Bambi II

What story is there left to tell exactly? Why does the 1942 Disney classic “Bambi” need a sequel? Truly, no sequel is needed since “Bambi” is a true classic and is one of the great animated movies in film history. At the end of “Bambi” Bambi himself was grown and found a mate and was to raise his own family. The same for Flower and Thumper. When I first heard of “Bambi II” I assumed that somehow this would be the same exact story that we had in the first movie, except that it would be about Bambi raising his son and the new fawn would go on adventures. What else would the sequel be about?

Quite a bit, apparently. “Bambi II” is not quite a sequel as it is “Bambi 1.5”. In between Bambi (Alex Gould) being a young fawn after his mother’s death and him growing up at the end of the first movie there is all sorts of adventure and growing up and finding a mate that really wasn’t covered in “Bambi”. That’s what “Bambi II” is: a sequel to the first part of “Bambi” and a prequel to the ending.

Here Bambi is raised by his father, The Great Prince (voice of Patrick Stewart). Bambi misses his mother very much and his father only knows how to be the solitary ruler of the forest. The Great Prince is disappointed in Bambi and Bambi wants desperately to earn his approval. But the first part of the movie is very lighthearted all the same and features some romping and adventure with Bambi, Thumper, and Flower. Bambi has a rival fawn, a slightly older deer who has started to grow antlers and is named Ronald.

The animation here is very reminiscent of the original film and stands up quite well in comparison. “Bambi II” seems to be drawn in a more classical style compared to much of the CG animation being done these days.

I suppose “Bambi II” is very much your typical coming of age movie with struggles for acceptance, and the eventual growth (we know just where the story has to go because it ties into the end of “Bambi”), but it is surprisingly good. I expected a junky direct to video sequel with no amount of fun or interest involved (for an example, see “Kronk’s New Groove”…or better yet: don’t), but I was wrong. This is a cute, fun family movie. Clocking it at only 73 minutes, this is a movie that is better than it has a right to be and one that does not ruin memories of the original. The original may not have needed a sequel, but the sequel measures up as well as it possibly could be.

The DVD is a little bit light on special features, but this should not be too surprising on a straight to video release. There are two games “Thumper’s Hurry and Scurry” and “Disney’s Sketch Pad” Thumper’s game has you navigate through the forest to find Thumper. This game could get frustrating for the littlest ones. “Disney’s Sketch Pad” has one of the Disney animators giving a lesson on how to draw Thumper and advice to young artists who might want to get into animation. Inserting the DVD into a DVD-ROM on a computer gives you the chance to print out pages of the animation to compare to while you try to draw thumper. It’s a nice little lesson.

There is also a documentary called “The Legacy Continues” which is about, as one might imagine, the continuing legacy of “Bambi” and how this sequel comes about. The final bonus feature is a trivia track which runs through the movie.

I can only hope that if Disney does more needless sequels (and we know they will), that this is the bar the filmmakers will shoot for because it is one of the best needless sequel I’ve seen from Disney.

*sigh* Alias

*Sigh*

After 15 episodes in Season Three of Alias, TNT pulls the plug. I've been recording the show every day at 3:00pm and working my way through the season and hoped I could finish the show off like I did with The X-Files. And then it is pulled mid-season. I was checking out the TNT website this morning and it seems that TNT will be airing Alias overnights starting on Feb 8.

Now on one hand this is a great idea because as with the X-Files a couple nights a week we get 5 episodes at a time and it was pretty easy to work through the entire run of the series (I watched Seasons 4-9 of X-Files on TNT). But what is going to stink about this move of Alias is that TNT is likely to start over from Season 1 and I'll have to wait a couple of months for Alias to even catch up to Season 3, let alone episode 16. I guess that'll let me catch up on everything on my DVR and keep cranking through Angel (which is also on overnights on TNT for a couple episodes).

Angel is actually an interesting case because even though they air Angel 5 times a week at 6:00 am, they also air two episodes a night twice a week at 2 and 3 in the morn...but at different parts of the series. Like the weekly episodes are back on Season 1, but the overnight airings are on Season 3 (which is good, because that is where I'm at). It just makes it confusing a little because I can't just record every episode of Angel.

Book of Daniel cancelled

I gave the show an episode (the two hour premiere) and part of a second and I just lost interest.

Four episodes in, the show is cancelled. I may not have liked the show that much, but at least give it a chance to build an audience. It's on friday nights, it's not exactly taking up prime real estate.

Shoot, give it to saturday nights and let it pick up some viewers there.

Movies I Anticipate: January - August 2005

Bubble (1/27 limited): Steven Soderbergh's smaller movies may be something of a mess, but so far the man's name on a movie is still enough to pique my interest.

Final Destination 3 (2/10): Okay, so even if I was going to the theatre on a regular basis there would be no way I'd pay money to see this. But this is definite rental as I was highly entertained by the first two Final Destination movies. There is no question that these are dumb movies. But...they're fun....for me.

Firewall (2/10): Harrison Ford is back in some sort of a thriller where he is a securities specialist but has to rob his own bank to pay the ransom for his kidnapped family. But I dig that Virginia Madsen is getting roles in real movies (hopefully in real good movies) after "Sideways", and Paul Bettany has been entertaining me recently. Theatre? Probably not. Rental? Most definitely.

Date Movie (2/17): Why are the only movies that look like they may entertain me also movies that are very likely to be incredibly stupid? Maybe I should drop "Bubble" from this list for having the potential to be too highbrow. Anyway, this is a movie styled like the "Scary Movie" franchise only it spoof romantic comedies and stars Willow....er, I mean Alyson Hannigan. Sorry. Oh, and Eddie Griffin plays her father. Now that I like!

Tsotsi (2/24 limited): Finally, a movie that might actually be good! The IMDB lists the plot as "six days in the violent life of a Johannesburg gang leader" and the film is drawing comparisons to "City of God", which is a good thing.

Ask the Dust (3/10 limited): Had I even heard of this movie before deciding to look up the forthcoming movies? Absolutely not. Why am I listing it? Because it was written and directed by Robert Towne and I'm hoping he can do something like "Chinatown" again. That's all.

V for Vendetta (3/17): Starring Natalie Portman and based on a graphic novel from Alan Moore this is the first movie of the year that I am truly willing to pay to see in the theatre. A freedom fighter named V (Hugo Weaving) fights against a totalitarian society using terrorist methods. He recruits Portman as an ally.

Thank You for Smoking (3/17 limited): I've heard good buzz about the movie and it is directed by the son of Ivan Reitman. That's about all I know. Stars Aaron Eckhart and Maria Bello.

Inside Man (3/24): Directed by Spike Lee. Stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. Does it really matter what the movie is actually about?

Lucky You (4/7): Directed by Curtis Hanson. Something to do with gambling, Eric Bana, and Drew Barrymore. But check out the first sentence. That's enough to go see the movie.

Scary Movie 4 (4/14): I have no class.

Art School Confidential (4/28 limited): Terry Zwigoff (Bad Santa) did such a good job with Ghost World that I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The source material here is another comic by Daniel Clowes.

The Da Vinci Code (5/19): The book has been getting severely bashed after apparently trying to outsell the Bible as well as discredit it...and for sucking. At least that's what others think. I actually liked the book. It was fun to play with the conspiracy and the clues and be taken on a ride. Tom Hanks stars and Ron Howard directs. Audrey Tautou gets a supporting role. Here's hoping.

X-Men 3 (5/26): I'm strangely less excited about this one than I used to be...but that's because director and Overlord Bryan Singer jumped ship to do the new Superman movie. Who stepped in? Brett Ratner (Rush Hour). Well, at least it isn't McG. Don't screw it up, Brett.

Cars (6/9). Pixar.

Superman Returns (6/30): I'll be straight up honest here (like I lie the rest of the time). I don't care a whit for Superman. Doesn't do much for me. Never read the Superman comics, don't watch Smallville, watched a little Lois and Clark back in the day. Dean Cain ain't in this one, is he? So why is it on my list? Because the director and Overlord Bryan Singer left X-Men to do this. It better be good or I'll really be pissed he left X-Men for this.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (7/7): The first one was surprisingly good and fun. Why not this one?

Lady in the Water (7/21): M Night Shyamalan is about to run out of chances after "The Village", but he'll get another one. Stars Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard, so....here's hoping it doesn't suck.

The Visiting (8/11): Nicole Kidman learns of an alien epidemic and that her son may play a roll in stopping it. Directed by a guy who made a really good German movie a couple years back about Hitler (Downfall), this seems to be right up my alley.

Snakes on a Plane (8/18): You thought we'd be getting by without this movie on the list. I don't care what it is about (actually, the title kind of gives it away), Sam Jackson in a movie with this title? I'm there!


And that covers the movies from today through August. Did I miss something? Sure. Will some movies get pushed back? Sure. Will I see all of these in the theatre? Doubt it. Will the limited release movies get released in a theatre near me? Doubt it. Do I just enjoy making lists and asking questions? Yep.

Step Into Liquid

Watched the first half hour of Step Into Liquid, a surfing documentary and I realized that I don't care. I've been getting that recently. For a sport that doesn't do much for me to begin, I've seen Riding Giants and I'm not seeing anything new or fascinating here that sells me on the movie. So, I turned it off, deleted the recording from my DVR and watched another episode of Angel.

