Another One? Holy Crap!

In the Abel World we are working outside often.  The front yard is in need of repair, as are the garden beds there.  The back garden bed is getting a fence to keep out the canines, lest the trample.  They’ve already succeeded in ruining and attempt to aerate the soil.  Pack pack pack they go.

The front is getting water and grass seed.  I’ve done intensive raking.  Were the house under our ownership, I would probably nix such attempts and create a waterless landscape about the trees, involving rocks and cacti/shrubs.  It would be very nice.  The front is sporting some beautiful tulips at present, and will soon contain tomato, cucumber, and pepper plants.

The back is the main garden area.  Garden stuff.  We’ll be throwing down some rye grass seed and watering periodically, but not often.  Mowing is about it for intensive work.  I can’t wait until we’re back in Michigan.  The grass grows a bit easier there.

Mediawise, I have been playing Super Mario Galaxy.  Meh.  It’s okay.  There’s a few challenges best described as minigames that are a bit fun, but overall I’m not that excited.  It’s a good story for a Mario game, and it’s nice to see Luigi get some face time, but I’m fairly underwhelmed by the Wii.  Perhaps if we ever get WiiFit as we’ve promised things will change.

Tomorrow is my first WGU test in Health and Fitness, which I will probably rock hard.  I scored quite well on the preassessment.  That was without reading any of the class materials.  Now that I’ve browsed them somewhat, I think I’ll do quite well.  I am still at a loss as to why such a class is necessary, but whatever.  I suppose I could have checked into some sort of appealling, but after my financial aid debacle, I didn’t have the energy.

Don’t know that I’ve mentioned it, but I’m getting an Alphasmart Neo.  All you can do on it is write.  Which I like.  I’ll write more about it another time.

Saw “Monsters Vs. Aliens” last night.  I kept thinking about this image. Which is a little off base, as Dreamworks does make some nice flicks.  I will agree Pixar has the better batting average.  MVA was pretty funny, but not overwhelming.  I think it could have been a lot better, but can’t think of how.

Rogue has been “fixed.”  Not that she was broken.  It requires the dreaded cone, and I’ll take pictures later on.

Just had to let her out.  Dead grass from spray.  I hate spraying and still don’t know why I did it.  I was remined of the Lorax, as I often am when I am outside.  The very ending when the Onceler says something like “And all that was left beneath the sour smelling sky, was my thneed factory, the Lorax, and I.”  It’s pretty much one of the greatest things I’ve ever written and I should probably look it up.  Ah-Ha!:

Now all that was left ‘neath the bad smelling-sky
was my big empty factory…
the Lorax…
and I.

And that’s one of the most beautifully written passages ever.  About the end of oxygen, no less.

 

Wii

Sam and I have borrowed her nephew, Tyler’s, Wii. Budgetary constraints prevent a purchase of the device, so we were excited to borrow it from him. It has three remotes, one nunchuck, and a couple of games. He had a hard time finding the components – apparently his room is akin to a jungle.

Wii’ve (you see what I did there?) had it for about a week and I’ve played a few games. Mario Kart has been rented and we are enjoying it a bit, even though we aren’t using any sort of “wheel” control right now. The joystick is much easier, we’ve discovered.

As far as “gaming” goes, I’m a little underwhelmed. What excites me is Wii Fit which we will purchase when we save our allowances to the proper amount. It sounds like a great bit of fun and exercise for us. It’s very challenging to do any sort of workout without guidance for me – even if I know what I’m doing. And it also means we can keep an eye on the baby while working out.

The online play is pretty tight with Mario Kart – we love that we don’t have to pay extra for some sort of Wii Live service. I enjoy the browser and various channels. I find it ironic that Nintendo made a fuss when the system came out that it was built for gaming and nothing but, as it’s become more of a fitness device for a lot of people. I do think it will be quite fun to multiplay with a large group.

The control scheme is okay. I’ve played the new Zelda on GameCube and on Wii now, and I found it a bit more accessible on GameCube. I’ve yet to really get far in it – no bow and arrow yet – but I’m a little disappointed. We are hoping to get the new Mario, though, which I think will be quite fun.

Mario Kart Wii is fun, I’ll say that. I think the “wheel” concept is okay, but since the wheel offers no resistance when you use it, it’s not as dexterous as I’d like. I also think the “BS” factor is a little high when you’re winning the race. I haven’t had anything as frustrating as the N64 – when I’d be ahead by a substantial margin and still get caught up to by slowpokes. But the lack of customization for the races is annoying. By that I mean deciding items that you can and can’t use. I don’t think Nintendo really stretched themselves on this outing. Which isn’t that big of a deal since people are going to play it anyway.

