Though the movie is over-the-top, and utterly preposterous in the way that John Cusack & family keep narrowly escaping getting turned into fossil fuels for the next species that arises to dominate the planet, the movie is not without its charms. At least it wasn’t boring (for the most part – see “pee breaks” above). So I was willing to go with it. It brought me back to those heady teenage days, watching flicks such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, though the scale of 2012 dwarfs any catastrophe Irwin Allen could splatter on the screen in the 70s.

However, there was one thing that I just could not forgive. Granted, the movie takes place over only a period of a day or two. But during that entire time, John Cusack’s character (I could never figure out if he was named Curtis Jackson or Jackson Curtis – even the movie seemed to be confused on that point*) never takes off his tie. He is subjected to all manner of potentially life-ending scenarios, almost literally clawing himself back up from hell at one point, and yet he keeps that dang thing on like it’s the only link that humanity’s survivors will have to their past great civilization. The world is going down in flames, but dammit, I’m going to look good! GQ may not survive the holocaust, but future societies will still know how important fashion is. There’s even an extended sequence near the end of the flick were Cusack spends a lot of time underwater trying to fix a particularly vexing problem, and he still has that damn tie on. I kept thinking it would get caught in the gears he was dealing with, causing him to get crushed to death, but I guess that would’ve been too ironic for the filmmakers.

I tried to rationalize it by saying maybe he just didn’t have time to take off the tie, but there were a few minutes here and there where he wasn’t running/driving/flying/swimming for his life, including some time on an airplane when I think he was sleeping. So maybe he was keeping it on for additional warmth. Or he thought he might need it for a sling or tourniquet or something. I don’t know… it’s just hard to take the End of Humanity seriously when your protagonist is not even flustered enough to remove his tie.

Although at least he did loosen it.

Latre.

* – People kept calling him “Jackson”, and the cover of the book he wrote says “Jackson Curtis”, but at one point he shows his driver’s license to another character and it clearly says “Jackson, Curtis”.

Pet Peeve of the Day: Can Oliver Platt ever play a character who’s not full of himself?

Perplexing Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “pocket pool registration”.

Videogame(s) Played Since Last Blog Update: Still none.

This weekend we watched two features. The first one was Doubt, which is about a scandal at Catholic school in Brooklyn in the 60s. Since I went to a Catholic school in the 60s, I have an interest in such stories. (My attendance at said school was fairly uneventful, aside from developing a great fear of nuns and their punishing superpowers.) I have to say it was one of the most beautifully filmed movies I’ve ever seen. We weren’t even watching the Blu-Ray, just a regular DVD on the PS3, and the colors and detail were amazing. I really believed we were watching Brooklyn from a bygone era, although it looked more like the 50s than the 60s sometimes. The Oscar-level performances by the three leads (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) were all brilliant. The story was enthralling, but I think we wanted a bit less ambiguity in the ending. I’m not just talking about the resolution to the central mystery of the story. The final scene, especially the final line, was a bit too abrupt. And even though the cinematography was excellent, the movie still felt a bit claustrophobic and insular, no doubt because of its genesis on the stage.

The second movie, Wendy and Lucy(which I keep wanting to call Wendy and Lisa), felt even more isolated. This despite the fact that most scenes are outdoors, including some in the woods. It was filmed in Portland Oregon, which was standing in for a smaller Oregon town. It’s about a woman, Wendy, played by Michelle Williams, who is having a very bad couple of days. She’s trying to go to Alaska with her dog Lucy and has just enough money to make it, but then things start going wrong, including her car breaking down and her losing her dog. This could have been a more interesting character piece if they had actually gone into the background of the character and told us how she got to this state. But instead it’s more of a short “slice of life” story, one small chapter in the middle somewhere, with no real beginning or end. The whole thing is pretty sad and depressing, but somehow appropriate for watching in bed on a Sunday morning. Williams did a decent job with the material, and the few scenes were she got really frustrated, angry, or scared hinted at what her performance could’ve been and where a more interesting story could’ve gone. Too bad we don’t get to see that story.

Administration Note: I’m avoiding including pix in posts lately until I figure out what I want to do about a new WordPress theme. The fewer pictures I include, the fewer posts I potentially have to go back and edit if I change themes.

Latre.

Pet Peeve of the Day: Waning support for the PlayStation 3.

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “special k has changed from original flakes”.

Videogame(s) Played Since Last Blog Update: inFamous demo (PS3), PlayStation Home.

Oh, it can be cool and everything, but will it ever really rise above “gimmick” status? James Cameron says (I think) that all his movies are going to be 3D from now on, which probably explains why it takes him ten years to make one. Yeah, I saw Beowulf in 3D IMAX, and that did draw me into the movie, but I never did see the non-3D version to compare.