13

Entertainment Weekly reports in the January 20 issue that Steven Soderbergh has a script for Ocean's Thirteen and hopes to start shooting this year.

The first one was good fun, the second one was less good fun but still kind of silly, but a third?

critics are calling Glory Road....

glorious.

Ugh. Oh, really?

That's what the radio ad for Glory Road claimed. Honestly, if I wrote the advertising for that movie, I'd be embarrassed that this is the best I could come up with.

review copy

Got my review copy of Bambi II yesterday. Suppose I should watch it now.

the smirk

"Don't you know I'm in a movie called Snakes on a Plane?
Shoot! I did Pulp Fiction and now Snakes on a muthaf***in Plane?" - Sam Jackson

Rocky VI picture

Oh dear. I guess they really are going ahead with making Rocky 6. I kind of didn't believe it, but here is a production picture. Source

Black Eye Gallery

I don't know squat about science or space exploration, but I am fascinated by pictures of far away galaxies and other space phenomenon. Must be part of my interest/love of science fiction and fantasy.

This is the Black Eye Galaxy, photo courtesy of NASA and CNN.com

Best of Books: 2005

Not all of the books I am going to list were published in 2005, but these are the best books I read this past year. For very different reasons, I thought each was fantastic.

1. The Complete Peanuts 1953-1954 - Charles M Schulz
2. Men and Cartoons - Jonathan Lethem
3. Stalking the Divine - Kristin Ohlson
4. Stiff - Mary Roach
5. Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
6. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
7. Traveling Mercies - Anne Lamott
8. Moneyball - Michael Lewis
9. Staying the Course - Dick Beardsley
10. The Patron Saint of Liars - Ann Patchett
11. Ilium - Dan Simmons
12. The Complete Peanuts 1955-1956 - Charles M Schulz
13. Blink - Malcom Gladwell
14. Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson
15. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling
16. This Man's Army - Andrew Exum
17. On Beauty - Zadie Smith
18. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - John LeCarre
19. Taft - Ann Patchett
20. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
21. Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
22. All Rivers Flow to the Sea - Alison McGhee
23. Running With the Demon - Terry Brooks

I would especially like to point out The Kite Runner, All Rivers Flow to the Sea, the two Ann Patchett books, and Stalking the Divine.

For the sake of reference:
Best of Books: 2004
Best of Books: 2003
Best of Books: 2002
Best of Books: 2001
Best of Books: 2000

Roger Ebert praises "Crash"

With several critics naming Crash as their Worst Movie of the Year, film critic Roger Ebert wrote an essay defending the film and noting that in his view Crash is the best movie of the year.

A passage from this essay that I rather liked was Ebert showing what one critic did not like about the movie and turning it on its head by responding about what the scene really was saying.

Foundas is too cool for the room. He is so wise, knowing and cynical that he can see through "Crash" and indulge in self-congratulatory superiority because he didn't fall for it. Referring to the wife who distrusts the locksmith, he writes: "when Sandra Bullock's pampered Brentwood housewife accuses a Mexican-American locksmith of copying her keys for illicit purposes, Haggis doesn't condemn her reprehensible behavior so much as he sympathizes with it."

This is a misreading of the film, but look at it more closely: Bullock is "pampered" and a "housewife," yet Haggis "sympathizes" with her behavior. Does he? No; I would say he empathizes with it, which is another thing altogether. She has just been carjacked at gunpoint and is hysterical. If Foundas were carjacked at gunpoint, would he rise to the occasion with measured detachment and sardonic wit? I wouldn't. Who will cast the first stone? And notice that the Mexican-American locksmith (Michael Pena) remains so invisible to Foundas that the actor is not named and Foundas has not noticed that the scene also empathizes with him.

It is worth noting that while I've only seen some twenty 2005 movies so far , Crash still easily holds the #1 position on my list and it will take something special to knock it off that spot.

orion nebula

A beautiful picture of the Orion Nebula taken by the Hubble Telescope. Source

I like Buena Vista Home Entertainment

BVHE has offered me another pre-release review copy to write up a review on Amazon. This time I'm getting Bambi II. I know, not a movie which truly cried out for a sequel, but a free movie is a free movie.

DVDs I've received in the past from BVHE include:
King Arthur
Ice Princess (better than I expected)
Sin City: Deluxe Extended Edition
Kronk's New Groove

and now
Bambi II.

Who knows, it might even be good.

Stone of Farewell

"Stone of Farewell" is the second volume in Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow, Thorn" high fantasy trilogy which began with "The Dragonbone Chair". This novel is not quite as long as "The Dragonbone Chair", but it still weighs in at a hefty 570 pages in trade paperback. This middle volume continues the story of Simon, now called Simon Snowlock by some, and of his quest to bring the sword "Thorn" to the exiled Prince Josua to aid him in his fight against his brother, the King of Osten Ard. King Elias and his advisor Pyrates are being aided and corrupted by a great evil coming down from the frozen north and a thought long dead Sithi King is coming to bring destruction to the land while Elias ruins his own kingdom. Prince Josua has to find a way to fight his brother, who has a strong grip over Osten Ard and he knows that fighting Elias means at some point fighting the Storm King from the north. The true darkness that is facing Osten Ard is the Storm King and not Elias but few know the truth.

Like "The Dragonbone Chair", this book offers the reader a good deal of detail and proceeds at a leisurely pace. Critics of the book may call it a plodding pace, but I think that is a matter of perspective. While Simon does go on a long journey and goes some place very few humans have ever been, it almost does not seem as if he really gets anywhere...that his portion of the story just sort of stumbles along. Prince Josua has a much greater journey.

The level of detail and the overall storyline is vast and we are starting to get closer to an ending since there is only one book left. But there still seems so much more to do that I find it hard to understand how Williams can end this in a single book...except that the single book is as long as Books 1 and 2 combined. I am enjoying reading "Memory, Sorrow, Thorn", so the pacing does not bother me, but at times I wonder that it has taken Tad Williams 1100 pages to tell this story so far when it could probably be have shortened by a good 400 pages and nobody would have noticed. It's just a thought.

The bottom line is that to read "Stone of Farewell" the reader must have first finished "The Dragonbone Chair". There is enough back detail to fill the reader in, but much would be lost without having read the first book. Is this book good? Yes. Is this book better than the first book? Also, yes. It is a fairly big time investment and there are better books, but this is a worthwhile trip to Osten Ard and the world of Tad Williams.

Spy Kids and...

I watched Spy Kids tonight. Cute movie from the guy who did Sin City (well, did Spy Kids first...well El Mariachi first, you know what I'm saying). So, it's cute. Parents are kidnapped and the kids learn the parents are really super spies and save the day. Like I said, cute. Kind of fun. Pleasant. I enjoyed the movie, but I won't be rushing out to watch Spy Kids 2 or 3. I think I'm good for the rest of the series, thank you very much.

I've also read the first two chapters of Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer, which is the first volume in his Book of the New Sun series which is said to be one of the greats of science fiction - fantasy. I'm sure I've heard a bit about the overall story before, but to be honest I can't remember, which is good because it means that I'm going into the story absolutely fresh. I can't even read the dust jacket because the book description is covered up with interlibrary loan stuff.

Meanwhile, I still suffer through The Age of Innocence. Pulizter. Classic. I know. But it's those damn rich people.

And Emma is a comedy of manners...but I don't really care of Jane Austen, either.

The Producers

How exactly do you make a movie musical based on a theatrical musical based on a movie about making a musical? Very carefully. Susan Stohman directs this adaption of the Broadway musical which she also directed and she retains some of the major cast from the Broadway show. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane return as Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock, an accountant and a once famous but now failed producer seeking to strike it rich by making the biggest flop in Broadway history. Bialystock and Bloom hook up when Bloom is sent to do Bialystock's books and sees how it would be possible to actually make more money from a failed production than from a hit.

Bialystock and Bloom search for the worst play ever written, the worst director and the worst actors. The play they come across is titled "Springtime for Hitler" and it is a celebration of the Third Reich. Their assumption is that not only will this show close in a single day, the show might not make it to intermission. There is something to offend absolutely everyone.

This is the story of Mel Brooks' original film, the musical, and now the movie adaption of the musical. It worked and was funny with Gene Wilder and I've seen the show in the Twin Cities, and it worked as a musical. Does it work as a movie musical? Yes it does, but it plays very theatrically. Very. Acting that veers over the top by both Broderick and Lane that had my wife and I looking at each other in the theatre asking if this is for real would probably play very differently with live actors on the stage. And yet even the moments of absurdity still work and the bottom line is that the movie is fun and it is funny.

The entire movie/story is an exercise in absurdity what with the attempt to put on the worst play ever and make money out of the deal. There are sequences that come to mind such as the "unhappy" musical number by the accountants, and everything with the German writer of "Springtime for Hitler". This former Nazi is played by Will Ferrell, an actor whom I have not always appreciated, but who turns in what I consider the scene stealing role of the film as I laughed the most with Ferrell on screen and especially his Nazi saluting pigeons.

The theatricality of the film is something that a viewer will either able to accept and enjoy the movie, or it will be a big turn off. I was able to work with it and enjoy the movie even as it played like a theatre musical on stage (at times with the pause at the end of a musical number). Strohman plays this to great effect, however, and it becomes part of the charm of the movie. By no means is "The Producers" perfect (though there was a man in the audience who apparently thought this was the funniest thing he had ever seen), but it is very well made. The only thing that truly threw me was Uma Thurman as Oola. I kept hearing her slip out of her accent, but my wife did not notice this at all. I would have loved to have seen the woman who won a Tony Award for playing this same role with Broderick and Lane on Broadway. I'm not quite sure why she had to be replaced. But this is only a small bit of irksomeness in a good movie.

