Zomgee

Anticipation is what killed the last Narnia movie for me. I prepared myself for its much hailed arrival by reading the books for the first time and even by going back to the original British version and watching what were some of my favorite movies as a child. When all was said and done I was left disappointed. Sure they didn’t destroy the books or anything they just got me to expect one thing and gave me something entirely different. I have since seen The ‘Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ a few times more and I have a few better things to say about it, however, it still not the masterpiece that I was hoping for. I have just returned from ‘Prince Caspian’ and it is without a doubt a better movie than the first in almost every way.

Andrew Adamson seems to be coming into his own when it comes to directing live action movies. One thing that worried me early on when I learned of his direction is that his only other movies were Shrek and Shrek 2 and that didn’t seem to be the resume I would have liked coming into one of the most beloved fantasy franchises of all time, however, it looks like he’s learning from his mistakes and improving. He seems to have a much better vision for what’s going on and is getting much more out of his actors.

As for the acting, the children have improved quite a bit. One thing I have always had a hard time with when watching children’s movies is how horrible children are at it. With one movie and a few years under their belt they’re starting to grow up and act like their characters. Peter is more believable, Susan is less annoying, Edmond is growing up, and Lucy…well Lucy is no longer the joyful innocent girl she was in the first movie, however, after all they’ve been through in Narnia – she shouldn’t be.

The music was brilliant as I would expect from Harry Gregson-Williams who did a fantastic job the first time around and once again WETA Digital did a great job with the special effects. That coupled with some well done cinematography and editing has led to a much better flowing picture. The battle scenes feel like battles and the sweeping landscapes are used correctly in a much more “epic” (if I dare use the word) fashion than in the first. Sure there wasn’t a lot to the story which boiled down to save Narnia once again, but there were times when you felt like they might not win, and that is what a film of this type needs. If there is no sense of urgency and no sense of the possibility of failure then there is no point to watch it.

All in all the movie was an enjoyable couple of hours and worth seeing on the big screen. If you liked the first one you’ll most definitely like this one, but even if you didn’t, I would give it a try anyway.

4/5 stars
[edit] I decided to rethink my rating system. While on one end this is less exact and does not distinguish between movies quite as well I think it will do a better job indicating the range of quality that a movie falls into. With 5-Great; 4-Good; 3-Average; 2-Bad; 1-Horrible; 0-Putrid.

…may he rest in peace.

Every so often in life you have moments that define who you are and who you will become. I just had one of those moments and all I could do was wave at it as it passed.

You see I just received a telephone call and because I am at work I chose not to answer it. This decision may prove to be a deciding factor in my life or death for when I looked at the caller ID it said quite simply “Tom.” To immediately dispel any notions you may have, the fact is that I do have my name and my phone number listed in my address book, therefore when the name Tom came up it meant there was only one conclusion – I was calling myself.

So there I sat, phone in hand, paralyzed. If I answer it who will be on the other line? Will it be me, my future self perhaps? Am I in peril, or am I just warning myself about something huge? Perhaps I have found out what 42 equals for example. If I do answer it though I may break the continuity of the space time continuum and then what will happen? Will the earth explode? Will I be forever changed so much so that in the future I don’t make the same phone call which means I can’t have received it in the past which means it couldn’t happen!? My final thoughts were much more on the practical side of things as I reflected as to whether or not I would leave myself a voice mail.

The ringing stopped.

I waited but there was no voice mail. I checked my caller ID to be sure and it was in fact not only my name, but my phone number that was used to make the call. Realistically it makes sense that I wouldn’t have left myself a voice mail since I hate talking to machines…but my guess is that I didn’t have time because I was in grave danger and had but one shot to reach myself in the past and when I chose to not answer the phone all hope was lost.

Someday when some great tragedy befalls me you will know that it could have been avoided simply by answering my phone. I can only suggest that if ever you receive a call from yourself – answer it because you very probably are calling for a really good reason.

Last night, those of us who turned on our TV’s and watched the big game were treated with a special delight. The greatest quarterback to ever play the game, Tom Brady, was there to put on a show and what a show it was. Throughout the stunning, unbelievable game we saw nothing but spectacular perfect passes and poise under pressure. Never faltering Brady orchestrated drive after drive of football that was closer to perfection than anyone in the game has ever managed to accomplish. The man is a brilliant passing genius and second to none. I can’t even begin to hail his praises as he single-handedly carried his team on his back, the entire season, to their undefeated record. Without Brady this season would have looked more like the Dolphin’s brush with futility. The way he engineered a last second comeback to once again pull the team up by his bootstraps was again one of the great moments in NFL history.

