"Thank you, Monkey Woman..."

Just replayTV'd the premiere episode of WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO? Pretty frickin fried. Up for immortalization in his or her own Dark Horse comic, we've got a toymaker, a bodyguard, an ex-exotic dancer, a raw-foodist(?), and of course, a comic shop comics nerd. In the first episode, the team-up of 12 finalists is infiltrated by a spy! And after dealing with the traitor in their midst, they must demonstrate their clandestine quick-change abilities in public (to superhero creator Stan Lee's satisfaction)!

Next episode - overcome and/or endure a pack of attack dogs! Sure to be a guilty pleasure for anyone who digs superhero anything.

For some more SciFi-DarkHorse crossover action, check out THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD, the animated surreal action-comedy adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic book creation!


When the world needs defending from the secret forces of evil, whether they be demon-possessed hummels, minions of C'thullu, lycanthropic librarians, re-animated Nazis, or any other baddies from the Tim Thomerson/Full Moon video catalogue, you call on President Abraham Lincoln's most trusted and accomplished special agent - Screw-On Head!

The entire pilot is available online at SciFi.com and should be playing a few more times on the SciFi channel in the coming weeks. The graphic and illustration style is totally faithful to the original Mignola goodness, with some poppin' Colossal Pictures-looking animation applied to it. Chock full of the obscure historical occult, steampunk tech engineering, extraterrestrial encountering, and old country folk talesy kitbashed storytelling that Mignola is so damn god at spinning, with class 1000 absurdity and brilliant comic phrasing and timing.

Thanks to Jeff for reminding me this brilliance was hittin SciFi.

Excelsior!

Keep on keepin on~

in the air tonight...

I can feel it coming in the air tonight... oh lord
I've been waiting for this moment, all my life... oh lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight... oh lord, oh lord

Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand.
I've seen your face before, my friend,
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did,
I saw it with my own two eyes...
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight... oh lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life... oh lord
I can feel it in the air tonight... oh lord, oh lord
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life... oh lord, oh lord

Well I remember, I remember don't worry
How could I ever forget,
it's the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up,
no you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord...
I've been looking forward to this flick since a serendipitous convergence of targeted marketing caught me in its crosshairs back around Christmas (I'll try to explain in a next blog soon).

I've heard an edit of the cover of "In The Air Tonight" in the TV ads and hafta say I'm not loving the whiny rock of it, bleah. I wanna believe it was forced on Michael Mann by some boardroom music-film industry synergy. I much prefer Stewie's version, from when he's sucked into the television set by the poltergeists. Much truer to the original.

Keep on keepin on~

Neither rain nor snow nor super villain...

Meanwhile...


Frack. I'm gonna hafta start writing real letters so that I have something to send with these Justice Leaguer stamps!

Okay, okay. What I really mean is I'm gonna hafta start printing out emails and putting them in envelopes and dropping them into mailboxes... "Writing real letters," heh.

Thanks to JAJenn for the, "Hey, look at this!"

Keep on keepin on~

LOOK BOTH WAYS@the Brattle tonight

Way short notice, but maybe some Boston local w no Monday night plans will blink into this page in the next hour or so...?


Aussie indie flick LOOK BOTH WAYS is playing it's last show in its stint at the Brattle this evening at 7.30. Check it out if you can! It's a beautiful little film. I'd missed it at the Boston Independent Film Festival due to scheduling conflicts and thank the Brattle I got to make up for it this weekend. =) I saw it Sunday afternoon with maybe a dozen other patrons. I know it's not great for the theater itself, but I hafta admit, I do enjoy catching some movies in near-empty rooms there.

It points up all my inappropriate laughter.

Heh.

And lots of opportunities for that in this flick, which grows out of the intersection of a sweetly, almost inappropriately, rambling painter who happens to witness a man vs. locomotive fight (the man loses) on her way home from her father's funeral, and a thoughtful and talented photojournalist, at the scene of the accident, on assignment for the local newspaper just hours after being diagnosed with cancer. The jokes just write themselves, don't they?

