Autumn On The Canadian Tundra 2010, Part 3. - Bonus Movie Review: Sicko

The Aspen Poplar (Populus tremuloides) in Fish Creek Park in late October...

Movie Review: Sicko.

I've had Sicko recorded on the PVR since January of this year and finally watched it yesterday.

In Sicko, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine) looks at the state of health care in the USA.

Moore makes a convincing, driving case for reform of the US health care system by highlighting a plethora of individuals who have been denied health care because of cost of insurance or by unscrupulous HMO's/insurance companies (and their political lackeys) looking out for their bottom lines.

I thought Sicko, like Moore's other works, was pretty entertaining.

In order to entertain, he occasionally goes overboard in pressing his case.

For example, as part of his argument for socialized medicine in America, he does a comparative study of social medicine in countries like Great Britain, France and Canada (ugh). He questions "naive" consumers of medical care in each of countries on how they pay for services rendered by their respective health systems. Each patient answers, "it's free". I cringed each time I heard the word "free". Well, I want to warn my American friends that it isn't free. Nothin's free. We pay for it through taxes. Lots of taxes.

I could launch into an exhaustive lecture regarding the merits/demerits of socialized medicine (a system I hold dear to my Canadian heart) but that would be beyond the scope of this post.

I definitely recommend that you watch Sicko though (whether you like or dislike Michael Moore).

It might make you think.

Autumn on the Canadian Tundra, Part 4. Added bonus: Movie Review of Twilight: - Stick A Fork In Me Now!

Autumnal poplar trees in Fish Creek Park...

Movie Review: Twilight.

[Ed. note: In a feeble attempt to stay "hip" with the kids these days, I decided, clandestinely, to sign out a library copy of the mega-hit movie Twilight (I'm probably the first male patron of the Calgary Public to do so). Here entails my review of the movie Twilight...]

Where was Vincent Price?

If I was a vampire, would I be very very scary. Or, my sexiness hinder my ability to scare.

If you went to a smack down involving a vampire, would you bring A) a wooden stake or B) a purse-sized can of pepper spray?

Would a 200 year old vampire dating a high school girl be considered a dirty old vampire...?

What's scarier, a blood sucking vampire or being stuck in high school for eternity?

Bella (the female protaganist): "I know you're a vampire but can I just hang out with you?" What the hell? Give my head a shake...

Nothing like a diamond encrusted vampire. Am I right ladies?

Was that two hours of my life I can't get back?

My viewing of Twilight conjured up more questions than the scene of Tiger Woods' fender bender...

On a serious note, if I may, the movie was ok.

I think I understand why the ladies go ga-ga over this movie. Maybe not...

The love story between Ed the Vampire (the undead male protaganist) and Bella (the enamoured high school junior) was sickly sweet.

The only disturbing aspect of the relationship was the ease in which she fell for him. For crissake, Bella, the guy's a vampire... you were more stoic than he was... If you can't get a case of the heebie jeebies over that fact, I can't help you dear.

Something was certainly missing in the equation.

Did I mention the cast, particularly the assorted vampires, was really sexy?

Brief suggestions for the next installment of the Twilight series: way more bloodletting, scarier vampires, at least one blood curdling scream, less brooding, tighter editing, some humour, and even more sexiness.

In other words, I want to be scared if there's a sequel.

Crissakes, it's vampires were dealing with...

Rating: 3 overdue fines out of 5.

If you see Twilight on the shelf, sign it out for sure. If not, don't waste a valuable spot on your holds list.

In the Shadow of the Moon and More Arctocephalus pusillus but not necessarily in that order...

Did I mention that a peculiar pungent "seal" odour emanates from the beaches of Cape Cross?

...and the Cape is noisy as all hell?

Cape Cross Fur Seal Factoids of the Day: Adult male Cape Fur Seals are 2–2.3 m long and average 247 kg in weight. Adult females are 1.2–1.6 cm long and weigh an average of 57 kg. At birth they weigh around 6 kg.

Movie Review: In the Shadow of the Moon

"My father was born shortly after the Wright Brothers. He could barely believe that I went to the Moon. But my son, Tom, was five. And he didn't think it was any big deal." - Charlie Duke, Astronaut (Apollo 16).

In the Shadow of the Moon is an amazing documentary about greatest adventure of all time, America's quest to fly men to the moon in the 1960's.

The film footage taken during the missions provided the obligatory brilliant, breathtaking, powerful imagery. The slow motion footage of the Saturn V rocket lifting off the launch pad and the earth rising as the command module came around the moon are set to an appropriately dramatic soundtrack.

However, the power of In the Shadow of the Moon came from the narration provided by astronauts of the Apollo moon programme. The men were indeed part of an exclusive club and they knew it.

