logisticslad: (me)
Saw Man of Steel tonight and truly disliked it. In an effort to update the story for today's audience, they glorified many of the things that I find unpalatable in comics today (e.g., excessive violence, questionable morality, ridiculous plotting) and effectively gutted the heart of what makes Superman a hero. Yes, Henry Cavill looked great in the suit and there was a strong cast, but I felt that the dialogue was clunky and the script was inconsistent and caused the characters to do things that they simply would not do. I did not feel that there was an inspirational moment in the entire movie, and so for me, this was not Superman.
logisticslad: (Default)
Saw Scott Pilgrim vs the World tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it! An hilarious mix of romantic comedy, comic books, and video games, it had me laughing throughout. They played it so over the top and yet it had a sweet center to it. Two thumbs up from me!!
logisticslad: (Default)
I only saw a few movies in the theaters in 2009:

Push
Coraline
Watchmen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Star Trek
Pop Star on Ice
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Avatar

I enjoyed each of them, but I have only bought Watchmen on DVD and will probably buy Harry Potter, Wolverine, and maybe Star Trek. The others were fun, but I don't necessarily need to see them again. I am looking forward to renting Julie and Julia when it comes out and I may go see Sherlock Holmes. Consequently, I am not very well prepared for the Oscars, but then again, I often don't see the nominated movies until I can rent them.
logisticslad: (Default)
Finally saw the remake of Fame this weekend. The original remains one of my favorite movies. It told the story of artistically talented kids attending the High School of Performing Arts and grappling with all sorts of coming of age issues. It dealt honestly with teenage sexuality (and I saw it at the time I was exploring similar issues) and had wonderful performances and memorable music. The remake told a similar story, but by virtue of not spending enough time with each character, lacked the emotional depth of the original. The performances were entertaining, but I didn't find the music particularly memorable (except for the new version of Out Here on My Own). The teachers were wonderfully portrayed (thank you Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth, Megan Mullaly, Charles S Dutton, and Debbie Allen as the Principal). The students each had promise, but their various storylines were handled so superficially that it just didn't resonate for me. I believe that the male ballet dancer was supposed to have the gay storyline, but that was never developed. Most of the student storylines were not satisfactorily resolved - are we supposed to believe that the angry black kid is now well adjusted because he could express himself in his music? or that the talented singer with the need to express herself despite her father's controlling expectations is now fully self actualized? Various scenes from the original were redone in this movie (for example, the hot lunch jam, the Rocky Horror-esque dressing room, the stepping in front of the subway scene), but none of them really added anything new to it. It was fun to see the So You Think You Can Dance alumna perform, but her storyline was even more painful to watch than some of the others. All in all, it was entertaining for the performances, bit not a must see.
logisticslad: (Default)


Thanks to for the link.
logisticslad: (wolvie)
Saw it tonight with [profile] defenestr8tor and liked it a great deal...

Snickty Goodness )

Picked up the Wolverine special from Free Comic Book Day in honor of the film!

Fanboy

Mar. 6th, 2009 03:35 am
logisticslad: (Default)
I just got home from seeing the midnight premiere of Watchman. I was totally blown away by the movie and very satisfied with the adaptation. It was freaking awesome!!!
logisticslad: (Default)
On Saturday, [personal profile] defenestrator and I saw a matinee of the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still at the IMAX theater. I thought that it certainly wasn't as good as the original, but it had some good parts on its own.

Read more... )

Movies

Aug. 27th, 2008 10:45 am
logisticslad: (Default)
While trying to survive my sinus woes, I watched two movies on DVD: The Spiderwick Chronicles and Once.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is about a family that moves into a house that is protecting a book filled with the secrets of the fairy world. The kids find the book and have to keep it out of the hands of the darker fey creatures led by the Ogre, played Nick Nolte. The kids made a number of obvious mistakes in their battle with the Ogre, but I suppose those were plot devices designed to heighten the tension. The movie concentrated on the cool fairy effects and gave short shrift to the characters, and overall was enjoyable, but nothing special.

Once is a story of a Guy and a Girl in Ireland with musical talents and rocky other relationships. They meet, make music, and inspire each other to address their other relationship issues. It is presented very intimately, almost like a documentary, and neatly captures the feeling of what it is like to work together creatively on something that one feels passionate about. I found it to be moving as it felt like it was describing something real. Plus the music was pretty good, too!

Vacation!

