Castle in the Sky

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My son and I have always had a big love for the Miyazaki world. The way it goes from the sublime to the silly to the ridiculous to the bizarre to the scary in the course of one film means a lot to us.

This particular film was really no different.

There are adventuring children, bumbling pirates that remind us a lot of the pirates from Goonies, military men looking for weaponry to conquer, actual weaponry looking to save, and of course, a castle in the sky.

The film is fantasy and fabulous and wonder and delight. It is funny and silly and great to watch.

So much of the film is just adventure and fun and worth seeing more than once.

1776

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There are some nights when I sit down to do my movie of the night and I cannot face anything new. I literally look at the new pile and it makes me all itchy. I know I have screened far too many things again for this project than I really should have, but there are times when that is a lot easier than anything else.

In the case of this musical, I just have to say I love it.

I just love it.

I mean I love history in general, and I love musicals in general, and putting the two together was a total bit of genius here.

The movie is full of great singing, wonderful songs, some really interesting bits of history condensed for our enjoyment, and also some things for us to consider and mull over in deep thought while we keep up with the story.

This is not an exact representation of history, but it is a nice musical version that doesn't take a week to watch.

Totally dig it and the costumes and humor are always worth a re-watch.

Chicken Little

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This movie is pretty reliable in the laugh department. No big snorts through the nose, nothing really super adventurous or anything, but pretty solid laughs.

The big thing about this movie that I loved was the voices. It is a non-stop fest of awesome voices in this movie.

Zach Braff plays Chicken Little, his father Buck Cluck is played by Gray Friggin' Marshall.

His friends are played by Steve Zahn, Joan Cusack, and Dan Molina (which might not mean anything to you, but he edited some great animation and that means something to me).

One of his teachers is Patrick Stewart, the baseball announcer is Harry Shearer, the mayor is DON KNOTTS. Seriously just catching voices and playing, 'Hey, I recognize that voice!' all through the film is worth seeing the film!

The movie is cute, and I really enjoyed the fun they took with going crazy with the old Chicken Little story. It is full of a great sense of humor, has a lot of stuff that is just enjoyable and worth a watch.

Surrogates

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On the whole this isn't exactly a great flick. It isn't rotten or horrible, just not a great flick that I want to see again and again or want to own.

There are a lot of fun Bruce Willis flicks, and there are even some great Bruce Willis science fiction flicks, and yet this is not one of them.

There are however some really fun ideas explored in this movie and some gorgeous scenes. The stuff that has to do with Tom (Bruce Willis) and Maggie (Rosamund Pike) and their story line with their child and their world falling apart had some interesting depth to it. I even wanted to know a little about Peters (Radha Mitchell) and how that character lived in an apartment one way, but was so uptight and tidy with her surrogate.

The whole story had more of the feel of being a serial, which to some degree makes sense as it is a comic and it had kind of that vibe. But some comics translate extremely well to film with the piece by piece story telling, and some of them do not. I don't think this was the fault of the comic, but I'm still trying to put my finger one what exactly I had a hard time with here.

I think in the end a world that I'm supposed to be invested in seemed shallow, and on one hand I know that is the point, but on the other hand the shallowness wasn't always present as we got to know more and more about the characters that peopled the world we are beginning to care about.

It is definitely worth renting and checking out as the art is gorgeous and it is fun in some aspects with the prettiness. There is also a greatness to the idea of loving someone for who they are, not what they look like, at least in the story between Tom and Maggie.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

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A couple years ago I audited a women in film class with a friend and had the great pleasure of seeing this film in that class. When it came up in queue I was thrilled to see it arrive in my mailbox.

It is easy for a film to get bogged down in cliches and to have characters become two dimensional for the sake of easy storytelling. There are times when this movie teeters right on the edge of doing just that, but the characters are complex, interesting, and there is no time during the watching of the film do you forget that the actors portraying these characters are fully aware that they are portraying human beings.

There is sadness and tears in the movie, but also triumph and laughter, but for me the thing that I loved upon first viewing, and loved even more with this second viewing is the grandiose significance that the little things take on as they happen. Yes the mortgage has to be paid, and yes there are ten kids to care for, and yes there is a struggling marriage, but truthfully life is made up of thousands of little moments that we can never ever forget and that seem small at the time, but become alrger and larger as they build in our memory.

This movie is packed with great memories that could seem small, but build and have such an enormous impact. Again and again the scenes, the ideas, the film is about the amazing things that can be done in day to day life.

Definitely something that can be enjoyed on a variety of levels, great film editing, and if you are searching for a movie to share with a family member that is leery of indy films, this might be a good place to start.

Love's Labours Lost

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This is not my favorite of Shakespeare's pieces. I've seen the play onstage, in the park, and I've seen this one before, and every time the whole concept seems helplessly contrived.

Cute, kind of fun idea, but helplessly contrived.

This version is really no different, but something about attempting to create a musical is kind of entertaining. Not hugely so, but kind of entertaining.

Now there are things to really love about this movie, and when flipping through channels and I find this movie I always comment on those few things to anyone that will listen. Which as an aside is usually no one, but that is my own sad little life and neither here or there as to this movie.

Okay great things to love about this movie:

The art direction is freaking stunning. The costuming is simple, but that simplicity really works to catch the eye in the most amazing way. Each girl wears the same color as her mate to be, and it works, it really works for me. I find the color matching captivating.

There are a couple scenes that are gorgeously shot. Yes the masquerade that turns into a borderline orgy is just fan yourself hot, but there are other scenes that really take advantage of being close to the characters and making them larger than life in a musical grandeur kind of fashion that I find really fun to watch.

There are a lot of really good looking people in this movie. I know I know that is not a great reason to like a movie, but there are worse reasons. I think this ties into the costuming, but everyone just looks really lovely in this movie, and then they look great next to each other, and you think any minute they are going to turn and have their photos shot for a Movietone magazine.