Recently, there were a couple of SuperBowl ads in 3D, including a trailer for the upcoming animated movie Monsters Vs Aliens. Even though I knew about the gimmick beforehand, I didn’t go out and seek the 3D glasses. I wasn’t even quite sure how to do that, though I knew that it was a promotion through Sobe Life Water and I guess that glasses were available at store displays. Did you have to make a purchase? From the commercials, the glasses didn’t look like the old standard red/blue glasses, which I have plenty of from old 3D comics. Anyway, when I saw that 3D trailer without glasses, it of course looked fuzzy, like there was an aura around everything. That lessened my enjoyment of it and I was bummed.

I haven’t been watching the TV show Chuck this season, since I was pretty marginal about it the first season. But as part of this same promotion, last night’s episode was in 3D, which you needed the same glasses to view. It wasn’t enough of an enticement to get me to watch the show again, although perhaps I would’ve if I did have the glasses. My friend Pilto does still watch the show, and when he attempted to watch it (DVRed) without the glasses, he was too bothered by the fuzziness and couldn’t do it. Today he was searching out the glasses so he could watch it tonight, and I guess I’ll find out tomorrow if he was successful. He may end up just having to delete the episode unwatched, which says to me that this gimmick failed.

And even when 3D works, is it too distracting? Does it draw too much attention to itself and pull focus (ha ha) away from the story? I don’t believe that any kind of audiovisual enhancement technology where you have to wear something on your head is ever going to catch on in a big mainstream way. It’s just too uncomfortable and dorky. It’s bad enough I sometimes have to wear wireless headphones when watching noisy shows TV in order to not disturb the girlfriend. (Although I must say it does make understanding dialog easier for these aging ears.) Once they get 3D working without glasses, then perhaps it will become the entertainment norm. But since the world is a hologram anyway, will it really matter?

Latre.

Yes, I know I used the word “glasses” approx 200 times in this post. You try finding another word for it. I suppose I could’ve stuck in one or two uses of “spectacles”, but what’s the point?

Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Exercising Since Last Bog Update: None, since I haven’t exercised. No sooner did I get over my cold then my right foot started hurting when I walk. Good thing I’m getting a lot of use out of that new gym membership!

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “how to get rid of crabs for guys”.

Videogame(s) Played Since Last Blog Update: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

That’s it. I’ve had it. I give up. I’m not going to watch the Academy Awards this year. This is ridiculous.

Here’s my interpretation of what went on behind the scenes at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (I know this isn’t really how it works, but play along with me here):
—————————–
Academy Elitist 1: “Okay, for Best Picture, we’ve got Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, and Milk. We need one more. Any suggestions?”

Academy Elitist 2: “What about The Dark Knight. It got great reviews, and really brought people into the multiplexes this summer, thereby reversing an alarming trend of dropping box office receipts and helping to revive our moribund, morally-bankrupt industry in these troubling economic times. Plus, it was a whopping good tale! Heck, it was the second highest grossing movie of all time! It showed that we can make a serious movie about superheroes that really has something to say and which everyone can enjoy.”

Academy Elitist 3: “The Batman movie?? Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Academy Elitists 1, 4-10: “Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Academy Elitist 1: “Didn’t we already throw a sop to the geek crowd with Return of the King?”

Academy Elitist 2: “Yeah, but that was five whole years ago. Memories are short!”

Academy Elitist 3: “Jackson accepted the Oscar in his bare feet, fer chrissakes. We don’t need a repeat of that shit. That King Of The World crap from Cameron was bad enough. See what happens when we award movies people like?”

Academy Elitist 2: “They actually tune into the Oscar telecast?”

Academy Elitist 1: “Who cares. Besides, we’re already throwing out the Supporting Actor to Ledger, who won’t even be there to accept it, so that should be enough for the plebes.”

Academy Elitist 4: “Isn’t there already enough comic book movies? If we nominate Dark Knight, then won’t there be even more of them? I want to act in some real films, not prance around on screen in a cape and tights!”

Academy Elitist 2: “Shut up, Clooney.”

Academy Elitist 3: “That settles it. It’s a new spirit of Elitism in Washington and Hollywood. Fifth spot’s still open. How about Doubt?”

Academy Elitist 1: “Not depressing enough. Plus, the critics generally liked it.”

Academy Elitists 4-10: “Down with the Critics!!”

Academy Elitist 4: “Iron Man? Ha ha, just kidding. Downey killed, though.”

