Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My new Bag of Crap



A couple weeks ago I won another Woot Off B.O.C. (my previous win) and boy it lived up to its name. Again.

1. Barbie Baywatch Backpack
2. USB Guard Dog
3. Skin Watch
4. Spitball Dartboard
5. Lunch sack
6. Woot Rally Monkey

I try to tell myself I won't try to get another one with the next Woot Off, but I know that's not true.

Holiday Gift Ideas



Aint It Cool News does a yearly geek gift idea list. This year, look what made the cut (above). Pretty awesome for the nerd in all of us. Check out the complete list here.

Let the Holiday Shopping Season begin...!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Three months down



Happy Three Month Anniversary!
*and engagement anniversary

Thursday, November 3, 2011

In Time


"In the not too distant future..." is one of the biggest hit / miss gap for genre films. If played right, you get a film with rich characters and poignant parables. This movie (already flopping at the box office) comes from the mind who brought us Gattaca. Which if you haven't seen, is a great movie.

So, we have a world much like our world, but instead of working for money, we work to earn time. Science has developed to the point where people stop aging at age 25 (also a good hook to sell a screenplay to Hollywood Executives). After you hit 25 you have one year. You can spend that year or earn more time.

This parable is about how the rich (1%, wink wink) get richer and the poor stay poor. In the "ghettos" people die in the streets. But what happens when too much time get distributed to the poor?

The movie is one part Robin Hood, one part Bonnie and Clyde. And it is pretty good, if you can overlook some of the flaws in logic and come on board with the rules of the future on screen. Justin Timberlake is a good actor. With this and Bad Teacher out this year, he shows range and a glimpse at his future (...its wide open).

As usual, I'm not going to go too deep into the plot, but its definitely fun and bleak and exciting. If you can't get to the theaters, rent Gattaca for now and wait for In Time to come to you at home.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Probably not, but maybe.

Would you buy it?
No.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Young Adult
(plus Q&A w- Patton Oswalt, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman)


Young Adult is the type of tough material that will divide audiences. It is a black comedy in the truest sense. But Diablo Cody does something that really helps the situation. She wrote a character that we can relate to during the movie. That person is Patton Oswalt's character "Matt Freehauf". He spends the majority of the movie pointing out how ridiculous Charlize Theron's character "Mavis Gary" is every moment.

*original poster created for Music Box screening


The plot revolves around a ghost writer for a young adult series. She was the popular girl in school. The kind who can't wait to cast off the shackles of small town MN and head to Minneapolis (Diablo Cody loves the Twin Cities for some reason, but who doesn't). And once she got to the "Minneapple" her life became a state of arrested development. So, she head's home to look up her high school boyfriend. Hilarity ensues.

Diabo, Jason, Patton and Capone from AICN


Patton Oswalt, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman were on hand for the secret screening at the Music Box. Here are some tidbits I gathered from the Q&A:

  • Diablo wrote this while she was also being paid to write a script for "Sweet Valley High" (yep!)
  • Patton got involved during some table reads of the script before it had backing
  • Jason Reitman called J.K. Simmons and asked him to read his dialog on Jason's answering machine. That's what you hear in the movie, voicemails from J.K.
  • The CGI for Patton's crippled leg was just a couple painted dots during his scene. It looks amazing.
  • Diablo did this as a writing exercise and most of what was written on the original draft is in the final movie
  • ...except originally Charlize's character was not a YA fiction writer...


Did you enjoy it?
Yes

Would you see it in theaters again?
I might take the wife...

Would you buy it?
No

Would you rent it?
Yes

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Drive (best movie you didn't go see)


Before seeing the movie "Drive" I was baffled by the font being used (along with the escalator posters at the AMC Rivers East). Then the second the movie starts, I got it. This is a throwback to those desolate emotionless 70's action movies mixed with an 80's synth soundtrack.

And boy is it good. It is a quiet movie until it's not. And once it is not, boy is it not. Don't get me wrong, there is an almost grindhouse level of gore that might catch some off guard. The movie has gotten a lot of praise for Albert Brooks' performance as a gangster.

Ryan Gosling plays a part time movie stunt man. He also works in an auto body shop. And his boss has dreams of making him into race car driver. Of course things don't go as plan. He gets involved with a mother and son who are making ends meet as their patriarch is in jail.

Did I mention Gosling is also a getaway driver for hire? Yes, you would think with all that's going on there wouldn't be time for characters. But that is where the movie really shines. This is a nice small little character piece / heist movie / crime drama. I'm sad more people (or at least action fans) didn't see this movie. It's still in theaters and I might have to go again. Trust me, it's good.

Plus, the movie inspired the crew over at Stack of Monkeys to put together a tribute playlist. Its so good it tricked me into thinking it was just the whole soundtrack (but really it's only 3 of 18 songs). Check it out here: Tokyo Club


Did you enjoy it?
Oh yeah.

Would you see it in theaters again?
Yes.

Would you buy it?
Maybe.

Would you rent it?
Yes.

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes.