Raimi goes back to Evil Dead 2 roots, only this time Bruce isn’t his whipping boy. Instead, Allison Lohman bears the brunt of his slapstick horror genius. Fun movie, had me cackling, much to Sun’s annoyance (she can’t stand disgusting stuff, so half this film was revolting to her).

Pixar is virtually infallible, with even Cars, while not amazing, still entertaining. Up? Up is amazing. It moves you to tears in the first five minutes, has you laughing for the bulk of the story, and leaves you wistful yet optimistic in the end.

If you can, see it in 3D. If you haven’t seen a 3D movie in the last two to three years, you’re in for a treat.

It’s a wonderful film.

Enjoyed it, but was a let down in the end. It basically derailed in the last half hour, but before that? Fun. Rachel Weisz is adorable. And this is saying something, because I haven’t really ever warmed up to her before her turn in this film.

It’s at least worth a look in the rentals.

Ridiculous movie. Worth seeing the little CGI cameo of Arnold, so go YouTube it or something as the rest is just pure and utter shit.

When the deep cuts start happening, you have only to blame yourselves. When only ten percent of you can muster up and vote during a budget crisis, and of that ten percent, six of you struck down all the propositions except raise freezes, you have effectively voted for deep, deep cuts in all major government-funded services, including fire, police and transportation.

We’re in for it now.

 So here we are, making the mob decide on the budget. Again. Welcome to California, the home of Prop 13.

Proposition 1A: No – This is a decision we should leave to the state government. The mob sucks at accounting.

Proposition 1B: No – By default this is moot if 1A does not pass.

Proposition 1C: Yes –  I don’t like the bit where revenue is portioned by the letter of this proposition, but it does modernize an ineffecient lottery system.

Proposition 1D: Yes – Providing flexibility for government to work the budget should be extended to the entire budget, but I’ll settle for baby steps.

Proposition 1E: Yes – Same reasoning as 1D.

Proposition 1F: Yes - You can’t balance the budget, you ought to step down. Barring that, you don’t get a raise. I have to be honest — a lot of this is also due to their hands being tied by all these propositions that lock down funds, leaving very little room to maneuver. Again, baby steps.

As for the runoffs. I’m voting the same as I did in November, because all those I voted for made it to the runoffs, and I have not changed my mind.

City Attorney: Carmen Trutanich

Board of Trustees LACCD Office 2: Angela Reddock (her runoff challenger is Tina Park, who DID have a website this time… only the entire thing, navigation and all, is in Flash… FLASH!)

Board of Trustees LACCD Office 6: Robert Nakahiro

This movie snuck up on me. I’d always planned on seeing it, but I kept myself as ignorant as I could and I almost missed opening night because of it. Luckily, Sue reminded me about our plans and I got the tickets in time. And once those tickets were purchased, all sorts of gung ho feelings started welling up inside of me. I’d gone home and immediately popped in one of the DVDs from my complete ST:TOS collection, and I was a kid again.

I have always liked the original series best. I enjoyed its campiness, its simple, yet powerful stories about humanity’s struggle to overcome its inner demons as well as the very real outer demons in deep space. And yeah, the girls. Green, blue, yellow. Effusing sexuality or hiding it behind a coldness that requires Jim Kirk to work that much harder at cracking open their shells. Spock and Bones, yammering away at his shoulders, completing a triumvirate that has never been matched by any of the subsequent spinoffs. I just like the original best.

So you can imagine how delighted I was with this movie. It is a complete departure, yet it is completely the same. This is a different Star Trek. This is the same Star Trek.

As always, I cannot claim to be so ardent a fan as to label myself a Trekkie/Trekker, what have you. I am a fan, and I probably know far more about Star Trek than I care to admit. And as a fan, I do have to say this: it’s a movie. It can’t do everything you want it to, it doesn’t have the time. It is good. It is great. It is fantastic. But it’s a movie that situates itself in a large universe; reimagined, perhaps, but still a large universe already populated posessing a deep compendium of galactic knowledg, however tweaked by the reboot. So do not expect a paradigm shift. Do not expect this to be the epic that is Star Trek. It’s a movie and it stands out, but it isn’t standing alone, so don’t let it.

Enjoy it. It’s worth full price. Several times, even, if you enjoyed the ride. And oh, what a rollercoaster ride it is.

Up in Santa Barbara. Winds too strong so didn’t sail. Back on shore enjoying a beer.