Archive for February, 2009
taken »
Thursday, February 12th, 2009
Taken
If the character, Jason Bourne, were retired, with a daughter, and starred in another movie based on the mutated sexing of The Transporter and Live Free or Die Hard (directed by the editor of Eyes Wide Shut ), it’d be called Taken. The action is gritty, the story is smart and the pace is unrelenting.
It follows Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), who used to work (vaguely) “for the government.” He’s retired to try and be a bigger part of his seventeen-year-old daughter’s (Maggie Grace) life. She, and her mother (Famke Janssen), convince him to allow her to visit Paris under less-than-true pretenses. The shit, as they say, hits the fan.
It’s an action movie. Generally, this means the premise, outcomes and character’s access to precise knowledge are absurd. (This holds true.) But, the acting is superior to your average and the basic premise is too broad not to at least dip your toes in.
It’s as entertaining as it is unrealistic and as awesome as it is… well… awesome. (Read: not getting paid for this.) Neeson is badass. Watch it if you’re in the mood for some blowing up, mixed-martial-arts maiming.
Need more? How’s this for a plot driving quote?
If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Answer: Unreal.
triskaidekaphobic »
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
The granite shivers, laughing as I near the doors, mocking me. The windows smirk, knowing I’d rather be anywhere but behind them. The door welcomes sarcastically, ready to embrace me despite my discomfort.
The elevator quivers, snickering as the light from each floor, barely visible in the slit between its doors, warns of my getting closer. The button shines brightly, almost pulsating, then suddenly, it expires. With an “ugh,” the elevator falls to a stop. The doors ease open.
I walk slowly to the door, sigh and pull out my wallet. I hold it up to the tiny red light, hear the click of the door, twist the handle and pull it open. The hall screams at me, begging me not to enter. (more…)
friday free for all »
Friday, February 6th, 2009
or: Google is my digital-lifemate.
… Last night, at Grumpy’s, I attended my first “tweetup“. It was entertaining. Pretty sure I’ll do it again. Nice to be among a crowd of digital dorks, like myself. Speaking of…
… My Gmail inbox is sort of my digital enclave. I redecorate constantly and reside there daily. I have my documents, my calendar, my AIM/gchat and a theme. I’m also a bit of a filter slut, organizing and reorganizing my labels, directing traffic.
So I pissed myself (just a bit) when Google read my mind, creating multiple inboxes. Over the course of the day I’ll be refining filters and adjusting labels. Because I lead a sheltered, nerd-centric, physically attractive life.
… Screw it, let’s dry-hump Google some more:
Latitude? Passive observation (read: creepy) but has privacy settings more advanced than other geo-locator programs. (Can select, by friend, if they see nothing, citywide, or best location; can hide your location globally.) Also, it stores only your latest location.
Mobile Books? I like the idea (it’s FREE!). I don’t have a cool kid phone so I can’t say I’ve tried it for its intended use but it works in a standard browser too (if impossible to read because it scales width). Seems a good travel companion for those with mobile interweb that want more features than the Kimble can sort out.
It even remembers what page you’re on under the “My Books” section. (Which is nice.)
your in-flight movie is… »
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
On the fourteen hour flights, there were movies. As none are worth mentioning singularly, here’s a rundown of four I happened to watch between near-sleep and reading.
Bottle Shock
Bottle Shock
… is about wine production in Napa, or more specifically, the wine production that won the taste test in France in the seventies that disassembled the “French wine is superior always” myth. The story is interesting but is weighed down by unnecessary plot filler, mediocre to poor acting and a yawn top coat.
It’s the Dumb and Dumberer to Sideways‘ Dumb and Dumber, if that makes sense. (It doesn’t.)
Ghost Town
… is entertaining for one reason: Ricky Gervais. His unassuming, self-deprecation makes it watchable. Still, the premise is trite, acting is beige and story is redundantly meh. Gervais plays a guy who dies a little and starts seeing dead folk.
There are some bit characters that are funny, like a naked guy (you wear what you die in, apparently) or his flaky doctor but outside of Gervais, the main cast sucks like a commercial Hoover. Rent a season or both of “Extras” or BBC’s “The Office” and have a night of it.
City of Ember
City of Ember
… is a kids movie? Maybe. In any case, it’s one of those movies about how the world’s ending and we need someone to save us. It seems a thinly veiled metaphor for the sinking ship we call America. Watch it with your preteen and explain how we’re all going to die. It should make for a fun-flooded night in.
A note on Tim Robbins: From what I gather of his last few movies, he’s now famous enough to pick and choose his movies according to how hilarious him being in it would be (Anchorman) or how strongly the plot addresses one of his pet peeves (Noise, The Lucky Ones, this one).
Maybe that’s why they’ve all been so popular…
Nights in Rodanthe
… is terrible. I didn’t see the entire thing but won’t waste your time going into details. Rent it when you’re middle-aged, married for too long and wondering where you went wrong in so many ways. Then maybe you’ll find it mediocre (or adequate background noise while you slowly and repeatedly cut into your thighs with your husband/wife’s dull razor).
