Sunday, November 13, 2005
Ôdishon / Audition - 1999
Viewing Ambience: Dark if you really want to scare yourself
Intoxicants: Big Green (you're going to be confused and freaked out anyway - so why not?)
Food: Popcorn (which you won't be able to eat at certain parts)
Other: Subtitled
Discussion:
I ordered this movie from NetFlix after seeing it mentioned on the "100 scariest film moments of all time" show on the Sci-Fi channel. Although I'm not a huge fan of subtitles and was hesistant to rent a foreign horror film, I was already broken in by a dubbed version of Ju-On (one of the scariest movies I've ever seen) and the original Japanese Ringu.
These horror directors in Japan have got it down. What can I say. They have what is lacking in many of our horror movies now - not a sneering comedy, but an honest to god scare.
This movie starts off as a dramady - the main character (Shigeharu Aoyama - he goes by Aoyama for most of the film) loses his wife and he raises their little boy alone. 7 years later the father and teenage sone sit at the dinner table. Son tells father he should get married since he's not getting any younger.
The father (Aoyama) thinks on it for a while. He discusses it with his colleague (Yoshikawa) who comes up with the slapstick idea of having an audition. He offers to let Aoyama audition his new wife under the pretense of casting a film.
Thus ensues the humorous audition scene where several young women parade in and out of a room and are asked silly questions such as "how do you feel about men?" "Would you be willing to do a sex scene?" Several of the women are shown to be a bit unhinged - which works as both comedy and foreshadowing.
Near the end of the list comes Asami. Aoyama already fell for her while reading the bio attached to her photo.
Asami appears to be the perfect embodiment of all that is right about a woman. She is beautiful, sweet voiced, demurely dressed, a trained classical ballerina and seemingly grateful for the attention of Aoyama. It is then that the off key music ensues (figuratively). None of her background, although casually checked, can be verified.
Against the advice of Yoshikawa, Aoyama calls her for dinner. She seems sweet, but eventually tells a tale of a sad and abused childhood. It is then the surreality kicks in. A series of dreamlike sequences follow - this is the buildup.
The movie culminates in 30 minutes of the most horrifying and difficult to watch horror scenes. Think Misery with Katie Holmes. It was great.
We watched the end sequence with the director's commentary translated into english. That was good - still scary. Gory, without being overly bloody. This director (like Takashi Shimizu) knows that what is left out is often worse than what is shown.
I highly reccomend it.
Intoxicants: Big Green (you're going to be confused and freaked out anyway - so why not?)
Food: Popcorn (which you won't be able to eat at certain parts)
Other: Subtitled
Discussion:
I ordered this movie from NetFlix after seeing it mentioned on the "100 scariest film moments of all time" show on the Sci-Fi channel. Although I'm not a huge fan of subtitles and was hesistant to rent a foreign horror film, I was already broken in by a dubbed version of Ju-On (one of the scariest movies I've ever seen) and the original Japanese Ringu.
These horror directors in Japan have got it down. What can I say. They have what is lacking in many of our horror movies now - not a sneering comedy, but an honest to god scare.
This movie starts off as a dramady - the main character (Shigeharu Aoyama - he goes by Aoyama for most of the film) loses his wife and he raises their little boy alone. 7 years later the father and teenage sone sit at the dinner table. Son tells father he should get married since he's not getting any younger.
The father (Aoyama) thinks on it for a while. He discusses it with his colleague (Yoshikawa) who comes up with the slapstick idea of having an audition. He offers to let Aoyama audition his new wife under the pretense of casting a film.
Thus ensues the humorous audition scene where several young women parade in and out of a room and are asked silly questions such as "how do you feel about men?" "Would you be willing to do a sex scene?" Several of the women are shown to be a bit unhinged - which works as both comedy and foreshadowing.
Near the end of the list comes Asami. Aoyama already fell for her while reading the bio attached to her photo.
Asami appears to be the perfect embodiment of all that is right about a woman. She is beautiful, sweet voiced, demurely dressed, a trained classical ballerina and seemingly grateful for the attention of Aoyama. It is then that the off key music ensues (figuratively). None of her background, although casually checked, can be verified.
Against the advice of Yoshikawa, Aoyama calls her for dinner. She seems sweet, but eventually tells a tale of a sad and abused childhood. It is then the surreality kicks in. A series of dreamlike sequences follow - this is the buildup.
The movie culminates in 30 minutes of the most horrifying and difficult to watch horror scenes. Think Misery with Katie Holmes. It was great.
We watched the end sequence with the director's commentary translated into english. That was good - still scary. Gory, without being overly bloody. This director (like Takashi Shimizu) knows that what is left out is often worse than what is shown.
I highly reccomend it.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Tod Browning's Freaks - 1932
Viewing Ambiance: Mid t0 half dark - there's some stuff you might want to see really well and film quality is not all that great.
