Brad's Week in Dork! (2/24/13-3/2/13)

A light week.  Guess I was just taking it easy on the dorkdom front.  My enthusiasm for this year's Oscars was fairly extreme though - for the first time ever I managed to watch nearly every nomination including all of the major awards and even the short films.  Devouring that much content will get you excited for any award ceremony, even one that's as awkward and misguided as The Academy Awards.  At the very least I gotta appreciate Seth Macfarlane's obvious manhandling of the ceremony, hamfisting my favorite Federation Captain into the opening act.  Seeing Shatner floating above the stage was surreal and enjoyable, despite some lame brain comedy that didn't just fall flat, it sank like a (kidney) stone.

The big comic this week was Batman Incorporated #8.  The Big Shock of the issue was ruined for us weeks ago thanks to an annoying Tweeter, but DC Comics also ran the story in USA Today days before the release so it's hard to get upset at some anonymous internet troll when The New 52 can't keep their gobs shut either.  I get it, if you have the opportunity to promote an event in a major newspaper yer gonna do it, but does anyone in America not already reading funny books know or care about Damien Wayne?  And will that USA Today article send anyone running into the comic shops?  Not bloody likely.  But whatever, Grant Morrison is still killing it with his Bat-run and I'm dying to see how he wraps up this epic.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards:  Well, evaluating my predictions last week, I missed 6.  Argo took home the big prize; as did Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, & Anne Hathaway.  No big shocks there.  I was pleased to see Christophe Waltz win Best Supporting Actor - I guess that man should never stray too far from QT.  And speaking of ego incarnate, Tarantino shockingly took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar and despite some chatter about homage vs originality, it's hard to believe that this is his first gold statue since his writing win for Pulp Fiction.  I was too cute in my thinking as far as the Best Director category was concerned.  Spielberg & Ang Lee did not split the vote for Russell, and Ang got his accolades for Life of Pi.  Not sure I can really hate on that, he did a fine enough job on that film.  My problems with Life of Pi stem from the content of the narrative not so much the filmmaking.  As far as the show itself goes, it was the usual mess of misfires and chintzy class.  I can't say that I full-on hated Seth Macfarlane as host (especially when you consider James Franco's cokehead turn of yesteryear), but I'm a little tired of the standup routine.  I wanted more of his soft shoe and less of his dull potty humor.  At the very least he did get Tommy Lee Jones to chuckle.  Kudos.  Best bits included dancing - Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Daniel Radcliffe, Charlize Theron & Channing Tatum.  I definitely want more film celebration and less mockery.  These Hollywood egos make such easy targets anyway, and it would be nice if The Academy Awards actually had respect for their art.  The tribute to Bond was nice and all, but not much more than a glorified DVD extra.

The Walking Dead Season 3 - "Aint No Judas":  Andrea comes crawling back to the prison, and Rick & Company want nothing to do with her.  Can't say I blame them, I was waiting the whole episode for Merle to pig stick her.  Of all the tragic interpretations from comic to screen, Andrea is easily the most brutally butchered in the writer's room.  As if Dale wasn't self righteous enough, Andrea takes up his mantel, screaming her all-knowing wisdom at her former gang of sadsacks.  As the show built to its final moments I was almost certain The Governor was going to slit her throat - no real SPOILERS here, but obviously this show is still concerned with stretching the season than deliver shock & awe.  Nothing important happened here.  You could probably skip this ep altogether and not even notice.  The sick thing is though, now that my respect for this show has pretty much vanished, I'm starting to really enjoy the presence of Michael Rooker.  He's the ham of the series, and this drab narrative certainly could seriously use some ham.

