Saturday night serolynne and I had a bunch of friends over for party, and then on Sunday we went out to see Iron Man with a bunch of the out-of-town stragglers who stayed over.

It rocked.

Great characters, fun special effects, and an ass-kicking super hero. Iron Man takes the typical summer blockbuster formula, and executes it nearly perfectly.

I was a bit disappointed with the climatic final battle (ice?!!?), and I wish there had been more background and depth given to the villain. And there were a few scenes that were just not particularly believable, even allowing for the Iron Man universe physics. The suit is supposed to be indestructible, not the man...

But minor quibbles aside, this movie was a visual feast perfect for seeing on the big screen. Much fun!

Rating: 4+ stars

After seeing Sweeney Todd Friday night, serolynne and I were in desperate need for some light-hearted entertainment on Saturday that did not involve slit throats or cannibalism.

Fortunately, swdev and Heather had left behind the animated Dreamwork's movie Madagascar in our DVD player earlier in the week (it had been put to use entertaining their daughter), and after giving up on Saturday morning cartoons, we decided to give it a watch.

It was GREAT! The perfect antidote to Sweeney Todd...

The writing had a rare balance of humor that works for all ages, the characters were well voiced and well animated, and the 3D environments were beautifully rendered.

The story was great - imaginative and original. In summary: pampered Central Park Zoo animals (a show-off lion, a zebra with a mid-life crisis, a motherly hippo, and a hypochondriac giraffe) end up in THE WILD, washed up on a beach in Madagascar after a series of misadventures running around New York City...

I particularly enjoyed the mercenary penguins that hijack a freighter to try and escape to Antarctica - only to arrive and say: "this sucks"

Consider Madagascar highly recommended! And if you get the DVD, be sure to watch all the extras - the animated shorts (particularly the penguins) are a blast too.

Rating: 4+ stars!

Right now I am headed south towards a Disneyland rendezvous with Lindsay tomorrow.

Presently stopping for lunch at the always amazing Casa de Fruta on the Pacheco Pass between Gilroy and Los Banos.

Casa de Fruta is a surreal fantasy-land always worth stopping for. What started out as a roadside fruit stand nearly 100 years ago on a small two lane highway in the middle of nowhere has grown out of control.

Now the fruit stand is bigger than many grocery stores. Next to the fruit stand is the Casa de Gifts gift-shop (souvenirs of your visit to a fruit stand?). Next to that is the 24hr Casa de Restaurant diner (where I am now). Behind that is the huge Case de Wine store (and they make their own wine too!), and inside that is the Casa de Deli.

Behind that - there is the Casa de Sweets serving ice cream and candy and more. Inside Casa de Sweets you can buy tickets to ride the Casa de Carousel (imported from Italy), or the miniature Casa de Choo-Choo, which circles the property - passing through the playground and the park (Casa de Park?). It also takes you through the buffalo paddock, and past various other animals.

Also present in the Casa de Complex is the Casa de Diesel 24/hr gas station, as well as the Casa de Inn hotel, and of course - the Casa de RV Park and Festival Grounds.

There is also a big giant teepee and a pumpkin patch, of course.

(I didn't look too hard, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a sign calling it Casa de TeePee or Casa de Pumpkin....)

Weird, and wonderful. I imagine the fruit must be pretty good too.

Rating: 4+ stars! (would be five if they had "Casa de WiFi")

I had a great time walking around San Luis Obispo last nigh with my friend dandyloo, and late in the evening we managed a rendezvous for some frozen yogurt with Lindsay and Sean who were also in SLO for Sean's sister's graduation this weekend. After the yogurt was packed away - we all decided to head out to see whatever movie happened to be playing next at the nearby Palms art-house theater.

The movie fate had in store for us was A Prairie Home Companion.

What a delight!

The movie chronicles in roughly real time the final live performance of the legendary Prairie Home Companion radio variety show before the historic Fitzgerald Theater is due to be torn down by its new owners. But - "every performance is your last", so it really is no different than any other night. Or is it?

Robert Altman's skill as a director always blows me away - and this movie is masterfully made. There are dozens of amazingly long single takes without a cut, with the camera floating like a ghost through the chaos of the live theater and backstage. I kept pinching myself, wondering how on earth he managed to film and choreograph so many long scenes without a break. The use of mirrors is stunning too. Rather than using different camera angles to capture the reactions of different characters, dressing room mirrors and other reflective surfaces are used to capture angles and moments that look raw and real and more "live" than a scripted movie has any right being.

