moodboom

I was pretty nervous about my mom and dad coming to visit, didn’t want them to have to make the long trip. Sure glad they did, though – we had a blast. The main event was Reiley’s confirmation, a big day for all of us. Along the way we managed to…

• go out to Mellow Mushroom, order Thai Thai…
• have a cookout with dogs, brats, corn, s’mores
• fix up pop’s boxcarkid.com website
• watch Sherlock Holmes (aaaawesome!)
• explore the garden, walking CAREFULLY down the steeply sloped back yard
• invent a great new family game, GRAB BAG! 
• have a ton of laughs  :>

Although I must endure perpetual geek jokes from Andrea and Wren, I have enjoyed my obsession with the “reimagined” Battlestar Galactica. Most of the jokes involve some form of chanting “So Say We All”, the nationalistic and quasi-religious mantra of this brand of homo sapien, and it doesn’t look like the jokes will end soon. The reimagined fun continues with Caprica, a rewind to the beginning of humanity’s romance with robots, and there are robots aplenty – along with mad scientists, religious fanatics, obsessed government agents, and anime-inspired uniformed schoolgirls with big round eyes. Reiley and I watched the pilot (skipping some inappropriate sections) and the first 9 episodes in one fell swoop, and had a blast. Make sure you catch up before the next half-season starts up!

The Gillespe’s had us over for dinner, Larry worked his many-spiced magic, mmm. We watched “it’s complicated”, which was fun. But the food was the real entertainment…

“Every minute counts.”  This film is “stop and smell the roses” taken to a literal level.  The characters are great – like in Extract, normal folks blown up just a little bit, each one given enough depth so you can warm up to them.  You’ll have to be able to tolerate a fairly pervasive nudity theme – at one point I was wondering “Am I watching Choke”? – but the protagonist, as well as the film, has a heart of gold.  And a beautiful unique style.  I won’t say any more, check it out.

Another (non-)romantic comedy worth mentioning is “(500) Days of Summer” and of course you should see it, it’s mostly the camera fawning over Zooey Daschanel, what is not to love?  What a guilty pleasure.  But don’t bother with the Coen Brothers’ latest, A Serious Man – seriously, guys?  Cut the art house b.s. and get on with excelling again.

Jason Bateman stars, so I love it. But beyond that, Mike Judge has this great ability to create characters similar to people you know, at the edges, and blow them up, but just a little, maybe 10 or 20 percent. So they flavor the movie without sidetracking it. There are about a dozen good ones in this sleeper.

At times too close to reality for comfort, the laughter in this one was a bit strained. But that’s its charm, too. Globalization here we come! A nice easy primer on Indian culture that turns into a romantic comedy. And there’s music and dancing, too, of course. One thing’s for sure – I am heading to Udipi for lunch this week!

1080p lookin’ good. Guy Ritchie has never failed me (sorry Madonna). Not sure where he finds his motley crew of supporting actors but I bet his house parties rival his best scenes. Our favorite part is that he focuses on the wit and leaves most of the gratuitousness for other ‘hot’ directors to use as a crutch to keep up with him. Win.

1080p is a beautiful thing. This was an interesting character study with an action movie injected in bits into the middle.  As in the-director-of-300 beautiful-physics-in-slomo action.  I didn’t follow the original, and I’m not burned out on the ‘conflicted hero’ theme – ergo, I loved it.  I really really loved it.

So during my recovery time I’ve managed to pile up a bit of good old entertainment consumption. Feeling like crap while I consumed, however, may have lead to harsher-than-usual reviews. Suck it up!

