I've nothing staggering to report on my end of this keyboard. I am, however, witnessing a world that is baffling me at present (the news is pretty depressing lately, don't you agree?). So, I've taken to some pleasant Summer distractions, some of which I'll list below:
TV: "Burn Notice" is my new addiction. If you haven't had the chance to watch this show, get to it. This is fairly breezy entertainment- following the exploits of a former international spy who's stuck on-the-outs of his community after he was "burned" by his former employer. With few friends to rely on (save for a bloated Bruce Campbell and an emaciated Gabriel Anwar), lead character Michael Weston has to piece together his life with shoestring resources (literally, the guy uses household supplies in a way that rivals MacGuyver) to get by. The stakes sound serious, but the attitude is light and comedic in many places. And all of the characters have good chemistry. In its third season on the USA Network, "Burn Notice" is the TV version of Summer reading. I highly recommend it to anyone unaware of the show- here's where you can catch up on the series so far: Burn Notice: Seasons 1-2
Books: I recently read a great piece of fiction about (of all things) Superman- it's called "It's Superman!" by Tom De Haven. This isn't a comic book, it's an actual novel, and the writing is fantastic. Set in the Depression Era 1930s, this is an adult take on the Man of Steel. It's not without its humor, as Clark Kent is truly a buffoon without having to try in many instances, but if you enjoy the recent "Batman" movies for their realism, "It's Superman!" is a refreshing telling of an otherwise overdone piece of pop-mythology- you can get a copy here: It's Superman!: A Novel
Movies: Man, has this Summer been bad for movies. I've seen most of the big blockbusters, and they're all not worth mentioning in any great detail. I'm all for checking my brain at the door when it comes to cyborg killer robots or two-story tall angry robots (lots of robots, have you noticed?) but come on already! I have a small bit of desire to see "Public Enemies" but that's something I may reserve for home video. There is one movie that has caught my attention from its trailers, "District 9"- a sci-fi story about an alien ship crashing on Earth and its insectoid crew being enslaved by humans in South Africa. Sure, the political allegory is as subtle as a Michael Bay movie, but the footage looks great and the viral web campaign is pretty neat (dammit, why did I say "neat"?). That comes out August 14th, so keep your antennae alert for when it hits your local theater. Here's the trailer:
Otherwise, I hope you're all having a good time this Summer. Here in New York, things are rather mild- no heat wave to speak of (which is excellent) and it appears as if our monsoon season of May and June has finally passed. Yeah, I'm talking about the weather now... and that means it's time to wrap up this burrito and send you off to your merry July antics. Check back in a couple of weeks, I will have something more 24-related for you then.
10 comments:
Words can't describe how terrible Public Enemies turned out to be.
Hey Ivan,
I can now say that my small desire to see "Public Enemies" has been extinguished! Thanks for the heads up- you've confirmed my suspicions. So, what else have you seen that may be worth seeing?
As far as new movies go, it's all summer crap, but I can recommend a few less recent flicks.
Battle In Seattle - about a protest against the WTO. You don't have to be an anarchist to enjoy the action sequences and there's a ton of different characters you can relate to. Plus it's fun.
Los Cronocrimenes (Timecrimes) - incredibly awesome Spanish movies. I hope you don't mind subtitles (though I hear your dvd region has a decent English dub). It's about this bloke who is chased by a mad killer and accidentally travels an hour back in time. Very inventive and entertaining.
The Hurt Locker - by my all-time favorite female director (James Cameron's exwife) Kathrine Bigelow. It's about an army bomb squad in Iraq and their explosive adventures. A fun movie with tons of famous actors in small roles and a decent lead actor of The Unusuals fame. BTW, The Unusuals is worth watching. It got canned after ten episodes, so you know it's good and ABC sucks.
Korean hit monster movie The Host is also worth watching. The first 30 minutes are so good you don't even mind that the rest of the movie goes from corny to boring and everything in between.
I can also recommend TV shows. Dollhouse (get past the first few eps and it becomes ace entertainment) and Fringe (if you like your science REALLY fictitious).
District 9 looks awesome.
Check out the teaser for 2012. I'm not big on prophecies and end of the world stuff, but that huge wave is some of the best CG ever, and the ambient music taken from a trailer for The Shining is awesome.
Public Enemies was no good? Wow, I'm shocked. Shocked, but still intent on seeing it.
Just tossed up a piece echoing your enthusiasm for District 9. Damn that looks good. It absolutely kills me that Blomkamp's Halo project was axed...
And for crying out loud man, what about MOON?! (it's playing at Jacob Burns...)
Everything's so slow during the summer. I've been using my Jack Sack for school for over two years now, and it's about to fall apart, so I bought a new one. The Jack Sack 2.0
You totally need to post some sort of public service warning about G.I. Joe. What a terrible atrocity posing as a movie.
I thought GI Joe was an obvious cinematic pothole to avoid!
Yeah, I guess.
But it's also obvious you shouldn't smoke at a gas station, and they put up signs anyway.
I like Leather jackets
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