Posts
Je Suis Charlie!
Friday, January 9, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Wild
A very long walk from despair to redemption...
Wild is based on the memoir of the same name by author Cheryl Strayed. Nick Hornby's screen adaptation treats us to a gritty story framed by memories of poverty, joy, and lost loved ones and regret over marital infidelity, aimless sex, and drug abuse. On a whim Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) chooses to flee an harsh urban wilderness, in which she is all but hopelessly lost, to through hike the Pacific Coast Trail. Her preparations were apparently limited to buying one of everything at REI, creating a backpack other hikers named "The Monster." Hiking solo, Witherspoon's Strayed racks up the footsteps, the miles, and the days as she learns to care for herself in the wild and comes to terms with her grief and other demons. The cinematography by Yves Bélanger is wonderful and my hat is off a Sound Department that captured all the grunts, groans, rattles, and sloshes of backpacking, and especially the pitter pop of rain on the hood of one's parka. A special treat was Laura Dern's supporting role as Strayed's indomitable mother. Wild, the movie, doesn't make me want to hike the PCT, but it does make me want to read Wild, the memoir.
Wild is based on the memoir of the same name by author Cheryl Strayed. Nick Hornby's screen adaptation treats us to a gritty story framed by memories of poverty, joy, and lost loved ones and regret over marital infidelity, aimless sex, and drug abuse. On a whim Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) chooses to flee an harsh urban wilderness, in which she is all but hopelessly lost, to through hike the Pacific Coast Trail. Her preparations were apparently limited to buying one of everything at REI, creating a backpack other hikers named "The Monster." Hiking solo, Witherspoon's Strayed racks up the footsteps, the miles, and the days as she learns to care for herself in the wild and comes to terms with her grief and other demons. The cinematography by Yves Bélanger is wonderful and my hat is off a Sound Department that captured all the grunts, groans, rattles, and sloshes of backpacking, and especially the pitter pop of rain on the hood of one's parka. A special treat was Laura Dern's supporting role as Strayed's indomitable mother. Wild, the movie, doesn't make me want to hike the PCT, but it does make me want to read Wild, the memoir.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year 2015!
Seriously, it could be a pretty good year...
Here in Groom Creek, at 6,270 feet elevation, south of Prescott, AZ, the ground is white, the sky is blue, and the forest smells of Ponderosa Pine. I have no end of work to do on the house*. Same goes for work, where there is a lifetime supply of challenges. My social life has nowhere to go but up. May you enjoy a pleasant New Year Year and a productive 2015. Time for a walk in the woods...
* Planned home improvement projects include:
Unless I start playing Lotto, and then win big, the following may have to wait until 2016:
Here in Groom Creek, at 6,270 feet elevation, south of Prescott, AZ, the ground is white, the sky is blue, and the forest smells of Ponderosa Pine. I have no end of work to do on the house*. Same goes for work, where there is a lifetime supply of challenges. My social life has nowhere to go but up. May you enjoy a pleasant New Year Year and a productive 2015. Time for a walk in the woods...
* Planned home improvement projects include:
- Install an insulated metal roof. [2016]
- Replace gutters in front. [removed instead]
- Install gutters in back. [may not]
- Insulate the floor under the crawlspace.
- Replace the single pane glass with double pane windows. [DONE]
- Replace the ugly pink scalloped pavers with large river rounded cobbles. [DONE]
- Spread several yards of decomposed granite in strategic and cosmetic locations. [DONE]
- Plant some spreading flowering vines on the fence.
- Trim up or prune the trees and shrubs come Spring. [DONE]
- Replace the broiler-looking heater in the bathroom with something safer.
- Replace a couple posts on the deck. [need to replace entire railing - 2016]
- Give the deck planks TLC as needed. [IN PROCESS]
- Rebuild the stone steps from the front drive to the front yard.
- Relocate the chandelier in the dining area (just a foot to the west).
- Remove the sink from the den (no one else knows why it's there either). [DONE]
- Get more bookshelves. [DONE]
Unless I start playing Lotto, and then win big, the following may have to wait until 2016:
- Refinish and re-caulk the exterior. [IN PROCESS]
- Replace carpeting.
- Remodel the bathroom so that is actually has some room.
- Put a wood floor in the bathroom.
- Build a flagstone area in front of the fireplace.
- Install riprap along the front of the property to reduce erosion.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
My Reading Took A Hit This Year
A review of my Netflix activity suggests why...
Seems having a DVD player, a TV monitor, and an iMac will ruin a fella's literary intentions and pretensions. My Reading Challenge at Goodreads has not lived up to expectations (31 of 48 for 2014) while my Netflix queue has never been more expansive, eclectic, or low brow. Movies in theatrical release were mostly watched at the Picture Show in Prescott, AZ. Among my viewing treats, classics, and mistakes:
6 Souls
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Absentia (Review)
All Is Lost
American Mary *
Bettie Page Reveals All
Beyond the Black Rainbow *
Beyond the Edge
Big Ass Spider! *
Birth of the Living Dead
Blood Beast Terror
Born in Flames *
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Carrie
Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats
Dead Man Down
Debra DiGiovanni: Single Awkward Female
Delicatessen
Despicable Me 2
Detention
DMT: The Spirit Molecule
Doc of the Dead
Edge of Tomorrow
El Topo
Encounters at the End of the World
Escape
Europa Report
Exodus
Faust
Film Crew: Killers From Space
Frankenstein's Army *
Frozen
Fury
Galaxy Quest
Game of Thrones
Godzilla
Grabbers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
Haunter
Helix: Season 1: "Pilot" *
Hellbound?
