Nine Ladies Dancing

broderic on January 2, 2012

The X-Files (How The Ghost Stole Christmas)

Christmas time finds Mulder and Scully investigating a haunted house in Maryland. The duo find two desiccated bodies under the floor boards. The corpses are wearing the duos outfits. The duo are on a wild ghost hunt. They meet up with the former occupants of the house who committed suicide on Christmas Eve in the past. The ghosts delve into the two FBI agents’ complicated relationship.

One of the worst episodes of the X-Files. The concept was cute by a half.

Christmas theme: Need to be connected to someone. Sceptic with the believer. Both afraid of the loneliness. Sharing the holiday season with someone who understands you.

I miss the internet community that The X-Files spawned. And Scully in her short bob. Mmmm, Scully!

Eight Maids A-milking

broderic on January 1, 2012

You! Yes you. What day is it? New Year’s? Have I been asleep all this time since Christmas? No, don’t answer that? I say though do you know the butcher on the next street over? Do you know if they’ve sold the goose hanging in the window? Still there! Good! Here’s a farthing fetch me the butcher. Bring him back with the goose in 10 minutes, and you’ll get another farthing!

Happy New Year!

I just substituted New Year with Christmas, but as we all know that scene is from A Christmas Carol. I’m finally getting you back to a familiar holiday treat. Yes, a week late, but we can go back in time to witness what Christmas means to a humbug of a man.

Usually, this is when I summarize the movies story, but if you don’t know it by now. Get thee to a library.

The Christmas theme for today is Christmas Day! Happy New Year! Nothing like thinking about Christmas Day than to start 358 days away to getting there. Remember where your Christmas Spirit should be; in the here, in the now, in the next. Nothing better than to start being Christmas than to start on the first day of the year.

So remember, be Christmas year round lest the Ghosts of Chrismas Past, Present and Future come to visit you.

Seven Swans A-swimming

broderic on December 31, 2011

New Year’s Eve. It’s a new movie opening this weekend. I don’t think I want to subject you, my readers, to something that painful so I’m gonna fall back to one of my favorite Coen movies, The Hudsucker Proxy.

Norville Barnes, a hick from Muncie, Indiana, peers perilously over the ledge as the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve. He wants to take his life because he was a failure at being the CEO of the Hudsucker Corporation, but he was just a stooge put in place by the board to drive the stock down. At the disastrously lowered price, the board members wanted purchase the stock on the cheap. Needless to say, Norville’s idiocy guides the Hudsucker Corporation to new heights especially with the introduction of the hula-hoop, Norville’s invention.

Amy Archer is a Pulitzer winning journalist who spies something funny about Norville Barnes as CEO, and she decides to investigate him. She poses as a fellow Muncian and becomes Norville’s secretary. She finds out how much of an idiot he is, but also that there is some genius to his idiocy. She falls in love, yet, she exposes his idiocy and causes his downfall. “How could you a fellow Muncian?” Queue the climb to the ledge.

The Christmas theme today is the circular notion of “what comes around goes around.” Christmas comes just once a year. It’s gone, but it will be back again next year. Live for that and it will come around again. Give and you shall receive. Or as they said in the movie karma.

The big O! “You know, for kids!”

So as you celebrate New Year’s Eve remember, you do get a second chance. It’ll come around again in a year’s time.

Best Pictures List 2011

broderic on December 30, 2011

I’ve become really stingy when it comes to doling out stars in my reviews. I only gave one movie a plus positive rating of four stars or more from all the movies I’ve seen this year. My list is so meager that I’m adding in the best movie I saw this year which happened to be on DVD. Also, the other movie I added is considered the best picture from last year, but I saw it this calendar year. There’s plenty of 3 star movies this year and there are also plenty of two stars or less. It’s depressing. Movies haven’t moved me in awhile. Perhaps I may see something on the last day which would.

L’Illusioniste on DVD (5 stars)
The King’s Speech (5 stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (4 stars)

Six Geese A-laying

broderic on December 30, 2011

Most every anime featuring high school romance is going to have it’s Christmas episode. Hatsukoi Limited is no different. It’s title is “Before it Snows” (雪が降り出すその前に) I just wanted to copy and paste that. You see I needed an anime to tell us all about Christmas in Japan from the schoolboy’s perspective. I would’ve chosen my favorite anime, but settled on Hatsukoi Limited because it sorta has a theme we could attach to it for today.

The set up for the anime is that these girls and these boys have crushes on each other and they either need to acknowledge the crush or be crushed by rejection. It’s a short, simple, complicated manga turned by Kawashita-sensei that you should read about its plot at wikipedia. Anyhow, the Christmas episode has the gang planning a Christmas party. Three girls and three boys each crushing on someone are to attend and they’ll exchange gifts. The day arrives and two girls and two boys have bailed out for various reasons leaving the more antagonist couple alone. They don’t know if they like each other; they just know that the other is really, super annoying. They argue then get into a snowball fight which clears their heads enough to acknowledge that each has a good point to them; they’re steadily falling in love. They exchange presents and each finds that they got what they had wanted.

The Christmas theme for today is koi. Love not familial or brotherly, but passion. We should feel it all year long, but it is more acute around this time because of the sharing and

The second Christmas theme for today is “tsudere goodness.” Assertive, combative, confrontational at first given way to gentle, warm-hearted, loving that’s a Christmas present I can’t wait for.

