For The Love Of Port

Peter W. Meek wrote:I have a system called Kaleidescape.

I looked at their web site and they have some pretty neat stuff. I can see the attraction to such a system. I also understand the pricing issues and being tied in to their hardware. I once did video production on an Avid system and at the time everything came from them. They supplied the SCSI interface to drives, and the drives, to ensure the necessary performance to make the system work. I think they then shifted to allowing you to buy the drives from wherever, but there still was a short list of approved drives. I don't know what the situation is now. Sorry about your dead drives. I have our digital photos on redundant drives with occasional offsite backup as well, but have to admit I don't even give the movies redundancy.

Being a techie type is both a blessing and a curse for me with respect to this kind of thing. I don't want to be tied to a required configuration, so I end up using something that lets me set up things exactly as I want. But this takes considerable time and effort, and after a long day of fighting computers, often the last thing I want to do when I get home is fight with my own computers. I'd much rather drink a glass of Port!

I'm running Windows Home Server and have two additional boxes to deliver content to three different rooms. It looks like I'm going to run Meedios at the terminal end, when I can find the time to get it all set up.

I've been reading posts here every day, just not much to say lately.

I think we can come up with something in the way of an off-line. I don't know if we will have as extensive a line-up as last year, but I expect the food will be as good.

BTW Iron Man 2 did come in. Save your money! Save a couple hours of wasted time. Watch something -- anything -- else. It's already erased from the system and in the Garage Sale box.

Genre: Comedy
Title: Spring and Port Wine
Comment: Seems obvious...

This year has been all about kids movies and 3D flicks with my daughter. I've seen just 3 movies in the theater that would be considered for grownups.

Last night with my friend Richard in Edmonton we went to see SOCIAL NETWORK. It moves along fast, the dialogue is pithy but sometimes trite; and the acting was very solid. Those that don't care about social networks whatsoever, may find it lackluster, but regardless, the story is compelling. A- overall.

Sorry this reply has to be the first posting I've made in something like 5-6 months (!!), if anyone is a fan of really campy/cheesy horror, there is simply NOTHING that beats Mega Piranha, a Syfy Channel production featuring Barry Williams (Greg Brady to the rest of us) as Secy of Defense, and Tiffany (80's teen pop star) as the now 40-ish biologist and some seriously kick-ass giant piranha. Says Navy Seal Fitch about the disappearance of American diplomat in Venezuela: "It wasn't terrorists, it wasn't an explosion... it was giant piranha. Yes sir, giant piranha." (absolutely deadpan). Nothing on Syfy since (save for maybe the one flick with deadpan Billy Zane and the attacking hamburger meat) has beaten this for sheer hilarity. You have seen nothing until you see Fitch ward off many attacking piranha the size of canoes with his kickboxing techniques, one after another, while his cohorts stand safely 6 feet away. Enjoy with a nice Douro table red (careful, don't spit unintentionally), some cheese, maybe some Portuguese kale soup and some Cheetos.

- Heather & Scott

Just watched an odd double feature last night.

The first was The Public Enemy (1931) with James Cagney. My mother once described comic books (during the 1950s anti-comic campaign) as 31 pages of "crime", and one page of "doesn't pay". Well TPE was 82 minutes of "crime" and one minute of "doesn't pay". This is the move where (as everyone remembers) Cagney grinds a half grapefruit into Mae Clark's face. The truth is, he just puts it on her cheek and gives a little shove. It's over in about half a second. The acting by most of the characters is a bit stiff, except for Cagney and a few of the other gangsters who over-act (chew the carpet in some cases). Still, it's an iconic movie, and you might want to invest 83 minutes, just so you really know what this bit of American cinematic history is all about. Cagney has done a lot of better movies, but this is the one everyone remembers.

The second feature was Amélie (2001) with Audrey Tautou. If you have never seen this quirky movie because you thought it was "xxx" or "yyy" genre, and thus not interesting to you, think again. In French with English subtitles, but pretty smooth translations. This is that rarity: a French comedy with ROFL situations and dialogue (and narration), and not so much Jerry Lewis-like mugging. Audrey Tautou is alternately fetchingly beautiful and blindingly bizarre. I'd put this one on the all-time 100 list.

