Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) – the hopeful outcome of your enterprise software implementation.2) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – users, users everywhere, and not a computer in the place working properly!3) It Happened One Night (1934) – yeah, the evening of “Go Live”.4) Gone with the Wind (1939) – that’s what happened to the money that we spent on this “piece-of-crap” system.5) The Lost Weekend (1945) – that’s how long it took for us to recover the data and get the system up and running again.6) From Here to Eternity (1953) – the hope for our future with our new 1.6-million-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.7) In the Heat of the Night (1967) – as the servers overheated and the smoke thickened, I decided if I made it to the airport fast enough, I could get out of the city before sunrise!8) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – yeah, the project implementation manager! He’s spending some time at Betty Ford.9) Rocky (1976) – need I say more?10) Dances with Wolves (1990) – really more of what happens prior to implementing the software whilst whittling your long list down to a mere few.11) Unforgiven (1992) – this is what’s going to happen if we don’t get this working soon.12) Titanic (1997) – the ship is sinking, but as captain of this ship, I will make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.13) Million Dollar Baby (2004) – that’s how much we spent on the new system!14) Crash (2005) – not necessarily the way I wanted “Go Live” day to end.15) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – the vendor from whom we purchased this wonderful application is laughing all the way to the bank.
Software Implementation Gone Awry—As Depicted in These 15 Oscar-nominated Films for Best Picture
As a research analyst for TEC and a contributor to its Blog, I sometimes get the opportunity to mix business-related issues with common everyday pleasures. This past weekend (that incidentally turned out to be a complete write-off weather-wise), and being the movie buff that I am, I decided to sit back and watch a few classic films. After having done so, I was curious about what some of the past Oscar winners were for Best Picture. So I sauntered over to my computer and printed out the list. Reading through it, I just had to laugh, because many of the titles struck a chord with me in terms of some of my experiences with software implementation projects.
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
What makes up a CMS
A CMS can improve content publishing, efficiency, and productivity significantly. Specifically, a CMS offers a range of benefits and tools including
User-friendly, web-based access and use
Decentralized authoring, allowing many authors in multiple locations
Document version and time controls
Content approval workflow
Database and template creation
Dynamic page generation
Link management
Document conversion
Personalization
Access control and built-in security
Usage analysis
Template and design standardization Vendors will offer a variety of these or other benefits. It is definitely in the company's best interest to determine which system and vendor suits the organization best.
User-friendly, web-based access and use
Decentralized authoring, allowing many authors in multiple locations
Document version and time controls
Content approval workflow
Database and template creation
Dynamic page generation
Link management
Document conversion
Personalization
Access control and built-in security
Usage analysis
Template and design standardization Vendors will offer a variety of these or other benefits. It is definitely in the company's best interest to determine which system and vendor suits the organization best.
What are the benefits of using a CMS
A CMS allows a company to realize several benefits; it
Improves customer satisfaction by having correct information
Maintains a high level of quality and consistent information on the web
Enhances productivity by permitting for content to be re-used over multiple web sites
Enhances productivity of webmasters in the areas of redesign and functionality
Results in faster response time
Facilitates controlled workflow, built up around the company's processes and policies
Leads to increased productivity among employees Meet the business goals with the requirements
Before one looks to investing in a CMS, it is important to clearly define business goals. Defining what is important to meet immediate business needs, as well as long-term goals is often cited as the most challenging of tasks for an organization. What does the business want to accomplish by implementing a CMS? The answer to this needs to reflect the long-term strategies of the organization.
To define the business goals, the organization should perform a thorough analysis and ask itself some questions that well define its requirements. You need to understand what goals and expectations you have that drives the need for a CMS. What problems will the CMS solve? What is the cause of these problems in the first place and what is the anticipated impact of the CMS on your organization?
The scope of the CMS will need to be well defined also. Boundaries for the business goals will need to be set. If the scope is too broad, too many vendors will meet the criteria. This only hampers the selection process.
After defining the business goals, the requirements need to be gathered. Your business goals should provide a clear view into the requirements. Each and every single requirement should reflect a specific business goal. It is important that not only short term requirements are met, but also future requirements should be taken into consideration when selecting a CMS.
Make sure you structure your requirements into categories, such as content creation, content management, and content delivery. This will make the list more manageable. It should cover all aspects of the CMS life cycle.
Content management is not just about tools
Content management is more than just a software tool. It is very much about the individuals involved, and the processes and the organization as a whole.
The content management process entails collecting, managing, and publishing the content by combining rules, processes, and workflows. It is a discipline that manages the timely, accurate, collaborative, iterative, and reproducible development of a web site.
Why use a content management system?
Web sites were, in the past, built and maintained by a handful of persons within a company. The process of publishing text was a fairly simple process. Most web sites were simply electronic versions of a company brochure and understanding HTML was necessary to make even simple changes to single words on the web site. This process of maintaining web sites was labor intensive and not only made it difficult for other IT departments to publish content, but interfered with the use of other IT skills and products.
Nowadays the Internet, intranets, and extranets are dynamic with internal and external information about the company and its products, business solutions, and services. This information cannot be maintained by only a few people, moreover maintaining it would take too much time to deploy as new content to the Internet.
Content within organizations and on the web continues to grow exponentially. Organizations are struggling with maintaining their web sites and locating, and sharing a variety of content. Today organizations need more than simple content delivery. Businesses need to maximize their processes and optimize their value. Improving business efficiency, reducing costs, and operating risks motivate the implementation of content management systems.
Enterprise content management helps organizations accomplish this by enabling better access to the content, optimizing their business processes, and connecting database applications with the actual people.
The content management process entails collecting, managing, and publishing the content by combining rules, processes, and workflows. It is a discipline that manages the timely, accurate, collaborative, iterative, and reproducible development of a web site.
Why use a content management system?
Web sites were, in the past, built and maintained by a handful of persons within a company. The process of publishing text was a fairly simple process. Most web sites were simply electronic versions of a company brochure and understanding HTML was necessary to make even simple changes to single words on the web site. This process of maintaining web sites was labor intensive and not only made it difficult for other IT departments to publish content, but interfered with the use of other IT skills and products.
Nowadays the Internet, intranets, and extranets are dynamic with internal and external information about the company and its products, business solutions, and services. This information cannot be maintained by only a few people, moreover maintaining it would take too much time to deploy as new content to the Internet.
Content within organizations and on the web continues to grow exponentially. Organizations are struggling with maintaining their web sites and locating, and sharing a variety of content. Today organizations need more than simple content delivery. Businesses need to maximize their processes and optimize their value. Improving business efficiency, reducing costs, and operating risks motivate the implementation of content management systems.
Enterprise content management helps organizations accomplish this by enabling better access to the content, optimizing their business processes, and connecting database applications with the actual people.
Do You Need a Content Management System
The ongoing drive to save time and money drives organizations to look into content management. As the costs of software and implementation range from almost free to millions of dollars and choosing the right vendor or system is vital, this decision can be daunting.
The term content management: What does it mean?
Content management is a phrase you hear everywhere these days. Companies claim they "do content management" and vendors say that they sell content management software. People who hear about content management often think about how to create a web site. The text, images, movies, etc., that are shown on web sites are the actual content indeed, but content management entails more than meets the eye.
Prior to explaining what content management is, it is useful to define the word content. Content is essentially any type or "unit" of digital information that is used to populate a page. It can be text, images, graphics, video, sound—or in other words—anything that is likely to be published across an intranet, extranet, or the Internet.
Where does content management come from?
Currently, information, communication, and digital networks have made a major impact. In this society, there is much information available. A company needs to acquire and structure information that exists both within and outside of its own four walls.
Where does this need for information or this need for content come from?
It can be said that the buzzword of this era is content. Before content, the hype of the late eighties and early nineties surrounded documents. As companies were producing large volumes of information by the end of the eighties, and while business boomed for products like Word, WordPerfect, Excel, and Lotus 123, organizations faced an increasing need to organize documentation. Rather than printing and storing hard copies, the documents required digital storage. The market responded with the creation of a powerful software tool to manage this process. These solutions became known as document management systems (DMS).
By the end of the nineties, the terms changed from document management systems to content management systems (CMS). A lot of DMS vendors suddenly called themselves CMS vendors since the main difference between document management and content management is the fact that document management deals with the document in its entirety, while content management focuses on the individual parts that make up a document or even a web page.
Both systems follow the same basic rules, workflow and processes. However, due to the evolution of the Internet, companies began to be more focused on managing the web site at the content rather than document level. This caused the market to shift from document management systems to content management systems.
The term content management: What does it mean?
Content management is a phrase you hear everywhere these days. Companies claim they "do content management" and vendors say that they sell content management software. People who hear about content management often think about how to create a web site. The text, images, movies, etc., that are shown on web sites are the actual content indeed, but content management entails more than meets the eye.
Prior to explaining what content management is, it is useful to define the word content. Content is essentially any type or "unit" of digital information that is used to populate a page. It can be text, images, graphics, video, sound—or in other words—anything that is likely to be published across an intranet, extranet, or the Internet.
Where does content management come from?
Currently, information, communication, and digital networks have made a major impact. In this society, there is much information available. A company needs to acquire and structure information that exists both within and outside of its own four walls.
Where does this need for information or this need for content come from?
It can be said that the buzzword of this era is content. Before content, the hype of the late eighties and early nineties surrounded documents. As companies were producing large volumes of information by the end of the eighties, and while business boomed for products like Word, WordPerfect, Excel, and Lotus 123, organizations faced an increasing need to organize documentation. Rather than printing and storing hard copies, the documents required digital storage. The market responded with the creation of a powerful software tool to manage this process. These solutions became known as document management systems (DMS).
By the end of the nineties, the terms changed from document management systems to content management systems (CMS). A lot of DMS vendors suddenly called themselves CMS vendors since the main difference between document management and content management is the fact that document management deals with the document in its entirety, while content management focuses on the individual parts that make up a document or even a web page.
Both systems follow the same basic rules, workflow and processes. However, due to the evolution of the Internet, companies began to be more focused on managing the web site at the content rather than document level. This caused the market to shift from document management systems to content management systems.
Our Solution: MessageLabs Web Security Service
Because the MessageLabs service operates in the company"s network of data centers, there is no hardware to buy, no hefty up-front capital costs, no ongoing upgrades or maintenance and no software licences; just a predictable per-user fee.
From a single portal, managers can set up policies ' blocking sites individually or by category. They can also set different policies for different types of users. The same ClientNet portal gives managers detailed reports on internet use in their company. In addition to policy management, Skeptic&8482; technology gives MessageLabs a unique ' and powerful ' way to protect its clients against web-born malware. When your employees ask for a web page, the request goes through our system first so we can scan the page for malware and check it against your company policies.
The MessageLabs Web Security service gives companies the ability to monitor and enforce their internet usage policies; whether they are very restrictive or very liberal, whether they favor monitoring or blocking. MessageLabs service brings site monitoring and URL filtering together with industry leading anti-virus and anti-spyware protection. As the world wide web becomes an increasingly more important business tool, companies need the best possible solution to help protect their computer systems, their reputation and their employees. MessageLabs delivers those tools.
From a single portal, managers can set up policies ' blocking sites individually or by category. They can also set different policies for different types of users. The same ClientNet portal gives managers detailed reports on internet use in their company. In addition to policy management, Skeptic&8482; technology gives MessageLabs a unique ' and powerful ' way to protect its clients against web-born malware. When your employees ask for a web page, the request goes through our system first so we can scan the page for malware and check it against your company policies.
The MessageLabs Web Security service gives companies the ability to monitor and enforce their internet usage policies; whether they are very restrictive or very liberal, whether they favor monitoring or blocking. MessageLabs service brings site monitoring and URL filtering together with industry leading anti-virus and anti-spyware protection. As the world wide web becomes an increasingly more important business tool, companies need the best possible solution to help protect their computer systems, their reputation and their employees. MessageLabs delivers those tools.
Blocking non-business internet access
In the face of all these problems, many managers" first reaction might be to block all employee access to the internet.
It makes sense to block certain sites outright. Pornography sites are an obvious example, but most companies may also consider gambling and game sites as utterly unrelated to work, potentially time-wasting and block them as well. Ninety-six percent of employers who block web access are concerned about employees visting adult sites with sexual content. Companies also use URL blocks to stop users from visiting game sites (61%), social networking sites (50%), entertainment sites (27%) ; sports sites (21%) and external blogs (18%) according to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
However, completely blocking internet access may not be the right approach for your business.
Monitoring employee behavior onlineMonitoring inappropriate use may seem to be the lesser of two evils compared with blocking access to large parts of the internet. Having blocked the worst websites, you may wish to trust your employees" judgement. You may want to allow employees access to social networking sites if it means that they can organize their social life without spending hours on the phone. You might also allow people to shop online if it saves them time and lets them achieve a better work-life balance.
