Long time readers may remember that last summer I had a little nautical trouble when I went fishing off the coast of Cape Cod. Well, for some crazy reason (probably to show boats and water who's boss), I ventured out on Lake Ontario with some co-workers on a 34 foot sailboat this past Saturday afternoon. And the results were worse - seasickness in a more, shall we say, tangible form. Notice how there are no photos in this post? That's because I couldn't get up to get my camera.
You win yet again, open water.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Saturday, July 22, 2006
The finest in foreign films
I'm really digging the Dryden Theatre's summer popcorn movie series. Last night they showed a double feature of Godzilla movies. As I'm a tremendous fan of trash culture, you know I was there.
First up was the original (subtitled) Gojira from 1954. Surprisingly, it's a serious movie. Any laughs during this one were unintentional, and had more to do with wooden acting (noticable even in Japanese) and corny effects. It's a pretty dark movie, thematically and visually. Filmed in grimy black-and-white, it's all nuclear paranoia and dying civilians, and even a contains a line of dialogue about surviving Nagasaki only to be confronted by Godzilla's rampage.
The second half of the double feature was the day-glo, campy Kaijuto no Kessen: Gojira no Musuko, known to us as "Son of Godzilla," from 1967, also screened in subtitled form. Lots of battles between Godzilla and son and giant insects. Gotta love it. Godzilla movies are ultimately all about fun, though both movies had underlying themes about the consequences of experimenting with and altering nature too much.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Cinematic nonsense
What to do when it's too hot and your body is acclimated to a northern clime? Why, go to the movies, of course! And that's just what I did over the past weekend. Having long since gotten over my pirate phase, here's what I saw:
Wordplay - yeah, I know, a dorky movie about dorks. But hey, I like crossword puzzles. And though I could probably out-crossword any of you, I would be obliterated by the (get this) competitive crossword puzzlers profiled in the movie. People who can complete a standard weekday puzzle in two minutes. If I'm wide awake and it's an easy puzzle, I can do it in 4 1/2 to 5 minutes. Anyways. I very much enjoyed this movie, but it is about one of my favorite leisure activities. Golfers probably love movies about golf, which, like the sport itself, would put me to sleep in the air-conditioned comfort of a theater.
Superman Returns - another comic book movie. But this one was much more character-driven, and, dare I say it, more dramatic than most others. I'm pretty glad that Hollywood waited until now to make this movie. If they had cranked out a Superman flick ten years ago like they had initially planned it would have sucked. I have one minor quibble - they cast an embryo to play Lois Lane. Still, a good summer movie with some drama (and most of it was played fairly straight).
And finally, a retro screening at the Eastman House's Dryden theater of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (KHAAAAAN!!!). This was preceded by the original series episode "Space Seed," which introduced us to Khan as played by a younger, even more virile (if that's possible - and it is) Ricardo Montalban. Some trivia was thrown out to introduce this film - apparently the director had to reshoot many of Shatner's scenes to get them to where he was, uh, shall we say, more subtle. However, the director also told Montalban to "never show your top." Yeah. I'd love to see a rough cut of that one.
Wordplay - yeah, I know, a dorky movie about dorks. But hey, I like crossword puzzles. And though I could probably out-crossword any of you, I would be obliterated by the (get this) competitive crossword puzzlers profiled in the movie. People who can complete a standard weekday puzzle in two minutes. If I'm wide awake and it's an easy puzzle, I can do it in 4 1/2 to 5 minutes. Anyways. I very much enjoyed this movie, but it is about one of my favorite leisure activities. Golfers probably love movies about golf, which, like the sport itself, would put me to sleep in the air-conditioned comfort of a theater.
Superman Returns - another comic book movie. But this one was much more character-driven, and, dare I say it, more dramatic than most others. I'm pretty glad that Hollywood waited until now to make this movie. If they had cranked out a Superman flick ten years ago like they had initially planned it would have sucked. I have one minor quibble - they cast an embryo to play Lois Lane. Still, a good summer movie with some drama (and most of it was played fairly straight).
And finally, a retro screening at the Eastman House's Dryden theater of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (KHAAAAAN!!!). This was preceded by the original series episode "Space Seed," which introduced us to Khan as played by a younger, even more virile (if that's possible - and it is) Ricardo Montalban. Some trivia was thrown out to introduce this film - apparently the director had to reshoot many of Shatner's scenes to get them to where he was, uh, shall we say, more subtle. However, the director also told Montalban to "never show your top." Yeah. I'd love to see a rough cut of that one.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Shaking off the rust
Last weekend I ended up visiting another city at a confluence - Pittsburgh. Fellow librarian and UIUC alum Neil and I went to a couple of games at glorious PNC Park. It really is a nice stadium, and easy to get to as well. And for a last place team, they had good, enthusiastic crowds at both games. I was talking to some co-workers earlier this week about my trip, and we all agreed that Rochester should try to be more like Pittsburgh. There is life after death in the Rust Belt after all. Of a sort. We also visited the Andy Warhol Museum. Funny how what was edgy and outre 30 or 40 years ago is a tourist attraction for everyday squares now.
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