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3:00 snapshot #1843: Friday
Dec. 20th, 2014 03:14 pm
Went home early on Friday, in bed with the puppy watching a Donald Glover comedy special.
Went home early on Friday, in bed with the puppy watching a Donald Glover comedy special.
Well, Satan must be happy; I joined Facebook. I ain't hard to find. I'm not sure what the advantage of it is, except now I know where I could contact a lot of old classmates, if for some reason I wanted to. Also, it's a hell of a lot more active right now than livejournal. Where the hell did everyone go for the weekend?
Do real army guys and football players whine about videogames that portray what they do as much as real musicians whine about Rock Band and Guitar Hero? I swear if I read/hear another comment from some snob who can actually play an instrument complaining about how a videogame is not like really being in a band...I'll just say "You know, you're right! The heck with GTA!" Then I'll punch them in the face and take their car.
Okay, enough of that. So, thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
drhoz I'm now aware of an inch-long amoeba like protist. Really! a single-celled organism the size of a grape! The article makes a big deal about the fact that it leaves a track as it bumbles along the ocean floor. I don't really care, I'm stuck on the fact that there's a giant amoeba that I've never heard of! Can you keep them in an aquarium? Do they eat goldfish?
I'm feeling a little stagnant. I need to take a class or a workshop or something so I can feel like I'm learning and growing in some conscious way. I don't really have any idea what kind of class I'd want to take. Actually, work will pay for three pest control related classes in order for me to maintain my certification. I should look into that.
My downstairs neighbor asked me to move my bike from the front stairs area to the basement so he could store his baby stroller there. He said "I noticed it hadn't been used in a while." Ouch. Then to rub salt in the wound, I noticed him coming home from a bike ride yesterday. Bastard.
The check engine light in my car went off long enough for me to get my inspection sticker. The AAA guy says I need a new battery cable, which I suspect is the reason my check engine light comes on and off all the time. Those dopes at Midas never noticed it, they just replaced everything else they could think of.
Netflix giveth and taketh away. For some reason, after 24 hours or so of being able to watch stuff instantly, Netflix has decided it's not supported by my operating system. It worked yesterday, what gives? It works fine on Alexis' laptop though. Now if we could get through an entire episode of anything without falling asleep.
That's my life in a nutshell, folks!
Do real army guys and football players whine about videogames that portray what they do as much as real musicians whine about Rock Band and Guitar Hero? I swear if I read/hear another comment from some snob who can actually play an instrument complaining about how a videogame is not like really being in a band...I'll just say "You know, you're right! The heck with GTA!" Then I'll punch them in the face and take their car.
Okay, enough of that. So, thanks to
drhoz I'm now aware of an inch-long amoeba like protist. Really! a single-celled organism the size of a grape! The article makes a big deal about the fact that it leaves a track as it bumbles along the ocean floor. I don't really care, I'm stuck on the fact that there's a giant amoeba that I've never heard of! Can you keep them in an aquarium? Do they eat goldfish?I'm feeling a little stagnant. I need to take a class or a workshop or something so I can feel like I'm learning and growing in some conscious way. I don't really have any idea what kind of class I'd want to take. Actually, work will pay for three pest control related classes in order for me to maintain my certification. I should look into that.
My downstairs neighbor asked me to move my bike from the front stairs area to the basement so he could store his baby stroller there. He said "I noticed it hadn't been used in a while." Ouch. Then to rub salt in the wound, I noticed him coming home from a bike ride yesterday. Bastard.
The check engine light in my car went off long enough for me to get my inspection sticker. The AAA guy says I need a new battery cable, which I suspect is the reason my check engine light comes on and off all the time. Those dopes at Midas never noticed it, they just replaced everything else they could think of.
Netflix giveth and taketh away. For some reason, after 24 hours or so of being able to watch stuff instantly, Netflix has decided it's not supported by my operating system. It worked yesterday, what gives? It works fine on Alexis' laptop though. Now if we could get through an entire episode of anything without falling asleep.
