my new favorite game? TWEET & GOOGLE. i tweet something, wait 5 minutes, then google the tweet to see how many cunts turned it into a story.
- Kurt Sutter, a few minutes ago on Twitter
The above passage is why, if ever the appropriate people lose their minds, Kurt Sutter *needs* to be the mastermind behind a film/tv adaptation of Warren Ellis's "Transmetropolitan." If you've ever seen Sutter's FX series "Sons of Anarchy," and read "Transmet," you understand. If you've missed either, or god forbid both, you need to fix that. Promptly.
28 October 2011
10 September 2011
"Left Hand of Darkness" Part One
So, as I mentioned the other day on my facebook status, I've been trying to read some of the classic female sci-fi writers. I started with Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness."
I have mixed feelings about the book. Like a lot of speculative fiction writers of the 60s and 70s, Le Guin freely invented words and names for her alien civilization. I've always found a large invented vocabulary a little distracting. It's a problem I've always had with certain classics of the genre.
It's beautifully written, though, and the main character manages the opposite of Louis Wu (from Niven's "Ringworld") - he becomes more and more interesting as the novel progresses.
Here's a beautiful passage from the book. The main character has been taken by the local secret police, along with a couple of dozen others.
I have GOT to make a poster of this. Also, I wonder if the big emotional speech from "V for Vendetta," the movie*, was intentionally swiped from the above passage.
Anyway, I'll be posting more when I'm done, I'm sure.
* I really don't remember if any version of that scene even exists in the comic. Been a very long time since I read it.
I have mixed feelings about the book. Like a lot of speculative fiction writers of the 60s and 70s, Le Guin freely invented words and names for her alien civilization. I've always found a large invented vocabulary a little distracting. It's a problem I've always had with certain classics of the genre.
It's beautifully written, though, and the main character manages the opposite of Louis Wu (from Niven's "Ringworld") - he becomes more and more interesting as the novel progresses.
Here's a beautiful passage from the book. The main character has been taken by the local secret police, along with a couple of dozen others.
"There was kindness. I and certain others, an old man and one with a bad cough, were recognized as being least resistant to the cold, and each night we were at the center of the group, the entity of twenty-five, where it was warmest. We did not struggle for the warm place, we simply were in it each night. It is a terrible thing, this kindness that human beings do not lose. Terrible, because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have. We who are so rich, so full of strength, we end up with that small change. We have nothing else to give."
I have GOT to make a poster of this. Also, I wonder if the big emotional speech from "V for Vendetta," the movie*, was intentionally swiped from the above passage.
Anyway, I'll be posting more when I'm done, I'm sure.
* I really don't remember if any version of that scene even exists in the comic. Been a very long time since I read it.
07 September 2011
Defending the Indefensible
Piers Anthony was one of my favorite writers when I was in high school. I read a few of his Xanth novels, set in an extremely magical version of Florida (Anthony's home state and mine.) I read the Apprentice Adept series, most of Incarnations of Immortality (always had a hard time finding "Wielding a Red Sword" and "Being a Green Mother," for some reason, and I clearly remember having "grown out" of Anthony before the final book, "...And Eternity" came out.) There were a few stand-alone books - I specifically remember the sci-fi semi-porn "Ghost," and I may have read a few others from his many series over the years.
Anthony is very much a love-him-or-hate-him kind of writer. His fans love his lousy puns (can't blame them) and his haters deride his "juvenile" writing style and his repetitious characters.
I would guess a majority of speculative fiction fans around my age have read at least a few Anthony books, probably just because there are SO DAMN MANY. Last I checked his bibliography, he had over 80 titles (almost thirty of which were in the Xanth universe.) This may explain why his characters can blur together.
Poking around a little on the Internet, it looks like his non-fans who are willing to admit they've read any of his work will admit to one or more of a short list of his titles: "Spell for Chameleon," the first Xanth novel, "With a Tangled Skein," a book from the Incarnations of Immortality series, or "On a Pale Horse," the first of the Incarnations books. Almost universally, they try to restore their "cred" by saying the writing was "pretty bad" but that the story was good, or the concepts were. (The people who admit to reading "Spell for Chameleon" but who aren't fans bring up wretched puns.)
There's also a lot of talk about the sexism that's rampant in Anthony's books. It's been a long time since I read "Spell for Chameleon," or any other Xanth novel, but they get brought up a LOT when people start talking sexism in Anthony. I wonder how many of these people have read "Incarnations" recently. Particularly "On a Pale Horse," the one it's "socially acceptable" to have liked, even as a kid.
First, a quick note about "Split Infinity." I thought it was a very tightly plotted little story. But in the first few pages, I started to wonder just what Anthony was saying about women. The first prominent female in that one is a sex robot who has been programmed to fall in love with and protect Stile, the main character. There's some interesting philosophy in there about how he treats her. The next major female character is Stile's mount, a unicorn... who not only does he have to break to ride (fair enough, she's a wild horse, sort of,) but who he gets to sleep with because she changes into a girl at night. A girl who literally barely speaks for herself, and mostly seems to be there to move Stile from place to place and give him something to screw at night. The Lady Blue, the main love interest for the rest of the series, is more acceptable. In a way, I kind of felt like Anthony was trying to work through something with his treatment of women in this book. But of course, they're all super-hot and have giant boobs. At least Blue has an agenda of her own that she's perfectly capable of carrying out.
Okay, back to "On a Pale Horse," that "good" Piers Anthony book. I got through three chapters last night, somehow.
In the first chapter, the two female characters have to be rescued - the ghost girl from a living mugger (what the muppety fuck? What's he going to do, kill her?) and the live girl from her own bad driving. Yes, that's right. Her own bad driving, a trait which the lead character tells us is universal among women. Danica Patrick must scare Anthony senseless. And for the record, both the rescued damsels would be "duly grateful."
The second chapter, we get another couple of women. One is the Incarnation of Fate, in her aspect as Lachesis. She's middle-aged and therefore (to the main character) unattractive, which may be why she's allowed to be competent and intelligent. The other is an old lady from down the hall who really isn't there for much.
The third chapter, though, is the real peach. It ends with a woman attempting suicide because her husband just left her for a younger woman (it happens, sure, but it's still kind of a crappy message.) It's the football game that's really bad.
The teams are in some sort of all-women's league, and the team names are the Ewes and the Does (I guess we're lucky neither team was the Crimson Tide.) The players are all hugely endowed (Anthony certainly seems to be a major-league breast man) but otherwise only sort of attractive, since they're kind of burly. The field they play on is marked in feet, rather than yards. It may be a full-sized field (the hundred and fifty foot line is referenced in there) but it sounds like the plays only have to work a third as well as boys' plays would. And to top this off, these burly chicks, who make their money playing a sort of magically-assisted full contact game of football, prefer to fight by pulling each others' hair. I am not - and god help me could not - make this up.
Not everything has to be "Buffy." Women's issues don't even have to be discussed. But nearly killing off a woman because she's a bad driver? Then those grotesque football players? And all this is without bringing up the sketchy morality that seems to be in play in the Incarnations universe.
I remembered "On a Pale Horse" fondly, but I really didn't remember this crap. I wonder if any of the people who are willing to defend it while decrying the sexism of Xanth have read it recently.
Anthony is very much a love-him-or-hate-him kind of writer. His fans love his lousy puns (can't blame them) and his haters deride his "juvenile" writing style and his repetitious characters.
I would guess a majority of speculative fiction fans around my age have read at least a few Anthony books, probably just because there are SO DAMN MANY. Last I checked his bibliography, he had over 80 titles (almost thirty of which were in the Xanth universe.) This may explain why his characters can blur together.
Poking around a little on the Internet, it looks like his non-fans who are willing to admit they've read any of his work will admit to one or more of a short list of his titles: "Spell for Chameleon," the first Xanth novel, "With a Tangled Skein," a book from the Incarnations of Immortality series, or "On a Pale Horse," the first of the Incarnations books. Almost universally, they try to restore their "cred" by saying the writing was "pretty bad" but that the story was good, or the concepts were. (The people who admit to reading "Spell for Chameleon" but who aren't fans bring up wretched puns.)
There's also a lot of talk about the sexism that's rampant in Anthony's books. It's been a long time since I read "Spell for Chameleon," or any other Xanth novel, but they get brought up a LOT when people start talking sexism in Anthony. I wonder how many of these people have read "Incarnations" recently. Particularly "On a Pale Horse," the one it's "socially acceptable" to have liked, even as a kid.
First, a quick note about "Split Infinity." I thought it was a very tightly plotted little story. But in the first few pages, I started to wonder just what Anthony was saying about women. The first prominent female in that one is a sex robot who has been programmed to fall in love with and protect Stile, the main character. There's some interesting philosophy in there about how he treats her. The next major female character is Stile's mount, a unicorn... who not only does he have to break to ride (fair enough, she's a wild horse, sort of,) but who he gets to sleep with because she changes into a girl at night. A girl who literally barely speaks for herself, and mostly seems to be there to move Stile from place to place and give him something to screw at night. The Lady Blue, the main love interest for the rest of the series, is more acceptable. In a way, I kind of felt like Anthony was trying to work through something with his treatment of women in this book. But of course, they're all super-hot and have giant boobs. At least Blue has an agenda of her own that she's perfectly capable of carrying out.
Okay, back to "On a Pale Horse," that "good" Piers Anthony book. I got through three chapters last night, somehow.
In the first chapter, the two female characters have to be rescued - the ghost girl from a living mugger (what the muppety fuck? What's he going to do, kill her?) and the live girl from her own bad driving. Yes, that's right. Her own bad driving, a trait which the lead character tells us is universal among women. Danica Patrick must scare Anthony senseless. And for the record, both the rescued damsels would be "duly grateful."
The second chapter, we get another couple of women. One is the Incarnation of Fate, in her aspect as Lachesis. She's middle-aged and therefore (to the main character) unattractive, which may be why she's allowed to be competent and intelligent. The other is an old lady from down the hall who really isn't there for much.
The third chapter, though, is the real peach. It ends with a woman attempting suicide because her husband just left her for a younger woman (it happens, sure, but it's still kind of a crappy message.) It's the football game that's really bad.
The teams are in some sort of all-women's league, and the team names are the Ewes and the Does (I guess we're lucky neither team was the Crimson Tide.) The players are all hugely endowed (Anthony certainly seems to be a major-league breast man) but otherwise only sort of attractive, since they're kind of burly. The field they play on is marked in feet, rather than yards. It may be a full-sized field (the hundred and fifty foot line is referenced in there) but it sounds like the plays only have to work a third as well as boys' plays would. And to top this off, these burly chicks, who make their money playing a sort of magically-assisted full contact game of football, prefer to fight by pulling each others' hair. I am not - and god help me could not - make this up.
Not everything has to be "Buffy." Women's issues don't even have to be discussed. But nearly killing off a woman because she's a bad driver? Then those grotesque football players? And all this is without bringing up the sketchy morality that seems to be in play in the Incarnations universe.
I remembered "On a Pale Horse" fondly, but I really didn't remember this crap. I wonder if any of the people who are willing to defend it while decrying the sexism of Xanth have read it recently.
29 August 2011
Shades of Ray
Well, I watched it for the cast. We got Zach Levi (TV's Chuck, a show Mel and I love,) Bonnie Somerville (from the ill-fated and brief Kitchen Confidential, another favorite show,) Sarah Shahi (hommina hommina ho-boy,) Gerry Bednob (the loud Indian dude from 40 Year Old Virgin,) and Fran Kranz (from another favorite short-lived TV show, Dollhouse.)
The setup is Ray (Levi) is a half-Pakistani, half-white guy in L.A. The movie starts with him proposing to his very white girlfriend, Noel (Somerville.) She "has to think about it." You get the impression her folks aren't happy about her other-than-whitebread boyfriend. She's taking a vacation with them and will be trying to sell them on Ray.
Shortly after she leaves Ray hanging, Ray comes home to find his Dad on his doorstep. His folks are in the midst of a rough patch, as it turns out. Dad claims it's because he married a white woman, and decides to take charge of Ray's love life, introducing him to a friend of a friend of an acquaintance's lovely daughter, Sana (Shahi.)
Sana and Ray hit it off immediately, this being a romantic comedy. Ray is trying to maintain some distance, as he's convinced himself he's in love with Noel. Finally, one night, Sana shows up at Ray's workplace, a cheesy airline-themed bar. She's drunk and horny and pulls Ray into the bathroom. To his credit, he tells her he's engaged before anything can happen. As he's leaving the bathroom, he runs into (of course) Noel, home early to surprise him.
I'll leave off the description there. I've done enough spoiling already. Not that it's really possible to spoil "Shades of Ray." The writing is fine, but the structure is definitely familiar ground.
There is some really good writing around the subject of race, though. Ray is barely comfortable with his mixed ethnicity. His father is hardly comfortable with the fact that he married a white woman, and his son is planning to do the same. Sana and her family (her folks are also a mixed couple) are the only people that seem to be at all comfortable in their own skins.
