Category Archives: Movies

Sci-Fi

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I’ve liked some Science Fiction since I can remember, but haven’t ever delved deep into it on my own, only sometimes finding something new every so often, and clinging to it.

I am a SF lover, just constrained by my own ignorance of what’s out there.

I like Cordwainer Smith, and tried to find whatever paperbacks of his I have in boxes, and only could find the one “The Instrumentality of Mankind”.

So we have looked in the bookstores in the little town near us, two used stores. Nuthin. In Barnes and Noble one day we looked, couldn’t find any, then asked and they said they had none in the store but they could order it for us [No thanks!]

So I started looking on eBay and online other places and … did a bit of extra research to be sure of what I was looking for.

I have just “won” an auction for a pb of Norstrilia, 1974 first printing of it. It’s a cohesive edition of two stories brought together as the one novel, but it’s not the same as other editions [of the novel] and the stories are longer in other version of separate stories [additional material] … I won’t get into the details, but to say, I will be collecting the various pieces of this story, as well as other CS stuff.

So that book, as well as the Galaxy Oct 1962 mag with The Lost Ballad of C’Mell as the cover story will be on their way to me soon. The art on that magazine cover is really nice, and more than half the reason to decide to get it.

See the cover here. [opens in new window]

Cordwainer-smith.com is run by the authors daughter. I hope to get some things from that site eventually, sooner than later.

Secondary: movies

I started looking at The Chronicles of Riddick before it came out earlier this year, and found that “Pitch Black” was it’s predecessor, and so we rented it, and I fell in love with it. TCoR just recently came out on DVD, and we have it, it’s really good too. We also now own “Pitch Black” on DVD.

This is really nice Sci-Fi/Fantasy stuff. Two totally different stories with the same main character, and not made as movie from books. :)

One that is sensitive to violence and language must take care. For me, it’s part and parcel of my visualness to love Sci-Fi and I don’t mind the violence and turn a deaf ear to the rough language parts. For the most part, both the movies do use fine language, and the worser parts of it are used in areas one might expect. If that makes any sense at all.

Richard B. Riddick is a man on the run from Mercs, an escaped convict, someone “raised in the penal system”. He’s the anti-hero, and so well does Mr. Deisel play the part, it’s very likeable. Frank likes “TCoR”, but not “PB”. Goes hand in hand with the fact that I like “Aliens” etc. and he doesn’t.

One will find reviews of this material online on various sites, and you’ll see the love it or hate it or can like it but want to cut it down, folks. I echo what so many of the “love it” say. It’s really complex and interesting.

So that’s a smidgen of my personality eeking out for y’all to see. :veryshocked:

Movies for December

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In the previous post today I refered to our “Newest Tradition” of going to the movies as a family on Christmas Day. This year I wasn’t sure what was coming out, so I went to rottentomatoes.com and checked out UPCOMING releases.

I found these:

Blade: Trinity comes out on Dec 8

Lemony Snicket comes out on Dec 17

Spanglish comes out on Dec 17

Phantom of the Opera comes out on Dec 22

Of the above, those are the ones we are interested in that are coming out, a small percentage of the stuff coming out ;)

But of the above, only 1 is probable as a family movie … Lemony Snicket. Now, I know there are folks that don’t like those books but I’m not sure as to why. I haven’t read them all, just half of the first one, but I found it interesting, a Barnes and Noble evening it was, and I just haven’t thought to pick it up again since then. I first did that earlier this year before I knew it was coming out as a movie.

Another on the list, Spanglish, I have there since I saw the trailer for it and it looked interesting. If you saw 50 First Dates, as we did on DVD, I took note of the trailer since it looked to be in the vein of that, to a small degree, as in “serious” not “slappy silly”. 50 First Dates had some stuff in it that I’d have done without fine, but Adam Sandler was a nice guy in it, and we really liked the storyline and how it worked out as a greatly positive movie in human character and morals. So I have NO IDEA what I am saying about the movie in question, Spanglish, just that I have a hint of feeling that it’s interesting, but not that it’s a good movie. Must look into it further. In any case, it’s not a children’s movie.

The one children’s movie I’m looking forward to is “Because of Winn Dixie” which finally comes out on February 18th. That’s another Barnes and Noble evening book. I picked it up sometime in the past year or so and read it in full, thorougly enjoying it. I’d seen it many times over, passing it up before. That night I just for some reason was compelled to pick it up and was drawn deeply into the story immediately. I really was predjudice of the book because of the title. I felt at odds with it. Something in me challenged that for some reason, and I read it that night. I was delighted to find out it was to be movie later, and have been waiting for it.

The Phantom of the Opera I am looking forward to greatly. Frank and I have been fans of the show via Audio-CD for many years. We’ve never seen the show, so the next best thing, and maybe a really great thing overall, is a movie version of it, done in the 21st century … the epic beautiful visuals possible in movie making today are wonderful.

