I will confess to being a total agnostic on the question. I love them both.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
View From the Phlipside - Avatar
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
Well I went and saw the movie. I tried to be as open minded about it as possible and I must admit that some of it was better, even much better than I expected. That's right I saw Avatar and I saw it in 3D.
So where to begin? With the movie or with the effects? Let's deal with the effects first because it was the part I had the greatest reservations about. Color me impressed with the "Real D" three dimensional effects. The glasses sat comfortably on my nose in front of my regular glasses, I really stopped noticing them fairly quickly. They don't do any of the cheesy "3-D" silliness in Avatar, you know the spear flying out of the screen right at your face, stuff. It was very impressive. So I would certainly be willing to give the process another chance in another movie.
Now about the movie itself. It's a science fiction action adventure film. I want to get that out there right up front so we can be fair. This isn't Shakespeare or Bergman or even Woody Allen. So let's keep the standards reasonable for what to expect from the movie. Having said that the plot was pretty simple and predictable. It didn't have to be, there are always ways to keep the storyline interesting. But I'd say the plot was the minimum needed to keep the story going. So give it a passing grade of C. Not doing quite as well was the dialogue, which struck me as trite, boring and utterly uninspiring. There were one or two lines late in the movie that struck me as almost exciting but I can't quote one of them to you right now. When I walked out of Star Wars the first time I could do a half dozen or more. So dialogue gets a D.
Characterization was the real loser here. We're talking cardboard cutouts. We're talking stereotypes, shallow, one dimensional. And the worst part is there was some real room for character. Giovanni Ribisi's character had the chance to work on some real internal conflict, as could Sam Worthington's lead character of Sully and several of the Navi characters. But we don't get it. And that's a real loss to this movie. Call characterization a D minus.
So is Avatar any good? Should you go see it? I would say absolutely see this movie and see it in 3D. My bet is that the defects are much more obvious without the effects. You'll have plenty of fun and you'll talk about it for days. My bet is that if you're really into the movies it's going to leave you feeling a little empty. As if some important inner piece was missing from the experience. Like disconnecting your avatar.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
Well I went and saw the movie. I tried to be as open minded about it as possible and I must admit that some of it was better, even much better than I expected. That's right I saw Avatar and I saw it in 3D.
So where to begin? With the movie or with the effects? Let's deal with the effects first because it was the part I had the greatest reservations about. Color me impressed with the "Real D" three dimensional effects. The glasses sat comfortably on my nose in front of my regular glasses, I really stopped noticing them fairly quickly. They don't do any of the cheesy "3-D" silliness in Avatar, you know the spear flying out of the screen right at your face, stuff. It was very impressive. So I would certainly be willing to give the process another chance in another movie.
Now about the movie itself. It's a science fiction action adventure film. I want to get that out there right up front so we can be fair. This isn't Shakespeare or Bergman or even Woody Allen. So let's keep the standards reasonable for what to expect from the movie. Having said that the plot was pretty simple and predictable. It didn't have to be, there are always ways to keep the storyline interesting. But I'd say the plot was the minimum needed to keep the story going. So give it a passing grade of C. Not doing quite as well was the dialogue, which struck me as trite, boring and utterly uninspiring. There were one or two lines late in the movie that struck me as almost exciting but I can't quote one of them to you right now. When I walked out of Star Wars the first time I could do a half dozen or more. So dialogue gets a D.
Characterization was the real loser here. We're talking cardboard cutouts. We're talking stereotypes, shallow, one dimensional. And the worst part is there was some real room for character. Giovanni Ribisi's character had the chance to work on some real internal conflict, as could Sam Worthington's lead character of Sully and several of the Navi characters. But we don't get it. And that's a real loss to this movie. Call characterization a D minus.
So is Avatar any good? Should you go see it? I would say absolutely see this movie and see it in 3D. My bet is that the defects are much more obvious without the effects. You'll have plenty of fun and you'll talk about it for days. My bet is that if you're really into the movies it's going to leave you feeling a little empty. As if some important inner piece was missing from the experience. Like disconnecting your avatar.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
View From the Phlipside - 2010 Movies - ReMakes and Sequels
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
The start of a new year and that means a whole new year of movies to see! So let's take a look at some of what's coming. This week we'll start with remakes and sequels. As always I expect this to be a mixed lot. Too often the second or third or whatever in a series or the remakes are just lacking in whatever it was that made the original work.
For example in June we can look forward to the "Kung Fu Kid" a remake of 1984's "Karate Kid". This time around the teacher will be played by Jackie Chan and the young boy by Will Smith's son Jaden. Could be a hit or a total disaster. Other remakes include Clash of the Titans which as I remember was awful back in 1981. The effects were all done in stop motion and looked tired even then. New generation computer animation will certainly help I'm just not sure how many people will jump at the chance to see the story of Perseus on the big screen. Made plenty of money the first time though.
OK more remakes still to come - Poltergeist (despite the rumor that the first three movies in this series were cursed. Seriously). Red Dawn, with the Chinese invading this time instead of the Russians. Look for a return of the "Wolf Man" and the folks at Disney return to "Alice in Wonderland", get ready to dance again with a new "Footloose", oh and Freddy Krueger is back with a new version of "A Nightmare on Elm Street".
Turning to sequels there are PLENTY of those this year too. The animated film Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil is coming. If you're ready for a return of the old "Greed is Good" motto watch for "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps" in April. Then we have "Iron Man 2", "Shrek: Forever After" and "Sex in the City 2" in May. Later in the year you'll find "Toy Story 3", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1", "The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader", and "Tron: Legacy"
I've probably missed at least a couple more re-makes or sequels but that's more than enough for one year. I'm not sure I'd bet on any of them other than Harry Potter being a guaranteed hit. I know I'm interested in the Narnia, Tron, and Iron Man films along with Harry. Most of the rest I can wait till they hit DVD and a few I'll skip completely. Next week I'll take a look at what's new and interesting in the movies.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Thursday, December 17, 2009
View From the Phlipside - Black Hole Sequel
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
Over the years I've watched a LOT of movies. A couple handfuls of really great ones, dozens and dozens or outstanding ones, hundreds of OK ones, a few dozen bad ones and just a couple AWFUL movies. I'm usually pretty good at spotting the real stinkers before I waste my time and money on them. But not always. The good news is that the really putrid films will die a quick death and never be seen again. But not always.
Now let me make one thing clear. A movie can be bad and still be good. The transcendent qualities of certain old horror movies are impressive. At the very top of this list traditionally is the Ed Wood directed classic "Plan 9 from Outer Space". In a lot of ways it's not really any better or worse than a handful of other contenders but it is gloriously, wonderfully awful. I'm not talking about those kinds of bad movies.
I'm talking "Ishtar", a move so bad that when the rental video tape I was watching broke I never bothered to get another copy of the movie to finish. There have been a few others so bad that I refused to finish them. At the top of my list however is the first Disney film ever to get something other than a "G" rating, 1979's "The Black Hole". I should have known. By '79 any movie with Ernest Borgnine in it was pretty much a lock to be schlock. But I love science fiction. I very nearly walked out and demanded a refund. That's how bad this movie is. Awful acting, awful production and awful pseudo-science.
So naturally it's just been announced that they are making a sequel. It's being made by the same people who are producing next year's sequel to 1982's vastly superior sci fi flick "Tron". The movie, curiously also from Disney, is head and shoulders above "The Black Hole". When you add in the chance to use the latest computer techniques this sequel looks great. Even the early trailer looks great. "Tron-Legacy" is set to hit the theaters a year from now. But where does that leave us with the sequel to "The Black Hole"? I'm encouraged to note that the creative team is already talking about putting more science into the new movie. The original was the most expensive movie Disney had ever made to that point so hopefully they'll make a proper financial commitment to this one. And apparently the very nasty robot Maximilian will also return. So I'll keep hoping this will be the rare occasion where a sequel is better than the original. Of course that's not that hard in this case. I really don't want any more movies on my Awful list.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
View From the Phlipside - Ripping on Rudolph
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
I will admit that I have a soft spot for the traditional Christmas movie slate. In fact, just to make sure that I can see them all each year I've hunted most of them down and bought them. A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, the 1930's version of A Christmas Carol, The Walton's Christmas special, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life to name just some. I own them all. And December will be spent watching them all.
At the same time I'm aware of the cliche factor of it all. I know some of it is pretty cheesy. So I'm not above having some fun with it as well. Which is where the wonderful weird folks at RiffTrax enter the picture. If you're not familiar with Rifftrax then maybe you know them from their previous project Mystery Science Theater 3000. Or as it is known among the aficionados Misty Three K. The guys who made their fame by mocking bad science fiction films have turned their sights on Christmas. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett will be joined by no less a loony luminary thanWeird Al Yankovic as they take on a variety of Christmas shorts, ads and a classic.
Oh, yes this time they're not sticking to lesser known movies that were just begging to be mocked and slandered. No, they're going for a classic of the season that, let's face it, is just begging to be mocked and slandered. Rifftrax Live - A Christmas Shorts-stravaganza will be taking on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And they'll be doing it live, broadcast to theaters all over America.
This is a relatively new thing that I've seen done for a couple other events over the last few years. You go to a theater (actually we'll have to go to either Erie or Buffalo. I don't see any theaters around here jumping on the Rudolph slanging bandwagon), you buy your ticket and you get to watch a live broadcast of the event. It's like the world's biggest big screen TV crossed with a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The show hits the theater next week, December 16, with an encore presentation the following day.
If you like your humor snarky and you're not squeamish about raking a great holiday classic over the coals (I mean they are going to murder this movie) then maybe it's worth the drive to Erie, Buffalo or Williamsville. If not then grab a copy of the DVD, snuggle up under the blanket and enjoy the story of an elf who wants to be a dentist and a reindeer with a big shiny nose. And let the Rifftrax boys worry about coal in their stockings.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Monday, October 19, 2009
Resource Review - Hollywood Jesus
(This is part of a year long series of resource reviews I've been doing. 52 resources in 52 weeks. You can see all the reviews in one place here)
OVERALL - Hollywood Jesus.com - An absolutely brilliant combination of pop culture and faith. A site for reviews and thoughtful commentaries.
WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Too many of the websites I see that do faith based commentary on popular culture like movies, books, music and video games start with a suspicion of if not an outright dislike for their subject. Hollywood Jesus starts at the opposite end of the spectrum. These are people of faith who LOVE the movies, books and the like. That doesn't mean they rave up everything they see but they don't start from a stance that says popular culture is inherently evil. And that's refreshing. I find their reviews to be well written and well thought out. They approach faith from a stance that allows them to be open and accessible to all faiths (or no faith at all). Some will see that as a contradiction in terms but I'd recommend you take a long look at the site first.
RESERVATIONS Beyond the fact that I periodically disagree with their reviews, lol, I don't have too many reservations. Review sites of any kind are always about one person's opinion.
RECOMMENDATION If you love the movies and books and video games and the rest and are looking for a solid, faith based, well thought out place to get reviews try Hollywood Jesus.
OVERALL - Hollywood Jesus.com - An absolutely brilliant combination of pop culture and faith. A site for reviews and thoughtful commentaries.WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Too many of the websites I see that do faith based commentary on popular culture like movies, books, music and video games start with a suspicion of if not an outright dislike for their subject. Hollywood Jesus starts at the opposite end of the spectrum. These are people of faith who LOVE the movies, books and the like. That doesn't mean they rave up everything they see but they don't start from a stance that says popular culture is inherently evil. And that's refreshing. I find their reviews to be well written and well thought out. They approach faith from a stance that allows them to be open and accessible to all faiths (or no faith at all). Some will see that as a contradiction in terms but I'd recommend you take a long look at the site first.
RESERVATIONS Beyond the fact that I periodically disagree with their reviews, lol, I don't have too many reservations. Review sites of any kind are always about one person's opinion.
RECOMMENDATION If you love the movies and books and video games and the rest and are looking for a solid, faith based, well thought out place to get reviews try Hollywood Jesus.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The View From the Phlipside
These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
Came across something this past week that thrilled me because it is, as the saying goes, right in my wheelhouse. It's a book...about movies...about sports. If anyone is looking for gift ideas for your humble radio host this one would be great. It's called the Ultimate Book of Sports Movies written by Ray Didinger and Glen Macnow. The authors noted that when they were on the radio and brought up the subject of the ultimate sports movie the phones would blow off the wall with calls. So they wrote the book. Now the book is brand new and I haven't seen it yet so I'm not going to review it here.
But the concept really grabbed me. So I jumped online to see what other lists existed of the all time great sports movies. The results are interesting. Needless to say all kinds of movies make the different lists. Even very bad ones like "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" which was awarded the #100 slot in the book. As I scanned the lists I realized that there were a very small number of films that show up over and over again at the top of the lists. Using top 10 finishes among the half dozen lists I found there were four movies that seem to be the undisputed champs. "Bull Durham", "Raging Bull", "Hoosiers" and the original "Rocky". There is a clear gap down to the next batch which includes movies like "Rudy", "Field of Dreams", "Chariots of Fire", "Slapshot" and "The Natural".
Looking at these top four I'm interested to note some things. First of all, no football movies. Two boxing, one baseball and one high school basketball. The top football movies were "Rudy", "Brian's Song" and "Remember the Titans". Two of which are soppy, sentimental beasts. Hockey actually does a little better with "Slapshot" finishing just outside this top group. Of course there is really only one other hockey movie worth even mentioning and that's "Miracle on Ice". It's interesting to note that boxing MOVIES do so well when the sweet science is pretty much a dead letter in this country today. All four of the movies share a common theme - the underdog clinging to a belief in themselves to overcome the odds. Three of films end up with the hero not getting what they thought they wanted in the beginning (the exception being Hoosiers) but all discover something more important along the way.
The reality is that America loves the underdog. Yes, the Yankees are the greatest sports franchise of all time. But we all know that there's a special sweetness when the little guy rises up to beat the big boys every once in a while. Especially at the movies.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Monday, October 05, 2009
Things I'm watching and reading
Just a little catch up on what I'm doing in my spare time:
Books
"A Death in Vienna" by Daniel Silva. Was just looking for something sort of Dan Brown-ish while I wait for a copy of his new book to pop up at the library. Silva has a recurring character who is part art restorer and part Israeli spy. The story revolves around the Holocaust denial movement. It was a fast, fun read (much like Brown) and pretty good history (unlike Brown, lol). I enjoyed it a lot and will probably read some more in the series.
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. I'd never read it before, what can I say. I've seen parts of movie versions and at least one stage version but never read the original. Talk about a fast read, the book is only just over 100 pages! The story of dreams and hard reality still plays well. Perhaps especially pertinent in these modern hard times too.
Movie -
Wordplay - This documentary about the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament was even more fun than I expected. I started messing around doing crosswords to help get me through Finals week at college and they continue to amuse me. The movie takes a look at some very serious crossword fans (like Jon Stewart, Ken Burns and Bill Clinton) and this amazing tournament. These are people who can dash off an ordinary crossword puzzle in less than five minutes and do the Sunday NY Times in ink. There's also a fascinating look at how crossword puzzles are constructed that just stopped me dead. Yes I'm a word nerd and maybe not everyone else will be as enthralled but the people are fun and funny and comfortable with who they are. I really enjoyed it.
Working on a new Tom Clancy book but I'm not getting grabbed by the throat as much by this one. We'll see where it goes.
Peace
Books
"A Death in Vienna" by Daniel Silva. Was just looking for something sort of Dan Brown-ish while I wait for a copy of his new book to pop up at the library. Silva has a recurring character who is part art restorer and part Israeli spy. The story revolves around the Holocaust denial movement. It was a fast, fun read (much like Brown) and pretty good history (unlike Brown, lol). I enjoyed it a lot and will probably read some more in the series.
"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. I'd never read it before, what can I say. I've seen parts of movie versions and at least one stage version but never read the original. Talk about a fast read, the book is only just over 100 pages! The story of dreams and hard reality still plays well. Perhaps especially pertinent in these modern hard times too.
Movie -
Wordplay - This documentary about the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament was even more fun than I expected. I started messing around doing crosswords to help get me through Finals week at college and they continue to amuse me. The movie takes a look at some very serious crossword fans (like Jon Stewart, Ken Burns and Bill Clinton) and this amazing tournament. These are people who can dash off an ordinary crossword puzzle in less than five minutes and do the Sunday NY Times in ink. There's also a fascinating look at how crossword puzzles are constructed that just stopped me dead. Yes I'm a word nerd and maybe not everyone else will be as enthralled but the people are fun and funny and comfortable with who they are. I really enjoyed it.
Working on a new Tom Clancy book but I'm not getting grabbed by the throat as much by this one. We'll see where it goes.
Peace
Sunday, September 27, 2009
At the Movies - "RV"
RV - starring Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels and Kristen Chenoweth.
Ok, so this is not the worst movie I've ever seen. In fact it's not even in the running for the bottom 10 worst movies of my life.
But it's not good.
I have a weakness for Robin Williams. I think he's brilliant and a pretty fair straight actor (as great comics often are). But clearly he has the WORST sense for a script of anyone I've ever watched. I have seen him in more lame, second rate movies than just about anyone else. I'll exclude Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell because they're TRYING to create lame, second rate movies and are darned successful at it. I just keep hoping to discover that little bit of magic that Williams finds every once in a while. Every once in a LOOOOOOONG while.
I will admit that there are some solid laughs in this movie. Maybe 10. Maybe 12. Or maybe only 8. There's not many and they are few and far between. Seems like there's not a lot of time for laughs because they have to jam in about a thousand really lame sight gags, and a tiny little bit of story line.
Characters? Cardboard.
Story/plot? Please.
Tempo/pacing? I've seen dead people move faster.
It's really too bad. This is a solid cast and a decent idea. Sadly they got handed over to a writer with no clue and a director with a hit or miss track record. Take away the Men in Black movies and "Get Shorty" and Barry Sonenfeld gets to rest on the laurels of "The Wild Wild West", plus two Addams Family movies. Neither of which I liked. The first one was a hit at the box office, the second one not so much. Neither is ever going to make the top 200 movies of all time list. The rest of his career as a director is TV, entirely non-hit stuff.
So was it a waste of my life? No, really not a terrible way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon. And that's what you should be waiting for before you see this movie. A rainy, Saturday afternoon. When you have absolutely NOTHING better to do with your life.
Peace.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Oh the things that I do
Wow, haven't posted much here other than "bizness" so a catch up post:
Did the Loop the Lake ride on my bike. Takes you the whole way around Lake Chautauqua which is about 42 miles. I did it in a new personal best of 3 hours 24 minutes and 50 seconds (riding time, total elapsed time was 3:50). The ride was fine except for about five miles of steady light rain that just drenched me. If I'd ridden slower I'd have missed it completely. Felt very good to get it done in such good shape. No major physical problems on the ride or the day after. My new water back pack has been a real boon to avoiding cramping.
Haven't been watching many movies but I am going back through the episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati". I remember most of them but I'd really overlooked what great performances were turned in by some of the cast. Naturally I've fallen completely in love with Bailey Quarters (again). And yes add me to the list of folks who worked in the industry who will tell you that yes, it really was like that. Great stuff.
Been thinking about what a really solid year it's been for me personally. The weight loss, the improved blood test results, the major step up in bike riding and overall fitness(including a 40+ mile ride, a 50 mile ride and taking on the longest hill in the area 800+ foot rise in 6 miles), working on my guitar playing. I performed with my daughter for the first time in our lives doing a short drama for church (that was very well received (and looking at the video she out performed me too!) Still ahead is the challenge of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. The kid believes her father might just have some small talent for writing (she's the family expert so I shan't argue). But her papi is a lazy butt so she has cornered me into agreeing to taking on the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel length story in 30 days. She's actually done the challenge several times and met the goal just this past year. So this is a kind of put up or shut up time for yours truly. I need to start doing some prep work here soon (but no writing yet! That has to be done in November. But I can do character sketches, outline the story, etc in advance) A few years ago I never would have tried, it was just "something I'll never be able to pull off". This year has proven that what I CAN do and what I THINK I CAN DO can be two very different things.
My lady wife and I are doing something radical as well. We're having friends over for dinner. In fact the plan is have a whole bunch of folks over for dinner over the next year. We've always wanted to and never done it. So we've decided it's time to stop being such social hermits. It should be fun. We have some great friends.
Otherwise it's just been life, one day at a time. Time to start wrapping up summer, finishing the chores around the yard, make sure the snow blower is ready to go (SIGH!).
And hope that next year is this good.
