Archive for August, 2003

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August 18, 2003

Congrats!

KRIS AND KATRI ARE PREGNANT!

There better be voicemail on my home phone, buddy, or your ass is grass.


August 18, 2003

The Emperor’s New Clothes

I was expecting a little more zaniness, but this movie surprised me in how calm it was in its light-heartedness. There’s something sorrowful in the portrayal by Ian Holm of a man considered a monster. The movie charts an alternate history where Napoleon escaped St. Helena. From there, the story develops to a sweet, endearing conclusion. It’s a good movie, and Ian Holm does a great job.

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August 18, 2003

The Recruit

I rented this movie… kinda of wanted to see it but Pacino sort of keeps me away. This is a good movie. Not excellent, but the plot is nice and simple, though it tries to make it more complicated. The biggest problem is the unevenness of the main character — it’s unclear why exactly he does what he does, nor does he convince me that he’s worth the trouble. But it’s a decent enough rental.

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August 18, 2003

American Splendor

A delightful little film about an underground comic book writer who writes “”American Splendor”", essentially an autobiographical series focused on the the banal and ordinary.

The movie drags a bit in the end, when it tries to end on a happy note, but hey, that’s how it happened, so you can’t really blame Spielberg-sickness on this one.

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August 9, 2003

S.W.A.T.

S.W.A.T. was a crappy TV show. But it had one of the greatest themes ever made, and to its credit, that theme has survived to show up in a movie version, though not to its credit, lacking the bridge (it’s the best damn part!).

I was surprisde to find myself enjoying this film. There are no supercops and there are no crazy film angles and closeups. The movie is an exceptionally tradional action film that tries to keep its tactics by the book. No one makes amazing death-defying stunts, no one is an amazing shot, absolutely no one is superhuman. And on top of that, the plot works.

It’s a fairly simple plot, but all of it ties up fairly nicely. As I was walking back to the parking lot a girl was complaining about the plot. She brought up one of those, “”All they had to do was this,”" sort of arguments. I wanted to just go up to her and smack her on the head and say, “”What are you? An idiot? They explained why they couldn’t do that when a character in the movie said, ‘Well why can’t we just do this?’”" Idiot. It doesn’t help that she carried with her that oh, so annoying Southern California airhead cheerleader tone. You know, nasal, whiny, know-it-ally, and generally peeved at not being picked homecoming queen? Yeah, that one.

This is a decent movie. It’s simple, it gets the plot working more than the cinematography, and it entertains without trying to make an explosion the culmination of the storyline. Just about the only thing I can complain about is that the director didn’t harp on Colin Farrell to keep his brogue hidden in some parts — his accent is uneven and his acting? well, he’s sleepwalking through it. Everyone else gets good grades in this department, even Michelle Rodriguez, who actually looks quite sensual in this film (she never did it for me in her other movies where she plays the exact same character).

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August 8, 2003

Well, I’ve got virtually everything up?

Well, I’ve got virtually everything up enough that I can launch the site recode. There have been some changes to the UI, hopefully for the better. The biggest changes are invisible — I made the entire thing completely object-oriented. Yeah, you really care. ;)


August 8, 2003

I haven’t been writing because I’ve been enjoying life a little too much.

I haven’t been writing because I’ve been enjoying life a little too much.

I got new tires for the car, Kumho Ecsta MX, which prompted me to go on my first Autocross event the first Sunday of the month. Pictures are in the photo gallery.

Along with that, I’ve been busy spending time with my honey. Sorry, but priorities, priorities. ;)


August 8, 2003

Igby Goes Down

Picked it up at 20/20 used for $10. Good movie. Very dark comedy, but with a resolution that puts the film on a poignant, uplifting note.

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August 8, 2003

Johnny English

I delayed on this film till I could pay five bucks at the Arclight using my membership discount. Sunyoung paitently waited (she really wanted to see it, the silly Mr. Bean fan) and after two weeks we drove over to Hollywood and watched it with eight other people.

It… wasn’t bad. Actually, there are some truly funny moments in there. Sunyoung didn’t much like it because Rown Atkinson kept talking (she’s a really big Mr. Bean fan… no, really, she has DVDs). I thought it was all the same. I enjoyed the Aston Martin. That was tops.

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August 8, 2003

Seabiscuit

A feel-good movie that’s well-shot, well-acted, and well-paced. It makes you feel as if movies can be movies again without the need of a single explosion (the one car crash in the movie is off-screen).

I’ve been a fan of Tobey Maguire for quite some time. And I’ve always liked Chris Cooper, though he really caught my attention (and everybody else’s) last year in Adaptation. They do well in this film, and so does Jeff Bridges, though he’s starting to look a lot like Beau, only without the heavy eyebrows.

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