The Polar Express

I have an opinion on this movie, and if you are one of the people raving about it in my Facebook feed, you may not want to continue.

I've been hearing about this movie for years - since it came out and definitely since I had kids and became more acquainted with all things for them and what other parent's think.  So you could say I had at least marginal expectations for this movie to be if not good, then at least enjoyable.  And given the fairly consistent airings on tv every year, I've had opportunity to see it.  I've never made it longer than ten minutes.  But we were gifted the dvd this year so I popped it in for the kids this afternoon planning to get some uninterrupted reading time (MOTY).


And Oh.  My.  God.

Where do I start with this movie?  The half realistic half bizarrely stiff animated people (with inexplicably wooden puppet hands)?  The SUPER annoying kid on the train who is have been given the voice of a 45 year old straight out of Woody Allen?  The ridiculous (and ENDLESS) subplot of the lost/found/lost/flying/hovering/ ad nauseam ticket?  The continually moronic choices made by each and every character?  The total inconclusiveness given the conductor character as to whether he is a good guy or a bad guy?  Santa's elves which are apparently Jewish given their liberal use of Yiddish? (I actually find this amusing, but it is still too random for comprehension.)  Basically I can sum up my opinion of this movie in one word:

Barf.

And yet.  My kids sat completely still, and silent, and enthralled by watching it.  So I have no doubt that it will enter into our yearly Christmas seasonal viewing rotation.  Which currently only consists of one video - and medley of Christmas carols accompanied by random Disney scenes.  So we are hardly bringing down the average here.  But whatever.  The kids love it, so that's fine by me.  I'll just try and find other things to do whenever it's on.

But really, would it kill someone to make a holiday movie for kids that maybe not only didn't suck but is actually charming and intelligent and fun?  That would be nice.

ps: anyone who loves it want to explain to me why?  because I really don't get it and I'd love to hear your opinion on it.

Hand Dance This, McDonalds

You may have seen a McDonalds commercial for their coffee drinks with a couple doing some brief hand dancing intermingled with drinking whipped cream coffee concoctions.  You may also have wondered WTF? when seeing this commercial, as it is weird at best, stupid and annoying at worst.  But don't blame the hand dancers - they are simply taking advantage of their super cool viral video which, in the hands of corporate marketers, of course turns lame and stupid and annoying.  But the original video is awesome and totally mesmerizing (plus great tune!)


Check out the real thing:




ps: McDonalds, here's a tip: not everyone drinks caffeine.  How about offering some decaf versions of those foofy drinks?

Kraken

Kraken by China Mieville

This book is hard to fall in to.  The plot starts off very intriguing, but the language is so dense and enigmatic that you can't just flow into it and get swept away by the story.  It is definitely on purpose - the author is clearly going for some sort of hard boiled literary style, but I always find that just makes it harder to really get into the world of the book.  And the constant metaphors combined with the fast paced stylistic dialogue and extremely arcane (when not totally made up) vocabulary, served to make it very difficult for me to really get a picture in my head of what was happening.  Which is not particularly a criticism of the book: this book is very much about the language of the story and setting a particular tone, which I found hard to adapt to.  There is no exposition.  There is no explanation, and there is hardly any description of anything or anyone in the book, at least, of any sort that might be understood.  And example of "description" in this book:

"In Spitalfields, where the financial buildings overspilt like vulgar magma onto the remnants of the market, a group of angry subroutines performed the equivalent of a chanting circle in their facety iteration of aether."

Yes.  That is what the entire book is like.  The story itself is engaging - a preserved giant squid is stolen from a museum, throwing the main character Billy Harrow into an underworld of magic and religion and criminals that he never knew existed.  I just need it translated into everyday English where there are perceptible moments of description cluing me in to what the characters are actually doing and where they are. And to be honest, the last 150-200 pages or so, when the plot is finally coming to a head, does away with a lot of the thick, confusing text and just propels the story along in a way that is engaging and fun.  But, man, those first 300-350 pages are like fighting through a bramble.

And maybe you like that.  I know all of the reviews I've seen have been super positive (which is why I bought the book) and many compliment the writing style.  So I could be outing myself as pedantic and slow for wanting it to be written in plainer English.  it's all a matter of preference I guess.  I personally am a very fast reader and I prefer books that allow me to really fly through them, totally absorbed in the action and this book didn't allow me to do that.  If you are someone who really delights in the language of a book as well as the plot, then you will probably enjoy Kraken more than I did.

Gettin' My Brown Coat On

Recently, through the wonder of Netflix instant viewing, I have been introducing my dad to Firefly.  When ever he comes to visit we will squeeze in as many episodes as we can, and because it only lasted one season, we are almost finished - his trip at Christmas should wrap it up.  And the more we watch, the more I am reminded how wonderful this show truly was, and the more bummed out I get about it having been canceled.

