I am currently in the middle of a terrific 2003 British TV series entitled "State of Play." I realize that in 2009 an American film was made, but I usually go to the source when remakes are created ("La Femme Nikita" over the American version "Point of No Return," same with Sweden's "Let the Right One In" in lieu of the "Let Me In" American remake). I inevitably watch the remakes, and I'm usually disappointed. But I digress...
This is one excellent political thriller! I just finished the first three episodes on DVD via Netflix and am mailing it back today. The bummer is I'm going out of town for the next two weeks, so I'm going to have to wait until the third of January to see the remaining three episodes.
Unfortunately, the series isn't available for streaming via Netflix. Ugh!
Oh, well...At least I have something to look forward to when I get back from Las Vegas. Anybody reading this, please check it out. Maybe make it a stocking stuffer for someone who loves political thrillers.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A fun Thanksgiving
Just got back from Las Vegas. I spent the week there with family. I finally got to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. That was a very enjoyable time. I really liked the music and the actors involved. There certainly were a lot of pyrotechnics involved. There was one blast of about five flames that rocketed about ten feet in the air. I was around fifteen rows from the stage, and I could definitely feel the heat emanating when those "geysers" went off. The presentation is an abridged version of the actual play. It runs under two hours and does not have an intermission.
I also saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in IMAX as well. Great sound! It is my favorite of the Potter series. Of course, it's the only one I saw at the theater, so that may have been a factor. :-) Next up in the movie world is December 17 when Tron: Legacy premiers (in IMAX and 3D!). There was a trailer for it before the IMAX Potter movie, and it looks terrific!
The Tday feast included a "turducken" that was created by my cousin-in-law's gourmet chef brother. Now that was a treat! It's certainly a bit rich, and high in calories, but, boy, was it tasty!
All in all, a week of fun and frivolity. I hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well.
I also saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in IMAX as well. Great sound! It is my favorite of the Potter series. Of course, it's the only one I saw at the theater, so that may have been a factor. :-) Next up in the movie world is December 17 when Tron: Legacy premiers (in IMAX and 3D!). There was a trailer for it before the IMAX Potter movie, and it looks terrific!
The Tday feast included a "turducken" that was created by my cousin-in-law's gourmet chef brother. Now that was a treat! It's certainly a bit rich, and high in calories, but, boy, was it tasty!
All in all, a week of fun and frivolity. I hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Commitment vs. Marriage
I made this comment over at the Huffington Post regarding Susan Sarandon's comments on her "commitment" to Tim Robbins and the subsequent breakup. I thought I'd share it here on my blog:
"For me, marriage is an archaic ritual for state and church blessing. First conceived for property reasons. And why should the woman take the man's last name? Better to commit to each other and abide by that commitment. I feel the state should honor commitments equally as it does 'marriage.' As for the church, they shouldn't even be involved, unless it makes the couple feel better about things. After all, it is their commitment, and they should be free to legitimize that commitment any way they choose, and whatever the choice be blessed by the state."
"For me, marriage is an archaic ritual for state and church blessing. First conceived for property reasons. And why should the woman take the man's last name? Better to commit to each other and abide by that commitment. I feel the state should honor commitments equally as it does 'marriage.' As for the church, they shouldn't even be involved, unless it makes the couple feel better about things. After all, it is their commitment, and they should be free to legitimize that commitment any way they choose, and whatever the choice be blessed by the state."
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Doctors: Saints they ain't
One of those little things that has bugged me all my life is how the word "doctor" is glorified in our society. I first noticed it with my mother. Every time she said "My doctor..." she uttered the word like he (or she) was an omnipotent human being. Maybe some sort of Patron Saint.
By her exalted usage, it made me more aware of the use of the word in our society. Especially in commercials. Think about it. Practically every prescription drug advertised has the word "doctor" in it, as if that officially legitimizes the drug and makes it a miracle worker. The drug would be totally useless without the sanction of "doctor."
Of course, the ultimate usage of the saintly word was, "My doctor said 'Mylanta.'" Now you can't raise the bar higher than that.
I first became skeptical of the "Power of Doctorhood" when I was in college. I woke up one day and couldn't breathe. I was huffing and puffing as fast as I could and I felt like I was suffocating. I went to the "doctor" to be cured. I mean, really, I can't breathe so fix it!
I loved his response to my woes. He said "Well, it appears to be an atypical pneumonia, so take this medication. If it's bacterial this will work, if it's viral it won't. Don't go to school for a week." Wait a minute. That's it? I'm sick, barely sucking in air, and you're by guessing and by gollying? Wow.