Intoxicants: Stick with wine or light beer for this one.
Food: Fried Chicken
Discussion:
Freaks was supposed to be a horror film. I can imagine, for a audience un-used to slasher flicks, Freddie Krueger, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw, that it would be fairly horrific and frightening. We have become desensitized - but then, the people who lived while this film was made also were used to seeing physical abnormalities that have all but been eliminated for most of us in the US.
Freaks is based on a short story called "Spurs" by Tod Robbins about a circus midget who falls for a conniving trapeze artist who is determined to marry him and take his money. Her treachery is avenged by the other circus freaks. In the film, the midget is played by Harry Earles (later of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz) and the conniving trapeze artist is played by Olga Baclanova - a stage actress who transitioned into film as a "B" actress.
The bulk of the film is populated by non-normal people - there are a few micro-encephaletics (then called pin-heads), a man born without arms or legs (called a human torso or human caterpillar) - Prince Randian does this really cool trick where he lights a cigarette that he rolled using only his tongue, 2 armless woman, a bearded lady, a human skeleton, a "turtle girl," a man born without legs (Johnny Eck), a Bird Girl, and another midget called Angeleno - during the wedding feast, Angeleno does a very good "C-Walk" dance which is amazing considering that there were not exactly a lot of Crips walking around in 1932, also there were a pair of Siamese Twins - the Hilton Sisters - Violet and Daisy.
Viewing this film takes a lot of use of the word "Considering."
As in, considering the fact that it was made in the 1930's it is surprisingly well constructed. Some of it is hokey, no doubt, but there are a few really good parts and some actual shocking scenes that aren't too melodramatic.
And, considering the fact that the director and many of the actors either came directly from silent films or had no acting experience outside of the sideshow, it's not badly acted (Daisy Earles eases into her part, but for the most part she sounds as if she is reading her lines).
Olga is appropriately evil and conniving - she is a good actress. Harry Earles is a good actor (Daisy is his sister, not his wife). Johnny Eck (the half boy) is charming, as is another midget, Angeleno Rossitto (the C-Walker).
The Wedding Feast scene freaked me out the most. It seemed like a surreal nightmare - since I typically have nightmares two days after seeing a scary movie it remains to be seen if this one will seep into my subconscious. The pin-heads freaked me out the most - they looked exactly like R. Crumb's depictions - and their names were Zip and Pip.
Some of the accents were so thick as to be nearly incomprehensible at times - even those of the lead, Henry Earles. But, after a while you get used to not understanding what the "Freaks" say, even with the captions on.
The film really shows the family behind the circus. They are very in-tune with one another. In fact, as the barker says at the beginning of the show "you offend one, you offend them all."
Overall this movie was well worth a watch - and short enough to keep your attention. As far as the bonus features go - the commentary was good, but the documentary was more rewarding as they talk about each individual freak and what they brought to the table.
For example - the human worm - his personal assistant on the film was his son. So apparently, he led a fairly full life. Also, we learn that the Hilton Sisters freaked out F. Scott Fitzgerald in the studio commissary one day.
Netflix has it. Get it, I say.
Intoxicants: Stick with wine or light beer for this one.
Food: Fried Chicken
Discussion:
Freaks was supposed to be a horror film. I can imagine, for a audience un-used to slasher flicks, Freddie Krueger, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw, that it would be fairly horrific and frightening. We have become desensitized - but then, the people who lived while this film was made also were used to seeing physical abnormalities that have all but been eliminated for most of us in the US.
Freaks is based on a short story called "Spurs" by Tod Robbins about a circus midget who falls for a conniving trapeze artist who is determined to marry him and take his money. Her treachery is avenged by the other circus freaks. In the film, the midget is played by Harry Earles (later of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz) and the conniving trapeze artist is played by Olga Baclanova - a stage actress who transitioned into film as a "B" actress.
The bulk of the film is populated by non-normal people - there are a few micro-encephaletics (then called pin-heads), a man born without arms or legs (called a human torso or human caterpillar) - Prince Randian does this really cool trick where he lights a cigarette that he rolled using only his tongue, 2 armless woman, a bearded lady, a human skeleton, a "turtle girl," a man born without legs (Johnny Eck), a Bird Girl, and another midget called Angeleno - during the wedding feast, Angeleno does a very good "C-Walk" dance which is amazing considering that there were not exactly a lot of Crips walking around in 1932, also there were a pair of Siamese Twins - the Hilton Sisters - Violet and Daisy.
Viewing this film takes a lot of use of the word "Considering."
As in, considering the fact that it was made in the 1930's it is surprisingly well constructed. Some of it is hokey, no doubt, but there are a few really good parts and some actual shocking scenes that aren't too melodramatic.