Academy Elitist 5: “We’ll just give him a nod for Tropic Thunder instead then. So how about Gran Torino? Or The Changeling?”

Academy Elitist 3: “You’re still afraid that Eastwood’s going to kick your ass if he doesn’t get nominated, aren’t you? And the creator of Babylon 5 wrote The Changeling, so the geeks would like it to get nominated. Let’s shut it out of a screenplay award too.”

Academy Elitist 4: “Babylon 5? What’s that? Aren’t you embarrassed to know about that?”

Academy Elitist 1: “How about The Reader? It’s got everything: WWII, Nazis, a war crime trial, Kate Winslet having an affair with a kid. Plus, it got very mixed reviews by the critics: 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and 58% on Metacritic. And if we nominate it, we get the usual kickback from Harvey and Co.”

Academy Elitist 4: “Perfect! It’s just the kind of movie we want to put on display as the pinnacle of Hollywood achievement. We’ll show Middle America who’s in control!”

Academy Elitist 1: “Okay, now on to Best Director…”
—————————–
I admit I haven’t seen The Reader (or any of the nominated films) yet, but c’mon. Really, AMPAS? The Reader? Really? Do you always have to reserve that fifth spot for the Weinsteins? Didn’t you learn your lesson with Chocolat?

This is just beyond disgusting. I won’t be tuning into your self-congratulatory spectacle this year, Mr Academy. So take that!

And yes, I know DK probably would not win, but it should’ve at least been nominated.

Latre.

Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Exercising Since Last Blog Update:

• “I Don’t Know What It Is” (Pete Shelley)
• “Demon’s Kiss” (Blue Öyster Cult)
• “Adventure Rocket Ship” (Robyn Hitchcock)
• “A Decade Under the Influence” (Taking Back Sunday)
• “What Goes On” (Midnight Oil)
• “Linus And Lucy” (Game Theory)
• “China Crisis” (Hefner)
• “My Alibi” (Lloyd Cole)
• “Wasteland” (Maxïmo Park)
• “Point of Exhaustion” (The Hyphens)
• “Marquette County, 1959″ (Great Lakes Myth Society)
• “Karaoke Plays” (Maxïmo Park)
• “Migrane” (The Coral)
• “She’s Not The Enemy” (Jason Falkner)
• “Never Sad Again” (Poole)
• “Rock and Roll Rhythm” (Fancey)
• “Time For Tea” (Madness)

Additional Pet Peeve of the Day: Hollywood’s recent fascination with the subject of my main phobia. I’ve already been told that I can’t go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Now, it looks like I can’t go see the new Henry Selick/Neil Gaiman flick Coraline. It’s a shame, since Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I quote from the description of the trailer in the above article: It will give you chills, and if you weren’t originally afraid of buttons, Gaiman will make you shiver every time you put on your winter coat. So even those without my phobia run the risk of developing it if they see this movie.

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “no pudding with my beef song”.

Videogame(s) Played Since Last Blog Update: Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia (DS)

I’ve been really interested in finding out more about this Hitler-assassination plot since I first saw it dramatically rendered in an old Winds of War (or whatever) miniseries. The movie goes into a lot more detail about the plot than the TV show I saw, and I realized there was a quite a bit I didn’t know about it. For example, the movie spends a lot of time setting up the plan for what would happen after Hitler’s death, which in some ways is more important than the actual assassination itself. The German resistance was interested in not only offing Hitler, but in stopping the war and preserving Germany. It doesn’t do much good to chop off the head if the body continues on its bloody way. So I was fascinated to see the details on all that, and was really surprised to see how the conspirators even got Hitler to (literally) sign off on part of the plan to bring him down. The resistance came amazingly close to achieving their objectives and were done in by a few pieces of bad luck, including a table leg. It’s really edge-of-the-seat stuff.

I wasn’t totally convinced by Cruise’s portrayal of chief conspirator Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, although I do have to say he bears an amazing resemblance to him. Director Bryan Singer made the decision to have everyone act using their own accents instead of a German one, in order to keep dialog distractions at a minimum. I can see why he did it, but it ends up sounding odd, especially since Cruise is one of the few people with an American accent, and most of the rest have British ones. Even though Cruise is in nearly every scene, he at least doesn’t dominate the picture as much as you’d think. There’s some nice ensemble acting. Bill Nighy does a great job losing himself in the role of General Friedrich Olbricht, and I didn’t even recognize Kenneth Brannagh until the end credits rolled.

I had a good time and was fitfully entertained. I just wish I hadn’t drunk a big old pop and had to pee really bad for the last half hour or so. I didn’t want to miss any of the movie. I gotta stop doing that!

