Thor

I was able to drag John out of the house and to the movie theater yesterday so I could see "Thor."  I know, I know, it's a bad movie, but it was enjoyable and I love super heroes.  :)   There are numerous reviews out there, so not to bore you, I will sum it all up quickly:  it was stupid & fun & I can't wait for more shirtless Chris Hemsworth ... wait, I mean, the Avengers movie.   ;)

No, really, I am a comic book dork, but I just don't know enough about Marvel's Thor mythology to get picky about details.  I could have written you a thesis paper when Batman Begins came out, but I really don't know enough about Thor to say anything.  .... The movie did have about 30 seconds of Sleipnir, so that made me happy.  And I always love Anthony Hopkins.  But other than issues I have with the movie industry as a whole*, I don't really have any witty review that isn't out on the internet already.

* Specifically, why do we need to zoom in so close on a person's face that we can see their eye-boogers?  Or the fact that more CGI shiny lights and swooshes do NOT make a movie better?  Or how about investing in a steady-cam for the fight scenes so we can actually see what is happening?  Or at the end of the movie, how did Natalie Portman suddenly grow 8inches so she could kiss him easily?  ... Okay, okay, maybe that last one stems more from my personal life of dating someone 10inches taller than me.  But the fact still remains, short girls cannot kiss tall boys without the boy exerting a lot of effort to squat down!  (getting off my soap box of craziness) Anyways....

What I do want to talk about today is the movie previews we saw.  Now, I like going to the movies, but I LOVE movie trailers.  (There's a "show" on some DirecTV channel that is simply 30min of movie trailers!  How awesome is that?!)  And I was pleasantly surprised that there were mostly good trailers for what is coming up this summer.  Not to say that there are pieces of poopoo, too, but I like the surge of comic book movies coming out now.

Cowboys & Aliens  - AWESOME!  How can you go wrong with cowboys & aliens?  Wait for it... There's Daniel Craig & Harrison Ford starring.  (squeee!)

Immortals - Pile of poopoo.  They are trying to capitalize on the success of 300, Clash of the Titans, and Spartacus and make another Greek "mythology" movie.  This one's about Theseus, but I saw not a single image of a minotaur anywhere.  (Angry at it already)

Green Lantern - MORE AWESOME!  Not to get too dorky on you, but I have reservations about this movie that are balanced out by how much I absolutely love Ryan Reynolds.  I prefer Kyle as GL, but I think Ryan Reynolds will make Hal Jordan likable.  How can you not laugh at, "Oath? Well, everyone knows the oath... I pledge allegiance / to the ring / that I got from a dying purple alien..."

Super 8 - Not sure what exactly is going on in this movie.  I would have sworn that it was an M. Night Shyamalan movie from watching the trailer (it's not).  You know how he never really shows you what it happening, but there is a bunch of crazy stuff and maybe monsters, and chaos. Not cool.

Captain America - EVEN MORE AWESOME!  Again, they are taking "not my favorite superhero" and combining it with "actors I really like."  It's almost as if they are catering to me personally.  :)   I am really hoping that there is some "Sergeant Logan" he runs with in the War, just as a nod to X-Men history.  (Hey, "Mr Stark" flipped the switch on the gizmo that changed him, why can't we have Logan, too?)

Colombiana - More poopoo.  I can tell you the entire plot in a few words from the trailer: "From those who brought you La Femme Nikita."  It's basically a Hispanic Nikita kicking butt. Nothing new or interesting at all.


I've already told John to prepare himself for taking me to numerous bad movies this summer.  AND I'M GOING TO LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!   :D   (breathing into paper bag to calm hyperventilations)

New Toy Semi-Review

So it's been about a month since I became one of the Followers of the Church of Crackberry (ie - bought a Blackberry).  I really blame Verizon and it's tempting offers: they frequently / periodically run a "buy a Blackberry for $50, get a Blackberry free," and about a month ago, Lara was in the market for a new phone and I noticed the ad.  I was getting tired of all the quirks in my old smartphone, and thought it would be a good deal for the two of us.  I mean, $25 for a Blackberry is hard to beat!  However, Verizon hates it's loyal, long-time customers and shut me down because the deal was only for new contracts, and no matter how I finagled it, they would not extend my contract or whatever to make me eligible.  Seriously?!  Why can't I be rewarded like new people?  Apparently years of loyalty mean nothing when you want a damn phone.  Only the people who have recently defected from another carrier get the special deals.  Maybe they should think about keeping the old customers so that THEY won't defect to ANOTHER carrier before they think about trying to steal new people away.... (deep sigh) Anyways, the story ends with Lara and Mom getting a phone for her, but I had to spend more money than I needed to at the time to buy my phone on eBay.  :(  Youngest sibling karma, I say. 

Yes, I got the pink one!  I am so girly.  I justify it by 1) I am a girl and 2) everyone has a silver phone so mine will stand out.

Well, all's well that ends well apparently, as I am hooked to my new Crackberry.  :D  That's not to say it isn't trifling in its own special little way, but I do like it better than my old phone.  Its OS is not as intuitive as Windows, but that's because Blackberry had to make up something different so that they wouldn't get sued by Microsoft.  That's probably my biggest gripe; that, and that I have found less free apps and games.  The Netlfix for Blackberry is far inferior than the Windows version, and I have yet to find a Solitaire that doesn't suck compared to my old one.  :(  For some reason, I have an aversion to paying for apps... even though there is a $5 Blackberry version of Oregon Trail!