And, considering the fact that the director and many of the actors either came directly from silent films or had no acting experience outside of the sideshow, it's not badly acted (Daisy Earles eases into her part, but for the most part she sounds as if she is reading her lines).
Olga is appropriately evil and conniving - she is a good actress. Harry Earles is a good actor (Daisy is his sister, not his wife). Johnny Eck (the half boy) is charming, as is another midget, Angeleno Rossitto (the C-Walker).
The Wedding Feast scene freaked me out the most. It seemed like a surreal nightmare - since I typically have nightmares two days after seeing a scary movie it remains to be seen if this one will seep into my subconscious. The pin-heads freaked me out the most - they looked exactly like R. Crumb's depictions - and their names were Zip and Pip.
Some of the accents were so thick as to be nearly incomprehensible at times - even those of the lead, Henry Earles. But, after a while you get used to not understanding what the "Freaks" say, even with the captions on.
The film really shows the family behind the circus. They are very in-tune with one another. In fact, as the barker says at the beginning of the show "you offend one, you offend them all."
Overall this movie was well worth a watch - and short enough to keep your attention. As far as the bonus features go - the commentary was good, but the documentary was more rewarding as they talk about each individual freak and what they brought to the table.
For example - the human worm - his personal assistant on the film was his son. So apparently, he led a fairly full life. Also, we learn that the Hilton Sisters freaked out F. Scott Fitzgerald in the studio commissary one day.
Netflix has it. Get it, I say.
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
Title: My Sister's Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Date: 2004
Discussion:
I got this book on Tuesday and I finished it in the middle of the night on Thursday. It was difficult for me to put down.
The Setup:16 year old Kate has APL, a form of leukemia that is chemo-resistant. This means that whatever puts it into remission once can't be used again as the smarty-pants leukemia has already figured out how to beat it. She's had it since she was 2.
Her 13 year old sister, Anna, was born specifically to be a cord blood donor for her sister's first stem cell transplant. When I say specifically, I don't mean that her parents got pregnant on purpose, I mean that they selected an embryo determined to be the most suitable match for their ill daughter.
19 year old brother, Jesse is a troublemaker - he has to be to get attention from a family that centers around Kate and her relapses.
Mom and dad are Sara and Brian. Dad is a fire fighter and mom is single-minded when it comes to her oldest daughter - anything that is possible must be tried - even if it means pushing her younger daughter to the limits of her endurance.
There are lots of things in this book that rang true - the unexpected nature of such an illness (lymphoma, like leukemia, is a blood cancer that is random in nature - there's no genetic links even suspected), the little crises that can turn into big ones (a trip to the hospital to get chemo can turn into a months long stay if something goes wrong), the complete and utter unfairness of cancer, and of life, and how everything revolves around the person who is sick - even if they are not conscious.
The story begins as Anna decides to file for medical emancipation to avoid giving her sister her kidney. The story gently leads you into believing her reasons for doing so are complex - partially a desire to simply be asked rather than ordered to donate, partially a cry for attention from a distracted family engrossed in saving her older sister and partially fear for her own health and a desire to exert control over her own body. There is always a bit of ambiguity though, which leads us to a revelation at the end of the novel.
The text in iteself is interesting as each chapter has the title of the person who is narrating, and each of these people are assigned their own font. There were a couple of points where I felt the author was purposely delaying the story to build anticipation - I hate it when authors leave off at a crucial point to switch point of view and you have to muck through another few pages to continue the part you were really engrossed in. It's a sign of not being confident in your craft. Plus, it's really annoying.
There is also a sub-plot of an attorney and his lost high school love that is interjected. I feel like this was completely superfluous. The attorney has a "service dog" whose service remains a mystery until close to the end. This is an annoying trick. I felt like saying "look lady, your story is good enough, you don't need to be putting all this garland on it" but maybe she felt like she did. Or maybe her editor did - at any rate, it kept me curious about the damn dog.
Not surprisingly, the mom gets really upset about the turn of events. Other reviews I read mentioned her single-mindedness was "incomprehensible" or other such phrase. I say - don't judge until you have walked a mile in their shoes. If you don't know what it's like to have a child/sibling/close family member be sent into the abyss only to be snatched back by some "miracle" you can't understand that toll that takes on you. The hoping, the praying - miracles happen - but you never know when.
I was considering being a kidney donor for my sis. Considering is probably an understatement. It was assumed that I would and I did want to - but the truth is, it scared the shit out of me. There are things that I want to do and like to do that would be more dangerous without my spare kidney? It's all very nice to say you only actually need the one until someone starts talking about cutting you open to take the spare.
I can't imagine declining to do so, not to my sister and certainly not to our parents. I had to let myself believe that I had that choice - but really I had no choice. And what if that was all she needed and I refused and then she died. It would be all my fault. My selfishness. I think, when it would have come down to it I would have done it. How could I not? I'd gotten a taste of life without her and I didn't like it. And I'm way over 13. And I wasn't born especially to give her anything, except company and the occasional hard time.
