Sunday, February 13, 2005
That's entertainment
Been a while since I wasted blogspace on things I find entertaining (other than basketball), so here goes a quick one.
Movies: Finally got time this weekend to see the remake of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. A very decent effort; not on par with the original, perhaps, in terms of emotional or cultural impact, but I'm hardly the one to judge because I haven't seen the original. (Pause while certain folks pick their jaws up off the floor.) I will say that the remake suffers the same flaw that so many modern action flicks do: they're intense, visceral, and visually arresting -- right up until the climactic moments, when the hero hunts the villain through a (pick one) forest/factory/office building/airport. The final confrontation itself was pretty good, but I think a number of shots could have been shaved off the chase without any loss; and it probably would have been more intense.
TV: The new Battlestar Galactica series is the only thing I watch regularly now, apart from Adult Swim. I tried to keep up with the new season of 24 until I realized that its immense suckage was going to flense me of the will to live. And this despite the presence of the altogether yummy Kim Raver as Jack's new love interest. Oh, well; BSG is enough.
I'd also like to go on the record as being foursquare against Adult Swim's much-hyped Tom Goes to the Mayor, fifteen minutes of pain that recur with alarming frequency. As in, the same fifteen minutes over and over and freakin' over again, because Cartoon Network apparently only ordered about three episodes and they've been airing them twice a week since November. Maybe I'm getting old, maybe I'm missing something, but the show just isn't... what's the word? ... tolerable. Cancel it, Adult Swim, or lose me forever.
PC Games: Finished up a season in franchise mode on Madden 2005; took my Pittsburgh Steelers through an undefeated regular season, a perfect playoffs, and an overwhelming Superbowl victory. And then I wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer. Ah, the NFL season, so mercifully shorter than the NBA's; I'm still only 27 games into my NBA Live 2005 franchise. That's 27 games out of 82, for this season only. After this season, I'll only have 24 seasons left. So let's do a little math: 82 games times 1 hour playing time for each game (I'm playing 12-minute quarters) times 25 seasons equals I will never finish this franchise before NBA Live 2006 comes out and/or I move on to ESPN's College Hoops 2k5. To do the latter, though, I'll have to buy an Xbox, and I'm just not ready for that yet.
(Yes, I could just simulate games; but then, how would I make sure Allen Iverson averages a triple double? The computer tends to shortchange your stats if you don't play each game, and if there's one thing I hate, it's watching my point guard's stats drop from 50 points/12 rebs/15 assists per game to something more realistic like 23/3/2. And it's absolute murder on Samuel Dalembert's blocking stat.)
Now, if May/June will just get here... I'm very much looking forward to GTA: San Andreas.
DVD: Got the first season of Miami Vice this week; I'd forgotten just how over-the-top it could be, as well as how gripping. The scene in the pilot where Crockett and Tubbs drive to meet Calderon, stopping off to see Crockett's ex on the way, all while Phil Collins' incomparable "In the Air Tonight" plays in the background... it's still as good today as it was 20 years ago. Which is to say, very good indeed.
Watched The Crow again last night for the first time in a long time. Amazing how little time has dimmed its power. It's one of those movies (like An American Tail) that always reduces me to helpless tears if I watch it alone. If they'd kept the scene from the comics where Eric takes leave of Sarah on the way to his final confrontation with the T-Bird, and he tells her something along the lines of "Sarah, I'm sorry for all the bad things that have happened to you, and all the bad things that are going to happen to you... Someday everything will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises. I truly believe this... " If that scene had made the movie, I'd probably still be sobbing like a girl.
Music: I haven't gotten into any new music lately; I think the last thing I bought was the White Stripes' concert DVD (amazing, by the way). Instead, I've turned to creating compilations from my existing collection, supplemented with occasional additions downloaded from RealPlayer. I have all the Erasure I'm ever going to need. Most-played compilation lately: a collection of tracks I've inaccurately titled "Industrial," which includes:
1. Megalomaniac (KMFDM)
2. Juke Joint Jezebel (KMFDM)
3. Beast (KMFDM)
4. Anarchy (KMFDM with Tim Skold)
5. mOBSCENE (Marilyn Manson)
6. Tainted Love (Marilyn Manson) (which I like better than the original)
7. Burning Inside (live) (Ministry)
8. Blackball (KMFDM) (my current favorite song)
9. Brute (KMFDM)
among others.
(Yes, I like these artists, to one degree or another, or at least these particular songs by these artists; and I also like hymns. Any other questions?)
Tried to download Explosions in the Sky's album Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place because I enjoyed their work on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack; they have a sort of Daniel Lanois meets Godspeed You Black Emperor sound that is lush and haunting if you go for that sort of thing, or perhaps just simply annoying if you don't. I like it; I just wish RealPlayer hadn't botched my download. Twice. Resulting in tracks that skip and miss out and buzz with radio-like static at apparently random intervals. Most distressing. The music's still good, though.
