Sweet — a new preview trailer for Lord of the Rings! Just got posted in low and medium quality quicktime versions from Apple, hopefully there will be a high-quality version sometime soon. Yummy….
Michael Hanscom
1941 toepick cannibal line
Now — the newest additions to my movie library. Big surprise, huh?
1941: While this is definitely far from the best of Steven Spielberg’s movies (some would say it’s the worst, though I personally reserve that particular honor for Jurrassic Park: The Lost World), I’ve always thought that there were certain pieces of it that shone far and above the rest. The fight/dance scene in the USO club, for example, is one of the most amazing pieces of coreography I’ve seen, and I get a real kick out of watching it every time.
The Cutting Edge: It’s fluff. I know it’s fluff, and nothing but fluff. But it’s fun fluff, and nearly everyone I know who’s seen it agrees. A silly little romantic comedy about a pair of skaters — one figure, one hockey — going to the Olympic Figure Skating championships…well, okay, fluff. So sue me. “Toepick!”
Manhunter: The first of the (soon to be) three movies involving Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this mid-80’s film directed by Michael Mann is an incredible thriller, seen by more than a few critics to be better than The Silence of the Lambs. It’s certainly my preferred portrayal of the good doctor — though he’s not nearly as central to this story as he is in SotL, I find this version’s more subdued take on Dr. Lecter much more chilling than Anthony Hopkins‘ somewhat over-the-top version. With Michael Mann’s directorial style, I found myself to be very impressed by this first chapter in the semi-series of films surrounding Hannibal “The Cannibal.”
The Thin Red Line: I have to admit, this one’s still on my to-see list. However, the high number of stellar reviews I’ve heard of this (both around the ‘net and from friends who have seen it) convinced me to give it a buy — especially since Fox has just re-released it with a newly enhanced anamorphic picture and DTS soundtrack. Now I just need to find the time to set aside to watch this one uninterrupted, as I’m told that is by far the best way to see it.
So — not a bad haul this week. Woohoo!
Occasional downtime
First off, about the downtime for the past few days. This may be happening on and off for a while. I’m working on my CD collection again, which often necessitates switching my ‘puter over to Mac OS 9. As my webserver only operates when I’m running Mac OS X…well, no webserver when I’m working. I’ll do my best to remember to switch OS’s before I leave for the day, however there are no gaurantees. Most of the time things should be up and running, however.
Balls and beats
Bowling balls and musical beats, that is…
I don’t even want to know what you were thinking, you perverts.
Anyway, apparently my bowling game actually is improving — my average is up to 111, and tonight I managed to pull off a good three sets: 134/125/136. Not bad, considering this is the first time I’ve ever bowled on a regular basis.
I also may have an opportunity to start spinning again…albeit in sort of a cheezy fashion. The bowling alley in Muldoon is one of the ones in town that does Neon Bowling on weekend nights (blacklights, smoke machines, fancy lights, and loud music — everything you need for a good night of bowling, right?), and they’re looking for a DJ for their Saturday nights. I’d have to restrict some of my set a bit — as a “family establishment” I’d have to stay away from anything with swearing, overt sexuality, or drug references (which, I have to admit, knocks out a fair amount of the more popular tracks I own)…and while it’s not exactly a dance club, it would at least be spinning again. I’m thinking about it…not entirely sure yet, but you never know….
DJ Wudi strikes again!
Well, I’ve just been confirmed with a gig — for the third year in a row, I’ll be DJ’ing at UAA‘s Dance Marathon benefit fundraiser for the Providence Children’s ICU. Purty nifty, and a good cause, too…woohoo!
Bleah
I so don’t enjoy being sick. Came down with a really nasty flu virus a couple nights ago that has just knocked me for a loop…no fun at all. Worked all of about 3 hours yesterday, made it through 7 today…but am feeling better, though, so hopefully will be back to normal (whatever ‘normal’ is defined as in my case) by tomorrow. The worst part about the whole thing, though, was on top of battling the flu and feeling like crap, plus I spent all of today battling really strong hiccups too. Not a combination I’d recommend.
In other news, I picked up the 2-disc collector’s edition release of Disney’s Dinosaur today. Should be fun to play with. The only question will be how much of it I can make it through before the NyQuil kicks in.