As this was the first movie I had been able to see in theatres in months and I had a fantastic time, and I think that is something a movie should deliver: enjoyment. "The Producers" certainly did this well.

Grade: B

Mal Reynolds is back and other television goodies

I was home from work on Tuesday so instead of doing a lot of reading like I had expected to do, I ended up watching seven or eight episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now I only have 2.5 episodes to go until I finish Season 7 and the series. Kind of sad. I really like what Joss Whedon is doing with the potential Slayers, though I wonder how it can get wrapped up in 2 episodes (three, I suppose, if I count the one I had to stop this morning so I can earn money to pay rent). The odd thing is that before really started going through the seasons I had seen a few episodes from this season, so I had seen the Scoobie/Potential mutiny, knew about Xander's eye, and know that Angel pops up near the end and there is some sort of Champion. But I hadn't finished it all and I knew little about who Caleb was. Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly is back and is apparently whupping up Sunnydale in general and Buffy in particular. Mal Reynolds is, of course, the actor Nathan Fillion who got the role of Caleb after Firefly was cancelled. Interesting character this preacher man. Would love to find out why he has this super strength. Right up there with Willow and the Gnarl is Caleb and Xander. That was a bit queasy.

I don't suppose Jewel Staite got a guest shot on Buffy in the last two episodes? Adam Baldwin? Summer Glau?

Before that scene, though, an episode or two prior, Xander had a great episode ending scene with Dawn after Dawn had accepted that she isn't a Potential and Xander was telling her that Buffy and the others would never know what it is like to be on the outside to not have the strength and that Xander gets to see what nobody else does because nobody is watching him. Great scene. Of course, then the "one who sees everything" gets some serious trauma, but that's the way of it.

In other news, Alias, 24, and Angel are finally catching up to me. Alias has begun Season 3 on TNT so I've begun that season, A&E is airing Season 2 of 24, and TNT is getting to Season 3 of Angel...so I'll get the chance to catch up on these shows, too. It's about time because while the library has a lot of movies, they are light on TV on DVD. I've seen one episode each of Alias and 24 and these are going to be great seasons. 24 especially. Wow!

Now if I didn't lose Bravo when we switched to the Dish Network, I'd be able to get the West Wing.

Next week is when Lost finally returns, My Name is Earl begins again tonight, Commander in Chief is next week and this Friday is the debut of The Book of Daniel. Not sure about this one, but it has potential (as do many shows). There is a wise cracking Jesus, and that's all I know. The Sci-Fi Channel has some show coming either in the next two months or in the Summer that looked interesting from the preview but I don't remember what it is. As long as it is better than The Triangle, we'll be okay. That one kind of sucked and stuff.

catching up

I've been a bit slow on the review side and I'm not sure I'll get to the reviews I'm behind on, so as a quick refresher here's what I finished recently.

One Pulitzer Prize Winning Novels
1. His Family - Ernest Poole

I have a goal on 43 Things to read all the Pulitzer Prize Winning novels. Here's my start (though I've already read a few in my day). His Family was the first novel ever to win the award for fiction and it is decent enough. My big problem, and this may be a recurring theme, is I don't like rich people. In general, fiction about the "cultural and societal elites" bugs the hell out of me. I'm not interested in their struggles and their lives. That said, this one engaged me about half the time. Thus far I'm about 30 pages into Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence and I'm trying hard to lower my hate quotient.

I've also finished The Regime by Jerry Jenkins, Tributes I & II by Dave Meltzer and Tyrant's Test by Michael Kube McDowell.

The Regime suffers from being written by Jerry Jenkins (let's forget about Tim LaHaye, he just provides the Biblical stuff and doesn't actually write the book. I think of him as the glorified researcher who was lucky enough to get his name on the cover of the book). Honestly, I've read every Left Behind book and at this point I'm questioning why. The Regime is the second of the three "prequel" novels that bring the reader up to speed as to what the main characters of the LB series were doing before God started messing with the world and taking his people. But...it never was necessary to tell this story. I get that the books sold a butt load of copies and maybe moved people to Christ, but it's just not necessary. Who cried out for a novel about Nicolae before the Rapture? Who cares about Rayford before the Rapture? I don't. Yet I keep reading. I'm confused as to why. The writing stinks (would you believe there is a writing class offered at the back of the book?) and the power of the LB series was in seeing God move in the world and how impactful this could be and the pace of the story. But here we're dragging to the beginning and while The Regime is better than The Rising, this isn't really complimentary.

And I'll still probably read the last damn book in the series. I've already read 14, why stop now?

The two Tributes books features columns by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer on professional wrestlers who have passed away. So, there are stories on Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Andre the Giant, Freddie Blassie, Curt Hennig, Hawk, Brian Pillman, Rick Rude, and others. Big John Studd. Miss Elizabeth. Guys (and gal) who I grew up watching, and also those who passed away before my time and who weren't wrestling when I was watching in the 80's and early 90's. It's nostalgia and interesting for the wrestling fan. Some of these guys still had a career ahead of them, others were too injured to compete, others died naturally at an old age, and others used too many drugs and steroids in their day that time caught up with them.

Tyrant's Test is the third book of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy in the Star Wars universe. Decent enough, I enjoyed the trilogy more than I expected. I'm finally getting close to being able to start the New Jedi Order Trilogy and finishing up the adult Star Wars novels. Then I can just read the new ones published and not have this big huge list of unreads (and so I can work even more towards my big huge list of other unreads).

Movies.
Finished the following:
Open Water
It Happened One Night
Broadway Melody
Seven Up
Seven Plus 7
School of Rock
Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior

Seven Up and Seven Plus 7 are two parts of the Up Series, which is a series of British documentaries following the same group of 14 children from age 7 and revisiting them every 7 years to see how their lives have changed. It started in 1964. Honestly, I love the premise, but I had a hard time understanding everything that was said (subtitles would have worked wonders) and also I had a difficult time figuring out who the kids were and what made them different from each other. So it's just a bunch of kids talking. But I'll have to reserve 21 Up, which should be interesting because now the little ankle biters are becoming adults.

Broadway Melody and It Happened One Night are two early Oscar Winners for Best Picture (as I seek to watch all those, too). Broadway Melody did very little for me and was nothing special. It Happened One Night was quite a bit better with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, both of whom were quite good. It was a comedy, too, which is interesting since now only big epics and dramas win Best Picture. Good stuff with the Gable pic.

Open Water was good, not terribly scary (though I'm sure watchiing it in a dark room would change things). The ending was incredibly effective, though, and haunting.

Didn't care for School of Rock. Joan Cusack needs to punch Jack Black and then Sarah Silverman can do her nasty comedy routine complete with singing body parts. I'd be pissed if I were the parents paying all that money for an expensive school and the kids not learning anything for a month or more? Nope, not going to do it. It's a sign I'm getting old, that this sort of thing bugs me.

What did I love? Ong Bak. The movie is utterly dumb and action filled and I loved it. Quick story: the head of a small village's buddha statue is robbed. There is a drought. They send this young man who is honorable and martially talented. He goes, tries to find the buddha head, gets into a bunch of fights, into a fight club, whups on everybody with amazing fighting skill and no wire fu, and wins the day. But it is just a lot of fun and amazing to watch. Mindless entertainment, great stuff.

Murderball

Ya know that documentary about guys in wheelchairs playing rugby? No? Well, this is it. As "Murderball" was becoming this big documentary sensation and was being featured in magazines and in various online columns and it was described as one of the best films of the year at that time. But what is it about? What is this murderball? Murderball the sport is wheelchair rugby and is played by paraplegics. This documentary taught me that a paraplegic is a person who is impaired in all four limbs, not necessarily unable to use all four limbs. The degree of impairment is given a point value and a team can have a certain amount of points on the court at any one time. In all other ways, the rugby is played exactly the same as regular rugby (as I understand it). This is murderball.

Is this subject worth a documentary feature? Yes. It is a glimpse into a world that most people did not know existed and would not have considered before. It shows those who have suffered a serious life changing injury that they can still participate in physical activities. It entertains at the same time as it informs. "Murderball" is very "watchable". The cast of characters it presents are very outspoken and interesting. The primary focus of the movie is on Zupan, a tattooed hard playing man with strong opinions. He is the face of "Murderball" and he sells himself very well and with attitude.

This is a very well made documentary and it should appeal to those viewers who do not normally watch documentaries or would be uncomfortable with the subject matter. Excellent film.

Buffy, Joyce, and Aimee Mann

Buffy Season 7 is shaping up to a good one. I've really enjoyed the first two discs, the Gnarl notwithstanding (and they put the Gnarl in the opening credits...). I still don't like Spike as a character, at least not without Drusilla, but the whole set up for the slow introduction of the Big Bad and the hints that this time something truly big is going down...it's great. I loved that moment earlier in this season where the Big Bad changed shapes into all of the Big Bads throughout the show, starting with Warren and ending with the Master (and Glory! Glory was a fun character). It sets up that everything that came before was only prologue. And while I know a little bit of what goes down this season (Xander losing an eye, for example), and a little bit about the ending, I don't know it all. So...I think that what has been going on is that there is this cult killing potential slayers, and picked off a watcher in the latest episode. That's my call. Of course, I only know this because I know later on in the season Buffy gathers potential slayers to her as her little army.

