My World … and welcome to it!

That appears to be the basis for the movie/book Watchmen which I finally got to see last night. BTW I thoroughly enjoyed especially the montage at the beginning. But then, I AM of that age so it made a lot of sense to me. Younger viewers have complained that they didn’t quite get it.

Anyhoo. I felt the movie was overly long. They could really have cut about 45 to 60 minutes and still kept the storyline intact. It was also confusing at the start as to when/where we were and who was who. Not overly so but enough to be annoying.

I loved the costumes, the themes, the ideas, but NOT the violence. I know, I know, it’s from a graphic novel and they’re all about violence. But still.

I liked the ending. It really makes you think, does the end justify the means? Who should be sacrificed to save the many? Should anyone be sacrificed? Can humanity be save at all? Or are we forever enslaved to our viler nature?

That’s something I’ve mulled over a lot especially during the last 8 years. Are we worth saving? I have to admit sometimes I look around and think, NO. Mother Nature should wipe us off the planet. Or maybe 90% of us and let us try again. But would that solve the ultimate dilemma of how do we live peaceably amongst ourselves and in harmony with nature? Will we ever figure it out or should we just go gently into that good night?

Overall I’d give Watchmen a B-, 4 out of 5 stars, 1 thumb up.

It was NOT, however, worth the $85 motel room we had to get because it was snowing so hard by the time the movie was over at 10:30 P.M. (only one showing a day in our little town) that we couldn’t see to get home. Yup. That’s right.

We live 7 miles outside of town on an unlit, 2 lane blacktop. We got about halfway home doing 30mph and Joey finally had to give up. We couldn’t see from one marker to the next it was coming down so thickly. We were passed by a Sheriff’s suv and by the time hubby got the truck turned around those tracks were already obliterated.

We crept back to town and made it to the Holiday Inn where we checked in just ahead of another couple who’d spent the previous 4 hours driving down from Hardin, MT at 20mph pulling a 22 foot trailer. She was PISSED because they’d been through this a few years earlier when they’d been stuck here for 3 days AND it was so late the restaurant was closed. As were all the fast food joints in town, it being 11PM and all the sidewalks were already rolled up. bummer.

So we woke up to iced streets and overcast skies. The furbabies were glad we were home and I’m exhausted.

Let me start by just saying I’m a Clint Eastwood fan from waaaaaaaay back. And I mean way back. I had SUCH a crush on him when he played Rowdy Yates in Rawhide. I must have been 15 or 16 at the time. I just “swooned” when he appeared on that little black and white screen.

Then came the Dirty Harry movies. I didn’t like them because they were so violent but Joe wanted to see them so I went. I’d close my eyes when the gunfire started. Boy have times changed.

The spaghetti westerns were ok but they, too, seemed violent in the extreme. But they were “strange” compared to most Hollywood films of the time and that appealed to me.

His latest round of films, both directing and acting, have shown a maturity and thoughtfulness I would never have guessed of him. But Million Dollar Baby was one I chose to skip. I don’t like boxing, period. And the idea of a woman boxer? No freaking way. It’s just not a “sport” to me, punching someone out. ugh.

Now comes Gran Torino. And for some reason I just didn’t want to see it. Joe did, however, so I put on my coat and braved the below zero cold and off we went.

My take? TWO THUMBS UP. Five freaking stars. Holy batmobile, what an amazing film.

Eastwood, crusty and growly as ever, turns in a bravo performance as an aging widower, Korean “war” vet, and basic bigot. He hates everybody, most of all himself.

His neighborhood in (Detroit, I’m assuming) Michigan has run out of white folk and the Hmong have moved in. His only friend is his yellow lab, Daisy. The story follows his reluctant acceptance by and of his neighbors and how he learned to love again. I wept at the end.

This is a slow moving film especially if you’re used to high action flicks. It’s longish (in other words, longer than 90 minutes which is what most films have shrunk down to). But it’s worth every minute. This is a definite MUST SEE for 2009.

I love animated features. I’ve been hooked on ‘em since I was a wee lass and saw Cinderella the first time. I’ll admit I’ve become somewhat of a snob since Pixar hit the scene. They haven’t turned out ANYthing so far that I haven’t loved. Well, maybe Ratatouille but I didn’t HATE it. Just was sorta luke warm about it.

