Pentagon Working on Breeding Immortal Synthetic Organisms

So when does our technology outpace our humanity? Philosophers have struggled with the question for millennia. We have wrestled with the concept in books and films – trying to make sense of all of the giant leaps ahead all the while trying to keep a handle on our own place in the universe.

“What are you talking about, Evil Chicken?”

I’m talking about how the lines of fiction (some would say science fiction although that term truly does not adequately fit the context of most technological arguments anymore) and reality. Case in point, the Pentagon is, as the following article from Wired (although you can read this story anywhere), “looking to breed immortal, “synthetic organisms” with a molecular ‘kill-switch’” for those ‘just in case’ moments when one’s own creation gets out of hand.

“Come on…”

Nope, I’m not making this up; read Katie Drummond’s article for yourself here: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/pentagon-looks-to-breed-immortal-synthetic-organisms-molecular-kill-switch-included/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

In the film “Blade Runner” humans created bio-engineered synthetic organisms that had a kill switch built into their DNA that only gave them a 5-year life span. The Nexus 6 line looked human and as new models came out with improved biometrics and implanted memories it became next to impossible to distinguish between the “Replicants” (synthetic organisms) and the humans.

The pentagon wants an immortal warrior who can sustain amazing damage but can still function on the battlefield. When Skynet started rolling Terminators off the assembly lines to wipe out the rest of the human blight in the Terminator movies they found that the best killers were the ones hidden under living, bio-engineered skin.

DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the research and development arm of the United States Department of Defense. This is a prestigious think tank that, according to my favorite second brain Wikipedia, is working on the Synthetic organisms. Check out this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA#Projects and scroll down for a list of past projects and active projects which include XOS Exoskeletons (like the high end ones used in “AVATAR” and “Aliens”), High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense Systems, Remote Controlled Insects (for spying and such) and making Combat Zones that See (where everything that moves in a given area is tracked). DARPA sounds like an interesting place to work. Now if anything goes wrong with these immortal synthetic organisms (causing a Zombie uprising or other such shenanigans) it’s all right; there’s a molecular “kill switch” – I’m sure that nothing could ever go wrong with that.

There is no such thing as science fiction anymore, Gentle Reader. Hold onto your hats. The future is now.

“History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.” – Blue Oyster Cult, Godzilla

The 82nd Academy Awards

Oh you 8.something pound little statue. You little golden idol of, voted by members of the Film Academy, of self-adulation. Oscar… I see you have returned. I knew that you would be back. Here is what you are bringing this year as per Harry Knowles: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43846. (I got the data for this blog from Harry’s site. I could have gotten it from somewhere else but I didn’t.)

To pick who goes home with the little golden guy one must think like the Academy. That is NOT to say that the best picture in any given category goes home with Oscar; no. It means that one must channel and consider to think how the Academy thinks to truly pick who is gonna win. The last few years I have beat Oscar in the big categories in a blow-by-blow match of fisticuffs. All right, you little 8.something pound golden idol – let’s do this… let’s dance.

Best Picture:

UP
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
AN EDUCATION
THE HURT LOCKER
PRECIOUS
A SERIOUS MAN
THE BLIND SIDE
UP IN THE AIR

Now, let me just say there are some GREAT films in this category. Seriously. The announcements came in the day before yesterday and for the first time since “Casablanca” was in the theaters there are TEN, yep that’s right, TEN possible entries in the “Best Picture” category. This should open things up for a more, dare I say, fair and balanced campaign and selection. I hope that it works. I should also say that I have not seen all of the pictures in this category. Still, putting oneself into the mindset of the Academy one can make a postulation; who should win vs. who will win. I would love to see “Up” take it. It won’t because the Academy will view it as an “animated film” (which it is also listed as a nominee) and write it off. Meanwhile, “Up” is one of the finest films EVER made about the grief process. Heartfelt and touching, “Up” should win. That being said I’d be happy as a clam if “Inglorious Basterds” or “District 9” or “Avatar” won as well. The Academy will either go with “The Hurt Locker” or “Up In the Air”. …And the winner is… “The Hurt Locker”.

Best Actor:

Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART
George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR
Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN
Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS
Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER

Good actors, good performances. …And the Oscar goes to… Morgan Freeman for “Invictus”!

Best Supporting Actor:

Matt Damon, INVICTUS
Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER (and ZOMBIELAND ahem)
Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION
Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES
Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

…And the winner is… Christoph Waltz for “Inglorious Basterds”! If Mr. Waltz does not walk away with that little golden icon then there is something completely and utterly wrong with the entire institution; so much so, I dare say, that THIS would be the last blog entry I’ll ever contest between Oscar and myself that I ever document. I feel that strongly.

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock, THE BLIND SIDE
Helen Mirren, THE LAST STATION
Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION
Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS
Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA

It’s getting tougher… Streep has her share of Oscar gold and it may be time for the Academy to try to show that they are in touch with the common, ordinary movie attendee. Hmm… And the winner is… Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side”.

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz, NINE
Vera Farmiga, UP IN THE AIR
Maggie Gyllenhaal, CRAZY HEART
Anna Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR
Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS

Tough. My, my, my… let’s see here… And the winner is… Maggie Gyllenhaal for “Crazy Heart”.

Best Director:

AVATAR, James Cameron
THE HURT LOCKER, Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino
PRECIOUS, Lee Daniels
UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman

I would love to see Quentin Tarantino walk away with the Oscar for the tour de force that is “Inglourious Basterds”. He won’t. Instead it is going to be between Cameron and Bigelow, which is interesting since the pair of the use to be married. I’m pretty sure these circumstances don’t happen too often – even for Hollywood. …And the winner is… Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”.