What I don't understand, however, is how Season 7's ending and all the potentials get put together with Joss Whedon's comic book Fray. Fray is set hundreds of years in the future and there are no more Slayers called until Fray is called...and there is no memory of what happened except a hint that at one point the last Slayer was killed and it was a blond girl (Buffy, presumably). Hopefully Joss's new Buffy comics will clear that up, or maybe some of the Spike DVD movies that are rumored...and how does this all fit with Angel, another show I need to finish up? The new Buffy comic is rumored to be Joss's Buffy Season 8, so I'm interested. I'll give it a go when it is released in Trade Paper.

Back to Buffy 7. I'm so glad Joss gave Kristine Sutherland a chance to come back one more time as Buffy's mother, Joyce. It was only in a short period, and I get that killing off Joyce made a lot of sense (and maybe Kristine wanted out) in the storyline, but I miss the character. So, seeing her again, for a moment or two was great.

What I didn't expect was Aimee Mann playing at the Bronze. Really? Maybe she's a fan of the show, but that was fun. And then she actually got to interact when she and the band stopped when a vamp was dusted, and then started again with a shrug...and even had a line of dialogue later saying "I hate playing Vampire towns".

The Dragonbone Chair

In many ways "The Dragonbone Chair" is typical high fantasy. Many of the stereotypes of the genre are here and this could also be "kitchen boy fantasy". The protagonist is named Simon, and he is an orphaned teenager living at the Hayholt, a great castle in the land of Osten Ard. Simon is one of the castle servants, but is something of a lay-about. Somewhat clumsy in his chores, he spends much time avoiding his responsibilities and goes off exploring the great castle and dreaming of different lives he could lead. There is the occasional mention early on about something to do with his birth and origins that is shadowed in mystery, so we get the typical fantasy glimpse that Simon isn't as simple as he seems. But this is to be expected.

The first 200 pages or so of the novel can be by far the most difficult because Tad Williams is giving a lot of exposition. There are small details that build the world and set up some conflicts for later in the book, but it takes some work to get through the beginning. I admit that it took me three tries over the past 10 years for me to finish this book. Not because the novel is bad, but because it starts so slowly.

In this opening section we learn about the decline of the old King Prester John, and the strife between his two sons Elias and Josua. Elias is fearful that Josua will take his birthright, but Josua wants none of it, and there is a twisted advisor whispering in Elias's ear. Finally the old king dies, Josua disappears, Simon ends up on the run when tragedy and treachery strikes, and the novel truly begins. "The Dragonbone Chair" is an epic high fantasy novel where a castle servant boy will rise to a level of importance he never imagined and travel the world on a great adventure with a goal of saving the world as they know it. It is fairly typical fantasy, but Williams writes it well enough that the cliches do not feel forced or distracting.

This novel is the first of a long three volume cycle. Thus far we learn more about what sort of quest the series will take, a glimpse of the ultimate evil facing the world and what the stakes are, and how difficult things will become for the "good guys". The second volume, "The Stone of Farewell" is a somewhat shorter novel than the 600 page + "The Dragonbone Chair", but the conclusion "To Green Angel Tower" tips the scales at more than 1000 pages. The "Memory, Sorrow, Thorn" trilogy is one which will require a serious time commitment to read, but it is a favorite of many and is a classic feeling epic fantasy and is one of the most commonly recommended fantasy series. Right now I can't say that it is worth recommending above all others, but the story is interesting, the writing is good if a bit slow, and I hope that this is a series that continues to grow and develop in such a way that the set-up is worth the pay off.

All Rivers Flow to the Sea

When I checked this book out from the library I knew that "All Rivers Flow to the Sea" was cataloged as a teen fiction book. Normally, that is a reading level that I don't even look at, but this was written by one of my favorite authors, and Minnesota resident, Alison McGhee. McGhee is best known for her novels "Rainlight" and "Shadow Baby", but is also the author of two children's books and a young adult novel ("Snap"). Everything she has written has been quite excellent, though I didn't love "Snap" the way I did her three adult novels.

"All Rivers Flow to the Sea" is a short novel about a teenage girl dealing with grief and loss. Rose and her sister were in a car accident, another driver hit them and her sister has been in a coma for months. Her mother hasn't been to the hospital since the day of the accident. Rose does not know how to live her life alone because she has never been alone and going back to school she does not know how to deal with the looks and the whispers that her sister is a vegetable and someone should pull the plug. What Alison McGhee gives the reader is a very real feeling story about Rose and how she deals, acts out, comes back, and finds healing in her life and acceptance about her sister. This is a novel that presents a true human challenge for Rose and one that I do not remember reading about, and certainly not quite like this. Likely, this novel will appeal to teenage girls and girls who have had to deal with grief in their own lives.

Alison McGhee has done something remarkable with "All Rivers Flow to the Sea." Not only has she written an excellent short novel for a particular age group, she has written a novel that transcends the age group. If I didn't know that this was "teen fiction" I would easily put this among her adult novels. She doesn't talk down to her reader, she is incredibly sympathetic, and "All Rivers Flow to the Sea" happens to be just as good as "Rainlight" or "Shadow Baby". That is high praise indeed, because those two novels (especially "Rainlight") are exceptional.

Willow and the Narl

The episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 7 titled "Same Time, Same Place" contained what is quite possibly the nastiest thing I've seen on one of my shows, and this includes the gruesomeness of "The X-Files". Willow was trapped by this demon called a Narl. The Narl was making these cuts on Willow's stomach (this part wasn't bad, we see this sort of stuff moderately often, a fair amount of flesh wounds on this show), but then we actually saw the Narl peel off two strips of flesh. My jaw dropped. Quite disgusting! It wasn't gorey or eye surgery, but that actually shocked me.

Brokeback Mountain: The Short Story

The film "Brokeback Mountain" which is garnering all this critical attention, Golden Globe nominations and many other awards which are soon to follow is based on a short story written by Annie Proulx ("The Shipping News") and is from her collection "Close Range". I was able to read this story yesterday because The New Yorker has the story up on their website, so I copied it over to a Word File to read at my leisure. This isn't a very long story, only 18 pages in Word and 10,000 words. I'll be interested to see how Ang Lee filled out the story to make a 2 hour movie out of 18 pages of not exceptionally developed characters.

The basic story has Jack and Ennis as two young cowboys, not even 20 years old, getting a job working at a ranch out west. Ennis knows that he's going to be marrying his girlfriend Alma someday. Their job is to spend all their time out on the range and to sleep out with the sheep to make sure that coyotes and wolves do not thin the herd at all. They are supposed to be working separately but they spend a little bit of time with each other and one cold night after drinking too much out on the range they warm each other up rather closely. This is how it begins, with alcohol and perhaps loneliness. After that Jack and Ennis go at each other as often as they can and not always secretively. But when the season at the ranch is over, they both go their separate ways and each end up married to women. Several years later they meet up again and pick up the passion where they left off and we see the strain this starts to put onto their lives and relationships.

While it seemed like Annie Proulx rushed the beginning of this physical attraction, she does a very good job with building in only 18 pages covering years how their passion has impacted them and affect how they treat each other and how the fear of being found out is a big deal.

I was surprised, but this is a good story, a western love story that just happens to be between two men. The gender issue is what raises adds the edge to the story because this is the unspoken, the thing that makes people uncomfortable. How this spare story will translate to the screen remains to be seen, though the critics are happy.


To give an answer to the South Park joke, I can't speak for the movie, but while there are gay cowboys, there is no pudding in the short story.

Comedian

Not a fan of Jerry Seinfeld? Don't worry, neither am I. "Comedian" has as its primary focus, the comedian Jerry Seinfeld. This is several years after the end of the "Seinfeld" sitcom and Jerry is getting back on the road as a standup comic trying out new material and working on his new act. As we know, Jerry Seinfeld is a fantastically successful man and if he wanted (or didn't want), he would never have to work another day in his life. So why do standup? Sure, this is his origins and where he came from, but it can be a tough life having to sell himself and his jokes every single performance with no chance of a redo. So, why? Jerry never directly answers this question during the movie except that he loves his work, but my answer is that creative men need to continue to work, to find an outlet for this creativity and this drive to keep performing. But that's just my guess.

Jay Leno says midway through the film, to Jerry, that he couldn't do what Jerry is doing. What Leno is referring to is this film, "Comedian". Jerry is giving away his act. Not on stage, but to us, the viewer. Jerry is letting us see his frustrations, his struggles, and even some of his jokes as a work in progress rather than letting audiences discover the jokes for the first time. That is exactly what "Comedian" is. Jerry Seinfeld a struggling comic. He has a name that will get him through any door and on any stage, but it has been years since he has worked and he is trying to put together new jokes and a new routine. This is untested stuff and he is unsure if it is truly funny or if it will connect with an audience or if it will connect with many audiences. He is trying to find his rhythm.

What adds to this film being so interesting is that other major comics appear in some scenes talking to Jerry. Chris Rock meets Jerry and Jerry tells Chris about his insecurity and Chris replies by telling Jerry about seeing a comic that they hadn't heard of before do a two and a half hour set, no intermission, telling joke after joke after story after joke and everything works. Chris says he felt like a fraud after seeing that comic. And this is Chris Rock! And this is Jerry Seinfeld who is having the same struggles.