Now comes Bolt from the Disney studios and I have to tell you … DING DING DING DING … we have a winner. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long long time. And they made me cry at the end. sheesh.

I tell you this thing is laugh out loud funny. The guinea pig is the real star of the show and I’d adopt Mittens ANYtime. scraggly old black cat that she is. The story was just perfect.

I kept thinking I could ALMOST see the woman behind the voice of Mittens but turns out I couldn’t. Ditto with Rhino (the guinea pig). Don’t know either of them but their voices are very VERY outstanding. On the other hand, both John Travolta and Miley Cyrus were forgettable as the voices of Bolt and Penny. And frankly I’m sick to death of Cyrus even though I’ve never even seen Hannah Montana. You can’t walk into a big box store without being assaulted by her image coming at you from damned near every department.

So while I’m on the subject I’d like to know what she plans to do once she reaches adulthood? Right how she dresses like a 35 year old hooker (Walt is spinning in his grave, I’m sure), she acts like a spoiled 9 year old and I can’t speak about her talent since I’ve never seen her “work.” Thankfully, just like Sarah Palin, she’ll have a short shelf life.

Hope you all had a great turkey day. We dined at the local golf club and the food was DIVINE. Good/bad thing about that is no leftovers. Oh well.

An open letter to Sarah Palin and this guy says it SO much better than I could. Be warned it contains an overabundance of exclamation points and 4 letter words:

A Plea to Sarah Palin

OK so I’m home, relatively rested back up and trying to get back into the groove. but all the bad news out of the financial sector has me about as mesmerized as the 2008 campaign. Plus I can’t stop going over to Mudflats and reading up on the latest shenanigans in Alaska. Yup. I’ve been palinized. It’s like watching the aftermath of a 20 car pileup during rush hour. I can’t look away. THE HORROR THE HORROR.

Oh what the hell. I think I’ll go watch Casino Royale as a runup to seeing Quantum of Solace.

I haven’t done a movie review in quite some time. Just in case you were wondering about my creds … well back in the dark ages when I worked as a DJ at the local radio station I did a weekly movie review for the local theater owner. I did it for 14 years. I love movies.

I miss doing the reviews and had intended to start doing them here on my blog but kept forgetting. I realized yesterday I’ve been droning on (mostly to myself) about politics and I’m sick of that. What better way to break the monotony than to go back to doing what I love. Discussing books AND movies.

Let me start by saying I really REALLY enjoyed (if one can use that word in describing a reaction to this particular movie) the Cohen brothers last outing, No Country for Old Men. Yes, it was violent. Astoundingly so. But Javier Bardem scared the socks off of me and that just doesn’t happen all that often. About half way through the movie I realized the guy hadn’t blinked ONCE. And if anyone got in his way, too bad for them. (shudder)

So I was very much looking forward to Burn After Reading especially because Frances McDormand was in it along with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton take secondary roles that are central to the plot. I wasn’t disappointed.

In case you don’t have a TV or simply choose not to watch the idiot box (or are like me and record all your programs to the DVR so you can avoid the commercials), BAR follows two, no make that THREE, idiots who get in waaay over their collective heads.

Clooney’s character is a major womanizer. And that’s being kind. He’s a slut. Big time. He cheats on his wife every chance he gets. His current paramour is played by Swinton. An angry harridan who’s a pediatrician who abuses her young patients as much as her husband — a schlub who works in the CIA (played by Malkovich).

Pitt and McDormand both work for a health club. Pitt’s portrayal is mildly amusing if only for his hairdo and mannerisms. McDormand’s character is looking for love in all the wrong places and freaking out about her body falling apart around her. She wants plastic surgery to correct all her “flaws” and, silly woman, doesn’t realize that her insurance won’t cover elective surgery. Like anyone’s health insurance will cover anything at all.

The plot revolves around their attempts to extort money from Malkovich’s character when they find a CD that contains what they think are CIA secrets. When he won’t cooperate they turn to the Russian embassy. I kept thinking, don’t these two idiots know what the penalty for TREASON is? But she wants the plastic surgery and will go to any lengths to get it.

The movie spins madly around the machinations of these two, blending in the other characters quite nicely. It turns violent towards the end, an unexpected twist that left me open mouthed.

I dont’ know if I’d recommend shelling out all that money for a ticket though. This one could easily be enjoyed at home on the telly. Personally I prefer the theater for the huge screen, the dark room and the lack of distractions. But then, I have a lifetime pass and even if I didn’t our tickets here are, what? $5? Less during the afternoon matinee.

tomorrow I’ll review Babylon AD with Vin Diesel.

