Blog Assignment Finale

Here are the links to my top 10 blog posts along with a brief description on why I chose each post.

• City of God Review - This is my favorite movie of all time.
  
• American Beauty Review - I loved everything about this movie. This is Kevin Spacey's at his finest.
  
• Goodfellas Review - Martin Scorsese is one of my favorite directors and this was his best movie.
  
• How the Web Changed My Life - I liked thinking about what my life would be like without the internet.
  
• Gran Torino Review - This was a really powerful movie and one that most people haven't gotten a chance to see yet.
  
• Once Upon a Time in the West Review - This movie was a masterpiece and It was difficult picking out all of the little details that made me like it so much.
  
• 50 Best Movies - It was fun to look back through the movies I've watched and rank them.
  
• Amadeus Review - I love classical music and this movie was great.
  
• The Changing Web - It was fun thinking of all the things I used to do on the internet.
  
• Schindler's List Review - This was the first movie post where I took the time to add multiple links to outside sites.
  

Before this class, I had a web design blog that I updated occasionally. However, my posts would be few and far apart. After posting 2+ times a week for this class, I got into a habit of writing posts and it became easier.

When writing blog posts, I tried to keep paragraphs to a max of 3 sentences. Any block of text much larger than that got hard to read. I also tried to make all of my movie poster images have the same size and alignment to keep the site consistent. I definitely like the freedom and control of writing to my own blog much more than posting on a discussion board. I also like being able to go back and revise posts if I think of something different the next day or two.

Because I was writing on a schedule, I would keep a list of all the things I hadn't blogged about yet. This worked well with Blogger since I could create drafts of all of these posts and only publish them when I was finished. This way, whenever I had some free time, I could add a little to one of my drafts.

50 Best Movies

My IMDB Top 100 Challenge is done tomorrow and I was reminiscing about all of the great films I've seen in the past few months. Here is a list of the best 50 movies I've seen in the past year.

50. Into the Wild (2007)
    


49. Reservoir Dogs (1992)


48. The Maltese Falcon (1941)


47. Unforgiven (1992)
    


46. Oldboy (2003)
    


45. Pulp Fiction (1994)


44. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)


43. The Downfall (2004)


42. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
    


41. Requiem for a Dream (2000)


40. Apocalypse Now (1979)


39. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)


38. The Dark Knight (2008)


37. Amadeus (1984)


36. No Country for Old Men (2007)


35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)


34. The Wrestler (2008)


33. Raging Bull (1980)


32. Saving Private Ryan (1998)


31. The Departed (2006)


30. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)


29. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)


28. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)


27. 12 Angry Men (1957)


26. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)


25. Sin City (2005)


24. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)


23. Seven Samurai (1954)


22. L.A. Confidential (1997)


21. Léon (1994)


20. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)


19. Taxi Driver (1976)


18. The Lives of Others (2006)


17. The Godfather (1972)


16. Schindler's List (1993)


15. The Pianist (2002)


14. Gran Torino (2008)


13. Life is Beautiful (1997)


12. The Prestige (2006)


11. Chinatown (1974)


10. American History X (1998)


9. Goodfellas (1990)


8. The Sting (1973)


7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)


6. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)


5. American Beauty (1999)


4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)


3. Memento (2000)


2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)


1. City of God (2002)

Schindler's List - #7

With this movie, I finished off the top 10 films of all time according to IMDB.

IMDB rating: 8.8
My rating: 9.0

Schindler's List was a movie I knew a lot about but had never gotten around to watching it. This is Spielberg's masterpiece and deserves its spot near the top of the list.

The majority of the film was in black and white which was an interesting directing choice. After watching another great Holocaust film, The Pianist, I think it was the right one to make. The vivid colors in The Pianist distracted from the storyline and didn't quite fit with the theme. Schindler's list had to rely on acting and a riveting story to make the most of its 2 colors and boy did it succeed.

Liam Neeson was fantastic as Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member and factory owner during World War II. Some other great performances by Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes rounded out the film.

It was really inspiring to know that not all humanity was lost in Hitler's Germany. At the same time, it was depressing to realize that despite the enormous efforts of Oskar Schindler, 6 million people still died.

The ending of this movie was unconventional. Each of the actors came back on screen escorting the actual person they were portraying in the film. It was a fitting way to end this masterpiece. Schindler's List is near the top in most movie lists for a reason. Even if you know what's going to happen, the experience is still worth it.