After all these years (some were octagenarians at the time of productions), their memories were crystal clear. Surprisingly, I found their recollections elegantly succinct, direct, powerfully evocative, and deeply personal. You could tell they were still profoundly affected by their adventures as younger men.

Remember, these guys were hardcore military types, made of "the real stuff", test pilot cool beyond all recognition back in the day. Yet they , especially Michael Collins (Apollo 11) and Alan Bean (Apollo 12), came across as eloquent, witty, down-to-earth human.

I sat through the two hour film. At the end all I could think of was "wow". I gotta go. Not necessarily into outer space but on another crazy terrestrial-bound expedition of my own.

As I looked up at the moon tonight, it was hard to imagine that it's been nearly 40 years since Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface for the first time. Whole generations of people now have no idea of this golden age of space exploration: a time of vision and bold dreams.

Whether or not you remember or even existed during this Apollo age I wholeheartedly recommend signing this one outta the library...

Rating: five overdue fines out of five.

More Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus and Mixed Reviews...

Another cute photo of Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus. It was birthing season when Ahmed and I made it to Cape Cross, Namibia. Those black furry lumps in the foreground are the pups. Difficult to miss and easy to step on (in fact, there were many squished pup carcasses lying about, victims of clumsy adults no less). Lots of blood soaked placentae littering the bleach, as well.

Man, it's been brutally cold the last few days. I walked over to the library today to pick up a couple of dvds I had on hold. Walking was an unwise choice of transportation. I lost most of the feeling in my face. Walking into the nasty wind, I soon rendered my eyelids unfoldable.

Talking about dvds, this is good time to give you, my loyal readers, fellow shut-in Calgarians, a couple of dvd movie choices to watch while huddled in our cold, dank homes around the flames of our flickering oil lamps.

Be Kind Rewind.

Must say there's been a shortage of creative films coming out of Hollywood lately (actually, for a long time).

Be Kind Rewind maybe that breath of fresh celluloid that we're all looking for.

Be Kind, Rewind stars Mike（played by rapper Mos Def). He's stuck running his uncle's video store. Everything is running smoothly until his jackass friend Jerry (played by Jack Black), a walking human super magnet, erases the entire collection of VHS tapes.

All hell breaks loose when they start to remake or swede (yep, a term named after the Scandinavian country) movie titles on demand, starting with a hilarious 20 minute version of the 80's classic Ghost Busters.

An interesting and imaginative plot coupled with good performances by Mr. Def and Jack Black makes this a good choice.

Rating: 4 library overdue notices out of 5.

10,000 BC.

Rubbish.

I must admit that I walked out the living room after 40 minutes of play time. I was thinking of asking the library for a refund.

The film was a horrid conglomeration of Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings, and Jurassic Park.

The plot line started with perfectly fluent English speaking humanoids (with heavy Russian accents) hunkered down in mountain top huts, degenerated into a scene with a barbarian princess being abducted by fully armoured, sword-wielding men riding giant horses, ended with scantily clad cave men tracking the princess up and down glacier capped mountains... I think I threw in the towel when the velociraptors a la Jurassic Park made an appearance.

Normally, in a film like this I give the producers some creative license but 10,000 was incredibly bad.

Don't bother this one 'cause it was fit for the pit...

Rating: zero library overdue fines outta five aka 40 minutes I can't get back.

year of the rat, part 1...

bikeclub in front of "the chief"...

bikeclub

soapydave.

sunset over the frozen water supply...

had alot of fun last weekend, eh.

managed to go biking with soapydave and gina, eh. felt a bit nippy outside but, dressed appropriately, it felt like hawaii out on the tundra.

made it out to the new native american, aboriginal, first nations, indigenous peoples casino located on the western outskirts of town.

i went in and had a look around the premises.

very, very, very nice interior. lots of blinking lights. lots of happy and sad customers. lots of old folks playing the one armed bandits, eh. lots of cigarette smoke wafting in the air.

and how about those washrooms? immaculate.

one con though. no bike racks. i spoke to the armed guard/manager outside about that. i told him, 'dude, bicyclists are big-time gamblers'. they're gonna think about getting racks. maybe in the spring. wahoo...chalk one up for bicyclists!!

one more tip: build a singin' palace for celine. i'll be first in line for tix.

had to bug out fast 'cause it the sun was settin'. man, it was only 3 PM or so. i thought the days were getting longer, eh?

movie review: brick (2005).

not to be confused with the brick furniture store, brick (2005) was perhaps the best film noire i've seen in years. simply delicious. a masterpiece. humour was sardonic as it gets.

dudes, who the hell am i kidding? i felt like a mouth-breathing Luddite after the viewing.

i dunno get it.

i'm sorry.

do i recommend? yes, with 2 caveats.

