tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362217392024-03-07T15:34:51.053-06:00Say it Ain't So, GeoA smart (or at least smartass) look at life thru pop culture-colored glassesGeohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.comBlogger196125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-8565954800018350982009-11-16T05:38:00.003-06:002009-11-16T06:05:29.432-06:00Stop Giving Roland Emmerich Money...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjun7Wt0VMwXCocG5WeEX2vuJembxSllDShgPX-kGbFSHoy9FNdJ0xijTanjW5_98hwCC-ocOsHDEvKKreZgQmwT3BqrMVzJmy0AGuXSSDK7OWUYJY-6xhIpGH79gpE3FurOp2A/s1600/two_thousand_twelve_ver2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjun7Wt0VMwXCocG5WeEX2vuJembxSllDShgPX-kGbFSHoy9FNdJ0xijTanjW5_98hwCC-ocOsHDEvKKreZgQmwT3BqrMVzJmy0AGuXSSDK7OWUYJY-6xhIpGH79gpE3FurOp2A/s320/two_thousand_twelve_ver2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404664785172756706" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...or he'll keep making crap like this. After the dubious accomplishments of directing <a href="http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/11/13/roland-emmerich-considering-two-independence-day-sequels/">Independence Day</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/">Godzilla</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After_Tomorrow">The Day After Tomorrow</a> and <a href="http://www.10000bcmovie.com/">10,000 BC</a>, his streak of dreck continues with the abysmal <a href="http://www.whowillsurvive2012.com/">2012</a>. What's shocking is not that it's a complete and total failure; what's shocking is that legitimate talent like <a href="http://www.johncusack.net/">John Cusack</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001605/">Amanda Peet</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiwetel_Ejiofor">Chiwetel Ejiofor</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628601/">Thandie Newton</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Platt">Oliver Platt</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000418/">Danny Glover</a> all signed up to go down with this ship. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/10/woody.harrelson.zombie/index.html">Woody Harrelson's</a> in it, too, but remember, I called it a list of "legitimate talent."</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;">While not as aggressively and angrily incompetent as <a href="http://saysogeo.blogspot.com/2009/06/transformers-blew.html">Transformers 2</a>, this nonetheless deserves to give that piece of trash a run for its money at the <a href="http://razzies.com/">Razzies</a>, awards given out for the worst movie of the year. 2012 is so earth-shatteringly moronic that for much of its brutally overlong runtime (2 hrs and 40 mins) I sat, slack-jawed and stunned, as untold millions of CGI wizardry went to portray John Cusack driving or flying away from a series of escalating earthquakes and doomsday fireballs, only to save humanity by unwinding a rope caught in some oversized gears.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;">This is about where I'm normally subjected to a variant of the "hey, it's a big summer movie, it's not supposed to be smart" argument. No. Because in a world that's recently delivered blockbusters like <a href="http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/index.html">Star Trek</a> and <a href="http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/">Dark Knight</a>, it's no longer acceptable to ignore idiocy as long as it "blowed up real good." So be smarter than I was, resist the money shots in the trailers of cities being destroyed on an unimaginable scale, and avoid at all costs. Waste of time, waste of money.</span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-45207751493955547812009-09-25T13:39:00.002-05:002009-09-25T13:40:38.474-05:00Two Word Review, Too<div style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM-HAtZFU1KhX_2gFF7ZgIki66PMeOtHWhB9R2eU64SoHuOi_w2T0WtFUw53WQN25wNd6IAAcmIIT0wzYmHpkZTYZi_kKymFpW7B-kiwV9mwGHrgkLEelgtLsknNlb6KVtp-i/s1600-h/picture-36-470x470.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM-HAtZFU1KhX_2gFF7ZgIki66PMeOtHWhB9R2eU64SoHuOi_w2T0WtFUw53WQN25wNd6IAAcmIIT0wzYmHpkZTYZi_kKymFpW7B-kiwV9mwGHrgkLEelgtLsknNlb6KVtp-i/s320/picture-36-470x470.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385476668168151266" border="0" /></a>I was.<br /></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-9548107999801824322009-09-23T20:16:00.003-05:002009-09-23T20:20:02.989-05:00Two Eps, Two Words<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMSunDRgcc-kPSyTHrnYAJuzCgHG9kWlKpSkk_oxPBebalDl2rU0rodBjV0Qp-6Jf4izA4zQMx356f1zCAB-7MtB8blGGt3y75u89vkqynWSEbKhmmIoHxqRGqh1Uk0bvnju_/s1600-h/Melrose-Place-1913.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMSunDRgcc-kPSyTHrnYAJuzCgHG9kWlKpSkk_oxPBebalDl2rU0rodBjV0Qp-6Jf4izA4zQMx356f1zCAB-7MtB8blGGt3y75u89vkqynWSEbKhmmIoHxqRGqh1Uk0bvnju_/s320/Melrose-Place-1913.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384836788112961746" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Meh-lrose Place</span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-62546671975818504642009-09-17T15:47:00.000-05:002009-09-17T15:48:09.001-05:009 is Not a 10<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fLj96nsmMws/SrKRsWOamaI/AAAAAAAABEg/r8wlmI_IqJw/s1600-h/nine_ver2_xlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_fLj96nsmMws/SrKRsWOamaI/AAAAAAAABEg/r8wlmI_IqJw/s320/nine_ver2_xlg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382524695727479202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's prolly more like a 7. Maybe an 8 if you're feeling charitable. Oh, and it's not to be confused with District 9 – don't take the kiddies to that one; this one's scary enough. No, this is the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/littlebigplanet?blend=3&ob=4">Little-Big-Plane</a><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/littlebigplanet?blend=3&ob=4">t</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">-Meets-</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWKpQ9yLAT4">Pinocchio</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">-Meets-</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRRJsCp_Rw8">Those-Robot-Bad-Guys-From-The-Matrix</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> "<a href="http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/9/">9</a>." The titular character is a stitched-up burlap animatron given the spark of life, the last creation of a benevolent scientist amidst a post-apocalyptic world ruled by machines.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I gotta say, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://saysogeo.blogspot.com/2009/05/terminator-frustration.html">I'm a little tired of post-apocalyptic worlds ruled by machines</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. You'd think by now that everyone's seen enough movies to know that the second you make an artificially intelligent machine, the government will swoop in to use it as a weapon, then the machine will make more machines, which will in turn rise up and destroy us all. As, apparently, their thanks for creating them. And why is the machines' next task to immediately make the world as dank and unattractive as humanly (or machinely, I guess) possible? Did we not program them to like nice things?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Anyway, as post-apocalyptic worlds ruled by machines movies go, this one's not bad by any means. But for a movie dealing with questions of soul, it's kind of lacking one itself. It's hard to get too terribly invested in the numerical heroes – they're well animated and sort of awkwardly appealing, but basically cyphers instead of characters (ha!) There's the brave one, the shy ones, the dumb one, the mean one, etc. Actually, I guess it's the brave 9, the dumb 5, the mean 1, but you know what I mean.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And their struggle is somewhat ill-defined. There're a couple big metal beasties to get away from, a hazily explained quest to understand their identity, and something about pressing buttons on an archaic-looking version of Simon. They trek from one place to another and back to the same place and all of a sudden, 88 minutes are up and you're kinda scratching your head.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">If you're a tech demo head or a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.timburton.com/">Tim Burton</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> guy, you'll likely love it. The world is pretty beautifully realized (even if it in itself is ugly) and the CGI is well-executed (with the possible exception of the fact that the little burlap people don't exactly move like they're made of burlap, more like you clicked on the burlap texture in Photoshop). The action scenes, battling the remnants of the machines, are spectacular, altho they're representative of the gap – and trap – this flick falls into. It's prolly too scary for kids, but it's definitely too light for adults. And teens aren't gonna think the characters are cool, so who's this movie made for?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Blu-Ray, perhaps, where the stuff'll be less scary and tech geeks can pore over what I can only assume will be countless hours of special features dissecting the 3D modeling and every step it took to evolve 9 from an Oscar-nominated short to a feature film. For the rest of the world? It's ok. If 9 is a 7, it'd equate to a C. An 8, a B. I'll give it a 7.5... C+. Worth a watch... ish.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-37028443707088371342009-09-15T07:44:00.005-05:002009-09-15T09:55:13.764-05:00Rinse. Repeat.<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU6HeNUz47q0K45t1a21_jSclIDQrcBeOuACfJEIH-jJ-u7sryR13tKu18XKggFDK_iYeCP44_9nWlY-JjgUHu8s1gExN5Mw2bNOpBI1zqRJaZ8If7BvxkFa3w38zUMWyoafw/s1600-h/00027239.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtU6HeNUz47q0K45t1a21_jSclIDQrcBeOuACfJEIH-jJ-u7sryR13tKu18XKggFDK_iYeCP44_9nWlY-JjgUHu8s1gExN5Mw2bNOpBI1zqRJaZ8If7BvxkFa3w38zUMWyoafw/s320/00027239.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381674272355888098" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Unfortunately, the most memorable moment of <a href="http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/">Jay Leno</a>'s new(ish) show wasn't the much-ballyhooed "comedy at 9," unless you count confronting a somewhat catatonic <a href="http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/">Kanye West</a> with what his dead mother would've thought of his behavior a barrel of laughs.</span><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span">There was nothing really wrong with <a href="http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/">The Jay Leno Show</a>, but nothing particularly breakthru, either. Perhaps it suffered from several months of non-stop promotion or too many "<a href="http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20090914,00.html">revolution in television</a>" stories, but regardless – the show came off as basically the same stuff that used to air an hour and a half later, just without a desk for most of it.</span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span">And that's not bad, if Jay's your thing. Monologue's the same, segments like Headlines are standard crowd-pleasers, etc... If he's not, the "format experiments" aren't likely to be enough to draw you in. Plus, they seemed mostly lifted from other, edgier shows. <a href="http://thedanband.com/"> The Dan Band</a> segment was funnyish albeit overlong and the faux interview with President Obama had a couple moments, but you've seen both correspondent comedy and interviews assembled via <a href="http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/avid-editing-machine.htm">Avid</a> done better on <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/">The Daily Show</a> and <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/home">Colbert Report</a>.