Keep in mind, when you decide to allow employees access to the internet, it is in your best interest to ensure that they are aware of the laws around electronic communications in the workplace. The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) makes it clear that a company-provided computer system is the property of the employer. U.S. employers have the legal right to monitor all employee computer activity, transmissions and content- including incoming, outgoing and internal email messages, as well as web surfing, downloads and uploads. Making sure your employees are aware of the laws surrounding internet usage may encourage them to use better judgement when surfing the net.
It makes sense to block certain sites outright. Pornography sites are an obvious example, but most companies may also consider gambling and game sites as utterly unrelated to work, potentially time-wasting and block them as well. Ninety-six percent of employers who block web access are concerned about employees visting adult sites with sexual content. Companies also use URL blocks to stop users from visiting game sites (61%), social networking sites (50%), entertainment sites (27%) ; sports sites (21%) and external blogs (18%) according to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey from American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute.
However, completely blocking internet access may not be the right approach for your business.
Monitoring employee behavior onlineMonitoring inappropriate use may seem to be the lesser of two evils compared with blocking access to large parts of the internet. Having blocked the worst websites, you may wish to trust your employees" judgement. You may want to allow employees access to social networking sites if it means that they can organize their social life without spending hours on the phone. You might also allow people to shop online if it saves them time and lets them achieve a better work-life balance.
Keep in mind, when you decide to allow employees access to the internet, it is in your best interest to ensure that they are aware of the laws around electronic communications in the workplace. The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) makes it clear that a company-provided computer system is the property of the employer. U.S. employers have the legal right to monitor all employee computer activity, transmissions and content- including incoming, outgoing and internal email messages, as well as web surfing, downloads and uploads. Making sure your employees are aware of the laws surrounding internet usage may encourage them to use better judgement when surfing the net.
Employee Web Use and Misuse :
Where do you draw the line? Is it okay to send the occasional personal email at work? What about a little internet shopping or spending sometime on social networking sites, playing online games, downloading pirated movies and music, gambling or downloading porn? The internet has created new opportunities for mischief and new challenges for managers.
Worldwide worriesIn today"s office enviornment, employers have a relatively new issue to deal with; employees wasting time online and putting your business at risk. A large proportion of corporate web traffic is non-work related: gambling, music downloads, personal webmail, social networking and even pornography sites.
According The ePolicy Institute, of the 30% of bosses who terminated employees for web violations in 2007, 84% cited the viewing, downloading or uploading of pornography and otherwise offensive or inappropriate material as the reason.
Web misuse can have serious implications for your business:
Reduced productivity. If employees spend their time on a social networking sites such as Facebook, they"re not spending it doing their job. Security problems. Malware hides on websites and can install itself as users browse infected pages. MessageLabs Intelligence reports that the number of new, malicious websites blocked each day by MessageLabs nearly doubled (91 percent) in just one month with 3,968 new sites intercepted daily. Legal risks. When users download inappropriate material to their computers other employees may take serious offense which in turn can create legal liabilities for managers. Wasted bandwidth. Internet connections cost money. If half your bandwidth is taken up with non-work relatd web traffic, you could potentially be paying twice as much as you need to and your business-critical communications could be running at half their speed capacity. Unlicensed software. When users download and install software from the internet, they create a legal risk. Software piracy is illegal. If an organization uses illegal copies of software, it may face a civil suit and company directors risk criminal penalties. Reputation risk. Social networking can create opportunities for employees to leak confidential information or spread damaging rumors online. Bad behavior by a single employee can reflect on the reputation of the whole organization.
Worldwide worriesIn today"s office enviornment, employers have a relatively new issue to deal with; employees wasting time online and putting your business at risk. A large proportion of corporate web traffic is non-work related: gambling, music downloads, personal webmail, social networking and even pornography sites.
According The ePolicy Institute, of the 30% of bosses who terminated employees for web violations in 2007, 84% cited the viewing, downloading or uploading of pornography and otherwise offensive or inappropriate material as the reason.
Web misuse can have serious implications for your business:
Reduced productivity. If employees spend their time on a social networking sites such as Facebook, they"re not spending it doing their job. Security problems. Malware hides on websites and can install itself as users browse infected pages. MessageLabs Intelligence reports that the number of new, malicious websites blocked each day by MessageLabs nearly doubled (91 percent) in just one month with 3,968 new sites intercepted daily. Legal risks. When users download inappropriate material to their computers other employees may take serious offense which in turn can create legal liabilities for managers. Wasted bandwidth. Internet connections cost money. If half your bandwidth is taken up with non-work relatd web traffic, you could potentially be paying twice as much as you need to and your business-critical communications could be running at half their speed capacity. Unlicensed software. When users download and install software from the internet, they create a legal risk. Software piracy is illegal. If an organization uses illegal copies of software, it may face a civil suit and company directors risk criminal penalties. Reputation risk. Social networking can create opportunities for employees to leak confidential information or spread damaging rumors online. Bad behavior by a single employee can reflect on the reputation of the whole organization.
Software Implementation Gone Awry—As Depicted in These 15 Oscar-nominated Films for Best Picture
As a research analyst for TEC and a contributor to its Blog, I sometimes get the opportunity to mix business-related issues with common everyday pleasures. This past weekend (that incidentally turned out to be a complete write-off weather-wise), and being the movie buff that I am, I decided to sit back and watch a few classic films. After having done so, I was curious about what some of the past Oscar winners were for Best Picture. So I sauntered over to my computer and printed out the list. Reading through it, I just had to laugh, because many of the titles struck a chord with me in terms of some of my experiences with software implementation projects.
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) – the hopeful outcome of your enterprise software implementation.2) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – users, users everywhere, and not a computer in the place working properly!3) It Happened One Night (1934) – yeah, the evening of “Go Live”.4) Gone with the Wind (1939) – that’s what happened to the money that we spent on this “piece-of-crap” system.5) The Lost Weekend (1945) – that’s how long it took for us to recover the data and get the system up and running again.6) From Here to Eternity (1953) – the hope for our future with our new 1.6-million-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.7) In the Heat of the Night (1967) – as the servers overheated and the smoke thickened, I decided if I made it to the airport fast enough, I could get out of the city before sunrise!8) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – yeah, the project implementation manager! He’s spending some time at Betty Ford.9) Rocky (1976) – need I say more?10) Dances with Wolves (1990) – really more of what happens prior to implementing the software whilst whittling your long list down to a mere few.11) Unforgiven (1992) – this is what’s going to happen if we don’t get this working soon.12) Titanic (1997) – the ship is sinking, but as captain of this ship, I will make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.13) Million Dollar Baby (2004) – that’s how much we spent on the new system!14) Crash (2005) – not necessarily the way I wanted “Go Live” day to end.15) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – the vendor from whom we purchased this wonderful application is laughing all the way to the bank.
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) – the hopeful outcome of your enterprise software implementation.2) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – users, users everywhere, and not a computer in the place working properly!3) It Happened One Night (1934) – yeah, the evening of “Go Live”.4) Gone with the Wind (1939) – that’s what happened to the money that we spent on this “piece-of-crap” system.5) The Lost Weekend (1945) – that’s how long it took for us to recover the data and get the system up and running again.6) From Here to Eternity (1953) – the hope for our future with our new 1.6-million-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.7) In the Heat of the Night (1967) – as the servers overheated and the smoke thickened, I decided if I made it to the airport fast enough, I could get out of the city before sunrise!8) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – yeah, the project implementation manager! He’s spending some time at Betty Ford.9) Rocky (1976) – need I say more?10) Dances with Wolves (1990) – really more of what happens prior to implementing the software whilst whittling your long list down to a mere few.11) Unforgiven (1992) – this is what’s going to happen if we don’t get this working soon.12) Titanic (1997) – the ship is sinking, but as captain of this ship, I will make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.13) Million Dollar Baby (2004) – that’s how much we spent on the new system!14) Crash (2005) – not necessarily the way I wanted “Go Live” day to end.15) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – the vendor from whom we purchased this wonderful application is laughing all the way to the bank.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The New Fundamentals for the Future
The Endeca Discover 2009 conference started with an enlightening and spirited keynote from Paul Sonderegger, Endeca’s chief strategy officer. Entitled “The New Fundamentals for the Future,” the keynote produced a number of eye-opening facts, starting with the fact that 56 percent of US household wealth is in real estate and stocks assets. Thus, on average, since mid-2007, US household wealth has been severely undermined by over 20 percent.
But these worried and broke ordinary folks are not exactly helpless, since they are at least “wired.” The bestseller book “Groundswell” by Forrester analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff defines “groundswell” as follows:
“A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”
For most brick-and-mortar retailers, there have been notable decreases in same-store sales, year over year, for the first three months in 2009. According to the listing of reported monthly same-store sales at About.com and Endeca’s research, there were 66 percent, 63 percent, and 71 percent of stores reporting decreases in January, February, and March of 2009 respectively (over a year ago).
Similar negative trends have been seen in the predicted US advertising spans. Namely, the initial Carat’s prediction from August 2008 was a 3.1 percent growth in advertising; then the forecast was sharply revised in March 2009 to a 9.8 percent decline. Along similar lines, ZenithOptimedia predicted a 2.6 percent in June 2008, and revised the forecast to a 6.2 percent decline in December 2008.
However, both online retail sales and advertising spend continue to grow. Given the abovementioned groundswell effect of connected and informed consumers that can easily pass a verdict and disseminate news of any product or brand, there are the three new fundamentals for the future that every retailer, manufacturer, and software vendor has to keep in mind.
The first is the atomization of user experience. Namely, according to the Long Tail theory, companies will compete on ever-smaller and more specific product footprints and capabilities to satisfy ever-smaller niches, and all in a plug-and-play manner. Think of Apple iPhone OS applications.
Certainly, some of these are seemingly frivolous or ridiculous like the slew of fart applications or those that follow girlfriends’ menstrual cycles (and moods). There was even a despicable and eventually condemned and discontinued baby shaker application. On the other hand, there are some neat and useful applications like Shazam that lets the iPhone users identify music tracks from the radio, find them on iTunes Store and buy them from there, and share the tags with friends.
The second core principle revolves around innovations to facilitate IT operations. To that end, one should expect even more use of the concepts like virtualization, cloud computing, and service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Last but not least, there is the BT or “business technology” core principle coined by Forrester. Namely, BT denotes a pervasive technology use by casual users and end users, increasingly managed outside the direct control of IT departments. In other words, like in the abovementioned groundswell phenomenon, ordinary folks vie to “control their own destiny,” and require the use of technology with minimal (if not even zero) training. The recent post on the Forrester Blog for the CIO site says:
“How does BT show itself? Employees, customers, and partners are bringing Web 2.0 and social computing technologies into business processes; business leaders are directly contracting for online solutions and business process outsourcing; and users are configuring their own business solutions, using ERP applications from vendors like SAP or IT-provided platforms built from technologies like business process modeling (BPM).”
Part 2 of this blog series will explore how SAP is adapting to the outlined fundamentals above. One concrete example will be the recently unveiled SAP BusinessObjects Explorer product.
But these worried and broke ordinary folks are not exactly helpless, since they are at least “wired.” The bestseller book “Groundswell” by Forrester analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff defines “groundswell” as follows:
“A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”
For most brick-and-mortar retailers, there have been notable decreases in same-store sales, year over year, for the first three months in 2009. According to the listing of reported monthly same-store sales at About.com and Endeca’s research, there were 66 percent, 63 percent, and 71 percent of stores reporting decreases in January, February, and March of 2009 respectively (over a year ago).
Similar negative trends have been seen in the predicted US advertising spans. Namely, the initial Carat’s prediction from August 2008 was a 3.1 percent growth in advertising; then the forecast was sharply revised in March 2009 to a 9.8 percent decline. Along similar lines, ZenithOptimedia predicted a 2.6 percent in June 2008, and revised the forecast to a 6.2 percent decline in December 2008.
However, both online retail sales and advertising spend continue to grow. Given the abovementioned groundswell effect of connected and informed consumers that can easily pass a verdict and disseminate news of any product or brand, there are the three new fundamentals for the future that every retailer, manufacturer, and software vendor has to keep in mind.
The first is the atomization of user experience. Namely, according to the Long Tail theory, companies will compete on ever-smaller and more specific product footprints and capabilities to satisfy ever-smaller niches, and all in a plug-and-play manner. Think of Apple iPhone OS applications.
Certainly, some of these are seemingly frivolous or ridiculous like the slew of fart applications or those that follow girlfriends’ menstrual cycles (and moods). There was even a despicable and eventually condemned and discontinued baby shaker application. On the other hand, there are some neat and useful applications like Shazam that lets the iPhone users identify music tracks from the radio, find them on iTunes Store and buy them from there, and share the tags with friends.
