Props

Props where props are due: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/01/07/sudan.violence.report/ (note the quote at the end of the article). Sidenote: the lead photo is typical of standard intro photo class, railroad style. Hopefully my parents will be out of South Sudan before war breaks out again.

As for me, maybe someone will interview me for new insights into Dawn of the Dead or Unforgiven, like the maize background when we first meet Sally, the soot-darkened lantern at the last view, and are all the splits in other wooden backgrounds deliberate?

Movies, revisited

Transformers (2007) - Decent enough action flick. A little bit of something for many age ranges, but totally special for none. It's wonderful how commercialized movies have become. F/X suffer from the common affliction of not enough choreographed detail, sure it's closeup, but that's just to cover all the flaws. I don't remember any of the actors. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

The Omega Man - Wonderful post-apocalyptic take on the Evils of Communism. Plot is similar to 28 Days Later, and these two have differences similar to the two Dawns. Heston does a decent job proving he's always been a little wacky, and the script writers leave me wondering if today's meaningless movies are simply a reaction to 60's and 70's preachiness. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Anyone remember the name of the post-apocalyptic flick where the protagonist wields a golf club as his main weapon?

Day one

8 + 8 hours (approximately) fly time and i'm walking across the tarmac towards Ugandan Immigration. The airport is more rundown than even Cambodia's Ratanakiri branch, which, despite being a dirt-paved runway and wooden building, was quite well-maintained. Still the lines are short and 20-30 minutes later i'm staring into a mass of African faces smiling and holding signs of various hotels - i don't spot mine.

It's different than Peru, where the instant you leave customs a horde of taxi drivers assault you for the privilege of driving you onwards (note - that's similar to to Ulaan Bataar, except they're more obviously drunk there). Instead, in Uganda a beautiful smiling black woman kindly asks, "what hotel are you looking for?" And she promptly finds the man i'm looking for, despite her being from some other hotel. Thank you, ma'am.

And for the record, only four: Shooter (c'mon Mark, you can do better, did you just need the money?), Breach (somehow it barely clung to a suspenseful feeling), Flags of our Fathers (Band of Brothers, now in Asia!), and Letters From Iwo Jima (wonder what they thought of this in Japan, or Korea).

Flight

Uganda, June 5, 2007. I bought my ticket over the weekend.

No, i'm not going due to watching a recent film about the place; i'd heard of Idi Amin before even watching Mississippi Masala. I'm going because i want to get back to Africa.

My current plan is to circle Lake Victoria counter-clockwise. I've a contact in Uganda thanks to my boss, an Ugandan immigrant. From there i'll travel to the border with DRoC, peer across, and wonder where that last great cryptozoological creature is, let him know i'll catch up to him soon enough. South to Rwanda, witness the river in that country. East to one of the tourist hotspots, look at a nice crater. North, but not too far north, not too far east, or i'd be back where i started. But to Kenya nonetheless; i used to have some friends from there, still have a spearhead she gave me. And back across the river, maybe do some white-water rafting (if you're gonna do it for the first time, might as well be at the source of the Nile, eh?), maybe fish some Nile perch, maybe just enjoy the land. At least that's the current plan - it will probably change substaintially once my feet touch African soil again.

And don't worry, i've already told my brother what to do with the life insurance money (yes, WCC gets a scholarship in my name, to support those who travel - now i really gotta watch my back, everyone's gonna want me dead).

It should be a great trip. Maybe when i get back, if the ceiling mural is done, i'll finally have that house-warming party.

october movies

X-Men: The Last Stand - What's amazing is what *is* real, like the plane (the real message: mutation is now). The movie must be a secret ploy to preserve/increase military spending. Otherwise, it was ok, but suffered from the same flaw as all movies with almighty characters: the whole movie is deus ex machina.

Yes, that was all i saw.

