8.30.2008

The Chronic(what!)les of Narnia

I feel it's my duty to tell everyone that the musical scores for both of the Narnia movies are amazing. Even if Narnia isn't your thing (haters), if you like good instrumental stuff, check them out. I've been listening to them constantly for a few years now.

8.27.2008

Shear Genius: Season Finale

Yes, yes. I watch Shear Genius. I'm not proud of it. But I will blog for the finale, because, well, why not.

My favorite was Daniel, but he went home last week (also, Daniel on PR went home last week. Conspiracy?). Now I want Nicole to win, but it's not very likely since Dee (bitch) seems like a better stylist, but also, Charlie (bitch) is a bit better, too. Daniel was where it's at. Plus he wasn't a douche bag. Even Jaclyn shed a tear when he left.

I really like Rene Fris. It sounds like he has to try so hard to say everything because he talks so slowly. It's charming, though.

Wow, three hours to cut, color, and style 4 different hairstyles? What a ridiculous challenge.

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Project Runway: Two Episodes

So I watched last week's episode, but I watched it late because I was out of town. It was an okay episode. No real comments, other than I hate Chris March.

This episode is an interesting challenge.

For the record, I like: LeAnne, Kenley (her model dropping out is kind of BS), Jerell, and Terri. Blayne is all right.

Keith needs to shut up. Yeah, it sucks that she had to sit down, but don't make garments that fragile. Or have her wear something else while she gets hair and makeup done. Stop with the attitude.

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8.25.2008

Quantum of Solace

Here's a trailer for the upcoming James Bond 22, Quantum of Solace. You're welcome.



A lot of James Bond has been on television lately, but the recent Casino Royale is definitely one of -- if not the -- best. It was one of my favorite films of 2006, and hopefully this sequel will be just as good. A new director, yes, but Marc Forster is very capable and the writing staff is the same as Casino Royale.

Definitely opening weekend material.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen is at his best not necessarily in Manhattan, but at least when he tries to break the norm of story, or structure, or both. When he's good, he's really good (Match Point, Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo, etc.), and when he's not so ambitious it's a complete drag (Cassandra's Dream, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else, etc.). Vicky Cristina Barcelona (henceforth known as VCB) falls into the latter category.

I like to think that 'even a bad Woody Allen film is still pretty good.' Yes. True, but only when he's also acting as the neurotic we've all come to know and love. When he's not actually in his films the bar is much higher.

VCB is a drama about two girls with opposite outlooks on love (Vicky is in love with being in love, while Cristina "isn't exactly hard to maneuver into the sack."). They are both approached by Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who proposes a weekend vacation and some three-way action. He's rich, charming, and holds a power over women -- including his ex-wife, who he still loves, and who love him. The movie funnels to a three-way relationship, all right. It's just between Juan Antonio, Cristina, and his ex-wife (Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena).

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8.19.2008

Ignorance Talks a Big Talk

I don't mind a little jab here or there at people, places, or things (nouns, really). Sometimes feigning ignorance is done for comedic purposes or for satire, but lately it seems like a lot of people have been criticizing the women's vault finals. Primarily the fact that Cheng Fei got the Bronze medal instead of Alicia Sacramone.

Here is an example, which I saw linked to on the Yahoo! home page.

Look, I don't know much about gymnastics, but I do know that landing a vault on two feet is better than landing one on two knees. Olympic gymnastics judges evidently disagree with me, as they awarded China's Cheng Fei a bronze medal yesterday even after she fell on her vault landing. American Alicia Sacramone finished fourth despite, you know, not falling.

Yes, landing on your feet is better than having some knee touch the ground. But landing is not the only thing taken into consideration during a vault. Other than the obvious start value and execution, the vault is actually graded on an average of two scores, and anyone who watched the whole event can tell you Cheng Fei easily had the best first vault of the finals. People forget that part.

Wikipedia has the details, but to summarize: Cheng Fei scored a 16.075 on her first vault, and when averaged with her poor 15.050 on her second vault, gave her a better score than Alicia's. People don't notice that Fei did get an 8.550 on her execution, it was simply that her vault was much harder (6.5 against a 5.8) than Alicia's that saved her.

So basically, Cheng did phenomenal on a hard vault, and bad on a hard vault, and together those beat out Alicia doing good on a hard vault and good on a moderate vault. I'm all about America, but I don't think this is the scoring battle to fight.

Lucky Number Slevin is Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Lite

I finally got around to watching Lucky Number Slevin tonight, and let's say I'm glad I did not see it in theaters. Not because I would have paid for it, but because I would have been filled with frustration as some of the slower audience members justify the movie spelling everything out in big bright neon signs.

The first hour or so of the movie had me going. Maybe some people don't dig on the sort of obsessive, wordy dialogue used here, but I do. This movie had an interesting setup, with a bit of North by Northwest feel (which is sadly acknowledged in the movie itself). Yet there was a sort of wit that reminded me very much of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which came out roughly a year earlier.

The real problems with Slevin come in what should be the third act. The gimmick of the movie can be figured out --spoilers ahead--.....

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Gymnastics Tiebreakers are Stupid

Why can't two gold medals be awarded in gymnastics? Nastia Liukin tied the score of one of those (supposedly) 16 year-old Chinese girls in the uneven bars, but because of some technicality got placed second.

I feel really bad for her -- but at least she won the individual all-around. That makes me feel a bit better.

8.18.2008

Clark's Chemistry

I think we can all comfortably say that Clark Gable is one of -- if not the -- best actor of all time. Yet what I've noticed is that, despite all his talent, there rarely seems to be chemistry between him and his on-screen love interest.