No, it isn't great entertainment, but it is fun and passable entertainment, and worth a check out if you want to see Nathan Lane be silly and some other great actors wear some great clothes and goof about.

Mike Birbiglia: What I Should Have Said Was Nothing: Tales From My Secret Public Journal

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Do you listen to way too much NPR that you already know who Mike Birbiglia is and have heard him on the radio or a podcast from NPR?

Well even if you don't, let me just say he is still pretty funny.

Not cracking jokes, laugh riot, merry go round fast funny, but still funny.

His stuff tends to be fairly confessional in nature, dry of content, but the timing is what I think I like best about watching him. Yes there is a lot of clever content, but it is confused, holy crap is this really something I'm going to tell you timing that I find hilarious.

The story that the title comes from is worth the streaming alone, although it is one of those stories that keeps going to the point where I began to wonder when the payoff was coming. Of course when it came it was well worth my wait.

This is available streaming as of this writing, so hop on it and check it out, very funny stuff.

The Wire Season 5 (10 and some final thoughts)

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Episode 10 (and some final thoughts)

I am not sure I can really say how I feel after finishing off this inspired series. I can say that it was incredible.

Really.

Truly.

Incredible.

I loved Simon’s (and all the other people associated) work on Homicide. I am sure I mentioned that a ton of times while talking about the other episodes and seasons of The Wire, but I cannot say it enough. That show was one of the last shows that I watched with rabid fervor and I had a similar feeling while watching these seasons of The Wire.

As they wrapped up everything into the untidy mass of tangled string that it turned out to eventually become all I kept thinking was that I was happy that I’d invested the time. Happy I’d invested the time, and as emotional and distressed and weepy and angry as I’d become watching these seasons, I’d pop disc one of season one right back into the DVD player and watch it again.

One of the things that really struck me of this last episode was the possible cyclical nature of everything. The world keeps spinning, the game keeps getting played, and the players just keep going around and around, although sometimes the world does stop for a minute or two and Cheese (Method Man) gets shot in the freaking head to make things right for just a little while.

The cyclical nature is beautifully shown in a variety of scenes, with Dukie possibly taking the place of Bubbles, Michael possibly taking the place of Omar, Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson) possibly taking the place of McNulty from the first season, Chris behind bars not taking the place of Wee-Bey (Hassan Johnson), but similar in cycle to the first season and the way things play out in the cycle. The way the scenes and the people relate is frustrating and yet still compelling to see.

As this whole season comes to an end and I start to take a look at the way everything stacks onto itself I am reminded of the opening scene of this season. The scene where the homicide cops had two corner boys separated and they were lying to them and keeping them in a controlled environment while they interrogated them, keeping them from seeing the big picture.

With this one little scene we also get a grasp of the idea of what The Wire has been trying to show us, trying to give to us as viewers. By keeping each group, the cops, the corner boys, the politicians, the hard core criminals, the news reporters, all of them in separate story lines that intersect only as we see them in a big picture they have kept the story alive.

Sometimes the story is frustratingly alive, sometimes amazingly alive, sometimes frighteningly alive, but always alive for us in the audience. We know what connects everyone because we are on the outside looking at the grand scheme, but each character is in their own little box just trying to work through their own little ratty maze.

This series was incredible. Had I the funds I would buy it immediately, as for now I shall simply suggest that anyone out there with a Netflix account rent it, watch it, love it (promise you will).

The Wire Season 5 (7-9)

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Episode 7

With this episode with clarity we see the error of McNulty’s plan. Even if we might kind of side with the cowboy theatrics of the idea, we can see with sudden clarity the problem of all the paperwork and the manpower that must be funneled to the proper places. Bureaucracy devours paperwork and seeing a bureaucracy in motion, granted it is a motion that limps and falters here, is not exactly lovely. Every time McNulty agrees to help a cop on a different case it is clear he is that much closer to exposing the secret, getting caught, causing a huge problem. The scenes with Clay Davis in this episode are awe-inspiring and really bring into clear focus why one might want to have a change of venue for their trial. The cyclical nature of this season, how things repeat no matter what you try is beautifully displayed with Kima (Sonja Sohn) trying to build furniture for her son’s first overnight stay. When her son can’t sleep later and they do a persona version of “Good Night Moon” that includes po-pos, fiends, and hoppers, the kindness in the moment made me cry. I love when not every mother on television or in a movie is a soccer mom kind of person. Oh and Richard Belzer in the bar whining about owning a bar at the same time that Gus (Clark Johnson) goes into the bar to drink, genius shoot-out of love to the Homicide lovers.

Episode 8

They shot Omar.

I know other shit happened in this episode. I do, and some of it was even important. Don’t even care a little bit.

They shot Omar.

Fuckers.

Episode 9

Holy crap this season is just is just awful, and I never want it to end. I felt like this near the end with Homicide too, just all overwrought and exhausted. There was at least some good stuff in this one with Bubbles (Andre Royo) having his Narcotics Anonymous anniversary and trying to share it with his sister, but instead sharing it with the reporter, Walon (Steve Earle), and the assembled group. Watching him in front of the room brought back the first time he stepped up and tried, and watching him over these years get clean is not quite as emotional as the real thing, but it is well represented. When Michael (Tristan Wilds) figures out the trap they have set for him and gets the drop on Snoop (Felicia Pearson) there is a triumph and a horror in seeing him claim his own as a solitary assassin. Even though he parts company with his little brother and Dukie (Jermaine Crawford) later in the episode, it is when he pulls the gun and kills Snoop that he really changes over entirely in my eyes. Kima going to Daniels (Lance Reddick) about the serial killer case so late in these episodes makes me wonder if episode 10 is a long episode or if they just pack a super ton of stuff in there. I am sure some kind of resolution will come, but it won’t be good in any fashion I imagine.

