Day: June 9, 2011

Deano’s answer to: “Is the Bollywood film Enthiran better than Avatar?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

The only way it could be meaningfully better, is if they used James Cameron to shoot it in 3D.

(Even Gold Cylons love Enthiran!)

A lot of the humor may come off as very antiquated/cliché, but it fits. Enthiran is essentially a great 80s US action film melded with a great 80s Hong Kong action film. That it’s also a drama, and a romantic comedy, and a retelling of Frankenstein, and about 5 more whole movies (oh, and a multi-tiered dance competition) layered on top is just a bonus. 😉

(It’s also the story of an aspiring medical student, looking very studious here.)

It’s a great film, to be sure… Those who dislike or don’t understand the Bollywood style may disagree. It’s easily the best Indian film I’ve seen, in terms of easy crossover to just about any other world market/mainstream US audience.

(Guns and Leather. Come on, what could be better or more universal?!?)

Avatar, by contrast, is Dances in Wolves in Space. The universe created and referred to is amazing if you think deeply about it, but the actual film/plot on screen pales beside the special effects.

(Okay, blewbs. Blewbs might just be better.)

Neither film wastes a second of screen time being just plain beautiful to look at, but Enthiran excels at keeping your brain exploding with twists, turns, and completely unexpected characters and events constantly added into the plot throughout the film, at times seeming completely non-sensical, but in a way that somehow adds to the whole.

(This reminds me: everyone who saw Bicentennial Man deserves a refund.)

If you haven’t seen either, see both. If you’re trying to decide which to watch again, I’d suggest Enthiran, especially for home viewing – the constant jumps between settings make bathroom/kitchen breaks much easier to manage.

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Is the Bollywood film Enthiran better than James Cameron’s Avatar?

Deano’s answer to: “Why isn’t the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” seen as being more depressing than it is?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

For one thing, the protagonist is no longer trying to kill himself.

(Not until after the holidays, and reality sets in, anyway…)

That said, the main reason the film is not seen as depressing by modern viewers is that it wasn’t filmed more recently. A color version with the current field of acting talent would produce either a much more truthful/depressing version of the film, or one seen as far less entertaining in it’s sugar-coating of current economic realities, presumably on behalf of the wealthy elites still trying to push the message that “hard work and good hearts still win the day”, rather than being horribly crushed by big business folks and the politicians who work for them.

(Your gong-fu may be strong, Jimmy. Goldman-Sachs will still pwn you.)

Thus, by being an older film, in black and white, and calling to mind a more innocent era of the American dream, viewers tend to distance the film from more direct analysis, or “what ifs”, and simply enjoy the nostalgic Christmas-y goodness.

(Nothing, however, can change the fact that your daughter’s name is Zuzu.)

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Why isn’t the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” seen as being more depressing than it is?

Deano’s answer to: “Are Sunnyvale and San Jose geek/nerd places?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Both are “geek/nerd places” in terms of residential density of Ruby/Python/Java/PHP developers, but neither is a “geek/nerd place” in terms of atmosphere…

San Jose has a bit of a “true town”, but is still a lot of highways and strip malls – shops/restaurants/bars that close down comparatively early, and the exceptions tend to have a more “townie”, or even worse “hipster” vibe.

(Liar! The Winchester Mystery House is open til midnight around Halloween!)

Sunnyvale, CA is a great place to live if you like biking to work for a valley startup in the neighborhood, and not much else. Much moreso than ‘San Jo’, Sunnyvale basically lives and breathes the corporate daily schedule, and while it may have its share of decent lunch/dinner spots, and some fairly nerd-friendly coffee shops, there just isn’t enough of that “late night, burning the Mt. Dew” coder-feel to the place.

(Sunnyvale makes Redwood City look positively thrilling)

As Robert Scoble says, Palo Alto has a lot more of the “hacker vibe”, though it’s seriously hamstrung in that it does double-duty as a college town, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag for community nerd-support, especially in the coffee shops (which are just as full with PoliSci majors and Soccer Jocks as engineers)… Still, make a few Stanfordian friends, and you’ll have your “in” for those passionate coding discussions at venues and events on/just off campus.

(BTW, Google “Palo Alto excitement”, this is the result…)

All is not lost, however – there are several co-working spaces in the area, and for as little as $100/month membership (or $10 a visit), you can get all the “coder-nerd” lifestyle, conversation, and energy you could possibly want from places like the Hacker Dojo[*] and SemanticSeed[†].

(That looks a little more like it, non? Hacker Dojo FTW!)

[* In Mountain View – hackerdojo.com ]
[† In San Jose – semanticseed.com ]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Are Sunnyvale and San Jose geek/nerd places?