Andy

Cinderella = Great

Apparently this was the first movie I ever saw. It's as good now as it was then. Probably better since I can remember it and all.

The only problem is that I seem to be getting eye cramps now as I write this. Well, not the eye itself (thank goodness), but that area just under the brow ridge. Talk about messed up. There seems to be some dizziness going on as well, though it is relatively minor compared to what some folks face on that front.

That reminds me, my parents' big Alaska cruise comes up near the end of the month. It's probably time to send the annual "lend me a hand" email...

Gaaah!

I just watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the 1939 Jimmy Stewart classic. The movie is 2 hours, 9 minutes in length. Between 2:07 and 2:08, the cd skipped, which removed the ending of Stewart's famous "love thy neighbor speech" and skipped me directly to Senator Paine's admission of guilt in front of the Senate.

...

...

Aaaaaaaaa!

I'm gonna report this to the Netflix authorities, but it's going to be hard to recapture that moment.

Schindler's List

... is a movie that everyone should see at least once. If you've taken issue with my stance on moral relativism, watch this film and see if you still feel that way.

X-Men If You Please

Ok, the film is out today, and I have no responses on possible group viewings. First of all, what is wrong with you people, and second of all, what is wrong with you people?! I read in the paper that it wasn't so great, but I don't care, and neither should you! Anybody want to go tomorrow sometime?

My Neighbor Totoro

As the title suggests, I just watched My Neighbor Totoro, a film created by same company and writer as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle. Out of all the movies that I've "netflixed" over the past month and a half, this one might be the best. I've seen some good stuff, too. Just a great movie, especially if you have or like kids.

One of the things I like best about this and the other films listed is that they're created for every audience. It's all G rated (not sure about Nausicaa), and a story is there for any age that wants to watch. Family folks, get these movies for your kids. They teach good values and are entertaining at the same time.

Doctor Zhivago

Ah, Doctor Zhivago, timeless romantic classic...

Yeah right!

This movie is notable only insofar as it is the longest movie I have watched through the Netflix program. Ah, but the romance... It's romantic if you like seeing people abandon their families while still believing themselves noble, and come on, who doesn't?

I will rebound tomorrow with The Dark Crystal. I'm pretty sure I'll like that one, if my vague childhood memories can be trusted.

Doins a-Transpirin'

Let's see, since my last update, the weather has become, well... perfect. I'm still trying to walk around the circle every day, and am looking for more excuses to be outside. It's a little tough when you factor in the recouperation process. Come on down and give me an excuse!

We've had numerous unusual bird sightings recently, including scarlet tanagers, tree swallows, rose-breasted grosebeaks, and bluebirds. I also reported a pie-billed whooping sparrow, but nobody believed me. The swallows and bluebirds are actually nesting here, so we'll be seeing plenty of them barring some sort of bird disaster.

I'm trying to get back into web design as well, and am working on improving Nic Kipke's campaign website. I'm happy with the changes, but can't publish them until I hammer out an inexplicable bug in, you guessed it, Internet Explorer. I may have to settle slightly in order to account for it. I don't like settling.

In movie news, I have recently returned E.T. and Chocolat, which both receive 18 stars out of 5. I'm gearing up for Doctor Zhivago in a few minutes I think.

Watching movies in the afternoon might be ideal for me, because it's my worst time of day. That kills the rough time for me with minimal effort and allows me to use the later evening period more productively. The only problem is that it's beautiful outside, but I can't expect perfection here. At least I can use the screen door.

X-Men Action

Forget this health stuff. Who's in for seeing X-Men 3 when it comes out in a couple of weeks? The film opens on May 26th, but I'm game for whatever.

Days Off Do Me Good

As you can see, I haven't posted for a couple days. I figure the time of daily posting has come to an end, at least for a time. My health status is relatively unchanged at this point. My upset stomach is slightly less upset with each passing day. The weather shift is still getting me, but at least the past few days have been consistent. That is big.

I've watched a few movies over the past few days, and since I'm too tired to write out reviews at this point, I will give them a short-form treatment...

