movies

One of the things we do at work, at lunch and otherwise, is talk about movies, old, new and forthcoming. We kibitz and argue and I get a lot out of it. I like talking about movies about people who care about them.

The one movie I am excited about that NOBODY else is is Speed Racer. I think it’s incredible looking. I suspect it’s going to massively flop, but I hope not. It reminds me a little bit of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy—which I find to be awful, but was an interesting experiment. My hope is that Speed Racer will be more than just interesting.

I enjoyed Iron Man very much, despite being very sick when I saw it. I juiced myself up on cold medicine, grabbed a handful of cough drops and we saw it last weekend. I followed the Iron Man comic in the 1980s so I do have longstanding (holy cow, 20 years) interest in the character. I thought the casting was great, and the movie was fun. Good action, believable characterizations: the film worked. I think criticisms like those voiced by Matthew Baldwin are valid, and I think his superhero movie pet peeves are particularly apt.

Interestingly enough, the funniest things I’ve read about Iron Man are not about the movie, but come from the Again With The Comics blog, which dives into the decades of history of Iron Man to find the more wonderfully ridiculous aspects of the character and his rogue’s gallery. For example: Things You Won’t Be Seeing In IRON MAN: The Iron Mullet!, Things You Won’t Be Seeing In IRON MAN: the Iron Nose and lastly: Things You Won’t Be Seeing In IRON MAN: Obadiah Stane’s “Costume”

I think Lebowski might’ve looked pretty good in that! Well, maybe. I’m curious to see how the sequels might do. Oh, and one last AWTC post: Iron Man 2 Villain Suggestions. And though that is a funny post, Black Lama really is a character who is “other-dimensional counterpart of Gerald Ford,” Wikipedia confirms this.

The other two “big” movies I want to see this year are Wall-E and The Dark Knight. I’ve been a fan of Pixar animation for decades, and a Batman fan even longer.

Speaking of animation, I would be remiss if I did not bring to your attention a Bollywood/Disney computer animated film called Roadside Romeo, which I found via Cartoon Brew:

It looks truly bad, though I will admit that I’m not the intended audience. It does include a heaping dose of ‘tude. Though John Kricfalusi does not care for the Simpson’s, when I think of ‘tude, I think of Poochie.

The other day at lunch my workmates and I spent an inordinate amount of time discussing people who played multiple roles in the same film. The major one I thought of was Peter Sellers—and Eddie Murphy is practically the canonical example from Coming to America. It vexed me that I could not think of very many off the top of my head, but it was sort of a pleasant kind of ignorance riffling through my mental rollodex, even if it came up empty.

As predicted, there turned out to be an extensive Wikipedia page dedicated to this topic: List of actors who have played multiple roles in the same film.

I suspect it’s incomplete, and if I come up with more entries you betcha I’ll be adding to that page. Perhaps you can think of some?

In the Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert announces his return to reviewing movies:

Are you as bored with my health as I am? I underwent a third surgery in January, this one in Houston, and once again there were complications. I am sorry to say that my ability to speak was not restored. That would require another surgery.

But I still have all my other abilities, including the love of viewing movies and writing about them. And at my side I have my angelic wife, Chaz.

via NewsGang.

My thoughts:

I’ve been a big fan of Roger Ebert for a while, all the more so after I heard him speak at The Virginia Festival of American Film (now called The Virginia Film Festival) in the early 1990s—he was doing live DVD commentary before there were DVDs—they were called “Shot by Shots” and cost extra and I got those tickets each of the two times I went to the fest. The first one was of Citizen Kane. It was riveting to hear the man speak with with knowledge and wit as the movie played, and answering impromptu questions from the audience on all manner of topics. Being a teacher, he was a natural. The second time I went he presented on Sunset Boulevard. I was a fellow with a notion to move out to Los Angeles to “do something with movies” and it was very inspirational.

A book of compiled Ebert compiled movie reviews accompanied Golden Movie Retriever on my bookshelf, often taken down, referenced to learn more about movies, cross reference movies and actors. In the days before IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes it was invaluable for a movie fan to get access to criticism and data about film.

Time has passed, and Ebert has taken ill. He’s managed to write about this topic with candor and humor. It’s really wonderful to get a dose of his voice—his literary point-of-view is one I think is worth striving for. I look forward to reading more of it.

Really, an exegesis of the concept of a bad movie. Joe Queenan’s review of “The Hottie and the Nottie” entitled: From hell from UK’s The Guardian:

This brings me to my major point. To qualify as one of the worst films of all time, several strict requirements must be met. For starters, a truly awful movie must have started out with some expectation of not being awful. That is why making a horrific, cheapo motion picture that stars Hilton or Jessica Simpson is not really much of an accomplishment. Did anyone seriously expect a film called The Hottie and The Nottie not to suck? Two, an authentically bad movie has to be famous; it can’t simply be an obscure student film about a boy who eats live rodents to impress dead girls. Three, the film cannot be a deliberate attempt to make the worst movie ever, as this is cheating.

