Monday, May 11, 2015

Ex Machina Review *SPOILERS*

Man-god creates "women" in his preferred image - mute, sexual, tall, brown, white - object variety pack. Knight in soft cotton t-shirt shows up to save one. Yes, the women save themselves and the men do get screwed, but the women still had to be manipulative and conniving and use their sexuality (which was programmed into them by a man) to get what they want from the men who GAVE THEM LIFE AND WERE JUST TRYING TO BE NICE TO THEM. Ungrateful, bitches. Amiright? Still a really good story. Plus brilliant acting, beautiful visuals, and a dance scene that will make you ask yourself, "Am I on drugs?" I recommend seeing it. Timely and original.

Mayweather-Pacquiao 5/2/2015

Going in, I was never under the illusion it was actually going to be the fight of the century. Maybe the most anticipated fight of the century so far. The fight had more action than I expected, but with a predictable outcome. Though it wasn't the most exciting fight of t he century, it may have been the most important. It may actually be The One to change sports viewing, especially the pay for viewing structure.  

Periscope and Meerkat, live-streaming applications for smartphones, allowed those that had purchased the fight to stream it and, those that didn't, to view it. It probably cost the promoters, the networks, and cable companies pennies on the dollar, but big companies are not known for their proportional responses when it comes to money and for good reason. Anyone remember Napster? How about buying whole CDs after only hearing a song or two? Yeah. The ability of consumers to share content for free changed the music industry forever. This might, too.

It makes sense for boxing fans to be the pioneers/original criminals. If you want to watch boxing these days, you need a $100+/mth cable bill*, not including PPV services that cost almost as much. If you're a fiscally responsible person living within a budget and don't make a living from watching sports, you probably cut the cable cord a while ago. Showing up at friends' houses with snacks and booze every Thursday/Friday/Saturday isn't sustainable. So, what to do?