The Misspent Life

Hate Me

I saw Patton this weekend.  I didn't think that much of it, frankly.  Sure, I suppose Scott was pretty good in the role, but most of the other stuff was kind of flat.

However, I did spy the DVD of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and enjoyed that very much.

Let's All Go To the Lobby

Yeah, so xynoffy put up this list and I figured I'd do the same.  Movies that are bolded I have, italics I've seen, red have not seen nor do I own.  I am only counting those movies that I can remember seeing, there are others I know I saw when I was a wee man but don't remember enough of to count.

I Hate Napoleon Dynamite

Months ago I heard the same thing over and over again from my "friends": "Dude, you've got to see Napoleon Dynamite.  I thought about you the entire time; you will love it."  They said these words with the gravest and most earnest intent.  They could not press upon me just how important it was that I see this movie.  That I love it.  Verily, that I live it because this movie was made for me.

FYI

I just finished watching Das Boot.

Movies, Remember Them?

Something that I used to do quite regularly here but have not been good at keeping up is relate to you the movies that I have seen. The reason behind this absence is that I have not seen any good movies and was tired of just providing a laundry list. What good does it do you, besides providing a prurient voyeuristic kick, to know the intimate minutae of my life? You're probably with me on this. Anyway, I will sort of break my silence now.

13 Going on 30: Stupid but worth seeing for the soundtrack. Great dance sequence.

Hidalgo: Standard "epic movie with horses and loner men" watchable if you like horses, Arabia, or perhaps hokey subplots about Native Americans.

The Village: Not great in the first section, but much better in the middle and a little less so in the end. Not my favorite M. Shyamalan movie. If you care, my favorite is either Sixth Sense or Signs. I am torn between The Village or Unbreakable as my least favorite. I do have to say that I would very much like to move to the village.

OK, do you feel better now?

I Cannot Wait!

News is breaking about a new movie coming out from the creators of South Park called Team America. Predictably, and probably correctly, the White House is angry because it will make some light of terrorism and if there is an attack on the U.S. before the movie comes out than I am all but certain that they will rightly pull the movie, but...I simply cannot wait to see them rip apart Michael Moore and all those leftwing people. It will make fun of Bush, certainly, but not in ways that you don't already see every Saturday on Saturday Night Live or any other day on TV or the radio or in newspapers. The great thing about South Park is that they go after and make fun of people and things that are off limits in the mainstream media and culture. THAT is what I'm looking forward too. Also, I cannot wait to see if Kim Jung Il is going to be lovers with Satan or some such thing. Let's get rolling on taking that crazy out! Yahoo!

A Stephenesque Weekend

Through no fault of anyone this weekend's activities happened to be influenced by Stephenesque. I watched Wodehouse Playhouse from Netflix this weekend on his suggestion and enjoyed it very much.

Also on his suggestion, I picked up W.G. Sebald's Rings of Saturn on Friday after leaving work and read it in one go on Saturday. I enjoyed it very much. It was just up my alley: pondering, anecdotal, tangential, lamenting, all that stuff that I dig. It reminded me of Thomas Bernhard, but much more accessible.

To top it all off, it is his birthday weekend!

Oh. My. God.

Two weeks ago I watched Gigli and tonight I just watched what was perhaps the strangest thing I have every seen. Stranger that the He-Man movie, and on par with the Garbage Pail kids movie.

Lost in London with Emmanuel Lewis (a.k.a. Webster). It was a made-for-TV movie on CBS. Mr. Lewis runs away when his parents get in a fight and ends up living with some urchins a la Oliver Twist. It has lots of musical numbers, including one where Mr. Lewis sings a song about wanting a "bow-wow" but getting a cat. He does this hands behind the ear thing and wiggles. It is just bizarre. Be on the look-out. You won't want to miss it.

Atonement

To atone for my misdeeds last night (watching Gigli) I went to go see Spiderman 2. It was great. Everyone should go see it. I enjoyed the first one immensely and have to say that I think I like this one better. Go do it.

BTW- I've heard it said one doesn't know one is making a bad movie until all is said and done and you view the finished product, but there can be no way they didn't know they were making crap when they made Gigli. Gosh, it was impossible to watch and honestly I ended up fast forwarding through it after the awful turkey time scene. Ugh.

Put A Bullet In Me

My phone that I have at home is the one they have in Gigli. Yes, I am watching Gigli. Shoot me now.