I’m a geek. I admit it. I love all the little techie gadgets (yes I have an iPhone, a Kindle, a laptop, a desk top, external hard drives, digital cameras, and wifi enabled dvd players and tv). I do. I like getting something new and figuring it out. I also love all things art… painting, sculpture, photography, film, music. And yes, in college I took loads of liberal arts classes… philosophy, english, psychology (of course), sociology, religion, history, etc., etc. I’m one of those creative types. Or at least I think I am.
So along with this I like film, as I mentioned, and I like to get the inside scoop on it occasionally. So when I saw this documentary on PBS called “These Amazing Shadows” I had to check it out. Problem was it was on late and I couldn’t finish it. Luckily there’s now such a thing as streaming Netflix and they, YES!, had it available. For anyone who loves film this is a great little documentary about the National Registry of Film connected with the Library of Congress, how it came about, what it is, how they pick the films, etc. Got me interested enough to go to the website of the Library of Congress and check out the list. It’s pretty good, and not at all what you would think. Well, partially what you would think, but not completely. There are some very cool entries on the list. Documentaries, home movies, shorts, newsreels, etc. As well as films that are famous and you would know. Very cool.
So if you love film and have a bit of time this one is worth viewing.
It’s rare for a movie to make you laugh and cry alternately in an effective, non-fabricated way. The Help was able to do just that.
I don’t like being led through a film. Or at least feel like I’m being led. You know the type I mean. When you feel like, oh, this is where I’m supposed to cry, oh now… yes now I’m supposed to laugh. They never feel organic. And though sometimes they can still be enjoyable, I never get that wow, what a fantastic experience I just had kind of feeling. It’s more like… well, that was sweet, or that was cute. The Help is neither sweet nor cute, and that’s such a refreshing thing in todays movie scene.
I loved this movie. It’s poignant without being sappy, funny without being cheesy, heartfelt without being foolishly sentimental. It will make you laugh, feel heart break and triumph, cry, and leave you with a feeling of hope that things can and do get better. That though victory and change may happen in a small and slow way, they do happen.
Good art, no matter the form, makes a person think about the world in a deeper more meaningful way. Forcing you to examine personal opinions and boundaries, encouraging you to think about things in new and different ways than you had before. Good art offers discovery, hope, and changes of mind at the same time it wins and breaks our hearts. The film The Help, without question, is good art.
Life philosophy according to Tam… We are all, everyone of us spinning on this little orb, people who live, experience joy, have pain, grieve, celebrate, and love. We are all the same… want the same things (happiness, our kids to be safe, to live the best lives we can, to laugh, to love)… not matter where we live. Borders and boundaries are just physical structures. Ethnicity is just genetic. Religion is faith. Sexual orientation is meaningless. Spirit, the human spirit, is boundless. People everywhere go to work, love their kids, deal with tragedy, pet their dogs or cats or birds or rabbits, want a place to call home, live with their own flaws, and want to be with the people they care about as much as they can. Everyone, everywhere, wants a good life. We are all living every day the best we know how. We are all, everywhere, one. Period. The end.
Karen and I saw an interview with this guy and think this documentary could be amazing. His name is Tom Shadyac and he used to be a well known and very successful director of Hollywood films. You’ve probably heard of his films… Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, etc. He had loads of money, homes, cars, and was living the Hollywood dream. Then he got into a mountain biking accident, nearly died, and re-thought his life. That lead to him giving up all the homes for a double wide mobile home, bicycling everywhere he can, and thinking about his impact on the planet and his fellow man. He changed his life and then made a documentary. Check out this preview on YouTube….
It was a lovely lovely weekend, this year’s anniversary weekend was. Sounds a little Dr. Seuss there, but what can I say… it was. We started the fun on Friday with our usual Fun Friday adventure. This particular Friday we decided on miniature golf and burgers at Steakburger and Golf-O-Rama in Vancouver. I’d never been there, Karen had. She used to take the kids there when they were younger. We had a great time. Great burgers and a shared chocolate shake followed by 18 holes of mini golf. She beat me by one point. One. We sort of sucked, but we didn’t care. It was fun and the weather ended up being perfect for it. We finished in time to meet some of our friends for the regular Friday at 5:30 get together at Crush. Always good to see the POD. A great ending to another fun Friday.
Saturday, our actual anniversary, my honey told me we had to leave by 9:30, she put an address in the GPS, and told me to listen to the commands and go where it said to go. Two and a half hours of listening to music, talking, singing, and laughing later, we pulled up at the Rejuvenation Spa in Lincoln City where she’d scheduled a couples massage. I’d been saying I wanted to get a massage for a long time. Neither of us had ever had one before… rookies, that’s what we were, and it was actually pretty great. We have no clue if they were really good as we’d never had one before, but we felt relaxed afterward, and I definitely felt less tense. It was nice and we are now saying we need to try it again. After all, we have to have something to compare it to. Naturally. We were pretty hilarious in the little room after our masseuses gave us a few minutes to disrobe and get ready. We were laughing a little and saying to each other… are you going to take it all off, I don’t know, are you, yes, I think I am, so am I, OK, let’s go… then it was a quick scoot onto our respective tables and a cover up with our respective sheets. We always seem to have fun, no matter what we are doing.