I found it interesting that the admonishments before the movie about not talking and turning off your cell phone now include warnings about “texting”. The times, they are a-changing.

Happy New Year, everyone! Latre.

Pet Peeve of the Day: Actually, this one’s a major peeve. The theaters that I go to now have changed the way they serve soft pretzels. It used to be they heated them up in a toaster oven-like thing, like they do at pretzel stands in the mall. Now, they heat them in a microwave inside a bag. They give you a couple of packets of coarse salt along with the pretzel inside the bag, and you’re supposed to add the salt to the bag yourself and shake it up so that the salt covers the pretzel. Not only does this method inadequately coat the pretzel with the salt, but microwaving soft pretzels results in a less than satisfactory culinary experience, especially after they start to get cold. Guess I’ll have to switch to popcorn.

Unknown Fact Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “peepios are cereal with apple juice in it.”.

Videogame(s) Played Recently: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS). Massive addiction to this game!

The Yokai are brought to life in a number of different ways, including makeup/prosthetics, puppetry, CGI, and what appeared to me to be stop-motion animation (the machine creatures). There’s a big walking wall with a face in the middle. There’s a one-eyed, one-legged closed umbrella with a huge tongue. There’s a lady who can extend her neck like Plastic Man. And there’s an annoying guinea pig/cat creature that makes whimpering noises and is a puppet that looks less lifelike than a tribble. (Tadashi falls hard for this insufferably cute furball.) And thousands, yes thousands other. At times the special effects look really cheap and obvious (especially the people in rubber suits), but it does seem to fit the vibe of the movie just like in old Doctor Who episodes. Chiaki Kuriyama (from Kill Bill and Battle Royale) makes an appearance as the bad guy’s underling, and she sports a stunning white beehive hairdo and a clothing ensemble that spontaneously changes at will. If your movie has Chiaki Kuriyama in it, you know it’s got to be good. Or at least weird.

The movie definitely held my interest and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. I would love to show it to my niece and nephews to see what they think. There are some pretty scary and gross scenes in it, especially as Tadashi comes gradually into contact with the spirit world, but I’m sure it’s nothing worse than what they’ve seen on the screen countless times before.

The movie also features a journalist who spends much of the movie drunk (which helps him to see the Yokai), although it doesn’t appear to be Kirin Beer that he’s drinking. And hey, there’s a giant flying monster in it that crushes much of Tokyo and whom the locals mistake for Gamera, so if that’s not an enticement to see a movie, I don’t know what is. Also great: Tadashi’s reaction when he puts on the traditional Kirin Rider garb (”It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”). And the moral of the movie is “don’t throw anything away, even if it’s broken, dirty, or worthless”, which is a lesson we all could learn.

Latre.

Pet Peeve of the Day: I did my first session at the fitness center yesterday, which included the fitness orientation. I learned how to use the various strengthening machines, which I’ve barely even seen before. I wasn’t sore afterwards in any of the ways I thought I would be, although the calf muscle in my left leg has really tightened up. I think that was from the run on the treadmill, although it forgetting to stretch was probably an issue. Paula, you’re right. Running on a treadmill is not like jogging. I was most surprised at how disoriented I was after dismounting the treadmill.

Disturbing Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “corbin bernsen hairy chest”.

Videogame(s) Played Recently: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS), Castlevania Chronicles (PSN), Wipeout HD (PS3)

For those of you complaining that I haven’t watched enough action movies lately, I just did a double feature over the last two nights. Some spoilers await below.

The first was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I didn’t think it was as bad as people said, but it wasn’t that great either. An enjoyable little romp. In the extras, George Lucas says that since the original Indy trilogy was a homage to the serials of the 30s and 40s, this new one was supposed to be a homage to the SciFi B-movies of the 50s. Well, okay. Then it all makes a little more sense. Or not. It still seemed a lot like an Indiana Jones movie than a 50s schlockfest to me. Simply putting aliens (excuse me, “extradimensionals”) into your movie does not make it a 50s B-movie, especially when said aliens don’t really do anything except merge together, turn Cate Blanchett into her component atoms, and disappear in a big saucer. That’s more like a Steven Spielberg movie than an Ed Wood one. Although having Indy survive a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator, and having Indy and the gang survive multiple spills over very high waterfalls, does definitely land the movie into B-movie territory.

Much better was Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. It just did everything better than IJ4. Even the requisite emotional subplots (”Liz is pregnant!”, “Abe’s in love!”) somehow seemed more engaging and “truer” than the ones in IJ4 (”Indy has a son!”, “Indy’s old!”). And of course it was much more of a feast for the eyes. Guillermo del Toro knows a lot about putting fantastical creations on the screen. I thought the the humor was… funnier, too. The sequel was definitely better than the original. Kudos for giving the supporting cast, esp Doug Jones’ Abe Sapien, more to do this time.

