February 03, 2002

New tools

I'm on the hunt for a cable connection to the wonderful Internet! I'm going to buy a cable modem. I think it would be cheaper in the long run. AT&T will sell you a modem for $199, but I've found some for half that. Plus AT&T as a new user's offer for $25/month for 6 months. I need to get rid of HBO and my Audible subscription. My monthly fee for dialup went up 3 bucks. I should get rid of that, too. But I might need it for backup. Or I'll just switch to Netzero or something.

Then I need to get a scanner. Probably this one but the cnet review says it doesn't scan slides and negatives well which is what I need it for mostly.

There's also this thing. But both are pretty pricey so I dunno.

Then I need to upgrade the old Compaq with more memory and voice recognition software, so my mom can use it (if indeed she ever will). But for some reason that machine won't boot.

One of the things I did today was attach the old HD to the new machine. I was going to try a dual boot because my A+ book made it sound easy. Well, it wasn't, but I didn't really pursue it because I didn't want to screw things up. I was trying to retrieve my books database from the old HD. I created it in Quattro Pro 7, but QP7 won't run on XP. And I couldn't retrieve it into StarOffice in QP7 format. So I was going to go into Win95 and convert the spreadsheet to something StarOffice would read, but I couldn't get the the old machine to boot. I can read the old HD when it's setup as a slave drive on the new machine, but that doesn't help me.

So anyway, I discovered that I had the file on the new box, so I just imported it into WordPerfect (which works on XP although QP does not for some evil reason) as a table. Saved it as an MS Excel spreadsheet. Then I imported that into StarOffice and ureeka! it worked. Whew! All that messin' with the old drive for nothin' and now it won't boot. I might have the jumper settings wrong. But I got my books spreadsheet in an accessible format, so yay!

I visited campmor looking for a balaclava, but found a bunch more stuff I want.. hmm.. decisions.. decisions...

Executive Desicion is a rather chilling movie to watch in light of 9/11.

I got these Creative speakers for my new machine and when I play DVDs there's this wierd sound on the soundtrack kinda like a audio ghost. I don't really know how to describe it. I don't know if it's the speakers or the sound card or the DVD player or what.

Posted by denise at 10:52 AM

June 05, 2002

Fight Club Review

I know! How about a nice movie review?

Here's my review of Fight Club from a couple of years ago. Raw unrefined verbiage straight from my brain!

Fight Club

The answer to corporate disillusionment and the feminization of the American male: the establishment of bare-knuckle boxing clubs. The clubs grow into an army of mischief-makers who's final stunt is the destruction of several credit card company buildings. "If the debt record is destroyed, we all return to zero." If you want to destroy the debt record, PAY YOUR DEBTS! There's a concept.

This movie rates high on the storytelling scale; vivid cinematography, production design, well-directed and well-acted.

I've been disillusioned with Brad Pitt since the self-important Legends of the Fall. He plays a freaky tough guy; the only sort of part he's really believable in.

Fight Club is the story of one man's descent into madness. This movie details what can happen when a person becomes extremely self-absorbed.

Ed Norton's character (who remains un-named throughout the movie) tries to find purpose in his life; suffers insomnia. His insensitive shrink suggests visiting people in more pain than he is. He decides to visit several support groups and becomes addicted. They offer a temporary cathartic relief for him. He's able to sleep and function finally, but when he discovers Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) doing the same thing, his escape from real life is foiled.

His life is further changed when on a flight home, he meets Tyler Durban, a purveyor of designer soap who also knows a great deal about homemade explosives. When he gets to the airport Norton is detained when his suitcase is found vibrating. That problem resolved, he makes his way home only to find that his condo has exploded. Hmmm... He decides to call Durban for a place to crash. Durban's house is a ramshackle dump on the edge of town. After a leisurely beer, they naturally engage in a bare-knuckle fight and after a few more nights of fighting, several other men join in the fun. Let's hear it for male "bonding."

Durban's other job besides making soap with human fat he gets from liposuction clinics is as a projectionist where he enjoys splicing a couple of frames of porn into family films. There were at least two instances in this movie where something actually seemed spliced in. What it was, who knows. Or perhaps I hallucinated them.

In short this movie is too violent and delivers a cowardly message.

Ouch! That's painful prose, people!

Yeah, I know...Brad Pitt's character was actually named Tyler Durden. So sue me.

Posted by denise at 04:04 PM

June 19, 2002

Star Wars

Perhaps Lucas needs to make a Episode 3.5?

