YouTube on TV: Leanback with a Vengeance

It wouldn't be YouTube if things weren't drastically changed every now and then. It can be jarring, but hopefully it leads to better use cases of the site and overall more satisfaction.

The most current case: YouTube Leanback. A new version was just released, this time focusing on helping users find content they want to watch, and then keeping them satisfied with both more videos from a single stream and an easy browse experience to discover related streams. At the moment it's a work in progress, but it meets all the expectations and use cases of the initial version with the added benefit of easier navigation. There are more ideas on the way though, hoping to help surface more common, but simple, actions for the user as well as providing discovery of better videos.

You can check out what's changed, or as always go play around with it yourself.

Might I suggest though: sign up and log in to YouTube. You'll get more things which matter to you personally that way.

It's About Time

In case you were wondering what prompted my latest rewatching of Back to the Future, it was my having bought the new Back to the Future: The Game on the PS3.

Initially, I was unsure about this game. Yes it was made by TellTale, who seem to have the art of Adventure Game down to a science (after Sam and Max and Monkey Island). But still, it was a game based on a movie franchise, and those rarely live up to the source material.

Though this one was helped that it didn't try to recreate the movie (aside from a few great beginning scenes). It's not based off of any one movie (that'd been done to death), instead it was a new story taking place after the events of the films.

Two time periods are visited: 1986 and 1931. Same characters still, you have to deal with the bully Biff in 1986, and then his incarnation in 1931. Similar plot lines: Marty discovers something is wrong in 1986, and gets pulled into another adventure to find Doc Brown. Same Hill Valley even; part of the charm of the original films was only slightly changing the town to fit the timeline. Here, nothing changed from the Clocktower down to the local haunt on the corner, only 1931 that "local haunt' is now a soup kitchen. This is how Back to the Future gets you: things are different yet eerily similar. It's the same feeling of nostalgia one gets when they visit somewhere from their past only to realize all the small ways it changed.

Next, they managed to reach that good level of fan service seen in the sequels, while maintaining new story. So you're not surprised to first meet Arthur McFly (1931's George) in the soup kitchen, or to see Kid Tannen (1931's Biff) kick him out with the standard "I thought I told you never to come in here" line. This time though, Kid Tannen is Hill Valley's Al Capone, and Arthur is his accountant. And 1931 isn't far enough away to escape from the standard characters: Doc Brown is there twice, as himself from 1986 and a teenager version from 1931. Now you've got a story set up for standard Back to the Future mayhem.

Overall, this game was great. A new story, with the same feel and same characters as the movies. The voice acting is superb: Christopher Lloyd returns, and A.J. Locascio manages to sound exactly like a young Michael J. Fox, enough so to fool anyone who didn't know better. The only downside was some control issues and framerate drops. The latter was survivable, but the former becomes a major pain when running back and forth through areas, adjusting to the camera only to find out apparently the controls didn't want you to (if you play it you'll know what I mean). These are small hiccups though in the overall game, and the story and fun of it will most likely keep you going (it did for me).

Of course, all of this is only about the first episode "It's About Time", as TellTale likes to release episodically. The second, "Get Tannen!", releases tomorrow on the PS3. If they can maintain the quality, or even improve it control-wise, then this game will go on to be one of my favorites.

Hello McFly!

I recently sat down and watched Back to the Future again. While no doubt being a great movie, I had never realized just how great it was.

Don't get me wrong, no one would ever argue this is a bad movie (except for possibly Libyan terrorists). But this time I began to click on all the small things which make it just that great.

A great place to start would be the music. There's the one overpowering motif that everyone knows, and yet it's so very simple that you could whistle it without a problem. And the first three chords even work as a built-in cue! Plus what I'll call the Biff motif, most prevalent at the moments where he has the upper hand on our plucky heroes (the skateboard chase, the final car scene, countless times in the sequels). It's a fast-paced tension-builder piece, capable of resolving into the main motif powerfully. Then add in a couple of upbeat Huey Lewis songs, and you've got a soundtrack. Did you know Huey Lewis is the judge who tells Marty his band is "just too darn loud"?

Next, the plot is so well wrapped up that it feels like they thought of everything. Off-hand, it'd be difficult to come up with a real plot hole (I dare you to find one). Meanwhile the plot gracefully dances around what could be very dangerous territory: the reverse-Oedipus. Yet somehow it treats it lightly enough to be hilarious, all the way up to "it's like I'm kissing my brother".

