(Long and SPOILER filled, for both the 6th movie and the 7th book so watch the heck out)
It's a tricky thing, adapting a book into a movie. Particularly one that's been read, analyzed, dissected, fought over, and devoured millions of times over. You keep it too tightly to the book and it would no doubt be long and dry. Go too far off base and you hear the unending outcry of an angry horde of rabid fans from across the globe. It's basically a no-win situation, if you discount the huge piles of money that you're being paid.
I think that overall, though, I'm in the camp that likes it when things are switched up. My favorite of the Harry Potter movies is Alfonso Cuarón's take on Prisoner of Azkaban, and I think it's mostly because the movie doesn't try to copy over the book word for word (like it seemed the first two tried to) and it didn't just try to get all the set pieces of the story in (like the 4th seemed to). There was a story that was told, and even though the denouement exposition scene was probably too much, it felt like a standalone decent film.
David Yates is obviously taking a long-term approach with parts 5 through 7A & 7B that doesn't really fit any classification. He's taking a sort of half-and-half approach to adaptation that you can only try when you know you're going to have the continuity of the films in place. Because just like 5, 6 really doesn't stand on it's own as a great film. Don't get me wrong, it's almost endlessly entertaining. For a movie that runs over two and half hours, keeping my attention that high and engrossed throughout is a great triumph. But he's obviously taking the long view on the series as a whole, and is okay with making the 6th installment fun, but ultimately incomplete. And if the currently leaked plans for the first movie of the seventh book are accurate, this will continue to the end.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing (cohesion rarely is), but it's not what I would have done. We'll get into that later, but let's for now have a small discussion on how much I enjoyed this one.
My primary joy in this movie was the strength of acting, which is the highest it's been in an HP movie thus far. Particularly Emma Watson and Tom Felton, who brought up the level of their games significantly from Part 5. I could spend a few hours gushing over Watson, but mostly because I was terrified that after that Order of the Phoenix disaster, that she would drag this movie straight down, as Hermione has such an arc to get through in Half Blood Prince. But she pulls it off with room to spare. Felton adds some umph to Draco's story, and the decision to reveal a lot more about the vanishing cabinet directly was a very smart decision.
Plus, Michael Gambon as Dumbledore finally puts it all together for this movie, and just in time as he could have easily been the make or break piece of the puzzle. (This was sidestepped by the directing decisions, but we'll get to that). I wasn't on board with his acting style for part 4 at all, but by 5 I could come around to it, and in 6 he has real pathos - he obviously cares for Harry, and is doing a delicate balancing act that is nicely highlighted in some of the more subtle bits of his acting.
I also greatly enjoyed the little liberties that were taken with the book - I loved getting rid of the tedium of the Dursleys and instead getting the off-beat diner scene instead. That's the exact kind of thing I'm looking for in a movie adaptation - reverence to the spirit of the book, but not slavish devotion to the recreation of the text. I was less pleased with the added attack on the Weasleys' house, but that's more the plot nerd coming out in me than an actual complaint. The scene itself is incredibly well-done, it just raises so many canon questions that my brain starts flailing internally.
And just like for the last movie, lets stop and take a paragraph to revel in the glory that is Luna Lovegood. It's such a perfect bit of casting, and she's played so delightfully, I want an entire movie just about her and Harry having little adventures together. I loved the way she was integrated into the movie even better than in the book - her finding Harry on the train was economical and well thought-out, and she gets some great lines floating in and out of her various scenes. I can't say enough good things.
My last bit of gushing comes for the Horcrux reveal scene - which seems crazy, as it's something that I kind of hated in the book. Textually, when Harry gets the Slughorn memory, all it does is confirm Dumbledore's expectation of what is going on (basically the sum reveal is that he's expecting 7 horcruxes). This is similar to the movie, but Gambon is able to ham it up a little, and give it some gravitas. And then the bit that I didn't expect - the really nice foreshadowing for Book 7 - Dumbledore's explanation of how the dark magic leaves its traces, only to have Harry himself get hit with a bolt Voldemort when he touches the ring. Because he's got the dark traces inside himself, right? Since he's a horcrux too. And while they're a little overdone, I love the ambiguity of Dumbledore's lines that follow, about how he can't destroy the horcrux himself, and again he's going to have to ask too much of Harry. Because he doesn't really say which horcrux he's talking about, does he? Whatever, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but let me have my delusions, I think it's amazingly well done.
-------------------------
But back to the idea of adaptation. I understand what the director is doing here - he's going for the larger picture. The fifth movie sets the adult portion of the Harry Potter arc in motion - introduces the main characters and themes, but doesn't resolve much of anything. The sixth movie carries that through, raising the stakes by staying so close to the character-study side of things, rather than getting bogged into the deepening past plot. The opposite sides weighing in - the normal teenage life beset on all sides by the darkness - it makes sense when you're building to the overall conflict that will be Harry, Ron, and Hermione cutting ties to complete their mission in the next movie, and then the eventual grand conclusion where everything comes back together in the final one.
So taking this into account, I can see why the cuts were made where they were, and why the additions were necessary. It's a four movie payoff, nothing too immediate. See: Mrs. Weasley's long tear-stained reaction shot to Bellatrix burning down The Burrow. Can't even imagine what that might be leading up to a few movies down the road, no?
Or the cutting of all the other Voldemort memories: While it's all great backstory, it ultimately has little to do with the matters at hand in the story they're telling. How they'll nail down the horcruxes in the next parts is irrelevant to the set up the Half-Blood Prince is setting up. And for that matter, keeping the fight for Hogwarts at the end of HBP would introduce and remove the threat too quickly and too hollowly for the theme to continue (unless they re-added Bill and Fleur, which would be just too much.)
The only part I don't necessarily understand is the removal of the funeral, and the astronomy tower discussion put in its place. The new scene fits the theme well, but then so would the funeral. And had they carried the funeral to the expected conclusion, having Harry do his little homage to Spider-Man and dumping Ginny at the end would complete the natural arc of story nicely, and provides the ramp into the next movie. Instead we get a sort of soft fade out on the reflections of how the kids have grown up.
These are all things I can rail against, but don't see the need. It's a great entry into the series, and as a whole I think they'll acquit themselves nicely, particularly when viewed in the series as a whole.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
So I finally broke down over the weekend and cleaned out my closet.
This does not sound like the start of a good story, but trust me, it gets better. (For ethical reasons, I feel obliged to inform you that it does not, in fact, get better.)
See, I'd been putting this off for roughly 8 months. Any time something broke (like a dining room chair, a computer monitor, or a plastic bobblehead dog) rather than repair it or throw it away, I would just store it in the closet for later. Then when I got my new king-size bed, I decided to retain the old full sized mattress and box spring for tactical purposes (also I am lazy and didn't want to have to carry it farther than 5 feet anywhere) so it went in there as well. AND THEN when I got my new TV, I didn't want to carry the giant box that it came in out to the dumpster (which would almost literally be like carrying a sign that says "Please Rob Me" around my not-so-nice neighborhood), so into the closet it went.
Considering the pre-existing boxes of clothes, bedding, Christmas trees, unopened blenders, books that are either ugly or don't fit into my shelves, garbage bags full of stuffed animal beavers that I have stashed away in the hopes that people forget about that period of my life, etc. that already littered the place, we sort of hit a critical mass in there about 4 months ago. And yet I did nothing.
"But Jason," you say. "A closet is for keeping clothes. How do you live life with no access to your wardrobe?"
To that, I say "Bah!"
I can adapt to anything. While yes, technically there was roughly 10 feet of hanging space in the closet that I could not access, I could still reach the 18 inches directly in front of the closet door. Which is just enough space to cram every dress shirt and pair of slacks I own, as long as I pushed really hard. And while I could no longer reach the shelves where my folded clothes should go, I was able to clear off two tiny spaces on the wire rack that stood directly beside the closet door, on which I was able to precariously stack every other piece of laundry I owned. So not only did I work it out, I never technically had to enter the closet after that point, to defend against the off chance that it might consume me entirely.
This setup lasted until this weekend when I had to retrieve a blanket for a house guest and nearly lost my life when I got stuck between the box spring, my space heater, and a lamp, and almost had to call the fire department to come in to rescue me with the jaws of life.
Thus, on Sunday I steeled myself and started yanking things out. You know at the circus, when the clowns come out of the tiny car? Imagine instead that the tiny car is actually a giant SUV, and yet still a proportionate number of clowns come out of it. Like, instead of 10 clowns out of a VW, imagine a million clowns coming out of a Hummer. (Lets all stop and wonder in horror at the idea of a million clowns. Move on when you stop shuddering.)
This imagination adventure was necessary because my closet is only moderately sized, and yet I managed to pull enough stuff out of there to fill my entire bedroom, my bathroom, and part of the hallway. It defied the laws of space, time, and physics. I found things in there I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen since I left the metaphorical closet back in 2001 - up to and including my high school graduation cap, a broken saxophone, a computer from 1994, and what I can only assume was once a mattress pad, before the ravages of time turned it into a synthetic pile of foamy dust.
Once suitably cleared out, I set about empirically deciding which items could effectively be thrown out without one day possibly missing them. Which by my insane qualifications meant tossing 2 things: the (assumed) mattress pad lump and the box that the giant TV came in. Because you never do know when you're going to need a desktop computer from 1994, or a stack of outdated video cards from 1999-2003.
I realize that I may have some packratting issues.
But in any case, I attempt then to carry said giant TV box from my bedroom to the dumpster across the apartment complex. You would think this would not be a difficult thing, but only if you haven't met me. The box is open on either end, but is both too wide to carry lengthwise and too long to stand on its end and still be carryable. Since I am by myself, I compromise and just half-carry it by holding one of the short ends and prop the rest against my body at an angle upwards. Sort of like I'm about to do a pole vault, only instead of a pole I've got a long and wide empty cardboard box. Since I'm fighting both gravity and my own weakness, I have to book it pretty quickly across the parking lot, lest the whole thing crash down to earth and I end up in a sobbing heap on the (really, really hot) asphalt.
I still maintain that this plan was solid, and totally would have worked, had it not been windy that afternoon. But alas. Halfway across the parking lot, a huge gust of wind picks up and hits the box broadside. I am bodily picked up by the force of it and spun 90 degrees, so that instead of half running towards a dumpster, I am now half running directly at several parked cars.
I attempt to course correct for this by shifting my left arm and part of my body to the backside of the box and pushing with all my might. I am half successful in this attempt, insofar as I regain my original heading without killing myself or falling over my own feet. This success lasts approximately 2 seconds before the second gust of wind hits. This time I am already braced against the backside of the box, so you'd think that would be enough to compensate.
But I did not factor in the part where I am weaker than the plot of Transformers 2. The wind overpowers my counteractive push to the point where I am literally forced backwards 5 feet and am bodily slammed into the back of a parked car. Who's alarm of course immediately starts going off, seemingly loud enough to cause permanent ear damage and alerting every single person within a 1 mile radius to come out and witness my humiliation.
This is how I meet my new neighbors now, apparently. Wedged up against their car, beaten into submission by a cardboard box that weighs approximately 10 pounds. And of course by the time they come around, there is no wind at all to speak of, so the neighbor's wife is able to easily pick up the box without aid.
-----------------------
So what lesson did we learn?
Never throw anything out.
OR
Just stop going out in public at all.
Both are good.
This does not sound like the start of a good story, but trust me, it gets better. (For ethical reasons, I feel obliged to inform you that it does not, in fact, get better.)
See, I'd been putting this off for roughly 8 months. Any time something broke (like a dining room chair, a computer monitor, or a plastic bobblehead dog) rather than repair it or throw it away, I would just store it in the closet for later. Then when I got my new king-size bed, I decided to retain the old full sized mattress and box spring for tactical purposes (also I am lazy and didn't want to have to carry it farther than 5 feet anywhere) so it went in there as well. AND THEN when I got my new TV, I didn't want to carry the giant box that it came in out to the dumpster (which would almost literally be like carrying a sign that says "Please Rob Me" around my not-so-nice neighborhood), so into the closet it went.
Considering the pre-existing boxes of clothes, bedding, Christmas trees, unopened blenders, books that are either ugly or don't fit into my shelves, garbage bags full of stuffed animal beavers that I have stashed away in the hopes that people forget about that period of my life, etc. that already littered the place, we sort of hit a critical mass in there about 4 months ago. And yet I did nothing.
"But Jason," you say. "A closet is for keeping clothes. How do you live life with no access to your wardrobe?"
To that, I say "Bah!"
I can adapt to anything. While yes, technically there was roughly 10 feet of hanging space in the closet that I could not access, I could still reach the 18 inches directly in front of the closet door. Which is just enough space to cram every dress shirt and pair of slacks I own, as long as I pushed really hard. And while I could no longer reach the shelves where my folded clothes should go, I was able to clear off two tiny spaces on the wire rack that stood directly beside the closet door, on which I was able to precariously stack every other piece of laundry I owned. So not only did I work it out, I never technically had to enter the closet after that point, to defend against the off chance that it might consume me entirely.
This setup lasted until this weekend when I had to retrieve a blanket for a house guest and nearly lost my life when I got stuck between the box spring, my space heater, and a lamp, and almost had to call the fire department to come in to rescue me with the jaws of life.
Thus, on Sunday I steeled myself and started yanking things out. You know at the circus, when the clowns come out of the tiny car? Imagine instead that the tiny car is actually a giant SUV, and yet still a proportionate number of clowns come out of it. Like, instead of 10 clowns out of a VW, imagine a million clowns coming out of a Hummer. (Lets all stop and wonder in horror at the idea of a million clowns. Move on when you stop shuddering.)
This imagination adventure was necessary because my closet is only moderately sized, and yet I managed to pull enough stuff out of there to fill my entire bedroom, my bathroom, and part of the hallway. It defied the laws of space, time, and physics. I found things in there I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen since I left the metaphorical closet back in 2001 - up to and including my high school graduation cap, a broken saxophone, a computer from 1994, and what I can only assume was once a mattress pad, before the ravages of time turned it into a synthetic pile of foamy dust.
Once suitably cleared out, I set about empirically deciding which items could effectively be thrown out without one day possibly missing them. Which by my insane qualifications meant tossing 2 things: the (assumed) mattress pad lump and the box that the giant TV came in. Because you never do know when you're going to need a desktop computer from 1994, or a stack of outdated video cards from 1999-2003.
I realize that I may have some packratting issues.
