The Incredibles. Not very deep, but it’s a kids’ movie I suppose. Enjoyable though. Amazing luck on Saturday, the crap Kensington video shop actually had a non-mainstream title that I wanted to see. (Wow, even their web site is crap, blasting you with a stupid corporate jingle, and no mute button.) Napolean Dynamite. I was ... [More]
Somersault. Now maybe I’m going out on a limb here, since this thing won 13 AFI awards, but I couldn’t quite get into it. One of those films where you just can’t feel much sympathy for any of the characters. Maybe watching it on a small TV didn’t help, and maybe I wasn’t really in ... [More]
Happened upon Star Wars: The Phantom Menace on TV while channel-flicking on Saturday night. You know, Frank Oz did the voice for Yoda. He also did Grover from Sesame Street. Have a listen to Yoda, and you can tell it’s the same guy. Just that Yoda is a bit more mellow. (When I pointed this ... [More]
Sometimes I get blood noses, especially during the summer. One of those “I’ll mention it to the doctor next time” things. Occasionally it’s quite spectacular, such as recently when I got a blood nose in the shower. It was like my own personal Psycho. Yesterday I came out of the shower, dried myself off, went ... [More]
Quick reviews of recent DVDs viewed… Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Another one of Jim Carey’s interesting non-rubber-faced roles. Reminded me a bit of Being John Malkovich and 12 Monkeys, but a tad more confusing before you know what’s going on. Very enjoyable. Coffee and Cigarettes. An all-star cast, mostly playing themselves, in a ... [More]
Rushmore. It bugs me that this reminded me of some movie or TV show or something where a student is just about running the place, but I can’t remember what it is. Ferris Bueller? Simpsons “Separate Vocations” ? No matter, this was a very enjoyable film, full of great lines and moments. And a great ... [More]
Fahrenheit 911. Controversial? A tad, yes. Finally got to see this on Friday, just a day or two before the long-awaited Iraqi elections. The stuff about the business relationship between the Bush family, their friends and the various oil interests in the region was very interesting. I can’t agree with Moore’s visions of a peaceful, ... [More]
How’s this for a sci-fi idea: a computer controlling a virtual reality world. People hook up to the computer and enter that world. But it seems real. In fact it’s so real you can get hurt or even killed in there. And it’s called “The Matrix.” What a concept. Not bad for 1976. Doctor Who: ... [More]
The Motorcycle Diaries. Perhaps movies are always better when they’re free, but I enjoyed this a lot. Certainly more than Age critic Jim Schembri, who apparently found it dull. I didn’t… I have no Che Guevara t-shirts, posters or other memorabilia, but his transformation from medical student to revolutionary was only part of the story. ... [More]
The Triplets of Belleville. French animation, with some very funny moments (especially from Bruno the dog), and some very dark ones too, which possibly make it too dark for kids, despite the PG rating. Keep watching after the credits (I wish we had.) Maybe don’t watch it if you don’t like frogs… Great stuff. Japanese ... [More]
Jeremy is so taken by the Knight Bus scene in Harry Potter 3 that he’s recreated it on the computer. He’s found a little applet thingy on the HP web site that plays various Lenny Henry Shrunken Head quotes periodically, and has that running while he plays Midtown Madness 2, in London, driving around a ... [More]
Bought that USB drive on Friday. Ate Mexican on Friday night with good friends. Saw Brett from Kath & Kim (Peter Rowsthorn) in the street on Saturday. Almost bought a house on Sunday. Also saw Spider-Man 2 on DVD. Probably lost a lot in its transition to the small screen. Merciless in its references to ... [More]
In The Cut. Unrecognisable Meg Ryan. Bleak, so bleak. From the Monster’s Ball school of bleak. Was there even a single lighthearted moment in it? If so I’ve forgotten it. I mean, Mystic River wasn’t a cheerful film, but managed not to be as depressing as this one. Interesting enough plot I suppose, but did ... [More]
Collateral: A very simple premise, but very well (if you’ll pardon the pun) executed. Max, a cab driver in LA starts off his night shift relaxed. Before long he picks up a passenger, Vincent, and gets caught up in a world he’d rather not be caught up in. Along the way you learn a lot ... [More]
Finally saw both volumes of Kill Bill over the weekend. Volume one… every martial arts film ever known meets The Holy Grail Black Knight meets Spaghetti Westerns. Maybe my sensitivity for such things is diminishing, or maybe it was because it was so completely over-the-top, but it wasn’t quite as violent as I expected it ... [More]
Madam Fang. A lovely expensive meal on Friday for our anniversary, and as what might have been the last chance to splurge before I got hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt the next day when buying a house (it didn’t happen — more about that later). The atmosphere was lovely, the service was excellent, ... [More]