Peace
Did the Loop the Lake ride on my bike. Takes you the whole way around Lake Chautauqua which is about 42 miles. I did it in a new personal best of 3 hours 24 minutes and 50 seconds (riding time, total elapsed time was 3:50). The ride was fine except for about five miles of steady light rain that just drenched me. If I'd ridden slower I'd have missed it completely. Felt very good to get it done in such good shape. No major physical problems on the ride or the day after. My new water back pack has been a real boon to avoiding cramping.
Haven't been watching many movies but I am going back through the episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati". I remember most of them but I'd really overlooked what great performances were turned in by some of the cast. Naturally I've fallen completely in love with Bailey Quarters (again). And yes add me to the list of folks who worked in the industry who will tell you that yes, it really was like that. Great stuff.
Been thinking about what a really solid year it's been for me personally. The weight loss, the improved blood test results, the major step up in bike riding and overall fitness(including a 40+ mile ride, a 50 mile ride and taking on the longest hill in the area 800+ foot rise in 6 miles), working on my guitar playing. I performed with my daughter for the first time in our lives doing a short drama for church (that was very well received (and looking at the video she out performed me too!) Still ahead is the challenge of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. The kid believes her father might just have some small talent for writing (she's the family expert so I shan't argue). But her papi is a lazy butt so she has cornered me into agreeing to taking on the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel length story in 30 days. She's actually done the challenge several times and met the goal just this past year. So this is a kind of put up or shut up time for yours truly. I need to start doing some prep work here soon (but no writing yet! That has to be done in November. But I can do character sketches, outline the story, etc in advance) A few years ago I never would have tried, it was just "something I'll never be able to pull off". This year has proven that what I CAN do and what I THINK I CAN DO can be two very different things.
My lady wife and I are doing something radical as well. We're having friends over for dinner. In fact the plan is have a whole bunch of folks over for dinner over the next year. We've always wanted to and never done it. So we've decided it's time to stop being such social hermits. It should be fun. We have some great friends.
Otherwise it's just been life, one day at a time. Time to start wrapping up summer, finishing the chores around the yard, make sure the snow blower is ready to go (SIGH!).
And hope that next year is this good.
Peace
Friday, August 28, 2009
Two Movies I've Seen
I've been into a theater twice in the last week. Which is way more than usual. Saw two interesting movies and had two very different experiences:
Frost/Nixon - (2008) -Based on Peter Morgan's play of the same name the movie looks at the historic interviews done by talk show host David Frost and disgraced former president Richard Nixon. I was fascinated by the performances of the two leads - Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost. Both historic figures are displayed warts and all. Frost's dilettante approach to his work, Nixon's tightly wound personality and perpetual inferiority complex. What bothers many people about this movie is that it brings up feelings of sympathy for Nixon and many of us just don't ever want to go there. In the end history will probably show Nixon as a man who honestly believed that what he was doing was necessary at the moment he did it even if it was wrong. He certainly was much more complex than the paper cut out boogie man so many of us still hold in our minds. I thought it was interesting that the Nixon entourage came off much worse than the Frost one while Frost comes off worse than Nixon does. In the author's view it would appear that it is Nixon who finally draws the best out of Frost. Something that Frost might have never done on his own.
If you're going to watch this movie you're going to have to accept that it is an all talking heads film. There is NO action, virtually no love story and the section around Frost trying to find funding for the airing of the interviews is pretty slow. But the interplay between Langella and Sheen is astounding. Watching either one of them alone is pretty marvelous too. This is truly a character driven movie. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.
Public Enemies - (2009) - Big star actor, great supporting cast, wonderful look to the film and an iconic subject matter. So why was this such a disappointing movie? Well, mainly because the script wanders and has no idea where it's going. Because you aren't told WHO some of the characters are, there are dozens of them that seem to wander in and out constantly and are basically freely interchangeable. My bet is that if there is ever a "Director's Cut" of this movie it'll be 60-90 minutes longer than the theater release. Both I and the kid walked out deeply disappointed.
Johnny Depp did a fine job with another quirky choice for a role. Visually the movie was impressive. It has a great look. It's got the visual style of the modern graphic novel or a classic comic book. Moody, stylish and very "graphic". Sadly, it's like a reverse Emperor's clothing story. The clothing looks great but there's nothing inside them.
I have a problem going in because I don't like movies that glamorize thugs like Dillinger. He was a violent criminal with a long history. This was not a nice man in any sense of the concept and I really dislike when we play them up as heroes. To give the movie it's due it shows Dillinger as being less than a pillar of the community. And I never quite came to the point of rooting for him. You see this movie is interesting in that it has no "hero" to root for. Dillinger is a thug and a criminal who only looks good because some of the cops are as bad or worse. J. Edgar Hoover is shown as the egotistical monster that history has discovered him to have been.
In the end the script lets everyone down. There are too many people, half the time you don't know who they are (and I have more than a passing familiarity with this period and it's criminals. The movie was 90% over before I realized one character was in fact Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. Other historic figures include "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson,and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis). Consequently you don't much care about them since you never get to "know" them. They fly in, talk briefly, fire their weapons a lot and disappear again for a while. The pace of the story telling is incredibly slow while all this car chase and shooting is going on. Melvin Purvis (played with no hint of human emotion or personality by Christian Bale) isn't any better. The movie perpetuates his probably undeserved reputation for killing Floyd. And I can't imagine this will ever be a favorite at the F.B.I. It shows them in all their worst moments early in their history. Hoover did take a second rate law enforcement agency and turn into something much, much better. Sadly he also ingrained some of his worst personal characteristics into it's cultural DNA that linger still to this day.
As I said, truly, deeply disappointing.
Peace
Frost/Nixon - (2008) -Based on Peter Morgan's play of the same name the movie looks at the historic interviews done by talk show host David Frost and disgraced former president Richard Nixon. I was fascinated by the performances of the two leads - Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost. Both historic figures are displayed warts and all. Frost's dilettante approach to his work, Nixon's tightly wound personality and perpetual inferiority complex. What bothers many people about this movie is that it brings up feelings of sympathy for Nixon and many of us just don't ever want to go there. In the end history will probably show Nixon as a man who honestly believed that what he was doing was necessary at the moment he did it even if it was wrong. He certainly was much more complex than the paper cut out boogie man so many of us still hold in our minds. I thought it was interesting that the Nixon entourage came off much worse than the Frost one while Frost comes off worse than Nixon does. In the author's view it would appear that it is Nixon who finally draws the best out of Frost. Something that Frost might have never done on his own.
If you're going to watch this movie you're going to have to accept that it is an all talking heads film. There is NO action, virtually no love story and the section around Frost trying to find funding for the airing of the interviews is pretty slow. But the interplay between Langella and Sheen is astounding. Watching either one of them alone is pretty marvelous too. This is truly a character driven movie. I enjoyed it much more than I expected.
Public Enemies - (2009) - Big star actor, great supporting cast, wonderful look to the film and an iconic subject matter. So why was this such a disappointing movie? Well, mainly because the script wanders and has no idea where it's going. Because you aren't told WHO some of the characters are, there are dozens of them that seem to wander in and out constantly and are basically freely interchangeable. My bet is that if there is ever a "Director's Cut" of this movie it'll be 60-90 minutes longer than the theater release. Both I and the kid walked out deeply disappointed.
Johnny Depp did a fine job with another quirky choice for a role. Visually the movie was impressive. It has a great look. It's got the visual style of the modern graphic novel or a classic comic book. Moody, stylish and very "graphic". Sadly, it's like a reverse Emperor's clothing story. The clothing looks great but there's nothing inside them.
I have a problem going in because I don't like movies that glamorize thugs like Dillinger. He was a violent criminal with a long history. This was not a nice man in any sense of the concept and I really dislike when we play them up as heroes. To give the movie it's due it shows Dillinger as being less than a pillar of the community. And I never quite came to the point of rooting for him. You see this movie is interesting in that it has no "hero" to root for. Dillinger is a thug and a criminal who only looks good because some of the cops are as bad or worse. J. Edgar Hoover is shown as the egotistical monster that history has discovered him to have been.
In the end the script lets everyone down. There are too many people, half the time you don't know who they are (and I have more than a passing familiarity with this period and it's criminals. The movie was 90% over before I realized one character was in fact Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. Other historic figures include "Pretty Boy" Floyd, "Baby Face" Nelson,and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis). Consequently you don't much care about them since you never get to "know" them. They fly in, talk briefly, fire their weapons a lot and disappear again for a while. The pace of the story telling is incredibly slow while all this car chase and shooting is going on. Melvin Purvis (played with no hint of human emotion or personality by Christian Bale) isn't any better. The movie perpetuates his probably undeserved reputation for killing Floyd. And I can't imagine this will ever be a favorite at the F.B.I. It shows them in all their worst moments early in their history. Hoover did take a second rate law enforcement agency and turn into something much, much better. Sadly he also ingrained some of his worst personal characteristics into it's cultural DNA that linger still to this day.
As I said, truly, deeply disappointing.
Peace
Friday, August 21, 2009
View From the Phlipside 082209
These are the scripts from my radio program which is heard Tuesday - Friday on WRFA-LP Jamestown.
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
Having grown up, at least in part, during the 1960s I have a native mistrust of large corporate entities. Corporate America, lionized during the '50's, became an object of suspicion, rightly or wrongly, in the culture shift of the '60's. I still carry some of that with me into the new century. So I am beginning to wonder about Google.
It wasn't that long ago that Google was one of the little guys, the counter culture guys, going their own way, doing their own thing. Fighting the man. And best of all, winning. Google emerged from the battles of the late '90s and early two thousands as the dominant name in online search. Heck their name even became an adjective. You don't just search for something online, you google it. Out of that came several other interesting and very useful tools. I love gmail and maintain separate accounts for my work and for my home. Google reader is my favorite way to keep track of the various blogs of friends, sports teams and other topics that I follow. I belong to several Google groups and store photos at Picassa which is Google's photo site. But with each additional service they offer Google takes on more and more the aspect of the Big Corporate Entity. And I feel that '60's counter culture itch start down my spine.
Well now Google would like to be your cell phone company. And that may be just too much. Google Voice has been an online service they've recently developed. Now there are smart phone apps for Blackberry and the Android OS being made available. Google Voice Mobile steps in between you and your cell phone provider. In fact when you use it (and you can chose to make ALL your calls from your cell phone via Google Voice) your cell phone number won't even show up, it's your Google Voice number. Now the downside of this is that you may have to listen to short advertisements to pay for the service but some studies show we just might be willing to do that. Given a recent study that shows we pay the HIGHEST cell phone rates anywhere in the world this might actually be a good thing, forcing the cell phone companies to get serious about making their services more affordable.
