Cory Doctorow has written 3 articles for The Guardian about DRM: Digital rights, digital wrongs is a wonderful summary of why DRM is doomed to fail
Archive for the 'Movies' Category
I saw the following article about the “10 inconvenient truths about file-swapping” that was released by the EU’s IFPI (music industry group) and had to make my own comments…
IFPI: Ten “inconvenient truths” about file-swapping
- Pirate Bay, one of the flagships of the anti-copyright movement, makes thousands of euros from advertising on its site, while maintaining its anti-establishment “free music” rhetoric.
It probably does, but it has yet to be found to be illegal or breaking any laws in its own country - AllOfMP3.com, the well-known Russian web site, has not been licensed by a single IFPI member, has been disowned by right holder groups worldwide and is facing criminal proceedings in Russia.
Again, AFAIK it has not broken any laws in Russia as it pays royalties to the “Russian RIAA” - Organized criminal gangs and even terrorist groups use the sale of counterfeit CDs to raise revenue and launder money.
When was the last time you bougt (rather than downloaded for free) a counterfeit cd or dvd? - Illegal file-sharers don’t care whether the copyright-infringing work they distribute is from a major or independent label.
No, but only the big name labels charge ridiculous prices - see audiolunchbox.com or magnatunes.com - Reduced revenues for record companies mean less money available to take a risk on “underground” artists and more inclination to invest in “bankers” like American Idol stars.
So why has all alternative music I have ever heard had to start off on a small label until they are making mega-bucks? The big labels don’t take the risks anyway. - ISPs often advertise music as a benefit of signing up to their service, but facilitate the illegal swapping on copyright infringing music on a grand scale.
I have never seen this, nor would it appeal unless it was decent quality online radio streaming (128k+ bbc radio) or drm free downloads - The anti-copyright movement does not create jobs, exports, tax revenues and economic growth–it largely consists of people pontificating on a commercial world about which they know little.
Does suing people left right and center help anyones life? - Piracy is not caused by poverty. Professor Zhang of Nanjing University found the Chinese citizens who bought pirate products were mainly middle- or higher-income earners.
Because the poor people don’t have access to computers as easily, and most of the piracy I know of goes on via the internet - Most people know it is wrong to file-share copyright infringing material but won’t stop till the law makes them, according to a recent study by the Australian anti-piracy group MIPI.
Because the are not willing to pay the price demanded for the latest CD or DVD - P2P networks are not hotbeds for discovering new music. It is popular music that is illegally file-shared most frequently.
Exactly - popular music people are not willing to pay that much for, and all the new music is either free on myspace or cheap on alternative sites (see #4 above)
I have now watched all 5 Batman films. The first one (in storyline chronological order) is the latest one released - Batman Begins. All films are brilliant but quite different in their directing. Tim Burton made Batman and Batman Returns fairly dark and twisted, and you can really see the connection to some of his other films like The Nightmare Before Christmas.
It is hard to say who makes the best Batman, but Christian Bale and Val Kilmer make obvious choices.
I really like Val Kilmer, however his performance didn’t give as much depth as Christian Bale, but is defenitely stunning. George Clooney’s performance in Batman & Robin was undoubtedly the worst, and Arnold Schwartzanegger didn’t help that movie much.
As for best villain, now there is a hard question. All the villains are spectacular actors, and each have their own moments of pure brilliance. I don’t think there is anybody who can play crazy as well as Jim Carrey, although Jack Nicholson as The Joker is a masterful performance. Each villain is quite different, and the directing really helps to bring out the best (or worst?) of each. Uma Thurman does steal the show for Batman & Robin, leaving poor clooney and the rest of the superheroes looking pale in comparison.
As for gadgets and cool effects some of the best are probably in Batman Begins even though it really tries not to focus on the effects and more on the story. I think the fact that the gadgets are given little interest also adds to their effect, making them seem far more ingenious.
The effects do generally get wilder with each film, and the sets certainly get far more complex. Batman Forever and Batman & Robin have lots of UV paint as well as magnificent CGI cities and special effects, however it starts to feel way over the top in Batman & Robin.
The story is mostly consistent apart from Batman Begins completely changing the early history of Bruce Wayne by him trying to kill his parents’ killer when in fact in Batman it turns out that The Joker killed his parents. Then again in Batman Forever the story of his parents’ death is twisted a little too, making it seem more like random murder and losing any connection to who the killer actually was.
Overall I think that Batman Begins and Batman Forever are probably the best films. Batman and Batman Returns are marvellous films too, but going back to them is harder than you think and they do feel a little dated and the special effects not quite up to scratch. I would defenitely reccomend watching them all again (all except Batman & Robin which is too cheesy. On that note, do Americans not realise that “oxbridge” is not an actualy university, but a term for “Oxford University” and “Cambridge University”? Batwoman is the rejected student of oxbridge - whoever figured that storyline out should be banned from screenwriting)
Ever wondered what Hollywood makes up for your entertainment? This list is the most common laws of physics that are ignored in movies, from exploding cards to sound in space.
So my week off was really nice. I watched films, read books, took a quick day trip to the new forest with a friend down from London.
I won’t mention too much about the films and books other than to say Dune is an incredible book, I will be buying the whole set of them soon, Star Wars IV is far more dated than I remember (i guess it has been ~15 years since I last saw it), Batman and Batman Returns are slightly dated, but the incredible directing of Tim Burton makes them incredible nonetheless.
I have barely had time to do any real work even though I have been back for two days. Blue Fusion is taking up a lot of my time at the moment. On Thursday week we will be setting up for the event to run, so that leaves little time to finish everything off. Expect lots of posts about Blue Fusion after then as I will try to describe the activities we are running.
I just wish I had more time in the day so I could catch up with all the blogs I neglected to read on my week off.
When Serenity came out in the cinema’s, I had not idea what it was or where it came from. Talking to people at work, I was told I had to see it, but that I also had to watch Firefly first. So I borrowed the dvd’s (as I do not think it was shown on TV on this side of the pond) and watched them with my girlfriend. By the time we finished we missed Serenity in the cinema, but I just got it on DVD. The whole lot is awesome.
The basic story is a odd mix of futuristic space travel crossed with a western feel. Both the series and film follow the crew of Serenity - an ageing space craft led by Captain Malcom ‘Mal’ Reynold. The crew are all incredible characters, and each has enough depth to keep you not just interested but begging for more. The crew pick up two fugitives and they form a large basis of the story as they run from the “alliance”.
The series got cancelled after 11 episodes on Fox, in the US, which is a real shame as it is the best TV I have seen in a very long time. Director Joss Whedon produced magic with the series and the film, and it is far better than his previous works (Buffy and Angel)
The film, Serenity, fills in some of the storyline at the end of the episodes, but will stand on its own just fine. It is a shame that there will probably not be any more episodes of Firefly, but hopefully the next time something this incredible is created we won’t have to rely on TV companies to air it and keep it running as direct internet TV is not that far off.
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