Okay, they don't, really, but against the background of this conjunction of morbid situations, the way these two personalities trip into each others lives is kind of sweet, maybe even a bit magical, and creates moments for laughs, both dark and bright.

Mostly dark. =)

From time to time the audience is given peeks into these characters' heads, seeing what each is imagining, and each in their own "native" artistic language. The painter, Meryl, sees deadly alternate realities, of random assaults, terrible accidents, and shark attacks, in painted animated visions. The photographer, Nick, sees death on the move everywhere, but for him, it's through the camera's lens, from wide-angled natural disasters to the macro warning signs of toxic materials and radiation to the microscopic single-mindedness of cancer cells. Wait til you see where their imaginations go when the prospect of sex is raised. Good times! =)

I was surprised when the picture became more of a multiplayer story, one of those that follows several threads of plot and character touched or triggered by a person, event, or series of events. In this case, spiderwebbing out from the death of the man on the railroad tracks. Not quite MASSIVELY multiplayer, like CRASH, more... ensemble, like STATION AGENT.

I won't go into the details of the other threads, but will say they all lead to very thoughtful, quirky, entertaining, and crossover-powerful places. The movie springs out of these people's being confronted with death, but in the telling it's about how they live and want to live.

Also, Meryl becomes pretty adorable. That don't hurt none.

Keep on keepin on~

a fabulous day at the beach!

Although it might not look like it to the untrained eye, THIS...



...is a really good day for volleyball at the beach! I'd mustered a party of eight with a couple of maybes to show this morning for some doubles at Nahant. Alas, half that crew never showed. Keri got in touch to let me know that she wasn't in shape to play today. I'm guessing the rest were scared off by the beautiful weather. Foo. Really too bad, cuz days like this turn out to be grand for volleyball. The wind isn't harsh, if it's blowing at all. The beach is quiet and parking is not a problem... and FREE! (at least today =) No sun to burn the eyeballs or the skin. A fine day for volleyball.

O well, half of eight still leaves us with doubles =)

Yoon, Kurt, Rowan, and I, along with Kurt's son Alex, got in a good three and a half hours of doubles—finishing up with the help of special guest star, Steve—before the clouds finally gave it up and the rain finally started dropping. Actually, we played the last two games in the rain, and it turned out to be a fine way to finish the day, as high tide had happened at about 10am and by 3pm the water was very far away and probably not all that warm.

The rain *was* a bit rough on our stuff. I've got my volleyball net system airing/drying out by the front door, and just got done with a load of laundry that was probably one third sand and rain water by weight when it went in. After laundering and changing into comfy clothes, sad to say, I'm WAY unmotivated to catch up w the Zombie March going on in Boston tonight. I was not at all ready to re-animate myself, but was thinking of following along from downtown into Cambridge and snapping some photos, and probably-maybe running into people like Jeff or Russ or maybe some familiar Brattleheads. Maybe stand alongside the route and hand out some cups of refreshing brain juice for the dead-tired shamblers. Brattleheads cuz Zombie Pride leads into the second night of the Brattle's Zombie inFESTation.

I went and caught Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE last night with Rowan (what a trooper!) at the Brattle after catching CLERKS 2 together with Joe. A helluva a movie night, I gotta say! Big on human-animal relations, with C2 showing (or at least, describing =) not-your-typical example of ass-to-mouth, and ZOMBIE featuring a pretty impressive and outrageous encounter between zombie and shark (and topless scuba diver)! Just like on the Discovery Channel!

That's right, I said "not-your-typical" ass-to-mouth... As opposed to your typical. You've really gotta see the movie to understand, and hopefully before anyone ruins it for you. =)

I DO think the C2 trailers and ads give away a little bit much. If you haven't seen CLERKS 2 yet, I strongly recommend you not look for trailers online and tivo/ffwd past any ads during your favorite shows.