August Movies

(this probably isn't a complete list, August was a tad busy for me)

The Upside of Anger - Costner can act! Wonderful dark romantic comedy, or is it just the time in my life? Inspite of the first true Costner performance since A Perfect World, watch it for Allen, she's golden. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre

The Exorcist - Ah suspense. Accept oldness (e.g. Dead, not Dead), this movie is more suspenseful/frightful than anything you've seen lately (where lately < 15 years). Wonderful, timely performances and fx. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre

Freedomland - Has its moments, but most movies do. They're only moments, and brief at that. Otherwise this action-thriller ain't all that. 5/10 overall, 5/10 in genre

July Movie Reviews

Before Sunrise - Linklater's first attempt before getting it right in Sunset (or maybe i'm too jaded to appreciate this more light-hearted version of the latter). Decent acting, same story - couple people walking around, talking. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Syriana - Jumpy story that never delves deep enough into the characters to have the viewer care about them. Maybe the oil-plot is supposed to do it for us, but i haven't bought a tank of gas for months, and Clooney's performance would be too wasted for just a plot-driven story. 7/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Running Scared - very funny action flick that uses buffet-style to build its plot and technique: a little from here, a little from there, with no concept of whether it fits together well or not. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Waking Life - Another typical from Linklater, a bunch of talk while walking around. Decent and intelligent enough, if you've never taken an intro Philosophy course or thought about life for more than a couple hours. Oh, and there's that animation technique we'll see later on. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Night Watch - Russian vampire flick with lots of action and overwhelming darkness and coolness (but i thought the same thing of the Matrix). Watch it for the great subtitles because the storyline is too overused. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Ultraviolet - Dystopian-future vampire flick in which fighting basics like "crossfire" are lost to henchmen. Even Jovovich's outfits aren't compelling enough to sit through this poor excuse of a movie. 2/10 overall, 3/10 in genre.

The Sting - really worthy of all those oscars, this movie delivers on good acting, compelling plot and characters, and great music. 9/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

The Warriors - True action. Campy acting in campy film, but the storyline moves you just as the characters move themselves - who can't relate to fighting to get home? 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Find Me Guilty - Comedic trial movie with a good performance from Diesel (good thing too as the movie is mostly his ball) and other actors. Could have been more emphasis on the prosecutor's "these are bad people", but hey it's just a movie, right? 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Ghost World - Early Johansson show us her skills, though the movie is more about Birch. Love story mixed with coming of age story of the type that keeps coming back. This one is unique and memorable. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Baseball

Tonight i learned what third base is.

Don't normally watch too much tv, but towards the end of a long week a couple drinks and an edited-for-tv movie isn't too bad a way to start the night. Got to watch parts of American Pie - a movie i've seen a number of times before - and though i'd heard the euphemism before, this time i decided to look it up (always gotta learn new things, just like the whole wine deal). Maybe tomorrow i'll learn what it means to beat a red haired stepchild, or what a tongue might be doing in cheek, or why my chain needs pulling, or any number of other American phrases.

Now if you talk to me about olives, those are some metaphors i might understand, and for the most part i'm down with watching pots and eating cake to have it in my stomach (especially if it's accompanied by red, ripe strawberries).

Fewer June Flicks

Rumor Has It... - Pseudo-meta-movie interpretation of the third temptation of Christ. Weak acting (but i'd expect little more from Costner or Aniston) and an otherwise boring, whiny plot. 6/10 in genre, 5/10 overall.

The Pink Panther - Martin tries but doesn't come close to the legend. Still a funny enough movie. 7/10 in genre, 6/10 overall.

Closer - Jealousy, love, possesion, and whatever you do, don't let women make any decisions. Weak-willed, poorly developed characters twist their way into pain. Getting mugged in the streets of UB would have been a more enjoyable experience. 5/10 in genre, 5/10 overall.

Green Street Hooligans - The hobbit matures and lusts for violence, until things get too intense and the American has to run away from another close encounter of the real world. One day you'll find a Shire you can truly call your own, until then you'll awkwardly act in a variety of flicks (hmm, maybe awkwardness is your angle?) 7/10 in genre, 7/10 overall.