But in any case, I attempt then to carry said giant TV box from my bedroom to the dumpster across the apartment complex. You would think this would not be a difficult thing, but only if you haven't met me. The box is open on either end, but is both too wide to carry lengthwise and too long to stand on its end and still be carryable. Since I am by myself, I compromise and just half-carry it by holding one of the short ends and prop the rest against my body at an angle upwards. Sort of like I'm about to do a pole vault, only instead of a pole I've got a long and wide empty cardboard box. Since I'm fighting both gravity and my own weakness, I have to book it pretty quickly across the parking lot, lest the whole thing crash down to earth and I end up in a sobbing heap on the (really, really hot) asphalt.
I still maintain that this plan was solid, and totally would have worked, had it not been windy that afternoon. But alas. Halfway across the parking lot, a huge gust of wind picks up and hits the box broadside. I am bodily picked up by the force of it and spun 90 degrees, so that instead of half running towards a dumpster, I am now half running directly at several parked cars.
I attempt to course correct for this by shifting my left arm and part of my body to the backside of the box and pushing with all my might. I am half successful in this attempt, insofar as I regain my original heading without killing myself or falling over my own feet. This success lasts approximately 2 seconds before the second gust of wind hits. This time I am already braced against the backside of the box, so you'd think that would be enough to compensate.
But I did not factor in the part where I am weaker than the plot of Transformers 2. The wind overpowers my counteractive push to the point where I am literally forced backwards 5 feet and am bodily slammed into the back of a parked car. Who's alarm of course immediately starts going off, seemingly loud enough to cause permanent ear damage and alerting every single person within a 1 mile radius to come out and witness my humiliation.
This is how I meet my new neighbors now, apparently. Wedged up against their car, beaten into submission by a cardboard box that weighs approximately 10 pounds. And of course by the time they come around, there is no wind at all to speak of, so the neighbor's wife is able to easily pick up the box without aid.
-----------------------
So what lesson did we learn?
Never throw anything out.
OR
Just stop going out in public at all.
Both are good.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Music Review Monday - Spektor, Jonas, et al
Been in a music buying frenzy lately, and thought I'd do a public service announcement on what to buy and what to ignore. Because I definitely know what I'm talking about when it comes to music. (Please note: I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I do like to type a lot.)
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Far, Regina Spektor - I cannot give an unbiased review of this album. It includes the songs "One More Time With Feeling" (my old favorite Regina song) and "Dance Anthem of the 80's" (the song that I heard live back in '06 which started my terrifying fan obsession), so I have no objectivity.
That said, even attempting to pretend impartiality, I think it's a very, very good album. It opens brilliantly with the catchy songs "The Calculation" and "Eet" (which I think are the two standout songs on the record). It get you hooked before you know it and the album slides on with a nice pace, alternating the slower, deeper songs with the more upbeat ones, making a nice layering effect to the thematic idea of the album. The only thing I find out of place is "The Wallet," which is a great song and one of my favorite things she sings live, but it feels jarringly trifling at the end of such a strong album.
As with Begin to Hope, I think the same unfair criticism will be leveled at Far - it's more commercially viable (read: mainstream), more produced, resulting in less original flavor Regina. I agree with the viability and the production, but if anything, this album has more personality Begin to Hope and a couple of the songs rival what we saw on Soviet Kitch. Undoubtedly there are more mainstream things here: "Laughing With" is generic enough for radio play, I sincerely believe "Eet" will end up as the "Better" of this album, and "The Calculation" and "Dance Anthem" both scream commercial to me.
But right at the same time you've got "Folding Chair," which is the quintessential Regina quirk song (there are dolphin noises involved), and "Blue Lips", which is insanely lyrically dense. Basically, I can never figure out what people are on about, but I assume it's cool hate on the popular and say you knew them when, and it was so much better, and lalala. Whatever, it's good stuff.
(Note: As much as I prefer buying music from Amazon over iTunes, get it off iTunes if possible, since the bonus tracks are amazing. While it's short, "Riot Gear" is my favorite song on the whole album.)
------------------
Lines, Vines, and Trying Times, The Jonas Brothers - I don't even know what to say to this album. It's so varied - the theme is obviously the Trying Times part of the title - but musically it's all over the map; you've got country, rock, pop, even a little rap. Despite many of the songs not being my cup of musical tea ("What Did I Do To Your Heart" sounds like a 90's Shania Twain reject, and "Don't Charge Me For The Crime" is gangsta-rap-ultra-lite) I think it's a good album, but it's nothing that you need to go out of your way to hear.
I was shocked how much I liked their last album - it was slickly produced and unbelievably catchy without being too Disney Teen Bop, or only a little bit so (plus some of the songs were just plain good). This album continues that theme in some ways for the better - this is a more mature sounding and better produced album in almost every regard, and it actually has some real-world playable music on it (as long as you never reveal that to anyone that it is the Jonas Brothers who are singing).
Some of it is a little juvenile, though: after listening to "Fly With Me", I sincerely wonder if they've forgotten that Peter Pan sort of doesn't have a happy ending (which seemingly negates the message of the song). And while I enjoy a good Taylor Swift smackdown as much as the next person, I really could have done without the eternally lame "Much Better" ("I'm done with superstars/and all the tears on her guitar, I'm not bitter") Uh, yeah, good luck with that.
On the whole, it's around 6.5 out of 10. Maybe more, depending on how long this "Paranoid" single remains lodged in my brain (seriously, it's really good).
--------------------
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, The Bird and The Bee - Such a nice album. I've become sort of an electro-pop glutton lately (Bitter:Sweet, Animal Collective, Lykke Li, Imogen Heap...) so I like to think that I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between something that's just catchy and something that's genuinely good, as electronica goes. This is a really great mixture of the two - standout catchy tunes like "My Love" and "Polite Dance Party," and then some songs that some measure of real interest hiding in them like "Meteor" and "Love Letter to Japan."
Not world-breaking, but a delight nonetheless.
------------------
Beautiful Lie, Ed Harcourt - Get your music snob on. UK release from 2006 that got a US distribution in 2008 to little recognition. This album and Matt Alber's Hide Nothing are my go-to joys for obscure but amazing male singer/songwriters this year. To steal a line, this album is hauntingly beautiful. Goes a little too far on a couple of tracks, particularly "You Only Call Me When You're Drunk" which starts brilliant but then keeps spiraling upwards to a messy and terrible crash, but mostly it's a stunning achievement and kind of makes my heart hurt at times.
------------------
Transmitter Failure, Jenny Owen Youngs -Another one of those biased reviews. Her last album, Batten the Hatches, is my favorite thing that came out of 2007 and I have an irrational love for the way she writes her songs. There's a cynical but reasoned edge to almost every song on that album that really speaks to me.
The new album is a little more driving and a little happier, but the edge is still definitely in place. Her uptempo stuff is just brilliant, with "Last Person" and "Clean Break" as my standout favorites. I'm less in love with a couple of the fragile songs ("Here is a Heart" is a little too cloying and "Nighty Night," while catchy, is off-putting to me), but that's just because I compare them to things like "Woodcut" or "Voice on Tape" from the last album and see missed potential. Make no mistake, it's a wonderful album, maybe my favorite of the whole year so far.
------------
Far, Regina Spektor - I cannot give an unbiased review of this album. It includes the songs "One More Time With Feeling" (my old favorite Regina song) and "Dance Anthem of the 80's" (the song that I heard live back in '06 which started my terrifying fan obsession), so I have no objectivity.
That said, even attempting to pretend impartiality, I think it's a very, very good album. It opens brilliantly with the catchy songs "The Calculation" and "Eet" (which I think are the two standout songs on the record). It get you hooked before you know it and the album slides on with a nice pace, alternating the slower, deeper songs with the more upbeat ones, making a nice layering effect to the thematic idea of the album. The only thing I find out of place is "The Wallet," which is a great song and one of my favorite things she sings live, but it feels jarringly trifling at the end of such a strong album.
As with Begin to Hope, I think the same unfair criticism will be leveled at Far - it's more commercially viable (read: mainstream), more produced, resulting in less original flavor Regina. I agree with the viability and the production, but if anything, this album has more personality Begin to Hope and a couple of the songs rival what we saw on Soviet Kitch. Undoubtedly there are more mainstream things here: "Laughing With" is generic enough for radio play, I sincerely believe "Eet" will end up as the "Better" of this album, and "The Calculation" and "Dance Anthem" both scream commercial to me.
But right at the same time you've got "Folding Chair," which is the quintessential Regina quirk song (there are dolphin noises involved), and "Blue Lips", which is insanely lyrically dense. Basically, I can never figure out what people are on about, but I assume it's cool hate on the popular and say you knew them when, and it was so much better, and lalala. Whatever, it's good stuff.
(Note: As much as I prefer buying music from Amazon over iTunes, get it off iTunes if possible, since the bonus tracks are amazing. While it's short, "Riot Gear" is my favorite song on the whole album.)
------------------
Lines, Vines, and Trying Times, The Jonas Brothers - I don't even know what to say to this album. It's so varied - the theme is obviously the Trying Times part of the title - but musically it's all over the map; you've got country, rock, pop, even a little rap. Despite many of the songs not being my cup of musical tea ("What Did I Do To Your Heart" sounds like a 90's Shania Twain reject, and "Don't Charge Me For The Crime" is gangsta-rap-ultra-lite) I think it's a good album, but it's nothing that you need to go out of your way to hear.
I was shocked how much I liked their last album - it was slickly produced and unbelievably catchy without being too Disney Teen Bop, or only a little bit so (plus some of the songs were just plain good). This album continues that theme in some ways for the better - this is a more mature sounding and better produced album in almost every regard, and it actually has some real-world playable music on it (as long as you never reveal that to anyone that it is the Jonas Brothers who are singing).
Some of it is a little juvenile, though: after listening to "Fly With Me", I sincerely wonder if they've forgotten that Peter Pan sort of doesn't have a happy ending (which seemingly negates the message of the song). And while I enjoy a good Taylor Swift smackdown as much as the next person, I really could have done without the eternally lame "Much Better" ("I'm done with superstars/and all the tears on her guitar, I'm not bitter") Uh, yeah, good luck with that.
On the whole, it's around 6.5 out of 10. Maybe more, depending on how long this "Paranoid" single remains lodged in my brain (seriously, it's really good).
--------------------
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, The Bird and The Bee - Such a nice album. I've become sort of an electro-pop glutton lately (Bitter:Sweet, Animal Collective, Lykke Li, Imogen Heap...) so I like to think that I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between something that's just catchy and something that's genuinely good, as electronica goes. This is a really great mixture of the two - standout catchy tunes like "My Love" and "Polite Dance Party," and then some songs that some measure of real interest hiding in them like "Meteor" and "Love Letter to Japan."
Not world-breaking, but a delight nonetheless.
------------------
Beautiful Lie, Ed Harcourt - Get your music snob on. UK release from 2006 that got a US distribution in 2008 to little recognition. This album and Matt Alber's Hide Nothing are my go-to joys for obscure but amazing male singer/songwriters this year. To steal a line, this album is hauntingly beautiful. Goes a little too far on a couple of tracks, particularly "You Only Call Me When You're Drunk" which starts brilliant but then keeps spiraling upwards to a messy and terrible crash, but mostly it's a stunning achievement and kind of makes my heart hurt at times.
------------------
Transmitter Failure, Jenny Owen Youngs -Another one of those biased reviews. Her last album, Batten the Hatches, is my favorite thing that came out of 2007 and I have an irrational love for the way she writes her songs. There's a cynical but reasoned edge to almost every song on that album that really speaks to me.
The new album is a little more driving and a little happier, but the edge is still definitely in place. Her uptempo stuff is just brilliant, with "Last Person" and "Clean Break" as my standout favorites. I'm less in love with a couple of the fragile songs ("Here is a Heart" is a little too cloying and "Nighty Night," while catchy, is off-putting to me), but that's just because I compare them to things like "Woodcut" or "Voice on Tape" from the last album and see missed potential. Make no mistake, it's a wonderful album, maybe my favorite of the whole year so far.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Transformers - Robots in Disg-THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD
My review of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was so bad that my hate-review spilled over the character limit on the sidebar.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - I told myself as I was walking out of the theater that I wouldn't write up this review for at least a couple of days. "The pain will be too fresh in your mind, and you will say things that you regret."
But you know what? Screw it - This was the worst movie I have ever paid money to go see. And I went to both the remake of Prom Night last year, and I saw The Fog on its opening weekend. Terrible in every way imaginable, and then terrible again in ways that you couldn't even guess. Boring, long, insulting, misogynistic, borderline racist, loud, overly long, annoying, poorly acted, unforgivably dumb, confusing, way too long, illogical, ugly, vaguely nauseating, and (oh did I mention) TOO DAMN LONG. One of my friends complained that when he went to see it, someone pulled the fire alarm at the 2 hour mark and they had to evacuate the theater and he missed the end. Rather than complain, I would have gladly given whoever pulled the fire alarm a hug and maybe a kiss on the mouth. Another friend said she would have had more fun sleeping than watching the movie - I said I would have had more fun hitting myself on the hand with a large, sharp rock for TWO AND ONE HALF HOURS.
The plot is nonsensical to the point that you wonder why they even decided they needed a script at all - just give in to inertia and just go from set-action-piece to set-action-piece without any explanation if your rationalizations are going to be that lame. (Which they did at one point, I might mention. They literally had the cast gather in a circle in the middle of a field outside of the Smithsonian and then magically teleported themselves to a desert in Egypt.)
And then even the action sequences are so poorly shot (or rendered in most cases) that you don't even know what's going on. There are two formulas available:
#1:
#2:
I will credit the movie for making me laugh on three separate occasions (Rainn Wilson, I absolve you for being in this movie) but that doesn't make up for the damage done to my soul. We were trapped in that theater for 150 minutes of my life. Just a terrible, terrible, horrible, unconscionably bad movie.
And I haven't even talked about that part at the end where (SPOILER FOR THE ENDING OF WORST MOVIE IN THE WORLD) the boy dies and goes to Transformers Limbo where he is praised by the spirits of dead robots and is turned into Keanu Reeves from The Matrix except even more lame (because of his robot loyalty he's now The One? After he only started trying to save a robot because he felt guilty for abandoning him earlier and causing said robot's death?). But then he comes back to life because of the power of either Megan Fox's love, or a magically reassembling tiara. Had I been holding anything in my hands at the time, I might very well have chunked it at the screen. I mean, I can enjoy mindless comedy or I can enjoy mindless action, but this was neither. It was just loud, nonsensical, boring and hate Hate HATE HATEHATEHATEHA--- Okay, I'm out.
Jesus.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - I told myself as I was walking out of the theater that I wouldn't write up this review for at least a couple of days. "The pain will be too fresh in your mind, and you will say things that you regret."
