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Review: Gone, Baby, Gone

Published by NiteMayr on September 19, 2008

Gone Baby Gone

Patrick Kenzie has two kinds of friends, Cops and Scum, but don’t hold that against him, he’s probably the best detective in the North East. When a frantic aunt calls him to find her missing niece, Patrick finds he has to choose between happiness and honor; a catch 22 that leaves his life in broken bits.

My rating: 5.0 stars
*****

Before I get into this I want to call out a specific actor; as I have loved him in EVERYTHING I’ve seen him in:

Edi Gathegi who plays “Cheese” in Gone, Baby, one, “Big Love” in House and the totally memorable Haitian Cab Driver in Crank.  I really expect and hope to see more from him, as he has the kind of mournful or threatening or easy going presence that a young actor could only hope to put forth.  He’s great here and deserves some recognition as a strong supporting character.

It’s a fine thing to spend some time breaking on Ben Affleck, that he’s uncooth, that he’s a hack, that he has it way better than you and he doesn’t deserve it. I used to agree with this line of reasoning, Affleck always seemed to be the smarmy asshole and I truly hated him for it. Of course, that was because he was a good actor. When Ben wants to play a sympathetic lead or best friend, he becomes likeable and pleasant. When he’s a leading man, cocky and sure, he is. I think Ben Affleck is a fine actor and it’s about time we all just accepted that he is both talented and not just lucky. “Gone Baby Gone” pretty much proves it.

GBG does more for Casey Affleck in terms of acting, but considering that Bog Brother Bed is the director, it goes to show that the Afflecks have got talent in spades.

Casey Affleck plays Patrick Kenzie; a boston boy and detective in the mold of a streetwise Harry D’amour or John Constantine; a magus of the street without the magic.  He works the streets, associating with cops and killers; knowing that the only thing of value he has is his self-respect.  Honorable to a fault, Kenzie is forced to turn on his friends and tear down pillars of the humanity at the cost of his own happiness in his quest for closure.  Faced with moral choices he makes difficult decisions, perhaps in a quest for redemption after he (in his own words) murders a guilty man.

Casey plays Patrick Kenzie with ease; he is almost lazy in his approach, but it betrays a cunning mind behind the eyes (always looking around, always looking at the angles).  The character never seems put on, never a costume, Patrick and Casey are inseperable and while some scenes may have looked emotionless, it was entirely in character; honor over happiness as I stated before.

I was reminded, constantly, of 8MM while I watched this, the situation was very similiar (where Casey plays the role Joaquin Phoenix did in 8MM).  I kept looking for “The Machine” moment in the movie, and when it came down, I was on the edge of my seat, nearly calling for it to happen.  When I realized that nothing was resolved, I applauded the movie.  Gone Baby Gone kept me on an emotional edge for the last hour, constantly hoping for a “happy” outcome; which never really came.

Now, the action was violent and shocking, there was at least one shooting that made me shout out “Oh My God, they shot him” I was absorbed at that point and I don’t think I blinked again until the end of the movie.  It is that powerful.

All of this dances around the specifics of the story, which I have tried to conciously avoid; as I want you to fully enjoy this movie.  It’s a worthwhile movie, certainly something I am going to watch again.

As for Ben, Affleck, you’da bomb in “Gone baby Gone” yo

Review: Wall-E

Published by NiteMayr on September 16, 2008

Wall-E

A Walmart Brand robot develops a personality and deep emotional problems after 700 years of cleaning up world-covering garbage that appears to have miraculously avoided all advertising and signage

My rating: 2.5 stars
**1/2

Wall-E is one of those movies that people love to gush over; where a cute something with no voice of it’s own falls in love with the notion of love and then overcomes everything just to get his limited groove on.  Sometimes there is dancing, sometimes there is singing, sometimes there is some chaste kissing; however it is always stulifying and boring.  Great for the kids, right?

Let me summarize Wall-E for those of you who have not seen it or refuse to do so, as you are principled people who don’t need Cartoon Robots to feel good about

Hello Dolly Song !

Fly-in through Garbage

There’s alot of Garbage

More Garbage, set to Hello Dolly Tune

Big Wall-E! Big Wall-E

Fat People all over the place

Fat Babies!

More Garbage

Hello Dolly Tune

End.

I don’t know if that is what some people took from it, but that’s about it for me. There was no there, there.  Even for a kids movie, this was pretty pointless.  Pixar has been pretty good about avoiding the “Song And Dance” methodology of Disney flicks, but only through having soundtrack montages and so on.  It’s still a baseless little story about a crazy robot who wants nothing more than to “hold hands” with someone.  It’s like American Pie, without the Stiffler or the Shannon Elizabeth.

