Author Archives: Mark Azali

About Mark Azali

A simple search on google will help you understand what Mark Azali is all about. He loves talking with random people at conventions, Google Plus, and twitter. Besides entertainment, he has an unusual obsession with starchy foods. Follow him and discover just how crazy he is: @notjohnlee (Yes. That's a reference to The Replacement Killers)

New Music Tuesday 10/9/2013: The Junior Edition

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In an effort to keep things fresh here, I’ll be listing new releases to buy or enjoy on the music service of your choice (Rdio, Spotify, etc).

Albert Hammond Jr. – AHJ

Albert Hammond Jr. continues to showcase his own talent as an individual musician/writer. This is just an EP but fans should be pleased to hear this production doesn’t deviate too much from Yours to Keep and Como Te Llama.

Dale Earnheardt Jr. Jr. – The Speed of Things

I only recently learned about Dale Earnheardt Jr. Jr. but recommend this album for those trying to relax or drive to the tune their dreamy sound.

The Fratellis – We Need Medicine

The Fratellis have been gone for awhile but haven’t lost their way. I wasn’t able to find a track that reminded me of

Icona Pop – This Is… Icona Pop

Remember when we saw Hannah dancing to “I Love It”? It’s truly fascinating that 2Pac’s “Girlfriend” was given an Icona Pop rendition.

Miley Cyrus – Bangerz (Deluxe Edition)

Miley brought twerking to the mainstream and now her new album is out. Be sure to turn your system way up for these bass thumping tracks (or your headphones down before indulging in a personal consumption experience). Most of the tracks are produced by Mike Will Made-It (We Can’t Stop), so if you enjoyed that track, you’ll probably enjoy the album.

She recently showed off her comic chops on Saturday Night Live. Do check that episode out if you haven’t.

Panic at the Disco – Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

Panic at the Disco releases their second album since the departure of Jon Walker and Ryan Ross. Check out the Las Vegas band’s effort as they expand their arsenal of synthetic sounds. The general sound of the album is eclectic: some of the tracks like Girls/Girls/Boys and Nicotine have the sound of past decades, while others like Far Too Young to Die have the stamp of an electronic future.

The End Of All Things finishes the album. While it initially plays like a ballad, one can’t help but wonder if the Imogen Heap “Head and Seek” autotune was necessary.

Pusha T – My Name Is My Name

Clipse’s Pusha T hooks up with Kanye West production for a valiant debut album. His hungry lyrics combined with Kanye’s conceptual artistic style is a noteworthy effort for fans of this genre.

Check out Let Me Love You. Doesn’t Pusha T sound just like Mase?

Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals

Curious how loud your headphones/speakers can go? Check this album out. This release probably should have came out at the start of summer, but really, each track could probably work well in your workout mix every day of the year.

Noteworthy tracks: You Don’t Get Me Twice, To Hell with You, 24

Review: The To Do List – add it to yours

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The To Do List (poster)

Aubrey Plaza is best known for her deadpan intern role of April Ludgate in NBC’s Parks and Rec. In The To Do List, she plays a recent high school graduate, Brandy Klark, eager to unlock her sexuality before entering college. As the title suggests, Brandy comes up with a checklist of acts that go from first base to home run with everything in between (and probably more).

The good; The story is familiar. We’ve seen desperate teens frustrated about losing their virginity before. Aubrey Plaza’s character, Brandy, is the essentially Jim from American Pie. While some folks may not be able to relate to this adolescent scenario, we’re still treated to a great cast and cameo of folks that brings laughs to the table.

The To Do List really speaks to a generation that was born in the 80’s that recalls being in high school in the 90’s. The soundtrack and wardrobe conjure up thoughts of what I was doing at that age (spoiler alert: I related most to Johnny Simmons’ character, Cameron).

Unlike The Heat, The To Do List’s larger ensemble of comic actors keeps the laughs fresh and the movie never feels longer than it should be. At times, I was even hoping we’d get  to see more of some characters (remember when DC Pierson was just on the screen but didn’t say anything?). It’s actually amazing how much comic talent is in this movie despite it’s relatively small budget, but what we’re seeing is actually just friends getting together to create something fun for all of us (Maggie Carey, Bill Hader’s wife, wrote and directed).