The "pluses" are pretty significant though.  The internal antenna is better, so new phone gets better reception - like, "I can get reception in our room at work and don't need to huddle by the window" better reception.  :)   And the screen is set up for viewing better, plus there is no portrait-landscape orientation changes on the screen, so the programs bug out less often.  The internet browser is OK; I am used to running Mozilla on my computer, so anything on my phone will be worse for me until they can get Firefox on phones.  :P  AND, best of all, there's this thing called Blackberry Messenger that works just like AIM between Blackberry owners.  This means that Lara and I can communicate all we want and not rack up texts since it runs off the data plan. Yay!

I did rush out and buy a cover (because I am a clutz), and I think it's a nifty one.  Lara says it makes me both girly and coordinated.  I just know that I like it and it matches my phone.  :)

SQUEAL!

We are now officially playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.  And by "we," I mean John is playing and I am sitting here with imdb.com open, checking out all the voice actors as they come.  :)  Hey, Lara's not laughing at me when I say that.  Well, I won't go deep into the game-review of it all, since there are thousands of them out there done by more gamer-techie people (and since we just started playing and aren't too far into the game).  Needless to say, the game is deeeeelicious and the mechanics are very visually attractive.  So here's a run-down of all the yummy yummy voices (a topic I feel is just as important as anything else):

 - Kevin Conroy = Batman.  And that's not just a little symbol, Kevin Conroy IS Batman.  If you grew up watching any (and I do mean ANY) animated Batman series since 1992, then Kevin Conroy is the voice.  He is delicious!  Seriously, he could read me the phone book, in his Batman voice or not.  mmmm...  (Anne goes to her happy place)

- Mark Hamill - Joker.  Yes, I do mean Mark Hamill as in Luke Skywalker.  Apparently being a Jedi lets you tap into deep reserves of crazy.  And, he is the voice of Joker since forever.  And don't worry if you can't hear Luke in it, I never have been able to.

 - Arleen Sorkin - Harleen Quinzel.  She, too, has been the voice of Harley Quinn since 1993.  The game producers hold a special place in my heart for raiding the Andrea Romano voice actors.

- Tom Kane - Commissioner Jim Gordon / Warden Quincy Sharp / Amadeus Arkham / Louie Green.  Most recently he's been Mr Herriman of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, but he's also been Magneto in the new Wolverine and the X-Men, Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Professor Utonium from Powerpuff Girls, and Lord Monkey Fist from Kim Possible.... among many others (voice actors are whores for jobs, if you weren't aware).  Warden Sharp is pure Mr. Herriman; it's a little weird to listen to.  I keep seeing a very large bunny bouncing around.  Gordon at least is a little harsher and gravelly-er.

 - Steven Blum - Killer Croc / Ian Kennedy / Jordan Fraser.  Another delicious favorite of mine and Lara's.  He specializes in those dark, deep voiced guys AEB being Wolverine in 8 incarnations, Batman in the Lego Batman game, Mugen from Samurai Champloo, Roger Smith from Big O, and (our favorite) Spike from Cowboy Bebop. He also has major roles in .hack//, Naruto, Afro Samurai, Witch Hunter Robin, GTO, Yu Yu Hakusho, Fushigi Yuugi, 3x3 Eyes, and Wolf's Rain.  Like I said, voice actors get around.  Basically, if he's got a deep voice, the safe bet is that it's Steven Blum.

 - Danny Jacobs - Victor Zsasz / Frank Boles / Robert Stirling.  Not famous (most of his credits are "additional voices"), but funny because his main role was King Julien from the Madagascar tv series spinoff. You know, the effeminate, "I am the King! I have the hat!" lemur?  Yeaaahhhh.... not really lunatic material.

- Dino Andrade - The Scarecrow.  Not much interesting here, but he was Skull (the Troll) from PVP: The Animated Series.  Funny for the followers of  PVP.  :)

 - Tasia Valenzia - Poison Ivy / Martha Wayne.  She's been around, but nothing major.  Though, she was on a few different soap operas before she went to voice acting.  Arleen Sorkin was a soap actress, too.   What is it about soap stars becoming voice actors?  Should we look deep into our image-fixated society and suggest that women who can no longer be the pretty young thing in a TV show are forced into roles where they don't ever show their faces?

- Fred Tatasciore -  Bane / Carl Todd.  Apparently, another master of the "deep and gravelly" school of voices.  :)  His first 10 roles on imdb.com show Hulk, Bane, Solomon Grundy, and misc Transformers, haha; and he is Beast in the new Wolverine and the X-Men.  Must also be very flexible, as he is "misc" in a lot of shows, including Family Guy and Robot Chicken.



 - Cree Summers - Dr Penny Young. Easily recognizable as Numbah 5 from Codename Kids Next Door, Foxxy Love from Drawn Together, and Max from Batman Beyond.  But did you know she started out as Penny on Inspector Gadget before moving on to Elmyra in Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs?

 -Adrienne Barbeau - Arkham Voice / Gretchen Whistler.  First famous for Maude (before my time, sorry), but another classic B:AS voice: Catwoman!  I guess they still liked her, even though Selina wasn't in Arkham.