I'll admit, I did not watch this show when it was on originally.  I can't remember exactly why - there must have been some time issue (I worked two jobs and therefore nights a lot during this time), because I am a fan of Nathan Fillion, as well as a HUGE Buffy fan, and so would have flocked to anything Joss Whedon did like the true believer that I am.  I also remember reading all about the show when it was first on, how critics loved it but the audiences weren't there, and I remember that it sounded interesting (a space western, literally) so I don't actually know why I never ended up seeing it live.

But none of that really matters - eventually, see it I did, and love it I did.  I suppose that only ever seeing it after it had been canceled saved me from some of the disappointment of having it taken off the air while I was caught up in it.  I would have been really upset to have it drop out right from under me, but it also gives me a little bit of guilt - like if I had been watching maybe it wouldn't have been canceled, you know?  Oh for the days before we had DVR!! How did we survive?


Anyway, all of this is just to say that the series is excellent, and way too short.  As my dad and I come to the end of the 14 fabulous episodes I find myself getting sad that I know it is coming to an end - especially since the overarching grand scheme of things is just starting to come into play beyond the usual adventure of the week stories.  I'm sad that the series ended, and isn't ever likely to be resurrected, even as a sequel to the movie Serenity because they killed Wash the pilot and it wouldn't be the same without him.  Boo.

Oh well.  If you are ever looking for something to watch, and you like whip smart dialogue, by all means check out Firefly.

Fall Television Wrap Up

Now that the new TV season has gotten into full swing and I've had a chance to test the new shows a few times as well as get a feel for where my old favorites are going, I thought I'd give a wrap up of my impressions.

House:  I was totally skeptical about the House/Cuddy coupling this season, and I have to say I am more than pleasantly surprised.  The writers haven't just fallen into a relationship and made it so everything works - they really seem to be taking the time to make it realistic and show how two people would really go about working at creating a life together.  And I also love that the characters are taking it seriously - really trying to adjust their behavior and compromise on the issues of working and sleeping together so that they can make a go of it.  I feel the whole thing has been handled maturely and honestly, and I'm grateful.

Castle:  The best thing about Castle is the characters and their relationships - the best of these being between Castle and his daughter - and this season has kept up that tradition.  Basically my only response to the new season is HOORAY that Det. Beckett has finally got a good haircut!!  It was super cute short the first season, but last season her hair was majorly frumpadelic.  Glad to see the gorgeous Stana Katic finally has the do she deserves.

Glee: Are you going to hate me if I say that this season got off to a rocky start for me?  In my opinion, the best part about Glee is the way they tell some not so easy story lines within a framework of music that helps the plot hang together.  So far this season I have felt that the music has been more stunt driven (Britney Spears anyone?) rather than based on the plot - and what plot there is has been very thin.  They also seem to be moving into an "issue of the week" format, which is coming across as a little more heavy handed than their previous episodes.  This past week with the duets was a return to last season's form, so I hope this was only an awkward beginning to a great year.  I still love the show of course!

Running Wilde: I SOOOOOOO want to love this show.  Will Arnett is pretty much funny no matter what he does, and Keri Russell is so pretty I just want to stare at her for hours on end.  I do like how they have not only made the main character a rich doofus, but also made Emmy (the tree hugger bent on changing him) kind of a doofus too.  Like when she's being a martyr just to be a martyr rather than because it will actually achieve her goals or when they argue he points out the areas she is being a hypocrite.  It is very subtle sometimes, but I like that the writers have given both characters flaws - it could have very easily turned into a "the rich are bad and the poor are totally wholesome" type show (which is TOTALLY Emmy's ideal) and that would have turned it too preachy for me. I also think the daughter character, Puddle (and the actress playing her) is super adorable. That being said, the comedy is just... trying to hard.  They are trying so desperately to be random and quirky and funny, but only the desperation is coming across.  I hope they can find a gentler rhythm because this really could be a funny show, but I kind of feel it's heading for the chopping block.

Modern Family: Still pitch perfect, still hysterical, still LOVE it!

Fringe: While I like the new format of alternating between worlds, I am uncomfortable with Alternate Olivia being in our world with Peter and Walter.  Which I'm sure is totally the point, and I'm not sure how to fix it because I kind of like having Good Olivia in the alternate universe, unsure of who she is and unraveling the mysteries of what's going on over there.  I just really love Peter and Walter, and it's frustrating to me that they don't know they have the wrong Olivia - like my friends are being tricked, you know?  And I'm sure the producers would be thrilled to hear all of this because it's probably exactly what they are going for - we want our favorite characters reunited, but we also can't wait to see what mysteries they'll reveal while they are separated.  But overall I think the format is growing on me, especially as each story line develops, and in general I think the show has maintained quality and suspense very well.  So I'm not going anywhere.