Overall, it's a reasonably entertaining ninety minutes. Levi is very good. Fran Kranz is fun as the largely unnecessary best friend. Shahi plays her part well, but is so beautiful it's occasionally distracting. There's not really a bum in the cast - I'm pretty sure Noel is meant to be a little unlikeable.
I gave it four stars on Netflix, which might be a little generous.
The setup is Ray (Levi) is a half-Pakistani, half-white guy in L.A. The movie starts with him proposing to his very white girlfriend, Noel (Somerville.) She "has to think about it." You get the impression her folks aren't happy about her other-than-whitebread boyfriend. She's taking a vacation with them and will be trying to sell them on Ray.
Shortly after she leaves Ray hanging, Ray comes home to find his Dad on his doorstep. His folks are in the midst of a rough patch, as it turns out. Dad claims it's because he married a white woman, and decides to take charge of Ray's love life, introducing him to a friend of a friend of an acquaintance's lovely daughter, Sana (Shahi.)
Sana and Ray hit it off immediately, this being a romantic comedy. Ray is trying to maintain some distance, as he's convinced himself he's in love with Noel. Finally, one night, Sana shows up at Ray's workplace, a cheesy airline-themed bar. She's drunk and horny and pulls Ray into the bathroom. To his credit, he tells her he's engaged before anything can happen. As he's leaving the bathroom, he runs into (of course) Noel, home early to surprise him.
I'll leave off the description there. I've done enough spoiling already. Not that it's really possible to spoil "Shades of Ray." The writing is fine, but the structure is definitely familiar ground.
There is some really good writing around the subject of race, though. Ray is barely comfortable with his mixed ethnicity. His father is hardly comfortable with the fact that he married a white woman, and his son is planning to do the same. Sana and her family (her folks are also a mixed couple) are the only people that seem to be at all comfortable in their own skins.
Overall, it's a reasonably entertaining ninety minutes. Levi is very good. Fran Kranz is fun as the largely unnecessary best friend. Shahi plays her part well, but is so beautiful it's occasionally distracting. There's not really a bum in the cast - I'm pretty sure Noel is meant to be a little unlikeable.
I gave it four stars on Netflix, which might be a little generous.
03 August 2011
Anniversary Uke Complete!
Well, the bad news is I didn't really use the included instructions and barely turned on the damn DVD that cost an extra $20. The good news is it seemed to come out just fine. In all actuality I would rather have just had a plain old blueprint along with the instructions. It's a little ridiculous that the kit doesn't have an actual diagram of the finished product with dimensions and such.
It's a little (see how small it is in my hand?) soprano ukulele. The finish is another simple oil application, which I like more and more every time I use one. It's super easy and produces reasonably handsome results.
I don't think I'd do another soprano unless I can source pre-bent sides somewhere (of course, neither of the suppliers I know does pre-bent uke sides outside of this Stew Mac kit.) I'd be totally willing to try a tenor, though. So if you know someone who might like a hand-made ukulele for Christmas or other special occasions, please let me know. I do have some ideas that might even be kind of cool.
20 July 2011
Language again
A few days ago, I linked to this article from my facebook page - "Why do some Americanisms irritate people?"
This morning, they published this followup piece - "Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples." Mostly, I was amused. I agreed with more than a couple, though. So, one by one:
1. "Can I get a..." is something I use with some frequency. At stores and restaurants. Sometimes varied with "could I have." Apparently, though, us idiot Amurricans only ever use it to say "Can I get a 'Hell Yeah?'"
2. "Least worst option" is, in fact, the most worst option for describing the least of several evils.
3. "Two-time" and "three-time" are sometimes clearer than double or triple. To say Al Gore was the two-time Democratic nominee for President is clearer than "double nominee" or however our cousins across the pond would prefer.
4. "24/7" is apparently here to stay. Until it looks and sounds dated, at least. Give it time, it'll quietly go away on its own.
5. "Deplane" isn't even the worst of it. Have a listen to "Brain Droppings" by George Carlin. He'll give you a whole RAFT of terms used by airlines.
6. Hey, friend - Mick Jagger was waiting ON a friend. It's not just us.
7. "It is what it is," while a nicely fatalistic sentiment, is just a tautology. It is pretty worthless, though.
8. "Fanny pack" just sounds silly. Sorry that non-US English uses fanny and about fifty thousand other words to refer to women's genitalia. Next time, we'll just call it "Gravedigger's Biscuits."
9. "Touch base" is perfectly useful. In baseball. But it's also in the lexicon of communication, somewhere below "catch up" and above "say hi to."
10. "Physicality" is not a real word.
11. "Transportation" rather than simply "transport." Again, I think this is a clarity thing. "Transport" is a verb. The vessel used to carry out that action is "transportation."
12. Hey, buddy, we also say leh-ver, not lee-ver. Mostly. The extra meanings are pretty silly, though.
13. I had no idea "turning" an age was an Americanism. It's kind of remarkable how many of the terms in this list are very new, but this one's been with me all my life. I find it a bit poetic; you "turn" the page to the next year of your life. Doesn't really work that way, but it's still a nice sentiment.
14. I'm sorry, old beans, but "trolley" sounds silly to American ears. So stick your brolly in your trolley, alright chaps?
15. Admittedly, "gotten" is a bad one. It sounds kind of trashy.
16. "I'm good" ain't good, unless someone is asking about your moral alignment. "We're good" is just as bad.
17. I wonder if, without context, Brits think we put sausages in our hair. I'm not a big fan of "bangs," the word or the fringe. It's an ugly word.
18. Take-out versus takeaway. One's really no better than the other, guys. We take it out of the restaurant, you take it away from the restaurant. And didn't we invent "take-out" food anyway?
19. Yes, ridiculosity sucks. So does the unclear "that" in the entry.
20. Get over it. It's only taken me a half hour to do so.
21. Here's a heads up - bitching about American usage of English is pretty pointless. Also, it means "a quick notification or memorandum."
22. Shall we call them railports? I know you're still using the word "depot" back there, but that's restricted to Homes and Offices now.
23. Yeah, I can't really defend "alphabetize." It is shorter than "Arrange a series of items in alphabetical order."
24. "My bad," either.
25. I sort of suspect "normalcy" started because of a mispronunciation and some drift from "normality." It's certainly got to be one of the least "offensive" terms on the list, though.
26. "Burglarize" has that pseudo-scientific air that cops and lawyers over here really like. It sounds oh so much more... something... than "rob."
27. Another one where brevity perversely loses out. "Oftentimes," though, has a snooty, somewhat pretentious tone. Politicians like to use it, because they probably feel it makes them sound "more smarter."
28. I'm unclear what this entry is supposed to be. Do you mean "eatery?" I always sort of assumed that was actually a Brit term. I have never seen the term "eaterie." And this is from someone taking luthierie classes.
29. Fortnightly can go with your brollies and your prams. Mate. Bi-weekly sucks because it's unclear (twice a week or every two weeks?)
30. I blame the schools. (Which almost certainly applies to a very large percentage of this list.)
31. A price "hike" obfuscates that GAS IS ALMOST FOUR FRIGGIN' DOLLARS A GALLON! Which, on consideration, is probably pretty cheap to our British cousins, so I'll shut up now.
32. "Going forward" is another of those pretentious business/political usages that has seeped out of their sewers. Sorry, guys.
33. "Deliverable" is a usage I just don't see very often. It is pretty clunky, though.
34. I'm certainly not going to argue with Gordon Brown. Wasn't he President of England or something?*
35. "Reach out to" carries connotations of uncertainty. I don't have a problem with it, but it is weak.
36. We don't really use the word "maths" here. Some do. But if you want to be really accurate, it's "mathematics" anyway.
37. "Regular" in place of "medium" is downright crap. Fully agreed.
38. "Expiry," like "depot," "trolley," and "pram," just sounds weird to American ears. Sorry about that.
39. I've always heard "Scots-Irish" much more than "Scotch-Irish." Granted, it doesn't make any more sense that way.
40. "That'll learn you," is tacky. It sounds wilfully ignorant.
41. "Where's it at," is also pretty bad.
42. The punctuation mark is referred to as a period, at least over here. At least we aren't calling it just a "dot." Yet. Also, "full stop" is what you come to in your car (theoretically.) Since we Americans never really shut up, a "full stop" in a sentence would make no sense whatever.
43. "Winningest" is a terrible pileup of consonants that have no business together.
44. Ok, here's a disagreement. A television series is an entire run of a program. The TV series M*A*S*H ran for eleven seasons. Over there, you say the program ran for however many series. You don't get to dictate the terms there, you invented the language, not the medium.
45. "Issue" versus "problem" is yet more doublespeak.
46. "Zed" does sound cooler.
47. We're all cazh about winning our medals. Up against, say, the English, it's no big deal. We don't even consider it winning - just medaling.
48. "For free" has been around for a long time. Don't know what we could do about it even if we could be bothered.
49. I'm not sure what the complaint is here. Is "already" a bad word?
50. I couldn't care less that people over here apparently COULD give a crap about NASCAR. I also couldn't care less that the UK still could care less about the royal family. It does bother me that Canada could care less about the Royals. They seem smarter than that.
Anyway. Enjoy your soccer match. And your tea and cookies. Biscuits are better here.
* Honestly, that was funny in my head.
This morning, they published this followup piece - "Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples." Mostly, I was amused. I agreed with more than a couple, though. So, one by one:
1. "Can I get a..." is something I use with some frequency. At stores and restaurants. Sometimes varied with "could I have." Apparently, though, us idiot Amurricans only ever use it to say "Can I get a 'Hell Yeah?'"
2. "Least worst option" is, in fact, the most worst option for describing the least of several evils.
3. "Two-time" and "three-time" are sometimes clearer than double or triple. To say Al Gore was the two-time Democratic nominee for President is clearer than "double nominee" or however our cousins across the pond would prefer.
4. "24/7" is apparently here to stay. Until it looks and sounds dated, at least. Give it time, it'll quietly go away on its own.
5. "Deplane" isn't even the worst of it. Have a listen to "Brain Droppings" by George Carlin. He'll give you a whole RAFT of terms used by airlines.
6. Hey, friend - Mick Jagger was waiting ON a friend. It's not just us.
7. "It is what it is," while a nicely fatalistic sentiment, is just a tautology. It is pretty worthless, though.
8. "Fanny pack" just sounds silly. Sorry that non-US English uses fanny and about fifty thousand other words to refer to women's genitalia. Next time, we'll just call it "Gravedigger's Biscuits."
9. "Touch base" is perfectly useful. In baseball. But it's also in the lexicon of communication, somewhere below "catch up" and above "say hi to."
10. "Physicality" is not a real word.
11. "Transportation" rather than simply "transport." Again, I think this is a clarity thing. "Transport" is a verb. The vessel used to carry out that action is "transportation."
12. Hey, buddy, we also say leh-ver, not lee-ver. Mostly. The extra meanings are pretty silly, though.
13. I had no idea "turning" an age was an Americanism. It's kind of remarkable how many of the terms in this list are very new, but this one's been with me all my life. I find it a bit poetic; you "turn" the page to the next year of your life. Doesn't really work that way, but it's still a nice sentiment.
14. I'm sorry, old beans, but "trolley" sounds silly to American ears. So stick your brolly in your trolley, alright chaps?
15. Admittedly, "gotten" is a bad one. It sounds kind of trashy.
16. "I'm good" ain't good, unless someone is asking about your moral alignment. "We're good" is just as bad.
17. I wonder if, without context, Brits think we put sausages in our hair. I'm not a big fan of "bangs," the word or the fringe. It's an ugly word.
18. Take-out versus takeaway. One's really no better than the other, guys. We take it out of the restaurant, you take it away from the restaurant. And didn't we invent "take-out" food anyway?
19. Yes, ridiculosity sucks. So does the unclear "that" in the entry.
20. Get over it. It's only taken me a half hour to do so.
21. Here's a heads up - bitching about American usage of English is pretty pointless. Also, it means "a quick notification or memorandum."
22. Shall we call them railports? I know you're still using the word "depot" back there, but that's restricted to Homes and Offices now.
23. Yeah, I can't really defend "alphabetize." It is shorter than "Arrange a series of items in alphabetical order."
24. "My bad," either.
25. I sort of suspect "normalcy" started because of a mispronunciation and some drift from "normality." It's certainly got to be one of the least "offensive" terms on the list, though.
26. "Burglarize" has that pseudo-scientific air that cops and lawyers over here really like. It sounds oh so much more... something... than "rob."
27. Another one where brevity perversely loses out. "Oftentimes," though, has a snooty, somewhat pretentious tone. Politicians like to use it, because they probably feel it makes them sound "more smarter."
