I stole (borrowed really...see if that keeps the cuffs off me) the title from Grosse Pointe Blank. And to top it off, I'm stealing (ahem, free advertising really) this question from Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas who posted the following on Facebook (man, by naming facebook am I violating some trademark rule?? 2 sentences into a blog and I've got more misdemeanours than ____ [insert joke here]??) Here goes...
"If you were one of those dolls that you pull the string in their back and they say a certain phrase(s), what would you say?"
Well.... ?
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Dixie Chicks Debaucle Documentary
A couple years ago I was recommended to watch "Shut Up and Sing", a documentary about the Dixie Chicks and the incident around comments made about then president GW Bush.
Sure, I recalled vaguely that the band had made some comment - in my memory it was at some sort of award show (turns out that wasn't the case).
I eventually ended up seeing the documentary (and saw it a 2nd time a few months ago) and learned a bit more about the 2003 incident and (more importantly) the events that came afterwards.
I don't want to spoil it, so I won't say much, but a couple of years afterwards, the group put out an album called "Taking the Long Way" that references some of those events. After having seen the documentary, the lyrics in "Not Ready to Make Nice" are pretty powerful. And on a music note, the whole album is quite good, particularly so a few songs.
Sure, I recalled vaguely that the band had made some comment - in my memory it was at some sort of award show (turns out that wasn't the case).
I eventually ended up seeing the documentary (and saw it a 2nd time a few months ago) and learned a bit more about the 2003 incident and (more importantly) the events that came afterwards.
I don't want to spoil it, so I won't say much, but a couple of years afterwards, the group put out an album called "Taking the Long Way" that references some of those events. After having seen the documentary, the lyrics in "Not Ready to Make Nice" are pretty powerful. And on a music note, the whole album is quite good, particularly so a few songs.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Klosterman Quotes
In a recent post, I mentioned the book "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman. I said it might inspire some posts. Then I remembered my laziness might prevent that. After a brief wrestling match, it appears that inspiration has, at least temporarily, won. However, laziness is sneaky, and so instead of each part of the book inspiring a post, I'm going with a quick run-through. Maybe it was a tie.
"It appears that countless women born between the years of 1965 and 1978 are in love with John Cusack. I cannot fathom how he isn't the number-one box-office star in America, because every straight girl I know would sell her soul to share a milkshake with that motherfucker."
I found Klosterman's whole section on John Cusack quite hilarious. And I must admit, not that I know the guy, but just going from interviews etc., Cusack seems like a cool guy and I definitely dig him (as a person, not as an actor per se). And one of my favorite movies is "Grosse Pointe Blank". But even though John Cusack ranks very high on "my list" ('celeb future husband list' would that be?!?), I see *no* reason to share a milkshake with him. Can't we each get our own damn milkshake? Sheesh. Oh, and, Klosterman goes on to say that these women are really in love with Cusack because of his Lloyd Dobler character from "Say Anything" - the epitome of ideal romance blah blah blah. Well, for the record, I have never even seen "Say Anything", and frankly I'm afraid to after hearing the way "they" talk about it. From stuff I've heard, it sounds like if I were to watch that movie it would be like some kind of drug and I could never have a relationship measure up and my whole life would somehow be screwed up. That must be one powerful movie!
Man, I did have more stuff to say but it takes too long to quote Klosterman and then go on about why I liked the quote or whatever. And I don't own the book so I can't do it at my leisure. Perhaps I should buy a copy.
"It appears that countless women born between the years of 1965 and 1978 are in love with John Cusack. I cannot fathom how he isn't the number-one box-office star in America, because every straight girl I know would sell her soul to share a milkshake with that motherfucker."
I found Klosterman's whole section on John Cusack quite hilarious. And I must admit, not that I know the guy, but just going from interviews etc., Cusack seems like a cool guy and I definitely dig him (as a person, not as an actor per se). And one of my favorite movies is "Grosse Pointe Blank". But even though John Cusack ranks very high on "my list" ('celeb future husband list' would that be?!?), I see *no* reason to share a milkshake with him. Can't we each get our own damn milkshake? Sheesh. Oh, and, Klosterman goes on to say that these women are really in love with Cusack because of his Lloyd Dobler character from "Say Anything" - the epitome of ideal romance blah blah blah. Well, for the record, I have never even seen "Say Anything", and frankly I'm afraid to after hearing the way "they" talk about it. From stuff I've heard, it sounds like if I were to watch that movie it would be like some kind of drug and I could never have a relationship measure up and my whole life would somehow be screwed up. That must be one powerful movie!