I’m still a bit more excited to get xBox Live so I can finally play Left 4 Dead with Christofski online.

 

TNTM: Wonder Woman

Just watched the new animated Wonder Woman with Sam, and I think we share the opinion on this one.  This movie is awful.

The animation is smooth, but that’s not too hard with the budget here.  The character designs fail to deliver.  The girls’ faces look weird with these giant lips, Steve Trevor looks like he’s forty, and Hades was this giant opulent fat dude.  I understand the want to develop a new take on a character, but I don’t think it really worked, especially with no explanation of why he looks that way.

The voices fit the characters okay, but the voice acting was poor.  Lots of flat tones throughout without much expression.  Things don’t have too be gee-whiz and yippee all the time, but I want a little more than a monotone.

The worst business is the characterizations – the script.  The first man the Amazons meet in this movie is a chauvanistic ass, there’s really not much likable about him.  I didn’t care for the Amazons either.  Everyone seems to be a stereotype.  Reading into it a little, I see that the writer was trying to put a new spin on stereotypes and use them in a unique way, but it fails.  The dialogue is terrible and unbelieveable, and it’s just awful.

The good bits are the fan service at the very end.  The rest seems like it was written by a 13 year old boy who wasn’t allowed to show any naked girls.  Otherwise, it might have failed even more.

The best part of the DVD is the look at the next movie – Green Lantern – which looks alright.  I like the voice actors.  It looks like there’s some decent GL fan service.  I don’t care for the character designs – they seem too busy.  But Michael Madsen is in it as Killowog, which is pretty damn cool.

Anyway, that’s that.

 

fan service at the end.

 

Planet Karen

There’s a girl named Karen who has a website called Planet Karen.  It is her diary.  The last post and today’s are about the fire.  The fire that destroyed pretty much all her stuff.

It’s on the blogs of many, many webcartoonists which shows you what kind of community webcomics has.  I tried to read through her archive a little, but so many people are obviously on there that it’s slow as can be.

Even so, she could certainly use a donation.  Because it’s a damn fine diary.

 

Percy Jackson: The Motion Picture

Wikipedia has some answers.  This series has great potential for movies, as do most books in this genre.  It’s a no-brainer or studio heads as there is already a solid fanbase.  Teachers and Librarians can also be recruited to have kids see the movie since it will hopefully get them to read, which is a good thing.  I’m looking forward to February 12, 2010.

Wait, February 12, 2010?  That’s less than a year away!  Wow, and with no cast yet.  That seems to me to be a bit of a problem, especially with the effects shots this flick is going to need to really pull itself off.  It may be a young people’s movie, but that’s no reason to skimp.  Chris Columbus (of Sorcerer’s Stone and Home Alone) is at the helm, so I think it will be pulled off fairly well.

However, I wonder how it will do as a movie series.  Hopefully the Lightning Thief will do well enough to spawn a sequel, and hopefully they don’t do a mashup up the first few books.  Formulas in movies usually work pretty well – look at the many, many James Bond movies.  This has a short list of possible films, too, with a beginning and end.  So that’s good.

I’m pretty excited to see it.  That may not come through, but I am.  I enjoy the books, despite their formulaic plots, and love to see print characters come to life.  Here’s to 2010.

 

TNTM: My Name is Bruce

The trailer.

Much to Sam’s dismay I found “My Name is Bruce” on the DVD shelf at Hastings.  Unaware that it existed on DVD already, happiness was mine.  Bruce Campbell is a guilty pleasure of mine and this flick starred Bruce, was produced partly by him, and directed by him.  A triumvirate I felt I would enjoy.  Ted Raimi was also involved with several parts played by him.

Why was this movie made?  Fun.  Obviously a love letter from Bruce to his loyal fans, it involves much of what we expect from him: cheesy one-liners, blood and gore, slapstick humor, and some weird special effects.  Bruce plays himself, but an alternate version.  This Bruce is a drunken jerk, obsessed with himself.  The real Bruce is a pretty down to earth guy who seems to enjoy his place in life.  I sense a bit of frustration in this movie that he still gets stuck with some real clunkers of some movies.  But for all the crap he’s been in, there are a few really decent pictures.

“My Name is Bruce” (MNIB)  accomplishes its mission of providing the loyal fans with a quintessential Bruce movie.  Part of me really enjoyed it.  Another part of me didn’t.  Mainly due to having to watch it with Sam who tries very hard to hide her distaste for bad movies, and partly because I’m somewhat tired of the shtick.  Acting is something I think Bruce is pretty good at.  I’ve seen many of his roles – from the classic “Why are you torturing me like this?” line in Evil Dead to his amazingly solid turn in Bubba Ho-Tep.  It sucks that he isn’t seen as better than B-List.

