Non Sequitur Musings

Friday Night Lights

2009-10-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching season 2 of Friday Night Lights on Netflix instant viewing. Not as great as the first season but still fairly solid. The murder sub-plot was unfortunate and a few of the ways they took characters wasn't ideal. But it seems to have ended going in the right direction and I'm looking forward to season 3. And I'm happy to find that season 3 is on instant viewing.

Today is D-Day for Summer 2016. Is Chicago the front runner? I have to thing that all things being equal the IOC would rather give it to Rio than Chicago. But a U.S. hosted event will mean out-of-control tv rights fees for the IOC. Plus Madrid & Tokyo seem like solid choices.

I hate my doctor's office.

2009-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

My doctor was in a practice with a number of doctors. He moved early this year but I never bothered to move my records. So back in July when I had shingles I stayed at the same practice and saw my parent’s doctor who was still there. I was not thrilled with him and have was going to transfer my records but wanted to make it through my recheck in November for my blood sugar checkup. But the last couple of days have pushed me over the edge.

My company requires use to see out doctor with basic tests to receive a discount on our insurance premium for 2010. We had to have this done by yesterday. So I called his office Tuesday and after dealing with voice mail hell, on hole for over ten minutes I finally got a call back. I explained I had the tests done in July and could I just bring the sheet in and get signed. The doctor’s assistant said I had to make a appointment so I made one for 9:40 with the same nurse practitioner I saw in July.

To even piss me off more, when I told a co-worker I would because of a doctor visit he laughed that he just faxed his to his doctor and they faxed it back.

Well at 9:55 I was called in (they beat my 10:00am over/under). I handed her the form and after reading it over she said that I didn’t need an appointment and could have just gotten it signed. She signed and dated it for the July visit, walked me to the front and said I didn’t need a visit. Had them tear up the insurance form and returned my co-pay.

So all I was out was my time and frustration. At least I had a good book to read while waiting.

Cotton on Jan 2?

2009-01-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

Not much today. After returning from work, were I had to go for a couple of hours, I took great pleasure in watching a couple of upsets. With the Cotton & Sugar today it felt more like New Year's Day than yesterday did.

Very happy that Texas Tech lost. Always a great day when they lose, especially since everyone was giving them the victory.

Was also happy to see Utah win. Not that I'm that against Bama but I do enjoy rooting for the Utes.

Also updated my Guardian 1000 list. My number is 677 seen & 322 to go. The only film that needed to be updated was Borat. I think I watched this off cable a few months ago. Never been a big fan of his show and the movie was just more of the same fairly unfunny stuff.

Another year, another post

2009-01-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

So new year, new chance to blog? Maybe...

I'll try to make updating this blog one of my many things to do this year.

So I spent today watching college football and a couple of films.

Watched my first Netflix in a couple of months. Broadway Danny Rose. This is on the Guardian 1000 and I'm at a loss as to why. Not a bad film, actually pretty enjoyable, but I'm sure there is a better Allen film I could find for the list. And I have no idea where I stand on the Guardian list, that will be for another post.

The other film was The Air I Breath. Another multi-story, time fractured film that has been done before far better and more interesting. At least it wasn't awful and added 1 to my list of 2008 films seen, and that badly needs help.

Snow Angels

2008-02-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Book number 5 of the year is Snow Angels. My main reason is picking up this book is that next week this will be the 4th feature film from the extraordinary director David Gordon Green. It has a lot to live up to as I love all of the first three efforts.

The novel interweaves two stories set in a poor town outside of Pittsburg in the fall of 1974. The story echoed the themes of some of Atom Egoyan’s films, Exotica or The Sweet Hereafter. While Stewart O’Nan’s debut novel is interesting and well written it doesn’t pack the emotional punch that either of those two works did.

Most of the novel is told in flashback. It starts with Annie being shot and the blasts being heard by 15-year-old Arthur, whom Annie formerly babysat. The backstory of Annie and her husband during separation is quite interesting. Her story of living in a dead end town is whose life unravels under two tragedies comes alive with real characters and details. One drawback is that you can see the first tragedy unfolding as soon as the chapter begins and the buildup to the second tragedy, the shooting, seems a bit too literary an ending.

The parallel story of the dissolution of Arthur’s parent’s marriage doesn’t have need the interest of the first. This is mostly due to Arthur’s mother being completely one-dimensional and unappealing. Arthur’s coming of age, especially with his changing feelings toward Lila, the even poorer classmate who is the only other family living in the run down complex his mother is forced to move to post-separation. I’m really excited to see how DGG handles this part of the story given his success with similar parts of Undertow and All the Real Girls.

Another bothersome aspect of the book is the way it treats the female characters. Most of the male characters don’t seem to be judged. Annie meanwhile is abusive, hot-tempered, and cheats on her husband and friends. Her own mother even blames her for causing the situation she’s in. While she doesn’t deserve to die, the reader is lead to think she deserves almost what happens to her. And as stated before, Arthur’s mother is unappealing with much of the same attributes.

The Final Week

2008-02-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

Six days from now is vote time and Texas will be dropped like a high school girl who just put out in favor of another conquest. It’s been an interesting week or so and these final days should be even more so. I’m been reading story after story that focus on how bad the Clinton campaign is going and making it sound like she has as much chance as the defenders at the Alamo. But I’m not counting them out. Remember they always seem to bounce back and the losers at the Alamo ultimately won the war.

But a number of comments make things bleak. Much is being made of Hillary’s campaign seems to being run without a clear focus. Maureen Dowd comments that her multiple looks doesn’t work in the Information Age and just makes her look even more manufactured. Mayhill Fower, of Huffington, reports of the aimless campaign stops that seem too little and aren’t hitting the right people.

Locally you see Bill Clinton, the former most charismatic man in politics, drawing only a few hundred to a stop at a city park while Barack Obama, the current most charismatic man in politics, draws and overflow crowed of over 17,000 at sports arenas.

The Clintons have no answer to Obama’s charisma. At debates he seems at ease in either taking the offensive or being in the defensive, as he was for much of the time in Cleveland. But Hillary can make no dent and comes off looking even whineier with her comments of always getting the first question. Bill is even more perplexed. He’s not used to being upstaged by someone preaching change with lots of style.

With super-delegates beginning to bend to the will of the popular vote this might get nasty before it’s over with the Clintons feeling they are being backed into a corner.

Addicting Game

2008-02-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

A friend sent me this yesterday. It’s a geography quiz that I’m obsessed with right now. The highest level I’ve gotten to in the World game is level 11. I don’t think I’ll stop playing until I make it to the 12th and last level.

The Traveler IQ Challenge

The Oscars

2008-02-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

So the 80th annual Oscars have been given. If nothing else it was a very fast moving show with no major production numbers that grinded things to a halt. The nice thing about this year’s ceremony is that of all the major categories there were nobody that by winning would irritate me. As it turned out no one won that I thought was glaringly undeserving.

So what were my favorite moments:

Marion Cotillard for Best Actress. An extremely strong performance in an average film. She carried La Vie en Rose more so than the favorite Julie Christie.
Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová for Best Song. Once was my favorite film of the year and while I didn’t love the songs they have grown on me. And Falling Slowly was far better then the other four fairly average nominees.
Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress. She’s done consistently great work for years and it is time she got recognized. I would have been equally happy for Amy Ryan.
Jon Stewart pulling Markéta Irglová back on stage for her acceptance speech. I’m all for moving the show along but when these people are saying something interesting let them have an extra minute or two.
The speeches overall. I really enjoy the speeches when they are not a laundry list of people they pay well and then thank. With very few exceptions the speeches were quite interesting with Jarvier Barbem and Marion Cotillard given two pretty good ones.

So three questions for the Oscar trivia pile:

With the Coen Brothers winning three Oscars in one night, has that happened before?
At 97 years, 137 days is Robert F. Boyle, who received the Honorary Oscar, the oldest person when receiving an award?
All four acting winners were born outside the United States. Has that ever happened?

Spus Win League Cup

2008-02-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

What a difference a day makes. While yesterday was a terrible day in sports, today might be one of the all-time recent high points. I’m just pissed that I had so little faith that I didn’t wake up early to make it to Trinity Hall to see the game at 9:00am.

Today in their first trip to new Wembley Spurs beat Chel$ki 2-1 in extra time. From all accounts Spurs dominated the game but Chelsea had a 1-0 HT lead with a goal at the 38 minute mark. Spur came back in the second with a Berbatov shot at 69 minutes. The took the lead for good 2 minutes into ET with a Woodgate header off a Jenas free kick.

Is this the beginning for greater things? Since hiring Ramos the team has won 15 games with only 5 losses and 8 draws. Oddly Romos has never lost in a Cup final. This is the first major trophy since winning the League Cup in 1999 and guarantees a third straight trip to Europe. But that is next year, we are still alive in Europe being part of the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup. Net up is a tie with Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven in March.

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur

Armed and Dangerous

2008-02-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

I just put down my fourth book of the year. At this rate I could get to 30. Still nowhere near the 50 of the Internet challenge but a far greater number that I would think possible.

First, I am a walking paradox. While I thing that most police are power-hungry bullies I am completely fascinated by the entire legal process. My favorite time waste television program is Cops. I’m addicted to all of the Law & Order franchises. One of my all time favorite shows is Hill Street Blues. And I love reading crime fiction and non-fiction.

My latest read fell into the last category: Armed and Dangerous: The Hunt for One of America’s Most Wanted Criminals. Not a great book but a quick read and highly entertaining if you are into the subject. Sort of beach reading for crime junkies.

This book is about the author’s process to put together a team and go into the hills around California’s Inland Empire to go catch a psycho back in the mid-80s. The problem is he lives off the land selling marijuana, knows the area better than the cops, and with his fragile mental state might kill someone soon. While I probably won’t want to read another book like this, it does show how unglamorous police work can be. The actual operation is rather anticlimactic with the biggest cliff hanger being will his superiors approve such a risky mission?

So to fill in empty space William Queen talks about many of the smaller cases he worked while building his big case. Most of them are quite interesting. The best is a drug and gun buy that goes bad when the bad guy brings live explosives, to sell, at the meet next to a high school with students around. This brings up an interesting point, which could easily another book. The ATF handled things differently in the mid-80s vs. the post-9/11 00s.

Malcolm McDowell

2008-02-21T23:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was able to see a 40th anniversary screening of Night of the Living Dead. Put on by both AFI and Texas Frighmare it was a very fun evening. Appearing at the screening for Q&A were George Romero, his co-writer and the actors who played the brother and sister, Sheriff, daughter and the first zombie seen at the cemetery.

It was fun to see the film on the big screen from a print with a packed house that was really into the film. The discussion afterwards was quite interesting with the old friends remembering the film, much like the best DVD commentaries. But the big reason I was so interested to go was because Malcolm McDowell was present and hosted the post-film discussion.

While I’m not a big autograph hound there are a few people I would like to have them sign copies of DVDs I own. McDowell has to be high on the list. After the film, I made a dash up to the back of the theater where the guests were waiting and was very happy to get him to sign a DVD. Surprisingly this was the first person I’ve met since being an adult that I was actually nervous. After meeting him I was literally shaking while putting the cover back in the keep case. I’m met filmmakers I consider geniuses (Peter Greenaway & Wim Wenders) and actresses who are extremely gorgeous (Maura Tierney & Sarah Polley) and never felt this way. This is probably a combination of him being nice and me being a fan of his since high school.

I didn’t want to have him sign A Clockwork Orange. That seemed a bit too fan boy and I’m sure he’s sick of being that film. So I brought O Lucky Man! A personal favorite of mine that few people have seen and he is credited with the story idea.

When I got my chance I handed him the box asking "If you don’t mind could you please sign this for me?"
He took the case and the pen, paused for a second, then tapped the case with the pen and in his distinctive voice uttered very deliberately, "This is a good film."
At this point my night was made and I didn’t want to screw it up but was able to respond, "I was so happy it finally made it to disc last year."
"So have you seen it?" he asked.
"Yes over 20 years ago. It’s one of my favorites"
"Good to hear," and he handed it back to me.

Jury Duty

2008-02-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

I did my civic duty today: Jury Duty. As it always happens, nothing happens for weeks and then two events converge on the same day. By coincidence another part of our uniquely form of American government happened today that I wanted to be a part of and that was attending the Obama rally.

Yes I did want to be part of the jury. This is only the second time I’ve ever been called, the last was about six years ago, and both were DWI cases. The first time I was in the hot zone, I think I was juror #7, but was skipped. This time I was #11 so it wasn’t too likely they would take me. As it turned out the last juror picked, they only take 6, was juror #10. Two people that they skipped were a woman who was injured in a DWI wreck and couldn’t give a fair opinion and a man who was a patent attorney.

I sounded like it had some interesting aspects to the case. Not enough for me to stay and watch but I would have liked to know the outcome. The defendant was a fairly cute blond stick who looked like one drink would put her over. From the voir dire, it looked like there was not breath or blood test. It was hinted that there was a video tape of the field sobriety test and that defense was going to challenge the validity of how the test was given.

Ace in the Hole

2008-02-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

While watching Ace in the Hole I both see the genius in the film making and understand why it did poorly with audiences in 1951. This is an amazingly cynical film. Outside of the Leo Minosa, who is stuck in the hole, and a couple of characters no one escapes Wilder’s wrath. Everyone is to blame: the opportunistic press, corrupt law, money hungry wife, and thrill seeking public. While he has certainly made a film that was well ahead of its time, and thus holds up well today, that makes it no less difficult to watch.

Wilder has made a film that is technically sound as any of his films. It is well written and well edited to drive a film that becomes painfully obvious that all will not end well. Kirk Douglas gives a career performance as Chuck Tatum, the man behind the strings. He is helped by a very strong supporting cast with standouts being Jan Sterling, Porter Hall, & Ray Teal as the victim’s wife, Albuquerque newspaper boss, and sheriff respectively.

Wilder certainly was able to see into the future. The term "media-circus" is now well known. With stories such as Princess Diana and Britney Spears the public has no problem believing that the press will perpetrate and become involved in the actual story. Many of the things shown in the film have happened many times. Recent media events have spawned both fly-by-night novelty songs and support businesses that pop up to deal with the huge crowds. Though I have to admit an actual carnival is a bit much.

But this film does have its faults. There is nothing subtle about this film. Wilder, much like Chuck Tatum in the film, paints himself into a corner and has a difficult time ending things. I’m also unsure what to make of Tatum’s change at the end. It’s hard to accept that he is now becoming human only to sacrifice himself to martyrdom.

A very good Wilder film but not a masterpiece like both Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd.

Guardian 1,000: 665 seen, 334 remaining.

Washington's Birthday

2008-02-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

So today is President’s Day. Actually not. It is officially Washington’s Birthday. But for some reason everyone thinks we have lumped celebrating Lincoln’s birthday into day and that will sell more crap at Macy’s. But Lincoln wasn’t born today. He was born last Tuesday. No president was born today. The best we can do is that Wendell Willkie was born on this day in 1892. He was the GOP candidate in 1940 losing to FDR. But his most odd claim to fame is having an affair with Madame Chiang Kai-shek in her bizarre ambition to become the most powerful woman in the world.

So why today? In 1971 congress moved Washington’s Birthday to be celebrated on the third Monday in February along with moving to Mondays Memorial and Veterans Days. This is also when Columbus Day was created. But in 1978 they decided to move Veterans Day back to its actual day of November 11.

So when exactly was George Washington born? That’s a great question! Today it is listed as 22 February 1732. But when he was born it was 11 February 1731. Yes you read that right. When he was born we were still on the Julian calendar so the new year began on 25 March. The day after 24 March 1731 was 25 March 1732. In 1752 England converted to the Gregorian calendar. To align the years 1752 began on 25 March and ended on 31 December and 2 September 1752 was followed by 14 September 1752, 11 days missing.

