It was a bit of a struggle to get it all working properly, but I can now report absolute 100% success! At first I tried using a DLNA server thingie called EyeConnect which was “meh” to begin with, ate $50 of mine, and still was throwing errors while streaming on the PS3. Hopefully I can get a refund for it, and won’t bother linking to it because it is a “meh” product.

On the other hand, MediaLink from Nullriver Software worked superbly, out of the box, and was only $20. Sure, there are open source options as well like MediaTomb or some PS3MediaServer thing but they are ugly and not incredibly user-friendly. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time to get it working, and MediaLink provided me with that ease-of-use I so desired.

So.

Yeah.

See you again in another two months, dear readers.

Towelhead manages to tackle the difficult issues of racism, sexualization of teens, and molestation in a non-judgmental way. As charming as Aaron Eckhart is, I don’t want to sympathize with his 13-year-old-molesting character. He knew what he was doing, and did it not once but twice. He wholly deserves what is coming to him and while the film doesn’t reinforce that, thankfully it doesn’t actively attempt to paint him as a victim.

The casting, overall, was fantastic. The actress who played Jasira was great and the whole film rests on her shoulders. The actor that played the role of Jasira’s father, however, seemed a bit out of place. He provided a lot of comedic value, but in more of an uncomfortable and unintentional way. The character itself was someone I wouldn’t trust, even at the end of the film — he was two-faced to the core. Even so, my primary complaint is that even after having forty minutes cut from it, it felt like it ran a bit long. For a drama that is supposed to keep you hooked, that’s not a good thing.

A drama in a similar vein of American Beauty, you will definitely see this on DVD in the states and should pick it up or catch it on Netflix.

I rate Towelhead 4 out of 5 golden space needles. Happy end-of-SIFF.

I rate Visioneers 3 out of 5 minutes of productivity before the weekend.

Fucking awful.

The film is clearly geared towards the PG-13 crowd — teens whose parents perhaps played D&D at one point, or who liked the Harry Potter books but couldn’t stand the incredible special effects of the movies. There are several good humorous points — some subtle, some not-so-much — and as far as adolescent fantasy movies go, this was up there. Unfortunately, I am in my mid-to-late 20s.

I rate Island of Lost Souls 3 out of 5 Nimbus 2000s.

XXY is a film about a fifteen year-old “girl” named Alex who is a hermaphrodite. Brought up by her family as a girl, she stops taking her testosterone inhibitors around the same time that her mother invites the family of a cosmetic surgeon to visit for several days. The mother, having always wanted multiple daughters, is blatantly (yet quietly) pushing for a snip-job. The father isn’t so sure, and knows only that he loves his child unconditionally.

I hope you aren’t expecting a paragraph about the film’s flaws, because they escaped me. The characters are complex and most display some form of emotional evolution — even minor characters like Alex’s best friend Vando learn from the events over the course of the film.

While “controversial” Hollywood garbage like Transamerica claim to ask the question “What is gender?” It fails miserably by examining only whether or not the gender-attribute of a person can be switched, not whether or not the gender-attribute is important at all. XXY asks these questions — not just “What is gender?” but “Why is gender?” Why is it so important? Alex is smart enough to answer this question, and even some which remain unasked.

I rate XXY 5 out of 5 shades of grey.

Otto was certainly interesting, though the ideal audience is really an incredibly narrow demographic. Count yourself out if you aren’t a fan of all of the following: gore, penises, lame dramatic moments, penises in the mouths/asses/chest-wounds of other men, poultry butchering, overdone-yet-still-half-baked ironic jokes, poor cinematography and audio work.

Luckily for me, I still like a few of those things.

I rate Otto; or, Up With Dead People 3 out of 5 homosexual zombie orgies.

Rating withheld because the theatre was evacuated 5-10 mins before the end, likely because of some retard pulling the fire alarm. Honestly though, I probably would have given it something in the mid-range. I’m not going to buy it on DVD or pay another $8 to see the end.

Ben X is a Belgian film about an autistic boy who is tormented by a majority of the below-average students he is forced into sharing a school with, and works through problems with the help of a MMORPG. Throughout the film there are cuts to and blending of that RPG world with the real-life world which are very helpful in portraying what Ben is thinking and how he is attempting to come to terms with what is occurring.

One thing that is easy [for me] to take away from the film is that public schools are ill equipped to deal with (and I’d argue simply incapable of dealing with) anything but the lowest common denominator. The instructors are powerless, the administration inept, and most of the students ruthless in their sadistic desire to destroy anyone different than they.

While I wouldn’t say I “enjoyed” Ben X, it was definitely worth the price of admission and I’d recommend it to anyone else who is subtitle-tolerant, would appreciate the MMORPG references, and is patient enough to watch yet another film about someone with a handicap.

I rate Ben X 4 out of 5 rare items.

I rate Nocturna 3 out of 5 sleepy kitties.