I was travelling, didn't really see all that many movies in June.

may in movies

Return of the Living Dead 4, Necropolis - featuring hackers so elite they redirect cd drives to a: , great overacting and greatly horrible lines, and mediocre gore. 3/10 in genre, 1/10 overall

A Sound of Thunder - decent enough cast in a poorly written scifi. Goes nowhere fast, doesn't even feature decent effects. 4/10 in genre, 3/10 overall

Little Fish - Good Blanchett in a fairly well-written (if obvious) story about the difficulties of escaping the weight of our past actions. Very "feely" movie. 6/10 in genre, 7/10 overall

Akira - action packed scifi anime that can be read a million different ways thanks to its varied and vague messages and incredible attention to detail, though some might say a little light on true depth (a view furthered by the chessy dialogue). Includes possibly the best scoring of any movie. 10/10 in genre, 9/10 overall

Spirited Away - poignant fantasy tale about growing up. Great plot, characters, animation, scoring, dialogue. A wonderful world is created by master Miyazaki, following a dynamic central character as she deals with the stress of moving to a new city, and parents who just won't listen. 10/10 in genre, 9/10 overall

History of the World, Part I - Brooks' version of our past starts with pre-history, but isn't mean for its technical aspects. Cheesy yet addictive humour, with lines that resonant throughout the years, and acting to match. 7/10 in genre, 5/10 overall



Sorry, didn't really have time to watch more movies, seemed i kept having to work (don't know why i kept doing that), or hang out (don't know who kept making me do that).

Less than usual

Haven't had the time for my recent average of .85 movies per day - it's that crazy thing called work. Here's the April report.

Gandhi - an elegant and appropriate (being half Indian, half British) performance from Kingsley in this long 3 hour+ movie (was the guy's life really that long??). 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Sliding Doors - cutesy love comedy with a beautifully sad Paltrow; i wonder who's idea it was to not let her get outstaged in beauty - the other actresses seemed too deliberately selected. Watch it for sad Paltrow and that wonderful Albert Bridge in London. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Professional - Besson again proves his worth as a storyteller/director, Reno shows his amazing proficiency in action, and a very young Portman makes a stunning debut. With a supporting cast including such wonders as Aiello and Oldman, this bound-for-greatness action flick succeeds in developing deep bonds between two disparately similar characters, culminating in a hero-style climax that almost rivals Unforgiven's. It's a must see for anyone who likes action movies, and a really should see for everyone else. 9/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

I Have Found It - Indian take on Sense and Sensibility. In other words a great storyline interspersed with song and dance sequences every 10 minutes. Good acting, nice sets, decent cinematography, and plenty of tongue in cheek humour. Worth seeing, if you can stand musicals. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

King Kong - Jackson returns to those zany monkey islands in another of his "more is more" movies. It's a good mix of humour and action featuring great special effects, but too overplayed in pushing certain morals. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Hide and Creep - Yet another lousy zombie movie. It's a decent (well, typical) enough plot, but the actors forget their one task: to act! Overact, underact, or just get it right, but at least try! There's plenty of attempts at good humour, but the lack of acting makes for one lousy movie. 1/10 overall, 2/10 in genre.

Dead Man - Depp delivers a strong yet strangely slow moving transformation in a very typical Jarmusch film. Very good performances from Farmer and Henriksen. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Elizabeth - If only it had gone further - whether it's due to Kapur's not pushing the line far enough, Hirst not clever enough in the scene transforms, or Blanchett not delivering the role, this almost perfect movie succeeds in leaving you knowing she was Great, just not completely feeling it. It also has one badass assassin sequence that puts the LotR wraiths to shame.

And so ya'll don't think i'm a slacker, i've been watching a lot of documentary shows lately, in particular the James Burke Connections and The Day the Universe Changed series, both of which i highly recommend.

March Movie Madness

The Crazies - Romero's conceptual stepping stone between Night and Dawn is a great b-movie. Overacting, guns and hazmat suits come together for a farcical take on science vs. hippies vs. the military. Watch it for the development of France's voice in Dawn and glimpses of Liberty's lunacy in Day. 5/10 Overall, 9/10 in genre.

Pride and Prejudice - YAJAM (yet another Jane Austen Movie) which is obviously from an inexperienced director. Strong scenes, decent enough acting, and of course the story is utterly compelling, but nothing meshes together as well as it could, and i blame Wright. Perhaps i was simply spoiled by Lee's Sense & Sensibility. One undeniable good point to this movie is that Knightley has been redeemed after Domino (not that that travesty was solely her fault). 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Love Actually - Cute intermingling of stories that teaches us women are pawns in the love affairs and desires of men. Maybe i just missed the deep British/New Zealander relationship insight. Not worth more words. 5/10 overall, 4/10 in genre.