After the massage we went over to nearby Mo’s for a little seafood lunch. We split it, our new thing, and it was good. They were busy, as usual, but we managed to get in pretty quickly and also ended up with a table by the window. Gorgeous. The weather was so great over there on Saturday. Partly cloudy, warmish, not a lot of wind. It was so beautiful out we went out onto the beach at Siletz Bay and ended up walking for two hours after lunch. There were sea lions, gulls, loads of people out, and most importantly, us just spending time together.
We stopped at Safeway on our way out of Lincoln City, headed home, for some water and chocolate. Of course. We drove the same way back as we’d really enjoyed the drive, with one added stop. We pulled off at the Chinook Winds Casino and did a tad bit of gambling. For us the operative words there are tad bit. We walked in saying $20 each and walked out about a half an hour later ahead five dollareenies, not each, total. Not a huge gain, but when we got ahead we were like, Ok, that’s it, let’s quit. We were feeling quite satisfied with ourselves.
Nearly home we stopped at Dairy Queen, picked up a couple of Blizzards, came on home and settled in with Despicable Me on the DVD player and Blizzards in hand. A nice quiet end to a long and wonderful day.
Sunday we met a friend at Starbucks near the Fox Tower 10 and then walked over to the theater to meet the rest of our party for a group viewing of Hanna. The consensus about the film… interesting. Karen and I decided later, as we talked about it more, that it failed because it didn’t have enough heart. While some of the filming was cool, and the concept was good, we didn’t really care enough about her or her predicament because we didn’t know enough about her. Cate Blanchett was, as always, great. Whenever she’s onscreen you pay attention to her. She’s good. The girl’s (Saoirse Ronan) acting was good too, but there just simply wasn’t enough back story to like her or care. No heart. We followed the film with a late lunch at Shigezo. It was OK. Not really spectacular, though the California rolls were really good. Apparently the sushi there is very good, we just don’t really like sushi… except I like California rolls. We had a katsu chicken curry we shared and it was alright. The chicken on it was tasty, but the sauce was more like gravy or some such thing. Not great enough to repeat. Then it was home and cleaning up and cooking for the return of the kid’s after their trip to Sunriver. They had a great time over their weekend as well, so nice for Mary to get to see her long time friends. They hadn’t all seen each other since the wedding.
I’d say this weekend was up there as far as anniversaries go. This was our eighth. Karen of course is now saying we’ve been together for almost nine years. She does this, always the day after our actual anniversary. I love that about her.
We had a great day yesterday. Time spent hanging out with great friends, eating together, and going to see a couple of Academy Award winners we hadn’t seen. I’m going to talk about that a little…
Black Swan… Natalie Portman did do a fantastic job. The whole film relies on her acting. You have to be drawn in, wondering what is real, what isn’t, believing like she does that what’s happening is real. Shocked to learn it isn’t, then still not sure, wondering. It’s uncomfortable, disturbing, and at times horrific. Three of us saw it together and were all covering up our eyes during certain scenes, peeking through our hands and fingers as grotesque and hard to watch things were happening on the screen. I can’t decide if I liked this movie. As I said, Natalie Portman’s performance was magnetic, compelling, and very very good. I can see why she won. It’s just that I don’t know if I liked the movie as a whole. I’ve heard from others they thought it was depressing. I didn’t get that. Not depressing. To me it was, I guess I’ll say it again, disturbing. One of those films I’m glad I saw, but would never want to watch again.
Dragonfish… A restaurant downtown we’d wanted to try for quite some time. In between films we met up with the POD, as we call ourselves, to enjoy a nice late lunch. The day’s plan was that whoever wanted to join for the first movie would join, we would then all go to lunch with whoever wanted to show up for lunch, and then whoever wanted to go to the second movie would go to that. A sort of choose your participation day. So, Dragonfish… first, the service was terrible. We couldn’t really figure out who our waiter was and whoever it was didn’t come over often. S-L-O-W. We weren’t too put out as we had tons of time, but still… it’s annoying. Then the food… not terrible… just not great. We had high expectations, had heard good things, but seriously… not stellar. The company, fantastic as always, the food and the service… not so much. We won’t be back. None of us.
The King’s Speech… Really really good. It’s one of those films that’s both interesting and feel good. Colin Firth was awesome in it, I don’t know how he got the stammer down the way he did, and the pain behind it. Great acting. And it was obvious to me why both the film and he won the Academy Awards. It was also quite beautiful. Loved the perspective in some of the scenes. It was anything but slow and boring, as some people thought it might be. Keeping our attention from beginning to end. Just a fascinating film. Who knew?
We said goodbye to the friends who’d seen the King’s Speech with us and then walked back up the couple blocks to the streetcar stop, just catching the train as we rounded the corner and ran up to it. Nice timing. It was a great day. Any time you can spend several hours with people you love, respect, and enjoy it’s lovely. Thanks guys for a wonderful day.
