The one with the movies in

I have seen a lot of movies recently. Some good, some not. Here's a quick rundown:

Quarantine is a decent little horror film that suffers from the current shaky-cam trend. Another found footage tale, this follows a TV reporter as she follows the local firefighters. They get trapped in a building and Bad Things Happen. Some decent tension/scares. The actors gave decent performances and the story wasn't as cut and dried as the trailer led you to believe. So that was nice. Not too much worse than a trailer that gives everything away. This is a remake of a Spanish film called [rec] (I think it's Spanish anyway...). So you can't really laud Hollywood for something a little different, but at least they had good taste.

Sukiyaki Western Django (yes that's really the name favorite niece) is basically Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars. If A Fistful of Dollars was a western remake of Yojimbo, then Sukiyaki is a Japanese remake of a Western remake of a Japanese movie. Or something. That analogy made a lot more sense in my head. See the movie, it'll make more sense in yours too. Look. What this really boils down to is a familiar story with Japanese style and Takashi Miike action. So it's a little bloodier than the previous incarnations and a whole lot prettier. And weirder. But, you know, in a good way. Just go see it already.

Ghost in the Shell 2 is still very pretty. And very slow. And very pretty (especially on a big screen).

Eagle Eye is crap. What could have been an excellent, riveting action movie about the Patriot Act and how the government is watching us far too often instead devolves down into standard sci-fi story number 20 - the berserk computer. And they didn't even do that well. And to top it off, the only redeeming aspect of the movie (an action movie where the two wildly disparate leads don't fall in love?! About time!) goes down in flames with the LAST SCENE OF THIS HORRIBLY STUPID MOVIE! AAAAA! Make it stop! (The original ending was actually even more stupid, so some restraint was shown, but not nearly enough.) I've decided this movie should actually be considered dangerous. These are real issues. Candy coating them with a ridiculous story about an AWOL AI trivializes them and doesn't encourage the average American to think about them at all. Hey look! That there compooter sure went crazy. That Michelle Monaghan sure is purty. Zowee! Cars are crashin' and jets are 'splodin! Had me a dadgum good time. Wait? The government actually collects this sort of data about us all the time if it wants? Well shucks. <much eye rolling>

My Name is Bruce is the latest Bruce Campbell comedy/horror flick and it was great. If you like Bruce Campbell movies, this one will take you back a bit to the Army of Darkness days. Bruce plays "himself" (the B movie actor, jerk version - wait, is that acting?) getting sucked into trying to save a small town from a real demon. (Bean curd Bruce! Bean curd!) Mostly this movie made me think that it must be weird to be Bruce Campbell. I met him once when he was touring for Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, his second book and it was a rather odd experience. But yes, movie good. (Guan you, guan me, Guan Di!)

I will briefly mention that Blue Moon continues to grow on me. Got a couple games in with the letter 'r' and it was fun. Monty Python Fluxx is odd. Mostly because Fluxx is odd. (Although I'm sure there are others that would argue the other side.) Hot Fudge shakes are yummy. Pork Loin is also yummy. We will soon have a report on some curry spices lovely wife's cousin sent out. Mmmm curry. Shooting zombies is fun. Free Starz weekends are mostly fun.

Yeah, I'm reaching now.

Oh, almost forgot, Gene Wolfe's An Evil Guest. I liked it up until the end. Then it fell apart for me as, honestly, I've not got a clue what happened. Or what was supposed to be happening. So, umm, yeah. Mostly ok book I guess?

I'm also looking for a decent fantasy themed board game. Welcoming all suggestions. (And donations! Ha!)