So Washington’s Birthday was moved forward 11 days from the 11th to the 22nd. So when will we celebrate the government holiday on his actual birthday? NEVER! The third Monday has to be between the 15th and the 21st missing out on both days.

Bad Boy Bubby

2008-02-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

I'm still processing this very odd film.

Guardian 1,000: 664 seen, 335 remaining

Halsey's Typhoon

2008-02-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite type of book to read is something that I like to call "micro-history." Books that focus on a specific event or trend and discuss the history that led up the happening while focusing on the people affected. These are usually historical aspects that were not taught in school or just glossed over. I’ve read books on the Galveston Hurricane, San Francisco Earthquake, and sinking of the Slocum. Some of the best books in this genre include Into Thin Air, The Perfect Storm, and Longitude. As you can see most of the books involve disasters and need not be about old events.

The third book I’ve read this year, Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, recounts the typhoon that his the Pacific Fleet in the later part of World War II. I had no memory of this event happening and was interested when I picked this book up at half price.

This book is an interesting quick read that is told from many interviews of the survivors of the three ships that went down and the main rescue ship. The book really takes off in the second half when the survivors are floating in the open ocean hoping for rescue and still battling the typhoon.

However, this might not be the book to read on the subject. Another book was released after this one on the same subject and has much better reviews on Amazon. Military buffs complain of the numerous errors in this book. While I couldn’t pick any out, they didn’t seem to ruin the spirit of first hand accounts. I did notice that the list of the dead in the appendix did seem to contain a few annoying errors. It also seemed like the heroes were portrayed as too saintly and the ones at fault a bit too incompetent.

I do recommend reading more on the story if for nothing else it made a war hero of Gerald Ford, involved the controversial Admiral Bull Halsey, and hurt the military career of John McCain, grandfather of the current presidential candidate.

2007 Top 4 Films

2008-02-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Here are the top 4 films of 2007. As I said yesterday these are the 10 star films of the year. I could easily order them in any way and on another day with my feelings different that might have been the case.

What made these films different is that everything comes together with these films. They dazzled me technically, with its acting, and completely drew me in emotionally. I easily could have watched them two or three times in a row.

I haven't been able to compete the summaries. I'll add them bit by bit.

4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
3. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. No Country for Old Men
1. Once

2007 Films Top 10 (5 to 10)

2008-02-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is my top 10 films of 2007. I planned on listing 6-10 today and the top 5 tomorrow. But I split it at 6 and 4 since there is a very distinct break after the top 4. The top 4 are the 10 out of 10 films while these 6 are 1 step below.

I haven't been able to compete the summaries. I'll add them bit by bit.

10. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
9. Michael Clayton
8. Juno
7. Sunshine
6. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
5. Zodiac

2007 Top 20 Films

2008-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Below are the films that I put in spots 11 to 20. I haven't decided to rank them so they are listed in alphabetical order.

I haven't been able to compete the summaries. I'll add them bit by bit.

Across the Universe
Black Book
Charlie Wilson's War
Eastern Promises
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Lars and the Real Girl
My Kid Could Paint That
No End in Sight
Rescue Dawn

2 Days in Paris - The biggest surprise of the year. I wasn’t expecting much since I’m not a big Julie Delpy fan. But she is wonderful her both in front and behind the camera. This look at a strained relationship at the end of an European trip is neither smug nor pretentious. Adam Goldberg is perfect as the fish out of water with a wonderful sense of humor and an equal distance for ugly Americans and pompous French. Topping off the fun are Delpy’s real parents playing her nutty parents in the film. They are completely endearing and exasperating at the same time.

2007 Honorable Mention Films - Part 2

2008-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Paris, je t'aime - Usually films like this either are a complete mess or are average at best. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this really works. I don’t think a single segment didn’t work at all while most were very enjoyable. There is pretty much something for everyone. My favorites included themes from the Coen brothers dark comedy, two segments by Richard LaGravenese & Gérard Depardieu featuring older actors, Wes Craven’s piece featuring Oscar Wilde, Alexander Payne’s moving piece of a poster works & Oliver Schmitz’s sad segment on a hate crime.

Persepolis - A very good animated film from France that is both a visual and narrative treat for adults. Drawn in mostly stark black and while it tells the story of a girl coming of age in 1980s Iran with a brief stopover in Vienna. Since it was condensed from four graphic novels, the film at 95 minutes seems to change focus quite a bit. It works better when dealing with growing up in a police state than as a coming-of-age film. But there is a lot to like in this film. Not the least of which is Catherine Deneuve and Danielle Darrieux voicing the mother and grandmother.

Ratatouille - Another animated film and another film set in Paris. This is another wonderful entry from Pixar. This succeeds because they got away from casting "names" and picked the best voice for each role. They also have a very solid story that adults, especially anyone into cooking, will enjoy just as much as the kids. That’s not to say the animation isn’t excellent, it is some of the best ever, but that doesn’t make a classic animated film. And this is one of the best they’ve put out.

The Savages - The interplay between a brother and sister make this a very entertaining film. Philip Seymour Hoffman is solid as the brother with a few issues and Laura Linney is excellent as the sister with a lot of issues. The declining health of their long estranged father, nicely played by Philip Bosco, spurs them to take stock of their lives and both show signs of improvement. A script that doesn’t over dramatize the family issues it just presents things in a very realistic manner.

The Simpsons Movie - With almost 20 years of television shows, the likelihood of failure was high. Yet almost all of the top talent from the history of the show didn’t disappoint. They moved to the big screen with a fine story that holds up for 90 minutes with wonderful jokes and pop-culture references. Yet it always seemed like I was watching an expanded television show on a big screen. But is that a bad thing? Not every film is Oscar worthy but there is nothing wrong with this effort.

There Will Be Blood - While many people consider this the film of the year, this began as the film of the year before staying just a bit past its welcome. The first half of this film is brilliant. Beginning with the wonderful look of the opening sequence of Day-Lewis looking for minerals to his persuasive takeover of land in California this captures the wild southwest of the early 20th century. Paul Dano is amazing throughout as the hypocritical religious leader. But Day-Lewis’ performance is one of the problems I have with the film. He is excellent at the beginning but later on, much like the film, it becomes a bit too over the top. I’m also unsure about the resolution of the film. I’m sure P.T. Anderson is trying to say something but with so many flawed characters, it isn’t clear what the point of the film is except religion and business are both bad.

3:10 to Yuma - A very strong remake that might not fully revive the western, as some people keep trumpeting, but is effective enough to green-light a film or two a year. The originally wasn’t big on action and while this film is longer and opens up a bit its success is totally dependent on the actors. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale more than deliver. They work together perfectly and the audience will be rooting for both of them even though Crowe is the criminal. The real criminal in the film is Crowe’s second in command, Ben Foster, playing a sadistic loon to the edge without being over-the-top. There are also a few nice touches rarely seen in westerns. One is the opportunistic townsmen at the end siding with whoever has more guns and money.

This Is England - A raw and powerful look at a skinhead gang set in 1983. Told from the viewpoint of a 12-year-old who lost his father in the Falkland War. He is desperately looking for a father figure as his mother is ineffectual in helping him cope in school. He is adopted by a gang that is about fashion, music, and dealing with the economic despair. The even has a couple of blacks as friends. It’s not until a racist college gets out of prison that things go bad. Thomas Turgoose as the young boy is wonderful young actor with a very expressive face that conveys both the joy and disillusion in following his new friends.

An Unreasonable Man - This very interesting doc about the professional life of Ralph Nader. He is mainly known as the man who caused Al Gore to loose the election. Over half of the film is devoted to the 2000 election with clever editing between the talking heads of his supporters and detractors both refuting each others claims about who was right. The rest of the film documenting his early success is just as interesting. His battles with business and relative little support from the government in charge, either Republican or Democrat, shed light on his distain for today’s ruling two parties. Surprisingly one of the most interesting speakers if fellow third party candidate Pat Buchanan.

2007 Honorable Mention Films - Part 1

2008-02-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Since I can’t think of anything else to write about and am sick of fighting with my home computer, more on that probably later, I will continue with my wrap-up of films of 2007. When I left off I talked about the 21 films that I considered above-average. The number of films per day will now get shorter but I’ll be writing more per film.

Today and tomorrow are the honorable mention films. These received serious consideration for top 20 status and only missed out due to a minor flaw or another there was not enough room at the top. Since 19 films made this level, I’ll discuss half today, and half tomorrow.

After the Wedding - Scandinavia is very good at producing films of fucked up families. The trailers can just read, "secrets were revealed, lives were altered, relationships were destroyed." Last year’s Oscar nominee from Denmark is that and a lot more. This film has a look that can be described as Dogma-lite. It resembles those films but doesn’t put adhering to those rules as gospel. It is directed by Susanne Bier who did this year’s Things We Lost in the Fire and maybe it is the female touch that sets this film apart.

The film premise is simple. A man who runs an orphanage in India returns to his native Denmark to secure funding for his charity. His future benefactor casually invites him to his daughters wedding while he is unaware that he knew the man’s wife years ago. The script is first rate with a number of twists that some can be guessed but some probably not. The characters react in ways that you probably wouldn’t but seem consistent and the acting is top notch by all. Noticeable are Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre from Casino Royale) as the head of the orphanage and Stine Fischer Christensen (looking like Emily Mortimer) as the daughter.

Atonement - A very solid story that when translated to film resolves some of the problems I had with the book. Technically the film is excellent, the costumes are gorgeous, Keira Knightly has never looked more beautiful and Saoirse Ronan is a wonderful acting find.

The pre-war sequence is where this film is strongest. It very successfully portrays the same scenes from two different points of view that prove to be the fatal catalyst of the story. As it moves to World War II it is no less beautiful but it loses much of the emotional punch. It does end of a high note with the appearance of Vanessa Redgrave but I, as with the book, I question how much atonement went on.

Broken English - A real surprise as film by a Cassavetes that is light comedy, starring Parker Posey no less. One of a number of films featuring Paris in a romantic setting this year works due to Posey in a job she hates and the only person in her social circle that is not in a long term relationship. She has a few misses then she finds the perfect man but he is geographically wrong. If it was a Hollywood film it would rely too much on slapstick with someone like Debra Messing in the lead. This film is plays like they are normal people and works perfectly.

The Bourne Ultimatum - A highly entertaining film that’s main negative is being compared to the previous two Bourne film. As an action film this has some wonderful set pieces. The Waterloo Station sequence is one of the best ever put to film that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The New York cat and mouse game was equally entertaining but the chase in Tangier seemed to go a bit too long for me. At the end when the plot took over, it seemed too Rambo-ish and I really didn’t care about the ins and outs of the corrupt government. However, I would welcome a fourth film just to see Damon, Allen, & Stiles, who was very strong in this film, in these characters again and to answer the Bourne/Nicky Parsons history question.

Crazy Love - The first of the many documentaries mentioned from here on out. In 1959, a New York ambulance chasing attorney threw acid in the face of his 22 year old girlfriend in a jealous rage. Fifteen years later, thinking no one else would want a blind and scared wife, they marry. This is the stuff for E True Hollywood Story. But director Dan Klores, in his first theatrical doc, puts together a fairly captivating tale. He includes accounts from many friends and relatives, including New York icon Jimmy Breslin, that will come off to outsiders as more crazy New Yorkers. He skillfully edits between everything in a nice pace that is far more than the subject deserves.

Diggers - A nice small film that I might have been one of the few to see. Director Katherine Dieckmann expertly handles the familiar story of four close male friends who aren’t as mature as their age and the women that surround them. Set in a Long Island clam digging town during the 1970s it explores the backdrop of big business driving families out of what they have been doing for generations. But the strength is the real interplay between the actors. Paul Rudd and Maura Tierney are wonderful as brother and sister while Lauren Ambrose has a nice turn as the outsider; a rich girl from the city slumming it for the summer.

Gone Baby Gone - Maybe Ben Affleck has found his calling. Having read all of Dennis Lehane’s works I was worried it could be a mess. But Affleck understands the raw nature of the source material and puts together a film that is better than the glossier and more praised Mystic River. Casey Affleck, who had a great 2007, holds this film together as the detective who knows that streets who tries to do the right thing. Amy Ryan, who gets to breakout from The Wire, is excellent as the bad mother who starts the whole process.

Affleck shows South Boston in all its raw glory. Some complain he exploited the underbelly, but I disagree. He finds actors that you believe are at the lowest end of the economic ladder. Scenes play out like you are watching real people. Two in particular, coincidentally both are in bars, have such real tension you will find yourself sweating. You might put all the pieces together before the detectives but you have to agree it is some of the best twists in a crime whodunit in years.

In the Shadow of the Moon - Being highly interested in the space program I was looking forward to this and was not disappointed. It covers much of the same ground that countless other docs on the Apollo have already covered so the casual fan might not be as interested. However the visuals look great and this film is unique in being told completely from the astronaut point-of-view. I was glad to see it had them discussing the feeling of being so close to the moon but unable to go to the surface. The discussion of Armstrong landing the lunar module was very interesting, was it really that close a call? And something I never thought of but some mentioned being uneasy in being labeled heroes while colleagues were dying in Vietnam.

Manufactured Landscapes - Another good doc in a year with a number of strong documentaries. This is the one film I saw on DVD that I wished I had seen in the theater. The visuals are amazing beginning with the long 10 minute tracking shot of a Chinese factory. Both the artist profiled and the film pose important questions about why we have allowed things get so polluted. However they don’t delve as deep into the problems of the human condition. That is probably another film but as this is shot in China it is impossible to not think about that while watching. It is further brought out while watching the excellent DVD extras that highlight their governmental escort and the numerous places they were not allowed to film.

Margot at the Wedding - The American version of After the Wedding in terms of family dysfunction. Viewers might find it hard to connect with the relatively plotless film with no real beginning and a very abrupt ending. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh are two sisters with a lot of baggage and history. We learn little of the history in the brief look at these characters. Kidman’s character might further alienate viewers. She plays one of the nastiest, self-centered, most manipulative characters in recent history. Ms. Leigh actually plays a fairly normal person who seems happy with her life until her sister appears to tell her she is wasting herself. Jack Black is actually very good, as is the entire cast, especially the younger actors. My only complaint is a clichéic plot development involving Jack Black that further screws up this family.

Roy Scheider 1932-2008

2008-02-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

I was sad to read tonight that Roy Scheider passed away today at the age of 75. His acting heyday was in the 1970s and while he was in relatively few films he seemed to pick the right few. His role in film history is set due to starring in Jaws, at the time the top earning film in history and regarded as the birth of the summer blockbuster.

My favorite role of his is Joe Gideon, the alter-ego of director Bob Fosse in All That Jazz. This is one of my favorite musicals. Much is do to the great songs and staging of Fosse but the film wouldn’t work without Scheider’s presence throughout. He also gets to be in one of the great song numbers and holds his own to the great Ben Vereen in the finale.

Next he is known for three supporting roles. In Klute, The French Connection, and Marathon Manh gave memorable performances while working with some of the best every performers.

His other lead roles of note are in flawed but still interesting films. The Seven-Ups, a loose sequel to The French Connection; the William Friedkin remake Sorcerer; and helicopter action film Blue Thunder.

Obama Saturday Sweep

2008-02-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

The first day of voting after Super Tuesday and maybe Obama is gaining momentum. I discussed with a friend from California Monday evening and she though that Obama would have a hard time winning California due the Hillary probably taking most of the absent vote. But hopefully Obama would cut into her lead as he seems to be doing and keep gaining momentum. I was concerned about the way the press reports it like a sports score just noting the states won and if Hillary won more states people wouldn’t realize that it is still close since everything is proportional.

Well I didn’t have to worry about the press since the result was 13 states to Obama, 8 to Hillary, and 1 a virtual tie. And it looks like the momentum is building as he won all 4 states and territories today by big margins. I’m not too surprised by Louisiana and Nebraska since he should do well in the south and mid-west. But Washington! A state in the far north-west and he wins 68% to 31%. A big win in a big population state.

