Neil Patrick Harris as Gargamel?

Deadline is reporting the Neil Patrick Harris has signed on for The Smurfs and will be playing "the lead live action character."  I've not read the script and news on the project hasn't been to detailed, but I can only imagine the "lead live action character" to be the evil sorcerer Gargamel.  If this turns out to be the case, it is the best casting of all time.  I can't think of anyone I'd rather watch try to capture and eat smurfs while throwing out curmudgeonly one-liners.  And, please, let's all hope they don't wimp out and change Gargamel's goal.  If it goes from eating the tasty blue smurfs to just, say, world domination, I'll be greatly disappointed.   

Roses, Chocolates, a Candlelit Dinner...and possibly a stabbing

When I logged in to work on Nerdblogger's tonight, the following were the center two items on Yahoo's US News Ticker.

We can only hope that it didn't put any ideas into anyone's head.

Our Top 5 Reasons to Buy/Not Buy the iPad

We have a number of Apple users here at Nerdbloggers, so we certainly aren't "haters" as Apple fans are calling the many naysayers.  We are pretty much in agreement that the iPad is gorgeous and will be great for a number of uses.  Still, there are lot of issues that might make us wait for the inevitable improvements coming in iPad 2.0.  Here is a short list of what we liked and what gave us pause in yesterday's roll out.

Top Five Reasons iPad is a Must Buy

1. Access to the best (and worst) apps and games on the App Store.  We admit to being App Store junkies.  It is simply too easy and too cheap to pick up a cool little gadget or game to pass the time.  Personally, I'm looking forward to playing Firemint's Flight Control on that big screen.

2. iBooks + Kindle. In case you haven't noticed, we are big readers here at Nerdbloggers. I use the Kindle app on my iPod Touch as my main e-reader. Having that app plus Apples own iBooks on a comparatively giant screen is very appealing to me. And the competition with Kindle for the book reading audience will likely mean cheaper and cheaper e-books, which is good for everyone.

3. It is damn sexy. Apple's main skill as a company (other than selling snake oil) is making sexy hardware. The iPad doesn't disappoint.

4. It's a big, beautiful World Wide Web. Hey, we spend a lot of time on the Net. I have no trouble using my iPod or netbook for the task, but the iPad, with its multi-touch screen and nearly instantaneous start up looks to be an upgrade over both of those options.

5. Iwork. If I'm going to replace my netbook with a tablet, I'm going to have to do some work on it. The fact that Apple is bringing its office suite to the device means I will be able to do just that.

 Top Five Reasons the iPad is a must Avoid

1. A closed development environment. The app store is great, but getting an app or game in there means getting Apple's approval and, Kindle app aside, they are resistant to apps that muscle in on their territory—like Google voice app. That's understandable, but the fact is a netbook can run any app anyone makes for it, and no one likes having less choices.

2. Reading on a backlit LCD screen causes eye strain in many users. The iPad is competing with various e-ink readers and e-ink is vastly better for reading anything for a long time.

3. That bezel is huge. I know you have to have someplace to hold to avoid the multi-touch screen, but that bezel makes the device look a lot like a digital photo frame. We depend on Apple to find sexy solutions to technical problems—that bezel isn't one.

4. No Flash support. That is nearly a deal-breaker all by itself. Surfing the web without Flash is annoying. I put up with it on the iPod, but I don't know if I will on a $500 full-sized tablet. And anyone who tells you the lack a Flash is because of battery life is an Apple zombie and an idiot. The device doesn't support Flash because Apple want to sell us apps/games and control the content available on the device. End of story.

5. On-screen keyboards suck. My 10-month old ripped the “k” key off my laptop this morning, making it very difficult to type a “k” in the flow of typing. I'd rather type on a real keyboard with half the keys missing than try to type an article using an on-screen keyboard. They are okay for shooting off a tweet or a quick e-mail, but they are a pain in the butt for real work.

