The trailer for V for Vendetta is up. Looks pretty fine. And the cast certainly looks good, too. (via Steve)…
The trailer for V for Vendetta is up.
Looks pretty fine. And the cast certainly looks good, too.
(via Steve)
New Serenity trailers. Still exciting, but a bit more playing up of the quips and humor (which may or may not help the film — it’s an interesting choice, and…
New Serenity trailers. Still exciting, but a bit more playing up of the quips and humor (which may or may not help the film — it’s an interesting choice, and probably a good one).
(via Xkot)
Friday Both of us had the day off. Did a bit of lazing about, then some shopping, then went to see Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D, then ate…
Friday
Both of us had the day off. Did a bit of lazing about, then some shopping, then went to see Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D, then ate at the Brewery Bar III (our current favorite Mexican/famil place). Came home, built a couple of new CoH characters to duo with, did some of that, went to sleep.
Saturday
Hung out a bit. Did laundry. About 1, started the CoH Hess Task Force, as organized by Doyce. That went until 5 or so, at which point there were plans to do the Citadel (Bastion) TF. We begged off for a dinner break for Kitten (McDonalds, as a reward for her good behavior). Got home, launched into the TF, ended way late but up a couple of levels easy.
Sunday
Church, then rush-rush to clean the house, in prep for our Independence Day Casual Get-Together and Gaming Evening. Folks arrived at 3, we ate yummy food about 6, we finally played a single game of Munchkin that ran until about 11, and we called it a night. Much, much fun. Have to do this more often.
Monday
I woke up early, alas. Did clean-up from the night before. Took Kitten to the pool — er, well, not our neighborhood pool because it was crowded to overflow — at least as many cars out on the street as in the parking lot. So we went over to the Lone Tree rec center, which was much nicer, and has a water slide and a river and fun stuff like that. Spent about an hour, came home, played some CoH. Randy came over to watch JLU and TT, then we ate dinner, did some more CoH, and went to bed … well, in about fifteen minutes.
Not a bad weekend, as such things go. And, as such things always go, too short …
Joy. We’re finally of an age to take Katherine to movies she wants to. Which meant, yesterday, a jaunt to see that sparkling comedy, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl…
Joy. We’re finally of an age to take Katherine to movies she wants to. Which meant, yesterday, a jaunt to see that sparkling comedy, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.
Well, no, it’s not a sparkling comedy. It’s a 3-D (at least partially) adventure, from the folks who had something to do with Spy Kids (which I would hope the owners of that trademark would object to being mentioned — to the point of legal action).
Okay, so it wasn’t that bad. But it was certainly an hour and change I’ve permanently lost from my life that I do sort of regret, not having gotten anything for it save a mild headache from badly implemented 3-D.
SBLG is about a kid, Max, who had an active dream life, and who keeps all his dreams in a dream journal, which include the characters of SB and LG. He uses these dreams as the basis for reports he gives out, which neither endears him to his teacher, Mr. Electricidad, nor to the typical school bully types in class like Linus. Nor does it make his mom — a professional realist who’s increasingly disenchanted with Max’s dad, a wooly-headed “writer.” When SB and LG show up at Max’s school, though, and take him off to save the dream world of Planet Drool, though …
SGLG can’t decide whether it’s action-adventure, fx-fest, charming examination of the imagination, cheap psycho-babble, sophisticated psycho-drama, homage to Little Nemo, or what. Plot elements bubble up then vanish, characters come and go with either zero set-up or with eye-rolling predictability. Things happen for reasons that make no sense — when it doesn’t make sense. Mr. Electricidad is alternately compassionate, cruel, realistic, cartoony, and turned into one of the chief villains on Drool. A song is sung, but it’s not a musical. The parents are alternately scary, goofy, conflicted, and lovey-dovey. About half the time when odd things happen, it seems chalked up to a dream, even when it’s not clear that’s really the csae.
And the final message? It seems to be to keep your dreams, but work to make them real, but make sure they’re good dreams, but don’t let people take them from you, but be ready to let them go, but they’re important, but don’t let them get in the way of reality, but sometimes they become reality, but everyone lives happily ever after.
I think.
