Category: words mean things (Page 105 of 223)

Writing a review of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” is difficult, since so much of the experience is beyond description. I will say I haven’t seen a more original, thought-provoking and emotionally affecting movie this year. Anyone looking for a traditional brainless slapstick comedy starring Adam Sandler will be terribly disappointed, and so much the better.

One of the remarkable things about this movie is that Sandler plays just a variation of many of his other characters – a barely-there man-child with serious rage issues. But in this movie, he’s a revelation. You feel the anguish of this borderline agoraphobic, autistic man so keenly it can be painful at times. You also feel his bursting joy when he meets a fellow tortured soul played by Emily Watson, whose hip-swinging walk and sparkling eyes would make anyone fall in love with her.

Along the way, there are car crashes, harmoniums in the street, plungers with dice on top, phone sex workers in Utah, music from “Popeye,” and other magic I’ll let you discover for yourself.

Go. see. this. movie.

Scenes from a movie concession stand (all true)

Me: I’d like a medium regular Coke, please.
Concession worker (11 years old): [long pause] Water?
Me: No, a medium regular Coke.
11-year-old: Now, would you like regular water, or flavored?
Me: No. No water. A regular Coke. Medium.

He finally gets that it’s a fountain drink, and slowly, slooowly grabs the paper cup, puts it vaguely under the spigots, and looks back at me.

11-year-old: Cherry Coke?

Had a fine time playing video games with Sparky tonight, even though he gave me a savage drubbing at every game we played. (We also watched “Punch-Drunk Love,” a review of which I will attempt tomorrow after my mind quiets down a bit.) My virtual brains were littered across miles of Halo ground – although I did manage to blow up his jeep several times, which was satisfying. I remain convinced that I’m too old for video games, and should be prohibited by state law from playing them in front of anyone. Sparky was gracious about it, which I appreciate.

Damn kids and their video games. 🙂

Further adventures in meta-gaming

For reasons that I don’t entirely understand, I’m quite intrigued by The Game Neverending, which I just got access to in beta. Actually, I’m in equal measure intrigued and baffled. The best way I can think to describe it is The Sims Online programmed in Hypercard. You wander around, exploring areas and picking up strange stuff. Paper (just paper, not paper money) seems to be the main mode of currency in this made-up world. You can also chat with other players and become their official “acquaintances” or “friends.” The interface, all in Flash, reminds me of Apples eWorld. It’s quite simplistic, but also witty and odd enough to make it strangely compelling. Has anyone played/seen this “game”?

Quotable Quotes from tonight’s Anna Nicole Show

“Are you flexible on age – after the last one?”
-Millionaire dating service matchmaker, to Anna

“Turns out Kimmy’s birthday was on Halloween this year.” -Anna

“On the way to the party, we picked up my friend Rip Taylor.” -Anna

“The male stripper rubbed up against me, and I had all this sweat and baby oil all over my face.” -Kim

“I need to puke again – get the hat!” -Kim

After months of hard work, my latest project is finally live on the web. There are a lot of things that I personally would have done differently, but web design is a collaboration, right? The thing I’m most proud of is reorganizing the site so the information important to the different audiences is kept in its own section. The site is due to be linked by a big food site, FoodFit.com, on Monday, so hopefully I can get some exposure out of this.

I really like Fox’s “Firefly.” The premise is cool, the scripts are wry, and most importantly, the appealing cast has scads of chemistry with each other. Offhand, I can’t think of a new show this season that I want to watch, other than this one. Clearly, that’s the universe’s way of saying, “this show isn’t going to last long.”

The future of “Firefly” seems in doubt, but “According to Jim” is still on the air. Will wonders never cease.

Well, the Weblog Recruitment Project is going better. Amanda has just inaugurated her weblog, “Savoring the Journey,” with the start of a “100 Things About Me” list. Mark my words – this is one to watch.

Vatican to test if trainee priests are gay

There’s so much wrong with this, I hardly know where to start. But mainly I’m thinking – what exactly is the test? (via Metafilter)

At the risk of inviting even more derision from my esteemed readership, I figured I should explain why I was asking people if they watched “Alias.” I had this idea, and I wanted to try it out on someone who watched the show. Here it is. It’s not at all funny unless you watch the show, and even if you do, it may just be stupid. But it was an idea I had. They say to make a weblog stand out, provide original content. Well, they don’t say *good* original content.

Let the sniping begin.