Nerdtacular 2008 Was A Blast

I'm in this video a few times, and so is Tyler Whitaker. I really want to thank Scott Johnson for a great time. Please take some time to visit Scott's website, MyExtraLife, read the comic, watch a video cast, buy some stuff.

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New Movie; WarGames: The Dead Code

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about WarGames turning 25 this year, and how MGM is coming out with an updated version of the movie. Today I wanted to let you know about the sequel, WarGames: The Dead Code. It's supposed to be released in theaters the same day as the 1983 version is released on DVD, July 29th, 2008.

I watched the trailer (I wish I could have legally embedded the trailer, but you can watch it here), and it seems to be a cross between 24 and The Bourne Identity. I hope I'm wrong.

The problem I think the sequel will face, is the original movie used technology that was brand new, only a few geeks even knew what a modem was, or how to interact with terminals. Today, you carry computers a hundred times more powerful as the one Matthew Broderick had in his bedroom, in your pocket. The computer shouldn't be the draw this time, but I think the story is written that way. And, the terrorist angle has been played to death. I was really hoping for something a little more original.

I'll be sure to follow up with a review of the movie.

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War Games 25 Years Later

On July 29th, MGM will release a 25th Anniversary edition of War Games. This movie was an icon to geeks the world over. We longed to find an open line with our war dialers. Finding some unprotected computer system and taking a look around was the ultimate prize.

By the way, a war dialer was a program that automatically dialed numbers and checked for a modem tone on the other end. If a tone was found, the number would be captured for later use.

I must admit my VIC 20 and Commodore 64 paled in comparison to Matthew Broderick's computer of the day, but I didn't let that stop me from trying to hack into a few computer systems myself.

Most of today's kids would not get the significance, or even care that your could, connect to other computers through the phone. Bulletin Board Systems, or BBS for short, were the precursors to public Internet access. BBS's allowed people to share information and files, start discussions, and were basically very early social networks.

The movie didn't have any impact on technology, but it did give the audience a glimpse of what the United States Government was using to run its defense systems. The WOPR, a mainframe type computer, depicted in the movie as a very large metal box with a bunch of LED lights, was the master mind, or central computer. This computer took on a life of it's own, when a young kid, played by Matthew Broderick, some how finds a back door using a war dialer, and starts a war simulation.

Eventually the computer completes the simulation, but nearly started world war three in the process. The movie plays on the attitude, and fear, most Americans had at the time, about an all out nuclear war with the Russians. Interesting how the use of geeky technology was used to make some sort of political statement.

If its been a while since you've watched War Games, go rent it, or download it. If you've never seen the movie before, go rent it, you'll be glad you did. But most of all, buy the anniversary edition when it comes out at the end of the month.

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Top 25 Sci-Fi Tv Shows

I'm not sure I agree with all of these, but most were pretty good. These are the top 10 11 (had to show Lost in there), for the whole list click here.

1. THE MATRIX
2. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (NEW)
3. BLADE RUNNER
4. THE X-FILES
5. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
6. BRAZIL
7. E.T.
8. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
9. ALIENS
10. THE THING
11. LOST

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Beowulf Movie, The Good And The Bad

No Spoilers in this post.

I was able to see an advanced screening of Beowulf last night. I hadn't read anything about the story or the movie, I only heard Angelina Jolie was in it. Well that's what I get for not doing my homework before seeing a movie.

The first thing I learned was the movie is all computer animation. I don't really care for all computer animation, but I really liked the way 300 was made using real actors with computer animation added. The next thing I learned was the movie is in 3D. Yes, in 3D. Images of uncomfortable paper red/blue glasses ran through my mind. But that wasn't the case. The glasses were actually really nice and looked like a pair of sunglasses. They were comfortable and covered your whole eye area so there was no distractions coming from the side. The next thing I learned was the showing would be in the IMAX theater. That excited me. I love IMAX theaters and the one in Jordan Commons is really nice.

The movie itself was fantastic. The 3D worked really well. Despite having to sit near the front of the theater I really felt the depth of the 3D. They did a good job. At one point during the show the cameras got out of sync and it made my eyes cross. That only lasted for about 30 seconds and never happened again. I would say the 3D coupled with an IMAX screen and exceptional computer animation made up for any of the other crap that happened. The movie was great.

