Minority Report seems to be getting closer. Several devices are being released (or at least I’ve just heard of them for the first time) with (semi)transparent screens thanks to the OLED technology. My only question is if people can see the content on your screen from the other side (I wouldn’t necessarily appreciate co-workers staring at every word I type). I’m wondering how far we are from technology that can produce screens which don’t need a surface to project an image. A video ‘screen’ in the sense of a laser sword would be awesome. The only thing you’d need would be a small bar which emits the screen.

In the mean while 3D-TV made our national news today. Apparently Sony will be releasing TV’s and other devices which can handle 3D. Already they released a 3D-TV end 2008 but you still needed the special glasses to get the effect. This time we’re talking 3D-TV without the need for any kind of glasses, something called autostereoscopic screens. I don’t know if watching people die on the news is something I’d prefer to be immersed in but ESPN‘s promise to show sports games shot in 3D should quite the experience.

Now all we need is TV’s with smell. But not for sports, please.

I went to see Avatar before yesterday and was very pleasantly surprised. It being called Pocahontas 2 put me off in the beginning but somehow this (ending up to be true) has had little effect on my appreciation. The visuals are so overwhelming and the landscapes being spit out on the screen don’t cease to baffle every second of the 120 minutes. The 3D version was sold out before we could get our hands on some tickets so we had to settle for the second biggest screen at the theater. But boy, would this have been even more dazzling and maybe even worth going back for a second time.

This movie can compete with 2012 which I saw a few weeks ago. Here as well the graphics were amazing with a story line worth lesss than nothing. I mean, people being enthusiastic about some old-timers found in the belly of the plane they fly above a world falling to pieces? Or the romantic scenes in that same plane where two lovebirds look each other in the eyes while America is burning? Hello, can we prioritize? And how many times can you be lucky enough to escape near death whereas all other humans die at the first blow? The dialogues in this movie were absurdly unconvincing whereas the visuals were on the other end of the spectrum of awesomeness. Emmerich should have made the brave choice to cut out the rotten actors from this movie and stick to natural disasters. Hey, I might even do some editing myself and upgrade the value of the DVD by 200% by just cutting out every scene that humans saying anything more than ‘heeeeelp’ or ‘aaaaaaah’.

Back to Avatar, the story line can be summed up in a few words (I won’t bore you) but isn’t nearly as bad as in 2012. Zoe Saldana plays very convincingly the role of Neytiri with expressions and gestures which are atypical for Hollywood’s ‘uncivilized woman’. I was wondering how happy people are that all ‘indigenous’ roles are played by blacks and speak with a distinguishable African accent. I’m sure some will feel offended by this?

BTW, there is an interesting discussion going on about the Papyrus font used for the movie’s poster and subtitles at ISO50.

Or you could watch this documentary which aired on Fox channel in 2001, also initiated by Bill Kaysing, in which the video footage of NASA is scrutinized for inconsistencies. Rippling flags by non-existent wind on the moon, light where there should be shadow, different shadow lengths, etc.

Kaysing died in 2005 but sparked the interest of Bart Sibrel who took it on to continue the mission of uncovering the truth about the moon landings and directed a documentary called “A funny thing happened on the way to the moon“.

Who hasn’t heard of 72-year-old second-man-on-the-moon Buzz Aldrin punching Sibrel when the latter calls him a liar and some other non-flattering names?

After that you could read NASA’s official rebuttal of all of the above in their special press release in 2001. You could also look into the allegation that Stanley Kubrick, hot off “2001: A Space Odyssey“, was hired by the US government to shoot al the moon landing scenes. And if after this you still have time, find a good overview of everything on this topic at Wikipedia.

Or you could just sit back and watch the new digitally enhanced version of this legendary moment where mankind unveiled some of the mystery surrounding the universe.

Religion + 9/11 + the Federal Reserve. Now that’s enough content to fill a movie. I’ve always loved conspiracy theories – that ‘Neo effect‘ when you’re offered the ‘insight’ that everything you know is wrong. This video has been around for a while. It is somehow a cleverly mastered, disturbing, facts and guesses, mind-blowing piece of Youtube-reporting which has that annoying effect of making you think ‘this might actually be true!’. In addition, it’s also won some prizes of which I can’t tell if they’re worth anything (but they look rather official). Every intelligent being, of course, would doubt the context of such a dubious video appearing on the web but you can’t help but feel that tiny voice telling you you’re being fooled by powers you have no knowledge of.

