Movies Seen!

Had some interesting dealings with my inner teenager that I need to continue and work out some more before sharing. I also got distracted by TinMan fandom. I was just innocently cruising though YouTube, found a couple of really sweet fan-vids that mentioned particular inspiring fanfics and found myself sucked into FF.net. I had enjoyed the mini-series up until the let down of the ending, but I didn’t bother to analyze why I was dissatisfied. I should know better than that by now. We were given the wrong payoff. DG’s final screen time should have been with her traveling companions not the family she didn’t even know she had. Fanfic writers to the rescue.

So this led to my first torrent download, so I would be able to rewatch TinMan and see if my memory wasn’t deceiving me. I spent three days on it, and I think I must be doing something wrong. I was finally able to watch it on Monday. The ending still felt blah, but knowing that I wasn’t the only one out there who loved the world and felt the writers really needed a kick to the head for that last scene, rescued the whole thing.

Fed up with the downloading progress (how many times did I have to reboot the DSL modem?), having finished housework, and damnit, it’s a holiday weekend, and I never do anything fun, I decided to start shrinking my movies-to-see list.

Sunday night Iron Man.

”Let’s face it. This is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.”

“Are those bullet holes?”

First I have to add the Incredible Hulk to the list because the trailer looked heaps of good. The new trailer for the Dark Knight also kicks ass and finally tells people who have ignored the Internet stuff that yes, Harvey Dent is in this movie.

The actual movie was wow. I mean WOW. I didn’t know S.H.I.E.L.D. actually stood for something, though I figured it out the second time the agent went through the list of words. Stan’s cameo was hysterical to just me. I think the rest of the audience thought he really was Hugh Heifner.

Seriously, *raspberry* to everybody who questioned the casting. I knew Robert Downey Jr. was perfect for Tony Stark. But the movie needed more Black Sabbath and the lovely Easter egg at the end of the credits could have been moved up a few. That’s a whole lot of credits to go through.

Monday matinees: Indiana Jones

”Because we never had an argument that I won!”

I know there’s been a lot of ho-hum reaction. I enjoyed it. It’s not the best in the series, and I didn’t notice the huge amount of CGI that others have bitched about. But it was a comfort movie, like curling up with a series book. You know the characters and other touches referring back to the alien and monster movies and the rest of the series, made me feel good. I especially liked the tie-in with Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. And the dialogue did not make me cringe like the Star Wars prequels.

Speed Racer

”Was that a ninja?”

“Ninja, nanja. It’s a shame what passes for a ninja these days.”

It is a kid’s movie. If Atticus was a little older, I would have enjoyed taking him to it. David Willis called it a “live action Super Mario Kart movie” and I can’t really disagree with it. But the character stuff in between the races was pretty decent. And I think Sprittle and ChimChim annoyed me in the cartoons too, so I ignored them. And the Speed Racer motif fully orchestrated and hidden in the score, sweet.

One annoyance had actually nothing to do with the movie. Racer X shows up for the first time. Kid’s voice behind me: “Who’s that?” Dad’s voice: “Speed Racer’s brother.” My unvoiced thought: “Way to ruin the revel at the end of the movie, dick! They hired two different actors for a reason.”

I won’t promise to never talk to my nephew during a movie, but I do promise he’s not getting any plot revels from me.

2008

• April 4 - Nim's Island (sounded cute)
• April 18 - The Forbidden Kingdom (Jackie Chan love)
• May 2 - Iron Man (Black Sabbath better be in the soundtrack and the trailers don't count)
• May 9 - Speed Racer (trailer surprised the hell out of me)
• May 16 - Prince Caspian (agnostic Pagan that I am I could totally worship Aslan, he hangs out with Harry Potter and Bacchus (it's in the book))
• May 22 - INDIANA JONES!
• June 13 - Incredible Hulk
• July 11 - Hellboy II (otherwise known as Hellboy vs. the Drow)
• July 18 - BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT (o hell yeah)
• July 25 - X-Files: I Want to Believe (that this will be a good movie. But I can be won over by Mulder and Scully damnit, I love those characters even if the show went downhill for me)
• Nov. 21 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009

• Watchman
• May 8 - Star Trek
• August 7 - G.I. Joe (I can be won over by Chris Eccleston and Ray Parks)

Don't Know yet

• In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead (don't care what they shorten the movie title too, this is the book title and damnit! I want to see it!)

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The BookWorm