You think things are bad now, in a world where we all communicate virtually through email and SMS and tweets... Now imagine a world where we all
live virtually. Based on the complete lack of buzz surrounding this movie, I'm not sure anyone really expected much of it. Oh look, another Bruce Willis film, except now he's wearing a terrible hairpiece. Except this movie was
really good. Not just for the slightly twisted murder mystery, but for the rather challenging questions it raises about what it means to be human. At some point, we all question who we are, but wouldn't that question get complicated if we could be anyone? You just pick out a
surri with whatever features you like (male or female) and you go live your life virtually through a robot while you lie in a recliner back at home. Then when mom tells you to go out and play, you just get in your chair and have your surrogate go out and play for you.
These surrogates wipe out human imperfection. They all have perfect skin, perfect teeth, perfect hair (hence the hairpiece), perfect body shape and tone. And
everyone has one. Everyone is perfect! It's perfect! But is that the human experience? Part of what makes us human, part of what makes our personalities are these physical imperfections. This scar factored into my life somewhere. This baldspot is part of me. Hiding all these things behind the synthetic skin of a robot disconnects us from these things that make us human. I hadn't thought about this till now, but it would also seem to indicate cosmetic surgery (the completely elective type) as the tiniest of baby steps toward this artificial world. That and maybe video games...
So yes, I really enjoyed this movie, mostly because it kept me thinking the whole way through, challenging so many ideas and presenting new ones. Also, it was a pretty fun ride.
4/5
I bought tickets for this show the day they went on sale over the summer. As I often do, I'll buy two tickets thinking, "hey, it's six months off, I'm sure I'll find someone to go with me at some point..." And as often happens, I did not find anyone to bring along. It's a shame, because the Sixers are always best when shared. So, while I felt like I was the only person there alone, the show itself was wonderful, as always. Lots of songs off the new album and several from earlier albums. There was a rendition of Winter Wonderland thrown in along with the traditional medley during one of the two encores. View the full set of photos.
Guy Ritchie rapes the very nature of Sherlock Holmes, turning him from an intellectual into a brawler to suit the tastes of an action-needy modern audience. Result: Fantastic Fun! I feel ashamed. There's no doubt that this movie was a great deal of fun. It actually deals a lot with Holmes' genius and how it prevents him from fitting in with the "normals" that inhabit his life. Still, it feels wrong watching him engaging in fight after fight with the calculating technique of a trained martial arts master (using a sort of brawling technique). I should also note that the relationship between Watson and Holmes very closely resembles the bro-mance JD and Turk in Scrubs. It is funny, but seems more than a little out of place in Victorian London.
Another fantastic live RiffTrax event, sadly now passed. This time, instead of a movie classic, we were treated to a series of shorts and commercials, all riffed by the trio including Weird Al Yankovic as a guest during one of the shorts. As you might have guessed, the shorts favored Christmas themes and generally followed fairly basic principles of getting the kids to sleep, treated them to some demented night time night terror featuring Santa, and then watching as they wake to a world twisted by their nightmares. Alright, probably a little more traditional than that, but I swear, these old-timey films are CREEPY! Seriously, I had no idea there was so much unintentional sexual innuendo in old films... And the treatment of women, it was like watching an episode of Madmen with less smoking and liquor and men with possibly red outfits and pillows under their jackets. Unfortunately, the weakest short of them all was the one in which Weird Al guest riffed. It wasn't holiday themed and basically just featured singing creepy guys making a pork dinner. *shrug*
The last time I saw Imogen was about three years ago at the 9:30 Club, and I was pleased to see that not much has changed. She put on an enchanting show three years ago and an even more magical show last night. There were two opening solo musicians. They were both loopers, like Imogen, but it's always exciting to see and listen to as a song is built up out of individual loops and effects. The first guy (and I am really sorry I don't remember their names) mostly built the loops off his guitar and keyboard and some pregenerated stuff on a computer. The second guy was much more into improvisation, vocalizing sounds and then manipulating them on the fly. At one point he grabbed a Saitek gaming joystick and walked out into the audience where he vocalized sounds and then manipulated them on the fly with the joystick. That was impressive. 
I really have no idea why, when we get to our teen-aged years, we believe we have all the wisdom and experience we need to make significant life decisions. An Education is a movie about basically that scenario. A very bright 16 year old meets an older man and makes some rather uneducated decisions. Unfortunately, the grown-ups weren't entirely on the right page either and the only way to find out is to make the mistake. That is an education.
It's been a really long time since I've seen the original movie or TV show, so I can't really compare this new movie to any of that. On it's own, though, this movie was pretty good. It's only real problem is that it's trying to cover too many characters and too many stories at once. Because of the very limited time for each character/story, all of the dialog seemed too important. Every line seemed to have some serious weight to it since every character only has a fraction of the total screentime. The result of that is far too much weight and not enough character development. Of course, we're there to see great acting, singing, dancing, and playing, right? All that was great, as you would expect, but it felt more like taking a sip of a really great drink, it just leaves you wanting to gulp down more, but there isn't time. I really feel this would make a great TV drama where every character and story could get its rightful time on screen and I realize it's been done... I'm just saying that would do this sort of story a lot more justice than the hyper-abbreviated presentation we get in this movie.
A heartwarming tale of loss, love, survival, and zombies. It's also rich with pulsing veins of delectable awesomeness and hilarity. I really don't have anything bad to say about this movie other than how unfortunate it is that it's only 81 minutes long. Though, while watching it, that did feel pretty much like the perfect length, so it's even difficult to fault that. I think this is definitely going to be a must-have DVD.
A film about two people trying to communicate. Simple enough. Except Adam, the title character, has Asberger syndrome, and Beth, well, she's female, so it's all sorts of complicated. It's actually a pretty good movie full of funny and touching dialog. Plenty of emotional goodness and honesty that I really appreciate in a movie. I found it quite satisfying.
I've been trying to figure out a way to explain how much fun this movie is without making it out to be a cinematic masterpiece. Because, you know, it's an explosive action movie with spraying blood and gibs and boobs and crazy plots to take over the world, but it's also spectacularly entertaining!