Take A Ride On The Dubai Subway

Yesterday's post made mention of the Dubai Subway, which opened in September of 2009.  After doing a little research, it's not much of a subway as more than 80% of the system is above ground.  But with it's sleek design and pilot-less trains, it's still pretty cool.  And here's the video to prove it: a hi-speed, hi-def 3 minute journey from one end of Dubai's Metro to the other.  Sit back and enjoy the ride....

No Pants Day On The Subway

On a day where the temperature didn't break the freezing mark, hundreds of bold New Yorkers left their pants at home to ride the subway.  It was the Annual No Pants Subway day, put together by the wacky folks over at Improv Everywhere.  There are tons more pictures on their website and there should be some video of the event posted later today. This year, though, it looks like the pantless riders outnumbered the civilians.


Now I'd like to add a Cindy Adams-esque, "only in New York kids" but that's not exactly true. The event, which started 9 years ago, has now taken on an international scope as well.  Apparently, subway riders in 44 cities around the globe participated this year. I wonder if there were some wacky westerners riding the brand new Dubai subway san pants?  Then again, given that the temp there was a balmy 75 yesterday, the whole wintry point of the pants-off experience might have been lost.  

New Brooklyn Subway/LIRR Terminal Opens

After more than 20 years, Brooklyn finally has a new LIRR terminal at the busy intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush.  The previous station, a turn-of-the-century fortress opened in 1907, was demolished in 1988 to make way for a new, modern station.  A design was unveiled in 1997 and now, after years of temporary structures, cost overruns and construction delays, the $110 million dollar terminal is finally finished. 

The new station, known as Atlantic Terminal, connects directly to Target and the Atlantic Terminal Shopping Center.  So now a taste of the suburbs is only a subway ride away!  10 MTA lines run into the Atlantic Ave Terminal, in addition to 6 tracks for LIRR trains.  The new terminal looks great on the inside: clean, light-filled and spacious with some striking public art. And the facade is quite nice too.

However, a major blunder seems to have been made with huge slabs or rough rock strewn in front of the terminal's grand entrance. They appear to be some sort of anti-terrorism safety measure but one wonders why the MTA didn't just put traditional bollards around the corner.  These massive slabs practically ruin what should be a handsome cornerstone of the redevelopment of Atlantic Avenue and one can only hope the MTA will realize their mistake and fix it sooner than later. 

Movie Tix Trump DVD Sales

Here's a little bit of encouraging news for the movie biz that came out this week:  in 2009, ticket sales surpassed DVD sales for the first time in nearly 7 years.  But it is something of a case of good news bad news.  


Though the 2009 domestic box office is up by roughly 10 percent over the previous year, the reason it really beat out DVD and Blu-Ray is that disc sales dropped more than 13 percent, continuing a downward trend that began a couple years ago. And that trend is not likely to stop anytime soon given the number of cheap rental options (Redbox's 1$ per day) and new download options (Netflix streaming movies on X-Box).  


Still, with Avatar packing them in, and grossing more than 1 billion worldwide, people seem to be going to the movies more.  The key is getting them to see movies that aren't in 3D or don't blow up the world.  That's the challenge for the indie sector which, despite all this good news, is still struggling with a lack of screens and an audience that waits for the films to appear on DVD.  

Donny Osmond Remembers Colored TV and Hooks Up With Great People

In an interview about his new radio show, Donny Osmond gave some interesting quotes to the AP. While reminiscing about how he started out in show biz as a child, he had this to say about the '60s:

"I've been in this business since dirt was created. I remember when colored television came in." 

Now I know Donny is getting up there but dirt? The guy needs to give himself a little more credit. As for "colored television", I don't know what to say. But I'm guessing there weren't a lot of "colored televisions" in Utah where he grew up.
Finally, to wrap the interview up, there was this unintentionally suggestive line:

"It's an interesting ride to be in show business. It's even more interesting to keep that career going and thankfully I've hooked up with some great people.''

2010: The Year Jupiter Explodes

Back in the 80's, the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey" was released titled "2010: The Year We Make Contact".  I was in college at the time and saw it countless times...it seemed like HBO was running it constantly.  I remember the movie being fairly watchable as it had some of my favorite actors in it, namely Roy Scheider and Helen Mirren.  The best part though is the end where Jupiter blows up and becomes a second sun.  That was awesome!