In general, I really do despise the way trailers give up the goods these days. Bleah.

I'd like to rally and put together a full-on CLERKS 2 review, but I'm just not feeling it now, and probably can't get into it without dropping a sorta-spoiler here and there. Bottom line - if you've enjoyed your previous visits to Kevin Smith's Askewniverse, you will LOVE this movie =) Sure, you've gotta *know* the movie will be chock full of easy, dirty, offensive, crass, politically incorrect laughs, set up by performances that are NOT gonna make ANYone's Oscar list, and perhaps cares more about STAR WARS than you ever will, but, y'know, I think you might be surprised by its big old heart. It's a damn good buddy picture.

Don't you WANT to see the movie that prompted Joel Siegel to abort a press screening 40 minutes in, announcing to his movie critic colleagues as he leaves his seat - "Time to go!'' and "This is the first movie I've walked out of in 30 fucking years!''

THAT's gotta be the best review for any movie I've heard in years!

Rosario Dawson doesn't hurt any, either. =)

And Jay gettin his SILENCE on to that Q. Lazarus song... frickin GENIUS! =)

Alas, dunno WHEN I'll hunker down and write something like a real review... I've had one for SUPERMAN RETURNS percolating for weeks as a saved draft here...

The short version: go see it! It mucks a bit with the Superman mythology, but plugs into and plays with the earlier Christopher Reeve flicks in some pretty interesting and satisfying ways. A great jump-start of a next series.

Wishful thinking: Routh's Kent and Bale's Wayne team up in a crossover sequel in six years or so, scripted by Kevin Smith and Frank Miller. =)

Keep on keepin on~

"Bubbles in your bathtub..."

THE VADER SESSIONS - check it out! Thanks to AKJAK's Steven Frailey for the brilliance and Jessie for the link! =)

Keep on keepin on~

That's My Bush!

Thanks to Cammy for the link. =)

Keep on keepin on~

ran into Dan after PUSHOVER...

I was heading home from catching PUSHOVER at the Brattle last night when I ran into Dan. I saw him a few seconds before he saw me, and it was just the shape of his head, turned away from me, maybe together with his walk, that I recognized. In the seconds between my seeing him and his seeing me I realized that it was just about time for us to crossover again. We do this every year or so. Uncanny.

Got me thinking... I'm probably just about due to run into Neal again...

Dammit, why can't I be a human being and keep in touch with people? Bleah.

Dan's great. He's thoughtful, genuine, ready to tackle or talk about anything, seriously goofy. He's always remembering the best and most positive things about people. Or at least, that's all he ever repeats out loud, heh. But then, with me, he's got material that goes all the way back to... 1987? Wack. Yeah, we're nerd camp vets.

He was with a small posse, post food and drinks, I'd guess, and meandering his way from Harvard Square to his friend Ray's car to get home. We hit each other's highlights... Work's decent for both of us. What's "rails on rudy?" He still hasn't figured out what he really wants to do. Yeah, I'm still playing volleyball. No, clients aren't really asking for animation, but we're doing a lot of work in Flash. Apparently he never got the link to my Santa this past year, bleah. We just had enough walking time to get to the part where we talk about our fantasy collaboration - an animated short or series, good story, music, kitbashed styles and genres...

Maybe when one of us wins the lottery.

PUSHOVER was great fun. Nothing very sophisticated or daring visually, but a nice dip into noir and simple fun with hardboiled dialogue and scenarios, a la "Money isn't dirty... only people..."

Kim Novak (filed under Hitchcock's VERTIGO) plays the femme fatale, a thief's kept gal, who seduces undercover detective Fred MacMurray (of MY THREE SONS and Disney films =) into using his advantageous position to seize the dough from her fugitive beau's latest heist and run away together. Simple, no? What could go wrong? Well, that's sorta the point, innit? =)

There's a great second plot running throughout involving MacMurray's partner, Rick, a stand-up guy who's apparently had hard luck with the ladies and still has his heart set on settling down with a decent girl.

