Remake or Reboot, Do Not Reset: Why Jurassic World is Dangerous

A Sequel to the Original

The film industry has been obsessed with producing remakes since it opened it's doors. In 1904 Siegmund Lubin remade the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery setting the precedent of rehashing old material for new movies*. A lot of people forget this fact and insist that Hollywood has no good ideas left when in reality, bad films always outnumber the good films on any given year. I personally embrace remakes and reboots, but what I'm not willing to accept is the notion of sequelizing an original, beloved film in a franchise while ignoring the missteps that came after, and that's exactly what Jurassic World does.

*In reality he was just cheap and didn't want to pay royalties, but the point still applies.

Before, if you were to make a new movie that drew on the love for a prior film, you were forced to make a sequel or start anew. Good or bad, at least it was a clear continuation or a fresh start. Now it seems we are allowing film studios to make bad sequels that they themselves are allowed to ignore. How did this change come about? We kinda have J.J. Abrams to thank for it.

A Case for Rebooting:

Well Executed Reboot

J.J. knew he was playing with fire by rebooting Star Trek as nerd's toes are delicate and easily stepped upon. However, he had no desire to work within the confines of it's previously established universe, thus, his team cracked the code. They cleverly inserted a time travel storyline from within the original universe and forged themselves an alternative timeline to play within.

This "soft-reboot" as it is known allowed the original property to exist without constraining the new one. You have to give it up, it's a pretty genius concept. However, its success appears to have given Hollywood the idea that they can just "reset" continuity anywhere without utilizing clever storytelling devices.



A Case for Remaking:

Well Executed Remake

Take Ocean's 11. Soderbergh took a film largely celebrated only out of nostalgia and forged it into a masterpiece of a modern heist movie starring the A-list talent of the day. As often happens, with it's success came Hollywood's other obsession, the sequel.

Despite showing moments of genius, Ocean's 12 was a flawed movie and gave birth the worst fucking plot device in the history of cinema (Julia Roberts playing Tess playing Julia Roberts? Barf). Thus, for 13 they reverted back to the original formula that worked so well. However, even though they retrograded to what made the original movie so special, they had enough respect to embrace the events of 12.



What is Resetting and Why is it Dangerous:
Resetting simply picks and chooses the events in a timeline that it wishes to use and throws out anything that doesn't suit it's best interest. It resurrects your positive memories while lying to your face by pretending that negatively-reviewed, past films in it's franchise don't exist. If we as an audience are willing to look the other way when a franchise puts out a bad product, then the studios lose all incentive to make a good product in the first place.

Jurassic World is guilty of this. Though no one has directly said that the events of the second two films aren't canon, you really would imagine they would have been referenced if they were. No matter how amazing the film may be and how many times it references the original movie, it purposefully avoids dealing with the fact that the second two unpopular films in the franchise were made. Are the fans of the "Jurassic Park Trilogy" supposed to forgive and forget that they were fed a series of godaweful films that did little more than cash in on the franchises name? Just remake the damn movie, it's way less insulting to the fans that have supported your product.

Down the Rabbit Hole We Go:

Alien 3-2? Alien 3B? Alien 3: What If?
Who knows.

Love Alien and Aliens but hate the other films in the franchise? Don't worry, Hollywood will have you covered with the new "Alien 3" by Neill Blomkamp. "Wait? Didn't Alien 3 come out and suck-ass?" you ask. Well the new one will reset the timeline and ignore the events of the other films entirely. That's right, he is pretending that Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection didn't happen. This is plain lazy ass storytelling. I'm truly sorry, as we all are, that Alien 3 turned out to be a horrible pile of shit, but that is the movie the studio chose to interfere with and distribute. They have made their bed and we as an audience should hold them accountable to lie in it and I think that David Fincher would agree with me.

In Conclusion:

"The Godfather 3B"
hitting theaters in 2017.

I'm not a person that believes that every franchise needs touched, but I understand that is the way the system is, forever cashing in on your fondest-memories. But at least, if you're going to fuck with the movies that we so love, give respect to the audience that came to the theater for the shitty follow ups by not attempting to "sweep them under the rug". Don't just ignore several films in a series because you don't like the events of them, it's lazy and disrespectful. Jurassic World may be a fine film that both stands on it's own and lovingly pays tribute to the original, but don't let the studios off the hook for producing bad movies just because they finally made a good one.