That certainly cured me of the "Doctors work miracles" mentality. They're just like you and me, throwing out SWAGs (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess).
An excellent point about doctors not being omnipotent is Catherine Zeta Jones being "furious" that Michael Douglas didn't get an accurate diagnosis for months regarding his stage four throat cancer. Meaning they could have caught it before it went to stage four and had an even greater chance of eliminating it.
According to the article,
By her exalted usage, it made me more aware of the use of the word in our society. Especially in commercials. Think about it. Practically every prescription drug advertised has the word "doctor" in it, as if that officially legitimizes the drug and makes it a miracle worker. The drug would be totally useless without the sanction of "doctor."
Of course, the ultimate usage of the saintly word was, "My doctor said 'Mylanta.'" Now you can't raise the bar higher than that.
I first became skeptical of the "Power of Doctorhood" when I was in college. I woke up one day and couldn't breathe. I was huffing and puffing as fast as I could and I felt like I was suffocating. I went to the "doctor" to be cured. I mean, really, I can't breathe so fix it!
I loved his response to my woes. He said "Well, it appears to be an atypical pneumonia, so take this medication. If it's bacterial this will work, if it's viral it won't. Don't go to school for a week." Wait a minute. That's it? I'm sick, barely sucking in air, and you're by guessing and by gollying? Wow.
That certainly cured me of the "Doctors work miracles" mentality. They're just like you and me, throwing out SWAGs (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess).
An excellent point about doctors not being omnipotent is Catherine Zeta Jones being "furious" that Michael Douglas didn't get an accurate diagnosis for months regarding his stage four throat cancer. Meaning they could have caught it before it went to stage four and had an even greater chance of eliminating it.
According to the article,
"It makes me furious they didn't detect it earlier," Zeta-Jones told People. "He sought every option and nothing was found."Of course, I like the thought that the person who placed last in medical school is still called doctor. That sort of brings it down to earth doesn't it?
Monday, August 16, 2010
Siskel & Ebert: I'll miss you
I was surfing through the schedule on my TV Guide last night in order to see what I might record overnight. Lo and behold, I saw a new episode of At the Movies at 11:35 on one of my local stations. A "new" episode on a Sunday night at 11:30. How's that for a graveyard slot?
Of course, I had heard that the series had been canceled, and when I saw that part of the show would be a history of Siskel and Ebert, I figured this might be the last "new" episode. Well, I decided to record it.
I watched it this morning and sure enough, it was the final episode. I did get a little maudlin about it. I mean, I started watching the show the first time it aired 35 years ago. I was a faithful devotee of it for 30 years. I admit that when Gene died in 1999, I slowly started to wean off of the show.
I got really nostalgic when the final critics ran the opening of the first show...Gene and Roger finishing up work at their respective newspapers, hitting the streets, seeing their names on the newspaper trucks and finally entering the theater to tape the show. With that oh, so recognizable theme song playing in the background.
For the record, I found Roger more agreeable to my taste for films than Gene. I always felt Gene was a bit elitist in his reviews, for lack of a better word. Roger would rate a movie based on its intent and whether it succeeded in achieving that or not. If it was supposed to be a popcorn movie and it worked, then it was a "Thumb's up!" I always felt Gene was comparing films to the standard of "Citizen Kane" and the like. At least, that's how I saw him.
Now it's gone. Another long-term memory of my life put into the dustbin of history (bad cliche, I know). It's just another reminder of how life is passing and the great memories slowly fade away.
I loved those guys, and I wish Roger a long, long life ahead.
Of course, I had heard that the series had been canceled, and when I saw that part of the show would be a history of Siskel and Ebert, I figured this might be the last "new" episode. Well, I decided to record it.
I watched it this morning and sure enough, it was the final episode. I did get a little maudlin about it. I mean, I started watching the show the first time it aired 35 years ago. I was a faithful devotee of it for 30 years. I admit that when Gene died in 1999, I slowly started to wean off of the show.
I got really nostalgic when the final critics ran the opening of the first show...Gene and Roger finishing up work at their respective newspapers, hitting the streets, seeing their names on the newspaper trucks and finally entering the theater to tape the show. With that oh, so recognizable theme song playing in the background.
For the record, I found Roger more agreeable to my taste for films than Gene. I always felt Gene was a bit elitist in his reviews, for lack of a better word. Roger would rate a movie based on its intent and whether it succeeded in achieving that or not. If it was supposed to be a popcorn movie and it worked, then it was a "Thumb's up!" I always felt Gene was comparing films to the standard of "Citizen Kane" and the like. At least, that's how I saw him.
