Yes, given the posts earlier this week, I couldn’t resist… but let’s face it: AI, in the form of our current crop of large language models, has been touted as the technology that will change everything. Well, for humans, anyway. And for humans, AI has proven problematic. Because, when it comes to Chosen Ones, you generally want them to do good. That’s one of the reasons they get the moniker of “Chosen One” versus “Eternal…
After May the Fourth became the official unofficial Star Wars holiday (much to the consternation of Orthodox Star Wars fans, who only celebrate May 25th and maybe Life Day) the people who can start singing “Yub Nub” at the drop of a Stormtrooper helmet tried to extend the revelry into the rest of the week. Hence Revenge of the Fifth. Hence this video. I have to say, it works for me, not that I’d tell…
The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980, a time long before today’s norms where you can wait a few months for any film in theaters to make it to streaming. So it was not uncommon to go back and see a film in the theater again. Alas, unbeknownst to us young Star Wars fans, Empire had an additional enticement for cinema-goers in the UK, Australia, and Scandinavia. George Lucas liked the idea of playing…
As I mentioned back in February, I’ve been musing about a longer piece about AI, the catch-all if imprecise term lobbed at the current crop of large language models (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Co-Pilot, Grok, Gemini, etc.). I get more examples of videos and articles motivating me to write that longer piece on AI every week. The current hucksterism selling AI strikes me as the same overconfident idiocy that led some to believe microwaves would replace…
Okay, so it’s a couple months since the Super Bowl, so I’m arguably late to the post-SB-party, but I haven’t stopped thinking about one of the commercials that aired as it was cheerfully pro-dystopia: Yeah, even people who think “Orwell” might be a brand of microwave popcorn found their spidey-sense tingling. Well, it turns out the lawyer folks at LegalEagle really took notice and they have a very informative video validating your fears and explaining…
I’m in the midst of some other writing, so to feed the Internet algorithm, I give you Screen Junkies’ now-annual tradition of explaining all the best picture nominees in their irreverent manner. You can check out all the nominees on the academy’s web page and if you’re wondering which films to cram in before Sunday’s ceremony, Joe Reid over at Vulture gives you his ranking of all 50 films nominated. It’s been years since I’ve…
Some folks may first think of Jim Cummings as the “new” voice of Winnie-the-Pooh (Hal Smith had a couple outings in the 80s, but most people probably remember the distinctive voice of Sterling Holloway as the silly old bear). Cummings has voiced a lot of characters in the past 40 years or so, not just Pooh, and he offers some very specific acting tips that are very welcome.
One of the kids is currently studying World War II, so I reminded them that dads (not just Baby Boomers) are required to know all sorts of military history. It’s like a Dad Merit Badge. In fact, I think World War II is only the first one. Anyway, to help dads everywhere earn or maintain their Military History trivia bona fides, check out George Dvorsky‘s article on 8 low-tech weapons and tactics used during the…
Anecdotally, I’m given to understand many purveyors of horror and spine-tingling thrillers are some of the nicest, chillest folks around… so I though of that when I came across this excerpt from a 1964 CBC interview with celebrated filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock: Interviewer: Mr. Hitchcock, what is your definition of happiness? Alfred Hitchcock: A clear horizon — nothing to worry about on your plate, only things that are creative and not destructive and that’s withing yourself.…
It’s time once again for a self-referential post as 11 years ago today, I relaunched my personal website. Neither I nor Nigel Tufnel thought we’d get here, but Nigel at least had a plan. (Incidentally, in searching for the appropriate graphic, I learned that Spinal Tap was not the first to go to 11, which I feel should be better known). Yes, it’s time for a: The 11th Anniversary is apparently the “Steel” anniversary. So…