</span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Aside from the intentional awkwardness injected into the <a href="http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/clips/kanye-west/1157073/">Kanye conversation</a>, the sit-down segments seemed pretty standard Tonight Show – Jay's fairly good with his friends, altho seemed to miss the desk, as there was some "which leg do we cross now" fumbling. A staged bit around the idea that <a href="http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/clips/jerry-gets-oprah/1157075/">Jay couldn't book Oprah for his show but Jerry Seinfeld could</a> get her for his segment fell flat.</span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Overall (and admittedly based on one airing), it's ok. Regular Jaywatchers will be pleased, die-hard <a href="http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/">Letterman</a> fans won't be interested, and people without a late-night affiliation will prolly enjoy a comedy bit here and there. The best hope for the future comes from the correspondents – even tho it's not a new idea, they may have the ability to connect with a younger audience the way Jay mostly won't. One almost feels bad not being a big fan; Jay is genuine and sincere, but so far not the innovator the world sold him as.<br /></span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-76712984324256962202009-09-07T08:25:00.038-05:002009-09-07T21:53:10.506-05:00Review Roundup<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Been extra-busy lately, which unfortunately means being less bloggy. "Less" as in I missed much of July and all of August. Sigh. Will try to pick up the pace for the fall TV season, but in the interim here's a quick catchup on the rest of summer cinema...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCu5kklFVnO1BT0nos50Tp5pJSMxed0ZTgouIuUXIfDiS3xhu3JebpS8RSYNCFTQC4XiVtWcGC7Fj1s8tbdkWvcr-T_jP8c-L9lIzBk0FiK9ZRsou5cN-roaJSqA30k-pv0p6/s320/harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince_ver19.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378728776234142802" border="0" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">First up, <a href="http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthehalf-bloodprince/">Harry Potter</a> and the Half-Assed Script - a poor adaptation of one of the least successful novels. The book was largely a 600-plus page setup for the <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/hallows/">Deathly Hallows</a> finale, but at least opened and closed with some spectacular magic scenes that would've played great on screen. Unfortunately, the filmmakers opted to cull most of that excitement in order to include a series of minor moments designed to show the kid cast's emerging acting skills. True, they've rarely performed better, but the lack of action means that the series has rarely moved slower. Plus, the entire movie looks as if it was digitally graded by turning the "drab" setting up to 11. Worth a watch from a completist's perspective, but a wasted opportunity even tho it made a ton of money.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXVpqEedv_QIjHyneu9zgZ3oc4w1brtjH64s3ADcbdJAx3lo5eWPjOLgS3wTxDnAYHPMD6RXRcayifZw6G_AnAApNwDhyphenhyphenWrz8_7htTZuUS0QpHHK1uHN-ZoUwbV_BOsv9XirV/s320/g_i_joe_ver12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378734363655980658" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" border="0" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Wha'dya know? <a href="http://www.gijoemovie.com/">GI Joe</a>, coming from a questionable pedigree and plagued with rumors of horrendous testing, turned out to be pretty good and fairly fun. It's eminently disposable, but executed with such upbeat style that after it zips by, you find you've had a smile on your face the whole time. Saying it's <a href="http://stephensommers.com/site/">Stephen Sommers</a>' best movie (he of The Mummy and Van Helsing "fame" isn't exactly high praise, but it represents a step up from the slapdash trash he's assembled before. Surprisingly worth a watch.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh29PH5fzyckcUNa6R8Q4TrgN9sCGkX1fyG34hqcE4hRBNYR0MieKzGzpRkaJc8xjoN0Uqx3NsNYsVJftK9ycNwZlKm5wzmkEbZFZGfrfX-aefnFrLkPt-rikNOWox2Fopm8ujU/s320/julie_and_julia_ver2_xlg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378738370620239250" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" border="0" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000658/">Meryl Streep's</a> always, well, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meryl_Streep">Meryl Streep</a> – so it's no surprise that the biographical portions that show how Julia Child the somewhat adrift wife became <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/juliachild/">Julia Child</a> the household brand are terrific. She could've come off as a caricature, but instead is a fully-realized and wonderful character. What's a little less compelling is the modern-day portion of the movie, watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Adams">Amy Adams</a> as <a href="http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/">Julie</a> cook and blog her way thru Julia Child's cookbook as a way of dealing with mounting depression. Given that not a lot's at stake (by now we know that both Julie and Julia turn out ok) it goes on a bit long, but overall it's frothy and fun. Worth a watch.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgIgjGtqkfjYIwfdmBlYGqYmmxRiya4Wxr0bwFBUKMRcpBymaAY6OgHeRIOrWlzp5k01mCHEj822bUOYU9Wllyd1C6QIU02MsuKClNY12F30_Q_IR823tm6Apjq6IxaxEqJ3l/s320/inglourious_basterds_ver14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378741397135878994" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" border="0" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Definitely the strangest movie of the summer and one of the oddest I've ever seen. Labeled alternately as audaciously bold alternate history and revenge porn that plays to the basest of instincts, <a href="http://www.inglouriousbasterds-movie.com/">Inglourious Basterds</a> turns out to be, well, both. Anyone expecting a WWII-era <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Bill">Kill Bill</a>-ish romp will be sorely disappointed – while there's gore to spare, it's queasy and unsettling, and while <a href="http://www.tarantino.info/">Tarantino</a> sprays around oodles of his trademark conversational banter, to say the humor is black isn't painting with a wet enough brush. It's a brazen bit of filmmaking, and definitely watchable (depending on your constitution), but it's one of those flicks where you don't exactly feel good about the fact that you think it's pretty good.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOPNMX3SxXbFjXa5DRgDo__gu6I4SlY2swKGiRVIPrq2wtYdN6tZCcXfdR5LTWMbODMpeylF5lZvl6O5Bz2Z3AEKO4t7upuTE8F3CnnbJVlFOH_gXmqm3pz0eMHeoBLxRNYtN/s1600-h/district_nine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOPNMX3SxXbFjXa5DRgDo__gu6I4SlY2swKGiRVIPrq2wtYdN6tZCcXfdR5LTWMbODMpeylF5lZvl6O5Bz2Z3AEKO4t7upuTE8F3CnnbJVlFOH_gXmqm3pz0eMHeoBLxRNYtN/s320/district_nine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378811472914087906" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Part political satire, part science fiction action, pretty much all awesome... <a href="http://www.d-9.com/">District 9</a> is an absolute eye-opener of a movie. It's an unsettling examination of South Africa's apartheid policies set against the backdrop of an alien ship of refugees on the brink of resettlement that grabs you from the first documentary-style shot and keeps upping the tension, barely giving you a chance to breathe until the credits roll. You'll squirm plenty, tho, as the aliens themselves are an odd combination of off-putting and endearing and the overall vibe simply gets under your skin. Shot on a shoestring under the producing arm of <a href="http://tbhl.theonering.net/">Peter Jackson</a>, <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1431107">Neill Blomkamp</a> has created a breathtaking and breakthru piece of intelligent entertainment. Worth a watch... and prolly more than one.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBSvtLdZmZqWjhEdAsKx_RWauT9lKc2MRe3PVpNQXOso_-OBNIWkdUFx-JEau9x-gsueDtWO1qeSbiFiVCAfX1_VzFqyKpcA2fsjOlynkZnx9FtdZov0TGmEKesr3Ridxrwwa/s1600-h/hangover_xlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisBSvtLdZmZqWjhEdAsKx_RWauT9lKc2MRe3PVpNQXOso_-OBNIWkdUFx-JEau9x-gsueDtWO1qeSbiFiVCAfX1_VzFqyKpcA2fsjOlynkZnx9FtdZov0TGmEKesr3Ridxrwwa/s320/hangover_xlg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378820459881463202" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Look, I liked it. There are many moments in the movie that are crazy funny. A ton of 'em, in fact. But I prolly waited a little too long to see <a href="http://hangovermovie.warnerbros.com/">The Hangover</a>, so by the time I did, I didn't love it. Comedies can be very "of the moment," in that so much depends being surprised that when you hear rave upon rave about something being "the funniest movie you've ever seen" it can't help but underwhelm a bit. If, by any chance, you're waiting for Netflix on this one, rest assured – the tale of this trio waking up in Vegas is plenty funny. It's worth a watch – just don't expect it to, you know, cure all society's ills and you'll be fine.<br /><br />And everything else, from <a href="http://www.angelsanddemons.com/">Angels & Demons</a> to <a href="http://www.yearone-movie.com/">Year One</a>, slipped thru to DVD. Ah well, moving on... <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/shows/melrose-place">Melrose Place</a> premieres tomorrow. Not expecting much.</span></span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-64706063575941330342009-07-13T22:20:00.022-05:002009-07-13T23:04:02.324-05:00Full Frontal Funny<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjboT_LuKWGTbl2x8uLepEtys5MnKaV0yazFkjyU8V0B_zjETcdAt-8vUc6RByWMRp8yL1RFcngsHuebAaRCvO3lRQ_BIY6MSgndNe91GCmNA9JSGFYqYr6PTLLFB183POOZKZ/s1600-h/bruno.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjboT_LuKWGTbl2x8uLepEtys5MnKaV0yazFkjyU8V0B_zjETcdAt-8vUc6RByWMRp8yL1RFcngsHuebAaRCvO3lRQ_BIY6MSgndNe91GCmNA9JSGFYqYr6PTLLFB183POOZKZ/s320/bruno.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358150814654341970" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Say what you will about his style of ambush comedy, but you can't deny that </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Baron_Cohen"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Sacha Baron Cohen'</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">s got balls. Because you get to see them. Frequently. Along with everything else.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Much like </span><a href="http://www.boratdvd.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Borat</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, </span><a href="http://www.thebrunomovie.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Bruno</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> is a thinly plotted series of sketches where Cohen admirably keeps in character through largely unscripted interactions with celebs and regular people meant to expose prejudices and biases we'd rather not confront. And also like Borat, it's shockingly, blisteringly and bravely funny.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Instead of ethnocentrism, this time the target is homophobia, altho Bruno does take a bit of a shotgun blast approach, scattering some laughs toward celeb and pop culture as well. The movie doesn't vary too wildly within its 86 minutes, sticking with the basic setup of Bruno sticking his... ah... nose into unprepared situations and pushing the joke far past any arguably point of good taste.