2007 Roundup
Well, Maria made this a tag, so here we go with a rundown of what I liked and didn't last year entertainment-wise.
Things that made me happy last year.
1. No Country for Old Men - Though I suppose "happy" isn't the right word for it.
2. Hellboy: Blood & Iron - Really impressive. It tells two parallel stories, with one being told in reverse, and they both dovetail in the end. And it's got Hellboy fighting monsters. The only thing wrong with it is that it apparently did not make enough money to make a third animated Hellboy movie, even though there's a teaser for one at the end of the credits.
3. Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts - I'm only about four stories in, and frankly I'm not very fond of the one I'm currently reading, but this is here for no other reason than the story "20th Century Ghost." It's the best haunted movie theater story I have ever read and it's just beautiful.
4. Blade Runner at the Uptown and on DVD - Blade Runner is always good on the big screen and The Uptown is as good as they come. And the DVD set is pretty much everything you could want (although the originally advertised Ridley Scott signature is pre-printed). I've only made it through a disc and a half and still haven't watched any version of the actual movie yet.
5. The end of the third season of Lost - So that's why I didn't give up on the show yet.
6. Hot Fuzz - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright make me happy. I love Spaced, and Shaun of the Dead, and this, which just left me with a big, goofy grin (Even though it made me want to actually watch Bad Boys II).
7. A Date with John Waters - The follow up to A John Waters Christmas and worth it just for "Johnny are you Queer," which was featured in the ball pit scene in Jackass Number 2. I went up to a promotional appearance in Towson to get John to sign my Cry-Baby one sheet for Tilda, so it now says "To a Future Juvenile Delinquent - John Waters."
8. Murder Party - Probably the most enjoyable surprise of the year. I went in knowing nothing and loved pretty much every minute of it. And it has the best DVD extra of the year, with the possible exception of the episode of Everybody Loved Hypnotoad on Futurama: Bender's Big Score.
9. Indiana Jones Legos - Happy Happy. Joy Joy. I am a five year old. Wait, that's too young according to the boxes. I am a seven year old.
10. Planet Terror and the Grindhouse trailers - I'm glad we got to see Grindhouse in the theater. At least up to the point where I realized that I was not enjoying Death Proof and that there was still about an hour of movie left. I'm looking forward to the second trailer for Thanksgiving that supposed to be on Eli Roth's Trailer Trash later this year.
11. The Baltimore Comic-Con - This was a lot of fun. I went up with my friend Charlie and afterwards went to a beer fest in Frederick where Mathilda was not allowed in so we had to take turns waiting outside with her and her cousins while rotating groups of grownups got their drink on. But the con was fun and the highlight was probably meeting Mike Mignola and actually getting to talk to him this time. He signed my Hellboy II poster and it's hanging by our stairs.
12. Ratatouille - It's so good that I didn't care when the five year old in the front row got bored and started running around the theater for the last fifteen minutes of the movie.
13. The return of Futurama - Bender's Big Score, the first of four direct-to-DVD movies was everything I could have hoped it would be. I found it to considerably more enjoyable than The Simpsons Movie, which I'd watch again, but no time soon. I could watch Bender's Big Score again right now, but ~'s watching The Incredibles.
14. Zodiac - Probably the best movie that came out last year that I've seen. It's essentially three hours of people talking and it's incredibly intense. The director's cut is out on the 8th and hopefully the price will drop soon so I can justify picking it up.
15. Chocolate Donut Stout - Got it a beer festival in Virginia. And kept going back for more. A brewery in Alexandria makes it and it's one of the best things I've ever tasted. Mmmm, donuts.
16. 2001 and Barry Lyndon at the AFI Silver - The AFI Silver is the best theater in the DC area, nudging out The Uptown because they have DLP projection capability and show non-current release films. They did a Kubrick fest last winter and my friends Brad and Sara came down to see these two. I'd never seen 2001 in 70mm before and I'd never seen Barry Lyndon in a theater. This was probably the best moviegoing experience I had last year.
17. The Mist - Possibly the most unpleasant two hours I spent in a theater last year. I loved it. Jamee is still mad about the spiders and probably madder now that I've reminded her.
18. Seeing Terry Pratchett for probably the last time - I've been to a number of Pratchett book signings. He's funny and personable in person, even with a ridiculously long line of people in front of him waiting to get things scribbled on. He was at the National Book Festival this year, promoting Making Money. I went with my sister and met my friend Charlie and his now-fiancee and her family there. We saw Pratchett talk and waited in line. Got things signed. He seemed tired. A few weeks ago he announced that he has early-onset Alzheimers and though it's a long way from being bad at this point, I would be very surprised if he came around again. But he's good at surprises. I wish him well.