(Edited Sunday to add: Make that a clean sweep for the weekend. A big win in Maine and now the Hillary camp as news that she has replaced her campaign manager. Next up Tuesday is three contests in the south that Obama can win easily. KEEP IT UP!)

Ticketmaster is pure evil

2008-02-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking about seeing Feist in April at the Palladium. Not a hugh fan but she is a hot artist with the Apple commercial and all and though it might be fun.

So I log onto Ticketmaster...

Tickets : $25.00 (thats cool I can handle that)
Convenience Charge : $8.25 (a little high, I would expect $5 but I can live)
Additional Taxes : $0.89
Order Processing Charge : $5.10 (this is where it's getting ridiculus. If you are going to charge me $8 per ticket then that's pretty ballsy to hit me up with an order fee.)
TicketFast Delivery : $2.50 (to be emailed the fucking tickets. are you kidding me?)
Total Charge : $41.74

OK a $25 dollar ticket should only coast at most $32 dollars with the added fees.
I know that this is old news that Pearl Jam talked about years ago but when you are paying $75 for a major show its not a big deal but for this I really have to re-thing my modivation to see an artist that I'm only marginally interested in.

That works out to $15.85 going straight to Ticketmaster or 63% of the ticket price.

Say the Palladium gets 1,000 people and most buy in groups of 2. That is $12,050 for Ticketmaster when they really didn't do all that much.

Since they have the monopoly on tickets at AAC if a show there sells 18,000 tickets, using the same logic that's $216,900 into the pockets of Ticketmaster.

That is the worst thing about losing Gypsy and Trees is you now have to go through this money hungry outfit to get tickets. Maybe they have a boxoffice where I can save a little money.

Mamma Roma

2008-02-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

With the possible exception of the United States no country has produced more film genres than the Italian film industry. It has given us neorealism, sword and sandals, spaghetti westerns, giallo, and the sentimental works of the late 1980s and early 1990s to name a few.

But the 1970s brought surreal, films loaded with symbolism and bizarre orgies of S&M laden sex. Fellini dabbled in the genre but it is more closely identified with Pier Paolo Pasolini with his films The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and Salo (one of the most infamous film in history.) As odd as this work is, his early work is at the other end of the spectrum in beauty. The Gospel According to St. Matthew is one of the best works based on the Bible and Mamma Roma, the film I recently watched, is just as hypnotic.

The story of Mamma Roma is simple. A former prostitute (Anna Magnani) tries to leave her old life and raise her son to be respectable as she works in a fruit stand. Her son, fascinated by the local tramp and the local youths, is more drawn to the life of a petty thief. Magnani enlists the help of some of her former associates to get her son a decent job but in the end it doesn't matter.

This film is all Magnani. She gives a great performance even though both her and Pasolini don’t thing so, for different reasons, and fired barbs at each other in the press. The scenes with her have amazing energy but when the film concentrates on her son it loses some of this intensity. A couple of her most interesting scenes are also the most technically interesting. She walks down a dark street while former customers and workers approach to talk then fall back while another appears. These scenes are done in one take with one lasting over four minutes. The black and white photography is another high point especially in these scenes where the audience can see little outside of the speakers. The classical music, much of it by Vivaldi, further adds to the mood.

This film is rich in symbolism. Magnani’s character can be seen as a stand in for Italy as she is caring, coarse, religious, and suffers through it all. There are numerous religious and political allusions, most notably the ability to change you social status. Even the mother-son relationship has some oedipal overtones.

The film was labeled immoral upon its 1962 release. One reason was due to its vulgar language. But as Pasolini has explained that is how this social class, which as drifted away, lived.

Guardian 1,000: 663 seen, 336 remaining.

Hot Chick Born Today
Robin Lively, 36, she doesn't work too often now but she southern looks made her one of the most beautiful around in the 90s when she went from the television shows Doogie Howser, Chicago Hope, & Savannah.

KOP

2008-02-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

I just finished my second book of the year. It is Kop, the debut science fiction novel from Warren Hammond. It would be more appropriate to label this as a film noir set in a futuristic world. I picked it up cold from the new acquisitions section of the library. There are 14 user reviews and all have given it 5 stars. I would not disagree.

The film noir story is an aging corrupt cop, Juno, from vice is assigned to investigate a murder by the chief of police, Paul Chang, his former partner. The chief is corrupt and wants Juno to team with a beautiful young recruit that is squeaky clean and try to connect the murder to a corrupt mayor who is trying to take down the power in the police force.

While the cops are corrupt they try to do things that benefit the planet as a whole. The jungle planet Lagoto had an economic boom due to its brandy crop. People made the journey to live a better life but the economy collapsed while many were en-route only to find no work. Rival drug gangs took over and Chang supported one gang for peace and geographical sections of safety while the politicians sold out any remaining economic opportunity to off-world interests leaving the planet in a perpetual third world state.

A interesting, fast paced read that mirrors history with a story of a futuristic planet with mostly poor inhabitants and the rich off-world people who can afford the latest in heath care, vanity body enhancements, and the latest technology. While this story is completely resolved the author has a sequel scheduled for release this summer that I am looking forward to.

Hot Chick Born Today
Megan Gallagher, 48, I've been a fan since her Slap Maxwell days but she really hit her peak as Wayloo Marie Holmes in China Beach.

Sadly there was no Jane...

2008-02-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

...but it was still a great concert. As you can see from the picture I was very close (only one person standing in front of me).

We had to wait outside in the rain for 30 minutes until they opened the doors but as usual with House of Blues’ shows it moved on time. Fastball took the stage at 8:00pm and plays a very good 30+ minute set. I was standing with a couple of groups: 2 gay men and 3 girls and we were all trying to figure out who Fastball was. We remember them but could not remember their 1 or 2 hits. A few songs in they played Out of My Head and we all went "there’s the hit." I was pretty excited since that is the song played in the great, original trailer for Wonder Boys. Later they played The Way and we were wondering how we could forget the song we couldn’t forget in 1998.

I have to mention, people are assholes. I saw this at Joss Stone but this time it was in from of me. If you are not humping the ass of the person in front of you and leave any courtesy space some jerk is going to squeeze in front of you after the opening act. Two bitches tried just that but the six of us yelled at them enough to where the completely left our area.

A little after 9, Kathy and Charlotte came out to make the sad announcement that Jane left the tour 2 days ago to be with her dying mother. She was replaced by Austin musician, Eve Monsees, who did a very good job but, while I’m sad for Jane, I really wanted to see the S&M goddess.

As you see from the photo, I picked the left side of the stage and spent the entire evening in front of the still very hot Belinda & Charlotte. They played every one of their hits in a show that ran just under an hour and a half. They seemed to have fun with the audience. They mentioned with Jane not being there they had more time to talk between songs since she gabs the whole time. Charlotte asked about Dallas weather. They arrived at noon it was hot, then it went from rainy, windy, humid and cold. Kathy bounced around the stage with a wireless base and Gina came out from behind the drum set to talk and survey the crowd before and after the encore.

All the songs were great with The Whole World Lost Its Head being fun as they threw updated lyrics into the crowd and we sang with them to lines such as "the idiot became the president, Britney goes crazy daily, the rich twins dress like homeless people." The big question we had between acts is would they do Belinda’s solo stuff? And yes, Mad About You was a crowd favorite. After a very brief break, the encore opened with a long, rocking version of my favorite Head Over Heels. The finale was the Shangri-Las’ song Remember (Walking in the Sand) that really showed off Belinda’s vocal range. A great end to a very fun concert.

I need a day to myself

2008-02-04T23:38:00.001-08:00

I really don’t know what to write about so please indulge me in this free flow rant.

One of my biggest problems is I don’t know how to relax and enjoy the moment. I’m always thinking about something else I need to be doing. When I’m watching a movie I begin thinking of what I need to be doing after the film. When watching a dvd at home I begin looking around the room at other things needed to be done. While reading a newspaper or something on the web I begin to thing how I can be more productive.

I know this is something I need to work on and try to find something a few times each week where I can completely lose myself and relax. Maybe I can try yoga, tai chi (I was always mesmerized when seeing the groups doing this in San Francisco) or find a spare sensory deprivation tank.

I’ve basically felt this way over the past week as it seems like a number of things derail my mental state. I’ve been trying to improve myself this year with a number of resolutions, for want of a better word. I think I’ve done pretty well keeping up with things, such as: studying, eating right, working out, blog posting, reading stuff and such. But last week I had a huge car repair bill, have been dealing with moving my work office to another building, my dad’s continuing health issues have made me want to shut down for a while and just do nothing. Then I feel like I’m behind in things and it begins a vicious cycle that makes me want to shut down even more. Times like this I just wish I had an extra day to catch up where this is no stress and I have 100% of the time to myself.

I really don’t know what this is to accomplish other than give me a chance to step back, take a breath, and look at things anew.

Super Bowl

2008-02-03T23:00:00.000-08:00

Today I spent doing basically two things.

One was watching the Super Bowl. I really didn't care anything about the two teams but I was rooting against New England to have a perfect season. So at least I was happy about that. For the most part the game was boring as hell until the last half of the last quarter then it had one of the greatest finishes in Super Bowl history. Also the commercials were pretty boring. I didn’t find any particularly funny and the only one that was interesting was the Godfather inspired Audi ad, mainly due to that being a bad-ass looking car.

The second thing I did was spend way too much time dealing with the Guardian 1,000 list. Part of the reason is that I have too many lists to work off of and need to consolidate. I have an Excel spreadsheet that I used to create the initial list. This was updated but I wanted to move away from this. I added a field to my Access database that indicates if a film is a Guardian entry. This all went fine.

This I decided to update my list on List of Bests. Here is where I wanted to kill myself. There were only 997 entries on the list. While the List of Bests is an interesting social network you have to deal with idiots screwing things up and different versions of the film on different lists. So for some reason I took it upon myself to QC the entire list and found two films that should not have been on the list and added the missing four films. At least in the process I was able to bring current the films that I can check off. So according to the list, I’m 66% complete.

L’Appartement

2008-02-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve been away from the computer for a couple of days, but I made some notes and now have formalized in a blog entry.

Today watched the French film L’Appartement, another winner off of the Guarding 1,000 list. This wonderful Hitchcockian film, as the French seem pretty good at making, is the only feature from director Gilles Mimouni. He mixes themes from several different films, such as Vertigo and Rear Window, in a seamless manner to create a fairly fresh film.

The main actors are all great in roles fairly early in their careers. Vincent Cassel, far from the scruffy character he is typecast today, is a businessman who delays a trip to Japan to try and track down a former lover who he thinks he caught a brief glimpse. The former lover is Lisa, played by Monica Bellucci, who at 32 is stunningly beautiful. The lady he tracks down is the 23-year-old Romane Bohringer. She tells him her name is also Lisa but there is obviously more going on than it seems.

The story plays out in a flashback structure that may be hard for some to follow. The flashbacks go back to the end of the previous relationship, 2 years ago, and continue up until the opening scene when Cassel first spies Lisa. There are a number of questions you have about what is going on but by the end all will be nicely answered. But like many of Hitchcock films, probably not resolved in a way that is good for many of the characters.

Guardian 1,000: 662 seen, 337 remaining.

Return to the Guardian List

2008-02-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I did a final, major push to watch films from 2007. That was to prepare for this weeks film countdown, which is obviously being delayed at least another day, I have now turned my attention to again working on the Guardian 1,000 list. The last time I was actively working on the list. back in August of last year, I had 346 movies left on the list. Currently, I have 340 movies left to see.

Since August, I knocked these 6 films off the list without even trying:
Dodgeball
Elevator to the Gallows
The Italian Job
The Science of Sleep
The Thomas Crown Affair
Under the Skin

This week I've brought that number down to 338, having seen:

American Movie - An enjoyable documentary about a marginally talented filmmaker who is trying to make the next The Blair Witch Project. This was the hit of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and I'm not sure it lives up to the hype. While it probably runs a bit too long as Mark Borchardt, the film-maker who drinks too much, wears out his welcome. There are a number of scenes well worth seeing. Two that highlight just how low-budget the film being made is: Uncle Bill needed 31-takes to record a simple line, and still not getting it right, and trying to slam a head through a not-so-breakaway door. However not one I'd put on a 1,000 film list.

Come and See - Wow, what a film! I started watching this late at night and only planned on getting a good start before bed. Two hours later I was still watching being captivated by the images. This is one of the best films every made to convey the horrors and insanity of war without either making it look heroic or the film lapsing into insanity itself. This is the last film the director made, even though he was 52 and would live for 18 more years. He certainly went out on a high. The young lead, in his first film, does an amazing job. He says very little but has such an expressive face as he witnesses the horrors. Equally good is the young female, in her only list role on IMDB. She reminds me of Jennifer Jason Leigh and a pity she didn't work more. A must see.

Lawrence of Arabia

2008-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

I need a break. The recap of honorable mention films of 2007 will be delayed by at least a day. I really didn’t know how daunting this task would be. I really wish I had prewritten some of these summaries. As it is I have written a line or two on 45 films in the last three days. Even though I’m only writing a sentence or two on each film, it is still a lot of work. And with 19 films in the honorable mention list, I think my head is going to explode.

Tonight I took a break from things and took in Lawrence of Arabia at the Angelika Plano. Lawrence is one of my favorite films of all time and have now seen in on the big screen twice. This is the one film that needs to be scene on the big screen and everyone should see at least once.

It was also very exciting to see a good turnout for a 45-year-old film. It was also a treat that is was a film print of the original release. The drawback was the print showed its age a bit and had some fairly significant sound problems. But I have now seen all three major versions of Lawrence. In the 80s I watched on VHS the heavily cut 1971 version. In 1989, I was there on opening day in Dallas to see the extended director’s cut, the one I now have on DVD. And now I’ve seen the earliest version.

Now in a couple of more weeks I might sit through all of Ben-Hur to finally see the chariot race on the big screen for the first time.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Portia de Rossi, 35, possibily the best looking lesbian in Hollywood
Minnie Driver, 38, first noticed in Big Night, she's always had an exotic, someone different look that is pretty sexy

Films of 2007 - The Above Average

2008-01-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

I watched 21 films released in 2007 that I would consider to be pretty good films. All of these are definitely worth seeing in either the theater or at home on DVD.

American Gangster - A well made film that perfectly captures New York in the pre-cleaned up 1970s. Russell Crowe and Josh Brolin give very strong performance but I wasn’t thrilled by Denzel’s performance and I felt I had seen this before.

Avenue Montaigne - A light, comedy of manners that you rarely see today. Cècile de France is charming as a socially awkward waitress from the country. She is the link between three stories involving a concert pianist, aging art dealer, and demanding actress. It could easily become annoying if Danièle Thompson stayed on one character too long and she uses the beautiful sights of Paris to keeps things light.

Away from Her - A very ambitious subject for the young Sarah Polly to tackle with her first feature. She hits all the right notes to bring what could have been a very depressing film to the screen. It helps when you have Julie Christie giving her best performance in years. But while she’s getting all the press, Canadian icon Gordon Pinsent does an even better job playing her husband who has to live with his wife not recognizing him.

Bug - A horrible title caused me to avoid this in the theater thinking it was a horror film. Instead it’s an interesting psychological thriller of two people that when put together allow their craziness to become destructive. Adapted from a play with the claustrophobia of basically one set and four speaking roles works to this films advantage.

Deep Water - A very interesting and disturbing account of the true story of a man, who obsessed with making a name for himself back in 1968, enters a solo, non-stop, around-the-world yacht competition. This race is difficult for world class yachtsmen but this weekend sailor either due to honor or loss of income refuses to admit defeat to disastrous results.