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">So while some of the jokes hit harder than others (the scripted setups that advance the story are less illuminating and amusing), pound for pound it's consistently and painfully funny. I wasn't around for classic comedians like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Bruce"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Lenny Bruce</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, but I have to imagine that Cohen represents that spirit for this generation. Debased, dangerous and definitely worth a watch.</span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-65925994275449563452009-06-27T14:54:00.013-05:002009-06-27T15:43:28.496-05:00Transformers Blew<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqfiy4udJUCBNU_qVWD-B46PAD5slC7U0Pr1C2EGDkDu8jOLZ0joOrRv9ZDkWGhyphenhyphen5OGKwJ9PJ67w4K_zTPjBEB5Cc14OhvwRIb6H6Q-7Lbp_tMU_lLsPVsSHuRxl2OVCRvjKA/s1600-h/megan-fox-transformers2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqfiy4udJUCBNU_qVWD-B46PAD5slC7U0Pr1C2EGDkDu8jOLZ0joOrRv9ZDkWGhyphenhyphen5OGKwJ9PJ67w4K_zTPjBEB5Cc14OhvwRIb6H6Q-7Lbp_tMU_lLsPVsSHuRxl2OVCRvjKA/s320/megan-fox-transformers2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352098370586892306" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Ok, let's get it out of the way – yes, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXsd5aw8oas">Megan Fox is hot</a>. There's another <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/06/24/2009-06-24_isabel_lucas_might_make_audiences_forget_megan_fox_in_the_new_transformers.html">plastic slut</a> in the movie that's pretty hot, too. But nobody, no matter how many things they straddle, is hot enough to save this embarrassing piece of miserable garbage.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The <a href="http://saysogeo.blogspot.com/2007/07/improved-with-age-or-just-old.html">first Transformers</a> was a barely coherent mess that wasted a lot of good talent on a lot of bad jokes, topped by a bit of gee-whizzery in initially seeing cars transform. The <a href="http://www.transformersmovie.com/">sequel</a> takes everything awful about the first one and ramps it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven">up to 111</a>, resulting in a two-hour-and-forty-minute excretion of robot porn with staggeringly huge doses of racism, homophobia and misogyny mixed in for good measure.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', fantasy;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', -webkit-fantasy;">The "plot" is an incomprehensible mishmash of other movies – The Matrix, Aliens, Terminator, Robocop, Species, Voltron and so on – creating a hideously mangled abomination that's like being pummeled in the eyes for nearly three hours by a hyperkinetic child made out of DVDs and car parts. And look, no one's expecting a Best Screenplay contender here, but Transformers 2 is so aggressively stupid it fails even the loosest summer movie standards. The "comedy" is mostly drawn in broad strokes that say women are harpies or whores (unless they can fix cars) and black people are shambling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_'n'_Andy#Controversy_and_the_Pittsburgh_Courier_protest">Amos & Andy</a> stereotypes, even when they're robots. A mother character that comes off like a retarded shrew, a parade of so-called college girls that would dignify porn stars, and two new Transformers named Skids and Mudflap that make <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9JX6VRjn0">Jar Jar Binks</a> look like MLK.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', -webkit-fantasy;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', -webkit-fantasy;">After starting as a poster boy for the "MTV-style" of quick-cut editing that made his early movies at least visually compelling, Michael Bay has devolved into a jingoistic manchild with an increasingly warped viewpoint of what constitutes entertainment. <a href="http://saysogeo.blogspot.com/2009/05/terminator-frustration.html">Terminator Salvation was no great shakes</a>, but at least McG, a director in the same team photo, was shooting for some sense of legitimacy. Bay simplifies everything into a jokey slo-mo masturbatory military fantasy that actually makes you feel stupider walking out of the theater than when you went in. His world must be an interesting one to live in, but it sure as hell isn't interesting to watch. Avoid at all costs.</span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-4863160809426831982009-06-14T19:59:00.013-05:002009-06-15T11:27:08.944-05:00Land of the Lost 101 Minutes<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8LIn_89A6CyhRdFa-3bQCr4C8-fHxirjvfgJzwPnh60ZFJuMo-KjvZowG-KuuPgUHYuBvgzDYjXIoNeuhj_ZisC5gFb9tizzVYh7QLi92YBhrcBUTzcnnOsP-kAv1u9XkaLx/s1600-h/slideshow02-harness.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8LIn_89A6CyhRdFa-3bQCr4C8-fHxirjvfgJzwPnh60ZFJuMo-KjvZowG-KuuPgUHYuBvgzDYjXIoNeuhj_ZisC5gFb9tizzVYh7QLi92YBhrcBUTzcnnOsP-kAv1u9XkaLx/s320/slideshow02-harness.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347362227379496450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/will_ferrell">Will Ferrell</a>'s recent <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/slideshows/will-ferrell/photo01.html">Man vs. Wild special</a> was an engaging and entertaining romp through a desolate landscape. His recent <a href="http://www.landofthelost.net/">Land of the Lost</a> movie is not. Instead, it's a joyless CGI cheesefest that runs nearly twice as long and has far less than half the laughs.</span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iZJGFxIbegJNZscVkCVi8A5qmh5Gs2SH4BrjZ2v0D6WokZBN7MFAZmWxF6zdSN1HATmqsmN1v5ESnopLhnF1EoYl9ZywJfD504JgR0yeuRjZeVmNSyKBmabKR8GK-lo9qeA-/s1600-h/land_of_the_lost_ver2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iZJGFxIbegJNZscVkCVi8A5qmh5Gs2SH4BrjZ2v0D6WokZBN7MFAZmWxF6zdSN1HATmqsmN1v5ESnopLhnF1EoYl9ZywJfD504JgR0yeuRjZeVmNSyKBmabKR8GK-lo9qeA-/s320/land_of_the_lost_ver2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347586601136333538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Maybe it's the co-stars – Wild's <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/bio/bio.html">Bear Grylls</a> proves a far more appealing foil than <a href="http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1878309,00.html">Danny McBride</a>, whose redneck smartass routine got old before it began, or winsome (and somewhat random) <a href="http://www.annafriel.org/">Anna Friel</a> who looks lost... as in "my agent just lost her job for putting me in this." Or maybe it's the fact that watching Ferrell find ways to be really funny while in real danger is much more entertaining than seeing him mug it up in a desperate grab for guffaws.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I'll admit I have no love for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Land-Lost-Complete-Limited-Gift/dp/B001SGN1JC">original show</a> – no distaste, but aside from knowing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0MRU1f2SJ0">the song</a> and stumbling across the odd episode in syndication, it's no more than a campy TV footnote for me. So it's not that the movie suffered under a load of fanboy baggage, it's that it's nothing more than a series of sketches lazily strung together by the poorest excuse for a plot in years. "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if the monkeyish sidekick Chaka kept grabbing peoples' genitals? Hey, wouldn't it be funny if the time warping invention constantly played 'gay showtunes?' Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Will Farrell poured dinosaur piss on his face? Twice?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">No. No, it's not. Pass.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-53801448285567015012009-05-23T19:47:00.018-05:002009-05-25T07:45:47.656-05:00Terminator Frustration<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDanD58J61JZ-SS3Ews7mECd79Mc6bkw1XGH1zvMHuc-PHpAM4NDQmBpl-13bWdlDc_midvMLsysYb-KEV2r_3Gvm6_EkqVbMftxOSVJK0sKpT-knaiYbD648GKzxPnFTlYTS/s1600-h/terminator_salvation_ver4_xlg.jpg.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDanD58J61JZ-SS3Ews7mECd79Mc6bkw1XGH1zvMHuc-PHpAM4NDQmBpl-13bWdlDc_midvMLsysYb-KEV2r_3Gvm6_EkqVbMftxOSVJK0sKpT-knaiYbD648GKzxPnFTlYTS/s320/terminator_salvation_ver4_xlg.jpg.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339185780891754370" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">There's a really good flick lurking around in what turns out to be only an ok one. After much fanboy handwringing over what horrors </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McG"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">McG</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> would wreak on the once-beloved franchise, </span><a href="http://terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Terminator Salvation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> ends up being a somewhat unsatisfying mix of unfulfilled plot points set against well-directed if a bit familiar action scenes.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The movie (aside from a quick prologue set in 2003) takes place in 2018, after a self-aware computer system named Skynet became self-aware, decided humanity was a threat, and launched a nuclear war to wipe us out. Previous Terminator films have centered around time-travel where Skynet, unable to stamp out the last gasps of human resistance led by John Connor, have sent cybernetic killing machines back to the past to terminate </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPG-tKLAJuE"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Connor's mother</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL1RE8JXaIw"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Connor himself</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">, even Connor's </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeC-lGnajT0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">future generals</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. The resistance of the future manages to send back one of their fighters to as protection, Kyle Reese, who ends up being Connor's father in one of those time paradoxes it's better not to think too much about. This one, however, is mired squarely in one set of battles concerning a mystery figure named Marcus and the future father, Kyle.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">And that's one of the failings – the film feels somehow small. The action's not, with spectacular set pieces of lil' water terminators, big Harvester terminators, flying hunter-killers, Voltron-esque motorcycle...inators, etc. McG shows a far steadier hand putting these scenes together with more skill and seriousness than one would've guessed from the director of </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pireUuRxe8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Charlie's Angels</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> and </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTJkJVgCGh8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Full Throttle</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. But every other installment has been an ultimate battle to preserve the future, and after the bombs fall and there's not much left to save, the conflicts in this one seem a bit flat. The main mystery of the movie is of new character Marcus Wright's identity, and once revealed, proves to be more of a head-scratcher than a fist-pumper. I'll save you from spoilers, but overall I think his contribution to the continuity is questionable at best.