Assimilated!

After nearly a decade of being a Windows Mobile loyalist, I have become an Android convert. So far I am very pleased with. my. Motorola Droid X. The usability, interface and app selection is just amazing. And as an added bonus I don’t have to deal with AT&T to use is unlike some other highly rated smartphone

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Academy Award Challenge: An Education a Review

Watched on Amazon Unboxed 7/05/2010

An Education is a compelling story of a young school girl whose whole life revolves around going to Oxford, to make her life more than the boring reality that it is. Then she meets David, a much older man who along with his friends, show her the life she always wanted. Oxford is abandoned to grab a chance at living the good life.

Her father, who had pushed her relentlessly to go to Oxford to make a better life, is seduced as quickly as she is by the promise of a shortcut to a better life in marrying David. When it all goes horribly wrong she is left with neither.

Jenny is a fascinating character, both youthful and worldly beyond her years. The film subtly attacks the old fashioned notion that a woman can advance in life either via knowledge or marriage, but doesn't need both. Teling this story in the distant past of the 60's allows that story to be told more openly than if it were a contemporary story, but the message hasn't changed that much in the last 50 years.

Overall I give this film an A.

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Academy Award Challenge: Inglorious Basterds Review

Watched on Amazon Unbox 7/03/2010

I am never sure what I am going to get when I sit down to watch a Quentin Tarantino film. This film was no different. My reactions to Tarantino films range from awe (Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs) to completely uninterested (Kill Bill and the Grindhouse Segments). This film decidedly falls into the former category.

The film is broken up into five separate but interconnected stories revolving around the Germans occupying France and a force of Americans terrorizing them. Brad Pitt turns in a wonderful performance as the leader of the Americans. Late in the film his farcically bad Italian accent during an otherwise seriously tense moment is the epitome of the nature of the movie. Gory and serious with interruptions of the absurd, in other words vintage Tarantino.

After the seriously unsatisfying District 9, this film was a welcome treat. The fact that the academy would even consider the former in the same league with the latter baffles me. Overall I rate this film an A+.


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Academy Award Challenge: District 9 Review

Watched on Netflix 7/03/2010

Of all the Best Picture Nominees of 2009 that I have reviewed, this one is the first that I really can't see belonging in the same company as the rest. The racism theme is heavy handed from the very start and far too much of the plot goes out of it's way to create unnecessary gross out scenes more appropriate to a cheap exploitation film than a major motion picture nominated for Best picture.

I can only imagine that the academy wad impressed with the social message that I found delivered with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. The ending action sequence of the film was well done and despite the fact that I was ready for the film to be over at the half hour mark, I found myself rooting for Christopher and his son to escape and Wikus, the human who was changed into the alien species, to survive his epic battle with the evil militaristic UN substitute MNU.

Over all I would rather watch Hurt Locker again. My score is a C-.


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Academy Award Challenge Update

It has been a few months since I decided to challenge myself to watch and review all of the 2009 Best Picture Nominees. The first few were quick, but life and work intervened and slowed me down. I am back on track now though and here is an update to where we are:



Challenge Status:

Avatar - Saw in the theater 3/13/2010
The Blind Side - Watched on Amazon Unbox 4/29/2010
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker - Watched on Amazon Unbox 3/14/2010
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man - Watched on Amazon Unbox 3/27/2010
Up - Watched on DVD in November 2010.
Up in the Air - Watched via DVD on 7/02/2010

As you can see only 4 more pictures to go. Next up is District 9! See you at the movies,


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Academy Award Challenge: Up in The Air Review

I'm not sure what to think about this picture. George Clooney pulls off his usual smooth, engaging performance. Humorous when the scene calls for it, serious or distraught when the film has it's dark points. There is a clear message: The only thing that counts in life are the people, but whatever you do you end up alone. The story is somehow both inspiring and depressing at the same time.

Clooney's character Ryan thinks he has the perfect care free unattached life only to find that he wants more. Unfortunately life can be very cruel and in the blink of an eye he loses the dream he never even knew he wanted.

To me at the end of the story Ryan is back to his care free life, but I
can't shake the idea that he is forever changed and won't be satisfied with life as usual for long.

Ultimately I found the ending muddied and unsatisfying, which is a shame because to that point the film was very good. Overall I rate the film a strong B+.


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World Cup Fever!

I really tried to avoid catching World Cup Fever. My feelings for European style football are best described as ambivalent. Years ago as a young boy I attended a few "professional" soccer games locally. The team, the Jacksonville Tea-Men of the NASL, wasn't very good and while I enjoyed the experience I never really got into the sport.

Yesterday a co-worker asked me about watching The World Cup. She was clearly excited about the tournament. I was less than enthusiastic about the whole affair and she engaged me in a discussion about what I didn't like about the sport. There wasn't really anything specific except that it tends to be a very defensive game with low scores. We talked about that in comparison with American Football which I am generally very passionate about and other American sports like basketball and baseball which I'm not as excited about. My reasons sounded hollow even to me. The conversation was friendly and non confrontational, but it made me reexamine my feelings about The World Cup.

So this morning I tuned in to watch a couple of matches. the second match turned out to be Italy, the defending World Cup champions, vs. lowly New Zealand. When the hugely favored Italian team found itself behind early I found my feelings for the game shifting. The score ended up a 1-1 tie, but far from feeling let down I was exhilarated because I understood how big achieving a draw against Italy was to the New Zealand team.

I spent the rest of the morning reading up on the rules of the game and the mechanics of the tournament. I am far from a FIFA football expert and the game is in no danger of replacing NFL football in my life, but I have a new appreciation of this game and understand some of the excitement my co-worker was feeling yesterday.

In my own small way I have just a tiny case of World Cup Fever.

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My Deadliest Catch Addiction

The Deadliest Catch, a strangely addictive reality series on the Discovery Channel about the Alaskan Crab Fishing Profession, has managed to capture me. I am not a reality show fan. I generally find them to be fake, forced, and far from real. This show is different. I am sure that there is a good deal of self serving activity for the camera, but when the action is in full tilt the crabbers have no time to worry about cameras, they are too busy surviving in the treacherous waters. There is the usual drama that comes from people interacting with each other especially in high stress situations.

I've watched Season 1, most of Season 2, and all of Season 4. I can watch it for hours on end without getting tired of it. I am not sure exactly what it is about this show but I can't get enough!

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Lost in TVLand Nevermore.

I have watched every episode of the six years of Lost, frequently with frustration at the maddening lack of answers to those tantalizing mysteries. The series finale was no different, the resolution was dramatic, exciting, touching, and enigmatic. At first blush I expected that to disappoint me, upon reflection though I found that it didn't because it's heart the show was just a story of people in a tough situation trying to reconcile their own needs and desires with the need to resolve the situation. I realized that the ultimate physical definition of the island wasn't as important as the fact that we got to see these characters come to see their feelings for each other and see them resolve their inner struggles. They were lost before the crash of Oceanic 815 and the point of the finale was they were rescued by finding each other regardless of their own personal outcomes.

I will miss these characters, and the mysteries, but the show ended strong and without a major letdown or "jump the shark" moment.

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