That's my life in a nutshell, folks!
Netflix Nights
Dec. 31st, 2008 05:54 amNow that Netflix has decided that my Mac, its operating system, and Firefox are acceptable for watching movies instantly, Alexis and I have been watching season 2 of "Heroes." We gave up watching it on television because our reception wasn't good enough to read the subtitles. When they introduced two Spanish-speaking characters, that was pretty much the last straw. We tried downloading, but had technical difficulties.
So watching it via Netflix is actually working out quite well. My laptop "goes to sleep" at inopportune intervals, but that's not really a problem. The only bad thing is that every episode ends in a cliffhanger, so we "have" to see the next one! You know, if you watch three 40 minute episodes, all of a sudden two hours goes by! For a guy who wakes up a 5 in the morning, this isn't such a great idea.
The good news is that we only have one episode in season 2 to go. The bad news is that there are 13 episodes of season 3 available to watch instantly. Naw, that's good news too!
So watching it via Netflix is actually working out quite well. My laptop "goes to sleep" at inopportune intervals, but that's not really a problem. The only bad thing is that every episode ends in a cliffhanger, so we "have" to see the next one! You know, if you watch three 40 minute episodes, all of a sudden two hours goes by! For a guy who wakes up a 5 in the morning, this isn't such a great idea.
The good news is that we only have one episode in season 2 to go. The bad news is that there are 13 episodes of season 3 available to watch instantly. Naw, that's good news too!
So, on Netflix, when I sign in they tell me that because of my interest in The Howling IV, perhaps I'd like other movies made in the UK. Well, sure I do, not that I knew or cared where a hopefully horrible werewolf movie sequel was made, but whatever. One of the movies made in the UK that they recommend is 'Revolver.' I see Andre 3000's face on the cover and click the link to see what it's about. I vaguely remember when it came out--it's another in what seems like a long list of Guy Richie/Jason Statham English Gangster movies. All I remember about the commercials was that you could see Ray Liotta's excruciating overacting even in a 30 second clip.
Now, I love to review bad movies, this you know. But I really love to read reviews of bad movies, and if I read a really good review of a bad movie, it means that I can't review it. Why? Because how can I contribute when Roger Ebert says, A frothing mad film that thrashes against its very sprocket holes in an attempt to bash its brains out against the projector. It seems designed to punish the audience for buying tickets. Or when the reviewer from the SF Chronicle pinpoints the thing that I would hate most about the movie: The plot isn't intellectually challenging as much as it is confusing, and yet the big twist is completely telegraphed. Ritchie has created a movie that is patronizingly obvious one minute and impenetrable the next. Fortunately there is no shortage of bad movies to say funny things about. There's always 'In The Name of the King...'
...brief notes on new snacks...
Why, while I'm trying to diet, did Alexis discover strawberry flavored malted milk balls?
And then there's the 'sports' version of flav-or-ice, with electolytes. Just what everyone wants, a salty popsicle. I only ate 3 of them.
Noticing the year: 04/24/08; plus random
Apr. 24th, 2008 05:18 pmAnother fantabulous Boston spring day out there, and I finally hoisted my beer-belly laden carcass onto my bike to commute like I used to: in pain. I have two matching bruises where my body contacts the saddle, that I would never notice except they make it impossible to sit on the bike properly. Bike shorts, a gel seat, and maybe a nice soft set of Depends for the next ride.
Nonetheless, bicycling remains the best way to move around the city. On a nice day like today I like to keep aware for urban nature in a way that's simply impossible in the cocoon/cage of a car. I took some shots of flowering trees and whatnot, but the best is just feeling the air all around me. Now that the air doesn't feel like a snowcone pressed against my neck.