The cast is a stunning collection of masters. Garrison Keillor plays himself as the host, calm in the midst of the chaos. Meryl Streep is sublime as one of the singing Johnson sisters. And Woody Harrelson is hilarious as one of the two crude cowboys - belting out hilariously crude and cheesy dirty jokes and songs.

The movie is all about music, and the songs are playing non-stop throughout - fun and heartwarming.

The only thing I didn't really like about the movie was the "story" going on in the background - with an "angel", a private eye, and the axeman (Tommy Lee Jones) all running about on their various errands. These characters give the movie a necessary structure and dramatic arc, but in the end it felt more distraction than core.

But - this movie is a fun surprise and a delight regardless. Highly recommended!

Rating: 4 stars!

My friend Jillian last month hosted a series of three Movie Nights to work through the the Matrix trilogy. But this was more than just basic movie watching - she took "Movie Night" to the next level by asking people to come dressed in Matrix style, and she even arranged for guest co-hosts to come ready to guide pre- and post-movie conversation on such topics as "the hero's journey" and even the "nature of reality".

I was bummed to miss the first two, but fate conspired to have me in the right place on May 22nd to be able to make the final movie night to watch The Matrix - Revolutions.

What an awesome evening!

Great food. Great conversation. Great people. And a great movie.

On its own, Revolutions is not nearly as momentous of a classic as the original Matrix, but it is a powerful film - and it works on so many levels. On the surface it can be enjoyed as an uber-action-fest special-effects masterpiece, but looking a little deeper reveals a very complex and thought-provoking story laden with symbolism.

My friend Boston lead the conversation for the evening, and he did a great job of pointing out some of the clever bits hidden in the movie - making for a much richer viewing experience than it would have been otherwise.

The Wachowski brothers make movies that simultaneously kick-ass and make you think - a very rare combination. I am glad to see that they are still at it with V for Vendetta. I can't wait to see where they take us next.

Rating: 4+ stars

My first night in Rio Vista (May 8th), I decided to go check out the local landmark restaurant and bar: Foster's Bighorn.

Wow - what a BIZARRE place.

Bill Foster was a prohibition-era bootlegger who was fascinated with Africa, and between 1928 and 1953 he went on eight big game safari trips to the "Dark Continent". Bill had a passion for taxidermy - and he brought back an unprecedented collection of trophies that he wanted to share with the public so that they could experience the wonder of Africa.

Bill's collection of pictures and "heads" cover every square inch of this fascinating restaurant, and the staff claims that the collection is second in size only to the Smithsonian. In particular - the mounted full-grown adult elephant head is one of the few in existence in the world. Also exceedingly rare is the giraffe, and the hippopotamus. The Moose over the bar is claimed to be the largest on display in the world.


It i is slightly unnerving to eat dinner with so many eyes peering over your shoulder...



The collection is indeed impressive. And I guess it did serve a purpose in the era before the Discovery Channel and WIld Kingdom.

Rio Vista is a funky out-of-the-way town, and Foster's Bighorn is a must-see if you are a fan of the bizarre attractions that make funky out-of-the-way towns worth visiting. You must at least peek in the door if you are ever passing through. Check it out!

Rating: 4 stars.

This week's movie night was all about Jackie Chan.

First up was Jackie Chan's 1978 classic, Drunken Master - only his second starring role.

Jackie Chan is a master of martial arts, choreography, and physical comedy. And the unique style of "Drunken Boxing" that he portrays in this movie pushes the limits of all three - and it is mesmerizing to watch.

Drunken Master is the story of a trouble-making but noble young boy who shames his father, and who is then sent to train with his cruel uncle - who teaches him the secret art of Drunken Boxing. Drunken Boxing is a style of fighting where you look (and often are) drunk - using wine to gain strength, flexibility, and an immunity to pain.

The film quality is abysmally poor, the plot is cheesy kung-fu drama, and the acting and production value is totally low-budget Hong Kong.

But - despite all that, there is something magical about this movie. Jackie Chan is in the midst of discovering his signature style of kung-fu comedy and amazing stunts (he does nearly all of them himself), and there is something that feels totally fresh and new about Drunken Master - even though the movie is nearly 30 years old now.

It truly is a classic.

Rating: 4+ stars...


Next up was the "sequel" Legend of Drunken Master, made 16 years later in 1994.

Whereas Drunken Master felt raw fresh and new, Legend of Drunken Master felt like "yet another Jackie Chan movie". By this point in his career Jackie Chan was a big international star famous for his trademark style of action and comedy and insane stunts. And though this formula is a good one, The Legend of Drunken Master feels overly polished and formulaic. Some of the magic is lost, and the story has become little more than an excuse to string together amazingly elaborate stunts.

