Pi - Excellent soundtrack. Visuals that haunt you on the bus home. Good.

Mulan - Alright, but still Disney - ie predictable. Ehn.

Kafka - Scarier than Pi. Gruesome.

Dead Man - A mystical western. Depp is alright.

The Adjuster - An early Egoyan work. Has an edge, but is unpolished. Leads naturally to Exotica.

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I think I'm going to try to review/briefly discuss a movie every day, just to give me something to talk about. I'll start with Galaxy Quest.

Galaxy Quest is a good-hearted satire, a sci-fi spoof that expresses genuine affection toward everyone it parodies. While the movie pokes insightful fun at the geeky conventioneers, the actors and the sci-fi genre itself, there is no doubting the filmmakers' love for their subjects. Fun effects combined with actors who obviously had a ball doing the film help make it solid entertainment.

I'm going to add another somewhat related note: the theatre (or crowd) with which you see a film makes all the difference on what you'll get out of it. The first time I saw Galaxy Quest, I watched it in a upscale downtown Toronto theatre, and the audience knew exactly when to laugh and when to guffaw, and I came out of there loving the film.

So enthused was I that I watched it again, this time in a Markham theatre (just down the block from my parent's house)... and the audience was totally clueless of when and how to respond to the film's scenes. Often I'd find myself being the only one laughing it up.. at least, laughing out loud.

Is this that suburbian/middle-upper class snobbery at work here? Are people just dense when it comes to satire? I've had experiences like this before in York Region theatres.. where the audience is primarily made up of overly made-up teenage goons and their female, ditzy counterparts. So I suppose that has something to do with it. Hmmm.. I may just avoid theatres populated with such culturally devoid denizens from now on.. it's never bothered me before, but I guess I'm just noticing now since I was able to compare with one film.

Hmm... I suppose this implies that I've been robbed of good viewing experiences in the past. Damn those passive-audience cretins!

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Hmm.. I was wrong about the javascript tip.. I guess I had my browser set to "Ignore Javascript Errors".. Anyway, I've changed it.. it should work now (the focus going to the proper comment window, while maintaining the same window titles).

Okay, time for my (quick) film review.. I've chosen Princess Mononoke.. actually it was suggested to me by Growl, who gets a gold star for being the first to add a comment!

I first found out about Mononoke from a poster I saw at the Paramount.. "..number 2 in sales only to Titanic in Japan.. critically acclaimed.. Miyazaki's best work..etc" which is pretty high praise, I thought, considering the quality and calibre of Miyazaki's work. So I blame my vague disappointment on the hype I was exposed to. I mean, it was a pretty good film.. but it didn't match the sense of anticipation I had (in contrast, I was totally hyped up for seeing The Matrix.. and I wasn't at all disappointed).

Like his other works, the film features characters that are neither simply good or evil, but exist somewhere in between.. villains that you can relate to, and heroes that are misguided. The film maturally deals with socially and politically delicate issues, and doesn't provide a cure-all, everyone's-happy-let's-go-home ending.

Which, while utterly realistic, irked me somewhat.. I suppose my problem is that I like closure at the end of a film... happy or tragic, I prefer some a twist or event that marks the end.. to me, Mononoke lacked that finishing shine to an otherwise excellent film.

Overall, comparable to Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, both in story and quality - well worth watching.

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I just downloaded the newest version of Napster, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. I remember when I first tried it out, (sometime last year) and was sorely disappointed with the various bugs that seemed to plague it. But the new interface is cleaner, simpler, and most importantly, the thing works like a charm! Oh BOY more toys!

Okay, my next film I'm gonna discuss is Rushmore, a Wes Anderson film (Bottle Rocket), which stars Jason Schwartzman (son of Talia Shire (Adrian of Rocky), nephew of F.F.Coppola and cousin of Nicolas Cage) in his very first film role - Max Fischer, a brilliant 15-year-old attending Rushmore, a pricey private school populated primarily by rich brats. This bespectacled enfant terrible's downfall comes not from his many extracurricular activities (writing and directing plays, running various clubs) but from developing a crush on a young teacher -- and having to fight for her affections with an eccentric millionaire (Bill Murray in one of his best performances).

I highly enjoyed this film.. Anderson's instincts for what will make us both empathize with and laugh at his characters is infallible. The quirky characters, inspired soundtrack (consisting of 60s Brit-rock and Cat Stevens) and notable performances by Schwartzman and Murray combine to make Rushmore one of the most fun and inventive films of '99.

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Dang, I was just kicked off the server for no damned good reason.. I'm gonna reinstall my OS soon, I think 'cause I'm tired of waiting for 40+ seconds for windows98 to boot up. I also suspect that something is interfering with my cable connection, as everything has been feeling sluggish lately.

I know, I know, I haven't posted a film review for a day or two now.. you're not going to hold me to that, are ye? 'Cause I'm thinking I suck at doing that sort of thing (writing critical articles) on a regular basis.. which might help explain why Darkmatter only came out once a month, back when Growl and I were the editors. Ah, those were the glory days.

Dang nabit, I'm having trouble connecting to ICQ.. *makes face* Now I'm really building up the gumption to clean up this system.

Anyway, I do feel that I owe you something in terms of film reviews.. here's an excerpt of one for Kids, which was recently played on Showcase:

Then a curious thing happens. Casper pauses casually, in plain view of passersby on a street corner, to urinate. That is not what is strange. What is strange is that Telly chooses to stand around the corner from his friend, to lend him privacy. If you study this body language, you realize that these kids live entirely in a world of their own. Other people - adults - simply do not exist.

Larry Clark's "Kids" is a movie about their world. It follows a group of teenage boys and girls through one day and night during which they travel Manhattan on skateboards and subway trains, have sex, drink, use drugs, talk, party, and crash in a familiar stupor, before starting all over again the next day. The movie sees this culture in such flat, unblinking detail that it feels like a documentary; it knows what it's talking about.

You can click here to read the rest of what Ebert (the fat one) has to say about the film - for the most apart I agree with what he has to say.

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Hey y'all.. sorry, but I haven't put any work into transferring the .talk_scripts... I've been busy with girlfriend work (mostly chauffering her around - she lives 30 mins away). Maybe something tonight.

We saw Alien Resurrection together.. I knew that it wasn't that great so I wasn't expecting much.. and it was more or less what I was told it would be. It had lots of potential, but the film didn't build upon anything interesting.. like further developing the new Ripley (which I felt was sorely needed), or making the new alien breed a little more menacing (it seemed to me weaker/less intimidating than the original aliens). Also, they killed off the charismatic Michael Wincott (born in Toronto, he was the leader of the rogue-band) rather early much to my disappointment - and for no real reason other than, I suppose, to make the group leaderless. Would've been more interesting, in my opinion, to have kept him.

Overall, Resurrection has plenty of similarities to the superiorly crafted Aliens, but lacks the adrenaline punchy action of the latter. Probably not worth watching, even if you're an Alien's fan - a disappointing effort from the director who gave us "The City of Lost Children" and "Delicatessen", two great, quirky films.

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Hey, sorry about being down and out.. mysterious problem. Actually, I'm writing this entry while the http is still out, so if you see this then we've figured it out.

I spent the weekend at Angela's.. saw the Leaf game Saturday night - again I remind you that I'm no hockey freak.. just a Leaf fan. Sunday Ange and I saw Mission to Mars.

I sat through it. I liked it. I enjoyed it.

Now for the tough bit-- explaining myself, or in this case, defending the film since it appears that nobody else liked it! Hmm.. some of these reviews are quite scathing.

Well, I'm not gonna go into the bad points (which, depending on your sensitivity, are the plot, dialogue, "rip-offs of better films" (which never bothered me before - it would only bother me if they ripped-off a bad film), scientific (un)believability, logical plotline, und so wieter). The reason I liked the film is because of ONE SCENE (and no, not the ending, which I didn't hate)... that one scene allowed me to forgive the film of any and all faults.

I can see that a lot of people are gonna hate the film for any combination of the reasons listed above.. oh well, what can you do.. but for those of you who DO like the film.. wasn't that a great scene?

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I was finally able to see High Fidelity Friday night. I saw it at the Paramount (on Richmond, near Whiskey Saigon) which was quite busy.. however, the theatre for High Fidelity was not.. I guess too many plebes lining up for "Being Erin Brockovich" and "Fools of Engagement" (if it's not apparent, I hold hell-high contempt for these two films).

Anyway, my usual film/theatre rants aside, HF is, as paradoxical as it may sound, an excellent romantic comedy - witty, intelligent, wry, amusing. It's also a romantic comedy told from "the guy's point of view", something I think is definitely lacking these days in sappy films (though HF is hardly sappy). Cusack plays his prototypical protagonist - generally nice guy, sorta ordinary but wry and witty. In HF he's also an audiophile ("Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?") which is really quite central to the film - HF is about the overwhelming power of pop culture -- not just the way it can illuminate every element of our existence but also the way it can cloud our judgement.

I don't want to give too much away (a policy I try to adhere to because films are inevitably better when you don't know anything about them). The dialogue is realistic, acting is great (especially Jack Black - you'd never guess that he actually IS a musician), the comedy is dry, undertoned.. not raucously hilarious, but thoughtfully amusing, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I highly wholly recommend High Fidelity. I'd be willing to see it again in the theatre, it's that good.

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Whoa.. lotsa comments from yesterday's entry.. I knew it would attract comments, I just didn't realize it would start a flame war! Ah isn't the internet just LUVLEE!??

(BTW, the « button DOES work.. it just doesn't work in the way you would expect. Ok, when there is no entry for the present day, hwan.com will show the last entry that I put online. Now, the « will ALWAYS display the entries for the previous day.. it doesn't care that the entry currently shown is the only entry for the previous day. Hmmm... I suppose I COULD change it... well, for now, just hit the « button twice to go to the previous day. It was done this way because it was assumed that I'd write frequent updates.. but.. eh *shrug*.)

Oh hey, I just saw X, the much hyped anime film. It was the dubbed version, and while the voice acting wasn't too bad, I feel that much was lost in the translation as the dialogue suffers that stupidification that most anime translations do. The animation was good, and the action sequences were pretty cool too, but the ending was UGH. I hope to soon forget that film.

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Yo.. I tried the new version of counterstrike last night.. it's purty. The weapon adjustments are pretty neat.. I like the fact that the commando has almost no recoil anymore.. now it's a REALLY nice terrorist weapon. However, all the guns seem to do less damage than before, which is sorta sucky. I like the new maps.. that house one is cool... the european alleyway map is very nice.. forest is a bit silly looking -- it feels like I'm fighting on a movie-stage. Hmmm.. one problem with this new version is that I can't seem to get to my console window (usually invoked with the tilde key), which is highly annoying.

I also watched Office Space -- funny little film. The dialogue was witty (written by Mike Judge).. some of the lines were a blast.

I also caught a few minutes of Rumble in the Bronx (good action, of course) and the hockey game (woohoo Stars! -- I'm not really a fan of either team, I just want more hockey).

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Hmm.. the name Mika Hakkinen (the finnish formula one driver) reminds me of Baron Harkonnen, that screaming fatman from Dune. This doesn't have anything to do with the review.

I saw X-Men tonight.. and I was pleasantly surprised by its well-written, true-to-the-comic script and credible special effects. The fight sequences were pretty good too - can't really go bad with Ray Park involved (damn, that guy is younger than me! ARGH). Hugh Jackman made for an excellent, if tall, Wolverine. A slightly more jaunty Wolverine than the comic version, but really well done -- I can't see anyone else being Wolverine now. Not much dialogue otherwise in the film -- I heard that some 45 minutes were cut from the director's version, so I suspect that's where the rest of the speaking is (and possibly a few more fight scenes? Maybe, but I felt there was a good ratio as it was). There was even a story under all of this.. albeit with only light character development. I guess that's the sore point for those of you who don't know what or who the X-Men are.

I suspect this will be the film's weakest point, that people who are entirely new to the world of X-Men will be left a bit confused and unsatisfied as the characters aren't given too many chances to explain who (or what) they are. In all other aspects, the film satisfies. And hey, I've got a bit of a soft spot for a film with lots of cancon (canadian content, also the law of the same name that allows mediocre canadian bands to get unreasonable exposure).. well, at least I recognized Roy Thompson Hall.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film.. I didn't catch myself wishing something was different or for a scene to skip by. Batman (the first film) and Superman (also the first, maybe the second) quality, it's that good (hey, they WERE great when they came out).

But, when you see it, do what I did -- don't expect anything to impress you. And, AND... don't read any reviews *hides*.

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Got a call from another headhunter this morning.. luckily I was awake and coherent (went to bed at 3, got up at 8:30.. who knew?) enough to take the call. The position isn't too impressive though.. well, I should say, the salary isn't too impressive, not much more than I'm making now. Well, we'll see.

I was thinking about Cast Away last night as I was trying to fall asleep (had a latte vente, which may explain my trouble sleeping/ease of waking up early). It's really a film about picking yourself up after a fall, to continue on despite the obstacles in your path. The beginning and ending bits are incidental to the real meat of the film, which is of course Hank's trials and tribulations on the island. And it's VERY well done, with plenty of realistic details. See, the thing I'm thinking is that the pace is VERY slow, very meticulous, and that might be a bit much for people who're too impatient to watch Hank's struggle with coconuts and crabs. But hey.. just what were they expecting to see? Battles with feral pigs? A drug cartel dropping by to pick up a hidden cache of spanish treasure? It's a survival film, pure and simple. Anyway, I liked it.

I just realized I contracted "who" and "are" into "who're" which isn't a legal contraction, and is probably a bit dangerous. I guess I'm just some kind of dangerous contraction desparado.

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Yo dudes.. so Saturday QYV gives me a call.. him and a2chow want to go skating at the Civic Center over by Scarboro Town. I say yeah, alright, I'll go but I'm not skating because a) I don't know how to skate, b) I don't have skates, and c) I don't skate. It may look fun to me, but I'm terrible at it. I haven't tried skating for over 10 years (probably). But I go with them anyway, because we pick up some games at the Town Center (Outcast for QYV, Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for me). Afterwards, we pick up a2chow's PS2 and both of their computers and head over to my place for some gaming. And yes, yet more counterstrike. Lots of it.. we played from.. hmmm.. about midnight to.. 6 am? So.. about six hours worth. Well, first we watched the Leaf vs. Ottawa game (lost 3-2 in OT) while eating Pizza Hut delivery (gross.. I hate that stuff.. the bread is so greasy it feels moist - ugh, lightly nauseating).

The gaming was alright.. it got really fun when pops joined, so we had the four of us bantering and working together. Well, sometimes we worked together...

Oh, I just watched Snatch.. not bad, not bad at all! Actually, there were some pretty amusing bits (mostly with Sol and Vinnie). And the music.. ultracool, laddies, ultracool. One slight thing that bothered me was Brad Pitt playing another pugilistic mongrel. Brad Pitt Fighter.

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Hola amigos.. I went and saw Blow yesterday (on a side note, what's up with all of these provocatively named films lately? Snatch.. Blow.. Josie and the Pussycats? Oh, and of course, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. Heh, there's plenty more co- er, opening soon: *cough* Baise-moi *cough*, Gulp, Dirty, Scratch, Nailed, Twitch, Dirt, The Dish.. I'm not making these up! OH, and don't forget Pocket Monster. Hmm.. I know what that's like...)

Blow wasn't my first choice, as I had read some bad things about it. But it wasn't at all that bad. It has the feeling of trying to be a real crime story, but seems to lack the emotion. Half of the film is fast and stylish, with pumping music. And then everything gets real serious and somber and the film becomes more of a parable, although the fact that it's based on a real story is re-emphasized. So it starts as being upbeat and flashy but ends on a real down note. Which, considering the story, shouldn't be any surprise.

Oh, and a note about counterstrike on eternal warrior 2 (as techbc is still down) -- they've fiddled with their Bonus points and I have NO idea how it works anymore.. it's vaguely related to performing goal-critical tasks (rescuing hostages, planting/defusing bomb). BUT the guy in top place has a really high bonus rating while his stats, simply put, SUCK ASS. I don't get it. So those rankings have lost a lot of their meaning, unfortunately.

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Hmph.. I missed the free REM show, despite making actual plans to go. Crazy things got in the way, unforseen yet, in hindsight, inevitable events. In any case, I missed it. Rats.

Went to Ho Shim (yay buffet!) with Angela for a nice dinner. Walked around the parking lot, examining a broken light pole in the middle of the lot. It looked like it was hit pretty hard, which is funny because, well, how the hell do you smash into a light pole in the middle of a parking lot? We examined the bumpers of the cars there, looking for the culprit. Lots of banged up bumpers, but no concrete match.

I wanted to stall for a time a bit, since my parents didn't know I had skipped off work and I didn't want them to know (to avoid the consequent lecture). Angela and I played this old balancing game where two people face each other on a concrete parking barrier, and try to knock the other person off through a variety of pushing and pulling. It's a fun game, and if the strength difference is too high, the stronger person can only use one arm. I lost nearly all the bouts.

Watched "Memories", an feature-length anime made up of three separate mini-films, my favourite being the first, "Magnetic Rose". The second tries hard to be funny but I found it predictable and annoying. And the last one, I suppose, is there to show the ridiculousness of war, but I happen to not think war is silly, so it too annoyed me. The animation in all three though is top notch.

OH and I saw The Mummy Returns Wednesday night, at the Silvercity in Richmond Hill. With Angela (if you think I've been spending a lot of time with her this past week, you'd be right). The film has lots of action but not much suspense, which is too bad because you have egyptian mummies and ancient undead warriors -- you'd think it'd be easy to instill some fear in the audience. But they toned down the potential violence -- the film's only PG, which I suspect is to reach a broader crowd (i.e. more money).

Hmm.. and the movie REALLY reminded me of Diablo 2 -- man alive it was uncanny how many memories of the game were invoked through watching the movie. Hey, if you've played Diablo 2, you'll totally see what I mean.

I liked the sub-plot (of the wife and Meela being reincarnated versions of the Pharoah's daughter and Anck-Su-Namun), and the little sequences of Egypt past. But I didn't think Anck-Su-Namun would flinch from rescuing Imhotep -- that just didn't seem likely. I felt real pity for poor Imhotep, forsaken by his beloved. Sad.

Hmm.. that's about all I have to say about the film. In summary, lots of action but not enough suspense to make it memorable or as enjoyable as it couldn't been. Lots of CGI too, gawrsh. Starts off pretty serious, but ends up being real campy.

That was Wednesday night. Now I'm talking about yesterday, Thursday night. Angela went to the airport to meet her sister who had just flown in. I went downtown to meet up with amacpher at The Velvet Underground. They have an industrial night on Thursday. I got there around 11 pm, but the place was almost empty with only maybe 15 people inside. But by midnight the place was JAM packed, well over a hundred patrons -- 20-25 year olds, most of them clad in leather and other black clothes. Definitely a younger crowd than at Savage Garden (which is more of a 25-30 year old bar).

Anyway, the two bits of news (to reward you for reading this far into a lengthy, tedious entry) are a) some girl introduced herself to amacpher, she having seen him around, asking why she hadn't seen him lately etc etc. So membership has its privileges, I guess! Oh, and b), @m83r was there, SOMEHOW! Apparently she's there often on Thursdays. She's no longer at the Gap (whether downsized or quit was unclear) and is unemployed for a couple weeks. I was a bit annoyed at her though, because she definitely saw me first but didn't say hi. Hmph. And when I finally decided to greet her, she totally recognized me but acted all surprised to see me etc etc. Sheeya right, we were sitting right beside her group. Feh! And then, as we're talking, she brings in this friend of hers and they chat away *makes chatty sign with hand while shaking head and rolling eyes*, leaving me out of the convo. I stick around a couple minutes before thinking BAH enough of this and wave goodbye and make my way over to amacpher.

She even had the temerity to come over and say goodbye to me when she left. Whatever girl. What-EVER.

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I just finished watching Memento at Dangerman's place. I have been meaning to see it for quite some time now, but have been putting it off, mainly because I don't like to see a film alone and there's rarely anyone around to accompany me (I prefer seeing films in the theatre).

