PT Anderson, get back together with Fiona Apple cuz whatcha been up to since you two split hasn’t even been close to your work when in flagrante. Or mayhaps you all Anderson writer/director types only have 2.5 good movies in ya (with apologies to Wes, I haven’t seen Darjeeling, yet and if I do love it when I do see it I claim poetic license, it’s a really witty line.)
I can’t believe Anderson’s “Blood” is receiving the kind of acclaim it has been getting. It’s a B, B- at best. Have you guys even seen “No Country For Old Men”? Really? Watch it again, I’m going to, but I’m pretty sure it’s waves better than “Blood” or “Juno” for that matter, which was actually quite likeable, despite or perhaps because of it’s completely unrealistic teen dialog. I yearn to met a Gen Y-er who knew the words “wizard” or “boss” in the uses found in that film.
Still the film’s theme of “Gen X bad, too selfish, Gen Y good, so quirky” hits me in a soft spot. I suppose I’m more of a Twixter than true Gen X but still I couldn’t help but see the Jennifer Garner character as my Mom as she was the night I saw the film babysitting for our neighbors and completely delighted to be playing with a one year old. Combined with the wonderful feeling our house had when we played host to my cousin and their two little ones and I get it. Motherhood (Grandmotherhood) really suits my Mom. She probably yearns for similar little ones that look kinda like her to dote on and babysit on a regular basis and now while arthritis hasn’t completely taken root in her hips, or the Alzheimer’s my father’s brain. And I can’t help but feel responsible for not giving that to them. In my selfishness I have allowed my development to become quite arrested as an excuse to not have any real responsibilities. I wasted ten years of my life only to end up pretty much exactly where I was when I graduated high school. “Juno” put a spotlight on that and while I laughed at its jokes I couldn’t help but feel the true punchline as I walked out of the theater. This got me in the mood for some Belle and Sebastian, even if it wasn’t in the film I always like going to them if I’m going to have a nice sulk.
But really what’s with all the twee pop in “Juno”? That’s not Gen Y, Michael Cera was a little baby back when Wolfie was unavoidably everywhere around me in that house in Urbana and we were all listening to “If You’re Feeling Sinister.” As the janitors used to always say to the student-workers in the kitchen when they would dance to Al Green or Marvin Gaye, “don’t you go on, you don’t know nothing about no Al Green… don’t know nothing about him.” Which is exactly how I feel when the 16 year old at work tells me she’s listening to the “Juno” soundtrack and she’s into other “weird” music like that, lol.
Norman Mailer has died. I haven't yet had a chance to read any of his stuff but I thought he was the second star of the documentary "When We Were Kings" just behind Ali. I'll remember you whenever I say "fug".
Grindhouse is a really fun time. I heartily recommend it to anyone who has a sense of humor. I think Tarantino's movie is more of a proper homage to grindhouse movies. Rodriguez's movie is more an homage to John Carpenter, whom I love but it's not quite super grindhouse-y. Still both are great fun and the fake movie previews are fantastic.
300 was in a word: thoughtless. I usually like the story of a last stand, a romantic notion that ends in death, but this movie was too unfocused and the much trumped-up visual style was nothing we haven't seen before. C- I would not recommend.
I was well pleased with "The Last Stand" of the X-men movies. So much so that it's once again peaked my interest in the comics. And of course reminds me of all the creativity that exists in the world and how little I'm doing to add to it. All that aside I'll recommend anyone who's seen the previous movies to check this 3rd one out.
Quote of the day (I know that I don’t ever really do this but I found this too funny not to mention):
“Michael Moore Kicking Self For Not Filming Last 600 Trips To McDonald's” from The Onion. I’ve always disliked Michael Moore and pretty much anyone else who thinks running around in public with a camera ambushing the unsuspecting public and then editing it for their own gains is funny or art. Yeah Tom Green, Truth.com, I’m talking about you too.
So I saw Hellboy yesterday afternoon, with what I assume was the majority of kids aged 10-15 in Skokie. The movie itself was fine, Ron Perlman does an applaudable job of keeping Hellboy from being the clichéd stoic comic book hero, and you know, anytime Nazis are the bad guys always makes for a good time. What I found strange was my reaction to being surrounded by such young people. In my normal movie-going experience I am either in an empty (or damn near close to it) theater or joined by other members of my demographic. I almost felt like whispering in my conversations with my friends so as not to offend virgin ears. Then one of the youths' cell phones rang during the second half of the movie and he proceeded to try and have a conversation for a minute before hanging up, obviously these children were not so innocent as to not annoy me. Reminding me, once again, why I don't like being in a theater full of children.
In an attempt to make good use of my Netflix subscription I watched “Perfect Blue” last night. I was annoyed with it at first and again towards the end but I ended up enjoying it. A good thriller with well executed dream/madness scenes and blurry transitions between them and reality.
Also if you’d be so kind as to check out Pajamo, you’ll notice that I have posted a “Final Impression” of Otogi. “Final Impression” is my euphemism for “half-assed write up of a game I didn’t complete and therefore have no real right to review.”
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