The other side of the coin is Orny Adams, a young (early 30's) comic who is trying to make it. He is very much full of himself and feels that he is better than everybody and better than the audience and when a crowd only politely chuckles he blames the audience as a bad audience and not that he may not have been good that day...because Orny is a professional and knows what he is doing. We see Orny begin to work with the guy who helped make Jerry Seinfeld a success. But his attitude just kills. He may be talented, but he needs an attitude check.

This makes me wonder if this is what a Jerry Seinfeld or a Chris Rock or others were like on the way up the comic ladder. That it is only when you reach the level of success and then try to keep being funny with new material that you find you are unsure of your skill. And for this, "Comedian" gives a very insightful look into the backstage life of comics trying to hone their craft, even at a stage in their career where most people think they have it honed.

I wasn't a fan of the tv show "Seinfeld" and I'm not sure I would love Jerry Seinfeld's comedy, and I know I already don't like Orny Adams, but I thought that "Comedian" is an excellent documentary look into their lives as comedians.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

I really think I gave the book a fair shake. When I heard that Anne Rice was writing a book called "Christ the Lord", I was intrigued and a little shocked. Anne Rice? Anne Rice? The Queen of the Damned herself? The lady who writes all those vampire books is writing a book about Jesus? And it isn't going to be about Vampire Jesus? This I have to read for myself.

And I tried. "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" covers some of the time when Jesus is a 7 year old boy. He is just realizing that he has these extra powers, like he accidentally kills a boy and then heals him not realizing quite what he is doing but knows that the "power" has "gone out of him". But most of this book is more of the ordinary life of the young Jesus as his family moves out of Egypt after Herod dies and back to Nazareth. We discover what Jesus knows of his family and what he knows of who he is as he hears the whispers of a prophecy and angels coming to his mother and a connection between John (the one who I believe will be "The Baptist") Jesus.

It just didn't seem to amount to anything. It was so dreadfully dry and dull that I could only make it 150 pages into this 300 page book. This book is supposed to be the first volume of three about Jesus, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to read them. Or maybe the adult Christ will be more interesting and worth trying out. "Out of Egypt" is just not very good.

I respect that Anne Rice has become a Christian and is striving to use her writing gifts to honor God. This is fantastic news and I'd rather Rice be a Christian than continue to write vampire novels and not believe. But if we still have to judge the book of its own merits, I can't recommend this one at all.

Of course, this whole thing may be an elaborate set up and we'll find out in the last volume that Zombie Vampire Jesus will destroy the world.

But I doubt it.

hallelujah

While there may never be a more beautiful, haunting song than Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah", Brandi Carlisle does a very nice cover of this song here.

The link I gave is to a list of in studio appearances, so you're looking for the 12/08 appearance. The song is 14:30 into the file. Not Buckley, but it's powerful when all is quiet.

Miracle

As someone who has watched the Winter Olympics for twenty years and has been watching sports in general for perhaps a little bit longer than that, it would have been difficult to have not heard about the United States Olympic Hockey Team from 1980. You know, the one that shockingly beat the dominant Soviet team, a Soviet team so strong it was beating the NHL All Stars in exhibition games. I knew this, but I didn't really understand. "Miracle" is the story of the 1980 team and follows the team from the formation to the conclusion at the Lake Placid Olympics.

We open with coach Herb Brooks (a nearly unrecognizable Kurt Russell) talking to a group of me, probably the US Olympic Committee about his vision for the squad and how he would like to form the team. He doesn't want to pick the best players, he wants to pick the best team. He knows this is the only way to have a chance against the Soviets who work so well as a team against the All Star Teams which are made up of individuals. Making the players into a team will be a challenge, one which is suggested throughout the movie as Coach Brooks asks the players their name and what team they play for and the players give their names and then their college (University of Minnesota, Boston College, University of Wisconsin, etc). It is easy to tell what answer Brooks is going for and not going and it is a bit later in the film that Brooks gets the answer he wants and that the viewer knows is a key turning point.

One would think that knowing exactly how the movie has to end would rob "Miracle" of dramatic tension. Somehow the director is able to make the viewer doubt that this team really is good enough to win in the Olympics at all, let alone to face the mighty Soviet squad which had won the previous four Gold medals for Hockey. Even when we get to the Gold Medal match is the ending in doubt. The US may have won their previous games, but these are the mighty Soviets. So much credit has to go to the filmmakers, the actors, the director, and the editor for cutting this film together in such a way that even knowing the ending does not lessen the impact of the ending, the emotion of the ending.

It is clear that I like this movie. It is a "feel good" movie in the best sense of the phrase because it isn't sappy and sweet, but a hard played game that brought out the best in the players and the underdog (which the United States is not used to being) is able to come out on top in the end.

Riding Giants

Director Stacy Peralta's first major film was the documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys", a film detailing the history of skateboarding in America and how the big skating boom came about and those pioneers of which he was a member. Peralta followed up
"Dogtown" with "Riding Giants", a film which is semi-related in theme because "Riding Giants" traces the history of Big Wave surfing with a look at the early pioneers as well as where Big Wave is today.

There are really two kinds of serious surfing. There is the short wave surfing which we may see on television and competitions where there is a lot of flash and tricks and perhaps this is even where the glory is (movies like "Blue Crush" cover this end of the surfing world). Then there is Big Wave surfing where the surfer needs to get farther off shore to catch a wave that crests higher and breaks harder and may have another wave just as big right behind it so you better not mess up. Peralta tracks the origins and history of Big Wave surfing where guys (it is usually men) are constantly seeking a better wave, a more perfect challenge. They first just paddle out to deeper water and the narration mentions a time where two men paddled out for two hours to reach the spot where they could catch the wave they wanted. Then Peralta shows how Big Wave has changed with different surfing locations and when Jet Skis were used to start towing the surfer into the wave.

I imagine that most people know very little about surfing or Big Wave surfing. I freely admit that nearly everything that I know about surfing came from "Blue Crush" and maybe one or two broadcasts of a surfing competition on television. There are two ways that "Riding Giants" is a success as a film. The first is that the documentary is informative while being entertaining about the history and the present and possibly the future of Big Wave surfing. It's a world, a lifestyle, and a culture that I had never considered. The second way is that this is a beautiful looking movie. The sight of these big waves rolling in and the men attempting and in many cases succeeding in surfing the waves is incredible. This is fairly short documentary, perhaps an hour and a half, so there is not a large time commitment and I think it is one worth making.

Sin City: Recut, Extended, and Unrated

There comes a time when a review of the movie will have no impact on whether or not a person will see the movie in the theatre, or even buy a DVD of the movie. I think Sin City is one of these movies because in general, Sin City is a "love it" or "hate it" movie for critics and fans alike. Strangely, I was in the middle when I saw Sin City in the theatre. I was impressed with the visual style, and I liked the look of the movie, the sound of the movie, the hard bitten over the top language and action of Sin City. I admired what the director, Robert Rodriguez did in bringing Frank Miller's graphic novels to life. But I didn't love the movie. Since that time I've read the graphic novels and I've now watched this special edition extended recut DVD of Sin City and I've changed my mind somewhat. I'm even more impressed and I like the movie a whole lot more.

The question is why. I think the first and biggest reason is how this DVD is presented. It offers up the theatrical version of the film, which I feel is essential in any DVD edition which gives us an extended or director's cut. Let us compare. Robert Rodriguez does. The second disc of this set includes the extended and recut edition of the movie, but it's not like your typical extended edition. Since Sin City is based on several Frank Miller books and tells four different stories that slightly overlap, the recut version of the film is now four short films each with its own title card and each one has to be selected separately on the menu. I love it. This works far better for me because we get short films that are self contained and tell a complete story and I don't have to sit through two hours of film just to watch the 40 minute Marv segment "A Hard Goodbye". Even after watching the theatrical version, I'm not sure where the twenty minutes of extended footage came from. It's probably just 15 seconds here and 30 seconds there and not big new scenes. I can completely skip the short Josh Hartnett section if I want. This is the way I want to watch the film.

Besides this recut version of the film, there are also some quality bonus features included on the DVD. First up is Robert Rodriguez's "15 Minute Flic School". In this featurette director Rodriguez talks about how he decided to make Sin City after looking through his graphic novels and saw that shooting the film would both be possible and a challenge. He talks about specific ways that he was able to save money in the making of the movie as well as how few of the major actors were actually on set at the same time, even if they have scenes together. This is a very interesting look in how this man makes his movies. Next up is the "All Green Version" of Sin City. This is the Green Screen version of the movie and Rodriguez introduces it, saying that he sped the film up 300 times or so in order that we can watch the entire movie in 10 to 15 minutes, but it gives us the chance to see how little the actors had to work with and how much work went into getting what we see on screen to actually be there. This is a neat feature and it is remarkable how good of a job the actors did with so little on set. We also get to see "The Long Shot" where we see an on set take with some background footage where Rodriguez and guest director Quentin Tarantino just let the cameras roll for 15 to 20 minutes and keep the scene going. We see some of what Tarantino says to the actors, what actually made it into the movie, and how the actors work and figure out how to play a scene. This is another great feature.