The movie has oft been recommended to me by several of my most trusted film review resources, and I am now happy to report that the film did not disappoint -- it was very good. Slow and confusing at first, yet highly intriguing, it unraveled its mystery most deliciously, offering revealing morsels just as the viewer's appetite demanded more. The performances given were spot on, the antagonist accompanied by a fascinating monologue. Point of trivia -- there are a couple of The Matrix actors in this film, and Guy Pearce was in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert which itself featured another Matrix actor, Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith.

SPOILER: About halfway through the film, I started to become annoyed at how everyone was taking advantage of the hero, lying and manipulating him for their own gain. But I continued to watch, as one watches a car crash, ogling the wreckage. Then, to my delight, the ending drops a thundering revelation, and everything is made karmically right. Well, perhaps I mean it's an ironically appropriate ending. It pieced the parts together so well, it clicked so right, that my earlier annoyances were washed away, my impression of the film immediately cleaned and refreshed. A very fine piece of film!

SPOILER: Heh, I should note that it sort of freaked me out how he made all those notes, as I myself have just recently started to use my Palm frequently to make my own notes! An extension of my memories or my mind...?

Oh, actually the reason I went to Dangerman's place was that he had a coupon for 50% off at Club Monaco, so I picked up some nice articles at the outlet store near his place: a vertically-ribbed fisherman's sweater, another pair of spandex/cotton dress pants (but these one's you don't have to dry clean, thankfully) and a flash london fall coat. All of them black, back to the old ways I guess.

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Been a while since I've updated.. been sorta lazy, taking it easy, relaxin', chillin', playing a lot of Diablo II:LOD. Saw the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Friday night with Angela, Girl, Growl and Dangerman, over at the Silvercity in kitchenerwaterloo (ordered the tickets online Thursday from movietickets.com).

Wow. I went in expecting a lot, and I got more than that, that's how good the film was. I didn't quite finish the book (had the last small chapter to finish) before viewing the film, though obviously what I had read was still quite fresh in my mind. And the movie completely filled in and manifested the images to screen so beautifully, with such detail and trueness that make it worthy of the name. I was utterly impressed.

There are differences to be sure, but to my mind the cuts and changes are precisely what the live-action film would have to have. And even then, it manages an excellent pace with the material it crams into a three-hour period. I've already heard someone complain that the 3-hours was too much, that the film was too long. But for me, and I'm sure for many LotR fans, we walked out of the theatre refreshed, exhilarated, our desire quenched -- just the right amount. Ah. SO GOOD!!

Hmm.. ok, not much of a review, more of a gushing approval. Well hey, I really liked the film. And Legolas! Man he is just SO cool. And Hugo Weaving plays Elrond! "It seems that you've been living two lives. One life, you're Frodo Baggins..." Heh. Anyway, yeah, nice casting job, everyone fits their roles (with the possible exception of Liv Tyler, who doesn't seem at all elfish).

Special effects and sets were very nice -- often I'd be wide-eyed, although it wasn't the technology that impressed me but rather the attention to detail and accuracy. Little things like Legolas walking on top of the snow bank, or those little elvish clasps on their cloaks, or going all out to make the hobbits appear to be only 4 feet tall, with broad hairy feet. And yup, New Zealand was definitely the place to go film LotR (also helps that they already have those two big statues).

The action sequences blew me away too. Well, the first big battle was incredibly impressive, and the Moria scene especially stick out on in my mind. Hehehe. And I didn't realize, even from reading the book, that Strider/Aragorn was such a kick-ass fighter. What a crazy guy, taking on like a platoon of those Uruk-Hai!

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I saw The Royal Tenebaums Friday night with Angela. I'm mildly surprised to see it doing so well at the box-office, but I'm happy that it is. Interesting cast of characters, lots of potential and starts off really well but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Not enough focus on any particular character, instead giving momentary glimpses into all of them. Still, the film has its moments and overall I enjoyed it, though I don't know that I'd watch it again. So why is it doing so well?? Well, I'm happy those Owen boys are doing well.

I also saw O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which I thought was pretty good. It's based on Homer's Odyssey, and if you don't know that story then you miss out on half of the enjoyment. And normally I hate George Clooney, but I didn't mind him at all in the film. I can't stand John Turturro though.. that guy disgusts me. Bleargh.

Saturday night I went to The Phoenix with Growl and Dangerman, but I'm really getting tired of the club scene.

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Friday night I finally went to see Le Pacte des Loups ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") -- I say finally because I've been looking forward to seeing it in its entirety for a long time now. It came out in the States nearly a month ago, and was originally to be released only a week afterward in Canada, but has been delayed until now. Also, I had watched the first half of the movie on a low quality file I got over the 'net.

I have to admit, the first half didn't impress me much -- the fighting scenes were good, but nothing I haven't seen before. The first half ends on a sort of low note, so I wasn't particularly looking forward to the second half. However, Pops told me the second half is where everything comes together. And now I have to say he was right -- the action is INTENSE. Wow. And when you learn what the .. well, anyway, I thought it was pretty damn cool when you first see the Beast up close. Heh.

Angela didn't like the factual errors (mostly historical in nature), but I didn't mind them at all. I'm a sucker for a film featuring an avenging angel bashing up baddies, dealing out vigilante justice.

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Saturday was Angela's birthday, and her family and a couple of close friends went up to her farm for a lovely dinner consisting of rack of lamb with mint sauce, steamed vegetables, leeks, mashed potatoes and Angela's mom's famous chocolate cookie torte. And quite a bit of wine. Afterwards, we played two games of Pictionary which is always quite fun and involved, but sometimes the things made to be drawn are FAR too easy. We then watched Moulin Rouge!, which I had only heard to be a "chick flick". What I didn't know was that it's also a musical.

But I liked it. Frantic, jittery cinematography which doesn't annoy, though your eye flits about tasting the fantastic scenery and colorful images. The songs are mostly clever remakes of modern pop tunes, so delightfully done that one can't help but smile. The story is simple, about as simple as they come, but it's really secondary to the great production values. A real over-the-top visual and audio feast. Just take all that craziness and zanyness in and enjoy the songs, like any good musical.

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I saw Black Hawk Down yesterday, at Eglinton Town Center with a2chow. Two hours of city combat. I'm sort of drained right now -- played a few hours of counterstrike last night and didn't get out of bed until 2 pm or so. Pops pointed me to an excellent page about the Battle of Mogadishu, which is extremely detailed, with lots of audio and video clips. I was in my frosh year at UW, living in residence. So I pretty much missed the whole thing, including the rather nasty picture of the d's body being dragged through the streets.

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Angela and I watched Blade II Saturday night, after having eating at the Queen/John Young Thailand. Like most vampire films, there was plenty of biting and blood-sucking, but what really stood out was all the cutting and slicing and spurting and things twitching. Man, every few minutes I'd be like, "Ga-ah!" Man, the R rating is well-deserved!

The central plot idea was alright, but there seemed to me to be a lot of logical holes and some things just plain did not make any sense. Then again, Stan Lee had a hand in the film, who is notorious for building stories so that people will enjoy them, rather than worrying if they make sense or not.

The action sequences were pretty neat, although they're mostly old tricks overlaid with a shiny black veneer. The martial arts sequences suffered from the common one-at-a-time syndrome, where your sole hero takes on many baddies, who for some inexplicable reason attack him on ONE AT A TIME (sometimes two-at-a-time, though not quite the exact same time, just long enough for the hero to latch onto one and use him for leverage to dispatch the second). I liked the guns, especially the machine gun sequence in the night club. Heh, just like in Day of Defeat.

Bonus trivia: See if you can recognize the scenes that took place in Toronto -- it's really easy if you've done the tourist thing here.

Super trivia: Ron Perlman has also done voices for lots of video games, including Fallout 2.

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Spent most of the long weekend at Angela's, and Saturday night we saw The Road To Wellville, which I made me laugh a lot, mostly with amusing inventions and curious expressions ("..handerbugging(sp) you!"). Surprising amount of nudity. The secondary plot with Cusack as Charles Ossining had lots of potential, but didn't quite live up to what I thought could've been something really entertaining. Dana Carvey made for a disturbing George Kellogg -- truly creepy with that lecherous sneer. That sub-plot (between son and father Kellogg) also seemed to detract more than add to the overall film.

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Sunday Angela and I met up with Krista to see Atanarjuat ("Fast runner") at Bayview Village.

The film is told almost like a documentary, allowing the viewer to see deep into the details of every day Inuit life which invariably draws one in -- you don't just see things happen, you experience them alongside the characters.

The legend/story is classically epic with all of the usual elements -- love, infidelity, jealousy, pride etc. But interwoven are threads of mysticism alongside stark arctic realities of starvation and survival. Your senses are filled to capacity with images of snow and ice, with the crunch of snow and the baying of pack dogs.

As director Zacharias Kunuk and co-producer and cinematographer Norman Cohn explain:

"If you let go of this naive, accidental, folk-art, filmmakers-by-accident cliché," says Cohn, a New York native and Igloolik resident since 1985, "you realize that it doesn't matter what colour we are or where we come from, and then you can look at our film and see that it's designed deliberately to take you on a voyage. We are tour guides trying to give you the maximum experience. You bought the better package. You could've bought the cheap package where you go and feel like a tourist and everything gets explained, or you could buy the really expensive package where somehow you feel like you're really there."

The actors may not be professionals but you would never be able to separate them from the characters they portray because they're so sincere and genuine in their roles.

I guess the bottom line here is that the film is immersive and has images that will not quickly fade from your mind. You will gain an understanding of Nunavut culture and lifestyle. And of course you learn about the myth of Atanarjuat, a 1000 year old Inuit legend.

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I thought for SURE that Tobey Maguire was the kid brother from that 80s show Growing Pains... Ben Seaver. But no, alas, it was Jeremy Miller. Ah well.

Oh, the film was alright. Above average, not bad. I liked how the film was both true to the original story and yet changed certain details with impeccable adroitness. A fun action film, although the CGI was a bit overdone, some of it quite lacking. And the physics was.. well, very comic-book physics.

Point of trivia -- the bed that Aunt May uses in the hospital is the EXACT model that I used when I was in the hospital.. ah what mem'ries! I almost miss it... a nice bed that you get to eat in, you wear pajamas all day long, and lots and lots of drugs. Yup, those were the days....

Hah, not much of a review. I liked Willem Dafoe. Actually, I like pretty much all of his work -- he has a face you can trust, ya know? Oh, and what about that CRAZY end scene with Mary Jane? Where did THAT come from? I think they must've cut out a part or two because her dialogue seemed a bit abrupt.

What else... uh, in other news, somehow my dad was able to install win2k back on his machine. I spent 3 days on that accursed thing, and he fixed it in one evening. I don't know how. My excuse is that I had it set up ready to go, but just didn't have the gumption to try another install.

I bought four bags of those delicious Mi-Del gluten-free cookies today. Geez they're expensive.

OOOOOH.. ok, here's another point of trivia -- J. Jonah Jameson in the film is the spitting image of me bosshole. Er, take that the other way around -- me bosshole is a profane version of J. Jonah Jameson. Same manner of talking, same annoying cheapness/miserliness.

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Hey, did you see Three Kings on television yesterday? I hadn't seen it before, and when it originally came out hadn't planned on ever doing so, mainly because I was somewhat anti-George Clooney at the time. But I've softened my view of him since, especially since O Brother, Where Art Thou? which I thought was pretty good.

And Three Kings surprised me too.. it wasn't super awesome but was a lot more interesting than I had originally figured it for. I especially liked the frankness with which the Iraqi's were portrayed, in particular the young father who interrogates Mark Wahlberg's character.

Only one thing irked me in the film, and that was Nora Dunn as the television reporter. When are people going to learn that SNL stars are NOT actors?

w00t! Leafs won Game 6 versus Ottawa! Mogilny finally scored a goal.

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Went to see Star Wars: Attack of the Clones last night, and I enjoyed it! I was afraid that it would be a grand disappointment, especially after hearing some of the negative stuff around it (including a scathing review from Pops), but I had a lot of fun watching it. Plenty of action, nothing too annoying... it was alright. As per usual, top-notch beautiful computer eye-candy too.

Heh, and plenty of Jedi-battling with a most amusing end fight scene.

Also, just let me say I DON'T TRUST THOSE CLONES!! Nope, I don't trust them one bit.

So, SW:AOTC was primarily campy and fun, which I don't have any problem with. And I don't mind the name at all -- I mean, it's about as cheesy as "The Empire Strikes Back" if you think about it, and everyone accepts that title.

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On a recommendation from Baka!, I went to see About A Boy last night at The Beach(es) theatre over in Queen East. And surprisingly, I liked it. I liked it a lot -- I laughed throughout the film. There weren't any scenes that I didn't enjoy! Man, Hugh Grant has totally redeemed himself in my eyes (in terms of films that I would/wouldn't see because he was in them). Huh.

Well, the movie owes a lot to the writing, and it's based on a book by Nick Hornby, the same guy who wrote High Fidelity (another great film, which is also about a man learning how to develop mature relationships with women). The commercials make the film look very mundane and Hollywood-schlocky which is unfortunate because its much smarter and well-written than that.

Hmmm.. and I'm finding Toni Collette more attractive all the time.

It was my first time inside The Beach(es) theatre (it's really called "The Beach", which is an awfully awkward name), and outside of the exorbitant prices, I thought it was pretty cool. Ten-meter high ceiling, tables and chairs and couches, nice lighting, a neat wall-projection clock. Sterile and clean bathroom (with no doors to touch and extra-large dividers between urinals). The screens themselves are only middling-sized, but it's made up by having a smaller, cosier volume of seats.

Still, $12.50 for a film. Bleah. And what's up with making people sit through commercials? I know, it's a practice that has been around for a couple years but still.. why should people pay a premium price for COMMERCIALS!? Does The Movie Network show commercials before they show a film? Does Pay-Per-View squeeze in ads? Ugh, I could go on and on.. but I don't want to taint the goodness of the film.

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Yesterday I left work early and went into Kitchener to hang with the Casselman-Tangs. Just sitting around, chatting and gossiping while eating grapes and strawberries, enjoying the cool basement air. Drove into downtown Kitchener with Growl, walked around, played some chess in front of city hall. I was challenged by this young kid, maybe 12 years old -- I thought he might be some kind of prodigy but alas no... after beating him once his game just got worse and worse. There was this shark beating everyone else (which wasn't too hard considering the level of the other players), but we (Growl and I) never really got an opportunity to play him. Later we picked up Sara and ate at Swiss Chalet.

The three of us caught a late showing of Minority Report at Fairview and it was pretty good! I tried to keep my expectations low but for the most part the film was fairly entertaining. Like most PKD stories, there was a broad and rich mixture of high and low techs, although most of it wasn't too far fetched or fantastical (apart from the precog techs and those spiderbots -- if they can build sentient little machines like that, why don't they use them more often? Where are all the other robots?).

Plenty of action and some effective suspense scenes gave a strong backing to the precog dilemmas/plotline. Afterwards, Growl voiced his confusion over the Leo Crow paradox (spoiler link), which wasn't clear to me at first but, after he explained it, appears to be a major hole in the story! I haven't read the original PKD story either so I can't think up a good explanation, although I read one that isn't too shabby.

The ending seemed a little out of place -- not the Max von Sydow / Cruise confrontation but the "and they lived happily ever after" bit... with a voice-over! Memories of Blade Runner comes to mind.

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I got around to seeing The Bourne Identity Saturday night, and I liked it. Not crazy about it. One interesting hand-to-hand/knife fight scene, one good car chase scene, and a few gunfight scenes. Franka Potente looks much better with a tan.

Spoilers follow.

One part that sticks out in my mind was when that first blond CIA agent is sent to kill Bourne. His tactic? Rush into Bourne's apartment by crashing through a window holding onto a rope and shooting an SMG wildly with his other hand...?!? Who does the guy think he is, Duke Nukem? That just seemed incredibly silly to me. It did however give the filmmakers an excuse to put a cool knifefight scene in the movie. Appropriately enough, the guy ends up jumping out the window and falling over the balcony in Clouseau-esque style, which garnered quite a few chuckles in the theatre.

And what was Julia Stiles doing in the film, other than looking like she didn't belong? Sure she's cute, but her acting was way under par, especially when placed beside veteran Chris Cooper.

I'm not sure why, but the audience I saw the film with laughed everytime Wombosi came on the screen, which sort of detracted from the serious subject matter.

(Growl -- are you talking about Bourne falling down the stairwell bluescreen scene? Is there another one?)

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Amelie ("The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain") is a great film. It did not disappoint. Angela and I rented it (late) Saturday night, and even though we were pretty sleepy the film was engrossing and entertaining enough to keep us awake and alert.

Very amusing movie, I loved so many things. Gnome postcards, the soccer cable, the metamorphing apartment.. so funny, heh. But of course it's a touching film too, with my favourite scenes being the Bretodeau-box reunion scene and the last scene with Amelie in her kitchen. Mmmm... and that dancing, playful piano tune was nice.

Much better than City of Lost Children (which was a pretty good film). Same guy also did Delicatessen.

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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that on Friday night Growl had a zombie movie night at his place, the films provided by Sheilah and Steven. First we watched Night of the Living Dead, the black and white zombie classic. It's actually quite disturbing, though the chilling effect was lessened somewhat by all of the chatter from our audience (of about ten people). I can vividly recall when I first saw the film, back in '96 or thereabouts -- Growl and I were taking a break from our studies and ending up watching late night television. The two images that stayed with me was where a zombie gets shot in his forehead and consequently puts both hands there before falling over, and the last scene with the meathooks. Nothing like a little undead horror to help one concentrate on exams.

Afterwards, we watched the parody Night of the Living Bread (which was on the NotLD DVD), which had some pretty funny moments. However, the piece de resistance was Steve Jackson's (yes, that Steve Jackson) Dead Alive ("Braindead"). My GOD what a gory film. Gushy is the operative word here. Goopy. Gucky. Thick and juicy. And creamy. So very VERY creamy. Not a scary film, just.. ridiculously rich with graphic.. well, gore. Liquids spewing everywhere and plenty of dismemberments/disembowelments. Providing your stomach is strong enough to handle the scenery, there are plenty of laughs and jokes that make the film entertaining.

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Angela suggested we rent Cube yesterday, since we couldn't find our first picks, Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein (good going, Jumbo Video). She had heard of this Canadian gem some years back while she was in Japan, and seeing the box reminded her of the desire to see it.

Well, I didn't really remember the film at all, and it probably wasn't out in the box offices for more than a month. Which is a real shame because the film is an excellent, suspenseful character study built around the idea of a huge maze of cube-shaped rooms. Six strangers find themselves trapped inside and attempt to pool their skills to get out. The idea sounds kind of, well, lame, but the execution was well done. You quickly gain a sense of each character, and watching their exchanges is entertaining (and ultimately, disappointing but not unexpected as they degrade under pressure). Many rooms of the Cube contain lethal, painful traps, which add to the stress. But I think for me the IDEA of a Cube is what is most disturbing -- and handpicking strangers (their non-overlapping skillsets are unlikely to have been chosen randomly) to trap inside the Cube. THAT is what gets me. Anyway, good film.

STRONG SPOILERS: I don't understand the physics of the cube! How can all those rooms be shifting around? Who goes out, kidnaps people and puts them in the cube? Who cleans up all the messes and refills/repairs the traps? The building itself must be huge -- how is it possible that no-one knows or asks questions about it? Although, I suppose it could be built underground, its construction would still garner quite a bit of interest.

TRIVIA: The girl, Leaven, also plays Deep Space Nine's Ensign Ezri Dax!

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Been having trouble with sleep lately, and I think it may be because I don't think enough during the day. Uh, yes, that statement is a prime target for jokes, but what I'm getting at is that I've been spending most of my waking time taking in things such as reading, playing games, watching videos etc, without having to concentrate or think on anything.

So I end up, at night, in bed thinking and thinking and unable to sleep.

I've been giving serious thought on how I might improve babelle -- those of you who have tried it know she could certainly use some work. Perhaps I'll have something ready by the end of this week.