Now it's gone. Another long-term memory of my life put into the dustbin of history (bad cliche, I know). It's just another reminder of how life is passing and the great memories slowly fade away.
I loved those guys, and I wish Roger a long, long life ahead.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
"The Expendables" is a fun ride
I went to see The Expendables on opening day Friday. Definitely not a chick flick. I enjoyed it, and if one is just into no-brain action, blood and guts machismo, this is right up that alley.
I do agree with Scott Mendelson's post over at the Huffington Post that this is not really the "all the action stars of the 80s and 90s" that entertainment pundits keep throwing out on news shows. As he puts it,
Missing are "Harrison Ford..., Mel Gibson..., Chuck Norris..., Jean Claude Van Damme..., and Steven Seagal." There is a scene featuring cameo appearances by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A nice line is thrown out by Stallone as the Governator is leaving, but it does break the "fourth wall." By that I mean that the line takes you out of the film and into reality. But, I guess that's all right in the long term since the film is about having fun.
I just read that the movie is on track to make about $35 million in its first weekend, and it's going to beat out the chick flick Eat Pray Love by over ten million. I would hazard a guess that a sequel is definitely going to be in theaters down the road.
The good news about a sequel is that according to the Internet Movie Database, Sandra Bullock might be interested in joining the cast. Now that would be fun!
As a final thought, I saw the trailer for the new film Jackass 3D. Now I'm not a fan of dumb comedy films. Just not my thing, but I have to admit there is a sight gag about high-fiving that blew me (and the audience) away. Very funny! I'm still not going to see it though. The rest of the trailer didn't float my boat.
I do agree with Scott Mendelson's post over at the Huffington Post that this is not really the "all the action stars of the 80s and 90s" that entertainment pundits keep throwing out on news shows. As he puts it,
At best you have Stallone, an 80s cult figure (Dolph Lundgren), and two genuine action stars (Jet Li and Jason Statham) who are a generation or two removed from the kind of films that The Expendables is trying to harken back to.
Missing are "Harrison Ford..., Mel Gibson..., Chuck Norris..., Jean Claude Van Damme..., and Steven Seagal." There is a scene featuring cameo appearances by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A nice line is thrown out by Stallone as the Governator is leaving, but it does break the "fourth wall." By that I mean that the line takes you out of the film and into reality. But, I guess that's all right in the long term since the film is about having fun.
I just read that the movie is on track to make about $35 million in its first weekend, and it's going to beat out the chick flick Eat Pray Love by over ten million. I would hazard a guess that a sequel is definitely going to be in theaters down the road.
The good news about a sequel is that according to the Internet Movie Database, Sandra Bullock might be interested in joining the cast. Now that would be fun!
As a final thought, I saw the trailer for the new film Jackass 3D. Now I'm not a fan of dumb comedy films. Just not my thing, but I have to admit there is a sight gag about high-fiving that blew me (and the audience) away. Very funny! I'm still not going to see it though. The rest of the trailer didn't float my boat.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
A Day at the Races
Well, I went to the race track last Wednesday for the first time in about 40 years. I was not impressed. The site was the Del Mar Race Track ("Where the turf meets the surf"), and I must say I really don't see the attraction.
You've got anywhere from six to about 12 horses racing against each other, and I swear, if you don't have a clue about the horses, you might as well forget making any kind of money. They betting goes from the basic who will win to the more exotic exactas, quinellas, pick sixes, etc. Each race, you can pick from one to four finishers. If you pick the four in order, you get a pay out of anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 dollars, depending on the odds of the winning horses crossing the finish line.
For fun (and to keep busy during the time between races), I played on paper and picked the first four finishes of each race. I had no idea what I was doing, so I bet on one of the top three or four favorites. In the end, had I just bet on the first place horse for all eight races, I would have ended up about four bucks ahead. If I had gone with any of the other exotic bets, I would have lost my shirt! I never picked a one-two finish, let alone a four-pick. I didn't pick any two winning horses back-to-back, so the Daily Double would have killed me.
What was really funny is that in the racing form, they had the winning percentages of the race track "experts" who pick the races daily, and the leader to date had a 25% winning pick! That's it! Their best guy could only garner a one out of four record...and he's published!
In my mind you have to be an idiot to bet on that "sport," especially if you're looking to make a profit. If the record of the experts is so bad, what chance does the layman have? Heck, there are betting games in casinos that give you much better odds than that.