Posted by denise at 04:49 PM

July 27, 2002

Reading e-mail from a friend who rants about the draconian distribution tactics of the film and recording industries.

Posted by denise at 09:32 AM

I also went to see Attack of the Clones during my holiday. It was all I expected. Better than Episode I. However, I'm more firmly convinced than ever that Lucas is a hack and Star Wars (the original movie) was just a fluke. Strangely, though, I cared more for the Anakin-Amidala romance than I did the Leia-Han Solo romance. Perhaps because Natalie Portman is a more believable actor than Carrie Fisher.

Posted by denise at 05:40 PM

We also went to see an IMAX film: Kilimanjaro. If you haven't seen an IMAX movie, get jumpin'!

Kilimanjaro itself is fascinating. One starts the hike in the rainforest and ends in the arctic desert. It's a dead volcano, the highest-free standing mountain on Earth. When explorers went back to Europe and told of a snow-capped mountain on the equator, no one believed them.

Posted by denise at 05:52 PM

Ok, people read Roger Ebert's review of Reign of Fire. It's humorous.

Posted by denise at 08:59 PM

July 28, 2002

Vanished: Bad script, bad acting, bad directing. Would anybody really believe someone so obvious as the Anti-Christ? You'd think he'd be a little more subtle, being the father of lies and all.

Posted by denise at 02:03 AM

These apocalyptic movies truly baffle me. Every single one of them I've seen (Left Behind, Omega Code, Apocalypse) have been truly execrable. Bad writing, bad acting, bad theology. And yet people flock to them. People are saved through them. I don't get it.

Posted by denise at 02:30 AM

The stock footage used to show disasters in these movies seems exploitative.

Posted by denise at 03:00 AM

March 29, 2003

Frazzin'!

I was reading Harry Knowles' review of the Oscars the other day. You'd think a guy who writes as much as he does might be able to think of something more eloquent to say than "-------' A!" every other sentence.

Posted by denise at 09:22 PM

April 03, 2003

Star Trek: Nemesis

Found some old notes about Star Trek: Nemesis. I saw it the day after opening day which means I was the last Trekkie to see it.

Pros:

• Great script. Thanks, John Logan!
  
• Excellent production design. The movie looked great.
  
• Wesley Crusher was in the opening scene.
  
• Great chemistry between Picard and Shinzon. That relationship made the movie.
  
• Great space battles!
  
• That was one mean, ugly Remulan ship!
  
• No love interest for Picard.
  
• Cameos were kept to a minimum.
  
• That was Ron Perlman?
  

Cons:

• These actors are really showing their age.
  
• The Jeep joyride on the desert planet.
  
• The heavy makeup on Brent Spiner. Noticing that really took me out of the movie.
  
• Frakes channeled Stanley Hazzard one too many times.
  
• Wesley was in a Starfleet uniform. Didn't he run off with the Traveller at the end of his run on TNG?
  
• Most of the cast had little to do as usual.
  

More pros than cons, so I guess it's a winner!

Posted by denise at 12:12 AM

April 19, 2003

Big ads!

Yipes! Is the Bulletproof Monk ad on IMDb big enough? Takes up half the screen.

Oh well, it's gone now, but geez.

Posted by denise at 12:20 AM

April 26, 2003

Recent movies

Looks like I'm only going to be updating this thing every Saturday.

Bulletproof Monk – everything you'd expect.

Identity – nothing like you'd expect.

Posted by denise at 12:00 AM

August 23, 2003

Passion

Something interesting in Rebecca's Pocket:

There's been a lot of buzz about Mel Gibson's film “The Passion” and it doesn't open until next year. The main objection I've been reading about is that it will stir anti-Semitic feelings in the viewers. As Rebecca points out it was the Romans who actually killed Jesus. But blame for Jesus' death is missing the point entirely. If anyone is to blame for his death it's Jesus himself. He volunteered. He knew exactly what was going on among Israel's leaders. Nothing they did came as a surprise to him. Jesus's death was a good thing because in doing so he overcame death for us.

Mel Gibson screened the movie for Rush Limbaugh of all people and Rush said the movie floored him. And I believe he also reported that the movie barely touches upon the resurrection.

Church of the Masses has more about it.

Posted by denise at 08:37 PM

November 26, 2003

"Shaka Zulu" Review

Shaka Zulu (1986) -
A 10 hour mini-series produced in the 80s about the rise of the Zulu nation in South Africa and their ultimate clash with Imperial Britain.

There's a lot of nudity and graphic violence so I can see why it wasn't broadcast in the States back then, although since it's available on A&E-produced DVD it's probably appeared on cable here at some time.