I watched Caligola, a most unique film -- features the likes of Helen Mirren and Peter O'Toole, and is infamous for its over-the-top hardcore pornography, most of which is either tasteless or pointless and often both. Directors take heed: when it comes to sex or horror, it's best to leave the graphic bits to the imagination. As such, the film actually turned me off from sex,, it was so debased and unattractively portrayed.

I've also been thinking a lot about going back to Yamanaka. My original plan was to return when I was healthy again. Then, I decided to go back after building up my weight a bit. Which is still on-going and not making all that much progress. I'm targetting my weight to be around 170-180 lbs before going back. However, I haven't been over 160 lbs this whole year, and am currently fluctuating between 140 and 150 lbs. Don't hate me because I'm trying to gain weight.

Teaching English to the boy has been fairly unsuccessful as of late. The more comfortable he is with me (he was very shy when he first lived with us, back in August), the less inclined he becomes to obey my requests in doing his exercises. Well, he's definitely come a long way from a few months ago, but it's not nearly where he could've been had we been more diligent and arduous in our efforts. I'm afraid that he'll end up doing rather poorly on that SSAT, for which I'll feel immensely guilty, as his parents are paying me to tutor him.

I had thought of trying to get him to learn some English by playing a SCUMM-based LucasArts adventure, which included full voices, but I was unable to get the audio crack for DOS games to have sound in Win2K to work. See, Win2K is fairly possessive of its hardware, and when people wrote those old DOS games they often programmed them to directly interface with the soundboard. Anyway, perhaps I'll set up the 486 and install it there....

Which reminds me, Pops sent me a link to the "modern PC" port of StarControl 2. Still in alpha though (which shows), and over 140 megs because it's the 3D0 version, which includes full voices!

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Urgh. Was up late last night, played some pool at Challenger's with Pops. Rented a few DVDs, watched them at his place. We saw Sanjuro which at first I didn't think I'd seen before, but I remembered some parts of it (mostly in the ending) so I must've caught it a long time ago. Good Kurosawa flick. It's a sort of continuation of Yojimbo, the other great wandering samurai film. The Criterion Collection DVD had only one real extra feature, which was a trailer with a few behind-the-scenes bits and hilarious subtitles. Heh.

Uhm, so yeah, didn't get into bed until 0330h or so. And why am I up? Well, I'll continue the story in the Montreal log of last weekend, but essentially I've started up on the prednisones again. My stomach flared up about two weeks ago, or one week before going to Montreal. Nothing serious, not much blood and no pain. Just some discomfort. So I started on the drugs, and am now starting to feel those ole familiar side-effects (soft skin, weight gain, insomnia).

Well, at least this time I'm pretty sure I won't have to make a trip to the hospital.

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Krista was in town yesterday, and we got some Christmas shopping done. Well, I did most of the shopping, although I'm only about 70% done. Still need to get gifts for the parental units.

Angela joined us at my place and we watched Sanjuro while waiting for Pops to drop by. Broke out some aqua vitae in the form of boxed wine and Smirnoff's. Watched about half of Blazing Saddles before we relented to Pop's nagging and watched The Ring.

Oh, I should mention that my parents won a surround sound / 5-disk DVD system a week ago at a party. And MAN did it ever make a difference in my viewing of The Ring. I heard things I NEVER heard before, and the surround sound effects were incredible. It really enhanced the experience, although I don't know that the girls were too freaked by the film. Something like The Ring takes time to really settle in.

After the others left, Angela and I finished off Blazing Saddles and I was really disappointed. It had funny bits for sure, but I think I liked Young Frankenstein a lot more. Gene Wilder was just so good in that, there's something about his demeanor that just makes me laugh when I see him. And he was again brilliantly funny in Blazing Saddles, but he didn't have all that much screentime. He reminds me a lot of an old school chum of mine, Chris Simmons, and man did we laugh a lot in class. We used to write these chuckle-rific short stories in English class and get in trouble for laughing so much. Hehe.

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Heh. Just saw The Two Towers -- it was a 1210h showing, so technically I saw it today/Wednesday.

MILD SPOILERS

I really enjoyed it, but not as much as I thought I would. I suppose my expectations were set quite high, and having seen The Two Towers.. hmmm.. well, now I'm sort of expecting to be disappointed by the third film (which is my favourite of the books).

The changes they made were what surprised me. I kept anticipating more from the Ents, especially at the battle of Helm's Deep. And some of the end battle scenes were a bit questionable in terms of combat realism.

BUT even so, the three hours went by really fast. The scenery and landscape were just as breathtaking as the first. Copious amounts of sword-slashing and fighting.

And now I must sleep. Ta-ta!

Oh oh.. yeah, and there were about 20 minutes of commercials and trailers before the film actually began.. and I saw the Terminator 3 trailer and the X-Men 2 trailer (among a deluge of crappy films I'd never see). Uhm, the thing about T3 is that the new terminator.. is a HOT CHICK?? Blurgh. The X-Men 2 trailer didn't give much away, it was mostly quick battle scenes and a hint at a couple of new mutants.

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Hola and merry Christmas. Wow, so it snowed today, eh? Just yesterday I was grumbling to myself about how we wouldn't be having a white Christmas this year, that the environment is fubar and that our kids won't associate snow with Christmas. But then WHAMO we get a steaming load of snow.

I still think the environment is fouled up, though.

So yesterday Pops and I went downtown to take in the city. Criticized the insane amount of lighting, especially those bloody bright videoscreens. It's just so "We wanna be the new Times Square" it makes me sick through and through. Gah. Please, someone, TELL THEM I HATE THEM. We retreated back north to Bay and Bloor into the Varsity to see Adaptation (tickets in the regular theatre were $8.50 on a Tuesday, $15.50 for the VIP theatre where you get bigger seats, are waited upon, and yet it's a smaller screen). I really didn't know about much about the film going in, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw. The acting was great, but then that's expected from them. It's such a cliché but Cage did a fantastic job of portraying the two Kaufman brothers, the interplay was seamless and not at all distracting. Heh, and I realized that I've been mixing up Glenn Close and Meryl Streep for years.

I really enjoyed the film all in all. You leave the theatre satisfied and feeling good. I dunno what else to say.

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Just finished watching The Pianist, the latest offering from Mr. Roman Polanski, and I'd say it is one of his best works. The (true) story is simple and straight -- we follow a talented pianist through the period of German occupation in Warsaw. At first we watch anti-Semitism being released in little steps, leading to a torrent of violence and suffering. The film doesn't step into grisly bounds, but what you do see is definitely not pretty.

And that's more or less it. It's a movie about one man surviving Warsaw, Poland during World War II. There is no cuteness, no "here's a lesson to be learned", no "even at the worst of times, there is hope" message. It's gritty and holds little back. His survival is as much a product of luck and the kindness of strangers as of his will to live. Attention to small details, a barrage of wrenching tragedies. There are surprises, and certainly touches of humanity, but at its core The Pianist is an unblinking look at survival under unthinkable circumstances.

In other news, my sister came over and we had a belated birthday dinner for me dad -- his birthday was on the 31st. My sister got him the Lord of the Rings books (3 LOTR books, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) and I got him the LOTR Extended DVD set. Hehehehe!

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There may come a time where you find yourself living a lifestyle that does not serve to meet what you want out of life. That not only are you not doing what you, deep down inside, really want to be doing. And that thought, that knowledge weighs you down, brings you down, taunts you, haunts you. You can endure no longer. Your mind and heart scream endlessly telling you to get out, to leave, to move on, to escape, to do SOMETHING.

And that something is likely to be drastic. It'll probably look crazy to the people around you, who think they know you.

The Hours is a film of three women in three different eras and how they face their time with that tormenting situation. Their stories are separate, yet it is revealed to us that they have more than just difficulty with their lifestyles' as a common thread. In fact the film goes so far as to have scenes mirrored by each woman, though set in differing circumstances and outcomes.

The all-star cast (Kidman, Moore, Streep with supporting roles from Richardson, Collette, Danes, Daniels and Harris) may distract you from the story, although you'd be hard pressed to recognize Kidman. Personally, whenever I see Ed Harris with a brush cut I think of Apollo 13 and/or The Abyss.

And the ending was a bit weak, a bit lacking, like something was missing. However, overall I did enjoy watching the film. If you've been following the (non-)events of my life for the past couple years, you'd see that I too share some of the anguish that these women faced and so it touched me on that level. I related least with Virginia Woolf and most with Laura Brown.

But man, how about Toni Collette? Wowza. Why can't more women dress like that today? Which only gets me thinking of Kylie Minogue. Can't get her out of my head.

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Frank Abagnale Jr. is bright, intelligent and has an incredible faculty for attention to detail. These qualities are what enabled him to become one of most notorious and successful con-artists known to America. Catch Me If You Can is a film inspired by his high adventure life, tracing the ups and downs of his "careers" as pilot, doctor and lawyer. When he's in his con-mode, one can't help but cheer him on -- he may be a thief, but he's a winsome one and we want him to succeed.

There are two on-going stories at play here. The first is Abagnale's cheating the system and escaping arrest, and the second is his relationship with his parents (mostly through his father). Unfortunately, this second story seemed quite lacking and didn't have a convincing ring to it. Whether this is Walken's fault or the script's, I'm not sure but I felt that it didn't live up to the other half of Abagnale's story.

Then again, it would be hard to live up to the con-artist part of the film, as it was truly fascinating and often a joy to watch. My favourite scene is where a young Frank Abagnale Jr. decides to become the substitute French teacher. And when he decides to be someone, he IS that person through and through. It's an amazing process to witness.

Overall I liked Catch Me If You Can, although it does have its slow parts that don't engross you. And Leonardo DiCaprio makes a fine Frank, don't let his presence prejudice you. He shines in this role. This is not Tom Hanks' best work, although his role doesn't give him room to really show what he's capable of. The same could perhaps be said for Christopher Walken, but I think the problem in his case is that the script doesn't give him enough to work with.

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I'm gonna write this review of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind now even though I saw the film a week or so ago. It's still reasonably fresh in my mind. Have you seen the commercials? They play it off like it's another fast-action caper, but I didn't really find it that way at all. I found myself comparing it a lot with Adaptation (both written by Charlie Kaufman) and Catch Me If You Can (another true-life story of a man who lives more than one life), and I'd have to say these two are both much better than this movie.

I can't quite put my finger down on what this film lacks. It does entertain in parts but overall it lacks something. Maybe the problem is that it seems to drift up and down through problems without giving more meaning as to why they happen. The interviews I found to be a bit of a distraction. And Julia Roberts was very artificial and unconvincing, she really brought down any scene that had her in it.

I guess I was just expecting more from the man who brought us the brilliant Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.

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It was Angela's birthday yesterday and to celebrate we went to Red Lobster, we craving a shellfish feast. Oh man we ate a lot -- mussels, cheesesticks, salad to open with. I had their prime rib special, with rock lobster on the side and Angela had a full lobster. Our waiter advised an Italian masi white wine, our first choice not being available. It was a bit fruity for her taste, but it went great with the slice of White Bean Cheesecake we had for dessert -- a layer of white chocolate mousse over cheesecake in a strawberry sauce. It was simply orgasmic -- "Oh my GOD there's an orgy in my mouth!"

I just wanted to remember that meal oh man it was good. Afterwards, we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and MAN was it ever schlocky. From the music to the lines to the humour... why are people so in love with this film? They must be just pretending to love it. It was not that great at all, with only a few really laugh-out-loud quotes. Also, I think it would've been a little more believable if they had had the family speak Greek when conversing amongst themselves rather than that irritating "Greek-accented-English" they used. A lot of the Greekiness just didn't ring true to me or my experiences with orthodox Greeks, in terms of the acting, so that detracted from my viewing.

Overall, MBFGW wasn't much of a film. I mean, Toula went from the ugly duckling to a vibrant woman in what, all of five minutes over three scenes? And then she and Ian meet and get engaged in maybe double that? Ok, I say to myself, they're gonna skip over two prime areas for character development to concentrate on the wedding, fine. But did it deliver? I hardly think so. It seemed to me that they didn't quite finish resolving the conflict between the father and the marriage and the son trying to please his father/get recognition for this artistry.

While I did laugh a few times and I hate to put down an independent film, there is much better stuff out there. Pass this movie over and keep the ouzo.

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I just finished viewing Tarkovsky's Solyaris (recently remade by Soderberg). I was warned of its length (nearly 3 hours) and slow pace, which unfortunately resulted in my watching it over several sittings. But I found that the slowness gave me time to reflect on what had just happened, to think about what would happen next.. a kind of breather or meditative period between scenes, as it were.

The comparison to Kubrick's "2001" is obvious (although Tarkovsky's story is based on a Stanislaw Lem novel) -- both films involve a trip into space and encounters with a phenomenon that creates places ("2001") or people ("Solaris") by reading the visitor's minds. However, Tarkovsky's movie is much more of an inner journey, probing the limits and fundamentals of what it means to be human and to have human experiences.

The dialogue is extremely dry, which put me off for much of the middle chunk of the film. I was faily engrossed by the last third of the film, where we start to question in earnest what it means to have feelings for someone. In this case, we confront Kelvin's feelings for the manifestation of his late wife, and witness her progression as she attempts to deal with her non-humanity. And the ending gave me goosebumps -- it'll make you rethink what you saw in the first third of the film.

But did I like the film? It's hard to say... I think I have to digest it a bit more.

On a slightly unrelated note, I watched the film in Ogg Vorbis format -- which for some reason often conflicts with ICQ (resulting in my 2001B version crashing) and sometimes a TSR/process will die. Lightly annoying.

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While not exactly anti-social, Travis Bickle is not able to function as a regular member of society in Taxi Driver. His attempts to get close to people end up in embarassing and awkward moments, which only further emphasize his marked ignorance on what is and isn't acceptable. In his own eyes however, Travis is the hero and this view culminates in his final quest (after failing the assassination attempt) -- to rescue a young prostitute from "the scum".

I found the film to be entirely engrossing, and even though one isn't exactly comfortable with the mentally unstable Travis, he has a sort of honest and naive quality about him that allows you to identify with his loneliness. Watching him descend into his vigilantism is entirely like watching the proverbial train wreck and is no less fascinating. And the violent ending, which we can see coming and indeed are expecting, still manages to hit you with such a raw intensity and vividness that you are taken aback when it happens.

SPOILER:I had expected the film to end there, and was surprised by the scenes that followed. I read Ebert's review which suggested that this may have been a fantasy scene, that perhaps we're experiencing his dying thoughts.

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I wanted to post something on Chicago, which I saw a few nights ago. To be honest I wasn't at all interested in watching it originally but seeing how it garnered so much attention (and Oscars), I figured I should check it out if only to have a better stance from which to mock it. But surprise, surprise! -- It was actually pretty good. I mean, I went in ready to give it a big thumbs down PLUS I mildly hate (read: dislike a lot) jazz and jazz music, so for me to say that I enjoyed it is saying a lot. Campy, tongue-in-cheek, just all around fun.

But it's a musical! And like most musicals, the plot is an afterthought to the songs and dancing. So how is it worthy of "Best Picture"?

I also saw Gangs of New York recently, and man is it ever bloody.. visceral stabbings, slashings, pokings and slicings. After the violent opening, I was half-expecting explosive, primal violence in almost every scene thereafter. We're given an interesting mix of savagery with peculiar diction and accents (they had to guestimate 1900s speech) as the film follows the path of vengence for young Amsterdam Vallon. While lacking the psychological impact of Taxi Driver or the drama of Goodfellas, GoNY features a memorable performance by Danial Day-Lewis (as Bill 'The Butcher', who is literally a butcher, in one scene giving a lesson on how to kill a man by carving up a pig's corpse). Despite his repugnant nature, he maintains a system of honour amidst a quagmire of corrupt officials, sleazy pickpockets, and other base individuals.

However, I was a bit disappointed by the ending. While you can't change history, I was hoping for more and the film ends on a few anti-climaxes as resolutions to the various conflicts.

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Hmm! I'm really happy with this new hwan.com journal engine. Seems much more responsive, and is curvy yet pert. Or something... Oh, and I added a new scheme: "TheGS Blogs". And when I added that scheme, I realized that the entry paragraphs are sort of hard to read without indents so I've added those too. Tweaked some of the schemes, although I may one day want to overhaul the whole schtick.

I watched Identity yesterday with Angela and really liked it. It's not quite a horror film, although there are definitely elements of horror involved. Hmmm.. more of a mystery, really, and a reasonably smart one at that. There were two parts to the mystery and I was able to figure out one of them about halfway through the film. I was tricked by the other half though, which is sort of funny because it worked out the other way for Angela -- she figured out the part I missed. So, not a great mystery film, but worth viewing once providing no one has already spoiled it for you. Which is quite possible, if you've read this entry.

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Ha! Another two-for-one movie entry. This time, it's Blue Velvet and X-Men 2. Or X2, as it's being called although it's not actually twice as long. And I'm confused as to why XXX came out before X2. I hear that there's gonna be an XXX2, which would be... 32 if you mix in roman numbering?

I guess I'm just saying it's a DUMB name for a movie. T2 I'm fine with, because it was more of a quick way of referring to the full name, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".

*MILD SPOILERS*

ANYWAY... the new X-Men film is alright. Starts off great (although it features another incredibly boring cgi'ed credit intro, much like SpiderMan did), introducing us to Nightcrawler (my favourite mutant in the comics). And slowly the evil plot is revealed to us, featuring a new bad guy. But MAN.. the ending just dragged on and ON. I was like "Come ON! We don't need to see this.. it's just fan-service!!" God. The real service would to be truer to the comic (which, admittedly, this film is if you compare it to the first). And Wolverine kills off Deathstrike?? And in a very silly way, although a battle between those two is an exercise in futility, given their capabilities.

So for the most part I enjoyed it, which was sort of spoiled by the tedious ending.

Ok, here's a thing that's bothered me for a long time -- what's the limit to Storm's power? I mean, isn't she really just a little too powerful, neh?

Oh and Blue Velvet... what can I say? I had heard that it caused quite a stir when it came out. And it being a David Lynch film, I was expecting something surreal, surprising, disturbing.. and I was given that and more. Wow, a real eye-opener. But a film should be more than just shocking.

I dunno.. I just expected a little more, considering all the hoopla. Mulholland Drive was a much better film. Blue Velvet only has a couple of disturbing scenes and a fairly simplistic plot. The primary actors (the boy, the girl, the singer and the perverted criminal played masterfully by Dennis Hopper) do a great job, but some of the other cast were strictly sub-par. I suppose they were meant to be undertoned, but mostly they just looked unnatural. Actually, now that I think about it, quite a few people in Blue Velvet are re-used in a lot of David Lynch's other films (Lost Highway, Twin Peaks, Wild at Heart, Dune, Eraserhead, etc) -- if you bother to look it up on IMDB you'll see a fair bit of actor recycling.

Oh man it's late, which is killing my writing/thinking ability. Uhm, so what else.. yeah, so mostly I didn't think all that much of Blue Velvet, but a lot of that comes from having high expectations.

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Well! That was certainly different.

*MILD SPOILERS* (However, I would advise seeing the film before reading any review, to avoid both spoilage and biased preconceptions; comparisons are odious.)

I did enjoy my viewing of The Matrix Reloaded, but I feel that it will disappoint many. Mainly because it does not maintain that sense of religious mystique that the first film established. TMR has walked off that path and entered the realm of comedy, tongue-in-cheek, and fromage. And so, this departure will probably catch many off-guard, possibly annoy or baffle them. Even I found some of the images/scenes a bit hard to take, and I loved the original film so much that I saw it seven times in the theatre.

Mind you, the excellent fight sequences and breath-taking special-effects are still VERY much present, and may well outshine the perceivable departure mentioned. The wow-factor is quite high, although it's not really anything new -- just a lot more and on a bigger scale. That is, unlike The Matrix, which introduced us to "Bullet-Time", there is no new revolutionary technology here. So I guess other action-filmmakers will have to look elsewhere for material to imitate...

