Meanwhile... Pt. 1

[Drusilla lives!]

Heading back north (though it's hard, really, to think of central Alabama as "back north") inside an hour. Nicely relaxing 3 days off, though -- not surprisingly, knowing me -- I badly miscalculated my bank balance & ran out of money early on, so no LCS visits for me. Oh, well. ...

So how was the shuttle launch?

Unfortunately this (last) time I couldn't see it from where I am due to overcast... I usually could on a clear day.

[dan bailey]

Not that I was paying attention (completely forgot about it till I saw it mentioned on MSN.com about an hour after liftoff), but I wouldn't have been able to see it anyway, as it was overcast where we were, too. A friend of mine from college is always able to see them from her backyard, & she posts photos on Facebook, but she ran into the same thing.

Anyway, just got back home. Great trip, as noted previously, & I was pleased to see that the cats appear to have destroyed nothing of import.

I was displeased to find out that the minor car repair I had done at the garage Tuesday afternoon -- my brake lights wouldn't go off, which I figured had to be the brake-light switch, a replacement I've made myself on other cars in the past but was in too much abdominal pain (umbilical hernia rather than Crohn's this time around) to deal with -- apparently didn't take, since my neighbor told me she'd seen my tail lights on after we left. The garage had diagnosed the problem as not only the switch but a couple of related relays or fuses or whatever, & when I drove it home Tuesday evening it was fine, as it was when we left it early Wednesday afternoon. *siiiiigh*

[Kan-Man]

Before I became a parent, I would go to the movies all the time. Since then, however, I mostly only get to see stuff for the kids (I've seen both Alvin and the Chipmunks movies and lived to tell the tale... barely).

All of this is a way of saying I'm way behind on movies I want to see from the past 5-10 years. But lately I've been taking the kids to our local library and have been taking advantage of their DVD selection.

Two I've seen recently...

Star Trek - I was never a big fan of the TV series but I enjoyed the first few movies and was intrigued by JJ Abrams' involvement as I loved the show Lost. At any rate, I enjoyed it. I don't know how much of a departure it was from the original story, but I thought it was pretty entertaining.

The Prestige - I really like Christopher Nolan's work, starting with Memento and continuing through the Batman movies (Inception is still on my "to be seen" list). I really recommend this one - the cast is very strong and the story has some very interesting, and quite creepy, twists and turns. Kind of reminded me of Sleuth.

[dan bailey]

Whereas I know Abrams only from, I believe, Felicity (see my note in the "recent reading" thread about secretly being a teenage girl), Cloverfield & Super 8.

Memento I got about 10 minutes into a year or so ago. Just didn't grab me.

Watched Hobo with a Shotgun this morning. (The car's return trip to the garage -- supposedly, the problem [knock wood] was a loose connection that declined to make itself known last time around -- gave me an excuse to take my sweet time returning to work after a week off ... & even better, the department head was really late last night getting back from a conference in Phoenix* & so isn't in today). As I posted in another forum, "it's what Death Proof might've been if Quentin "Italian for 'Useless Piece of Crap'" Tarantino hadn't disappeared up his own nether regions years ago while simultaneously worshipping the image in his mirror (quite a trick, come to think of it)."

One line of dialogue seemingly could've come from about half the comics published over the last 20 years --“They're gonna make comic books about my hate crimes!”




*Such a waste for someone who doesn't appreciate Mexican food. My favorite place on earth to eat happens to be Restaurant Mexico in Tempe, not that I've been there since my grad-school days out there in the early '80s

[Shawn Hopkins]

God, I love Mexican food. I dated a woman from Oaxaca for a long time and she used to make such great dishes for me. I don't like the Southwestern Style I get when I travel to New Mexico quite as much, though. It grows on me every time I try it, but I guess it's an acquired taste.

[Kan-Man]

Whereas I know Abrams only from, I believe, Felicity (see my note in the "recent reading" thread about secretly being a teenage girl), Cloverfield & Super 8.

I'd really like to see Super 8, as Kyle Chandler is the star of my current favorite TV show, Friday Night Lights.

[dan bailey]

God, I love Mexican food. I dated a woman from Oaxaca for a long time and she used to make such great dishes for me. I don't like the Southwestern Style I get when I travel to New Mexico quite as much, though. It grows on me every time I try it, but I guess it's an acquired taste.

The great thing about Restaurant Mexico's fare is that it isn't (or wasn't ... I guess things could've changed in nigh unto 30 years, though I hope to god not) regular Sonoran cuisine. Rather, it's based on recipes from another part of Mexico entirely.

