Go here. If you have any program that can take Shoutcast streams, it'll link to music. (Translation: Winamp/iTunes) This links to the webpage where you can decide what you want to listen to next. It's pretty self-explanatory. My AjooBlast server is coming down.
Enjoy!
--C.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Last Matrix Comment, promise.
Just a question... don't you think the Matrix would be a heck of a lot cooler if it were done to techo rather than new age classical crap?
Ok, just so you know I'm not alone.
Here are some quotes from other reviews:
"This film is even "talkier" than the second--the difference being the second film's dialogue had meat to it. This time around, we're given nothing but third-rate overwrought "heart felt" garbage, with none of the philosophy or banter that makes the series function."
"Three plotlines, overlong movie--where I saw providence, the editor...well, must have fallen asleep. If you want to see the FX, wait for the DVD, advance to the middle sequence, watch it, and then return the damn thing to Blockbuster."
-- From needcoffee.com
"It's called "Revolutions" maybe because as it spins, you see the original story repeating itself - there's this guy Neo, people think he's a savior, but he's not sure, and then there's this big battle, and then...."
-- From the Philadelphia Daily News
"It's basically an action-adventure war movie decked out with a full battery of eye-boggling fantasy images. Plus a sort of New Age philosophical sauce poured over the stew to make you think it's more substantial than it really is."
"Much of the picture is devoted to sci-fi mayhem splashed all over the screen"
-- From the Christian Science Monitor
"Seems like every time you leave one of these "Matrix" movies, you're left with a swarm of brain-scratching questions buzzing around your brain, and the latest offering, "The Matrix Revolutions," might just be the most puzzling entry in the trilogy. How, for instance, could Morpheus go from being a cool, leather-clad guru to a doughy dork wearing a distressed J. Crew sweater in just a few months? Why devote a movie to the Machines' siege of Zion when what people really care about is Neo's search for the truth behind the Matrix? And if Neo is indeed Jesus, do we have to limit our prayers to one-syllable words?"
-- From LA Daily News.
"As for the story, it's exactly what you probably expect, more or less. Han Solo and Princess Leia struggle to help Luke Skywalker confront his shadow side in order to ... um ... whoops, wrong decade. Make that: Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne, flat) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss, flatter) struggle to help Neo (Keanu Reeves, goes without saying) confront his shadow side in order to, you know, save the world. "
"But for a cyberpunk/anime Tron knockoff in Blade's duds following The Omega Man's path toward a Hulk-like aura of self-discovery climaxing with a middling showdown stolen from Superman II, it's a reasonably enjoyable ride."
-- From SF Weekly (This review is actually REALLY funny... The movie is almost worth the review)
"A brief subplot awkwardly attempting to shoehorn Hinduism into the "Matrix" mythos comes across like a hurried high school student's cramming of unnecessary footnotes into a term paper to give it a feeling of being extensively researched."
-- From azstarnet.com
"The sibling masterminds abandon all humor and most invention for a series of Mr. Wizard cosmic cliches ("There is no action without consequence . . . ." "The power of the One extends beyond this world . . . ." "Captain, these lights are crawling with calamari!" OK, OK, sorry) and a murky pastiche of Alien, Star Wars and, worse, Star Trek ("The dock is breached!") that creaks along like a junk heap heaving through hyperspace."
-- From The Philadelphia Inquirer
""Will Neo wake up?" "Will humanity survive?" "What's for tea tonight?" "Gosh, is that the time?" are all questions you may ask during the first mind-numbing 40 minutes, with its rambling conversations and snoreful philosophical noodlings."
-- From the BBCi
"My admiration for "The Matrix Revolutions" is limited only by the awkward fact that I don't much give a damn what happens to any of the characters. If I cared more about Neo, Morpheus, Niobe and the others, there'd be more fire in my heart."
-- Roger Ebert (and this was one of the most positive reviews too!)
"This film is even "talkier" than the second--the difference being the second film's dialogue had meat to it. This time around, we're given nothing but third-rate overwrought "heart felt" garbage, with none of the philosophy or banter that makes the series function."
"Three plotlines, overlong movie--where I saw providence, the editor...well, must have fallen asleep. If you want to see the FX, wait for the DVD, advance to the middle sequence, watch it, and then return the damn thing to Blockbuster."
-- From needcoffee.com
"It's called "Revolutions" maybe because as it spins, you see the original story repeating itself - there's this guy Neo, people think he's a savior, but he's not sure, and then there's this big battle, and then...."
