out.  You can’t scrub that shit off with soap and water, stuff in that river is highly advanced dirty dirt

00:41:04 – She can’t swim!  She can only doggy paddle!  It’s so cute!

00:41:41- “What is it with you people? Every time you see a black woman there has to be a pimp or a john? What, do you think there’s good business on the pier for hookers? Do you think I’m giving blow jobs down there to goldfish?”

Whoopi Suddenly Turns White!

00:46:10 – “The K mother fucking GB?”  It’s the RUSSIANS!  They’re fucking shit up!

00:55:44 – Big stunt scene where Whoopi is falling off a roof, and when they cut to a shot of her back as she struggles to climb back on the roof, and she is suddenly white, and very muscular.  Must be some kind of super power, thus proving again…Whoopi is super.

00:58:55 – Whoopi’s dress is caught in a paper shedder!  Oh the hilarity of your situation Whoopi!

01:12:30 – Russian guy stole a tow truck and started towing a phone booth Whoopi was in across town…and I have to pee really badly

01:13:53 – Back from bathroom and…OH GOD NO!  NOT JIM BELUSHI AGAIN!  All those horrible repressed memories of According To Jim surfacing…and Blues Brothers 2000…and K-9!  SOMEONE MAKE THEM GO AWAY!

01:26:14 – She got shot in the ass with a tranquilizer, and I’m officially bored.

01:31:37 – They make New York City look so clean…

That's One Way To Get A Dress Off

Hotdogs And Beans For Supper

01:34:56 – SHE JUST BIT A DUDES JUNK!  He goes “Cancel the message!”  and she’s all like “I’ll cancel something better!”  Then chows down on the guy’s bits and pieces like it’s an all you can eat buffet!  Wasn’t she in Disney movies?  Does Disney know she was capable of biting weewees off?  What about the children?  What message are we sending the children?  We put Jim Belushi and a penis biter in children’s movies?  What the fuck kind of movie is K-9 anyway Jim?  What the hell were you thinking?  Why can’t you make good career choices?  IT’S TEARING ME APART

01:35:29 – “HEY FRED!  Take a picture of me next to the dead guy!” Oh Jon Lovitz, you just saved my Whoopi adventure

01:41:45 – Holy crap!  Jack Flash is the Brazil guy from that movie Brazil in which I’m still confused as to the exact reason the movie is named Brazil if it has nothing to do with Brazil, except for that song Brazil that plays every once and awhile.

01:43:00 – Movie over, roll credits…What the hell is a Best Boy?

Afterward:

Almost all my predictions were wrong.  There was no broken ATM, it was nothing like Red Dawn, nor even it’s lesser-known sequel Steel Dawn.  Whoopi didn’t fly to Russia either and slap some bitches, which definitely would have been a much better ending.  In my defense though, Netflix fucking lied to me!  “…with bodies piling up faster than the line at a faulty ATM machine…”  Bodies?  There were no bodies!  There was A body!  One!  Singular!  Uno!  And what’s with the horrible comparison to a broken ATM machine?  It makes no frigin’ sense, and has nothing to do with the actual movie.

One thing was made clear by the movie though, we need Whoopi to combat terr

WTF is a Best Boy?

orism.  She has shown she can do more with a giant toothbrush then most can do with an AK-47.  If she were our first line of defense we wouldn’t need a second.

Fighting Liberty and Gingivitis For All!

Also with her crotch biting abilities no one would mess with her.  Though I do believe the crotch biting was simply to bring in a feminist perspective of the world to a high action comedy.  The movie is all about a woman taking charge of her own life no matter what gets thrown in her path.  She is, by definition, a bra burning, humpback, raving feminist demanding respect from the “man” that’s holding her down.  With KGB agents, the “man” in this situation, after her, she knows she will overcome, and save Jumping Jack Flash’s life.  She will do whatever it takes, even if that means taking a few balls in the mouth for the team.

I would highly suggest this movie to anyone who loves rocking out in penguin slippers to Rolling Stones tunes, or, like me, Scooby Doo slippers rocking out the Mamma Mia soundtrack.  I believe it won every single Academy award for the year of 1986, and is banned in 6 nations.  The banning from other countries actually is fairly recent, because Star Jones made them do it after her furious fury of a rampage when she got booted off the View.  Not wanting to be eaten by Star Jones, these countries just agreed to ban anything to do with Star’s replacement, Whoopi Goldberg.  For those of us that are fans of Whoopi though, I have great news.  President Barack Theodore Winston Obama has announced that he is making the members of the View the 4th branch of the US Government, due to Whoopi’s ability to deal with international affairs, as proven through “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”  It is a happy ending for everyone now!  YAY!

