The new James Bond film is fantastic. But it’s too long and there are some slow spots in the film. Especially with James Bond in love. That’s right. James Bond falls in love in this one. And like “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” that doesn’t work out too well. It makes him into the Bond that he is today. Except for the misstep in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”
4 of 5 stars.
Once every so often in grade school we would have a field trip out to Gettysburg. The battlefield being relatively close, we would spend an afternoon looking across the Wheat Field, looking down into Devil’s Den, peering through the Peach Orchard or surveying the Union’s advantage from the top of Little Round Top. All very majesterial and very much a part of this Nation’s collective historical unconscious. Our field trips there were a highlight in the school year. We learned something about our country and we got to spend some time out of doors.
Today’s an anniversary of the Gettysburg address. It’s probably the most famous of Lincoln’s speeches. Very powerful and moving. Here’s a way to invert the speech’s succinct narrative. It could’ve been better using Apple’s Keynote.
I keep a meticulous log of mileage in my car. I know what each of the ticks on the gas gauge means. How much gas left in the tank. How much further I can go before stopping and fueling up. It’s a metrics I like.
This last tank of gas has been less than average. I was at 150 trip miles on the 3/8 tick mark (the third from the right/full). I was at 198 at the half way mark. By my calculations, I am lagging about 6 miles from my average, and I know why.
Traffic.
I’ve been stuck in traffic the last couple of days. On Tuesday, it took an hour and 20 minutes to get to work. The normal commute is half that. Tonight, it took another hour to get to my mom’s. The normal commute is half that. All this traffic is impacting my gas mileage. And I notice it.
I’m getting tired of driving. When I’m sitting in traffic, wending my way to work, I’m thinking about public transportation. I want a better commute. *sigh*
Another week of 60 degree weather. Normally, I like the idea, but it’s November. Shouldn’t it be nothing but 30 degree nights with 50 degree days? I mean, c’mon.
The holiday season is quickly approaching. Next week is Thanksgiving and pretty soon, before you know it, Christmas is here. I don’t mind shopping for presents. I usually try to match the present with the person. It may not be something they need or want, but it ends up being something somewhat useful. Plus, I like to think that the thought does count so I feel that the recipient of the gift appreciates the thinking behind the gift.
Yet, some people have a hard time shopping for presents. My advice for them that do is to look at the person’s interests and shop for that. I usually start with a list and build upon that. Once in the stores I work with what is available and what seems right.
Another thing is that people don’t know what to shop for me. I’m planning to post a “wish list” with a range of gifts that I could use. Once again these are things from something that interests me.
My buddy, Wyman Lee, has moved his blog to WordPress. He thought about Blogger but found that people usually move off of blogger to something better. Even though he doesn’t post very often, check him out especially if you have some interest in asian films.
The new Bond film opens this weekend. There’s a lot of chatter on the net about it. Lots of people are excited and I hear that it is getting some decent reviews. Here’s a link to a page with many of the theme songs from past bond films. I never new how cool they sounded. While certainly there are a few clunkers, putting all these onto your iPod would be cool. Someone rip these for me.Anyway, there are a few that are cool. Check out the “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” theme song and you’ll find the precedent for “The Incredibles” theme. Garbage, a favorite band, did “The World is Not Enough” and it sounds like them. “You Only Live Twice” was sampled by Robbie Williams for “Millennium,” but it still is a cool tune. I am going to have to see if the iTunes Music Store has all these.And of course Bond’s Theme song is rather cool as well.
Wow! Next week is the week of Thanksgiving. Boy time is flying by!
I’m going have to post my wish list soon to help those unfortunate
enough not to know what to get me.
There once was a blogger who wrote a review about the movie, Stranger Than Fiction. He had seen it the previous night. Now, it wasn’t the movie he went to see, but since that was sold out, it was either Stranger Than Fiction or The Return. Being tired of trite horror films since Halloween had just past and not wanting to watch a movie from behind the brim of his ball cap, Stranger Than Fiction was the only choice. He bought a ticket as did his companions, waited a half hour before getting seated, and patiently watched the film unspool before him.
While devouring a ridiculously large bucket of popcorn, he felt that the movie was trying too hard. That it was too clever by a half. It was as if the writer and director wanted to out clever Charlie Kaufman’s writing and out wit Michel Gondry direction. The “meta” style and “wink-wink” that the plot represented indicated to the blogger that the story was very much about a story. The flashes of graphics thought to enhance the picture were gratuitous and show-offy. He was so aware that this was going to be another movie he would not like.
Yet, there was some doubt. How can he not like it when the main character gets the girl? He thought the writers would surely make it a dream, but no it was real. The audience cheered this development. How can you not like it when the fictional writer had ten years of writers block? He knows how that feels. He was pulling for her hoping that she would write, “Fish for sale! Fish for sale!” referencing another of filmdom’s infamous writer with writer’s block.
Can this movie win him over? It did! The characters live happily ever after. Imagine that! Love conquers all. Live your life as if dying tomorrow would not be bad. The cliches he had to think about. They would’ve made him give this film a terrible review, but in the end, he has to admit…
…3 of 5 stars. Much better than expected.
Back in the day, magicians ruled entertainment. I found it hard to believe. You’ll also find this movie hard to believe once you realize that it is truly fictional. The conceit of this movie turns upon the idea that science can conjure up something truly fantastical. That scientists through there work create an unreality that is macabre. This movie asks us to believe that magicians practice magic, but scientists practice a dark art. The revelation at the end wherein we learn that Tesla was a mad genius who produced a scientific body that defies science. No wonder Thomas Edison and his thugs had to discredit him; his work was not science but magic. And the magicians’ illusions were not slight of hand, but pure fantasy.
Hugh Jackman I can’t take seriously. For me he is always a comical character. I don’t know why, perhaps it was his role in Kate & Leopold. No matter, he was a distraction.
2 of 5 stars.