The empty story is dressed in some nice clothes, but it’s fairly empty.  I know the guys at Pixar worked very hard to build pathos for Wall-E; but in the end he is just a malfunctioning robot who has become obsessed with fulfilling his own dreams.  Wall-E isn’t saving humanity, that’s not even in his scope, he’s obsessed with achieving the one thing that he has built up over years of watching Hello Dolly over and over, holding hands.  At least Eve focuses on her actual function over self-gratification.

The Animation is passable, but it’s not ground-breaking for 3D animation and does little to further 3D movies as an artform or medium.   I didn’t find any portion of the film to be breathtaking (save breathtakingly stupid or vapid)  and I couldn’t get over the details that ruined the whole premise.  Why would the robot repair all of the advertising but not dig up all the garbage from around it?  Why does the robot “go back” to his house rather than move to closer to his work site? Why didn’t the robot build a wind-proof baffle around his little home so that he could leave the door open?  Why didn’t he build a shelter for Eve? These little things detracted from the experience, it’s just poor storytelling when you can actually visually build anything and don’t simply solve these little logical problems right there on film.

Wall-E is a film about garbage that barely rises above it’s oeuvre.  I’d say it’s okay for the kids, but only the youngest seem to want to watch it over and over.  Go watch Monsters Inc. or Iron Giant instead, there’s a movie with real heart and emotion.

The "Somewhat Disdainfull" Mythbusters Drinking Game

Published by NiteMayr on September 6, 2008

I’m a massive Mythbusters Fan; but I’m also enough of a Nerd to spend some of time I should be just being entertained yelling at the screen; anger turned to remorse and in my remorse, I turned to drink.  I’m sure some of the fan base out there is already drinking while watching; I present the rules for the “Somewhat Disdainful” Mythbusters drinking Game.

The Rules

  1. Chug every time the “Build Team” refer to remotely controlled arm  or other simple mechanism as a “robot”.  Finish your Beer if Grant suggests a “Robot” and instead comes up with a “McGuffin”
  2. Chug when a cast member is injured (and the stop filming to deal with it) finish your beer if they replay the injury in slow motion.  If playing in a group you must RACE to finish your beer and place it on your head.  Last one to finish must finish a second beer.
  3. Finish your beer if Grant makes a mistake in his math leading to an explosion. If playing in a group you must RACE to finish your beer and place it on your head then yell “Nice one Grant”.  Last one to finish must finish a second beer.
  4. Drink half your Beer if there is a minor injury that does not merit an instant replay.  Finish your beer in celebration if it is a member of the Build Team that you dislike.
  5. Finish your beer for every plane trip required to study a myth
  6. Finish your beer every time they say the world Alemeda.

Extended or Hard Liquor Rules

  • Substitute a depth Charge for every Chug
  • Substitute a shot of your favorite booze for every chug

NOTE: You can’t do this with wine, if you can’t drink “real” booze then Drinking Games aren’t for you.

Winning the Game

The Player who finishes the most beer/booze (by volume or alcohol content) that is still sober, as determined by standard sobriety test, is the winner.

Challenge Episodes

Stay sober during any Myth where a “Robot” is used (The Samurai Sword Myths, The Hammer Myths, The Marching Boots myth)

Stay Sober during a Bloopers Episode

Stay Sober during any Tori Heavy episode, he’s very clumsy and adventurous

Ed Robertson is okay

Published by NiteMayr on August 25, 2008

After Stephen Page’s problems with the Law, I thought that we might have been heading for more bad news from the ‘Ladies.  It looks like everything is okay for Ed, having survived and walked away from a plane crash.

Review: World Made by Hand

Published by NiteMayr on August 23, 2008

World Made by Hand

Robert Earle lives in Union Grove, a little piece of America touched by history, good fortune and the malaise of the collapse of modern society. After the Oil disappears and the age of Globalism is over the people make a living by digging out bits of the Modern world to rebuild a semblance of Post-Civil war America.

Robert Earle was a corporate executive with two kids and a family. He lived the high life, flying across the country 3 or four times a month, first class of course. After the Oil dried up and the Modern world collapsed in Nuclear Fire, Plague and ennui Robert was left alone in union Grove, his wife and daughter dead, his son long gone into the wilderness. When a group of strangers come to town led by a man as equally worldly as he is religiously ardent; Robert is caught up in the rapid changes that only new blood can bring.

My rating: 5.0 stars
*****

Before I being my review; I’d very much like to ask James Howard Kunstler to please sell the rights to this novel as a movie as soon as possible.  A novel about a post-apocalyptic world that doesn’t simply descend into cheap nihilism is as refreshing as a cool breeze in summer and it has been a long hot summer this year.