He names the worst film ever. I won’t spoil it for you.

The other night at Geek Dinner I met Eric from Hollywood MobMov. He’s looking for sites for Mobile movies. He needs parking lots with 50 spaces with flat large walls adjacent. This sounds like so much fun to me! I signed up for the list. I like the idea of stuff like Cinespia (cemetery screenings of movies) Insominac Cinema (midnight movies). Mobile movies is in that zone. Here’s what the website says:

What is the Mobile Movie?
We are the global guerrilla drive-in movement bringing back the forgotten joy of the great American drive-in. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, what used to be a dark and decrepit warehouse wall springs to life with the sublime sights and sounds of a big-screen movie. Best of all, the MobMov is free.

Some Zevon this morning, from a live recording on the Internet Archive that’s pretty good, which I found via UBM:

I can saw a woman in two
But you won’t want to look in the box when I’m through
I can make love disappear
For my next trick I’ll need a volunteer

And more Zevon:

The moon has a face
And it smiles on the lake
And causes the ripples in time
I’m lucky to be here
With someone I like
Who maketh my spirit to shine

If like me, Daylight Savings Time makes you lust for the Summertime, as it does me, you can see some ocean, along with vital statistics thereto, here: watchthewater.org. I hate that it stops at the Los Angeles County line, because the beaches I like are actually in Ventura County. There is not a like service for VenCo. I’ve talked about my favorite beach (these days) before.

Water temperatures in my ocean are still in the 56-58 degrees Fahrenheit, so, no go yet. But I did swim at the Calabasas Swim Center yesterday. This morning, I’m achey as hell. I suppose that’s normal. Will I go again today? Perhaps. Though I’m a bit concerned about the etiquette required to swim laps properly.

By the way, I really love the California Flag:

If this whole Federal Government of the United States of America thing doesn’t pan out, I’m gonna stick with the state that borned me. It’s an inspiring design. Perhaps I’ll get a T-Shirt with it.

Aw heck, more Zevon:

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this, ha!

Rock and roll is pretty awesome. Lots of power. Yes, it gets corrupted and co-opted and put on soundtracks and commercials—all of which sucks. But yesterday I was in the car with Tyler he was riffling through my iPod and yes, he found the Postal Service I have, as well as the Ben Folds cover of the song “Bitches Ain’t Shit”—regrettable title and lyrics, but at age 15 he’s heard it before. But I was also able to expose him to The Orb’s “Little Fluffy Clouds;” Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open The Door;” and even Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.” We also had a nice conversation about Prince, of all people. He was wondering “what the big deal was with him” when he noticed how much of his stuff I have. I pointed out that as a songwriter and musician he’s amazing, some even consider him a genius. We played Starfish and Coffee, from Sign O’ The Times, then I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man and Controversy to emphasize his musicianship. Then I hit him with “Kiss,” which Ty did not know was one of his songs. Then the endpoint was that the guy’s been doing this for 30-some years. Pretty coherent argument. He and Tony still like a whole lot of crap nu-prog Rock/Metal, but it’s nice to contribute to some music education.

Speaking of which, I really loved the documentary Rock School. No, not School of Rock, though I enjoyed that too. There’s a new documentary coming out called Girls Rock!, via Jezebel:

Here’s the official website: http://www.girlsrockmovie.com/. Perhaps I’ll suggest we seek that one out while it’s in theaters down in L.A.

In other and more substantial news, we need to move by April 25th. Our lease it up. We’ve started looking, though Leah considers it too early to be taken seriously. This week I’m going to call our management company and see what might be done. I think the best possible things can and will happen. I hate moving. Everyone says that, and of course we mean it.

And here endeth the blog post.

• Children of Men
• Clean and Sober
• Good Will Hunting
• The Killing Fields
• Running on Empty
• 28 Days

To start with, a random screenshot from a video from 1989:

It’s by MC 900 Ft. Jesus. Watch actual videos by MC 900 Ft Jesus below:

I enjoy his music very much. He got his name from a vision of Oral Roberts:

May 25, 1980, while overlooking his religious center which was in financial difficulty:

“’I felt an overwhelming holy presence all around me. When I opened my eyes, there He stood … some 900 feet tall, looking at me … He stood a full 300 feet taller than the 600-foot-tall City of Faith. There I was face to face with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. I have only seen Jesus once before, but here I was face to face with the King of kings. He reached down, put his Hands under the City of Faith, lifted it, and said to me, “See how easy it is for Me to lift it!”’”

“Oral recalled that his eyes filled with tears, and Jesus assured him that He would speak to the ministry’s partners and that the City of Faith would be finished.”

On to Misc, or, continuing the misc!

