Category: Movies

I sprained something this morning, so kneeling will be difficult

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Dinner at Fieramosca again last night. Superduper as always, if way too much food and way too much Limoncello. Made it kind of tough to get out of bed this morning.

.:.

However, get out of bed we did and made it down to the Paramount Scotiabank theatre to see 300 (imdb | rotten tomatoes) in IMAX. A note on IMAX: it’s a great movie-going experience, but jeebus, do they ever need to get rid of the cheesy pre-film laser & sound show. Anyway, on to the main event: 300 was just slightly better than I expected it to be, and I expected it to be pretty good. This wasn’t classic, traditional cinema, but it was clearly a compelling story, and was skilfully, even artfully done.

Yes, it’s covered in blood and completely lacks nuance, but is it really any more mindless or formulaic than Music & Lyrics, which was playing across the hall? Or does it simply trade in male fantasy instead of female? In any case, the visuals of 300 — which are stunning — put it a step above most films solely in terms of craft. My biggest complaint: in a couple of scenes the “long moving scene as a female soloist sings something in latin” disease which infects so many epic movies flared up.

300 did $70 million at the box office, and broke the March opening weekend record, but it’ll fade quickly as all the fanboys would likely go in the first weekend.

.:.

After the film we decided to walk a bit and enjoy the weather, so we took the subway to Museum station and picked up a few things at Whole Foods. On the way out I checked Hero Burgers to see if they have veggie burgers; they do, and they’re quite tasty. Walked home from there, enjoying the sunshine & near-spring temperature, picking up a few things here and there. Caught up on some reading, watched the Selection Sunday show and am now trying to avoid reading another chapter of my %#@& textbook.

.:.

While Facebook’s been around for quite a while, it finally appears to be replacing MySpace as the preferred social networking site, just as MySpace replaced Friendster. Personally I find them all boring; unless you’re a teenager (or a musician, in the case of MySpace) I just don’t get the attraction. Then again I have a blog, so perhaps I just have a different strain of the disease. I guess I just find the friend-count popularity contest on those sites a little sad.

[tags]fieramosca, limoncello, 300, whole foods, hero burgers, facebook, myspace[/tags]

If I find a stick I'll put it in your mama's butt

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I’ve watched two episodes of The Sarah Silverman Program. I think I’m hooked.

.:.

Earlier this week we watched Me And You And Everyone We Know (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and I’m still not sure what I think about it. It was different, and certainly interesting, but it was almost over-quirky. I don’t know if I’ll remember liking the movie so much as I’ll remember it, full stop. There was a lot about it that was memorable.

It’s also weird to see former Deadwood actors in non-Deadwood roles.

.:.

Toronto city councillor Rob Ford: superdick.

“I can’t support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”

[via BlogTO]

[tags]sarah silverman, me and you and everyone we know, deadwood, rob ford[/tags]

Hopeless? Or just pathetic?

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This post on The Movie Blog earlier today might’ve had the best title ever: “Eddie Murphy To Do Fantasy Island Remake – We are Officially A Hopeless Society.”

.:.

I can’t remember who told me about Open Culture, but it’s one of the most useful, educational websites I’ve ever used. It pointed Nellie to a podcast that helps her learn French, while I used it to find podcasts from top business schools around the US. It also pointed me to this NPR debate entitled “Is America Too Damn Religious?” I haven’t listened to it yet (not having a commute makes it hard to find a 40-minute block of time to listen to something), but you know I’m going to dig it.

Anyway, whoever told me about the site, thanks.

.:.

OK, must go and watch Montreal try to scratch their way back into a playoff spot.

[tags]eddie murphy, fantasy island, open culture, montreal canadiens, nhl playoffs[/tags]

Best films of 2006, redux

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Back in December I listed my favourite movies from 2006 (to date), but said I’d eventually re-do it, as a) I still had yet to see some of the best films of 2006, and b) I really think I need a whole category for documentaries. So here we go…take 2, in alphabetical order:

Best films

  • Brick
  • Children Of Men
  • Day Night Day Night*
  • The Departed
  • Fay Grim*
  • Little Children
  • Little Miss Sunshine
  • Pan’s Labyrinth
  • United 93
  • The Wind That Shakes The Barley*

Best documentaries

  • An Inconvenient Truth
  • An Unreasonable Man*
  • Blindsight*
  • Jesus Camp
  • Kurt Cobain: About A Son*

Granted, I still haven’t seen Borat, Deliver Us From Evil, Flags of Our Fathers, Half Nelson, Marie Antoinette, Shortbus, Shut Up And Sing, The Fountain, The History Boys or The Last King of Scotland.