Let's see... Casablanca is a great movie for its time but is slightly lacking given my modern movie sensibilities. Citizen Kane - same deal. The Client is great, and Fever Pitch is mediocre. Finally, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is pretty good, but not as good as Spirited Away, which was reviewed a short time ago in more detail.

Now where's my Pulitzer?

Spirited Away

I cannot recall whether or not I have discussed the topic before, but I have never particularly liked or understood anime. I've tried a number of series and at least parts of some movies, but there is always a pervasive sort of senselessness that I can't evade. I'm sure it's just a cultural thing, but I still can't seem to crack it. At least not until Spirited Away.

This movie is a gem. It's as good as the old Disney classics, but in a very different way. Unlike many of the made for tv anime series that to my eye feature animation that I have jokingly said consists of still frames held in front of a camera at times, Spirited Away is fully animated, though of course in a different artistic style. What really drew me in was the story, which has an innocent quality to it that lets you explore what's actually going on and the main character at the same time. You essentially learn what she learns as she learns it, and it allows you to understand her predicament all the better.

So, give it a try, even if you hate anime. If I can like it, odds are you can too. If you've had your fill of exploding heads and animation fit for an R rated movie, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that not all anime contains either, and that in fact, some of it has a quiet wisdom about it that is great for kids and adults alike. In fact, I particularly recommend this movie for those of you who have kids, because it can entertain them and teach them good values at the same time. I haven't seen that combination for quite some time.

No Way

I taped Brandi's debut appearance on the NBC soap, Passions, today, and just finished watching that tape. (Watching = fast forwarding everything but her appearances.) I think she is a mermaid. I can't prove it, but it sure looks that way.

Wedding Crashers

After a Netflix drought spanning, what, almost a week I guess, I finally got to kick back and watch Wedding Crashers. I had read or heard mixed critical reviews, but a lot of my friends seemed to like the movie, and I have had good luck with other films featuring the same actor core. The movie started slowly, but I was laughing pretty hard by the end, even while I was simultaneously offended by some of the content. If you can get around the near-total lack of morality, give it a try. If you're not sure, put it back on the shelf.

Robots

The Orioles lost by 14 tonight and I was without a Netflix option, so I turned to HBO and a little animated film called Robots to while away the hours. I'm too tired to write out a full review, but I can say that this film is mediocre. I laughed some, but also found some jokes to be either tasteless or forced. The characters were cute, but without a solid plot behind them, their antics fell a bit short. See it if ya want. It's not terrible or anything. Just not great.

The Three Caballeros

I finally saw this film today, and to think that it only took 18 years to see it again. It was cute. I don't entirely know what it was about it that kept me coming back time and again as a kid, but it was a fun trip down memory lane for sure. The film has some very clever/adorable moments, including a penguin vacation short and another featuring a flying donkey. I remembered one scene from childhood, with this crazy little bird popping his head out from various sides of the screen. It's more exciting if you're 10, but I'm glad I picked this one up.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Yep, I'm blogging this in the middle of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Nope, it's not a Netflix movie, it just happens to be on. I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid, but it's great. It's what I call a "gratuitous musical", and was made seemingly just to be silly. Dick Van Dyke stars, and to my surpise, a fellow by the name of Gert Frobe (Goldfinger from James Bond) plays the villain.

My only beef is that the movie was obviously cut somewhere to meet the time and commercial limitations. The professor and his kids dropped off Ms. Scrumptious at her estate, but she was back in the car with a different outfit after a commercial break. Ok, this set of commercials is almost over. Back to the action.

I'm a Punk Teenager

As any of you who have been reading for the past few weeks know, I signed up for Netflix and have been watching movies and DVDs of shows at home since. This week I've been watching Battlestar Galactica episodes in order to catch up to the current season. (Turns out it's a pretty good show.)

Here's the funny part:

On Sunday, mom got off of the massage table in the middle of her treatment to come downstairs and ask me to turn down the sound while I was playing one of these DVDs. Apparently my computer's subwoofer was shaking the upstairs like a low-slung car pumping out rap music at 80 decibels. Yep, that's right. I'm a no good punk teenager.

To be honest, the sound wasn't even that loud. It just carries upstairs because bass does that with solid objects. Now I have to be careful to turn down my bass levels before starting DVDs in order to avoid the wrath of my parents.

