T-M-I from T-I-M

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

A friend of mine just tipped me to this hilarious bit of entertainment.  Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog stars Neil Patrick Harris as a developing evil-doer and a self-conscious single guy.  Nathan Fillion plays his nemesis, Captain Hammer.

Dr. H is trying to gain acceptance to the Evil League of Evil and is tasked with doing...evil.  The show is peppered with great lines (including at one point a newscaster signing off with "It's a good day to be homeless").

I saw NPH star in Rent in LA and he was terrific.  In this bit of fun, he's also great.  It's interesting how different it is.  The songs in the show are well done.

I'll be surprised if this doesn't turn into some variety of a Broadway show, if it hasn't already.  It's another example of the power of internet distribution.  It clearly doesn't "fit" very well on TV so they just did it on their own, bravo!

Movie Review: Dark Knight (DO NOT MISS IT!!!)

I went to see Dark Knight last night and it was phenomenal.  It's a Batman installment that stars Christian Bale as Batman and Heath Ledger as the Joker.

It had plenty of the cool special effects and breathtaking action scenes.  But the script was extraordinary.  I thought the way that the writing explored the inner workings of the human condition was awesome.  Often, I think, script serves as a filler between action in films like this and it's usually ok (like a porn movie to a certain extent).  This was definitely an exception.

As for the actors, I had difficulty divorcing Christian Bale from Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, but that's ok, it sort of added to the experience.

Regardless, I URGE you to go see Dark Knight to literally drink in Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker.  The writing definitely helped, but his acting is other worldly.  Frankly, he makes Jack Nicholson's Joker feel amateur.

I've always known that good scripts are the key to movies.  And, I've often thought that good scripts can even overcome bad acting.  But when good scripts meet great acting, it's explosive (like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty).

It's downright spooky that he's dead now but I couldn't help but think that he almost knew the end was near or perhaps he just lived his life that way, that's why he was so unbelievable.  He poured himself into the role and it tasted great.  He left my mouth WIDE OPEN during several scenes.

It's certainly not for kids but any adult should make the effort to check it out, it's a big screen experience unlike most others I've ever had.

The capacity of the human spirit

Why do I cry when I watch a movie like We Are Marshall?

For me, it's two-fold:

1. I'm deeply moved by the talents and the skills of the people who create and bring us such beauty.
2. I feel connected to the fact that human beings can do anything.

The individuals who did what they did at Marshall are human beings like all of us.  And when moved by a cause, it really feels like anything is possible.

In times of hyper adrenaline, we can do amazing things physically, things we didn't even know we had in us.  I feel like that unknown power is also available in our spirit and it doesn't even needs stress to manifest.

When I watch a movie like We Are Marshall it's just so clear that ANY of us can do great things.  I'll admit that when I watch it, there's a part of me that is hard on myself for not, in my mind, tapping into that capacity.

I guess that's part of my process.

Movie Review: The Last Mimzy

Rarely do I watch a movie or read a book or listen to a tune and then immediately blog on it.  In the case of the film The Last Mimzy I'm making an exception.  I just watched this with Zoe and it was an interesting, fun, touching, deep, spiritual action-packed family movie.

Before I go further, let me share, DO NOT MISS IT!

The movie follows the story of a brother and sister as they find a box of toys on the beach that have magical powers.  It follows these two little heroes as they save the future through purity and the power of love.  I loved the chemistry between these two children that seemed genuine and warm.

It's sort of like a cross between Willie Wonka and the Terminator (without all the violence).  Sorry that's probably a pretty trippy combo but so was this movie.

I believe that there are certain movies that have groups of actors that for some reason tell you it's going to be good.  First off, it has Timothy Hutton who was in Ordinary People, one of my all time favorite movies.  It also had Rainn Wilson (from the Office) and Michael Clarke Duncan (from the Green Mile).  They were all really good but Msrs. Hutton and Wilson were particularly outstanding.  (Oh and btw, Joely Richardson is hot!  And she happened to do a really convincing job as a mom in the movie.)

I think it's a MUST NOT MISS family movie.  I got a really lofty recommendation on this one and it lived up to the hype.

I also loved that after it I could talk to my 7 year old daughter (btw Emma, the little girl in the movie is also 7!!  Oh and she was totally adorable.) about the power of purity and love, too cool.   As much as I may lament the general bilge that comes out of the media outlets, there are diamonds like this that make it all worth while. 