1) before watching, get a good night sleep, avoid rigorous exercise and eating a heavy but delicious meal (thanx soapydave/gina).

2) have available a star trek-type universal translating device that converts mumbling, jive, detective lingo, and metaphors to plain english.

if the above don't help out, fforward to the last 5 minutes of the film.

bonus review: bridge on the river kwai (1957).

obi wan kenobi goes off deep end. you know. obi wan goes for a walk on the dark side.

whoops. too much detail.

bridge at first glance was pretty slow for a war movie. i almost drifted off but hung in there. my frail attention span was rewarded with a spine tingling, barn burner of an end to the film.

the brilliant alec guiness, played a washed up british colonel WWII POW, leading his fellow POW's in constructing the bridge for their nasty japanese taskmasters. his character was soooo weak, succumbing to old school pride and prejudice in the building process, it made me sick.

william holden held his own as the token smart ass american. there's one in every crowd, eh. ha!

definitely give this one a chance. it's a freebie dvd rental at the local liberry.

long or wrong?

some days i feel like a brown bean...

bon news, bad news...

bad news: i went to the optometrist this week for a much anticipated eye exam. he told me that i was getting very old, my vision will only get worse, and when i get sick of taking off my glasses to see close objects, come back for bifocals. ouch. i forked over ninety bucks to be shot down in flames.

good news: the egyptian opticians did a really good job with my current glasses. they got the prescription spot on according to the doctor.

walk down memory lane...

i had a big bag of old t-shirts to sort out yesterday. THE find of the day? a shirt commemorating the 1978 commonwealth games in edmonton. my friends, it was like finding the holy grail. here's the bonus, it can be yours!!! wow, the first ever BTOG contest with a real prize. submit an essay, 1000 words or less but at least 50 words, expressing to BTOG the emotions you experienced as you watched diane jones-konihowski light the games' flame in commonwealth stadium back in '78. you have till december 19th to make submissions - just in time for xmas. out of town winners will be responsible for postage. good luck.

if there aren't any takers, i'll ebay the sucker. t-shirt memorabilia is sellin' for big bucks these days.

on more of a personal note, i found shirts that i wore for house league sports in junior high!! they still fit!! well, not really. anywho, i loved junior high. these shirts will be the first artifacts in the BTOG museum of natural history.

movie review...

on tuesday night, gina and dave showed up unannounced at my doorstep. i love their spontaneity sometimes. ha. they wanted me to go to the flix with them. the weather was frigid that dark and stormy night but i decided to go with them. it sure beat huddling in front of the puter all night long trying to draw every btu of heat coming off the screen trying to keep warm.

off we went to see the Bourne Ultimatum starring the always hot matt damon. i was in trouble even before i stepped in the theatre. little did know watching the first two movies of the trilogy would have been helpful in understanding the third. dave told me to focus on two words during the movie: amnesia and revenge.

without his advice i would have been totally lost because the the action started about 10 seconds in and kept going, at a million miles per hour, all night long: brilliant chase scenes, fisticuffs, gun play, bad guys posing as good guys, and relentless plot twists. with the occasional flashback, dave's answers to my constant questions that began with "what/who the hell was that...", and the mantra of "amnesia...revenge..." rattling in my brain, i managed to follow along.

my review: Ultimatum was astounding in a flabbergasting way.

my recommendation: go to the library and sign out the Bourne I and II dvds, then watch III again.

global warming...

what would a blog posting be without talking about global warming?

first, congrats to all my aussie friends for voting out their Bush crony of a PM.

second, my take on the current post-kyoto global warming talks in indonesia is this: china and india should call PM Steve-o's bluff and sign on to a pact that calls for mandatory c02 emission targets.

my prediction: PM Steve-o still won't sign on but it'd be fun to watch him squirm for a while.

the hills...

is this tv show for real? it's hot...

mystery fruit #56

what is this mystery fruit?

what's hot/what's not...

what's hot? backpacks with side pockets made of mesh material. young people like to fill these with colourful nalgene bottles filled with plain water. cool.

what's not? the playlist in my mp3 device. i was driving to the airport when i noticed the sequence of songs emanating from the machine was similar to that of a "soft rock" radio station. ugh. not cool.

rants of the day...

part I.

did you see the videotape of that guy, a polish immigrant, getting tasered at the vancouver airport? brutal. really brutal. although i don't know all the facts of the case, i believe that the whole taser incident could have been averted by the obviously incompetent airport staff/management. i mean there were reports that the man's mother made numerous inquiries to find him. perhaps they could have searched or took her back to the luggage carousels? did they do everything possible to find him? it's a matter of basic customer service in this case. apparently this airport is run like a home depot.