* seen at the TIFF or Hot Docs, so may not even be out yet

[tags]best films of 2006[/tags]

Rock-grid coordinates SH735026

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After 3+ years of waiting, we finally got to see our condo today. Not a model, not a floorplan…our actual unit. There’s still work going on in the hallways and common areas, but our suite is (99%) finished. We had our inspection today. There were a couple of hiccups, but overall we’re pretty happy with it. The view’s even better than I expected, even if it’s all grey and wintery outside. I can’t wait to see it in the summer.

The only bad part of today was the attitude of the people who did the inspection with us. The first lady tried really hard to rush us through, and dismissed some of the things Nellie raised as potential issues. Granted, they were very small things, and the lady claimed that today was only about major problems, but everything we read told us that we should get everything acknowledged now. Then, when discussing the two major things down in the office, the people talked to us like we were morons and weren’t terribly helpful. That part was kind of frustrating, but it paled alongside the fun of actually setting foot in our own place. 5 weeks from today, we’ll be the official owners.

Nellie took a few pictures from the (rather huge) balcony too. I’ve put them in my flickr profile.

.:.

There are times when you wish Onion headlines were true. This is one of those times.

Calling it the planet’s last, best hope for saving rock music, the Guardians of the Protectorate of Rock announced Monday that they would take the extraordinary step of unleashing a never-before-heard Jimmy Page riff, hidden for decades in a mythic, impenetrable vault.

…

The Guardians said recent developments in the music world, such as the unaccountable popularity of the Dixie Chicks and Sufjan Stevens, have created a “perfect storm of lameness” from which rock might never recover. While Iommi refused to say when the vault would be opened, hard rock sources believe it will take place just prior to next month’s Fall Out Boy–Honda Civic tour, which many fear will suck the remaining lifeblood from all that still rocks.

Is Jack Black writing for The Onion these days?

[tags]spire condo, onion, jimmy page[/tags]

Urinary sphincter? Check!

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This is a scary, scary story: a 9-year-old Canadian kid and his parents being held in a Texas immigration jail for almost two weeks now.

“Now, just to be clear, you were never planning to end up in the United States, is that right? You were flying to Canada, but another passenger on the plane had a heart attack, and so you guys had a forced landing in Puerto Rico, and when you had to come out of the plane, while he was taken off the plane, that’s when they took you?”

This comes on the heels of a unanimous decision by the Canadian supreme court that six terrorism suspects have been unfairly denied trials, and that the use of “security certificates” (whereby suspects can be held on secret evidence) are unconstitutional. Just as Canada takes one important step forward, they take another step back as they remain silent about this 9-year-old boy.

[via POGGE]

.:.

On a lighter note, we watched an absurd (in a good way?) film last night: Crank (imdb | rotten tomatoes). It was like one big frantic idiotic music video…which is decent entertainment for a Friday night when you’re not really feeling up for anything beyond that.

[tags]canadian boy held in texas, crank[/tags]

By the left…quick March!

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The first week and a half of March is looking pretty sweet:

  • March 2: Black Snake Moan and Zodiac hit theatres
  • March 6: the new Arcade Fire album Neon Bible drops (officially, anyway; I’ve already listened to it, but I’ll still buy it)
  • March 9: 300 comes to theatres

Of course, there are more good movies (like Sunshine) and albums (like Ted Leo‘s Living With The Living) coming later that month, and then comes the sports fiesta — March Madness, NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs — during which I become one with my TV. Besides, it’s usually starting to feel pretty spring-y by late March/early April, and spring’s my favourite time of year.

[tags]black snake moan, zodiac, arcade fire, 300, sunshine, ted leo, i love march[/tags]

Which reminds me: Le Gourmand is selling whisky-filled chocolate now…

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Guinness Marmite? My brother is going to lose his mind.

.:.

Bought three DVDs today. Well, I didn’t really buy them; I sort of won them, kinda-like. Anyway, here’s what I picked up:

  • Brick
  • The Departed
  • Heat (special edition)

Between the special edition sound level and my fancy-pants stereo, I can actually hear what the hell Jon Voight’s saying in this movie. Speaking of Heat, every time I watch it I’m amazed by how many good actors are in it: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Natalie Portman, Dennis Haysbert (President Palmer!), Amy Brenneman (Judge Amy!), Ashley Judd, Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill!), Mykelti Williamson (Bubba!), Wes Studi (Magua!), Diane Venora, Danny Trejo…plus Jeremy Piven (Ari!), William Fichtner, Hank Azaria (Moe!), Henry Rollins, Tone Loc and Xander Berkeley (Mason!) in bit parts. Amazin’.

[tags]guinness, marmite, brick, the departed, heat[/tags]

"Do you feel bad about this?"

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We just got back from watching Little Children (imdb | rotten tomatoes).  It was good. Very good. It was good enough that I think it’ll take a few days for it all to sink in. There were a lot of things under the covers that need to marinate, and I try not to decipher things while I still watching a film. This one’ll still be catching up with me two days from now, like In The Bedroom did.

[tags]little children, todd fields[/tags]