Flotsam; Jetsam

Recent movies:

Iron Man - Three stars. It was a decent comic book flick made that much better by Robert Downey Jr. He's made for some spectacular characters over the years... Weird Science, Wonder Boys, Natural Born Killers, A Scanner Darkly, Tropic Thunder... Also Gwenny P is pretty good in this too. Still don't get why they aren't bringing back Terrence Howard for the sequel, but replacing him with Don Cheadle makes it hard to complain too much. I do have to warn you that there is some gratuitious CGI that normally I would have to bitch about, but it wasn't the worst I've seen by a long shot. I watched I Am Legend again on HBO the other day and I had forgotten how that one was so effectively ruined by the video toaster infected. Costumes and makeup ftw.

The Happening - Poop stars. Sweet baby jesus, what a mindfuck. I'm not talking about twists or suspense, rather the sheer hair-pulling insanity of how bad it is. How did this movie get made? I guess it's just a force of nature that we'll never understand. P.S. That's this movie's mantra, and I've never heard a more ignorant wussy copout on science, hopefully only made for the sake of propping up the gimpy and incongruous plot. The score is cool, I guess. It's just too bad this movie had to "happen" to Wahlberg, Leguizamo, and Deschanel. The last 30 minutes, starting when Wahlberg's little group, including the two teen boys, arrives at the shuttered up house, are especially wrenching. Damn M Night! Wha happen?

The Man in The Sand - Three stars. Entertaining doc on the forces behind Mermaid Avenue. I came away liking Bragg's solo stuff much more than I have in the past, and Wilco came away looking a mite prickish. Whatever. It's all great music.

A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake - Three stars. Amazing that there's absolutely no video footage of this guy. A depressing story but it was pretty revealing to see the tragic persona behind his great songs. His sister is such a ham though, I gotta say. Hameriffic. Hamerabi. Hamon Ayala.

Tenacious D in The Pick Of Destiny - Three stars. The beginning was slow but it picked up in the end. Eh? Picked up? Eh? I was laughing out loud during the final rock-off with the devil.

Rumsfeld Responsible for Torture, Report Says - I know it was you, McCain. And it breaks my heart.

I got caught up on the third (current) season of 30 Rock. They've all been pretty funny so far, especially the reunion episode. Also sad to see Amy Poehler is leaving SNL. I saw her in person in an Upright Citizens Brigade show at Bad Dog a long time ago! Holla!