Recent Movies and Books

Watchmen – Pretty good. Though I was expecting more given the original graphic novel; it’s really hard squeezing all that amazingness into a movie. You know, after another viewing, I really like it. It’s more elegant than I initially thought. Update 1-30-11: after a few more viewings, wow, what a fantastically produced film

Big Lebowski – I’m only barely getting how my friends feel that this movie is mythic. Maybe it has to sink in. It was good nonetheless.

Zombieland – great zombie fun

Moon – I don’t know, I found it to be a bit predictable and slightly contrived. Of course the contrived part wasn’t the main storyline but the hints and clues we get to see. But it was good. update 1-30-11. I caught a few bits of it a few days ago and it felt like a much better film. Maybe I should see it again!

(audiobook) The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life By Ben Sherwood. I gave up on it. It’s full of sensational anecdotes that don’t give me a real feel for how to survive. You could distill the book down to “Stay alert, don’t freeze up, be lucky.” He’s more interested in telling gossipy stories about people that beat the odds (IE, were lucky) than looking at the secrets and science that could save your life.

I started skipping around and heard bits like “A human jaw generates 64 PSI when it masticates, a tiger generates 900 pounds of force… ” Um, choose your units dude, especially when it’s important for the story. “A plane had a mid-air collision and there were no survivors. Local townspeople were looking through the wreckage and heard moaning, it was [the woman who survived].” Umm,  you just said there were no survivors. There were LOTS of annoying bits like this. And lots of anecdotes that don’t illuminate a point. And lots of “the moral of the story is, be lucky” stories.

One Comment

  1. muffin says:

    zombieland was fun! lebowski is best enjoyed with friends and Caucasians…
    it is growing along similar lines as rocky horror, dress up viewings and such…my fav way to see it is at my friends bar (bar 46) out back in the summer on a 16′ screen on off nights…oh yeah we dress up

    hey did ya hear about my new position?

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