A Guaranteed Way to Get Around Local NHL (& Other Sports) Blackouts

I live in Los Angeles, work nights, and am an avid Anaheim Ducks fan. Due to the extreme hours that I keep at work, I am generally saddled behind a desk during damn near every NHL game. In addition to my normal job, when I'm not behind said desk I'm traveling around on shoots. This makes my ability of catching a Ducks game on a local broadcast nearly impossible. This also makes NHL Gamecenter an amazing alternative. For $20 a month, all games the NHL has to offer will be sent to the screen of my choice? I'm happy to pay to see my team, I'm not trying to cheat anyone... hell, sounds amazing! Well, amazing unless you happen to live next to the team you root for.

Being about 30 miles from Anaheim and living deep in Kings territory means that anything actually broadcast can't make it to me. However, I live so close that I still fall into the "local blackout zone" for the Anaheim Ducks. This makes it impossible for me to legally view a game without visiting a local bar that will allow a Ducks fan to watch a non-Kings game, a heavy task to say the least. This has forced my hand to view games at any cost... even if it is... well it's NOT illegal, but it's against certain BS "Terms and Conditions".

Enter Port-Forwarding. Port-Forwarding allows you to take your computers IP address (the service that tells the provider where your computer is physically connected) and push your signal to anywhere in the world. To put this in layman's terms, you could be sitting outside of the local sports arena and they would think you are coming from Hawaii, Canada, New Zealand, etc. This tells your internet-sports provider that you are outside of the blackout zone and allows you to watch to your hearts desire.

Now there ARE port forwarding programs that are free. In my experience they work like shit. The interface is horrible, you get kicked off connections every few minutes, and the list of available connections is miniscule. I've dabbled with a few of the paid ones as well and they greatly vary in quality as well. The best of these, thus far, is a program called "Hide My Ass" or known by its kinder, gentler title, "HMA". For a $60 flat rate you can get 6 months of their kick-ass service, just enough to get you through your season. (This service can also be used to download things untraceably for those of you who are unscrupulous enough to do such things ;-) ) Additional uses for port-forwarding also allow you to browse different store-fronts to purchase material from places like I-Tunes or watch things on Netflix that haven't yet came out in your country.

If you do INSIST on free port-forwarding, I have heard DECENT things about the Google Chrome Add-On "Hola Better Internet". Simply download it from Hola.org and install it into Chrome. I have had little time to mess with this program, but to me it appears slow and clunky. Connections don't last, speed is sluggish, and it is based on ad-generated revenue which I find fucking annoying. Take my advice, spend the money and purchase an actual service.

So there you go, just connect to HMA, open up your normal web-browser, and the program will forward your signal to anywhere you desire. As of now, I have not had any trouble with GameCenter "Locking me out". I assume that not only do they monitor where your signal is coming from, but they probably keep a log of it. If they so desired, they COULD lock you out if your connections are "suspicious". So perhaps its better to always log on to one location. Just food for thought....

AntiCurrent Booze & Grub Review #2: Despaña: The Best Breakfast In Sydney

Once again, my admittedly limited taste in food, but tremendous taste in atmosphere and humans landed me in yet another amazing restaurant. A few months ago on what has been one of my numerous trips through Glebe (a suburb of Sydney) I was checking out a menu in the front of a restaurant when what I assumed was the waiter came out and had a very pleasant conversation with my fiance and I. After a few minutes we decided that regardless of how the food was, this was obviously a place that at the minimum, wasn't judgmental over the fact that I had tattoo's, piercings, and (to most people) appear to dress straight out of Mad Max.

I walked in and was immediately smitten by the place. Fishnets hung on the top of the walls with wine corks, homemade lights made from wine bottles adorned the area above the tables, and the place looked and felt like I had always imagined Spain to be. It was immediately apparent that this was not some mere Spanish style Tapas joint like the ones I had frequented so many times before, this was the real deal.