Why I collect movies
Every so often I get people expressing amazement, wonder, or just shaking their heads in confusion when they see my DVD collection, either by checking the listing here on my site, or coming by my house and seeing the bookcase full of discs. I just found a page on the ‘net that had a really well-written explanation of why I (among other people) enjoy collecting movies, so I’ve added it to my site. There is a link to it in the contents listing on the home page (underneath the heading for my DVD list), or if you’d rather, you can just start reading.
Apt Ringers? Dead Pupil?
Two new ones today — one of which I’ve never seen, and the other I’ve only seen part of. Yes, I do this on occasion…luckily, very rarely come up with a real dud.
Apt Pupil: This is the one that I haven’t seen yet…but it’s been catching my eye for months now, so finally broke down and bought it. It’s directed by Bryan Singer, the same director who did The Usual Suspects and, more recently, X-Men; from a story by Steven King; and stars Sir Ian McKellen (who is generally wonderful in anything he does). The general rundown is that Brad Renfroe plays a 16-year old honor student who discovers that a neighbor is an old Nazi (McKellan) in hiding. He tries to blackmail the old man into telling him stories about the war, but eventually gets the tables turned on him in some form. Looks a lot like the kind of thing I enjoy, so I’m giving it a shot.
Dead Ringers: This is the one I’ve only seen bits of. The big kicker that gets me to spend my hard-earned money on it? It’s a David Cronenberg film (one of the most wonderfully twisted modern directors), and it stars Jeremy Irons, another of my favorite actors. Irons plays a set of identical twin gynecologists, and the movie explores what happens when a woman comes between the two. With Cronenberg’s usual style and Irons’ amazing ability to take any role and add just the perfect level of unsettlingly creepy airs to it, this should be a very fun one.
Unfortunately, my roomie just started watching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, so I don’t get to watch any of my movies. Bleah. Shmuck. ;)
A dark day for buttrock
Well, just found out that Metallica’s bassist has quit the band. I guess it’s kind of a bummer…never been a huge Metallica fan, but never really disliked them either. Oh, well, these things happen.
I’m just kind of curious how long it’ll take before we start hearing news stories about the majority of the Mat-Su valley slitting their wrists in dispair…. ;)
Lock, Stock and Logan’s Garden Stomper
First off, just finished watching Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, which I borrowed from a co-worker. Absolutely hilarious little crime drama. Took me just a couple minutes to get used to the heavy cockney accents that most of the characters have, after that had no problems. Not very predictable, either, and a great questionmark of an ending. If you’re into English humor and/or crime movies, this one’s quite worth the time to catch.
Next off, three more DVD’s to my collection. I wanted to fill in some holes in my collection with a couple movies that I’d been thinking about for a while, and added one more just ’cause it caught my eye.
Logan’s Run: A classic Sci-Fi film. If you’re at all into Sci-Fi and haven’t seen this one, you really should. Set in 2274, mankind has escaped the ravaged planet into covered cities, where they live with virtually no concerns (and a fair amount of hedonism) — until Lastday. On the day of your 30th birthday, you either submit to Carousel and die, or become a Runner and are hunted by the Sandmen. So what happens when Sandman Logan 5 gets long into his 29th year? I have to admit, though this was heavily spoofed in the film Free Enterprise, the closer I get to my own Lastday, the more I think of this film….
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: I actually have yet to see all of this film, to be honest. I first caught the last half over at a friends house, and have since found the book that the movie is based on. Considering what a bizarre murder mystery and cast of characters this story has, imagine how surprised I was while reading the book to find that it’s all a true story! The book is a thouroughly enjoyable read, and had me laughing aloud quite a few times while reading it — enough to catch my dad’s interest, at least, as this was happening while we were on vacation. I’m looking forward to finally seeing all of the movie, and just might watch it before crashing out tonight.
Romper Stomper: This one was actually something of a whim purchase — I’ve heard very little about it, but enough for it to catch my eye while browsing the movie racks. It was the breakthrough performance for Russel Crowe (most famous for Gladiator), where he plays the leader of a group of skinheads. Having known a few skinheads here in town during the years that they were a presence, I’ve always been somewhat fascinated by the various portrayals of them that I’ve seen (one of the best so far being Edward Norton‘s role in American History X), and from what I’ve heard, this movie does a very good job of portraying the skinhead mindset. Plus, the DVD edition looks pretty nice — a 2-disc set, including director’s commentary, background info, and a documentary on how skinheads have been portrayed in the movies. Should be an interesting night when I get to this one.
That’s it for tonight, though…time to either dive into ‘puter putzing or pop one of these into the player and catch one more movie before I crash out. Hmmm…anybody got a coin I could toss?