Mansfield Park - YAJAM pulld together quite well as far as the main story goes, but with dangling bits that make it seem awkward (particularly the slavery issues). Good performance from O'Connor and Miller add up to an average Austen flick, which equals a better than average movie (but i'm highly biased). 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Kikujiro - Nice Kitano movie which pokes fun at his previous work while telling a sad yet funny story of a young boy's search for his mother. The movie rotates around solid Kitano acting - a must see for his admirers. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

The Devil's Rejects - Gone is the "extended music video" feel of Corpses, replaced with a slightly more involved story and more robust directing. Doesn't add much to the horror genre, but is a solid piece nonetheless - the acting, gore, and soundtrack are topnotch. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Jane Eyre - Remarkable performance from Paquin followed by a stiff performance from Gainsbourg and though the role calls for it, it seemed a little overdone. The story has less layers, less meaning, less reality, less interest than an Austen. But don't trust me, i don't even remember MacPherson being in it. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Typical Potter flick, replacing solid storytelling with active storytelling. Maybe if the movies were made to be more than just supplements to the books, the story would really shine through, but seen as just a movie, the character development falls too short and the plot is overly disjointed. Pretty visuals, though, and the bitty pieces are good in themselves. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

The Affair of the Necklace - Swank's ok as a boxer but doesn't cut it in 18th century France. Watch the movie for the guillotine scene at the end, otherwise the acting, plot, and visuals leave a little to be desired. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio - I guess this is what "Heart Warming" means. The true story of a drunk, the wife that makes up for it, and the family she keeps together. Suprisingly well done if styled in a manner i don't generally enjoy. Watch it for Porterfield's great performance, she may go far. 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Everything is Illuminated - stylized tale of a historical, familial journey. It's a little underdeveloped in places, or maybe not as robust as i generally enjoy - some simple commentaries take too long in the movie, could have been used to say more. It does a good job of switching from humour to seriousness, mostly due to Hutz's good performance and some good (if overused) camera work. Well worth seeing. 8/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Good Night, and Good Luck. - Should have taken the titular hint and gone to sleep. McCarthyism is no sleepy issue, but this insular flick lessens its relevance and importance: where is the average american represented, do they care, is this just another stance that self-important folk are making important, or is it really on the same level as Liberace's new home? The movie doesn't do enough to draw the relation of the People to the issue, despite the top-notch acting all-around and the inclusion of Dexter, MI. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Steamboy - Pretty anime from the dude who brought us Akira. Lacks depth, character and value. 4/10 overall, 4/10 in genre.

A History of Violence - All the cinematography, scenery and action that you'd expect from a big Hollywood flick packed into a slow-moving story with a few obvious twists. Could have been called "Good Night, and Good Luck." except that the action sequences really are top-notch. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Crossing Guard - One of the weakest (though still good) performances by Nicholson but one of the strongest performances by Morse. Crawling movie about the repurcussions of drunk-driving through a father's daughter. Nothing too special, but leaves a feeling that Penn might have some skills in directing/writing as well as acting. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Evil Dead - True classic from Raimi, the director who went on to bring us some very different (yet similar) movies. Low budget horror flick that does more with a camera, a cabin, and some groceries than most movies do with millions upon millions of dollars. Coupled with great acting as Campbell sets in stone just who he is, this movie is a must see. 8/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Adaptation - The epitome of the downtrodden, pitiful characters Cage has played recently set in a story that is almost but not quite compelling. Points for trying, but the dreariness isn't cute, revelatory or interesting, despite some good acting and directing. The overall effect is like a great movie tucked inside a bad movie, wrapped in a boring movie, twirled into a slightly above average movie. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Iris - Great acting moves this story forward, as the pain and love and loss of the characters combines to display human frailty, human wonder. Bravo to Broadbent and Dench, they pave the way for adequate performances from Winslet and Bonneville. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.