Big old piles of disappointment:
1. Almost every movie that I saw that came out last summer - Disappointing to varying degrees, and mainly because I can't remember most of what happened in any of them: Transformers, Pirates, 1408, Harry Potter, Superbad, Fido, Die Hard, and Spider-Man 3. Although I think Spider-Man 3 had the best posters of the year:
Now, they look just like most of the other posterss for the Spider-Man movies, but if you look closely at the real ones, the rain and the glass have been embossed. It's a nice effect that you really can't seen unless you get up close. Too bad the movie was a huge heap of dull.
2. The White Stripes at the Patriot Center - Jamee nearly fell asleep. Really. Standing up and everything. Could have been a number of factors other than the band (I listened to a bootleg of the show later and it was pretty good, although they didn't play a bunch of stuff that I like). The crowd was terrible. The sound was bad. But a lot of it was probably the fact that my Grandfather had died that morning and I probably was not in the best state of mind to see a show.
3. Costco decided to not make Ratatouille wine - Apparently there's some rule that says that you can't use a cartoon character to promote alcoholic beverages. They did briefly make Ratatouille cheese, whi ch I only saw once and did not get, which makes me sad.
4. The Decemberists cancel The Long and Short of It Tour - I had tickets. Got my sister tickets for her birthday. Band member gets sick. Hopefully they'll reschedule.
5. Season 2 of Heroes - I'm not even going to go into it.
6. The fact that this costs $500:
7. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier - I have a feeling that when LoEG is complete and this finds its proper place as a bridge between Volumes 2 and 3, it will feel a lot more satisfying. As it is, there's no way that it could possibly live up to expectations, and though enjoying self-indulgence comes with the territory when you're an Alan Moore fan, sometimes it's a little too much. I do feel, however, that my liking of The Black Dossier will grow with time.
Well, Maria made this a tag, so here we go with a rundown of what I liked and didn't last year entertainment-wise.
Things that made me happy last year.
1. No Country for Old Men - Though I suppose "happy" isn't the right word for it.
2. Hellboy: Blood & Iron - Really impressive. It tells two parallel stories, with one being told in reverse, and they both dovetail in the end. And it's got Hellboy fighting monsters. The only thing wrong with it is that it apparently did not make enough money to make a third animated Hellboy movie, even though there's a teaser for one at the end of the credits.
3. Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts - I'm only about four stories in, and frankly I'm not very fond of the one I'm currently reading, but this is here for no other reason than the story "20th Century Ghost." It's the best haunted movie theater story I have ever read and it's just beautiful.
4. Blade Runner at the Uptown and on DVD - Blade Runner is always good on the big screen and The Uptown is as good as they come. And the DVD set is pretty much everything you could want (although the originally advertised Ridley Scott signature is pre-printed). I've only made it through a disc and a half and still haven't watched any version of the actual movie yet.
5. The end of the third season of Lost - So that's why I didn't give up on the show yet.
6. Hot Fuzz - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright make me happy. I love Spaced, and Shaun of the Dead, and this, which just left me with a big, goofy grin (Even though it made me want to actually watch Bad Boys II).
7. A Date with John Waters - The follow up to A John Waters Christmas and worth it just for "Johnny are you Queer," which was featured in the ball pit scene in Jackass Number 2. I went up to a promotional appearance in Towson to get John to sign my Cry-Baby one sheet for Tilda, so it now says "To a Future Juvenile Delinquent - John Waters."
8. Murder Party - Probably the most enjoyable surprise of the year. I went in knowing nothing and loved pretty much every minute of it. And it has the best DVD extra of the year, with the possible exception of the episode of Everybody Loved Hypnotoad on Futurama: Bender's Big Score.
9. Indiana Jones Legos - Happy Happy. Joy Joy. I am a five year old. Wait, that's too young according to the boxes. I am a seven year old.
10. Planet Terror and the Grindhouse trailers - I'm glad we got to see Grindhouse in the theater. At least up to the point where I realized that I was not enjoying Death Proof and that there was still about an hour of movie left. I'm looking forward to the second trailer for Thanksgiving that supposed to be on Eli Roth's Trailer Trash later this year.11. The Baltimore Comic-Con - This was a lot of fun. I went up with my friend Charlie and afterwards went to a beer fest in Frederick where Mathilda was not allowed in so we had to take turns waiting outside with her and her cousins while rotating groups of grownups got their drink on. But the con was fun and the highlight was probably meeting Mike Mignola and actually getting to talk to him this time. He signed my Hellboy II poster and it's hanging by our stairs.
