The Last Exorcism: My Thoughts

On 09.01.10, In Movies, By AC Slater

The Last Exorcism Impressions

I got a chance to check out the Eli Roth produced "The Last Exorcism" last night so I figured I'd give a quick rundown on my thoughts. I really hate calling these things reviews because I don't like the stigma that comes with movie critics. This is my opinion of the movie and what I saw, some of you will agree with it and some of you won't. Maybe you'll agree with some of the things I say, but not others and I totally respect that because clearly not everyone has the same taste in movies, and that's not a bad thing.

If you're not sure who Eli Roth is he's the man behind such flicks as Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hostel II. He's also had some bit acting roles in movies like Piranha 3-D and Cabin Fever, but more notably he played The Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. Basically if you're into the horror genre you've probably heard this guys name and could recognize his face. In this instance he's only on as a producer with Daniel Stamm behind the camera.

The movie follows a documentary film crew as they learn about fake exorcisms and how one preacher uses smoke and mirrors to "help" rid people of their demons. I don't want to give too much away so I'm going to keep the plot light, but at it's core that's what it is. So after receiving a letter from a man a few towns over, they head out to perform an exorcism, or basically fake an exorcism, to help a young girl.

I know what you're probably thinking, "Really, another found footage/documentary style horror movie..." and honestly I'm starting to feel the same way. I'm a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project, not necessarily because it was the greatest movie in the world, but for it's originality in it's presentation. Before that movie came out the only other one that I know of that was similar was Cannibal Holocaust and that didn't really play as well due to the graphic nature of it. So needless to say I've been a fan of the creativity that comes with the "found footage/documentary" style movies. I thought Paranormal Activity was very well done, I thought Cloverfield was good as well for a higher budget go at the genre, but upon hearing that "The Last Exorcism" was being hailed as amazing and was yet another movie of this type, I was a little skeptical.

I will say that Lionsgate did a tremendous job of marketing the movie because I wasn't even really sure what it was completely about before going into it. I essentially thought it was the documentation of a real exorcism, which isn't really the case as I mentioned above. So kudos to you Lionsgate for filling the seats and pulling in $20+ million opening weekend. I hope this leads to more low budget movies like this getting attention.

My thoughts on the movie are a little mixed, to be honest. While I was watching it I felt like the first hour or so kind of dragged, but after it ended and I think back on it, the first hour was actually a really good setup for the last act of the movie, so I don't feel as cheated as I may have felt while watching it. I felt like there were more subtle scare moments in the first couple acts of Paranormal Activity than there were in this film, but the last 30 minutes or so of this flick delivered more than PA. I thought the story was pretty interesting and pretty well written. I thought most of the acting was good, but since it's a documentary style film the acting doesn't have to be perfect because we're supposed to believe that they aren't actors. From a technical aspect when it came to editing and sound I was a little disappointed, but I'm sure 99% of people won't be bothered by the few things that bothered me. For example, the use of music I thought took away from the realism of the film. Just comparing to other movies of this style, they normally don't have soundtracks playing because there wouldn't be music playing, unless there was a source within the actual setting of the movie, so this was a little distracting to me. I was also able to pick up on a few moments where there was obviously a scene cut together in a creative manner to make it look like it was one continuous shot. But again, I know this has to be done and 99% of people aren't going to notice it.

Despite it's few minor flaws I thought it was a good flick. As far as the ending goes, since that seems to be what everyone is talking about, I didn't really see how it could have ended any other way and honestly it was pretty predictable, but not bad by any means. I thank Eli Roth for putting this one together and getting it out to the masses and I thank Lionsgate for taking a chance on an independent horror movie. And if either of you ever read this and want to support another little guy, I have a pitch for you if you're wiling to listen, haha.