I hope they don't ground me. :)

Zap x7

Today's 1:45 treatment took no time at all. I'm a little shaky right now but if every day goes as quickly as today, this time slot will be great by all accounts. I also met up very briefly with fellow Chesapeake High School grad Joe Lex, who works up at North Arundel very near where I get treated daily. All we were able to do was shake hands and say hello today, but I'm sure we'll figure out something more substantial before too long.

On another note, fellow Vocal Ensemble member Brandi Burkhardt just landed a role on the daily soap, Passions. How fun is that? I am not exactly a soap opera watcher, but I will have to check out a few of these once she appears on screen on the 21st of this month.

Sweet Find

Ha ha ha! I just searched for and found The Three Caballeros, an old Disney film that I must have checked out of the library 10 times when I was a kid. I only remember a piece of one scene, but something about this film kept me coming back for more. I added it to my Netflix queue to see what all of my fuss was about. I never expected to find this movie again.

Pride and Prejudice

Welcome to the second official installment of Mosmiller Radiation Fun-House and Movie Review™. On the not-so-big screen tonight — Pride and Prejudice, a retelling of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name.

I must admit that I felt a certain amount of self-imposed pressure going into this film on account of my written promise earlier today to review all of the movies that will be arriving via Netflix. Additionally, my experience with the 6-hour miniseries version a few years ago was not particularly thrilling. To be fair, my health was likely the culprit, as I was watching while at college only because I was too tired to do any of my school work.

With that in mind, I set down to watch, concerned a good deal of the way through the movie that I might have to bring down the axe, if not as heavily as with Star Wars, then at least forcefully enough to still decapitate. Though the acting was spot-on, I still found the plot to be, well... dry, and somewhat bogged down in language despite the necessity of that language. Much to my relief, this concern turned out to be unfounded, and the farther along the film progressed, the more I connected with it on a variety of levels.

For one, the music in the film is exceptional. Perhaps most of this is due to my bias toward the music of the period, in particular, piano music rendered in the late Classical to early Romantic style. Preliminary investigation suggests that in fact none of the score is legitimately music of hte period, and that it is written entirely by Dario Marianelli expressly for this film. Bravo, Dario. Take note — I want this soundtrack even though I own exactly zero soundtracks from conventional films outside the musical genre. It's that good.

As I suggested earlier, the acting is superb throughout, with the best performance going to Donald Sutherland in the role of Mr. Bennet. Judi Dench powerfully portrays Lady Catherine de Bourg, and in truth, all of the actors in the film acquit themselves well. As a result, the Bennet family feels very much out of touch with high society while ever striving to climb the social ladder.

Costuming and setting in the film match the era nicely, and despite my lack of knowledge on the subject of early 19th century fashion, I was able to notice that the Bennet family did not dress as sharply as their compatriots without that distinction seeming overly obvious. This is more a credit to the costumers than the lavish or avant-garde clothing found in many other films. Everything felt right. The same goes for lighting and scenery as a whole.

On account of the slow setup described at the beginning of this review, Pride and Prejudice finishes strongly and profoundly, addressing romance on a very different level than other films. This movie affirms that the expression and portrayal of love need not automatically involve physicality. In fact, the lack of physical intimacy enhances the impact of the film. I find that immensely refreshing.

Go rent this movie. I should add that I imagine that most men would prefer to be drowned in burning gasoline than see a film like this, but if you do not fall into that category, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Star Wars: Episode III

As I type, I am listening to the closing credits music from Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. I selected this as my second Netflix film to see what all the fuss was about. As far as I can tell, it's about pretty graphics.

Some good things - As I just suggested, the graphical work in this movie is incredible. Scenery, droids, ships, you name it, it is well animated and life-like. Similarly, the fight sequences are well choreographed and, with possibly a few exceptions, exciting and not too lengthy so as to become tiresome. I do take issue with the choreographers' decision to wield light sabers with muscle instead of precision at times. It just makes no sense for a weightless weapon to be handled like a Scottish claymore when it is evident that no force at all is required to shatter glass, slice off the wing of a ship, or slay an opponent. That said, this does not diminish the excitement or artistry of combat scenes all that much.