From SXSW 2009

If you’re facebook friends with her or follow her on twitter, you probably already know that the amazing Caitlin Rose will be heading to the UK next week for a short tour. Regardless, it deserves a mention! She also signed a deal with UK label Names Records to release her Dead Flowers EP on limited edition 10″ vinyl. Way to go girl! Catch her last US appearance before crossing the pond this Wed. night at Exit/In opening for the legendary Charlie Louvin, along with the Dex Romweber Trio. (Via Theory 8 Records)

Netflix will begin streaming a lot more indie films today thanks to a new deal with IFC. Netflix will get 53 films that will be available to “stream online to whichever platform you like.” I’m starting to like Netflix more and more…. (Via FluxRad)

Now allow this to brighten up your day:

Via Yewknee’d

So I’m a little late on the uptake for this one.  I tried my damnedest to find some way to watch it on the TGDoR, but nothing really wanted to work out for me on that day, period, and I wound up stranded at my trans-non-sympathetic friend’s house.  He accepts me well enough, but he doesn’t really see that there’s a tragedy going on with these people, thinks the surgery is “cosmetic” and didn’t do more than shrug when I told him what day it was, or the Statistics.  I started thinking, sometimes the ones that don’t care are worse than the ones who damn us.

But then I watched Boys Don’t Cry.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the story front to back, watched the documentary on Youtube, read the blogs and news journals, but they don’t take you into the experience of the story like the movie does.  And I tend to relate very heavily to a given character when I watch a movie, whether I’ve got much in common with him or not.  Brandon was Me in too many ways for me to even feel comfortable with, before we even got to the bad part of the movie.  (Well, except in the juvenile delinquent sort of way.)

Anyway, I got to sit down properly with my boyfriend last night and watch it (until his mom got home, at which point I got to sit down awkwardly and stiffly and watch it.  I don’t think she likes me and she’d like me even less if she knew I was a guy.)  But as awful as it was, it was worth watching.  He gripped my hand tight through the worst of it.  The rape scene WAS the hardest part to watch, but I think most of the horror of it all washed over my head until the end of the movie.  I think I sat there staring blankly at the screen for about five minutes.  And then his mom told us dinner was on the stove and she left the room, and then I got my plate and sat with it and I couldn’t eat, and then I noticed there were tears dripping onto my plate, and I just sat there like a statue until reality snapped back and I had to go to the bathroom to blow my nose.

I’m trying to think of the only other movie that made me cry.  I can’t remember.

(Might have been Wrath of Khan.)

So on one hand it kinda left me feeling scarred for life, and on the other hand it brought home how dangerous it is out there, really sort of made the danger and hurt mine to own and internalize, really sparked a spirit to do something about this in me.  I’m not sure what yet, but it’s brewing.  After all, I’m only 20.

…

And that brings home another point.  Last night I stared at my boyfriend’s calendar and started shaking when I realized I have no more than three weeks to come out to my dad if I want him to know about this before my 21st birthday.

I don’t know how to cope.

I’m just scared of how things are going to change around here when he knows.  We’re really tight these days; he’s slowly been turning me into a Trekkie by ordering the first season of Star Trek through Netflix.  Whenever we go out to do yardwork or something together, I call him Captain and he calls me Mr. Spock.  It’s really dorky but it’s something we share, and I think he’s somehow slowly coming to understand me by it.  I don’t want it to end, but in that same way, I don’t want our relationship, as good as it is, to be fake in any way.  I don’t want to be whatever he wants me to be just to preserve our friendship.  I have more respect for him than that.

…

On a happier note, I came up with a name for my… upper region that’s better than “tumors” or even “moobs”.  They are my chestnuts.

wOOt

Your Roku box just got a whole lot more interesting. Roku, if you remember, makes the Roku player, a small device that sits next to your TV and plays Netflix, Amazon Video, and MLB selections. Roku has just added ten new channels to that line-up and built a fascinating platform for adding more down the line.

The current channels will include: blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 and TWiT. More channels will be available here shortly.

The channels require you to authenticate with the service provider – you don’t enter any passwords on the Roku box, at least in most cases – and will eventually allow protected and pay-per-view access to channel providers. Roku spokesperson, Brian Jaquet, also mentioned at some providers could protect their content behind a hidden pay wall, like Netflix, and offer delightful content like distance learning and pornography. While both of those are self explanatory, it behooves us to note both modes of content are the interface between or among two or more individuals centered on a shared goal.