Jim was neutered last night and seems none the worse for wear. He looks kind of sleepy but not injured or traumatized. I'm against a lot of dog-related legislation, but I wholeheartedly support mandatory spay/neuter for all pets. Well, it would have been be difficult to do for my Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
I'm looking forward to a planned Soylent Screen column. I'm going to compare and contrast Cronenberg's The Fly--NO I'VE NEVER SEEN IT--with a documentary called 'Housefly--An Everyday Monster.' Depending on when they both arrive (not from Netflix for reasons I'll explain in a minute) I'll write it this time or in the next fortnight.
Currently our Netflixes at home are 'Elling' a foreign movie about a friendship between two mentally challenged adults, and 'After the Thin Man' the second and supposedly best of the Thin Man series where Myrna Loy and William Powell play a witty and alcohol-obsessed married couple that solve mysteries between drinks. Both movies will require some mood-getting-into as well as the time, so I'm expecting we'll have these until June.
We just finished (well, I did, Alexis fell asleep during the last 5 minutes) a documentary called, and about HELVETICA. Yes, the typeface. It's actually a great documentary; if I taught a documentary filmmaking course, I'd definitely use it as an example. And yet I feel like I have to rate it three stars, not four, because if I rate it four Netflix will dig up a documentary about Times New Roman or something.
Nonetheless, bicycling remains the best way to move around the city. On a nice day like today I like to keep aware for urban nature in a way that's simply impossible in the cocoon/cage of a car. I took some shots of flowering trees and whatnot, but the best is just feeling the air all around me. Now that the air doesn't feel like a snowcone pressed against my neck.
Jim was neutered last night and seems none the worse for wear. He looks kind of sleepy but not injured or traumatized. I'm against a lot of dog-related legislation, but I wholeheartedly support mandatory spay/neuter for all pets. Well, it would have been be difficult to do for my Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
I'm looking forward to a planned Soylent Screen column. I'm going to compare and contrast Cronenberg's The Fly--NO I'VE NEVER SEEN IT--with a documentary called 'Housefly--An Everyday Monster.' Depending on when they both arrive (not from Netflix for reasons I'll explain in a minute) I'll write it this time or in the next fortnight.
Currently our Netflixes at home are 'Elling' a foreign movie about a friendship between two mentally challenged adults, and 'After the Thin Man' the second and supposedly best of the Thin Man series where Myrna Loy and William Powell play a witty and alcohol-obsessed married couple that solve mysteries between drinks. Both movies will require some mood-getting-into as well as the time, so I'm expecting we'll have these until June.
We just finished (well, I did, Alexis fell asleep during the last 5 minutes) a documentary called, and about HELVETICA. Yes, the typeface. It's actually a great documentary; if I taught a documentary filmmaking course, I'd definitely use it as an example. And yet I feel like I have to rate it three stars, not four, because if I rate it four Netflix will dig up a documentary about Times New Roman or something.
movie talk
Mar. 23rd, 2008 05:38 pmAlex and I watched the last half of Lake Placid last night--Alex wanted to watch the Betty White part again--and it stands as one of my favorites in the genre. I did notice this time that they not only fired darts into crocodile hide (I've seen people have trouble getting darts to penetrate raccoon hide) but with what seemed like only one dart, they got the croc to go down in about 5 minutes. A real 30 foot croc would need like a gallon of ketamine and even then it would take an hour to go down. And it might kill him.
Should I write something about how my job experiences and knowledge of natural history color my enjoyment of movies, especially creature horror?
I also noticed that my vcr (it's a machine for playing movies recorded on magnetic tape) is having some kind of problem with its motor. It plays the tape okay, but it makes a tiktiktiktiktiktiktik sound, which is really annoying in the quiet parts of the movie. Finally I decided to pretend that it was a movie projector (it's a machine that shines light through a row of slides moving at 24 frames per second) like we used to watch movies with in high school. I remember the first time I saw a tv in school--it looked so out of place.