Which means Google is STILL fighting the man! All right. I'm feeling much better now.
***********
Is there anything cooler than when it turns out the old guys were actually right? OK, maybe there's something cooler if you're not an old guy but hey this is my program and I'll designate what's cool and what's not. So this is the coolest news of the year.
Back when it became clear that the vinyl album was headed towards extinction (and let's pause a moment to note that while vinyl sales are only a tiny fraction of what they were they haven't disappeared yet. In fact I just saw that a guy I know who is a good 20 years younger than me was out buying some vinyl for his collection. Seems vinyl still has a little life in it) anyway, one of the things some of us "old guys" lamented at the time was the loss of the "other stuff" you got with a great album. First there was the classic album cover. Some truly incredible stuff was created just to for the cover of your favorite band. Compact Discs are really too small to recreate the effect in album art. Then there were all the liner notes. Sure you've got the little pamphlets in the jewel case for that info but again it's so small that you have to print very small. Let's face it, no one above the age of 15 really wants to try and read all that tiny little print.
Well it seems like somebody else has finally come around to my way of thinking. And it's a pretty influential somebody. Itunes is working with the four largest record labels to bring back the album. Seems that with the burst in digital music sales album sales (ie actual CDs) have tailed off sharply. Now folks just buy the individual tracks they know and like. The profit margin on single track sales are much lower than albums sales so the record companies are all in favor. Itunes will bundle an interactive booklet with liner notes, photos, video and more when you buy the album.
So let me put my two cents in from the music lover's point of view. The great thing about buying an album is the chance you'll discover a great piece of music that isn't released as a single. It's getting to know the band's music in greater depth. An album takes you beyond the shallow waters of hit music and brings you into the deep waters of loving music. Add in a great piece of cover art and what more could you possibly need?
*******
You would think that I'd be all excited about the intersection of two of the media that we talk about here on the program. Nothing like bringing several of my passions all together in the same place, right? Well not so much. Even if you add in one of my favorite writers doing the script it fails to excite me.
Sometimes you just wonder what people are thinking when they pitch a movie idea. It's like the movie "Flash of Genius" from just last year. Somebody really thought that a movie about the creation of the multiple speed windshield wiper switch would make a great movie! It's something that virtually everyone is familiar with, if your car is 20 years old or newer you have one. It's the struggle of one man against the corporate giant. It lasted 4 weeks at the box office and was never heard from again. Want another example? How about "Tucker - The Man and His Dream" about maverick car manufacturer Preston Tucker. It made almost five times as much money as Flash of Genius and was still a bomb.
And I'm pretty sure we're about to see another movie just like it. Aaron Sorkin, one of the brilliant creative minds behind "The West Wing", is working on a script about the creation of, wait for it, Facebook. You've got to be kidding right? The story of the little social network that could, and did. Created by a bunch of Harvard computer geeks after one of them was dumped by his girlfriend. Imagine the thrilling scenes of writing computer code followed by equally engaging scenes as they try to get funding to take their network big time. People offer to buy them, they say no. People offer even more money to buy them, they say no again. People offer a billion dollars to buy them, they say no. Anyone still awake after just the description of the movie?
So here we sit. A movie, written by one of the better writers out there today, about a product that virtually everyone knows and lots and lots of us use on a daily basis. And I have no idea why anyone would want to make this movie. It's going to cost tens of millions of dollars (Flash of Genius cost more than 20 Million), with a topic that won't bring in any of the key teenage demographics and a subject that's not particularly interesting to adults either. Oh yeah this has hit movie written all over it. Somebody please send the financials for Flash of Genius and Tucker to Aaron Sorkin. Please?
Call that the view from the Phlipside
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside
Having grown up, at least in part, during the 1960s I have a native mistrust of large corporate entities. Corporate America, lionized during the '50's, became an object of suspicion, rightly or wrongly, in the culture shift of the '60's. I still carry some of that with me into the new century. So I am beginning to wonder about Google.
It wasn't that long ago that Google was one of the little guys, the counter culture guys, going their own way, doing their own thing. Fighting the man. And best of all, winning. Google emerged from the battles of the late '90s and early two thousands as the dominant name in online search. Heck their name even became an adjective. You don't just search for something online, you google it. Out of that came several other interesting and very useful tools. I love gmail and maintain separate accounts for my work and for my home. Google reader is my favorite way to keep track of the various blogs of friends, sports teams and other topics that I follow. I belong to several Google groups and store photos at Picassa which is Google's photo site. But with each additional service they offer Google takes on more and more the aspect of the Big Corporate Entity. And I feel that '60's counter culture itch start down my spine.
Well now Google would like to be your cell phone company. And that may be just too much. Google Voice has been an online service they've recently developed. Now there are smart phone apps for Blackberry and the Android OS being made available. Google Voice Mobile steps in between you and your cell phone provider. In fact when you use it (and you can chose to make ALL your calls from your cell phone via Google Voice) your cell phone number won't even show up, it's your Google Voice number. Now the downside of this is that you may have to listen to short advertisements to pay for the service but some studies show we just might be willing to do that. Given a recent study that shows we pay the HIGHEST cell phone rates anywhere in the world this might actually be a good thing, forcing the cell phone companies to get serious about making their services more affordable.
Which means Google is STILL fighting the man! All right. I'm feeling much better now.
***********
Is there anything cooler than when it turns out the old guys were actually right? OK, maybe there's something cooler if you're not an old guy but hey this is my program and I'll designate what's cool and what's not. So this is the coolest news of the year.
Back when it became clear that the vinyl album was headed towards extinction (and let's pause a moment to note that while vinyl sales are only a tiny fraction of what they were they haven't disappeared yet. In fact I just saw that a guy I know who is a good 20 years younger than me was out buying some vinyl for his collection. Seems vinyl still has a little life in it) anyway, one of the things some of us "old guys" lamented at the time was the loss of the "other stuff" you got with a great album. First there was the classic album cover. Some truly incredible stuff was created just to for the cover of your favorite band. Compact Discs are really too small to recreate the effect in album art. Then there were all the liner notes. Sure you've got the little pamphlets in the jewel case for that info but again it's so small that you have to print very small. Let's face it, no one above the age of 15 really wants to try and read all that tiny little print.
Well it seems like somebody else has finally come around to my way of thinking. And it's a pretty influential somebody. Itunes is working with the four largest record labels to bring back the album. Seems that with the burst in digital music sales album sales (ie actual CDs) have tailed off sharply. Now folks just buy the individual tracks they know and like. The profit margin on single track sales are much lower than albums sales so the record companies are all in favor. Itunes will bundle an interactive booklet with liner notes, photos, video and more when you buy the album.
So let me put my two cents in from the music lover's point of view. The great thing about buying an album is the chance you'll discover a great piece of music that isn't released as a single. It's getting to know the band's music in greater depth. An album takes you beyond the shallow waters of hit music and brings you into the deep waters of loving music. Add in a great piece of cover art and what more could you possibly need?
*******
You would think that I'd be all excited about the intersection of two of the media that we talk about here on the program. Nothing like bringing several of my passions all together in the same place, right? Well not so much. Even if you add in one of my favorite writers doing the script it fails to excite me.
Sometimes you just wonder what people are thinking when they pitch a movie idea. It's like the movie "Flash of Genius" from just last year. Somebody really thought that a movie about the creation of the multiple speed windshield wiper switch would make a great movie! It's something that virtually everyone is familiar with, if your car is 20 years old or newer you have one. It's the struggle of one man against the corporate giant. It lasted 4 weeks at the box office and was never heard from again. Want another example? How about "Tucker - The Man and His Dream" about maverick car manufacturer Preston Tucker. It made almost five times as much money as Flash of Genius and was still a bomb.
And I'm pretty sure we're about to see another movie just like it. Aaron Sorkin, one of the brilliant creative minds behind "The West Wing", is working on a script about the creation of, wait for it, Facebook. You've got to be kidding right? The story of the little social network that could, and did. Created by a bunch of Harvard computer geeks after one of them was dumped by his girlfriend. Imagine the thrilling scenes of writing computer code followed by equally engaging scenes as they try to get funding to take their network big time. People offer to buy them, they say no. People offer even more money to buy them, they say no again. People offer a billion dollars to buy them, they say no. Anyone still awake after just the description of the movie?
So here we sit. A movie, written by one of the better writers out there today, about a product that virtually everyone knows and lots and lots of us use on a daily basis. And I have no idea why anyone would want to make this movie. It's going to cost tens of millions of dollars (Flash of Genius cost more than 20 Million), with a topic that won't bring in any of the key teenage demographics and a subject that's not particularly interesting to adults either. Oh yeah this has hit movie written all over it. Somebody please send the financials for Flash of Genius and Tucker to Aaron Sorkin. Please?
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Friday, August 07, 2009
The View From the Phlipside
These are the scripts to my weekly media commentary program called "The Phlipside" which airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY Tuesday - Friday at 7:45 AM and 5:05 PM (or thereabouts). I also have a Twitter account for the show @radiophlipside.
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside...
Hollywood is such a delightfully weird place. It keeps me in lots of topics to discuss some weird and some wonderful and some, well I'm still trying to figure those out. This time let's take a look at some movies that are just at the very beginning of their process.
We've got several sequels that are getting ready to start shooting in the next year or so. It's hard to explain why they're looking at a sequel to the movie Hitman. What's that you say, you don't remember any such movie? Not surprising, it was a total bomb here in the U.S. for the simple reason that it was awful. But the overseas crowd loved it so we get to see a sequel. More popular around these parts were the first three Pirates of the Caribbean, although I think they get less wonderful with each title. Rob Marshall will apparently be the director. We can only hope he does a better job than he did with "Chicago". Rumor has it that Pixar and Disney are looking at a Monster's Inc 2 which might be pretty cool. Disney has registered the domain name for Monsters2.com which might be a clue, of course they also registered a domain name for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 as well.
On the more inexplicable side we have a remake of the classic Errol Flynn pic Captain Blood. The spin on this one is that the classic pirates tale will be moved to outer space. You mean like Han Solo already did? How about a Mad Max 4? OK how about not? Could start shooting next summer. Really topping the inexplicable list however is Stephen Spielberg's announcement that he will direct a remake of the 1950 classic "Harvey". In case you're not into old movies this was a Jimmy Stewart film about a guy with an invisible friend. A six foot three inch tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. Now that sounds pretty lame. In fact the movie is rather amazing very carefully balancing the question of whether the main character is eccentric or out right nuts. Based on a Pulitzer prize winning play it ranks as the #35 movie of all time according the American Film Institute. It's essentially a perfect film. So what do you do with a remake?