Missing Pages - Story is surprisingly similar to La Jetée and done is a surprisingly similar manner, though not quite as good. Still worth seeing (if you can get your hands on it) for the very good photography. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Dawn of the Dead, 2004 - Takes the old Dawn's messaging techniques and delivers an almost tongue-in-cheek response: the new age is faster, better, more glamorous - but don't foresake us a certain amount of irony; we'll still shoot our lead performers (not the movie's main actors, but the Hollywood/tv look-a-likes that die in the mall's gathered masses (i.e. the rooftop sniping)). Otherwise delivers nothing (save today's standard jam-packed action) that the old one didn't, and through this teaches a valuable lesson: what an old, lumbering zombie could do in the 70's, it now takes a flashy, fast-moving zombie to do. 8/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

February Movie Roundup

Movies i've watched since the last roundup, plus a couple i forgot to mention the other time.

Red Eye - Craven can do better; this thriller isn't. Murphy does ok, it's just not as compelling a role as his best - man on airplane sets up terrorizing events around a woman for some slowly revealed purpose. I never really cared (didn't help that i watched it through the eyes in the back of my head). 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

House of 1000 Corpses - YAHF (Yet Another Hicksploitation Flick), this one done in a more artistic style with the camera cuts and angles that irritate after the 4th time. Nameless people wander into other nameless people's deadly playhouse and die. Relatively gorey, but i've seen gorier. Decent acting in a story we've heard a thousand times. Still worth seeing for the clown and the rabbit outfits (is that a Hills or a Darko reference?) 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Flightplan - Touchstone/Imagine's answer to that other thriller involving a plane. It's no better. Ok acting and boring story about people who don't pay attention. Whoop-de-do - NEXT! 5/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

The 40 Year Old Virgin - Comedy about sex and virginity. Cheap laughs, decent acting, obvious plot. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - One among the first movies that helped define hicksploitation. Craven's simple story about random people who get lost and killed by other random people. While far from great, the acting suits the movie perfectly, and the directing is fantastic. Watch out for that rabbit! 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

The Serpent and the Rainbow - Zombie flick of the Haitian variety. Nothing too special, though - the story moves kinda slow, often seems as if nothing is happening, but when something happens, Ouch! 5/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Gosford Park - Well done movie showing two sides to 1930's high society. Altman's attention to detail is wonderful. Unfortunately, the acting is only good and the plot is a little too obvious. More could have developed from the many differences on display. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

i heart huckabees - funny, active movie that screams "look at me! I know stuff!" - every college freshman should watch it as an intro to 1900's philosophy. People wonder what it's all about in a humourous setting; nothing new, but watch it for Wahlberg's great performance. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Girl with a Pearl Earring - Wonderful movie about a Vermeer painting. Johansson, Firth and others deliver strong performances in this compelling tale of social strata. 8/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

La Jetée - short sci-fi flick with very funny beginning and overall goodness. Time-travelling maniac sets into play dangerous events, or plays with mania in eventual danger, or eventually travels through mania in play time, or... Yes it's a familiar movie for a reason, and a cinematic technique that i'm looking forward to seeing again. 8/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

City of God - Beautiful movie about poverty in Brazil. Amazing directing, acting, storying - see it now. The dvd's mini-documentary holds some choice quotes. 9/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Bad Taste - One of those great movies that does so much with so little. Jackson delivers a hilarious, gory tale of aliens and the humans that hunt them. 7/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Domino - Bountyhunter tale with every little detail narrated and stylized to death. Boring despite its never-ending flash, the acting, action and plot could have been great under different direction. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Saw - If this is what Wan and Whanell are giving us today, we're in for some good tomorrows. Horror flick with twisty ends and a whodunit feel. Decent acting, though sometimes it feels like the actors were only allowed a couple takes each scene. 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Saw II - Battle Royale meets Se7en with a dash of Shyamalan - in other words, just like the first. Watching this second entry, it is very apparent the writers grew up on video games - you can almost hear "POWER UP!!!" every other scene. 6/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Meet the Feebles - Typical early Jackson (in other words, humourous whacky greatness on a minimal budget) in puppet form. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Wallace & Grommit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - i think it was action, or adventure, well definitely boring. Very good claymation in a underwhelming, obvious story. Worth watching if you enjoy the animation, otherwise you'll get the whole movie, including jokes and plot, from the title. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Wild at Heart - Typical Lynch and what might be Cage's and Dern's best performances. Death and disaster (and artsy, disjointed scenes) follow a couple destined and determined to be in love. 8/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

