Italy Trip Report - Week 1

Over at my family blog I've been posting about my recent vacation to Italy, day-by-day.  Pictures from the whole trip are up at Picasa (you can view the album here)

Here are the links to each day of the trip report:
Day 1 (Florence)
Day 2 (Florence)
Day 3 (Florence)
Day 4 (Siena)
Day 5 (Pisa and Vernazza)
Day 6 (Vernazza)

I'll finish this up over the next week or so at the other blog and then I hope to get back to writing on some movies over here (I've seen plenty in the last month that I haven't said much of anything about), go over my thinking on my best movies of the 90's list (still have a lot I want to watch before finalizing the list!), and talk some Blazers once I get to my first live game of the year (should be sometime in the next two weeks).

Welcome To Spring Break aka Nightmare Beach aka GO GATORS!!!

This entry is part of the Italian Horror Blog-a-Thon hosted by my brother Kevin at Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies.

Since it seems that most contributions for Kevin's Italian horror blogathon have been for the more exemplary films of the genre, I decided to I'd go a different route with my pick and choose the worst example of Italian giallo that I could find. This was just as much due to the lack of time I've had to write this than it is for anything else, since writing about poor movies is simply easier and quicker than writing about good ones. But I digress. Thus, after watching the opening game of the Portland Trailblazers season last night with Kevin, we popped in Welcome To Spring Break.

Welcome To Spring Break was chosen by taking the latest example of 1980's giallo from this list and also for its name, which clues you in immediately to the poor quality of what is to come. Really, that's an extremely unimaginative name for a giallo film (the other name it goes by, Nightmare Beach, isn't any better) and also clues you in to , especially when you consider Luckily for me, it also ended up being an Umberto Lenzi film. Lenzi, the man behind the fantastically terrible Nightmare City and the infamous Cannibal Ferox, is in my viewings not much more than a third-rate director who specialized in exploitive, violent, and often very bad knockoffs of whatever the rest of the Italian industry were making at the time (sword-and-sandal epics, gialli, gritty Eurocrime police movies, war films, cannibal and zombie films, Conan-esque movies, and finally slasher films). I am told that his Poliziotteschi films with Maurizio Merli, like Violent Naples, are quite good for exploitation films, but I've not had a chance to sample them yet.

First, it may be a bit of a stretch to call this film Italian to begin with. It was filmed and set around Fort Lauderdale, all of the principle actors look to be native English speakers, and there's no dubbing of any of the voices. Yet, it's helmed by Italian schlock-auteur Lenzi (under the pseudonym, Harry Kirkpatrick) and produced under the Italian sounding Elpico Cinematografica, plus IMDB says the country of origin is Italy, so all of that is enough for me to consider it a valid choice for this project.

We start the film with the electric chair execution of convicted murderer Eduardo Diablo Santor, who goes to his death claiming that he's been framed for this and that he'll "come back to get even." At this point I was expecting a reprise of Wes Craven's Shocker, but alas, we are not so lucky. During this scene we are also introduced to a few of our principle characters, including several great character actors, who chew the scenery quite well throughout the film.

Lance LeGault (Col. Decker from the A-Team) plays Reverend Bates, the moral conscious of the town who has a lewd (his words) daughter, Michael Parks of Kill Bill and From Dusk Til Dawn fame plays the alcoholic, guilt-ridden Doc Willet, and our dull heroine, Gail (not pictured here), who's sister was the supposed victim of Diablo. But best and most important of all, we are introduced to Strycher (I love that spelling), a dirty cop played by a toothpick-chewing John Saxon. For those not familiar (and really, who isn't), John Saxon is THE go-to man if you want a bad guy played by an American actor in your Italian horror movie (just above Henry Silva), so seeing him show up here made me quite happy. I was disappointed that he wasn't credited in the opening credits with a

and
John Saxon
as Strycher

but you can't have it all.

This horrific and grueling execution (which is later described "like Julia Childs, roasting a turkey") leads us effortlessly into the credits and a super upbeat pop song by Kirsten along with beach footage that looks to be straight from Meatballs 3. Seriously, it's a fantastic transition

(Ugh, no embedding allowed on this, so click the link to see it):

Welcome To Spring Break -- Opening Credits

It's here that I see "music by Claudio Simonetti" (he of Goblin fame) and have hopes for at least one decent thing in the movie. Sadly, I'll tell you now that I never even noticed anything close to a Goblin sound in the whole movie, as it appears that it's Claudio in his pop-metal mode, with a fairly basic guitar and drum beat used for a minute here and there whenever our killer is killing or there's a chase (if you've seen Argento's Phenomena or Opera, you've heard this exact sound). Beyond that, the soundtrack as a whole is mostly comprised of crappy pop/buttrock songs.

From here, we get a lot of exposition -- the reverend's daughter is a slutty party girl, Strycher has been trying to take down Diablo's gang for a long time, the mayor doesn't want any bad press for the city, since it's spring break and all. Blah blah blah. No one cares about any of this, so I'll skip it.