The second core principle revolves around innovations to facilitate IT operations. To that end, one should expect even more use of the concepts like virtualization, cloud computing, and service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Last but not least, there is the BT or “business technology” core principle coined by Forrester. Namely, BT denotes a pervasive technology use by casual users and end users, increasingly managed outside the direct control of IT departments. In other words, like in the abovementioned groundswell phenomenon, ordinary folks vie to “control their own destiny,” and require the use of technology with minimal (if not even zero) training. The recent post on the Forrester Blog for the CIO site says:
“How does BT show itself? Employees, customers, and partners are bringing Web 2.0 and social computing technologies into business processes; business leaders are directly contracting for online solutions and business process outsourcing; and users are configuring their own business solutions, using ERP applications from vendors like SAP or IT-provided platforms built from technologies like business process modeling (BPM).”
Part 2 of this blog series will explore how SAP is adapting to the outlined fundamentals above. One concrete example will be the recently unveiled SAP BusinessObjects Explorer product.
A Quick Taste of Endeca’s Secret Sauce
The semi-structured model helps overcome the drawbacks of traditional rigid overarching relational schemas that are too limited to handle diverse (structured and unstructured) and ever-changing data. On the other hand, OLAP (online analytical processing) cubes might be able to overcome relational databases’ inability to provide near instantaneous analysis and display of large amounts of data, but they are still not able to accommodate ever growing number of new (perhaps esoteric) data attributes or dimensions (e.g., “find all basketball point-guards that played in Europe during high school”).
The MDEX engine handles such requirements with relative ease via an extensible markup language (XML)-like data model of self-describing objects. Endeca ITL (information transformation layer) plays the extract, transform, load (ETL) role of importing data from disparate data sources. These data objects can come from multiple sources, such as structured content (e.g., a content management system [CMS], databases, etc.) and unstructured content (text documents and user-generated content [UGC] such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, multimedia files, etc.).
In addition, the software must be able to access rapidly changing data such as ESPN sports scores, news feeds, or an online store’s new items in catalogs and all products’ availability (stock situation). One of Endeca’s landmark (and trademark) capabilities that MDEX enables is Guided Navigation™ or the ability of the search engine to not only return results, but also the options to further select subsets within these results. The user might not even be aware that these options and relations exist.
Endeca is not based on the “rocket science” of some overly complex optimization algorithms. Neither is the platform trying to invent data based on, say, predictive analytics. According to the “you can’t make cheese out of chalk” adage, if some combination of data attributes is not yet available, that is fine, and Endeca will not try to create results that do not exist just to impress and possibly mislead the user.
Conversely, if some relationships between data and related indexes exist, Endeca will return both the results and further suggestions (while breadcrumb trails are kept updated), and choices will either expand or narrow depending on the path that the user selects in a point-and-click manner. Simple as that, or, in other words: WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). If you know how to order movies over Netflix or select channels on a JetBlue flight, you are ready to use Endeca.
For instance, NFL aficionados might search the ESPN portal for “Tom Brady” and will get about 6,000 records as possible results. But on the left side, the site will offer search refinements, such as by type (i.e., stories, audio, photo, video), by date (i.e., last 7 days, last 30 days, last 365 days, etc.), by team, by columnist, etc. Each option will show in brackets the number of related records (further potential results that match the current search criteria).
For more informed sports fans (or even fanatics), ESPN administrators might use the page builder tool to create landing pages or topic pages. Namely, instead of the list of possible search results, the user is rather directed to a specially designed page for the query, i.e., the page dedicated to Tom Brady (the future Hall of Fame quarterback) or to the New England Patriots.
Small wonder then that Endeca’s online media customers (i.e., newspapers and magazines, professional knowledge providers, cable and TV, libraries, bookstores and publishers, etc.) rave about real results. I’ve repeatedly heard about the examples of fivefold increase in Web traffic, 20 percent increase in page views (PVs), 15 percent increase in subscription renewals, 15 percent increase in search click-through rates (CTRs), and so on and so forth.
The MDEX engine handles such requirements with relative ease via an extensible markup language (XML)-like data model of self-describing objects. Endeca ITL (information transformation layer) plays the extract, transform, load (ETL) role of importing data from disparate data sources. These data objects can come from multiple sources, such as structured content (e.g., a content management system [CMS], databases, etc.) and unstructured content (text documents and user-generated content [UGC] such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, multimedia files, etc.).
In addition, the software must be able to access rapidly changing data such as ESPN sports scores, news feeds, or an online store’s new items in catalogs and all products’ availability (stock situation). One of Endeca’s landmark (and trademark) capabilities that MDEX enables is Guided Navigation™ or the ability of the search engine to not only return results, but also the options to further select subsets within these results. The user might not even be aware that these options and relations exist.
Endeca is not based on the “rocket science” of some overly complex optimization algorithms. Neither is the platform trying to invent data based on, say, predictive analytics. According to the “you can’t make cheese out of chalk” adage, if some combination of data attributes is not yet available, that is fine, and Endeca will not try to create results that do not exist just to impress and possibly mislead the user.
Conversely, if some relationships between data and related indexes exist, Endeca will return both the results and further suggestions (while breadcrumb trails are kept updated), and choices will either expand or narrow depending on the path that the user selects in a point-and-click manner. Simple as that, or, in other words: WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). If you know how to order movies over Netflix or select channels on a JetBlue flight, you are ready to use Endeca.
For instance, NFL aficionados might search the ESPN portal for “Tom Brady” and will get about 6,000 records as possible results. But on the left side, the site will offer search refinements, such as by type (i.e., stories, audio, photo, video), by date (i.e., last 7 days, last 30 days, last 365 days, etc.), by team, by columnist, etc. Each option will show in brackets the number of related records (further potential results that match the current search criteria).
For more informed sports fans (or even fanatics), ESPN administrators might use the page builder tool to create landing pages or topic pages. Namely, instead of the list of possible search results, the user is rather directed to a specially designed page for the query, i.e., the page dedicated to Tom Brady (the future Hall of Fame quarterback) or to the New England Patriots.
Small wonder then that Endeca’s online media customers (i.e., newspapers and magazines, professional knowledge providers, cable and TV, libraries, bookstores and publishers, etc.) rave about real results. I’ve repeatedly heard about the examples of fivefold increase in Web traffic, 20 percent increase in page views (PVs), 15 percent increase in subscription renewals, 15 percent increase in search click-through rates (CTRs), and so on and so forth.
The User’s Undying Quest for Exploring and Discovering Info – Part 1
SAP AG and Endeca Technologies might not appear to have much in common at first glance, other than occasional partnering in some joint opportunities, and perhaps that SAP Ventures owns a piece of privately held Endeca. In the world of home appliances, SAP would be analogous to a tried-and-true refrigerator, but with the most advanced features in the market, such as a built-in TV set.
Such an appliance stores important food (i.e., data and transactions) and provides some important basic information and entertainment (i.e., news reports) to nearly 90,000 customers in over 120 countries. Indeed, SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software, offering enterprise applications and services to companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries for nearly four decades.
By the same token, the much smaller and younger Endeca would be analogous to a cool smartphone that gives users information and entertainment at the speed of light (or thought, or the speed of computing). The snazzy gadget will not only provide results but also suggest possibilities that users might not be aware of (or that they never thought of) before seeking some information.
Interestingly, Endeca derives its name from the German word “entdecken,” which means “to discover” (perhaps another common thread with SAP). Seriously speaking, Endeca offers innovative information access software that helps people explore, analyze, and understand complex and constantly changing information, guiding them to often unexpected insights and better decisions.
The Endeca Information Access Platform (IAP), built around a new class of access-optimized semi-structured database, powers applications that combine the simplicity of searching and browsing with the analytical power of business intelligence (BI). Since the company’s inception in 1999 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (US), over 600 leading global organizations including ABN AMRO, Boeing, Cox Newspapers, the (US) Defense Intelligence Agency, ESPN, Barnes & Nobles, Dell, Ford Motor Company, Hyatt, IBM, John Deere, The Library of Congress, Texas Instruments, and Walmart.com have been relying on Endeca’s platform.
The Tale of Two Events (with Similar Messages)
In mid-2009, these two quite different vendors (in terms of stature and target audience) had their own separate user conferences. Still, those two events revolved around similar themes. I attended Endeca Discover 2009 in person, since it took place in my neck of woods (Boston).
Endeca’s early start was with information discovery projects in the public sector (the less we know, the better), and while today the vendor also targets manufacturers and distributors (as can be seen from the abovementioned representative client roster), the lion’s share of Endeca customers are online retailers and the Internet media & publishers. The Endeca Discover conference is traditionally focused towards those electronic commerce-oriented companies.
Against the backdrop of a dour economic situation everywhere, this love-fest event was contrarily buzzing with fervent activity and interest from existing and prospective customers. I even overheard some of Endeca’s professional services staffers commenting amongst themselves during the break: “if this attendance is an epitome of recession (or even depression), then how are we going to be able to deliver mushrooming projects when the economy improves?” Although privately held, the company is not that tight-lipped about its rapidly growing revenues, which are reportedly estimated at over US$ 100 million.
Endeca has pioneered a new software category that enables users to not only easily find what they are looking for, but also to discover insights, information, and relationships across data they never knew existed along the way. There will be a separate series of in-depth articles on Endeca and its platform, but for now it suffices to say that Endeca’s “secret sauce” is its proprietary semi-structured database called MDEX (meta-relational index engine).
Such an appliance stores important food (i.e., data and transactions) and provides some important basic information and entertainment (i.e., news reports) to nearly 90,000 customers in over 120 countries. Indeed, SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software, offering enterprise applications and services to companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries for nearly four decades.
By the same token, the much smaller and younger Endeca would be analogous to a cool smartphone that gives users information and entertainment at the speed of light (or thought, or the speed of computing). The snazzy gadget will not only provide results but also suggest possibilities that users might not be aware of (or that they never thought of) before seeking some information.
Interestingly, Endeca derives its name from the German word “entdecken,” which means “to discover” (perhaps another common thread with SAP). Seriously speaking, Endeca offers innovative information access software that helps people explore, analyze, and understand complex and constantly changing information, guiding them to often unexpected insights and better decisions.
The Endeca Information Access Platform (IAP), built around a new class of access-optimized semi-structured database, powers applications that combine the simplicity of searching and browsing with the analytical power of business intelligence (BI). Since the company’s inception in 1999 in Cambridge, Massachusetts (US), over 600 leading global organizations including ABN AMRO, Boeing, Cox Newspapers, the (US) Defense Intelligence Agency, ESPN, Barnes & Nobles, Dell, Ford Motor Company, Hyatt, IBM, John Deere, The Library of Congress, Texas Instruments, and Walmart.com have been relying on Endeca’s platform.
The Tale of Two Events (with Similar Messages)
In mid-2009, these two quite different vendors (in terms of stature and target audience) had their own separate user conferences. Still, those two events revolved around similar themes. I attended Endeca Discover 2009 in person, since it took place in my neck of woods (Boston).
Endeca’s early start was with information discovery projects in the public sector (the less we know, the better), and while today the vendor also targets manufacturers and distributors (as can be seen from the abovementioned representative client roster), the lion’s share of Endeca customers are online retailers and the Internet media & publishers. The Endeca Discover conference is traditionally focused towards those electronic commerce-oriented companies.
Against the backdrop of a dour economic situation everywhere, this love-fest event was contrarily buzzing with fervent activity and interest from existing and prospective customers. I even overheard some of Endeca’s professional services staffers commenting amongst themselves during the break: “if this attendance is an epitome of recession (or even depression), then how are we going to be able to deliver mushrooming projects when the economy improves?” Although privately held, the company is not that tight-lipped about its rapidly growing revenues, which are reportedly estimated at over US$ 100 million.
Endeca has pioneered a new software category that enables users to not only easily find what they are looking for, but also to discover insights, information, and relationships across data they never knew existed along the way. There will be a separate series of in-depth articles on Endeca and its platform, but for now it suffices to say that Endeca’s “secret sauce” is its proprietary semi-structured database called MDEX (meta-relational index engine).
Comparing Software Comparison Sites
A few online tools make it easy to compare criteria about software, side-by-side. Of course, you probably expect that I think TEC provides the mother of all evaluation tools for comparisons (true). But this is about some of the other guys. Two sites I like, which I recently came across might be useful to you if you’re scanning the horizon for high-level comparison info. The first is Opteros’s EOS Directory and the second is ITerating. Both approach the issue in different, complementary directions to TEC’s. Here’s a bit of what’s interesting about their approaches and why I think they can offer valuable supplementary information.
The EOS Directory is, as the name implies, a directory of enterprise open source products much more so than a full-on comparison tool. Nevertheless it’s a pretty smart directory. It features high-level comparison information. It lists software in a few general categories and alongside the listings, provides four types of software/project comparison criteria.
The first criterion is the Optaros rating, geared toward open source software projects. The Optaros four-star rating system purports to show how well-suited an open source project is for the enterprise. It appears to be based on at least four considerations: the project’s functionality, maturity, community, and a progress trend, which I believe are necessary paths into research on open source solutions. Plus, as I said previously, this information nicely supplements what TEC’s open source evals cover (feature comparisons or analyses of service characteristics).