Her (Review)
Hobbit III
Holy Mountain
House of Voices
Ice Spiders *
Iliza Shlesinger: War Paint
Interstellar
Iron Sky: Director's Cut
Jodorworsky's Dune
John Dies at the End
John Wick
Joseph Campbell: Suhkavati
Jug Face
Kathleen Madigan: Madigan Again
La Belle et la Bette (Review)
Lewis Black: Old Yeller: Live at the Borgata
Limitless
Lone Survivor
Lovelace
Lucy
Machete Kills
Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell *
Mama
Melanie Comarcho: Hello!
Mockingjay I
Monique Marvez: Not Skinny Not Blonde
Monster on the Campus
Morgan Murphy: Irish Goodbye
Mr. Nobody (Review)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Attack of the Giant Leeches
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Crash of Moons
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Devil Fish
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Barugon
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hamlet *
Mystery Science Theater 3000: I Accuse My Parents
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Jack Frost
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Lost Continent
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos: The Hands of Fate
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mitchell
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mr. B's Lost Shorts
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Parts: The Clonus Horror
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Pod People
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Teenage Strangler
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Teenagers from Outer Space
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beast of Yucca Flats
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beatniks
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Giant Spider Invasion
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Girl in Lovers' Lane
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Indestructible Man
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Wild Rebels
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Zombie Nightmare
Nightbreed: The Director's Cut
Noah
Nova: Decoding Neanderthals
Nova: Mind of a Rampage Killer
Oblivion
Oculus
Odd Thomas
Perfect Sense
Radio Bikini
Radio Free Albemuth
Ragnarok
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
Red Lights
RiffTrax: Plan 9 from Outer Space: LIVE! Nashville 2009
RiffTrax: Swing Parade
RiffTrax: The Best of RiffTrax Shorts: Vol. 2
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken Star Wars
Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II
Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode III
Robot Chicken: DC Special
Rush
Safety Not Guaranteed (Review)
Santa Sangre
Scourge
Secrets of the Dead: World's Biggest Bomb
Sherri Shepherd: It's My Time to Talk
Silent Hill
Silent House
Sin City II
Snowpiercer
Solomon Kane
Sommore: Chandelier Status
Son of Frankenstein / Ghost of Frankenstein
Splintered
Star Trek: Enterprise: Season 4: "These Are the Voyages..."
Star Trek: Season 1: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
Tammy Pescatelli: Finding the Funny
Thale
The Amazing Transparent Man
The Artist
The Bay
The Colony
The Conqueror Worm
The Cosmic Man
The Deadly Spawn
The Dreamers
The Eternal *
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Review)
The Gift
The Gorgon / Scream of Fear
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Homesman
The Host
The Island at the Top of the World
The Lair of the White Worm
The Land Unknown / The Deadly Mantis
The Last Days
The Last Days on Mars
The Legend of Hell House
The Lego Movie
The Machine
The Numbers Station
The Prophecy 2
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
The Prophecy: Forsaken
The Prophecy: Uprising
The Reeds
The Wall (Review)
The Warrior's Way
The Wildest Dream
Tiny: A Story About Living Small
Trance
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Twixt *
Under the Skin *
Upstream Color (Review)
Val Lewton: I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher
Val Lewton: Isle of the Dead / Bedlam
Val Lewton: The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship
Violet & Daisy
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
We're the Millers
White Zombie
Wings *
Wings of Desire
Women Who Kill
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Zombies of Mora Tau / The Werewolf
I also watched Seasons 1-3 of Game of Thrones (no spoilers for seasons 4-5 please!), Season Five of The Walking Dead and Archer. There were a variety of episodes of MST3K, Rifftrax , The Film Crew, and Cinematic Titanic as well.
There are worse ways to escape a rough day and the prospect of a sleepless night, but the classics are certainly collecting more dust on the bookshelf.
[Update: I'm concerned that someone might consider this a list of movies that they should see. No, not true at all. Thus, those now tagged with an asterisk may be skipped without risk.]