The cheese enchiladas (my favorite dish, by far) featured a crumbly white cheese (possibly Oaxaca, now that I Google it), & the sauce was green, though it's not a regular tomatillo sauce by any means -- it was almost sweet, memory tells me, or at least more tangy than hot. I was vaguely reminded of it by the sauce on some great artichoke & avocado enchiladas I had last week at Cantina Laredo in Sandestin.

[dan bailey]

I'd really like to see Super 8, as Kyle Chandler is the star of my current favorite TV show, Friday Night Lights.

I liked Chandler in a criminally short-lived early '90s series set in post-WWII Ohio called Home Front. I guess he really made his name a few years later in Early Edition, which I also enjoyed.

Super 8 I liked fine, but I imagine that someone who doesn't eat, sleep & breathe sf & horror movies would think more highly of it, as what struck me as overly familiar probably wouldn't have that effect on a lot of others.

[mrc1214]

I liked Chandler in a criminally short-lived early '90s series set in post-WWII Ohio called Home Front. I guess he really made his name a few years later in Early Edition, which I also enjoyed.

Super 8 I liked fine, but I imagine that someone who doesn't eat, sleep & breathe sf & horror movies would think more highly of it, as what struck me as overly familiar probably wouldn't have that effect on a lot of others.

I felt similar with Super 8 but I really could not point out specific movies that it reminded me of. I did enjoy the movie though.

[prince hal]

The Prestige[/B] - I really like Christopher Nolan's work, starting with Memento and continuing through the Batman movies (Inception is still on my "to be seen" list). I really recommend this one - the cast is very strong and the story has some very interesting, and quite creepy, twists and turns. Kind of reminded me of Sleuth.

If you enjoyed The Prestige, you might also like The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton.

[Lone Ranger]

I liked most, if not all, of Nolan's output and I really respect the fact that he's trying to bring/keep genre filmmaking into the mainstream.

[MatthewP]

I just added Hobo With a Shotgun to my Netflix queue last night. I just can't resist checking out something with a title like that.

Saw Super 8 last week and found it fairly enjoyable. Had a sort of E.T. vibe to it, but with more action, shooting, and explosions. Next up I'm looking forward to the last Harry Potter movie and, of course, Captain America. Both will have to wait until I get back from a little trip to the magical land of San Diego.

[Kan-Man]

I liked Chandler in a criminally short-lived early '90s series set in post-WWII Ohio called Home Front. I guess he really made his name a few years later in Early Edition, which I also enjoyed.

Some buddies of mine loved Home Front (they're history buffs, so it was right up their alley) - he was a baseball player in that, wasn't he?

If you enjoyed The Prestige, you might also like The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton.

That's the one with Paul Giamatti, right? I run a little hot and cold with Ed Norton. He's very talented, but he takes himself so seriously that it sometimes rubs me the wrong way.

I liked most, if not all, of Nolan's output and I really respect the fact that he's trying to bring/keep genre filmmaking into the mainstream.

I agree - at the very least, you know his movies will be interesting and different.

I just added Hobo With a Shotgun to my Netflix queue last night. I just can't resist checking out something with a title like that.

Saw Super 8 last week and found it fairly enjoyable. Had a sort of E.T. vibe to it, but with more action, shooting, and explosions. Next up I'm looking forward to the last Harry Potter movie and, of course, Captain America. Both will have to wait until I get back from a little trip to the magical land of San Diego.

I'm going to wait to see if it's appropriate, but I'm leaning towards taking my oldest son to see Captain America.

Oh, and have fun in San Diego - give us a full report when you return.

[dan bailey]

Some buddies of mine loved Home Front (they're history buffs, so it was right up their alley) - he was a baseball player in that, wasn't he?

Yep -- an Indian. I think Bob Feller was mentioned in one episode, but I can't recall if anyone else ever was.

Even Ann Landers' (or was it Abby Van Buren's?) attempts to drum up a letter-writing campaign to save the show from cancellation weren't enough. *sigh*

[dan bailey]

As I may've noted at the time, I caught the Captain America trailer before Super 8 (a rare occurrence for me -- since we don't have a 2nd-run theatre in this miserable excuse for a city, anymore I average one visit to the cinema a year, tops, as compared to 300+ rentals from Netflix & Blockbuster) &, despte my oft-state lack of interest n superhero movies, found myself mildly tempted ... till I surmised that there's no Bucky.

Sorry -- WWII Cap without Bucky? It is to laugh.