Hairspray - This turned out far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. This is mainly due to the performances of the younger actors. Nikki Blonsky is perfect for the lead, Amanda Bynes is too cute as the best friend, and Elijah Kelly is a real find. I wish the film had handled the adult side as well. Travolta and Latifah never seemed right for the roles. While Pfeiffer and Walken were good their one scene together went on far too long. And Janney who might have been the most enjoyable needed more screen time.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - One of the better entries in this series. The film flowed rather well and it seems like each successive film is less constrained by the source material. Some of the problems in the book worked out better on film. One example is Harry being both a hero and petulant teenager. For once I wished one of the Harry Potter films would have been longer.

The Hoax - Thoroughly enjoyable comedy, satire on a little known story from the 1970s. Helping things out is Alfred Molena as the nervous best friend. He gives a great Oscar caliber performance that sadly was completely forgotten by the end of the year.

The Host - Korea’s take on the Godzilla theme. This time it’s a giant mutant fish. While they make the mistake of showing the monster too early and too often it has a very refreshing un-Hollywood feel.

Into the Wild - Beautifully photographed, nice soundtrack, and extremely well acted by every single major actor. But like the book, Sean Penn has a bit too much reverence for Christopher McCandless and at 140 minutes it is far too long. That is one reason Hal Holbrook really earned his Oscar nomination. As the last major person to see McCandless alive, he doesn’t appear until the final quarter of the film. However he injects much needed life in a film that at that point sorely needed it.

La Vie en Rose - As biopics go this film has its problems. If you are not familiar with Edith Piaf’s life, you might be rather lost through much of this film. I count myself in that group so I just went with it and found a not by-the-numbers bio refreshing. But the real treat is Marion Cotillard. She gives the performance of the year in fully embracing a role that at times is very unglamorous. I can’t believe she is the same actress in Love Me If You Dare.

Live Free or Die Hard - I'll admit that if you dissect the plot it completely falls apart due to the number of implausible scenes. But the basic story of misdirection is fairly interesting; John McClane is easily the best action, hero character of all-time; and favorite Timothy Olyphant makes a pretty good villain.

Lust, Caution - Visually amazing, emotional telling of espionage and the mixed loyalties that can occur in occupied Shanghai. It’s a little underwhelming on a first viewing. I’m not really sure why a 54-page short story needed to be stretched into a 150-minute film.

A Mighty Heart - First off, I was not distracted by the casting of Angelika Jolie. She puts in an one of the best performances of the year. But, while a solid film, favorite Michael Winterbottom directs a film that seems too slick and has less emotion than some of his earlier, better, and smaller, films.

Paprika - My main complaint of anime is that the story rarely lives up to the animation. This is no exception. The visuals are some of the best ever. I got lost in them taking in all the detail. It’s a good thing since the story blurs the line between dreams and reality, making this extremely hard to follow by the end.

Severance - I love the concept of a corporate outing mixed with Battle Royale. British humor is mixed with the right amount of gore to create a highly entertaining film. Helped along by Tim McInnerny playing an upper-management twit as only he can.

Smiley Face - The always interesting but hit-or-miss Gregg Araki tackles the stoner comedy. A surprisingly funny film moves along rather nicely populated by a very interesting cast. However, I would not recommend this to anyone that finds Anna Faris any bit annoying.

Superbad - An extremely hyped comedy that actually delivered the laughs. This film was made by the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. Nice editing between sequences keeps this film from dragging and McLovin is a great supporting character.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - As with many Tim Burton films, the premise is better than the execution. Johnny Depp is excellent and the early part of the film is wonderful. But the downside is Helena Bonham Carter’s performance and a last half that dragged a bit too much.

28 Weeks Later - While it doesn’t have the freshness of the first film and the political allegory seems heavy-handed, it is still a pretty good zombie film.

The Valet - For some reason the French can do something that Hollywood can’t: the lighthearted comedy. I think this is due the to no matter how absurd the plot is the French play it fairly straight while a American film would go straight for the slapstick. Daniel Auteuil, as the rich jerk, once again displays his comic timing that was seen in The Closet while relative newcomer Gad Elmaleh is very good in the title role.

Films of 2007 - The Average

2008-01-29T22:00:00.000-08:00

These are the hardest films to write about. It’s easy to trash a film and to go on about a film you enjoy. But what can you say about these films that have little impact besides, "t killed a couple of hours?" I mean, Roger Ebert isn’t selling any books titled, "This is a Very, Very, Very Average Film."

But here goes. The 17 films from last year I considered neither good or bad and a line or two as to what either elevated the up from the dregs or kept them at mediocrity.

Alpha Dog - While some think this film is a comment on society, it’s really only another good looking actors committing crimes that seems done before.

Black Snake Moan - A couple of nice performances, Samuel L. Jackson in his best role in quite some time, are negated in B-level southern gothic melodrama.

Breach - Well acted and enjoyable but very predictable.

Color Me Kubrick - I so wanted to love this with the cast but it seemed more of the same Malkovich and this film really goes nowhere.

The Condemned - This action genre was moderately enjoyable as a rental.

Disturbia - Good and likable actors helps save this pedestrian remake of Rear Window, but boy is everyone super dumb in this film.

Epic Movie - Aother one of those endless spoof films, saved from the bad pile due to a couple of good laughs, one being a funny Crispin Glover as a Willy Wonka knockoff, and starring favorites Jennifer Coolidge and Kal Penn.

Grindhouse - Bggest disappointment of the year, way too much down time and we have now learned that Tarantino can not write for hot 20-something girls.

Hot Fuzz - Lst me when it morphed from a spoof of an action film to an actual action film.

The Kingdom - Another barely passable effort from Hollywood to comment on a current political situation. It seems they haven’t gotten any right since the 70s.

Knocked Up - A disappointment due to all of the hype. I just never found it all that funny and I’m a little sick of seeing Katherine Heigl everywhere.

The Lookout - Joseph Gordon-Levitt puts in another fine effort but this film can’t decide what it wants to be: character study or crime film.

Sicko - I’m probably a little too critical of Michael Moore’s methods but usually really enjoy his films. However for more this half of the time this film is very unfocused.

Stardust - Much like The Princess Bride of the 1980s, this should be a huge chick-flick. The earlier film was enjoyable for me due to the humor that Stardust seemed lacking.

Talk to Me - Another film I wanted to like but became extremely bored when Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character became the main focus.

Vacancy - This horror film works a bit due to the characters actually not being total idiots.

Waitress - Much like Greek Wedding, it’s hard to hate this film but it plays way too much like a cutesy sit-com for my tastes.

Films of 2007 - The Bad

2008-01-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

Today begins a week long review of the films of 2007.

The schedule for the next seven days is as follows:

Monday (today) - The Bad Films. These are either a chore to get through or extremely annoyed me in some way.
Tuesday - The Average Films. These are decent films that are an acceptable way to spend a couple of hour but were forgotten rather quickly. Probably worth a rental.
Wednesday - The Above Average Films. Pretty good films that are well worth seeing in the theater but not greatness material.
Thursday - Honorable Mention. These made the cut in the first draft of possible Top 20 films and some could easily be in the Top 20 if I made the list on another day.
Friday - The Top 20, films 11 to 20 in alphabetical order.
Saturday - The Top 10, films 6 to 10 in ranked order.
Sunday - The Top 10, films 1 to 5 in ranked order.

Today will be the smallest list. Since I am not paid to see films I have no incentive to see films such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. If I had to there would be more films for today. As it is, only one of these films was seen in the theater.

Fay Grim - It pains me to put independent films on this list since I can usually find something to like. Hal Hartley is a bit of paradox. I’ll see all of his films but rarely either like them or hate them. When he connects he really hits a home run. He connected with Henry Fool and I thought this sequel would be close. Sadly this film degenerates into a narrative mess that I didn’t care about and even the likeable Parker Posey and Jeff Goldblum could not save. (This was the film seen in the theater.)

Interview - Another independent film that generates quickly into a who cares mess. The opening scene in the restaurant sets up the whole premise. She is a pampered star who wishes she could be taken seriously, he’s a grumpy journalist who finds entertainment so beneath him he can’t even bother to read the press material. Once it moves to her loft it seems contrived and doesn’t give any reason why these two would speak to each other.

The Nanny Diaries - A decent book with edge is reduced to no edge with bad casting and an unnecessary happy ending.

The Reaping - Another bad film with Hilary Swank. A total southern gothic mess that tries to mix horror. God, and Hurricane Katrina with is a C-level version of The Omen.

Smokin' Aces - Remember post 1994 when we all of these Tarantino wannabes thought any movie with referential dialogue, wacky gangsters, and lots of characters that intersect would make a good film. Well most didn’t and this seems worst that most of those.

Since today was a small post with only 5 bad films, I thought I would discuss the two films I saw in theaters last year that were rereleases.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut - I didn’t like Blade Runner on first viewing but have since grown to love it. This new print, thankfully, didn’t add more to the plot, since the last cut, but it looks better than in did in 1982.

Killer of Sheep - Some critics put this in last year’s top 10. Disregarding the discussing of putting a 30 year old film on the list, it probably would only be in my honorable mention. A bit too experimental and a historical document to be truly enjoyed. But it is a powerful film that should be seen by all and I look forward to another viewing on DVD.

Tomorrow... 18 average films of 2007.

Hot Chick Born Today
Barbi Benton, 58, growing up in the 70s her many appearances on TV were only enhanced because she posed in Playboy, it would be years later until I would finally see those shots

Doggie Graduate

2008-01-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

So today was going to be the beginning of the one week countdown of 2007 films. This is why I've refrained, for the most part, in discussing the films I've seen this year. Most of the films I've watched have been 2007 releases and I planned on this week long countdown to my Top 10 List so I did not want to repeat myself.

So beginning tomorrow I will comment on the 2007 released I watched that I considered bad films and will end with my top 5 films next Sunday. I'm packaging until tomorrow to say more.

So instead, today I present a picture of my dog, Goblin, as he graduates from Beginner class at Petsmart. The final class was yesterday and he is wearing his mortarboard.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Bridget Fonda, 44, was very hot in 1992 with Singles and Single White Female
Mimi Rogers, 52, very sexy in two great independent films: the 1991's The Rapture & 1997's Bulletproof Heart
Rosamund Pike, 29, a nice Bond Girl addition with 2002's Die Another Day

Obama Wins South Carolina

2008-01-26T22:00:00.001-08:00

Good news in South Carolina. It wasn’t a big surprise that Obama won today but I don’t think anyone predicted such a rout. Obama got 55 percent of the vote while Clinton has only 27 percent. A 28 point victory, more than double Clinton’s take, has to exceed anyone’s expectations. Now if he can only sustain some of this momentum into the next couple of week in states he is not the favorite.

However a couple of things from the Clinton camp over the last couple of days have bothered me.

Today Bill Clinton, when asked about is it fair that Obama is running against two people, didn’t even try to answer the question but offered that Obama is running a good race and that even Jessie Jackson won South Carolina. I’m sure that the Clinton spin-doctors will clarify that he didn’t say that he only won the state because he was black but that is how a few commentators took it tonight.

A couple of days ago Hillary Clinton came out and said that the results in Michigan should stand for delegate allocation using the disenfranchisement card if these votes don’t count. I’m sorry if the rules are annoying but Michigan and Florida pissed off the DNC. Even better is she was the only person on the ballot. I’m sure if Obama had been the only one on the ballot she would be screaming to not count the votes. The funny thing is she barely beat undecided and lost to undecided in many cities including Ann Arbor.

Hot Chick Born Today
Sarah Hughes, 19, I'll admit she is a weak entry, but she gets points because I will watch her skate, and there's few of those, and she looks like the very hot Alyson Hannigan

Dinner at the Modern

2008-01-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of luxuries that I consider essential to keeping yourself sane. One is a good massage. The other is a really good meal. Tonight I partook of the meal. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth hosted a multi-course dinner prepared by their executive chief to celebrate the release of the second edition of The Texas Cowboy Kitchen cookbook.

The food was amazing and well worth the effort.

Appetizers

Sliders with goat cheese (I could have made a meal of these)

Country fried oysters with cream pico sauce

Bread and Butter Jalapenos (possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever eaten)

Starter

Smoky Caesar Salad with BBQ Quail

Entrée a combo plate of:

Beef Short Ribs Braised in Port Wine

Catfish Cakes with Chipotle Remoulade (a Texas version of crab-cakes)

Chile-Cheese Grits (not breakfast grits, more of a stuffing consistency)

Green Bean-Chayote Casserole (very good but very cheesy and filling)

Dessert

Butterscotch Pie (not too butterscotch tasting, was very soft with pecans and real whipped cream)

Hot Chicks Born Today
Mia Kirshner, 33, a fan since she was 19 and played a in Erotica

Random Thoughts

2008-01-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess it was a bit premature of me getting upset at A&M basketball losing its first conference game. We are officially in free fall with a 0-3 conference record. The latest loss was an epic 5 OT game at home against Baylor. In a span of a week this has gone from the dream season to just trying to salvage a postseason bid.

Well at least one of my teams is doing well. Tottenham has clinched a spot in the league cup final with a huge win against Arsenal. The dominating 5-1 home victory led to a 6-2 aggregate and a first trip to Wembley since 1999. That was the last time we won the league cup by beating Leicester City. It is also the first victory over hated Arse since 1999. Now all that stands between securing a third trip to Europe is a 24 February tie against Chelsea. COYS!

I really think people are idiots. I got home to watch the last hour of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. The contestant did not know who wrote Gulliver’s Travels and he was a middle school principal for god’s sake. That is really embarrassing. If I was his boss I would really question his ability.

The big news tonight is the "doom & gloomers" are having their first night of jollies with reporting of us being under icy conditions. It’s fun to watch the entire city in a panic. People begin discussing it the afternoon before to get home before the streets get slick and set things up for tomorrow when they have already decided to figure out how not to come into work. And I bet that it completely misses Dallas proper.

Four weeks into Celebrity Apprentice and the men have defeated the women every single week. Unfuckingbelieveable! What are the odds?

Hot Chicks Born Today
Nastassja Kinski, 49, her role in Cat People and Richard Avedon's snake photo (the greatest celebrity photo ever, click on link to see) made her the hottest female around in the early 80s
Mischa Barton, 22, I've been a fan of acting since Once and Again and Lost and Delirious when she was 15, now that she's a beautiful woman she needs to concentrate on her talent instead of her partying

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

2008-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

It’s been almost a full 24 hours since I first heard the shocking news of Heath Ledger’s death. It’s always a time of reflection when someone dies. Sadly, with Heath it is not only a look back at his work but you can ponder about the performances he would never give and where his potential would take him.

He leaves behind a very solid resume where he usually received better reviews than the films did. He took chances with the films he picked. His two best received films are no exceptions. His first foray into critical success was in the sexually charged Monster’s Ball playing the son of Billy Bob Thornton who was both similar and dissimilar to the father. He took his acting to a new level, earning an Oscar nomination for his role in Brokeback Mountain. Playing the “gay cowboy” was a risky move but he brought Ennis Del Mar to life that surpassed what was in the original short story.

He has been compared to James Dean as a possible major talent struck down in their move to superstardom. In many ways it is valid. He even has a major film that will be released after his death. It will certainly be the biggest moneymaker of his career and a role that also has a certain degree of risk.

I don’t know if I’d call myself a big fan of his. It looked like he was going to be a major talent for years to come. I also respected his choice of roles. He wasn’t working in any Michael Bay films. He was one of the 20ish actors that included Ryan Gosling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (a former co-star) who were choosing quality of huge paychecks. That’s what is so depressing about his death. A talent who seemed more interested in the work then the partying.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Mariska Hargitay, 44, enjoy her greatly on L&O: SVU
Tiffani Thiessen, 34, watched her in both Saved By the Bell and 90210

2007 Academy Award Nominations

2008-01-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

The nominations for the 80th Academy Awards came out today and brought very little surprises but still many wide open categories.

The biggest surprise nomination is for Sarah Polley for writing. While she has no chance in winning it was a very welcome announcement.

