Suspension of disbelief
The Meryl Streep/Uma Thurman comedy Prime seems to be based on an unrealistic plot twist. What self-respecting 37-year-old would date a 23-year-old, or vice versa?
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In January
This really looks like it's going to be the funniest Albert Brooks movie in at least fifteen years.
Bond market collapse
The Miers-esque casting choice for the role of James Bond continues to have repercussions (via Defamer).
Ian Fleming did describe Bond as looking like Hoagy Carmichael, but, at least since "You Only Live Twice," and probably before that, Bond has long stopped belonging to Fleming.
Update: I was mildly pleased with my post title, but Adam Bonin clearly beats me: "We Expect You To Dye, Mr. Bond." And, hey, Adam has a cameo in the October 2005 Philadelphia magazine (scroll down, due to poor web-page design).
Ian Fleming did describe Bond as looking like Hoagy Carmichael, but, at least since "You Only Live Twice," and probably before that, Bond has long stopped belonging to Fleming.
Update: I was mildly pleased with my post title, but Adam Bonin clearly beats me: "We Expect You To Dye, Mr. Bond." And, hey, Adam has a cameo in the October 2005 Philadelphia magazine (scroll down, due to poor web-page design).
Moviegoing
After a lame summer, there's actually some good movies I want to see over the next few months. I saw Serenity last week; I'm seeing the new Wallace & Gromit with friends Monday. Here's my list, in no particular order:
Grizzly Man (oops—I think I've missed the window for that)
In Her Shoes
Proof
Corpse Bride
A History of Violence
March of the Penguins
Jesus Is Magic
Bee Season
Jarhead
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
What am I missing? Keep in mind I'm going to miss at least half of these.
Grizzly Man (oops—I think I've missed the window for that)
In Her Shoes
Proof
Corpse Bride
A History of Violence
March of the Penguins
Jesus Is Magic
Bee Season
Jarhead
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
What am I missing? Keep in mind I'm going to miss at least half of these.
Serenity and productivity
This LA Times article shows that Joss Whedon apparently understands that higher wages often reflect higher productivity.
Everyone in the blogosphere who was going to see the movie already saw it opening weekend, so doesn't care what I think. Still, go see it if you haven't yet or are scared by the Firefly-fan-obsessiveness; the movie is self-contained without the need to be aware of the eleven hours of teevee that preceded it, and does so in a way relatively inoffensive to the people familiar with the characters already.
I liked Serenity a lot, though the conspiracy-driven plot, like most conspiracy-driven plots, doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny, but one doesn't notice this during the roller coaster ride. The controversial spoiler added something I thought was missing from the television series. I agree with the oft-made criticism that Whedon's directing seemed too televisionny, but, reading between the lines of the Times article, that appears to be a side-effect of making a $100 million movie for $39 million.
And, nicely, it was the most overtly libertarian movie I'd seen in a long time.
I had somehow thought from the Firefly DVDs that there was a working set of the entire ship interior, but they apparently had to rebuild the whole thing for the movie.
Short shameful confession: I spent the whole movie (and several hours afterward) thinking that the Operative was Jubal Early, until I got an e-mail from a friend sneering at the fanboys who couldn't tell the difference. Fortunately, I like it when my friends correct me, because it gives me confidence when they're not correcting me that they're not just being polite.
Everyone in the blogosphere who was going to see the movie already saw it opening weekend, so doesn't care what I think. Still, go see it if you haven't yet or are scared by the Firefly-fan-obsessiveness; the movie is self-contained without the need to be aware of the eleven hours of teevee that preceded it, and does so in a way relatively inoffensive to the people familiar with the characters already.
I liked Serenity a lot, though the conspiracy-driven plot, like most conspiracy-driven plots, doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny, but one doesn't notice this during the roller coaster ride. The controversial spoiler added something I thought was missing from the television series. I agree with the oft-made criticism that Whedon's directing seemed too televisionny, but, reading between the lines of the Times article, that appears to be a side-effect of making a $100 million movie for $39 million.
And, nicely, it was the most overtly libertarian movie I'd seen in a long time.
I had somehow thought from the Firefly DVDs that there was a working set of the entire ship interior, but they apparently had to rebuild the whole thing for the movie.
Short shameful confession: I spent the whole movie (and several hours afterward) thinking that the Operative was Jubal Early, until I got an e-mail from a friend sneering at the fanboys who couldn't tell the difference. Fortunately, I like it when my friends correct me, because it gives me confidence when they're not correcting me that they're not just being polite.