The Film Noir Experience

Half way through this film Ed Helms sings a song about tigers, what they dream of, and what has happened so far in the film. It has been stuck in my head all. day. long. That is okay, though, because it is hilarious and every time I catch myself singing it, I smile.

This film is about three guys who take a friend to Vegas for his bachelor party and then proceed to have such a wild time that they don't remember what they did...including where they lost the groom. This film was funny, inexplicable and well executed. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much. Hooray.

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Oh, Sam Raimi, how I love you. love you almost as much I love GDT. (Almost.)

So, this film is about a cute, little blond thing (Alison Lohman) former Pork Queen from down on the farm, dating newly-minted Professor Dr. Nonbeliever (Justin Long) who is up for a promotion at her branch of the bank when an old lady comes in to ask for an extension on her loan. She has to make a tough decision, in order to prove she can make tough decisions, in order to put herself ahead of the competition for the promotion. So, guess what happens? Yup. Bam. Curse.

Highlights of this film: Possessed man dancing like a marionette, gore (so GROSS), Gorey-esque opening credits, Ash/Uncle Ben's car, Alison Lohman

Drawbacks: As much as I love Mac, this wasn't his best performance. Also, (and, this isn't the film's fault) it was paired with Orphan at the Drive-In, and well, you read what I thought about that.

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Former musician/Yale Professor/Drunk and Architect (I think) look to complete the circle of love by adopting an older child after a terrible and traumatizing still birth. They are a couple with secrets. He cheated on her drunk ass. She once passed out and almost let one of their non-stillborn children drown. Dr. Yaley Lush still has horrific nightmares about the still birth and feels incredibly guilty about it. So, they go to the orphanage and pick out the quiet kid from Russia painting and ignoring the festivities downstairs. She turned out to be a total psychotic bitch with secrets of her own.

This film was boring. Worse, the "twist" was something we guessed fifteen minutes in. It got points (okay, a point) for allowing to make a reference to the Tales from the Crypt in which a ribbon worn as a choker is the only thing keeping a girl's head on her shoulders. That was it. The soundtrack wasn't great. The acting couldn't save it. One of the other girl's in my car at the drive in fell asleep. This doesn't even get a meh.

Posted by Kate at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There are things in my Netflix queue that are honestly there because I was watching an awards show or reading a list of winners and just added things to my queue. That is how Vals Im Bashir got into my queue. All I remember about this addition to the list was that it was award winning and about a war. Maybe. I was expecting it to be brutal. Just not in the way that is was.

Writer/Director Ari Folman interviewed other veterans from the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in order to help him fill in the gaps in his memory. As he tells a friend of his early on in the CGI film, "Its just not recorded into my system." He has a dream that seems to be about something that happened to him in the war and in order to put it together he discusses with other veterans their experiences of what happened. The film is a series of mini-stories, each one representing a memory of another veteran, all of them leading up to a comparison between things that happened during that war to other past atrocities and the suggestion that one might not be able to remember something because they don't want to admit to a role (even a minor one) that they may have played in it.

This film was shocking and a little heartbreaking. It wasn't a complete history of the events of the invasion of Lebanon; it wasn't comprehensive in its discussion what happened and why, but I think it is a pretty good chronicle of what some of the soldiers on the Israeli side went through and felt and how that has since effected their lives.

And, this might seem like an unfair or inappropriate comparison, but it reminded me a little of the Blind Spot, in that we take part in these things and we don't think about their consequences and then later we sit down and unravel some of what has happened and are presented with a picture that is dark and of which we are baffled, angered, upset and ashamed. I am happy that this movie was CGI animation and not live action, because it was difficult enough to sit through as it is. I think that a live action film would have cut into the film's ability to get the message across.

This is a good film and I'm glad I watched it. But, it was heart-breaking and there may have been tears (I admit to nothing).

Posted by Kate at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Netflix, at least.

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It is Monday morning. I'm showered. I've dressed. I've blended fruit, yogurt, tea, and flax seed together to make a tasty breakfast smoothie. I've made a cuppa tea. I've made my list of things that need to be accomplished today. And, yet, I feel like I'm toodling around my apartment like one of the flesh-eating zombies in the film I saw Saturday night. (All things being equal, that isn't a bad representation of what it is to be a B-horror flick. And, the zombie locomotion in it I found to be particularly hilarious. Its like the zombies are half-cognizant flesh-eating maniacs doing their best impressions of the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. Classic.)

I feel a bit like someone might pop out of the nowhere, covered in flair, and offer me a cup of coffee with a cliched remark about how awful Mondays are.

