Dec 08
So what are you wishing for this holiday season? I guess I already bought myself a Christmas gift, although I got it at the beginning of November - my iPhone. I love this little toy and have not regretted the purchase for a second. With the iPhone, I’m all taken care of in the Christmas present department.
(Is it sad that one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten came from…me? I’m leaning more towards it feeling “empowered,” rather than “pathetic.”)
If I had to create a “wish list” for Christmas I’d wish for lot of abstract things - at first. Stuff like perfect health for my daughter, my husband, and me; a job for my husband (now that would be a great Xmas); and the resurgence of progressive values in American society. Unfortunately you can’t fit any of that stuff under the tree, so here are the top 10 items on my Amazon wishlist, commercial and crass as they may be:
1. Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition)
2. Ray-Ban RB 2113 Wayfarers with Flex, tortoise frames/brown lenses
3. Amazon Gift Certificate <———– is that cheating?
4. BioShock for PC
5. Eye-Fi Wireless 2GB SD Memory Card
6. Any set of Justice League (or JL Unlimited) DVDs
7. Extra Pentax DL-I8 battery (for my camera)
8. My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus (Volumes 1 and 2)
10. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (Alan Moore)
What’s on your wish list?
Sep 10
Apropos of nothing, a random list of movies that I love. Most of these are older. Some of them are beloved by many, others are (seemingly) only beloved by me. Am I crazy? Got other ideas? Leave a comment.
*Items with asterisks are films that my husband has found me watching for the nth time and said, in a slightly accusatory tone of voice, “You love this movie! If it’s on TV you HAVE to watch it!” Yeah…so?
Jul 26
HOLY CRAP! I just watched the trailer for Beowulf. Who is playing the title character - is it Gerard Butler? Brad Pitt? Daniel Craig? No. It’s Ray Winstone. Ray Winstone? The guy who played (excellently, by the way) a pudgy, wanting-to-retire gangster thug in Sexy Beast? Yes, that Ray Winstone. Except, I think they rebuilt him or something, because he is now SUPER SUPER HOT. Let’s examine the evidence, shall we?
Here’s a pic of lovable, teddy-bear bad guy Ray in Sexy Beast:
And here’s how Ray looks in Beowulf:
I mean, Christ on a cracker, what the hell happened here, am I right? HOT HOT HOT!
Except…it was done digitally. They’ve used some kind of digital mapping to turn Ray into a hardbody, which is…intriguing. Apparently the same technology is used to turn the weirdly fascinating (or perhaps it’s fascinatingly weird) Crispin Glover into Grendel, and Angelina Jolie into some sort of hooved temptress who rises out of a pool in a cave.
Far out.
Jul 03
I finally caved and have started reading the Harry Potter series. I figure, what the hell…now that it’s almost over, I might as well see what all the fuss is about. I still contend that the first movie was just about the most horrible, boring 2+ hours of my entire life; but the films do seem to be getting better as they go. That last one, the Goblet of Fire thing, was all right. I’ve been known to watch it on HBO from time to time.
So I’m gradually acquiring all of the Harry books (used, generally through Swaptree) and reading them as I get to them (in order, of course). I’m on about chapter 9 of the first one, and as books written supposedly for tweens and teens go, it’s not bad. I might actually end up enjoying these Harry Potter books! When “Harry-mania” hit a few years ago, I was so turned off by all the hype, I purposely resisted reading the books, and was only drug to that first movie against my will (my husband, who as far as I know has never read any of the books, wanted to see it).
One thing that I find hilarious about the Harry Potter stuff so far is the names. I’m sure this is somewhat intentional on J.K. Rowling’s part, but some of it also seems very British. Those people know their funny walks and their funny names!
Apr 24
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love and adore Wikipedia. To my mind, it is the Internet evolution of the classic encyclopedia, and a good place to start researching all manner of subjects. Sometimes you’ll find the answers you need right within its articles; other times you might follow the reference links provided to find even more in-depth information and original research. An informed and thoughtful user can easily separate the true scholarly content from the fluff (not that fluff doesn’t have it’s place).
Lately I’ve been using Wikipedia to learn more about movies that I’m interested in. IMDB is great for technical details, but I find that most entries on Wikipedia contain fairly good plot summaries and discussions of character, criticism, and controversy. Sometimes I see a film on cable and, for whatever reason, don’t give it my full attention and end up missing some details. That’s what happened when I watched Brokeback Mountain, and I found the Wikipedia entry on it extremely helpful. Or sometimes I just don’t understand the details, like when I recently saw Immortal. (In the latter case, even reading the Wikipedia entry wasn’t a whole lot of help, as Immortal is just kind of incoherent.)
So I’m going to post regularly about film articles that I like on Wikipedia. Today I read the article about Audition, a 1999 horror-suspense film from Japan. File that under the category of films I want to see but just haven’t gotten around to, for one reason or another. The Wikipedia entry contains a well-written summary of the plot as well as trivia, information on critical responses, and links to further analysis. Audition is a pretty graphic film, but its themes of power, control, and gender roles in Japanese society are interesting.
At one point, a character says of Asami, the mysterious main female character, “She is beautiful, classy and obedient.” Wow…let’s just say he got that…wrong.