Pause a moment and allow the sarcasm to sink in a while before continuing for as you must have known by now – Brady did none of those things. In fact he looked down right pathetic in the face of pressure and was able to muster up no last second miracles to keep his team from the best worst record of all time, 18-1. You see for months sports writers and broadcasters have been mindlessly repeating things similar to what my first paragraph implies. They will state absolutes without taking a moment to step back and examine the bigger picture. The fact is, that while Tom Brady is a good quarterback it is his team that makes him appear great. The 2007 Patriots team is or was one of the greatest of all times. Brady had one of the best offensive lines in the game, 3 amazing receivers including but not limited to a guy in Randy Moss who could catch passes that weren’t well thrown, and a defense that has kept even good teams from consistently scoring.

You see Tom Brady wasn’t the reason for this team’s success, but he sure did contribute to its failure. Failing to receive near perfect pass protection like he had throughout the regular season, Brady showed nothing but a lack of ability in the pocket. Sure don’t worry all you commentators out there he still had “poise” but that was about it. Passes were flying right and left but many of them went nowhere near the intended receivers. Sure he did lead the team to two successful TD’s, one in the first half that I missed and really can’t comment on, and one in the second half where rather than showing us how amazing he was, he showed us how when given time in the pocket and given a single receiver who the Giants couldn’t seem to cover he was somehow perfect again. Now don’t get me wrong it was a good drive to go ahead 14-10, but all he did the whole time was dump the ball off to Wes Welker who was somehow wide open almost every play. Now does that show Tom Brady’s greatness or Welker’s? The Super Bowl commentators seemed to think it was Brady who was the second coming of Joe Montana when he hit a wide open Randy Moss in the endzone after his defender tripped and fell. He couldn’t hit a wide open Randy Moss in the endzone the play before when the defender hadn’t fallen so it would stand to reason that he managed to do it the second time around.

This will go down as perhaps the biggest upset in Super Bowl history and may be the greatest Super Bowl flop allowing the 2007 Patriots to eclipse the futility of the 1991-1994 Buffalo Bills. The Patriots had a great team, but in the end they couldn’t get it done and no matter how sweet that 16-0 season was, they will go away with nothing but bitterness in their mouths. You have to figure Bill Belichick wishes he would have gone for the field goal instead of going for a foolhardy 4th and 13 at the 31 yard line, but hey these things happen. Have to hand it to him for being so unsportsmanlike like and running off the field to cry at the end of the game – quality coach to be sure. In the end though none of this matters because the Super Bowl Champions are none other than the New York Giants…of course I trust you will always remember this as the season that the New England Patriots almost went undefeated.

Every Tuesday and Thursday I have a movie class, and on Tuesdays we watch a film. This past class we were in the middle of watching “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” which while a very good film it is also one that a modern generation could easily get bored through. Which since the class is full of discourteous college students it means that there is often whispering and laughing and other forms of carrying on that can be quite disruptive to someone actually trying to enjoy the movie. Really its quite a bit like a real movie theater.

Something different happened this past class, however. I was sitting behind the delinquents when I noticed that a message was being passed amongst them which was promptly followed by a laptop being produced and a website loaded. Three girls crowded around the screen and as soon as the page loaded the entire group let out a unanimous gasp. What could cause three obnoxious movie buffs to speak out in such a startled manner I wondered. I of course did what any curious person would do, I looked over their shoulder to read the headline on the news story they were reading. “Heath Ledger found Dead in Apartment”

It was somewhat surprising I guess, actors in their 20’s don’t often die, but really all I did was go, “huh,” then sit back and continue to watch Mr. Smith show the Senate that he can filibuster for 24 hours straight. It was by all accounts much more interesting than finding out about a dead actor. On further reflection I’m struck by two thoughts. a) Why should I be surprised? and b) Why should I care? To answer the first, I shouldn’t be surprised at all. With all the sex, drugs, and money that goes on in Hollywood its a wonder more actors and actresses don’t overdose on things or commit suicide or get killed by people that don’t like them. What makes Ledger any different from the rest of them – nothing – so I shouldn’t expect that he would have a different possible outcome. To answer the second question, well I suppose someone might care because they thought he was good looking or they enjoyed his movies or something, but since I’m not a member of his family and since he has really made no lasting good contribution to society I can’t really find a reason to care.

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed “The Patriot” and “A Knight’s Tale” was mildly funny and while we’re on the topic of knights I do very much look forward to seeing him as Joker in “The Dark Knight” but since his only real critical acclaim was for being a gay cowboy, I’m really more inclined to be not interested in his work at all. Frankly, I can’t figure out what the whole fixation about dying celebrities is. There’s plenty of people dying in this world for far worse reasons than being famous and trying to fill a void in ones life with drugs and it seems to me we ought to worry more about those people than some B list actor like Heath Ledger.