****SPOILER ALERT****ENDING OF BOOK REVEALED****
If you don't want to know how this book ends, stop reading here.
I can empathize with Anna when she is conflicted about the donation thing. And the mom is a bit nuts, but they are so singluarly focused on Kate's crises that Anna is invisible. I can relate to that as well. Calling the hospital. Monitoring the nurses. Trying to ensure that your favorite nurse is on that shift. Reporting the ones you don't like. Spending the night in the room when you are allowed. Shitty cafeteria meals.
My parents went from calling me once a week to calling me twice a day. It was difficult. The conversations started "tell us the news." "Have you heard anything?" "Did you talk to the nurses?"
You start to feel a bit like chopped liver. I love my sister - I wanted her to get well also. I spent a lot of time in that fucking hospital. But I'm not just the familial extension that feeds information the nurses are unable to give over the phone - just like Anna is not the familial extension created to be Kate's spare parts.
Anyway, turns out that Kate asked Anna to not give her the kidney. This information comes out in a dramatic court scene where the attorney has a seizure (this, we find out is the reason for the service dog and the abruptly ended love-affair). Kate wanted to die - she was sick of fighting.
The judge rules that Anna can be medically emacipated and tragically, on the way to the hospital, she and her attorney get into a car accident. Anna's father, who is a fire-fighter, responds to the scene. Anna is brain dead and donates her kidney to her sister and then dies.
The sister is miraculously recovered and writes the epilogue in 2010. The trouble maker brother is now a cop. The dad had a drinking problem and then recovered. The mom seems to have mellowed out (she should, since her favorite daughter lived anyway).
I have more than a few problems with this. I think it would have been better if Anna had gotten the emancipation and given the kidney willingly. Since Kate was the one who initiated the refusal, there would have been some way to work around that. The ending selected by the author was just tooo hokey.
Also, what was up with the APL, which is the most aggressive and least survivable form of leukemia, just dippearing? It was pretty unbelievable. I was kind of disappointed - it seemed like an easy out.
There were parts of this book that rang true, but when the ending is so pat (like the fire fighter dad) I feel kind gyped.
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Date: 2004
Discussion:
I got this book on Tuesday and I finished it in the middle of the night on Thursday. It was difficult for me to put down.
The Setup:16 year old Kate has APL, a form of leukemia that is chemo-resistant. This means that whatever puts it into remission once can't be used again as the smarty-pants leukemia has already figured out how to beat it. She's had it since she was 2.
Her 13 year old sister, Anna, was born specifically to be a cord blood donor for her sister's first stem cell transplant. When I say specifically, I don't mean that her parents got pregnant on purpose, I mean that they selected an embryo determined to be the most suitable match for their ill daughter.
19 year old brother, Jesse is a troublemaker - he has to be to get attention from a family that centers around Kate and her relapses.
Mom and dad are Sara and Brian. Dad is a fire fighter and mom is single-minded when it comes to her oldest daughter - anything that is possible must be tried - even if it means pushing her younger daughter to the limits of her endurance.
There are lots of things in this book that rang true - the unexpected nature of such an illness (lymphoma, like leukemia, is a blood cancer that is random in nature - there's no genetic links even suspected), the little crises that can turn into big ones (a trip to the hospital to get chemo can turn into a months long stay if something goes wrong), the complete and utter unfairness of cancer, and of life, and how everything revolves around the person who is sick - even if they are not conscious.
The story begins as Anna decides to file for medical emancipation to avoid giving her sister her kidney. The story gently leads you into believing her reasons for doing so are complex - partially a desire to simply be asked rather than ordered to donate, partially a cry for attention from a distracted family engrossed in saving her older sister and partially fear for her own health and a desire to exert control over her own body. There is always a bit of ambiguity though, which leads us to a revelation at the end of the novel.
The text in iteself is interesting as each chapter has the title of the person who is narrating, and each of these people are assigned their own font. There were a couple of points where I felt the author was purposely delaying the story to build anticipation - I hate it when authors leave off at a crucial point to switch point of view and you have to muck through another few pages to continue the part you were really engrossed in. It's a sign of not being confident in your craft. Plus, it's really annoying.
There is also a sub-plot of an attorney and his lost high school love that is interjected. I feel like this was completely superfluous. The attorney has a "service dog" whose service remains a mystery until close to the end. This is an annoying trick. I felt like saying "look lady, your story is good enough, you don't need to be putting all this garland on it" but maybe she felt like she did. Or maybe her editor did - at any rate, it kept me curious about the damn dog.
Not surprisingly, the mom gets really upset about the turn of events. Other reviews I read mentioned her single-mindedness was "incomprehensible" or other such phrase. I say - don't judge until you have walked a mile in their shoes. If you don't know what it's like to have a child/sibling/close family member be sent into the abyss only to be snatched back by some "miracle" you can't understand that toll that takes on you. The hoping, the praying - miracles happen - but you never know when.
