Wait

broderic on August 9, 2007


Wait
Originally uploaded by browsermetrics.
Chillin’ at the airport. Waiting for the flight. Airbus plane at the gate. The adventure begins with some down time.

Sent from my iPhone

The Bourne Ultimatum

broderic on August 8, 2007

In story telling there is a classic theory that every story has three parts, a beginning, a middle and an end. The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum constitute the trilogy about Jason Bourne. Yet, it seems after watching the final installment to be better off as a two-parter.

In the finale, Jason Bourne’s story picks up soon after the second. He hurriedly flees Moscow. While evading the Russian police, he fixes his wounds which leads him to recover even more memories from Treadstone. These memories makes him ultimately want to end it all, so he plans to find out why he is who he is to restore himself once again. The trail starts in London where he meets up with a journalist who just unraveled the secret CIA program that Treadstone is a part of. Of course, the journalist is a goner. Then the trail leads to Madrid to a former director who has intimate knowledge of the who and the why of Jason Bourne and Treadstone. He’s a goner, too. Bourne meets up with Nicki who should’ve asked for a desk job in Langley and they jaunt to Tangiers. In a thrilling scene, Bourne chases another CIA op from the rooftops of the city to save Nicki. This is why it’s so good. Eventually, we end up in NYC to the final scene of the second movie, and continue again for another final chase.

And that’s my problem with this installment. The first two had tied together into a neat little ending. This one feels as if it as after the denouement of the films and tacked on. At the end of Supremacy, he had finally found out who he is. But in this film, not really, and he seeks out the truth. He learns that sometimes you may not like who is staring at you from the mirror. This film felt like those twenty minutes in which you want to leave the theater after the end of a story except it’s two hours long.

Still, the action was great. Greengrass seems more confident and assured. He chose a more stylistic visual approach separate from his first Bourne movie and from following in Doug Liman’s footsteps. He uses this style to make the movie seems faster and frenetic. In the fight scenes, we are up close and in the room with the fighters, but we never lose track of what’s happening. In the car chases, the action is majestic.

Overall, it was a disappointment, but much, much better than the other trilogy enders this summer.

3 of 5 stars.

On the road: 500 miles

broderic on August 1, 2007

With the passing of July, I have succeeded at my goal for the month and even surpassed it. From 450 to 500 miles. That’s more than I did last year.

What goal should I set for August? I am going on vacation for a week so I will lose at least 3 days or about 40 miles. Still, I think 150 miles wouldn’t be bad for the month of August. Currently, I am sitting at 530 miles. So I need to get to 680 by the end of the month. Perhaps a few metrics centuries would help?

Stupid Slow Light

broderic on July 29, 2007

Dear Capitol Swell,

If you can slow down a bit, please fix the light at Eastern and Chesapeake Park Dr. It’s in your boss’s district, and it takes f’ing forever for it to change. I hate pulling up to it after work, because it’s a good 5 minutes before it changes. I think the sensors don’t really work and are there to make you feel foolish.

Can you get right on this?

Thanks,
BrowserMetrics

Adventures From My Netflix Queue: The Naked Kiss

broderic on July 29, 2007

In the pantheon of American directors, Samuel Fuller seems to not get the recognition he deserves. I think his “Forty Guns” is one of Barbara Stanwyck’s best pictures. Growing up, Capitol Swell loved his “The Big Red One.” He pops up in cinema as an influence on the French Nouvelle Vague.

In a Fuller movie, you have either a gruff, but lovable sergeant or tough woman. The Naked Kiss is not a war film. In it, the main character played by Constance Towers is a former prostitute and of course with heart of gold. She gives up the street walking life running from her pimp whom she beats up in the pre-title sequence, and she finds a new life in small town America. All isn’t as it seems. She falls in with the town’s chief of police (Griff, you find one in every Fuller movie) for one last trick before going legit. She gets a job at the hospital helping disabled children. She falls in love with the town’s pretty boy who has a sordid secret. Things in small town America ain’t what they seem.

The movie is dramatic with a hint of noir. It’s shot in crisp black and white. In 1964. It’s another story written and directed by Fuller. And it’s surprisingly frank in depiction of things. Prostitution and abortion. Love and lust. The naked kiss signifies her senses for the dark. And there is a twist in the movie that makes it even darker. Yet, she wins the town over. And becomes a new woman.

I liked this a lot. Coming from only knowing Fuller as hard boiled, it is an interesting flick. The woman is both hard but sympathetic, loving but bad.

There is a touching scene with the disabled kids singing a song and she with her pretty voice joins in. It’s part of the ending twist, but it makes it all the more touching.

Fuller’s opening is a can’t miss. You’ll love it. And then the hair comes off and you love it even more. The end is satisfying enough, because our heroine becomes a winner. So is Sam Fuller.

4 of 5 stars.

Caribbean Cruise 2005: Ship to shore

broderic on July 28, 2007

July 9, 2005
10:00 Final day. I am already tired of the same old same old routine. When are we landing at home? I am done.

Final day at sea.

12:00 Really bored. Where to eat that we have not been to? Let’s see. Nowhere!

A recap since I didn’t maintain this journal too much. Thursday was St. Maartens where we rode horses through a chemical plant. Cute guide. Friday was a day @ sea. Just swam.