tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96037812024-03-13T12:11:13.483-07:00Monkeys Aren't FunnyRyan Agadonihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451907692030120105noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-49047899160512662072014-10-17T20:34:00.001-07:002014-10-17T20:36:33.397-07:00Are all the best Western comics French??(This post originally written after Comic Con 2013.)<br />
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Hey, folks.<br />
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So, lotsa stuff since last year (had a baby, got EMT license, graduated fire academy, blah blah). But I'm here to talk about WESTERN COMICS.<br />
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At Comic Con last week I noticed that there are still quite a few Western comics out there! Naturally I wanted to take a look at every one. In the past, I would have bought each one. But there are so many and I am so picky that I didn't buy any. Mostly because the art didn't really sell me. The Sixth Gun is still intriguing me, and the art looks pretty good, but they have a hardcover collection coming out in the Fall, so I may pick that up rather than buying one of the trades. There was also a comic called "Deadeye" and one called "Pariah, MO." One of the things that bugs me on a lot of these comics, though, is the lack of thorough research. Everyone claims they research, but I still see a lot of non-period hats, holsters, clothing, and vaguely rendered weapons.<br />
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Surprisingly, the only Western comics I came close to buying were French comics over at Stuart Ng's book booth. There is the series "Blueberry," which I've looked through before due to the beautiful art by Moebius, and I found a new collection called "Junk" which has a wonderful simplified style that I'd like to emulate when I finally make my book.<br />
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I ordered "Junk: L'Integrale" and one volume of "Blueberry" from Amazon UK last week because it ended up being cheaper than buying at Stuart Ng. While buying a French import of Open Range on Blu-Ray, I was also turned on to the series "Lincoln," which also has a simplified comic style applied to a Western. I discovered several other French Western series as well, which is funny to me. I guess the American West really does have a worldwide appeal! It's also funny given the stereotype that the French hate Americans, and what is more American than a cowboy?<br />
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Below is some of the art I could find from these series.<br />
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<b>Junk</b>, art by Bruno.<br />
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<b>Lincoln</b>, art by Jerome Jouvray.</div>
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Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-49473291599529982392014-03-17T10:28:00.000-07:002014-03-17T10:28:01.145-07:00Bad Art - Neverland HookI'm not going to post the full cover here, but if you must see it, see it <a href="http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/post/75044518944/sassy-gay-justice-submitted-to">here at the Hawkeye Initiative</a>. Fair warning, it is cheese-cake in the extreme and likely Not Safe For Work.<br />
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This is a cover for what is surely the worst comic on the market right now, something called "Neverland Hook." Now, aside from the ridiculous "costume" and the sexual objectification and the cultural insensitivity and the stupid pose, the thing that bugs me MOST is that gawd-awful tomahawk. Good gravy, Pasquale Qualano, you couldn't Google "axe" or "tomahawk"? That is really and truly awful. I'm offended as a fan of tomahawks. What is the blade made of, stone? Why is it so thick? The weight makes this thing look terribly unwieldy. For the record, here is what your average Native American tomahawk looks like:<br />
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<br />Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-24998203383177783672014-03-17T10:08:00.000-07:002014-03-17T10:08:04.681-07:00Bad Art - Tony Daniel's F5(An odd time to make a new post, but that's what happens when you should be doing other things.)<br />
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I found this gem in an old Wizard magazine. There are many things that are lame with this cover, but can you see the worst offender? In the article accompanying the comic announcement, creator Tony Daniel says that this book is about a team of ex-Navy Seals posing as meteorologists (even though women are not allowed to join the Navy SEALs). I could leave that premise there and this post would serve its purpose. But the art goes further. Daniel claims to "love weapons of war" and "the military," so I'm sure he's at least seen a movie with an RPG or bazooka, right? Or maybe he's launched a model rocket before? Research is key whenever you write anything, though most comic creators seems to rely on their memories of movies, but Daniel couldn't even be bothered to watch ANY movie within the genre he's writing. I can't believe no one stopped him before this went to print, because even if he has no idea how a rocket works, you'd think the colorist, editor, publisher, or even an office intern might.<br />
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Check out the blonde girl with the rocket launcher who is about to burn off her face:<br />
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Maybe it's intentionally supposed to look stupid, and inside the book the girl is an idiot who doesn't know what she's doing. Maybe she's comedy relief.<br />
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Other art crimes include the thigh position of the gimp at the very bottom. His left thigh is not attached to his body if it's coming back in from that angle. Also, why is he wearing a mask with a black tank-top? Then, look at the leg of the skinny guy on the left of the cover. How thick is that leg??<br />
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Lastly, the composition of the cover is just bad. Instead of following good design and giving the eye a good path to travel, this is just a jumble of boring people thrown haphazardly together. Does this entice anyone? Does anyone past sixth grade think this looks cool?Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-89728276451198200502012-05-31T23:33:00.001-07:002012-06-02T10:05:50.522-07:00Memorial Day 2012I had a good series of adventures this last holiday weekend. (I'm writing down one now, will complete the rest later.)<br />
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Started off Saturday<br />
- 5th anniversary <br />
- Ambush at Mill Creek<br />
- hub cap<br />
- Jenese' grad party<br />
- leave for Havasu<br />
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Sunday morning we slept in slightly, got breakfast at Carl's, lunch-to-go from Blimpies, and fueled up. Used the local launch instead of Site 6 due to ease and crowds. I launched the PWCs. Only had to re-adjust once. Christopher had received a message from Rocky saying he was in Laughlin, NV. We decided to take the PWCs up-river to visit, a trip of about 60-65 miles. The trip was pretty good, some crowds in different spots, but not too bad. Got the crafts up to 60mph+ at different points. Had our lunch on a sandbar about 2/3 of the way there, but unfortunately lots of chop makes for mushy smashed sandwiches in the fore storage compartment. We ate for sustenance, not for pleasure. Continued up-river. Made it to Laughlin, with all its casinos lining the very shores of the river. Chris wanted he and me to dock and go play a $5 hand of Blackjack, but we couldn't find a good place to land. Chris was piloting his Waverunner, and I was on the back seat, while Ben was piloting Bob's Sea-Doo with Bob on back. We all were wearing life-jackets. (This is important later.)<br />
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Just as we were about to turn around and head back, Chris and I spotted a girl (around 18) holding on to the outside rail of a metal cattle-boat moored next to the Colorado Belle Hotel and Casino.<br />
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Her legs were in the water and being pulled down-river by the swift current, along with her red bikini bottoms. Two friends in the boat were trying to pull her back up. Now, to me, she didn't look like she was in trouble. I thought she and her friends were goofing off, and, at worst, she'd let go and have to swim to the back of the boat and pull herself back in. But Chris saw a look of terror on her face that I did not and directed, "Ryan, jump in and help that girl." I didn't immediately because I still thought there wasn't any emergency and that Chris was reacting too strongly to a mild situation. We got closer and Chris repeated, "Ryan, get in there and save that girl!" I still didn't think I needed to, but jumped in anyway, losing my sunglasses in the process. I jumped in too soon, miss-judging the strength of the current, and was quickly swept past the girl without being close enough to touch her or the boat. Still thinking this was silly, though now a little more concerned because of the current, I muttered to myself, "Well this was a bad idea." What I hadn't heard when I jumped in was Chris asking the friends, "Can she swim?" and their answer of "No! Help her!" I still didn't know this as I missed the back of the boat, swimming as hard as I could against the current, and instead grabbed an anchor rope and pulled myself to the back of the boat and hoisted myself up on the step. During this time, the girl had let go or been pulled off of the railing and drifted swiftly past, with Chris pursuing on his Waverunner. I didn't even see her go by. She was out of sight behind another pontoon boat moored behind the boat I was on. At this time, out of my sight, Ben had taken the Sea-Doo over to her and Bob had jumped in and gotten a hold of her. On my stoop, I heard one of the girl's friends ("Leopard Bikini," for identification purposes) jump in the water saying, "We need to go help her!" I knew that was a bad idea, because she had no PFD, she would make one more potential victim in the water for the other guys to rescue, and if she reached her friend she would very likely get pulled under in her friend's panic (Life Saving merit badge basics; thanks, Boy Scouts of America!). So as she was floating swiftly past, I reached out and told her to take my hand and I pulled her onto the back of the boat, despite her protests that we needed to help her friend. I assured her that Chris was on it, and that if she went it would make things worse. I was in too awkward a position to use my full strength to pull her up, despite her 100lbs, so I pulled her to the edge and told her to grab the big metal handle. "Whaaat handle?" was her weirdly slow reply. Along with her idea to jump in after her friend, this made me suspect that she wasn't operating at 100% mentally. She got up and was still worried about her friend, and I kept reassuring her. Out of sight, Chris and Bob had successfully pulled Red from the water and onto the back of his PWC, and moments later emerged from behind the other boat. He brought the craft alongside the back of the boat we were on and we attempted to steady it so she could get off, which was difficult with the swift current. But she got off with no problems, and all three girls immediately left, with barely a "thank you." Something about being "in trouble." I got back onto the Waverunner and Chris mentioned that Red was "totally drunk," and told me about the "can't swim" tidbit I'd missed earlier. I added my own observation about Leopard being high or drunk. We were taking off when the pilot of one of the crossing cattle boats started berating us for being there, saying we weren't allowed. Chris immediately got huffy (understandable) and explained that we were saving this girl from drowning, and the guy was still berating us. I think he thought we were friends with the girls and goofing off. Once we made him understand we were just passing by and helped them out, he backed off, though not with an apology, just an "OK then, you're cool."<br />
