Linkwad.

1. An interesting multipart Slate discussion of transhumanism.
2. I sort of thought Bones made up this job.
3. Brad Plumer on Solyndra and the state of solar power.
4. Netflix: crazy like a fox?
5. If this volcano blows, the 2012er morons will be even more insufferable.
6. G+ lives again.
7. Behind the scenes of Louie with Louis CK.

Spoiler-free thoughts on Bellflower.

Since I seem to be one of the few people who has seen Bellflower and energetically disliked it¹, I figured I should explain. But first, the good:

• The movie does a good job showing the fear, rage, and misogyny of the nerdy, emasculated and powerless man-child (the last few years’ favorite new stock character), which most recent TV shows and movies have swept under the rug.
• Although the reliance on super-short depth of field (seriously, it’s tilt-shift city) for the early relationship scenes initially bothered me, I think it works as a visual representation of head-over-heels, only-think-about-each-other new love.
• The film is visually striking, and is surprisingly stylish, as long as your idea of style is “Instagram shaky-cam.”

Now, the bad:

• Turns out, we already have a bunch of movies about powerless, undersexed man-children! And a lot of them are better.
• The characters are paper-thin, one-dimensional and flat, and aren’t helped by the actors, who are nearly all stunningly awful. Director/lead actor Evan Glodell, who delivers his “happy” lines with the frozen smile and rising inflection of a Miss USA contestant, is particularly intolerable.
• The movie’s cockeyed plotting, pacing, tone and continuity issues² make the thing an absolute mess.
• By the end, I would argue the movie has gone past portraying two damaged, possibly-misogynistic young men, and at least tacitly supports their worldview, if not outright celebrating it.

I’ll save spoiler-related criticism for a later post, but have to admit that I’m utterly baffled by the adoring critical consensus³. And critics acknowledge it–every positive review has some form of the phrase “Sure, it’s a mess, but it’s alive!” My response: Yes, it’s an inventive vision of an almost-post-apocalyptic world and the movie burns⁴ with passion, but it’s still horrendously onanistic, disjointed and, ultimately, a waste of time⁵.

Linkwad.

1. Maryland judge bars cops from using a suspect’s phone to find and arrest him. Good job.
2. Google is buying Motorola’s cell phone business–not for their institutional knowledge, but for the patents they hold. This is clearly unsustainable and idiotic, but will also not change anytime soon.
3. I really want to see Bellflower. Via Ed.

Linkwad.

1. I wasn’t aware UXO was a problem outside of places like Cambodia.  Via Marginal Revolution, although I forgot the link and am lazy.
2. Are you a patriotic millionaire?
3. Via Matt Yglesias, stormtrooper armor designer wins big against Lucasfilm. Won’t apply in the US, of course.
4. The war in Hipstamatic, again via Yglesias.

Linkwad.

1. “The easiest and most convenient way to see the movies or TV shows you want is to get them illegally.”
2. The Stanford prison experiment, 40 years later.
3. I believe the best term for this woman is “crazy like a fox.”