Vicky Cristina Barcelona - A 3.5 Star Movie

We rented Vicky Christina Barcelona from Amazon - Video On Demand (Formerly Amazon Unbox).  I went in with no expectations but I thoroughly enjoyed the film.  Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz both impressed me.  Rebecca Hall as Vicky was not someone I had seen act before and her performance was spot on as well.  Scarlett Johansson was less interesting but I might be influenced by the nature of the character she is playing.  The ending has a nice symmetry, though perhaps too satisfying a payoff for those too quick to judge the turmoil surrounding Javier Bardem's character.  Like so many things, ultimately I enjoyed the journey a bit more than the destination but it was a trip I was very glad to have taken.  Authentic dialogue and performances that crackle all set in gorgeous Spanish countryside.

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Mini- Amazon - Video On Demand Review

Amazon - Video On Demand via Tivo is a service that enables you to download films (for purchase or rental) over broadband internet.  The service works flawlessly thanks to the integration with Tivo but is still a bit pricey.  The quality of the downloaded video is more than acceptable on our 32" HD TV.  The convenience of browsing and purchasing without the need for a Netflix cue or a trip to Blockbuster is hard to beat.  We tend to wait for sale pricing and have yet to rent any of the HD titles, but so far so good.

Watchmen Doesn't Work For Me

Zack Snyder's Watchmen looks visually amazing but the characters are thin and the underlying dystopian vision lacks the impactful nuance of Blade Runner.  Maybe I am just not in the mood right now for a film that paints people essentially as heartless bugs.  Are we capable as a species of mindless acts of selfish violence?  Yes, but I don't need a 3 hour film to remind me of this.  That's what CNN does most nights and I avoid that too.  What I crave and films like Blade Runner, The Martix and 28 Days Later deliver is the dystopian vision coupled with characters that reflect humanities potential.  Not because I can't handle the darkness but because total darkness is no more real than a vision where everything is sweetness and light. 

As The Economic Crisis Deepens...

This will be my last post on the draining bathtub that is our economy for awhile. The Atlantic Online has a long but super interesting article that thinks through what the current realignment might mean. A real contrast to the media obsession with the day to day market drops and scandals of the week. It puts this crash in a historical context and asks some intriguing questions. I am not sure if it gets all the answers right but I am glad someone is starting to ask the right questions.

Just Like That

Back in November I predicted that in 2009 the market would close out at 6,800.  I did not expect my prediction to come to pass the first week of March 2009.  I had that dire prediction penciled in for the end of the year.  I will stop predicting and instead begin burying bars of gold in the yard and stockpiling crackers and water as the end times are near.  I kid... I kid.  Look if the stocks have to fall let's just get this over with and see what happens. 
Invisible hand of the market please don't move the market back up to 7,200 for a couple of weeks only to drop it to 5,000 right before the 4th of July weekend.  It messes with people and we have been messed with enough.  Take it down as low as it needs to go and then begin the long slow climb up to something approaching the actual value for goods and services.  Is that too much to ask?

Top 25 Active Film Directors List

EW.com (like AFI before them) loves their lists.
Check out their list of the 25 Greatest Active Film Directors.
25 Greatest Active Film Directors

I can't fault their top 10. Actually I can only find two in the whole list of 25 that really bug me.
Call me crazy but Tim Burton at #13 and Sam Raimi at #15 both seem too high.  Tim Burton is an exceptional Art Director/DP but his inability to consistently build stories as stunning as his visuals should push him lower down the list.  Raimi is solid but I'd bump him entirely for Kevin Smith.  I am reserving judgment on Zack Snyder until I see Watchmen. 
Firstshowing.net has a nice discussion about the list in the comments and manages to put the list all on one page.

(Caution: The EW write up is one of those annoying page view generating 25 pages for 25 directors things that makes EW look like they don't understand the internet.)

Cable Channel Stimulus Doubters

For all the critics of the about to be signed stimulus package, please identify the magic dollar amount or program that will reverse the 500,000 a month job losses or mop up the billions of dollars in foreclosed homes clogging the financial system.  Absent that magic answer, please hold your fire because the road gets bumpier before it gets smoother and nobody likes whiners on road trips.

Judgemental Busy Bodies

The most recent stories about Michael Phelps (Olympic swimmer and photographed pot smoker) and Nadya Suleman (mother of six artificially-conceived children and recently a full set of octuplets) have me wondering if the news cycles from here on out are going to be consumed with 'shame on you' stories and moral exemplar tales (Sully the wonder pilot).  Some might say the press has always had this sort of focus but I am feeling generous.

The press is turning into that person you bump into at church that sees every problem or milestone that somebody in the community faces as a morality play.  This sort of tone enables busy bodies from one end of the country to the other to shake their heads in disgust at the decisions/behavior of others.  To what end?  If the stories must be covered, cover them once in a neutral tone and move on to more pressing matters.  We are blessed/cursed to live in a time with no shortage of news to be covered.  Stop focusing on stories that enable a portion of your readership (with little basis) to feel morally superior.  We are neither morally superior nor inferior to most of our neighbors, co-workers or fellow citizens, but a collection of human beings each trying to do their best, no more and no less.  Every story that reinforces that fundamental reality is true and real.  News stories that try to convince you otherwise are the mainstream media equivalent of 'link bait' and a disservice to the public as a whole.