Just because of the name I’m mentioning this great movie with Mel Gibson.

Hugh Jackman, sexiest man alive, was supposed to entertain us with his newest movie Wolverine last night at its premiere in Brussels. A slick trailer and good memories of the other X-Men movies had us prepared for a nice guys’ night out action movie but still hoping for at least a clever twist. Batman Begins is part of our collective memory as a success in reinventing the superhero. A great character played by Hugh’s opponent in The Prestige, Christian Bale, who really shows us that Marvel translations can be made not solely relying on special effects.

And this is where Hugh made a big boo-boo. His character had the depth of a colliflower and the effects were sprayed on us like a dog coming from a rainy walk. Up to three times (if not more) he and his brother (played by Liev Schreiber who, by the way, plays a lot more convincingly) are set in a narrow alley running into each other with claws and nails and their supposed-to-be-scary fangs. The result was boredom seldomly experienced in my cinema history. Close to, but not as bad as, Superman Returns (but hey, the Teletubbies put on a better show than the latter). If you’re an X-Men fan, stick to the boxset you bought a few years ago and spend your money on chips and beer instead of the origins of the sexiest man alive with fangs.

Angels & Demons is the movie I’m looking forward to the most this year. Although The Da Vinci Code movie was a disappointment,? I admit this might be due to the fact I watched it?in a park on a huge screen with bad sound through some old speakers (this is the place to watch for 2009′s edition all ye Brusselites). Friends talking about?Dan Brown‘s success with TDVC eventually lead me to reading bestseller.?Jesus’s offspring is a good read but it was the other book that convinced me. I’m actually glad they had a tryout with TDVC because this time they will get the movie totally right. I mean, that statue half angel half demon in the trailer?scared the living crap out of me.

Audrey Toutou?not being in this second movie is a bummer. I’ve seen the trailer to her newest movie due April this year and she is incredible. Let’s see what Ayelet Zurer has in store. For thos who haven’t?read the book the choice of Ewan McGregor should indicate his role in the story. I won’t give it away completely?but casting such a famous actor takes away all the mystery in this conspiracy story. His performance in Big Fish has convinced me he’ll do great job as the camerlingo.

The movie’s website is also worth looking at. Being a Flash enthusiast it?musters perfect integration of web technology and video. This is the direction we should be going in the long run (although the shorter the better)?with internet and tv/film convergence.

EDIT: In the mean while I’ve been doing some research and found the name of this statue. It’s the Elorahim (or sometimes called the Nephalem), a half demon half angel mentioned in one of the Apocrypha (the books excluded from most non-Catholic bibles and included in most Catholic ones). This creature lives between heaven and hell, torn between his loyalty to God and Satan at the same time. Demons are said to be unforgivable because they’ve chosen for the ‘fallen angel’. But this story talks about a demon who is so afraid of the ‘end of times’ (cf. demons being cast into pigs because they’re so afraid of Jesus) that he feels remorseful for his choice. But God won’t forgive him completely which leads to him wanting to be faithful to God (who rejects him) and unwillingly belonging to Satan’s underworld (who owns him).

Rarely seen a movie that can incorporate some seemingly cheesy elements but make such a stunningly beautiful movie out of them. I could have watched it all over again the minute it ended. A must see on the big screen – still possible in some theaters in Belgium (I was late I know). Hand-held camera techniques which really added to the hasty-life slum atmosphere in which these kids live. My parents were in India for a few weeks a while ago living in the poorer parts and they could really recognise the world portrayed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. Having watched movies like Salaam E Ishq – which shares the actor Anil Kapoor with the movie discussed here – I was expecting a lot of dancing and singing. Indian movies are known for their song and dance every so many minutes with storylines which are used and re-used every time (love, trouble,engagement, trouble, wedding, big party, trouble, etc.). But just as Salaam E Ishq was a surprise for its well-written script and amazing characters, Slumdog Millionaire is a big compromise between Hollywood and Bollywood where authenticity to the Indian culture is partnered with great Hollywood knowhow. Waiting for the DVD release.