I became very interested in seeing Iron Man when I saw that it was rated 94% on rottentomatoes - making it one of the highest rated movies for the year. I thought it was really good - I wasn’t disappointed at all (which is what sometimes happens when I am anticipating a great movie). I don’t want to give away any spoilers - but for any of you who think it might be some far-off science fiction fantasy, check out this article about a new robotic suit that can increase strength and endurance by up to 20 times.

But the technology already offers evidence that robotics can amplify human muscle power in reality - not just in the realm of comic books and movies like the recently debuted “Iron Man,” about a wealthy weapons designer who builds a high-tech suit to battle bad guys.

“Everybody likes the idea of being a superhero, and this is all about expanding the capabilities of a human,” said Stephen Jacobsen, chief designer of the Sarcos suit.

When I read on Twitter that Charelton Heston had died, I checked his wikipedia page and it said nothing of his death. I then checked google news and I saw that it was true - Charleton Heston had really died. So then I went back and refreshed his wikipedia page and it still had no information about his death. So I clicked edit, but when I went to add the info, it was already there. In between the refresh and the edit click, someone had already added the information.
Planet of the Apes was a good movie.
I just watched the Omega Man a few months ago, it was pretty dumb.

I just watched and enjoyed Lacombe Lucien. I think this movie was recommended to me via the Netflix AI recommendation system. I probably also double-checked it against Leonard Maltin’s 2007 Movie Guide. I agree with Leonard Maltin’s review of the movie:

Brilliant, perceptive account of opportunist French peasant Blaise, who joins the Gestapo during the Nazi Occupation - after setting out to join the Resistance - and falls in love with a Jewish tailor’s daughter. Subtle, complex tale of guilt, innocence, and the amorality of power; masterfully directed.

On rottentomatoes, I did a “tomato picker” search, and looked for all movies in the database that have an exact score of 0% and have had over 100 reviews. The only way to get a 0% is if every single one of the 100+ critics gave the movie a negative review. The search only returned one result: Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever.
This movie starred Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu and featured the tagline “Your most dangerous enemies are the friends you’ve double-crossed.”
Nobody liked the movie - not even one critic in over a hundred.
Despite this, it was nominated for four Taurus Awards, including Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Man and Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman.
One review on imdb begins “This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life…”

Here are Roger Ebert’s ten favorite films, along with their rotten tomatoes score and some of my comments:

1) Juno (93%): I saw this one last week and really liked it. Anything over a 90% rating on rottentomatoes.com is a must-see (and anything under 70% is a must-not-see) for me. Plus, it is only showing in select theaters across the USA - and it happened to be playing in Philadelphia, so I had to see it. The kid from Arrested Development is really funny, but mostly I thought the movie was optimistic and inspiring.
2) No Country for Old Men (95%): I saw this before it was released - one of the Ritz theaters in town was showing it before it officially was released. I was really excited to see it because of the great reviews, the Coen brothers directed it, and because it looked interesting. I was a little disappointed - I think because I had built it up so much, but I thought it was pretty good.
3) Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (88%): It is under 90%, but looks good - and now that it is on Ebert’s top ten, I will see it. I haven’t seen it yet.
4) Atonement (84%): I didn’t really want to see this because it doesn’t look that good to me, but I guess with an 84% and on Ebert’s top ten, I will see it. Good one to take the wife to, I guess - a love story.
5) The Kite Runner (63%): 63% sucks, and I don’t want to see this at all - but I probably will because my wife read the book and really wants to see it.
6) Away From Her (94%): This was awesome - I really liked this movie. I saw it right away because of the high score on rottentomatoes.
7) Across the Universe (52%): I’ve never heard of this and it only got 52% - what is this one doing on the list? Ebert says he wants to see it two or three more times. I don’t want to see it at all.
8) La Vie en Rose (74%): This one was pretty good. 74% is that gray area where it could go either way. The movie didn’t seem that interesting to me before I saw it and I liked it better than I thought I would.
9) The Great Debaters (65%): I have never heard of this one either and, based on the RT score, I’d rather not see it. My motto is “watch the best movies first or you may not have a chance to watch them at all.”
10) Into the Wild (82%): It seems kind of cheesy. I read the book and thought it was interesting. 82% isn’t bad - maybe I’ll put it in the netflix queue.

Special Jury Prize) Once (98%!): This movie was great. I hadn’t seen a movie like this before - it was really touching and powerful. You can read more of my thoughts about this one here - I posted about it after I saw it.

Tied for 11th) Eastern Promises (88%) - This was pretty good. I’m Not There (81%) I’d like to see this movie about Dylan. In the Valley of Elah (69%) 69% sucks and I’ve never heard of it, but I like Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Michael Clayton (90%) - yeah, I can’t believe I haven’t seen this yet - I want to. Rendition (46%) - 46% really sucks. Never heard of it and have no desire to see this. Romance & Cigarettes (53%) - never heard of it, don’t want to see it. Starting Out in the Evening (83%) - this looks interesting. I hadn’t heard of this, but I’d like to see it. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (87%) - looks good. Talk to Me (81%) - hadn’t heard of this either - looks okay. I like Don Cheadle. There Will Be Blood (90%) - hadn’t heard of this, and it looks good. I’d like to see it.

Best Foreign Films) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (95%) Wow, this looks great. Have to see this one. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (94%) - this looks awesome, too. Have to see this one, too. Lust, Caution (64%) - blah. The Orphanage (74%) - haunted orphange? eh, I don’t know. Not really interested, but I’d see it I guess. Vanaja (81%) - saved it in the netflix queue.

