Things that fascinate.
I'd like to meet:
Anyone who possesses...
Music:
Over the Rhine, The Weepies, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Radiohead, Coldplay, Bear McCreary...
Movies:
The Townshend's Ratings, Explained:A: If you don't see this film, you're a cultural moron.B: It's enjoyable, and worth checking out.C: Skip it, unless you're morbidly curious.D: D is for DANGER! Avoid at all costs!F: Dog turd sandwich.2007 FilmsNight at the Museum: a saccharine sweet kid-flick with lots of teary eyed emotionally swelling music, family values, and eye-candy. CDreamgirls: It's a lot of fluff with the plot thickness of a soap bubble, but it feels good all the way through. B-Babel: Thoroughly thought provoking, you hang on to the edge of your seat, biting your nails, awaiting imminent disaster. It's well-done, but uncomfortable. BGhost Rider: It's like eating a Big Mac with a Hershey's bar crammed in the middle. So terribly bad for you, but sooooo delicious... B for effort300: Watching the visuals, I thought "This is why movies are made." Absolutely stunning to look at. Unfortunately, the stuff added to the script involving the queen SUCKS. As soon as she begins talking about freedom and democracy and the gentle music starts underscoring it, along with the thoughtful looks from the old men, I wanted to change the channel. The writers had no idea what they were doing with the additions. Otherwise, very good. BTMNT: TMNT is exactly what it should be. The characters are the same, but older. The animation is alright. If you used to like the Turtles back in the 80s, this is the next part of their story, and it feels just right. It's not art, it's TMNT. BGrindhouse: Best. Tarantino film. EVAR. It knows what it wants to be, and it is exactly that. AMeet the Robinsons: A time-traveling kid flick from Disney that's actually quite entertaining. It's not Pixar, but it's not bad. B+Hot Fuzz: This should be billed as "Sean of the Dead II." Same writers, same actors, same hilarious comedy, only this time with policemen. I give it an A.Iron Man: This animated, direct to video movie is enjoyable, but not spectacular. C+Hellboy: Sword of Storms: An animated, direct to video Hellboy adventure that takes place between the Hellboy motion picture and its sequel, using the voice talent of the original movie. I enjoyed every minute of it. The dialogue is wry and sarcastic, the characters smart, the story a lot of fun. A-Spiderman 3: It's entertaining, but saturated with Hollywood melodrama. It begins well, but buckles under the weight of too many only tangentially related villains. The Hollywood tinsel lavishly draped over the character dialogue pounds the final nail in the coffin of the trilogy. It was okay, and that makes me sad. C+Shrek III: It was pretty good. I liked it alright. BPirates of the Carribean III - At World's End: A stinking turd of a movie. C-Knocked Up: Smart. Funny. Wonderfully well written and hilarious. AOcean's 13: Thoroughly entertaining and funny throughout. At least as good as any of its prequels if not better. A-Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: Not "good," but it didn't make me puke. CHellboy Animated: Blood & Iron: Entertaining Hellboy flick with the voice talent from the film (including John Hurt). The plot sprawled a bit, but it was still a lot of fun. BRatatouille: Once again, Pixar takes two subjects I don't care about (Rats and French cooking) and combine them into something wonderful. They have yet to make a bad movie. A-The Transformers: As you would expect, there are giant robots who turn into things and beat each other up. It's pretty much what meets the eye. In the middle of Act II I got a little bored with it. B-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Good moments, although I feel that they should start the series over and make them as TV series. The stories would be much more consistent then. C+The Simpsons: Best. Episode. Ever. A-Stardust: While I realize it can never live up to the book, I felt the book was beautiful, the movie soulless. C-Superbad: As raunchy as Clerks 2, but 100x funnier. A-King of Kong: Excellent documentary about two men competing for the Donkey Kong all time high score. See it! B+3:10 to Yuma: An excellent character-driven Western. Recommended. B+Dragon Wars: Worse than Bloodrayne. But fun to make fun of. F!Eastern Promises: Kind of like The Godfather, except set in London and it's Russian instead of Italian. Viggo does an excellent job. B+Resident Evil: Extinction: Not bad for a video game adaptation, as well as being consistent with its prequels. It's no "28 Days Later," but the action is quite well done. BBattlestar Galactica: RAZOR: a smart and gripping retrospective on the annihilation of the 12 colonies through the eyes of a young lieutenant with flashbacks to the events of the first cylon war. ABeowulf: Neil Gaiman's script diverts from the original text while keeping the details incredibly faithful. The diversions serve to unite the Beowulf story into one cinematic piece while maintaining their own internal logic. A-
Television:
Battlestar Galactica: Best show on earth (or anywhere else). A+Rome: Excellent drama with excellent characters, lots of political intrigue and exotic flavor. ADeadwood: Excellent, authentic costumes & sets, intricate acting & writing, even if the political elements are at times pretty convoluted. A-LOST: Go to exotic locations, meet interesting characters, and watch them shoot each other. Soapy, but entertaining. BHeroes: Don't be fooled by the first few episodes. The show begins soft and then accelerates to pure awesomenity. After BSG, it's the best thing I've seen all year long. AExtras: a funny show about life in the biz. If nothing else, be sure to watch the Patrick Stewart episode. I'm still laughing about it. B
Heroes:
Sir Reginald Phillip MedleyGilbert Shakespeare