Man, I did have more stuff to say but it takes too long to quote Klosterman and then go on about why I liked the quote or whatever. And I don't own the book so I can't do it at my leisure. Perhaps I should buy a copy.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Lament on Leaves
Just in case you're not aware, we are currently in the month of July. In the Northern Hemisphere, July is one of the months of which Summer is composed. However, today during my run, I could not help but notice that there were leaves, leaves that had changed colour, lying on the ground. Leaves changing colour and lying on the ground is considered a property of Fall (Fall, like leaves fall to the ground), otherwise known as Autumn. Now don't get me wrong, I love to run through the fallen leaves on the ground in the Fall, in fact it's a highlight of the running year and I wish we had more of the leaves & in prettier colours, like other areas in the country do. But, I lament seeing this in July. Furthermore, I do not ever recall seeing this EXCEPT IN THE FALL. Damn that Al Gore, this is one of those inconvenient truths. Damn global warming - I'm running over leaves and people in England are swimming across the street. Blimey. This is a spot of bother isn't it? I think I'll go have a cup of tea. Maybe Miss Marple can help solve this issue. Or we can just listen to Fallen Leaves by Billy Talent.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Madcap Movies
This may need to be a regular blog feature...
I am scanning through what's on t.v. I click info to see the descriptions of movies. One catches my eye and inspired this...
The title is Sassy Sue. That sounds pretty bad right there...I'm not sure I can even articulate why (and I shouldn't need to, I mean, c'mon!). Sassy Sue?! Sounds like porno-light or something. But that's not my point. Here's the description...
"A chicken farmer seems to spend too much time with his prize cow."
Okay, for starters, a movie about a chicken farmer with a prize cow. Like that's not enough right there. But secondly, the word "seems". He "seems" to spend too much time with his cow? Wow.
I'm tempted to watch this movie just because of the crazy-ass description. That would be taking one for the team. I'm not sure I can manage it. We'll see.
I am scanning through what's on t.v. I click info to see the descriptions of movies. One catches my eye and inspired this...
The title is Sassy Sue. That sounds pretty bad right there...I'm not sure I can even articulate why (and I shouldn't need to, I mean, c'mon!). Sassy Sue?! Sounds like porno-light or something. But that's not my point. Here's the description...
"A chicken farmer seems to spend too much time with his prize cow."
Okay, for starters, a movie about a chicken farmer with a prize cow. Like that's not enough right there. But secondly, the word "seems". He "seems" to spend too much time with his cow? Wow.
I'm tempted to watch this movie just because of the crazy-ass description. That would be taking one for the team. I'm not sure I can manage it. We'll see.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
"The Pedestrian, 2003"
I watched a strange movie recently. The Pedestrian.
The description I saw before watching said something about a traffic light controller searching for love through looking at people's feet. Something like that. It sounded quirky.
So it turns out that the main character has a serious foot fetish. He goes to the mall and pretends to be a researcher so he can ask "survey" questions to women about their feet and shoes. I almost stopped watching at that point. No offense foot fetishists.
But I didn't stop watching and it got worse from there. Yes, be warned, there was a gratuitous 'masturbation to his shoe altar' scene. ***Breaking Great Blogspectations Programming Note*** It is at this moment that I suddenly thought to myself, holy freakin' crap, this is &^%$&*# about shoes again! This is ceasing to be a "oh ha ha, what a coincidence" thing and turning into a "how come shoes keep cropping up into everything i'm starting to really get scared oh but that's silly you're overreacting it's nothing but ohmigod why" thing. ARGH.
So where was I? Right, the shoe freak. OH HELL, I meant the guy in the movie. This is just creepy now. So I was going to continue on with describing the plot of the movie but I just don't even want to now. Stupid shoes. (Stomps off, muttering to self....)
The description I saw before watching said something about a traffic light controller searching for love through looking at people's feet. Something like that. It sounded quirky.
