Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Daily Lit

Link is here: DailyLit

This website is very interesting and will email you a section each day or however you specify until the book is finished. They've got those books that are now "classics" meaning that the copyright has long gone, but there's plenty I've always wanted to read and thought were too long. I suppose in a year I could finish a long one, and I've started just today. Just thought I'd share the site with you...

Monday, June 18, 2007

Art Institute of Chicago

A really wonderful museum with a fabulous collection. Turns out they're doing construction and closed a tiny bit of the museum, and are currently rotating some of my favorite art into storage (figures). She said to come back in 2009 when the new part opens and they'll have more room for art from what the museum already owns, which is probably currently in the basement somewhere gathering dust...

Either way, this picture by Sarah Hobbs was too cool for words. Click it to see it as big as I could find the file online.

Once

This movie is a real keeper -- or see-it type movie. Apparently they're real musicians in life and have an album out besides the soundtrack for this movie. His voice reminds me of Damien Rice, but I'm sure some music-phile could say better who he (and she actually) remind you of. Either way, they meet in the street as he's a street musician and become fast friends. I'll leave the rest for you to find out about, but the movie is absolutely fabulous as is the soundtrack and their songs. A+. See it now in your nearest independent movie theater or wait for it to be out on DVD.

Annapolis

A navy movie this time, with James Franco. No one thinks he'll make it, but of course he does. Hope I didn't spoil it for you... but not really worth your time or mine either. Just an update.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Rain

What lovely rain my city has. I woke up from my nap to hear the sound of the rain, real rain pouring down complete with thunder. I felt some drops outside earlier and it was cold rain, pure pleasure for the summer. Guess I can't go out now and take pictures of Lincoln Ave. covered with motorcycles from the Mods vs. Rockers thing; I suppose they'd all go for cover.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Firewall

Another Harrison Ford movie, although I do have to say he's aging well.

The gist: He works for this bank, and a few men want some money (typical) so they take hostage of his family. Not too thrilling I must say, and halfway through I was sure the movie was over, but no.

Honestly, don't bother.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

This 1988 film featuring a ton of famous people (Christopher Lloyd, and so on) was acted out and then the cartoons were drawn in.  Essentially the question was about who framed him for the murder of Mr. ACME.  Plenty of drawn in characters you'll recognize, and I finally understand that stuffed animal I had years ago.  You pulled the string and he spoke, just like Roger Rabbit in the film.  This was a good one.  Funny and classic to boot.  Many of the themes are pretty adult and this is definitely not a film for the kiddies.  Enjoy.

RV and Fun With Dick and Jane

Don't know why I waste my time really, but some days you just need a good laugh.  RV is with Robin Williams, as he takes his family on an RV vacation.  Personally, I always thought an RV would be great... could drive anywhere and really sleep and cook inside.  It's like a home on wheels.  Anyway.  Fun with Dick and Jane is about Jim Carey, being his usual face-making self, who loses his job after the company goes down and who resorts to stealing with his wife.  Watch neither.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

FoxTrot, and the best comic strip...

Kingdom of Hearts

Don't know why I even bothered.  The fighting, not too superb.  The love story?  Not too thrilling.  It's about a blacksmith who finds out his father is a knight and a lord, and later fights to defend Jerusalem.  One of the longest movies I've watched where I kept thinking I should turn it off. 

Why you should watch it?  Just don't.

Invincible

The short of it?  A sports movie featuring Mark Wahlberg. It's a biographical movie based on Vince Papale who became a star player on the Philly Eagles in the 1970s.  Drafted from the general public, he rose to become a great football player.

Why you should see it?  Only if you're a sport movie lover.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

A Hard Day's Night

If you can't recognize this poster, you're missing out. It's been hanging on my wall for ages :D. Either way, decided to rewatch the movie today, and I got my Dad watching and singing along with me. Oh, what a British day. It's so much more enjoyable this time around, perhaps since I can finally understand them clearly. Turning on the closed captioning helps out too. The Beatles are a crazy lot, jumping all about, taking baths with submarines, singing with mysteriously appearing instruments, and that dirty little old man. Watch it for yourself, it's one of those classic experiences you need to have. Enjoy it all you can.