 - Chris Cox - Misc.  Besides GOBS of game voices, he was Seth McFarlane's George W. Bush voice for both Family Guy and American Dad. haha.

 - Roger Rose - Misc.  Lots of roles, but best to mention that he started out in 1962 in the original Jetsons.

 - Keith Ferguson - Stephen Kellerman / TV Voice.  Foster's Blooregard!  'nuff said.  (Wait, does that count as a DC/ Marvel crossover illegality?  Sorry)




Oh - and due to an in-game clip, be sure to check out http://arkhamcare.com/  They made a website for a fictional asylum!  How great it that?  (arkhamcare.com/prices is a hoot!)

BOOK REVIEW: Casting Spells

 

Casting Spells, by Barbara Bretton

Summary:  Chloe Hobbs runs a knitting shop in the bucolic Vermont town of Sugar Maple, a shop where "your yarn never tangles, you always get gauge, and the knitter sitting next to you comes out only after dark."  That's right, Sugar Maple is a secret haven for witches, faeries, vampires, and werewolves.  Chloe holds their entire future in her hands with the need to continue her family line, but a girl can still dream to meet Mr. Right... right?  But what happens when Mr. Right come to Sugar Maple in the form of an ordinary, human cop who's investigating Sugar Maple's first murder in hundreds of years? 

I don't know where I first saw this recommended, probably Interweave Knits or something like that,but hey, they got my three top topics: knitting, magic, and romance.  So it's been sitting on my To Read list for a while now, and I finally got around to it today.  (Don't worry, the romance is not smutty, bodice-buster romance novel quality, but they do do the nasty.)

Overall, it was enjoyable.  I churned through it in one sitting, so that says something for the "immersion" factor.  I found it a bit tricky in the start because Bretton uses first-person narrative (which is never my favorite to begin with) ... but with both her heroine and hero, seriously?!  It was a little rough for me getting used to the switching perspectives, but that wasn't a long-term concern.  I was able to get used to it eventually.  The plot moved along well, but I found myself at the end getting antsy wanting to find out the "will he stay or will he leave her" question that was hanging over the couple since they met.  But it was a cute and happy bit of story.

What was highly enjoyable for the knitter in me was all the references.  Bretton knits herself (Romancing the Yarn) and she used Wendy D. Johnson (Wendy Knits) and Dawn Brocco (DB Knitwear Designs) to help her out even more.  All the big yarn names are dropped in the book: Debby Bliss's Cashmerino, Cascade 220, Koigu, Lopi, Rowan, etc.  And the tone is great.  My favorite part was when Luke (the cop) first enters the shop:

I stepped deeper into the store, past a polished maple worktable piled high with pointed sticks and scissors and things that would never make it past airport security... (blah blah blah, describing the shop) I noticed a ball of something blue and fluffy and picked it up.  I squeezed it and the price tag jumped out, and I quickly put it back down again.  For one ball of yarn? This was worse than crack.  Get addicted to this stuff and you would be living in your minivan.

Sigh. So true, so true.  :)

(Followed in sequel by Laced with Magic that apparently continues Chloe's misadventures in love and magic)

REVIEW: Murder by Death

Plot a la Netflix:

Millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) invites the five most brilliant private eyes to a dinner that turns into a murder investigation with a million-dollar prize going to the one who solves the case. The all-star cast (working with an Oscar-nominated script by Neil Simon) includes Peter Falk, James Coco, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith and Eileen Brennan, all playing characters based on famous literary detectives.

...and by "based on famous literary detectives" they really mean obviously ripped-off spoofs! It is so funny if you are familiar with a few detectives enough to get the jokes. The detectives are James Coco as Milo Perrier (Agatha Christy's Hercule Poirot), Peter Falk as Sam Diamond (Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade), Else Lanchester as Jessica Marbles (Agatha Christy's Miss Marple), David Niven and Maggie Smith as Dick and Dora Charleston (Nick and Nora from The Thin Man), and Peter Sellers as Sidney Wang (Inspector Charlie Chan, complete with #3 son!). All the stereotype jokes are there, all the accents and caricatures and plot devices. It was super funny.

Overall, it is like the Clue movie, the same wit and face-paced dialogue. I can't say much more about the movie because the jokes aren't really funny when read because you miss delivery and accents. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this to anyone who has a passing knowledge of the detectives to be able to understand the inside jokes.

My Rating: 5 of 5! Highly enjoyable.

REVIEW: The Testament of Dr Mabuse

Netflix plot summary:
Seasoned criminal Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein Rogge) has been locked in an asylum for the past 10 years, straddling the line between life and death. One of his last projects involves a mysterious manifesto that sets in place a crime-filled future. Discovering that the creepy article's text seems to predict disturbing events, detective Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) tries to put together the pieces of this mind-bending case.

Admittedly, I am very hit or miss about old movies. I mean, I like certain ones (Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, Maltese Falcon), but others that are supposedly “classics” drive me crazy (Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane). And others took awhile to grow on me (Four Feathers). And it’s even more tentative with old foreign movies. The last old foreign movie I think I saw was something for a college class by Engmar Bergman and it was supposed to reflect a mythological story… and it didn’t, and it sucked. So I was a little trepidatious when Netflix recommended Testament of Dr Mabuse to me because 1933 German movies are not a part of my “all-time favorites” list. But I was intrigued by the mystery investigation part of the plot.