I was considering being a kidney donor for my sis. Considering is probably an understatement. It was assumed that I would and I did want to - but the truth is, it scared the shit out of me. There are things that I want to do and like to do that would be more dangerous without my spare kidney? It's all very nice to say you only actually need the one until someone starts talking about cutting you open to take the spare.
I can't imagine declining to do so, not to my sister and certainly not to our parents. I had to let myself believe that I had that choice - but really I had no choice. And what if that was all she needed and I refused and then she died. It would be all my fault. My selfishness. I think, when it would have come down to it I would have done it. How could I not? I'd gotten a taste of life without her and I didn't like it. And I'm way over 13. And I wasn't born especially to give her anything, except company and the occasional hard time.
****SPOILER ALERT****ENDING OF BOOK REVEALED****
If you don't want to know how this book ends, stop reading here.
I can empathize with Anna when she is conflicted about the donation thing. And the mom is a bit nuts, but they are so singluarly focused on Kate's crises that Anna is invisible. I can relate to that as well. Calling the hospital. Monitoring the nurses. Trying to ensure that your favorite nurse is on that shift. Reporting the ones you don't like. Spending the night in the room when you are allowed. Shitty cafeteria meals.
My parents went from calling me once a week to calling me twice a day. It was difficult. The conversations started "tell us the news." "Have you heard anything?" "Did you talk to the nurses?"
You start to feel a bit like chopped liver. I love my sister - I wanted her to get well also. I spent a lot of time in that fucking hospital. But I'm not just the familial extension that feeds information the nurses are unable to give over the phone - just like Anna is not the familial extension created to be Kate's spare parts.
Anyway, turns out that Kate asked Anna to not give her the kidney. This information comes out in a dramatic court scene where the attorney has a seizure (this, we find out is the reason for the service dog and the abruptly ended love-affair). Kate wanted to die - she was sick of fighting.
The judge rules that Anna can be medically emacipated and tragically, on the way to the hospital, she and her attorney get into a car accident. Anna's father, who is a fire-fighter, responds to the scene. Anna is brain dead and donates her kidney to her sister and then dies.
The sister is miraculously recovered and writes the epilogue in 2010. The trouble maker brother is now a cop. The dad had a drinking problem and then recovered. The mom seems to have mellowed out (she should, since her favorite daughter lived anyway).
I have more than a few problems with this. I think it would have been better if Anna had gotten the emancipation and given the kidney willingly. Since Kate was the one who initiated the refusal, there would have been some way to work around that. The ending selected by the author was just tooo hokey.
Also, what was up with the APL, which is the most aggressive and least survivable form of leukemia, just dippearing? It was pretty unbelievable. I was kind of disappointed - it seemed like an easy out.
There were parts of this book that rang true, but when the ending is so pat (like the fire fighter dad) I feel kind gyped.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
The Godfather Saga
Network: TNT
Airtime: Varies
Intoxicant: The big green one - White Widow
Meal: Linguine with Carbonara, San Francisco style Sourdough bread
Discussion:
Discussion of the individual merits of Godfather, Godfather II and Godfather III will have to come later. This entry focuses on the Gofather Saga - a pastiche of the Godfather pieces sewn together and including the deleted scenes from the DVD collection.
I love this version. Clearly not the same compelling and suspenseful movies that Godfather or even Godfather II are, but it shows how carefully and completely the story is told, beginning with Vito Andolini (later to become Don Corleone) as a child in Sicily. The story line itself is compelling and many of the scenes include important subplots in the actual novel that had to be left out - probably for time considerations.
I miss the scenes that are in this version that are not in the regular movies. The extra scenes are included in the dvd collection as "bonus features" that have to be played one by one. There are many great flashback scenes that did not make it in (but are on the DVD) and it is so nice to watch them, in order, in this tv movie.
The entire saga takes several hours - more because of commercials. Typically it is run around the holidays, when it seems that people have the tv on for several hours. The Saga itself is a great primer for the movies - offering great back story.
The selected intoxicant will wear off after the first few hours of the movie - it is ok because most of the first few hours are subtitled. You can enjoy the language and the visual impressions rolling over you.
The first time I saw The Godfather in the theatre it was in re-release for the 25th anniversary. Even though I had seen parts of the story before and certainly heard about it, watching the film on the big screen caught me up in a way that few films do. Highly reccomended.
Tivo it, tape it - d0 whatever - you won't be sorry. This movie takes bad guys and makes them so human that you can't help but like and even root for them - Scorcese does a great job with this in Goodfellas as well.
