(from the suggestion "happy birthday," by Corey K.)
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Audrey III, Hamlet 2
Hamlet 2 strikes me as being like a very good first draft. It's a good movie, especially if you've ever been, or been around, performers in your life, but it misses being great by a mile.
There's a better movie that could've been had here. It's funny, but more often in a smile, ok-that-was-funny way than laugh-out loud (though there are those as well), and it never quite comes together.
Its biggest problem is that of too-fast transitions. Most prominently (though this is not the only example), it wants to parody the pretensions of bad actors who think they're tortured artists. Fine by me.
But before it's over it also wants us to care about and like them. This is also fine, but you have to give us a reason. I think of the underrated A Midwinter's Tale (AKA In the Bleak Midwinter), which is about a group of not-necessarily bad, but definitely out-of-work, actors putting on a production of Hamlet (the first one).
That movie had its fun with theatrical types and backstage politics too, but it also has sympathetic characters. Hamlet 2 is spare of those.
As we're introduced to the supporting cast in any movie, we think (if only subconsciously), "Who are these people?" Hamlet 2 never really tells us, even though it has a strong cast of both name and no-name actors.
The whole movie's a bit like that: Not enough setup with only slightly more payoff.
A few more things: This is a movie that the trailer is a lot funnier than. There are also a couple of jokes misrepresented in the trailer, and they worked better there.
And incidentally: Has anybody else noticed that that the song "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" is not only not as provocative as it wants to be--annoying Christians is like shooting fish in a barrel--but, musically, is completely ripped off from the title song of Little Shop of Horrors?
(Answer: Yes, somebody else has. Seriously, they're so close enough to identical as to seem actionable. I wonder if Cricket Feldstein--Amy Poehler's ACLU lawyer character in the film--will represent the songwriter.)
Hamlet 2 also has what may be the most obviously tacked-on attempt to give an "up" ending to a movie I've ever seen. You can almost hear the creative process: "OK, let's get Steve Coogan and as many of the name actors as we can, plus a few of the others, and give Steve a chance to do one of his impressions, ready and: Go!"
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thirty-one happiness
In no particular order:
George, for helping me fill out my "chicks through the years" posts.
Jason, for including me on his email list to friends and family while he is stationed in Saudi Arabia. We don't know each other that well (hardly at all), but it's a chance to see through his eyes more than one world I've yet to experience.
Corey Klemow, for being a pal, and a friend, and a Doctor Who fan...yeah, in that order.
Probably.
Jennifer: For liking my writing and caring about me.
PJ for back-and-forth memes and pharmaceutical advice.
George, for helping me fill out my "chicks through the years" posts.
Jason, for including me on his email list to friends and family while he is stationed in Saudi Arabia. We don't know each other that well (hardly at all), but it's a chance to see through his eyes more than one world I've yet to experience.
Corey Klemow, for being a pal, and a friend, and a Doctor Who fan...yeah, in that order.
Probably.
Jennifer: For liking my writing and caring about me.
PJ for back-and-forth memes and pharmaceutical advice.
Y'know...this Sarah Palin thing is making me laugh more every single day.
Because every single day it appears more and more that this is the single worst vice-presidential pick of modern memory. If not of all time (I am not a vice-presidential historian, but I think Agnew might have her beat).
You don't even have to get into her politics to make the case, she's clearly the most unqualified nominee we've ever had. So at a certain point you have to wonder: What in god's name were McCain and his advisers thinking?
Well, funny story. Turns out they didn't really think about it very long or hard at all. I mean, I may be jumping to a conclusion, but if you were thinking about it, would you nominate someone as a potential commander-in-chief and not even check what her hometown paper had to say about her?
McCain did.
You don't even have to get into her politics to make the case, she's clearly the most unqualified nominee we've ever had. So at a certain point you have to wonder: What in god's name were McCain and his advisers thinking?