The overall look of the series is beautiful! Lovely cinematography, amazing set and costume design. The acting is pretty good, but where the movie really fails is in the writing. It's largely based (I assume) on the diary of Dr. Henry Francis Fynn who accompanied Lt. Francis Farewell on his "embassy" to the Zulus. For all I know this is the only written record of that time. The script suffers from a great deal of exposition from almost the first scene if not the first line. The story follows the decision of the British to contact the Zulus and prevent them from threatening the British colony of Cape Town. The king (humorously portrayed by Roy Dotrice) sends the intrepid, eccentric Lt. Francis G. Farewell. Farewell is played by the only actor I recognized, Edward Fox. I remember him chiefly from his role as Lt. Gen. Exposition in "A Bridge Too Far." (Well, that's wrong, I recognized Roy Dotrice from “Beauty and the Beast” and Christopher Lee from a bunch of movies.)

Anyway, the script takes us from the history we know (the British colonial history of South Africa) to the history we aren't so familiar with (the story of Shaka's birth, childhood and rise to power.) It takes a couple of episodes before we here any Zulu speak. Mostly at the beginning they are portrayed as warriors wreaking havoc. That gets a little tiresome. The pace picks up a little bit in the third episode when we learn about how Shaka's parents meet and all the subsequent intrigue around his birth and childhood.

Even for a 10 hour mini series I got the impression that this story was a little to complicated to fit into 10 hours.

Somewhere I've read the director, William Faure, intended a more chronological structure for the series rather than the flashback structure that was the final result. A chronological structure would have made more sense because we'd learn about the Zulu people on their own terms rather than (once again) through the eyes of the Europeans.

Posted by denise at 02:34 PM

January 01, 2004

2003 Movie List

january
Brazil (the unexpurgated version)
Powaqqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
Minority Report
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (20th Anniversary Release)
Rashomon
february
A Thousand Acres
Rob Roy
march
Tears of the Sun
The Hunted
april
King of Texas
Bulletproof Monk
Identity
Madadayo
Kurosawa: A Documentary
Ran
may
Network
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
X2: X-Men United
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Texas Rangers
Mercy Streets
june
Amadeus
Last of the Dogmen
Turbulence
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal
Hulk
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
july
Maniac
The Family Man
Almost Famous
Final Solution
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
august
Seabiscuit
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
september
Open Range
S.W.A.T.
Spirited Away
october
Princess Mononoke
Shaka Zulu
november
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
The Missing
Cry the Beloved Country
Zulu
Cry Freedom
december
Jock (of the Bushveld)
Final Destination 2
Fantastic Four
Uncovered: The Whole Truth
Daddy Day Care
10 Things I Hate About You
51st State
The Long Run
Return to Me
The Last Samurai
The Mexican

Posted by denise at 04:26 PM

February 08, 2004

Anime

Two nerds discuss anime. I'm not really into anime, so all the more reason for me to blog about it, I suppose. On the Captain's recommendation, I looked up an episode of “Samurai Jack.” It happened to be episode 3 and was a great riff on Seven Samurai with Jack as all 7 samurai, I guess. The animation is inventive and electric and non-repetitive. I love the fact that there's so little dialogue in this episode. Another episode I watched was the one where Jack is transformed into a chicken by a mysterious and irritable stranger and is pressed into the cock-fighting circuit. It's a really hilarious episode.

Posted by denise at 03:45 PM

July 17, 2004

Return of Shatner

Ok, this is my new desktop:

Who knew William Shatner of all people would make a career comeback in his 70s what with his Priceline ads and his new role on the new "The Practice"?

Posted by denise at 11:49 PM

July 18, 2004

Netflummoxed

I'm a big fan of Netflix. I like the convenience of not having to make a trip to the video store. The subscription price is decent, averaging out to about a dollar per DVD. Their costomer service is great. Their selection is excellent. And best of all there are no late fees.

So I was happy to learn that Netflix' profits had nearly doubled last quarter. But then I see this article about Netflix' stock price plummeting. What's the deal? Apparently, expansion costs cut into all those profits. They're also facing competition from Blockbuster, Walmart and video-on-demand.

I don't really see Blockbuster as much of a threat right now since they're currently offering less for more. VOD I don't know about. VOD will probably offer better picture quality and more conveinence, but how much is it going to cost? And will it offer the same features as a DVD?

Walmart is Netflix' biggest threat at the moment. They rolled out their DVD subscription service not long after Netflix. Their subscription rate is a little less, plus they already have a distribution network in place. The one thing they have going against them though is that they're...well...Walmart.

