Movie Of The Week - Departures

Having written previously about the wonderful "Let The Right One In" I was amazed to find out it didn't win the Academy Award for best foreign film in 2009. In fact it lost out to a wonderful Japanese film called Departures.

It took me ages to actually get around to watch Departures but recently I did.  I was amazed to read that this film took over $60 million dollars at the Japanese box office but only a paltry $1.5 Million in the US and probably another Million dollars elsewhere.  This is criminal really, as it is a wonderful film and deserved to have a much bigger audience outside Japan. I guess cinema audiences just won't go out to watch a sub-titled film.

Departures (Okuribito) 2008

The basic plot line is about a devoted cellist who loses his job when the Orchestra he works for disbands. He ends up applying for what he thinks is a job in a travel agency but ends up being a job as an encoffineer which is a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. Everybody in his life hates the fact he has taken this job but as time passes, he begins to take considerable pride in his work as he perfects the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

I have to say I was profoundly moved by this film. The scenes showing the main character preparing the bodies to go into the coffin, often in the presence of the deceased family were incredibly respectful and emotional and shows the incredible respect the Japanese have for the dead. I read somewhere that over 95% of Japanese are cremated after death.

As Adam and Matty would say over on filmspotting.net, it got a little 'dusty' several times. Despite the subject matter this excellent drama doesn't get bogged down by melodrama and manages to offer a different perspective of death and the profession of a "casketer".This would be close to my favorite film of the last 12 months second only to Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards.

I highly recommend you take a look at this wonderful film.

It is...as it is.

GuruBob

 

 

 

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My Thoughts On The Apple iPad

By now, if you haven't been asleep for the past 12 hours, you have probably seen or heard of the forthcoming release of the Apple iPad. It is clear to me that Apple are trying to create a whole new class of mobile computing device and the iPad is positioned somewhere between the Ipod Touch and a MacBookPro laptop computer.

As an unabashed Apple fan, I have to say from the outset that I want one now (but I'll have to wait 2 - 3 months) even though there are some aspects of the device that didn't meet my expectations.  And I suspect that most of the people that are publishing negative comments right now are also suffering from a disconnect between their expectations and the reality.

Some of the things that are missing from the device (that I would have liked to see included) are:

• No Camera
• No multi-tasking
• No flash (but I suspect that this will become a non-issue with HTML 5)
• No reported tethering with an iPhone (although they haven't yet said it won't)
• Limited connectivity with external devices

In fact the device is much closer to a large iPod Touch than small laptop (and I was hoping for the later).

But you know what...it doesn't matter.  This device will be amazing to use and to consume content. I can already foresee that I will much prefer to peruse email, web, video, books, music on this device over any other device I currently own including the iPhone. The fact is I know I want to navigate and access that content using my finger as a navigation device because I love that aspect of the iPhone.  And the larger form factor and that beautiful screen is going to make the content look beautiful. And when the app developers start creating apps designed for and taking advantage of the iPads larger screen and speed (this baby is fast from all accounts) then any shortcomings are going to disappear.

I remember well the shortcomings of the 1st iPhone and I'm sure there will be some with the iPad, there always is for a first release and who could expect it to be different. But the advantages are going to far outweigh the disadvantages.

I just know I'm going to love this device and I can't wait to buy one!

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The curiously inspiring story behind the building of the Brooklyn Bridge

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Long Island. It needed a suspension bridge that was 50% longer than any bridge that had been previously built at that time, however, and bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat. They were quick to tell Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

But Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind for this bridge. It consumed his thoughts and he just knew deep in his heart that it could be done. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge could, in fact, be built.

Father and son had never worked together before but quickly developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles might be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, they hired their crew and began the awesome challenge of building their dream bridge.

The project started well, but after just a few months, a tragic accident on the site eventually took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and hospitalised and left with some brain damage which meant he could not talk, walk or even move.

Of course the naysayers had a field day.

Almost everyone was negative and most felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who had any idea to build the bridge. In spite of his handicap, Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge as his mind was still as sharp as ever despite his handicaps.

It is hard to inspire the people around you when you have limited modes of communication, but Washington was undaunted in his desire to keep the project moving forward.

Suddenly an idea hit him. He could only move one finger, but he decided to make best use of it. Slowly he developed a form of communication with his wife using this finger.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was eventually under way again.

For 13 years, Washington gave out instructions by tapping his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today, the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

This is an amazing example of a man overcoming a terrible physical handicap to achieve an amazing goal due to a never-say-die attitude.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

An amazing story...it reminds me a little of a wonderful film I saw recently called the "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly".  In this film the main character suffers a stroke that paralyses his entire body, except his left eye. But, using that eye, he was eventually able to blink out his memoir in which he describes the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.

A wonderful film and highly recommended. I've included the trailer for the film below:

It is...as it is.

GuruBob

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iPhone App of the Week: Twittelator Pro

Over at the Thirty Day Challenge we are constantly extolling the virtues of Twitter as a notification platform. It is unparalleled for disseminating small (140 character) messages to the community of people that chooses to follow you.

I use the GuruBob Twitter account to keep people up to date on the 30DC, and on matters technology related and my favorite quotes.  Twitter is perfect for quotes and I get many supportive messages and re-tweets regarding the quotes I choose to tweet.

