Speedo Walkin’ Cheetah
December 7, 2004
Yup. I saw Life Aquatic and you didn’t. It was great too. The only bad thing was that I didn’t win one of them snazzy red Zissou beanies. The all-acoustic David Bowie in Portuguese soundtrack is particularly perfect.
The only other movie I’ve seen this year that I liked as much was Sideways, the bachelor road trip comedy that takes all the wrong turns for its protagonists. I’m not a big oenophile but I don’t think it matters when Paul Giamatti’s ranting and raving and guzzling spittoons full of merlot. Sideways also sports the best use of male full-frontal nudity in a film.
In terms of lesser lights, House of Flying Daggers was probably the biggest disappointment this year. The first hour is a wondrous pageant of iron and silk and then it really falls apart. It was like flipping on the international channel and seeing dudes with swords and pajamas and thinking there’s going to be this awesome fight sequence but they really just stand around and talk because it’s a low-budget soap opera. Then you’re just left sitting there saying “man, fuck the international channel.”
What else? Um, Incredibles was rad but not as good as Iron Giant, which is one of maybe five films that actually make me cry. National Treasure isn’t as bad as you think but it’s still pretty damn awful.
I’m heading to an Arcade Fire show tonight but the only thing I can think about is that I’m going to miss Amazing Race because I’ll be TiVoing Veronica Mars instead. How’s that for TV anxiety?
Posted in Moving Pictures
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December 7th, 2004 at 6:29 pm
What is Veronica Mars?
(I clicked the link. Couldn’t figure it out.)
December 7th, 2004 at 6:41 pm
wow, I didn’t actually look at the Veronica Mars website. That’s really horrible.
Anyway, it’s a show about a teenage detective a la Nancy Drew. It’s modernized and quite a bit darker, but it’s sharply written and acted (I’m not a big fan of the visual look of the show, which trys to be noirish with its lighting but ends up fouling it all up with its brightly colored palettes).
Some people compare it to Buffy, because apparently people are so unimaginative that any smart, sassy teenage female protagonist must be compared to Buffy. There are no vampires, but there is a little bit of murder and crime and high school scandal. Fun stuff.
UPN, 9:00pm. Unfortunately, on against the Amazing Race.
December 8th, 2004 at 6:09 pm
it’s NO buffy.
December 8th, 2004 at 11:56 pm
Is … is there ANY fighting in “House of Flying Daggers”? That’s all I want out of it, really.
December 9th, 2004 at 12:14 pm
yeah, there’s lots of action in the first hour. It’s really great too.
After that it becomes pajamasoapopera.