reviews

Sunday, July 27, 2003

Northfork: great movie or bullshit?

We went to see Northfork this afternoon. I'm not sure what I think of it. The acting is superb. The cinemtography is unbelievably good. Nick Nolte was outstanding as Father Harlan.

But I don't see the point of the movie. It's as if it's some kind of joke that I'm not privy to. Or maybe the point is there is no point to it. It's as if whichever Polish brother wrote it had some kind of hallucination, wrote it down, and then they filmed it -- it makes that little sense. They don't provide enough depth for any character to make you care for any of them -- not even the dying orphan. I dunno -- maybe something will click as I think about the movie, and I'll realize that it really is about something. But then again, maybe it wasn't about anything. It was wonderful to watch the actors, and it was filmed magnificently, but it was also extremely irritating because there was no point to anything. I've never been in to watching someone else's trip. The verdict is still out for me.

Friday evening we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean etc. That was fun--Pirates was never meant to be anything but an adventure. The only things I didn't like about it was the mascara smeared underneath Jack Swallow's eyes (what was that all about? It made Depp look like a drag queen rather than a pirate) and the fact that the dialog was so muted in spots that nobody could understand what was being said. Neither Stanley nor I quite understood some of the plot points -- maybe they mumbled through those scenes because there are no real plot points to explain things such as why only William's blood would do to lift the curse. But what can you expect of a movie based on an amusement park ride? It was fun, at any rate.

Which brings me to a beef. Hoyts Wilton raised the ticket price to $9.00. Yep, that's NINE BUCKS. Now, I wouldn't care so much except for the freaking 20 minutes of stupid ass commercials we're forced to sit through before the movie begins. Really offensive commercials at that. Isn't there a lawsuit about that going on somewhere? I wonder how it's progressing and if they're looking for more people to join it?

posted by lee on 07/27/03 at 06:34 PM
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Friday, July 11, 2003

go see 28 days later

Before it goes away. I haven't been that scared watching a movie for a long time. Maybe I'll write more later when I'm not so sleepy.

www.netkey.com, the project that's been consuming our lives for the past three or four weeks, has launched. Now I get to sleep in tomorrow! (I think.) More about this tomorrow, too. Or Sunday -- maybe I won't wake up until Sunday ... nah, the dog would get pretty upset.

posted by lee on 07/11/03 at 10:41 PM
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Thursday, May 22, 2003

book reviews for real people

I did a search for Carolyn Knapp earlier this evening because I read that she died last year and was shocked and I wanted to know why she died (lung cancer, at 42). I read Knapp's Drinking: A Love Storyseveral years ago. The book meant a lot to me.

At any rate, when I googled Knapp, I came upon Booked, a blog by Cynthia Crossen. I began reading through it--she's a very good journal writer (she either wrote or still writes for the Wall Street Journal, and has two non-fiction books: Tainted Truth and The Rich and How They Got That Way. I had actually heard of, if not read, the latter.)

Booked is the web companion to her (print) newsletter about books, wherein she writes her reviews of various and sundry books, mainly fiction, and with a few entries here and there about her life.

So far, based on what I've read, I think I'll start reading the books on her "Fiction 50" list that I haven't already read. Mainly because it does NOT include Cold Mountain (which I thought was a nasty piece of work and not good literature at all, let alone Pulitzer-worthy) and because her reviews appeal to me.

posted by lee on 05/22/03 at 10:43 PM
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Thursday, May 15, 2003

and behind this door lies ... matrix2

Yep, we played hooky again, went to see The Matrix Reloaded, 12:15 pm showing. Good choice since, as we were leaving, the teenies were already starting to line up for the late afternoon showing.

Before I forget: be sure to stick around through the credits, 'cause after the credits is a trailer for Matrix3.

Did I like it? Yep. As much as Matrix1? Nope. It suffered, I think, from too much money. M1 was tighter, every scene and every prop meant something. M2 is bloated. But that's okay--the boys really like it.

