Movie Reflections...

"Is Anybody There?"

Excellent film. I don't know why I expected this movie to be light-hearted and funnier, but I did and I was wrong.

Considering some recent news in real life, it's hitting harder emotionally than I would have expected. And funnily enough, considering an answer I just gave in the movie question post, I find myself reflecting and analyzing this one quite a bit. And enjoying the fact that I'm doing so as well as the questions and answers arising from it all.

The Beer Cannes Inquisition (continued from elsewhere...)

started here @ Troy's
continued here @ Peddie's

what is the first film you ever saw?
99.9% sure it was Star Wars, 1977.

what is your favorite film of all time?
Aliens

what is your favorite line in a film?
"There's a sport!" (Only Dave & Jay will get that.)

what film made you realize that film was an art?
No sure exactly what this is supposed to mean. Did so on a conscious level? I have no idea. It probably wouldn't have been until after we made Consternate. I didn't used to think too deeply about film. I think it's over-analyzed. I usually don't want to think too deeply about films I really like.

what movie do you consider your guilty pleasure?
Not saying. "Roadhouse", "Point Break" and other GREAT GUY films are NOT guilty pleasures for me. My guilty pleasures are ones I don't admit to telling other guys I watch because I actually FEEL guilty about watching them. So while I can think of at least one, it's staying a secret. (I know Dave's though.)

who is your favorite movie character of all time?
Han Solo / Indiana Jones. I put them together cuz I always felt like they were the same character. That's from having both movies come out when I was a kid. (And damn Spielberg, Lucas and Ford for raping my childhood with Indy IV!)

what is your favorite movie snack food?
popcorn (with carrots sticks!)

who is your favorite director of all time?
Peter Jackson.
I don't tend to think about directing at all unless I think it's really BAD. Then I'm pissed that the director "broke the spell", usually for the rest of the film.

who is the most impressive filmmaker working today?
Dunno. Again, I don't care enough to keep up with who the creative crews are unless they REALLY suck.

Peddie's answer is interesting on this one. It made me think on something that has been bugging me in our CGI-dominated SF universe. At least Lucas (early Star Wars days) and other pioneers in special effects had to deal with technical limitations in directing. I believe we're beyond that point now. But the directing in special effects seems to be getting WORSE. Why is that? You would think that without the limitations on camera work the opposite would be true. Maybe NOT having limitations on directing pushes directors away from what our brains recognize as "realistic"? Vox once wrote that a lot of the problems with shitty CGI is that the effects are defying the limitations of real-world physics. Our brains recognize that and that it looks "wrong". That's probably accurate.

what quality do the best directors share?
Showcasing actors and getting the best out of them. Everything else is secondary. Even if it's a freaking cartoon! If I don't care about the human behind the pixels, the film sucks.

who is your favorite actor/actress of all time?
Anthony Hopkins. He shows depth when doing nothing.

who is your favorite actor/actress working today?
same

who would you cast in a film about your life?
Jim Sturgess. He doesn't have my dashing bent nose, but he's close enough for Hollywood.

finish these sentences:

if you could remake one movie... Watchmen, with a new director and the caveat that I get to turn it into a 12 part series. Just like the book. A lot of wasted potential there. And no damn slow motion.

i never wanna watch a movie with... inflated but ultimately unmet expectations.

the perfect movie is... The Dark Knight.

On Our Wetback Supreme Court Nominee...

"so she would be the first lesbian-hispanic-affirmative action supreme court judge. I guess its too much to hope that she also has a prosthetic leg." --- trk

Says it better than I can, though the lesbo angle is from speculation, not verified reports. Not that Obama knowingly nominating a carpet-muncher would be the least bit of a surprise.

All that said, if the Republicans don't use this against her (and they absolutely should), they're never going to regain ground with their base. Joking about gutting the rule of law is actually legitimate grounds to oppose her, compared to the mudslinging typically used by Democrats in the Senate to "Bork" folks.

I was going to name this blog "An affirmative action President nominates an affirmative action SC justice." But I just laughed too hard at the prosthetic limb comment to not open with it.

UPDATE: And it just gets better and better. She's an actual member of a racist wetback group that promotes Mexico "taking back" the entire Southwestern United States when it's not performing illegal actions actively supporting illegal aliens invading our country (aiding and abetting, anyone?).

The Senate needs to out this whore as the stupid bitch she is. At least get it on the record that she has nothing to do with upholding the laws of our country.

Help Or You Just Suck.

I dig Shelly. She's pretty cool. Her other YouTube videos are pretty interesting viewing. And Freedom Watch is just too cool.

Like Ron Paul says "Freedom Works". Unless you're a brain-dead retarded Pinko Commie Libtard Bastard, you will do something to support the cause.

I Sooooo Need Mental Help...

"Suicidal man pushed off Chinese bridge"

This headline made me laugh out loud.