Posted by denise at 07:42 PM

December 15, 2004

Hollow Man

Watched "Hollow Man" last night. Or part of it. It's really a terrible movie. A genius scientist (Kevin Bacon) creates a drug that makes mammals invisible. When he runs short on funding, he decides to try it on himself. What would be the purpose of this amazing invisibility, anyway? Apparently, for the brilliant Dr. Whozit, it's being able to molest women and get away with it. Nice. This is just an old B horror movie with a lot of glitter. Yeah, the effects are cool, but since it's a Paul Verhoeven movie there's also a lot of nudity because he's "cutting edge." I turned it off after Kevin Bacon's character kills the dog. It was worse than "Starship Troopers."

Posted by denise at 09:08 PM

January 01, 2005

2004 Movie List

January
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Blood Simple
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The 6th Day
Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatre
Sleepless in Seattle
You've Got Mail
Battleship Potemkin
The Harvey Girls
Adaptation
Punch Drunk Love

February
Windtalkers
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
The Talented Mr. Ripley

March
The Passion of the Christ
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
"I, Claudius"
The Lion King: Special Edition
Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown

April
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Stigmata

May
Matchstick Men

June
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
28 Days
Shaft
Ali
The Miracle-Maker: The Story of Jesus
Point Break

July
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Terminal
Office Space
Anywhere But Here
Where the Heart Is
"Shackleton"
Spiderman 2
On Edge
The Butterfly Effect
Vercingétorix

August
East/West
Apocalypse Now
Gallipoli
Indochine

September
The Bourne Supremacy
The Mothman Prophecies
Hart's War
The Blob
Vanilla Sky
Get Carter (1971)
Rollerball
Strictly Ballroom

October

November
The Ladykillers
Vatel
Camille Claudel
Le Retour de Martin Guerre
Van Helsing
Stargate

December
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Professional
Kull the Conqueror
Contact
Subway
The Grinch
Monster's Ball
National Treasure

Posted by denise at 10:28 PM

February 27, 2005

Oscars 2005 - Barbara Walters Special

I'd planned to liveblog the Oscars, but that's just going to take up too much time, so I'll just post a sort of review afterwards.

I've skipped the Barbara Walters Special for the last few years because she jumped the shark long ago, but I thought I'd tune in to see how bad she's become.

And of course I'm taping the whole thing. That's a tradition now. I guess I have the last 10 or 12 Oscarcasts on tape.

Posted by denise at 06:21 PM

Oscars 2005

Captain Ed has taken on the thankless task of liveblogging the Oscars.

Posted by denise at 08:26 PM

February 28, 2005

I hate Hollywood

As per usual, I didn't see any of the Best Picture nominees. (Even, back in the day, when I went to see 2-3 movies a week, I rarely saw all the nominees.) On top of that I didn't really care about any of them except maybe "Ray." Chris Rock was a terrible host. Can't they just give Billy Crystal a lifetime contract to host the Oscars? And "The Passion of the Christ" was totally shut out. That movie is above all this anyway.

Barb sums it all up nicely.

Posted by denise at 11:11 PM

June 06, 2005

Church of the Masses' New Look

Church of the Masses has a spiffy new look. I almost didn't recognize it.

Barb has some interesting things to say about the new movement in Hollywood toward more Christian-oriented movies in her recent interview with The 700 Club.

Posted by denise at 10:14 PM

July 04, 2005

The Harvey Girls DVD Review

The Harvey Girls is a big, over-the-top musical released in 1946. It's based on the novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about the true story of the girls hired to travel west and work as waitresses in Fred Harvey's "Harvey Houses". Judy Garland stars and sings Johnny Mercer's song "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" which won an Academy Award for Best Song (and which I had to learn in 6th grade music class.)

Angela Lansbury plays the heavy, the madam of the girls who work the saloon across the street from the Harvey House. Of course, I know Angela Lansbury mainly from "Murder, She Wrote," so it was great to see her in a completely different kind of role. She was only about 20 when this movie was made (a few years younger than Judy Garland), but she has such a great menacing screen presence. (I could barely tie my shoes when I was 20.) Among Angela Lansbury's many talents is a fine singing voice, but (according to the director's commentary) her singing was dubbed in this movie, much to her chagrin.

The man she's singing to is Ned Trent played by John Hodiak. Hodiak, a veteran of many films, died in 1955 at the age of 41 from a heart attack. Men, get your blood pressure checked! There are a lot of other well-known faces in this movie: Ray Bolger (Wizard of Oz), Marjorie Main (probably best known for her role as Ma Kettle) and even Cyd Charisse. And check out that tastefully draped statue on the stairway. John Ashcroft must have been the set dresser!