There are many disturbing images and scenes from the Holocaust in this film, so you may have to turn your head away at a few parts. Also, Schindler's List is over 3 hours long, so make sure and plan ahead before watching this. That being said, this is one of the greatest movies ever made and everyone should watch it.

American History X - #39

IMDB Rating: 8.5

My Rating: 9.1

American History X was a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. I finally found a copy and was not disappointed. The film was very emotional and thought provoking.

Edward Norton gave a powerhouse performance and proved himself as one of the greatest actors alive today. He was able to portray a troubled teenager, a hardened criminal, and a caring brother flawlessly. Each of his roles were completely believable. The supporting cast was great too, but they couldn't compete with Norton for the spotlight.

There is brief nudity, some violence, and a lot of adult language. If you are easily offended, you may want to stay away from this film. That being said, I highly recommend this and would rank it in the top 10 movies of all time.

Once Upon a Time in the West - #19

This was only the second real Western movie I've seen, besides The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

IMDB rating: 8.7

My rating: 9.6

Once Upon a Time in the West was a masterpeice. Sergio Leone, also the director of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, is now one of my favorite directors, right up there with Christopher Nolan.

The recurring musical themes and visual elements made watching this film a surreal experience. Each character had their own music and visual styles associated with them. When two or more characters met, their musical themes were woven together, creating a unique experience. Once Upon a Time in the West was one of, if not the best examples of film making I've ever seen.

The great directing along with a great cast and a compelling story made this film a pleasure to watch. When I watched Once Upon a Time in the West, I had just seen Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men. It was interesting to see him as a villain after being the ultimate good guy.

After 5 minutes of watching this movie, I was ready to turn it off. It starts out pretty slow, but stick with it. You'll be glad you did. I can't decide between City of God and this movie as my favorite of all time. If you like Westerns or just great film making you have to see Once Upon a Time in the West.

12 Angry Men - #9

IMDB rating: 8.8
My rating: 8.8

12 Angry Men was a great movie. I don't usually like old movies, but this is such a classic that I had to watch it.

Almost the entire movie takes place in a single room with 12 jurors sitting around a table. Without changing scenery or music, 12 Angry Men had to rely primarily on acting. Luckily, this movie has some of the best acting of any I've seen. Henry Fonda led the pack with a memorable performance.

It is only 96 minutes, so there really isn't any excuse to not see this movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you really have to.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - #60

IMDB rating: 8.4

My rating: 8.7

I really liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I wasn't too interested in watching it when it first came out in theaters, but I'm glad I finally did.

Kate Winslet and Jim Carey were great together. They had an on-screen chemistry that I couldn't have imagined before seeing the film. Other big names include Elijah Wood (his 5th top 100 movie), David Cross, and Kristen Dunst. Some of the roles didn't quite seem to fit the actors, but overall it was pretty good.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was one of the stranger movies on this list. Not everyone is going to like it, but you should definitely give it a shot.

Gran Torino - #83

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 9.2

I was really impressed with Gran Torino. It didn't get as much publicity as The Wrestler or Slumdog Millionaire, but in my opinion, this was the best movie of 2008.

Clint Eastwood plays a Korean War veteran living in a changing neighborhood dominated by Asian immigrants. The story revolves around his relationship with his next door neighbors.

The thing that really struck me about this movie was how believable the characters were. I wouldn't be surprised to run into one of them on the street. Clint Eastwood has proved that he is still one of the best actors in Hollywood. The other two stars, Bee Vang and Ahney Her, were first time actors, and judging by their performance, will probably be back for more movies in the future. All of these factors made the drama way more realistic and engaging.

Gran Torino is under just 2 hours, short compared to other movies in the top 100 list. There is a lot of adult language, and some mild violence, but nothing too bad. If you want to see an enjoyable and intense movie, give this one a shot.

Godfather: Part II - #3

Since I last blogged, I've seen 8 movies for the IMDB competition. I'll try to catch up in the next few days.

IMDB rating: 9
My rating: 9.5

The Godfather: Part II was a phenomenal movie. I've heard people say this is better than the original and I have to agree.

My biggest complaint with this movie is the length. It was 3 hours and 20 minutes, which makes it one of the longest movies on the IMDB list. However, unlike the original Godfather, Part II seemed to fly by. I intended to watch it in 2 parts, but it was so good I had to finish it in one sitting.

