Hesher

Unquestionably my favorite movie I've seen this year, Hesher is the tale of a delinquent young man who steps into the life of a family mourning the loss of the mother of the house, simultaneously wreaking anarchic havoc and mending their wounds, all in a no-holds-barred indie film approach that remains virtually unpredictable and fresh throughout. Seriously, this has to be one of my favorite movies of all time, easily trumping my entire Top 5 from 2010 and besting many of the nominees from the previous two years.

Short of telling you who's in it, I feel like I might be doing you a disservice by revealing too much about the film...not that it has tons of shocking surprises, but just that it's the kind of movie that needs to be seen, not talked about. So, the titular character is played (oh-so-magnificently) by the unlikely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the grieving father by The Office's Rainn Wilson (in what amounts to the only totally-serious role I've ever caught him in), and the random girl caught up in the whole mess, Natalie Portman. Oh, and Devin Brochu, who plays the kid Hesher befriends, was also fantastic.

Sure, Rotten Tomatoes may have given Hesher a shockingly low 54% (and Metacritic an even lower 45%!), but all that tells me is that critics these days have a stick up their ass. This film is beautiful, dark, funny, well-acted/shot/scripted, and a true gem. Don't miss it.

Ants!

Not sure exactly when it first occurred, but sometime last year I had a pretty big ant infestation here at my otherwise bug-free condo, most likely caused by Suzi accidentally having an old lollipop laying around in her purse (where all the ants were congregating). Well, though we were able to push back the ant invasion to acceptable levels back then, it didn't take too-too long before I started getting a very light resurgence, mostly centered around my computer (presumably for the warmth). This had been going on for a couple months now, but the ants were coming in such light numbers that I didn't really get all that bothered by it. That is, until the other day...

For one reason or the other, I started getting invasion-levels of ants walking around my floor, but I couldn't figure out what it was they were after. I don't leave food sitting out, and the places where they were bunching up didn't seem to have anything going on, being in places where food would never go, regardless of how clean I am. So, using a couple ant traps and some cleaning spray, I was able to kill off most of them, at least for the time being. But, regardless of whether they come back or not, I think it's about time to do some "Spring cleaning" back in the hard to reach corners of my place. Not sure if this will fix the problem, but it's all I can think to do at this point...

Poltergeist

1982's Poltergeist was one of those classic thrillers from the 80's that I had seen a fair chunk of without ever watching it all the way through, so I took the opportunity to do so on Netflix, and I have to say, it's been one of my favorite film experience this year. You wouldn't think such an aged horror flick (especially one produced by the family-friendly Steven Spielberg) would still appeal to me today, but the combination of the acting, slow build-up of poltergeist activity, soundtrack, script, and solid cinematography makes this film truly enjoyable, especially when compared with the slew of subpar but technically superior horror films these days. In fact, I have a feeling a lot of people would actually prefer the old school horror flicks over the modern ones, largely due to their heavier reliance on actual storytelling instead of gimmicky effects and such...

Other than the assertion that the film was good, there's not too much to say about it if you've already seen it, so I'll just comment on a couple things that struck me. First, I was surprised about how adult the whole thing was for an otherwise kid-friendly film, especially by today's censorship standards. For instance, I'm pretty sure the mom and dad characters in the movie have a casual scene where it's implied that they're smoking pot, but it was done in a casual "who cares?" kind of way totally foreign to today's PG-rated films. Secondly, the son's room was filled with Star Wars toys, which led me to thinking that I bet they put this stuff in there just because it was extremely popular back then, having no clue how easily kids born today would recognize the same iconic characters/vehicles roughly 35 years later...usually when you put a toy in a movie, it dates it quite a bit, but not with Star Wars... Just a thought.

Anyway, check out Poltergeist if you haven't already. It's great.

Fallout 3 Complaints

So, I'm pretty much done covering Fallout 3 by now, but I haven't really said anything negative about it, so I figured, in the interest of being fair, I should talk a little shit just to even things out... ;) I've already mentioned both pros and cons for each of the five DLC packs, so I'll omit them here, instead focusing on the core game.

I've already mentioned the annoying level cap of 30 on more than one occasion, but seeing as this is one of the most frustrating elements of the game, I felt I should reference it here as well. That said, the Broken Steel expansion took the level cap from 20 to 30, so I'm sure the cap was even more annoying before that came along. Another frustrating element of the game is the frequent bugs (especially in the more advanced levels), many of which force you to restart the game from your last save. Fortunately, the game AutoSaves every time you enter/leave a building, so you never really have too much backtracking to do.

