schmevil

According to Netflix, I like:

Cerebral independent movies

Violent Crime movies

Documentaries

This is all true, but the glaring hole in this movie watching profile, is bad bad terribly bad horror and action movies. Oh Netflix, you came so close.

Crossposts: http://schmevil.livejournal.com/326599.html

I saw it (maybe a month back?) and it was an excellent film, but hilarious in how little it resembled reality.

The falling apart of the Saverin/Zuckerberg working relationship and sequence of lawsuits is an issue. Probably the nature of the relationship between the two of them as well--Zuckerberg essentially told friends at the time that Saverin was a 'sucker' who was only in it for the money, and he (Z) was happy to use him. Saverin put unauthorized ads on the site and was sued for interfering with business. Certainly they were friends at some point, but it was not a relationship without tensions.

It's more accurate with regards to the Winklevoss lawsuit, although from what I've gleaned, they're not nearly assholeish enough. They were kicked out of apartments for drunken shenanigans and fighting, so.

And the big one for me was Facebook itself. I really think they overestimated Zuckerberg's ~coding genius and the significance within the tech world of Facebook. FB is revolutionary because of its success, and because of its effects, not because of its ~code. There's a weird mystification of computer science and information technology going on in The Social Network.

It'll be interesting to see what angle the inevitable remake takes.

Crossposts: http://schmevil.livejournal.com/321527.html

So Takers is apparently my new fandom of ~~one~~ three?

dirty_diana and

dlasta are already on board, guys. Let the peer pressure, and these pretty pictures sway you.

( more Takers pics )

So here's the low down on Takers. They're a crew of very smart, very skilled thieves who pull off daring crimes with very big payoffs. They put most of their loot away in investments and savings, with a little (ok a lot) left over for living and charitable donations. They make sure to mix things up, robbing banks, stores, and armored trucks, with plenty of time between takes. Then one day ex-crew member Ghost gets released from prison (early, on good behaviour) and comes to them with a plan. They're suspicious of course, but-- it's a great plan, a great take, and it's Ghost, who they almost want to trust. So they go for it. [For a complete plot summary, head to Wikipedia.]

There's a large cast and I kind of divide them into three groups. ( spoilers, so many spoilers )

Not convinced? Watch the trailer. Fandoms have been built on so. much. less. Oh, and here's a making of, if you're interested in what the cast and crew think.

Crossposts: http://schmevil.livejournal.com/317095.html

Ok, also from this list of Best Conservative Movies, is this gem about 300:

During the Bush years, Hollywood neglected the heroism of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan — but it did release this action film about martial honor, unflinching courage, and the oft-ignored truth that freedom isn’t free. Beneath a layer of egregious non-history — including goblin-like creatures that belong in a fantasy epic — is a stylized story about the ancient battle of Thermopylae and the Spartan defense of the West’s fledgling institutions. It contrasts a small band of Spartans, motivated by their convictions and a commitment to the law, with a Persian horde that is driven forward by whips. In the words recorded by the real-life Herodotus: "Law is their master, which they fear more than your men[, Xerxes,] fear you."

I want to fucking roll around in the silliness and savour it. THE WEST'S FLEDGLING INSTITUTIONS, YOU GUYS. Did we see the same movie? (I suspect not).

Seriously why does this exist?

These fantasies always strike me as a little gross. ( cut for pinko ranting )

Also goddammit Hollywood, can we get some new stories?

PS. Red Dawn is apparently #15 in a list of Best Conservative Movies. Ha ha ha.

Sometimes fandom, I just do not get you. It wasn't a good movie, no, but how is there NO FIC for Takers?

( more )

Ok yes, Chris Brown factor. I had to pretend he was someone else to enjoy his scenes. :/

ETA: FUCK YOU YOUTUBE. Have a link, since it's refusing to embed.

Doesn't look amazing but... yeah I'd watch it.

