lady

Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" is, for my money, the greatest (anti-) war film ever made. It also broke new ground in film sound mixing, and the newly remastered three-disc version, "Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure" sounds substantially better on Blu-ray than it did on the previous "Apocalypse Now Redux" DVD.

The 1080p transfers were supervised by the director, and the new Blu-ray is the first disc release in the original wide-screen theatrical aspect ratio (2.35:1). The "Full Disclosure" set also includes "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," a feature-length documentary (with optional audio commentary from Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola) that was originally released in 1991.

I'm not going to review the Blu-ray's video quality, other than to say it looks great. The DTS Master Audio sound is truly exceptional; I directly compared it with my "Apocalypse Now Redux" DVD that was remastered in 2006 in Dolby Digital sound.

The first thing I noticed about the Blu-ray's surround mix was that it was bigger and more expansive than the DVD's. The film's sound mixer/designer, Walter Murch, produced a remarkably layered landscape. The jungle scenes are populated with a vast array of insects and birds, the sound of wind is sometimes subtly mixed with a vocal chorus, and the far away rumble of bombs exploding will test your subwoofer's stamina. Returning to the DVD's duller and muddled soundtrack was a big letdown.

The "Apocalypse Now: Full Disclosure" set is jam-packed with nine hours of extras, but two short featurettes, "The Birth of 5.1 Sound" and "The Final Mix" were the standout attractions for me. The "Apocalypse Now" sound mix was so complex the engineers were required to work 12-hour days from November 1978 to August 1979 (that's about three times longer than it takes to mix the average big budget feature film). "Apocalypse Now" was the first film with stereo surround channels, which is one of the reasons it sounds so much better than other films of the 1970s or 1980s. … Read more

Not impressing her with your slick smartphone and intimate knowledge of the Duke Nukem Forever release schedule? Scientists in England say they've identified the key dance moves that make men irresistible to the ladies. And no, the King Tut isn't one of them.

Not surprisingly, the dance moves considered "good" signal health, vigor, or strength--and, by association, a man's reproductive prowess, say the researchers at Northumbria University in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Their findings are published Wednesday in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

The researchers, led by psychologist Nick Neave and researcher Kristofor McCarty, filmed 19 male volunteers aged 18 to 35 with a 3D motion capture camera system as they boogied to a basic rhythm. Their real-life movements were then mapped onto feature-less, look-alike avatars so heterosexual women could rate their steps without being prejudiced by dimples or come-hither baby blues.

The results showed that eight movement variables made the difference between a Patrick Swayze and a male Elaine Benes. These included the size of movement of the neck, trunk, left shoulder, and wrist; the variability of movement size of the neck, trunk, and left wrist; and the speed of movement of the right knee. Yes, the right knee.

And in case you're taking notes, fellas, the women apparently appreciated large and varied neck and trunk movements. Which could bode well for The Sprinkler (assuming it's executed with some degree of rhythm and grace).

"We now know which area of the body females are looking at when they are making a judgment about male dance attractiveness," Neave said. "If a man knows what the key moves are, he can get some training and improve his chances of attracting a female through his dance style."

The team plans to carry out further research to hone its theories about dance and mating. In the meantime, men wishing to impress the gals at the nightclub might do well to study the below videos demonstrating "good" and "bad" moves. And wear red. … Read more

As the history of the world over the last year or two has shown, it is not easy to work in a bank. It places special, even unique, pressures on individuals, so that some make the occasional "split second of misjudgment."

Such a split second occurred for the clearly stressed British bank worker Mary Bale, who tried to bring a little levity to her day by putting a cat in a trash bin, where it remained unrescued for 15 hours.

There will be some who will say: "Well, at least it wasn't a baby." Yet … Read more

In a classic case of life imitating art, more and more girls around the world seem to be all gaga over circle contact lenses that make one's eyes look like an anime character on crack--a look now famously embraced by Lady Gaga in her music video Bad Romance (below).

This trend, described by The New York Times last week (one girl the paper interviewed owns and wears 22 pairs) and lamented by eye-care specialists across the news media, has the potential to scratch corneas and lead to a rise in eye infections and corneal ulcers that in turn could … Read more

On today's ever more open Web, to whom do you want to be closer? Is there someone for whom you wish to express your affection, your desire, or your admiration, perhaps in the hope of getting some in return?

May I give you just two choices? President Obama or Lady Gaga.