Batman Incorporated #8:  I'd warn you of spoilers, but DC pretty much gives it to ya on that cover above.  One of the most notable aspects to Grant Morrison's run on Batman has been the acceptance of Damian Wayne into the hearts of DC fanboys everywhere.  Seven years ago, Morrison reached back into the 1980s and yanked the forgotten child of Talia Al Ghul & Bruce Wayne out of an Elseworld's one-shot (Son of the Demon) and plopped him into continuity.  And for that "Batman & Son" storyarc we got a lot of bitching & moaning from the internet community.  However, through much hard work and creative labor, Morrison proved the new arrogant Robin to be not only the real deal Son of The Batman, but a sidekick worthy of both Wayne & original Boy Wonder Dick Grayson. Damian Wayne is what makes Grant Morrison my favorite Bat-Writer.  He does not dismiss the whacky, crazy, or stupid of comics.  He loves it all.  He uses it all.  Bat-mite.  Knight & Squire.  Zur-En-Arrh.  Bastard children.  They all exist in his universe.  He makes the square bricks fit into the triangular holes like the meanest block smashing infant.  And his crazy multicolored tapestry is set ablaze with this single issue...out of the ashes will hopefully arise his masterpiece.  Now we all know that Dead Ain't Dead in comic books.  Damian Wayne will return - just look to your left, that's the other once-dead Robin, Jason Todd waving at you.  But for Morrison, Damian is dead.  Don't expect this writer to script another animal-loving sentiment from him again.  And for my money, Batman Inc #8 has more punch and anger than anything Scott Snyder was trying to do with his Death of the Family arc found in the flagship sister title.  This has been a long time coming and I cannot wait to see Batman face-to-face with the mother & killer of his son.  It's gonna be ugly.

Justified Season 4 - "Outlaw":  Possibly my favorite episode of the season so far.  Raylan accidentally sets into motion events that land papa Arlo into the infirmary.  There father & son exchange more nasty familial hate, and the origin of Raylan's rage is obviously buried deep within their contempt-filled stares.  Meanwhile, across town, Boyd pits the Detroit Mafia against the rich bastards controlling Harlan and despite a close call, the quickdraw Raylan Givens puts Boyd on top of the backwoods Kentucky Empire.  Of course, Cousin Johnny has other plans.  Have we now reached a point where Ralyan & Boyd will ride this season out together?  It definitely feels like we're at the end even if the whole Drew Thompson mystery seems less important every day.

Nemo - Heart of Ice:  Taking place between Books 1 & 2 of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, this one-shot is a much needed return to the spirit of classic Adventure Comics.  As much as I loved the reference-blitzing insanity of Century, it's nice to be reminded that Alan Moore doesn't treat everyone of his creations as an acid laced internal plunge into his Heart of Darkness.  This book picks up right as Captain Nemo's daughter (Pirate Jenny) robs the American tycoon, Charles Foster Kane of some treasure that Allan Quartermain would no doubt find appealing.  Nemo's spawn escapes to Antarctica, where following her fathers rambling journals, discovers The Mounts of Madness.  Still, as much fun as you can have spotting Lovecraft and Tom Swift, Heart of Ice is singularly enjoyable as an Adventure Comic.  It's impossible for you (or at least me) to grasp all the literary links, but it's less important here than the more recent LXG outings.  Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neal are simply concocting a fun read - the winks are cute, but not necessary.

Gattaca:  Matt's been bothering me for a long time (possibly our entire existence together) to watch this flick.  It's something that's obviously near and dear to his heart.  That much anticipation can sometimes make it difficult to enjoy and I tend to drag ass when people shove dvds in my hand.  I know that's why he's never seen Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid - a film I generally pester him about.  This week he finally forced me in front of the television to watch his blu ray copy.  And it's a solid flick.  I'm not the biggest Ethan Hawke fan, but I appreciate how he inhabits a good boy 1950s attitude.  In fact, I like the general warmth that his character has towards space travel and adventures in science.  Not sure I totally agree with Matt in regards of the film's final answer to the question of Frankensteinian anti-science storytelling, and the final moments for Jude Law felt anti-climactic as well as rushed.  And yeah, I really don't like the cold blooded Uma Thurman.  She's meant to be a sterile character but she felt generally lifeless.

The Imposter:  A fascinating and mentally frustrating documentary.  There were points in the narrative that had me shouting at the screen "WHAT!?!?" or "YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING!"  Similar to my response to the heinous actions discovered in The Invisible War, this documentary boggled my mind as far as what people were willing to do as well as willing to accept as a means to Keep On Trucking.  A 13 year old boy goes missing in San Antonio, Texas.  Three years later, a 24 year old Frenchman claiming to be that child is accepted by both the family and the US Government.  Told talking head style from the mouths of The Imposter, the G-Men, and the family members; the mystery never quite unravels but its path is both shocking and deeply sad.  I really hope that the documentarians return to this subject further down the line, I want to know more - I need to know more.