Books

• City of Thieves by David Benioff: Holy smokes this was good. This guy wrote the screenplay for the Wolverine movie and his Hollywood sensibility comes through like a razor blade. You’ll encounter the most horrific scenes imaginable, and you’ll laugh as you cheer on some amazingly charismatic characters, too. A full-spectrum adventure.
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: I can’t imagine a more in-depth look at the intimate details of a person’s life. The rich tapestry covers three generations of colorful characters, but the main story revolves around the special situation of the protagonist. Definitely engaging and interesting.
• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga: Didn’t make it through this one. On any other day I may have enjoyed the snarky smart-assed jabbing at India’s privileged class from the trenches, but there was just too much negativity to wade through. I may revisit this, it may be the ultimate study in sarcasm.

Movies

• The Whale Rider: I was in the perfect mindset for this elegant study of the challenges to a small girl as she finds her place of leadership in her New Zealand tribe, even as the tribe adapts to the modern world. If you can slow down and feel the flowing currents of spirituality and beauty, this will move you.
• The Wrestler: Looking at Mickey Rourke is painful, let’s not pull punches. In the same way, this movie is painful and sorrowful. He can’t break from his hard lifestyle even as it grinds him up. Well worth it. I felt like we were suffering together. :>
• A Quantum of Solace: Why the hell can’t James Bond talk any more? How can you be suave if you never speak? He’s even often a vengeful jerk. Fine if you want meatheaded action; I say meh.
• The Day The Earth Stood Still: Finally got around to watching this sci-fi classic that Mark Welch gave me. I love the polish and style of Cary Grant’s movies, and this reminded me of them. With a pretty resilient sci-fi theme, I found this very old movie to still have a lot of value.
• Doubt: A nice study of different approaches to finding true divinity. The three central characters all contribute very different views and yet you can relate to each one at different times.
• Star Trek: Good times all around, my favorite action movie of 2009 by a landslide. Thank you J. J. Abrams, Karl Urban, and the rest of you geniuses. Make sure you see it at an IMAX theater!
• Taken: Steaming pile of hateful vengeance thriller refuse. Watching Liam Neeson go from Shindler’s List to this was harder than watching Harrison Ford’s fall from grace. *sigh*
• Australia: I loved this movie because the beautiful cinematography was displayed for me in 1080p. I enjoyed the epic story as well. But there was definitely some souring when my wife pointed out how wrecked Nicole Kidman’s lips are. Sorry Nicole – it was a good effort.
• The Man Who Wasn’t There: Coen brothers, so it’s a win. One of Scarlett Johansson’s earlier movies. It’s a slow character study, and the man who wasn’t there is also a man of few words. Be in a Jim Jarmusch mood and you’ll love it.
• Yes Man: Good to know Jim Carey is still willing to do some slapstick gags. Zooey Deschanel is in this so a thumbs up is automatic. Gosh golly she’s great…

Games

• Force Unleashed: Played through it on the Wii, stick with the controls and soon you’ll be slashing and punching through the air like a Sith Lord. Sweet fun.
• Age of Mythology: The girls and I dig this one out on occasion because it’s jammed full of so many fun bells and whistles. With Bailey visiting, I scrapped together a fourth PC, but it couldn’t keep up with the other nicer rigs. So I watched as the girls destroyed moderate opponents, then played a suicide game against computer opponents on the hardest AI setting with a 100% handicap. They are crazy. And they actually lasted a while, running to every nook and cranny of the map. Ha!
• The World Ends With You: This little DS game packs a lot into the mix. The fighting is fun, as you have to scratch and slash and tap while punching out combo moves on the pad, crazy. Not sure if I’m a fan of RPG shopping, though… :> Interesting, anyway.
• Carcassonne with the Catapult Expansion: Wren, Reiley, Andrea, Bailey and I played a massive game with at least half a dozen expansions, including a new catapult expansion. We filled the kitchen table with tiles. It turned out that the catapult thingee was pure goofiness – you fire onto the board and make a mess of things – and the catapult was so slipshod that you couldn’t even hit the board. Still, we had lots of fun. Bailey swept the game!

Wow, that’s a lot of slacking… I feel really tired now…

Hearing this news was like discovering that 10 of your best friends were found alive after crash-landing in the Alps and eating each other. Impossibly incredible!

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