Disqus - Latest Comments for Andrew_James

Re: Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down

Andrew James — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 10:01:58 -0000

Just started playing with it and am really liking it so far. I need to play with the mobile app, but so far so good.

http://www.makeuseof.com/ta...

Re: Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down

Andrew James — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 08:48:58 -0000

On the Spotify side, you're right exactly. You have to mark the playlist (or single song) as "available offline" and sync it to your device.

Not sure about the Google side. If what you're saying is true, gotta admit that would be awesome. So I can upload stuff to Google Music (in this case Def Leppard) and then be able to listen to it (stream it) at any time as long as I have an internet connection? I don't need the physical files on my mobile device? Is that right? If so, pretty cool.

Re: Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down

Andrew James — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:58:37 -0000

So that's the problem. "Explore" does not show up until I'm a paying customer. So it looks like I can't explore until I give them $10.

Sorry, not sure what AFAIK means.

Re: Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down

Andrew James — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:07:10 -0000

I don't like GM at all. Mostly because of the interface. Pictures all over the place, no back button, search results don't make sense to me. I'm looking for THE CURE and can't find their albums on their artist page - except what I've uploaded. Same with every other band. In other words, where is all the music!? Do I have to pay to see those artists stuff? I can't even see what's available until I pay?

And as a nitpick, I can't understand why there isn't a direct link to the Music site straight from my Google account (like there is for drive, wallet, email, maps, etc.).

Sticking with Spotify (for now).

Re: Why Google Play Music All Access beats Spotify hands down

Andrew James — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:06:20 -0000

This is just not true. I have all of Def Leppard's stuff (none of which is available on Spotify to stream) on my machine and available for playing through my mobile device all through Spotify. I just uploaded the tracks to my laptop and marked them for offline use and voila! I can listen to them anywhere anytime through Spotify.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #441: Thor: The Dark World and The Counselor

Andrew James — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:18:43 -0000

Regarding the motorcycle scene in THE COUNSELOR, what is great about it? Sure it's kind of cringe worthy, but otherwise it's not that interesting.

Putting aside the fact that we saw it ten times in the trailers, it makes absolutely no sense. The convoluted nature of the execution strains believability. Why would the bad guys go through all this? Why not just shoot the guy and call it a day? String a wire across a road and let it sit there for 5 hours (in which NO ONE else drives by?), set up spot lights, measuring motorcycles at the dealer, get all the timing right. It's just one big, dumb, long setup for a cring worthy moment that really isn't that great - and again I saw in trailers many times.

This sequence kind of epitomizes the whole movie. As does the John Leguizamo scene,

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #437: Captain Phillips

Andrew James — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 10:36:01 -0000

I was one of the few who compared Cap. Phil to Gravity. Partly because they were released within a week of each other, but also because they are sort of similar in tone. Both have a main character set on a ship (a vessel of some sort that is pretty alien to most of us) who experience disaster and then tension crescendos as the main character attempts to survive against the odds in

But mostly I was comparing them as simply an exercise in why compassion for a character. Phillips mattered to me and Stone did not. It's interesting to me to weigh why that is.

Re: Oscar’s Foreign Language “LONG” List.

Andrew James — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 23:55:27 -0000

Test

Re: Game Junk Podcast Episode #17: Too Many Games, Not Enough Time

Andrew James — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:52:42 -0000

Sean, I watched that movie (within the game) too. Kind of a spoof of Jodorowski or a Bunuel picture. I actually found it kind of uninteresting though.

The stuff on TV in the safe house is better stuff to actually sit and watch.

Re: Game Junk Podcast Episode #17: Too Many Games, Not Enough Time

Andrew James — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:48:17 -0000

I disagree with you about some of the dialogue. Trevor is absolutely hilarious. His cut scenes are pretty good, but the talks he has with other characters while you're driving in a car is funny as hell.

Re: Game Junk Podcast Episode #17: Too Many Games, Not Enough Time

Andrew James — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 17:46:56 -0000

Frank, totally agree with you about GTA IV and how frustrating it is and not all that fun to play. GTA V is WAAAAAAAY better. It plays more like a game now instead of going for total realism.