Most EOS Directory ratings are indicated through lime-colored pie symbols, which are easy to understand. For example, the more green in the pie, the more apt a project’s functionality is to include what a midsize or large enterprise might need. The more lime in the community, the more active and numerous it is (and so I’d believe a safer choice in terms of future development). The trend indicator is interesting because it represents an expectation of how the project will progress in importance and improvement for the given criteria.
Say you’re not sure which open source content management system to spend time researching, at a glance the EOS Directory informs you that Alfresco provides a pretty decent and mature feature-set, has an active community, bright future, and as an added bonus, 23 user votes determined a user rating of three out of four stars (the linked user forum might show why people felt that way). My sole criticism about these ratings is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to figure out how the ratings were derived for the project–I’m not sure if the criteria are determined by the open source project, by Optaros staff, or some combination. Then again, I suppose asking that question means I’m looking for something that’s probably outside the scope of how the directory is intended to be used.
What about ITerating? I’m fascinated by this site because a few years ago I was imagining what a wiki-based evaluation system might be like. I was surprised that one didn’t already exist. Something wiki-esque could provide insight from vendors, analysts, consultants, users, and developers alike. There was an open source project called WikiLens, which enables its users to rate things like movies or music. I played around with those scripts for a short time, curious to see what it would be like to adapt to user-based software comparison and analysis. Now, there is ITerating, which is doing quite an impressive job wikifying a software comparison methodology.
ITerating lists a fairly extensive directory of software types. You can add features and group them in higher-level categories of functionality, which appear to support a few different sorts of ratings. The ratings are summarized with a weighted average of bars, stars, and values. ITerating adds something of a meta-rating system too, letting you vote on whether you think a review is useful or not. An important feature is that users add the functions/criteria on which to rate software, meaning a potentially wide group of people could be contributing their knowledge to the comparison.
There is a lot to like in the ITerating wiki. It opens up a comparison process to a wide and possibly unexpected audience. This could be a strength, helping visitors gain a variety of data but it could also prove a weakness. I’d love to see ITerating provide more background about the perspectives of each set of user ratings. Perhaps delineate and weight user scores based on whether the users are vendors, consultants, analysts, developers, clients, etc. I think this would help mitigate bias issues that could otherwise arise.
ITerating offers quick comparisons but sometimes doesn’t seem to have fully articulated feature-sets for making the comparison. It also doesn’t seem to allow you to do custom analyses based on the importance of your most valued criteria. Not knowing how complete the data is for a particular type of software makes it a bit difficult to truly depend on the site for an entire selection process (though mileage may vary based on the software you’re considering). Perhaps this is a growing pain for the young site–I’ll be curious to see how it evolves. This criticism may also be unfair in the sense that ITerating is a “directory and review” site, which it accomplishes without wading deep into the complexity of individual analyses or selection guidance.
Finally, both the EOS Directory and ITerating offer the possibility for a lot of great, user-based, real world feedback. That’s an exciting extra perspective. Their broad scope may also be more ambitious than matrix sites (for example, CMS Matrix or WikiMatrix). I’d recommend browsing ITerating or the EOS Directory if you want to do some high-level research from an enormous sea of open source projects and other commercial software.
From the perspective of a company trying to understand its needs, the software vendors able to meet them, and decide on the best solution, I think using multiple user comparison and directory sites could help inform your decisions and evaluation stance. These sites make useful supplements to the comparison analyses and needs-prioritization of TEC’s evaluation systems.
The EOS Directory is, as the name implies, a directory of enterprise open source products much more so than a full-on comparison tool. Nevertheless it’s a pretty smart directory. It features high-level comparison information. It lists software in a few general categories and alongside the listings, provides four types of software/project comparison criteria.
The first criterion is the Optaros rating, geared toward open source software projects. The Optaros four-star rating system purports to show how well-suited an open source project is for the enterprise. It appears to be based on at least four considerations: the project’s functionality, maturity, community, and a progress trend, which I believe are necessary paths into research on open source solutions. Plus, as I said previously, this information nicely supplements what TEC’s open source evals cover (feature comparisons or analyses of service characteristics).
Most EOS Directory ratings are indicated through lime-colored pie symbols, which are easy to understand. For example, the more green in the pie, the more apt a project’s functionality is to include what a midsize or large enterprise might need. The more lime in the community, the more active and numerous it is (and so I’d believe a safer choice in terms of future development). The trend indicator is interesting because it represents an expectation of how the project will progress in importance and improvement for the given criteria.
Say you’re not sure which open source content management system to spend time researching, at a glance the EOS Directory informs you that Alfresco provides a pretty decent and mature feature-set, has an active community, bright future, and as an added bonus, 23 user votes determined a user rating of three out of four stars (the linked user forum might show why people felt that way). My sole criticism about these ratings is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to figure out how the ratings were derived for the project–I’m not sure if the criteria are determined by the open source project, by Optaros staff, or some combination. Then again, I suppose asking that question means I’m looking for something that’s probably outside the scope of how the directory is intended to be used.
What about ITerating? I’m fascinated by this site because a few years ago I was imagining what a wiki-based evaluation system might be like. I was surprised that one didn’t already exist. Something wiki-esque could provide insight from vendors, analysts, consultants, users, and developers alike. There was an open source project called WikiLens, which enables its users to rate things like movies or music. I played around with those scripts for a short time, curious to see what it would be like to adapt to user-based software comparison and analysis. Now, there is ITerating, which is doing quite an impressive job wikifying a software comparison methodology.
ITerating lists a fairly extensive directory of software types. You can add features and group them in higher-level categories of functionality, which appear to support a few different sorts of ratings. The ratings are summarized with a weighted average of bars, stars, and values. ITerating adds something of a meta-rating system too, letting you vote on whether you think a review is useful or not. An important feature is that users add the functions/criteria on which to rate software, meaning a potentially wide group of people could be contributing their knowledge to the comparison.
There is a lot to like in the ITerating wiki. It opens up a comparison process to a wide and possibly unexpected audience. This could be a strength, helping visitors gain a variety of data but it could also prove a weakness. I’d love to see ITerating provide more background about the perspectives of each set of user ratings. Perhaps delineate and weight user scores based on whether the users are vendors, consultants, analysts, developers, clients, etc. I think this would help mitigate bias issues that could otherwise arise.
ITerating offers quick comparisons but sometimes doesn’t seem to have fully articulated feature-sets for making the comparison. It also doesn’t seem to allow you to do custom analyses based on the importance of your most valued criteria. Not knowing how complete the data is for a particular type of software makes it a bit difficult to truly depend on the site for an entire selection process (though mileage may vary based on the software you’re considering). Perhaps this is a growing pain for the young site–I’ll be curious to see how it evolves. This criticism may also be unfair in the sense that ITerating is a “directory and review” site, which it accomplishes without wading deep into the complexity of individual analyses or selection guidance.
Finally, both the EOS Directory and ITerating offer the possibility for a lot of great, user-based, real world feedback. That’s an exciting extra perspective. Their broad scope may also be more ambitious than matrix sites (for example, CMS Matrix or WikiMatrix). I’d recommend browsing ITerating or the EOS Directory if you want to do some high-level research from an enormous sea of open source projects and other commercial software.
From the perspective of a company trying to understand its needs, the software vendors able to meet them, and decide on the best solution, I think using multiple user comparison and directory sites could help inform your decisions and evaluation stance. These sites make useful supplements to the comparison analyses and needs-prioritization of TEC’s evaluation systems.
Software Implementation Gone Awry—As Depicted in These 15 Oscar-nominated Films for Best Picture
As a research analyst for TEC and a contributor to its Blog, I sometimes get the opportunity to mix business-related issues with common everyday pleasures. This past weekend (that incidentally turned out to be a complete write-off weather-wise), and being the movie buff that I am, I decided to sit back and watch a few classic films. After having done so, I was curious about what some of the past Oscar winners were for Best Picture. So I sauntered over to my computer and printed out the list. Reading through it, I just had to laugh, because many of the titles struck a chord with me in terms of some of my experiences with software implementation projects.
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.
1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) – the hopeful outcome of your enterprise software implementation.
2) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – users, users everywhere, and not a computer in the place working properly!
3) It Happened One Night (1934) – yeah, the evening of “Go Live”.
4) Gone with the Wind (1939) – that’s what happened to the money that we spent on this “piece-of-crap” system.
5) The Lost Weekend (1945) – that’s how long it took for us to recover the data and get the system up and running again.
6) From Here to Eternity (1953) – the hope for our future with our new 1.6-million-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
7) In the Heat of the Night (1967) – as the servers overheated and the smoke thickened, I decided if I made it to the airport fast enough, I could get out of the city before sunrise!
8) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – yeah, the project implementation manager! He’s spending some time at Betty Ford.
9) Rocky (1976) – need I say more?
10) Dances with Wolves (1990) – really more of what happens prior to implementing the software whilst whittling your long list down to a mere few.
11) Unforgiven (1992) – this is what’s going to happen if we don’t get this working soon.
12) Titanic (1997) – the ship is sinking, but as captain of this ship, I will make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.
13) Million Dollar Baby (2004) – that’s how much we spent on the new system!
14) Crash (2005) – not necessarily the way I wanted “Go Live” day to end.
15) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – the vendor from whom we purchased this wonderful application is laughing all the way to the bank.
…and a Few Honorable Mentions
Although they never won an Oscar, here are a few great old (and some new) films that I felt were worth mentioning.
* The Way We Were – can’t we just go back to our old system? I know it was a dinosaur, but at least it worked!
* The Sting – kinda the way you’ve been feeling since you were selected to be the project manager—“Stung!”
* Heaven Can Wait – …because I’ll get this mess sorted out before the boss gets back and kills me!
* 12 Angry Men – the project champion, the subject-matter expert (SME), the company president, the board of directors, the chief financial officer (CFO) …
* Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – the individual responsible for this nightmare (the software implementation project manager) has just been renamed “Garfield”
* The Longest Day – waiting for things to go from bad to worse.
* Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – unless that happens to be the name of your chief technical officer (CTO).
* Deliverance – Something you’ll certainly hope for after you’ve signed on the dotted line.
* Network – without it, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog!
* As Good as It Gets – considering that our controller wanted to save a lot of money on this project…
* Lost in Translation – “You forgot to do what?”
To ensure your company’s software selection project events won’t end up on my next Oscar list of Best Pictures (or worst implementation nightmares), I suggest taking a look at TEC’s Evaluation Centers. This will help put you on the path to what will be your best performance yet!
So, to add a little humor to your day—especially if you’re from the upper northeast of the United States or eastern Canada where the rain may be finally “getting to you”—I’ve added a little of my own take on what these movies would be about if they were written with enterprise software implementations in mind.
Even if you’re not a movie buff, but know a little about the trials and tribulations of software deployments, I’m sure you’ll get a kick outta these! For true movie fans, I’ve even added the years these films won.
1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-1930) – the hopeful outcome of your enterprise software implementation.
2) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) – users, users everywhere, and not a computer in the place working properly!
3) It Happened One Night (1934) – yeah, the evening of “Go Live”.
4) Gone with the Wind (1939) – that’s what happened to the money that we spent on this “piece-of-crap” system.
5) The Lost Weekend (1945) – that’s how long it took for us to recover the data and get the system up and running again.
6) From Here to Eternity (1953) – the hope for our future with our new 1.6-million-dollar enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
7) In the Heat of the Night (1967) – as the servers overheated and the smoke thickened, I decided if I made it to the airport fast enough, I could get out of the city before sunrise!
8) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – yeah, the project implementation manager! He’s spending some time at Betty Ford.
9) Rocky (1976) – need I say more?
10) Dances with Wolves (1990) – really more of what happens prior to implementing the software whilst whittling your long list down to a mere few.
11) Unforgiven (1992) – this is what’s going to happen if we don’t get this working soon.
12) Titanic (1997) – the ship is sinking, but as captain of this ship, I will make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.
13) Million Dollar Baby (2004) – that’s how much we spent on the new system!
14) Crash (2005) – not necessarily the way I wanted “Go Live” day to end.
15) Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – the vendor from whom we purchased this wonderful application is laughing all the way to the bank.
…and a Few Honorable Mentions
Although they never won an Oscar, here are a few great old (and some new) films that I felt were worth mentioning.
* The Way We Were – can’t we just go back to our old system? I know it was a dinosaur, but at least it worked!
* The Sting – kinda the way you’ve been feeling since you were selected to be the project manager—“Stung!”
* Heaven Can Wait – …because I’ll get this mess sorted out before the boss gets back and kills me!
* 12 Angry Men – the project champion, the subject-matter expert (SME), the company president, the board of directors, the chief financial officer (CFO) …
* Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – the individual responsible for this nightmare (the software implementation project manager) has just been renamed “Garfield”
* The Longest Day – waiting for things to go from bad to worse.
* Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – unless that happens to be the name of your chief technical officer (CTO).
* Deliverance – Something you’ll certainly hope for after you’ve signed on the dotted line.
* Network – without it, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog!
* As Good as It Gets – considering that our controller wanted to save a lot of money on this project…
* Lost in Translation – “You forgot to do what?”
To ensure your company’s software selection project events won’t end up on my next Oscar list of Best Pictures (or worst implementation nightmares), I suggest taking a look at TEC’s Evaluation Centers. This will help put you on the path to what will be your best performance yet!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Milenge Milenge Review
Genre: Romance
Director: Satish Kaushik
Producer: Surinder Kapoor
Presenter: Boney Kapoor
Music Director: Himesh Reshammiya
Star Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Satish Shah, Delnaz Paul, Aarti Chabria
Release Date: December 4, 2009
Milenge Milenge Pre-release Review
‘Milenge Milenge’ is a romantic love story, which entails a strange twist of destiny for the lovers. Priya (Kareena Kapoor) is a student and an assistant choreographer living in Mumbai. She is an orphan, who has always dreamt of a family of her own, after marriage. She writes a diary outlining the man of her dreams and the qualities that he should posses. Priya meets a tarot reader, Sunita Rao, who predicts that she will find love in South Africa.
Priya is pleasantly surprised when she is chosen to attend a youth festival in South Africa and cherishes the possibility of bumping into her dream man. Amit (Shahid kapoor), who is based in Delhi, also chances upon visiting the African country. A beautiful stroke of serendipity makes both Amit and Priya meet and fall in love. However, Amit is just the anti-thesis of the man Priya wants. He portrays a different personality after reading Priya’s diary, to fit into the romantic image of the man she had imagined a thousand times in her dreams.
As fate would have it, Priya gets to know that Amit is an imposter and has lied to her. She is shattered and decides to leave Amit, who does try to explain that it was destined for them to meet and that they are made for each other. However, Priya is adamant and they part ways only to meet again after a span of three years. What will happen when the two ex-lovers cross path once again? Will Priya realize that Amit is indeed her destiny? Hit the theaters on December 4, to know the answers.
Aaftab Shivdasani
Profile
Date of Birth: 25 June, 1978
Nickname: Faffy Address: 22, Mistry Court, Opposite CCI Club, Churchgate, Mumbai-20. Height: 6' (1.83 m)
Education: Bachelor of Commerce, HR College, Mumbai.
Debut Film: "Mast" Film Awards: Filmfare Best Debut Award for "Mast"Zee Cine Best Villain Award for "Kasoor" Nation Honor Awards for "Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai"
Mini Biography
Aftab Shivdasani is not new to Bollywood. He had acted as a child artist in the late 80's and early 90's in films such as "Mr. India", "Shahenshah", "Chaalbaaz" and "Insaniyat". Aftab made his debut as the lead actor in Bollywood with "Mast" opposite Urmila Mantodkar. Though "Mast" was not successful at the box office, yet Aftab Shivadasani's performance in the movie won accolades. He won Filmfare Best Debutant Award for his performance in the film "Mast". Then he did "Kasoor" opposite Lisa Ray. This was a thriller movie in which he had done a negative role. Aftab Sivdasani received Zee Cine Best Villain Award for his performance in the movie "Kasoor". Since then he had done more than a dozen films with mixed response from audience as well as at box office. Aftab Shivdasani's hit films are-"Awara Paagal Deewana", "Hungama" and "Masti". Many of his films have done poorly at the box office; still he has been getting decent reviews for his acting from fans as well as critics.
Filmography
Dus Kahaniyaan, Speed, Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee, Red, Jaane Hoga Kya, Ankahee, Shaadi Se Pehle, Mr. Ya Miss, Koi Aap Sa, Masti, Footpath Hungama, Darna Mana Hai, Pyaasa, Awara Paagal Deewana, Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche, Pyar Ishq aur Mohabbat, Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, Kasoor and Mast. Trivia
Aftab's parents are of different religious backgrounds. His mother is a Parsi and his father is a Hindu.
He shares his birthday with his father (25th June).
Aftab did his schooling from St. Xavier's High School, Mumbai.
Aftab's parents are of different religious backgrounds. His mother is a Parsi and his father is a Hindu.
He shares his birthday with his father (25th June).
Aftab did his schooling from St. Xavier's High School, Mumbai.
Jackie Shroff
Date of Birth: 1st February, 1957
Nickname: Jagga Height: 6' (1.83 m)
Address: Le Pepeyon, Mount Mary Road, Bandra, Mumbai- 400 050. Debut film: "Swami Dada" Film Awards: Filmfare Best Actor Award for "Parinda". Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for "1942 A Love Story" Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for "Rangeela"
Mini Biography
Jackie Shroff was introduced to the film industry by Dev Anand in the film "Swami Dada". Subhash Ghai made him star with his film "Hero", which had Jackie in the lead role. Jackie Shrof was often paired with another leading actor Anil Kapoor and together they gave many hit films like "Karma", "Ram Lakhan" and "Parinda". Though he has given a number of successful films but Filmfare Award eluded him for a long time. Jackie won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1990 for his performance in the film "Parinda".Jackie Shroff made great mark in the films "Angaar" where he plays a youth, frustrated with crime and corruption, who takes on a violent campaign against the system and "Gardish" where his portrayal of a common man taking on the criminal elements in society. His other memorable movies are "Tridev", "Khalnayak", "1942 a Love Story" "Rangeela" and "Devdas". Jackie Shroff went on to win Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the films "1942 a Love Story" and "Devdas". In recent times, Jackie appeared as supporting actor in the hit comedy films such as "Apna Sapna Money Money" and "Bhagam Bhag". Jackie Shrof has also established his production company 'Jackie Shroff Entertainment Limited'.
Filmography
Fool n Final, Hum Laakh Chhupayein Pyaar ... Magar , Eklavya, Bhagam Bhag, Apna Sapna Money Money, Bhoot Unkle, Mera Dil Leke Dekkho, Naksha, Asthram, Antar Mahal, Divorce, Kyun Ki, Maryada Purushottam, Ssukh, Aan, Dobara, God Only Knows, Hulchul, 3 Deewarein, Baaz, Boom, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Samay, Sandhya, Devdas, Agni Varsha, Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Mulaqaat, Pitaah, Albela, Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai, Censor, Farz, Grahan, Hadh, Lajja, One 2 Ka 4, Yaadein, Mission Kashmir, Gang, Border, Agni Sakshi, Rangeela, 1942: A Love Story, Gardish, Baap Numberi Beta Dus Numberi, Doodh Ka Karz, Parinda, Ram Lakhan, Tridev, Karma, Hero, Swami Dada and Heera Panna.
Nickname: Jagga Height: 6' (1.83 m)
Address: Le Pepeyon, Mount Mary Road, Bandra, Mumbai- 400 050. Debut film: "Swami Dada" Film Awards: Filmfare Best Actor Award for "Parinda". Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for "1942 A Love Story" Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for "Rangeela"
Mini Biography
Jackie Shroff was introduced to the film industry by Dev Anand in the film "Swami Dada". Subhash Ghai made him star with his film "Hero", which had Jackie in the lead role. Jackie Shrof was often paired with another leading actor Anil Kapoor and together they gave many hit films like "Karma", "Ram Lakhan" and "Parinda". Though he has given a number of successful films but Filmfare Award eluded him for a long time. Jackie won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1990 for his performance in the film "Parinda".Jackie Shroff made great mark in the films "Angaar" where he plays a youth, frustrated with crime and corruption, who takes on a violent campaign against the system and "Gardish" where his portrayal of a common man taking on the criminal elements in society. His other memorable movies are "Tridev", "Khalnayak", "1942 a Love Story" "Rangeela" and "Devdas". Jackie Shroff went on to win Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the films "1942 a Love Story" and "Devdas". In recent times, Jackie appeared as supporting actor in the hit comedy films such as "Apna Sapna Money Money" and "Bhagam Bhag". Jackie Shrof has also established his production company 'Jackie Shroff Entertainment Limited'.
Filmography
Fool n Final, Hum Laakh Chhupayein Pyaar ... Magar , Eklavya, Bhagam Bhag, Apna Sapna Money Money, Bhoot Unkle, Mera Dil Leke Dekkho, Naksha, Asthram, Antar Mahal, Divorce, Kyun Ki, Maryada Purushottam, Ssukh, Aan, Dobara, God Only Knows, Hulchul, 3 Deewarein, Baaz, Boom, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Samay, Sandhya, Devdas, Agni Varsha, Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Mulaqaat, Pitaah, Albela, Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai, Censor, Farz, Grahan, Hadh, Lajja, One 2 Ka 4, Yaadein, Mission Kashmir, Gang, Border, Agni Sakshi, Rangeela, 1942: A Love Story, Gardish, Baap Numberi Beta Dus Numberi, Doodh Ka Karz, Parinda, Ram Lakhan, Tridev, Karma, Hero, Swami Dada and Heera Panna.
Bobby Deol
Date of Birth: 27th January, 1967.
Address: Plot No. 22, 11th Road, JVPD Scheme, Juhu Mumbai-400 049
Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m) Debut Film: "Barsaat"
Film Awards: Filmfare Best Debutant Award for "Barsaat.''
Mini BiographyBobby Deol is son of the popular film star Dharmendra. He made his debut as lead hero with the film "Barsaat" directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The movie was successful at box office. His next movie was "Gupt", which also a big hit and became one of the highest grossing films of the year. Bobby's performance in this film was appreciated by critics and fans. His other movies like "Aur Pyar Ho Gaya", "Soldier", "Dillagi", "Kareeb", "Badal", "Bichoo" and "Ajnabee" has mixed success. Bobby Deol was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in the film "Humraaz". Though his next movie "23rd March 1931: Saheed" failed at box office, where he portrayed the character of real life freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, yet his performance was well appreciated by critics. Boby Deol played a villainous role in the movie "Shakalaka Boom Boom", which failed in India but did better business overseas. Bobby along with his elder brother Sunny Deol and father Dharmendra starred together for the first time in the film "Apne". The film opened to good reviews and did well in India and overseas. His following released films "Naqaab' and "Nannhe Jaisalmer" did not do well.Bobby Deol is married to Tanya Ahuja and has two sons named Aryaman and Dharam.FilmographyBarsaat, Badal, Gupt, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, Kareeb, Soldier Dillagi, Hum To Mohabbat Karega, Bichhoo, Aashiq, Ajnabee, 23rd March 1931: Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Humraaz, Chor Machaaye Shor , Kismat , Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo, Tango Charlie, Dosti, Shakalaka Boom Boom , Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Apne and Naqaab. Trivia
Bobby Deol's birth name is Vijay Singh Deol.
His first film was as child artiste "Dharam Veer".
Actor Abhay Deol is his cousin.
Actress Hema Malini is his step mother.
Bobby's wife Tanya is the daughter of finance guru, Dev Ahuja, owner of 21st Century Finance.
In June 2007 at the recent IIFA Awards show, Boby Deol broke into tears when he was called upon the podium by his father Dharmendra, after his father received the IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bobby Deol's birth name is Vijay Singh Deol.
His first film was as child artiste "Dharam Veer".
Actor Abhay Deol is his cousin.
Actress Hema Malini is his step mother.
Bobby's wife Tanya is the daughter of finance guru, Dev Ahuja, owner of 21st Century Finance.
In June 2007 at the recent IIFA Awards show, Boby Deol broke into tears when he was called upon the podium by his father Dharmendra, after his father received the IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Amrish Puri
Profile
Date of Birth: 22nd June, 1932.
Date of Death: 12 January, 2005.
Nickname: Mogambo
Education: Graduate from B. M. College, Shimla.
