September29th

Got off the phone with my parents a little while ago… happy to report that both of them are doing fine. The worst part of the storm is over so now all they have to do is stay dry and wait for the winds and rains to die down.

They’ve been without power for a little longer than I’d like.. but I’m sure they’ll get back on the grid once its safe for repair crews to come out.

Flooding is currently our family’s biggest concern. My mom informed me that water is up to halfway up their drive way. which means if we had a car parked on the street it may possibly be filled 3/4 of the way with water.

They think the water is beginning to drain. They had a hard time confirming that through the window tho’.

Anyhoo… my heart and thoughts go out to all my family in friends in the RGV.

.aCr.

Been meaning to post entries on a number of subjects this week but have been a little preoccupied with the tracking of Hurricane Dolly.

The storm is looking to hit the Rio Grande Valley (where I was born and raised) tomorrow morning… if all goes well, the storm will not increase in intensity this evening.

My parents were slated to pay a visit this weekend… but things are on hold as they stay locked inside and brace themselves for the storm.

If all goes well, the storm will make its way inland and die out somewhere over Northern Mexico.

My thoughts are not only on my parents but a number of residents in the RGV that may have homes not up to snuff to take on a CAT 1 storm.

Braved the big crowds and long lines last night to catch what may arguably be the greatest Comic Book Movie ever made.

In short, I thought the film was spectacular.  I’m of the opinion that it had a few flaws…  but I think that’s because Comic Book movies tend to victim of having horrific dialogue bookend - some of the most mesmerizing action sequences ever captured on film.

But enough about that… the Dark Knight is, from beginning to end, a dance between the Gotham Knight & the Joker.   A freakish hush came over the crowd whenever Heath Ledger was on screen.  With the exception of two very gruesome moments - the audience stayed in complete silence so that not a single syllable could be spoiled by prolonged laughter or horrific screams.

I’m fairly certain that the performance given last night will earn Heath Ledger a nomination for Best Supporting Actor…   While I’m not sure if he can win it out right, you only have to look back one or two years to see the academy - recognize Johnny Depp as a drunken-Keith Richards pirate in POTC.

If you haven’t seen it yet.  Treat yourself to what may possibly be the finest Batman movie to ever hit the silver screens.

Whose kidding who…  the only thing I want to do right now is cut outta work and get to a local theater to catch a showing of “the Dark Knight”.

My friend Chivo said that he went to a local theater last night with friends to catch a midnight showing.   It was on 6 screens so he didn’t bother getting tickets in advance.  The joke was on him tho’.  All 6 midnight screenings were sold out.

Jaime in Detroit just informed me that shows in Southfield (North of Detroit) are all sold out also.

Purchasing tickets in advance for a movie screening seems like bad luck to me.   I rarely get anywhere on time and it always seems easier to just catch a screening 30 minutes after I get there.

There’s no fucking way I’m not catching it this weekend.  I feel like I need to add to the box-office-breaking number.

So I participated in an event called - Ride to Work Day - today…   I ride my scooter to work all the time so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  I did however get to meet a number of other scooterists at the new Vespa Alamo Heights store on Broadway after werk.

Its seriously turning out to be a good year for scootering.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I was so enthused about Summer Sequels.  Not only do I get to look forward to a new Batman installment this week…   I got treated to another Hellboy movie Senior Del Torro.

By admission… I’ve never read a Hellboy comic before.  I’ve never really read a comic of any kind come to think of it.

Hellboy instantly got my attention because the main character has some connection to the prince of darkness.

I didn’t rush out of my way to see the first installment tho’.  If I remember correctly I sorta got around to seeing the movie on DVD because I assumed it was going to be terrible.  I found the story line to be pretty amusing and the costumes were simply amazing.

Fast forward to part 2.   Got a number of my friends to join me at the theater to catch the second installment.   Happy to report that the movie is seriously one of the best comic book movies I’ve ever seen.  Not only does the movie look spectacular - the film is rewarding on a number of levels and that’s sometimes a little difficult for comic book movies to pull off.

Have a few complaints tho’.  The first…  I found the movie to sorta feel derivative at times.  Don’t get me wrong… I love that the director has created an amazing world and that the director has brought that to life in this second installment.   It sorta however felt like an extension of Pans Labyrinth.  