The Godfather: Part II filled in all the gaps left by The Godfather. It tells the back story of how Vito Corleone started his crime empire and continues where the first movie left off with Michael Corleone. Because of this, it's necessary to watch them in order.

This deserves its spot as the 3rd best movie of all time. Everyone should see this at some point.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - #4

IMDB rating: 8.9
My rating: 9

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was the first Clint Eastwood movie I've seen and it didn't disappoint. It was a 1966 Italian Western dubbed over in English so I was a little skeptical, but this was one of the more enjoyable movies I've seen.

The movie is listed at 160 minutes, but I watched the dvd special edition which added another 20. The first half went by slowly but it really picked up the pace in the second. I watched this film in 2 parts so it wasn't that bad.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was a great movie by today's standards which makes it even more impressive that it was made 40 years ago. The music and camerawork were fantastic and really brought out the majestic beauty of the American West. I'm not sure I would put this as the 4th best movie of all time, but I might keep it in the top 10.

There is a lot of violence, but it's not too graphic. If you have the time, I recommend watching this.

American Beauty - #37

This was my 40th movie overall from the IMDB Top 100 list and the 20th one for my competition. That means I've watched the same number of top 100 movies in 2 weeks than I have in 19 years.

IMDB rating: 8.5
My rating: 9

I loved American Beauty. I would put this in the top 10 movies I've ever seen.

Kevin Spacey is creepy as always and he pulls it off beautifully. Thora Birch and Mena Suvari were also excellent.

I'm not sure exactly what it was about this movie that made it so enjoyable. The music, the camerawork, the voice overs, and the scenery all came together to create a dark comedy/tragedy/drama, or a tragecomedrama for short.

There is brief nudity in this movie and a very small amount of violence, but nothing too distracting. This is a movie everyone should watch, hands down.

Requiem for a Dream - #64

This was the 19th movie I watched for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.4
My rating: 8.5

Requiem for a Dream was a very unique film. It followed the lives of several people and how they coped with drug addiction.

I thought the acting was pretty good, but nothing to rave about. The actors were believable, but the thing that really stood out about this movie was the unique film style. As a side note, this was the only good movie I've seen with Marlon Wayans in it (sorry White Chicks).

There are many quick camera changes and extreme close-ups, which I thought fit the film perfectly. Another thing that really enhanced the experience was the great soundtrack.

Requiem had a lot of gore and graphic scenes and would certainly not appeal to many people. It's no where near as bad as Saw, but it does have its moments. If you can handle this, you should definitely watch this movie.

Movie E-Zines

I've been looking into some film E-Zines that focus on movie reviews. They were difficult to find, but I finally managed to locate a few of them. Here's a list of some of the better ones I found.

IO Film: Film Inside Out - http://www.iofilm.co.uk
Pop Culture Geek - http://popculturegeek.com/
Channel 4 Film - http://www.channel4.com/film/a2z/f-A_1_a2z.html
Guardian Film Reviews - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/film+tone/reviews
Movie Gazette - http://www.movie-gazette.com/

About 90% of the film Zines listed in various directories don't exist anymore and some linked to Prescription Medication spam. The ones above exist and appear to be somewhat up to date.

Amadeus - #84

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 9

Amadeus was a great movie, but I'm surprised it made the Top 100 list. It tells the story of Mozart through the eyes of Salieri, a mediocre composer living at the same time.

The only real downside to this movie was the length. I watched the extended edition, which was a little over 3 hours long. I watched it in 2 parts, so it wasn't that bad. I'm not sure I could have made it through the entire movie in one sitting. Another thing that got annoying was Mozart's laugh (you'll see what I mean).

Let me just say that I've played classical piano for 10 years and love classical music, so I might have a slightly bias opinion towards this movie. The soundtrack for Amadeus is the best I've heard, with the possible exception of The Pianist (IMDB #57). You get to hear many prime examples of Mozart's music in this film, including one of my favorites, Requiem aeternam.

The movie was also historically accurate, from the various composers to the costumes and sets and even the manner of speech. It really transported me back to the 18th century.

The reason I'm surprised it made the list is because I didn't think it appealed that much to a general audience. If you have any interest in classical music at all, you should definitely watch this movie. Otherwise, you might find yourself bored.

Pulp Fiction - #5

Another IMDB Top 100 Challenge movie review.