Jul. 29th, 2008 11:46 am
logisticslad: (Default)
Now that my summer course is done, I've decided to take a vacation. Actually, it will be mostly a "staycation," since I plan to spend much of it working on house projects and catching up on reading for fun and watching Dr Who, as well as visiting with family and friends. So far, I've gone to a birthday pool party, helped my brother take the kids to two kid birthday parties, seen Dark Knight (it was wonderful, but it did give me nightmares), played bridge, bought light sconces for the bathroom, mowed the lawn, noodled around on facebook, and played with the cats. I received a clean bill of health at my dental check up, and I got myself a haircut. My major house project will be finishing all the fine detail touch up painting in the upstairs bathroom. I do have a bit of work to do during my time off (final grades, getting pieces of a new grant together, writing some recommendation letters), but I can fit it in at my leisure. After lunch, I plan to do battle with the strangling clematis vine that is clinging to my lilac and butterfly bush. In the meantime, I am trying to remember what relaxing feels like.
logisticslad: (Default)
This morning, M. went for a run with his Frontrunners group and I joined him for coffee afterwards. I've been being good to my ankle and it has been feeling better, but I think it was wise that I declined the invitation for a morning run or stroll. Some more of his friends came for coffee and then he went off to the gym with one of them and I went wandering.

I went to the Renwick Gallery of American Crafts and saw a fascinating exhibit on quilting during the pioneer era. The detail, innovative fabric choices (one quilt was made out of neckties!), colors, themes, and craftsmanship were quite amazing. The blurbs talked about how quilting was one of the few means of artistic expression available to frontier women and how they formed community around the activity.

I met up with M. in Dupont Circle after pokng through Kramer Books, the CD/DVD store, and Lambda Rising. We had a late lunch of Mexican food and then M. and I went to the National Gallery to see the Edward Hopper special exhibit. It was incredible. Hopper is the American artist who among other things did Nighthawks (that's the one where several people are sitting at Phillies Diner late at night), Automat, and Chop Suey. He specialized in painting unusual views of cities and towns inhabited by individuals depicted as tense or lonely or engaged in their own thoughts. He masterfully rendered sunlight and shadow to create dramatic tension in depictions of lighthouses, rooftops, and windows. It was a full retrospective of many of his major works and very crowded. I was very glad to have seen it.

Next we went to the E Street cinema to see The Darjeeling Limited. We both really enjoyed it and spent most of our time talking about it over a yummy Ethiopian food dinner at Zeds. It is about a group of broken people's search for family. It's the sort of film that one should see twice to be sure to catch everything. Well acted and well directed, it also featured one of my favorite foreign songs Les Champs Elysee at the end. It's a cerebral comedy and I'd recommend it to those who like that sort of thing (If you liked I "Heart" Huckabees or The Royal Tannenbaums then you'd probably like this movie).

Tomorrow, I get up early in order to take the Metro to my friend's place, where I will ride up to Philly with them to play D&D and have wine and cheese all day. It's been being a very satisfying vacation!
logisticslad: (bella)
Top 11 Lesbian/Bi moments in F&SF - How cool is that?

http://www.afterellen.com/TV/2007/10/topscifimoments
logisticslad: (Default)
Saw Stardust today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well adapted, well acted, well visualized. It rocked!


ETA: I looked it up in IMDB and discovered that Sarah Alexander, who was wonderful in Coupling, played Empusa, one of the witches!!!
logisticslad: (Default)
This weekend I saw Bridge to Terebithia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398808/ and found it to be very moving and enjoyable. Had I read this book as a kid, it would have been one of my favorites. It's the story of a young boy (played by one of the kids from Zathura) and a young girl (played by Violet from the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) who are both artistic (he's an aspiring artist and she's an aspiring writer) and outcasts at school. Together they create a magical world to play in as a way to deal with their problems. It had more depth than I expected due to a tragic event that occurs in the story, and it resolved very satisfyingly. I'd certainly recommend it (although I think that kids under 9 might find it challenging). I loved the sense of wonder it faithfully conveyed throughout the movie.
logisticslad: (Default)
Inspired by [personal profile] allanh Wow! I've seen a lot of movies...

Academy Award Nominated Pictures: Bold the ones you've seen.

1927/28 (1st): The Racket, 7th Heaven, Wings

1928/29 (2nd): Alibi, In Old Arizona, The Broadway Melody, Hollywood Revue, The Patriot

1929/30 (3rd): All Quiet on the Western Front, The Big House, Disraeli, The Divorcee, The Love Parade

1930/31 (4th): Cimarron, East Lynne, The Front Page, Skippy, Trader Horn

1931/32 (5th): Arrowsmith, Bad Girl, The Champ, Five Star Final, Grand Hotel, One Hour with You, Shanghai Express, The Smiling Lieutenant

1932/33 (6th): Cavalcade, A Farewell to Arms, 42nd Street, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Lady for a Day, Little Women, The Private Life of Henry VIII, She Done Him Wrong, Smilin' Through, State Fair

1934 (7th): The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Cleopatra, Flirtation Walk, The Gay Divorcee, Here Comes the Navy, The House of Rothschild, Imitation of Life, It Happened One Night, One Night of Love, The Thin Man, Viva Villa!, The White Parade