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On the way back down the river we reflected on the situation. If we hadn't been there right at that time to see that situation at just that moment, those girls might have drowned. There were signs all over the boats and casinos in the area warning of a strong under-tow, the girls were drunk, Red couldn't swim, none of them were using good judgement (why was Red dangling on the outside of the railing in the first place, especially if she couldn't swim??), and there wasn't anyone else in the vicinity who could have enacted the swift rescue necessary. Both girls could have been sucked down in under a minute, possibly by going under the boat moored behind. Really stupid. We never did find Rocky. We drove 60 miles up-river just for this, it seems. The circumstances were unusually specific. The fact that Chris is a Paramedic and spotted the distress so quickly, the fact that we were on PWCs rather than a big clunky boat, the fact that I at least knew enough not to let Leopard float to her friend, even though I botched the original attempt for Red. The fact that we arrived just before Red got pulled in. Whatever it was, it was good we were there.<br />
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The rest of Sunday:<br />
- race with girls on PWC<br />
- helping bro fix PWC<br />
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Monday:<br />
- brakes failing<br />
- shooting in desert<br />
- making it back in time for anniversary dinnerRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-56329273892425168942012-03-29T19:30:00.000-07:002012-03-29T19:30:25.574-07:00More knivesMy Sackett knife is finally complete! Here it is. I don't have it yet, because Alan is still making the belt, but I should have it by next week, along with a new holster for my Schofield. The blade is 10 inches long, to give you an idea of the scale.<br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SrPMeXV1aYk/T3UYfzs9FdI/AAAAAAAAA00/vvECfr_HElE/s320/Sacket+&+Quick+&+Dead+knife.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><br />
Next are two knives my friend <a href="http://legendaryleather.blogspot.com/">Michael Negrete</a>, "Blademan," made and I bought. I'm a sucker for the primitive style. The first one is made from half of an old sheep shear, with a bone handle. Ian owns the other knife. We are knife brothers now. This is a special bond. The second knife I bought a few months back. Just a good lookin' knife and sheath.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8AstzLFl0rg/T3UYhw6jPmI/AAAAAAAAA1E/PmbHGmNUFow/s1600/e+prim+tack+sheath+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8AstzLFl0rg/T3UYhw6jPmI/AAAAAAAAA1E/PmbHGmNUFow/s320/e+prim+tack+sheath+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-10308940419994227362012-02-09T23:30:00.000-08:002012-02-09T23:37:50.586-08:00KnifeIt's coming up on a year! Yeesh.<br />
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Well, how about a simple post with no news and a picture of a knife?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l9-TRbXUQ6c/TzTHMa9WQzI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/xpVmdD_6mog/s1600/sacketts05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l9-TRbXUQ6c/TzTHMa9WQzI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/xpVmdD_6mog/s320/sacketts05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I commissioned this knife almost a year ago, and I think it will finally be delivered soon! It is a large knife. And Sam Elliott carried it in two unrelated movies. How about that?<br />
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I'm also buying this knife from a friend who made it.<br />
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<span id="goog_580218875"></span><span id="goog_580218876"></span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-10092962590665581632011-04-14T11:00:00.000-07:002011-04-14T11:00:35.983-07:00RecentlyHey. It's been a few months. What's new?<br />
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First off, we've already had two weekends full of performances of The Odd Couple at Biola's Theater 21. It's been going really well. We've had a few flubs, a few missed lines, a few technical errors, a few mis-heard lines, but overall it's been really fun, and I've felt good about it. Here's the <a href="http://chimes.biola.edu/content/article/2011/apr/02/biola-odd-couple/">Chimes review </a>(the actual article in the paper featured some great full-color pictures of all of us on-set).<br />
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The best accident so far happened the first Friday night with a sold-out crowd (featuring some high-up admin types from Biola!). Randall's character, Murray, is encouraging the newly single Felix to go out and enjoy the benefits of bachelorhood. One of his lines is, "If you want to go out to the Playboy club and hunt bunnies, what's stopping you?" Unfortunately, that night the entire audience heard "<b>hump </b>bunnies"; Forrest and Tracy said they could tell the audience sucked in their breath in horror. The good news is, we didn't lose them completely, and got good laughs for the rest of the show.<br />
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Another night, when our poker group was rushing back to their seats after hearing Felix coming out of the bathroom, someone accidentally knocked over a "beer" on the table. Jonathan (as Roy), without missing a beat, immediately started sucking the beer out of the felt tablecloth. It destroyed the audience.<br />
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We've got one weekend left of performances: tonight, Friday, and Saturday. As always, it will be both good and sad to be done with it. There were times during the early rehearsal period where I wasn't feeling it and wasn't having a good time, but as we got closer and closer to the actual shows everything started clicking and it got really good, and now every night is a blast. But it will be nice to have my evenings back.<br />
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In other news, I've been playing softball for the Pirate Monkeys again. As has happened our last couple of years, we're starved for players again most mornings, and have had to forfeit over half our games. There's also a shortage of teams in the "A" league this year: three total. So we're playing the same two teams over and over again. The Dark Knights (Talbot guys and gals) are their usual selves, and we're usually competitive with them. The other team is stacked with 14 players, many of which are former baseball players and have arms as big as my thighs. One guy in particular hit at least three home-runs into the trees closest to the library on McNally field. He would have hit the library if the trees hadn't been there. It's a bit ridiculous. It used to be a rarity to have balls hit over the fence. Now it's rare when they stay on the field.<br />
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I've been playing OK. My pitching is adequate, and my hitting is getting better. Last Saturday I had several good hits, and several more pop-ups and doinkers. I also got nailed on the other side of my right shin again by a grounder while pitching, having received a matching blow a few weeks earlier. Also, during one of our games against the Dark Knights I was scrambling to 2nd base to tag a runner out, but kept fumbling with the ball on the ground. By the time I got it, I was right in the runner's path and she cleaned my clock. I took what I think was her thigh right in the face. It hit my sunglasses into my nose and gave me a good cut which I didn't discover until after the game. I took off my sunglasses and there was a ton of blood all down the side of my nose which had been hidden by my frames.<br />
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What else, what else...<br />
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Well, despite the lack of reviews, I've been watching a lot of movies through Netflix lately. I need to do a big round up again. I've seen several really good ones, too. Not much in the theaters, though.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-51310887206154111932011-02-28T17:22:00.000-08:002011-03-07T10:52:58.891-08:00Predators (2010)<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-RXVKXmgEW3g/TWxKKwiYtpI/AAAAAAAAAy4/CPDH3Aen6Ck/s1600/Predators.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-RXVKXmgEW3g/TWxKKwiYtpI/AAAAAAAAAy4/CPDH3Aen6Ck/s320/Predators.jpg" width="320" /></a><i> </i><br />
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<i>Predators </i>started out holding my interest, with our main character coming-to in free-fall over a jungle. His parachute deploys and he lands with a weapon ready. He shortly meets up with several other characters who have fallen from the sky as well. Some of their dialogue is a little stupid, but otherwise I was "in" for the first 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately, from there it starts going downhill.<br />
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The main problem with the movie is that it doesn't do what a sequel should. Take <i>Alien </i>and <i>Aliens</i>, for example. In <i>Alien</i>, we'd never seen the creature before, had no idea of what it was capable of, didn't know all it's mysteries and tricks. By the end of the movie we've learned quite a bit. When Aliens begins, it doesn't ignore this knowledge to have a whole new group of people make these discoveries all over again, it builds on past knowledge, ups the ante, and still has new reveals, moments, and aspects to the characters that make the movie engaging and tense. While we knew what a face-hugger did from <i>Alien</i>, we'd never imagined being pursued around a room by one, and so that scene in <i>Aliens </i>is genuinely terrifying and novel. We also had never seen a queen, so that reveal was a huge moment. And we'd never faced multiple aliens, so that raised the stakes (while balancing them with a well-armed military force on the opposite side).<br />
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In <i>Predator</i>, you've got one predator and his capabilities and true nature are slowly but steadily revealed throughout the entire movie, and it's all new and scary. <i>Predators </i>stumbles by not creating a new encounter while building off of the audience's already-obtained knowledge of the predators. In this way, <i>Predator 2 </i>was a superior sequel because you had the government agency who knew about their abilities from the first film, even though overall it's not a great movie. In <i>Predators</i>, we're learning again, along with the characters, what these things are, what they can do, and why they do it, but we're bored because we already know all of this. These revelations are huge for the characters but boring for us. It's not fun to be so far ahead of the characters' knowledge when the mystery is supposed to be interesting. In <i>Predator </i>we're talking the journey with Arnold and crew, learning as he learns. From the first frame of <i>Predators </i>we already know that each character has been dropped into a giant "game preserve" by the predators to be hunted. FRAME ONE! And instead of really upping the pressure, the addition of more predators doesn't seem to add an iota of tension or danger. In fact, when they kill off two of them so they can have the final showdown it lessens the danger because we see that they're vulnerable and kill-able. Your monster should always seem invincible or overwhelming (Alien, Aliens, Predator). If the real soldiers of <i>Predator </i>died to the last man fighting ONE, showing a bunch of losers taking down THREE just makes me think these aren't the same species.<br />
