Recently in Movies Category

In his post "the perils of coincidence", John August says:

Like several million people worldwide, I saw Spider-Man 3 this past weekend. And like a substantial percentage of these viewers, I got frustrated by the number of unlikely coincidences in the movie.

He puts his finger on the problems I had with the movie. (I also had issues with the pacing and the fact that characters seemed to overlook blindingly simple conclusions and solutions in favor of ANGST ANGST ANGST.) Also, only bad guys have rhythm. That's all I'm sayin'. (Link includes spoilers.)

Review:

• Taking 12 credits this semester, rather than my typical 15-20. Sensible. Sane.
• Teaching two sections of lab. Still sane.
• Was not hired for the position at the new Apple retail store in town.

Given that my schedule this semester has stabilized into something eminently sane, I should actually have some decompression time. So, I have a few goals for this semester:

• School: Finish those labs from last semester. For real. All the way.
• Design: Get the blog redesign project I started done. All the way. It's really mostly done - I just need to convert to templates and make a few more decisions about how to display archives.
• Photo: Take 100 photos per week. I have a camera which it is reasonable to carry around (the Casio EX-S600EO) with a freaking 2GB SD card; I no longer have any excuse not to go crazy with the taking of pictures.
• Photo: Enter at least one contest at DPChallenge per month. (Why not use that for inspiration?)
• Video: Get approved as a video stock contributor at iStockPhoto.
• Writing: Write a substantial piece of short fiction. I'm not talking about serious "literary fiction" - I'm not even sure I know what that means, actually - I just mean something longer than the look-at-me-we-all-have-ADHD flash fiction I can bang out in a single sitting. A plot would be good. Characters required. I'm thinking 3,000-5,000 words. (I just know that if I can get one done, I'll have loosened up the knotty problem of how to turn my ideas into words.)
• Music: Finish one of the songs I have started. I've got about six sitting around, each with about half of the lyrics written, an idea of the melody line for those lyrics... then nothing.

I think the overall idea here is very much like throwing spaghetti at a wall; I want to see what sticks. I do a lot of disparate stuff, and seeing what holds my attention when I genuinely have time for it seems like a good idea. ...and then there's the lab thing, which I threw in there as my own personal guilt-trip. Any thoughts? Things I've mentioned to you or that you (knowing me like you do) think I want to be doing this semester that I've left out? Comment!

With all of the movies of geeky hotness this summer (you know, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (seen), Batman Begins (seen), Fantastic Four (seen), The Island, Skeleton Key)* and the really sweet ones coming up this fall (Flightplan, King Kong, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Serenity), I was tickled pink because I wouldn't have to sink to the level of watching romantic comedies to get my movie fixes - no, no, I could safely ignore everything ungeeky, because damn, there's just so much this year. And then I found out that there's a movie that I can't easily slip into the geeky glove - and I'm anticipating it far, far more than any of the above. They're doing Rent as a movie. And there's a blog, too. * Yes, we saw War of the Worlds. It sucked.

Some guy is spending five months waiting 'in line' for Star Wars, and he's got a fan of his own. His fan, who almost certainly has a degree in literature or 18th century hygenic practices (or something equally useless) wrote him a letter. Excerpt:

Briefly: Jeff is not an attention-seeker or a local media hound, he will continue his wait with or without any recognition from the wider world; rather, Jeff is someone who, as odd as it may seem to conventional society, feels deeply motivated by the idea of "waiting" for things of value, and in a consumer driven, materialistic culture he sees as spiritually drained, this is where he's putting his time and energy down as a worthy investment. All Star Wars fans are moved by how these films capture mythic themes of heroism, discipline, and inner strength, but I would wager that very few of them have been as thoroughly transformed by these ideals as Jeff Tweiten.

So... wait. Let me get this straight. He's saying that Jeff is fighting the Evil Consumerist Voodoo Spirits (TM) by... standing in line for a movie that has an estimated budget of $115,000,000? Look, I understand the guy's devotion, as a simple fan. Ok, maybe I don't quite. I understand standing in line for Ben Folds tickets overnight, or pre-ordering a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, or going to that special midnight first showing of Return of the King. I completely grok looking forward to something. But I don't understand waiting in an empty 'line' for five months for a movie that, given the last two, isn't going to be any good at all. Sorry, Jeff. On the upside, it's clear that somebody thinks you're saving the world from the tyranny of the dark side er, consumerism.

Sam and I are watching Earthsea on SciFi. I have one word, so far: Oy. The liberties they've taken so far have seriously castrated the story. If they keep up this pace, the miniseries will be unredeemable in about... six minutes. "I didn't know wizarding involved so much animal husbandry." ...me either.

Am I the only person who is really bothered by this poster? (If no-one gets why, I'll be truly crushed.)