Another feature is the Sin City concert. This is actually just a one song clip from Bruce Willis and his band The Accelerators doing a performance for the cast and crew of Sin City as well as Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly which was filming nearby. Surprisingly enough, Willis is quite good as is his band. Good stuff here. The last feature on disc two is a 10 minute cooking lesson from director Robert Rodriguez. Here we see Rodriguez explain how to make his homemade breakfast tacos. It looks good and I understand that he does this on his other DVDs as well.

The first disc of this set is the theatrical version of the film with other special features. Besides the commentary track, the other features are the obligatory “the cars of Sin City”, “the props of Sin City” and other related informative but not nearly as interesting as the disc two features. Two that are interesting are the story of how Rodriguez convinced Frank Miller to let him do the film and Quentin Tarantino as guest director for a scene in the movie. The rest are fairly stock features.

Overall this is an excellent set that really is worth owning if you are at all a fan of Sin City. This set does the movie and the books proud.

ANTM Cycle 5 Finale

Last night was the season finale for Cycle 5 of America's Next Top Model. This season there was nobody who really felt strong enough to win. Granted, I felt the same last year and thought Kahlen would win and I was wrong then, too. The final three were Bre, Nik, and Nicole. I figured, and my wife figured, that the Final Two would be Nik and Bre. But when the first cut came around, out goes Bre. Leading into that cut I had a strong feeling that Nicole would stay and that Bre would go, even though Nicole froze up during the commercial taping. But Nicole's Covergirl picture was quite a bit better than the other two. Her smile is better. So, Nicole and Nik. Nik seemed to be more polished and a better overall model and even improved throughout the competition and did very well during the commercial (unlike the first commercial weeks ago).

And yet...Nicole wins. Okay. Like I said, nobody felt like they should have won. I'm curious how the winners and non-winners compare against other seasons. Like, would Nicole win against Naima? I don't think Naima should have won, anyway, so I'd still probably stack the models as Kahlen, Bre, Nik, Nicole, Naima...but if they competed at the same time maybe I'd feel differently. I do think I'd pick Yoanna as the best overall that we've had.

So...are the previous winners still working? Adrienne apparently isn't since she's done The Surreal Life and then a tv show about dating Peter Brady. Eva is, I think, because she's popped up a few times during this season and was on that Kevin Hill show a bit. Naima is still under contract, I think, so she's still promised a job. But...where is Yoanna? Is she working in Bangladesh or in Europe or working not as a model but in the industry? She seemed to have the most knowledge and desire to be a model as any of the others did.

Just curious on this one. But probably not enough to try to find out.

Passing on Shoah

I've had the documentary "Shoah" out from the library for a week or so now and I tried to watch the first disc last night. I made it 20 minutes into the film before I knew that this just wasn't the time to watch it. This is a four disc, 9 hour 30 minute documentary on the Holocaust and is comprised entirely of first person accounts by the survivors of what happened to them. It is something that I've wanted to watch since the Spring of 2000 when Professor Kugler showed 40 minutes of the film in his class on Nazi Germany. I'm putting the movie back in my queue and I'll get back to it in another year or so and I suspect when I do I'll be more ready to watch it.

Some historians and some Jewish people object to the term "Holocaust" because the word means a "burnt offering" and in the Old Testament sense of the word when the Jews would sacrifice and offer a burnt offering to God, that was a holocaust and to say that the six million murdered Jews were a sacrifice, a burnt offering up to God is something that can be deeply offensive. Instead, the word "Shoah" to describe what happened. "Shoah" is a Hebrew word for "Catastrophe".

There's your history and linguistic lesson for the day.

Porco Rosso

One of director Hayao Miyazaki's ("Spirited Away", "Princess Mononoke") earlier works is a film called "Porco Rosso". "Porco Rosso", like his other films, is an animated movie and this one features a pig as an ace pilot and bounty hunter. But before we think this movie is going to veer into the territory of Looney Tunes, Porco is the only character in the movie who is not human and we learn later midway through the movie that he used to be human but seems to be cursed in some way. The rest of the film is grounded a sense of reality, though a slightly skewed reality.

Porco (voiced by an unrecognizable Michael Keaton) is a sea-plane pilot and a bounty hunter. He works for money and usually to protect others (still for pay, not out of any generosity of spirit as he claims he has none). Early in the film we see Porco foil a kidnapping by a bumbling sea-plane pirate gang, and the pirate leaders from the region are out to put a stop to Porco's success against them. They bring in this American pilot (voiced by Cary Elwes), one of the fastest in the world. The American's job is to make Porco look silly and to put him out of a job, if not kill Porco.

"Porco Rosso's" storyline does not progress the way I would have expected. Even though the film clocks in at 90 minutes, "Porco Rosso" has a leisurely pace that feels as if Miyazaki knows exactly where he is going and is in no hurry to get there. I was surprised by just how much humor there is in the movie. The pirates bungle and bumble quite often, but they also drop these throw away lines that are simply funny, but only when you're watching the movie. Trying to list a series of these lines wouldn't be funny when one line that made me laugh was simply "okay", but it was when and how it was said that made the joke. The other thing about this movie was that I was interested in what happens to Porco, and what did happen to Porco, and what will happen. I cared about the character and also in his Engineer friend and the friend's granddaughter (voiced by Kimberly Williams) who is just as good of an engineer as any and a very important character.

Simply put, the movie worked. On all levels. Animation gives the false impression that it is automatically for children, and children can and would enjoy "Porco Rosso", but Miyazaki's films work for adults as well. This is just a good movie. Period. It joins "Princess Mononoke" and "Kiki's Delivery Service" as my favorites Miyazaki movies and is one I happily recommend.

Kronk's New Groove

Disclaimer: I have not seen "The Emperor's New Groove" and have no idea what the movie may be about, except that I imagine it has something to do with an emperor who finds a new groove. Whatever, exactly, that means.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way let's talk about the sequel to that movie: "Kronk's New Groove". Kronk, to the best of my understanding, is a secondary character from the first movie who now gets his own film with his own misadventures. Unfortunately, the storyline here is a bit unclear. We start out with Kronk sitting in a puddle of liquid cheese that seems to have exploded out of a building and made a huge mess out of everything. He tells us that he used to be somebody and that all of his troubles started earlier that day. We flash back to earlier that day, but the events in the movie seem to take place over several days so perhaps there is another flashback that I missed as well.

Kronk is a big lug of a muscle-bound man with a bigger heart and the respect of the townspeople. Somehow he gets mixed up with an evil sorceress who is peddling some "youth potion" that doesn't really work but folks get kind of addicted to, but Kronk didn't want to get involved in selling the potions but he does because he thinks the sorceress can help with Kronk making his father proud. But all this goes away pretty quickly and Kronk is living his life, working at a camp, being a cook and he meets this woman who is also at the camp and things go well, and then the don't, and then there is a big lesson learned and things may or may not be all good in the end depending on what you believe Disney will provide for an ending. Shocking, all of it shocking.

Or, not so shocking. Honestly, midway through the movie I wasn't sure what "Kronk's New Groove" was all about. After the movie was over I wasn't sure what "Kronk's New Groove" was all about. As I'm writing this review the next morning, I'm not sure what "Kronk's New Groove" is all about. If I can't even say with any real certainty what the point of the movie is, I can't recommend it. There were too many musical montages, the movie didn't seem to have a point, the jokes weren't funny, and it was all fairly dull and unoriginal.

There are a couple of bonus features on the DVD. First off are two "games". The first game makes no sense at all, but is kind of funny. You are to help Kronk complete three tasks by selecting items that will help him in the task. Kronk then goes through a description of how that item will help in the task and then says whether or not the idea will work. Let's just say that the descriptions of how the items will help are by far the most creative and entertaining part of the movie. The second game is "Pyramid Scheme" where you need to amass a certain number of points by answering three questions to move to the next round. The questions are about the movie and also a little bit about the Incas. I answered all of the questions correctly, so it wasn't too difficult. The other bonus feature is a short documentary about how the movie was made. Not as funny as it was intended to be.

Here's the bottom line: I am a 26 year old male and I normally like Disney's animated movies. "Kronk's New Groove" did nothing for me because I believe it is really intended only for children. Children younger than the age of 10 will likely love this movie as it has bright colors, some silly jokes, exploding cheese, a nice moral message at the end about family and friends, and it should be fun for the youngsters. So, parents should feel safe buying this DVD for their children. Personally, I think there are far better options out there for children's movies, but this is a very safe, harmless movie for kids. This movie will fit nicely into the children's market for which the movie is intended. Unfortunately, this is not one which adults will enjoy as much as the kids. It doesn't really work on that second level. And that's fine too.

Adult Grade: D +
Children's Grade: B- (I'm just guessing here, I don't have kids yet).

Hawkmoon

Michael Moorcock is best known for being the author of the Eternal Champion series in the fantasy genre. He has written other things, of course, but the size and scope of Eternal Champion and its impact on the fantasy genre is Moorcock's true legacy. This is a fantasy series spanning decades in the man's career. Started back in the 1960's (I believe), Moorcock has only recently published the final Eternal Champion novel. Most of the books have been collected in omnibus editions which group the novels by theme or character.