*SPOILERS* I really liked the Architect, and that near-final scene where he explains why Neo is there. That was nice, redeeming the film of its many far lesser, unnecessary scenes (such as whenever Link and his wife talked, the tribal dance/love scene, and that ridiculous (so much so that you can't help but laugh) cake scene and accompanying *cough* animation).

So in the end, I AM glad I saw the film, and may see it again (under the right circumstances), but I wouldn't consider it "essential" viewing like The Matrix was. The film is somewhat inconsistant in terms of level of seriousness, but the kung-fu/cg effects are top-notch and will please any action-film lover. And the story makes an interesting turn at the end and leaves plenty of space for the third film.

OH! And stick around for the credits, as they feature an easter-egg.

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Despite the astoundingly poor reviews it has received, I watched The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the theatre Sunday afternoon. A 16% approval rating at Rottentomatoes.com does not instill a particular confidence in the quality of the film BUT I will say that it helped -- I was disappointed that I was NOT disappointed, since I had such very low expectations.

So why see the film in the first place? Mainly because the concept is pretty cool -- gathering famous literary, Victorian-era characters in 1899 Europe. The film is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, The Watchmen), and does have a bit of a cartoony feel to it, if only because some of the parts are just mind-boggingly unreal, not even making sense within this alternate world. But the look of the sets and props are admirable, although 90% of the film is practically colourless.

So it wasn't a great film by any means. If it had come out 10 years ago, I'm sure that it would've garnered far more favourable reviews. The movie is almost entirely action, with only scraps of character development thrown to the audience here and there. I did like Dorian Gray, who gave the best lines and seemed the most intriguing of the Gentlemen.

Thug: "What are you!?"

Dorian Gray: "I'm complicated."


Dorian Gray (to Mina Harker): "Dear, we'll be at this ALL day."

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*MINOR SPOILERS* I couldn't help but be moved by Lost in Translation, the Sofia Coppola film about a past-his-prime actor (Bill Murray as Bob Harris) doing product endorsement commercials in Japan. The trip allows him to take a break from his waning marriage and emotionally unattentive wife. In his hotel he meets a young woman (Scarlet Johansson as Charlotte) who we see is unsure of her role in life and is also having doubts about her spouse, who is doing photo shoots of bubbly starlets. The two are drawn to one another, and begin spending time together, attending late night parties, singing in karaoke bars, watching late night tv, discussing the meaning of life as sometimes only strangers can do.

The relationship does not degrade into something sexual (although there is plenty of tentative physical attraction at play), which says as much about the characters as it does about the film -- it doesn't allow itself to fall into cliches. Well, film cliche's anyway -- there are plenty of Japanese culture ones presented to the audience. The film can be broken up into two types of scenes, those that build on the main character's relationship, and Western/Japanese culture clashing, which is the primary source for humour in the film, which is quite entertaining. This is where Bill Murray really gets to shine, he is so strong, so right for this role. We start to watch and hang onto his every move, and are not disappointed by his reactions.

What really moved me was the development of the relationship and especially the sentimental ending, when Bob Harris must leave Japan and return home. Harris, catching sight of Charotte in his airport taxi, runs out to her, embraces her in a display of emotion that was unavailable back at the hotel, and whispers into her ear. That, and the fact that we are not able to hear what was said is what really moved me. A beautiful ending to a wonderful film.

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I stayed up late to watch Kill Bill and I now regret the decision -- the movie was just horrid, simply awful. The commercials make it seem like it's some kind of fun hack-n-slash Pulp Fiction, but it's nowhere near as hip or smart. But yes, it does feature a lot of fighting and blood... lots and lots of blood. And decapitations. And dismemberments. Which I wouldn't mind except that there doesn't appear to be much purpose to it. Tarantino seems to think that he can make gore inflicted by (or on) young people cool by adding a 70s soundtrack and using stale camera angles. Try to shock us once, fine, but after the third or fourth forceful appendage-removal, it gets rather old fast. Kill Bill mixes realistic and anime-level fantastic, which is fine in films like The Matrix, but awkwardly sticks out in this movie.

I suppose that the film is heavily influenced by the hyperviolence of Japanese comic books, but as a tribute to such media Kill Bill fails. The Zen adage "Do not do as they did, but rather seek what they sought" comes to mind -- Tarantino delivers on the hyperviolence, but not the substance or complex story, which is what really draws in the reader.

And the story here seems to be some kind of great mystery that the viewer isn't allowed in on, which makes for some frustrating viewing. Admittedly, that's what kept me watching -- I was curious as to how all of the carnage I had just seen had really come about. But the film never delivers, and ends leaving one asking "Why did I just sit through 111 minutes of puerile crap?" or "What the hell is Tarantino smoking?"

My guess is that he has always wanted to make an intense 60/70s-style film about a vengeful maiden versus a band of super-evil ultra-villians. And so he has.. and what a piece of rot it is. All shock and no awe. Leaving one disappointed, Kill Bill is a blood-soaked step backward from the man who brought us Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, two vastly superior films.

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I saw The Matrix Revolutions last night and it wasn't half bad -- it was about 1/4 bad. Unfortunately that 1/4 was the ending, the most important part. The final few scenes were just terrible.. corny, predictable, lame. As you watched them you dearly hoped that something more, something worthy of the expectations that the first film promised, would present itself and redeem the trilogy. But it was not meant to be, and we are left with a "Blade Runner"-esque ending, a "everybody lived happily thereafter", complete with green grass, sunny dawn and smiling child. Gag me with a spoon already.

The rest of the film (the previous 3/4s) was alright.. not great, but watchable. I was temporarily let down that the Merovingian didn't play a larger role, but seeing Persephone's *cough* dress more than makes up for it. Lots of impressive action scenes that build towards a climatic ending. I had braced myself for a fiasco and was sort of pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't so bad. All it had to do was deliver on the ending. And the Warchowski's wouldn't let us down with a soft ending, would they? Surely they're smart enough to tie everything together and make it pretty too?

Oh well. It's a real pity that what could've been a glorious series finishes on such a disappointing note. In fact, I would suggest that you walk out of the theater right after the Logos crashes -- it's all downhill from there.

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I saw Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa a few weeks ago and it was by far one of the funniest and enjoyable films I had seen in a long time. Sure there are jokes and bits in other films that, upon reflection, will provoke a chuckle or two out of me. But Bad Santa had me laughing and smiling throughout its profane running time.

I don't want to bother going through the plot and jokes; rather, I'll simply explain that this is a profoundly amusing film only if you go into it with the right attitude. That is, if you're offended by copious amounts of swearing (by adults, by adults at children, and sometimes by children), then don't bother trying to watch it. If implied backdoor sex bothers you, get ready to close your eyes and ears. If seeing a recovering alcoholic beat up some teenagers gets on your nerves... well.. it should. But in Bad Santa's case it's actually funny and I laughed out loud when it happened.

Willie: I beat the shit out of some kids today, but it was for a purpose.

Point of Trivia: Lauren Graham ("Sue") did a voice for The Family Guy ("Mother Maggie" for "The European Roadshow "episode, which I think is the one with KISS and where Stewie and Brian go to Europe). Lauren Tom ("Lois") is the voice of Futurama's Amy Wong and her mother.

Anyway, my point is: Bad Santa = HELLA FUNNY.

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I recently saw two films which covered controversial, perhaps even taboo, subject matter. The first was Spanking The Monkey, a serious film about a young man who, despite winning a prized internship, spends his summer stuck at home caring for his bed-ridden mother. While some label the film a comedy, it is funny for its black humour, which delves deep into realms that few films are willing to roam, notably suicide and incest. Thankfully, the playful title does not belie the smartness of the film, which tastefully deals with such delicate items, giving them the attentive thoughfulness that they deserve. Without any music soundtrack, the movie has that dull, undertoned prevalent in independent features, which only helps to focus the viewer on the scenes. I wouldn't say that I necessarily liked the film, but I thought it was interesting, and certainly had me chuckling.

The other film may have passed under your radar, as it did mine: Quills, which stars Geoffrey Rush in a role that may be among his defining characters. It is the story of the Marquis de Sade, spending his later days in an asylum, locked up but not prevented from producing scandalously erotic novels. He smuggles them out with the help of a chambermaid (Kate Winslet), and you detect (rightfully) that there's a bond there, although its nature is only painfully clear after it is forceably ended. Joaquin Phoenix (as the Abbe du Coulmier, director of the asylum) and Michael Caine (as Dr. Royer-Collard, a grim character that reforms the mentally insane with barbaric torture) fill out the cast, but it is Rush's take on de Sade that makes the film. They have made him a complex, human character, with doubts and wants and regrets. His tragedy lies in simply in who he is, a man who cannot repress his ability to think, to write about, well, sex and all things in-between. And so he remains faithfully true to himself, and only at the end, when he can bear the consequences no longer, does he relent and in so dies. I'm skipping over most of the details of the film, but I'm sure you can guess at them -- so be ready for scenes of rape, necrophilia, torture, etc.

At times delightful and tongue-in-cheeky, with turns of sadness and lament. Sometimes even shocking, but not out of cheapness. Certainly never dull or predictable.

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A FIVE for one movie review entry! Only here do you get such ah whatever.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines or some such name. Normally, I would not have bothered raising a finger to see this film. However, it happened to be on one of the channels in our room on the cruise and so I caught much of it. I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but the female terminator was a total turnoff -- soooo silly. And she appears to be less advanced than the T1000, except that she has the ability to control machines (in a ridiculous manner). And it's the same plot line as the previous two films! With less special effects, and no Sarah Connor. The more I think about the film, the worse it gets. Just awful. I did like the ending, not the terminator vs terminator bit, but the scene where John realizes what happened.

I also took in Jack Black's School of Rock. I had heard some pretty good reviews and was not disappointed. Very enjoyable film. Likely Black's best, one that revolves around a character that seems to be based on... him.

Last Friday Angela and I caught Hellboy at the theatre near my house. I enjoyed it, but in a mild way, so it's hard for me to really recommend the movie. It's not that it's bad -- quite the opposite. It's just that it isn't particularly exciting, nor did it leave me with anything. I did laugh a lot though; Hellboy is a charming person. He makes the two hours pass by quickly. Perhaps if they didn't make the film so "fun", I would've thought more of it.

The next day, Angela and I went downtown to spend the day with her sister, who lives near little italy. That evening we caught Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World at the Paradise, and wow I must say what a good film. Everything takes place almost exclusively on the one ship, but there is never a dull moment. Drama and action pervades. I liked this movie a lot, and would happily watch it again.

Ok, final film is Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi. A samurai flick, yes, but one that oozes style (unlike the grossly hyperviolent, media stunt machine that is Kill Bill). A swordmaster travelling the countryside, concealing his explosive nature under the guise of a blind masseuse. I've seen a few Takeshi productions and while this one departs from his usual "playful gangster" motif, he fits the character of Zatoichi perfectly. Highly wholly recommended.

One note if you're trying to view this one -- there are several "Zatoichi" films out there, Takeshi's is only the newest.

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So I saw Kill Bill Volume 2 yesterday. And I loved it. You got a problem with that? I still stand by what I said of Kill Bill Vol. 1 -- that it was overly reliant on gore and violence, that its plot was more straightforward than most videogames, and that the first half of a movie does not a movie make. However, the second half stands pretty good on its own. It answers all the questions and doesn't rely on buckets of blood to get the point across. The Bride continues her quest of vengeance, but it is immediately revealed that all is not as one might suppose, given the (lack of) clues in the first volume. There is actual dialogue, smart dialogue. Humour is used to great effect, another feature I found lacking in KBv1.

Not to say that KBv2 doesn't have its faults -- the last scene, though I can understand why its there, lacks the panache that we, the audience, have been led towards. The discussion with Bill's father-figure was hella boring, and as such was too long for me.

In summary: Kill Bill 2 is the film to see; Kill Bill 1 is the film to ignore. I guess I cannot stop anyone from, after seeing how good KB2 is, going and seeing KB1. And they might actually like it. It was the act of viewing the first, and then having to wait six months before being able to see the second, that pissed me off to no end. The two Kill Bill films could have (and in my opinion, should have) been compressed into a larger epic.

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Saturday night Angela convinced me to watch Super Size Me (imdb.com, here's the rottentomatoes.com link), which we saw at Bayview Village, one of the nicest theaters around. You've probably heard about the film -- the famous bit is that the dude (Morgan Spurlock) tries a 30 day McDonalds diet. He vows to eat everything on the menu and must order the "Super Size" version of his meal if asked. He starts off as a very fit, buff individual, weighing 185 lbs (he's over 6 ft tall). By the end, he's gained 25 pounds and the deterioration of his health manages to shock his 3 doctors and the fitness team who were keeping tabs on his progress into Flabnation.

The film has been compared with the in-your-face "journalistic" stylings of Michael Moore, but if you see their respective works you'll note some pretty obvious differences. Morgan Spurlock does not have a political agenda -- the film is more about awareness than rebellion. And the side story of his 30 day McDee diet is personal, even self-deprecating. As such, there's a much stronger sense of honesty.. of earnest curiosity.

Super Size Me is hilarious, frank, disturbing, entertaining, informative. True, it has its share of innumeracy, but not in such a forced way as is often prevalent in Moore's rantpieces. Rather Spurlock presents you with the facts and allows you to draw your own conclusions.

And the conclusions that I walked away with? Hmmm... well, I've always said that advertising is the art of skillful lying, the art of subtle thought control, of indoctrination. Also, we are confronted with the greatest variety of food ever available. Unfortunately, advertising would have you believe that only the mass-produced kind is worth consuming. Which tends to be of the lowest quality, of the lowest nutritional content (yet the most expensively packaged, the most wasteful on manufactured resources). Because for some reason nutrition is too expensive, too inconvenient, too low a margin, according to the businesses that would feed us corn-syrup sawdust whilst taking our coppers. But what was most upsetting to see was the decline of health and physical education in schools -- I fear for the coming generation and their lard-laden bellies.

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Spins a web, any size; Catches thieves, just like flies [more]

Tuesday night I went to the Richmond Hill Silver City to catch Fahrenheit 9/11. Way, way too many young people milling around aimlessly. Parking could have easily been a nightmare were it not for the fact that I don't mind parking far (which is what I ended up doing). The film, unfortunately, was sold out! A Michael Moore film sold out in Richmond Hill. Whoda thunk it.

I went again Wednesday and again my attempts to see the latest Mr. Moore mockumentary were thwarted by others... how did it become so popular?? I have a vague worry about everyone taking Moore's rants as fact, but people are smarter than that, aren't they? Hello? Well, I guess I should see it first before saying anything.

So we fell back on the alternate plan, which was to see Spider-Man 2. Now, I know I didn't sound too enthusiastic about the first film, but I did like it. I think the problem was the choice of baddies -- the Green Goblin has always struck me as a sort of lame villain. He's just a strong, laughing maniac who rides a hoverboard and throws grenades. Whoopdedoo. The second installment features Dr. Octopus, who has been given four wonderfully rendered, genuinely threatening tentacles. For Spiderman fans, one will note the departure from the comicbook story. The film version isn't bad, but I kinda dislike the "AI devices want to take over your mind" meme. Those poor, misunderstood, human-killing robots....

Anyway, the film is good! Real good! Sam Raimi has outdone himself, creating a memorable, fulfilling comicbook-conversion. Identity issues, unrequited love, revenge, a truly scary villain. It's quite amazing how much plot, action, and character development they manage to cram in the film. And of course there's plenty of comedy and self-aware humour. Pretty much everything you'd expect to find in a Spiderman comic.

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A great film is a wonderous thing -- it takes you into someone else's world for a little while and you marvel or laugh or cry at what you see, and there's never a dull moment. Something new and interesting awaits you at every turn and you're constantly and pleasantly surprised. Sideways is one such film, although on its surface it appears to be not much more than a stag roadtrip for two mismatched friends, Miles and Jack. It's not so much what happens as how they deal with it; these two are fully fleshed out characters, with relatable faults, desires and other very human qualities. And the acting is top notch all around, which helps in making them all the more absorbable while still managing to be unpredictable. Every scene where these two interact is an event unto itself -- you just know something hilarious, fascinating, soul-revealing or forehead-smackingly unbelievable will erupt.

But the film isn't just scene after scene of amusing interactions and the consumption of wine (and lots of it). There is real development for Miles, a serious, discernable goal that he fumbles and drops and laments over. At the other end, does he emerge a new person? Has he learned anything from his trials? He certainly seems to be the same annoying ass, caring only for his wine and his book. Few would predict the conclusion as it was carried out.

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I did not dare expect anything as funny as the South Park movie, but I was hoping for some good times and to laugh out loud. I was not disappointed. Team America: World Police is hella funny. The puppets (and their near-uncanny valley expressions).. the profanity.. the unending jabs at the political left and right... the Panamanians shouting "No me gusta!" as they float down the canal. Hoo boy. There's something about a film made with marionette dolls that just makes every scene incredibly.. insanely... surreal and ludicrous. You can't help but laugh at it all, but that just touches on some of comedic genius displayed in this movie. Certainly there are parts that work better than others (depending on your level of acceptance of zany, sexually explicit or slapstick humour), but there is plenty here to keep most people in stitches most of the time. The finale is especially chuckle-invoking. Not that the film isn't purile, sophomoric, crude, and nasty... but of course, it's a satire -- that's the point. F*** yeah!

ps. "There are three types of people..."

pps. "I promise I will never die."

ppps. "I'm so wronry... so wronry.. so wronry and sadry arone..."

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How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
-- Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard"

Mr. Kaufman has done it again -- his knack for creating quirky, thoughtful, engrossing films is undeniable. With Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, he can add another beautiful piece to his already impressive list of works (which include the surreal Being John Malkovich and the wonderful Adaptation). This time he has taken a charming, inventive foray into comedic romance while managing to avoid predictability and sacchariness, the banes of the genre.

Jim Carrey (Joel) and Kate Winslet shine as the shy introvert boy and the impulsive extrovert girl in this atypical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl tale. Regularly I'm weary of Carrey in "serious" roles but in Eternal Sunshine you never see that goofy, expressively explosive cartoon persona of his; you only see the character he plays. The same goes for Winslet, barely recognizable outside of her usual period piece apparel.

Though at the heart dwells an appealing love story, Kaufman's characteristic twists on reality is still very much in effect, this time in the form of a memory removal company named Lacuna Inc., who promise to erase any bad or painful experience directly from your mind. This is where Chandry's brilliance gets to show off, as the viewer is imaginatively taken into Joel's inner world. If you could purposefully forget something, would you want to? We are the sum of our experiences -- our memories are us, we are what we remember. To directly change that, to deliberately erase those memories is akin to killing parts of ourselves, methinks. To forget our mistakes is to doom ourselves to repeating them. Or so I've heard.

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Spent much of the weekend indoors -- didn't quite feel like facing the snow, although I did gather the energy Saturday to shovel the walk and driveway. I then scrambled back inside and lay down for a while. Angela stayed the weekend, meaning that we/she played a lot of Sims 2. I'm really getting into the game. Again. Ever since I installed the latest patch, the random crashing problem has disappeared. Also, our Sims now pass gas (some more often than others), which I've never noticed before. It's kinda hard to miss, what with the leg-lifting and the noxious-looking green cloud and the titters that follow. Isn't technology LUV-LEE?!

We also watched a handful of films, some of them just bits and pieces between digital cable channel surfing:

• Ghost Dog -- Modern day samurai film, with small-time gangsters taking on a hitman. Action on par with Leon (aka The Professional), which I would mark as an entirely comparable film, the key difference being the samurai motif in lieu of the young girl relationship; although Ghost Dog also features one, it is not as central as in Leon. Nice job by Forest Whitaker. Recommended, if you like that kind of thing.
• The Butterfly Effect -- Interesting time-travel film not based on some kooky technology. You just have to be kooky for it to work. Not a bad movie at all, despite the presence of Aston Kutcher. He actually gets to act as someone who isn't goofy and/or slow, so his scenes are quite palatable. I've heard that there are two endings out there, a director's cut and the theatrical and I'm not sure which one I saw. But I liked it.
• Mystic River -- A murder mystery. Over-hyped. WAY over-hyped; I did not think much of the film. Well, other than it was predictable and of the cookie-cut variety. I especially disliked the Harris-side of the mystery, but I won't say which part so that that "big mystery" is not spoiled for you. I did like the odd little speech given by Jimmy Markum's wife, Annabeth. But overall the movie was one big, uncreative annoyance-fest. Why do people think Clint Eastwood should be directing films? The same goes for Mel Gibson.