The use of black and white in the film, while not surprising given the theme, does have the intended effect later in the movie. I feel that perhaps black was used a bit too early, but again, I am nitpicking. Lighting and color are, on the whole, first rate.

Unfortunately, all this movie has going for it is the huge budget and well orchestrated fight choreography. As was the case with the last film in the series, Episode III suffers from a case of too much poorly written dialogue delivered by actors seemingly reading off of a teleprompter, perhaps displaying their lines in Spanish. Alternatively, the "writers" may have written the script during filming. One way or another, every line in this film feels contrived and freshly read off of a paper copy. The few lines that should pack a punch fall flat on account of bad timing and emotionless acting. One wonders if any direction or character motivation was given to any of the actors, some of whom have well deserved good reputations.

Had this film been designed as a pure action film, I would have little complaint. After all, acting is secondary in such a film, and dialogue exists only to set up further action sequences and suspend disbelief just enough for the viewer to forget about it when the shooting and hand-to-hand combat begins. Star Wars, however, seemingly tries to bridge an artistic gap without putting in any of the work required to make it successful. As a result, everything appears unbelievable and contrived despite an intentionally simplistic plot, which takes much of the starch out of the action sequences and good vs. evil showdowns.

If you are a big Star Wars fan, it was nice knowing you. :) Clearly I cannot recommend the film to anyone without that loyalty. I am happy to entertain rebuttals from the faithful, but you'll have to work some magic to convert me to the fold.

Movie Extras Are Fun

As I mentioned previously, I watched Serenity last night. I wound up watching a few of the outtakes and such after writing my post, and decided not to return the disc today on account of having not tried all of those options. Well, today I finished with all of the bonus content, and movie extras are fun! I watched the director's commentary a few hours ago and learned some interesting things about the film industry and creation process that I had never really considered. The only thing I forgot to do was to check online for hidden "easter eggs" as they are called. Now it's too late because I sealed the disc back up in the return package. Boo me!

Who Am I?

I finished watching The Bourne Identity about 5 minutes ago. I am discovering many eerie parallels with my own situation. For me, it was a Ravens bag instead of a red one, and I left the gun in the hospital room at Hopkins. I think someone stole my money and passports while I was still drugged up. Feel free to return those any time, whoever you are.

Seriously though, good movie. 7 thumbs up.

Netflix is Fun

... even before you get any movies. I killed an entire night just looking around and rating things. It's so lame. I was saying to myself, "Ooh, if I rate a ton of these then I'll get a more accurate list to choose from," even though I'm likely only going to be on it for a month (+2 free weeks.) Sometimes I get like that. :)

Yee-Hawr

I just watched me the root-toot-shoot'nest episode of Firefly whatever done been produced!

This episode, titled Heart of Gold (yep, it means what it sounds like), never actually aired during the series' short television life. I don't know if they could have aired this one or not to be honest. It was good, don't get me wrong, but it might not have been TV friendly. I don't know what the timeslot was for the series, though.

I am now down to my last episode, which I may watch while huddled in the corner, crying and rocking back and forth. I am officially a browncoat.

Favorite Star Trek: TNG Episodes

As some of you have read, I have recently been watching more Star Trek episodes than anyone ever should. What better time to compile and reveal, in order, my top 10 list of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes?

1. The Inner Light
   Picard lives another life on a planet destroyed by a supernova long ago.
2. Darmok
   Picard deals with an alien who speaks in metaphors.
3. Masks
   Data is taken over by personalities from an extinct civilization.
4. Unification, Part I
   Picard and Data investigate an unauthorized mission.
   Unification, Part II
   Spock plans to reunify Romulans and Vulcans.
5. Genesis
   The crew de-evolves into prehistoric beings.
6. The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
   The Enterprise has a deadly encounter with the Borg.
   The Best of Both Worlds, Part II
   Riker must use Picard/Locutus to foil the Borg.
7. Redemption, Part I
   With the Klingon Empire on the brink of civil war, Worf is torn between the Federation and his people.
   Redemption, Part II
   A civil war threatens the Klingon empire.
8. The Defector
   A Romulan defector leads the crew into a deadly face-off.
9. Disaster
   Troi acts as captain after the Enterprise is damaged.
10. Timescape
    The Enterprise is frozen in time on the brink of annihilation.

