Grokster

I feel like I should have something to say on the Grokster decision - except that I don't.  I look forward to 5000 people interpreting the Supreme Court decision wrongly, followed by various actual courts interpreting it in a wide variety of ways.

Yes, I'd have preferred a different outcome, but it's not as bad as it could be.

Kung Fu Hustle (with a few thoughts on Batman Begins)

I was, it has to be said, disappointed with Batman Begins.  I felt that the plot holes you could drive the Batmobile through and the silly technology didn't fit with the 'realistic' tone of the film, and ultimately it left me feeling that it could have worked better.  Most importantly I didn't like the fight scenes - while Batman taking out a few people stealthily was nicely shot in confus-o-vision, all blurriness and quick movements, using this same technique when dealing with one-on-one combat out in the open was just annoying - I want to _see_ people performing cool moves, not just get an impression that they're moving really quickly.

Which is why I utterly adored Kung Fu Hustle.

Not only is there no point at all even _thinking_ about the silliness inherent in the movie - because it's presented as a cartoon, using real people, but the combat scenes are shot from enough of a distance for you to appreciate that the people doing the fighting are all highly skilled in their own right, not just depending on stunt men and a few weeks training to fake it.

On top of that, the film was fantastically funny and really nicely shot, complete with really nice choreography (including the dance scene), and martial arts from the action choreographer of The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, and many more.  Including a wonderful take-off of The Matrix Reloaded's "Burly Brawl" which looks sooo much better than the original.

If you like comedy or martial arts movies I'd recommend this.  Heck - I'm not a big fan of serious martial arts movies myself, but this was just perfect.

9/10

This is not me

Here.

Because I like the sun, and so spent 4:30-6:30 lying in Bruntsfield Links, eating chicken salad and idly discussing why we both suck.

Into the middle of this blundered my old friend Hal, who (it had completely escaped my mind) lives about 50 feet from said park.  He then proceeded to join us, along with his two kids, and we chatted about a variety of things, both film related and other, while they dashed in circles around us.  He even phoned his wife Phil, who wandered out to join us.  It was rather nice and pastoral.

Other than that, the evening has consisted of Metroid Prime, changing the cat litter and apparently unwarranted trepidation.

It's been a lovely couple of days - I hope the weather stays for the weekend.