Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show with Katy Perry - Thoughts

For those living outside the US, ‘Super Bowl’ may not hold much significance, but for those Stateside, unless you've been living under a rock, the NFL Super Bowl is the biggest annual sports event; incidentally also North America's biggest money-making sports TV event. Over the years the half time show has had various leading music artists’ perform to record viewership; past talent including Madonna, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. For Super Bowl XLIX, where the Seattle Seahawks were facing off against the New England Patriots, it was Katy Perry’s turn to entertain.

For those who missed the show, you can watch it on YouTube in HD, and enjoy Katy’s popular hits, and the performance that went on to be seen by 118.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched halftime show ever.

Personally I enjoyed the show, as Katy Perry’s music was catchy and fun as always. Lenny Kravitz’s piece was a nice touch, and the way they worked and sounded together put a rock spin on an otherwise Pop presentation. Teenage Dreams and California Girls were cute, with the colorful beach setting. In terms of dance moves, that’s probably the style that worked for Katy the best. While I didn't really care for Get Ya Freak On by Missy Elliot, it’s probably because her music isn’t really to my taste. Media critics did rave about it though, and Missy Elliot found her way up the Billboard Charts thanks to her Super Bowl performance. Fireworks was a good closer, cause the way the whole stage came alive, the effects, raising Katy into the air; it was really the peak of the presentation, with some goosebump inducing moments.

To me the spectacle was the marvelous animated stage everyone performed on, and the way the dancers interacted with it; especially for Roar, which the show opened with. The pieces of the floor collapsed, with dancers standing on the final remaining pillars, and then towards the songs end all the columns started dropping and they had to jump into and congregate at the center. Superbly visualized and planned.

If you couldn't be in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015 for the show, fire up YouTube and give it a watch; it’ll be 20 minutes well spent. The show was a big deal for Katy Perry as well, who went on to celebrate the halftime performance in a very permanent way, by tattooing the roman numerals ‘XLIX’ on her finger!

My Recommendation: Watch It + (Katy Perry rockin Super Bowl)

2001: A Space Odyssey - Thoughts

2001: A Space Odyssey is easily one of the most acclaimed Sci-Fi movies of all time. Owing to its release in 1968, I didn't have the opportunity to watch it at the time, but it has been on my watch-list forever. I finally got around to it sometime during the first half of 2014. With the recent release of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, there is talk of the elements it draws for the 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the similarities they share. I've even heard people talking about going back and watching the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece, to better understand the genre.

To me, 2001: A Space Odyssey was perhaps a different animal of sorts. While the intelligent artificial intelligence in the form of the H.A.L. 9000, and the memorable score of 2001: A Space Odyssey is nothing short of legendary, be aware that though iconic, it is a relic from a different era. It took quite a bit of patience to sit through its seemingly never-ending 160 minute runtime. There were extremely long scenes that showed sequences that we are perhaps used to seeing in lesser detail, such as the ship docking for eons. While I believe that intent here is art, if you have a fairly limited attention span, expect to be getting frustrated. What perhaps bothered me the most was the metaphorical plot aspect of the movie. While it’s interesting to have twisted plots to analyze, crack, and figure out, here it felt like there was no real plot at all. I would recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey to hardcore sci-fi movie buffs, who perhaps want to understand the roots of the genre, and also analyze movies as a whole. But outside of that, if you’re in it more for the entertainment, and the modern/futuristic element, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll enjoy it. 

I watched it on DVD, which was a Region 1 US release. My understanding is that the DVD featured digitally restored content that perhaps improved the video transfer quality. That said, the overall look and feel was truly dated, but thankfully not poor as a result of the restoration. The score was iconic; so hearing it blaring on 5.1 surround has a very commanding presence to it. The presentation was good overall, and if you do choose to check it out, you’ll do well with the DVD; though a Bluray version is also available now.

My Recommendation: Dicey (An Sci-Fi epic from a different era)

Let’s Be Cops - Snapshot

Ever seen a comedy where the premise is so wrong and impractical that it’s actually ridiculously funny and makes for a total entertainer? The 2014 release Let’s Be Cops is exactly that. Two best buds, struggling on the career front, end up dressing as cops for a reunion party, and have what is perhaps one of their best evenings ever. Unwilling to give up the glory, they decide to do it a few more times, and end up getting entangled in a underground mob scheme, and need to figure a way out of the mounting chaos. The lead characters are played by Jake Johnson, and Damon Wayans Jr., who are crazy funny as the comedy duo. The characterization is cool, with some memorable, sometimes over the top, yet hugely laughable characters. Other notable performances come from Nina Dobrev, Rob Riggle, and Andy Garcia, who all put in decent acts. Overall the emotions felt real, the humor wasn't cheesy, and the plot played out at a decent pace, making for a truly fun watch. Having watched this on-board an aircraft, the limitations of the presentation equipment made it hard to fully enjoy and experience the technical aspects. Picture/video seemed pretty normal though, with color tones reminding me of the TV show CSI at times. If you’re looking for a light, fun, entertainer that provides its share of laughs, has a good plot, and doesn't get boring from time to time, you can’t go wrong with Let’s Be Cops.

My Recommendation: Watch It (So wrong that it’s so right)