Monthly Archives: January 2009

Film

Quantum of Solace musings

 I finally saw the movie and since it’s been out a while,  I think I can add a few spoilers from here onward…..

Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred

Well, the movie was pretty good, and perhaps it is because I went in with very low expectactions.  Yes, the title sequence was a little flat but I thought that blending the female figures into the sand dunes was very creative.  Half the time you thought you were looking at some pattern when there was nothing there.  Musically, it was also very forgettable. However,  they were brilliant in holding the 007 theme until the very end credits.  Part of my brain was in tension awaiting that musical cue, which did not come until the end.  This is a fantastic way of bookending what was obviously part II  of  “Casino Royale”  last year.  And it signals the start of the Daniel Craig years, which should be good.

The villains keep on referring to “our organization” throughout the film,  but they never reveal it to be SPECTRE.  In the end, they make a reference to Quantum, but that would be a bad direction for the series to take.  If they are going back to the classic Bond years, what is better than SPECTRE??  And the plot of this movie was perfect for the “extortion” part of the organization.  Bring back SPECTRE !!!

Good movies steal from the best.  This movie has echoes of “Thunderball” in the death of Agent Fields, the comely young British agent that dies while trying to help Bond.  And echoes of both “GoldFinger” and “For Your Eyes Only”  in the young woman trying to avenge a death in the family.  Excellent stuff.

Also, “Quantum” may be the first Bond movie where the ingredients and process to make the vodka martini are explicitly spelled out.  There may have been a reference to this unique drink in an earlier film, but I don’t think it was as detailed as here, making a nice counterpoint to the Vesper drink which was featured in “Casino Royale.”

Missed Dearly:  Our special armaments agent Q and his gadgets.  And some girls in bikinis,  this is supposed to be escapist entertainment !!!  If the writers can come up with an iconic villain that is not too preposterous in today’s realistic environments that would be great.  Maybe a guy with nanobots that transform him into an animal at convenient times1.

  1. Cybernetic lycanthropy, as Archangel has so succinctly put it [↩]
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Politics, Rants

Obama Inaugural — A Pointless Farce

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Well, now that I have your attention let me soften up a little here.  Any Presidential Inaugural in the United States should be an occassion of joy.  In what other part of the world would you see the reins of government for such a powerful nation change hands so smoothly??  Bush is out and Obama is in, and not a single person has been incarcerated or worse.

Well, maybe I’m premature.  Given the low temperatures at the Inaugural and the fact that you have limited bathroom access and seating, you may yet see a few casualties of the new government.  A word of advice to our older readers: don’t go.  This standing around for 6 hours in freezing cold is for the young.

And it is the young that should be celebrating; they are the ones that put Obama over the top and elected him President.  In their excited fugue state, they are going to go and throw a fantastic party next Tuesday to celebrate the first African-American President of the United States.    But I’m here to throw a little cold water on your party,  a little dose of reality on the Change Band-Wagon that rolled so smoothly over the remains of the GOP ticket last November.   You voted for change but what you’ve been getting is pragmatism: your new President has limited options in the face of a melting economy.  You voted to punish the rich, but it seems that we still need the rich to kick-start the economic engine from its current stupor.  You voted yourselves a ticket to the opening of a cornucopia of endless green energy and bio-fuels, but instead you are standing in the soup line with the rest of us.  Better get out of the line and get behind the serving table: we are going to need all the help we can get.

The euphoria I expect to see next Tuesday reminds me of a fantastic wedding day put together for a couple that never gave much thought to what is needed to form a long-lasting marriage.  The couple was so focused on having a great time at the wedding that they did not plan out the rudiments of a real marriage: a firm financial and emotional foundation for the life-long effort that lay ahead. 

I have heard so much about the menus for the different Inaugural celebrations being held but not much about how folks are going to pay for the meal and the entertainment.  Is this money disposable income or is it coming from your unemployment benefits?  Is it worth spending a piece of your future to get a short-lived high?

This is akin to the feeling you get when your team wins a game.  For a few moments life seems wonderful, but it is a feeling that is built on a meaningless event.   Roger Ebert has a great article on the feeling of elevation  and how you get it at the movies: it is a great sensation but it is built on something less than reality.  When the movie is over, so is the feeling of elation.  It take a little extra effort to turn the memory of that moment into action that lasts a lifetime.   I can only hope that that is what will happen on Inauguration Tuesday.  Go get  your jollies that day, but don’t lay the weight of the future on Mr. Obama; only you and the hard work of a few million others can make it as bright as you are expecting it to be.