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The strong cast helps: </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000288/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Christian Bale</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> brings suitable gravitas and growliness to John Connor, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0947338/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Anton Yelchin</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> (</span><a href="http://www.startrekmovie.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Star Trek's</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> Chekov, having a pretty big summer) is effective as a fresh-faced resistance fighter, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0941777/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Sam Worthington</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> succeeds to whatever point possible as Marcus, altho </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397171/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Bryce Dallas Howard</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> barely registers as Connor's wife Kate. But they're put through pretty familiar paces – while some of the callbacks to the first films are fun, even the initially intriguing desert setting eventually culminates in yet another fight in a factory.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">A </span><a href="http://www.crazycharlie.tv/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">friend of mine</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> reviewed the film as "too much action," and while I don't quite agree with that, I will say there's definitely "not enough of anything else." Apparently 40ish minutes of character development got left on the cutting room floor, so while I have hope for a more coherent director's cut DVD, the final theatrical film is a a string of set pieces and a jumble of unexplained ideas. Characters fall in and out of love with little explanation, alliances are made and broken without much reason, and what should be a major character's transformative moment raises more questions than it answers. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">That said, the scale of the science-fiction action does carry the day... but barely. It does an adequate job setting up this next trilogy (it's not a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_Menace"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Phantom Menace</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">-level disaster by any means) but it's not truly a "salvation" of a somewhat fading franchise. But as they say in these movies – the future's not set; there is no fate but what we make. So here's hoping they make a more emotionally powerful Terminator 5, because despite this one's faults... </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIyX1jacpBQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I'll be back</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">.</span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-16617700727551285612009-05-12T08:00:00.014-05:002009-05-12T10:56:43.139-05:00Origin Glory<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7X33eEz_yjkyqeu-6FcoHpHMofOWq3DbiSsPcP9egummswRWK6F_SR2uTNkxP9nSP6fIc-wicZI-qvo75ndwiYTkCDnfQqCNWe01iypemEl66YEaZLHnz_MxgEaE4vy4C0qH/s1600-h/star_trek_xi_ver16_xlg.jpg.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7X33eEz_yjkyqeu-6FcoHpHMofOWq3DbiSsPcP9egummswRWK6F_SR2uTNkxP9nSP6fIc-wicZI-qvo75ndwiYTkCDnfQqCNWe01iypemEl66YEaZLHnz_MxgEaE4vy4C0qH/s320/star_trek_xi_ver16_xlg.jpg.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334921618398617650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Lemme start by making one thing clear: I've never been a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.trekdoc.com/">Trekkie</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. Or </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.geocities.com/themikejonas/trekkie.htm">Trekker</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, whatever. The original show always felt like a messy mix of less-than-special effects and awkward allegory to me, and the followups while varying in quality, generally followed suit. And it's not like I'm not a genre geek – in the "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_T._Kirk">Kirk</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> vs. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard">Picard</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">" arguments, I'd prolly answer "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Ackbar">Ackbar</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">." Anyway, lemme also make one more thing clear: this </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.startrekmovie.com/">Star Trek</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> rocks.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Director </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009190/">JJ Abrams</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> has, amazingly, created a reboot that's sincerely respectful to the long-term fans of the franchise but also reinvents the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Federation_of_Planets">Federation</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> for this generation, making the crew of the Enterprise exciting and actually, you know, cool. Rather than the craggy and portly original cast or the distant thespians who populated the sequel shows, the new crew consists of young fresh faces boldy going on their first mission. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1517976/"> Chris Pine</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> takes over the Captain's chair – his Kirk is sort of like the offspring of </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thebournetrilogy.com/">Jason Bourne</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000225/">Christian Slater</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.zacharyquinto.com/"> Zachary Quinto</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> steps out of the morass that is Heroes to imbue Spock with a new sense of spirit and wry humor. Rounding out the eventual love triangle is </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.zoesaldana.com/">Zoe Saldana</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, who gives Uhura an actual personality and more to do than press buttons and fill out the jumpsuit. Also terrific are </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0158626/">John Cho</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> (Harold without Kumar) as Sulu and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.peggster.net/">Simon Pegg</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> as an at-least-slightly unhinged Scotty.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">And bridging the gap between this movie and previous ones is </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.leonardnimoyphotography.com/">Leonard Nimoy</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> as Spock, who anchors the time-traveling plot that's fairly twisty, but generally coherent. The villain's a bit of a throwaway – </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051509/">Eric Bana</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> does fine with what he's got to work with, but Nero's not gonna go down in Trek history with </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZdMeEfG1Y">Khan</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hv4q-Ry6AE">Borg</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> or even the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/ac6e/">Tribbles</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. But what holds it all together is a smart, snappy script that's a refreshing change from today's brooding antihero deconstructions. It's an affectionate nod to the original show's optimism, again retooled to connect with a more urbane audience. And long gone are the legendarily cruddy special effects – the movie's consistently elegant and spectacular.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So strap on your regulation Federation jumpsuit (updated to resemble actual wearable apparel ;), leave any lingering </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.kli.org/">Klingon language</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> baggage behind and get ready for a big slam-bag science fiction actioner that might just be the most fun flick of the summer.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-64880878355394463532009-05-01T09:53:00.020-05:002009-05-01T11:06:45.486-05:00My first Tweetup, I guess<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Don't wanna get too </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.aintitcool.com/">Harry Knowles</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> on you, but should prolly share the circumstances that led to this review. After watching an </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/playoffs_2009.html">amazing basketball game</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://blackhawks.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumber=241&gameType=3&page=Recap&season=20082009&service=page">thrilling but disappointing hockey game</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, I figured it was time to settle into some DVR before falling asleep. Until I checked </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://twitter.com/geostewart">Twitter</a> and saw that <a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://twitter.com/RealHughJackman">RealHughJackman</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> was en route to my local theater for a midnight screening of </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.x-menorigins.com/">Wolverine</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. Figuring what the hell, I grabbed a cab and arrived in time to snap this shot:</span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQIrsFfOQ7Z8tZ-rYSAoek6Vsvb159Ue-i9LwCgei0Q5RVz71AsPV7V99pltHuGh2SyXoDj3KgBytbQz7wOW6xM-QVvzZhUU8bdOZ_ZCXKm39eBX9r-rdAlqvLtsjcrP5EBFA/s1600-h/n705939654_1600201_5664708.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQIrsFfOQ7Z8tZ-rYSAoek6Vsvb159Ue-i9LwCgei0Q5RVz71AsPV7V99pltHuGh2SyXoDj3KgBytbQz7wOW6xM-QVvzZhUU8bdOZ_ZCXKm39eBX9r-rdAlqvLtsjcrP5EBFA/s320/n705939654_1600201_5664708.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330872789902715218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Shook the man's hand and wished him a great weekend, particularly with the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=Cz3ZLNmJiYolbB3IuOERSccGSB6lNc0wVQD0GCzEEwDJwFssEb&bbParentWidgetId=B8wrmCBWsa0az3tnIdOjJ0dD">piracy issue</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and all. He was gracious and fun with the fans - even the ones wearing gloves with foam claws protruding from them. So I'll confess to some potential bias, as the normally pretty manic midnight show crowd was buoyed to frantic hights by having Hugh Jackman in attendance, watching us watching him as...</span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7_7bCPnObJMQwg7tqwYwPN3n5D5GxWIJaq2oeO5wJWyuPT1iK1_8yLt2qkIC8sq6_bRHbv2KssZuSneqUgjkxIfOAEdjJgodMRCaMkC4XSaB4XN9tdfTcVFo6WltSOe7uNTa/s1600-h/x_men_origins_wolverine_ver2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7_7bCPnObJMQwg7tqwYwPN3n5D5GxWIJaq2oeO5wJWyuPT1iK1_8yLt2qkIC8sq6_bRHbv2KssZuSneqUgjkxIfOAEdjJgodMRCaMkC4XSaB4XN9tdfTcVFo6WltSOe7uNTa/s320/x_men_origins_wolverine_ver2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330874779779504930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I didn't have terribly high hopes for this one. Not that Jackman doesn't do a great job with the role, but the franchise's high point was </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrVdCkKxty4">X2</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, seeming to turn the corner into nonsenseland with the threequel. And frankly, I'm a little burnt out on prequels at this point given that, at some level, you know where it's eventually gonna end up. So how does it hold up?