IMDB rating: 8.9
My rating: 8.5

I think Pulp Fiction is really out of place on the Top 100 list at #5. It was good and Tarantino's best work, but it wasn't one of the best films ever made.

Pulp Fiction seemed a little too long. It seemed to drag in some scenes. Some of the conversations took 10 minutes and didn't really say anything.

This film had an all star cast and they all acted well. Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, and Uma Thurman all gave great performances. As a side note, I also noticed that almost the entire cast of Reservoir Dogs, also by Tarantino, made an appearance in Pulp Fiction.

Some people love this movie and some people hate it. I recommend you watch it, but don't expect it to be the best movie you've ever seen.

The Wrestler - #59

This is another review from the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.4
My rating: 8.6

I didn't think I would like The Wrestler when I saw the previews, but I trusted the critics and saw it anyway. I liked this movie a lot and agree with its placement on the list of best movies of all time.

Mickey Rourke was great in his role as a washed up wrestler. This was a very emotional film and all of the actors brought that through very well.

The Wrestler is definitely not for everyone. There was ample nudity and violence, but I think it was necessary for the message. I highly recommend this movie.

2001: A Space Odyssey - #87

This is the 15th movie I've watched for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 6

2001: A Space Odyssey gets the lowest rating I've given so far.

The movie was 144 minutes long, but only had about 20 minutes of plot. In between spurts of dialogue, there were 10 minute sequences of a spaceship slowly moving across the screen. Also, there were only about 6 actors in the movie. This made public areas seem like ghost towns.

The only reason I gave it a somewhat high rating is the fact that it was made in 1968. Some of the 21^st century technology was very interesting to see. The characters were still using ancient computers, but they were running software that's at least 20 years away. One thing they did predict correctly was video conferencing. It was really cool to see them fake a video conferencing call when the technology to do it for real just came around a few years ago.

If you are going to watch this movie, I recommend keeping your finger on the fast forward button. That being said , I think about 20% of the movie is worth watching if only to understand all the modern references to it.

The Shawshank Redemption - #1

I finally watched the number 1 movie on IMDB's Top 250 list.

IMDB rating: 9.1
My rating: 9.3

I can see why The Shawshank Redemption is regarded so highly. I can't imagine a person not liking this movie. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins were excellent.

I'm not sure I agree with it's position as the number 1 movie of all time, but it definitely deserves to be up near the top. The rating process gets a little political near the top since Godfather fans vote down Shawshank and vice versa.

Everyone should watch this movie, no exceptions.

Sin City - #91

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 8.6

Sin City is definitely unique. The film style was a little over the top, but it wasn't too distracting. The action and dialogue were corny, but it managed to produce a very memorable experience.

As much as I like Jessica Alba, I don't think she was very convincing in her role. Also, the casting choice of Frodo Baggins (aka Elijah Woods) seemed odd to me. Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke made up for this with great acting.

Sin City was the first movie I've seen that successfully made it seem as though I was watching a comic book. Others have tried, like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but they just ended up as crappy movies.

This movie is not for everyone, but I found it entertaining.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - #8

I watched this movie as part of my IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.8
My rating: 9

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was the best Jack Nicholson performance I've ever seen. There were also some great performances by a young Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd.

This movie was great to watch, but I'm not sure it deserves to be in the top 10. Nevertheless, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a classic and one that everybody should watch.

City of God - #17

This was the last film in my movie marathon yesterday.

IMDB rating: 8.7
My rating: 9.5

Wow. That's all I can say about City of God. This movie was incredible. It joined my rapidly growing list of potential best movies of all time.

Throughout the entire movie, I kept thinking of Slumdog Millionaire. The two movies use similar cinematic styles and have similar plots. I personally liked both movies, but I think City of God was way better. The storytelling style also reminded me a little of Quentin Tarantino.

City of God was a brutally honest look at Cidade de Deus, a slum outside Rio de Janeiro. It follows the narrator as he grows up in this city riddled with gangs, drugs, and violence.

This movie is not for the squeamish, but I highly recommend it.

Hotel Rwanda - #99

This was part 2 of 3 of my movie marathon yesterday.

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 7.5

I thought Hotel Rwanda was good, but I don't think it should be on this list. It just didn't seem as powerful as it could have been.

Also, I usually don't complain about this, but the movie seemed a little short. It was 2 hours long, but a lot of that time was wasted. The plot didn't develop as much as I would have liked.

Despite my criticisms, I still recommend people watch it. It was better than most and an all around solid movie.