I’ve had a lot of down time in the last few months, as many of you know. This has led me to watch a lot of tv, which has included a lot of movies. The other day I watched Vision Quest, a film I hadn’t seen in a long long time. I like it, in a sort of cheesy way. Because really, who couldn’t like a character name like Loudon Swain. Classic. The viewing of this particular film got me thinking about other 80′s movies I really like. It was a big time for me… graduated from high school in ’83 and from college in ’88.
The following are a collection of twenty something films from the 80′s I’m a fan of. I didn’t include too many super well known films, including some of my favorites, but that’s because those are on every list. These are, some of them, a little lesser known. Others you will know right away, but either way… I love these films. Nothing like spending an afternoon watching one of these. Some may be a tad cheesy, but then that’s part of their appeal. Enjoy….
It’s another scorcher out there today, so we are in. Had breakfast, then lunch, took showers, and now we are both surfing the net on our laptops while watching King Arthur. It’s slow. We may have to put in the Netflix movie we still haven’t watched. I got on the treadmill this morning. Karen just got done on it. I walk. She runs. Since I can’t go out of the house right now, the treadmill has been great. At least I get up and walk a bit. 20 minutes in the morning, 20 more in the evening. It’s great for Karen as well these last couple of days since the shop is way too hot to go out and work out on the equipment in there.
The dogs are spending most of these hot days sleeping where the fan can blow on them. Weston is a bit restless, but then finds another spot to lay down and he takes another little nap. Riley is asleep on top of one of the cushions of the sectional right by Karen.
Laundry is in and later we have ribs, left over from last night’s dinner, that Karen made. So good. The highlights of my days are finding a good movie on TV and what we have for dinner. LOL
Saturday and we are staying in. We closed up the house this morning about 10 and have been kind of hunkered down since then. The exceptions were my honey going to the store and then barbecuing ribs. I took a bath, thankful for the air conditioner in our bedroom that made a bath bearable, and have been watching movies all day.
Now… dinner and then Lethal Weapon 2 followed by, in all likelihood, three and four. We watched one this morning, recorded two on the dvr, and can watch three and four on Netflix via the play now option and a cord from the laptop to the tv. And that is our day. Mellow and nice.
Hope everyone out there is staying cool…. it’s a hot one.
Today we went out for the first time… other than clinic visits and such that is. We went to see the movie Eclipse at the local cinema. It was great. Yes, not only did I like going out, I liked the movie too. I know there are doubters and naysayers out there about the whole Twilight thing, but I am not ashamed to admit that I liked the books and like the films as well. They seem to get better with each one. Number three was definitely better than two, which was better than one.
It was nice to get out… and really nice that Stacia joined in. So good to see you girl. Really good.
Now we’re back home. I’m in my usual spot, hanging on the couch and right now, watching the Sci-Fi Channel. Karen is mowing the lawn and Kev is pressure washing the deck. It’s beautiful outside. Not as hot as it’s been.
Music sometimes makes a scene, or a movie for that matter. Here’s a selection of tunes used in films that had an impact on me. By no means a comprehensive list, but a few who sprung to mind when I thought of doing this post. Enjoy and feel free to add your own in the comments section. Always looking for new music, new films to see, or reminders of films and music I’d forgotten about.
Let the River Run – Carly Simon – Working Girl
A nice little fable of a film. The song, at the end, sort of sums it up and lends itself to that feel good feeling.
Band of Brothers Requim – Band of Brothers
Beautiful piece of music and a fantastic mini series. If you haven’t seen it… do so. You may cry a lot, I did, but it’s amazing.
Have a Little Faith in Me – John Hiatt – Benny and Joon
I fell in love with this song after hearing it in this movie. A little fable of a film. This film just works.
Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon – Urge Overkill – Pulp Fiction
Tarantino knows how to use music in his films. This scene is just plain riveting. And the music in it is perfect for it.
Come What May – Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman – Moulan Rouge
I had no idea these two could sing, and sing so well. Besides which, this is a lovely lovely song.
Cell Block Tango – Various – Chicago
Fun fun. Listen to this a couple of times and you’ll find yourself singing along.
She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing
Patrick Swayze singing. Who doesn’t love that? Or love this movie for that matter. No one puts baby in a corner.
I Am Changing – Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Jennifer Hudson’s defining movie moment.
Long Ride Home – Patty Griffin – Elizabethtown
One of my favorite songs which was used really well in this movie.
Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Once
A fantastic little film with some awesome music. If you have never seen this, or heard the soundtrack, or listened to the Frames, check some or all of that out. The two from this movie now have their own band called The Swell Season.
Vianne Sets Up Shop – Chocolat
This music just simply makes me happy.
Cruisin’ – Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis – Duets
Who knew Gwyneth could sing this well. Wow.
You’re The One That I Want – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John – Grease
No list is really complete without this. If you are a person of my age, give or take 10 years either way, you know and at least secretly, if not down right openly, love this song and this scene.
Back Where You Belong – Sinead O’Conner – The Water Horse
Just a really gorgeous song.
You Sexy Thing – Hot Chocolate – The Full Monty
Who doesn’t love rough burly guys dancing… I ask you.