Amazing Mocha

Upon sitting down in the restaurant we continued our conversation with the incredibly colorful man who then introduced himself as Kezra, the owner of the establishment. According to him they had not been open long, but were beginning to build a reputation as one of the premiere Tapas restaurants in Sydney. I was skeptical as this is an ENORMOUSLY huge claim in an area that has three such restaurants within a two block radius. It being late-morning, I was ready to sit down and enjoy lunch when I discovered that they still had their breakfast menu in full swing. I ordered an astounding tasting mocha while I studied the menu.

I am a sucker for breakfast. Much to my fiances displeasure, if a restaurant offers breakfast as an option, I will choose it nine times out of ten regardless of what time of day it is. This occasionally makes it hard for her to split meals with me, which is something we enjoy doing, but being a tremendous creature of habit, I perused the breakfast menu. That is where I discovered the absolute wonder that is Catalan baked eggs.

Catalan Baked Eggs

This little known (at least in this area) monument to breakfast consists of three eggs, Catalan sauce (a creamy, olive-oil and tomato based sauce) manchego (an absolutely stunning cheese),  and your choice of chorizo, mushrooms, or salt-cod. The eggs are cooked over-medium and still have their yolk in a mostly runny consistency. When this is combined with the Catalan sauce, it makes for pure amazingness. The accompanying homemade sourdough bread is best utilized by using the yolk and sauce as a dip.

So we ate, I gushed over how amazing the meal was to the owner, and I have such returned over 2 dozen times. Now, yes, they are primarily a Tapas place, but based on my perfect experience each and every time, it is my new favorite breakfast joint in Sydney, and dare I say the world. In my many visits I continually promised Kezra I would come in for an actual dinner. Unfortunately it took me months to actually follow through this. After all, there are dozens of amazing places to eat diner in the area. When I finally did? Yes, it was spectacular, but....

I could go on and on about the greatness of the restaurant's dinner menu, but it well documented at this point by blogs 100 times my size. There are indeed many, many restaurateurs, newspapers, and magazines officially declaring Despaña THE best Tapas joint in Sydney. Personally, I agree, and it is amazing dinner food of which I completely recommend and attend often. However, I will leave those reviews to the people who will continually spout the same deserved praise to what is in my opinion, the absolute best and most over-looked breakfast in all of Sydney.

AntiCurrent Booze & Grub Review #1: The Record Crate Bar & Grill - Sydney

In an effort to diversify this blog beyond the occasional insane story about my life, how-to's, bootleg releases, and general absurdity, I am going to branch out and blog about my drinking/dining experiences as well. Now, for those of you that don't know me personally, I have quite diverse taste. For instance, last night I was at a hole in the wall pub with graffiti on the walls where the overwhelming stench of of feces was permeating the room, and tomorrow I am taking the love of my life for a 10 course meal with matching wines at an upscale French restaurant. So these posts will range from everything between gutter-punk places that may be completely and totally unsafe to visit, to upscale eateries I shouldn't be able to afford and everything in between.

With that said, The Record Crate, located in beautiful Sydney, Australia (specifically Glebe) is basically Disneyland for seasoned music affectionados such as myself. Under one roof you can watch amazing live music, stand up comedy, view experimental live art performances, browse amazing quality hard to find records, eat great food and drink amazing beer. I've visited there only a handful of times and have already added amazing condition, original pressings of Tom Waits, The Pogues, The Clash, and Nick Cave, just to name a few. Basically this is my favorite place in the world.

Neville & I

Now, every record store worth its salt usually has one amazingly well-rounded owner/operator in charge of the ship and this place is no different. His name is Neville, and like all record store owners, he is a wealth of knowledge. This dude can school even the best informed record collector and teach him a thing or two about what pressing was made where and how it differs to other pressings at the time.

First two Clash Albums in One Set

For instance, I recently was in the market to purchase an original pressing of The Clash's self-titled record. He asked me whether I was purchasing it to collect, or if i was just wanting to spin some amazing sounding vinyl. I answered that I wasn't overly in need of collectability, and he pulled out a gatefold  2-for-1 pressing released by CBS records in the mid 1980's that contained their first two records. The cover was beat, but the discs were in fine condition. He informed me that these were not very collectible but for the price, you couldn't beat the value as both records were struck from the same source as the original pressings. So instead of purchasing an OG copy of the first album that I was just going to spin and ruin for $100 or more dollars, I got the same quality recording, plus their second album "Give Em' Enough Rope" for $15. These are the kind of deals/experience that only a few people have access to.

