Long awaited across the lake

The Mist, I waited to watch it, I was in the midst of a break up when it released & it was something he & I shared in common so I waited until I was in a good place to enjoy it.  The brilliance of Stephen King's characters brought to the screen was lovely to slide into.  Emotionally deep the performances are spectacular. Mist comes - after a big storm & there are things in the mist. Then we watch the stranded in hostile territory story unfold as each character fully develops & spins in & out of control. The end of the movie as the good father takes responsibility & ends the situation for his son & other survivors by killing them moments before rescue: moral is you wait til death is imminent or torture has begun before ending the suffering. Read more!

Fixed

Here we have Michael Clayton.  A man who fixes everything almost gets fixed himself.  I loved the acting & the editing.  It was fascinating watching the characters unfold & implode.  Yes, there was murder & insanity & adventure, twists & turns & addictions.   Read more!

Just for the record

There are few things sexier on this planet or the next than Mario Van Peebles in Posse. It is such a well done movie. Harsh & honest, it tries very hard to give a history that is often overlooked. But I have to tell you, just lovely, just enough comedy to smile, just enough pain and truth to make you cry. A momentary pause & poof he walks across the screen in all black & 2 guns in his belt. Just lovely. Read more!

Old school days

"Mr Woodcock" was formulaic to say the least. Boy's most hated teacher ends up dating his mom, boy, now a man tries to stop it. Amy Poehler is brilliant as usual. Lil scary when I think about my mom dating - though I think she wouldn't go for my most hated teachers (I hope). The rest was just cruddy. Though the references to other movies was interesting. Read more!

Hopefully my interweb bachelors turn out better

Perfect Stranger" - Corporate sexy & journalistic fanaticism. It is hard for me to watch Gary Dourdan play a bad guy - not in the sinister sense of the word but in the "show me a beautiful woman & I'll show you a man who is tired of fucking her" sense - seriously. Though really having Giovanni Ribisi play the overlooked assistant is just ridiculous. I don't particularly find him attractive but he was hot in this role - or I just dig the perpetual friend. hmmm seems to be a theme in my life. Silly Hollywood.

I like the twists in the movie - just enough to keep things jumping.

I did not see the Halle Berry as a mastermind thing coming. I had my money on Mrs Hill. But I really liked the way they ended it. A little open to a sequel, but I don't dislike Halle Berry enough to be happy at the idea of her getting caught, I hope she got away with it.
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OK - Fresh Start

There are a few things I need to sort out (the hidden split to the post to save your tender virgin eyes from the spoilers, etc...) - but this blog will be resuming soon. w/ the new scheduling feature on here I can keep a rolling posting rather than the vomitous torrents you've all been exposed to in the past. I've sorted the new look - If you have any complaints or trouble reading it, just let me know - I'm more interested in ease of read here than I am on the other blog.

I'm going to be working on refining my writing style w/ these entries so please leave me a comment if you have anything constructive to add in any way - either to me directly or regarding the movie - I'm always looking for new perspectives.

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And back into the fray we go...

28Weeks Later - Oh my - I can't believe they roped a sequel like this out of that movie. And got Robert Carlyle to boot. I liked some of the acting and 3 of the scary moments - the rest was the usual apocalyptic tripe. Marshall law and all that rot and of course the spread of the disease thru the rest of Europe. Cheers. Read more!

Modern Stand w/o the devil...

28 Days Later - was enjoyable for it's scary moments. I liked the mirror of society's insanity driven to the extreme. Far creepier than the infected was Christopher Eccleston's character as he offered the female survivors up to the men to slake their desires with. I loved the ending and the alternate ending. A good time if you are willing to really suspend that disbelief. Read more!

Bloody funny

Hot Fuzz - I caught it this weekend in St Louis. I laughed so hard I almost cried. It is far less rife w/ Spaced references than Shawn of the Dead. But it is hysterical nonetheless. The story is very simple and straightforward as you follow the greatest copper London has ever known as he takes a turn at the countryside. Just sit back and let them entertain you. Read more!

I swear I am the only one who liked it

300 - I don't need to own it, but I probably will. I liked the faux-plot back home while the bois were fighting. I liked the acting for what it was. I wasn't expecting Sin City or anything close to it. I wasn't expecting Oscar caliber performances. I wanted to see guys wearing notsomuch and fake blood splatter, and gore and violence. I wanted to hear Gerard Butler yell, a lot - did I ever mention I have a thing about getting yelled at by a big strong man w/ a Scottish burr in his voice? - Cause I do, it is not a new thing. I liked the fight scenes, and I loved the way most of the shots line up beautifully as a comic book. I even found my way to get over the gratuitous and bullshit facial piercings - sooooo fake looking.

