Monty Python and the scientific method

Last week my daughter came home from school talking about Monty Python. It turned out that her science teacher showed her class the witch sequence from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” as an example of applying the scientific method. This seemed like another opportunity to share a piece of my movie nerd youth with her …

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Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX

Today I took my daughter to see the IMAX release of Steven Spielberg’s classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Seeing “Raiders” on the (really) big screen was pretty cool. Spielberg was apparently very pleased with the film but I found the IMAX transfer to be a little sub-par. I know the movie is 30 years old but it seemed overly …

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The odds are apparently in favor of “The Hunger Games”

The film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” has now spent three consecutive weeks at #1 and this past Easter weekend I finally took my daughter to see it. She had wanted to see it immediately on opening weekend (like a lot of her friends did), but the PG-13 rating concerned me and I …

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Leaving the red envelope for the red box

Like millions of other Netflix subscribers last week, I received CEO Reed Hastings’ strange “apology” for the recent price increase, along with the announcement that the business is splitting into two companies: Netflix for streaming, and Qwikster for the DVDs-by-mail service. The end result is two web sites, two accounts, two queues, two payments … …

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Happy birthday, Luxo, Jr. (and Pixar)

Twenty-five years ago (Aug. 17, 1986), “Luxo, Jr.,” a short depicting the misadventures of a rambunctious little desk lamp and his weary father, premiered in Dallas and did something no computer-animated film had done before: It made audiences laugh. The first film from Steve Jobs’ newly formed company Pixar and the second from director John …

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Cars 2

This afternoon we caught a matinee showing of Pixar’s latest film, “Cars 2.” My random thoughts (as usual, no spoilers): there were some great “cameos” like Sig Hansen and the Northwestern from “Deadliest Catch” as Crabby, and Bruce Campbell as American spy-car Rod “Torque” Redline (an obvious nod to Campbell’s character Sam Axe on “Burn …

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