While I'm Bitching...

The iMac's wireless mouse can go fuck itself. It is a piece of crap. Always losing its connection or telling me the battery is dead or some such shit. Plus the scroll nub doesn't work half the time.

Horrible, horrible fuckin' mouse.

Conundrum of Solace

Casino Royale was a great reinvention of the Bond character and a great re invigoration of the Bond franchise. It was also a really good film. With a half hour boring film tacked on the end. Then another five minutes of cool.

I can understand why they structured the film the way they did, especially after seeing the new film, but that doesn't change the fact that the pacing in Casino Royale was bad.

The pacing in this new film is much better. It just kind of never stops. It starts right after the end of the last film (OMG! First true Bond sequel EVARZ!). It starts with a car chase. And Bond spends the rest of the film either chasing someone or being chased. Bond is a blond, bruised shark. Always moving forward. Unstoppable.

Which is not to say that there is no character development. This is all about Bond, about his obsessions, his weaknesses. Which is why I didn't use (the overused) Quantum of Soul-less. This is all about his damn soul.


Which is what makes this the least formulaic Bond film ever. I'm refering to the Bond formula, not formula in general. This film follows the Bourne formula nearly perfectly. But there is a nod or two two Bond conventions. There are Bond girls. Both with horrible fashion sense.

There are no gadgets. This Bond doesn't need 'em. He'll beat the fuck out of you with whatever comes to hand.

This film is almost all action.

Shame that the action is so hard to follow.

I'm not saying it is incomprehensible. You can tell who everyone is. You can usually tell what they are doing. But the outcome is almost always a surprise.

"Why did that car drive off the cliff?!?" "Why did that boat flip over and over into the air?!?" "Is that man bleeding profusely from the neck?!?" "Why is that man bleeding profusely from the neck?!?" "Why is everything exploding?!?"

This is a good film put together poorly.

Movies and the Watching Thereof

Tried to see Role Models this week. Was sold out. Only playing on one screen. Was sold out nearly an hour before the movie was to start.

Never trying to watch a new movie at that theatre ever again. It is always crowded and smelly and full of fuckwads.

So I can't talk about Role Models but I can talk about that Kevin Smith movie some more and Run Fatboy Run. Because they share some similarities.

Both are about losers trying to do something with their lives (which seems to be a recurring theme with both Pegg and Smith, and most of what I write).

I've lost most of my thoughts.

That happens a lot.

Fuck.

The porno one is way more potty mouthed.

The Fatboy one does a real good job of stacking the odds against the protagonist. Maybe too good a job. Pegg seems like a weak jerk. If this was my first exposure to him, I don't think I would be nearly as big a fan of his. They have to introduce an evil plot by the anaogonist pretty late in the game to try and level the playing field. The last act feels a bit forced.

Same with that there porno one. The conflict between the two leads seems to come out of nowhere.

They both have weak third acts. Is what I am trying to say.

This didn't come out near as good as I thoughted it would.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

This movie is not as good as Clerks 2. But Clerks 2 is my most favouritest Kevin Smith movie of all time. Forever.

And not it ain't got enough tits.

Fuck me

Damnit!

Published that one a bit too quick.

I wanted to work at least one more thing into that last post.

Another thing about McCain. About his speech last night. About the crowd. About how McCain felt about the crowd. When they booed Obama. The things they yelled out while he was talking. The huge cheers for Sarah Palin. I think the dude was getting pissed off.

Not to say that he doesn't like Sarah Palin. I think he does. I don't know if she was his first VP choice but whatever. Cheering louder for the non-VP then for the non-President? In his home state? That is like a slap in the fucking face.

Chanting USA? What the fuck is that? Is Obama not from the USA?

McCain hates that shit as much as we do.

I would love for him to write a book about this campaign. A tell-all, nuke the bridges kind of deal.

America: Fuck Yeah!

I'm sure this post's title has already been used, and used by better folk than me. But that makes it no less true.

I have no idea how to write this all down, so this is going to be a bit disjointed.

I consider myself to be a cautious optimist. I always try to look on the bright side of life. And I hoped that Obama would be the next President of the United States of America. But I didn't think he would win. All the polls, all the studies, all of it, everything that predicted an Obama victory would be proven wrong.

I've traveled abroad. Not to all that many places, but a few. Started traveling the month after the towers fell. And I have seen the turning of the tide. The way the world felt towards the U.S. after the attack, and how it changed over the years. How America changed over the years. The embarrassed smiles of backpacking Americans. The anger they felt.

My friend from work has parents that live in the states. I've known him for over a decade now. He has always wanted to move down to the states. That's been his dream. At least that was his dream before I left for Japan. That changed. He recently drove down to visit his parents. He came back afraid.




I'm playing Obama's acceptance speech right now. Fuck that man can speak. It is amazing. I will watch presidential addresses again. Not to see the language that I love mangled and misused, but to see it elevated.

Fuck that man can speak.

Also well spoken last night: John McCain. His concession speech was the best speech he's given in quite some time. And I say that as a huge fan of the guy. But...

I think the speech he gave last night was his best, because I think it is the first speech he's actually believed in in a long time. I think that running this campaign nearly ruined McCain. The compromises and the contortions and the changes of his beliefs. It was painful to see. I feel sorry for the guy. He loves his country, he would make a great President. If his party would let him.

But I don't think he is done yet.


Now here is where I piss some people off.

My mother woke me up on September 11th with these words, "You've woken up to a worse world". I watched the television. I saw the buildings fall. In my mind I had a reply to my mother. The world is no worse now. Buildings have been blowing up every day for who knows how long. It's just that these buildings fell down in America.

I know, I'm a dick. I'm working on it.

But the world did worsen. Somehow the Bush White House squandered all the emotion surrounding that defining event (along with untold trillions of dollars, and basic human rights).

I didn't feel despair the day the towers fell, I already knew the world was a pretty shitty place (remember: I'm a cautious optimist).

But today...

Today I feel hopeful.