But you know what? Screw it - This was the worst movie I have ever paid money to go see. And I went to both the remake of Prom Night last year, and I saw The Fog on its opening weekend. Terrible in every way imaginable, and then terrible again in ways that you couldn't even guess. Boring, long, insulting, misogynistic, borderline racist, loud, overly long, annoying, poorly acted, unforgivably dumb, confusing, way too long, illogical, ugly, vaguely nauseating, and (oh did I mention) TOO DAMN LONG. One of my friends complained that when he went to see it, someone pulled the fire alarm at the 2 hour mark and they had to evacuate the theater and he missed the end. Rather than complain, I would have gladly given whoever pulled the fire alarm a hug and maybe a kiss on the mouth. Another friend said she would have had more fun sleeping than watching the movie - I said I would have had more fun hitting myself on the hand with a large, sharp rock for TWO AND ONE HALF HOURS.
The plot is nonsensical to the point that you wonder why they even decided they needed a script at all - just give in to inertia and just go from set-action-piece to set-action-piece without any explanation if your rationalizations are going to be that lame. (Which they did at one point, I might mention. They literally had the cast gather in a circle in the middle of a field outside of the Smithsonian and then magically teleported themselves to a desert in Egypt.)
And then even the action sequences are so poorly shot (or rendered in most cases) that you don't even know what's going on. There are two formulas available:
#1:
- Two large collections of bits of metal go flying at each other from opposite sides of the screen
- There is a terribly loud screeching noise and some little bits fly off
- The camera then spins around the metal mass about 5 times
- Sometimes then one of the robots will "die," sometimes they won't. Sometimes there is a terrible robot-related quip by the victorious robot.
#2:
- An airplane fires a missile at a robot
OR - An airplane drops a bomb on a robot
(Note: Neither of these things will have any effect on the robot, but explosions = cool, apparently)
I will credit the movie for making me laugh on three separate occasions (Rainn Wilson, I absolve you for being in this movie) but that doesn't make up for the damage done to my soul. We were trapped in that theater for 150 minutes of my life. Just a terrible, terrible, horrible, unconscionably bad movie.
And I haven't even talked about that part at the end where (SPOILER FOR THE ENDING OF WORST MOVIE IN THE WORLD) the boy dies and goes to Transformers Limbo where he is praised by the spirits of dead robots and is turned into Keanu Reeves from The Matrix except even more lame (because of his robot loyalty he's now The One? After he only started trying to save a robot because he felt guilty for abandoning him earlier and causing said robot's death?). But then he comes back to life because of the power of either Megan Fox's love, or a magically reassembling tiara. Had I been holding anything in my hands at the time, I might very well have chunked it at the screen. I mean, I can enjoy mindless comedy or I can enjoy mindless action, but this was neither. It was just loud, nonsensical, boring and hate Hate HATE HATEHATEHATEHA--- Okay, I'm out.
Jesus.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Spring Forward into Television (Week the Last)
So that whole blog hiatus really put a damper on my TV week recaps, huh? Though it definitely didn't slow my TV watching (see the previous post about the new TV and the corresponding rise to infinity of my viewing habits). So rather than try to catch back up, I'm going to zero everything out to coincide with the the summer season finales. And then none of us will have to worry about my TV rants until the Fall. Everyone wins (especially you, the reader)!
Monday
The Big Bang Theory - I'm still shocked that this show has grown on me so much. Particularly because when the first episode aired, I distinctly remember calling it one of the worst atrocities I'd ever seen committed on the airwaves. But they've really done something with nothing. Mostly by realizing the strengths of the show - the character of Sheldon and the comedic timing of the actress who plays Penny - and milking the hell out of it. They still have some glaring issues, mostly revolving around the Leonard character who they can't seem to properly pin down, and the protracted romance issues which just are not that compelling. But by really compartmentalizing each episode (the continuity is there, it's just very subtle) they avoid the worst traps, and just focus on the humor, which I'm a big fan of. Color me shocked, but I'm really looking forward to this show coming back.
How I Met Your Mother - A lackluster season finale, but a strong continuation of the series this season, despite some huge off-screen challenges. When both of your lead actresses get pregnant in the same season (and neither is ready for pregnancy in the series), I'm willing to grant some allowances for how you deal with it. HIMYM did extraordinarily well in that regard - hiding Lily and making up jokes for her large belly and then eventually writing her out of a few episodes. To be fair, the ones that she was gone for were some of the weakest in a long time (as much trouble as I have with her character as a person, she really rounds out the cast perfectly), but overall they did good things with a bad situation. The show has definitely fallen from my favorite thing on TV, but it's still great viewing. And NPH is still a national treasure.
Tuesday
The Biggest Loser - Y'all, I always feel like I should qualify every reality TV review that I do with some kind of blanket apology for liking it, but I don't even have a defense anymore. How good (but way too bloated) was this season? I mean, mostly I watch it for the awesomeness that is Jillian the Brutal Trainer (who is a cross between a lunatic and the best person in the world), but for possibly the first time ever, this show had a real level of drama to it. Usually it's about product placement and contrived inspiration (in that order), but this year there was an extra helping of strategery (by the father/son duo) that actually mattered and wasn't trumped up by the producers later. And the end results were seriously crazy - how hot (and overly tanned) were the son and former model by the season finale? And then at the end, my favorite (the crazy old lady) won the whole thing! I don't know, it was all very satisfying, which is something I don't usually associate with The Biggest Loser. What is happening to me?
American Idol - I don't want to talk about this show. But I watched it a lot this year. It was better than usual, but only because my favorites actually lasted until the end for once. And that's all I have to say about that.
Wednesday
Better Off Ted - I don't think I did a single post while this show was airing, but it might have actually jumped up to #1 or #2 on my list of favorite things on TV right now. And that was with the knowledge hanging over my head that it was surely going to get canceled, which makes it a doubly huge feat, since I try my very best not to get attached to doomed things. But then they went and renewed it for a second season, despite the fact that there were only three of us actually watching (I assume).
In any case, this show is so good. I will watch Portia de Rossi in anything, and she absolutely kills with her character - so weird and quirky, but wholly realized and not overacted. Plus the lab duo of Lem and Phil provide some of the most simple and perfect comedy I've seen in ages. I need to stop talking at this point, before I get into individual episodes and this becomes a real essay (but seriously - the one where the company assigns each of the cubical workers one of 4 different personalities and they become rival cliques is so funny that I sort of greyed out from laughing so much. Oh, and the one with the motion detectors... No, no, I will stop).
Lost - How, how, how is this show still on the air and popular? I mean, don't get me wrong - I basically love it like a member of my family, but this is not mainstream television. This is hard-core sci-fi/metaphor shit going down, with so much backstory and episode retention required that I don't understand how people consistently keep watching. Anyways, great, great stuff, even though they (no joke) killed off all three of my remaining favorite characters this season. It got to the point where I was afraid to reclassify my new favorite in my mind, because the next week they would totally end up dead. But I appreciate the progress the show had made, and the strides they are taking to come to a real resolution.
I say all these nice things upfront because I'm about to rage against the show though: It's all about Kate? Really? REALLY? Jack's entire motivation in the season finale? Despite the fact that Juliette is approximately 20 times the better and more interesting character? Despite the fact that there is zero chemistry there? Despite the fact that it makes zero logical sense (if you change everything, Kate is back handcuffed next to an air marshall on plane and you don't know her!). God, I hated that with the power of a million flaming suns.
South Park - one of the weakest half seasons in a while - I laughed at the Jonas Bros episode, and the finale with the pirates was really well done, but everything else added up to absolutely nothing. No wait, I sort of liked the fish sticks episode, a tiny bit. Overall, though, sort of a downer season.
Thursday
I stopped watching Ugly Betty (too repetitive and insulting), Survivor (boring), and Grey's Anatomy (manipulative tripe).
Parks and Recreation - I hated, hated, hated the first couple of episodes (a ripoff of The Office so complete and terrible I felt physically affronted) but I kept watching because there was something interesting hiding there in the characters. They weren't all just stock profiles - Rashida Jones and Chris Pratt (or Bright from Everwood as he will always be in my heart) as the standouts, but a huge nod also to Paul Schneider as the weird womanizer/sort of good guy/sort of terrible person. And the season finale finally delivered on the promise - a funny, no - super funny, and touching episode. After that I'm actively interested in this show, and practically begging that they keep that feeling going.
The Office - Best stretch of episodes in a long, long while. The MSPC thing was amazing - a pretend game-changer that shook up everything, while in the end keeping everything the same. The new receptionist is a surprisingly well done addition, and the non-office relationship stuff was perfectly downplayed while still being interesting.
30 Rock - Still probably my favorite thing on TV. Almost every single line is quotable, to a ridiculous degree. Jane Krakowski needs an Emmy, like, right now.
Southland - Am I crazy, or is this a really good show? I can't tell. That slow-burn reveal on the 'is he gay or straight' cop seemed to me like some of the best ambiguous writing I've seen in a long while.
Friday - None
Saturday - None
Sunday
The Amazing Race - Despite the heavy favoritism at the end (wasn't that three straight legs in China, one of which was a double leg? And wasn't the eventual winner the brother/sister team who could speak Mandarin?) it was a very solid season, Excellent tasks, good teams, and for once there was some actual restraint in over-hyping the tension at the end of a leg.
Monday
The Big Bang Theory - I'm still shocked that this show has grown on me so much. Particularly because when the first episode aired, I distinctly remember calling it one of the worst atrocities I'd ever seen committed on the airwaves. But they've really done something with nothing. Mostly by realizing the strengths of the show - the character of Sheldon and the comedic timing of the actress who plays Penny - and milking the hell out of it. They still have some glaring issues, mostly revolving around the Leonard character who they can't seem to properly pin down, and the protracted romance issues which just are not that compelling. But by really compartmentalizing each episode (the continuity is there, it's just very subtle) they avoid the worst traps, and just focus on the humor, which I'm a big fan of. Color me shocked, but I'm really looking forward to this show coming back.
How I Met Your Mother - A lackluster season finale, but a strong continuation of the series this season, despite some huge off-screen challenges. When both of your lead actresses get pregnant in the same season (and neither is ready for pregnancy in the series), I'm willing to grant some allowances for how you deal with it. HIMYM did extraordinarily well in that regard - hiding Lily and making up jokes for her large belly and then eventually writing her out of a few episodes. To be fair, the ones that she was gone for were some of the weakest in a long time (as much trouble as I have with her character as a person, she really rounds out the cast perfectly), but overall they did good things with a bad situation. The show has definitely fallen from my favorite thing on TV, but it's still great viewing. And NPH is still a national treasure.
Tuesday
The Biggest Loser - Y'all, I always feel like I should qualify every reality TV review that I do with some kind of blanket apology for liking it, but I don't even have a defense anymore. How good (but way too bloated) was this season? I mean, mostly I watch it for the awesomeness that is Jillian the Brutal Trainer (who is a cross between a lunatic and the best person in the world), but for possibly the first time ever, this show had a real level of drama to it. Usually it's about product placement and contrived inspiration (in that order), but this year there was an extra helping of strategery (by the father/son duo) that actually mattered and wasn't trumped up by the producers later. And the end results were seriously crazy - how hot (and overly tanned) were the son and former model by the season finale? And then at the end, my favorite (the crazy old lady) won the whole thing! I don't know, it was all very satisfying, which is something I don't usually associate with The Biggest Loser. What is happening to me?
American Idol - I don't want to talk about this show. But I watched it a lot this year. It was better than usual, but only because my favorites actually lasted until the end for once. And that's all I have to say about that.
Wednesday
Better Off Ted - I don't think I did a single post while this show was airing, but it might have actually jumped up to #1 or #2 on my list of favorite things on TV right now. And that was with the knowledge hanging over my head that it was surely going to get canceled, which makes it a doubly huge feat, since I try my very best not to get attached to doomed things. But then they went and renewed it for a second season, despite the fact that there were only three of us actually watching (I assume).
In any case, this show is so good. I will watch Portia de Rossi in anything, and she absolutely kills with her character - so weird and quirky, but wholly realized and not overacted. Plus the lab duo of Lem and Phil provide some of the most simple and perfect comedy I've seen in ages. I need to stop talking at this point, before I get into individual episodes and this becomes a real essay (but seriously - the one where the company assigns each of the cubical workers one of 4 different personalities and they become rival cliques is so funny that I sort of greyed out from laughing so much. Oh, and the one with the motion detectors... No, no, I will stop).
Lost - How, how, how is this show still on the air and popular? I mean, don't get me wrong - I basically love it like a member of my family, but this is not mainstream television. This is hard-core sci-fi/metaphor shit going down, with so much backstory and episode retention required that I don't understand how people consistently keep watching. Anyways, great, great stuff, even though they (no joke) killed off all three of my remaining favorite characters this season. It got to the point where I was afraid to reclassify my new favorite in my mind, because the next week they would totally end up dead. But I appreciate the progress the show had made, and the strides they are taking to come to a real resolution.
I say all these nice things upfront because I'm about to rage against the show though: It's all about Kate? Really? REALLY? Jack's entire motivation in the season finale? Despite the fact that Juliette is approximately 20 times the better and more interesting character? Despite the fact that there is zero chemistry there? Despite the fact that it makes zero logical sense (if you change everything, Kate is back handcuffed next to an air marshall on plane and you don't know her!). God, I hated that with the power of a million flaming suns.
South Park - one of the weakest half seasons in a while - I laughed at the Jonas Bros episode, and the finale with the pirates was really well done, but everything else added up to absolutely nothing. No wait, I sort of liked the fish sticks episode, a tiny bit. Overall, though, sort of a downer season.
Thursday
I stopped watching Ugly Betty (too repetitive and insulting), Survivor (boring), and Grey's Anatomy (manipulative tripe).
Parks and Recreation - I hated, hated, hated the first couple of episodes (a ripoff of The Office so complete and terrible I felt physically affronted) but I kept watching because there was something interesting hiding there in the characters. They weren't all just stock profiles - Rashida Jones and Chris Pratt (or Bright from Everwood as he will always be in my heart) as the standouts, but a huge nod also to Paul Schneider as the weird womanizer/sort of good guy/sort of terrible person. And the season finale finally delivered on the promise - a funny, no - super funny, and touching episode. After that I'm actively interested in this show, and practically begging that they keep that feeling going.
The Office - Best stretch of episodes in a long, long while. The MSPC thing was amazing - a pretend game-changer that shook up everything, while in the end keeping everything the same. The new receptionist is a surprisingly well done addition, and the non-office relationship stuff was perfectly downplayed while still being interesting.
30 Rock - Still probably my favorite thing on TV. Almost every single line is quotable, to a ridiculous degree. Jane Krakowski needs an Emmy, like, right now.
Southland - Am I crazy, or is this a really good show? I can't tell. That slow-burn reveal on the 'is he gay or straight' cop seemed to me like some of the best ambiguous writing I've seen in a long while.