-- From the Philadelphia Daily News
"It's basically an action-adventure war movie decked out with a full battery of eye-boggling fantasy images. Plus a sort of New Age philosophical sauce poured over the stew to make you think it's more substantial than it really is."
"Much of the picture is devoted to sci-fi mayhem splashed all over the screen"
-- From the Christian Science Monitor
"Seems like every time you leave one of these "Matrix" movies, you're left with a swarm of brain-scratching questions buzzing around your brain, and the latest offering, "The Matrix Revolutions," might just be the most puzzling entry in the trilogy. How, for instance, could Morpheus go from being a cool, leather-clad guru to a doughy dork wearing a distressed J. Crew sweater in just a few months? Why devote a movie to the Machines' siege of Zion when what people really care about is Neo's search for the truth behind the Matrix? And if Neo is indeed Jesus, do we have to limit our prayers to one-syllable words?"
-- From LA Daily News.
"As for the story, it's exactly what you probably expect, more or less. Han Solo and Princess Leia struggle to help Luke Skywalker confront his shadow side in order to ... um ... whoops, wrong decade. Make that: Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne, flat) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss, flatter) struggle to help Neo (Keanu Reeves, goes without saying) confront his shadow side in order to, you know, save the world. "
"But for a cyberpunk/anime Tron knockoff in Blade's duds following The Omega Man's path toward a Hulk-like aura of self-discovery climaxing with a middling showdown stolen from Superman II, it's a reasonably enjoyable ride."
-- From SF Weekly (This review is actually REALLY funny... The movie is almost worth the review)
"A brief subplot awkwardly attempting to shoehorn Hinduism into the "Matrix" mythos comes across like a hurried high school student's cramming of unnecessary footnotes into a term paper to give it a feeling of being extensively researched."
-- From azstarnet.com
"The sibling masterminds abandon all humor and most invention for a series of Mr. Wizard cosmic cliches ("There is no action without consequence . . . ." "The power of the One extends beyond this world . . . ." "Captain, these lights are crawling with calamari!" OK, OK, sorry) and a murky pastiche of Alien, Star Wars and, worse, Star Trek ("The dock is breached!") that creaks along like a junk heap heaving through hyperspace."
-- From The Philadelphia Inquirer
""Will Neo wake up?" "Will humanity survive?" "What's for tea tonight?" "Gosh, is that the time?" are all questions you may ask during the first mind-numbing 40 minutes, with its rambling conversations and snoreful philosophical noodlings."
-- From the BBCi
"My admiration for "The Matrix Revolutions" is limited only by the awkward fact that I don't much give a damn what happens to any of the characters. If I cared more about Neo, Morpheus, Niobe and the others, there'd be more fire in my heart."
-- Roger Ebert (and this was one of the most positive reviews too!)
The Matrix 3 Game
Just went and saw the Matrix: Revolutions
I was fantastically amused and loved the movie... but that's because when I'm not engaged by a movie, I have a tendency to switch into MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre, 3000) mode.
Anyway, if you find yourself bored, try these fun activities that will keep you entertained (otherwise that cell-phone game will get pretty inticing). Any of these can be turned into a drinking game with a very minor addition of "and take a shot". Don't blame me for repercussions.
1) Reference spotting. Images and visual effects in this movie often echo scenes in such geeky classics like StarWars, Lord of the Rings, the Wizard of Oz, X-men and Atari video games and of course B-rated kung-fu. Can you spot them all?
2) What will Keanu say next? Remember those toys you had as a kid that when you pulled the string, it would say a short random phrase? Well Keanu is precisely that. He pauses for a some long time before saying anything, giving you plenty of time to guess the one-word that comes out his mouth. "The Neo goes.... 'Choice""
3) Who dies? Every time you see a character for the first time, major or minor, guess whether they die by the end of the movie or if they live. Lots of fun. Great betting game, especially with the minor characters. (Although, to be honest, I did really badly at this game... maybe your predicting skills are better)
4) Shakespeare could have said it better. One of my personal favorites. Every time someone says something that is poorly written, see if taking a famous line from Shakespeare would fit (in a MST3K kind of way). Quite predictably Hamlet's soliloquy and Romeo and Juliet (and even a little from Julius Ceaser) all work well, although a few of the Bard's comedies also provide excellent fodder.