Perhaps you feel I am limiting you too much. But this is an issue of such importance, one that will show just what the world sees when it looks in the mirror.

On the one hand, we have someone who is trying to rectify so many wrongs. Someone … Read more

404-listener Blake Stevenson heard us fanning out on The Sandlot during yesterday's episode, so he whipped up a 404ified poster for today's blog image. Thanks Blake!

It's almost the end of the work week, so Natali Del Conte is on the show and she's bringing the dirty starting with the queen of filthy pop, Lady Gaga. According to video analytics company Visible Measures, the diva has just become the first artist ever to achieve one billion online video views thanks to her three hit singles: Poker Face, Just Dance, and Bad Romance. If you're new to Gaga fandom, you have a lot of homework to do, because the one billion doesn't even count her live performances, video diaries, and popular interviews--not to mention her upcoming 3D concert DVD. Speaking of which, anyone have extra tickets to the sold-out MSG show in July?

On a completely unrelated note, law enforcement can now expose and track pedophiles by their typing habits. Apparently the typing speed and rhythms of these predators are unique and researching are currently investigating ways to identify the typist's age, sex, and culture within TEN KEYSTROKES! We're fully backing any new methods that put these idiots behind bars, but with no explanation of exactly how pedophiles type, we can't help but be skeptical with their findings. How about casting a smaller net and focusing on the dude asking for a WEP password at Chuck E. Cheese?

Be sure to stick around to hear Natali and the guys debunk 5 myths about the male body, starting with this foolish rumor about shoe size. The days of being too ashamed to ask a shoe salesperson for your size 7 loafers are over!

All this and more stories guaranteed to leave a bitter taste in your mouth, plus a new "E-mails From the Public" segment that forces us to question our potty-mouth promos. Talk to you tomorrow!

The creative director for an image line at Polaroid was on Wednesday named as the first to achieve 1 billion views online.

Did this creative director remove clothes before achieving such astonishing Web fame? Why, yes. This creative director once removed all clothing and replaced them with plastic bubbles for a magazine cover.

Did the shareholders know? Perhaps only one or two. For this creative director is the sprightly alleged homage queen to, well, Queen, Bowie, and Madonna: Lady Gaga. Your (oh, yes, I'm blaming you for this) Fair Lady is quite an aficionada of tech, having wafted through CES earlier this year … Read more

Hey 404 listeners, we're having some trouble with the iTunes feed, so we're hoping this new blog will address the issue. Thanks for your patience!

Your friends, The 404

Check back soon for video, sorry for the delay!… Read more

Natali Del Conte is back from a quick trip to Europe and will be on the show every Thursday to get down with the nerdy dirty. We're hoping that she'll also help us raise $1,000,000 for a bid on Sex.com. The domain has a rich history of ownership and even spurned a book based on its popularity. The site originally belonged to Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com, then changed hands for 14 million dollars to a company called Escom, and is up for auction next month as part of a foreclosure deal. We each have our own ideas about what we would do with it, but we can all get into the idea of broadcasting the Official Sex.com Podcast. If nothing else, the SEO would work much better than The 404.

Rock Band 3 has already been confirmed for the 2010 holiday season, but fans of the franchise can get their Gaga on next week singing the pop star's hit singles "Bad Romance," "Just Dance," "Monster," and "Poker Face." Being the unabashed Lady Gaga fan that I am, I'm obviously ecstatic, but since I don't personally own a gaming console, the best solution would be for YOU to buy it, send me a Twitter message with your address, and I'll be there within the hour. See you soon!

While we're on my favorite topic of conversation, Sony deserves a mention for unveiling its new PS3 motion controller called Move at this year's Game Developers Conference. Phallic though it may appear, the light on top of the handheld device apparently serves a purpose, although you'll have to listen to Jeff's explanation to get the full story, because I'm still scratching my head. Sony hopes that the move will gain popularity among both casual and hardcore gamers, with games that let players simulate sword fights, bows and arrows, guns, and more. You can purchase a Move starter kit this fall that includes the controller, a PlayStation eye camera, and a game all for less than $100. More details to follow!

A very special thanks to 404 listener Bernard in Ottawa for sending us one of the best voice mails we've ever played on Calls From the Public. He calls in reference to Monday's discussion about "Legend of the Guardians," aka Owl Movie, and his delivery has Jeff in tears. It's so good, in fact, that we posted it online for you to hear, so check it out!