They work the stakeout on Kim's apartment together and everytime he's at the window w the binoculars and supposed to be observing Kim, his gaze wanders next door, to the home of spunky hard-working nurse Stewart. Over time he finds himself following her comings and goings, worrying about her when she doesn't arrive home at the usual hour.

Of course, they eventually have a run-in in the lobby of the apartment building. The cop is waiting for the elevator and notices the nurse being harrassed by some fellow, apparently her date for the evening. She politely and firmly calls it a night, but the guy thinks he can make it last if he grabs her purse and plays "why-don't-you-make-me?" with it. Enter our detective, who tells the guy to back off with the proper hardnosed "the lady said she's not interested" language. The masher won't back down until the cop gives him a good arm twist and a shove toward the front doors.

Needless to say, nurse Stewart is impressed. The two make a little conversation at the elevator, with her eyes dancing just a little at this great big hunk of a man, and him giving gruff little replies. She throws in a few choice words about the trouble jerks like the masher can cause her. At that, the cop asks her the crowd-pleasing, "Wouldn't it just be simpler to just avoid his type in the first place?"

Heh.

Frack. I wish I remembered more of the dialogue. It was just such a perfect overcompensating overprotective turn of a phrase in that exchange, and a scene closer.

I think the Brattle blurb mentions its owing its plot to DOUBLE INDEMNITY (w Barbra Stanwyck and MacMurray), but falls short of its seething greatness. Still, I'm a sucker for this kind of film. I saw that the Brattle's "Rare Film Noir" Tuesdays (last night was the first in the series) got a write-up in the Phoenix. It was great seeing the theater full for a 7.30 show on a Tuesday. And when I was leaving, it looked like a bit more than half the room was planning on staying for the double feature. Alas, I was just too beat to last. Maybe next week. I usedta hit the Monday night noirs at the Brattle in pretty regular streaks. I'm hoping to hit at least one of the rarities every Tuesday coming up through August.

Something to do.

Keep on keepin on~

Let's help save the Voting Rights Act

Copy/pasted from MoveOn.org.

--------------------------

I just found out that a group of Republicans in the Senate are trying to derail the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act - a vital law that protects voting rights for minority citizens. They managed to hold it back for over a month in the House, and now it could be delayed even longer in the Senate. In just a few weeks, it could get bumped off the calandar all together.

The NAACP is sending 2000 volunteers to Washington next week to push the Senate not to let the VRA expire. MoveOn.org has launched a petition (which I just signed) to support the effort. If you sign now, they'll give your name and comments to NAACP volunteers to hand deliver to your Senators. That will make sure we're heard, but also make it clear to every Senator that those NAACP volunteers are supported by thousands of Americans of all stripes from accross the country.

You can sign here: http://www.political.moveon.org/votingrights

Thanks!

--------------------------

Keep on keepin on~

BRICK & CANDY @the Brattle

Anyone up for some teen-y noir and suspense tonight at the Brattle? I'm definitely hittin' CANDY@10pm and *may* be good for BRICK@7.45.

Both also play tomorrow (Wednesday) night. Check 'em out!

BRICK. Indie supercoolness in a hardboiled noir set in a suburban SoCal high school. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL meets STRANGERS WITH CANDY, and then beats STRANGERS for info on the whereabouts of VERONICA MARS... or something...

HARD CANDY. The potential downside of sexual predation on myspace.com. Starring Kitty Pryde, of the X-Men!

=)

Keep on keepin on~

last night of silent cool and monster crazy at the Brattle...

I saw both of these over the weekend. Check out the Brattle blurbs and the articles linked off of them and decide if you'd dig them. I did, each in its own genre, context, and mind-altering way...