Speaking of obsolete technology and movies, I also watched The Prestige. This is going to get me into trouble, I can feel it. Five of my netflix friends rated it 5 stars (Loved it!) I didn't. I'd give it 2 and half. Mostly it's entertaining, but just like Fight Club, a pretty good movie is sunk by its BIG SURPRISE ENDING. In fact, it does Fight Club one better by having two BIG SURPRISE ENDINGs, one for each jerk magician protagonist. Michael Caine is good, David Bowie is good, the two endings are stupid. I wrote a Soylent Screen column on it, but I have to sit on it for a week--it's probably for the best, I should think about it before I post it anyway. I was annoyed by the endings, and that emotion probably made me say things that were unkind, like using the word "stupid" three times. I bet this is one of those movies that people are going to say "Oh, it's better when you see it a second time!" In fact, I'm sure it is, since the BIG SURPRISE ENDINGS reveal information that would help you understand the characters' actions.
Is this what dvds have done to cinema? Do we all have to rewatch every movie to get more out of it? As long as we've bought these things, we may as well get more information from each viewing. I guess that makes sense, but it sort of reduces us all to preschoolers begging to see the same Thomas the Tank Engine episode over and over again. If I only kind of like a movie, I don't want to have to see it again to appreciate it.
People have told me that The Prestige is better than The Illusionist. That doesn't bode well.
Alexis and I watched the first season of "The Riches." She liked it more than I did, but I found it entertaining enough to watch more if we get more. I'm a little bothered by Eddie Izzard's character. I find him implausibly articulate, well-educated, and good at golf. He's the brains of the operation because he's got a 7th grade education. Izzard's a good actor and a compelling on-screen presence, but I don't buy him as a swamp grifter. It's funny to see the gag reel where Minnie Driver flubs a line and drops her Louisiana ex-con drawl to curse in her proper British accent.
I guess this is what being sick is for.
Should I write something about how my job experiences and knowledge of natural history color my enjoyment of movies, especially creature horror?
I also noticed that my vcr (it's a machine for playing movies recorded on magnetic tape) is having some kind of problem with its motor. It plays the tape okay, but it makes a tiktiktiktiktiktiktik sound, which is really annoying in the quiet parts of the movie. Finally I decided to pretend that it was a movie projector (it's a machine that shines light through a row of slides moving at 24 frames per second) like we used to watch movies with in high school. I remember the first time I saw a tv in school--it looked so out of place.
Speaking of obsolete technology and movies, I also watched The Prestige. This is going to get me into trouble, I can feel it. Five of my netflix friends rated it 5 stars (Loved it!) I didn't. I'd give it 2 and half. Mostly it's entertaining, but just like Fight Club, a pretty good movie is sunk by its BIG SURPRISE ENDING. In fact, it does Fight Club one better by having two BIG SURPRISE ENDINGs, one for each jerk magician protagonist. Michael Caine is good, David Bowie is good, the two endings are stupid. I wrote a Soylent Screen column on it, but I have to sit on it for a week--it's probably for the best, I should think about it before I post it anyway. I was annoyed by the endings, and that emotion probably made me say things that were unkind, like using the word "stupid" three times. I bet this is one of those movies that people are going to say "Oh, it's better when you see it a second time!" In fact, I'm sure it is, since the BIG SURPRISE ENDINGS reveal information that would help you understand the characters' actions.
Is this what dvds have done to cinema? Do we all have to rewatch every movie to get more out of it? As long as we've bought these things, we may as well get more information from each viewing. I guess that makes sense, but it sort of reduces us all to preschoolers begging to see the same Thomas the Tank Engine episode over and over again. If I only kind of like a movie, I don't want to have to see it again to appreciate it.
People have told me that The Prestige is better than The Illusionist. That doesn't bode well.