Friday - None
Saturday - None
Sunday
The Amazing Race - Despite the heavy favoritism at the end (wasn't that three straight legs in China, one of which was a double leg? And wasn't the eventual winner the brother/sister team who could speak Mandarin?) it was a very solid season, Excellent tasks, good teams, and for once there was some actual restraint in over-hyping the tension at the end of a leg.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Wherein a Jukebox Weekend Happens
How long was I waiting in dramatic anticipation of the Jenny Owen Youngs/ Jukebox the Ghost show last Friday? Because of the advent of Twitter, I can pinpoint it down to the minute: 5:43pm on March 18th. I'm not sure if I like that level of documentation on my mental state, but it is handy for times like this.Anyways, it's been a while. And especially since there's been a dearth of good live music in Dallas, with that level of focused waiting I was pretty worried that it wouldn't live up to the hype in my mind. But it totally did! And not just for a couple of reasons. More like 16 reasons. Starting from the top:
Jenny Owen Youngs is awesome. No, seriously, so awesome. Even with the terrible sound system at the Prophet Bar (which is so, so terrible, you guys. I have yet to go to a show there that didn't have major sound problems) she rocked the house. Not only did she open with my favorite song of hers in the whole world (Voice on Tape), she played the three best tracks off her new album and still had time for 'Drinking Song.' Plus, she dealt with that absolutely bizarre crowd (more on that later) with aplomb.
Jukebox the Ghost is really impressive live. I'd totally like to lie and pretend that I knew who they were before the show was booked, but let's keep the blog honest. I bought the tickets just because of Youngs and didn't have a clue who they were. Instead, I had to play internet catch-up on their MySpace page to at least hear some of their music before I went to the show so I wouldn't be completely out of the loop, since they were joint-headlining.
But in cool twist of luck, they're firmly in my musical taste wheelhouse: Piano, drums, and guitar with a lot of quirky lyrics and hooks thrown about liberally. Think Ben Folds, only with a more electronic and grandious sound. Plus, lots of talk about the apocalypse and the Antichrist. I actually ended up buying their album before the show, it's so catchy.
And they're even better live - they've got that sort of jam-band type of feel that makes them 100 times cooler in person because the product is similar to what you expect, but they really dig in to every song. They're excellent performers - I'd put them right up there with Regina Spektor and Steel Train in terms of musicians I've seen who are way better live vs. their recorded album.
Oh man, and can I talk for a second about the complete insanity that was the audience? This is broken down into many parts. One: the crowd was way smaller than I expected (which meant we could get an awesome view of the stage despite sitting back at the bar during the opening bands). Two: even though the crowd was small, there were two genuinely crazy people in the audience - a strange man who was full-out dancing right in front of the stage during Jenny's set (doing a modified version of The Twist, even during the slower songs), and a similarly excited girl who shouted during a lull between songs "I love your prose!" Which is one of the stranger things I've heard as far as audience-to-live-band compliments go.
Three: I'm almost sure we were the oldest people in the audience who were there for the show itself, and not there as chaperon/ride home for some of the kids up front. In fact, a pretty thorough examination of the people around us yielded only 6 people who had wristbands allowing them to drink. This in-and-of itself is not crazy, but I'm guessing the lowered age-level removed some of the jaded concert-fiend feel to the show, because these kids were rocking out. I mean, at one point during the combined bands portion of the show, Jenny said something like "Now this is a dance song, so you guys need to be dancing," and oh-my-sweet-lord how they took up that challenge with vigor. I love an audience that does more than just stand there and one that actively dances around crazily is like concentrated joy.
Other things that were very cool:
- That I got to say hi to Jenny Owen Youngs
- That I got to buy a tour poster and a vinyl album from her with recordings of the two combined songs that she and Jukebox did together (the best part of the show)
- That she and her band came out and danced along with the audience during the last couple of Jukebox songs
- That the two supporting guitarists with Jenny did an interpretive tambourine dance during the Jukebox/Jenny combined song (Highlight of the night)
- That the bartender interpreted "SoCo and Coke" to mean "A glassfull of SoCo with a tiny splash of Coke"
- That Devon (the friend I conned into coming with me) managed to endure the crazy dancing guy's awkwardness without having to leave the room
Other things that were not cool:
- (Again) the soundboard at the bar (the worst)
Yeah, so: totally awesome show.
-------------------
The rest of the weekend was consumed by a graduation party for the boyfriend's best friend, followed by a whole lot of sleeping. Which was pretty sweet itself, but involved little that was noteworthy. So definitely a good couple of days.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Oh Hey, I Have a Blog. Perhaps I'd Like To Write in It
My writing skills are pretty rusty these days. You'd think that writing would be like bicycle riding or falling off a horse - something that you never forget how to do and is fun for the whole family. But instead it's more like calculus or shooting a high powered rifle - the skill rapidly deteriorates without constant practice and it's only fun for people with severe personality disorders.
But in any case, let's see if we can't bang out a few stories here to kill time between bouts of job hunting.
---------------------------
So I've become one of those technology worshippers again. I had been doing ridiculously well for years - my last major purchase was a widescreen LCD monitor ages ago, and even that was on sale. I hadn't done a computer purchase, or any large scale electronics buy since changing apartments almost two years ago. I mean, yes, technically in the interim I bought a ridiculous new car that was financially crippling in a way that electronics only dream of being, but that's different. I need to be able to drive around places. Preferably in high luxury with an unreliable but prestigious brand name.
Wait, where was I? Who knows, but the urge finally overwhelmed me and I broke down and picked up a new TV to replace my 5 year old, 1,000 pound monstrosity that had been my constant CRT companion since 3 months before college graduation. In its stead, I have installed something even more outlandish - one of those widescreen plasma behemoths, in a diagonal screen size that I refuse to even mention, except to say that it's more viewing real estate than one should probably expect in an IMAX theatre.
You'd think that such a financially destructive move would leave me sobbing and gasping for air the second the credit card statement came in, complete with the wailing and gnashing of teeth, ending with an artful but well coordinated fall onto a fainting couch. But instead, several things have conspired to make this one of the best purchases I've ever made and quite possibly the only one that I've never once had a recriminating thought about.
We'll see how it goes, but I think I have it under control.
In unrelated news, has anyone got a line on a good Blu-ray player?
But in any case, let's see if we can't bang out a few stories here to kill time between bouts of job hunting.
---------------------------
So I've become one of those technology worshippers again. I had been doing ridiculously well for years - my last major purchase was a widescreen LCD monitor ages ago, and even that was on sale. I hadn't done a computer purchase, or any large scale electronics buy since changing apartments almost two years ago. I mean, yes, technically in the interim I bought a ridiculous new car that was financially crippling in a way that electronics only dream of being, but that's different. I need to be able to drive around places. Preferably in high luxury with an unreliable but prestigious brand name.
Wait, where was I? Who knows, but the urge finally overwhelmed me and I broke down and picked up a new TV to replace my 5 year old, 1,000 pound monstrosity that had been my constant CRT companion since 3 months before college graduation. In its stead, I have installed something even more outlandish - one of those widescreen plasma behemoths, in a diagonal screen size that I refuse to even mention, except to say that it's more viewing real estate than one should probably expect in an IMAX theatre.
You'd think that such a financially destructive move would leave me sobbing and gasping for air the second the credit card statement came in, complete with the wailing and gnashing of teeth, ending with an artful but well coordinated fall onto a fainting couch. But instead, several things have conspired to make this one of the best purchases I've ever made and quite possibly the only one that I've never once had a recriminating thought about.
- I got a spectacular deal: I obsessively tracked online and newspaper deals for months, never pulling the trigger but constantly on high alert. You can ask anyone who was around me for the months of December to March - I would not shut up about pricing points and the benefits of plasma vs. LCD. It was like living around a Best Buy Associate gone mad. And to top it off, every 20 minutes I would do a scan of the deal sites for those quick fire-sale internet site deals . I never seemed to find any good TV ones, but I did manage to make several completely insane purchases at super low costs. A small sample of which includes: 10 pairs of designer sunglasses for $8.99, two cute shorty-short Penguin swimsuits (retail value $123) for $19.98 total, and two free decks of collectible trading cards (because I'm 12).
Then finally I stumbled upon a super deal for a TV 4 inches larger than my target size, for less than $100 above my allowable budget. I snapped that thing up so fast that the keyboard practically smoked. I was pretty impressed with myself at the time (usually a purchase that large would require hours of agonizing and rationalization) for making the decision so quickly, but now I just worry that my impulse control is going downhill. - No sales tax on the internet, and they shipped, delivered, and helped me get thing into my living room FOR FREE. Which were the parts I was most worried about to be sure. Because my new car has only one disadvantage to the Truck of Malfunction, and that would be that it can't carry large-scale electronics. Plus I am a 150lb weakling in the worst way, and there are several stairs involved in reaching my apartment. Like, more than 8 of them. So seriously, free delivery and installation was just like Christmas, except the fat man involved was wearing a weight belt and driving a moving van, instead of a red suit and a sleigh. I did end up giving him a cookie, though.
- I was able to sell the old giant TV to offset some of the cost: Roommate Frank got his network going and he managed to arrange the liquidation of my old monolith, which I firmly had expected to be a sunk cost. So really, it was like I got 20% off the sales price right there. Roommate Frank is awesome. (Also it was good to see my old TV friend go to a nice home. With room for him to run around and other TVs to play with, I assume.)
- HD TV is the best thing in the world: No really. I can't really explain it, but everything is better in HD. I am less offended by bad sitcoms when viewed in widescreen and sharp definition. I am less incensed at terrible Mavs games when I can see the sweat on Dirk's face so clearly. Watching How It's Made on the new TV comes so close to fulfilling my dream of working in an assembly factory that I can basically pretend I'm right there in the warehouse.
We'll see how it goes, but I think I have it under control.
In unrelated news, has anyone got a line on a good Blu-ray player?
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
And Then He Died
I hate New Year's resolutions now. I used to like the idea of having a goal for the year, only to piss away any chance of reaching that goal within a couple of weeks. It made me feel very motivated, for exactly those two weeks. But starting in 2009, I wasn't going to do that sort of thing anymore. Instead, I was content to live with my mediocre expectations year-in and year-out.
Weirdly though, this year Jordan's new apartment lease happened to start the first of year, and coincidentally the apartment complex opened up a kick-ass new gym right there on the grounds within a week of his move-in. Thus, I have inadvertently wandered into a kept-resolution-type scenario, insofar as I have been going to the gym regularly for two months now starting January 1. It probably only counts as the Alanis-Non-Irony kind of justice, but I like it anyways.
Spoons when you want a knife :: keeping a resolution only after disavowing them forever.
I should write a song.
-------------------------
Last week Jordan was feeling under the weather, so I ended up going to the gym alone on Monday. I've taken a new approach to gym-work this time, focusing on running and similar cardiovascular things instead of weight lifting. Mostly because lately I've been really worried that when the zombie apocalypse comes, I will be way too far out of shape to outrun the mindless hordes of brain devourers. And everyone knows that muscles don't do any good against a screaming army of the undead. The only real hope is to escape - something that my easily-winded-by-a-short-staircase self would be unable to accomplish.
So running it is.
Usually I hate it, but I've slowly been getting better, at least to the point where I no longer want to projectile vomit after every 30 minute session. I started at 2 miles, then upped it to 2.5 after a month, and on Monday I was shooting for the full 3 miles, only mildly worried that my heart might explode right there in front of the scary yoga lady and her even scarier devotees.
I made it through both of the first two miles relatively easily, spurred on by my excellent iPod Zombie Escaping Playlist(TM). The third mile was by far the hardest, and I was starting to seriously drag. Not even mind-conjured images of 26 Days Later were helping. By that point the yoga class had dispersed, it was only me, one girl on a treadmill, and a guy in the weight lifting area left in the gym.
To understand what follows, you have to understand that I really hate running. Really. The only way I can convincingly keep myself going when I'm tired is to sync in with the music I'm listening to and focus on a fixed point in the mid-distance. A proper mix-tape (such as my ZEP) will be properly calibrated to pick the most likely point of exhaustion (minute 22) as the time to start rising - faster songs, louder, more bass, a good drum set, and I can usually power through to the end. The only side-effect to this is that I might sometimes get a little too into the music.
Not like singing along (I avoid at least that much), but I may swing my arms more forcefully to the beat, or do a little swaying/head bobbing along with the running. It probably looks a little weird (and gives off the impression that I may at any point collapse and/or fall off the moving treadmill) but it works.
Except in this particular instance, I was sweating so profusely that I had to set my iPod up on the treadmill display, cannily thinking that it might slip from my overly-slick hand mid-run, causing disaster and loss of being in the Music/Running Zone.
Item that I did not consider: Placing the iPod on the display left a conspicuous and intrusive white cord from my ears down to the treadmill. And in my Zoning, I overly emphasized the shooting part of M.I.A's Paper Planes with my arms, and swung right through the cord.
From what I can work out (CSI-style in my mind), the recreation of the physics worked thusly: My left arm swung down, yanking the cord to the iPod with it. The earbuds, being far more secured than the iPod itself, held in place. So instead the iPod was pulled down with the cord - only when it reached the edge of the display it popped upwards before it's eventual downward fall. At which point it disconnected from the headphones entirely, shot out projectile-like over my shoulder, behind me, across the gym, and then skidded to a stop at the feet of the guy over in the weights area.
This whole scenario took approximately 1.2 seconds, plus skidding time.
In reaction I glance back and forth like a dog shaking water off its head, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. I finally twist my head all the way around and see the big muscle-bound guy with his head cocked and staring at the strange tiny red device in front of him with a confused look on his face. I lose my balance on the treadmill and manage to artfully twist my left ankle before recovering an eighth of my dignity by not face-planting right then and there. I extract myself from the machine, and sheepishly go collect my iPod from the mildly amused but still confused guy, apologizing like mad and trying not to fall over dead from exhaustion/embarrassment.
Both he and the girl on the other treadmill eye me warily as I walk back to my machine, both still unsure as to why I seemingly threw my iPod across the room at him. Rather than attempt an explanation (I've learned that it never goes well) I just apologized again and tried to finish up the end of my run, limping like a crazy man. I abandoned the attempt after a couple minutes, and bolted from the room, never to return.
-------------------
Actually I still go back (it's a really nice gym). But now whenever I walk in, I'm perpetually terrified that either of them will be there and soon the whispering and pointing will begin. Hushed words about 'iPod throwers' will swirl around me and I'll need to run away, possibly crying, and deciding the change my name and appearance.
But so far that hasn't happened. And now I've switched over to the elliptical machines, which don't hurt my ankle and more importantly keep my hands occupied at all times, so everyone can see that I won't be throwing any musical devices anytime soon.
That way everyone wins.