FF #4:  Matt Fraction has delivered one of the few standouts from the Marvel Now relaunch.  Funny, considering how ordinary his sister book, The Fantastic Four, feels in comparison with this oddball beauty.  And this latest issue is an even better Valentine than last month's cute, but gloomy Sue & Reed tale.  The Moloids are madly in love with She-Hulk - an impossible, aching teacherly crush.  When they learn of her prospective date, The Moloids must act drastically.  They partner with Bentley-23, attempt to raise monsters out of oceans, and rape the mind of hapless waiters.  But all their efforts hopelessly bring She-Hulk closer into the arms of her lover.  Mike Allred continues to kill it on art, and I wanted to instagram nearly every panel of this book.  Final words: just darling.

The Rocketeer - Hollywood Horror #1:  I wanted to love this book.  Mark Waid's previous Rocketeer mini, Cargo of Doom, was pure pulpy bliss.  However, Roger Langridge's work on this first issue feels rather ordinary and I don't respond well to J Bone's Darwyn Cookey art style.  It's another story in which evil scientist and government goons want Cliff's backpack - does this really have to be the plot of every Rocketeer comic?  But I'm still continuing.  After all, Cargo of Doom was only a so-so first issue and the promise of Lovecraftian tentacles (hmmmm, a theme this week) and Betty's female empowerment meddling is appealing.  We'll just have to see next issue.

Hawkeye #8:  I was kinda lukewarm on Fraction's last issue, but #8 is back in the saddle of greatness.  The mysterious redhead from previous issues appears again to make-out with Clint and embarrass him in front of all his exes (Black Widow, what a bitch).  She's got something dark & dangerous stored inside a safe, and the combination to its secrets are hidden within a batch of yellowed romance comics.  David Aja has all kinds of fun with those fake covers.  What I love so much about this title is how Fraction can take one & done storytelling and still manage to complete an overarching narrative.  The Bro Gang is back, they're chit chatting it up with The Owl & The Kingpin.  Life is only going to get more difficult for my new favorite Avenger.  Cannot wait to see more awkward pain land on his doorstep.

Gone With The Wind:  Woot!  I completed another Cinematic Resolution!  And who knew it would be so closely tied in emotion with Birth of a Nation?  I certainly had no idea I would react so poorly to the plight of Scarlet O'Hara.  But when I saw it on the AFI Silver's calendar I knew I wanted my first experience with this film to be on The Big Screen.  Not at grandma's house.  Not on Turner Classic Movies or TNT.  This movie is grande and it's meant to be seen 100 feet tall.  So The Wife, Matt, & I jumped in the car and flew to the theater Saturday afternoon.  And we all hated it.  Yes folks, wait for it...I Hated Gone With The Wind.  **GASP**  **CRY HAVOC**  and **BOO!**  One friend on Facebook told me I'm just a victim of overblown expectations.  Maybe.  But I genuinely knew nothing about this film other than "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn," that it was tied to the Civil War, and that it was really, really long.  I had no idea that Vivian Leigh's Scarlet was just a manipulative and heinous human being.  I'm told we're supposed to despise her.  Mission accomplished.  I wanted to slap her across the face for nearly the entire four hour run time.  Especially since she seems to enjoy slapping the hell outta her slaves and lovers.  Clark Gable is a stunning brute.  I enjoyed his spitting dialogue and self-depricating morality.  At least he knew he was a monster.  A rapist to boot, but thankfully when morning comes, Scarlet seems to enjoy the act of rape.  No means yes after all.  But I can enjoy a film peppered with deplorable human beings (see LA Confidential, Unforgiven, French Connection, Citizen Kane, and a million other movies).  What really irked me about Gone With The Wind is its general romanticizing of the good old days - you know where "the sound of negro laughter" filled the stables.  The title itself is an insult, sweeping across the screen as blacks pick cotton in the field.  Just gross.  I love overwrought melodrama as much as the next guy, but Gone With The Wind left a shameful taste in my mouth.  Not nearly as bitter or sad as Birth of a Nation, but it shared the same flavor.

--Brad

Matt’s Week in Dork! (2/24/13-3/2/13)

    Gah.  Thank goodness for the brief escape of movies.  Not my best week.


Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades:  “Getting laid is just about the best part of being in our line of work.”  Ogami Itto is back with his boy in a cart, killing assassins, dispensing etiquette lessons with extreme prejudice, and scaring the locals.  The structure of these films is rather strange.  I guess in part because the lead characters are simply wandering around, and I guess maybe because it was originally a comic.  Though there are longer stories and themes, a great deal of the action takes place in little episodes.  In this one especially, by the end of the first 20 minutes, we’re seeing what seems like a climactic duel.  These movie teach valuable, if sometimes obvious lessons, like ‘don’t stick any part of yourself into the mouth of a woman who hates you.’  Seems obvious enough, but some people seem not to know.  I suppose any class based society, especially one with a high value on face, will have a complicated system of behavior, but dang the whole Bushido, Way of the Warrior thing seems unnecessarily complex.  I feel bad for the pistol packing bandito.  He seemed like a nice enough guy.  All the various factions and interests pulling this way and that in this movie get pretty nuts.  Everyone seems to have screwed over someone, or been screwed over by someone.  And everyone is out for blood.  They get it.  By the bucket.  Ogami kills almost as many people as John Matrix.

The Mechanic:  “My friends are so happy they’re killing themselves.”  The 70s, a time when leading men didn’t have to be handsome.  Heck, they could be pug-ugly sombitches like Charles Bronson.  Here the master of the ‘stache plays a consummate professional, hired by mobsters to take care of problems.  He smokes a pipe.  He’s physically fit.  He listens to classical music.  He knows kung-fu.  He looks at art.  He has a swanky bachelor pad.  He hooks up with love-hungry dames (well, money-hungry).  He lives the dream.  Sure, sometimes you have to blow up a sad old dude.  But that’s why they call it work.  When Keenan Wynn shows up, you know there’s gonna be some kind of trouble.  That trouble ends up being Stringfellow Hawk himself, Jan-Michael Vincent, a punk looking to get more out of life.  But you know the kid is trouble.  He’s just too brash to not cause problems.  Once again, the mob suits think it’s a good idea to mess with their trained killer. Why would you do that?  You’re just begging for trouble.  It’s stupid.  Let him do his thing, pay him what you owe, and be cool.  It’s a PG movie from the 70s, so there’s nothing kid-friendly about it.  It’s not as extreme as some, so it would probably only get a PG-13 today, especially because there’s no nudity (the most evil thing imaginable in the eyes of the MPAA).

Assassination:  “Oh, boy, am I gonna miss Nancy Reagan.”  When I saw that Cannon symbol pop up at the beginning of this movie, then Golan and Globus?  Oh, man.  I knew I was in for a treat (or I hoped).  Old man Bronson is tasked with protecting the First Lady.  You know that’s gonna be good.  Awkwardly directed, poor sound design, stilted dialog.  Then Jill Ireland’s incalculably stupid First Lady actually shows up and the magic happens.  He’s so surly.  She’s so bitchy.  There’s an Asian woman named Charlie (not kidding).  I think this movie was doing ‘jazz hands’ it was so silly.  Man, this movie is a turd.  It feels like it would be good fodder for the MST3K boys.  But with them out of the picture, it’s up to us to carry on the good fight and watch crap like this.  Michael Ansara shows up to add his own brand of class, but it’s nowhere near enough.  The movie ends up feeling WAY longer than it really is, becoming quite excruciating by the hour mark.  And man, Jill Ireland is aggravating.

The Big Sleep:  “Would you happen to have a Ben Hur 1860?”  Another classic, one might even say iconic Humphrey Bogart crime films, it isn’t a perfect movie by any stretch.  But it’s full of the usual charm, and those little exchanges that make it stand out.  The whole sequence in the book shop with Dorothy Malone is probably the most obvious, but for a reason.  The girl is adorable, and there’s a sweet, almost innocent, sexual tension that is fun to watch.  If only I had a fraction of the panache (or the bottle of pretty good rye) that Bogart has, maybe this would be my typical visit to the book store.  Heck, there are gorgeous dames wherever Bogart goes in this movie.  Even the cabbie.  Tons of back stabbing, twisting of knives, shady behavior, and yeah, murder.

The Thing:  “Nothing wrong with this Norwegian.”  Hands down one of the best horror films of all time, and a great science fiction flick, to boot.  Adapted from the creepy 30s story Who Goes There?, it captures the camaraderie of men on the frontier, as well as paranoia and phobia.  A Lovecraftian alien stalks an Antarctic research base and it could be inside anybody.  1982 was an amazing year in film, giving us several classic films.  The Thing is one of those greats.