Seems having a DVD player, a TV monitor, and an iMac will ruin a fella's literary intentions and pretensions. My Reading Challenge at Goodreads has not lived up to expectations (31 of 48 for 2014) while my Netflix queue has never been more expansive, eclectic, or low brow. Movies in theatrical release were mostly watched at the Picture Show in Prescott, AZ. Among my viewing treats, classics, and mistakes:
6 Souls
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Absentia (Review)
All Is Lost
American Mary *
Anjelah Johnson: That's How We Do It
Anjelah Johnson: The Homecoming Show
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Ayahuasca: Vine of the Soul
Anjelah Johnson: The Homecoming Show
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Ayahuasca: Vine of the Soul
Bettie Page Reveals All
Beyond the Black Rainbow *
Beyond the Edge
Big Ass Spider! *
Birth of the Living Dead
Blood Beast Terror
Born in Flames *
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Carrie
Chelsea Peretti: One of the Greats
Dead Man Down
Debra DiGiovanni: Single Awkward Female
Delicatessen
Despicable Me 2
Detention
DMT: The Spirit Molecule
Doc of the Dead
Edge of Tomorrow
El Topo
Encounters at the End of the World
Escape
Europa Report
Exodus
Faust
Film Crew: Killers From Space
Frankenstein's Army *
Frozen
Fury
Galaxy Quest
Game of Thrones
Godzilla
Grabbers
Guardians of the Galaxy
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
Haunter
Helix: Season 1: "Pilot" *
Hellbound?
Her (Review)
Hobbit III
Holy Mountain
House of Voices
Ice Spiders *
Iliza Shlesinger: War Paint
Interstellar
Iron Sky: Director's Cut
Jodorworsky's Dune
John Dies at the End
John Wick
Joseph Campbell: Suhkavati
Jug Face
Kathleen Madigan: Madigan Again
La Belle et la Bette (Review)
Lewis Black: Old Yeller: Live at the Borgata
Limitless
Lone Survivor
Lovelace
Lucy
Machete Kills
Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell *
Mama
Melanie Comarcho: Hello!
Mockingjay I
Monique Marvez: Not Skinny Not Blonde
Monster on the Campus
Morgan Murphy: Irish Goodbye
Mr. Nobody (Review)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Attack of the Giant Leeches
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Crash of Moons
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Devil Fish
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Barugon
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hamlet *
Mystery Science Theater 3000: I Accuse My Parents
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Jack Frost
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Lost Continent
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos: The Hands of Fate
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mitchell
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mr. B's Lost Shorts
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Parts: The Clonus Horror
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Pod People
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Teenage Strangler
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Teenagers from Outer Space
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beast of Yucca Flats
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beatniks
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Giant Spider Invasion
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Girl in Lovers' Lane
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Indestructible Man
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Wild Rebels
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Zombie Nightmare
Nightbreed: The Director's Cut
Noah
Nova: Decoding Neanderthals
Nova: Mind of a Rampage Killer
Oblivion
Oculus
Odd Thomas
Perfect Sense
Radio Bikini
Radio Free Albemuth
Ragnarok
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan
Red Lights
RiffTrax: Plan 9 from Outer Space: LIVE! Nashville 2009
RiffTrax: Swing Parade
RiffTrax: The Best of RiffTrax Shorts: Vol. 2
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken Star Wars
Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II
Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode III
Robot Chicken: DC Special
Rush
Safety Not Guaranteed (Review)
Santa Sangre
Scourge
Secrets of the Dead: World's Biggest Bomb
Sherri Shepherd: It's My Time to Talk
Silent Hill
Silent House
Sin City II
Snowpiercer
Solomon Kane
Sommore: Chandelier Status
Son of Frankenstein / Ghost of Frankenstein
Splintered
Star Trek: Enterprise: Season 4: "These Are the Voyages..."
Star Trek: Season 1: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
Tammy Pescatelli: Finding the Funny
Thale
The Amazing Transparent Man
The Artist
The Bay
The Colony
The Conqueror Worm
The Cosmic Man
The Deadly Spawn
The Dreamers
The Eternal *
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Review)
The Gift
The Gorgon / Scream of Fear
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Homesman
The Host
The Island at the Top of the World
The Lair of the White Worm
The Land Unknown / The Deadly Mantis
The Last Days
The Last Days on Mars
The Legend of Hell House
The Lego Movie
The Machine
The Numbers Station
The Prophecy 2
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
The Prophecy: Forsaken
The Prophecy: Uprising
The Reeds
The Wall (Review)
The Warrior's Way
The Wildest Dream
Tiny: A Story About Living Small
Trance
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Twixt *
Under the Skin *
Upstream Color (Review)
Val Lewton: I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher
Val Lewton: Isle of the Dead / Bedlam
Val Lewton: The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship
Violet & Daisy
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
We're the Millers
White Zombie
Wings *
Wings of Desire
Women Who Kill
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Zombies of Mora Tau / The Werewolf
I also watched Seasons 1-3 of Game of Thrones (no spoilers for seasons 4-5 please!), Season Five of The Walking Dead and Archer. There were a variety of episodes of MST3K, Rifftrax , The Film Crew, and Cinematic Titanic as well.
There are worse ways to escape a rough day and the prospect of a sleepless night, but the classics are certainly collecting more dust on the bookshelf.
[Update: I'm concerned that someone might consider this a list of movies that they should see. No, not true at all. Thus, those now tagged with an asterisk may be skipped without risk.]
Sunday, December 21, 2014
The Reason For The Season
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)