We then get to meet our bland lead, Skip, and his stupid, "please let him be the first to die" friend, Ronnie. Seriously, Skip and Ronnie. Anyways, they've taken the ultimate chick magnet, their mom's LeBaron convertible, to go live it up for Spring Break - woooooooo. This transition below sums up all you need to know about these two:

There's also plenty of other incidental characters (read: meat)

a pervert hotel owner, a prostitute who targets rich men, a small-time thief (who I now realize we don't see die...cut-scene perhaps?), a practical joker who pretends to be dead or stab himself (just GUESS where that storyline ends), and plenty of members of the aforementioned biker gang. We also get the all-time greatest character in movie history, the man I like to call "GO GATORS!!!" Check him out in his only two moments of the movie:

So, we find out that Diablo's body has been stolen. Or, could it be that he has actually come back from beyond the grave, as he promised. The truth will shock you. We also find out that Skip and Ronnie are football teammates and that Skip is sad, because he apparently lost the "big game at the Orange Bowl" by throwing 5 interceptions and that he's also a shoe-in to be a first round draft choice. He doesn't really want to be at spring break, but Ronnie, the self-proclaimed head of "Beaver Scouting Patrol" thinks that one week of non-stop partying should be enough for him to get over losing the big game and uses some odd Easter basket/sex analogy, a slur, and annoying sounds and laughs to get his point across.

(Can't be embedded...stupid copyright claims -- click the link to see it)

Skip and Ronnie talk about spring break

I'd like to point out here that believing that Skip (or Skipper, as Ronnie calls him) was any kind of college quarterback strains all credulity for me. Moving on. It's here that we finally see our killer and the high concept killing machine he uses, an electric chair strapped to the back of a motorcycle. Well, that is except for when he DOESN'T use that, as he actually kills more people without it than with it. You'd think that as a master killer that obviously put a lot of work and money into the engineering of such a device, that you would make it your calling card and use it as many times as you could. Perhaps, though, he didn't want to attract lots of attention to himself with it, so he switches it up from time-to-time.

From here on out, stuff happens -- Skip and Gail develop a relationship, although they show as little on-screen chemistry as any two actors I've ever seen, Ronnie sadly dies in a mesh shirt, kicking off the Scooby Doo portion of the movie where Skip and Gail try to figure out whodunnit, red herrings are introduced, wet t-shirt contests are had, more murders take place, the mayor tries to cover it all up (since it's bad for business), there's a driving montage complete with music from Magnum P.I., there's plenty more John Saxon, and the slowest bike chase in history commences

(Click to view -- I can't embed this one either)

Slow Chase Scene

Eventually, Skip finds the body of Ronnie (it was hidden in a police cover-up!), which leads to this emotional scene, which I'd place on par with Ben Affleck's from Armageddon. And to think, he's now let Ronnie down twice, first by throwing those 5 INTs and now by letting him get murdered. It's been a rough few months for the Skipper

(Click to view -- can't embed)

Skip shows emotion!

Now, however bad the acting seems there, it's nothing with what we get a few minutes later by "girl on beach." Something tells me that acting talent wasn't the number one quality that was looked for when casting these female roles...

Sadly, she dies for some reason in the next scene. In her honor...

If you think Lenzi hasn't done anything of use so far in the movie, then I direct you to the following scene, where he obviously delves into the repressed sexuality of our the ol' Skipper. I can think of no other reason for why this scene is edited the way it is (I included the last few frames from the previous scene to show that there is only one way to contextually view this).

(Can't embed this one -- click to view it)

Skip's coming out?

Whatever Lenzi was going for there, it's never expanded on. I'm almost willing to say that it was totally random, but it's just too obvious to be so.

From here, our heroes Skip and Gail continue solving the mystery, make enemies with Strycher (who we are supposed to assume is the killer), some more killings happen, zzzzzzzzz, all of which sets into place the final chase scene and the denouement of the identity of our killer. That's all well and good, but the real gem of the last 30 minutes is the padding provided by an awesome concert that all cool spring breakers would surely be at, involving this band, ZETA! They include a spandex laden, big-haired lead singer, a Kenny G looking guitar player, Barry Gibb on keyboards, and a Zubaz wearing, mulleted saxophone player.

There isn't much to this picture that screams "Umberto Lenzi." Say what you will about him, but his most interesting stuff at least lent itself to exploitation qualities that made it stand out. I'm sure this is partially due to the low-budget this assuredly had, but there isn't even an iota of creativity on display from the man who took the cannibal film as far as it could go. No, this is the work of an uninspired, generic director, which despite some above average moments in his career, is all I believe Lenzi to be. On the other hand, the movie is never explicitly boring, as you are usually able to laugh at whatever is going on, making it a fun bad-movie experience. Plus, all things being equal, it's a lot better looking than a lot of slasher films from this era (1988) were, as the cheap DTV era was just beginning.