When I wasn’t dwelling on the monsters… i couldn’t get over how the Prince felt like he was part Lestat from Interview with a Vampire and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.   Surely I’m not alone on this thought.

Anyhoo…. the movie is amazing.   I can’t tell you how many times I wished George Lucas went to the trouble to create incredible costumes instead of going the CGI route.

Picked this up in part because I recall hearing good reviews about the movie and I generally walk away from most Ryan Phillipe (sp?) movies happy having seen them. Yes, even including Cruel Intentions.

So… the film takes a close look at what 80,000 plus soldiers have had to go through in recent years. A number of duties have been extended for soldiers and because of that - they’ve had to go back to a War (Iraq) that they want nothing to do with.

Enter - Ryan P… who goes by Staff Sgt. King, a good Texas boy who is part of some US Army infantry unit. He and his company - get into some trouble weeks before coming back to the states. They have a nasty run in with a group of rebels who attack a checkpoint they’re manning. The Army has an inexplicable - rule to chase these guys into small cities and attempt to apprehend whom ever attacks them. this leads into an ambush where the troops are forced to be careful of their surroundings and bad stuff happens.

Fast forward - to the troops getting home and Sgt. King is hoping to simply turn in his uniform in return, he hopes to simply walk away. he gets word upon checkout that he will be shipped back to Iraq.

He opts to go AWOL and this is where the story sorta unfolds.

you learn about how bad things are… how troops have no way of getting out of being “stop-lossed”. Politicians can’t help you - if you don’t report - you’re subject to arrest. You can’t get work and you pretty much have to go to Mexico or Canada.

To do so you have to work with underground lawyers to sneak out of the country.

I hesitate to say that its “eye-opening”… its a good movie tho’. I’d hold out and watch it when its on TV tho’. Its not rent-worthy.

Watched a few movies about the band Joy Division this month… The first one I saw was a motion picture that garnered a lot of attention by music and film snobs called CONTROL.

The second one I watched was a documentary simply titled JOY DIVISION

Of the two, I liked the documentary more… I didn’t know why the movie didn’t sit well with me after watching it… but it sorta hit me when I saw the documentary the other night.

While being interviewed on the subject of creating the album “Unknown Pleasures”, Peter Hook said something I found profound. He said something to the effect that the sound of their first record “Unknown Pleasures” was dark. Impenetrable. An album he thought no one could ever enjoy…

If there’s one thing that always upset me about Joy Division, it was that I could never down and enjoy it for very long periods of time. I wish I could describe the relief I had when Peter Hook said what he did.

Anyhoo… highly recommend it to anyone interested in the band.

The weather couldn’t possibly be worse…  I think its been raining consistently for 8 hours today.   My parents have a horrible cable package so I made sure to come to the valley with a number of DVD’s I’ve been meaning to watch.  

With yesterday’s screening of WANTED, this weekend has become a bit of a Film Fest.

What I’ve seen so far.

Black Hawk Down - Ok… so I’m very late to this party.  I don’t really know why I never got around to seeing this…  I attempted to watch it a few weeks ago but the disc that came in from Netflix was damaged.  My friend Nano was kind enough to lend me a copy so I put the hurt to it this morning.   In short…  the film is pretty entertaining.   Gun-ho as all get out…  but not a bad picture.

Charlie Wilson’s War - This movie was a true treat.  Tom Hanks and Philip Seymor Hoffman were amazing together.  I don’t know if they took any liberties with the background of Charlie Wilson… but I’m hoping they didn’t.

Lions for Lambs - this movie is a total fucking snore.  Stay away from this if at all possible.  Maybe that’s a bit harsh…  lets just say that this movie sorta feels a little “after the fact” if you’re sitting left of the isle and its not much of a commentary on what’s going on if you bother to change the names in the “game”.

Opted to head south to the RGV to enjoy the extended weekend.   My father mentioned to me that things were getting a little quiet around the house so I brought the dogs down to liven things up.

Been here since the third and there isn’t too much to report on.

I’ve played a few rounds of disc golf with Chivo @ dixieland park and I checked out some terrible movie called “WANTED” at our local cineplex. 

On the “odd” front - had a lighting fixture almost crack my skull open this evening.   The glass fixture all but 5″ from splitting my head open and landing directly onto my laps. 

whats up with that?