All I Want Is You – U2 – Reality Bites
This song sort of sums up this entire movie.
Stuck In The Middle With You – Steeler’s Wheel – Reservoir Dogs
Ear cutting off scene so beware…. Tarantino knows how to use music in his films.
Goodbye Horses – Q Lazzarus – The Silence of the Lambs
R Rated, for those who care. I’d advise not watching if you do.
In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel – Say Anything
Iconic image from film this one. I think this spawned thousands of incidents where guys stood outside girl’s homes and played music.
Lust for Life – Iggy Pop – Trainspotting
Ok… so the voice over is in french, but for the purposes of this post it’s the music that counts….
In The Deep – Bird York – Crash
A truly intense gritty movie. Loved it. And loved this song in it.
People Are Strange – Echo & The Bunnymen – Lost Boys
The song in the first part of this clip is Gerard McMann’s Cry Little Sister, also good… Love when People Are Strange is playing and scenes of regular people doing what they do.
Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies – Prelude To A Kiss
Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video clip from the movie with the song in it so I had to settle for the video. A lot of people haven’t even heard of this movie. I liked it. Also a little fable of a movie.
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Silence of the Lambs
The girl, before being kidnapped, drives along singing this song at the top of her lungs, no care in the world… and then… the second tune from this film. What can I say?
Like To Get To Know You Well – Howard Jones – Better Off Dead
This is the music video, not the clip from the movie… unfortunately.
Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack – Jackie Brown
A fantastic intro/opening credits to a movie. Love this and again love Tarantino’s use of music in a film.
I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff. Films I liked. Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing. This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.
There could be others, and I’m sure if I sat here long enough I would think of other films I should’ve and would’ve included. I think when I make one of these lists that it’s all about the day I’m making it. Tomorrow the list would include some of these same films, but there would probably be differences. That’s the way it goes. That’s life. For now, today, these are some of my choices for the top films that always make me cry. Honorable mention would go to films like Piano, On Golden Pond, Old Yeller, Fried Green Tomatoes, and countless other films you might be thinking of right now.
Philadelphia
The humanity in this scene is sort of overwhelming. You have to ignore the crappy dubbing and the Greek subtitles, but it’s powerful none the less.
Beaches
Friends know each other for years, have their differences, lead disparate lives, stay bonded through everything, and love each other to the end.
Steel Magnolias
Nothing more heart wrenching than mother losing daughter. I distinctly remember seeing this and crying and laughing out loud and crying again.
Mystic River
Again… parent losing child. This is powerful.
Playing By Heart
This whole movie takes the watcher on a roller coaster of emotion. I cried a few times. This scene is just sort of indicative of what the movie is about. Not really a scene that made me cry. It’s got an amazing cast and is a great film, if you like emotional movies about love and relationships that is. If not, skip it.
Schindler’s List
This is one of, for me anyway, the most powerful scenes in film, ever. Schindler is leaving and he breaks down wishing he could’ve saved more, done more. It makes me cry just thinking about this scene. Spielberg is a master.
Ghost
Sort of a common choice, but good none the less. A classic tear jerker. The moment when they see each other and he gets peace.
Powder
Fighting and then giving over of yourself… if you haven’t seen this movie it is a powerful film about humanity. Just strange and amazing.
The Hours
I could’ve picked more than just two scenes from this movie. It’s another character study kind of film about choices and consequences and living with both.
E.T.
I had to include this… E.T. goes home.
Boys on the Side
Love… loss…
Immortal Beloved
I don’t know why this gets me so much, but it does. Partly it’s the music, partly watching him remember and knowing, finally, as an audience member, what the music was born out of.
Saving Private Ryan
This is the worst battle scene I’ve ever seen in film, for me. I started crying almost immediately and by the end I was a mess.
Man From Snowy River – Chase sequence – Fantastic music here and beautiful photography to go with
High Fidelity – Let’s Get It On – Jack Black doing his thing
Reality Bites – All I Want Is You – WARNING – There’s a brief speaking part that’s not in English (a person has to take what they can get with YouTube when movie rights, etc. are in effect).
Jackie Brown – Across 110th Street – Opening credits of the movie
Pulp Fiction – Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon – WARNING – drug overdose scene in this clip right near the end – I absolutely love Tarantino’s film making.
Once – Falling Slowly
Trainspotting – WARNING – Foul language alert
Kill Bill Vol. 2 – Goodnight Moon – Quentin Tarantino knows how to use music in his films
Moulin Rouge – Come What May – This is a great song, and I was totally surprised to learn these two could sing.
Chicago – Cell Block Tango
And, of course, a couple of additions because I never stop at 10…
Immortal Beloved – Ode To Joy (love the visualization of ode to joy… beautiful film making here)
Duets – Cruisin (cheesy, sort of, but who knew Gwyneth could sing… not I, until this)
Total Film has built a top 40 movie music momentsof all time, counting down from 40 on the first page to one, on page 14. Check out their list to see if your favorite made it in, if you agree… or not. There are YouTube clips from each, pretty fun to watch them again. I think I’ll try and see if I can come up with my personal top 10 in the next week or so. Check back to see what I’ve chosen. For now just enjoy their list. It’s a walk down movie music memory lane. Say that three times fast….