Brekky Sandwich

Not only is this an amazing wealth of knowledge and records, the food too is quite spectacular, in particular the breakfast. I've had a nasty habit as of late of closing down the bar and upon waking up, stumbling back down the road to have The Record Crate's amazing Eggs Benedict (although this particular morning I had the breakfast sandwich). For under $20 you get a full two eggs poached, toast, and bacon (which is actually known as Canadian Bacon to this State-side guy). This and a little hair of the dog is my usual order and I can not overstate it's ability to battle even the worst hangovers you've encountered.

Speaking of hair of the dog, the booze here is great. They have liquor available to make any cocktail you desire, but what's even better than that is that they have Kingpin on tap for a reasonable price. Matter of fact, Kingpin is so popular here that they named their houseband The Kingpins after it (more on them later). There are also a selection of other taps and bottled beverages as well, but in my typical fashion, I found the one I like and refuse to touch anything else.... unless it's a extra-dry, dirty, uncouth, martini.;-)

As for the entertainment, it is quite diverse. They recently removed the majority of the CD's (which is sort of a shame as I hate to see CDs fall out of fashion) and put them behind the main counter. This opened up an area to have small bands play and every Thursday night they utilize this space to let their personal houseband The Kingpins play. The band is quite good, verging on a funk almost reggae beat with a wide assortment of sounds. If you're in Glebe on a Thursday night, they are not to be missed for at least a half hour of performing. Past this, Neville has recently began utilizing his top floor to all kinds of different acts. Some of these are comedians, but many of these are avant-garde live performances bordering on the insane. It's well worth looking into anyone he would book, but even if they are not your cup of tea, there is still the downstairs main are and the outdoor courtyard where you don't have to partake in the experience.

All in all I cannot say more positive things about The Record Crate. Everything from the building, to the staff, to the food, to the drink, and most importantly, the records, are of the highest caliber. When visiting Sydney, Glebe is a must-visit area. It is very art-centric, containing indie bookstores, art galleries, eateries, and most importantly, The Record Crate which is a must-visit when anywhere near the area. A+++

A Quick Review Of 6 New Documentaries Pt. 2

This is the second part of my review of 6 documentaries that I watched last week. So without delay, here goes:

Side By Side:

Synopsis: A Keanu Reeves narrated documentary about the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of Film VS. Digital cinema. The doc attempts to placate both sides when discussing the controversial topic with genius level filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, etc.

Review: Although this documentary attempts to be even-keeled, it noticeably gives much more screentime to the new emerging digital-age. I'm ALMOST OK with this as it is somewhat understandable to cover digital a bit more due to it's recent emergence on the scene coupled with the fact that there are hundreds of amazing docs already in existance that are devoted to only film. However, it's a bit too much, and there is a definite lack of technical facts in the analyzation of film and how that compares in quality to the uber-megapixel cameras on the market today (NOT that there is a quantitative answer, but it doesn't actually explain that). Also, it would have been nice to see a bit more in the recent DSLR camera movement.

Suggestion: If you are interested in film, it is an amazing doc, just don't expect a textbook to be presented on screen. This is more about the size/portability/quality advantages/disadvantages according to peoples thoughts and opinions, not always on fact. However, if you are looking for such things, buy yourself a textbook as this is designed to be watched by the public, not in a classroom setting.

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure:

Synopsis: A strange tale of two roomates in San Francisco that lived next to two old men who verbally abused each other to the point of hilarity.... night after night after night. After asking them to tone it down and being threatened, they began to record the arguments for safety sake encase of a police intervention... however this soon turned into a hobby for them, and later, the tapes were circulated becaming a national phenomenon.

Review: Wow... just wow. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and this is proof of it. The two neighbors would fight in what must be one the most verbally abusive relationships that has ever existed, and the result is a dark-comedy goldmine. What's even more interesting than this is the copyright issues that come about as a result of the tapes surge of popularity. The two men who recorded these tapes started out issueing copies actively encouraging people to spread them and "remix" them into their own projects. This resulted in a variety of people making well recieved scripts, plays etc... then as greed set in, multiple parties attempted to copyright the original material in an effort to edge each other out of profits. But, it gets worse, the two bickering men recorded on tape never gave their authorization to be recorded in the first place!

