A new wrinkle in the infomercial world: they’re now producing half-hour infomercials for movies. I don’t know if the JP3 producers are just itching to jump on this new advertising bandwagon, or they’re so deathly afraid that no one’s going to want to watch the computer-generated dinos yet again that they’ll do anything to rustle up some business. Advance word on this has been surprisingly good for a third go-round; we’ll soon see which one it is.
Month: July 2001 (Page 4 of 7)
It’s hot.
The heat saps your strength, seeping into everything – every space, every pore of your skin. The humidity makes each breath a chore, and turns the air into a shimmery old glass window, where everything’s distorted. The sun becomes the enemy, turning 5 p.m. as hot, if not hotter, than noon.
I’m always amazed at how people who’ve lived in Wisconsin all their lives can complain so bitterly about the winter. You live in Wisconsin, for god’s sake. It’s coming around again next year too, buddy, so quiet down. Me, I never complain about the winter, even when I’m lying on a sheet of glare ice underneath my car, as happened this past season. But the heat and humidity of summer, well, that’s another story. It sucks. My opinion is, you can always get warm, but you can’t always get cool.
I need to get cool.
After finally getting my IKEA look-way-more-expensive-than-they-really-are bookcases put together (thanks, Paul and Keith), I took the occasion to go through all my books, including a box I hadn’t even unpacked when I last moved because there was no room. Now, there’s room. And a pleasant side effect of this process was I found quite a few interesting books that I had purchased along the way but never read:
The Difference Engine – William Gibson/Bruce Sterling
Gates of Eden – Ethan Coen
Pale Blue Dot – Carl Sagan
The Age of Missing Information – Bill McKibben
Silent Spring – Rachel Carson
Manufacturing Consent – Noam Chomsky
I probably have a whole summer’s worth of reading here. This is fun. (I also rediscovered my love of B. Kliban cartoons – the weird ones, not the cats – since I found a whole set of those softcover cartoon books of his.)
Came across a print of this picture, my favorite picture of my father, while I was rearranging my books today (more on that later). I wanted to post it so everyone could get to enjoy it along with me. Isn’t this an amazing picture? I miss him. A lot.
I’m really a dog person at heart. (via Metafilter)
In his Top 10 movies, Arthur mentioned two that I love, but didn’t put on the list: Silence of the Lambs and Fargo. As he said, some other day I might have included them.
As for the worst movie ever made, I think I have to give it to The Tin Drum. But The Piano is a close second.
I really, really want to start a meme. So here goes – my Top 10 movies (not in ranking order, that’s too hard):
1. Fearless
2. Resurrection
3. Local Hero
4. Raising Arizona
5. After Life
6. Fight Club
7. A Man for All Seasons
8. Reversal of Fortune
9. Rushmore
10. House of Games
OK I lied, 11: Diabolique (the French original, not the Sharon Stone remake rubbish)
Those of you with weblogs, why not put your Top 10 on yours. My father used to ask people what their favorite movies are – it makes a surprisingly revealing personality test. My birthday’s coming up, just consider allowing me to start a weblog meme to be my present. Thanks in advance.
Apparently Dave Winer has joined the ranks of anti-TV types (see the July 4 entry). Too bad. Still, he does have a point – it’s OK to be bored some of the time.
So the members of “The Skulls” are supposed to keep their membership in the group a secret. But they all wear identical stainless steel Breitling watches, covering a skull brand applied with a red-hot poker. Not exactly the most low-profile way to signify membership, it seems to me. Whatever happened to the secret handshake?
That movie was a rental designed to continue the cheese-fest that began with “The Fast and the Furious” earlier today. “Furious” is actually a fun roller coaster ride of a movie, relishing its cheese quotient rather than trying to shrink from it. And it has some kick-ass racing scenes. Recommended for when you just want to shut off your brain for an hour and a half.
(Pop culture coincidence: I just found out by going to that IMDB link on “The Skulls” that the same guy who directed it also directed “Furious.” Freaky.)
Had an interesting time at “A.I.” last night. There’s a lot to say about this movie, but I would hate saying it to people who hadn’t seen it. I was pleased that it was much darker than I ever expected from Spielberg, at least in the first half. I will also repeat what one reviewer said on Ain’t It Cool News: the first time you think the movie’s over, get up out of your seat and leave immediately.