Blade Runner: The Final Cut

After watching interviews with Edward James Olmos, I decided we had to rewatch Blade Runner. The final cut is a beautiful remastering of the film. We're coming up on 2019, though, and Los Angeles still doesn't look like it does in the movie!

Please Vote For Me

This entertaining documentary about a class election in China is really cute. Vicious politics at work among 9-10 year-olds!

Death at a Funeral

A British farce about a funeral. Extremely funny and well-written, albeit over the top and predictable. Still, got a few belly laughs out of this movie!

Talent is Overrated

Hard work; hard, focused work. That's the secret to success, perhaps unsurprisingly. Mixing anecdotes with some summaries of research studies, this book covers the subject of expertise, and what makes expertise. At least a decade worth of "practice", according to the experts. Grueling, and yet unsurprising.

Ocean's Thirteen

All in all, a fun movie. Amusing little inside jokes all over the place, tongue-in-cheek script, and some interesting surprises in the plot. Worth a watch if you want some entertainment.

Watchmen

I saw the movie (whose web page I refuse to link to); as expected, it sucked. Impressive visuals, but the directing was weak: almost every sequence in the film corresponded to a panel in the original comic. Lack of imagination in translating the comic to a film, which showed in his previous film 300. Oh well, it reminded me that I should reread the comic some time!

Iceland

This Vanity Fair article about the financial meltdown in Iceland is fascinating. Definitely an interesting read, both for the historical perspective and the stories of what is happening in Iceland right now.