5) Geek-and-a-half. Like the second matrix, this one is full of computer lingo, subtle references, or even not so subtle. Spot them and mock them. Then look for places where they will make a video game out of this movie. It's so fragmented that it would make a very good mission-based video game.
6) Philosophical musings. For the seriously bored. As in previous Matrix movies, the W- brothers try really hard to introduce thought-provoking questions. In the first one, there was the central one (do we exist and are we entirely self-aware) and at least it was integral to the plot and was pretty subtle. In the second Matrix, the idea of reincarnation and non-linear time was introduced, questions about our perception of time and space etc etc. This time, they decide to end the subtletly, take the big bludgeon of "look at me, I'm a thought-provoking question" and bash you, the veiwer, across the head with it... repeatedly. Even Waking Life was a little more subtle with it's philosophies (and that movie was a large number of philosophy professors and other random people talking about philosophy). Try to find them! A partial list below:
Questions dealing with, the nature and purpose of love; purpose, choice, fate and destiny; life and death; the fine line between reality and perception, consciousness and unconciousness and what happens when that line blurs; religion vs. science, faith vs. facts; control and power (are you the God of what you make?); language and definitions; balance ... just to name a few. I definately felt rather bludgeoned when I got out.
If doing all that is too hard just sit around and spot all the logical incosistencies and evidences of bad writing. That's plenty to get you hammered.
The funniest line from the movie for me was "Jesus H. Christ!" I can't explain why but it cracked me up.
--C.
I was fantastically amused and loved the movie... but that's because when I'm not engaged by a movie, I have a tendency to switch into MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre, 3000) mode.
Anyway, if you find yourself bored, try these fun activities that will keep you entertained (otherwise that cell-phone game will get pretty inticing). Any of these can be turned into a drinking game with a very minor addition of "and take a shot". Don't blame me for repercussions.
1) Reference spotting. Images and visual effects in this movie often echo scenes in such geeky classics like StarWars, Lord of the Rings, the Wizard of Oz, X-men and Atari video games and of course B-rated kung-fu. Can you spot them all?
2) What will Keanu say next? Remember those toys you had as a kid that when you pulled the string, it would say a short random phrase? Well Keanu is precisely that. He pauses for a some long time before saying anything, giving you plenty of time to guess the one-word that comes out his mouth. "The Neo goes.... 'Choice""
3) Who dies? Every time you see a character for the first time, major or minor, guess whether they die by the end of the movie or if they live. Lots of fun. Great betting game, especially with the minor characters. (Although, to be honest, I did really badly at this game... maybe your predicting skills are better)
4) Shakespeare could have said it better. One of my personal favorites. Every time someone says something that is poorly written, see if taking a famous line from Shakespeare would fit (in a MST3K kind of way). Quite predictably Hamlet's soliloquy and Romeo and Juliet (and even a little from Julius Ceaser) all work well, although a few of the Bard's comedies also provide excellent fodder.
5) Geek-and-a-half. Like the second matrix, this one is full of computer lingo, subtle references, or even not so subtle. Spot them and mock them. Then look for places where they will make a video game out of this movie. It's so fragmented that it would make a very good mission-based video game.
6) Philosophical musings. For the seriously bored. As in previous Matrix movies, the W- brothers try really hard to introduce thought-provoking questions. In the first one, there was the central one (do we exist and are we entirely self-aware) and at least it was integral to the plot and was pretty subtle. In the second Matrix, the idea of reincarnation and non-linear time was introduced, questions about our perception of time and space etc etc. This time, they decide to end the subtletly, take the big bludgeon of "look at me, I'm a thought-provoking question" and bash you, the veiwer, across the head with it... repeatedly. Even Waking Life was a little more subtle with it's philosophies (and that movie was a large number of philosophy professors and other random people talking about philosophy). Try to find them! A partial list below:
Questions dealing with, the nature and purpose of love; purpose, choice, fate and destiny; life and death; the fine line between reality and perception, consciousness and unconciousness and what happens when that line blurs; religion vs. science, faith vs. facts; control and power (are you the God of what you make?); language and definitions; balance ... just to name a few. I definately felt rather bludgeoned when I got out.
If doing all that is too hard just sit around and spot all the logical incosistencies and evidences of bad writing. That's plenty to get you hammered.
The funniest line from the movie for me was "Jesus H. Christ!" I can't explain why but it cracked me up.
--C.