Things I liked: Morpheus, of course. Zion, maybe because it is so familiar (quick, name five SF movies and/or TV shows that feature vast, underground cities). The first five minutes of the sex/dance scene. The Geiger-esque machines and those wraithy twin things. The first ten minutes of the MultiSmith fight. The first hour of the car chase. Trinity & guest's motorcycle ride (I was worried about the guest, until I remembered that there is no way he would fall off because his purpose in life had not yet been fulfilled.) The way the plot is shaping up. The cliffhanger. I really like the plot twist(s)--it will be very interesting to see how it resolves--whether the resolution is predictable or if this is truly a unique piece of SF or just another big-budget comic book.

Zion

I'm wondering if Niobe is going to be in M3, and what the point of the strife between Lock & Morpheus is, unless that, too, is supposed to be resolved in M3 (it added absolutely nothing to the plot, at least in M2).

Keymaker

Why is Neo wearing a cassock? I kept wanting to say, "Bless me father for I have sinned ... " Wouldn't it be hard to do those kicks in an ankle-length skirt? His costume is unbelievably stupid--I can't believe the costume designer dressed him as a priest. And the patent leather or vinyl stuff Trinity was wearing in the matrix--what's with that? Looks like somebody's rubber fetish and looked incredibly uncomfortable. The Zion clothes are weird, too--half ratty looking sweaters and half some filmy stuff that lets the nipples show through. Where did the cloth come from? Where is the food coming from? What do people do all day? (I'm a sociologist by training--it doesn't always stand me in good stead when it comes to the suspension of disbelief, alas.)

The sex scene had the usual fifteen or twenty candles burning. I don't know, but I somehow think that two people really hot to get it on don't stop to light fifteen candles before jumping each others bones. Where did those candles come from, anyway? There have been no bees for more than a century.

I'm anticipating M3. I want to see how it all turns out. If the plot holds, and it's as unique a finish as the beginning, then all the bloat and the lazy conventions won't matter. It is a pretty ballet, though, no matter what.

posted by lee on 05/15/03 at 03:30 PM
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Friday, May 02, 2003

X2 - yeah, we saw it, it’s good

Well, we did it, we actually played hooky and went to the 12:30 showing of X2. It was fun. It was interesting seeing what it looked like in the bowels of a dam. The scenery is gorgeous. I liked Nightcrawler, though he was much too religious for my taste -- I guess I mean I like his superpower, which is teleportation. Yep, I think I'd like that one even more than I would like having Storm's power.

Boy is this movie preachy.

I had a good time watching this movie, even though I am a comic book moron. Comics never floated my boat, the same way cartoons and videogames never interested me, I guess because I can't make the leap from seeing a cartoon rendering to imagining it as a living, breathing whatever. I think at least a decent dose of naturally occurring testosterone is required for that, or maybe a special gene sequence that is usually found only in the XY combo. But I digress.

Stanley enjoyed it a lot. He kept poking me and saying things like "that's the Beast" and other stuff that was totally meaningless to me. He explained it all later (my eyes are still a little sore from the spinning), so I'll know next time.

You won't get this movie if you haven't seen X-Men. No way. There was a lot in this movie that parted my hair because I never read the comic books, but it was okay since the plot was pretty straightforward. Left enough unanswered questions so you KNOW there's gonna be another one.

I liked the special effects. But what I liked most (besides Wolverine, of course) was the car. I think it would look much hotter if it were red -- I went to the Mazda RX-8 website to see what it looks like in red -- VERY nice. I want one! I don't know why they used the blue -- it's such an M&M shade of blue, yuck. And it was nice to see a movie that DID NOT feature a BMW (which are among the most boring-looking cars out there, EuroFords if you will).

I also really like the kitchen at the school -- loved the cobalt tile! Though I couldn't figure out why they 1) stocked Dr. Pepper -- it's not exactly what people north of the Mason-Dixon Line drink -- and 2) didn't keep it in the fridge. See, it's the stupid stuff like this that bugs me about movies like this, not stuff like being able to walk through walls or create impenetrable ice walls with a touch.