Blade: Trinity that’s for me. I’m the Sci-Fi nut. I haven’t seen a Blade in the theatre yet, so I’m looking forward to making Frank go to see it with me ;)

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So then there are some movies out now that are possibilities … The Incredibles is one. So that’s that for now.

Holiday and Traditions

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This week is a holiday week in our home, as it is for so many in the US. But for us, it’s a double-holiday on the same day, Victoria turns Six on the 25th. This is part and parcel of life for us since her birth, with her being born the evening before Thanksgiving Day, her birthday is right smack on Thanksgiving every few years, and right before or right after depending on the placement of the last Thursday of November. Not only that then, exactly one month to the day later, it’s Christmas Day. So Victoria’s birthday is a count-down-beginning time of sorts in our household.

I’ve felt bad for birthday people born around Christmas … it’s tough. I know of people born much closer of course, and Victoria, on “schedule” would have been born the first week of December. Oh, the feel bad and tough part is only how the whole year is empty for them, and then Christmas and birthday crammed upon one little segment of the year.

Why do I feel like that? Two things remind me of it:

1. My birthday is in July and it was perfect placement, IMO all my young life. I never had to go to school on my birthday, and it was practially mid-point of the year between Christmases.

2. I know that when we have week after week of nothing fun to do outside of the house, suddenly invites and times to do something somewhere else all pop up for the same weekend or the same day, and some thing has to be turned down… if only these things would iron themselves out to not clog up one time space, but spread out a few weeks to allow liberal time to be spent at home and out doing in leisure, instead of feeling cramped and missing out on things, and whirlwinding it every so often, and total downtime the rest of the month or two until the next whirlwind time.

These two items have given me empathy for the last part of the year birthed ones. Silly, yes. Silly? No not really though. For I see how tough it is in our home to distinguish between birthday and Christmas gifts for our daughter, like she gets two stages of Christmas, a month apart. I don’t mean for it to be that way, but it’s the way it ends of feeling, for to get her something nice for her birthday and then something nice for her for Christmas is hard on the other children, I see how they see it. They can’t parse it out as adults and see that in other parts of the year THEY get that special birthday stuff. I do see it though that it’s a blank year with a birthday and Christmas just a month apart.

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Either/Or Movie Edition

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Found here: thinklings.org/jared/index.php?p=544&more=1&c=1

EITHER/OR Movie Edition

Rules: Choose one or the other, no boths. Neither is only acceptable if you don’t have any information on either option. Feel free to provide reasons, excuses, defenses, diatribes.

  • Matinee or Late-Night Showing
    – not often at the movies, but matinee near end of run is our favorite
  • Full Theater or Empty Theater
    –subset of Matinee answer above
  • Popcorn or Candy
  • Row Seating: Nearer the Front or Nearer the Back
  • Within the Row: On a Side or Near the Middle
  • Romance or Historical Biopic
  • Action or Suspense
  • Science Fiction or Horror
  • Alfred Hitchcock or Orson Welles
  • Quentin Tarantino or Spike Lee
  • Star Wars or Star Trek
  • Jimmy Cagney or Jimmy Stewart
  • Bob Hope or Bing Crosby
  • Ingrid Bergman or Lauren Bacall
  • Humphrey Bogart or Clark Gable
  • Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy
  • The Three Stooges or The Marx Brothers
    – Ugh, I have never, even as a child, like either. Blech.
  • Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton
  • Video/DVD: Widescreen or Full Screen
  • Movie Reviews or Word of Mouth
    –Mostly just looking at Rottentomatoes for movies we have HEARD about and deciding from both sources
  • Comedies: Laugh Out Loud or Just Smile
  • Crying at Sad Movies: Okay or Not Okay
  • Clapping at the End of a Movie: Okay or Really, Really Stupid
  • Matt Damon or Ben Affleck
    — Gag, they are both disgusting
  • Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks
    — hard one
  • Ben Stiller or Mike Meyers
    SNL! and I married an ax murder
  • Owen Wilson or Luke Wilson
    –hilarious with “John Wayne” but not elsewhere, that I know
  • Stephen Spielberg or M. Night Shyamalan
  • Todd Solondz or Wes Anderson
    – Who????
  • Scarier: Freddy Krueger or Jason
    –both stupid, from commercial viewing
  • Funnier: Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell
  • Deep Impact or Armageddon
    –????? Saw neither
  • Rated G or Rated PG

    • Peter Pan (2003) on DVD Today!

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    Peter Pan is being released on DVD today. I’m sorry it didn’t do better in the theatres, but now that it’s out on DVD I am hoping it’ll gain better audience approval. It’s a really nicely done version for the whole family, and IMO very watchable, where as I can NOT watch that horrid D-version :rolleyes:

    We saw Peter Pan (2003) on it’s opening day, December 25, 2003. It’s the first time we went to the movies as a family! :) So we are all awaiting the DVD’s arrival later this afternoon, when Frank will bring it home, if all goes well. We’ve only seen it the one time. It’s impact was far deeper than that one time would normally give