Also, all the small consistencies make the movie great. Partly the little changes over time: Twin Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall, the section of the clock tower that Doc Brown broke. Partly the well wrapped themes: Biff treating George the same in the original present as in the past, nearly word for word; Marty too afraid of rejection to send in a demo tape, like his father and his writing; Marty dealing with Lorraine's prudishness, only to find out she was quite different as a teenager; and the ever present "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything". Then the multiple anachronistic jokes: Tab, Ronald Reagan, Calvin Klein, JFK, and don't forget Darth Vader. Meanwhile, I'd never fully realized just how "adult" this movie is. The peeping tom, the "reefer addicts" (band), and the final scene with Biff at the car. Every part of the movie has a point, and together they add up to create characters you actually want to see win.

From Marty, who finds everything heavy; to Lorraine, the pretty girl who everyone wants to go out with; to George, the well-meaning geek; to Doc Brown, the scatterbrained scientist with a penchant for making jokes. Actually, believe it or not, "Jigowatts" was the preferred pronunciation of gigawatts back then. Thanks to this movie, it will forever be my preferred pronunciation. And I didn't forget about Biff, who strikes that perfect amount of sadism expected in a bully.

Lastly, the film excelled in it's finale. It didn't just have to get Marty back to 1985, it had multiple other lines to tie up: George v. Biff, Marty v. the Kiss, Marty v. the DeLorean, Doc v. the Clock Tower, and Doc v. the Libyans. And it checked them off, one (or two) at a time. It's somewhat amazing because for the most part the enemy was really time itself: Marty making sure they kiss before he disappears, and then getting the DeLorean started so he can be make it to the wire. Doc fighting the Clock Tower to beat the lighting strike, and then deciding to learn the future to save himself from the Libyans. The only real villain: Biff, and what a villain he was! In fact, I think I'll leave off with the George and Biff confrontation just so you can enjoy watching Biff get his comeuppance while George saves the day.

12 Days: One Wonderful Life

When I was compiling this list, there were some I wanted to add but didn't, some I thought belonged but couldn't find a good way to get them here, some I was sure didn't belong but added them anyways, and a couple I felt perfectly correct putting it in the list.  This one though would not only be a crime to leave out, but also a travesty had I not given it the prime spot in the list: Christmas Day.

In terms of Christmas, it's really not that holiday-ish whatsoever.  That's where it ends, but not where it begins.  It's a case study reminding all of us that no matter what we do, there are ways we affect others.  No one is unimportant, no one wouldn't be missed.  It's a triumph of the human spirit.  What's more yuletidey than that?

This gets a 10 of 10, year round.

And last but not least, Merry Christmas!

12 Days: Two Yippee Kay-yay's

What's more in the spirit than saving a building full of hostages (including your wife)?

Oh, that's right, throwing Alan Rickman from a building, that's what.

Now you might again have problems with this being a Christmas film, but we must remember that 1) it takes place during a holiday party and 2) it's exactly the kind of thing you want to find yourself watching during the Christmas season.  I mean, John McClane even sends a note to the terrorists that says "Ho Ho Ho" (followed with "now I have a gun", but still).  Plus, for an action movie, this goes above and beyond.  Twists everywhere, with plenty of fleshed out characters to keep the movie moving.  And you can't forget that everyone likes Carl Winslow (oh, sorry, I mean "Al Powell", as he was known before transferring to Chicago).

All I know is that if I ever meet an Agent Johnson from the FBI, I think it'll be hard to keep a straight face.

This movie gets a solid 10 of 10, but for Christmas I'll knock it back to an 8 (even though I still think all holidays would be better off with a dead Gruber).

12 Days: Three Rules

A prime example of when you get a present you should never have received.

This movie is a cult-classic; who today couldn't recite the three rules?  Not to mention inspiring the original Furby.  It was the perfect toy, everyone wanted a pet like Gizmo, plus instead of multiplying when getting wet, they just broke!

Plus it taught us that you must always follow directions, because who knows when your failure to do so turns one of these cute creatures into a homicidal killing machine.

It even got a sequel, who's only saving grace was realizing it couldn't take itself seriously.

However, a thriller/horror for the holidays isn't always great, so while I'd give it a 8 of 10 normally, for Christmas it gets a 7.

12 Days: Four Ghosts

It's no Muppets, but it's also not 19th century London.

