Well, I'm three weeks into the 2008 movie marathon and we hit a major snag. 2008 is a promising summer for movies, with a movie coming out almost every week through July that I want to see. And I say almost because there are a couple of weeks in there that have some clunkers...and this was one of them.
Now, I kinda wanted to see Speed Racer, up until the point where I read a few reviews talking about how overwhelmingly bad the movie is anyway. But my wife, who was a much bigger fan of the TV show than I was, still wanted to go see it, so, prepared for what was surely a bad movie, I went in ready for the worst.
I needed a bigger boat.
Speed Racer is an amazingly bad movie, that, as one reviewer stated, "looked like someone threw up Skittles all over the screen." Now, if I haven't mentioned it, I am color blind, and about 10 minutes into the movie my wife leaned over to me and told me that she was so jealous of that fact, and the movie was way too colorful for me. It's really difficult to describe just how much of a sensory overload this film is, except perhaps to say that when we walked out of the theater we felt as though the world was an odd, bland place.
And the filmmakers decided that, in order to keep with the title of the film, I'm guessing, they would make sure that things were ALWAYS in motion in the movie. The constant panning and scene swipes in the film are incredibly annoying. I once condemned Francis Ford Copolla's Bram Stoker's Dracula for using to many fades and swipes in a movie, and I would officially like to apologize to him and that film, as having seen Speed Racer I now feel that every other frenetic film ever made was shot with a single stationary camera.
Oh, and the writing...let's talk about the writing for a second. It was horrible. The plot and pacing of the movie was so disjointed and haphazard that it was difficult to follow. What's more, just about every action scene in the movie is so flashy and oversaturated that you can't follow a single action, let alone make heads or tails out of what is happening in the race.
And speaking of the races, if you have any appreciation for well executed and technically accurate racing, well, then you want to avoid this movie at all costs. At almost no moment during the film do the cars ever go in a straight line. I know, I know--strange concept for a car, that whole driving in a straight line thing, but I still wish it happened at least once or twice in a race. Instead, the cars flip and spin in an odd mix of acrobatics and martial arts maneuvers as they literally fight their way down the speedway in an attempt to win the race.
So, all in all, it was a bad movie. A very bad movie, in fact. And yet, because I went into the theater expecting one of the worst movies I've seen in a while, I had fun. I laughed and smiled a lot. And it was because of the movie. Not because of good things, but because it was so bad that I was able to mock it and joke about it with my friends for the length of the whole film. And I also look at the experience as something I can almost brag about. Seeing the ticket receipts from the first weekend--putting the movie around the $20 million range--I will be among the few that can say they actually saw that cacophonous disaster on the big screen.
Still, I know what the Wachowski's were going for when they made the movie, right after the film ended. Every child under the age of about 12 that stood up after the movie was giddy happy. One kid actually danced down the aisle with his mom when it was done. So, all the colors and motion did have a target audience, but it was even younger than my own youthful mindset.
And there were a few moments in the film that made me smile for the right reasons. The race in the middle of the film where Speed drives the Mach 5--oh, did I not mention that he doesn't drive the Mach 5 in the majority of the movie? No, he drives the classic and beloved Mach 6 through most of it--is highly reminiscent of the original show. It even features a bad guy from the original series. And, even though I think I was the only one in my group that enjoyed it, I liked the scene where Racer X took on the mobsters rolling headquarters, mostly for little touches like him constantly shooting up the vehicle in an "X" pattern and such; and it also seemed that fighting a rolling headquarter semi-truck was something right out of the show, and was the only action sequence that was easy to follow visually.
So, anyway...bad movie. Don't go see Speed Racer unless you have kids. Or really want to go see something very, very bad on a big screen that has a very distinct possibility of causing a seizure at any given moment.
On the other hand, if you want to go see a good movie go see Iron Man. I'm thinking of going to see it again just to clean my movie palette...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Pride...In The Name of Love
No, this post has absolutely nothing to do with U2.
What this post deals with are two different people who have been in my life for a very long time that I want to spend a moment praising for their recent efforts.
A week ago, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Jerry Murdock, held a party to, as he phrased it, "Celebrate the Murdocks". He didn't make a big noise as to WHY he was wanting to do this, but I would like to think that everyone who made it to the party--and there were about 100 of us--knew why.
About 4 years ago, Jerry and his wife Phyllis took in two children not their own. Phyllis' sister and her husband had gone to a dark place in their lives, and their children were being taken away by the authorities. Rather than see them put in a home of strangers, the two of them took both children, a young boy and his younger sister, into their own house to live beside the couple's own two daughters. Overnight, Jerry and his wife went from having two young children to having four young children, and they were both happy to do it.
Well, time went on, and the situation with the two children's birth parents didn't improve. And, after almost four years of living with them, Jerry and Phyllis decided that it was time to bring the two children into their lives officially. So, taking the proper procedures and steps, they filed adoption papers. And, a few weeks ago the two children became Cody and Stevie Murdock.
Being a good friend of Jerry's, he confided in me throughout the process, telling me the trials and tribulations that occurred, and the stress that it put on him personally to fight for these children's well being. But, throughout it all, he never once faltered. He never thought about himself, but about what needed to be done for those kids. And, even though they never planned it, they now have twice the children they planned on. And with them having the current ages of 10, 11, 12 and 13, he's got more than his fair share of headaches ahead of him. But I know that he won't let anything get to him. Being one of the most laid-back people on the planet, he'll take it all in stride. But I don't want anyone to ever look at his easy-going nature the wrong way: he's willing to fight when the time comes and never back down.