12. Ratatouille - It's so good that I didn't care when the five year old in the front row got bored and started running around the theater for the last fifteen minutes of the movie.
13. The return of Futurama - Bender's Big Score, the first of four direct-to-DVD movies was everything I could have hoped it would be. I found it to considerably more enjoyable than The Simpsons Movie, which I'd watch again, but no time soon. I could watch Bender's Big Score again right now, but ~'s watching The Incredibles.
14. Zodiac - Probably the best movie that came out last year that I've seen. It's essentially three hours of people talking and it's incredibly intense. The director's cut is out on the 8th and hopefully the price will drop soon so I can justify picking it up.
15. Chocolate Donut Stout - Got it a beer festival in Virginia. And kept going back for more. A brewery in Alexandria makes it and it's one of the best things I've ever tasted. Mmmm, donuts.
16. 2001 and Barry Lyndon at the AFI Silver - The AFI Silver is the best theater in the DC area, nudging out The Uptown because they have DLP projection capability and show non-current release films. They did a Kubrick fest last winter and my friends Brad and Sara came down to see these two. I'd never seen 2001 in 70mm before and I'd never seen Barry Lyndon in a theater. This was probably the best moviegoing experience I had last year.
17. The Mist - Possibly the most unpleasant two hours I spent in a theater last year. I loved it. Jamee is still mad about the spiders and probably madder now that I've reminded her.
18. Seeing Terry Pratchett for probably the last time - I've been to a number of Pratchett book signings. He's funny and personable in person, even with a ridiculously long line of people in front of him waiting to get things scribbled on. He was at the National Book Festival this year, promoting Making Money. I went with my sister and met my friend Charlie and his now-fiancee and her family there. We saw Pratchett talk and waited in line. Got things signed. He seemed tired. A few weeks ago he announced that he has early-onset Alzheimers and though it's a long way from being bad at this point, I would be very surprised if he came around again. But he's good at surprises. I wish him well.
Big old piles of disappointment:
1. Almost every movie that I saw that came out last summer - Disappointing to varying degrees, and mainly because I can't remember most of what happened in any of them: Transformers, Pirates, 1408, Harry Potter, Superbad, Fido, Die Hard, and Spider-Man 3. Although I think Spider-Man 3 had the best posters of the year:
Now, they look just like most of the other posterss for the Spider-Man movies, but if you look closely at the real ones, the rain and the glass have been embossed. It's a nice effect that you really can't seen unless you get up close. Too bad the movie was a huge heap of dull.
2. The White Stripes at the Patriot Center - Jamee nearly fell asleep. Really. Standing up and everything. Could have been a number of factors other than the band (I listened to a bootleg of the show later and it was pretty good, although they didn't play a bunch of stuff that I like). The crowd was terrible. The sound was bad. But a lot of it was probably the fact that my Grandfather had died that morning and I probably was not in the best state of mind to see a show.
3. Costco decided to not make Ratatouille wine - Apparently there's some rule that says that you can't use a cartoon character to promote alcoholic beverages. They did briefly make Ratatouille cheese, whi ch I only saw once and did not get, which makes me sad.
4. The Decemberists cancel The Long and Short of It Tour - I had tickets. Got my sister tickets for her birthday. Band member gets sick. Hopefully they'll reschedule.
5. Season 2 of Heroes - I'm not even going to go into it.
6. The fact that this costs $500:
7. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier - I have a feeling that when LoEG is complete and this finds its proper place as a bridge between Volumes 2 and 3, it will feel a lot more satisfying. As it is, there's no way that it could possibly live up to expectations, and though enjoying self-indulgence comes with the territory when you're an Alan Moore fan, sometimes it's a little too much. I do feel, however, that my liking of The Black Dossier will grow with time.
posted by PunchBuggyBlues at 7:40 AM
2 Comments:
After the terrible reviews of the White Stripes show from you, Emily, my sister, and my brother-in-law and his wife, I am glad I passed that up and didn't waste the gas money.
Transformers sure was a big, steaming pile of shit, wasn't it? Truly an awful, painful spectacle. I had forgotten how much I hated it, mostly because I had managed to forget that I watched it.
Michael,
Happy new year. It is James in LA - "No Country ..." was great.
Have you seen the "Oceanic Air" commercials. They lead to an Lost Themed ARG (alternate reality game) that has an interesting point of view.
Was in the area over Christmas - but not long enough to really accomplish anything outside of family.
Email me.
James
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