It took a bit to get into it, but was really enjoyable. I don’t want to give too much away (it IS a whodunit, after all), but it had much the same elements as many modern investigative movies / shows: a tough chief inspector, photographs taken of the crime scene, ballistic comparison evidence, a high-speed car chase / shoot out, and crime syndicate rings run by mentally unstable geniuses. There was also the required young couple who was being torn apart because the criminals were not releasing him from the gang, insane asylum patients who may or may not be faking it, explosions (that pre-date computer effects!), and a resolution that didn’t fully end the story (like how horror movies always have one last shot of the killer, or Law & Order episodes never resolve TOTALLY happily). So, though it was black and white and in German, it felt very much like any other crime thriller. One review I found calls is the "prototype thriller... back when they weren't cliches."

Overall, I’d rate it “highly enjoyable and a good candidate to own if I happened to run across it in stores.”

REVIEW: A History of Violence

Okay, so I saw this several weeks ago and wasn't going to post on it at all, but then I saw Lara's review of it. And I agree with her on the artistic and thought-producing aspects of the movie, but I just wasn't thrilled by it. When the movie was over, I felt like I had read Chapter One, and was waiting on the next installment. It just had this "and then what happened?" feel to the ending. I had to look at the clock to tell myself that an hour and a half had truly gone by, because it just felt like an episode of a show, rather than a full-length movie.

And I know that the sex scenes showed how the marital relationship had changed, but they just felt voyeuristic. Watching the first one felt like an intrusion on a couple's intimate moment, and the second one (being much angrier) felt like a weird fetish porno. I was uncomfortable watching both of them. I usually don't mind a gratuitous scene now and then (it gives you time to focus on your knitting for a moment), but these just weirded me out. As much as I love Viggo, and certainly don't mind a bum shot of him, these scenes were a waste.

What I did like about the movie (maybe the only redeeming thing for me), was how schizophrenic Tom Stall (Viggo's character) was in his fight scenes. It was so on/off for him to be serving coffee to a local, then punch the bad guy / whirl around / stab him in the foot / shoot the other guy / shoot the first guy ... aaannnd stick the dismount! The motions were ingrained enough in him that he didn't have to think about what he was doing. He was just fluid. Maybe that's my action movie -lover coming out, but whatever.

My rating: almost bad enough to want the time back. But maybe I just wasn't in a "thinky" mood. I was hoping for a more thoughtless flick.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Dark Knight

Unless you've been living under a rock... a rock on another planet.... I am sure you have heard of a little movie called The Dark Knight. Well, John found out that it was playing in IMAX theaters as well as in regular ones, so he looked online to see if we had any in the area (we actually have two, but one's across the water in Hampton). So I called ahead and got us tickets for Saturday at the Marine Science Museum (which, by the way, is a great place that has renamed itself the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center). The IMAX experience was both the best and worst of what I was expecting it to be: glorious "swooping between the buildings" shots where you got a little vertigo because it was so real, but it was also a little seizure-inducing during the fight scenes at the end where you just wanted to be about twenty feet further back. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and the movie.


I don't think that anything I will say will make someone change their mind about whether they will go and see it or not; this is one of those movies where the subject either is or isn't your cup of tea. But I will warn you that it is fairly dark subject matter: The idea of someone so crazy that they want to blow up a hospital just to see it burn. Forcing a literal "kill or be killed" situation onto innocent citizens. Trying to balance personal life with doing the right thing for the masses (in not just Batman's character). Lots of killing mobsters, threatening facial mutilation, and beating up bad guys. (And brace yourself for Two Face's bad side; they really went all out, and it's very similar to Jeff Loeb & Tim Sale's depiction in Dark Victory. It's one thing to see it drawn, but it's a whole different matter to see it on a real face talking to you.) In sum, it's more of a Frank Miller work than a Batman: The Animated Series episode.

Not that I enjoy B:TAS over Frank Miller, I like both characterizations equally. I just feel that there is dark, shallow, and violent, and there is deep, psychologically dark. Batman, I believe, is psychologically dark; but let's face it, as much as we love how stunted Batman is, if every comic and every episode was a foray into how he misses his parents, we'd all go crazy. Often I want to watch/ read the fluffy, action-hero plots that hint at how he is different from normal people, just enough so the kiddies can enjoy themselves, but the comic book dorks are happy on the inside (the animated Justice League recently has done well with that, I think). Though, to be able to do the lighter stories like that, you need to establish that Batman is indeed psychologically different. Dark Knight is really trying to develop that last push Batman gets that sends him fully into character. The main plot point of this movie is that he has to realize how much is needed to be sacrificed in order to be truly effective in Gotham; he can no longer try to separate Bruce Wayne from Batman.