***
So how do you survive the change in the media environment if you're an old line medium? That question is still to be found but the folks at Barnes and Noble are taking a promising approach. I've mentioned before that I'm a dedicated reader and it is my fervent hope that the book industry never fades away. But it is facing some serious challenges today.
So here's what Barnes and Noble is doing - they're finding a way to bring media savvy, digitally connected people into, of all places, a bookstore! And that might just be a good boost to the old business. Barnes and Noble has announced that they are coming out with an ebook reader to take on Kindle, have opened an ebookstore, are offering a free ebook reader application for use on computers and smart phones and oh yeah are now making all their stores free WiFi locations. The ebookstore is offering access to no less than seven hundred thousand titles to start. This is worth noting about that number - about two thirds of them are public domain titles. Still that's four hundred thousand more than are offered by Amazon through Kindle. You can download and preview any of the titles, the pay titles start under ten bucks.
So why do I like this move? Simple first it eliminates a road block to users getting access to your online offerings, Second it's free and the new marketing thinking is that you have to offer a Freemium to the current generation of media users to get them to buy. Start them off with freebies and they're more likely to become paying customers. Third is actually some old school marketing. If you can get the customer through the door your chance of selling them something increases. They come in, check out the free wifi, scan the ebookstore, take a wander through the store to stretch their legs and discover something that appeals to them. Sure they might be able to get it for less online somewhere but here it is, in their hands, right now. No waiting for the package to be shipped, they can take it home this instant. Never underestimate the power of instant gratification. And BANG, all of a sudden you've made a sale.
I'm in favor of anything that keeps people reading and bookstores in business.
***
I never understand why intelligent people insist on acting like idiots. And there's no doubt that CNN talking head Lou Dobbs is a bright guy. Harvard degrees in Economics don't just fall off trees. So explain to me why Lou is caught up in the latest resurgence of the "birthers" debate around President Obama.
In case you're not up to speed on this one the birther question is whether the current President of the United States is a natural born citizen as is required by the Constitution. The question first came up during the Democratic primaries and I thought had been put to rest but apparently not. Lou has done repeated shows on this supposed "question" over the last couple months. Dobbs himself keeps saying he believes the President meets the Constitutional requirement then keeps the story rolling with yet another segment.
Let's be clear: no one in their right mind thinks this is still an open question. Ultra conservative commentator Ann Coulter thinks Dobbs needs to shut up on this question. Pretty much everyone EXCEPT a bunch of far right wing nuts and Lou Dobbs want to move on.
For the record here are the FACTS - The state of Hawaii went into its archives and has produced the original birth certificate with all appropriate seals and signatures. The archives of two separate Hawaiian newspapers show the birth announcement of the President at the time and place indicated. All appropriate authorities have acknowledged that Barack Hussein Obama meets the citizenship requirement to hold our highest office. You may think the President is an idiot but you can't say he's not a citizen. Not without sacrificing an awful lot of credibility.
So why is Lou Dobbs so prepared to do just that? Why sacrifice a reasonably distinguished reputation? I say reasonably distinguished because Dobbs did once order coverage of the President's visit to Columbine following the school shootings to be cut short so CNN could return to his show Moneyline. Seems Lou has these slips in decision making periodically. The answer these days seems pretty simple. Dobbs current show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, has been losing viewers for a while now.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside...
Hollywood is such a delightfully weird place. It keeps me in lots of topics to discuss some weird and some wonderful and some, well I'm still trying to figure those out. This time let's take a look at some movies that are just at the very beginning of their process.
We've got several sequels that are getting ready to start shooting in the next year or so. It's hard to explain why they're looking at a sequel to the movie Hitman. What's that you say, you don't remember any such movie? Not surprising, it was a total bomb here in the U.S. for the simple reason that it was awful. But the overseas crowd loved it so we get to see a sequel. More popular around these parts were the first three Pirates of the Caribbean, although I think they get less wonderful with each title. Rob Marshall will apparently be the director. We can only hope he does a better job than he did with "Chicago". Rumor has it that Pixar and Disney are looking at a Monster's Inc 2 which might be pretty cool. Disney has registered the domain name for Monsters2.com which might be a clue, of course they also registered a domain name for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 as well.
On the more inexplicable side we have a remake of the classic Errol Flynn pic Captain Blood. The spin on this one is that the classic pirates tale will be moved to outer space. You mean like Han Solo already did? How about a Mad Max 4? OK how about not? Could start shooting next summer. Really topping the inexplicable list however is Stephen Spielberg's announcement that he will direct a remake of the 1950 classic "Harvey". In case you're not into old movies this was a Jimmy Stewart film about a guy with an invisible friend. A six foot three inch tall invisible rabbit named Harvey. Now that sounds pretty lame. In fact the movie is rather amazing very carefully balancing the question of whether the main character is eccentric or out right nuts. Based on a Pulitzer prize winning play it ranks as the #35 movie of all time according the American Film Institute. It's essentially a perfect film. So what do you do with a remake?
***
So how do you survive the change in the media environment if you're an old line medium? That question is still to be found but the folks at Barnes and Noble are taking a promising approach. I've mentioned before that I'm a dedicated reader and it is my fervent hope that the book industry never fades away. But it is facing some serious challenges today.
So here's what Barnes and Noble is doing - they're finding a way to bring media savvy, digitally connected people into, of all places, a bookstore! And that might just be a good boost to the old business. Barnes and Noble has announced that they are coming out with an ebook reader to take on Kindle, have opened an ebookstore, are offering a free ebook reader application for use on computers and smart phones and oh yeah are now making all their stores free WiFi locations. The ebookstore is offering access to no less than seven hundred thousand titles to start. This is worth noting about that number - about two thirds of them are public domain titles. Still that's four hundred thousand more than are offered by Amazon through Kindle. You can download and preview any of the titles, the pay titles start under ten bucks.
So why do I like this move? Simple first it eliminates a road block to users getting access to your online offerings, Second it's free and the new marketing thinking is that you have to offer a Freemium to the current generation of media users to get them to buy. Start them off with freebies and they're more likely to become paying customers. Third is actually some old school marketing. If you can get the customer through the door your chance of selling them something increases. They come in, check out the free wifi, scan the ebookstore, take a wander through the store to stretch their legs and discover something that appeals to them. Sure they might be able to get it for less online somewhere but here it is, in their hands, right now. No waiting for the package to be shipped, they can take it home this instant. Never underestimate the power of instant gratification. And BANG, all of a sudden you've made a sale.
I'm in favor of anything that keeps people reading and bookstores in business.
***
I never understand why intelligent people insist on acting like idiots. And there's no doubt that CNN talking head Lou Dobbs is a bright guy. Harvard degrees in Economics don't just fall off trees. So explain to me why Lou is caught up in the latest resurgence of the "birthers" debate around President Obama.
In case you're not up to speed on this one the birther question is whether the current President of the United States is a natural born citizen as is required by the Constitution. The question first came up during the Democratic primaries and I thought had been put to rest but apparently not. Lou has done repeated shows on this supposed "question" over the last couple months. Dobbs himself keeps saying he believes the President meets the Constitutional requirement then keeps the story rolling with yet another segment.
Let's be clear: no one in their right mind thinks this is still an open question. Ultra conservative commentator Ann Coulter thinks Dobbs needs to shut up on this question. Pretty much everyone EXCEPT a bunch of far right wing nuts and Lou Dobbs want to move on.
For the record here are the FACTS - The state of Hawaii went into its archives and has produced the original birth certificate with all appropriate seals and signatures. The archives of two separate Hawaiian newspapers show the birth announcement of the President at the time and place indicated. All appropriate authorities have acknowledged that Barack Hussein Obama meets the citizenship requirement to hold our highest office. You may think the President is an idiot but you can't say he's not a citizen. Not without sacrificing an awful lot of credibility.
So why is Lou Dobbs so prepared to do just that? Why sacrifice a reasonably distinguished reputation? I say reasonably distinguished because Dobbs did once order coverage of the President's visit to Columbine following the school shootings to be cut short so CNN could return to his show Moneyline. Seems Lou has these slips in decision making periodically. The answer these days seems pretty simple. Dobbs current show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, has been losing viewers for a while now.
Call that the view from the Phlipside
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Star Trek Movie Easter Eggs
Easter Eggs are little hidden goodies found in movies and video games. They are usually private jokes of the creative team or with the fan base or tributes to other storylines/people/media. Trekmovie.com has a list of the easter eggs discovered so far in the new Star Trek movie. I caught a few of them but now I'll have to go see the movie again to catch a few more. H/T to Matthew McNutt for the tip. I also snitched this list from him of some of his favorites from the list:
* R2 is in the debris field. During the Drill Machine sequence as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel role amidst destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior Enterprise bridge over the shoulder of Kirk that is looking out through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.
* The surround screen tests for the young Vulcan children are similiar to the multi-screen tests for the resurrected Spock in Star Trek IV
* Sign seen as Kirk drives motorcycle into Riverside Ship Yard reads ‘Sector 47′, the number 47 is a recurring theme on the Abrams shows Alias, Fringe and Lost, as well as TNG era Trek
* Another 47 mention when Uhura talks about “47 ships” from a Klingon armada that were destroyed
* During Kobayashi Maru simulator Kirk eats an apple, an homage to the Genesis cave scene in Star Trek II when Kirk at apple while telling story about how he beat the Kobayashi Maru
* Last name called for assignment was “Vader USS Hood”, reference to Star Wars
* When Chekov is trying to log in to his station the computer voice is by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, her last role in the Star Trek franchise before her death
* Sulu tells Kirk his combat training is in fencing, in the TOS episode “The Naked Time” Sulu shows off his fencing abilities
* Chief engineer Olsen wearing red jumpsuit dies a ‘red shirt’ death
* Nero tortures Pike using ‘Centaurian Slugs’ which are an homage to the Ceti Eels of Star Trek II
* Spock’s line “If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” is the same line Spock speaks in Star Trek VI(which is a tribute to Sherlock Holmes)
* Spock Prime tells Kirk he “has been and always shall be his friend”, just as he said to Kirk in Wrath of Khan
* McCoy asks Spock if he is “out of his Vulcan mind?”, a question that McCoy Prime asked Spock on a couple of ocasions in TOS and the movies
* Spock’s comment about “roaming the halls weeping” could be reference to Spock’s loss of control in TOS “The Naked Time”
* A tribble can be seen (and heard) in cage in Scotty’s workshop (on table he has his feet up on when first seen)
* Spock keying in the equation from the future for trans-warp beaming into Scotty’s computer is homage to Scotty keying in formula from the future for transparent aluminum into Plexicorp computer in Star Trek IV
* When Pike is seen at the end he is wearing admiral uniform very similar to those of The Motion Picture and is in wheel chair, as he was in “The Menagerie”
* R2 is in the debris field. During the Drill Machine sequence as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel role amidst destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior Enterprise bridge over the shoulder of Kirk that is looking out through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.
