...and it is good. Damn good!

Seriously, holy hell! This is a fantastic adaptation, remarkably faithful to the source, despite the inevitable condensing that had to occur. For me, it got the look, the feel, the overall mood just right.

Yes, the big climax is slightly altered, but it makes perfect sense, and works really well. All the same things happen, there's just a different reason for them. And for the 40-year-old virgins living in their parents' basements, whining about the lack of the squid, jeez, get over it!

My understanding is that there will be a much longer director's cut on DVD which will add a lot back in, but as a movie, this worked very well, and I'm quite satisfied.

And Jackie Earl Haley as Rorsach, yikes! He was so perfect in the role (both with the mask and without it) as to be completely unnerving.

The film is sickeningly violent on several occasions, so be aware of that, but it's well worth seeing.

If you've read the graphic novel and loved it, you really must see this. If you never have, it might be less impressive and meaningful, but like Dark Knight, this takes the "comic book" movie to a different place entirely. For those of us that thrilled to this story in the late 80s, this is a real treat!

I think even Mr. Moore might be impressed.... eh, maybe not....  ;-)

<iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27287363#27287363" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

And be done with it?

It hasn't worked properly for a year, and has been on life support for the past few months. Most people I know have joined Facebook as a result.

It's a real shame, because Tribe was by far the best of the social networking sites, but Pinkus clearly doesn't give a damn about it anymore, it's failed to grow at all, and the one guy who was keeping it going (Darren) has resigned, or at least will once he 's replaced (if he's replaced at all).

It's essentially unusable most days now, so perhaps it's just time for them to pull the plug...

1. Have their hot-headed, "I'm such a maverick" presidential candidate be intimidated into picking a VP choice by religious wingnuts.

2. Said VP candidate turns out to be a vapid, vacuous, clueless, stupid, phony bimbo with no qualifications whatsoever, with a reputation for being vindictive, and up to her ears in scandal back home.

3. Hide said VP candidate from all reasonable press inquiry, and invoke "sexism" and the "liberal media" as excuses for not answering legitimate questions.

4. Pray to their god that she doesn't completely fuck up her debate, and accuse the moderator of having a "bias."

5. After she does nothing during the debate except evade real answers, plagiarize Reagan's words, wink incessantly, and read prepared speeches off of cue cards while being totally out-classed by her vastly superior opponent, claim victory only because the bar was set so low, that "don't self-destruct" qualifies as a triumph.

6. Pray to their god that they don't slip in the polls any further, even as their candidate pulls out of campaigning in Michigan.

7. Successfully con their "base" (who are just as stupid and vapid as Palin is) by having Faux News go into full Orwellian mode about her "victory," which they will no doubt repeat over and over for the next few days, until their brain-dead viewers get the message.

8. Repeat # 7 as needed.

It just keeps getting worse:

[Former Wasilla mayor John Stein] says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Here's one of those news reports from 1997:

City librarian Mary Ellen Emmons [Baker] will stay, but Police Chief Irl Stambaugh is on his own, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin announced Friday. The decision came one day after letters signed by Palin were dropped on Stambaugh's and Emmon's desks, telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13.

[...]

Both Stambaugh and Emmons [Baker] publicly supported Palin's opponent, long-time mayor John Stein during the campaign last fall. When she was elected, Palin questioned their loyalty and initially asked for their resignations. But Stambaugh said he thought any questions had been resolved

Putting it simply, Sarah Palin's idea of executive leadership involves firing the people you perceive as non-supporters, and outright abuse of power.

If she were vice-president, would she call up librarians around the country and dictate to them? Would she invade our privacy like that? Try to equalize everyone by telling us what we can and cannot have in our libraries?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/111944/3298/497/583255

Wow, just when you think the Republicans can't get any more pathetic, McCain steps out with this choice as his VP: a minor politican and governor that virtually no one has heard of, whose a social conservative (to appease the Christo-fascists), and who has far less experience than Obama, who they've been hammering for his lack of experience for the last year.

An aging, 73-year-old man chooses as a VP someone with 20 months of political experience, to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? Granted she's not as stupid as Dan Quayle or W. Bush (honestly, who could be?), but the motive behind this seems pretty clear: to attract disillusioned supporters of Hilary Clinton, namely women... the coveted Soccer Mom vote.

Basically the Repugs are saying: The Dems have one of them "Black" people as their candidate, but look at us! We've got one of them "Woman" people as our VP candidate. Clinton supporters, come vote for us! Hey everyone, the Republicans are making history, too! Honest!

Well, except for Feraro way back in 1984...

It's about as shameless, cynical, manipulative, and pathetic as I've ever seen in politics, and undoubtedly some stupid people will fall for it.

Obama's speech was a good one last night. I don't think he's the answer to all of our problems, but good god, anything that steps in another direction has to be better than what we have now. McCain's faux-maverick status, and his token woman VP candidate, are just smokescreens for the same old BS.

I thought Hobbitkicker would especially appreciate this one:

http://www.zombieharmony.com

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

See it.

SEE

IT

NOW

 

For years we’ve waited, and it’s finally here. For comic geeks, this film is Frank Miller’s and Alan Moore’s vision of the Batman universe writ large across the screen.

