Not even death...
Current mood: depressed
Category: Friends

This has been a bad year in a lot of ways.  Losing my best friend Geo Proctor was a shock, but echoes keep coming down the corridors of time.  Another friend of mine, Jeff Slaten, died unexpectedly in May of 2005.  Jeff was several years younger and in decent enough shape and a heart condition he didn't know he had did him in.

More than three years since he died and I got an email from a friend of his who had fallen out of touch asking if I knew how to get in touch with Jeff.  I composed a reply, gave online obit references and then moped around for the rest of the day, as depressed as when Jeff died.

Part of the problem is never quit dealing with Jeff's--or Geo's--deaths.  Our society has worked diligently to scrub out ritual.  I don't believe in the weird concept of "closure" since there really can't be such a thing.  Acceptance is the best possible.  But a hole will exist forever.  Would a Viking funeral with flaming pyre as the ship slips out to sea help?  Maybe, but that wasn't the way I was raised.

Living seems to be dealing with the holes punctured in my life.  Each friend's death adds a new hole but the airship must fly on, leaking a little more perhaps, but still on course.

But yesterday was just a particularly deflating day.

Currently listening : Wish You Were Here By Pink Floyd Release date: 2000-04-25

4:08 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Body of Lies
Current mood: rushed
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Ridley Scott.  Nuff said.

I'm not a diCaprio fan but he carried the movie well and Russell Crowe (yes!) was an amazing foil.  Taut, edge of seat movie, ending satisfying after all that had been developed--solid effort worth seeing.

Currently watching : The Kite Runner Release date: 2008-03-25

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Appaloosa Blindness
Current mood: argumentative
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Yesterday was goof off day.  Yes, it was.  I saw it on the calendar.  A calendar.  Some calendar.  OK, I made it up.  Both movies opened and I was in the theater for the premier showing of Appaloosa.

I hope westerns make a big comeback.  I write westerns under the Karl Lassiter pen name (and do a long-running series under a house name.  I'm not supposed to mention Jake Logan or Slocum, so I won't.)  3:10 to Yuma was a fine movie.  Jesse James was an even better movie.  Appaloosa could have ranked with them but, somehow, missed the target.  The historical accuracy was there, the acting certainly was, the plot was fine--the emotional connection was nonexistent.  Just because characters don't  say much doesn't mean they can't be powerful forces you care about.

I'm not a Renee Zellweger fan and she had a pivotal role in the plot.  Maybe this was the missing piece, but I don't think so.  Jeremy Irons is a great actor and he had the juicy role of the bad guy.  He just didn't seem...bad enough.  Ed Harris is to be commended for giving this a try and I hope he does more westerns in the future (and Viggo Mortensen--oh, yeah, there's a superb actor for action flicks.  Don't think so?  You haven't seen Eastern Promises.)  Not a bad movie, just not what it could have been.

And then there's Blindness.  It might have made a better book than movie, but I didn't read the book.  The movie was, at its heart, nothing but a zombie movie.  People shambling about and using all the usual tropes.  If this is supposed to be a primer for how to be a victim, it succeeded.  Sheeple, not people in this one.  All victims, all whining, all willing to endure any humiliation before going to the slaughter just so "they won't start a war."  It took me a while to realize the best character in this was Maury Chaykin, the guy who played Nero Wolfe on the A&E tv series.  I'm not sure what the message of the movie was or was supposed to be.  All I got from it was that people will endure any degradation, including letting their families be raped and murdered,  rather than fight back.  The ending was not too convincing, either.  Gee, it all got better played fine in a Monty Python movie--not here.

Currently watching : The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Release date: 2008-02-05

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Bottle Shock
Current mood: working
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Caught this one last night.  Pretty scary stuff, being alone in a theater.  A shame, too, since Bottle Shock is a pleasant little movie.  Not great but fun and adequately acted, especially by the inimitable Allan Rickman playing a Brit wine snob who wants to curry favor with the French by arranging a drink-off wine tasting between the decidedly inferior California wines and the vastly superior French ones.  You know how it turns out (or you can guess--this is "based on a true story."  Yeah, well...)

The love story misfired.  The sexy blonde who never wore a bra should have ended up with the chicano wine guy and not the stoner hippy wine guy.  One thing I did like was that, no matter how wretched the people looked in this, they were all wine experts.  They lived, sniffed and cork-scraped the vino.

Plus, Eliza Dushku has a minor role.  Always nice to see her.

