Last Chance Harvey

Netflix just suggested I get Last Chance Harvey.  Not an awful movie, but awfully predictable.  The tone was similar to Rachel Getting Married, where a family member is on a different wavelength. I think Last Chance Harvey was better than RGM but I still didn't really enjoy seeing either. I thought Dustin Hoffman was much better in I (heart) Huckabee's, and other than that I can't say anything, because I am one of the only people I know who liked that movie.

I don't get what is up with these redemption movies.  It reminds me of the morality movies like Days of Wine and Roses without the consequences.

For Your Consideration, Kill!

Sword of Doom has more plok points, but this is an entertaining movie for different reasons.

The netflix synopsis was clearly written by someone who never watched the movie.  I think the tone and character are closer to The Big Sleep than the Seven Samurai.  The movie was so noir Bogart or Robinson should have shown up.

The treatment of evil is better than Pulp Fiction.  The premise of Jules' argument was a fallacy and it has always grated on my nerves.  The message here was similar but much more successful.  The multiple narratives and perspectives on purpose is a theme I like though. Shorter and faster paced than most of Kurosawa's movies, Okamoto's movie Kill! has a nice variety of dialogue and violence.

Given the choice between watching For your Consideration and stabbing myself in the arm with a fork though; tines aren't that painful, I suggest a salad fork. Best In Show and A Mighty Wind were better, and they weren't great. The trailer had been so promising but the actual film was so tedious we almost turned it off half-way through.  I don't think I have a single nice thing to say about it.

shod in shoes for shlumping through the shnow

So I "accidentally" didn't use all of my vacation time last year (I had reasons for saving a day but that's another story), and took a Saturday off to balance the time out.

Saturday Chester and I went to bike around Lake Harriet.  And I went to the wrong lake.  There wasn't too much confusion since we were car pooling, but we did lunch at Isles Buns and Coffee.  The wind was wicked on the south end of the lake.  And the snow drifts on the lake made it almost completely impassable.  We walked much of the way across.

The folks at Isles make wicked good espresso.  I place the Mocha between Brewberry's and Black Dog.  

Saturday night we went to Let the Right One In.  I don't remember the last movie we liked enough to see 4 times in the theatre.  This one was totally worth seeing four times.

Yesterday we biked to the Town Hall Brewery.

And today we went snowshoeing in Eagan.

Guy Woodhouse

So after this morning's ride I think I've dubbed the Miyata.

Guy Woodhouse.  

because that traction was something

Let the Right One In

So when it comes to tragedy, the Scandinavians corner the market.  Now I don't mean like the 9 o'clock news "Raging drunk driver obliterates family of four, and their dog" tragic, but the Greek tragic.  By this I mean people do the best they can with sub-optimal results opposite of the intent.

Let the Right One In is a vampire movie that explores evil.  Eli, Conny, his friends, and Conny's older brother offer a few options.  

Without giving spoilers, what I liked about the movie was 1. The use of shallow depth of field 2. off screen violence (not because I'm squeamish, but because it was more in keeping with the Greek) 3. the use of shame.

Elegy; with Ben Kingsley, Dennis Hopper, and Penelope Cruz

I would like to start off by saying: The Edina Landmark Theatre makes me feel young. Why does the cinema make me feel young? Because Shannon and I are usually half the age of the rest of the audience. And that’s weird.

The movie seemed aimed at the aging crowd. Without doing a study in gerontology the average population of the US is aging. And these people like to see movies. And apparently Penelope Cruz’ breasts. This summer has had a lot of movies about people getting old and struggling with the new identity (Actually the movie reads much like the Passenger for the Jack Nicholson fans) but I think Elegy is much better than say The Bucket List.

I liked the movie, not only because of breasts, but because of how Kingsley and Hopper get along in the movie. It reminds me of Wolfy and me.

What sent us driving into the particular part of town we hate driving to? Free tickets. Seriously, taking 62 past 35w we almost got sideswiped and we had our own lane. It’s like people are on crazy pills around there. Absolute white knuckle driving because no-one drives predictably. But this might have something to do with the way the road work there is being done. While excellent work is being done on the new road bed, the redirected traffic has terrible surface to drive on. The pavement is patch worked together, the banking is opposite for all the turns. So of course there are accidents because nothing is smooth or made with the physics of driving in mind.

SO, maybe when we get more time to travel the distance, we will bike there. 50th and France is not that far really.

Would I suggest people see the movie? yes. Would I recommend driving to Edina to see it? no.

I am a Caucasian male

More Scandinavian than from the Caucus mountains.  In fact, I lack as much Caucasian blood as someone 3/4 Finn could.  

But on Saturday we went to The Big Libowski, and it really made me want a White Russian.

So here is to the Dude. 

bakelite tea service

So we're sitting around watching cheesy movies.

First we watched Star Trek: Insurrection, which I am convinced is the worst of all the movies, even worse than the one with "Rich Corinthian Leather"-man (which wasn't so bad, as I can't take him seriously).

Now we are watching Hang em High, and Clint Eastwood has just woken up in a brothel, and been served breakfast including coffee from a tea service with a bakelite handle. 

somebody missed the memo about the history of bakelite. And I'm a dork.

not a greek drama

I would like to start off by saying that the movie was very suspenseful, well developed, and mortified me.  We just watched Straw Dogs, that old movie with Dustin Hoffman when he was like 12.  

According to Imdb the movie had an "unprecedented amount of onscreen violence."  

It was 

all it needed was a chorus

and wings

GAHHHH!