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Oh hey I saw that Ong-Bak:The Thai Warrior film. Not bad, not bad at all! Comparable to a Jackie Chan film, but with less slapstick and (slightly) more violence. Nothing too graphic, so no eye-gouging or disembowellings. What else can I say.. Ong-Bak is an action film with a thin plot but is heavy on stunts, acrobatics and gasp-inducing Muay Thai. I laughed and cringed accordingly.

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Can you believe it? A weekend of flurries. Some April Fool's. The real joke was getting my car stuck in the road up to Angela's farm in Stouffville. Quite the physical challenge. For a while it looked like we'd have to break down and call up a tow-truck.

And thus I missed out on a Rainbow Six LAN party. Perhaps it's for the best.

I saw three other movies this weekend; Go, Anchorman and Oldboy. Go's a fun and unpredictable Christmas holiday as experienced by three groups of young protagonists, who through greed, lust, or.. well, mostly greed and lust manage to work their way into delicate situations and then, somehow, find their way out again. I liked it. Lots of laughs.

Anchorman was just hella funny. I know I know, the commercials make it look like another tired Saturday Night Live bastard, but it's actually pretty funny and had me laughing a fair amount. The situation, in terms of expectation and delivery, is entirely comparable to that of Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle; the film looks bad, but it's really quite good.

The last film, Oldboy, is one of those freaky asian films that don't fit too well with Western morals. But, if you can get your head around certain bizarre (sometimes kinky, sometimes gory) scenes and an outrageous, improbable plot, you'll be rewarded with an intense mystery/thriller/revenge flick. And it's not pointless shock -- after a while the beauty of the revelations begin to really sink in. Deep. Oldboy is a film you have to think over and behold and marvel at, whether it disgusts or impresses you. It is exquisite and fascinating, an alien thing that is hard to ignore or forget.

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Yes, I saw the new Star Wars film. I was prepared to like it. Did I like it? Hmmm.. well, I'll say that I didn't hate it. *laugh* Such a glowing thing to say, sure. I went in expecting to see the best of the first three episodes (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones) and I would say that it is marginally possibly the best. At the same time, it will be traumatizing for any fan of the original Star Wars episodes. I suppose after learning about midichlorians, my mind pretty much forced the old and the new Star Wars series to separate -- they are too different to co-exist. My fond childhood memories had to protect themselves against this flashy, child-oriented drivel. Perhaps Lucas would have been best off if he was to take another Kurosawa film to be inspired by.

*SPOILERS* I say traumatic because there are a handful of scenes that will just cause your retinas to burn, whilst you agonize and ask why WHY oh WHY?? Things I liked: Natalie Portman (her acting this time), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine). I didn't like Yoda's animation (never have, thought they should've stayed with the muppet), nor was I fully convinced of Anakin's fall to the Sith, even noting the parallels of his killing the Sand People and the Jedi initiates.

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Two super-quick movie reviews. No, wait, make that three! First, The Constant Gardener. An important message, sure, but what's a message without a medium? A movie, yes, but a good movie? I think not; predictable, boring, bordering on pretentious with its cinematography. Great political films on human rights do exist, but I would not sully their names by comparing them with The Constant Gardener.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, on the other hand, is entirely worth the sullying. Well done, thoroughly enjoyable. I don't understand people who don't like the film. I LOVED it. It is so much more than what you might expect. Worth seeing again. Great cast, great chemistry.

March of the Penguins, the documentary that could've easily have told the same story in a sixty second Hinterland Who's Who. At least the baby penguins are cute. Some impressive, excellent visuals, Angela suggested that this is a film that looks better on the big screen.

I would normally be readying myself for kung fu right now, but I decided not to attempt the traffic-line from downtown to Markham. Perhaps I can work out something wherein I leave earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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I spent much of the weekend watching The Office, enjoyed it very much. Well, with a fair amount of cringing and taking breaks from David Brent's antics/vulgar displays of social ineptitude. I thought the acting was pretty spot on. And the ending! Woo.

Also finished Call of Duty 2, which I got a long time ago but just never got around to really playing. I did not realize just how much gametime was involved, and some of those missions were quite arduous. Intense fun. They have a new health system whereby you heal automatically slowly over time, but your short term tolerance for damage is mercilessly small. A worthy successor to the first, excelling once again in the fields of map design, weapon handling and squad-based gameplay.

Uh, oh yeah, and I watched Casshern with Angela this weekend. Wonderful visuals, but an awkwardly told story and that tired theme of the earth having a natural spirit make it a slightly less than gratifying experience. Memorable for its obvious anime influences -- whether that's a good or bad thing is probably dependent on the viewer. For me, it added a level of entertainment which was for the most part distracting.

The 19th already! My how time flies when you're not doing anything.

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Blast! You know that PokerRoom.com tournament that I qualified for? Well, I wasn't able to participate! Apparently the servers were "overloaded" and wouldn't let non-playing players log in. Oh how very upset I was. Some people were able to play, but around the time the tournament was to start they started locking people out. What rot. Curse their bait-n-switch hides!

I played Scrabble with some friends Saturday night, and now I think I very much despise that game. A long time ago I used to think it was a fun game, what with me liking word games and all but NO.. upon further inspection and reflection I'ved decided that I dislike it. Did you know that the International Scrabble Club uses a QWAZY dictionary, which includes words like "aa", "xu", "sh"?!?!? What the hell is that?? It makes me angry, is that it is. Thankfully, we agreed on saner dictionary based on common usage. But even so, the random nature of the game and the arbitrary workings of the english dictionary can make for a frustrating experience, or so I've found.

For those of you keeping score, I'm beginning to tire of World of Warcraft. It's quickly becoming a lot less fun than it used to be. I really need to have a group of friends I can play with as the monsters and quests become more and more difficult to face alone. And I don't like how money can pretty much buy you anything in the game -- whatever your skill is, you cannot compete with players who draw money from their higher level friends. It doesn't bother me that I don't have any friends in the WoW world, I just get annoyed that they game the system so. Which is why I think I prefer Guild Wars, which uses a system that pretty much forces strangers to co-operate. There are pros and cons to that too, but it's better to play in co-op maps than to be frustrated for not being able to even try.

I watched A History Of Violence by myself Saturday -- what a movie! On its face it's an action film but what Cronenberg has made interesting is how the protagonist deals with his family as they learn that he isn't the quiet, gentle man they thought they knew. Recommended.

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A co-worker lent me his copy of Ninja in the Dragon's Den, a hilarious chop suey kung fu schlock film. The fight sequences are of the "WOW" variety with crazy acrobatics, but it's the hilarious 70s dubbing that make this movie memorable and push it above similar films in this saturated genre. Comparable to the best of Jackie Chan's works. Immense enjoyable.

So I caved in and got a television. There's regular cable in my building, but I really got it so that I'd have something I could enjoy DVDs on. I have as of yet to actually watch a DVD on it however since I keep forgetting to pick up the proper cables from my parent's place, where I have them aplenty and am thus loathe to purchase. I do find myself watching a lot of senseless programs, just noise in the background really. I noticed that YTV has quite a bit of after-hours anime, but I hate most dubbing jobs (with the exception noted above, which is possibly the best of such jobs). So anyway, there you go.

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I finally got around to signing up for this year's Becel Ride for Heart (sponsor me here), which I look forward to only because this year I won't have to wake up absurdly early. Finally, a material advantage to living downtown! Whoo!

Oh, and here's where I mention some friends of mine are selling their condo (link to ad). It's a nice place -- one bedroom, two bathrooms, walk-in closet, 1.5 years old. Also, the indian graves have since been moved. So I've been told.

Sorry, I just don't have much to say. OH wait I forgot -- I stayed up late last night to watch City of God, which I had always meant to see. I was quickly pulled into the story; fascinating, engaging, violent (shockingly so at times), tense. Very impressed. I definitely want to see it again so that I may concentrate on the action instead of having to read the subtitles.

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Sunday I met with Krista for some catching up and thai. We talked about The Office (uk), which she loved. I actually don't know anyone who has seen The Office and didn't enjoy it. Speaking of which, one of my co-workers lent me his copy of Extras, Ricky Gervais' other series. I'm actually also listening to the podcast show, parts of which are fantastically hilarious, me silently chuckling to myself on the 504.

Did I mention on Sunday I hobnobbed with some film/television people at the Gala Awards Ceremony for the ReelWorld Film Festival? Uhm yeah, a night of cheese(ing it), wine(ing about having to stand) and nervously standing at a podium to accept an award. Nobody said life was easy. Afterwards, we were treated to a screening of A Bittersweet Life ("Dalkomhan insaeng") which I enjoyed though I thought the comparisons to Kill Bill and Old Boy were a bit much. It did have a handful of excellent scenes, though overall it was a little long. Unfortunately the experience was a little spoiled by the fact that we missed the opening stanza (posing for press photos) and some chickenshit waving his laser-pointer at the screen. I almost wish he was a bit more blatant about it so that I'd have a chance to murdelize his jerky ass.

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i stayed up until 4 last night watching Star Wars: Clone Wars on teletoon. i remember being interested and catching a few episodes a while back, but I suppose I was too impatient to wait for each episode to be released. teletoon showed all 25 episodes, a couple hours worth of Genndy-style animation (powerpuff girls, samurai jack) which has grown on me i have to admit. the series serves well to fill in the story between episodes 2 and 3 -- many consider it even better than the films which i suppose is not much of an accomplishment considering the hate and loathing they garnered. me, some of my earliest, strongest memories are Star Wars related so the whole mythos is very dear to my heart, irrespective of the direction the series eventually took on. from film to music, from game to toys, i love it all. and having said that, clone wars is up there with kotor and the x-wing/tie-fighter series of games in terms of living up to one's expectations from the star wars franchis. considering the quality, richness of content, and ability to extend the original universe, the clone wars animated series is practically essential for any star wars enthusiast.

But even so, my eyes are burning like nobody's business.

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Ok, time for some 1 minute movie reviews! Which are based on the commercials, as this is pretty much how I judge whether or not I want to see a movie. I've got my technique pretty down pat. It turns out that commercials, more often than not, make me avoid films. Although, perhaps this is not the commercial's fault; there's only so much you can do with "Snakes on a Plane". I rarely am willing to give a film the benefit of doubt. Doubt is there because statistically speaking, most movies are rubbish. Pure garbage. Not to be a snob or anything but easily 50% of movies are not worth my time. Of the other half, most I'm not willing to risk my time on unless they have something special going for them, or someone has specifically recommended them to me. As you might guess, I don't go to the theatre very often. Plus, it's a hassle with the barrage of ads and teenage couples and stress of finding some good seats.

Ok, first movies I'm definitely avoiding, based on their commercials and/or plot descriptions. "Click", that Adam Sandler film about using a magical remote control. Wasn't this already covered in "Clockstoppers" and that God movie with Jim Carrey. "Bruce Almighty". In any case, this looks awful. On the other hand, supposedly Sandler was good in some films, I wouldn't know. But even so, awful concept. What's next. Wow, they made another Garfield movie? And another Fast and Furious?? Oh, and why another Omen? I hate the whole "06/06/06" meme that went on. The idea that people even notice this little supposed curious date drives me up the wall. Oh, let's just skip the films I won't see and discuss the ones I'm interested in.

Firstly, there's a "A Scanner Darkly", which I mentioned a while back. Not due out for another month, but I'm super interested in how this will turn out. This is one of those films I pretty much have to see, which kind of turns my stomach to hear myself say.

"Superman Returns", of course. Superman is kind of, in my feeling of the genre, a hard superhero to write for. He's practically invincible, but has a crazy weakness that renders him dead. As such, he generally has to prevent disasters or protect people, since him fighting anything is somewhat boring (with the exception of Ursa). Anyway, bullets bouncing off eyeballs aside, the interesting bit here is what Lex does with the former Fortress of Solitude.

Uhm, what else. Oh, "Nacho Libre"! Another part that should allow Jack Black to be himself, a Mexican wrestler version at that.

Also, "District B13", if only because I'm a sucker for action films with lots of stunts and martial arts.

I guess that's it, really. Not interested in Cars, nor the new Pirates of the Caribbean film. Not Clerks II. Oh wait, the new Miami Vice is this year? Hell yeah, sure.

Oh, and I would hazard to guess that those new KFC Bowls (a bowl of mashed potatoes, corn, cheese, KFC chicken nuggets, all covered in KFC gravy) is disgusting. I refuse to try it and am sickened by both the concept and the visual image it brings to mind.

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Yeah, I dunno.. just haven't felt like updating. You know how it is.. there really isn't anything to talk about, it's just me rambling on and on. But then again, I guess that's what you're here for. I've seen a few movies since I last posted. I went to see "District B13", which was good but very short, under 90 minutes. There are only a handful of fights, and they're mostly in the first half of the film. In fact, the first half has almost all the action. Anyway, while I don't regret seeing the film, it was a bit of let down. It did have a lot of that "jumping over crevices, rolling onto rooftops" type of acrobatics, if you're into that kind of thing.

Next I saw "Dark Side Of The Moon" (originally "Opération lune"), which was a thoughtful, fascinating documentary on the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Featuring Buzz Aldrin, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, former Chief of Staff Alexander Haig and a host of others. If you've heard nothing of this film before, then it's entirely worth the time to see it. Trust me, you'll be surprised.

Pops lent me his copy of "Ping Pong", a pretty good film about a couple of kids that play table tennis. Yeah, I wasn't too interested in seeing it either, having heard nothing about it . What makes the film interesting is that there are actually two protagonists, and you're left guessing who becomes the champ. I liked it. And no, there's no kung fu, so don't expect a Shaolin Soccer.

Oh, and I saw "Initial D", the one with the Chinese actors playing Japanese characters. I've only watched a handful of the anime, but as far as I can tell it's a reasonably faithful adaptation. A racing movie with real characters and drama! Plenty of fast without the furious! Initial D!!

On Saturday I watched "The Jade Tiger", a surprisingly thoughtful kung fu film where the main characters finds himself questioning the violent ways of the world in which he was brought up in. This film also features a ridiculous number of plot twists, straining believability. Lots of fight sequences, most with weapons and tricky gadgets. And I really liked the ending, so Jade Tiger gets an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Right now I'm watching the Stanley Cup game at work with some co-workers. Ai-chee-wawa it's frustrating!!

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Friday our CEO took the company out to see "Superman Returns" at the nearby Silvercity, cutting our workday somewhat short. I found the film to be long with too many scenes that added little, had a plot that neither surprised nor enthralled, and featured actors that looked too young for their roles. The handful of action scenes were most impressive however, some of the best stuff I've seen in a while. It is unfortunate that the quieter moments of the movie did not impress or amuse. I guess I have real problems with the casting of Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth, who look like children pretending to be adults. Although with glasses on Routh really does look like Reeves' Clark Kent.

Thumbs up or down? Hard to say... I wouldn't see it again, because the story and ending did not really pull me in. But the special effects were top notch.

I wore my old sneakers to work, my other, newer shoes still drying from their day in Lake Ontario. But hmmm something sure does smell around here!

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For a long weekend without plans, it seems I packed a lot into it. I'll get into Friday night later -- I wrote up a bit on it at work and don't have that note available here to me, at home. Suffice to say a surprising amount of beer was imbibed. Saturday I pretty much missed Caribana, though Angela and I did ride through downtown to witness the incredible traffic surge, both of pedestrian and vehicle. We strolled around the distillery district, a tiny quarter of old Toronto that I did not know about but am now in love with. Shame that they're building a bunch of insanely large condos and lofts right beside these beautiful 1800s buildings. That evening we watched Wild Zero, which I very much enjoyed. I've seen a handful of zombie films and Wild Zero is definitely the most unique, entertaining and unpredictable of them all. Trash and chaossss!

Sunday was grocery shopping (leading to BLTs and caesar salad), riding down to harbourfront to take in the caribbean festivities. There were also a few buskers, including a dude who swallowed a sword which was hella disturbing to see. Even now, my throat feels stretched just thinking about it. Seriously, who was the person who started this crazy stunt?

We had an early dinner (jerk fish, fried plaintains, fritters, chicken tandoori) so that we could make the evening showing of "A Scanner Darkly", which I have the pleasure of stating was great. Not at all a disappointment, me watching with wide-eyed joy. The rotoscoping did not detract like one might think, though I did find the film too bright. I had always envisioned the scenes in the book as being dim -- in the film everything is clean and video game crisp. However, it does allow for some pretty good effects, such as the bugs, the little fantasy sequences, and of course the scramblesuit. Anyway, I really liked it. Certainly it was very true to the original story. Dare we say comparable to Blade Runner? A cult hit it likely will be, for I do not see it having mass appeal. Rottentomatoes seems to agree. I wonder if watching a group of buzzed junkies upsets people enough to not give the movie a chance?

After the movie, we had a few drinks at Sweaty Betty's, a little bar dripping in hip and chic north of Ossington and Queen. Monday Angela and I visited some friends and their newborn and had a disagreeable dinner on St. Clair West, at the Atlas One restobar. The shrimp cocktail was delicious, but the main dishes gave us terrible stomach problems.

Speaking of which, my colitis has not bothered me for quite some time. As such, I've become more and more aggressive with my workouts. My target now is to do some push-ups and sit-ups everyday, to get into the habit of always exercising. I've avoided too many sit-ups in the past, knowing that it can disrupt my digestion. But I can definitely say that colitis-wise, I'm quite strong these days.

So what's up with the lack of updates eh? Yeah well.. you know how it goes....

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I well recall my reading of "V for Vendetta", back in my first year of university. Someone in my residence (Village 2, East 4) lent me his copies of Vendetta and "Watchmen", both of which gave me much to ponder, exposing my mind to new territories. In truth I preferred "The Watchmen" over "V for Vendetta", as I considered the latter too polished, too perfect. I liked the griminess, the humanity of "Watchmen". Still, both are excellent. Anyway, I wanted to say that I saw the "V for Vendetta" film and I liked it, though its essence was different enough from the graphic novel that it lacked much of the original punch. The ending was overly Hollywood, is all I got to say about that.

QYV and I have been working up our Titan Quest characters in preparation for the Orient Telkine at Epic difficulty. I have died well over 50 times now, many of those with trying to defeat the Epic Manticore -- he is one tough SOB! And not worth fighting. The crunch is on, for our once mighty characters are delicate enough to be fearful of most bosses now, and we scramble to fortify our weakened resistances and defensive abilities. I spent much of the weekend farming for unique items, without much to show for it unfortunately.

I stayed up to 2AM reading Lone Wolf and Cub -- how I love that series so!

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Huzzah! My co-worker came through for me and gave me tickets to Gwoemul ("The Host"), a film that was shown as part of the Toronto International Film Festival's "Midnight Madness". It did rain heavily last night, but thankfully we did not have to wait in line long to get into the theatre, and we were able to manage some pretty good seats in the balcony. The film was wondeful. Action that took your breath away, characters that you could really associate with and root for, and a fearsome, memorable special effects creature. I loved it, probably the best film I've seen this year. I don't know where or how you'll find it, but it's worth seeking out. Oh, it's the story of a discovered river monster that terrorizes Seoul with a deadly, communicable virus. A family decide to take it on after it nabs a family member.

The director was there, who fielded a few questions. I think I shall seek out his Salinui chueok ("Memories of Murder"), which was also seeded by a real event.

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So I procured myself a copy of Salinui chueok ("Memories of Murder") and watched it with Angela last night. What can I say? Another awesome film, this time a police thriller/murder mystery based on South Korea's first serial killings. Chilling, with ups and downs and twists and an increasingly disturbing trail of clues. Again, a strong emphasis on the dynamics, the interplay of the protagonists, this time with a country "instinctual" cop versus the city "documents never lie" cop. Lots of attention to detail, giving the movie a satisfying richness, a depth often missed in this era of zigga-zagga action. The ending, as with all of my favourite films, leaves an indelible impression, a general uneasiness not easily forgotten. I still like The Host more, but this film is also very good. They are of different genres in any case, which I'd say speaks highly of the director's ability.

