Mamma Mia

So Deb exacted her revenge on me for dragging her to The Clone Wars the other day. Apparently my penance was to sit through the year's ULTIMATE chick flick.

For what it's worth the movie was significantly more fun and entertaining than I would have thought. I dig musicals, but hadn't ever seen/heard this one before. I am (un)fortunately(?) old enough to have heard a fair share of the ABBA songs, so it wasn't completely foreign. Other than some odd looping issues, my only real complaint was the way they kept ratcheting up Colin Firth's GAY revelation. First it was the subtle but understood conversation on the boat, then it was a slightly over the top gay-wink to his newfound manfriend, lastly he flamboyantly tears off his shirt while dancing/frolicking in the rain with the previously mentioned manfriend. I shudder to think what might have been shown if the filmmakers felt like they needed to (or maybe just COULD?) go one more...

3 songs I definitely recognized out of 5 songs I might have...

This part is just for you Joe... Read what Uncle Orson had to say about the manfriend.

P.S. everyone should start saying manfriend.

Face Paint

Just a couple of quick images of Emmalee and my neice Mykaela after having their faces painted at the Park City Arts Festival.



(FYI, the purple didn't wash off very well... )

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Emmalee, Zack, Deb, and I all went to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Friday night. Though I've heard nothing but bad reviews I tried to go in with an open mind. I don't care what anyone else tells you, this is a great kids movie.
It's a KID'S MOVIE. It was designed to entertain CHILDREN. Great storytelling occurs when the audience identifies with an idea, emotion, archetype (,...) that the story crafter(s) intended. Until we figure out how to communicate ideas in a fully realized form, we are limited by the medium used for communication (in this case a movie). That said, if you recognize that this movie was made for KIDS, and try to watch it through a child's eyes I think you will see some genuine gems within it. Here's my short list:
-Jabba the Hutt creating a new front in the Clone Wars by sending bounty hunters, Separatists, and Jedi to rescue his kidnapped son. Even bad guys love their kids!
-Anakin getting a padawan, learning some of the lessons that BEING a mentor can provide (as opposed to HAVING a mentor)
-Beautiful style. The look and feel of the film is beautiful. At times it looks almost as though it were animated via stop frame as opposed to CGI.
-I've had to read the "opening crawl" to my daughter whenever we have seen a Star Wars movie in the past (not that I mind particularly, but sometime I feel like I'm disturbing the other theater goers). This time the crawl is replaced by a newsreel type opening that I thoroughly enjoyed (as did Em). Also during the movie there are no subtitles that need read to younger kids.
-...
-I have heard that this movie serves as the pilot for a television series. I love the idea that there could be dozens of episodes, dozens of hours of new Star Wars content available for me to enjoy with my daughter. And this show is easily up to par with any of the Saturday morning cartoons that Em has been interested in lately.

Don't get me wrong, the movie is far from perfect, but as a kid's movie it is much better than most reviews would have you believe.

3 out of 5 Star Wars factions turned on each other.

Things Change

another Mamet movie... mafia related this time. I dug the whole thing right up until the end, the VERY end. Unfortunately that ending kinda popped me out of an otherwise excellent movie.

3 of 5 favors owed.

State and Main

Rented it because it was another Mamet movie... Again, probably not the "type" of Mamet movie that I dig... But if you wanted to see a satire of Hollywood movie making, I can't think of a better DVD to rent.

3 of 5 ensemble cast members (low end)

The Unit (seasons 1-3)

I'll admit that the first time I caught an episode of The Unit while flipping through channels I couldn't take that Allstate guy seriously as a Covert Ops / Special Forces operator. It wasn't until after seeing Redbelt recently that I was reminded that it was "created for television" by David Mamet. The show IS everything I dig about Mamet stuff. These characters live and breath one liners.

4 out of 5 members of the 303rd Logistical Studies Group Alpha Team:
Snake Doctor, Dirt Diver, Betty Blue, and Cool Breeze...