The big loser has to be Atonement. While it has 7 noms, being shut out of direction and editing severely limits its chances for a picture win. Of the other four films I would not bet against any of them. Blood and No Country are critic’s favorites but will the Academy honor another bloody film, Michael Clayton is obviously loved given its seven noms, and Juno will be the big momentum gainer over the next few weeks.

That might also put a damper on the Julie Christie juggernaut. Ellen Page can only be helped by Juno peaking at the right time and a slightly unexpected nom for its director.

Supporting Women is wide open with any of those five having a legitimate shot at winning. Blanchett has to be a slight favorite due to her two noms and the Golden Globe.

The men’s side is a little easier. Lead is still a two person race with Day-Lewis having a slight edge over Depp and Barden is the biggest sure thing of the entire list. Well, except for Ratatouille for animated film.

Some mild surprises were the nominations for Jason Reitman, Tommy Lee Jones, Blanchett (lead), and Ratatouille (screenplay). For films, I figured that Into the Wild would have received a few more noms. Two oversights was Zodiac being completely shut out and Sunshine not getting either a sound or visual effect nod. While not unexpected, it would have made me very happy if either film could have snagged a nomination.

One difference this year is that for the first time in probably ever, I have no rooting interest in the major categories. There is no one who I either want to win or will be annoyed if they win. No Chicago, The Departed, or The Insider to root for. Conversely there is no Babel, Crash, or The Hours to root against. Of the films I’ve seen that have received major categories almost every one is deserving in some way.

This leaves five films that received major nods that I still need to see. Two are still in theaters and I plan to catch this week: Charlie Wilson’s War, & The Savages. While I missed Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I’m Not There, & In the Valley of Elah and can only hope for a re-release to see them before the ceremony.

Now there just better be a ceremony or I’ll really be pissed.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Diane Lane, 43, was amazing looking in Streets of Fire and only gotten hotter over the years
Olivia d’Abo, 39, she makes a very hot femme fatal in a recurring part on L&O: CI.
Jaden, 24, a very cute adult film star

Cloverfield

2008-01-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

The most anticipated January release ever has now become the largest opening January weekend ever and probably the best film ever released in January. But is that saying much? Not that Cloverfield is bad film, it’s not, but not a particularly memorable film. I mostly enjoyed my time in the theater but had a tough time thinking about the film afterwards.

The genre of character filmed movies is severely limited. Much like the Dogma films, they can be interesting experiments but rarely rise above the genre. Cloverfield is probably about as good as you can get with this gimmick.

The film does a number of things well. The look and special effects is top notch I also enjoy that the film is completely seen from the p.o.v. of four people. We only know what they see from passing television report and pedestrians. There are no long drawn out scenes of scientists discussing the what, where, & why of this creature. There are a number of very good scenes by themselves: the Brooklyn Bridge, walking the subway, and Columbus Circle. And with only 73 minutes of actual action the film moves fast.

However my mind fixated on the negatives while the film was rolling. Of those 73 minutes the first 20 involve a party for the main character as he’s moving to Japan. I became very bored, very quickly as this played like a home movie. A very bad one at that. This sequence does set up the relationships up the characters but ultimately I didn’t care as I was just waiting for them to die and felt no empathy when they went, except a moment’s loss when the cute girl exploded.

My other problem is the “quest for the one-night stand” sub-plot. This really didn’t interest me in the least. If it had been 100% save ourselves I probably would have enjoyed it more. Hence my love of the Brooklyn Bridge scene, the best in the movie. But as our four head off for this girl it makes them look like idiots, and they seem to have good jobs and apartments so they can’t be that dumb. As there is no character development you have to just accept that they will follow Rob in search of the girl, even cute girl who has no connection to any of them. And the only reason I know Rob’s name is from the worst scene in the film. Much like “where’s the fucking map” from Blair Witch, camera dude spends 3 to 4 minutes screaming Rob’s name to get him to come to his senses and escape Manhattan. Thankfully Rob didn't have to scream anything to get them to join him.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Charlotte Ross, 40, the only performer to do a full frontal nude scene on NYPD Blue, albeit with strategically placed hands
Emma Bunton, 32, a toss up with Ginger for best looking Spice Girl
Genna Davis, 52, was extremely hot when she did The Fly now she's just annoying

Recent Deaths

2008-01-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

It's odd we went 9 full days of the year before a celebrity passed away that I knew. But starting on the 10th it has been a near daily occurrence. In the last 10 days, I identified 10 celebrities that passed away. Three of them are easily major names that almost every American would recognize. While only 2 or 3 are fairly obscure names that probably only a few people would notice.

The full list
1/10 - Christopher Bowman, 40, figure skater, drug overdose
1/11 - Sir Edmund Hillary, 88, first to reach summit of Mount Everest, heart failure
1/13 - Johnny Podres, 75, 1st world series MVP for 1955 Dodgers, possible kidney failure
1/15 - Brad Renfro, 25, actor in Bully among others, possible drug overdose
1/17 - Bobby Fischer, 64, only American chess world champion, kidney failure
1/17 - Ernie Holmes, 59, Steeler DT 72-77 played on 2 Super Bowls, car accident
1/17 - Allan Melvin, 84, Sam the butcher on The Brady Bunch, cancer
1/18 - Georgia Frontiere, 80, owner of NFL's Rams since 1979, breast cancer
1/18 - Ugo Pirro, 87, screenwriter of Navaho Joe, and the Oscar winning films: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion & The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
1/19 - Suzanne Pleshette, 70, The Bob Newhart Show. respiratory failure

I want to comment on two of the names.

Suzanne Pleshette will always be a favorite. I was a big fan of The Bob Newhart Show. She is probably the only female that I ever thought was attractive who was around the same age as my mother. And she gets major points for being part of the greatest ending to a television show with her cameo on Newhart.

I will always think of Georgia Frontiere from when she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with my cousin Bert Jones. It's a pity that, due to injuries, he was only able to last one season in L.A. It would have been interesting to see if he could have produced.

Hot Chick Born Today
Claire Robbins, 22, a very cute adult film star

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008-01-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

I finally pumped myself up to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Come to find out there was no need. In spite of the subject matter of a man with the condition of Locked-In syndrome, it is, overall, not a depressing movie. It makes you feel good about life, probably better than the Hollywood film The Bucket List.

It’s hard to rank films when one is fresh in your mind but this film put me on a high that I haven’t felt in recent viewings except for The Assassination of Jesse James & Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Julian Schnabel gets full credit for this success. I don’t know if there is a wrong note in the film. His previous film, Before Night Falls, became the film that would never end. This film moves at a very quick pace and the 112 minutes are up before you know it.

Casting is perfect. Mathieu Amalric is very good as the main character. (Johnny Depp was scheduled to play his part but had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts with Pirates. At least that film was good for something as I don’t think he would have been as good.) The very beautiful Marie-Josée Croze, who was in Munich with Amalric, is equally good as his speech therapist. Also outstanding are Emmanuelle Seigner, Isaach De Bankolé, Marina Hands, and two legendary figures: Max von Sydow & Jean-Pierre Cassel. Sadly Cassel died last April and this is one of his final film appearances.

The music cues are another high point. Sometimes people overrate music in film but Schnabel uses it perfectly to enhance the film without being redundant. He has an eclectic mix using established rock acts: Tom Waits, U2, & Velvet Underground. It is the most I’ve ever enjoyed Tom Waits in a soundtrack. The two most effective songs are the ones heard in the trailer: a Dirtbombs’ cover of Chains of Love and Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye sung by co-star Emmanuelle Seigner. There is also Charles Trenet singing La Mer and good use of music from other films: Lolita and Quatre Cents Coup. The latter appears at the right moment to evoke the French New Wave.

Julian Schnabel is probably a very odd person, check out his interview sequence in Sketches of Frank Gehry for confirmation, but he has put together one of the best films of the year.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Katey Sagal, 54, get past the Peg Bundy character and she's quite good looking
Dolly Parton, 62, another favorite from childhood, who wasn't fascinated by her two "attributes" back then

Bringing Down the House

2008-01-18T23:00:00.000-08:00

The New Year always brings a number of challenges and resolutions. I’m trying to do reasonably well with my resolutions and I joined the Blog365 challenge. (I finally officially joined it today, I am member number #1155.) Another challenge that I know about is 50/08. This is to read 50 books in 08. I really respect anyone who can achieve that but I have no realistic chance of completing it so I’m not even trying. But I am always reading and hopefully can finish a number of quality books this year.

This week I finished my first book of the year: Bringing Down the House. This is a non-fiction book about a blackjack card-counting team from M.I.T that took Vegas and other casinos for millions. The MIT blackjack team traces it origins back to 1980 but the book focuses on the, probable, end of the team in the time span of 1994-1998.

The book is a great and very quick read. Anyone who finds the world of gambling would find this a page turner. The process that the team employees to use spotters, card counters, and big players to beat the system is explained well. Much like the James Bond novels there are liberal amounts of gambling, tense setting, and women who love men with money.

But while an interesting read you have to question how much of it is non-fiction. The book comes entirely from author interview with principle players. The reader will probably question a number of facts that are sometimes glossed over. My biggest question is why they kept moving money on the flights to Vegas like drug mules when they were there every month. I suggest you enjoy the read and don’t bog down trying to determine if it is fiction or non-fiction.

The reason I read the book is it is being loosely adapted into the movie 21. I am pretty sure that they will screw it up. That said I will probably go see it just to see Jim Sturgess, who was so good in Across the Universe in the lead role. Laurence Fishburne also looks promising as the casino security man. Kevin Spacey as the team leader will probably be good, it's his kinda part, but I'm kind of bummed that the team isn't mostly Asian. That seemed to fit in with the whole geek, math, MIT, gambling team that was such a big part of the book.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Alison Arngrim, 46, that little bitch Nellie Oleson was by far the best looking girl on Little House, I was never a fan of the show but if I was at someone's house and had to watch it I rooted for her to be in the storyline
Devon Odessa, 34, I was a big fan of My So-Called Life and while there were hotter girls on the show, Devon was still very attractive

Another Loss in Lubbock

2008-01-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

So we go into Lubbock with the Men's basketball team ranked 9th nationally, on an 8 game winning streak, looking to extend things and we get embarrassed in a 53-68 loss. And it wasn't even that close. With 5:29 left Tech was up 37-60 then coasted to an easy victory.

To make things worse, it was Bob Knight's 900th victory. He was very classy after the game but that meant that the loss made national headlines.

Now I am sick of losing to fucking Tech. This is the one team in the conference that I wish total destruction on. Not Texas (I actually want them to be good when we beat them) but I don't care about those drunks in Lubbock.

Out recent record in Lubbock has been atrocious in the big 3 men's sports.
Football: 0-7, last win there was in 1993
Basketball: 1-6 last 7 years, we were swept by them last year and down 0-1 this year
Baseball: last series win 1997, 3-10 in last five trips out there

Hot Chicks Born Today
Zooey Deschanel, 28, "Top 5" material right now. Noticed her in Almost Famous, only increased in The Good Girl and All the Real Girls.
Susanna Hoffs, 49, top 10 back in 1987 with The Bangles. Sexiest eyes in rock music.

High School Reunion

2008-01-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Sadly another reality show is coming that I will be watching. Continuing the trend of Dallas being the Land of the Reality Contestant, TV Land’s new season of High School Reunion will feature alumni of my high school, J.J. Pearce.

This is the show where they take 20 people who graduated 20 years ago and put them in Hawaii and let them reconnect or apologize for past deeds. I saw an episode from a previous season and didn’t think much since the geek in school is now hot and the jocks and cheerleaders are still hot but are sorry for being assholes and bitches back then. They needed people that are still assholes for conflict.

Still, it will be interesting to see people from the school that Jessica Simpson went to. Sadly, they picked people that graduated in 1987. Since Pearce is a 3-year school, I won’t know any of them as I graduated in 1984.

The show premiers March 5.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Josie Davis, 35, the other, and cuter, sister from Charles in Charge
Kate Moss, 34, I might be in the minority, but I've always really liked her

Dallas and Pritzker Winners

2008-01-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, it was announced that Thom Mayne will be the designer of the the new Museum of Nature and Science. This new building will be in the Victory Park section just north of Woodall Rodgers Freeway. Mayne won the 2005 Pritzker Prize for Architecture. Some of his notable buildings are the San Francisco Federal Building, the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, and the Sun Tower in Korea. Dallas will now have structures designed by six Pritzker winners in the Art's District or within short walking distance.

The first prize was awarded to Philip Johnson in 1979 has a number of structures in the downtown area. These include: the JFK Memorial, 1970; Thanksgiving Square, 1977; the Crescent Court, 1985; & the Chase Center, 1987.

I.M. Pei, winner in 1983, also has a number of buildings in Dallas: City Hall, 1978; Energy Plaza, 1986; Fountain Place, 1986; & the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 1989.

Renzo Piano, winner in 1998, designed the Nasher Sculpture Center, 2003.

Norman Foster, winner in 1999, and Rem Koolhaas, winner in 2000, have combined to design the new Dallas Center for Performing Arts that should be completed next year.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Mary Pierce, 33, got to see her play on a side court at the 1998 US Open, what a body
Charo, 57, growing up in the 70s she was on every talk show and seeing her do the "cuchi-cuchi" in her 20s is still memorable

Golden Globes...yawn...

2008-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Actually watched the 1-hour press conference, there was nothing else on. Billy Bush and the blond have to be two of the dumbest people on the planet. I think my dog could give more insightful commentary.

So what did we get from the Golden Globes. It is important to know that nominations for the Oscars were due on Saturday at 5pm. One day before the Globes were announced. So these winners won't see any effect on the nominations. This realistically only affects Julian Schnabel as all the other winners should be locks to be nominated.

The Globes only cement my prediction from a couple of months ago that Atonement and Coen's will split Picture and Director. I just can't see the Academy honoring "bloody" films two years in a row but it is time to honor the Coen's and it is a very worthy picture. A win for Atonement will be the first time the Globes have picked the Oscar winner in 4 years (LotR:TRotK).

Leads are, and probably always have been, a 2 person race between the two winners. Personally I would vote for the Comedy/Musical winners. Cotillard is amazing but Christie probably has the momentum and will win. I have no idea between Day-Lewis/Depp. Both are equally great but DD-L already has a statue and this seems to be Depp's year with critical and popular films.

In supporting, Javier has had this locked up for a couple of months. But female could go anywhere. This is always the category where the Academy goes wild (remember Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, & Anna Paquin) and likes to honor young and/or first time. This benefits Ronan, Ryan & Swinton over Blanchett. And the Oscars have to deviate from the Globes somewhere, don't they?

Hot Chicks Born Today
Emily Watson, 41, a big movie draw for me, favorites are: Breaking the Waves & Gosford Park
Angela Lindvall, 29, She was smoking hot in the film CQ, but for some reason she rarely looks that good in her modeling, one can still hope

The World Has Come To an End...

2008-01-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

at least for many people in Dallas. I thought both games today were prime for upsets but watching the Cowboys in the first half I thought they would pull it out. But with less than a minute to go in the half, the game, and the dream season, turned.

So now Cowboy fans have 7 months to pass out blame until next season. So which will be the reason:

Wade Phillips - he chokes and can't win a playoff game and he didn't get the team prepared as they committed 11 penalties, many of them stupid
Tony Romo - also chokes and can't win a playoff game. Threw only 50% with not a single pass over 20 yards
Jessica Simpson - the Yoko of football. She appeared only a couple of weeks before the downfall and she dragged Tony off to Mexico when he should have been concentrating on football.
Patrick Crayton - needs to stop running his mouth and learn to catch, his pulling up on a go route resulted in another incomplete pass but it should have been a long gain, maybe even a touchdown
Jason Garrett - the boy genius is finally showing his true level as teams have been able to stop the Cowboy offense the last few weeks after seeing more of his coaching style
Jerry Jones - he still hasn't done anything as a GM. The last Cowboy playoff win was in 1996 when they were still playing with Jimmy Johnson's players, who, as everyone knows, was the true GM when he was around

Should be a fun 7 months.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Nicole Eggert, 36, she looks amazing in Blown Away, one of my guilty pleasures, but you have to get past the creepy two Coreys
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 47, looks great for her age, heck, looks great for any age

Movies with Plot Twists

2008-01-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

Premiere Magazine has a current feature: 20 Big Time Plot Twists. It includes some of the usual suspects (groan!): The Sixth Sense, Psycho, The Crying Game & (of course) The Usual Suspects. Some that I went who cares: Friday the 13th & Eddie & the Cruisers. And a nice surprises I probably woundn't have thought of: Oldboy.

