Have you seen Ben Stiller’s new film “Tropic Thunder?”  Regardless, you’ve probably heard of the controversy surrounding the film.  It’s on Me.dium’s list of heavily surfed webpages a whole week after its premier, so obviously it’s still attracting attention from the public.  There have been picketing, protesting, complaints, etc etc by numerous groups outraged by the movie, who have asked others to forgo seeing the film.  Now here is the question, don’t these protests actually create an adverse effect and make people want to see it?

I’m going to skip the summary of the movie, and jump straight into it.  In this film, Stiller plays a movie star, who in a previous role, portrayed a mentally handicapped individual.  Now this character “Simple Jack” is a mockery of those handicapped.  Support groups who were outraged with the film came together, and went so far as to request it to be banned from theaters.  Disability advocates and others who previewed the film reported that the  treatment of individuals with mental disabilities was very offensive and was found throughout the film’s plot. They urged people not to see the film, claiming it was demeaning to those with mental disabilities.  After the screening, some picketed outside the film’s premiere.

There’s a saying “Any publicity is good publicity.”  Now, keeping my personal opinion of whether or not I found it offensive out of it, here’s what I’m thinking:  I would assume that a significant amount of people saw this movie instead of “Pineapple Express” for example, just because it had infamy surrounding it.  If there is any kind of hype, positive or negative, surrounding a film, it attracts attention.  People tend to be drawn towards controversy, and while they might not agree with what’s presented, are generally curious to see what the fuss is all about.  News, magazines, blogs (like this one) all picked up the story, and spread it like wildfire.  Instead of getting people to refrain from viewing, all the talk probably sent more people to the Cineplex to “decide for themselves,” resulting in more money in the producer’s pocket.  I am all for people speaking their minds, but if someone was passionately upset, wouldn’t a better way to handle it be writing letters, or some other firm yet non-attention drawing manner.

I was talking to a few people on Twitter about this topic and “Tropic Thunder” in general, and one person said it better than any one else; “a lot of fuss over another summer comedy let down. don’t get me wrong, it’s funny at times, but it’s nothing special.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I felt that the film was one of Stiller’s weakest, and was completely mediocre.  It wouldn’t have lasted too long in the theatre if people had just let it die quietly.  Now, I’m not trying to discredit those indivduals who were upset with this film, and I can understand why they would be offended.  I just think that drawing negative attention to it probably accomplished the one thing they were trying to prevent.  Thoughts?

I guess I’m in an Olympics-kinda mood…

Today I was playing around on Me.dium’s Social Search, and came across this Youtube video.  Now, I gotta admit, I’m not one to pass along videos unless I think they are seriously worth while.  This one had me dying, and seemed to fit in appropriately with the summer Olympics. (The soundtrack is still stuck in my head!)   So take a minute or two from work, school, or whatever it is you’re doing to check it out.  (You gotta watch the whole thing, it gets better and better!) Just click the image.

If you liked the video, this guy’s got a bunch of other ones.  You can view a collection of them by using Me.dium search: keyword-Remi Gaillard)  Pretty funny eh?  What do you think?  Anyone else have any videos to share?

Like many of you out there, I’ve been watching the Summer Olympics in Beijing.  Watching athletes from around the world come together to compete is a pretty incredible thing to witness…However, sometimes while watching I experience a little deja vu…like I know I’ve seen the same images somewhere before.  I did a little digging online, and this is what I came up with.  Do Olympians get their inspiration from Hollywood, or is it the other way around?  ;)  Enjoy. (Oh man, I crack myself up.)

• 1)Star Wars
• 2)The Exorcist
• 3)Gumby
• 4)Superstar
• 5)Free Willy
• 6)The Labyrinth
• 7)The Matrix
• The Ring
• 9)Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Let me ask you a question.  What’s more interesting: company product information or animated Legos?

— That’s what I thought.

Have you checked out Me.dium’s revolutionary Social Search out yet?  If you haven’t, don’t fret.  Just tab over to the FAQ to get all the details on how Me.dium is changing the scene.  Go ahead, this blog will still be there when  you’re finished reading. Go on now.

….ok, you made it back!  Now that you’re an expert on Me.dium’s crowd powered search engine, let’s talk Legos!  The best part of using a crowd-powered search engine are the unique and entertaining search results you’re going to get back.  Why simply get matched up by keywords, when you can see what others out there find interesting.  Let’s do a little experiment.  Google “Legos.” The top 4 results are; Company Homepage, Lego Wikepedia articles, Legos on Ebay, and yahoo shopping results.  (And unless you’re writing a term paper on Legos or Christmas shopping, the results are just a little dry.)

Now, let’s try Me.dium search and hit “I feel social.” The first result you get back is Lego Star Wars.  Now, why would you want to read an article on the history of Legos when you can see Lego Chewbacca fighting a Storm Trooper!?  Other Me.dium results include Lego game forums, a Lego computer game you can play online, and other cool Lego creations.  Now aren’t these results more fun?  And you know why?  Because you are surfing sites that other REAL PEOPLE enjoy…something that other search engines don’t do.

Remember, if you’ve got the Me.dium Toolbar, YOU are influencing our search results.   So play around with our search engine, and tell us what you think of Me.dium Social Search!

I love midnight movie screenings.  I don’t attend them frequently, but when I do go, I’m rarely disappointed.  Regardless of how the movie actually is, hearing the audience laugh, scream, or jump up in unison is always entertaining.  Yesterday, I stayed up “past my bedtime” to see the 12:01 screening of “Pineapple Express.”  I had no expectations, though I admit, I was skeptical as I tend to be quite critical of films.  However, the movie was one of the hottest searched keywords for the last couple of days, so I wanted to see first hand what the hype was about.

If you’ve seen the trailer, then you know exactly what the movie is about.  That’s it, there’s really nothing more to the plot. (However for those of you who somehow have managed never to see the trailer, I will do a very brief recap.)  The story revolves around a pot-head named Dale Denton who, while high, witnesses a murder committed by a drug boss and police officer.  He knows that the murderers can identify and track him based on a rare type of weed he smoked, so Dale flees to his dealer Saul’s house.  Soon after, a chase ensues, where the two must not only run for their lives….but run for their lives while completely and utterly high.

Even though this movie is ridiculously uncomplicated, it still is extremely entertaining.  The movie’s humor fits along to the lines of Seth Rogen’s other films, (Knocked Up, Superbad,) except this one ups the violence, and brings down the sex, (less hookups, more machine guns.)  While all the main characters, (Seth Rogen, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Gary Cole,) have one liners and strong comedic moments, it is Franco who absolutely steals the show.  With his hillarious expressions, “stoner moments,” and charming/goofy smile, he makes his pot-head/dealer character strangely adorable.  In my opinion, the movie would not have been nearly as funny with out him.  The chemistry he has with Rogen is also apparent, and you can tell they feed off each and make a great duo.

The movie combines action and humor together in a way that seems to gel.  It doesn’t try too hard, take itself too seriously, and by the end of the movie, leaves a smile on your face along with an arsenal of one liners to quote.  You don’t need to have smoked anything to enjoy this movie, it stands alone as a comedy (though I did catch a whiff of something in the theater and about halfway through the film some one walked up the aisle carrying a garbage bag of popcorn saying, “I’ve got the munchies.”)  Is this movie going to win an Oscar?  Probably not, but is it worth the price of a movie ticket?  Absolutely.

Anyone else see “Pineapple Express?”  Thoughts?