28. I'm unclear what this entry is supposed to be. Do you mean "eatery?" I always sort of assumed that was actually a Brit term. I have never seen the term "eaterie." And this is from someone taking luthierie classes.
29. Fortnightly can go with your brollies and your prams. Mate. Bi-weekly sucks because it's unclear (twice a week or every two weeks?)
30. I blame the schools. (Which almost certainly applies to a very large percentage of this list.)
31. A price "hike" obfuscates that GAS IS ALMOST FOUR FRIGGIN' DOLLARS A GALLON! Which, on consideration, is probably pretty cheap to our British cousins, so I'll shut up now.
32. "Going forward" is another of those pretentious business/political usages that has seeped out of their sewers. Sorry, guys.
33. "Deliverable" is a usage I just don't see very often. It is pretty clunky, though.
34. I'm certainly not going to argue with Gordon Brown. Wasn't he President of England or something?*
35. "Reach out to" carries connotations of uncertainty. I don't have a problem with it, but it is weak.
36. We don't really use the word "maths" here. Some do. But if you want to be really accurate, it's "mathematics" anyway.
37. "Regular" in place of "medium" is downright crap. Fully agreed.
38. "Expiry," like "depot," "trolley," and "pram," just sounds weird to American ears. Sorry about that.
39. I've always heard "Scots-Irish" much more than "Scotch-Irish." Granted, it doesn't make any more sense that way.
40. "That'll learn you," is tacky. It sounds wilfully ignorant.
41. "Where's it at," is also pretty bad.
42. The punctuation mark is referred to as a period, at least over here. At least we aren't calling it just a "dot." Yet. Also, "full stop" is what you come to in your car (theoretically.) Since we Americans never really shut up, a "full stop" in a sentence would make no sense whatever.
43. "Winningest" is a terrible pileup of consonants that have no business together.
44. Ok, here's a disagreement. A television series is an entire run of a program. The TV series M*A*S*H ran for eleven seasons. Over there, you say the program ran for however many series. You don't get to dictate the terms there, you invented the language, not the medium.
45. "Issue" versus "problem" is yet more doublespeak.
46. "Zed" does sound cooler.
47. We're all cazh about winning our medals. Up against, say, the English, it's no big deal. We don't even consider it winning - just medaling.
48. "For free" has been around for a long time. Don't know what we could do about it even if we could be bothered.
49. I'm not sure what the complaint is here. Is "already" a bad word?
50. I couldn't care less that people over here apparently COULD give a crap about NASCAR. I also couldn't care less that the UK still could care less about the royal family. It does bother me that Canada could care less about the Royals. They seem smarter than that.
Anyway. Enjoy your soccer match. And your tea and cookies. Biscuits are better here.
* Honestly, that was funny in my head.
14 July 2011
Anniversary Uke
So this (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Soprano_Ukulele_Kit.html) is Mel's anniversary gift from me. She knows what's going on - considering I'll be making the damn thing in the next room, it'll be pretty hard to hide what's going on.
So, it came in today, along with some finishing supplies and the DVD. I'll probably just watch that on the laptop as I go, more or less. And you, lucky readers, will get day-by-day updates. Here's the kit as it looks out of the box:
And here's the body with a standard, mass-market sized paperback. It's tiny. Which I correctly guessed would be Mel's preference. It seems like there's a joke I'm missing there...
Anyway, the little bit of tooling up I need to do (clamps and glue, mostly) will be done in the morning. Home Depot, here I come (I hope you'll help me out with a jig...)
So, it came in today, along with some finishing supplies and the DVD. I'll probably just watch that on the laptop as I go, more or less. And you, lucky readers, will get day-by-day updates. Here's the kit as it looks out of the box:
And here's the body with a standard, mass-market sized paperback. It's tiny. Which I correctly guessed would be Mel's preference. It seems like there's a joke I'm missing there...
Anyway, the little bit of tooling up I need to do (clamps and glue, mostly) will be done in the morning. Home Depot, here I come (I hope you'll help me out with a jig...)
04 May 2011
More Than You Wanted To Know, Guitar edition
There had actually been an entry from about two weeks ago. It was brief. "I've started finishing the guitar," was what it boiled down to, and that was about it.
Oh, and that I expected to be done wiring the following Saturday. This was, obviously, before the Friday afternoon call informing me the lab would be closed all weekend.
That was disappointing. Then, that Monday, I screwed up and forgot my friggin' pickups...
And, to continue the drama, this past Saturday it took me most of five hours to get any sort of done with the wiring. I'm pretty sure my big problem was somewhere in the switching, but I'll never be completely sure. I ripped out most of the wiring when I got to class tonight and started pretty much from scratch. Fortunately, that only took an hour and a half, give or take a few minutes.
So, it's down to the final product. And I'm pretty pleased.
Catalog-style specs:
25.5" Scale
22 Frets
Gotoh 16:1 tuners
Bone nut
Medium-jumbo frets
Rosewood fretboard w/ Mother-of-pearl inlays
Rock maple bolt-on neck
Alder body (stained and oiled)
Gotoh humbucking pickups (x2, wired in parallel rather than series)
Master tone and volume controls
Gotoh hard-tail bridge (strings mounted through body)
Maple pickguards
(Below, when I talk about guitars, I more specifically am referring to electric guitars. Acoustic and classical guitars are very different in design and construction.)
What most of that means is it's basically a variation on standard Fender construction. Stratocasters and Telecasters (and I'm pretty sure the older Broadcasters and No-casters) had bolted on maple necks built to the 25.5" scale that is practically synonymous with Fender guitars.1
The scale length (vibrating length of string between nut and bridge) and the neck construction are actually hugely important to the sound of a given guitar. 25.5" is the longest commonly-available scale length in guitars and imparts a clarity to the sound that isn't as pronounced in shorter scale lengths. "Shimmer" is a popular word to describe the sound. Think Stevie Ray Vaughan's instrumental "Lenny."2
As a comparison, Les Pauls are built to a 24.75" scale.3 Three-quarters of an inch isn't much, it would seem like, but it puts the harmonic overtones of the vibrating strings just a bit closer together. The sound is generally considered "warmer."
(Digression about terminology: the words "warm," "punchy," "rich," "smooth," and "clear" are used - a LOT - to describe the tonal characteristics of both pickups and wood. Product reviews are especially guilty of this. "Crisp" is also popular, as is "full." The thing is, it's bullshit marketing. My "warmth" is your "fuzziness," your "clarity" my "brittleness." They are entirely subjective and therefore meaningless. Not to say there isn't a difference between the sound of, say, a 60s-era Les Paul and a modern Paul Reed Smith, but there's no objective way to say which is "warmer" or "smoother.")
Back to Lily.4 The bolt-on neck is also a Fender trademark. Leo Fender chose this construction method because it vastly simplifies building and assembling guitars. One section of a factory can be working on bodies while another does necks. This is also why Fender typically mounts all their electronics on a plastic pickguard.
The other very common neck joint is called a "set" neck. This means it is glued in place, frequently at a slight angle to the body to accomodate a carved top surface. Again, this is typified by the immortal Gibson Les Paul. Angled and glued neck joints are generally perceived as more upscale than bolted necks. They are, however, more difficult to build and repair, which is why it wasn't even an option in this class.
A third type of neck construction is called "neck-through" construction - in this case, the neck continues all the way through the body and "wings" are added to form a body. This allows for a very thin guitar, but repairing the neck is very difficult, and it adds new layers of complexity to design and construction. Neck-through guitars are not common and generally considerably more expensive than either of the other types of neck joint.
(Neck joint digression: the effect of the neck joint on the sound of a guitar, particularly in the form of sustain, is widely known but generally misunderstood. "Neck-through" guitars are thought to sustain better than set necks, which are in turn thought to sustain better than bolt-on necks. Research shows this to be exactly backwards, but also that the differences are very minor. If something is expensive, it will be assumed to be better.)
The two-humbucker configuration, while it has appeared on Fender models, is more commonly associated with Gibson. A humbucking pickup consists of two magnetic coils that act as microphones for the strings. These coils are wired in such a way as to cancel the noise a single-coil pickup produces.5 Typically, a humbucker is wired so that one coil feeds into the next, and the combined sound is passed to the amplifier. In this case, I wired the pickups "in parallel," which is to say that each coil in each pickup is sending sound to the amp simultaneously but separately. This produces a lower-output sound that is much closer to the output of a single-coil pickup. This is another factor that contributes to Lily's "Strat-like" sound.6
On to the wood. Maple necks are extremely common. Maple is a very strong wood, relatively plentiful, and easy to work with. Fender has been using them from the start. The other very common neck wood is mahogany - guess what iconic guitar model is closely associated with a mahogany neck?
Alder is also plentiful and easy to work. It's a pretty unremarkable wood, to be fair. Mostly it's finished in solid (or at least opaque) colors. Rosewood fingerboards are also very common, but may become less so as the trees become scarcer. It has a pleasing tone and can be quite beautiful. I rather like the piece I used - it has a beautiful multicolored grain that was unfortunately somewhat obscured by the oil used to finish it.
And the finish. Factory guitars are almost all finished in some sort of lacquer. Depending on the manufacturer, this might be nitrocellulose, polyurethane, or a modern water-based lacquer. This is, basically, a layer of plastic. For the most part, manufacturers try to use sonically-neutral finishes, but even so, it's a layer of plastic wrapped around the wood.
Lily has an oil finish (marketed as gun stock oil) over a water-based stain. Both were applied by hand. The downside is that the finish isn't particularly durable. It is, however, very easy to repair.
The wood pickguards are a fairly unique touch. Most pickguards are plastic, because it's more durable, but the maple ties in nicely with the headstock and neck.
As far as quality goes, I don't have anything objective to say except that subjectively, I like her. The neck feels good to me (and looks more like a production guitar neck than some of my classmates' necks.) She balances pretty well, and the armrest is very comfortable. Sometime soon, I hope to get over to Grand Junction and get a second opinion.
Anyway, that's far more than you wanted to know. Thanks for reading!
1 - Jaguars, Jazzmasters, and Mustangs by Fender are built to a different scale. I believe they are all 24" scale, but I'm not completely sure, never having played one.
2 - "Lenny" is probably the most beautiful guitar composition ever written on a Fender guitar.
3 - Gibson, having been around for a very long time (they're one of the oldest guitar manufacturers in the United States) has used several different scale lengths that they refer to as 24.75". It varies, but usually by well under a quarter of an inch.
4 - Yes, Lily. The next model will probably be named Robin. We done?
5 - Single-coil pickups are, naturally, what you see on a lot of Fender guitars. In spite of the noise they by necessity generate, they do contribute a great deal to the "sparkly" sound of a Strat.
6 - Humbucker-equipped Strats are frequently called "Fat Strats." Maybe with parallel wiring, this one should be called "curvy" since she's somewhere between.
Oh, and that I expected to be done wiring the following Saturday. This was, obviously, before the Friday afternoon call informing me the lab would be closed all weekend.
That was disappointing. Then, that Monday, I screwed up and forgot my friggin' pickups...
And, to continue the drama, this past Saturday it took me most of five hours to get any sort of done with the wiring. I'm pretty sure my big problem was somewhere in the switching, but I'll never be completely sure. I ripped out most of the wiring when I got to class tonight and started pretty much from scratch. Fortunately, that only took an hour and a half, give or take a few minutes.
So, it's down to the final product. And I'm pretty pleased.
Catalog-style specs:
25.5" Scale
22 Frets
Gotoh 16:1 tuners
Bone nut
Medium-jumbo frets
Rosewood fretboard w/ Mother-of-pearl inlays
Rock maple bolt-on neck
Alder body (stained and oiled)
Gotoh humbucking pickups (x2, wired in parallel rather than series)
Master tone and volume controls
Gotoh hard-tail bridge (strings mounted through body)
Maple pickguards
(Below, when I talk about guitars, I more specifically am referring to electric guitars. Acoustic and classical guitars are very different in design and construction.)
What most of that means is it's basically a variation on standard Fender construction. Stratocasters and Telecasters (and I'm pretty sure the older Broadcasters and No-casters) had bolted on maple necks built to the 25.5" scale that is practically synonymous with Fender guitars.1
The scale length (vibrating length of string between nut and bridge) and the neck construction are actually hugely important to the sound of a given guitar. 25.5" is the longest commonly-available scale length in guitars and imparts a clarity to the sound that isn't as pronounced in shorter scale lengths. "Shimmer" is a popular word to describe the sound. Think Stevie Ray Vaughan's instrumental "Lenny."2
As a comparison, Les Pauls are built to a 24.75" scale.3 Three-quarters of an inch isn't much, it would seem like, but it puts the harmonic overtones of the vibrating strings just a bit closer together. The sound is generally considered "warmer."