On visiting the end bit of "A Taste of Toronto", we overheard and consequently investigated a hubbub by Roy Thompson Hall. Apparently a bunch of celebrities were attending a film showing and all the press and such were there, including a small group of fans. I grabbed a few pictures before continuing to HoSu for some kampongee. Parker Posey, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Coolidge, Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy were the ones I saw, though I wasn't able to get a good view of them all.

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Continuing on my little Korean film fest, I saw Silmido Sunday night. It was alright, perhaps not as great or as complete as the others I've watched recently. *SPOILERS* However, the historical basis for the film is fascinating -- a group of North Korean commandos infiltrate South Korean in an attempt to assassinate the President. In response, South Korea trains their own team, in a bid to assassinate Kim Il-Sung, the North Korean leader. The first part of the film deals with the formation of the group and the rigorous, perhaps barbaric training they endure, while the second half deals with the anti-climatic atmosphere of their spoiled mission.

Overall, an interesting tale of politics neglecting the inevitable troubles when the particular needs of the military are ignored. Yes, vaguely reminiscent of that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Hunted."

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Yeah, Tuesday I went to see Tony Jaa's "The Protector", saw it with a couple co-workers. Filled with Heineken, pizza and Sweet Chili Heat Doritos, I very much enjoyed the film -- lots more fighting than Ong-Bak, and less chase scenes. Lots, LOTS more fighting, about as much as a film can have and still tell a story. Interesting to see Jaa's increased use of wrist and arm locks, frequently finishing his opponents by breaking the locked joint. Anyway, a good, fun martial arts film.

Am feeling better now, but I was hungover with a headache at work most of yesterday. I had some Gatorade before I went to bed which apparently did not stave off the misery. It didn't stop me from going to Molly Blooms after work, though I did abstain from drinking. After leaving pub (where I had a delicious bridie), as I was unlocking my bicycle a man came up to me and exclaimed "Don't miss heaven!", then gave me a hug. Perhaps he witnessed the fireman's carry I just received from a co-worker.

Angela and I have been watching Fingersmith, a three part BBC mini-series about two young women living two different lives, the one a petty city/slums thief ("fingersmith") and the other a sheltered country lady. The first two episodes end on cliffhangers, the next outdoing the previous. Very enjoyable.

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Saw the "The King and the Clown" the other day, another Korean film that did really well there. Beautiful, vibrant period sets. A pair of entertainers, after an accident leading to murder, decide to set up in the capital where they are arrested for staging plays that mock the king. The second half of the film deals with how these two are unwittingly manipulated, and details the crumbling power and eventual downfall of the king. I thought the film was ok, not great, which is what I expected based on the couple mini-reviews I read. Was it the homosexual element that pushed the film to be so popular in South Korea?

Yeah, the more I think about it, the less impressed I get. For people interested in Korean cinema, there are much better films out there. "Memories of Murder" and "The Host" (Gwoemul) come to mind.

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Another Korean blockbuster, this time a Korean War drama. I found "Taegukgi:The Brotherhood of War" to be on the sappy side, with some really unnecessarily drawn out scenes, exactly those slow-motion "oh, what a tizzy we're having!" and "oh, what a sad, sad thing life can be!". The action was impressive, especially those large scale dirty, ugly battles. But I think they could have re-edited and compressed the film (which I saw in two lengthy parts) to be much more focused -- as it is, it's a mediocre war film. The ending did kind of pull at my heart strings, I'll give it that.

Upon waking early today I didn't quite feel like going right back to bed, so I watched Nacho Libre. I know, the rottentomato rating was disappointingly low, so I did not expect much. The movie is visually colourful with vivid exteriors, and the music is noticeably good, lots of great tunes. Unfortunately, much of the humour was just not that funny. Much of the time I wanted to laugh, was on the verge of doing so, but the jokes lacked that final punch, missing their mark. Nacho Libre feels very like a kid's movie, and falls far short of the excellent School Of Rock which itself is a kid's movie but is probably more enjoyed by adults.

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I mentioned Grandma's Boy a while back, mainly because of that "challenge" scene that I thought was just brilliant. The movie itself, it turns out, isn't nearly so wonderful, but I still laughed plenty. Lots of ribald humor, lots of geek/gamer jokes. Seeing that little clip on youtube I thought the film was centered on Jeff (Nick Swardson), but it turns out it's a Mel Gibson look-alike. I have a funny eye about seeing similarities in people so maybe I'm the only one but Allen Covert really does look like Mel Gibson, and throughout the film I was distracted by that. Anyway, it was fun.

Crank is also a fun movie, but for entirely different reasons. Constant action, following a hectic day for assassin turned victim Chev Chelios (Jason Statham). Apparently I wasn't the first person to compare this film with Grand Theft Auto, like when you get tired of completing missions and decide to just go all out and see how much trouble you can get into. I hadn't really given the film much thought but some very positive reviews finally prompted me to see it, and I am pretty glad I did. The ending was somewhat weak in terms of plausibility, but then again this is the movie Speed in human form.

I've been playing a lot of Flash Element TD, which is based on Warcraft III tower defence. It seems pretty simple at first, but the real strategy comes not in survival but in maximizing profit by always just barely buying enough towers to get to the next level. There is also a certain amount of strategy involved in buying the correct upgrades. It doesn't have that random pick-up appeal that Dicewars has, but as a puzzle I find it very entertaining.

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I decided that I wanted to see 300, and called up the one other friend who might be able to drive downtown to see it -- QYV. We met up at the Varsity, me barely making it on time due to the subway construction at Bay station (or thereabouts). A lot of people at work asked how was the movie and I always reply that it's a fun fighting movie with plenty of action. I've read the original Frank Miller graphic novel (today), and the movie attempts to flesh out the tale with a side plot with the wife. Without it, the movie is really not much more than a video game trailer, though certainly a beautifully rendered one. I don't understand all of these complaints that it's not a very good movie -- what were they expecting? I've seen worse movies with boring plots, or just awful premises. I suppose its base of an epic historical event gives it the necessary substance that allows me to overlook its other drawbacks. Also, I'm a sucker of war drama, for those who fight for ideals against an insurmountable foe. I don't think it's the perfect action film by any means, but I definitely enjoyed it, and thought it worth the time I spent watching it, and could sit through it a couple more times. I do wonder if the added plot elements dilute the fascinating core of the story and dialogue, and if the extravagant animation detracts from the experience. That is, you see the animation, not the story it represents. Pretty animation for animation's sake has no place in a good story.

Oh, and is nearly always the case, if you liked the film, you'll love the original material.

Xerxes: Brave words. Spartan words. Yours is a fascinating tribe. There is much our cultures could share.
Leonidas: We've been sharing our culture with you all morning.

Hyped up on battle adrenaline, we walked down Yonge and decided to go for gold with Grill Time, a Korean BBQ place just north of College, across from the Shoppers. "They will remember, that on this day stood two against many...." And oh so.. much.. grilling! We couldn't resist stuffing ourselves, getting our $13 worth. Such an intake of kalbi, chicken, pork, bulgogi I cannot remember ever having. Lots of sodium! Lots of water! Lots of carbon!

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So actually I haven't been at home much this weekend, and when I have been it was generally sleeping off the previous night. Thursday I went out for drinks at Bar Wellington, and then at Shanghai Cowgirl where I chatted with some Book City employees, including the former owner of Bakka books! That was pretty cool.

Friday night I went out with Pops for our 9-ball and Chinese food combo. The twist on the evening was the power outage on the block between Bathurst and Claremont, above Queen Street and south of Dundas. I was in a Second Cup ordering a coffee and a multi-grain bar when everything shut down, leaving us in the dark. It was much like that blackout of 2003, with the inoperative traffic lights and people on the sidewalk, just standing and taking in all the darkness. In time the power returned, but for a good while the sense of night pervaded. I had meant to not drink at all but ... well, you know how it is. And thus I spent Saturday day in bed, cursing the brightness of the day. I got a call around 6 (a few hours after getting up) and got a ride to see Superbad, which I will say ROCKED. No wait, I mean, it was AWESOME. Hmmm.. perhaps BEST MOVIE OF 2007!!! Comedy gold, dudes, comedy gold. Sure, prurient, juvenile; I was entertained from beginning to end. Michael Cera was genius of course, but Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were also excellent. It's so good I would consider seeing it again in the theatre.

After the movie, I got dropped off at Hemingway's to meet some friends and acquaintances. I was challenged to build a wax finger and I think I did well. Lastly, I got into a cab to catch a few dances at The Chelsea Room, the cab wherein I believe I lost my cellphone. Oh, I called around and even left a report with the police but I'm starting to think it's gone forever. Maybe I'll engrave my name and number on my next phone.

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I went to a TIFF Midnight Madness show to see Sukiyaki Western Django, the latest from Takashi Miike (Rekka, Ichi the Killer, Audition, Full Metal Yakuza). Actually, I haven't seen any of his previous work, though after this film I'm curious to see what they're like. Sukiyaki was, well.. like a heavy metal rock video version of Ran, except based on Shakespeare's Henry VI (The War of the Roses) instead of King Lear. It made me laugh, anyway.

Oh, and I guess it's also loosely based on Django, the old Italian western. But I hadn't seen it. Buh yeah.. eh, not much else going on that I haven't already mentioned. Maybe I'll bring back a story or two from Washington.

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Quick recap of the past few days: Friday I went to see William Gibson give a reading and informal interview, along with some 300 other sci-fi nerds and geeks. He was there to talk about his new book, but I was mostly there just to see and hear the man up close. It was quite the experience, dampened only ever so slightly by the humidity and heaviness of the air in the church. I went through a brief period wherein I read everything the man was involved in, hungry for more of that Neuromancer-magic. That might be the first book I've read that actually made me melancholy, which I suppose says a lot about the type of books I read.

Afterwards I caught up with some other friends for some HD BluRay movie watching: SPL and Planet Earth in this case. We also managed a couple games of EA's NHL 08, which is possibly the best hockey game I've ever played. The animation has taken quite a leap from NHL 07, so that the players now look like they're actually skating, instead of the odd gliding they did before. Players actually feel like they have momentum, that they have weight. It's hard to describe but if you play you'll notice it immediately. I am really quite impressed. Rarely do I say any game is "perfect", but NHL 08 is pretty damn close.

Of course, the big XBox 360 news is the coming of Halo 3 -- I have been tossing the idea of getting a 360 for this one game, but I know that once I step down that road there is little chance of turning back. So I will bide my time, for now.

In a way, the same goes for the iPhone; seems like everyone in my office has one now, especially since the crack was released. I do think it's a pretty neat device, but I'm reasonably happy with my current phone, and appreciate it's small form. I don't really have much use for WiFi, anyway.

I watched a couple movies over the weekend as well -- Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Bridge to Terabithia (2007). The former, well, it just blew me away. I cannot recommend a more fascinating, unpredictable crime drama. Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton in memorable roles. Don't do any research or Googling on the film -- the ending is a surprise one and there are spoilers everywhere.

I watched Bridge to Terabithia because I thought that it might be one of many books I'd read as a teenager, one of the many I'd read and forgotten. However, it did not ring any bells for me. On the other hand, I was very pleasantly surprised that it was more than a simple kids-enter-fantasy-world Disney-ified movie. Almost makes me recommend it. Perhaps not a renter, but worth seeing if there's nothing else on.

Oh.. so Saturday I spent waiting for a new washer to be delivered. This actually was very good because it forced me to clean up my apartment, lest some stranger witness the usual horror of my living conditions. So I now have a new washer and a (mostly) tidy apartment.

Sunday I took advantage of the weather and went riding all the way to the east end of Toronto, cycling back along the waterfront. The cool breeze and sunny skies made it very enjoyable.

Ok, my uploads are done -- I'll get around to editing them when I get home. For now, adieu!

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I seem to be pouring more and more of my time into work. Voluntarily, mind, but it does seem like I have less of it for myself. Which, when I have it, is spent either doing chores, reading Slashdot or playing StarCraft. Yes, even in this day and age I find that game hmmm.. shall we say, satisfying? No, more like.. entertaining. Indulgent?

Saturday I did get quite a bit of sleep... some 15 hours worth, making me just in time to be late for a friend's birthday. Late, and a little dishevelled. Speaking of appearances, I'm to get a haircut tomorrow. I offered to allow someone to use my hair for practice. I hope I can stay awake! And by that I'm thinking of how I often fall asleep when I get my haircut. Mostly because of how warm those places tend to be, what with wearing that non-breathing apron and all that hot air. But also because I can't see worth a damn without my glasses so I pretty much keep them closed all the time anyway. Sleep just a sniff away.

Oh right.. the birthday. We ended up at the Horseshoe Tavern and caught a few live acts, the names of which escape me but I did have the presence of mind to snap a bit of video of the last act. However, I do not have the, er, will to actually import them right now. It's a huge kerfuffle wherein I have to get my phone, plug it in, wait for the transfer to complete, label the images, transfer them to the website, and write up the links. I guess it's not much more effort than me typing it up was, but anyway, it'll be done at some later date not yet determined.

Sunday was busy busy busy. Groceries, then catching Control [imdb.com] at the Cumberland. I really enjoyed it. I only had a vague idea of Ian Curtis' life, and the movie gives a, erm, depth? Dimension to the music that I can visualize now, and to some extent empathize with. Heavy, life-questioning stuff.

I had a few hours to kill before the other movie I was to see, the new Blade Runner "Final Cut", which did not add too much to what I'd already seen in the various other cuts. But it had been quite some time since I'd last watched it in a theatre and I'd forgotten how impressive, how eye-filling that opening sequence is, with that familiar, wailing Vangelis synthesizer. Ah, it was good.

I spent the time waiting for the showing by eating at Lick's (disappointing) and walking across Eglinton, then south on Mount Pleasant. They've urbanized that area quite a bit! It was however a rather car-speedy/pedestrian-lacking affair on a Sunday evening. I did stop in a Rexall to examine their over-sized chocolate bars, of which they had the 1 kg Dairy Milk bar for $15. I purchased a 100 g Toblerone to keep the dream alive.

These days my sleep is all awry, my mind waking up in the middle of the night, resolve never stronger than after the night it was never weaker. Days, weeks and now months have passed, yet I remain for the most part unchanged, unmoved, my life in a perpetual loop, as if it is unable to step out of the little energy well that has been laid before it. An investment must be made if I am to grow. When shall I look into the abyss?

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Quickly the days they seem to pass. They sure do when you've had a few beers, as I did Friday. Actually no, now that I think of it what I had wanted to say was that I was extremely agitated by ASP.Net, Microsoft Access and... just IIS and Microsoft and the whole kit and caboodle. At first, I was upset by one of the controls that I was using did not work -- it had a minor bug, fine. I trudged on, only to discover that the database table I had based my documentation on was tragically flawed: not only did it not have a primary key, but the data itself was actually full of duplicates. An affront to my data analysis mores, and also, most regretablly, unusable in certain ASP.Net structures (and with good reason). So, I modified my code to handle this abnormality, this flagrant transgression against all things logical, only to encounter yet another roadblock, the dreaded "Server Application Unavailable". Oh, I'm sorry, did I tax IIS too much by asking it to serve a page? Perhaps I'll come back later, when it's feeling better. What poppycock! I was very nearly postal at this point, I will say that.

So I finally "resolved" the problem by avoiding it -- I have no idea why hooking up certain events in my sample cause ASP.net/IIS to die the way it did. I chalk it to black magic.

I went and saw No Country for Old Men, the new Coen brothers film. I rather enjoyed it, despite the insipid comments of the teenagers who decided to site within earshot. Earshot, there's an odd term. Gunshot is the sound guns make, "rim shot" is that drum sound to punctuate a one-liner, but earshot? Anyway, yeah, kids these days can be stupid as hell. Why oh why must I have heard one of these fine upstanding upstarts comment, "Hybrid cars are the worst thing for the environment. The way to leave a small footprint is to buy a used diesel and drive it to the ground."

In an unrelated incident, I lost my scarf! Alcohol was involved, but still. Scarves are kind of fated to get lost, I think. I mean, unless you're already in the habit of throwing one around your neck, it's seems inevitable that they are left behind. Oh, occasional piece of fashionable winter accessory, we hardly knew ye!

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Blurgh. Another Sunday spent indoors. It's a bit cold outside. Whenever I stay in I can't help but feel kind of sickly. Perhaps it's the air? Oh, and something super gross -- in my bathroom there's some kind of leak going on. It's actually inside the wall, creating a bulge using the paint as a skin, like a growth. I haven't bothered trying to determine what's inside. I'm hoping it's related to the slightly warm weather, and isn't sewage or the like. That would be gross.

Friday night I was NOT able to go to White Orchid. Thanks to those who tried. Saturday I went shopping with QYV at Dufferin Mall, which wasn't so bad even with the insane crowds. I guess it wasn't so bad because I didn't do much shopping for myself, and I wasn't driving. Watched Lars and the Real Girl at the Varsity. Pretty good film, sweet, quiet, not at all nasty. Certainly capable of teasing a few tears here and there, both of mirth and of sadness. Surprisingly good.

Saturday night I made two mistakes -- the first was to allow myself to play a stranger at pool (who turned out to be shockingly drunk) and the second was to try a non-Swatow chinese restaurant. Oh, have we learned nothing?

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Am at the parent's place, doing some work (hwan.com work) and checking for Boxing Day sales, of which I did not see any that fit my fancy. I've been thinking of really reducing my consumer footprint of late, and not merely because I am cheap. I just hate gathering things I never use, and I feel like I already have plenty of junk. Simplify, simplify.

I am however happy that for Christmas I received a pair of Grado SR125 headphones, which I first experienced at my friend's condo where they pretty much blew me away, giving a depth to music I had not known previously possible. Indeed, a blind man seeing the world anew. If you listen to music on any type of regular basis, I wholeheartedly suggest investing in some good headphones. What's the use of delicious food if you have not the palate to enjoy every aspect of its taste?

My sister brought her copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and while it was indeed "darker" than what I had previously seen and read it was still more or less the same formula and I still find myself somewhat riled that people love these stories so. I guess I'm mostly annoyed that what is (seemingly to me) being done in 7 books/movies could have been done in one.

I haven't taken any time off work, so I'll be back in the office Thursday, Friday, and half of new year's eve Monday. I was in the office this past Monday as well, primarily to play NHL 08, StarCraft and backgammon and to eat gift basket food. I do not mind it much at all!

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Hola amigos, how was your new year's? Mine was all right, drinking at Camera and enjoying the good company and excellent catering. I don't know who's idea it is to put sea salt chunks inside bread, but they are true genius.

Well, here's to trying my new resolution, which is to go to bed before midnight. Ugh, so hard to do... .arg!

Oh, I got sidetracked watching the 1960 "The Time Machine" movie, which I hadn't seen before. You should check out the wiki link, which suggests that there was a couple extra chapters which were not published. In one the Traveller mistakenly dooms the last remaining human. Ah, to travel in time!

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When I first saw the commercial for it, I was somewhat skeptical, mostly surprised that someone had decided that jPod would be a good idea for a television series. But having just sat through the first episode, I must admit I enjoyed it! I guess it's just fun to see how they fleshed out all the details, what was kept and what was changed. From what I've seen it's been pretty truthful to the book, although hardly anyone (or anything) looks like what I had imagined it to look. Also, it's odd to see Alan Thicke acting without the other Seavers in tow.

I went to see Juno with Dangerman and Girl on my suggestion at the Kennedy Commons AMC theatre. Disappointed! I mean, it was a smart, funny movie with touches of sweet, but I was all prepared for a non-stop, rolling-in-the-aisle, gasping-for-air laughfest. It was good, yeah, but not great in the way I had been anticipating.

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Why is it that I always forget how bad the cold weather can be (or rather, is) for my skin? Every winter I get all itchy and my skin breaks out and I'm pretty irritable for a few weeks. I wonder if I could go into work wearing a burka? Where does one get one?

