Blackmoor Vituperative

Tonight’s entertainment at Castle Blackmoor was a Jodie Foster double feature: Foxes and The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my parents went to drive-in movies. During one of the movies we went to (Eaten Alive? Smile? Alien?) I remember seeing a trailer for Foxes, but I had never seen the movie itself until tonight. It had a very “after school special” vibe to me. The moral of the story? As far as I can tell, the moral is to not accept rides from extras in the David Lynch movie next door. (Also, Cherie Currie is probably a high maintenance girlfriend.)

The second movie was The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. I first (and last) saw this when I was about 13 or 14, on TV, or perhaps HBO (which was not a given, back in those days). At the time, I thought that I should very much like to meet Rynn Jacobs (played by Jodie Foster), because she was like me: clever, lonely, and somewhat homicidal. Lucky for me, I did marry someone who fit that description. But back to the movie… this is probably one of my top ten favorite films. If this is not the best Jodie Foster movie of all time, it’s in the top three, definitely.

Short version: Not only is My Movies by Brian Binnerup the only app to receive five stars, it’s the only app to receive more than three stars!

This is a quick review of eleven Android apps for keeping track of one’s DVD collection. Here are the things I am looking for.

• The ability to search by movie title and automatically add the movie to the database, along with all of its relevant metadata (DVD artwork, year it came out, who starred in it, a plot synopsis, and so on).
• The ability to scan the barcode and automatically add the movie to the database, along with all of its relevant metadata (DVD artwork, year it came out, who starred in it, a plot synopsis, and so on).
• The ability to scan (or manually search and add) a movie collection once, and have every movie in that collection added to the database, along with a note to the effect of “included in [DVD set name]”.
• The ability to manually add a movie to the database, along with all of its relevant metadata (DVD artwork, year it came out, who starred in it, a plot synopsis, and so on).
• The ability to add a note to the movie. In my case, this would often be “filed under [movie name]”, where a particular DVD has multiple movies on it.
• The ability to search for notes attached to a movie.
• The ability to access my collection without an internet connection. Cell phone coverage is spotty in central Virginia, and I want to be able to see if I already own a DVD before buying it, even if I am in a dead spot.

Here is how I tested them.

• I typed in “Ultraviolet” and attempted to search for it by its title so that I could automatically add it and its associated metadata (without having to type it all in myself) that way. This is a pretty popular movie, so it shouldn’t be hard for any app to find. Passing this test provides one point.
• I scanned the barcode on my Alien Anthology Blu-Ray set. This set has the four Alien films as separate Blue-rays in the boxed set. A movie collection app should add all four films to my collection, and add a note to each movie specifying that these movies can be found in the Alien Anthology Blu-Ray set. Passing this test provides one point. (Follow-up: no app automatically added a note indicating where the movie could be found.)
• I scanned the barcode on my Dracula 75th Anniversary DVD set. This set has the original Dracula as well as the Spanish version of Dracula. A movie collection app should add the original Dracula, of course, but it would be nice if the Spanish film was also added to my collection with a note that it can be found in the Dracula 75th Anniversary DVD set. Passing this test provides one point. (Follow-up: no app found the Spanish version of Dracula.)
• I scanned the barcode on my Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack DVD set. This is the most serious test: I want to be able to scan this collection once and have all 50 movies added to my collection. This test will separate the professional programmers from the amateurs. Passing this test provides one point. (Follow-up: only one app I tested found the movies in this collection.)
• I manually added the film “Dracula’s Dog“, along with the release date, 1978. Passing this test provides one point.
• Once a movie was in my collection, I added a note to it saying, “Al Leong”. Passing this test and the two below provides one point.
• I searched for “Al Leong” to see if the app would find the note. Passing this test, the test above, and the test below provides one point.
• I deleted the “Al Leong” note. Passing this test and the two above provides one point.

Each app starts with -1 points, and the total number of points it has after testing is the number of stars it has. For example, an app with three points will be rated two stars.

Here are the movie collection apps I tested, and the results.

