In case you haven’t heard, Voltage Pictures (the production company for the hit film The Hurt Locker), and specifically Nicolas Chartier (producer of the film), is filing thousands of lawsuits against BitTorrent users who illegally downloaded the film to their computer, which constitutes copyright infringement and possible distribution of copyrighted materials. So, a good fellow over at Boing Boing (reader) sent an email to Nicolas with his disapproval for the way they are doing things, especially concerning the lawsuits. The response back was, well, let’s just say Chartier could use a good PR agent.

Original email from Boing Boing user (Also named Nicolas):

Dear Mr. Chartier,

I have recently become aware of Voltage Pictures’ intention to sue thousands of people who are suspected of having used BitTorrent to download films produced by your company.

I wish to register my disagreement with these tactics, and would like you to know that as a result of these actions I am boycotting your films. The majority of the people you are suing were not seeking to make money from their downloads, and will be financially devastated by a lawsuit or settlement. While it is completely understandable that Voltage Pictures wishes to defend its intellectual property, this is an inhumane way of doing so.

Until Voltage Pictures publicly states that it will not pursue lawsuits for downloading its films, I will not view, rent or buy any films produced wholly or in part by your company. I will urge my friends and family to take the same actions. I do not wish for the money I spend on entertainment to be used against otherwise good people.

Thank you for your time.

If you’re reading this from the front page, hit the jump to read the response.

Let’s face it, sequels usually suck. Is Iron Man 2 the wonderful exception? Guest writer Cameron N. gives us his review of one of the most anticipated sequels of the year.

In a day and age where big budget movies seem to dominate the movie market, it is sometimes hard to differentiate between a good movie and pure cinema greatness. Enter Iron Man 2. The cast of this movie includes Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, and Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff. The on-screen performances are best described as a perfect fit for the chosen roles. This movie does the franchise proud with the on-screen chemistry between Downy and Paltrow, as well as the action sequences and emotions that are portrayed by the characters.

The movie grabs your attention from the get go, instantly catapulting you to the ending of the last movie and the feelings of joy most of the movie goers had after watching the first Iron Man. It then proceeds to very artfully introduce the obstacles and protagonists of the story and their driving forces behind their upcoming actions. It’s quite a roller-coaster ride. While one scene seemed a bit outlandish, mostly due to the fact that the physics required to accomplish the scene are not currently possible, the movie was otherwise very well done and leaves you wondering how long it will be before some of the technology in the movie will actually be available (if it isn’t already). Also, make sure to stay after the credits for a little tidbit of another upcoming movie that looked very interesting!

If you are wondering if this movie is worth your hard earned cash, it is. What are you waiting for? Stop reading and go see it!

Movie Score:

Parallel Lines is an idea presented to five different directors by Philips (the electronics company) and Ridley Scott Associates with the premise that they would all create a short film using the same dialogue, but used in different context and different genres of cinema (eg. Drama, Sci-fi, Animated). It looks like it could definitely be something neat to watch, and see how each director took the dialogue differently. The five beautifully diverse films are by Greg Fay, Jake Scott, Johnny Hardstaff, Carl Erik Rinsch and animators Hi-Sim and their genres range from drama, animation, action, to sci-fi and thriller. You can view the trailer below, or follow them for the updated news and events via their Facebook site here.

UPDATE: To view all the submissions, you can click here to go to the Philips YouTube site.

Source: YouTube

Happy Friday everyone! I have no idea who the author of this sweet ass video is. Maybe one of you fine readers will say so in the comments section. Please post something. I get so lonely here. This is my sad face.

This is madness. This is Sparta. Have a good weekend folks. See you all on Monday.

Source: www.youtube.com

Admittedly, I haven’t seen Avatar yet, but come hell or high water tomorrow I will be, in 3D (because apparently it’s freakin’ AWESOME in 3D). If you’re one of the freaky-deaky peeps who liked the brief giant lizard/blue kitty porn scene in the movie, you’re going to love the blu-ray or DVD version. Apparently there was much more to that scene that got cut out by director James Cameron and actress Zoe Saldana upon final release, but is hinted as being included in both releases mentioned above. Hopefully it’s not as noisy as regular cat sexing. Sorry, I just threw up a little.

Source: www.wired.com

I spy, I spy with my little eye.. something that’s racist. Leave it to the Brits to make Hollywood want to cater to them to turn a profit. Apparently “colored” actors rank among the lowest in jolly good Britain. Reports say that Will Smith, one of the highest paid actors in the US, is among rank 12th of popularity in the UK. Thus, most ads that travel to the mass eyes of UK are omitted of anything other than honkeys. Racism isn’t cool kids.. but ice is. Oh, and snowflakes! I totally love snowflakes, but not because they are white. I love you too, gray and ebony snowflakes. Just watch out for the yellow ones. My friends won’t get me with that again this year. Oohh! Lemon snow cone! Thanks buddy!

Source: www.yahoo.com

I would have gotten you flowers, but I’m a cheap bastard and I’m sleeping with the steampunk version of the time machine from “The Time Machine”. I still love you though, you and your sexy tri-force flashing lights and such. I wish I knew how to quit you!

On Saturday, November 5, 1955, Doc came up with the idea of the flux capacitor (which is what makes time travel possible) after slipping off his toilet while standing on it to hang a clock and bumping his head on the edge of the sink. The idea came to him in a vision he had after being knocked out. The time machine project suffered a setback on Wednesday, August 1, 1962 when Doc’s mansion at 1640 Riverside (later John F. Kennedy) Drive burnt down. (However, in the first movie, Doc put out a fire in 1955 using a water spritzing extinguisher and with help from Marty. Perhaps what he learned from this experience changed the future so he avoided the destructive fire seven years later.)

Source: www.wikipedia.com

Yes, I saw it, it had scary parts, and I went to bed that night and was a little freaked out. On a scale of 5 I’d give it a 2.5. The reason I gave it a medium score is that I believe it was almost worth the 12 billion dollars I had to pay for a movie ticket these days (Wow, I totally sound like I’m a 90 year old man), but the overall movie wasn’t that awesome. 2/3 of the movie was during daytime, where mostly nothing substantial happened, but rather panic from the two main actors. The remaining 1/3 happened at night, where all the scary went down. It made spectatular use of suspense, and as the movie progressed and things got worse, there were quite a few “WTF” moments to keep me entertained. The end scene scared the bejeezus out of me, along with everyone else in the theater. Oh, and it beat out the latest version of the Saw franchise, which really isn’t anything to brag about.

Verdict: Save yourself some cash and rent it on DVD.

Source: www.paranormalmovie.com