“MNIB” is almost a coming to terms with that status – more so than his Confessions book.  Despite the plethora of crap he’s been in, Bruce Campbell has an amazingly loyal fanbase.  This is a group of people who will see anything he’s been in.  I should know, I’ve seen “Maniac Cop.”  MNIB is the type of fan service you would never see from Oscar winners and fancy movie stars.  Campbell is someone the nerds of the world really enjoy watching because he’s somewhat one of us.  Vanity makes me think this flick is really his way of saying “You know what, guys?  I’m where I am because of you.  Thanks.”

It’s sounds hackneyed, but really only the true Bruce fans will probably enjoy “MNIB,” but enjoy it they will.  As a Bruce fan, it’s pretty solid stuff.

 

TNTM: Friday the 13th

(Possible spoilage ahead)

Last night I saw Friday the 13th.  Sad, yes, as I didn’t get to see it on Friday the 13th, however such things do little to really worry me.  I had my popcorn, I had my drink, and I had a large woman to my left.  The theatre was crowded.  Attempts was made to find a seat away from others so I could have double armrests, but this seemed to be the date event of Stillwater this weekend.  Movies tend to grab me in so I am unaware of my surroundings, so this didn’t matter much.  Once during a chase I sat back and was very aware of being in a movie theater which was somewhat surreal.  Pictures moving on a wall everyone is staring at seems surreal to me when I step back and watch this.

PREVIEW REVIEW:  The previews weren’t so great.  I had seen most of them with the exception of the new “Watchmen” trailer.  Which didn’t grab me too much as I’d already decided to view this flick.  Other previews mainly involved other horror offerings.  Apropos.  I do love previews.  Half an hour past the start time, the film proper began.

Opening credits are archaic and I don’t really care for them.  They are little more than “Yippee, look, I made a movie” tags for the people involved.  Working hard on a movie is a pretty cool thing, but we don’t always want to sit through them.  F13 has nice jump cut credits around the back story of the film:  Jason’s mother.  Much hoopla and gnashing of teeth no doubt has been made about this.  I liked it.  The original Friday had a pretty slick twist ending going for it, especially for newcomers expecting -knowing- Jason Voorhees as the perpetual villain.  However, I don’t think it would work out for a remake/tribute, which is what this is.  Many folks have said it’s the first 3 Fridays combined and remade, which isn’t very true at all.  It takes elements mainly from the first two movies for the first act, and then borrows from most of the others throughout the rest.  True, there’s a bit more from part 3, but only if you’re really looking.

The opening credits over, we start the movie proper and learn that Jason Voorhees has become a pot farmer.  This extra level to his character really pops.  I’m joking.  (And I have never understood people who think Jason is a complex character with rich portrayals on screen.  If the dude playing him can loom and has crazy eyes, he works.  This guy works).

I enjoyed the first act which all happens before the main title.  The audience in my theater shared a big laugh at this, something some people have derided as “artistic.”  I think it was funny, and maybe the filmmakers meant it that way.  Kind of a “Guess what, f-ers, the move hasn’t even started yet.” Which is fine, since the arguably most gruesome death has occured already.  And Jason doesn’t have his mask yet.

The actual pacing and set up of the movie – with this mini-movie beginning- worked well.  I had a great Friday the 13th buzz going throughout.  There is little messing around.  Jason is given a home in this flick, which is kind of cool, and it adds a dash of Texas Chainsaw Massacre I thought.  We get a little bit of Jason’s mental workings but not too much.  As I said before, he’s really just a ruthless killer.  There’s not  a lot of need to expound on that.

Let me just interject as well that I thought the music and soundtrack throughout worked really well.  There’s not a lot of the “ki ki ki – ma ma ma” business.  It’s a little fresher and works really well.

Other Pros:  The tail ending has a great homage to the original F13.  Just excellent. Jason doesn’t seem to travel at as impossible a speed in this movie, which I liked.  There’s plenty of titillation, much more than My Bloody Valentine.  There are a few very creative bits of suspense.  One or two things are clearly telegraphed, but somethings provide new twists on old standbys (at least for me).

Some Cons:  There’s a lack of really creative kills.  Yes, that’s a shocking thing to say, but its what you expect.  They violate that law of literary suspense:  If you show a woodchipper in the first act, by the end of the show someone must be tossed in.  The dialogue is lacking at certain parts.  Listening closely, I realized part of it is that drunk college kids can and do sound completely idiotic sometimes.  Other times, it seemed to force exposition.  Dependent entirely on your point of view, some of it is extremely on point with the characters speaking, and some of it is ludicrous.  Depends.  I would also love to see a scary movie where the black guy lives.  Quite frankly, this is a cliche that needs to get lost.  I am pretty tired of seeing a black guy in a scary movie and thinking “that guy is screwed.” No Kevin Bacon cameo (I kept hoping).