DVD Shelf ★★☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Title found, and a long list of options are displayed for me to choose. I can choose one or many, and the app will choose them all. It took me a couple of tries to find the version of the movie that I have, but it worked. Pass
• Alien Anthology: The built-in barcode scanner refused to focus. After several attempts, I looked in the settings and found that I could set the app to use my normal barcode scanner. After that, the scanner worked, the app found the Blu-ray collection, and the app added it to my “unshelved” DVD shelf. I could not find a setting to change what “shelf” a newly added DVD was added to. Most importantly, it only added the Blu-ray “Alien Anthology”, and not the actual movies. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: Movie not found. Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: Movie not found. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Pass
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movie Catalog ★☆☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Title found, and the app offers a selection of format types for me to pick from (DVD, Blu-ray, digital, etc.). Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app did not find the base product nor the four individual movies. It did find two of the featurettes, but that doesn’t make up for not finding the movies I am trying to catalog. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: The app found “Dracula”, but it did not find the 75th Anniversary version of the title. It listed numerous versions of “Dracula”, and I just picked one. I am calling this a “pass” anyway. Pass
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: Movie not found. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: There appears to be no way to manually add a movie. Fail
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movie Collection + Inventory ★★☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: If there is a way to search for movies by title, rather than by barcode, I do not see it. Fail
• Alien Anthology: “Barcode not found.” Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: Movie found. Pass
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: The app found the DVD collection and the correct cover art, but it did not add any of the metadata. It also did not add any of the 50 movies in this collection. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Pass
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movie Manager ☆☆☆☆☆

Movie Manager (from Sort It!) required an inconvenient web site login before I could use the program. That’s really annoying. On the other hand, Sort It! has a number of other collection apps, and the same login works for all of them, so that’s kind of nifty.

• Ultraviolet: Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app found the barcode, but only added the original “Alien” to my library. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: The app found the barcode, but for some reason added both “Dracula” and “Dracula 75th Anniversary” to my library. It was then that I discovered that the app has no way to delete DVDs from my library. I am failing the app on this test for not being able to delete. Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: The app found the barcode, but did not find any of the 50 movies in the collection. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: There appears to be no way to manually add a movie. Fail
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movie Manager ☆☆☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app found the barcode, but only found two of the featurettes in the Blu-ray collection: none of the movies. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: The app failed to find the movie at all. It found a 2007 version of “Dracula”, and a 2006 movie called “Dracula’s Curse”. Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: “No results found.” Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: There is no way to manually enter a movie. Fail
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Fail
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Fail

MoviesBook ★★☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app found the barcode, but only found two of the featurettes in the Blu-ray collection: none of the movies. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: The app found “Dracula”, but it did not find the 75th Anniversary version of the title. It listed numerous versions of “Dracula”, and I just picked one. I am calling this a “pass” anyway. Pass
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: The app thought this barcode belonged to a couple of Adam Sandler movies. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie:
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movies Collector ☆☆☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Fail
• Alien Anthology: “Barcode not found.” Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: “Barcode not found.” Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: “Barcode not found.” Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: There appears to be no way to manually add a movie. Fail
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Fail
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Fail

Moviethek ★☆☆☆☆

• Ultraviolet: Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app found the barcode, but only added the movie “Aliens” to my library. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: “No result found.” However, that did take me directly to a form to add the movie manually, so that’s pretty cool. Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: The app didn’t find the collection, but it did think this was one of the 50 movies actually in the collection, “Hercules Against The Moon Men”, which is pretty funny. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Movie Xpress ★★★☆☆

• Ultraviolet: This app has the most different ways to enter a new movie of any app I have seen. It failed to find “Ultraviolet” using a title search on Amazon (which is odd), but it did find it on Flixster. Pass
• Alien Anthology: The app found the barcode, but only found the collection itself, not the four individual movies. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: The app did not find the DVD the first time, but when I searched again in order to copy the error text, it did find it. Pass
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: The app found the collection, but none of the individual movies. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Pass
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

My Movies (by Brian Binnerup) ★★★★★

My Movies by Brian Binnerup required a web site login before I could use the program. That annoys me. However, it does provide a tangible benefit: you can share your movie collection between devices, including Iphones and Windows desktops.

• Ultraviolet: Found the movie and gave me a dozen or more options to choose from. These all included cover images, so it was very easy to find the correct one. Pass
• Alien Anthology: Found the collection, and offered a list of movies to choose from, which included all four of the Alien movies as well as the two featurettes. The one thing I wish it had done was put checkboxes so that I could add all of them at once rather than having to scan the barcode over and over again. Pass
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: Found the correct version of Dracula. It didn’t find or offer the Spanish version, but neither has any other app. Pass
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: Found the DVD collection with the correct cover art (which most apps have not done), but also displayed the movies in the collection. Here is an example where those checkboxes I mentioned would really come in handy! Pass
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Pass
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

My Movies (by CamelDroid) ☆☆☆☆☆

The user interface for this CamelDroid app is terrible. The buttons are super-tiny, which makes them hard to see and hard to touch, and they are placed right under or over a much larger banner ad.