Yeah I know, why not use moisterizer? Because I hate applying salves and oils as I don't like the feeling, which just makes me want to wash it all off. Perhaps a small price to pay, but it does seem rather too late now.

Oh, I watched Eastern Promises over the weekend. I liked it, but again I should have tried to see it as soon as I knew that I wanted to see it -- all those reviews and recommendations kind of ruined it for me. OH speaking of ruining a film: THANKS A LOT TORONTO STAR!! Bastards gave away the plot to Cloverfield in their Monday film section, which we had a copy of in our kitchen at work. It wasn't an article that gave it away, no, it was a damned diagram that in a glance told me too much! Hates them I do. BAH!!!

So Lord of the Rings Online is still fun! I've finally gotten to level 10 and am much enjoying the Monster Play, as I got to participate in a couple of huge (40+ people) battles. At first everything seemed to be the same as in the beta -- same map, same quests, same creatures. So I was pleasantly surprised when I was stabbed in the back by a hobbit that had been watching me kill slugs. The "fight" took maybe 20 seconds but I was so shocked that I really had little idea of what had just happened. Thankfully, death is not punished very much in Monster Play, so the experience left no sour taste. Nay, it embolded me to work on my monster: a Spider Weaver, a ranged support class.

Ok, time to go home! Later dudes...

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Minor spoilers follow.

Huh. I am now basking in the glow of I Am Legend (careful as here there be spoilers at the very top!), the story which recently was remade into a movie for the third time. I spent much of yesterday enjoying the story and today I am digesting it, the beauty that I was only vaguely aware of as I hurriedly read one suspenseful sentence after another. I even went so far as to use two sheets of paper to cover up parts of the page that I hadn't read yet as my eyes have a nasty habit of skipping ahead, seeking out the juiciest plot points. I related a lot with the main character, Robert Neville, who spends his time alone, constantly questioning why he goes on, his mind stuck in the past, nagging and admonishing himself for giving into vice and laziness, his soul eroding away with the grind of his daily, joyless routine.

I love reading books that are as influential as I Am Legend (written in 1954), to recognize and admire its long fingers at the center of so many books and films, a deep node in the post-apocalyptic zombie family tree. It lays down a lot of lore as Neville methodically examines the creatures, attempting to glean a larger solution to the problem they pose. The ending, when it finally comes (and I say finally because it seemed that every page could lead to the end), gave me goosebumps, catching my heart in my throat.

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I managed to squeeze some time in to watch "I Am Legend" which I was fully expecting to be terrible. I was entertained, but the second half of the film, and particular the ending, was just too Hollywood to swallow happily. I was also turned off by the overuse of CGI, finding it distracting and more than a bit silly. On the good side, the sense of emptiness and the scenes where we do not see the others up close are pretty damn spooky. I probably wouldn't watch this film again, but it doesn't stop me wanting to see Omega Man and Last Man on Earth.

Hey, did you hear about that 6-alarm fire on Queen West and Bathurst? That's just down the street from my work! The whole downtown stank of burnt plastic and metal, the same smell one might get if one's computer or powersupply overheats. It kind of left a gross taste in my mouth when I walked to lunch. I don't really have much else to say -- I didn't use any of those stores, although I suppose it's a shame about Suspect Video. I used the one by Honest Ed's and never set foot in the Queen location. I did once go inside the stereo store, but that with a friend who was inquiring about turntables. In any case I'm going to keep an eye on the news, out of sheer bystander curiosity.

I can't believe BluRay is the new format winner! Has no-one learned not to trust Sony as a DRM/format provider? Can we please just create a new HD standard, one that is not dictated by companies but rather by consumers? Is that too much to ask? Hmmm... I guess it's time to buy/build a media server....

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Saw two movies over the weekend, Little Miss Sunshine and The Lives of Others. Both pretty good, The Lives of Others worth a second or third viewing. Little Miss Sunshine was cute and still managed deliver despite the praise I heard about it, as such accolades tend to raise my expectations too far.

Played some Eglinton poker Friday night, small $0.10/$0.20 games. I lost my initial $10 in the first couple of hours, but I gained much of it back with a Q9o and QJT flop. I went heads up against AA and was saved by a 9 on the river. I figured I had 13 outs (two Qs, three 9s, four Ks and four 8s) before the turn, so it was a fair all-in situation for me. I ended the night exactly $2 up. Unfortunately the taxi ride home, having finished playing around 4 am and nary a bus in sight, ate up much of my satisfaction.

I spent the better part of an hour making a simple TTC fare savings calculator to see how much TTC Metropasses are really worth. A fun, if somewhat mundane, Sunday night project. I do wish the TTC would improve its service, if only in frequency.

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Saw Be Kind Rewind and found it clever, cute and very amusing, with plenty of that signature Michel Gondry perspective skewing. I was however slightly disappointed that the film didn't have more depth to it. I guess comparing it to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a bit unfair, but I definitely expecting more meat than was delivered. Still, I had a good time and that's enough.

I played poker on Friday but in hindsight I don't really want to talk about it. Suffice to say I played against a bunch of strangers and did awful. I played late and was tired, which again gives credence to the theory that I suck at poker when fatigued.

I've bitten my tongue twice very harshly within the last 24 hours. What does it mean? I mean, other than being aggravated every time I eat cereal and crackers.

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Last night I finished watching Goongnyeo, otherwise known as Shadows in the Palace although the name translates literally to "palace woman". Overall I did not much care for it.

SPOILERS: My primary problem was that it tried to be two movies at once -- a serious mystery drama and a j-pop horror, and the later really detracted from the former, which I thought was doing just fine until about the half-way point of the film. If they had kept to slowly unraveling the details of the murder, I'd have been happy. Instead, they introduced the mystical and once that happens any detective work goes right out the door. It really bothered me! I was also upset by the brutal and grotesque violence that those women had to endure, portrayed in such detail. I mean it was just so vivid, so graphic, I was just turned right off. I suppose the director wanted to get the point across that we were once barbarians. They surely succeeded in that regard.

Which is too bad because I was quite interested in the story and plot -- there's been a murder inside the palace made to look like a suicide. What then appears to be a simple case of infidelity is spun quite around on its head. Once you get to that point in the film I'd say you've seen the best parts already. Sticking around for the ending, with its spirits and possessions and gratuitous gore, is a real disappointing experience.

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Friday night I went to the Centre For Inquiry Ontario to see a lecture on Early Skeptics: Atheism, Agnosticism and Religious Dissent in Ancient Western Civilization, which is kind of a long-winded way of saying we talked about Greeks (Xenophanes, Lucretius, Sextus Empiricus, etc) who wrote about why they believed in the gods. Perhaps dry, but quite the bone to gnaw on. The lecture was made temporarily lively by the ribald, almost surreal comments of a loud woman in the back of the room, which was made up of otherwise spindly old men and urban philosopher hippies.

After a delicious meal at Rol San (crispy beef and sweet and sour pork), I streetcar'ed over to the Gladstone to meet some friends for karaoke, though the waiting list proved greater than our desire to sing past our bedtimes. I did learn that it takes 20 minutes to walk home from that corner.

Sunday I saw the Iron Man film, which I quite enjoyed. Even though you see much of the movie in the previews (and can thus guess much of the content), the acting and action are enough to keep one interested. *MINOR SPOILER* It ends in a pretty silly Boss Fight. It was playing at the new Yonge and Dundas 24 AMC, which was a bit of an experience to be sure. Still so new, and you have to take like 4 escalators to get to the individual theatres.

Gosh, am I really caught up on both my 30 Rock and The Office watching? Cool.

Call me crazy, but I'm thinking of trying Vipassana meditation. Ten days of no talking! Joy.

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Friday I got around to watching Barking Dogs Never Bite, the first film directed by The Host's Joon-ho Bong, and much like The Host, it is difficult to categorize. Primarily a black comedy, it also exhibits a flair for action, light comedy, drama and suspense, leaving one never sure where the pace will move to next. It even managed to make me gag slightly, perturbed as I was by an unexpected gristly turn. The ending is not very memorable unfortunately, a pity to an otherwise highly entertaining, original movie.

Saturday was a malformed trip to Buffalo for deals and shopping. I think I got all my vitamin mall for the next year or two. I was temporarily tempted into getting GTA IV, but managed to resist.

What else... eh, not really much. I still plan on going to that Vipissana thing, just waiting on a friend who is also interested. I should try to avoid anticipating it having too great an effect on me. I mean, I think it's definitely worth trying. I just don't know what it is I need to do any more. I've realized, or at least have finally admitted, that there simply isn't any time for everything I want to do! I've cut down a lot of my television time, but I still need to avoid surfing and reading junk.

Nearly 11, should think about sleep. Sleep, a chance at peace, perchance to rest. In sleep, do we not accept an end? Perhaps that is my problem -- I do not want to end.

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When last I wrote the glimmer of a cold was upon me, and by Thursday I was ill enough to miss a dinner with friends, a dinner I had really meant to attend. The next day I was much better, well enough for a beer at Hemingway's and some veal and wine at Vaticano Trattoria. Veal, yeah I know it's baby cows tailor grown to be tasty in a somewhat savage way. But it's so yummy, oh dear. Why can't we have good food that wasn't so cruel to animals? I must say I do wonder what baby cows that were born and grew up in space, for extra tender meat, would taste like. Pretty damn good, I reckon.

Saturday I met with Pops to see the new Indiana Jones film. The action sequences were fun, sure, but the plot, and particularly the ending, left much to be desired. There were no twists, no lively banter, no villians that we could really get to love and hate. As nice as it was to see Marion Ravenwood again, I didn't feel the spark between her and Indy of "Lost Ark", so her scenes were less than memorable. Shia LeBeouf was fine as Mutt, he really didn't have all that difficult a part to play. I do think the movie could have used a spark of romance between Mutt and Cate Blanchett's character (make her younger, if need be), or at least work on the rivalry established in a later fight scene. Something, I dunno! No character development makes Hwan sad.

After the movie, we gave The Charlotte Room another chance as last time we were there (a Friday night) the place was overcrowded which made playing pool a furrowed-brow-inducing experience. This time around however there were lots of empty tables so Pops and I were free to drink and play at our leisure, which we did to great affect. I also tried their version of chips 'n' dip, which featured an incredibly tasty bacon-cheese-jalapeno combination. Liquid crack, as the waitress described it. Indeed! This may prove to be our new pool place, if only to avoid the noisy club atmosphere of Raq'n'Waq.

I spent much of today indoors, catching up on some much needed r'n'r, although I do rue missing most of the fine weather. I was able to meet up with another friend for dinner at the harbourfront, summer again making a momentary appearance.

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The Becel Ride for Heart was a success! If, by success, one means that it happened, that it didn't rain, and that I rode hard and didn't injure myself. Downside was that this year our merry little band did not manage to stick together, which is lamentful. Everyone seemed to otherwise enjoy themselves, which is important. My writing abilities at 1:36 in the morning? Rueful.

What did I do Friday night? Hmmm.. I really do not recall. I know that Saturday I went to a2chow's loft housewarming -- Mill Street beer, penguins, toys, music. But wow, I really do not remember what Friday was. GEEZ what the hell? I know I didn't drink, because I was still kind of ill from Tuesday's and Thursday's indulgences. Was it a movie? Oh man this is bothering me.

Anyway, yesterday, Sunday, I watched The King of Kong, a documentary about the lives of world champion classic arcade game players, who otherwise lead adult lives.

Jillian Wiebe: I never knew that the Guinness World Record Book was so... I never knew it was so important.
Steve Wiebe: I guess a lot of people are... yeah, a lot of people read that book.
Jillian Wiebe: [while directly looking at Steve, her father] Some people sort of ruin their lives to be in there.

The film does take a few jabs at these characters, but only because they really are characters that seem so unreal. The ego! Of course one ends up rooting for the new kid, the challenger to the high and might throne. I enjoyed this film from start to end, and would eagerly watch it again.

Blast it to heck, let me think about Friday.

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Ugh, had a strong cup of coffee after a late dinner and so here I be, typing away like a not so happy camper. Father's Day dinner with the family, to be precise -- Korean food and far more dessert than five people can realistically consume. I spent much of today cleaning and cutting strawberries and blackberries, listening to The Office in the background.

Oooh.. suddenly got a bit tired there for a second, which is good.

Saturday I watched the final bits of Once Upon a Time In High School: The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do, a movie which, like many Korean films, moved a little all over the place. At the heart are two stories, the first concerning the relationship between Hyeon-su, the new kid, and Woo-shik, the cool leader, and Eun-ju, the beautiful girl they both fall for. Secondly is the trials of being a military-styled/run high school, complete with daily beatings and rankings or seniorities, a system that breeds resistance by its very existance.

Being all over the place is not such a bad thing really -- it just makes the film difficulty to categorize, as I find most Korean films are hybrids of several genres. Coming of age story? Certainly. Teenage love, rebellion? Yes. Harsh criticism of scholastic system? Absolutely. A reminder of a time come and gone, the darker period of a military government? Indeed so. Martial arts beat downs? Yup. Most importantly, was the film good? Yes, yes it was, but I need more time to digest it. I don't have a specific favorite scene or two which is strange because I did like everything I saw.

Ok, finally ready for bed.

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I neglected to mention that, the other day, I saw Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth, a film based on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. Not so much based as copied; seeing it would definitely ruin the book for you, which provides a far superior experience. Nay, this film was laughable for its production values and voice-over acting. Still, I suppose for 1964 it isn't too bad. Even as a fan of the story I kind of regret seeing this adaptation.

Now The Departed... hmmm aye here's an interesting tale! I don't mean that the movie was great, rather I refer to the question as to why it is perceived as such. I say this not to court controversy or the like -- merely that I didn't think The Departed was all that it was made out to be. Suspenseful, yes. Very much so. But great great? I subscribe to the idea that an ending can save a film, as well as undo the merits of everything before it, and I just was not satisfied with that ending.

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When you use the bathroom to wash your hands,do you often find that your bladder decides to, er, chime in? Is it because I know I'm in a bathroom, or is it maybe the smell that triggers some response? If I enter a room that I don't think is a bathroom but has all the trappings of one upon entering, will my peeing instinct kick in?

Just got back from riding around that Humber Bay Park East area, sticking around the bridge to watch the sunset -- pastel purples, pinks and blue. I could barely perceive the shadows moving across the Toronto skyline, which I'd not seen before. A bit of exercise to take advantage of the lovely, very reasonable weather.

I did go to work today, an otherwise pretty quiet day. Nice to be able to tinker on long put-off side projects, without the constant grind all up in mah grill. Yeah. We did have strawberries and champagne, which was nice.

OH! Last Wednesday my miracle fruit delivery finally came in, and on Friday we had a little miracle fruit ex-taste-aganza! The effect was strongest with lemons -- they definitely tasted as if they were dipped in sugar. Limes and grapefruit were somewhat sweeter, but just not in the same league as the lemons. Strawberries tasted rotten, as if they were fresh from the garbage bin. A lot of people noticed the green apples being very nice, but I didn't see much difference. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves so I guess it was a success. The funny thing is, later on at a bar I asked the waitress if my Guiness had been substituted with another beer because I found that it had a distinct fruity, grassy flavour to it. Unfortunately I mentioned that I had taken a "pill" earlier in the day that may be interfering with my ability to discern beer flavour and I went pretty much unheeded after that.

Saturday was a fairly full day for me. I saw the Jays game in one of those luxury suites -- open bar, buffet and snacks all paid for, as well as a couple hostesses to serve them to you. You share it with about 20 other people, but you do get 4 bathrooms which is nice. UNFORTUNATELY, my former boss was there (not one of my troublesome ones), who I wanted to say hello to but I'd forgotten his name! We never made eye contact so I'm not sure if he saw me, though he was with some work lackeys I recognized, lackeys I'd also forgotten the names of. Oh well! As my friend said, he didn't say hello either.

This is a long entry, so just bear with me here. After the game I watched Wall-E, the new Pixar film. At first I was quite reluctant to see it, it being what I'd considered a kids film and likely a schlocky Disney cute-fest. However, while cuteness did abound, I must say I was very impressed. The sound effects and animation were top notch -- I easily got a feel for textures of surfaces, they were so well presented. And the story was neither contrived nor formulaic. Dare I say it was original and well worth watching? I just did! Definitely something to see on the big screen.

Whew! Ok, that's enough for now. Stay tuned, naysayers!

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Strangely enough, I went to a cottage this weekend. I mean, I'm not exactly the cottage-going type -- few amenities, lots of bugs, zero computers. Still, I managed to enjoy myself with good company, lots of exercise, and plenty of food. The cottage was located right beside Sandy Lake (north-east of Peterborough), which you can see in this Google Maps link is incredibly clear and clean. The warm weather combined with the bright yet mild sunlight allowed us to spend hours canoing, paddle-boating, and swimming. In the evening we fiddled and prodded and poked with a campfire, a definite case of too many chefs in the kitchen ("They said it couldn't catch fire..."). There's definitely something to cooking and eating your own food over a wood flame, even if it is just a hotdog or marshmallow.

I'm still not a cottage person, but I guess I have more of a tolerance to them. An open-mindedness, if you will.

Thursday night I saw that new Wanted film. Ehhhhhh... what can I say? Lots of crazy stunts and silly bullet action. As I said to my friend, if I was 20 years younger I'd have loved it. It wasn't my first choice of film by a long shot, but I will grudgingly confess that I was entertained, a guilty thrill at the clang and crash. I guess for mindless explosions and scene after scene of throwing physics out the window, Wanted fills the bill.

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Lo my brothers I bring great tidings from the other side! There I have seen the truth and the way, and it is good. A golden age has come upon us, and it's name is The Dark Knight. Long I have waited for its arrival, and my patience has been well rewarded. Nay, such riches beyond my imagination: such acting, action, story, drama! All in great measure, all to great effect. Heath Ledger's Joker is surely the villian of the year, a complex, intelligent, dangerous, eloquent, unpredictable animal with a charm that fills every scene. I mean, superb acting all around but Ledger is just a dynamo, a catalyst -- he makes the movie the satisfying experience that it is. And of course, as with all films I recommend, this one has an excellent ending which I shan't otherwise comment on. Go forth and enjoy!

Hmmm while I'm here I'll also quickly write my thoughts on Attack the Gas Station ("Juyuso seubgyuksageun"), a Korean comedy from 1999. Four ne'er-do-well punks attempt to rob a gas station only to find that there's no money in the till. Rather than move on, they lock up the attendants and perform their gas-filling duties, pocketing the payments. Over the course of the night we learn a little about each young man. I like that everyone acts seriously, that there's no break of character and all of the numerous roles are approached with high energy and enthusiasm. It makes what sounds like a very contrived film actually quite palatable, indeed pleasurable. I laughed quite a few times. And perhaps it's just curiousity speaking, but I liked getting yet another glimpse into a culture that is both foreign and familiar to me.

(In particular, it seems striking others is very common there! Or at least, the movies certainly portray it thus!)

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I have, thanks to the generosity of a co-worker and friend, been able to see no less than four TIFF films thus far.

Ghost Town, the new Ricky Gervais romantic comedy of a jerk who can see ghosts, a kind of Sixth Sense, only replace scary bits and whispering with Gervais' signature awkwardness. He was actually at the showing (no pictures, sorry), but he didn't speak. Also there was the director, an editor, as well as Kinnear and Kristen Wiig, who was wearing this great electric blue dress with lacy black stockings. Oh, the movie was mildly good. It's a romantic comedy, has a "feel-good" message.

Detroit Metal City, a story of a country boy moving to the city in the hopes of becoming a "trendy" pop music star. Instead, he finds himself as the lead singer of a death metal band Detroit Metal City. Eh, it was fun and all but I often find with these Japanese films that for all their quirkiness there's an equal amount of lulls and missed jokes. A little tighter editing and this would've been a pretty good film. As it was, eh.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith's latest offering. I freely admit that I was not looking forward to this. I think the last thing I really enjoyed was Clerks, and it was generally downhill from there. I look upon Smith's films as live-action versions of South Park, only with less likeable characters. At the same time, I had no idea who was in it or what it was about, apart from what the title implies. So it's with a big, surprised smile that I find myself liking (and possibly even recommending) Zack and Miri. I blame the cast, which is chock full of talent. I laughed quite a bit and some of the scenes rang quite true, which for a raunchy romantic comedy is saying a lot. I dare say this is Smith's best film, but only because I do not care much for the hyper-articulate characters of his previous works -- here they are quite down to earth and likeable.