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Pretty good, actually – it's not without issues, but I was pleasantly surprised. The crowd's enthusiasm may have helped smooth out the rough spots, but overall it's a solid actioner with a surprisingly appealing supporting cast. While Wolverine's origin obviously takes center stage (um, hence the title ;) we're treated to snippets of of stories from the wider mutant universe – lots more </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.marvel.com/universe/Sabretooth">Sabretooth</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, a bit of </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blob_%28comics%29">The Blob</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, some </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.marvel.com/universe/Gambit">Gambit</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and more. Some work better than others, but they all help to flesh out a tale we've already seen a decent handful of in the first three films. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The movie spans a couple centuries, starting with James Logan as a child, where we see his mutant powers (and simmering rage) emerge, and traces his evolution into the cigar-chomping antihero we met in the first X-Men film. Along the way, we meet his brother, his maker, his lover and fellow fighters. Some are more successful than others – </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000630/">Liev Schreiber</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> does Sabretooth much better than in the previous movies, and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404111/">the young General Stryker</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> hits the right notes to line up with how he acts later in life. Many of the other mutants are good, if underutilized – Gambit and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpool_%28comics%29">Deadpool</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> being prime examples.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Taylor Kitsch (Riggins from </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Friday_Night_Lights/">Friday Night Lights</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">) is a great Gambit, but we don't get to him until pretty late in the film. And </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005351/">Ryan Reynolds</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> shows incredible potential as Deadpool, but his role, while pivotal, is pretty minimal. This is one problem with the movie overall – it feels like a launching pad for several other franchises, but how they're used here doesn't really lend itself to doing that successfully. I'll avoid too many spoilers, but future movies would either have to take place in a different decade or get </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retconning">retconned</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> to a point where they're sort of unrecognizable. There are also a ton of cameos, only a couple of which really strain credibility. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">On a technical level, the movie starts slow but ends in pretty spectacular fashion. Despite </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.comicbookmovie.com/x-men_movies/x-men_origins_wolverine/news/?a=5005">rumors of directorial trouble</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, it doesn't bear the marks of something that spent too long into the ending room or switched direction mid-stream. There's a bit of today's typical over-edited action scenes, but in general it's a pleasure to watch. So overall I'd say strike a blow against digital piracy and head out to watch Wolverine this weekend – it's a good big-budget kick-start to the summer that'll play much better on the big screen than in a blurry Quicktime window.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">And hey, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/people/1553866,hugh-jackman-wolverine-chicago-amc-050109.article">I met Hugh Jackman</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">! ;) </span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-65121024629765568582009-04-28T11:52:00.003-05:002009-04-28T12:43:46.213-05:00Iron Man, Iron Man... does whatever a spider can?<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfYIKHjN6ZnDH2UdYRL1ADX0t4bkNY3o0UDXf58vHVuqgPU04Q1CvBRlkb4ZAKs-UhwYoRouUqiMUXRh5P2vqFat1X34PhYIla8193w7NEQGjVBsL60vIT4Y5Lpb4sQuN_FnM/s1600-h/IronManArmoredAdventures-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfYIKHjN6ZnDH2UdYRL1ADX0t4bkNY3o0UDXf58vHVuqgPU04Q1CvBRlkb4ZAKs-UhwYoRouUqiMUXRh5P2vqFat1X34PhYIla8193w7NEQGjVBsL60vIT4Y5Lpb4sQuN_FnM/s320/IronManArmoredAdventures-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329786385212115586" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The question is why? Not why there's a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://nicktoonsnetwork.nick.com/shows/iron-man-armored-adventures/index.jhtml?adfree=true&_requestid=199718">new animated series</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> – last year's </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Ultimate-Two-Disc-Live-Blu-ray/dp/B001GAPC1K">blockbuster</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> made that inevitable. Not even why </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://nicktoonsnetwork.nick.com/home.html">Nicktoons</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> chose do go with a cel-shaded CGI style that's reminiscent of the failed </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p74Zlsv46M">MTV Spider-Man</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> series from a few years back. No, the question is why they decided to ignore the chronology of the hugely successful movie and rewrite Iron Man as Spider-Man Lite.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">This show doesn't follow the established billionaire industrialist path for the character, instead reimaging Tony Stark as a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/105/doogie-howser-md-pilot">Doogie Howser</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">-esque wunderkind that takes up the teenage mantle of Iron Man when his father dies. I get that it's a kids show, but still... you've already got that kids show. It's called </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.spideytv.com/">Spider-Man</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Also questionable is the animation style. It's inconsistent in that the money was clearly spent on the action moments as opposed to character designs or dialogue scenes, and it's inappropriate in that the overall softness of the look doesn't really fit a suit that's supposed to be made of, well, iron. And the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJkzBRPxdaU">theme song</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> is a slice of pure unadulterated cheese. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Overall, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr0AAqRxwBQ">Iron Man: Armored Adventures</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> isn't completely without appeal – kids will likely respond to the action animation – but it just feels sorta inessential. Unlike </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.starwars.com/clonewars/site/index.html">The Clone Wars</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, which stylishly tells canonical stories of the Star Wars saga, this feels like an effort to sell more action figures. Pass.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-53699140045886308952009-02-21T07:24:00.003-06:002009-02-21T07:27:32.827-06:00Would you want to watch a show about this guy?<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVPmGR7LFSCWf4yccwa61zCH5Zk9nLqd-Z83DdhF8r4lZ9ixq_Te9wXJfu2yGozJUyjTDls2cp9pOzTnfMrTV9Hi9rF7tO6v5DUaROhy9jIBWbSDPeoBtLTXQGbPwSyePHLg5/s1600-h/44753845.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVPmGR7LFSCWf4yccwa61zCH5Zk9nLqd-Z83DdhF8r4lZ9ixq_Te9wXJfu2yGozJUyjTDls2cp9pOzTnfMrTV9Hi9rF7tO6v5DUaROhy9jIBWbSDPeoBtLTXQGbPwSyePHLg5/s320/44753845.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305241124303146290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Yeah, me neither. HBO's new show <a href="http://www.hbo.com/eastboundanddown/">Eastbound & Down</a> is an abject disaster about an utter failure. Or maybe it's the other way around, I dunno. Regardless, I couldn't make it through more than 10 minutes, and I'd suggest you give it even less. Purports to be a comedy, but is just a hacky excuse to wallow in off-network profanity. Pass.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-43885598766069762282009-02-05T12:27:00.002-06:002009-02-05T12:54:09.760-06:00Heroes Volume IV: A New Hope?<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJl4mVy56MG-fprLx9E5IRPYPXEl68Rk7tWoISgr-BN4PPiKPi60U5fBpQjQkwyLwyN7w1Uib5Y3BvxaWommDQ7lamXlvnLcJvVRvRbeSiLnONts4n89sU6CsPAomsPFKCfUkb/s1600-h/logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJl4mVy56MG-fprLx9E5IRPYPXEl68Rk7tWoISgr-BN4PPiKPi60U5fBpQjQkwyLwyN7w1Uib5Y3BvxaWommDQ7lamXlvnLcJvVRvRbeSiLnONts4n89sU6CsPAomsPFKCfUkb/s320/logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299382033560623906" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/">Heroes</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> kicked off a new story arc this week, and I'm cautiously optimistic. Kinda sorta. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you find my lack of faith disturbing, remember – the show has squandered so much of its first season promise it's hard not to be wary. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/12/exclusive-bryan.html">Much has been made of Bryan Fuller's return to the show</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> after the (unfortunately well-deserved) cancellation of Pushing Daisies. Is he our only hope?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Maybe. Based on Monday's episode, there's at least a splash of Luke Skywalker for every dash of Death Star. While it's still a bit inbred (could the Heroes possibly fight someone else aside from their collective brother/father/mother?) this setup at least appears to be clear: they're being hunted down, hence the "fugitives" title. Got it. Like it. And while a few loose ends fray at my nerves (</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/cast/Ando-Masahashi/">Ando</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">'s random supercharger power, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/cast/Tracy-Strauss/">Ali Larter as Nikki/Jessica/Gina/Barbara/Tracy</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> still doesn't seem to have much to do, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/cast/Matt-Parkman/">Parkman... well... Parkman</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/cast/Sylar/">Sylar</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">'s I-am-your-father-wait-no-I'm-not-now-he's-your-father-how-can-you-possibly-still-care-about-this quest) I appreciate that it might take a few eps to tie them up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But overall, there's a feeling of bringing focus back to the show, which is long overdue. If this arc can reform the Heroes into an "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men">X-men</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> without tights" approach, settling on core characters we care about and having them take on some new issues, I'm back on the bandwagon. Or at least I'm trailing alongside the bandwagon, desperately hoping that all these promos and stories about the return of the show amount to one line... </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u0eTCGIwqE">"it's a trap!"