The Eternal Champion is a warrior who has had multiple incarnations in various eras, worlds, dimensions, times, and has fought for Balance in the multi-verse (multiple universes). Some of the aspects has known that there have been other lives, others have not. This volume, "Hawkmoon" is the third Eternal Champion omnibus out of...thirteen (?). It collects four short novels about the Hawkmoon aspect of the Eternal Champion who is fighting in an alternate Earth against the Granbretons (Great Britain) invaders of Europe and their Dark Empire which has nearly conquered the globe. There are swords, and magic, and wondrous beasts, and great valor, magic talismans, and darkest evil, and grand adventure. In short, "Hawkmoon" is a collection of some classic pulp fantasy from the past.

Moorcock is able to spin these stories in such a way that I remained interested the entire time. There are heroes and villains, but the lines aren't always as clear as we initially think for some characters but others are fairly stock with the classic heroes of Count Brass and the classic villain of Granbreton's evil empire of insane warriors. It works, though. While a whole lot of bad, nasty things happen in these books, they are fun. They a fast paced classic fantasy in which a Conan character would not be out of place, but Moorcock's writing is still good.

It has been suggested that Moorcock only wrote the Eternal Champion novels so that he would have the financial freedom to work on other, less successful projects that he cared more about. That may be so, but Moorcock has also created a lasting series of fantasy which has impacted the genre and other authors.

I gave this series a try after seeing so many online recommendations of Moorcock's work, and in general I have truly enjoyed it (though less so for the "Von Bek" volume). There is no question that I'm going to continue on with this series which only seems to be available via Interlibrary Loan at my library.

Control Room

My perception of the Al Jazeera television network was that this is the network that broadcasts the Osama Bin Ladin messages and that it is the most popular news network in the Arab world. This is, of course, filtered through a very American lens. It is difficult to say what the reality of the network is without actually being a part of that world or even that network, but "Control Room" attempts to bring us that perspective. We are invited into the world of Al Jazeera where the network producer tells the viewer that it is his job, his passion to have an entirely fair news broadcast that presents different viewpoints and gives voice to those who are willing to speak. The network has criticized Arab governments and has been officially banned in several nations. It sounds so democratic.

At the same time the people at the network are talking up Al Jazeera there are clips from speeches and press conferences held by Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush saying that what Al Jazeera is doing is wrong and it isn't balanced and that the network is trying to undermine the war in Iraq (this film was shot in the early days of the US invasion) by showing the violence and aftershocks of the violence and that the network is distorting the truth. Al Jazeera counters with saying that they are only showing reality and that United States can't have it both ways, to have a war and also to be shown as entirely peaceful. This is as much of a clash of ideology as it is about the truth in Broadcasting.

The Army's press liaison asks an Al Jazeera newsman if the people at the network can be entirely unbiased and report only the truth with no shadings of interpretation. The newsman counters by asking if the Americans can do this. Of course, we know the answer is no. Fox News and CNN and all of the other channels shade the reports, especially in the early stages, with Pro-American slants. It is expected, though not truly "fair". I think that the issue the United States officials and military has with Al Jazeera is that it doesn't blindly support the United States and that it does offer differing perspectives and that it does give voice to those the US finds offensive. Perhaps even the network is Anti-American, though the film does not truly give that opinion. The perspective the film is showing us is that Al Jazeera is a truly free network and possibly the only truly fair network. But even that is spin.

"Control Room" is an excellent documentary and gives a rare look into a world Americans never see and a network that Americans only hear rumors about. Here is another side of the story, one that is worth watching, and one that is well worth learning about.

Kronk Quickie

I watched my review copy of Kronk's New Groove today. Not so good. Now I just have to figure out what to say about it. Ah well. Sin City has to be done this week, too.

ANTM, Lost, Clean House

I am so glad Jayla got the boot. She should have been gone weeks ago. It's been bugging me in the judging room at the end that the judges have been saying that she's so beautiful in person...yabbut, she looks bored in every picture. And she's a bit of a punk trying to tear down Nik by saying Nik has the same expression in every picture. Hello!? Pot? Kettle? Black. This year that isn't even a fair complain because nearly every girl gives the same expression. I really liked Kim and wished she lasted another week, but she had the same problem. Kim, at least, brought a different look to the table whereas Jayla just looks boring and like a poor reflection of dozens of other print models.

The finals? Should be Bre and Nik. My wife has been a big fan of Bre for some time now while I've been wavering on her all season. The editors showed some personality, then showed Bre acting out and acting in such a way that I wouldn't want her representing my product...if I had a product. Nik has steadily improved and is taking some of the better pictures right now, but she has no personality. Bre is all personality, but it is semi-negative. Bre also takes very good pictures. Nicole is just boring. My wife has hated her since the first episode where Nicole said that her sister was jealous that she was the pretty one in the family. I just don't see that her pictures are that good or that powerful. She's pretty enough, I guess, but this is a modeling competition, so there aren't going to be any fugly girls on the show. Nicole doesn't seem to bring anything original or different or strong or anything that is better than the other two girls.

And that's why Nicole will be one of the final two. I'm just not sure which one she'll replace.

Sandy has been saying all along that Bre is probably going to win and that there is a good reason her picture has been in the center of the cast photo at the end of every episode and how strong of a picture it is. Something to think about.

Something else to think about? Lost. What the hell is up with that horse? I mean, the polar bear is one thing, and the fact that even though I don't remember white and black stones folks are curious about them, but the horse? And that Kate saw it when she first escaped from the FBI/police? I'm baffled.

The missing part of the filmstrip is confusing, too. So...don't communicate with anyone else with the computer. But, they can't. Locke couldn't type anything else. At least, not until Michael was communicated to by...somebody. It's not Walt, so let's get that out of our mind right now. And what was this previous Incident? Last book I read that had an "incident" had the biblical plague of the first born, but I don't think that's where JJ Abrams is going with this. Decent episode, but we're going to get two episodes of filler from this before we find out anything about Michael's "message" from "Walt". Just wait.

This morning I was watching some sort of show called "Clean House", or something like that. It's on the Style Network, a channel that I've never, ever, ever watched. But, Sandy and I cancelled our cable yesterday so we can get the Dish Network on Saturday and save a good $50 per month on the cable bill. But the cable is still on even though we don't have the cable boxes anymore. The living room has all the channels (except we can't get to IFC because it is 371 and the tv only goes to 99 or so), but the tv room with my old tv doesn't. It's easier for the cable company to switch off my cable rather than the main tv because they can turn off our line to the one tv, but the technician needs to shut off the household doing some work outside, and that's on the 8th of December. But, I still have CNN and TBS and AMC. Channels 2-11 are all the same, but AMC is now 14 rather than 60 something. And I have 2-24, but no ESPN. And that's why I watching Style this morning. So, this show Clean House was about having a team come in and totally revamp the household of this woman. They take her possessions (almost all of them), sell them in a garage sale and restock her house with a whole new set up. Some furniture went, much "stuff" and then they repainted. Ugh, the dining room was some purple color and this other room was "daquiri", which is a sea greenish color. It looked nice, but nothing I'd want to live in. Sure, they made a nice looking house and removed clutter (and removing clutter is a good thing, I'm finding), but it's not "home". It wouldn't be the comfortable home that Sandy and I made, ya know? Sure, remove clutter and clean things up, but some things are home and just replacing everything kind of gives it this "hotel" feeling. Not anything I ever want to do.

Blue Like Jazz

"Blue Like Jazz" questions the very notion of what it means to be a Christian. Donald Miller writes about faith with a variety of topics on coming to faith, why to have faith, how Christ can transform, what to do with that faith and how to live a life as a Christian. Other than the last chapter of the book where Miller writes that if Ani Difranco wasn't a lesbian he would marry her, what interested me most was how Miller's perspective on being a Christian did not really come from a sense of organized Christianity as an institution. While he was a Christian and went to church and was even a youth group leader Donald Miller knew that there was something lacking. He believed in his head and he knows that Jesus was God, but he didn't truly believe in his heart. He didn't truly believe with his life. The organization of the church was telling him one thing, but it wasn't quite right for him.

There are several very interesting chapters dealing different aspects of faith that focus on Miller's time at Reed College. Reed is a college that people at his church and other believers declared was extremely immoral and that the college was voted "most likely to not believe in God". That much is true, but it was also a strong intellectual school. When Miller started attending, he met up with some Christians at the school who were essentially an "Underground" group of believers. They talked seriously of what it meant to believe and live for Christ and it was a transformative kind of living, more than just attending church on Sunday it was living as a follower on Monday and Tuesday and every other day. One of Miller's friends believed that feeding the homeless meant more than just giving some money to a homeless shelter, that it really meant to actually go out and feed the homeless, to give them food directly, to sit and talk and share a meal with them. To minister with more than just words and preaching, but by truly loving those whom society does not love. It's a sacrifice that takes a person well out of what they think their comfort zone is. It's a challenge.

The aspect of Miller's time at Reed that I found most fascinating was during the college's weekend party, drunken orgy. It is some sort of festival that most would probably see as one of the more decedent displays anywhere in America. Accepted public nudity, drunkeness, lewdness and this is the norm for that weekend. What Miller and his friends decided to do was set up a Confession Booth in the campus's common area. They expected harassment and perhaps abuse, verbal and physical. Christians are not generally accepted at Reed. But this was a different and revolutionary Confession Booth. The Christians confessed to the Pagans. Donald writes about how they would confess how they were not truly feeding the poor, how he has anger issues and lashes out verbally when he feels threatened and that in general they and many others are not good representations of Christ. And change happened after this. Their activities (feeding the poor, Bible studies for non-believers, etc) gained a measure of respect and more involvement from other students. This isn't to say that the entire school changed, because it didn't, but that a raw Christian faith can find a seed anywhere.