This movie was shot in my city and it's so so easy to recognize streets, parks and buildings. It is, in fact, a Canadian movie that was subtly un-Canadianized for an American audience. Which, hey man, awesome because it did get the film a wider audience, thereby ensuring that more people understood how blisteringly hot Rutina Wesly is. So there's that. It also happens to be an unashamedly motivational dance movie, and I have suuuch a weakness for that stuff. True Blood people, have you seen HSM yet? If not, why not? Go go go.

PS. I am seriously dying for some good Tara fic, or Tara&Sookie fic--anyone have a lead on some worthwhile stories?

The entry that Dreamwidth ate.

Mattie Ross intends to see daddy's killer hanged and Marshal Cogburn can do nothing for you.

So--I think this movie is a love letter to my very soul. That is, if it delivers on everything the (linked above) trailers promise. Plucky young heroine, salty old killer with a heart of (killer) marshmallow, RETRIBUTION, the Coen brothers and a stellar cast.

True Grit is an adaptation of the novel of the same name. It was first adapted to film in 1969. I haven't seen the film but the bits on YouTube seem decidedly un-Coen, so I imagine this is a direct adaption, rather than an update of the '69 movie. Also, Ethan Coen had this to say about the film:

It's partly a question of point-of-view. The book is entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humour in both the situations and in her voice. It also ends differently than the movie did. You see the main character — the little girl — 25 years later when she's an adult. Another way in which it's a little bit different from the movie — and maybe this is just because of the time the movie was made — is that it's a lot tougher and more violent than the movie reflects. Which is part of what's interesting about it.

I am going to watch the HELL out of this movie. I am going to watch it so hard it forgets its own name.

Metropolis is screening in Toronto at the Lightbox, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8PM. Toronto people, I'll see you there, right?

I'm actually going on Wednesday. Anyone who'd like to meet up, let me know.

So I saw Inception.

I didn't mention it here because I've been tired-sick-tired and then tired of being tired and sick. This weekend I was treated to a particularly horrendous bit of the cycle - I spent Saturday alternately hugging the toilet and watching The Bucket List. Which, I gotta point out, has enough subtext to fuel a fandom, though I entirely understand why there isn't one. Sick, tired, tired and sick, and not feeling particularly like writing here lately.

So yeah, INCEPTION. Right? A friend of mine sat me down and tried to mansplain the true meaning of the film. Well, whatever works for him, but I really think that any attempt at foreclosing possibility here, any attempt at a unified field theory, is an epic fail. I mean, what the hell is a movie about dreams for, if not to dream a little bigger? I'd really like to see the movie again, to get to know the characters a little better, the world a little better. Whatever logical flaws the movie has I can happily forgive, because it was so damn enjoyable. I was, I have to confess, more involved in this movie than I've been in any movie, in a while. I clutched my friend's thigh.

Other movies I saw recently:

Iron Man 2 - I know. It's just that I'd promised to see it with a friend, and our schedules conflicted, conflicted some more, and kept on conflicting for months. In the end, a good time was had by all. We had the theater to ourselves and were able to yell at Mickey Rourke as much as we liked. He was exactly the right person to see it with, though. Our views on the movie were eerily in sync. Although, you know, I did most of the yelling.

500 Days of Summer - Better than I expected! I am not a fan of Zooey Deschanel, and I'd heard the movie was disappointing at best. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for Joseph Gordon Levitt, but I thought it was charming, sweet, and fun. I loved him in the depths of misery. I loved him in the heights of love. I don't know, just a charming, watchable character with an interesting story to tell.

Other movies I'm looking forward to seeing: The Expendables (come on, you know I'm all over that), Takers, Freakonomics, Holy Wars, La Soga, Red... others. Um. I really like action movies, you guys.

Yeah, idek what happened. Feel free to poke me if I'm taking forever with something. In the meantime, the Die Hard Marathon is back!

Every Die Hard movie is about hostages. DH2 puts John inside the crisis with Holly still out of reach. This time the terrorists seize Dulles Airport, complete with travelers, workers and planes circling overhead - they control all of it. As usual, everything's going according to plan, save one thing: John Fucking McClane. Our favourite fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench. You know how this goes, right?