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ShopKick Impressions

On 08.17.10, In Technology, By AC Slater

If you haven't heard of ShopKick yet, don't worry it just launched today, but I have a feeling you'll be hearing about it a lot more in the coming months. Basically what it is is a location based reward program where you get points for going to certain places and doing certain things (mostly scanning items). If it sounds a lot like Foursquare, that's because it is, but with one huge difference, you don't check in at places. The participating locations have a device installed near the doors that emits a sound that we can't hear, but the iPhone can, so when you enter the store with the app open it will automatically "check you in" and award you the points for visiting the store. Once inside the store there are other ways to gain points, like scanning different products. I'm not sure what their plan is for other ways to gain points, but at the moment it looked like scanning was the only way (at least at Best Buy). And the point of all this is that once you gain enough points you can redeem them for different rewards, whether it's credits on facebook or gift cards to different stores. There are a handful of options right now and I'm sure that will grow in the future. So that's the gist of the service itself now let's talk about my experience with it today.

Chicago happens to be one of the markets were the devices have been placed in Best Buy stores around the area. Today was the first day that the service has been activated along with the app becoming available in the App Store this morning. It just so happens that we venture out to Best Buy every Tuesday during lunch to check out the new releases and kill some time away from the office, so it was a perfect chance to test out ShopKick and see what it's all about.

The app itself is very pretty, the graphics look nice and it works as you would expect it to. It finds your location and finds different stores in the area that you can either check in to the normal way and gain "non-reward" points that basically just level you up in the game (kind of like MyTown), as well as stores that are participating that you can go to and get points for walking in the door and scanning stuff. With app in hand we made our way over to Best Buy to try it out.

As we approached the front doors I launched the app as I wasn't sure if the app needed to be running in the foreground (I'm pretty sure it does) to pick up the sound that the in-store device is emitting. The phone didn't register the sound at the exact moment we walked in, but it picked it up while we were still close to the front of the store. My co-worker also signed up as we were in the store and the first time he launched it after verifying his account, it picked up that we were in the store and automatically awarded him the 75 points. So it seems like you don't have to remember as you walk into the store as long as you launch the app at some point during your visit, and if you're going to be scanning stuff you'll have it open anyways.

Now let's talk about the scanning of products to get bonus points. For Best Buy there were 5 featured items that you could find in the store and scan for bonus points. I only went through and found 2 of them because I didn't really feel like rummaging through the store with my phone out looking like a jackass... And actually that's kind of what I felt like as I was grabbing a Blu-Ray of The Bank Job and scanning the UPC with my phone. Ok, actually the Blu-Ray wasn't terrible, but I did feel awkward as I grabbed a box for a set of computer speakers and flipped it around to scan the UPC. So while I found the scanning to be a little weird, it definitely makes you walk around the store and look at stuff you wouldn't normally look at.

So the App itself works very well for everything that it is supposed to and I managed to rack up almost 200 points in one visit to Best Buy today. I'm still a little foggy on how many points I'm going to have to get in order to redeem them for a decent size gift card. The app says the Best Buy Gift Card is 500+ points and denominations start at $2, so that would lead me to believe that it's 500 points for $2... so while it's not the greatest reward I'm not spending money on anything so it's basically money for free. So we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks after it's been out for a bit and if there are any changes I'll let you know, but as of right now I'll continue using the service to see how many points I can build up and see if it's actually worth the time.

shopkick.com

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20 minutes with the Kinect demo unit W/Video.

On 07.20.10, In Video Clips, Video Games, By AC Slater

A buddy of mine recently got some hands on experience with Microsoft's new motion sensing technology, Kinect, at the Macy's store in downtown Chicago and wanted to share his thoughts. After reading his review, this is pretty much what I was expecting from this device/technology. So check it out below and if you've had a chance to try it out let us know what you thought in the comments.

Personal background:

I’ve been playing video games since the late 80’s. I’d like to think of myself as a gaming everyman. I’ve owned the NES, Gameboy Color, Sega Genesis, 32X (not proud of that), Game Gear, SNES, Playstation 1 & 2, Dreamcast, PSP, iPod Touch, various PC setups, and the Xbox360. No Playstation 3 or Wii. I didn’t realize how much of a gaming dork I was until I just re-read how many systems I’ve owned. Anyways, I’ve just about tried them all out so I’m fairly well versed in video game controls (from controllers to super scopes to DDR dance pads). The video games currently making their rotation in the Xbox are Read Dead Redemption, MW2, Forza 3, Mega Man 10, and Trials HD. I’ve got plenty of other games of various genres, but these are the ones I’m playing at this time. Most of my multiplayer gaming is done via Xbox Live or Steam. I haven’t done much local multiplayer since Halo (1-3). I’m a 26 years old mechanical engineer who makes my money by designing and construction rail road signal, traction power, and communication systems for a large Midwest specialty electrical contractor. Now you have a baseline to compare yourself to.