Yes... I am a sick man.

EDIT: Hey, while surfing elsewhere I just got reminded of something I didn't blog on.

I looked up a whorehouse in Nevada since a trip to Vegas might be in my not-so-near future. (Just for informational purposes... honest.)

And just WHAT do I find?

ALL UGLY CHICKS.

Now just WHAT THE FUCK is the point of ugly whores? I'm going to pay way to much money to bang a skank that LOOKS like a skank? I really don't fucking (heh-heh) think so.

Like I said... I need help. Actually, just a whole lot more prayer. And I AM working on that. (But apparently not enough.)

A Simple Query...

"Hawaii’s state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to celebrate “Islam Day” _ over the objections of a few lawmakers who said they didn’t want to honor a religion connected to Sept. 11, 2001."
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/05/06/hawaii-passes-islam-day-law/

So is dressing up like a suicide bomber mandatory or grounds for expulsion and criminal charges?

The Hotties Are DEFINITELY Out of Hibernation...

I ran into way too many hotties, cuties and lovelies while putting about 100 miles on my Ninja today.

This input leads me to...

CONCLUSION: I need to get myself a wife.

PROBLEM: I'm an anti-social, lazy jerk.

QUERY: Anyone have any ideas on how to trick a hot 18 year old Christian tattoo&piercing-less Asian nympho into becoming my wife?

... yeah... me neither.

Maybe one like this:

Good Clean Funny Site

http://www.reverendfun.com/index.php?date=20080613

Religious humour... too strange. But if you're even semi-Biblically literate, these should amuse.

No WONDER I Couldn't Find It

I've been looking all over for the plug to my beard trimmer. It's been a few months since I've cleaned up. I look like a grizzled prospector or something.

I've spent quite a bit of time looking in strange places in my dwelling where I just knew it couldn't possibly be, getting really pissed off.

So when I started looking again this afternoon a few minutes ago, where did I find it?

In the friggin' package with the rest of the accessories.

I think that says volumes about me right there. I'm just not sure what those volumes contain.

Angels and Demons Blows

More typical Hollywood bullshit. The more I think of it, the more I get pissed. And not for its anti-religious views, either. Mostly because this film tempered those moments and had some surprisingly touching portrayals. (Maybe Dan Brown's trying not to piss off as many folks this time?)

Although the same feeling I had about the first one applies to this film too: People of faith in God and His Truth think it's perfectly okay to murder and cause there to be murder to further His ends. Just once I'd like to see one of these men revealed as mere greedy worldly charlatans instead of dying in a blaze of glory fully "dedicated" to Him.

But the stupid lucky coincidences and the predictability of this film are annoying to say the very least. I wish Hollywood would simply stop making shitty films. (Of course, in the two Dan Brown films, they're stuck with shitty source material.)

I also REALLY wish they'd stop ruining the plots with their far-too revealing previews. (Terminator 4, anyone? WTF?)

Oh well. I suppose I shan't hold mine breath on either score.

So my advice? Skip Angels and Demons. Go see Star Trek instead. You'll enjoy yourself a lot more.

Need proof? (Watch it all, the last line is the best)


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

California MUST Have Lots of Unemployment...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30791630#30780199

How else to explain how these idiots have time to protest?

Funny video though.

Some more busybody idiocy...

Good Advice!

Awesome Political Attack Ad:

http://www.doyouknowronpaul.com/

How does this guy do it? He actually got everything RIGHT in an attack ad!

Honesty in politics... whouda thunkit?

For Rating My Own Predictive Powers Later

I cannot find a post on someone blog where I predicted something about the federal budgets under a possible Obama administration.

If anyone remembers or can search their own blog's comments for "budget" and "deficit" and then let me know where I posted it, I would be grateful.

Not like, give you a kidney grateful... but grateful.

UPDATE: Troy rocks all night with the tangy flavor of cheddar!

Here's my prediction:

"Betcha $20 Obama doubles the federal deficit in two years if he's elected.

Takers?"

Hmmm... that doesn't seem long enough. I thought I had gone deeper into the subject. Guess not.

Oh well.

Cuz Not EVERYONE Can Get A Turn Sucking Obama Off.

http://www.fivefeetoffury.com/:entry:fivefeet-2009-05-09-0001/

It's only logical, really. You just know Chris Matthews and his ilk use one every night.

This world surprises even me sometimes.

EDIT: Hmmmm.... do you think it's this dildo or a Obama Strap On that The Magic Negro Illegal Alien In Chief is using on DA GOVERNATOR?

Vapidness Gets Old Quick...

Apparently, Twitter is the Pet Rock of the 2000s. You hear about it a LOT but folks apparently don't hang around long.

The thing about Twitter is... It Sucks. I've signed on Twitters web site (hey, texts cost money!) to monitor four accounts, all musicians. I signed up for their updates because some of them are less than diligent about posting new projects to their website and I hoped to be kept abreast of tours and such.