The plot this time around is shallow and I found it rather offensive in how it portrayed the colonial british ambassador so one dimensionally. The evil British ambassador is smuggling priceless historic artifacts out of China, and Jackie must fight back. *yawn*

And despite the title - in this movie there is less focus on the Drunken Boxing fighting style than in the first, and it is treated more for comedic effect than as a serious and beautiful martial art.

The stunts and fight choreography are stunning though. Jackie Chan moves with a grace that rivals Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

But I wish there was more to the movie as a whole than just an excuse to string together some action scenes.

Worthwhile - but it could have been so much more.

Rating: 3 stars.

Friday night cortneyofeden and I went to see the Victor Wooten Band at the Fillmore.

I knew of Victor Wooten from his work as a Flecktone, playing in Bella Fleck's band. When Cortney mentioned she was going to this concert, I was excited to go along and check out his solo work.

Cortney is a big fan - at dinner at the Thai restaurant next to the Fillmore, her eyes got wide as saucers as we were seated at a table next to Victor. It was cute to watch her get all bouncy about being so close to him.

The concert was a blast - Victor Wooten is probably one of the most amazing bass players ever, and it seemed like half the audience was made up a bassists and other musicians who came to be schooled by the king.

And that was actually the biggest downside of the show. Victor Wooten is a musician's musician - and a lot of the concert consisted of showing off for other musicians and bassists. Afterwards it was amusing to listen to some fanboys raving about how "that was so SICK when he did X..." as we walked back to the car.

But even if I wasn't able to fully appreciate how "SICK" Victor was on the bass, I could appreciate watching a passionate master working his art - and he was indeed great.

The Victor Wooten Band was great too - I particularly loved Victor's brother jamming on a Thermanin. Wow.

This concert was great fun - thank you Cortney for inviting me along!!

Rating: 4 stars!

Friday afternoon was meant to be productive time. Lindsay was hanging out at my place with studying to do before heading out to meet her sister that night, and cortneyofeden came over early to avoid traffic and also do homework before we were supposed to meet for the Victor Wooten concert that night.

And I had a ton of stuff to sort through, and for-sale posts to make to Craigslist.

Those plans got pleasantly diverted after only a few minutes of productive time.

Lindsay - "I feel like a movie..."
Cortney - "I just happened to have brought MirrorMask just in case..."
Me - "Oooh, cool, ok!"

MirrorMask is a fantasy story about a fifteen year old girl trapped in her imagination - trying to restore balance by finding the legendary MirrorMask. Meanwhile her dark inner-goth self has escaped into the real world and is ruining her life by smoking and dressing all in black and talking back to her father and probably even being naughty with boys. Egads!

The story is written by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, and Dave McKean also directed. The Jim Henson company did the special effects, and that is where this movie shines. The imaginative world that Helena explores is lush and wonderful, if overly nonsensical.

The creatures in particular were clever - I loved the Monkey Birds.

Unfortunately, I think the movie was poorly cast. The young girl (played by Stephanie Leonidas) did an ok job, but she didn't really shine. And the same can be said of the rest of the cast.

With a better cast and a slightly tweaked script, MirrorMask could have been a fantasy classic.

But while it fails to reach classic status, there is enough visual candy here to make this movie a very fun escape into another world.

Rating: 4 stars.

After watching Napoleon Dynamite on Monday, Leah klrmn and I curled up on the couch to watch An American in Paris on Seth's recommendation.

This 1951 Gene Kelly classic is in many ways stunning. Gene Kelly moves and dances with hypnotic grace, the dialog is often sharp and witty, and overall the movie is a pleasure.

But sadly I did not think that much of Lisa (Leslie Caron), the French woman Gene's character (an ex-GI American painter living in Paris after WWII) falls for. She seemed dull and did not strike a chord with me at all, and it seemed silly to see Gene turn his back on the interest of the rich and worldly and interesting Nina Foch character for her.

Also silly is the old-fashioned idea that marriage to the "wrong person" is inevitable and tragic. Lisa is promised to another man, and it is too late to back out because he has done so much for her.

And of course - an old movie would never even consider exploring the idea of a love triangle that does NOT have to be tragic for at least one of the people involved...

But - the movie is fun. The songs are fun. Gene Kelly is amazing. And other than the way overly long climactic dance number, the movie breezes by.

A very enjoyable classic.