Even though I had no stake in the races, I did find the finishes quite exciting. So I guess if one has a goodly sum of money riding on the outcome, it's got to be quite an adrenalin pumper. What was really neat was the animated tote board keeping everyone apprised of the current places of the horses as they ran around the race track.
I will the say that the ambiance was terrific. It was a great day, mild weather, and you just barely see the Pacific Ocean from where I was sitting. Of course, that was it. Inside the grandstands was a huge open area for the bettors to line up at the windows, and about four or five eat and drink places that had outrageous prices.
I did run across some Damon Runyonesque characters. Now that was interesting. It's a whole subculture in the Horse Racing world. A lot of attendees were retired people. At least I assumed they were retired. Oddly enough, there were a lot of young people (even children) there as well. And boy, they were all busily working the betting lines in the program...excepting the kids, of course. The adults were placing bets for the kids, however.
I suppose, if you're looking for a relaxing day in the summer and can afford to lose money (which you will...at least 99% of you - there are those lucky ones like lottery winners), it's not a bad place to while away the time. Heck, just treat the loss of money as if you were spending a night on the town, and I guess it could be fun.
For me, though, not really my thing...
You've got anywhere from six to about 12 horses racing against each other, and I swear, if you don't have a clue about the horses, you might as well forget making any kind of money. They betting goes from the basic who will win to the more exotic exactas, quinellas, pick sixes, etc. Each race, you can pick from one to four finishers. If you pick the four in order, you get a pay out of anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 dollars, depending on the odds of the winning horses crossing the finish line.
For fun (and to keep busy during the time between races), I played on paper and picked the first four finishes of each race. I had no idea what I was doing, so I bet on one of the top three or four favorites. In the end, had I just bet on the first place horse for all eight races, I would have ended up about four bucks ahead. If I had gone with any of the other exotic bets, I would have lost my shirt! I never picked a one-two finish, let alone a four-pick. I didn't pick any two winning horses back-to-back, so the Daily Double would have killed me.
What was really funny is that in the racing form, they had the winning percentages of the race track "experts" who pick the races daily, and the leader to date had a 25% winning pick! That's it! Their best guy could only garner a one out of four record...and he's published!
In my mind you have to be an idiot to bet on that "sport," especially if you're looking to make a profit. If the record of the experts is so bad, what chance does the layman have? Heck, there are betting games in casinos that give you much better odds than that.
Even though I had no stake in the races, I did find the finishes quite exciting. So I guess if one has a goodly sum of money riding on the outcome, it's got to be quite an adrenalin pumper. What was really neat was the animated tote board keeping everyone apprised of the current places of the horses as they ran around the race track.
I will the say that the ambiance was terrific. It was a great day, mild weather, and you just barely see the Pacific Ocean from where I was sitting. Of course, that was it. Inside the grandstands was a huge open area for the bettors to line up at the windows, and about four or five eat and drink places that had outrageous prices.
I did run across some Damon Runyonesque characters. Now that was interesting. It's a whole subculture in the Horse Racing world. A lot of attendees were retired people. At least I assumed they were retired. Oddly enough, there were a lot of young people (even children) there as well. And boy, they were all busily working the betting lines in the program...excepting the kids, of course. The adults were placing bets for the kids, however.
I suppose, if you're looking for a relaxing day in the summer and can afford to lose money (which you will...at least 99% of you - there are those lucky ones like lottery winners), it's not a bad place to while away the time. Heck, just treat the loss of money as if you were spending a night on the town, and I guess it could be fun.
For me, though, not really my thing...
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Bottom's Up!
Well, I had my first colonoscopy yesterday (Sat.). Boy was that a trip-and-a-half. Nothing like getting a firehose shoved up the wazoo.
I have to say the worse part of the ordeal was the preliminary stuff. I had to starve myself for two days. My sister said she only had to fast for one day. When I asked the nurse why the difference, she said that only one day fasting results in more failures because the fecal material sometimes doesn't clear, thus resulting in the patient having to do it all over again. I'll take the two days.
So, once having starved myself, I then had to take a laxative the evening before. I love the name of the laxative: "GoLytely." Believe me, there was nothing light about it. I started drinking a gallon(!) of the cruddy stuff at 5pm and didn't finish drinking the whole thing until 11pm. I proceeded to visit Mrs. Murphy (for those of you old enough to remember that phrase) continuously until 1:30 in the morning.