The Weather Man - Typical Cage (grow up dude!) plays a (monetarily) successful man wondering where life is taking him. Same message has been played out better before, though strangely i can't think of where. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Dead Meat - Zombie flick that adds zombie cows and Irish and Scottish accents to the genre but nothing else. Still a decent enough low budget film, with an alt ending that seems a bit out of character, if oddly reminiscent of other strange movies. 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Basketball Diaries - DiCaprio proves he can play not only a convincing mentally handicapped boy, but a decent addict as well (now if he could just get any other role right...) Story of drug use/addiction following the paths 4 boys take out of high school, but doesn't quite deliver on the message as strong as it could have. Very good supporting performances from Bracco and Wahlberg. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Braineater - Wonderful short zombie film. McMahon shows he knows his way around a camera, script and director's chair in this funny and gorey short. 6/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Eraserhead - Huh? Typical Lynch++, or Lynch without the need for thinking about the audience, in a twisted tale of a man's mind and the pressures on his soul. 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Elizabethtown - Paramount's answer to Garden State, the story is nearly identical (down and out guy goes to small town to bury parent) but delivers better acting and a slightly better storyline. Neither one shows any originality, but E is pieced together slightly better, and the characters resonate more realistically (or maybe i've just been annoyed with GS-style characters my whole life). 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Movietime

I spend much of my time watching/thinking about movies. Here's my take on the movies i've watched so far this year.

Finding Neverland - Good performances by Depp and Winslet, but not quite there - those two are capable of better; maybe if the script had been a little more compelling and less pitifull. Still a good movie following J. M. Barrie's development of Peter Pan. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Zombie Night - My Canon A80 could make a better movie; this is the lowest production movie i've ever seen for rent in Blockbuster - lousy lighting, sets, scoring, etc. Horrendous acting (save Curtis) and a hole-ridden plot not even worth laughing at, yet it features all the zombie movie essentials and they're coming back with a part II. It's not Battlefield Earth, but it is pretty damn bad. 1/10 overall, 3/10 in genre.

Emma - Love stories from Jane Austen featuring good performances all around, lacks depth of characters, plot, but i was spoiled by Sense & Sensibility. Maybe better as Clueless, but definitely worth a watch. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Sense & Sensibility - Best performances ever from everyone involved, in all aspects - directing, acting, writing, scoring, dialogue. A most compelling multiple love story with twists, turns, wit, wisdom, fantasy, reality, and a slew of lessons. 10/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Doom - Space marines and hot chick enter science/military facility and kill/get killed by evil things - I kept wanting Aliens but didn't get a quarter of that masterpiece. Still worth seeing for the Rock (i'd like to see him and Ice Cube in a movie together), the cinematography, and the FX. 4/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Constant Gardener - Corporations are evil and only hippies care about 3rd world countries - tell me something i don't know. Decent enough stylised movie with an interesting storyline whose ending you know you're going to hate. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Lord of War - Once you get over Cage, it's a great movie about gun running. Compelling story, actors, cinematography, but sometimes the plot winds in the wrong directions. 7/10 overall, 8/10 in genre.

Immortel - why do i keep watching French flicks? Unworthy FX, wandering storyline, mediocre acting in a futuristic world where egyptian aliens show up to have sex with mutants. Why do i keep watching French flicks? 2/10 overall, 4/10 in genre.