Well, funny story. Turns out they didn't really think about it very long or hard at all. I mean, I may be jumping to a conclusion, but if you were thinking about it, would you nominate someone as a potential commander-in-chief and not even check what her hometown paper had to say about her?
McCain did.
There's a good piece by Frank Rich on Obama
Specifically the difference between the way his campaign seems to be perceived by the people on TV, and by everybody else. Excerpts follow, but read the whole thing:
[The] TV...bloviators ...hadn’t been so surprised since they discovered that Obama was not too black to get white votes, not too white to win black votes, and not too inexperienced to thwart the inevitable triumph of the incomparably well-organized and well-financed Clinton machine.
The main reason McCain knuckled under to the religious right by picking Palin is that he actually believes there’s a large army of embittered Hillary loyalists who will vote for a hard-line conservative simply because she’s a woman. That’s what happens when you listen to the TV news echo chamber. Not only is the whole premise ludicrous, but it is every bit as sexist as the crude joke McCain notoriously told about Janet Reno, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
After the catastrophic Bush presidency, the troubles that afflict us on nearly every front almost make you nostalgic for the day when America’s gravest problems could still be seen in blacks and whites.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I do not wish to watch the new BH 90210
Hell, in my life, I think I've watched exactly one entire episode of the original.
But damn if this picture of "Kelly" (Jennie Garth) doesn't go straight to my heart.
But damn if this picture of "Kelly" (Jennie Garth) doesn't go straight to my heart.
The world is a mosaic upon a golden floor
Decided to do this bloggy thing I got from PJ:
1. What is your first name? Benjy (it used to be)
2. What is your favourite food? Fruit snacks
3. What high school did you go to? Mid-Peninsula
4. What is your favorite color? Green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Emma Watson, Evanna Lynch (today)
6. Favorite drink? Fruit Juicy Red Hawaiian Punch
7. Dream vacation? California
8. Favorite dessert? Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? An Artist.
10. What do you love most in life? Life
11. One word to describe you. Disappointed.
12. Your Flickr name. benvarkentine
1. Benjy and Izzy, 2. Red Apples Glistening With Water, 3. Thinking, 4. Forest Green, 5. GYI0050769087.jpg, 6. Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red, 7. Persistence, 8. Heaven, 9. Untitled, 10. The active life..., 11. Disappointed, 12. Bonaventure Island
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
1. What is your first name? Benjy (it used to be)
2. What is your favourite food? Fruit snacks
3. What high school did you go to? Mid-Peninsula
4. What is your favorite color? Green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Emma Watson, Evanna Lynch (today)
6. Favorite drink? Fruit Juicy Red Hawaiian Punch
7. Dream vacation? California
8. Favorite dessert? Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? An Artist.
10. What do you love most in life? Life
11. One word to describe you. Disappointed.
12. Your Flickr name. benvarkentine
We couldn't find any results matching benvarkentine. Did you mean Bonaventure?Sure, why not?
1. Benjy and Izzy, 2. Red Apples Glistening With Water, 3. Thinking, 4. Forest Green, 5. GYI0050769087.jpg, 6. Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red, 7. Persistence, 8. Heaven, 9. Untitled, 10. The active life..., 11. Disappointed, 12. Bonaventure Island
2007:
Emma Watson and Evanna Lynch, as Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, respectively, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Granted, admiring any or all of their eye-candy-like attributes was vaguely illegal in this country at the time (with Lynch, it still is).
But I was genuinely thrilled by their work in the film, my favorite of the Potter series to date.
All this, and brains too:
Or SATs, as we in America might call them. Good, maybe now she can get a scholarship if she can't afford to go to the University of her choice.
Watson and Lynch will return in the cast of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, the release of which has been delayed, officially for strategic, post-writers strike reasons.
Though there has been tittle to the effect that Warner Bros would like a little distance between their film appearing in cinemas and Daniel Radcliffe's penis appearing on Broadway.