Who needs history books when we have the likes of this movie to teach us all the (wrong) things we need to know.

That, at least, was my impression when I first saw the trailer for this bit of fluff. Now it’s about to be foisted on an ill-educated and unaware public but thank god for reviewers with a few brains.

The New York Times had this to say:

Yet even as the story begins, the old ways seem to be dying out, as the Yagahl, a tribe of snuffleupagus hunters who favor extensions in their hair and eschew contractions in their speech, prepare for their last hunt. In fulfillment of an old prophecy, raiders on horseback (“four-legged demons”) arrive to sack the Yagahl encampment and take a bunch of the tribespeople as slaves. Among them is the blue-eyed Evolet (Camilla Belle), whose beloved, D’Leh (Steven Strait), sets out with his mentor, Tic’Tic (Cliff Curtis), to rescue her.

Along the way D’Leh and Tic’Tic have many adventures,…

All of which lends itself splendidly to gut-busting parody. I mean as I READ the above my mind was flinging puns …

Let’s see. DUHlah and Tic’Tac are off to rescue Chev’olet and along the way have many fun adventures. Not the least of which is running into wooly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers. unhuh.

OK so I haven’t actually seen this bit of drivel yet. Maybe I’ll waste a couple of hours of my life on Monday and report back then. But honestly, with reviews like the above (see the full review here)
why bother”?

I am about to have a literal melt down. It has been so hot that I am becoming the wicked witch of the west again. It was in the high 90’s today and friday and sat are slated for 100°!!

I took Allie for a walk this morning but didn’t get out early enough. We went at 8AM and it was already well into the 70’s. We were both panting and dragging our tails when we got back half an hour later.

So I spent some time on the computer composing the listing for our Yahoo ad. And yes, it’s gone online. I even put up an additional page on the site with more pictures. We’ll see if we get any nibbles. In about a week I plan to put a listing on ebay. If we don’t get a response in a couple of weeks we’ll call Tom.

Went to see Live Free, Die Hard yesterday. Bruce Willis plays Bruce Willis very well in this one. The story was good, there was lots of action (that’s a code word for bodies and explosions) and Justin Long who plays a “Mac” in the Mac/PC commercials was most amusing as, big surprise, a computer geek. There were a couple (just a COUPLE?!) of unbelievable bits (ok ok the whole movie was unbelievable. That’s why they call it fiction!) but for the most part it was fun and did what I like a movie to do … take me out of myself for a bit. So if it’s hot where you are and you need a break and a bit of fun, I’d give LFDH a 3.5 out of 5 popcorn kernels.

On to books. I’m reading the current John Sandford thriller, Invisible Prey, and, as usual, I can’t put it down. Lucas Davenport is one of the most likeable characters to come along in a long time and even though he’s settled down and has a new family his roving eye is still keeping him interesting. The case this time is right under his nose and he’s just not getting it. Yet. But he’s starting to pull the pieces together. I can hardly wait to see if this is another slam-BANG ending. Get your own copy here:

Hope you had a happy 4th. Me? I’m going to go to bed and finish my book. That’s about all the excitement I want for one evening.

Joe and I had a movie “date” last night and watched The Guardian on Starz. Towards the end I made the comment that it was a surprisingly good movie. I should have waited.

Why oh why do they have to ruin a perfectly good movie with a drippy, stupid ending? Why the hell couldn’t Costner’s character have simply ridden off into the sunset with his wife back at his side while the new guy starts out his life on a high note?

But NOOOO. We have to go for the tissue factor. What a waste of time. I should have left the room at the point where I thought the movie had ended.

On another note it’s disappointing to see that NO one is reading my blog. Well dang. You mean, as usual, I’m sitting here talking to myself? WTF?

OK, I’ll be back later to post some pics of the beads I did the other day. Be my last beads for a while because the week ahead is into the 90’s every single day.

much later …

OK I didn’t get the beads cleaned. Again. By the time I got done doing half the ironing and hanging out the wash I was too pooped. I had hoped to light the torch this evening and make a few beads but it’s still 87° at 7:30pm and I don’t think it’s going to cool off enough to get anything done. Maybe I can get to it first thing in the morning.

I HATE THE HEAT.