Another great thing about the DVD is the director's commentary. George Sidney directed a lot of well-known movie musicals: Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate, Show Boat, Bye, Bye Birdie and Anchors Aweigh with that wonderful dancing sequence with Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse. The director's commentary for Harvey Girls turns out to be an excellent bit of Hollywood history. He rambles a bit, but he tells some great stories like when they had to shut down production of the film when FDR died and that although the song says the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe goes all the way to Californ-I-A, it doesn't actually go as far as California, but Johnny Mercer needed the rhyme.

The movie also features some really colorful and over-the-top costumes. Stuff no self-respecting cowboy would be caught dead in!

Ok, so I confess, it's been like a year since I've seen this movie, so it's not as fresh in my mind as it ought to be to do a DVD review, but it's still a fun movie and highly recommended for good family entertainment.

Posted by denise at 01:16 AM

July 20, 2005

Hail and Farewell

James Doohan, Star Trek's "Scotty" died today at the age of 85. He'd been in failing health for some time, still it's sad news.

Doohan was born in Canada and served in the Canadian army during World War II. He took part in the Normandy invasion and suffered serious injuries including the loss of his middle finger.

In addition to his role as Scotty in "Star Trek," he was a much-sought-after character actor and did an amazing amount of voice-acting. He was a master at many dialects and even created the first words of Klingon heard in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

He was a favorite of Star Trek fans and a great guy. He'll be missed. FoxNews has more (and better) details about his life.

TrekToday
Lileks' tribute

Posted by denise at 10:43 PM

August 07, 2005

Harvey Girls DVD Redux

Awhile back I blogged a little review about "The Harvey Girls" musical on DVD. I left out part of what I'd intended to say about it because I couldn't find the corresponding graphics. Well, I've finally found them and inflict them upon you here.

At one point in the movie Virginia O'Brien sings a rather boring song "In the Wild, Wild West" as she shows Ray Bolger how to shoe a horse. (She's a girl of many talents.)

During the song we see her pound away at the horseshoe:

She places it on the end of the anvil to cool and form:

And then,

she picks it up rather absent-mindedly and caresses it as she finishes the song!

At first, I thought it was a terrible continuity error, but then since it was just so obvious, I figured it was meant to be a gag, just not a very good one.

Well, that's all I had. Aren't you glad I posted this?

DVD Verdict has a much better summary and review of this funny musical. (And I don't mean "funny ha ha")

Posted by denise at 09:09 PM

Vercingétorix: A Review (Kinda)

"Vercingétorix" recounts the story of the Gaulish chieftain who gave Julius Caesar and his Roman war machine a run for his money back around 40 BC. (See how far the French have to go to find someone in their history who fights for freedom. Oh, but I kid! I'm kidding!) It's a French production done in English starring Christophe Lambert in the title role, Klaus Maria Brandauer as Caesar and Max van Sydow as the Chief Druid. The American/British version is known as "Druids" probably because Americans (or Brits) have no idea who Vercingétorix was, but yeah, Druids we're all over that.

It's basically the French Braveheart, but far, far less exciting. "Braveheart" starts with a battle. "Vercingétorix" (pronounced: Ver-san-zhay-tor-eeks...or something like that) starts with a meeting and there's a lot of talking. V's father is killed by another chieftain and a few minutes later he grows up, befriends Caesar and avenges his father's death. Sigh.

This is another movie that I watched a year ago and it's taken me this long to blog about it. I tried to be fair and watch it again, but I couldn't get through it. Too much talking, not enough Mel Gibson.

It does, however, feature several characters sporting interesting head wear. To wit:

And the pièce de résistance... Caesar's "Please-Shoot-Me" hat:

Well, at least this isn't rolling around in my head anymore:

"You have to blog about 'Vercingétorix'"
"But...why?"
"Because you have to post those cool screen captures."
"But...why?"

See that's all gone now. Whew!

Posted by denise at 10:27 PM

September 20, 2005

Gods and Generals

I watched the Civil War epic "Gods and Generals" over the weekend. It's a long movie. It's also a great movie and a very sad one. The story is told mostly from the point of view of Stonewall Jackson who was a professor at VMI when the war started. It made me sad to see those young VMI cadets, knowing that most of them probably wouldn't see the end of the war. It saddened me to watch this time in our history when our country was most divided.