I’m stunned. Seriously, I left the theater feeling shell-shocked and drained.

Yes, the buzz is all about Heath Ledger, but the others deserve equal kudos. Gary Oldman is magnificent as Gordon, and Bale once again proves he’s the definitive Bruce/Batman. Aaron Eckhart’s Two-Face: jeez, I’m going to have nightmares about him for weeks! He’s disgustingly realistic looking (the miracles of digital effects).

And Heath. Yes, this IS the definitive, final version of the Joker on screen, probably forever. No other actor will ever want to step into this role after what he’s done.

This is Alan Moore’s Joker from "The Killing Joke" graphic novel, or rather that Joker crossed with Charles Manson. His actions are horrific, and yet perversely funny, his voice and laugh will haunt you, and his relationship to Batman is simply picture perfect. It makes Heath’s death that much more tragic and wasteful. Ledger could have gone on to be one of the great actors of our generation.

Behind all of the action pieces and cool effects, this is a dark, bleak, existential crime drama, on par with the best of Scorsese and Mann, easily the best film of the year so far. It will make many critics’ top ten lists by the end of the year, and there should be some serious consideration for Oscars all around.

This will require several more viewings to take it all in, though I may need a few days to relax a bit.

Unbelievable.

It appears to be a sleeping pill overdose/suicide:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1705928,00.html?xid=rss-topstories


Tragic. I have been so looking forward to his take on the Joker in the upcoming Batman film. Now it will stand as his last role.

Went to see it earlier today, and I won't spoil it for you, but it's well worth seeing! The controversy surrounding it is utterly ridiculous, as most of the anti-religious tone has been removed from the film version anyway (so as not to offend our dear little fundies and Catholics).

The mixed reviews are interesting. Few dislike it, few love it completely. What negativity there is comes from reviewers who've not read the books, or who feel that certain philosophies got short changed; they're somewhat right about the latter. Pullman's deep philosophical musings have been dumbed down a bit, clearly for the simpler (and more religious) American audiences.

It is, at times, gloriously done, with beautiful things to look at in nearly every shot. The digital effects are nothing short of amazing. The cast and acting are very good overall, and the lead, Dakota Blue Richards (what's with the naming of girl actors "Dakota", anyway?!) is a true find. Nicole Kidman does a great job as the sinister Mrs. Coulter, a delicious role.

It's not a perfect film; Weisz is not Peter Jackson. At times the story seems rushed. It's 2 hours long, but could have benefited from another 10-15 minutes, I think. Some of the characters are reduced to little more than cameos (Eva Green, who beguiles in an all-too-brief role as the witch, Serafina, for example). The daemons are short-changed. Pan is little more than Lyra's sidekick, rather than truly being her soul, her best friend, her adviser, as all daemons are to their humans.

For those that have read the book, the film ends earlier in the story on a brighter note, so as not to have the cliff-hanger ending. I think this is just hedging of bets, in case the film doesn't make enough to justify the two sequels. I for one, hope that it does. I'd really like to see the whole story play out.

Still, I will definitely see it again, and I don't often see films more than once in theaters anymore, I wait for DVDs. Actually, I'd love to have this on DVD right now, so as to go over certain scenes very closely.

So, in short, support free will and the your right to think for yourself, and go see Pullman's free-thinking tale brought to vivid life!

Since Hitchcock so thoughtfully tagged me...  ;-)

I'm not tagging anyone else, because I don't know that many people here, and the ones I do would probably not answer, or hit me with a big stick, or both.

what were you doing ten years ago?
I was in England, still working on my Ph.D. at the University of Leeds, and performing as a musician at various places. I also moved from one home to another within Leeds.


what were you doing one year ago?
Music, of course! Mastering "The Flame and the Shadow" (lord, how time flies!), and doing promotions for the shows.


five snacks you enjoy:
1. Hummus and pita bread
2. Salsa
3. Pretzels
4. Dolmas
5. Cliff bars


five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
Quite a few songs by Rush, Yes, old Metallica... way more than five!

five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Move back to Europe; travel a lot
2. Donate to some good causes
3. Invest in a few more instruments I've been wanting
4. Invest part of the money in foreign holdings
5. Finance some of my new musical projects


five bad habits:
1. Not exercising (just like Hitchcock!)
2. Not practicing (just like Hitchcock again!)
3. Staying up too late, not getting enough sleep
4. Starting projects and not following through
5. Getting stagnant and not working hard enough or being persistent


five things you like doing:
1. Enjoying good food and wine
2. Touring/traveling to new places
3. Listening to music/acquiring new CDs
4. Reading
5. Writing/recording new music


five things you would never wear again:
1. My hair short!
2. Waled corduroy...  can't stand it!
3. Puffy down jackets
4. Much of what I wore as a kid (or was made to wear...)
5. ??


five favorite toys as a kid (covering the whole range of childhood here):
1. A teddy bear or three
2. A child's guitar, on which I learned to play
3. Star Wars (and other) action figures (which I still have, and will sell one day for a fortune!)
4. Art supplies of all kinds (pens, crayons, pencils, etc.; I loved drawing when I was young)
5. Various Japanese robots, long before Transformers even existed!