I think having John McClane show up even in the vicinity of a well-planned crime must be every criminal's nightmare in the DH universe. He's got some kind of probability-bending, criminal-foiling superpowers, amirite? It's nuts.

This is easily the weakest of the four DH movies (imho of course). ( Read more... )

I have the next Die Hard post, my second SPN Femslash Exchange story, and my first Pony Stark story written, but none of them are typed. I keep staring at the computer, rubbing my eyes and not getting anything done. What the hell, man. *rubs eyes* Shamefully unproductive.

Speaking of movies, @darklorelei and @schmevil (why, that's me!) are watching 100 Great Movies together on Twitter, starting this month. Our first movie is All About Eve. We're still waffling on live-tweeting vs. post-watch tweet reviews, but it should be fun for us and likely will be torturous for our followers. We also need to decide on a hashtag, for ultimate annoyance.

In other news, I worked. I did the groceries. EXCITEMENT! I'm now home and catching up on my flist.

Because hey, there was actually some interest!

This weekend we will watch the film that started it all, the origin of the GODDAMN JOHN MCCLANE: Die Hard.

Beg, borrow or steal your way to a copy, because it's an epic showdown between St. Bruce of Willis and Alan Freaking Rickman, ladies and gentlemen. (And as a handicap, Bruce has no shoes. Those of you who've already seen the film will know what I'm talking about. Shit yes). Watch Alan take over an office building. Watch Bruce crawl through air ducts, expose his soft bits to broken glass, and take out all the terror-iminals, one by one. Further, watch Alan be... not too pleased with this development. SHIT YES.

Epic enough? More bombast next time? Cause I can bring additional bombast if necessary.

I've discovered Die Hard slash. And it's GOOD. No really! Like, quite good. I did an olympic freaking sprint through the stories up at AO3 and now I'm checking out

hard4brains. This is FatF fandom all over again, except... strangely sacrelicious (sacreligious + delicious). Slashing John McClane is kind of like slashing the Man With No Name. It's like queering a piece of America itself. And I like it, oh yes.

Also! Completely unrelated to Die Hard and America, but totally related to queering up the joint, I need a Joan Jett icon. Because jfc Joan.

What, you don't get the Joan thing? Click! ( Read more... )

Just watched Easy Virtue with Jessica Biel, Kristen Scott Thomas, Colin Firth and Ben Barnes. I don't care what anybody says - it was lovely, and Jessica Biel is lovely. (Haters to the left, blah blah). My goodness she is stunning in period costume, and delivers an unexpectedly confident and mature performance. Colin Firth does rumpled, disaffected, Lost Generation malaise to perfection, and Kristen Scott Thomas, well, she does a great job but I do wish the character had a bit more of nuance, and a bit less of quietly raging she-bitch. The comedy is delicious, the ending perfect, and the sets, costumes and cinematography gorgeous.

I would absolutely read fic of Larita's and Jim's adventures post-film, romantic or otherwise.

Hormonal today. I thought I'd offset it by watching a movie.

My first try was PS I Love You, which it turns out starts with a death, and features James Marsters trying to be a Serious Actor, and Hilary Swank trying to be Cute. Pass.

My second try was Watchmen. It was going swimmingly, until the rape scene. Pass.

After that I gave up and finally watched Under The Hood. I declined to buy the Watchmen dvd because the movie honestly didn't do anything for me), so this was my first time watching it. It was well done overall, and they did a good job with Hollis' sincerity, and Sally's too-mannered schmaltz. The best part is the vintage Seiko commercial. A++.

When I first saw Watchmen, I was struck by how obvious all of the soundtrack choices were. I stand by my distaste, but I have a new appreciation for the intensely 80s score. It sounds like they cribbed it off of those awful milquetoast-noir cop movies that were churned out by the dozen back then. And it's kind of awesome for that very reason. So bad it's bad, but deliciously, knowingly so. :D

Anyway, tell me something cool that's happened to you lately. Link to what's putting a smile on your face. I require lolcats, cupcakes and candy-coloured war-ponies (ie. cheering up).

My new favourite story: The Things, by Dr. Peter Watts. It's a retelling of the 1982 movie The Thing, from the point of view of the alien.