Love that you keep your guns after you die or get busted.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #436: Gravity and Don Jon

Andrew James — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 16:49:50 -0000

Also I have the best part name ever: Sunny Birchwood.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #436: Gravity and Don Jon

Andrew James — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 16:49:17 -0000

I don't think the "Where are you from?" dialogue is a nitpick at all! I thought it was kind of weird during the movie as well. These are two people working side by side in space for 40+ days plus months of training and he's never asked her where she's from? That's not a nitpick; that a perfect example of shitty, lazy dialogue.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #419: Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III

Andrew James — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:00:12 -0000

"hole movie"

Whoops. Haha.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #419: Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III

Andrew James — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:55:18 -0000

"Fast 6 takes itself way to seriarse" [sic]

It does?

I liked The Last Stand a lot though.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #419: Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III

Andrew James — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:47:21 -0000

I wouldn't say the filler is the best stuff, but I think it's important and maybe about 40% of what this franchise is supposed to be. The action and hilarious grandstanding are the best stuff. I'm saying some amount of character bonding needs to be there as glue to hold some semblance of a story and motivations together. But adding bickering, soap opera drama just for the sake of, seems counter-productive. Using her as a hostage makes way more sense than just feeling uneasy about a pissed off wife at home throughout the hole movie.

So yeah, some of the schlocky humor and banter between characters is good though. I can see some people thinking that stuff is boring or uninteresting or humorless, but for me it's like a family bickering and it can be entertaining. Also it just keeps the audience on the awares that these people all have report and love and respect for each other. That each of them is important so everything they do has stakes.

@PlanBFromOuterSpace
"It’s one thing if you haven’t been following them and you’re jumping into the middle of things and you’re not immediately hooked on what’s going on, but it’s another if you never liked them in the first place or if they just lost you along the way."

If you never liked them in the first place, WHY ON EARTH are you going back for a SIXTH helping? If it's just for the action, fair enough, but then you might as well just watch Transformers 2 or Transporter or The Raid. Those films don't care about characters. Fast Furious does.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #419: Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III

Andrew James — Tue, 28 May 2013 04:30:21 -0000

YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING IDIOTS.

I don't have the energy to type out all my points, but I'll start by saying BULLET3 above nails every point makes exactly right. You really need to have followed these characters for the last 12+ years to enjoy them. I finally sort of see what Harry Potter fans like. These are characters we've followed for a good chunk of our lives (1/3 for me).

To SEAN's point about wanting more drama... really? Fucking really!? The point at which Jordana Brewster tells Paul Walker to go ahead with the job is one of the better sequences in the movie because it shows the screen writer/director don't give a shit about that kind of stuff. I thought she WAS going to come out and there would be a big fight about him going off when he has a son at home. When she came out and said "just go" I breathed a sigh of relief. WHY ON EARTH would you want a five minute argument between these two when A) we know he's going to go anyway, B) the audience wants to get to the action stuff, C) it makes perfect sense with the theme of the franchise (help family in trouble)... which none of you have seen.

The device they're going after is not just an insignificant thing that's worth billions. They mention several times in the movie it has the capability of making a bomb that would kill millions. But don't bother actually paying attention to the movie.

Opening credits were pretty good I thought. Not as good as Iron Man 3 closing credits, but similar and pretty good.