1935 (8th): Alice Adams, Broadway Melody of 1936, Captain Blood, David Copperfield, The Informer, Les Miserables, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mutiny on the Bounty, Naughty Marietta, Ruggles of Red Gap, Top Hat

1936 (9th): Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, The Great Ziegfeld, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls

1937 (10th): The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, Dead End, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, The Life of Emile Zola, Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door, A Star Is Born

1938 (11th): The Adventures of Robin Hood, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Boys Town, The Citadel, Four Daughters, Grand Illusion, Jezebel, Pygmalion, Test Pilot, You Can't Take It with You

1939 (12th): Dark Victory, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights

1940 (13th): All This, and Heaven Too, Foreign Correspondent, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, Kitty Foyle, The Letter, The Long Voyage Home, Our Town, The Philadelphia Story, Rebecca

1941 (14th): Blossoms in the Dust, Citizen Kane, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Hold Back the Dawn, How Green Was My Valley, The Little Foxes, The Maltese Falcon, One Foot in Heaven, Sergeant York, Suspicion

1942 (15th): The Invaders, Kings Row, The Magnificent Ambersons, Mrs. Miniver, The Pied Piper, The Pride of the Yankees, Random Harvest, The Talk of the Town, Wake Island, Yankee Doodle Dandy

1943 (16th): Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Heaven Can Wait, The Human Comedy, In Which We Serve, Madame Curie, The More the Merrier, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Song of Bernadette, Watch on the Rhine

1944 (17th): Double Indemnity, Gaslight, Going My Way, Since You Went Away, Wilson

1945 (18th): Anchors Aweigh, The Bells of St. Mary's, The Lost Weekend, Mildred Pierce, Spellbound

1946 (19th): The Best Years of Our Lives, Henry V, It's a Wonderful Life, The Razor's Edge, The Yearling

1947 (20th): The Bishop's Wife, Crossfire, Gentleman's Agreement, Great Expectations, Miracle on 34th Street

1948 (21st): Hamlet, Johnny Belinda, The Red Shoes, The Snake Pit, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1949 (22nd): All the King's Men, Battleground, The Heiress, A Letter to Three Wives, Twelve O'Clock High

1950 (23rd): All about Eve, Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, King Solomon's Mines, Sunset Blvd.

1951 (24th): An American in Paris, Decision before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, A Streetcar Named Desire

1952 (25th): The Greatest Show on Earth, High Noon, Ivanhoe, Moulin Rouge, The Quiet Man

1953 (26th): From Here to Eternity, Julius Caesar, The Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane

1954 (27th): The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, On the Waterfront, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Three Coins in the Fountain

1955 (28th): Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Marty, Mister Roberts, Picnic, The Rose Tattoo

1956 (29th): Around the World in 80 Days, Friendly Persuasion, Giant, The King and I, The Ten Commandments

1957 (30th): The Bridge on the River Kwai, Peyton Place, Sayonara, 12 Angry Men, Witness for the Prosecution

1958 (31st): Auntie Mame, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Defiant Ones, Gigi, Separate Tables

1959 (32nd): Anatomy of a Murder, Ben-Hur, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Nun's Story, Room at the Top

1960 (33rd): The Alamo, The Apartment, Elmer Gantry, Sons and Lovers, The Sundowners

1961 (34th): Fanny, The Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg, West Side Story

1962 (35th): Lawrence of Arabia, The Longest Day, Meredith Willson's The Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty, To Kill a Mockingbird

1963 (36th): America America, Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, Lilies of the Field, Tom Jones

1964 (37th): Becket, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Zorba the Greek

1965 (38th): Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools, The Sound of Music, A Thousand Clowns

1966 (39th): Alfie, A Man for All Seasons, The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, The Sand Pebbles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967 (40th): Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night

1968 (41st): Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Oliver!, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet

1969 (42nd): Anne of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello, Dolly!, Midnight Cowboy, Z

1970 (43rd): Airport, Five Easy Pieces, Love Story, M*A*S*H, Patton

1971 (44th): A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, The French Connection, The Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra

1972 (45th): Cabaret, Deliverance, The Emigrants, The Godfather, Sounder

1973 (46th): American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, The Sting, A Touch of Class

1974 (47th): Chinatown, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Lenny, The Towering Inferno

1975 (48th): Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976 (49th): All the President's Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Rocky, Taxi Driver

1977 (50th): Annie Hall, The Goodbye Girl, Julia, Star Wars, The Turning Point

1978 (51st): Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express, An Unmarried Woman

1979 (52nd): All That Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Kramer vs. Kramer, Norma Rae

1980 (53rd): Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Ordinary People, Raging Bull, Tess

1981 (54th): Atlantic City, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds

1982 (55th): E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Gandhi, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

1983 (56th): The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies, Terms of Endearment

