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12/4/2005
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The only response I got from our request for New Year’s ideas came from
degenerate JF:
Let us know if you find out about any good New Year's ideas!!! I REFUSE to stay
in Charlotte but I agree with you--I also don't want to freeze my behind off up
north! I'm getting desperate and I have even considered going to a remote area
of the NC mountains for the annual "Possum Drop". Scary... :)
Either nobody has any ideas, or you’re too damn lazy to put fingers to keyboard
and send ‘em, or you’re keeping them secret so a horde of drunken degenerates
don’t crash your party. Well, the horde is more like a small advanced stout unit
these days since most of the barbarians will remain back at the village with the
spouses and children and cattle, keeping the home fires burning while we few
adventurous wanderers roam the wilderness. So if you know of a happy hunting
ground this New Year’s, spread the word!
FILM FLAM
Caught an advance screening of Aeon Flux last week. It’s a bad sign when a
studio doesn’t do any advanced screenings. Paramount screened Aeon Flux once, at
10pm the night before it’s release - too late for any press people to get a
review out before the Friday opening, too late even for word of mouth to spread.
The cartoon from which the movie is drawn, so to speak, was interesting and
cutting edge, some 10 years ago. But what made it noteworthy were the
interesting visuals - the odd artwork and animation style, lifelike yet
simultaneously cartoonish, sort of Asian action movie meets sci fi, but with
noir characters and sensibilities. The other interesting aspect of the cartoons
was the nearly total lack of dialogue. Everything had to be deduced by the
viewer. The main character only spoke a single word the entire run of the
series.
I feared none of this would translate to the big screen. Another problem would
be the transition from a series of interesting cartoon snippets to a coherent
single film.
Most of my fears were justified. They tried too hard to make the future look
real, rather than visually entertaining. Charlize Theron is gorgeous, but almost
as two-dimensional as a cartoon in the title role. Her costume isn’t the
strange, skimpy bondage-like getup from the cartoon, a disappointment for
straight males and fans of the original series.
The special effects aren’t so special either. There are several wire-fu
sequences that look cheap and many computer generated effects look computer
generated.
But complaints aside, it’s not a bad sci-fi flick. There are a few minor plot
twists you don’t see coming if you didn’t watch the original cartoon (or can’t
remember the plot in detail, since plot wasn’t why you watched the series.) It’s
sort of a mix between 1984 and The Island, the recent flick with Ewan McGregor
and Scarlett Johanssson. They don’t get hung up on technology or throw in too
many silly toys, though there are enough for geeks to say “Coool” a few times.
Probably not worth seeing in the theater, but rent it when it comes out on video
and you’re looking for some sci-fi fun.
Speaking of fun, we actually went to a movie that wasn’t one of SW’s screenings
for the first time in ages last weekend. I was in the mood for something light
and funny so I talked SW into seeing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. A lot of reviews are
saying it’s a send-up of buddy action flicks, but I agree with one critic SW
quoted, “noir with a funny bone.” Robert Downey Jr. is cute as a bumbling crook
turned actor turned apprentice private eye under the tutelage of Val Kilmer, who
is funny as the deadpan, gay Hollywood investigator for hire. The plot twists
are quick and sometimes confusing but in the end it’s all explained and you
realize you didn’t really care who was behind it all or what was really
happening, you just enjoyed the ride (even more so if you catch it at Landmark
Midtown Art where you can get a couple of glasses of wine with your movie.)
Definitely worth seeing.
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