We're not on the verge of civil war today but, division still plagues us as a country -- divisions along racial lines, class lines and lines between our leaders and those of us they govern -- divisions which seem sharper in light of the Katrina disaster when we should be most unified.

And we are unified. When our government dropped the ball, the people in the form of churches, synagogues, mosques, and charities picked it up and ran with it. Churches organized supplies and opened up their buildings for evacuees. Private families opened up their homes to others who'd lost theirs.

But wait, this is supposed to be a movie review. Stephen Lang executes a fine performance as Gen. Stonewall Jackson, a devout man and America's greatest soldier. Robert Duvall is Robert E. Lee even more so than Martin Sheen who portrayed Lee in "Gettysburg". Ted Turner, who's producing this series of Civil War epics, is to be commended for demanding honesty in the portrayals of these men and allowing Gen. Jackson and others to express their faith without hindrance.

Posted by denise at 07:41 AM

October 16, 2005

Aslan lives!

I went to see "Serenity" on Saturday. It's not just a great science fiction movie. It's a great movie, period. But I'll talk about that later. The thing I saw that really excited me was a preview for "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."

I can't really tell from the preview if the movie stays true to the book (although Barb Nicolosi says it does), but it looks beautiful. The children look like normal British children. Tilda Swinton plays the Snow Queen (or the Ice Queen or the White Queen. I forget her title exactly.) which is a great casting choice. Narnia just glows and sparkles. But it was Aslan who really literally leapt from the screen. After that dull British mini-series that featured a rather lifeless animatronic Aslan, I didn't have any high hopes that the makers of the new movie would get Aslan right. But from the few glimpses of him in the preview, he doesn't appear at all to be a tame lion.

And that is a very good thing. If they get Aslan right everything else should fall into place.

Posted by denise at 11:20 PM ~ Comments (2)

October 18, 2005

Chewbacca becomes an American citizen

Peter Mayhew, known to the world as Han Solo's faithful sidekick, Chewbacca, became an American citizen* today in Arlington, Texas.

ROWWWRR!

He lives in Granbury of all places.

• Chewbacca actor to become an American (FoxNews)

*Registration required

Posted by denise at 12:21 AM ~ Comments (2)

November 04, 2005

Narnia outreach

CatholicOutreach.com has created a Narnia Outreach site. (via Church of the Masses)

• Disney's Official Narnia site.

Posted by denise at 11:55 PM

November 05, 2005

King Kong

Because we're nothing but geeks around here (and by "we", of course, I mean "me"), I have to point you to the official site for the new King Kong movie. Be sure to check out the trailer if you haven't seen it. A couple of interesting bits o' trivia from the site: Andy Serkis (Gollum from "Lord of the Rings") worked as the "stand-in" for Kong, doing the same sort of motion-capture work he did for Gollum. Also, the visual effects were done by Weta Digital who did the effects for the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and the upcoming "Chronicles of Narnia".

There's a King King vs. Godzilla/T-Rex scene at the end of the trailer, but Peter Jackson's Godzilla ain't got rhythm.

Tags: King Kong

Posted by denise at 10:53 PM ~ Comments (2)

November 06, 2005

New Harry Potter movie

More on the Geek Front: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire premiered in London today. It opens in US theaters November 18.

With "Narnia," "King Kong," and "Harry Potter" all opening during the Christmas movie season that just might be more geekiness than I can handle.

Nah.

Tags: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Posted by denise at 11:45 PM ~ Comments (1)

November 16, 2005

Harry Potter 4

Mr. Bean directs the new Harry Potter movie.

• The Fort Worth Weekly review. (You'll have to excuse the FW Weekly for confusing one wizard fantasy series with another.)
• I'm kidding.
• I know. It's only really funny to me.

Tags: Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, FW Weekly

Posted by denise at 10:39 PM ~ Comments (2)

November 27, 2005

Deuce Four movie

Michelle Malkin writes that Bruce Willis wants to do a movie about the Iraq War based on the reporting of embedded journalist Michael Yon. This is an excellent idea! Yon is a great writer. This could be the first movie inspired by a blog! (via Captain's Quarters)

Posted by denise at 11:32 PM

November 28, 2005

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I knew I had to watch the new Harry Potter within a week or two of it's release in order to keep my geek cred and so I did that Saturday.

ACCIO SPOILERS!

It's a great addition to the franchise; probably the best of the series so far. The script is an excellent adaptation of the book. It focuses completely on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and, by necessity, leaves out many of the subplots in the book. Thus, there are no Dursleys in this movie (thank goodness) and the business with the house-elves is also left out completely. It's a darker, more mature film, not requiring any of the goofiness from the previous movies. Not only does Harry face greater wizarding challenges, he also faces greater interpersonal challenges: puppy love and a bust-up with his best friend, Ron Weasley.