Well, I'm looking forward to the next installment. Just because I want to know what Wolverine's past really was (but no, not enough to wade through the comics, uh uh, no way ... )

There were seven previews before this movie started. All but one related to comic book stuff or boy hero fantasy stuff. So I guess I know what I'm going to be doing on at least six days over the next three months! What I'm really looking forward to is Matrix 2 -- I hope like hell they didn't screw it up.

posted by lee on 05/02/03 at 03:37 PM
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Friday, April 25, 2003

Review: Identity

Last week we saw A Mighty Wind and Holes. Both were excellent movies I highly recommend even at full ticket price. Identity, however, is another matter. See this as a matine or wait for it to hit the dollar theaters or video. You can wait, trust me.

Roger Ebert gave it three stars, though I don't know why. It was a dark and stormy night. In Nevada. I lived in the desert for a few years and don't remember torrential downpours that lasted hours and hours, so that struck the first weird note for me. The characters are also pretty much clichs. Some reviewers have hinted that it has elements of the supernatural. Here's a real hint: it doesn't. It's not scary either.

The premise that it all hangs on is pure bullshit: I won't spoil it by stating why but anyone that's ever spent any time working or studying psych will spot the bullshit pretty quickly (unless they're purveyors or "victims" of this particular version of psychocrap). We figured out what it was all about long before the "revelation." It was an okay escape for a Friday afternoon -- I love John Cusack in just about anything -- but just as I was settling in to a good old serial-killer-on-the-loose movie -- standard fare, but well acted -- it switches gears into illusion land. The premise, once it's unveiled, makes all the characters meaningless and there is no point to going back to the motel scenes. Who cares who dies or lives at this point? End of mystery.

Ah well. Next week we'll go see X-Men 2 (or whatever it's called) and then, May 15th, probably at the first available showing, Matrix 2 or whatever it's called.

posted by lee on 04/25/03 at 05:44 PM
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Friday, April 18, 2003

a mighty wind in the holes

We couldn't decide whether to see A Mighty Wind or Holes today. So we saw both of them. Loved them both, for different reasons and I wouldn't even begin to try to decide which was the better one. It's too late and I'm too sleepy to write reviews -- for now I'll just leave it at "Go see these movies as soon as you can."

Meanwhile, Twitch has a new perch. It's only within the past couple of weeks that he's been hanging out on top of my monitor. Don't know why he never did before. It's kinda weird sometimes -- to feel his stare while I'm trying to concentrate on getting the coding right or lost in something I'm working on. Like he's reminding me that I work to keep him supplied with those shrimp and salmon Friskies kitty treats.

I am the king here, and don't you forget it.

What is that stupid dog DOING? She woke me up, dammittall ...

Ah, spring, all those birdies [sigh]

posted by lee on 04/18/03 at 10:46 PM
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Saturday, April 05, 2003

Review: Prey

I've read many of Michael Crichton's novels. Some are much better than others. The Andromeda Strain, for example, I think is very good. Disclosure is not. Timeline was just okay.

I finally got a chance to read Prey. Prey starts out well. It's told from the perspective a brilliant programmer who'd been booted and blacklisted for whistleblowing and is now a full-time father. His equally brilliant wife works for a hi-tech company developing nanotech products. Wifey, however, had grown erratic, distant, and lean. She comes home late one night, decides to change the baby, gets annoyed with the baby, and slaps the kid hard enough to leave hand marks on baby's skin -- and Our Hero, who witnessed it, did nothing. Didn't even say anything to wifey.

Okay, sure, unbelievable -- but I was willing to give Crichton the benefit of a doubt. So I pressed on. The story starts out interesting, sort of building dread, limning things that are not all as they appear in the Happy Nerd Home. A sister and brother constantly at war -- that definitely worked. Baby gets a mysterious, painful rash that is cured when she's put in an MRI machine. Son reports there were men in silver suits in the house while Our Hero Jack had baby at the hospital. Wife doesn't come home one night, doesn't call, just shows up the next day peeved that Our Hero was annoyed about it. Wifey seems to have a dual personality.

