Sunday, May 14, 2006

It begins... tomorrow... What? Sorry... watching "Tomb Raider" (the 1st movie)... and the 'planetary alignment' so important to the story starts on May 15th and ends a week later when all 9 planets are lined up in an eclipse. A once in 5000 years event. (It is also the anniversary of the 'death' of Lara Croft's father, Lord Richard Croft (May 15, 1985). In the TR movie universe anyway. In the 'classic' TR game universe, he isn't dead. And his name isn't Richard. ) The new TR game (TR Legends) lines up a lot closer with the movie universe than the older game universe. Her "crew" is different -- she has a techie ( 'Zip' ), a researcher, ('Alex'), and a butler (Winston). In the movie -- she has a butler/researcher ('Hillary'), and a techie ('Bryce') and a non-TR related 'day job'. But the mansion looks very similar. Haven't yet decided how to merge the new game into my TR crossover universe, if at all. Maybe just the back story? Need to finish the game first I guess. Movie quote of the moment... Bryce: "What's that smell" Lara: "5 am" 5:58:32 PM    Notes [] Maybe some other time... Looking at some DVD's I've purchased but never watched. I purchased several cheap copies of movies with SMG (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in them as a main character out of curiosity. Thought I would take a look at Simply Irresistible. Only watched a few minutes of it before I had to stop. Maybe I'll watch the rest of it again someday. Quick synopsis (of the bit I watched) Plucky girl/woman runs her own business with the help of an older woman. She runs into some rich executive, her business might have to close, he's involved in some business venture that is taking away business and it's all predictible/downhill from there. Sounds kind of like "You've Got Mail" doesn't it? Sure the businesses are different but still... And SMG isn't the same kind of actress as Meg Ryan (I think she has an edge to her acting -- when in a good role -- that Meg Ryan doesn't -- she really isn't a good fit for the cute romantic fluffy stuff. (In fact, I think this is the only cute/romantc comedy she's ever done.)) I can just see the marketing pitch right now "It's like 'You've got Mail' for teens/young adults. Except it's restaurants instead of book stores." Problems: SMG was really too young for this role. (At 22 when it came out, she still looked like she was 16 -- which worked for Buffy (which she was in at the same time) but not here.) It seems so "light weight" -- it would have worked as a tv movie. The restaurant is VERY unrealistic. The kitchen looks like something from Food TV, not a real working kitchen. And she doesn't behave like a real cook. Don't they have a menu? Why does she offer to cook something that isn't on it? It is supposed to be a small family restaurant (too clean and quiet to be a diner) -- just the basics. What's with the run-a-way crab? And the magically appearing food? (That's where I turned it off) 3:04:39 PM    Notes [] The things you find.. When you are avoiding impulse buying... Okay... one of the things I want to do is attach my powerbook to my new tv so I set out Saturday afternoon to buy a few things: A USB keyboard (can't run my powerbook with the lid closed without a keyboard/mouse (and it can't be a bluetooth keyboard)) - got the standard Apple USB keyboard for $30 (it is usually more than that but someone forgot to change the sign at CompUSA and they honored the lower price (from some sale earlier) A USB extension cable so I can sit a decent distance away (didn't know this but the keyboard came with one (a very short one) -- the Belkin grey USB extension cable is $2 cheaper than the Belkin clear cable in the CompUSA Apple section. Bought a HDMI to DVI-D cable (My powerbook came with a mini-DVI to DVI adapter. My new tv has several HDMI ports.) The Belkin and Monster versions of these cables (at both CompUSA and Best Buy) are $100+ (depending on perceived quality and length). Best Buy sells a brand called "Acoustic Research" that is often 50%-60% of the price of Monster cables (they had the HDMI to DVI cable for $55) Too bad it didn't quite work out (yet) -- my powerbook recognizes the display but none of the resolutions work quite right... still have things to figure out... I also bought a cheap tv stand (black) at Wal-mart (laminated particle board like all cheap prefab furniture). Not fancy and is several inches taller than I planned on but it works. Even had room for my receiver/dvd player/cable box underneath. Still a couple more things to rearrange... Anyway... Picked up a cheap copy of "Kelly's Heroes" -- one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies. (A bunch of other people are also in it). It could almost be considered an anti-war movie (Donald Sutherland plays a hippy tank commander) disguised as a WW II bank robbery movie.) I was surprised that it was actually in wide screen (the box just says "letterbox" ) and at how long it was (2 hour 24 minutes) - they must compress/trim it quite a bit to fit into a two hour TV show slot...) Also found a copy of "My Name is Nobody" with Terence Hill (the Italian spaghetti Western actor with the American sounding name) and Henry Fonda. Another favorite. (An Italian-French-German production). For the price -- it would have been nice to get more than just the movie. But at least it is in widescreen (unlike the DVD with 3 other Terence Hill movies (from his "Trinity" series of westerns) that had them in full screen). Didn't buy a copy of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"... 12:41:57 AM    Notes []

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