as for the cops, who am i to question what it's like to be on the front lines? police work is tough. they are targets. my solution: get rid of tasers. their efficacy is pretty much a crap shoot. some suspects live. some die. police should just use their guns to subdue suspects.

whatever happened to common sense?

part II.

poor brian mulroney.

i thought we were finished with the guy when he sued us for a couple of a million bucks a couple of years back. yet look at what the cat (in this case, an incarcerated bitter to-be-deported german super entrepreneur/hustler) dragged in.

i agree with our honourable ex-PM. he's name has been and always will be good. now leave him alone. let him fade gracefully back into the wood work, again.

yet steve, the current PM, had the nerve to authorized another pointless, drawn out, expensive make work project for the lawyers association of ottawa to rehash brian mulroney's squeaky clean record.

what a waste...

crap, 1 or more years of poor brian mulroney in the news.

i dunno if i can handle that prospect.

movie review... The Railrodder (NFB)

wherever i go, people ask, "bubba, what movies have most influenced you in life?"

well, i remember, as a wee toddler in elementree school, watching a film about a strange funny looking guy (Buster Keaton) who traveled across this great land of ours aboard a weird looking open railway cart like vehicle.

he'd putted along the railway, from nova scotia to the west coast of BC. hilarity ensued of course. the funny looking guy "lived" aboard, pulling out all sorts of stuff to do that out of a small red box. i loved the segment where he camouflaged the cart for hunting for ducks/geese.

i couldn't help but notice how beautiful the landscape was.

i could do that (traveling and all), i thought. it looked like a lot of fun.

well, since the early viewings of the railrodder in elementree school, i haven't crossed canada yet.

the railrodder did inspire me to embark on some pretty epic journeys though...

get the railrodder dvd at your local calgary public library!

rating: 5 out of 5 overdue fines.

james bond vs vladimir putin...

007 meet vladimir putin, mr. putin meet james bond... dead ringers, eh?

movie: Casino Royale.

wow, what a movie! actor daniel craig, the "new" bond, is fantastic, bringing to screen a version of ian fleming's double O spy whose mean, detached, calculating, cold blooded, tough-as-nails, ego maniacal, and occasionally reckless. the new bond wreaks havoc just about everywhere he ventures. just what spies should be like.

the script is tight as a honey jar's lid, highlighted by the delicious razor sharp repartee between bond and his leading lady, vesper lynd (oh how i love that name), played by an even more delicious eva green.

what would a bond flick be without the thrills? not shortage here. the opening scene is delayed a bit but it just blows you away. i was just hooked big time after that and hung on for a really wild ride.

no worries, the future of the james bond franchise is secure and in good hands.

you're killing me softly...

nothin' special about this pic, except for the contrast. i luv contrast. it would have been nice if i there were more illuminated trees in the background to add some depth. maybe next year. end of self-criticism.

weather doesn't look good for this weekend. so, here's a couple of movies you should catch.

trailer park boys: the movie.

let's see... ricky's still wearing that god awful checkered shirt, julian's still drunk, bubbles' still restoring shopping carts, mr. lahey's still drunk, randy's still poppin' the cheeseburgers...

well, you get the idea. nothing new here with the movie version of the tv show. gnome' sayin'?

running time was about an hour 45. they could have made it an hour tv special and retained the cheap video camera look. gnome sayin'?

however, TPB: the movie is still easily the best canadian movie since Strange Brew of bob and doug fame.

goodfellas.

if i catch any of you motherf$#kers busting my balls, i'm gonna wack ya.

ok, you see how this film has expanded my vocabulary.

seriously, you've got to rent this film just to watch joe peschi's performance as ruthless, wacko gangster, tommy de vito. ray "i'm not italian" liotta gave a pretty good performance as well. well i'm at it, kudos go out to martin scorsese's mum.

warning: alot of people get wacked. if you don't like watching people getting wacked rent the sound of music instead.

in conclusion, i can't believe they didn't give martin scorsese best director for this or any of his films...

super-salmon returns...

capote.

i can't remember who won this year's oscar for best motion picture but capote must have been close to the top.

i really liked phil seymour hoffman's portrayal of truman capote.

before watching the film, i didn't know much about the mr. capote. now i know he was kind of creepy. as a writer, capote was a ruthless, lying, manipulative SOB. anything to get the scoop. ethics? schmethics... otherwise, he was a really funny guy. i liked how he got along with harper lee.

this was a very entertaining film.

i thought it was going to be boring...