<br />
I was willing to go along with the movie if it did something interesting and new, but it was mostly just a retread of moments from the first movie. We've got a large, well-armed team, in a jungle, some internal tension and in-fighting, and then one-by-one they're picked off by an unseen enemy. We've got the "Billy on the bridge" moment in the yakuza character, a trip over a waterfall and into a lake, a mud-covered protagonist (which even directly references the first film in dialogue), an "over here" moment, a character staring at the trees where a predator is hiding while cloaked. The survivors are once again the main character and a South American woman. Even the music is lifted directly from the original film.<br />
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And yet, for a film that has no shame about duplicating moments, it lacks a single memorable line. The first movie had quite a few memorable bits of dialogue and one-liners. <i>Predators </i>features, at best, passable dialogue, and at worst laughable lines delivered all-too-seriously.<br />
<br />
I don't know why someone thought Adrien Brody would make a good macho hero, but he doesn't add much and his character is beyond bland. I like Brody in many other movies, too. He uses a Christian-Bale-as-Batman voice the entire time, and little allusions are made about his dark past which nobody in the audience cares about and don't make him more interesting.<br />
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Larry Fishburne's character is almost interesting, but we get so little time with him that we don't care about him either.<br />
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The worst character might be Topher Grace's, because his little twisty "man is the real monster IS YOUR MIND BLOWN YET???" bit is just frustrating and stupid rather than shocking and entertaining. I think there's even a horrible line that's exactly that: "You're worse than these monsters!" DUMB. STALE. SEEN IT. NOT EARNED.<br />
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Once again, <i>Predator </i>stands alone as the only good movie, even though we've seen two direct sequels and two lousy <i>Aliens vs. Predator </i>movies. I think there is more mileage to be had out of the character, but it's going to take a good script and a director who knows how to find it.<br />
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<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monaretfun-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=B0040YFR1Y" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-31241791682423773932011-02-28T16:44:00.000-08:002011-02-28T16:44:55.456-08:00Cowboy Shooting - Round 2Remember last summer when I <a href="http://agadoni.blogspot.com/2010/06/fun-weekend.html">tried Cowboy Action Shooting for the first time</a>? I finally took the time out to go again yesterday. And this time I took decent video.<br />
<br />
I invited a bunch of friends to go, but most couldn't, so our group was five including me: Will (from Biola and Chestertonians), Randy (from Biola), Bob (family friend), and my brother Ben.<br />
<br />
The class size for the New Shooters Clinic was much smaller than last time, which was nice because we all got to shoot more quickly, and we each got to shoot two timed matches. Helping us out from The Cowboys was Little Sure Shot, her husband Wells Fargo, and Washoe Pete (who helped last time, too). Adam Cartwright couldn't be there and B.T. Blade was competing this time. Once again The Cowboys were gracious, generous, friendly and helpful. They could have cut down on the technical details a bit for the class, because while I was interested I don't think everyone else was.<br />
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The gun variety was more limited this time. The only pistols were Ruger Vaqueros and one Ruger Blackhawk, and they were all the same barrel size and caliber (.38). The rifles were several Marlins, a Winchester 1892 replica (the classic Winchester in every Western in the 50s, no matter what the time period), and a Winchester 1873 replica. The '73 was my favorite, but unfortunately it was having problems so we didn't get to shoot it. The shotguns provided were two double-barrels, one with external hammers and one without, and two <a href="http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Winchester_Model_1897">original Winchester 1897s </a>(pump action -- as featured in <i>No Country For Old Men, The Wild Bunch</i>, and <i>The Professionals</i>).<br />
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Here are some videos of us doing our timed runs:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eLs3GVWEyn8" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g2lelmtLbAk" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sHlCWQAZRIg" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
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It was very fun and now I'm definitely committed to participating in this sport. I'm saving up for one of these at the moment:<br />
<a href="http://www.dixiegunworks.com/images/CR0225.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="http://www.dixiegunworks.com/images/CR0225.JPG" width="320" /></a>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-80970004635123073542011-02-09T16:07:00.000-08:002011-02-09T16:07:35.562-08:00True Grit omissionHey guys! (Crickets.)<br />
<br />
Yes, several months since posting. Pretty bad. But I've been awfully busy, too. Perhaps I will share some of the exciting things later. And a lot of movie reviews.<br />
<br />
But for now, <i>True Grit </i>(2010). Saw it, liked it very much, need to see again. I didn't come out of the theater whooping for joy, but I did enjoy it. (I hope to post a review, comparing it with the book and the 1969 movie later.) Also, I got a Kindle. And on this Kindle they finally released <i>True Grit</i>. (But it is $13 for the Kindle, whereas the paperback is $8, and this seems like a lot of road apples, if you ask me.) I was re-reading a passage this morning and found an interesting bit that was omitted from the movie.<br />
<br />
If you'll recall the hanging scene at the beginning of the movie, there are three men sentenced to die. The first two make little speeches, and the third, an Indian, has the hood placed over his head before he can say anything. It's a Coen bit of black comedy that gets a good chuckle out of the audience.<br />
<br />
In the book, however, the Indian speaks second in line (narrated by Mattie Ross):<br />
<blockquote><blockquote class="uncited"><div>The Indian was next and he said, "I am ready. I have repented my sins and soon I will be in heaven with Christ my savior. Now I must die like a man." If you are like me you probably think of Indians as heathens. But I will ask you to recall the thief on the cross. He was never baptised and never even heard of a catechism and yet Christ himself promised him a place in heaven.</div></blockquote></blockquote>I'll have to see the movie again, because I think it includes other bits from Mattie about Christianity (the book is full of asides like this), but it was curious to me that the Coens snipped that bit of dialogue completely. I thought the joke they put in its place was funny, but I wonder if having a condemned character speak about repentance and Christ (especially an Indian, whom a modern audience will assume had his Christianity forced upon him by hateful whites!) was just too unnerving for them to keep in.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-16698988760902700412010-11-20T14:08:00.000-08:002010-11-20T14:08:17.699-08:00Four WesternsThere are some weird Westerns that have been (or are soon to be) released lately. And most of them are not "American" Westerns. I'll go chronologically.<br />
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First up is <i>The Good The Bad The Weird</i>, a Korean "Kimchi" Western (as opposed to an Italian "Spaghetti" Western) that came out in 2008, but was just released here this year.<br />
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This one just came up on Netflix Instant, though I've been trying to rent the Blu-Ray from Netflix for months now. (They weren't kidding about "Very Long Wait." Buy more than 1, would you guys?) I loved it! While it borrows a few elements from its namesake inspiration, such as three characters vying for the same buried treasure, the execution is entirely its own. Kang-ho Song, who plays The Weird, is a very gifted comedic actor, and is really the only one of the three main characters worth watching. The Good and The Bad are fine, but would be boring if they didn't have The Weird on-screen with them. Fortunately, The Weird is the main character, and the entire movie is focused on everyone else hunting him down to retrieve the treasure map.<br />
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The action is really well-staged and inventive. I laughed or exclaimed out loud many many times while watching by myself, and it takes something really special to do that. The fights usually involve tons of different characters and range all over the stage. There is very little CG work involved as well, which really heightens the intensity and excitement for each battle. The sound design, too, is unique; the gun-shots sound natural and appropriate. A nice change of pace from the usual Hollywood stock effects.<br />
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While the story is nothing special, it's absolutely worth watching for the comedy and action.<br />
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*** <br />
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The next movie is a Canadian production that came out this year called <i>Gunless</i>. The trailer sold me immediately, but unfortunately this thing is still only available in Canada, and importing the DVD or Blu-Ray costs about $40 USD. Guess I'll have to be patient. But enjoy this trailer:<br />
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Looks fantastic. Good job, Canadians! Bring your movie stateside!<br />
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***<br />
<br />
The last one is <i>The Warrior's Way</i>, and it looks like absolute garbage. Whatever <i>The Good The Bad The Weird </i>and <i>Gunless </i>did well, this looks to replicate poorly. Action? CGed out. Comedy? I guess Kate Bosworth's accent is laughably bad. Ninjas versus cowboys SOUNDS like it could be good campy fun, the the trailer does so little for me I doubt I'll even rent it (and considering I'm going to rent <i>Jonah Hex</i>, that's saying something).<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c7SCyiliB38?fs=1" width="480"></iframe><br />
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***<br />
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Finally, a truly American production (starring a Brit): Cowboys & Aliens. Dumb title, but I'll be gosh-danged if the trailer doesn't look good.<br />
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Looks like Harrison Ford might have his first watchable role in years!Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-5427658305459939602010-10-28T21:20:00.000-07:002010-10-28T21:25:16.003-07:00Recent sports - lacrosse and flag footballI'm writing this down for posterity because I have a terrible memory when it comes to sports.<br />
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A couple weeks ago a bunch of us alumni lacrosse guys got together in Orange County and played in a little lacrosse tournament. It was 7 on 7, and we were supposed to play 4 games, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I guess not enough teams signed up, because we only ended up scheduled for 2 on Saturday. The games were only 20 minutes long, running clock, on a much shorter field. It was nice and hot out. My brother Ben played (Josh was in a surf contest), friend Sean and his brother Kevin played (Buck was there as "coach"), and Tanner, Beef, Bonilla, Tim, Whitey, Joe Lee, and Acker. The first team we played was high schoolers, so we were nearly twice their age. That doesn't necessarily put us at an advantage; there are a lot of really good high school teams in the OC (don't call it that). But we beat these guys 4 zip, I think. I scored one goal, but it was a pretty crappy little goal. No hard zinger, just a light little close up toss. Felt good to score, but I don't know if I've ever had a good rip.<br />