I counted 2-part episodes as a single entity as you can see. So, what are yours? I welcome you to link your favorites in a comment below. (HMTL is allowed in comments, but you can also just list a URL and it should get linked for you.)

24 x 2

I was tipped off to a two-hour session of 24 at just the right time today. While I have not loved this season, these two hours were great! I had missed the last two or three episodes in the midst of the cancer treatments and all, but with the help of a short synopsis as well as the pre-episode recap I was right back in the mix. The second hour did start with some soap opera-esque drama, but ended with a bang. I hope the rest of them are like that. If so, I'm back on the bandwagon.

Academy Awards?

It is unfortunate that my current health situation has prevented me from hosting my usual high profile Oscar party. HA HA HA HA HA!! Yeah, right. I'll admit I did watch most of the first few minutes to see if Jon Stewart was as funny as he is on the Daily Show (he kinda wasn't), but that was about it. I did watch most of Mulan though as well as a bit of Scary Movie 3. Mulan is better, for the record.

From a health perspective, today was about the same as every other day from the past week. I lasted a little longer early but paid for it late. Oh well.

So, did I win any Oscars?

Movie Truths

Take a few minutes and check out 40 Things That Only Happen In Movies - Nostalgia Central. It's good for a laugh, and you can read it in stages if you're at work or otherwise busy.

24, Season 5 Review

Continuing last year's trend, 24 has kicked off amid rave reviews with two 2-hour segments and will air weekly without the standard re-run interruptions until it concludes.

What would I consider the best feature of season 5? Is it the heart stopping pride arguments between "professionals" back at the CTU ranch, the soap opera camera freezes substituting for actual acting, or perhaps the gratuitous cleavage shots of the emotionally troubled (the camera freezes prove it) first lady?

We've already seen the action sequences played out virtually in their entirety on the national news over the past two years, minus the guy who'll sell out 30 hostages to delay the death of the kid of his love interest. Then again, he's known her for 6 months, so he's probably following CTU policies. Part of me wonders what the families of actual Iraq hostage victims think about all of it, but I will admit this consideration only popped up well after actually viewing.

24 this year is definitely my "I have nothing better to do and am too tired to consider options" show, but if it continues "on course" it may soon fall into the "oh look, they're talking about twizzlers on the Food Network, I'd better switch" show.

Bah humbug!

Ender's Game - the Movie

I just read some extremely distressing news about the film while searching for an article on Orson Scott Card's website. If I may quote a bit...

David Benioff, the writer of the screenplay for Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 epic Troy, has been signed by Warner Bros. to pen the script for the movie Ender's Game...

...Says Card, "Mr. Benioff proved with Troy that he could adapt a long work to fit the brevity of film, while preserving what is most powerful and effective in the original."

Do I really need to say anything else? The director of Troy to direct Ender's Game?

Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

The Hours

Wow, this movie was weird. The acting is excellent on all counts, but the story is so dark as to be almost nonsensical in my estimation. There exists in this film such an extreme look at life that I found it hard to relate.

Finding Neverland

I just saw this movie for the first time. It is a work of genius. The writers of this film and the original play see life on such a beautiful level, a level on which pain in no way diminishes the richness of the world, a level in which the exploration of that pain enriches the mind and frees the spirit. I appreciate this profoundly.

Cooking Show Music

Why do cooking shows always have funky music playing when they're chopping or seasoning things? Is this the secret to cooking success? Maybe I need to be dropping a beat every time I chop a bell pepper or season a steak in order to get the flavors to turn out right. If any of you have mouth-guitar skills and would care to join in this experiment, just let me know and we'll get something cooking right away.

White Christmas

... and now, not a half hour removed from family happenings at Dave and Terry's, I am sitting down to watch White Christmas, which I do every year around this time. What better way to celebrate Christmas than with gratuitous song and dance numbers?