Katherine, of course, enjoyed it, and followed the cues to put glasses on/off perfectly. Her favorite parts:
Katherine pretty much enjoyed it, though a few places were sort of scary/suspenseful for her 5-year-old self.
The 3-D was done with the classical red-blue glasses, and was used mainly for sequences on Drool. This meant that the majority (and most fx-ful) portions of the movie suffered from muddled color and light balance, but that aside, the 3-D effects were pretty decent, with only a minimum of spear-shooting-at-the-screen exploitation — though seeing folks spew food got awfully dull.
And may I say that I have officially grown out of the demographic that finds fart jokes universally amusing? Which is a shame, I guess, because both this movie and pretty much every movie previewed before it highlighted just that particular brand of humor.
And now it’s time for your Sexually Ambiguous Nomenclature Trivia Fact for today: the actors playing both Shark Boy and Lava Girl are named “Taylor.” As in, their first names.
That must have made for a few funny times on the virtual set.
The acting is occasionally well done (Taylor Lautner — Sharkboy — sometimes looks to have the makings of a decent action hero), but for the most part it’s the sort of lame, over-the-top thing that someone probably figured kids would like.
And if you don’t have a young kid, I strongly urge you to give this one a pass.
Ah, well — Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming out on 15 July …
The new Doctor Who series has a need for dwarf midget little people as actors for various extraterrestrials. They’re running into a couple of large problems: Bosses wanted them to…
The new Doctor Who series has a need for dwarf midget little people as actors for various extraterrestrials. They’re running into a couple of large problems:
Bosses wanted them to play tiny blue aliens – but most have been snapped up for the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie and to play Gringotts Bank staff in the new Harry Potter film. Dr Who executive producer Russell T Davies said: “It’s very difficult to employ persons of restricted growth when, as our producer Phil Collinson says, `Bloody Gringotts and the Chocolate Factory are filming at the same time’.
(via BoingBoing)
I so want to see this movie again. Barring that, I’m just listening to the soundtrack a lot … SPOILERS BELOW (just in case you haven’t seen it, in which…
I so want to see this movie again. Barring that, I’m just listening to the soundtrack a lot …
SPOILERS BELOW (just in case you haven’t seen it, in which case, what the hell are you waiting for? Yes, I mean you, Mom & Dad …)
Okay, it’s not really a million dollar idea — at least, I’ll never see a million dollars from it. I’ve watched the 1946 Disney feature Song of the South, due…
Okay, it’s not really a million dollar idea — at least, I’ll never see a million dollars from it.
I’ve watched the 1946 Disney feature Song of the South, due to the “underground railroad” of folks selling cross-region DVDs of it, since Disney will not release it in the States (and, to be sure, there are some folks in the US would have apoplexy were it to be released, albeit for reasons I think are goofy).
The fact is, it’s overall a pretty mediocre movie. The live action parts of it, at least, are objectionable not so much for their allegedly racist content (i.e., showing “contented” blacks down in the South), but for just being trite and boring.
The animated portions, though, are much fun, with the various Br’er Rabbit tales brought to life in vastly entertaining ways. They’re good enough that, despite a lack of video, they’ve been fine fodder for the vastly enjoyable Splash Mountain rides at WDW and DL.
The fact is, though, there are a ton of enjoyable Br’er stories. So why doesn’t Disney just do a Br’er Rabbit movie?
It’s that simple. Leave out the live action parts of the original SotS, make it all-animated, expand the story a bit, pick up on the “Br’er Rabbit takes to wandering to find his Laughing Place, tricks Br’er Fox, and realizes there’s no place like home” story line from the rides and make it a full length animated feature? Or draw on some of the other Harris tales, or make up one using the same characters. Heck, they’ve got the story, the characters, the rides, the merchandising just rarin’ to go — why not make use of them? Is Song of the South so laden with PC horrors that even the source stories — from African and African-American folktales — are also verboten?
Disney’s sitting on a gold mine here. A shame it doesn’t dare exploit it. It can’t do any worse than, say, Home on the Range.
(Your trivia item for today: The “Br’er” prefix on the names of all these Uncle Remus tales characters has nothing to do with the “briar” patch. Instead, it’s short for “Brother.”)