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The second game was against an alumni team, but these were <i>high school </i>alumni, so we were still 10 years older than all these guys. We apparently tied 2-2 (but I still think it was 3-2). No goals for me that game. After that game, some of the guys from that team invited us to play with them a little later, so Tanner, Ben and I stuck around. We played one of the really good high school teams that time, and got beat 4-7. Ben scored a great goal that game. I scored none, and got beat three times on defense, so technically we lost because of me. But it was still fun. Alumni game coming up at Biola in a few weeks!<br />
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***<br />
<br />
I'm playing intramural flag football at Biola right now, on a team called "Might Men of Valor." It's an old team, made up of old guys (and a few young ones), and they're all great dudes. I knew a few of them from before, but most are new to me, and it's a pleasure to play with them. Solid athletes and competitors, but really generous and helpful with a complete football idiot like me.<br />
<br />
We just had our fifth game of the season, and were 2-2 before tonight's game. We're a good team, but we played two really tough teams in our last two, so we were really hoping for a win tonight. I'm playing defensive end, mostly, which means my job is simple: rush in and try and sack the quarterback. That's a position I'm mentally capable of handling, even though there is strategy and technique to it. I've had a couple sacks so far this year, but I'm just a middle of the road player. I always go into games hoping I don't pull a major screw-up (and I've had a few -- fortunately, none that cost us the game, but I've done some bonehead stuff out of ignorance of certain calls and plays). I'm a bit of a pessimist when it comes to my own athletic performance.<br />
<br />
So tonight I was in at defensive end again, and in the first half, on the third down, I got inside and sacked the QB! Then the very next play, the other defensive end, Levi, sacked the QB. That felt awesome. My aspirations at that point were for no screw-ups and maybe another sack.<br />
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We were up 12-8 in the second half, and the other team had had a good march down the field. They didn't have very far to go for a touchdown. The play started, I was rushing on the left side, my offensive lineman was doing fine at keeping me out. Then a low pass went out to the left of me, and Mac, a linebacker and one of our defensive strategists, blocked the ball! It popped up right in front of me, and I decided to grab it. I'm so glad I didn't just stop there, because for a split second I wasn't sure if the ball was dead or not. I'm just not a fast thinker in the middle of a play. I was just catching the ball because it was there. Fortunately, as it dropped into my hands, I had the tiniest voice in my head (followed by loud voices of my teammates) that said "Go you idiot!" (My teammates did not include the 'idiot' part.) So I started running! At first to the left side, but I was already close to the sidelines and there was an opponent that way, so I dodged and shifted right. There were a few more guys that I got through. Behind me and to the side my guys were throwing blocks and yelling encouragement. I couldn't see what they did, but the only opponent that I ran into was this giant of a man (who apparently was practicing with the 49ers recently! No joke!), and he was the last guy to get through before the end zone. My legs were already feeling like lead, even though I hadn't run very far at all, and the big dude got a hand on my shirt, which jerked me quite a bit. Fortunately, I either pulled free or one of my guys hit him, because I heard a "rip!" and was free and tried to just stay on my feet to the end zone. Teammate Lance was behind me the whole way, shouting "Go go go!" My legs felt like rubber, like they were going to fall out from underneath me, but I made it! Touch down! My teammates then swarmed me and I could barely eek out a smile I was so exhausted. I don't know why that tired me out so much, but I was light-headed for a few minutes after that. I also noticed a big tear in my shirt where the big guy had grabbed me. Boy I'm lucky the shirt gave.<br />
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We went on to win the game, but it was close. For the rest of the game I thought, don't choke don't choke don't choke don't be the goat and, fortunately, it didn't happen. So that will probably go down as the greatest play I will ever make in my football career, and it was just luck and the support of my team. And I had to write it down or lose it forever. I'd remember the end result on my own, but not the details, and I like remembering the details.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-2917109793599744802010-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:002010-10-25T22:17:00.178-07:00That Thomas Kinkade movie...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMZkFvQsYcI/AAAAAAAAAyo/j3OjIXa_ffk/s1600/3454_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMZkFvQsYcI/AAAAAAAAAyo/j3OjIXa_ffk/s320/3454_11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jeri and Jon: remember, years ago in the movies folder on bubbs, discussing Peter O'Toole being in a Thomas Kinkade movie? Well it exists. It is real. It is out on Blu-Ray. And the craziest thing is, the review actually kind of sells it. It still says it's full of sentimental syrup, but it also says it's got some genuinely good moments, in both writing and performance.<br />
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Read the full review <a href="http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Thomas-Kinkades-Christmas-Cottage-Blu-ray/14761/#Review">here</a>.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-18306298484858337282010-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:002010-10-25T16:10:36.526-07:00Last of the Mohicans (1992)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMXUjMfNpNI/AAAAAAAAAyk/surxSi4QO_I/s1600/3360_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMXUjMfNpNI/AAAAAAAAAyk/surxSi4QO_I/s320/3360_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The last time I saw this one must have either been on a tiny TV or on VHS (or both). At the time it didn't do much for me at all. I didn't care about the love story, and the action didn't grab me either. Last night Amy and I revisited the movie on Blu-Ray and a 40" hi-def TV, and it's remarkable what a difference that makes.<br />
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<i>Last of the Mohicans </i>was directed by Michael Mann, who knows how to make a good movie and frame an interesting action scene. I like <i>Heat </i>and <i>Collateral </i>all around; <i>Miami Vice </i>sucked so hard the back of its head caved in, and <i>Public Enemies </i>was a big disappointment, though they both have great action scenes. Mann makes great use of location shooting, and I love him for it. In fact, now that I think of it, his locations and photography pull a lot of weight in the effectiveness of each of his films. In stark contrast to the urban jungle of LA, <i>Mohicans </i>opens with some beautiful mountain-top views of the dense forests of North Carolina. It then cuts to the dense and lush forest floor, as three characters charge through on a hunt. As the movie continues we are treated again and again to beautiful unique real locations. The fort is the only rather visually boring location; it's ugly and full of the "blossoming romance" scenes which still don't really grab me (though a generation of women from 1992 would like to fight me here, I'm sure). But once the story gets back to the forest we're subjected to more natural beauty.<br />
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Then there's the action. It's hard to make musket fights exciting, because "aim, fire, reload for 60 seconds" doesn't make for thrilling cinema. Fortunately, the Indians all fight with clubs, knifes, and tomahawks in addition to muskets, and Mann's people choreographed some pretty cool fights that I'm going to revisit as I draw my book. Mann also adds a unique sense of horror to these fights. It's not just a choreographed "hack-block-hack," they usually open in a startling way. The earlier battle when Magua betrays the party he's leading by calmly walking to the back of the column and clubbing a guy over the head is still a shocking moment. Later, the entourage from the fort is making their way through a narrow valley and a Huron warrior suddenly bursts from the woods and performs a similar execution, and it's equally terrifying. During the ensuing fight there's a first person shot of Hawkeye braining a Huron who was threatening his girlfriend. The set-up shot shows the Huron reaching the woman, the next shows Hawkeye seeing this from a short ways away, cut to Huron preparing to execute woman but turning towards the camera, cut to HAWKEYE CLUBBING THE CAMERA IN THE LENS. Great stuff.<br />
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When I watched it for the first time I was warned that it had some gruesome moments. I'd forgotten all about that warning until we were in the middle of the movie last night, and marveled that the 18 years that have passed haven't really dulled the brutality at all. It was especially noticeable because my general perception was that the movie was a love story that chicks went ga-ga over. There are scalpings and hearts cut out and axes to the back and, most memorably, Magua's final fight with Chingachgook on the cliff, where bones are broken and stomachs torn out.<br />
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And of course there is the cast. Daniel Day-Lewis is the big name. Here's the thing: his performance is fine. Great, even. He embodies the character well. But it's hard to compare with his later roles in <i>In the Name of the Father</i>, <i>Gangs of New York </i>or <i>There Will Be Blood</i>. I think it's because those later characters had accents, eccentricities, and other unique performance-based quirks, whereas Hawkeye is simply a stoic and resolute hero with a basic American accent. He's not quirky and he's not a scene-chewer. I tried viewing his <i>Mohican</i>'s performance with a more careful eye, tried to consider certain choices and deliveries, but it's tougher when the role is much subtler than the others I've mentioned. There's a making-of documentary that's new to the Blu-Ray and gets into Lewis' prep for the role. I tell you what, it looked like a ton of fun. Days and days of learning survival skills, hunting, tracking and the like. Even stuff like learning how to reload a black-powder musket on the run! (When watching the scene, I too cried "baloney!", but the documentary reveals that Lewis thought the same thing until they found a guy who could do it.)<br />
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I appreciate the movie much more now, having seen it on Blu-Ray. The locations are more stunning, the score more vibrant, the framing and colors more painterly. I'm enjoying taking new looks at films on the format, because it is often like seeing them for the first time. You lose a lot watching movies like this 4:3 on a 32" TV. Even DVD doesn't come very close to replicating the true colors and detail of a period piece like this. <i>Mohicans </i>didn't suddenly rise to the top of my list of favorites, but it certainly rose quite a few steps from the obscure "who cares?" section it previously occupied.<br />