It is fantastic. Read now.

I was so much more, before the crash. I was an explorer, an ambassador, a missionary. I spread across the cosmos, met countless worlds, took communion: the fit reshaped the unfit and the whole universe bootstrapped upwards in joyful, infinitesimal increments. I was a soldier, at war with entropy itself. I was the very hand by which Creation perfects itself.

So much wisdom I had. So much experience. Now I cannot remember all the things I knew. I can only remember that I once knew them.

I remember the crash, though. It killed most of this offshoot outright, but a little crawled from the wreckage: a few trillion cells, a soul too weak to keep them in check. Mutinous biomass sloughed off despite my most desperate attempts to hold myself together: panic-stricken little clots of meat, instinctively growing whatever limbs they could remember and fleeing across the burning ice. By the time I'd regained control of what was left the fires had died and the cold was closing back in. I barely managed to grow enough antifreeze to keep my cells from bursting before the ice took me.

I remember my reawakening, too: dull stirrings of sensation in real time, the first embers of cognition, the slow blooming warmth of awareness as body and soul embraced after their long sleep. I remember the biped offshoots surrounding me, the strange chittering sounds they made, the odd uniformity of their body plans. How ill-adapted they looked! How inefficient their morphology! Even disabled, I could see so many things to fix. So I reached out. I took communion. I tasted the flesh of the world—

—and the world attacked me. It attacked me.

I have so much hatred for Pitbull, you have no idea. This is his remix of Move Shake Drop (DJ Laz and Flo Rida), and the video is another stripperific sleazefest that samples the much awesomer Benny Benassi's Satisfaction. This kind of hip hop pains me. VAGINA DOLLARS VAGINA. ( Read more... )

Pitbull btw is the genius who brought us this piece of trash. Funny thing - first time I saw I Know You Want Me, I sincerely thought it was a parody. That's how utterly second rate and classless it is.

Anyway, I ended up watching that piece of irredeemable shit because I was looking for clips from How She Move. This movie is like mental comfort food to me. When I was growing up, about the only kind of dancing anyone did was stepping and breaking, breaking and stepping. So this takes me back. Also, the film secretly takes place in Toronto, although most references to the city were taken out at the request of the distributor, so it would play better with an American audience. For reference: T-Dot=Toronto, Scarbra=Scarborough (a west-end neighborhood), Richmon=Richmond Hill (a Nice Northern neighborhood), and the 46 bus goes from Kipling Station (on Bloor-Danforth) to Steeles Avenue East, which puts the movie somewhere in the (north) east end.

This is the final dance sequence from the movie and it's awesomesauce:

Children of the Corn: Absolute garbage. Watchable only for the lolarity.
The Grudge: Still awesome. Haters to the left.
The Howling: Director was obviously in love with the special effects sequences, because they were never-ending.
Perfect Creature: Surprisingly ok. Slow and kind of meditative take on vampirism.
The Thing: Pretty Kurt Russell is pretty. And the movie is A++.
Day of the Dead: Slow and meditative take on zombieism. One of my favourites, actually.
Night of the Living Dead: Still hilarious.
Friday the 13th (remake): Best F13 you could possibly get. Done.
Splinter: Solid B+/A- creature feature. Classic horror done right.
Rabid: Armpit vampire is still amazing.

Not the 30 Nights of Horror that I originally wanted to do, but a solid effort. Also saw Paranormal Activity and a review is in the offing.

no future

According to Netflix

the social network

"We're takers, gents."

lol 300

Red Dawn remake?

quick post then back to work...

a Judd Apatow movie I'd be willing to watch!?

How She Move

True Grit

Metropolis screening in TO at the Lightbox

oh yeah, Inception!

Epic Die Hard Marathon... is back

wop ba ba doo wop

Epic Die Hard Marathon: starts this weekend

Die Hard slash, and my endless need for new icons

Easy Virtue

Watched (part of) Watchmen

The Things, by Dr. Peter Watts

Bad hip hop and a good movie about stepping

Horror movies I watched as part of my Halloween observance

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July 2012

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