If you want an education in the progress made by the movie industry in the special effects department, I suggest watching the James Bond movies starting with Dr. No (1962). Hard to believe, but this movie is coming up on its 50th anniversary. I remember seeing it in the theater when it first came out. How impressive the effects seemed then; it's hard to keep from snickering today.

Then watch the rest in order. (We just watched #4 Thunderball tonight. 18 to go.) Edit 20Dec10: now up to #7.

For reference:
Bond 01: Dr. No
Bond 02: From Russia with Love
Bond 03: Goldfinger
Bond 04: Thunderball
Bond 05: You Only Live Twice
Bond 06: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Bond 07: Diamonds Are Forever
Bond 08: Live and Let Die
Bond 09: The Man with the Golden Gun
Bond 10: The Spy Who Loved Me
Bond 11: Moonraker
Bond 12: For Your Eyes Only
Bond 13: Octopussy
Bond 14: A View to a Kill
Bond 15: The Living Daylights
Bond 16: Licence to Kill
Bond 17: GoldenEye
Bond 18: Tomorrow Never Dies
Bond 19: The World Is Not Enough
Bond 20: Die Another Day
Bond 21: Casino Royale
Bond 22: Quantum of Solace

I may withdraw the recommendation to watch all the Bond movies; I seem to fall asleep fairly regularly. Eva says they seem too long. They aren't actually all that long, but maybe the pacing seems slow by modern standards.

One can never see ROB ROY too many times. Liam Neeson was great in this role. Don't know for sure if it was filmed on location in the Highlands, but it would be fun to see that area, that is for sure.

We watched Shrek: Forever After last night. Plenty of wit for the adults, and plenty of action and gross-out for the kiddies. The franchise is getting a bit tired, though. It's probably best that this is billed as the finale.

Monday, we watched A Christmas Carol (originally released as "Scrooge") from 1951, with Alastair Sim. Looking for the 1936 version with Reginald Owen, as well. This has been made into a movie over a dozen times, including such derivations as "Scrooged". Eva wants to see the version she first saw on the old movie shows (how she learned English) back in the 1960s. We think the 1936 version may be the one, as she seems to remember the Lockhearts as cast members.

Also planning to watch A Christmas Story ("You'll put your eye out!"), Love Actually (a seriously feel-good movie) and Bad Santa (you have to like Billy Bob Thornton) during the season.

Looking for the wow factor when deciding what movie to actually get off the couch and see at the theater?

BLACK SWAN is my recommendation!

You don't have to be a Natalie Portman fan to enjoy this one. Deep, dark and richly concentrated with a multi-faceted middle and a smooth finish.

I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard the new "True Grit" by the Coen Brothers is pretty good.

New True Grit is on my list. I think I have everything else by the Coen Brothers, so why stop now?

I agree with Peter. I have seen Amelie about four or five times and it is as good if not better with every viewing. Tatou's tour de force and by far my favorite film she has been in, although I am enamored by most of her work.

Watched Bottle Shock earlier in the week and the acting is so weak it is hard for me to sit still and watch it again. Although a nice story (true of course) it is done in such an amateurish style that it is nearly comedic.

We watched Bond #13 Octopussy the other night; frankly, they're not getting a lot better, but we will slog on for the edification of FTLOP members (taking a hit for the team).
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Inception was pretty good. It should get a little gold statue for special effects: Paris folding over on itself is a sight to see.
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What we have been watching just recently is the Millennium series: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest (just released). The movies suffer from the problems of ALL movies derived from novels: there just isn't enough time to cover all the detail in the novels. That said, the movies are pretty good. The first stands alone fairly well, but the 2nd and 3rd are one four hour movie split into two parts. Be sure you have both parts and enough time before you start watching.

Before or after, read the books; gripping!
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As always, I've been showing classics for the second feature: recently, Captain's Paradise (1953) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) with Alec Guiness and The Belles of St. Trinians (1954) with Alistair Sim and Joyce Grenfell (a riot). The British have a lock on comedy in the early 1950s.
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Just in: Red, with our old favorite -- Bruce Willis. I expect him to be confounding the continuity people, trying to keep all his contusions in the same place throughout the movie. More to come when we have actually viewed it. (It must be a can't-miss with Helen Mirren as a black-op! Can't wait.)

