Day Nine – You Get What You Pay For

Okay, I promised to blog every day for eleven days to see what all I could learn. The first thing I learned was most people to need to have more fun. Now I’ve learned I’m not interesting enough to write 11 straight days worth of blogs that will be worth reading. Hey, you get what you pay for. Deal with it.

A fun movie for me has one of the following characteristics: great dialogue, an unusual plot, something funny, With that said, here is a list of ten fun movies:

1. The Big Lebowski – A million great lines are uttered in this movie. This was the Coen Brothers at their best. There’s a t-shirt for sale on the internet proposing The Dude and Walter for President and Veep.
2. Being John Malkovich – One man’s weird is another man’s fun. I love this movie.
3. Night On Earth – The best of Jim Jarmusch’s many great movies.
4. True Romance – Written by Quentin Tarantino the cast included Christian Slater, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Samuel L. Jackson, James Gandolfini, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Michael Rapaport, Bronson Pinchot, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, and one of those Arquettes.
5. Blue Velvet – David Lynch’s masterpiece.
6. Borat – The subtitle says it all, “Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” Who wouldn’t want to see that. Very nice.
7. Thank You For Smoking – There are always two sides to everything whether it’s my divorce or smoking.
8. Clerks – The best of the Kevin Smith flicks.
9. Harold and Maude – A love story for no one in particular.
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – and now for something completely different.

Keep in mind, these are fun movies as determined by me. If you don’t like ’em, well… it just isn’t your day today.

Reviews Of Rented Movies

The title says it all so here we go:

• Shine A Light – Here are some words I thought I would never say. The Rolling Stones are irrelevant. This documentary of The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang tour was directed by Martin Scorsese. Keith was never able to sing, but he apparently is now tone deaf. He proves this in Far Away Eyes. If you need further proof then watch the outtake of Little T&A. Mick still can’t play guitar. The sound editor all but eliminates Mick’s guitar in the film and Mick should thank him if he hasn’t already done so.To top it off, Mick is now sounding almost as bad as he did on Love You Live and that’s not a good thing. Martin Scorsese tries his best to put lipstick on the pig, but alas, it is still a pig which makes the whole thing that much sadder. Now some people might think a different director would have improved the result, but keep in mind, Mr. Scorsese got his start as the assistant director on the original Woodstock documentary. More recently he directed No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and he will soon be directing a documentary on George Harrison. In the end, Shine A Light will remind you of Neil Young’s lyrics, “It’s better to fade out than it is to rust.” I only wish the Glimmer Twins had heeded this advice.
• Recount – This is a decidedly one-sided story about the Florida recount in the 2000 Presidential election. As long as you know that going in, it is an interesting rental. Kevin Spacey is outstanding, but his performance is offset by the over-the-top caricature portrayals of several other figures, most notably Katherine Harris (played by Laura Dern) and Warren Christopher (John Hurt). What is most amusing is the portrayal of Al Gore as a sympathetic figure who really only wanted to do what was best for the country with no regard for his personal advancement.
• The Counterfeiters – This may be one of the best films ever done on the Holocaust. It not only brings the atrocities of World War II to life, it also shows the many different moral decisions faced by the Jewish people during their time in the concentration camps. The film is about a group of Jews who must produce counterfeit currency to help support the German war machine during World War II in order to stay alive. There are more shades of gray in this film than in my winter wardrobe.
• Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day – I saw this movie on August 25th and I’ve already forgotten most of it. What does that say? The acting was fine, but the story was uninspired and unoriginal. You will know the ending well before it thankfully arrives. Feel free to make a sandwich halfway through while the movie continues. I promise you won’t miss anything.
• Entourage, Season Four – Alright, I know it’s not a movie, but I love Vincey-Mark and his funky bunch, however, I am concerned about the long term viability of the franchise based on this season. The characters are, for the first time, in trouble of becoming caricatures. Drama wants to get a part in anything that will take him, Turtle wants to smoke weed, Eric can’t figure out what he is supposed to be doing half the time, Vince is still pretty, Lloyd is still gay, and Billy is still an insecure ass. The only one who evens shows a hint of growth is Ari when he sheds a tear for his son and then is forced to publicly admit who he is. Still, the worst season of Entourage still beats 99.9% of everything else on television.
• Smart People – A well written movie about bitterness, ego, and opening one’s heart to new experiences. Thomas Haden Church is absolutely great as the ne’er-do-well brother and Dennis Quaid and Ellen Page both turn in solid performances. I wouldn’t have wanted to go to the theatre to see this, but it’s not bad for a rental.
• 21 – This movie was not written for the serious gambler who will be able to point out flaw after flaw in much the same way Trekkies can tell you exactly which doors didn’t open when they were supposed to on the original series. However, if you want mindless entertainment this is for you.
• In Bruges – This film is exactly why you should read this blog for movie reviews and not the film critic in your local fish wrap. Most film critics will tell you this is one of the best films of the year. I promise you — it is not! It is an enjoyable film with a couple of plot twists and it is a somewhat interesting study in human behavior and emotion, but come on guys, this isn’t Citizen Kane. Once again, it’s worth a rent, but I wouldn’t have spent a full admission on it.
• Rockumentaries – I rented Sixties Rock. Don’t bother. Picture MTV with lip synched performance videos in black and white. I also rented Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records. I’m pretty sure director Bruce Sinofsky is now dating Sam Phillips. Sam was allowed to do his usual rant about being the father of rock ‘n roll. Fortunately, Billy Lee Riley is included and pretty much tells Sam exactly what he thinks. This documentary is worth the rent if for no other reason than the performances, however you should be ready to listen to a lot of angry and bitter old men. The Stax Records Story is wonderful. In the 1960s, soul music was defined by two labels — Motown with its lush arrangements and polished sound and Stax with its raw, straight from the streets sound. At Motown the house band was The Funk Brothers. At Stax it was Booker T. & the M.G.’s! Smokey Robinson was Motown. Otis Redding was Stax. The Four Tops were at Motown, but Sam & Dave called Stax home! After watching this documentary a nice companion piece is Wattstax. It’s an amazing event in light of what all was occurring both in the Watts section of L.A. and what all was happening back at Stax Records in Memphis. Talk about going out with a bang.