The Wire Season 5 (4-6)

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Episode 4

Think it is with this episode that I’m not certain if I’m going to like this season at all. I know that I am responding from a purely emotional spot, but come on they killed Prop Joe! I love this show, and the characters are so finely put together, and the way they are rolling all this fake ass serial killer stuff together and the way that Marlo is taking over everything is just so hard to watch, and then they killed Prop Joe. I think what it is for me, is that between killing Butchie, which was sort of like the shock kill, like *blam blam*, pay attention bitches anyone could die now! Then killing Prop Joe in this episode it has definitely become *blam blam* anybody and everybody can and is gonna die! The emotional roller coaster is sometimes a little hard on the system and this season is just ripping me up watching all my favorites drop off.

Episode 5

Okay I thought episode 4 was emotional. I was freaking wrong. They are just messing with me this season. Messing with me to see how much I will end up yelling and screaming at the television like a freak. The short answer by the way, a lot. Omar jumped out of a window, fell to what looked to be his death, and no one can find him. Add to that McNulty and Templeton are now jerking each other off to create a serial killer out of thin air. The world has turned upside down. Not to mention Beadie (Amy Ryan) is still trying to make it work with McNulty, bless her. On top of all that there is politics constantly going on in the background as the Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) administration tries to figure out how to fix problems and get moved into a bigger office while Clay Davis (Isiah Whitlock Jr) just tries not to get sent to jail. There is so little that makes sense in this crazy season as they push and pull and rip my emotions from one extreme to another and it all has to start making sense at some point, I just realized that this season has less episodes and this is the mid-point episode. Did I mention I’ve been yelling at the television? A lot?

Episode 6

There is a lot in this episode that is just freaking amazing, but after watching it I have to say one of the things that just cracked me up was McNulty telling Freamon (Clarke Peters) what a pain in the ass he was always asking for more more more and how he finally understood some of what the bosses must have hated about trying to deal with Freamon on the wire cases. The idea of McNulty relating to the bosses really cracked me up for a while. Aside from that popping out at me I think what really struck me is the fact that Bunk is sneaking up on Chris and could very well put him in jail on that emotional murder of Michael’s stepfather. Somehow that just would be kind of perfect.

The Wire Season 5 (1-3)

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Episode 1

In the beginning of many of the episodes they have a vignette that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the rest of the show. This opening episode has one of those vignettes and it reminds me more of my old favorite television show Homicide than ever before. The way the cops play these two corner boys against each other with such simplicity and humor is phenomenal to watch. Another set of great scenes to watch for in this first episode are the introductory scenes where we get to meet the newsroom. Bitter and cranky experienced folks schooling the newer reporters are not only hilarious but somehow endearing as they whip through language that just amuses the crap out of me.

Episode 2

As the budget problems with the city become nearly ridiculous there is a real feeling of claustrophobia present in these episodes as you watch. It is played for a kind of humor when McNulty (Dominic West) takes a bus to inspect a dead body to see if they need to rule it as a murder or just accidental death. It is played for humor but the anger, the frustration at the reality of the situation is clear. Also as the stories begin to develop and twine together it becomes clear that the new story about the reporter Templeton (Thomas McCarthy) is going to piss me off as we progress through the season. God do I hate a fucking liar. I get the pressure he is under to produce good copy to keep swimming amongst the small pool of quality journalist, just the same kind of pressure that makes McNulty lose his good sense, snap and falsify a murder scene later in the show. But it is so hard to watch and not want to reach through the television and smack the ever-loving snot out of people as they make the wrong decision. God I love this show for making those horrible decisions seem so very feasible.

Episode 3

I’ve always sort of been on the fence about Marlo (Jamie Hector). You watch this show for a really long time and you kind of get favorites, and Marlo never really resonated with me, but there were always things I liked and disliked about him. In this episode those things kept swirling back and forth as he went through all the steps to get rid of his competition, Prop Joe (Robert F. Chew) by learning all the tricks from Prop Joe which is not exactly likeable, but is something one can admire. Then he had Butchie (S. Robert Morgan) tortured and killed to try and find Omar (Michael K. Williams) and that just breaks the heart. This episode is an emotional rollercoaster ride watching as McNulty gathers up the head of steam to try and make his serial killer case to succeed. Is he gonna get caught? Is he gonna pull any of his stupid bullshit off? Is he at any point going to stop being such a fuck-up and remember that he isn’t the kind of police-town and actually do something honest for once, like stop drinking himself to a pickled state, or go home at a reasonable hour, or do investigative work on a file that is something real instead of fabricated? Very very emotionally wrecking episode.

Young & Handsome: Evening with Jeff Garlin

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I really really loved this, a lot.

After I watched it I went back to the Netflix to rate it and looked at some of the other reviews, and apparently not very many other people liked this little evening.

Yes, Jeff Garlin wanders off topic, way off topic, but I think that is the whole fucking point.

The stories wander and weave and they are sweet and familiar.

I like the goofy way Garlin talks to the audience and after seeing this, I really want to see his movie, I think I want to bump it up in my queue.

Bill Burr: Why Do I Do This

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There is a lot of stuff that runs the line of offensive in this comedy special.

But hey if you can't be offensive in a comedy special, where can you be offensive?

Some of my favorite things are when he talks about relationships.

The idea that one has to get married or be single creepy person forever really rang out with me.

Watching him go off about everything like a little wind-up toy was awesome.

Not for those easily offended, but still funny.

The Wire Season 4 (10-13)

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Episode 10

This episode is filled with a lot more emotion than I was expecting.

From the softening of hearts when Namond and Bunny become closer when Bunny takes Namond home to avoid “baby” booking to the shaking of heads when Namond has to go back home and Bunny gets a glimpse of Namond’s home life there is a roller coaster of emotion going on in that relationship.

Seeing Bodie’s anger all these years later over his friend’s death brings about an emotional tug that he isn’t really up for all the deaths anymore. That he is tired of all the spinning of the wheels. I’m very interested to see how things play out for Bodie in the next couple episodes as he seems to be getting more and more exhausted with this drug process.