Here we are… back home. Hanging out at our humble abode with the pups. It’s been a weekend of family time, cleaning up, laundry, and relaxation. Just what a person needs after being on vacation for a couple of weeks. Nice. Now some great smells are coming from the slow cooker and women’s college world series softball is on the TV. Also nice. Karen’s out watering the plants. I just got done buying tickets to see the Indigo Girls at the Oregon Zoo in July.
Tomorrow we work… uhg. But, we also go see Pink Martini at the Schnitz with Stacia and Eric. Should be good. The last time we saw them, Pink Martini not Stacia and Eric, they were terrific. Uh, I guess Stacia and Eric were terrific too. Don’t get me wrong. They were. Terrific. I just wasn’t initially referring to them. Never mind, you get what I’m saying. Speaking of terrific. I think I need to post another little something from the Playing for Change Website. I think it’s episode 8, War…
One last shot of the castle. You can probably see it most in this shot, the Harry Potter-ishness of the whole thing. It was beautiful last Wednesday. Perfect sky for taking photos, perfect weather for sneaking onto the grounds of a famous castle.
We set off on our journey to Scotland last Wednesday… first stop, Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Castle on the North East Coast of England. This is the castle Hogwarts is based on in the Harry Potter films. They filmed parts of the place and CGI’d the rest. Kind of cool in person. The castle and grounds are a major tourist stop and were fairly packed. There was also a fee just to walk on the grounds, not to mention the other fee to go inside the castle. We decided to try and get to a spot where we could take photos without actually paying to go onto the grounds. We weren’t staying long anyway, so paying the fee seemed kind of ridiculous, especially given that it was kind of steep.
We paid to park, decided to have a little picnic there in a very nice area where the dogs could be with us. Another rub of entering the grounds at Alnwick is that dogs were strictly not allowed. In fact, the guy at the pay booth for the parking specifically told us no dogs allowed. Bummer. After our nice picnic lunch Martin and I set off in search of the perfect spot for photos. We actually ended up going around toward where the pay booths were, but then veered off onto what, to us, looked like any other path. We followed this path and ended up on the grounds, near the castle. Who knew. I think it was a gardener’s path and we weren’t supposed to use it or be there, but what the heck. We both felt like someone was going to stop us at any moment and tell us to go, but we ventured forth anyway, just so I could get some shots. Which I did. This is one of them. You can actually recognize, from the films, the center part of the castle. It looked familiar to me.
This is sort of a non-post post. Which suddenly just made me think of post toasties. Wasn’t that a cereal once? Or possibly still? But, I digress. Here’s the deal. Most of you who know me know I’m a bonafide geek. Very nerdy, in a cool flip flops and t-shirts tokenhippygirl kinda way. I love all things gadget. All things geeky electronic. All things techie. This probably stems from my early exposure to the original Star Trek series, among other sci-fi/fantasy greats like Land of the Giants, Godzilla movies, and the Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman series on TV. So when this whole social networking thing started I was in. First… I blog. Then… I Facebook. Then… I Tweet. Now… I integrate these things into one tokenhippygirl network that will some day <insert evil laugh here> take over the world. Uh… was that my outside voice? I think it might have been. Now, though I don’t know if I’ve done it correctly, when I blog a snippet of that blog will appear on my Twitter feed with a link back to my blog. Circular dude. Very circular. I love this. I also am totally in love with Twitter right now. At first I was like… OK, how is this cool. But seriously… it’s cool, to this geeky girl anyway, because I can pick people to “follow” and when I do they start to appear in my stream. How is this cool you ask? Well let me tell you… it’s cool because I have decided to follow things/people like The New York Times, Rachel Maddow, Neil Gaiman, Time Magazine, Ann Curry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Mraz, etc. It’s cool because when one of them posts something, I see it. Which means that I’m getting great live streaming news action snippets all in one place. I can scroll through and if any one particular thing looks interesting, and there’s a link attached to it that will whisk me away to the main story page, I can then get whisked away to the main story page and read the meat of what’s there. Great for a person who likes to get her info from many different sources. Great for a girl who’s interested in many different things. I’m following news agencies, family, writers, actors, friends, sports people, magazines, etc. And now I don’t have to “run around” to various different sites. I just go there, and I get what Anderson Cooper has to say, or Air America Media. It’s awesome. L-O-V-E it. Not what I thought I’d ever use it for, and totally what I’m ending up using it for. It’s a real tweet for anyone like me, get it… tweet… bah ha ha ha!!… OK, I’m better now… Anyway… it’s a treat for any geeky jeans and shorts wearin’ corny curious soul of a person like me. Check it out. What can I say… it’s cool.