Another question I had while watching this was "is the film really a giallo," as it is classified. Frankly, it seems funny to even care, when you consider how bad the movie is, but humor me. There isn't much beyond the whodunnit procedural aspect, the red herrings, and the look of the killer (clad in an all-black motorcycle outfit with helmet) to really make the film feel like a giallo. There's no psychosexual undertones, little blood, and no lurid murders. The "electric chair motorcycle gimmick" behind the murders is definitely more in line with an American slasher than it is with Italian giallo, as is the location of the proceedings.

To finish, I leave you with some more stills of this fine film

Back from Italy -- blogging to commence soon

Just got back a few hours ago from from the airport, a day late (read here to know THAT story), but we're back in Oregon, where we belong. I did manage to watch quite a few movies on the trip, albeit on the 2.5" LCD screen of my Ipod (which, sadly, I managed to lose somehow in all the confusion of the last 48-hours...but that's a story for another day).

I'm feeling refreshed and ready to start writing things again, beginning with a trip report of the Italy vacation (fortunately, Tricia journals incredibly well on these trips, making my job quite easy on that account). If time permits this week, I'll look to delve into the movies I watched and hopefully get a chance to contribute to Kevin's blogathon.

First things first, though, as I badly want to update myself on all that has happened while I was gone (especially with my sports teams, as Italians have about zero coverage of most American sports). I see I have about 3000+ unread posts in my RSS reader, so I better go start working my way through those!

Vacation Time -- Italy

Off to Italy tomorrow, for two weeks of fun and relaxation (I wrote a bit about it at my family blog).

1. Before I left, I wanted to be able to write some stuff on the movies I've watched over the last few weeks (and months, in some cases), but between work, marathon, adoption, trip planning, building a fence, and day-to-day living, there just hasn't been time. Plus, everytime I've sat down to write about a movie, I either ended up reading reviews and commentary of it or I simply started watching the next movie in my viewing queue.
   
   Anyhow, someday I'll get my thoughts on here about Crimes and Misdemeanors, Hannah and Her Sisters, Stardust Memories, I Walked With A Zombie, The Trouble With Harry, The Ascent, Trouble in Paradise, Sullivan's Travels, All About Eve, Only Angels Have Wings, Barry Lyndon, Picnic At Hanging Rock, and Man of the West. For grading purposes, those are all easily A- to A+ level and there wasn't a one of them I didn't enjoy.
   
   
2. Hmm, now that I think of it, I'll likely have even more to write about on movies when I get back, since I've loaded up my Ipod with several more movies that I've been wanting to watch. I've never watched via Ipod before, so it should be interesting to see how that works out. I've got many, many movies on there, including a few that go with the set of BFI books I received from Sam Juliano (thanks again, Sam). I'm bringing those books, and looking forward to rewatching The Thing, Wild Strawberries, The Birds, Citizen Kane, and Blue Velvet, and then reading the commentaries. I've also put Room With A View on there, both because it takes place in Italy, and because I had to make sure there was a movie on there that Tricia would want to watch as well :)
   
   Of course, I also have plenty more media in the way of my music, plus I've brought along Kazui Ishiguro's A Pale View of the Hills, and the ever useful crossword magazine.
   
   
3. Finally, I feel bad for not promoting Kevin's Italian Horror Blogathon more excitedly. Sorry, brother! I'll try to make it all up when I get back (and since I'll be in Italy, perhaps it will inspire me). I'm sure everyone already knows, but this blogathon is going to be great, allowing some not-too-often written about films to be discussed by a group of discerning bloggers, whose styles and tastes are all distinct. I'm looking forward to it.
   

That's all for now...see everyone in two weeks!

Marathon Results

I've posting my marathon results and feelings on how I did over at my "family" blog, so head over there if you wish to read about it:

http://olsonfamilymatters.blogspot.com/2009/10/2009-portland-marathon-results-best.html

We'll see if there's time to write anything here this week or not...

Playlist for the Portland Marathon - 2009 Edition

I've spent the week discussing my running of the Portland Marathon, which takes place this Sunday, over on my other blog. I thought I'd go ahead and post my playlist for the event here, since it's related to music and I haven't posted anything here for several days.

I've made playlists for the two races I've run prior to this, which I also wrote about and posted songs for. If you need some inspiration for your own playlists then go check them out as well:
Cascade Half Marathon Playlist
2008 Portland Marathon Playlist

If you read those, you can see I do actually put a lot of thought into what is playing while I'm running. For me, the key when creating these playlists is to remember that running a marathon is quite different from most workout activities in that you don't ever want to be going TOO fast. Thus I try to keep the music appropriately mellow until just the right moment. The other thing I look for is finding music that I can sing along to easily in my head (or out loud) since the music is a great way to take your mind off how sore your body is.

