This Could Never Happen Here

...right?

Iranian cartoon pulled from film festival | The Australian:

From correspondents in Bangkok
June 27, 2007

THAILAND has caved in to pressure from Iran and withdrawn the animated movie Persepolis, about a girl growing up and feeling repressed under Islamic rule, from next month's Bangkok International Film Festival.

'I was invited by the Iranian embassy to discuss the matter and we both came to mutual agreement that it would be beneficial to both countries if the film was not shown,' festival director Chattan Kunjara na Ayudhya said today.

'It's a good film, but there are other considerations.'

The film, based on the popular French comic books of Iranian director and writer Marjane Satrapi, drew complaints from the government-affiliated Iran Farabi Foundation when it was screened at this year's Cannes Film Festival in France.

After all, this country would never do anything like that...

<⁄bullshit>

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Diiiiiiiive!

Last night, the wife and I went to the first film of a summer outdoor film series at the Big Red School on the Hill. Sing it with me...

Flash! Ah-ahhhhh! King of the impossible!



I just had to get a shot of the almighty Brian Blessed...

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Adriaaaaaaaa...Oh, Wait

I know I should make fun, I really do. But this actually looks interesting on a couple of levels.

WARNING: This is definitely not for the kiddies!



via The Engine and other places.

EDIT: And then I read the (supposed) plot. Most of it you could glean from the trailer, but "With five young and highly diverse mercenaries at his disposal..."? Is this going to be like that last season or two of WALKER: TEXAS RANGER where you just didn't see Chuck do as much kicking as he used to?

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Holiday Breather

We've got a few days between Christmas and New Year's Eve in Cleveland. Drive, drive, drive.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were awesome, though. So far, between presents from each other, Mamazoo, and some of The Wife's other relatives, we made out like bandits, so far. And, we haven't even seen my folks, yet.

My favorite gift came from The Wife, the one person who knows me best...


SCRUBBERS!!!!!

The time with family was the best, though. There's always good food to be had, and fun games. Although, it seems that even in Elmira, we can't escape EWF and Verdine White; they were pimping CDs and DVDs on QVC.



We got to spend time with the Wife's aunt, who's quickly becoming my favorite in-law after Mamazoo. She's the liveliest 83 year old I've ever met. She's the kind of woman to cook up steaks for (her) breakfast and offer you Yuenglung beer and Chivas at 10:45 in the morning. Her household is just so great for being the unabashed, unapologetic Italian side of the Wife's family. At one point, I was asked by my cousin-in-law, her son, if I "wanted to go for a ride." That's out of context, but picture every movie where you've ever heard that line, and that's exactly how it sounded.

Well, it's after three, so we're just now getting ready to see what the Boxing Day shopping scene is like. Hopefully, it won't be too harried.

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The Finest Film Available to Humanity

I originally wanted to see this movie as part of a Doctor Who Movie Marathon where I'd seek out films with appearances by various actors who've played the Doctor. I got it after stumbling onto Nicole Kidman's The Others which featured Christopher "Ninth Doctor" Eccleston as her husband. I decided the next one would be Withnail & I, with Paul "Eighth Doctor" McGann as "I" and Richard E. Grant, who played the Doctor on a BBC webcast, Scream of the Shalka.

The movie appealed to me immediately because Withnail's dress (on the right) resembles the way I dressed back in the 80s (even if the film itself is set in 1969). I almost forgot how Warren Ellis noted the resemblance between Withnail's dress and the Tenth Doctor's costume.

I thought the film was hilarious, even before I realized what a cult it was. I knew I'd seen it referenced a lot online, but now I understand why. It's a dark, almost plotless, and eminently quotable (just ask The Wife ;)) film about two out-of-work actors who "Went on holiday by mistake" out in the country. They expect peace and quiet among friendly country folk. They get anything but. That's pretty much 95% of the plot right there.

It's really a combination mood/character piece. Alcoholism, drug use, swearing, debauchery and a person's desire to get away from it. It's Trainspotting before there was a Trainspotting.

You just have to take my word for it and watch it. Go here for some quotes.

Next on the agenda, providing I can find it: 24 Hour Party People, with Christopher Eccleston, to be followed by The Omen with a cameo by Patrick "Second Doctor" Troughton.

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Monday Bloggery

It feels like I've been away longer than I have. Anyway, let's get started. One of the things that's kept me away was our social calendar which E keeps pretty full. To be fair, I was never forced to take part in any of our impromptu social gatherings. But, you know how it is--you don't want to look anti-social, and once you get past the initial nagging "I got other siht to do" feeling, you find you're actually having fun.

Other things that have kept me away are movies (one in particular that I'll write about later) and an overload of RSS feeds--48 at last count, mostly blogs. Yes, it's information overload, and I haven't had time to comment until now, and that's only because I'm making time (that is, until the temp place deigns to call me back or I hound them again, which I will later this afternoon).

ITEM ONE
A good number of the thirtysomethings I know wonder, in our nostalgia, why we no longer see certain things on TV, like The Muppet Show.

Personally, I miss Crazy Harry. (Via Monkey Disaster)

ITEM TWO
Whoever said Bruce Lee is God apparently isn't all that far off.

The Art of Fighting Without Fighting

Muslims and Catholics unified by image of Bruce Lee.

Two years after the Urban Movement came up with the initial proposal, the Bosnian town of Mostar, has collected enough financial and popular support to erect a monument to Bruce Lee in their town center.