Howard's End - Good love/social criticism period piece with powerful performances from Hopkins and Thompson, but both can do better. The title word "End" teases the mind as the story drags at times. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Empire of the Wolves - Reno action movie that was horribly dubbed. Decent action sequences and pretty scenery, all in all a good waste of time. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Heavenly Creatures - Watch for the moment Jackson grows out of Bad Taste style and into LotR style. Lynskey and Winslet work wonderfully together in this true murder tale. 7/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

The Cat Returns - In your face (moral-wise) child's tale from Studio Ghibli. Lacks depth, subtlety of other Ghibli work, but it wasn't directed by Master Miyazaki. 6/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

Murderball - documentary about quadraplegic rugby. Very straightforwardly factual, therefore very good. Well shot, well cut. 7/10 overall, 9/10 in genre.

Fantastic Four - better than Daredevil superhero flick with good Chiklis, mediocre everything else. Does what it needs to plot-wise, FX-wise, character-wise, but doesn't do any more. 5/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

The Brothers Grimm - Gilliam's worst movie. For the equal in humour, action, wit, and plot, but a more worthy movie overall, rent Eurotrip instead. 4/10 overall, 5/10 in genre.

Broken Flowers - Follow Murray's past lovelife around the country. Dziena's full frontal is within the first hour, you don't miss anything if you stop watching after that, though if you enjoy either Jarmusch or Murray (both have done better), watch the rest. 6/10 overall, 6/10 in genre.

Serenity - Thankfully it's not Nemesis, unfortunately it's not Wrath. The plot is underwhelming, FX decent enough, storyline expects a lot from the viewer, acting is a bit forced - in other words, typical scifi flick. I thought Whedon was revolutionary. 5/10 overall, 7/10 in genre.

City of God - Great movie; the gimmicky timeline isn't necessary but doesn't hurt. Good acting, directing, filming, and compelling story which juggles its many characters quite well. Be sure to watch the dvd's documentary for some choice quotes/viewpoints on drugs, guns and the role of police in Brazilian society. 9/10 overall, 10/10 in genre.

Dead Windshields

Paid $185 for my new windshield - a nice pair of Oakley's (no, not the mp3-playing type). They're not perfect, but still worth the cost. I'd like them to be perfect, and wish the world was such that we could order our personal modifications for all things manufactured. Suits are tailored, braces custom fit, but my windshield is generic, even though it'll be touching my face. Maybe in 10, 20 years we'll be living in that technologically advanced world where our pets and our offspring can be custom made to order. Either that or we'll be living in a typical post-apocalyptic world.

And speaking of post-apocalyptic situations, is there any better than the undead future?

Which leads to the follow-up (trick) question: "Night", "Dawn", "Day", what word comes next?

If you answered "Dusk", "Afternoon", or "Teatime", well, you're wrong, but i'll give you partial credit since it makes sense and could logically be the correct answer. Instead Master Romero has decided that "Land" follows "Night", "Dawn", and "Day".

How long can 23 days be? Some might say 1987200 seconds, or 552 hours. Some might say 200 dead in Iraq, or $3168 net. The correct answer is 23 days is most properly measured as 99.16 consecutive viewings of the trilogy, all before the 4th installment comes out. Yes, June 24, 2005 is the release date for Land of the Dead, the first Romero Zombie flick in 20 years. I'd say line up now for your tickets, but the preview makes the movie look like a cross between Damnation Alley and Demolotion Man (or possibly Fortress; the preview was a little short), and, more importantly, my local theatre doesn't even have a pre-midnight showing, let alone tickets on sale now. Not to worry, i'll be calling them every day until the 24th in the hopes of convincing them for one.

But for now i'm off for 23 days of undead movie watching, practice bat-swinging, and listening to appropriate tunes, like The Doors. So until they make Happy Hour of the Dead, make mine Land.

Cultural phrases

I've been working quite a bit over the last couple weeks, enough that the world has started to turn to static, but it wasn't until today that i started making really silly mistakes. At least i've been able to turn things around - i caught myself turning a server silly so i stopped what i was doing, thought for a second, set my jaw, looked at that serial console, and said, "Now i show you trick or two", and everything is working better now.

Babe Ruth

A $100 bat swings real well - not that i've swung a plethora of bats in my life, but this $100 Babe Ruth Louisville slugger definitely has a good swing to it - it wants to swing, and when the dead walk the earth, it will bash in their brains quite well.

Hell yeah i watch too much Romero.