I've also attempted to not reuse the same song twice on any of these playlists. The last two playlists used up 92 songs off of my running playlist (which does stand at 625 songs, so no problem of running out of choices). For me, favorite running songs ebb and flow as I get tired of listening to some and rediscover others. Creating a new playlist does help me to find new song combos that spur me on to victory. And it's just more fun to create a playlist from scratch, instead of recycling.

The playlist totals up at just over 4 hours and I intend on running somewhere between 3:40 and 4:00 for the entire race, so the number and length of songs is based around those goals.

You can go ahead and hear the song by clicking on the little "play" button to the left of it (if it doesn't work, it's likely due to the fact that I have a limited amount of bandwidth available from the site that is hosting the music files).

Pre-Race:
I always like to have some songs to calm me down before the start, since I tend to be very amped up as I prepare to begin the race. Plus, I may get frustrated trying to get a satellite lock on my GPS beforehand (due to the tall buildings surrounding the start area) and a little ELO always calms me down. This is pretty much a sampling of 70's/80's soft rock hits that I enjoy singing along with (all are favorite karaoke choices). Yeah, it's cheesy, I know, I know.

0.1 Don Henley - The Heart of the Matter
0.2 Peter Gabriel - Here Comes the Flood
0.3 Warren Zevon - Desperados Under The Eaves
0.4 Supertramp - Bloody Well Right
0.5 Electric Light Orchestra - Strange Magic
0.6 Howard Jones - No One Is To Blame
0.7 Todd Rundgren - Can We Still Be Friends
0.8 Seals & Croft - Get Closer
0.9 Player - Baby Come Back
0.10 England Dan And John Ford Cole - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight
0.11 Ambrosia - How Much I Feel
0.12 Fleetwood Mac - Landslide

First 10 miles:
I split the race up into three stages, first 10 miles, second 10 miles, last 6.2 miles. The main idea during the first ten miles is to not go too fast, because it's at that point when it feels so easy. Thus for the first part I stay with songs that are slow and wistful, keeping my mind calm and allowing me to stay on pace. I employed this tactic last year and it worked, but it will be interesting to see how it goes this year, as my pace goal is quite a bit faster. Hopefully my legs go the correct speed, even as my mind slows down.

On a different occasion, these first 35 minutes of songs might put me to sleep. In this case I hope that is just enough to counteract the adrenaline rush from starting the race.

1. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes
2. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
3. Bob Dylan and The Band - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
4. Sufjan Stevens - They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!!
5. Flight of the Conchords - I'm Not Crying
6. The Grand Archives - Sleepdriving
7. Jets to Brazil - Psalm
8. Super Furry Animals - Cityscape Skybaby

I then shift into a relatively more uptempo mix of songs, ending with the building crescendo of the Explosions in the Sky song. You'll notice that throughout the list I love songs that start slow and build to an loud or dramatic finish.

9. Hot Chip - Wrestlers
10. matt pond PA - Summer Is Coming
11. Elvis Costello - Party Girl
12. The Elected - Not Going Home
13. Mates of State - Blue and Gold Print
14. Explosions in the Sky - A Song for Our Fathers

I liked the idea of Hall & Oates sandwiched in between an Eagles/Beatles plus Modest Mouse/Rilo Kiley combo. This set finishes up the first 10 miles, with "A Better Son/Daughter" which dovetails perfectly into the start of the second 10 mile portion of the race.

15. The Eagles - Victim Of Love
16. The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
17. Hall & Oates - Rich Girl
18. Modest Mouse - Missed The Boat
19. Rilo Kiley - A Better Son/Daughter

Second 10 miles:
Here is where things get more difficult, as the uphill climbs are in here, including the very difficult run up to the St. John's Bridge. It's also at about the 16-20 mile point where you hit the crossing point of exerting the most energy and having the end of the race still feeling so far away.

Starting the build-up are two songs, both of which have a gradual developing quality to them. The Death Cab song, builds to a crashing chorus of guitars in the last 2 1/2 minutes, while Arcade Fire culminates in a harmonious mish-mash of instrumentation.

20. Death Cab for Cutie - Bixby Canyon Bridge
21. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood

A recent favorite listen for me has been the electronic duo, Ratatat. Besides, all playlists need more synthesizer, so they get the call here.

22. Ratatat - Falcon Jab
23. Ratatat - Seventeen Years

Random assortment of songs goes here...no specific rhyme or reason for this grouping, just an assortment of songs I like, slotted in order of rising tempo.

24. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Life Is Long
25. Bob Dylan and The Band - The Weight
26. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
27. Mew - The Zookeeper's Boy
28. Aereogramme - Conscious Life for Coma Boy
29. Rogue Wave - Every Moment
30. Drive-By Truckers - Where The Devil Don't Stay

Here seemed like a good spot to break things up with a trifecta of 80's songs...how could you NOT be inspired after hearing Corey Hart, John Parr, and the Speedwagon!

31. Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night
32. John Parr - St Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)
33. REO Speedwagon - Time For Me To Fly

Around this point I'll be heading towards the climbing stage of the race, so I've put in songs specifically designed to get me through that...not that I can exactly tell you what quality it is that makes these songs capable of doing that, but they do all have a similar sounding style to them.

34. The Dismemberment Plan - What Do You Want Me to Say
35. We Are Scientists - Ghouls
36. Mates of State - Get Better
37. Say Anything - Belt
38. Coldplay - Violet Hill
39. Spoon - The Way We Get By
40. A.C. Newman - There Are Maybe Ten Or Twelve

Last 6.2 miles:
It's a flat-out sprint to the finish line from here on out. I start it out with two of my favorite songs of the last year, followed by a stupid, fun parody of bad novelty songs, and finishing up with two of my all-time favorites. I also tried to find a way to fit Pink Floyd's "Dogs" in right here, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make a 17 minute song fit. Which makes me want to have next year's list have all 10+ minute songs and see how it turns out.

41. Conor Oberst - Slowly (oh so slowly)
42. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
43. Flight of the Conchords - Doggie Dance
44. Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
45. Bruce Springsteen - Backstreets

The next stretch begins with the melodic Snowglobe song, includes my favorite track off of Cursive's most recent release (shocking -- it's another song that builds to a bombastic conclusion), and finishes with a great Who song that perfectly incorporates synthesizer and piano with Roger Daltrey's signature voice to create an awesome song.

46. Snowglobe - Rainbow
47. Band of Horses - Islands On the Coast
48. Wolf Parade - Language City
49. Cursive - What Have I Done
50. The Who - Love Reign O' Er Me

70's Stadium Rock! I feel that Foreigner, Styx, and Journey pretty much typify this moment in rock history. In fact, they seem to be pretty much interchangeable...just look at the pictures of the bands for proof:



51. Foreigner - Jukebox Hero
52. Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
53. Styx - Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)

Then I'll end the race with three more of my favorites that have been staples of my training runs, coasting through the finish line to the adulation of thousands.

54. The Wrens - Everyone Chooses Sides
55. Drive-By Truckers - Let There Be Rock
56. Wolf Parade - This Heart's on Fire

And there you have it, another year, another playlist. Back on Sunday night or Monday morning with an update on how I did...

Capsule Movie Reviews: Miller's Crossing, Madame de..., Nick and Nora, In A Lonely Place, In The Company of Men, Your Friends & Neighbors

Working in reverse order from when I watched...

Miller's Crossing



I hadn't watched this in over 15 years, but caught it last week and am glad I did. I had forgotten just how incredible this film is, right near the top for me in regards to the Coen's movies (perhaps as high as 2nd or 3rd...I'd have to think about that). The Coen's always seem to perfectly utilize their casts, and here it's no different -- Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, and John Turturro are all as good as ever, while character actors like Jon Polito and J.E. Freeman equally get a chance to shine. I was swept away by the beautiful cinematography, perfectly capturing the mood and look of a Prohibition Era "Kansas City" (a purely speculative choice, since the actual city is never mentioned), yet at the same time feeling otherworldly -- like a dream (perhaps the reason they DON'T mention the city is to remove the viewer from reality). The script is handled deftly, with a good amount of twists and turns and noir-themed touches, as befitting a Hammett homage.

The sequence where Finney's old-time gangster is under attack in his house from rival thugs perfectly illustrates how capable the Coen's are at exquisitely capturing violent, action oriented scenes, making them both viscerally thrilling and appropriately disturbing. To the tune of "Danny Boy," Finney works his way through his burning house, with reckless abandon and swagger, taking out a number of his would-be assassins, before finally capturing a tommy gun and causing the getaway car to crash and explode, all while being shot at constantly whilst in his robe and slippers. It's a scene you could see Jimmy Cagney pulling off in an earlier time. Then, in what may be the movie's most famous scene, where Byrne is charge with killing Turturro's con-man in the middle of the woods, the Coens' show they are equally capable at portraying tension via dialogue driven, emotional scenes. As Turturro pleads his case with Byrne, we see the gears turning in Byrne's head, calculating how he can use this to his advantage (as he cleverly does throughout the film). It's a captivating moment.

A film I'd like to revisit at a later date, as it deserves much more time to it than what I've written here.

Grade: A+

The Earrings of Madame de...



Two things stood out for me in Max Ophul's Madame de... First, Ophuls camera, as it flows, twirls, and flits amongst the settings, is a sight to behold. Never showy (modern day filmmakers could learn something here), it emulates the same airy, graceful movements that accompany the pivotal dance between the titular character and the object of her adulterous affection, Baron Donati. Ophuls, in that scene, also is able to use the combination of continuous movement, some subtle dialogue, and the body language and blocking of his actors to display the passing of time and how the infatuation between the two slowly grows. I'll assume that scene is something that is taught in many film classes, because it's definitely a master class of filming.