The Blu-Ray HiDef presentations of both were spectacular, but I again have to give the nod to HB2, in both the visual and audio departments. The picture for IJ4 looked a little washed-out, not so sharp, like it was done on purpose to look more like those old 50s movies and like the original Indy trilogy. HB2 is one of those movies you could watch over and over again and see or hear something new in the details.

I think Spielberg and Lucas (not to mention Ford) are just getting too old for this sort of thing. Luckily, there’s a lot of torch-passing going on.

Have a great Christmas, everyone!

Latre.

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “where are they now loud family”.

Videogame(s) Played Yesterday: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

For all of you complaining that I haven’t been watching manly enough movies lately – ha! Last night N and I watched a flick that was filled with fast action and violence. Kung Fu Panda is the story of an incompetent, clumsy son of a noodle chef who is called upon to become the legendary Dragon Warrior and save the village from the wrath of a martial arts master gone rogue (Ian McShane – it’s good to see he’s not getting typecast from Deadwood). It’s a classy flick that not even Jack Black (who stars as the titular hero) could… um… “declassy”. Sure, it has all the clichés of this type of movie, but at least it does it in a different way. For example, the training montage involves food and made me very hungry.

The Blu-Ray presentation was spectacular. N kept remarking on how colorful and live and vibrant it looked in glorious 1080p, and I agreed. Nice TrueHD sound too. The perfect holiday season pick-me-up movie. Watch through the end credits!

In a bit of synchronicity, I watched this movie on the same day that my 14-year old nephew got his Black Belt in Tae Kwan Do. That’s a very young age for such an accomplishment and I’m very proud of him! His parents held a a victory celebration for him after the belt test. Even though he was stressed out beforehand about the test, he kept saying afterward that it wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. It’s good to know I’ve got a martial arts prodigy in the family! I certainly couldn’t have done what he did.

Latre.

Pet Peeve of the Day: The Q company! As I figured would happen, they charged me more for the DSL upgrade than they said they would. Guess I’ll be spending a lot of time on the phone with billing on Monday!

The Flying McCoys, 12/2/2008:

The name of the TV show/movie is Sex and the City, not Sex in the City. Why can’t the non-fans ever get that right?? Sheesh.

And who’s the dude on the far left?

Latre.

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “phobia that starts with q”.

Videogame(s) Played Yesterday: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

This weekend the gf and I watched the Blu-Ray disc of one of the latest from the Judd Apatow hit factory, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. (Shhhh, don’t tell my friend Miles.) It’s the story of a slacker loser dude (played by How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segel, who also wrote the movie) who inexplicably has a hot TV star girlfriend (played by Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell). He loses the girl and goes to Hawaii to recover, only to find that the girlfriend is also there with her new rock star boyfriend (played by British funnyguy Russell Brand). He then falls for a local girl (played by That 70’s Show’s Mila Kunis). That’s pretty much all there is to the story, but what it lacks in plot, it makes up for in humor. N and I both thought it was hilarious. Brand is especially good as the full-of-himself but not-quite-all-there rock star, a part that was originally supposed to be an older, uppercrust British writer, according to the extras on the disc.

I noticed too late that there were two versions of the movie on the disc, and we watched the theatrical version instead of the unrated, extended one. Which worked out okay, since it was shorter, and N dislikes padded movies anyway. She always prefers the original versions. Anyway, someday I would like to see that longer version, even if she doesn’t want to. Funny movie, though it does make you question how someone like Segel got someone like Bell in the first place, even if it does turn out she’s not exactly a prize herself. It also made me really miss Veronica Mars, as Bell is pretty much wasted on Heroes. She could have a decent movie career though as long as she can avoid falling into the Sarah Michelle Gellar Trap. It may be too late, as she’s already starred in one American version of a Japanese horror movie.

The Hawaiian scenery is gorgeous and the usual Apatow players (Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, etc) are all at their best, even though their parts are pretty small. Recommended!

Latre.

Pet Peeve of the Day: The inconsistent Denver Broncos. Not even the players themselves can explain why they suck at home and against bad teams, and then do well on the road and against good teams. It was really refreshing reading the interviews this morning, with the players going “Frankly, we don’t know what our problem is. We’re out there on the field playing the game every week and not even we can figure out what the !@#$% is going on. If you know, please e-mail Mike Shanahan.”

Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “do roses smell”.

Videogame(s) Played Today: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)