World Cup 2006 wrap...

england 2 sweden 2? pfft. 38 years of swedish domination? ugh.

what is wrong with france? dismal. bring on the freedom fries.

floating chinese delicacies...

some dvd reviews...

aeon flux... charlize really hot. movie not so hot. ok, average movie. a bit of a vancouver feel to the movie. gnome sane?

blues brothers... never thought i ever write this about a movie: too many car chases. not very funny except the part where dan ackroyd ordered toasted white bread in the soul food cafe. the movie felt like a 2 hr. version of SNL. zzzzzzzzzz.

photographic tip of day...

this device may have practical application my photography friends.

revenge is best served cold is not a klingon phrase...

NHL playoff report...

no big surprises so far...

a little worried about your calgary flames before tonite. i thought if the flames played their finest hockey in the first two games they'd be in big trouble. the second game was particularly bad for the flames. however, i thought they really picked up their forechecking game and overall aggressive play tonite. at this rate they could end this series early, especially if anaheim keeps giguerre in goal. i still predict a long series, however.

detroit red wings vs. edmonton oilers... edmonton is giving it the ol' college try. playing the trap is a smart idea. well, they just won game #3. much has been said about the red wings, the veteran-filled team that they are, not panicking in tough situations. perhaps they ought to start worrying now before they go the way of the dodo bird for another year.

montreal canadien vs. carolina hurricanes... i still can't figure out why the hell carolina (south or north?) has a hockey team. series is on schedule... hope montreal doesn't open up their game at home. huet looks good. look for cam ward to start goal for the 'canes in game #3. gerber really sucked.

other observations: the cbc coverage just sucked on opening night. in the detroit/edmonton game they didn't even have a on screen powerplay clock... not often i sympathize with edmonton fans, but the cbc commentary (mark lee and john garrett) for their games really sucks.

movies....

in between hockey games there is still time for a couple of movies.

slapshot.

how appropriate, eh?

oldtime hockey. that's what it's all about, at least in slapshot.

in summary, i wanted more oldtime hockey, more hanson brothers, more brawls, and less off-ice stuff.

interesting, it takes americans to make good hockey movies. i saw a few seconds of the cbc dramatization of the '72 summit series the other night and turned the channel.

for a good time i recommend this movie. if you're not into hockey, you'll get a kick out of the 70's wardrobe ensembles and disco soundtrack.

kill bill, vol. one.

usually i can't stand gratuitous violence. But if it's used in conjunction with revenge, it's great. let me tell you there's plenty of revenge in kill bill.

in summary, uma thurman was hot, lucy liu was hot (usually i think opposite), the girl in the school uniform was hot, the kung fu was great, there wasn't enough bloodletting, anime clips were funny.

that quentin tarantino is one warped dude, eh.

excellent movie.

dudes, it's time to rent out pulp fiction... yah, i haven't seen it yet. i was fighting along side my fellow maoist insurgents in nepal at the time it was released.

ya learn something new everyday...

thanx for spitting or are you chinese?

i was at the superstore today. i thought i'd make it a quicky trip to grab some 2 L DC's (diet cokes) and milk. mmmm... i digress. i'm taking an extra look at the tomatoes when i heard some guy hacking nearby. in fact, he gave a chinese-style blood-curdling phlegm loaded hack. i looked in the direction of this grizzled-looking old guy and caught him spitting his business into the broccoli bin.

i'm not kidding.

i nearly puked on the spot.

there were no employees around.

wash your veggies... real good.

'cuse me but i'd like to manage your risk...

i was at mount royal college tonight with dave, gina, and dillan. we took in a freebie talk given by bruce kirkby. bruce is a canadian adventurer-extraordinaire.

bruce was pretty funny. had some nice photos of mongolia.

during the Q & A session, i learned that a lot of college-aged females dream of travelling but fear the act of doing it alone.

movie reviews.

the interpreter: ok movie. better thriller than red eye. nicole kidman was such a knockout as usual, made hotter by a south african accent.

into the blue: better than i thought it was going to be. good suspense. jessica alba's pretty hot. excellent, beautiful diving footage. takes me back to my diving days in thailand.

cinderella man: excellent. best boxing movie i've ever seen (yes, i've heard good things about raging bull). much better than million dollar baby. russell crowe and renee zellweger gave terrific performances.

hodge podge...

total eclipse of the sun.

so, did y'all catch the eclipse yesterday? don't worry, it may as well have been a million miles away unless you were in the saharan desert.



i'd like to see an eclipse before i croak. so, i did a bit of research. if i were to do it on the cheap, i'd have wait till 2017, according to the above map. it's suppose to soar right over my sister's house in portland.

i feel a road trip comin' on my friends, if i'm still alive in 2017.

either that or we'll all observe it over calgary in 2044 while gathered around my death bed.

earth day quiz

hmmm...time for another internet quiz. according to the folks at Earth Day headquarters, if everyone on the planet lived like little ol' me, it would take 4.2 earths to support our lifestyles.

click here for your own eco-foot print.

predictions...