• Ultraviolet: There appears to be no way to search for movies by title. Fail
• Alien Anthology: Found the anthology, but not the movies. Fail
• Dracula 75th Anniversary: Didn’t find the movie. Fail
• Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: Found the collection, but none of the movies. Fail
• Dracula’s Dog: Pass
• Adding “Al Leong” comment to a movie: Pass
• Searching for “Al Leong”: Fail
• Deleting “Al Leong” comment: Pass

Conclusion:

Not only is My Movies by Brian Binnerup the only app to receive five stars, it’s the only app to receive more than three stars! Frankly, I am surprised how bad most of these apps are: four out of the eleven received no stars at all. My Movies has a “pro” version that costs $5.99. Seeing how much better it is than its competition, that seems like a bargain to me.

I read voraciously as a child. I stumbled across Arcology: The City in the Image of Man in the library some time in the late 1970s, and it made a huge impression on me. I immediately created some imaginary worlds for people to live in within these immense structures. I have been thinking about the cyberpunk genre recently, in large part because of some conversations with Chris Helton. I made an offhand comment about cyberpunk being the 2020s as imagined by the 1980s, but really, I think cyberpunk has its roots even earlier, in the work of Paolo Soleri and Samuel Delany (Babel 17, Dhalgren).

In episode two of this charming series, Fry visits the South. He has such an obvious affection for what makes us distinctive, including our friendliness and our love of our history (celebrating the good and transcending the bad).

I can’t help but wish that more Americans had as few prejudices about the South as Stephen Fry does.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Sorcerer (7th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-11
Dexterity-11
Constitution-11
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-13
Charisma-13

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

I love this Todd Rundgren song. It reminds me a bit of early Rick Springfield.

What do you mean, who is Rick Springfield? He played a vampire in the movie Nick Knight, which was later retooled as the series Forever Knight, with Geraint Wyn Davies playing the vampire detective, but Rich Springfield played the part first. He was also on a soap opera, the name of which escapes me, and yes, he was also a pop star for a while.

P.S. Here’s another great Todd Rundgren song.

I’ve started watching Stephen Fry In America (on Netflix). I’m scarcely 13 minutes into the first episode (there are six episodes, I believe, and each of them an hour long), but I am already charmed by Fry’s affable approach and his obvious affection and admiration for what is best about the people and places he visits. In a world with so much cynicism and so many reasons to be bitter, it’s really quite lovely to see someone visit the USA and find reasons to like it.

He says, while visiting Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont, “In a hard and harsh and unpleasant world, we need ice cream. That’s my feeling.” Well, in a hard and harsh and unpleasant world, I think we need Stephen Fry.

Here are ten tips which you can use to drastically reduce the quantity and increase the quality of your television viewing:

1. Do not watch “reality” shows unless you have a friend who is on the show.
2. Do not watch game shows unless you have a friend who is on the show.
3. Do not watch award shows unless you have a friend who is on the show.
4. Do not watch sports unless the broadcast is live.
5. Do not watch television shows that have a “laugh track”.
6. Do not watch television shows that feature musical numbers.
7. Do not watch movies that have been “formatted to fit your screen” (i.e., pan and scanned).
8. Do not watch movies that have been “edited to run in the time allotted” (i.e., butchered).
9. Do not watch movies that have been “edited for content” (i.e., censored).
10. Do not watch movies that are interrupted by commercials.

Susan and I just finished watching a movie called The Skin I Live In. I want to discourage you from Googling it or looking up too much about it, because there are some twists you may not see coming, and that’s a pretty rare thing. Better not to spoil it.

I will share some things that won’t spoil it for you. First, it’s in Spanish with English subtitles. Hopefully that won’t put you off too much. Now for the plot: Antonio Banderas is a mad scientist. He has a young woman locked in a room in his mansion (and wow, is that some mansion!). He appears to be using her as a Guinea pig for his artificial skin experiments. She doesn’t seem seem to be there willingly, but at the same time, she doesn’t seem altogether unwilling, either.

That’s as much as I can say without potentially ruining it for you. It’s a weird, weird movie. As Susan would say, “Why are foreign films so foreign?”

I do recommend it, though.

Susan and I had a conversation earlier about Sherlock Holmes, and whether the 125-year-old character was in the public domain (it should have been in the public domain before either of us were born, but that’s another topic).

In process of researching our discussion, I turned up this article regarding a suit filed recently in federal court in Chicago. A top Sherlock Holmes scholar alleges that many licensing fees paid to the Arthur Conan Doyle estate have been unnecessary, since the main characters and elements of their story derive from materials in the public domain (as of 2004, only 9 of the 60 Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle are still covered under US copyright).