Judging a book by its cover:

I will admit that prior to trying the Kinect that I thought it was pretty stupid looking from the games that were demoed to the wacky wavy-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-man like motions that players had to do. The games didn’t really cater to my personal gaming style. I will never buy a game where I stroke the air to pet a virtual animal. Everything else just seemed to be mini-games rather than complete story driven games. When I saw the alleged $150 price tag for the unit and $60 for the games I pretty much decided then and there that this was not for me unless this was something really special.

Macy’s Chicago 7/17/10

I was back in Chicago for a company charity event (recently moved to NJ for a multi-year project). This trip also coincided with a 21st birthday party my sister was having down town. After the charity event, I made my way home, cleaned up, met with my brother (Kevin [not much of a gamer, keep in mind for later]) and headed to the party. Bought my sister a drink that she couldn’t finish (Irish Car Bomb), had a couple of my own then took off so the kids could play. Kevin and I wandered the streets a bit to check out some of the Transformers 3 cars and props that were littering the Chicago streets. Knowing that MS had their demo unit up at Macy’s, I convinced Kevin that we should make the pilgrimage to the store since we were in the vicinity. When we made it there I went up to a cashier to see if they could point me in the direction of the Kinect since there were no signs or indications that it was anywhere in the building. They had no idea what I was talking about so they sent me down to customer service. Luckily customer service was aware of it and sent me in the right direction which just so happened to be in the vicinity of the first guy whom I asked where it was. On display was the Kinect and the new Xbox, a 52” (estimated) Samsung LCD TV, a couch for spectators and a big purple MS Kinect rug. The Kinect looked larger in person that I thought it would be. Like the pics show, it is the same glossy black plastic that the new Xbox sports. It has the two cameras to the center and to the left is another sensor the same size as the cameras. It puts off a faint series of red lights that reminded me of the scanners at retail checkouts. It wasn’t distracting while playing, but when looking directly at the unit, you can’t help but notice it. When I walked up some guy was playing the track and field game. He was having a difficult time jumping over the hurdles in the race and came in last place three tries in a row. After a few minutes he walked away with a fairly indifferent look on his face. Since there was no one else waiting to try, I jumped right in.

Impressions of each of the games after the jump.

(more...)

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The Last Airbender Review

On 07.02.10, In Movies, By AC Slater

I had never watched the show on Nickelodeon until my girlfriend started watching it and even then we only made it through a few episodes and I could already tell it was a little much for me. And when I say "much" I mean that it was a little too childish, but it wasn't terrible. I saw through a handful of episodes and actually once Aang stopped acting like an annoying little kid and started kicking people's asses, it wasn't terrible... but we're not here to talk about the TV show so let's get to the movie.

M. Night Shyamalan has written and directed such classics as "The Sixth Sense". . . and that's about it. I'll admit I did like "Unbreakable" when a lot of people didn't and I thought "Signs" was decent. "The Village" was a little boring and the twist was predictable and "Lady in the Water" and "The Happening" were just terrible, but even with the last 2 not being that great, the trailers for "The Last Airbender" seemed decent in the special effects department so I was kind of looking forward to it.

Before I even went into the theater I kind of knew what to expect. I had read a few of the test screening reviews and all of them said that the acting was horrendous. I had also heard that the kid playing Aang wasn't even Asian and that he had never acted before and was only cast because of his martial arts skills. So going into the movie I was expecting terrible acting and decent special effects and all in all that's what I got.