Tonight I watched The Misfits, which was the last performance of both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. The film lacked the wit and clutch hold classics from the 1960s had, and instead is just a slight step down memory lane. There are a few problems with this film, primarily why the 35 year-old Marilyn Monroe, a kind-hearted city girl, would choose to end the movie with the 60 year-old Clark Gable, who is a cowboy at heart and only wants the thrill of catching horses and selling them to be made into dog food. Sure, at the end of the film we get some 'realizations,' but it seems Marilyn would have been much better off with the great Montgomery Cliff, who seems to understand her far better than Clark ever would. But Gable had the higher billing, so he gets the girl.

Let's go back to a younger Gable. Everyone should have seen It Happened One Night, which is arguably one of the best films of all time. Here Gable was 33 years-old, and his co-star Claudette Colbert was 29, which is much more reasonable. Here, Gable's lack of chemistry is what makes the film all that more believable, because until the very last minutes we don't know what he'll do. But can we imagine Gable simply sweeping Claudette Colbert off her feet like, perhaps, Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart? I cannot.

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8.17.2008

Olympics and Whatnot

There is actually a reason for my lack of posting recently. My schedule typically runs like this: sleep for ten hours, watch 3-4 hours of Olympics (recorded, or live), go to work for about 8 hours, go out for two hours, and repeat. Needless to say, not many movies have gotten watched (though I did see the mediocre Pineapple Express), which sort of makes my Netflix a bad investment. But the Summer Olympics only come around once every 4 years, so whatever.

It's tough to watch sports that are not Swimming or Gymnastics, because those are the focus of much of the American media circle. With that said, I will begin there.

Gymnastics are immensely entertaining, and I'm so glad USA won the gold and silver in women's all-around events. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson performed amazing, and it proves that Alicia Sacramone was a weak link (with two crucial falls in her performances). Nastia deserved the gold for her fantastic routines (namely on uneven bars and beam, in my opinion). Shawn was great, but Nastia is a lot prettier, so she wins by default.

And how can we ignore the phenomenon that is Michael Phelps? He is a beast. Tonight he got his eighth gold medal this year, which means he went eight for eight. With his closest victory being by only .01 of a second, it was quite a thrill to watch him compete. Seeing his final race tonight is bound to be a piece of history long remembered, and I don't see anyone coming close to his accomplishments for a long, long time.

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8.14.2008

Project Runway: Welcome to the Jungle

Another week of Project Runway! Woo!

What the hell is Brooke Shields doing on this show? Well, all right, I know why she is, but she would be far from my first choice of celebrity judge.

I like the concept where Brooke picks the best sketches of the bunch as team leaders. It worked well with Sarah Jessica Parker last season, and looks to be even better this season (because it's not a $15 budget).

Suede needs to stop being a little bitch. Stop crying about how little fabric you have. You're feeling uncomfortable? Big deal, just make it work. Wow, I sound like Tim Gunn...

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8.10.2008

A Little Ledger Talk

Today 'A Knight's Tale' was on TBS. I hadn't seen the movie in a few months, but it's always a pleasure. Sure, it's not a great film. But it's structured well and is very entertaining. Yet, the real reason 'A Knight's Tale' works so well is because of how great an actor Heath Ledger was. Not only could he perform, but he had a kind of charisma that is matched by few actors around today.

The first role I saw him in was '10 Things I Hate About You.' I majored in English, so we all know I love me some Shakespeare. The movie itself was better than most teen comedies of the late-90s era, but even here one could tell that Heath Ledger was a standout. No one else's career in that film blossomed near as much as Ledgers.

He had a small, but important role in 'The Patriot' -- a film I used to enjoy before I knew much about film. 'The Patriot' is mediocre in every sense of the word, but as always, Ledger was great.

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8.07.2008

Project Runway: Rings of Glory

Another week, another episode of Project Runway. Oh, and we also have some topless Heidi Klum pictures roaming the internet, so that's awesome as well.

This is a freaking awesome. Designing outfits for the opening ceremony for the summer Olympics? If there's one 'sport' I like to watch, it's the Olympics. See what I did there? The Olympics include multiple sports, so I get to like plenty of sports.

Oh my God, Stella. We know you love leather. Shut up. We get it.

Blayne's tanning addiction is pretty funny. I like how he thinks he'll shrivel up and get weak and die if he gets pale. So, tanning jokes = funny. Ghetto slang = awful.

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8.03.2008

A Thing About The Dark Knight (and superhero movies in general)

The Dark Knight is an excellent film. Everything about it is so well-crafted that it really does set a new benchmark for 'superhero' films. I don't think anyone with film sense can deny that one.

However, I saw the film for a second time a couple days ago. What I've noticed (even before TDK) is that -- for me -- superhero movies have very little re-watch value (superheroes of all shapes and sizes, and directors). The film is very good, but on a second viewing it has some lulls that, while important to the film, just seem to drag and drag until we get to the next scene with Heath Ledger (who was easily the best part of the film -- and not just from nostalgia). For instance, Batman's visit to Asia to capture the crime lord because Batman has no jurisdiction. Cool, and effective, but not near as exciting as the rest of the film.

In my original review I gave the film a 9.5/10. This was for two reasons: The first is that I try to reserve 10s for films that are undeniably perfect (classics, mostly). We'll say that The Godfather is a 10. A recent example of a 10 would be No Country for Old Men. The Departed while close, is a 9.5. But the second reason was that something just felt 'off.' I've thought this over for a long time, and the best I can come up with is, 'There is too much trying to be done in too short of a time.'

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8.01.2008

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

This looks kind of cute and kind of funny. Like Superbad, except less vulgar and more intelligent (judging from the trailer).