Gattaca:  More cautionary tale than the typically anti-science we’re normally subjected to in science fiction films, this looks at the dangers presented by the abuse of genetic engineering and gene sequencing.  A retro-50s style world where traditionally conceived children become de facto second class citizens, while the world is the oyster of those who have been crafted to be superior.  A guy with bad eyesight and a high potential for a tricky ticker can’t settle for cleaning toilets.  He’s dreamed of going to space since he was a little boy, and being genetically in-valid won’t stop him.  Masquerading as a genetically superior person, he manages to get himself on the docket for launch.  But it all comes tumbling down when a supervisor is murdered and undue attention falls on the potential astronauts at Gattaca.  The 50s look and ‘gee shucks’ hunger for space exploration balance well with the murder mystery and triumph of the human spirit story.  And though the script urges caution, it does not actually condemn genetic engineering.  The superior people are not evil.  Some are perhaps unsatisfied because things have come too easy, but they are not evil.  The discrimination faced by the un-modified is obviously also bad.  At some point over the last 30 or so years (maybe a bit more) stories like this, those urging cautious advancement, avoidance of potential dangers presented by advancing technologies, gave way to simple fear mongering and anti-science/anti-reason stories.

Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe:  “All my travelings throughout the universe, I have battled against evils, against power-mad conspirators.  I should have stayed here.”  The final story in the season-long arc is pretty lame.  Frankly, the whole season was pretty blah.  And of course, they bring the Master back.  Gah.  Not a great exit for Colin Baker.  It’s too bad.  I have actually come to really enjoy Baker as the Doctor.  It’s too bad he was saddled by less than amazing scripts.

Nomads of the North:  Trouble is brewing in Canada when a country girl and her sick old father hit bad times, and Raoul won’t come back to save the day.  Meanwhile, a puppy and a bear cub have adventures in the wilderness.  How will these stories converge?  Watch and find out!  A lot of this movie seems to be ‘let’s film some cute animals and see what they do.’  But there’s always time for Father Murder-Face!  The story kind of wanders.  It’s supposedly based on a book, but I can’t imagine that being any good.  Who knows.

The Shock:  Sinister old-timey Chinatown is the launching point of this Lon Chaney vehicle.  Oddly, Chinatown only seems to have like three Asians in it.  Chaney is a crippled wheeler-dealer, sent by the evil (white) lady who runs local crime, to a rural town where he falls for a local cutie.  But she’s betrothed to another.  Oh, dear.  Standard twists and turns, then EARTHQUAKE!!!  Neither this, nor Nomads of the North were especially good, but interesting looks at less than classic films being made in the silent era.

    I finally tapped back into Farscape after a long hiatus.  Still super weird.  The f-dup love of Aeryn and John, a planet full of degenerate spirit talkers, dangerous escaped criminals (well, more dangerous escaped criminals) back stabbers, clones, Stark mysteriously disappearing again, and all the stuff you expect from one of the craziest shows to ever hit the airwaves.

The She Beast:  “For running over a chicken you won’t get more than two years.”  No idea what the quality of the original film might have been.  But this DVD is terrible.  Grainy, pan & scan, bleached out colors, and horrible audio.  The movie itself, once one gets past its presentation, is pretty lame.  Witches, Dracula, satanic cults, and various tomfoolery.  Barbara Steele and her Marty Feldman eyes runs into supernatural trouble in Eastern Europe.  But not before her husband nearly face-humps a peeping tom to death.  This movie sucks.

    After a really long and unintentional break, I got back to Space Academy.  Another of those kid-aimed ultra-low budget shows from the 70s.  It’s OK, but not especially good.  The cast is bland and of course, Dr. Smith from Lost in Space is awful.  When you realize that this show was from around the same time as the UK’s Tomorrow People, its quality appears rather diminished.  And it’s all in the writing, as neither show had especially sophisticated effects.

    On Saturday, before attending a gathering at a Reston bar to commemorate the closing of the Reston Barnes & Noble, Brad, Lisa, and myself went to the AFI Silver to see another of Brad’s 2013 movie resolutions, Gone With the Wind.  It’s a movie I’ve always kind of wanted to revisit, after my less than successful attempt back in the 80s.  My mom and I had tried to watch it, but I bailed after 15 or 20 minutes, and she fell asleep for most of its 4 hour run.  I was always a fan of movies, and I loved the classics, but it just didn’t hold me.  So, I figured now would be a good time to give it a go, and on the big screen no less.  What a way to see this classic.  AFI’s number 2 film of all time.  This was gonna be great!