Airtime: Varies
Intoxicant: The big green one - White Widow
Meal: Linguine with Carbonara, San Francisco style Sourdough bread
Discussion:
Discussion of the individual merits of Godfather, Godfather II and Godfather III will have to come later. This entry focuses on the Gofather Saga - a pastiche of the Godfather pieces sewn together and including the deleted scenes from the DVD collection.
I love this version. Clearly not the same compelling and suspenseful movies that Godfather or even Godfather II are, but it shows how carefully and completely the story is told, beginning with Vito Andolini (later to become Don Corleone) as a child in Sicily. The story line itself is compelling and many of the scenes include important subplots in the actual novel that had to be left out - probably for time considerations.
I miss the scenes that are in this version that are not in the regular movies. The extra scenes are included in the dvd collection as "bonus features" that have to be played one by one. There are many great flashback scenes that did not make it in (but are on the DVD) and it is so nice to watch them, in order, in this tv movie.
The entire saga takes several hours - more because of commercials. Typically it is run around the holidays, when it seems that people have the tv on for several hours. The Saga itself is a great primer for the movies - offering great back story.
The selected intoxicant will wear off after the first few hours of the movie - it is ok because most of the first few hours are subtitled. You can enjoy the language and the visual impressions rolling over you.
The first time I saw The Godfather in the theatre it was in re-release for the 25th anniversary. Even though I had seen parts of the story before and certainly heard about it, watching the film on the big screen caught me up in a way that few films do. Highly reccomended.
Tivo it, tape it - d0 whatever - you won't be sorry. This movie takes bad guys and makes them so human that you can't help but like and even root for them - Scorcese does a great job with this in Goodfellas as well.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Survivor 11: Guatemala ep "Big Ball, Big Mouth, Big Trouble"
Network: CBS
Airtime: Thursday 8pm
Intoxicant: Coconut Rum & Coke
Meal: Tamale
Discussion:
Ahh, the 11th season of Survivor. When we last left, the teams had been mixed and mingled - all were concerned about their footing. Poor Stephanie had been part of a forever losing team and she was getting frustrated. Bobby Jon was still smelly. Judd just talks and talks and works himself up into an argument even when no one is arguing with him. He has it out for Margaret because she reminds him of how he is a turncoat - is it a fear she will turn others away from him?
Judd need not worry about Margaret because he can offend and put off people perfectly well all by himself, thank you very much.
In this episode both teams go to tribal council (Mark Burnett has got to get rid of those two extra people at the beginning SOMEHOW). I'm somewhat surprised that neither Stephanie nor Bobby Jon have even really sersiously considered for elimination up to this point. Using Survivor Logic they would be most likely to form an alliance once the teams merge - but not a whisper so far.
The challenge looks like an ancient maya game of pushing a giant ball (that looks suspiciously like the Indiana Jones rock covered in leather) across the opposing team's line.
It's close - Amy takes a fall and injures her ankle again, causing her and Gary to lose. She goes right back out and they win. She freaking rocks. Amy won't win - I hate to say it. She's going to suffer the same fate as Deena from Survivor 6 (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor6/survivors/prof/deena.shtml) who I also really liked - but she was stabbed in the back by Evil Jenna Morasca (who really only won because she wasn't Rob Cersternino).
Yaxha goes first. Judd and Margaret have a confrontation at tribal council. Judd hates Margaret. Margaret thinks Judd is a sore loser (among other unpleasant things). Even Stephanie admits privately that Judd is the most offensive to other players. I'm a bit disappointed that Margaret didn't do more politicking to keep herself in. Judd is a jerk. After the merge, he has a real chance of winning individual immunity (if Stephanie makes a misstep) multiple times.
The problem with Judd is that he talks too much. He does appear to have a conscience or at least to be sensitive enough to other people's disapproval that he feels compelled to talk and talk and talk until everyone is exhausted of hearing him and no one will argue. He is a bully.
That's it - Margaret is gone. They have to end the conflict so Judd will shut the hell up. I suspect this will be a pattern - Judd will find a new weak player to pick on every week until he gets booted or wins - whichever comes first.
Next comes Nakum's tribal council. Rafe (from Yaxha) has won individual immunity and he can decide who will get immunity on Nakum. I see him eye Brian as the Nakum trial walks in single file. I can't help but hope that he will recognize a kindred spirit and give it to Brian.
The tribe votes - Brian has one more vote than Bobby Jon (who freaked out at the challenge and apparently smells pretty bad - a continuation from last season - Jeff Probst actually told him that he smelled really bad. He must be singularly smelly to distinguish himself among several people who have not showered for days and live in 120 degree heat).
Rafe's immunity vote goes to GARY! Clearly an attempt to suck up to the strongest player. Or maybe it was a way to hit on him. At any rate - Brian goes bye bye. Alas, poor Yorik. He never saw it coming.
