Blayne's Blog

Zombieland

becky53 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:40:58 +0000

I love zombies for some reason. I love how they are mindless and spastic and usually look totally unkempt, like they havent showered in years and they got their clothes from a dumpster. I love how they run like freight trains (Zombieland, 28 Days/Weeks Later) or like lurching hit-and-run victims (Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead). I love that they swarm and need to be mass-exterminated. I know this makes me sound like a sicko, but this is why I love zombies. Now, on to Zombieland. The beginning showed great promise: humor, wit, crazy action. But somewhere in the beginning this sagged and became a character development piece about relationships and bonding. I know 28 Days and 28 Weeks had a dramatic story, too, but those movies were dramas. Zombieland was billed as a comedy, and therefore, I wanted some damn laughs and wild action, not sappiness. Some is okay, but the entire movie changed direction, became plotless and lost me. The gore was a bit excessive, and the cameo by Bill Murray could have been funnier. Overall, not a bad movie for zombie fans, but there are funnier and darker ones out there.

Paranormal Activity

becky53 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:30:45 +0000

A bunch of impatient teens seated near me were whispering and checking phones during the first half of the movie, no doubt wondering where was the action and gore. What they couldn’t appreciate was the slow, mounting tension that made my arm hairs stand on end throughout the entire film. You knew this movie was winding up to be deliver a humdinger of an ending. That’s the main reason to go see Paranormal Activity: It’s a creepfest from beginning to end that never shows the viewer too much while promising a punch at the end. Nothing’s scarier than the unknown, and the movie never fully reveals the evil and its purpose. If the movie provided the reason for why the young woman was targeted by a demon, then would I have been so scared to go upstairs with no lights on? NO! I said to myself, “Why her? Why not me?” Some things dont need explanations. The acting was very good: The two leads who portray a normal young couple are realistic and dont look to be acting. VERY good movie overall.

Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes … A true medical thriller

becky53 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:05:30 +0000

Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science
Author: Atul Gawande
Synopsis: A doctor explores the imperfect science that is medicine.
The Good: This reads like a thriller, even though it’s non-fiction. Gawande writes vividly of his cases and winds the reader up so that they can barely wait to hear if the patient he writes about lived or died. It’s also an eye opener on how blindly we patients trust doctors, when often they, themselves, are learning and sometimes trusting their instincts over facts. Gawande supports his book with personal experience and scientific studies, which makes for a good blend of fact and storytelling.
The Bad:The bad thing about this book is that it’s good but not great. I didn’t learn anything that blew me away or that I hadnt already surmised about hospitals and doctors. But these are tiny grievances.
The Grade: A-

Let the Right One In … Lost in translation

becky53 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:54:46 +0000

Let the Right One In
Author: John Ajvide Lindquist
Synopsis: A young boy befriends a vampire, but is she responsible for the murders around town?
The Good: The first half of the book definitely prevails here. It’s creepier, more intriguing and more suspenseful than the back half. Who is that sinister girl that watches him on the playground? The writing is succinct, clear and fast.
The Bad: The characters are often two-dimensional. Other than Oskar, who wasn’t even that endearing a protagonist, I didnt care what happened to the characters. There are also too many questions left unanswered: how did Eli become a vampire and is Eli a boy or a girl? The book starts off promising, but it lacks a chilling quality that other great vampire novels (The Historian, Interview with a Vampire) have. Once Oskar figures out Eli is a vampire (an anti-climatic moment in and of itself), the story seems to grind to a halt. It is a translation from Swedish, which might be the reason why the writing seems simple, along with the character portrayals. Maybe a little was lost in the translation.
The Grade: C+

The Informant!

becky53 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:19:05 +0000

It’s hard for me to critique a movie after I’ve already read the book: Not everything is dumped from the book to the movie, I know what to expect, and the movie will almost always falls short of the novel. But The Informant entertained me in a way the book did not. The movie takes the book’s serious concept of a pathological liar who turns informant on his company and makes it into a comedy. The viewer gets the feeling that the director had fun making this movie, as if he was amused by the man, the story, the FBI and the town. The book dealt with the preposterous character in a factual and calculated way. The movie tweaks this and makes the man, played with goofy did-I-do-that farce by Matt Damon, a loony toon character who the audience is supposed to laugh at. If you haven’t read the book, the movie might be a bit confusing in the beginning, and it is slow at first. But the scenery, props, opening credits and music make it look like a B-list 70s flick, which adds flavor and makes it all the more funnier. This is not a side-splitter, but for being a true story about a real man, it’s definitely interesting and will proved audiences with is-this-guy-for-real chuckles. Oh, and Matt Damon just looks funny.

