The Lanham Factor

I saw The Dark Knight last week.  I was anticipating this film for some time and it did not disappoint.  For those of you who know me, I can't simply give a "thumbs up/down" review.  So if you're in a hurry…

I highly recommend this movie but I must warn you that it is dark, unhappy, disturbing, and emotionally exhausting.

If you're not in a hurry…

My general sense of the movie is that it is dark and disturbing.  I equate it to disturbing in the sense of Silence of the Lambs.  The story is excellent and superbly told.  The dialog is fantastic and the pace is probably perfect, especially considering the length of the movie (just a hair shy of 2.5 hours).  The movie is probably a solid 20 minutes too long.  An interview with Christopher Nolan revealed that extra footage was added to show more of Ledger's performance as this is truly his swan song.   Now for some specifics.

Production, Direction, Script, Setting, Cinematography, and Score
As with Batman Begins, this film is expertly delivered.  The production is bordering on flawless.  Not only are the sets ideal, the film shows the viewers what they want to see.  Christopher Nolan continues to prove himself one of the best storytellers available.  The script is excellent in that some limited humor is introduced but not forced.  The Nolan/Bale combination truly seem to understand not only Batman but also Bruce Wayne.  The story is delivered in such a way that these two characters are truly distinct (and I won't say more to avoid spoiling anything). 

The cinematography is great.  The camera angles and lighting add to each shot appropriately and produce an overall effect that is consistent throughout the film while at the same time adding to each scene the necessary level of emotion (tension, fear, hate, disgust, etc.).  Nolan impressed me with filming in Chicago (the original model setting for Gotham).  The score is interesting in that it is excellent but not always used.  I recall one scene in particular that was so tense and I remember thinking "This is tense and there is no music."  That alone impresses me and gives credence to both the score and the direction.

Story & Acting
The story is excellent and excellently told.  It is, of course, not very surprising for Batman aficionados.  For those of you who think Tim Burton and Joel Shumacher know Batman, please reconsider and watch Nolan (although Burton knows better than Shumacher).  As the stories are relatively well-known, you might think the film would be unsurprising and maybe even boring.  However, the story is so well delivered that it is tense and exciting yet time is given to breathe and relax.   The dialog is probably as perfect as any and is delivered with the kind of acting that only the greats can deliver. 

The movie is stacked with great acting including:  Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eric Roberts, Cillian Murphy, and Nestor Carbonell.  I am disappointed that Gyllenhaal didn't get more dialog.  She is a phenomenal actor.  The rest of the cast deliver flawless performances.  Oldman is so in character again that it is hard for me to remember who he is under that mustache.  Bale is superb in playing both characters (Batman and Wayne) and demonstrating the struggles between them.  At one point Batman makes a decision and Bruce Wayne must live with the consequences…and it hurts.  Aaron Eckhart continues to impress and his transition feels natural instead of forced. 

Regarding Heath Ledger's performance, I want to avoid giving it attention for the sake of attention due to his death.  However, I simply cannot overlook how impressive his performance is.  Everything about his performance shows his dedication and commitment to delivering, consistently, a difficult and complex character who is a chaotic evil homicidal, maniacal terrorist.  His voices, mannerisms, even the way he sits are delivered so well that it is disturbing.

So I recommend you see it…and if you have seen it let me know what you think.

Many years ago I purchased my first house.  One of the first morning's in the house (a Saturday I believe) my  (ex) wife fetched breakfast at Burger King while I continued installing child safety devices.  She returned with baked, unhealthy yet totally tasty and satisfying treats from the King.  Among the choices was a box (or two) of Cini-Mini's. 

I stared at the box quickly becoming fascinated with the design.  I have always been a curious type.  Also, I am a process geek.  I am interested in learning about how things are designed and built.  Although I was just finishing college, I was already feeling the frustrations of poor / no process.  While staring at the box I started pondering the design. 

I can't seem to find an image of the box so my textual description will have to do.  Things I noticed about the box:

1) Graphics - The graphics on the box (such as the Burger King trademark logo and the name of the product) are printed at an angle with respect to the sides of the box.
2) Size - The container is designed to hold precisely 4 miniature cinnamon rolls.  The cinnamon rolls are an unusual size for cinnamon rolls.  The icing container holds enough icing for the four cinnamon rolls.  (It's actually a little more than I like.)
3) Layout - The container is designed to provide a space to house a single container of icing.  As such, the icing containers are not part of the box and, instead, are inserted into the overall container at purchase time.

While standing there observing these aspects of the container a thought occurred to me that has stayed with me over the years.

"More design time went into this box of Cini-Minis than into most software systems."

Does that make anyone else sad?  If you think about it for a minute, you can see the Vision document forming in your mind…

1) Sales & Marketing - If we put the graphics at right angles to the container then we can get as many graphics on a single container.  Furthermore, angular graphics are more catchy than perpendicular graphics.  At what angle shall the graphics be printed?
2) The Food Itself -  How many rolls shall we put?  This one is great because it drives EVERYTHING.  They must have conducted some research into approximately how much food a test group consumes.  How much icing is consumed with the number of rolls we've chosen?  Do we need to redesign the container for the amount of icing?
3) Preparation - Is the size of the roll conducive to our existing kitchen equipment?  How long does it take to prepare this item? 
4) Shipping - Let's put the icing in the container at purchase time.  This way we can flatten the containers completely for shipping.  This also allows us to ship the containers in a non-refrigerated vehicle.
5) ROI - How much will we charge?  Is this amount profitable given the manufacturing of the containers, the food, the size, the marketing, etc.?

Many of these items are business and system supplemental requirements but you can easily play a similar scenario to form use cases.   So what's my point?

Cini-Mini Syndrome (noun) - A situation wherein less effort is expended sufficiently planning and designing a business software system than a snack. 

Think about the business systems you have in your organization.  Did anyone consider integration?  Reuse?  Modularity?  Service-Orientation?  Or, instead, did someone throw together a system as quickly as possible and now they spend their days maintaining it by quickly adding new functionality or updating records in the database directly?

The next time you are building a software system, use a simple litmus test.  "Do I have enough information to implement Cini-Minis?"  Have you before or do you now experience The Cini-Mini Syndrome?   What advice do you have for combating these situations?