life for palestinians ain't gonna get any better under the new israeli regime. i thought they were going to set the permanent israeli borders after talking with their partners in peace. man, was i dumb.

based on darryl sutter's theory of dividing the last 28 games of the regular NHL season into 4 series of 7 games thus simulating the number of series required to win the stanley cup...i predict the calgary flames will bow out of the 2006 NHL playoffs in the second round.

hotel rwanda.

mega depressing yet powerful movie. genocide is pretty nasty. rwandan massacre hits a little close to home. i was in tanzania when it happened. what the hell was i doing? i knew about it before i left canada. i was probably doing something stupid like being on safari or something.

i'd like to visit rwanda someday. i've read travellers' accounts. the border guards are supposed to be really cranky. no one talks about 1994. who can blame them?

anyway, excellent film. i was blubbering pretty good at the end of it.

mystery #47

mystery photo #47. clue: clothing accessory.

lots of movies.

Aviator

beautifully shot movie. whenever i read a review and the first thing mentioned is the cinematography you wonder about the story. well, in the case of aviator, there was a story, albeit one with gaping holes.

when i was growing up, there were 2 words synonymous with howard hughes in news stories: recluse and eccentric. so, the screenwriter's of aviator had alot of latitude. it was interesting playing armchair psychologist. hughes definitely had a wild case of obsessive compulsive disorder, eh. i thought he was a paranoid schizophrenic as well. but, what's with these toilet paper all over the place, clothes burning, and peeing in milk bottles behaviours? i kind of got tired at the end trying to figure out what's wrong with this guy.

at the end of the day, leonardo di caprio protrayal of a driven, crazy guy was superior. an accurate portrayal? i dunno.

go to the bathroom beforehand. this movie must have been 3 hrs. long.

Red Eye

continuing on the aviation theme... red eye is movie i consider to be standard fare. a few thrilling moments. rachel mcadams was good. the creepy guy, who appeared in batman returns, who terrorized mcadams was extra creepy. i think it's his weird eyes. an abrupt plot twist, where the creepy guy reveals the true intent of his character, and the airline setting were amongst some pausibility issues. however, if you can handle these cracks (not difficult), this was an entertaining, standard, hollywood film.

i'm thinking of starting a rachel mcadam's film fest, however short it maybe...

(the) School of Rock

while i was deconstructing this film with my friend bob, when i realized school of rock was in fact a knock off of the classic 1965 film sound of music. consider these modifications: substitute rogers and hammerstein with led zeppelin and ACDC; jack black for julie andrews; maria being kicked out of the nunnery with jack being booted out of his band; andrews teaching the kids how to write a song with doh, rei, mi with jack teaching kids rock music with antisocial attitude; the nazis with parents/teachers; the final escape of the von trapps after the salzburg sing fest with the school of rock sneaking off on a ultra secret "field trip" to the battle of the bands concert, and you have movies that are mirror images of one another...

how's that for film analysis?

bottomline: this was one of the funniest movies i've seen in along time. jack black was hilarious. his corruption of this elementary class with rock and roll was hilarious. normally, i'm nauseated by movies with snotty-nosed precocious kids but the kids in school of rock rocked. very good casting.

a girl, a pair of pearl earrings, a bag of chips.

bubba: uh, soapydave, what you think of this earring movie? dave: dunno, couldn't hear it over your snoring...

the scarlett johansson film fest rolled into 17th century Holland on the back of a leaky, slow boat of a flick called girl with pearl earrings.

essentially, girl with pearl earrings was about a painting by the same name and how it came to be.

the movie opened with griet, a very young flemish house maid, entering the household of malcontents led by the extremely unprolific Dutch master painter johannes vermeer (played by colin firth). griet's days were filled with the menial of tasks and dealing with vermeer's psychotic family: his wacky paranoid wife, mother-in-law-from-hell, and evil daughter cornelia who reminds me of the kid in deliverance.

eventually, she was assigned to clean vermeer's top secret studio. she and vermeer forged a relationship. one thing led to another. you'd think they be ripping each other's clothes off at some point in time. no! (lost in translation de ja vu music please).

vermeer recognized talent when he saw it. if this poor illiterate girl wasn't a slave, she'd be a great artist like me!! yes!! those clouds aren't just white. they're yellow with shades of grey. nothing's just black and white, eh. i'm not sure if this relationship blossomed or not.

vermeer was a great artist. that's all he wanted to do was paint. he had bills to pay and a wretched family to take care of. to do this he had to deal with his one and only wealthy patron, a boorish, perverted mr. van ruijven. with less than honourable intentions, van ruijven commissioned vermeer to paint his lovely assistant griet, under the nose of the paranoid mrs. vermeer.

it took a monumental effort to watch this movie to completion. lost in translation was a suspense thriller complete with car chases compared to earrings.