I found a fairly good review online, and his main objection was that while Dark Knight was dark, it did not transcend into something greater than a fun summer movie. I considered that, and I am not sure yet if I agree if you could do a 'transcendent' Batman movie. I think the main issue with trying to portray Batman's pathology- and thus "be something more"- is that he is not a dynamic character, not even in the good comics. And by "dynamic," I mean that he does not interact much with the other characters. He is like the column in a room that does what it's supposed to do while the frantic activity goes on around it. In the comics, Batman is usually silent with only his mental narration letting us know what's going on (mainly because he rarely has anyone around him to talk to). Frequently, too, other characters step in and narrate for a few pages-- which I often find just as revealing of Batman's character as his own thoughts are. But such a mental monologue is impossible to do in a movie without being tremendously campy (Anyone watch Scrubs? They at least poke fun at the inner monologue while they do it). There is a pacing and a tempo in the panels of a comic book that I think would be very difficult to translate to the big screen, no matter how hard you tried. Believing that, I think that I am a little more lenient towards movie directors who are trying to develop comic book stories: I understand that it will not be as glorious as the first time I read Year One, but I am willing to go where they take me... so long as they don't drastically screw things up, like Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face referring to himself in the plural! Don't get me started on that travesty.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie tremendously (though I kind of want to see it on a small TV now, and not on IMAX, haha) Heath Ledger was glorious as the Joker (sooooo creepy), and Gary Oldman really came out of his shell as Gordon. Michael Caine can read the phone book for me, and I will love him, and Christian Bale is always yummy ... But let's face it, Batman fans have had to live with several VERY BAD movies, and we are desperate for ANYthing that does a good job in portraying our favorite vigilante. Yet, as desperate as we are, this movie did not disappoint, and I will definitely buy it for my own collection.

I'm a Dork!

So I Netflixed Batman: Gotham Knight, which is a series of 6 animated vignettes that are meant to fit between the movies Batman Begins and the upcoming Dark Knight, and I am enough of a comic book dork to love it. :) Most of the stories were done by Japanese teams, so the animation has an obvious anime feel to it. Not the standard Speed Racer or Gundam-type anime, but definitely in the Japanese style (and pretty dark, I mean it is Batman after all). It is a different medium for Batman, but it was still good. I personally disagreed with only one story's style, but I can understand the argument for the artistic reasoning behind it.

So I watched the show, then I turned on the commentary, and there were some really good things said, and I just needed to share them. The three people doing the commentary were:
- Gregory Noveck of DC Comics (Sr VP- Creative Affairs)
- Kevin Conroy, voice extraordinaire of Batman (mmm... what a yummy voice)
- Denny O'Neil, "writer & editor of Batman comics for a long time"

My comments are in () and stage notes are in []


Story #1 - "Have I Got a Story for You"
GN: [Batman turns away into the mist and is all mysterious and Batman-y] When Batman walks away in that last piece, I always like to think of that as the Mean Joe Green, "Have a Coke and a smile" moment.

-----

DO: It was the genius of the guys who first created Batman to make him look evil. Really, he looks like a medieval demon. But he's on our side. Well, we're fascinated by evil, and it's a way of having your mythic cake and eating it. He's a dark, tormented figure, but he's a good guy.
KC: And it's interesting you mentioned Hamlet earlier, because when I first auditioned for the job in '92, I didn't have any exposure to the Dark Knight. And I was really pretty naive about Batman, but I had trained at Julliard for the classical stage and had done lots of Shakespeare. And I happened to be in LA on another job, and they suggested I go in on this. And when they were describing to me what the character was, his background, avenging his parents' death, living in the shadows, dark tortured soul, the first thing I said was, "You're doing the Hamlet story!" (Go, Hamlet!)


Story #2 - "Crossfire"
GN: If you are listening to this commentary, I will take it on faith that you are a big fan... (haha, like anyone else would be listening to the commentary track on a comic-book animated movie?)

-----

KC: I'm always amazed at how powerfully people react to this story, to these characters. I've told this story before, I don't know if you've heard it: I live in New York, and after the 9/11 incident everyone was doing what they could to volunteer. And I called up and I found out they really needed restaurant workers to feed all the relief workers. And I said, "Well, I'm an actor, of course I have restaurant experience, what do you need?" [chuckles] So I ended up doing the night shift cooking for the relief work down there. And after a few nights into that first week, one of the other cooks said to me, "My day job is I'm an architect, what's your day job?" And I said, "Well, I'm an actor." And he said "You do some special kind of acting? I recognize your name." I said, "Well, I do voice work." And he said "I knew it! I knew it! You're Batman!" And I said "Well, that's amazing you know my name" He said, "Oh, this is amazing! You're not gonna believe it, the guys are gonna freak out! Can I tell everyone?" And I said, "No one's gonna know it, no one's gonna know... it won't make any difference." So he goes into the dining hall, and up until then, you can imagine, that first week was pretty dismal, a really somber atmosphere. And he goes, "Guys, guys you're not gonna believe who's been cooking your dinners every night... It's Batman!" And there was this long silence, and then you hear "BULL!" from the back of the auditorium, and someone else says "PROVE IT!" So, from the kitchen, this was great, I got challenged, so I say, [goes into dramatic Batman voice] "I am vengeance, I am the night, I AM BATMAN!" And there was this silence, and from the dining hall you hear, "HOLY CRAP! That IS Batman!" And all these cops and firemen come streaming back into the kitchen and they're like, "Aw, you know that episode when you and the Joker... and when this happened and that happened... and when Commissioner Gordon did that... my son and I have been watching..." And people started laughing and carrying on for the first time in days. And that guy that had recognized me, that architect, leans over to me in the kitchen, and says "So how does it feel to be Santa Claus?" You know it's amazing, I had never seen that reaction in a crowd before. He says, "You got people laughing and carrying on in here, and it's all because of Batman."


