Posts Tagged ‘Tom Hanks’

Drink up!

I drank so many apps that I got Google goggles.

The first computer I was ever exposed to was an Amiga 500 that Commodore made in the 80s. My dad bought it for around $10,500 (adjusted for inflation or whatever + tax) and I don’t think it really even had an operating system. The way you used the computer was you put a floppy disk (it wasn’t very floppy now that technology had advanced) that contained a “program” in the drive and turned the computer on. The Amiga automatically booted whatever was on the disk and made at lot of noise while it did. In other words, it was magic.

Nowadays I own a phone that has probably 1,000x (adjusted for inflation or whatever + tax) more processing power and can do things that are totally ridiculous and awesome. I can take a picture of a painting somewhere and then have Google tell me what painting it is and who painted it using Google Goggles. I can use a fully-functional map to tell me where to go to get to anywhere in the city. I even blogged from my phone one time using the WordPress app, which took me like a week to recover from because my head exploded. And that’s when I got this great idea for this totally pointless blog post.

You see, when Dad taught me how to use the computer when I was around two or so, he handed me a box full of disks that contained “programs.” These programs did all the cool things I loved about the computer and were essential to my happiness until Windows 3.1 came out and my dad spent another $6 billion dollars American (adjusted for inflation + tax) on a new computer. The programs WERE the computer and the computer ran them like this kitten rides this turtle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK_CKtYCRIc

Fast forward 20+ years (adjusted for inflation or whatever + tax) and here I am using these APPS on my telephone and having conversations with my dad about how much better he is at “Angry Birds” than I am. But wait, what is an app? When the hell did this “app” thing start??

Don Draper

I've never seen this show, but apparently this guy sleeps with everything so he must be pretty persuasive.

Back in my day, these things were called PROGRAMS! A PROGRAMMER would leave his Dungeons and Dragons meeting and spend hours making something totally useful, like Pong, and the world would rejoice. Is there a such thing as an APPER? It doesn’t even sound productive! It’s 5/6 of the way to becoming a “napper” and if you nap all the time then I’m just going to call you “Sleep Jobs” (that was supposed to sound like “Steve Jobs” if you’re playing along at home).

The only solution is that somewhere along the way, somebody (probably Don Draper above or whatever + tax) pulled the greatest PR stint ever and started kids smoking apps from an early age. Then, these appheads started reproducing and BAM now I’m using the Netflix App on my Xbox 360 to watch foreign films so I can interject in conversations something about “Paris, je t’adore” regardless of whether it’s app-propriate or not. And somewhere along the way App-le’s (oh wait, now I’m on to something…) stock skyrocketed to 340.65 a share (adjusted for Don Draper + apps).

I stole this image from somewhere on the internet.

"I WANT YOU to stop watching crappy movies."

A few days ago I had dinner with some friends and a new acquaintance who is a huge movie fan. We got to talking about movies and her love for horror films (I hate horror films), and then began to talk about our favorite movies/films. When it got to be my turn, I was pretty much laughed at for my taste in movies. My three favorite movies off the top of my head (feel free to laugh as well) are:

  • Vanilla Sky
  • (500) Days of Summer
  • Big

Okay, yeah, I realize I’m not Roger Ebert, but each of these movies is appealing to me for different reasons. The first two are because they’re the best representations of “love” and “romance” from a guy’s perspective. They both tell the story of a guy who truly falls hard for the first time and also learns who he is through the fracturing of his rose-tinted glasses. Though they achieve this in different ways, both films hit it hard and portray intimate relationships the way they really are and not the way that Matthew McConnahoweveryouspellit makes them seem.

Big is just a classic movie with one of the greatest actors of our time: Tom Hanks. Feel free to argue that, too.

Anyway, I listed my three favorite movies to make this point: I don’t watch very many movies because the truth is that most movies just suck pretty badly. Most movies are also just made for pure profit and feed off the ignorance and shallowness of most of the world. Most movies are made using the McDonald’s formula: fast, cheap and unhealthy.

Maybe it’s because I’ve read a few good books in my time, but I’d say that most movies also lack one of the most important storytelling aspects: character development. How do you prove that the conflict in the movie is genuine unless you develop your characters correctly? Most movies are never able to attach me to the character like most books I’ve read have. The problem is that character development in two hours is extremely difficult.

But, it’s in this respect that a good movie truly becomes a good movie. I’m going to use another Tom Hanks example, but think about Cast Away. The movie centers around a guy on an island BY HIMSELF with nothing but a volleyball and the environment for supporting characters. That’s it! But, we still understand the predicament and our hearts still sink when he (spoiler alert) finally gets back home only to have Helen Hunt half-ass their relationship and give up hope. I probably would’ve done the same thing, but seriously, come on, Helen Hunt. The guy returned Apollo 13 back to Earth and also ran all the way across Greenbow, Alabama. Of course he’s going to survive a plane crash and a few years on an island with a volleyball.

The truth is that not every movie can be The Godfather or Wayne’s World or Forrest Gump. Or Turner and Hooch. Or Sleepless in Seattle. Or Saving Private Ryan. Or The Green Mile. Or You’ve Got Mail. Yes, I love You’ve Got Mail.

One last thing: I went and saw a movie this weekend and noticed that the adult price of admission at this particular theater is $9.50. Are you kidding me? $10 for a movie????? Back in my day it was $6.50 to see a movie like Toy Story. Or Toy Story 2. Or Toy Story 3.