1984 (57th): Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier's Story

1985 (58th): The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Out of Africa, Prizzi's Honor, Witness

1986 (59th): Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, Platoon, A Room with a View

1987 (60th): Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, The Last Emperor, Moonstruck

1988 (61st): The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Rain Man, Working Girl

1989 (62nd): Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Driving Miss Daisy, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot

1990 (63rd): Awakenings, Dances With Wolves, Ghost, The Godfather, Part III, Good Fellas

1991 (64th): Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides, The Silence of the Lambs

1992 (65th): The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman, Unforgiven

1993 (66th): The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day, Schindler's List

1994 (67th): Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

1995 (68th): Apollo 13, Babe, Braveheart, The Postman (Il Postino), Sense and Sensibility

1996 (69th): The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine, Independence Day

1997 (70th): As Good As It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential, Titanic

1998 (71st): Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love, The Thin Red Line, Armageddon

1999 (72nd): American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

2000 (73rd): Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator, Traffic

2001 (74th): A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge

2002 (75th): Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

2003 (76th): The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit

2004 (77th): The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Sideways

2005 (78th): Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, Munich

2006 (79th): Babel, The Departed, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen
logisticslad: (Default)
In the evening, I went with my friend L. to a showing of Pan's Labyrinth, which I found to be very well done, but deeply disturbing. I didn't know much about it, other than it was a Spanish film with magic realism set during WWII that was recommended by Neil Gaiman in his blog, and that was enough for me. While I was glad I saw it, I had a lot of trouble actually watching many of the gory scenes in the film and am still chewing over my interpretation of its meaning in my head.


MAJOR SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT...
Read more... )
logisticslad: (totoro)
Had a lovely Thanksgiving at my brother's with my parents and nephews. My sister-in-law made a wonderful meal and my father did his best to be mindful about their conflicting dining and parenting customs. The high point of the day for me was sharing My Neighbor Totoro with my nephews. This is one of my favorite anime films and they were entranced. My older nephew commented that Totoro spirits could be both scary and nice. He wanted to know what the Catbus did with all of its legs. They were both worried about little Mei getting lost and very happy to know that it turned out well. They asked if I would leave the DVD with them so they could watch it again! Of course, I said yes (melt :-)
logisticslad: (Default)
Woke up this morning to find a cat snuggled on either side of me :-) Good thing I don't move much in my sleep! The kitties seem to be getting along much better, although there are still some tussles. The Feliway is almost done, and I'm hoping that they won't need it any more.

Watched two "inspired by a true story" movies, Kinky Boots and Take the Lead. Kinky Boots is about a family shoe factory in England that has fallen on hard times and must find a niche market in order to survive. The new heir (played by the guy who played young Uncle Owen in the new Star Wars series) meets a drag queen and decides to hire her as his new designer of "footwear for women who are men." The drag queen is played by the actor who was the bad guy in Serenity and he does an amazing job, plus he can sing! A lot of the comedy is about the longtime shoemakers rising to the challenge of making kinky boots. And there is a fairly sweet love story, too. It has a similar tone to The Full Monty and I'd recommend it. Take the Lead stars the sexy Antonio Banderas as a ballroom dance instructor who arranges with tough principal Alfre Woodward to teach a dance class to the longterm detention students of an inner city high school. The kids really respond to him and learn to dance well enough to enter the citywide ballroom competition. Through this experience they learn self respect and dignity and have something to bring them out of their very tough lives. It came off as a bit contrived, but the dancing was good and it certainly worked as a cinderella story. I was quite surprised to discover that it was based on the life of a real person named Pierre Dulaine, who started a similar dance program.

I'm getting ready to go to my nephew's 4th birthday party. His actual birthday is Tuesday, but he has already discovered the family tradition of holding birthday celebrations on days when we can all get together. I have a dinosaur card game called T-Rex Rules for him as well as The Very Hungry Caterpillar card game (bought at the Eric Carle museum during my recent Northampton trip) and some Thomas the Train stickers. I think he'll enjoy them.

Tonight is the start of Yom Kippur. I don't plan on going to services, but I will do something for myself at home. I am taking tomorrow off work and will spend some time with my family. This holiday has spiritual meaning for me, but the traditional observances no longer do. Therefore, I do not plan on fasting for it, but will do some meditiating. It's important to me to feed my spiritual side every now and then.

Today also marks mine and [profile] puzzld1's 15th anniversary! Wow! Thank you, Hon, for all these amazing memories and times together. I look forward to many more!
logisticslad: (Default)
http://www.locusmag.com/2006/News/08_HugoCampbellWinners.html

Serenity won the Hugo Award last night, beating out Narnia, HP4, Wallace & Gromit, and Batman Begins for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. According to [personal profile] drewan, the woman who played River was there to accept it. Way to go, Joss Whedon!

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