* The surround screen tests for the young Vulcan children are similiar to the multi-screen tests for the resurrected Spock in Star Trek IV
* Sign seen as Kirk drives motorcycle into Riverside Ship Yard reads ‘Sector 47′, the number 47 is a recurring theme on the Abrams shows Alias, Fringe and Lost, as well as TNG era Trek
* Another 47 mention when Uhura talks about “47 ships” from a Klingon armada that were destroyed
* During Kobayashi Maru simulator Kirk eats an apple, an homage to the Genesis cave scene in Star Trek II when Kirk at apple while telling story about how he beat the Kobayashi Maru
* Last name called for assignment was “Vader USS Hood”, reference to Star Wars
* When Chekov is trying to log in to his station the computer voice is by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, her last role in the Star Trek franchise before her death
* Sulu tells Kirk his combat training is in fencing, in the TOS episode “The Naked Time” Sulu shows off his fencing abilities
* Chief engineer Olsen wearing red jumpsuit dies a ‘red shirt’ death
* Nero tortures Pike using ‘Centaurian Slugs’ which are an homage to the Ceti Eels of Star Trek II
* Spock’s line “If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” is the same line Spock speaks in Star Trek VI(which is a tribute to Sherlock Holmes)
* Spock Prime tells Kirk he “has been and always shall be his friend”, just as he said to Kirk in Wrath of Khan
* McCoy asks Spock if he is “out of his Vulcan mind?”, a question that McCoy Prime asked Spock on a couple of ocasions in TOS and the movies
* Spock’s comment about “roaming the halls weeping” could be reference to Spock’s loss of control in TOS “The Naked Time”
* A tribble can be seen (and heard) in cage in Scotty’s workshop (on table he has his feet up on when first seen)
* Spock keying in the equation from the future for trans-warp beaming into Scotty’s computer is homage to Scotty keying in formula from the future for transparent aluminum into Plexicorp computer in Star Trek IV
* When Pike is seen at the end he is wearing admiral uniform very similar to those of The Motion Picture and is in wheel chair, as he was in “The Menagerie”
Monday, April 20, 2009
Weekend Update April 20
The Week That Was - Really rather a quiet week. There was the Louisiana trip fiasco (see below) I'm sure to be hearing about that for years from the family. The car decided to act up (something is going wrong with the fuel gauge. Looks like $300 for parts and 3 hours work. It can wait).
I had a new experience in church! I was an usher for the first time ever. They were short handed so I got drafted. Got several double takes. I also discovered that releasing people from their pews to go up for communion is slightly more complex than I'd thought. It's all a timing thing and it changes the further back you get. Very educational. I don't seem to have brought church to a screeching halt.
Other than that I just plugged away. Did some cooking, fresh spaghetti sauce, spicy peanut chicken soup and a beer and cheese soup. First two were fine, last one needs work.
The To Do List - I've started trying to bring the to do list under control. Right now it's mostly camp prep and some spring visitations I need to arrange. Anyone want the youth missioner to come visit?
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Actually doing pretty well at this.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Just finished "Mainspring" by Jay Lake. First of his I've ever read and really liked it. An alternate history kind of fantasy - England stills rules the Americas, but God is in actual fact the great watchmaker and the Divine mechanism isn't running quite smoothly.
Our hero has to go fix it. Interesting stuff.
Next up is "The Ayatollah Begs to Differ-The Paradox of Modern Iran" by Hooman Majd. This takes a look at Iran and it's culture through the eyes of an Iranian American. Raised mostly in the U.S. Majd helps bridge the very different ways of looking at the world. This book is a joy to read and a real eye opener. I'm enjoying it immensely. More people should read this book. It gives a much more 3 dimensional picture of who and what Iran is.
Movies - Finally! "The Grapes of Wrath"
John Ford's Oscar winning movie of John Steinbeck's classic look at the Dust Bowl years. The acting style is a little dated but Henry Fonda, John Carradine and Jane Darwell are worth the ride all by themselves. It's an interesting movie to watch in today's economic times as well. We still have a lot to learn about caring for one another and accepting the stranger among us. This was a great movie
Music - OK I just "discovered" Todd Snider so I know next to nothing about him. I like his sound and this song just put me on the floor. Please note that I do not condone his pro-psychedelic drugs comments (which are probably tongue in cheek) at the start of the video. Skip by them and groove to "America's Favorite Pastime" a song about one of the weirder moments in the history of my favorite baseball team.
Next Up CREDO week. I'll be going to Florida for a week in early May. It's a program underwritten by the Church Pension Fund for clergy and lay employees of the church to help us find a healthier place to live and minister mentally,physically, spiritually and financially. I'm excited a little nervous.
How Am I Doing I'm OK at the moment.
Peace
I had a new experience in church! I was an usher for the first time ever. They were short handed so I got drafted. Got several double takes. I also discovered that releasing people from their pews to go up for communion is slightly more complex than I'd thought. It's all a timing thing and it changes the further back you get. Very educational. I don't seem to have brought church to a screeching halt.
Other than that I just plugged away. Did some cooking, fresh spaghetti sauce, spicy peanut chicken soup and a beer and cheese soup. First two were fine, last one needs work.
The To Do List - I've started trying to bring the to do list under control. Right now it's mostly camp prep and some spring visitations I need to arrange. Anyone want the youth missioner to come visit?
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Actually doing pretty well at this.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Just finished "Mainspring" by Jay Lake. First of his I've ever read and really liked it. An alternate history kind of fantasy - England stills rules the Americas, but God is in actual fact the great watchmaker and the Divine mechanism isn't running quite smoothly.
Our hero has to go fix it. Interesting stuff.Next up is "The Ayatollah Begs to Differ-The Paradox of Modern Iran" by Hooman Majd. This takes a look at Iran and it's culture through the eyes of an Iranian American. Raised mostly in the U.S. Majd helps bridge the very different ways of looking at the world. This book is a joy to read and a real eye opener. I'm enjoying it immensely. More people should read this book. It gives a much more 3 dimensional picture of who and what Iran is.
Movies - Finally! "The Grapes of Wrath"
John Ford's Oscar winning movie of John Steinbeck's classic look at the Dust Bowl years. The acting style is a little dated but Henry Fonda, John Carradine and Jane Darwell are worth the ride all by themselves. It's an interesting movie to watch in today's economic times as well. We still have a lot to learn about caring for one another and accepting the stranger among us. This was a great movieMusic - OK I just "discovered" Todd Snider so I know next to nothing about him. I like his sound and this song just put me on the floor. Please note that I do not condone his pro-psychedelic drugs comments (which are probably tongue in cheek) at the start of the video. Skip by them and groove to "America's Favorite Pastime" a song about one of the weirder moments in the history of my favorite baseball team.
Next Up CREDO week. I'll be going to Florida for a week in early May. It's a program underwritten by the Church Pension Fund for clergy and lay employees of the church to help us find a healthier place to live and minister mentally,physically, spiritually and financially. I'm excited a little nervous.
How Am I Doing I'm OK at the moment.
Peace
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Weekend Update April 6
The Week That Was - This was a strange and varied week. Beginning with the bad news on Monday morning, it moved on to be frantic and fun and wonderful. So it was an interesting experience. Because I was on a short week getting the first two batches of camp apps had to be a priority. And against the odds I got them out. I should get the final batch out first thing this week. But it was fold, fill, fold, close, address and stamp over and over and over. When that was done I moved on to the Province II youth ministry network meeting in Buffalo. It was the first time the network had met here and I wanted them to enjoy the city that has become very special to me. A great group of folks - Pat Mitchell from NY, Ron Rhodes from Long Island, Kep Short and Debi Clarke from New Jersey and Roger Speer from the Virgin Islands (Kai Alston from Newark is also a great person but couldn't be with us). So we got our work done (we're looking at some leading edge stuff as goals), had meals at great restaurants (Anchor Bar with Bishop Garrison, Towne Restaurant (greek) and the Pearl St Grill), checked out Niagara Falls, got some walking in and shared lots of ideas and stories. Everything you could hope for from the group. Drove home on Friday feeling like the Queen City had be well represented (and the Diocese of WNY too)
Saturday was a great feel good day. I went out and bought some new clothes - in a SMALLER size!!!! Dropped a size in the waist and the old pants were just hanging on me. So 3 new pair of pants, new shorts for the summer and a new swim trunks. I'm not really that into clothes but the smaller size just made it feel great.
My lady wife and I scoped out a new restaurant just up the road (Sapore in Westfield) and came away very impressed. Palm Sunday at church, home for the Formula 1 race in Malaysia and a quiet evening the rest of the way. Baking some bread, movie night. Very relaxing.
The To Do List - I'm in a To Do List crisis and I need to confront that. It's been a month since I updated it and I'm losing track of projects. Seems like as soon as I sit down to work on the list I draw a blank on what needs to be added. Bad sign. I know I need to add the program stuff for Senior High since I will be leading that this summer.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - The To Do List mostly.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?
Stephen King's Duma Key, is now done. An excellent read, I really enjoyed it. Plus it's made me thinking more about creativity issues again. Now I'm working on two books - Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations by David Warsh. The first is a radical, new, faith based way of approaching politics that is very different from the current faith based approach. The second is a history of economic theory. I'm reading it on a bit of a whim but it got pretty good reviews. I'm trying to fill in some gaps in my education.
Movies - Nothing this week. "Grapes of Wrath" is up next and I'm told I MUST watch "Say Anything". Been watching old Lovejoy episodes and the first installment of Ken Burn's "The War"
Music - Been hearing a lot about the group "The Decemberists" and got a chance to hear a little bit. Sounds like very much my kind of stuff. I'll have to dig around some more and find more to listen to sometime soon.
