Moviejournal: the prestige

yesterday was especially chilling day for southeast queensland. out of nowhere the day started out like winter and even snow was reported further south, which was definitely a first for anybody. the global warming crap is finally getting to us. i should watch that alarmist film by al gore.

in other news, yesterday was the oz premier of the prestige. every magic trick involves three stages or acts: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. the film unfolds with the great storytelling skills, weaving together plot development from different timelines seamlessly. acting was really good, that no finger guy is especially convincing. hugh jackman pulls off another strong performance, however he's only capable of expressing anger and disbelief. the act of killing oneself each night is a powerful one.

There's something google can't do / Moviejournal: a good year

Contrary to popular belief, diversified Google is actually suck at something. Exhibit 1: GooTube. google video is an excellent idea, but the dull interface failed to attract much attention. YouTube, a teen website aimed at ppl who say "and stuff" a lot, is yet to mix in to the big picture google want to paint. Exhibit 2: desktop search. google desktop is a novel idea, but it just sucks. it never finds all the stuff i want to locate, especially the PDF files, and now for icing on the cake, it crashes IE7 when running, great. if this is the first sign of mass exodus to MSN based services, so be it. i'm trialing MSN desktop search and it looks promising.

a good year is about a mid-age england investment banker (russel crowe) who rediscovers his youth in an inherited chateau. I can't help wonder how good the original book will be, the film appears to be merely skimming the surface of the enourmous emotional depth conveivable in the novel. However decent acting all round and it deserves its share of accolades. i do think they should pick a thinner man to play the role of mark skinner though. the image of gladiator sticks with our mr. crowe for life. also lovel french music.