I don’t want to get into a discussion about how bad the movie is. Just want to share the review in the Portland Mercury, which is fantastic.

Well, it’s summer blockbuster time at the googleplexes again, and we’ve already got babysitters lined up for Saturday night (Iron Man) and next Friday (Speed Racer). Y’all know I used to go to 60 movies a year, but nowadays if I’m gonna spend up to $50 (including the babysitter and movie snacks), I better see a flick that delivers some kind of spectacle that doesn’t automatically translate well to DVD.

I grew up on summer popcorn flicks, in pretty much what I consider the Golden Age for them (1982-1991)… It started with E.T., rambled through Jedi, hit its peak with Ghostbusters, Gremlins and Back to the Future, and went out with an effing bang: Terminator 2. The Onion has posted its “18 Pretty Great Summer Blockbusters NOT Directed by Steven Spielberg,” and the only glaring error in that list is the inclusion of… ugh.. Con Air.

I have two lists: First… The Spielberg/Lucas division, then everyone else.

Spielberg/Lucas

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. E.T.
4. Star Wars
5. Jaws

Everyone else:

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
2. Back to the Future
3. Ghostbusters
4. Die Hard
5. Aliens
6. The Bourne Ultimatum
7. Finding Nemo
8. Robocop
9. Gremlins
10. Batman Begins
11. The Untouchables
12. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
13. Gladiator
14. Alien
15. Airplane!

What are YOUR all-time favorite summer blockbuster type flicks?

Here they are, y’all.. The winners are in bold. What do you think?

(more…)

NETFLIX gave me some odd recommendations today.

Obviously because I enjoyed Brian Regan: Standing Up & Jackass: The Movie I will therefore thoroughly enjoy Ultimate Fighting Championship 69: Shootout & Ultimate Fighting Championship 49: Unfinished Business.

I don’t pay attention to the recommendations as I don’t have a problem finding titles to stuff in my queue, I just happened to look in there today.  Anybody else get strange recommendations off of  NETFLIX?

– Star Wars USB drives -

The Golden Compass (movie version) is due out in December, and I love their viral marketing campaign. Take a quiz and get an daemon (a daemon is your soul in external form). Then you ask your friends to comment on whether it suits your personality.

My daemon is an ocelot apparently. This explains so much, and yet so little. If you click on the Flash animation below, you can take a quiz about my personality. And if everyone disagrees with my own self-assessment, I think my daemon changes into something else. So be nice. This is my soul your messin’ with. If I turn into a cockroach you’ll find me in your cereal someday.

I can’t express to you all how absolutely lovely the movie “Once” is. I saw it on a whim and just loved it. Don’t let the term ‘the new musical’ scare you (it did for Josh), this is nothing like “Annie Get Your Gun”. Imagine your favorite album layered over scenes, monologues, and scenery shots. The result is a goose pimpling, smile resulting, unusual film experience. There is easy-to-follow narrative, so don’t be alarmed, in fact it’s a bittersweet love story. Bare bones, renegade shooting in public without consent of the city, shot for a mere $150,000 budget, we need more of these sort of movies in the states. Songs from the movie are on their myspace page.

Widely received, “Once” received a whopping 97% on Rotten Tomatoes , critical acclaim at Cannes, and is sneaking up on the states to be a sleeper hit. (OK, stuck-up indie rag The Stranger didn’t like this movie, so please, read their terrible review with a grain of salt. It’s almost like the reviewer felt like he had to be all hardcore and go against the grain, because, you know, The Stranger is so cutting edge with its hideous pack of angst-ridden staff). This Irish love story is magnificent, my only regret is that I will never be able to experience it again for the first time.

So, my dear readers, just GO…GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

First of all, I’m going to be out in Seattle the weekend of September 21st; I’m flying out for KB’s B-day festivities and to watch the Seahawks make some Bengal jerky :] Hopefully I’ll get to see a bunch of you guys…

Secondly, I hope all of you will vote for Springfield, IL to host the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie on July 26th. I know some of you may be tempted to vote for Springfield, OR for obvious reasons, but I hope my promise of a full report from the premiere will sway your ballots in my direction. Voting closes at 11:59 PM west coast time on July 9.

Speaking of The Simpsons Movie, has anyone been to the Seattle Kwik-E-Mart yet? We’re planning to visit the one in Chicago next week (as part of an Ikea-inspired day-trip of course)…

Finally, what do you think of the idea of a nationwide Presidential recall vote? Many states have such a mechanism (most famously, California)… At the federal level, super-majorities would have to be involved of course (perhaps 2/3rds of state legislatures AND majority votes from both houses of Congress AND a 70% popular vote majority)… As an idea… so good or no good?

Spoiler alert!

Joking.

Dina and I saw the film tonight, and while I’m no articulate, erudite critic, I CAN say that this was one of the most eye-opening,  gut-wrenching movies I’ve seen in a long long time, and that all of you should see it immediately.

While the movie provides a lot to chew on, my big takeaway is this: although health care is a polarizing issue in this country, it shouldn’t be. Regardless of your political affiliation, health care should be a right, not a privilege, and if you don’t believe that you’re not a Democrat or a Republican or a Green, you’re simply an asshole. (Which might mean you’re a Libertarian.)

I’ll leave it at that. Has anyone else seen? Anyone want to chime in on the state of health care in America? I know a few of us work in the field . . . any thoughts?

2007 is looking to be a great year for Zombies. First they had the super scary 28 Weeks Later and now two more noteworthy films are about to be unleashed upon the world.

The first is Fido a comedy (ZomCom?) about a boy who wants the family’s house-zombie to be his loyal pet. It is set in the 1950s and costars the Matrix’s Carrie Anne Moss.

Next up is the “Are you sure this is a real movie?” thriller, Black Sheep. It’s about a zombie epidemic that sweeps through New Zealand’s sheep population. Yes, you read that right. This movie is about ZOMBIE SHEEP!!! a phrase that, I think, warrants triple exclamation. The movie was made in New Zealand and the special effects where made at Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop.

Seattleites, you are lucky enough to be able to see both of these movies at the Seattle International Film Festival going on from now until June 17. Both films are playing Saturday night. Fido is in Belleuve at 9:15 and Black Sheep is at the Neptune at midnight. It’s a zombie double feature that I can’t afford to miss.