On the structure of Rocky movies

Rob Beschizza 5:47 am Mon Dec 9, 2013

Rocky Morphology breaks down the critical story components of each movie in the Rocky series: the opening fight, the training, the epic montage, and the final in-the-ring showdown. It's interesting how the massive 1980s-era sequels saw long mid-movie bouts and multiple montages, while the recent (and well-received) Rocky VI structurally resembles the original and its 1979 sequel. The sole 1990s entry, Rocky V, is the worst of the lot—so it's no surprise that it has the most jumbled set of essential boxing-movie scenes. Training immediately after a montage? What were they thinking?

Crap gadgets reborn as "Dead Startup Toys"

Dead Startup Toys is selection of classic crap gadgets recreated in nonfunctional funsize form. There are adorable Juiceros and Jibos, internet-of-things drink coolers, the well-meaning but hell-bent One Laptop Per Child, and of course the greatest of them all, the Theranos blood assay Minilab that raised nearly a billion dollars and was for all intents… READ THE REST
Team Trump's new social media platform is called "Gettr" and it's recommending that I follow Hitler

Politico reports that a new social network app named "Gettr" is in fact developed by Team Trump. It's described as having been "quietly launched" by Trump's former spokesman Jason Miller, a charitable way of describing something so workaday and generic it's not clear if it's ready to be noticed. There are spelling errors in its… READ THE REST
Venture capitalists launch Future, an "optimistic" tech site

Future is a new online magazine from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz offering "optimistic" coverage of tech to counter everyone else's growing discomfort with it. Here's Sonal Chokshi, Editor in Chief: We are pro-tech, pro-future, pro-change. But we are also "informed optimists", not freewheeling futurists making predictions without any skin in the game. So even… READ THE REST
10 DIY kits full of fun tech that your kids can build themselves, all at an extra 15% off

DIY. It's a magical word. Or, more specifically, three words. Do it yourself means something in the tech arena, so this collection of cool projects to assemble from component pieces not only leaves you with something fun at the end, but it bolsters your knowledge and electronics abilities along the way. These 10 kits are… READ THE REST
Get a complete picture of your cat's oral health with a $68 Basepaws test

Cats…well, they just don't care what you think. Sure, they love you in their own way. But they've got their own agenda. And what you want … is usually pretty far down their priority list, even if it's in their own best interests. That often includes items related to their own health, including dental care.… READ THE REST
Extend your vision for dark movie nights with this $8.50 LED backlight for smart TVs

You've got a big ole TV. It's 55"…or 65"…or 75". It's glorious. Absolutely glorious. But while its brilliance is obviously sublime, that could blind you to a couple of other facts to consider. Like how staring at a bright TV against an otherwise dark wall at night actually disrupts how our eyes measure light. Rather than… READ THE REST