Tonight I went to Starbuck's to get a coffee, and it was about 8:15 or so. They close at 10:30. No one else is inside, and I go order a venti coffee. They say they're out of coffee and have to brew a fresh thing and it'll be a few minutes. I'm like, "It's okay. No problem."
But the lady kept apologizing, offered me a free pastry (I just ate, so I said no). I really didn't mind, I mean if it was busy I'd be waiting anyway. So ~5 minutes went by, I got my coffee, and she gave me a generic coupon that's for a free any drink I want next time I go in. Sa-weet.
But these generic coupons... at movie theaters (well, Regal ones) they have re-admission tickets that they give out if your movie screws up or something. They're on a huge roll of maybe a few hundred. Starbuck's has these little coupons. They don't have to be signed or anything. So I wonder what one has to do to get their hands on one of these rolls/packs. I mean, I don't want to work at these places, but how awesome would it be to have free coffee, or movies, for the next few years? I'd save so much money...
It wouldn't even be that hard to not get caught. There's enough Starbuck's around with enough employees. Movies theaters, a bit harder. Just make sure it's a different clerk. Hmm...
7.12.2007
I've watched a lot of movies since I last updated, but I'll just post about the ones people may be interested in.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
When a movie gets to the 5th part of a series, it becomes very easy for the audience to predict what will happen using a very, very simple formula that can be deduced from the previous four movies. In every movie, a new antagonist comes around, they give Harry (and friends) a hard time, we get a mild 'twist' ending, and Voldemort is one step closer to returning. This grows tiresome. The problem is that I'm sure there's more depth in the books, but J.K. Rowling makes them so long it would be impossible to fit it all into a movie -- however, it would be very possible to fit the small bit of plot from OotP (movie) into another frame and not have it drag on for 138 minutes. This problem stems from the new screenwriter and a director who only has TV experience. We get a big picture, and the movie lacks small quirks that made the other Harry Potter movies fun. Instead of tournaments, we get excessive CGI as the students lock themselves in a training room, practicing spells. Sure, it's important, but we don't need to waste twenty minutes on it. The time is better spent elsewhere, whether it's seeing something that was left out, or on my couch because I got out twenty minutes earlier.
When Alfonso Cuaron did the 'Prisoner of Azkaban' it ran for 141 minutes, but the series was still fresh after only three movies. But also, Cuaron is a great storyteller. That's why the third movie (and fourth, which is even longer) were better than the new OotP. It's not that OotP is a bad movie, but nothing new comes to risk for Harry, and it's just a stepping stone so the studio can make two more movies. There's nothing wrong with making a three hour movie as long as it's three hours worth of material.
The series seems to be getting darker, constantly looming Voldemort over our heads, but there's never a taste, especially in this movie, and there's nothing audience members hate more than cliffhangers and anti-climactic endings. But then again, it is Harry Potter, so even if the movie got one-star reviews from every critic in the United States, it would still open at the top of the box office.
6/10
Ratatouille
On a more positive note, this is easily the best movie of the summer as far as 'big' movies go.
After a long stretch of mediocre animated films (Surf's Up, Shrek 3, any number of others), finally Pixar has a release, and Pixar always means great movies. I think Cars is my least favorite, but it's still good.
Ratatouille is a film by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), and while I love The Incredibles, I think Ratatouille is a superior film.
The reason this film is so good, as with all Pixar movies, is it takes a simple concept that children can understand (doing what you love, loyalty to your family), and makes it universally appealing. There are two particular moments in the film that are so well crafted that it makes me realize how millions of people have experienced one of 'those things,' yet until now it's never been shown on screen. I don't want to spoil it, but if you've seen the movie, you probably know what I mean. These are the scenes that make a good movie great.
And, of course, Peter O'Toole doing the voice of Anton Ego is a highlight as well.
9.5/10
7.06.2007
I'm going to revise my rating of The Apartment from this post.
I reacted prematurely in stating that some of the traditional elements seem dated by today's standards. Over the last year or so, I've watched a lot of Billy Wilder movies, and if asked who was my favorite writer/director, he would be it. What makes Billy Wilder so great is that his movies are timeless. Some Like It Hot is still hilarious. Sunset Blvd. is still a depressing story about clinging to lost dreams. Sabrina still tops any recent romantic comedies. The Apartment still holds up against the finest dramas.
Yes, I called The Apartment a 'drama.' See, that's the whole thing. Looking at The Apartment from a comedic perspective, it's funny, sure. But looking at it as a drama with comedic aspects is when the movie clicks.
This time around I focused a lot more on Shirley MacLaine, who plays Miss Kubelik so fantastically that it's impossible to not see how any man would want to take her home. But there's that other side, the side where she thinks, "I was jinxed from the word go. The first time I was ever kissed was in a cemetery." She's stuck in a place she doesn't want to be, and that in itself is depressing.
But then we see Jack Lemmon, fixed on his career. He loves Miss Kubelik, sure, but that comes a distant second to him willing to get pneumonia just for a chance at a promotion. It's very traditional: he wants a promotion, but he needs Miss Kubelik. Miss Kubelik makes him a better person -- she makes him be the one guy out of 31,000 who takes his hat off in the elevator. Not only do we sympathize with Jack Lemmon's character, but we're cheering for him to break the business shell and become a human being.
Billy Wilder may not be the most innovative director of all time, but he knows how to make a movie entertaining. In an interview he said, his first nine commandments were 'Thou Shalt Not Bore,' and his tenth was something like, 'Thou Shalt Have Rights to Final Cut.' That may explain why his movies are so good.
9.5/10
6.30.2007
Last night I was watching the movie 'Girl Fever' aka '100 Women,' which is pretty bad, but it's almost a guilty pleasure...