Weirdly though, this year Jordan's new apartment lease happened to start the first of year, and coincidentally the apartment complex opened up a kick-ass new gym right there on the grounds within a week of his move-in. Thus, I have inadvertently wandered into a kept-resolution-type scenario, insofar as I have been going to the gym regularly for two months now starting January 1. It probably only counts as the Alanis-Non-Irony kind of justice, but I like it anyways.
Spoons when you want a knife :: keeping a resolution only after disavowing them forever.
I should write a song.
-------------------------
Last week Jordan was feeling under the weather, so I ended up going to the gym alone on Monday. I've taken a new approach to gym-work this time, focusing on running and similar cardiovascular things instead of weight lifting. Mostly because lately I've been really worried that when the zombie apocalypse comes, I will be way too far out of shape to outrun the mindless hordes of brain devourers. And everyone knows that muscles don't do any good against a screaming army of the undead. The only real hope is to escape - something that my easily-winded-by-a-short-staircase self would be unable to accomplish.
So running it is.
Usually I hate it, but I've slowly been getting better, at least to the point where I no longer want to projectile vomit after every 30 minute session. I started at 2 miles, then upped it to 2.5 after a month, and on Monday I was shooting for the full 3 miles, only mildly worried that my heart might explode right there in front of the scary yoga lady and her even scarier devotees.
I made it through both of the first two miles relatively easily, spurred on by my excellent iPod Zombie Escaping Playlist(TM). The third mile was by far the hardest, and I was starting to seriously drag. Not even mind-conjured images of 26 Days Later were helping. By that point the yoga class had dispersed, it was only me, one girl on a treadmill, and a guy in the weight lifting area left in the gym.
To understand what follows, you have to understand that I really hate running. Really. The only way I can convincingly keep myself going when I'm tired is to sync in with the music I'm listening to and focus on a fixed point in the mid-distance. A proper mix-tape (such as my ZEP) will be properly calibrated to pick the most likely point of exhaustion (minute 22) as the time to start rising - faster songs, louder, more bass, a good drum set, and I can usually power through to the end. The only side-effect to this is that I might sometimes get a little too into the music.
Not like singing along (I avoid at least that much), but I may swing my arms more forcefully to the beat, or do a little swaying/head bobbing along with the running. It probably looks a little weird (and gives off the impression that I may at any point collapse and/or fall off the moving treadmill) but it works.
Except in this particular instance, I was sweating so profusely that I had to set my iPod up on the treadmill display, cannily thinking that it might slip from my overly-slick hand mid-run, causing disaster and loss of being in the Music/Running Zone.
Item that I did not consider: Placing the iPod on the display left a conspicuous and intrusive white cord from my ears down to the treadmill. And in my Zoning, I overly emphasized the shooting part of M.I.A's Paper Planes with my arms, and swung right through the cord.
From what I can work out (CSI-style in my mind), the recreation of the physics worked thusly: My left arm swung down, yanking the cord to the iPod with it. The earbuds, being far more secured than the iPod itself, held in place. So instead the iPod was pulled down with the cord - only when it reached the edge of the display it popped upwards before it's eventual downward fall. At which point it disconnected from the headphones entirely, shot out projectile-like over my shoulder, behind me, across the gym, and then skidded to a stop at the feet of the guy over in the weights area.
This whole scenario took approximately 1.2 seconds, plus skidding time.
In reaction I glance back and forth like a dog shaking water off its head, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. I finally twist my head all the way around and see the big muscle-bound guy with his head cocked and staring at the strange tiny red device in front of him with a confused look on his face. I lose my balance on the treadmill and manage to artfully twist my left ankle before recovering an eighth of my dignity by not face-planting right then and there. I extract myself from the machine, and sheepishly go collect my iPod from the mildly amused but still confused guy, apologizing like mad and trying not to fall over dead from exhaustion/embarrassment.
Both he and the girl on the other treadmill eye me warily as I walk back to my machine, both still unsure as to why I seemingly threw my iPod across the room at him. Rather than attempt an explanation (I've learned that it never goes well) I just apologized again and tried to finish up the end of my run, limping like a crazy man. I abandoned the attempt after a couple minutes, and bolted from the room, never to return.
-------------------
Actually I still go back (it's a really nice gym). But now whenever I walk in, I'm perpetually terrified that either of them will be there and soon the whispering and pointing will begin. Hushed words about 'iPod throwers' will swirl around me and I'll need to run away, possibly crying, and deciding the change my name and appearance.
But so far that hasn't happened. And now I've switched over to the elliptical machines, which don't hurt my ankle and more importantly keep my hands occupied at all times, so everyone can see that I won't be throwing any musical devices anytime soon.
That way everyone wins.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Brief Oscar Follow Up
I have mostly nothing to say about The Oscars, except that I pretty much uniformly enjoyed this year's ceremony, much more so than usual, even if the winners were a bit predictable.
Best Bits (In order of Bestness):
Best Bits (In order of Bestness):
- Anne Hathaway! God, I love her. Totally being the best part of the intro pretending to be Nixon, getting all choked up at Shirley MacLaine's tribute, and then looking genuinely happy for Kate Winslet when she won. She completes me.
- Dustin Lance Black, and that super cute (and political) speech. Definitely the best one of the night.
- Sean Penn. Not only did he win, he was sort of charming about it! I was absolutely dreading my mixed feelings of happiness and loathing if he won and then gave a douchey speech, but instead it was all happiness. Good for him.
- Tina Fey & Steve Martin. The best presenters by a mile, and genuinely funny.
- The part of the opening dance number when Hugh Jackman was all "The Reader... I haven't seen The Reader" and all the crazy metallic dancing guys. Possibly the only time I laughed out loud during the whole show.
- No wait, I also laughed when Will Smith said "Boom goes the dynamite."
- James Franco watching James Franco. If Anne Hathaway hadn't already completed me, he would do the job.
- Kate Winslet winning and being ultra cute and having her dad whistle. I am really glad she finally won one.
Friday, February 06, 2009
A Music Post for No One's Benefit
Aw man, I totally didn't do an end of the year round-up of my favorite new music for 2008. And now that it's February, that boat has obviously sailed.
So instead, we're going to do a round up entitled Music That I'm Listening to Right Now, Which Suspiciously Looks Like a List of My Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2008, But Whatever, You Can't Prove Anything, Direct All Questions to My Attorney.
It's a pretty good list.
My Top Ten Albums Right Now, All of Which Coincidentally Came Out in 2008
#10 Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
: What a strange CD this is. I'm a self-acknowledged bandwagon jumper here - I was never a Ben Gibbard fan except in the Postal Service sort of way until all the hype swung me over about 2 years ago, so I can't pretend to have some deep understanding of the band. But I liked Transatlanticism approximately 500% more than this album. That said though, it still ranks easily as one of the better things released last year. Sort of haunting and sad, with just the right amount of, um, is bitter-wistfulness even a thing? Whatever, a good-to-great album.
#9 Lykke Li - Youth Novels
: Talk about coming out of nowhere - this is one of those albums that someone sort of offhandedly suggested that I might like to try, and now suddenly I cannot stop listening to it. Mostly for the one single, Little Bit, which is inspired and and ungodly amount of catchy. But the whole album is shockingly good too, so long as you ignore the spoken word sections. Try it out.
#8 The 88 - Not Only... But Also
: So The 88 album Over and Over is probably the single CD that I've listened to more times in the last two years than anything else. It's endlessly entertaining and so so catchy. Their follow-up is also their first major release and it's... I guess 'really good' is the cheap phrase I'm looking for. It's more refined than Over and Over, but it's also more processed, more commercial, and not as super amazing. Never more evident than when they took one of the songs from Over and Over (Coming Home) and re-recorded it by processing the hell out of it and making it 50% worse than before. But overall, it's a great CD, and has one of my favorite songs of all 2008 on it: No One Here.
#7 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
: I'm pretty sure there has never been a band that has so quickly risen to popularity and then crashed down under the backlash as fast as Vampire Weekend. They were the hip new thing back in the Fall of 2007, before their album ever came out, and by the time it actually hit stores in January '08, they were so overplayed and oversaturated that everyone hated their guts. Me, I still can't get enough of this CD. The crazy vocals, the awesome catchy baselines, the fact that their most famous lyric is "who gives a fuck about an oxford comma," all of it. Why will no one else love this album but me?
#6 Adele - 19
: If this were actually a list of best albums from 2008, I would most certainly be making a comment right here about how it's hard to remember that this CD came out this year, because it feels like I've been listening to this album for half my life now. Seriously, it's so so so good, that it makes my teeth hurt. (Also, here's link to JD, who I begrudgingly acknowledge pointed me to the album. Doesn't it just kill you when someone else finds the best music of the year before you?). By far, the best debut album I've heard in the last couple of years. So polished and smart-sounding, without any of the current standby tricks of new artists. Recommended so hard.
#5 Ben Folds - Way to Normal
: Now this is a good way for an iconic band to behave (take note Weezer down there). Despite the fact that it's a very experimental and different sound, it's wholly Ben Folds, and very well done, if wildly uneven. Some of it sounds like old Ben Folds Five stuff, one song sounds like an outtake from Rocking the Suburbs, but overall it still has that grown up feel of Songs for Silverman, all while trying something new. The problems with hte album all stem from the fact that some of the songs are just... (and I don't want to sound mean here but) they're bad. Errant Dog is kinda dumb on its face, and The Frown song is terribly out of place on this album. They're jarring, and mar what is otherwise absolutely brilliant. Not that that really matters to me, because let's be honest: it has a song wherein Regina Spektor and Ben Folds duet. When your two favorite artists in the entire world do a song together, that means you love the CD as if it's your child. It's like a rule.
#4 The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
: I know I've said it before and I'll continue to say it - I am always shocked that The Hush Sound isn't as popular as I think they should be. I don't get it. Their songs are incredibly catchy, and almost tailor-made for radio airtime. They have two smoking hot lead singers (one girl and one guy to appeal to all demographics). And both of their last two albums have been brilliant and complete, with maybe two bad songs across three CDs. But whatever, Goodbye Blues is excellent, smarter than your average album, and varied enough to constantly keep you guessing. My only complaint is that Robert Morris (the guy lead singer) doesn't get a song until all the way to the middle of CD, which initially scared the crap out of me because the songs he fronts are invariably my favorites.
#3 Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
: Sweet baby Jesus, this album is inhabiting my soul lately. I dunno, usually I am immune to that sort of hippie, melody, ukulele-and-trumpet-included massive troupe band archetype (i.e. Arcade Fire, Polyphonic Spree) but this one not only stuck with me, it won't go away. It's so good, and a little sad, and a little hilarious, then really happy and love-sickening, and then back around to sad again. What I'm saying is that I can't describe how or why, but I love this album.
#2 Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
: So it took more than 4 different attempts at getting through this CD before I even came close to liking it. And now it's, no joke my 2nd favorite album that came out in 2008. I don't know where the turnaround came from, but it sticks with me now. I think it must have to do with the lead singer's voice, which I tend to liken now to 'sex of the eardrum variety.' If you can tell, I'm a little bit excited about this band nowadays.
#1 Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer
: I know I'm an inveterate over-promoter of music. When something I love gets to me, I become the prophet who won't stop talking about it. But this is totally different - you need this CD. It's amazing, passionate, real, and a little jagged. I will heap mounds of praise on this CD to the ends of the earth.
Also, 5 Runner Up Albums That Barely Missed the List
#11 Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
: How about y'all just leave me alone, okay. I love this CD. At first I thought I did so in a cool, campy-ironic sort of way, and then I realized that, yeah, not so much. Sure, most of it is pop trash, but it's great pop trash. Whatever! At least I didn't put it in the Top 10. Don't look at me like that. Why must you be so hateful?
#12 Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia...
: The least hyped CD in the history of CD's - enough so that I didn't know it had come out until a full 3 months after release and I happened to be wandering through the Youtubes and found a mention of a studio-produced version of a song I had only heard live before. It's good, but no where near as cohesive as Yes, Virginia, the companion album from last year.
#13 Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
: This album should not be this low, but because I have such terribly high standards for Weezer these days, and nothing they could do would live up to it, it's graded as such. Also, because I hate Rivers Cuomo's new facial hair with a fiery passion. But there are things here that are great, and catchy, just not as iconic as they once were. That's not a crime, just a little disappointing.
#14 She and Him - Volume One
: This one I've been on the fence with since I bought it. On one hand it's a little simplistic. Pretty much as bare-bones accompaniment as possible and nothing but Zooey Deschanel's voice to go on. On the other hand, her voice is pretty much awesome beyond description. I guess the fact that I have had it on my iPod rotation nonstop since I bought it means that I fall on the good side of the fence.
#15 The Cab - Whisper War
: Dude, I know, I'm as surprised as you. Chalk it up to my weakness for NSYNC type boybands, or to these two ridiculously catchy singles Bounce and I'll Run. But it's a good CD, and at the end of the year day, they're one my big time new bands to watch.
So instead, we're going to do a round up entitled Music That I'm Listening to Right Now, Which Suspiciously Looks Like a List of My Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2008, But Whatever, You Can't Prove Anything, Direct All Questions to My Attorney.
It's a pretty good list.