And then there is the matter of someone else in my life--someone even closer to me than Jerry. Earlier this year my wife, Allyson, found herself unemployed. And in this day and age, that's not something anyone wants to face. And what's more, she was quickly coming to realize that the career path she had chosen, that of being a graphic designer, wasn't where she wanted to be at this point. It was time for a change.
So, she began a venture of her own. She had long been talking about starting up a company that involved one of her true passions in life, tea, and fate had brought her the opportunity to pursue that dream.
Thus, she started Coyotea, a company that will provide fine teas to fine dining establishments, along with providing the staff of those places the education to prepare and serve that tea properly. This isn't a wild idea, as she has done her research and there are several successful companies providing these same services in a variety of cities around the country. She has put in hours upon hours of research, created her own special unique blends of tea, and put together a business plan and sales collateral to make this business a success.
Of course, any new business isn't going to bring in any money right off the bat, so she had to do something that would bring in money. Today is her second day working at Starbucks. She understands that it isn't going to bring in the type of money that she made as a graphic designer, but the work environment is far more pleasant than that of a corporate desk job, and it leaves her with the energy to continue to work on her own business in the interim.
It takes an amazing amount of courage to take that leap. To believe in yourself and your dream to the point where you are willing to take far less money, and all but double your workload at the same time. But the ultimate goal is worth it: to have a career that isn't only something that you want to do, but something that you have created from the ground up. Something that you can truly call your own.
So there you have it. Two people who have both taken steps that most wouldn't consider. Done things that others are often too afraid to do themselves. The pride I have in knowing both of these people is incalculable. And that they count me among their friends and loved ones humbles me.
So, I wanted to take a few moments to sit down and share what I was feeling, and express how proud I am to know both of them. Oh, and also to thank them for being inspirations to me in ways that they might not ever truly understand, because, well, they won't see what they've done as anything special. Which is yet another reason that they are that amazing.
What this post deals with are two different people who have been in my life for a very long time that I want to spend a moment praising for their recent efforts.
A week ago, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Jerry Murdock, held a party to, as he phrased it, "Celebrate the Murdocks". He didn't make a big noise as to WHY he was wanting to do this, but I would like to think that everyone who made it to the party--and there were about 100 of us--knew why.
About 4 years ago, Jerry and his wife Phyllis took in two children not their own. Phyllis' sister and her husband had gone to a dark place in their lives, and their children were being taken away by the authorities. Rather than see them put in a home of strangers, the two of them took both children, a young boy and his younger sister, into their own house to live beside the couple's own two daughters. Overnight, Jerry and his wife went from having two young children to having four young children, and they were both happy to do it.
Well, time went on, and the situation with the two children's birth parents didn't improve. And, after almost four years of living with them, Jerry and Phyllis decided that it was time to bring the two children into their lives officially. So, taking the proper procedures and steps, they filed adoption papers. And, a few weeks ago the two children became Cody and Stevie Murdock.
Being a good friend of Jerry's, he confided in me throughout the process, telling me the trials and tribulations that occurred, and the stress that it put on him personally to fight for these children's well being. But, throughout it all, he never once faltered. He never thought about himself, but about what needed to be done for those kids. And, even though they never planned it, they now have twice the children they planned on. And with them having the current ages of 10, 11, 12 and 13, he's got more than his fair share of headaches ahead of him. But I know that he won't let anything get to him. Being one of the most laid-back people on the planet, he'll take it all in stride. But I don't want anyone to ever look at his easy-going nature the wrong way: he's willing to fight when the time comes and never back down.
And then there is the matter of someone else in my life--someone even closer to me than Jerry. Earlier this year my wife, Allyson, found herself unemployed. And in this day and age, that's not something anyone wants to face. And what's more, she was quickly coming to realize that the career path she had chosen, that of being a graphic designer, wasn't where she wanted to be at this point. It was time for a change.
So, she began a venture of her own. She had long been talking about starting up a company that involved one of her true passions in life, tea, and fate had brought her the opportunity to pursue that dream.
Thus, she started Coyotea, a company that will provide fine teas to fine dining establishments, along with providing the staff of those places the education to prepare and serve that tea properly. This isn't a wild idea, as she has done her research and there are several successful companies providing these same services in a variety of cities around the country. She has put in hours upon hours of research, created her own special unique blends of tea, and put together a business plan and sales collateral to make this business a success.
Of course, any new business isn't going to bring in any money right off the bat, so she had to do something that would bring in money. Today is her second day working at Starbucks. She understands that it isn't going to bring in the type of money that she made as a graphic designer, but the work environment is far more pleasant than that of a corporate desk job, and it leaves her with the energy to continue to work on her own business in the interim.
It takes an amazing amount of courage to take that leap. To believe in yourself and your dream to the point where you are willing to take far less money, and all but double your workload at the same time. But the ultimate goal is worth it: to have a career that isn't only something that you want to do, but something that you have created from the ground up. Something that you can truly call your own.
So there you have it. Two people who have both taken steps that most wouldn't consider. Done things that others are often too afraid to do themselves. The pride I have in knowing both of these people is incalculable. And that they count me among their friends and loved ones humbles me.
So, I wanted to take a few moments to sit down and share what I was feeling, and express how proud I am to know both of them. Oh, and also to thank them for being inspirations to me in ways that they might not ever truly understand, because, well, they won't see what they've done as anything special. Which is yet another reason that they are that amazing.
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