Quick comment: Hyundai Equus

Hyundai Equus

Just a quick note on the Hyundai Equus. I admire what the Equus has set out to achieve: to be an ultra-luxury sedan that competes with the S-Class, 7-Series, and A8 that costs tens of thousands of dollars less. The VW Phaeton tried and failed years ago, yet the Equus seems to be going strong. The Equus' interior is well-appointed and attractive, and the exterior utilizes Hyundai's tried-and-true strategy of mixing the best design elements from many different competitors (Lexus LS, Mercedes S-Class, and Buick LaCrosse come to mind) to create a legitimate challenger...even if it is a tad bland/nondescript.

However, there is one feature of this car that really bothers me...the rear door handles are an a really odd angle! It wasn't until I passed one yesterday that I noticed this, and now it is all I see whenever I see this car. There are a couple things Hyundai could have done to avoid this: 1) raise the bulging rear haunches a little higher (if they are what caused the weird angle) or 2) lower the front door handles (which could also create a lower stance).

I know this is a somewhat trivial post, but I couldn't resist :)

Cars in movies: Tower Heist and The Descendants

I watched 2 movies this weekend: Tower Heist and The Descendants, both of which I enjoyed for very different reasons. Tower Heist was an extremely predictable but fun movie starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy doing exactly what the title suggests - stealing from a tower, which in this case belonged to Alan Alda's character. The Descendants was a very moving story about George Clooney's character grieving over his wife's boating accident.

I've always believed that cars represent implicit characters in movies and help cinematic storytellers succinctly divulge important information and traits of characters. I wanted to show how these two movies used cars in an effective manner. Click through for more.