ITEM THREE

I posted awhile back about what became and what is still my favorite episode of This American Life, called "My Experimental Phase," which featured the story of a Hassidic Jew who led a double life as a local rock star.

Tina Fey's working on a script for the movie.
(Via lindsayism)

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The Wages of Sin

Ha! I just kill me. Anyway, E and I watched Frank Miller's Sin City last night. I wonder just what I was thinking bringing my pacifist, Buddhist wife to watch it with me. Hers isn't a world that can accept even characterizations of brutal and depraved male anti-heroes. Or of brutal and depraved women whose only escape from exploitation and brutality is to harness their exploitation and become as brutal and depraved as the men around them. To her, it's not a world to be portrayed in graphic novels, let alone the silver screen, even if it just the worst part of a single city.

A frame-by-frame, faithful retelling of one of the most influential comic books in recent decades? Yes. A victory for artists against big corporate interests who would strip-mine (and often water down) an intellectual property in order to make the most bucks possible rather than respect its integrity? Probably. An excuse for the things that are objectionable because:

• ...it's just a comic book?
  
• ...it's a masterpiece in the tradition of film noir?
  
• ...it's a testament to the work that so much A-list talent were willing to work on the project?
  
• ...it's a gritty and unforgiving look at the darkness within the human soul and how sometimes you need to use it in order to fight it?

Before you answer, let's take another look at those bullet points translated in the "Common tongue" of some supporters.

• "Ooh, Frank-freakin'-Miller and Robert Rodriguez! Ain't gonna be no nipples-on-the-batsuits here!"
  
• "They were SOO faithful to the characters and style of the graphic novels! What else could possibly matter? God, it was like Marv was lifted from the comic right onto the screen!"
  
• "See? If Bruce Willis and Benicio del Toro are into this stuff, then I must be as cool as they are!"
  
• "Sure, most of the women were whores, but, would you mess with any of them? And, sure, Dwight did hit Gail, who kissed him. But, he did ask her nice to get that uzi out of his face... twice!"

And, maybe that's the problem. Stop at those levels, and it's easy to love this movie. I did. It IS a masterpiece. This movie is the new standard according to which every future comic book movie will be judged.

But, is that a good thing?

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Puddle of Consciousness Post

Because as Martin Mull once said, "I have trouble with moving water."

Well, as with most other people whose blogs I frequent, it seems that for one (positive or negative) reason or another, the past two or three weeks have been bad for blogging. Real life often gets in the way, and that's generally a good thing. Now that I've got a bit of time and a bit of focus, let's catch everyone up.

Mama Said Knock You Out - I've got about a month to brush up on boxing techniques. I thought since I'm not going to be in A-Town for only a few months longer, I might as well take this opportunity to participate in a local tough-man competition presented by one of the town's main Bando figures. Because "You're Filipino - boxing's in your blood" as DATU_B tells me. Well, I'm certainly no Estaneslao del Campo, and to my knowledge, I'm not related to him in any way. But nothing ought to motivate me to work on my sparring problems more than the prospect of combat.

Napoleon Dynamite - I managed to sneak this DVD along with me to the honeymoon. Ok, it's not the greatest movie, and yet I like it because I knew many, many kids like this in high school, particularly being in marching band and advanced honors classes.

The thing was apparently developed from a short film entitled Peluca, which Elena enjoyed far more than Napoleon Dynamite itself. I agreed that it feature film did have the feel of a funny SNL skit made into a long and boring film.

Genetics for Dummies -



New Addictions - They're obviously my digital camera and my Flickr account, as you can tell by the photostream linkage I've added to the sidebar as well as the self-restraint site. It's like I told Elena a year ago that I never gave much thought to cameras because up until the past couple of years, there really hasn't been much in my life that I felt was worth documenting. Maybe it's just age, who knows?

I Don't Celebrate April Fool's Day - Perhaps I would if I wasn't surrounded by so many of them every day of the year.

Nothing to Do Next Monday? - Check out American Nerd for my already-dated article on the new Doctor Who (bloody b@$tard).

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Friday the 18th

ANGLE 1
T-Minus 5 days to wedded bliss!!

ANGLE 2
Last night, E and I trolled video stores to score a copy of the new Battlestar Galactica mini on DVD. We couldn't find one, but I happened on a pre-viewed copy of the film American Adobo on sale for $4.95. I remembered reading a blurb about this somewhere, sometime back. News about Filipino-American movies tends to grab my attention for a split second. I figured the worst case scenario was that, if it sucked, at least I'd be taking it off the local market.

I didn't know how right I was. You know, I think I'll make this a separate entry, because the movie sort of ticked me off.

On a good note, I'm glad I splurged on a near-mint, used copy of Hero!

ANGLE 3
We did manage to watch Ju-On, better known by its American remake The Grudge. It was pretty frightening. Director Takashi Shimizu has quite the bag of tricks. Unfortunately, that's all the movie was. Definitely a triumph of style over substance. But then, aren't all the better horror movies that way? ("Better," I said -- not "best.")

ANGLE 4
Ann Marie has played the interview game! Thanks!

***
Two out of five people have Played the Interview Game! Who are the lucky three going to be?

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In Other Nerdery...

SciFiDaily reports (and, I even looked it up, to boot) that the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, originally played by the late Peter Cushing (who also did a turn as Doctor Who), will be played by Farscape's Wayne Pygram in the upcoming Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Wow, I'm surprised Satan's Minion Lucas didn't just cut and paste him from Episode IV.

***
It's not too late - Play the Interview Game!

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