Suggestion: WATCH THIS NOW!!! It is an amazing example of the corruption of money, a thought-provoking exploration of intensely intricate copyright issues, and the core-material of the two bickering men is purely fucking epic.

West Of Memphis:

Synopsis: How has no one I've talk to recently heard of The West Memphis 3? Fine, whatever, here you go: A group of kids playing in the woods get brutally murdered, and a flawed from the start police investigation pins it on 3 troubled youths despite a MOUNTAIN of evidence to the contrary. This documentary chronicles every step of the tale.

Review: I love this documentary, but unfortunately it is a great example of how people in the movie industry are retarded on the base level of shooting/ingesting footage. Some interviews suffer frame skipping, repetition, etc, but that aside (which lamens won't even notice), it is a great doc. This tackles the entire scenario of this terrible tragedy tactfully, although it is occasionally tear-jerking to watch. This is an amazing example of the problems stemming from profiling subjects, furthering political careers on the backs of wrongly accused innocents, and the power of the public if they DEMAND that a wrong be righted.... even if it takes nearly two decades. Heartbreaking, endearing, sad, and awe-inspiring.

Suggestion: This is the one doc that I didn't watch on my day off, so it took me 2 days to get through this since I was watching an early release of it during work breaks. I watched the majority of this alone in a dark room working nights, so it was a particularly brutal experience for me to watch. This sounds lame, but watch this with someone you care for as its fucking sad as shit. This deals with the death of children, false imprisonment, and has horribly intense visuals on occasion... trust me, watch this with others.

A Quick Review Of 6 New Documentaries Pt. 1

Work gave me a three day weekend due to systems being shut down and updated, having time off being a foreign concept to me, I deemed this completely unacceptable and booked a shooting gig one day so as to only have a 2 day weekend.... whoooo... much better. So having updated my demo reel and website last week, I actually took the much needed time to sit my ass on the couch, and watch Netflix.

Now mind you, I couldn't handle NOT using my brain during this time, so I elected to watch six documentaries and write a two-part short review about my thoughts on them. Yeah, I know, I'm fucking lame... but whatever, seemed fun to me, quit judging.... fucker.

The Antics Roadshow:

Synopsis: A Banksy documentary about the who's who of famous public vandals, MOST of whom do so in the name of social-activism. The most notable of which are "The Yes Men" a team of two men who pose as representatives of notable corporations and make bold, self-incriminating statements publicly in an effort to expose the greed and corruption of said company.

Review: A good run of the mill doc on an extrodinary group of people. The profiles run from in depth to quick glances, but in general, they are all thought provoking and interesting character studies. Unfortunately they seem to be pulled from existing footage and a multitude of camera crews, so the footage runs the gamut from amazing to having TONS of technical issues such as stuttering image (as a result of ingesting footage at the wrong Frames Per Second.... sorry, QCing is what I do... I digress) and generational quality loss.

Suggestion: Watch it if you're into vandalism in the name of social-awareness (or just for shits and giggles), but it's a doc that easily broken up and watched over the course of a few days due to the nature of it's character studies. Give yourself a few days and break it up on this one, otherwise it becomes a bit monotonous and the stories muddle together.

Give Me The Banjo:

Synopsis: A Steve Martin narrated documentary that is a raw, unyielding look at the banjo's tumultuous history from its birth in Africa, to being used by whitey to glorify racial stereotypes through minstrel music, to it's present day use in bluegrass music.

Review: Evidently rock and roll isn't the only thing we've stolen from black folks, the banjo's origination in Africa played a big part of early music there. This documentary is amazing, true even when it hurts, and the filmmakers have a genuine love for the instrument that shines through the interviews. It is one of the best, most raw doc's I've seen in years. It is in-depth and never boring, well worthy of the incredible talents that are showcased in this film. Martin does an astonishing job at not just narrating, but actually engaging the camera, and his playing is nothing short of amazing.

Suggestion: See it immediately, watch it sober, a great early AM Sunday documentary for ANYONE who genuinely loves African, Americana, or just music in general.