Teeth
So, yes, it's a movie about Vagina Dentata and, yes, there are plenty of scenes of male genitalia getting removed. But, it's still worth a look. Darkly comic and lots of good scenes to make you squirm. Or, at least make the guys squirm. I really enjoyed it.
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is the 5th zombie movie from George Romero and it is a story that reverts back to the beginning of the zombie infestation. We get to see another small group of people make their way through the world that is slowly being overrun by the undead, but this time, we get to also see how they record the events that are happening around them. I had no problem with the 'film within a film' aspect of this and thought it was handled pretty well. I also thought there was plenty of good zombie action - the highlight probably being the scenes taking place on an Amish farm. Definitely better than Land of the Dead and Day of the Dead.
The Dark Night
So, pretty much everybody has weighed in on this one, but I'll just say that I really enjoyed it. I've heard some complaints about the length, but I didn't notice the length the first time I saw it. I was completely involved in the story and never felt things drag at all. I thought that they made the right choice by not making the movie all about The Joker and letting him monopolize screen time. Having him simply be an instigator was a novel way to handle the character and allowed the writers to move along ideas about Batman and the people around him. I'm curious to see what comes next.
That will do it for now, still plenty to come...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Trans-Siberian
First, I really hate the Steelers.....
Anyway, we watched Trans-Siberian last night, which is a Hitchockian thriller that takes place on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It was pretty good and worth a look.
Anyway, we watched Trans-Siberian last night, which is a Hitchockian thriller that takes place on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. It was pretty good and worth a look.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Jeff's Best of 2008
Since everybody likes to read a "Best Of" list at the end of the year, I thought I would throw my hat into the ring and create one myself. This isn't going to be a list focused on only one thing, such as music, but I'm going to try to fill it with things that I thought were great about 2008 (which rhymes). However, I'm going to start with a cd. Also, the numbering is arbitrary and does not indicate any ranking, other than the order in which I thought of them.
Portishead - Third
Portishead's first cd in over 10 years was, I thought, particularly interesting and challenging. So, really, it was just like the Portishead of 10 years ago. It's nothing that is '10 years in the making' or anything along the lines of Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy that had been worked on over that long hiatus. The album is definitely rooted in the past year. It has a definite Portishead sound, long spaces between notes and sounds. Sometimes mechanical. Lots of samples. But, I thought it also took those staples and did something new with them.
The song 'Machine Gun' is a good example. It takes a sparse arrangement and mechanical sound and pushes them so that the drum line is so obviously mechanical that you automatically think of a factory and production line. The vocals sound as if they are recorded in the largest space possible and only the chill of the higher notes is left. The only time the song sounds organic, and this is a little paradoxical, is at the end when an electronic keyboard line enters.
Now, if only they would tour North America.
Here's some samples.
Click to hear Machine Gun
Click to hear The Rip
Portishead - Third
Portishead's first cd in over 10 years was, I thought, particularly interesting and challenging. So, really, it was just like the Portishead of 10 years ago. It's nothing that is '10 years in the making' or anything along the lines of Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy that had been worked on over that long hiatus. The album is definitely rooted in the past year. It has a definite Portishead sound, long spaces between notes and sounds. Sometimes mechanical. Lots of samples. But, I thought it also took those staples and did something new with them.
The song 'Machine Gun' is a good example. It takes a sparse arrangement and mechanical sound and pushes them so that the drum line is so obviously mechanical that you automatically think of a factory and production line. The vocals sound as if they are recorded in the largest space possible and only the chill of the higher notes is left. The only time the song sounds organic, and this is a little paradoxical, is at the end when an electronic keyboard line enters.
Now, if only they would tour North America.
Here's some samples.
Click to hear Machine Gun
Click to hear The Rip
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Mist
Watched The Mist last night. This is movie adaptation of one of Steven King's novellas. It's found in the Skeleton Crew compilation of short stories.
The Mist is one of my favorite Steven King stories, so I was excited that there was going to be a movie. When the movie finally came out, I heard a lot of bad things about it. So, I skipped it. After it's release on DVD, I started reading some good reviews. Most of these, however, said to check out the black and white version of the movie that comes on the bonus disc. Which is what I did.
