Saturday, February 14, 2009
Alright, people, I'm losing my patience with you...
Nielsen Rating Overnights.
Wife Swap and Howie Mandel beats Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Supernanny beats Friday Night Lights?
Bad TV is driving out the good.
Wife Swap and Howie Mandel beats Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Supernanny beats Friday Night Lights?
Bad TV is driving out the good.
For Corey
Because every man should have a stalwart young woman sing a song with his name in it at least once in his life.
Just try not to think about the fact that this one is less than half your age.
(And because I missed his birthday)
Just try not to think about the fact that this one is less than half your age.
(And because I missed his birthday)
Uh-oh.
You know what's a slightly worrying feeling? Finding out that somebody from a U.S. Government domain in Sacramento, California has found your blog via googling your name.
On a completely unrelated matter, I'd just like to take this opportunity to mention my top five favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Terminator, Predator, Total Recall...
On a completely unrelated matter, I'd just like to take this opportunity to mention my top five favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Terminator, Predator, Total Recall...
Friday, February 13, 2009
The choice is clear.
Well. I had been going to give Dollhouse a try tonight--even though it's only gotten "mixed or average" reviews. I mention that (the reviews) because, if/when the show is cancelled, you can count upon a lot of whining from the Whedon zombies that a Great Work Of Art has been cut down in its prime.
Nevertheless, I had been going to give it a try. However. That was before I realized it was going to be on opposite Friday Night Lights, which as we know is one of my favorite shows and needs as many fans as it can get.
Nevertheless, I had been going to give it a try. However. That was before I realized it was going to be on opposite Friday Night Lights, which as we know is one of my favorite shows and needs as many fans as it can get.
Friday the 13th jigsaw Part III: A New Dimension In Terror...
I have here a lettered list of 13 thriller/horror/action/slasher/mystery/monster/epic space opera movies, followed by a numbered list describing scenes from those movies-often but not always of killings. Your job: Fit 'em together.
A. Body Double
B. Halloween II
C. Saw V
D. Friday the 13th (the 1980 version)
E. Shoot 'Em Up
F. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
G. Saw
H. Resident Evil: Extinction
I. Halloween (the 2007 version)
J. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
K. Monster Squad
L. Saw III
M. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
1. A thriller's rather stupid alleged hero, an actor, takes a job on a porno to investigate a killing. The "porno," somehow, turns out to be at least as much a video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a porn film...
2. We see a detective in a vicious fight with a killer's helper, a woman, who leaves him for dead until he angrily shouts after her and she turns and walks back to him...
3. A future genuine movie star gets an arrow through the neck from under the bed in which he's laying.
4. The evil killer is ambushed by the FBI and exploded into many parts...and that's the first thing that happens.
5. A woman who, as a child, played in one of the only later parts of a thriller series worth a damn, plays a girl almost half her age in a remake of the first.
6. A nurse is drowned in a (scalding) hot tub.
7. An actor who will go on to be a star in a popular television series is about to kill a man. Asked why, he answers, "It's the rules." And then another man, despite having been shot recently, beats him to death.
8. A man stands above a woman and roars "I am the future!"
And she replies: "No. You're just another asshole."
9. A magic ritual is disrupted when the virgin recruited for it turns out to be, well, not so much of a virgin as she at first said...
10. Not even the younglings survive.
11. A cherished boyhood icon is raped.
12. A dapper movie star spanks a woman in public, in order to create a distraction so another woman and a baby can hide.
13. You know all those movies and television shows you've seen where a character is locked into a room with the walls closing together? They always manage to stop the walls or get out before being crushed, don't they? ...Not this time.
A. Body Double
B. Halloween II
C. Saw V
D. Friday the 13th (the 1980 version)
E. Shoot 'Em Up
F. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
G. Saw
H. Resident Evil: Extinction
I. Halloween (the 2007 version)
J. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
K. Monster Squad
L. Saw III
M. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
1. A thriller's rather stupid alleged hero, an actor, takes a job on a porno to investigate a killing. The "porno," somehow, turns out to be at least as much a video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a porn film...
2. We see a detective in a vicious fight with a killer's helper, a woman, who leaves him for dead until he angrily shouts after her and she turns and walks back to him...
3. A future genuine movie star gets an arrow through the neck from under the bed in which he's laying.
4. The evil killer is ambushed by the FBI and exploded into many parts...and that's the first thing that happens.
5. A woman who, as a child, played in one of the only later parts of a thriller series worth a damn, plays a girl almost half her age in a remake of the first.