(Digression about terminology: the words "warm," "punchy," "rich," "smooth," and "clear" are used - a LOT - to describe the tonal characteristics of both pickups and wood. Product reviews are especially guilty of this. "Crisp" is also popular, as is "full." The thing is, it's bullshit marketing. My "warmth" is your "fuzziness," your "clarity" my "brittleness." They are entirely subjective and therefore meaningless. Not to say there isn't a difference between the sound of, say, a 60s-era Les Paul and a modern Paul Reed Smith, but there's no objective way to say which is "warmer" or "smoother.")
Back to Lily.4 The bolt-on neck is also a Fender trademark. Leo Fender chose this construction method because it vastly simplifies building and assembling guitars. One section of a factory can be working on bodies while another does necks. This is also why Fender typically mounts all their electronics on a plastic pickguard.
The other very common neck joint is called a "set" neck. This means it is glued in place, frequently at a slight angle to the body to accomodate a carved top surface. Again, this is typified by the immortal Gibson Les Paul. Angled and glued neck joints are generally perceived as more upscale than bolted necks. They are, however, more difficult to build and repair, which is why it wasn't even an option in this class.
A third type of neck construction is called "neck-through" construction - in this case, the neck continues all the way through the body and "wings" are added to form a body. This allows for a very thin guitar, but repairing the neck is very difficult, and it adds new layers of complexity to design and construction. Neck-through guitars are not common and generally considerably more expensive than either of the other types of neck joint.
(Neck joint digression: the effect of the neck joint on the sound of a guitar, particularly in the form of sustain, is widely known but generally misunderstood. "Neck-through" guitars are thought to sustain better than set necks, which are in turn thought to sustain better than bolt-on necks. Research shows this to be exactly backwards, but also that the differences are very minor. If something is expensive, it will be assumed to be better.)
The two-humbucker configuration, while it has appeared on Fender models, is more commonly associated with Gibson. A humbucking pickup consists of two magnetic coils that act as microphones for the strings. These coils are wired in such a way as to cancel the noise a single-coil pickup produces.5 Typically, a humbucker is wired so that one coil feeds into the next, and the combined sound is passed to the amplifier. In this case, I wired the pickups "in parallel," which is to say that each coil in each pickup is sending sound to the amp simultaneously but separately. This produces a lower-output sound that is much closer to the output of a single-coil pickup. This is another factor that contributes to Lily's "Strat-like" sound.6
On to the wood. Maple necks are extremely common. Maple is a very strong wood, relatively plentiful, and easy to work with. Fender has been using them from the start. The other very common neck wood is mahogany - guess what iconic guitar model is closely associated with a mahogany neck?
Alder is also plentiful and easy to work. It's a pretty unremarkable wood, to be fair. Mostly it's finished in solid (or at least opaque) colors. Rosewood fingerboards are also very common, but may become less so as the trees become scarcer. It has a pleasing tone and can be quite beautiful. I rather like the piece I used - it has a beautiful multicolored grain that was unfortunately somewhat obscured by the oil used to finish it.
And the finish. Factory guitars are almost all finished in some sort of lacquer. Depending on the manufacturer, this might be nitrocellulose, polyurethane, or a modern water-based lacquer. This is, basically, a layer of plastic. For the most part, manufacturers try to use sonically-neutral finishes, but even so, it's a layer of plastic wrapped around the wood.
Lily has an oil finish (marketed as gun stock oil) over a water-based stain. Both were applied by hand. The downside is that the finish isn't particularly durable. It is, however, very easy to repair.
The wood pickguards are a fairly unique touch. Most pickguards are plastic, because it's more durable, but the maple ties in nicely with the headstock and neck.
As far as quality goes, I don't have anything objective to say except that subjectively, I like her. The neck feels good to me (and looks more like a production guitar neck than some of my classmates' necks.) She balances pretty well, and the armrest is very comfortable. Sometime soon, I hope to get over to Grand Junction and get a second opinion.
Anyway, that's far more than you wanted to know. Thanks for reading!
1 - Jaguars, Jazzmasters, and Mustangs by Fender are built to a different scale. I believe they are all 24" scale, but I'm not completely sure, never having played one.
2 - "Lenny" is probably the most beautiful guitar composition ever written on a Fender guitar.
3 - Gibson, having been around for a very long time (they're one of the oldest guitar manufacturers in the United States) has used several different scale lengths that they refer to as 24.75". It varies, but usually by well under a quarter of an inch.
4 - Yes, Lily. The next model will probably be named Robin. We done?
5 - Single-coil pickups are, naturally, what you see on a lot of Fender guitars. In spite of the noise they by necessity generate, they do contribute a great deal to the "sparkly" sound of a Strat.
6 - Humbucker-equipped Strats are frequently called "Fat Strats." Maybe with parallel wiring, this one should be called "curvy" since she's somewhere between.
14 April 2011
A Very (Parenthetical) Review
(Note: I, too, find it weird to be reviewing "The Departed." Even weirder, a friend of mine claims she hasn't seen it. I do not understand, and suspect heinous fuckery.)
Late to the Party*: The Departed
* I wasn't late to this particular party. A friend was. Yes, this is the second mention of my "friend" who supposedly "hasn't seen it." Please, feel free to mock my "friend."
Martin Scorsese has made some awesome movies. DUH. I'd like to thank the Academy for "Most Unnecessary Sentence Ever."
There's Taxi Driver, for one. There's Raging Bull, for another. And then there's The Departed, a cops-and-robbers epic. Epic like Peter Jackson wanted to make with Lord of the Rings: The Neverending Movie. This is the one that finally wonScorsese a Directing Oscar, crazy because it's also a very accessible, action-heavy piece, two things Oscar doesn't often seem to care for.
The characters are uniformly well played. Leonardo DiCaprio is a young cop whose largely criminal family makes him a perfect candidate to go undercover in one of Boston's criminal organizations. Matt Damon is another MSP officer with a long-term relationship with those self-same criminals, in particular Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson,) a heavy player in the slimier parts of the Boston Metro area. Vera Farmiga is a police psychologist who's part of DiCaprio's cover and part of Damon's life. The rest of the cast is uniformly terrific, and includes Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Corrigan (Professor Professorson!)
So yeah, like a lot of Scorsese movies, it's a bunch of macho white guys swearing at each other and holding each other at gunpoint. Unlike any other Scorsese movie, there's not one but two Wahlbergs. There's more of them than I thought...
Also like a fair few Scorsese pictures, the soundtrack is pretty awesome (Tarantino is nearly as good at needle drops.) For my money, the Dropkick Murphys will forever be associated with this movie - but probably better this movie than most of their fans. And there's a cover of "Comfortably Numb" I'm not sure I'd ever heard before, but that I like quite a bit.
It's not as nuanced as some movies (and occasionally it hits you in the face with a brick full of symbolism. The last shot, particularly, comes to mind.) It's not a deep meditation on the nature of humanity, but it does offer a nasty glance at a world that doesn't quite exist, full of people you don't quite want to be around. It's a fast-paced flick, made by highly skilled professionals. It's a lot like classic John Woo flicks like "The Killer."
Also, The Departed absolutely earns its R rating. Language (of the "dirty" variety,) violence (strong, if sporadic,) sex (honestly, not a lot, but there's pretty much one female character and no openly gay characters,) and drug use (and cigarettes, which is apparently an issue these days.) Probably not one to watch with the kids, but definitely one to watch if you like cops and robbers. The Departed is almost five years old now, which is kind of crazy. Really seems like just a few months ago that I watched it (twice) in theaters.
(Postscript: the phrase "heinous fuckery," a particular favorite of mine, was coined by writer Christopher Moore. Not the one I'm friends with. Moore post coming, now I think of it.)
(Post-postscript: next movie review will be one most folks didn't see. This one's a desert island DVD - Los Tres Entierros de Melquiades Estrada. If I have time this afternoon, I'll watch it again, and post a review later. Not sure I'll have time, though.)
Late to the Party*: The Departed
* I wasn't late to this particular party. A friend was. Yes, this is the second mention of my "friend" who supposedly "hasn't seen it." Please, feel free to mock my "friend."
Martin Scorsese has made some awesome movies. DUH. I'd like to thank the Academy for "Most Unnecessary Sentence Ever."
There's Taxi Driver, for one. There's Raging Bull, for another. And then there's The Departed, a cops-and-robbers epic. Epic like Peter Jackson wanted to make with Lord of the Rings: The Neverending Movie. This is the one that finally wonScorsese a Directing Oscar, crazy because it's also a very accessible, action-heavy piece, two things Oscar doesn't often seem to care for.
The characters are uniformly well played. Leonardo DiCaprio is a young cop whose largely criminal family makes him a perfect candidate to go undercover in one of Boston's criminal organizations. Matt Damon is another MSP officer with a long-term relationship with those self-same criminals, in particular Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson,) a heavy player in the slimier parts of the Boston Metro area. Vera Farmiga is a police psychologist who's part of DiCaprio's cover and part of Damon's life. The rest of the cast is uniformly terrific, and includes Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Corrigan (Professor Professorson!)
So yeah, like a lot of Scorsese movies, it's a bunch of macho white guys swearing at each other and holding each other at gunpoint. Unlike any other Scorsese movie, there's not one but two Wahlbergs. There's more of them than I thought...
Also like a fair few Scorsese pictures, the soundtrack is pretty awesome (Tarantino is nearly as good at needle drops.) For my money, the Dropkick Murphys will forever be associated with this movie - but probably better this movie than most of their fans. And there's a cover of "Comfortably Numb" I'm not sure I'd ever heard before, but that I like quite a bit.
It's not as nuanced as some movies (and occasionally it hits you in the face with a brick full of symbolism. The last shot, particularly, comes to mind.) It's not a deep meditation on the nature of humanity, but it does offer a nasty glance at a world that doesn't quite exist, full of people you don't quite want to be around. It's a fast-paced flick, made by highly skilled professionals. It's a lot like classic John Woo flicks like "The Killer."
Also, The Departed absolutely earns its R rating. Language (of the "dirty" variety,) violence (strong, if sporadic,) sex (honestly, not a lot, but there's pretty much one female character and no openly gay characters,) and drug use (and cigarettes, which is apparently an issue these days.) Probably not one to watch with the kids, but definitely one to watch if you like cops and robbers. The Departed is almost five years old now, which is kind of crazy. Really seems like just a few months ago that I watched it (twice) in theaters.
(Postscript: the phrase "heinous fuckery," a particular favorite of mine, was coined by writer Christopher Moore. Not the one I'm friends with. Moore post coming, now I think of it.)
(Post-postscript: next movie review will be one most folks didn't see. This one's a desert island DVD - Los Tres Entierros de Melquiades Estrada. If I have time this afternoon, I'll watch it again, and post a review later. Not sure I'll have time, though.)
04 March 2011
Movie Night
LATE TO THE PARTY (Network)
Well, there aren't many movies on my Netflix queue that I could BE any later to. NETWORK is almost as old as I am (jebus!)
NETWORK might be perfect. It was made by incredibly talented people who actually gave a shit about the movie and who had some modicum of respect for their audience. Nowadays, like "quick, cheap, or good," it seems like you only get to pick two of those qualities.
It won Oscars. Good ones, not the ones INCEPTION got. It was nominated in all four acting categories - Faye Dunaway won Best Actress (and deserved it,) William Holden was nominated for Best Actor (and should have won it,) Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress (with one incredible scene - she had more grace and presence on screen than almost anyone I've ever seen,) and Peter Finch was the first person ever to posthumously be nominated for and win an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor (and unlike in the only other case of a posthumous nomination, he wasn't just doing Nicholson.) Paddy Chayefsky won the Screenplay Oscar because, well, even the blind squirrels at the Academy find an acorn from time to time.
Quick Aside: If you've ever written anything, and want to do it again, you owe yourself more Chayefsky. His writing will make you feel small and untalented, but in a GOOD way.
I don't feel qualified to really say much else about NETWORK. I think this might actually be awe. The real kind, the stuff involving deities. There is SO MUCH going on in that movie, and some of it I caught and a lot I probably didn't, and I'll be watching it again soon.
One thing, though: NETWORK is more cyberpunk than THE MATRIX. And there's not a computer in it. And the subject matter is still frighteningly relevant.
ALMOST AS LATE: The Right Stuff
The best thing I can say about THE RIGHT STUFF is that that is maybe the most butch cast since THE DIRTY DOZEN or THE WILD BUNCH. Butch in a way that just doesn't happen anymore, since these days our "manly man" types are greased up body freaks. But the astronauts of THE RIGHT STUFF have a lot more to do with manliness than the 'roid freaks of THE EXPENDABLES. A five-year-old Sam Shepard could tear the junk right off Sly Stallone, and Ed Harris on his deathbed will still be tougher than Jason Statham.
Seriously, what the fuck happened? Less than thirty years ago, we get Shepard, Harris, Fred Ward, Lance Henriksen*, Scott Glenn, and Dennis Quaid to play the cream of the American crop. Fifteen years later, it was Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Steve Buscemi, and while I love those guys (but not that movie,) I think that marks a pretty clear decline in Hollywood masculinity.