He said:

While the Roku Channel Store won’t distribute porn publicly, there are some hidden channel features whereby partners can make a channel available using a code. This could be used for things like distribution to vertical markets like education and training videos that can be pushed to private groups for viewing on the TV on demand instead of having to set up a satellite feed or send DVDs.

The upgrade will hit in the next two weeks and will work on all Roku boxes including the SD, HD, and HD-XR.

How does it work? I tried the Facebook was request a token from Facebook for login. You then typed the token into the Roku box and all of your photo albums appeared on the browser, available for playback in whatever resolution you uploaded.

Roku Creates Open Platform for Delivery of Content to the TV; Announces 10 New Content Channels

Blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 and TWiT all now available on the Roku player

Saratoga, Calif. – November 23, 2009 – Roku, Inc., maker of the popular and award-winning family of Roku players, announced today the Roku Channel Store and the addition of 10 new FREE channels for Roku customers to enjoy on their TVs. From internet audio to video podcasts; professional web content to photo sharing; personal video content to children’s entertainment, the Roku Channel Store provides an open platform for delivering quality content to the TV. The new channels now available for customers to add to their Roku experience via the Roku Channel Store include: blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 and TWiT. For a complete list of channels and specific channel descriptions and features, please go to www.roku.com/channelstore.

“Our customers now have more choice in content and even greater control over their Roku player experience with the introduction of the Roku Channel Store and our 10 new content partners,” said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. “The Roku Channel Store already includes a robust offering of content that will appeal to a wide variety of customer tastes, which in turn will open new customer acquisition avenues for Roku. Because we have created an open platform for development, customers can expect even more new content channels in the near future making the Roku player an even more valuable component of a customers’ home entertainment system.”

To access the Roku Channel Store and subsequently add or remove channels from the home screen, customers will need to create a Roku account. With a Roku account, customers now also have the ability to manage their channels and personalize their entertainment options in a way that has not been possible before. Roku customers can add as many channels as they want. Conversely they can also remove all channels that do not interest them, leaving only the channel or channels they access on a regular basis. And because it is a channel store, new channels will arrive all the time for customers to consider.

All Roku players, including the Roku SD, Roku HD and Roku HD-XR, are compatible with the Roku Channel Store. Our flagship content partners, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Video On Demand and MLB.TV, will continue to be available to existing customers regardless of whether or not they set up a Roku account. However, in order to browse the Roku Channel Store and add and remove channels from the Roku player, customers first must create a Roku account.

Pricing and availability
The Roku Channel Store will be delivered as an automatic and free upgrade to all existing Roku customers over the course of the next two weeks. New customers will automatically be upgraded when they first install their Roku player. To browse and use the Roku Channel Store, existing customers will be prompted to create a Roku account. Existing customers who do not want to wait for their Roku player to update automatically can manually update their Roku player immediately. Detailed instructions can be found in the Help section of Roku’s website under the Roku Channel Store tab at http://www.roku.com/support/faqs.

found @ www.crunchgear.com

It started with looking through the instant play movies that were available on Netflix. Chocolat with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche was on the front page. Ummm…. yes. I’ll see it again!

I googled ‘Chocolat,’ and I found this:

Gateau au Chocolat (Via Fashion and Music Galore)

Next I found a pic of this:

Gateau Mousse au Chocolat (Via Recettes du Quebec)

OMG. I just need a full weekend off so I can *try* to make these. And then devour them!

Gateau Mousse au Chocolat (4 Ingredients Only!!!!)

[Taken from Setting a Chocolate Trap (article) by Janet Keeler. Recipe found in At Home with the French Classics (book) by Richard Graussman]

8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Unsweetened cocoa powder and whipped cream for decoration (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth.

Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks until blended. Immediately pour the mixture into a large bowl. (The melted chocolate and butter will be hot enough to poach the egg yolks, which will lightly thicken the mixture.)

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.

With a whisk, fold of the stiffly beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Pour 3/4 of the chocolate mousse into the pan. (Refrigerate the remainder until ready to use.)

Bake on the middle rack 30-35 minutes. The cake will rise quite high at first; when it beings to fall back in the center, it is done.

Unmold onto a cake rack to cool right-side up. When cooled, the cake will have a concave center. Transfer the cake, with the aid of a long metal spatula, to a serving platter and fill the center with the remaining mousse mixture. Refrigerate until the mousse sets, about 1 hour.