Best Visual Effects:

AVATAR, Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham & Andrew R Jones
DISTRICT 9, Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros & Matt Aitken
STAR TREK, Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh & Burt Dalton

…And the winner is… “AVATAR”. If it does not then something is terribly awry in Mudville. This film completely raised the bar for all films to come. Seriously.

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

DISTRICT 9, Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
AN EDUCATION, Nick Hornby
IN THE LOOP, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche
PRECIOUS, Geoffrey Fletcher
UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

I would love to see “District 9” take the honors but they won’t. …And the winner is: “Up in the Air”. It’s just how the Academy thinks.

Best Writing (Original Screenplay):

THE HURT LOCKER, Mark Boal
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino
THE MESSENGER, Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A SERIOUS MAN, Joel & Ethan Coen
UP, Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

“Up” is pure brilliance but I would LOVE to see “Inglorious Basterds” win this category. Quentin Tarantino has a knack for writing some of the best dialogue in the business along with some of the finest storytelling around today. It should go to him. It won’t. The Academy will tell themselves that he has already won for “Pulp Fiction” and they will give the Oscar to… “The Hurt Locker”.

So there it is; 9 of my favorite categories. Let’s see who breaks even Oscar or Evil Chicken. If Oscar gets more than yours truly in these categories then he has won. I win if the converse is true. Also, I am dead serious about Christoph Waltz winning the Best Supporting Actor category. If he does not win, quite frankly, then the Oscars are just not worth covering on this blog anymore. His performance is that good.

And that, Gentle Reader, “That’s a BINGO!” (go rent “Inglorious Basterds”).

AVATAR the Promise of IMAX has been Fulfilled

We had tickets to see AVATAR in IMAX 3D in Atlantic City yesterday at 3:15 PM. Then the snow came. Not just snow but SNOW and record breaking SNOW at that. What to do – What to do? A Recon mission – that’s what! I took the ole SUV out onto the roads, bolstered by the driving lesson that Chick 1.0 and I did earlier in the day, and took a gander at what we may be facing on our journey. Such an expedition could either end wonderfully or very, very badly. What to do – What to do?

We went.

I’m glad we did.

Much has been said about AVATAR and I don’t wish to repackage too much of all the information that is out there concerning this film since you have probably already heard it. Just know that James Cameron took off 12 years between projects, that he wrote the script for this film 15 years ago and that he had to invent the technology (the stereoscopic 3D camera) to bring it all to life. It should also be known that his new film AVATAR was worth the wait.

There are moments when you know that everything has changed. Moments when you understand the world that you are familiar with has moved on and there can be no going back. Cinematically speaking those who were in attendance for “The Jazz Singer” must have been amazed when the actors on the screen actually started to talk & sing. And the age of the silent film came to a close. Members of the audience for “The Adoptive Child” (1911) or for “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) must have been in a state of awe at seeing color films come to pass via Kinemacolor and Technicolor. And the chapter on black and white film passed on. There have been some amazing things happen in the cinema concerning special effects; not the least of which are motion capture technology, wirework, and Computer Generated Graphics. “Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King” won every Oscar imaginable for it’s storytelling. It is an amazing powerhouse trilogy and wonderful story that Peter Jackson put together, no doubt but I wonder if he would have opted for Cameron’s Stereoscopic 3D IMAX camera after seeing AVATAR.

AVATAR is a “game changer”. I understand that not every theater is IMAX but when you see this film in its natural setting you glimpse the future. I am not kidding. Yes you can see it in a regular movie theater. You could spend the extra bucks to see it in 3D or you could spend $15.00 (at the ticket booth) and see it in IMAX, the way that it was intended to be seen. I will not bother to give you my synopsis; just know that the story is solid and you will be taken someplace that you have never been to before.

Go.

See.

You will not be disappointed.

I am a huge fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs “John Carter from Mars” books and I am seriously geeking out at the fact that the mighty Pixar (a company that I would LOVE to work for) is going to be making a foray into live action by bringing those books to life on the big screen. After seeing AVATAR, they have their work cut out for them. I believe this is what George Lucas was shooting for when he did Episodes I - III of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Cameron found the lightning that escaped from the bottle.

Seriously.

I hear that Cameron’s next project will be working on part two of his AVATAR trilogy. I cannot wait to see what he has up his sleeve for the next two installments. This film cost a LOT of money to make – and it was worth every single penny. Believe the hype.

See you at the IMAX, Gentle Reader.

The Game is Afoot!

Gentle Reader, I am sorry. I am sorry that I have not checked in recently. Rest assured, I still love you, it's just that my attentions have been other places recently... I blame the addtion of HDTV and Blu-Ray to my life. For a movie geek like me it is like manna from Heaven. I've been enjoying it so much that I will be starting a feature here on Chicken Scratch in the VERY near future on different Blu-Ray releases.

That being said there is also much afoot. Work, a topic that I do not trouble you with, has been quite... interesting lately. NaNoWriMo is going to be starting in November, I'm still colaborating on a script with a buddy of mine, I'm looking forward to James Cameron's "Avatar" & "A Christmas Carol" (in the theaters real soon), and I am mourning the loss of one of my childhood icons, Captain Lou Albano. Each of these particular items is "blog worthy" but for now please consider this Yours Truly, "checking in".

We will talk in greater depth soon, Gentle Reader, I promise.

Rest in Peace, Capt. Lou!