Bounced / Death of a Format

Good day, readers.

Arsenal was devastated today in the 5th Round of the FA Cup when they were handed a stunning 4-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United. The enormous pile of injuries clearly took their toll today, as Arsenal was able to field just 14 players. Arsenal was missing several key players, including superstar striker Emmanuel Adebayor. In addition, Manuel Almunia, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy were not able to play, crippling Arsenal's defensive capabilities. ManU quickly took advantage of the Gunners' defensive weakness, putting the game on ice with two goals in the first 20 minutes of play. The supporters had it right though as they sang "we'll be back to win the League!" as time expired. The Gunners hold fast to a 5 point lead in the Premiership, and they are still alive and well in the UEFA Champions League.

On a more positive note, the UW Men's Basketball team bounced back this week after being defeated by Purdue for the 2nd time this season. The Badgers posted a pair of solid wins this week over 13th ranked Indiana and the much improved Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Badgers look to finish strong after an impressive 21-4 start. The only game that should really give the Badgers much trouble is Michigan St. on 28 February. Looking on the bright side, we are playing at home, and it is exceedingly rare for us to lose games at the Kohl Center.

Finally, to any folks who have followed the HD movie format war, it is finally over. This week, Netflix and Wal-Mart both announced plans to stop supporting HD DVD, and reports are now coming out of Japan that Toshiba is stopping production of its HD DVD players. Reuters is responsible for the Toshiba report, so the source is indeed credible.

As such, HD DVDs are awfully cheap, and I was able to pick up several on Amazon at $15 a go. I was able to view two of my recently acquired films this week: Shaun of the Dead and The Pianist.

Shaun of the Dead became an instant cult classic in 2004 under the brilliant directing by Edgar Wright and witty performances by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The trio of Brits created Shaun to be a spoof of George A. Romero's landmark horror film, Dawn of the Dead. The film does just about everything it needs to do to be effective: it has a wry script filled with sarcastic characters and it never, ever takes itself too seriously. The film purposely includes all the standard bits and pieces of a generic horror/action movie, only it is hilariously funny and incredibly well crafted. I highly recommend this film along with Wright/Pegg/Frost's follow up effort, Hot Fuzz. Hot Fuzz is essentially built off the same idea as Shaun, only it spoofs generic cop action films such as Bad Boys II and Point Break. It is infinitely funnier and higher quality than the rubbish it pokes fun at.

On a more serious note, The Pianist is a moving and emotional tour de force. If you are not moved to the point of tears while watching this film, you have no soul. Adrien Brody turns in a performance for which mere words can do no justice. Indeed, the Academy did well by awarding him the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2002. Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, the famous Polish composer on whose memoirs the film is based. The film opens with Szpliman at the height of his career as a talented pianist who plays for a popular Polish radio station. The film quickly moves on through the occupation of Poland by the Germans in World War II, and we spend the next 90 minutes or so watching the incredible true story of his survival in the Warsaw ghetto. The end is immensely rewarding as we see his triumphant restoration to prominence. The film can be considered nothing other than essential viewing. Saving Private Ryan is the definitive film on the brutality of the German war machine, Schindler's List is the definitive film on the over-arching idea of genocide and the obliteration of the Jews as a people, and The Pianist takes the idea of Schindler's List and focuses it down to a single person, providing the most intimate and truly human perspective of what it was like to be persecuted in such a way. Indeed, the film begs to be seen because after all, history means nothing if we do not learn from our mistakes.

Blu3