Debut Film: "Prem Pujari"
Film Awards: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for 'Meri Jung", "Ghatak" and "Virasat" Sydney Film Festival, Best Actor Award for "Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda" Mini BiographyAmrish Puri was born in Nawanshehar district of Punjab. His parents were (father) Lala Nihal Chand and (mother) Ved Kaur. Amrish Puri had two elder brothers- Chaman Puri and Madan Puri, who were also actors. After graduation, Amrish Puri came to Bombay to act in films. Amarish failed his first screen test and had to find a job with the Ministry of Labour. Meanwhile, he started acting at the Prithvi Theatre and soon he became well known stage actor. Amrish Puri won Sangeet Natak Academy Award for his performance in theatre. Amrish got breakthrough in Hindi films at the age of 40. The first film he had signed was "Reshma Aur Shera" but his first released film was "Prem Pujari". After that he appeared in negative and character roles in a number of movies such as Shyam Benegal's "Nishant", "Manthan", Bhumika" and "Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda". Ambrish Puri became famous in Bollywood as Mogambo from the hit film "Mr. India" directed by Shekhar Kapoor. Amrish Puri did not play only negative roles but also appeared in character roles, which includes kind hearted business man in "Pardesh", father of Jackie Shroff in "Gardish", grandfather in "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke" and Baldev Singh in "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge". His last film was"Kisna: The Warrior Poet". The film was released a few days after his death. FilmographyKachchi Sadak, Mumbai Express, Kisna: The Warrior Poet, Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo, Hulchul, Aitraaz, Taarzan: The Wonder Car, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Lakshya, Dev, Woh Tera Naam Tha, Dil Pardesi Ho Gayaa, Out of Control, Jaal, The Hero, Khushi, Rishtey, Jaani Dushman, Shararat Badhaai Ho Badhaai, Nayak, Yaadein, Gadar, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Censor, Zubeidaa, Mohabbatein, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke , Badal, Shaheed Uddham Singh, Thakshak, Gair Baadshah, Taal, Jai Hind, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, China Gate, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, Koyla, Dhaal, Himalay Putra, Pardes, Virasat, Ghatak, Diljale, Kala Pani, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hulchul, Karan Arjun, Droh Kaal, Tejasvini, Gardish, Damini, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda, Vishwatma, Tehelka, Phool Aur Kaante, Ghayal, Nigahen, Waaris, Shahenshah, Mr India, Loha, Nagina, Mashaal, Coolie, Gandhi, Manthan, Hulchul and Reshma Aur Shera. Trivia
He shaved his head for the role of the villian Mola Ram in Hollwood Movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ". It created such an impression that he kept his head shaved and became one of the most popular villains in Hindi Cinema.
Amrish Puri had a passion for collecting hats, and bought a hat or two on every foreign trip of his. He had a collection of over 200 hats from across the world.
Amrish was a very religious person and a devotee of Lord Shiva.
His autobiography titled, 'The Act of Life' was published in 2006.
He shaved his head for the role of the villian Mola Ram in Hollwood Movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ". It created such an impression that he kept his head shaved and became one of the most popular villains in Hindi Cinema.
Amrish Puri had a passion for collecting hats, and bought a hat or two on every foreign trip of his. He had a collection of over 200 hats from across the world.
Amrish was a very religious person and a devotee of Lord Shiva.
His autobiography titled, 'The Act of Life' was published in 2006.
Ashok Saraf
Ashok Saraf (born June 4) is an Indian actor and Comedian. He has appeared in many Hindi and Marathi movies.
Ashok Saraf has been well-known for his great comedies and is considered to be one of the best Marathi comedians. Apart from films, Ashok Saraf has also starred in television serials like "Yeh Choti Badi Baatein" and Hum Paanch.
Ashok Saraf is known as the Amitabh Bachchan of the Marathi Film Industry[citation needed] and has essayed a variety of roles. His acting prowess is well known and he plays serious, comedy and Villain roles with unbelievable ease. He is married to actress Nivedita Joshi-Saraf. He formed an almost unbeatable pair with Laxmikant Berde, another great comedian from Marathi cinema who has also acted in many Hindi films. Together they have graced many Marathi films and most films were superhits. They are known to be good friends of actor-director Sachin Pilgaonkar and actor-producer-director Mahesh Kothare.
Ashok Saraf has been well-known for his great comedies and is considered to be one of the best Marathi comedians. Apart from films, Ashok Saraf has also starred in television serials like "Yeh Choti Badi Baatein" and Hum Paanch.
Ashok Saraf is known as the Amitabh Bachchan of the Marathi Film Industry[citation needed] and has essayed a variety of roles. His acting prowess is well known and he plays serious, comedy and Villain roles with unbelievable ease. He is married to actress Nivedita Joshi-Saraf. He formed an almost unbeatable pair with Laxmikant Berde, another great comedian from Marathi cinema who has also acted in many Hindi films. Together they have graced many Marathi films and most films were superhits. They are known to be good friends of actor-director Sachin Pilgaonkar and actor-producer-director Mahesh Kothare.
Anil Kapoor
Date of Birth: 24th December, 1959.
Address: 31 Shringar, Presidency Society, 7th Road, JVPD Scheme,
Mumbai- 400 049 Debut Film: "Hamare Tumahre"
Film Awards: Filmfare Best Actor Awards for "Tezaab" and "Beta" Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Awards for "Mashaal" and "Taal" Filmfare Best Actor (Critics) for "Virasat" National Film Awards Best Actor for "Pukar" Mini BiographyAnil Kapoor is a prominent National Award winning film actor and producer of Bollywood. He was born at Chembur in Maharashtra to film producer Surinder and Suchitra Kapoor. Anil Kapur made his Bollywood debut with the movie "Hamare Tumahre". After doing few minor roles in the films like "Hum Paanch" and "Shakti", Anil Kapoor got his first breakthrough as lead actor in the film "Woh Saat Din". His next film was "Mashaal" directed by Yash Chopra, for which he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Anil Kapoor has delivered many commercially successful films which include "Meri Jung", "Karma" and "Mr. India". "Mr. India" was one of his biggest hit films and shot him to super star status. Anil kapoor gave critically acclaimed performance as middle aged lover in Yash Chopra's "Lamhe" but the film proved unsuccessful at the Box Office. Anil Kapur won his first National Film Award in Best Actor category for the film "Pukar". Anil has also produced films such as "Badhai Ho Badhai", "My Wife's Murder", "Gandhi My Father" and "Shortcut". Recently, Anil kapoor's eldest daughter Sonam Kapoor made her debut in Bollywood with the film "Saawriya" opposite Ranbir Kapoor.FilmographyHamare Tumhare, Ek Baar Kaho, Hum Paanch, Shakti, Woh Saat Din Mashaal, Saaheb, Pyaar Ka Sindoor, Chameli Ki Shaadi, Janbaaz, Karma, Mr. India, Kasam, Ram-Avtar, Sone Pe Suhaaga, Tezaab, Inteqam, Ram Lakhan, Eeshwar, Rakhwala, Parinda, Kishen Kanhaiya, Jeevan Ek Sangharsh, Jamai Raja, Benaam Badsha, Pratikar, Lamhe Beta, Heer Ranjha, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Laadla, 1942: A Love Story, Trimurti, Loafer, Mr. Bechara , Judaai, Virasat, Deewana Mastana Kabhi Na Kabhi, Gharwali Baharwali, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, Biwi No.1, Taal, Pukar, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, Nayak, Badhaai Ho Badhaai , Om Jai Jagadish, Calcutta Mail Musafir, Bewafaa, My Wife's Murder, No Entry, Chocolate, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Darna Zaroori Hai, Salaam-e-Ishq and Welcome. Trivia
Boney Kapoor, a film producer is elder brother of Anil Kapoor.
Anil is married to his dress designer Sunita who owns an integrated dance and exercise academy in Juhu. It's one of the best 'Aerobic Gyms' in Bombay. Anil has two daughters 'Sonam' and 'Rhea' and one son 'Harshavardhan'.
Boney Kapoor, a film producer is elder brother of Anil Kapoor.
Anil is married to his dress designer Sunita who owns an integrated dance and exercise academy in Juhu. It's one of the best 'Aerobic Gyms' in Bombay. Anil has two daughters 'Sonam' and 'Rhea' and one son 'Harshavardhan'.
For an alien-abduction movie
there are surprisingly few aliens in The Fourth Kind. In fact, there are none. There are alarming bursts of the ancient Sumerian language, either rumbling away on a microcassette or spat out by humans videotaped while under hypnosis. And something, some shadow rolling across the sky, can be seen in footage recorded by a police car's dashboard camera, before that tape becomes hopelessly scrambled. But no aliens. Why are the aliens so shy? Because The Fourth Kind is a movie that mixes archival audio and video with dramatizations. While it's one thing to capture the psychological aftermath of alien abduction and possibly a glimpse of a real-life UFO, to find any video of actual extra-terrestrials would be a bombshell that no director or movie studio could sit on.
That's one possibility. The other is that The Fourth Kind is a colossal blunder of a hoax—an attempt to capitalize on widespread UFO belief that's cynical even by Hollywood's standards. In claiming its fact-based bona fides, the movie isn't winking knowingly at the audience, adopting the found-footage style of The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. This movie means it. It opens with actress Milla Jovovich explaining that the movie is about events that occurred between Oct. 1 through 9, 2000, that she's portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler, a "renowned psychologist," and that "every dramatized scene in this movie is supported by either archived audio, video," or is based on Dr. Tyler's "extensive interviews with the director." In the world of UFOlogy, aliens don't show up on camera. Witnesses, abductees and investigators all find threads of evidence, but there's nothing cohesively tying them together. For The Fourth Kind to appear real, it can't give us extraterrestrials, just the wreckage in their wake. The result is a movie terrified of ever delivering its own payoff. But its failure as a film is less about bad acting and clumsy direction; it's that it inhabits its demographic too well. Silly as it is, The Fourth Kind stumbles onto some of the biggest problems facing the discussion and investigation of UFOs, alien abductions and every other suspected act of interplanetary aggression.
That's one possibility. The other is that The Fourth Kind is a colossal blunder of a hoax—an attempt to capitalize on widespread UFO belief that's cynical even by Hollywood's standards. In claiming its fact-based bona fides, the movie isn't winking knowingly at the audience, adopting the found-footage style of The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. This movie means it. It opens with actress Milla Jovovich explaining that the movie is about events that occurred between Oct. 1 through 9, 2000, that she's portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler, a "renowned psychologist," and that "every dramatized scene in this movie is supported by either archived audio, video," or is based on Dr. Tyler's "extensive interviews with the director." In the world of UFOlogy, aliens don't show up on camera. Witnesses, abductees and investigators all find threads of evidence, but there's nothing cohesively tying them together. For The Fourth Kind to appear real, it can't give us extraterrestrials, just the wreckage in their wake. The result is a movie terrified of ever delivering its own payoff. But its failure as a film is less about bad acting and clumsy direction; it's that it inhabits its demographic too well. Silly as it is, The Fourth Kind stumbles onto some of the biggest problems facing the discussion and investigation of UFOs, alien abductions and every other suspected act of interplanetary aggression.
Billy Wilder made great movies in three languages
Billy Wilder made great movies in three languages. Born in what is now Poland of Jewish heritage, Wilder was directing films in Germany when Hitler came to power. He fled to Paris, directed films there, and eventually landed in America without knowing a word of English – yet promptly became one of the most successful directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. His films are marked with wit, cynicism, irony and comedy that ranges from biting to effervescent. Above all, Billy Wilder’s films are richly entertaining. For comic fluff, see Some like it Hot or The Seven-Year Itch, both with Marilyn Monroe. For great film noir, don’t miss Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity.
Bacharach studied with French polytonal
Bacharach studied with French polytonal composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), who "attached extreme importance to melodic line, superimposing different keys to produce a polytonal texture characteristic of his style" (Larousse Encyclopedia of Music). And he claims to have been deeply influenced by Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suite, a strikingly atmospheric Impressionist piece featuring a huge orchestra, a wordless chorus for extra flavor, and a panoply of percussion, including a wind machine. (Two fabulous recordings of the full ballet, from which the Suite was adapted: a stunning digital disc by Charles Dutoit and Choir and Symphonie Orchestra of Montreal [RealAudio sample available via Amazon.com]; and an equally impressive late '70s performance by Pierre Boulez with the New York Philharmonic and the Camerata Singers.)
In the liner notes to Rhino Records' The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Bacharach recalls Milhaud encouraging him to "let the melody shine through. 'It's nothing to be ashamed of,' he said." Bacharach never forgot. His melodic structures may be unconventional or oddly shaped, but they are unashamedly glorious. Bacharach can drop glittering two- or three-note tune fragments upon one another until he's built a gorgeous melody that surprises you because you didn't hear it coming. These little clusters of notes tease you, keep you guessing, and the overall shape of the melody doesn't become apparent until the last piece is dropped into place:
The lookOf loveIs inYour eyesA lookYour smileCan't disguise ("The Look of Love")
or:
But now I fill my life upWith all ICan do toDeaden this sensation("This House is Empty Now," with Elvis Costello)
or even:
Why do birdsSuddenly appearEv'ry timeYou are near?Just like meThey long to beClose to you("Close to You")
In the liner notes to Rhino Records' The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Bacharach recalls Milhaud encouraging him to "let the melody shine through. 'It's nothing to be ashamed of,' he said." Bacharach never forgot. His melodic structures may be unconventional or oddly shaped, but they are unashamedly glorious. Bacharach can drop glittering two- or three-note tune fragments upon one another until he's built a gorgeous melody that surprises you because you didn't hear it coming. These little clusters of notes tease you, keep you guessing, and the overall shape of the melody doesn't become apparent until the last piece is dropped into place:
The lookOf loveIs inYour eyesA lookYour smileCan't disguise ("The Look of Love")
or:
But now I fill my life upWith all ICan do toDeaden this sensation("This House is Empty Now," with Elvis Costello)
or even:
Why do birdsSuddenly appearEv'ry timeYou are near?Just like meThey long to beClose to you("Close to You")
Saturday, November 7, 2009
FINALLY..... THE DVD TREATMENT TITANIC ALWAYS DESERVED!!!