Why Losing Patrick Swayze Hurts

becky53 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:17:08 +0000

I was a teen when Patrick Swayze’s movies ruled the box office, but I didn’t get “into” him until my twenties. I had seen bits and pieces of “Dirty Dancing” over the years, but I didn’t idolize Swayze or envy Baby. I remembered the fantastic final dance number, but everything else was fragmented into bits and pieces from varying scenes. And then I watched the movie fully for the first time in my early twenties, and it came crashing down on me how damn good Swayze looked in tight black jeans, how cool he and Baby were as they twirled around the floor, and how, if I had been at that country club years ago, that that could have been ME in Patrick’s arms. He had that down-to-earth, attainable beauty. Oh, and I love “She’s like the wind,” which I thought was the most beautiful song on the soundtrack.
“Ghost” was my favorite movie of his by far. I mean, he made “ditto” a cool word. That’s a hard task. I slipped the word into so many of my conversations after I’d seen the movie that I’m sure people got tired of me talking. And who doesn’t remember the floating penny and the pottery scene? He made nude pottery-making cool. And is it weird to think that he made me believe that maybe a heaven does exist, one in which, if I was lucky enough, I might see him roaming around with his wavy hair and red silk shirt.
After “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” I actually left the theater thinking that cross-dressing wouldn’t be a bad gig if my dreams of becoming a writer fell through. Of course, now, it’s utterly ridiculous, but that was what Patrick Swayze could do. He made things cool.
He also made the 80s, tight clothing, feathered man hair, ghosts, men who do flying splits and leather jackets cool. It’s a good thing we never put Patrick in a corner. RIP.

10 Things I Hate About Job Hunting

becky53 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:39:04 +0000

10. I have to answer all unidentifiable numbers on my cell phone in a professional voice because I hope it’s a job offer. Usually, it’s my friend Kate, who is calling me from her mom’s house.
9. My ass gets sore from writing cover letters and editing cover letters and second guessing my cover letters over a span of hours.
8. Finding an error on my resume, which I’ve already sent out to 50 or so employers.
7. Not being able to say what I really want in my cover letters, such as “I will work my ass off and will clean the toilets and mop the floors if you give me this job. I can do everything the job requires and more. It’s not rocket science, so why are we pretending it is?”
6. Not hearing back from the employer after I’ve interviewed with him. It’s called courtesy, bitches.
5. Getting excited about a job, until I see the requirements, and it says something like, “Must have 10+ years in consumer magazines.” Nevermind.
4. See above, but this time it says, “Must be fluent in Spanish.” Nevermind.
3. Long processes. I know you might want to elongate the process, but I dont.
2. Seeing the job I’ve applied for two weeks ago back on the job boards.
1. Getting rejected. Duh.

A Future With No Sears…Could it be?

becky53 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:55:24 +0000

“Shopping at Sears remains a lackluster experience, …”
No Shit! Sears sucks. Who would have thought? If you’ve shopped at Sears in the past 10 years and you’re not 85 or blind, then you need to be banned as a consumer. The last time I stepped in a Sears, my mom was dragging me through the Lee jeans section on the way to buy a TV with rabbit ears. Oh, and the video for this link is atrocious.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/320517/It%27s-Too-Late-to-Save-Sears-Matthews-Says?tickers=shld,azo,wmt,cost,dia,spy,XRT

Why I like the Fall

becky53 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:25:00 +0000

The fall is all about changes. Of course the seasonal ones are obvious: The leaves turn orange and red and fall to the ground, a chill slices through the air, and the sun loses its strength like a boxer in the 10th round. But the onset of fall also comes with personal changes. For me, I start to get serious. The summer is a lackadaisical time for me, and I assume others as well. Sun, water and vacation are on everyone’s minds. Work is a distant fourth. But when fall arrives, it’s time to focus on those goals we’ve let wither during the warm weather. In my case, not having a job in the summer is annoying, but who’s really going to complain if they have enough free time to layout or travel or just read a good book. Now, as everyone comes back down to earth, finding a job is more of an urgency. Snow is serious, and so must I be, too.
It’s not just people who change: Networks change their TV line-up, sports start (football, basketball) while others end (baseball), fall and winter fashion trends shove the summer duds off the catwalk, and farmers plant different crops (that’s the extent of my knowledge on that). Cold is serious, so must these be, too.
So what’s the point of all this? Maybe it’s that I need to find a job before I go crazy. But with fall, things change and hopefully the tone and monotony of my life will too. I need a change of leaves and someone yelling, “First Down.” In fact, a first down would be much desired in my life right now, not a touchdown, that might be asking too much, but just some nice yardage. OK, I’m blathering.

Extract … Will extract chuckles

becky53 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:34:11 +0000

This movie was amusing, not hilarious, which is good enough for a summer where funny movies are hard to find (The Hangover, you are exempt). It’s a movie about quirky characters in a mundane this-is-life setting, not story and plot. Jason Bateman is great at the “You are crazy” facial expressions. Kristen Wiig (that SNL psycho babbler) wasn’t her usual quirky self, which might be her way of expanding her role from comedian to serious actress. I almost wanted her to break into her SNL character, but she plays it straight in this movie. Ben Affleck is funny as a free-spirited druggie whose ideas end up getting Bateman in trouble. JK Simmons could have been given better lines.
The fun of this movie is the mundane yet hilarious characters that director Mike Judge creates with ease. Everyone has their flaws, but we dont hate them for it. We laugh at them. They make the movie interesting and touching. You wont remember Extract a few days after you leave the theater (it, like its title, is forgettable), but for a few hours out of the house, it’s worth seeing. But don’t expect hearty laughs; just go with the flow.