I watched Eraser and The Negotiator on AMC in between the bathroom visits. No-brain movies...perfect. Fortunately I had seen both several times so I didn't miss anything as I sat on the pot.
Saturday morning comes the moment of truth. I'm lying on the gurney and the nurse is prepping me. My blood pressure is 159 (I wonder why?) and I have no idea what to expect. She tells me that I'm getting the Big C instead of a sphygmoidoscopy because I had "occult blood" in my stool sample. "Occult" meaning it can't be seen by the naked eye. Now THAT'S comforting!
Next the poor nurse couldn't find a vein to insert the medication needle, so she had to get another nurse to try. She couldn't find one at first, but on the third try...success! Now I'm cruising with bruising at three places on my right arm. Bleh!
So off I go into the main event. The doctor proceeds to tell me about all the horrible things that can go wrong (e.g., rupturing the intestine), then a hearty, "Sign here!" Followed by a "State your name, social security and the procedure your about to have." Ah, we're being taped. Great... I thought about throwing out a few F-bombs for G.P., but decided against it.
They were really nice people. The anesthetist was a gorgeous blond (Her name was Amanda), fortunately, she didn't have an up-close and personal view of what I was going through, so that saved me. I still had a chance to be suave and debonair with her, even though my hairy ass was hanging out (where she couldn't see it).
The doctor's assistant looked like Wolverine from the X-men. I could barely see his face with all the hair he was sporting. The words "sanitary environment" came to mind.
But to business. I turned on my left side and got to enjoy a TV showing of my innermost being. Sure was clean (Thank you two-day starvation!). Keen.
The first part of the joy ride was a bit uncomfortable, but all-in-all not that bad. And I now have ten pictures of my innards for my scrapbook. There was only one little thing that they took a biopsy of, but it looks good for me for another ten years. Yippee!
What the nurse told me was that the occult blood probably came from hemorrhoids. She also said that everybody has hemorrhoids of one kind or another. I didn't know that. Maybe she was just shining me on.
Funny enough, I never felt drugged up. Good job by the gorgeous anesthetist. Too bad she's about twenty years younger than me...and married...we could have had beautiful children together. Hmmm...maybe I was drugged up...
Colonoscopy: A lovely experience that I'm glad I don't have to endure again for ten years. Excepting of course the results of the biopsy. The one thing that makes me feel good is that I know I won't have colon cancer surprisingly rearing up its ugly head and killing me. That alone was worth the journey, and I recommend it for everyone whom doctors feel should get one. It will allay a lot of fear.
I have to say the worse part of the ordeal was the preliminary stuff. I had to starve myself for two days. My sister said she only had to fast for one day. When I asked the nurse why the difference, she said that only one day fasting results in more failures because the fecal material sometimes doesn't clear, thus resulting in the patient having to do it all over again. I'll take the two days.
So, once having starved myself, I then had to take a laxative the evening before. I love the name of the laxative: "GoLytely." Believe me, there was nothing light about it. I started drinking a gallon(!) of the cruddy stuff at 5pm and didn't finish drinking the whole thing until 11pm. I proceeded to visit Mrs. Murphy (for those of you old enough to remember that phrase) continuously until 1:30 in the morning.
I watched Eraser and The Negotiator on AMC in between the bathroom visits. No-brain movies...perfect. Fortunately I had seen both several times so I didn't miss anything as I sat on the pot.
Saturday morning comes the moment of truth. I'm lying on the gurney and the nurse is prepping me. My blood pressure is 159 (I wonder why?) and I have no idea what to expect. She tells me that I'm getting the Big C instead of a sphygmoidoscopy because I had "occult blood" in my stool sample. "Occult" meaning it can't be seen by the naked eye. Now THAT'S comforting!
Next the poor nurse couldn't find a vein to insert the medication needle, so she had to get another nurse to try. She couldn't find one at first, but on the third try...success! Now I'm cruising with bruising at three places on my right arm. Bleh!
So off I go into the main event. The doctor proceeds to tell me about all the horrible things that can go wrong (e.g., rupturing the intestine), then a hearty, "Sign here!" Followed by a "State your name, social security and the procedure your about to have." Ah, we're being taped. Great... I thought about throwing out a few F-bombs for G.P., but decided against it.
They were really nice people. The anesthetist was a gorgeous blond (Her name was Amanda), fortunately, she didn't have an up-close and personal view of what I was going through, so that saved me. I still had a chance to be suave and debonair with her, even though my hairy ass was hanging out (where she couldn't see it).
