Category: Movies

All the goodness I'll be missing

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve gone through the film festival book and picked out the films I want to see. Of course, I’ll only be able to get tickets to maybe 1 or 2 of them this year, but the rest will go on the list and wait for release dates.

Here they are, all 77:

  • 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days
  • amal
  • atonement
  • battle in seattle
  • before the devil knows you’re dead
  • bill
  • body of war
  • breakfast with scot
  • cassandra’s dream
  • cleaner
  • closing the ring
  • control
  • darfur now
  • death defying acts
  • disengagement
  • eastern promises
  • emotional arithmetic
  • encounters at the end of the world
  • everything to gain: a conversation with jimmy and rosalynn carter
  • frontière(s)
  • fugitive pieces
  • garage
  • honeydripper
  • i’m not there
  • in bloom
  • in the valley of elah
  • into the wild
  • it’s a free world…
  • jar city
  • joy division
  • juno
  • just buried
  • king of california
  • l’ âge des ténèbres
  • l’ ennemi intime
  • lars and the real girl
  • lust, caution
  • man from plains
  • margot at the wedding
  • married life
  • michael clayton
  • my enemy’s enemy
  • new york city serenade
  • nightwatching
  • no country for old men
  • normal
  • nothing is private
  • one hundred nails
  • operation filmmaker
  • paranoid park
  • ploy
  • rails & ties
  • redacted
  • rendition
  • reservation road
  • romulus, my father
  • run, fat boy, run
  • sleuth
  • smiley face
  • starting out in the evening
  • stuck
  • the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford
  • the babysitters
  • the brave one
  • the dictator hunter
  • the home song stories
  • the orphanage
  • the passage
  • the savages
  • the stone angel
  • the time is now: a conversation about darfur
  • the tracey fragments
  • the visitor
  • the world unseen
  • those three
  • weirdsville
  • young people fucking

My schedule limitations and the popularity of some films during the advanced draw should make my choices pretty straightforward.

[tags]tiff07[/tags]

"I wanted you to be present."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night we watched Caché (imdb | rotten tomatoes), a rather unsettling French film. It built tension slowly and steadily, but never plodded. It showed how terror can suddenly bubble up after years and years of a low, quiet simmer. It wasn’t until the end of the film that I realized the two most effective devices: excruciatingly long POV shots and a complete absence of music.

Highly recommended if you have an adult attention span.

.:.

Liiiiink linkity-link-link-link:

* note: I do not have a happy dance.

[tags]caché, alberto gonzales, google transit planner, pogge, onion[/tags]

"Thank you, bank robber!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some entertainers taking part in Buskerfest, just down the street from me. I didn’t have my camera when I walked by them earlier so I shot this when I got home.

.:.

Fatblogging check-in :

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 225.5
  • Weight this week: 224.5

I seem to be holding steady at one pound lost per week. At this point I can’t possibly get to 214 by Sep 1 (unless I go on some kind of crazy-ass weight shedding regimen to make a fight weight) but in the two weeks before I go away on course I should be around 220. The tricky part is maintaining weight while on course; we never get to use the gym anymore, and as a (near) vegetarian my meal options aren’t great so I usually end up snacking a lot more.

I really haven’t changed my eating habits too much, but I’ve noticed lately that my brain has retreated from the insanity that got me to 238 last Christmas. For example, I no longer feel the need to eat every piece of chocolate in a 10-metre radius…just some of it. Now, when I’m about to overindulge I usually hear Yoda saying “Control, control, you must learn control!” in the back of my mind. I realize that sounds geeky (and kinda dirty too) but whatever works.

.:.

Watched Inside Man (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. That was some gooooood movie-watchin’. Just Spike Lee enough to be a Spike Lee joint, but not too over-the-Spike-Lee-top. Good plot, good pacing, and the cast was like an all-star game. Highly recommended, if you haven’t already seen it.

[tags]buskerfest, fatblogging, inside man[/tags]

"God loves you just the way you are. But he loves you too much to let you stay that way."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night we watched Junebug (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which may as well have been called “The Amy Adams Show.” The story was good enough — it was a better-than-average fish-out-of-bumpkin-water plot — and the acting was good all around, but Amy Adams was a complete standout. No wonder she was nominated for best supporting actor at the 2006 Oscars, and won a slew of other awards (as you can see on the film’s awards page over at imdb). I liked the film, and think I’ll like it even more as it sits with me a few days.