So it turns out that the main character has a serious foot fetish. He goes to the mall and pretends to be a researcher so he can ask "survey" questions to women about their feet and shoes. I almost stopped watching at that point. No offense foot fetishists.
But I didn't stop watching and it got worse from there. Yes, be warned, there was a gratuitous 'masturbation to his shoe altar' scene. ***Breaking Great Blogspectations Programming Note*** It is at this moment that I suddenly thought to myself, holy freakin' crap, this is &^%$&*# about shoes again! This is ceasing to be a "oh ha ha, what a coincidence" thing and turning into a "how come shoes keep cropping up into everything i'm starting to really get scared oh but that's silly you're overreacting it's nothing but ohmigod why" thing. ARGH.
So where was I? Right, the shoe freak. OH HELL, I meant the guy in the movie. This is just creepy now. So I was going to continue on with describing the plot of the movie but I just don't even want to now. Stupid shoes. (Stomps off, muttering to self....)
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Don't worry, despite what the title might imply I haven't gotten in a lover's spat and killed said lover.
Nor am I writing this posthoumously because of being the one killed in a spat by said lover.
And no, I wasn't summing up quick foreplay followed by quick sex in 2 words x 2 with a comma in between either.
And no, this isn't a review of a recent adult film. I mean, yes, it is, keep reading!
In fact, the title refers to a television program featuring short films. I watched 3.
First one was called, 'How To Tell A Relationship is Over'. I put that title in single quotes because I later saw it listed as 'How To Tell A Relationship is Over in 90 Seconds'. But I think we can all rest assured that the film is about the signs that a relationship is over. Moving on (ha ha). This one was very short (but more than 90 seconds unless my sense of time is really skewed - maybe the film shows that the relationship is actually over after only 90 seconds and the rest is just showing the...what's the word I'm looking for here...the beating of a dead horse). Quick vignettes of a couple in a kitchen interspersed with black screen shots with phrases such as "Now It's War." (I'm not sure I should have quoted that either, it may not be 100% accurate. But you get the drift.) [Where does the punctuation go, in the bracket? Outside of it? I don't care to be honest, deal with it]. It kind of reminded me of that Pina Colada song but without the happy ending. This couples personal's ads didn't rekindle the magic as far as I could tell. Oh, one of the phrases featured on the black screen shot was something like, "Finding The Dead Pigeon" (oh bloody hell, that should be in single quotes I suppose but screw it - the punctuation/quotation I mean, not the dead pigeon, what kind of freak are you?? Sheesh). It then flashed to the couple in the kitchen staring at a dead pigeon, poking it (with a pencil I think it was) and declaring that it was dead. I suppose that was put in to illustrate some sort of symbiosis with their relationship but whatever. I kind of like thinking of it as random, because inserting the dead pigeon bit into any film surely makes for great comedy. (And I dislike when people overanalyze novels or movies, making every little thing into some grand theme - I am struck by the way the author of this post's use of single quotes mirrors the breakdown of the couple -the double quotes-....yeah, I'm kidding).
Second short was called "The Silent Treatment". Begins with someone lying in bed, camera pans over to the phone which begins to ring. Hungover man answers, his girlfriend has already picked up to take the call from her friend. He goes downstairs and tries to figure out why his gf is mad at him. She doesn't say a word throughout the short. Like a woman could keep quiet for that long! Whoops, was that out loud? Shit. Um, anyway, the gf is cleaning up after a dinner party and the bf just keeps talking to try and find out what he did wrong. He thinks the friend on the phone told his gf something so he is going through some possibilities. In doing so he ends up confessing to various things and of course it turns out each time that what he has confessed is not what the gf was mad at but I'm sure the additional material did not make it any more likely that the magic would be rekindled. (I got tired of trying to describe this crap and just used something from the paragraph on the 1st short, yeah, that's right, take that).
Third, and perhaps the most interesting, this short film was in Spanish (I think) but subtitled. Called 10 Minutes. Man calls his cellphone customer service line to try and find out what # his phone called at 7:35 that day. Soon why he wants to know is revealed and the film revolves around his interaction with the customer service agent. The title refers to the fact that customer service calls are cut off after 10 minutes.
