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Films Watched 2008 Part 3

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:22:33 -0500

Here is another batch of reviews for films that I have watched...

AFI Top 100
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)	8	The classic John Steinbeck depression-era novel adapted for film, with Henry Fonda and John Carradine.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)	9	We're all familiar with the story of Bonnie and Clyde but this film does a great job of profiling the young bank robber couple and in brilliant color. It also showcases the young acting talent of Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, and even Gene Wilder.
The Wild Bunch (1969)	7	This western, starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, is a pretty good excuse to watch some amazing gun fights. I can't say that I especially cared for the plot but the shots of the wild west, railways, Mexico, and battle scenes made this one worth my while.
Sophie's Choice (1982)	9	Meryl Streep, as Sophie, accomplishes one of the best female acting performance ever (she deservedly won the Oscar that year too). I was blown away with how great she pulled off the Polish accent and I was immediately drawn to her sad sad character. This is a pretty depressing one (aren't all holocaust survivor dramas?) but I highly recommend it.
Tootsie (1982)	7	I rewatched this one recently since I hadn't seen it since I was a youngster. Sydney Pollack directs this film about struggling actor Michael Dorsey (played by Dustin Hoffman) who is out of work and assumes the role of Dorothy Michaels, a spunky say-what's-on-your-mind red-haired soap star. A young Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis appear in this one, as well as Pollack himself. This film is moderately funny but probably not worthy of the AFI Top 100.

Flashback to The Year In Music 1998

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:27:27 -0500

Stealing an idea from my friend Holly and Tripwire.com, I thought it would be good to take a look back at the albums released 10 years ago. This was a pretty pivotal time in my auditory life. It spanned my first and second years of college, a time when I devoured new music and discovered that there was so much other music out there instead of what they play on Top 40 radio. I'd known this for years but had yet to take that plunge. I tried out for my campus' free-format radio station and failed the interview process twice before finally being accepted. Some of the stuff on this list was actually still on the new rack when I started at the radio station, some of it I discovered a few months later, and some I didn't listen to for years. So yeah, 1998 was a pretty good year in music overall I think. My favorites are near the top. Feel free to comment any of your favorites...

Chimpanzee Riding On a Segway

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:29:59 -0500

Dang you They Might Be Giant's-style song for getting stuck in my head all week.

-ick!

Bollywood Thriller Rip-Off

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:18:22 -0500

This video is hilarious. I especially love the faux English translations.

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Nerd Anniversary

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:59:54 -0500

This week is the 40th anniversary of the "Mother of all Demos", Douglas Engelbart's presentation of a new computing system called NLS (or Online System) at the Fall Joint Computer Conference at Stanford University. Why is this important? Because it is the demo that first introduced the world to the concept of the computer mouse, hypertext links, and on-screen text editing. This demo is amazing in the fact that it combined video monitors and cameras with computer images. Check out the video of this historic demo.

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Elk River Camping

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:40:02 -0400

Here are some pictures from a recent camping / float trip on the Elk River in Noel, MO. Despite the last minute change of locations because of flooding in Missouri and the heavy rains during the night, it was a pretty good time. I suppose this will probably be the last time I go camping this year as its starting to look more and more like fall every day.

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Creepiness

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:36:16 -0400

Jimmy

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We Had the Best Time At Your Party

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:57:16 -0400

Last Sunday I got to see one of my favorite bands Ween play an outdoor concert at the Crossroads venue outside of Grinder's. This was the first full show I've seen them play in about 3 or 4 years as I missed them the last time they came through Lawrence. I had seen a couple short festival sets so it's not like their live material was completely foreign to me and a lot of their songs they have been playing for years anyhow. This wasn't the best show I've ever seen them put on but it was still a good time. The show ended a bit abruptly, I am used to their standard two encores but they only played one this time. Their last song morphed into the introduction from the new album "La Cucharacha" at which point Gene Ween left the stage and the rest of the band was left to try and figure out at what point they should finish the song. Rumor has it that they played for another two hours in a small warehouse behind the stage but it must have been a closed door event or something because I don't

Films Watched 2008 Part 2

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:25:27 -0400

AFI Top 100
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)	7	Epic film about the repercussions of intolerance by D.W. Griffith. This film follows four plotlines; religious rivalry in ancient Babylon, the condemnation of Jesus, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, and the modern day morality police's destruction of a young couple. This film is groundbreaking in terms of production, content, and film techniques but the winding plots can make this one a bit hard to get through. It's considered a classic and Griffith's masterpiece but at the time of its release was mostly a failure.
Duck Soup (1933)	9	Classic Marx Brothers' film about dictator Rufus T. Firefly and his declaration of war with neighboring country Sylvania. It takes a lot to make me laugh and this film got me rolling. My favorite line was when Chico was on trial and Groucho tells him "I say we give him ten years at Leavenworth or eleven years at Twelveworth." The mirror gag and battle scenes make this one great. It's basically everything you love about Bugs Bunny only on film.
On the Waterfront (1954)	9	Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint star in this film about an ex-boxer's turmoil with standing up to his corrupt union bosses. This film is amazing visually in it's sad and dreary black and white but the acting is what makes this one a necessary viewing.