Alexis and I watched the first season of "The Riches." She liked it more than I did, but I found it entertaining enough to watch more if we get more. I'm a little bothered by Eddie Izzard's character. I find him implausibly articulate, well-educated, and good at golf. He's the brains of the operation because he's got a 7th grade education. Izzard's a good actor and a compelling on-screen presence, but I don't buy him as a swamp grifter. It's funny to see the gag reel where Minnie Driver flubs a line and drops her Louisiana ex-con drawl to curse in her proper British accent.
I guess this is what being sick is for.
Random for you
Feb. 6th, 2008 05:07 pmOne last political note until October or so (I almost promise): If superduper Tuesday had been a four-way general election, Obama would have won. He got more total votes than Clinton, and each of them got more votes than all of the combined votes cast for Republicans (according to what I heard on npr this afternoon). To me, that shows that the Independents came out of the woodwork to vote for him, while in Democratic strongholds (California, New York, Massachusetts) the Dems stuck to the orthodoxy.
Alexis, having read a good chunk of The Omnivore's Dilemma, is making food choices based on ethical issues. This is an interesting role change, as I'm basically eating anything I like, as long as I like it. That includes two exciting forms of cherry-flavored junk food: cherry cordial goo filled hershey's kisses and cherry jello with peach pieces in it. "Red" is my favorite flavor.
It doesn't appear that my screw-ups at work are going to get me fired, at least not any time soon. I'm slated to help teach the "Pest Control" zookeeper training class in April, and I had a meeting today about what's going to happen with pest control in the spring and summer. Good signs that I won't be out on my ass next week. On the other hand I have my 6 month review on Monday, and I'm pretty sure I'll be eating a lot of shit during that.
My "take out more than you bring in" form of self clutter-control seems to be working. It means I take out the trash and recycling more often, at least. I tried freecycle and so far I don't like it. I've gone through a lot of work to get rid of one pair of boots. If anyone in the Boston area wants size 9 docs and cons let me know. Also,candent, send me your mailing address if you want my old paperbacks!
In urban nature news, my new coworker took some pictures of a saw-whet owl outside her window in East Boston! I'll post them once she sends me copies.
I feel weirdly guilty about not posting every day. I'm blaming it on the weather, for now. I'll add it to complaints like my lips being so chapped they bleed, the skin of my face flaking off in chunks, and the dry heated buildings cooking my moisture away until I'm so dehydrated that I wake up with a Boone's Farm hangover every morning. But really, would you want to read complaints like that from me every day?
I racked up over 6 dollars in library fines, which I feel perversely good about. I can't just hand the librarians money (they are easily confuzzled) but I feel like supporting them. I gave them two giant hardcover books and a fullscreen version of king kong that I bought by accident, and that was fairly confuzzling to them. Just as well to earn a good honest library fine. Anyway, I got my excise tax bill, and I assume that must trickle down to the library eventually.
We watched "The Bridge," a documentary about the most popular place in the country for people to commit suicide: The Golden Gate Bridge. To make the film, a team of a dozen camera operators scanned the bridge for a year, looking for likely jumpers. They would call the Bridge Patrol if anyone looked like they were going over (and helped save a few people) but they would film the whole thing: rescues and successful attempts. The footage is interspersed with surviving friends and family members talking about the people who jumped, most of whom were profoundly disturbed, and announced their suicides long before traveling to the bridge. It was very well made, but I only rated it 3 stars so that I wouldn't have tons of depressing movies recommended to me by Netflix.
Alexis, having read a good chunk of The Omnivore's Dilemma, is making food choices based on ethical issues. This is an interesting role change, as I'm basically eating anything I like, as long as I like it. That includes two exciting forms of cherry-flavored junk food: cherry cordial goo filled hershey's kisses and cherry jello with peach pieces in it. "Red" is my favorite flavor.
It doesn't appear that my screw-ups at work are going to get me fired, at least not any time soon. I'm slated to help teach the "Pest Control" zookeeper training class in April, and I had a meeting today about what's going to happen with pest control in the spring and summer. Good signs that I won't be out on my ass next week. On the other hand I have my 6 month review on Monday, and I'm pretty sure I'll be eating a lot of shit during that.
