Blokus, 1000 Blank White Cards
Yesterday Charlotte and I went over to a friend’s house in Berkeley and played Blokus and 1000 Blank White Cards. Fun!
The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for the ‘Reading, Watching, Listening’ Category.
Yesterday Charlotte and I went over to a friend’s house in Berkeley and played Blokus and 1000 Blank White Cards. Fun!
This was originally a “page” on my blog that I updated from time to time. But I like using the chronological format of a blog better now. Be sure to check out the Reading, Watching, Listening category of this blog!
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(4-11-08) Caught Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth. Enjoyable
(4-2-08) Saw Being There. I absolutely loved it.
(3-29-08)I’ve been perseverating on the movie Fearless for a while. I hadn’t seen it in years so I rented it with Charlotte. I considered for a long while exactly -why- I was so engrossed with the film. It’s that life-changing moment, such a change is, in part, put upon the character and part of it comes from within. I took a look at some other movies and found that awakening-moment in a lot of them.
Fearless – 1993 – Max knows the plane is going to crash, he looks out the window to see a blinding reflection of sunlight on the plane and realizes that he isn’t afraid.The Matrix – Neo is shot at by the agents, he raises his hand serenely and says “No”.
Run Lola Run – Lola is lying face up, dying on the street, befuddled at how the day could have ended up going so poorly. She decides what “has to be done” and says “Stop.” The day begins again.
Ratatouille – 2007- (1:36:27) Anton Ego tastes the Ratatouille Remy made. The experience throws him forcefully back to a moment in his childhood. The wheels on his busted bike still spinning, he comes home nearly in tears and his mother serves him the greatest comfort-food a boy could ever have.
L.A. Story – 1991 – Quoting the characters:
Sara: And if I were to go?
Harris: All I know is, on the day your plane was to leave, if I had the power, I would turn the winds around, I would roll in the fog, I would bring in storms, I would change the polarity of the earth so compasses couldn’t work, so your plane couldn’t take off.
That isn’t the moment. The moment is when it actually happens.
Eraserhead – He is staring at the murmuring radiator.
Waiting for Godot – This from the script, the last lines in the play:
VLADIMIR:
Well? Shall we go?
ESTRAGON:
Yes, let’s go.
They do not move.
Henry V -1989 – The St Crispin’s Day speech
Groundhog Day – it’s hard to tell… I suppose the entire movie was about that realization moment.
Koyaanisqatsi – There is a crowded escalator, people are decending, the music is… well, the music is Phillip Glass, and I make eye contact with one person in the throng.
Movie Reviews3-22-05: Run Lola Run is a beautiful film. This is the first action movie I’ve ever seen who’s main focus was playing with determinism. There is a moment in the film that is quite comparable to the brilliant moment in The Matrix (before all those other Matrix movies ruined it) after Neo is shot, he stands up again and says, “No” to the rain of bullets coming at him. But this movie is far more direct. Far more simple. It’s about love causing transcendence.
8-9-03: Monsters Inc. Why didn’t someone command me to see this movie?! I laughed out loud for an hour and a half! The details bedazzled me (did you pause the movie to read the headlines of the newspaper Roz was reading?), the animation rocked, the story warmed my heart and was tight and…. and …. gush gush gush. Wow. I’m in awe of the completeness of this zany world they created. Thank you, Pixar people, Disney people!
3-3-03: Donnie Darko is an incredible movie. I found it much more interesting the second time through, with the Director’s commentary turned on. Director commentary tracks can really change and expand the way the viewer sees a movie!
2-24-03 Princess Mononoke. I’ve said in the past that I’d like to see more films where the line between good guys and bad guys isn’t so distinct. Where it’s not as simple as good vs. evil, good wins, fade to black. I recall being very impressed with Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven several years ago. Well, Princess Mononoke pretty much freaked me out because it struck so hard at that chord, my head is all a-jumble. It’s set me off kilter and it saddens me. The forces at work in this world are stronger than most of the characters that are led by them. Everyone is led by destiny, or vendetta, or instinct, or honor, or rank. And most of the time, their motivation is their Achilles heel. Furthermore, the forces at play are ones that, at their most fundamental level, must tear and destroy their opposing forces. Never mind the finale music at the end of this movie, each surviving character…. or to put it more appropriately… each of the forces that we saw at the beginning of the film is just as ready to tear the throat out of anyone else that would oppose them.