Nor am I writing this posthoumously because of being the one killed in a spat by said lover.
And no, I wasn't summing up quick foreplay followed by quick sex in 2 words x 2 with a comma in between either.
And no, this isn't a review of a recent adult film. I mean, yes, it is, keep reading!
In fact, the title refers to a television program featuring short films. I watched 3.
First one was called, 'How To Tell A Relationship is Over'. I put that title in single quotes because I later saw it listed as 'How To Tell A Relationship is Over in 90 Seconds'. But I think we can all rest assured that the film is about the signs that a relationship is over. Moving on (ha ha). This one was very short (but more than 90 seconds unless my sense of time is really skewed - maybe the film shows that the relationship is actually over after only 90 seconds and the rest is just showing the...what's the word I'm looking for here...the beating of a dead horse). Quick vignettes of a couple in a kitchen interspersed with black screen shots with phrases such as "Now It's War." (I'm not sure I should have quoted that either, it may not be 100% accurate. But you get the drift.) [Where does the punctuation go, in the bracket? Outside of it? I don't care to be honest, deal with it]. It kind of reminded me of that Pina Colada song but without the happy ending. This couples personal's ads didn't rekindle the magic as far as I could tell. Oh, one of the phrases featured on the black screen shot was something like, "Finding The Dead Pigeon" (oh bloody hell, that should be in single quotes I suppose but screw it - the punctuation/quotation I mean, not the dead pigeon, what kind of freak are you?? Sheesh). It then flashed to the couple in the kitchen staring at a dead pigeon, poking it (with a pencil I think it was) and declaring that it was dead. I suppose that was put in to illustrate some sort of symbiosis with their relationship but whatever. I kind of like thinking of it as random, because inserting the dead pigeon bit into any film surely makes for great comedy. (And I dislike when people overanalyze novels or movies, making every little thing into some grand theme - I am struck by the way the author of this post's use of single quotes mirrors the breakdown of the couple -the double quotes-....yeah, I'm kidding).
Second short was called "The Silent Treatment". Begins with someone lying in bed, camera pans over to the phone which begins to ring. Hungover man answers, his girlfriend has already picked up to take the call from her friend. He goes downstairs and tries to figure out why his gf is mad at him. She doesn't say a word throughout the short. Like a woman could keep quiet for that long! Whoops, was that out loud? Shit. Um, anyway, the gf is cleaning up after a dinner party and the bf just keeps talking to try and find out what he did wrong. He thinks the friend on the phone told his gf something so he is going through some possibilities. In doing so he ends up confessing to various things and of course it turns out each time that what he has confessed is not what the gf was mad at but I'm sure the additional material did not make it any more likely that the magic would be rekindled. (I got tired of trying to describe this crap and just used something from the paragraph on the 1st short, yeah, that's right, take that).
Third, and perhaps the most interesting, this short film was in Spanish (I think) but subtitled. Called 10 Minutes. Man calls his cellphone customer service line to try and find out what # his phone called at 7:35 that day. Soon why he wants to know is revealed and the film revolves around his interaction with the customer service agent. The title refers to the fact that customer service calls are cut off after 10 minutes.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Name Explanations (like lame explanations, only less lame)
Movie ends. Credits begin rolling. I happen to notice one of the names of the crew.
Wait for it...
....
September Death.
Hmm, did September's parents give him/her that name? If not, why did s/he change it to that. Did s/he lose a bet? I could google it, perhaps some information exists, but isn't it more fun this way, speculating on how such a name came to be?
I imagine the ninth month (does quick mental check, September is the 9th month right?, man, I'll look like an idiot if it isn't..) of each year must be pretty interesting for Ms./Mr. September Death. Or perhaps the first 8 months are filled with dread and the last 3 a wild party to celebrate having gotten through another September without having ceased to have a pulse.
You know what would be interesting... (yeah, someone else's blog - hey!!! cut that out) ...to have a contest to come up with the best explanation for why September Death was so named. If anyone actually read this blog, I'd hold such a contest. I mean come on, it wouldn't be very fair if I held it right now, I'd have way too good odds of winning.
Wait for it...
....
September Death.