The third Christmas theme is grade S zettai ryouiki. That’s the star on the treetop and the ribbon on the gift. Waiting for it is worthwhile.

Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol

broderic on December 30, 2011

I did like Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, but I thought it lacked emotion. It was a very rote, by the numbers Misson, but no heft in outlying why we should care about IMF. They were gonna be disavowed, but “meh,” why should I care. The previous installments in this film series forced Ethan Hunt to the brink emotionally. Whether through revenge and betrayal or love and passion, Ethan always was running fueled by his emotions for getting the job done. In this movie, it lacked the personal, emotional investment for Ethan to keep running.

That is not to say the plot was a mess, but the standard rogue agent with a nuclear bomb makes me think Lex Luthor, and Lex Luthor was a comic book villain. This could’ve been a plot for any other task force team — someone look up what John McClane is up to.

I think Paula Patton is beautiful. I think Brad Bird did a fine job on his first live action film. I hope Brad Bird doesn’t just do live action films anymore. I think Tom Cruise runs funny. Simon Pegg is overexposed. Anil Kapoor should be in more Hollywood productions bringing some Bollywood over. I thought when the twist came that Josh Hallowell would be under that mask. I wonder what the IMAX hype was all about.

3 of 5 stars.

Five Golden Rings

broderic on December 29, 2011

If I didn’t have the time to watch last post’s film, I’m even more crunched for time for today’s,Christmas In July. So, to save time, what we’ll have here is the transcript as I live blog the film. I’ll just have to figure out the Christmas theme on the fly as well.

Ready? Here we go…

Christmas in July is one of Preston Sturges‘ lesser films not as great as the Lady Eve or Sullivan’s Travels, but one of the few he directed himself. No idea who Dick Powell and Ellen drew are, but still it’s filled with his repertory cast such as William Demerest.

William Demerest locks the jury on the Maxford House Coffee slogan contest. Maxford House!

They don’t announce the winner? Oops.

Dick Powell doubles down after every loss! Always bet on black!

“If you don’t sleep at night, it’s not the coffee it’s the bunk.”

It’s a Viennese doctor’s theory that coffee doesn’t make you sleep.

Maybe the Christmas theme for today and this movie is Christmas should be 365-24-7, year round. Always be sharing all the time outside of Christmas. Maybe?

What would Sturges do with more accomplished actors? Wait until his next movie to find out.

He works for the competitor! There’s a bell to start work? Like school! It is school! Rows and rows of desks where the workers ply there trade. And a secretarial pool as well.

Going to principal’s office. Damn he’s getting grilled.

“Cheese it!”

Co-workers have sent a fake telegram for winning the Maxford House slogan contest. He won the big prize. $25000! He’s going on a spending spree, but he’s been fired. No, he’s gotten a promotion.

“It’s bred in the bean.”

I don’t think this movie has anything to do with Christmas…

The contest winner is here? They hadn’t even announced it.

“I just give money away.” “I can’t wait to give you my money.”

They just waltz up and took the money.

Now they’re buying some crazy contraption automatic pull out sofa bed. The future is now!

Here we go… they’re buying everyone in the neighborhood presents. Truly it is Christmas in July.

They’re walking out of the department store without paying again.

That’s probably it for the Christmas mention. I wonder how they’ll get out of this one.

They’re still arguing about the slogan winner and the guy has already spent the money on gifts. Here’s Sturges and his witty dialogue.

He’s a loser… And the jokes on him.

His name has already been painted on the door so he keeps his job! And he did win. I think we saw that coming!

Wow what a short movie. Must’ve been a single reel.

Welp. It would’ve been better but I didn’t know a movie with a title including Christmas wasn’t about Christmas. I’ll try and do better tomorrow.

Four Calling Birds

broderic on December 28, 2011

Okay, now here we go. I”m gonna have to do the next installment cold. I don’t have time to watch this one. I’ve slipped up. I do know that I should’ve already written a post or two on Tokyo Godfathers. If not, then tonight I’ll make up for it.

The story takes place during Christmas and centers around three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo. One is a runaway school girl who fled her home after an argument with her father over a cat. Another is a drag queen. The final hobo is an ex-keirin racer and bicycle shop owner acting as a bum because of a gambling problem. They find an abandoned baby who they vow to reunite with its mother. Adventures ensue. Hmm. I guess you have to watch it to understand.

Anyhow, you wouldn’t expect a Japanese anime to have anything to do with Christmas, but they make an anime about everything and anything. You’ll see later on as I hit up some anime in later posts.

Today’s Christmas theme is how universal the tidings of joy and goodwill to all men are. Christmas shows up in a film in a most non-Christian of nations, and the film celebrates redemption through the birth of a child. Each of the three Tokyo godfathers experiences redemption in some form. Christmas brings some of that to us with the birth of our savior. It doesn’t matter if you’re some Japanese homeless person. Joy and peace are universal truths and it takes a Japanese anime to remind us.

I do miss Satoshi Kon. I wonder what more he would’ve brought to us. I hope you search out his films and realize he was a master storyteller. And I hope you add Tokyo Godfathers to your holiday movie list.