Stitch is big. Part of that may be the new Stitch ride — but Stitch is big at the Disney parks. Lots of Stitch swag, of all sorts. Stitch seems…
Stitch is big. Part of that may be the new Stitch ride — but Stitch is big at the Disney parks. Lots of Stitch swag, of all sorts. Stitch seems to have “broken through,” at least for the moment, into the canon of Major Disney Icons.
But why? It might be that he’s the most successful recent Disney property that isn’t from Pixar. But it’s more than that. I realized as I was wandering about the Magic Kingdom, seeing the umpteenth display of Stitch Christmas shirts and dolls and hats.
I think Stitch fills an ecological niche that’s been missing.
Stitch is Tink, only for boys.
Tinkerbell is the sassy, attitudinal rule-breaker of the Disneyverse. She’s cute, sure, in that wild child sort fashion. She learns some lessons the hard way, but she’s unabashedly her own person, very little guilt, lots and lots of fun.
There are some other female characters who touch on that a bit, but most of them learn harder lessons. The only other “extreme” Disney female, though, is Jessica Rabbit, who is more of a character for, um, the guys. She still shows up, usually in conjunction with as sexual a message as Disney dares.
So Tink is it. Want a “bad girl” with a twinkle, a mixture of innocence, mischief, and sass? It’s Tink.
Plus, she’s kind of safe. She’s a fairy, after all. No “bad lessons” there. She’s a force of nature, and you can admire her spunk and independence without fear that some kid will really take her on as a role model.
Which brings us to Stitch.
Well, that’s all Stitch, too. Jackie’s comment, after seeing the original movie, was that Stitch is “evil.” Certainly he’s a force of nature, mischievous, sassy, destructive — and, yet, as an artificial life form, he’s also safe. You can laugh at him, admire his independence (which remains a bit innocent because he never learned better until recently), without fearing that he’s being a bad role model for kids.
Hell, I have a lot of fondness both Stich and Tink, for the same reasons, even if they are probably the characters most diametrically opposed to my own personality.
Stitch has two additional advantages. He’s “fresh” (relative to Tink), and he’s a boy (it is presumed, and he is so labelled). That means that boys, who would never be caught dead with Tinkerbell on their shirt, can have Stitch with no worries about being labelled as, well, a fairy.
He’s even a bit more animalistically aggressive (not just attitudinal) than Tink. Perfect for boys.
There’s nobody else in the Disney canon that fits that. Donald is prissy and egotistical. Peter Pan (Tink’s cinematic buddy) would have been a possibility, but he hasn’t had the exposure of late, and he seems to have fallen out of favor with kids. Simba has his slacker phase, but he eventually becomes his father (a memetic fate worse than death). Who else (villains aside) fits, especially if you avoid the Pixar characters (which, with some minor exceptions, Disney does)? Everyone else is too much of a good guy, too much of a nice guy, too much of a “kiddy” character, and/or too female.
Which leaves us with Tink and Stitch.
Probably this is considered cliched wisdom in some quarters, but I’ve never heard of it. I’m rather proud of the revelation, to be honest.
On the flight from Dallas to Orlando, they managed to (barely) shoehorn in a viewing of Thunderbirds. Allow me to say, that’s the best $21 for a DVD I’ve never…
On the flight from Dallas to Orlando, they managed to (barely) shoehorn in a viewing of Thunderbirds. Allow me to say, that’s the best $21 for a DVD I’ve never spent.
While not the abomination that some folk consider it, and bearing in mind (a) it has the Thunderbirds air/space/watercraft in it (boo-yah!), and (b) I enjoyed Howard the Duck, the movie is still … disappointingly lightweight, illogical, and inconsistent in tone.
There are about three B-grade movies (straight action-adventure, rebellious teen coming-of-age, camp goofiness fest) at war here, and none of them survive enough to give the movie the scarred and feeble but all-too-necessary heart it would need. With material like this, you either take it seriously, or you don’t. This tries to have it both ways. You either play it consistent with the original or you simply take inspiration from it. This tries to have it both ways. And you have to decide on your demographic (original fans, kids, adrenaline junkies), and this tries to have it all ways. As a result, it’s muddled, muddled, muddled, and — aside from some sheer coolness moments — unmemorable. Pity, that.