I remember seeing the movie The Fountain feeling so frustrated that they tried to take on worthwhile topics (mostly spiritual) only to fail miserably with a confusing and rambling movie.  This one, kind of like Iron Giant, hits the bulls eye.

There was one and only one small issue I took with it.  There was an unnecessary company name drop in it (think "______ inside" as the ad tag line and you'll know who I'm talking about).

But in spite of that (in fact including that because if that sponsorship helped the movie get done I'm thrilled) the movie is 5 star family material.  If you have kids, nieces/nephews, friends with kids, etc. it's worth seeing, they'll dig it.  The bonus is I loved the movie as a practically mature adult.

The Last Mimzy ROCKED!!!!

Movie Review: Enchanted

This weekend I saw Enchanted with my daughter and mom (a little 3 generation theatrical sensation for you!).  It's the latest for kids movie released by Disney.  It follows the path of a princess to be from an animated story who ends up falling into a live action movie set in New York City.

It was awesome!

It's really funny because Disney does a great job of making fun of itself.  The lead actress in the movie (the princess to be) does a hilarious job playing out the typical personality of the Disney princesses (lots of songs, never-ending hope, smiles, love, etc.).  Although I won't be surprised if it's the last time we see her in the movies, she kind of has one hit wonder written all over her.  Matthew Marsden was also funny as Prince Edward.

The movie was made, in my experience, by Patrick Dempsey.  Apparently he's the new hunk from a show called Grey's Anatomy as a character people call Dr. McDreamy, but for me he is forever etched in my memory as the pizza delivery boy for Senor Pizza in Can't Buy Me Love (a WAY underrated movie from the late '80's).

He was sweet, interesting, caring and funny when necessary.  It was particularly touching for me because he's a single dad bringing up a 6 year old daughter. 

The end was a little violent but it mimicked Sleeping Beauty's end to a certain extent. 

I've seen a number of kids movies (Shrek III, Fred Clause) and a few adult movies (Departed) in the last few months and this one far outshines all of them. 

Someday I will come up with a clever rating system.  Until then if you have kids it's a must see.  If you have a girlfriend or wife, it's a point scorer.  If you're a single dude, great date movie.

And if you're really comfortable with yourself (particularly if you are a man) go see it by yourself, it's a ton of fun.

The good old days courtesy of Edward R. Murrow and Person to Person

A week or so ago I watched a set of 3 dvd's from the show Person to Person in which Edward R. Murrow interviewed a variety of public interest figures between the mid and late 1950's.  I learned about Mr. Murrow from the film Good Luck and Good Night which was terrific.

It was interesting to see him in action.  He was a fairly bland dude but apparently very well liked and very well connected.  I LOVED how the show started out with him giving a little background about the subject, showing an outside view of where they were living and then cutting to their homes/apartments for the interview. 

Granted, this was a time when the first Civil Rights Act (1957) hadn't even been filibustered yet by the dearly departed (Strom Thurmond...who begat Robert Byrd....) so while it was nice to see the interviews, I couldn't help but think about how miserable life must have been for every black person in America.

Regardless for me, it was stunning, for example to see John F. Kennedy and Jackie O. being interviewed in this little apartment in Boston in an apartment complex.  I mean it showed EXACTLY where they lived.  I guess people weren't so invasive back then.  Can you imagine the chaos if today, people knew the apartment complex that Jackie O. and JFK lived in?   Oy!

It was a little sad actually to see Robert Kennedy and his wife along with their children in their house.  With Bobby, I honestly didn't feel like he was doing it because some PR person told him he should.  I think he legitimately wanted to share his life with the American public.

Both of them, by the way, were inspirational sharing about how and why public service is so important.  They talked quite a bit about how they used to discuss it around the dinner table.  It was kind of unusual to hear JFK talk about the importance of the agricultural side of our economy, which seems to NEVER get discussed nowadays.  Oh, and of course, neither of them spoke about Civil Rights, I guess it wasn't quite pc to do so at that point.

Marlon Brando was straight trippy.  He was obviously a super cool dude (except for the racist joke he told on camera which was similar to the Rosie O'Donnell thing minus the controversy).  It was particularly spooky when his Dad came on camera.  Mr. Murrow asked him what he thought of his son.  His Dad said he wasn't particular impressed with him as an actor (despite having just won the Oscar) but was proud of him as a man.

It was touching later in the interview when Marlon Brando walked over to the fireplace where there was a picture of his mother hanging above it.  She died and he was obviously deeply emotionally affected by it.