** This movie is not Kid friendly ** There, I warned you.

While standing in line this guy, apparently associated with the theater or production company started to tell us they wouldn't allow any electronic devices into the showing. In fact they had what looked like metal detectors at the entrance. This person said if they caught anyone with devices in the theater they would escort them out and suggested we take our cell phones, cameras, PDA's and iPods (not sure why an iPod would be targeted) to our vehicle's. So, I left my spot in line to take my mobile phone out to the car. That pissed me off which is part of the reason I had to sit in front.

Once everyone was seated this same person started repeating the no electronic device mantra he was spewing in the lobby. Funny thing was, there were dozens of people sitting in the theater with mobile phones on, with cameras, one guy was playing a PSP, and the whole time the guy who was laying down the law just stood there. I'm thinking, didn't you tell everyone out in the lobby they couldn't bring anything into the theater, and I lost my place in line while you stand there and do nothing? What ever. It was very lame.

I'm not sure if the whole phone/pda deal was a Jordan Commons thing or something the movie distribution company mandated, but the guy didn't do a very good job, I felt like a thief, and don't they know a version of this movie will make it out on the Internet whether they want it to or not? Besides, you can't take quality photos with a camera phone, and there wouldn't be enough storage or long enough battery life to record on your phone. Duh, get a grip.

I do want to thank Jeff Norris at iscifi.tv for providing the tickets. You rock Jeff. I also had a chance to meet Capn T. Rex. He's the awesome guy who started iscifi.tv. We had a good conversation which I will blog about later.

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Star Trek: The Menagerie Playing In Salt Lake City

That's right folks, the original Star Trek season 1 episode 11, The Menagerie, Parts 1 and 2, will be playing in select theatres Nation wide on November 13th, 2007. These episodes are digitally re-mastered and broadcast in HD. Fortunately for Salt Lake City, the Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing will be showing will be one of the selected theatres showing these episodes. There is a write up at this link. It looks like the price will be $12.50 for 120 minutes of show time. That's kinda steep, but leave it up to Paramount to gouge the fans once again.

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The Bourne Ultimatum opens today

A movie that I have been excited to see opens today. The Bourne Ultimatum, the 3rd and final chapter in the series, opens in theaters across the US today. I'm a huge fan of the trilogy, both the books and the movies. I realize the books and the movies are considerably different, but for some reason I don't mind it. Matt Damon has done an excellent job in the role as Jason Bourne.

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Catch 22 Worst LOST Episode ever!

I'll say it. Many of you are thinking it. The April 18th, 2007 episode of LOST, Catch 22, was the worst episode I've watched. It was pointless, meaningless, had no substance, had no value, didn't move the story along, introduced a new character (I thought we were past that) and just didn't capture my attention. It was boring. And I hated it.

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See The Bourne Ultimatum trailer

I try not to judge movies that are based on books because I know how difficult the transition is, and I also know a movie is for a different audience. That said I'm a huge Bourne Identity fan. I'm excited to see a trailer for the 3rd and final installment of the series, The Bourne Ultimatum. Can't wait for August 3rd, 2007.

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Star Trek XI in 2008

I've been following the news about a new Star Trek movie, dubbed Star Trek XI for a while now on TrekWeb.com, and this morning got a tip on new swag for the next movie looking to be out in 2008.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

As is tradition with my family, we attended a movie, and for the past few years it has been a Harry Potty movie, and this year was the Goblet of Fire. Why, I'm not sure. I haven't read all the books, I'm in book 3, last few chapters. But my kids love it and they have read all the books. I know when I've read a book prior to the movie I have a certain level of expectation from the movie and I'm usually disappointed. Since I haven't read the Goblet of Fire yet, but I expected to see the same thing as the others. But it wasn't.

You can definitely see the maturity of the actors finally coming through. You can also see the directors are getting comfortable with the story and the expectation. The movie was great. This time around it was all about the clumsy Harry, Ron and Hermione. They actually had substance and there were a lot more supporting roles that played a bigger part. The story seemed to have breadth the others didn't.

So, our usual Thanksgiving movie was better than I expected. But, even if it wasn't I was having fun with the family.

Categories: movies

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