</a>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-31120110547645614972009-01-26T17:35:00.021-06:002009-01-26T21:12:57.496-06:00The Curious Pace of Benjamin Button<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3QDyhwKYoeRiOfFFOMlnHNF8hiO00xOlFfoAur6tK_cpapkW_gFnBLED97TAVHhFgKjmvzVpAbjkK1qNpvj1yT26Q1ZVBQfLTcSvieWGdkRhM2BHsvXu00Rge5UcIQIiLGco/s1600-h/curious_case_of_benjamin_button_xlg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3QDyhwKYoeRiOfFFOMlnHNF8hiO00xOlFfoAur6tK_cpapkW_gFnBLED97TAVHhFgKjmvzVpAbjkK1qNpvj1yT26Q1ZVBQfLTcSvieWGdkRhM2BHsvXu00Rge5UcIQIiLGco/s320/curious_case_of_benjamin_button_xlg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295750199821435698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Much has been made of the film's running time (2 hours and 40 minutes), the special effects (ranging from unnoticeably excellent to disturbingly weird) and the Oscar nominations (a staggering 13) but I think the most curious thing about </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.benjaminbutton.com/">Benjamin Button</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> is that it's so detached and dragged out it's hard to care about the main character, whether he's a grumpy old baby or not.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">In case you're unaware of the story, the short version is that Benjamin Button lives backward – born an old man and destined to die a child, scattering a star-crossed romance across the better part of a century. Some have compared to "like </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/">Forrest Gump</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, without the cheesy history parts." I guess that fits, but in place of the cheesy history, we're left with lingering glances and soulful shadows that make the movie feel exceedingly well-intentioned, but comparably dull as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">As a wrinkly babyman, the "young" Benjamin Button looks sort of like </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLvIFRNbqOs">Gollum</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and talks sort of like </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sHgFeBmT1s">Sling Blade</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. To be fair, it's a testament to the effects work that you do, by and large, buy him as a living human. And the work taking </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000949/">Cate Blanchett</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> thru several eras is remarkably well done. That said, as characters like Button's father age, they end up looking like a leftover from an abandoned </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAHj3IsSuT0">Dick Tracy</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> sequel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So while not perfect, it's not the special effects that tank it. Longish running time? Not really. My </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.lordoftherings.net/">favorite movie</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> is over 12 hours long. A billion people didn't have a problem with watching a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_%281997_film%29">boat sink</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> for 3 hours. But this movie's pacing is so... reserved, so... drawn... out... that it's like watching a glacier melt. Or refreeze, I guess. I dunno.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">What I do know is that for a love story that's supposed to span the space-time continuum and defy destiny, I've gotten more passion out of the average </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGTEKPtiCRc">Gossip Girl</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> episode, and that's a problem. It's as if so much effort went into assembling the production that they forgot to include emotion. And for this the Academy passed on the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/">Dark Knight</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">? Talk about a hero Gotham doesn't deserve. Pass.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-85629792316473952142008-12-19T14:10:00.003-06:002008-12-19T14:44:36.001-06:00There are no jingle bells, Batman doesn't smell...<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTobsdMJhOMzyTnPd7DeATNIkeTgxUYheNVWErGqghu-JanPOVKum7bBaaxHZ3CLevTtpiDyD8V_ITiQxODem-NycBKoz1Q0g7RoIdqzUyC0LbUsvfShvl0E3BNfoz5TK64-lZ/s1600-h/DC_Holiday_Card_2006_1600x1200.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTobsdMJhOMzyTnPd7DeATNIkeTgxUYheNVWErGqghu-JanPOVKum7bBaaxHZ3CLevTtpiDyD8V_ITiQxODem-NycBKoz1Q0g7RoIdqzUyC0LbUsvfShvl0E3BNfoz5TK64-lZ/s320/DC_Holiday_Card_2006_1600x1200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281596295216251874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">...and fortunately Robin's barely in picture. Regardless , I'm off for the holidays – hope you all have good ones.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-47002794287041943322008-12-04T13:32:00.010-06:002008-12-04T15:02:52.381-06:00Remake or Not To Make?<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxuQ0aepLW2gXm6Fv_5schYaZkNKpZPGMXO9bangYd6YwzSfgd4VsztI7CvEDn99XOILh7sfpS9oDmWxnezi98TQ9TJ77UjajYPZ1EGOOh2w6dFDNHlql8Sd_98j71yNgmazn/s1600-h/remakeblog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxuQ0aepLW2gXm6Fv_5schYaZkNKpZPGMXO9bangYd6YwzSfgd4VsztI7CvEDn99XOILh7sfpS9oDmWxnezi98TQ9TJ77UjajYPZ1EGOOh2w6dFDNHlql8Sd_98j71yNgmazn/s320/remakeblog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276022266648429442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">As with most questions, the answer is yes and no. Or no and yes, in this case. Recently they (as in "they," the nefarious group that lives in shadows and is blameable for anything and/or everything) </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081204i.php">announced plans to remake</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> both </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088011/">Romancing the Stone</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/">They Live</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. I don't adopt the zero-tolerance policy for remakes that many do, but I am tiring of mining recent movies for inspiration. Here's the thing – to remake a movie, you've got to have a better reason than the inability to come up with a fresh idea.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">And it helps if the original film wasn't all that great. Case in point: there's absolutely nothing missing in Romancing the Stone. Yes, the cars look all boxy and they don't have cell phones, but most of that movie is set in the jungle – it's not like what would've really made it great were more flat screens. Leave it alone, it's fine. Bring out an anniversary edition on blu-ray if you like. Enjoy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">They Live, however, is a perfect candidate. Apologies to </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.rowdyroddypiper.com/">Rowdy Roddy Piper</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> fans (or, um, fan?) out there, but the movie is basically a neat idea, horrible one-liners and the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsZpdUUdd3I">longest, boringist fight scene</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> in recent memory. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000118/">John Carpenter</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">'s made some </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/">master</a><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/">pieces</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, but this ain't one of 'em. So if </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009190/">JJ Abrams</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> or whoever wants to polish up this misfire, I'm all for it... because it'd be fixing a failed film, not trying to recapture a recent success.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So, "they," stick with your substandard science fiction films and leave Romancing the Stone alone. And as for other upcoming remakes, namely </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_I4WgBfETc">Red Dawn</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhbMkZ8rP94">Clash of the Titans</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nly-bfguf4k">Adventures in Babysitting</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clqK5OC3BWE">Robocop</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, A Nightmare of Elm Street, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3Dww59WG8PqJ4">Friday the 13th</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fua0g13djo">The Karate Kid</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfipl5BYBqo">Weird</a> <a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsleOwxz-Q&feature=related">Science</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtEgSegms5A">Arthur</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMB8vv18ehE">Footloose</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_wcnyaUwHg">Flashdance</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liS2csDM25Y">The Thing</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, I'd say... sure, sure, I guess, no, if you want, don't bother, prolly not, no, whatev, ok, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyZr0xBUR_E">already did</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and no.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-38056927051646761962008-12-01T16:24:00.015-06:002008-12-02T17:03:39.776-06:00Better Late... with Whoever<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hYamRdArCjFwsjywOsiyLgffrL-kPmfEQqyOCRVy7wV9NN3utdqkkvG_sEq6LcvofN7nFM2BHBlpQBcYGaZboJzNm4eVYUSr30mQxaoZZPiVqryzeGh50AiNmB7JnFtgBk7B/s1600-h/gnr_home_512x288.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hYamRdArCjFwsjywOsiyLgffrL-kPmfEQqyOCRVy7wV9NN3utdqkkvG_sEq6LcvofN7nFM2BHBlpQBcYGaZboJzNm4eVYUSr30mQxaoZZPiVqryzeGh50AiNmB7JnFtgBk7B/s320/gnr_home_512x288.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274951963660454498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Despite over a decade of remixing and mocking, <a href="http://web.gunsnroses.com/index.jsp">Guns n' Roses</a> (which basically amounts to Axl Rose, a bunch of guys, and a million Pro Tools) finally released <a href="http://www.chinesedemocracy.com/">Chinese Democracy</a>... </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1470891/20030401/story.jhtml">The Offspring</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7747815.stm">China</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://newsroom.mtv.com/2008/12/01/guns-n-roses-blast-dr-pepper-over-flubbed-chinese-democracy-promotion/">Dr. Pepper</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and an oddly placed apostrophe be damned.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.bucketheadland.com/index_map.html">Buckethead</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'s been replaced by </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_%22Bumblefoot%22_Thal">Bumblefoot</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, but how's the record overall? While I'm certainly not the final word on most music, I did wait in line outside Tower Records in Hollywood to buy Use Your Illusion I & II at midnight, so I'm feeling free to weigh in. What follows is the first thought that popped into my head upon hearing the disc (by which I mean iTunes downloads) for the first time:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Chinese Democracy </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Opening guitar riff sounds an awful like a </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzpHmbwqHLM">Judas Priest song</a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >... oop, Axl's screaming – I guess it is Guns.