Even with the books I haven't seen a single Potter movie.  So this question probably wasn't designed for me.

The main problem with those movies, especially Daredevil and FF: Product Placement, is they're not telling good, human stories. 

Daredevil frustrates me to no end.  You have a lawyer who KNOWS he's right (a secondary power of his is essentially being a lie detector), and when he loses a case, it's a reminder of what a failure he is.  If a killer gets away, its all on him.  So then he dresses up, steps outside the legal system he swore to, and beats the shit out bad guys.

I've always seen Daredevil as someone who hates himself for his own inadequacy and failures - be it in the courtroom or his blindness or his father's death. 

The movie we got didn't come close to any of that.  It was a tonal mess, and everything felt tacked on in post production.  Not just scenes.  The whole movie seemed like an after thought.

Your mom has become easy.

It's easier to paste the insert from my authorized biography's cover.

High Praise for iJim:

"(iJim) is singular when it comes to good looks and charm. A synergy unmatched. It's Paul Walker meets Bill Clinton. I wish he were the leading man in my life."
-Audrey Hepburn

"Whoever said smart = geek never met iJim."
-Stephen William Hawking

"Such a sweetheart."
iJim's Parole Officer

"Not only is he a member, he is our most valued one."
Steve Hudson
President of Hair Club for Men

Holden, I love the new design.  A lot.  It fills the browser space beautifully, and I second John's remarks on the bokeh.  And everything is more intuitive.

And thanks, guys.  Obviously if it wasn't for your quotes, I wouldn't have done it.  Just WAY too much stuff to shift through.  Hell, even WITH the quotes is was almost too much to shift through.

I used an HVX200 w/Redrock and an assortment of prime nikon lenses for most of the montage.  Everything else, the video-y looking stuff, is an HPX.   But I've decided I need a RED.  So now I have to choose one.

I also used a crane on a dolly for several shots, including the Stay Puft shot.  I also had a skate dolly, most notably for the Transformers shot.  Also a couple lowell light kits and just, you know, led flashlights.  It was all cut on FCP.

And Teague is, among his many other skills, a great editor.  He suggested a cool 60-70 seconds worth of cuts (which I resisted initially) that improved this thing by 400%.

I really dig Double Digits.  Like a mix of Gorillaz and The Doors.  If someone remade Apoc. Now, that would be the track for when Sheen loses it in his hotel room.

Nice.

Plus, in terms of fallback positions, there is no difference between a degree in film studies, lit, or sociology.  They all equally qualify you for a job managing a Target.  And even that's not the end of the road - one of my best friends majored in dance and she's in med school now.

So whatever.  Film studies make as much sense as anything else.

Jasper Johns is obviously still alive.  For THAT particular study he ran the regression analysis on contemporary artists.  But he's designed dozens of studies, including dead artists.

Bottom line, there is hope for old people.

That said, studies like these always remind me of how Steve Pinker (accurately) described Malcolm Gladwell - beware the minor genius who unwittingly demonstrates the hazards of statistical reasoning.

EDIT:  Not that I think Galenson's study is flawed.  In fact, if I could find a hole in any of his work that would be an instant PhD.  Just on matters of art in general I'm leery of MATLAB.  Math is witchcraft.

EDIT EDIT: In fact, I know some people who would love to punch holes in Galenson's work and face.  He once told the kid next to me in class that he'd be a competent ditch-digger.  And he took one girl's 30 page final, didn't write a single note, and simply taped a match to the last page.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: And he was one of the nice professors.  The average GPA in that department was 2.5.  Like it should be.  One of the more famous papers from the dept. was one bashing Harvard's grade inflation.  Walking the walk...

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT:  I'm just going to turn this post into my mirco blog.  Come back soon for updates.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT:  I own Lethal Weapon 1,2, & 4, but not 3.  Is the quality differential so great as to exclude 3?  Dunno, but my free market has spoken.

EDIT:  My little sister is taking a human sexuality class.  Thankfully, what you learn in college isn't applicable in the real world.

EDIT: Spousal abuse is funny! http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs … _sad_f.php

EDIT:  Remember they had to call the Ghostbusters cartoon the REAL Ghostbusters because of copyright?  Think that's why it's called Real Steel?  Is Shaq that litigious?

EDIT:  It's not even Christmas at Radio City but these Raisinettes are dancing in my mouth.

EDIT:  I wanted to visualize a fight between Ayn Rand and Marx, so I was going to throw their books in the dryer.  But Atlas Shrugged would probably win.  Not even the same weight class.  Can't have that.

EDIT: A great revenge gag would be to throw popcorn into a convertible when a lot of pigeons are around.

EDIT: Ebert gave the first Human Centipede 0 stars, and he has the option of choosing what to review... so why would he go see Human Centipede 2?  Did he genuinely think the franchise was capable of course correction?  Also, why am I reading Ebert?

EDIT: I know of a dude who has a PhD in astronomy and is now getting dual graduate degrees in landscape architecture and in regional planning.  I don't know what his master plan is, but I can't wait to find out.

EDIT: Where is my minority report!? http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20117 … detection/

EDIT: Patton Oswalt gets mentioned a lot, and today's commentary moved me to check him out.  Dorkman is right.  He's not very funny.  In fact, he's a lot like Dane Cook only with fewer adverbs, adjectives, and cocaine.  One of his better bits was the misuse of the time machine, and there's a lot of, "you saw that movie too!?" call and response.  Same shit when he says, "in a bathrobe watching Princess Bride."  People lost their shit when he mentioned that movie.  No punchline.  Anywhere.  Fuck you.

EDIT: If this excessive, self-indulgent miscarriage of forum post wasn't proof enough, let's solidify my mindlessness -  CNN ran a headline: "Transgendered vet describes 'pain'" and I totally thought it was going to be a story about a veterinarian.

Trey - Very informative.  But lets say for argument's sake that Landis was found guilty - you don't think he'd deserve jail time?  I'm not saying 20-life.  But Michael Vick time... 18 months, say.

Zarban - Isn't California that state thats always on fire?