First, it's not the greatest movie ever. But, it's definitely not a 'bad' movie. It's a monster movie. That's it. Maybe that's why it works better in black and white, because it is like an old monster movie. I didn't watch any of the color version, so I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the preference for black and white also has something to do with monster special effects. Going by other films, CGI monsters just aren't scary. In black and white, I have to say the monster effects looked pretty good and they don't have that CGI 'look' that we can all spot a mile away.
So, if you like a good monster film, with some pretty suspenseful sequences, then go ahead and watch it. It does have a very bleak ending, much worse than what is in the original novella. But, it works. Any kind of happy ending would have just been unsatisfying.
The Mist is one of my favorite Steven King stories, so I was excited that there was going to be a movie. When the movie finally came out, I heard a lot of bad things about it. So, I skipped it. After it's release on DVD, I started reading some good reviews. Most of these, however, said to check out the black and white version of the movie that comes on the bonus disc. Which is what I did.
First, it's not the greatest movie ever. But, it's definitely not a 'bad' movie. It's a monster movie. That's it. Maybe that's why it works better in black and white, because it is like an old monster movie. I didn't watch any of the color version, so I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the preference for black and white also has something to do with monster special effects. Going by other films, CGI monsters just aren't scary. In black and white, I have to say the monster effects looked pretty good and they don't have that CGI 'look' that we can all spot a mile away.
So, if you like a good monster film, with some pretty suspenseful sequences, then go ahead and watch it. It does have a very bleak ending, much worse than what is in the original novella. But, it works. Any kind of happy ending would have just been unsatisfying.
Don Herche 1954-2008
This past Monday, Don Herche passed away. Don was the owner of Public Opinion Research and my boss for 10 years. Don was the uncle of a good high school friend, Eric Crews, and it was through Eric that I first met Don and eventually came to work for him.
I know that I learned a lot from Don. Yes, I learned specific things about survey research or computer programming, but also much bigger lessons. I recently realized that it was because of Don that I learned how to teach myself how to learn new software. It was also because of Don that I learned how to work independently and how to solve problems on my own. These weren't easy lessons to learn and I know that, at the time, I was not happy in the situations where I needed to learn them to succeed. But, they have definitely paid off over time.
Don was a unique person. This was very much evident at the memorial service in his honor that we attended today. He affected many people in his life, all for the best.
I didn't have any contact with Don after I left POR. I regret that I didn't contact him occasionally and catch up. I had finally gotten to the point where I recognized that I should contact him, when I learned that he had been stricken with cancer again and was dying.
So, Don, I didn't get a chance to tell you this in person, but, thanks. I learned a lot from you. I have a lot of good memories from my days as your employee and I know now that not many people would say that about their former boss. I realized that all those times that were so frustrating to me were usually because I needed to learn something new or learn how to get along with someone who had a different way of doing things than I did.
I know that I learned a lot from Don. Yes, I learned specific things about survey research or computer programming, but also much bigger lessons. I recently realized that it was because of Don that I learned how to teach myself how to learn new software. It was also because of Don that I learned how to work independently and how to solve problems on my own. These weren't easy lessons to learn and I know that, at the time, I was not happy in the situations where I needed to learn them to succeed. But, they have definitely paid off over time.
Don was a unique person. This was very much evident at the memorial service in his honor that we attended today. He affected many people in his life, all for the best.
I didn't have any contact with Don after I left POR. I regret that I didn't contact him occasionally and catch up. I had finally gotten to the point where I recognized that I should contact him, when I learned that he had been stricken with cancer again and was dying.
So, Don, I didn't get a chance to tell you this in person, but, thanks. I learned a lot from you. I have a lot of good memories from my days as your employee and I know now that not many people would say that about their former boss. I realized that all those times that were so frustrating to me were usually because I needed to learn something new or learn how to get along with someone who had a different way of doing things than I did.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Just in case
Just in case you've never seen any of these. Here's a bunch of Talking Heads videos. So much more than just an advertisement for the band.
see more at www.mtvmusic.com
see more at www.mtvmusic.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)