Granted, admiring any or all of their eye-candy-like attributes was vaguely illegal in this country at the time (with Lynch, it still is).But I was genuinely thrilled by their work in the film, my favorite of the Potter series to date.
All this, and brains too:
Watson...recorded straight As in her three levels.
Or SATs, as we in America might call them. Good, maybe now she can get a scholarship if she can't afford to go to the University of her choice.
Watson and Lynch will return in the cast of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, the release of which has been delayed, officially for strategic, post-writers strike reasons.
Though there has been tittle to the effect that Warner Bros would like a little distance between their film appearing in cinemas and Daniel Radcliffe's penis appearing on Broadway.
Thirty happiness
Robin Williams, for adults:
and for kids:
To tell you the truth, I thought this movie was kind of shallow.
But, "Good lord, Lawrence! Why are you slapping a monkey?" still makes me smile.
(BTW, I would've included Disney's Genie, but I couldn't find a clip I liked)
and for kids:
To tell you the truth, I thought this movie was kind of shallow.
But, "Good lord, Lawrence! Why are you slapping a monkey?" still makes me smile.
(BTW, I would've included Disney's Genie, but I couldn't find a clip I liked)
How reassuring.
In response to criticism that Sarah Palin--John McCain's choice to be, as they say, "one heartbeat away from the presidency," has no experience in national security, Charlie Black said:
(Black is one of McCain's top advisers)
That same article reminds me of something that struck me yesterday, but which I forgot to say here:
Do I really have to add anything to that?
...well, perhaps just one thing: Per Crooks and Liars, Sarah Palin is even less qualified and less experienced than was Dan Quayle. Does that sound like a good idea to anybody?
Meanwhile, MyDD compares her to criminal VP Spiro Agnew...
(Black is one of McCain's top advisers)
“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,”
That same article reminds me of something that struck me yesterday, but which I forgot to say here:
The choice of Ms. Palin was reminiscent of former President George Bush’s selection of Dan Quayle, then a barely known senator from Indiana as his running mate in 1988.
Do I really have to add anything to that?
...well, perhaps just one thing: Per Crooks and Liars, Sarah Palin is even less qualified and less experienced than was Dan Quayle. Does that sound like a good idea to anybody?
Meanwhile, MyDD compares her to criminal VP Spiro Agnew...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Good god.
Barack Obama didn't just draw 80,000 supporters to Invesco Field in Denver for his address to the Democratic National Convention -- he also garnered 38 million television viewers, TV Decoder reports.
The rating means more people watched him accept his party's nomination on Thursday night than the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the American Idol finale or this year's Academy Awards.
The speech was also the most-watched convention in history. In comparison, John Kerry's speech in 2004 drew 24.4 million viewers and George W. Bush's was watched by 27.5 million.
Are you beginning to get an idea why McCain keeps trying to make Obama's "celebrity" into a bad thing?
Ok, the Palin thing (assorted thoughts)
BTW, I hope you appreciate that I will not be making any Python references during the remainder of this campaign.
Now first, a quick shot: That sound you hear is every single person in America saying...
"Who?"
But seriously: It sure looks to me like McCain, in an act of desperation, is trying to throw so-called "Puma" (or "Hillary") Democrats a bone. Here's hoping they know it'll only stick in their throats.
I don't know if any Clinton supporters are reading this blog, but if you are, ladies (and gentlemen)...this is John McCain's way of saying he thinks you're stupid. So...are you?
Was it only ever about having a woman--any woman, no matter how inexperienced or unqualified, no matter what she thinks politically--in the White House?
I mean, anti-choice Sam Brownback likes this woman. So does the homophobic “christian” coalition. That's got to be a sign of something.
To be fair however, she is an emminently qualified Republican politician...she's already under investigation for corruption in office.
On another tack, Joe Biden and Barack Obama appear to have a real affection for one another--either that or they're Academy Award-caliber actors. Sarah Palin and John McCain are "practically strangers" according to Palin herself.
Oh, and she thinks HRC is a whiner.