Next Up Final camp mailing, To do list update, some other camp related stuff and start thinking about Credo (less than a month away)
How Am I Doing The visit with the P2 folks was a great balm for me. I'm doing better. And that feels really good.
Peace
Saturday was a great feel good day. I went out and bought some new clothes - in a SMALLER size!!!! Dropped a size in the waist and the old pants were just hanging on me. So 3 new pair of pants, new shorts for the summer and a new swim trunks. I'm not really that into clothes but the smaller size just made it feel great.
My lady wife and I scoped out a new restaurant just up the road (Sapore in Westfield) and came away very impressed. Palm Sunday at church, home for the Formula 1 race in Malaysia and a quiet evening the rest of the way. Baking some bread, movie night. Very relaxing.
The To Do List - I'm in a To Do List crisis and I need to confront that. It's been a month since I updated it and I'm losing track of projects. Seems like as soon as I sit down to work on the list I draw a blank on what needs to be added. Bad sign. I know I need to add the program stuff for Senior High since I will be leading that this summer.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - The To Do List mostly.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?
Stephen King's Duma Key, is now done. An excellent read, I really enjoyed it. Plus it's made me thinking more about creativity issues again. Now I'm working on two books - Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations by David Warsh. The first is a radical, new, faith based way of approaching politics that is very different from the current faith based approach. The second is a history of economic theory. I'm reading it on a bit of a whim but it got pretty good reviews. I'm trying to fill in some gaps in my education.Movies - Nothing this week. "Grapes of Wrath" is up next and I'm told I MUST watch "Say Anything". Been watching old Lovejoy episodes and the first installment of Ken Burn's "The War"
Music - Been hearing a lot about the group "The Decemberists" and got a chance to hear a little bit. Sounds like very much my kind of stuff. I'll have to dig around some more and find more to listen to sometime soon.
Next Up Final camp mailing, To do list update, some other camp related stuff and start thinking about Credo (less than a month away)
How Am I Doing The visit with the P2 folks was a great balm for me. I'm doing better. And that feels really good.
Peace
Monday, March 30, 2009
Weekend Update March 30
The Week That Was - I honestly have very little energy to do this after the news from yesterday(see post below). But I know Lee loved the daily details of what his friends were doing. So as with so many things at a time like this you carry on.
The end of last week saw me dispatch one of my least favorite parts of my job. The individual mailing for camp applications. It's a targeted mailing to past campers. And I have to do it all by hand, fold the application, insert health form, fold again, put on mailing sticker (to hold it closed), address label and stamp. Repeat 201 times. Many thanks to Fr. Eric for sitting and talking with me and helping out.
Went to see the kid get inducted to Alpha Zeta chapter of Delta Epsilon Sigma,
the scholastic honor society for Catholic Universities. You have to be in the top 10% of the junior or senior class based on grades to be invited to join. Smart kid. The ceremony for about 40 lasted less than an hour followed by a reception. Very nice.
The To Do List - Hasn't been updated in three weeks. That's very bad. I need to put that on my to do list to get done. Plus the Province 2 youth ministry network is coming to Buffalo and I'm the host.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Congregational camp mailings. That must get done.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Finished Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". It wasn't too bad. Now I'm reading Stephen King's Duma Key, his 54th novel and another #1 best seller. And I'm liking it a lot. I've never been into his scary horror stuff (Salem's Lot) but I loved The Dead Zone and The Stand. Good stuff.
Movies - Nothing this week. "Grapes of Wrath" is up next and I'm told I MUST watch "Say Anything"
Music - I've re-discovered a "local" band (they're from State College PA) that has been a long time favorite. Don't know why I hadn't put "Cartoon" on the CD player or the ipod recently but I remembered why I love them. Very folk, harmony kind of thing going on. Here's their MySpace page (my favorite here is "I Shall Carry Water"). I think you need to have Facebook to access this one from Kevin Dremel who is a member of the band. Check out the Angry Song. You can buy Living Room, the CD I've been listening to HERE
Next Up CP2 network meeting and the congregational mailings are at the top of the list.
How Am I Doing Saddened by the death of my friend, looking forward to seeing my other friends, hoping that the snow has made its FINAL appearance this morning.
Peace
The end of last week saw me dispatch one of my least favorite parts of my job. The individual mailing for camp applications. It's a targeted mailing to past campers. And I have to do it all by hand, fold the application, insert health form, fold again, put on mailing sticker (to hold it closed), address label and stamp. Repeat 201 times. Many thanks to Fr. Eric for sitting and talking with me and helping out.
Went to see the kid get inducted to Alpha Zeta chapter of Delta Epsilon Sigma,
the scholastic honor society for Catholic Universities. You have to be in the top 10% of the junior or senior class based on grades to be invited to join. Smart kid. The ceremony for about 40 lasted less than an hour followed by a reception. Very nice.
The To Do List - Hasn't been updated in three weeks. That's very bad. I need to put that on my to do list to get done. Plus the Province 2 youth ministry network is coming to Buffalo and I'm the host.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Congregational camp mailings. That must get done.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Finished Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". It wasn't too bad. Now I'm reading Stephen King's Duma Key, his 54th novel and another #1 best seller. And I'm liking it a lot. I've never been into his scary horror stuff (Salem's Lot) but I loved The Dead Zone and The Stand. Good stuff.Movies - Nothing this week. "Grapes of Wrath" is up next and I'm told I MUST watch "Say Anything"
Music - I've re-discovered a "local" band (they're from State College PA) that has been a long time favorite. Don't know why I hadn't put "Cartoon" on the CD player or the ipod recently but I remembered why I love them. Very folk, harmony kind of thing going on. Here's their MySpace page (my favorite here is "I Shall Carry Water"). I think you need to have Facebook to access this one from Kevin Dremel who is a member of the band. Check out the Angry Song. You can buy Living Room, the CD I've been listening to HERE
Next Up CP2 network meeting and the congregational mailings are at the top of the list.
How Am I Doing Saddened by the death of my friend, looking forward to seeing my other friends, hoping that the snow has made its FINAL appearance this morning.
Peace
Monday, March 23, 2009
Weekend Update - March 23
The Week That Was - Oh it was a beauty! About mid-week I lost my voice (my vision of hell is me trapped, voiceless for eternity) caused by the head cold that has sunk its claws into me. I probably didn't help it by singing Irish folk tunes mid-week. I'd been invited to a parish to talk about youth ministry as part of their Lenten program (thanks St. Matthias!) and they did an Irish sing along after. Which I couldn't resist. Next morning, no voice.
The groundhog continues to evade me while making more holes. And the weather, which had promised that it would get a tiny bit warmer, has instead gotten colder. Oh frabjous day.
On the bright side I fixed two problems on my lady wife's car. One involved a little creative Bondo work. My father taught me the basics of Bondo for body work on cars and I've found it's very useful for lots of other things. House repair. Repairing trim pieces on car interiors. Felt very good to get that done. Did some cooking for the first time in a while (warming up food to eat is not COOKING. Cooking involves carefully selecting and preparing ingredients and then combining them with love and whatever level of skill I can muster. COOKING is an act of prayer for me these days). Made some spicy peanut chicken soup and some red pepper/garlic hummus. Bumped off a couple other small but satisfying chores around the house too. So on the whole not too bad.
The To Do List - I hate my to do list. There I've said it. Let's move on.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Being sick and voiceless really limits a variety of things for me to do. I MUST get the camp applications done and printed this week. Everything else is secondary.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Still reading Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". I keep thinking that I've lost interest then I get back into it. Need to move it along however.
Movies - "Hollywoodland" - Wow, what a cast! Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins and Diane Lane (sigh, Diane Lane). The movie revolves around the death of George Reeves, the man who played Superman on the old TV series. Reeves probably committed suicide but the standard of police work around the movie industry back in the day leaves plenty of holes to poke at if you into conspiracies. Affleck's Reeves is a rather shallow, insecure guy who was alternately a really nice guy and a jerk. The director sticks closely to the known facts and offers three possible answers to what "really happened". The problem is he gets too cutesy at times for my taste and comes off trying to show off his chops. Allen Coulter was primarily a TV director and this was his first feature film. Brody's character of the detective is the real lead in the movie but I didn't really ever care that much about him. I wanted to see the Reeves story which is much more compelling. So great cast, solid script, and an OK movie. If you're into old Hollywood, if you remember George Reeves' Superman and you've got a lazy afternoon to burn you'll enjoy this one.
Music - Back to the no music routine. It's tough to get into it when you have to keep unclogging your ears. Just put the ipod on shuffle and took whatever came. I spent part of the week with Jimmy Buffett's "Barometer Soup" and part of the week with a Sesame Street song stuck in my head. No idea why. I'm thinking of checking out a girl group called "The Pepper Pots" a Spanish group (apparently) that does a ska thing. Got a pretty good review at SXSW this year.
Next Up Camp applications plus at the end of the week the kid gets inducted into a Catholic University honor society. Very cool.
How Am I Doing Still hanging in. Hopefully I'll make some forward progress this week.
Peace
The groundhog continues to evade me while making more holes. And the weather, which had promised that it would get a tiny bit warmer, has instead gotten colder. Oh frabjous day.
On the bright side I fixed two problems on my lady wife's car. One involved a little creative Bondo work. My father taught me the basics of Bondo for body work on cars and I've found it's very useful for lots of other things. House repair. Repairing trim pieces on car interiors. Felt very good to get that done. Did some cooking for the first time in a while (warming up food to eat is not COOKING. Cooking involves carefully selecting and preparing ingredients and then combining them with love and whatever level of skill I can muster. COOKING is an act of prayer for me these days). Made some spicy peanut chicken soup and some red pepper/garlic hummus. Bumped off a couple other small but satisfying chores around the house too. So on the whole not too bad.
The To Do List - I hate my to do list. There I've said it. Let's move on.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - Being sick and voiceless really limits a variety of things for me to do. I MUST get the camp applications done and printed this week. Everything else is secondary.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?Still reading Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". I keep thinking that I've lost interest then I get back into it. Need to move it along however.