Come to think of it, White Christmas is an incredibly educational film. Here's what I've learned over the years:

• All women go to bed wearing shiny red lipstick.
• A woman's waistline measures 3 inches in circumference on average.
• If I am undergoing some sort of personal crisis and happen to be in a stage company, I can be confident there will be sets and backup dancers on hand designed to help me sing my way through the crisis. If these sets are not immediately available they will be constructed in less than 24 hours.
• If I want to get married, all I have to do is sing my prospective fianc�e a song and give her a glass of milk. This will work even if I have only known her for a few days, and good relations from the outset are irrelevant.

Are there other choice bits of wisdom you have gleaned from this classic? Enlighten me by leaving a comment.

Harry Potter 4, the Sequel

As anticipated I saw this film again with mom last night. I thought it was a little better the second time around, and mom hated it. She hated it quite a bit too, but mostly because she doesn't like the books that don't end happily I think. Hard to get around that.

Harry Potter 4

I just got back from seeing the latest Harry Potter installment with 3 friends of mine. We were turned away from Hoyts but luckily found a compatible time at Arundel Mills, which was a rather surprising reversal of our expectations. In any case, we arrived for our 9:15 showing without any other hitches.

In the end, I found this film to be rather disappointing. The action scenes were excellent, but I feel they compromised a depth of story to facilitate longer length in those action sequences. The acting suffered in some parts as well and tended towards the melodramatic, particularly near the end. I imagine I'll be seeing this with mom fairly soon, so perhaps I will change my tune with a second viewing. Maybe I was just too tired to see this and like it today or something.

Rome Season Finale

I saw the Rome season finale tonight, and though it was pretty good, I find I'm experiencing a slight let down from last week. On the bright side, it seems clear that the show will continue beyond season one despite the fact that Caesar rises to power and is killed all within the same year. History certainly provides ample material for a continuation in the form of the first and second Triumverates and the real-world struggles between Octavian and Mark Antony, both characters in the show.

Rome

Wow, this HBO Rome series is fantastic. I grew up reading about the Roman army, drawing pictures of legionaries (detailed ones I might add), and making construction paper soldiers even. Now this series is on, and they have gone over the top to make it historically accurate in a visual and conceptual sense. The story line follows actual Roman events but is fictionalized. I'm loving it. Are any of you watching?

Saving Private Ryan

I missed seeing this movie when it originally debuted, but having just seen even the (slightly) sanitized version airing on TBS right now, I just have to thank God that I live in this country in an environment so free from strife and rich with freedom and opportunity. I think I do that already, but today I'll do it that much more.

God Bless America.

Troy

Wow is Troy a bad movie. I went into it expecting it to be bad, and it still manage to stun me. So... bad. Wow.

Go See Spanglish

I saw the movie Spanglish tonight, and it was excellent. I was skeptical at first, because Adam Sandler stars in the film, but this is not an "Adam Sandler movie" as such, for those of you familiar with his "work." I don't buy movies on tape or dvd, but this one I might. You won't regret taking the time to see this film.

Iron Chef Cuttlefish Battle

Wow, cuttlefish! That's second only to squid on the list of crazy Iron Chef themes. I'm a little disappointed that the chef's didn't have to get them out of a tank live, (they were quite dead out of water at the opening), but 2 foot long squiddish creatures are still worth the price of admission if you ask me, especially if they're covered in their own black ink. Mmmm, tasty... or something.

Boys from Brazil

Well, I finally found the opportunity to watch Boys from Brazil, a film from the 70s highly touted by my father as perhaps the best movie he has seen. I enjoyed the film for its epic-but-insidious plotline, but felt it was a tad slow to keep the mystery continuously engaging. That said, I think you should all find it and take a look, as the pace is really just indictative of the period in which is was made as opposed to flaws in the movie itself. After all, my dad gives it his highest review... Seven thumbs up!

Iron Chef Octopus Battle

I think the octopus battles are perhaps second only to the squid battles or anglerfish battles of Iron Chef fame. In the episode I'm watching now, an octopus has already escaped onto the floor, a beheaded octopus has continued to writhe for at least a good minute, and Iron Chef Kobe has savagely beaten the aforementioned cephalopod with large daikon radishes.

It's only half over folks!