NDBT

Ahaha. Zombie movie humor. 

Well – a bit to catch up on. Let’s see. I was feeling like crap Saturday (see the earlier post), so I went to see Stardust. I wasn’t really very excited for it since I was in a bad mood, even though I’d been waiting for it for a while, but I finally figured maybe it would cheer me up. And it really, really did. I completely loved it – if it is still playing near you – GO SEE IT! If you liked the princess bride, you’ll like Stardust. If you didn’t like the princess bride – then what the hell is wrong with you? 

Sunday I walked for an hour in the rain to go check out another computer store, which did not have what I needed, but they did know that I had to get the power cord from Dell (say goodbye to me ever owning a dell again in the future). I’m calling this morning to see if I can get expedited shipping.  It was actually a very movie weekend (seeing as my laptop wasn’t alive). I did get some of my book read (The Meaning of Night; A Confession by Michael Cox – v. good so far) and I saw 28 days later (hence the title quote), bound, and the break-up. I really enjoyed 28 days later; it wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be, and Cillian Murphy has got to have the most beautiful cheekbones on earth. Maybe more so than Johnny Depp. So – even if I figured out the ending ahead of time – it was enjoyable and I’m glad I finally saw it (next up; Sunshine). Bound was also good; very noir and I loved the art direction in it. And the break-up; well… the trailers made it look like there was a lot more of the supporting actors whom I like (Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, and Justin Long). And while those 3 were funny while they were onscreen… they were barely ever onscreen. So it was mostly Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston; neither of whom I am a big fan of. It was ok, I guess – but not really my type of movie. 

In honor of the halloween season, this comes courtesy of Cleolinda, “It was then asserted, that, in several places, dead persons had been known to leave their graves, and, by night, to revisit the habitations of their friends; whom, by suckosity, they drained of their blood as they slept.” – John Stagg, “The Vampyre,” The Minstrel of the North (1810) Early oscar picks. (Hahaha! I love the oscar race..) They’re pretty much the ones you’d expect; Atonement, Eastern Promises, Grace is Gone, Angelina Jolie, Michael Clayton, I’m not there, Juno, There will be blood, no country for old men, gone baby gone, sweeny todd… Funnily enough, I responded on some message board (cinematical?) about what fall films I was looking forward to; and it was pretty much the above (minus angie, whom I’ve already seen). It includes one I have heard nothing about; Charlie Wilson’s war. Probably because Julia Roberts is in it, and I am quite good at blocking anything connected with her out.

Oh yeah – it was on cinematical. Here’s what I said, “I’m looking forward to the Assasination of Jesse James (I’ve been waiting for that one for AGES), Juno, The Darjeeling Limited, Lust Caution, Rendition, Sweeney Todd, Gone baby gone, Elizabeth, Atonement, Grace is gone, Perseopolis, Leatherheads (I’m pretending that’s John Krasinski’s real intro to movies), youth without youth, and hitman (my “summer action isn’t really over, is it?” movie). Possibly the Kingdom just to see Jason Bateman being serious. And despite the mixed reviews, I’ll probably still go see Across the Universe, in part for Eddie Izzard doing for the Benefit of Mr. Kit.” Of course – there are some that won’t be coming to NZ on the same schedule, so I am really, really looking forward to JOSHUA (FINALLY!!!!) and Shoot Em Up. Seriously – why didn’t that do better? Clive Owen, people!! Shooting things!

Moriarty reviews the Assassination. (To be fair – there’s another review on AICN that calls it good, but not great.)  The important bits; “Sam Rockwell plays Charley Ford, Jeremy Renner plays Wood Hite, Sam Shepard makes a brief appearance as Frank James, and the great Paul Schneider damn near steals the film as Dick Liddil. They’re obviously not the first guys to play these parts, and they sure as hell won’t be the last, but they manage the difficult trick of making me forget any other interpretations as I’m watching them work. I simply buy these guys as the characters, and for once, I’m not thinking about what postmodern statement is being made and I’m not thinking about THE LONG RIDERS or I SHOT JESSE JAMES or THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID or even JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER.” And “Sam Rockwell, always good, plays haunted as well as anyone could hope to” Also, the cinematical review.   

The number 1 ladies detective agency. Well – I love Anika Noni Rose, and I like Jill Scott as the lead. Obviously, I’m thrilled it’s being shot on location (Botswana). It was the most beautiful, lush country I saw in Africa, and I’m glad the shoot is bringing in money.  As for the story – well, honestly, I read the first book and wasn’t very impressed. And as for Botswana being more innocent than other African countries? The AIDS rate there is like 50-60%, if I remember correctly, and mainly because of the diamond mining the NY Times article mentions.

Winona Ryder and Mickey Rourke join the informers.

Giovanni Ribisi joins Avatar. 

My dad passed along this political blog: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/ Thank GOD the NY Times ended times select. Now I can read Maureen Dowd again. 

Shari passed this along to me (apparently the loony and greenback are currently on par with one another); “Did you know that in Jan 2001:
– Canadian dollar was worth $0.67
– The US Dollar was worth more than a Euro
– Unleaded gasoline was $1.35 a gallon
– The Federal budget was in surplus
What changed?”