The Techiefilmmaker

Its snappy, stable, and it still works like a charm.

It has been a while since Mozilla Firefox made headlines battling head-on with Microsoft’s IE monopoly; and since then the battlefield has changed with a lot of new players in the fray (Chrome, Safari, Opera). With their new update, team Firefox will not only have to compete with loading speeds, but also with simplicity, stability, security, and snazzy-ness.

Downloading and installation was a breeze. Since this is a beta, they won’t remove your existing installation, but your current Firefox data will be integrated to the new one. Heck, they even got my personas skin from the previous version. The add-ons are also there, but they are mostly disabled for stability purposes (since this is a beta).

The first thing people will notice in this version is a more minimalist look, more or less taken from the Google Chrome book, but still not losing its Mozilla identity (such as the big Back button to the extreme left). But if you wish to have your menus and bookmarks back, its just a right-click away. Loading pages will also show a clock beside the title in the tab, a nifty small feature I very much appreciate. Windows 7 users will also notice that Firefox takes advantage of the the new taskbar, where individual tabs are now revealed when hovered over.

Tabs utilize Windows 7's new taskbar

Another major feature introduced in this version is the tab grouping feature (Tab Candy), which makes you organize your tabs ala-Apple Exposé. For tab monsters, this is a dream come true: no more 30+ tabs dangling on top of your browser like an eyesore. You can opt to name and resize the groups as well.

For Firefox, its like reinventing the wheel

Stability-wise, I have been browsing crash-free for three days since downloading Firefox 4 beta, even under my crappy DSL connection that goes on and off every now and then. Mixing these conditions with several YouTube tabs loading, as well as a few interactive sites are browser disasters waiting to happen.

Firefox seems to be still very much in the browser game, with this beta as proof. I think I’d have to snag my default browser from Google back to Firefox for the time being…

even the poster looks Harry Potter 1 or 2-ish

Unfortunately, I think even a non-filmmaker (or film critic) will find this film a bit predictable. I don’t know if I’m just seeing too many tropes played in this film in a stereotypical fashion, or I am not the target audience of this film. I swear, there was a moment that a guy came in the scene, it read secret antagonist all over. And there was a scene where all the water tanks in the picture just called for Percy to unleash his Poseidon-powers.

But for the young ones out there who want to know a thing or two about Greek mythology (or if you just want to refresh on your god/goddess glossary), this film blends current settings with ancient mythology well.

Entertaining, but I’m glad I didn’t spend 160 bucks for this at the big screen.

Oh, I'm glad you're over...

What can I say… It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t really a hitmaker anyway. Guy gets into limbo-world where he gets his chest impaled by a deadly girl that everybody calls Angel. He wakes up (not dead, because technically he already is in this world) and is dragged into a resistance movement that does out-of-the ordinary activities in order not to disappear in this place.

The story was getting interested in the first part, but after you get the gist of it, it starts to mellow down, down to the point that I could actually multitask while watching the thing (with the subs and all). The musical performances were top notch, though. But I couldn’t stop laughing at the final episode. I think this one needed more episodes (or perhaps, less).

If you’ve watched all the hot anime titles from this season and last’s, then I guess this can be a good gap-filler until the next big anime arrives (yes Eva 3.0 something, we’re waiting for you!)

If you think Shutter Island (from a few months ago) is enough to blow your mind, Inception will perhaps do the same, taking your subconscious with it as well.

As with his previous films, Christopher Nolan has done it again: his brilliant storytelling matched hand-in-hand with his apt cinematic treatment that makes the viewers think as much as they are entertained. Its amazing how he can transcend the ways of the mind with the language of film (as he has done with Memento before). The film sort of reminded me of Satoshi Kon’s Paprika

As always, Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as an actor has continuously evolved, with him transitioning to these roles as of late. Its also nice to see Ellen Page taking a more serious role than what she’s known for; no more Juno vibes here!

This film is a must-watch. In a time where the cinemas are only filled with remakes, sequels and we’ve-seen-that-plot flicks, this is proof that a lot has not been made yet.

After nearly a year (and its only 15 episodes), we finally see how the seemingly-odd story finishes. Though originally presented in dazzling HD resolution for the first 12 episodes, producers decided to post the last three episodes online in poorer-than-SD-mode, with much delays at that.

Senjougahara Fashion!

But delays aside, I guess it was somewhat worth the wait. The gist of the story is that Koyomi Araragi seems to cross paths with people that have some supernatural oddity “problems” that he helps them get over with, wherein Araragi may be an oddity himself. All twelve episodes have mini-arcs (five, I think) which deal with a girl getting involved in an oddity.

Weird cuts like this are usual

Plot aside, what makes the anime interesting is the rather experimental visual treatment they put it through; despite it being a strict narrative. Despite the series being entirely 90% dialogue, they still found a way for the audience to appreciate (or attempt to appreciate) the series.

Bakemonogatari isn’t for all, that’s for sure. The visual treatment is unorthodox, the conclusion is open-ended, leaving a lot of back story unexplained; it sure is a messy series. But its a good sight to see something stick out of the ordinary, amongst the sea of archetypes and stereotypes in anime storytelling and production.

Oh, and lastly, Aya Hirano (a.k.a. Suzumiya Haruhi’s seiyuu) is credited here, but she has yet to utter a word in the series.