Dave Johnson on open web technologies, social software and software development
Yesterday, I saw Persepolis. I thought it was great. The artwork was beautiful, the characters Marjane and her grandmother were wonderful and the story really took hold. I dragged the older boys (10 and 11) along and that was probably mistake, not because of the occasional bad language and a couple violent images -- but simply because of the subtitles. The whole thing is in French and they had a hard time following along, especially at the start. I wonder why the Galaxy didn't show the English-dubbed version, because there is one with the voices of Iggy Pop and Sean Penn. Guess that's a good excuse for watching it again when it comes out on DVD.
Dave Johnson in General
05:53AM Feb 11, 2008
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Dan says 2007 was an exceptional year for films and he's posted his top ten films of 2007 list, with links to his original reviews for each film. Based on the four I've seen (Simpsons, No Country, I'm Not There and Ratatouille), I'd have to say it's a good list. I'm looking forward to tonight when Dan and I are going to see Blade Runner, The Final Cut at the Carolina Theater.
Dave Johnson in General
03:42AM Jan 29, 2008
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My brother Dan is a great writer with an encyclopedic knowledge of films, rock and pop music in general, and he's blogging, so it's only natural that folks start to notice. This weekend he got another boost, this time it's a mention in New York Magazine: The week in Woody Allen on Ingmar Bergman.
Dave Johnson in Blogging
07:52AM Aug 06, 2007
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My bro Dan, who clearly understands the secret to blog success, has done it again with another lengthy and well-researched blog post. Thanks to his most recent post 10 definitive films within films, he was featured on the IMDB hit-list again this week.
Dave Johnson in General
01:38PM Jul 11, 2007
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Dave Johnson in Blogging
07:32AM Jun 14, 2007
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Celebrating with Movie and TV mind teasers
1. What was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction?
2. What was in the package left in the care of Barton Fink?
3. What state in Springfield in on The Simpsons?
...and more from bro man Dan.
Dave Johnson in General
10:43AM May 07, 2007
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And before I leave the topic of movies I'll mention this; recently I've been enjoying Neil Young's Heart of Gold, an absolutely wonderful concert film of and documentary about the debut of Neil's Prairie Wind album last year. See also, my brother Dan's brief review of the film over at Helium.com.
Dave Johnson in General
06:15PM Feb 12, 2007
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Dave Johnson in General
12:41PM Feb 09, 2007
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Here's a little something else I'm thankful for. My brother Dan has been low-frequency blogging for a while and he's getting better and better. His blog is called Film Babble and it's definitely babble (and I mean that in the absolutely best way possible), but his writing style is interesting and he got a pretty deep knowledge base to draw on when it comes to movies and music. His latest post is about director Robert Altman, who just passed away.
Dave Johnson in General
04:18PM Nov 23, 2006
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For the first time since three-year-old Leo was born, Andi and I dumped *all* of the kids off with my parents (thanks Mom and Dad) in Chapel Hill and headed out to movie, dinner and a show. We saw Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash bio-pic. Ebert gave it the thumbs up, Rolling Stone says its Oscar material and we both loved it.
After the movie we were hoping to try Panang again, but we didn't have time for dinner. We had to meet Andi's brother and head back to Raleigh to see Carbon Leaf at the Lincoln Theater. Carbon Leaf put on an enjoyable show, but the music didn't really grab me, at least not enough to inspire any CD purchases. If I had to triangulate (using my out-of-date reference materal), I'd say they were Connells-style white-boy jam-pop, with celtic influences (penny whistle included) and Phish-like sing-along lyrics.
All and all, a very nice and kid-free night out.
Dave Johnson in General
02:40PM Dec 03, 2005
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Dave Johnson in General
08:17AM Jul 14, 2005
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I'm back to work after a week of JavaOne and week of summer-shutdown imposed vacation. What did I do on my vacation? After returning from JavaOne, I joined the rest of the family at the grandparent's new beach/golf house close to Topsail Island, NC. I tried my best to avoid work. I did pretty well and that's not as easy as it sounds; I first starting working on Roller during a summer vacation at Ocracoke Island.
I forced myself to take a break. I did the beach thing: dragged beach chairs and umbrellas around, covered my body in sunblock, built sand-drip castles, etc. I showed the boys the original three Star Wars films. I saw The War of the Worlds, which was surprisingly good in a summer fun movie kind of way. I read Freakonomics, also good. That was great; I needed a break. Now I'm back, the older boys are in all-day camp at the YMCA, I'm ready to get back into Roller 2.0 group blogging work.
Dave Johnson in General
05:56AM Jul 11, 2005
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I convinced Andi that Alex(8) and Linus(7) are old enough for the Star Wars films. So, this past weekend we watched episides I, II and III. We started with Episode 1.1: The Phantom Edit, a fan-edited version of the film that includes much less Jar Jar than before. They boys thought they could have cut more; I kid you not. I thought the Phantom Edit was a little too fuzzy to enjoy. I guess that's because it was created from a VHS copy of the film.
I think the boys enjoyed Episode II: Attack of the Clones more than Episode I, but there was a little too much kissing. It's funny to see the kids cringe when Anakin and Padme get all mushy.
It was Andi's birthday on Sunday, so she took Alex and Linus to Episode III and I stayed home with the little Leo. They enjoyed it the most of the three, but Linus was a little disturbed when he saw what happened to Anakin. I don't think he was really traumatized, at least not as bad as he was on The Mummy (whatever you do, do NOT mention The Mummy to Linus).
I wonder what they're going to think of the original films. Will they see IV and V as the awesome classics that I know them to be, or dated and dull after the orgy of special effects they've just gone through in the prequels.
Dave Johnson in General
05:37PM Jun 20, 2005
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Dave Johnson in General
07:12AM Mar 15, 2005
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Yep, that's what Dads worry about. Thanks for reading. I think that fulfils my quota for random nonsense this week.
Dave Johnson in General
05:09PM Jul 06, 2004
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Dave Johnson in General
06:28PM Jan 29, 2004
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Dave Johnson in General
03:45PM Oct 30, 2003
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Yesterday, I drove over to Chapel Hill to visit my brother and to see the movie I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. The movie is a rockumentary about the making of Wilco's recent and critically acclaimed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (YHF) album. My nutshell review is simple: if you like Wilco you'll love it, if you don't then you might want to skip it. I loved it.
Whether or not you like Wilco, the YHF story is pretty interesting. Wilco's record label, Warner Brothers Reprise, gave the band the freedom to make the album on their own, working in their loft, and without a producer. Once Wilco was done with the album, the record company decided that the album was not marketable or radio friendly or whatever. The company dropped Wilco and let the band walk away with rights to the album. Eventually, Nonesuch Records took interest and signed Wilco. Like Warner Brothers Reprise, Nonesuch is owned by AOL Time Warner. So in the end AOL Time Warner paid for the same record twice.
Dave Johnson in General
08:00AM Sep 08, 2002
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