Fairy Tales for Grownups

Pan’s Labyrinth. Despite the fact that this looks a little bit like a kids’ movie in the previews, it is most definitely adult fare. Dark, intense, and creepy are all things you’d expect from a Guillermo del Toro movie, but what I didn't expect was to be so completely absorbed. There were a few special effects in this film, but they were so well done that there was no point where they distracted me from the story. (The torture scenes did that well enough...) Definitely worthy of its Oscar noms.

Above the Hype

The Shins, Wincing the Night Away. After 2 listens, I'm not sure there’s any songs on this disc that will change my life, but for being hyped as one of the most-anticipated albums of early 2007, it holds up pretty well. So far, so good.

Band of Gypsys

Everything is Illuminated. A sweetly funny, and at times heartbreaking, movie about an American man’s search for his family’s past in Ukraine, and how it affects the locals helping him. I haven’t read the book by Jonathan Safran Foer, but after watching the movie, I probably will. Despite Elijah Wood’s face being all over the marketing materials, the real star of this movie is Eugene Hutz, who plays Wood’s Ukranian translator. Hutz also happens to be lead singer of a band called Gogol Bordello, one of the bands involved in the brief “gypsy-punk” movement of 2004, but other than supplying some music for the soundtrack, that doesn’t have much bearing on his stellar performance here. (And no, I’m not making that gypsy-punk stuff up. Google it.)

Games People Play

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. Two words: time suck. As ridiculous as the premise sounds (basically, you play through the storylines of the three prequels as Lego versions of the main characters), this game is equal parts action-packed, silly, and totally addictive, with enough puzzles and challenges throughout to keep kids (and kids-at-heart) amused for days on end. I recommend combining this game with Lego Star Wars: The Original Trilogy if you're looking for ways to kill a month or so of free time.

Sophomore Slump

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Normally, the fact that a "hastily thrown-together sequel designed to capitalize on the success of the first movie" sucks would come as no shock to me. But since the first Pirates was a pleasant surprise in terms of quality and how much I enjoyed it, I was hoping for a little more to this film. Unfortunately, it fell into all the standard traps: Lame dialogue, a flimsy excuse for a plot, wholesale changes in the personalities of main characters, and using at least half of the movie to set up the events of the third (and soon-to-be-released) Pirates movie. Plus, Johnny Depp’s effeminate-Keith-Richards-as-a- pirate shtick wore thin pretty quickly the second time out. Because I'm a completist, I'll watch the third one, if only to see how badly they screw it up. Sadly, I can’t say I'm surprised at the downward turn this second movie took, but I am a little disappointed.

The Running Man

Running from Camera. It's a very simple concept. Set a camera on a 2-second timer, then run as far away from it as possible before it takes the shot. Simple, goofy, yet brilliant and endlessly amusing. I love it.

Starting Point

The Killers, Hot Fuss. I’ve been on an album kick lately, meaning I’ve set my iTunes to shuffle by entire album instead of by single song. This one popped up tonight, and it reminded me how much I like this disc. I’ve been fairly underwhelmed by what I’ve heard of their sophomore effort, Sam’s Town, but as debuts go, Hot Fuss is right up there with some of the best. Even if the Killers never make another good album, this one will always have a place in my collection.

Dark Matter

The Last Kiss. Not at all what I expected. Everything I had read about this movie (admittedly, not a lot) classified it as a romantic comedy, and with Zach Braff listed as the lead, I figured it would be some goofy love triangle thing. Instead, it turned out to be almost an ensemble piece, and a pretty harsh indictment of marriage and relationships, with a few humorous moments thrown in here and there. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the movie. I just wouldn’t exactly call it romantic, and if it’s a comedy, it’s a pretty black one.

In the Drink

A History of the World in Six Glasses. I started reading this book a few months ago but put it down when I started reading something else, so I'm just getting back to it now. It's a really interesting idea, charting the ways in which beer, wine, liquor, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola influenced and, in some cases, shaped world events. The writing is a little (pardon the pun) dry in some spots, but I'm learning some interesting things. I knew that tea had played a large role in the expansion of the British Empire (and it's loss of the American colonies), but I had no idea that coffee and coffeehouses were so vital to the innovations of the Age of Reason and the beginnings of the French Revolution. Imagine going to your local Starbucks to debate your latest theories of gravitational force or the divine right of royalty with a bunch of other customers. Good stuff.

