Tretakoff Musings

Atom Films had an article that really hit me hard. It seems that Scott Gustin , who covers entertainment, went to the opening of Avengers: Endgame a year ago, in Los Angeles. Like all of us, he had been waiting for this film for seemingly forever, but Scott did something I bet none of us did: he recorded the sound of the crowd reacting to the film. Cool, right? Now, take a moment to visualize a year ago. No people trapped in their homes, worried about illness or financial uncertainty the likes we've never seen. Responding to Trump's latest with a roll of the eyes, rather than a frustrated scream. No overwhelming frustration leading to riots at state capitals . And no horrific illness, robbing us of friends and family, in a wave not seen in a century. No, in this time, early April of 2019, we were watching Trump still bitch about his border wall. Over in Ukraine, a country most of us hadn't really thought about, they were electing a comedian as president, and we...

I recently got into a kick of listening to the James Bond themes, triggered by Billie Eilish releasing her latest version in advance of "No Time To Die". It got me to do some reassessment of my own previous rankings: some came down, some went up. In no particular order: No Time To Die , Billie Eilish. I don't particularly see the appeal of this young wunderkind, but that's cool. I was particularly amused when I saw the description of the song as "James Bond ASMR." Perfect. However, her breathless, quiet voice is undeniably amazing pared with James Horner's orchestral score. I should hate this, but I find myself grudgingly admiring it, and wondering if, in the future, this becomes an all timer. I'll confidently put it in the lower end of the second tier of themes. Writing's On The Wall , Sam Smith . I originally panned the hell out of this, thinking it sounded l ike a mashup of a musical number with a Bond theme. However, time has been ki...

As a long-time comics aficionado, I have delightfully enjoyed the renaissance of the superhero movie. Arguably, you could say that it started with Bryan Singer's X-Men , Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins , or even Sam Raimi's Spider-Man . But the one that I feel has really started the absolute frenzy was Jon Favreau's Iron Man : Not only did it do a great job of making a fun movie, with a somewhat believable premise, but it was a perfect blend of characters, action, and, most importantly, comic book story arcs that culminated in the blockbuster, The Avengers. The third Iron Man movie came out a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got to see it. I was pretty excited, as, unlike the previous two, it was written and directed by Shane Black. Who the heck is Shane Black? Glad you asked: virtually every great buddy cop action adventure movie in the 1990's was a Shane Black creation: the Lethal Weapon films, the vastly underrated The Last Boy Scout, the truly magnificen...

I was a little surprised today when I went on to Netflix to send a recommendation on a movie with a friend. My instinct was to simply pull up the page for the movie and click on the ubiquitous "Share" button that is on every news story, e-commerce page, and yes, even this blog. Surprisingly, it wasn't even there. In poking around the site, I found the message you see here: Netflix has actually pulled their social efforts. Now, it ain't all as insane as it sounds. For instance, Netflix has connected with Facebook, allowing yoru Facebook feed to be spammed with all of your movie ratings. But here's what surprises me: Netflix recently reported that they now streaming first, DVD delivery second . 60% of their subscribers stream content now, including my mother! Now, imagine I could simply identify them as friends, have them allow it (as they did previously with the social experience), and I could actually add the movie to their streaming queue. Perhaps it could sho...

I caught Inception this week. I'm a big fan of Chris Nolan, as well as movies that attempt to question the nature of reality, so I had high hopes. I'm pleased to say that it was all I hoped for, and more. Quite possibly, one of the best movies of the genre made. And, because of events that have transpired in my professional and personal life recently, all the more resonant. Don't worry, no reviews or spoilers here, but at its essence, the movie asks the question: what if life as we experience it, was no more real than a dream? This is rich territory, and usually is explored in sci-fi as "alternate realities" and the like, and it's my favorite genre. In movies, there are some great examples: The Matrix , which, until Inception , was the reigning champ. Disguised by black leather outfits, incredible slo-mo gunplay, and kung-fu, this movie was a thinly veiled retelling of Buddhist philosophy, in the form of a sci-fi action adventure. And it still kicks ass. ...

Modern day videogames have their own graphics engines that put the hardware to the test. Recently, some artists started to use those engines to recreate classic (and some not-so-classic) movie scenes . The results? sometimes breathtaking. For instance, The Fifth Element NYC chase scene to the right looks gorgeous. The only oddity of these recreations is their oddly empty feel. Most are just the venues (the adamantium chamber from X-Men 2 ; the temple in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade ), and, while incredibly vivid, they lack that spark of life. Even the Clerks faithful rendering . Still, the Blade Runner scene is simply awe-inspiring.

