#5 - every other possible thing

Went to a midnight screening of the (hopefully) final Indiana Jones film last night & came out very pleased. If you can manage to view it simply expecting another chapter in the life of Indiana Jones, you will not be disappointed. All the tension, drama and comedy are all there as if the last 20 year lag never happened.

The beginning of the story takes on a nice darker tone, alluding to the new moral ambiguities of the Atomic age where the good guys & bad guys are not so clear cut. You get the feeling that the world is sort of leaving Indy behind. Also, the usual imagery of crucifixes & religious idols is replaced by mushroom clouds & space ships. We also see a clearly older Indy. Unlike Rambo, Spielberg tries to realistically portray Indy as a fairly fit older adventurer. While he does swing and fight like you would expect Indy to do, the more Keatonesque action is left to the new kid Shia LaBeouf. Unfortunately most of these musings on aging and a changing world get lost in the action of the second half of the film.

About the only major qualm with the movie would be the ridiculous amounts of CG. I feel that Spielberg has always shown an excellent sense of balance between real special effects & computer generated ones. Take Jurassic Park for example. Unfortunately this Indy seems a bit more visually Lucas than Spielberg. Much of the action seems muddled, blurry or clearly green-screened. It all has that Star Wars luster to it. Which, while still enjoyable, adds an indoor “studio” atmosphere to the entire film. All in all, if you go in expecting Indy, Indy is what you’ll get. Keep an eye out for the subtle E.T. reference in the beginning.

In anticipation of this summers new Star Trek offering by Lost creator J.J. Abrams, I’ve been going back and trying to get into this cult series. ‘Why’ you say? Clearly because I have nothing better to do than not only be a geek, but a faux-geek trying to penetrate the seedy geek underworld. The first film was just like a Dodger Dog. Long and boring. The second, while better, doesn’t do much to raise my hopes. (more…)

I first knew of Charlton Heston when my brother got me into the whole Planet of the Apes series. Despite his ‘acting’ I found Charlton Heston’s technique to be quite interesting. It was like all the William Shatner jokes, except without the self-deprecating nature. Heston had a weird robotic conviction behind his words. Years later and viewings of Spartacus, the 10 commandments, The Naked Jungle, The Omega Man and many other great movies, I could really appreciate Heston’s distinctive persona.

Later as I hear about his personal views and ideas, I sit a bit more uncomfortable, but still appreciate. I’ve never seen why a person’s personal views (screwing your adopted daughter, beating your wife) has anything to do with your work. Be it acting or making a sandwich.

Heston was a great actor who took his craft extremely serious. Whatever happens here forward, his style of acting will probably never be seen again.

(EDIT: In retrospect, it was Kirk Douglas who played Spartacus, I think Heston played Michaelangelo, which was also a slave in his own way, except not)

Some very amazing people are working on a film as we speak (I think). I’m not going to complicate matters with things like ‘details’ and ‘ideas’, but only throw in what is important. The film is called “This side of truth“, and takes place on an alternate earth where no one can lie. Now for the roll call.

Ricky Gervais - Boss from ‘The Office (UK)’ (Writer/Director/Actor)

Starring
Jennifer Garner (Juno)
Jonah Hill (Loud fat co-star of Superbad)
Christopher Guest (Everything awesome)
Tina Fey (SNL)
Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman (Arrested Development)

It can’t fail, it better not.

When I first started as a substitute teacher, I was horrified. I was covering a stereotypical inner city high school with a bunch of jaded students. Amazingly, one year later, I can walk into any classroom and hold it down for the two hour period. The following is a brief list of the tricks and tips I’ve learned which allow me to keep the room from falling apart. (more…)

I hate it when a website I like goes down. Especially when it wasn’t as much for amusement as it was for information. While del.icio.us can help you keep track of all your links from any computer, it doesn’t help much for the site’s information. Fortunately, we now have Google Notebooks. (more…)

I’ve always liked Garfield. From the age of 10 I got it. Garfield is lazy and doesn’t care. Yet following this digg link, I’ve fallen into a whole world of variations and oddities from this classic strip. (more…)

Ok, so maybe I forgot to pay for the domain and webspace. It seems completely fair to block my site and remove my ability to add updates. But instead of replacing with a “site down” or even “webpage for sale” information page, they replaced it with something that really got me thinking. Screencap after the jump (more…)

Not to get too political with a double post, but a recent article by the Wall Street Journal brings up a great point. Essentially, it counters the idea that ‘Republicans will tear Obama apart’ by saying that their ability to lob personal attacks will be greatly reduced. Obama’s opponents will only be able to criticize ‘real issues’, because anything else can be construed as racially motivated. If you think about it, one can imagine a Republican dealing with being labeled as sexist, but they will very strongly avoid anything that labels them racist.

Of course tribal gambling issues and term limits are of major importance. The decisions on who the major parties will support should also be taken under consideration. But seriously, it’s the sticker that seals the deal. Nothing gives me the pleasure of living under a democratic union more than a small oval sticker letting the non-voting world know that I am their moral superior. Wear it proud America. More than a symbol of your interest in our nation, it’s a badge giving you the right to bitch when someone complains about community college prices. (more…)

I’m trying not to hype movies for people because this usually causes unnaturally high expectations which come back to me as “Hey man! Children of men wasn’t THAT amazing.” Yet, I must say that I really enjoyed Into the Wild more than any movie of 2007 (and maybe 2006). (more…)