Golden

My Morning Jacket at the Ogden Theater. Two straight hours of psychedelic Southern rock in a late 60’s/early 70's classic rock vein. Not a band to waste time with idle chatter, no one onstage even acknowledged the audience until an hour and a half into the show, when lead singer Jim James babbled some incomprehensible lines about "doing it Denver style," then promptly made us forget his nonsensical mutterings with a bone-crushing version of "Magheeta" from It Still Moves. I'm afraid to jinx myself, but I have yet to see a bad show since I moved to Denver.

New Kid in Town

Denver Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets. I'm not much of an NBA fan, but I have to say, this game was surprisingly entertaining... at least the second half was. We got to see a pretty good game from Allen Iverson (who scored all of the Nuggets first 10 points and ended up with 28) and a sparkling debut from Maryland product Steve Blake (above), who flew in to town late last night after Denver sent wee Earl Boykins, Julius Hodge and some cash to Milwaukee in exchange. Blake finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough. In fact, he must have been flashing back to his days as a Terrapin as Denver continually gave wide open shots to former Dukie Shane Battier, and he made them pay to the tune of 25 points as the Nuggets fell 90-86. Still, it was a good start for a guy who just met his teammates today. With Blake and A.I. running things, once Carmelo Anthony gets back from suspension and Kenyon Martin gets healthy again, this Nuggets team is going to be fun to watch.

Reboot

One of the blogs I've been reading lately is Obsessive Consumption, one woman's quest to track all of her purchases and through that, comment on our culture of consumerism. Each day, she posts an item that she purchased (either with a photo or a very cool sketchy line drawing). Lately, I've been trying to think of ways that my blog can better reflect its theme (that being how I spend my leisure time), and Obsessive Consumption's format has given me inspiration. So, from now on, each of my posts (hopefully daily) will deal with at least one thing I did that day during my free time. For example:

Rome: The Complete First Season. For the last couple of nights, I've been watching this immensely enjoyable HBO show (and really, are there any HBO shows that aren't?). Since it’s about to return with new episodes, I wanted to get caught up before the second season begins. I love that the show is historically accurate (at least by Hollywood standards), yet still interesting dramatically. Turns out sex, politics, and war makes for good TV. But who knew all Romans had British accents?

Lazy Sunday

Other than making a triumphant return to the racquetball court this morning, I didn't do much this weekend except watch movies and read comic books. After a very long 4-day week at work, it was nice to just chill and leave a Mike-shaped dent in the couch. Here's how I passed the time:

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

The Matador

Fables Vol. 8: Wolves

Glacial Period

Angel: Spotlight

Spike vs. Dracula

Ultimate Iron Man Vol. 1

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 11: The Most Dangerous Game

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 13: Hobgoblin

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 14: Warriors

Yeah, I'm a nerd. But I enjoyed my weekend anyway.

All About the Benjamins

As if they didn't have enough of a rep as a bunch of money-grubbing fat cats who could care less about the environment, today comes a report that over the past 7 years, ExxonMobil apparently paid a variety of groups nearly $16 million to discredit global warming in different ways. Do they realize no one's forgotten the Valdez spill? The cleanup is still ongoing. So much for my wish for better news in '07.

It's disgusting what greed will do to people (although, a little protection and special treatment from your buddy in the White House usually helps make you feel invincible). Instead of learning a lesson from the Valdez and spending that $16 million to help the environment, EM spends it on trying to fool the public into thinking there's no such thing as global warming, and that we can just go right on using fossil fuels and filling their pockets. Preserve the bottom line at all costs. I guess there's some truth to that "root of all evil" thing. If there's any justice in the world, the next time their board of directors tour one of their refinieries, they'll all fall into a tank of crude and drown. At any rate, as the article says, this isn't the first time EM has been accused of this type of behavior, and two strikes is enough for me. I'll never buy gas from one of Exxon's subsidiaries again (thank you, Good magazine). I know a one-man boycott won't make any kind of dent in their bottom line, but it will make me feel a lot better.

The New Year

After a long and relaxing holiday break, 2007 is finally here. And much like little Happy up there (of Rudolph's Shiny New Year fame, you heathens), I feel like it arrived awkwardly and not entirely comfortable with itself. Hopefully, that won't last long, and this year will quickly learn to straighten up and fly right. It would be nice to turn on the news and hear something good, as opposed to the doom and gloom of the past few years. For now, though, my biggest concern is going back to work after nearly two weeks off. Blech.

Lots of post-Christmas pop culture stuff to wade through, but I'm too tired from rearranging my bedroom today. New year, new room... er, or something like that. Here's some links:

WATCH
The Good Shepherd
Little Miss Sunshine

READ
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Ivan Brunetti (ed.)

LISTEN
Songs for Christmas, Sufjan Stevens
The Information, Beck
Wolfmother, Wolfmother