Movie Madness

Watch the trailer for Surrogates, one of many films that is/will be based on a graphic novel. It seems like Hollywood has become very comfortable taking advantage of these pre-story boarded writings. This one by Rob Venditti, a survivor of the Florida State University System, is focused on a future where humans can live life through robotic puppets. However, as I am sure you imagined, things go horribly wrong.

What exactly? Well, you can read the comic or drop $12 when it hits the theaters (or watch the trailer... it is pretty much all there). All we know for sure is that Bruce Willis plays the hero, apparently modeled after your Uncle Billy. Spanking new teaser poster is from comingsoon.net. Oddly enough, this isn't the most awkward look Willis has sported of late. (some parts are NSFW)

Heads up sent my way from reader Tenaka Khan. Thanks!

This 'Transformers' Phenomenon

Hate to do it, but need to chime in on this Transformers thing that has everyone all hot and bothered to the tune of over $200 million in five days ($214m through Monday). Now I know that, as humans, we are imperfect. Chief among those imperfections is the willingness to return to movie theaters for a sequel en masse, even if it is a follow-up to an average movie. This held true with a certain pirate-based franchise in its third installment, and a couple of movies about a matrix. There are, of course, cases where a sequel is better than the first and deserves the financial gains, but those instances are rare at best.

So imagine my dismay with humankind when a ROBOT-based movie nearly shattered box office records. The prospect of watching robots murder each other is very tempting, but worse than pandering to the robot sympathizers (now dubbed pro-bots), those who flocked to the theaters have helped keep this man in business! You should be ashamed!

The Self Check Out

This is, far and away, the most annoying machine ever devised. Sure, it might not qualify as a robot, but it is just as dangerous and cruel as one.

1. This machine is taking the job of a human being, no matter how trivial/unwanted that job may appear. People pay for college or keep the lights on by standing there and scanning your goods.

2. The companies that employ these beasts are passing the work on to you.

3. There is always a problem with the scanner or something else.

4. There is still a human assigned to handle four or more of these machines at a time. They are on standby and instead of having to deal with one person's issues, they now have there workload multiplied by four.

So, not only do these twisted bots not simplify the lives of the consumer and lessen the quality of life for those out of work, they make another person's life exponentially more complicated. What to do? Stop using them, wait in line the extra 3-4 minutes and help a person keep their job.