Films Watched 2008 Part 1

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:19:01 -0400

AFI Top 100
Frankenstein (1931)	9	THE classic horror film
All About Eve (1950)	9	Bette Davis is fantastic as an aging starlet of the stage. A young Marilyn Monroe makes a short appearance.
An American in Paris (1951)	5	Gene Kelly as a painter in Paris. This film was just an excuse for song and dance.
Giant (1956)	7	Long film set in Texas spanning across many decades. This is James Dean's last role.
Ben-Hur (1959)	8	The chariot race is unbelievable. That's all you need to know to make this worth viewing.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)	7	A bi-racial engagement takes center stage in this one with Sidney Portier.
Nashville (1975)	8	Kansas City-native Robert Altman's drama about the Nashville country music scene during election time. Lots of characters to keep track of which I love.
Network (1976)	9	One of the best films you've never heard of. The setting is a TV network looking for ratings. Won 3 of 5 nominations for Best Acting.
Unforgiven (1992)	7	Clint Eastwood directed western starring himself and Morgan Freeman.

Juno

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:06:55 -0500

I watched the movie Juno yesterday. I liked it but felt pretty strongly that it shouldn't win best film or anything (it didn't). Anyway, there is a scene where Jason Bateman's character is showing Juno his music collection and music equipment. He drops the bomb that he opened for the Melvins back in 1993 and that this was pretty much the high point of music. Later you see him play "Doll Parts" on guitar with her. Schwoo, I really hate moments like this in movies even when they are something I can so closely relate to. Yeah, I used to listen to The Melvins and Nirvana and even Hole but I get this sinking awkward feeling seeing it on screen, like I'm embarassed for that person or there is just something blatantly wrong with it as though it lacks conviction or something. Maybe I just didn't really believe Jason Bateman as this guy or maybe it's because I just think I know better. I get the feeling that this guy is me, or at least what Hollywood is trying to relate me to. Then the scene came on where he pops in The Carpenter's soundtrack with Sonic Youth's cover of "Superstar" and he relays to Juno that this is quite possibly one of the best covers ever done... and this most certainly was ME. I've specifically had this exact conversation on multiple occasions before. And now I figure out what is wrong... it's not the acting necessarily or bad writing even, it's that it gets so bad when a movie has to dumb down music knowledge to reach the average joe. This film might have been better off just leaving out all the music explanations (even though I did appreciate the "Superstar" reference). The book High Fidelity seemed to do a pretty good job of this, sometimes it just takes being elitist and poking fun at yourself for being the way that you are. BTW- whoever was in charge of putting all the Kimya Dawson and Moldy Peaches as the soundtrack for Juno, kudos to you, you could not have been more right on.

Video Power

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:48:31 -0500

Does anybody remember the early 90s show Video Power? I was at work today and was talking about video game theme music with a co-worker and suddenly remembered this gem of a show that I watched religiously as an 11-year old. The premise was pretty simple, make a game show with kids playing video games, we'll throw in a crazy host named Johnny Arcade, and at the and at the end we'll have the winner run through a maze of video games. This labyrinth was what kept me watching. The winning kid got a chance to run through walls and walls of all the hottest video games attaching them to velcro pads on their special suit and helmet. At the end, they'd slide through a tunnel and if they happened to uncover a special prize (I think it was a game that had a gold star under it or something), they would win a big grand prize like a Neo Geo or some other (at the time) elite gaming system. At left, is a picture of the slide.

Films Watched 2007 Part 3

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:13:27 -0500

Alright, here's the final list of films that I watched in 2007. I'm trying something different this time and adding my rating along with it (1-10 with 10 being my opinion of a great film). I'm not a fan of the Netflix 5 star system because it just doesn't seem to offer enough precision and I always have films that are a toss up between one star and another star. Here are my two other lists from this year, 2007 list 1 and 2007 list 2. I've added ratings for those as well. I watched roughly 175 films in 2007, a new personal record and one that I don't hope to break again anytime soon.

AFI Top 100

The Gold Rush (1925) 10

City Lights (1931) 9

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) 8

Swing Time (1936) 9

Bringing Up Baby (1938) 3

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 8

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 8

Sunset Boulevard (1950) 9

A Place in the Sun (1951) 7

Singin' in the Rain (1952) 6

The Searchers (1956) 6

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) 6

Doctor Zhivago (1965) 6

In the Heat of the Night (1967) 9

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 8

Amadeus (1984) 10

Films Watched 2007 Part 2

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:09:17 -0400

I've been pretty busy watching movies this year. Here's all the stuff I've watched since July. Here's a list of the stuff before that. I'd recommend most of these (with the exception of the comic book movie and a couple dumb comedies and horror films. Several of the AFI films were awfully tough to sit through as well. Since I first wrote this entry, I've updated my ratings of them (1-10).

AFI 100 Years... 100 Movies

The General (1927) 9

Sunrise (1927) 7

The Jazz Singer (1927) 6

All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) 7

A Night at the Opera (1935) 9

Stagecoach (1939) 7

The Maltese Falcon (1941) 5

Double Indemnity (1944) 8

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 8

The Third Man (1949) 8

From Here to Eternity (1953) 9

Shane (1953) 5

The Bridge On the River Kwai (1957) 8

12 Angry Men (1957) 9

Some Like It Hot (1959) 9

The Apartment (1960) 10

My Fair Lady (1964) 7

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 8

Midnight Cowboy (1969) 10

M*A*S*H (1970) 9

Patton (1970) 9

The Last Picture Show (1971) 10

Cabaret (1972) 8

Platoon (1986) 9

Goodfellas (1990) 9

4 Months Later

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:39:06 -0400

4 months later and my passport finally arrives. It was supposed to take 10-12 weeks. Now where should I go?

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