Movies - "Hollywoodland" - Wow, what a cast! Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins and Diane Lane (sigh, Diane Lane). The movie revolves around the death of George Reeves, the man who played Superman on the old TV series. Reeves probably committed suicide but the standard of police work around the movie industry back in the day leaves plenty of holes to poke at if you into conspiracies. Affleck's Reeves is a rather shallow, insecure guy who was alternately a really nice guy and a jerk. The director sticks closely to the known facts and offers three possible answers to what "really happened". The problem is he gets too cutesy at times for my taste and comes off trying to show off his chops. Allen Coulter was primarily a TV director and this was his first feature film. Brody's character of the detective is the real lead in the movie but I didn't really ever care that much about him. I wanted to see the Reeves story which is much more compelling. So great cast, solid script, and an OK movie. If you're into old Hollywood, if you remember George Reeves' Superman and you've got a lazy afternoon to burn you'll enjoy this one.Music - Back to the no music routine. It's tough to get into it when you have to keep unclogging your ears. Just put the ipod on shuffle and took whatever came. I spent part of the week with Jimmy Buffett's "Barometer Soup" and part of the week with a Sesame Street song stuck in my head. No idea why. I'm thinking of checking out a girl group called "The Pepper Pots" a Spanish group (apparently) that does a ska thing. Got a pretty good review at SXSW this year.
Next Up Camp applications plus at the end of the week the kid gets inducted into a Catholic University honor society. Very cool.
How Am I Doing Still hanging in. Hopefully I'll make some forward progress this week.
Peace
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Weekend Update March 16
The Week That Was - Last week seemed very busy. I have the class I lead at one of the local YMCAs on radio techniques. That's going well although we're stuck in transition mode. Not all the new equipment has arrived so we're trying to generate excitement while we still work with the old stuff. Doing video taping of a mid-week noonday service for broadcast on local access cable. After problems the first week that's gone much better. And then planning for our planning retreat. Which went mostly well I think. I got at cross purposes with one of my young adult leaders (we really weren't as far apart as it seemed and both of us got upset. Sorry Sammi!) and generated a ton of negative energy right at the end. I think we got that set (mostly) to right and came away with some excellent goals and objectives for the next three year cycle. Stayed at a nice Catholic seminary for the retreat (Christ the King). Love to go back and see it when the trees are in leaf and explore a little. Just a shade too chilly for much walking around. But I've been very tired since we got back. My lady wife was off at a vestry retreat at the same time so we haven't seen much of each other. We got to sit together at worship (a rare occurrence), then went out for lunch and held hands and spent the afternoon together. It was kind of nice. We're looking forward to taking a little vacation together sometime in the next couple months. We need some marriage time together.
The To Do List - Yes there's still the video and camp and all the rest of that. It's becoming clearer to me that what NEEDS to be on my to do list is a spiritual retreat. I find myself a little jealous of Marko who has made these kinds of retreats a regular part of each year. I'm trying not to covet my neighbor's spiritual retreat but I think I need to work on that. A good idea has already arisen on how that might be made to happen.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - I'm still stuck with my rocks and piles problem. Have I ever explained that saying? We use it in my family. All the tasks you have each day are represented by rocks. And all those rocks are stacked in piles which make up a larger pile that is your life. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the size of the pile and not know where to start. So you end up not doing much of anything. So the reminder to me is "Just pick a rock!". Start anywhere just to get started.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?
Still working on "Soul Graffiti". Finished Jonathan Kellerman's "The Conspiracy Club". Really enjoyed it. Nice mystery story with a medical setting. Now I'm reading Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". An interesting read so far. Can't imagine the Bush fan club like it much. But then he's not making many friends with Clinton fans either so I guess you can say that's fairly balanced. Seems to be pretty up front about the good and the bad. Something different to read. It'll be interesting as a lead in to the next book on the pile "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne!
Movies - Watched a part of "Wedding Crashers" and then ejected the disc. Yawn. Sophomoric. Vulgar. Predictable. I really do have better things to do with my life.
Music - Finally listened to the Damnwells and liked them a lot. Indie rock with a kind of folk feel to it.
Also grabbed an old disc that's been sitting on my desk and popped it in. Little Feat "Ain't Had Enough Fun" from 1995. Little Feat have been around forever it seems (since '69) doing their blend of rock, blues, R&B, country and New Orleans funk. The band is one of those ones that are revered by many folks but were never a real hit. This particular album is long after they had waned as stars but I like every single cut on this album. Must be why I keep it around.
Next Up Finally can put the camp application at the top of the list. Got the last price and can move forward now.
How Am I Doing I'm hanging in. We'll see how that goes.
Peace
The To Do List - Yes there's still the video and camp and all the rest of that. It's becoming clearer to me that what NEEDS to be on my to do list is a spiritual retreat. I find myself a little jealous of Marko who has made these kinds of retreats a regular part of each year. I'm trying not to covet my neighbor's spiritual retreat but I think I need to work on that. A good idea has already arisen on how that might be made to happen.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - I'm still stuck with my rocks and piles problem. Have I ever explained that saying? We use it in my family. All the tasks you have each day are represented by rocks. And all those rocks are stacked in piles which make up a larger pile that is your life. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the size of the pile and not know where to start. So you end up not doing much of anything. So the reminder to me is "Just pick a rock!". Start anywhere just to get started.
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To?
Still working on "Soul Graffiti". Finished Jonathan Kellerman's "The Conspiracy Club". Really enjoyed it. Nice mystery story with a medical setting. Now I'm reading Scott McClellan's book "What Happened - Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". An interesting read so far. Can't imagine the Bush fan club like it much. But then he's not making many friends with Clinton fans either so I guess you can say that's fairly balanced. Seems to be pretty up front about the good and the bad. Something different to read. It'll be interesting as a lead in to the next book on the pile "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne!
Movies - Watched a part of "Wedding Crashers" and then ejected the disc. Yawn. Sophomoric. Vulgar. Predictable. I really do have better things to do with my life.Music - Finally listened to the Damnwells and liked them a lot. Indie rock with a kind of folk feel to it.
Also grabbed an old disc that's been sitting on my desk and popped it in. Little Feat "Ain't Had Enough Fun" from 1995. Little Feat have been around forever it seems (since '69) doing their blend of rock, blues, R&B, country and New Orleans funk. The band is one of those ones that are revered by many folks but were never a real hit. This particular album is long after they had waned as stars but I like every single cut on this album. Must be why I keep it around.
Next Up Finally can put the camp application at the top of the list. Got the last price and can move forward now.
How Am I Doing I'm hanging in. We'll see how that goes.
Peace
Monday, February 16, 2009
Weekend Update February 15
The Week That Was - Well after a wild week it was a busy but still quiet weekend. Saturday off to Happening Board hoping that we have enough kids for a team (we don't, quite). So much talk followed by the decision to go one more week. We'll see if we can rattle the last few members out of the rafters. The lack of concern about deadlines around here is just maddening.
The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet although my lady wife and I were very proud of ourselves. We ate out, at a fast food restaurant and stayed completely legal on the diet! And even enjoyed the meal! More on the diet in a minute.
Sunday was Youth Commission. Nice turnout, we whipped through the items to be considered and went home early. A great group of people! That night we checked out some episodes of a favorite BBC show called Lovejoy. Gotta love Netflix! You can get almost anything!
Diet is doing fine. I've been losing around a pound a day (yes I've been weighing in every day. Very bad form, I know. But it's just so cool to see that number fall day after day. I'm not going to do it again till my Tuesday weigh in) and my lady has lost almost as much. That's with virtually no work outs by me and none by her. We hope to fix that trend this week. We are fairly bored with the offerings however. The book makes no excuses that Phase 1 is simply to be endured. We've had a couple things that weren't half bad. Something very close to a Chicken Piccata was quite tasty, as was the steak. So far asparagus and eggplant haven't been big hits.
Then we looked ahead at Phase 2! Almost looks like heaven. The return of BREAD!!!!! And the glass of wine. Sigh. There is a reason to keep living.
On the whole the boredom has been the worst part. We're accustomed to eating more interesting food than this. So I've begun adapting and examining and creating things that are legal but are much more interesting.
The To Do List - Video project, follow ups with people, Listening Day follow up, Happening, all on-going projects, just the usual mad rush.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - My video project. I just need to make one and see how it looks and learn as I go. But I want all of them including the first one to be perfect!
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To? Still working on "Soul Graffiti"
I'm having some trouble getting stuck in on this book. Don't know why, I get all kinds of raves about it. Just need to get to it.
So I
read an old favorite - Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and just started Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. If I could be someday compared to any writer I'd choose Bradbury. More than any other author I've read he leaves me thinking "How does he do it?"
Movies - None. Watched several episodes of "Lovejoy" with my lady wife. Good fun.
Music - Checking out a new group called the Damnwells. Like the name!
Next Up
How Am I Doing
Peace
The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet although my lady wife and I were very proud of ourselves. We ate out, at a fast food restaurant and stayed completely legal on the diet! And even enjoyed the meal! More on the diet in a minute.
Sunday was Youth Commission. Nice turnout, we whipped through the items to be considered and went home early. A great group of people! That night we checked out some episodes of a favorite BBC show called Lovejoy. Gotta love Netflix! You can get almost anything!
Diet is doing fine. I've been losing around a pound a day (yes I've been weighing in every day. Very bad form, I know. But it's just so cool to see that number fall day after day. I'm not going to do it again till my Tuesday weigh in) and my lady has lost almost as much. That's with virtually no work outs by me and none by her. We hope to fix that trend this week. We are fairly bored with the offerings however. The book makes no excuses that Phase 1 is simply to be endured. We've had a couple things that weren't half bad. Something very close to a Chicken Piccata was quite tasty, as was the steak. So far asparagus and eggplant haven't been big hits.
Then we looked ahead at Phase 2! Almost looks like heaven. The return of BREAD!!!!! And the glass of wine. Sigh. There is a reason to keep living.
On the whole the boredom has been the worst part. We're accustomed to eating more interesting food than this. So I've begun adapting and examining and creating things that are legal but are much more interesting.
The To Do List - Video project, follow ups with people, Listening Day follow up, Happening, all on-going projects, just the usual mad rush.
What Am I Procrastinating About? - My video project. I just need to make one and see how it looks and learn as I go. But I want all of them including the first one to be perfect!
What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To? Still working on "Soul Graffiti"
I'm having some trouble getting stuck in on this book. Don't know why, I get all kinds of raves about it. Just need to get to it. So I
read an old favorite - Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and just started Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. If I could be someday compared to any writer I'd choose Bradbury. More than any other author I've read he leaves me thinking "How does he do it?"Movies - None. Watched several episodes of "Lovejoy" with my lady wife. Good fun.
Music - Checking out a new group called the Damnwells. Like the name!
Next Up
How Am I Doing
Peace
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
