[IMDb]
A friend’s birthday was Monday, so the group went to see Red Riding 1974 at Kendall.
I’ve been trying to think of what to say about it for two days. I can’t think of anything that’s changed since my first thought, which was: “It’s not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it might be the [...]
Saturday was the latest in our Boston Symphony subscription series.
The program was:
Mozart
Symphony No. 38 in D Major K.504 “Prague”
Elgar
Violin Concerto in b minor, Op. 61
Guest conductor was Sir Colin Davis, guest violin soloist was Nikolaj Znaider of Denmark.
Full program notes
Overall, it was good. It was certainly technically great. But, like the Saint-Saens piece a few [...]
NYT has a little flash application that shows what people in various zipcodes rented in 2009.
The South End has no zip code of its one, but straddles 02116 (Back Bay) and 02118 (Roxbury).
Top 10 rentals for
02116
Rachel Getting Married
Milk
Doubt
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Burn After Reading
Vickie Christina Barcelona
The Wrestler
Revolutionary Road
Changeling
02118
Milk
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rachel [...]
[netflix] [IMDb] (2008)
Bolt (John Travolta), a puppy in a shelter, is adopted by Penny (Miley Cyrus) and becomes a TV superhero who saves Penny from danger episode after episode. The thing is, Bolt believes it’s all real and that he actually has these superpowers.
Threatened with cancellation, the show’s producers introduce a cliffhanger and don’t allow [...]
[netflix] [IMDb] (2008)
Bela Fleck takes his banjo to Africa to learn about the origins of the instrument. He visits Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, and Mali and records some of the local music, investigates local instruments, and plays with some of the local artists.
While interesting and certainly worthwhile, it wasn’t what I expected and as a result [...]
[netflix] [IMDb] (1992)
Hard boiled cop, Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) is, uh, something and there’s this other guy named Tony (Tony Leung) who is a bad guy but really a good guy, or something. And they meet and uh, something. And Tequila has a sort of girlfriend, kind of, who works for his demanding boss who, is [...]
[netflix] [IMDB] (1973)
A good movie. Not a great movie.
Small time thug, Eddie (Robert Mitchum) , is facing some hard time because of “that thing in New Hampshire” and tries to swing a deal with the cops (Richard Jordan) to get out of at least serving most of the time. He’s still involved in small time [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
Jet Li escorts his westernized cousin by train to her new job in the British embassy and runs into a fanatical cult, the White Lotus Society, whose mission it is to drive westerners out of China. They do this by beating everybody up, particularly those with any hint of westernization. The obligatory school full [...]
An online friend sent me an awesome link of total awesomeness.
Lexx season 1 is available online at Hulu! I just found out that it was available retail from amazon, so bought it and it should be here in about a week and my collection will be complete.
But now I can watch it now if I [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
I watched this on netflix streaming, so the only version they had was the Englsh dubbed one. The wire work and fight scenes were very good, the story was okay, but the dubbing was awful. I think they were trying to make it a hip and happening thing, but it was mostly just embarrassing.
A [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
This is basically, a three-episode reunion special, as far as I can make out. And it’s a big disappointment, frankly. 99-44/100ths percent of the time, reunion specials don’t work. To their credit, they were able to get the whole cast back together. The production values are vastly greater than the original show, and that’s [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
I need to catch up a bit on the movie watching reports.
I’ve been watching Robin Hood a few times lately, so I wanted to see another Errol Flynn swashbuckler, so this was it. This isn’t the movie I thought it was, but it was pretty good in spite of that.
Peter Blood (Errol Flynn), a [...]
Yesterday there was a one night only, nationwide showing in blu-ray capable theatres of a newly restored, high-def version of Wizard of Oz released for the 70th anniversary of its release. It was pretty cool. The “print” was very clear and I saw a few things that I’d not seen before. I never noticed, for [...]
I got to meet Ken Burns today. He was a WGBH pimping his new National Parks series and a friend of mine got an invitation to a meet and greet. He’s exactly the same in person as he is on TV. He and the co-producer, Dayton Duncan, after being introduced by WGBH President and Chief [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
Unexpectedly good. Labor Day was the last day to see this in IMAX at the NEAq, so we went. There were about 20 people in the theatre including one chatty cathy who sat right behind us. Werd, honey: you’re not that funny.
But in spite of that, I was surprised at how good this was [...]
[netlfix] [IMDb]
I really liked this. It’s definitely a more nihilistic view of superherodom. The film is very long, and it does drag in the middle. I was looking at the clock at the 1:30 mark and there was still more than an hour to go. But it picks up again.
These superheros are not very heroic, [...]
[netflix]
A collection of animated films from MTV’s “Liquid Television” series.
Aeon Flux seems to be some sort of secret agent of spy or nihilist or anarchist or something who slips into a neighboring territory (town?) to commit mayhem. Assassination, seduction and fomenting chaos sees to be the goal and slinky clothing seems to be the tool.
I [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
I never followed Silver Surfer in the comics (not that I read comics much anyway). I mean, I know what he looks like but, really, I know nothing about him. And after watching this, I know nothing more than I did to start with. Apparently, he’s some sort of being that is (or was) [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
A “cure” for mutants is developed, and both most, but not all, mutants are outraged at the idea. Magneto is still hell bent for war. Xavier is still opting for negotiation. Jean Grey is back from the dead but now she’s super powerful with world destroying powers and little will to control them. Then [...]
[netflix] [IMDb]
This could easily be described as a Spinal Tap for folk music. The whole Second City crew is here again (after Watiting for Guffman, For Your Consideration, and Best in Show) for another winner. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but the real humor is in the absurdity of it all.
Irving Steinbloom was agent [...]
NEC