Hmm, did September's parents give him/her that name? If not, why did s/he change it to that. Did s/he lose a bet? I could google it, perhaps some information exists, but isn't it more fun this way, speculating on how such a name came to be?
I imagine the ninth month (does quick mental check, September is the 9th month right?, man, I'll look like an idiot if it isn't..) of each year must be pretty interesting for Ms./Mr. September Death. Or perhaps the first 8 months are filled with dread and the last 3 a wild party to celebrate having gotten through another September without having ceased to have a pulse.
You know what would be interesting... (yeah, someone else's blog - hey!!! cut that out) ...to have a contest to come up with the best explanation for why September Death was so named. If anyone actually read this blog, I'd hold such a contest. I mean come on, it wouldn't be very fair if I held it right now, I'd have way too good odds of winning.
Geometric Figures a.k.a. could you make the title any more boring?
Watched the movie Cube². Isn't that clever? ... cube, squared. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285492/ I wonder what they'll call the third one!
After watching Cube² I then watched the first 5 mins of Cube and it seemed pretty similar. The premise is someone wakes up in a strange cube room and soon discovers there are others there and no one knows what's going on or how they got there. They begin to investigate and of course encounter some crazy shit.
I liked the simplicity of the movie. Limited number of characters all stuck together in one place. They probably could have done a lot more in terms of character development though. Pretty shallow I thought. I think I enjoyed the premise more than the actual movie. At the beginning when the first character wakes up and then encounters another character you're thinking 'hey, this has some potential'. Like a racehorse, it broke well and led the field, but fell off in the stretch run.
After watching Cube² I then watched the first 5 mins of Cube and it seemed pretty similar. The premise is someone wakes up in a strange cube room and soon discovers there are others there and no one knows what's going on or how they got there. They begin to investigate and of course encounter some crazy shit.
I liked the simplicity of the movie. Limited number of characters all stuck together in one place. They probably could have done a lot more in terms of character development though. Pretty shallow I thought. I think I enjoyed the premise more than the actual movie. At the beginning when the first character wakes up and then encounters another character you're thinking 'hey, this has some potential'. Like a racehorse, it broke well and led the field, but fell off in the stretch run.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Transferred From The Old Blog
October 24th
Just watched Garden State. I had seen a short trailer before but really knew nothing about the movie (no expectations). I thought it just got better and better...often I find I'm really enjoying a book or a movie but then they go and do something that kind of messes things up. I was just so impressed by this movie - it was almost like it cast a spell, ask me now what was so great about it and it's hard for me to find the words. The acting was really good, the story interesting and then some, the soundtrack really great as well - but that doesn't do it justice (which is why I'm writing a blog that no one reads and someone else is writing screenplays and scripts ;) I feel different after watching that movie. I guess one could call that life changing...at least in a small way...and that's a pretty huge accomplishment for a movie (an artistic endeavour can be life changing, but how many movies are really 'art' in that sense?) And when I say life changing in a small way, how many things are life changing in a big way - maybe having a huge health scare or near death experience or something but I suspect that for the most part it's just little things that affect our lives...a kind of chaos theory type of deal where a butterfly flaps its wings and there's a storm somewhere in the world...Garden State has flapped it's wings...okay, that seemed overly melodramatic but...
Just watched Garden State. I had seen a short trailer before but really knew nothing about the movie (no expectations). I thought it just got better and better...often I find I'm really enjoying a book or a movie but then they go and do something that kind of messes things up. I was just so impressed by this movie - it was almost like it cast a spell, ask me now what was so great about it and it's hard for me to find the words. The acting was really good, the story interesting and then some, the soundtrack really great as well - but that doesn't do it justice (which is why I'm writing a blog that no one reads and someone else is writing screenplays and scripts ;) I feel different after watching that movie. I guess one could call that life changing...at least in a small way...and that's a pretty huge accomplishment for a movie (an artistic endeavour can be life changing, but how many movies are really 'art' in that sense?) And when I say life changing in a small way, how many things are life changing in a big way - maybe having a huge health scare or near death experience or something but I suspect that for the most part it's just little things that affect our lives...a kind of chaos theory type of deal where a butterfly flaps its wings and there's a storm somewhere in the world...Garden State has flapped it's wings...okay, that seemed overly melodramatic but...
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