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One last note: bonus points for featuring a few seconds of original American Indian lacrosse! Only movie ever to depict it, and probably will remain so.<br />
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(Screenshot swiped from <a href="http://www.blu-ray.com/">Blu-Ray.com</a>)<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS1=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monaretfun-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B000Y5CHIE" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-56559448530584247872010-10-22T17:36:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:36:31.864-07:00The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2009)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMItnPwRVZI/AAAAAAAAAyg/dg4ZNy5lEyk/s1600/Lizzy-as-Juliette-Flowers-lizzy-caplan-8102550-600-400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TMItnPwRVZI/AAAAAAAAAyg/dg4ZNy5lEyk/s320/Lizzy-as-Juliette-Flowers-lizzy-caplan-8102550-600-400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Quirky Western with an impressive cast? I'm in!<br />
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It's also done with a "hyper-kinetic" directing style reminiscent of Tony Scott's worst impulses? Kill me now!<br />
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Yes, <i>The Last Rites of Ransom Pride</i>, from writer/director/cinematic-criminal Tiller Russell, was a total let-down. The cast list is the only impressive thing about it: Lizzy Caplan (<i>Mean Girls</i>), Dwight Yoakam, Kris Kristofferson, Peter Dinklage, and W. Earl Brown ("Deadwood"). Dwight Yoakam is just a darn good actor. I haven't seen him in many movies (<i>Sling Blade </i>and <i>Panic Room </i>are it, I think) but he's got a delivery style that's very believable. His performances aren't wildly different, but they're solid. Lizzy Caplan, whom I liked in <i>Mean Girls </i>and the one episode of "Party Down" I saw, doesn't bring much to her character. She doesn't sell the southern accent, and her character and performance otherwise aren't interesting. (Tiller shares equal blame with Caplan for these problems.) Kris Kristofferson does his thing, which is fine for what it is but never a surprise. W. Earl Brown, whom I've never seen outside of "Deadwood," is exactly like his "Deadwood" character. He's great at it, but no change. Peter Dinklage isn't in it much, but he carried two sawed-off shotguns and looked crazy, so there's that.<br />
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Story-wise, this thing failed to captivate me at all. I watched the first 20 minutes or so, then started skipping around, desperate for an entertaining scene. Ransom Pride, a name I assume was intended to be loaded with meaning and depth, or at least "coolness," is a jerk who gets shot in Mexico. His lover, Juliette Flowers (Caplan), who was not with him, goes to collect his body. Apparently she's a bad seed too. She brings the news to Ransom's father (Yoakam) and brother. Ransom's father is a preacher! DEEP. Used to be a bad dude. NEW. And Kris's character's name is Shepherd Graves, another name I assume is supposed to be meaningful but just comes off as pretentious or hipster cool.<br />
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So now there's the style to discuss. First off, the movie seems packed with ugliness and disgusting stuff just for the sake of it. No meaning attached, just "look how edgy I am can you guess what color my shirt is?" Like using onanism to introduce a character. Nice! Classy. I get it. You can show gross stuff because you're dark and edgy. Then there's the editing/directing style. Lots of weird sped-up or slowed-down shots of skulls and crows and dark things. Characters speaking Spanish have their translations written in a sketchy script. Shots of dark cloudy skies rumbling past sped up. Black and white flashes to a character's dark past, accompanied by whooshy sound effects. The color has been tweaked, drained of color, contrast upped, made to look harsh and bleak. Set pictures I've seen online, with their natural color, looked a lot better. Now, I hate Tony Scott's style, but at least he sometimes has decent movies underneath. Everything in <i>Last Rites </i>just smacked of empty and artless self-indulgence. I wondered if, at the first screening, the more discerning members of the cast thought, "Oh geez I didn't know it was gonna be like <i>this."</i><br />
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So, hey, not that you've ever heard of the movie, but avoid it like the plague!Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-86792968682045581762010-10-19T16:25:00.000-07:002010-10-25T10:57:12.638-07:00Recent movies - Withnail, How to Get Ahead, Cop Land, State of the Union<div style="font-family: inherit;">Boy, sorry for the "less than one per month" posting schedule. I don't feel as bad, since my blogging friends are doing the same or worse, but I still have a little guilt. On to movies.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4q0GAjUbI/AAAAAAAAAyU/PSgqTHlnuV0/s1600/withnailandi460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4q0GAjUbI/AAAAAAAAAyU/PSgqTHlnuV0/s320/withnailandi460.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4qWHjdJsI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/N2-xC0vGT7A/s1600/HowGetAheadw.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4qWHjdJsI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/N2-xC0vGT7A/s320/HowGetAheadw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Withnail and I </b>(1987), <b>How to Get Ahead in Advertising </b>(1989) - (Both by the same writer and director; a spiritual pair, if you will.) These had been in my queue for long enough where I couldn't remember why I'd put them there, but they were both Criterion releases at one point, and they were described as cult comedies, so that seems like enough of a reason. Richard Grant is one crazy dude, and I'm surprised I haven't seen him in anything else. Those eyes were made to play a manic misanthrope, so I'd bet director/writer Bruce Robinson wrote those parts with him in mind.<br />
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<b>Withnail </b>is about two actors (read: layabouts, good-for-nothings) who go on a horrible vacation in the country. The plot is barely there; it's all about the characters. Marwood (the titular "I") is played by Paul McGann, whom I recognized from his role in the excellent "Horatio Hornblower" miniseries. Completely different character, so the revelation didn't hit me for a while. More easily recognized is Richard Griffiths as Uncle Monty, now most well-known as Uncle Dursley from the <b>Harry Potter </b>movies.<br />
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<b>Withnail </b>didn't grab me like it has so many other people. It's got a lot of funny lines that I could see people latching on to, though.<br />
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<b>How to Get Ahead in Advertising </b>had a similar effect on me. This is the one where the ad exec's boil grows a face and starts talking to him. Felt like a Gilliam movie, especially because it was coupled with some sort of anti-advertising message, though it didn't feel as simple as that. Weird movie.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4sjXOgkvI/AAAAAAAAAyY/PzCRMA2JgRo/s1600/cop-land.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4sjXOgkvI/AAAAAAAAAyY/PzCRMA2JgRo/s320/cop-land.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>Cop Land </b>(1997) - I don't know how this one flew under my radar for so long. I remember seeing it for rent at the library years ago, but I never got around to picking it up, and it wasn't until my friend Hugh recommended it highly that I finally gave it a go. Written and directed by James Mangold, <i>Cop Land </i>is about a local cop (Sly Stallone) who walks the beat in a Jersey neighborhood populated almost entirely with city cops (i.e. "Cop Land"). The city cops work in New York but live on this island. They're also all corrupt. Sly has wanted to be a city cop for years but has a health issue that prevents it. So, he polices a city with no overt crime, and is not considered a "real" cop.<br />
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The cast list is very impressive. Aside from Stallone, you've got Robert DeNiro as an Internal Affairs officer, Harvey Keitel as the leader of the city cops, Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, and Michael Rappaport. Plus, Janeane Garafalala for a few minutes. Each cast member brings a lot to the movie, though DeNiro's actually not in it all that much, and Janeane's character doesn't have much to her.<br />
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The screenplay is very well-crafted, and I loved Stallone's hang-dog under-stated performance. It made for a very sympathetic hero.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4stypcxpI/AAAAAAAAAyc/UXsGwAj0FA4/s1600/stateoftheunion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TL4stypcxpI/AAAAAAAAAyc/UXsGwAj0FA4/s320/stateoftheunion.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>State of the Union </b>(1948) - This might be my first Tracy & Hepburn movie. Another Capra flick. Loved it. Great husband and wife story about a businessman (Tracy) hand-picked to run for a presidential bid by a ruthless newspaper owner (played by a young Angela Lansbury!). He and his wife (Hepburn) are distant, and there are all sorts of rumors about he and Lansbury being an item. It's more of the same great Capra sentimentalism, with some fun and surprising scenes thrown in (most memorably an aerial contest involving Tracy). Watching Tracy and Hepburn together it was easy to see why they were considered such a great screen couple. Both are superb actors, and they have a chemistry that comes off as completely genuine.<br />
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Side note: supposedly my grandfather Stamper was an extra in this, though we haven't been able to confirm which scene.</div>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-12901211771144988712010-09-06T13:42:00.000-07:002010-09-14T08:37:02.337-07:00Coupla recent movies<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cemetery Junction </span>(2010) - I rented this because it was written and directed by Gervais and Merchant, and for the time being I'll watch anything they do (despite the disappointment that was <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://agadoni.blogspot.com/2010/05/invention-of-lying-2009.html">The Invention of Lying</a>).<br /><br />This movie is like a good cover song. The words and melody are very familiar, but it brings enough of its own style and little flourishes to make it enjoyable. And if the original song was good, then a good cover should be able to live off that goodness. <span style="font-style: italic;">Cemetery Junction </span>has a wholly unoriginal story, and you can tell the arc of the main character as soon as the movie is set up. But the performances, dialogue, humor, and heart of the story are good enough to make it a worthwhile ride.<br /><br />The story is about three friends at a crossroads of life in 70s England. None of them have major ambitions, though they all know they don't want to work menial jobs forever. The movie begins with the main character, played by Christian Cooke, getting a job selling life insurance for a cold Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes has an adorable daughter (played by Felicity Jones) who was childhood friends with Cooke, but is now engaged to a jerk working for Fiennes. (Can you figure out where this is going? If you guessed, "Cooke realizes he loves Jones and doesn't want to sell insurance and be a sleaze like Fiennes and his underling," well . . . I don't want to spoil it.) (But that's where it goes.)