My "take out more than you bring in" form of self clutter-control seems to be working. It means I take out the trash and recycling more often, at least. I tried freecycle and so far I don't like it. I've gone through a lot of work to get rid of one pair of boots. If anyone in the Boston area wants size 9 docs and cons let me know. Also,
candent, send me your mailing address if you want my old paperbacks!In urban nature news, my new coworker took some pictures of a saw-whet owl outside her window in East Boston! I'll post them once she sends me copies.
I feel weirdly guilty about not posting every day. I'm blaming it on the weather, for now. I'll add it to complaints like my lips being so chapped they bleed, the skin of my face flaking off in chunks, and the dry heated buildings cooking my moisture away until I'm so dehydrated that I wake up with a Boone's Farm hangover every morning. But really, would you want to read complaints like that from me every day?
I racked up over 6 dollars in library fines, which I feel perversely good about. I can't just hand the librarians money (they are easily confuzzled) but I feel like supporting them. I gave them two giant hardcover books and a fullscreen version of king kong that I bought by accident, and that was fairly confuzzling to them. Just as well to earn a good honest library fine. Anyway, I got my excise tax bill, and I assume that must trickle down to the library eventually.
We watched "The Bridge," a documentary about the most popular place in the country for people to commit suicide: The Golden Gate Bridge. To make the film, a team of a dozen camera operators scanned the bridge for a year, looking for likely jumpers. They would call the Bridge Patrol if anyone looked like they were going over (and helped save a few people) but they would film the whole thing: rescues and successful attempts. The footage is interspersed with surviving friends and family members talking about the people who jumped, most of whom were profoundly disturbed, and announced their suicides long before traveling to the bridge. It was very well made, but I only rated it 3 stars so that I wouldn't have tons of depressing movies recommended to me by Netflix.
They're marketing to me, I can feel it
Jan. 15th, 2008 06:07 amI'm inordinately excited about 10,000 B.C., a new action movie taking place in that year. The trailer includes what appear to be terror birds (or, one supposes, their old-world analogue) and sabre-toothed cats (which are too big, but whatchagonna do) and thousands of cgi mammoths. It's made by the same sick glorious bastard who made Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow (we're lucky this wasn't called "day way back in the past") two of the biggest and stupidest and most entertaining movies ever. Could this be the first entertaining prehistoric action movie? (I've seen Quest for Fire and One Million BC--I want something better.)
I assume that anyone with more than a cursory background in anthropology or paleontology would break a blood vessel trying to watch it. I don't know for sure, but Hollywood has a very poor record in this area, and come on, did you see Day After Tomorrow? Several climatologists has to be hospitalized with broken blood vessels after seeing that. Also, anyone who doesn't like to see white people with dreadlocks should probably avoid it. (My only objection: why are his dreadlocks so short?)
I'm also pretty interested in seeing Cloverfield or whatever it's called. (That's right, I'm the sci fi fan that pays half attention.) The biggest problem with Godzilla-type movies is that the view from above perspective distances you from the movie. You almost never are afraid of a rubber suit monster filmed from above, or even eye-level. The beginning hype (I've seen maybe 3 commercials) is starting to catch on with me. Apparently someone involved in "Lost" is involved in this movie, which has fans of that show excited. I've never seen it, just as I've never seen "Buffy," and as that was no obstacle to me liking "Firefly," I don't think it matters in this case either.
This is the first time in a long time there have been two movies in the theatre that I actually would want to watch in the theatre. I can barely find the spare time to watch movies at home, unfortunately. It seems to take a great deal of planning to get us out to a movie, so unless Alexis wants to see an prehistoric action movie or "godzilla meets blair witch" (as described by someone on my friends list) I'll wait to see them on Netflix.