OTOH, I would not go as far as Orson Scott Card in saying that the movie is better than the book or that it's the best film of the year (I haven't seen that many theatrical releases this year, so I can't speak to that). In fact, I don't think the movie truly stands on its own. I believe some prior knowledge of Harry Potter lore is required to really appreciate this iteration of the series. Indeed as I was leaving the theater, I heard someone say about the movie, "I'm a little confused." Despite that, though, I recommend it. Go see it!

Posted by denise at 07:00 AM ~ Comments (2)

December 01, 2005

Recent DVDs

The Grudge (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar)
I made sure I watched this movie in the middle of a sunny Sunday afternoon, but it still creeped me out for the next couple of days. I was sure when I woke up the next morning I was going to see that little boy peeking over the side of the bed at me.

The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (starring Noah Wyle)
I loved this premise - the librarian as action hero. Flynn Carsen is no ordinary librarian. He's The Librarian, in charge of a repository of rare and original books and artifacts, (artifacts like the Holy Grail, King Arthur's sword, Excalibur and King Midas turned to gold); a repository that makes the Smithsonian look like a toy collection. His first mission is to find the pieces of the Spear of Destiny - the spear that pierced the side of Jesus on the cross and which grants the bearer power to rule the world - and return it to the Library. (Incidently the Spear of Destiny showed up in Constantine earlier this year.)

Though not exactly well-executed, it'd be great to have a couple more of these fun Librarian movies.

Posted by denise at 12:57 AM

December 11, 2005

Flying Carpets

We had our carpets cleaned last week. (Not the same as having your clocks cleaned, believe me.) So between moving all the cr@p out of the rooms to be cleaned, waiting for the carpets to dry and then deciding to rearrange my workspace, I haven't done any blogging. Or even much blog-reading. But I think I'm back on track as of today. Try to contain yourselves.

My geek cred took a small hit this weekend as I did not go see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" on opening day. I'm going to wait a few weekends. And speaking of Narnia, LaShawn Barber has a interesting new blog at Fantasy Fiction for Christians.

Posted by denise at 10:36 PM

December 14, 2005

Brokeback Mountain

"Brokeback Mountain" opened last weekend, and no I didn't see it and don't really have plans to see it. It's not really the sort of thing that interests me. I did read the gushing Entertainment Weekly article, though. "The Year's Most Daring Love Story," the cover reads. Well, no. Gay relationships in movies quit being "daring" about 10 years ago.

Inside the headline reads "Western Union: Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger are Risking Their Careers to Play Cowboys in Love..." Again, no. No one risks their career by playing a gay character in a movie any more. An actor risks his career nowadays by being so consumed with booze or drugs that no one can work with him.

"Will Audience Follow Them up Brokeback Mountain?" the title continues. It doesn't matter if audiences love it. Critics will and so will the award-givers and once either of these actors have the title "Academy Award-nominated" or Academy Award winner" before their name, their career is virtually assured for life. Jake and Heath have to make that transition from Hot Young Stud to Serious Leading Man and "Brokeback Mountain" is the vehicle for that. But daring and career-risking? Not hardly.

Posted by denise at 12:14 AM

January 01, 2006

2005 Movie List

January

February
Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
We Were Soldiers
Constantine

March
D. O. A.
Pleasantville
Hitch
Bambi
Election
"Trekkies 2"
Galaxy Quest
Marty
Hostage

April
Gladiator
Dancer, Texas, Pop. 81
The Astronaut's Wife
"The Story of Eric Liddell"
"Super-Size Me"
Antwone Fisher
Alien
A Walk to Remember

May
Airplane II: The Sequel
Blues Brothers
The Borrowers
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

June

July
Batman Begins

August
Red Eye

September
The Exorcism of Emily Rose

October
Serenity
Troy
Dirty Pretty Things

November
Kingdom of Heaven
Blade
Blade II
Blade: Trinity
Daredevil
Elektra
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear
The Grudge
Flight of the Phoenix (2004)

December
Stealth
King Arthur
War of the Worlds
Unleashed
Sky High
Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Walking Tall (2004)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Grand Theft Auto
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Amistad

Posted by denise at 08:16 PM

January 02, 2006

Narnia novelization

They're not writing a novelization of the new Narnia movie. They're not. But they are.

