Monthly Archives: February 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

I don’t think I posted a review of Slumdog Millionaire. I thought it was alright, but nothing amazing. I thought it was a visual spectacle for the most part click for more. The story was kind of trite, the performances were okay. But here’s what John Gruber of Daring Fireball had to say:

I’ve seen Drivers Ed. movies that were less predictable and more engaging than “Slumdog Millionaire”.

I can’t say I disagree.

John Gruber on Slumdog Millionaire  

Movie review: The Descent

[Blu-ray | DVD]

This movie wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be. Well I knew it was going to be a monster movie, and in a cave, but I thought it was going to be a traditional kind of dumb, pretty college girls get preyed upon on by the monsters.

This played out a little, but not the character part. Well the characters were kind of stupid.

I thought the ending bits were kind of interesting. Visually I thought it was nice. Having to work with the dark and color casting with the lights was nice work. That’s about all I could say about it.

Design rules

via Gizmodo

The link is to a post about the Kindle 2’s design. But more important than the actual Kindle 2 design are the enumerated rules of design from Dieter Rams.

So here they are. Something to keep in mind in any design field I’d imagine important link.

  1. Good design is innovative.
  2. Good design makes a product useful.
  3. Good design is aesthetic.
  4. Good design helps us to understand a product.
  5. Good design is unobtrusive.
  6. Good design is honest.
  7. Good design is durable.
  8. Good design is consequent to the last detail.
  9. Good design is concerned with the environment.
  10. Good design is as little design as possible.

Movie review: Pride and Glory

[Blu-ray | DVD]

This is a pretty straightforward dirty cop movie. I think everyone gives a pretty basic performance, but given by a slew of good actors, so it was better than average. It was really like 2 movies I guess. The bad cops movie (with the obligatory redemptive cop) combined with a family cop drama (with the obligatory almost slapstick brother fight) why not try here. The women of the movie are pretty stereotypically completely shallow and pushed to the side in this movie. It’s alright. I don’t think I’d watch it ever again though.

Oh my big note, damn that guy who was Jim Carrey’s friend in “The Truman Show” is skinny now.

Comment on Comment

When it comes to product offerings, Apple’s approach to business is a lot like that of a Basketball coach. Would you rather have a smaller team comprised of only 7 All-Stars, or a full 12 man roster with 1 All-Star, 2 above average players, 3 mediocre players, and 6 benchwarmers. The Dream Team wins every time, baby.

From: Why a Simple Product Line is Integral to Apple’s Success – Edible Apple

Umm, Dream Team doesn’t win every time. See, e.g. the 2004 NBA Finals. Detroit Pistons vs. LA Lakers.

Detroit won in five games.

LA’s roster:

Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O’Neal
Gary Payton
Karl Malone
Slava Medvedenko
Devean George
Derek Fisher
Kareem Rush
Rick Fox
Brian Cook
Horace Grant
Bryon Russell
Jamal Sampson
Luke Walton
Ime Udoka

Detroit’s roster:

Richard Hamilton
Chauncey Billups
Rasheed Wallace
Tayshaun Prince
Mehmet Okur
Ben Wallace
Corliss Williamson
Mike James
Elden Campbell
Lindsey Hunter
Darvin Ham
Darko Milicic
Tremaine Fowlkes

Okay, I don’t want to get into an analysis of who was past his prime or who made (or deserved) the 2004 All-Star team. But I think it’s more than fair to say LA’s squad was a little more stacked then Detroit’s. (I know Malone was hurt and that was a big deal, but still.) But Detroit’s team play beat out the Hall-of-Fame filled roster of the Lakers.

And let’s not get into the thrashing the US has been getting in international basketball until this past Olympics. Mind you, the only reason these All-Stars killed was real team play versus a collection of stars. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say all the USA Basketball teams that lost all those games and tournaments had better talent top to bottom than the national squads of the teams the USA lost to.

Though I think the base point of the article makes sense. Apple paring down the lineup is a good thing for them. Just a poor basketball analogy.