PANDORA'S BOX is a wonderful and sad silent film. Lulu is a beautiful young woman who gets by in her Berlin ingenue life thanks to the kindness of not-so-strangers. She will sometimes share such kindness with her sketchy friends, and try to help them with their dreams/schemes. As a result, some consider her reputation to be questionable, but her apparent innocence and naivete continue to disarm man after man. Louise Brooks as Lulu is bright and shiny and beautiful. Perfect for portraying a woman who men see as their salvation or their doom, but either way, find irresistible. And she, she is willful at times, but likes who she likes and stands by those she calls friends. Unfortunately, she cannot choose who desires her and their character. Naturally, bad things happen. It *is* called PANDORA'S BOX, after all.

THE GREAT YOKAI WAR is pretty frickin fried. If you've seen any of writer/director Takashi Miike's other work (ICHI THE KILLER, AUDITION, GOZU, IZO, HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS) you'll understand what I mean. If you've enjoyed his stuff, you should definitely check this out. On the scale of sensible narrative, it's probably about better than average for Miike. If you're not familiar w his work, but aren't a stickler for umm... reality... or... consistent narrative... or... logic..., heh, check it out. =)

Tadashi, A young city boy sent to live in the country w his grandpa, is chosen to be a village's hero, the Kirin Rider, at a local festival. The festival's story claims that the hero must trek into the mountain of the Goblin to recover his enchanted sword to do battle with evil and protect the spirits. His grandpa seems to believe the story, and as his days in the country pass, Tadashi stumbles into situations which point to the festival story being more than just a fairy tale. When he is finally drawn up to the Goblin mountain, he encounters members of the fabled Yokai - creatures, spirits, and sprites, who rule and govern little bits of nature. Their behavior scares Tadashi, but these Yokai seem to be afraid of something, or someone, else. Tadashi must recover his sword and find out who is terrorizing the Yokai.

I forget if it's in the Brattle blurb or some other review, but I think the phrase "live-action Miyazaki" is used to describe it somewhere. That's pretty fair at times. I imagine that for Japanese audiences, the creatures in the film must be recognizable from legends and folk tales. It's too bad the U.S. isn't old enough to have created a rich and colorful mythology to explain the world, pre-technology, pre-Western philosophy, y'know? On average, everything and everyone here is too new to be able to create an experience like this for an American audience.

Trippy stuff.

Keep on keepin on~

p.s. If you get yourself lookin at the calendar, look ahead to BRICK and HARD CANDY tomorrow and Wed, and check out the weekends for midnight shows.

p.p.s. Larry hit me back w an email pointing to Superman as an American-made legend or myth. Of course, I can't argue with that. But y'know, where are the unseen creatures who make the wind blow, or hold the sun up in the sky, or prick you with pins when your arm falls asleep? O well.

silent beauty...

PANDORA'S BOX plays one more night at the Brattle...




As does Miike's wacked out Japanese folk spirit monster madness, THE GREAT YOKAI WAR! If you're familiar with and enjoy his work thus far (AUDITION, ICHI THE KILLER, the sisters' tale, "Box," from THREE... EXTREMES) you'll dig this. If you don't know Miike's work so well, but aren't a stickler for narrative... or reality... or... ummm... logic, check out this fried quirky cute, in moments, "live-action Miyazaki," fun!

PIRATES 2 on Friday w a vball-work people crossover, WAR on Saturday w Paris Jen, and BOX tonight on my own. That's what kept me away from STRANGERS WITH CANDY and A SCANNER DARKLY this weekend... Good to have a couple Good Ones on deck, right? Y'know, right after I hit TOKYO DRIFT and GARFIELD 2.

Keep on keepin on~

watch VENTURE BROTHERS!

I watched "Hate Floats" earlier this evening with Paris Jen. God damn these guys are GOOD! Even if the episode was crap, literally, poo, VENTURE BROTHERS would still get huge points for the title alone!