I will have to admit that at points I had to restrain myself from siomply giving up and throwing in with some of the characters from the novel, they are a likeable and entrancing group.  Brother Jobe and his New Faithers are a composite group that I have described to others as “Industrious Mormons who Drink and Fight Like Sailors”  which I think is the most apt description.  They arrive in Union Grove like shadows but bombastically “take over” helping revitalize a town caught in the doldrums of a slow death, mourning the lost world.

Robert Earle is one of the many single men in town, acting as the local carpenter and somtime lover to his best friend’s wife.  He lives his life fishing, woodworking and playing in the local musical group.  He tolerates the Former Bikers who have taken up as scrap merchants and archeologists, has an amicalable relationship with the local Laird, a plantation owner and is respected in the town.  When a young man is murdered and it falls to the loca Laird to adjudicate, Robert finds himself thrust into more than one situation that requires him to be more than just upright and moral.  A sometimes hero and sometimes confidant, Robert is a strong lead character.  If I was to make any complaint, Robert (like many a post-apocalyptic hero before him) is an amzing man who cannot step through the day without being set upon by love crazed women; such is his sheer physical prowess.  By the time he had bed his second woman, I was already tired of the concept.  This stands as my only complaint about the novel and should be set aside as a personal complaint and no real black mark on the book itself.

Mr. Knustler has taken great pains to give some obvious archtypes voice without heavioy playing the statements; the denizens of the trailer park are rough red-staters who would claim that just punishment for their crimes was oppression (even as they are oppressing themselves and their clan), the government is staffed by people who look to others to solve their problems (but are quick to use force to prove a point), Religious fervor has replaced community in places and it is up to the common folk to solve their own problems regardless of how insurmountable they seem.

“World Made By Hand” was rewarding to read and I STRONGLY recommend it to fans of political fiction, dramatic fiction and post-apocalyptic faire.  In a world where the sudden report of a radio tuned to static is an alien and foreign thing, Mr. Kunstler has crafted a believable and utterly fascinating novel that bears repeated reading.

Review: Crossed #0: Crossed Prologue

Published by NiteMayr on August 16, 2008

Crossed Preview, originally uploaded by NiteMayr.

So, where have you been hiding, comic fan? Over in Marvel and DC? In that nice shiny house on the hill, I bet you think that Vertigo comics are edgy too?

While DC and Marvel had quietly cast off the Comics Code, Avatar Press has some of the most violent, edy and REAL comics out there. Did you get a chance to read “Black Gas” , how about “Black Summer”, maybe you have read “Gravel”?

Avatar Press continues to be THE source for creator owned, outside the norm comics. Crossed is yet another great example of that work.  Like any good Apocalyptic fiction, the author throws the unsuspecting protagonists into a scenario that initially seems ridiculous  or unlikely, abruptly tossing them into the fire with no obvious hope for safety.   There is a reference to people becoming inured to the ridiculous by instantaneous media like Youtube or Break.com and I think there is something in that, if you saw a Zombie on the street eating an arm, wouldn’t you look for the camera too?

Garth Ennis continues to deliver Edgy comics and now that his Run on Punisher is over (boo) what can we look forward too?  Crossed.

Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Jacen Burrows

Check out my Reviews of Issues 1 and 2

Review: Adopted Son

Published by NiteMayr on August 14, 2008

Adopted Son

A subtle invasion of earth has left a legacy of the alien among us.

Were it not for the lack of flow, this might have been a great novel, instead it is a chore and a boring one at that (with it’s serious over-reliance on technical details). I cannot recommend this book to anyone but the most dedicated Bureaucrat or Genetics Fanatic who needs good bedtime fodder. This is a great concept marred by poor execution, perhaps an editor will come along and re-arrange this work into a cogent novel.

My rating: 2.0 stars
**

Dominic Peloso may have a history of writing detailed reports and scholarly papers. At least One would hope he does. TinyGhosts is indicative of the style of writing that faces the reader; clever and clipped, I warn you of this now.

I also warn you that this is a fairly negative review of what is truly good material.

I could not read Adopted Son for more than 20-30 minutes at a time. The “Chapters” are short and choppy, but far from “to the point.” Scenes are told in sections, jumping in time over and over. It was jarring at first and then simply annoying. I skipped ahead, hoping that the “chopped military report” style would taper into traditional narrative, only to put the book down and gently weep for my future.

I can’t tell you anything about this book to make it more interesting that the concept, which is GREAT! The concept is that Aliens have germinated their seed in the genetic structure of people across the globe and scientists are rushing to understand the implications of it, while alien children grow up among us. It’s fairly awesome as a concept, but the execution was horrifyingly bad. Add to this that the author claims to have written this before 2001, he had 5 years to edit it and make it palatable to the general public. Alas, he has not.