in terms of plot, scarlett, who gave a magnificent performance, just didn't have enough to work with. besides scrubbing floors and floating in and out her master's studio, she seemed lost most of the time.

she posed alot. that was good.

i didn't care for the supporting characters. there was nothing to like about them. they were just a nasty bunch.

the relationship between vermeer and griet just didn't seem to develop properly. i mean it didn't seem plausible. i don't think they were even friendly. vermeer seemed like a mouse compared to greit. i sensed no sizzle...not even steak. i'm sorry. it was just awkward. really.

so many contradictions... so little time.

i'm tempted to watch this movie again. then maybe not...

for now, i'm happy to report that scarlett was still quite hot. i liked that bonnet she was wearing.

rating: 5 scarlett's outta 5. for the movie: 4 snooze button hits outta 5.

next: in good company.

same crap, different day...

name that tune...

this morning i heard one of the greatest lines to open a song:

"i've got a good mind to give up livin' and go shopping instead..."

that was hot...

can you guess who the artist is and the name of the tune? answer in the comments.

the rrrrrrrrroll-up-the-rrrrrrrrrim supreme court makes a landmark decision...

LB (little boy) and his sister, LG (little girl) were over on saturday for a lil' snack. the tim horton's (the iconic doughnut franchisor) debacle in the province of quebec was on our brains.

for out-of-towners, read this article...

well, in a vote of 3 to 0, we, the justices of rrrrrim rrrrrolling, decided "finders keepers....losers weepers".

so, drop the DNA testing and hand over the keys to the first girl...pronto.

the film festival continues...

i watched lost in translation last night as part of my on-going scarlett johansson film festival.

i'm sure many of my loyal readers have already seen this movie. i'll just get to the heart of the matter.

scarlett johansson was pretty hot.

but, what about bob? i thought bill murray was outstanding in his role as "bob harris", consummate american actor. i'll rank bill's role up there with his effort in groundhog day (one of my most favourite movies of all time). there were plenty of chances for bill's zany comic ability to manifest itself. watching the hospital scene in lost, i was on the edge of my seat, thinkin' "bill's going to bust this thing open any second now." but he kept it real (in character) and delivered an excellent, understated (for bill), but brilliant and precise performance.

normally, i skip movies like lost in translation. heavy on relationships and slow. well, the movie was just that. however, the evolution of an unlikely relationship between two seemingly lonely souls was captivating. they developed a friendship that seems to be missing with their own spousal relationships. there was sizzle between them alright. you'd think they'd hook up. yes!! but, at an emotional, intellectual level. that, my friends, was fascinating...yet refreshing.

that movie wasn't slow at all. in fact, the tension between the characters fueled the pace like high octane gas injected into a hot hemi engine.

i was sad at the end...

about scarlett, she was hot. it's good to know she's interested in older men. well, cinematically speaking, i guess.

so far, she's played a got-it-together girl in ghost world. then she played the completely clueless clone in the island. now, i've seen her playing a confused, not-so-got-it-together girl. i need to see her cry.

rating: 5 scarlett's out of 5.

next movie in the film festival: girl with a pearl earring...

everybody gotta have a dream...

finland 2 canada 0...

pffft...i just found out we clinched a spot in the medal round of men's olympic hockey...

all this time i thought we were in trouble. the games don't even count...

phew. what a relief, eh?

today's game? the finns slammed our hockey heroes in the first period. and then, shut'er down with the trap the rest of the game. i thought the flyin' finns played the trap so well, it reminded me of "old" nhl... you know, the old, boring, obstruction-filled nhl. you'd expect better from the finns, eh.

i think the boys are stuck in the "new" nhl. they've walked into the trap the last two games.

maybe it's time to uninstall the software upgrade and re-install version 1.0. fight fire with fire.

now only if they can score a goal.

there's a day off for team canada tomorrow. may i make a suggestion? they should rent out kurt russell's miracle on ice and play it over and over and over...

there is hope, my babies...

dvd's meng...

"man is a dog, meng. i don't mean an individual man. i mean mankind, meng..."

i sat through the first ten minutes of hustle and flow and i couldn't understand a damn thing the bruthas were saying. i turned on the english subtitles and i still couldn't understand a damn thing. then i put on the my mofo ebonic headphones...

i nearly quit on this movie, meng.

as it turned out, hustle and flow was an amazing movie. terrence howard plays a small time down and out p.i.m.p., drug dealer, hustler-turned-wannabe-rapper, meng.

this is the second movie i've seen him in. the first movie being "crash". he is an incredible actor, meng. i dunno what to say other than he had me believing. i haven't seen a performance like this since ralph fiennes played that insane concentration camp director in schindler's list.

