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Sure, you love updating your Facebook status and telling your friends to check out the latest video you uploaded to YouTube. But you could do better. You could be cooler, smarter, faster and sexier. To guide you in adoption of the latest and greatest, we’ll tell you what’s hot now and which tech tools have just gone stale.
July 03, 2008
YouTube and camera phones are so last month
Sure, you love updating your Facebook status and telling your friends to check out the latest video you uploaded to YouTube. But you could do better. You could be cooler, smarter, faster and sexier. To guide you in adoption of the latest and greatest, we’ll tell you what’s hot now and which tech tools have just gone stale.
June 26, 2008
Theatrical trailers are no longer enough for some fans
In the wake of primary season, hype around a new candidate has emerged. His runaway campaign for district attorney in the crime-ravaged metropolis of Gotham City has attracted national attention. His groundbreaking online voting system has reached many constituents throughout the municipal elections. Videos and letters have flooded in from people expressing their support.
(Web Exclusive) Dive deep into the maze of the recruitment strategies that took place for The Dark Knight viral marketing campaign. See how participants used their wits to decipher clues to become a part of the action surrounding the most highly anticipated movie of the summer.
June 19, 2008
Theater’s revamped space offers more than movies
Since the opening of its new location at 10 Hitt St. in February during the True/False Film Festival, Ragtag Cinema has evolved significantly, but two things remain constant: its devotion to independent films and its insistence on comfy, worn-in furniture. But as for Ragtag’s changes, the theater recently fused Uprise Bakery and Ninth Street Video into its distinct atmosphere.
But Wii need help finding it
If you’re familiar with the long lines and scavenger hunts associated with the past holiday season’s Wii shortage, chances are you’ve considered trying out the addicting Wii Fit exercise program. For customers, however, especially those in North America, actually finding the game could be half the workout.
June 12, 2008
The cruelest reality of all is that these shows actually exist
Because of the Hollywood writers strike eating up most of the unscripted shows networks had in reserve, the summer television season brings a new slew of reality TV shows. Not surprisingly, they’re at it again: exploiting audiences’ appetites for disgustingly repetitive and predictable television. Here’s what’s on the table.
June 05, 2008
When ancient icons need to take a step back
Given the scrutiny of older female actresses (such as the fascination with dead-sexy Helen Mirren), Vox decided to turn the critical gaze on the old lions and find out why some AARP-eligible actors are still Hollywood material while others just seem old. Aging actors often have to reevaluate how they see themselves as stars. Many have found a way to continue acting without being sentenced to the old-folks home of Hollywood.
May 29, 2008
From boob tube to the big screen
Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City’s sex-columnist protagonist, once asked her gal pals, “So what are we going to do? Sit around bars, sipping Cosmos and sleeping with strangers when we’re 80?” Apparently, they haven’t finished their drinks quite yet. More than four years after the series concluded, the show is making its move to the big screen Friday. Sex and the City is following a trend in which a television series turns feature-length.
May 22, 2008
Home-shopping channels never felt so good
It’s 2 a.m., and sleep just isn’t happening. You go to the fridge, grab a bite to eat and flip on the TV. While surfing cable channels, you stop on Oxygen. Maybe you’ll see Hope Floats or possibly that teen pregnancy drama that grandma loves.
Emile Hirsch emerges from the wild
Like many of the characters he plays on the big screen, 23-year-old Emile Hirsch is packed with contradictions. He is a wide-eyed old soul, dorky hunk, a serious goofball.
May 15, 2008
(Web Exclusive) “Okay, no more Mr. Nice Guy,” Speed Racer says during a racing sequence. That’s just a sampling of dialogue from Speed Racer, written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski, who brought us The Matrix trilogy and wrote V for Vendetta. It is clear that dialogue is not key to the movie’s development.
Another generation of moviemakers took detailed notes on 1998’s successful films
It is easy to say that any year was a transitional year in Hollywood, but for 1998 that statement is actually true. Movie studios were in an uproar after a record-breaking year in 1997, which had the highest grossing movie of all-time, Titanic, and the most profitable movie of all-time, The Full Monty. A year later The Blair Witch Project trumped Monty’s mark, which left movie studios confused about what exactly the public wanted.
SATC’s sexy spinoffs
In 1998, Americans experienced the impeachment of a president, the battle of the boy bands, a Major League Baseball home run frenzy and, perhaps most importantly of all, the beginning of Sex and the City. Even after the final season in 2004, this HBO series is still the obsession of television-lovers everywhere. A number of elements combine to create the allure that is Sex and the City — and if these aren’t enough, there’s always the movie coming out May 30.
May 08, 2008
Filmmakers attempt to spur change through celluloid
Leonardo DiCaprio made middle-class Americans think twice before making that engagement ring purchase with his 2006 performance in Blood Diamond. Al Gore might have overwhelmed viewers with his innumerable graphs and charts but was one of the first to relay the importance of going green. But celebrities and politicians aren’t the only ones getting into the action.
(Web Exclusive) Batman Begins has the serious comic book movie concept down, but Iron Man is the perfect example of what a fun superhero can be with the right cast, script and direction.
(Web Exclusive) Made of Honor is a cookie-cutter romantic comedy that satisfies love-hungry women seeking comfort in a good chick flick. But with the exception of a gender swap, it adds no originality or twists reminiscent of its obvious forerunner, 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding.
May 01, 2008
Movies people watch while under the influence
Jon Stewart has a pressing question: “You ever see the back of a $20 bill ... on weed? Oh, there’s some crazy s—, man. There’s a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.” This quote from Half Baked conveys how an altered mind-set can inject a cinematic flavor that everybody experiences differently.
Tie-ins offer fans something extra
This summer, before he returns to wipe the smirk off the Joker’s face in the sure-to-be blockbuster The Dark Knight, Batman is turning Japanese. Batman: Gotham Knight, out July 8, depicts the caped crusader’s adventures between Batman Begins and the upcoming sequel. The direct-to-DVD anthology of six short films is the character’s first foray in Japanese animation, or anime. Movie and anime message boards across the Internet are buzzing with a level of anticipation that rivals that of its theatrical successor.
(Web Exclusive) Like other thrillers, Deception is filled with twists and turns designed to surprise the audience. Unfortunately, not one of them is actually misleading. The plot revelations are as transparent as the fact that Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman were working for a paycheck on this film — unless it was the multiple sex scenes that drew them in.
Take Two: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
(Web Exclusive) Comedy lovers all over have been awaiting the triumphant return of Harold and Kumar since their adventure to White Castle in 2004. Unfortunately, their return isn’t as graceful as anticipated. Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a movie that can be bust-a-gut hilarious, but after five minutes, your jaw will drop from the absurd and offensive humor.
