berck's Journal: All-Star Game...

So I went to go see a movie, on a lark. Ended up picking "Minority Report" when we got there. It was actually quite a bit better than expected. I really liked the pro civil liberties message. I'm not sure how many people will get it. Does the concept of having to have your retinas scanned in order to board the metro scare you? what about targeted advertising? While we're not close enough with retinal scanning, facial recognition is getting awfully good.

The sci-fi parts of it bothered me, but then speilberg has never impressed me when it comes to sci-fi. Why would a retinal scanner be programed to work on eyes which aren't attached? The "spiders" were awfully fake. They just weren't believable. And I'm not going to get into the whole idea of the "precogs". I think simply having technology allowing a glimpse into the future would be just as interesting, and allow for a more believable plot than people who see the future. This was very spielburg-ish though.

The plot was so-so, predictable in its "twists". I like plots that I'm just a step behind, not plots that I'm constantly a step ahead of.

The computer interface things were bemusing. Sure, they looked cool, but they were ridiculously inefficient. How is waving your hands at images in grandiose gestures helpful? Cool-looking, but I'm not sure I like it. Though this sort of interface HAS been tested. Furthermore, the hand-gestures weren't consistant. I hate it when movie-land people set up a system and don't stick with it. Like the magic button that Natalie Portman pushes in Episode II. First the button calls one person on the 3d communicator. Then it calls another. Then it displays a map. Then it... I mean, come on. she had thirty other buttons to push, why did she have to keep psuhing the same one? Make it SOMEWHAT believeable. Wesley Crusher, for instance, was the best at operating the consoles on enterprise. Why? He insisted upon knowing what parts of the consoles did what, and set designers tried to give him answers. He looks the most realistic. That is, as realistic as you can get flying a ship through 3d space using a 2-d interface. I mean, come on, with all that technology, flying a ship with a 2d interface even when on "manual" is ridiculous.

Anyway, overall, the movie tried to make a good statement, and I like the way it was subtle about it, though most Americans will most likely be simply be like "oh cool" rather than being remotely concerned about privacy.

In other news, the 73rd All-Star game was tied. Only the second tie in All-Star history, the first one due to a rain delay. This one simply because they ran out of pitchers after 11 innings and called it. I think it was handled poorly. They should have had the managers pitch or something. The fans were pretty pissed about it, chanting "let them play".