this movie must have been nominated for sumthang. so, i checked oscar.com. lo and behold howard is nominated for best actor. but then, it was left out for best pic. got totally dissed. there's no justice in this world, meng. that's one of the reasons why i really don't watch the oscars no mo. i'll watch this year just to hear howard rap "it's hard out here for a pimp" which was nominated for best song.

that should freak out the fcc, meng...

mystery #42 or the agony of defeat.

where in the world was this pic taken?
switzerland 2, canada 0 in men's olympic hockey...

well that kind of sucked.

i was already to write about how swell it felt to watch the US women's hockey team lose yesterday. then the canadian men's all-stars really stunk up the joint this morning. notice i didn't use the word team to describe the canadians. they were just a bunch of all-stars today.

i have to give the swiss full credit. they were the only team on the ice today. they got the 2 goal lead and played the trap like there was no tomorrow. plus their goaltender, marty gerber played like a brick wall. oh, i know how good he is... he's on the ol' fantasy hockey team. hey marty, give me a shutout like that once in awhile, eh.

was this debacle a national disaster? yes, but the tourney's not over yet.

what's next for the canadians? finland. they better get their act together fast. jarome iginla, marty st. louis, joe thorton amongst others, wake up!!!!

other hockey tourney observations...

slovaks and finns have to be tourney favourites now. very strong teams.

on the bubble: switzerland and the russians...

flopping around like a cod outta water: canada, usa, and the czech republic.

annus horribilis...

montreal canadiens' goalie jose theodore's having a fine year. other than his grotesque performance on the ice this year, he was recently caught using an anti-baldness drug in a doping test... than yesterday he fell on an icy sidewalk and suffered an ankle fracture.

ron maclean unwittingly called it a "hairline" fracture. seriously...

canadian medal of the day...

props go out to figure skater jeff buttle for his bronze medal performance. congrats jeff, even though i don't recognize the legitimacy of your sport. however, you performed well above expectations.

DVD's on the go...

i'm in the middle of a scarlett johansson film fest.

ghost world... good movie, eh. post-teenage angst. cross between ferris bueller and napolean dynamite. scarlett's voice was driving me crazy. now if she could work in a russian accent...
the island... sci-fi thriller, with scarlett and ewan macgregor. fun movie if you're into post-apocalyptic scenarios mixed in with eugenics and brokeback mountain... scarlett is kind of hot....

next in the que: lost in translation, girl with a pearl earring, match point...

ongoing projects: star trek TNG and TOS.

a good yet unsatisfying movie it was...

spoil the ending, i can't. read on, my friends.

despite the warnings of my friend mike i watched star wars E1 and E2. it took a week to do it, but i got through it...all for the purpose of preparing for E3.

my reviews:

E1

pros: nice, the music was. nice, natalie portman was... ewoks, there weren't.

cons: my friend glen gave me advice about making movies. one, don't use kids. two, don't use animals. very wise man, glen was. most irritating elements of E1? one, the kid playing darth vader (i'm not giving anything away am i?). two, jar jar binks (i know i'll get hate comments about his classification as an animal).

mmmm...that chancellor guy looked kind of familiar and i don't mean mr. burns, he looked...

poor, poor, poor, the dialogue was.

E2.

pros: rocked, yoda did. no ewoks, there were.

cons: that "ani" guy was really getting on my nerves. i hope he dies... what the hell does natalie portman see in that guy? there's hope for all of us...

poor, poor, poor, the dialogue continued.

E3.

waste 2 hours of my life, did i?

pros: ewoks there weren't. 5 seconds of jar jar binks. best of the "prequels", clearly it was. rocked again, did yoda. should of built the whole movie around him.

enjoyed the fighting scenes, i did. f.u.n., it was. graphics too busy, some say. not bad.

cons: anti-climatic. fighting scenes were excellent but the fact that E's 1,2, and 3 were prequels precludes any suspense intended. i sat there thinking yoda can't die. good fight darth and obi but you guys ain't gonna bite it. at least not yet... resist the evil sith lord, anakin must. weak man, he was...doh.

anakin skywalker was annoying again, did i mention?

dialogue problems continued. distracting, it was. good actors, george lucas had. mitigated by bad dialogue, they were. case in point, the relationship between the future darth vader (i hope this wasn't a spoiler) and his mentor obi-wan kenob. master, was who? was not even funny, the quips between them. even reduced to babbling, natalie portman was.

conclusion: the history of characters and their universe, the movie did explain, but do you really need this knowledge to enjoy the original trilogy? think so, i don't. could these prequels be a money grab by george lucas and 20th century fox, i thought? cynical, i am? not i. suckah, was i? mmm...maybe.

otherwise, listened to mike, i should.

episode 4, i can't wait.