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Thee who tore up the Netflix mailer: Umbrella Too “Linus”

Randomly almost every day I will take a walk with Patty and Linus to the mailbox. It’s something Patty did with him back when she lived in Austin and I always would invite my cat along with me so to have Linus to go with made it even more fun. He loves playing with the keys afterwards.

Well, this time I got some Netflix in and I’m a huge fan of ‘em. As I was anxiously opening them to see what I got, Linus sat himself on a perch watching me. I tore the pieces off the mailers and looked back at him, then crinkled it in my hand a little and handed it over.

Boy did Linus ever get excited!

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Thee who tore up the Netflix mailer: Umbrella Too “Linus”

I whipped out the camera as fast as I could but he tore into the packaging faster than I could manage to catch and had a complete ball with it! So if you’ve been pondering about whether or not to start your subscription with Netflix and just need one more reason… here it is! Do it for your bird!

]]> http://restlessones.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/recommends/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:10:54 +0000 Tylor http://restlessones.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/recommends/

I have had many blog posts floating around in my head but none of them have really come to fruition.  At the same time, though, I have been  coming across many great films that I always want to recommend.  That’s what I’m doing now.  All of these can be found on Netflix (which is also where the descriptions come from) so check them out.  My own comments are below in blue.

Persepolis

Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) just wants to be an ordinary kid, but that isn’t easy in 1978 Iran. This profound animated film follows Marjane’s childhood in a repressive society, her adolescence in France and her return to Tehran as an adult. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel, this Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature Film also features the vocal talents of Catherine Deneuve and Simon Abkarian.

I just saw this the other night.  It’s not only a very interesting story of this one woman’s life but also will help to explain just how Iran got the way it is today.

God Grew Tired of Us

After raising themselves in the desert along with thousands of other “lost boys,” Sudanese refugees John, Daniel and Panther have found their way to America, where they experience electricity, running water and supermarkets for the first time. Capturing their wonder at things Westerners take for granted, this documentary, an award winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, paints an intimate portrait of strangers in a strange land.

A fascinating documentary that tells about the experiences of these refugees in America.  I like how it didn’t simply parade a cause before the audience but instead simply looked into a few peoples’ lives on a personal and honest level.

Kill!

Director Kihachi Okamoto’s inky action-comedy (based on the same novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill!) pokes fun at samurai flicks and Italian giallos. When two swordsmen roll into a new town — one a former farmer and the other a retired samurai warrior — they intend to lead normal lives. But the troubles of a band of rebels fighting the vile local clan leader convince the pair to pick up their weapons again.

Sadly, I couldn’t track down a trailer for this one.  This film wears all the vestments of an old samurai flick while also displaying a cheeky and subtle sense of humor.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Inspired by author Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel, this anime follows the adventures of Makoto Konno, a seemingly ordinary high school student who makes a startling revelation when she learns that she’s been endowed with the ability to travel back in time. Following a series of frivolous “time leaps,” Makoto learns that her powers have a negative impact on the people around her and sets out to correct the effects of her actions.

It’s an old premise that’s been done many times over but this film manages to keep it fresh with beautiful animation, believable and likable characters, and a surprisingly down-to-earth message.

Death Note and Death Note II

When he discovers a mystical notebook that grants him the power to kill anyone he wants by merely writing their name, a brilliant student named Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara) develops a god complex and attempts to create utopia. Now, it’s up to ingenious detective “L” (Ken’ichi Matsuyama) to stop the supernatural vigilante. Directed by Shusuke Kaneko, this eerie thriller also stars Asaka Seto, Erika Toda and Shigeki Hosokawa.

Like Kill Bill, this is a story split between two films.  Even with it’s supernatural premise, this is a detective thriller at it’s core.  The dynamic battle of wits between the genius detective and the genius vigilante is both fantastic and believable.

Linda Linda Linda

It’s three days before the big school talent show and Kyoto, Kei and Nozumi are in a fix when their lead singer quits over artistic differences. Their only candidate to fill the spot is a Korean foreign exchange student who can barely speak any Japanese. Time for some all-night rehearsals! Directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita and featuring a score by former Smashing Pumpkins member James Iha, this lighthearted comedy stars Du-na Bae and Yu Kashii.