If you're going to be funny…

Published by NiteMayr on August 14, 2008

Be as funny as this:

CITIZENS OF NORWAY! THIS IS DENMARK – THE KALMAR UNION HAS BEEN RESTORED – FROM THIS DAY FORWARD YOU ARE ALL DANISH CITIZENS – YOU WILL ALL SPEAK DANISH – YOU WILL PAY TAXES TO THE DANISH GOVERNMENT – ALL SKIING IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN – REPORT TO YOUR LOCAL COUNTY OFFICE FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS – THAT IS ALL – ALL HAIL DENMARK!

posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:25 PM on August 13 [1 favorite]

Attached to Goooooood Morning Norway!

Review: Two-Fer Wednesday Mass Assassin Effect Creed palooza

Published by NiteMayr on August 13, 2008

I’m not even going to bust out the hReview format one this one.

I didn’t finish Mass Effect or Assassin’s Creed.  I coulnd’t get into them.  More correctly, I DID get into Mass Effect, but couldn’t mustre the interest to see it through.  Assassin’s Creed had that sci-fi wrapper that just turned me off and made me scream at it to just get to the Killin’.

Mass Effect was a  good game, I just didn’t care how it came out.  The vehicle parts really ruined it for me though, please release a patch to skip those please.

In the end here are my thoughts:

Avoid Assassin’s Creed, it’s not enough fun to justify the cost.

Mass Effect is good, but the main plot isn’t all that compelling.

Review: It won't be easy to Forget Jason Segel

Published by NiteMayr on August 11, 2008

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segel plays Peter, who is trying to get over his five-year relationship with TV and Film Star Sarah Marshal (Played by Kristen Bell). On the boucen, he decides to visit a resort his Ex loved, where he runs into HIS EX and her new Boyfriend (the Cool and English Aldous Snow).

I love a good romantic comedy, it’s true. I really do. Forgetting Sarah Marshall sets a new high bar for Romantic Comedy, simply by taking the trenchant and making it real. There is a fellatio joke (or two), but instead of being a gag, they are the kinds of jokes we tell each other and situations that we really might find ourselves in.

Peter (Segel) is sensitive and attentive, but unmotivated. Sarah (Bell) is an up and coming film and TV star who wants to move ahead and leave behind the slacker lifestyle Peter has fallen into, resting on his laurels.

Peter takes the news that Sarah has moved on (and into the bed of someone else) very hard, going out to seek meaningless relationships and revenge sex. Being unfulfilled by his efforts, Peter decides (at the encouragement of his Step-Brother (Bill Hader is awesome in this flick) to go on Vacation. Peter, in a foolish move, decides to go to the very resort that his Ex has stated was her favorite.

In predictable, but still entertaining fashion Peter and Sarah meet at the resort. Typical Boy-Loses-Girl-to-rock-star hilarity ensues. Aldous Snow (played by Russel Brand) is cool and thoughtless, playing the easy-going rock star of the new Millennium with an aplomb that make the character a stand-out an memorable feat.

Also don’t miss Jack McBrayer and Maria Thayer as a recently Married couple coming to grips with the fact that they are Religious Virgins who never thought to learn about the birds and the bees before they went on their honeymoon. Utterly magnificent. I cannot recommend “Fogetting Sarah Marshall” more.

My rating: 4.5 stars
****1/2

The dialogue is utterly quotable:

“Oh, the weather outside is weather”

“When life gives you lemons, just say ‘Fuck the lemons,’ and bail. “

“Are those sad tissues or happy tissues? “

“Oh, if they were Sean Jean sweatpants it would be no problem, but because they were Costco brand, it’s the worst thing I could do.

” He turned down a blow job from his ex-girlfriend… mid-blowjob. You know how hard that is for a man? It’s called blue balls. He’s like Gandhi! But better – he likes puppets!

See, GOLD, Pure Gold. All delivered with honesty and without affect. When someone does break the fourth wall, it’s done with ease and class (see Jason Segel do it when urged to jump into the water by super Pixie Love interest Mila Kunis)

My one and only Criticism; the love interest Mila Kunis. Awesome portrayal, I could see falling for Mila Kunis (in modern makeup she’s actually a fairly really pretty girl , but I’m kind of tired of the “different” girl who busts the sensitive guy out of his shell routine. It’s not bad or contrived, but I’m just tired of it. Mila is great and her performance (along with the rest of the supporting cast) is great. I just want something else out of a Romantic Comedy.