I must admit to a certain delight in the idea that Bubbles getting a deep sort of revenge on Herc. Herc has never treated an informant with any sort of respect, and has never treated Bubbles like he was a human being in any sort of way. I do hope in some sort of petty way that the actions of Bubbles really fuck Herc over in a big bad way. Petty to be sure, but no less than he deserves after not being more aware of his own surroundings.

There are hints as to why Michael is a cold and determined child beyond the fact that he has to live with a junkie mom in this episode. He has asked Chris and Snoop to kill Bug’s (Keenon Brice) dad, and at first it seems just a brutal act of a jealous child, but as the episode plays out and the intensity of Chris’s beating occurs and other little hints between Michael and Bug’s body language are also indicators of Michael’s fear of the man as a monster from his childhood.

Episode 11

The boys continue to be together, they continue to run together, and the kindness they show to each other is touching. Their friendship as we’ve followed it means a lot. When the boys work together to payback Officer Walker (Jonnie Brown) for hassling them they come off as a perfect team, and work together in perfect unison. The revenge is perfect, and the fact that they get the ring that has been passed through so many people all season is an added amusement. I also suspect it is the last time the boys will be together on anything as a unit all season. It is big and bold and is something that has the feeling of legend that will be able to grow and grow in their minds, something they can look back on fondly. I’m not sure, but that is what it feels like as I watch it.

Finally we get back to the major crimes unit, and finally Freamon is able to see his world again, and finally all those hints and clues and stumblings of Herc’s can start to be collected and maybe start to make sense again. Finally finally finally.

Episode 12

Damn.

Omar stole the whole thing

They started finding bodies.

They burned down Randy’s house, and Randy’s foster mother.

They are politicking with the Governor.

Damn.

Episode 13

In previous seasons the goal of the season was always to wrap up and capture a bad guy. By the end of the season, the bad guy in question was almost always captured or wrapped up in some way or another. This season that didn’t happen and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised a little, but not bad surprised.

I was surprised at how in the end it didn’t really matter that a bad guy wasn’t captured. I was so caught up in the stories and lives of the characters on the screen it didn’t really matter in the end, so long as I got to see what happened in those character’s lives. How beautifully sketched was each character, each story that I wanted to know more.

I was fascinated when Bunny went to speak to Wee-Bey and told him Namond could go further, fascinated when Wee-Bey decided to let his son go further than he had gone in his life.

I was fascinated by Michael making adult decisions that no adult would want to make and how the coldness that started in his eyes slowly spread through his heart and soul. The flash to the little bit of goodness he could remember with his brother broke my heart at the end broke my heart.

I was broken-hearted about the honesty of Randy and how even being a good-hearted young man will get you beaten again and again and quite possibly killed.

Prez changed Dukie’s life, and yet when he had the chance to go on to high school, he didn’t have the confidence to do it alone. He isn’t strong enough by himself, and he’s out on the corners with the other boys.

The story had more going on all season, but these four boys carried me through the season, and watching their lives made this season amazing. Sad, harsh, and brutal, but still…amazing.

The Wire Season 4 (7-9)

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Episode 7

So often in this show so much happens in an episode that it kind of starts to blur. In the last episode Omar got arrested for murder and brought into booking and he honestly looked a little frightened for a moment. Now as this episode opens it looks like he may be able to come back into all those contacts he has wrangled along the way.

You know at different times I have really liked Herc (Domenick Lombardozzi), as a person, as a police, and in this episode I cannot believe what a fucking moron he has become. I think to some degree they are showing how far both Herc and Carver (Seth Gilliam) have come since the early days, but it is really surprising to think they have been exposed to so many of the same things in their police career, and one of them gets a grasp on a larger picture, and the other doesn’t.

As Burrell becomes dead weight to Carcetti, it looks like Daniels and his long distinction of doing things the right way might put him in position to take Burrell’s spot, unless that “dark secret” that was hinted at from the past comes back now and bites him in the ass again. That would really fucking suck after all he has been through in all these seasons.

Although it is interesting to see the classroom developing around the ten at risk corner kids, in the back of my mind as a previous school worker all I can think of is what is coming next, how it is going to fall apart, when the funding will run out and even if the program might succeed, when the school might be screwed over because of what might happen. A little fatalistic, but change is inevitable, and rarely positive in that world.

Episode 8

It is amazing to think so much can happen in one episode and yet it seems to go by it the snap of a finger. That is some damned fine television right there. From Prez and his representative distrust of what is going on in the schools and how things are being taught, how the schools are teaching to the test and not teaching students to be students, to Bunny and his sudden breakthrough about his classroom and his students and the school system being the first step of institutionalization to the close brush Herc makes to catching Snoop and Chris all in the pursuit of saving his freaking job and yet he manages to achieve nothing but help them pull out a little bit further ahead of the cops.

There is so much to like about this episode, how the layers of communication can cross and how people’s lives can change so easily is displayed in these episodes is remarkable. In this particular episode I am blown away by the performance of Michael again. There is too much harshness in his life, and he manages to get that anger, and the hope he has for his little brother across, and his fears, and his angers across without really overplaying the character and becoming melodramatic.

Aside from that the fact that Bunk (Wendell Pierce) continues to stand up for Omar because it is wrong and when things are wrong, as things are echoed from an earlier episode, “a man’s gotta have a code” is just amazing to see and try and grasp what will happen long term for both Bunk and Omar.

As a final thought I have to say that it was awesome to see Snoop get sad over losing her nail gun.

Episode 9

With Omar out, and making a promise to Bunk about no more bodies, I cannot wait to see how the rest of the episode progresses. If nothing else, the rest of the episode on that promise alone can be nothing but golden.

The rest of the episode is really quite good, but watching as Omar tails and does a stakeout and takes notes on Marlo and Prop Joe and everyone involved like a cop with vengeance in mind is mesmerizing.