Not so much a see it in the theater movie as one to not miss when it hits TV.  There won't be hardly anything cut (except for length, or maybe content since they actually drink wine.)

On aside, I got a kick out of the poor immigrant listening to Un bel di vedremo (about my only favorite classical music).

Currently listening : Puccini: Madama Butterfly Release date: 2001-02-27

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Set the Interocitor for...
Current mood: energetic

Through a chain of unfortunate events, not for me but others, I was invited to speak with Will Shetterly at the Pima County Library on writing sf and other fun stuff.  The talk went well, I got a chance to see Will and his wife Emma Bull for the first time in too many years, as well as Liz Danforth with whom I usually only cross paths at sf conventions.

I flew down on US Airways, perhaps the cheapest (and not in the sense of inexpensive) airline I've come across lately.  Not having a bag to check, I wasn't zinged for that fee.  I refused the $2 can of coke and the $7 shot of wine.  And food?  You gotta be kidding.  I can get real food for what they were charging for a stale bagel or croissant roll stuffed with a razor-thin slice of lunchmeat.  All this is not too onerous since I can avoid it.

On the other hand, the plane to Phoenix (where I had a 2 hr stopover) didn't have air vents.  At all.  Not that the air vents didn't work--there weren't any.  Guess that saved a few bucks on giving passengers oxygen.  The flight to Tucson, though, was a shocker.  Tiny little plane where I banged my head on the ceiling.  Tight squeeze into the cramped seats.  But the steward...he looked like Jeff Morrow from This Island Earth.  I expected Exeter/steward to twist the dials on that ole Interocitor and take us to Metaluna.  And uh, yeah the stewardess (ok, non PC and I don't care) looked like one of the Metaluna Mutants.  It might have been a good idea to not fork over the $2 for a can of coke since it might have been opened using those... mutant claws.

The 20 min flight from Tuscon back to Pheonix took 2x that since we were out on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for traffic to clear.  Got my connection just fine and slid on home, glad to get away from the 95 degree "autumn" cooling in Tucson.

I had a lot of time in transit to work on preparing the 2nd Swords of Raemllyn book, A Yoke of Magic, for the iTunes store.  To Demons Bound is available, as is recently posted "Star Spirit" and other stuff.  To get there from here
www.ZappTek.com/legends and follow the link.  When I get a cover located for the book, it'll be sent off and posted!  Double duty on the trip, iow.

Must work.  The cat is mad at me since I took him to the vet for his annual rabies shot.  He'll be even madder if I decide to go with the teeth cleaning, but I have to scrounge up the money first and wait for him to forget I snared him by the lure of food.

Currently watching : This Island Earth Release date: 1998-04-08

5:00 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Choke
Current mood: awake
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Hooboy, is this weird and strange wonderful.  Trying to detail the plot would never do it justice.  The movie is about a guy who pretends to choke so customers in restaurants can save him--he then fleeces them for money in a short scam so he can keep his mother in a mental hospital.

Anjelica Huston as the mother is fabulous.  Sam Rockwell gets through making you actually care for the guy and his (myriad) problems.  The supporting cast is really good, too.  This one stands out because it is so completely different from the sequel-itis afflicting Hollywood.  Like it, hate it, this isn't a story you've seen before (and I had not read the book, so cannot make a comparison)

Not for everyone but definitely for me.

Currently reading : Choke By Chuck Palahniuk Release date: 2008-08-26

2:46 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

myopic Eagle Eye
Current mood: animated
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I didn't expect anything and the movie Eagle Eye delivered.  I don't know if Shia "Where's the Beef?" LaBoeuf is Spielberg's illegitimate kid or if the Beef-less one had incriminating photos of Spielberg and ET, but he gets starring roles in movies he shouldn't.  Luckily, for this one, it doesn't much matter who the hero is.  Pawns, one and all.  Moved about in the "ticking bomb" mode of movie development, it makes no sense by the time you get to the conclusion, and it really doesn't matter.

Things blow up.  Cars are chased.  Guns are fired.  A popcorn movie in the best sense.

As I mentioned LaBoeuf is not an action hero.  He has to wear a week's growth of scrubby beard to hide the fact he looks like a possum.  He seems slight and hardly up to derring-do (but what do I know?  I think Orlando Bloom looks like a sissy and he gets these roles).  Michelle Monaghan is one of those actresses who has been in other movies, but darned if I can remember what.  She's a bit like yogurt.  There's a hint of flavor there but nothing much else and then it isn't even a memory.  The star and standout of the movie, both in acting and for some great lines, is Billy Bob Thornton.  Laugh out loud funny.