I'll say more about why this movie is one of the best of the year on this week's cinecast.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #415: Pain & Gain

Andrew James — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:28:51 -0000

I've also never understood the idea that people think they're entitled to a "reward" or some other piece of enticement that is equal to the amount of money they put into the project. If you donate $20 to a film and in return you get $20 worth of stuff, then what's the point? Then you didn't contribute anything to the film, you simply bought something. It's a weird notion and further proof people don't really understand Kickstarter.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #415: Pain & Gain

Andrew James — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:26:31 -0000

Re: Braff. I was a contributor and here is an excerpt from the latest email update regarding where the financing is coming from:

"Wish I Was Here" is a pretty ambitious indie film. It is larger in scale and scope than "Garden State". It's not a 2 million dollar movie. The budget will be comprised of 3 elements:

The money raised here on Kickstarter. (That's you. You rule. I love you.)
My own money. (Don't worry. A LOT! An ass-ton.)
Pre-selling select foreign distribution rights to a few countries.
The budget for the whole project will ultimately fall somewhere between 4 and 6 million dollars. I know that sounds like a lot of money. (And it is.) But just for some comparison, the studio version of this film would likely fall around 25 million.

Things that are pricey:

Fantasy sequences with special effects.
A computer generated flying droid. (We could cut him. But I love him.)
Shooting at Comic-Con.
Shooting with two children (5 and 12). *They are only allowed to work a limited number of hours a day. (Lazy!)
An epic soundtrack. (We definitely need some Thom Yorke...)
Shooting in Los Angeles. (Several states and Canada offer tax breaks to bring production to them. That's all fine and dandy, but as this film takes place in LA, I'm really campaigning to keep the work here.)
Shooting on film instead of video. (OK, I'll likely give this up, but it would be awesome.)
Also, 2 million raised on Kickstarter isn't really 2 million. There are fees to Kickstarter and Amazon, as well as the fulfillment costs of getting you all the delicious goodies we have promised you. (Not to mention how many kitten taints I have to sample to find just the right one for our shirts.)

Re: Open Forum Friday: Is Michael Bay an Auteur?

Andrew James — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:27:33 -0000

I believe auteur to mean that basically you can watch a film without knowing who the director is and without problem figure it out.

Wes Anderson is probably the most obvious of choices. To say he's not an auteur at this point is sheer stupidity. As would be someone like Almodovar.

If you don't think auteurs exist, you're out of your mind.

Shane Carruth? He has two movies that are quite different in tone and style. If he directs another film and you showed it to me without telling me it is a Carruth work, I doubt I would be able to pinpoint it.

Re: Red 2 Trailer #2

Andrew James — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:20:08 -0000

I like AC/DC as much as the next guy, but this looks worse than the first one - and that was pretty bad. Does anybody actually laugh at this stuff? My dad might I guess. Might.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #407: Jack the Giant Slayer

Andrew James — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:59:55 -0000

@70

I saw both "Mother, Juggs & Speed" and "The Devil and Max Devlin" as a kid. Several times I think, but for the life of me I can't remember if they were any good.

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #407: Jack the Giant Slayer

Andrew James — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:54:02 -0000

@Frank -

Thanks for pointing out the up speed on VLC player. Lifesaver! Tutorial for everyone (it took me a couple of minutes to figure it out):
In the playback tab, choose "speed"
if you hit "faster (fine)" the speed jumps in increments of .1
if you just click "faster" it jumps in increment of .5
vice-versa for slower.

Also, your laugh sounds like Barney Rubble. :)

Re: Film Junk Podcast Episode #407: Jack the Giant Slayer

Andrew James — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:35:24 -0000

This Scott Card argument is ridiculous. I plan to say some things about it on tonight's Cinecast, but c'mon. By buying a ticket to a movie does not mean you're supporting homophobia or rape or racism or drugs. You're paying for a movie.

How many people worked on Ender's Game? 300? 400? 1000? How many of them have done bad things or have political views you don't agree with? I bet a lot.

Do you avert your eyes from Van Gogh paintings? Do you turn off the radio if Wagner comes on? Do you go to a restaurant? How many times have you supported someone in life with whom you disagree it did something "bad?"

Is Harrison Ford a bad person or supporting homophobia because he's in the movie? Does Ben Kingsley approve of and support statutory rape because he was in a Polanski film?

Re: Movie Mate Pro Makes Finding and Tracking Movies a Breeze

Andrew James — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:02:35 -0000

Sounds like you'd REALLY enjoy LetterBoxd.com if you're not there already. If you are, send me a follow request!