Today's version of THE RIGHT STUFF would be more of an action movie, and it would probably linger pornographically on the launch pad explosions and other catastrophes; there would be a "bromantic" relationship between two of the characters; the wives would have at least one pool scene; and my two favorite parts would probably just not exist, or be completely ruined by MTV editing and some godawful pop rock song.
Ed Harris (as John Glenn) and Mary Jo Deschanel (as his wife, Annie) have a beautiful scene early on. We don't know much about them, except that John is the perfect military pilot, stoic, square-jawed, and forthright. Annie, barely seen so far, is silent and aloof-seeming, barely an accessory on her superman's arm. Her seeming distance, it turns out, is the result of a bad stammer, and the two share a beautifully-drawn scene of quiet conversation that convincingly creates a very loving couple. Today, it would probably involve animal crackers.
Yeager's last big scene would be toast as well. In the movie, he takes an experimental jet up and pushes it and himself right to the edge of space and death. The race to the edge of the atmosphere is beautifully shot. A lot is done with lens flares and reflections, and Yeager's fall is one of the most intense things ever put to film. A lot of that intensity comes when he falls through a cloud - and the director leaves him there for a long moment. You know, consciously, that Chuck Yeager lived long after the events depicted in the film, but still there is tension to be mined. Now, every moment from takeoff to Yeager walking across the desert would be documented in meticulous, CGI-Enhanced detail, and it'd be accompanied by Maroon 5.
I'm glad to have seen the movie finally. The performances were great, the story interesting (and whoo, the cinematography!)... but at 3+ hours, it's not one I'll be revisiting anytime soon. There are weaknesses to this movie, and they seem to get a pass because of the subject matter (and cast.)
THAT'S A WRAP
I know I sound like an old guy, bitching about how movies used to be so much better. But if we're talking about NETWORK, it really WAS so much better than pretty much anything since. It is an actual masterpiece. THE RIGHT STUFF is a damn good movie, but I've seen better (from that time period, even.) It just seems like there was a level of dedication and craft from all involved (except Philip Kaufman, director of THE RIGHT STUFF, who clearly thinks of himself more as an artist. Well, screw Philip Kaufman. He still owes me for making fucking RISING SUN.)
Anyway, I mentioned in a previous post that this would be Foreign Friday. We'll see about that. I will watch something from my Instant Queue and review it, but it may not be GDT's first couple of movies. Thanks for reading.
* If you don't know the name Lance Henriksen, he's the wiry little guy who played Bishop, the tiddlywinks champion of the Alien universe. James Cameron wanted him to play the lead in a little movie called THE TERMINATOR, but the studio balked. Personally, I want to see THAT version. And on consideration, that might be the moment that shifted the Hollywood representation of "the tough guy."
Well, there aren't many movies on my Netflix queue that I could BE any later to. NETWORK is almost as old as I am (jebus!)
NETWORK might be perfect. It was made by incredibly talented people who actually gave a shit about the movie and who had some modicum of respect for their audience. Nowadays, like "quick, cheap, or good," it seems like you only get to pick two of those qualities.
It won Oscars. Good ones, not the ones INCEPTION got. It was nominated in all four acting categories - Faye Dunaway won Best Actress (and deserved it,) William Holden was nominated for Best Actor (and should have won it,) Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress (with one incredible scene - she had more grace and presence on screen than almost anyone I've ever seen,) and Peter Finch was the first person ever to posthumously be nominated for and win an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor (and unlike in the only other case of a posthumous nomination, he wasn't just doing Nicholson.) Paddy Chayefsky won the Screenplay Oscar because, well, even the blind squirrels at the Academy find an acorn from time to time.
Quick Aside: If you've ever written anything, and want to do it again, you owe yourself more Chayefsky. His writing will make you feel small and untalented, but in a GOOD way.
I don't feel qualified to really say much else about NETWORK. I think this might actually be awe. The real kind, the stuff involving deities. There is SO MUCH going on in that movie, and some of it I caught and a lot I probably didn't, and I'll be watching it again soon.
One thing, though: NETWORK is more cyberpunk than THE MATRIX. And there's not a computer in it. And the subject matter is still frighteningly relevant.
ALMOST AS LATE: The Right Stuff
The best thing I can say about THE RIGHT STUFF is that that is maybe the most butch cast since THE DIRTY DOZEN or THE WILD BUNCH. Butch in a way that just doesn't happen anymore, since these days our "manly man" types are greased up body freaks. But the astronauts of THE RIGHT STUFF have a lot more to do with manliness than the 'roid freaks of THE EXPENDABLES. A five-year-old Sam Shepard could tear the junk right off Sly Stallone, and Ed Harris on his deathbed will still be tougher than Jason Statham.
Seriously, what the fuck happened? Less than thirty years ago, we get Shepard, Harris, Fred Ward, Lance Henriksen*, Scott Glenn, and Dennis Quaid to play the cream of the American crop. Fifteen years later, it was Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Steve Buscemi, and while I love those guys (but not that movie,) I think that marks a pretty clear decline in Hollywood masculinity.
Today's version of THE RIGHT STUFF would be more of an action movie, and it would probably linger pornographically on the launch pad explosions and other catastrophes; there would be a "bromantic" relationship between two of the characters; the wives would have at least one pool scene; and my two favorite parts would probably just not exist, or be completely ruined by MTV editing and some godawful pop rock song.
Ed Harris (as John Glenn) and Mary Jo Deschanel (as his wife, Annie) have a beautiful scene early on. We don't know much about them, except that John is the perfect military pilot, stoic, square-jawed, and forthright. Annie, barely seen so far, is silent and aloof-seeming, barely an accessory on her superman's arm. Her seeming distance, it turns out, is the result of a bad stammer, and the two share a beautifully-drawn scene of quiet conversation that convincingly creates a very loving couple. Today, it would probably involve animal crackers.
Yeager's last big scene would be toast as well. In the movie, he takes an experimental jet up and pushes it and himself right to the edge of space and death. The race to the edge of the atmosphere is beautifully shot. A lot is done with lens flares and reflections, and Yeager's fall is one of the most intense things ever put to film. A lot of that intensity comes when he falls through a cloud - and the director leaves him there for a long moment. You know, consciously, that Chuck Yeager lived long after the events depicted in the film, but still there is tension to be mined. Now, every moment from takeoff to Yeager walking across the desert would be documented in meticulous, CGI-Enhanced detail, and it'd be accompanied by Maroon 5.
I'm glad to have seen the movie finally. The performances were great, the story interesting (and whoo, the cinematography!)... but at 3+ hours, it's not one I'll be revisiting anytime soon. There are weaknesses to this movie, and they seem to get a pass because of the subject matter (and cast.)
THAT'S A WRAP
I know I sound like an old guy, bitching about how movies used to be so much better. But if we're talking about NETWORK, it really WAS so much better than pretty much anything since. It is an actual masterpiece. THE RIGHT STUFF is a damn good movie, but I've seen better (from that time period, even.) It just seems like there was a level of dedication and craft from all involved (except Philip Kaufman, director of THE RIGHT STUFF, who clearly thinks of himself more as an artist. Well, screw Philip Kaufman. He still owes me for making fucking RISING SUN.)
Anyway, I mentioned in a previous post that this would be Foreign Friday. We'll see about that. I will watch something from my Instant Queue and review it, but it may not be GDT's first couple of movies. Thanks for reading.
* If you don't know the name Lance Henriksen, he's the wiry little guy who played Bishop, the tiddlywinks champion of the Alien universe. James Cameron wanted him to play the lead in a little movie called THE TERMINATOR, but the studio balked. Personally, I want to see THAT version. And on consideration, that might be the moment that shifted the Hollywood representation of "the tough guy."
02 March 2011
The Blog That ATE MY POSTS!
Or it's possible I never got around to them. I'm still building the guitar. We've been focused on the neck lately, and that's not very visual. First there was a channel routed into a piece of wood (for the truss rod that adjusts the neck's tension to compensate for the pressure of the strings.) Then the headstock got partially cut out and the holes drilled for the tuning machines. Oh, and the fingerboard got cut out. And the frets slotted. So obviously progress has been made, but again, nothing of visual interest. Monday, we should be cutting out the rough shape of the neck so we can start shaping it. That's when the pictures will be starting again.
What we've got here is the pickguards attached. There's still a bit of fine-tuning to do on them - any weirdness you see, assume that's what I'm working on. If you don't see anything, trust me it's there.
What we've got here is the pickguards attached. There's still a bit of fine-tuning to do on them - any weirdness you see, assume that's what I'm working on. If you don't see anything, trust me it's there.
There Will Be Blog...
There Will Be Blog...
So this weekend, Mel is going to be in Atlanta with her sister, their aunt, and the sister-in-law's boyfriend. Here's my big plans for those evenings.
Thursday night, tomorrow still as I write this, watch Network and The Right Stuff. Believe it or not, I am seeing both of them for the first time... (Think I saw The Right Stuff on tv when I was a kid. Not sure, though.) I will share my thoughts.
Friday night, I will watch foreign flicks. Cronos and Devil's Backbone, for sure, because they are GDT, and I have not seen them. This shames me at least as much as my failure so far to see The Right Stuff. Given time and probable inclination, I will watch one or more of the "Girl who"/Millenium series.
Saturday has a couple of DC Animated flicks to watch: Superman/Batman Apocalypse and the Superman/Captain Marvel Black Adam thing. Not sure about what I'll watch that night. There's plenty of stuff on the Netflix Instant queue.
Those are my big plans. Anybody with an XBox and Netflix want to join me?
So this weekend, Mel is going to be in Atlanta with her sister, their aunt, and the sister-in-law's boyfriend. Here's my big plans for those evenings.
Thursday night, tomorrow still as I write this, watch Network and The Right Stuff. Believe it or not, I am seeing both of them for the first time... (Think I saw The Right Stuff on tv when I was a kid. Not sure, though.) I will share my thoughts.
Friday night, I will watch foreign flicks. Cronos and Devil's Backbone, for sure, because they are GDT, and I have not seen them. This shames me at least as much as my failure so far to see The Right Stuff. Given time and probable inclination, I will watch one or more of the "Girl who"/Millenium series.
Saturday has a couple of DC Animated flicks to watch: Superman/Batman Apocalypse and the Superman/Captain Marvel Black Adam thing. Not sure about what I'll watch that night. There's plenty of stuff on the Netflix Instant queue.
Those are my big plans. Anybody with an XBox and Netflix want to join me?
09 February 2011
Guitar Class, Part One
I'm taking a class at the local community college, because they offer luthierie classes. If I'd known this when I moved here, I'd probably be done with a certificate by now. Because yeah, they offer a certificate for luthierie fundamentals. And that, my friends, is what the kids are calling "dope."
Electric Guitar Building. Or possibly Construction. Anyway.
The plan that comes with the kits we're using for class is for a guitar that looks an awful lot like the Fender Stratocaster (in profile, anyway.) Like the iconic Strat (Jimi Hendrix used Strats an awful lot, as did Stevie Ray Vaughan, and David Gilmour and Eric Clapton are both big fans of Leo Fender's most successful design,) the plans are for a fairly curvy double-cutaway guitar with a bolt-on neck, a flat top, and a very familiar headstock. Headstock and body silhouettes are entirely up to the students, within the limits imposed by scale length (the length of string between the nut - the little piece of bone next to the headstock - and the saddles, which in this case are going to be mounted on the bridge) and electronics (they have to go somewhere, and we are near the minimum for number and type of controls for practical use.)
The electronics are very different from a Stratocaster, as far as these things go. The "typical" Strat has three single-coil pickups that are selected with a five-way blade switch and modified by a master volume control and tone controls for two of the pickups (the third pickup is wired with no tone control, and whether this is a bug or a feature is entirely in the mind of the player. I feel it's buggy, because it does impose an unnecessary limit on the player's sound-shaping options at the guitar, but it is part of the "sound" of a Strat.) The kit includes two dual-coil "humbucker" pickups, a three-way switch to select either or both pickups, a master volume control, and a push-pull tone control that we'll be wiring to "cut" the pickups, making them sound more like single-coil pickups. I'm going to look into other options for the push-pull pot (I want to set it up to select parallel or serial operation of the pickups. Mostly just out of curiosity.)
The bridge is shit. I would never install one given a choice, and will almost definitely be getting something else. It's basically a Strat bridge, but not a tremolo system. The saddles (one per string) are mounted on the bridge just as they are on the trem version, with a spring-wrapped screw to adjust the vibrating length of the string and two short screws for adjusting the height of the string at the bridge. The height screws are what piss me off - they aren't connected to the bridge, except by pressure from the string, and it's very easy to adjust them unevenly, which isn't good for any number of reasons. That, and the damn things always feel flimsy to me. I just don't like them, and it's (almost) purely subjective.