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Shackler's Revenge</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Really good for both guitar and bass in <a href="http://www.rockband.com/">Rock Band</a>... not so much with the vocals.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Better</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Hmm... kinda forgettable metal – listeners beware.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Street of Dreams</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Pretty good. Sorta like if both versions of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ns59Bmqpms">Don't Cry</a> had a kid.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >If the World</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Sounds a bit like Axl wrote this while listening to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKBgCwkZTBQ">Yesterdays</a> and watching porn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >There Was a Time</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >I think G n' R has basically become a power ballad band – not that that's a bad thing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Catcher in the Rye</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >aka <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbkG6Za6w5s">November Rain</a>storm?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Scraped</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Interesting Axl screamy harmony with himself... then some mishmosh about don't try to stop us now. Whatev.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Riad N' the Bedouins</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Just reading the title sets the expectations for this one at "spectacular failure," and it delivers pretty quickly – Axl opens by screeching that he doesn't care about the story and guess what? Neither do I.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Sorry</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Sounds like Axl's sorry he's not <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9f9Eybv4I">Everlast</a>.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >I.R.S.</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Lines like "could it be the weight I've carried on, like a broken record for so long" are kind of apropos at this point in the album – oh, and the IRS isn't exactly the toughest target in the world.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Madagascar<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Not,</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" > apparently, that "move it move it" song from the kids' movie</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" > – too bad. And a Martin Luther King "I have a dream" megamix? Seriously?</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>This I Love<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9VhD4SccSE">Civil War</a> part II – this time it's personal. Down to the "failure to communicate" clip.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prostitute<br /></span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jesus, lighten up – way to go out on a high note. And haven't we heard this song already?</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />So how's it stack up overall? Ok, I guess. It's not the complete disaster (or no-show) that people predicted, but it's certainly not the next great anything. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">If you're looking to cherry pick, download Shackler's Revenge, Street of Dreams and Catcher in the Rye and you'll be good. Those are the standouts – as an album, it's inoffensive but inessential.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-89840813839921418122008-11-24T12:48:00.007-06:002008-11-24T13:33:51.862-06:00Is Jack really back?<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2LYHOd2U3nEuw6tlQZ5aENXiopDygEMY5yUr_wjrElW-KTTTJU978t_yyvQOvYEV1n5g87kLlSzSjU2BXeWZwGhlu6CLk4dJlm5mqdfKBrzTLdUbjIIbHisr6x8FDcRKGbxp/s1600-h/517ucWU9bZL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2LYHOd2U3nEuw6tlQZ5aENXiopDygEMY5yUr_wjrElW-KTTTJU978t_yyvQOvYEV1n5g87kLlSzSjU2BXeWZwGhlu6CLk4dJlm5mqdfKBrzTLdUbjIIbHisr6x8FDcRKGbxp/s320/517ucWU9bZL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272298388950077298" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Special-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B0014BJ16S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1227554735&sr=8-2">Day 1</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "You probably don't think I could force this towel down your throat, but trust me I can. All the way. Except that I'd hold onto this little bit at the end. When your stomach starts to digest the towel, I pull it out. Taking your stomach lining with it. Most people probably take about a week to die. It's very painful. "</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Two-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B00008YGRU/ref=pd_cp_d_3?pf_rd_p=413864101&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0014BJ16S&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0RZBV9GD57THYHSWAYHH">Day 2</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "I'm gonna need a hacksaw."</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Three-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B0002XVQSU/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_c">Day 3</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "Once your daughter is infected, I'm gonna make you watch her die."</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Four-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B000B837XI/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b">Day 4</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "Make a sound and I will blow your brains out all over the windshield."</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Slim-Pack-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B000ICLRKC/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b">Day 5</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "I’m done talking with you, you understand me? You’ve read my file. The first thing I’m going to do is take out your right eye, and then I’m gonna move over and take out your left, and then I’m going to cut you. I’m gonna keep cutting you until you give me the information that I need. Do you understand me? So for the last time, where is the nerve gas?"</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Season-Six-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B000MR8W92/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_c">Day 6</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "You’re gonna tell me what I want to know or you’re going to start losing your fingers one by one."</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/24-Redemption-Robert-Carlyle/dp/B001DMVZOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1227554873&sr=1-1">Day 7</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: "Come on, children... everybody hold hands!"</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Brings to mind that old nursery rhyme, "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZIvgQ9ik48">one of these things is not like the other.</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">" Last night's 2-hour ramp-up to the January premiere of </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.fox.com/24/index.htm">24</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> stood out from the rest of the seasons, not just because it strayed a bit from format, but in its efforts to establish a kindler, gentler </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.fox.com/24/dossier/">Jack Bauer</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">After wandering the globe, Jack has settled in fictional (but typical) Sangala, Africa, working to help relief efforts for a village beset by tribal militia. Refusing a summons to appear in America to answer for torture and other crimes committed by his Counter Terrorist Unit, he smiles at children and unloads supplies from trucks. At some point the militia moves to take control of the country, and Jack walks away for two hours. In classic 24 fashion, this action is cross-cut with the balls-to-the-wall thrillride of... a Presidential inaguration.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Don't get me wrong, there's some action and intrigue – Jack shoots some people and there're some fishy guys floating around the new President's cabinet. But 24 works best as an unhinged freefall thru a shadowy world of shifting loyalties and moralities, and it's hard to find a lot of debateable gray area when the bad guys are African drug-runners </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.child-soldiers.org/home">killing kids or turning them into child soldiers</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. And I'm not a big torture whore, but the appeal of Jack Bauer is living vicariously thru his whatever-it-takes worldview, so when the first conflict of the show is watching Jack gently reprimand a child for stealing his knife by giving him a silk scarf, it's clear we're in a bit of trouble.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.fox.com/24/redemption/">24: Redemption</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> wasn't a disaster, but it's "Jack's Back!" marketing did it no favors. Some seeds were sown for what looks to be an interesting season, but two hours of Bauer slowly leading kids thru a forest isn't quite what fans have been waiting for... for nearly two years. That said, the preview for </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.fox.com/24/dossier/">Day 7</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> was packed with action, so this little slice of Madagascar 3 feels like the calm before the storm. Worth watching if you're a completist, but casual fans can make do with the "previously on" montage that'll open the season in January.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-62396666184131376522008-11-16T15:50:00.015-06:002008-11-16T16:51:44.353-06:00The Bond Continuum<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1qgVUEEcuf5nrp054QpFeRfDKNpmS2pRnuof5kMLMfFQLp3S9pMjBUVw8pZMOSybOh_HNE_-MzbXDyEI-kkAJs3gHSpT8HAxyvre_c8pL2YmXsgDR0oArUSUU7_zR_NvNwCK/s1600-h/qos-wallpaper-1-lg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1qgVUEEcuf5nrp054QpFeRfDKNpmS2pRnuof5kMLMfFQLp3S9pMjBUVw8pZMOSybOh_HNE_-MzbXDyEI-kkAJs3gHSpT8HAxyvre_c8pL2YmXsgDR0oArUSUU7_zR_NvNwCK/s320/qos-wallpaper-1-lg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269376384710434594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You'd be forgiven if you got your </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.007.com/">Bonds</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and your </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bourne-Trilogy-Identity-Supremacy-Ultimatum/dp/B000YMBBH0">Bournes</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> a bit mixed up – </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/casinoroyale/">007's recent reboot</a> owes a lot to the films from <a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thebourneidentity.com/">Doug Liman</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thebournesupremacy.com/">Paul</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thebourneultimatum.com/">Greengrass</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. But that's proving to be a good thing, as the first two "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-20594611-details/It%27s+James+Blond/article.do">James Blond</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">" flicks have been a satifying one-two punch. For the first time in the franchise's history, Quantum of Solace is a direct sequel as opposed to just a "next adventure," picking up moments after </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0185819/">Daniel Craig</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> uttered the classic "Bond – James Bond" line at the end of Casino Royale. And it's good. Quite good.