Rating: 4 stars.

The second movie in Monday's animation double feature was Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.

In typical Miyazaki fashion, the animation is stunning and richly detailed, and the characters and plot are interesting and complex.

When it was first released in Japan in 1997 - Mononoke became the highest grossing movie there of all time. Miyazaki has earned his popularity - he truly is a master, and he is so deeply involved in the movie making that according to IMDB Miyazaki "personally corrected or redrew more than 80,000 of the film's 144,000 animation cels." Wow.

But for some reason, this movie did not grab me nearly as strongly as Spirited Away or Nausicaa did - both of which blew me away like few movies do.

I'll leave it to IMDB to try and summarize the complex plot:
A prince is infected with an incurable disease by a possessed boar/god. He is to die unless he can find a cure to rid the curse from his body. It seems that his only hope is to travel to the far east. When he arrives to get help from the deer god, he finds himself in the middle of a battle between the animal inhabitants of the forest and an iron mining town that is exploiting and killing the forest. Leading the forest animals in the battle is a human raised by wolves, Princess Mononoke

The deeper story being told is about the need for balance and harmony between man and nature. There is no simple answer or clear good/bad in the movie - there is no one side in the war that is in the right. The hero, Prince Ashitaka, tries to find the middle ground - to "see with eyes unclouded by hate."

If only we all took that advice.

Rating: 4 stars

The Monday Night Movie this week was Batman Begins, an excellent choice. Thank you Rebekah for providing the suggestion and the DVD.

It is rare for a comic book movie to take the comics and the characters seriously enough - but Batman Begins does so admirably. Christopher Nolan really impressed me as a director, and Christian Bale pulls off the Bruce Wayne / Batman character exceptionally well.

Batman Begins digs deeper into the origins of Batman than any other Batman movie, and in the process it creates a believable and human character and a very real Gotham City. Even the villains have more depth than the typical one-dimensional charactitures you tend to expect in this sort of movie.

This is probably the best super-hero movie I have ever seen.

There was only one place where the plot bent even the movie reality a bit too far - and that was around the activation scheme for the super-villain's ultimate weapon. And it is a shame, because only a very minor change could have kept the movie making sense. But other than that one gaff, the script is brilliantly written.

Great hero, great script, great direction, great atmoshphere, great villains, and a kick-ass Bat-Mobile. What an awesome movie!

Though no Batman villain will ever top Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the first Batman movie.... "This town needs an enema!" *grin*

Rating: 4+ Stars!

The first Monday Night Movies was a great time.

Rebekah, Bug, Jen, Dave, Bill, and Cortney came over - and we voted to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

The movie was AWESOME fun - and a perfect choice for the group.

First time director Kerry Conran spent four years making a six minute short that showcased the unique style of the movie - and which impressed enough to get him major studio funding to turn it into a feature release. Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law signed on as the leads, and even Laurence Olivier came back from the dead to play a roll.

The movie was filmed entirely against a blue screen, with all sets computer generated. They style is 1930's art-deco with a good dose a Buck Rogers futurism thrown in. This movie looks awesome - it is a stylistic masterpiece.

In other ways, the movie feels like a fun cross between Star Wars, Indiana Jones, King Kong, and old James Bond. The pace is fast, character development is lacking (hey - this is a cartoon with people after all), and there are great liberties taken in the plot with both reality and the bounds of common sense.

But that doesn't diminish the fun.

The very last line of the movie was the perfect ending - it left us all rolling around laughing.

After the feature, we watched the Star Wars fan-film short Sith Apprentice - imagine if there was a reality TV show about the Emperor choosing his new apprentice via silly tasks, such as putting on a talent show.

Jar Jar: "Meesa Fired?"
Emperor: "No - yousa FRIED!"

*giggle*

I am already looking forward to next Monday's movie night. My mom will be in town as a special guest too. I wonder what movie we should watch...

Rating: 4+ stars! (Sky Captain)
Rating: 4 stars... (Sith Apprentice)

This movie should be awful. As Rebekah put it as we watched it last night, it is "wrong in so many ways".

But Dodgeball is one of those rare cheesy comedies that actually manages to transcend itself to become not just good, but great.

This movie is right up there with other classics such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Blues Brothers. Really, it is that good.

The movie was written and directed by first-time director Rawson Marshall Thurber, and it stars Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn as the feuding owners of rival gyms. The fate of "Average Joe's" gym hinges upon beating "Globogym" in $50k Las Vegas Dodgeball tournament, publicized in "Obscure Sports Quarterly" and broadcast on ESPN 8 "The Ocho".