Ophuls also puts to use a pair of earrings throughout. Each time they pass from person to person they have a wholly different meaning -- at first to pay off a debt, later to appease a mistress, later still, as a true act of love, and finally as an offering for a prayer. It's a simple idea that Ophuls is able to pull off unironically and without oversentiment, with the action revolving around the giving and receiving of the earrings seamlessly flowing from a narrative standpoint as well.

Grade: A

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist



I found this to be an enjoyable film about young love and growing-up, without the typical annoyances that come from teen movies and romantic comedies. Michael Cera and Kat Dennings stand out with authentic portrayals of their characters, moving them beyond the stock stereotypes that it would have been so easy for them to fall back on. Cera (and the writers/director) should be given credit for moving just enough out of his typical character notes to put in a better than expected performance. Let's hope he can keep from being TOO typecast as he gets older.

Grade: B

In A Lonely Place



Nicholas Ray skillfully combines the film-noir thriller with a melodramatic romance, aggregating the two into a truly unique picture. Ray's Hollywood is the seedy, desperate place that later films would expand on (no doubt that LA Confidential was inspired by the style of this film), a place that isn't glitz and glamor, but full of screw-ups, outcasts, and the tragically flawed. Humphery Bogart plays screenwriter Dixon Steele -- it's a fascinating portrayal of a broken, insular man by Bogart and helps to cement this as a great film. Steele is accused of murder and via that process, is introduced to love interest Laurel (played by Ray's ex-wife, Gloria Grahame -- and if you want an interesting tale, go read about their marriage/divorce). Laurel becomes the muse that he needs to try to turn his life around and focus on his writing - obviously the first good thing that's happened in his life for quite a time.

As the movie unfolds, Steele's real personality is let out through his interactions with others, including Laurel -- his short-temper and violent tendencies, his flippant disregard for others, his knowledge of how a person would commit a murder (he does write potboiler screenplays, after all) -- all these lend us to possibly believe that he may be the murderer. We don't REALLY believe that though, after all, this is Bogie -- he couldn't have murdered the woman, could he?

Yet, despite his innocence being proven true, Ray has a twist in store for us, and it's a brilliant one. Where I was expecting an ending similar to Hitchcock's Suspicion, where all is solved in the final act and our "hero" is absolved of all his faults, here we see that although Steele is innocent of the initial murder, he surely has a murderous, violent rage inside of him that all but ruins his chance at a relationship with Laurel, and likely, any happiness at all. This is perfect film noir.

Grade: A+

In The Company of Men and Your Friends & Neighbors



I watched these in preparation for reviewing director Neil Labute's Wicker Man.

In The Company of Men is the story of Chad and Norman, two business execs who decide to prove their dissatisfaction with women by purposefully pursuing and then dumping the same woman, Christine. Aaron Eckhart plays Chad with perfect sliminess. It is hinted that there is a gradual redemption for Chad, that he is slowly falling in love with Christine, but Labute is sure to counter every nice thing Chad says with an equally toxic comment, thus making Chad out to be a complete sociopath.

In further examination of the film (thanks to Joel Bocko for stoking the fires on this), it looks like the crux of the film may actually be Chad attempting to destroy Norman's career (Norman begins the film in a superior position to Chad). It does seem as if Chad is stringing him along throughout, just waiting to yank the rug out from under him. With this in mind, the ending, with a somewhat weak "twist" reinforces that Chad is “victorious,” destroying everything in his path to get to what he really wants.

Labute is often said to be a misogynist and this film can back that up. To my thinking, since Labute never castigates what Chad does AND he gets everything in the end AND does it all with a cool smile on his face…well, it’s hard not to think that Labute kind of admires Chad. Perhaps that’s too simplistic a take on it, though.

Not a ton of comments on Your Friends & Neighbors, I wouldn't call it a bad movie, per-se, but it did leave me quite cold, further enhancing the cries of misogyny against Labute (although, to be fair, everyone in this film has major personality flaws that make them all pretty unlikeable). Eckhart returns, but it's RobertJason Patric who plays the psychopathic, misanthrope in this case. The rest of the cast, including Amy Brenneman, Catherine Keener, and Ben Affleck, are adequate, but it's Patric who steals the show, whether rehearsing lines he'll recite during sex and playing them back to himself, proudly telling about the time as a teen he and some friends sodomized a fellow classmate, or yelling at a woman in his shower for daring to have her period and ruining his sheets, he portrays all that is wrong with the alpha-male personality.

Grade: In The Company of Men B, Your Friends & Neighbors B-

What Troy's Watching -- Television

First, a notice that Tricia and I almost never watch anything live. We don't have a ton of time on weeknights to watch shows, in the first place, and why waste time with commercials and all that junk, when a DVR lets you get right by that. So, with that in mind, our viewing tends to get way behind, as we let certain shows pile up and watch them a month after they originally aired.

As to what we are currently watching...

Mad Men



We've made our way through the first two episodes so far and it's holding up to the high standards that it's set for itself in the past, with no signs of regressing. I'm very interested to see how they handle things like the JFK assassination (which looks to be coming up before season's end) and weave it into the overall storylines and development of the characters, as it definitely signaled a changing of the tenor of the country.

