Moving Pictures

I usually skim the Washington Post capsule reviews on DVD releases to prioritize new stuff into my Netflix queue. Imagine my surprise to see a science fiction movie I'd never even heard of, Push, being released on DVD this week and having gotten a recommendation.

Perhaps I enjoyed this so much because it's completely my kind of story (involving several of my bulletproof kinks, as it were*). The kind with interesting world-building and lots of cool powers and fighty fights and it's set in Hong Kong. And, in fact, it feels like a Hong Kong action movie in all the good ways. Dakota Fanning is a little revelation in this one. Most science fiction movies are really bad, if you haven't noticed, and this one isn't.

Checking out the Rotten Tomatoes (22 percent fresh, ouch!), the complaints about this seem to be that people didn't get it, felt it was too convoluted to follow, etc. Some said it was silly, but I'd go with fun. And we wonder why smarter science fiction movies don't get made, or don't get much of a sell. Anyway, we liked it a whole bunch. And the concept would make a great young adult series too.

*dystopian, secret one-name sinister organization, awesome and evocatively named powers, fights that have brains behind their choreography

Updated: Charlie Jane likes it too–so there!

This year the part of the Oscars I was most looking forward to: Today. The Fug.

(Not that I don’t love the Oscars, and actually I’m really pleased with the winners, it’s just some years it’s hard to care. I look at it as leaving room for the years when you need to drink champers, wear a tiara, and make a fuss. Perhaps I’m just sad that the fabulousness of the first … Oscar Party, oh lo many years ago now, will never be equaled.)

(What was Daniel Day-Lewis’ wife/girlfriendRebecca Miller wearing? WOW. Just, WOW.)

Update: Fug on the dress. (I hadn’t seen the shoes!)

I love this.

(Via Erin.)

The only way to lick one’s sadness over missing AWP after finding out that there was also an Anthropologie sale on…

The first installment in a (fingers crossed) occasional series now that we are Netflixing again. This probably should have started with Transformers, but Spiderman 3 will do nicely.

Leaving aside the fact that None of It Makes Sense, the worst (and best) things about the movie:

1. Emo Bangs! Seriously, who goes evil by way of Emo Bangs?

2. The Emo Bangs turn Spidey into a jiving ’70s guy — I so wish I was making this up. How did they convince Maguire to do this? Sam Raimi must have pictures of something really disturbing… but how it could be more disturbing than this sequence, I really don’t know.

3. James Franco’s Harry has a butler who seems–for lack of a better word–special and who gives such a rousing speech about love and mad boy love that I could Not Stop Laughing. Christopher’s convinced this guy is a random hobo who won the role in a contest using a public library computer.

4. They’re all supposed to be fighting over Mary Jane, but boys? Get a room.

5. Brilliant new storytelling! Inconsistent Characterization = Plot and Thinly Veiled Pretext = Plot Point.

See how I took the high road? I didn’t even mention Maguire’s baby double chin. (Not that I’m advocating for the current insane cultural skeleton fetish, but if Dunst showed up like this they’d either have her killed or digitally edit the excess away and she’d still never work again.)

We recently re-upped our Netflix subscription (big TV and TV season disappointing and all) and have mostly seen terrible movies as a result. (Tranformers = How can you screw up giant fighting robots so badly?) On the other hand, we also finally watched the miniseries of Battlestar Gallactica, which was better than we’d hoped. (Maybe better for having watched most of the series? We found ourselves wishing that Starbuck had kept her messy teeth instead of getting caps before the series though.)

Last night, we had some friends over to watch a movie about Scottish cyclist Graeme Obry called The Flying Scotsman. Cycling is one of those sports that seems to come off well on film, usually — perhaps this is because the sport isn’t such a big deal here so when movies get made about cyclists it’s because the people involved actually care. The thing I liked best about this movie — besides cutie Jonny Lee Miller’s understated, natural performance as Obry — was that it resisted the Good Guy Vs. Bad Guy format that seems to be the default for American movies about sports. This movie is about someone trying to accomplish an amazing, radical athletic feat, but the obstacle is not some evil jerky cyclist from another cohort. Instead, the obstacle is Obry himself (and his mental illness). Bonus: Billy Boyd (Fool of a Took) is physically incapable of playing anything less than lovable and charming as Obry’s friend and manager.

Recommended for non-cyclists, too (and definitely for you Jenny D). You can watch the trailer here. Velodromes are awesome!

That this is what it looks like in Christopher’s head at night:

(Thanks, Erik!)

Do not see the movie Sunshine. You won’t like it. It’s terrible. It’s stupid. It’s SO bad.

I say: "How? Why? So confused."

Kelly says: "It follows the exact plot of Event Horizon."

Gavin says: "This is the dumbest film ever made."

Christopher says: "Event Horizon is a stupid stupid movie, but comparing the two is a disservice to Event Horizon."

We are all in agreement here.

More Book Group.

I’m pretty sure I remember this night from my junior year in college…

(Via Paul Collins.) More on K. Gordon Murray here.

Catching a plane very early, hope to do some e-mail en route or on arrival or sometime soon. But now I will finish packing and the last of the birthday Veuve Clicquot. Ah, life she is a marvel.