It was not my intention for these recent posts to be so focused on the upcoming Watchmen movie, but hey, I'm an addict. ;-) Apparently, I may not be alone, as a new game for the iPhone rolls out the same day as the movie, allowing you to immerse yourself in the gritty rich world of the Watchmen. These games, called MMO's, offer more of a free-form approach to exploring a world. In this case, I think they have to do a lot of convincing for me to want to sign up. Judge for yourself:

An odd way to promote the upcoming Watchmen movie: bring an obscure coffee from an obscure scene to life and sell it online . Look, I'm a huge Watchmen fan, and I just got done watching the entire series run in Motion Comics , but I don't get this. For instance, in the scene this references, the coffee was not "Nite Owl," at least as far as I remember. Even if it was, it was not significant. What was significant in the scene was the use of a special brand of sugar cubes, which led the police to discover two of the protagonists. If you were interested in branding so much, why not use that?

The hell with the Xmas season for movies; give me Spring! We have not just one, but two incredible epics coming to the silver screen. First, the latest trailer for the Watchmen has been released. With every trailer, my amazement grows: the graphic novel that everyone said could never be turned into a movie (including me, as late as yesterday) looks to not only be true, but simply fantastic. See for yourself: The other is J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek franchise, with a prequel taking place at the Academy. The first real trailer has been released for the film, and it is...breathtaking: Now, I know purists of TOS (that's The Original Series, for those not familiar) will no doubt have significant issues with several of the elements in this trailer (the Enterprise being built on Earth? Spock as a violent Sylar-like combatant?), but this looks freaking awesome . 2009 is already shaping up to be a magnificent year for films!

Interesting news today, out of Netflix and Starz ( courtesy of CrunchGear ) that might actually make Netflix's streaming service more compelling. Netflix, as the name might imply, has always been focused on delivering content over the web. They launched their streaming service last year, which was greeted with a universal yawn, primarily because of the paucity of content. Earlier this year, they stepped up the game, announcing a $99 Roku box that allowed you to connect directly to your TV and watch streamed Netflix content on the big screen. Interesting, but same content issues. Today, they announced a two pronged approach, courtesy of Starz. First, Starz premium movies will now be available to stream on Netflix. This means that titles like the Pirates of the Carribean series, and other recent blockbusters, will now be available to watch on your computer or TV, instantly, at no additional costs. Second, and here's where it gets very interesting, they now will stream Starz'...

We're not native Californians, but we sure do love living here. However, Amy still misses her sister back in Boston: she talks on the phone with her constantly, visits her (here or there) at least once a year, and more. When the movie Sex and the City came out this year, there was no one she wanted to see it more with than her sister, and she was determined to, even though they were 3000 miles apart. She thought about what were the essentials that she wanted to capture: - The ability to see the movie, at the same time - The ability to share their expectations before the movie - The ability to share their impressions after the movie So, armed with this, she hopped online and found a theater that was running a showing out here, and a theater in her sister's area that was showing it exactly three hours later. She bought the tickets for both, called her sister, and said, "We're going to the movies." At the appointed times, both drove to their respective theaters, cha...

This summer, the movie business has seen its ups and downs. Iron Man was a huge hit; Speed Racer was a crash and burn. Sex and The City was a sleeper surprise; The Love Guru just needed to be put to sleep. Always reliable Pixar served up another hit with Wall-E , and The Dark Knight is on the horizon; hopefully, those will make up for the duds that look to be in the form of Step Brothers and Tropic Thunder . In short, the movies maintain their boom or bust approach, even as they scream about the increased piracy and pressure, and the ticket prices keep skyrocketing. So, imagine my surprise when I found a theater that was actually innovating. No, not bigger screens or louder sounds, or 3D gimmicks. Instead, Robert Redford's Sundance company bought two theaters : one in Madison, WI, and one here in San Francisco. They decided to make movie going an adult experience: comfortable seats, including loveseats, balconies for 21 and over to allow access to a bar for adult beverages, a...

Last night, I finally had a chance to check out the new Indiana Jones movie, after months of anticipation. Let's set the stage: I grew up with Indiana Jones. 27 years ago, this movie burst on the scene, with Han Solo himself finally getting a movie all of his own. And what a movie! A tribute to the classic 1930's serials, with Spielberg's trademark action and humor, and Lucas' soaring script...it was like the all-star game of moviedom. Like all others, I was hooked on the Fedora and whip. We suffered through the next prequel (I maintain that no prequels have ever, nor may ever, succeed on the big screen...but that's a blog for another day), and were rewarded with the masterful final movie, eight years after it began. And then Indiana Jones was gone...until last weekend, where, defying all odds of age, fatigue, the master Raider unfurled his whip, and swung back into our stunned and delighted hearts. Uh...no. There is much to like about this film, primarily that it e...