Suddenly, I'm very much wanting a pair of Reebok Pumps. That must mean it's bedtime! Goodnight.
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Movies: Finally got time this weekend to see the remake of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. A very decent effort; not on par with the original, perhaps, in terms of emotional or cultural impact, but I'm hardly the one to judge because I haven't seen the original. (Pause while certain folks pick their jaws up off the floor.) I will say that the remake suffers the same flaw that so many modern action flicks do: they're intense, visceral, and visually arresting -- right up until the climactic moments, when the hero hunts the villain through a (pick one) forest/factory/office building/airport. The final confrontation itself was pretty good, but I think a number of shots could have been shaved off the chase without any loss; and it probably would have been more intense.
TV: The new Battlestar Galactica series is the only thing I watch regularly now, apart from Adult Swim. I tried to keep up with the new season of 24 until I realized that its immense suckage was going to flense me of the will to live. And this despite the presence of the altogether yummy Kim Raver as Jack's new love interest. Oh, well; BSG is enough.
I'd also like to go on the record as being foursquare against Adult Swim's much-hyped Tom Goes to the Mayor, fifteen minutes of pain that recur with alarming frequency. As in, the same fifteen minutes over and over and freakin' over again, because Cartoon Network apparently only ordered about three episodes and they've been airing them twice a week since November. Maybe I'm getting old, maybe I'm missing something, but the show just isn't... what's the word? ... tolerable. Cancel it, Adult Swim, or lose me forever.
PC Games: Finished up a season in franchise mode on Madden 2005; took my Pittsburgh Steelers through an undefeated regular season, a perfect playoffs, and an overwhelming Superbowl victory. And then I wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer. Ah, the NFL season, so mercifully shorter than the NBA's; I'm still only 27 games into my NBA Live 2005 franchise. That's 27 games out of 82, for this season only. After this season, I'll only have 24 seasons left. So let's do a little math: 82 games times 1 hour playing time for each game (I'm playing 12-minute quarters) times 25 seasons equals I will never finish this franchise before NBA Live 2006 comes out and/or I move on to ESPN's College Hoops 2k5. To do the latter, though, I'll have to buy an Xbox, and I'm just not ready for that yet.
(Yes, I could just simulate games; but then, how would I make sure Allen Iverson averages a triple double? The computer tends to shortchange your stats if you don't play each game, and if there's one thing I hate, it's watching my point guard's stats drop from 50 points/12 rebs/15 assists per game to something more realistic like 23/3/2. And it's absolute murder on Samuel Dalembert's blocking stat.)
Now, if May/June will just get here... I'm very much looking forward to GTA: San Andreas.
DVD: Got the first season of Miami Vice this week; I'd forgotten just how over-the-top it could be, as well as how gripping. The scene in the pilot where Crockett and Tubbs drive to meet Calderon, stopping off to see Crockett's ex on the way, all while Phil Collins' incomparable "In the Air Tonight" plays in the background... it's still as good today as it was 20 years ago. Which is to say, very good indeed.
Watched The Crow again last night for the first time in a long time. Amazing how little time has dimmed its power. It's one of those movies (like An American Tail) that always reduces me to helpless tears if I watch it alone. If they'd kept the scene from the comics where Eric takes leave of Sarah on the way to his final confrontation with the T-Bird, and he tells her something along the lines of "Sarah, I'm sorry for all the bad things that have happened to you, and all the bad things that are going to happen to you... Someday everything will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises. I truly believe this... " If that scene had made the movie, I'd probably still be sobbing like a girl.
Music: I haven't gotten into any new music lately; I think the last thing I bought was the White Stripes' concert DVD (amazing, by the way). Instead, I've turned to creating compilations from my existing collection, supplemented with occasional additions downloaded from RealPlayer. I have all the Erasure I'm ever going to need. Most-played compilation lately: a collection of tracks I've inaccurately titled "Industrial," which includes:
1. Megalomaniac (KMFDM)
2. Juke Joint Jezebel (KMFDM)
3. Beast (KMFDM)
4. Anarchy (KMFDM with Tim Skold)
5. mOBSCENE (Marilyn Manson)
6. Tainted Love (Marilyn Manson) (which I like better than the original)
7. Burning Inside (live) (Ministry)
8. Blackball (KMFDM) (my current favorite song)
9. Brute (KMFDM)
among others.
(Yes, I like these artists, to one degree or another, or at least these particular songs by these artists; and I also like hymns. Any other questions?)
Tried to download Explosions in the Sky's album Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place because I enjoyed their work on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack; they have a sort of Daniel Lanois meets Godspeed You Black Emperor sound that is lush and haunting if you go for that sort of thing, or perhaps just simply annoying if you don't. I like it; I just wish RealPlayer hadn't botched my download. Twice. Resulting in tracks that skip and miss out and buzz with radio-like static at apparently random intervals. Most distressing. The music's still good, though.
Suddenly, I'm very much wanting a pair of Reebok Pumps. That must mean it's bedtime! Goodnight.
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