So what did they forget? Here are 7 that come to mind that not only have good twists but are really good films.

The Red Violin - a favorite since the reveal completely blew me away. Also since there is a 2nd plot twist with the present day story
Diabolique - probably the best non-Hitchcock, Hitchcock film
The Prestige - one of the best films of 2006
Charade - another film that could have easily been directed by Hitchcock
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - a wonderful comedy that everyone I know loves but still seem underrated
eXistenZ - this film plays with itself a bit too much but an underrated Cronenberg film
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - this 1978 version has one of the ultimate twists that leaves you reeling

Hot Chicks Born Today
Kirstie Alley, 57, was great looking went she burst on the scene in Star Trek II and through the 80s, still I find something about her fairly interesting
Blanchard Ryan, 41, have only seen her in Open Water, where she was not shy about revealing her nice body, would like to see more of her (working, not necessarly the body)

Photo Contest

2008-01-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

I like to go through the newspaper throughly but I end up with a stack of unread papers that I go through in one sitting, usually on the weekend. Tonight was my catchup while watching the very average film The Kingdom. I'm probably being kind since the script was fairly stupid with a few holes in it but it was well acted and director Peter Berg has a great visual flair. Check out the superior Friday Night Lights for confirmation.

But while going through the papers I found that Richardson has an annual photo contest. Photos for the 2008 contest will be accepted from the 14th to the 26th. So I need to get busy, go through the pictures I've taken in the last few years, and print and mount a few to enter.

Hot Chick Born Today
Amanda Peet, 36, at first I thought she had a bit of a horse-face but I've have been warming up to her since her performance in Igby Goes Down, and she does have a nice "upper body"

Celebrity Apprentice

2008-01-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm hooked on this show. I really don't watch reality shows and I can not stand Donald Trump. He stands for everything I am against. He is a bully who doesn't care what happens as long as he comes out on top and is the poster child of someone who no one would give the time of day if he wasn't rich.

But my fascination of celebrity meltdowns trumps my hatred of Trump. (sorry about that) Just like the early seasons of Surreal Life this mix of B-list celebrities make for fun tv. Tonight had some great scenes.

Ivanka getting bent out of shape when Gene Simmons slights her. O.K. he is a bit abrasive, but seeing a Trump spawn not have someone jump when she requests was too entertaining
The lost irony when Omarosa questions Gene Simmons' integrity
Omarosa getting emotionally involved in the guy's commercial when watching it in the boardroom. Didn't you watch The Godfather, "Never let someone outside the family know what you are thinking."

I'm so sucked in that I'm happy that they announced a replay of the first episode on Saturday that I missed the first time.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Sarah Shahi, 28, a DFW native first noticed last year on The Sopranos
Janet Jones, 48, very hot in The Flamingo Kid and I watched the awful A Chorus Line because she was in it
Pat Benatar, 55, I loved in when her videos were in heavy rotation on MTV, also loved her songs

Hot Girl Born Today

2008-01-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

The debut of a regular feature. The Hot Chick Born Today. I've always wanted to put this together in a "page-a-day" calender. Each day would be a photo of a female whose birthday is that day.

So here it goes. Each day at the end of the post I'll be posting a few females who deserve attention. I'll have a link to a picture of them. As a rule, unless I absolutely can't find anything else, there will be no nudity. And admit it, clothes (or something else covering things up) make for a far sexier picture. I'll also indicate their age and include one or two comments as to why they stand out and are included over someone who might be your favorite but not listed.

So who will be listed? It will be anyone since the mid-70s who was so stunning that just the mention of her in a movie or tv show would be enough for me to watch. Of course, anyone who ever would have made my "laminated 5" will be included. (Watch this Friends episode if you don't get the reference.) Since this goes back over 30 years, there will be a number of people that haven't been seen in awhile or might seem "over the hill" now.

This won't be the only topic of the day unless I'm really mailing it in but for today I have nine days to catch up with. And really, are you surprised it took 9 days for me to mention hot actresses. [NOTE: While originally I listed the hot chick for January 1 to 9 all in this post, I have edited things to place each list on there respective day.]

Hot Chicks Born Today
Kate Middleton, 26, very attractive and possibly the future Queen of England?
Crystal Gayle, 56, probably the first female that I would watch perform country music on tv and I really don't like country music

Interesting Results in N.H.

2008-01-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what to make of the results tonight. All it has lead to more questions:

How did Obama supposably have a 10 point lead yesterday and lose?
The experts on the news tonight said Hillary won due to the high female turnout. That seems rather demeaning to women and are they that shallow that the female candidate automatically gets their vote?
As the Democrat race looks to be a 2 person race, how long will Edwards and Richardson stay around? And what will happen when they drop out?
Is McCain now the front runner?
Can Huckabee fight back when with the more religious states?
Has anyone had bigger swings from up to down than Rudy?

Hot Chicks Born Today
Sarah Polley, 29, currently one of the hottest females, top 5 material right now
Michelle Forbes, 43, she was top 10 material back when she was on Homicide
Gaby Hoffman, 26, she needs to work more, outside of a Law & Order episode hasn't been seen since 2000

Should critics have their credentials revoked?

2008-01-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

One interesting part of the end of the film year are all of the year-end awards and top 10 film lists. indieWIRE has an interesting compilation of top 10 lists. It combines 106 critics.

I'm really surprised, and happy, about the strong showing of Zodiac. This has a real chance to be in my top 10. I also question the inclusion of Killer of Sheep. Granted this film didn't get a wide distribution until this year but it was first released in 1977. There needs to be a statue of limitations on this. A fine film but will not be considered in my list.

But the main thing that jumped out is 2 critics put I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. These two are Nathan Lee of The Village Voice who put it 10th & Armond White of the New York Press who listed it 5th.

I admit I have not seen the film but I have seen enough Adam Sandler films and the trailer to reasonably guess I won't like the film and really don't need to waste two hours of my life to prove this. But really! How can a critic put this in their top 10. I guess I can understand liking this as a guilty pleasure but rating this film that high should put you on some sort of critic probation at the very least.

This film is sitting at 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. This puts it as the 2nd worst film of 2007 for films with 100 or more reviews. Only Halle Berry's Perfect Stranger scored worse with 10%. But that brings up another discussion. Former Oscar winners who should be put on probation for choosing bad films.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Natalie Gulbis, 25, at least she has a tournament win so there is more to her than her looks which puts her ahead of Anna Kournikova
Katie Couric, 51, a little past her prime but she was very hot around 2000
Erin Gray, 58, one of the biggest reasons I watched Buck Rogers

Twin Peaks

2008-01-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

Do you watch the DVDs you own?

I have all of these DVDs and never seem to watch any of them. At least I've made the smart decision to quit buying so many. I probably made less than 10 purchases this year. The ones I did buy are films I really wanted to own and usually have extras I'm interested in seeing. Recent buys included the Stanley Kubrick set, the Sergio Leone set, and Twin Peaks.

I watched the first two Leone westerns the last week of the year, in prep for the midnight showing of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I own all of his films so I plan on going through them in order once (next being Once Upon a Time in the West) then again with commentary.

This weekend I began going through Twin Peaks. Now I'm a pilot and 2 episodes in and two things come to mind. The transfer looks amazing, especially when you compare with the log lady intros that have not been enhances. 2nd, I forgot how great the early part of this series was. So revolutionary for television in terms of story development, camera work, and tone.

It should be a pleasure revisiting this series, since I really haven't watched it since it was first on 18 years ago, and seeing all of the actors, who are now household names, at the beginning of their careers.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Rinko Kikuchi, 27, who can forget her role in Babel but I don't like her blond.
Gabrielle Reece, 38, a little overrated but still very hot.
Andrea Thompson, 48, I was a big fan of her in Babylon 5 and NYPD Blue but since then she has had a very strange career

Debate vs. Football

2008-01-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Spent the evening switching back and forth between NFL and the Dems, mostly on the game. I probably should have watched the debate more but it gives me tired head and it turned out to be a really good game.

Why tired head? No one really says anything specific, they would be a fool to. They are basically selling themselves and I like Obama and dislike Hillary. I question if Hillary can win in November. If the Republicans put Rudy or McCain up then Hillary will be in a fight. I think she is derisive enough that she will lose the moderates if the Reps don't go with the religious candidates.

I do have one question for Hillary. She keeps touting her experience meaning Obama is not experienced enough. But in 1992 we elected her husband who had less national experience than this man, and he went on to be a pretty decent president. So why should we care?

Hot Chicks Born Today
January Jones, 30, a risings star who isn't probably too well known yet but should be due to her fine work in the series Mad Men and the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Pamela Sue Martin, 55, why else would a 12-year-old boy watch the tv show Nancy Drew and who can forget her as a 19-year-old in wet hot pants in The Poseidon Adventure

Calendars

2008-01-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

As I was cleaning up my desk, as I always try and do on Friday before I leave work, I was taking a good look at the calender I purchased this year. I love calenders for the art and interesting stuff of the page a day calendars. I try and mix it up each year, but there are always my standbys, and usually have a hard time deciding. If I don't find one that blows me away I'll wait until they go on sale and grab what's left.

This year I went with:

Antique Map wall calendar for work. What sold me on it is that it has vintage maps of New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris. All cities I enjoy visiting and have been to all of them since November 2006.
William Wegman Puppies wall calendar for home. This is an old standby. I love his work and probably get one every other year and well worth it for half-price.
Schott's Almanac Page-A-Day calendar for work. I discovered Schott's Miscellany when I first went to England and enjoy this offbeat collection of trivia and facts. This is also the only one I paid full price for.
Brain Teasers Page-A-Day by email. By buying the above I was able to sign up for another free online.

So what calendars did you pick for 2008?

Hot Chicks Born Today
Julia Ormond, 43, a wonderful actress who hasn't worked enough but it is well worth checking out the original Traffik to see her at 24 playing a drug addict

There Will Be Blood

2008-01-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

2007 is a weird year for film. Each top film seems to have its fair share of both champions and detractors. PT Anderson, no stranger to producing polarizing films (Magnolia), has put together another one with There Will Be Blood.

I just watched it last night and I’m still trying to process everything so this might be rambling.

I enjoyed the film and while I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, I would recommend it to film lovers. However, I didn’t connect with the film and love it as much as many critics do.

There is a lot to enjoy about the film. The first half is brilliant. Here the story is more focused and Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of a career. Throughout the film the photography is majestic and does justice to west Texas, filling in for Arizona and California. Paul Dano and Dillon Freasier give excellent performances throughout.

Now to the flaws in the films. Anderson has always referenced his film idols. This film seems to have Stanley Kubrick written all over it. In tone, composition and even music I was reminded of 2001, Barry Lyndon, and The Shining. His allusions to Scorsese and Altman in Boogie Nights and Magnolia seemed to enhance those films but here I was distracted. Especially when you add allusions to Citizen Kane and Chinatown.

My biggest problem is in the second half of the film. Here the films begins go all over the map and I began to wonder what its focus is. Is it a political film or an anti-oil industry film? It leans that way for much of the film. It is about a father-son oil team and the son has the initials H.W. But in the end, Daniel Plainview succeeds. He is a miserable human being but he makes money and defeats his rivals. The film even pulls back on the industry when the son and his wife, the only two sympathetic characters at all, leave to start an oil business in Mexico.

A bigger theme is man vs. religion. Here it succeeds a little better. However, Daniel and Eli are both totally unlikable characters so what does it accomplish when the businessman who calls God a superstition defeats the hypocritical faith healer. This brings up the final scene. It was so over-the-top it was almost laughable and by now Daniel Day-Lewis’ acting has also gone over-the-top in a number of scenes.

At the end, I was left with complete indifference. I think this was due to not having a single character to care about or slightly root for. As mentioned above, the son is the only half way decent character but he is tied to his father for most of the film so you can’t separate the two. Every character in the film is somewhat shady. This includes the wildcatters exploiting the people, people working for established oil companies, religious nuts, to the people being exploited themselves. Now films don’t have to be "Oprah inspiring" for me to enjoy them. But you have to give me something to latch onto. Even with crime films like The Godfather, I can live vicariously through the characters. But here I just wanted to get away from all of them.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Danica McKellar, 33, hot and smart, weird to think we've known her since she was 12
Victoria Principal, 58, she was one of the hottest around in the early 80s when she was Pam Ewing

The Lookout

2008-01-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

The first film I watched of the year is The Lookout. Given the talent involved in this film this can only be described as a major disappointment.

This film is saved by two wonderful performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels. The film is more character study than crime drama and they do a wonderful job with the material they are given. This is good since it takes the film over 30 minuted to introduce the bad guys.

I was beginning to wonder if the film would get going and then I wish it hadn't. The plot is very derived from other films, this includes the high school car ride prologue. Characters appear and disappear at random. They are almost all one-dimensional. Isla Fisher's acting is god-awful.

This is quite surprising since it was directed and written by Scott Frank who translated Out of Sight to the screen.

Hot Chicks Born Today
Gabrielle Carteris, 47, I'm embarrassed to admit I've seen every 90210 episode and at the time she was top 10 material
Paz Vega, very hot in Sex and Lucia, Talk to Her, & Spanglish

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

Blog365! Yeah, right, I'll probably be lucky to make it a week but here goes. I have less than an hour left in day 1 so, have to make it quick.

I've spent the entire day watching college football. It would be an interesting project to know how many games I saw at least 1 play of live this year. The number could easily be over 200.

Maybe I'll do that this year. The count for today was 5. (Somehow I completely missed the Outback Bowl.)

Watching these games, I was thinking about the teams I root for and against and who would be at the top and bottom.

Generally, I root for land-grant, state, then private. Big 10 and northeast teams rank at the bottom. Established teams over Cinderella teams. I was glad that Georgia is crushing Hawaii even though I could care less about most SEC teams.

It's pretty much follows that pattern, unless one of these teams are playing:

Top 10 Favorite Teams
1. Texas A&M
2. Clemson
3. TCU
4. Georgia Tech
5. Purdue
6. Oklahoma
7. Rice
8. Missouri
9. Utah
10. California

10 Least Favorite Programs
1. Ohio St
2. Texas Tech
3. BYU
4. Notre Dame
5. Wisconsin
6. Texas
7. Florida
7. Florida St
7. Miami
10. LSU

Hot Chicks Born Today
Keeley Hawes, 31, great in Spooks, I wonder how she will be in Ashes to Ashes
Catherine McCormack, 36, burst on the scene in Braveheart, still hot in last years 28 Weeks Later
Dedee Pfeiffer, 44, the other Pfeiffer sister who played the other sister on Cybil

Films Seen Since July 12

2007-08-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while so here are quite a few quick hits on films seen in the 3 weeks and, if applicable, the list they belong to.

La Grande Bouffe – entertaining surreal film from 1973. I enjoyed it but not for all tastes. It was a real treat to see 4 giants of French and Italian cinema on the screen together. [Guardian #351 left]

The Wicker Man – Loved this early 70s British film. Christopher Lee gives one of his best performances and Edward Woodward is really good too. This film and theme seem such a natural for the time and place that I’m almost tempted to watch the remake to see how badly they screw it up. [Guardian #350]

The Cranes Are Flying – Very moving film from 50s Soviet Union. An interesting take on going to fight for your country and how the people at home deal with war and the aftermath. It caused a sensation at Cannes and I can see why. [Guardian #349; Criterian #3 seen; #49 left IMDB 50]

The Collector - Really good thriller from 1965. I had never heard of this until a friend recommended it. A creepy film that is not what you would expect during the code-era.