And who the hell had some gambling markers on Ben Kingsley that forced him into a starring role in this? Or was he a fan of the original, and only too late realized what he was involved in?
Glad I saw it, but glad I didn’t buy it. Until it shows up used at $2.47 on Amazon, some time in January.
I’d certainly always heard it was pretty certain Alexander the Great was, if not gay, then bisexual, at least in keeping with Greek cultural values of the time. Evidently, though,…
I’d certainly always heard it was pretty certain Alexander the Great was, if not gay, then bisexual, at least in keeping with Greek cultural values of the time. Evidently, though, that this will be part of Oliver Stone’s upcoming Alexander the Great movie has some Greeks up in arms.
A group of Greek lawyers are threatening to sue Warner Bros film studios and Oliver Stone, director of the widely anticipated film “Alexander,” for suggesting Alexander the Great was bisexual.
The lawyers have already sent an extrajudicial note to the studio and director demanding they include a reference in the title credits saying his movie is a fictional tale and not based on official documents of the life of the Macedonian ruler.
“We are not saying that we are against gays but we are saying that the production company should make it clear to the audience that this film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander,” Yannis Varnakos, who spearheads the campaign by 25 lawyers, told Reuters on Friday.
For what it’s worth, it’s not just a nationalist thing.
Some are already taking aim at Mr. Stone’s movie. “There will be people who see Alexander the Great’s bisexuality as applauding that lifestyle, and unfortunately it will lead some young boys, young men down a path that I think they’ll regret someday,” said Bob Waliszewski, a film critic with Focus on the Family, a Christian group.
Riiiiiiight. I expect to see a huge number of folks take up homosexuality after watching Alexander the Great. Just like so many people became assassins after seeing one of Colin Farrell’s earlier roles …
(via GoaF)
Okay, I can imagine some folks going for a Star Wars Wedding Cake Top with Han and Leia on it. Not me, since my geekiness is exceeded only by my…
Okay, I can imagine some folks going for a Star Wars Wedding Cake Top with Han and Leia on it. Not me, since my geekiness is exceeded only by my stodginess, but some folk.
But I’m not sure even my geekiest friends — indeed, probably least of all my geekiest friends — would go for a Star Wars Wedding Cake Top option with Luke and Leia on it.
I’m just sayin’.
(Of course, an Anakin and Amadala one would be almost as creepy — and bets that we’ll eventually see that, too?)
(via Anne)
Some films become cult classics. Shaun of the Dead is richly deserving of this fate, and I’d love to watch this film several times more, on a regular basis. Generally…
Some films become cult classics. Shaun of the Dead is richly deserving of this fate, and I’d love to watch this film several times more, on a regular basis. Generally funny, with occasional unexpected-and-all-the-more-impactful-for-that bits of drama, this tale of a London loser in his late 20s trying to get his life together against the backdrop of an unexpected zombie plague is a wonderful gem of a flick. “A romantic comedy … with zombies,” one of the film’s tag lines, is spot on.
The audience’s awareness of the growing horror faster than Shaun’s is part of its charm; the later part of the film as Shaun becomes the kinda-leader of a coterie of friends, family, and hangers-on becomes a bit more forced, but is still entertaining. I saw some bits of the film at the San Diego Comic-con this summer, and am glad it’s finally getting an American outing.
I found the inevitable zombie gore not as off-putting as some, and you can even consider the movie a somewhat thoughtful commentary on how our internal dramas sometimes override our dealing with reality around us. Whatever. It’s funny, bloody, gut-wrenching (sometimes literally), quirky enjoyment.
Funniest line with didn’t get a laugh from the sadly under-educated audience: “We’re coming to get you, Barbara!”
Two slightly gnawed thumbs up.
For Doyce’s “Grimm Therapy” game, my kid, Jason, has a toy robot (Super-Mega-Bot-Z!) who’s also his demon. While the voice I have in mind for the robot is straight from…
For Doyce’s “Grimm Therapy” game, my kid, Jason, has a toy robot (Super-Mega-Bot-Z!) who’s also his demon. While the voice I have in mind for the robot is straight from the awful H-B cartoon Frankenstein Jr. (and, thus, was the inimitable Ted Cassidy), I also have a heavy dollop of Giant Robot in mind, from a favorite Channel 13 Saturday Afternoon Bad SF Movie regular, Voyage into Space (also known, as mentioned below, as Journey into Space or Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot).