Story #3 - "Field Test"
DO: [Scene where characters are playing golf in a downtown course; you can see the skyscrapers over the treeline] There's no golf course in Central Park. My God, that looks like Central Park!
KC: Haha, Can you imagine the acreage that would be required? The most expensive golf course in the world!
[after a pause]
GN: I think we brought out some clubs to Sheep's Meadow once when I was a kid... That and a lot of Frisbees and hackey sacks.
DO: Oh yeah.
KC: Lotta Frisbees.
GN: My guess is that Bruce Wayne never played hackey sack.
KC: [thoughtfully] Nooo... a little too light hearted, I would think.

-----

DO: [dark, misty, foggy, harbor scene; barely-visible illuminated skyline in the background] THAT'S our Gotham City, a place of fog and mystery. [discussion leads to the evolution of Gotham as its own character with a distinct personality] What I always say is that Metropolis is New York City on June 25, in Sheep's Meadow, on a nice day with kids playing. And Gotham City is New York City below 14th street on the coldest night of the year, and it's 3 in the morning and you're kinda lost... and then you hear footsteps. That's Gotham.


Story #4 - "In Darkness Dwells" (best cape-work out of all six episodes, in my opinion)
DO: [foggy, misty Gotham overhead shot] And if it were that cloudy, the Batsignal would actually work!

-----

GN: [Batman is having a conversation with Gordon, while hanging upside-down like a bat] This is pretty skillful in and of itself. A, he's keeping his cape straight up... or straight down-
DO: Starch!
GN: And second, he's reaching back behind him, handing this little thing... [a radio com-link for Gordon to wear]

-----

GN: [Batman has just been infected with a hallucinogenic toxin] I don't think there's anything more dangerous than a hallucinating Batman.
KC: Imagine what comes out of his imagination.


Story #5 - "Working Through the Pain"
GN: Quick costume change from the last piece, but still bleeding. (poor Batman)

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DO: I've always thought that violence is a tool that Batman doesn't know how to replace, and that he takes no joy in using.


Story #6 - "Dead Shot"
DO: [Scene of Bruce exercising in a massive home gym] I've lived in towns smaller than this version of Wayne Manor!

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DO: [Final scene of episode, Wayne Manor living room] Citizen Kane's living room!
GN: Wayne Manor's never depicted as warm and welcoming, is it?
DO: No, never.
GN: It's always kind of cold and empty.
DO: Yup. Another metaphor for Bruce Wayne's life.
KC: ... Rosebud...
GN: [ignoring Kevin Conroy's mutter] You think Alfred's ever tried to spruce it up and give it some color, or he's more interested in preserving the way it was?
DO: I think Alfred's got a lot of stuff to do every day. I mean, think about what his workday must be! He just doesn't have time to play interior decorator on top of his other jobs.




Final synopsis: Kevin Conroy's voice is like a velvet snuggle-blanket. You just want to wrap it around yourself and cuddle in it. I love his voice! He could read the phone book to me and I would be happy. :) Besides, who doesn't love Batman?

MOVIE REVIEW: Lucky Number Slevin

I LOVE THIS MOVIE! Yes, there is a bit of foul language and there are some boobs visible (I forgot about those when I got Mom to watch it with me -oops), but I think the plot twists are too much fun, and therefore make up for a lot of transgressions in my book.



Here's the Netflix summary:

An identity mix-up places an innocent man in the middle of a mob war in this
noir crime thriller. While checking out his missing friend Nick's apartment, Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is mistaken for Nick by thugs. Just how much trouble is Nick really in?! Slevin finds out when he's forced to participate in a high-profile murder for a powerful crime boss. The top-notch cast includes Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Bruce Willis.

... and I can't describe the plot any more without giving away too much. It's a very twisty story. :) The best kind, dontchya know. I purposefully don't try to guess plot twists, unlike a certain boyfriend of mine, so I finished my first viewing wanting to go again and pick up all the clues. I'm sure someone could guess the movie from the start when all the clues are laid out, but you definitely have more fun just going for the ride.


I think my favorite part was Lucy Liu as Nick's neighbor; she's completely crazy, but the happy kind, so she's amusing. And Josh Hartnett wanders about in a purple towel for a good chunk of the movie (the thugs interrupt him after his shower so he clenched his knees a lot, heehee). Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley are the rival mob bosses, and they are superb... as can be expected. The acting all around was very well-done.

Truth be told, Black Dahlia was so bad that I immediately pulled this out of my movie collection so I could get in my mind a good Josh Hartnett movie. I laughed at myself because I was about to watch Sin City as well, but it was too late at night.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Black Dahlia

Okay, I'll admit it, I have no inspiration to review this movie. It was that bad. Not in a fun, campy, Godzilla vs Mecha-Godzilla way either. This was just bad. And I'm not the only one who thinks so: critics gave it two-three stars (according to Netflix's critic reviews), but they said very not-nice things about it. Let me list the problems I had with the movie:

1. Josh Hartnett sleeps with every female in the movie, except the crazy lady and the dead girl. Which is sorta OK, but not really. He's not James Bond, and he should know better. (Especially as he gets caught and the girl he has feelings for gets really mad at him, ruining his one relationship.)

2. Hillary Swank is not believable as a pretty rich girl. Maybe that's my personal bias coming through, but I think she has a horse-face and is not attractive. Thus, her role as "rich girl who slums in seedy bars picking up casual-sex partners" just didn't fly for me. She was believable in Million Dollar Baby because you could see her as a boxer, getting her face punched a lot. She just doesn't work for me as the vixen.