Furthermore, as is common with a lot of games that are also available for PC, Fallout's menu browsing (especially when selling ammo) would be A LOT easier with a mouse, but these issues are a lot better here than they were in Oblivion, so obviously Bethesda has learned a bit along the way. Unfortunately, one thing that was lost from the former game is the ability to own a house in multiple places on the map...in Fallout, you only have two home options to store your gear, and one is WAY more convenient than the other, so I have a hard time imagining anyone would choose the difficult one. And, while on the subject of inventory management, it's hard to tell when your weapons are maxed out and what makes the unique variants of each standard armament stand out, largely because not all of the weapon's stats are given in-game. And then there's the cap on how much each vendor can give you at any given time, making it much harder to amass a fortune, especially in the early game.

In terms of gameplay itself, the game doesn't really have any serious problems so much as things it could've improved on. For instance, pistols are pretty obsolete in later part of the game, and sneaking around doesn't really work early on unless you invest a lot of points on it in favor of something else, but both of these issues (and a few other similar ones) could have been resolved with some creative options for alternate approaches to combat. Another example would be mines, which are generally obsolete without a fantastic Sneak skill, and even then, you don't find enough of them to make this a viable main weapon.

Anyway, these are just a few complaints off the top of my head, but really, the game is nearly flawless when it comes to the issues that really matter, and I couldn't recommend it more. Just make sure to save a lot... =)

The Ten

Here's another totally random Netflix movie that I had never heard about prior to watching, including not seeing the trailer above (which is actually probably better than the film). The Ten is basically just a set of ten sketch comedy bits, each loosely based off one of the Ten Commandments, that are all eventually tied together on some level by the end of the "film" (with a highly-questionable musical number featuring the characters from all of the stories). As such, it's not really fair to judge The Ten so much as a movie, especially considering the production values were noticeably more in-line with TV special standards than that of a major release, but whatever.

Overall, some of the stories were alright, and they did manage to scrounge up a pleasant mix of famous personalities with some lesser known sketch comedians, but despite the Biblical tongue-in-cheek theme, I never could really get past the small scale of the whole project. I guess breaking up a movie into that many parts doesn't really work for me? I'll have to watch Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes and get back to you...

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Ever since I found the Libertarian magic duo Penn & Teller to be a good source of thought-provoking commentary via YouTube back in 2006-07 when I was contemplating the state of my religious and political beliefs, I've kept an eye out for what they're up to, so when I saw that one of the shows that I could stream on instant Netflix was their award-winning Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, I was hooked and promptly watched all of the available seasons (four through six). But, before dedicating an entire post to breaking down my favorite episodes, I figured I should let you in on the show a little bit...

Basically, Penn & Teller spend the twenty some-odd minutes of their episode discussing some element of modern life that they consider to be overrated, misleading, or inherently detrimental to progress. Take, for example, the Season 4 episode on the death penalty. That said, some of their subjects cover much more light-hearted matters (like manners and cryptozoology: think Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster), and there's often plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor to go around in either case, so it never gets too-too heavy. While the duo does often present counterarguments to their take on the matter, they often don't give the other, non-Libertarian side an entirely fair chance, and considering the show is so short, there really isn't enough time to dig in appropriately deep into the subjects, especially not the heavy ones.

Still, the show remarkably walks that fine line between being entertaining and enlightening, and though I don't necessarily agree with their position on all the issues, I did learn a lot in the course of the 30 or so episodes I was able to watch. Good stuff. Definitely check it out if you get the chance!

Silverchair - Young Modern

Ever since Silverchair unveiled their new sound in 2007 with Young Modern's lead single "Straight Lines", I had been keeping the album on the backburner as a possible purchase, though I never ended up picking it up until recently (despite loving the Mondrian-themed cover art after learning who he was in The Netherlands only a year before). Overall, the album has a unique sound, mixing frequent symphonic elements with the much more typical Alternative rock stylings the band is known for, but though I gave the album a decent score, there are plenty of lower points amidst a few creative high-notes. Easily one of the best tracks on the album is the epic three-parter that is "Those Thieving Birds (Part I)/Strange Behaviour/Those Thieving Birds (Part II)", but like a lot of albums, once you get past the handful of solid tracks at the front of the album, the second third or so starts to lose a bunch of steam. Fortunately, the penultimate track "Insomnia" starts things up again with its intro and breakdown's somewhat "Flash's Theme"-inspired moody build-ups.

In general, I wouldn't particularly recommend Young Modern, but I don't regret checking it out, as it's definitely a decent attempt at an artsier evolution for an otherwise forgettable 90's Alternative band.