The bad; There’s not much to really say here except don’t watch this movie if you are easily offended. Imagine Jim’s sock scene from American Pie redone and more lude multiple times throughout the movie. I’m not sure what an extended/uncut version would bring, but at times the theatrical cut does straddle the fence of funny and gratuitous humor.

Also, if you can’t look past the fact that the age of many of the actors involved is far beyond the roles they are playing, you will really be distracted. At times I completely forgot that Brandy was on her way to college and just a 20-something trying to lose her virginity.

Overall it’s easy to compare this movie to the likes of American Pie and Superbad but it actually stands on its own because we’re seeing the story from an often underappreciated and overlooked female’s perspective.

Google Adding Free Trenta WiFI To Starbucks’ Menu

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image from koreaninsight.com

What happens when one of the largest coffee serving companies teams up with one of the largest cloud companies? We’ll find out soon as Google has partnered with Starbucks to provide free WiFi to studious customers, screenwriters, and techy hobos throughout it’s 7000 stores in the US starting in August.

Providing internet access during natural disasters has become critical as demonstrated by Hurricane Sandy, but Starbucks also has to balance it’s offerings to customers/visitors that enjoy the free service (currently provided by AT&T).

Google claims WiFi speeds will go up 10x in most areas and 100x in it’s Google Fiber areas.

Hopefully neighboring residents/business will be able to reap the benefits of Google’s WiFi coverage while enjoying other preferred brands of coffee.

Source: google

Review: The Heat

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The buddy cop comedy genre has been around forever and comes back in different forms. The Heat takes a shot in this genre of marrying the serious career of crime fighting with two upholders of the law that find little to agree upon.

Let’s state the obvious: Melissa McCarthy steals the show. To her credit, if you loved Sandra Bullock as Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man, you’ll find her awkward-yet-capable character in The Heat also charming, but it’s McCarthy who portrays Boston local cop,  Shannon Mullins, that gets credit for the many of laughs that ensue.

The good; you do know that this movie is more about comedy than drama, right? Good!

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy really work together. You get the feeling they became friends working together if they weren’t already and I can’t help but wonder why the makers didn’t give us a gag reel during the credits as icing on the cake.

Watching Bullock in this movie just makes you want to hug her, especially if you know someone just like her and chances are you do.

Bonus: You’ll appreciate some of the cameos even more if you’ve watched Bridesmaids.

The bad; The film runs 117 minutes but unfortunately some of the jokes don’t work. A bit editing could have kept this comedy leaner and more potent.

Overall, if you’re craving comedy and looking for a reason to cool off in theaters check out The Heat. One question remains, would a third Paul Feig + Melissa McCarthy movie be a charm?

Apple TV Update Adds HBO Go, ESPN, Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello

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We’re big fans of the Roku boxes but it’s not the only hockey puck internet connected device feeding dumb TV’s. Apple just updated the Apple TV with a few channels to please folks jealous of Roku’s wider content provider selection (except for the glaring lack of YouTube).

After updating your player’s firmware (Settings), you’ll be able to stream content from:
HBO Go
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line)
Sky News
Crunchyroll
Qello

Apple recently enabled AirPlay to their iOS HBO Go app but now subscribers (or sneaky folks who are able to get login credentials from their buddy), can watch shows like Girls and Game of Thrones natively on the Apple TV.

Source: BusinessWire via The Verge

Is ESPN’s Ending Support for 3D a Nail in the Coffin for 3D? (UPDATED)

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3D is controversial. It either makes everything 2D look flat or causes frustration when buying tickets a theater and the promise of bringing greater immersion into the living room is seeing slow adoption for several reasons.

People already invested in HDTV’s they aren’t willing to replace until they no longer work. If the FCC required all programming to be broadcast in 3D, we’d have a different story. This is what happened in 2009 when most stations stopped transmitting NTSC (analog SDTV) and began/resumed broadcasting ATSC (digital HDTV).

3D doesn’t work for everyone. Some people get headaches wearing 3D glasses and unfortunately watching 3D is an all-or-nothing experience (unless you have 3D to 2D glasses). Others wear glasses that just don’t fit will with another layer on top.

3D doesn’t add to the watching experience of all genres. Remember how much more we saw when our eyes first glimpsed HDTV? We saw more players on the screen, the disheveled Floridian misfits on Cops a little clearer, pores and dimples of Danny Trejo, flakey butter infused toppings of Paula Deen’s pastry creations, and of course Planet Earth blew us all away. We realized the benefits immediately and can never go back. Is anyone clamoring for NBC’s Community to be in 3D? How about being able to see Jeopardy contestants pound the buzzer a little closer?