The rest of the episode progresses many of the plot lines and seeing Daniels promoted at last is marvelous and a big vindication for those of us that have watched him from the beginning episodes.

Seeing Bubbles beat down in the street took a lot more out of me than I imagined, and his life is spiraling out of his control as you watch a brutal life catching up to him after all this time. He can’t seem to catch his breath or his thoughts.

The students that manage to work together and win the dinner with Bunny out at the steakhouse are made to see two different worlds and not like that vision of themselves in those worlds. The rude awakening is brutal, but in many ways needed in that moment. The idea of social skills being taught in schools is not something that comes up often enough in curriculum, and I really think it should come up more often. I was pleased to see the idea so frankly and easily covered in the episode, like it was important and it had a point.

The Wire Season 4 (4-6)

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Episode 4

How interesting that the world repeats itself and Omar goes up against Marlo (Jamie Hector) and Prop Joe (Robert F. Chew) tries to use him as a tool. This as a story line beginning can only play out in a fascinating way.

Also it continues to fascinate that so many people are after Michael Lee (Tristan Wilds), Marlo, Cutty, Prez. That one boy on the corner stands out, shines because of how he treats others and his family and garners the attention of so many. Granted this is a television show, but it is interesting to see it all play out in these episodes.

I’m interested to see how things play out for Michael Lee, and for the rest of these boys, and how it all shakes out in the election. As always this show fascinates me so very quickly.

Episode 5

The politics in this episode take center stage, and it is well played and it adds some great scenes, but still what is fascinating me mores is the kids, the students, and the school.

Watching Prez come into his own as a teacher as he learns more about how he will teach, how he will interact with his kids, hell as he learns more about his kids in general is really very engaging to watch. The students program that Bunny is helping to develop is also something I just want to know more and more about, because it sounds innovative, but also like it could go very wrong very quickly.

I continue to be impressed with these young actors. Yeah they are young and they need to act their age, but they are also bringing about a certain amount of sadness to the stage, a certain amount of fear to the whole deal that one can’t always expect with ease. The running conversation about being a zombie and Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe) being the zombie master and special kinds of dead is chilling, even if it is children’s talk. The two scenes where the kids talk about the gunfire, guessing what kind of gun will make a person sad, and then when they go to look at a body and declare that there is no special kind of dead there is an understanding that these boys are really not going to ever be quite right after this moment, if they have been up to this moment.

Episode 6

As the concentration shifts to Randy (Maestro Harrell) and his confession that he knows about a murder may lead to the trail of bodies that can bring down Marlo. Major Crimes finally might have what they were searching for five episodes ago. Seeing Prez pleading for the young boy to not be chewed up by the system makes the evolution of him as a teacher seem remarkable and touchingly hopeful.

I feel deeply for poor Namond (Julito McCullum), as I suspect that he is more like his father Wee-Bey (Hassan Johnson) in that he is a soldier in his heart, and not a slinger. He can protect but not really run a game with any kind of ease. Add to the fact that his mother is a grasping woman that puts all of her needs into him, and the boy seems doomed to live under her expectations and demands.

The election comes to fruition, and as we knew would come to pass, Carcetti wins the election. I mean why else would we have been as invested these last seasons? Although the struggle and the politics involved in winning an election is far more involved than even I could’ve imagined, and I can imagine a lot. Although the sexual moment on the night of his winning night reflecting the night where we saw Carcetti boning a woman years earlier when he was on the path to deciding to run for mayor and how we weren’t supposed to like him then, and how determined he was then to win, and how surprised he is at not wanting to have sex with his campaign manager and how surprised he is at winning, the two scenes as bookmarks of his campaign are very telling.

The Wire Season 4 (1-3)

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Episode 1

As season four starts and the idea of watching a crew from the very beginning, the shaping of a crew from the age of pre-teen is frightening and yet amazing all at once.

These young faces they are the faces of tomorrow, they are the faces of either future crime or they might be able to make it out, they could become something different.

All of that hope rests on these children.

Granted we also have characters that are old standbys from previous seasons, and they are all in new and different ways from before, but from the intro showing us mostly school scenes I think we are going to be watching these school kids. Oh and I can’t wait to see Prez (Jim True-Frost) as a teacher, he is either going to implode or find a zen perfection that will surprise us all, including himself.

This season is going to be awesome to watch.

Episode 2

The supbeonas go out and the bombs begin. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) and all his machinations are about to come to fruition and the movements are really just horrifying to watch. Lives are lost and the wheels of politics keep rolling.

Bubbles (Andre Royo) takes a considered interest in the boy he is rolling with and takes him back to school, but where will that lead? There is a lot of talk about how his math skills will pay off in the long run, but the more he learns, how likely is he going to be to return to the same life with Bubbles?

Cutty (Chad Coleman) has a much more established gym, a much more established harem of women and way of life. He is making a change to the children around him, and he looks to be the introduction of a character that the young can turn to for positive learning while Prez is our inside the school source.

Episode 3

OMAR! In silk pjs, yeah that’s right.

Okay I loved the opening of the first episode with Snoop (Felicia Pearson) and the talk and miscommunication about jobs. To me though, the best part of this episode is the way Omar (Michael K. Williams) walks through the neighborhood and demands as much fear and his name “rings out” to the point where he has no weapons and he still robs people blind.

The rest of this episode is just really fucking intense. Like the first two episodes were just lulling me into getting ready for the whap of this episode.

Everyone stakes out a bit of ground, the bit of ground I imagine they will be working/occupying for the rest of the season.

I’m amazed at how fast Rawls (John Doman) is able to destroy the major crimes unit with one well-placed horror of a lieutenant, but am also fascinated by the idea of Greggs (Sonja Sohn) and Freamon (Clarke Peters) working for him in homicide.