Wife gets into a car wreck and the next day Jack gets called by his old boss, the one who blacklisted him, to rescue Wife's company by working for old boss as an onsite contractor. Got that? Seems they used Our Hero's predator/prey distributed computing code to program nanobots to stick together and do whatever it is they want the nanobots to do. Only, they nanobots don't. Not only that, a bunch of them escaped the lab set deep in the Nevada desert; they're swarming, learning, and generally doing Bad Things. Our Hero Jack is supposed to figure out and fix the problem -- though -- never mind, I don't want to include any spoilers in this. Let's just say the story falls apart pretty quickly after Our Hero's arrival at the Nevada lab.

There were a number of directions this plot could go, and Crichton managed to choose a stupid one. As in implausible. I'm no expert in nanotechnology -- I know just a bit about it, and just little bit about distributed intelligence and a little bit about biotechnology -- but things didn't seem to hang together very well. I didn't buy it. Swarm behavior only goes so far. How to the nanocritters manage to extend their power supply? How can a decontamination shower, blower, whatever, manage to get rid of the nanobots within body tissue? How could anything injected kill every single one throughout the body. How could anyone be stupid enough to build these thingies without a dead man's switch?

But, say, you can swallow the story. There are more problems with it than just implausible technology. For one thing, nothing is EXPLAINED. You don't find out what happened, or why it happened, or how it happened. Believe me, you figure out the plot line pretty quickly, and will go along with it to see what the explanation is -- but there is none. Pretty sucky. Also, the character development is very weird -- more like the characters are described as though they were being cast in a movie, but all this character description is rather pointless and SOME of it is presented after the characters are already dead. Not only that, the interactions don't always ring true. Oh, wait, it IS supposed to be a movie! Sony already bought it!

If you can manage to get past Crichton's uncharacteristically boring and awkward information dump at the beginning of the book (and at several points throughout the book -- sheesh he managed to make nanotechnology dull), and ignore the implausibilities that keep cropping up, it's a decent read -- an escape. It didn't make my top-200 list of good science fiction novels -- but it kept my attention. It's a quick read. Just be ready to have the questions start cropping up after you've finished. The movie will have to get mighty good reviews for me to go see it since I already know there are no explanations for the events of the book.

posted by lee on 04/05/03 at 03:26 PM
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Friday, March 28, 2003

Eminently silly - a perfect matinee

I wrote a review of The Core, which Stanley and I went to see this afternoon (we played hooky). But, when I hit the save button, the frelling browser crashed before anything was sent to the server. Internet Explorer 6 is a suckass browser -- I've had nothing but trouble with it, almost as if it's designed to crash on Win98 systems so we rush right out and buy XP. (Ain't gonna happen -- I'll switch to Lindows before I'll shell out money for XP.)

At any rate, The Core was fun, a great matinee movie, don't pay full price to see it but do see it on the big screen, suspend disbelief, enjoy. Maybe I'll reconstruct my review one of these days, but I really don't have the heart to do it now.

posted by lee on 03/28/03 at 04:56 PM
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Saturday, March 22, 2003

BigFix works

BigFix is software that runs in your system tray and notifies you when there's a new update or security patch that needs installing. I installed it a few months ago (I don't remember how I learned about it, maybe TechTV?) to give it a whirl since I get so tired of eternally trying to track down, access, and install relevant MS security patchs (seemingly almost daily).

BigFix is designed to "automatically check your computer for bugs, configuration conflicts, and security holes." The company's trademarked tagline is "Fix it before it fails." I gotta say it does its job quite well, at a cost that can't be beat: for personal use, the cost is zilch. Nada. As in $0.

Why, you may wonder? Because they're really after the big boys -- the enterprises that find managing and installing patches and upgrades a logistical nightmare. As in BigFix is a "patch management solution." So I guess giving it away to the little people is a way of 1) evangelizing and 2) testing. Okay by me. So far it's offered in several flavors of Windows, but, according to their FAQ, they'll soon be offering a version for Macs.

So, it works and I'll keep using it for free -- but I would pay for it as it's become as essential to me as my anti-virus program, ZoneAlarmPro, and Ad-Aware. I'm willing to pay for programs like these because business that actually generate revenue tend to stay in business and therefore support and upgrade their products.

posted by lee on 03/22/03 at 10:18 AM
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