OZ fest, ’09 »
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Well… I’m back. Unfortunately. The snaps are in the usual place and I have some up on Flickr too. I’m groggy, ill-tempered and hating being at work right now. More on that in a minute. First, some finer points from the land down under, in no particular order. (Gets a bit long but I try to be brief.)
- Flight there… was great. It had all the amenities of home. (As long as you live in a small-seated movie theater with too-few-for-the-crowd portable toilets with used diapers and pools of urine.)
- Convenience stores… are surprisingly common. (Three within two blocks of where we stayed.) This may be because, despite being a massive metropolis, interweb is hard to come by. Most shops had computer kiosks for pay-per-minute use. (Culture shock!)
- Weather… was decent. It was cloudy the first few days but became sunny and hot the rest. Up to nearly 40°C (104°F) actually. (Honestly, down right uncomfortable.)
- Opera House and Harbour Bridge… are gorgeous. The House is oddly yellow but still stunning. We walked along the bridge and that was… um… exhausting. (Gorgeous views, though.)
- Sydney Tower… is nice. The views aren’t spectacular in the scenic tourist sense but they’re great nonetheless. They force you into a nauseating simulation ride afterward, touring the various parts of Australia via giant screen and hilariously bad effects, so that’s ridiculous.
- Tangora Zoo… is pretty standard. If it weren’t for the views of the harbor from a bunch of places, it’d be sort of mediocre. Tons of local animals and cool others but nothing super extraordinary.
- Sydney Aquarium… is unreal. Most of the animals are staples but they have two tanks that make it tops on my list. Both have tunnels that look into the tanks, allowing fish to swim over them. One held dugongs (hideous, endangered beasts of disgusting). The other was a sweet shark tank with manta rays, sea turtles and varied sharks and other fish. (Twas awesome.)
- Arena television… is tremendously vacuous. It’s branded the same as Bravo but has a strange mix of too much American television. (Reba, Ellen, Sex and the City, etc.) It also has a show where people are brought on and then vote off the ugliest existing cast member. (This, I imagine, goes on perpetually or until there’s a suicide.)
- Liquor pricing… is absurd. A liter of Bacardi cost almost $AU60 (≈ $38) or close to twice what it’d cost here. Also, the anti-binge-drinking ads are rough. Here’s one. (PDF)
- Obesity… is epidemic. I thought my sister was lying when she said Aussies passed us on the scale last year but it’s true. It’s probably because they’ve started to drive everywhere, watch more television and are more sedentary. (Glad that never happened in the US.)
- Oz-let… is my name for a bizarre hairstyle too many men have. In various forms, it’s basically a mullet with spikes and cropped, matted-down “bangs.” (Horrid, yet popular. Trying to understand it makes my eyes faint.) Some even buzz most their head, leaving just the partying-hard rear hair flap.
- Public transit… is fairly reliable (if not on time). But for one point where a bus, labeled as the one we wanted, took us through a couple neighborhoods west of where we wanted. The buses run on natural gas. So that’s… um… something.
- Bondi Beach, Coogee Beach… are great beaches with a path between that has more beaches and great views. Both are probably packed on weekends but we caught them on Wednesday. (Aside: Australia goes by the “topless optional” standard. Which, I assume, is one of many reasons they’re such a violent, war-hungry people, spreading their way of life across the globe through force.)
- “O’Shea”… is what I’ve named a pint of Kilkenny, topped off with a splash of Guinness. (Bonus: it was a screw up at the bar so it was free on top of being better than a standard Kilkenny.)
- Darling Harbour… is good times. It’s full of restaurants and attractions (Aquarium).
- Blue Mountains… are blue because of evaporating eucalyptus oil reflecting certain light frequencies. There are so many trees. Unbelievable really. I’d tell you how far we hiked but we’re stubbornly holding onto our useless in/ft/yd/mi system so even I don’t know.
- The Rocks… is a cool neighborhood under the Bridge. The buildings and feel seem from a different time. Because they are, probably.
- Kangaroo… is great for the environment, good for you and has a… livery? texture. Not bad but nothing I’m going to import. May be better in a steak or as a burger but the sausages went well enough with eggs and cheese.
- Flight back… was excruciating. Between 1p and 8p Saturday, we were on a plane or in an airport for twenty-five hours. We landed in LAX six hours before we left. That’s basically time travel and is havoc on the slumber system. (Still, it was better than the return from Cabo.)
All in all, there was a lot of flying, a lot of walking, a lot of fun and a lot of flying. Big thanks to the parents for their generous financial donation that made it possible. And thanks to our hosts (including my new self-appointed BFF) who tolerated double occupancy without complaint (to me).
As you may suspect after that last point, I’m exhausted and my nocturnals are tweaked. I slept eleven hours yesterday, waking at noon. Then I was awake until two-thirty before a short nap and back up again for an hour or so. Apparently, this is jet-lag.