The previous post about The Spirit and All That Jazz has spurred a post about the worst films I’ve ever seen. I’m going to post 10. At least, that’s my goal right now, at the start. It could gain momentum and be a bit longer list. We shall see. They will be in no particular order, though the two already mentioned here would actually be one and two on the list, respectively. (And, if you read the title you know I expanded to 13. Sitting here now I can think of a few more, but I’ll stop here. I’ll save the others for the part 2 list)
As mentioned… The Spirt was bad. And I mean… bad. I know, it’s supposed to be stylized. I get that. To me, however, it had no style at all. Run, don’t walk, from this movie. Spend your time doing something more worthwhile… like mowing the lawn or going to the dentist. Anything. Anything would be better. Really.
This strange, I really can’t stand it, oddity of a film won 4 oscars. Maybe it’s that I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s me. Maybe not. Either way… All That Jazz was terrible. Hard to follow. Choppy. Uh… just plain… strange. No other way to put it. Sometimes I like strange. Sometimes strange is good. This was/is not one of those times.
Supernova . Completely terrible and very disappointing. One of those times you think… man, it has good people in it. Actors I like. But somehow even they look bad in this movie. Really bad. There’s nothing much more I can say about this other than… ew.
Event Horizon. Sam Neill. Laurence Fishburne. Worse than terrible. Not only was it bad it was, to me anyway… disturbing. Which maybe it was supposed to be. Whatever. I’ve seen plenty of movies that were slightly disturbing, or even a lot disturbing, and they weren’t bad. They were disturbing, but that was OK because it was part of the story or moved it along. This… disturbing for no damn good reason. Creepy in a I have to take a shower now kinda way. Avoid this film.
Max Payne. I don’t even really know what to say about this movie. I was excited to watch it… and then we did. All the best parts were shown on the previews. Now, looking back on actually watching it, I can’t even remember the movie all that much. I just know we were like… uh… that was not good.
Chapter 27. I thought… wow, this could be interesting. Sadly, I was mistaken. Not only was it not interesting, it was painfully slow. Slow and… really slow. We looked at each other and were like, OK, we have to turn this thing off. I fast forwarded and watched the last two thirds of this film at high speed, slowing slightly once in awhile to keep up with what was going on. Which took like a minute or less each time. This thing is unbelievably shamefully sorry. The only interesting thing about it is that Jared Leto looked transformed… kudos to him. However, his weight gain is the only heavy thing this movie carries. There was no substance to it. None. Just creepy looks and… a whole lotta nothing. Too harsh? I don’t think so.
Righteous Kill. Writing… bad. Directing… not great. Acting… OK. Predictability… yes. This film, on the surface, would seem to be a winner all around… good actors, good director, etc. But, it’s not. And in fact, it’s silly, predictable, over the top, and just plain uninteresting. Another film we fast forwarded through because we couldn’t take it at normal speed. I would’ve turned it off completely, but I had to see the end to make sure the bad guy was who I knew it was after watching the first 10 minutes. It was. Skip this. Even DeNiro and Pacino can’t save this terrible excuse for a movie.
Margot At The Wedding. I hate it when I like no one in a movie. When there doesn’t seem to be one redeeming person. For me, this film was like that. I didn’t enjoy a single line of it. After watching this movie, and again, we fast forwarded through much of the end of it, I felt ucky. Annoyed. Like someone had robbed me of a small amount of time in my life and I was perturbed about it. In fact, I still feel perturbed just thinking about it.
In Bruges. It could just be me, but this movie was awful. Again, I liked no one. The shots, all puns intended, at humor were not funny. Though maybe it was just my sense of humor, which this film didn’t even touch, that made me want to throw a shoe at the screen. I don’t know. I couldn’t believe how bad this thing was for me. I watched and then just wanted to say what was the point of that? There are films where it’s OK to ask that fateful question at the end… then there are films like In Bruges.
Freedomland. I thought… good actors. Come to think of it maybe I should stop right there to say that possibly I shouldn’t always see a movie because of the actors involved, but a girl has to have some way, some criteria for picking films to watch, and that’s one of mine. Sue me. But I digress… back to the movie. It lumbered. It was like walking uphill in water. Slow and painful.
The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford. This movie is beautifully shot, I’ll give it that. It’s gorgeous in fact. However, that’s the only thing it has going for it. Other than, alright, OK, the acting in it is also pretty good. I just didn’t like it. Talk about watching paint dry. By about half way through I was like… this thing is beautiful, but c’mon already, shoot him. Get it over with. That, to me, is never a good sign. One should never be thinking get it over with already while watching a movie. Plus… could there be any longer or worse title for a movie than this?
One… 37 people have visited my blog today. My best day, so far, was 342 viewers. I’m no aplusk on twitter, but hey… thanks for viewing!