An updated take on an old tale.  Instead of a banker, we have a TV executive.  Instead of a ghost rattling chains, we have a ghost in golf pants.  Meanwhile, his story takes place while shooting a live version of A Christmas Carol, adding to the insanity.  This is Bill Murray still doing insane, but working towards the greatness of Groundhog Day, and an upward step at that.

Otherwise, I don't have much to say.  It's still a good 7 of 10 for the holidays though.

12 Days: Five Red Ryders

I bet I can make you say something in your head: You'll shoot your eye out!

Not only did you say that in your head, I'm sure you heard it in both Ralphie's mother's voice and his teacher's voice singing it to him.  Not just any movie can do that.

Everyone was there as a child, wanting the one thing they seemingly would never get, dealing with parents and bullies (and teachers and santas), and all the while just waiting for that one miraculous morning where they might find what they want under the tree.  Meanwhile, the family itself proved that not everything in the "good ol' days" was nearly as wholesome as our parents would have us believe.  Not to mention there are so many great things this brought into pop culture:  fudge (which isn't fudge), soap poisoning, "electric sex gleaming in the window", triple dog dares, and a smiling roast duck.  There is no way this isn't a classic, and is one staple which no Christmas should be without.

This gets a superb 9.5 out of 10 for any time of year, and only doesn't have the 10 because I'm saving it for something else.

12 Days: Six Bumps in the Night

Is it a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?  Why can't it be both.

Only Tim Burton could come up with a premise such as this: someone who scares people for a living contemplating the meaning of Christmas.  Taken aback by the splendor of it, his first thought is that he could do it just as well, only he doesn't realize that Christmas is radically different from Halloween in the emotions it's supposed to invoke.  As a character study, interesting; in practicality, engrossing.  Tim Burton pulls you into each world and flawlessly explores their juxtaposition.

But I digress: another movie which, while receiving a 9.5 out of 10 for execution, gets a 7.5 out of 10 for the yuletide.

12 Days: Seven Orange-Juice Futures

Now I know many might argue with this being a Christmas film, because it includes a prostitute, insider trading, and some questionable "monkey" business.  However, there's nothing more Christmas-y than a rags to riches story.  And at least it takes place during the holiday season, with major scenes on both Christmas and New Year's Eve.  Add in some revenge and lots of laughs, and you have a great film for anytime, not just Christmas.

This was from a time when both Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd were just starting their movie careers.  This was prime comedy from both of them.  Add in other standards like Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliot, and Paul Gleason, then a dash of Jamie Lee Curtis in her first real comedic turn, and you have the makings of a comedy for any age (minus the kids, because again of the prostitution and "monkey" business).

As films go, a 9 of 10.  But for Christmas it gets a 6.

12 Days: Eight Muppets

When I was a child I never cared for Dickens.  Then I saw this movie.

The only thing better than Holiday Cheer is Muppet Holiday Cheer.  Add Michael Caine into the mix and you have a timeless retelling of A Christmas Carol.

For Holiday films, this hits 8.5 out of 10.

I don't think there's anything more that needs to be said.

12 Days: Nine Booby Traps

Ah, Kevin McCallister, the kid every child wanted to be.   What was better than being free from your family and being able to do whatever you want?  Nothing, that's what.  At least until you're found out and have to deal with a couple of misfit thieves.

This movie made children everywhere believe that they were smart enough to deal with the Joe Pesci's of the world (that's a lot more insane of a thought if you've see GoodFellas or Casino).  Even to this day though, it stands up as a good romp whereas most family films are too silly to remain fun.  The only other movie this kid-empowering was Hook (who didn't want to be one of the Lost Boys?)

Not only that, it had everything a kid needs: it shows that scary people aren't always scary, and teaches us that Daniel Stern is never to be trusted.

Another thing every kid wanted after seeing the sequel: A Tiger Talkboy.  A well-placed ad that doubled as a quick lesson reminding us of the difference between movies and real life (it's like Kevin was in a recording studio!)

No doubt about it, this is an 8 out of 10: a first-rate romp.

12 Days: Ten Intersecting Stories

Sappy choice? Yes. Good choice? Definitely.

Even though I have a reputation to maintain, I'll go ahead and admit it: Love Actually is a great movie.  Made not of one plot but of several, movies like this normally fall apart; if one story isn't watchable, they all falter.  Even worse, if they try to merge the plots too much, it becomes quickly muddled and confused.  In this case though, each plot has a great blend of actor talent and script quality.  Also, the plots don't intertwine much beyond the people involved knowing each other.  There's no merging/diverging of plots, allowing each to stick to it's own and grow as it should without confusion.