Anyway, long story somewhat less long, the pic is what I have so far. The pickup cavities are uneven - I routed the neck cavity 1 inch deep all the way around; the bridge cavity (closer to the middle - no bridge mounted yet) is what the plans call for, with most of the cavity 3/4" deep, and the ends at a full inch. The extra wood left in the bridge cavity isn't necessary to mount the pickup, but it is a more standard pattern. Who knows, maybe the little extra space around the neck pickup will add a little resonance. I like the silhouette. It's a little smaller - I'd originally cut it a lot closer to the plan's Strat-like shape and then cut it down further to this shape. This weekend, the edges will be rounded down and I'll finish off the control cavity (around back, not pictured.) The controls are "wrong way around," with the selector switch closest to the neck - most designers put it further away from the picking hand so it isn't accidentally bumped while playing, but it's the control I use most during a piece, so I wanted it handy.
How it's going to look when it's finished is completely up in the air at this point. But at this point, I can go a couple of ways with the finish. If there's time towards the end of class (and I just don't see how there won't be. Maybe I'm overly optimistic) we'll be doing a more complex finishing job than the syllabus calls for, which is basically just gun stock oil. I'll be adding a pickguard (more decorative than functional,) which I haven't designed yet.
12 January 2011
So.
This is about the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. My knee jerked hard when I heard about the "surveyor's marks," of course, because those "surveyor's marks" were brought to you courtesy of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, aka "The Last Person I Want to See In National Office."
In case you don't know who Giffords was, or how Palin has been tied to the event, here's a quick rundown. Back when "Obamacare" was being voted on, Palin posted a graphic to her facebook site with what looked a lot like gun sights over various Congressional districts. These districts were key to the vote. Some mischief ensued - broken windows and such. This past Saturday, Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords (one of the people under those "They only LOOK like gunsights" icons,) was shot, along with several other people at an event she was hosting.
The gunman was apprehended at the scene. Congresswoman Giffords is, so far, alive.
And me and a lot of the Left reacted pretty strongly to that graphic.
But, as has been pointed out by a much smarter man than me (Jon Stewart, doing what he can to restore sanity,) conflating Palin and her incredibly irresponsible rhetoric with the Giffords attack is a lot like blaming the Columbine shootings on Marilyn Manson.
My reaction to the Columbine/Manson link is and always has been to call "Bullshit." Manson is and always has been an entertainer, and what he says and does is an effort to sell more of his product.
I do feel that Palin is in a very different position as a politician than Manson is as an entertainer. As a possible Presidential candidate, we actually do look to her for leadership and wisdom.
(Side Note: Using the term "wisdom" in reference to Sarah Palin hurts just as much as you'd think.)
Now, I don't think any reasonable person is actually looking to the former Governor for wisdom unless they're already looking to her for leadership. I don't feel like Sarah Palin is a good, responsible, or intelligent leader. Or person. But she does have the right to free speech. And because of who she is, her speech will be heard. She is an inescapable moose hunter, and she has fans. She is a regular on Fox News, one of the most-watched television networks in America. Two major bestsellers have been released under her name. She was a heartbeat from the Vice Presidency (which would have made her one missed heartbeat from President, and her running mate was looking pretty haggard on the campaign trail.)
To borrow from her spiritual grandfather, we're gonna have Sarah to kick around for a while. And whether she cleans up her act or she chooses to become even more inflammatory, people are going to be hearing her for a long while.
Just like Manson, though, her words and acts are calculated to sell. She is buying sponsorships (from whatever lobbyists and politicians she has) by selling a point of view. The more people that buy her books, that show up at her rallies, the more she has a base, and the bigger her base, the better as far as getting into office. Obviously. It isn't necessarily about the money - in fewer than five years in the national spotlight, she almost certainly could live comfortably, supporting her large family nicely, and never be on my TV again. And it isn't necessarily about power. It may be that she earnestly believes she is doing good and that the personal benefits to her and her family are an unnecessary bonus but that gets into circular arguments about authenticity.
I guess my full and final point is twofold: I would rather our political rhetoric was less violent, on all sides (but I'm not naive enough to think it will go away. Might settle down for a couple of years, though.) And it's true: I'm all for freedom of speech, as long as I agree with that speech. But I'm working on it.
By the way, I'm starting a band called "Inescapable Moose Hunter." The covers will all be images of Sarah Palin's head 'shopped onto embarrassing photos of Britney Spears. Mostly the upskirts.
This is about the Gabrielle Giffords shooting. My knee jerked hard when I heard about the "surveyor's marks," of course, because those "surveyor's marks" were brought to you courtesy of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, aka "The Last Person I Want to See In National Office."
In case you don't know who Giffords was, or how Palin has been tied to the event, here's a quick rundown. Back when "Obamacare" was being voted on, Palin posted a graphic to her facebook site with what looked a lot like gun sights over various Congressional districts. These districts were key to the vote. Some mischief ensued - broken windows and such. This past Saturday, Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords (one of the people under those "They only LOOK like gunsights" icons,) was shot, along with several other people at an event she was hosting.
The gunman was apprehended at the scene. Congresswoman Giffords is, so far, alive.
And me and a lot of the Left reacted pretty strongly to that graphic.
But, as has been pointed out by a much smarter man than me (Jon Stewart, doing what he can to restore sanity,) conflating Palin and her incredibly irresponsible rhetoric with the Giffords attack is a lot like blaming the Columbine shootings on Marilyn Manson.
My reaction to the Columbine/Manson link is and always has been to call "Bullshit." Manson is and always has been an entertainer, and what he says and does is an effort to sell more of his product.
I do feel that Palin is in a very different position as a politician than Manson is as an entertainer. As a possible Presidential candidate, we actually do look to her for leadership and wisdom.
(Side Note: Using the term "wisdom" in reference to Sarah Palin hurts just as much as you'd think.)
Now, I don't think any reasonable person is actually looking to the former Governor for wisdom unless they're already looking to her for leadership. I don't feel like Sarah Palin is a good, responsible, or intelligent leader. Or person. But she does have the right to free speech. And because of who she is, her speech will be heard. She is an inescapable moose hunter, and she has fans. She is a regular on Fox News, one of the most-watched television networks in America. Two major bestsellers have been released under her name. She was a heartbeat from the Vice Presidency (which would have made her one missed heartbeat from President, and her running mate was looking pretty haggard on the campaign trail.)
To borrow from her spiritual grandfather, we're gonna have Sarah to kick around for a while. And whether she cleans up her act or she chooses to become even more inflammatory, people are going to be hearing her for a long while.
Just like Manson, though, her words and acts are calculated to sell. She is buying sponsorships (from whatever lobbyists and politicians she has) by selling a point of view. The more people that buy her books, that show up at her rallies, the more she has a base, and the bigger her base, the better as far as getting into office. Obviously. It isn't necessarily about the money - in fewer than five years in the national spotlight, she almost certainly could live comfortably, supporting her large family nicely, and never be on my TV again. And it isn't necessarily about power. It may be that she earnestly believes she is doing good and that the personal benefits to her and her family are an unnecessary bonus but that gets into circular arguments about authenticity.
I guess my full and final point is twofold: I would rather our political rhetoric was less violent, on all sides (but I'm not naive enough to think it will go away. Might settle down for a couple of years, though.) And it's true: I'm all for freedom of speech, as long as I agree with that speech. But I'm working on it.
By the way, I'm starting a band called "Inescapable Moose Hunter." The covers will all be images of Sarah Palin's head 'shopped onto embarrassing photos of Britney Spears. Mostly the upskirts.
08 January 2011
How I Started Watching...
About two years ago, my beautiful bride moved in with me, and before she did, I got a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. She was a big fan of House, so I got a season of it. Also 24, Psych, and Chuck. And, since we both liked Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, I got the first season of How I Met Your Mother.
HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch regularly, and it's definitely my favorite.
I really don't remember how I felt after watching the pilot episode of HIMYM. I'm sure I liked it, because within a week or so, we'd gotten the next season, and the next as soon as it became available - in spite of the sticker on the package that proudly touted Britney Spears's guest star turn. More on that in a few. We've been watching it ever since. I'd say we watch it religiously, but I think we might be watching it more cultishly. I watch HIMYM like some people watched LOST - which, this season, has been curiously apt.
Anyway, back to my early impressions of HIMYM. It was a decent if occasionally unremarkable ensemble. Alyson Hannigan can make all the shitty spoof movies and stupid teen comedies she likes - she used to be Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Neil Patrick Harris I had only recently gotten into because of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but he was great as relentlessly straight Barney. Cobie Smulders as Robin filled my quota for hot Canadian chicks, but she really didn't get a lot to do for a while. Hannigan's on-screen fiance, Marshall, was played by Jason Segel, and it took a while to warm up to him. And the central character, Ted, as portrayed by Josh Radnor, was a little bit of a cipher. In the framing device for the show, Ted is played by Bob Saget, who is never credited and never seen.
By the way, at this point Jason Segel is one of my favorite actors. It probably started about the time he first slapped Neil Patrick Harris so hard Harris spun on his way to the ground. But it might have been when they were cuddling in cheerleader outfits. It might also have been the first season finale, where he has a dialogue-free scene that is still a startling moment of honesty from a guy I'd written off as a "schtick" actor. I don't know. In any case, Marshall Erickson is one of my favorite characters in TV, and Segel one of my favorite actors.
You know what, I had said I'd talk more about Britney. Fuck that. She was terrible. Her last couple of episodes, where she was more paired up with NPH's Barney, were the best of her run. She wasn't a prominent guest star, but she was there, and that was nearly bad enough. She was introduced during Sarah Chalke's run as Ted's love interest, Stella. Sarah Chalke (the blonde doctor on Scrubs) is cute and fairly funny, but it was the strike year, and I don't know if her part would have been more organic (or at least entertaining) if that pressure hadn't existed.
As a side note, other love interests for Ted have included Jennifer Morrison (the blonde doctor on House) and Anne Dudek (the blonde "cutthroat bitch" doctor on House.) I just hope we don't get Katherine Heigl as the mother. *SHUDDER*
Further to the side, it still kind of boggles my mind that the same Jennifer Morrison was Dr. Cameron on House and the homely, none-too-bright murder victim in "Stir Of Echoes." And she's also the same Jennifer Morrison that's credited as an associate producer on a lot of the first season of Glee.
Back to HIMYM and my LOST reference earlier. I wasn't kidding, by the way. And no, I'm really not stretching it. Like LOST, How I Met Your Mother is about destiny and, to a lesser extent than LOST, the interconnectedness of the characters and their stories. Like LOST, HIMYM isn't afraid of non-linear storytelling. Like LOST, HIMYM will occasionally pause over a moment of subtle beauty, and without the dramatic and beautiful backdrop of Hawaii. Like LOST, my favorite character is a time traveller (yes, really. It's a minor thing, though.)
Like LOST, Jorge Garcia has appeared as a somewhat clueless, probably stoned guy who everybody loves and who apparently was "stuck on that island" for years. It wasn't that funny in the moment, either. There are even smoke monster gags in the Garcia episode.
And, like LOST, this sixth season features a church as a primary location. The church here isn't an abstracted metaphysical place that represents some sort of gateway into an unspecified afterlife, but it is the scene of the titular moment. Sometime in the next eight to ten episodes, Ted is going to meet the mother of his children, and the series's days will be numbered.
There's a lot more I could say about the series. The most recent episode ("Bad News") alone is something I'd like to talk about, and I probably will. It'll be its own entry, though, so you can skip it if you like.
HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch regularly, and it's definitely my favorite.
I really don't remember how I felt after watching the pilot episode of HIMYM. I'm sure I liked it, because within a week or so, we'd gotten the next season, and the next as soon as it became available - in spite of the sticker on the package that proudly touted Britney Spears's guest star turn. More on that in a few. We've been watching it ever since. I'd say we watch it religiously, but I think we might be watching it more cultishly. I watch HIMYM like some people watched LOST - which, this season, has been curiously apt.
Anyway, back to my early impressions of HIMYM. It was a decent if occasionally unremarkable ensemble. Alyson Hannigan can make all the shitty spoof movies and stupid teen comedies she likes - she used to be Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Neil Patrick Harris I had only recently gotten into because of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but he was great as relentlessly straight Barney. Cobie Smulders as Robin filled my quota for hot Canadian chicks, but she really didn't get a lot to do for a while. Hannigan's on-screen fiance, Marshall, was played by Jason Segel, and it took a while to warm up to him. And the central character, Ted, as portrayed by Josh Radnor, was a little bit of a cipher. In the framing device for the show, Ted is played by Bob Saget, who is never credited and never seen.
By the way, at this point Jason Segel is one of my favorite actors. It probably started about the time he first slapped Neil Patrick Harris so hard Harris spun on his way to the ground. But it might have been when they were cuddling in cheerleader outfits. It might also have been the first season finale, where he has a dialogue-free scene that is still a startling moment of honesty from a guy I'd written off as a "schtick" actor. I don't know. In any case, Marshall Erickson is one of my favorite characters in TV, and Segel one of my favorite actors.