This is one of my old standby favorites.  A quirky slice-of-life comedy of the kind that always relaxes me and makes me smile.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

When he’s not busy breaking the law or trying to get close to his secret crush, Penny (Felicia Day), supervillain wannabe Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) boasts about his exploits via his Internet video blog and dreams of defeating his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). Conceived during the 2008 Hollywood writers’ strike, Joss Whedon’s quirky musical comedy originally debuted as an online miniseries.

A hilarious musical send up of all the superhero/super-villain tropes.  I still get songs from this stuck in my head on a regular basis.

The Taste of Tea

Director Katsuhito Ishii’s whimsical episodic tale chronicles a summer in the lives of the quirky Haruno clan, who passes the unhurried days trying to realize their ambitions. As Mom (Satomi Tezuka) attempts to revive her career, her hypnotherapist hubby (Tomokazu Miura) practices on the family. Meanwhile, their pubescent son (Takahiro Sato) feels the pangs of love, and their 6-year-old daughter (Maya Banno) grapples with a pesky dopplegänger.

Weird, quirky, and oddly relaxing.  This is another slow-moving slice-of-life comedy that I leaves me with a relaxed smile on my face.

That’s enough for now.  Let me know your own recommendations in the comments.

While it won’t move the needle much on its content library, IFC Entertainment announced yesterday that it will offer 53 films through Netflix’s (s NFLX) Watch Instantly streaming service, reports Variety.

True, that’s not a very large number, but it marks the first time IFC is providing its content to a subscription streaming service. Up until now, the company has placed films from its 300-title library on EST destinations like Amazon (s AMZN), iTunes (s AAPL) and Blockbuster (s BBI).

IFC titles heading to Netflix’s streaming service include Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line and John Sayles’ Return of the Secaucus Seven.

As we’ve written before, Netflix’s Achilles’ heel is its streaming content library. Though it has over 17,000 titles, it needs to make sure that service is robust enough so that the number of subscribers using the service keeps growing. Check out Om’s recent talk with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings at our recent NewTeeVee Live Conference for more on his company’s streaming efforts.

Separately, though we didn’t see anything official announced, it looks like Netflix also just got a whole boatload of Saturday Night Live content in this week, including seasons 1 – 5.

To learn more about streaming directly to TVs, check out the report on The Evolution of Over-the-Top Video over at our subscription research service, GigaOM Pro.

While  The Legend of Billie Jean hasn’t yet made the transition from obscure VHS to DVD, it looks as though it’s a possibility, thanks to fervent nostalgics that transformed the ballyhooed 1985 teen movie into a cult classic. (Yeardly Smith did record DVD commentary for Sony, who was supposed to have released it by now). Surprisingly, those with a Netflix account, can endure the technological limbo, and add the movie to their Instant Queue.

This film is an odd product for its day, given the kind of movies that once typified the teen genre. Amidst numerous, cheaply produced T & A comedies (Private School, Spring Break, Porky’s, etc.), which indulged the exploits of mindlessly horny adolescents, John Hughes would soon become an 80s icon with sincere portrayals of American youth, both in drama and comedy. Elsewhere, a sub-genre of C-grade films that, seemingly inspired by 1950s pulp fiction, raised paranoia about the urban teenage timebomb (i.e. Class of 1984, Savage Streets, 3:15). Well, somewhere in the middle of all this is The Legend of Billie Jean. The B-grade action-drama (which includes a tasty foot chase!) isn’t set in the halls of the All-American high school, the comfort of Middle-class America, or even the grimy streets of the inner city, but more unusually, was filmed in and around the coastal Texas city of Corpus Christi.

At the forefront of The Legend of Billie Jean is the vigilante teen hero — or in this case, a heroine. This much had been done before, most notably, in Jonathan Kaplan’s 1979 film, Over the Edge. Based on true events, it tells the story of a burgeoning, fictional Colorado suburb brought to its knees in a violent revolt by its  bored and restless young residents who were ignored in its development. The decade’s punk cinema, too, steeped in a naive devotion to anarchy, was rife with temporary youth revolt (changing the status quo is hard work). Smithereens and Times Square, for example, featured angsty heroines who energized young, alienated audiences with their songs about mass delusion. Pump Up the Volume, which shares its star Christian Slater with The Legend of Billie Jean, was released in 1990. A sort of precursor to the free culture principals, it centered on an introverted teenager who, by  night, becomes a popular pirate radio DJ that urges the town’s disaffected teenagers to challenge arbitrary authority.