“When the forest has been cleared and the wolves wiped out, this place will be the richest land in the world.” Lady Eboshi. And to do that, she has to get her team of leper engineers to design the best rifle possible to kill the very Spirit of the forest (and anyone else that would oppose her) and set ambush for an army of boars attacking because she had poisoned their god. And she’s just one of the amoral lead players in this film.
“We are not trying to solve global problems with this film. There can be no happy ending to the war between the rampaging forest gods and humanity. But even in the midst of hatred and slaughter, there is still much to live for. Wonderful encounters and beautiful things still exist.”–Miyazaki, in a statement quoted in PRINCESS MONONOKE: THE ART AND MAKING OF JAPAN’S MOST POPULAR FILM OF ALL TIME
2-15-03: Notes… I find that I really appreciate media with absurdist elements. The TV show Scrubs is a good example… It’s a mostly realistic drama, but the viewers get a humorous, absurdist slant on character motivations. The characters sometimes say EXACTLY what they are thinking instead of just what a real person would say. The show then keeps it’s feet on the ground by having the other characters respond (for the most part) to what the original speaker meant to say, instead of what we all actually heard. We get a window on their id.
Want to watch a good movie? Find one at the IMDB Top Rated Films list.
The following lists don’t necessarily represent films that I think are
“good”, they are about films I think are “important”. Films
that have changed the way I look at the world include:Major effect
Minor effect
General ratings: These films might not have changed the way I think about the world but I recommend them.
Writer/Directors I admire and the works I favor:
Sloppy/Bad Directors:
7-15-03Here are my ratings from my 6 month subscription to Netflix.
—-Your 5.0-Star Ratings—- Harold and Maude Koyaanisqatsi Donnie Darko The Matrix The Sopranos: Season 1: Disc 1 Excalibur Clerks Moulin Rouge Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Life Is Beautiful Galaxy Quest The Matrix: Revisited Romeo + Juliet Blade Runner The Man Who Fell to Earth Das Boot Ocean’s Eleven The Rocky Horror Picture Show Big Night Beetlejuice Real Genius The Terminator Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within The Prisoner: Vol. 1 The American President Forbidden Planet Signs Fearless L. A. Story Dark Star Metropolis The Blair Witch Project Genghis Blues Cinema Paradiso: Director’s Cut Spirited Away Brainstorm Groundhog Day —-Your 4.0-Star Ratings—- Beverly Hills Cop Something Wicked This Way Comes Four Weddings and a Funeral The Red Violin Erin Brockovich Spy Kids Chocolat The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Repo Man Princess Mononoke The World According to Garp Lexx: Series 2: Vol. 1 Going My Way / Holiday Inn The Sixth Sense Being John Malkovich Revenge of the Nerds / Revenge of the Nerds 2 Memento Total Recall Strictly Ballroom Good Will Hunting Jerry Maguire Die Hard Escape from New York Brewster’s Millions Deathstalker The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Better Off Dead Terminator 2: Judgment Day Big Chasing Amy Grand Canyon The Emperor’s Club The Fifth Element Braveheart Almost Famous Dogma A Fish Called Wanda Forrest Gump Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Killer Klowns from Outer Space My Cousin Vinny Roxanne Six Degrees of Separation RoboCop Ferris Bueller’s Day Off The Conversation South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut Field of Dreams The Fast and the Furious Blast from the Past Monsters, Inc. Cast Away National Lampoon’s Vacation Enemy Mine Risky Business American Beauty Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Life as a House Predator Glengarry Glen Ross Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Joe Somebody Toy Story |
—-Your 3.0-Star Ratings —- Vanilla Sky Ghost The Day the Earth Stood Still The Mummy The Hunt for Red October Short #6: Insanity Fight Club Quest for Fire The Mummy Returns I Shot Andy Warhol Monster’s Ball Men in Black Mission: Impossible 48 Hrs. Revolution OS Jurassic Park Mr. Deeds Swordfish Time After Time City Slickers Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone My Big Fat Greek Wedding Porky’s / Porky’s 2: Double Feature Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Showtime U-571 Catch Me If You Can The Silence of the Lambs The Sum of All Fears Shallow Hal Minority Report Unbreakable Enemy of the State The Thing Pretty Woman Best in Show Flashback Predator 2 Johnny Mnemonic Jackson Pollock: Love and Death on Long Island Crocodile Dundee Cirque du Soleil: Novelle Experience Goldfinger The Man with the Golden Gun The Transporter Tank Girl The X-Files: Fight the Future Changing Lanes —-Your 2.0-Star Ratings —- Fletch The Four Feathers Monkeybone 13 Conversations About One Thing Planet of the Apes Hearts in Atlantis The Man with Two Brains Mystery Men Panic Room The Cannonball Run II K-Pax Innerspace Krull Every Which Way But Loose The Black Hole The Royal Tenenbaums Evolution: The Animated Movie—-Your 1.0-Star Ratings —- Charlie’s Angels Grave of the Fireflies XXX: Special Edition Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams Star Trek: Insurrection Fast, Cheap & Out of Control The One Spider-Man V: The Final Battle: Disc 1 The Princess Diaries |
Over those 6 months, I rented 39 titles… $120/39 = $3.08 per title… delivered to my house. Personal conclusion: Yes, Netflix is worth it. I extended the membership by 1 month. Well, actually I forgot to cancel it before the due date. So I decided to fill up my Tivo for a month. I captured 17 movies in that month, lowering my overall cost to $2.53 per title. That’s a lot of movies!
