FEMA Camp in Wyoming DEBUNKED

As you may have seen, conspiracy theorists have been spreading this photo of a supposed FEMA Concentration Camp in Wyoming (as well as several others).

These photos have been claimed to be evidence of Concentration camps being built by the government as part of the "New World Order" conspiracy. However, this picture is not a concentration camp on  US soil. In fact, this photo was not even taken in the United States. These satellite images were taken of a forced labour camp in North Korea. They were included in a report to a human rights committee of the US Congress entitled "The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps". The above image was taken from this report and altered (changed only the writing in information boxes and other small adjustments) to make them appear to be images of a US concentration camp.

Here are comparisons of a few pictures of the supposed camps versus the images from the report:

Alleged US Concentration Camp:                                                      



Original Image:

Another alleged photo of a US Concentration camp:

And the original from the report:

As you can see the images are completely identical apart from a few edited/covered information boxes and maps. 

The original report can be found here (PDF): http://www.davidrhawk.com/HiddenGulag.pdf

Safe House Review

There's really not much to say about Safe House. The movie delivers on good action sequences but utterly fails to give any impression of uniqueness or originality. As a friend who saw the movie with me put it, it feels like I've seen this exact same story before.

The acting, particularly from Denzel Washington, is solid and the visual aspects are well executed. The greatest problem with the film is not in the manner in which the story is portrayed, which is quite good, but the unoriginal, predictable storyline itself. The ending felt extremely unsatisfying as, after an extremely predictable flow of events up until the final few minutes, the film tries to throw a major curve-ball but ends up just seeming awkward. It's almost like they realized at the last minute that the movie was too predictable and tried to mix things up.

In addition, there seemed to be a few issues with editing such as the abnormally loud sound of gunshots which overwhelmed/greatly exceeded the volume of other sound effects. At some points in the movie it felt/sounded more like a shooting range than a movie theater.

Further, the action scenes were executed extremely rapidly to the point it seemed just like a bunch of blurs flashing around on the screen, especially during driving/car-chase scenes. The strange cinematography, with the camera rapidly changing position and focus, further contributed to this blurring effect. It was extremely difficult to determine what was going on at multiple points in the movie.

If I was asked to describe/rate this movie in one word, I would have to say mediocre. There is nothing great about but also nothing terrible about it. Personally, I don't feel it is worth the 10+ dollar cost of movie admission - just wait for it to come out on television. That said, it is not the worst possible choice if you want to get out to the theater.

Safe House gets 6/10.

Movie of the Year - 2011

After watching the Academy Awards, I decided to post my own brief comments on the films and make my own pick for best picture. I'll start with the actual winner of the Best Picture award.  Films in no particular order.

The Artist- Complete Oscar Bait. Only won by appealing to the (older) judges with its nostalgic feel. The sad thing is this movie probably would not have won an Oscar in the era of silent, black and white films. Still, it was a good film.
8/10

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Very emotionally stirring film. Definitely had its moments. Good acting. Still, probably only nominated as it involved 9/11 - nothing particularly excellent about it.
7.5/10

Moneyball- Good plot and a great performance from Brad Pitt. I usually hate sports movies but this was a great exception. Loved the plot and overall feel of the film.
8.5/10

Tree of Life- I've never been on a drug trip, but I imagine that this is what it looks like. Felt more like a strange display of art than an actual movie. You need to think outside the box to understand what's going on/get the message.
7/10

Hugo- Great, fun, exciting storyline. Great cinematography and music. Loved the overall feel/adventure. I particularly enjoyed this film. Still, I would not say its the best movie of the year.
8/10

The Help- Fantastic, well executed storyline. I loved the multiple comedic moments as well as how they were contrasted with some serious/depressing ones. Fantastic acting from pretty much all the actors/actresses contributed to the excellence of the story.
9/10

Midnight in Paris- A charming story. Absolutely fantastic/magical storyline supported by good acting, music, and cinematography. An all-around excellent movie - another great piece of work from Woody Allen.
9/10

The Descendants- Outstanding performance from George Clooney. Excellent storyline that brings plenty of both comedic and touching moments. A very engaging/meaningful film that definitely does not disappoint. I really enjoyed this film.
8.5/10

My personal favourite/pick for film of the year is:
War Horse- An outstanding film in all aspects. Engaging, heart wrenching film which takes you on an emotional roller-coaster without  failing to deliver epic scenes of action worthy of any Spielberg war film. A magnificent, magical story supported by great acting (from both the actors/actresses and the magnificent horses), outstanding cinematography that conveyed the brutality and intensity of the war without going overboard on gore (very tasteful throughout), and one of my personal favourite scores of all time conducted by the always magnificent John Williams.