6. A nurse is drowned in a (scalding) hot tub.
7. An actor who will go on to be a star in a popular television series is about to kill a man. Asked why, he answers, "It's the rules." And then another man, despite having been shot recently, beats him to death.
8. A man stands above a woman and roars "I am the future!"
And she replies: "No. You're just another asshole."
9. A magic ritual is disrupted when the virgin recruited for it turns out to be, well, not so much of a virgin as she at first said...
10. Not even the younglings survive.
11. A cherished boyhood icon is raped.
12. A dapper movie star spanks a woman in public, in order to create a distraction so another woman and a baby can hide.
13. You know all those movies and television shows you've seen where a character is locked into a room with the walls closing together? They always manage to stop the walls or get out before being crushed, don't they? ...Not this time.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Do you ever get the feeling that Karl Rove really, really wants to be punished?
I think he does--he keeps doing things that remind me of nothing so much as the spoiled child acting out. Who does so because even if he's not concious of it, on some, deepest level, he really wants his mommy to step in and set boundaries.
(I know something about such children)
Most recently, he said,
Via Christy Hardin Smith. If you need any reminder of why this has about as much relation to the truth as Fat Tony and his goons on The Simpsons have to legitimate businessmen, follow that link.
Otherwise, reflect on those comments. Is he asking for anything other than to be arrested in as rough a manner as possible--you know, where he "trips and falls" two or three times on his way to jail?
Are you listening, Eric Holder? It's not just what the country wants--and they do--it's what Rove himself wants. Do us all the favor.
(I know something about such children)
Most recently, he said,
"Secrecy and confidentiality are necessary for every government, especially when you're at war."...
"I love how the last eight years, this White House, the Bush White House, was criticized for being tight-lipped. We didn't leak."
Via Christy Hardin Smith. If you need any reminder of why this has about as much relation to the truth as Fat Tony and his goons on The Simpsons have to legitimate businessmen, follow that link.
Otherwise, reflect on those comments. Is he asking for anything other than to be arrested in as rough a manner as possible--you know, where he "trips and falls" two or three times on his way to jail?
Are you listening, Eric Holder? It's not just what the country wants--and they do--it's what Rove himself wants. Do us all the favor.
Somebody pinch me
Let me get this straight. A synth-pop song, performed by an a capella group made up of female college students. And as if that weren't amazing enough, they didn't even change the sexual pronoun of the song.
This makes stupid amounts of sense to me.
This makes stupid amounts of sense to me.
Ahem.
As we know, this blog (and this blogger) is very pro-gay.
Also, I am a bit of an "anglophile," some of my favorite music , from Kirsty MacColl to the Human League, with too many others in-between to mention, is UK. To say nothing of a little show called Doctor Who. Plus my friend PJ comes from there.
And, as evidenced by the name of this blog itself, I like dragons. As I've oft-times said, they are my favorite mythological beastie.
So, here we are, then. Pro-gay, pro-the English, pro-dragons.
Nevertheless...this
worries me.
Also, I am a bit of an "anglophile," some of my favorite music , from Kirsty MacColl to the Human League, with too many others in-between to mention, is UK. To say nothing of a little show called Doctor Who. Plus my friend PJ comes from there.
And, as evidenced by the name of this blog itself, I like dragons. As I've oft-times said, they are my favorite mythological beastie.
So, here we are, then. Pro-gay, pro-the English, pro-dragons.
Nevertheless...this
worries me.
Monday, February 09, 2009
On second thought...
There is still some reason to think that Barack Obama is the Luke Skywalker we've been waiting for to take down the Republican Empire. Per Think Progress:
--and---
According to a CBS poll, 81% of the public understands Obama “is trying to work with Republicans in Congress in order to get things done.”
--and---
A new Gallup poll reports that the GOP is "taking the hit" for resisting the recovery bill.
Oh, joy!
Oh, this is wonderful. I just found out (via Pam's House Blend) that the latest way in which good "Christian" folk like the National Review Online and American Family Association refrain from saying...
"Look, we just don't like queers! Allright?"
...is by perverting the English language to come up with a completely bullshit word.
"Homosexualists."
"Homosexualists."
I love it.
"Look, we just don't like queers! Allright?"
...is by perverting the English language to come up with a completely bullshit word.
"Homosexualists."
"Homosexualists."
I love it.
What we have here is an example of how to have a good thing to say, and then kill it by playing it to death
In The Huffington Post, a man named Drew Westen has a piece called
And as that sounds, it's another piece expressing the frustration of Democrats who don't understand why Barack Obama insists on refraining from opening fire on Republicans.
You know, the Republicans. The ones who got us into this mess. And have shown by their words and deeds that they have no intention of helping us get out.
