Nerd Break!!…….
Add comment June 22nd, 2008
Posts filed under 'Movies'
Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden?…….
Add comment March 10th, 2008
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters…….
As one of the uber-dorks in this film gleefully exclaims, most people who play Donkey Kong have a total gaming experience of less than a minute.
Yeah, he’s talking about me. Sadly, I’m a member of the unwashed masses who have no business setting foot inside a fun center.
But that’s ok. Just because I suck at Donkey Kong, doesn’t mean I’m unable to appreciate its magnificence or all that it can bring to our troubled world.
I just don’t want to play it.
King of Kong gives the unworthy a chance to get their gamer geek-on, without the teeth grinding, sweaty palms, or bursts of tourette’s.
The movie chronicles the battle for Kong superiority between Billy Mitchell, the world record holder since 1982, and newcomer Steve Wiebe, who hails from the nerd crucible of Redmond, Washington.
Like any good video game, King of Kong is an epic battle of good against evil. There are heroes, villains, and shifty accomplices with all of their cheat sheets and short-cuts.
In case you are worried, good eventually triumphs, but not in the way you would expect. Instead of brandishing a new trick or strategy, the better gamer wins the title of the King of Kong the old fashion way—through hard work, persistence, and humility.
Isn’t that refreshing?
Add comment March 7th, 2008
Little Guy (Make a Start) Music Video…….
The Grand Prize winner of the Treehugger and Seventh Generation’s Convenient Truths green video contest.
Add comment April 19th, 2007
Stranger than Fiction…….
"I may already be dead, just not typed." -Harold Crick
There is an old saying that the book is always better than the movie. But what happens when a movie becomes a really great book?
This is the question Stranger than Fiction brilliantly explores.
Will Ferrell is the wonderfully ordinary Harold Crick, a man who wakes one morning to hear a running commentary by a narrator, who has hijacked his life.
To make matters worst, through a little detective work, Harold discovers the narrator is actually an author bent on bringing about his untimely death–but in the most ingenious of circumstances.
The movie deals with issues of death–symbolic and otherwise–and what it takes to make a hero’s journey.
In an age of one-dimensional heroes, it is refreshing to see a movie which cleverly celebrates both the ordinary and the extraordinary–all of the characteristics which live inside of each and every one of us.
Add comment March 21st, 2007
Idiocracy…….
Comin’ up next on The Violence Channel: An all-new "Ow, My Balls!" -from the movie Idiocracy
It certainly is easy to have a low opinion of people these days.
Al-Qaeda is on the loose in Afghanistan, so the United States decides to invade Iraq. The Gulf Coast is devastated by Katrina, so our leaders send a convoy of trucks full of ice to Connecticut. The atmosphere is filling up with heat trapping gases, so we deal with the problem by driving giant SUV’s that pollute even faster.
To paraphrase the great Ozzy Osbourne, it feels like we have gone off the rails on a crazy train.
Idiocracy won’t make you feel much better about America’s devolution. However, it will validate some of your secret suspicions. Mike Judge does a great job of fleshing out a future based on a projection of our current path.
Think the corporate-republican war on science is no big deal? Welcome to a future where the health care system is run like a third tier fast-food restaurant.
Don’t think rampant outsourcing and corporate sponsorship are a threat to the public good. Meet the Secretary of State, who is brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
Finally, the Judge Judy-izing of our criminal justice system is just a bit of harmless info-tainment, right? Wait until your day in court is treated like a WWF smack-down.
Don’t pick-up Idiocracy expecting a laugh-fest. But in the movie’s defense, I don’t think anyone who was mocked in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels thought that book was particularly funny either.
Add comment March 2nd, 2007
The Pagemaster…….
"Richard Tylor, consider this your passport to the wonderful and quite unpredictable world of books. " -Mr. Dewey
I apologize for the sporadic blogging this month. My family and I have spent quite a bit of time fighting the various strains of flu which seem to be circulating this winter.
Thank goodness for The Pagemaster! This is a great movie to have on hand when kids are too sick to play, but well enough to be up and moving around, though lacking energy to do much else.
The Pagemaster tells the story of Richard Tylor, a boy who finds his courage by facing three tests while on a mythical journey to find the exit in a mysterious, Carnegie-like library.
He is aided on this quest by three books: Adventure, Fantasy and Horror. These books befriend Richard and most importantly, provide plenty of light moments and entertaining banter throughout the movie.
The overall message of the movie is that books can strengthen and expand your imagination. All you need to do is give yourself -and a book- a chance.
Add comment February 26th, 2007
Treasure Planet…….
"On the clearest of nights, when the winds of the Etherium were calm and peaceful, the great merchant ships, with their cargos of Arcturian solar crystals, felt safe and secure. Little did they suspect that they were pursued by… pirates. And the most feared of all these pirates was the notorious Captain Nathaniel Flint." -Narrator, Treasure Planet
Treasure, to me, is finding a movie which is good, but I haven’t seen. Treasure Planet is just such a movie. Rented with low expectations, this movie turned out be far more interesting and engaging than I imagined.
Treasure Planet is a compelling hybrid. The wildly creative aspects of Japanese Aime are blunted somewhat by the Americanizing influence of the Walt Disney sensibility. It is more The Fifth Element than Firefly, but there are certainly ideas borrowed from each.
The story is very loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. I have not read the book, but if is one of you favorites, I suspect this will not be your movie. At best, the original Treasure Island provides a rough shell which is customized with tuner parts, straight out of Tokyo.
Animation is one of the few entertainment mediums whose value is based on creative merit rather than star-power and the Hollywood spin machine. Stories have to be strong and the characters interesting. Otherwise, you are just watching a bunch of pixels.
Add comment November 26th, 2006
Heathers…….
"Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count. " -Veronica Sawyer in Heathers
Heathers is the reason why, when Winona Ryder got caught during a shoplifting spree, it was news worthy. Heathers is the teen movie which pulls no punches; the movie John Hughes didn’t quite have the stomach to make.
This is a black comedy of the darkest type. It is not for the squeamish or the bone-head who actually believes violence is the best way to solve a problem. Anyone who does not appreciate irony should look for their laughs elsewhere.
However, if you suffered or are suffering now through the insult which is high school, this movie is sweet nectar. Heathers will deliver a certain satisfaction for anyone who was harassed by their high school’s version of a Heather, Kurt. or Ram.
But wait, there is even more to this under appreciated teen flick. Lurking underneath all of the 80’s lingo and Bonnie and Clyde antics, lies an also Chomsky-esque analysis of institutional power.
One of the central themes of Heathers is that certain institutions, such as high school, create the perfect environment for unchecked power to blossom. In addition, the corrupting influence of this power is so great that it doesn’t really matter who is on top.
Now, what’s the up-chuck factor on that?
Add comment November 15th, 2006
Over the Hedge…….
"That is an S.U.V; Humans ride in them because they are slowly losing their ability to walk." -RJ from the movie Over the Hedge
The effect of suburban sprawl is the unlikely topic explored in this very funny Dream Works movie. I can’t imagine what the pitch must have been that earned this movie the green light, but I’m grateful it worked. Over the Hedge is an absolute gem.
The story is about a motley group of animals who awake from hibernation to find most of their beloved forest gone. Instead, it has been replaced by an imposing hedge which secures 54 acres of suburban paradise. Now the animals face a food shortage, and to make things worst, they are suckered by a willy raccoon who needs their help gathering a wagon full of human food for an angry bear.
Rent this one today. You will not be disappointed.
Here is track thirteen for the playlist: My City Was Gone by Pretenders.
Add comment October 26th, 2006