The fact that this movie failed to win a single award baffles me and takes away almost all my faith in the Academy. I can maybe understand losing to Hugo in cinematography and a couple other categories, and maybe to the Artist in Best Picture (as I knew that movie/Oscar Bait would win due to its appeal to the Academy even though other films were superior in my opinion), but its loss to the Artist in Best Original Score blows my mind. I can not comprehend how such a beautiful, original, chilling score lost out to a score with nothing original about it. The Artists score, while undoubtedly decent, is not original at all as it is just a rip-off of pretty much every score from the 1920s/30s. Even if this wasn't true, I found War Horse's score superior - just listen for yourself on Youtube and you will understand where I am coming from.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees of 2012.

New movie reviews coming soon.

Strange Sounds Heard Around the World - HOAX

You may have seen videos throughout the internet with recordings of weird noises and sounds that have been "heard around the world". Upon first seeing these videos, they seem very real as there are many of them and the sounds are quite strange and convincing. The reactions of the posters also lead to this effect.

There have been numerous claims on the origins of the sounds. People have claimed they are anything from a pole shift to aliens, to the 7 Trumpets of the Apocalypse.

 After watching a lot of them and some investigation, however, I am almost certain that they are a hoax.

I noticed that in the videos, the sound seemed to be almost identical (in all of them) as well as other small indications that it may be a hoax (no one actually reported hearing any sounds to police anywhere around the world, noises seemed similar to some from movies, etc.).

Today I found a video on Youtube from user "V00D00SIXXX" that gives strong evidence that the noises are indeed a hoax.

He was observant enough to notice that in the first strange noises video/recording, no one in the background seemed to notice the sound. In fact, he pointed out that the only person who noticed the sounds, which were supposedly coming from the sky some distance in front of the camera, was a woman who looked toward the camera rather than the supposed source of the sound whenever she heard it (indicating that the sound was coming from behind the camera - i.e. a speaker or other audio device set by the user who posted the video).

He also noticed that 2 sounds heard at different times in the video, a squeak and a bird call, are present in many of the other weird noises videos that were posted after this one as other posters (people continuing the hoax) simply put the original audio over their footage. He also noticed that sound effects from War of the Worlds are present in many of the videos. The video with this convincing evidence can be seen below.

Kudos to V00D00SIXXX for the video and for debunking this hoax.

SOPA And E-Parasite Acts

Two US congress bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the E-Parasite Act, threaten the internet as 

you know it. 

Today, you may have noticed that numerous cites, even Wikipedia, have been "censored" for the day or that 

the Google logo was replaced/covered by a black bar (ie censored). This was/is their form of protesting these

2 acts. 

The SOPA and E-Parasite acts could ruin the internet as we know it. 

Currently, if a company makes a copyright claim against any content on a site like Youtube, the site has a 

period of time to remove the content. This allows the site to deal with the claim while remaining operative/not 

shutting down. 

Under the new acts (if they pass), as soon as a single company makes a claim against content on a website, 

THE ENTIRE WEBSITE IS BLOCKED. All it takes is one claim for an entire website to be shut down until 

the issue is resolved.

This would ruin numerous content sharing websites such as Youtube, Daily Motion, and countless others as 

one complaint, among the thousands of hours of video and other content (pictures, comments, links, etc.) 

added everyday, would shut the site down. 

In addition, the fines proposed in the bill are completely ridiculous. Depending on the situation, someone could

be fined thousands of dollars FOR EVERY PERSON THAT VIEWS THE CONTENT. 

For these reasons, it is no surprise there has been a lot of opposition to the bill. 

Companies due have the right to have their content protected from piracy and illegal sharing (they do need to

make money and illegal sharing hurts them in this regard), but these two acts go way too far in the ease in the

number of people it would affect (from one "pirated" piece of content among thousands of non piratedcontent 

pieces) and the degree of the punishment. 

SOPA and the E-parasite act must be stopped.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protcol Review

This latest installment of the Mission Impossible series, "Ghost Protocol" is a fast paced, riveting action movie that does not disappoint. The exciting, heart-pounding experience is contributed to by the new IMAX screen/experience (which I will discuss further in a later post)which was recently added to my preferred theater.