Now that's it's actually 2010 (which seemed eons in the future back then), the movie has been on my mind.  I doubt it's worth watching again but, fortunately, someone has uploaded the last few minutes onto YouTube for your viewing pleasure.  One interesting detail is that this incredible intergalatic event brings peace between the US and Russia, as the filmmakers imagined the Cold War would still be on.  However, the bigger problem with the movies sun-plus-1 premise is global warming. We're already screwed with one sun heating up the planet.  With two, we'd be toast. :)  Happy 2010! 

The Best Movie of the Decade

At the end of the year, there are always tons of lists about the best films of the previous year.  And at the end of this year, there have been more than a few tallys of the best movies of the Aughts.  However, a number of critics have recently chosen David Lynch's masterwork "Mulholland Drive" as the best movie of the decade.  And I couldn't agree more.


Lynch's meditation of fame, LA, violence and apocalyptic visions, originally released in 2001, seems quite prescient in retrospect.  Isn't that what the last ten years have been about?  Time Out New York placed it atop their Best 50 Movies of the '00s and the main critic at Slate has sung it's praises as well.  There is also a thorough write up of the film's importance and genius at Reverse Shot, written by Michael Joshua Rowin.  


It's somewhat ironic that a film which began it's life as a TV pilot would end up representing a decade of movies. But then again, maybe it's just right.  After all, the trend of the last tend years has the most groundbreaking and innovative American filmmaking appearing on network and cable TV, not at the multiplex. 

Happy 100th Birthday Manhattan (Bridge)

The Manhattan Bridge turns 100 today.  But there will be no fireworks, no banners, no cheering crowds like those that greeted the Brooklyn Bridge.  That's because the Manhattan Bridge gets no respect.  


Today's TIMES has an article detailing the reasons why this bridge, sandwiched between the more celebrated Brooklyn and  Williamsburg East River crossings, tends to be somewhat ignored.  It has no storied history behind it, like that of the Roeblings who built the Brooklyn Bridge against all odds. Also, the bridge was poorly constructed from the start, designed by a man who is responsible for one of most spectacular bridge failures of all time.  Personally, one reason I believe the bridge is not so beloved is that so many New Yorkers spend time stranded on this bridge on one of the four subway lines that use it to cross the river.  


However, if you step back and take a nice long look, the Manhattan Bridge is really quite stunning, especially the four globes that stand atop the two central towers.  The bridge is majestic and steely yet still has a certain turn of the century charm to it.  Maybe with time and the completion of the bridge's seemingly endless renovation more people will come to admire it.  Happy Birthday, Manhattan Bridge!

FOX's Family Guy, Version 1.0

In 1995, RISD student Seth McFarlane put together a 10-minute, animated show reel to serve as a proposal for a series called "The Life Of Larry".  The show centered around a cantankerous guy named Larry, his nasally wife Lois and a talking dog named Steve (all voiced by Seth).  Sound familiar?  The "Life of Larry" turned out to be an early prototype for McFarlane's hit animated FOX series "Family Guy".  


Watching this original show (recently posted on YouTube), you can see the origins of the "The Family Guys'" trademark rapid fire style of dialogue and absurdist humor as well as McFarlane's pop culture obsession, showcased here with a spot-on Star Trek spoof.  Required viewing for any Family Guy Fanatics...like myself. :)

The MPAA Strikes Again

In recent years, the 40 year old MPAA has been the subject of some controversies over their increasingly bizarro ratings system.  Last week, the romantic comedy "It's Complicated" was stuck with a surprise R rating for, and I quote, "pot smoking with no bad consequences".  Unbelievably, that is a direct quote. Suddenly, the MPAA thinks it's 1934 and they have enacted the arcane rules of the Hays Code in their ratings "system".  Back in the 30's, bad guys could be really really bad, but only if they got their comeuppance.  


There is a wonderfully angry article about this latest ratings travesty in the LA TIMES which gets to the heart of the matter which is that the ratings system makes no sense.  You can blow someone to smithereens and get a PG but if you show a bare breast or, god forbid, a penis you are R.  Any kind of homosexuality used to mean an instant R but the Board has let up on that in some cases.  But this latest ruling re; the pot is absurd.  First of all, marijuana is actually legal in California so why should bad consequences be expected? 


The MPAA needs some serious recalibration of it's system and the way it operates.  Or, in the case of this movie, the way that it doesn't.