Mohd Jafar Finally, the most successful film in the film history gets the dvd treatment it deserves, bringing much respite to the fans all the over the world. Previously available barebones edition dvd has been replaced with a 3disc collector's edition dvd set, loaded with all those great never before seen stuff. Here's what one can look forward to in this edition: New high definition digital transfer with the main feature spread over two discs to get the highest possible picture and sound quality...and thankfully it does include DTS6.1 ES track!!! Never before seen footage (approximately 58 minutes, alongwith the main film but it will be available through branching option on the disc unlike LOTR EXTENDED editions!!) All-new making-of featurettes which will include time lapse footage of the massive set and studio construction. Incredible Alternate Ending - "Brock's Epiphany" 29 Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary which include romantic moments between jack and rose and historical and action shots as well!! Commentary by Academy Award-Winning Director James Cameron Cast and Crew Commentaries by Stars Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart and Oscar-Winning Producer Jon Landau and Executive Producer Rae Sanchini Historical Commentary Visual Effects Breakdown of the Unforgettable Stunts Music Video "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion ...and much more!! Titanic collector's edition is a dream come true not just for all those titanic fans out there but it will be a jewel in any dvd collection!! AND LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT THE LEAST.......if you own a multi-region dvd player or watch dvds from all regions on your DVD ROM, then you have an option of buying from amazon UK where you can choose between the two disc and the four disc set!!
The Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, 1988
Best Picture Little Dorrit, Christine Edzard
Best Actor Tom Hanks, Big and Punchline
Best Actress Christine Lahti, Running on Empty
Supporting Actor Alec Guinness, Little Dorrit
Supporting Actress Genevieve Bujold, Dead Ringers and The Moderns
Director David Cronenberg, Dead Ringers
Screenplay Ron Shelton, Bull Durham
Cinematography Henri Alekan, Wings of Desire
Music Score Mark Isham, The Moderns
Foreign film Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders
Documentary
Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, Marcel Ophuls
Experimental/Independent Film Award
The Last of England, Derek JarmanAmerika, Al Razutis
Special Award
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robert Zemeckis
Experimental/Independent Film Award
The Last of England, Derek JarmanAmerika, Al Razutis
Special Award
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robert Zemeckis
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics are well aware that they symbolically uphold critical and artistic standards in a company town known for churning out "product." Perhaps because they're based in Hollywood, LAFCA members may be more aware of what actually goes into the making of a movie (and just how difficult that is, and how unpredictable the result can be). Accordingly, LAFCA in recent years has added categories the other U.S. critics groups don't acknowledge: music, production design, animation, indie/experimental -- and, each year, a "new generation" award to encourage a promising newcomer, and a "career achievement" award to salute a Hollywood veteran/legend. (The new generation award has been particularly prescient in anticipating good work form people in the early stages of their careers; winners have included Martin Scorsese, Jodie Foster, Spike Lee, Sean Penn, John Carpenter, and Leonardo DiCaprio.)
As the arbiters of hometown quality standards, LAFCA's influence on the Oscars has also been felt in recent years -- particularly with Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. (Eastwood himself actually thanked the critics for setting his Oscar sweep into motion.) And any actor who gets a nod from the LA critics is sure to win a nomination from the Academy. LAFCA isn't afraid of mainstream tastes, or to be a Hollywood booster -- if the movie's good enough. (Unlike the Academy, they did the right thing in 1982 and voted for E.T. over Gandhi.) In the most famous incident in the group's history, the critics intervened in the dispute between director Terry Gilliam and Universal Pictures when Gilliam screened his version of the still-unreleased Brazil for LAFCA members, who voted it the best film of 1985 -- and thus helped Gilliam's cut get distribution.
Perhaps the most enjoyable event of the grueling awards season is LAFCA's awards banquet (held at the Wyndam Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood for the last ten years or so). The critics don't just present the awards, they give (short) speeches about the winners' work. It's rare in a town of fawning and backstabbing to hear articulate people talk about movies, and the people who make them, with varying degrees of eloquence and passion. Some L.A. critics may have a tendency to get a little too involved in the business (it's hard not to, when you're immersed in it everywhere you go, but it kind of upsets the balance between "church and state"), but there's no question that the thing that brought them there in the first place is a real love of the movies.
As the arbiters of hometown quality standards, LAFCA's influence on the Oscars has also been felt in recent years -- particularly with Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. (Eastwood himself actually thanked the critics for setting his Oscar sweep into motion.) And any actor who gets a nod from the LA critics is sure to win a nomination from the Academy. LAFCA isn't afraid of mainstream tastes, or to be a Hollywood booster -- if the movie's good enough. (Unlike the Academy, they did the right thing in 1982 and voted for E.T. over Gandhi.) In the most famous incident in the group's history, the critics intervened in the dispute between director Terry Gilliam and Universal Pictures when Gilliam screened his version of the still-unreleased Brazil for LAFCA members, who voted it the best film of 1985 -- and thus helped Gilliam's cut get distribution.
Perhaps the most enjoyable event of the grueling awards season is LAFCA's awards banquet (held at the Wyndam Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood for the last ten years or so). The critics don't just present the awards, they give (short) speeches about the winners' work. It's rare in a town of fawning and backstabbing to hear articulate people talk about movies, and the people who make them, with varying degrees of eloquence and passion. Some L.A. critics may have a tendency to get a little too involved in the business (it's hard not to, when you're immersed in it everywhere you go, but it kind of upsets the balance between "church and state"), but there's no question that the thing that brought them there in the first place is a real love of the movies.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tabu – A woman of Substance
Tabassum Hashmi – or Tabu as she is known to all of us is the sister of Farha (also an actress of considerable repute) and niece of veteran actress Shabana Azmi, who is a social worker and wife of Javed Akthar.Tabu is no simpering, giggly beauty without brains. She is definitely a woman of substance and an intelligent woman. She puts to waste axioms like Beauty without brains. When a person meets her, he is spellbound by her beauty and radiance and only when talking with her it is apparent that the radiance is due to an intelligent mind.She made her debut in Dev Anand’s Hum Naujawan when she was 16 years old. She came into her own as a leading artiste only after Vijaypath in 1994. She was on a roller coaster of commercial cinema for 2 years after thatShe became associated with meaningful cinema after her role in Astitva. She excelled in Gulzar’s Maachis and owes a lot to him for portraying her talent and ability to get into the skin of the character so well. Gulzar understood that she does not believe in playing a certain character but she becomes the character herself. He was instrumental in grooming her for the more meaningful films.She was asked to choose her role in Meghana Gulzar’s Filhaal. In Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar, she gave an award winning performance.She has not yet tied the knot, as she is not on the lookout for just any relationship. Maybe if she was younger she could have, but now she knows that she has grown up and also understands that previously she had the same shortcomings of women her age. She acknowledges that women generally are more demanding and petty and jealous. Men she feels are more open natured – till they undergo the travails at the hands of a woman.She is looking for a life partner who will understand and liberate her rather than be constrictive to the relationship. She doesn’t mind biding her time till she meets The Man.According to all her directors she is very well behaved on the sets. Madhur Bhandarkar for one feels she does not need time to prepare for an emotional scene. Where an actor would want to be left alone and mope before such a shot, she can just switch on and switch off her emotions. She can be laughing with the technicians’ minutes before she is emoting heartrending sorrow in the scene.
Sushmita Sen
She is very popular in whatever role she does or even when she is being herself - as her innate intelligence and fun-loving nature is like the radiance she wears. This 30-year-old actress has been working non-stop in remote locations.She has also been working on foreign projects. She finds that working for Hollywood movies is good as they are very organized, but even then feels that the Bollywood scene with the songs and dancing are also fun. She is working in Karma Confessions and Holi, where the Indians are represented rather than made fun of.She is also acting opposite Richard Gere in a movie called Expat, which is to be filmed in Argentina. Sushmita plays the role of a Pakistani expatriate. Due to her positive attitude and fun loving nature she accepts all her films whether hits or flops as gifts.Sushmita would love to work with Aishwarya in a movie, but since there has been so much media hype about their so called rivalry that it would take a really good director with a strong story line to be able to do justice to both their status and talent Sushmita has completed a film for Tanuja Chandra – Rockin, where she plays a rock star. She is working opposite Saif and Fardeen for a film by Abbas Mastaan.She has started her own production house called Tantra Entertainment and plans to make at least 3 movies a year. Her dream project is to make an epic on Rani Laxmibai. The subject is being researched thoroughly. Sushmita has also started a leisure company called Sensation – where she wants to launch hotels, spas, lounges and restaurants. To begin with she has initiated work on a pub/lounge in Kolkata. It is a 10,000 sq feet space on the 10th floor of a building, with the view of Victoria Gardens on one side and the Howrah Bridge on the other.
The Amitabh Bachan Phenomenon
The 'Angry young man' of the Hindi Cinema, The Shahenshah of Bollywood, The Uncrowned King of the Indian Film Industry, or quite simply, The Big 'B'. Amitabh Bachan is a phenomenon by himself. The actor, who won a 'star' status from his first hit, "Zanjeer", reigned over the film industry for over two and a half decades, and is still shining. In fact, shining brighter than the newest stars in the Galaxy called 'Bollywood'. But getting to this undisputed status was certainly not a cake-walk, for this simpleton from U.P. Born on 11th October 1942, in Allahabad, Amitabh Bachan is the first of the two sons, a perfect blend of the intellect and strength. Of the east and the west. His father, Harivansh Rai Bachan, was an acclaimed peot and a writer, who came from a very eastern background and his mother, Teji, was from Karachi, a Sikh. After his schooling at Sherwood College, in Nainital, he moved to Delhi University to pursue his degree in Arts. Amitabh Bachan had to face rejections right after his graduation, from getting himself a worthwhile job, because of his introvert and shy nature. And finally, he left for Kolkata, where he secured the job of an executive, in a shipping firm . But, after a few years in Calcutta, he realised that, all along, he had an immense interest in movies. Still very shy to make any effort, and after much contemplation and fighting within his mind whether or not to take the plunge, he finally chucked his job and landed himself in the 'Tinsel Town', and what followed that, is not the history of any individual, but that which changed the history of Bollywood itself. However, Amitabh Bachan had to taste his own share of failures in the form of flops and barely noticed films at the outset of his career, such as 'Saat Hindustani', 'Saudagar'etc., before exploding as the 'Angry young Man' in 'Zanjeer', which not only brought success to the Star, but changed the face of Bollywood for the next two decades. It was the beginning of the 'Amitabh Bachan Era'. He became the 'known by all' formula for hit movies, and movies with Amitabh Bachan, were none but hits. His charm, his charisma, not only tantalised the Indian audience, but Bollywood got notice and recognition even in the international arena, just because of the Big B. He became the 'un-appointed' Ambassador of Bollywood. He is inarguably, the most recognized faces in India and one of the most, across the globe. This became evident when he was estabilished as the star of the millennium, by a BBC poll, where the public placed him ahead of every other charismatic icon of the globe, past or present. Amitabh Bachan has appeared in over 130 films, many of them, particularly those from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, were huge hits. Every hit, bringing him closer to the masses. Because he portrayed the Man from every walk of life. The honest and the bold Police officer, the shy Lover, the angry and disappointed Youth, the Mine worker, the Singer, the Porter, the Waiter, the freedom fighter, the Politician fighting against corruption, and the list is endless. He was the people's own representative. Their Messiah. This became evident after his legendary accident during the filming of the movie, "Coolie". He had almost bid farewell to the mortal world, if not for the wishes and prayers of the millions of those masses. Many, who actually went through physical penance, for the recovery of their Hero. It was as if their life had come to a standstill, till he emerged, out of his Coma. He had gone into hibernation from films for a few years when he ventured into politics, to lend support to his friend, Rajiv Gandhi. Amitabh Bachan fought and won the election for the Parliament from his hometown, Allahabad in 1984, but within a short span of time he had to 'call it quits', due to some bitter experiences. After this, the legend sported a beard, flaunted his grey hair and floated his company ABCL. Not finding much success in that and on the contrary, incurring huge losses, he finally returned to the silver-screen. During this period, he did his best in some not so successful films, but his mighty comeback was with the Indian version of the hit BBC show, "Millionaire", "Kaun Banega Crorepati" in Star Plus. This show not just proved the veteran's skills of being a unique and fabulous host, but also brought him back to the hearts of his people. This time, even coser. To their living room. The Big B was back with a Big Bang. Many such shows followed in the rival channels, but none could even get close to the show of the King. KBC had become a part of people's lifestyle.Their routine for four days a week. Where else would they get more time with to spend time with the star and if persistent, some even got to be at the show sitting face to face, with 'their' Amitabh, in flesh and blood. Amitabh Bachan's professionalism is still treated as the benchmark for many in the industry. Overwhelmed by the star's professionalism, an Indian battery manufacturer, the brand that the actor had endorsed, is making plans to gift the Mega star with a Mega Birthday Card, on his 62nd Birthday. The card will be 2 km long and will have 2000 scrolls to it. And, it will be signed by 6 lakh retailers of that brand across India. The impact, this thespian has created, on people's minds, is beyond description. I still remember my childhood, when my mom used to comb my hair and when i used to make a fuss of that hairstyle, she would convince me by saying, "Beta, this is Amitabh Bachan's hairstyle." My mom never had a problem combing my hair after that. Such is the impression he leaves on us. It is not only immense, but eternal.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Top Ten Military Movies 2000-2009
Ready for a fight? Want to watch the best war movies that debuted in the past nine years? Here are the Real Military Network's pick for the best War films of the past nine years:
1. Gladiator (2000): For the quintessential story of a Roman soldier, the fictional General Maximus Decimus Meridius played by Russell Crowe, who journeys from a General who led legions in battle, to a slave, to a gladiator who defied an Emperor. The opening battle scene is one of the most dramatic ancient Roman war scenes ever filmed.