Hot Fuzz

A superior movie, that was all fun. This movie actually made me laugh out loud, something that hasn't happened in a movie theatre for a long time. And it happened more than once. OK, a bit gruesome, and bloody, but it was all in good fun. It was a British day all around. (See the next post), and I enjoyed every second of it, and all the slang too. The movie was about a cop sent from London to the countryside since he was too good. Haha. Turns out the "perfect" village wasn't so perfect, and instead mostly criminals. Definitely recommended. I'm glad I only paid $3 for it, but it's probably out in a file or on a disc somewhere.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Take The Lead

Another one of those teach dance to public school students. This was done up with Antonio Banderas and was more of a reenactment in comparison with a movie like Mad Hot Ballroom. The students turned out to be really good at dancing, and as it said at the end, it eventually lead to a larger program in NYC, perhaps fueling the other movie I mentioned. It was cute, and well done, and I do love these dancing movies. Not particularly recommended, unless you too have a soft spot for dancing.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Lake House

An interesting movie. Haven't seen either Sandra Bullock or Keanu Reeves for a very long time in any picture. Don't know if I like these love stories across the boundaries of time type, but I feel like I've watched something comparable before. Either way, it was a nice relaxing film to watch filmed in a suburb of Chicago, since it's all around Chicago, and the house itself was pretty neat, at least I thought so. The film wasn't fabulously beautiful, heart-wrenching, or all that fascinating, so I'm not suggesting it, just telling what I saw.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Who Killed the Electric Car

This is a wonderful documentary that everyone should go and watch this instant. It's not about our environment, but rather why we can't even change our cars to use electricity rather than oil. Absolutely enlightening. It brings to mind the idea about how much these documentaries influence us -- think about that one about McDonalds, remember that? Did you eat at McDonalds after watching the movie? I probably have. It just goes to show, that we watch, we learn, but do we really follow? Either way, it was a great movie and exposed a lot about General Motors and what they did to squash the electric car. Then what the car companies did to squash all electric cars and lead us to Hydrogen Fuel Cells, which the movie implies is not going to work out in the short term future, and will be even more costly. Definitely go watch this film, and enjoy it for what it tells you. It's frightening that such things can occur, with conspiracy theories leading the way about who is at fault. And in addition to those companies and perhaps the California board, the consumers too are at fault. Why do we need four seats and a huge trunk? Why do we need a car to go 300 miles in a day? How far should work and school, etc., be?

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Running With Scissors (movie)

Oh my! If the book wasn't messed up, the movie certainly was. Instead of imagining his drugged up mother, we got to see her firsthand. A lot of the book was left out, thank goodness, and there was a lot of expression showed on faces where they did not show the actual horrific items mentioned. Not to spoil it or anything, but I think they ended differently as well, I'm not certain though, since my recollection is limited to some specific things. I'm not sure if it was touching actually, but it was definitely interesting, and I don't think I recommend it to just anyone, so ask if you're curious.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Lord of War

This may very well have been the best movie I've seen in months.  Very well done and it was very on the spot.  I mean, it is a movie about Nicholas Cage as an arms dealer, but it's much more than that.  Well filmed, a good narrative and voice over, and a plot that was just grabbing considering much of the same was being done over and over.  There was a love element, a family element, and a small bit of chase element, and I personally wonder how much is real.  Historical events were referenced, but I suppose we'll never see the real thing about arms dealers.  IMDB references that one of the piles of weapons or trucks or whatever was one borrowed from a real arms dealer since props would have been more expensive, but either way, that was a whole lot of weapons.  Definitely recommended.

Marie Antoinette

Well, I suppose my own thoughts are my own.  Even if she was glorified and humanized (thanks to Martin for bringing this all up) I thought the movie was a bit touching.  In case you don't know, she was once the Queen of France and apparently loved sweets and purchasing things.  Either way, it was sweet, or at least I thought so, and the cinematography was excellent - and the music and visualness of it all made it fun to watch. 

Admittedly, I was shocked at the end.  I remembered they'd escaped, at least from history, but that's not how I remember/imagine it all went down, but instead they made it out to be quite dramatic.  Recommended.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Love Is All There Is

Oh boy.  The absolutely cheesiest, sappiest, stupid movie I've ever seen.  With a bunch of famous people (including Angelina Jolie real young) it's about two rivalry families and their respective son and daughter reliving Romeo and Juliet.  After they play in it together.  But it's hilarious, really, and I wanted to turn it off the whole time but couldn't stop myself.  My suggestion... turn the channel as soon  as you can.