3. The plot is VERY murky throughout the whole movie, then is resolved VERY suddenly by an old affair, an illegitimate child, a weird painting, a boyhood friend (who has no previous screen time and may or may not have mental issues), and a crazy lady with an axe. (It's confusing trying to explain it, I know!) I know it's based on a fictional book and not reality, but the crazy lady was a minor character in one previous scene... then suddenly we know that she's the killer, and we know all this back-story about why she snapped and brutalized a random girl! (Maybe reading up on Hugo will help you understand her ranting; Gwynplaine is referred to a few times.)

4. The plot seemed to me like large chunks were cut out between the book and the film. It skipped around a lot, and the writers expected the audience to keep up with random, new characters and sub-plots. The only way I can describe it is that the book originally translated to a five-hour movie, and they cut it down to two. All those little bits that help a plot flow along seemed to have been cut out.

5. We seemed to focus a lot on the seedy side of the Dahlia's life. I think movie producers (or the author, James Ellroy) over-dramatized her personality a little. There is no evidence that she worked as a prostitute, just that she had numerous dates and a love of life. You can take that to mean the girl is a free spirit or a slut, whichever you want. Add to the fact that she was trying to become an actress, and a jaded mind could easily portray her in a negative light. But whether she was or not makes no difference to me, until a movie goes on and on about it with no censorship... (we even get to see some of a "nudie picture" that she allegedly made, which I would have called porn and didn't need to see at all)



Final Summation: I want those two hours of my life back. Seriously. Don't waste your time on this movie. If you want a sexy, convoluted 1940s thriller, go rent LA Confidential. That's a much better movie.

MOVIE REVIEW: Jumper

I was intrigued by this movie when it came out, but not enough to be extorted by the movie theatre industry. (Truth be told, I see few movies in theatres; partly because I like to go with someone and coordinating schedules is often difficult, and partly because I find few movies need the "big screen" effect. Most movies I am quite content to wait until they come out on video and then I can Netflix them.) So now it has finally been released and I got John to sit and watch it with me.

Here's the official summary:

The product of a broken home, David Rice (Hayden Christensen) is looking for a way to escape from his abusive father -- and finds it when he discovers he can teleport himself at will. Using his powers for his own gain, David creates a new life for himself, but soon is in the middle of a war that has been raging for thousands of years between "Jumpers" and those who have sworn to kill them. Director Doug Liman's sci-fi thriller also stars Samuel L. Jackson, and Rachel Bilson.

Pretty good, overall, I think. I liked it as a stupid, fun action flick. Not too much brain power needed. Other reviews panned it, but I think there is a need for fluffy action movies with no real meaning to life. I mean, not every movie can be Pi, Citizen Cane, or Roots, nor should they all try to be. I personally am very fond of movies that you can just pop in and watch for fun.

Second point: Hayden Christensen is much more attractive here than he was in the Star Wars movies. Granted in Episode III, he was not feeling his best, what with all the evil coursing through him, and Episode II was six years ago, so he has matured a bit since then... but still! I was surprised that he had changed. Maybe it's the absence of the Jedi rat-tail that adds to a person's attractiveness. :)

I also think the movie addresses a baser part of human nature, even if in a small way. David sees no need to help people with his powers, he just makes his life comfortable. There was a breakfast scene where the television news reports on mass flooding and people in peril. I naturally thought that David would pop over, rescue the people, then pop home, but he just goes on with his day (a day that includes lunch atop the Sphinx, surfing in Fiji, and picking up girls in a London pub). At first, I wondered what was wrong with him for not saving them, but when you think about it, what would the average person do? Would they risk life and limb to help others, or would they continue as usual? David only really begins the "hero" antics when he and his loved ones are attacked. Even then, you could argue that he's still not a hero, just fighting for survival. The psych major in me was amused for a while pondering this.

End result: Solid three out of five stars. I enjoyed it; there were some good lines; great effects and fight scenes; and I got to play "where are they now" for much of the movie (LOTS of international travel. I recognized the Shibuya intersection in Tokyo; and trivia says they got permission to film in the actual Colosseum - pretty cool).

MOVIE REVIEW: The Jane Austen Book Club

One of Mom's Netflixes that we watched the other week. Super cute! I was expecting something a little more chick-flickery (not to say that I would make my boyfriend watch it- it is pretty mushy), but was pleasantly surprised when it was a good time.

Imdb.com's summary:

Sylvia's husband dumps her for another woman, so Bernadette and Jocelyn organize a book club to distract her. They recruit Sylvia's daughter Allegra; Prudie, a young teacher whose marriage may be on the rocks; and Grigg (a/n: SO CUTE!), a sci-fi fan who joins out of attraction to Jocelyn. The six read and discuss one Austen novel per month. Jocelyn tries to interest Grigg in Sylvia; Allegra falls in love with a woman she meets skydiving; Prudie contemplates an affair with a student; Sylvia's ex keeps popping up. In the discussions, characters reveal themselves in their comments.

I think the main thing was that everything ended all happily, much like how 'Jane' would have done it herself. :P Prudie is a bit of a snobby mean-name, but by the end she sees how bad she is and turns around; characters who should get together do; and characters who should break up do so as well (I don't want to spoil any endings too badly).