But, unlike these films, and contrary to the kind of war cry lyrics in Pat Benatar’s theme song, Invincible (“We can’t afford to be innocent/stand up and face the enemy…”), Billie Jean doesn’t exactly scream hardened leader. Helen Slater’s asthmatic 17 year-old centerfold-esque Billie Jean is confident, selfless, and innocent.

…In other words, she’s unrealistically wholesome.

Even her eventual MTV-styled makeover into a sexy feminist-guerrilla hybrid (add revealing wetsuit, buzz cut, carefully applied makeup and combat boots), it is an uncomfortable, shallow (“Billie Jean, you look… famous”), and temporary metamorphosis. Confident and selfless as she may be, her background — living with her brother and widowed mother in a sleepy trailer park — seem to only offer minimal impetus for her ethics, and no fodder at all for the crisis that erupts, setting the scene, of course, for that that beloved logic-suspending 80’s movie cheesiness.

The film begins, quite simply, with Billie Jean’s brother, Binx (Christian Slater in his film debut; no relation to co-star Helen Slater) humiliating a couple of assholes that won’t leave he and his sister alone. In retaliation, they steal Binx’s prized motor scooter while he and his sister are out on the lake. (Yes, the premise already sounds corny, but it is an update of The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas and horses just don’t mean the same to the average American teenager). Billie Jean assures her brother that they’ll  return the bike, and when they don’t, Binx decides to get it back himself. Hoping to avoid making matters worse, Billie Jean grabs her friends and heads to the police station, but the cop she speaks to (Peter Coyote) is, somewhat understandably, no help in the matter.

Binx eventually comes home a bloody mess; the bike is destroyed. Fruitlessly trying to be diplomatic Billie Jean presents  Hubie Pyatt (Barry Tubb), one of the conspirators, with an estimate from the body shop at his father’s beachfront souvenir store, asking him to compensate them for the damages. When he refuses, she takes up the issue with his father, who turns out to be an even bigger sleazebag, attempting to bargain for sexual favors.  Wondering what is taking so long, her brother and friends wander into the now-empty store (Pyatt makes his grotesque advances upstairs). Binx opens the cash drawer and finds a gun and, when Billie Jean frantically climbs down the stairs urging that they all leave, Binx threatens Pyatt with the gun, sheepishly telling him to leave his sister alone and give them the money. That simple. But, when Hubie walks in on the middle of this, his father quickly concocts a plausible explanation: the kids came to rob him. When Hubie doesn’t want to leave them to get the police because Binx is pointing a gun at his dad, Mr. Pyatt scoffs that he wouldn’t actually keep a loaded gun in the drawer. Binx, distraught, confusedly examines the gun when he accidentally shoots Mr. Pyatt. When Hubie runs for help, Billie Jean, Binx, and their friends get the hell out of their, now a couple of teenage fugitives.

Ridiculous as the movie soon becomes — in one scene, Billie Jean and the gang intervene in the abuse of an anonymous kid, and later, they devise a fake kidnapping of the Mayor’s nerdy son (actor-turned-director Kieth Gordon) to gain some leverage — this emphasizes the film’s commentary on the public’s thirst for celebrity and sensationalism. Immediately, Billie Jean attempts to make amends by contacting the police officer she previously spoke with (he is the only evidence that what transpired may have been an accident) to arrange their surrender, with the added caveat that Pyatt pay what is owed. When, the story is picked up in the local media, they become local antiheroes, celebrated by the young and criticized by the old. “Fair is fair” becomes their moniker and Billie Jean, the most morally-conscious and level-headed, becomes the spokeswoman for the fugitive group. On the one hand,she’s viewed by her peers as a (misunderstood) symbol of victorious teenage rebellion. Young girls in particular begin to emulate her clothes and hairstyle, and more importantly, form underground support networks that Billie Jean accidentally becomes aware of later on. Elsewhere, local news reporters, radio DJs, and merchandisers eat up the story. Even the Pyatts profit, selling posters of in their shop. So intensely sensationalized, trivialized, and exploited, it’s hard for Billie Jean, her brother, and friends not to get swept up in the inevitably disillusioning frenzy. The moment where Billie Jean, distraught, pulls down a poster and looks at the illustration of herself in front of a target perfectly captures this idea.

Pat Benatar is said to really berate this movie before performing “Invincible” at concerts, though this might indicate an underlying, unwanted contractual obligation to work on the film (or some other manner of being professionally wrong with regards to this movie). It can hardly be called the worst movie ever made (Fatal Rescue instead deserves that title). It’s heavy-handed, exaggerated adventure, and entertaining enough all the same.