I really want the horror in Prez’s face, the innocence in his face to begin to dissipate, for him to harden up and become a good teacher, to find his way, but his students, the assault in his class, I am almost more frightened for his soul than I was when he shot a fellow officer.

I can’t wait to see how this research project with Bunny spools out, at the very least it looks really really interesting on film. So far, best episode.

Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale

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This comedy special is something I've seen a couple times, and each time there is something that makes me giggle or laugh aloud.

I love his constant talk about food, not just because it is funny, but what it says about him and us watching.

His Hot Pockets sketch is one of his more famous, but remains freaking hilarious. Although I do have to say the stuff he does about cake and pie continually makes me snort every time I see it.

He has delivery that is odd and fun, although I could see where if you weren't ready for his stuff you could really find him irritating.

He is worth checking out, and as always easy to check out on the stream-o-thon.

Factotum

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Watching this film third puts things into more of a perspective than I could have ever possibly imagined.

More of a polished "product" than the other two films, it takes a little while for one to realize that this film wants very much to be removed from Bukowski as much it possibly can, which is an entertaining and really rather flawed idea.

The movie tries to capture the vibe of the novel of the same title and to some degree it does, and to some degree it doesn't. It sort of occupies a weird middle space.

I appreciate very much the fact that the film addresses that the character Chinaski (Matt Dillion) wishes to write, it is something that drives the character in the film, and really in life.

There are pieces of the whole Bukowski/Chinaski puzzle that come crashing into place as I watch this film that I don't think I would've picked up on had I not just finished watching the Bukowski: Born Into This documentary and Barfly in the last couple of days. For instance there are little pieces where Chinaski comes off as much more of an epic hero as opposed to coming off as a fool, and that really reminded me of the documentary.

This movie wasn't my favorite of the three films I've screened lately in the Bukowski realm, but I think there were a couple things I liked and I think made this film stand out from the three. The conflict between the Chinaski character and his father is uncomfortable and because of the fact that is shot in bright light it adds to the discomfort. I would have liked that to go on a little longer. I also enjoyed the narration, because I just dig narration, not because I think it really added anything to this particular film.

After seeing these three I would say see them in the order I did, or if you want to see just one of them, I would go straight for the documentary, it was pretty much my fave.

Barfly

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This movie actually has aged moderately well.

It isn't great, it isn't horrible, but there are a lot of movies from the 80s that didn't age well at all, and this one I have to say has stood up fairly well.

Watching the documentary first may not have been the smartest idea because Rourke's performance of Chinaski comes off a little like a caricature in spots, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing really.

The film has no beginning, no middle, and no end, and doesn't really suffer for that fact. It comes off as a sort of drunken haze of association as one might expect an alcoholic to attempt to recollect.

The best parts of the film for me are the moments were Henry (Mickey Rourke) and Wanda (Faye Dunaway) are in the apartment together. The apartment an perfect enclosed space metaphor for their addiction to alcohol and each other. They are tied to one another, they are tied to their habits, and they are tied to this room which is a surreal other-world. Their are several moments in the film that exist outside of time and space and all of them exist inside of the bottle of the room and within the haze of drink.

I was particularly moved by the discussion and spatial relation of how the scene in the bathtub/bathroom was shot and acted. Beautiful color, beautiful spacing.

So far the Bukowski documentary is my favorite, but this wasn't bad, and I'm glad I saw it, and would put it second on the recommend cycle.

Bukowski: Born into This

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A friend recently lent me Hollywood, and after reading it I had to watch this documentary again. It is beautiful and horrible and wonderful.

Kind of like Bukowski himself.

With old footage and some really interesting editing that is like typing out his poetry, his words into reality, into fact we get to know Bukowski as writer, man, and flawed human being.

I've been a fan of Bukowski since I chanced upon Love is a Dog From Hell and I happened to be in a mood to agree. So often poetry is easily associated with love and hearts and flowers and all that other bullshit, and finding that particular book at that particular time in that particular mood opened my world up to a whole bunch of different poets.

From Bukowski I jumped into a bunch of other poets that weren't caught up in form, they were just caught on words and places and saying something different.

With this documentary I love all that is said about Bukowksi and who he is and isn't, but it also makes me wish there were more documentaries on more poets I loved and have touched my life and other people's lives and the world of poetry. Of course not many of them get drunk and start kicking people on a couch in the middle of the film, so not sure they'd make great documentary subjects. Like I said, the film is not for the faint of heart.

There are a lot of things to love, and or hate in this piece, but I think one of the most telling moments comes very early in the film when what happened in reality contradicts what Bukowksi writes and someone calls him on it, Bukowksi retorts that he is the hero of the story he writes, and that if somebody wants to be a hero, they can be a hero in their own film, or their own work. This strikes true, so very true for the rest of the film as we see how Bukowski lived, and how he wrote.

I think I'm going to check out Barfly and Factotum next and see how those come off.

9

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Every year the Starz Film Center in Denver shows all the Oscar nominated animated short films and live action short films because it is often difficult to see these films unless you go to a lot of festivals.

If you live in Denver you really should try and check this service out because you get to see animated shorts and live action shorts that really you will hardly ever get to see anywhere else without really searching.

It is in fact where I first saw the Shane Acker student film 9 that inspired the larger film that just came out today of the same name. I also found a link to the student film the other day, and you should really check it out either before or after viewing the bigger budget film. It won't hinder the viewing of the bigger film at all. It is jsut the reason I was so so so excited about seeing the film on the opening day, which I rarely do anymore.

When I saw the short film for this, the mood, the atmosphere, the idea was phenomenal, it was amazing. The world was someplace scary and yet hopeful and interesting. I wanted to see it again and again.

The larger budget film is good, and the animation is still wonderful, but there is something rushed about the whole thing. I can't decide if it is because of all the voices, or because of all the people that brought their very young children, some of whom began to cry during some mildly scary parts of the film, but the film and the world of the film seemed a little squeezed for time.