Best Animated Films) Beowulf (70%) 70% isn’t great - if I see this it is going to be in 3D at the IMAX theater. Persepolis (97%) - wow, great score. But only 31 reviews. Still, have to see this one. Ratatouille (97%) - amazing score with 195 reviews. Have to see this one, a must-see.

Best Documentaries) In the Shadow of the Moon (94%) - this looks great, have to see it. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (96%) - saw this with some guys at work - it was awesome. About the Donkey Kong arcade championship. Lake of Fie (94%) - this looks great, too - always a lot of good documentaries. No End in Sight (95%) - another one I’ll have to see. Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (95%) - I can’t believe I’ve never even heard of this one. I’ve met Pete Seeger a few times when I was a subway musician in NYC. Must see. Sicko (93%) - watched this in Italy on the iPod. I liked it then, but now I think a lot of the things he says are messed up and wrong.

SO, in order of rottentomatoes rating, Ebert’s movie list is this:
Once (98%!)
Persepolis (97%)
Ratatouille (97%)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (96%)
No Country for Old Men (95%)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (95%)
No End in Sight (95%)
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (95%)
Away From Her (94%)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (94%)
In the Shadow of the Moon (94%)
Lake of Fie (94%)
Juno (93%)
Sicko (93%)
Michael Clayton (90%)
There Will Be Blood (90%)
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (88%)
Eastern Promises (88%)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (87%)
Atonement (84%)
Starting Out in the Evening (83%)
Into the Wild (82%)
I’m Not There (81%)
Talk to Me (81%)
Vanaja (81%)
La Vie en Rose (74%)
The Orphanage (74%)
Beowulf (70%)
In the Valley of Elah (69%)
The Great Debaters (65%)
Lust, Caution (64%)
The Kite Runner (63%)
Romance & Cigarettes (53%)
Across the Universe (52%)
Rendition (46%)

The top ten movies that Ebert didn’t include on his list:
The Band’s Visit (100%)
Life of Reilly (100%)
Ten Canoes (98%)
Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (98%)
The Devil Came On Horseback (97%)
Deep Water (96%)
Triad Election (96%)
12:08 East of Bucharest (98%)
For the Bible Tells Me So (95%)
Nanking (95%)
Yeah, I’ve never heard of any of these - but I’d like to see them.

Other movies I am surprised he did not mention:
The Bourne Ultimatum (93%)
Gone Baby Gone (93%)
Enchanted (93%)
Hairspray (92%)
I’d like to see The Bourne Ultimatum and Enchanted. I didn’t really like Hairspray and Gone Baby Gone was okay.

This is awesome. I guess a lot of Kurosawa (my favorite director) movies are in public domain and can be downloaded for free.
Included are many great movies like Ikiru, Throne of Blood, and Rashomon.
Ikiru is one of my favorite movies of all-time.

This is a picture of tè verde before breakfast in Monterosso, with my Serpico t-shirt. As you can see I have a cup of green tea for both the right and the left hand. My wife drank cappuccino.

Serpico was a great movie.

Ray Kurzweil’s new movie sounds pretty interesting:

It’s a Pinocchio story. She detects a “gray goo” attack, an attack of self-replicating nanobots. The Department of Homeland Security is oblivious to this, and won’t listen to her, so she gets her other avatar friends to work on this. But she breaks some homeland security protocols in the process. She’s arrested — and there’s a discussion about how you can arrest a virtual person. She hires (civil rights attorney) Alan Dershowitz to defend her, and also to establish her rights as a legal person. She feels she’s human enough to have human rights. There’s a whole courtroom scene, and finally the judge says, “OK, I’ll grant your legal rights if you can pass the Turing Test.” She hires Tony Robbins, the motivational speaker, to help her become more human, and the plot goes on from there.

Ray actually wrote the plot summary on imdb for the movie. It will be released in late 2008.

Netflix values and rewards 9 core behaviors, including this one:

Selflessness
You are perceived to be guided by what you think is best for Netflix, rather than best for yourself. You are ego-less when it comes to finding the best ideas and interacting with others.

This is very anti-Ayn Rand, and also kind of stupid. So if I work at Netflix I have to forget about my own wants and wishes and give my soul to Netflix? If you work at uglychart.com, we value this one:

Selfishness
You are guided by what you think is best for yourself (obviously), and uglychart.com will reward those who work hard. You know you are smart and good at what you do, why else would we have hired you?

I think the confusion comes in that people think that selfishness means not doing for others and greed means stealing and other dishonest and unkind acts. The Dalai Lama even says that the goal of life is to be happy. But sometimes the best way to this selfish desire is through acts that may seem selfless. And sometimes the best way to this noble goal is through acts that may seem selfish.
I think the Dalai Lama and Ayn Rand are saying the same thing, deep down.

Often we become so used to things that we don’t even notice them. I’m visiting my hometown in Ohio now and even though I am sure I heard this sound every day growing up, I never really consciously remember thinking about it. It was just there in the background, forming the shape of Home in my subconscious.
On this visit, though, I have been consciously recognizing the sound and listening to it each time - surprised at how often I hear it. I have been doing this because I watched Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers and I remember hearing this sound in a scene at the end and consciously recognizing it as a familiar sound. Coincidentally, Jim Jarmusch is also from Akron, Ohio.
This is about as close to the sound I am talking about that I could find on the internet. To do it justice, turn the volume down pretty low, so it sounds far in the distance.