Anyway, there's this line in there, something about art is the only thing that's honest, where you 'can't fake it.' Your stuff is either good, or it isn't.
Then I thought about the movie 'Fever Pitch,' where Jimmy Fallon says something about how Baseball is the best sport because there's no faking it. You can either hit a curve ball, or you can't.
So naturally I think, what the hell? I guess you could say that about anything. Basketball -- you can either make it in the basket, or you can't. Accounting -- you can either do the math, or you can't. This seems to be a pretty common analogy.
But, what really gets me is that, at least with Baseball, hitting a curve ball is a good metaphor. A curve ball to one person is a curve ball to another.
With art, it is about 70% subjective, 30% objective. I really don't like any Andy Warhol stuff, but apparently he was some important artist. I'm sure some would agree, and some would disagree. Subjective.
But my point is people need to come up with a new metaphor for why things are honest and the best. Because 'you can either ______ a _______ or you can't' has been done and done. If I see it again in a movie, I'm walking out.
6.23.2007
I heard this second-hand, but it's true and here's a source: http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=6696215
Basically on a Superman ride at Six Flags, something went wrong and ripped off this teen girl's feet. If I had to pin down the top three thing I'd think would be the most painful, that would be one of them.
And of course this is another reason why Superman sucks. Batman for life.
6.21.2007
Oh man, so AFI finally redid their 100 movies list! I haven't looked at it yet, but I've been on a quest to see them all. Right now I'm at 82 (see the old list here).
I had a long post here ranting about movies I like being dropped numerous spots to make way for inferior movies, but things like that aren't ever good. Sure, American Beauty was snubbed and movies like Forrest Gump, which shouldn't be anywhere near that list, remain, but what can you do? Fargo being kicked is very, very sad.
I like the first list a lot better. Oh well, time to tally.
80. So I lose 2 movies. Still, what a terrible new list. Ten years from now until they fix it...
Oh, you can check the full list on the AFI site but you have to log in, so do it here.
And courtesy of some people at AwardsDaily, here's a couple lists:
All the movies that are NEW:
18 The General (1927)
49 Intolerance (1916)
50 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
59 Nashville (1975)
61 Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
63 Cabaret (1972)
67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
71 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
75 In the Heat of the Night (1967)
77 All the President’s Men (1976)
81 Spartacus (1960)
82 Sunrise (1927)
83 Titanic (1997)
85 A Night at the Opera (1935)
87 12 Angry Men (1957)
89 The Sixth Sense (1999)
90 Swing Time (1936)
91 Sophie’s Choice (1982)
95 The Last Picture Show (1971)
96 Do the Right Thing (1989)
97 Blade Runner (1982)
99 Toy Story (1995)
All the movies that have been DROPPED:
(39) Doctor Zhivago (1965)
(44) The Birth of a Nation (1915)
(52) From Here to Eternity (1953)
(53) Amadeus (1984)
(54) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
(57) The Third Man (1949)
(58) Fantasia (1940)
(59) Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
(63) Stagecoach (1939)
(64) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
(67) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
(68) An American in Paris (1951)
(73) Wuthering Heights (1939)
(75) Dances With Wolves (1990)
(82) Giant (1956)
(84) Fargo (1996)
(86) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
(87) Frankenstein (1931)
(89) Patton (1970)
(90) The Jazz Singer (1927)
(91) My Fair Lady (1964)
(92) A Place in the Sun (1951)
(99) Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967)
Sad they went: My Fair Lady, Amadeus, Fargo, Manchurian Candidate, Fantasia.
Glad they joined: Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men ... and that's it.
I'll have to just make my own damn list.
Edit: And as one last note, why is LotR: Fellowship on there, and not LotR: Return of the King? The third was a much better movie....
Okay, and here's my new list:
AFI 100 Movies. I got some movies to watch.
6.14.2007
So when I was in Vegas, I learned that supposedly AFI also did the 100 best movie posters. Here's a site where you can see them all:
moviegoods.com
I haven't seen a number of these, actually... Well, here's some of my favorite posters from this list (emphasis on 'posters,' with the quality of the movie having no weight). Also, ignore the terrible MovieGoods logo, I guess.
So last week I was in Las Vegas, which was pretty awesome. I kept a detailed log, but it's hand written and just for me. But anyway, two things about Vegas for now:
I can't believe how dry it is there. Granted, it's in the middle of the fucking desert, but every day after the first my lips were completely dried out, regardless of the bottles of water I'd drink. I think maybe I'm too used to the Florida humidity.
Also, the cab drivers there are ridiculous. I don't know how they go more than three minutes without an accident. They never check their mirrors or blind spot or anything, and squeeze into spots I would never even consider. And there's no cops driving around, so pretty much all of them run red lights. The only real traffic law seems to be, don't hit the pedestrians, but they still honk at them even when there's an okay to walk signal.
And of course none of them speak English very well.
6.13.2007
My bad guys, I went out of town for a week, plus general lazy tendencies. More on that later. For now, what I do best: mini movie reviews.
Ocean's Thirteen
Better than Twelve, not as good as Eleven. Definitely not a 'good' movie, but for sure a very entertaining one. Soderbergh and the crew should continue making these forever.
8/10
Pirates 3
A little late on this one. . . . Pretty long, pretty bad. There's no real care for the characters, and while they didn't exploit Johnny Depp as much as they did in the second one, it gave Orlando Bloom more lines, which is never good. So many plot holes and subplots that really don't lead anywhere. Disappointing.
5/10
Knocked Up
Quite the hilarious movie. Solid laughs all the way through. Most of the jokes are just great one-liners, so I won't say much since quoting them out of context isn't effective.
8.5/10
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