There you have it. That is what is on our minds after a quick look at the device. Certainly more details will be released up until the launch and I'll make my decision then. Right now, I'm leaning toward not buying it upon release, but two other of the Nerds are leaning the other way. Time will tell.

The success of Avatar brings out familiar stereotypes

After Monday night's take, Avatar has officially passed The Titanic as the biggest money earner is history.  Ignore the talk of ticket price inflation and the benefits of 3-D showings.  The number that matters is two billion--which is the low-end of the estimates for how much the film is going to bring in during its run.  I have little to say on the quality of Avatar.  I enjoyed the film, but haven't felt compelled to write about it until now.  It certainly was a technological marvel, but the script, much like that of The Titanic, was on the cheesy side and the film wears its trite messages on pretty broad sleeves leaving the whole experience feeling a bit hokey.  Still, the film has some great moments and is highly entertaining.  And, it is a science fiction. We hear it called Dances with Aliens (or, my favorite, Dances With Thundercats) and see it compared to Pochahontas and The Last Samurai regularly because of the common themes, but it is still definitely science fiction and it contains many of the elements that science fiction fans want in the genre—advanced technology, existential philosophy, speculation about alien society and biology among them.

Given the film's enormous financial success, we were bound to see lots of backlash. For fans of the genre, the worst part is the backlash not against the film but against Science Fiction and its fans. As I read the anti-Avatar articles across the Internet, I'm struck by how many of them decide to take jabs at men and women who enjoy Sci-fi and perpetuate the stereotype that Science Fiction fans are anti-social hermits who are afraid of the opposite sex and live in a fantasy world.

The most egregious, or at least the most visible, example comes from Michael Atkinson. His article “Why I won't see Avatar” details why he has no interest in seeing the film. Despite the fact that needing to tell people why you aren't going to see a popular film seems trivial, I have no problem with his main thesis. While the film is amazingly successful as a money maker, I'm not sure it has the depth of theme to allow it to be a topic of discussion among film enthusiasts after its box office run. What I do have problems with is Atkison's characterization of fans of the film and the genre. Here is the section in question:

I’ve seen Avatar already, frankly, because I spent my youth looking at Roger Dean album covers and sci-fi/fantasy paperback covers and the art of Frank Frazetta, Chris Foss, the Brothers Hildebrandt, etc. — and that was a good 30 years ago. But since then, something happened: I grew short hairs and read Hemingway and had sex. There’s no going back.

Granted, Atkinson's point is that now that he is older, he is no longer fascinated with pretty pictures. The problem is the last sentence. It echoes the stereotypes that all Science-Fiction fans are familiar with. If Avatar wasn't a Science-Fiction film, would he have tacked on the “grew short hairs...and had sex” line? I seriously doubt it. What we have here is another critic that thinks disliking something that other people like makes him superior. That position isn't uncommon (nor is thinking that liking something that is unpopular with the masses makes one superior) and we all are likely guilty of it at some point. If Atkinson hadn't felt the need to take a jab at genre fans, his argument would have just been petty elitism. With that jab, it joins a slew of similar opinions that are at least partially responsible for holding the genre back.

The issue isn't that Atkinson's depiction of fans of Sci-Fi/Fantasy is offensive (though it is). The issue is that that depiction is so commonly held. Producers hear this. Studios hear this. If we allow critics to perpetuate the idea that Avatar's success is due to sexless fanboys who go to the theater to look at pretty colors and escape their lonely existence, we are going to get more and more films that cater to the stereotype and not to the elements that really appeal to fans of the genre.

Review of Zombieland at The Blackest Eyes

I'm doing some writing for a new horror review site, The Blackest Eyes.  Here is my review of Zombieland on the eve of its release on DVD.  Check out the review and then stick around to read some other articles.  It is a great collection of writers from all walks of life, and there are already some good posts about a number of genre films including District 9, Paranormal Activity and Drag Me to Hell.  If you like, you can also read my review of the cult classic Piranha.