But, it isn't Mondays. I'm not even sure its mornings. To say I'm not a morning person would be inaccurate. I do not have a problem with the idea of mornings. In fact, I tend to set my alarm as early as I think I can get away with because I find that (once I get going) I can be very productive before 11 AM. A more accurate description is that I am an inertial creature. I find that changing states (asleep to awake, awake to functioning like a normal human being, any of those processes in reverse, etc.) to be difficult and, as the term "inertial" will attest, unless there is a reason I pretty much can't be bothered. Lucky for me that "a good reason" includes things like, "no longer being badgered by the insistent alarm", "hot shower water", and "cuppa". That being said, even though I've been up an hour, I could still probably pass as an extra on the set of George Romero's next film.

Posted by Kate at 07:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just tried to call my father three times and for some reason I couldn't get through.  This makes me no end of irritated. 

We, for the third time in a month, will be heading out a wedding.  The first two were sort of sprung on us or at least on me.  The first one John's friend Andrew got the date wrong on.  So, a week earlier than we expected we ended up in driving out to the Suburb of Barry and celebrating Kenny and Tiffany at the weirdest wedding I've ever been to.  (We were kissed and were asked not to.)  Then, John got the date confused and we ended up going to a wedding two days earlier than expected.  But, this one I've actually seen the invite on.  In fact, I have it here in my lap.  We are invited to an evening reception at the Llanishen Golf Club.  This means I had to buy a dress.  

Of course, its the end of the season so things were on sale.  I found not one dress, but two.  And, I got a new black skirt for...are you ready for it?  A fiver.  This makes me happy.  Oh, and I got a new pair of pants with lots of pockets.  I love pockets.  They're amazing.  And, black.  Its very exciting.  Then I bought John a shirt to go with his suit.  They didn't have any I liked, they all sucked.  I did what I could, hopefully John'll like it.  His knee still hurts, so I also picked him up a new knee band thingee.  This one has thermal packs that you can put in it.  His friend/boss Brian recommended it.  My poor baby is falling apart. 

Hee.  Even though I should be working I'm watching Serenity again.  This is, surprisingly only the second time I have seen it.  I know, shocking.  SHOCKING!  Anyway, I'm actually pretty excited about the wedding.   Obviously, I'll post pictures later.

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So, yesterday was my friend Georgia's birthday.  Even though I have a shit ton of work to do, (as does everythng else) we all went out.  We went downtown and met at are pub called Central Bar.  John and I walked in, looked around, didn't see anyone we knew and then I went to sit down and checked my phone and noticed I had a missed call.  It was Anne Marie who then immediately turned up and said everyone was upstairs.  John came over when he saw us and immediately said, "There's an upstairs?"  Well, yes.  We all reconvened upstairs, which we pretty much had to our lonesome, which was nice.  Dawn was there and Steffi turned up with her new guy friend Alex.  Then, the birthday girl turned up and we all started to drink.  Pints were had....pitchers of cocktails were had.  A good time was had by all. 

Georgia, Brian, John and me took a cab back home and we got out a little early and bought a late night snack.  Then, because neither of us were tired we watched Midnight Run.  Which is SO FUNNY if you haven't seen it.  Robert DeNiro plays an ex-cop turned bounty hunter employed to bring Charles Grodin in.  Everyone kicks off, another bounty hunter is brought in, the FBI are on the trail, the mob boss (who has history with Robert DeNiro's character) is has put a hit out on Grodin.  They're on planes, trains, buses, their own two feet.  Its amazing.  Top that off with a perfect  Danny Elfman soundtrack this comedy is a classic.  Huzzah

Posted by Kate at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

That is the teaser trailer for the animated film John has been working on.  He has been toiling late into night, sitting at his desk which happens to be at the foot of our bed.  Sometimes he laughs while he works.  Sometimes he swears, but after he's edited he always come to bed happy.  And you can't beat that.  

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I have a Fall Out Boy song stuck in my head.  I'm starting to get hungry.  I have to go buy some veg before I go home.  My fiancee is ill and upset with his brother (with whom he doesn't get along with) I should be writing my dissertation and/or getting my stuff out of the house and into the flat. 

Continue reading "Oh the horror" »

Posted by Kate at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Its possible I may have gotten things sorted.  You should be able to get to this page from my index page now.  Or, at least I hope you can.  Who the fuck knows now.  In the last two hours I've monkeyed around with this, turned on the heat so I could use to radiator to try my clothes, and gotten a little bit closer to having everything cleaned and packed.  I want to have the cleaning and the packing done before John turns up after work. 

Oh, I also watched a little Corpse Bride while I was cleaning.  Now, I'm thinking I might put in Batman Begins or something while I finish things up.   

Posted by Kate at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)