His interviews with Norman Rockwell and Marilyn Monroe were also fascinating.

My favorite was the interview with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  First of all, Lauren Bacall had this "low look" that took my breath away.  She would lower her head and look up at the camera and it was really sexy.  Interestingly she started doing it because she was shy when she first started out.  I think this one was my favorite because they were genuine and fun on camera.  I'm sure they were mega stars back then but they felt so darn likeable, particularly when they brought their child on camera.

I absolutely loved how each of the interview subjects called Edwin Murrow "Mr. Murrow".  When is the last time ANYONE has called an interviewer Mr. or Mrs. anything?  Oh and yes, he did smoke like a chimney.

I think anything like this helps me get a better feel for how and who we are today.  It also has a camp element no question.  It's hard to describe but it's a feeling worth experiencing.

But one thing that I realize when I watch stuff like this is that when my parents or folks of any generations talk to me about the good old days, I can see where they are coming from.  Of course if I were black, I would feel REAL different about it....

Movie Review: Ratatouille

I saw Ratatouille this weekend and thought it was good, not great.  The animation (similar to Shrek III) was, in the words of Dr. Evil....breathtaking.  There were scenes in Ratatouille that showed Paris that I honestly couldn't tell whether it was actual footage of the city (which it may have been, I still don't know) or animation.

I liked the core message of the story.  I took away that you should never judge the package in which genius may come because genius may come from anywhere.  I just didn't find the story itself all that compelling.

It's sort of like the core message of Finding Nemo was about the uncertainty that a father faces when trying to raise a child and was great.  The story wrapped around that was unbelievable.

An interesting note for me was that the voices in the movie were all virtual unknowns.  It sort of reminds me of the early days of Disney when they did the same thing.  Pixar, understandably, seems to be easing on the gas of the star power of its voices.  After Cars which included Owen Wilson and Paul Newman, this film included a list of people I've never heard of, I suppose it makes more money for the studio!

It's also interesting to compare that to Shrek III which seems to be relying more and more on those big names while the story is getting less interesting.

The thing about the animation for me that was so stunning was that this movie was loaded with physical comedy and the animation made it very believable.  The rat controlled Linguini, the young "chef" as a puppeteer and frankly it looked like he was stealing scenes from Pinocchio with his body flopping around.  In addition, the scenes where the rat was running through sewers and the streets of Paris were spectacular.

I liked that the movie tried to spice in some stuff for adults (in particular, the food critic whose last name was Ego was brilliant) while still keeping the kids engaged.   My bet is if you like cooking to some degree the movie was probably awesome!

Perhaps my expectations were too high (in  fact I'm pretty sure they were).  I love that  Pixar has kept Brad Bird (who wrote and directed it) around.  His movie Iron Giant was tremendous.  He also was part of the early Simpsons years.  Hopefully the next one (which apparently is about a robot who becomes all that he wants to be) will be cool.

Then again, a good outing by Pixar (sorry I just can't quite bring myself to call them Disney) is better than most any outing by almost all the other studios so keep them coming!

If you met someone who knew nothing about America what one movie would you show them to educate them on what America means to you?

I've been thinking about the way our culture looks to a foreigner or to some random human alien who would land on our planet who is looking for direction on what this "America" is all about.  Granted there are tons of examples of the look and feel of the day but i was wondering what movies transcend that.

The first two that came to mind for me (a bit darkly....) were The Ice Storm or Ordinary People they do both deal with some of the ups of America and most certainly deal with the fact that many of us are repressed and it wells up inside of us and comes out in rather dark, volatile ways.

On the lighter side I thought of It's A Wonderful Life, Stand and Deliver and on the uplifting side a friend thought of Rocky and even Almost Famous.

The last few speak to a common theme in the US (manifested or not) that we can and do overcome. 

I'm curious to read what you think.

Why isn't there hogwarts.com?

I was cruising the internet today and was shocked that there is not a site for hogwarts.com.

It seems like an awfully easy way to further monetize an awfully successful property.  Perhaps it's just so darn successful that they just don't have time to get to it.

It may also be that the domain registrar owner has set a totally unreasonable price on it, who knows?  Regardless, it's surprising.

What's the most uplifiting documentary that you've seen?

Born into Brothels was pretty darn inspiring!

Although now that I've asked this question, I realize that documentaries, more or less, aren't very fun.  They usually are depressing and/or angering.