Oh and by the way, that box set that HarperCollins put out awhile back with the books in chronological order is all wrong. You have to read them in the order Lewis wrote them.

1. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle

The publishers say they've put them in the order that Lewis wanted them, but I'm not sure he was all that adamant about that. There's a reason he wrote TLtWatW first and not The Magician's Nephew: it's a better introduction to the world of Narnia.

Also check out the Fireant's list of quotable C.S. Lewis quotes.

Posted by denise at 10:25 PM

April 30, 2006

King Kong DVD

I finally saw King Kong on DVD. It wasn't all that bad. Of course, I was able to watch it off and on over the course of a Saturday. I could see Peter Jackson's love for the story, but I think he might love it too much because he takes way too long to tell the story. And that's the movie's major flaw. It moves like molasses and, honestly, these characters aren't that fascinating. The acting's serviceable and the production design is beautiful. And I've never really bought the whole ape/starlet love story. I'm sure she felt some compassion for Kong, but I think in the end she just wanted to be friends. Yeah.

Lileks has a good review. I think, though, the stuff he thinks are vines are actually tree roots or maybe something like grapevines. Why would tree roots be suspended across a crevasse like that? I don't know. It's Skull Island after all.

Anyway, I'd call the King Kong DVD worth a rental, but it probably won't go on any "Best of" list.

King Kong  

Posted by denise at 09:52 PM ~ Comments (1)

June 04, 2006

Blue screen inventor dies

Arthur Widmer, the guy who invented "blue screen" has died at age 92.

Technorati tags: Arthur Widmer, blue screen, nonagerians

Arthur Widmer  blue screen  nonagerians  

Posted by denise at 04:16 PM

June 24, 2006

RIP Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling, the man who made TV as we know it, has died of complications from his recent stroke.

I loved this paragraph from his E! Online obit:

"Born April 22, 1925, in Dallas, Spelling studied journalism, but lived for theater at Southern Methodist University. When his father lost his job at the local Sears because of a controversial all-black play directed by his son, the younger Spelling agreed to get out of town in exchange for his dad's reemployment."

Right on!

In addition to innumerable hours of trash TV he also produced some more sober stuff like "And the Band Played On" (recommended) about the history of the AIDS crisis as well as the movie based on the Pulitzer-prize winning play "'Night Mother" starring Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft about a young woman planning her suicide (not recommended).

Technorati tags: Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling  

Posted by denise at 12:36 AM

July 30, 2006

Mel checks his career

He not only checks it, he bodyslams it and head-butts it in the chest.

The bad news is Mel Gibson was arrested for drunk driving Friday, July 28. The badder news is that while being arrested he apparently let fly a string of anti-Semitic epithets.

Oddly, Hollywood execs & movie-goers would probably have been more forgiving of the actual crime he committed than the egregious way he chose to ignore the Miranda warning.

Technorati tags: Mel Gibson, drunk driving, anti-Semitism

Mel Gibson  drunk driving  anti Semitism  

Posted by denise at 09:55 PM

August 06, 2006

The mercurial Darth Vader

(via Wingin' It!)

Technorati tags: Darth Vader

Darth Vader  

Posted by denise at 11:07 PM ~ Comments (1)

August 19, 2006

Eragon

Speaking of "Eragon," the movie is set to open this year at Christmas. The trailer was supposed to premiere with the opening of "Snakes on a Plane," but I'm not sure that happened. Anyway, I found a few stills, including one featuring Jeremy Irons as Brom. I'm definitely going to have to see the movie now. I also found this fan-created trailer on YouTube.

Technorati: Eragon, Jeremy Irons

Tagjag: Eragon, Jeremy Irons

Posted by denise at 04:42 PM

August 22, 2006

Rifftrax, Part Deux

A month ago, I posted a bit about Mike J. Nelson's new endeavor, Rifftrax where he creates his own commentary tracks for bad movies -- movies he wasn't able to mock on MST3K. The commentary for "Roadhouse" was the first offering, so I purchased and downloaded that and found it to be professionally produced and funny and well worth the $1.99. The movie, on the other hand is worth about $0.19. I knew this wasn't the best Patrick Swayze movie, but I'd forgotten how truly bad it was.

Rifftrax now has 5 other commentary tracks up on their site including one for Star Trek V that I'm not going to be able to pass up.

• Blogcritics review of Rifftrax

Technorati: Mike J. Nelson, Rifftrax, Patrick Swayze, Roadhouse

Tagjag: Mike J. Nelson, Rifftrax, Patrick Swayze, Roadhouse

Posted by denise at 11:40 PM ~ Comments (0)