Airtime: Thursday 8pm
Intoxicant: Coconut Rum & Coke
Meal: Tamale
Discussion:
Ahh, the 11th season of Survivor. When we last left, the teams had been mixed and mingled - all were concerned about their footing. Poor Stephanie had been part of a forever losing team and she was getting frustrated. Bobby Jon was still smelly. Judd just talks and talks and works himself up into an argument even when no one is arguing with him. He has it out for Margaret because she reminds him of how he is a turncoat - is it a fear she will turn others away from him?
Judd need not worry about Margaret because he can offend and put off people perfectly well all by himself, thank you very much.
In this episode both teams go to tribal council (Mark Burnett has got to get rid of those two extra people at the beginning SOMEHOW). I'm somewhat surprised that neither Stephanie nor Bobby Jon have even really sersiously considered for elimination up to this point. Using Survivor Logic they would be most likely to form an alliance once the teams merge - but not a whisper so far.
The challenge looks like an ancient maya game of pushing a giant ball (that looks suspiciously like the Indiana Jones rock covered in leather) across the opposing team's line.
It's close - Amy takes a fall and injures her ankle again, causing her and Gary to lose. She goes right back out and they win. She freaking rocks. Amy won't win - I hate to say it. She's going to suffer the same fate as Deena from Survivor 6 (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor6/survivors/prof/deena.shtml) who I also really liked - but she was stabbed in the back by Evil Jenna Morasca (who really only won because she wasn't Rob Cersternino).
Yaxha goes first. Judd and Margaret have a confrontation at tribal council. Judd hates Margaret. Margaret thinks Judd is a sore loser (among other unpleasant things). Even Stephanie admits privately that Judd is the most offensive to other players. I'm a bit disappointed that Margaret didn't do more politicking to keep herself in. Judd is a jerk. After the merge, he has a real chance of winning individual immunity (if Stephanie makes a misstep) multiple times.
The problem with Judd is that he talks too much. He does appear to have a conscience or at least to be sensitive enough to other people's disapproval that he feels compelled to talk and talk and talk until everyone is exhausted of hearing him and no one will argue. He is a bully.
That's it - Margaret is gone. They have to end the conflict so Judd will shut the hell up. I suspect this will be a pattern - Judd will find a new weak player to pick on every week until he gets booted or wins - whichever comes first.
Next comes Nakum's tribal council. Rafe (from Yaxha) has won individual immunity and he can decide who will get immunity on Nakum. I see him eye Brian as the Nakum trial walks in single file. I can't help but hope that he will recognize a kindred spirit and give it to Brian.
The tribe votes - Brian has one more vote than Bobby Jon (who freaked out at the challenge and apparently smells pretty bad - a continuation from last season - Jeff Probst actually told him that he smelled really bad. He must be singularly smelly to distinguish himself among several people who have not showered for days and live in 120 degree heat).
Rafe's immunity vote goes to GARY! Clearly an attempt to suck up to the strongest player. Or maybe it was a way to hit on him. At any rate - Brian goes bye bye. Alas, poor Yorik. He never saw it coming.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
My Name is Earl - ep "Teacher Earl"
Network: NBC
Airtime: Tuesdays, 9pm
Intoxicant: Mickey's Big Mouth
Meal: Donut (Krispy Kreme, creme filled)
Discussion:
My Name is Earl is the best new show for a looooong time. The setup - Earl (of title) is not a nice person. He wins the lottery, is immediately hit by a car, decides its karma and makes a list of all the wrongs he has done upon others in life. Each episode shows him righting a previous wrong (or two) with his brother and their friend Cataline (Nadine Velazquez) who is also a maid in the hotel where they live. The spoiler is his ex-wife, Joy (Jaime Presley) who divorced him after he gets hit by a car, but before he collects his winnings. She tries to foil his plans by making his life miserable to collect her share of the winnings.
In this episode, Earl decides make amends for all the times he's made fun of people who "talk funny" (people with accents). Following a montage of Earl laughing a a number of people from different countries, he takes on a class teaching English as a Second Language.
Enter a friend from his previous life who is still being bad. Earl has to decide if Karma will forgive him for standing by while his friend does wrong.
As always, the show is hilarious, with the bad people getting theirs in the end.
Notable:
Their friend/maid is one of the few genuinely hispanic characters on network television (obviously not including Univision). She is really hot as well. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1229204/
Airtime: Tuesdays, 9pm
Intoxicant: Mickey's Big Mouth
Meal: Donut (Krispy Kreme, creme filled)
Discussion:
My Name is Earl is the best new show for a looooong time. The setup - Earl (of title) is not a nice person. He wins the lottery, is immediately hit by a car, decides its karma and makes a list of all the wrongs he has done upon others in life. Each episode shows him righting a previous wrong (or two) with his brother and their friend Cataline (Nadine Velazquez) who is also a maid in the hotel where they live. The spoiler is his ex-wife, Joy (Jaime Presley) who divorced him after he gets hit by a car, but before he collects his winnings. She tries to foil his plans by making his life miserable to collect her share of the winnings.