Noah Ringer, who plays Aang, is definitely not 100% Asian, but he did have some Asian type qualities to him and I didn't find it too distracting. What I did find distracting was his acting, and actually all of the acting. Even the acting of Dev Patel, who I thought did a fine job in "Slumdog Millionaire" seemed bad. Even Cliff Curtis, who is a pretty solid actor, seemed way out of his element here, not to mention the main cast of younger actors. So it seems as though the test screening reviews that I read were pretty spot on with the acting, but I'm not sure if it was the acting so much as the writing...

M. Night wrote the script, as he normally does, but the dialogue and exchanges between characters just seemed very unnatural throughout the film. There were some parts where the dialogue was even laughable when it was supposed to be a serious moment. I don't know if Night is just slipping as he's becoming more comfortable in Hollywood, but I don't recall the dialogue in "The Happening" to be good either. I mean Mark Wahlberg talks to plants for god sake. So yes, the acting is pretty terrible and it is quite a distraction from the rest of the movie.

As for the plot itself, it seemed as though there was way too much jammed into an hour and 40 or so minutes. The movie covers the first season of the TV show and a good amount happens, so to cut that down to the length of a feature film doesn't do the show justice. The story also seemed to jump around a lot and made use of a narrator to catch us up on things that had happened in the time that had passed, which I didn't like.  I understand that it's not easy to stay true to the source material and appease the fans while trying to condense a seasons worth of material into 2 hours of film, but there had to have been a better way. The movie definitely left itself open to a sequel, but I'm just not sure that we'll ever see the conclusion of the story. The movie is going up against "Eclipse" this weekend, do you really think it stands any sort of chance? If I were the studio, I would have at least pushed the movie back a week or up a week. There's no way I would want to open a movie geared towards a younger audience when I know that "Eclipse" is coming out that same weekend.

So that's what I didn't like about the movie, but that's not to say that I hated the movie. The special effects and visuals were actually pretty good. We didn't see it in 3D because, like most movies these days, it's a 3D conversion meaning that the movie was not shot in 3D or developed to be in 3D. After "Avatar" came out, studios started converting all their movies to 3D because they think that's what the audience wants. Well guess what Hollywood, IT'S NOT WHAT WE WANT! If a movie is conceived and shot using 3D technology then fine, I'll bite, but when a movie is shot conventionally and then converted to 3D you end up giving us a giant pile of shit that we have to watch through glasses. This is why 3D is going to fail. If the camera technology isn't out there being used then why even bother. So with that in mind, we saw it in 2D and visually it was great. There were a few scenes where the camera movement was too fast or something and there was a ridiculous amount of ghosting that was very distracting. The element effects were absolutely stunning, especially the water effects, so it made the movie watchable.

I would say that if you had a choice between "Eclipse" and "The Last Airbender" this weekend, I would just go outside and hang out with friends. It's 4th of July weekend [in the US] there's no reason to spend it sitting inside a movie theater with the choices available. If you're a fan of the TV show you'll probably enjoy most of the movie, but don't expect to be blown away. Personally I'd wait until Blu-Ray to check it out. So overall not the worst movie I've seen, but between the bad acting, bad writing and convoluted storyline I would say skip this one for now. If you want to go for just the special effects, by all means do, but it's not as epic as the trailers would make you believe, but it's still pretty cool and fun to watch.

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24 Hours With The iPhone 4

On 07.01.10, In Technology, By AC Slater

At around 10:30am yesterday morning I got a text message from my Dad saying that my iPhone 4 had come to his house. I had been on vacation for the past week so I had it shipped to their house where someone could sign for it. And actually I was in San Francisco on launch day, but there was no way I was going to spend 1/2 of my time there standing in the 2+ block line that had formed outside of the Apple store. I did however get a free burrito from Chipotle that they were handing out to people in line (as well as any idiot that grabbed one out of the box). So after a quick trip to the doctor to try and return hearing to my right ear, which had been gone ever since we landed in LA a week prior, I was off to my parents to pick up my shiny new toy.