But this raw Christian faith is about truly living a different sort of life, that we as individuals and we as a nation cannot hope to fix the world if we don't see the world differently, that we try to heal ourselves first and that what is wrong with the world isn't the world, it is me and it is you. Saying that hunger and homelessness is a problem isn't enough if we aren't actually trying to do anything about it. If everyone gave $20 a month or whatever to various organizations within America (or worldwide), so many lives could be saved. If everyone stopped the "me first" attitude which is so prevalent and so easily glossed over, there could be radical change. But it comes first from not worrying that the other person isn't changing when we aren't changing, when I'm not changing, because if I change then I'm not worrying that someone else is being selfish...I'm working for change.

But this is a frightening idea because it is easy to be comfortable and just deal with our own issues and we all have issues. To move beyond this is a radical step. It comes from a true change and dedication inside and the daring to move beyond the fear and into the faith.

That's kind of what this whole book is about, but it is also Donald Miller writing about a non-religious but highly spiritual perspective on Christian Faith and that this is so important today. When asked by a radio host to defend Christianity, he couldn't and wouldn't because he didn't know what Christianity and any ten people would have ten different ideas of what Christianity is. But he could talk about Christ and what Christ means to him.

Reminds me of a song by Sara Groves called "Conversations" where near the end of the song where she sings about trying to tell a friend about Jesus and she closes the song with a variation of her chorus "The only thing that isn't meaningless to me is Jesus Christ and the way he set me free. This is all that I have, this is all that I am." This is the root of her belief and is the root of what Miller is trying to say.

Two Mules, Bobby Long

I was able to get in a couple of movies this weekend. The first movie is the Clint Eastwood western "Two Mules for Sister Sara". In this one he teams up with Shirley MacLaine. While this isn't a pairing that immediately comes to mind for Eastwood during his Western Days, it isn't nearly as strange as Eastwood teaming up with a monkey, so it all works out. Here's the set-up: MacLaine is set upon by some bandits and Eastwood happens to come and rescue her. She is initially in a state of undress and Eastwood is his gruff self and plans on just leaving her. But when she gets dressed she is a nun! In full habit nonetheless. Somehow they start to travel together and there are some conflicts and neither can seem to leave the other until the movie ends in a big gun battle with some Mexican soldiers. It's a decent western and entertaining. Eastwood is exactly what you'd expect from him in a western, but MacLaine was spunky and worked very well with Eastwood and it was a good role for her and a good fit for the movie. I liked it!

The second movie is one that netflix had shipped me by mistake. I cancelled last week but I guess "A Love Song for Bobby Long" had already shipped. I made sure I watched it right away so I could send it back. Wasn't sure what I'd think about this movie. John Travolta seems to be hit and miss these days with perhaps a few more misses than hits. I believe I had heard some semi-good things about the movie but it pretty much slipped under the radar except that Scarlett Johansson has been turning in good work, this included.

The basic plot is that Scarlett's mother has just died and when she is told she tries to make it to the funeral in time. She doesn't, but she finds out that her mother has left the house to her and two men. The two men are Travolta, who plays Bobby Long, a former college English professor, and a former student of his. They seem to get by without paying rent and just existing, talking about literature and drinking bad alcohol. When Scarlett begins to live with them things start to change and we see how their relationships evolve and how the student cares for the professor and why Bobby Long seems to be broken and how everyone is broken in some way. "A Love Song for Bobby Long" is less a movie about plot than it is about the characters and how they relate, grow, and learn. Character growth and development. It's one of those movies. Nothing explodes on screen, but their lives seem to be on the verge of explosion. I was surprised by how moving it was and how good everyone is. Johansson, if she can stay away from doing another Michael Bay movie, is turning out to be one of our better young actresses and Travolta can prove from time to time that he's quite good. It's not going to make a "Best Of" list, but it's a decent movie. I'm not mad I watched it. How bout that?

Blood Follows

Steven Erikson's series "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" is widely considered one of today's Great Fantasy Series and he is often listed at or near the top of the list of the best fantasy authors writing today. He's good, but it'll take a few more books until I'm willing to anoint him above a certain George Martin. Thus far only three of his Malazan novels have been published in America and I'm waiting for the third volume, "The Memories of Ice", to come from the library. It's possible that Book 4, "House of Chains", is out, but my library certainly doesn't have it yet. Anyway, along with the primary Malazan series Erikson is also writing a series of novellas set in this same world/universe, but featuring secondary characters which may or may not appear in the main series. As the Malazan books progress we'll see how they tie together or if they even do. "Blood Follows" is the first of these novellas and it is described as being "A Tale of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach".

Who? I don't know, either. Maybe they show up in "The Memories of Ice", but I can't say for sure yet. The story of "Blood Follows" touches up this Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, but the story the novella is telling is two fold. First we have Emancipor Reece, a former coachman for a local merchant who was just killed by this serial killer who has been eviscerating his victims one a night for the past eleven nights. Reece is now out of a job and his wife is commanding that he not come home until he finds one. He does, of course, and it is in the employ of a Bauchelain as his manservant. There is also a sergeant of the city watch who has been ordered by the King to stop the murders and bring the killer to justice. The sergeant is good at his job. Since Reece's last three employers all have ended up dead he is someone the sergeant first talks to, but his investigation also takes him to the foreigners Bauchelain and the so far unseen Korbal Broach.

The novella is only 120 pages or so and Erikson does not have the space to indulge in slowing teasing the reader with little bits of detail across hundreds of pages and "Blood Follows" reads easier than the main Malazan books. It doesn't have the depth of satisfaction or richness as the Malazan books but it does add something to the world, that there is something else going on that may eventually tie in to the main story and how everything may connect. I'm actually looking forward to the novellas as much as I am the novels, if as much because the novellas are less of a time commitment. Finding out more about Bauchelain and Korbal Broach will be interesting and now that Reece has left the city with the two I can only wonder what darkness comes next.

Shadowed

With "Shadowed", author Jerry Jenkins brings to a close the trilogy he began with "Soon" and "Silenced". Jenkins is best known as the co-author of the "Left Behind" series and Jenkins was the writer of that series while Tim LaHaye provided the scriptural background. Here Jenkins is on his own and he tells a story set midway through the 21st Century. Several years from now there will be a World War III and it will be a war based on religion. Out of the ashes of this war will come a worldwide fear and distrust of religion and the new World Government that is created makes as one of its first act of completely banning religion of any kind. The world has lived in relative Godless peace but there are still pockets of underground believers.

"Soon" introduced us to Paul Stepola, a top agent with the National Peace Office and his job is to infiltrate cells of "believers" and arrest them, breaking up the Christians. To better do this he researches and researches and reads the contraband Bible and as he continues to work against the Christians he comes closer and closer to belief until he can no longer deny that there is a God and that Christ is Lord. But Paul still works for the NPO and his new fellow Christians asks if he will work from the inside as a double agent. He agrees. In "Silenced" Paul is working deeper inside and has aroused some suspicion but his "success" in various jobs has protected him even while Believers pray for various large scale miracles which God has delivered. Finally, near the end of "Silenced" the leader of the World Government is issuing a decree that within 60 Days every citizen must sign a statement that they publicly renounce religion. But for a Believer this is Peter denying Christ and they are not willing to do so. Paul knows that this is the end of his status as a double agent when the 60 Days is up and he doesn't sign. The Believers give an ultimatum. If the decree is not rescinded they will pray that God will unleash the 10th Plague of the plagues that inflicted Egypt in the time of Pharoah: The Plague of the First Born. The decree is not rescinded and God unleashes the plague and every first born male on the planet who is not a believer or have a believer as a parent drops dead.

And so we begin "Shadowed". Paul is known to be a first born son and when Paul and his own first born son are still alive he needs to go in hiding. Paul's father in law is also a high ranking NPO official and one who is vehemently anti-religion and is grieving for his own adult son. Paul goes on the run to a underground group of believers and his wife, Jae, also comes to profess faith in Christ.

Since this is written by a Christian author and the Christians are the good guys we know that God will come through and things will change. Nobody on the planet can deny there is a God, but they still do not all worship. This "Incident" as it is called is the last major event of the series, though there is still a little bit of action as the Christians gain more worldwide support.

Yadda.

I finished this book because I started the series and if it is at all readable I want to finish. This book and this series suffers from the same issues that plague (pun intended) the Left Behind series: bad writing. Jenkins can come up with some interesting ideas and he writes in such an easy style that the books go by very quickly...but they aren't very good. Everything is so simplistic and one sided and heavy handed in his novels (and I can say this after reading 12 Left Behind Books, 1 Left Behind prequel, and these 3 Underground Zealot novels). There is enough compelling ideas in the story that I want to see how he delivers the conclusion of the story and how he gets there, but there is a lot of cringing and wishing that the craft improves. But he isn't that kind of writer and this isn't that kind of a book. "Shadowed" is lightweight (though semi-violent and semi-graphic) fiction with a Christian perspective, but I wouldn't hold this book up as something to celebrate how "Christian" fiction can be just as good as the best of "secular" fiction. There's just a little too much sugar here for it to be good for you.