I assume that anyone with more than a cursory background in anthropology or paleontology would break a blood vessel trying to watch it. I don't know for sure, but Hollywood has a very poor record in this area, and come on, did you see Day After Tomorrow? Several climatologists has to be hospitalized with broken blood vessels after seeing that. Also, anyone who doesn't like to see white people with dreadlocks should probably avoid it. (My only objection: why are his dreadlocks so short?)
I'm also pretty interested in seeing Cloverfield or whatever it's called. (That's right, I'm the sci fi fan that pays half attention.) The biggest problem with Godzilla-type movies is that the view from above perspective distances you from the movie. You almost never are afraid of a rubber suit monster filmed from above, or even eye-level. The beginning hype (I've seen maybe 3 commercials) is starting to catch on with me. Apparently someone involved in "Lost" is involved in this movie, which has fans of that show excited. I've never seen it, just as I've never seen "Buffy," and as that was no obstacle to me liking "Firefly," I don't think it matters in this case either.
This is the first time in a long time there have been two movies in the theatre that I actually would want to watch in the theatre. I can barely find the spare time to watch movies at home, unfortunately. It seems to take a great deal of planning to get us out to a movie, so unless Alexis wants to see an prehistoric action movie or "godzilla meets blair witch" (as described by someone on my friends list) I'll wait to see them on Netflix.
Our Urban Nature Walk yesterday was great. We walked around Jamaica Pond, and despite a dearth of binoculars, saw and discussed a dozen or so bird species, including one I'd never seen before (and without binoculars I originally IDed as a cedar waxwing). The white squirrel made an appearance, and one of the new participants identified a hedge as American bittersweet, a plant I knew existed but hadn't experienced. Naturally, Alexis took a bunch of great pictures, and if you haven't seen them yet, what's wrong with you? I mean, here they are. The same new participant told us of the burry man, a tradition I think we need to start up in the States.
We saw Grindhouse: Planet Terror this weekend. I enjoyed it, but I have a secret to confess: I'm tired of zombies. Yes, it's true. I think after Black Sheep I reached my limit, and yet I still have about 50 zombie movies in my Netflix queue. 28 Weeks Later and Fido are coming up soon, and I'm really looking forward to them, but after that I have to take a zombie break. Anyway, Planet Terror was generally well made, had some scary parts in the beginning, had a LOT of splatter gore effects (side note: I'm a very squeamish movie goer--I find convincing scenes of someone in pain very hard to take--but zombie movie gore doesn't gross me out for some reason) with squib packs that seemed to have a quart of goo in each burst. The cgi effects were mostly well-hidden. It just kind of goes on and on after a while (I don't know if this is a problem with Planet Terror or a symptom of my greater zombie fatigue) and wore out its welcome with me.
The guy behind BBT requested that I review Marquis, a movie co-written by the artistic designer behind Fantastic Planet which seems to be about the Marquis de Sade in prison having conversations with his penis, which is an animated character in the film. It hasn't been released on dvd yet, and out-of-print vhs copies cost between 15 and 60 dollars. If anyone has a copy they'd like to lend me, that would be most convenient. At this point, however, I think I need to watch something unfreaky to recombobulate myself a bit.
Last night was the first in many where I had vivid dreams that were NOT work anxiety dreams, at least not obviously. I've put more subconscious time into that than any other I've had. I should punch in when I go into REM sleep.
