The Incredibles
Aug 20 at 3:03pm by ObverseView
Wow! I think we found this movie quite a romp actually! Very enjoyable indeed. The animation quality was quite excellent and the characterisation was detailed and well thought out. I found it quite easy to relate to the adult characters’ problems and situations. It really appealed to my need for a more complete characterisation. I’m usually not a cartoon freak, but this was enjoyable on a par with some of Pixar’s other ‘adult’ style works. I enjoyed it very much: Our rating was 4+/5.
Kenneth
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HDTV in Taiwan
May 30 at 10:10pm by ObverseView
The market is really beginning to hot up these days with at least three providers competing for HD market share. It’s difficult to predict who in the end will be the winner, but it’s going to be interesting.
The primary player is the local cable TV companies. For a long time, the local cable companies played also rans in the world of TV entertainment, at least compared to other countries. They were skimping on their bandwidth for cable TV networks, slapped up illegal ads everywhere, and charged upto NT$600 for 90 channels. For foreigners living in Taiwan, you could watch CNN, ESPN in Chinese, HBO and Cinemax, Star Movies (if you’re lucky), perhaps the BBC world news channel, Discovery Channel, NatGeo, and a few others depending on where you lived.
But recently, the local cable companies began offering Set Top boxes for HDTV with a number of channels offering HDTV. Some sports, some movies, History Channel, plus a lot more in SD. Limited choice in HD, for sure. Only nine channels. But some Natgeo channels, and lots of Discovery channels: all in SD.
Then MOD TV started offering HD channels, too. Mod TV is CHT’s version of IPTV, and until recently has been restricted to showing its own material, and non-competing channels. In other words, not much. With the recent developments in the marketplace, and broad adoption of their devices (as packages with I-net or telephone) they have a dominant place in the market … so far.
However, their range of HD channels is limited, too. I can only count about NGC in HD, NG WILD HD, NGA HD, plus Eye’s two HD channels. Though they add other SD channels, too, that may be interesting, the line up is broadly similar to the Kbro’s options.
The new entrant is DishHDAsia which launched a few months ago with nothing much on show. However, in recent days, they are now boasting a total of 35 HD channels. However, I’m not sure that all of them are really HD. Again there is some overlap with both KBro and MODTV, but much less than you’d think. Movies are the same as Kbro’s offering, but NatGeo channels are simiilar to MODTV. There are a few channels that you can’t get elsewhere on it: Fox HD (advertised on StarWorld), StarWorld HD, Fox News, … and one or two channels that I’ve never seen before.
So, if you have money to spend, want to watch National Geographic and Discovery (as you should!), get MODTV and DISHHD, also keep your regular cable TV package. If you like history, you may need to upgrade the cable package. Seriously, that and buying a Satellite Dish, may be the best way to get the biggest range of TV in Taiwan.
What would it cost you? Cable TV: NT500 and NT$300 for Digital; MOD costs about NT$1000 pm for its services; and DishHD would be NT$1200. Throw in your own satellite dish and a subscription to CBTV, you’ll certainly find something to watch.
And the reason I didn’t get either DishHD or CBTV: I’m a bit worried about attaching a satellite dish to my building wall, as I don’t see how on earth we’d get any reception. So I guess that’s why we’ve chosen regular Cable plus MODTV because it’s easy to install.
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Keep up with the new movies: Easy or not?
May 24 at 11:11pm by ObverseView
If you’re a busybee like myself, it’s pretty easy to get out of the habit of going to the movies. So it gets pretty difficult to keep up with the new movies or find out what’s coming up. I’m always surprised when my colleagues talk about movies I’ve never even heard of. So what’s an out-of-touch guy (or gal) to do?
I’ll pull together some resources to help those others facing the same challenge: where do you go first for the latest celebrity movies/news without being bogged down with the New York Post gossip (which really doesn’t interest me that much).
- IMDB, the venerable movie site, has a page that introduces the Movie News with a reasonable number of items that you could scan through quickly. Though there is no feed for your RSS Reader, more’s the pity, you should be able to skim and scan the news quite easily.
- Google News – once you sign up for a Google account, you can easily create your own Movie News feed and page that is current, automatically updated, and available in your RSS Feed Reader. Look for the ‘edit this page’ link at the top right on the ‘Add a section link’, and then click that. There are dozens, but I liked the one entitled ‘Movie Review’.