Now first, a quick shot: That sound you hear is every single person in America saying...
"Who?"
But seriously: It sure looks to me like McCain, in an act of desperation, is trying to throw so-called "Puma" (or "Hillary") Democrats a bone. Here's hoping they know it'll only stick in their throats.
I don't know if any Clinton supporters are reading this blog, but if you are, ladies (and gentlemen)...this is John McCain's way of saying he thinks you're stupid. So...are you?
Was it only ever about having a woman--any woman, no matter how inexperienced or unqualified, no matter what she thinks politically--in the White House?
I mean, anti-choice Sam Brownback likes this woman. So does the homophobic “christian” coalition. That's got to be a sign of something.
To be fair however, she is an emminently qualified Republican politician...she's already under investigation for corruption in office.
On another tack, Joe Biden and Barack Obama appear to have a real affection for one another--either that or they're Academy Award-caliber actors. Sarah Palin and John McCain are "practically strangers" according to Palin herself.
Oh, and she thinks HRC is a whiner.
I know I'm not the first person to mention this....
...but doesn't any campaign worker ever think to check if performers have given their permission to have one of their songs associated with a candidate, or are even likely to do so? Most recently, Van Halen is mad at McCain for pinching "Right Now."
But this has been going on at least as far back as "Born In The USA" being co-opted by the Reagan campaign. Probably longer, that's just as far back as I remember.
But this has been going on at least as far back as "Born In The USA" being co-opted by the Reagan campaign. Probably longer, that's just as far back as I remember.
Hot Chicks in the GreenHouse
2006:
The Dixie Chicks (Natalie Maines, Emily Robison; Martie Maguire)
Say it before, say it again: Smart chicks rule. And these smart chicks saw a lot of trash dumped on them (figuratively and literally) because they were right, and right early, about President Bush.
Unfortunately, Emily Robison and husband Charlie have recently divorced. I hope she'll have more success personally in the future; I know the Chicks will continue to have it professionally.
Eva Green.
Eva Green rocks life. Or as a beautiful man once said:
Green seems to be working more in her role as "ambassador" for Montblanc pens than she does as a film star at the moment.
Runner up:
Lisa Edelstein. She's lovely.
She's a Democrat. What the hell more do you want out of life?
Edelstein is working on House season five.
I'd also like to say a handful of words about Jodie Whittaker in the film Venus.
Not just because of her performance--although she's simply perfect--but because I feel that the whole film is a kind of statement about men and their relationships with women.
The Dixie Chicks (Natalie Maines, Emily Robison; Martie Maguire)
Say it before, say it again: Smart chicks rule. And these smart chicks saw a lot of trash dumped on them (figuratively and literally) because they were right, and right early, about President Bush.
Unfortunately, Emily Robison and husband Charlie have recently divorced. I hope she'll have more success personally in the future; I know the Chicks will continue to have it professionally.
Eva Green.
Eva Green rocks life. Or as a beautiful man once said:
She doesn't even have to be showing anything but her face
and no heterosexual man could stop himself mentally cataloging a few carnal pleasures.
You put her in a dress that shows off her wow! of a body...
...and strong men could be forgiven for passing out.
Green seems to be working more in her role as "ambassador" for Montblanc pens than she does as a film star at the moment.
Runner up:
Lisa Edelstein. She's lovely.
She's a Democrat. What the hell more do you want out of life?
Edelstein is working on House season five.
I'd also like to say a handful of words about Jodie Whittaker in the film Venus.
Not just because of her performance--although she's simply perfect--but because I feel that the whole film is a kind of statement about men and their relationships with women.
How am I ever going to show my face in San Francisco again?
Marty Friedman
You are Marty Friedman! Formerly of Cacophony and Megadeth, you have one of the most distinct sounds of any guitar player. Your style fits well in any type of music; you are so versatile that you have to stay solo so that you can stretch every aspect of your ability. You are one of the best sweep-pickers ever to live, and you're very elusive.
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