Westen writes:
These are good things to say, and Westen has more of them. Unfortunately they get completely lost in his almost 35, 000 word mess of an essay. Ironically, at one point he chides The White House for
You're not a man who should be chiding anybody on not being able to talk to the public, Drew.
But I'll tell you when I bailed out. It was when he said this:
And I would not presume to tell a Psychologist; neuroscientist; Emory University Professor and published author he should keep his damn hands off the keyboard, but...
Change vs. Bipartisanship: What Happens When You Throw a Bipartisan Party and Half the Guest List Stays Home?
And as that sounds, it's another piece expressing the frustration of Democrats who don't understand why Barack Obama insists on refraining from opening fire on Republicans.
You know, the Republicans. The ones who got us into this mess. And have shown by their words and deeds that they have no intention of helping us get out.
Westen writes:
The problem with a message of bipartisanship is that it makes it very difficult to tell the story of why things are so bad that we need dramatic change.
These are good things to say, and Westen has more of them. Unfortunately they get completely lost in his almost 35, 000 word mess of an essay. Ironically, at one point he chides The White House for
[sending] out surrogates like Larry Summers, who understands economics but not how to talk to the public about economics, against well-coached, media-savvy Republicans like House Minority Leader John Boehner, who demolished Summers on Meet the Press with well-crafted lines mixed with economic nonsense.
You're not a man who should be chiding anybody on not being able to talk to the public, Drew.
But I'll tell you when I bailed out. It was when he said this:
I would not presume to put words into the mouth of a man who can use the English language as well as anyone alive [Obama], but something like the following might have been appropriate...
And I would not presume to tell a Psychologist; neuroscientist; Emory University Professor and published author he should keep his damn hands off the keyboard, but...
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Coraline is awesome animation.
I mean really awesome. Just on a technical level alone it demands and earns your applause (which it won at the show I attended). As a showcase for animation...things like this should remind those who don't already know it that well, there's animation and then there's animation.
(Technically, the dragon in Dragonheart was animation. You see what I mean?)
I don't know enough about the differences in technique between stop-motion and CGI to say why this is, but there's something about the way the stop-motion figures move which seems more...human. I love what CGI can do in a movie like The Incredibles but sometimes it's missing a beating heart, which Coraline has.
Yet it's an utterly fantastic world, absolutely gorgeous.
I think it'll also prove to be the kind of movie which lingers in the memory: I'm already anxious to see it again on DVD--and wondering about extras--on my own. When I can think about it a little more deeply and not be keeping one eye (at least mentally) on the nephew.
From one viewing I can say this thing: It's smart and funny and...nightmarish. And beautiful.
(That all goes for the score by Bruno Coulais, about which I wanted to be sure to say a special word, too.)
Fair warning if anyone reading this has young children they're thinking of taking: It is a little scary in one or two places. But I think not intolerably so, as long as they can close their eyes when they want to and there's a grown-up nearby.
My nephew is seven now and he was a little scared, but I think he also had fun. Consider the child in question and act appropriately.
Perhaps you shouldn't know much more about the story than you can get from the trailer,
...but I will say this: The cat is alright!
Reportedly the film's done very well for its opening weekend, which doesn't really surprise me. There was a line at the box office and the theater was almost full on a Sunday afternoon.
You want to see this one, you really do.
(Technically, the dragon in Dragonheart was animation. You see what I mean?)
I don't know enough about the differences in technique between stop-motion and CGI to say why this is, but there's something about the way the stop-motion figures move which seems more...human. I love what CGI can do in a movie like The Incredibles but sometimes it's missing a beating heart, which Coraline has.
Yet it's an utterly fantastic world, absolutely gorgeous.
I think it'll also prove to be the kind of movie which lingers in the memory: I'm already anxious to see it again on DVD--and wondering about extras--on my own. When I can think about it a little more deeply and not be keeping one eye (at least mentally) on the nephew.
From one viewing I can say this thing: It's smart and funny and...nightmarish. And beautiful.
(That all goes for the score by Bruno Coulais, about which I wanted to be sure to say a special word, too.)
Fair warning if anyone reading this has young children they're thinking of taking: It is a little scary in one or two places. But I think not intolerably so, as long as they can close their eyes when they want to and there's a grown-up nearby.
My nephew is seven now and he was a little scared, but I think he also had fun. Consider the child in question and act appropriately.
Perhaps you shouldn't know much more about the story than you can get from the trailer,
...but I will say this: The cat is alright!
Reportedly the film's done very well for its opening weekend, which doesn't really surprise me. There was a line at the box office and the theater was almost full on a Sunday afternoon.
You want to see this one, you really do.
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