Of course, it's *not* crap. It's frickin genius! And even if they just showed static for 23 minutes, DAMN! but the music and voices (and dialogue) is so frickin sharp, so perfectly pitched for old school Johnny Quest, but also dialed in for irony, humor, an instant science hero mythology, and music, comic book, and cartoon nerd-dom...

Ummm... Not that I'm, like totally into that stuff... or anything...

=)

If you've got Cartoon Network and you're not watching this show, you are a dumdum.

Just, please, watch this!

Quick set-up: Doctor Venture's arch-nemesis, The Monarch (named after the butterfly =), has called his henchmen back into active duty. Watch as henchies #24 and #21 leave their mild-mannered lives and suit up once again...

...for MASKED MAYHEM!


Keep on keepin on~

p.s. Other Adult Swim goodness... Pee-Wee's back on July 10. Don't know if they're still replaying it, but keep an eye out for the KORGOTH pilot (haven't seen any others yet). Also, I do believe the V. BROTHERS season 1 is now available on DVD. Give it a week or two and maybe I can lend them to you. =)

UPDATE November 2. GooTube cleaned house recently and the link I had up to the "Hate Floats" clip died. I went and found a newer post that's still up and running. Check it out!

a day at the beach...

Saw another net up at Nahant today. Not tip-top of the line, but the crew that set it up seemed to be keen on it...



The view from the line at Wendy's...


Kinda sad, no?
Keep on keepin on~

DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Just saw it tonight and very much enjoyed the whole thing. When I think about it, the only thing that's almost a criticism is that its OVERLY designed. The plot is, like, EIGHT plots all interweaved, y'know? And almost EVERY little thing is significant. Which really means that there are a lot of layers, set-ups, and connections, and you can get a LOT out of it if you're paying attention. Or, you can just sorta sit back and enjoy the action and humor.

Gotta love zombie monkeys!

Maybe that's just what happens when you conscientiously create and shoot a part two and a part three KNOWING that they go together, y'know? Like BACK TO THE FUTURE 2 & 3 and MATRIX RELOADED and REVOLUTIONS...

Like THE MATRIX's sequels, this doesn't beat the original. The original was just such a unique surprise, and raised the bar for all movies based on amusement park rides. The sequels could really only offer more of the same material, with some new characters and developing back and forward story. The one thing I felt they let slide compared to the original was the skillful and artful combat. CHEST went more for melee and larger scale physical comedy, successfully, but man, I really appreciated the spectrum and quality of the action in PIRATES 1. The sword/fencing duel between the prettyboys in the barn/workshop, w the seesaw and the rafters—that was HK action worthy, or at least modern French swashbuckler good. And when the action hits the open sea, they deliver with some well done RED OCTOBER captain vs. captain strategery and trickery. In PIRATES 2 there's certainly enough action, but the longer scenes are more comedic set pieces than battles, and any real combat carries on just long enough to move on to the next eight interweaved plot points. Not a bad thing. It's just me missing stuff from the first.

DAMN if Johnny Depp doesn't have the most uncanny timing. Perfect. Has he done straight comedy (and not "just" eccentric character) in any films?

I really like how there's "evil" in Davey Jones, but the REALLY sinister bastard is the East India Company toolbox sitting in his commandeered parlor back at Port Royal or wherever.

The ending is a very nice set-up for the sequel. Movie jerk that I am, I hafta say that I just KNEW it was gonna be Geoffrey Rush showing up to save Jack Sparrow. And I insisted on hanging out for the extra little post-credits bit that just had to be there. Movie jerk again, I called it, altho I originally figured it would be a little throwaway treat in the next film.

I'm kind of amazed at the very talented star power the PIRATES franchise is drawing. Stellan Saarsgard? Altho, he's sort of proved himself to be a moviemaking slut in some of his past choices of roles, heh. I heard that Keith Richards is signed up to appear in PIRATES 3... Could that be true? Jack Sparrow's father, perhaps? I mean, what better role model for the loony mascara'd pirate, right?