Gone With the Wind:  F*&% this movie and the horse it rode in on…and then beat to death.  Before I get into anything else, I have to say that, with the exception of Birth of a Nation (which people have had the good graces and sense to turn their collective backs upon), this is about the most racist film I’ve ever seen.  (Political meeting?!  You mean Klan rally you assholes!)  It’s bloody awful.  Just awful.  The only consolation is that, amazingly, nobody was in blackface.  But every black character is a horrible exaggerated stereotype that made me squirm in my seat and want to watch Django Unchained just to get the taste out of my mouth.  How many more times could they wistfully talk about the good old days of Southern chivalry and how gallant and honorable all those slave owning, inbred degenerates were.  Please, let’s hear again how those Yankees were evil for forcing men to work (totally different from slavery…’cause this time it’s us).  I feel like this movie took a crap in my head.  Scarlett O’Hara now sits alongside Holly Golightly in my pantheon of most despicable depictions of womankind in cinema, made all the worse by her (and Holly’s) beloved status among young girls.  Were there ever two worse role models?  A fickle, money hungry, self-centered monster and a ditzy whore.  Great for the kids.  As Scarlett destroys everything and everyone she can rope into her orbit of bitchiness, we are subjected to crying fit after crying fit, shrill screechings, and human ugliness in a rainbow of flavors.  In fact, there are only maybe two characters in the entire thing that don’t make me wish Sherman’s March had been a lot wider…and hotter.  Clark Gable is pretty awesome as the dashing rogue who manages to have the fickle monster’s number.  Sadly, some devil drives him to love the beast, and he dashes himself against her treacherous shores on more than one occasion.  Oh, and let’s not forget the drunken rape followed by the blissful morning-after glow.   …What the F&*%?!  F&%$ this movie!  It’s so bloody disgusting and dreadful, with such a sickness at its heart that in spite of its bloated, four hour run-time, I wasn’t bored until the last 45 minutes or so.  I was sustained by hatred and rage.  Getting to the technical aspects, I know some quality was lost due to a pretty bad print.  But the whole thing felt ultra-artificial.  Even when everyone was outside.  I think that may have a lot to do with the coloring techniques of the time (similar to The Adventures of Robin Hood), though I’ve seen other movies from around then that looked better.  There were a few really beautiful shots, with some interesting composition.  Sadly, the Max Steiner score was kind of awful, and he‘s usually good.  That theme got into my head like an terrible pop song.  Every three or four minutes, it plays again, or some variant on it does.  By the intermission, I was so flippin’ sick of hearing that one musical phrase (da-DEE-da-da) over and over, I wanted to scream.  Well, like Birth of a Nation, I can check this off my ‘to see’ list and thankfully never have to sit through it again.  The movie made me wish I could travel back in time and Sherman my own way through the South and pee all over everything after it burned.  F*^% this movie so hard!  So hard it wakes up the next morning and happily hums and drinks its tea, gets pregnant with my hate-baby and then falls down some stairs.

Just got raped.  Not kidding.

The Mysterious Lady:  Greta Garbo, man.  I’d always heard about her, and I’d seen pictures.  But seeing her in action makes all the difference.  You can totally understand why everyone went gaga for her.  Not only is she beautiful, but she has a naturalness in front of the camera that stands out in that era, and there’s something in her eyes that speaks of pleasures and dangers beyond a normal man’s experiences.  Like the femme fatale of later Film Noir, she is the inspiration for men to do stupid things, to get into all sorts of trouble, and to fall into soul shaking love/lust.  Beyond that, the movie is a fun little spy caper, though there isn’t much to in by way of plot.  Still, it has some good moments.

The Temptress:  Another Greta Garbo film where she’s destroying men and they’re loving her for it.  This one it shot with some serious panache and style.  The fade in to the rich banker’s party from his photo is very well done, and the party itself is lavish and sumptuous, but sinister as well.  This one is odd, because Garbo isn’t exactly the monster everyone seems to think she is.  I think she’s actually completely honest, only professing love for one man.  But every man destroys himself and his friends on the alter of her beauty, every man that is, except the one she loves.  I’d feel pretty bad for her, except that she doesn’t really stop any of the men.  I wouldn’t say she leads them on, but she doesn’t try to stop them, either.  It’s weird.  Visually the movie is quite striking.  And it has a whip fight.  You don’t see that too often.