I think it is still very fascinating, and I still enjoyed visiting the universe, and I suggest if people go they pick a showing late enough that people do not bring their very young children so they get a slightly better atmosphere of darkness. Yes I get that the film has been advertised in some kids films, but the movie is rated PG-13 and has some violence and mildly adult themes, not pron adult, but sort of grown-up talking about technology, the soul and definitely death all over the place, and it may not be something easily slid past the kidlets.

In the end I think the movie is worth seeing, and I think I want to see it again in the dark cave of my home, but I'm still not sure anything will compare to that first revelation of seeing that student film and getting a peek into that phenomenal and fascinating world.

Dear Zachary

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Think you are a patient person?

Think again.

While patience is not the only thing you get from this movie, it is definitely one of the things that screamed out at me from this movie. Patience and tolerance and sheer freaking sadness.

Lots and lots and lots of sadness.

Don't get me wrong, the documentary has a lot of redeeming qualities as well.

There is a lot of love in the piece, a lot of caring, a great deal of heartfelt spilling remembrance and sharing.

What is gripping about this documentary, for me at least is how it holds you captive, you are brought along on this journey of memory and the man that we are learning about, really truly comes to life. Along the way as we learn about Andrew, the murder victim, and his family's struggles to gain custody of their grandson Zachary from the woman that most likely murdered their own son, seeing the perseverance of these two people is incredible and more than a little amazing.

The documentary is not precisely heartwarming, or something I would call enjoyable, but it is something worth seeing and discussing and attempting to understand.

Company

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This isn't so much a movie as a filming of a broadway production, and it is available streaming, and it is freaking freaking freaking awesome.

To start off with the music is phenomenal.

Then the acting is great.

Also I think it is just fabulous that the actors are also part of the back production, and the orchestra. This just was way too cool to me.

Then the staging is top notch.

I love pieces like this where the audience is asked to do as much imagining as possible, where things are minimalist and it is all about the music and the words and the tension of what is going on in front of you, not necessarily about how everyone is interacting with the furniture.

The people in this musical are all very familiar to me. Of course I relate very strongly to Bobby (Raul Esparza) and his journey through all the married people. His wanting to be one of them, but also not wanting to be married.

There are particular songs in this that I love, in fact I bought the soundtrack after seeing the production because there were so many songs that I love. I hope it moves others in the same way because this really is just a killer piece.

As always I love a streaming piece, it makes things that much more appealing, I can forgive a movie, or stage play a lot of failings when it is streaming because it is almost like it is free! I get that it isn't, but it seems so because it is so easy to get in my home (or wherever).

Noises Off!

Netflix


This movie is available and streaming and I cannot emphasize enough the need for you to put it on your queue.

It is slow to start, but when it gets revved up it is freaking hilarious.

The whole thing is a play within a movie and as such is self-reflexive and very self-aware.

The patter is rapid and never-ending and there are parts where you literally start snorting out loud at the sheer ridiculous nature of the antics onscreen.

Everyone is great and it is really wonderful to see so many of the actors when they are young and hale and hearty.

Check it out streaming, it doesn't take that long and it really is just fun, a little dated, but so much fun. Just don't be drinking anything that will stain your carpet if you snort it out your nose laughing.

Imagine Me & You

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This is another of those silly sweet chick flicks, with very little weight and lots of charm.

The gimmick is that there are two women falling in love instead of a man and a woman. Really it is pretty much a gimmick, they don't explore much in depth as to the emotion and social issue of finding love in an unexpected place.

There are points where the film tries to explore something deeper, love at first sight vs. loving your best friend, but in truth the movie is just charming fluff. Which isn't really a bad thing.

Everyone gives a good performance, and is lovely and young and single and very very attractive, but I have to say that Matthew Goode popped for me. He was recently in Watchmen and was really quite good in that as well, but he gives a lovely performance in this film and I really hope to see him in more films in the future. Also the little girl that plays "H" (Boo Jackson) is a great addition to the cast and super fun to watch steal her scenes.

Things that really stuck out for me in the movie are when everything comes to a head and Rachel (Piper Perabo) is given speeches by both Heck (Matthew Goode) and her Father (Anthony Head). The love given by these men, men that are both wounded by their wives is eloquent and touching and for me far more moving than the actual couple finding each other in the crowd later in the film. Supporting love is often overlooked in romantic film, and I was moved by it in this movie.

The movie is sweet, not something I'd watch again and again, but I would recommend as a queue add.

We Don't Live Here Anymore

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This is based on a book containing three short novellas/short stories. The collection is published under the same title, and is very much worth the read.

A couple of things before I tell people to go and rent or queue up this movie.

First, it is really freaking sad.

Second it is one of the better adaptations of book/story material I've ever seen.

Third, the actors in this really really owned their characters. I mean owned them. They grab hold of the idiosyncrasies and interplay that is present in the stories in a way that is amazing to see played out on film.

On other notes, the place where this is filmed is freaking gorgeous and very similar to what I pictured when the location was described in the stories.

While the movie is not a raving endorsement for being married, or in a relationship, or even having friends, I love the way it treats things with so much reality and humanity. The characters are smart, mean, and oh so dishonest, with themselves and each other. But adultery will bring that out in a circle of friends.

On an unrelated note, I have to say this movie really adds to the sexiness of Mark Ruffalo. I am not a big fan when he plays the boy interest in movies like 13 going on 30, but when he is conflicted like he is in this film, or just filthy like he was in In The Cut, he is just yum. I do hope I have more Ruffalo films in the queue.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

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I admit I really enjoy Denis Leary, Ray Romano, and John Leguizamo in this film. I like the three of them in all three films. While the films are not exactly interchangeable, the humor and atmosphere the three men create is great.

Add in Queen Latifah, and Simon Pegg and the movie is adorable.

Goofy, silly, totally bizarre, but adorable.