In this episode, Earl decides make amends for all the times he's made fun of people who "talk funny" (people with accents). Following a montage of Earl laughing a a number of people from different countries, he takes on a class teaching English as a Second Language.
Enter a friend from his previous life who is still being bad. Earl has to decide if Karma will forgive him for standing by while his friend does wrong.
As always, the show is hilarious, with the bad people getting theirs in the end.
Notable:
Their friend/maid is one of the few genuinely hispanic characters on network television (obviously not including Univision). She is really hot as well. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1229204/
Amityville Horror - 2005
Easter Egg Alert:
>Go to "Special Features"
>Highlight "On Set Peeks"
>Left Arrow button - a red symbol appears in the middle of the screen
>Enter
>You have two options - Home Movies and Scare Reel
I cannot vouch for the interesting quality of the items offered.
Viewing Ambience: Complete or Near Dark
Intoxicants: Pina Coladas
Food: Pakwan Take Out (Indian/Pakistani)
Discussion:
A decent remake of the Amityville Horror (originally starring Margot Kidder of Superman and more recently suffering-a-breakdown-under-the-freeway fame). Based on a novel, which was allegedly based on a true story (see http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/amityville.asp).
This newer version is supposedly "truer" to the book as it includes the history of the house - being built on sacred indian grounds and a crazy settler who tortures those indiginous persons - all of whom maintain residence in the home alongside the living. I liked the extra back story, which provided an excuse for some "Beloved" style torture flashbacks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120603/
I also felt that many of the special effects of this film were inspired by Ju-On http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330500/ which if you haven't seen, you really really should. It's dubbed in English. Great scary movie.
Satisfying, some great scary moments, some real gross out moments. The DVD special features include the aforementioned easter egg, as well as a nice little documentary that doesn't exactly refute the truth of the original story but does little to confirm it (personally, I need to know it's not all that real so I don't get too freaked out).
Overall:
Good movie for the money. Nice remake. I wonder if the real Mrs. Lutzes were as hot as Melissa George and Margot Kidder (at that time she was totally a "stacy's mom")
>Go to "Special Features"
>Highlight "On Set Peeks"
>Left Arrow button - a red symbol appears in the middle of the screen
>Enter
>You have two options - Home Movies and Scare Reel
I cannot vouch for the interesting quality of the items offered.
Viewing Ambience: Complete or Near Dark
Intoxicants: Pina Coladas
Food: Pakwan Take Out (Indian/Pakistani)
Discussion:
A decent remake of the Amityville Horror (originally starring Margot Kidder of Superman and more recently suffering-a-breakdown-under-the-freeway fame). Based on a novel, which was allegedly based on a true story (see http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/amityville.asp).
This newer version is supposedly "truer" to the book as it includes the history of the house - being built on sacred indian grounds and a crazy settler who tortures those indiginous persons - all of whom maintain residence in the home alongside the living. I liked the extra back story, which provided an excuse for some "Beloved" style torture flashbacks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120603/
I also felt that many of the special effects of this film were inspired by Ju-On http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330500/ which if you haven't seen, you really really should. It's dubbed in English. Great scary movie.
Satisfying, some great scary moments, some real gross out moments. The DVD special features include the aforementioned easter egg, as well as a nice little documentary that doesn't exactly refute the truth of the original story but does little to confirm it (personally, I need to know it's not all that real so I don't get too freaked out).
Overall:
Good movie for the money. Nice remake. I wonder if the real Mrs. Lutzes were as hot as Melissa George and Margot Kidder (at that time she was totally a "stacy's mom")
Monday, October 17, 2005
Life's Necessities
There are great things in life. A great orgasm. Vodka on the rocks. A cold ale. Great coffee (the kind that has a nearly chocolate taste). A fat bowl of green bud. A fantastic meal. A good night's rest. A satisfying movie. An excellent book.
Many of these are best accompanied by each other. Sex is good fueled by alcohol. Coffee is delicious after a good night's sleep. Movies are great when accompanied by greens. A good meal and a good book go well with nearly all of the above.
A good deal of time has been invested in studying these passtimes. Indeed, I have traveled far and wide to attempt to discover the best of each - although my tastes favor the local, I'd like to share some of the better finds.
Just an experiment. Just for fun. Hopefully, just in time.
Many of these are best accompanied by each other. Sex is good fueled by alcohol. Coffee is delicious after a good night's sleep. Movies are great when accompanied by greens. A good meal and a good book go well with nearly all of the above.
A good deal of time has been invested in studying these passtimes. Indeed, I have traveled far and wide to attempt to discover the best of each - although my tastes favor the local, I'd like to share some of the better finds.
Just an experiment. Just for fun. Hopefully, just in time.