<br /><br />As I mentioned, the actors carry the movie. The three friends have a great brotherhood, and made me wish I could spend an evening with them at the pub; Jones, with her delightful buck teeth, is almost too cute for words; Fiennes is an a-hole par excellence; Gervais shows up as Cooke's dad; Emily Watson has a small role as Fiennes ignored wife (nice to see her again -- she'd disappeared from my radar for years).<br /><br />The 70s setting provides an excuse to have a great rock soundtrack and a brownish faded filter over the photography, and nothing else.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Batman: Under the Red Hood </span>(2010) - This one gets my respect for no other reason than it completely avoided the "if you do this, you're no better than he is" speech that any other movie would have included in the end.<br /><br />This is an unusual animated feature because it utilizes none of the fan-favorite voice actors from the 90s animated series. The casting choices all work (though it could be argued that it's only because they sound so much like their 90s casting counterparts). Bruce Greenwood, of recent <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Trek </span>fame, is a great Batman choice. I read one reviewer complaining about John Di Maggio (Bender from "Futurama," in addition to million other roles) doing the Joker, but aside from reminding me of Mark Hamill's Joker, it worked just fine.<br /><br />The story is nothing special until the very end. It opens with the murder of Jason Todd at the hands of the Joker. Several years later, a new villain has appeared calling himself the Red Hood. Anyone who doesn't guess that Jason Todd is the Red Hood from the moment he appears must have never watched a movie. Sure enough, it's revealed about 1/2 way in, though fortunately doesn't kid itself by selling it like the end of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Sixth Sense </span>("Is your mind BLOWN???"). The Red Hood is taking over all the drug trade in Gotham and eliminating competition. He has no problem killing criminals, though he never harms the innocent (hint). He also seems to have a problem with Batman (hint) and has a pretty amazing set of acrobat skills (hint hint).<br /><br />**spoilers**<br /><br />By the end we see that Red Hood's whole plan was to get at the Joker and confront Batman about why he's never killed the Joker. Now this is interesting! I thought the movie was going to be a pat exercise in revenge, a simple "don't you see, Jason? You're no better than him!" But thank God the writers decided to get into that age-old moral question first posed (to my knowledge) in 1985's The Dark Knight Returns.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010075/"></a></b><blockquote><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010075/">Jason Todd</a></b>: Ignoring what he's done in the past. Blindly, stupid, disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands of who have suffered, the friends he's crippled. You know, I thought... I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you that he beat to a bloody pulp, if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing but search the planet for this pathetic pile of evil death-worshiping garbage and sent him off to hell.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339304/">Batman</a></b>: You don't understand. I don't think you'd ever understood.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010075/">Jason Todd</a></b>: What? What, your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339304/">Batman</a></b>: No. God Almighty, no. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others and them end him.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0224007/">Joker</a></b>: Aw. So you do think about me.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339304/">Batman</a></b>: But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place, I'll never come back.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010075/">Jason Todd</a></b>: Why? I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him. Just him. And doing it because... Because he took me away from you.<br /><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339304/">Batman</a></b>: I can't. I'm sorry. </blockquote>Good stuff! Interesting dialogue and questions! Can we get more of this in our movies, please? Especially our super-hero stuff?<br /><br />**end spoilers**<br /><br />Also included on the disc is a Jonah Hex animated short, which was the entire reason I rented the thing in the first place. Unfortunately, it's just OK.<br /><br />I have some of my usual gun complaints. The way the revolvers are illustrated and animated is weird. Pay attention when there's a close-up of a hammer being cocked. Watch the cylinder. There's all kinds of movement on screen, but none of it is logical or connected. And the hammer is a weird shape and lacks a firing pin. Later, a woman shoots a Derringer three times without reloading. A Derringer is a tiny two-barreled gun that obviously only holds two shots.<br /><br />Aside from those, the story is fine, typical of one you'd find in the current series, but it's nothing particularly interesting. The animation is "good" modern-style anime-ish animation. Not my cup of tea, but not bad. The action is pretty good.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-17114268723076993772010-07-29T15:03:00.001-07:002010-07-29T15:10:18.770-07:00Red Dead Redemption soundtrack making-ofThe Red Dead Redemption website has released a ton of great videos, but this one in particular was worthy of sharing here (because I think it will interest more than just me). This one is about the guys behind the wonderful music. One particularly interesting bit is about how they wrote different stems of music with the same beats-per-minute so that they could layer the soundtrack and customize it depending on what's going on in the game!<br /><br /><embed src="http://media.rockstargames.com/products/rockstar/media%20player/RockstarMediaPlayer.swf?skin=reddeadredemption/EN/embed&vidID=5121&legacy=no" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" menu="false" name="RockstarMediaPlayer" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" width="480" height="300"></embed>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-28030790302674203772010-07-28T12:16:00.000-07:002010-07-28T12:34:21.356-07:00Juggalo WesternI know, I know, "easy targets," "been done," and all that. But given my predilection for anything Western, I had to report on this.<br /><br />Coming soon to home video is a movie entitled "Big Money Rustlas." It "stars" members of the "Insane Clown Posse."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TFCF6g_b8FI/AAAAAAAAAxs/DHDYSa3-VVE/s1600/51gnLjguLGL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TFCF6g_b8FI/AAAAAAAAAxs/DHDYSa3-VVE/s400/51gnLjguLGL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499042385354289234" border="0" /></a><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/luPUVhs_3ic&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/luPUVhs_3ic&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Mind the salty language in the trailer.<br /><br />You should also definitely read the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R1LLT7G8MSI1RU/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm">5-star review on Amazon</a>.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-53324287912225410802010-07-26T23:06:00.000-07:002010-09-07T10:02:05.229-07:00Guest Axe Cop comic!Hey all*. Sorry it's been a once-a-month update schedule lately. But things are happening in real life!<br /><br />First off, we just got back from Comic Con late last night (lousy I-5 decided to add an extra hour to our normal commute -- at 10pm on a Sunday). It was a lot of fun and we had a great time seeing friends. Hopefully I'll talk more about it later.<br /><br />One of the more exciting things for me was that my friend Ethan asked if I'd do a guest comic for Axe Cop while he was down at the convention. So I did one! And it was really fun to make, and people seemed to like it. You can see it up <a href="http://axecop.com/index.php/acblog/read/monkeys/">here</a>. I know, I know: "Monkeys aren't funny." It's kinda funny seeing them killed, though, right?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://axecop.com/index.php/acguest/read/ask_axe_cop_GS14"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 80px;" src="http://axecop.com/images/uploads/AAC-thumbGS14.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*Mom and Google Bot.</span>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-46502107900905111252010-06-28T16:47:00.000-07:002010-06-30T15:17:07.720-07:00Fun weekendStarting Friday with a half-day, last weekend was awesome.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TCk2rNbhKmI/AAAAAAAAAxk/8yHxpa0iNEc/s1600/saber_tooth_la-brea.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/TCk2rNbhKmI/AAAAAAAAAxk/8yHxpa0iNEc/s400/saber_tooth_la-brea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487977736895015522" border="0" /></a>After work on Friday, Jeri, Amy and I went to the La Brea Tarpits, which I'd never been to. I've been to LACMA several times for class, so I've seen the pond with the mammoths, but never inside the museum. So that was rad. Woolly mammoths, mastodons, sabre-toothed cats, short-nosed bears, dire wolves, giant ground sloths, American lions. It was funny reading the descriptions of each of these animals, because they all sounded like they were written by a personified Past trying to one-up the present. "You like lions? African lions? Your lions SUCK. American lions were bigger and more muscle-y!" "How about bears. You think your grizzly bears are pretty big? Our short-nosed bears could kick a grizzly's loser BUTT. Taller and beefier." It seems that every animal from ancient LA were bigger, cooler versions of today's animals. Even their storks were a foot taller! The child in me was delighted by the whole thing. I remember the awe and fascination when we visited the natural history museum when I was a kid. Even today, seeing these very real skeletons of wondrous monsters is like catching a glimpse into another reality. These things existed! They walked around where I walk! (Dinosaurs are even more of a trip because at least these mammals pulled from the tar resemble animals that exist today.) It was neat seeing the active excavation sites with bones protruding from the black puddles.<br /><br />After La Brea we went over to Chris Faris' house for a movie night with <a href="http://anyeventuality.wordpress.com/">Nobody</a>. Good food and company.<br /><br />Saturday I got to play some co-op Red Dead Redemption with my buddy Will in Idaho. Saturday night was <a href="http://www.brendoman.com/index.php">Brendoman</a>'s birthday, which we celebrated at a Chuck E. Cheese in disguise in Buena Park.<br /><br />Sunday I skipped church (shhhh!) to attend my first ever Cowboy Action Shooting event. (Quick primer on CAS -- it's a club where everyone shows up in period-authentic clothing and competes in various shooting events. Check <a href="http://www.cascity.com/">these </a><a href="http://www.sassnet.com/">websites </a> for more information.) I'd heard about it online and from Andy over at <a href="http://www.walker47.com/">Walker '47</a>. I was originally going to go just to observe, but Andy recommended I join the "New Shooters" class. I'm so glad I did. For just $13 I got about 6 hours of practice/advice/training.<br /><br />I showed up at about 8:45am at <a href="http://www.raahauges.com/">Raahauge's Range </a>in Corona to register. Just walking up to registration was a thrill, because there were already many men and women there in full cowboy get-ups, hauling around their cowboy carts loaded with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. At 9am everyone gathered under the awning for announcements from a guy who could be my friend Ric in 20 years. Looked a lot like him, had a very similar sense of humor, and even his vocal inflections were the same! Anyhow, this set the mood for the day: friendly and fun. Right off the bat all the cowboys (and girls) were ribbing each other with all kinds of inside jokes.