After partaking of the much anticipated Iron Man this last week in a surreal theater, packed with DLP technology and nearly every seat occupied by a bizarre confluence of bears , I came away with all of my hopes realized, and almost all of my fears allayed. Warning to those that have not seen the film yet: there's gonna be some serious spoilers here, so if you are not inclined to have the experience ruined, see the film before reading this one. Suitably (ahem) warned? Ok, here we go. What I liked: - The movie took a cue from two highly successful comic book films: Spider-Man and Batman Begins . In Spider-Man, the movie worked so well because the director focused the attention on sharing the experience of what it would be like for a kid to suddenly have these powers. It wasn't the costume, or the bad guy: it was the sudden freedom to be able to do whatever he wanted, when he wanted. Peter Parker's scream of delight as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop was a primal expressio...

With this week's release of Iron Man , yet another Marvel Comics hero makes the leap to the big screen. The track record thus far has been blockbuster or miss: Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four , and X-Men have been unqualified hits; Daredevil, The Hulk, and Ghost Rider less so. I'm pulling for Shellhead, and Charles tells me my hopes are justified from his lunchtime excursion today. One hallmark of a Marvel movie is the cameo of beloved Stan Lee, the creator of so many of these characters. Cameos are a Marvel hallmark, as are clever in-jokes. For instance, in this summer's new Incredible Hulk movie , starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, Robert Downey Jr. makes an appearance as Tony Stark from Iron Man! Heck, this is getting just like the comics! As for Stan Lee, he finds a cameo in all of these films, and this article indicates Iron Man is no exception. In fact, there's a whole YouTube collection of the cameos of Stan The Man; check them out below. My favorite? O...

I'm usually one of the first people to simply roll my eyes at the efforts of traditional broadcast media companies to adapt to the new paradigms of online penetration. Witness the debacle of various networks as they hemmed and hawed about putting their shows on iTunes, only to pull them off over perceived pricing disputes. Or watching movie studios and television networks turn on their ardent consumers who would gladly pay to watch their content on alternate devices (iPods, laptops, etc.) by suing them. I have been patently disgusted with the 19th century approaches most have taken in the past, so months ago when I read that NBC and Fox were planning to respond to the constant "piracy" of having their shows show up on YouTube by building an online site dedicated to video streaming, I snorted in derision, and passed it off as another lame attempt to convince less knowledgeable viewers that they truly were "cutting edge." Ok, I can admit it: I was dead wrong. Hulu...

Yep, it'll be here before iPhone Firmware 2.0. Iron Man brings the iconic Marvel superhero to the big screen, and not a moment too late, as this trailer shows: Starring 4 Academy Award Winners (Robert Downey Jr., Terence Howard, Gwynth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges), and directed by the always reliable Jon Favreau (hey, not only is the guy an actor and director, but also was in Daredevil !), this movie looks like it'll work on multiple levels. First, it updates the Tony Stark mythos from the comicbook Vietnam Ware era to today. Second, Tony Stark always struggled with the demons of addiction; Robert Downey Jr.'s battles have certainly been public. And finally... did you check out those effects? Oh yeah...bring it on, Shellhead. Psst...wanna learn about Iron Man? Check out the Wikipedia page , or learn how the movie came to be at this great site.

One of the minor pain points of switching to the iPhone was the loss of the ability to watch Divx movies on my portable media solution. Not familiar with Divx? Can't say I blame you: it's a video codec that allows you to encode a video is a very compressed format without too much evidence of such on playback. Why does that matter? Well, your average DVD is about 6-8 gigabytes. Your average blank DVD is 4.7 GB. Your average CD ROM? A measly 650 MB. See the need to compress? You get the picture: if you want to build a library of your own videos and keep the space under control, being able to compress the video is a big plus. As a result, I have a significant amount of Divx movies that I can watch on my Divx-capable DVD players, but not on my iPhone. What to do? Courtesy of RegNow, a division of Digital River, who frequently sell software that can be immediately downloaded and used, I was introduced to the Movavi Video Converter . Yep, it does just what it says: it takes any video...

Um...how did I miss this? A movie, starring the always amazing Angelina Jolie, plus James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman, called Wanted , based on the comic of the same name. Angelina, back in action as a kickass assassin, with great effects and Matrix-like overtones? Uh, count me in as one of the Wanted. See for yourself!

Courtesy of my nephew, Jeremy, I learned of the next foray by movie theater owners to attract patrons to the overpriced movie theater experience: First Class. Called Lux, National Amusements is piloting the program in it's Randolph, MA, location. The premise? Pay an additional $10, and you get a perk-filled evening, including: - In-Seat dining , from a menu that ranges from Chicken Satay appetizers, to panini sandwiches to personal pizzas, which you order from your seat and summon your server with a push of a button. Prices are unknown, but you do get $5 off with your ticket. - Alcoholic beverages. Great applause; now I can finally tolerate seeing Adam Sandler. - Lux Level preferred parking area exclusively for Lux Level patrons. - Ultimate service, brushing your car off in snowy winter weather, or offering an umbrella on those unexpected rainy days. - Escort to the Lux Level auditorium - Coat check service available - Deep-cushioned, custom designed seats. - Wait service at t...