Second, and much more important… my bro and I watched what we have decided is the worst movie we’ve ever seen. In the past both of us would probably have said All That Jazz, even though it’s always gotten rave reviews, but now a film has usurped that title. The sad part is we watched it all the way through, and we don’t know why. There’s no rhyme or reason for us watching. We kept looking at each other and laughing, wondering why. We even voiced the question… why? We never did figure it out, we just kept at it, kept watching. And still I wonder… why? What movie prompted all this question asking, you ask? Here it is… drum roll… the movie that’s taken over sole possession of the worst movie we’ve ever seen is… envelope… The Spirit. Yes. The Spirit. Frank… c’mon man. That thing stank it up. It was terrible. Bad direction, awful writing, laughable acting, corny, and not in a good way, special effects. I was saddened, disappointed, and kind of amused. When a movie that’s supposed to be semi serious… and yes, I realize it was supposed to be a bit over the top… creates nothing but chuckles of disbelief, it’s bad. When there’s constant checking in with your movie watching mates to see if they are having the same nauseating reaction as you, it’s bad. When all faith is lost in the acting ability of the likes of Samuel L. and Scarlett, at least in the finishing up of this particular movie, it’s bad. The moral… bad. Don’t see this stink pot of a film. Avoid it. Tell your friends. Your children. Your family. People you meet on the street. Warn them. Shout it from the roof tops. This thing tanks. It tanks big time. Now maybe I should tell you what I really think. LOL
Better late than never… this is a draft I started a few days ago so bear with me…
Oh my… we’ve had a weekend. And, it’s not even over yet. We still are going to head to the racquet center to hit against the ball machine. This is after we hauled 80 cement blocks and another 40 slightly smaller cement blocks yesterday. That’s unloading them from the truck and then stacking them. We made four trips from the sand and gravel place to our house. The pups came along for the ride every time. I wonder if they thought… oh, so this is our life now. Back and forth to and from this strange place, home, and then in the truck again. Makes me laugh to think about what their reaction might have been, or what they might have been thinking. Maybe they just thought… wow… what a great adventure this is… we get to go, we get to hang in the truck with them, we get to get loved on pretty much all the time we’re driving. And we don’t have to haul those big blocks. Not a bad gig.
Yesterday, drove to Nonna Emilia’s for dinner, picked up our new hot tub cover (the cover is new, not the hot tub), ran through Lowe’s purchasing stuff for the yard, and then came back home to unload said stuff, take a dip in the newly covered hot tub, and then watch a pretty good movie. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Today, ladies and gents, we got up, had oatmeal (so healthy, I know), and went to work outside. Karen cleaned off the back deck, and did some weeding. I cleaned out the Japanese garden, and then started to pressure wash the front deck. We’re trying to figure that whole thing, the front deck thing, out after our major stain faux pas last year. We’ll prevail. I know we will.
April 6. It’s tomorrow… well, it’s today, but tomorrow as opposed to the previous part of this post. And… I’m explaining too much. But there’s a reason… you see, I got up early this morning. No, not my usual early. I got up really early. The alarm is set for 6:30. It’s set that early so I can get up, get on the treadmill, and then have time to get ready for work (my work day starts at 8:30). This morning, however, I said no to the treadmill. First time in two weeks, but seriously… we worked so much this weekend I’m beat up. I needed a day off. So I’m like… woo hoo… I’ll just re-set it for 7:30 and get another hour of sleep. Which I do. So… it’s 7:30 and it goes off and Karen says… get me up at 8:00 (she decided to sleep in herself a little I guess and since she works at home, she can do that on Mondays… no early meeting). I get up. I take a shower and I’m looking at the clock in the bathroom seeing how much time I have, so I know when I have to make sure I get Karen up. Then Karen walks in and she’s like… uh, it’s only 6:45. I’m sure, and I mean sure, that it’s not. I say… no… it’s 7:45. She says… the clocks all around the house say 6:45. I think… no way, the clock in the bathroom says it’s 7:45. Then she turns the clock. It’s actually a clock on a little stand, looks like a large pocket watch (pretty cool… thanks Mary), and sometimes it gets turned in one direction or another. So Karen turns it upright and I see… oh no… it’s only 6:45. Apparently the clock in the bedroom thought it was the time and date to spring ahead last night. It’s on the old daylight savings time schedule. Damn the old daylight savings time schedule! At this juncture all I can do is laugh… and relax. Now I have a lot of time to get ready this morning… drink a cup of tea, finish this blog, stop at the grocery store on the way to work, mail back the Netflix movies, and mosey on in. A minute ago I was rushed… now, I’m calm and mellow. The pups, however, are not into this early rising thing. Weston was like… oh no… I’m not getting up, and he didn’t. He burrowed himself back under the covers and is sleeping in the bedroom. Riley… she’s right here, in the office, but she’s fast asleep in one of their little beds. They think this getting up early is a bit ridiculous. Who could blame them… so do I.
Now… back to the post. We didn’t end up playing tennis on Sunday. We decided we were too sore from all the heavy lifting this weekend, so instead of trying to swing a racket with really sore shoulders, we took the dogs for a walk. Which was better anyway because the pups got to come along. And let me tell ya… they love when they get to come along. The walk was good. It was actually warm out… really warm. T-shirt wearing warm. Nice. The pup’s hair is too long though and they both got too hot. We gave them water at one point, but on the way back to the car Weston decided he was done and he wandered over into the grass, in the shade, and laid down. It was so funny. He looked at me like… OK… this is it, I’m staying here. I actually picked him up and carried him the last 100 yards to the car. He would’ve walked, but what can I say… we totally spoil them. Plus… he didn’t look super sporty at that moment. He just looked ticked off, hot, and was panting a lot. Who can refuse a face like that?