2. Taegukgi (2004): This Korean made film is the "Saving Private Ryan" of the Republic of Korea and worth your time. It vividly portrays the Korean war (1950-1953), with superbly crafted battle scenes, from perspective of both South and North Koreans.
3. 300 (2007): Highly stylized, but exhilarating, this film depicts the passion and fury of the famous stand of the Spartan 300 against the Persians at narrow pass at Thermopylae. Thermopylae is an important battles to the development of western culture and this is a must see war film to understand why the story of the 300 Spartans resonates to this day.
4. The Alamo (2004): As much as I respect John Wayne movies, this is, bar none, the best Alamo movie ever made. Most historians agree that "The Alamo (2004)" is the most accurate depiction the battle for the beleaguered Texan fortress ever filmed. It is also the most dramatic.
5. "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): For an excellent depiction of the ferocity of the fighting for Iwo Jima (1944) and for showing both sides of the battle.
6. Kingdom of Heaven (2005), for superb battle scenes of the Crusades and the depiction of the Battle (Siege) of Jerusalem.
7. Enemy at the Gates (2001), depiction of the Battle of Stalingrad; for the depiction of the dramatic and monumental Battle for Stalingrad, 1942-1943.
8. The War (in Russian: ?????) (2002) , for its graphic depiction of modern combat in Chechnya during the second Chechen War 1999-2000. This film provides accurate insights to the corrupt Chechen militia, incompetent Russian Army, and the Russian's careless attitude concerning the plight of their soldiers who were captured by the Chechens. The film was made in Russia, but was produced in Russian and English.
9. Napoleon (2002) (TV mini-series): For an exciting view of Napoleonic Warfare. The first episode dramatically depicts young Napoleon's first Italian campaign and his heroic leadership at the Battle of Arcole. This mini-series also depicts the Battles of Eylau, Austerlitz, Waterloo and the retreat from Russia.
10. The Great Raid (2005), for telling a forgotten story of great courage by a group of US Army Rangers who rescue U.S. and Pilipino POWs from a Japanese prison camp during WWII.
Honorable Mentions:
1. The Lost Battalion (2001), for the only WWII war movie of substance created within the 2000-2009 time period.
2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), for brining to life the tactics of naval warfare during the Napoleonic Wars.
3. Saints and Soldiers (2003) for an excellent tale about the Battle of the Bulge during WWII, (December 1944)
4. Hannibal - Rome's Worst Nightmare (2006), this BBC TV depiction of the Second Punic War). The epic battle of Carthage and Rome is dramatically shown in this excellent film.
5. The Patriot (2000), depiction of the American Revolution and particularly for the depiction of the tactics used in the final battle, which is based on the Battle of Cowpens. In the Patriot, Mel Gibson plays the Benjamin Martin, a character loosely modeled after Francis Marion, the famous Southern militia leader known as the Swamp Fox.
Neill Blomkamp Explains the Origin of District 9's Aliens
District 9 imagines a world where aliens came to earth quite some time ago—in the 1980s. Their mothership hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa. Stripped of their leadership by a mysterious disease, the remaining aliens—nicknamed "prawns"—are violent, destructive, directionless worker drones. The government places them in District 9, a refugee camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg. But escalating alien-on-human violence causes the government to send private corporation Multinational United (MNU) to evict the aliens and send them to District 10, 200 kilometers away from the city. MNU places geeky employee Wickus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) in charge, and when he comes in contact with alien matter, he becomes the key to unlocking advanced alien technology—and the most wanted man in the world.
When director Neill Blomkamp designed the aliens for District 9, out August 14, he conceptualized and scrapped as many as 300 versions of the creepy critters. "The first iterations were just pure sci-fi," Blomkamp tells PM's Digital Hollywood. "We were messing around with different ideas, and the artists were throwing around stuff. And I had my own preconceived notion of what they were, so we had a totally different design."
But the turning point came when it clicked for Blomkamp that his aliens were like a hive of insects that had lost their queen. "Presumably, in the spaceship the elites of their hive had been killed through some bacteria or virus or something," he says. "So, it left this vast majority of directionless drones, like termites. I hadn't made the mental connection that they were essentially insects. And then when I made the connection it was like, 'Oh, okay, hang on. Let's start again.'"
Rather than drawing from one particular insect for the creatures' design, Blomkamp looked at a wide variety of bugs and cherry-picked elements he liked. "In certain cases, they really remind me of crickets," he says. "But the finish [on the exoskeleton] was taken from different types of insects. So some of them look like a wasp or a bee, and some have a dung beetle surface. It's not totally biologically accurate, but we mixed and matched insects to just have a general feel of an insect-like creature."
The basics were out of the way, but Blomkamp still had to make the aliens somewhat sympathetic, since the audience needs to empathize with their plight. And prawns that looked completely like insects were not going to do the trick. "Because of how the human psychology and human emotion work, it's not going to be a winning scenario unless they have some kind of structural face [with] similar geometry to the human face," Blomkamp says. "That really drove me f---ing mental when we were designing them, because it felt like the most ridiculous Hollywood cliché that I had to give it a face and eyes, you know, if I was trying to make everything else feel real. But once I overcame that, the design worked and I felt okay with it."
District 9 is shot documentary-style, on location in Johannesburg, so the aliens had to look like they were actually there during shooting; initially, Blomkamp planned to have them on set. He thought he'd shoot actors on set in partial prosthetics—because of the alien's body structure, a full suit wouldn't work—which would increase realism and keep costs down. But the suits, which consisted of a prosthetic upper body with an exposed face Blomkamp planned to replace with a digital alien visage, weren't up to snuff. "We shot tons of footage in the beginning of the suit," he says. "But that just looked like a high school film project, so we got rid of it."
So the prawns had to be all-digital—another challenge, since Blomkamp intended to shoot on location, and motion-capture cameras won't work in daylight and dusk. The director put actor Jason Cope, who plays the aliens, in the suit and sent him to set to film with Sharlto Copley, who plays the hapless Wikus Van De Merwe. Animators later hand-traced, or rotomoted, Cope's movements and applied them to the animated prawns, then painted the actor out of the shots and inserted the digital aliens. (This is the case with the adult aliens, but one
It was particularly helpful for Copley, who had virtually no acting experience prior to District 9. "Whenever there was emotion and intensity, I was always wanting to have Jason there, and they were able to put him there for me in the suit," Copley says. During some action sequences—when Copley would have to act against nothing after the cameras started rolling—"we'd do a pause just with Jason in, just to work out what the block was going to be," Copley says. "They would create a situation where Neil would watch it and be able to put the guys in around the action. You didn't have this restrictive feeling that I imagine actors would have in digital effects normally, where it's a terrible green screen situation and you've got a very limited window of movement."
Cope wasn't the only one who wore prosthetics: When the alien biotechnology begins to mess with Van De Merwe's DNA, Copley wore a prosthetic prawn hand that took anywhere from an hour to six hours for makeup artists to put on. "I'm grateful that was real," he says. "That made such a difference to where that character went for me." The prosthetic, which was on Copley's left arm, was awkward for the right-handed actor. "I preferred to have my right hand free so that I can do stuff in the film. If I had to jump on things, climb on things, I wanted to have my right hand, my human hand, available to help me."
While Copley doesn't know what's next for him—"I would love to do more characters," he says, "so, if I get that opportunity from this, I'll be very pleased and very grateful"—Blomkamp is writing a new sci-fl flick that he hopes to direct. And if District 9 is successful, he says, a sequel is a real possibility. "I'm so keen to go back into the world of District 9," he says. Here's to more aliens in his future.
When director Neill Blomkamp designed the aliens for District 9, out August 14, he conceptualized and scrapped as many as 300 versions of the creepy critters. "The first iterations were just pure sci-fi," Blomkamp tells PM's Digital Hollywood. "We were messing around with different ideas, and the artists were throwing around stuff. And I had my own preconceived notion of what they were, so we had a totally different design."
But the turning point came when it clicked for Blomkamp that his aliens were like a hive of insects that had lost their queen. "Presumably, in the spaceship the elites of their hive had been killed through some bacteria or virus or something," he says. "So, it left this vast majority of directionless drones, like termites. I hadn't made the mental connection that they were essentially insects. And then when I made the connection it was like, 'Oh, okay, hang on. Let's start again.'"
Rather than drawing from one particular insect for the creatures' design, Blomkamp looked at a wide variety of bugs and cherry-picked elements he liked. "In certain cases, they really remind me of crickets," he says. "But the finish [on the exoskeleton] was taken from different types of insects. So some of them look like a wasp or a bee, and some have a dung beetle surface. It's not totally biologically accurate, but we mixed and matched insects to just have a general feel of an insect-like creature."
The basics were out of the way, but Blomkamp still had to make the aliens somewhat sympathetic, since the audience needs to empathize with their plight. And prawns that looked completely like insects were not going to do the trick. "Because of how the human psychology and human emotion work, it's not going to be a winning scenario unless they have some kind of structural face [with] similar geometry to the human face," Blomkamp says. "That really drove me f---ing mental when we were designing them, because it felt like the most ridiculous Hollywood cliché that I had to give it a face and eyes, you know, if I was trying to make everything else feel real. But once I overcame that, the design worked and I felt okay with it."
District 9 is shot documentary-style, on location in Johannesburg, so the aliens had to look like they were actually there during shooting; initially, Blomkamp planned to have them on set. He thought he'd shoot actors on set in partial prosthetics—because of the alien's body structure, a full suit wouldn't work—which would increase realism and keep costs down. But the suits, which consisted of a prosthetic upper body with an exposed face Blomkamp planned to replace with a digital alien visage, weren't up to snuff. "We shot tons of footage in the beginning of the suit," he says. "But that just looked like a high school film project, so we got rid of it."
So the prawns had to be all-digital—another challenge, since Blomkamp intended to shoot on location, and motion-capture cameras won't work in daylight and dusk. The director put actor Jason Cope, who plays the aliens, in the suit and sent him to set to film with Sharlto Copley, who plays the hapless Wikus Van De Merwe. Animators later hand-traced, or rotomoted, Cope's movements and applied them to the animated prawns, then painted the actor out of the shots and inserted the digital aliens. (This is the case with the adult aliens, but one
It was particularly helpful for Copley, who had virtually no acting experience prior to District 9. "Whenever there was emotion and intensity, I was always wanting to have Jason there, and they were able to put him there for me in the suit," Copley says. During some action sequences—when Copley would have to act against nothing after the cameras started rolling—"we'd do a pause just with Jason in, just to work out what the block was going to be," Copley says. "They would create a situation where Neil would watch it and be able to put the guys in around the action. You didn't have this restrictive feeling that I imagine actors would have in digital effects normally, where it's a terrible green screen situation and you've got a very limited window of movement."
Cope wasn't the only one who wore prosthetics: When the alien biotechnology begins to mess with Van De Merwe's DNA, Copley wore a prosthetic prawn hand that took anywhere from an hour to six hours for makeup artists to put on. "I'm grateful that was real," he says. "That made such a difference to where that character went for me." The prosthetic, which was on Copley's left arm, was awkward for the right-handed actor. "I preferred to have my right hand free so that I can do stuff in the film. If I had to jump on things, climb on things, I wanted to have my right hand, my human hand, available to help me."
While Copley doesn't know what's next for him—"I would love to do more characters," he says, "so, if I get that opportunity from this, I'll be very pleased and very grateful"—Blomkamp is writing a new sci-fl flick that he hopes to direct. And if District 9 is successful, he says, a sequel is a real possibility. "I'm so keen to go back into the world of District 9," he says. Here's to more aliens in his future.
District 9 Photo Gallery | ||||
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