But the "Twits" are annoying. You endure 10 banal posts for each remotely interesting one. I do not give a flying fuck if you ate cake today. Or if wind woke you up just now.

What's even worse is that you can't (apparently so, I can't figure out how to do it) filter posts made from a user directly to his followers away from posts the dude makes to the Twitter accounts of others. So in addition to the vapid nonsense direct from man X, you have to scroll through Twits posted by X about Y's Twits.

I cannot imagine what it's like watching any "real" celebrity. And I doubt they put any of the remotely interesting stuff up. You know like "Munching a Playmate's muffin as I'm Twitting 1 handed. Guess where my other thumb is?" or "I just helped someone bury a body in the desert!!"

Hey... Now THERE's a Twit account I could follow. "CerealK1llr1989". It has to happen, doesn't it? I mean, school shootings don't even shock us anymore. Someone needs to up the ante for horror in real life carnage. I think America's serial killers are just getting to lax in their efforts.

But really, isn't that a movie just waiting to happen?

Possible titles:
"Twitterama" (starring Nicolas Cage, more of an action flick like "Next")
"Twit THIS!" (murder comedy)
"Twit KNOWS You're Alone" (pure horror, subtitle: "With texts, no one can hear you scream.")

I wrote the masterpiece "Bass Witch Project". I know I could write a screenplay about a Twitting Serial Killer. Eh, it's probably in the works already.

And with my luck, Twitter will be bankrupt before I can get it out of pre-production.

The White House Terrorists

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2009/05/free-ashton-lundeby.html

Second update on this post, about halfway down. Would our government hold itself accountable if folks were trampled to death because of their actions?

I highly doubt it.

UPDATED: Torture... What The FUCK Has Happened To Us?

(I blogged about torture very briefly two years ago HERE.)

Messed up world we live in. Folks all over - some I know personally - are defending the "right" of our government to torture our "enemies" *. Some refuse to call it torture, but I do not think you can read THIS and think rationally "That's not torture." (Hat tip to Cunning Dove from Vox' blog.)

Having been subjected to this technique, I can say: It is risky but not entirely dangerous when applied in training for a very short period. However, when performed on an unsuspecting prisoner, waterboarding is a torture technique - without a doubt. There is no way to sugarcoat it.

In the media, waterboarding is called "simulated drowning," but that's a misnomer. It does not simulate drowning, as the lungs are actually filling with water. There is no way to simulate that. The victim is drowning.

Unless you have been strapped down to the board, have endured the agonizing feeling of the water overpowering your gag reflex, and then feel your throat open and allow pint after pint of water to involuntarily fill your lungs, you will not know the meaning of the word.

How much of this the victim is to endure depends on the desired result (in the form of answers to questions shouted into the victim's face) and the obstinacy of the subject. A team doctor watches the quantity of water that is ingested and for the physiological signs that show when the drowning effect goes from painful psychological experience, to horrific suffocating punishment to the final death spiral.

Waterboarding is slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration. Usually the person goes into hysterics on the board. For the uninitiated, it is horrifying to watch. If it goes wrong, it can lead straight to terminal hypoxia - meaning, the loss of all oxygen to the cells.

And that's leaving aside the possibility of the doctor fucking up and killing you or secondary drowning killing you later on (maybe not a possibility with distilled water? I dunno.), that is beyond fucked up. To hear and read folks saying "It's just getting water splashed in your face" is insanity.

If someone had said this would come to pass 20 years ago, I simply would not have believed them. Hell, 10 years ago even.

I hope Obama does set a new precedent and his administration prosecutes EVERYONE involved. Including Bush. Then the die is cast and HIS Magic Mulatto Illegal Alien Ass might be jailed for the capital crimes he will almost certainly commit during his comical administration. At least then some measure of justice would be seen and future administrations might wake up to the fact that there IS some accountability on this earth.

Yeah... fat chance.

* Of course, they're forgetting that the definition of "enemies" changes from time to time, often every four or eight years. Only "lunatics" said after 9-11 that the Patriot Act could or would be used against non-terrorist American citizens. And now we have the "Justice" Dept issuing memos about how anyone that dislikes Obama is a racist and an enemy of the people! Only complete fucking morons didn't see that possibility coming.

UPDATE: Or we could waterboard this kid to see if he REALLY was involved! He's probably a terrorist! Shit! We all know the feds can't and don't fuck up on stuff like this!

Really, by what reasoning do we NOT torture him? Lives are at stake!

I Really Like These...

Yes. I know I'm warped.
http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm135602.html?t=Humor

GREAT IDEA!

A cold-blooded murder on a campus. [LINK] The "Police cordoned off the area around the bookstore as officers wearing camouflage and carrying automatic rifles walked the streets as onlookers gawked."

Dude. What the hell?