Setting up the phone itself was very simple, plug in to iTunes, activate, sync... done. The only problem I ran into was trying to sync pictures back to the new phone from iPhoto. Normally I don't use iPhoto so this was the first time I had ever taken any of the pictures off of my 3GS so it took a few minutes. Actually, getting them off of the 3GS was simple, it was getting them back on to the iPhone 4 that was giving me problems for some reason, but eventually I figured it out.

With the phone all setup and ready to go I tried out my first "FaceTime" video call... and it didn't work. Ok, I guess I should clarify, it kind of worked, but it was unusable. Now I'm not blaming this on the phone at all, I'm blaming it on the wifi connection of my calls recipient. I was at home and know that my wifi is pretty decent, but the recipient of my call was at a crowded bar with free wifi that wasn't very good. The call connected fine, but the video wasn't moving and the audio was all jumbled (and actually now that I think about it, there may have been some torrents going in the background on my machine, but I can't be sure). I'll give it another shot tonight and see how it really works, so I won't pass judgment on the feature just yet.

As for the cameras themselves, I'm actually quite impressed. The front camera, even though it's lower quality than the back cam, still took very good pictures and video. The one thing I do wish I could do is swap between the front and back cameras while recording a video. If I'm doing something wrong and this is a feature please let me know. I know I was able to swap between cameras before hitting record, but once I started recording on one camera the "swap" button seems to disappear. The improvements to the back camera are fairly noticeable, but I'll have to do some more testing than I did in the past 24 hours. Same with the "light/flash". I took a few pictures using it, but none at night or in low light so I can't really say if it's that good, but the few pictures I have taken look much better and this makes me happy since I only use my phone as a point and shoot now since my old canon one broke and I hate lugging around my DSLR when I don't need it.

The reception on the phone hasn't been a problem for me at all, although I don't hold the phone with the "Death Grip" that the people complaining do. I tend to balance the phone on the bottom with my pinky with my thumb on one side and my ring/middle fingers on the other side, so I'm not making the connection with my palm that other people are that is killing their reception. Also, I hold the phone with my left hand if that makes a difference... Either way, reception has been totally fine, I've made a few calls using the handset as well as the hands-free headphones with no issues.

Apps all seem to run a lot smoother compared to my 3GS with better performance overall. Apps open a lot faster and everything just seems a lot more responsive... And then there's the screen, Wow! I'm seriously in love with this retina display. The 3GS screen doesn't even compare to this, I don't even really know how to describe it, it looks that good. The viewing angles on it are incredible, you can see everything completely clear even at the most drastic angle, it's amazing. I have played with the EVO 4G and when I first saw it I was amazed at the screen and the iPhone 4 is right up there. I can't make a judgment either way since I don't have both in front of me, but I will say that both screens look amazing and I'm very impressed with the retina display. Honestly the new display alone makes the purchase well worth it, it's so much easier on the eyes.

And lastly I want to talk about the form factor of the iPhone 4. All I have to say is thank you Apple. The new design is very sleek and much nicer looking than that weird bulge on the back of the 3GS. The whole design just seems a lot more modern and a lot more "Apple". My only complaint about it is that it's so damn slippery, almost to the point where I HAVE to buy a case. Normally I do buy cases for my phone because they have been slippery in the past and I do, on a rare occasion, drop the phone, but this one is so cool looking I don't want to have to put a case on it, but I may have no choice. I can't even leave it on my nightstand at night because the slight tension on the cord, based on where the outlet is, pulls on the phone just enough to make it slide and I've already read horror stories about the back glass shattering from a small fall. I do, however, refuse to pay $30 for the apple bumper case when I can just make one from a "livestrong" type bracelet for a buck (and donate to charity).

So that's what I got so far. After 24 hours of use I'm very happy with my purchase even though the buyer of my 3GS fell through. This phone is well worth the $200 and I have yet to have a huge problem with it at all. I know the reception issues are there and it's probably not just a few bad phones (based on all the tech blogs reports), but I don't hold my phone in a manner that would cause me to have the problem, so I have no issues. Now I'm excited to see were the "FaceTime" chat goes in the future, I really hope the build iChat into all of this in the very [very] near future or at least open up FaceTime to the 3G network, but we'll see what happens.

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