Oh Katherine, your lips are so full and pouty and....

27 Dresses, with Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, and Malin Ackerman. Cute, but I think I still need some buffer time to go back to appreciating standard rom-coms after Once. For example, I was inordinately bothered by every single ham-handed musical cue, but under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't have even noticed. It was kind of interesting how each of the characters was so exaggerated initially, but they did make up for it about three-quarters of the way through somewhat by offering some explanation; I'd rather have toned down, subtler characters and more spread out explanation, but what are you going to do. So yeah. Okay.

Silly rundown of all the dumbass books they've advertised with those moronic ads that CAPITALIZE important WORDS in Black Belt, though there's one interesting paragraph about Robert Trias, who was the head of the Ko Sho schools...

math + pretty colors = crazy delicious/the Sieve of Eratosthenes

::singing::

Once, with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I think the unorthodox approach of this movie is going to spoil me on regular rom-coms for a while if they have even an ounce of cliche in them. The only one I can think of that isn't immediately discounted on some level is Love, Actually, off the top of my head. Or Farscape, I suppose, in a sense. Anyway, Once is easy to watch multiple times on account of it being inundated with good music, so in effect its like listening to a cd you just bought more than once. And on top of that, the music is all really good, natch; on top of that, it was all written and sung by the two leads, who really do have a genuine chemistry stemming from genuine friendship in real life. I'll need a copy of this sometime.

Georgia Rule, with Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan. I was surprised to find this another unorthodox movie, which actually raised its value for me immensely, though at the same time I can see why it wouldn't do well in theatres (on account of some of the subject matter, I mean). At first I couldn't stand a couple of the characters, but as the movie went on with its subsequent reveals, I found myself fascinated by at least Lohan's, in turn, and tolerating the others. Not an amazing movie, but a lot better that I expected.

What if the world was divided up this way?

Hm, now I'm glad I didn't try it - pennywort juice

::sniff:: it's so true...
"In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves."
Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

crazy light thingie

a teleporter would be so useful around here

Jam-packed with action, they say! I'm hoping for lingonberry. But...I don't know about the title...

Huh, check out the part about the middle finger

It almost makes my teeth hurt

For all y'all's perusal, a random collection of information about fruit and vegetable storage

"We are both observer and what is observed at the same time." - thought that was an interesting corollary between quantum stuff and yoga

Hey there, big puffy version of Junebug!

Juno, with Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Basically, the same theme but opposite end of the spectrum from Knocked Up - understated, subtle, more profound. And so, better! Also much wittier, that too. I'm not even sure what to say about the film, perhaps it's a better take on a Garden State archetype but with pregancy, what with the indie-ish aspect. I loved how the runners aren't actually a function in the movie except as some weird avatar of the weather, but then again, Bleeker is one of them, but not...hmmm...I'm sensing an essay, there. I was going to to say something about Juno's parents being too deadpan to be real or something, but now that I think about it, she's then the perfect product of them. The over-the-top use of slang was a bit much in the opening scenes, but was quickly toned down, is the only negative note I can think of, at the moment.

I'm all over a fem take on Zatoichi, Ichi sounds fun

RaptorSafari! I...uh...well...I got nothin'

seriously, Marlena's death was just disturbing

Cloverfield, with Lizzy Caplan and several other attractive twenty-somethings. But she's the most attractive. This is one of those movies, like Ultraviolet, where I think I was ambivalent on it initially because of my succeptibility to succumb to the frames of others, ie, the people who I watched it with. But now that I think about it, I really liked it. I like monster movies; and I love movies that really make you feel like you're they're, that you can get into. And this had both in spades. I honestly wasn't too bothered by the camera stuff, just got a little impatient with it at times, but I can see how it would really really kill the movie for some people. It does make me want to get a fire extinguisher and first aid kit for the house, offhand. Like any good zombie/monster movie, it sets the stage for all sorts of imagination-games after. Good stuff, I hope they go places with the setting. Oh! And Caplan's character, interestingly, weirdly, had the same Malkavian pendant on that I had in high school...which exactly one and a half people might get the reference of, so...well, I found that strange and cool.

Better Off Dead, with John Cusack, and Diane Franklin, who is adorable as a French girl. Surreal, surprisingly so. At first I thought the mom was perhaps just soft in the head, and/or that the movie was just badly written, but finally I got through my stubborn framing of it to realize and better appreciate the willful absurdity. So, realizing it's just an insane movie (that perhaps accurately describes the psyche/perception of the teenage main character), I like it a lot more.

28 Weeks Later, with Rose Byrne and Jeremy Renner. Oh, and Imogen Poots, and Mackintosh Muggleton, who have some pretty fun names. First one was better, I think. This one, it was a nice expansion of the setting, but it was...stunted. The characters could have been developed more (as the one the really more developed lost his mind pretty quickly), the setting was worth digging into a good deal more (though I can see why they'd shy away from getting into political attitudes of other countries, but really, if you're going to expand the setting for the purpose of a bigger narrative, might as well go for it). So...yeah, I liked it, but it was an addendum, I think.

Jackie Chan in a Saw movie would be the saddest thing ever

Shanghai Noon, with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. Both of whom play their usual characters, like the little known dwarves (of the seven), Smarmy and Doofy. This was...a silly movie. Kind of disneyish with some wannabe adult moments thrown in...which doesn't really mesh for me. I guess the fighting was ok. Yeah. Not much to say about it, it's light fare, not too bad, not too great.