You don't need to know the books really well to enjoy the movie, though I am sure it helps. Personally, I've practically memorized A&E's miniseries of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth (mmmm.... Firthy goodness as Mr Darcy...) but truth be told, I've only read Emma, and I am clueless about the other four books (Mansfield Park, Northanger Abby, Sense & Sensibility, and Persuasion). Apparently, reading Persuasion (according to the movie) heals all relationship woes. Behold, the power of Austen! :)

The best part, beside the wrap-it-all-up happy ending, was Grigg's contribution to one discussion. I forget which book they were discussion, but when directly asked to participate (he stays quiet when the women go ranting about Austen), he goes on this thesis about the "Reverse Star Wars" relationship between the main characters; that is, once made aware of the relationship between them, they more avidly continued their romantic interests in each other, instead of getting creeped out like Luke and Leia did. His diatribe lasts a few minutes, then he looks around at all the ladies and meekly asks if anyone else noticed it; they are all staring at him like he's crazy. He also bought the bound-together full works of Austen, because he thought they were all sequels, and he wanted to keep them together. He looks very confused when the ladies announce they are "starting in the middle" according to his collection. :) Grigg may be the saving point of the moving for me, but who knows, I like Steel Magnolias and there are no cute menfolk in that one. However, Grigg is supercute both in looks and his sci-fi reading geekiness.

All around score for this one would have to be at least a 4 out of 5. I wouldn't feel over-generous giving it a 5 out of 5, either. The characters are well-rounded (even snobby Prudie changes her ways), the dialogue clever, and the ending happy. What more do you need?

MOVIE REVIEW: China Strike Force

This recent Netflix movie was a little bit hit ... and a little bit miss. Here's the plot synopsis they give:

From ace action director Stanley Tong comes this explosive action techno-thriller starring Aaron Kwok and popular U.S. stars Mark Dacascos and Coolio. When the elite crime fighting unit Team 808 recruits top Chinese security officer Darren (Kwok) to hunt down a large international drug cartel, he is assisted by the beautiful Japanese Security Officer Noriko. Together, they take on the deadly smugglers (Dacascos & Coolio).

While I am a fan of the genre (I love bad action movies!), this fell a bit short overall. First, the dialogue was definitely a distraction. I know action movies aren't know for their witty repartee or deep conversations, this script was noticeably substandard. I had the closed-captioning on almost the whole movie because I thought it was a dubbed movie, the delivery of the dialogue was so bad! Mark Dacascos (happy happy sexy man) and Coolio are American-born, so their English was fine, but I think we imported a lot of Chinese actors who weren't so fluent for every other role. (I really did think it was a bad dub) I must say that presentation is a big part of a movie for me; while I am forgiving of many things so I can enjoy a bad action flick, I can't stand it when everyone sounds like "Me Tarzan, You Jane."

Second, the plot is nothing new, but then again, when did plot really matter in movies like this one? "Some bad guys are doing something bad and some cops have to stop them." Whoo! I just described probably 90% of all action movies everywhere. What I think was funny was the casting of two Hong Kong actors as the good guys vs. the Americans as the baddies. It was a weird juxtapose, as the bad guys seemed more coherent and realistic with their mastery of the English language. The two cops were very stilted and stereotypical.

Now on to the good. Favorite scene: Mark Dacascos and his bare bum in the bath house. whoo whoo! mmm mmm good! ...OK, now on to being rational and objective. The fight scenes and stunts were pretty bad-ass. Aaron Kwok and Mark Dacascos fight it out in the end, which was a whole lot of round-house kicks to the face. Though, being Asian, Kwok had to do a lot more jumping to reach Dacascos's head. :) The stunts where shiny, but some were also unbelievable: the final fight scene is on top of a skyscraper because the helicopter ran into it and knocked everyone out. But the whole time I was thinking, why didn't the helicopter go around the damn building when it became apparent that it couldn't go over it? Because then the characters would not have been thrown from the helicopter and thus no final fight scene on top of the building, duh. (Also, the chopper explodes for no apparent reason other than to spice up the scene. I like explosions, but I need a reason for something to burst into flames).

If you choose to while away a few hours with this bit of fluff, be sure to watch the credits long enough for the bloopers. I love bloopers for action movies! There was the usual fare of jumps landing badly and kicks missing target and not being in place for a scene, but by far my favorites were much more casual (and less death-defying, for sure). First, the police chief is lecturing the two cops in his office and he has a cup of alka-seltzer on his desk... which overflows and ruins his sense of authority and the whole moment. :) My other favorite was with Mark Dacascos trying to catch a disk thrown his way in the bath scene. He misses the thing so many times, it borders in ineptitude. One toss even goes way over his head and he lunges out of the water trying to catch it. And all the time Coolio is sitting next to him, in character, never changing expression.


Because of it's genre, I feel I have to qualify a rating of the movie. Grouped with all movies, it was pretty bad; maybe only one star max. But when compared to just action movies, I feel that it was just under average. I have definitely seen better (Die Hard) but I have also seen much worse (Street Fighter). I guess I would put it under the category, "I definitely won't own it, probably won't watch it again, but I don't feel I wasted my life by watching it."

----- SPOILER -----

Don't get attached to too many of the good guys; Hong Kong movies have no issue with killing them off... even if it's the day after they get engaged and the scene where they ramble on about wanting a big family.