I'll revisit the show later in the season, as I'd like to get a few more episodes under my belt first, but I have to comment on how the acting, production, and writing are all handled so adeptly and intelligently. Unlike 99% of the shows on TV (we miss you, The Wire and Deadwood), Mad Men respects the viewer's ability to pick up on the themes and underlying feelings, demanding that we use our cognitive abilities in lieu of simply spoon-feeding the characters' feelings, drives, and emotions. These characters have been built in such a manner, whereby from their actions, words, and reactions we are able to ascertain where things stand in their world. Sure, it takes some careful thought (and it doesn't hurt to get involved in the online discussions about the show to pick up on missed cues), but it's a breathe of fresh air for episodic television. It's all a credit to the great writers and cast that they are able to accomplish this feat.

If you've not been watching this show and are a fan of intelligent TV (what little of it there is), you need to remedy that and catch-up on this. Interesting how AMC, of all channels, has the two best dramas on TV (in my opinion) with this and Breaking Bad. And yet, I can't watch them in HD!! Fix that now AMC (or DirecTV).

Burn Notice



Only a month after the fact, we watched the final episode of the summer run of Burn Notice (Tricia didn't want it to go away, so we kept postponing the viewing). The show has settled into a very simple and enjoyable formula (for those who don't know, it's essentially MacGyver meets A-Team meets Bourne), but the charisma and interplay between the characters should allow this to continue for several more seasons, plus they have made some ever-so-slight character development amongst the leads, enough to keep you coming back for more.

In fact, it's so enjoyable that it doesn't bother me one bit that the main plotline is still basically "Michael Weston versus Clandestine Government Agency," just with a new lead villain each season.

Community



Checked out the pilot of this, pretty much due to the fact we are Joel McHale fanboys/girls. It did a good job of introducing the ensemble of characters and making the viewer begin to care about them (admittedly, it IS a pilot, thus the characters are painted using some fairly broad strokes). Most importantly, the interplay between the cast allowed for quite a few clever jokes, with everyone playing off everyone else for good comedic measure (the callbacks to The Breakfast Club, the exchanges between McHale and Jon Oliver). Pay attention to McHale -- his mannerisms and charm are sure to get him over as a star and his character. It's hard to play both slimy and likable, the straight-man and the comic foil, all at once, but he ably pulls it off.

Parks and Recreation



I watched the pilot episode of this, last year, and wasn't too impressed. As many have already stated, since I already watched The Office, why would I need a clone of it. However, I had heard the writers tweaked some of the rough edges for the new season, so I went ahead and gave it another shot.

I'm glad I did, as the difference was night and day. Amy Poehler's character, Leslie, has been transformed from a Michael Scott retread into her own unique character. Sure, she has some of the same insecurities and socially awkward tendencies as Scott, but Poehler now comes across as a more well-rounded, likable, real person than Scott is allowed to be (hmm, she actually became more similar to Liz Lemon from 30 Rock). The writing was quite good, with the A-story revolving around the accidental wedding of two male penguins, Tux and Flipper (Leslie was performing the ceremony as a publicity stunt for the zoo), allowing for some subtle jabs at gay marriage opponents, as well as a great scene revolving around the small-town's local call-in TV show, which Leslie appears on and is hilariously skewered by all the callers.

The Office is also on the DVR, but we haven't watched the first episode yet, so no comment.

Melrose Place



Tricia and I have a quest to always find the soapiest thing on TV and watch it. The OC is long gone and Wicked Wicked Games came and went, so why not go back to a remake of one of the standard-bearers for trashy TV. So is it successful? Yes and no. The ultra-glossy, hyperactive annoyances that come with watching a CW show are there. However, the plotlines have jumped right into good trashy fare -- secret lesbians, med students moonlighting as escorts, art thievery, a murder investigation, and a likely psychopath in the midst...oooooh.

With two exceptions, the actors are all fair enough for this type of thing -- pretty, able to remember their lines, and competent at not emoting like a robot (that's the high standards I have). On the good side, Katie Cassidy does a better than expected job as alpha-bitch Ella, although considering that it's easily the meatiest role in the show, maybe that's not unexpected. Alternately, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is atrocious. Big surprise, huh. Tricia and I have been trying to determine if she is acting like she is on purpose (because she's obviously the crazy one of the cast of characters) or if she just can't act. After two episodes, we lean towards the latter.

Oh, and Heather Locklear is set to join the show soon, so that's a good thing...

It's Always Sunny...



Not much to say here, as the show is pretty much the same as it's always been. I keep wondering when they'll run out of over-the-top things for the gang to do, but they keep coming up with enough goofy things. Enough of the humor still makes me laugh, though, so I continue to watch, although I'd probably not notice if I missed an episode.