Saw II, with Shawnee Smith, Donnie Wahlberg (thought he looked familiar, but only by relation to his brother, I guess) and Tobin Bell. Agh! If only I'd not known the ending before hand, I'm sure this would have been hugely better. But alas. Interesting conceptry again, though the violence wasn't as glossed over as the first Saw, to my minor distaste. I like how they make every female cop ever look the same - that length wavy brown hair, strong cheekbones, etc. Pretty good thriller, a bit gross, not too scary.

New Soul Caliber, with funny special characters...though it seems silly to me, wouldn't the lightsabers just cut through any other weapons?

NSFW - by website, if not picture...can't say I wouldn't think for at least a moment about using it, though, heh

the shower scene is perfect.

Hatchet, with the girl from Buffy, the guy from Grandma's Boy, and an Asian guy who was a clone of an old friend of ours. Well...it was exactly what it purported to be, an old-school slasher flick. Which is fine. But it didn't really stand out for me, except in seeing the Grandma's Boy actor in a different role, and Harmony's chest, I suppose. I guess it was kind of mindlessly fun, but that was about it.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, with Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Jessica Alba. Ok, so, I'm going to ascribe it to the training done for Blade Trinity, but I have to say, Alba is pretty...uh....pretty. Except for the catsuit costume, not so flattering. Anyway, hey whoa Rob Schneider was the wedding guy? Weird. Anyway, I think they skirted the line between this just being mean funny and it being a kind and funny movie with good messages, however it was just plain fantasy at times. Still, pleasant and funny, with many a great moment.

Does anyone else find this word that Connie pointed out to me to be hilarious?

I wonder if Barney ever got it on with the media exec

Death to Smoochy, with Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, and Robin Williams. Much funnier than I expected, and much lighter than I expected. The stylization was expected, though I'm kind of curious what the effect might have been were it continued all the way through the movie, rather than just used as an introduction. There's a nice little expanded setting in this, and even a sweet romance, a little (slightly psychotic) redemption, Irish mob (suddenly want to watch Boondock Saints), midgets...an odd, crazy, fun movie. Norton: your young self pulled off a cheery role well! And Keener was pretty hot, too, offhand.

When a Killer Calls, with Rebekah Cochan and Robert Buckley. Ugh. So bad it made me angry just to watch it. By the time it got around to the end, I was literally tapping fingers an toes wanting it to be over sooner. Maybe the dumbass characters were more true to reality, of people being that mind-numbingly stupid, but I just couldn't feel any sympathy to characters being blythe to that degree. There was a little twist at the end, I suppose, but it was worthless without having any build-up from the rest of the movie; hell, it wasn't even a lack of build-up, but simply build-up to something else entirely. Argh!

Personally, I find the idea delicious:
"The Seven Up Bar was a candy bar comprising seven different chocolate "pillows", each filled with a different flavor. Flavors changed with the availability and popularity of ingredients, which included, among others, brazil nut, buttercream, butterscotch, caramel, cherry cream, coconut, fudge, mint, nougat and orange.[4] The high manufacturing costs and trademark issues with a soda manufacturer, today Cadbury Schweppes, caused the bar to be retired in 1979"

There's a bunch of cute stories near the bottom; I like the rank of "Able Seacat," personally

It's so pathetically true. Poor SpiderMan.

American English, America forming, America a-broad, pun intended

Made in America, by Bill Bryson. A generally fun read, but I think I like Mother Tongue more, in the end. This one just went a little bit more into dry, tedious listing than the other, basically, though that's somewhat balanced by it being an interesting way of learning about the history of the United States. Being as it's about the English of the USA. Probably should have explained that first. Anyhoo.

3:10 to Yuma, with Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and a few other people I recognized but couldn't put names to; and that actor from Firefly. Who dies...again. Sorry Connie! And! And. That guy from The L Word, who I couldn't place, the entire movie. Great western! Why? Because of the characters. Some of the secondary ones were pretty cookie-cutter, but in a way that was kind of necessary, and they made it work. There are some really interesting characters in this movie. And if anybody would like a play-by-play of how I think Crowe's character seduces the barmaid, ask me, once it clicked I wasn't sure if I disliked or respected his snake-charm character more.

Charlie Wilson's War, with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and a random surprising amount of attractive women. Witty! And not too preachy or politicized. So, the kind of political movie I could like. The women didn't hurt that. And Julia Roberts isn't in it too much, so don't worry, those who aren't keen on her. In other news, I would like an office staff similar to Wilson's someday. That is all.

I'll admit, I'm a little intrigued by this bed, in a purely practical way

randoms

I think Ultraviolet would have been a good bit better if they'd made the pacing as frenetic as Crank. It already has the crazy stylization, and making it more frantic in nature would have buffered some of the silly and uncoordinated aspects.

Aha, I thought so, tango is useful

Interesting, though dense, article on Japanese culture

And a nice article on perspective shifting

It's interesting, offhand, how Palestinian identity has come to be associated with Islam; two Lebanese girls at my mom's school still haven't figured out how she can be Palestinian without being Muslim, it befuddles them. As a consequence, my mom has practically started to disengage from her identity as a Palestinian, as the Christian culture she diaspora'ed to the West with simply hardly exists in the land of origin at all anymore, and Christian Palestinians simply aren't what the international consciousnes views as Palestinian anymore.