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Roiling with rage over the events from Royale, Bond embarks on an unhinged quest for revenge, going up against a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_%28James_Bond%29">mysterious criminal organization</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> as well as </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.sis.gov.uk/output/sis-home-welcome.html">MI6</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> itself. </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/quantum_of_solace/">Much has been made of a big falloff in quality</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, but I've gotta disagree – It's perhaps not quite as skillfully directed, I think the only really big thing that's missing is the novelty of the new Bond. I watched them back-to-back and Quantum really feels like the second half of Casino. Craig's in top form, the action is intense (only one set piece – an airplane chase – is slightly misguided) and the plot, while byzantine, is nicely grounded in real world issues. And the moves manage to toss in references without descending into jokey parody; keep an eye out for a great <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058150/">Goldfinger</a> shout-out.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I'm not pretending it's perfect – the "</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2605345/">Bond</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1385871/">Girls</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">" feel somewhat tacked-on for tradition's sake, and the villains feel a little like precursors for the threequel, but it's a great gritty ride thru Bond's darker side. Shake yourself a martini or four and enjoy.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-91358917935945134662008-11-13T11:25:00.004-06:002008-11-13T11:47:04.015-06:00Muppets Take Manhattan<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQzJK2-dXkDRZCMdHMNRL2E4Z4tPfN32H-737vWs93cOGYwISNFRTTx9y2ePff81yqd2O5joBLQ_C9NKskISKEwpBLgQ7pwFbLv-_fTrI0pxhLeVBvh7VyMCalTBtm97yGaU4/s1600-h/muppettodayshow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 79px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQzJK2-dXkDRZCMdHMNRL2E4Z4tPfN32H-737vWs93cOGYwISNFRTTx9y2ePff81yqd2O5joBLQ_C9NKskISKEwpBLgQ7pwFbLv-_fTrI0pxhLeVBvh7VyMCalTBtm97yGaU4/s320/muppettodayshow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268194680998520338" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://disney.go.com/dxd/index.html?channel=102451#/disneygroups/themuppets/">The Muppets</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> took over the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27681323/">Today show</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> this morning, locking the hosts out of the studio and replacing them with Muppetized versions – to the confusion of guests </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.nbc.com/Law_and_Order_Special_Victims_Unit/about/christopher-meloni.shtml">Christopher Meloni</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.hconnickjr.com/">Harry Connick, Jr</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. 'Twas all good (albeit slightly forced) fun, until it came time to promote what they were there to sell – the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.fao.com/catalog/boutique.jsp?parentCategoryId=98&categoryId=793">Make-Your-Own Muppet "Whatnot" Studio at FAO Schwarz</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. Not because of the overt product placement, mind you – I work in advertising, so can hardly complain about that. No, what was somewhat unsettling were the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Whatnots">Whatnots</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> themselves. Take a look at this clip at about the 3:50 mark...</span><br /><br /><iframe style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27697214#27697214" frameborder="0" height="339" scrolling="no" width="425"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">...and tell me that the Whatnots themselves aren't kinda creepy. Or at least a little sad. The actual idea seems like lotsa fun – pop into the store, make your own Muppet... it's like </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.hasbro.com/playskool/mrpotatohead/">Mr. Potato Head</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> if you could stick your hand thru a giant hole in his butt. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But the on-air Whatnots? Born bald, blind, deaf and without a sense of smell? Flailing around with nothing but a simple meathole in their poor blank faces? And naked as a jaybird (if jaybirds were made out of multicolored felt and came with the aforementioned hand hole)? My heart goes out the the Whatnots – please, PLEASE, Manhattanites and tourists... rush in to their store and buy out the Muppets! Equip them with eyes, ears, maybe even some hair! Give them a life worth living – one filled with color, sound and adventure... at least until your kid gets bored and it ends up on </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=muppets&_sacat=0&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=whatnot&_osacat=0">ebay</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-36094754008203410572008-11-07T15:30:00.009-06:002008-11-07T16:17:21.969-06:00(Prolly don't) Try the veal<object style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" height="284" width="305"><param name="movie" value="http://www.thedailybeast.com/swf/TheDailyBeastVideoPlayer.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="flashvars" value="video=http://media.thedailybeast.com/dailybeast/live/files/2008/11/07/vid-barack-obama-discusses-dog_155438275097.mov&still=http://media.thedailybeast.com/dailybeast/live/files/2008/11/07/img-obama-press-conf-384_154837860329.jpg&title=OBAMA%20DISCUSSES%20HIS%20DOG"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.thedailybeast.com/swf/TheDailyBeastVideoPlayer.swf" id="tdbvideo" name="tdbvideo" bgcolor="#ffffff" quality="high" menu="false" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="video=http://media.thedailybeast.com/dailybeast/live/files/2008/11/07/vid-barack-obama-discusses-dog_155438275097.mov&still=http://media.thedailybeast.com/dailybeast/live/files/2008/11/07/img-obama-press-conf-384_154837860329.jpg&title=OBAMA%20DISCUSSES%20HIS%20DOG" height="284" width="305"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Looking at </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.barackobama.com/index.php">Obama</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">'s first news conference as President-Elect from an entertainment point of view, it seems like we might be in for a few genuine laughs, as opposed to the sneering asides of a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://wthefilm.com/">frat boy who thinks he's funny</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. <br /><br />Tip your waitresses people, he'll be here all week – and hopefully the next <a href="http://www.chicago2016.org/">415</a>.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-55844411302194824682008-11-01T15:37:00.019-05:002008-11-01T16:56:41.949-05:00Zack and Miri Make an Okay Movie<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj6cULXeSfWxJU8t3pPbLhiCu9cnGZfoE7MpHaEzscz9scdpiie3jXcfi_gcZiW2_xEiUcHPuE8AEferrhyZIuUZOFCMQHXYDNyf3uzeDlJqVrnxDpsn0LJsls5qAUNpoBgAf/s1600-h/wallpaper3-800.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihj6cULXeSfWxJU8t3pPbLhiCu9cnGZfoE7MpHaEzscz9scdpiie3jXcfi_gcZiW2_xEiUcHPuE8AEferrhyZIuUZOFCMQHXYDNyf3uzeDlJqVrnxDpsn0LJsls5qAUNpoBgAf/s320/wallpaper3-800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263791410644130562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's his first real non-New Jersey film, but </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.viewaskew.com/">Kevin Smith</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> doesn't stray too far from the flicks that made him famous (</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNd8nvnmhyM">Clerks</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sAZWyaaIOM">Chasing Amy</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, etc.) In this case, the titular </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.zackandmiri.com/">Zack and Miri</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> live in Pittsburgh, but barely. The platonic best friends are struggling to make ends meet, and when they run out of money completely, they decide the only option they have is to make their ends meet – on film. Working under the assumption that they can whip together a porn flick and sell it to people they knew in high school, they round up a cast and crew to hit the sheets. If you've seen </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/">Smith's stuff</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> (or, well, a movie – ever) you pretty much know where this is going, but is it worth the ride?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">If you're looking for a </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=happy+ending">happy ending</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, yeah – altho the plot isn't what pushes this movie forward, it's Smith's signature combination of filthy comedy and sweet emotion. For every over-the-top belly laugh, there's an on-the-nose touchy-feely moment, and the transitions can be a little awkward. Smith isn't the most subtle filmmaker – rather than subtext, he tends to just add more text. He's as famous for his overstuffed dialogue as his underdeveloped characters, and they're both at play here. That said, while the film doesn't have a lot of nuance, it does have a lot of humor. Unlike other pottymouth comedies, Smith seems to actually care about his characters – and it shows.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736622/">Seth Rogen</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006969/">Elizabeth Banks</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> bring some legitimate worth to fairly flat roles, and the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0582939/">supporting</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0732497/">cast</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> isn't just a host of jokers. But the real star of the movie is Smith's comedy – at it's heart, it's a pretty funny movie. A bit uneven and on the nose, but it'll make you laugh. And most of the time, that's enough. Enjoy.</span>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36221739.post-69524843421184703602008-10-24T14:06:00.004-05:002008-10-24T14:13:20.872-05:00Normally I do media instead of political commentary, but I can do both with this:<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NrzXLYA_e6E&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NrzXLYA_e6E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G6_c8jvcjk">Seriously?</a></span></div>Geohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10126459463843036007noreply@blogger.com0