Ghost Protocol takes you on a roller coaster ride as Ethan Hunt and 3 other IMF agents/members, who are now all that is left of the IMF (the reason for this is revealed early in the movie), must stop a Russian terrorist hell-bent on starting an all-out nuclear war between Russia and the United States.

Ethan's three "partners" include Jane Carter (Paula Patton), a fellow IMF agent whose friend (also an agent) is killed at the start of the movie, as well as Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), a computer/technology expert, and William Brandt(Jeremy Renner), an IMF analyst. These 3 actors, as well as Tom Cruise, all put in brilliant performances. Simon Pegg in particular is notable as adding a degree of comic relief to the film.

Ghost Protocol begins immediately with thrilling, exciting action and does not let up until the very end. Among the notable scenes are the opening scene (where Jane's friend/partner is killed), the prison break-out, the Kremlin, the Burj Khalifa, and a fight scene in a strange "parking lot" where cars are moved in every direction by automated elevators (moving platforms).

By far, the most thrilling scene in the movie is the scene on the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building. I won't go into to much detail, but the scene involves Ethan Hunt climbing up over 10 stories of the building starting over half way up it - high enough to make other skyscrapers look tiny - using only gloves which stick to a surface when it makes contact with it (the strength of the suction is displayed by several green bars that fade off one by one as the suction decreases - which it does frequently - and eventually turn red, disabling the glove) and which are quite unreliable (Benji explains that if the light on the glove is green its good, but  means you are "dead"). The most astonishing thing about this heart-pounding scene (even more intense and exciting in IMAX), which was actually filmed where it is portrayed on the tower, is that Tom Cruise chose to do the stunt himself. Just look at this video and you will understand why this is so shocking. Note at just over 50 seconds in where he (Tom Cruise) jumps out a window and literally runs down the side of the building.

The almost constant action, punctuated by occasional bits of comic relief, keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat.The well-designed (albeit somewhat unrealistic) plot, with numerous twists and turns, further contributes to this effect.

The overall experience is also greatly contributed to by the excellent music as well as the masterful cinematography. It also benefits from the, previously noted, outstanding performances of the actors and actresses and the entertaining plot.

Ghost Protocol delivers an exciting, entertaining experience which is sure to entertain audiences and satisfy fans of the series. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to head out to your local theater and watch Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (in IMAX if possible - its worth the extra few bucks).

Ghost Protocol gets 9/10.

This message will self destruct in...

Anticipated Movies of 2012

With 2011 coming to an end, it is time to start looking into what movies 2012 will have to offer.

Let's start with movies I would consider watching:

January: -The Devil Inside
-Beneath the Darkness
-Contraband
-The Grey
-Man on a Ledge

February: -Safe House
-Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
-Act of Valor
-The Vow

March: -John Carter
-Wrath of the Titans
-Snowtown

April: -The Cold Light of Day
-Three Stooges

May: -Battleship
-Men In Black III

June: -Prometheus

July: -The Amazing Spider Man
-Neighborhood watch

August: -Total Recall
-Bourne Legacy

September: -Argo
-Looper

October: -Taken 2
-Of Men and Mavericks

November: -Red Dawn
-Skyfall
-Gravity

December: -Lincoln

Now, the movies I definitely want to see:

- The Hunger Games (March) - based on the bestselling novel, looks to be a very exciting, interesting film. The premise and storyline look very promising and the trailer looked great. I'm going to have to check out the book but it looks like this movie could be one of the best in the early months of the year.

- The Avengers (May) - I've been looking forward to this movie since Iron Man came out and it was revealed that there would be an Avengers movie. This is a must see on my list.

- GI Joe: Retaliation (June) - I thoroughly enjoyed the recent film and will definitely be checking this one out.

- The Dark Knight Rises (July) - I thoroughly enjoyed the Dark Knight. This movie looks very promising and should be great if it is anywhere near as good as the Dark Knight was.

December:

- Les Miserables - a movie based on the popular, excellent play. The last film rendition of it was a good film. Should be excellent if they can capture the essence of the play effectively onto the screen.

- World War Z - Having read through Max Brooks' novels, I am excited to see this film coming to the big screen featuring as big a star as Brad Pitt. It should be a riveting film if they can capture the action and deep emotions (desperation, anger,etc.) portrayed in the novel. Should be much deeper and more involving than the typical zombie flick/b-movie. (POSTPONED)

- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Are you ready to return to Middle Earth. Based on the excellent novel, this prequel to the Lord of The Rings series looks to be one of the best films of the year. If it is anywhere near as good as the book or as the LOTR trilogy, it will not disappoint. The quest for treasure and riches begins December 14.