You probably don’t want to see this this, but here is my rental history from February to August 2003
Movie Title Shipped Returned
The Deep End 08/26/03 08/28/03 Happy Accidents 08/25/03 08/27/03 Baraka 08/25/03 08/27/03 A Beautiful Mind (2001) 08/22/03 08/26/03 Space: 1999: Vol. 1 (1975) 08/15/03 08/25/03 Frequency (2000) 08/19/03 08/25/03 Powaqqatsi (1988) 08/18/03 08/22/03 Road to Perdition (2002) 08/11/03 08/18/03 Sabrina (1954) 08/11/03 08/18/03 Wide Awake (1998) 08/12/03 08/15/03 No Man's Land (2001) 08/08/03 08/12/03 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) 08/07/03 08/11/03 Old School (2003) 08/06/03 08/11/03 The Reduced Shakespeare Company (2000) 08/01/03 08/08/03 Like Mike (2002) 08/04/03 08/07/03 The Pianist (2002) 07/15/03 08/06/03 Shanghai Noon (2000) 07/29/03 08/04/03 Children of Dune: Disc 2 (2003) 07/28/03 08/01/03 Children of Dune: Disc 1 (2003) 07/15/03 07/29/03 Autofocus (2002) 07/22/03 07/28/03 Punch-Drunk Love (2002) 07/15/03 07/22/03 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) 06/17/03 07/15/03 Koyannisqatsi (1983) 06/02/03 07/15/03 South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999) 06/17/03 07/15/03 City by the Sea (2002) 06/06/03 06/17/03 Catch Me If You Can (2002) 06/06/03 06/17/03 Best in Show (2000) 05/09/03 06/06/03 High Fidelity (2000) 05/21/03 06/06/03 The Four Feathers: Collector's Edition (2002) 05/21/03 06/02/03 Moonlight Mile (2002) 05/08/03 05/21/03 Glengarry Glen Ross: Special Edition (1992) 05/13/03 05/21/03 The Emperor's Club (2002) 05/06/03 05/13/03 Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 04/21/03 05/09/03 K-Pax (2001) 04/30/03 05/08/03 Chocolat (2000) 04/30/03 05/06/03 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 04/22/03 04/30/03 Short #6: Insanity (1999) 04/14/03 04/30/03 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) 04/10/03 04/21/03 13 Conversations About One Thing (2002) 04/10/03 04/21/03 Legend of 1900 (1998) 03/26/03 04/14/03 Cirque du Soleil: Novelle Experience (1991) 03/26/03 04/10/03 Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) 03/17/03 04/10/03 Dark Star: Director's Cut (1974) 03/21/03 03/26/03 Memento (2000) 03/11/03 03/25/03 XXX: Special Edition (2002) 03/17/03 03/21/03 My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) 03/03/03 03/17/03 Jackson Pollock: Love and Death on Long Island (1999) 03/05/03 03/17/03 Fight Club (1999) 03/04/03 03/11/03 Donnie Darko (2001) 02/25/03 03/05/03 The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) 02/26/03 03/04/03 The Matrix: Revisited (2001) 02/20/03 02/28/03 Princess Mononoke (1997) 02/20/03 02/26/03 Mystery Men (1999) 02/21/03 02/25/03 Changing Lanes (2002) 02/14/03 02/21/03 Mr. Deeds (2002) 02/03/03 02/20/03 Signs: Special Edition (2002) 02/14/03 02/20/03 Panic Room (2002) 02/03/03 02/14/03 Minority Report (2002) 02/03/03 02/14/03
You probably don’t want to see this either, but here is my queue list (movies that I want to see next), July 15, 2003
Seven Samurai Wide Awake Space: 1999: Vol. 1 Powaqqatsi Frequency Heathers Randy Newman: At the Odeon The Master of the Rings Mysteries of Magic: The Impossible � Lord of the Rings: Fellowship: Bonus Disc Dogtown and Z-Boys Faust Heavenly Creatures Meet the Feebles Lathe of Heaven America's Most Scenic Drives: Disc 1 Unsolved Mysteries of World War II: Vol. 2 Aelita, Queen of Mars Secret Agent A.K.A. Danger Man: Vol. 1 Shanghai Noon Auto Focus Insomnia Once Upon a Time in China 24: Season 1: Disc 1 Taxi Driver Evolution: Disc 1 Phone Booth
---DVDs Awaiting Release--- Naqoyqatsi Head of State Blue Car Shaolin Soccer The Way Things Go Swimming Pool