Goodfellas - #15

This was the first of three movies I watched yesterday.

IMDB rating: 8.7
My rating: 9

Goodfellas was a gangster movie. I don't really know what else to say about it.

The biggest thing that set it apart from others in the genre was the storytelling. The frequent voice overs made this movie very enjoyable to watch. It wasn't as cryptic as The Godfather and didn't make you think a lot. Goodfellas might have been easier to watch than The Godfather, but I don't think the two movies are quite at the same level.

Martin Scorsese directed this, along with several others on the IMDB top movies list (#199 Casino, #74 Raging Bull, #49 The Departed, and #37 Taxi Driver). The only other one of these movies I've seen is The Departed and I loved it. According to IMDB, he has 4 movies coming out by 2010. I'll probably give these a shot when they come out.

How the Web Changed my Life

The internets have had a huge impact on how I do things. The biggest impacts are in communication, entertainment, and work.

I used to have to call someone if I wanted to convey information to them, but now I mostly use email or text messaging. There are some advantages to calling, but for most cases, a text-based message works better. An email can't convey the same emotions as a human voice yet, but it might be able to in the future.

I used to sit on the couch after school and watch some TV. I only liked a few channels, so I was severely limited in what I could watch at any given time. If I wanted to watch a movie, I either had to go to Blockbuster or schedule ahead of time for HBO. Then, my family got a DVR. I now could record shows and watch them later. This was good, but I still had to decide ahead of time which shows I would want to watch. Now I watch most of my movies and TV online, through sites like Hulu, Justin.tv, and some sites of questionable legality. Now I have a virtually unlimited pool of entertainment options to choose from.

The only physical job I ever had was as a tennis instructor. I would drive to work at a set time and work for a set period. Now, I mostly work as a web designer from my home computer. I can work at 2 in the morning if I want, as long as I meet deadlines. While the vast majority of people go to a physical job, the number of people who can work from home, like me, is increasing at a very fast pace, mostly due to the internet.

I can't imagine life now without the web. I can't help but wonder what I won't be able to live without 10 years from now.

The Prestige - #82

Another post for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge. This brings me up to 8 new movies and 28 total.

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 9.4

The Prestige is about two competing magicians around the turn of the 20th Century. I was really transported back to this era by the costumes and the elaborate mechanical props used in the magic tricks.

After seeing The Prestige, Christopher Nolan is cemented as my favorite writer/director. I don't know which movie I liked more, this one or Memento, also written and directed by Nolan. Other notable movies by Nolan include Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

My only complaint about this movie is that it's hard to tell when in the timeline things are happening. It gets very confusing at the beginning, but it starts to come together at the end. Even after the movie, I was still a little confused on the order of things.

I loved this movie and highly recommend it to everyone.

A Clockwork Orange - #51

IMDB rating: 8.5
My rating: 8

A Clockwork Orange was one of the stranger movies I've seen. There is a surprising amount of sex and violence in this movie, but it does serve to get the point across.

My main complaint is that the characters were hard to understand. It took a while to get accustomed to their accents and manners of speech. Also, it seemed a little too long and slow at parts.

What I really liked about this film were the messages it told. Even though the book was written almost 50 years ago and the movie 10 years later, everything is still relevant today.

I recommend people watch A Clockwork Orange at least once.

The Lives of Others - #53

This was the 2nd German movie I watched for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.5
My rating: 9.5

The Lives of Others has the best character development of any film I've seen.

Lives of Others, like Downfall, was entirely in German with English subtitles, but it doesn't subtract from the quality at all. The movie was so well made it would still make sense without subtitles. Come to think of it, I really can't remember anyone's name from the movie, but I remember their faces and who they are and that's what's important.

The main character has only one facial expression the entire movie, but he somehow brings through every imaginable emotion. It was truly a great performance.

The Lives of Others is a must see and I recommend it to everyone.

Der Untergang (The Downfall) - #77

This was the first of 2 German movies I watched yesterday for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 8.5

The Downfall was probably the best historical film I've ever seen. The entire movie was in German with English subtitles. It chronicles the last days of Hitler's Germany as told by Hitler's last secretary.

The actor who played Hitler did a fantastic job. He really brought out the insanity and hatred within him. All of the other actors played their parts well and no one seemed out of place.

This film was brutally honest and completely unforgiving toward the Nazis. I had to turn away at some scenes, but the impact was still there. I wouldn't recommend this to non-history buffs due to the 3 hour length and the many names to keep track of.