Not Quite Hollywood, a documentary on the exploitation films of 1970s Australia. In structured, precise format, director Mark Hartley manages to give all the goods on this little known pocket of B films. Plenty of anecdotes, interviews, stories, trivia, it's quite a ride and given in the spirit of those pioneering directors and actors. Both entertaining and exhausting.

Whew! I do have The Good, The Bad, The Weird lined up for this Saturday. I may also try to catch Chocolate.

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Two Korean films. First, I mistakenly saw Seven Days. I say mistakenly because I do not know why I got it -- I'm not a fan of grisly murder mysteries (aside from perhaps the fantastic Memories of Murder). I guess I figured that because it was so popular it might be worth watching. It actually builds up well enough, but when you start to realize what's going on and who's behind what, well, it simply doesn't meet expectations.

Speaking of expectations, how about that The Good, The Bad, the Werid? The action scenes? Woo-eee, man they are smoking! But what was all that junk in the middle? And by junk I do mean all those pointless plot bits. Seriously, we GET IT -- there's a treasure and everyone wants the map! It would've been nicer if the backstory was more coherent/relevant, but to have all that unnecessary running around was a bit much. And the opium house? What was all that about? Anyway, some great action (the opening 30 minutes or so pretty much blow you away, and the final big showdown is impressive and fun) bogged down slightly by the director's attempts to make the film heavier than it needed to be. Trim that fat and you've got a memorable shoot 'em up.

Time, how does it go? Arrived at work late, coffee, worked, ate fish and chips at Wayne Gretzky's, got tickets to see Judah Friedlander next Tuesday, got my picture taken with a Shoppers Drug Mart witch, worked, a game of backgammon, worked, NHL '09, a couple hours of Go, rode home, had a sandwich, fried up some pot-stickers, mailed a letter to the NDP, got some groceries, found a dead pixel on my new monitor, watched some SNL digital shorts. Seriously, where did the day go?

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I had actually planned to spend a month or two watching (or trying to watch) a movie a day, but of course like most things I think might be fun to try, it never happened. Still, I did make some time on the weekend to watch The Deer Hunter. I liked it. I read that Christopher Walken went on a diet of rice, bananas and water to get as pale as he did. I did find the first act somewhat long to sit through, but then I can be impatient with weddings if I can't take part in the festivities. I suppose you could call The Deer Hunter a war movie, but in three acts it shows the before, the during and the after, and manages to transform the viewer as even we witness the characters transform, hollowed out by the trial of war. I found myself worrying about life and death all over again, that old bonnet of going away, the long goodbye to nowhere and nothing and life is nothing but a temporary illusion and when I go it is gone.

Yes, I have been playing some more Fallout 3, but haven't these past couple days. Well, my gaming has turned to Team Fortress 2 again. It's just exhilarating to be part of a team, to work as one. Conversely, it's incredibly tiring and frustrating to be with a group of aimless fools, each interested only in killing and not the objectives. Such a rabble cannot stand against a force united.

My fridge has stopped again! Wait.. hmm.. yup, it seems dead. I've had problems with it before, but I think it may be kaput now. And guess who recently went grocery shopping?? I've actually thought about not using my fridge anyway, and instead maybe have a cooler with ice or something like. Really, the only thing I like is cold juice and water. I can do without the other stuff, especially since I prefer eating out anyway, fridge or no.

Oh yeah, WHOO GO OBAMA! That is like, wow man, that's super cool. On the other hand, I think it would be funny to have had Sarah Palin in office -- non-stop entertainment, of the shaking-head variety. But nay, things are so much brighter with Obama as President. This is like one of the first positive things I can feel about the US since.. well, for a very long time. Exciting!

Also nice, the weather. Seriously lovely. I mean, yes, global warming and all that, but one can still enjoy the warmth while one can.

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Blast this weather! How is it that it always manages to ruin my complexion, and thus my mood, and hence my mind? Cannot think, cannot feel. Aching, itching. Mornings are still a struggle, unrested, unready.

This morning was more tedious than usual as there was some kind of streetcar stoppage at the corner of Queen and Roncesvalles. Eventually a bus came by to pick us up, but it unfortunately struck (or nearly struck) an old woman crossing the street at Dufferin and King. Yes it was nutty, but I think she was more shaken up than physically injured if indeed there was contact as I didn't witness it directly.

Not really watching much these days. I did see an old French film on the weekend, The Wages of Fear (1953) a black and white thriller. It takes a while to get going but once it does WHOO it's a wild ride. I saw the Criteriion Collection version and wasn't happy with the translation used -- there were times when even I, with my faltering French, could tell that details were being left out, that nuances were missed. I guess however that it's not the dialogue that makes The Wages of Fear the memorable experience it is.

Did you hear about that taxi cab that hit a cyclist, amputating his leg? Cabbie charged with assaulting cyclist who had leg amputated [cbc.ca]. The story makes one squeamish to be sure. I've driven past the mentioned intersection often, as recently as yesterday. Toronto definitely needs a better bicycle infrastructure but I certainly hope that this incident is not indicative of driver attitudes towards cyclists! I'm not sure if I mentioned here before but I really believe that we need designated lanes for cyclists if cars and bikes are to share the roads. Dancing that thin line between the curb and moving traffic is fun and all but it's just not worth it.

Christmas! Seriously, what is up with that. Will nothing stop the flow of time?

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'ello 'ello! Yup, December. Hey, I finished reading The Road, the Cormac McCarthy book. Pretty good! I found it reminded me of I Am Legend for that tension from having a survivalist dialog. It's kind of a far reaching comparison I suppose. Certainly I can compare it with Fallout 3, a very obvious contrast there. I find myself quite enjoying McCarthy's books, and will likely seek out his other work. I must say that I am excited to see how it will translate to the big screen, and should curb my enthusiasm as it is not Coen-directed.

Started watching Summer Heights High, an Australian mockumentary centered around three characters in a high school. The twist is that all three people (one of which is a girl) are played by Chris Lilley and it is down right eerie how good he is at it. Surreal. Oh, I suppose one could compare it to The Office (the UK one) since it also has that authentic documentary feel. You can find some clips on YouTube to get a taste of it.

I've been trying to go to bed earlier, but apparently it does little good in getting me to work at a Christian hour. Is this coffee addiction at work, or malaise? Eh, a little of column A....

Oh right, I sat through Real Genius on Sunday. Huh. Why did I expect more? The plot kind of made me ill. And I couldn't stand watching the main actor -- something about him just bothered the heck out of me. It's the way he LOOKS. Nice to see Jon Gries (of Napolean Dynamite!) in an early role. Yeah, the nerd/physics stuff is nice. I suppose if I had seen this during or just before my university days I'd be more inclined to spout its perceived cleverness and wit, but the older, current me just doesn't feel it.

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Wednesday night I saw Waltz with Bashir at the Carleton with some friends. I really liked the music and sound, which the animation made stand out -- every footstep and breath and bullet all the more audible. The beach memory music in particular I found haunting. Yeah, the first half or so of the movie I felt was excellent, when the memories are still just fragments, broken pieces that don't line up. It's when they start forming a coherent picture does the movie begin to turn into this .. well, lame, boring documentary. I had hoped that the final statement would be more profound or beautiful but alas, I did not find it so. Still, overall I quite enjoyed it.

I've also been playing a bit of Mount and Blade, this neat independent game, an sandboxed action RPG. The bit that brings me back to it is the mounted combat -- there's something very satisfying about riding circles around bandits and shooting arrows at them. I just.. I can't quite explain what it is. Fun. It's just fun.

I'm all in this Cormac McCarthy phase right now, having read 3 of his books thus far (No Country For Old Men, The Road, All The Pretty Horses) and recently obtained 2 more: The Crossing and Blood Meridian. I may quite possibly read all his books, they're that good.

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Dear dear dear.. I've spent many an evening watching movies I've meant to see. Here's the latest batch that I've burned through:

1. Alexander Nevsky. The haircut that endures time and space. An operatic track is used in The Simpsons episode G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)
2. First Blood. Yup, that one, drawling Stallone and all. Why are small towns given such a bad rap?
3. They Live. I think I got this one so that I could experience the source material for Duke Nukem. The bubblegum line was the best part.
4. Gran Torino. I very much enjoyed Eastwood's laying down of slurs.
5. The Hurt Locker. Excellent, one of the best of 2009. The ending's a bit long/forced, but doesn't detract much from the rest of the film.
6. The Outsiders. I would've loved this as a teenager. I'd be a greaser, definitely.
7. Up. Wonderful prelude. My eyes watered.
8. Who Killed The Electric Car? I'd avoided this one but it's quite informative, if a little biased/heavy-handed by the end. Interesting to think that we could be living in an electric-car (not hybrid, mind you) world.
9. Arahan. A Korean martial arts comedy. Loses its focus at times. Promising but doesn't deliver.
10. The Shootist. John Wayne knows how to go out in style.
11. The Endless Summer. Inspires dreams of surfing.
12. There Will Be Blood. Good movie, but hard to watch. Now I know where that milkshake meme comes from.
13. A Frozen Flower. What a brutal history Korea has. The film more or less lost me by the end, but the final song did ease my dissatisfaction.
14. The Chaser. Murder mystery, without the mystery. Lots of suspense, a little gore.
15. Entre Les Murs. I thought it was good, but not Palme d'Or good. I will note that my enjoyment was much hampered by a very poor translation -- it seemed to have been translated into Spanish and then into English.
16. The Apartment. Loved it, absolutely loved it. Why can't dialogue always be this good?
17. District 9. Impressive. I never bought the idea of an alien slum on earth but my doubts were soon forgotten. Sci-fi needs more of these.
18. kuro-obi. Entertaining martial arts film with plenty of authetic karate.
19. The Night of the Hunter. Robert Mitchum at his most frightful. This would've given me nightmares as a child.

Whew! So yeah, a bunch of movies watched, still lots to go. Summer, it would seem, has finally reared its hot and stinky head.

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This year's Nuit Blanche was marred by large crowds and mundane exhibits. Is it my old man syndrome speaking thus? It's how I feel and I am certain that there are some who feel the same as I do. Certainly the size of the throngs cannot be disputed; I believe this year attracted the largest numbers yet. It wasn't all bad, I guess, but my dislike of line-ups was taken to its limit Saturday night.

Sunday I stayed in, having gone to bed near 6 AM and getting out of bed around 4 PM, groggy with a broken Circadian rhythm. I watched the first season of Party Down, an excellent new comedy. I went to bed at a reasonable hour; say, 1 AM. Unfortunately, I woke up feeling awful and was plagued with a malaise I had not felt in ages: a decidely colitis-like sensation, only without the sharp abdominal pain. I plan to retire by 11 so that my body can get some extra rest.

I guess I've watched a few other films since I last wrote, including:

1. Wet Hot American Summer (2001). It has quite the who's-who cast in comedy, and the movie is very funny though its wackiness may put-off some. My personal favourite scenes: when Garofalo's character makes Paul Rudd clean up his mess, the trip to town, anything with the crazed cook, the "new way" training.
2. Vertigo (1958), which you may be surprised to know I've never seen. But golly what a movie! It gives me shudders. The intro sequence sends chills up my back. "... he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession." I don't want to spoil a drop of this delicious, intoxicating brew should you have the pleasure of seeing it for the first time in front of you. Suffice to say, I envy you.
3. North by Northwest (1959), another classic Hitchcock film. My enjoyment of this film differs from Vertigo; I found the former haunting while this latter one was simply entertaining. I really only found the soundtrack to be memorable.
4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Intense from start to end. Hasn't aged a bit. I heard the remake was not as good but I will still seek it out for comparison's sake.
5. Silent Running (1972). I saw this one after it was mentioned to be a source of inspiration for Moon. Slow, with ups and downs but I liked the ending so overall I enjoyed it.
6. Moon (2009). "'Moon' is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr., the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait." -- Roger Ebert. Me, I loved it.
7. The Iron Giant (1999). I can't remember why I wanted to see this film. I mean, I recall wanting to see this film back when it came out. I enjoyed the visuals and the art-style. It's a good kids movie, don't get me wrong. I guess I just wanted to satify a very old itch.
8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Another film I'd meant to see in the theatre but was too forgetful to get around to doing. Too forgetful, or maybe just too hermit-like. I liked it a lot! It's a shame it didn't fare better. A fun, quirky film.
9. The Hangover (2009). Yeah it was funny. I laughed. The best of this movie? Discovering Zach Galifianakis: that dude is hilarious.
10. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). I watched this by accident, meaning to see the original 1930 version. This remake was fairly ho-hum.
11. Role Models (2008). Funny with a flash of heart, as these Rudd/Apatow films are.
12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Also funny, but I've never found Jason Segel to be all that amusing.

I actually saw those last two some time ago but I neglected to mention it at the time.

I said I would go to bed soon but I lied, it would seem. Typing these things up takes time! Well folks, I guess that's it for now. I had also wanted to talk about the new Curb and The Office and that new Jason Schwartzman show, but I tire of my voice. Later!

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Work.. it consumes us, surrounds- no, that's not how I meant to start. I have been pouring myself into work, a mould I am familiar with: staying late, stressing about deadlines, focused in my coding and procrastination. So many lines have passed through my mind and fingers, but to what end they will achieve is yet to be seen. I am not (yet) proud. I am a little worn.

Movies! Lessee...

1. Where The Wild Things Are (2009). I liked it. Not for kids, I'd say, though sure they'll enjoy parts. The look of the film is wonderful; I couldn't imagine it done better.
2. Paranormal Activity (2009). Awesome. Enjoyable. Made me laugh at how good it was. Even now I smile thinking of how masterfully they've managed to tap into fear, to draw it out and run with it. Dude, just go see it.
3. Some Like It Hot (1959). Pretty funny! Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon. I did find that I get uncomfortable watching beautiful women climbing over each other. How very odd.
4. Bullitt (1968). An incredible, jaw-dropping car chase surrounded by a flimsy plot. The car chase could be the best I've seen of all time.
5. Adventureland (2009). Entertaining, with plenty of familiar, talented faces. I do find Jesse Eisenberg to be a little too similar to Michael Cera in, well, just about every way except hair. Martin Starr is filling out the "dishevelled-sarcastic-nerd" role quite nicely.
6. The Queen (2006). A film I'd been meaning to see for a while and finally getting around to. I avoided the hoopla that went on when Princess Di was killed so I learned quite a bit from this film, on top of the insights into the private life of British royalty. I may fail to make it sound interesting but I was surprised to find myself quite liking it.
7. Zombieland (2009). Fun. Some gore. Again with the Michael Cera/Jesse Eisenberg thing. Woody Harrelson seems to have been created for his role.
8. The Graduate (1967). I liked the film, but I'm not sure I understand its impact on American film. Perhaps a second viewing is called for. I did find Ebert's two very different reviews (1, 2) to be quite insightful into what I might be missing. It is pleasant to hear so much Simon and Garfunkel.

What else.. oh, some dude broke into my neighbour's car. I'd always thought of our back alley to be quite safe from such acts. I surely hope this is not a sign, that it's merely a blip to be soon forgotten.

And... I've been feeling low, but that's nothing new, ha. Oh that's right; I had a coldsore and those damnable things always bring me down. Such an ego you have, Mr. Wolf. OH YEAH and I went to the AGO. On a Saturday, no less. But I went in the morning, before the crowds had time to accumulate and choke up the floors and doorways. I quite enjoyed it, the new architecture quite fine to behold, quite fine.

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Indeed, this Hwan is losing the energy to update hwan.com.

I have watched a few films of late, though recalling them is not all that easy.

1. Kick-Ass. I enjoyed the fighting and the daughter/father team, but the rest of the film was mostly unpalatable. The obvious Toronto landmarks mercifully distracted me from some of the more painful bits.
2. Disgrace, 2009. Shakes up everything without closure; some things can't be fixed even when they obviously need to be. Uncomfortable to watch. Malkovich is excellent.
3. Battle in Heaven. Yikes, just yikes. Another film difficult to, ahem, swallow. Leaves a lasting visual impression, even if the plot is otherwise non-existent.
4. Broken Embraces. Well-acted enough but predictable, obvious.
5. Departures. I thought it was rather enjoyable. Quirky. Right up my alley.
6. 3 Extremes, 2005. Not for the faint of heart: bloody gristly crunchy goodness. Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, Chan Wook Park. In truth I only saw two of the three stories.
7. Avatar. Technically impressive, needs to be watched on a big screen. I saw the 3D version and was entertained from start to finish, without a minute of feeling restless, which is a feat in a 5 hour, 24 minute film.
8. Crazy Heart. Really liked it. Is it wrong that Bad Blake reminds me of me?
9. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Wow, just excellent. A role entirely suited to Nicolas Cage's wildman personna. Unpredictable, delightful, powerful.
10. An Education. Good performances from a deep, talented cast. Not a film that's normally up my alley but gains my approval nonetheless.
11. Up in the Air. I really enjoyed this one, lots of nice touches, I was pleasantly surprised.
12. The Brothers Bloom. Seemed to have the ingredients for a great film but comes up short. As such the first half is promising, the second, disappointing.
13. Elegy, 2008. Smart and at times engaging, I eventually lost interest in the characters. Maybe I just don't like Penelope Cruz? I would definitely choose Patricia Clarkson over her, anyday.
14. Fugitive Pieces, 2008. Holocaust films tend to be on the emotionally draining side, but this one manages to work through that, with the characters developing to a natural conclusion. I did find some of the scene transitions confusing.

I haven't much else to talk about, or that I can talk about easily here. I suppose I could rant about my joining the newly-poor, but that's incredibly boring I find. Videogame-wise, I haven't done anything new. On my third run through The Spirit Engine 2, been playing a bit more StarCraft and updated my Steam to play Team Fortress 2. Watching more of The Big Bang Theory. Worked through yet another cold, this one plaguing me for but a day. Oh, I'm currently reading Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of Love, an entertaining and informative book. Seems like I can only stomach female writers if they stick to the facts. Uhm, I've re-introduced milk into my diet? And speaking of stomachs, mine has certainly grown softer and pudgier. Yes, my stomach has, not me.

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2010/08/03 Hwan I won't say that all is well (for I don't believe it to be so), but I am better. Thanks to all for asking!
2010/07/20 QYV Expected range for Creatinine for guys is 60 - 110 umol/L
2010/07/20 llamariffic Hmm, macrocytosis here as well, but to be honest I've had it since before I truly embarked on drinking as a proper hobby. Similarly, stopped drinking entirely, and it didn't go away. Just one of those things, I think.
2010/07/19 girl ack!! It's weird to think that I am now a parental unit. It was nice to see you hwan!
2010/05/21 Hwan I recall trying earplugs well back in my undergrad years, to mixed results. My sleep was troubled by feelings of claustrophobia. I also have a, perhaps unfounded, fear of not hearing the essential alarm in the mornings. However, I may give these another go, thanks.
2010/05/21 llamatron Have you tried sleeping with earplugs? My flat faces out onto a main road, so I've started using the standard foam plugs. It took a few nights to get used to them, but they make a big difference.
2010/05/21 girl The original swedish title: "Men who hate women". I'm not sure if it's the fault of the translation, but I never liked the reporter dude.
2001/03/07 Hwan Damn.. it seems Unweb has since died. http://www.gamegrene.com/node/183
2001/03/07 TY SHARDEL YOU CAN TRADE WITH THE UNIVERSE AND ENABLE SOCIAL NEEDS, OR PERHAPS POST WISH LISTS, HUG THE GLOBE LIKE A BIG OCTOPUS... TY
2010/03/24 Hwan I am amused by the John Irving comparison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Irving#Recurring_themes