    And we watched another couple episodes of Game of Thrones.  Very entertaining, very grim show.  Lots of strong performances.  And things are getting much stranger.  I’m very curious to see where it all leads.  And they toned down the sex after the first couple episodes featured a bit too much.  I don’t have a problem with the sex when it furthers the story, just when it starts to get in the way, which was becoming a concern for a bit.

What, does this seem odd?

    In preparation for watching The Thing, I sat down to the original short story, Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.  Sometimes one forgets that Lovecraft’s writing style doesn’t seem archaic because it was written in the 20s, but because he was consciously emulating earlier styles.  In many ways, Who Goes There? reads like a modern story.  A few uses of older phrases or different vocabulary aside, there is little to set it apart, stylistically from a horror story of 30, 20, or 10 years ago.

-Matt

A Fistful of Cinematic Resolutions! (Brad's Picks)

Ok folks, this is the post in which I admit my great cinematic shame.  Below are a list of classics that I've never seen before for some reason or another.  Growing up, I was very much a child of the color television.  Black & White was old.  And old was boring.  Sad.  Disgusting.  Ashamed.  Since hitting my early 20s I've been doing my darndest to correct that very childish concept, but I also gotta admit that last year I dragged my heals in consuming the classics.  I did finally see Metropolis (thanks to the AFI Silver), The Great Dictator (thanks to Criterion), and Johnny Guitar (thanks to Olive Films) but I did not stretch my film watching muscles as much as I should.  This year, I'm gonna finally hit those classics I've missed.

5.  Singing in the Rain:  Of all the films on this list this is the one that disgusts my wife the most.  She's a big time musical fan, but it's always been a genre that I've snoozed through.  If you twist my arm and I had to pick my favorites I would chortle The Blues Brothers and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.  But ya know what?  Besides that image above, I know absolutely nothing about this movie.  I don't know the plot, I don't know the numbers, I don't even know who all the actors are.  And that's kinda exciting.  I'm probably going to hit this one up early in the year; make it a date night at home with the little woman.

4.  8 1/2:  Speaking of films I know nothing about...Federico Fellini is a filmmaker I've never experienced.  And that's a statement I'm probably the most shameful to admit.  There are some film fanatic buddies out there who are ready to gouge my eyes out.  For no other reason 8 1/2 makes the list.  I'm tired of hanging my head in shame when Fellini's name enters the conversation.  Time to join the crowd.  Get me surreal freak on.

3.  Gone With The Wind:  This is the film I always caught glimpses of at my Grandparents house.  It always just seemed to be playing in the background.  And, obviously, you always see clips here and there on AFI type lists.  "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn."  Civil War.  Houses on fire.  That's really all I know about this film.  Time to square away a couple of hours and check this flick off my list.

2.  The African Queen:  Matt has been trying to get me to see this film for our entire friendship.  I don't know why I'm so darn stubborn.  I love Bogart.  Casablanca & The Maltese Falcon (two films introduced to me by Matt) are a couple of my all time favorites.  But I am really not a fan of Katherine Hepburn's acting.  I hear ya, "Blasphemy!" you cry.  I like young Hepburn just fine.  But this is the era where her performance starts to grate on my nerves, and by the time she hit On Golden Pond I really just have an abhorrent reaction to the sound of her voice.  But that's not mature.  I need to give this classic a chance.  World War I.  A gin soaked Bogie.  Steamboats & Warships.  I'm guessing I'm gonna love this film.

1.  Birth of a Nation:  Now here's a film I've avoided for good reason.  Who wants to watch a movie that depicts blacks as monsters and the KKK as heroic knights riding to the rescue of terrified damsels.  Just gross.  And it's a film that had a tremendous negative impact on our nation.  I look at the above image and I get fucking mad.  It was a massive cinematic undertaking for director DW Griffith and it pioneered numerous techniques in movie magic, but the gleeful hatred at its core is despicable and another shameful mark against our country.  Of course, having never seen the film, how can I make such broad statements?  I bought the recent blu ray release from Kino last year, and it's been sitting on my shelf gathering dust.  But listening to a recent interview with Quentin Tarantino on The Root and contemplating his hatred of John Ford, I'm finally determined to eat my vegetables.  I want to see what all the fuss is about.

--Brad