Allright, it's frickin 1.45am. I should really make myself sleep so that I can get up to get to the beach.

Keep on keepin on~

July 4

I ended up bitching out on the beach vball trip to Nahant today. After the fact, I'm thinking that I might have called it off too early, but I really didn't think I could handle committing a small group of players to holiday beach traffic/crowds/parking and possible sudden thundershowers...

In the end, the rain didn't really fall here in town until after 2pm...

I tried to rally some last minute interest in a change of vball venue and terrain, but alas, it just wasn't to be. Probably for the best. When I was out and about for a while this afternoon, the pre- and post-rain humidity was the kind that makes you feel like you're an ant under a magnifying glass, y'know? It takes the heat of the available sunlight and seems to redirect it at you from every possible angle.

And not in a good way.

When informing the vball crew of the kibosh, I threw a few suggestions for weather-carefree activities. Of course, coming from me, that means a Brattle plug and a couple quick-ish movie reviews...

-------------------------

At the Brattle in Harvard Square...

Bugs, Daffy, the Stooges, and more, in a rainy day matinee short film revue! All tickets $5, free for children under 12!~

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In keeping with the patriotic hooha of the day...

SUPERMAN RETURNS. Ultimate illegal alien makes good as American hero story (what would Congress have to say about that?). What could be more appropriate? And the movie's really got everything - action, drama, intrigue, AND Parker Posey! The new Supes does an incredible job carrying the film SUPERMAN legacy, uncanny, really - you've GOT to see his Clark Kent! And Kevin Spacey brings a real touch of vicious evil to the big screen Lex. Rightly, cuz y'know, prison hardens a man. Not as much good old-fashiond Gene Hackman blowhard fun, but makes for a great villain. All in all, it's an excellent and smart next chapter in the SUPERMAN movies story. Fans of the earlier films will really dig how these characters and events plug into what's gone before.

Hrmmm... Nevermind his illegal alien status, in his red cape and blue tights, do you suppose a Constitutional amendment would rule his costume an illegal form of expression using the American flag?

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And if you're wondering why the weather sucks so much...

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. The documentary that follows Al Gore on the latest leg of his decades-long journey to educate the world about the threat of global warming to humanity and its home. Did you know that thanks to worldwide regulation and restriction of the use of ozone-destroying CFCs, the human-caused damage to the ozone is gradually decreasing? (Although global warming may be delaying the healing process of the ozone layer.) As masters of technologies that create waste beyond the scale of a single person in a lifetime, human beings can and DO affect their environment, particularly the sensitive and volatile atmosphere. But knowing that, we can also take steps, provided we act together and in a timely manner, to minimize and even reverse the damage that we inflict.

It's not theory. It's science. The disinformation scheme behind the "doubt" is as sinister as big tobacco's campaign of delaying tactics regarding the link between smoking and cancer. What kind of UNtruth would prompt CO2 rah-rah-rah ads from the "Competitive Enterprise Institute" like this?

And heck, even if you do not buy the data - it's frickin frackin pollution! See the movie.

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On the lighter side....

NACHO LIBRE! Experience every boy's rite of passage into manhood... That time in every young man's life when he must turn his back on his Mexican orphanage monastery ways and wrestle with his desires and embrace his destiny, live his dream... tag-team style, versus Satan's Cavemen! Ah... I remember it well... Rich with NAPOLEON DYNAMITE styling and sensibility and injected with lots of Jack Blackness - there is some sweet and absurd hilarity here - check it out. =)

CARS. Yeah, it's talking cars, but that's not all it is, and all of its time is NOT spent doing laps in an arena. There's some very entertaining storytelling going on here. A little bit "City Car, Country Car," a little bit classic driveabout, and maybe a lot DOC HOLLYWOOD, but with more than enough creative wrinkles in characters, details, and plot to make it unique and original. And of course, the Pixar writing and visuals that, together, consistently magically appeal to all ages and moviegoing tastes.