The doctor's assistant looked like Wolverine from the X-men. I could barely see his face with all the hair he was sporting. The words "sanitary environment" came to mind.
But to business. I turned on my left side and got to enjoy a TV showing of my innermost being. Sure was clean (Thank you two-day starvation!). Keen.
The first part of the joy ride was a bit uncomfortable, but all-in-all not that bad. And I now have ten pictures of my innards for my scrapbook. There was only one little thing that they took a biopsy of, but it looks good for me for another ten years. Yippee!
What the nurse told me was that the occult blood probably came from hemorrhoids. She also said that everybody has hemorrhoids of one kind or another. I didn't know that. Maybe she was just shining me on.
Funny enough, I never felt drugged up. Good job by the gorgeous anesthetist. Too bad she's about twenty years younger than me...and married...we could have had beautiful children together. Hmmm...maybe I was drugged up...
Colonoscopy: A lovely experience that I'm glad I don't have to endure again for ten years. Excepting of course the results of the biopsy. The one thing that makes me feel good is that I know I won't have colon cancer surprisingly rearing up its ugly head and killing me. That alone was worth the journey, and I recommend it for everyone whom doctors feel should get one. It will allay a lot of fear.
Monday, July 26, 2010
This is really weird. I started this blog over four years ago, my last post was in 2006, and I had totally forgotten about it. Yet somehow even with a new email address the folks at blogspot have developed a way to hook it to my new user name and new blog name. I've been running another blog for almost two years now, and suddenly, out of nowhere, up pops this blog site in my blogger dashboard. As I said...Weird.
Though it does give me an opportunity to write about things other than politics (which is what I write about in my other blog). So, I thought I'd write about a great movie.
I admit that my taste in films have undergone a dramatic change as I've gotten older. My main interest now is no-brain action/adventure. However, I did see Inception last week, and that film is about as far from "no-brain" as one can get. It's definitely an action film, but, boy, you really have to be on top of this movie throughout or you will get horribly lost.
After viewing it, I knew that this is one that I have to see over again to pick up all the things I missed the first time around. It's definitely on my watch list.What did help was Salon.com ran an article by Sam Adams that gives a detailed breakdown of the plot line. That helped me fill in the parts that slipped by me on the first viewing. I won't go into the plot whatsoever so that anyone reading this (Hah!) gets a whiff of what it's about. I really appreciated the fact that I went into the theatre absolutely cold about the plot. For me, that made it all the more fun. I know I really like a movie when I have a wide grin through the film.
What's really great is that a lot of movie goers are enjoying just as much as I. The Internet Movie Database fans (71,248 as of this writing) have rated this film 9.1 out of 10 tying it for for first in the all-time top 250 list in just two weeks! I realize the caveat here in that a lot of fans of the director, Christopher Nolan, went immediately to see this as it first came out, so there is definitely a positive skew initially. But for me it is a terrific film and I recommend it highly. FWIW, Roger Ebert, whom I admire and respect as a film critic gives it four stars.
So, go give your mind a nice workout and see this fine film.
Though it does give me an opportunity to write about things other than politics (which is what I write about in my other blog). So, I thought I'd write about a great movie.
I admit that my taste in films have undergone a dramatic change as I've gotten older. My main interest now is no-brain action/adventure. However, I did see Inception last week, and that film is about as far from "no-brain" as one can get. It's definitely an action film, but, boy, you really have to be on top of this movie throughout or you will get horribly lost.
After viewing it, I knew that this is one that I have to see over again to pick up all the things I missed the first time around. It's definitely on my watch list.What did help was Salon.com ran an article by Sam Adams that gives a detailed breakdown of the plot line. That helped me fill in the parts that slipped by me on the first viewing. I won't go into the plot whatsoever so that anyone reading this (Hah!) gets a whiff of what it's about. I really appreciated the fact that I went into the theatre absolutely cold about the plot. For me, that made it all the more fun. I know I really like a movie when I have a wide grin through the film.
What's really great is that a lot of movie goers are enjoying just as much as I. The Internet Movie Database fans (71,248 as of this writing) have rated this film 9.1 out of 10 tying it for for first in the all-time top 250 list in just two weeks! I realize the caveat here in that a lot of fans of the director, Christopher Nolan, went immediately to see this as it first came out, so there is definitely a positive skew initially. But for me it is a terrific film and I recommend it highly. FWIW, Roger Ebert, whom I admire and respect as a film critic gives it four stars.
So, go give your mind a nice workout and see this fine film.
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