That movie, it turns out, is a pastiche of four of the TV series (yes, there was a TV series) episodes, including the first and last. Which explains part (but only part) of its general incoherence and cheesiness. Nonetheless, I loved Giant Robot, his young master Johnny Sokko, who worked with the good super-spy organization Unicorn, fighting the evil Emperor Guillotine from the Planet Gargoyle (not to mention both the sinister deputy Spider and the various Giant Rubber Suited Monsters). Triffic bad Japanese Monster Movie stuff, complete with a heart-twanging ending. Fun.
The top-grossing films of all time (as of some arbitrary moment). I’ve italicized (rather than bolding, due the current default font) the ones I’ve seen, so that y’all can stare…
The top-grossing films of all time (as of some arbitrary moment). I’ve italicized (rather than bolding, due the current default font) the ones I’ve seen, so that y’all can stare in incredulity and cry, “You mean you haven’t seen X?”
(I’m actually amazed by all the ones I have seen, my movie-going being more than a bit idiosyncratic.)
(via the Flea)
Ducked out of festivity-prep yesterday to go see Spider-Man 2. I had pretty high expectations, based on the feedback I’d gotten. Impossibly high expectations, I suppose, since I ultimately felt…
Ducked out of festivity-prep yesterday to go see Spider-Man 2. I had pretty high expectations, based on the feedback I’d gotten. Impossibly high expectations, I suppose, since I ultimately felt vaguely disappointed.
Not that it was a bad movie. It was probably as good, on whole, as the original, but less even: the good parts were better, the less good parts were worse. It certainly should be on the Top Ten list of comic book flicks; probably on the Top Five, but definitely not Number One.
FACE IT, TIGER — YOU’VE GOT SPOILERS BELOW …
The King Arthur flick coming out this summer looks like it could be mildly entertaining. It takes a refreshing Romano-Celtic spin on the Arthur legend, which is certainly closer to…
The King Arthur flick coming out this summer looks like it could be mildly entertaining. It takes a refreshing Romano-Celtic spin on the Arthur legend, which is certainly closer to the rhistorical eality of whomever Arthur was (or were) than films like Excalibur.
On the other hand, I don’t think the trailer’s repeatedly-touted “truth” of the Arthur legend involved Guenevere as Boudicca, Merlin, or, of course, the French Romantic insertion to the tale, Lancelot.
Still, possibly a fun DVD to borrow in the Fall.
(via GoaF)
The stylish pulp adventure Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The trailer before RotK looked like a live-action Fleischer Superman film. Too much fun. I don’t care if the…
The stylish pulp adventure Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The trailer before RotK looked like a live-action Fleischer Superman film. Too much fun. I don’t care if the story turns out to be abysmal, it looks fabulous.
(thanks for the reminder from Rey)
In brief: Wow….
In brief: Wow.
The dialog, more or less as it happened. “Honey, sometime this weekend …” [Sit down next to her.] “Yes, Dave?” “I’d like to … do something … thrilling. [Take her…
The dialog, more or less as it happened.
“Honey, sometime this weekend …” [Sit down next to her.]
“Yes, Dave?”
“I’d like to … do something … thrilling. [Take her hand.] Moving. Something to fill the senses, engulf the mind … [Nuzzle her neck.] … something that I’ve been waiting for … for so long … [Kiss her] together, just the two of us, something wonderful, marvelous, thrilling …”
“Yeeeessss?”
[N.B. This post, evidently on Katherine’s reactions to having seen BB, was never actually finished or published at the time.] I like Brother Bear and I like Finding Nemo. Did…
[N.B. This post, evidently on Katherine’s reactions to having seen BB, was never actually finished or published at the time.]
I like Brother Bear and I like Finding Nemo.
Did you like Brother Bear?
It’s a little scary.
Is Koda a genius or a goofball?
He’s kind of silly.