It pulls off what it sets out to do masterfully, meanwhile those of us who don't care about analyzing it (normally myself included) will find it to be a superb film.  It earns an 8 out of 10 in my book.

12 Days: Eleven Things Gone Wrong

Next up is the favored misfit family, the Griswalds.

Through movie after movie they remind us of how lucky we are not to be them.  Christmas Vacation takes it further: everyone deals with family drama around the holidays, so why not have a family who's drama outdoes our own in hilarious ways.  What the other movies in the franchise did for standard family vacations this one brought home by showing the entirety of the Griswald clan.  No matter how dysfunctional Chevy Chase made it look, Randy Quaid made him look like small potatoes.

I partially blame this movie for the trend of "quirky family" Christmas comedies we've endured the past 20 years, but once you do it as well as Christmas Vacation did it, you can't help but expect crap to follow in it's wake.

Either way this is definitely at least a 7 of 10 on my scale.  Always a classic for the holidays.

Twelve Days of Christmas Films: Twelve Mall Santas

I figured I'd get into the holiday spirit this year and celebrate with 12 films which make Christmas great.

To start, I bring you an irreverently funny film which I have a love/hate relationship with: Bad Santa.



I say love/hate because on one hand it's an awful movie with zero redeeming value.  On the other hand, it's hilariously awkward.  It's the kind of movie that defines guilty pleasure: I enjoy it and feel like an awful person for doing so.

I guess that's one redeeming quality: it is capable of judiciously invoking both joy and guilt (I daresay this might be as close to understanding Catholics as I can get).

With Billy Bob Thornton and the late, great Bernie Mac, this film will either bring revulsion or hilarity to your life, or if you're really lucky, both.  Out of 10, I'd give it a solid 6.

RCI: Robot-Computer Interaction

I happened to watch Terminator Salvation the other day.  It wasn't bad, at least not as bad as I'd thought it'd be.  A good action film.  But it does bring up a point which I tend to find extremely annoying in movies dealing with "futuristic" technology.

Side-note: A SanDisk Cruzer holds the key to defeating the machines?   I knew I had a reason to like SanDisk.

Human-Computer Interaction is a great field.  Understanding how people interact with computer interfaces and designing interfaces to take advantage of natural understanding is the wave of the future.  Nothing's worse than a machine with low usability due to non-intuitive controls or just plain tedium.  And it's blatant that Ubiquitous Computing plays a large role in this, with everything being made more powerful and interconnected.

But that's for humans.  Yes, those meat popsicles, some of whom have problems talking and walking at the same time (much less playing with their phones and walking at the same time).  However, when you have a robot (or part-robot, as it were), why take the time to create a visual display with an interface made for humans, then create an image of someone he used to know in order to speak to him.  He's got the capability for quick wireless communication as shown when he "accesses" the information on his death and Judgment Day.  Hell, even if he had to "plug-in" ala R2D2 or a USB, that's not that much harder to do.  Just creating the giant viewscreen was not worth it.  Really, who's it for?

While we're on this, why do the Terminators only have "eyes" on the front of their skulls?  Isn't this the time to improve on the human?  If it's really a killing machine why can't it see all around itself?  That seems like quite a limitation.

Another movie which fails at this is WALL-E. While an outstanding movie, the idea of AUTO (the autopilot) controlling the ship with the same controls the Captain uses is just insane.  He's an autopilot, he shouldn't have to even move.  It's like Otto from Airplane, only it's a robot mashing buttons to control things.  I don't let it bother me as much though because it's a great, light-hearted movie.

But maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe robot's will have the same problems interacting with computers that we have today.  If SkyNet does try and kill us all, it's incompatibility with Windows might save us all.  (Of course, if it's Windows based, then Linux can save the day.  But nothing that complex could ever survive in Windows...)

The A-Team is Coming!

The A-Team escapes on June 11, 2010



Things you can already tell:

• Murdock flies the Team through mortal peril at least once


• B.A. is bad-ass


• Face gets the girl


• Hannibal has at least one cigar


• The Van is still the Van, and it drives through at least one fence


• So far no reference to "On the Jazz" (just how I like it)


• And, of course, the Plan comes together

A Real ReBoot

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For those that haven't heard, they're rebooting ReBoot, that beloved CG-animated television show of our youth.

Rainmaker is the new name of Mainframe Entertainment, so it's still the same people making it.