One of 3D’s biggest advocates was ESPN, who caters to sports fans all over. After all, watching games in high definition was a key draw for people to upgrade their sets. It gave people a chance to get closer to the game without having to pay the exorbitant prices of a ticket. The depth of another dimension was supposed to give fans another reason to invest in a new TV. It turns out there is little demand for fans to see the dripping sweat of Chris Paul or a spiraling football thrown by Peyton Manning.

It seems the next step of ESPN’s evolution should be moving towards 4K coverage. With the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4 invading homes later this year, content providers have some assurance their streams have player support but whether these consoles will be hooked up to 4K displays and how soon remains unknown.

Source: TVNewsCheck via The Verge

UPDATE (7/5/2013): Following ESPN’s direction, BBC has just announced it will end broadcasting in 3D “indefinitely”

Source: BBC

Netflix Removes Expiration Dates From API

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You may have noticed that our public Netflix calendar hasn’t been updated in awhile. That’s because Netflix removed upcoming title listings from their API.

Yesterday, Netflix took a step further in removing more useful information by removing expiration dates from the API.

The reasoning behind this change is because “the expiration date can be inaccurate as a result of frequent, often last minute, changes in content flow.”

The information can still be found while browsing the Netflix website. Unfortunately, rather than having all this information conveniently listed on sites like Instantwatcher, you’ll have to view title pages individually or in your queue list.

I wish Netflix would just be as transparent as possible with a disclaimer that they reserve the right to change details. It’s not like we’re expecting Netflix to blatantly lie to us about titles outside the scope of their agreements with studios. We just want to know what we can look forward to or need to watch before it’s no longer available.

Source: Netflix

Warner Brothers Unleashes It’s Archive To Roku Devices

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Warner Brothers just got into the streaming service war with its own channel for Roku. It’s niche appeal is directed towards hardcore buffs looking for rare movie and TV series.

Priced at $9.99/month, we aren’t sure the price is low enough for anyone to replace or add Warner Archive Instant to their service lineup. Warner probably could have just made a deal with Hulu or Netflix, which are both available on more devices so this service would only be a deal for those that have been waiting to track a piece of  television/movie history.

Source via Engadget

Amazon Has Exclusive Streaming Rights to CBS’s Under The Dome

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Amazon isn’t going to just sit around and watch Netflix continue to offer exclusives to its customers.

It recently announced an exclusive deal with PBS to stream Downton Abbey and earlier today,  Amazon announced it has made a deal with CBS to become the exclusive in-season online stream provider for it’s upcoming series, Under the Dome. Unlike Hulu, shows will be available to Prime subscribers 4 days after their original air date. If you aren’t a Prime account holder, Amazon will also be the exclusive renter/seller of episodes.

Under the Dome tells the story of a small New England town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome.Under the Dome earned widespread critical acclaim and #1 best-seller status when it was first published by Simon & Schuster’s Scribner in 2009 and was an Amazon.combestseller in both Books and Kindle Books in 2009.

Source: Amazon

Netflix Promotes the Return of Arrested Development with a Search Easter Egg

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Now that it’s 2013, Netflix wants to remind folks about one of it’s most anticipated, exclusive streaming deals: the next season of Arrested Development.

All you have to do is search for the word “blue” and scroll down your results list. Click on the blue hand print and discover the reference.

The entire new season arrives this May. Look out for it on the calendar.

Source: The Bluth Company Tumblr

Wreck-It Ralph Will Be Disney’s First Movie Released Earlier Digitally

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Disney is jumping on the early digital delivery bandwagon and releasing Wreck-It Ralph February 12, 2013, nearly a month before it’s retail disc date, March 5, 2013.

I’m not sure which services the download will be available from: iTunes? Amazon? VUDU? CinemaNow? Also unknown is what the price will be.

If Disney follows Fox, we’ll be able to buy from all those sources at $15. I watched Wreck-It Ralph in theaters in 2D and found it very entertaining. While watching CG on Blu-ray is undoubtedly the best way to experience this movie, I would definitely recommend owning this movie digitally if the price is right. You can also check out Eugene’s review.

Source: Engadget