Mixed:  The movie has a brighter feel.  A lot of action takes place during the day.  This is another point of view item; I thought it made what was going on seem far creepier.  Assumptions are made that during the day, you’ll be safe.  Until the sun goes down, there’s nothing to worry about.  Not so here.  In this new F13 world, you can die anytime, anywhere.  People will certainly not like the daytime kills, however.  It’s easy to understand that opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed it.  Too many people may go in looking for problems, but I thought it was good.  The high production value was nice to see, since that’s something every Friday movie has lacked.  That’s not the end all/be all, however, since Jason takes Manhattan had a pretty good looking production movie, but seemed like a comedic parody of previous Fridays.  This movie is certainly not as gritty as some of the earlier movies which I liked.  Why?  Because I could see what was going on.  And that’s one thing I really liked about this.  The original F13 is dark, not necessarily for mood.  I’m pretty sure its because they couldn’t afford lighting on the budget they were shooting with.  In the first ever F13 you can’t see a thing in many of the scenes.

Friday the 13th is pretty cool, though.  I really had fun watching it and it looked fun to make.  I could certainly expound upon minutia for a long time, but there’s blue coins that need collecting.

 

Coraline

I saw Coraline this weekend (in 3D) and had an excellent time.  I’ve said it before, but I love going to the movie theater.  Sitting in the dark with my popcorn and getting into a movie is a great experience.  The Dark Knight was probably the last film I saw that I really was on the edge of my seat for, and it was definitely worth it.

Coraline is also worth it, especially in 3d.  Selick’s company Laika does amazing stop-motion.  This is a form that has fallen by the wayside, which is far too disappointing to be true and I’m glad we’ve still had the occasional puppets crop up (such as Corpse Bride a few years ago).  The visuals are bright and vibrant, unless they are creepy and dark.  The 3d has an occasional “in your face” moment, but mostly serves to deepen the frame.  Instead of poking you, it steps back so you look farther into the screen.  It adds a dimension making things akin to a movie theater.

There’s much talk about the differences between the book and that’s generally what happens.  Things are different in the movie, of course.  There’s an extra character and the message is a little more pronounced.  That’s okay with me.  Books for young folk are generally written in a way so that a person can keep reading it as they grow older and learn new things from it.  Movies (despite the advent of home video and DVD) are meant to be a one-time experience.  They are an extension of live entertainment, despite losing some of the spontaneity.  So the director needs that message to get across, especially with a kids’ movie.

Adults don’t just have “adult” movies.  They have science fiction, and action, and romance, and comedy.  Kids have “kids’ movies.”  There may be genres within, but for the most part an animated movie is seen as an animated movie.  There’s not sub-genre.  With genres, directors can be more picky about messages and themes because an adult will sometimes see a movie more than once in a theater and give it repeat viewings.  Kids will pay attention to whatever kids movie they go see because their parent generally picks it.

And many parents only take their kids a few times in a few months.  So kids’ movies have to get the message clear.  Coraline does it quite well without being preachy and syrupy.

Another thought is that with a book, a parent can read with the child and after a chapter they can discuss what is going on.  This gives the child a chance to process what has been read and the parent can help them along with that.  With a movie, you can’t discuss it until its over.  So you’ve got to deliver that theme so they remember it.  They can’t go back and re-read what they missed.

There are some folks who really didn’t enjoy the changes and others who didn’t really mind.  I think the most important people are the kids. I think the Coraline in the book and the Coraline in the movie are certainly different people.  The book Coraline is a bit quieter and more thoughtful, more mature than most ten year olds.  Coraline of the movie is far more similar to kids I have met.  She can be obnoxious and she’s feisty.  And she’s still brave, even when circumstances are pretty darn scary.  They share this trait, and its a very important trait to have.

I enjoyed this movie.  It’s been a long time since I first saw the trailer for it – way back when I saw Beowulf (don’t get me started!).  And I’m happy that it doesn’t disappoint.  Highly recommend for anyone of any age.

 

TNTM: Doctor Who

Lately (as I have mentioned) Sam and I have been watching Doctor Who.  The new ones, starting in 2005.  It has been in the back of my mind since the reboot began that it would be a show I would enjoy.  Living in areas that are cable-less prevented me from doing such and it has been a long while since I have thought on it.  A couple friend mentioned that we would enjoy it a few weeks back and so we DVRed it a few weeks back and we really do enjoy it.