You know what, I had said I'd talk more about Britney. Fuck that. She was terrible. Her last couple of episodes, where she was more paired up with NPH's Barney, were the best of her run. She wasn't a prominent guest star, but she was there, and that was nearly bad enough. She was introduced during Sarah Chalke's run as Ted's love interest, Stella. Sarah Chalke (the blonde doctor on Scrubs) is cute and fairly funny, but it was the strike year, and I don't know if her part would have been more organic (or at least entertaining) if that pressure hadn't existed.
As a side note, other love interests for Ted have included Jennifer Morrison (the blonde doctor on House) and Anne Dudek (the blonde "cutthroat bitch" doctor on House.) I just hope we don't get Katherine Heigl as the mother. *SHUDDER*
Further to the side, it still kind of boggles my mind that the same Jennifer Morrison was Dr. Cameron on House and the homely, none-too-bright murder victim in "Stir Of Echoes." And she's also the same Jennifer Morrison that's credited as an associate producer on a lot of the first season of Glee.
Back to HIMYM and my LOST reference earlier. I wasn't kidding, by the way. And no, I'm really not stretching it. Like LOST, How I Met Your Mother is about destiny and, to a lesser extent than LOST, the interconnectedness of the characters and their stories. Like LOST, HIMYM isn't afraid of non-linear storytelling. Like LOST, HIMYM will occasionally pause over a moment of subtle beauty, and without the dramatic and beautiful backdrop of Hawaii. Like LOST, my favorite character is a time traveller (yes, really. It's a minor thing, though.)
Like LOST, Jorge Garcia has appeared as a somewhat clueless, probably stoned guy who everybody loves and who apparently was "stuck on that island" for years. It wasn't that funny in the moment, either. There are even smoke monster gags in the Garcia episode.
And, like LOST, this sixth season features a church as a primary location. The church here isn't an abstracted metaphysical place that represents some sort of gateway into an unspecified afterlife, but it is the scene of the titular moment. Sometime in the next eight to ten episodes, Ted is going to meet the mother of his children, and the series's days will be numbered.
There's a lot more I could say about the series. The most recent episode ("Bad News") alone is something I'd like to talk about, and I probably will. It'll be its own entry, though, so you can skip it if you like.
The Glass Teat, or How I Stopped Worrying and Started Watching Sitcoms Again.
Haven't watched any movies this week. Still got a few from last weekend's Blockbuster frenzy, though. So this weekend, some TV talk. Particularly, about the Genre That Won't Die (despite periodic declarations from the critical community that it has/is about to/should) - the sitcom.
As far as I can tell, my parents ONLY liked sitcoms (and Days of Our Lives, in Mom's case.) Granted, in the late 70s and early 80s, there were some terrific ones. We loved M*A*S*H, because it really was one of the greats. All In The Family was another favorite in our household (I'm pretty sure Dad wanted to BE Archie Bunker.) My folks loved Newhart in all his permutations. Cosby, Night Court, and Cheers WERE Thursday nights. My racist mother watched and apparently enjoyed The Jeffersons and spinoff-of-a-spinoff 227. I don't know how she felt about her kids loving Diff'rent Strokes, but she never stopped us watching it.
And after high school, and I moved out of the family home, it would be almost ten years before I watched another half-hour comedy with any regularity. South Park, for the record. Then Family Guy, when South Park stopped being as funny.
But about two years ago, my beautiful bride moved in with me, and before she did, I got a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. She was a big fan of House, so I got a season of it. Also 24, Psych, and Chuck. And, since we both liked Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, I got the first season of How I Met Your Mother.
HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch avidly, and it's definitely my favorite. Mel probably prefers Modern Family (which I also love, and will get to,) and we both like Big Bang Theory (I'll get to that, too.)
p.s. Recommendations for other sitcoms to check out? We plan to check out Community sometime. And I don't care how funny "Raising Hope" is, it stars Garrett Dillahunt, and screw that guy.
As far as I can tell, my parents ONLY liked sitcoms (and Days of Our Lives, in Mom's case.) Granted, in the late 70s and early 80s, there were some terrific ones. We loved M*A*S*H, because it really was one of the greats. All In The Family was another favorite in our household (I'm pretty sure Dad wanted to BE Archie Bunker.) My folks loved Newhart in all his permutations. Cosby, Night Court, and Cheers WERE Thursday nights. My racist mother watched and apparently enjoyed The Jeffersons and spinoff-of-a-spinoff 227. I don't know how she felt about her kids loving Diff'rent Strokes, but she never stopped us watching it.
And after high school, and I moved out of the family home, it would be almost ten years before I watched another half-hour comedy with any regularity. South Park, for the record. Then Family Guy, when South Park stopped being as funny.
But about two years ago, my beautiful bride moved in with me, and before she did, I got a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. She was a big fan of House, so I got a season of it. Also 24, Psych, and Chuck. And, since we both liked Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, I got the first season of How I Met Your Mother.
HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch avidly, and it's definitely my favorite. Mel probably prefers Modern Family (which I also love, and will get to,) and we both like Big Bang Theory (I'll get to that, too.)
p.s. Recommendations for other sitcoms to check out? We plan to check out Community sometime. And I don't care how funny "Raising Hope" is, it stars Garrett Dillahunt, and screw that guy.
02 January 2011
Two More, and The Best of the Bunch
We finished off the weekend with two more movies: Taking Woodstock and Crazy Heart. And just to complete the minor marathon of movie-watching and reviewing, here I am. This is apparently the weekend for filmic forgiveness.
Taking Woodstock
Three things: Emile Hirsch, like Cera, Hill, and Mintz-Plasse, is not among my favorite actors. Like the others, he was in a movie that completely tainted him, but in his case, it was "Into the Wild." Sorry, McCandless was an irresponsible, selfish little tool who lacked the good sense to pack for a trip. He was amazing as Demetri Martin's friend.
The central storyline, Demetri Martin's relationship with the people around him, is very well executed.
And last but not least, it comes as the opposite of a surprise that Liev Schreiber does not make a particularly attractive woman. But he is a dignified one.
Score: 4.5/5
Crazy Heart
There is one thing to say about "Crazy Heart," in my opinion: it was pretty much a perfect movie. Music - at least as good as "Black Snake Moan" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"; acting - maybe better than "25th Hour"; writing - takes on all comers; cinematography - up there with "The Fountain" or "The Searchers." Even Colin Ferrell was great in this.
Scoring this movie would just be insulting.
Taking Woodstock
Three things: Emile Hirsch, like Cera, Hill, and Mintz-Plasse, is not among my favorite actors. Like the others, he was in a movie that completely tainted him, but in his case, it was "Into the Wild." Sorry, McCandless was an irresponsible, selfish little tool who lacked the good sense to pack for a trip. He was amazing as Demetri Martin's friend.
The central storyline, Demetri Martin's relationship with the people around him, is very well executed.
And last but not least, it comes as the opposite of a surprise that Liev Schreiber does not make a particularly attractive woman. But he is a dignified one.
Score: 4.5/5
Crazy Heart
There is one thing to say about "Crazy Heart," in my opinion: it was pretty much a perfect movie. Music - at least as good as "Black Snake Moan" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"; acting - maybe better than "25th Hour"; writing - takes on all comers; cinematography - up there with "The Fountain" or "The Searchers." Even Colin Ferrell was great in this.
Scoring this movie would just be insulting.
Batch Reviews
Eat Pray Love
I didn't hate "Eat Pray Love," in spite of this thing I have about chick flicks (a penis.) It was beautifully shot, for one thing, and had a decent storyline. I didn't really care much for the main character, who spent most of the movie rejecting things... which, to be fair, was the point. Richard Jenkins was a definite high point as a sort of Buddhist priest (a low-key Asian-inflected version of Judas Priest with way less leather,) Billy Crudup did his usual quietly amazing job (why isn't that guy a huge rockstar?) and James Franco has turned into a really good actor. Do not be surprised when, sometime in ten or so years, Franco is called "One of the best actors of his generation." Seriously. The kid from Spider-man. (3.5/5)
The Town
I was all ready to dismiss "The Town" as "Heat 2.0," which is still a pretty fair comparison, but it misses the point that "The Town" really is one of the best crime/action movies since Michael Mann sat De Niro and Pacino down in that diner for an all-too-brief conversation. But even with Mann's epic being a clear and heavy influence, Ben Affleck made a strong, assured film that happens to have a lot of similarities to the earlier movie, but stands on its own as a story and as a damn fine movie. The supporting cast was uniformly excellent, from Jeremy Renner to Blake Lively. Between this and "Gone Baby Gone," there really shouldn't be any doubt but that Ben Affleck is a damn good director. Where "Heat" was about responsibility and aging, "The Town" is about growing up and about loyalty, a subject Affleck has been concerned with since "Good Will Hunting." Seriously, see this movie if you didn't already. (5/5)
Vantage Point
I had a good time with this movie. It wasn't a great flick by any stretch, but it was a perfectly acceptable thriller, and had some nice twists and turns to it. Why it got no respect from any quarter for the editing, I'll never understand. And plus, Forest Whitaker is one of my absolute favorite actors. He's almost an elemental force, even when he's playing a somewhat nebbishy tourist with a camera in a B-movie thriller about seemingly superhuman Secret Service agents (Dennis Quaid is in a car wreck that stretches the suspension of belief past what is reasonable.) The score below includes a half point for the presence of Said Taghmoui, another favorite actor. (4/5)
The Brothers Bloom
Holy mother of God, why didn't I see this in theaters? Why didn't everybody see this in theaters? Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the absolute genius behind "Brick" a few years ago, this flick is THE con-man flick of the past decade. Twisty, turny, and full of note-perfect casting, you really are missing out if you haven't seen this one. There's Rachel Weisz playing quirky and adorable, Mark Ruffalo with charm and brains to spare, and Adrian Brody playing vulnerable in such a way as to make it kind of cool. And while those descriptions pretty much match a lot of what you've seen the three leads in, Johnson's script and directing are such that these three absolutely HAD to play those parts. Add in Robbie Coltrane, Maximillian mofuggin' Schell, and Rinko Kikuchi as one of the best sidekick characters I've ever seen, and you've got yourself a flick. A damn near perfect movie. (5.5/5 - extra credit for Kikuchi's Bang Bang.)
The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais. I was really only peripherally aware of who Gervais was until this past year or so. I knew of him, but I don't think I'd seen much of anything with him. When "Lying" came out, I saw him on "The Daily Show," and he was cool and funny and interesting, but I still didn't actually watch the movie. Then, on the trip to Florida a couple weeks ago, we caught a few minutes of his new standup special on HBO. He didn't displace Bill Hicks or George Carlin in my pantheon of great standup comedians, but he did floor me a couple of times. Then we saw this movie. Religious people will probably be upset at some aspects of the film, but Gervais puts across a very intelligent, very compassionate case both for and against "The Man in the Sky" (the movie's term, not mine.) Like the rest of the movies in this entry, the supporting cast was terrific... including the hated Jonah Hill, who was doing a toned-down version of his schtick, one that felt more authentic and truthful. There is a massive tonal shift about halfway through the movie, and I get what Gervais was doing, but it didn't click quite as well for me after a point. Overall, though, an excellent movie, and one that's about something - in this case, self-invention, and how to be "good." It appeals strongly to the existentialist in me. (4.5/5)
Paris, Je T'Aime
A lot of people love the hell out of this movie. There were pieces of it that were absolutely beautiful (in particular the Gus Van Sant segment near the beginning) but I'm not a fan of this type of movie. Vignettes are fine, but stringing a bunch of them together tires me out. And this movie had two strikes against it, starting about the halfway point - that fucking mime section, for one, and for two, I started feeling physically ill about the time Ben Gazzarra showed up. I don't THINK it had anything to do with the movie, so much as a couple of beers and some puerco pibil... And to be fair, I didn't finish the movie. But I don't think I will. (?/5, tending to 3/5.)
(Side note: We also got "New York, I Love You." I would have been reviewing it instead of "Paris," but our copy was slightly damaged, and started freezing up five minutes in.)
Kick Ass
Remember when I said I wished I'd seen "The Brothers Bloom" in theaters? Same applies here, but pretty much all my friends were actually recommending "Kick Ass." To those friends, I apologize. This might be the best superhero movie I've seen, and I've seen most of them since probably Burton's Batman. "Kick Ass" might have replaced "The Incredibles" for me for Favorite Superhero Movie (but I'm giving Pixar another chance, just as soon as they get "The Incredibles" out on Blu-ray. Any day now...) Chloe Moretz will one day own the entire city of Hollywood. And she actually wasn't even my favorite character.
Superbad (A brief aside.)
