Category Archives: Flicks

Dear “Bones”,

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You used to be a show I loved. Two seriously misguided season finales later*, and then last night’s episode was basically an infomercial for Avatar? Are you fucking kidding me? I can only imagine how bad this year’s season finale will be. But that’s right, I’ll ONLY be imagining it.

Sincerely,
we will not be seeing each other again,
because (not so) suddenly you suck,
Duff.

*I gave you a pass on the ridiculously ill-conceived, not-plotted-out reveal of Zach because the first eps of the next season were so fun. But last year’s finale? ALSO SUCKED. And WAS STUPID. And this Avatar bullshit is really the last straw.

BTW, that movie looks really dumb and if you were going to be an hour-long infomercial, you could have picked something better to promote. Like a hot car. Or Beer.

Best of July

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The best movie I saw in July was Hurt Locker. I’ve seen it three times so far. I would love to see it again.

The best book I read in July was “The Death of Sweet Mister” by Daniel Woodrell. It really took my breath away.

The best gig I went to in July was EMPTY ORCHESTRA. They are great and I highly recommend you buy tickets if they come through your town.

My favorite tunes in July were (you guessed it) all from Empty Orchestra. And Ryan Auffenberg singing “Sellout” live. I would like to see him live.

Big Screen: Paper Heart

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An odd little half fake / half true indie piece. One of several sweet lil romances of this summer in film. I guess the fact that I knew all along (before seeing it) which bits were faked made me never really fall for some of it. If you really love the whole awkward geek thing, this may be the ultimate film for you. Jenni and I have a whole routine of us walking around with our sleeves pulled way down and our shoulders hunched and letting out just a funny giggle every once in a while…

Charlyne Yi (writer, star) was there taking questions and it was really funny. I liked her more there in her real self than the self of her that was in this film.

Funny and worth seeing, and some good tunes, and a Michael Cera performance, but ultimately I liked both 500 Days and Away We Go better. (But maybe that’s because I am looking for fantasy, and not reality, on the movie screen.)

Big Screen: Hurt Locker

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Wow. Just…WOW. If you only go to one movie this year, make it this one. (If you go to two movies, make it this one and District 9.)

Really breathtaking filming in how much it puts you right into the minds and hearts of these soldiers and into the insane tense unknown world that is this war right now. There were so many scenes where I was on the edge of my seat…and the choice NOT to explain everything, and NOT to tell you whether something that appeared dangerous really was as dangerous because they went away and never saw the resolution of it… So good.

Well-acted, well-directed. Tour de force. This is brilliant filmmaking. And some other piece of crap is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and I’m going to keep telling you: Hurt Locker is the movie that should win and that you should be watching and talking about and watching.

If I was going to send out my Christmas packages this year (which most likely I won’t be due to lack of any income), this is the movie I would choose.

You may be a little paranoid after seeing it the first time. And the second. You may be noticing every car that’s weaving on the streets, and every passerby who looks at you and then seems to signal to someone else across the road, and every window that suddenly closes right as you walk by it…

But it’s so worth it.

[I liked it so much…I accidentally reviewed it twice! Turns out I told you about it months ago already!

Big Screen: Public Enemies

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I thought this was a good movie, but not a great one.

On the great side, Johnny Depp’s performance was brilliant. The sets, clothing, atmosphere were all well done. The dude playing the agent from Texas was great – and I loved his (kind) lie at the end. Marion Cotillard was wonderful and it was so nice to see her not looking like Edith Piaf on screen! 🙂

On the not as great side, he winds up in jail way too soon. The audience hasn’t been given enough time to know the gang, to know the politics of dealing with the other mobsters. It’s like just as the action was getting good… I thought that was a bad decision in terms of timing. A lot of the dramatic tension was lost after that. And there were a bunch of scenes that I thought felt too flat (and clearly flatter than they were intended). Not enough tension / somewhat balanced out by Depp’s bravura performance, but not entirely.

As Dad said after a re-watch of Point Break: Now there‘s a movie about bank robbers and an obsessive agent that pursues them plus a little romance –Michael Mann, take note.

Best of June

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The best movie I saw in June was probably “Moon” but my favorite movie in June was “Away We Go”.

The best book I read in June was “Motherless Brooklyn” by Jonathan Lethem. Fantastic! I also really liked the short story collection “Emerald City” by Jennifer Egan.

The best gig I went to in June had to be a tie between Metric and Telekinesis!!! Being that I haven’t been going to shows much at all this year, I wish I could remember more about those evenings! But hello June was a long time ago. I know we were standing at the back of the Metro for Metric and it was hot and sweaty but the sounds were great. Oddly I can’t even remember who I went to Telekinesis with. Maybe I was drunk.

My favorite tunes in June were from “Back & Fourth” Pete Yorn‘s awesome, outstanding, lovely latest album. Gee, I guess I liked it.

Big Screen: Hump Day

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A “straight and narrow” dude and his wife are paid a visit by his wildchild former college roommate. Of course Mr. S&N finds himself seduced by the wild side (again, presumably) and the weekend turns into a crazy dare situation based on a festival of amateur porn films that others plan to enter: “we should make a gay porno together. and the reason it’ll be awesome…is because we’re not gay!”

Some of it was funny and some of it was sad; some of it felt true and some of it felt fake. Overall, I’d say there were too many disconnects that weren’t solved.

The director was there for Q&A after the flick. It was interesting to here how little scripted the movie was / sounds like her process if mostly giving the actors free rein “here is what your character is about, now what do you think he would say in this situation?”. Of course, the fact that the director referred to “Zach & Miri Make a Porno” sarcastically pissed me off (she obviously did not “get” Zach & Miri”). I guess she was reacting to being compared to Z&M and not enjoying that fact.

Z&M is a better flick in my opinion.