MCMOGATK

The calls to participate were like dreams, and in my sleep did i create my entries.
See if you can find them: 1996 1997

Did You-san (or is it Minowa-san?) know how exciting the possibility of participation was?

Years later, i am left wishing i had participated harder, as if that would have made a difference. I also wonder what this means: screen.

I had forgotten how much time i had put into that briefcase/city/torii. The billboards turn to face the viewer, the insides of the buildings have difference features, there's a car flying around (would have been more, and people too, but the moving buildings were already overworking my 1994-era computer), and it's a royal pain to try to navigate through. The influences are readily apparent - Blade Runner, Metropolis, etc.

And the meaning? If it ever existed, it's long since been lost in the mind of a young 21-year old.



p.s.: if you need a vrml viewer, Cortona seems to work ok in WinXP/IE.

Bike Helmet

I have a couple stickers on my bike helmet other than the shiny ones that keep me alive. One of these is security related and the other is the sticker off the Battle Royale dvd i received today.

Our supervisor gave us gift certificates to Barnes & Noble for the holidays, and as with most actions that my supervisor takes, this cert is overly time consuming - i'm not sure what to buy because B&N doesn't offer what i want, like Battle Royale. Since i couldn't find it in B&N i decided to buy it at ebay, and i got Battle Royale I & II for $28 including shipping.

My brother told me about Battle Royale a while ago, and since then i've seen a variety of Takeshi Kitano flicks - Sonatine, Brother, Zatoishi, Taboo - but Battle Royale was a little more difficult to come by (ok, Liberty St Video probably has it but i haven't been in there for years, it's way too close to where i live). I've especially wanted to see it after reading some reviews about it, such as this one.

It's a good movie, not Unforgiven good but Dawn of the Dead good, which in its own way is a goodness i respect a whole lot more than a Shine goodness. I enjoy movies that can be readily dismissed as "horror" or "action" without realising the social commentary underlying the premise (that's not to say that one dimensional films like Napolean Dynamite or Saved can't also be good, but they won't have the depth of Night of the Living Dead, and that's a bad thing because then they work iff the viewer has an indepth understanding of the culture surrounding the story; in a similar manner i doubt the Simpsons or Andres Serrano will be widely understandable past our own cultures).

Spielberg can keep his in-your face messages as depicted through Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan, sometimes an audience needs the juxtaposition created by the distance between the story and the message - it is as important as chiaroscuro in painting or contrapposto in sculpture.

And if i continue down that line of thought, maybe, just maybe i'll learn to appreciate musicals as well.

shirt update, work, alternate reality

3 hours pathing out the original screen capture plus 2 hours fine tuning the image, and i have a final image of the shirt ready for printing. That link leads to a smaller version, but if you compare that smaller version to the link in the previous post, you'll see a difference in the sharpness (hair isn't filled in, i'm debating leaving it white in the final print, there are already so many colours that need to get done, and the image i'm working off of is about 5 times as big). I don't have enough materials to make the screens just yet, though, and i might have to order them, so it might be another week before i begin the laborious process of transfering ink onto shirt, but it'll be so worth it...

Last night i gave a tour of the server room for one of the compsec classes, kept me here a bit late. This morning got to do it again for the unix admin class. Kind of hoarse now, having to talk for hours over the roar of the HVAC and servers is something i'm not so used to.

Spent too much work time looking through the CIA World Factbook , one of my favourite pasttimes. If i could write, i'd write a book in which UofM (approx 50k students, $3.8 billion total revenue) invades Belize (68k available military manpower, $18 million military expenditure) and forms the Republic of the University of Michigan, or in which Bill Gates (net worth: $48 billion) hires 6 million Chinese men for one year (GDP per capita: $5k, total cost of $30 billion), spends $10 billion to equip them, invades North Korea (~6 million available manpower, $5 billion military expenditure), uses his remaining $8 billion to rebuild the country afterwards, and is hailed as the greatest US patriot ever for taking out one of the Axis of Evil countries- i'm sure either would be a best seller.
Thinking about war in terms of raw numbers reminds me of The Fog of War : in one part Robert McNamara describes more efficiently bombing Japan during WWII while numbers fall from planes in vintage footage - quite a disturbing scene.