I hated Superbad. I thought it was stupid and pointless and determinedly unfunny. Jonah Hill was a shitty stand-in for Seth Rogen. Michael Cera is a bland, boring, dull dweeb with a black hole where his charisma should be. And Christopher Mintz-Plasse's McLovin... well, the only thing really wrong with Mintz-Plasse's performance in that movie was that everybody loved McLovin, and that's a great way to put me off the character. I hated Superbad SO MUCH that the hatred spilled onto all three of them... until "The Invention of Lying" showed me a more sympathetic Hill. Mintz-Plasse got past the Superbad Curse fully with "Kick Ass." More on Cera in a minute.
Kick Ass (the conclusion.)
In case the preceding didn't make it clear, Mintz-Plasse's Red Mist was a sheer pleasure. I can't wait for the sequel. (5/5)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
I'm resisting a Scott 0, World 1, joke. Obviously not very well. Edgar Wright has never disappointed me. Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite zombie movies and one of my favorite comedies. Hot Fuzz is also a brilliant comedy, and works damn well as a buddy cop picture. I heard he was making this movie, and even though I didn't know much about the comics at the time, I was excited. Then he cast that black hole of talent and personality (you know him as Michael Cera) as Scott. I was less excited. Then he started filling in the supporting cast with people like Brandon Routh (who took an unfair kicking from Superman) and Jason Schwartzman (who I tend to like a lot, but I'm not always interested in the movies he makes.) I got a little more excited. Then the movie came out and got reviews that could probably charitably be called "mixed." Friends hated it. So I put it off. Then Blockbuster had it on sale for 3/$20. We were going to watch it NYE, after "Paris," but I was out of commission. So we watched it last night, right after "Kick Ass." I'm actually kind of glad we watched it at home, because that meant the whole screen was easily visible, and Wright put a LOT on the screen - far more than he usually does, and so much more than most filmmakers ever will. From the standpoint of just the pretty pictures, this movie was at least the equal of "The Matrix," or "Kill Bill," or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," or "Dark City." (There are movies that I think are much better visually - "Pleasantville," pretty much all of Darren Aronofsky's movies, and some classics like "The Searchers." But "Scott" is definitely a recent high-water mark.)
(Cue pretentious amateur critic comment: "Edgar Wright has found new ways to convey information visually, borrowing from sources as diverse as cable news and comic books, to create a new kind of film grammar that perfectly carried this film's style, themes, and tone.")
Brandon Routh was hilariously smug as the super-powered Vegan Ex. Jason Schwartzman tore it up as End Boss Gideon, and hopefully over time, his supervillain character will be remembered as fondly as, say, Nicholson's Joker. Knives Chau (played by Ellen Wong) was, as in the books, the sweet soul of the movie. Kieran Culkin was spot-on with all the snark his character (Scott's roommate) deserved. And Aubrey Plaza is a comedy ninja. I loved her in "Funny People," too, but her Julie Powers was bitchy fun.
And the Black Hole of Charisma, Michael Cera... Well, fuck. Apparently, I just haven't seen the right Michael Cera movies. I kind of think that's because he hasn't made too many that I'd like (but I'm thinking I might try to catch "Youth in Revolt" sometime.) He may not have been the perfect choice for Scott, but Scott was definitely the perfect choice for him, if that makes sense. This part should have been a breakout hit for him - Scott's storyline is basically about growing up and coming into his own after a lifetime of just kind of floating and getting by, nothing at all for me to relate to there - but it probably won't be, because it wasn't the huge success that Superbad was. I actually feel like I owe the guy an apology. But moreso, I feel like I owe thanks to Edgar Wright for putting together such a great, heartfelt movie. It might not be for everyone, but it hit the spot for me. (5/5)
(Final side note, after watching "Kick Ass" and "Scott Pilgrim," we threw on "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," and as far as these things go, that was a hell of a good triple play.)
I didn't hate "Eat Pray Love," in spite of this thing I have about chick flicks (a penis.) It was beautifully shot, for one thing, and had a decent storyline. I didn't really care much for the main character, who spent most of the movie rejecting things... which, to be fair, was the point. Richard Jenkins was a definite high point as a sort of Buddhist priest (a low-key Asian-inflected version of Judas Priest with way less leather,) Billy Crudup did his usual quietly amazing job (why isn't that guy a huge rockstar?) and James Franco has turned into a really good actor. Do not be surprised when, sometime in ten or so years, Franco is called "One of the best actors of his generation." Seriously. The kid from Spider-man. (3.5/5)
The Town
I was all ready to dismiss "The Town" as "Heat 2.0," which is still a pretty fair comparison, but it misses the point that "The Town" really is one of the best crime/action movies since Michael Mann sat De Niro and Pacino down in that diner for an all-too-brief conversation. But even with Mann's epic being a clear and heavy influence, Ben Affleck made a strong, assured film that happens to have a lot of similarities to the earlier movie, but stands on its own as a story and as a damn fine movie. The supporting cast was uniformly excellent, from Jeremy Renner to Blake Lively. Between this and "Gone Baby Gone," there really shouldn't be any doubt but that Ben Affleck is a damn good director. Where "Heat" was about responsibility and aging, "The Town" is about growing up and about loyalty, a subject Affleck has been concerned with since "Good Will Hunting." Seriously, see this movie if you didn't already. (5/5)
Vantage Point
I had a good time with this movie. It wasn't a great flick by any stretch, but it was a perfectly acceptable thriller, and had some nice twists and turns to it. Why it got no respect from any quarter for the editing, I'll never understand. And plus, Forest Whitaker is one of my absolute favorite actors. He's almost an elemental force, even when he's playing a somewhat nebbishy tourist with a camera in a B-movie thriller about seemingly superhuman Secret Service agents (Dennis Quaid is in a car wreck that stretches the suspension of belief past what is reasonable.) The score below includes a half point for the presence of Said Taghmoui, another favorite actor. (4/5)
The Brothers Bloom
Holy mother of God, why didn't I see this in theaters? Why didn't everybody see this in theaters? Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the absolute genius behind "Brick" a few years ago, this flick is THE con-man flick of the past decade. Twisty, turny, and full of note-perfect casting, you really are missing out if you haven't seen this one. There's Rachel Weisz playing quirky and adorable, Mark Ruffalo with charm and brains to spare, and Adrian Brody playing vulnerable in such a way as to make it kind of cool. And while those descriptions pretty much match a lot of what you've seen the three leads in, Johnson's script and directing are such that these three absolutely HAD to play those parts. Add in Robbie Coltrane, Maximillian mofuggin' Schell, and Rinko Kikuchi as one of the best sidekick characters I've ever seen, and you've got yourself a flick. A damn near perfect movie. (5.5/5 - extra credit for Kikuchi's Bang Bang.)
The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais. I was really only peripherally aware of who Gervais was until this past year or so. I knew of him, but I don't think I'd seen much of anything with him. When "Lying" came out, I saw him on "The Daily Show," and he was cool and funny and interesting, but I still didn't actually watch the movie. Then, on the trip to Florida a couple weeks ago, we caught a few minutes of his new standup special on HBO. He didn't displace Bill Hicks or George Carlin in my pantheon of great standup comedians, but he did floor me a couple of times. Then we saw this movie. Religious people will probably be upset at some aspects of the film, but Gervais puts across a very intelligent, very compassionate case both for and against "The Man in the Sky" (the movie's term, not mine.) Like the rest of the movies in this entry, the supporting cast was terrific... including the hated Jonah Hill, who was doing a toned-down version of his schtick, one that felt more authentic and truthful. There is a massive tonal shift about halfway through the movie, and I get what Gervais was doing, but it didn't click quite as well for me after a point. Overall, though, an excellent movie, and one that's about something - in this case, self-invention, and how to be "good." It appeals strongly to the existentialist in me. (4.5/5)
Paris, Je T'Aime
A lot of people love the hell out of this movie. There were pieces of it that were absolutely beautiful (in particular the Gus Van Sant segment near the beginning) but I'm not a fan of this type of movie. Vignettes are fine, but stringing a bunch of them together tires me out. And this movie had two strikes against it, starting about the halfway point - that fucking mime section, for one, and for two, I started feeling physically ill about the time Ben Gazzarra showed up. I don't THINK it had anything to do with the movie, so much as a couple of beers and some puerco pibil... And to be fair, I didn't finish the movie. But I don't think I will. (?/5, tending to 3/5.)
(Side note: We also got "New York, I Love You." I would have been reviewing it instead of "Paris," but our copy was slightly damaged, and started freezing up five minutes in.)
Kick Ass
Remember when I said I wished I'd seen "The Brothers Bloom" in theaters? Same applies here, but pretty much all my friends were actually recommending "Kick Ass." To those friends, I apologize. This might be the best superhero movie I've seen, and I've seen most of them since probably Burton's Batman. "Kick Ass" might have replaced "The Incredibles" for me for Favorite Superhero Movie (but I'm giving Pixar another chance, just as soon as they get "The Incredibles" out on Blu-ray. Any day now...) Chloe Moretz will one day own the entire city of Hollywood. And she actually wasn't even my favorite character.
Superbad (A brief aside.)
I hated Superbad. I thought it was stupid and pointless and determinedly unfunny. Jonah Hill was a shitty stand-in for Seth Rogen. Michael Cera is a bland, boring, dull dweeb with a black hole where his charisma should be. And Christopher Mintz-Plasse's McLovin... well, the only thing really wrong with Mintz-Plasse's performance in that movie was that everybody loved McLovin, and that's a great way to put me off the character. I hated Superbad SO MUCH that the hatred spilled onto all three of them... until "The Invention of Lying" showed me a more sympathetic Hill. Mintz-Plasse got past the Superbad Curse fully with "Kick Ass." More on Cera in a minute.
Kick Ass (the conclusion.)
In case the preceding didn't make it clear, Mintz-Plasse's Red Mist was a sheer pleasure. I can't wait for the sequel. (5/5)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
I'm resisting a Scott 0, World 1, joke. Obviously not very well. Edgar Wright has never disappointed me. Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite zombie movies and one of my favorite comedies. Hot Fuzz is also a brilliant comedy, and works damn well as a buddy cop picture. I heard he was making this movie, and even though I didn't know much about the comics at the time, I was excited. Then he cast that black hole of talent and personality (you know him as Michael Cera) as Scott. I was less excited. Then he started filling in the supporting cast with people like Brandon Routh (who took an unfair kicking from Superman) and Jason Schwartzman (who I tend to like a lot, but I'm not always interested in the movies he makes.) I got a little more excited. Then the movie came out and got reviews that could probably charitably be called "mixed." Friends hated it. So I put it off. Then Blockbuster had it on sale for 3/$20. We were going to watch it NYE, after "Paris," but I was out of commission. So we watched it last night, right after "Kick Ass." I'm actually kind of glad we watched it at home, because that meant the whole screen was easily visible, and Wright put a LOT on the screen - far more than he usually does, and so much more than most filmmakers ever will. From the standpoint of just the pretty pictures, this movie was at least the equal of "The Matrix," or "Kill Bill," or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," or "Dark City." (There are movies that I think are much better visually - "Pleasantville," pretty much all of Darren Aronofsky's movies, and some classics like "The Searchers." But "Scott" is definitely a recent high-water mark.)
(Cue pretentious amateur critic comment: "Edgar Wright has found new ways to convey information visually, borrowing from sources as diverse as cable news and comic books, to create a new kind of film grammar that perfectly carried this film's style, themes, and tone.")
Brandon Routh was hilariously smug as the super-powered Vegan Ex. Jason Schwartzman tore it up as End Boss Gideon, and hopefully over time, his supervillain character will be remembered as fondly as, say, Nicholson's Joker. Knives Chau (played by Ellen Wong) was, as in the books, the sweet soul of the movie. Kieran Culkin was spot-on with all the snark his character (Scott's roommate) deserved. And Aubrey Plaza is a comedy ninja. I loved her in "Funny People," too, but her Julie Powers was bitchy fun.
And the Black Hole of Charisma, Michael Cera... Well, fuck. Apparently, I just haven't seen the right Michael Cera movies. I kind of think that's because he hasn't made too many that I'd like (but I'm thinking I might try to catch "Youth in Revolt" sometime.) He may not have been the perfect choice for Scott, but Scott was definitely the perfect choice for him, if that makes sense. This part should have been a breakout hit for him - Scott's storyline is basically about growing up and coming into his own after a lifetime of just kind of floating and getting by, nothing at all for me to relate to there - but it probably won't be, because it wasn't the huge success that Superbad was. I actually feel like I owe the guy an apology. But moreso, I feel like I owe thanks to Edgar Wright for putting together such a great, heartfelt movie. It might not be for everyone, but it hit the spot for me. (5/5)
(Final side note, after watching "Kick Ass" and "Scott Pilgrim," we threw on "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," and as far as these things go, that was a hell of a good triple play.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)