Red (2010) w/ Bruce Willis (bloody, but unbowed), Morgan Freeman (getting on, or super make-up), John Malkovich (delightfully mad) and Helen Mirren ("Break his heart and I'll kill you.") plus a fetching Mary-Louise Parker. A real romp - ideal for those of us who like a bit of comedy in our action movies.

A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop (2009) is based on the first Coen Brothers movie Blood Simple (1984). Pretty confusing (as was Blood Simple), made a bit worse by somewhat odd subtitles (no English sound-track). Still a good watch. The scenery is intense enough to make it worth watching just as eye-candy!

Kick-Ass (2010) More action-comedy. Chloe Moretz steals the show as "Hit Girl". Plenty of comic-book action. Hard to tell if Nicholas Cage was given some really bad lines or maybe just bad acting; either way, pretty embarrassing.

True Grit (1969) - the John Wayne version. This one doesn't hold up for me. I found myself not really caring about either of the lead characters, which usually dooms a movie. (Watched in expectation of the new version, coming soon.)

In-but-not-watched: Let Me In (2010) with Chloe Moretz again, based on the Swedish sensation Let the Right One In (2008) which was a great movie; Being There (1979) Peter Sellers' next-to-last movie. I've seen it before, but wanted a copy in my collection.

Time to watch some more old Coen Bros., I think.

Let Me In (2010) with Chloe Moretz. I couldn't understand why they made a cover of Let The Right One In (2008), but Eva tells me that they never saw the movie, but only read the book and felt they HAD to make a movie of it. The American version is a bit bloodier and dwells on different aspects of the story, but really says nothing new. I think it is as good as the Swedish version; just a bit different. If you've seen one, you might watch the other only if you really liked whichever you saw first, for the comparison.

Watched The Departed (2006) w/ DiCaprio and Matt Damon again. A friend recommended this to us in such a way that we didn't recognize it; of course, it was on the system already. I have a tough time with this as the two leads look exactly alike to me (face-blindness, remember?). It took me nearly an hour to realize there were two different people here. (Very confusing. I had to keep asking Eva, "Which one is this?") Jack Nicholson has a great part in this (playing himself, as usual). Lots of action, suspense, and plot twists.

Then we started watching the trilogy that it was based on: Infernal Affairs I, II, and III (2002/3/3) which is the same story stretched out, in Chinese. If you think I have trouble with Leonardo and Matt, think of me trying to keep Andy Lau and Tony Leung distinguished. Eva started nodding off (just back from Vegas and a bit jet-lagged) so we paused it until another night. As I recall, they were pretty good the first time we watched them. Note: The Departed is based on Infernal Affairs 123 rather than the other way 'round.

Your Chinese dilemma had me cracking up. I liked the troika but honestly felt the departed was a much more succinct version and brilliantly acted, with only ONE MAJOR flaw, that almost ruined the whole movie for me.

SPOILER warning:

When DiCaprio cautiously made his way to the roof, overpowered Damon and then took him down in the elevator, he had to think ... with all he had been through, that someone would be down there. Either way, no way in hell that he'd leave Damon virtually loose in the car and be standing in plain sight when the doors opened on the bottom floor, only to be gunned down. BS alarms were screaming in my head and what would have been a 10 out of 10 for me, immediately dropped to an 8. Terrible faux pas on the part of the screen writers. An almost paranoid cop, would NEVER have done that.

Otherwise a brilliant film. Jack was incredible. Damon too and I even liked the Wahlberg in his supporting role.

Tonight I finished off the troika, FINALLy getting to sit down and watch, A Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest w/ Noomi Rapace. I loved (hard to say that about such a sick flick) the first movie. Found the 2nd one a solid C+ with numerous flaws and heard pt. 3 was equally as weak .. but chose to read nothing. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the wrap up was handled and thought it was far better than the 2nd, although nothing could be as intense as the first, but this was somewhat close and without sheer ultra-violence and disturbing visuals as its main draw, this wove the loose ends together nicely. B+/A- range but if you took the time to sit through the first two, this is worthy of finishing off.