Nikita:  I'm still not sure what I think about this show.  I definitely like it, but I'm not sure if that's just because this is the kind of thing I get sucked in to easily or because it's actually good.  From the first episode I felt like the tone could use a little bit of lightening up, but now that I've seen a few more episodes I understand the totally serious approach a little more.  But like I said, I love spy stuff, so this could be my own personal taste rather than actual judgment.  The best I can do is say that I am not entirely ashamed to be admitting I watch the show, so it can't be that awful.

The Good Guys:  I love this show, and I just want to mouth kiss whoever decided to put it on Friday nights!  okay, maybe only hug, but I am super grateful that they gave me a show I was going to watch anyway on a night when A) there are no competing shows on my DVR, and B) there was LITERALLY not a single other show I wanted to watch on.  Now we losers who stay home on weekends just need someone to start airing some decent programming on Saturdays and we're all set!

Well, that's it.  Anything I didn't mention has either been running smoothly and therefore not merited impression (ie, Bones, which is as awesome as ever), or I haven't seen it (ie, The Office, which  has fallen by the wayside due to DVR capacity and over scheduling on Thurs nights - I plan to catch up on Hulu).

What are you watching?

Hot Website: HauteLook

Have you heard about HauteLook.com yet? I forget the first time I heard about it, although there was a booth at the BlogHer Expo. It is a member's only website (free to sign up, they don't spam you at all) that offers great 48 hour sales on all kind of designer clothes, jewelry, home goods and kids stuff. I get an email once a day telling me what is on sale that day and I can click on the site and try and score 50% to 75% off. Pretty cool. They even have a new Sunday Farmer's Market feature for gourmet food items.

As a lover of designer clothes on a pauper budget I like getting a crack at great sales without having to spend hours scouring the internet on my own. So far I haven't bought anything through HauteLook, but I have been tempted several times. I also like that they send me one email a day letting me know about the latest brands on sale, and I can click or ignore as I choose. There has been no other spamming of any kind, so signing up didn't put my name on any kind of lists as far as I can tell.



Now, I'm going to be perfectly honest here, and tell you that if you click on this button and register for the site, I will get $3. I realize that this reads like a totally sponsored review, but I assure you, that $3 is the extent of my self interest in telling you about this site. The fact is I was a member of HauteLook long before I went to BlogHer and was given this offer, and I had planned to tell everyone about the site anyway.

Inception

I wanted to see it the moment I saw the poster with the tops of buildings spelling out he word Inception. The previews of buildings folding in on themselves added to my excitement, and seeing it was from Christopher Nolan, the genius behind Memento only sealed the deal.

I have been reluctant to write this review because frankly, there is little I can think of to say about this movie beyond "it was awesome." A spectacle of both visual art and mindbending storytelling, this is not a movie you go into to doze through. Inception requires focus, both from the characters trying to perform it on screen, and by the audience attempting to unravel the mysteries.

In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio and his team of thieves use technology to go into people's dreams and unlock their deepest secrets - useful work for corporate espionage. The act of inception- planting an idea deep in someone's subconscious- is thought to be impossible, and known to be dangerous. The concepts of traveling through dreams and subconscious are not necessarily easily comprehended, but due to the ability of film to completely render different levels of dream as reality, the plot is not as complex to follow as it could be (this would NOT work as a book). As the characters move ever deeper through layers of dreams within dreams, the movie keeps pace with each layer, allowing for great clarification and reminder just exactly what is happening.

And the tension! You have truly not seen a thrilling conclusion until you have seen this movie, and the climactic scene which takes place simultaneously on several different dream levels moving at different speeds - the ticking time bomb qualities of the slow motion action is truly suspenseful.

The other thing I enjoyed about this movie is the fact that rather than relying on CGI, actual sets were built for even the most fantastical sequences (yes, an actual folding Paris set, although I'm going on a ledge and suggesting that was scale, haha). Because we are so used to digital effects (and they are SO good now), you don't realize what a difference this makes until you see tiny Ellen Page struggling to move enormous swinging mirrors, or the realism in the fight taking place in a hallway with ever changing gravity. The weight of these props adds such gravity (mind the pun) to what are literally fantastical dreamscapes, and just helps blur the line between reality and dream even further.

I cannot stress enough that this is movie that is worth your time and money to go see on the big screen. I have had the seed of desire to see this movie planted in my head ever since that first glance at a poster and the reality exceeded any expectations I might have had about this film.

ps: I totally called the ending.