Celebrity cameos add to the cheese fest. Lance Armstrong, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and even David Hasselhoff (as the coach of the German team, of course!) make appearances.

"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball."

Go see this!

Rating: 4+ Stars

Dinner and a movie Tuesday night with Rebekah. She brought over Garden State on DVD to watch - one of her favorite movies.

I love movies that have a single loud passionate voice behind them - and in this case it is Zach Braff's. He is the writer / director / and star of Garden State - he even hand-picked the songs on the soundtrack to set just the right mood to bring his vision to life.

The movie is about a young man (Andrew Largeman / played by Zach) who returns home (to New Jersey) for his mother's funeral after 9 years living in LA. He has been medicated and numb to the world since he was 11 years old - and during his visit home he leaves his medications behind and slowly wakes up to life and love and pain and passion. And he falls in love with Natalie Portman along the way...

This movie is meaningful, well acted, stylistically beautiful, and it has an AMAZING soundtrack. Highly recommended.

Thank you Rebekah!

Rating: 4+ stars.

The only thing more surreal than watching the Wizard of Oz synchronized to the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon is doing so on Christmas Day with your parents, aunt and uncle, and grandma.

I'm not even sure exactly how it came up. But my Uncle Scott mentioned over Christmas day family lunch that he had recently gotten a pre-mixed bootleg DVD called The Dark Side of Oz, and somehow we all ended up in his living room watching it.

I'd heard for years about how many bizarre bits of synchronicity there are if you watch Oz while listening to Dark Side of the Moon - and, yep - wow! It works.

I'm not sure whether it is actually an intentional in joke played by the band, or some bizarre cosmic joke. But the soundtrack works. It is spooky in places. And while in others it seems totally disconnected.

But hearing "black, black, black..." play just as the Wicked Witch first appears...
And hearing a heartbeat as Dorthy puts her head up to the Tin Man's chest...
And the way the tone of the music changes in time with scene changes, particularly during the tornado scene...

It is a surreal twilight zone experience many times over.

Anyway - I think I'd like to try this experiment again, though perhaps properly inebriated next time. *grin*

Rating: 4 Moons.

Watched Bowling for Columbine Sunday night. Yet another Netflix that had been hanging around the place for months.

Damn - our country is a mess. I'm glad Michael Moore is around to keep shining a light on the nuts. There are some really sad and funny scenes in this movie - really worth watching.

Michael Moore clearly has an agenda, and he pushes it a bit too far sometimes. But, somebody has to.

I need to watch Fahrenheit 911 next.

Rating: 4 stars.

Saw Serenity yesterday with grynz .  Since when does a MATINEE cost $8?  Egads. 

Anyway - though I think I am the only geek'ish person on earth who has never watched a single episode of Firefly - I do have to say that the movie rocked.  The style of it was great, reminded me some of Lexx before it got bad.  I loved the ship.  The characters were also great. 

The storyline felt a bit corny and predictable in parts - but overall I really loved it.  It was a very fun ride, even for those of us who aren't (yet) Firefly fans.

I guess now it is time for me to borrow (or Netflix) the Firefly DVD's.  I want more.  :-)

Rating: 4 stars.

My last night with my dad visiting, showing off Comcast's video on demand goodness.

"You mean all those movies are free to watch right now?!??"

Uhm, yeah... (I really need to reconsider why I am paying for TiVo and Netflix...)

We decided to watch the Devil's Advocate, an old favorite of mine. Al Pacino as the devil is awesome, the overall premise is great (Satan heading up a NY law firm that handles corporate clients and gets bad people off for crimes they commit...), and evin Keaunu does a decent job.

I wish they had made the movie a bit deeper and more challenging, but overall it is enjoyable and worth watching. Besides - you can rarely go wrong with Al Pacino.

Consider it recommended.

Rating: 4 stars.

Watched with my Mom on Wednesday night.

Vanilla Sky has been on my "to see" list for years, and I have somehow managed to last this long without stumbling across any spoilers about the plot. If you haven't seen this yet - AVOID SPOILERS at all cost!

More than most movies - you really do not want to know what is really going on in advance.

The story twists and turns, and for much of the movie I was actually hating it. It just wasn't holding together well at all. But in the end, that becomes almost the point. It was intentional all along.

I can't say much more, other than ultimately I was very satisfied, inspired, left with a lot to think about. This is definately good brain food.

Cameron Crowe has always impressed me as a director - I am very eager to see what he does next. :-)

Rating: 4+ stars.