My Top Ten Albums Right Now, All of Which Coincidentally Came Out in 2008
#10 Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
: What a strange CD this is. I'm a self-acknowledged bandwagon jumper here - I was never a Ben Gibbard fan except in the Postal Service sort of way until all the hype swung me over about 2 years ago, so I can't pretend to have some deep understanding of the band. But I liked Transatlanticism approximately 500% more than this album. That said though, it still ranks easily as one of the better things released last year. Sort of haunting and sad, with just the right amount of, um, is bitter-wistfulness even a thing? Whatever, a good-to-great album.#9 Lykke Li - Youth Novels
: Talk about coming out of nowhere - this is one of those albums that someone sort of offhandedly suggested that I might like to try, and now suddenly I cannot stop listening to it. Mostly for the one single, Little Bit, which is inspired and and ungodly amount of catchy. But the whole album is shockingly good too, so long as you ignore the spoken word sections. Try it out.#8 The 88 - Not Only... But Also
: So The 88 album Over and Over is probably the single CD that I've listened to more times in the last two years than anything else. It's endlessly entertaining and so so catchy. Their follow-up is also their first major release and it's... I guess 'really good' is the cheap phrase I'm looking for. It's more refined than Over and Over, but it's also more processed, more commercial, and not as super amazing. Never more evident than when they took one of the songs from Over and Over (Coming Home) and re-recorded it by processing the hell out of it and making it 50% worse than before. But overall, it's a great CD, and has one of my favorite songs of all 2008 on it: No One Here.#7 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
: I'm pretty sure there has never been a band that has so quickly risen to popularity and then crashed down under the backlash as fast as Vampire Weekend. They were the hip new thing back in the Fall of 2007, before their album ever came out, and by the time it actually hit stores in January '08, they were so overplayed and oversaturated that everyone hated their guts. Me, I still can't get enough of this CD. The crazy vocals, the awesome catchy baselines, the fact that their most famous lyric is "who gives a fuck about an oxford comma," all of it. Why will no one else love this album but me?#6 Adele - 19
: If this were actually a list of best albums from 2008, I would most certainly be making a comment right here about how it's hard to remember that this CD came out this year, because it feels like I've been listening to this album for half my life now. Seriously, it's so so so good, that it makes my teeth hurt. (Also, here's link to JD, who I begrudgingly acknowledge pointed me to the album. Doesn't it just kill you when someone else finds the best music of the year before you?). By far, the best debut album I've heard in the last couple of years. So polished and smart-sounding, without any of the current standby tricks of new artists. Recommended so hard.#5 Ben Folds - Way to Normal
: Now this is a good way for an iconic band to behave (take note Weezer down there). Despite the fact that it's a very experimental and different sound, it's wholly Ben Folds, and very well done, if wildly uneven. Some of it sounds like old Ben Folds Five stuff, one song sounds like an outtake from Rocking the Suburbs, but overall it still has that grown up feel of Songs for Silverman, all while trying something new. The problems with hte album all stem from the fact that some of the songs are just... (and I don't want to sound mean here but) they're bad. Errant Dog is kinda dumb on its face, and The Frown song is terribly out of place on this album. They're jarring, and mar what is otherwise absolutely brilliant. Not that that really matters to me, because let's be honest: it has a song wherein Regina Spektor and Ben Folds duet. When your two favorite artists in the entire world do a song together, that means you love the CD as if it's your child. It's like a rule.#4 The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues
: I know I've said it before and I'll continue to say it - I am always shocked that The Hush Sound isn't as popular as I think they should be. I don't get it. Their songs are incredibly catchy, and almost tailor-made for radio airtime. They have two smoking hot lead singers (one girl and one guy to appeal to all demographics). And both of their last two albums have been brilliant and complete, with maybe two bad songs across three CDs. But whatever, Goodbye Blues is excellent, smarter than your average album, and varied enough to constantly keep you guessing. My only complaint is that Robert Morris (the guy lead singer) doesn't get a song until all the way to the middle of CD, which initially scared the crap out of me because the songs he fronts are invariably my favorites.#3 Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
: Sweet baby Jesus, this album is inhabiting my soul lately. I dunno, usually I am immune to that sort of hippie, melody, ukulele-and-trumpet-included massive troupe band archetype (i.e. Arcade Fire, Polyphonic Spree) but this one not only stuck with me, it won't go away. It's so good, and a little sad, and a little hilarious, then really happy and love-sickening, and then back around to sad again. What I'm saying is that I can't describe how or why, but I love this album.#2 Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
: So it took more than 4 different attempts at getting through this CD before I even came close to liking it. And now it's, no joke my 2nd favorite album that came out in 2008. I don't know where the turnaround came from, but it sticks with me now. I think it must have to do with the lead singer's voice, which I tend to liken now to 'sex of the eardrum variety.' If you can tell, I'm a little bit excited about this band nowadays.#1 Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer
: I know I'm an inveterate over-promoter of music. When something I love gets to me, I become the prophet who won't stop talking about it. But this is totally different - you need this CD. It's amazing, passionate, real, and a little jagged. I will heap mounds of praise on this CD to the ends of the earth.Also, 5 Runner Up Albums That Barely Missed the List
#11 Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
: How about y'all just leave me alone, okay. I love this CD. At first I thought I did so in a cool, campy-ironic sort of way, and then I realized that, yeah, not so much. Sure, most of it is pop trash, but it's great pop trash. Whatever! At least I didn't put it in the Top 10. Don't look at me like that. Why must you be so hateful?#12 Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia...
: The least hyped CD in the history of CD's - enough so that I didn't know it had come out until a full 3 months after release and I happened to be wandering through the Youtubes and found a mention of a studio-produced version of a song I had only heard live before. It's good, but no where near as cohesive as Yes, Virginia, the companion album from last year.#13 Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
: This album should not be this low, but because I have such terribly high standards for Weezer these days, and nothing they could do would live up to it, it's graded as such. Also, because I hate Rivers Cuomo's new facial hair with a fiery passion. But there are things here that are great, and catchy, just not as iconic as they once were. That's not a crime, just a little disappointing.#14 She and Him - Volume One
: This one I've been on the fence with since I bought it. On one hand it's a little simplistic. Pretty much as bare-bones accompaniment as possible and nothing but Zooey Deschanel's voice to go on. On the other hand, her voice is pretty much awesome beyond description. I guess the fact that I have had it on my iPod rotation nonstop since I bought it means that I fall on the good side of the fence.#15 The Cab - Whisper War
: Dude, I know, I'm as surprised as you. Chalk it up to my weakness for NSYNC type boybands, or to these two ridiculously catchy singles Bounce and I'll Run. But it's a good CD, and at the end of the Thursday, February 05, 2009
A Book Post for My Own Benefit
So a few days back, Erin made a post about the Science Fiction and Fantasy section of The Guardian's '1000 Novels Everyone Must Read' series. Despite the fact that I think the entire process is completely ridiculous, I do love a good list of recommended science fiction, since my blind forays into the science fiction and fantasy sections of the library almost always end in terrifying disappointment and/or talking spirit wolves.
So, as a sort of exercise in keeping these things easily at my fingertips, and a chance to write up a little short form review of each, I'm making up a list of the books on the list I've already read, the ones I've tried to read and given up on, and the ones that I plan on reading in the coming days.
Plus as a bonus to myself, since we're still so early in the year, I'm going to make it my goal to get through the whole 'Planning to Read' section by the end of the year. Goals are awesome.
(Everything below the cut, because lord knows no one needs to read this whole thing)
Already Read
Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Everyone's read it, so it's doubtful I could say anything important. Hilarious and unique, some of the most inventive prose and stories around. Pure love.
Isaac Asimov: Foundation - Almost certainly the driest book on the list. I made it through the trilogy, but it was almost a chore. Starts well and then fades, but still a classic.
Clive Barker: Weaveworld - Cliver Barker was basically the author of an entire phase of my high school reading life that I entitled: Super Weird Fantasy Time. This actually came out when I was in college and so the bloom was a little off the rose (I look back at some of his early stuff with total incredulity), but it's actually a pretty damn good book. I was shocked to see it on this list, though.
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Read it for a paper in college, thought it was about as boring as you could get, and yet it's beautifully written and eminently quotable.
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - My favorite book in the entire world.
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Brilliant, but overlong. So many asides and subtle bits of humor it's astonishing. It was great to dig through once, but I don't think I'll ever bring myself to pull it off the shelf again. It's just too daunting.
Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves - Pure style and one of the scariest books I've ever read at times. That said, it thinks itself more important than it is, and some of the semiotics stuff is just filler. Still a great, great read.
Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum - Picked this up based on its cover in the library in Orange of all things. Probably the book I was most proud of reading back in high school.
Neil Gaiman: American Gods - So good that I read it through twice, back to back. I don't think I've ever done that to a single other book. Still the best Gaiman thing to ever happen, in my opinion.
William Gibson: Neuromancer - Groundbreaking, but I read it way late in my science fiction career, so it seemed outdated. Still important to read.
William Golding: Lord of the Flies - Read it for high school. Respect it, but it makes me sad.
M John Harrison: Light - One of the only books I've ever read based on an author recommendation on the cover (it was Neil Gaiman, actually) and was completely blown away. One of my favorite novels in recent times.
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World - Read it for high school (twice) and college (once). I guess I'll never understand the allure of this book. Sorry.
Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House - Genuinely scary. I always forget how much I like Shirley Jackson's writing, and then when it's brought up, I'm almost at a loss for words.
Stephen King: The Shining - Probably the best written of King's earlier stuff. Second scariest, behind It. I've probably read this book at least 5 times. It's crazy good.
Toni Morrison: Beloved - My second favorite book that I was required to read at SMU (First: The Things They Carried). Such an interesting and unique story, and brilliantly written. It also holds the distinction of being the source of the worst grade I ever got on a paper in college (B-), despite the fact that I still think my analysis was spot on.
Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife - I've talked about this before: I don't know if it was just my mental state, or the story, or the writing, but I straight up cried like a baby for the last 80 pages of this novel, and was an absolute wreck afterward. Enough so that I refuse to go back and read it again. So, I guess that counts as an endorsement?
Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club - Ugh, lord save me from overly-stylized writing. Actually, not as bad as I'm probably projecting. I remember liking some of the trickier passages. But on the whole, I sort of wanted to punch this book in the face.
Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space - In my mind this is the golden standard for all books in the Space Opera genre. Long and deeply engrossing, interesting characters, and a wholly realized and brilliant universe. I was so so so pleased to see this on the list.
JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - I get why it's on the list. It's still, by far, my least favorite of the series.
Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses - Read this back as a senior in high school for one of the final papers for AP English, when we were allowed to choose whatever we wanted. It's interesting as hell, but I think most of it went right over my head.
Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince - Read it for French class. It still makes me sad, just thinking about it. I don't know why.
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein - Easily the best 'classical work' on the list, in my opinion. I love the way this story reads.
Dan Simmons: Hyperion - Oh man, I was so in love with this book when I read it. But I still haven't read any of the sequels, and the plot twist/cliffhanger ending of this book still haunts me. But yeah, should totally be here; it's one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever read.
Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash - The most bad-assed science fiction book ever. It's lost its luster a bit in my mind, but no one can doubt the way it zips along, and just grabs you by the collar.
Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Ugh, I was not a fan.
Bram Stoker: Dracula - Eh. I read it just so I could say that I read it. I didn't really see the allure.
Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court - Probably my favorite Twain book of all. So interesting, and it keeps that Twain style that is so unique. Never takes more than two sentences to know exactly who the author is with him.
HG Wells: The Time Machine
HG Wells: The War of the Worlds - I read both of these together for the same assignment in high school. They're both good, but dated.
Tried and Gave Up
Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio - I have people who swear by Greg Bear the same way I swear by Alastair Reynolds, but I couldn't get more than 40 pages into this book.
Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange - Tried to read to so that I could say that I'd read it, and was completely thrown off by the prose so hard that I returned it practically the next day.
Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma - I loved Jpod with a fiery passion. Hey Nostradamus was brilliant and interesting. Girlfriend in a Coma made me want to kill myself before I was halfway through with the book. Stopped and never looked back.
Frank Herbert: Dune - This is on two lists, because I tried and then gave up in high school, but I've had so many people lately bring this book up that I'm determined to go back and finish it off.
Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon - I remember picking this up for a comparative literature essay my freshman year, but I don't think I ever finished it. I certainly barely remember any of it if I did. But I have no desire to revisit it.
Cormac McCarthy: The Road - By far the book that the most people have recommended I read. I've tried several times - it's just the bleakest thing in the world. I can't make it, guys. Sorry.
Planning to Read
Nicola Barker: Darkmans
Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls
Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle
Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Frank Herbert: Dune
Henry James: The Turn of the Screw
PD James: The Children of Men
Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - I have had this on request at the library for 3 months. I'm going to have to break down and just buy a copy, aren't I?
Christopher Priest: The Prestige
José Saramago: Blindness
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five - Ha, this isn't on the list, but it was mentioned in there, and I've been meaning to read it for ages.
So, as a sort of exercise in keeping these things easily at my fingertips, and a chance to write up a little short form review of each, I'm making up a list of the books on the list I've already read, the ones I've tried to read and given up on, and the ones that I plan on reading in the coming days.
Plus as a bonus to myself, since we're still so early in the year, I'm going to make it my goal to get through the whole 'Planning to Read' section by the end of the year. Goals are awesome.
(Everything below the cut, because lord knows no one needs to read this whole thing)
Already Read
Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Everyone's read it, so it's doubtful I could say anything important. Hilarious and unique, some of the most inventive prose and stories around. Pure love.
Isaac Asimov: Foundation - Almost certainly the driest book on the list. I made it through the trilogy, but it was almost a chore. Starts well and then fades, but still a classic.
Clive Barker: Weaveworld - Cliver Barker was basically the author of an entire phase of my high school reading life that I entitled: Super Weird Fantasy Time. This actually came out when I was in college and so the bloom was a little off the rose (I look back at some of his early stuff with total incredulity), but it's actually a pretty damn good book. I was shocked to see it on this list, though.
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Read it for a paper in college, thought it was about as boring as you could get, and yet it's beautifully written and eminently quotable.
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - My favorite book in the entire world.
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Brilliant, but overlong. So many asides and subtle bits of humor it's astonishing. It was great to dig through once, but I don't think I'll ever bring myself to pull it off the shelf again. It's just too daunting.
Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves - Pure style and one of the scariest books I've ever read at times. That said, it thinks itself more important than it is, and some of the semiotics stuff is just filler. Still a great, great read.
Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum - Picked this up based on its cover in the library in Orange of all things. Probably the book I was most proud of reading back in high school.
Neil Gaiman: American Gods - So good that I read it through twice, back to back. I don't think I've ever done that to a single other book. Still the best Gaiman thing to ever happen, in my opinion.
William Gibson: Neuromancer - Groundbreaking, but I read it way late in my science fiction career, so it seemed outdated. Still important to read.
William Golding: Lord of the Flies - Read it for high school. Respect it, but it makes me sad.
M John Harrison: Light - One of the only books I've ever read based on an author recommendation on the cover (it was Neil Gaiman, actually) and was completely blown away. One of my favorite novels in recent times.
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World - Read it for high school (twice) and college (once). I guess I'll never understand the allure of this book. Sorry.
Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House - Genuinely scary. I always forget how much I like Shirley Jackson's writing, and then when it's brought up, I'm almost at a loss for words.
Stephen King: The Shining - Probably the best written of King's earlier stuff. Second scariest, behind It. I've probably read this book at least 5 times. It's crazy good.
Toni Morrison: Beloved - My second favorite book that I was required to read at SMU (First: The Things They Carried). Such an interesting and unique story, and brilliantly written. It also holds the distinction of being the source of the worst grade I ever got on a paper in college (B-), despite the fact that I still think my analysis was spot on.
Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife - I've talked about this before: I don't know if it was just my mental state, or the story, or the writing, but I straight up cried like a baby for the last 80 pages of this novel, and was an absolute wreck afterward. Enough so that I refuse to go back and read it again. So, I guess that counts as an endorsement?
Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club - Ugh, lord save me from overly-stylized writing. Actually, not as bad as I'm probably projecting. I remember liking some of the trickier passages. But on the whole, I sort of wanted to punch this book in the face.
Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space - In my mind this is the golden standard for all books in the Space Opera genre. Long and deeply engrossing, interesting characters, and a wholly realized and brilliant universe. I was so so so pleased to see this on the list.
JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - I get why it's on the list. It's still, by far, my least favorite of the series.
Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses - Read this back as a senior in high school for one of the final papers for AP English, when we were allowed to choose whatever we wanted. It's interesting as hell, but I think most of it went right over my head.
Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince - Read it for French class. It still makes me sad, just thinking about it. I don't know why.
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein - Easily the best 'classical work' on the list, in my opinion. I love the way this story reads.
Dan Simmons: Hyperion - Oh man, I was so in love with this book when I read it. But I still haven't read any of the sequels, and the plot twist/cliffhanger ending of this book still haunts me. But yeah, should totally be here; it's one of the best pieces of science fiction I've ever read.
Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash - The most bad-assed science fiction book ever. It's lost its luster a bit in my mind, but no one can doubt the way it zips along, and just grabs you by the collar.
Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Ugh, I was not a fan.
Bram Stoker: Dracula - Eh. I read it just so I could say that I read it. I didn't really see the allure.
Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court - Probably my favorite Twain book of all. So interesting, and it keeps that Twain style that is so unique. Never takes more than two sentences to know exactly who the author is with him.
HG Wells: The Time Machine
HG Wells: The War of the Worlds - I read both of these together for the same assignment in high school. They're both good, but dated.
Tried and Gave Up
Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio - I have people who swear by Greg Bear the same way I swear by Alastair Reynolds, but I couldn't get more than 40 pages into this book.
Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange - Tried to read to so that I could say that I'd read it, and was completely thrown off by the prose so hard that I returned it practically the next day.
Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma - I loved Jpod with a fiery passion. Hey Nostradamus was brilliant and interesting. Girlfriend in a Coma made me want to kill myself before I was halfway through with the book. Stopped and never looked back.
Frank Herbert: Dune - This is on two lists, because I tried and then gave up in high school, but I've had so many people lately bring this book up that I'm determined to go back and finish it off.
Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon - I remember picking this up for a comparative literature essay my freshman year, but I don't think I ever finished it. I certainly barely remember any of it if I did. But I have no desire to revisit it.
Cormac McCarthy: The Road - By far the book that the most people have recommended I read. I've tried several times - it's just the bleakest thing in the world. I can't make it, guys. Sorry.
Planning to Read
Nicola Barker: Darkmans
Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls
Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle
Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
Frank Herbert: Dune
Henry James: The Turn of the Screw
PD James: The Children of Men
Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - I have had this on request at the library for 3 months. I'm going to have to break down and just buy a copy, aren't I?
Christopher Priest: The Prestige
José Saramago: Blindness
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five - Ha, this isn't on the list, but it was mentioned in there, and I've been meaning to read it for ages.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Instant Oscars Review
I was so close this year, y'all. Within one movie of meeting my goal of seeing all the Oscar level movies I was gunning for before nominations came out. Damn you, The Reader! The Nazis always ruin everything.
So now, as always, I'll have to do initial impressions on the nominations without my hoped for level of movie seeing. Be prepared for some ultra crazy strong opinions of things I haven't come close to understanding.
Blogging! It's fantastic!
We'll start with the lesser categories, picking and choosing the ones that I have any opinion on, and then move on to the fancy acting ones where I will wail and gnash my teeth endlessly.
Original Screenplay
Frozen River, Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Written by Martin McDonagh
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
Only seeing 2 of the 5, I can't have a real opinion on this, but I think I would like to see WALL-E win out, although I have heard good things about In Bruges. But seriously, even though I love Milk with all my heart, the screenplay was straight up the worst thing about that movie.
Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, Screenplay by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
See, if I had seen The Reader already, I could give a very convincing statement about this category (since I basically refuse to go see that Benjamin Button movie), but instead I'll just have to wing it. I thought that Slumdog Millionaire, while amazing, did not have the best writing; it was really the story that pushed it along. And while I love the dialogue in Frost/Nixon, the screenplay was waaay to stage-adapted for my tastes. Whereas I thought Doubt brilliantly handled the conversion to the screen, while keeping the strong dialogue intact.
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
Don't even play with me. WALL-E should be a best picture nominee, if there was any justice in the world. I do kinda want to see Bolt, though. Just a little.
Achievement in Directing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher
Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard
Milk, Gus Van Sant
The Reader, Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle
This one I'm probably least objective about, but I would absolutely love it if Danny Boyle won. Not only because his movie is brilliantly shot, but he also made Sunshine and 28 Days Later, two of my absolute favorite movies ever.
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road
And here we pause and take a quiet moment to grieve over my one great hope for the Oscars - no Emile Hirsch for Milk. I know it was hopeless, but still, I'm a little sad. Otherwise, though, it's a good category. Obviously Ledger will win, and everyone will be happy (and sad). But take note y'all. Every year, without fail, when I've seen 4 of the 5 nominations in this category and liked them all, the 5th one that I hadn't seen has won. On 3 separate occasions this has happened. What I'm saying is, watch out for Michael Shannon here.
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kate Winslet in The Reader
Winslet is the one to beat here, I think. Which is awesome, since I irrationally love her and only want good things to happen to her. And I'm still bitter 3 or 4 years later that she didn't win for Eternal Sunshine. But I'm really pulling for Anne Hathaway in a way that almost shocks me. Such a good performance, I want her to win so bad. Did you see her give that toast? I almost melted. The rest of them, though, eh. Streep was good, but of all 4 acting noms for Doubt, I liked hers the least. I have no desire to ever see The Changling. And I've heard off-the-wall amazing praise for Melissa Leo, but I doubt there will ever even be the opportunity for me to see that movie.
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Another one where I don't really have a horse in the race. Obviously I've come to terms with it, and really want Sean Penn to win, but otherwise I'm not going to care too much. I guess I am going to have to see The Wrestler, even though I know it's only going to end badly and make me want to cry (I've learned my lesson: Darren Aronofsky lives only to make movies that depress the crap out of me).
Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Weirdly, I thought this would be a lot closer in my mind, but it's Milk all the way. Slumdog Millionaire is the dark horse, and was great, but I've only got eyes for the one (although I still need to see The Reader). I mentioned it earlier, but I really and truly have no desire or inclination to see that Benjamin Button movie. It looks long, and unappealing, and ever since one of my friends told me that the plot basically mirrors Forrest Gump, I've actively tried to not see it. Which has sort of put a damper on my Oscar fever this year, since it's nominated in basically every category.
Ah well.
Better luck next year.
So now, as always, I'll have to do initial impressions on the nominations without my hoped for level of movie seeing. Be prepared for some ultra crazy strong opinions of things I haven't come close to understanding.
Blogging! It's fantastic!
We'll start with the lesser categories, picking and choosing the ones that I have any opinion on, and then move on to the fancy acting ones where I will wail and gnash my teeth endlessly.
Original Screenplay
Frozen River, Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Written by Martin McDonagh
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
Only seeing 2 of the 5, I can't have a real opinion on this, but I think I would like to see WALL-E win out, although I have heard good things about In Bruges. But seriously, even though I love Milk with all my heart, the screenplay was straight up the worst thing about that movie.
Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, Screenplay by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
See, if I had seen The Reader already, I could give a very convincing statement about this category (since I basically refuse to go see that Benjamin Button movie), but instead I'll just have to wing it. I thought that Slumdog Millionaire, while amazing, did not have the best writing; it was really the story that pushed it along. And while I love the dialogue in Frost/Nixon, the screenplay was waaay to stage-adapted for my tastes. Whereas I thought Doubt brilliantly handled the conversion to the screen, while keeping the strong dialogue intact.
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
Don't even play with me. WALL-E should be a best picture nominee, if there was any justice in the world. I do kinda want to see Bolt, though. Just a little.
Achievement in Directing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher
Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard
Milk, Gus Van Sant
The Reader, Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle
This one I'm probably least objective about, but I would absolutely love it if Danny Boyle won. Not only because his movie is brilliantly shot, but he also made Sunshine and 28 Days Later, two of my absolute favorite movies ever.
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road
And here we pause and take a quiet moment to grieve over my one great hope for the Oscars - no Emile Hirsch for Milk. I know it was hopeless, but still, I'm a little sad. Otherwise, though, it's a good category. Obviously Ledger will win, and everyone will be happy (and sad). But take note y'all. Every year, without fail, when I've seen 4 of the 5 nominations in this category and liked them all, the 5th one that I hadn't seen has won. On 3 separate occasions this has happened. What I'm saying is, watch out for Michael Shannon here.
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kate Winslet in The Reader
Winslet is the one to beat here, I think. Which is awesome, since I irrationally love her and only want good things to happen to her. And I'm still bitter 3 or 4 years later that she didn't win for Eternal Sunshine. But I'm really pulling for Anne Hathaway in a way that almost shocks me. Such a good performance, I want her to win so bad. Did you see her give that toast? I almost melted. The rest of them, though, eh. Streep was good, but of all 4 acting noms for Doubt, I liked hers the least. I have no desire to ever see The Changling. And I've heard off-the-wall amazing praise for Melissa Leo, but I doubt there will ever even be the opportunity for me to see that movie.
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Another one where I don't really have a horse in the race. Obviously I've come to terms with it, and really want Sean Penn to win, but otherwise I'm not going to care too much. I guess I am going to have to see The Wrestler, even though I know it's only going to end badly and make me want to cry (I've learned my lesson: Darren Aronofsky lives only to make movies that depress the crap out of me).
Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Weirdly, I thought this would be a lot closer in my mind, but it's Milk all the way. Slumdog Millionaire is the dark horse, and was great, but I've only got eyes for the one (although I still need to see The Reader). I mentioned it earlier, but I really and truly have no desire or inclination to see that Benjamin Button movie. It looks long, and unappealing, and ever since one of my friends told me that the plot basically mirrors Forrest Gump, I've actively tried to not see it. Which has sort of put a damper on my Oscar fever this year, since it's nominated in basically every category.
Ah well.
Better luck next year.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Big Honking Movie List 2008
Woo for annual traditions. As always, this is the list of every new movie I saw that was technically released in 2008. The list is then sorted by order of preference and divided into 5 categories: Hate, Dislike, Eh, Good, and Great. Theoretically this helps me sort out my feelings as we enter into serious awards time, but as usual it's mostly just an arbitrary mish-mash of conflicting emotions. (Which is better Stop-Loss, or Baby Mama? Of course there is a right answer!)
And also, wow, my movie consumption is way, way down this year. Mostly due to the removal of the Blockbuster membership, but really that's no excuse. My pop culture knowledge is at an all time low.
Anyways, on with the listing!
Movies that I Actively Hated
32. Prom Night
31. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Movies that I Just Disliked
30. Appaloosa (Man, I just do not like Renee Zellweger's squinty face anymore, apparently)
29. Mad Money (Oh, Queen Latifah. How the cast of Chicago has fallen.)
28. Hancock
27. Leatherheads (see: notes for #29 and #30. Confidential to John K - Don't take it personal, I still love you. But seriously, make better movies.)
Movies that I am Basically Ambivalent Towards
26. Charlie Bartlett (wins the award for movie I was certain had come out at least two years ago)
25. Ghost Town
24. Wanted (huge downgrade from my initial impression, but now all I focus on is the Loom of Fate. I can't even remember what James McAvoy looked like minus a shirt. So sad.)
23. Semi-Pro
Movies that were "Good," on a Very Loose Scale that Tightens as We Move Up
22. 27 Dresses (*sigh* the things I do for James Marsden)
21. The Spiderwick Chronicles
20. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
19. The Incredible Hulk (gets a huge bump down on the list because I forgot that it even came out this year, but was still very good)
18. Definitely, Maybe
17. Get Smart
16. Baby Mama
15. Stop Loss (gets a huge bump for being the movie I remember the most that I didn't really like this year)
14. Pineapple Express
13. Hamlet 2 (time has also been very kind to this movie. All I remember is Rock Me Sexy Jesus at this point)
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
11. Twilight (DON'T JUDGE ME)
10. Brideshead Revisited (gets the award for most moved around on the list, because I can't decide how much I liked it)
Movies That Were Excellent
9. Frost/Nixon
8. Iron Man
7. Tropic Thunder
6. The Dark Knight
5. Doubt
4. Cloverfield
3. Rachel Getting Married
2. WALL-E
1. Milk
Some specific notes on the top of the list:
And also, wow, my movie consumption is way, way down this year. Mostly due to the removal of the Blockbuster membership, but really that's no excuse. My pop culture knowledge is at an all time low.
Anyways, on with the listing!
Movies that I Actively Hated
32. Prom Night
31. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Movies that I Just Disliked
30. Appaloosa (Man, I just do not like Renee Zellweger's squinty face anymore, apparently)
29. Mad Money (Oh, Queen Latifah. How the cast of Chicago has fallen.)
28. Hancock
27. Leatherheads (see: notes for #29 and #30. Confidential to John K - Don't take it personal, I still love you. But seriously, make better movies.)
Movies that I am Basically Ambivalent Towards
26. Charlie Bartlett (wins the award for movie I was certain had come out at least two years ago)
25. Ghost Town
24. Wanted (huge downgrade from my initial impression, but now all I focus on is the Loom of Fate. I can't even remember what James McAvoy looked like minus a shirt. So sad.)
23. Semi-Pro
Movies that were "Good," on a Very Loose Scale that Tightens as We Move Up
22. 27 Dresses (*sigh* the things I do for James Marsden)
21. The Spiderwick Chronicles
20. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
19. The Incredible Hulk (gets a huge bump down on the list because I forgot that it even came out this year, but was still very good)
18. Definitely, Maybe
17. Get Smart
16. Baby Mama
15. Stop Loss (gets a huge bump for being the movie I remember the most that I didn't really like this year)
14. Pineapple Express
13. Hamlet 2 (time has also been very kind to this movie. All I remember is Rock Me Sexy Jesus at this point)
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
11. Twilight (DON'T JUDGE ME)
10. Brideshead Revisited (gets the award for most moved around on the list, because I can't decide how much I liked it)
Movies That Were Excellent
9. Frost/Nixon
8. Iron Man
7. Tropic Thunder
6. The Dark Knight
5. Doubt
4. Cloverfield
3. Rachel Getting Married
2. WALL-E
1. Milk
Some specific notes on the top of the list:
- Gigantic downgrade to Frost/Nixon, as when I started this list I had it around #3, but realized that I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I thought on first consideration.
- 6, 7, & 8 are all basically subtitled 'Summer fare that was far better than summer fare has any right to be.' No lie, I spent 15 minutes rearranging their three positions in sequence. I cannot pick between them. In the end, I put DK first because of Heath Ledger's acting, Tropic Thunder second because of Robert Downey Jr's acting, and Iron Man third because of Robert Downey Jr's acting. (Wait...)