Eureka



This hybrid sci-fi/comedy/adventure show is perfect diversionary viewing. The high-concept is this -- Colin Ferguson plays Sheriff Jack Carter, a typical, everyday cop who lives in the secret, government run town of Eureka. Eureka itself is a town full of the smartest people in the world, all working on different experiments, which just so happen to be the cause of various catastrophes each week. The interplay between the genius of the inhabitants and the normality of Sheriff Carter is what drives the show, creating the typical silliness you would expect.

The whole thing would likely drag a bit if it weren't for the abilities of Ferguson. He is definitely the stand-out, acting-wise, exhibiting a good grasp of the deadpan humor and reactions needed when you play the straight-man to everyone elses' eccentricities. I'd more than expect him to find his way to a high-profile TV show at some point after Eureka as finished its run.

Raw/Smackdown/ECW/TNA Impact/Ring of Honor



Ah, wrestling, my guilty pleasure. That's probably worse than admitting to watching Melrose Place.

These five weekly shows account for a total of 8 hours of television each week and is definitely the reason DVR's were invented, as about 80% of that is not worth watching. Thus, thanks to a small group of performers (CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Christian, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, ROH tag division) I find enough to enjoy out of each show. That good stuff accounts for about 2-3 hours of actual viewing time throughout the week, which I'm beginning to think could be used watching something better...but these addictions are hard to break :)

I won't bore everyone with some long take on the current state of the rasslin' scene, but the WWE style is typically boring (they all seem to wrestle the same type of match), the TNA style is frustrating (never given a chance to do anything due to 2-minute matches and run-ins), and the ROH style lacks emotion and coherency in angles (mostly due to the way they tape their shows -- some great wrestling though).

Great Moments in Closed Captioning: Highlander

(While on the treadmill today, Highlander happened to be on AMC, so I watched while listening to my music. A sampling of about the last 10 minutes of the closed captioning follows)

ugh
arrgh
hahahahahha
(metal clanking)
(sizzle sizzle)
oh
ugh
ah
(metal clanking)
uh
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
(gurgling)
(howling)
There can be only one...
(Glass shattering)
It's...the Quickening...I know everything
aahhhrhhhrhhhhahahoooohhhhhhhhh
♫Who wants to live forever♫

Does anyone remember if this movie was good or not? I seem to remember it looking cool and having Sean Connery, but that it was also pretty boring when they weren't fighting. I sure did love the admittedly cheesy TV series with Adrian Paul and his ponytail, though. Especially when Roger Daltry decided to show up as one of his past acquaintances.

What Troy's Watching -- Sports

Let's start the blogging clearinghouse with some short sports comments on my four favorite teams...

Oregon Ducks



Well, after that BSU game, things couldn't get any worse, but thankfully the team found a way to pull off two close wins at home over a couple of good teams in Purdue and Utah. And yet, there is some definite reason for concern, as Masoli hasn't quite come around yet, going 4-16 via the air versus Utah and making a couple of bone-headed turnovers. That has to change if the Ducks are going to contend for a top 3 spot in the conference. Fortunately, Masoli passing woes and fumbling have been offset by his running ability. Furthermore, the offensive and defensive lines have stepped up in the last two games, showing signs of maturing, and the running game is starting to take shape, thanks to LaMichael James.

If Masoli can remember how to pass the ball and spread it around (to his own team), then I think the Ducks can have a successful run through the conference in the most wide-open Pac-10 season in a long, long time.

Seattle Seahawks



I'm not the biggest Seneca Wallace fan in the world, but I think they team might be okay this week even with him starting in place of the injured Matt Hasselbeck. Of course, that assumes that the rest of team finds a way to be healthy as the other injuries on the offensive line (Jones, Spencer) and, most importantly, up the middle of the defense (Tatupu, Mebane) are going to greatly affect the teams ability to win games.

If they are healed up (and with the age of this team, that is quite the big "if"), the Seahawks have the best team in the division, so one loss to the 49ers (a team that they always struggle with, thanks to Frank Gore) shouldn't come back to haunt them too badly. I'm not buying the 49ers as an actual good team, I'm sorry.

Seattle Mariners



As the season wraps up this weekend, it's nice to at least think there is some hope for the team going forward. The front office finally looks like they know what they are doing and some of the young players have shown some growth this year. How the team handles the possibility of a long-term Felix Hernandez contract will be interesting to watch, as well as to see if they can pick up another big time bat for the middle of the lineup. I'll likely be watching this off-season more than any in the recent past and am hopeful I can get back to the excitement I had with this team in the late 90's/early 00's.

Portland Trailblazers



Well, that was an interesting off-season, wasn't it. The hopes of the team moving beyond their fantastic regular season of last year seem to fall exclusively on Greg Oden's continued development. Regardless of the Andre Miller signing and Martell Webster's return, it's Oden and his ability to operate in the offense and stay out of foul trouble that will make-or-break any playoff progression the team makes this year. I'd love to go more in-depth on this as the season gets closer (only 2 weeks until training camp!).