September 2006 Archives

I recently finished reading Jim Schutze's "Bully: A True Story Of High School Revenge", which is sort of a momentous occassion since I haven't read a book in months. (Although it was before the Hott Denn media log.) Inevitably I found out about this story through the medium of film, in this case, Larry Clark's unflinching 2001 film BULLY, in which a bunch of aimless teenagers in south Florida decide to murder their antagonistic friend.

Reading the first few chapters gave me a greater appreciation for Clark's attention to detail, as scenes and dialogue were lifted straight from Schutze's book. I suppose you could make the argument that the author interpreted the accounts in order to make a compelling narrative, and Clark was just carrying out what Schutze had already pieced together, but I initially assumed Clark would have altered events to fit his bleak worldview.

Although it was a compelling read, I would be remiss to not mention the obvious typos and errors in the book. When you're engrossed in a book that advertises itself as a "true story" mistakes stick out a bit more. For instance:

On page 107 the author is describing a scene involving only Bobby (the subsequent victim), Lisa and Ali driving to a secluded location where Lisa and Ali had planned to shoot Bobby. Bobby is driving, but his best friend (and Brutus to his Julius) Marty's name is used. Huh?! How did Marty end up in the car I thought? Oh, it's a mistake. Weird.

Another mistake appears on page 168, when the car that Bobby had been driving mysteriously changes from a Mustang to a Camaro. I realize they are similar American sports cars, but I initially thought I hadn't been paying attention, and another car had appeared on the scene. Then, on the very next page it's a Mustang again, only this time it appears as "the mustang", without capitalization.

Granted, I can't remember other mistakes in the book, and at 300 pages thats a pretty good ratio, but it does amaze me that an editor wouldn't have caught clear errors like those mentioned above. Reminds me of my old freelance copyediting entry.

This made-for-TNT-TV movie starring Noah (ER) Wyle, and Anthony (Breakfast Club) Michael Hall isn't specifically about the internet, but I'm gonna make an exception for my series. This film was able to accurately depict technology and should serve as a good comparison to all the fake-tech in the movies I've watched so far.

A quick summary of PIRATES--it's about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, as told through the eyes of friends Steve Wozniak and Steve Ballmer (why so many Steves ?!?). The "Pirates" title comes from the film's main theme that "Good artists copy, great artists steal" which is supposed to be a favorite Picasso quote of both Jobs and Gates. All of the truly brilliant ideas in the film seem to originate from other sources (Xerox and their invention of the mouse for instance), and these two guys were able to piece innovation together and make a product that the end-user actually needed. Steve and Bill are pirates, but are mostly sympathetic. because without them these operating system ideas might have taken much longer to come about. Anyway, enough plot, let's take a look at some photos:

Here is the menu screen, and I'd say they did a pretty good job of casting and costume design, especially for a TV-movie.

Here Woz describes his ingenious whistle-tone invention to save on long-distance phone calls (a similar feature appeared in HACKERS with a tape recording).

There are numerous shots of Steve Jobs being a hippee, getting tripped out on lsd for instance:

He does also try more zen methods of enlightenment, just so you don't think he's such a druggie:

Gates, however, likes to let loose driving while eating pizza! Put it down Bill!

Look, it's Blazerillionare Paul Allen:

What is that?! Oh, it's the first mouse...no-one will ever use that thing!

The movie has a couple weird narration elements to it, where they thought it would be cool to have the Steves describe the action from inside/outside the scene. Zany!

Uh-oh, looks like someone just found out he was going to be ousted from the top of the computer-pile. Don't worry Steve, you'll be back!

I'd recommend PIRATES for anyone who wants to know the basics behind the computer war/revolution. It's well-paced and features convincing performances, but really why would you need to see it when you just read this comprehensive summary?