With that said, BANG!

Movies Of Late

Okay, I went to see The Dark Knight (imdb link) this past weekend — mostly because I hate to miss out on being a part of a big time cultural event in this great nation of ours.  After all $9 is a small price to pay to be a part of American movie history!  In retrospect I must say it was one of the best bloodbaths I have ever had the privilege to watch.  (Technically, I’m not sure that many people actually died in the movie, but there were a lot of really kewl explosions and why should I let the facts get in the way?)  Seriously, a good movie even if you don’t enjoy comic books.

Here’s what I’ve rented recently:

* Coffee and Cigarettes (imdb link) – Jim Jarmusch (wiki link) is a great director.  However, this is not one of this better efforts.  If you’re reading this in Memphis, I would recommend renting Mystery Train (imdb link).  If you’re reading this anywhere else you should rent Night On Earth (imdb link).  For those of you who don’t know JJ discovered Roberto Benigni and helped Billy Bob Thornton to get financing for Sling Blade (he has a cameo in the movie).  Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, and Forrest Whittaker have all had leading roles in his movies.

* Rock n Roll Documentaries/Mockumentaries – We all know I’m a rocker through and through (“AC/DC, Van Halen not Van Hagar, Skynyrd, Def Leppard…” ha ha).  I recently rented a documentary about the former lead singer of The Clash called Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (imdb link)and a documentary about Hunter S. Thompson called Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride (imdb link).  It is amazing how many of the same people knew and hung out with both of these guys.  Both movies were interesting, but somewhat laborious.  However, both might be much better if you knew very little about either person.  BTW, there is a great movie waiting to be made concerning Joe Strummer’s life from the time The Clash broke up until his untimely death.  If ever make it to NYU film school and if I find that patron – you know, the one who shares my vision and his/her wealth making my vision come true – I already have my senior project.