- Once you have sources of unfiltered information, then you need to get your opinions/ratings and make movie decisions for yourself. You need Opinions from a site like Rotten Tomatoes to help you make decisions about which reviews or previews to look at.
- Youtube is now becoming a popular source for trailers, teasers, and previews; so head on over to Youtube and look for the movie title plus a relevant keyword to help you find what you are looking for.
Overall, there are a whole bunch of sites out there that you can keep up with the latest movies, and celebrity news, if you must. But it needn’t be complicated. Just bookmark these sites in one folder, and then next time you want to check out an actor or a movie, just open all the sites in one tab. Voila! In a few minutes, you’ll have worked out for yourself whether "Sex and the City 2" is worth watching or not.
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Akeelah and the Bee Official Movie Trailer
May 23 at 7:07pm by ObverseView
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Security Cams Make Us All Movie Stars
Mar 29 at 12:12am by ObverseView
That’s true! Every time you step out of your house, you seem to see security cameras on lamp posts, corners, lobbies, and convenience stores.
It’s no wonder that we see more of these ‘movie stars’ every day.
Have you ever been caught on security cam? Did you get to see the footage? Does it make you feel safer or more nervous?
I’m not sure that they make me feel safer, as the number of people who do stupid things on TV lunchtime news each day verifies that it doesn’t seem to stop them doing stupid things. But it makes catching them easier!
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Movie: Surrogates 2009
Mar 28 at 12:12am by ObverseView
We just watched Surrogates starring Bruce Willis as he struggles to save humanity from itself!
It was certainly worth watching and reminded me of other movies like AI and had an eerie science fiction tone similar to the classic Blade Runner (1982).
Top 50 stuff? Not really, but viewers awarded it a 6.3 on IMDB. It appealed to me because it was a 2nd Life World scenario turned upside down! Neat!
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Movie Reviews: Up in the Air
Mar 6 at 10:10pm by ObverseView
Well, … this is a first. I went to the new Taipei Bus Station Mall, which is a great place to have dinner, get a coffee, buy some decent shoes, and… watch a movie! And even the bus station isn’t half bad, either!
We went to see the new movie: Up in the Air with George Clooney, and Anna Kendrick. I don’t really do reviews as such, but I do think this was a decent movie and it has won a few ‘awards’. Unlike most Hollywood movies, this one was original in its plot and in its ending. Overall the movie was an excellent story, but there was a little something lacking in the emotional content. One review cites "disconnection and economic instability" as two of the themes.
Well, I’d have to say that the disconnection from the viewer was patently obvious as we sat back and watched the two love interests sharing their frequent flyer cards and stories! There was, in other words, no real dramatic tension between the life of Ryan Bingham and his dream. Suffice to say, I felt Clooney’s portrayal of this character was a little 2D!
However, in watching the movie, I did admire his efficiency and the ‘girding for battle’ scenes we witnessed, esp. with his packing! That efficiency was amazing, if a little unbelievable. Still, I did wonder if he was using Jack Georges luggage to speed him through airports, baggage counters, and hotel check-ins! This point is one my wife sadly doesn’t agree with. But then which wife would.
Worth seeing, perhaps yes. Worth an Oscar. Well, perhaps not.
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《艋舺 / MONGA》Official Trailer (English Subtitles)
Mar 4 at 12:12am by ObverseView
This is the latest movie popular in Taiwan that features a lively and popular area of Taipei. It isn’t a particularly great movie, but it will give shots of Taipei’s backstreets, atmosphere and liveliness! I hope to go see it soon!
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Video: Mamma Mia – the Movie
Feb 9 at 11:11am by ObverseView
We’re just busy watching this movie tonight. I must confess to being an Abba fan since the late 70′s. Even through these unfashionable years of the early 80′s when people were embarrassed to say they owned an Abba album, I still liked them.
Finally, my faith was vindicated! Mamma Mia – the movie brought them back to prominence!
For more information, check out these links.
- Mamma Mia! The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA: A Decca Broadway Original Cast Recording (1999 London Cast)
- Play the Songs That Inspired Mamma MIA!
Video: Mr. Bean Goes Swimming
Jan 18 at 3:03pm by ObverseView
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