.:.

Recent songs that’ve fallen into my lap:

  • Magnetic Fields . “The Dreaming Moon”
  • John Vanderslice . “White Dove”
  • Prolapse . “Tina This Is Matthew Stone”
  • Joy Wants Eternity . “Existences Rust”
  • Shout Out Louds . “Tonight I Have To Leave It”

I fell in love with “The Dreaming Moon” when I heard an American Analog Set cover of it recorded here in Toronto. God, I wish they’d record a studio version.

I’ve avoided listening to John Vanderslice for a long time for the same reason I avoid the Mountain Goats: I like being the only indie guy who doesn’t listen to them.

[tags]junebug, amy adams, american analog set, john vanderslice, shout out louds, mountain goats[/tags]

"The rest is just cattle-prod and pray."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Fatblogging news:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 226.5
  • Weight this week: 225.5

Another week, another pound. Not as fast as I should be going, but once again I barely got to the gym. The plan is to run later today, though that will likely just undo the damage I’m about to do to myself at brunch with CBGB.

.:.

Last night, after I finished doing work and Nellie finished making veggie burgers, we watched Notes On A Scandal (imdb | rotten tomatoes). Very good film, extremely well acted, and pretty much hooks you in right away. Judi Dench marries civility with ferocity, just as she marries wit with derangement.

[tags]fatblogging, notes on a scandal[/tags]

"Should I run?" "Yes!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

BlogTO used one of my flickr photos as a headline picture yesterday. Seeing that was a nice way to start off the day.

.:.

Nellie, T-Bone and I saw Superbad (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. Holy mother of god, it was funny. It was incredibly crude to the point that Jonah Hill’s character became kind of unlikable (although one of the best parts was hearing how many variations of “vagina” he could come up with) and there were too many scenes with the two cops, but those were small complaints in the face of pretty much nonstop laughter. Describing it as a cross between American Pie (minus the toilet humour) and The 40 Year Old Virgin is actually pretty accurate. If you can deal with ridiculously foul language, go see it. If you can’t, relax and then go see it.

.:.

We had dinner and a couple of pints at Smokeless Joe’s after. I love that place. I love sitting at the bar and listening to the blues and eating green pesto pasta and chatting with the friendly staff and drinking beer that I can’t get anywhere else. I’m glad it’s closer to us…now if only it weren’t smack in the middle of clubland.

.:.

I previously blogged about Walk Score, the site that tells you how pedestrian-friendly your home is. A friend recently brought it up again, and the scores coming out (our new condo, for example, scored only 80/100) led me to think they’d fixed their previous data issues (see the comments in my original post) so I gave it another whirl. Lo and behold, our condo scored a 95/100. I guess the data issues have been solved.

[tags]blogto, superbad, smokeless joe’s, walkscore[/tags]

I just not that into your mov…Oh hello, cast list.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

My birthday present has finally been installed: outdoor speakers. We can now listen to music on the balcony, or even watch TV with full sound. They sound really good, maybe even a little better than I expected them to sound out there. Thanks baby!

.:.

I have no interest in Kanye West’s music, but like my friend Joe, I may just buy his new CD when it’s released next month. In fact, I might buy multiple copies. Why? ‘Cause Curtis has been runnin’ his mouth, that’s why.

.:.

There’s a movie being adapted from the book He’s Just Not That Into You (amazon). Men have not heard of this book, but many women have, especially those (based on what I’ve heard about it) those who lack in self-esteem and/or functional synapses. I could imagine no situation in which I would watch this film…until I saw the lineup. Now I’m almost considering it: Jennifer Connelly (who would be on my all-time top five laminated list, if I had one), Drew Barrymore (umm…backup list?), Ginnifer Goodwin and now Jennifer Aniston. Madre de dios. If Scarlett Johansson or Parminder Nagra join the cast I may quit my job and just hang around outside the film set.

[UPDATE: guess I’d better write out my resignation]

.:.

