"This is my rifle! There are many others like it, but this one is mine!"

Netflixing!

Stealth - aka "Ace Combat: The Movie" (videogame joke)
So, this is the handiwork of Mr. "The Fast And The Furious" (not Vin Diesel, Rob Cohen).
And you can tell from the amped-up XTREME action and quick-cuts. I mainly rented this to
see the planes in action. The F/A 37 Talon flown by our 3 heroes is quite nifty and it
wants to be rendered into Lego by myself (but where will I get the time!?!?).
The AI plane is niftier still, with bleeding-edge technology like elastometric wings
(that means they flex), pulse-detonation engines (they go "putt-putt") fueled by methane
of some kind (say what?!?!?), and a sensor suite that can do totally insane stuff like
facial recognition AND retina scan AND fingerprint scan from several miles away, in the air!!!
I mean, they can't even do that on Star Trek!! Are these the writers from "Airwolf"!?!?!
If you like watching planes go zoom, even if they're CGI, it's worth a rental.
I'm still waiting for the next "Top Gun", 'cause this ain't it.

Thunderbirds - Number One directs a kid's movie based on puppets.
I'll tell you right now, the best thing about this movie is Lady Penelope. She kicks ass.
And so does Parker. Otherwise, this is pretty much a kid's flick. It's nice to see the Thunderbirds
ships flying around again, but man, Lady Penelope's FAB-1 really ain't what it used to be.
The movie had a lot of help from Ford Europe, so I guess it was a given that FAB-1 would look like
a stretched, 3-axled, new Ford Thunderbird with a bubble canopy. Still, ew!!
Strictly for the kiddies.

Vanilla Sky - inspired by a Spanish movie called "Open Your Eyes".
This was not what I was expecting. This was also pretty good.
Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz ("no relation!"), and some creepy blond chick.
Penelope is delightful when she's being free-spirited and wacky like that.
I recommend it. It's intriguing and unusual.

The Spaghetti West - a short (55min) little overview of the Spaghetti Western genre.
A product of the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and Netflix, this short feature serves as a
primer to the world of Spaghetti Westerns, tracing their origins and their evolution. It includes
interviews with many Italian writers and directors, as well as soundtrack king Ennio Morricone.
It doesn't dig very deep though. This feeling of unsatisfaction(?) lead directly to the rental of...

Once Upon A Time In The West - the big meatball of the Spaghetti Western.
Henry Fonda! Charles Bronson! Jason Robbard! Claudia Cardinale! And that guy from "Cannonball Run"
with the bulging eyes that don't quite line up (Marty Feldman's dad!?!?). It's 2:45 hours long,
but it feels like 3. The cinematography is pretty awesome. No wonder this is one of my brother's
all-time favorite films. And Ennio Morricone's music. Wow man, just wow. This truly is art.
And yes, reminiscent of Japanese samurai movies. There's a certain sparseness...
One of those classics you need to see at least once.

Shark Tale - aka "Will Smith Is Physically Unable To STFU, EVER!"
My brother saw this in the theater and said he had enjoyed it. So I figured, what the hell.
Okay, so, a reef modeled after a borough of New York City? Yes, ha-ha, very droll.
Lots of hip references, some of them actually funny? Okay. Rasta man'o'wars? Funny.
Mafia sharks? Hilarious! Way too much bling-bling-yo-yo?? Oh dear, blargh.
Will Smith as street-smart fish who won't shut up, ever? AAAAAARGH!!!
The beginning of the film really drags. I was bored. It picked up a little at the 50-minute mark.
I'm glad I saw it. Now, I don't have to ever think about it again.
No possibility of ever confusing this with Pixar's work.


Movieflixing!!

Jarhead - aka "I went to Desert Storm and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"
Based on the memoirs of Anthony Swofford, who joined the Marines, with all that implies.
Trained his ass to be a sniper. Went to Desert Shield, then to Desert Storm, and poof. Nothing.
This is the story of a man who got gypped, pretty much. But what a strange trip it is.
It's goofy, it's scary, it's exhilirating, it's depressing, it's a bit like life itself.
And there's nothing quite like watching a roomfull of Marines hooting and hollering at the Vietcong
village chopper attack scene from "Apocalypse Now". I thought I was the only one who did that!!
Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. Semper fi!
Yes sir, I liked the movie, SIR!!!

Walk The Line - a bad boy of a different kind.
Dramatization of the original Man In Black's early life, Mr. Johnny Cash.
Joaquim Phoenix does a bang-up job as John, but the real surprise here is Robert Patrick, our friend
the T-1000, playing Cash Senior, a hard man in a hard world. Really, everybody in this is top-notch.
You get not only Johnny Cash, but also Elvis, Buddy, Jerry Lee, and June of course.
He was no saint but he paid his dues and made himself better.
If you liked "Ray", you're gonna love this. If you like music, you're gonna love this.

Posting on break.

So the weekend was cool.
On Saturday, Pascal and I went to the movies.
We saw "Jarhead", then snuck into "Walk The Line", 'cause we're 3V1L!!!
We loved both movies (see previous post).
The sibling had problems walking when we first left the house, but felt much better after the movies.
We looked for a place to have dinner, and wound up at Natalee Thai, where he had never eaten before.
We had a tasty meal in a pretentious faux-'60s environment that reminded me of Jacques Tati's
classic flick, "Mon Oncle". The surroundings had that same contrived quality to them.
We got home pretty late.
On Sunday, we got some rest, then I grabbed my trusty bicycle and headed off to run some errands.
I was gone for a good 3 hours. Hit the bank, then hit Del Taco for a light lunch, then Toys'R'Us
to gawk at the wacky marketing machine in progress. I saw both "King Kong" and "Narnia" toys.
A Mr. Beaver plushie had this amusing blurb on the packaging:
"Collect all the cuddly heroic animals!"
Didn't see much in the way of new Hot Wheels. Saw a few cool Lego sets.
Then I hit Target (HAR!) for some new socks, and found a trio of new Hot Wheels.
Also saw a t-shirt I would have bought if it had been available in my size.
It feature the Frenchman from "Holy Grail" and it said in big letters:
"I fart in your general direction!"
Oh well, could have been funny!

Break's over, gotta go!