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Film, Internet, Television

Common Sense Ratings

Noticed something new on Netflix: a rating that wasn’t from the MPAA. Turns out it’s from an organization called Common Sense Media. It strives to do what Roger Ebert has been doing for years – let parents know when the MPAA got it wrong. However, it goes beyond movies into TV and video games, and goes beyond covering sex and violence into areas like consumerism. It also seems to stress – gasp – talking to your kids about how they should think about what they’re watching.

Sadly, this will probably go completely unnoticed by the parents who need it most. Like that couple complaining that the “free under 3” policy doesn’t apply to R-rated movies. Like the Exorcist. And yes, that’s a true story. We are doomed.

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Film

Are Any Of These Movies Great?

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I’m trying to work on my Best Films of 2008 a little early this year. I went through the list of Oscar-eligible films and copied all the titles I haven’t seen yet that might make my “best of” list. I’m sure some of these are great1 and some have almost no chance, but if you have an opinion (for or against) please comment.
Continue reading Are Any Of These Movies Great? →

  1. The Wrestler, WALL-E, and Slumdog Millionaire are already in the IMDB Top 250; a few others are Ebert 4 star films. [↩]
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Film, Internet

Finding Movies to Watch

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TV shows are in limbo, making this a good time to catch up on those movies you’ve missed. I’ve tried to use Netflix, but it’s recommendation engine is still sub-par.1 Here are two resources that are actually reliable:

Ebert Search: Just select 3.5-4 stars in 2008. You’ll find some interesting stuff from the best film critic in the world.

2008’s Oscar-Eligible Films: Going through the 281 films that can be nominated for the 2009 Academy Awards, I found a lot of interesting films I didn’t have a chance to see.

  1. No matter how I browsed, it never suggested Step Brothers, even though I haven’t rated it, I want to see it, and Netflix predicts I’ll really like it. [↩]
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Film, Music

Mediocre Movies, Good Song

This weekend I watched Meet Bill and Cashback on Netflix downloads. Meet Bill has a great cast, but they’re tied to a messy plot with an unfulfilling ending. It’s also a bit gayer than was strictly necessary. I would have been better off watching American Beauty for the seventh time. Cashback has some hot naked chicks, and while I can relate with the protagonist’s (and director’s, I’m sure) obsession with the beauty of the female form, there wasn’t a lot of there, there. Here, I should have rewatched Art School Confidential. Neither are terrible films, but you can find better. Even on Netflix downloads.1

But coincidentally, both films included Royksopp’s What Else Is There? in their soundtracks. This is a great mid-tempo electronic song with ethereal vocals, so I include it here for your enjoyment:

  1. Netflix’s download selection is notoriously subpar, especially if you discount the classics. Illustrating this, one commenter on IMDB, complaining about Meet Bill, wrote “now I know why it was available for download”. [↩]
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Everything Else

You Talkin’ To Me?

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There was a shooting in a theater on Christmas, and what’s most interesting is what isn’t being discussed. Here’s what went down: a family was laughing and talking very loudly during Benjamin Button, which annoyed other theater goers. Words were had, then popcorn thrown, then fighting broke out, then gunfire.

Here’s another way to put it: an Italian guy shot a black guy in a South Philly movie theater because the black guy’s family wouldn’t keep quiet and the Italian guy is clearly unhinged1.

And nobody is mentioning any stereotypes here. I’ve read several articles, and comments on those articles by people who did not have to pass any tests to comment, and still no mention of race, ethnicity, black, white, stereotypes, etc.

I think this is progress. But I’m not 100% sure.

  1. After the shooting cleared the theater, the shooter sat back down to enjoy the rest of the film. Ah, peace and quiet! [↩]
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Everything Else, Rants, Television

I love a parade–Stephanie Edwards is back!!

Sometimes, the Universe surprises me.  Karma balances out and all is well with the world.

I was pleasantly surprised on New Year’s Morning to find out that Stephanie Edwards is back as co-host of the big Pasadena Rose Brou-ha-ha.  As you may recall, she was unceremoniously dumped several years ago to the surprise of many traditionalists and to the detriment of the local KTLA parade coverage.   I covered the outrage here  and others also picked up this story.    Here she is, soldiering on under one of the few rainstorms to hit the Rose Parade (2006):

Stephanie Edwards in the rain.

But now she is back and her replacement was moved to the sidelines in an ironic turnaround that makes for gossipy good fun.  And for good measure, she returns to a higher-paying salary;  payback is a bitch.

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