As to the whole reports of current politics - I say projection. For me watching the film I stepped past the racial boundaries & all of the "oh the brown guys from the east are invading" tripe, and saw it more as a story of how the few led the way to prevent the overthrow of their current governing body. Or rather how there is this nation (ours) who has a leader, who states frequently that it is his divine right to rule, and they are invading other nations under real or false pretenses and his people follow him and do his bidding because they are forced to (switch out the whips for $$$) and eventually the invaded nations stand strong enough against them that they stop (that is to say the "insurgents" protecting their homeland do things that are unspeakably violent and gore-ific that the invading nation is simply shocked). Maybe I'm the only one who saw it that way - again -PROJECTION.

AGAIN, I know this is the unpopular opinion, but I liked it. I like the fun, I liked the sheer raw screaming of it, I liked the performances. I liked the way it was filmed and presented. I enjoyed the timing and the choppiness of the editing. Read more!

"Motherfucking cocksucker motherfucking shit fucker what am I doing?"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post. Read more!

The term "shocking" is such an understatement

El Maquinista (The Machinist) – Christian Bale in the performance of a lifetime, It was a little obvious by the time things really got rolling, but the lead in was so entrancing that I couldn’t look away even when I knew I should. I wonder what I would look like if I hadn't slept in over a year. Regardless of my reasons. Read more!

C'mon it's me...

Find Me Guilty – Funny as hell, a hysterical look at the mob. And true, based on a really real true story about a guy who believed in the ideals of the family of the mob more than the people around him. It warmed my cold little heart. Just a good time for anytime. Read more!

What's wrong w/ killing? - everyone has got their reasons

Batoru rowaiaru (Battle Royale) – MURDER DEATH KILL – I love it, First you take a bunch of kids, and then put explosives on them, then you strand them on an island and give them weapons and make them kill eachother. HEEHEEHEE Then when u think they’ve had enough, add in more death and make parts of the island lethal according to your own timetables. Gratuitous violence with a side of surly delinquents. There can be only one.

Is it a coincidence that there are 42 children in all on the island - or that they are numbered just like the bachelors in my Bachelor Hunt - I think not. Read more!

Oh those skills

Napoleon Dynamite – you either love it or you hate it. I rolled on th3e floor w/ laughter it was beautifully true and absurd and wonderful all at the same time. Nothing made laugh harder than when Napoleon was yelling at the llama. A llama named Tina.

There are more quotables in this movie than any other on this list so far. Read more!

And it warped my fragile little mind

A Clockwork Orange – The story of the Nazis or simply a modern morality tale. This disturbing and brilliant story was brought to the screen by a mad genius. Ok, he wasn’t that mad to me, I love his work. Nothing brings me more joi in life than finding references scattered throughout modern culture, whether it is the droogs attacking JB in Tenacious D – Pick Of Destiny, to the Rob Zombie “Red red kroovy” remix. Besides it was my first introduction to Malcolm McDowell, and that has led to a lifelong love affair with his work regardless of how”c” rated. Read more!

Fizzgig and the Skexis

The Dark Crystal – Classic Henson love. I keep hearing rumors of a sequel. Apparently they are true - YAY just have to wait til 2008. I loved this simple story and old special effects. The story is a simple fantasy tale of a journey to rejoin opposing forces to a balance. A classic theme expressed with fantastic puppetry and imagination. Besides it was the first time I heard -
Jen: "Wings? I don't have wings!"
Kira: "Of course not. You're a boy."

Truer words were never spoken. Read more!

Now finish up them taters, I'm gonna go fondle my sweaters.

Wet Hot American Summer – Full of the last days of summer joy and wonder. A little closer to the truth of how a summer camp staff spends its’ days when the campers aren’t looking. I broke in half when they forfeited the game cause they didn’t feel like doing it. I love this movie. It made me miss camp more than I have words for. My favorite moment is in the deleted scenes – with Christopher Meloni as the chef telling them what to bring him back from town. I literally laughed so hard I cried every time he was on the screen. He made me feel free. Read more!

Maybe the critics just forgot our Truman

Capote – I was unimpressed on the whole. I loved the acting, the cinematography was interesting and the overall movie, highly overrated. Read the books instead. Read more!

Blecccccchhhhhhhhh

Ultraviolet – Sucked donkey balls, slimy donkey balls. I saw this in the theatre, and it sucked then. I saw it again at home, on DVD, it still sucked. It looks pretty, It looks pretty. That is as far as it goes, the plot is predictable and weak. The music was obvious and notsomuch fun. The acting wasn’t horrible, but it was not good either. I enjoy many of the cast members, but perhaps it was the fault of the script and cruddy dialogue that dropped the ball. Read more!