The sad business is that it is close to the end of the season on both Sci-Fi and BBC America.  Luckily, our friends own the DVDs so we can get up to speed.  It also helps that Sci-Fi seems to run marathons on the weekends often.  I wish we could count on the three channels that run it (BBCAM, SciFi, and PBS) to be showing different seasons, but that luck is not there.  DVDs will do us.

We finished the first season the other night which stars Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor.  I enjoyed his turn at the part quite a bit, but I like David Tennant a bit more.  Part of the reason is that the newer episodes I have seen are better written – my opinion, yes, but they are.  This is probably due to knowledge of longevity.  When the first season started, I don’t believe they knew they would go past it.  Popularity is a fickle thing.  However, they did set themselves up quite well to do more seasons and I don’t know if my theory really holds true.

Still, Doctor Who!  It is not hard to believe that I haven’t gotten involved as there was nowhere for me to view the old programs while I was growing up.  I will be watching some of the old shows with friends, just to see what they are like, so that will be very interesting.  I greatly enjoy the reboot.  I like that they’ve basically made it continuous with the old show, at least in theory, so they can reference what they wish.

The writing is quite good and it is a serious show while not taking itself too seriously.  The writers are fine with waving away continuity errors with a little “It’s a show about time travel” or giving the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver an ability we didn’t previously know about.  I understand in past series it was a bit of a deus ex machina, but whatever.  It’s playful.

They’ve certainly woven an excellent story throughout this show’s seasons.  With David Tennant ending his time and the eleventh doctor coming up, I wonder how things will go.  I understand they are changing writers or producers or something as well, so it really is a crapshoot.

Something else that also interests me is that The Doctor will soon be on his eleventh generation.  It has been explained in previous episodes that he only gets 12, so in a few years perhaps we will see the end of this Doctor.  How will that happen, I wonder?  It would be interesting if they ended the series and did a full reboot, probably with a lady doctor this time to shake things up a bit.  Who knows?

What I find interesting as well is how many people haven’t seen the show, but how ingrained it really is in everything.  If you do a Google search for “first doctor” through “tenth Doctor” you get Doctor Who wikipedia entries.  I suppose that’s the only time you would use those phrases, but it’s still quite interesting.

 

Musical Thoughts & Items of a Writerly Nature

Here’s a neat video.  The audio is kind of terrible, but oh well.  I first heard this tune on a “best of” show for Prairie Home Companion.  So there’s that.  Just a neat little tune.

My friend Lauren, photographer extraordinaire (I have about seven friends I can describe as such) posted a playlist to Facebook last night.  She failed to post a libretto, so I’ll have to invent my own narrative to weave the music together.  So far, it’s pretty fair.  I have a rough time getting into a lot of Indie music because a lot of it seems whiny.  Yeah, I said that.  More importantly (to me) a lot of the people sound like they are not having a good time.

Why are you singing then?

I think I’ve mentioned before that it’s a bit harder for me to find new music since leaving college, anyway.  There’s not that eclectic a mix to pull from in my various areas of living.  Since school I seemed to have moved into smaller and smaller local circles of people capable of delivering the tunage.  This is not to say that I haven’t found some sweet bands the past four years, but not as many as I added to the stable in college.  I just don’t have the time.  Finding new music is exhuasting, especially with all the pictures of funny cats I still haven’t seen.

If ever I find the time, I will work on my libretto/playlist idea.  Perhaps you remember, it was long ago I discussed this type of thing.  An “Moulin Rouge” inspired tale complete with playlist and listening breaks.  Whence shall such an event occur?  I don’t know.

I have created a new blog!  Yes, but not like this blog.  The world has enough of my unique mashup on pop culture with drawings sometimes.  It is a blog about Space Pirates.  Yes, this idea I have been kicking around will see fruition on the web.  As long as it stays fun.  The concept is to write it offline and then publish roughs online.  It could very well be edited before your eyes.  You may read lines one day only to have them wink out of existence the next!  Madness ensues and anything can happen.  Oh yes.  But there is more to be seen on that particular site.

Other Workings This Week:  DEAR Time with Issac Asimov and Neil Gaiman (hero!).  Hopeful posting of a television script, but there is no promise on that.  I am also working on another blog but I don’t know about that whole thing.  It is a secret affair and I only put it here to wet your whistle.

I am thinking on the editing of Addiction once more.  Here is a tale that starts out strong but then fails toward the end to keep up the pace.  I will perhaps post another story from my college days that has never seen the inside of a publishing house.  Same deal.  I get very into finishing stories and then they end up very rushed at the end.  And that’s the truth of the matter.