Lots of ridiculous jokes like the previous two films, many little fun animated pieces with the saber-tooth squirrel Skrat, my favorite being the broken-hearted acorn, and it was a fun little animated film about being in alternative family once again.

I saw it for free, and would suggest a cheap showing or rental for the highest enjoyment, but Simon Pegg as Buck makes it almost worth a matinee...if it is even still playing at matinee prices anywhere near you.

Dexter Season 2 (10-12)

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Episode 10

When one experi- ments with human nature, as Harry the foster father has all throughout every flashback has in this series does, and plays with the reality of something they don’t truly understand, often the result is nothing like what they think it will truly be in their imagination. I think this is brilliantly demonstrated in this episode. Dexter’s foster father Harry (James Remar) trained Dexter to be something in theory, but in practice, it was something beyond his ability to deal. It is one thing to say I wish I could make that criminal pay, it is quite another to actually make a criminal pay, and the turn of this episode, the turn of the deaths presented to a sickened Harry is wonderfully played out. There are other things that are great in the episode, the relationship ups and downs between Lundy and Debra, and the make-up between Rita and Dexter. I’m also a big fan of the “monster-tag” on the beach and the subtle humor of Dexter not wishing to be a monster on the beach. There are the reasons of him not wanting to run because of his injury, but the humor is also there. Later as things become freakishly dangerous for Batista (David Zayas) because of Lila and her manipulations, it is phenomenal to see how far one human being will go to get the attention of another, phenomenal and a little horrifying.

Episode 11

When I saw this episode in the series the first time around I have to say it was quite possibly the single most exciting piece of television I had ever seen in my freaking life. The episode opens with Dexter dealing with his epiphany about his father, and there is not a moment to breathe until the end of the episode. Literally. Almost two or three episodes worth of information spilled out in this single episode. At different points in the episode everything seems completely lost, and then found again. The whole episode is a huge emotional ride of immense proportions. Dexter sets his affairs in order, gives Rita his car, has Debra sign papers, all terribly organized. Lila is an illegal and she presses charges against Batista for rape. Dexter also decides to turn himself into Debra, and then after talking to his sister, changes his mind. For a little while Doakes escapes, is recaptured, and then Lila finds Dexter’s secret hiding place. This episode is literally edge of the seat intense. There are several scenes that mean a lot, but one of the scenes that I found really touching is when Dexter tells Batista he is a real person he would want to be like, it is sad and unreal all at the same time. Watching this episode for a second time it isn’t quite as intense, but it is still a good episode.

Episode 12

This episode begins with an explosion, and nothing is exactly the same. The world is on fire. While things seem solved in The Bay Harbor Butcher case, nothing seems perfectly wrapped up entirely, there may in fact be doubts in the future. Okay I had totally forgotten about the scene in the aquarium where they talk about Lila’s total addiction to emotion. On one hand this is cool, and on the other hand, just the hints of it were cool enough. But the intensity of the scene between these two actors was really amazing. The thing that is just brutal in this episode, and in truth in how things turn out is how the rescue of Dexter goes down at the hands of Debra. The siblings are creations of their father Harry, but in season one Dexter chose his sister over his blood brother that accepted him, but with this season Debra chooses Dexter over Lundy, over the man she loves. Each sibling is deeply damaged by Harry’s influence. Only through each other’s love can they move on, can they heal. I love the way the two season endings mirror each other and how the siblings save each other in this fashion.

Season two was good; although I do have to say that season one has more repeat watchbility. I’m really looking forward to season three.

Dexter Season 2 (7-9)

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Episode 7

This episode is packed and alive with freak- ishness, and the biggest freak in the room may not actually be Dexter. As Dexter goes into a deeper amount of effort to rid himself of Doakes the eventual trap is set for Doakes because of his violence and erratic behavior as displayed in this episode. The scene with Dexter head-butting Doakes to create a confrontation in front of others is very lively and wonderful to see from another person’s perspective. I’m also a big fan of the scene where Cody (Preston Bailey) gives his school presentation and Dexter speaks about the fact that he feels truly clean. While that caring scene is happening we get to see Lila set fire to her own art to bring Dexter back to her. I just love the ending where he is looking at the broken light in her hallway, holding a distraught woman in front of a burnt apartment, and Dexter comes out with a line about getting the light fixed.

Episode 8

The strife between Debra and Lila is palpable in the few scenes they share in this episode the sparks are brutal and bright. The separation between the siblings is very clear, some of which I think comes from them spending so much time together, some from the fact that Dexter knows Debra is searching for him, and some from the fact that Dexter has kept her at a bit of a bigger emotional distance since killing his brother. Add them all together and you have something more than just normal sibling bickering. Some of the better parts of this episode for me center on the scene of flirtation and partial consummation with Lundy and Debra, also I was really impressed with the scene between Dexter and Lila when he tells her to leave Rita alone. She has stated before she was addicted to meth, but with this scene and her confession about setting Dexter up to be attacked, and how she tried to force the two of them closer it seems like she is more addicted to the rush of emotion she feels when breaking through or truly close with someone. She is dangerous because of her instability, but she has opened something up inside of Dexter few others could ever get access to ever in his life, just through her sheer instability.

Episode 9

There is a lot in this episode to love. The deflected tension is a great place to start. Doakes finds Dexter’s slides, this is sure to spell the end for Dexter, but it is a big clue to putting suspicion on Doakes. Every moment keeps leading us to believe that Dexter is to be caught, but we know he will be safe, but how? How will it all play out?! The scene where Dexter cleans off that box of evidence and takes his petty revenge on the FBI’s lab techs is particularly fun and vindictive with little blood involved at all. Also the scene where Dexter speaks to Rita whilst wedged between two of the members of his protective detail is literal laugh out loud hilarious. The “communication is key” line is delivered with perfect patter and seriousness. The confrontation between Morgan and Doakes ending the episode is wonderful, it makes everything seem dangerous and lively, the world closing in on Dexter as more and more things surround him.