Highlights: "Young Modern Station"/"Those Thieving Birds/Strange Behaviour"/"Insomnia"
Rating: 2/5

The Julia Dream/Way Faux @ Vinyl

While Suzi's not really super into going out to see rock shows (either local or national), she was definitely down to go see her/our friend Vern's band The Julia Dream play Vinyl on a quiet Saturday night in May. I say "quiet" because there were two competing shows that night that really zapped the audience (including the very popular finale for 500 Songs for Kids), but nevertheless, the three guys in The Julia Dream really put on a show, especially Vern, whose excellent pipes and stagemanship were awesome to see coming from someone who had otherwise been known to me up to that point as just a friend. The band had seemingly parted with their drummer sometime recently, as they were playing along with a backing track for drums (and possibly synths, can't remember), which was well-produced, despite not being the ideal situation for a live rock band (well, not having a drummer...synth backing tracks are pretty common these days).

The opening band was a group that I think is called Way Faux (though their MySpace seems to think they're called Player/Kommander, and as such, I'm not 100% I got the right website), and they're supposedly fronted by local legend James Hall (though I'm nearly 100% sure he wasn't singing that day), so I don't really know what's up with these guys. Whatever the case, Vern's band was definitely more interesting, but I guess that's how it's supposed to go when when're talking about openers and such.

Overall, though it certainly would have been nicer for the bands if more people had made it out, I was happy to go support Vern, and even happier to see how charismatic and talented he is on stage, both vocally and otherwise.

Dad and Diabetes

As some of you already know, my dad recently had an emergency three-night stay at the hospital when his glucose levels started skyrocketing...see, the last time he was in the hospital, his doctors started thinking he might be showing some signs of super-late onset diabetes, but they weren't sure until this recent visit, when his diabetes really started manifesting in full. They say the cause has something to do with his pancreas being the potential starting point for his cancer, which presumably slowly took out his ability to produce insulin. So, now my dad has diabetes.

While this last visit to the hospital was highly unexpected and a bit scary, I guess in the scheme of things it was the easiest visit on him. He's still using his feeding tube at home, and now he has to do the whole insulin shot routine, but I guess knowing more-or-less definitively what's going on with the diabetes situation is a relief. The big report we're waiting for is what his Tampa-based doctors will say about the state of his cancer when he goes down there next week with my mom (making a little vacation out of it in West Palm afterward), so we're really hoping to hear something positive soon. I just want him to start feeling better soon...this whole thing has been hard on him (though he's been really strong) and the rest of us, so seeing him regain his weight and get off that feeding tube would be a fantastic step forward. =)

The Machinist

I didn't know much about Christian Bale's The Machinist going in, but I had heard some good things, so Suzi and I checked it out. The basic idea is that Christian Bale's character has extreme insomnia (he hasn't slept in a year!) and seems to be having everything around him fall apart, including a serious accident at his machine-operating job. And, considering his memory seems to be slipping a bit, this film has a bit in common with Christopher Nolan's Memento, though I have a feeling that movie is way better (haven't seen it in years).

The main highlight here is Christian Bale's RIDICULOUS weight loss for the film. From what I gather from Wikipedia, Bale ate only 275 calories a day to get his normal body weight of roughly 180 lbs down to 120 for filming, and right after this film, he had to put on 120 lbs to get up to Batman's muscular 240 pound frame. Not sure if these numbers are 100% accurate, but let me tell you, Bale is DEFINITELY thin as hell in The Machinist, so much so that it's kinda creepy. Add to this Bale's strangely detached delivery and you've got a memorable, if not fantastic, film in the psychological thriller genre. Check it out if it interests you.

Been In Seattle...

So, I never managed to rattle off a quick post to inform you that I wouldn't be staying in touch for the better part of this past week due to being in Seattle because, well...I was too busy getting ready for the trip! So, since Wednesday afternoon, I've been on my epic trip to Seattle (and the surrounding areas) for my buddy and ex-roommate Evan's big wedding to his (now)-wife Katherine. The trip started with a 36-hour camping trip and morphed into the expected busy wedding weekend, with Suzi joining me Friday afternoon and us flying out together today (the 4th of July) so we don't have to miss any more work this week. During her time here, we've certainly been busy with lots of wedding activities, but we also made sure to get up early every day to squeeze in some sight-seeing time in downtown Seattle, considering our hotel and most of the wedding activities have been in the suburbs.

Anyway, the trip has been amazing, and the wedding itself was easily one of the most amazing weddings I've ever been to (clearly Top 3), but I'll write more at length about all this when I've caught up to that point of my blog. Suffice it to say that I've had a great time and am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, so expect some catching up posts! Thanks to Evan and Katherine for such a wonderful weekend!