Spacing asked a very good question yesterday: why hasn’t Toronto mayor David Miller imposed — or even seriously considered — road tolls? With the city in such dire financial straits, wouldn’t a few hundred million dollars come in handy? And that’s forgetting the environmental benefits, the reduced traffic, the fewer (in theory) pedestrian/cyclist deaths, etc.

Even The Economist is asking the question. Spacing goes into Miller’s explanations for rejecting the idea, but none of them pass the sniff test, especially coming from a Harvard graduate in economics. In my opinion he’s either getting pressure not to do it, or is afraid of the pressure which would inevitably come.

[tags]sonance, outdoor speakers, kanye west, fifty cent, he’s just not that into you, jennifer connelly, drew barrymore, ginnifer goodwin, jennifer aniston, spacing magazine, david miller, economist magazine, congestion charge[/tags]

Hello constriction my old friend, I've come to wheeze at you again

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Well, hello there, chest pain. Long time no see. I don’t think I’ve seen you ’round these parts since, oh, since the last time things were this fucked. Let’s see if you brought your friend shingles with you as well.

Just kidding. If I thought I were having stress-related chest pain I’d probably be in a hospital waiting room, not in front of my computer. But I have felt this…I don’t know, tightness in my lungs before. It’s usually after I run on a really muggy, polluted day. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me, given the air quality around here. Note to self: after running on a day like that, give self day to recover before running again.

Things really are fucked right now though. The temptation to just say “shag it” and submit a half-assed assignment is nearly unbearable. The idea of watching Superbad on opening night is the only thing getting me through the week.

[tags]superbored, superbad[/tags]

"It looks like a chicken wing or a cheese fry."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Fatblogging update:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 227
  • Weight this week: 226.5

Little better. Again, not as much exercise as I would have liked. 8-8 days and a looming assignment were the roadblocks this time. I ran yesterday, and hope to run again this afternoon…hopefully I can string a few more together this week.

.:.

We watched two movies this weekend (one last night, one this morning).

The Road To Guantanamo (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was about the Tipton Three, British friends who were in Pakistan & Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and were taken prisoner on suspicion of being Taliban and/or Al Qaeda. They were held at Guantanamo Bay for over two years before being released…never charged, never apologized to.

Had this been a Hollywood film…well, it would’ve never been made. But had it, the drama would have been so overwrought and embellished that the story would have lost all impact. Director Michael Winterbottom instead just told the story from the point of view of the three men, even interspersing the recreation of events with interviews. The story itself is shocking enough; it needed no help in being horrifying.

There are still hundreds of men held at Guantanamo Bay, few of whom have been charged, and only one of whom — an Australian — has been convicted. For more info visit Human Rights Watch.

The second movie was much lighter: Kicking And Screaming (imdb | rotten tomatoes), much like Slacker, was something that would’ve been more interesting if I had watched it in when it was released (1995, in this case) and majored in philosophy. As it was, apart from a few funny bits, I found it pretty boring.

[tags]fatblogging, the road to guantanamo, tipton three, kicking and screaming, slacker[/tags]

pH = 7

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

A thoroughly uneventful day. Not particularly busy at work, home at a decent hour, nothing startling in the news (unless you’re a Democrat), exceedingly gray weather…pretty vanilla day, all in all. I went for a run this morning…the wrist felt fine, and I could have done more than 1.5 miles but I want to ease back into it. I’ll go again tomorrow and aim for 2. Got some info about our mortgage closing (which is a week from today), got the latest episode of Entourage, picked up my outdoor speakers and had some late (and unexpected) birthday cake. That’s about as harmless as a day can be, I guess.

.:.

I’ve picked up the pace with Zip lately. If we do decide to cancel our account I want to watch the best movies possible first. I’ve been using up my bonus points to get certain movies sent to me. Right now that The Road To Guantanamo, Notes On A Scandal and Junebug. They’ve also sent Kicking And Screaming. Next up: probably Full Nelson and Inside Man.

.:.

Geek note: if you read my blog the old-fashioned way (on a web browser) the links in the sidebar (consumption & MP3s) should be fixed now.

[tags]democrats, wiretaps, entourage, zip.ca, road to guantanamo, notes on a scandal, junebug, full nelson, inside man[/tags]