Reservoir Dogs - #70

Another movie from the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 7

If you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino, then you'll probably enjoy this movie much more than I did.

I thought Reservoir Dogs was good, but I don't think it deserves to be among the best 100 movies of all time. The characters didn't have a lot of depth and none of the acting performances really stood out.

The movie certainly kept my attention the whole way through, despite a few slow parts, but overall it was just an okay experience. It was entertaining to watch, but the feeling didn't extend beyond the credits.

Leon: The Professional - #35

This is my 3rd movie in the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.6
My rating: 8.5

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie when I decided to watch it. I'm glad I did because it was a welcome change from intense dramas like The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption that IMDB's top 250 list seems to be filled with.

I'm not really sure what genre this movie falls into, it has elements of Action, Comedy, and Drama, but doesn't seem to fit any that well.

Natalie Portman was only 13 when they made this movie, but she stole the show. It was probably the best child acting performance I've ever seen. She played her part of a troubled child perfectly. I don't know how someone that young was able to bring such a complex character to life.

Jean Reno also had a great performance. The only roles I remember him in are Captain Bezu Fache in The Da Vinci Code, and the sidekick in the Pink Panther. After seeing Leon, I can't help but wonder how such a great lead actor ended up in such bad supporting roles. It's a shame that this is how most people will remember him.

Citizen Journalism

Traditional media (newspapers, radio, and television) may stick around for a while, but it's going to be passed soon by the internet and Citizen Journalism.

Traditional media powerhouses, like the New York Times and NBC, are trying to capitalize on the popularity of internet news, but they can't compete with user submitted, social news sites like Digg and Reddit.

Reddit and Digg have news stories submitted every second by thousands of users every day. If the stories are popular enough, they get displayed on the front page where hundreds of thousands of people read them. These 2 sites are citizen journalism at its best. Some other sites include Wiki News and Orato, both of which have multiple new stories every day.

When devises like the Amazon Kindle become mainstream, I think newspapers as we know them will die out. How can they compete with sites that generate an entire newspaper worth of stories in under an hour?

Memento - #27

This was the second movie I watched for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 8.6
My rating: 9.8

Memento was one of the best movies I've ever seen. I watched it late at night and I couldn't fall asleep afterward because I kept thinking about the twists and turns in the plot. I laid in bed for hours retracing the story and thinking about all the implications.

Christopher Nolan directed this masterpiece before moving on to his other blockbusters, Batman Begins (IMDB #105), The Prestige (IMDB #83), and The Dark Knight (IMDB #6). If these movies don't confirm Nolan as one of the best writers and directors alive today, I don't know what will.

Nolan is coming out with a new movie, Inception, to be released sometime in 2010 before moving on to the final installment of the Batman trilogy. I'll definitely be watching both of these as soon as they hit theaters.

The Godfather - #2

The Godfather was the first new movie I watched for the IMDB Top 100 Challenge.

IMDB rating: 9.1
My rating: 9

I thought Marlon Brando played his role as the Godfather perfectly. It was one of the best performances I've ever seen. Al Pacino was also great. The complexity of the characters is what made this movie so good. There were no clear cut good or bad guys.

My main criticism of this movie is that there are too many names to keep track of. I ended up missing a lot of references because I didn't know who the characters were talking about, but I'm sure after watching it a few more times it'll make more sense. This isn't really a con, since it's the type of movie I wouldn't mind watching again and again.

IMDB Top 100 Challenge

A few of my friends and I started a competition this weekend to see how many movies we could watch from IMDB's top 250 list by the end of the school year. We decided to just focus on numbers 1 through 100 to make it easier.

I started the competition with 19 movies knocked off and plan to finish with close to 50.

I'll post a short review here whenever I finish a movie from the list.

The Power of Blogs

A blog is a place where I can write about the stuff that I care about and share these writings with the world. Blogs even the playing field for writers. I have the same number of potential readers that The New York Times or the Huffington Post has. Anyone that has access to those sites has access to mine.

If I were trying to circulate my writings in a magazine, I would spend hundreds of dollars and my circulation would be limited to a 5 mile radius. With a blog on the other hand, I can distribute my writings for free and have a global reach.

My web design blog, http://jeremydorn.blogspot.com, gets most of its readers from outside of the US. My largest readership is actually in India, followed by the US and then the UK. I've had visitors from Norway, Slovakia, and Nigeria. Now that I think of it, most of the information I read on online was probably written in another country. The internet and blogs in particular have created a global community that has no boundaries. Hopefully, these ideas of freedom and connectedness will filter through to the real world.

Seven Pounds Review

Last weekend I watched Will Smith's latest movie, Seven Pounds. I was kind of reluctant to see it after the horrible reviews it got by critics, but I'm glad I did. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, right up there with Slumdog Millionaire and the Dark Knight.

Smith's acting abilities range from comedies (Hitch, Wild Wild West, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) to action movies (Independence Day, I am Legend, I, Robot) to dramas (Seven Pounds, and Pursuit of Happyness). Seven Pounds firmly cements Will Smith as one of the best actors of our generation.

Seven Pounds and Will Smith's other drama, Pursuit of Happyness were both directed by Gabriele Muccino. Considering the great success this duo has had, I wouldn't be surprised if they made another movie together. Personally, I can't wait till they do.

The Changing Web

My first experience with the internet was 10 years ago in 1999. I would run a long phone cord to my computer and connect through NetZero. Using the internet tied up our home phone, so I had limited time to enjoy it.

My start page was Yahoo, and this is where I spent most of my time online. I would play Yahoo Games, read Yahoo News, use Yahoo Mail, etc.. I used the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to remind me of what it was like. I actually prefer the 1999 Yahoo to the bloated, ad filled Yahoo of today.

When I wasn't using the various Yahoo services, I was playing multiplayer games and chatting with my online friends. Some of my favorites included Acrophobia, a game where random letters are shown and you have to come up with a sentence that fits that acronym, and You Don't Know Jack, an online game show. I made many online "friends" while playing these games. We would chat during games and occasionally exchange emails. The site that hosted all these games, Bezerk, got taken down in 2001.

That's about the same time I first started with web design. I had gotten a few magic trick books and I created a Yahoo Geocities page explaining how to do various card tricks. I got close to 1,000 visits to my site over the few years.

I discovered Google around 2003 and haven't gone back to Yahoo since. Here's what it looked like then.

I discovered Wikipedia in 2003, signed up for a Gmail account in 2004, and started using Digg in 2005. Since then, I've discovered Youtube, Flickr, Worth1000, Pandora, Hulu, Facebook, and Blogger.

Back in 1999, images were sparse and video was non-existent, background music and animated gifs were considered good web design, most of the content on the web was written by professionals, and interactivity wasn't really interactive.

Now, sites like Vimeo, DailyMotion, Youtube, and the recently deceased Stage6 stream High Definition video on demand. Web 2.0 design styles overtook ugly, bland ones. Sites like Wikipedia, Youtube, and Blogger made amateurs the primary source of content. Today, almost all sites are interactive and some like Facebook take this to extremes.

In the future, video may be replaced by 3d animation, web 2.0 styles will look quaint, and interactivity will be taken to levels not even imagined today. I for one, can't wait.

Visual Blogs

When blogs use images, it enhances the experience for the reader. Pictures can show and explain things that text can't do justice. For example, a blog I often read, Engadget (http://engadget.com) has an image with almost every blog post. If a post just said "The new iphone looks nice and has a large screen," it wouldn't work as well as a simple picture. Images are especially important for blogs that deal with new products or services.

Another blog, Web Pages That Suck (http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dailysucker/), looks at bad web design in action. They post comments about user submitted websites that use poor web design practices. Most of the posts don't use images, which is unusual for this type of site. I think I would be much more likely to read it if I could see an image right away without having to actually visit the sites they are talking about.

Barlow and Whalen

Barlow's article explains the anarchistic rule of the early internet. There was complete privacy and anonymity and no governments to enforce rules or laws. He talked about a spontaneous order that emerged and a code of conduct that needed no central power to enforce.

In today's world, most of this still holds true. Now however, some ISP's are starting to filter web traffic and block certain sites, which takes away from the freedom once associated with the web.

In Whalen's article, he talks about acts of vandalism that utilize new technology. One that stood out was using a photo editing tool to create a poster that implied that Hitler wore khakis and pasting it over a Calvin Klein billboard.

These acts are supposedly a product of the anarchistic society that the internet helped shape. None of the acts of vandalism were violent and most were just meant to be funny and mildly thought provoking. This article kind of reminded me of the English graffiti artist Banksy.