<br /><br />After announcements, several experienced members rounded up the newbs and took us all over to one of the ranges. There they brought out about 10 different revolvers for us to look at and handle so we could get an idea of what we liked and what we didn't. They were mostly Rugers and Peacemaker clones, but there was an 1872 Open Top and a Peacemaker with a Birds Head grip. After looking them over, we each got to put five rounds through them. I chose the Open Top with the 7.5" barrel, much longer than all the others. I put all five shots on target (and fairly quickly too, if I may say so), but they were only about 10'-15' away, so that wasn't too hard. They showed us the proper technique for the fastest two-handed shooting, which is firing the pistol with your right hand while thumbing the hammer with your left. Tricky to get at first, but definitely faster than one hand once you've got it.<br /><br />Next the cowboys brought out the rifles! Mostly Marlins, but there were a few Uberti 1873s, an 1866 "Yellow Boy," and an 1892. We were each given six rounds to let off. They put away the '73s, so I chose the Yellow Boy. Again, all six on target. The rifle targets were roughly double the distance of the pistol targets, but again, not very far. Very easy to hit if you take any time at all. The matches are designed for speed, though, so merely hitting these targets isn't the difficulty.<br /><br />Last out were the shotguns. Several double barrels, one with external hammers, several 1897 pump actions (seen in <span style="font-style: italic;">No Country for Old Men </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wild Bunch</span>), and one 1887 Lever Action. Guess which one I picked? <span style="font-style: italic;">Terminator 2 </span>all the way. This was a Chinese-made copy of the original Winchester, and the cowboys said these guns were very finicky, which is disappointing. The certainly have the most satisfying action in my opinion. The shotgun targets seemed to be about midway between the rifle and pistol targets. Again, not difficult to hit if you're not going for speed.<br /><br />Next came lunch, and then our first timed attempts! The set-up was this: 5 shots from the pistol, 9 from the rifle, and 2 from the shotgun. We got to pick our favorite gun from each category. Our instructions were to place 2 on the left, 1 in the middle, and 2 on the right for the pistol; then 1-2-3 repeated 2x for the rifle; then knock over both shotgun targets. They have a special timer that stops the clock after the last shot. You start with your three guns on the table in front of you, your hands in the air. When you hear the buzzer, you go for your pistol and start shooting. You're penalized for missed shots (5 second penalty), procedural violations (shooting the targets out of order - 10 seconds), and safety violations (leaving the actions closed - 10 seconds). The first few guys who went all forgot to leave their levers open on their rifles, and they shot the pistol targets out of order. A friend I made that day, Steve, was the only one out of the 18 of us who shot a completely clean round, no violations, though his time was about 45 seconds. I shot towards the end of the group. I missed one of the pistol targets and one of the shotgun, but my time was about 25 seconds, so my final time of about 35 brought me in at 3rd place for the class! I was milliseconds away from the second place shooter, too. We were supposed to get to shoot a second round, but with such a large group we didn't have time, unfortunately.<br /><br />After thanking the very kind and generous instructors, I headed home. It was a really fun day, and at $13 I recommend it to anyone who likes shooting at all. I'd have paid much more easily.<br /><br />Here's a demonstration and overview of Cowboy Action Shooting:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7kGQQ9wjzOw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7kGQQ9wjzOw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />That night Amy and I finished the weekend by seeing <span style="font-style: italic;">Toy Story 3 </span>with some friends.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-54229580308348281262010-05-12T09:45:00.000-07:002010-05-13T12:27:33.294-07:00The Invention of Lying (2009)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S-rlUja-UjI/AAAAAAAAAxE/t4ncYCNa8Qs/s1600/the-invention-of-lying.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S-rlUja-UjI/AAAAAAAAAxE/t4ncYCNa8Qs/s400/the-invention-of-lying.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470436838663410226" border="0" /></a>When I first heard about the movie I was very excited. I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais' television shows "The Office" and "Extras" (and am really looking forward to his new show with Warwick Davis called "Life's Too Short"!). The premise sounded like it could be high-concept gold in his hands: in a world in which no one lies, and Gervais discovers how.<br /><br />Then the movie was released to middling reviews, and my friend Frankie in particular said it devolved into an anti-religion diatribe half-way through, so I skipped it until video. And it turns out Frankie was right, though the concept requires further discussion.<br /><br />The setting: an alternate earth exactly like our own, save for the fact that lies do not exist. This apparently also means that people are <span style="font-style: italic;">compelled </span>to spit out the truth. Rather than simply refraining from saying certain things, in this world if you have a thought or opinion, you say it, no matter how hurtful. People are apparently unaware of the pain this causes, and of their own shame, because they don't hesitate or cringe when uttering these things. Gervais' character, Mark Bellison, seems like the only one who gets hurt by other people's comments, which is sort of odd, because if you're aware of your own pain, you're probably be aware of others' as well. But I suppose you can't get too nit-picky with movies like this; I just can't help it sometimes.<br /><br />After Mark suffers a series of humiliations and losses, he discovers the idea of lying. And he uses this power for his own gain, at first. It's the same arc you see across any of these high-concept movies like <span style="font-style: italic;">Click </span>or <span style="font-style: italic;">Groundhog Day</span>. They use their power for evil at first, but eventually learn that what's really important can't be acquired using this power, so they try and stop it or use it for good.<br /><br />Mark's mother is dying, and on her deathbed she tells him how terrified she is of death and the idea that there is nothing beyond death. Mark uses his power to invent Heaven, which comforts her, and also the hospital staff. Word of this new "fact" spreads, and soon everyone in the world wants to hear about this new information. So Mark creates God, and rules for getting into Heaven. And everyone is comforted by this lie, though it creates problems when the people demand clearer rules about how you get into Heaven, and what constitutes a bad deed.<br /><br />And then all of this is abandoned in favor of the love story at the end.<br /><br />Gervais is an atheist, and he has used his stand-up routine to make fun of Christianity in particular before. He's taking the same kind of shots here. The thing is, I don't know quite what to make of it. On the one hand, religion is obviously a lie designed to comfort people and get them to act well. But it's a lie! Lies are bad; we should only believe the truth. Yet these lies comforted many people, including his own mother in a genuinely tender scene. So what is he saying? "It's definitely a lie, and it'll cause problems, but it's OK for dumber people to believe them if it makes them happy or better people"? He creates a world without lies, that is also a world without religion. Clearly he believes in nothing supernatural whatsoever. And in terms of the film's story, the lies should be seen as bad, because even though he uses them to comfort his mother, he acknowledges at the end that it wouldn't be right to lie to the girl he loves. What? I don't get it. And the whole "creation of religion" thing is never concluded. He never comes out at the end and tells everyone, "I made it all up. It's false. But the principles are true, so don't do bad things." His message seems to be, "Lies are bad, though sometimes they're good, and also religion is a giant lie created to control people."<br /><br />I think the movie fails both in structure and in worldview. By failing to address the big implications of creating religion, the story has a giant hole. Beyond that, it's also not as funny as it should have been. Gervais put loads of funny recognizable people into the movie, but none of them amount to anything more than cameos that make you go, "Hey, it's them!" Jennifer Garner does deliver a charming performance, however, and Ricky is still a very good comedic actor.<br /><br />Another disappointment once the movie was over was the lack of a director's commentary for the disc. I was desperate to hear Gervais address his ideas in the movie, but the extra features were all concerned with abusing Karl Pilkington and "corpsing." Not a single bit to address the ideas in the film.<br /><br />It is clear that Gervais is a master of uncomfortable comedy, which makes me glad that he's returning to television for his next project. I hope he knows the ways he failed in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Invention of Lying </span>and takes them to heart for any future film projects.<br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=FFFFFF&IS1=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monaretfun-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B00275EHC8" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-59799696520000782312010-05-03T08:50:00.000-07:002010-05-03T08:56:19.330-07:00Two plays: "Diversions" and "Portrait of a Madonna"The two one-act plays that I'm a part of are showing this week! "Diversions," a comedy by Christopher Durang, will be playing at 8pm this Thursday (May 6th), and "Portrait of a Madonna," a drama by Tennessee Williams, will be playing at 8pm this Friday (May 7th). Tickets are only $5 for either night, and there will be three plays each night. Thursday is all Durang comedies, Friday is all Williams dramas. These are all being directed by senior students at Biola.<br /><br />I drew this last night for the insert in the program for the comedy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S97xwIYZUYI/AAAAAAAAAw8/Yy7-1kJ7pMw/s1600/diversionsposter.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 391px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S97xwIYZUYI/AAAAAAAAAw8/Yy7-1kJ7pMw/s400/diversionsposter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467072806860181890" border="0" /></a>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-77667972105298506102010-04-20T09:52:00.000-07:002010-04-20T14:57:56.909-07:00Movie Round UpI need to do another giant-size movie round up. Here we go!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How To Train Your Dragon </span>(2010) - Loved it. Kudos for the writers/directors for spending time building up the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. I feel like I've seen a lot of recent movies where such a relationship is implied but not actually earned. In HTTYD, we see the trust and friendship build believably. The training aspect was also believable. Rather than showing the problem in one scene, the brilliant solution being built in the next, and the solution working after that, we see development, trial, and error, and it adds to the believability of Hiccup as an actual engineer. Having both of these things develop side-by-side is a natural and effective construction, too.