What was also laugh out loud funny was the windup for the movie--someone in the audience let out a loud "awwwwww!" at the precise moment it was most deserved.

This is the kind of movie you never ever think about (why bother?  Forbin Project has already been filmed) but the ending could have been changed into a real switch-up.  If you see it, think about this: what happened to the necklace?  What if the kid plays his trumpet at the birthday party?  And, of course, how stupid this entire conspiracy plot was when there are zillions of easier ways to getting to the desired result?  But you should turn off your brain, munch your popcorn and enjoy the thrill ride.  Really.

Currently watching : Colossus - The Forbin Project Release date: 2004-11-23

2:25 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Nights in Burn Before Rodanthe Reading
Current mood: jedi
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Last night I went to seea sneak preview of Nights in Rondathe, a chick flick starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. I got through almost 30 minutes of it before realizing I'd probably seen all of it. I knew exactly how it was going to end, and the plot was slow and excruciating, In other words, this was a typical romance. So, there was another movie playing in the same theater that looked like a far better bet.

I sneaked in to see Burn Before Reading. This was a real delight. The Coen brothers have done another wonderful, funny, bizarre, indescribable movie. There was no point along the way I was able to figure out exactly what was going to happen next, yet everything they did was perfectly logical. The ending made complete sense in terms of what had gone on and yet getting there was one of the strangest and most wonderful trips I've taken in the cinema in years. This is certainly No Country for Old Men. That was a masterpiece and will stand untouched for years to come. On the other hand Burn Before Reading is a comedy of sorts. I'm not sure exactly how to characterize it and that makes it even more interesting. It's not the typical slapstick, pie in the face, fall down drunk and laugh at fart jokes, movie that usually passes for humor these days. This is one of those that you really should not miss. It's got some subtle humor in it and references to old Brad Pitt movies seem to go by most of the people in the audience. I laughed. (remember that Brad Pitt played death in Meet Joe Black) Brad Pitt is wonderful as the dopey health spa trainer, John Malkovich is completely over the top as a fired CIA agent and it's hard to say who stands out the most because Francis McDormand was good and George Clooney has his typical clueless grifter type role.

This is a great way to spend a couple hours in the theater.

5:08 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Indie, Indie
Current mood: understimulated
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Saw a pretty decent indie movie, Exit Speed, last night.  Filmed outside of Dallas, a Mad Max-esque plot with psycho bikers after the passengers on a Greyhound bu.  Nifty fight sequences, menacing villains, a true Joe Bob Briggs "anybody can be killed at any time" mentality.  Fred Ward and Lea Thompson are the "name" actors but everyone does a pretty decent job.

I liked it and considering it was filmed for 1% of what Righteous Kill was, it is a far superior movie.

Doubt it will get much exposure but if you get the chance, give it a chance.  And if you do, tell me where they got the title.  Please.

Currently watching : The Road Warrior Release date: 1997-03-26

4:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Righteous mediocrity
Current mood: cynical
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Saw Righteous Kill last night.  Stars DeNiro and Pacino.  Brian Dennehy and Carla Guigno are along for the ride.  Alas, it's not much of a ride.  The "twist" in the plot is as subtle as a train smashing into an 18-wheeler loaded with tomatoes.  In case you miss the small giveaways littering the plot, there's a point toward the end where one character who should know flat comes out and says "You didn't write the note."  Which, in context, is everything you need to know whodunnit.  Cop is vigilante killer, you think one is doing it since he's spent the entire movie confessing, but wait!  Could you be wrong about that confession?  Of course you are. But you've already guessed who the killer is far earlier (making his partner a)covering for him or b) the dumbest cop ever.)

Mostly pedestrian work all around.  DeNiro's not bad but Carla Guigno (I last saw her in Sin City) continues to get the roles that Linda Fiorentino used to take (also in pretty awful movies--I'm thinking of Jade).  Very complicated character and not a little bit into kink and probably the only interesting character in the movie.

September is a dead month for the stock market and movies.  Unless you get in for free, as I did, there's no compelling reason to see Righteous Kill.  Even if you can get in for free, consider sneaking over to the Dark Knight showing and see it again (I've done this--seeing Rocker once was enough to burn out 50 neurons a second.  Rather than sit through Rocker a 2nd time I saw Dark Knight a second time and it was still worth it.  Wonderful movie.  Not just a superhero movie, but a real movie.)

Currently watching : Sin City Release date: 2005-08-16

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