* The Bank Job (imdb link) – If this movie wasn’t based on a true story you would never believe it.  It is an enjoyable rent.  It’s not art and there isn’t some redeeming message.  It’s just enjoyable.

* Nora (imdb link) – I’m watching a lot of movies about Ireland since I just returned from there in June.  This movie is about the very different relationship between James Joyce and his wife Nora.  Not particularly well done, but still worth the rent if you want to learn more about James Joyce although it doesn’t tell the secret of reading Ulysses without being a pompous ass.

* College Road Trip (imdb link) – There was once a time in cinematic history when rated “X” did not equate to pornography.  When Midnight Cowboy was originally released it was rated X, and just to clarify, yes, I am talking about the version with Dustin Hoffman and John Voight.  Well, apparently rated X now means porno and rated G apparently means sucks!  This movie shows why Donnie Osmond is not an actor.  Hopefully when he quits acting he will take Martin Lawrence with him!  So, you’re thinking “surely there was something good in the movie” and you’re right — Donnie Osmond had some of the best movie hair in cinematic history!  No really, great hair!

* The Matchmaker (imdb link) – Once again, an Irish flick.  I saw this one when it was originally released on video (in the days of VHS) and didn’t think it was all that good.  Guess what, first impressions are correct!

Late.  No really, it is still late.

Write Early, Write Often

I’ve always wanted to write and publish a book.  Mind you I’m not looking to do The Great American Novel; just something I can add to my “jack of all trades master of none” title.  Hopefully, if I write enough of these entries I will stumble across some subject that actually demands my time and attention.

For those of you living vicariously here are some of the subjects you can expect to see addressed on here on a somewhat regular basis:

• Music – you will find out quickly I listen to a whole lot of different stuff.
• Movies – rarely will you see reviews of the latest movies.  However, you probably will see plenty of reviews on movies just released to DVD since I have two young children and I rarely have time to go out and see anything in its initial release.  You will also find reviews on a lot of things you have probably never seen including a number of music related documentaries.
• Wine – there’s not much telling what I am going to say on this subject.  I will from time-to-time express opinions on various wines, various liquor stores, things I find amusing at wine tastings with my somewhat regular wine groups, trends in winemaking, my trips to wineries past and present, etc., etc.
• The Battle Of My Bulge – one of these days I really am going to lose weight.  Maybe I will start publishing my food and exercise logs on here.
• Things I Find Amusing – Finn’s Law of the Universe #1: I don’t care what force of being you ascribe to as having the power to run the universe, but whatever that force is, it has a sense of humor and guess who is the butt of the joke…
• Things I Think Are Way Kewl – Gadgets, People, Music, etc.
• Am I Insane Or Are the Rest Of You – the description says it all.
• Miscellaneous Thoughts.

I’m looking for a way to end these things without being the guy who makes a statement and is then left standing there staring at everyone expecting a response that never comes.  Lately, I’m using:

Late

Introductions

Here are a few of the facts:

Who:  Duh, look at the url.  BTW, by starting a blog I’m pretty sure I can now refer to myself in the third person and with the title hrh.

Where:  I was born in Memphis, TN, but I was raised in a number of different places.  I always thought this contributed to my wanderlust. (really kewl “dime” word)

What:  I’ve expropriated the term “jack of all trades, master of none”, because it accurately describes me. I’ve also been called a “renaissance redneck” although I’m pretty sure that was during my beat poetry phase. In real life, I work for a large biotech company doing whatever needs to be done (mopping floors, taking out the garbage, washing windows, and harassing people who park on the lines in the parking lot).  

Hobbies:  I watch too many movies, love music, play some tennis and basketball, hack around the golf course in spite of the associated frustration, bowl, and love hanging out with my wife and kids.

Why:  So my kids will have one more thing to be embarrassed about.

How Often:  I’ll be commenting on a highly irregular basis.  Basically if enough people have an interest, I will write more.  If only my kids are reading my tripe then I’ll write only when they need punishment.

So, let’s get started…