Seven / Se7en pretty tense. Pretty scary. I don’t know, maybe a little formulaic in it’s scaryness. But then I’m jaded, being on the safe side of the screen. I think if the final act in the car had a better kind of tension, it would have turned around for me. John Doe / Kevin Spacey was trading barbs with Mills / Brad Pitt; John Doe could have been more in-your-soul than in-your-face.
I’ve been watching Stargate Atlantis with Charlotte for the last few years. It is really a well written, enjoyable series. It’s sad to hear that Stargate is in it’s last season but all things must end, so I hear.
Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is just terrific. Joss Whedon and his cadre are brilliant. Thank you!
Watch Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. 42 minutes very well spent.
(this used to be a Page on my blog but I’m demoted it to being just another entry in the Reading, Watching, Listening category of my blog.)
On any given day in the last 15 years, the song that has most often been floating through my head was one that I learned in an African music class. It’s a polyphonic Ewe Mbira song taught to me by professor David Locke in the Music Department at Tufts University. The song has floated around in my head so long probably because of it’s polyphonic nature… I can “sing” it in my head or on an instrument but not out loud. I would need 4 more sets of vocal cords. I can’t recall the name of it right now… something like “Threshing Wheat at the Mill” or…. grr. It’ll come to me.
Some songs I appreciate include…
Crism was on the left coast for business. I played Agricola with him, Riley, Sean, Josh. It’s a good game.
Saw Soylent Green today: Soylent Green audio clip 1, Soylent Green Audio Clip 2. Good movie.
I caught Hancock a couple weeks ago. Quite enjoyable. :-)
Iron Man is a really good Blockbuster. Witty, tight, fun. :-)
I watched the opening ceremonies of the Bejing Olympics. Wow, wow, wow and wow. Did I mention “wow”? It scares me in much the same way that the Blue Angels do during Fleet Week.
Oh, and a while back I caught Silent Running. It’s a movie that I don’t think stands the test of time. It’s got this odd flower-child bent to it.
I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind yesterday.
I enjoyed it very much.
If you got a message from your future self telling you that you were doing it all wrong, would you change what you were doing? I suppose it’s true that most people wouldn’t.
I just caught this on Netlflix intant view.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The Side Effects of Being American
a fantastic documentary about steroid use in sports and America’s mixed messages about it. The film was very well made. Chris Bell used the facts to show the crazy split personality Americans have about steroids.
Tampopo: saw with Charlotte and Cindy the other night. Wow! A trip!
Big Night: Charlotte hadn’t seen it so we rented it. I thought it was as terrific a film as the first time I saw it years ago. She thought it was depressing, ending how it did.
Iron Man: saw with Charlotte last night. Lots of fun, explosions and comic book coolness
I caught this radio show a few weeks ago and now I’m listening via podcast a lot. Work with Marty Nemko is a really good program.
I very much enjoyed this show:
7/6 Mary Ruwart, Libertarian presidential candidate, who argues that Libertarianism is best for American employees. To hear or download the show, click HERE
Here is a local archive. You’re very welcome to listen!
Marty asks intelligent, supportive and critical questions of his guest.
Listen to more episodes of Work with Marty Nemko here. Or via NPR podcast here.