Archive for November 13th, 2008
Quantum of Solace: the Best Bond Ever?
James Bond mania is reaching a fever pitch as Quantum of Solace prepares to blow the hinges off North American box office doors during its opening weekend.
Having set a new box office record in the UK last weekend, the new Bond film made its official debut at midnight screenings across North America on Thursday.
Although the Quantum of Solace .torrent is already on the internet, many many fans had been holding out for the official return of Bond to the big screen.
UPDATE | Nov. 14 – The movie was posted, in entirety, to YouTube on Thursday however it has since been taken down.
(Of course if you simply can’t wait, you could always check out the full movie on YouTube — all the videos are attached to this post!)
And 007 afficionados are often rabid fans, many of whom can’t contain their ‘Quantum’ enthusiasm. Here’s a first review of the film that posts an eager primer for what is sure to be an action and popcorn-packed movie weekend.
Bond means more to me than nearly any other big screen hero or franchise in history, so when I go into a Bond movie, I go into it very critically. With that in mind, however, Quantum of Solace didn’t let me down, at all. I walked out of it the first time so amazed and so stunned that a modern Bond movie could be that great, that I had to wait to see it a second time to confirm that it really was that good. So after finally catching it again, I’m able to officially call Quantum of Solace the best Bond since GoldenEye in 1995. Many will disagree, but that’s because they’re not Bond fans like I am.
Other reviews are claiming that this edition of 007 even stomps out the Bourne trilogy for boot-stompin’ action:
“Quantum of Solace” is such a smart and brutal Bond movie that it kicks the “Bourne” movies — which had previously made Bond irrelevant — in the crotch. With a steel-toed boot.
What do you think? Post your comments and reviews to this story and let us know if you’re planning to attend a midnight screening!
Tags: Culture | Movies | James Bond | 007 | daniel craig | quantum of solace | quantum of solace review | bond opening weekend | quantum of solace reviews
1.2 Million ‘Spoof’ NY Times Papers Distributed Across US
The Yes Men are at it again. And this time it’s personal.
As NowPublic member Luiz Castro reported yesterday, in a beautifully and elaborately orchestrated hoax, 1.2 million copies of a “spoof edition” of The New York Times newspaper — boldly announcing “the End of the Iraq War” — were distributed to commuters in cities across the United States: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.
The fake newspaper, dated July 4, 2009, “imagines a liberal utopia of national health care, a rebuilt economy, progressive taxation, a national oil fund to study climate change, and other goals of progressive politics” — and was published as a call to action for President-elect Obama to keep his campaign promises.
The Yes Men & Co even set up a fake NYT website to promote their agenda online.
Kudos and serious new media high-fives to everyone involved in pulling this off — it seems culture jamming is alive and well in the USA.
Now, hopefully, President Obama will take notice.
In an elaborate hoax, pranksters distributed thousands of free copies of a spoof edition of The New York Times on Wednesday morning at busy subway stations around the city, including Grand Central Terminal, Washington and Union Squares, the 14th and 23rd Street stations along Eighth Avenue, and Pacific Street in Brooklyn, among others.
The spurious 14-page papers — with a headline “IRAQ WAR ENDS” — surprised commuters, many of whom took the free copies thinking they were legitimate.
The paper is dated July 4, 2009, and imagines a liberal utopia of national health care, a rebuilt economy, progressive taxation, a national oil fund to study climate change, and other goals of progressive politics.
The hoax was accompanied by a Web site that mimics the look of The Times’s real Web site. A page of the spoof site contained links to dozens of progressive organizations, which were also listed in the print edition.
(A headline in the fake business section declares: “Public Relations Industry Forecasts a Series of Massive Layoffs.” Uh, sure.)
The Associated Press reported that copies of the spoof paper were also handed out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, and that the pranksters — who included a film promoter, three unnamed Times employees and Steven Lambert, an art professor — financed the paper with small online contributions and created the paper to urge President-elect Barack Obama to keep his campaign promises.
According to The A.P., software and Internet support were provided by the Yes Men, who were the subject of a 2004 documentary film.
On Wednesday, the Yes Men issued a statement about the prank, stating, in part:
In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass them out on the street.
Catherine J. Mathis, a Times spokeswoman, said: “This is obviously a fake issue of The Times. We are in the process of finding out more about it.”
Tags: New York | Culture | Los Angeles | San Francisco | Chicago | Philadelphia | Washington | Media | New York Times | Journalism | commuters | United States | Obama | paper | Yes Men | New York Times spoof | fake ny times | fake newspaper | spoof edition
Lipstick Jungle, My Own Worst Enemy Cancelled by NBC
More media cuts, this time to fledgling television series Lipstick Jungle and My Own Worst Enemy both of which have been cancelled by NBC.
Multiple reliable sources have just confirmed that NBC has given the ax today to My Own Worst Enemy (starring Christian Slater) and Lipstick Jungle (starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price).