I vow every year to do no shopping of any kind between Thanksgiving and New Years to avoid the horror of the holidays, especially pumped in musical dreck, and every year I have to buy groceries and other stuff. The bell-ringer in front of my supermarket managed to clang her clanger in a slightly less annoying way than usual. Or maybe I'm mellowing out with age. I'll try not to rain on everyone's glitter-coated poinsettia parade, but I have some advice: RELAX. Don't work yourselves up into a yuletide frenzy, you Santa-ists. It happens every year, it's all festivities and ugly sweaters and singing ornaments and eggnog and forced cheer and meeting with friends and loved ones and blinking lights andhuman sacrifice claymation and cinnamon and menorahs and dreidels and wrapping paper and bows and awkward parties at work and dancing around explicit religious references at school and construction paper stars and butter cookies and BAM it's January and you're stuck with 2 to 5 more months of dark and cold and sleet and no public festivals except the Superbowl and Valentines Day. Except for you Australians. Do they have "the holidays" in Australia? And if so, WHY? Do you import Norway Spruces and spray them with artificial snow? Does Santa arrive wearing surfing shorts? Do you roast kangaroo nuts on an open fire? I digress. (I love you Australians, and I'm jealous of your upside-down seasons.) All I mean is, if you celebrate some kind of late December thing, don't burn yourself out, don't take it too seriously, despite what Old Navy and the diamond merchants (oh yeah, a 5000 dollar rock is a good gift) and the santa-hatted androids on TV would have you think, IT'S NOT VERY IMPORTANT. Some people don't celebrate any kind of holiday in December. Maybe I'll watch more zombie movies.
We saw Grindhouse: Planet Terror this weekend. I enjoyed it, but I have a secret to confess: I'm tired of zombies. Yes, it's true. I think after Black Sheep I reached my limit, and yet I still have about 50 zombie movies in my Netflix queue. 28 Weeks Later and Fido are coming up soon, and I'm really looking forward to them, but after that I have to take a zombie break. Anyway, Planet Terror was generally well made, had some scary parts in the beginning, had a LOT of splatter gore effects (side note: I'm a very squeamish movie goer--I find convincing scenes of someone in pain very hard to take--but zombie movie gore doesn't gross me out for some reason) with squib packs that seemed to have a quart of goo in each burst. The cgi effects were mostly well-hidden. It just kind of goes on and on after a while (I don't know if this is a problem with Planet Terror or a symptom of my greater zombie fatigue) and wore out its welcome with me.
The guy behind BBT requested that I review Marquis, a movie co-written by the artistic designer behind Fantastic Planet which seems to be about the Marquis de Sade in prison having conversations with his penis, which is an animated character in the film. It hasn't been released on dvd yet, and out-of-print vhs copies cost between 15 and 60 dollars. If anyone has a copy they'd like to lend me, that would be most convenient. At this point, however, I think I need to watch something unfreaky to recombobulate myself a bit.
Last night was the first in many where I had vivid dreams that were NOT work anxiety dreams, at least not obviously. I've put more subconscious time into that than any other I've had. I should punch in when I go into REM sleep.
I vow every year to do no shopping of any kind between Thanksgiving and New Years to avoid the horror of the holidays, especially pumped in musical dreck, and every year I have to buy groceries and other stuff. The bell-ringer in front of my supermarket managed to clang her clanger in a slightly less annoying way than usual. Or maybe I'm mellowing out with age. I'll try not to rain on everyone's glitter-coated poinsettia parade, but I have some advice: RELAX. Don't work yourselves up into a yuletide frenzy, you Santa-ists. It happens every year, it's all festivities and ugly sweaters and singing ornaments and eggnog and forced cheer and meeting with friends and loved ones and blinking lights and
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Mar. 23rd, 2005 12:35 pmI rewrote my review of "Brotherhood of the Wolf." It's pretty much intact, except for the part where I suppose that the French Film Board mandates that all French movies must have pretentious narration. (Simply not true--I just saw "Triplets of Belleville," and there isn't a word in it.) I kept the word "whore," in this version, for euphonic reasons, but I'll think of an appropriate synonym for when I submit it to Netflix.
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Feb. 26th, 2005 12:59 pmI'm trying to submit a review to Netflix, and it keeps giving me an error message: This review contains one or more words that is larger than 25 characters. All words in a review must be smaller than 25 characters. Please change any words that exceed this length.
Am I missing something here? Here's my review:
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Am I missing something here? Here's my review:
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