Lady in the Water – I’m never been a big Shyamalan fan. His films rely too much on a gimmick and don’t have much rewatch after it is revealed. This film didn’t hold my interest even before the reveal. I’m sure he has fans but I’m not one of them.

The House by the Cemetery – One genre I am a fan of is Italian horror films. I really enjoyed this Lucio Fulci film. I would never recommend this to people who are not interested but if you are this is one of his better efforts.

Black Snake Moan – Pretty good Southern gothic. Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci give very good performances.

Rescue Dawn – No one does man vs. nature better than Werner Herzog. This is one of the better films of the year helped by a very good lead performance by Christian Bale and an even better supporting performance by Steve Zahn.

La Vie en Rose – The film is probably just above average. For someone with no knowledge of Edith Piaf’s live the narrative structure was hard to follow at times. The real discovery is Marion Cotillard. Her performance as Piaf is the one to beat for the year and there is still 5 months left. I would not be surprised if it holds up and equally not surprised if the Oscars forget her.

Sullivan’s Travels – It is hard to discuss this now. Is it as good as its reputation? It just might be since I really enjoyed it. However, I never let myself just enjoy the film, kind of like the first time I saw Citizen Kane. Definitely one to revisit. [#3 on embarrassed not to have seen; Guardian #348; Criterion #4]

Sunshine – I really wanted to see this and was only slightly disappointed. This is a must see film to see in the theater due to the sound and visuals. The first 2/3rds are almost a masterpiece, the final 1/3rd, eh. not so much. But what I did love this ranks up there with 2001 and Alien as depicting intelligent people in space trying to work out the problem. Even if things go to shit in the end.

Dick Tracy – Wonderfully visual movie that just was neither good nor bad. [Guardian #347]

The Simpsons Movie – While it never achieved theatrical heights, I felt like I was watching a 90 minute episode, it was very good and didn’t disappoint. A decent story with a few missteps but had quite a few fall out-of-my-seat laugh moments and that is really all you can hope for with The Simpsons. So it delivered and then some. [#11 left IMDB 250]

Hairspray – I was surprised how much I enjoyed this film. My only problem was with John Travolta. Not that he was bad but he wasn’t really memorable and I could never get over it was “Travolta in a fat suit.” There were a number of standouts: James Marsdan, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelly, and Nikki Blonsky. The biggest treat was Amanda Bynes. she was too cute and stole most of the scenes she was in. And, John Waters, best cameo ever.

The Bourne Ultimatum – I’m a big fan of this series and this didn’t disappointed. One of the best films I’ve seen this year. I don’t know which is my favorite but after 3 they don’t seem to have run out of ideas and I’m already looking forward to the next one. [#10 IMDB 250]

Ratatouille – One of Pixar’s better efforts. At first watch probably not up there with Finding Nemo but then they might never reach that high again. Loved that they didn’t cast only stars but picked good voices. Only quibble is that at 110 minutes it seemed a tad too long. [#9 IMDB 250; 48 left IMDB 50]

Films Lists. So many films to see.

2007-07-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been throwing a number of films lists out there that have films I need to work through so I thought I’d formally summarize what they currently are and in some general order of importance.

1. A personal list of 5 films I’m embarrassed to not have seen. This list is not really necessary since the 3 films left are all on the next couple of lists. However these 3 have a set of importance to finish before the summer is over.

2. The IMDB Top 250. I pretty much vote on everything I see on IMDB, at least I try when I can keep up with it. But the one good thing is you can do a power search and get a list of films you have not seen. It seems like I’ve been hovering between 8 to 15 left to see for the last 3 years and it’s time to attempt to complete the damn list. Well in the last week I knocked off few films that were currently on the list (The Lion King, Harakiri, & Live Free or Die Hard).

This leaves me with an even 10 films to complete the list:

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Come and See
For a Few Dollars More
La Haine
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Knocked Up
Nights of Cabiria
Out of the Past (Build My Gallows High)
Ratatouille
Stalker

3. The Guardian 1,000 Films to See Before You Die. As I stated before, I really like this list. It is a good mix of classics vs. not so much; U.S. vs. foreign; and historical significance vs. watch-ability. Something many other lists don’t seem to do. My current total is 352 films left to see, so this should take a while.

4. The Criterion Collection. This is the one list where I’m going to do re-watches. The point here is both the film and the Criterion extras. With some titles being out of print, I obviously can’t see every title but I’ll do my best and substitute only as a list resort to re-see the film. As there collection if over 400 and growing and I’m restarting and now only at 2 this will again take a while.

5. Personal IMDB 50. As finishing the official IMDB 250 is shortly a reachable goal, I put together a Top 50 using their rankings. The only requirement is the film must be on DVD or a new release. (This weeds out all those Turkish films with high ratings that I have no chance of seeing.) I used the IMDB standard of a minimum of 1,300 votes. This produced 50 films from #1 Sansho the Bailiff (8.8 with 1316 votes) to #50 Before the Rain (8.1 with 3169 votes). Obviously all of the Top 250 are on this list (actually Harry Potter isn’t since I made this list before it had enough votes). I also don’t see this as ever being completed. I plan on added new films to the list when I get down to about 20 films left to see.

So there you have it. 5 lists producing probably 600 films to watch. And I’m sure before I finish these, I’ll add more lists to the mix.

The Lion King

2007-07-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like I am working through the films I’m embarrassed to have never seen from 5 to 1. This last weekend I got around to seeing #4: The Lion King.

I don’t know why I had never seen this film before. It ended the Disney animation Renaissance that began with The Little Mermaid in 1989 when it seemed that they could do no wrong. I’ve seen Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast & Aladdin and while I enjoy the first two none of them lived up to the hype and greatness that people built them up to be. Another reason I have avoided seeing it is the love for the style over substance Broadway version. But that is another issue.

The Lion King lives up to its fanfare and then some. It belongs with a list of Disney’s truly great animation achievements. It is easily the only 2-D Disney animated film from the current generation I would like to own.

First, the animation looks wonderful. While computer animation is technically amazing I don’t think it will ever achieve the emotional responses that traditional animation can. This is a prime example to keep this look and a reason to mourn if it ever disappears. Disney is more than helped that the color pallet of Africa, all the reds and brown, are very pleasing to the eye.

However to be a great film it needs more than looks and here is where Disney gets about everything right. In almost every case then seem to make decisions of subtlety or to enhance the overall film, not just a single aspect. The story appeals to both adults and young people and never condescends to the audience. The songs never overpower the story. The comic elements also seem to fit without becoming juvenile or slapstick. And the voice actors are perfectly cast. My pet peeve is that many animated films pick “names” even if they don’t fit the role. This film might be the cause of much of that. There are many well-known actors in The Lion King, probably more than any previous Disney film, but here is seems to work and they were chosen because they fit the role and not because they are on a hit tv show.

Criterion #302: Harakiri

2007-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

While looking through Premier Video to find a movie to rent with Life on Mars, I decided on a foreign language film, specifically a Criterion DVD. So I randomly chose Harakiri.

Regarding Criterion DVDs, at one time I thought I would try and collect them all. This has proven impractical with the pace that they are producing videos. So instead I will settle on watching as many as I can with all of the extras. I’ve already seen quite a few but I can’t remember how much of the extras I’ve seen so I’ll reset the counter back to zero. Number 1 on the list was Criterion #250a The Killing of a Chinese Bookie that I watched last month.

So this would be Criterion #302: Harakiri.

I knew nothing about this film but it is an amazing piece of work. It is written by the man who wrote a number of Kurosawa films such as Rashoman and The Seven Samurai and directed by Masaki Kobayashi. This is my introduction to this director’s work but reading the essays with the DVD he is know for films that question the establishment.

This is what makes this such an intriguing film. It is a samurai film but it does not romanticize the period. Many of these warriors are not honorable and are downright hypocritical. It is told in a non-linear manner that adds enhances the tension. The photography is wonderful and some of the scenes are quite bloody given the time (1962). I’m sure Tarantino was influenced by some of this film with the fight sequence and the theme of revenge.

The supplements are all well worth exploring. Anything by Donald Richie is welcome but it’s not really an introduction since you would not want to watch it before viewing the film. The interviews with the director, actor, and screenwriter give candid talks about their philosophy of work and their role with the crew.

Last Week Quick Hits

2007-07-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

This is what I hope will be a regular weekly feature. I will mention any film, television show, theater, book or anything that happened in the last week that I experienced and want to mention but don't have enough to say for a single post.

Life on Mars (tv) I did a final 4-hour push to finish this last week. If you have the ability to watch this (it's only 16 hours) through a Region2 player or if BBCA re-runs this series. DO. This is one great series. I really dread the Americanized version this fall. I'm still a little unsure if I like the ending but there are a number of things to love about this show. Great concept; great look; wonderful acting from John Simm, Philip Glenister, & Liz White that give you characters to care about; and a wonderful soundtrack.

Predator. I found myself really liking this late 80s action film. Very tight, well thought-out fun. I actually stopping everything else I was doing to fully concentrate on the last half of the film I was so caught up in it.

A Mighty Heart. Average storytelling. Maybe I was expecting too much from Winterbottom or maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind (I saw this after work on 3 July). I do plan on watching again as soon as it hits DVD. But it seems the real issue is not reviewing the movie but debating Angelina Jolie. So I'll go: I thought she was great, even Oscar worthly.

Sicko. It seems if you say anything negative about Michael Moore then you are a right-wing fascist. Well I might be branded but this is a great issue and average film at best. Everyone has commented how this is a dryer film than his previous and that seems to be because he has not gone crazy with his stunts in this film. I maintain that this film is actually less dry than say The Fog of War or Why We Fight you are just seeing the limitations of the documentarian.

Live Free or Die Hard. I recently just watched 2 and 3 for the first time to prepare for this since I wanted to see it in a theater. 2 was entertaining while I highly enjoyed 3. This film falls in-between. This film runs a little long at 130 minutes and the stupid level is quite high at times but it is a fun trill ride from beginning to end and Bruce Willis still has it.

1,000 Films to See Before You Die

2007-07-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

I am as OCD as anyone when it comes to making lists and organizing things. I'm sure most of you think, great not another greatest film list. But for some reason I really like this list that The Guardian put out. This is probably due to its British leaning. There are actually a number of film on the list that I have never heard of, such as: Asya's Happiness, Made in Britain & Wise Blood to name a few.

As with any list there are a number of specific films to argue about. But the goal is to open up new avenues of films to see. The AFI 100 is no use to me since I've seen 99 of the 100. And so what it The Godfather Part II didn't make the cut. I've seen it and it's been on enough lists already.

So I counted up the films I've seen and the grand total finished at 647. Since there are 999 records in this list (I won't say films since the 3 Lord of The Rings are 1 entry) that leaves 352 for me to work through. I think I will actually put a concerted effort into this. Plus it will give me something to write about as I work through the list.

If you want to do this yourself here are the links:

Link to The Guardian home page on the films:

A list of the films with director and year for reference (this pdf is 7 pages)

A list of all the info with summaries from The Guardian web site (59 pages)

An excel file with the columns for the films, director & year in separate columns to sort and a column to add up films you've seen.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

2007-06-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

After just posting my Top 5 films I’m embarrassed to not have seen, I can now knock one of them off my list. I just watched the #5 film, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. (Maybe I’ll work on the list from 5 to 1.)

I was not disappointed with this film. I have a hard time recommending it to most people since this is probably not a film to see if you are not a fan of the Cassavetes style. It is definitely not the film to introduce you to this style of filmmaking. But for fans this is a must see.

The story is very simplistic. An owner of a second rate strip club (Ben Gazzara) gets snookered into a $23,000 gambling debt by a floating casino manager (Seymour Cassel). To retire the debt he is forced by the head gangster (Timothy Carey) to kill a Chinese bookie where it’s obvious they don’t expect him to be able to kill the man and survive.

As any Cassavetes film the plot is secondary to the character’s mundane actions. Sometimes this can seem tedious but this film is interesting and riveting throughout. As expected Gazzara & Cassel are wonderful. This film would make a wonderful double feature with Saint Jack with Gazarra playing a similar character a couple of years after this film. It was great to see a young, dynamic Cassel, best known for his roles in the recent Wes Anderson films.

The surprise of the film was finding Timothy Carey. I don’t recall ever seeing him before but he had a great presence on screen. Weird his most notable roles are in films he was uncredited. A couple of other things I enjoyed were Al Ruban, a cameraman on the film, has a nice part as a gangster in an early scene & the score by Bo Harwood.

I also watched the 1978 re-cut. Other than as an interesting look into the creative process there is no reason to watch this: stick to the longer 1976 version. While the shorter version gets to the action quicker, all of the rhythm you expect from a Cassavetes film has been removed. The only reason to put this disc in the DVD player is to check out a couple of really nice extras.

5 Films I’m Embarrassed I have not Seen

2007-05-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Cinecast #2

Their top 5 list is Top 5 Movies We Can't Believe We've Never Seen. I love this list. Over the last 5 or so years I have made a concerted effort to cross off films that I have never seen from a number of lists. In doing so, I have managed to see all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners, AFI Top 100 films and 241 of the current IMDB Top 250 films. Basically there are not many of the so-called great, historical, or award winning films I have not seen.

In their list, they listed 18 films and I am proud to say I’ve seen 19 of them. And the missing film is number one on my list! My list has only 2 rules: 1) I have never seen it, pretty obvious & 2) it must be on DVD (since I will try to see these films this summer and will only watch if on disc).

5. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. There are a number of films that are equally deserving of this final spot. I will admit that the tie-breaker, I want to see this film soon, is a little indulgent. This film has a number of things going for it. It is probably Cassavettes’ highest rated film on IMDB that I have yet to see, a director I really admire his work. Seeing Ben Gazzara & Seymour Cassel in a cast list is always a plus. And I love the film’s title.

4. The Lion King. I have not seen a single 2-D Disney animated feature in the theater since Disney’s resurgence in the late 80s. However, I have caught most of them in home viewing except, for some reason, this film. The Office even referenced this film during the last season.

3. Sullivan’s Travels. By far the most notable classic Hollywood film I have not seen.

2. Nights of Cabiria. One of only two films in the IMDB top 150 I have not seen. (This is currently #139). Oscar winning, very influential, and I even own a copy.

1. For a Few Dollars More. The only film that made their list (#5 on Adam’s list as a “Spaghetti Western” tie). This is the highest rated film on IMDB that I have never seen (currently #132). There are a number of reasons this is baffling. I love the Ennio Morricone scores. I will see any bad Italian film if he does the score and I love all of the Sergio Leone films and own them all. I have been holding out on watching / re-watching them since I want to watch them in order over a week. Now I’m happy I waited. Next month this film and A Fistful of Dollars will get released in special edition DVDs and Duck, You Sucker will finally get a DVD treatment.

My goal is to know off these 5 films in the next two months

Top 5 Movies About Movies

2007-05-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

For the past year or so one of the podcasts I’ve been listening to is Filmspotting (http://www.filmspotting.net/). It originates out of Chicago and is a weekly show of two guys talking film. Until recently I wasn’t a regular listener since it has taken me some time to completely warm up to the show. But now I’m a regular listener and have decided to go to their web site and listen to all of their archives.

While I don’t always agree and sometimes question their film knowledge, the best part of the show is that is has made me look at film from a different viewpoint. While some of the reviews in the archived shows might be out of date, their different approach to film is the main reason to look into all of their shows.

A nice by-product is that their talk will inspire and give me topics to write about. So if I see fit, I’ll post items about their weekly new shows and their archived shows starting with the first one.