April 8… Yes, it’s days later. I saved this post as a draft and am just now finishing it up. Sad. I’m a sad excuse for a blogger. Life… what can I say? It’s more important than blogging. Shocking? Maybe. But true… so… let’s get to it. The blogging that is.
The movies… we watched a couple of pretty good movies this last weekend and one not so good. We give two thumbs up to Seven Pounds and to The Secret Life of Bees. Both, in their own way, good stories. They were both also sort of predictable, but we didn’t seem to care. Some beautiful cinematography, and some great what I like to call snap shot moments. Times when the camera lingers on an image that’s stunning. Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, was the better of the two (the the reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t seem to think so, but oh well… it’s all subjective anyway right?). Pretty compelling, well acted, and again… nice direction and cinematography. The ending wasn’t a surprise to us, even if it was meant to be, but we didn’t mind being able to figure it out. We wanted to watch anyway. The summary… man loses woman he loves, man decides to help seven people, man has unexpected interruption of his plan, and then the plot thickens. Check this one out… it’s good. I don’t think it got the attention it should have. As for The Secret Life of Bees. It’s one of those feel good after watching it movies. Plus, it’s full of really great women, with a few really great guys as well. Well acted, and just a good feel to the film. I can always tell when I like a movie because I watch what we call in our house “the stuff”. It’s all the extras they have in the special features section on a dvd. If the film is bad… I don’t care to watch the stuff. Sometimes even when a movie is just OK I don’t watch it either. But when a film is good… I watch. I want to know more about the film making process, some of the background, etc. Karen doesn’t ever like the stuff… but she actually watched it on the Seven Pounds dvd. Trust me… that’s saying something. The movie we didn’t really like… Cleaner. It had Samuel L. Jackson in it, but even he couldn’t bring it around. Not terrible… just a tad boring. Needless to say… we didn’t watch the stuff.
And so ends the saga of this late post… this after the fact post. Whew… I feel better getting all of that off my chest… and out of my draft folder. OK… now back to our regularly scheduled and on time blog….
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems; You shall possess the good of the earth and sun—(there are millions of suns left;) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books; You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me: You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself. ~Walt Whitman
Words From Neil
May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself. ~ Neil Gaiman
Retired CIA agent Paul Shepherdson joins young FBI agent Ben Geary to track down a Russian assassin who has seemingly returned after the Cold War. Old conspiracies quickly resurface, embroiling the pair in deeper and deeper peril.
This fast-paced documentary profiles Ayrton Senna, one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One racing, and a hero in his native Brazil. Using only archival footage, director Asif Kapadia examines the idealistic Senna's inspiring legend. Charismatic, compassionate and a dedicated risk-taker, Senna was known for his integrity in a sport ofte […]
In 1969, Donald Crowhurst, a former engineer whose bravado outweighed his sailing expertise, entered a London Times-sponsored yacht race around the world. This thrilling documentary incorporates actual footage of the race to depict the harrowing conditions Crowhurst faced. Refusing to turn back even as his homemade boat took on water, he depended on his inge […]
Based on actual events, this exciting drama tells the story of World War II Danish Resistance fighters Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen). Taking orders from Resistance leader Aksel Winther (Peter Mygind), the two systematically assassinate Danish collaborators and Nazi officers. But they are far from heroic in their personal lives, and film […]
This series of revealing vignettes from writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her) peers into the private lives of nine women who are each pointed toward a different destiny. The all-star ensemble cast includes Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Mary Kay Place, Sissy Spac […]
Music Playing on my Ipod
Frightened Rabbit, Goldfrapp, Crash Kings, Bruno Mars, Badly Drawn Boy, The Airborne Toxic Event, Bright Eyes, The Avett Brothers, James, Rob Thomas, The Devlins, Bell X1, Pink, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Van Morrison, Cher (the older stuff), The Swell Season, Ben Harper, Matt Nathanson, Ryan Adams, Sara Bareillis, Pink Martini, Ella Fitzgerald, Dixie Chicks, Billie Holiday, Blue October, Patty Griffin, Jon McLaughlin, Alexi Murdoch, Landon Pigg, Marc Broussard, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile, Sonia Dada, James Morrison, Antigone Rising, Gomez, Scissor Sisters, Melissa Etheridge, Paolo Nutini, Indigo Girls, Ray LaMontagne, Amos Lee, Uh Huh Her, Missy Higgins, Anouk, Duffy, The Frames, Arcade Fire, The Beatles, David Gray
I’m a geek. I admit it. I love all the little techie gadgets (yes I have an iPhone, a Kindle, a laptop, a desk top, external hard drives, digital cameras, and wifi enabled dvd players and tv). I do. I like getting something new and figuring it out. I also love all things art… painting, sculpture, photography, film, music. And yes, in college I took loads of liberal arts classes… philosophy, english, psychology (of course), sociology, religion, history, etc., etc. I’m one of those creative types. Or at least I think I am.