Also - a WONDERFUL Pixar short as an appetizer - ONE MAN BAND - in which a street performer struggles to win the appreciation (and coin) of a little girl. Good crack!

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Also, check out the Somerville and Capitol for second-run goodness (BRICK, MI3, INSIDE MAN)...

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And now, some digital snaps from July 4 so far... See if you can figure out what I ended up doing...





Heh heh. When Bugs is being chased down by Rudolph (aka Gossamer in other Looney Toons), on the shelves in the Evil Scientist's lab, we find Vanishing Oil, Reducing Liquid, and Uglifying Acid! =)


Mr. and Mrs. B have gone to Graceland... Graceland... Memphis, Tennessee...


World Cup fan madness spilling out of Grafton Street...

Hohum. Happy frickin birthday, USA.

Keep on keepin on~

scenes from the beach...

Was a gorgeous day for beaching today. On paper we had a kickass crew of vball nuts - Jackie, Keri, and Sara - ready to play all afternoon, but in practice, we were all coming out of a pretty volleyball-full weekend, and were perhaps feeling it a bit. Out of the past three days at the beach, today was also definitely the sunniest and the only one to drive us to actually sock up to protect our feet from blistering hot sand.

Funny how I can't recall seeing the pros shaking sand out of their winter boot socks between plays. They must play on cooler sand I guess...





Would YOU clean your bathtub with SANDPAPER? Of course not!


I always end up bringing some Nahant back home with me... =)

I'd scheduled us to start up today at 1 in the afternoon, when I usually try to rally people to the beach by 10.30am. I figured that because today was a non-holiday Monday and part of a 4-day weekend, most people would be out of town or at the office, leaving the beach to us, and there'd be no cause for traffic or parking issues.

My badd.

I left home just a bit after noon, shooting to get to Nahant in time to set up a net by 1. Once on route 16, I kept hitting these packs of slow-moving traffic, and what seemed like EVERY frickin frackin red light until the beach. I survived all that, listening to my summer driving-to-the-beach mixx prototype, only to sit for 15 minutes or so in line on the highway strip leading to the parking lot. The attendants were closing and re-opening the lot gate every couple minutes, and the line creeped along accordingly.

Lucky for us, Sara had hit the beach earlier in the morning. Sharp girl, that one. She's gonna go far. Keri was a few minutes ahead of me in line, and when I finally got past the gate, it was a Good Thing to have a couple of advance agents on the inside to help stake a court-sized claim and shuttle all the net gear from the parking strip to the beach. Jackie followed shortly and our little volleyball-a-palooza got under way.

A beautiful day at the beach shared with some fine company. No volleyball playing fellow - no fellow, period, really - could rightly complain. Alas, if only I could've wrangled another player or two so that we could play and sit and play again, and kill ourselves over a longer period of time. =)

Now, why can't I get "Don't Stop Believing" out of my head...?

Heh.

(Actually, I have that on one of my other summer driving mixxes. Maybe I'll pull that out of the cd wallet in the car this coming weekend. =)

Frack. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks craptacular. I told the Angels* at the beach (yeah, you might think that would make me Charlie, but who am I kidding? I'm more of a Bosley, bleah) that I was calling off the beach trip for tomorrow and would try to mobilize a grass or sandbox outing. Without a holiday crowd to beat, we could start in the afternoon, people could sleep late for America's birthday, and everyone would be closer to town for whatever other July 4th shenanigans they might have going on.

Well, I'll hafta figure that out...

After I get some workywork done...

One sorta sad little thing... Three days at the beach, and none of them chased with our traditional trip to Wendy's. Altho "Frostee points" were featured in the scoring of the last matches of Saturday and Sunday (thanks, Steve =), heh.

Keep on keepin on~

* Rest in melodramatic peace, Aaron S.

p.s. Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!