Thoughts on Cinecast #1

Their initial top 5 is Movies About Movies. My main reason for commenting on this list is that if I had to make this list three films would immediately come to mind. Two of them are on their list but for some reason the third, a very personal favorite of my, was left off. So I want to make sure this film gets its due.

10 films made their list. I listened to their list before putting together my own and I really don't want their list to influence mine. But six of their films would not make my list. I have not seen American Movie. Not a big fan of either Adaptation or Full Frontal. The Aviator and Get Shorty are fine films but there are others I would consider. And I would probably automatically leave off Hearts of Darkness since that belongs on another list: Top 5 Documentaries About Film.

Two of their films I really like and would strongly consider. CQ is an inspired choice that I probably would not have thought, nor would I have room, but I’m happy there is another fan of this little seen film. While Living in Oblivion would probably make my list but as there are other equally deserving films I think I'll mix things up. That just leaves the two classics they mentioned.

So here is my top 5:

5. S.O.B. Known as the film where Julie Andrews shows her tits. Blake Edwards’ hate-letter to Hollywood is probably not a popular choice. But this is one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. One of the few times an all-star cast works with standout performances by William Holden, Robert Preston, Richard Mulligan, and Shelly Winters.

4. Singin’ in the Rain. One of the best musicals ever mainly because it has a descent plot. A perfect stylized depiction of the conversion Hollywood had to make from silents to talkies.

3. The Player. Robert Altman’s satire on the soul-less movie executives was deservedly #2 on Sam’s list.

2. The Stunt Man. I can’t believe this didn’t make either Adam or Sam’s list. They must have never seen it. This is the high point in everyone’s career. Even with Peter O’Toole’s long career this Oscar-nominated performance might be his best. But director Richard Rush, stars Steve Railsback, & Barbara Hershey and even 70s character actors Alan Garfield, Adam Roarke & Alex Rocco shine. As most genre defying films (is it action, drama, straight comedy, satire, romance, or fantasy?) it did not do well at the box office. But it is a treat to those who have seen it.

1. Day for Night. Probably not Truffaut’s best film but I think this is my favorite of his. And probably not a coincidence, Truffaut was inspired by same source material as The Stunt Man. This is the quintessential film about filming a film. While Jacqueline Bisset is very lovely here, is there anyone who would not want to get lost on the way to a location shot with Nathalie Baye?

The Cooler: Great performances, average story

2006-08-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

I’m watching The Cooler on cable again. I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched a significant amount of this film in one sitting and I didn’t think it was a particularly good film when it first came out. I still don’t think much of the story. It’s fairly predictable and very derivative of other gambling films.

But this film creates a mood that draws you in and seems to be a lost art in today’s movies. The acting is great with all of the principles turning in performances that are on par with anything else they’ve done. This film has some of the sexiest scenes in recent films, helped by the very attractive Maria Bello. And the soundtrack just enhances the old school Vegas charm.

Not the best film of its year (as some have said) but definitely better than I accessed it the first time around.

Asian Film Festival - Day 1

2006-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today was day 1 of the Fifth Annual Asian Film Festival. (I can’t believe that four years has passed since that very small but very well programmed showing of film over a couple of days at the Magnolia.)

The fest opened with a showing of an American effort Only the Brave. This film is a very pedestrian, clichéd telling of the heroic exploits of an all Asian regiment fighting the Germans. Most of the acting is quite good but the structure, dull staging and awkward use of flashbacks hamper any emotional attachment to the film. I also hate to mention this but I seriously doubt that it is possible to make a war film with lots of action on a limited budget. At least it will need a more creative director than this one.

While this was a very personal story for the director, it ultimately fell short. This, sadly little known aspect of American history, deserves a much better film (like The Tuskegee Airmen) to spur public interest in these men.

Stadium Name Quick Hits

2005-10-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

So UT has sold the naming rights to their baseball stadium. For $13.1 million over 15 years it will now be called: UFCU Disch-Falk Field. I guess that is ok. At least they get to keep the Disch-Falk. One of their upgrades should be to put down grass so they could have a real baseball stadium.

Two thoughts hit me immediately when I read this. 1) < $1 mil per year seem rather low for one of the top college facilities. If we ever sold rights to Olsen, which I would only be in favor of if Olsen was still a major part of the name and the company didn’t have a dorky sounding name, I would hope it would be for more. 2) UFCU (University Federal Credit Union) is dangerously close to becoming fun with anagrams. Speaking of stadium names. I used to say that A&M football stadium is the shortest name in the world. Kyle Field. 2 words, 9 letters. I wasn’t positive but it would be hard to beat. Well, it hasn’t been beaten but we have a tie. Jenn alerted me that Northwestern’s football had the same stats. The official name of their stadium, since 1997, is Ryan Field. Also weird that both names have y as the second letter.

DMN UT Bias

2005-06-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

This last weekend UT won another national championship in baseball. All I can say is at least it wasn't Baylor. With the amount of money and support their athletic department gets, I'm really not bothered when schools like Texas, Stanford, or Nebraska do well. But... schools like Baylor or Texas Tech don't deserve national titles.

Anyway... Predictably, the DMN has jumped on the Texas bandwagon and predicted that they will be champions next year. And that idiot Gerry Fraley has insinuated that this run of theirs is the best in college baseball history. Good God. After only two fucking titles. He justifies this that they are better than the other two accepted dynasties in baseball USC and LSU. USC won 10 titles in 21 years while playing inferior competition and LSU won 5 championships during a ten year span in the 90s by playing “Gorilla Ball” during the offensive era of the supercharged aluminum bat.

CSI Tarantion Style

2005-05-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

Last night was the season ending episode of C.S.I. I actually watched it live, something I almost never do with network television. I also have watched only a couple of C.S.I. episodes this season. I still watch every episode but this is the first causality in my cutting back in watching television when I have the ability to watch an entire season on dvd over the summer.

The finale was directed by and story by Quentin Tarantino. While his early forays into television have been a mixed bag, his ER directed episode seemed forced and his appearance on Margaret Cho’s old show as embarrassing, I though this might actually work. His style of interesting camera movements, lots of blood, and intense violence seemed tailor made for the show. Even the pop reference wouldn’t seem out of place with the relatively geeky characters that populate the show.

Well not only was I not disappointed but it exceeded expectations. This is about as intense a since episode of a network television show can get. Nick Stokes was kidnapped and buried alive in a coffin with a finite amount of oxygen. The criminal provided the C.S.I. team with a video link that they could watch Nick suffer. The race against time had the same feel that Silence of the Lambs had in it race against the clock construct. The show also tapped into a couple of primal fears for the audience members. The Closter phobia of being buried alive is a classic but then add to that of fire ants crawling all over you and not being able to get them off and that took things to the next level.

Only one Tarantino touch didn’t quite work, that was Nick’s dream sequence after his death. But the pop culture references were very nice. I enjoyed the Dukes of Hazzards game but Grissom’s having a honorary ownership of Trigger was a classic. He has to be the biggest grown up geeky character in television history.
I think even fans of the show would enjoy this as a one-off episode and it is well worth looking for in repeats or on DVD.

FC Dallas - my first game of the year.

2005-05-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Outside of movies I do have some other interests. A big one is a love of sports. Some of the sports I enjoy are off the mainstream choices. Last night instead on watching the Mavericks, as most Dallas sports fans would, I took in the FC Dallas game.

This was my first game to see in awhile. I was wearing my Spurs kit and on the walk from the parking lot I guy yelled at me “Spurs! There is the only other Spurs fan in DFW!” I ended up standing behind the group he was with, The Inferno Fans. It reminded me of being with the Raggies at Olsen Field. This is the group that played drums and constantly yells things throughout the game. Some of their taunts are pretty creative:

When an opponent is lying dead on the turf they do a ten-count like in boxing
When the opponent jumped up looking like they weren't touched, "Call Benny Hinn. It's a miracle"
Directed toward the ref, "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I want to be a ref"
At a player with a bad fro, "Michelle Akers called. She wants her hair back"

The game was good but typical American Soccer defensive, conservative play. I bet one American team passes the ball backwards more in one game than an English team does an entire season. Dallas was awful for 60 minutes. Awful passing and a porous defense had them down 1-0. But then they began to drive and won the game 2-1. The equalizer was a nice shot from the edge of the box. Amazing what happens when you move the ball toward the goal!

Channel Z

2005-05-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

There is a documentary currently playing on IFC right now that is a can’t miss for film lovers. It is Z Channel: A Magnificence Obsession directed by Xan Cassavetes, the daughter of John. As an in-depth study of the small Los Angeles cable channel, it is lacking, but this probably wasn’t its goal. It excels as a look back to the early days of cable television and to the cinema of the 70s and 80s. Both were less structured than they are now with studios more apt to be creative, foreign films not as marginalized as they are today, and cable channels more apt to show a hodgepodge of programming genres to fill air time.

While the Z Channel was limited to Los Angeles, we saw something of the same thing in Dallas with over the air movie channels. When cable began to move into the area in the late 70s every city wanted the decision on cable. This lead to each city being served by a different cable company a delay of years for some people to get service. In this delay movie channels moved in. They would attach a microwave antenna to your house and with a decoder box you could watch uncut films after the local UHF stations went off the air at 7:00pm. This is how the channels 21, 27, and 33 got their start. Three different movie channels provided service: ON, PreView, and the one we had VEU.

In June 1981 VEU drastically changed their format from a first run only channel to a wonderful mix of classics, foreign films, cult films, and new releases. Coincidentally this is around the same time that Jerry Harvey began programming the Z Channel. If VEU was not associated with the Z Channel then it was a direct copy that I am very thankful for and where I discovered my love of film. Each month VEU would highlight a different genre, director, or country. The monthly programming guides included long essays on each film as to why they were important or would even say this film is horrible but it is a fun watch so enjoy this guilty pleasure. Another feature was each night at 11:00pm was Night Owl Theater. This would show either a mix of soft porn films, which while pretty to look at I found fairly boring; or cult films, these I would try and stay up as late as possible to see. Because of falling asleep I remember seeing the beginnings of many films. Some of these are still hard to find and I have yet to see the entire film.

The monthly highlights were a treat and have resulted in some of my all time film favorites. Some that I remember were:

Stanley Kubrick – built around the premiere month of The Shining I also saw 2001, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon.
Martin Scorsese – in the premiere month of Raging Bull they also showed Taxi Driver and The Last Waltz.
Francois Trauffaut – I think I only saw 400 Blows in its entirety but I watched parts of The Wild Child, Jules and Jim, Story of Adele H, and Day for Night.
Francis Ford Coppola – Apolocapyse Now, The Godfathers I & II, and the Conversation.
Werner Herzog – Fitzcarraldo, and parts of Aguirre and Nosferatu.
Akira Kurosawa – Kagamusha and parts of The Seven Samuri, and Rashomon.
Brazil – a personal favorite: Pixote, Bye Bye Brazil, and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands.
Australia – this was another personal favorite. Australia was the country of the moment and we seemed to get them all. Some are still not on dvd. Breaker Morrant, Odd Angry Shot, The Club, Sunday Too Far Away, & Mad Max (before The Road Warrior).

The other treat was seeing these wonderful cult or hard to find films. Many of these played during Night Owl Theater. There were many I was exposed too, even more if I counted the partially seen films, but some of the ones I saw in their entirety that still stick with me to this day were: Straw Dogs, The Music Lovers, The Ruling Class, Cockfighter, Out of Season, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Duellists, Blue Collar, The Silent Partner, Soldier of Orange, Loophole, Return of the Secaucus 7, The Stunt Man, The Tin Drum, American Pop, and Smithereens.

VEU encountered much the same fate as the original Z Channel. Around 1985 cable saturation was enough to run all of these movie channels out of business. We got cable in April 1984 so my watching of VEU was only for slightly over 3 years. But at the time cable was daring enough to where I didn’t mind the loss of the movie channel. I heavily watched A&E, USA, and Bravo. The current formats are totally different then the generic fare they now show. Brave was much like IFC it showed uncut arts and movies. I watched many French and Australian films on this channel in the summer before I left for college. They also showed the entire 14 hours of Berlin Alexanderplatz but I was only able to catch a few parts. USA had the greatest show in cable history: Night Flight on Friday and Saturday nights. They would show cult films, underground videos, music, and concerts every weekend. Night Flight went off the air in the spring of 1987.

This is really a long missed age of cable television. At the time we had about 40 channels and could always find something interesting to watch. Today I have about 200 channels of digital cable and find myself watching Netflix, TCM, or IFC more than anything.

Crash: Am I the only person who didn't love this film?

2005-05-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

It looks like every year there is one film where my views go against public sentiment. I feel so isolated in my counter views that to convince myself that I’m not wrong I overanalyze my thoughts. Last year seemed to be one of the few that hated Millions Dollar Baby. This year it is another Paul Haggis written film: Crash. While I don’t hate Crash, I find much in the film to like and enjoy, it is a very average film and not anywhere close to the greatness tag many people have already bestowed on it.

I’m usually a fan of sociological films containing characters from multiple backgrounds whose lives intersect at random. Nashville, Grand Canyon, Short Cuts, and Magnolia are some of my favorite films of all-time. These films had an epic quality that does justice to their characters. Crash is nothing more than the racism filled rants in the Spike Lee films expanded out to 105 minutes.

105 minutes is far too short a time for the stories in Crash to be presented. It is barely time to tell a light comedy with four characters but here Paul Haggis had decided to construct a sweeping drama with at least twelve major characters. As he showed in Million Dollar Baby, he is anything but subtle. With so little time to allot to each character, each one must immediately spew out racial epitaphs on seeing a member of another group. Only Ryan Phillippe’s cop and Michael Peña's locksmith are not infected with all consuming hate. They are saddled with the other one-dimensional problem: white-guilt. They are so driven to see the good in people that they do some very stupid things.

I don’t want to sound like I hated Crash. I enjoyed my time while watching the film and would actually recommend it to people. The acting is almost uniformly good. Except for Brendan Fraser, who looked like he was sleepwalking through his part, everyone did more than what they could with their parts. My personal favorites were Matt Dillon and Keith David in his one scene as the police lieutenant. Taken scene by scene the acting and writing make from some great individual scenes. However, once you add all of this together you have an average film that is well worth seeing but is beset with many problems.

Why isn't the word Palindrome a Palindrome?

2005-05-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I made it to the final showing of the week of Palindromes. (I’m still a little pissed that it only played a week here.) I really don’t know what to make of this film. I enjoyed the experience, which is more than I can say of Solondz’s last film Storytelling, but I don’t thing the film will stick with me.

Todd Solondz has a knack to make difficult films but other than throwing uncomfortable moments at the audience I really can’t see much point or have much emotional tie to this film. Part of the problem is having multiple actresses play the lead part. The jarring changes and the amateurish acting by some of the actresses only kept me emotionally disconnected form this film.

I did enjoy the scenes at Mama Sunshine a rather surreal religious freak show handicapped children. They have the cheery disposition of The Brady Bunch but sing and dance like The Partridge Family, complete with psychedelic bus. But past the surface I wonder what Solondz was saying with the key element of the film abortion then having this bizarre sequence with relatively happy kids overcoming birth defects.

I’ve read Solondz indicating what he was trying to do in the film. And while I can see admire his comments I really don’t care if it doesn’t translate to the screen. But I can’t really trash the film since it does kill 100 minutes without too much harm. Sadly that’s about all I ask of a mainstream film but still seem disappointed when that all an independent film delivers.

First Post

2005-05-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here I am posing on a new blog site for the first time. So what to expect. Hopefully regular posts and hopefully it will evolve into something worthwild for people to look at and visit. There are probably more blogs than people on the earth right now so it's pretty hard to set one apart from the other.

But you can expect views on current events from all over the globe, movies I've seen, books I've read, television and sports. Probably a lot of writing on movies: films I've seen, thoughts about ideas in films, and anything else I want to spew about.