Ubuntu has a new version out—7.10. A few weeks ago, our houseguests brought with them a sad, cheap Wal-Mart laptop that would neither boot nor behave. I installed Ubuntu (6) for them and it’s given them what they wanted, a basic email and photos and web browsing machine. I have been impressed and as my Windows 2003 Server machine gets lamer (remember that?) it makes me think seriously about converting it to Linux. There are several apps I would miss: FileZilla, TextPad, Paint.NET, iTunes. We’ll see. I’m not really a zealot about open source, but I’ve been following Mark Pilgrim’s posts about switching to Linux and it has me intrigued. And it was great to install an OS on an x86 Machine and not have to dig around in boxes for stupid Activation Keys and do Windows Activation. It might be great for me too.

MAS read a book about SuperFoods, and the list he posted has me interested. Here’s the Cliff’s Notes:

1. Beans
2. Blueberries
3. Broccoli
4. Oats
5. Oranges
6. Pumpkin
7. Wild Salmon
8. Soy
9. Spinach
10. Tea
11. Tomatoes
12. Turkey
13. Walnuts
14. Yogurt

And what’s this? An obscure fact about “protocol relative links”—cool! Http-https transitions and relative URLs, via Simon Willison.

The Harold and Kumar sequel might be called Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay. That’s as crazy as the first movie was. Harold and Kumar is a dumb movie I really like.

“Guilty Pleasure” movies have been a topic at work of late… two I really like that are not necessarily great movies are Necessary Roughness and Under Siege.

Yes, San Diego Voice and Viewpoint’s website is still under construction. Yes, it’s sad when newspapers, even niche ones, don’t have websites. What year is it again?

Oh, the thing that powers the avatars on my site and over on Leah’s site is called Gravatar. They got bought by WordPress.

I got the new Cat and Girl book in the mail! See, look, here’s proof I got it:

Buy one!

Dave Segovia is reintroducing himself. He’s a heck of a character. Drop by his blog and say “Hi!”

Over on BlogHer, Laura Scott mentioned leahpeah’s recent posting about uncomfortable subjects and readership.

David Foster speaks about a basic question cancer warriors have about why they would get cancer if they did everything right. He’s got the same kind of cancer my Mom has. Here’s a quote:

But they are beating up themselves and their lifestyle for no reason. It is true that some behaviors—like smoking cigarettes—cause cancer. But many—if not most—cancers have nothing to do with how healthily you live your life or how many vegetables you eat or vitamins you take.

And lastly, the estimable Jeffrey Zeldman points to the A List Apart Web Survey Results, which make for some interesting reading.

Have a great weekend!

Uncov got some para-journalistic love from Wired. I have mentioned uncov before. I have thought a bit more about the salty language Ted uses, and I’ve decided it’s really interesting to my brain to have the subject be computer science and business and have the language come out of, oh, Quentin Tarantino. Id meets intellect. WIN.

My new favorite movie blog is Slashfilm. A recent post is about Across the Universe, and the fact that it’s developing a cult following: Across the Universe: the Next Cult Sensation?. Several of us went to see it the weekend it came out over in Simi Valley and I enjoyed it. It put me in the mind of a Chicago or a Moulin Rouge. Parts of AtU get a little too surreal, but basically it holds together like a musical, it’s magical, and the music is rather well handled. Also, I was pretty proud to spot the Joe Cocker cameo. And there are others too, but I won’t ruin those.

And ooh, what’s this, a new Cat and Girl collection! Yay! I’ve mentioned this strip before. Here’s $8228.40 and a Metrocard, described as:

This 468 page brick of a book prints every episode of Donation Derby from its inception through December 2006. It adds a handy place index and brief interviews with your Donation Derby regulars. Buying this book supports my lavish lifestyle.

See, if you send money to Cat and Girl’s cartoonist, Dorothy, she will draw you a comic of what she buys with it. I love the concept. I’ve even donated. One of mine made the cut. You know, I already told you to read it!

Meanwhile… I’m ashamed to admit that I totally forgot about World Egg Day, which was Thursday. I missed the Frederator Studios piece. However, I can do some penance by linking to the wonderful and hallucinatory iloveegg.com:

Their animation is sort of wonderful.

In a serious and more academic realm than cartoon dancing singing eggs, Paul Kedrosky says Ooooh, Blogs are Now Authoritative, reporting that the National Institutes of Health style guide describes how to cite a blog post—Sample Citation and Introduction to Citing Blogs:

Also in a serious vein, KPBS should choose JeSais.

Over on BLDGBLOG, I love this rant: Greater Los Angeles. I don’t agree with it all, but that’s L.A. for you. Heh. While I’ve brought up L.A., let me suggest you check out the Militant Angeleno Blog. BLDGBLOG was a part of the big Science Fiction and Architecture thing Chris G and I went to a few months ago.

It’s raining here. We have some friends coming, and we’re tidying up. Alex’s birthday was yesterday—she turned 17!—and she and some friends are headed to Magic Mountain, driven by Leah. Man, I so don’t want to be 17 again. It’s a lovely day.