My iPhone Twitter client of choice is Twittelator Pro...and it has been right from it's first release. It has just the right amount of functionality and design elegance to suit my needs and there are regular updates that keep it in-line with the changes taking place in Twitter.

Click here for the Twittelator Pro feature list.

So if you haven't decided on a Twitter client for the iPhone as yet, I highly recommend Twittelator Pro.  And right now, and for the remainder of January, Big Stone Phone (stone.com) have announced that all profits from the sale of Twittelator Pro, it's leading Twitter client, will be donated to help the victims of the tragedy in Haiti.

GuruBob

 

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If this video doesn't inspire you...nothing will!

Every now and again I see a video on Youtube that just gets to me.

This was one of them:

GuruBob

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iPhone App of the Week: IMDB

In keeping with the movie theme of my last post...my iPhone App of the
Week is the IMDB app which gives you full access to the amazing movie
database at http://www.imdb.com/

I first got serious with the internet back in late 1994 and 1995 and
the IMDB website was a pretty serious movie resource way back then and
it has turned into the King Kong of movie websites since then. They
pretty much own the search engine rankings for most movies and actors
and directors etc.

This app is a fantastic addition to the service provided by IMDB,
there would be few days that I don't go to the site to look up
something about movies and the App is very fast and probably easier to
navigate than the IMDB site itself. Where it really comes into it's
own is in your local DVD rental store. How often have you stood there
looking at the cover of the DVD thinking I wonder how good this movie
is. Well now you have the massive resources of the IMDB website at
your beck and call.

I think the user rating system for movies on IMDB is pretty good as
well. I wouldn't often watch a movie that rates less than 6 out of
10. Once the ratings over 7/10 then the movie is usually very good
and over 8/10 well then it is a must watch.

And best of all...the App is FREE. Unbelievable!

GuruBob

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2009 - The Year of the Vampire Movie

When I'm not on the computer working, I'm more likely to be watching movies than anything else.  So from time to time I plan to post on some of my favourite movies from the present and times gone by.

Any of you that are also into movies will have surely noticed the attention given to the Twilight franchise last year.  Now I don't want to comment on the merit of the Twilight films.  They have certainly been a crowd favorite and while I find them entertaining, I don't place them in the category of great cinema by any stretch of the imagination.

As it turns out, however, 2009 did see the release of two fantastic films in the Vampire genre that I want to draw your attention to.  The first is the Swedish film 'Let The Right One In" and the other is a Korean film 'Thirst'.

Let The Right One In  (imdb.com rating: 8.1 out of 10) rated R

Voted the movie of the year by Empire magazine this dark coming of age tale of good and evil is a superb genre defining movie. I absolutely loved it as it gave a very different look at the Vampire genre because the Vampire in question is a young 13 year old girl.  This is a must watch and I couldn't believe it didn't win the oscar until I watched the film that beat it which I will post about soon.

Thirst  (imdb.com rating: 7.4 out of 10) rated R

This film by Chan Wook Park (maker of the brilliant Oldboy) again seeks to explore the Vampire genre in a different way.  It is about a priest that becomes infected after a blood transfusion that turns him into a vampire. If you are familiar with Chan Wook Parks work then you won't be surprised by the dark, violent nature of this film with many plot twists and turns.

If you like beautifully told vampire stories or are a fan of Chan-wook Park, seeing THIRST should be obvious. Easily one of the best films of 2009.

So there you go if you like Vampire films and want to explore the genre beyond the slick entertainment that comprises the Twilight films I highly recommend Let The Right One In and Thirst.  Please note that both of these films are rated R so would be unsuitable for a young/teen audience.

Enjoy,

GuruBob

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Do you think you know what Web 2.0 is?

Many of you have probably heard of the term Web 2.0..but do you really know what it means?

To me it has always meant the principle of websites being built based on user contributed content and that is certainly one aspect of Web 2.0.

The YouTube video below, for me, is the best explanation of Web 2.0 I have seen.  Take a look...

GuruBob

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iPhone App of the Week: NetNewsWire

I have been a Mac user and fanboy ever since Ed Dale started to sing Apple's praises (to me) back in 2003.

The Apple iPhone is now irreplaceable for me so I though I would begin to share some of the iPhone apps that I couldn't do without.  I have begun to realise that over 75% of my time using the iPhone has nothing to do with Telecommunications but with the apps.  They are the killer differential between the iPhone and all other similar devices.

This weeks app is NetNewsWire.  There is also a Mac desktop version but I really love the iPhone app.  In essence, NetNewsWire is a front end to Google Reader.  Those of you that have completed the 30DC will know how important newsreaders are to the 30DC process.  Without Google Reader it would be impossible for us to follow and stay up to date with the volume of news sources that we do.

For some time though, I had been dissatisfied with the Google Reader interface both in the browser and on the iPhone and I had begun to not check the news every day out of frustration with the time it took.  NetNewsWire has made it so much easier and it is a breeze to share useful news items with my Twitter account directly from within the app.  There is a free and paid version of the app but the only difference seems to be that the Paid version lacks the ads that are displayed within the free version.

If you use Google Reader you are going to love NetNewswire.  For me, it has quickly become one of the apps I use every day!

GuruBob

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