NBC is not commenting. However, insiders say that no further episodes have been ordered for either series.
Despite a promising premise, Enemy never got off the ground in the Nielsens. Lipstick too, struggled to find a wide audience, despite a small but devoted fanbase and having received a second chance for a sophomore season. (Lipstick’s first season was cut short by the writers strike.)
Tags: Culture | TV | Entertainment | Series | NBC | cancelled | Lipstick Jungle | my own worst enemy
Mad TV Cancelled by Fox
Mad TV is no more, says Fox News. After 14 seasons, the comedy show is getting the boot.
Fox has canceled one of its longest-running shows — the late-night sketch comedy veteran “Mad TV.”
The Saturday night mainstay’s current 14th season will be its last on the network, say Fox sources confirming a report on Defamer.
Tags: Culture | TV | Entertainment | television | comedy | Fox | Sketch Comedy | mad tv cancelled | mad tv
Fame-Hungry Twitter Users Give Up Passwords for ‘Twitterank’
Is Twitterank an elaborate prank to “steal all of ur passwords” or is it a legitimate ranking system for Twitter users?
I have to admit a heavy dose of skepticism on hearing the deafening din of “did you get your twitterank?” posts today, and it seems that I’m not the only one with doubts about the merits and motives of this latest fame-grabbing (and potentially powerful phishing) microblog app.
Mana from the heavens for cloud sceptics – on a day a lot of professional photographers lost all their images due to the failure of photo hosting site Digital Railroad went under – as Twitter users fanned their egos en masse to parade their ‘twitterank‘ to their followers.
Twitterrank has no apparent purpose beyond a sketchy numerical rating, and there are rumors circulating on Twitter this afternoon that it is basically a fishing expedition.
I picked up on this after seeing Tantek Çelik retweet:
@t RT @brianoberkirch Twitterank is a vast conspiracy I created to steal all of ur passwords + shame Twitter into OAuthing. + make u look vain.
At the time of this writing I’m not sure what’s going on with Twitterank, but I have to say it is amazing how promiscuous web app users can be with their security details.
This sort of vanity time wasting harms Twitter’s credibility as a useful collaboration and communication tool and adds credence to many IT professional’s doubts about the security of online transactions.
The ‘Twitterank algorithm is vewy vewy secwet‘ – your login details should be as well!
To be fair, the site does offer a disclaimer, although it’s not very convincing:
Disclaimer I am about to ask you for your Twitter user ID and password. You should be afraid. This is where you ask yourself, “Do I really want to find out my twitterank badly enough to give some random dude on teh interweb my account info?” And if that’s not what you’re asking yourself, shame on you.
//–>
Fortunately,//–> I’m not out to steal ur twitterz. Frankly, I wish I didn’t have to ask for your account info, but Twitter doesn’t offer APIs using any other authentication mechanism (according to the docs). So blame them. Read more about what I’ll do with your account info/data in the FAQ.
I will not store your password. I will only use it once to calculate your Twitterank.
Tags: Culture | internet | Web | tech | users | twitter | twitterank | twitterank phishing
Valleywag Shutting Down, Consumerist to Follow
Gawker Media empire scion Nick Denton announced his so-called “doom-mongering” 2009 Internet Media Plan on Wednesday and then promptly announced that Valleywag, the widely-read, Silicon Valley “tech gossip rag”, is being shut down — along with the popular Consumerist blog.
Valleywag, for its part, will not disappear entirely, but it will be folded into the Gawker.com site.
The knives are out, kids, keep your heads down and keep those page views coming in.
And get ready for more and more consolidation.
RIP.
Denton’s Perfect Storm Of Gloom (TM) continues heading towards land, but it looks like Valleywag has already been hit. For a man of infamous balls, Denton is impressively pessimistic about the future of publishing. Valleywag is rumored to be closing, Consumerist may be up for sale.
The demise of Valleywag will be more of a consolidated migration into the main Gawker site.
Rumors are flying that Valleywag
will be “shuttered.” It won’t. It will be consolidated into Gawker.
Gawker CEO Nick Denton foreshadowed this move in this sky-is-falling post this morning. Valleywag’s 1 million uniques will be worth more as part of a larger, easier-to-sell audience on Gawker. The posts will run in the main Gawker feed, and Valleywag’s front page and logo will remain (the site will live at www.valleywag.gawker.com, or a similar URL).
Twitter responds:
Valleywag is no more, RIP – end of an era.
Valleywag is shutting down. Now not only can I not get a new job, my old one doesn’t even exist.
hmm.. the only two gawker sites i read regularly are valleywag and consumerist… and those are the ones that they’re dismantling/selling…
Follow the rest of the 140 character outcry on NowPublic’s Scan: RIP Valleywag on Twitter
Tags: California | New York | Blog | Media | Nick Denton | Layoffs | United States | Web | Silicon Valley | Valleywag | gawker | consumerist | Tech & Biz | valleywag rip | valleywag dead | valleywag shuts down | valleyag shut down