<br /><br />I enjoyed the idea of different dragons and their respective strengths and weaknesses. As a kid, I would have eaten that up even more, going home to invent my own dragon, or arguing with my brothers over which one we'd choose for ourselves.<br /><br />The ending had a great emotional pay-off, and tied Hiccup and Toothless even closer together in a unique way. (It reminded me of the end of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582404925?ie=UTF8&tag=monaretfun-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1582404925">Earthboy Jacobus</a>, too.)<br /><br />My only complaints are minor ones that I have with a lot of other animated movies: too much "modern talk" (stop using the phrase "not so much" -- in any movie, now that I think about it), pointless celebrity casting, pointless "realistic" hair and water (everything else is stylized and cartoony, why does hair and water and eyeballs have to look as real as possible?), overuse of Scottish accents (though I admit I don't have a good solution for the problem of making Vikings sound "different"). My other complaint is less minor but also possibly less valid: I was bored by the conflict between Hiccup and his father. The dynamic of the "Dad who doesn't get me and his love is dependent on my performance" is universal and time-tested, but I've seen it in way too many movies, and HTTYD didn't do enough different with it to make me interested. It's a very predictable road to travel. On the other hand, it was nice to see it resolve without the father being the villain.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sherlock Holmes </span>(2009) - Just what I expected: a fun flick with two likeable leads that isn't necessarily a "great film." High on adventure, liked the characterizations a lot, was bored by the "mystery" and villain. Moratorium declared: no more "this world will end" scenarios, please. There's absolutely no danger felt in such a threat. Everyone and their grandmother knows the world isn't going to end in these films. Make the threat more believable! Pick something that you think the filmmakers might actually allow to happen, so that there is tension and danger! While we know the heroes will usually defeat the villains, with a more believable threat the movie has a better chance of creating genuine tension. Anytime your villain threatens the entire world, I yawn and know he will fail to even cause much damage to his immediate location. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Terminator 3 </span>is the only movie I can think of that actually follows through on its threat.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tom Horn </span>(1980) - Decent Western with enough originality to make it worthwhile. This was Steve McQueen's final film, and he was around 50 years old when he made it. I've never seen him looking quite so old and worn out. <span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Horn </span>is the true story of one of the West's final legends who was hung for murder in 1903. The movie concerns his final year, when he is already notorious for his past exploits.<br /><br />The director uses slow motion to great effect during several death scenes. That probably brings to mind Michael Bay cliches, but they're actually much closer to Kurosawa's shots in <span style="font-style: italic;">Seven Samurai</span>. There is no music in these scenes; their purpose is not melodrama, but the true violence of death.<br /><br />The action is also pretty unique. One particular scene has Tom riding up to a guy in his cabin and confronting him about stolen cattle. The man is watching him from his kitchen table through a large open window. The man suddenly fires on Horn with his Colt Walker, killing Tom's horse, and as Tom is falling he gets off a shot that strikes the man right in the head. It's a great stunt and scene, edited very well. (Interesting side-note: one of the design requirements by Sam Walker for the Colt Walker was that it would be powerful enough to take down a horse. Kudos to the armorer for picking a pistol that could actually do the job.)<br /><br />Tom's primary weapon is a Winchester 1876 chambered in the large .45-60 round, a weapon and configuration rarely (if ever) seen in Westerns. His prowess with an unusual long-range rifle reminded me of <span style="font-style: italic;">Quigley Down Under</span>. One aspect that hurts the movie for me is that, like <a href="http://agadoni.blogspot.com/2008/01/pale-rider-1985.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pale Rider</span></a>, the sound designer used canned A-Team sound effects for the gunfire. For such a unique weapon, you really do need to design a unique and powerful sound effect.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S83q9Fgj1TI/AAAAAAAAAwk/3V3mG6cy434/s1600/Stevehorn.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S83q9Fgj1TI/AAAAAAAAAwk/3V3mG6cy434/s400/Stevehorn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462280258241942834" border="0" /></a>The movie is edited in an odd way. It makes very fast jumps from scene to scene, some of these cuts span days or weeks, and we're dropped into flashbacks with no warning.<br /><br />The movie seems to stick to the facts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Horn">Tom Horn</a>'s life fairly closely. It's an interesting story.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Zombieland </span>(2009) - Decent movie, some laughs to be had, but it didn't kill me (no pun intended), and it didn't come close to replacing <span style="font-style: italic;">Shaun of the Dead </span>as the ZomCom to beat. I think Jesse Eisenberg is a talented actor, but I couldn't help picturing Michael Cera throughout the movie. They seem like two sides of the same double-headed coin. They're slightly different, but nearly interchangeable. I know they probably hate hearing that, but I couldn't help thinking it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mr. Deeds Goes to Town </span>(1936) - Boy am I a sucker for these Capra movies. I love them. The good and innocent people in his movies, and the battle to remain so, gets me every time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gremlins </span>(1984) - I don't get why this is so popular. Aside from the fun puppet effects, this is a weird movie that doesn't have enough of a hook to keep me around. And it takes FOREVER to get going. It was something like 40 minutes before the gremlins even appeared! Bad script. Bad!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Dynamite </span>(2008) - Hilarious. Loved it. Terrific send-up of the genre, and watching the behind-the-scenes stuff helped me appreciate all the little subtle jokes even more. Michael Jai White is perfect as Black Dynamite. Turns out he has a black-belt in, like, a billion fighting styles, so the fight scenes are actually awesome.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ponyo </span>(2009) - Very similar to <a href="http://agadoni.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-neighbor-totoro-1988.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">My Neighbor Totoro </span></a>in terms of structure. There is a goal for the characters, but there's never really any danger or conflict. You just get to enjoy watching them get there. Ponyo is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I loved watching her run around with that big grin on her face, and interact with others.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lonely Are the Brave</span> (1962) - (some spoilers to follow) I wish I had more to write about this one. It's great all over the place. It's my favorite role of Kirk Douglas'. There have been many Westerns about the Last Cowboy, but Kirk's character and the era he's in may make him the definitive Last Cowboy.<br /><br />You start with the famous opening shot of a cowboy sleeping on the prairie, horse by his side, campfire smoldering. The year could be 1880. Then a jet flies over.<br /><br />Kirk is making his way back to a town where his buddy has been thrown in jail. In a funny bit of contrast, it's a tiny town, but it seems like Manhattan compared with the prairie he's just come in from. Kirk is planning on breaking in to jail so he can bust his friend out. He just needs a good reason to get thrown in jail. In another bit of irony, he visits a bar, planning to get drunk, and ends up in a fight with a tough-as-nails one-armed man with a giant chip on his shoulder, despite doing everything he can to avoid the fight. Then, when it turns out that even this won't get him into jail, he slugs the police officer who is letting him go. Then, he gets in to jail, only his friend doesn't want to leave!<br /><br />This is all the first half of the movie, and it could stand up on it's own as a great film. But from here, he busts out and is making a break for the mountains, with police chief Walter Matthau on his trail. This second half is, again, a whole other story that would be compelling on its own.<br /><br />Interspersed with all this is Carroll O'Connor driving a big rig full of toilets somewhere. From the moment you first see him, you know how the movie is going to end. But a movie like this couldn't end any way else anyhow, so knowing isn't a detriment to enjoying the film.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9603781.post-72717727493810647292010-04-20T09:35:00.001-07:002010-05-13T15:10:19.915-07:00TenNapel Art AcquisitionI can now check off "Doug TenNapel" on my Original Comic Page acquisition sheet.<br /><br />This weekend I joined my friends Ethan Nicolle (of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593621302?ie=UTF8&tag=monaretfun-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1593621302">Chumble Spuzz</a> and <a href="http://www.axecop.com/">Axe Cop</a> fame) and <a href="http://tennapel.com/">Doug TenNapel</a> (not famous) at the Wizard World convention in Anaheim. It was very different from the San Diego Comic Con in that you could actually walk freely around the halls.<br /><br />Doug was selling more original art, and this time he actually included <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/034549637X?ie=UTF8&tag=monaretfun-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=034549637X">Solomon Fix</a> pages (from Flight Volume 2)! I've been after these things for years. It's my favorite art of his. Unlike his later books, which have good art but are more concerned with telling the story, these have a lot more time put into the design of the page. They're also more cartoony and creature-based, which is my favorite work of his.<br /><br />I bought these two pages (the <span>best </span>pages of the book, I think).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S85qogevAMI/AAAAAAAAAws/f9BfTHL0a9c/s1600/solfix-sushi.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S85qogevAMI/AAAAAAAAAws/f9BfTHL0a9c/s400/solfix-sushi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462420642193146050" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S85qowPLQ3I/AAAAAAAAAw0/xHwSA0YG1nk/s1600/solfix-heehaw.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y3On0HCfgF0/S85qowPLQ3I/AAAAAAAAAw0/xHwSA0YG1nk/s400/solfix-heehaw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462420646422856562" border="0" /></a>These pages join the ranks with my <a href="http://agadoni.blogspot.com/2008/07/original-comic-art.html">Rob Schrab Scud page and Steve Purcell Sam & Max page</a>.<br /><br />There are still many other artists I'd like to collect, but I think I have a pretty bitchen collection so far.<br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=FFFFFF&IS1=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monaretfun-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=034549637X" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854584103424620018noreply@blogger.com0