Kinsey

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I watched Kinsey last night, and was really surprised by what a good movie it is.  While it glosses over the fact that Kinsey had some serious sampling errors in his methodology, which makes some of his statistics invalid, it rightly focuses on his determination to expose the truth about human sexual behavior.  What was important about his research was not whether 50% or 20% of people engaged in an activity, he was exposing the fact that any percentage engaged in them, and that none of the side-effects that the “moral” pseudo-medical information warned of actually took place.

Contrasted with the increasing absurdity of the Abstinence-Only sex education that the “Family Values” crowd wants to instill in our youth these days, it’s easy to see the same forces of denial at work.  I’m not a fan of bullshit in any form, and neither was Kinsey, for as a scientist, he couldn’t rely on hearsay and superstition when attempting to provide real answers about sex. 

Give the movie a rental when it comes out on video, both Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are great in it.

Million Dollar Baby (No Spoilers)

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Holly and I went to see Million Dollar Baby tonight. What a great movie. I've seen the Aviator, and between the two, it's no contest, my vote would go to Million Dollar Baby. I should still get to see Ray before the awards, and I might make it to Sideways, but Finding Neverland has left the area... I don't want to give anything away, so I won't say too much about the movie, other than to say I completely wasn't expecting what I got. I knew there was some kind of unexpected plot turn in the movie, as I'd seen it vaguely mentioned. I thought I might know what it was, and boy, was I wrong. I think everyone leaving the theatre was stunned.

The Aviator

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We caught a matinee of The Aviator yesterday here in Vegas. It's a great film, and even though it's three hours long, I never got bored. As much as it pains me to say it, Leonardo DiCaprio does a great job as Howard Hughes, but Cate Blanchett really stole the film as Katherine Hepburn, in my opinion. The aircraft in the film all looked great, even though I knew they were computer generated, it was hard to tell. This is definitely an Oscar contender, as are DiCaprio and Blanchett, in my book. If you're not a geek, don't worry, this isn't an "airplane" movie, it's more of a personal drama about Hughes. The aviation in the movie is more of the backdrop against which the story of his life is told, though there were people clapping in the theatre once the Spruce Goose took flight. Personally, I liked the showdown with Senator Brewster (Alan Alda) even more.

If you want to read Roger Ebert's review, it's here.

Worst. Movie. Ever.

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Okay, maybe it's not the worst movie ever, but it's certainly one of the worst I've ever sat down and started to watch expecting it to be acceptable. I'm talking about Wrong Turn, which is a horror movie that will have you howling at the dialogue. This is a modern day version of one of those movies that are usually only seen on episodes of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Yes, it's that bad. I'm going to give away the plot right now and say that it's about a group of Young People who find themselves stranded in the backwoods of West Virginia where they're hunted down by Disfigured Superhuman Inbred Redneck Cannibals. That's it, the entire plot, I shit you not. Unless you're looking for a movie that you can mock with your friends, stay away from this one, I don't care how much you like Eliza Dushku or Jeremy Sisto. Oh, and HBO said that the movie would have nudity, but alas, I couldn't find any, though I did watch it at fast forward speed after the first 20 minutes, on the off chance that I'd get to see some of Eliza's goodies or that something resembling a plot might develop. Roger Ebert didn't lower himself to reviewing this movie, but here's a longer review. I too enjoyed the meaningless irony-free dialogue where we learn our protagonist became an expert in identifying roadkill by attending medical school...

The Incredibles

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Holly & I went to see The Incredibles last night, and it was an absolute blast, and you should go see it. The movie is funny, clever, and just a joy to look at. I thought going in to it that it'd be sort of The Tick meets the Fantastic Four, but I was surprised at how original the story was, and how fresh it all felt, given the large number of "superhero movies" in the past. We went to a 9:20 p.m. show, to avoid unnecessary exposure to children, and the movie got more laughs than any straight comedy I've seen in the theatres in the last several years. It's a good movie for kids too, and one parents certainly won't be bored watching. If you want a second opinion, Roger Ebert's review is here.

May the Force be with you

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Star Wars DVDIn case you've been living under a rock, the Star Wars DVD set comes out today. Amazon has a good price on it at $41.99 with free shipping. Mine is already in the mail, since I pre-ordered it with a gift certificate I had back in April. I can't wait to watch it on my big-screen, with the surround sound cranked up high enough to scare the cat. There are a few changes made in this version, even over the Special Edition that was released a few years ago. CNN has the scoop here, nothing too troubling, though I wish Lucas had changed the infamous Greedo scene back to the original version, with Han firing and killing Greedo first.

Independence Day

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Been swamped at work this week, so not much time to update here. I've been working on a wireless implementation for the fall, to allow our students on our network. We're trying to decide between buying a turn-key style system, or rolling our own using 802.1x and Active Directory. I did have time to catch a couple movies though, I saw both Fahrenheit 9/11 and Spider-Man 2. If you've got a chance, see them both, they're definitely worth the price of admission.