- I feel like Doubt is in the right place now, because I place acting above direction in terms of importance. I could very easily see it dropping down below Frost/Nixon though, once the dust settles in my mind.
- Cloverfield is the wild card - probably the movie I enjoyed the most this year, even though empirically it's pretty bad. In other words, it's this years She's The Man.
- The top three are a toss-up. Rachel is probably the best acted movie of the year, and the most affecting, but it has serious pacing issues and rambles off topic too easily. Wall-E is the most enjoyable of the three, but has moralizing issues that keep it down. Milk is an amalgam of the strengths and weaknesses of the other two, but I think in the end it is the most complete and important of them all.
- By far the fewest movies in a year since I graduated college.
- Very few movies I hated this year (I'm stretching with Madagascar, which truth be told was not as horrible as I expected)
- There was just a glut of middling-ly good comedies this year, weren't there? And I didn't even see a bunch of them that I meant to (Zach & Miri, Nick & Nora, etc.)
- Things that I still plan on seeing before the end of the year: Slumdog Millionaire, Repo! The Genetic Opera, and The Reader/Revolutionary Road (so I can get my Kate Winslet fix)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Short-form Reviews Turned Long: Doubt, Frost/Nixon
(So I was trying to write up both these movies for the side panel, and they ended up being so long that they bumped everything else off the main page. Thus, we try alternate text layouts.)
Anyways, as is my regular custom, the last two weeks of the year are easily the busiest I get as far as movies are concerned. The combination of freezing cold, Oscar contenders, and wild shopping stress make for the perfect time to hide for hours at a time in a darkened theater.
This last week I saw Frost/Nixon and Doubt on back to back nights. Their number of similarities are stunning, and they make for a good pair to review in tandem. It also doesn't hurt that both are near the top of my list of best movies this year (which totally isn't getting posted until January this year, because I am extraordinarily lazy right now).
The short-form reviews first:
Frost/Nixon - Tight, powerfully written and acted. The direction is... I guess competent is the word. Good, not great, and I take issue with a couple the devices that frame the whole movie (primarily the use of the documentary-style interviews to intercut tense in-the-moment scenes of action). Frank Langella is in the fight of the year in my mind right now for Best Actor with Sean Penn. Crazy, crazy good performance. Really, everyone brought it to this movie. Sam Rockwell was particularly great despite some tough, almost caricature-level lines to work with. I'd have to say the weakest link in the whole cast was Kevin Bacon, and that was more a failing of the script than the acting, since he had so few lines to develop a ton of character, and it just didn't come through.
Actually that's the only real quibble I have with the whole movie (besides the documentary interview thing - seriously that bugged me) - the way every character that was not Frost or Nixon basically was given a three line summary as characterization and then basically acted as a cardboard cutout through the rest of the movie. I understand that the movie needs focus, and it really is only about them, but I wish there could have been more depth on the sides.
Still, an excellent movie over all. Funny, dramatic, and interesting from start to finish.
Doubt - Grabs you early and never lets go. It's surprising, because the plot description doesn't sound like it would be that compelling. Head nun at a Catholic school suspects an inappropriate relationship between a boy and the local priest (who she already really dislikes). Frankly, it sounds like it would lead to nothing but scene after scene of religious moralizing and speechifying, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for in a movie. But the screenplay avoids almost all of that. Instead we get a real inspection of the nature of doubt and certainty, as played through three complex character-studies. It's unexpectedly enthralling.
I'll try not to gush too much on the acting, but yeah, it's ridiculous. Meryl Streep knocking down the stereotype of stereotypes as the head nun, evening out a characature into a person, by sheer will of personality, basically. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the one who does all the heavy lifting - making sure that everything stays in doubt throughout the whole movie, jumping from guilty to innocent just by the change of an expression. Without him, the movie could have been ruined. And even Amy Adams, who gets an absolute clunker of a character (she is officially type-cast and the naive optimistic one, after Junebug, Enchanted, and now this), manages to steal a few moments to shine, digging into the tiny allowances her part gives her to keep it from being as one-note as it might be.
And I haven't even gotten to Viola Davis, who gets two scenes and like 10 minutes of the movie, but owns the entire thing. Really, it's just unbelievable. I can't do it justice.
I'll go ahead and rail against the film for a while though - it's by no means a great movie. The direction is terrible. Terrible. Shots taken at an angle for no real reason, except to be arty. Heavy handed literal metaphors every other second. I can't stress that part enough - if you were able to go on the merits of acting and script, I would rate this among the best movies ever. As is, with the ham-fisted imagery and shot selection, it's going to drop so far down my list, I have a hard time keeping it in my top 5 this year without wincing. That's just unendingly depressing.
Still, possibly the most worthwhile viewing experience of this entire year (provided you have already gone to see Milk).
---------------
Okay, so that was a complete lie, those reviews were like the opposite of short-form. But they get the individual parts out of the way so I can ramble on about their similarities. Both come from Tony winning plays, and it's very easy to see their roots. Frost/Nixon has the ultra powerful phone call scene, Doubt has both the rainstorm confrontation and the mother vs. nun revelation scene - all amazing things that are done without a spec of action, and are basically nothing but monologues or huge intercut speeches. Not that this is a bad thing (I love great theater) but sometimes it can take you out of the natural moment of the movie. Example: Nixon's phone call soliloquy is brilliant, but even in the character of Nixon (who is prone to rambling eloquence) it seems calculated. Langella gives it his all, for sure, and it comes very close, but you could tell the audience was drawn away from immediacy of the moment, and was instead stuck on the speech. It certainly did not help that Frost's response it basically the same as ours - slack-jawed astonishment.
The whole things is uniformly better handled in Doubt, although Hoffman comes very close to blowing it with all of his yelling at the high points of conflict. The speechy-ness is mostly relegated to natural moments (obviously you're supposed to speechify in a sermon) and the real tough stage-level moments are handled brilliantly (see: Viola Davis' revelations, and one flawless tiny moment by Amy Adams and a student). Keeping stage characters is shockingly difficult (see: any high school production of Shakespeare ever) but when it's handled well, it can give you shivers.
Allow me a small moment for a digression - one of my favorite movies in the entire world is The History Boys, something that fits right into the exact same category as these two movies: brilliant plays adapted to the screen with minimal changes. Just like Frost/Nixon they even kept the original cast intact. But where these two mostly succeeded in avoiding the speech and soliloquy trap that a play naturally entails, The History Boys seemed to revel in it. Just straight-up 'let's stop for a moment because I feel like giving a speech.' And it destroys the rhythm and sense of the movie. Which kills me, because even as-is I find it a completely brilliant, funny, and real experience. Massaged and worked on long enough, it might have been an amazing film on its own right. Instead, it's terrific writing and great scenes, that combine to form a clunky, wheezing machine of a movie.
Okay, diversion mostly over.
The real question that I was trying to get to was: which movie succeeds more? Or which one was better? Yeah, I'm still not sure which question I'm trying to answer. I think in the end, Frost/Nixon is more accomplished, but less important, so it wins on both of those counts, even if it loses the battle for the one that is most compelling.
Obviously, I have issues with the direction of Doubt, which lowers it in my mind, especially in terms of success. But I also take issue with the lack of real accomplishment in Frost/Nixon. Yes, the story is endlessly interesting, but mostly because it's a retelling of a real life event. It has its drama provided for it. I can't help but think that it enjoys far too much of a built in advantage, particularly when there is no real revelation in the execution - even the brilliance that Langella teases out of Nixon isn't unexpected, just interesting. Frost and his cohorts follow the lines, fulfill their underdog role, and the movie winds down. Similarly, this is why I'm so hard on Milk as far as the movie's greatness goes - the story is so fascinating that you wonder if the movie is getting a pass because the plot it's given is enough to carry you along.
Doubt is technically the lesser movie, but has better acting, and makes you think more. I'm not sure how to rate these things into a quantifiable scale. Eh, in the end I still don't have any good answers, but I still have time to mull it over before I come to any hard conclusions. I mean, the Oscars don't happen until like March, right? Plenty of time.
Anyways, as is my regular custom, the last two weeks of the year are easily the busiest I get as far as movies are concerned. The combination of freezing cold, Oscar contenders, and wild shopping stress make for the perfect time to hide for hours at a time in a darkened theater.
This last week I saw Frost/Nixon and Doubt on back to back nights. Their number of similarities are stunning, and they make for a good pair to review in tandem. It also doesn't hurt that both are near the top of my list of best movies this year (which totally isn't getting posted until January this year, because I am extraordinarily lazy right now).
The short-form reviews first:
Frost/Nixon - Tight, powerfully written and acted. The direction is... I guess competent is the word. Good, not great, and I take issue with a couple the devices that frame the whole movie (primarily the use of the documentary-style interviews to intercut tense in-the-moment scenes of action). Frank Langella is in the fight of the year in my mind right now for Best Actor with Sean Penn. Crazy, crazy good performance. Really, everyone brought it to this movie. Sam Rockwell was particularly great despite some tough, almost caricature-level lines to work with. I'd have to say the weakest link in the whole cast was Kevin Bacon, and that was more a failing of the script than the acting, since he had so few lines to develop a ton of character, and it just didn't come through.
Actually that's the only real quibble I have with the whole movie (besides the documentary interview thing - seriously that bugged me) - the way every character that was not Frost or Nixon basically was given a three line summary as characterization and then basically acted as a cardboard cutout through the rest of the movie. I understand that the movie needs focus, and it really is only about them, but I wish there could have been more depth on the sides.
Still, an excellent movie over all. Funny, dramatic, and interesting from start to finish.
Doubt - Grabs you early and never lets go. It's surprising, because the plot description doesn't sound like it would be that compelling. Head nun at a Catholic school suspects an inappropriate relationship between a boy and the local priest (who she already really dislikes). Frankly, it sounds like it would lead to nothing but scene after scene of religious moralizing and speechifying, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for in a movie. But the screenplay avoids almost all of that. Instead we get a real inspection of the nature of doubt and certainty, as played through three complex character-studies. It's unexpectedly enthralling.
I'll try not to gush too much on the acting, but yeah, it's ridiculous. Meryl Streep knocking down the stereotype of stereotypes as the head nun, evening out a characature into a person, by sheer will of personality, basically. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the one who does all the heavy lifting - making sure that everything stays in doubt throughout the whole movie, jumping from guilty to innocent just by the change of an expression. Without him, the movie could have been ruined. And even Amy Adams, who gets an absolute clunker of a character (she is officially type-cast and the naive optimistic one, after Junebug, Enchanted, and now this), manages to steal a few moments to shine, digging into the tiny allowances her part gives her to keep it from being as one-note as it might be.
And I haven't even gotten to Viola Davis, who gets two scenes and like 10 minutes of the movie, but owns the entire thing. Really, it's just unbelievable. I can't do it justice.
I'll go ahead and rail against the film for a while though - it's by no means a great movie. The direction is terrible. Terrible. Shots taken at an angle for no real reason, except to be arty. Heavy handed literal metaphors every other second. I can't stress that part enough - if you were able to go on the merits of acting and script, I would rate this among the best movies ever. As is, with the ham-fisted imagery and shot selection, it's going to drop so far down my list, I have a hard time keeping it in my top 5 this year without wincing. That's just unendingly depressing.
Still, possibly the most worthwhile viewing experience of this entire year (provided you have already gone to see Milk).
---------------
Okay, so that was a complete lie, those reviews were like the opposite of short-form. But they get the individual parts out of the way so I can ramble on about their similarities. Both come from Tony winning plays, and it's very easy to see their roots. Frost/Nixon has the ultra powerful phone call scene, Doubt has both the rainstorm confrontation and the mother vs. nun revelation scene - all amazing things that are done without a spec of action, and are basically nothing but monologues or huge intercut speeches. Not that this is a bad thing (I love great theater) but sometimes it can take you out of the natural moment of the movie. Example: Nixon's phone call soliloquy is brilliant, but even in the character of Nixon (who is prone to rambling eloquence) it seems calculated. Langella gives it his all, for sure, and it comes very close, but you could tell the audience was drawn away from immediacy of the moment, and was instead stuck on the speech. It certainly did not help that Frost's response it basically the same as ours - slack-jawed astonishment.
The whole things is uniformly better handled in Doubt, although Hoffman comes very close to blowing it with all of his yelling at the high points of conflict. The speechy-ness is mostly relegated to natural moments (obviously you're supposed to speechify in a sermon) and the real tough stage-level moments are handled brilliantly (see: Viola Davis' revelations, and one flawless tiny moment by Amy Adams and a student). Keeping stage characters is shockingly difficult (see: any high school production of Shakespeare ever) but when it's handled well, it can give you shivers.
Allow me a small moment for a digression - one of my favorite movies in the entire world is The History Boys, something that fits right into the exact same category as these two movies: brilliant plays adapted to the screen with minimal changes. Just like Frost/Nixon they even kept the original cast intact. But where these two mostly succeeded in avoiding the speech and soliloquy trap that a play naturally entails, The History Boys seemed to revel in it. Just straight-up 'let's stop for a moment because I feel like giving a speech.' And it destroys the rhythm and sense of the movie. Which kills me, because even as-is I find it a completely brilliant, funny, and real experience. Massaged and worked on long enough, it might have been an amazing film on its own right. Instead, it's terrific writing and great scenes, that combine to form a clunky, wheezing machine of a movie.
Okay, diversion mostly over.
The real question that I was trying to get to was: which movie succeeds more? Or which one was better? Yeah, I'm still not sure which question I'm trying to answer. I think in the end, Frost/Nixon is more accomplished, but less important, so it wins on both of those counts, even if it loses the battle for the one that is most compelling.
Obviously, I have issues with the direction of Doubt, which lowers it in my mind, especially in terms of success. But I also take issue with the lack of real accomplishment in Frost/Nixon. Yes, the story is endlessly interesting, but mostly because it's a retelling of a real life event. It has its drama provided for it. I can't help but think that it enjoys far too much of a built in advantage, particularly when there is no real revelation in the execution - even the brilliance that Langella teases out of Nixon isn't unexpected, just interesting. Frost and his cohorts follow the lines, fulfill their underdog role, and the movie winds down. Similarly, this is why I'm so hard on Milk as far as the movie's greatness goes - the story is so fascinating that you wonder if the movie is getting a pass because the plot it's given is enough to carry you along.
Doubt is technically the lesser movie, but has better acting, and makes you think more. I'm not sure how to rate these things into a quantifiable scale. Eh, in the end I still don't have any good answers, but I still have time to mull it over before I come to any hard conclusions. I mean, the Oscars don't happen until like March, right? Plenty of time.
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